It’s true—Princeton University offers counseling for climate activists who are anxious

“No, it's not a joke, or the Babylon Bee, it's a real website at a real top university, which a number of readers of this blog have probably graduated from or donate money to.

Dialogue Circle: Navigating the Climate Crisis

The climate crisis has been impactful and many have turned to activism and supporting environmental justice movements. This is very meaningful work and can also create a sense of despair, burnout, anger, hopelessness, and other distressing emotions. CPS counselors will help to facilitate a conversation and create a supportive space to process such experiences. 

Mindfulness and Eco-Anxiety

Eco-anxiety is the fear we feel (sometimes acutely, sometimes as an underlying dread) about the climate crisis. Join in a discussion of how you experience eco-anxiety, and how mindfulness can help us respond to it. We’ll discuss managing worry loops, staying compassionate with difficult feelings and purpose-based coping, as well as practice a mindfulness meditation. 

Forest Therapy

Forest therapy provides a chance to connect, slow down, and cope with the stressors of life, including eco-distress and other emotional experiences related to the climate crisis.”

https://johnhcochrane.blogspot.com/2020/02/off-deep-end-navigating-climate-crisis.html

The Warren Gap fallacy—or how she promotes envy and sows discord

For Example:

There are three married couples; all named The Bruces. White, 8th generation, college educated Americans.   Bruces A are 20+ years old; Bruces B are 50+ years old and Bruces C are 65+ years old. From top to bottom, Bruces A, B, and C.

Bruces C are much wealthier than Bruces A and Bruces B. They have pensions, 403-b, 401-K, Social Security,  investments  and 2 homes. Bruces B have some savings, no investments, and 2 homes.  Bruces A have one house, no savings or investments.  There’s a wealth gap.

Bruces B have a much higher income than Bruces A and Bruces C.  There is an income gap.

Bruces A are much healthier than Bruces B and Bruces C.  There is a health gap.

Bruces A have minimal health insurance, some hospitalization coverage never used; Bruces B have great health insurance from large self insured employer—OSU; Bruces C have Medicare A & B, plus supplemental. Good, but not as great as Bruces B.  There is an insurance gap.

Bruces A take no medications at all.  Bruces B have minor conditions requiring little medication.  Bruces C have had heart, blood pressure, cancer, asthma, cholesterol problems, all treatable.  There is a health consumption gap.

Bruces A are usually employed or under employed—they are students or lower level employees; Bruces B are fully employed, or self-employed and are DINKS; Bruces C are not employed even irregularly.  There is an employment gap.

Bruces A rarely ever have a vacation or travel; Bruces B occasionally travel to visit relatives or vacation close to home; Bruces C travel to many countries and enjoy cruises, they eat out frequently, attend art events, pursue hobbies.  There is a leisure gap.

Which of the Bruces, A, B, or C, does Elizabeth Warren want to tax to "help" the other two?

Our dependence on China for prescription drugs

https://sharylattkisson.com/2020/02/china-syndrome-our-surprising-dependence-on-china-for-our-prescription-drugs/

This was from 2018 by Sharyl Attkisson—but even more alarming today with the coronavirus.

Sharyl Attkisson: In the 1990’s, the US, Europe, and Japan manufactured 90 percent of the key ingredients from medicine and vitamins. But now China is the largest global supplier. Why the change?

Rosemary Gibson: The change is because when we started buying generic drugs, which are terrific because they can be a lot less costly than brand name drugs, we had to find a cheaper way to make them. And China was more than willing with its lower labor costs to be a place where companies could buy those key ingredients.

Sharyl Attkisson: We’re talking about antibiotics, chemotherapies antidepressants. What other kinds of things?

Rosemary Gibson: Well, now, the generic drugs that we’re buying from China and Chinese companies in China include blood pressure medicines, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, epilepsy, antidepressants the whole range of generic drugs now that we are importing from China.

And more. . .

You cannot “fast” from sin!

Thinking of a Lenten fast?  This author says some suggestions are just daft! You cannot fast from pornography! It’s always bad!!

We should always avoid sins, such as cruel words, unjust anger, selfishness, and, yes, pornography!  These are not good things that we temporarily abstain from, and then offer up as a sacrifice to God as part of our fast.  These simply are bad things that always displease Our Lord and which we should always avoid doing.

The notion of giving up sins as part of our Lenten resolution confuses the very nature or purpose of fasting, which is to deprive oneself of a good for the sake of a greater good – closeness to and ultimate union with God. You simply cannot “fast” from sin. If we have fasted from hurting words or pornography during Lent, do we then take these sins back up on Easter Monday proudly saying we will give them up again next Lent?  The very notion is absurd.

https://www.thecatholicthing.org/2020/02/22/in-praise-of-real-fasting/?

