The Border Crisis created and maintained by Democrats

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts temporarily paused lifting Title 42 immigration restrictions while the high court considers a Republican-backed request for a longer hold against the plan. What a shame that Congress the entity in charge of protecting the border can't stop the crisis with our decades long laws when we're sending billions to Ukraine to protect its border; when the border "czar" Harris has never been there; when Joe Biden the current resident of the WH has ever seen the problem; when the Democrat media ignores the problem except to blame it on Republicans; when we are all border states now and being invaded by drug cartels (especially Ohio) and sex traffickers; when we've had to suffer from lockdowns and restrictions, yet Democrats have been encouraging thousands to invade who have the infection. But shame has no place in the Democrat party unless it's something that triggers them like the word mother or woman.

Rerun from October 19, 2019

Today is Sunday and we're making arrangements to be with Phil later (had brain surgery on Tuesday). Funny flashbacks to the 1970s. Raising kids is a challenge, and those families you see in the church narthex on Sunday morning, smiling and sweet and adorable, have probably just been through hell to get there with car seat hassle and snow suit zipping and "Where is your left shoe, young man?"

One Sunday morning we finally got everyone into the driveway and were heading for the garage when Phil did a break away run, dashing the opposite direction. Bob's a pretty quiet, calm, reserved guy, but he'd had enough and in those days he was bigger than Phil. He caught him, tanned his little bottom, and almost tossed him into the car. Phoebe and I just stood there wide eyed, and didn't say a word.

We walked into the narthex of UALC after a short drive down Mountview Rd. and I'm sure all the congregants nodded and smiled and thought, "Isn't that just an adorable family, and so well behaved, too."

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

 https://youtu.be/A134hShx_gw

I used to have a lot of respect for "scientists." They were the real deal. I was an Agriculture librarian for several years, and a Veterinary Medicine Librarian for 14. I loved to walk across the street and see what was going on in the vet hospital. None of the fake squishy stuff we in the "social sciences" researched and wrote about. Between the woke nonsense and the pandemic locked lips, that admiration is mostly gone--unless the doctor graduated before 1985. It's all about D.I.E. now, and they can't say a word about the best candidate NOT being selected, or the ridiculous question on forms so they don't trigger anyone. Big Tech, Big Pharma, Big Gov, and U. of Biggest have shut them up. The ultimate lockdown. Where else will the grants come from--the grants of which 60% goes to the university and department? And how will you find a trans, black, disabled woman to be on the research team? It was always hard to go against the grain--like if you had a different theory about Alzheimer's, but couldn't get anyone at NIH or NSF to take the risk. But now? Good luck if you're white and male--might as well go into plumbing with Dad rather than waste 8 years and thousands of dollars. It would be like being the best female swimmer in your school, but the college scholarship goes to the male who joined the team at 15 when he discovered he was feeling a little bit female--about the same time he couldn't place on the men's team. That's what a science career is now.

Digital dump #6 by Elon Musk

While the media mavens wring their hands about being blocked from Twitter for doxxing (they never worried about a president being blocked), they ignore the big story. The FBI was permanently surveilling Americans using their First Amendments rights to free speech instead of chasing the bad guys. They were not checking on charges, but snooping. Probably hoping to find imaginary white supremacists. Where is the white supremacist who bailed on our allies in August 2021, or who sent billions to Ukraine in 2022 with no way to account for the money, who who has left our border wide open for drug and sex trafficking for 2 years. Yes, where are those bad guys--on social media--or sitting in the White House telling jokes no one understands?

This is what upset them--not the news of the corruption in the FBI: “Any account doxxing real-time location info of anyone will be suspended, as it is a physical safety violation. This includes posting links to sites with real-time location info,” Musk wrote." The Gateway Pundit

Twitter Files: Elon Musk: Matt Taibbi: Part 6 of the Twitter Files reveals FBI connections to the platform (ndtv.com)

Elon Musk Targets the FBI as 'Twitter Files' Saga Continues (msn.com)

At least dump 6 got the libs talking. They'd been ignoring the Twitter expose of their own culpability until they were caught doxxing and punished. Twitter files: CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS blackout coverage of Elon Musk leaks | Fox News

Churches and the Paycheck Protection Plan of 2020 (PPP)

Very few churches turned down the PPP money, but they sure shut their doors and service obligations when the state said tattoo parlors and bars were essential but churches weren't. Not taking the name of the Lord in vain has got to be bigger than not cussing and swearing.

https://youtu.be/6NhKH91nvJg Dave Ramsey's view--he feared the rules would be changed

Church, Ministry, and the PPP: Should Churches Take Government Handouts? – Dispensational Publishing

For some churches, paying back PPP loans is better than forgiveness (religionnews.com) Some churches didn't use the loans or gave them back.

