What's stressing you this season?

What's stressing you this holiday season? Each year we see articles like the one I saw at OSU Health:

 
"This year the top sources of stress for Americans are national and world affairs, higher prices putting a crimp on holiday budgets and increasing cases of respiratory illnesses, according to a recent national survey conducted here at The Ohio State University."

Most of the items (there were more) could be crossed off your list if Biden weren't in the White House. We'd all be richer, healthier and more secure. Five or 6 years ago Trump was being blamed and experts would recommend meditation and not getting together with Republican relatives.

 
So, in a way, this is progress. https://health.osu.edu/health/mental-health/holiday-stress?

Whatever the Left Touches It Ruins

Dennis Prager (and many others) say: "More than two years ago, I wrote a column titled "Whatever the Left Touches It Ruins." I listed eight examples:

• The universities.
• The arts: music, art and architecture.
• Sports.
• Mainstream Judaism, Protestantism and Catholicism.
• Race relations.
• Women’s happiness.
• Children’s innocence.
• And, perhaps most disturbingly, America's commitment to free speech.

One should now add the sciences."

"If you send your children to a university, you are endangering both their mind and their character. There is a real chance they will be more intolerant and more foolish after college than they were when they entered college.

When you attend an American university, you are taught to have contempt for America and its founders, to prefer socialism to capitalism, to divide human beings by race and ethnicity. You are taught to shut down those who differ with you, to not debate them. And you are taught to place feelings over reason — which is a guaranteed route to eventual evil."

https://dennisprager.com/column/whatever-the-left-touches-it-ruins?

Home buyers are much older today than in 1962 when we did it

What would the media do without a constant stream of crises? Home buyers are getting older! Sure, we were first time buyers at 22 with a baby in tow, but that was an important value for my generation. Today? Hey, at 22 they are still hanging out in college or back packing in Europe, waiting for Joe to pay their college loans. Even at 35, a lot of young adults prefer granite countertops, a gym and a swimming pool they can get with their pricey rental. Our first home was a duplex with a dirt floor basement and no garage. You only make money in real estate if someone else is paying the mortgage.

"Repeat buyers were a median age of 58 in 2023, while first-time buyers were 35, per National Association of Realtors annual data released this week."

America's first-time and repeat homeowners are getting older (axios.com)

                                    First home on White St. , 40+ years later--many changes.

Pro-Hamas protestors at DNC and Biden home

You get to protest in this country (except election results), but pro-Hamas riots in front of DNC headquarters? Or in front of Biden's Delaware White House? There will be no arrests and punishments, and especially no show trials on TV.

"House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, House Minority Whip Katherine Clark and Rep. Pete Aguilar were inside as the clash between protesters and police sparked and turned violent,  according to authorities. Six officers were injured during the melee Wednesday evening and one person was arrested for allegedly punching a female officer. According to US Capitol Police, officers had worked “to keep back approximately 150 people who are illegally and violently protesting” in the area – a characterization activist groups later disputed – and escorted members of Congress, including the top House Democrats, from the area." (CNN report)

"The pro-Hamas harem of intersectional oppression Olympians, outright bigoted Islamists, and trust fund slacktivists coalesced on the Democratic National Committee headquarters in a demonstration that devolved into, shall we say, a proper insurrection." (Washington Examiner)

Protesters have gathered near his personal home to call on the President to push for a ceasefire in the brutal Israel-Hamas war. A video shared on Twitter, shows a large group of protesters waving Palestinian flags outside his home chanting "ceasefire now!" and "President Biden, you can't hide! We charge you with genocide!." (Mirror US)

January 6 tapes released by Johnson

Speaker Mike Johnson announced on Friday that nearly all of the surveillance footage from the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol incursion will be released.

And some of the initially released video showed non-violent protesters moving freely through the Capitol with Capitol Police monitoring the situation, but seemingly not too concerned.

Officers weren’t directing people out of the building, though there was an exit door right behind police.

New Jan. 6 Footage Shows Protesters Parade Uninhibited by Police (westernjournal.com)

The MSM didn't show it, the J-6 Committee didn't see it, and those who breathlessly watched the hearing/trial didn't see it.

