A question for all of us about who would replace President Trump

"The editors [of Christianity Today] didn’t tell us who should take his place in the aftermath. Maybe the magazine would prefer a president who is passionately pro-abortion, anti-family, hostile to the military, dispassionate toward Israel, supports a socialist form of government, promotes confiscatory taxation, opposes school choice, favors men in women’s sports and boys in girl’s locker rooms, promotes the entire LGBTQ agenda, opposes parental rights, and distrusts evangelicals and anyone who is not politically correct."  James Dobson

Jack Graham, pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church and the host of PowerPoint Ministries speaks on CT controversy

“When we [Trump's religious council] began to work with the Trump Administration, it was with the hope that our president would keep the promises he made to America and advocate for conservative biblical principles. We continue to support him because he has kept those promises (all of them) and often he has exceeded them and beyond expectations. The 2020 election is pivotal, and we all should be prayerful that the policies of our president are secured for generations to come.

So call me foolish, but I’ve never been more confident in the will of God as we work and pray together with President Donald Trump with the future in mind."

There are still some Christians advocating socialism and trying to bring down the President so the Democrats can succeed. It baffles me. They don't know history and have forgotten the lessons of the 20th century when communist/socialist governments killed 100,000,000 of their own citizens to say nothing of the millions of unborn who never got to take a breath.

https://www.christianpost.com/voice/why-it-is-wise-for-christians-to-support-president-trump-234332/

IEDs blow up college costs

I have received Christmas/holiday greetings from the OSU Vice Provost for Diversity and Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer Executive Director of the Todd Anthony Bell National Resource Center on the African American Male. There may be hundreds of these administrative bloat positions at any college or university by the time you include the department level and committee level appointments plus the various centers.

Impeachment timeline

A conversation with a Trump hater on the impeachment, guest blogger Michael Smith

Michael Smith had an actual conversation with a liberal who believes Trump should be impeached based on his assumptions and feelings, not evidence--just like a few Democrats I know.  Trump's enemies didn't expect him to release the transcript of the Ukraine phone call, but it didn't make any difference. Hate, which begins in the heart, has created an actual hate crime.

Actual conversation on Wednesday afternoon (before the shampeachment vote):

Person: "Trump asked Ukraine to manufacture dirt on Biden."
Me: "No. That's not correct."

Person: "Yes, it is. It was in the transcript."

Me: "No. It isn't. Not even close."

Person: "He said 'Do me a favor and investigate Biden and he withheld aid until they did."

Me: "The transcript said '...do us a favor though because our country has been through a lot and Ukraine knows a lot about it. '" and as to the Bidens he said "The other thing, there's a lot of talk about Biden's son, that Biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that so whatever you can do with the Attorney General would be great."

Person: "Well, that's asking for dirt."

Me: "It's not. He asked for them to look into it but didn't specify a desired outcome - and as to the aid, it was never discussed in any call between Trump and Ukraine and was released after the call without an investigation."

Person: "Well, that's not what Trump meant. We know what he was after."

Me: "We don't "know" anything other than what actually was said and what happened - no witness has stated anything different than what the White House has said."

Person: "I know what happened because I know what kind of person Trump is."

Me: "So what you are saying is that a president can be impeached based on your feelings? That has to be it because you just acknowledged your position is based on how you feel, not what the facts are."

Person: "Trump is the most corrupt president we have ever had."

Me: "Show me. I'm willing to be proven wrong."

Person: "I'm not going to do it for you. You look it up. There's plenty of evidence."

Me: "Which means you don't have any evidence at all." “

Christianity Today doesn’t remember, but I do

About the Christianity Today editorial:

I’m so old I remember when conservatives were horrified that a Roman Catholic could be president; I’m so old I remember that Ronald Reagan’s divorce and remarriage was a topic of media gossip; I’m so old I remember when Gerald Ford’s wife’s divorce years before was grist for the media mill as well as the divorce of his mother and his adoption by his stepfather, named Ford; I’m so old I remember when abortion was taboo for most Christian churches, and now it’s only in the documents of the Catholics who also are ignoring their church’s teaching.

