Friday Night Date and a Derby Party on Saturday

We tried the "new" Old Bag of Nails (pub food, noisy bar) in Upper Arlington last night with 2 other couples. The Arlington Bag had moved from the Tremont Center near our former home on Abington Rd. to that messy scramble of partially built buildings at Kingsdale on Tremond Rd. Because of the congestion and parking, we'd avoided it up until now, but we all managed.  We found a handicap spot as we were drivers for someone who needed that. There was a lively crowd, lots of middle age and some families. Since it is in a retirement building (Covenant) squished next to the new community center we weren't sure what to expect. The menu was much as we remembered from 25 years ago, and we got the Cobb Salad. The others ordered breaded fish (one order can easily serve 2 and hand helds. 

We asked the waitress to guess the combined years of marriage, but she failed the test. 185. 56 + 64 + 65. We tipped her anyway. She was very sweet and very young--but then, everyone looks young to me! It was an evening with a lot if reminiscing--the days of black and white TV, the old wringer washers, Bill and Joyce met because he was in the Army in the town where she lived, and the rest of us avoided the military because we were pregnant or had a baby, first jobs, first apartments, and most of that was over home-made apple pie with ice cream at Jerry and Joan's home after our restaurant meal. We all get together fairly often, so I don't know why we had so much story telling. Age I suppose. No one else to talk to who remembers this stuff--plus our kids are tired of our stories!  We all have or had summer homes and Bill and Joyce will be leaving in a week or so for Put in Bay on Lake Erie. Jerry and Joan go to Boyne City on Lake Charlevoix in Northern Michigan.  We sold our place in Lakeside on Lake Erie in 2022 after 34 years.

We're going to a Derby party tonight May 4, and I've been wearing the same fuchsia hat for about 5 years. Today I found a new white floppy hat for $3 (still with store tags) at Volunteers of America and wrapped it in blue flowers from the old hat to go with my blue shirt and multicolor floor length skirt I got at the Discovery Shop (cancer) for $6. 

And while I was looking for a hat at the VOA, I just happened to see a Laurel Burch tote for $3. I have one of her umbrellas from 30 years ago. https://colorfulcritters.com/laurel-burch-handbags-totes/ I don't know if it's an old one or new one (she died in 2007) licensed with her name. It looked unused. I love her whimsical designs.

While I was at the VOA I asked the clerk for a tape measure so I could determine if a cute pair of light weight summer pants would fit. She didn't speak English, which has never happened to me in that store. She gestured to the store manager, who also spoke very little English, but figured out what I needed. They were fine. $3.

Now I need to look up the horses who are running, and who are the jockeys.   We each place a $2 bet.

Kentucky Derby 2024: Meet the jockeys in Saturday’s classic (horseracingnation.com)

The 2024 Kentucky Derby lineup features a competitive field of colts and jockeys. Here’s a look at the full lineup:

1. Dornoch (20-1) - Trainer: Danny Gargan, Jockey: Luis Saez
2. Sierra Leone (3-1) - Trainer: Chad Brown, Jockey: Tyler Gaffalione
3. Mystik Dan (20-1) - Trainer: Kenneth McPeek, Jockey: Brian Hernandez Jr.
4. Catching Freedom (8-1) - Trainer: Brad Cox, Jockey: Flavien Prat
5. Catalytic (30-1) - Trainer: Saffie Joseph Jr., Jockey: Jose Ortiz
6. Just Steel (20-1) - Trainer: D. Wayne Lukas, Jockey: Keith Asmussen
7. Honor Marie (20-1) - Trainer: D. Whitworth Beckman, Jockey: Ben Curtis
8. Just A Touch (10-1) - Trainer: Brad Cox, Jockey: Florent Geroux
9. (Encino, scratched)
10. T O Password (30-1) - Trainer: Daisuke Takayanagi, Jockey: Kazushi Kimura
11. Forever Young (10-1) - Trainer: Yoshito Yahagi, Jockey: Ryusei Sakai
12. Track Phantom (20-1) - Trainer: Steve Asmussen, Jockey: Joel Rosario
13. West Saratoga (50-1) - Trainer: Larry Demeritte, Jockey: Jesus Castanon
14. Endlessly (30-1) - Trainer: Michael McCarthy, Jockey: Umberto Rispoli
15. Domestic Product (30-1) - Trainer: Chad Brown, Jockey: Irad Ortiz Jr.
16. Grand Mo the First (50-1) - Trainer: Victor Barboza Jr., Jockey: Emisael Jaramillo
17. Fierceness (5-2) - Trainer: Todd Pletcher, Jockey: John Velazquez
18. Stronghold (20-1) - Trainer: Philip D’Amato, Jockey: Antonio Fresu
19. Resilience (20-1) - Trainer: Bill Mott, Jockey: Junior Alvarado
20. Society Man (50-1) - Trainer: Danny Gargan, Jockey: Frankie Dettori
21. Epic Ride (50-1) - Trainer: John Ennis, Jockey: Adam Beschizza

  

These are not race horses, but may be the first original art I purchased. Artist is Alison Adams, and I purchased it at Manchester College.  1958. She may have been on the faculty.

