I’m exhausted just reading about this trip

“President Donald Trump arrived back at the White House yesterday evening following his trip to Osaka, Japan, for the G20 Summit as well as a stop in South Korea. While overseas, he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Chinese President Xi Jinping, South Korean President Jae-in and other world leaders. The president also met with North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un at the Korean Demilitarized Zone in an impromptu meeting meant to breathe new life into peace negotiations.” [Presidential prayer team notice]

First President to step foot in North Korea. Washington Post writers are tying themselves into pretzels looking for the negatives, and he trolled the reporters with his comment about Putin.

Why are Democrats so inconsistent—power. Michael Smith, guest blogger

How can one justify a city-wide ban on E-cigarettes and fund "safe injection sites" for drugs?

How is it even remotely logical to ban cigarettes and promote legalization of marijuana?

What sense does it make to ban private assistance to feed the homeless and then complain that there isn't enough funding for food programs for them?

How can you argue for free healthcare for illegal non-citizens when American veterans can't get help?

How can you argue that it is discriminatory to refuse to bake a cake for a same sex wedding but forcing a baker to do so against their will is not?

How can you cry about the sanctity of elections and then refuse to put measures in place to validate the eligibility of the voters?

How can you argue that a particular redistricting is unconstitutional and then promote open borders?

How can you argue argue for background checks and restrictions to own a gun and ammunition because "if it can save one child, it is worth it" and then say that abortions should be free without restriction?

How can you argue that school shootings are aberrations when more children are aborted each day in abortion clinics than are killed in all school shootings?

This is your modern Democrat party.

They no longer are required to make sense.

This is all about power and pandering to anyone who will vote to give it to them.

Michael Smith, guest blogger.

Michael Stanley at Lakeside

Last night the program at Hoover was Michael Stanley and friends. ?? No, we'd never heard of him, but he was big in the late 70s and 80s, disbanding his MSB in 1986. He's sure popular around here (Hoover was packed) and he's still working in the Cleveland area on TV and radio. The group had a fabulous pianist, 3 guitars, 2 drummers, and our own wonderful Eddie Caner on violin who grew up in Lakeside. I'm surprised that violin didn't catch on fire he was so hot.

For years the rules at Hoover were no food or drink, but icy bottled water was being sold--perhaps because of the heat. First time I'd seen that. Not sure that's progressive or regressive. It's a huge clean up problem when that starts, and bottled water can't be good for the environment.

Tulsi Gabbard—is she too conservative for Democrats?

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii seems to me to be the only Democrat candidate with brains, biology and charisma. Noticed her on TV interview with Fox a few weeks ago.

She " caught the attention of American voters during Wednesday's first 2020 Democratic presidential primary with her remarks on foreign policy and the military. Here's what to know about the 38-year-old Hawaii lawmaker and military veteran...On foreign policy, Gabbard is opposed to "regime change wars" and wants to pull U.S. troops out of Syria and Afghanistan. Unlike many of her Democratic peers, Gabbard has said she is against impeaching Trump after former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election found "no collusion" between the president and Russia." (FoxNews)

Not much is known about her. Watch for clues. Even if she climbs no higher in this campaign, she's young enough to keep going. She is multiracial and a practicing Hindu. I think that gives her more intersectional points than Kamala Harris or Mayor Pete.

The Democrat platform

Poverty, then and now

"The problem of the poor is not the availability of jobs, for the economy has generated so many new jobs during the past decade that anyone who can't find a job just doesn't want to work. And the problem isn't taxes because most poor folks don't pay taxes, and many actually receive checks from the government in the form of the earned income-tax credit. No, to close the income distribution gap, the next president will have to have the courage to say that the path to upward mobility for the nation's least-well-off begins at the marriage altar." Joseph Perkins, Jan 26, 2000, black columnist for the San Diego Union-Tribune (now retired)

And 19 years after this column and 55 years after the trillions spent on the War on Poverty, politicians don't want to believe it because they need the issue for votes, money and power.

There are 92 major government programs providing cash, food, housing, medical care and social services to poor and low-income people at a cost of $1.1 trillion per year [2017 figures]. But only 4 of those programs have work requirements, and even those have gaping holes. Yet to listen to Democrats running for the highest office in the land and Socialists in government, honest work has no dignity (i.e. doesn't buy votes). Only give a-ways matter. Let me give you free stuff and keep you poor. Vote for me.

https://www.heritage.org/welfare/commentary/encouraging-work-lifts-people-out-poverty-the-green-new-deal-wont-do

Why does the left lie about poverty? Because they can. It's like lies that police shoot blacks and women earn less than men. We don't have a responsible media to call them out, to research it or correct the lies.

