What pay gap?

The pay gap, if you can call it that, is about a penny when all of life choices are considered. Men and women are different and have different goals. If a woman wants to shape eyebrows and not stand in the sun and be a mason wearing high top boots, then we shouldn't expect their pay to be the same. But there are women (and some men) who earn a living in the government and academe manipulating the statistics. I blogged about this in 2004 during the Bush administration, and even then there was no "gap" but there was gaslighting. When my children were young, I wasn't employed for 10 years. Why in the name of fairness should I have demanded the same pay as a man or woman who had been drawing a paycheck all those years? Their time and effort should count for something! And when I did go back to work, it was part time.

5 Myths to Bust About the Gender Pay Gap | Independent Women's Forum (iwf.org)

DeVos, Du Bois and Biden da boss

Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote about W.E.B. Du Bois, “One idea he insistently taught was that black people have been kept in oppression and deprivation by a poisonous fog of lies… " And so the Democrat party media continue the racist tradition with Wokeism. 

Remember when Betsy DeVos, the Secretary of Education under Trump, tried to honor W.E.B. Du Bois as an educator? His name appeared as DeBois in the text, and the media (beginning probably with Twitter) went crazy. Two people with a European De Du D in their surname indicating a connection to nobility or the land in the same sentence. The media were already calling her racist because she wanted parents to have a choice in schools, something I think Du Bois would have approved of. But oh horror! De instead of a Du!!! It's a horrible microaggression in the Trump administration. At least she didn't pronounce his name the French way (Bwa meaning wood) using the English Bois (like in Boise without the e). And I think her name Vos is pronounced Vahs, so I usually get that wrong. Not sure who I'm offending. The point being, the media had to go woke, if it was a Trump cabinet member. Put the worst possible slant on names not commonly found in American English. 

And shouldn't we all speak clearly like Joe Biden who said " Well, I tell you what, if you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black," to a black radio host during the 2020 campaign.

And there was light, book club selection September 11

 For book club this month I'm reading Jon Meacham's "And there was light; Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle." (Random House, 2022) By page 140 I was noticing a subtle hint of 21st century moral superiority and self- righteousness in the author's tone.  I grabbed a second Lincoln book from my personal library, Ronald White, Jr.'s "A. Lincoln; a biography." (Random House, 2009) They are both massive books (676 pp. and 796 pp.) The bibliographies/notes sections are so huge and so different, it's almost impossible to check one against the other. I'm supplementing my reading with Paul Johnson's "A History of the American People," pts 3 and 4, which covers 1815-1870, which emphasizes links to England's history and our country's religious beliefs and formation. I was a little fuzzy on the Mexican War and the Nebraska-Kansas problem.

The bibliographies are incredibly difficult, but here are some rough, ballpark stats: Meacham cites Steven Douglas 27 times, White 106 times; Meacham cites Frederick Douglass 58 times, White 30 times. Both men were important, but for telling the story of pre-Civil War America and what Americans thought and believed, Steven Douglas is a better example of the pro-slavery forces Lincoln was up against convincing Americans (many of whom had never seen a black man or a slave) to stop the expansion and then ending slavery.

I've come away from this reading experience with a suspicion that all great heroes of our history will never pass muster because of the 21st century's race problems. They won't survive the Obama presidency and the George Floyd riots which were far more damaging to our national fabric than January 6 riot. Statues will continue to be torn down and schools renamed. 

 In this era of abortion up to the day of birth, maiming children in sex change surgeries, border sex trafficking, and energy and welfare policies that hurt the poor some of our scholars, publishers and activists find 21st c. American morals and ethics superior to the 19th and 18th centuries!

Although White never hides Lincoln's failures, he faithfully follows through on an outstanding study of his growth, integrity, and complexity, as well as his evolution in religious values and struggles. Plus, he's readable. Meacham does say good things about Lincoln but always "balances" with what his detractors from 3 centuries had to say. Cherry pickers for CRT classes will love it. Does Lincoln's passion for saving the country and destroying slavery have to be explained through a (failed) 21st century racialist lens?