Today is George Washington’s Birthday

Did God give us George Washington?  David Carlin thinks so. https://www.thecatholicthing.org/2020/02/21/happy-birthday-george-washington/?
Washington saved his country five times.

            1. When as general-in-chief he won the War of Independence. He may not have been a military genius; he was no Alexander or Caesar or Napoleon, not even a General Grant. But he was a Rock of Gibraltar. He won the war by refusing to lose it.  He held things together until the French arrived to tip the balance.

            2. At the end of that eight-year war, he resigned his commission – instead of, as he might have done (as Cromwell did before him and Napoleon did after him) making himself a military dictator. He was a true republican, never more so than when he renounced power.

            3. When he chaired the Philadelphia convention of 1787, which drew up a new Constitution that would transform the United States from a loose confederation of states into what Washington saw that it was capable of becoming: a unified nation and a great world power.

            4. When, though yearning to live the quiet life of a wealthy farmer, he once again abandoned private life in order twice to accept the call to be president of the new nation.

            5. When, though he might easily have been president for life, he voluntarily left the presidency in 1797, thereby emphasizing the fact that in a republic the chief executive is not a king. Like Cincinnatus of old, he went back to his farm.

Climate change—in the 14th century

“In “The Third Horseman: Climate Change and the Great Famine of the 14th Century,” William Rosen explains how Europe’s “most widespread and destructive famine” was the result of “an almost incomprehensibly complicated mixture of climate, commerce, and conflict, four centuries in gestation.” Early in that century, 10 percent of the population from the Atlantic to the Urals died, partly because of the effect of climate change on “the incredible amalgam of molecules that comprises a few inches of soil that produces the world’s food.”

In the Medieval Warm Period (MWP), from the end of the ninth century to the beginning of the 14th, the Northern Hemisphere was warmer than at any time in the past 8,000 years — for reasons concerning which there is no consensus. Warming increased the amount of arable land — there were vineyards in northern England — leading, Rosen says, to Europe’s “first sustained population increase since the fall of the Roman Empire.” The need for land on which to grow cereals drove deforestation. The MWP population explosion gave rise to towns, textile manufacturing and new wealthy classes.

Then, near the end of the MWP, came the severe winters of 1309-1312, when polar bears could walk from Greenland to Iceland on pack ice. In 1315 there was rain for perhaps 155 consecutive days, washing away topsoil. Upwards of half the arable land in much of Europe was gone; cannibalism arrived as parents ate children. Corpses hanging from gallows were devoured.

Human behavior did not cause this climate change. Instead, climate warming caused behavioral change (10 million mouths to feed became 30 million). Then climate cooling caused social changes (rebelliousness and bellicosity) that amplified the consequences of climate, a pattern repeated four centuries later.”

And in the 17th century came the little ice age.  This too was not caused by humans.  We could learn from history, but we won’t.
George Will, Washington Post, via DesMoines Register, Jan. 10, 2015

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/columnists/2015/01/11/george-will-climate-change-past-instructive/21584029/
https://audioboom.com/posts/5444467-climate-1314-ad-the-third-horseman-a-story-of-weather-war-and-the-famine-history-forgot-wil

The Socialist dreams of today's Democrats are expensive

The Green New Deal.  Forgive student debt and make college free. Medicare for All. $$$$$$$$

"The bill just for the Green New Deal, forgiving $1.5 trillion in student debt, and Medicare For All tops $100 trillion. No proposal for financing the cost has passed the laugh test. Most are variations of the “make the rich pay their fair share” cliché, meaning various tax-hikes that would stop the current record-setting economic boom in its tracks. The reality is, the top 10% of earners just don’t have enough money. We could confiscate outright all the wealth of America’s 707 billionaires, $3 trillion, and still not be able even to fund the federal government’s FY 2020 budget estimate of $4.7 trillion.

Nor can those evil corporations that create jobs and wealth be tapped for more funds. The Fortune 500 wealthiest companies are worth $22.6 trillion, just about enough to cover the fed’s total debt of $22.7 trillion rising as we speak. And of course, then the economy would implode. Nor can raising the corporate tax rate generate the money socialists need to fund their proposals. After all, Trump’s reduction of corporate rates has contributed to economic growth, more jobs, higher tax revenues, and wage-gains for workers. Why would voters want to throw that all away to achieve some vague idea of “social justice”?"

