Soleimani’s death

"President Trump’s order to take out Qasem Soleimani was morally, constitutionally and strategically correct. It deserves more bipartisan support than the begrudging or negative reactions it has received thus far from my fellow Democrats." Joe Lieberman

JOAN R. BARRIS, Good-bye to a great friend

So sad to hear of the death of Joan Barris, co-owner with her husband Dan of the Idlewyld Bed and Breakfast in Lakeside, Ohio. We had such fun together. She was a wonderful wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother, a terrific hostess and art and writing teacher. We enjoyed many breakfasts at their great B&B. I last heard from her on Dec. 29, at Cleveland Clinic, awaiting a stent procedure.

Another friend from Lakeside posted at Joan’s Facebook wall:

“It is with a very heavy heart that I am sharing the news that our dear friend Joan Barris has made her heavenly transition after an illness and hospitalization.

Many of you know Joan and her husband Dan as the wonderful innkeepers at Idlewyld B&B in Lakeside. I first met Joan in 2006 while attending an Artists Way retreat organized by Sandie King. I fell in love with Idlewyld and chose to host my next Indigo Connection retreat at Idlewyld. I returned to host retreats annually through 2017 and also began attending the wonderful watercolor painting workshops she hosted. Joan not only hosted our groups, but participated with us in most of our activities. She mothered and mentored us as our wise elder and will always be remembered for the very witty notes she took and later used to create poems for us each year as our retreats concluded. She was a creative soul in every way I can imagine and always curious to keep learning.

One of my fondest memories of Joan came three years ago while I was going through a very difficult time in my life. My husband George had just been hospitalized for many weeks and was transferred to a neurological rehabilitation facility. Joan had been following our journey and praying for us. I was able to visit Lakeside briefly for respite and stopped by Idlewyld to catch up with my dear friend. We sat quietly together on the sofa and I remember she held my hand and recited the poem below. Perhaps these words will help you find peace at this time of loss too. By sharing this, I see how spirit has allowed the circle to connect our first meeting with today's emotions.

These are the beautiful words from Artists Way author Julia Cameron that Joan used to comfort me in 2017

I wish I could take language
And fold it like cool, moist rags.
I would lay words on your forehead.
I would wrap words on your wrists. '

'There, there,' my words would say -
Or something better.
I would ask them to murmur, 'Hush' and 'Shh, shhh, it's all right.'
I would ask them to hold you all night.

I wish I could take language And daub and soothe and cool
Where fever blisters and burns,
Where fever turns yourself against you.

I wish I could take language
And heal the words that were the wounds
You have no names for.

I do not yet have details regarding a memorial service. Please pray for her beloved husband Dan and for the family at this time of sudden loss. May Joan be embraced by the glory and beauty of her creator.”

From the obituary:  Joan R. Barris, age 85 of Olmsted Twp., passed away January 5, 2020. Beloved wife of 65 years to Daniel; loving mother of Joanmarie (David) Vanaski, Martin Barris and Maribeth Barris; cherished grandmother of Summer Vanaski, Cori (Jacob) Snowberger and Katie Barris; great-grandmother of Amelia Barris, Landen Snowberger, Dayten Snowberger and Zinovia Barris; dear sister of the late Virginia Johnson; aunt of Gail Johnson.

Joan was the owner of Idlewyld Bed and Breakfast in Lakeside, OH for more than 30 years. She enjoyed watercolors and writing. She coached synchronised swimming at the Lake County West-End YMCA.

The Funeral Service will be held on Saturday, January 11, 2020 at 1 PM in the Chapel at Sunset Memorial Park, 6245 Columbia Rd. North Olmsted; where the family will receive friends from 11 PM until the time of service.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations may be made to Lakeside Chautauqua, www.lakesideohio.com/giving/ today. www.dostalbokas.com

Marcia the military wife comments, guest blogger

The group where this was posted is generally conservative, and apparently some are unhappy about the President taking action (far less than Obama did with drones where he once in 2014 killed civilians at a wedding and the target wasn’t killed) because like Obama, he’s promised no more wars. So Marcia is letting whoever got snarky, have a piece of her mind.