 
Insurrection my foot. So why didn't Speaker Pelosi release the footage? Trump had to be destroyed.

Conservatives Owens and Shapiro fighting each other instead of their enemy

When it comes to famous people, even famous conservatives I like who are much less duplicitous and nasty than leftist famous click baiters, I'm never sure what's true and what's media. But apparently Candace Ownes, famous black conservative who is a Christian and Ben Shapiro, famous Jewish conservative journalist and speaker who both work for the same company are having a spat.

 
Truly, no Christian should be telling a Jew how the Hamas Jew haters and terrorists should be handled by Israel. Hamas picked this fight and put the Palestinian people in grave danger--they plotted to bring on this war so Israel would retaliate. I haven't read anything but the bare bones of the Owens/Shapiro argument, and Tucker sure didn't help. But I'm horrified that Owens was quoting Jesus to Ben. Really? How's the historical record for Christians on that? Has she read what Luther said about Jews? And btw, what did she or Tucker or Ben say about the half a million killed in Ethiopia, or the thousands of women raped and terrorized in Sudan? Have any of them asked about the grannies in Russia mourning their grandsons who died in Ukraine? Why be so selective on deaths in war time? Let's calm down and let the people who have been chased out of every country on earth for 2,000 years figure out the best way to stop the killing and rebuild a better world.

Shapiro Owens war escalates conservatives take s​ides | Blaze Media (theblaze.com)

A Crisis of Confidence

 America’s Crisis of Confidence Rising Mistrust, Conspiracies, and Vaccine Hesitancy After COVID-19

Americas-Crisis-of-Confidence-Rising-Mistrust-Conspiracies-and-Vaccine-Hesitancy-After-COVID-19.pdf (aei.org)

Visiting former coffee spots and coffee blogs

After I got Bob settled in this morning for his Zoom men's Bible Study I headed down the road a mile or so to Panera's at Five Points next to the Aldi's grocery where I could shop at 9 a.m. I rarely go there any more for my morning coffee, but at one time (pre-2015) I was a regular and had many friends I would see each morning while I read the Wall Street Journal.

I used to have a blog (Coffee Spills) devoted to my coffee habits--the places I enjoyed and the people I met--staff and customers. I continued it until December 2014 because I was parting ways with a habit begun in 1956 and saving the money for a trip to Spain (about $2, 5 times a week). I glanced at my final entry today before my closing--

November 10, 2014: "It happened in the parking lot. I was getting out of my car; one space away was a man on the passenger side of his car straightening his pant leg. He looked at me and said cheerily, "I change my socks 20 times a day; I guess I'm a little weird." "Uh, you betcha," I thought, but I said, "If it works for you." So I just had to Google it. I found 6.5% of Americans change their socks more than once a day. But 20 times seems a bit OCD."

November. 21, 2012: "I greeted a coffee shop friend today with a casual remark about "How are you celebrating Thanksgiving?" But she wasn't feeling thankful. It turns out a trusted employee, a woman she’s known and been friends with for 25 years, was embezzling from her. Now they both have lawyers, and the woman has admitted to stealing about $100,000, but my friend suspects it’s much more. And as you may guess, losing the money hurts, but not as much as her feeling of grief and backstabbing over this woman whom she considered a friend. She said, “She smiled at me every day, clucked over my children, we did things together. What sort of psychopath does this?” A very sad holiday."

January 7, 2005: "The clerk at the coffee shop told me today (Friday) she'd been late to work every day this week. She's supposed to start at 6 a.m. but didn't get to work until 6:10. I've supervised enough people in my work life to see a problem.

Bad work habits and excuses do not ever fool a supervisor. We've heard every story from alarm clocks to a tear in my slacks, to a sick baby to a traffic jam. Actually, I've heard some fairly imaginative ones, but didn't believe a word.

The solution is always the same for the employee who wants to move ahead to a better job, or keep the one she/he has. Whether a bakery clerk, an auto tech, or a library assistant, always plan to arrive early--15 minutes is good. That way you can handle the dog throwing up or the malfunctioning traffic light. And if you actually do arrive early, straighten up your clothes, comb your hair, wash your hands and turn on that smile. And don't ever kid yourself that coming in 15 minutes early on Thursday makes up for being 15 minutes late on Friday."