Let's hear from the Christian churches on biological sex as it is in the Bible

The Catholic Church has spoken unambiguously: the idea that men can become women or women can become men—or any other “gender”—is not only confused; it is evil.

Now let's hear from the 35,000+ Protestant, non-denominational and Bible churches. All Christian churches are full of Democrats and this evil belongs to them.

Eva Vlaardingerbroek at CPAC Hungary: The Great Replacement Is No Longer A Theory, It's Reality

https://rumble.com/v4rxqj8-eva-vlaardingerbroek-the-great-replacement-april-27-2024-budapest-hungary.html 

Her name is a mouthful, but she's even harder to listen to. The leftists have been ridiculing "The Great Replacement" theory, but she says it's a fact.  I haven't checked her statistics on immigration in Europe.

Follow the money given to the universities

These demonstrations/riots/insurrections from UCLA to Columbia show what a huge FAIL the DEI departments and cabals at the universities are. They all have 150-200 "administrators" and assistants to assistants sucking from the federal tit of special grants. Then each department from dance to archeology to horse breeding has a faculty member tied up in paperwork to assure equity a fantasy. And this is what has come of it. 1) cheat the Asian students out of their freedom to choose a school, 2) kill the Jews, 3) blame all white people. If you teach children that there are only two kinds of people, oppressors and the oppressed, of course you collect a bunch of fascists looking for a cause. Soros has placed a lot of his lawyers in the halls of "just us" and you can watch that being played out in NYC in a court room right now. The next trick will be all the perps will be back on campus after a short trip to court.

Although a lot of bad ideas begin in government, most by far begin in academe. Many universities would close without the money they receive from foreign governments who have to pay full tuition for their students.

The campus riots

I was at the gym this morning surfing the channels. Fox was wall to wall riots on campus, particularly how police (state police?) were handling the UCLA baby babbling Gazans. Everyone was very well behaved. Kids were grinning for the cameras. "Hey look mom; I'm on TV. Send money" (just kidding). Police were using plastic ties and removing masks. MSNBC and CNN, zip, nada, zilch. Lizzie Warren was talking about sending aid to Gaza and encouraging women to kill their babies. There was a celebrity on the other channel talking about his latest food routine or show--didn't stick around to find out. On Fox I could see that the tents were removed and all the "belongings" dumped in a pile of trash, just like removal of homeless. And that's what they are, except the homeless are probably more patriotic and less fascist than these protestors. And maybe these spoiled rich college kids chanting from the river to the sea (genocide) can find out what it means to defecate and urinate on the street, because I don't know if anyone has set up porta-potties for them after they are arrested.

Police crack down on encampment at UCLA protests; live protest updates (usatoday.com)

WATCH LIVE: Police controlling crowd of anti-Israel agitators on UCLA quad after violent mob riots rocked campus | Fox News Video

The real estate market

I know people looking for houses, and realtors looking for listings. Yesterday in an elevator I met a guy in shorts and t-shirt carrying a bag of food. We chatted, and he apologized for using his phone--said it was his business. He told me he was a real estate agent working as an Uber-Eats delivery/driver to make ends meet. I admire that perseverance and dedication. The ups and downs of real estate are not always about Biden induced inflation, sometimes it's personal choices, but I believe this ridiculous market should send Democrats screaming away from their party.

Biden's folly--IX changes

Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 is a single sentence. It simply bars sex discrimination in any federally funded education program. See what happens in a bureaucracy, in the swamp? The latest disaster is 1,577 pages. Both parties have created a monster, but the Democrats have defied God, nature, science and history. Nothing more evil than that. The party of intersectionality, of wokeism, of feminism, of transparency, of "me too" and rich old fools has dealt a death blow to women's safety and equality in scholarships and ambition. Way to go, Biden.