Ministries and Churches Receiving More than $1-M in Paycheck Protection Program Funds – MinistryWatch Evangelical churches that received a million or more in PPP

Rodney Stark 1934-2022

I just read that Rodney Stark died this past summer at 88. I don't have many favorite authors (because I usually don't remember names), but I enjoyed his clarity, readability and style. That said, I really didn't know much about him. From Breakpoint: "His book "The Rise of Christianity" was published in 1996. In it, Stark argued that the incredible growth and spread of Christianity were because it offered more to people than any of its competitors. In particular, Stark argued that the rapid growth of the Church was, in large part, due to how Christians treated women. This, especially compared to the pagan treatment of women, led to more conversions, which led to the faith being spread through social networks. Also, prohibitions of abortion and infanticide led to an organic growth of the Church, and how Christians responded to persecution and plague led to a growth in credibility. "The Rise of Christianity" was so groundbreaking that it was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize . . . In 2005 Stark wrote what may be his greatest book, "The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success." "

So first century Christians saved babies from abortion and infanticide and their numbers grew. And Christians responded to plagues. Or maybe God blessed them. Just a thought.

2022-IJRR-Are-Religious-Nones-Really-Not-Religious.pdf (baylorisr.org) Are Religious “Nones” Really Not Religious?: Revisiting Glenn, Three Decades Late This 2022 article may be his last.

The First Amendment has been shredded by U.S. government agencies

"The FBI was not the only one to flag content. The Department of Homeland Security and several state governments notified Twitter of content they thought was problematic. Some of this was done through the Partner Support Portal, an outlet constructed by the Center for Internet Security, a partner organization with the DHS.

"What most people think of as the 'deep state' is really a tangled collaboration of state agencies, private contractors, and (sometimes state-funded) NGOs. The lines become so blurred as to be meaningless," Taibbi concluded."

Twitter files: Tech giant was in 'constant and pervasive' contact with FBI | Washington Examiner

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/republicans-respond-after-twitter-files-6-reveals-fbi-flagged-users-and-tweets

CNN panel seethes over Musk not giving them Twitter Files: 'Not in the spirit of free speech' | Fox News

Twitter reinstates accounts of suspended journalists and Mastodon (msn.com)

Elon Musk releases Twitter's files on censorship of Post (nypost.com)

Trafficking in Persons Report 2022

Before we talk reparations with California governor Newsom trying to earn points so he can get to the White House with all the crazies, lets do something about the 28,000,000 slaves, mostly in Africa and Asia, that haven't been set free. Instead of giving money to African leaders as reparations to combat climate change, Biden should be asking them for reparations for black Americans, if this were actually a moral issue.  Africans are the ones who sold their enemies or victims of raids to the Europeans who couldn't go into the interior. We outlawed slavery in the Civil War. Many African countries have done it only with lip service.

"Let us stand together and press for accountability from those leaders who condone and support human trafficking, create conditions ripe for mass exploitation, and perpetuate this fundamental insult to human dignity. Those that perpetrate, condone, or support this crime must be held accountable." Anthony Blinken, U.S. Secretary of State, Biden administration.

Reading through the report [search by country name] you may wonder as I did, how much of the money and effort are going for ending slavery--I see climate change, many groups skimming funds for "counseling" for victims, services for marginalized people (aka diversity and inclusion) LGBTQ rights, etc., the usual woke agenda now being imported to countries with more than enough of their own problems without taking advice from the Bidenistas.
President Clinton signed this Act in 2000 and President Bush put it into action. It has been tweaked and fiddled and diddled. Time for action. I don't know how fraud is avoided because reporting a reduction of the crime of slavery or passing more laws would seem to reduce the funding, although I'm not sure how that works. 

Typical report, after the dull, dry information of inadequate facilities, staffers and laws, what makes the 2022 report different is the toll the pandemic took: "As reported over the past five years, human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in Kenya, and traffickers exploit victims from Kenya abroad. Traffickers exploit children in forced labor in domestic service, agriculture, fishing, cattle herding, street vending, and forced begging. Traffickers exploit women and children in sex trafficking, often facilitated by family members in informal settings, throughout Kenya, including in sex tourism in Nairobi, Mombasa, and Kisumu. In 2020, an international NGO reported there are between 35,000 and 40,000 victims of sex trafficking, including child sex tourism, in Kenya, of which approximately 19,000 are children; most perpetrators are Kenyan and, to a lesser extent, foreign tourists. Government officials and NGOs report traffickers increasingly exploit children in sex trafficking in private villas and vacation homes to avoid law enforcement detection in hotels. Workers in Khat cultivation areas and near gold mines in western Kenya, truck drivers along major highways, and fishermen on Lake Victoria also exploit children in sex trafficking.

