There is a tomorrow, and someone has to pay for it

"In 2021, Social Security spent $57 billion more than it collected in dedicated tax revenue and interest on its trust funds. The trustees expect this gap will widen over the next decade, quickly depleting the program’s trust funds until its runs out of money in 2035. At that point, the program’s income will cover only 80 percent of benefits promised to recipients."

 
This is an informative article. If you're looking at retirement with SS benefits to supplement your pension in 10-15 years, you definitely should be paying attention. I have a state teacher's pension so I don't get SS (that would be double-dipping). Did you know that? Nor am I be eligible for spousal benefit if my husband died first. G.W. Bush had planned to work on fixing this but with 9-11 and the war he got sidetracked and I don't think any president since then has even mentioned it. Now with raging inflation, you may need to adjust your spending and saving.

The Social Security Trust Funds | PolicyEd

Shadowlands, the movie

Monday evening at Lakeside we enjoyed the movie Shadowlands about C.S. Lewis and his wife Joy at Orchestra Hall (movie theatre) where I sat with Barbara Martin. It had been raining very hard, so my tarp was actually occupying the seat between us. Our book club had read a fictionalized account of Joy Davidson Gresham several years ago, but I wasn't terribly familiar with their story. I noticed that one son had been left out of the story of their friendship, marriage and her death. So last night at an art show I asked Barbara about it, and she told me of the unfortunate life of the older son David and why he was left out of the story. Today she sent me this link which explains a lot, in case you saw Shadowlands. Douglas Gresham, the stepson of Lewis, has had a very interesting life, and survived some very difficult times.

An Untold Tragedy: Douglas Gresham and C.S. Lewis’s Final Years – The European Conservative

C.S. Lewis tried to help his schizophrenic step-son | The Bridgehead
I wrote about Douglas and his life with Lewis in a 2017 blog. Collecting My Thoughts: C. S. Lewis’ son Douglas Gresham

Plot of Shadowlands (from Wikipedia)

"In the 1950s, the reserved, middle-aged bachelor C. S. Lewis is an Oxford University academic at Magdalen College and author of The Chronicles of Narnia series of children's books. He meets the married American poet Joy Davidman Gresham and her young son Douglas on their visit to England, not yet knowing the circumstances of Gresham's troubled marriage.

What begins as a formal meeting of two very different minds slowly develops into a feeling of connection and love. Lewis finds his quiet life with his brother Warnie disrupted by the outspoken Gresham, whose uninhibited behaviour sharply contrasts with the rigid sensibilities of the male-dominated university. Each provides the other with new ways of viewing the world.

Initially, their marriage is one of convenience, a platonic union designed to allow Gresham to remain in England. But when she is diagnosed with cancer, deeper feelings surface, and Lewis' beliefs are tested as his wife tries to prepare him for her death."

Methodists: Don't miss your exit!

Dr. Warren Lathem, a retired UMC pastor and husband of a blogger friend, writes on Facebook, (1) Warren Lathem | Facebook :

"Atlanta drivers know if you wait until the last minute to try to cross 6 lanes of traffic to get to your exit, you are likely to either miss the opportunity and wait for the next one, or get run over by a delivery truck. Therefore, we have learned to get prepared to exit long before the exit appears.

 
The UMC made a provision for churches to disaffiliate (exit) from the UMC taking their property and all assets without any liability for future unfunded UMC pension benefits. It is described in paragraph 2553 of the current (2019) Book of Discipline.

 
However, this provision has an expiration date: December 31, 2023. There are costs involved, specifically paying the church’s share of the unfunded pension liability (the conference has to provide that number) and any unpaid current year apportionments plus one more year apportionments. Various other bishops and Conference Boards of Trustees have added other requirements, some quite onerous.

 
The paragraph 2553 of the 2019 General Conference made provision for disaffiliation by a local church and was ruled constitutional in 2021 by the Judicial Council. This meant disaffiliation could be processed beginning in 2022. Seventy churches in North Georgia completed the process and were approved/ratified for disaffiliation at the June, 2022 Annual Conference.
The remaining churches wishing to disaffiliate have a very narrow window. They must complete the church decision making process and ask for a church conference to be scheduled January 1- February 28, 2023. The North Georgia Conference must vote on whether to ratify the local church disaffiliation agreement which is scheduled for May 31, 2023. No further opportunity for ratification is presently planned.

 
In order to meet this deadline it is imperative churches act now. The Annual Conference has published very specific procedures which must be followed exactly to be able to successfully execute this process. A sixteen page disaffiliation package has been prepared to help churches navigate this laborious process. The packet is available via email on request.

 
Please do not believe the speculation that there is no need to do anything before the 2024 General Conference. Also do not believe the speculation that the 2024 GC will make the process easier and less costly. Indications across the church reveal an agenda to thwart the process of disaffiliation. For example, one bishop has declared no churches will be allowed to disaffiliate until after the 2024 GC. Another has required churches to surrender 1/2 of their assets in addition the Disciplinary requirements. Further, the centrists and progressives who were involved in the negotiations which resulted in the Protocol for Separation have withdrawn their support for the legislation in the 2024 GC. The NGA bishop has declared, “The Protocol is dead.”

