How safe are our schools?

Highlights on school crime.  https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2018/2018036.pdf   It's decreased in this century, but would you know from the news? Reported hate-words have decreased. Would you know that from memes and posts on social media? Also, crimes among juveniles, girls and boys, have decreased 65% since 1996, and arrests significantly from 2006-2015.

• Based on the 2017 National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), students ages 12 to 18 experienced 827,000 total victimizations (i.e., theft and nonfatal violent victimization) at school and 503,800 total victimizations away from school.
• From 2000 to 2017, there were 153 casualties (67 killed and 86 wounded) in active shooter incidents at elementary and secondary schools and 143 casualties (70 killed and 73 wounded) in active shooter incidents at postsecondary institutions.
• In 2017, about 6% of students ages 12 to 18 reported being called hate-related words at school during the school year, representing a decrease from 12% in 2001. This percentage also decreased between 2001 and 2017 for male and female students as well as for white, black, and Hispanic students.
• Between 2001 and 2017, the percentage of students ages 12 to 18 who reported that gangs were present at their school during the school year decreased overall (from 20% to 9%), as well as for students from urban areas (from 29% to 11%), suburban areas (from 18% to 8%), and rural areas (from 13% to 7%).
• During the 2015-16 school year, 47% of schools reported one or more crime incidents to police. The percentage of public schools reporting incidents to police was LOWER in 2015-16 than in every prior survey year.

Boys will be boys

It was judges and bureaucrats writing regulations who decided that the word "sex" which refers to a biological fact in our laws which primarily protect and promote females, was interchangeable with the concept of "gender" which originally was a term for grammar. Gender identity is just what it implies-- a fluid term with no basis in fact or biology. The wording in our equal opportunity laws was never intended to include biological men in women's athletic events, pronouns forced on others or bathrooms.

If an adult white man can identify as a woman, he can also identify as an American Indian, or a 15 year old disabled kid who needs special treatment. Our Congress needs to change the law based on evidence so we have clarity instead of law suits and confused teachers and employers.

I'm not even that comfortable with SCOTUS, another group of judges, making this decision on who gets to change the law.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/supreme-court-to-hear-case-about-whether-sex-is-the-same-as-gender-identity

Joe Biden is rethinking Anita Hill and revising history

Molly Hemingway is one of the best journalists out there. Here's her take on Biden and Hill. She actually does research, something unheard of for so many "talk at the camera" or "click and link" journalists.

"The issue [of Biden's revisionist history] is important, as the media and other partisans rewrite the historical record about Hill and her accusations. The widely watched hearings revealed inaccuracies in Hill’s various versions of events and ended with 58 percent of Americans believing Thomas and only 24 percent believing Hill."

https://thefederalist.com/2019/04/28/joe-biden-on-anita-hill-in-1998-she-was-lying/?

Although it took me a few more years to leave the Democrat party, it was while watching the hearings I first became aware of the deep racism of that party.  They just could not fathom giving a black man who hadn’t sworn his loyalty to the master that kind of power.  He believes in the Constitution, and that was very scary.

https://www.dailywire.com/news/5185/6-pieces-evidence-anita-hill-was-lying-amanda-prestigiacomo

“. . . when I watched the hearings, just like probably many Americans, I accepted the idea that we had a contest of equal credibility between two people, between Clarence Thomas and Anita Hill. I think the main message is that when you look at the evidence, when you go out, as I did, and interview third parties, pore over the documents and the records, the battle of credibility is settled hands down in favor of Clarence Thomas. Anita Hill's testimony is really shot through with false, incorrect and misleading statements, and I think so much so that at the end of that particular part of the book it's very difficult to believe that what she said about Clarence Thomas is also true.”  David Brock, NPR, 1993 https://www.c-span.org/video/?43009-1/the-real-anita-hill

The tragedy in Poway, California

"The combat veteran who stopped the Poway, California, synagogue shooter—the same guy who called every other white person a coward in his evil manifesto—used a command voice, profanity, and a mean mug to send the gunman running but he believes it requires something more than that to stop multiple-victim public shootings. The 51-year-old veteran tells The Daily Caller, “It takes a good guy with a gun to stop a bad guy with a gun.”--Dan Flynn"

"Stewart said he chased him all the way out to his car, and began pounding on it — the shooter had managed to lock himself in. When Stewart saw him reach for a rifle, he punched the side of the car as hard as he could, intending to figure out a way to drag him out of the car — that’s when a Border Patrol agent who attends the synagogue came running out to the parking lot, yelling for Stewart to get down because he had a gun.

