The ants are back, an analogy

Our summer ants are early. Normally I wouldn't see one until late June. I saw one on the kitchen counter yesterday. Tiny. Then 10 and then more. I got out the Terro ant trap and opened it. At first they ignored it. But they seemed to be everywhere. This morning when I turned on the light, the trap had attracted maybe 100 or more, and others were sort of dazed. An hour later, there were only about 25. Then by 10:30 there were almost none. It's like sin. It must be good, everyone's doing it. Let's check it out. So they take a few sips have a party and take it back to the nest (which I can never find) to tell their friends and neighbors and infect them with the poison.

TERRO® Ant Killer & DIY Home Pest Control | Kill Bugs & Insects

Naomi Wolf was cancelled--interview with Tucker

Tucker's interview with Naomi Wolf will knock your socks off. She was one of the most famous liberal intellectuals in America. Then she questioned lockdowns and the covid vax because she'd made a career writing about medical issues and feminism, and knew women were reporting changes in their bodies. Newborns were dying. Facts. She was cancelled big time. Her income, her friends, her "community of liberals," and all her core beliefs. She turned to prayer and the Bible for answers. And she found a new community--and they are looking into Big Pharma's crimes.

A secular Jew and a secular Episcopalian talk about the Bible and what it says about the meaning of tragedy and failure.
 

The Tucker Carlson Podcast: Naomi Wolf on Apple Podcasts

Planned Parenthood solicitation and expansion to new programs

I get mail frequently from Planned Parenthood. Appeals for money, laced with lies. The graphics are right out of the DEI playbook. The unborn are the most righteous, the poorest. and the weakest in our society. We are commanded by God to care for them.

Ps 37:12 "The wicked plot against the righteous, and gnash their teeth at them; but the LORD laughs at the wicked, for he sees that their day is coming."

Planned Parenthood is a shill and fund raiser for the Democrat Party. A high rate of its victims is minorities, the poor and the young. Black women are 4x more likely to have an abortion white women--23.8 per 1,000 compared to 6.6 per 1,000. Now it is also in the sex manipulation business for teen--hormones, counseling, etc. That's where the real money is.

After a Knoxville PP clinic closed due to an arsonist in 2022, NPR did a big sympathy piece on how far children confused about their sexuality had to travel for "gender affirming care." Out of 629,898 abortions reported to the CDC for 2019, Black women accounted for 38.4 percent of them. By comparison, white women made up 33.4 percent of those abortions.

Watching the Eclipse--bringing communities together

 Columbus was in a line through Ohio to see the total eclipse on April 8.  We went outside about 2:40 and sat in our lawn chairs in our drive-way and chatted with the neighbors while we watched with our special glasses.  Later I saw on Facebook that my friend Jeanne had equipped her dogs for the event. We noticed about a 10 degree drop in temperature and the birds were acting strangely. 

  

My brother in Byron, Illinois with 90% eclipse, also sat in his drive-way with neighbors with his glasses saved from 2017.

My friend Anna from Cherry Valley, Illinois drove to a small town in Indiana with her son and granddaughter where they enjoyed a full eclipse at a park with lots of festivities.

Ten exercises to improve balance for Seniors

 Putting this here so I can find it. There are not a lot of good spaces in our home to do these, however, some don't take a lot of room. https://youtu.be/cAOK3apyCOc?si=9L4TLOSMLFj8qluA  I often read the comments: 

"Thank you so much i am 84 yrs old .at last exercises i can actually do." 

Sounds like me!

"I am in PT right now to work on my walking. Most of these exercises have been given to me to do. My balance was terrible when I started. Now it's much better. The exercises help if you put in the effort. Keep trying if you start, you will improve."

Doug Weiss, this instructor, has a webpage with a good overview lecture, and highlights of many videos. How to WALK to prevent Falls (youtube.com)  He has some good advice on using a walker in order to increase your miles and balance--uses the example of using a shopping cart at the store. Home | Proprioceptive Rehab

Proprioception: What It Is, Disorder, Symptoms, and More (webmd.com)

California's minimum wage trick by Democrats--virtue signaling

Who are they kidding? $20/hour in California for an unskilled teen-ager, or recently released prisoner?