 
There is not sufficient evidence to believe the 2024 GC will adopt a new version of Paragraph 2553 nor make leaving less onerous, if even possible. Many have speculated they will, but this a very unlikely outcome.

 
Therefore, I believe you will have one opportunity: Annual Conference 2023. If you miss the exit, you will have probably made a very costly mistake.

 
In order to avoid missing the exit, you must begin moving toward it now, not later. Now. No one knows how many NGA churches will seek to disaffiliate in 2023. It could be hundreds. The exit ramp is fast approaching and the exit lane will fill quickly. You need to move toward it quickly.

 
Please do not let conference leaders, centrist/progressive clergy, or other church members convince you there is no hurry. The time is now.

 
There are folks available to speak with you, your church leadership, your church or a group of churches to help with understanding the current situation and the necessary process to successfully get through this exit.

 
In many churches there has been little or no discussion of the whole matter forcing the decision. Often that may be the natural state of inertia in many of the congregations of the UMC. Or it may be a theological misalignment of the pastor and the congregation. Further, it may be the fear of conflict in the congregation. Now is the time to face the fears and the consequences. Time is of the essence.

 
Disclosure: after 50 years of ministry in the UMC I transferred to the Global Methodist Church. It was in some ways a very sad and difficult decision. However, it was for missional reasons, first, then doctrinal and theological reasons. I believe we have a great missional future together. Our Wesleyan heritage is one of outwardly focused mission. It’s time to pursue it again.

warrenlathem@gmail.com

He also wrote:  Warren Lathem: North Georgia Ripple Effects - Juicy Ecumenism

"Interestingly, the reasons churches are discussing leaving almost always have nothing to do with human sexuality, the high-profile issue at the General Church level. They are talking about a misalignment of mission, decades of ineffective pastoral leadership, the misuse (in their opinion) of their apportionment dollars, the forced closing of local churches, the seizing of local church assets, and a desire for a viable future which appears to no longer be possible in the UMC. They have watched their children leave to go to effective orthodox churches, often independent or loosely aligned with an association of churches. They have observed the sometimes slow and sometimes rapid exit of their contemporaries to other vital churches in their community. They have observed the politically driven actions of the leadership of the conference in hiding or withholding information that for years was readily available to local churches. They have had to receive and pay the salaries of District Superintendents who have little experience and often no serious effective experience. Some of them have had a new DS assigned and have never met them in over two years! Many discuss the all-consuming institutionalism of the denominational leadership while experiencing either benign neglect or open hostility from that same leadership to the needs of the ministry of the local church. Now many of these most faithful United Methodists gather in sanctuaries for worship, look around and see fewer than 50% of the folks who were there just a few years ago. Some will say this is simply the result of Covid. Certainly some of it is. However, in most churches this downward trend in attendance stretches over multiple years and pastors. They never see a believer’s baptism. Confirmation classes have fewer than five or none at all. They are threatened if they do not pay their annual apportionment in full. They are not included in any district or conference decisions, not even consulted. So they want out with their assets to continue ministry in a more effective way. They may not be sure what that looks like, but they know what is current reality is not working."

Biden threatens Republicans again

"In his first network interview in 118 days, President Joe Biden pledged on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Wednesday night to jail political opponents connected in any way to the events on Jan. 6, 2021. The next morning, Biden’s FBI arrested lead Michigan GOP gubernatorial candidate Ryan Kelley, who was at the Capitol on the day Democrats have christened as a somber national holiday."

FBI Arrests GOP Candidate One Day After Biden Says To Jail Opponents (thefederalist.com)

Hearken harken

 I was going to comment on an article I read about the first black graduate of OSU published at the website of WOSU News, Shermin Hamlin Guss, however, I had to check a box for "Terms of Service" before it would submit.  I decided to look at it, and was shocked that I was virtually giving all my rights away to some unknown service called "Hearken." Plus it was word salad and the worst gobbledegookish lawyer blather I've ever seen.  One could not possibly know what was being signed, so I withdrew my comment.  If it's important, I'll find another way to contact the author, Michael De Bonis.

Democrats incite violence from local to federal level

"The record violence we're seeing now is irrevocably linked to the fact that, in 2020, Democrats at the national, state, and local levels willfully provoked and promoted mass lawlessness while they simultaneously demoted law enforcement capability. They empowered their Marxist Black Lives Matter thugs and their anarchist antifa legions to riotous violence in the name of "social justice" in response to what they errantly claimed was "systemic racism."

This violence is thus the direct result of empowering these mobs, and it is their effluent that accounts for the vast majority of active and mass assailants nationwide.

What data supports that assertion? Read on.

As a backdrop, after the high-profile attacks in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas, by sociopathic assailants — attacks that are very rare despite the ubiquitous media coverage — Joe Biden and his leftist politicos paused their advocacy for the killing of the most innocent among us — about 2,200 children before birth every day — and did what they always do. They used the blood of innocents as political fodder in their relentless assault on the Second Amendment, the citizens' assurance of the First Civil Right required to defend all others."

Mark Alexander: Biden and His Demos Unleashed a Record Surge in Mass Violence | The Patriot Post

And now the threats against a Supreme Court Judge, with outraged pro-aborts and Senator Chuck Shumer leading the way even though we have laws against protesting at their homes.

