What’s going on with our media?

It would be my guess, and maybe yours, that the MSM are jumping the Hillary ship for Elizabeth Warren.  Well over half the country and most politicians here at home and abroad have known for decades that the Clintons are crooks, and together they are practically a gang. So NOW in spring 2015 the media all of a sudden notice the funny money, the expansive gibberish, the lack of decency and morality?  I don't see any other explanation for the reporting from the left on their criminality and hypocrisy. Warren hasn't been in power long enough or had enough experience to have muddy footprints which may be part of the appeal. Even though she's a very wealthy woman and a doublespeak academic she still makes appeals to "ordinary Americans" (Obama's favorite term for the hoi polloi/proletariat).

Petraeus and the Clintons

What Petraeus did was wrong--legally and morally. But 2 years probation and $100,000 fine when the administration is winking at what Hillary has done--which is 100 times worse? She's accepted money from foreign governments with which she had dealings. She scrubbed her e-mail even after being asked for it by Congress. And her party plans to award her with the Presidency. Petraeus had an  affair, tried to hide it with a fake e-mail and had some pillow talk he shouldn't have had with his lover. And her party wants him in jail! He was a scoundrel and an unfaithful husband. Hillary was unfaithful to her country, violated just about every law on the books for her office and colluded with her husband (who was never faithful to her ) to accept outrageous fees, and not report them.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/24/us/david-petraeus-to-be-sentenced-in-leak-investigation.html?_r=1

Quick and Easy 15-Minute Sautéed Chicken Breasts with Mustard and Tarragon

Prep and Cook Time: 15 minutes—[that said I always have trouble getting this right—haven’t tried it yet—and I usually skip the garlic]. From the newsletter of The World’s Healthiest Foods, which I enjoy because of the good research and documentation, and a minimum of trendy opinion.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium onion cut in half and sliced medium thick
• 5 medium cloves garlic, pressed
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 3 TBS Dijon mustard
• 1 TBS + 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 2 tsp honey
• 1 TBS chopped fresh tarragon (or 1 tsp dried tarragon)
• 2 TBS chopped fresh parsley (or 2 tsp dried parsley)
• salt and white pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Slice onion and press garlic and let sit for 5-10 minutes to bring out their hidden health benefits.
2. Heat 1 TBS broth in a 10-12 inch stainless steel skillet. Healthy Sauté onion in broth over medium heat for 2 minutes.
3. While onions are sautéing, cut chicken into pieces. Add chicken pieces and continue to sauté for another 3 minutes, stirring frequently to seal chicken on all sides. Add garlic and continue to sauté for another minute.
4. Add mustard, 1/2 cup broth, and honey. Mix thoroughly and simmer uncovered for about 7-8 minutes on medium-high heat stirring occasionally to cook chicken evenly. This will also reduce sauce.
5. While chicken is cooking, chop herbs and add at end with salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 4

Serving Suggestion: Serve with

• Mediterranean Swiss Chard

New exercise suit

Oleg Cassini from Volunteers of America.  $5. A zipper pocket in the back of the jacket for jogging, I suppose. Very comfortable and beautifully made. Perfect for the slightly chilly spring days, or walking the lakefront at Lakeside on early summer mornings. Now 141 down from 168 in December. Leg pain is gone; some clothes moved to storage.

I love cabbage

I like it raw, or grilled in a little butter, or shredded on lettuce for some crunch in a salad.  I really enjoy coleslaw, either plain or with apples or raisins in a sweet dressing. 

Look at this list of pesticides for cabbage found in lab research. But before you say “eeyu” and swear off cabbage, these are pesticides which the cabbage plant produces.  99.99% of all the pesticides we eat are produced by the plant itself. Plants produce toxins to protect themselves against fungi, insects, and animal predators.  Tens of thousands of these chemicals have been found and tested, and each plant is different.

Glucosinolates: 2-propenyl glucosinolate (sinigrin),* 3-methylthiopropyl glucosinolate, 3-methylsulfinylpropyl glucosinolate, 3-butenyl
glucosinolate, 2-hydroxy-3-butenyl glucosinolate, 4-methylthiobutyl glucosinolate, 4-methylsulfinylbutyl glucosinolate,
4-methylsulfonylbutyl glucosinolate, benzyl glucosinolate, 2-phenylethyl glucosinolate, propyl glucosinolate, butyl glucosinolate
Indole glucosinolates and related indoles: 3-indolylmethyl glucosinolate (glucobrassicin), 1-methoxy-3-indolylmethyl glucosinolate
(neoglucobrassicin), indole-3-carbinol,* indole-3-acetonitrile, bis(3-indolyl)methane
Isothiocyanates and goitrin: allyl isothiocyanate,* 3-methylthiopropyl isothiocyanate, 3-methylsulfinylpropyl isothiocyanate, 3-butenyl
isothiocyanate, 5-vinyloxazolidine-2-thione (goitrin), 4-methylthiobutyl isothiocyanate, 4-methylsulfinylbutyl isothiocyanate,
4-methylsulfonylbutyl isothiocyanate, 4-pentenyl isothiocyanate, benzyl isothiocyanate, phenylethyl isothiocyanate
Cyanides: 1-cyano-2,3-epithiopropane, 1-cyano-3,4-epithiobutane, 1-cyano-3,4-epithiopentane, threo-1-cyano-2-hydroxy-3,4-epithiobutane,
erythro-1-cyano-2-hydroxy-3,4-epithiobutane, 2-phenylpropionitrile, allyl cyanide,* 1-cyano-2-hydroxy-3-butene, 1-cyano-3-
methylsulfinylpropane, 1-cyano-4-methylsulfinylbutane
Terpenes: menthol, neomenthol, isomenthol, carvone*
Phenols: 2-methoxyphenol, 3-caffoylquinic acid (chlorogenic acid),* 4-caffoylquinic acid,* 5-caffoylquinic acid (neochlorogenic acid),*
4-(p-coumaroyl)quinic acid, 5-(p-coumaroyl)quinic acid, 5-feruloylquinic acid