Minimum wage was never intended to be a living wage. An increase has always hurt the poorest by raising prices and closing them out to the possibility of moving up. It began in the Great Depression and FDR hurt blacks and women the most who at that time could compete for jobs by using their negotiating for wages. This is more smoke and mirrors by Democrats. What employer would take a chance on an 18 year old with no skills but potential? Some kids don't even know how to show up on time--it's part of learning/teaching your minimum wage staff. Very few employed people earn minimum--it was already too high. Employers forced to pay $10-$15 will look for people worth it. California has hurt the poor and particularly American born minorities (immigrants often have a better work ethic if they walked 1,000 miles to get here).

Only about 1.4% of wage earners make federal minimum, compared to 13.4% in 1979. And that's not good. Those are earning/learning jobs--part time, good for teens and the mentally challenged that require good mentoring to move to the next level. Those jobs are now done by machines who won't take smoke breaks, call in sick, or want off for a relative's funeral. The good paying, living wage jobs are the kids who went to trade school, or high school grads who can be carpenter or plumber helpers.

Some are saying then an increase is needed for Social Securty. For that we have COLA. Like Minimum wage, Social Security was never meant to be a living wage. Rate of return in 2022 was about 6%--and considering a dicey economy struggling with socialist Bidenomics, that's not bad. It was about 1.2% in the late 90s. Possibly private investing could do better, but SS has a number of other programs to help workers that pensions and 401-k's don't. Unfortunately, we are now down to about 2.9 workers for every retiree. In 1940, that was 42. Someone in FDR's cabinet couldn't do the math. But that's Democrats. Promises, promises.

Batya Ungar-Sargon talked to the people

Yesterday I listened to an interview of Batya Ungar-Sargon who went out into America and actually talked to working people about what they believe about immigration, abortion, the economy, education, etc. What a concept! She's published a book "Second class: How the elites betrayed America's working men and women." I'd be surprised if one would vote for Biden because Democrats haven't been the party of the working class for decades. Their pollsters also lie to you every night on the news about the working class beliefs. If they don't answer the questions as the elites want, then the check mark is racist/ homophobic/ xenophobic etc. And Americans DO want those jobs that the elites wouldn't do. Dem economists are such snobs and have a low opinion of the people who allow them to live well that they skew the results of polls. Batya works for Newsweek.

Honestly with Bari Weiss: How the Working Class Became America’s Second Class on Apple Podcasts

"Bari Weiss: My guest today, Newsweek opinion editor Batya Ungar-Sargon, has been on a journey for the past eight years to understand how Trump won the White House in 2016 and how the left fundamentally misunderstood the American working class. She eventually came to the conclusion that the most salient feature of American life is not our political divide. It’s “the class divide that separates the college-educated from the working class.”

Democrats have historically been the party of the working class. But for the better part of the past decade, Democrats have seen their support among working-class voters tumble. Policy wonks and demographic experts kept saying just wait: the future of the Democratic party is a multiethnic, multiracial, working-class coalition. But that didn’t pan out.

Instead, in 2016, Trump carried 54 percent of voters with family incomes of $30,000 to $50,000; 44 percent of voters with family incomes under $50,000; and nearly 40 percent of union workers voted for Trump—the highest for a Republican presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan in 1984. Meanwhile, in 2022, Democrats had a 15-point deficit among working-class voters but a 14-point advantage among college-educated voters.

In order to understand how and why this happened, Batya decided to spend the last year traveling the country talking to working-class Americans. Who are they? Do they still have a fair shot at the American dream? What do they think about their chances to secure the hallmarks of a middle-class life?

She collected these stories in her new book: Second Class: How the Elites Betrayed America’s Working Men and Women. What she found is that for many of them, the American dream felt dead.