These candidates all went to public school.  Did they flunk math?

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/02/socialism-makes-people-do-strange-things-bruce-thornton/?

No discounts for the uninsured—but insured do get discounts

The Madison Township Fire Department “provides fire, rescue, and EMS services to Madison Township which includes the Cities of Canal Winchester, Groveport and areas of Columbus, Lithopolis, Obetz and Pickerington. Our coverage area is approximately 42 square miles. It is comprised of three stations and responds to more than 7,000 runs each year.

The Department hosts an annual Open House each year in October at Station 182 on Gender Road and Station 183 on Noe-Bixby Road. This is an opportunity for the community to visit the station, see the trucks, and talk to the firefighters. We provide paramedic coverage at various sporting events for Groveport-Madison and the Canal Winchester Local School Districts each year.  On Halloween, our crews are out in the trucks greeting the children and handing out candy as part of Trick or Treat. We also participate in the July 4th and Labor Day parades. Our trucks and personnel may also be seen at various special events around our community. “

What the Madison Township Fire Department DOES NOT provide is a discounted bill for emergency squad runs for the uninsured. The October squad run to Diley Ridge Hospital, about 3-4 miles from our son’s home was over $730.  In order for Medishare to pay, they have to have a discounted bill—even $20 would count.  But the policy of this emergency service is no discounts for the uninsured. Period.  Don’t argue.

I’ve contacted them: “We are grateful that the township squad took our son to Diley Ridge after seizures October 1, 2019. We are gathering his bills for brain cancer treatment to submit for payment to Medi-share and have learned you do not offer the uninsured a discount so they can have the dignity of paying their bills. I have put this on my blog.  Do you have an explanation for this odd policy?  Any discount would make the bill eligible for payment.”

Perhaps we’ll get an explanation.

The Democrats have shown their true colors—selected paragraphs

Don’t ever get on Melissa Mackenzie’s bad side—she can sling word porn. https://spectator.org/a-delayed-debate-response-socialists-go-wild/

“Finally, Americans are getting an earful of what Democrats believe. The worldview is paranoid and delusional, laced with toxic envy, irresponsibility, statism, and redistributionist fatalism. The world is terrible. The State will save you. Rich people are evil, and we must take their money. Life is hopeless, so murdering babies is actually what’s good for them.” . . .

“Joe Biden has a spot at Obama’s right hand. But he’ll never outshine Obama. He’s easily paid off. He’s a mumbling aw-shucks buffoon covering a vicious soul. He’s the perfect lackey. Lackeys don’t make good alphas. They succeed precisely because they can never be more than second fiddle; they don’t have the sociopathic malice to be in charge. And that’s why Biden is crumbling now. He’s the only likable candidate, but he’s stumbling and fumbling under pressure. He doesn’t have the heart for the kill shot like Elizabeth Warren or his BFF Barack. Joe Biden is finished. He just looks old. And yes, he would still fare best against Trump, but the foaming-at-the-mouth hordes will have none of it.” . . .

“[Elizabeth Warren] savaged Michael Bloomberg by comparing him unfavorably to Trump. This was like meth for the caffeine-addicted, a pure shot of speed into the veins of the media, who loves her. Bitter about their inability to push Hillary’s carcass over the line, the media has decided that a more energetic, more enthusiastic psychopath is the answer. She is a woman. It’s her time. Except it’s not her time. She’s stolen her policy positions from Bernie and doesn’t feel real to the teeth-baring Antifa thugs making up the Bernie, and now the Democrat, base. Elizabeth Warren of all the candidates is the one who genuinely scares me. It’s a relief to know that she won’t be the nominee.” . . .

“Bernie was mid-word and his face was a rosacea mask of murderous rage. Gah! One can stop the TV at any time with him and the expression is always the same. Why? Because communists are very, very angry people. Never mind that Bernie got rich being a “public servant.” Never mind that America is in the throes of an economic boom. None of that matters. The world is unfair. There shouldn’t be rich people.”

The two parties and their campaigns—so different

“Democrats still love to see themselves as representing the little guy against the big corporations. But in this century, their presidential nominees have outraised and outspent their Republican opponents, and they’ve been running ahead of Republicans in the highest income groups.

Yet as Democratic pols and pundits search for someone to stop Bernie Sanders, whom do they alight on? Not Joe Biden or Elizabeth Warren, whose support has been visibly waning. Probably not on Pete Buttigieg, who’s struggling to win any perceptible support from blacks, or Amy Klobuchar, whose support seems confined to white college grads.