This report on the results of welfare reform is from 2016--before Trump was elected. But they were screaming lies then too, just like now. They were probably preparing for a Big Clinton Win and raising taxes for another battle in the 50+ year War on Poverty, our most expensive war in history. Politicians, non-profits, churches, authors and academics all "need" the appearance of poverty so they can make more. The wealthier got richer due to increased regulations and over sight by their friends in government, the poor got more transfers and paid no taxes, and the middle class got screwed.

https://www.heritage.org/welfare/report/did-welfare-reform-increase-extreme-poverty-the-united-states

Since 50% of Americans don't pay federal taxes (they are too "poor" unless you add supplemental sources transferred from others, then they are too well-off to be poor), you can see why Democrats have to shout out "free stuff" and "raise taxes" to the middle class in order to get votes. Thus, they plan to impoverish about 3/4 of the nation so politicians can be the only ones with wealth.

Lakeside 2019, Week 3

I loved our cute hydrangeas that Loretta planted for us last summer, but they didn't make it through the winter.  She said she had something that would work better, but it was such a cold and rainy spring, they didn't get planted.  Well, the first day of summer came, it was getting hot so I took things into my own hands, which have 2 brown thumbs, and I fixed those hydrangeas with $5 blooms from Wal-Mart.  I'm also wearing my $5 hat from Wal-Mart to shade me on my walks and protect me from dive-bombing mother birds that attack.  However, about 3 hours later, Loretta showed up with two new bushes (I have no idea what they are), so I've already had to transplant my fake flowers to the back of the house.

2019  

 

2018

The rest of the plants are doing so-so, but since July is almost here, I was hoping for more oomph.

 

 

Tonight's program is Michael Stanley and band, a Cleveland group from the 80s which our daughter has heard of but we haven't.  Last night was "Six Appeal" an a cappella group from Minnesota. This is the week of July 4 and this year we won't have anyone with us.  Bob is thinking of marching in the parade with the Guys' Club.  It's a long walk. And not much fun to watch alone.

The programming for the lecture series is on Artificial Intelligence with David Staley, Director of the Humanities Institute, OSU and something on capitalism by same speaker.  We'll be gone Tuesday for a quick trip back to Columbus.  Chef Stacy will be back on Friday for another cooking lecture. 

David Staley giving a Ted Talk about Columbus.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=20&v=SXYh3F4-_ko

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

This title is on the review list for the Lakeside Women’s Club this summer, so I decided to check it out.  I’ve been reading it on the porch in the evenings and at the wellness center in the morning.  I’m about 1/3 finished and not sure I’ll go on.  Ng is a good writer, but stories about bio and non-bio mothers and babies, and predictable criticisms of suburban families and their life styles (in this case Shaker Heights, Ohio) are just not comfortable for me.  I’ve read several reviews, from wildly enthusiastic to I-just-didn’t-care. There is a movie in the works since it’s got all the ingredients – teenagers in the 1990s, racial tensions, adoptions, surrogacy, frustrated homemaker, and do-gooder Democrats.

Spoiler:  Ng has a motherhood problem, in addition to her angst and guilt about being wealthy and a successful Asian American. (Wealthy, professional parents, raised in Shaker Heights).  One mother is a surrogate who stole her child and raised her on the run, one mother abandoned her child and kidnaps her back from the adoptive parents, one mother wanted her child but resents all the problems that child represents from  preemie to rebellious teen, one mother had an abortion but used someone else’s name.

What to do with stuff

We had an interesting program at Lakeside this morning on "Organizing 101: Simplify our Stuff" by Chris Perrow. One member of the audience commented that the people who needed to be there, weren't. "No one wants our stuff," was a common complaint.

For old family photos, scanning was the suggestion. One woman used the app Photomyne and found it very useful. Some suggested saving just a serving piece of two of that china you inherited but don't use. Lots of suggestions for various donation sites and sales. My suggestion is that if you like the china use it and don’t be afraid to put it in the dishwasher (although not the microwave since most have silver or gold trim).

For 34 years we lived in a house with no basement and no attic. Now we have both, and have more "stuff." Definitely a first world problem. Since I have a number of blogs I can write about things I donate or give away, and still retain the memory.  Doesn’t always solve the problem, but at least I know I’m not alone.  A number of people mentioned the emotional attachment to their stuff.

