President Trump and the opioid crisis

• President Trump launched an Initiative to Stop Opioid Abuse and Reduce Drug Supply and Demand, introducing new measures to confront the driving forces behind this crisis.
• The President signed the landmark SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act, the largest and most comprehensive legislative package addressing a single drug crisis in history.
• The President helped secure a record $6 billion in funding to fight the opioid epidemic.
• The Administration provided more than $2 billion in grants in 2018 to help States, territories, tribes, and local communities prevent and treat opioid abuse.
• The Administration pursued scientific solutions to prevent and treat addiction through the Helping to End Addiction Long-term (HEAL) Initiative.
• The President launched a national public awareness campaign about the dangers of opioid addiction and youth opioid usage.
• Last year, President Trump created a Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis, which recommends ways to tackle the opioid crisis.
• The Administration declared the opioid crisis a nationwide Public Health Emergency in 2017.
• President Trump is working to cut off the flow of deadly opioids into our country and to disrupt the networks that distribute them to our communities.
• The Administration secured first-ever indictments against Chinese nationals for fentanyl trafficking.
• The Department of Justice (DOJ) launched a surge to target fentanyl and heroin dealers in the districts with the most severe overdose death rates.
• The DOJ formed a Joint Criminal Opioid Darknet Enforcement team and shut down the biggest Darknet distributor of drugs.
• Last year, the DOJ announced the largest healthcare fraud takedown in history, arresting more than 120 defendants with opioid-related crimes.
• The President launched a Safer Prescribing Plan that seeks to cut nationwide opioid prescription fills by one-third within three years.
• The Administration has led four National Prescription Drug Take-Back Days, collecting a record-breaking 1,837 tons of expired and unneeded prescription drugs.

https://710wor.iheart.com/featured/mark-simone/content/2019-03-09-the-list-of-president-trumps-accomplishments-so-far/

Merriam Webster new word Stratagem

1. a. an artifice or trick in war for deceiving and outwitting the enemy

b. a cleverly contrived trick or scheme for gaining an end

2 . skill in ruses or trickery

Stratagem is not a “new” word in my vocabulary exactly, but I doubt I use it much.  Strategy, yes, I do use that.  But with the deception going on in Congress, it might be more useful. Investigating Americans because they don’t like them and having no crime to punish seems like a poor stratagem on which to build a campaign.

“A stratagem is any clever scheme—sometimes one that's part of an overall strategy (i.e., a carefully worked out plan of action). The word stratagem entered English in the 15th century and was originally used in reference to some artifice, such as a military plan or maneuver, which was designed to deceive or outwit the enemy. This military sense can be traced back to the word's Greek ancestor stratēgēma, which is itself based on stratēgein, meaning "to act as a general." Stratēgein, in turn, comes from stratēgos (meaning "general"), which comes from stratos ("camp" or "army") and agein ("to lead"). Stratēgos is an ancestor of strategy as well.”

Trying out the aggregator/repository CORE

Periodically I try out new search engines, data collectors and repositories I haven’t used, so today I discovered CORE, https://core.ac.uk/search, which at the moment has open access 135,500,000 publications, documents, blogs, trivia, thoughts, and according to my search, “President Trump,” over 725,000 items on our president even though he’s only been in office two years.

CORE’s mission is to aggregate all open access research outputs from repositories and journals worldwide and make them available to the public. In this way CORE facilitates free unrestricted access to research for all.

The co-investigator on the Euro Crisis in the Press (Japan) concluded even before Trump took office that he was a phenomenon like the world had never seen.

“Brexit has prevailed, the EU is in tatters, and finally Mr. Donald J. Trump has been elected President of the United States of America. Without any possible overstatement, the consequences of his ascent to the US presidency cannot be underestimated. It is a veritable game changer for global politics, an unexpected and glorious triumph for some, an unfathomable disaster for others.”