Stewart says this man may have saved his life, and pointed to his use of a civilian gun — he was off-duty and was apparently handed the weapon by someone else on the scene — as evidence that gun control isn’t the answer to these kinds of tragedies. “It takes a good guy with a gun to stop a bad guy with a gun,” he told the [Daily] Caller."

Benefits and costs of refugees and immigrants

The CATO Institute has some good information and detail on immigrants vs. native born and their use of the safety net programs. https://www.cato.org/publications/immigration-research-policy-brief/immigration-welfare-state-immigrant-native-use-rates

Refugees and illegal immigrants are not treated the same. https://www.disabilityapprovalguide.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Refugee-Report-Draft.pdf  Refugees are generally eligible for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Medicaid, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP aka Food Stamps). But like the rest of us, they are means tested. Under existing federal statutes, unlike other immigrant groups, refugees can receive federal means tested benefit programs immediately upon arrival in the U.S. as long as they meet the eligibility criteria (often set at a state ­level).

I believe that investing in legal immigrants and refugees pays back, and it is a humanitarian act,  but the loopholes like what we're seeing now claiming refugee status to get across the border is very bad for our country. Ilhan Omar is an example of an ungrateful refugee who takes advantage of the system.

The weakest plank in the platform—Reparations

The family of Kamala Harris' father owned slaves. The family of President Obama's mother owned slaves. Less than 5% of Americans have any ties to people who owned slaves. Freed blacks in the U.S. owned slaves at a higher rate than whites, according to Dr. Gates of PBS, most of whom were too poor. American Indians owned black slaves and there are still some court cases over land. There is more slavery globally today than in the 18th century. Yet Democrats want to make reparations for slavery a plank in their 2020 platform to defeat Trump. Larry Elder sees Trump's election as divine intervention.

https://youtu.be/PxD_g-0JRXo

https://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/

https://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/2018/282576.htm

Preventing child abuse and death

In 2017, an estimated 1,720 children died from abuse, and 72% of them were younger than three years old.  April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month.  https://www.ojjdp.gov/enews/blogs/042419-ojjdp-child-abuse-prevention.html

There is a media campaign with free images and messages you can download called "We Can."https://cantasd.acf.hhs.gov/we-can/   However, as I looked through them I saw only 2 that showed a Mom and Dad together, both active military, which is odd. Why couldn't there be a message about marriage, or the assumption of married parents? What are they afraid of? Married parents are the strongest guarantee against poverty, and fathers active in their children's lives help with self esteem and positive social behavior.

Title and wording in the 2018 Farm Bill

Before firing people or putting them in jail for using the wrong pronoun for a guy who's feeling girlish today, or maybe “theyish” tomorrow, I suggest renaming the Farm Bill. 80% of the Farm Bill is food assistance, and it's just silly to call it anything else. The 2 issues aren't related at all--but sloppy language increases confusion during partisan debates. The 2018 Farm Bill (Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018, HR2) is $867 Billion over 10 years. It dwarfs the budgets of the NIH, CDC and FDA, probably because good nutrition does contribute to good health. 42% of low income women are obese, with a higher figure if they use government assistance.

Depending on which expert you read, and how much you hate Trump/Republicans the various cuts are either a savings or a disaster for the poor. Farm Journal reported it was budget neutral, with a possible savings of $7 million over the 10 years.

And speaking of language, it did clean up some unpronounceable acronyms into simply, FOTO. The Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP) and Outreach and Assistance for Socially Disadvantaged and Veteran Farmers and Ranchers Program ( OASDVFRP or Section 2501) are now the Farming Opportunities Training and Outreach (FOTO) program. That should save some money in printing right there. At least no one should be fired if they mispronounce it.

Note: In reading through the Section 2501 (now called FOTO) previous year's budget and accomplishments I noticed all the money for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers went to minority farmers and ranchers, even though about 40% of those on government assistance are white. I wonder if this is another example of the government picking winners and losers on the basis of ethnicity and skin color.