“ 27 natural pesticides that are rodent carcinogens are present
in the following foods: anise, apple, apricot, banana, basil,
broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cantaloupe, caraway,
carrot, cauliflower, celery, cherries, cinnamon, cloves, cocoa,
coffee, collard greens, comfrey herb tea, currants, dill,
eggplant, endive, fennel, grapefruit juice, grapes, guava,
honey, honeydew melon, horseradish, kale, lentils, lettuce,
mango, mushrooms, mustard, nutmeg, orange juice, parsley,
parsnip, peach, pear, peas, black pepper, pineapple, plum,
potato, radish, raspberries, rosemary, sesame seeds, tarragon,
tea, tomato, and turnip. Thus, it is probable that almost
every fruit and vegetable in the supermarket contains natural
plant pesticides that are rodent carcinogens. The levels of
these 27 rodent carcinogens in the above plants are commonly
thousands of times higher than the levels of synthetic
pesticides.”

Pesticide residues on fruits and vegetables are minuscule compared with the cancer-causing potential of some natural chemicals in plants.

Psoriatic Arthritis—light after darkness by guest blogger Sarah Terry

Sarah has PsA (Psoriatic Arthritis) and a year or so ago I visited her in a nursing home after a terrible flare up. Today on Facebook Sarah wrote about her long and successful climb back to encourage those new to the disease, but I believe her message is also an encouragement for those facing other health challenges.

“Today I had an appointment with my rheumy, who I have come to like very much. When we first met last January 2014, I was in a wheelchair, it was 23 degrees below zero outside and I was in so much pain, I could barely move. I was so weak that I couldn't even kick off sheets from my legs. Everything hurt and I do mean everything, because I'd been off my Remicade since August due to a tooth infection that went nuts in my body and gave me what I call my super flare and led to 2 weeks in the hospital and 3 months in a nursing home, because I literally could not stand, toilet, walk, wash- -nothing.

Fast forward to today. My rheumy said he thought that I was glowing (I thought ... glowing?? I'm certainly not pregnant, lol). He said that with as many things as I had going on and all the meds, I looked absolutely joyful - to which I replied, I try and when I'm down, I very much remember the distance I've come. That I can now walk, go to the store, drive a car, take a shower, take out my trash, pick up my cat, change her litter box - most all of what I did before, except working. But even that is all right because I had 32 years at Ohio State University.  Although I had planned to work another 10 years, this is what happened and I am now in a better place than I had been for the past 15 yrs.

So what is my message?  Well, it is that there is light after darkness. That often you will have to dig deeper in yourself than you ever thought possible. That things happen for a reason, although you might not know that reason. That there are always options, even though you thought you might not ever have considered those unknown to you. That you are here for a reason and you will learn the lessons and you will be of help to others. That your pain is real and so is your joy and in time, you can learn to experience more joy than pain or even both at the same time - but you won't be held down by the pain, unless you choose to be.

The good news is that medicine has made advances and those of us with this disease have so much more available to us than previous generations. With the internet we can become educated and better advocates for ourselves. Now we have choices.”

Why April 22?

It’s no coincidence that Sen. Gaylord Nelson (D) founded “Earth Day” on April 22, 1970, the centenary of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin’s birthday. http://patriotpost.us/alexander/34776

Happy Earth Day

Here in Columbus we're in winter recovery mode--green grass and beautiful flowers everywhere. And the winter debris. Today I'll drive to the west side for my volunteer job and I'll pass through some light industrial and "emerging" neighborhoods. I'll see people walking to the bus stops along roads with no sidewalks and a few who appear to be homeless. The grass and easements around the fast food businesses, gas stations, lumber outlets, and car lots will be pristine. The city of Columbus with responsibility for the exits, overpasses and other easements has a lot of work to do. Plastic bags, trash, newspapers, bottles. Do your part. It's Earth Day, a good time to clean up your own messes.

On Earth Day when we remember Rachel Carson whose poorly researched book contributed to the deaths of millions of Africans. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/05/science/earth/05tier.html…

One of the founders of Earth Day, Ira Einhorn,  in 1970 murdered his girl friend.  He was on the run for 23 years, but is in jail now. http://www.nbcnews.com/id/42711922/ns/technology_and_science-science/t/earth-day-co-founder-killed-composted-girlfriend/

Consumer Reports says coupons save money—they don’t

"All told, consumers saved $3.6 billion by using coupons [out of $310 billion], which makes it difficult to understand why only 59 percent of subscribers we surveyed used manufacturers coupons." (Consumer Reports).

Oh, let me count the ways American consumers are fooled into using coupons that

• 1) cover up price increases,
• 2) introduce yet another new product we don't need,
• 3) convince us to buy processed rather than steaming or grilling it ourselves,
• 4) deliver us into obesity with a bazillion snack offerings, etc. etc.

Yes, I know, I can't convince you that food companies don't stay in business by giving away their products, or that coupons add to the cost of your food, so just continue to fool yourselves--with the help of the media that prints or distributes the coupons. The first coupon was a wooden nickel.

Unemployment for some is not ending

"Long-term unemployment has fallen in recent years, although it remains high by historical standards. Five years after the Great Recession ended, the number of long-term unemployed still made up a larger share of unemployment than during any previous recession." (BLS, Spotlight on Statistics, March 2015). Actually, the recession ended in June 2009, almost six years ago—so these figures are from 2014 apparently. This has been the slowest recovery from a recession in history. I believe the ARRA made it worse.