I noticed the similarities to what we are going through today. In passionate love for their country, Lincoln and Trump are pretty well matched, regardless of what you think of their causes. And I can't think of any president more vilified than Lincoln except Trump. Lincoln was ridiculed, damned, hated with a passion, lied about, and feared just like Trump is today. There was more than one assassination attempt. The Republican party was in its infancy in 1860, lively and eager, and in its dotage in 2016 and 2020, careless and timid. The Democrats were racists then and they are racists now. The stakes were different, but slavery was embedded in every aspect of American life, even for northerners. The danger from non-elected entities in the deep state are as stubbornly embedded in our way of life as slavery was then. The desire to control others' lives it still with us today. To challenge the deep state today is as dangerous as challenging slavery was then. And abortion, although not a cause for Trump, is OUR moral issue overshadowing all other events and decisions just as slavery was in 1830-1860.

Trinity Forum Conversations | Lincoln in Private: Leadership Behind Closed Doors with Ron C. White (transistor.fm)

Abraham Lincoln's Diary on Apple Podcasts

Biden's Gestapo tactics, Enrique Tarrio

The Gestapo tactics of the Biden Administration are out of control: " [Enrique] Tarrio’s 22-year-long sentence is also significantly longer than if you light someone on fire in the name of Black Lives Matter, as Montez Lee did during a 2020 riot in Minneapolis. The Department of Justice’s sentencing guidelines call for someone who commits a crime like Lee’s to face 20 years in prison. But on the same day a judge sentenced Tarrio, the Department of Justice argued in a sentencing memorandum that, because BLM protesters “felt angry, frustrated, and disenfranchised,” the judge should reduce his sentence to 10 years, which is less than half the sentence length of Tarrio. The New York Times explained that federal prosecutors dismissed BLM charges by the thousands because “protesters were exercising their basic civil rights,” and in most cases that is probably true. But in demanding harsh sentences for nonviolent January 6 rioters and leniency for violent BLM rioters, Biden’s Justice Department is openly engaging in political prosecutions."

"Where federal prosecutors brought charges against 1,146 people connected to the January 6 riot, they only brought charges against 300 people connected to BLM riots across the country. Where at least 10,000 people were arrested in the summer of 2020, some for minor offenses but others for burglary, looting, or assault, in BLM riots, about 2,000 January 6 protesters entered the Capitol Building."
Histrionic Narcissism Behind Unequal Sentences For January 6 And Black Lives Matter Protesters (substack.com)

Biden has completely decimated our Bill of Rights. They aren't even finished arresting people yet for J-6. Yes, this is Whataboutism--that's what the Bill of Rights is about! What about the freedom of speech, what about the right to assemble, what about the right to be secure in their houses and effects and free from unreasonable seizures, what about the right to an impartial jury, what about the right to a speedy trial? Biden's violated them all. He's the insurrectionist (hiding behind his crooked Department of "just us." The irony is he's allowing millions of non-citizens to flood the borders who believe they'll have more rights here than their home country!

Do we need the federal Department of Education?

From time to time, I read that some conservatives want to dump the federal Department of Education because of the poor performance of our public schools. But before moving on that, one should take a look at the National Center for Education Statistics, an arm of that department. https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe? And "take a look" is the right phrase because it is a very confusing maze of tables, charts, graphs, essays, compilations, and mismatched years. The latest date of the report is 2023, which actually is for 2021, and various sections within the report contain the latest data for 2016.

I won't get into the weeds, but will note the report's priorities. The second item in the report after demographics (make up of families, race, enrollment) is crime. Not math or science or even attendance. The drop out rate is buried elsewhere--that's the one that uses 2016 data. Do we need drop out data that is 7 years old to hold schools accountable?

The crime rate is more up to date than drop out; it uses 2020-21 data, and the stats are a bit confusing because many students weren't on campus during the pandemic. That said, crime on school campuses had significantly dropped since 2000. So the definition changed by adding in cyber bullying and sexual assaults, moving the statistics back up. Also, school shootings statistics weren't too useful since it includes incidents AT school and AWAY from school. In the tiniest footnotes possible, I read that school shootings include all incidents that guns are brandished or fired on school property or a bullet hits school property for any reason, even if the number hit was zero. It can be any time of day or week or reason, even domestic violence or gangs. All the information on crime in schools in this federal report comes from a private database created by one private citizen, the K-12 School Shooting Database.
Also, the racialists are losing ground in this report. Hispanic (a term coined in 1980 by an HHS employee) enrollment is almost double that of Black in school enrollment, and yet because so many Hispanics are white by anyone's eyeball guess, the activists stirring up trouble about Jim Crow 2.0 will increasingly have to dig up micro-aggressions to vilify whiteness.

