Vindman, the bombshell

A GQ story from Oct. 29 said that Lt. Col. Alexander VIndman, a key witness in the impeachment inquiry into President Trump, originally ran with a line saying that Vindman was awarded the Purple Heart after being injured by an IUD. Well, in these days of gender confusion I suppose that possible, but generally, it's extremely difficult to fit a man with an IUD. They do injure women, but not men since a uterus is not one of the usual pieces of equipment they are issued. Shaped like a "T" and a bit bigger than a quarter, an IUD fits inside a woman's uterus. It prevents pregnancy by stopping sperm from reaching and fertilizing eggs.

GQ has corrected its mistake--it was an IED, a bomb. However, the testimony was indeed a bomb.

Tulsi Gabbard—what do Democrats have against her?

Tulsi Gabbard is just as far left as the rest of the Democrat party candidates running for 2020, but she's younger, prettier, more talented, more articulate, a veteran, a minority and a female. She should be the dream candidate, a photogenic trifecta, but they are attacking her. Why?

Let me float this one. She's a threat to the one they are grooming--AOC--and they know they can pull her strings. Gabbard they aren't sure about.

Every witness--same story

95% of printed Bibles are in English

Numbers, rate, percentage and misinformation. Today I was browsing a newsletter of a Christian organization which said 95% of all printed Bibles are in English, but that only 4.8% of the world population knows English.

Apples and oranges. And this was an appeal for more translation projects.

I look to my right and I have 10 Bibles--including one in Spanish and one in Russian. And that doesn't count what's in my husband's office or other rooms. It would make more sense when talking about Bibles to use "household."

There are 983 million people in the world who speak English, 372 as a first language and 611 as a second (about 13%). Yes, having the Bible in your own heart language is important, but it would be important for those with an English language Bible in their home to open it and read.

English was the language of the Union Jack, and the King James Bible went where ever the British went. The Crown had a monopoly and colonists couldn't print and distribute the KJV Bible. The Geneva Bible (1599) was the original Bible of the colonies--came with the Pilgrims in 1620. That said, English Bibles were translations of Greek, Latin and Hebrew.

The first European language Bible printed in the future United States was in German in 1743, not English, and it was for the Brethren (Church of the Brethren current name). The first Bible in any language printed in America was in Algonquin in 1661, which brings us back to the point of the article I read--translations are important.

Christianity in America, a handbook, 1983.

Lutheran Bible Translators.  The Messenger, Christmas 2019.

Fiona Hill is right—the nation is being torn apart . . . by the Democrats

"The impact of the successful 2016 Russian campaign remains evident today. Our nation is being torn apart. Truth is questioned. Our highly professional and expert career foreign service is being undermined." Fiona Hill opening statement, Schiff Show aka Impeachment Hearings

Jeffrey Varasano: This woman [Hill] is an undeniable loyal agent of the deep state, pushing the hoax that Russia elected Trump. To this day they have yet to come up with a plausible theory, or even an implausible one, to explain why Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan voted for Trump. Whose vote was switched and how? One hour's worth of MSM propaganda exceeds in breath all of the supposed Russian media influence. Her "highly professional and expert career foreign service" did nothing to stop China, Iran, Russia, or global graft on a grand scale. We saw you experts loading piles of cash onto pallets to jet off to Iran and we voted you out. But you won't leave.

Ambassador Sondland disappoints

Bombshell witness implodes:

"So no one told you," Turner pressed on. "Not just the president. Giuliani didn't tell you, Mulvaney didn't tell you. Nobody. Pompeo didn't tell you. Nobody else on this planet told you that Donald Trump was tying aid to these investigations. Is that correct

"Yes," Sondland replied.

"So, you really have no testimony today that ties President Trump to a scheme to withhold aid from Ukraine in exchange for these investigations?" Turner asked.

"Other than my own presumption," Sondland said.

You Democrats wet your pants and drew your knives for that?