Today, Batya discusses who really represents the working class; why she thinks America has broken its contract with the working class; how we reinstate our commitment to them; and what will happen in 2024 if we don’t.

Biden still going after the middle class

"The most recent data suggests the IRS is still focused on the middle class. As of last summer, 63% of new audits targeted taxpayers with income of less than $200,000. Only a small overall share reached the very highest earners, while 80% of audits covered filers earning less than $1 million. Don’t forget to save those charitable-giving receipts." Wall Street Journal,  April 3, 2024.

I wonder why the IRS doesn't go after the federal government employees who are behind on their taxes. 10 years ago the figure was over 300,000, but nothing has been done.

The Number of Tax Delinquent Feds Is Growing. The IRS Watchdog Wants a Crackdown. - Government Executive (govexec.com)

Spring rains in April 2024

We've certainly had our spring rains. We have a small, sleepy creek north (our view), south and east of our condo grounds . Although I've seen it higher, not often. What's usually quiet is called "Turkey Run" and it meanders through the OSU Golf course and empties into the Olentangy River. The view from our deck. First view.

Second View link.  This is the topographic map and we're sitting on that little red line between Kenny and Olentangy. We get a lot of deer here and the birds love it. Long time residents of UA may remember the bad flood we had around 1973. Then we were 2 houses from "Evans Ditch" on Abington Rd. which was really for drainage, but people called it a creek. Everyone but us had flooded basements--we were slab on grade. Our neighbor had a large wine collection in his basement.  All the labels came off and floated away. I think all the creek beds and walls in UA were upgraded then. It ran to the Scioto Golf Course on Rt. 33. Phil and his little friends loved playing in it and scaring me to death. 

  

Turkey Run Topo Map in Franklin County, Ohio (anyplaceamerica.com)

The slippery word equity

I asked Co-pilot (AI) how many government memos since 2021 have the word equity in them. It burped, but gave me just a few notables from 2023-24. They are all word salad, and will cause a lot of mischief, since there is no definition--it's a "concept" and very fluid. Equity is not equality, that much we know. 

AI doesn't like to work hard. I looked at one of the 2024 for AI and found 10 uses of the word.

"Since 2121, several government memoranda have addressed the concept of equity. Here are a few notable ones:

M-24-08: This memorandum focuses on strengthening digital accessibility and the management of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act1.
M-24-05: It emphasizes catalyzing sustainable transportation through federal travel1.
M-24-03: Provides guidance on advancing climate resilience through climate-smart infrastructure investments and implementation guidance for the Disaster Resiliency Planning Act1.
M-24-XX: Proposes advancing governance, innovation, and risk management for agency use of artificial intelligence1.
M-24-XX: A draft policy aims to modernize the Federal Risk Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP)1.
M-23-22: Focuses on delivering a digital-first public experience1.
M-23-18: Addresses administration cybersecurity priorities for the FY 2025 Budget1.

Please note that this is not an exhaustive list, but it highlights some relevant memoranda. For further details, you can explore the White House Memoranda page1. Additionally, the concept of equity has been central to various executive orders and initiatives, including the Executive Order on Advancing Racial Equity and efforts to promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility across the federal government2."

I took the suggestion and added in EOs and initiatives to my query, and it cut it to three!

Joe Biden wants the rich to pay their "fair share"

 

  

Joe may be the biggest criminal to ever live in the White House, but he owns a bevy of tax accountants who will tell you the rich don't pay enough. He'll never have to pay taxes on the money Hunter gave him which came from China and Ukraine back when he was Vice President.  Read today's opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal. The U.S. Already Soaks the Rich - WSJ

"Taxing the rich is popular these days, in part because Republicans are now playing the same tax redistribution game as Democrats. The problem in Washington isn’t that the rich refuse to pay their “fair share,” whatever that means. The trouble is that with the notable exception for national defense, Mr. Biden’s progressive spending ambitions are limitless. Washington could confiscate the income of every billionaire in the country and still not finance what Democrats want to spend."