Why would more laws against guns help if even senators won't obey the law and not instigate violence?

Telling horse stories

 Our 12 year old neighbor was sitting on the porch talking to Bob when I got home from a nutrition lecture (no one can eat that many fruits and vegetables).  He loves horses, and rides a pony that belongs to someone else, but now is getting so tall he needs to find a horse.  Bob told him I had a horse at his age, so I told him the stories--mostly disaster type, since my horse wasn't well trained, I tied him in our back yard to graze or paid to board him at a farm and then had to catch him in order to ride.  I told him about the trail rides and tying a red ribbon to his tail to let others know not to get too close.  I told him about his unusual, teeth jarring gait, and how he'd expand his belly so the saddle would slide under when we rode him.  Mostly bad memories--I hope I didn't discourage him too much. He fell on me the first week I had him, and I've had back troubles ever since.  He now knows more of my horse stories than my kids. My mother and her sister had horses too one summer when their family visited their farms in Montana (?) or Kansas.   We didn't take a lot of photos in those days (1952); this may be one of the few I have.  I saved my babysitting money to purchase him but the upkeep was pretty stiff for a 12 year old--something like $10 a month for me to board him at a farm near Camp Emmaus. It certainly didn't turn out like the horse stories I'd read as a kid.

Decolonizing gender--what does that mean

 A consortium of publicly subsidized nonprofits wants to “decolonize gender” and normalize male genitalia as a form of authentic womanhood.

Pay attention.  They are telling you they plan to destroy your country, and the Biden administration and the deep state of out of control non-profits are setting the stage.

Transgender Activists in Their Own Words | City Journal (city-journal.org)

Slavery today

 "According to modern anti-slavery group 50 for Freedom, there are more people in slavery today than at any other time in history. Our elites seem disinterested in freeing those 40 million suffering souls but eager to condemn America for not getting rid of the “peculiar institution” sooner. Instead of focusing on 1619, they could do far more good by looking at 2022 and abolishing the scourge of slavery everywhere."  John Gabriel, Ricocet.com

Quote of the Day: Thomas Sowell on Ending Slavery | Ricochet

“What was peculiar about the West was not that it participated in the worldwide evil of slavery, but that it later abolished that evil, not only in Western societies but also in other societies subject to Western control or influence. This was possible only because the anti-slavery movement coincided with an era in which Western power and hegemony were at their zenith, so that it was essentially European imperialism which ended slavery. This idea might seem shocking, not because it does not fit the facts, but because it does not fit the prevailing vision of our time.”
― Thomas Sowell, Black Rednecks and White Liberals

Janet Jennings, you will be missed

 https://www.canva.com/design/DAFC2-1Ie6c/rJ0hOCYllHmnPZI0YSfR1w/view?

We were so saddened to learn of the short illness and death of our Lakeside friend, Janet Jennings. It's hard to imagine this place without her leadership, friendship and friendly smile.

  

Irwin and Janet in 2017

To the misinformed, naive Democrats

Friends of and voters for Biden, your responses to the Biden disasters--Afghanistan, inflation, going to our enemies for energy, rising crime, flip flopping on Ukraine aid, grooming of children with LGBTQ nonsense, border flooding with illegals, and now allowing China and foreign sources to control our oil and solar panels so he can appease the Greenie/Marxists in his administration--are laughable. Piddle, diddle, smile and fiddle. Trying to blame Trump or Tucker Carlson or Fox. You're pathetic.  You're digging and searching, and can't find anything.  Those of you who are Democrats supporting Biden (and many are not) are so misguided and confused, there should be a special service for you for mind healing. Now the plans are to do everything possible to inflate the J6 event, even though all the pink hat ladies (to simulate women's genitals which now they claim don't even belong to women) did more damage to property and patriotism on Trump's inauguration.  It's all you've got.  Claim a protest by a few hundred unarmed citizens was an insurrection planned by Trump. When thousands looted and burned all during his administration on behalf of BLM protests that a man with a long criminal record was wrongly killed by police resisting arrest,  and the Dems just sat back and smiled approvingly.

The last day, September 30, 2019

With the change to my new computer and Windows 11, some of my e-mail folders didn't transfer, but I don't know why.  Fortunately, some old letters I wanted to keep did, and I found one from our very last day of life as we knew it.  September 30, 2019.  The next day our son Phil had 2 seizures, was hospitalized and diagnosed with stage 4 glioblastoma. But when I wrote this his life and ours was continuing as usual, not knowing what was to come. 

"We’ve been eating dinner on our lovely deck almost every evening since we returned to Columbus on Labor Day, but it just may be too warm this evening.  We’ve also been enjoying sleeping with the windows open, but that will probably not work tonight. I love hearing the train in the distance. 

I’m learning all the buttons and features for my new car, a white 2019 Pacifica, which is the most recent version of the Chrysler van.  It has keyless entry which is very nice, but I have to be careful.  I’d love to have that feature on my house door for when I’m carrying in the groceries. We’re still waiting to get the owner’s manual, and don’t know what some of the bells and whistles are for.  I can look on-line but there are 718 pages, so I don’t want to print the manual.  We also have a free subscription to Sirius radio, but it seems now days you need a smart phone in order to live in our society, so I’ll have to wait until Phoebe has time. And for the umpteenth time the street is torn up and we have no water.  I’m not sure why Kenney Rd. has so many problems, but it does. 