Reading my old blogs is like looking through someone else's diary. I often don't recall the occasion and had forgotten that one. That habit change did work--I think I saved about $500 for the trip and learned to make coffee (decaf) at home. Now if I go out for coffee with a friend, we go to McDonald's where it's $.60.

Lakeside selects new President

Lakeside is pleased to announce today that Jim McConoughey has been selected as the community’s new President and CEO after an extensive search.

McConoughey brings over 25 years of experience in business development, fundraising, and community engagement to the position. Most recently, he served as the President for the McHenry County Economic Development Corporation, where he led strategic planning, fundraising, and community outreach efforts.

A Lakeside resident for 5 years, McConoughey has volunteered his time and talent to support various organizations in the community. He and his family have been coming to Lakeside for over 50 years. This is in direct connection with his ties to Lakeside where his grandfather played the organ and piano for decades. In addition, his wife Gina was the owner of the Lakeview Inn for four years.

New President - Lakeside Ohio

Christmas catalogs

I enjoy the Christmas catalogs. 2 or 3 a day from mid-October to New Years. Love Uline ULINE - Shipping Boxes, Shipping Supplies, Packaging Materials, Packing Supplies . But yesterday Signals arrived. 

I like the t-shirt, door mat and sweatshirt slogans. 

Hardware stores are my therapy.

I don't want to go through things that don't kill me but make me stronger anymore. 

Ring the doorbell and let me sing you the song of my people--the Dog.

Wallet, Glasses, Keys and Phone, Keys and Phone. (to the tune of Head, shoulders, knees and toes. 

Life Goal pet all dogs. 

Mothers of little boys work from son up to son down. 

I remember when things only cost an arm. 

I don't mind getting older but my body is taking it badly.

 

No wonder they didn't work--Covid boosters

Judicial Watch through a FOIA request learned that only 23 people were used in the 2021 vaccine booster study by Pfizer before asking FDA to approve it. Three weeks after its approval, 8.9 million boosters were administered.

 
Pet food gets closer scrutiny than that.

From Verdict, vol 29, iss. 11, November 2023 p. 1, 6-7 Judicial Watch: Pfizer Records Reveal 23-Person Study of COVID Vaccine Booster Safety and Effectiveness before Approval | Judicial Watch

Interview with Ari Folman, Israeli film director

Today I watched an interview on i24 cable new with film director Ari Folman, well-known in Israel. He's been making some of the touching interviews with family members of those taken hostage October 7. The host asked him if he was surprised about the reaction from his friends and colleagues in the "west" in the industry. He hesitated, but concluded that they just didn't know enough. The "left wing liberals" didn't know enough to understand the gravity of terror, murder and evil. And I thought to myself, how naive. Even now he doesn't believe that a movement grounded in Marxism which murdered 100,000,000 in the 20th century, most their own citizens, "doesn't understand."

https://youtu.be/xzx3PQ1_nfI?si=TvzQzTNVn3Ivvrqa

Do you have any New Years resolutions ready to go?

Now that we've made it through the time change (I haven't adjusted and am waking up at 3:30 a.m.), is it time to think about New Years Resolutions? The only resolutions I ever kept for any length of time (forever) were 1) to stop biting my fingernails, and 2) always put my keys in the same place in my purse. Those two tiny changes made a huge difference in my appearance, and my frustration level--and I did it about 48 years ago. I've done some of the top ten too but could never keep it going.

1. Lose weight.
2. Make a budget and stick to it.
3. Get out of debt (we never had any except mortgage or a car payment so we never did this one).
4. Find a soul mate. Hate that phrase. I got married at 20, so don't recall ever making this one.
5. Spend more quality time with family and friends.
6. Quit smoking. Nope. Never smoked. Think of the thousands of dollars I saved. Wished I knew where it was.
7. Find a better job. I'm retired, and I don't remember if I ever thought of this at the end of the year. I took my last position in Sept. 1986 and retired in Sept. 2000, and generally loved it.
8. Learn something new. No problem. Today I learned that a lifetime smoker spends $1.1 million. Just looked it up.
9. Volunteer to help others.
10. Get organized. I wish I had a dollar for every time I made that one. This year I tried it as a Lenten "fast." One thing each week. Only 6, how hard could it be? Very.