I've lost a close friend of 50 years, Nancy Long

Since January I've been keeping a close watch on my good friend Nancy Long, who has been in and out of the hospital several times.  Fortunately, I'd been able to visit her and talk to her on the phone during her last illness.  We met in 1974 in a Bible study at FCC, found out we both enjoyed going out for coffee for a chat, and later that year she introduced us to Lakeside.  I also knew her parents, daughters, husband, and had met most of the grandchildren. She was well read and always knew the latest trends in fashion, real estate, politics and investments, plus what was going on in our school system and city government. She was a Republican long before I was, but we rarely disagreed. We celebrated our birthdays together probably all but last year, our 50th anniversaries, attended the funerals of mutual friends, many Lakeside events, church services, and dinners.  This is her obituary.

 

Panera's for coffee--2005

Exercise class--Blues Brothers--1986

 

Our 50th anniversary 2010

Nancy Lou Mitchell Long passed away Wednesday, March 27, 2024.

She was the beloved wife of Professor Ronald K. Long for 64 years. She and Ronald were residents of First Community Village for nearly three years.

Nancy was born June 18, 1933, in Bellevue, to Bertram and Helen Moreland Mitchell, who preceded her in death. Nancy fought a courageous almost lifelong battle with lung disease (bronchiectasis) which left her with a chronic productive cough and ultimately led to her passing.

After graduating from Bellevue High School, Nancy attended Denison University, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree (1955). She joined Chi Omega Sorority and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and National Mortar Board Honorary her junior year. She earned her Master of Science in Counseling from Stanford University (1957). Nancy spent many of her years as an educator, teaching at Columbus State Community College, Ohio State University, Euclid Senior High School, and Harding Junior High School in Lakewood.

Nancy was a member of First Community Church since 1960 and served as chair of numerous councils and committees including First Community Foundation, FCC Governing Board, Board of Deacons, Couple's Circle 29, Women's Guild Board, and Guilds X and G. She also enjoyed OSU Women's Club, Wednesday Literary Club (20 years), Mortar Board Alumnae, American Association of University Women, and Women's Association of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra. Over the years, her interests included playing piano duets with friends, reading current books, and giving book reviews. She developed and directed a merchandising program for Mortar Board National Office.

Since 1947, Nancy and her family spent summers at the family cottage at Lakeside on Lake Erie where she enjoyed walking along the lakefront path and hosting her grandchildren each summer. She was active in Lakeside Women's Club, The Heritage Society, and Friends of the Hotel Lakeside.

Nancy is survived by her daughters, Marilyn (Patrick) Roddy of Knoxville, Tennessee, and Susan (Davin) McAndrews of San Francisco, California; grandchildren she cherished, Katherine (Noah) Lavine, McKenzie (Chase) Hall, and Margaret Roddy, and Davin (Mac), Mitchell, and Porter McAndrews; and great-grandsons, Henry and Simon Lavine.

As an only child, Nancy always considered herself fortunate to have shared her childhood with cousins James Dean Miller (Carole, deceased), Jane Louise Miller Davisson (deceased) (David, deceased), Sandra Miller Woolley (Frank, deceased), and Michael Miller (Lu Ann).

Memorial gifts may be sent to First Community Foundation - Guild X fund, 1320 Cambridge Blvd., Columbus, Ohio, 43212. Nancy's celebration of life will be 2 p.m. Saturday, April 13, 2024, at First Community Church, 1320 Cambridge Blvd., Columbus, Ohio, 43212. A reception for family and friends will be at the church following the service.

Arrangements have been entrusted to SCHOEDINGER NORTHWEST.

How much they hate Trump--Letitia James

 "In 2014,  [Jon] Stewart sold his 6,280-square-foot Tribeca duplex to financier Parag Pande for $17.5 million. The property’s asking price at that time is not available in listing records. But according to 2013-2014 assessor records obtained by The Post, the property had the estimated market-value at only $1.882 million. The actual assessor valuation was even lower, at $847,174.