I'm so old I remember that Bill Clinton was NOT impeached for sex but for perjury and deception, aka lying, using the Violence Against Women Act definition of sex. I’m so old I remember when marriage was between a man and a woman. I'm so old I remember when Cher had a daughter and the Kardashians had a father. I'm so old I remember when Christians sat out the vote in 2012 because Romney was a Mormon so we got a second term of Obama. I'm so old I remember when ordinary people actually believed it was about medical qualities of marijuana, but presidents could inhale.

Christianity Today stumbles badly

Although I'd never call Christianity Today a "far left" magazine, it poked a hornet's nest by attacking President Trump. Trump has done more for Christians, Jews, Muslims and atheists by protecting their religious liberty from socialism and appointing judges to balance out our leftist courts than any other president in my life time.

I’m so old I remember when conservatives were horrified that a Roman Catholic could be president; I’m so old I remember that Ronald Reagan’s divorce and remarriage was a topic of media gossip; I’m so old I remember when Gerald Ford’s wife’s divorce years before was grist for the media mill as well as the divorce of his mother and his adoption by his stepfather, named Ford; I’m so old I remember when abortion was taboo for most Christian churches, and now it’s only in the documents of the Catholics who also are ignoring their church’s teaching.  I’m so old I remember when marriage was between a man and a woman.  I'm so old I remember when Cher had a daughter and the Kardashians had a father. I'm so old I remember when ordinary people actually believed it was about medical qualities of marijuana, but presidents inhaled.

My letter to the editor:

Mr. Galli:  

I hope your magazine can survive your attacking our President. I haven't subscribed for years, but do occasionally pick it up at the library. Trump has done more for Christians, and all religious people, than any leader in my life time, and I'm 80. 

With your standards, Jesus would have left Zacchaeus in the tree and the prostitute with a puddle of perfume in the dirt. Plus, you've probably made most adult Christians look like hypocrites, including many pastors and priests. The very thing unbelievers criticize us for. 

I was a Cruz supporter, and didn't want a 3x married businessman/entertainer. But I held my nose; I've been pleasantly surprised to find out some presidents really do keep their promises.

Spending is up on education, and especially on administration

Funding at the federal, state and local levels has increased between the 1980s and 2019. Democrats and the teacher unions lie about that.

In real dollars, total government spending per pupil increased from $7,359 in 1980 to $9,850 by 1990, reaching $13,180 per pupil by 2015.

Taking a longer view, real spending per student in public schools has increased from $2,763 in 1960 to more than $13,000 today.

So if you have questions about learning, don't blame the funding. Plus, government spending does little to change student out come. It's the homes. What really has been jumping ahead the last 55 years (War on Poverty) is the number of administrators. Number of students is up by 40%; administrators up by 137% The student gap in learning is the same as 1965.

https://www.dailysignal.com/2019/12/18/washington-post-concedes-that-government-spending-on-education-has-increased-not-decreased/

https://www.heritage.org/the-not-so-great-society

Last night’s debates

I rarely watch political debates. I've heard a few filtered comments from last night, but oiy, another 11 months of this? A small town gay mayor, a fake Indian college professor, and an elderly socialist with a recent heart attack? It's proof that anyone in America can grow up to be president.

Any one, even a billionaire business man who can

• lower taxes,
• restore freedom of religion,
• deregulate and cut red tape,
• strengthen the military,
• appoint outstanding judges,
• negotiate trade deals with countries which had been cheating us,
• recognize Israel's capital,
• tackle the opioid crisis,
• raise black employment to the highest in our history,
• investigate corruption in the government,
• inspire the highest consumer confidence in many years, all while
• beating back the power and money of academe, media and entertainment as well as bigoted, hateful Democrat politicians like Nadler, Schift, Pelosi and Schumer.

Two years ago, end of radiation

Two years ago Bob ended his radiation for prostate cancer and Phil was with him to ring the bell.

Hallmark and the LGBTQ political agenda

This was my first year to watch Hallmark Christmas movies--I needed a diversion. A few of the older reruns even had carols about baby Jesus. No one was forced to watch them and I was not damaged by living to 80 without seeing one. They are cheesy, corny and chaste. Too bad Hallmark is being blackmailed. And this power agenda is coming to your club, company, church, library, or workplace soon if it hasn't already. You must obey. I've looked through some of the media business articles--I see no evidence that there is a demand for this from conservatives, liberals, Christians, Jews, bankers or candlestick makers.