Checking his Tweets against the SOTU by three (American or British names) authors at Instituto Complutense de Análisis Económico (ICAE)

“State of the Union Addresses (SOUA) by two recent US Presidents, President Obama (2016) and President Trump (2018), and a series of recent of tweets by President Trump, are analysed by means of the data mining technique, sentiment analysis. The intention is to explore the contents and sentiments of the messages contained, the degree to which they differ, and their potential implications for the national mood and state of the economy. President Trump's 2018 SOUA and his sample tweets are identified as being more positive in sentiment than President Obama's 2016 SOUA. “

And from a UK blog, an interesting quote from Hillary Clinton even before he was the Republican candidate.

“It’s clear he doesn’t have a clue what he’s talking about. So we can’t be certain which of these things he would do. But we can be certain that he’s capable of doing any or all of them. Letting ISIS run wild. Launching a nuclear attack. Starting a ground war. These are all distinct possibilities with Donald Trump in charge.” –  Hillary Clinton, Speech in San Diego, CA, June 2, 2016

Yes, if I had time to browse 725,000 bad predictions, slanders, and hysteria, it would be interesting, but we’ve heard it all for 3 years.

Book suggestions for 2019-2020

Our book club, which doesn’t have a name, was organized by a group of young mothers mostly who lived in Clintonville and attended Bethel Road Presbyterian Church in 1979.  So this fall, it will be 40 years old.  The babies are grown, most members are grandmothers, new members have joined (I joined in October 2000), others have moved out of the area. We are missionaries, librarians, school teachers, lawyers, administrators, volunteers, and of course, daughters, mothers, wives, sisters, widows and grannies.  Except for a few special occasions, we now meet in the afternoon instead of the evening and at Bethel Road Presbyterian where we have good parking and is centrally located for all but one of us. Part of the group split off and still meet in the afternoon.  In May we select our new books for the next September through May, and these are the suggested titles.  All looked good, so I’ve listed all, but starred the ones who got the votes.

**1. Becoming Mrs. Lewis, by Patti McCallahan  September 9 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39189837-becoming-mrs-lewis  The marriage of Joy Davidman and C.S. Lewis.  Led by Bev

**2. The black ascot, by Charles Todd November 4  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40133569-the-black-ascot  Inspector Ian Rutledge  Led by Justine

**3. Dream of death, by Connie Berry (local author) March 2 Murder mystery https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42785284-a-dream-of-death Led by Carolyn C.

4.  Beneath a scarlet sky, by Mark Sullivan.  Historical fiction. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32487617-beneath-a-scarlet-sky

5.  What Alice Forgot, by Liane Moriarity. Fiction, woman forgets a decade of her life

**6. Before we were yours, by Lisa Wingate, October 7, at Peggy’s, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32148570-before-we-were-yours Historical fiction, stolen children placed for adoption. Led by Margie

**7. Road to dawn by Josiah Henson April 6 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32148570-before-we-were-yours  Real life story of slave who inspired Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Led by Gail

8.  Heavenly Man the story of Brother Yun, Chinese Christian.  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/79421.The_Heavenly_Man

9. Another kind of madness by Stephen Hinshaw. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31450861-another-kind-of-madness  Memoir of mental illness

10. White Rose by Kip Wilson, with We will not be silent. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39884755-white-rose  WWII era historical fiction 

11. Road to Character by David Brooks  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22551809-the-road-to-character  Thinkers and inspiring leaders

12.  Mrs. Mike by Benedict Freedman https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/155712.Mrs_Mike Love story set in Canada

**13. Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd.  January 13. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18079776-the-invention-of-wings  Grimke sisters. Led by Peggy

**14. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. February 3. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3228917-outliers Unusual interesting people. Led by Carolyn A

**15. One of the Narnia stories—A Horse and his boy. At Carolyn A.’s home December 2.  Everyone shares in this one. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/84119.The_Horse_and_His_Boy

**16. Elephant whisperer by Lawrence Anthony. May 4.  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6375561-the-elephant-whisperer  Led by Peggy.