The report does include salary information: Annual base salary of full-time public school teachers (10 months) is $66,000--it's $69,000 in latest BLS statistics. Remember, that's base salary, for 10 months.

And one more thing. Abraham Lincoln had one year of public schooling yet became one of the most famous public speakers in the country, and then became the most famous, eloquent and successful president of all time.

The Democrats' War on Trump

The new War on Terror is against President Trump, his lawyers, his donors, and all the voters who voted for him. The Republican leadership in Congress and the Republican candidates are ducking their responsibilities to demand accountability from the federal agencies and goons. If they think they can avoid what is happening to Trump supporters, they don't know Gestapo, NKVD, Stasi, Soviet and Chinese Communist Party history. There've been hundreds of books written about their methods and state trials, open a book!

My Top Gun friends

This is an AI generated explanation of a Top Gun pilot:

  "A Topgun pilot is a highly skilled fighter pilot who has completed the U.S. Navy Fighter Weapons School, popularly known as Topgun1. The program was founded in 1968 to better train U.S. pilots in advanced dogfight tactics and to improve their combat performance2. Topgun pilots are often hired by the Dutch & American Defense for special training operations3. They are considered to be among the best in their field and are known for their flexibility, ambition, and hands-on mentality3

Steve Browning and Dwight King, friends from Lakeside, were in the Air Force, and both were Top Gun pilots.  Both are strong Christians and recently shared their stories at the evening Praise service at the Pavilion.  Steve lives in Pennsylvania and Dwight lives in Australia, or at least he did until the Pandemic caused him to extend his U.S. vacation. Both families own homes in Lakeside.

Whew! Back in business

Blogger (owned by Google) locked me out! I'm back and ready for business! Here's my Monday, September 4 blog, saved in word processing.

Morning Hymn, September 4, Magnificat, p. 55

Glory to you who safe have kept

And have refreshed me while I slept;

Grant, Lord, when I from death shall wake,

I may of endless light partake.

Lord, I renew my vows to you;

Scatter my foes as morning dew;

Guard my first springs of thought and will,

And with yourself my spirit fill.

Thomas Ken (1637-1711), the author, wrote 4 vols. of poetry, many of which have become hymns, especially the one we know as "Doxology." He liked that verse so much I found it in at least 4 of his poems! He seemed to like writing about God's care at night, and again the blessings of God in the morning. He was an Anglican bishop who wasn't afraid to challenge either church or king and got in a lot of trouble for being so outspoken, even spent some time in the tower.

 I always read a hymn in the morning and thought of my friend Sonja immediately when I saw today's selection. She was having an anxiety attack about an upcoming medical procedure.

"scatter my foes as morning dew" Let's hope Sonja's foes (worries and anxieties) just disappear with the dew this morning.

https://www.poemhunter.com/thomas-ken/biography/

https://hymnary.org/text/glory_to_thee_who_safe_hast_kept

We were right; where were you?

 

Biden aliases

 I don't know why a vice president would need three aliases unless he were doing something illegal. 5,400 of e-mails using 3 fake names are in the archives, and I'm guessing NARA won't do anything about it even though they attempted to bring down President Trump for legally having classified documents in his possession.

Black women, white masters

In my lifetime, Joe Biden has been the biggest racist in politics, including what he's said publicly and privately, including his policies, and his politics. And now also his crimes, which are being revealed every day. The latest being 3 e-mail accounts using a fake name. So, it's imperative that all his cronies in the media and swamp creatures in the government demean and destroy President Trump, the president that cleared the way for Blacks to make their greatest progress in my lifetime. Ironic in an evil way that black female judges, failed candidates and prosecutors are submitting and doing the bidding of their white masters in Biden's party.