During the pandemic, traffickers increasingly exploited children in sex trafficking, including using online recruitment tactics, and in forced labor in domestic work and forced begging. Employment agencies, both legal and fraudulent, recruit Kenyans to work in the Middle East (particularly Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Kuwait, Qatar, UAE, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, and Oman), Central and Southeast Asia, Europe, Northern Africa, and North America, where traffickers exploit them in massage parlors, brothels, domestic servitude, or manual labor; Kenyans who voluntarily migrate in search of employment opportunities are also vulnerable to exploitative conditions."

I wonder if Kenyan children get counseling about top and bottom surgery or if that is just for American sexually abused children.

https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-trafficking-in-persons-report/kenya/

Was Mary the ghost writer of the Gospel of Luke?

 Our senior Bible Study has been looking at the 4 gospels and the birth story of Jesus Christ.  Yesterday it was Luke, then a worship service, followed by a nice lunch.  I asked our pastor if Luke had interviewed Mary to get all the details about the birth story.  There were a lot of intimate details not usually known to anyone but the mother.  He conceded that some Bible experts think Luke may have talked to her.  Here's my response (not in class, but privately).

"About Luke interviewing Mary. I think she is the source, or ghost writer, for Luke, as Paul was the source for Acts. Luke says he's a good researcher, he hadn't met Jesus, he's the only New Testament writer who wasn't a Jew, and the "experts" say his Greek was the best of the New Testament. The role of the Holy Spirit was to choose him, I think. But as a woman who has given birth and raised children, I see details in the story no one knew except Mary. Today I grilled my husband on a few details about our oldest son, Stanley (b. 1961 d. 1963). I asked him if he remembered the name of the clinic where he was born. No. Did he remember what surgery he needed before we could bring him home. No. Did he remember how and where our mothers slept while staying at our tiny apartment when they came (separately) to help us the first week or two. No. Did he remember how the diapers were washed. No. Did he remember what floor of the apartment building we lived on. No. Did he remember the bouquet of flowers he brought me in the hospital. No. He did remember the birth announcement because he designed it. So mothers remember a lot of details that the fathers never think about, and wouldn't mention to anyone unless asked. I think Luke includes the details about the women, not just to include them as the wider church, but because Mary noticed--Elizabeth her cousin and the baby John jumping in her womb, the wedding miracle, the woman at the well, the widow of Nain, Martha and Mary, the woman who anoints his feet, and the women at the tomb. We know women were among the followers, and Mary was with them. Who else is going to tell Luke these stories? Paul wasn't there. Mary was very young when Jesus was born; many other followers would have been deceased by the time the gospels were written 50-60 years later. And of course, your commentaries from seminary days didn't say much--all were written by men, and you don't know what you don't know and you don't investigate what has never occurred to you. Just yesterday, I learned that mice can't vomit. I was a veterinary medicine librarian for 14 years, knew a lot about lab animals but didn't know mice can't vomit (and I also know more than most people about pig poop). And it had never occurred to me that they couldn't, so I never asked, wondered, or speculated about it.

Mary, “treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.” Our son died 60 years ago, and I still have little treasures I ponder. Mary remembered and blessed us all with this beautiful story recorded by Luke."

Stop the race wars

Most poor Americans are white (61% of the population receiving welfare, listed as "means-tested cash assistance" by the Census Bureau, is identified as white, while 33% is identified as black.) Most ill Americans are white. Most obese Americans are white. Most diabetics are white. Most cancer victims are white. Americans who serve in the military are mostly white and male and middle class. Most American workers who grow your food (25,896 agriculture workers are white and majority are male), work in factories, deliver your products, fix your plumbing (there are 276,986 plumbers of which over 95% are men, and 68% are white), build your houses, repair your roofs, keep your cars running (99.4% of auto repairmen are male, but women make more in that field), pave your roads, plow your streets after a blizzard, restore your electricity after a storm, and who protect your families are primarily white men. So who do the leftists/Democrats/progressives attack? White men. Instead of recognizing their importance in society, they criticize them and call them "white supremacists." They call them every dirty, despicable name, weaken the fabric of our society, and demean their humanity. And the worst accusers? White men! People in Congress looking for your tax dollars to spend on their campaigns. Time to stop it. Need some lawsuits using "hate speech" laws because this slander and behavior would not be allowed with any other group--groups, incidentally, artificially made up by the government.