“As I sit here on the tail end of of my husband’s latest six month deployment to Kuwait, I’d like to as calmly as possible ask the many members of this group to tone down the anti military posts.

I’m not sure why the death of an Iranian terrorist and murderer is triggering you into general anti military sentiment, but if it is, perhaps you need to sit down and ponder why that is and what it is you truly believe.

I apologize for getting heated and using salty language in reply to some antagonists. Two decades of frequent separation from my spouse while working full time and raising my kids is weighing heavy on me. Maybe it’s the broken dryer or the faulty wiring in the garage door, or the fact I need to spend about $1000 on tires for ANOTHER 4000 mile move to Alaska. Maybe it’s how my kids have managed to break the flusher handle on two toilets in my house and I’m debating if I should hire a handyman or wait until my husband returns or try to YouTube it and do it myself with all my free time.

Maybe it’s because my 9 year old daughter is now in weekly counseling.

Maybe it’s because I’ve never lived even remotely close to my family or the fact I gave birth to my first child alone because my husband was in Korea for a year. Maybe people who have zero idea what military service entails should sit down and shut up for a minute, and realize that if they sound like coastal liberal elites, then maybe that’s exactly what they are.”

Sweet and sour chicken

I received a new cookbook for Christmas—it’s a family compilation by the Shaw family, 5 of whom I met blogging and now read and enjoy regularly on Facebook. Their mother Ruth Baird Shaw went back to college after her Methodist minister husband died and became a Methodist minister.  All the children are grown with grandchildren and are quite successful and interesting people—and they have collected in 2 editions, family recipes. With photos.  As I was browsing (always looking for the easiest and quickest) I noticed “Ricky and Lyn’s Sweet and Sour Chicken.” I think Lyn is Joan’s daughter. 

With only 4 ingredients and minimal prep, this looks like one I would take to a church pot luck.

8 boneless chicken breasts

1 8 oz. jar peach or apricot preserves

1 8 oz. bottle Catalina dressing

2 envelopes onion soup mix

Mix all ingredient except chicken breasts.  Place chicken in casserole dish.  Pour mixture over the chicken breasts.  Bake covered for 1 hour at 350 degrees.  Remove cover and bake an additional hour.

This was submitted by Joan Shaw Turrentine, and Carol Shaw Johnston who was the compiler of the cook book comments that she has made this recipe several times and usually splits the recipe among 3 pans and freezes 2 of them for meals later.  It freezes really well.

Epiphany, January 5, 2020

Today is Epiphany, the day Christians celebrate the Magi searching for, finding and worshiping the baby Jesus.

Sermon of Odilo of Cluny, who lived in the 10th century (962-1049).

Today is festive enough in its own right, but it stands out all the more clearly because of its proximity to Christmas.

When God is worshiped in the Child, the honor of the virgin birth is revered. When gifts are brought to the God-man, the dignity of the divine motherhood is exalted. When Mary is found with her child, Christ’s true manhood is proclaimed, together with the inviolate chastity of the Mother of God.

All this is contained in the evangelist’s statement: “And entering the house they found the child with Mary his mother, and bowing down they worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.”

The gifts brought by the wise men reveal hidden mysteries concerning Christ. To offer gold is to proclaim his kingship, to offer incense is to adore his godhead, and to offer myrrh is to acknowledge his mortality.

We too must have faith in Christ’s assumption of our mortal nature. Then we shall realize that our two-fold death has been abrogated by the death he died once for all.

You will find a description in Isaiah of how Christ appeared as a mortal man and freed us from our debt to death. It is written: “He was led like a lamb to the slaughter.”

The necessity of faith in the kingship of Christ can be demonstrated on divine authority, since he says of himself in one of the psalms: “I have been appointed king by him,” that is, by God the Father.

And speaking as Wisdom personified he claims to be the King of kings, saying: “It is through me that kings reign and princes pronounce judgment.”