The whole bucket of woke

To paraphrase podcaster Jason Whitlock (who was cheering on black men* who were commenting on the mug shot in solidarity because dual justice standards is something they know): "It's not about Trump." For me, it's also not Trump; it's the whole bucket of woke the Democrats are throwing at us. It's CRT, Covid, the lockdown, the privileged students' loans, climate hysteria, loss of our borders, mutilation of children who've been brainwashed about gender, imported drugs from Mexico via China, corruption in the acronym agencies (FBI, CIA, FDA, CDC), silenced churches, ridicule of patriotism, and men in women's spaces, sports, and make-up, dual standards from media reporting on Trump with screams and protecting Biden with silence. It's all of it. As Jason says, "Trump is an Avatar." (embodiment or personification, as of a principle, attitude, or view of life)

*18% of Black men voted for Trump, record numbers in 2020, exit polls show. https://www.mystateline.com/news/your-local-election-hq/black-men-voted-for-trump-in-record-numbers-exit-polls-show/.

Who is the president of the United States?

 Narcissist, Criminal, Demented. That's who.

Who else could "empathize" with thousands who've lost homes and family members by talking about a kitchen fire in his home, but they saved his car and cat? Who else can have a stream of money from foreign countries--China, Ukraine) funneled to family members, yet never had anything but a government salary? Who else can grab little girls and women on camera and not even understand how the media cover for him? Who else can be a flagrant socialist/fascist and opine about democracy with a straight face?

Once to every man and nation, a great hymn

 I usually have a hymn in my morning devotions, and today it was "Once to every man and nation." I looked through my various hymn resources and couldn't find it, although I was almost marching and humming from the kitchen to the library. I knew it; why couldn't I find it?

That's not the title.  Actually, it's from a poem called "The Present Crisis," written by a very famous 19th century poet, James Russell Lowell, in protest of the Mexican War and slavery, published in 1845. Lowell was an ardent abolitionist.

For me, this hymn from "The Present Crisis" is the current crisis of life vs. death--abortion. Yes, the word slave appears a few times in the poem, but it could be slave to materialism, an ideology or "reproductive freedom."   Death is in every platform and policy of the Democrats, and although Republicans don't write it into their mission statement, many do support abortion. Imagine, a country hoping to succeed in economics, education, technology, safety and health, and virtue by destroying the weak and helpless? It should be our anthem, as it was for abolitionists in the 19th century, and for Martin Luther King, Jr. for civil rights in the 20th century. It speaks of man and nation, truth and falsehood, darkness and light. The hymn begins with the 5th stanza of the poem, so there is much more. East to west, hut and palace, right and wrong, conscious and unconscious, gain or loss, "Truth forever on the scaffold, Wrong forever on the throne," and "on the morrow crouches Judas with the silver in his hands." Listen closely.

 https://youtu.be/cSMqesZz3tU?si=alcdkTshtIDxjFal

Also wrote about this in 2020 Collecting My Thoughts: Once to every man and nation when I had a Methodist hymnal on hand.

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad

 

Cleaning the gutters

We've had some really bad storms this summer--like the one that cost us over $1700 by blowing out the garage door openers and our phones. And the ones clogging up the gutters. Today there are some good ol' boys here to fix my clogged gutters. It's possible that a confederate flag on a cap isn't politically correct these days, but better than the hammer/sickle logo worn on the hearts of Fani Willis and Jack Smith who are interfering with the 2024 election at the direction of the Biden Administration and the Democrat party. I never thought I'd see 1930s Soviet style courts in the USA.

Our most famous election deniers are Al Gore, Hillary Clinton, and Stacy Abrams, all Southerners. Maybe they are still fighting the Civil War?