Instead they’re looking to Michael Bloomberg, with his $56 billion fortune. Over the past several weeks, he has passed some $400 million in campaign expenditures — the same amount former President Barack Obama’s reelection campaign spent over two years.”

 https://patriotpost.us/opinion/68740-democrats-dna-makes-them-feel-the-bern-2020-02-21

What does Amazon know about you?

BBC News article includes extensive history, narrative, graphics, photos and insight into how and why Amazon collects massive amounts of data Amazon on users through multiple channels of e-commerce and devices – by Leo Kelion –

“You might call me an Amazon super-user. I’ve been a customer since 1999, and rely on it for everything from grass seed to birthday gifts. There are Echo speakers dotted throughout my home, Ring cameras inside and out, a Fire TV set-top box in the living room and an ageing Kindle e-reader by my bedside. I submitted a data subject access request, asking Amazon to disclose everything it knows about me Scanning through the hundreds of files I received in response, the level of detail is, in some cases, mind-bending. One database contains transcriptions of all 31,082 interactions my family has had with the virtual assistant Alexa. Audio clips of the recordings are also provided. The 48 requests to play Let It Go, flag my daughter’s infatuation with Disney’s Frozen. Other late-night music requests to the bedroom Echo, might provide a clue to a more adult activity…” . . .

That’s the introduction to a difficult to read, white on charcoal scrolling screen.  It’s a very scary universe.

“We find ourselves being shot backward into a kind of feudal pattern where it was an elite, a priesthood, that had all the knowledge and all the rest of the people just kind of groped around in the dark,” says Shoshana Zuboff, a Harvard professor and author of The Age of Surveillance Capitalism.”

Trump job approval higher than Obama’s

at same time in presidency.

According to Gallup, President Trump’s February 2020 job approval is at 49%. That’s 4 percentage points higher than when he took office. President Obama’s job approval was 45% in February 2012, toward the beginning his fourth year in office.

https://sharylattkisson.com/2020/02/trump-job-approval-beats-out-obamas-at-same-time-in-presidency/?

I think I know where this is going. . . a photo contest

“As engines of economic growth, markets extend the frontiers of human well-being; as sites of innovation, they expand the boundaries of human imagination; as a non-coercive means of coordinating behavior, they diminish the threat of tyranny. However, markets can also concentrate economic power in a way that limits individual opportunity, stifles innovation, and distorts public discourse. The need to respond to market incentives can distort relationships, dissolve communities, and harm the natural environment. The extension of markets into education, health care, and criminal justice threatens to undermine the distinct aims that those institutions were designed to promote. How do markets promote or hinder human well-being? What is the relationship between economic freedom and other freedoms? What are the proper limits of markets? What, if anything, should not be for sale?”

Pretty sure capitalism will be bashed in this photo contest promoted by Center for Ethics and Human Values at Ohio State University.  The solutions will be, of course, more government control. . . because markets

• concentrate economic power
• limit individual opportunity
• stifle innovation
• distort public discourse
• distort relationships
• dissolve communities
• harm the natural environment
• undermine distinct aims of institutions
• hinder human well-being
• proper limits

Lakeside will have a new food service

This article about the new food service appeared in the Lake Erie Living Magazine. Stacy has taught a number of classes at Lakeside and we've enjoyed her pay it forward food restaurant in Port Clinton.

1960 was a long time ago

“The Democrats’ candidate [JFK] in 1960 headlined freedom as the issue defining his campaign. Sixty years later, Democrats are moving down the road to nominating a socialist, pushing freedom as an American ideal out of the picture.”

“It is a generation [18-29] to whom much has been given and from whom little is expected.

When Kennedy ran for president in 1960, America’s youth still faced a military draft. In 1960, 72% of Americans over 18 were married, compared with 50% today.

According to Pew, 78% of those ages 18 to 29 say it is acceptable for an unmarried couple to live together, even if they don’t intend to get married.

From 2009 to 2019, there was a drop of 16% among those ages 23 to 39 who identify as Christian and an increase of 13% of those self-identifying as religiously unaffiliated.”

Democrat youth believe socialism is their future. They are the direction of the Democrat Party.  Get out while you still can.

https://www.dothaneagle.com/opinion/commentary/young-democrats-lose-interest-in-freedom/article_ba70a141-9b74-55db-b513-1a1853c52409.html?