Men more than women, blacks and Asians more than whites, older more than younger are the faces of the long term unemployed. Education level doesn't change things. Washington, DC, home of our federal government,  has the highest rate of long term unemployed. http://www.bls.gov/.../2015/long-term-unemployment/home.htm

Are these men really missing?

The New York Times Upshot column claims: “In New York, almost 120,000 black men between the ages of 25 and 54 are missing from everyday life. In Chicago, 45,000 are, and more than 30,000 are missing in Philadelphia. Across the South — from North Charleston, S.C., through Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi and up into Ferguson, Mo. — hundreds of thousands more are missing.”

I'm not sure why they are called missing. Black women abort at a much higher rate than white, so let's assume over half of those babies are male (birth ratio statistics); the crime rate for black men is about 8 times that of white, and their victims are black, so unless you want the police and courts to ignore the victims so the perps won't be in jail, what is the solution? More males than females are born, except among blacks; all boys are less healthy than girls, and by age 13 there is quite a discrepancy; visit the prisons and talk to the men of any race who grew up without fathers married to their mothers and in the home. CDC estimates that blacks account for almost half of all new infections of HIV in the U.S.each year, and although that's not the death sentence it used to be, it's also not the road to health, employment and marriage--and in a number of cities about 1/3 of the gay/bisexual black men are infected. When black men marry, about 24% marry outside their race, decreasing the opportunity for marriage for black women (Pew Study) so they might as well be missing. There is no plot.They aren't missing. But there is some negative behavior that can be changed.

Also, the author doesn’t seem to grasp the connection that the higher prison rate has resulted in lower crime rates for black communities.

Since the 1990s, death rates for young black men have dropped more than rates for other groups, notes Robert N. Anderson, the chief of mortality statistics at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Both homicides and H.I.V.-related deaths, which disproportionately afflict black men, have dropped. Yet the prison population has soared since 1980. In many communities, rising numbers of black men spared an early death have been offset by rising numbers behind bars.

ISIS kills more Christians for show terror

Last night millions of Americans watched “Game of Thrones” with elaborate sets, made up languages, sexy female monarchs, fantasy creatures--very violent and blood thirsty. Meanwhile ISIS slaughtered some more Christians, this time Ethiopians, and made a video of it. Most Americans yawned. They'd rather shut down pizza shops owned by Christians than lift a finger to stop the massacre of Christians. One group was beheaded on a beach along the Mediterranean Sea, while the other group was shot in Southern Libya, hundreds of miles away. "The sea you have hidden Sheikh Osama bin Laden's body in, we swear to Allah, we will mix it with your blood," the narrator said in English. He's talking to us.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/19/africa/libya-isis-executions-ethiopian-christians/

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/middleeast/article4416389.ece

http://rt.com/news/251037-isis-christians-killing-video/

Ancient Roads from Christ to Constantine

Last night I watched Ancient Roads from Christ to Constantine, pt. 2 of 6, on WOSU. It seems to be quite faithful to church teachings (at least this segment) and I enjoyed seeing the places we've visited (tour with our church group in 2009).

Gwyneth Paltrow’s food stamp challenge

I think Gwyneth Paltrow has learned her lesson about food stamps (SNAP), but just in case, here's $29 of food purchased this morning, and even the government knows Paltrow's cupboard isn't bare and she probably has some flour, sugar, potatoes, carrots, some left over Easter ham in the freezer and coffee from last week. This grocery run includes 8# of oranges, $6; 6 bananas $.81; 1 lb. of strawberries, $1.50; 1/2 gal 2% milk, $2.39; bag of mixed salad greens with sunflower see...ds and dressing included, $2.50; 6 Lite yogurt with fruit, $3; and ground sirloin $6.50. I was not shopping to budget, and if I were, I wouldn't buy partially processed items. The rules are complicated and the household is expected to contribute its own money to the food budget. The S in SNAP is Supplemental; they changed it thinking people would understand it better--but they obviously don't. At least Gwyneth didn't.

Republican Thaddeus Stevens changed his grave site

Shortly before he died on August 11, 1868, Thaddeus Stevens learned that the grave he'd purchased was located in a whites-only cemetery. Incensed, he bought another plot, this one in an obscure graveyard in Lancaster with no racial restrictions. Then he wrote an inscription designed to carve his creed into his headstone:

I repose in this quiet and secluded spot,
Not from any natural preference for solitude
But, finding other Cemeteries limited as to Race
by Charter Rules,
I have chosen this that I might illustrate in my death
The Principles which I advocated through a long life:
EQUALITY OF MAN BEFORE HIS CREATOR.

Story at History Net

Monday Memories—what was your first car?

David Graf (lives in Florida, but grew up in Mt. Morris) had a Face Book post about his first car. This is probably more significant for guys than gals, at least from the 1950s when Dave and I were in high school. But it did give me a chance to remember the 1951 Packard Dad bought for Carol and me to drive to college in 1957 (a 6 hour drive), she was at Goshen and I was at Manchester. We could get 6 girls with all their luggage in that 4 dr. sedan. What was your first car?

I don’t have a photo of the car, but do have a vivid memory of a flat tire with it fully loaded with girls and luggage.  Some nice man helped us change it after we unpacked everything. Because I was a freshman, I couldn’t keep the car at Manchester, so it was parked in Goshen, where according to Carol, they locked up the Coca Cola machines on Sunday.

This is a photo of a restored 200 series Packard, which is the lowest end model.

