What is your reserve?

What amount of reserve do you need to meet a disaster? Like the current health crisis which has closed 100s of businesses. I  can remember when I was about 45-50 our reserve would cover new tires for the car or a fence if the old one collapsed.  Our savings was put and take. We’d save it and 2 months later an appliance would die. No 3 months, not even 1 month. When I finally went back to work full time in a tenure track job we just didn’t spend my salary, and 15% went to TDA.  It was a very late start for retirement.

When our son was diagnosed with a brain tumor that ended his employment on October 1 we discovered that disability assistance based on Social Security begins SIX months after diagnosis, and medical help 2 years after that (Medicare). If you are poor or an illegal alien there is help, otherwise you should have enough assets to row your own boat for 6 months. Hospitals and cancer clinics have special programs to help low income patients , some don’t pay a penny, but not those who earn over $25,000 and own a house and car. And that is most who read this post.  So . . . Do you have 6 months of liquid resources?

A statement from Pastor Steve Turnbull, UALC, Columbus, Ohio

Coronavirus is in the news, and the global spread of this new virus is a reality. I’d like to address this situation pastorally and share with you how we can respond as a church. We can be a church following Jesus with soft hearts, engaged minds, open (clean!) hands, and whole spirits.
In our responses, we will be guided by wisdom and love, not fear or panic. My social media feeds are populated by two extremes: those who dismiss and minimize the threat and those who are whipping others into a frenzy. These extremes are neither wise nor loving, nor helpful.
Here are some facts for engaged minds:

1. Public health officials now project that many or most people will be infected eventually and develop the disease called COVID-19.
2. The overwhelming majority of people will recover safely, as is also true for other similar viruses.
3. Some people are more vulnerable than others to serious health risks resulting from this virus, particularly older adults and those with underlying health conditions. Health officials are recommending “social distancing” for those with chronic health conditions and for adults over 70.
4. Slowing the spread of the disease to these more vulnerable groups is the wisest and most loving priority for us to embrace.

Please allow me to address this fourth idea and how we can prioritize loving our neighbors as our ourselves. Jesus has made us whole, and we are free to respond to one another in faith and love. As Christians we “look not to our own interests but to the interests of others.” Here’s what that means practically:

1. I ask that you please pray for one another, especially for those at higher risk.
2. I ask those of you in lower-risk groups to soften your hearts toward our higher-risk neighbors and take precautions to “bear one another's burdens and thus fulfill the law of Christ.” This means that you are not just washing your hands for yourself but for the person you’re about to meet. Or if you have symptoms, you may be able to power through your day and get a few things accomplished, but you might also be putting someone else at serious risk. Please love your neighbor and keep your germs to yourself.
3. Perhaps you could also take open-handed steps of love and sacrifice for those who are vulnerable. Some of you could offer to pick up groceries or medications for others who need to limit their public exposure. This is an opportunity to be creative and thoughtful with our intentional acts of kindness to one another.
4. Finally, I'd recommend engaging your mind with news from www.cdc.gov and more locally from www.coronavirus.ohio.gov. You might consider taking a break from Facebook and cable news for a while.

It's so important that we practice love and wisdom as a church community. As a result, we have made the decision to suspend activities in our building effective immediately. Although it breaks my heart to say so, this applies even to worship on Sunday mornings. Worship is central to the life of our Christian community, and it is only through prayer and with much counsel that we have come to this decision. I hope and pray that actions like these, together with many others, lead to outcomes that will make the precautions seem to have been unnecessary. God make it so. None of these decisions are reached in a spirit of panic but rather love for those at greatest risk. This is how we “bear one another’s burdens and thus fulfill the law of Christ.” At present we intend for the suspension of activities, including worship, to be in effect for the remainder of the month of March. We all realize that this is a rapidly developing situation, and we will update you as new information becomes available. Please visit www.ualc.org/coronavirus for the most accurate communication.
During the time that we do not gather on Sunday mornings for worship, we will do our best to stay connected and support the faith and life of our community.