As to Christ’s divinity, the whole world created by him testifies that he is the Lord. He himself says in the gospel: “All power has been given me in heaven and on earth,” and the blessed evangelist declares: “All things were made through him, and without him nothing was made.”

Sermon 2 on the Epiphany: PL 142, 997-998

Happy New Year—you have no privacy

I confessed in my piece about Elizabeth Warren that I shopped on Panic Saturday (Dec. 21). Macy's was so happy to see me again that today I received a 14 page bill (some pages were blank) for spending $221.07 on Christmas gifts for my husband! I'm so old I remember when credit card bills were half a sheet of paper 2 sides.

But I was warned. On pg. 1 it referred me to pg. 7 for details on changes being made to my Credit Card Agreement. On pg. 3 it warned me about changes coming on 2/24/20 which it will do in detail on p. 7, and again repeats all the billing information on p. 1--Polo sleepwear, Hilfiger sleepwear, Hilfiger necktie, Tasso Elba neckwear, Alfani shirt, Perry Ellis neckwear, Clubroom shirt. BTW, the Alfani fabric felt cheap after I removed 105 straight pins and washed it. On p. 5 and 6 the only information was that the annual percentage rate is 26.74%, variable rate.

Finally the glorious p. 7 where I am told how much I am appreciated and how they look forward to serving me in the future. The changes revealed on p. 7 are
increased late fees,
returned payment fee and
returned convenience check fee.
The minimum payment due calculation is changing and
the Promotion calculation is recalculated beyond my ability to understand.

"For additional language regarding how and when these fees will be charged, please see the section called "Fees" in your Credit Card Agreement.
Then in a box the explanation of penalty fees--late payment and returned payment. I only have a master's degree, and couldn't decipher this even with the sentence diagramming I learned in 4th grade.

On p. 8 the good folks in Macy's advanced college English class explain making payments--
Minimum Payment Due,
calculated new balance
past due account,
excess of my credit limit,
amount due on each Club Plan,
adding in any amount required by
the Promotion Calculation
the calculated new balance, rounded up
applicable late fee
subtracted interest charges accrued during prior billing cycles
Special event balance
Calculated new balance = New Balance - any balances subject to a Club Plan or the Promotion Calculation

At this point I'm only half way through p. 8 and am worn out.

Page 9 explains who all can see my personal information. It's like Trump's tax returns. If Macy can do all this, why can't Congress? It clearly says, Macy's can share my personal information with anyone they damn well please. Honest. It does.

Social security number and income,
account balances and
employment information,
credit history and
transaction history,
anything they need to run their everyday business. . .
even court orders and
legal investigations or
credit bureau information.

Why do they need this private, personal information? According to Macy's p. 9 of 14,
for marketing purposes,
for joint marketing with other financial companies,
for their affiliates everyday business purposes, and
Macy's everyday business purposes so
they can market to me and
their nonaffiliates can market to me.

And when I am no longer Macy's customer, they claim the right to continue to share my information described in this notice.

DSNB does this, not Macy's. Department Stores National Bank. And on p. 10 there is a long list of what it collects.

Page 11-14 are math problems. 3%, 2% 1% rewards spent at restaurants which are stand-alone merchants in the U.S. that primarily serve food. If you accumulate 1,000 points, yada, yada. . .
But exclusive for you: free shipping from Al's family farms 18 lbs of Florida Honeybells for only $49.95 delivered with a bonus of Orange blossom honey.

Happy New Year. Capitalism is almost as much fun as taxes.

Food nannies strike again

https://www.city-journal.org/banning-dollar-stores

The food nannies strike again. Don't you dare touch my dollar store. They have great deals on the things I want, and the only food items I've purchased are peanuts. That food desert hoax was disproven years ago. If someone is fat, sick or malnourished and they occasionally pick up frozen chicken or a loaf of bread at a fast food mart or dollar store because there's no super market near by, it's more likely the cigarettes and beer they are buying somewhere else. If momma didn't teach them to eat right, it's unlikely the mayor or governor is going to.