My visit with the GE washer repairman

My 18 year old Maytag started making death rattle noises, so on February 4 I went to Lowe's and bought a new GE washer.  It was delivered and installed on February 5, and by the 5th load on the 13th it began leaking.  Because of Phil's illness and hospitalization on the 15th, I didn't get a call into repair until yesterday thinking I had a day before Phil's release.  The repairman came this morning.  He quickly figured out the problem (which I had guessed): the drain hose was not properly connected.  In fact, he told me I was lucky it hadn't flooded the whole basement, since it could easily have come off, instead of just leaking.  So he fixed it.

But.  He was so happy to have a live audience (me), he gave me all the information he learned in washing machine school.  I felt like I'd been to a workshop about saving water and the environment, getting clothes cleaner with a second rinse, and the best time to put in the soap.  He also assured me about all the new noises this model has.

Last night's debate--anything electable?

The United States of America began in 1776, not 1619

The New York Times has been perpetrating a fraud.

“Gordon Wood, one of the USA’s leading historians of the Revolutionary War, has been sharply critical of 1619’s best known essay (“America Wasn’t a Democracy Until Black Americans Made It One,” by Nikole Hannah-Jones), dismissing Hannah-Jones’s claim that the USA seceded from Britain primarily to protect the institution of slavery as factually inaccurate.
Wood points out that attributing American secession to a desire to protect slavery—rather than (say) taxation without representation, conflicts over French and Indian war debt, or tense armed exchanges like the “Boston Massacre”—“makes the Revolution out to be like the Civil War,” which is “wrong in so many ways.” The eminent historian seems bemused and angered by the decision of the Times to support an arguably questionable scholarly project, saying: “I was surprised by the scope of this thing, [since] it’s going to become the basis for high school education, and has the weight of the New York Times behind it.” Given that the generally reputable Pulitzer Center is already offering a “1619 Project Curriculum” targeted at “all grades,” Dr. Wood’s words of warning ring true.

Similarly, John Oakes, Distinguished Professor of History and Graduate School Humanities Professor at the City University of New York, has been extremely critical of the 1619 Project’s claim that “anti-Black racism runs in the very DNA of this country,” and the project’s explicit attempt to link many Black problems of today (i.e. “mass incarceration”) to historical slavery. As Oakes notes, this is an almost ahistorical view. To people who believe it: “There has been no industrialization. There has been no Great Migration. We’re all in the same boat we were back then.”

https://quillette.com/2020/02/17/sorry-new-york-times-but-america-began-in-1776/

https://1776unites.com/

Update: The 1776 website is so good, I've already written them a fan letter.

Bomb attacks are now common in Sweden

If Trump is a racist for calling out immigrant related crime, why is it the highest in Sweden? https://www.spectator.co.uk/2019/10/bomb-attacks-are-now-a-normal-part-of-swedish-life/

In 2019, there were over 230 bombings in Sweden—more than in any other Western country.  Explosions have become normalized.  No other western country is experiencing this. Gang crime is also increasing--nine out of ten perpetrators of Sweden’s gang shootings are either first- or second-generation immigrants. The country has gone from having among the lowest rates of violent crime in western Europe to one of the highest.   Ten years ago this was unheard of.  And sentences for violent crime are very lenient—the kidnapping and violent rape of a child might get a man 4 years.
Swedish leaders are not responding to the crime/assimilation problem.  Patriotism or nationalism are considered dirty words by the leftist governments. Citizens are being told--don't believe your eyes and ears.  Sound familiar?

No go zones are very real in Sweden.  Emergency and transportation and mail services need police escorts before going into certain areas. Sweden is deeply segregated; clan governments predominate in these segregated areas. Governments will not discuss for fear of being called racist.  Sound familiar?

Interview by First Things of Paulina Neuding https://www.firstthings.com/media/sweden-is-on-edge

Dark chocolate cherry trail mix

Dark chocolate is good for you.

Cacao vs. cocoa

Coffee vs. Chocolate
Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup raw almonds
• 3/4 cup raw pecans
• 1 cup pepitas or pumpkin seeds
• 1 cup dried cherries
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips or chunks
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Place nuts and seeds on a baking sheet and toast 5-10 minutes, until they smell fragrant.
• Combine all ingredients, minus the chocolate, in a large bowl.
• Mix well and add chocolate once the nuts have cooled enough.
• Portion into 1/4 cup portions and store in an airtight container.

Download a printable version of this recipe here.

Serving Size:

Makes approximately 16 (1/4 cup) servings

Nutritional Information:

• 155 calories
• 11g fat
• 2g sat fat
• 0g trans fat
• 0mg cholesterol
• 58mg sodium
• 12g carb
• 3g fiber
• 6g sugar
• 4g protein