Those are the top ten according to Gary Ryan Blair who has a website on goals, or used to.

Rape as a military weapon to terrorize civilians

Last night I was reading an investment report which referred to 2 wars--one in Europe and one in the Middle East. And self said, what about Africa? What about South Sudan, Sudan, and Ethiopia? Millions of people, don't they count? So, I started looking at other news sources. South Sudan seems to be holding in a weak cease fire; Sudan is going full-bore killing thousands and making millions refugees; and Ethiopia's problems--I get so confused with the tribal names and the government and non-government militia, I just had to give up. Although in Africa, it isn't skin color or religion, it's all about the tribes. All seem to be on the edge of a food crisis.

Then I came across the horror statistics about rape. I don't remember if it was South Sudan or Sudan but the figure was 70% of the women had been raped as part of war booty--the soldiers are paid with whatever they can loot or steal and permission to rape and torture.

One of the illustrations (journalists try to bring horror down to a manageable level) was about a young woman who had used her college holiday to travel back to her home village, and got caught in one of the raids. Her parents and grandparents were killed, and she was taken hostage and held in a slimy snake filled pit and raped every day. Finally, she was starving so they just expelled her from the camp to make her way back home. And she survived (although these women are usually not accepted back into community). In what she calls a blessing, she learned she was pregnant, and had her baby, who is the delight, love and hope of her life. With the help of other disgraced women who have banded together, she hopes to earn enough to return to college and make a life for herself and her child.

Please vote for life today, November 7, 2023, if you're reading this in Ohio. Vote NO on Issue One to change Ohio's constitution, a bill which is far beyond what most Pro-Choice voters can imagine, and they don't even realize it. They are believing lies. Many call themselves Christians. I know some of them. I grieve.

Abortion amendment to the Ohio Constitution should have been on every church's sermon list.

The Bible has several verses that mention the fruit of the womb. It's shocking the number of churches/pastors/Sunday schools that couldn't find a single Sunday or sermon to address "fruit of the womb" as a theme, topic, or even a footnote. Here are a few:

Sarah (Genesis 21:1): Sarah had a child when she was past the age; this means that she is post-menopause but our God can bypass menopause and do the impossible

Hannah (1 Samuel 1:20): Hannah also waited on the Lord before Samuel was born. She cried to the Lord year after year in Shiloh.

Racheal (Genesis 30:22): Racheal was loved by her husband Jacob, but she was barren. Her sister, Leah, who is also married to her husband, had children freely.

Elizabeth (Luke 1:36): Elizabeth and her husband were devout and blameless before God but they were barren. Elizabeth was now old but they continued in their devotion and duty to God.

Psalms 127:3-5: "Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward".

Psalm 127:3: "Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward".

Luke 1:42: "And she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!”.

Exodus 1:7: "And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them".

Deuteronomy 7:13A, 144.
These verses highlight the importance and blessing of children, often referred to as the “fruit of the womb”. They also emphasize the power of God to bless individuals with children, even in circumstances that seem impossible.

This list was created by Bing Chat--and it didn't even go to seminary!

And then there's that cute little story in the Gospel of Luke about a young girl whose body gave us Jesus.  But never mind.

African food crises

 Conflict Remains the Dominant Driver of Africa’s Food Crisis (africacenter.org)