17% of Americans are over 65 and 12% are disabled. Do you really think they are numerically represented in Hallmark movies or TV show main characters? You might see someone in a wheelchair in a shopping scene or grandma and grandpa baking cookies. Compare that to 2-3% for LGBTQ who are strong arming entire industries. https://www.wnd.com/2019/12/hallmark-execs-say-channel-working-fix-lack-gay-christmas-movies/

The impeachment of President Trump

I've only served on one jury trial--it was in 2002 and the people strange. (The law called Scott Pontzer--aka the Golden Turkey--was reversed the next year.) But not a one of us were deciding 3 years before the incident happened to declare the person guilty. But that's our Democrats in Congress. And a lot of Democrats on the ground.

Only about 45% of Americans are ever called for jury duty and perhaps 17% serve, so that may be why so few people know how the Democrats are violating basic rights, or that the House, either party, can really impeach for no reason, no guilt and no proof. They only need to be out of their minds with rage and hate.

Democrats are very confused about values

My Democrat friends have been rending their clothes and wearing ashes since before the President was inaugurated. They are so clairvoyant they were demanding impeachment before they could find a hoax to call a crime. I'm not surprised it's called a witch hunt, or at least something with supernatural powers. They've moved to the alarming desperation of referring to themselves as patriots and constitutionalists. Meanwhile they are calling Trump supporters "cults" because they vote and support someone who kept his promises about Israel, the military, the border, the VA, ICE, jobs for blacks and minorities, trade deals, protection for unborn babies, lower taxes and healthcare without coercion. They look at the list of religious protections, regulations and laws that have been in place over 50 years and call that Nazi Germany. They are such a confused lot.

My new cookbook, Deceptively Delicious

I had no idea I’d purchased an afternoon of reading for $1.00, Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld.  First, I’d never pay $25.00 for a recipe book, especially in 2007, but $1.00 looked like a good price on the library sale shelves.

I vaguely remembered the story of Jerry and Jessica Seinfeld, but had to look it up. He of course, was a famous comedian whom I rarely watched.  Then after he retired (I think) he married a much younger woman who was escaping a brief marriage, then they had babies and she made books. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessica_Seinfeld

Their kids are now 20, 17 and 15 or approximately that, and when they were young she had some trouble getting them to eat, so she wrote cook books, one of which was the one I bought for $1.00.

I’m not sure the recipes are simple, the ideas are simple or if it’s supposed to be easy. But it has occurred to me recalling years ago when I tried to teach a young woman some basics of cooking who had never helped her own mother in the kitchen, that there’s a lot left out of cookbooks.  For instance:

1 cup whole-wheat breadcrumbs—how would you explain this to someone who didn’t know how to make them or where to buy them; it’s not like they are in the bread section of a grocery store.

This whole cookbook is built around the idea of pureeing food and then slipping it into regular recipes.  For this you need a food processor which I’ve never used, and the instructions are not particularly clear: put the (item) in the processor, secure lid, press on button and puree until smooth.  Does a beginner just learning how to peel carrots understand that?

However, I suppose if your kids won’t eat regular, hearty textured food, slipping some puree into the French Toast or scrambled eggs might do the trick.  And it’s certainly not going to hurt adults.

I think a lot of women have larger freezers than I do and definitely more patience.  Maybe jars of toddler baby food?

And thank you Mom for all the things I learned from you that I never thought about so I didn’t have to start from scratch with a book.

Celeb breakups, 2019

I managed to look through the 2019 breakups and knew only 3 people, William Shatner, Ron Perlman and Rosie O’Donnell, then the screen bled out from too much overload of ads after Rosie and it died, and I do not know the rest of the story.