That Was Fast: 3 Federal Lawsuits Challenge New Title IX Rule (dailysignal.com)

Government bureaucracy drowning in failed programs and thousands of reports--Head Start

While I've been watching the Soros' funded fascist professionals create chaos on our campuses, I've been digging deep into the reports about Head Start, which so far has hit us up for over $1 trillion since its beginning as small test group in the LBJ era to improve the academic and life trajectory of poor children. All evaluations at 40, 50 and now almost 60 years have shown it to be a huge failure to help children succeed, but an outstanding success in providing a good living for millions of academics and government workers.

Here's one example. The culture of the TANF office. I'm pretty jaded about government waste--after all, I was a university librarian buried in task force reports and minutiae of information, data and knowledge. But this one really stunned me. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/project/understanding-poverty-childhood-and-family-experiences-and-tanf-office-culture-2016 

It's a long, long way from helping a 3 year old get ready for kindergarten in the hope he'll do better in math in high school. (Yes, that's what they believed in 1965). We already know what gives kids the best chance to avoid poverty--married parents who have finished high school and have jobs. It's not the culture of the office that hands out the checks.

ACF stands for Administration for Children & Families, and I think it was created to push Head Start back into infancy since it had failed so miserably to help pre-school aged children. But the genealogy of government agencies and bureaus is fuzzy and fat so I could be wrong. It happens.

The anti-Semitism riots of April 2024

BLM destroyed government buildings killing people and destroying neighborhoods.

 
Biden reaction, kid gloves.

 
Islamist fundamentalists riot, trespass, scream hate speech, interfere with transportation, education and basic human rights?

Biden reaction, look the other way.

 
Patriots demonstrate about a rigged election? An unarmed female veteran killed as a warning to the patriots?

 
Biden reaction, harass, arrest, jail and try them in Kangaroo court.

 
Need clarity? Vote Biden/Harris out of office and flee the Democrat party.

Arguing with Copilot (artificial intelligence)

AI (Co-Pilot) drives me around the bend. I asked for the 2023 household income for married couples because I wanted to update a 2017 blog. So, it provided the tax rate! I'm running out of patience, and really told them/it/her. She/he/it apologized and then gave me about 6 different ways to look at it, and said the latest was 2019! She also again told me to check the government tables. So, I looked up the U.S. Census Bureau and got the 2021-2022 tables. It's $110,800 compared to female head of household of $56,030. I suppose an academic in women's studies will whine about equity, but I know enough math to know that two people have a higher income than one person regardless of the sex. Of course, they now have multiple ways to define marriage, family, and household, so I probably will never be able to accurately update my 2017 blog. In case you didn't know, Asian households are still the wealthiest, the best educated, and more likely to be married.

Indiana trip April 27

We had a wonderful visit with our Indiana family Saturday, good weather for travel, and lots of laughs, and there were about 16 of us. One nephew has 5 children, so that upped the count a little. I took along a lot of Mother's Day cards hoping they can be distributed--I know they'll all show up at the home of my sister-in-laws. We were all exhausted when we got back -- it's about 6 hours on the road for a short visit, but we all had fun.

                                                             Bob and me with his sister

A message from President Carter of Ohio State University

 "I value and welcome free speech. I have spoken to this since the day I arrived here at Ohio State. As many of you know, I wore the cloth of our nation for 38 years to support and defend these rights. What occurred on our campus on April 25 was not about limiting free speech. It was an intentional violation of university space rules that exist so that teaching, learning, research, service and patient care can occur on our campuses without interruption.

As a public university, demonstrations, protests and disagreement regularly occur on our campus – so much so that we have trained staff and public safety professionals on-site for student demonstrations for safety and to support everyone’s right to engage in these activities. Sadly, in recent days, I have watched significant safety issues be created by encampments on other campuses across our nation. These situations have caused in-person learning and commencement ceremonies to be canceled. Ohio State’s campus will not be overtaken in this manner."

And so forth, but they did it anyway, some were students, but most were outsiders.  I don't know why they talk about negotiation.  What's to negotiate with non-students and outsiders?  They can't settle the Israel-Hamas war, and the rules for encampment were set. Other college presidents have folded immediately.  Let's see how long Carter will stand up to bullies.

https://studentlife.osu.edu/articles/finals-week-message-to-all-ohio-state-students/?

Police confirm 36 arrested at OSU anti-Israel protest Thursday night (dispatch.com)

Should I pay your child care costs?

The TV (Spectrum) was on in the background, but all I heard was not only am I supposed to pay their college loans, but I need to pay for their mom and dad's cost to go to work by paying for child care for their little ones.  Governor announces details on Child Care access program (spectrumnews1.com)

Let's think about this. I didn't have any college loans to pay back at high interest rates, and I didn't have any daycare costs because I didn't go back to work as a librarian until my kids were in school, and then only part time so I was home when they were. Many parents don't pay these costs--except for other's kids. Maybe they juggle schedules with a spouse or drop the kids off at Grandma's, or wait like I did. 