Ideology of power

 Remember when Hitler in the 1930s and 1940s blamed all Germany's problems on Jews? The U.S. went to war to stop him. Now we have a fascist group in power in all areas of our culture from government to corporations to teachers unions who are blaming all their problems on a race, particularly white Christians. Was Hitler wrong because of the group he chose to hate, or because his ideology of blame was used to expand his power base? We can examine three civil wars going on right now in 2022--Ukraine/Russia, South Sudan and Ethiopia--where the same ideology is put forth about "otherness" to create dissension, division and disaster among those of the same nation/people/religion. But at the base is lust for power.  #TruthMatters.

Brandon Straka and J-6

 #Walkaway is one of those organizations that is blocked by social media mafia because it accepts all--gay, straight, trans, drag queens, black, white, brown, those living outside the U.S., Christian, Jew, Hindu, bakers and candlestick makers--all who want to walk away from the lies of the Democrat party. Brandon Straka, the founder, who is gay, was sentenced to 3 years of probation after being swept up in the gulag net after J-6, for speaking at a rally before J-6. I considered him a political prisoner. No one burning federal and state buildings or destroying businesses in the 2020 riots that affected hundreds of blue cities received the harsh treatment of those the government snared in the protest of the outcomes of the November 2020 election. Those people are free to loot and burn again, and even if arrested for current crimes they will be back on the streets the next day.

Mice can't vomit

The editor of a science journal I subscribe to admitted in his final editorial that he didn't know that mice can't vomit until just recently. Wow! No matter how much the mice want to, or how many papers are on the internet claiming it to be so, or how often the White House Resident issues a statement and invites little mice to a bill signing, mice can't vomit. I didn't know it either, but apparently most scientists know mice don't vomit (being an editor, he doesn't have a biology background). But you and I know some things scientists don't know, or at least have to keep quiet about or lose grants or their bottom surgery position. Here it is. Women are not men, and men cannot become women just because they wear a certain type of underwear, slather on lipstick and mascara, or have their penises turned inside out with surgery. Don't submit to this heresy and hysteria. #TruthMatters. Don't you be forcing those poor little lab mice to puke!

Religious freedom?

"An estimated 350,000 religious congregations operate schools, pregnancy resource centers, soup kitchens, drug addiction programs, homeless shelters, and adoption agencies. These serve 70 million Americans each year and the value of their services are estimated at over $44.3 billion annually." (Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion, Vol. 12, Art. 3 (2016)) This is from a religious freedom brochure. Considering how these "free" organizations are controlled by government regulations and are then manipulated by their grants to continue their work I question how free they are to worship, speak out, to petition the government, or to hold privately beliefs about marriage, education and business.

Legal surrogacy is an industry needing legislation

In case you were out of moral and ethical problems to worry about, have you given thought to legal surrogacy--or rent a womb? Many states outlaw it, as do many countries. Ukraine doesn't. And when the war broke out, there were some babies in limbo, or women left postpartum in a war zone without care after the foreign parents swooped in, picked up the baby on demand, and left. In countries that allow it, it is exploitation of poor women. Now Congress is getting involved, although I can't find the right link. New legislation is being planned (follow the money) to insure that gay men or trans women can have their babies and still have insurance coverage and tax deductions. Family building not as God intended. Just a quick internet search reveals the number of Gay Surrogacy businesses. Since I can't find the information, I don't know if there is any protection for the womb mother. Probably not. Politicians buy off the poor, but they don't really help them. We have a SCOTUS justice who can't define woman, a wealthy, highly educated heterosexual lawyer who can't figure it out. It's now considered a "rights" issue--the proposed legislation has to clarify what is infertility; obviously two gay men may not be infertile, nor a single woman, so that can't be the criteria. But someone better hurry with a definition, because technology and the culture has moved on past that little detail. "Inside the rapidly changing world of reproductive technology." If we leave it up to rights groups and politicians (both left and right) we'll have a mess.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/inside-the-rapidly-changing-world-of/id983782306?i=1000590081088

Emma Waters, Heritage Foundation is the speaker interviewed on the Federalist Podcast by  Emily Jashinsky

Bidenflation--now costing about $7,000 per household

Biden's bungling of the economy (shutting down fossil fuel sources, screwing up trade deals, flooding the borders with job seekers, sex workers, and criminals, making us dependent on foreigners who hate us) has cost the average family $7,000 a year. Now he's bragging that inflation is leveling off. Lies, lies.

https://www.dailysignal.com/2022/12/13/average-american-family-has-effectively-lost-7100-biden-economist-says/

Biden’s six favorite lies about inflation and the economy | The Hill

Biden claims inflation 'averaged 2%' after data shows 8.2% (nypost.com)

The Full List Of Every Lie Biden Has Told As President: 139 And Counting (thefederalist.com)

Who's on first?