That’s the way the feta crumbles

They can't fool me. If feta cheese crumbled is $1 more for 2 ounces less than block feta, I buy the block and crumble it myself. If "lite" salad dressing's first ingredient is water and is $1 higher than regular, I buy the regular and add water.

How to crumble feta cheese   I was surprised there were actually “how to” sites for this.  I just sliced the block and cut it up.  It sort of fell apart.

Presidential candidates of 100 years ago were invited to address the Convention of Former Slaves

http://ghostsofdc.org/2012/07/06/ex-slave-convention-1916/

Amazing photos, including four people, two men and two women who were over 100 years old.

Arthur Godfrey and FDR

I'm not an FDR fan, but I'm surprised I didn't see/hear more on the 70th anniversary of his death/funeral this past week. Was I napping? Was the TV off? The recording of the funeral has now been added to the Library of Congress under the National Preservation Act of 2000.

"Following President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s death on Thursday, April 12, 1945, the national radio networks suspended regular programming until after his interment on Sunday, April 15. In its place, they ...aired a round-the-clock stream of reactions from home and abroad, including formal tributes, memorial services, and live coverage of the journey of the funeral train bearing the president’s body to Washington, D.C. On Saturday, April 14, a solemn funeral cortege made its way through the streets of the nation’s capital from Union Station to the lawn of the White House, with relays of radio announcers describing its progress.

Arthur Godfrey, a local broadcast personality with many years of experience covering public events in the area, was added to the CBS national broadcast team. As the last announcer on the route before the White House, he gave beautifully detailed and dramatic descriptions from atop a bank building at the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue for nearly half an hour, with his tone changing from solemn and journalistic to personal and emotional. When the caisson bearing the president’s body came into his view, Godfrey was dumbstruck, finally murmuring "God help me to do this" and choking out a few more sentences before breaking down on the air, forcing CBS to return to the studio briefly before resuming coverage on the White House lawn. Godfrey, a veteran of 15 years in radio, was deeply embarrassed by this incident, but soon became one of the country’s most popular broadcasters when he started his national morning show on CBS. His emotional coverage of this event now helps to illuminate the depth of the nation’s grief over Roosevelt’s death."

http://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2015/15-041.html

Educators who make race relations worse

I haven't checked out this story--someone is clearly misguided if it is true. But what is true is it was completely unnecessary: Among 2014 high school graduates, 86.1% of Asians enrolled in college, compared to 70.9% of black graduates, 67.3% of white graduates and 65.2% of Hispanic graduates. So why are educators still trying to create hard feelings, entitlement and victimhood?

What we really need is some direction for students who won’t be going to college, a place they’ll rack up debt for jobs that won’t be able to support the debt.

Race Relations and Law Enforcement—Jason Riley

“The shooting death of a young black man by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, last year touched off a national discussion about everything except the aberrant behavior of so many young black men that results in such frequent encounters with police. We talked about racial prejudice, poverty, unemployment, profiling, the tensions between law enforcement and poor black communities, and so forth. Rarely did we hear any discussion of black crime rates.

Homicide is the leading cause of death for young black men in the U.S., and around 90 percent of the perpetrators are also black. Yet for months we’ve had protesters nationwide pretending that our morgues are full of young black men because cops are shooting them. Around 98 percent of black shooting deaths do not involve police. In fact, a cop is six times more likely to be shot by someone black than the opposite. The protestors are pushing a false anti-cop narrative, and everyone from the president on down has played along.” . . .

“If liberals want to help reverse these crime trends, they would do better to focus less on supposed racial animus and more on ghetto attitudes towards school, work, marriage, and child-rearing. As recently as the early 1960s, two out of three black children were raised in two-parent households. Today, more than 70 percent are not, and the number can reach as high as 80 or 90 percent in our inner cities.

For decades, studies have shown that the likelihood of teen pregnancy, drug abuse, dropping out of school and other bad social outcomes increases dramatically when fathers aren’t around. One of the most comprehensive studies ever undertaken in this regard concluded that black boys without a father are 68 percent more likely to be incarcerated than those with a father—that overall, the most critical factor affecting the prospect of young males encountering the criminal justice system is the presence of a father in the home. All other factors, including family income, are much less important.”

https://imprimis.hillsdale.edu/race-relations-and-law-enforcement/

Capra’s America

Frank Capra was an immigrant--he rejected the theories of progressivism, communism and socialism popular in Europe. ". . . he did not understand America, as many Americans do today, in terms of personal categories of identity such as race, ethnicity, gender, or sexuality. He understood America in terms of its political principles—the moral principles of America that can be shared by all who understand them and are willing to live up to them. . .

In his last and most personal tribute to his adopted country, Capra recalled his family’s arrival at Union Station in Los Angeles after their long journey across America in 1903. When they got off the train, his mother and father got on their knees and kissed the ground. Capra’s last words to his assembled audience were these: “For America, for just allowing me to live here, I kiss the ground.” Capra did not believe that he had a right to be a citizen of America. Rather he was grateful for the privilege of living in America."

https://imprimis.hillsdale.edu/frank-capras-america-and-ours/

http://www.nytimes.com/1992/05/03/books/it-wasn-t-such-a-wonderful-life.html

http://rougholboy.com/capra/

The “gotcha” question—get ready for it

Rubio's already answered the "gotcha" question the media will pose for all Republicans.  It's not on ISIS, EPA regulations, monetary policies, the deficit, Iran’s threat, Israel or did his dog ride outside the car.  It will be this one.  And he said, Yes.  Other candidates could mention 2008 and Obama's lie about supporting traditional marriage in order to get electeed and how he was outed just in time for the 2012 election so he lied again and said he evolved. If evolving is good enough for the president's supporters, then it should be good enough for Republicans replying to the Democratic media that they are evolving on the issue. Now that there are "throuples" wanting recognition of their marriages, perhaps it could be rephrased into something more trendy.

http://www.newsmax.com/US/Marco-Rubio-would-attend-wedding/2015/04/15/

We’ve already been through this some years ago in our family, and they’ve already split.