I have 2 female relatives who run a daycare in their homes so they can raise their own children, and they earn much more than they would if they were employed outside the home. Why? Daycare can cost from $27,125 a year in CT to $14,813 in SD. Teachers according to BLS make $71.93 and hour and nurses $72.48 (figures include benefits). Sounds like a lot of money unless you have child care costs that the Governor of Ohio wants me to help with.

I can hear the screams now. But you lived in ancient times (1980s) and probably only had one car, one TV and no contracts for internet, cable, phone, and never went out to eat at 5x what it costs at home. Yup. And now that I can afford not to work (because I saved and invested the maximum allowed when I did work), and can afford a pedicure, a cleaning service, a vacation, and someone to do home repairs, I'm supposed to pay off someone else's living expenses so she can be a wage slave at a salary I couldn't have dreamed of. Check the BLS figures.

Update:  When AI (Copilot) started giving me vague responses like consulting a government website, I wrote: "If I wanted to spend hours looking at government sites I wouldn't be asking Copilot." So it apologized and gave me more specifics. Is it OK to be rude and snarky for something that isn't human and just a collection of data and pixels? Does the Bible cover that?

Now Thank We All Our God--again

 I love reading hymns in my morning devotions.  Sometimes I spend all my time on the opening hymn and Psalm. I own two hymnal sources, both Protestant, but often these hymns are also used in Catholic services.  Today it was Now Thank We All Our God.  I wrote about it for Thanksgiving 2022. Collecting My Thoughts: Now thank we all our God, story of a favorite hymn  Such an interesting and tragic background.  Martin Rinkart, a Lutheran pastor, wrote it during the 30 Years War, the most devasting war in Europe's history.  The war is often called a religious war, however, it was primarily political with the various Lutheran and Catholic princes fighting each other, plus disease and starvation. It wiped out about half of the German population.

I noticed today that it was based on a benediction in Sirach (The Wisdom of Sirach or The Book of Ecclesiasticus) 50:22-24. "And now, bless the God of all/ who has done wondrous things on earth;/ Who fosters men's growth from their mother's womb,/ and fashions them according to his will!/ May he grant you joy of heart/ and may peace abide among you;/ May his goodness toward us endure in Israel/ as long as the heavens are above." 

"Martin Rinkart was a minister in the city of Eilenburg during the Thirty Years War. Apart from battles, lives were lost in great number during this time due to illnesses and disease spreading quickly throughout impoverished cities. In the Epidemic of 1637, Rinkart officiated at over four thousand funerals, sometimes fifty per day. In the midst of these horrors, it’s difficult to imagine maintaining faith and praising God, and yet, that’s exactly what Rinkart did. Sometime in the next twenty years, he wrote the hymn, “Now Thank We All Our God,” originally meant to be a prayer said before meals. Rinkart could recognize that our God is faithful, and even when the world looks bleak, He is “bounteous” and is full of blessings, if only we look for them. Blessings as seemingly small as a dinner meal, or as large as the end of a brutal war and unnecessary bloodshed are all reasons to lift up our thanks to God, with our hearts, our hands, and our voices."  https://hymnary.org/text/now_thank_we_all_our_god

Grab and Go

When I hear the word "grab" in church it just doesn't feel right. "Grab a communion cup," or "Grab your Bible and turn to (chapter verse) or "Grab your neighbor's hand and share your concerns." Really? In God's House? So, I looked up synonyms to see what else is available. Snatch. Capture. Snag. Seize. Nab. Hmmn. Proves my point--not even the synonyms sound loving, graceful, kind, charitable or spiritual. Some of you are more knowledgeable or fluent in English than I am. How would you phrase the same meaning?

Biden's Charlottesville moment

I noted that Biden had said nothing in 7 months about the riots against Jews all across the nation and on many college campuses even though he had the J6 protestors jailed. And now, ta-da! His own Charlottesville moment.

"I condemn the antisemitic protests, that’s why I set up a program to deal with that,” Biden told reporters in Virginia. “I also condemn those who don’t understand what’s going on with the Palestinians and their — how they’re doing.”