1. Our worship and technical teams are already working to develop the best mechanisms to help us connect in prayer, in worship, and in the sharing of the Gospel. I will send out further information in the coming days. This would be a great time for you to download the UALC mobile app. You can find it on the Apple App Store or Google Play Store or get a link by texting “UALC App” to 77977.
2. You can still participate in giving your tithes and offerings at www.ualc.org/give. I have done my giving as a recurring transaction for many years now. It helps me remain faithful in my giving, provides for the church’s needs, and even brings a bit of worship to my otherwise less joyful bill paying and record keeping! Of course, you may also mail your gifts to the church office at 2300 Lytham Road, Columbus, Ohio 43220.
3. We are developing strategies to continue to care for one another during this season. Your small groups are a great community to stay in communication with. We are also providing additional support to our care department to check on and care for our members.
4. Please be intentional to reach out, communicate with, and care for one another during this season.

As Christians, we can walk by faith and live in love. We trust that Jesus is Lord, no matter what. And we follow His example in loving one another. Thank you for being the church of Jesus Christ and for sharing in His life for the world, especially now.

Following Jesus with you,
Pastor Steve

Now a pandemic

Six weeks after our President acted to limit travel from China to the U.S. to protect Americans, schools, assemblies, conferences, sports teams, nursing homes and whole towns have put stringent rules in place that limit person to person spread of the Coronavirus. Are those officials all racists and xenophobes? Have they been slow to act and irresponsible because the power of socialism would have done it faster and better? Of course not. That honor goes to the accusers of the President.

Update on Phil

When I noted on Facebook that Phil was at his own home after 6 days in the hospital with help from his family, a friend from church, a widow about my age, sent this message, one that warms a mother’s heart:

“Thanks so much for update on dear Phil, Norma. I continue to pray for him and your family. Please tell him I keep his note on my computer, and I think of him always; it says, "Thank you for everything you've done for me. Phil Bruce." It was attached to flowers he sent to me at work -- a long time ago. O how I have loved you, Phil, for many years, and I've always felt we have had a good connection, starting when you were in one of my Sunday school classes. I hope it feels good for you to be home now; I pray you can feel God's presence and love, Phil, and mine.”

This week-end we hired a care giver for the first time so we could get some rest.  However, with medication confusion and the need to be there for a plumber, we didn’t see much rest.  It’s like leaving your baby with a sitter for the first time. (I remember that, too.)  She’s very nice and we all liked her right away.  She’s from Sierra Leone and lost her own daughter during their terrible Civil War in the 1990s—and I’m guessing she would have been about Phil’s age.  She’s been in the U.S. about 30 years, is a Christian, and prayed with Phil (I found out later). https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/sierra-leone-civil-war-1991-2002/

Phil is on a number of prayer lists—my cousin Gayle, my siblings and the Indiana relatives have been particularly faithful about that, although there are many others. Phil’s church has a “Care and Share” group that brings him special meals and has provided me with suggestions. His pastors visit regularly.

Because of my vertigo I haven’t been driving to his home (about 25 minutes through a lot of traffic) and this week Keith, a friend of Phil’s from high school, was home (he’s a pilot) and provided me transportation three times, Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday.  On Thursday he also brought along a wonderful dinner of fish, rice and spinach which he had made the night before.  In addition to his friendship, he’s also a great chef. He was born in Goa, India and lived many years in Japan

Phil’s girlfriend Sara has been invaluable.  She’s a teacher with a busy schedule that includes volunteering, tutoring, and checking in on her own relatives, but still finds time to spend hours with Phil, bathing, changing sheets, running errands, doing laundry, and bringing him treats he likes.

Life is easier when the body of Christ works together.

Comrade Bernie is 50 years behind

“Europeans, then, having learned that socialism does not work, are trying to narrow our gap with the United States with various reforms—just as Bernie Sanders, 50 years too late, seeks to emulate Europe. Doesn’t Sanders know that his program has been applied in Europe, and failed? He must: and this would mean that his true ambition is not free health care or free college, but a deeper transformation of the United States. Perhaps he hates the free-market society and wants to replace it with a socialist, egalitarian one, overseen by the “tyranny of the benevolent,” which Tocqueville warned against.