When the state university invests

I don't know exactly how venture capital works, but when I read that Ohio State University is involved in the Rev1 Ventures which is a few miles from here on Kinnear Rd. that it's my tax money going to work to produce millions for investors and to do good for people. How can I know? OSU only gets money to invest or give away from the federal government or the state government--my taxes. From that it takes about 60% to run the university and passes the rest along. So how do I get a return on my investment? At some point, it trickles down, I suppose, with money for jobs, infrastructure, employees thriving, etc. And how does OSU complete this mission to invest and grow businesses while at the same time maintaining such an anti-market, anti-capitalist, anti-America atmosphere on campus, infusing its students with that attitude, including STEM?

https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2019/12/17/rev1-ventures-launches-15m-biotech-investment-fund.html

https://ceo.osu.edu/new-ventures

https://www.development.ohio.gov/files/otf/TVSF_CY2016_FINAL_7_27.pdf

https://development.ohio.gov/files/otf/2019_TVSF_RFP_Phase2.pdf

https://www.rev1ventures.com/

How long is too long for leftovers?

Instead of the smell test, consider how long your leftovers have been in the fridge since they were prepared. Different items have a different shelf life, so keep the following time frames in mind:

• Cooked pasta: Eat within 1-2 days
• Cooked rotisserie chicken: Eat within 3-4 days from the date of purchase
• Chicken, seafood, and pizza: Eat within 3-4 days
• Red meat and pork: Eat within 3-5 days

https://blog.ohiohealth.com/leftover-lessons-know-whats-safe-to-eat-and-whats-not/

This site didn’t mention potato salad, so I looked that up separately.  Most sites said 3-5 days, however, home-submitted responses said up to 10 days, and one said 12!  I usually start with a deli mix, so I wouldn’t call that fresh, would you? Then I add cooked potatoes to taste, and some eggs and olives, or more onions, depending on taste.  However, I don’t keep it over 4 days, so I have to have a big crowd.

https://stilltasty.com/Fooditems/index/18079

Could Democrats make this worse? Yes.

A friend of mine who lives in the DC area says, “I just returned from driving Gil to work. In case you see the demonstrations on TV, here’s what I saw. In the corner area of the Capitol lawn by the Senate side, there are around 100 demonstrator/protestors. They look like the typical protest crowd in DC — hired homeless and unemployed youths making quick money as paid protestors. They are waving flags and signs for impeaching and removing. These are not volunteers or a spontaneous group. They are clearly part of an organized-for-media demonstration (right on a corner where they can be conveniently photographed, but out of the way of tourists and people doing business at the Capitol. Disgusting because it is carefully organized to show well on TV to look bigger than it is and to have closeups that are photogenic. We see it often for various causes."

Are you smarter than a 7th grader?

This was a comment on a post about impeachment on Facebook.

“Jack is in 7 th grade and the other day he was the only one in his history class that knew that The House and Senate make up Congress. So what does that tell you. I really don’t put that in the schools though. What’s wrong with parents? Because they probably don’t know either. Look how many people think The President is going to be removed from office.”

I’m looking back to 7^th grade (1952), and I’m not so sure I knew  who or what made up Congress.  Did you?  Harry Truman was president.  That was about as far as class discussions went on politics.  My parents had a mixed marriage—one Democrat, one Republican—don’t recall a political discussion in our house.

Lies continue daily about the pro-life movement

On Facebook, a friend of mine from childhood, who doesn’t vote, listens to the main stream media for news, and quotes the Bible selectively claims that pro-life people don’t care about children after birth.  What an outrageous lie. Basic pro-choice talking points written by Planned Parenthood.  My response:

Who told you that? CNN? MSNBC? Who do you think are funding all the agencies that help children who escape the siren call of Planned Parenthood? Pro-Life people, primarily Christians.

Have you ever visited a pregnancy center that saves children, gives the mothers counsel, maternity clothes, job training, parenting lessons, clothes for the children, referrals to social agencies, bus passes to clinics and hospitals--all free and with all volunteer labor? They also provide mentors and send teams into the schools to teach the basic facts of life and social skills because so many kids don't have functioning families.

Do you know what the largest social safety net in the world is? The Catholic church. Then if you combined that with all the 35,000 Protestant denominations who feed, educate, train, adopt, foster and provide health care to the poor, it would way out perform what the government does--and at no cost and with volunteers who can witness about God's love just as Jesus said in Matthew 25. People who criticize (and lie) about what the church does are afraid someone might witness to a hurting soul who's never met Jesus.

Some Christians who know selective Bible passages don't know the good that goes on in their own community and state in the name of Jesus.

http://pdhc.org/