Wired for wealth

I'm getting ridiculously low offers for subscriptions to Vanity Fair ($8) and Wired ($5). (Both owned by Conde Nast). Magazines are vehicles for ads for expensive products, always have been. They are capitalism on steroids. Country Gentlemen (1831-1955) had a huge subscriber base, but the ads for farm equipment just didn't move city folk mired in nostalgia for the "old days." Vanity Fair insults probably 90% of the country to attract rich people or their wannabees as its editorial policy gallops leftward, and Wired does the same but without make up and fashion ads.

http://www.magazineart.org/main.php/v/farm/countrygentleman/Country+Gentleman+1924-10-04.jpg.html

This is an adorable cover of a teen girl in 1924 with headphones!

My bursitis has flared

So I whined on Facebook. Dianne Orr McDermott (from Mt. Morris, now in NOLA area) replied:

“I'll call your bursitis and raise you a torn rotator cuff. . ..can we exchange pity parties? That said:

Medications

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug

Relieves pain, decreases inflammation, and reduces fever.

Self-care

RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation)

Cold compress

Reduces inflammation and dulls sensation of pain.
Physical exercise

Aerobic activity for 20-30 minutes 5 days a week improves cardiovascular health. If injured, pursuing an activity that avoids the injured muscle group or joint can help maintain physical function while recovering.”

That’s good advice, so I’ll leave it here.

  When I first developed bursitis in winter 2013-14, I didn’t know what it was—thought maybe arthritis, so I used heat.  Bad idea—it’s an inflammation of the bursa, and can happen on any joint.  So yesterday I looked up the exercises and sat on an ice pack (my gel filled ice packs are at home). I couldn’t imagine how it started, but then remembered that on Wednesday while walking to a program, I misjudged a dip in the sidewalk and stumbled.  It doesn’t take much.

https://gethealthyu.com/best-exercises-hip-bursitis/

Japan. Brazil. Germany. India

I was reading over the President's schedule for the G20 meeting, amazed that anyone can keep a schedule like this (the time change alone would do me in), all while being berated and criticized by an army of bot-like professional media know-nothings attacking his every move and policy as they intend on destroying our country. May God protect and energize our President.

8:30AM EDT / 7:30PM The President participates in a bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of Japan

9:15AM EDT / 8:15PM The President participates in a trilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of Japan and the Prime Minister of the Republic of India

9:35AM EDT / 8:35PM The President participates in a bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of the Republic of India

10:30AM EDT / 9:30PM The President participates in a bilateral meeting with the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany

11:15AM EDT / 10:15PM The President participates in an official welcome and family photo

12:00PM EDT / 11:00PM The President participates in the G20 leaders’ special event on the Digital Economy

12:20PM EDT / 11:20PM The President participates in a G20 working lunch on the Global Economy, Trade, and Investment

2:00PM EDT / 1:00AM The President participates in a bilateral meeting with the President of the Russian Federation

3:30PM EDT / 2:30AM The President participates in a bilateral meeting with the President of the Federative Republic of Brazil

6:35PM EDT / 5:35AM The President participates in the G20 cultural program

Elizabeth Warren thinks the economy needs to be fixed.

True, librarians are a poorly paid group, but I'm earning more now than I did when I was employed, and many retirees say the same thing. And my 403-b is invested conservatively—about 60-40. I see hiring signs everywhere I go, and I see a number of new employees who have been put on the job floor a little soon.

Recessions come and go so I don't expect it to last, but Obama did everything wrong, and took what should have been a brief recession and extended it with clamping down on the very people who could have created the jobs. That recession was over in June 2009, but he had so flogged and discouraged American investors and businessmen we limped along in "recovery" for 7 more years while the rich came back with his bail outs. In fact, as soon as he was nominated by Democrats in summer 2008 things started to take an ugly turn.

The mega-wealthy like Bezos and Gates can withstand the crazies in Congress and the White House, but the rest of us have to wait for a Reagan or Trump.

The debates—the American people lost

I didn't watch the so-called debates (I watched a dog act at the auditorium), but I did see snippets on CNN and Spectrum 1 at the wellness center this morning. I determined the general idea of the Democrats' program, but there were no surprises.

Kill the insurance companies.
Open the borders to all illegals.
Impeach.
Tax. Tax. Tax. More Taxation.
Lie.
More hate.
Kill the economy.
Speak Spanish because you're Irish and have a Spanish nick-name.
Speak Spanish because you think you're Spartacus.

No answers in any language.

Lakeside Women's Club, 2019

Last week I was a hostess at the Lakeside Women's Club program "A Photographic History of Knitting: 1900to 2019" presented by Gretchen Curtis, LWC President. Gretchen used to be the Heritage Museum archivist and always presented such interesting programs.  She was also one of the Porch Stories presenters its first year.  This week's program was "Here comes the bride and bridesmaids, 1940s - 2010," although one dress was from 1909 and one was from 2018.  It was a fun program, and one woman who talked was 100 years old.  Made me think I should go back to coloring my hair, because she looked terrific--not a day over 80.