Merriam-Webster word for the day, heterodox

Today's M-W word is "heterodox," meaning different opinions or ways of perceiving things. I looked at the website for "Heterodox Academy" and found pretty much what I thought. Anything can be good or useful or instructional, but not if perceived as orthodox, conservative, and traditional. In fact, you could pretty much throw out the concepts of truth, goodness or beauty. I glanced through the blog written for Heterodox Academy and found a take down of Canadian psychologist/professor Dr. Jordan Peterson, who actually is best known for challenging orthodox leftist theory and mind control. Funny how words work. When Jordan Peterson challenges punishments for using the obvious pronoun, he's alt-right. Ten years ago, he would have just been using correct English. But the LGBTQ lobby has become very powerful in recent years and now the obvious has become the hateful.

Peterson has a best seller that is just driving the Leftists around the bend. It's called, "12 rules for life; an antidote to chaos." You can see from the title why it would upset those who want society in constant chaos--like attacking Chick-fil-A or killing off the unborn so they need to ship in more immigrants who have a higher birth rate. And admittedly, Peterson does give young people outrageous, non-leftist advice such as:

#1 Stand up straight with your shoulders back.
#5 Do not let your children do anything that makes you dislike them.
#8 Tell the truth--or, at least, don't lie.
#12 Pet a cat when you encounter one on the street.

You can see who is really heterodox. Peterson. He sprinkles his writing with basic psychological research, studies about animals (he particularly likes lobsters), some Judeo-Christian concepts, and a little Greek and Roman history. Except for the lobsters, people my age scratch their heads and say, This is best seller stuff? What our parents taught us? You'd never find such outrageous concepts in the writings of a recently tenured American professor at an elite university charging you $75,000 a year.

The Democrats have pitted Americans against each other

Devon Nunes opening reports in today’s Schiff Show:

“President Trump, we are to believe, was just about to do something wrong, and getting caught was the only reason he backed down from whatever nefarious thought-crime the Democrats are accusing him of almost committing,” Nunes continued before dovetailing to his key point about it being the Democrats “who got caught.”

As evidence, he cited everything from the debunked Russian collusion delusion conspiracy theory that they gleefully touted for three years straight to their unscrupulous handling of the partisan whistleblower complaint:

♦ “They got caught falsely claiming they had more than circumstantial evidence that Trump colluded with the Russians to hack the 2016 elections.”

♦ “They got caught orchestrating this entire farce with the Whistleblower and lying about their secret meetings with him.”

♦ “They got caught defending the false allegations of the Steele dossier, which was paid for by the Democrats.”

♦ “They got caught breaking their promise that impeachment would only go forward with bipartisan support because of how damaging it is to the American people.”

♦ “They got caught running a sham impeachment process featuring secret depositions, hidden transcripts, and an unending flood of Democrat leaks.”

♦ “They got caught trying to obtain nude photos of President Trump from Russian pranksters pretending to be Ukrainians.”

♦ “And they got caught covering up for Alexandra Chalupa — a Democratic National Committee operative who colluded with Ukrainian officials to smear the Trump campaign — by improperly redacting her name from deposition transcripts and refusing to let Americans hear her testimony as a witness in these proceedings.”

“That is the Democrats’ pitiful legacy in recent years: They. Got. Caught,” he added.

Meanwhile, he continued, the accusations that have been levied against the president by the Democrats’ star witnesses have all been based on second-hand information and hearsay.

“Ladies and gentlemen, unless the Democrats once again scramble their kangaroo court rules, today’s hearing marks the merciful end of this spectacle in the Impeachment Committee, formerly known as the Intelligence Committee,” he added.

“Whether the Democrats reap the political benefit they want from this impeachment remains to be seen. But the damage they have done to this country will be long-lasting.”

He argued for instance that the Democrats’ impeachment drive has “pitted Americans against one another” in ways not seen before.”

Ukraine timeline from 2014

Remember the good old days (of last month) when the media were denying the coup--calling it hyperbole and fantasy? Now they praise an unelected careerist bureaucracy displayed during the hearings that seeks to overturn the president and the 2016 election.