Why would so many American voters find Sanders’s socialism attractive? For the same reasons that socialism was once popular in Europe: the love for equality over individual freedom; the illusion of a safe life, guaranteed by a benevolent state; the allure of transferring personal responsibility to a public nurse. Then as now, these offers exert a strong psychological appeal; the answer to them is reality. Socialism does not work—but perhaps one needs to live through it to be convinced.”

https://www.city-journal.org/bernie-sanders-socialist-vision

A Venezuelan speaks on freedom

https://youtu.be/j4c6oRxh4S8

Daniel DiMartino grew up amid violence, poverty, and corruption in socialist Venezuela. Luckily, he escaped those horrors and began a new life in the United States with a full tuition scholarship to a university in Indiana. “Waking up in America and waking up in Venezuela are two very different things. While in Venezuela I didn’t have the hope of ever having my own home, having a car, starting a family, in America I’m not only hopeful but I am sure that I will be able to do those things,” said DiMartino while sharing his story in a new Heritage video. DiMartino’s story is a prime example of what makes America truly exceptional.

The fake news virus

The coronavirus isn’t fake, and the hysteria about it isn’t fake, but the news media making it all about Trump, is definitely in the fake category.

“Trump was in a relaxed and cheerful mood [at CPAC] when he took the stage of the Potomac Ballroom at the Gaylord Hotel in National Harbor. Just before helicoptering over to CPAC on Marine One, the president had joined Vice President Mike Pence, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease Director Dr. Anthony Fauci at a White House press conference on the coronavirus. As with everything else in the Trump Age, this turned into a confrontation with the “fake news” media. An NBC reporter asked about a New York Times article that claimed Dr. Fauci had been “muzzled” by the administration. Trump responded that the question was “dishonest,” then yielded the microphone to Dr. Fauci. “I have never been muzzled, and I’ve been doing this since the administration of Ronald Reagan,” Dr. Fauci said, explaining that what happened involved scheduled TV appearances and the appointment of Pence to head the administration’s response to the disease that spread from China. “I have not been muzzled at all. That was a real misrepresentation of what happened.”

I’m surprised anyone believes anything published in New York Times, or Washington Post.

Joan’s new great grandchild, guest blogger

“Our granddaughter is a few weeks pregnant - still in the first trimester. She had tests this week that tell doctors what gender that baby is, whether he/she has any abnormalities such as Down Syndrome, Cystic Fibrosis, etc., and whether the developing body parts are developing normally. His/her gender is part of the basic structure of this little human being. Nobody is “assigning” a gender or forecasting his/her humanity. The doctor doesn’t say, “The clump of cells that might be his head is forming normally.” They say, “The baby’s head is normal size and shape.” This baby IS already who he/she is. Just sayin’ “

Let’s put Coronavirus in perspective

“Approximately one in four U.S. residents aged ≥65 years (older adults) report falling each year, and fall-related emergency department visits are estimated at approximately 3 million per year. In 2016, a total of 29,668 U.S. residents aged ≥65 years died as the result of a fall (age-adjusted rate^† = 61.6 per 100,000), compared with 18,334 deaths (47.0) in 2007.”  Imagine if that were a virus. The media are stoking a pandemic, and saying Trump isn’t doing enough, when he’s done a lot about a job that isn’t is.  However, I’ve never heard him comment on falls.  CDC MMWR https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/67/wr/mm6718a1.htm

“In the U.S. alone, the flu has already caused an estimated 19 million illnesses, 180,000 hospitalizations and 10,000 deaths this season, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).” Scientific American https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-does-the-new-coronavirus-compare-with-the-flu/

Have you heard the president admonishing people to wash their hands and covering their sneezes? Has he appointed an influenza czar? Or a Fall General?