Look out.

America’s Best Architecture

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zBG1xML8U0

I wouldn’t necessarily call the choices, “the best,” but they are certainly influential. The filming begins with the Salk Institute designed by Louis Kahn in La Jolla, California, moves on to Colorado and the chapel at the US Air Force Academy, Trinity Church in Boston,  the St. Louis Gateway Arch designed by Saarinen, various buildings in Columbus, Indiana, Falling Water by Frank Lloyd Wright in Pennsylvania and the architecture of Chicago.  It leaves out a lot, but is interesting.  Hosts are  artist Mame McCutchin & architect Charlie Luxton and their big van.

#1 man made tourist example in Colorado—Air Force Academy Chapel. 24,000 pieces of glass with colors representing leaving the world coming into the light of God.  The pews are designed to look like old propellers.  Stations of the cross use olive wood from Israel.

This is Henry Hobson Richardson’s Trinity Church in Boston which started a particular style, Richardsonian Romanesque. “Like walking into a painting.”  Next door is the John Hancock tower. I’ve seen these.

When we visited Fallingwater last year with a group from Columbus Museum of Art it was the earliest day in the Spring it was open, so we didn’t see the lush green in this film.  We’ve been on so many wonderful architectural tours with local groups—which is how we saw Columbus, Indiana--this was fun to watch. We’ve also been on a boat ride to see the Chicago architecture—I’ve been to the top of the Sears Tower twice.

I wasn’t familiar with the Reserve Channel, but will continue checking it out.

15 minutes a day with the Harvard classics

If I began on today April 18, it would be in Don Quixote, according to the guide and I would learn how the naming came about. So I would know 15 minutes more than I knew 15 minutes ago.

Here is the guide for reading 15 minutes a day.

And here is an English professor who tried it and found it quite useful.

A Year of 15-Minute Daily Doses From the Harvard Classics

“I discovered that a reading regimen, even if only 15 minutes a day, requires discipline. William James wrote that discipline is needed in the formation of any new habit. In this case, the habit was reading regularly and outside my comfort zone. I often had to fight against an inclination to skip a day. But the relative brevity of the selections kept me on track—a hint to teachers who assign too much and thereby encourage cribbing and cramming. With a 15-minute assignment, I could push on, knowing that the end was near.”  Paula Marantz Cohen, WSJ, Dec. 26, 2014

Save Nigeria

Nigeria is the wealthiest African country, and Nigerian-Americans also are at the top of the charts in education and income. Disagree if you wish, but in my opinion this is a result of Christianity and capitalism, just as in the USA. Sixty years ago, Christianity was only about 20%, outnumbered by Muslims, and now Christians outnumber Muslims. Christian missionaries were faithful and prolific, targeting education and agriculture along with the gospel. Other African countries which depended on foreign aid from the World Bank and their former colonial powers got 70 years of roller coaster failure (like our own War on Poverty the aid held them back). But aggressive jihad is threatening the Christian culture of Nigeria. It's a country in peril.

Save the girls of Chibok--you don't hear much now except from the tiny Church of the Brethren. It's lost 8,000 members to recent Muslim attacks on Christians in Nigeria. The Church of the Brethren in Nigeria (160,000 members according to the World Council of churches website) is now over twice the size of its mother church.  I remember the COB missionaries visiting our little church when I was a child to raise support.  Now they need our help again, but this time to saves lives on this side of eternity.   http://www.brethren.org/nigeriacrisis/

http://www.cananusa.org/

Christian Association of Nigerian-Americans, CANAN, is calling on the US President Barack Obama to reinvigorate America’s support to the effort to rescue the over 200 Nigerian schoolgirls who were abducted exactly one year ago by Boko Haram terrorists.

As the whole world marks one year after the disturbing abduction, CANAN wants the US government to renew and upwardly review its military and technical assistance to the Nigerian government’s effort and those of the neighboring countries in confronting the terrorists. April 15, 2015

http://www.cananusa.org/index.php/campaigns/press-release.html

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kerryadolan/2014/11/19/africas-50-richest-2014-worth-a-combined-111-billion-up-nearly-7-percent-from-a-year-ago/

http://www.forbes.com/profile/folorunsho-alakija/ Richer than Oprah.

The Three Hierarchs

When I ride my exercycle in the morning, I don’t find much on TV, but since my computer is directly behind me, I type a topic in Google and do a YouTube search.  I usually don’t have to see the person, but I can through the reflections of the painting on the wall.  I really like the writings of John McGuckin, (whom I found in The story of Christian spirituality) so I Googled him.  I found many men and interesting topics by that name, but I was looking for the theologian. I settled on a good lecture on the Three Hierarchs, Basil the Great (also known as Basil of Caesarea), Gregory the Theologian (also known as Gregory of Nazianzus) and John Chrysostom. I like to dabble in topics about which I know nothing.   McGuckin has written on Gregory, so that was his part of this three topic lecture. Lots of humor.  I guess Gregory was a funny guy.

https://youtu.be/xWhpQpbV1o8

These three are called “doctors of the church” by the western church and Hierarchs by the eastern church.

This particular lecture focuses on the Greek language and culture, the Roman social and legal system, and the Jewish moral teachings as the Christian basis for the role of the early, ancient church in social justice. The idea that God is in suffering changed civilization.

Dirty jobs pay well

Bernie the Socialist wants more money

The top quintile pays 84% of the income tax; the bottom two pay negative taxes.  That’s not good enough for socialists.  No one should be successful. Hillary has raised $2.5 billion; why is he worrying about $900 million?