"As the Left continues its relentless persecution and prosecution of former President Donald Trump, a pattern has developed. The Democrats have elected black women as the leaders of the Trump witch hunt, and Jason believes it's for a reason. Not only is it a reflection of America’s further descent into a matriarchal culture, but charging black women specifically with the task of taking down Donald, in the eyes of liberals, makes them beyond reproach. “This is a part of the scam that the black women are playing and perhaps voluntarily. Do they realize that they're being used to inoculate these charges against Trump? This is a joke, because if you put black women as the face of it, if you question the legitimacy of them, you can be accused of racism.” Royce White joins “Fearless” to dive into the latest Trump charges and the role that Letitia James, Fani Willis, and Tanya Chutkan are playing as shills for the Democratic Party and the Biden administration." Jason Whitlock podcast, Aug. 18

Hypocrites: A List of Democrats Who Denied The 2000, 2004, and 2016 Presidential Election Results - The Political Insider

House Republicans open probe into Fani Willis ahead of Trump surrender (axios.com)

Fairywren on my table

The calendar bird on my kitchen table today is a Splendid Fairywren. https://animalia.bio/aplendid-fairywren Isn't that a splendid name? We see tiny birds I've been calling wrens (but probably aren't) when we eat dinner on our deck, but they don't look like this although pretty. If we were lunching in Australia, we might see them. Males and females of most species are dimorphic (2 forms), and usually the males are the showiest to attract the females. The girly birds are attracted to the best and biggest show-offs so they can have great babies and continue the breed/ race/ species.

Whether you are a creationist like me, or an evolutionist like most are taught in schools, you know males and females in all human cultures are different so that the race can continue. Until recently, that is. Only the leftist ideologs of the late 20th, and early 21st centuries don't want the human race to continue. Yes, they hate Christians and conservatives, but apparently, they also hate themselves.

Pants for fall, Talbots catalog

The September Talbots catalog just dropped through the door slot. How many ways can it name the slacks/pants? Over 30. Almost all have spandex. I did this for the Spring catalog, but only recorded 17--perhaps I collapsed a few.  And no, I don't know the difference between high waist and above waist.  I think it's safe to go to a resale shop and pick out anything.  Looks like anything goes.

1) above waist, wide leg (Greenwich)
2) high waist, straight leg
3) above waist, flare leg
4) above waist, wide-leg crop
5) at waist, ankle length, relaxed
6) above waist, boot leg, ankle length
7) above waist, straight leg, full length
8) above waist, demi boot, crop leg
9) above waist, wide leg, full length (Weston)
10) at waist, skinny leg, ankle length
11) at waist, straight leg, ankle length, front zip (Hampshire)
12) above waist, flare leg, ankle length
13) at waist, slim leg, ankle length (Chatham)
13) balance legging
14) Modal cropped pants
15) balance joggers
16) pajama pants
17) at waist, full length, flared (Portland Trouser)
18) at waist, skinny leg, ankle length (Portland Pants)
19) at waist, flare, full length
20) at waist, tapered leg, ankle pants, lined (suit)
21) above waist, skinny leg, ankle length, jeggings
22) same as 21, but with slimming panel
23) at waist, slim length, slim ankle, slimming panel (5 pocket jeans)
24) below waist, relaxed leg, ankle length (Chino)
25) above waist, boot leg, full length, slimming panel
26) above waist, straight leg, full length (jeans)
27) above waist, straight leg, ankle length (chino)
28) out and about stretch wide leg [no information on waist or length, but photo is over the shoe]
29) everyday stretch leggings [waist & length not described,
30) out and about stretch jogger
31) sporty leggings with attitude
32) everyday, stretch, straight leg pants

A new dictionary to help you understand social justice jargon

If you need a dictionary to keep up with all the language changes and inventions of the (mostly) leftist social justice warriors, try https://newdiscourses.com/translations-from-the-wokish/ James Lindsay who also has a podcast provides citations and quotes from the original sources, which is also what any good dictionary does. For instance, a "birthing person" is a mother who does not see herself as a woman, but on an ideological plane its use is to weaken the core pillar of the family and religion (I've condensed about 3 paragraphs). Not all terms are linked, I suppose because he's still working on it and knows the word being used.

Biology made easy and understandable

Are you confused or angry about the transgendered lies about women and men? Here's a great video by someone I trust (a fired university professor) Heather Heying on the After Skool website. She's an evolutionary biologist, and will tell you all you need to know about humans, animals, the birds and the bees, nature and nurture, averages and exceptions.  Plus in the style of education videos, there are some great illustrations.  She reads from the book she co-authored with her husband, The hunter gatherer's guide to the 21st century, 

https://youtu.be/AkjL58HOS60?si=a0zb419myTBw5XOe