Arizona trip, Day 2, April 3,Walking in Historic Prescott

You're in good hands when you shop with sister Kate.  On Wednesday we went to WalMart (I think it was in Prescott Valley) to buy a new suitcase for Bob.  I didn't realize what a disaster his was until I watched him trying to move it through the airport after Phoebe dropped us off on Tuesday morning.  It was a little larger, but it had 4 wheels and a working extension pull handle. For lunch on Wednesday we went to a Bruce favorite where "everyone knows your name" and they knew the servers and owners.  I think it was called Tony's Too Bar and Grill, at least this looks like the photo. Great food, and then we were off to see historic, downtown Prescott, the county seat.

.

Prescott is known for being a friendly city, and I'd certainly agree. On our walk we met a woman who 2 days before had moved there from Huntington Beach, California, and then later we saw her again talking to some folks sitting outside a restaurant and those people used to live in Columbus, Ohio.  It was so easy to strike up a conversation with anyone, including a "just married" couple walking around the courthouse plaza.  I assume they were married in the court house.

Just married in Prescott, Arizona

Yavapai is the name of the county, but also the name of the native peoples of the area, so there are many buildings, colleges, city organizations, and non-profits called Yavapai.

The county courthouse with a statue dedicated to all veterans from Yavapai County

I think this is how we met the woman from California--

she offered to take our photo and we began talking.

In December all the trees are wrapped with colored lights for a Christmas celebration.

We visited the lobby of an old hotel while walking in the historic district.

Arizona trip, Day 1, April 2, Prescott

Prescott where the Bruces live is about an hour and forty-five minutes from Scottsdale, and as we went higher and higher it got cooler and gradually the cactus began to disappear. People in Phoenix come to the mountains to get away from the heat.  Although it was spring, and we saw a few flowering trees, the landscape was brown.

Rick and Kate's new home in the suburbs of Prescott, 3 bedroom ranch, 3.5 baths, 10 ft. ceilings with 8 ft. doors, 3 garages, covered patio and porch, paver drive way, lighted walk-ways.  Really great for entertaining, and lovely neighbors. 

The neighborhood is about 4 years old, and there were few houses on their street when they selected their model, but now there are just a few lots left.  This is the area we would walk in every day.  I discovered quickly the lack of oxygen at that elevation and had difficulty breathing. All homes had desert style landscaping.  Very little green. 

Front porch--it was cool but we enjoyed sitting here.

Tuesday evening Rick drove into Prescott to get a pizza.  It was a long, but lovely day.

Arizona trip, Day 1, April 2, Taliesin West

With a three hour time difference, we arrived in Phoenix 20 minutes early and before lunch.  Rick and Kate's son, daughter-in-law and grandson live there, so they know the area well, and had a favorite restaurant, Mimi's in Scottsdale not far from Taliesin. https://www.mimiscafe.com/lunch-dinner/  We had purchased tickets on-line for Taliesin West, but arrived an hour early and had no problem getting them changed.  https://www.yelp.com/biz/taliesin-west-scottsdale

Taliesin West was architect Frank Lloyd Wright's winter home and school in the desert from 1937 until his death in 1959 at the age of 91. Today it is the main campus of the School of Architecture at Taliesin and houses the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. The Foundation has attempted to keep it looking much as it did in the 1950s, and it is a very popular tourist destination. We'd visited a number of FLW buildings and homes 10-15 years ago, in Ohio, New York, Oklahoma, and Illinois so we loved being able to see this final phase of his career.

Promotion photo of the Taliesin campus

Waiting for our docent--it was extremely hot with little shade

Students at work, a three year Master of Architecture program

Our docent explaining the history of the buildings and how the school works

One of many sculptures by Heloise Crista who died in March, 2018 at 92. 