Art field trip

State sponsored terrorism—Cuba and Iran

I understand why Obama lied about traditional marriage in order to get elected, but what does he have to gain from getting cuddly with Cuba and Iran? Both are top listed for state sponsored terrorism. http://www.state.gov/j/ct/rls/crt/2013/224826.htm

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/15/world/americas/obama-cuba-remove-from-state-terror-list.html?_r=0

Regular exercise reduces falls and fractures—Harvard Medical School Healthbeat

“Your bone strength and size peaks by age 30. After that, bones tend to become less dense, making them more fragile and subject to breaks. Bone strength in later life depends upon your peak bone mass in youth. An active lifestyle in youth can increase maximum bone density.

Even if you're older, exercise is still a great way to protect your bones. The physical stress placed on bones during exercise stimulates the growth of new bone tissue. The type of exercise you do matters. To bolster your bones, you need to get regular weight-bearing exercise. This includes weight lifting and resistance training, as well as any type of activity that forces you to work against gravity by standing or carrying your body's weight, including running, walking, dancing, and stair climbing. Activities such as swimming or biking aren't weight-bearing and thus don't build bone. Generally, higher-impact activities (such as running) or resistance exercises (such as strength training) have a more pronounced effect on bone than lower-impact exercises, such as walking.

Only the bones that bear the load of the exercise will benefit. For example, running protects bones in the hips and legs, but not the arms. A well-rounded strength training plan can benefit practically all of your bones.

Because exercise improves your overall strength, coordination, and balance, it also makes you less likely to fall, which means less opportunity to break a bone.

Five quintiles, four races, four pillars of success

There are five quintiles the government uses to show economic groups in the U.S. The top quintile (incomes about $94,000+) pays almost 84% of the income taxes. The quintile figure doesn't provide number of earners in a household, and most in that quintile have two  earners, which lower the quintiles may not.

There are four groups tracked--Asian households have the highest income, then white, then Hispanic, then black. There are four pillars holding up the higher and upper middle earning groups--1) marriage, 2) higher education, 3) social capital by which they contribute to their community--local clubs, politics, sports, and 4) organized religion.

There are a lot of sources to check for this information:  The CBO, https://www.cbo.gov/publication/49440 and Charles Murray "Coming Apart" (2012) and  The Heritage Foundation to name a few. http://blackdemographics.com/households/marriage-in-black-america/  The Wikipedia article has a good bibliography, but is about 6-7 years old.

Arrest-related deaths among whites

Among reported arrest-related deaths, 42% of persons were white, 32% were black, and 20% were Hispanic. (DOJ NCJ 235385) That might sound reasonable considering the percentage of the population that is white, however, the rate of crime among blacks is much higher; the offending rate for blacks is almost 8 times higher than whites, and the victim rate 6 times higher (most victims are also black). This would mean the rate of arrest related deaths for whites is higher than black . (http://bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/htius.pdf)

Natural and organic is big business, government supported

USDA is heavily involved in “natural” and “organic” farming  (certification, regulation, promotion, collecting economic data, lending, etc.) As in all things big government, when it gives you money to do something, it wants something in return. A few years ago I could buy unrefrigerated eggs at a farmers market (they’ll keep for weeks and taste completely different—like when when you were a kid), but last time I asked I was told they needed to follow regulations and refrigerate them before marketing. Perhaps it had been that way much longer, but the little guy I purchased from didn’t know the regulations.

Also, many people who donate to food pantries think these are church run (and they do provide that service for the government), but almost everyone along the way from farmer, to harvest, to processing, to storing at your local “food bank” is all government paid. It’s a massive loop, employing millions of people. It’s an all-growth industry feeding the poor.

http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/farmersmarkets

The government controls competition:  http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELPRDC5094336

USDA provides funds to publicize Farmers Markets: http://www.nutrition.gov/farmers-markets

http://www.foodpantries.org/

http://stmarysdorchester.org/food-pantry/

This is an interesting article in that it doesn’t really explain the role of the federal government in food pantries. http://www.foodbankrockies.org/wp-content/uploads/Tips-for-Organizing-and-Operating-a-Food-Pantry-Program.pdf

National Library Week

Nice to know we’ve always done something right

Although I’m not so sure we’ve changed the world. . .

Today is Tax Day

I was going to say this, but he already did.

"I’m probably in the minority, but as Tax Day approaches and as we analyze and compare tax burdens, I would like to personally express my sincere gratitude to: a) the 3 million Americans in the top 1% with incomes above $615,000 for shouldering almost half of the total US income tax burden with only 17% of the total income,. . ." http://www.aei.org/pu…/tax-day-approaches-lets-thank-top-20/

She defines dysfunctional politics when she speaks and acts

“We need to fix our dysfunctional political system and get unaccountable money out of it once and for all, even if that takes a constitutional amendment,” Clinton said at the first event of her 2016 presidential run. This she said while her foundation was taking donations from countries with which she was negotiating while Secretary of State. Wants to change our constitution to suit Democrat political dynasties which are not held accountable even by the laws we already have on the books that make their behavior illegal.

$422 SNAP allotment for mother and 2 children—food bill; eat your heart out Gwyneth Paltrow

This is a wild estimate using this week’s flyer for Marc’s in Columbus, OH. It’s a lower price, discount store.  I haven’t included taxables in this list—just food.  The USDA allows $89 contribution from cash for this family of 3—so I would use that for the taxables of soap, cleaning supplies, pop, etc. I’ve got a balance of about $40 which I can use for what I’ve forgotten, or for a treat at McDonald’s (love those sausage biscuits).