Another lie you often hear about our assistance programs (with the intent to increase the Farm Bill) is that you can't feed a family on food stamps (SNAP). Maybe that's because it was never intended for that. But actually, a resourceful Canadian has shown otherwise with her cookbook, "Good and cheap," using a SNAP budget for a healthy diet. And it's free on line, or you can order a paper copy. https://cookbooks.leannebrown.com/good-and-cheap.pdf

Our language is always changing

640 new words were added in April to the Merriam-Webster dictionary. I've been saying one of them incorrectly:  I say, "to-go cup" when I’m at Panera’s with my friend Adrienne, and apparently the approved, in the dictionary term is "go-cup."

My senior class high school English teacher, Mrs. Price, insisted we buy Merriam-Webster Collegiate dictionaries, and I'm still using that model (I have the 11th, which you can buy for about $30 or download for free, and I got mine for $1 at a used book store), and I have the 2nd International unabridged Merriam Webster (about 25 lbs) for interesting browsing which my grandmother gave my parents for x-mas in the 1950s.  One of my cousins probably has their mother’s copy.  Grandma was big on giving presents like magazines, books, and art supplies.  My mother continued that tradition with her grandchildren.  You can never know too many words.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/shop-dictionaries/dictionaries/collegiate-dictionary-eleventh-edition

https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/new-words-in-the-dictionary?

https://collectingmythoughts.blogspot.com/2008/11/friday-family-photo-its-dictionary.html

Michael Smith chats with a friend

“Paraphrasing a conversation I had today with a friend:

Me: "Let's do a little logic exercise to help you understand what I'm trying to say."

Friend: "OK."

Me: "Do you think if I called you a thief, you would be more likely or less likely to want to associate with me?"

Friend: "Probably less."

Me: "What if I called you a rapist?"

Friend: "Probably even less likely."

Me: "OK, what if I called you a pedophile?"

Friend: "Probably even less likely than the other two."

Me: "OK, so how likely do you think it would be for me to pay attention to people who don't know me and call me a racist, bigot and homophobe? Why would I have any reason to engage or listen to anything they say?"

Friend: "That's different."

Me: "How so?"

Friend: "Because even though you aren't any of those things, people you support are."

Me: "Who are they?"

Friend: "The Republicans in this state and Trump."

Me: "What evidence is their that they are any of those things?"

Friend: "Well, immigration, the Muslim ban and the Charlottesville white supremacist thing right off the top of my head."

Me: "OK, I know you won't agree but immigration is a matter of law, court decisions and Obama policy and I can show you the total transcript of what Trump said about the situation in Charlottesville, so let me address the Muslim "ban" that wasn't because it is the softest to address."

Friend: "OK."

Me: "OK, let's assume you work for the TSA in Salt Lake and there are 10 people in line in full burkas, covered head to toe. You get a call from the FBI stating that they know one of the 10 is a man wearing a suicide vest. You have no time, what would you do?"

Friend: "I'd get security to quarantine all of them until they could be searched."

Me: "Exactly - given the danger and the uncertainty, that is the most reasonable course of action. Good job. Guess what?"

Friend: "What?"

Me: You just outlined and validated the reasoning behind the travel ban that Trump enacted. The fact the countries were Muslim was coincidental, the purpose was to stop travel from countries that lacked proper vetting for travelers. It had nothing to do with Islam at all."

Friend: "But Trump said bad things about Muslims during the campaign..."

Me: "And those things were not the basis for the policy, that was a creation of your friends in the Democrat Party and their friends in the media because they thing ORANGEMANBAD is a valid reason for everything. It's the policy that matters, not what is said. Obama said you could keep your doctor but you couldn't, so that proves you can't judge a policy by what is said about it, only what the policy actually does."

Friend: "Well, I still don't like Trump."

Me: "But that doesn't make him a racist, bigot or homophobe. Your feelings about him are irrelevant unless you can back those feelings up with facts."

Friend: "Still don't like him."

Me: "You have that right - not asking you to like him, just to be fair. Talk tomorrow, got to run. I'll flip you the full transcript of Trump's Charlottesville remarks from the NYT and some of their reporting on Obama's 2004 immigration policies."

Cubans at the southern border

Imagine that. Mexico is overwhelmed by the illegal immigration headed for our southern border and over a thousand broke out of the holding facility. The majority of migrants moving through Mexico are from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, according to Reuters, but Cubans are also joining in large numbers. More than 1,000 people from Cuba are now in Chiapas, according to Mexican officials.