Records also show that Stewart paid significantly lower property taxes, which were calculated based on that assessor valuation price — precisely what he called Trump out for doing in his Monday monologue." https://nypost.com/2024/03/27/real-estate/jon-stewart-found-to-have-overvalued-his-nyc-home-by-829/

Everyone who has bought or sold property in New York should be shaking in their boots, or do you think Trump is the only white man Letitia hates?

And now we have a collapsed bridge at an important port

 

Harris puts her stamp of approval on abortion clinics

Donald Trump was the first president to offer full support for the unborn and the pro-life movement in January 2020. Kamala Harris was the first vice president to visit a death camp, aka, abortion clinic, in March 2024. To be a Democrat, you have to support abortion.

"All of us here today understand an eternal truth, every child is a precious and sacred gift from God. Together we must protect, cherish, and defend the dignity and the sanctity of every human life. When we see the image of a baby in the womb, we glimpse the majesty of God’s creation. When we hold a newborn in our arms, we know the endless love that each child brings to a family. When we watch a child grow, we see the splendor that radiates from each human soul. One life changes the world. From my family, and I can tell you I send love and I send great, great love. And from the first day in office, I’ve taken historic action to support America’s families and to protect the unborn." Donald Trump

Donald Trump Speech Transcript: Trump Speaks at March for Life Event | Rev Blog

What's the Biden crime? Let me count the ways

AOC asked Bobulinski the most important question yesterday. What is the crime? That's what we want to know about Trump. He didn't commit a crime on January 6; he didn't commit a crime by having presidential records in his home, although Pence, Carter and Biden did; he didn't commit a crime with his NYC real estate deals unless every American does the same thing when selling property. Letitia James is doing the bidding of the Master (aka Massa). Trump also didn't commit a crime by joking or exaggerating or using an idiom (like bloodbath) unless every media talking head who uses hyperbole and metaphor commits a crime. The crime is in the evil swampy mind of the Democrat party, in the muck and rot. They want to destroy our election system by eliminating a candidate and disenfranchising 80 million voters.

Tony Bobulinski claims Hunter Biden committed ‘perjury’ in testimony - Washington Examiner

"I want to be crystal clear: from my direct personal experience and what I have subsequently come to learn, it is clear to me that Joe Biden was 'the Brand' being sold by the Biden family," Bobulinski said. "His family’s foreign influence peddling operation — from China to Ukraine and elsewhere — sold out to foreign actors who were seeking to gain influence and access to Joe Biden and the United States government."

Bobulinski said the president was "an active, aware enabler" of his family's business pursuits, a claim Joe, James, and Hunter Biden have all repeatedly and adamantly denied."

Stumping Artificial Intelligence with a question about bad behavior at Harvard

I thought it would be an easy question for AI--it's so smart and has access to the world of the internet.

My Question: "Why are Gay, Charleston, and Greene still employed at Harvard?"

Copilot hesitated, not knowing if it were politically safe to answer. Then after a wait, it wrote timidly as it is programmed to do for anything woke or DEI:

"There have been several allegations of plagiarism against Claudine Gay, Sherri A. Charleston, and an individual named Greene at Harvard University.

Claudine Gay, the former University President, resigned on Jan. 2, 2024, following a plagiarism scandal (4).

Sherri A. Charleston, Harvard’s Chief Diversity Officer, was accused of plagiarizing passages in multiple academic papers (3).

Greene, who handles Title IX complaints at the Extension School, was also accused of plagiarism(2). [Copilot didn't know her first name, but I looked it up and it is Shirley.]

Despite these allegations, it’s important to note that accusations of plagiarism are serious and typically require thorough investigation by the institution before any action is taken. The continued employment of these individuals could be due to a variety of reasons, including ongoing investigations, the nature of the allegations, or other factors not publicly disclosed. It’s also worth noting that employment decisions are typically confidential and made by the institution based on a variety of factors (1, 2, 3).

Learn more

1  city-journal.org

2 preview.thecrimson.com

3 city-journal.org

4 news.yahoo.com "

Now there is a new Harvard plagiarizer, Christina Cross, whose dissertation from University of Michigan got her a professorship at Harvard.