On March 15-20, 2009,  about 170 of us from the Columbus area returned from the Middle East. About 20 of us got sick on the way home. Some got sick after arriving home--some 2 or 3 days later with fever, aches and chills. It took about 4 weeks for my GI track to return to normal, although I didn't go to the hospital. Still I was lying on the floor of the airport for several hours, and someone had to get me to the front of the line at customs. I'm just thankful it wasn't during this scare.

Thousands of unvaccinated cross our borders—Democrats don’t care

The Democrats are trying to make the Coronavirus about Trump, yet they don’t care a bit about the thousands of unvaccinated illegal aliens coming into the country.  Why is that?  Both become Trump issues, and they desperately need that chaos and anxiety. Illegal aliens from OTM (other than Mexico) also use that route.  They come from Asia, the Middle East, India, South America, etc., so when the virus comes in with them, will they blame Trump?  Of course.

The crazy candidates, pandering, lying, bluffing and bullying

So Bernie Sanders wants to legalize drugs and fund  the black community to sell them legally. He lauds Cuba for have a literacy program, but doesn’t mention they have nothing to read that isn’t controlled by the government.

Joe Biden believes 150,000,000 Americans have been killed by guns in the last 13 years—half the population. He also said he was running to be Senator.

Mike Bloomberg says stop and frisk saved millions of lives, but he’s sorry now he was for it before he was against it. He has no core values or programs to propose except confiscate guns.

Elizabeth Warren seems to have nothing to say except loud and shrill.

Pete Buttigeig has no claim to fame except a male husband. How does that help him carry out his socialist ideas?  His father was a Communist—and although not all men follow dad’s lead, he seems to.

And the bluffing on education?  These people don’t even know the federal Bureau of Labor figures.  The AVERAGE hourly rate for teachers is $67.00/hour.  And most states are already above the salary Saunders was saying would make a difference.

Universal pre-school?  Trillions spent from that War on Poverty Head Start program of the LBJ era, and it has not made a whiff of difference except to employ some of the parents and provide better nutrition, and it was not intended to be a jobs program.  Since it turned 50 a few years ago, I’m not sure there has been another definitive study—it was so dismal then.

https://fee.org/articles/no-fidel-castro-didnt-improve-health-care-or-education-in-cuba/

https://www.heritage.org/education/report/head-start-impact-evaluation-report-finally-released

It was Clinton, not Trump

In 1996, President Clinton signed a law giving the government the power to deny visas to would-be immigrants who cannot support themselves, but it has not been widely enforced. February 25, 2020  Sharyl Attkisson

“The White House on Monday hailed the court's move as a "massive win for American taxpayers, American workers, and the American Constitution."

"This decision allows the Government to implement regulations effectuating longstanding Federal law that newcomers to this country must be financially self-sufficient and not a 'public charge' on our country and its citizens," said White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham in a statement.”

https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/480114-supreme-court-allows-trump-administration-to-move-forward-with

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent

This morning at 6:30 I’ll go to our Lytham Road campus of UALC for the imposition of ashes.  Merriam-Webster explains:

Lent

“Lent traces back to Old English with the meaning of "springtime." In the Christian church, the word refers to a period of spiritual preparation for Easter, a feast that commemorates Jesus' resurrection. In Western churches, it begins on Ash Wednesday, six and one half weeks before Easter, and is, traditionally, a time of penance and of a 40-day fast (excluding Sundays); the duration of the fast is patterned on Jesus' praying and fasting in the wilderness (or desert). In Eastern churches, it begins eight weeks before Easter, and both Saturdays and Sundays are excluded as fast days.

In addition to penance and fasting, the devout often choose to give up certain pleasures, such as sweets or weekend binge-watching, as a way of remembering the suffering of Jesus. If you see that forgoing something is beginning to put a person in a bad mood, find or make them a Jack-a-Lent (originally, a Jack of Lent), a stuffed puppet traditionally set up as a target to be pelted for fun during Lent and destroyed on Easter Day. It might be a good diversion.”