Last night we had our UALC Bible study group here for a meeting and dessert—pumpkin pie and ice cream.  It’s such a nice gathering, and I always enjoy them.  Howard and Betty are leaving Thursday for Ireland, and both have significant health challenges. Two years ago they went to Scotland and arrived in the U.S. (Houston) during the hurricane, and were stranded there for 5 days.  Dave and Donna used Phil as their dog sitter last month, and were so thrilled, she just gets weepy when she talks about him.  She said she didn’t know a bachelor could keep his home so clean, and their dog just loved him. David had tripped on a curb when getting his driver’s license renewed, and had a black and blue face. We celebrated his 81^st birthday.  One member will be having surgery for liver cancer and her first grandchild around the same time.  And Sunday School class is similar. We have about 40 and a goodly number are 70+.  Lots of changes going on at church, which is always hard on the older folk who like things to stay the same. 

And we’ve had several deaths.  Our best man in our wedding, Tom Moir, of Indianapolis died in late August so we drove there on the 4^th for the funeral.  He’d been a part of Bob’s life since elementary school. We also went out for lunch with some other guys from their "Slobs" high school group. We had a really good visit with Bob’s family and spent the night in their new “shared” home (4 generations). A busy place with 3 dogs.  

We went out for our anniversaries and my birthday with Phoebe and Mark.  Had a lovely time at a restaurant in Grandview. On Saturday Phil and I went back to our old neighborhood and had lunch at the Chef-o-Nette.  When she was in kindergarten and Phil in pre-school, he and I used to go there, grab a snack and then pick her up at the school across the street. 

Bob’s brother is recovering from his emergency intestinal surgery in August while they were travelling to California from Arizona, and when Bob called recently he was vacuuming which we thought was a good sign. It’s been a very slow turning around. 

We’ve got a nice trip coming up on October 9, but mainly here in central Ohio. It’s with our Conestoga group, which sometimes means a little walking or stairs, so I’ll just have to see how that goes.  Sometimes old, historical buildings don’t have elevators. 

Stay safe—and cool."

Michelle Malkin post of March 11, 2020

 Down memory lane with early pandemic essays, but has anything changed?

Here are some plain, nonhysterical facts: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control is a bloated federal government agency with a long history of incompetence, fraud, secrecy, mission creep and shady alliances with both social justice causes on the left and private corporations on the big business right. The "deep state" of entrenched bureaucrats embedded in the Beltway bowels is alive and thriving at the CDC. The unelected elites who've occupied top offices at the public health-industrial complex are hostile to public scrutiny while clamoring for ever-ballooning budgets. Their recommendations have often been detrimental to citizens' well-being and freedom.

And, yes, many of the scientists who work there are rabidly anti-conservative and anti-Trump.

It's a brazen lie that President Donald Trump "slashed" CDC funding, which is being used as an excuse for the agency's coronavirus unpreparedness. Cognitively impaired and truth-challenged Joe Biden made the claim during last week's Democratic debate that these purported "Draconian cuts" put Americans at risk. But Trump's budget proposal to cut some sliver of CDC fat has never been enacted, and Congress increased funding, instead.

At nearly $7 billion, CDC's annual budget is more than 200 percent larger than it was two decades ago. On top of that, a shady big business lobbying group called Corporate Friends of CDC has raised hundreds of millions of supplemental dollars — which raises serious conflict-of-interest issues. In 2007, Sen. Tom Coburn's fiscal audit of the agency discovered vulgar expenditures including CDC syphilis prevention funds spent to host a "safe-sex" event with a porn star, CDC HIV/AIDS prevention funds spent on a transgender beauty pageant, and $45 million in CDC funding spent on conferences featuring prostitutes, protests and beach parties.

Despite the flood of money, the agency been caught flat-footed on outbreak after outbreak. They squander untold millions on other health threats in favor of pushing gun control and nanny state hobby horses (TV violence, helmet laws, video games, anti-bullying campaigns and explicit sex education, for example). CDC has one primary job — Disease Control — but has managed to botch it without ever learning from past failures. Let me remind you of some of the CDC's long history of royal screw-ups:

—The notorious 1976 swine flu vaccine scandal was catalyzed by mass hysteria whipped up by CDC junk scientists clamoring for more money; Congress obliged and nearly 45 million Americans were unnecessarily jabbed with a vaccine for a disease that had fizzled by the time the shots were ready. The vaccine resulted in an increased risk of developing Guillain-Barre syndrome — leading to muscle weakness and paralysis.

—In 1999, the CDC misspent $22.7 million appropriated for chronic fatigue syndrome and was investigated in 2001 for squandering $13 million on hepatitis C research.

—In 2000, the agency essentially lied to Congress about how it spent up to $7.5 million earmarked each year since 1993 for research on the deadly hantavirus. "Instead, apparently without asking Congress, the CDC spent much of the money on other programs that the agency thought needed the funds more," The Washington Post disclosed at the time. The diversions were impossible to trace because of shoddy CDC bookkeeping practices.