The word has been put out by leftist non-profits that help them and Democrats (but I repeat) that if they can get to the U.S. they will be let go to "return" later for a hearing. And of course, very few do because most are not refugees. But I am curious why Cubans would take these risks to leave their socialist paradise.

Liberal friend Jim (an electrician) believes Cuba’s government failed because of U.S. sanctions. Pfffft. The sanctions are gone, and they never had sanctions from other countries. They had no restricted trade from South America or Mexico or USSR. THE SYSTEM FAILED. I get travel brochures each week showing 1950s automobiles and happy, clappy Cuban dancers. Why do people like Jim still believe in socialism when he’s seen it fail his entire lifetime, and he’s educated and knows the end result is always Cuba or Venezuela or the USSR? Y

Yes, we have a system for asylum seekers, but bussing well dressed, well fed, freely traveling Hondurans and Salvadorans and Pakistanis illegally to swamp our borders, courts and safety net system isn't it.

Joe Biden announces—his hate, but no program

"I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy," Biden said. "I mean, that's a storybook, man." That was 2007 Biden praising Barack Obama for being bright and clean, apparently something he'd never seen before in a black man.

And now he's running for president and in his 2019 announcement he tells another lie about another politician, our President. ""He said there were quote some very fine people on both sides," Biden said. "With those words, the President of the United States assigned a moral equivalence between those spreading hate and those with the courage to stand against it. And in that moment, I knew the threat to this nation was unlike any I had ever seen in my lifetime."

Anyone with half a brain who heard Trump speak about the crowds gathered in a park to either defend or destroy statues, knows what he said--and the bad people were the white supremacists and the leftists who'd shown up without a permit to rattle a few cages and the good people were about the statues. Anyone not a Trump hater knows the president said there were good people on both sides of the statue issue. He condemned the skin heads and the Black Lives Matter groups. Town groups on both sides of preserving the statue condemned both the right and left groups.

So once again Biden traffics in the ignorance and gullibility of the American people, saying Charlottesville was a bigger threat to America than 9/11, hundreds of caravans storming our southern border, the government over reach in the implosion of the housing market, the Viet Nam War, climate change, the opioid crisis, the college cost bubble, and our below replacement birth rate.

https://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2019/04/25/if-there-was-a-joe-biden-statue-leftists-would-tear-it-down/

Uber ridiculous!

A homeless man who finds a bag of puppies and rescues them is called a hero, but an Uber driver who won't assist in an abortion is fired and the client wants to sue him.

Poor snowflake. Planned Parenthood just didn't fit her schedule, and when Uber-moral guy said no to the trip when he found out where she was going, and she actually had to call her boyfriend to complete the dirty deed. I think the Uber driver was a hero, the boy friend was a jerk, and Uber is a crappy company if this is how they treat their drivers who have a shred of decency. Are Uber drivers obligated to take a drunk client to a bar? Should an Uber driver be required to take a prostitute to a destination to meet her client?

https://www.dailywire.com/news/46319/woman-plans-sue-uber-after-driver-refused-take-her-amanda-prestigiacomo?

David Shuttleworth’s 20th anniversary party

We attended Dave’s business anniversary event http://www.sco-advisors.com/ last night in a sweet little 19th century restored cottage,  and the food was outstanding both in taste and presentation, so of course, I asked. . . http://party-panache.com/ Mini butter-puffs stuffed with turkey salad, toasted pecans and dried cranberries. . . Nutted Olives, Large queen olives surrounded with cream cheese, rolled in toasted pecans, served halved. . . Asparagus spears wrapped with prosciutto and boursin. . . Balsamic Rosemary Roast Beef Served with red onion confit and horseradish cream on baguette slices. . . Large chilled shrimp, served with seafood cocktail sauce . . . Assorted fresh fruit on skewers with dips . . . delicious finger desserts, especially dark chocolate brownies. . . .and many more delights. Needless to say, I didn’t fix dinner.

I’m working on lowering my cholesterol, but this event, plus a wonderful Easter box sent by our California sister Debbie, (with wonderful pretzels covered with icing) has certainly made it difficult.

How the media turned candidate Trump into a racist

I’ve never heard the President say anything racist. He’s done more for minorities by making America great again than Obama ever could with hope and change (to a more socialist country).   How is it so many Democrats believe this?  It’s our media.  They get paid for every click.