School age children receive breakfast, lunch and after school snack at school.

 

Vegetables

10 lb. potatoes $3.00; 2 lb. onions $7.00; 5 sweet corn ears, $2.00; Broccoli heads (2) $3.00; cauliflower (2) $3.00; Red pepper (1) $.70; Green beans 2 lb. $3.00; Frozen peas (2-1 lb) $2.00; Frozen mixed veg. (2-1 lb) $2.00; canned black or red beans 16 oz (4) $3.60; Canned vegetables 6-23.5 oz  $18.00; mixed greens for salad $3.00; baby spinach $4.00; lettuce (3) $3.00

Fruit

Strawberries 4 lb.  $6.00; Apples Jazz 8 lb.  $7.00; Oranges (10) 8 lb. $4.00; Pears 5 lb. $5.00; Canned fruit 6-23.5 oz  $18.00; juice 59 oz (3) $10.00; tomato sauce (pasta) 66 oz. $4.00; Canned tomatoes (8) $10.00; golden raisins 16 oz. (2) $5.20; bananas 18  $6.00

Meat

Chicken leg quarters 10 lb. $4.90; Chicken thighs, bone in  $14.00; Lean ground turkey 2 lb. $4.60; Bacon 2 lb. $5.00; Tuna 5 oz. (4) $3.00; Chicken sausage, 1 lb $3.30; Lunch meat 8 oz (2) $7.00; Ground  sirloin, 2 lb. $10.00; Ground beef, 2 lb. $8.00; Cheese-franks, bun size $1.35; pork sausage 1 lb $4.00; Bratwurst $6.00; Ham, shank in $10.00; Beef roast $12.00;

Dairy

Sour cream 16 oz. $1.50; eggs, grade A large, 18, $3.30; Milk 4 gal. $12.00; block cheddar 24 oz. $5.00; yogurt, plain 16 oz. $3.00; butter 2 lb $6.00; Pepper Jack cheese 1 lb $5.00;

Miscellaneous

Peanut Butter, 2 lb. natural, $5.80; jelly 12 oz (2) $5.60; Coffee 33 oz. $6.70; tea bags $2.00; salad dressing (2) $3.00; soup 4 cans $5.00; walnuts $6.00; Almonds $7.00;  condiments and spices $15.00; Sugar 4 lb $5.00; Flour 5 lb $4.00; Bisquick  $3.60

Grain based  

egg noodles, other wheat pasta 16 oz. (4) $5.00; rice 2 lb.$2.00; bread 20 oz. (4)  $4.00; English muffins (2) $4.00; Crackers 16 oz (3) $9.00; frozen pizza  12 in. (2) $9.00; frozen pierogi  $2.50; oatmeal $4.00

Dessert

cake mixes 3, $3.60 (used to make cookies); ice cream 1.5 gal. (2) $6.00; pudding mix (4) $3.60

Oops. Forgot carrots and cabbage. $5.00
----------------------

$384

Free range kids, over protective parents, and overstepping government authority

I listened to the free range mom on Glenn Beck this morning. Although I was a helicopter parent before the term was invented, my own generation as children was certainly "free range." I did things like riding my bike to the next town on the highway, or galloping on a blind horse. When I was 11 I was babysitting for infants--didn't even know how to change a diaper. When I was 13 I was a corn detasseler (removing tassel to cross or hybridize corn plant) either walking the rows or riding equipment with a teen driver for supervision.

Pinky, the blind horse who was also a family babysitter.

Children under 5 are in danger, but it's their parents, not strangers or neighbors. Particularly their mothers and their boyfriends, and it's not guns either. Homicide has drastically gone down in all age groups the last 25 years, but has gone up in that one, and black children are way out of proportion to their population. When was the last time you heard of a black parent being arrested for allowing a child to play unsupervised in the park or street? http://www.unh.edu/ccrc/pdf/homicidechildrenyouth.pdf

I don't know why homicide in young children is going up, but my suspicion is it has to do with abortion and the devaluing of young lives.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/04/13/parents-investigated-letting-children-walk-alone/25700823/

http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/31/living/florida-mom-arrested-son-park/

Turn right? Hospital next?

Gwyneth Paltrow probably can’t eat on $29/week

The S in SNAP is 'supplemental' and no one is suppose to use only this allotment, although it is quite possible with good budgeting and basic cooking knowledge. Now that EBT cards can be used at fast food and snack bars, many children will be hungry.

This is how SNAP benefits are figured:

Example: Calculating a Household’s Monthly SNAP Benefits

Consider a family of three with one full-time, minimum-wage worker, two children, dependent care costs of $81 a month, and shelter costs of $858 per month.[16]

• Step 1 — Gross Income: The federal minimum wage is currently $7.25 per hour. Full-time work at this level yields monthly earnings of $1,256 monthly.
• Step 2 — Net Income for Shelter Deduction: Begin with the gross monthly earnings of $1,256. Subtract the standard deduction for a three-person household ($155), the earnings deduction (20 percent times $1,256, or $251), and the childcare deduction ($81). The result is $769 (Countable Income A).
• Step 3 — Shelter Deduction: Begin with the shelter costs of $858. Subtract half of Countable Income A (half of $769 is $384) for a result of $474.
• Step 4 — Net Income: Subtract the shelter deduction ($474) from Countable Income A ($769) for a result of $295.
• Step 5 — Family’s Expected Contribution Towards Food: 30 percent of the household’s net income ($295) is $89.
• Step 6 — SNAP Benefit: The maximum benefit in 2015 for a family of three is $511. The maximum benefit minus the household contribution ($511 minus $89) equals $422.

The family’s monthly SNAP benefit is $422.

Here’s what $29 looks like.