John Solomon has laid out the Ukraine timeline beginning in 2014--there may be deeper political reasons, but protecting Biden's son and Kerry step-son and the families' wealth has certainly got to be at the top (or bottom). Although Solomon was reporting on the first tidbits of the scandal when most Americans had never heard of Ukraine, I really think if loose-lip, slightly demented Joe had never confessed in public to getting that prosecutor fired, this could still all be under the Obama era rug. You remember? The one with no scandals.

https://johnsolomonreports.com/the-ukraine-scandal-timeline-democrats-and-their-media-allies-dont-want-america-to-see/

https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2019/nov/21/victor-davis-hanson-the-deep-state-at-w/?news-columnists

Ambassador Sondland’s testimony

"On examination, Ambassador Sondland admitted that only his presumptions tied conditions to the aid. His actual exchange with the President offered only, "I want nothing from Ukraine! Tell him to do what he ran on; tell him to do the right thing. I want nothing from them - there is no quid-pro-quo!"

The MSM did not report the examination of the Ambassador to its viewers!

They instead told their viewers that a conviction in the Senate was made inevitable by Sondland's testimony, ignoring altogether, Sondland's admission that only his presumptions tied conditions to the Ukrainian aid." (Patricia Anthone)

It's been shocking to me to listen to Democrat friends who watch and listen to testimony yet only hear "fact" instead of assumption, where people are clearly speculating about and interpreting the mind of someone they hate. They become enraged and unhinged if you point out what wasn't said. FACTS.

Would any of these Democrats, well educated, loyal Americans, want to face a jury this biased and hateful?  Would they agree to marriage counseling or arbitration if this sort of bias were taken as reliable information or fact? Why do people expect justice for themselves but no justice for people they hate?

What Democrats are doing should frighten you

My thoughts exactly. Even if you hate President Trump, you should be very afraid of the way Congressional Democrats and the media are destroying our justice system and basic principles of evidence and innocence. It's the show trials of the 1930s, USSR.

The Sondland Nothingburger

“Democrats are working on another nothingburger today with Ambassador Gordon Sondland's testimony. Not only did Sondland admit again that the only direct evidence he has on Trump is Trump's own statement saying he wanted nothing from Ukraine — "no quid pro quo" — but he also had to admit he has zero evidence Trump even tried to connect the military aid to the investigations of 2016 election interference and Burisma.” PJ Media. https://pjmedia.com/trending/amb-sondland-admits-he-has-no-evidence-trump-tied-ukraine-military-aid-to-investigations-other-than-his-own-presumption/

I listened to a small part of this scratching my head that Democrats were wetting their pants in anticipation of. . . Trump saying he wanted nothing?  What’s going on with these crazies?

In this whole mess, the only one who has admitted to wrong doing, to quid quo pro, is Joe Biden when he bragged about getting someone fired. Oh well.  The Obama Administration was protected.

Children have been rescued by ICE

This is sure to upset Leftists who want ICE shut down. Children have been rescued. "Special agents, investigators and analysts from across HSI have dedicated themselves to protecting children and rooting out predators for more than two decades. In FY 19, HSI initiated 4,224 child exploitation cases resulting in 3,771 criminal arrests, and identified or rescued 1,066 victims – an increase of nearly 18% over FY 18 and reflecting HSI’s firm commitment to ending these heinous crimes against children, wherever they occur.

Locally, HSI agents in the Seattle AOR arrested hundreds of individuals for child pornography violations, including a youth sports coach, elementary school music teacher, nurse assistant, suspected rapist, child sex tourist and a number of other previously convicted, registered sex offenders. . ." And Seattle? Wow

https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ice-hsi-helps-remove-more-3500-sexual-predators-community-18-over-last-year

"HSI is committed to eradicating individuals from our communities who seek to prey on children,” said Eben Roberts, acting special agent in charge of HSI Seattle. “HSI’s agents, in cooperation with our law enforcement partners, work tirelessly to find and bring to justice, individuals who commit these heinous crimes. Moreover, we are dedicated to rescuing from harm’s way our most precious population – our children – and those who seek to harm them should consider this a warning.” "

But how do you eradicate people from the community who are sexually abusing children legally with the cooperation of their parents with the transgender hoax aka "gender affirmation surgery." Check the internet for any major city—Boston, Cincinnati, Columbus, LA—and you find these gender affirming clinics. Follow the money.  Where were they 10 years ago?