"It began when he announced his intention to run for president in June of 2015. Typical of the media reception he received was the NBC story titled, “Donald Trump Announces Presidential Bid by Trashing Mexico, Mexicans.” What he actually did, of course, was say what every major politician regardless of party [especially Clinton] had already said about illegal immigration at our southern border. Soon, however, virtually every “news” outlet began claiming that he had called all Mexicans rapists and killers." https://spectator.org/trump-opponents-never-tire-of-losing/?

The media got everything wrong during the campaign and in the last 2 years, but they don't learn. Now with Nadler and Schiff they have moved on to obstruction and still cry "impeach him." They have no platform for 2020 except destroy Trump.

Why neither Obama nor Clinton mentioned Christians in the Sri Lanka bombing

"The reason neither of them [Obama and Clinton] mentioned Christians or churches is that the left has essentially forbidden mention of all the anti-Christian murders perpetrated by Muslims in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, and of all the Muslim desecration of churches in Europe, Africa, and anywhere else.

This is part of the same phenomenon—that I and others have documented—of British police and politicians covering up six years of rape of 1,400 English girls by Muslim “grooming gangs” in Rotherham and elsewhere in England.

Essentially, the left’s rule is that nothing bad—no matter how true—may be said about Muslims or Islam and nothing good—no matter how true—may be said of Christians or Christianity."

Commentary by Dennis Prager https://www.dailysignal.com/2019/04/23/why-obama-and-clinton-tweeted-about-easter-worshippers-not-christians/?

More reasons not to trust the media.

Rank, rate, percent and number

When reading statistics, watch the terms. Rank, rate, number, percent. For instance, Alaska RANKS 4th in the nation for black homicides. Wow. The RATE of homicide for blacks in Alaska is 29.22 per 100,000 (the national homicide rate is 4.62; 2.67 for white Americans). Must be a very violent place, that Alaska! In most states many fewer women are lost to this violence (about 12%), but in Alaska it's over 37 PERCENT. However, in NUMBERS only eight blacks were killed, 5 men and 3 women. 100% were killed by someone they knew, and 50% of those deaths were because of an argument. (2015 statistics from Violence Policy Center, April 2018, p. 3, state rankings)

I checked 4 sources--each had different figures for black male homicides. But I did see one in VPC that reported of the 7,014 black homicides, 121 were killed by law enforcement--of those where a relationship between victim and assailant could be determined, 75% were killed by someone they knew. Which is more likely to be breathlessly reported for days on the news, followed by a trial and protests?

Third gender option--Kamala Harris

Candidates chasing the gender realignments looking for new causes. 

1. Destroy God's word and creation stories of all cultures/religions, 

2. Destroy any statistical record in health/accomplishments and athletic prowess awards for women, 

3. Destroy "toxic masculinity" with mind control and hormones. 

4. Slash the birth rate (already below replacement level). 

5. Be God.

In order to identify as "woke", I think Kamala Harris should change her first name to Harris, wear no make-up, shave her head, and put on plumber's pants, complete with the crack.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/kamala-harris-third-gender-option-federal-ids?

Jeffrey Varasano says the 2020 platform for the Democrats is "It's a formula for Marxist revolution. Take every pillar that supports your opponent and criticize it from all angles on any grounds. It doesn't matter the reason. What matters is the repetition and that critique come from all directions from within the intelligentsia. So they attack institutions while they simultaneously infiltrate then morph them from within."

Across the pond in Great Britain, "Suzie Green allowed her teenage son to have sex-realignment surgery in Thailand which included penis removal (something that is not permitted in the UK). Caroline Farrow (a Catholic journalist) commented that in her view this was child abuse. Green denies this and says it was done with the best interest of her child, who is now identified as female." Guess which woman is being investigated as a threat in Great Britain--the woman who exercised her authority to remove her son's penis and pump him full of hormones, or the woman who exercised free speech and "mis-gendered" this poor child? And it's coming here.

https://theweeflea.com/2019/03/23/jordan-peterson-caroline-farrow-jayne-ozanne-and-the-death-of-free-speech/?

Only in America

I agree with Jared Kushner

The recently concluded Mueller investigation of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia did far more harm than any dirty tricks Russia tried to do, and failed, during the last presidential campaign.

The Mueller investigation broke families apart, ruined friendships, tore the country apart, made patriotism a nasty word, turned ordinarily normal people into thieves and attackers--knocking down elderly and stealing hats, sent our "free press" on a fool's mission, and drove one of our national parties over the edge of the socialism cliff.