Nostalgia for Y2K

 Was it only a quarter of a century ago? Almost. Remember the preparation for the big 2000 celebration and how Y2K bonded us? Communism was defeated and Naziism gone, but we had wised up about pie in the sky humanism. Both U.S. parties believed in and advocated for "western style democracy" as the best method to raise 3rd world people out of poverty and to defeat totalitarianism.

GW Bush was naive and thought we could impose western values on tribal cultures, allowing people to vote, liberating women and supporting an endless war. At home BH Obama wanted to reduce our next generation and poverty through abortion, take over the largest sector of the economy with socialist medicine, and pay back the sins of the past with old family feuds by imposing on 21st century white Americans, the discrimination and laws of the 19th century that hurt black Americans.

With Biden and his blue state cronies we have the worst of the first 2 administrations of the 21 century. Wars, death, destruction but with inflation, gnosticism, higher taxes, millions invading at our borders, and more tribalism at home.

Biden's cronies as Obama 2.0 have brought back the totalitarianism, slavery (both labor and sex), discrimination, endless wars, and tribal battles that we had hoped had been eliminated by "western democracy."

In March 2004 I started another blog Antiques Roadshow pt.6

I mentioned on March 16 that I'd found two "antiques" in a cabinet. The first was my 65 page printed blog about our Holy Land tour in 2009. The other, about 20 years old (March 2004) is a printout from one of my other, other blogs, "In the beginning," which is about my hobby. The hobby is about 50 years old, but I didn't start writing about it until 2004. It's probably only something that would appeal to a librarian--at least I've never found anyone else collecting these. The last one I printed out was 2006.

 
I just checked the on-line version and the last one I entered in the blog was in 2012. My ambition exceeded my wallet, will power, and wisdom. The year I decided to record my collection the average cover price was $5.80, and I don't have a figure for today because I rarely look--but I'd guess $10-$15. When I bought the premier issue of "People" with the lovely Mia Farrow on the cover in 1974 (it turned 50 this year) it was $.35. 2003 was a bumper crop for new issues--949! I'd crush our house with just the weight of the paper if I'd tried to collect new issues the last 50 years!

I started this blog on March 21, 2004 with these comments:

"I collect first and premiere issues of magazines and journals. If you want to know if there is confidence in the economy, just take a look at what is appearing on the news stands in 2004. I've purchased about seven new magazines since December, and that's without trying. That means venture capital. That means investors. That means advertisers. That means jobs. That means consumers willing to buy. That means a crazy exuberance and hope in the future. And that's what I love about a new journal."

My oldest is "Atlantic," my most exciting find is "Edible Columbus," (it just went up for sale), and my personal favorite is "Garage Slab." I did have a list of rules for collecting, but they evolved, and I frequently ignored them. I eventually even included some newsletters and government journals because often magazines began as a newsletter and every new government bureaucracy wants to publish a magazine. In the 1980s and I worked in a bookstore, I decided to drop the computer category because new ones were coming in every week. 

 
To read older entries in this magazine blog you have to look at the archive list on the right-hand side because it seems to have no code for going forward or backward. https://premiereissue.blogspot.com/

March 14 tornadoes in Ohio

Although I slept through it on Thursday, March 14 (not serious on our side of Columbus), I heard that the final count was 14 tornadoes in that area of Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, with 8 in Ohio. I don't know what the record is, but that was quite a spring storm. Using the Internet I looked back a few hours and then days, and that afternoon the warnings were not serious and a few days before, the comments were that it had been a very mild season for tornadoes! So much for knowing what climate, temperature and weather will be--cooling or warming--in a century or two if we can't get a few hours warning.

I've never been to Indian Lake but know it is a popular summer recreation area and retirement spot in Ohio, and it has suffered a lot of damage. https://news.yahoo.com/lakeviews-gone-indian-lake... There are many stories at this link.

Thank you to friends/family who checked in with us.