If I were doing it, I wouldn’t buy salt, processed meat, or cold cereal.  I’d assume I had a few things in the cupboard like condiments.

Here’s what Gwyneth Paltrow bought:

And I sure wouldn’t buy limes.

Walker and Jindal, my top choices

Please, no more dynasty candidates.  No more candidates with one term in Congress.

A new Maisie Dobbs novel

While purchasing two Maisie Dobbs novels for my husband’s birthday, I found the 2015 title, "A dangerous place." It's 100 years since WWI, and her mysteries involve that era--or the ramifications of the war into the 1930s. Here's an essay she wrote in 2004. http://www.jacquelinewinspear.com/essays-skylarks.php

“Maisie Dobbs returns in a powerful story of political intrigue and personal tragedy: a brutal murder in the British garrison town of Gibraltar leads the investigator into a web of lies, deceit, and danger. Spring 1937”

Library Journal 3/15/2015

Admirers of Winspear's Agatha Award-winning series may be surprised that this 11th installment jumps the psychologist/private investigator's narrative forward several years. At the close of 2013's Leaving Everything Most Loved, Maisie was at a crossroads, shuttering her London office and preparing a journey to India while weighing a marriage proposal from her dashing lover, James Compton. The new book opens four years later in 1937, with a now-widowed Maisie devastated by James's tragic death and her ensuing miscarriage. Reluctant to return to England, she's temporarily taken refuge in Gibraltar, a military outpost and hotbed of geopolitical intrigue. There she stumbles upon the body of a murdered photographer and steps into a mystery touching the local Sephardic Jewish community and nearby turmoil of the Spanish Civil War. Within the tumult, the always introspective Maisie uses her work to regain a measure of inner peace.

VERDICT After hinting at change for several books, the series finally appears to have passed a crucial turning point as it nears the precipice of World War II. While some readers may wonder at the way Winspear handled her heroine's doomed offscreen marriage, many will embrace the arresting period detail and emotional resonance of seeing a new, if heartbreaking, chapter of Maisie's life unfold.

I need to get out more

After exercise class today I decided to go to Tuttle Mall—our conveniently located Macy’s closed this spring.  On my way there I glanced in my side mirror and thought the guy behind me was eating vigorously a candy bar.  But he wasn’t.  He was shaving with an electric shaver.  I’d seen jokes about it but had never seen it. Who doesn’t get up early enough to shave? And what happens to all those little stubbly hairs that drop on your clothes?

Then I missed the street into Tuttle, so I took the next one.  There was a huge apartment complex (not particularly attractive) that wasn’t there the last time I shopped up there.  Something Lofts.  I think that means a gathering place for single adults.  Then the older (maybe 5-6 years old) townhouses can be home when they mature a little.

So I was shopping for a red dress or blouse or sweater.  At our church we wear red for Pentecost, and the only red dress I had was too small and I gave it away about 3 years ago.  So I had a 20% off card, and some money left on a Christmas gift card, and I found just the dress I wanted at 65% off (probably a winter dress, but at 100% polyester it is hard to tell.  Then I got a surprise.  It had a built in girdle!  I tried it on—looked pretty good, but I thought I’d have to call for help to get out of it.

Anyway, with the sale, the discount and the gift card, the $60 dress cost me about $4.50.

For $4, I can be a bit uncomfortable.

Shock and Awe—Hillary has announced

A very wealthy white woman who came to prominence on her husband's reputation with no track record of personal accomplishment has announced she wants to be our next socialist president. I'm guessing that in part the campaign will be about gender. She may be the best example of the 20th century woman's movement failures.

http://theweek.com/speedreads/540672/hillary-clinton-paid-female-staff-72-cents-each-dollar-paid-men-when-senator

http://theweek.com/speedreads/540672/hillary-clinton-paid-female-staff-72-cents-each-dollar-paid-men-when-senator

At least on this blog, Hillary’s weight, age, pants suits and heavy legs are off limits!

Happiness is

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iK9PLdVXK4

The General Social Survey (GSS) of the University of Chicago NORC  has been monitoring societal change and studying the growing complexity of American society since 1972. In his book “Coming Apart” (2012) Charles Murray uses its data on self-reported happiness.

For U.S. whites (which is the group to which he limits this discussion) between 30-49 from 1990-2008 31% described themselves as “very happy,” 59% “pretty happy,” and only 10% as “not too happy.” However, when it comes to our closest relationships, family, the currently married report the highest level of happiness—40%. Separated, 16%; divorced 17%; widowed 22%; and never married 9%.

Ladies, ready for this?  The happiest, most satisfied work/vocation category is homemakers at 57%, with paid employment at 44%. For attendance at religious services, those who attend more than weekly are at 49%, with weekly at 41%; those who attend once a year or less are at 26% and 25% (I call them Creasters if they attend at Christmas and Easter and then eat a holiday meal together). Also Murray reports that your involvement in your community contributes to your sense of happiness whether that is in a group, as a volunteer, in politics or even informal social interactions.

All of these relationships and activities add up to what Murray calls “social capital”—satisfying work, happy marriage, strong social relationships and strong religion. You can add to your capital and invest in your future and the future of your country.

And isn’t it interesting the very things that make us happy are those most maligned by media, Hollywood, pop culture and internet memes—it’s almost as though someone/something wants us to be miserable.

Mia Love says

“Now more than ever, the American people require a president with a proven record of honesty and integrity. A president who will be a champion for America because it is an exceptional nation built on a foundation of liberty and freedom. Unfortunately, Hillary Clinton is not that leader. This is not about party, it’s not about Washington, it's about us and what kind of country we want to leave for our children. If "our" United States of America is going to remain exceptional, we must demand more of those who wish to lead our nation.”