Nothing a patriot can’t do

What makes Donald J. Trump so popular with the people and so successful in accomplishing things other politicians could only dream about? He loves America!

New book by his son reveals his zest for life. https://spectator.org/the-book-on-the-president/

When visiting with the president in the Oval Office, the writer of this article in American Spectator expected to find the man who is maligned in the press--stormy, erratic obsessed—the guy the Trump haters like to pick on.

"I hate to report back to his enemies, but he was not erratic, not gloomy, not obsessed with his enemies. In fact, we hardly talked about his enemies. The president was upbeat, optimistic, and full of fun. He was in very good form, and his aide, Brad Parscale, remarked that this is one of the reasons Parscale enjoys working with him. Never once did the president mention a conservative writer, but he mentioned things American. When I mentioned my visit with a Fox News contributor, he said he had had a similar experience. “They’re [the president’s enemies are] living in a bubble,” the Fox reporter said. The president is having a ball, and if he is obsessed with his enemies he never showed it to us."

Oops. Wrong president.

A story that claimed the Trump administration had the highest number of children in detention in the world was suddenly withdrawn by several media outlets because the study upon which the story was based used data from 2015 when Barack Obama was president. (PJMedia)

Of course, there will be no further stories on the plight of immigrant children because unless Trump can be vilified and maligned, there is not story. Just doesn't sell. Who cares about kids, anyway?

You haven’t seen anything yet

Wall Street Journal today opined "The left’s culture warriors always need new monsters to slay. Among their most improbable targets in recent years is the famously friendly restaurant chain Chick-fil-A, which this week appears to have surrendered.

In 2012 CEO Dan Cathy, a committed evangelical Christian, sinned against the progressive ethos by expressing support for the traditional view of marriage. That prompted a political campaign against Chick-fil-A."

Most of us who stood in front of a pastor, judge or someone with a mail-order license and daisies in her hair always believed marriage was between a man and woman. Even most homosexuals. But after activists succeeded in the insurance and work benefits demands, and told everyone it was just about love, things changed after the Supremes again made law and decided to change thousands of years of history. Now if you believe God had something in mind, or even if directionless evolution lurched forward to protect the human race, now you are a hater, bigot, and evil person. And an awful lot of gay guys ended up at the altar (and later in divorce court) who thought they were protected from all that their heterosexual friends and associates were going through.

But is wasn't enough, as we've seen from the growing transgender wars--which threaten homosexuals as much as heterosexuals and will destroy their movement. This Chick-fil-A thing is just one more hole in the wall through which the nation will be attacked at its base--the babies that are unnecessary and inconvenient; the easy divorce or no marriage at all putting generations of children at risk; the demand that we ignore biology and pretend men have periods and babies (which seems to be the only time the Left want babies to live); ignoring the child trafficking across the real border; performing drag queens during library story hour; the dropping birthrate to the place where our population can't be replaced without importing people like oxen to do the dirty work; and the required reeducation camps supplied by our "woke capitalists" and leftist universities. No one will be allowed to have a thought differing from the socialist/communist cabal that is controlling the government and academe.

It will not make any difference if in 2019 you were a social justice warrior who supported gay marriage or the chemical castration of little boys so they can pretend to be girls--eventually even YOU WILL FIND a split in the road and say you won't go down that path. You'll ask, "Where's my country?" Maybe it will be legalized pedophilia, or the redefinition of so much history you'll think you didn't go to school, or digital spying everywhere, or losing your job because you aren't a minority. Look out. Then they'll haul you off to the reeducation camp or the phony trial where you'll have no right to presumption of innocence because in 1850 your family came here from Germany or Ireland.

Chick-Fil-A caves to radicals

"Chick-Fil-A said on Monday that it has stopped funding two Christian charities after coming under fire in recent weeks from LGBTQ activists. The fast-food chain’s foundation has donated millions of dollars to The Salvation Army and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Both organizations have a history of opposing same-sex marriage." (CNBC)

And who are the unfortunates being hurt by withdrawing funding from the Salvation Army? Who are the people being hurt by the LGBTQ activists? The homeless. The mentally ill. The single moms with little kids. Take a look at the full homeless report for Los Angeles--the one that breaks down this disfunction by district, race, age and sex. There is a tiny percent of people who are transgender in this country, yet their rate for homelessness is beyond absurd--and these are the very people Salvation Army helps. S.A. doesn't ask gender, race or creed--but the Left does. The Left has polluted everything about our country--there is no decency, kindness or integrity in the whole movement. They poison everything they touch.