 I was confirmed in a Lutheran church (ALC synod) in 1976. But it was only last month I learned that Luther's translation into the vernacular (German) was not the first. "The Luther Bible was not the first German printed edition, for there were already 18 printed Bibles before it, the so-called pre-Lutheran Bibles. In addition to the Martin Luther Bible 1522-1545, the Zurich Bible and the Low German Bible were also published around the same time." It was really Gutenberg, not Luther who enabled people to read the Bible. Before that, it was too expensive for the average person to own, although some did. And then maybe a week later I came across an article that St. Jerome wasn't the first to translate the Greek Bible into Latin (Latin Vulgate), also a move to enable people to read in their heart language and understand the Mass. It seems there were a number of Latin translations, but they weren't very good, so the Pope asked him to translate the definitive edition. One article said Jerome didn't use the Septuagint (Greek Old Testament used by Christians) and another said it was his primary source. I wouldn't want to get in the middle of that argument since it's probably political, but had believed he was the "first,"

Was Luther’s Bible the First German Language Bible? | Veracity (sharedveracity.net)

8 things to know about the Luther Bible – DW – 01/05/2022  If you read these 8 things, you would have no idea Luther wasn't the first to translate the Bible into the common language of the people (Germans).

Timeline - Jerome's Bible Legacy (christianity.com) One thing most articles agree on is that Jerome was a disagreeable, difficult to get along with, cranky scholar.  And he taught himself Hebrew in order to translate the Old Testament. 

The Vulgate: Jerome’s Latin Translation of the Hebrew Masoretic Text in 384 AD (bible.ca)

St. Jerome, the Vulgate, and Our Biblical Heritage - Ascension Press Media

The richest county in the U.S. hires Kendi to "educate"

Mega rich racist author Ibram X. Kendi spoke Wednesday evening at the Fairfax County Public Library in Virginia at the cost to tax payers of $22,500. No surprise. Librarians have been woke before radical racist groups came up with the term. When George W. Bush was president I used to blog about the lop sided anti-Bush books on the PL shelves in Upper Arlington, and the almost no selection of Christian books. Public libraries have been under-representing the public for decades, yet the publishing industry depends on their purchases to stay alive. If you did a little deeper, Fairfax Co. also spent about $24,000 on Kendi's books in 2020.

The median value of a home in Fairfax Co. is $595,000 (2021), median household income is $134,00, probably reflecting the high Asian population. In general, Asian is above the national average and white is below.

Library Pays Ibram X. Kendi $22,500 for Woke, ‘Anti-Racist’ Message (dailysignal.com)

Va. District Spent $24,000 On Ibram Kendi Books For U.S. History Classes (thefederalist.com)

Brittney Griner and Viktor Bout

The US arrested Abu Agila Masood, a resident of Libya, on the charge of carrying out the incident known as the Lockerbie Bombing. 270 died. 34 years ago. That's not as many people who have died as a result of the crimes of Viktor Bout, the Russian arms dealer Biden traded for a basketball player. Guns are OK now--let's remember that in Dems phony baloney blather about the 2nd Amendment. These decisions are never easy, but this one appears on the surface to be 110% political to shore up Biden's base. She was no national or international threat to anyone, just another celebrity violating another country's laws or customs. He, on the other hand, is a danger to people in all countries, including our own.

Dumb and dumber--the Democrats and Climate Change

In the 1960s, I was young and dumb. Can't believe the nonsense I fell for (or over) The Population Bomb was a 1968 book written by Stanford University Professor Paul R. Ehrlich and his wife, Anne Ehrlich and everyone I knew was reading it. Silent Spring came out i 1962, but I don't think it had the same impact, even though Rachel Carson's unproven, unscientific blather killed millions of African children. Ehrlich predicted horrible outcomes including food shortages. Well, we've got all the food we need to feed the world (actually did then too) and it's bad government policy that is starving or creating shortages today, not the climate. Look at what we're going to face with ESG, or what Netherlands and Sri Lanka are going through now not from a shortage of fertilizer, but from a government edict that they can't use it. Democrats are evil, Republicans are weak and useless, and our capitalist/corporate CEOs are rubbing their hands with glee. And although that's our party system, the global warming/climate change nonsense is world wide. Those who won't starve will probably freeze.