Biden ran on the Charlottesville “good people on both sides” lie. Now in 2024 we have Joe Biden actually doing what he claimed Trump did in regards to antisemitism pic.twitter.com/IyxiY6q5Ue  — boxingMD (@BoxingMD1) April 22, 2024

But Trump didn't say what the media (and Biden) condemned him for. The reporters continued to harass him and question him, demanding that he clarify that he wasn't talking about neo-nazis. Now Biden says there are "very fine people" protesting and supporting Hamas, but he also waited 7 months. Plus the Charlottesville protest was in one place over one statue. These "hate all the Jews" protestors are condemning an entire race all over the world. And if they say it's just about Israel, why are they threatening American Jews?

Biden Sees Very Fine People on Both Sides of Campus Antisemitism (breitbart.com)

PolitiFact | In Context: Donald Trump’s ‘very fine people on both sides’ remarks (transcript)

Fact check: Meme on Trump 'very fine people' quote has inaccuracies (usatoday.com)

Fact Check: President Trump Did NOT Say Charlottesville White Supremacists and Neo-Nazis Were "Very Fine People" In 2017 | Lead Stories

The ham sandwich trial

"Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg charged Trump in 2023 with 34 counts of falsifying business records supposedly to cover up “hush money” payments to porn star Stormy Daniels.

“This case is just bogus from start to finish,” Von Spakovsky says, adding, “It’s in Manhattan. It’s a Manhattan jury, and I’ll tell you, quite frankly, I think if the DA charged Donald Trump with eating a ham sandwich, the jury would find him guilty.” "

https://www.dailysignal.com/2024/04/15/why-criminal-case-against-trump-bogus-legal-expert-explains/?

I glance at the trial periodically, but it makes me ill to see our justice system fall this low.  No one else in the U.S. would ever be tried for this, and we all know it.

But what also makes me sick is that there are Democrats in Congress now who want to remove his Secret Service protection so that he can be assassinated.  

While Biden allows Islamists and their rich kid lackies from elistist schools like Columbia, Harvard, Yale and the other wannabies riot and protest and shut down traffic, he also wants us to pay off their loans. There is so much evil roaming the streets it's depressing.

Proof that Joe Biden hates women

Absolute proof that Joe Biden (or his stand-ins for Obama) hates women.

Trump reversed many of the anti-woman regulations (never voted on by Congress) developed by Obama's swamp team around Title IX. It puts men in women's private spaces--locker rooms, bathrooms, clubs, prisons, etc. If there were no other reason to vote for Trump, this would be it. 

Our Constitution allowed, in Title IX, separation and differences when sex was relevant. Now it's discrimination. The word gender with all its wokey wanky hanky panky meaning has replaced "sex" in Title IX. The regulation also affects men in that there are kangaroo courts (victim advocates) at any school that gets federal funds, even for lunch or 4-H, to use against boys and men since sexual harassment now can mean anything, such as using the wrong pronoun. The males have no right to question or to even ask for the evidence. It's impelled speech, and loss of freedom of speech. 

There will be law suits--it's been coming for 2 years and people are prepared. Donate to fight this anti-woman, anti-female, anti-Christian regulation from the Department of Education. 

It's bad for everyone. Gay or straight, black, white, brown or Asian. It's a disaster for the Constitution, which it completely bipassed. It eliminates free-speech, freedom of religion, and due process, and all the election laws which are supposed to give us a representative government. No one elected these creatures in the regulatory swamp.

Department of Education’s New Title IX Rule Just as Bad as Expected  (dailysignal.com)

Donald Trump and MAGA

Someone believes this is a great country worth saving and that's President Donald J. Trump.

 
I believe all these phony charges and ridiculous trials (NARA, Jack Smith, Fani Willis, Letitia James, Alvin Bragg) would never come to trial for any other American. Begin with the classified documents--Biden, Pence, and even Jimmy Carter all had classified documents unsecured years after they served, and vice presidents aren't allowed to take ANY, not even for their memoirs. And no one knows what Obama has because his are in a "special" NARA facility. The charges are in part to convince Trump and his supporters that this really is a country deeply flawed because the president in power can jail his opponents just like a third world country. Look how many people they've already jailed during the Biden term.

With Big Tech and Big Pharma colluding with FBI, CIA, FDA and CDC the Biden team has managed to cancel thousands of lives and ruin the education of millions of children over an unapproved vaccine and unnecessary lockdown. What great country would do that?

They want to defund the police, and emasculate the military by spending our wealth on the safety of other countries in proxy wars. They are importing drugs and gangs making every state a border state. They allow Islamists shouting death to Jews, but jail Christians if they pray in front of an abortion clinic. What great country would do that? Democrats believe former NY governor Cuomo who said, "America was not that great."

Yes, Biden and the Democrats are making a strong case against the U.S. being a great country.

Biden's campaign strategy