—In 2009, the CDC recalled 800,000 doses of swine flu vaccine for children ages 6 months to 3 years after the products manufactured by Sanofi Pasteur failed potency tests.

—In 2012, the CDC's main building housing infectious anthrax, SARS and monkeypox gases was discovered to have been leaking deadly pathogens due to a flawed engineered airflow system.

—In 2014, the CDC's lackadaisical response to Ebola virus gave the greenlight to Patient Zero Thomas Eric Duncan and infected medical personnel to board commercial airlines while ill — exposing untold numbers of travelers to the deadly disease. Expensive isolation chambers that had been subsidized by taxpayers to the tune of $15 million sat buried in a Georgia warehouse.

—For the past few years, the agency has employed a fear campaign to induce Americans to get regular flu shots (formulated based on guesswork) using flawed statistics and despite international scientific conclusions that there is "no evidence" to support the CDC's assumptions that the vaccine reduces transmission of the virus or the risk of potentially deadly complications.

—Just this week, the Informed Consent Action Network reported astonishing results from its lawsuit against the CDC to obtain scientific documentation for the agency's claim that "vaccines do not cause autism" — specifically for the first seven vaccines given to your child in their first six months of life. CDC had stonewalled, and then finally produced 20 studies — 18 of which were irrelevant to ICAN's public records request and two of which suggest that vaccines may indeed cause autism. In other words: The CDC is lying while continuing to smear vaccine critics as "conspiracy theorists" and public health threats.

As if to underscore my point about this agency's misdirected priorities and rank political pandering, the CDC director this week found it more urgent to condemn Republicans as racist for accurately describing the origins of the virus from Wuhan, China, than to do his job.

Informed diagnosis: The "best people" — who have now been rewarded with more than $8.3 billion in new "emergency funding" — are not in charge.

Michelle Malkin is a conservative blogger at michellemalkin.com, syndicated columnist, author, and founder of hotair.com. Michelle Malkin's email address is MichelleMalkinInvestigates@protonmail.com.

Gene Corbett, 1930-2022

Floyd Eugene Corbett, 91, of Mount Morris, passed away at KSB Hospital in Dixon on Monday, May 30, 2022. Gene was born on December 19, 1930, in Grand Detour to Joe and Bessie (Ballard) Corbett.

Gene graduated from Mt. Morris High School – Go Mounders!! He married Betty Hanes in 1949. Gene was an electrician where he worked for ComEd and for Quebecor Printing, retiring in 1993.

Corby enjoyed watching the Oregon boy’s high school football games, puttering around the house and cruising, whether it was in his car or later on his mower. Now he can climb any tree he wants without our fear of his falling!!

He is survived by his children, Ronald Corbett and Jenny Gann (Mike Bevill). Grandchildren, Peggy (Jeff) Cox, Paula (Gary Sharp) Brevig, Jennifer Corbett, Erin (Pat) Harbaugh and Brittany (Darren) Brown. Nine great-grandchildren, Zachary Cox, Taylor Brevig, Tatum Brevig, Marissa Corbett-Villa, Isabella Diaz, Mia Watson, Kylee Brown, Kamryn Brown, and Logan Harbaugh. And brother, Derril (Joyce) Corbett.

He is preceded in death by his parents, wife Betty, son Fred and brothers, Howard, Russell, John and sisters, Gladys, Marian, Dorothy and Lois.

A funeral service will be held at 5:00 P.M. on Wednesday, June 8th at Finch Funeral Home. Visitation will be held prior to the service from 4:00 P.M. until service time. Burial was in Plainview Cemetery. A luncheon will be held at the Mt. Morris Moose after the funeral service.

Finch Funeral Home, 405 East Hitt, Mount Morris, IL assisted the family with services.

We're not at Lakeside

 But today I'm sorting/deleting e-mails from July 2009!  They appeared when I was changing e-mail programs.  Here's what I said:

We're having a great summer. Some terrific seminars. Took one on astronomy that just blew me away. I really don't know how scientists and academics remain such agnostics! When I hear about 100 billion galaxies, not stars, but galaxies, it just confirms my faith even more in a 6 day creation exactly as it says in Genesis. And 200 billion stars in just our galaxy. Wow. This week is health and wellness. I was too tired from other classes to attended the one on fatigue! Yesterday was all about "exercise is medicine," and tell me about it! I don't like to take medicine! But I am getting about 4 miles of walking a day here--it's so much easier to walk the lakefront than our condo grounds in Columbus. I took a class on sonnets this week and if the schedule is right will do Chaucer next week. I am Brit Lit impoverished because I was a foreign language major in college--wasn't required. Visited a fabulous organic herb farm on Wednesday--your husband would have loved it. Are you following my Lakeside blogs?

And another fully vaxxed pooh-bah gets Covid

Rep. Liz Cheney ("R" - Deep State) announced on Wednesday morning that she tested positive for COVID-19, despite getting fully vaccinated and boosted. The Wyoming lawmaker has promoted COVID vaccines. Four other vaccinated Congress reportedly announced positive diagnoses over the weekend, including Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, as did Reps. David Price, D-N.C., and Susie Lee, D-Nev.

Where do you get your information?