Pronouns are not protected by the Constitution!

https://www.christianpost.com/news/judge-throws-out-lawsuit-against-ohio-college-for-forcing-professor-to-use-trans-pronouns.html

A Christian professor who sued his employer has lost—calling a trans person by their actual correct pronoun can get you fired.

“I encourage my students to express their political and religious views, and professors should have the same freedom,” Meriwether said in a statement sent out from ADF.

“But the University insisted that I endorse an ideology I do not believe is true. This is simply wrong. True tolerance must be a two-way street. Now the district court suggests that professors have no free speech rights, which should trouble us all. Public universities have no business compelling people to express ideological beliefs that they do not hold. But the court’s decision opens the door for them to shift from being a marketplace of ideas to an assembly line for one type of thought.”

Rolling in the deep is 9 years old? 2011?

When I was a teen, we had to go to the furniture store to buy records.  Listening to a popular song that was 9 years old would have meant—well something from the mid-40s I couldn’t relate to, so I was surprised to see that Rolling in the Deep, 2011, Adelle, was from 2011, and that I actually knew some of these titles of Best of the 2010’s.

And who could forget Happy, 2014,  Pharrell Williams.  It seemed to be everywhere.  And you really did feel happy after listening to it. Terrific video with great cameos.

Uptown Funk, 2015, Bruno Mars.  Yes, I remember this one. It was a great song, and I’m not sure how I heard it—maybe bumper music on the Fox channel?

I don’t remember Love Yourself, 2016, Justin Bieber, although I seem to remember the line about my mom doesn’t like you and she likes everyone. But what a great video—fantastic choreography.

The Shape of You, 2017, Ed Sheeran, I remember from when the Lifetime Fitness played videos—on and on and on and on.  That one seemed to be on all the time when I joined in 2018.

So I did know a few from this real live Dairy Queen’s blog. https://www.dairycarrie.com/2019/12/31/top-10-songs-of-the-2010s/

Is Coronavirus hype by the media?”

“So far, the new coronavirus, dubbed 2019-nCoV, has led to more than 20,000 illnesses and 427 deaths in China, as well as more than 200 illnesses and two deaths outside of mainland China. But that’s nothing compared with the flu, also called influenza. In the U.S. alone, the flu has already caused an estimated 19 million illnesses, 180,000 hospitalizations and 10,000 deaths this season, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).”

Scientific American, January 27, 2020  https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-does-the-new-coronavirus-compare-with-the-flu/

Rush Limbaugh opined today that the media are looking for the next “bombshell” to bring down President Trump.  If it has to be a panic over a virus or an economic recession, so be it—they hate him that much. In India, the President said the U.S. had the situation well in hand, but we are vigilant.  The media responded predictably—well, he lies so maybe he is lying again. One opinion-maker observed that Obama during the Ebola crisis had taken a world view.  Trump does not see himself has world manager or king.  Maybe Obama did. https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/479301-trump-says-us-has-coronavirus-totally-under-control

That said, the media need to do some research on the old fashioned, annual flu which changes and evolves each year. They never say much about it because it’s many the elderly and immune compromised.   I got my flu shot, did you?

And some media wonk complained that Trump’s gathering of coronavirus medical experts wasn’t diverse enough.  I think it was CNN, which has if photos don’t lie, an all white editorial board.

Telemarketers and charities—follow the money—it goes to the telemarketer

https://www.salon.com/2018/01/13/when-charities-let-telemarketers-gouge-donors_partner/

This article by OSU professor Brian Mittendorf can help you sort your way through the good, bad and ugly, mostly ugly, of those phone solicitations you receive for worthy causes.  Police.  Abused animals. Women’s needs. Veterans. Cancer.  CAUTION!  Two problems:

“One is legal: State and federal authorities have a limited ability to regulate charities and their fundraisers.

The other is cultural: Charities fight new regulations, arguing that they can police themselves. Yet, they are reluctant to call out their peers who abuse the public trust.”