“Recent research undermines the argument that a lack of fresh, healthy food is to blame for unhealthy diets. In a paper published in the Quarterly Journal of Economics, three economists chart grocery purchases in 10,000 households located in former food deserts, where new supermarkets have since opened. They found that people didn’t buy healthier food when they started shopping at a new local supermarket. “We can statistically conclude that the effect on healthy eating from opening new supermarkets was negligible at best,” they wrote. In other words, the food-desert narrative—which suggests that better food choices motivate people to eat better—is fundamentally incorrect. “In the modern economy, stores have become amazingly good at selling us exactly the kinds of things we want to buy,” the researchers write. In other words, “lower demand for healthy food is what causes the lack of supply.”” (from the above linked City Journal)

What the party who opposed the Soleimani killing stand for—guest blogger Michael Smith

"No one should be surprised by the reaction of Democrats to an American drone going all "Fargo" wood-chipper on Qassem Soleimani.

This is a political party that:
- Reflexively sides with criminals against victims.
- Actively promotes illegal immigration.
- Believes non-citizens have more rights than citizens.
- Condemns victims (like the Texas church shooting) for protecting themselves
- Puts criminals back on the street and calls it "criminal justice reform).
-Seeks to decriminalize anti-social behaviors and then blames their opposition for the result in crime (increases in property crime) and uncivilized behavior (defecating in the streets).
- Has historically become useful idiots for, and fellow travelers with, every brutal communist regime from Stalin to Saddam Hussein and Bashar Assad.
- Sends delegations of elected officials to meet with America's enemies (Saddam Hussein, Bashar Assad, Fidel Castro)
- Have protested in support of America's enemies since the Vietnam War.
- Venerates America's enemies with fawning media coverage that will never be seen for a non-Democrat and will attack any Republican with language they would never use for our enemies.
- Since the 60's, have done a complete 180 degree turn from the anti-communist policies of JFK and pursued a policy of appeasement, preferring to feed other people to the alligators in the hopes those beasts will eat them last.
- Are always for something before they are against it, constantly and religiously lying about their positions, changing them on a dime if they think it will give them political advantage.

The Democrat Party has not just recently become anti-American, they have been this way for over a century, ever since Walter Duranty, Stalin's apologist, and the New York Times won a Pulitzer for lying about the Stalin regime in Russia.

The only difference is that now they don't care if you know who they are. They assume their voters can be bought off with pallets of cash, the same way Obama tried to buy off the Iranian Mullahs.

Whatever you’re doing come hold this baby

Lonnie Lacy

http://lonnielacy.com/what-we-hold/

One of the best Christmas poems you’ll read.

“Honey,” she said,  
“whatever that is you’re doin’, 
you gotta put it down 
and come hold this baby.”

“What?”

“Put it down, 
and come  
hold  
this  
baby.”

In the beginning God

"The Milky Way, our home galaxy, comprises something in the range of 200–300 billion stars. It is nestled among the other 2 trillion or so galaxies estimated to populate the observable universe, postulated to have a radius of 13.8 billion light-years.

However, the figure ascribed to the quantity of terrestrial viruses, an estimated 10 to the 31st power, eclipses even those immense numbers. That means there are potentially 5–10 million times more viruses on Earth than stars thought to exist in the observable universe." https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/1/ac-2601_article

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. . . Genesis 1.

The death of Soleimani

According to the Wall Street Journal:

"After an Iranian-backed militia staged a violent protest and attempted to overrun the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, Iraq this week, President Donald Trump described the event as the “anti-Benghazi.” He wasn’t kidding

Last night the Pentagon announced:

At the direction of the President, the U.S. military has taken decisive defensive action to protect U.S. personnel abroad by killing Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force, a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization.

General Soleimani was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region. General Soleimani and his Quds Force were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American and coalition service members and the wounding of thousands more. He had orchestrated attacks on coalition bases in Iraq over the last several months – including the attack on December 27th – culminating in the death and wounding of additional American and Iraqi personnel. General Soleimani also approved the attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad that took place this week.

This strike was aimed at deterring future Iranian attack plans. The United States will continue to take all necessary action to protect our people and our interests wherever they are around the world."