Gary asked, "Where do you get your information?"  He watches only MSNBC and CNN--two channels that pretend to be objective and fair, but repeat the Democrat party talking points, in my opinion.  That is a great question, however, something all librarians and teachers emphasize when teaching research skills. And it’s essential for him particularly to ask because so much of the news is infused with opinion, not research, and he spends a lot of time watching news from one viewpoint. His method is why librarians and teachers usually don’t accept “magazines” as a valid source when teaching research. Some won’t even accept an encyclopedia, which is a shame, in my opinion. I love encyclopedias, and most articles are signed. Not many people own the 11th, 12th, and 13th editions of the Encyclopedia Britannica, but I do.

When I give an opinion, it’s that. Norma’s opinion. When I quote, I try to always cite the source, and my opinion may be learned from others over time, but by checking their sources. Dennis Prager’s recent tirade against Biden reflects mine, but I’ve followed Prager for years. He’s been on radio for 40 years, is Jewish, loves music, literature, politics, has great wisdom, and supports young conservative influencers like Candace Owens, Will Witt and Charlie Kirk who have gone on to their own careers. Pager was anti-Trump in 2016—converted to a fan when Trump accomplished conservative goals of lower taxes, less government control, border security, cutting red tape, best friend Israel had, priorities for prison reform, etc. https://www.creators.com/read/dennis-prager/05/22/joe-bidens-buffalo-speech-was-the-speech-of-an-indecent-man

My opinions are primarily built on my values, even if I don’t think about it. Christian, anabaptist, conservative fiscally, formed by the region I’ve lived in (Midwest U.S.), the language I speak, race/culture, college education, and career. However, my entire life I’ve been pro-life, even before I understood the science and politics of taking the life of a baby in the womb. Even in second grade, I remember thinking evolution was ridiculous and anti-science, because yes, evolution was being taught as truth at Forreston elementary in the 1940s. I learned to pretend I learne it, to answer the questions on the tests correctly, and not rock the boat. I love science—and I see my values about creator/created confirmed every day, especially astronomy and all the “new” critters found at the bottom of oceans. Love that stuff!

When it is rate, number, percentage, average, median, year, I am usually relying on a government or academic source (since academics have government grants it’s hard to know where one stops and the other begins). I always keep in mind those sources also have biases because they are collected and published by humans. For instance, after 2008, certain crime sources just disappeared. After certain years, census sources changed—for instance, additional groups or races were added or divided. What was called white was changed to create Asian or Hispanic (a made-up word that includes hundreds of cultures). Biracial white/black/Asian/Mexican/Cuban/Indian is almost always considered black—probably a carry over from segregation days. It's my impression that liberal/progressive sources are more likely to refer to numbers rather than rate. Most confusing (on purpose) is the writer moving from rate to number to percentage in the same article. For instance, violent crime may have black aggressors 8x the rate of whites, but because white criminals outnumber blacks due to the population, liberal sources will site numbers more often in crimes. You may have to go to the last paragraph or a graph/chart to see percentage or rate.

Over time, I’ve learned when there is a horrific tragedy like last Wednesday in Uvalde, Texas, the tsunami in 2005, or the Louisiana hurricane in 2006, or the strange conflicting figures for the 2020 vote, it may take years to sort out or find the truth. I’ve heard three versions by Saturday of how police acted/reacted to the Uvalde tragedy. Without even listening to the news we know there will be the anti-gun bills and the safety bills. We know Democrats will be anti-2nd amendment and the Republicans will focus on SRO, more cameras, better training.

For some reason, Gary often sites David Duke, a has-been, colorful Democrat, from many years ago, sometimes because he was a southerner, and that was the party of hate he grew up with, the party that held blacks back with various Jim Crow laws, and now do it with money from government programs. He’s really a creation of the media, unlike Antifa, which actually did roam city streets, who were well-educated, rich white supremacists, who covered their faces with hoods, who did burn down buildings, and had clout. When I was a Democrat I certainly didn’t associate my party with Duke, just as I don’t associate any Democrats I know with Antifa.

But Democrats do get in a rut.  They are very suceptible to "progressive" ideas and fall for the socialist clap-trap. They actually believe if we hand more money over to the government, it will be used for whatever purpose they claim.  Republicans have spaghetti spines and no balls, to stick with the body language. 

The legal drugs given to children, especially boys

Think about the amount of prescription drugs given to school kids. Tucker Carlson had some great statistics about that the other night, but without a citation, I couldn’t provide it. And because the MSM demonizes him, it’s hard to sift through a search. Many kids, especially boys, are given drugs from a very early age for ADHD. Probably if they could labor on a farm like most generations until the 1920s some of that energy could be put to use. A consistent side effect for many of the mind/behavior altering drugs is suicidal thoughts and aggressive behavior. Mix that with alcohol when available and it’s a toxic combination. Until the 1950s, I think about half the U.S. population lived/worked on farms—did you hear of ADHD (or similar name) before the 1970s?

https://www.verywellmind.com/side-effects-of-adhd-medications-2633123

These ADHD medications now include:
Short-acting stimulants: Adderall, Dexedrine, Focalin, Ritalin
Intermediate-acting stimulants: Dexedrine Spansule
Long-acting stimulants: Adderall XR, Concerta, Daytrana, Dyanavel XR, Focalin XR, Metadate CD, Ritalin LA, Vyvanse
Nonstimulants: Intuniv, Strattera, Qelbree

That list makes it seem like there are a lot of different ADHD medications to choose from, especially if your child has side effects to one or more of them. Your choices quickly narrow when you understand that the stimulants are really just different forms and variants of the following two types of ADHD medications:

Methylphenidate-based ADHD medications: Concerta, Daytrana, Focalin and Focalin XR, Metadate CD, Ritalin LA
Amphetamine-based ADHD medications: Adderall and Adderall XR, Dexedrine and Dexedrine Spansule, Dyanavel XR, Vyvanse

Note from Norma: The warnings for Methylphenidate based meds are scary!