Highlights of the report

• An estimated 149 million Africans are facing acute food insecurity—an increase of 12 million people from a year ago. This equates to a risk category of 3 or higher (Crisis, Emergency, and Catastrophe) on the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) scale of 1 to 5.
• Some 122 million of those facing acute food insecurity are in countries experiencing conflict—82 percent of the total—accentuating that conflict is the primary driver of acute food insecurity in Africa.
• 8 of the top 10 African countries experiencing acute food insecurity are facing conflict.
• The 149-million-person figure represents a 150-percent increase in the number of Africans facing acute food insecurity since 2019 when 61 million people were in this category.
• This highlights the compounding humanitarian effects of Africa’s unresolved conflicts.
• While 38 African countries are experiencing some level of acute food insecurity, roughly two-thirds of this threat is concentrated in five countries: the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Nigeria, Sudan, Ethiopia, and South Sudan—all of which are conflict-affected.
• Nearly all of the continental increase in acute food insecurity in the past year was a result of the eruption of conflict in Sudan and a deterioration of security in northern Nigeria.
• Four of the top 10 countries facing the most acute food insecurity are in East Africa—Sudan, Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Somalia.
• 19 African countries have at least 10 percent of their populations facing acute food insecurity.
• Conflict compounds the impacts of other external shocks like climate change, inflation, and the disruption to global grain supplies caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Moscow’s withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain deal that enabled 33 million MT of grain to reach global markets and lower food prices, especially in Africa, has further worsened the food outlook.
• Historically, El Niño climate patterns, which have now returned, have historically led to decreased precipitation in Southern Africa, Western Africa, Sudan, and Ethiopia.
• There have already been fatalities due to hunger reported this year in Ethiopia and Somalia. WFP has predicted that before year’s end, 129,000 people are expected to experience Catastrophe levels (IPC 5) of hunger in Burkina Faso, Mali, Somalia, and South Sudan. A rapid scale-up of assistance has averted even more people facing starvation.

This is the one where our church has a mission--South Sudan.  Technically, it is a Christian country, but Sudan, which is Muslim, is also having a war and food shortages.

South Sudan

In South Sudan, 7.8 million (71 percent of the population) faced Crisis and above levels of hunger this year. This number included 2.9 million people facing Emergency levels of hunger countrywide and 43,000 facing Catastrophe levels in the state of Jonglei.

The situation is being driven by rising levels of violence and insecurity  as well as “chronic vulnerabilities worsened by frequent climate-related shocks (severe flooding and dry spells), the macro-economic crisis, and low agricultural production.”

Since the outbreak of the Sudan conflict in April this year, almost 293,000 South Sudanese returnees and Sudanese refugees have entered South Sudan. This influx is exacerbating the already severe humanitarian situation in South Sudan, placing additional strain on limited humanitarian resources and escalating food and fuel prices.

Read the rest of the report for the other countries.

We missed the reunion again

 Wenger family plans annual reunion | TownLively  My grandfather's mother was a Wenger.

The Wenger Family Association will hold the 101st annual Wenger reunion at the Wenger Meetinghouse, 16 Supervisors Drive, Jonestown, [PA] on Friday to Sunday, Aug. 25 to 27 [2023]. Wenger family members' surnames may also be spelled as Wanger, Whanger, Winger, Wengerd, Wengert, Wingerd, Wingert, Wingard and Wingart.

On Aug. 25 at 7 p.m., a historical meeting will be held, featuring James C. Landis speaking on the topic "Lessons From Land and Law: A Review of Deeds for the G1 Hans Wenger Homestead, the Wenger Cemetery and Wenger Meetinghouse."

Reunion attendees may take a bus tour on Saturday, Aug. 26, at 8 a.m., visiting sites related to Hans and Hannah Wenger in Lebanon and Lancaster counties. The tour will depart from the meetinghouse and return by noon; lunch is not included.

There's always next year. 

I'm liking Mike Johnson more and more

The Democrats go off unhinged again! "Never mind that the Democrats declared the 2000, 2004 and 2016 elections illegitimate, any GOP skepticism about the 2020 outcome is somehow illegitimate in and of itself. And Johnson was indeed skeptical. As a constitutional lawyer, he knew that officials in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin had violated the U.S. Constitution and their own state laws by altering election statutes with no legal authority to do so. Johnson and 125 other House members summarized this charge in an amicus brief supporting the plaintiffs in Texas v. Pennsylvania, a Supreme Court case contesting results in those states." . . .

 
"So, Speaker Johnson is guilty of being a Christian, a fringe religious sect with only 2.6 billion adherents, including a mere 87.8 percent of our congressional representatives. He is also a conservative, an ideological cohort that Gallup reports as larger (4 in 10) than their liberal counterparts and steadily growing. He is also an unapologetic supporter of former President Trump, whose poll numbers are remarkably high compared to those of President Biden, who is now less popular than Hillary Clinton."