I did feel sad knowing my wedding dress, made by my mother in 1955 for my sister, had been given to the Discovery Shop (cancer) when no one in the family wanted it.  I was trying to pare down our stuffed closets, but I wish now I'd kept it--maybe for a style show to be used one more time.

One woman modeled her "mother of the bride" dress from 1984, and it was lovely--could go anywhere today, and she said she bought it for $1.00 at a resale shop. Several women in the audience were married 60 years or more, and they received a small gift.

The photo is my co-hostess Barb Hoffman and I on June 18 although she brought some lovely little fruit snacks on skewers which don't show, and all I did was open two packages of sandwich cookies and make the ice tea.  In the background is the LWC library, which I've been using this summer to do some porch reading--just about finished with "Nomadland: Surviving America in the 21st Century by Jessica Bruder" which will be reviewed on Friday by the ladies who run the bookstore.

Book review “Nomadland by Jessia Bruder

This Friday the Lakeside Women's Club book review is "Nomandland; surviving America in the 21st century" by Jessica Bruder. (2017) I'm about 1/3 finished, but I get the drift. Convince the readers there's something terribly wrong with the USA instead of the poor decisions, divorces, childhoods and investments of selected people interviewed for the book. So far, although the "great" recession of 2008 is noted as a cause for the white collar workers, the underlying factors in many of these cases are divorce, and/or an unhappy, abusive childhood that also included divorce, disruption, and frequent moves. I've been skimming or reading books like this for 4 decades. And since the so-called War on Poverty and the disintegration of households of married couples and families, the discussion doesn't get more positive, but the journalists/fabulists don't seem to catch on.

We first met nomad retirees in 2003 in Glacier Park. They were quite happy with their lives, moving with the tourism industry, northwest in the summer and south in the winter. According to Bruder, this movement has drastically increased as boomers hit retirement age, the internet glamorized it, and Amazon and other suppliers began to encourage a new migrant class of elder workers in RVs, vans and campers.

However, since the 1950s, our culture has glamorized the freedom of the open road, living off the grid, and personal liberty without family responsibilities in our films, theater, TV, literature or even neighborhood gossip. We shouldn't be surprised if a tiny percentage tried to grab this fading brass ring on a merry go round and found it a struggle of clunker RVs and difficult physical labor in warehouses.

So readers have a rich stew of anecdotes sprinkled with statistics about the history of retirement (it's a relatively recent concept). The reader can blame evil capitalists, bad government programs, Amazon, shrinking pensions, and overall malaise.

I'm shocked, shocked that aliens are flooding our borders. They need to read sad best sellers and then they would stay home.

Democrats espousing socialism, guest blogger

"I have seen some pretty strange things in my life and travels but nothing so blatant as Democrats openly and directly campaigning against the rights of American citizens, openly espousing socialism, flagrantly conspiring with illegal immigrants by teaching them how to evade arrest and so openly making common cause with the sworn enemies of America.

I mean they have done a little of each but never all at the same time and so arrogantly in the run-up to a presidential election year.

I haven't seen anything like this since the anti-Vietnam ethos of the 60's. Democrats say the GOP wants to take America back, but it appears they want to go back to the Fritz Mondale era.

This is on what they are going to run. This is their platform.

I don't want to jinx this but this is beginning to feel like 1984 (the year, not the book) when Reagan beat Mondale like a red-headed stepchild."

Michael Smith

I don't own this t-shirt, but I should

Bernie's immoral theft

Ilhan Omar needs to resign

Minnesota media and Democrats have failed miserably in uncovering, or reporting on Ilhan Omar's illegal behavior and tax evasion. It appears she may have married her brother, and then later filed income taxes with a man not her husband.   Not only does she hate the country that gave her refuge, she is in Congress making decisions about how the rest of us are allowed to live.

https://pjmedia.com/trending/new-documents-released-regarding-rep-ilhan-omars-possible-bigamy-and-incest/

Although with Democrats changing all the rules and then promoting reparations, perhaps incest, polygamy and filing as as household could become retroactively legal.  Elizabeth Warren wants gay couples to get reparations, although since so many never took advantage of the laws to protect their partners, don’t see that as anything other than to get more votes for Democrats.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/06/20/warren-introduces-bill-to-allow-wedded-gay-couples-to-amend-tax-returns/