Not to worry those of you Democrats accusing Trump of being Hitler, etc., and especially that crazy movie star who apologized on behalf of 52% of Americans (Hillary's supporters?) Jake Tapper in Sept. 2011 proudly proclaimed Obama the killer of 10 terrorists, including Osama bin Ladin.

Elizabeth Warren

I shopped on panic Saturday! December 21. More money was spent by Americans that day, $34.4 billion, than any day in America's history. And Elizabeth Warren is trying to make Americans fearful, that there's a terrible gap, that life's unfair so she needs to steal money from some and give it to others! The big four leading the way were Walmart, Amazon, Costco and Target. Is that where the top 1% shop? Nope. It's where we all shop. (I shopped at Macy's and Kohl's.) Why do Democrats preach doomsday? Because they don't believe in America. Not the people, not the Constitution, not the economy, and certainly not the president.

Year end summary of Trump’s record

Jobs are plentiful. The White House says seven million jobs have been created since Donald Trump’s election. Record numbers of Americans are employed, and wages are rising as employers compete for workers. The headline unemployment rate is at its lowest in 50 years, with minorities in particular enjoying the fruits of this labor.

The stock market has continued to break records, yielding benefits for the investment and retirement accounts of more than half of all Americans. The Dow Jones average rose 22% in 2019, while the S&P was up 29% and the NASDAQ climbed 35%. When Trump was elected, the market was pretty volatile, and New York Times economist Paul Krugman predicted, “If the question is when markets will recover, a first-pass answer is never.” Boy was he ever wrong.

Consumer optimism is reflected in year-end retail sales. Gary Bauer notes, “Retail sales surged 3.4% over last year, led by record online spending. The period between Thanksgiving and Christmas is a critical time for the economy. According to Reuters, sales during these few weeks can account for up to 40% of all annual sales for many retailers.”

Regulations reduced. Economic growth comes when government gets out of the way, contrary to the “stimulus” philosophy of the last administration. The White House says, “Since taking office, President Trump has rolled back nearly 8 regulations for every new one, saving American taxpayers more than $50 billion in the process — with bigger savings still to come.” That includes rolling back a lot of his predecessor’s environmental controls. The Daily Caller reports that Trump “nixed nearly 100 environmental regulations during his first three years in office.”

Not only has Trump cut red tape, he’s been slow to add new regulations. According to The Washington Times, “The Trump administration issued the fewest new regulations during 2019 than in any year since the government began keeping track more than four decades ago.” All three of the lowest regulation totals belong to President Trump.

Judicial appointments. Not all of Trump’s success has been economic. An astounding 20% of the federal judiciary is now composed of Trump appointments after the Republican-controlled Senate has confirmed 187 of his nominees. For the pace of that success, Republicans at least owe a wink and nod to former Democrat Senate Leader Harry Reid, who nuked the filibuster for judges in 2013. Judges were a big reason for millions of conservative votes in 2016, and Trump has delivered.

Defeating terrorists. After Barack Obama fomented the rise of the Islamic State, Trump has spent three years fighting back. It hasn’t been free of controversy, but it’s hard to argue with success like the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi.

Other gains include military funding and rebuilding, immigration policy, and — we hope — trade.

https://patriotpost.us/articles/67646  Nate Jackson

Another useless United Nations challenge

https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/harming-environment-war-crime/?

Very interesting piece which ends up blaming the U.S. for damage to environment during wars because the 3 writers don't know how to do research. Just search and click on the various civil wars in Africa, like Sudan. I care more about the people who are killed and maimed. I know that forests, cities and farms were destroyed in Sudan, and rivers polluted, but the 2nd civil war killed over 2 million people. And then when the Christians and Muslims separated into north and south, the Christians began another civil war (tribal) among themselves. And there are still German bombs buried in France from WWI and WWII waiting to explode. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/seventy-years-world-war-two-thousands-tons-unexploded-bombs-germany-180957680/  Not good for the environment or people who had nothing to do with the conflicts.