Also taken by many:

https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/ss/slideshow-commonly-abused-drugs

Then add to that, the easily available, and now legal gate way drug, marijuana.

Lakeside is open, and we're not there!

From the Lakeside Blog, https://blog.lakesideohio.com/hoover-shows-are-back/

 "Shirley Stary has been instrumental in creating the Lakeside experience we’ve known and loved and led the charge in bringing chart-topping performances to the stage of Hoover Auditorium for the last 17 years. She says, “The time has flown by,” but the last two seasons have been by far the longest in her career.

Due to the pandemic, Hoover has been mostly silent for two years. But this summer, the floor and walls will be vibrating, and seats will be filled for the first time since 2019 as shows return to Lakeside’s social and cultural hub.

“One of the worst things about the pandemic was not being able to use Hoover,” Stary said. “People come here to see each other as much to see the show, and that’s been lacking the past two years.”

While Stary agreed that Hoover should have been closed, it was also a cause for concern for her. Like everybody else, she didn’t have a crystal ball and had no idea what the future looked like.

“At one point during the pandemic, I was afraid I had done my last show at Hoover without knowing it,” Stary said. “I just thought, ‘What happens if we can’t open again?’ If you knew you were leaving, you’d stand on the stage and say, ‘All right, this has been a good run.’ So, I was mourning the fact that I didn’t relish that last show.”

During Hoover’s two-year hiatus, Stary was also concerned for her staff because shows were part of their income.

With much anticipation, the community will gather again in this central community gem as Masters of Soul take the stage on May 28 and Collision of Rhythm performing the following night.

Lakeside President & CEO Kip Greenhill says Hoover is a unique place that brings a sense of community that can’t be found anywhere else.

“Hoover Auditorium is one of several gathering places in Lakeside that brings people together from different backgrounds, varied geographic areas and a range of experiences to help enhance a culture of belonging,” Greenhill said. “The artistic programming done in Hoover, like the arts everywhere, further connects us into a true community feeling. We are so fortunate to have Hoover Auditorium open again and to bring us together.”

Jeannie Fleming-Gifford is entering her first summer as Vice President of Programming but is a Lakesider who knows how important and special Hoover shows are since she has attended several events there.

“The power of live arts experiences in a setting like Hoover Auditorium is nothing short of magical,” Fleming-Gifford said. “We are so excited to immerse Lakesiders of all ages and interests in a variety of quality, live entertainment programs and connect as a community through the power of the arts.”

Stary said this is a “rebuilding year,” but still has a solid lineup of shows, including The Spinners (June 25), Herman’s Hermits staring Peter Noone (July 16), Tony Danza — one of Stary’s “crushes” (July 23), family-friendly comedian Preacher Lawson (Aug. 6), We Are Messengers (Aug. 13) and Mercury: The Music of Queen & Freddie Mercury (Sept. 3). "

We are not there because Bob tested positive on Thursday for Covid, had a monoclonal antibodies infusion yesterday, and is resting comfortably (like a cold but more tired than usual).

PROTECTING AMERICA’S SCHOOLS--Secret Service Report, 2019

Executive summary https://www.secretservice.gov/sites/default/files/2020-04/Protecting_Americas_Schools.pdf

Ensuring the safety of children at school is a responsibility that belongs to everyone, including law enforcement, school staff, mental health practitioners, government officials, and members of the general public. To aid in these efforts, the U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center (NTAC) studied 41 incidents of targeted school violence that occurred at K-12 schools in the United States from 2008 to 2017. This report builds on 20 years of NTAC research and guidance in the field of threat assessment by offering an in-depth analysis of the motives, behaviors, and situational factors of the attackers, as well as the tactics, resolutions, and other operationally-relevant details of the attacks.

The analysis suggests that many of these tragedies could have been prevented, and supports the importance of schools establishing comprehensive targeted violence prevention programs as recommended by the Secret Service in Enhancing School Safety Using a Threat Assessment Model: An Operational Guide for Preventing Targeted School Violence.1 This approach is intended to identify students of concern, assess their risk for engaging in violence or other harmful activities, and implement intervention strategies to manage that risk. The threshold for intervention should be low, so that schools can identify students in distress before their behavior escalates to the level of eliciting concerns about safety.