Charities are making things worse by not policing themselves and by becoming dependent—I guess they figure 10% of the take is better than nothing.

You the donor can police what you do.  I try to know the organization and donate directly.

Parts sold from born alive babies

From a September 23, 2019 article:

“Forrest Smith, an obstetrician-gynecologist who performed abortions in California, testified not only that Planned Parenthood and other abortion clinics were selling aborted baby parts for profit, but babies were often born alive, then murdered, in order to ensure the organs to be sold were more fresh and intact.

Smith, who said he had done at least 50,000 abortions, testified that based on what he saw in the videos and what he knows about the abortion industry, he believes doctors performed abortion procedures so that babies would be born alive, even though it puts the mother at greater risk. “

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/abortion-doctor-admits-sold-baby-parts-often-came-from-babies-born-alive

Michael Bloomberg—Capitalist or Leftist—Woke Capitalism by Michael Rechtenwald

“Notice that the Democrats haven't cancelled Michael Bloomberg. If he were other than a Democrat, he'd be finished. But the Democrats have no problem with their own oligarchs, misogynists, sex offenders, tyrants, or fascists. Only those of the *other* side are a problem. And ironically, they overlook the fact that the majority of offenders are on their own team. There are exceptions of course to this overlooking (e.g. for sex offenders there's Harvey Weinstein), but they tend to keep them as well hidden as possible. Being a leftist covers a multitude of sins.

Bloomberg is a leftist all right--a leftist with money. He's the authoritarian leftist personified, the leftist with power that all leftists aspire to be even while disclaiming power and pretending to be underdogs because leftism tells its adherents that they must be underdogs no matter what, no matter whether their ideology is ascendant or not (and it is). That is because leftism demands constant querulousness and a perpetual sense of disadvantage in order to function--except in the case of the corporate leftist, like Mike Bloomberg, or King Camp Gillette before him, who have the power to redress their immediate complaints--for the time being, that is, until they find new ones. But all leftism must tell the leftists that they and their ideas and objectives are marginalized, outcast, disadvantaged, even as the likes of Mike Bloomberg dictates whether and how much sugary soft drinks people are allowed to buy at once, whether they can own a gun (they can't), or how much free speech is too much. Bloomberg is Lenin-Stalin-Mao on estrogen. Bloomberg is the core of leftism. Bloomberg is leftism's authoritarian core authorized, paid for, empowered, revealed.

Once in power, leftists are tyrants, and the worst kind of tyrants. Tyrants with a firm belief in their moral superiority.”

Michael Rechtenwald’s speech at Baylor University, February 21, 2020 on Corporate socialism and Woke capitalism. https://youtu.be/Vog7Wn1WGRM

Remember the Gillette “woke” ad about dad teaching daughter to shave? King Camp Gillette, says Rechtenwald, was one of the first corporate socialists and the ad is a return to the founder’s roots. He didn’t believe in competition—thought at its root was selfishness. Destruction of the biological distinction between men and women is part of the woke movement—destruction of the family which is in competition with the government. Gillette published books on world socialism. World corporation and The Human Drift are 2 of his titles.

https://www.uh.edu/engines/epi738.htm

Diversity used to mean people; now it means loyalty oaths and group think

“Universities started with a desire to hire African Americans, women, and other groups, to address the sadly small numbers of these on their faculties. Racial and gender discrimination being illegal, this was soon labeled a "diversity" effort. But for a long time "diversity" meant only who you hire, not their politics.

The "diversity statement" is a new effort, in which every potential faculty member must pledge their personal loyalty to the diversity movement, and pledge future activity.  They also must describe their personal experiences advancing "diversity." And they must not mention ideological or other diversity.”

This means a gay man might be denied a job if he’s a conservative; or a black woman who believes in traditional marriage might not be promoted; or a Hispanic who thinks a transwoman should not be wrestling on the women’s team could be overlooked for that coaching job.

https://johnhcochrane.blogspot.com/2020/02/wokeademia-spreads.html