Seeking some shade in the gift shop

Auditorium where students gathered with Wright for socializing

Arizona Trip, Day 1, April 2

Last year for Bob's 80th birthday, we had a huge party and his three siblings from Indiana, California and Arizona came here. It was time and money intensive, but I think we managed to outdo it this year for his 81st.  We flew to Arizona to visit brother Rick and sister Kate in their new home in Prescott, Arizona, on April 2 and sister Debbie flew in later in the week so we could be together again.  She also had never seen their new home. I believe they had moved there from Huntington Beach, California in 2015. Due to a divorce, the brothers and sisters had not grown up in the same home--Bob and Jean grew up in Indianapolis with their mother and step-father, and Rick and Debbie grew up with their mother and father in Southern California.

Bob, Rick Debbie and Jean with Grandfather C.L. Bruce in 1952 in Indiana

Rick, Bob and Deb in April 1993 in California for Bob's birthday

Bob, Jean and Deb at Jean's 80th in Indianapolis in February 2016

Deb, Bob, Jean and Rick in April 2018 in Columbus for Bob's birthday

President Trump and religious freedom—know your rights

Trump has done more for religious freedom in the U.S. than many recent presidents, but the media neglect to do their homework and some recent reporting shows the ignorance of journalists raised and educated in the late 20th-21st centuries. They hate him so therefore never dig into the laws and regulations. President Trump's executive order on religious liberty in May 2017 noted, "Federal law protects the freedom of Americans and their organizations to exercise religion." No new laws, no convoluted regulations. Simply implement the laws we had. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2017/05/04/read-the-full-text-of-trumps-executive-order-on-religious-freedom/?

Section 4 provided guidance (by then AG Jeff Sessions) on 20 principles of religious freedom and guidance for their implementation, followed by an appendix with supporting case law. I wonder how many journalists, pastors, church boards or school principals have read it? https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1001886/download?

Every American Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, others and atheists needs to print and save Sessions' guidelines so they don't look foolish arguing and making charges about settle law.

Was it Obama, Trump or Clinton who declared federal employees may keep religious materials on the private desks and read them during breaks? Clinton. Was it Obama, Trump or Clinton who said federal employees can wear religious jewelry, invite coworkers to attend services, and discuss religious issues? Clinton.

Why do Lutheran schools have the right to employ only practicing Lutherans, or set codes of conduct for non-Lutheran employees? Title VII Civil Rights Act 1964.

Is anyone watching CNN?

"How quickly Washington forgets — when it is convenient. Trump is not the first president to resist congressional investigation of the inner workings of his administration, and Barr is not the first Cabinet officer to negotiate the terms of his appearance before a committee. In fact, the responses are unremarkable." https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/05/01/trump-resists-congressional-subpoenas-thats-what-presidents-do/?

But those who watch CNN will never know that. . . is anyone watching CNN? Ratings are terrible. I see it occasionally at the gym or in snippets on Facebook posts—ridiculing it.

Who believes socialism will be different this time?

I keep reading on WaPo, NYT or BBC or even posts of liberal Facebook friends, that it isn't really socialism destroying Venezuela, but some other hybrid monster. This comment is being passed around on FB as "from a friend," and makes much more sense about what happens when you vote the Socialists in--and doesn't happen overnight.

"A friend writes: "For two decades the people of Venezuela voted for Socialists. They celebrated as their President stripped the successful of their property and their rights. They cheered as their government derided other nations for their commitment to capitalism and property rights and individual liberty.

I don't feel sorry for that majority who created the monster that now runs over them with armored vehicles, that stole their arms and left them defenseless against a nanny-state-turned-cannibal, that left them so penniless and hungry that they're eating their pets.

As Venezuela turns into a river of blood, as all socialist experiments necessarily do, I feel bad only for those who knew better all along. I feel bad for those in Venezuela who know history, who employ reason, who value evidence and logic and know basic economics. They are the victims of the mob, and they are the only victims in Venezuela.

The rest of them are getting exactly what they asked for, whether they knew it or not. Still, it will be less than a week before Democrats in our government demand we import these people here in the hopes they will vote for the same disastrous fiction that now eats their own country, a country that was one of the most-successful countries in the world."

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffreydorfman/2018/07/08/sorry-bernie-bros-but-nordic-countries-are-not-socialist/#2d99e46f74ad

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