The intent of the article is not to make war damage a crime (already a crime depending on the victor), but to point fingers at your country, the United States. A lot of this article is word salad--"scientists," "armed conflict" "biodiversity" a 5th Geneva Convention called 2 decades ago, yada yada. And it's not even a real article, it's built on a letter.

Is there anything sillier than UN pronouncements? "International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict" so why do the writers advocate making it a war crime to damage the environment? Oh--to make war illegal. That should do it.

"Ultimately, if harming the environment was a war crime, then most acts of modern warfare would essentially be forbidden. After all, there’s no way to drop a bomb without harming the ground it falls on."

Bug Nazis! They are on the Left

I saw this comment on a Facebook group written by “Tom.”  I giggled at the term, Bug Nazi. Also I didn’t know there were insect identification groups on Facebook, although I should.  I’ve seen them for everything else. . .quilters, photographers, dog lovers, writers, exercise nuts, foodies, . . . really just about every hobby and interest.

“I just decided to leave an insect identification group because the leftist loons running it decided it was important to post an announcement how they were no longer going to tolerate climate change deniers, as if that has anything to do with identifying insects.

My response in a separate post? (They had shut off commenting for this one)

“Goodbye Bug Nazis! Nothing screams intolerance like the bantering of attention-seeking liberals. Insects and climate change are two separate things, but congrats on combining them on this page for some inexplicable reason. Your page, your rules.

In the meantime, since you value scientific evidence so much, please feel free to provide scientific evidence that anything we’ve done to combat climate change over the decades has been effective in reducing global greenhouse gases. You can’t because there is none. Just theories. Climate change is happening but there’s no proof...none...that we can stop it. I won’t be around to see your response, but maybe you can enlighten your members as to the evidence of how combatting climate change has been so successful so far and not just an utter waste of time and money. “

The pros and cons of the National Voter Registration Act, 1993

What happened to the Democrat party that used to believe in fair elections with only eligible voters? In 1993, with a Democratic Congress and President (Clinton) the National Voter Registration Act was passed. It requires "a reasonable effort to remove the names of ineligible voters" from voter rolls. In less than 20 years they've thrown that out the window and if local or state authorities attempt to clean up they are accused of racism or some other -ism.

What Democrats do love about the NVRA is it allows registering when getting a driver's license or registering to vote automatically when you register your car and then mailing in your ballot. So the result? Big push for illegals to get drivers licenses. In 2016 about 25% of votes cast were by mail--no voter ID with mailed ballots. And that is the end goal for the Left--no voter ID requirements at all, no voter residency requirements. Those who designed the NVRA probably had this in mind for the long run.

Actually, the big prize the Left lusts after is the abolition of the Electoral College, one of the smartest elements of the Constitution to keep us "united states" instead of New York and California states of America. If they succeed either with a constitutional amendment in which 40 plus states would agree to have no say in a federal election, or by casting their votes with other Democrat control states, most American voters would be disenfranchised and we wouldn't even need any rules for registration or voting.

Adoption of illegal immigrant children? No!

A Democrat cousin (on my Dad’s side) has claimed that the Trump Administration is cruelly stealing the children of illegal immigrants and putting them up for adoption. Eventually, after I asked for details, he provided one link which originated with Associated Press, and then was massaged by another publication. I won't show you the link--there are so many inaccuracies I wouldn't want you to post it--some people only read the headlines and continue to pass the anti-Trump rumors.

The story was built around two children of illegal immigrants who were put in foster care--2014 and 2015. Guess who was president? Further details were from the 1980s. In both cases, the parents got their children back--the agencies that provide this service for the government make it clear to the foster parents they cannot adopt. In the one case in Michigan where a judge didn't wait for the parents to be found, the federal government was the agency that stepped in to return the child.

I'm not sure why a journalist would be so deceptive in developing the story, using stories from the Obama years, and mixing it with hysteria about Trump and then adding in the 1980s. It's manipulative. We can guess which political party she/he belongs to. American children are taken from their parents when they violate the law, but Democrats see this as different. This is a way to attack Trump.

But you have to read to the end to find out that the reunited family, back in their home country, still communicate with the foster family because they know they love their little girl too. Must have been some hell hole.