October 7 Hamas attack--story of a survivor

Sunday morning on Israeli TV (i24) I watched an interview by the same survivor of an attack by terrorists on a Kibbutz who appeared on CBS 60 minutes 2 weeks ago. It's a harrowing tale of bravery, of armed citizens saving their families and friends, and failure of the military who didn't get there for 9 hours. However, when he was asked about Biden and the U.S. response, he had nothing but praise--said Biden would be remembered in history. I wonder how much he knows about the billions Obama and Biden have sent to Iran which has been funding Hamas and Hezbollah, or that Biden has been trying to disarm our citizens, or that he has essentially opened our borders to terrorists?

Podcasts--true crime are the most popular

I'm not sure I knew what a podcast was until the summer of 2021, and now I have about 50 on my "library" list on my smartphone. It used to be I'd see them occasionally on YouTube and follow for awhile, but I really prefer the audio to the video.  It's easier to do other things. You can investigate a topic much more in 2 hours than in 30 seconds on the evening news. My list changes some as I learn more about the values and veracity of the host or if I don't like the quality of the host's voice or talking speed.  I first figured out that they were a popular form of entertainment and information when I watched the first season of   "Only murders in our building." Only Murders in the Building (TV Series 2021– ) - IMDb

"Follows three strangers (Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez) who share an obsession with true crime and suddenly find themselves wrapped up in one. When a grisly death occurs inside their exclusive Upper West Side apartment building, the trio suspects murder and employs their precise knowledge of true crime to investigate the truth. As they record a podcast of their own to document the case, the three unravel the complex secrets of the building which stretch back years. Perhaps even more explosive are the lies they tell one another. Soon, the endangered trio comes to realize a killer might be living amongst them as they race to decipher the mounting clues before it's too late."

Although it was very well acted the language was just too raw, so we stopped watching.  Now has finished up season three.

Pew Research says 24% of podcasts are true crime and about 10% are "politics and government." (Sort of the same thing, don't you think? 

"A new Pew Research Center study of 451 of the top-ranked podcasts in the United States shows this diversity of subjects: No single topic is the main focus of more than a quarter of these podcasts.

True crime is the most common topic, making up 24% of these top-ranked podcasts – perhaps reflecting the early popularity of Serial. The next most common topics are politics and government (10%); entertainment, pop culture and the arts (9%); and self-help and relationships (8%)." A Profile of the Top-Ranked Podcasts in the U.S. | Pew Research Center

Many of those on my list are former news reporters or programs I've known for years like Glenn Beck, Megyn Kelly, Hugh Hewitt, and Victor Davis Hanson.  I had either seen them on TV, listened to live programing on the radio, or read their columns. Probably ten are about religion, with some politics thrown in.  Another ten are politics, or politics with popular culture. Maybe ten are about health, or health related. I'd say five are "red-pilled"--they've left the Democrat party for a variety of reasons, usually Covid or Communism.  "Great books" is self-explanatory, as is "Boring books for Bedtime." Two are Canadian, Jordan B. Peterson, Dr. Gad Saad, others are American immigrants, like Patrick Bet David, born in Iran (business, entertainment, politics), or foreign, like Zuby, British citizen of Nigerian ancestry, Freddie Sayers, British with conversations on science, politics, free speech. Three are black and conservative, and they are also outspoken about their Christian faith. Jason Whitlock is sort of a two-fer x 2--black, conservative, Christian, and sports. A number of these have regular sidekicks or guest panels with whom they debate, disagree or affirm. Four of my favorites are medical shows. Often, they interview each other.  On the list I have a lesbian Jew journalist and a formerly gay man (very conservative Christian) who has a lot of Hollywood connections. 

I thought Covid had boosted the popularity, and according to Forbes.com in January 2023 it did. However,  "Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the art of the podcast became a full-blown renaissance. But in truth, podcasting predated the coronavirus, responding to the evolving wants and needs of young listeners who don’t just want to blast the radio in their cars. 

Around the globe, there are more than 400 million podcast listeners who tune in for all sorts of content. Because of that high listenership, there are over 2 million independent podcasts with tens of millions of episodes between them. That’s right: Over 2 million podcasts."