Because most of these attacks ended very quickly, law enforcement rarely had the opportunity to intervene before serious harm was caused to students or staff. Additionally, many of the schools that experienced these tragedies had implemented physical security measures (e.g., cameras, school resource officers, lockdown procedures). Prevention is key. Some of the key findings from this study, and their implications for informing school violence prevention efforts, include:

• There is no profile of a student attacker, nor is there a profile for the type of school that has been targeted: Attackers varied in age, gender, race, grade level, academic performance, and social characteristics. Similarly, there was no identified profile of the type of school impacted by targeted violence, as schools varied in size, location, and student-teacher ratios. Rather than focusing on a set of traits or characteristics, a threat assessment process should focus on gathering relevant information about a student’s behaviors, situational factors, and circumstances to assess the risk of violence or other harmful outcomes.

• Attackers usually had multiple motives, the most common involving a grievance with classmates: In addition to grievances with classmates, attackers were also motivated by grievances involving school staff, romantic relationships, or other personal issues. Other motives included a desire to kill, suicide, and seeking fame or notoriety. Discovering a student’s motive for engaging in concerning behavior is critical to assessing the student’s risk of engaging in violence and identifying appropriate interventions to change behavior and manage risk.

• Most attackers used firearms, and firearms were most often acquired from the home: Many of the attackers were able to access firearms from the home of their parents or another close relative. While many of the firearms were unsecured, in several cases the attackers were able to gain access to firearms that were secured in a locked gun safe or case. It should be further noted, however, that some attackers used knives instead of firearms to perpetrate their attacks. Therefore, a threat assessment should explore if a student has access to any weapons, with a particular focus on weapons access at home. Schools, parents, and law enforcement must work together rapidly to restrict access to weapons in those cases when students pose a risk of harm to themselves or others.

• Most attackers had experienced psychological, behavioral, or developmental symptoms: The observable mental health symptoms displayed by attackers prior to their attacks were divided into three main categories: psychological (e.g., depressive symptoms or suicidal ideation), behavioral (e.g., defiance/misconduct or symptoms of ADD/ADHD), and neurological/developmental (e.g., developmental delays or cognitive deficits). The fact that half of the attackers had received one or more mental health services prior to their attack indicates that mental health evaluations and treatments should be considered a component of a multidisciplinary threat assessment, but not a replacement. Mental health professionals should be included in a collaborative threat assessment process that also involves teachers, administrators, and law enforcement.

• Half of the attackers had interests in violent topics: Violent interests, without an appropriate explanation, are concerning, which means schools should not hesitate to initiate further information-gathering, assessment, and management of the student’s behavior. For example, a student who is preoccupied or fixated on topics like the Columbine shooting or Hitler, as was noted in the backgrounds of several of the attackers in this study, may be the focus of a school threat assessment to determine how such an interest originated and if the interest negatively impacts the student’s thinking and behavior.

• All attackers experienced social stressors involving their relationships with peers and/or romantic partners: Attackers experienced stressors in various areas of their lives, with nearly all experiencing at least one in the six months prior to their attack, and half within two days of the attack. In addition to social stressors, other stressors experienced by many of the attackers were related to families and conflicts in the home, academic or disciplinary actions, or other personal issues. All school personnel should be trained to recognize signs of a student in crisis. Additional training should focus on crisis intervention, teaching students skills to manage emotions and resolve conflicts, and suicide prevention.

• Nearly every attacker experienced negative home life factors: The negative home life factors experienced by the attackers included parental separation or divorce, drug use or criminal charges among family members, and domestic abuse. While none of the factors included here should be viewed as predictors that a student will be violent, past research has identified an association between many of these types of factors and a range of negative outcomes for children.

• Most attackers were victims of bullying, which was often observed by others: Most of the attackers were bullied by their classmates, and for over half of the attackers the bullying appeared to be of a persistent pattern which lasted for weeks, months, or years. It is critical that schools implement comprehensive programs designed to promote safe and positive school climates, where students feel empowered to report bullying when they witness it or are victims of it, and where school officials and other authorities act to intervene.

• Most attackers had a history of school disciplinary actions, and many had prior contact with law enforcement: Most attackers had a history of receiving school disciplinary actions resulting from a broad range of inappropriate behavior. The most serious of those actions included the attacker being suspended, expelled, or having law enforcement interactions as a result of their behavior at school. An important point for school staff to consider is that punitive measures are not preventative. If a student elicits concern or poses a risk of harm to self or others, removing the student from the school may not always be the safest option. To help in making the determination regarding appropriate discipline, schools should employ disciplinary practices that ensure fairness, transparency with the student and family, and appropriate follow-up.

• All attackers exhibited concerning behaviors. Most elicited concern from others, and most communicated their intent to attack: The behaviors that elicited concern ranged from a constellation of lower-level concerns to objectively concerning or prohibited behaviors. Most of the attackers communicated a prior threat to their target or communicated their intentions to carry out an attack. In many cases, someone observed a threatening communication or behavior but did not act, either out of fear, not believing the attacker, misjudging the immediacy or location, or believing they had dissuaded the attacker. Students, school personnel, and family members should be encouraged to report troubling or concerning behaviors to ensure that those in positions of authority can intervene. A multidisciplinary threat assessment team, in conjunction with the appropriate policies, tools, and training, is the best practice for preventing future tragedies. A thorough review of the findings contained in this report should make clear that tangible steps can be taken to reduce the likelihood that any student would cause harm, or be harmed, at school.