Hate speech and hate crimes

I for one have never liked the terms "hate speech" and "hate crime" (protected characteristics of race, religion, ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability). Due to our First Amendment, hate speech laws don't fair well, but colleges are big on "speech codes" and requiring SJW special retraining camps for incoming students and faculty. The more race relations improve, the narrower academe defines the crime so it can add to its administration.

Unless a white man is a Jew or gay or transitioning to female, who is ever charged with a hate crime for attacking him? For race, it only seems to be certain races. If there are two different African immigrant groups in a Columbus high school, who charges them with hate crimes when they attack each other? Would a Columbus juvenile court judge know that one group was slaves of the other 300 years ago? I received a notice of a crime from OSU a few days ago and it made a point of not mentioning the offender's race. Something the whole culture seems obsessed with, yet can't be used to identify a criminal!

What do these laws/codes add to bad language and violent crime except a racial component to discuss on the evening news?  If black rappers can say the words, why can't a white radio host? If a black man robs or terrorizes a black family, why is that not a hate crime, if it is called a hate crime when a white or Hispanic criminal does it? Almost all crime victims (except Asians) are within same groups. Based on the 2018 Bureau of Justice survey, the offender was of the same race or ethnicity as the victim in 70% of violent incidents involving black victims, 62% of those involving white victims, 45% of those involving Hispanic victims, and 24% of those involving Asian victims. Lesbians against Lesbians. Gays against gays. No one commits a crime out of love (although some celebrity abortion advocates claim to).

Hate crime legislation took hold with the Civil Rights movement in the 60s, then a special law for violence against women but not men, then sex and peculiar identities were added. NY is considering adding more on top of what we already have just for anti-Semitism. Now all sorts of quasi legal threats are made if a religion disallows marriage of same sex because it violates the Bible and all of history, or if an employer doesn't recognize the feelings of men who believe they are women.

And yet Democrats, the Left and their print, internet and social media are allowed to call Conservatives and their president all manner of nasty names on the air ways, on TV and public debate--from racist to terrorist to Nazi. They can reinvent as "hate speech" the OK sign or even the words, Make America great. I do see hate, and it's from the Left manipulating our laws intended to protect people. But they shouldn't be the only ones protected by the First Amendment.

A good week-end with the family

Our niece and nephew, Joan and Dan, from Indianapolis drove over to spend time with Phil this week-end, and we also were the beneficiaries.  First we knew Phil was in good hands.  He and Joan are just 2 years apart, and spent many holidays together as children.  Dan and Joan are strong Christians and also people who work and play hard--I can think of no one I'd rather spend time with if I didn't feel social!

Second, we got to have dinner with them and our daughter and son-in-law, sort of a second Christmas as we still had all our decorations up and used the Christmas dinnerware. On Sunday we had someone to attend church with, and then out for brunch at Bob Evans.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khkJkR-ipfw

We move forward; we don't move on 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Trxw9wqKSHI

I am a survivor

Clarence Thomas and the racism of the Democrats

"At the time of his confirmation, the public was twice as likely to believe Justice Thomas over Anita Hill (55% to 27%), and 58% favored his confirmation. Today, only 30% of Americans believe that he should have been confirmed, and 38% say he should not have been."
https://www.dailysignal.com/2019/12/23/clarence-thomas-tells-his-story-in-a-new-documentary

I don't have a problem understanding what happened. The media and academe. They try to damage any black who leaves the plantation. They try to convince Americans that blacks who aren't Democrats are unfaithful to the "values" of America. What it really is, is the Democrat style of racism. And in all cultural venues, academe, entertainment, news media, tech giants that control social media--Democrats rule. You can hardly get hired if you don't toe their line.

I was still a Democrat in the 1990s, and I was shocked to hear a colleague at the university say that the only reason Bush nominated Thomas was because he was black! I thought I'd never heard such a racist comment. It took me a few years, but I eventually figured out the subtle racism of the Democrats--my party! I was a slow learner. I eventually left the party because of abortion, but then learned what was under my nose all the time.