Do something small that won’t change lives

Today I packed a bag for a family or household to have complete sides with the turkey Lutheran Social Services will distribute--mashed potatoes, 2 different vegetables, 2 fruits, a cake, gravy, cranberry sauce and pumpkin. I also packed a bag for "God's Hygiene Help Center" which includes personal care items for women who need to get back their dignity. This was started by Tammy Jewell about 8 years ago who was using her own disability check to buy things for those less fortunate. I packed shampoo, hand lotion, cotton balls, razors, deodorant, hand sanitizer, feminine hygiene products, and new Christmas socks, just for fun.

No one's life will be permanently changed. But the recipient may just be on a temporary slide and can bounce back, but she could be mentally ill and spend the rest of her life on the street. Why not have one good day to feel like everyone else? Would that be so terrible?

A few years ago I was visiting in Mt. Morris around the holidays and my Uncle Gene stopped by to chat. He was feeling great--he and a bunch of guys at the bar had taken up their annual collection for turkeys and were going to distribute them to (there was a list). They felt good and there were some families who had a nice meal--nothing life changing, just people helping people.

I was thinking about this because two Nobel Prize winners won on the basis of small projects enhanced by competition and incentive—finding out that children in Africa learn better if the teacher shows up, and that children are more like to get immunizations if they and the health care worker show up.  So simple.  Yet the author of the article was critical.

https://www.econlib.org/nobel-laureates-aim-too-low-on-global-poverty/

Are you ready for a happy ending story?

Many years ago my daughter inherited her grandmother's deviled egg plate. Oh, the wonderful egg delicacies we enjoyed for Indiana holidays--I think they were made by grandpa Jim along with his oyster dressing. Anyway, last Thanksgiving, it broke in the dishwasher and she was crushed. So she started looking on the internet, but everything was just too Easter-ish or was colored glass/pottery, and the ONE was clear and plain. Finally, she saw one on e-Bay, and contacted the owner, who happened to live right here in central Ohio. He told her it was made in Indiana, so she had him send some more photos and then ordered it. It is perfect and wonderful, and we're back in the holiday business.

I think I found the right photo. . .

$100 million from DOJ to fight sex trafficking

One of the issues with the Border Wall (which Democrats used to support) is sex trafficking and trafficking of children. DNA tests show that many of the children of "family groups" are not related, and the kids are passed around. Leftists whine about cages, but don't seem to worry about trafficking. The women are being trafficked, and probably make their handlers more money than drugs, which can't be reused. So when Trump announces that his administration has had about 8x more arrests for sex trafficking (aka slavery) than Obama's the left just howls. First, they try to make it a women's rights issue (how lame) and second, they just hate him so they paste a Pinocchio nose on him based on tweets.

I haven't exactly determined how the money spent differs between Obama and Trump, and it wouldn't make any difference since James Little would find a corresponding cartoon article on the left denying it, but the recent figure is that DOJ has awarded more than $100 million to combat human trafficking and assist victims is reliable and here's a list of the grants, just in case you want to check if any of these agencies are near you. My problem with some of the recipients is they are leftist organizations sopping up federal money who have no particular value system that includes this issue.

https://ojp.gov/newsroom/pressreleases/2019/ojp-news-10082019_a.pdf?

Another problem with the list is that about 80% appears to go for training, task forces, information, marketing, "collaborative models," evaluations and salaries. Sure, you can't run a program for abused women and children without trained staff, but I sure would like to see more go directly to the women who need to rebuild their lives--you know, the basics like rent, food, medical care and job training. All the things they didn't have that may have pushed them into the trade. What happens in these cases, the church non-profits pick up the slack and scramble to assemble bedding, cleaning supplies, food, and winter coats.