Institute of Museum and Library Services and Doge

Lots of outrage against Doge for cutting the IMLS budget--a small federal agency with some money for grants to museums and libraries. The cuts were to DC staff it seems who cut the checks, so it's not clear in the article how many were coming to work or if there is another agency to pick up the obligations. I quickly scanned the Wired article and saw nothing essential, but did notice California could lose $54,000 to 5 Indian tribes for children's books. By the time all that sifts through the layers of bureaucracy, it's not a lot of money for the kids books. Guess how much Dolly Parton has contributed to help needy children with books to read: $240,000,000!

 
Libraries and museums are primarily funded by state and local taxes, and I would not call IMLS a "key" funding source, which articles I've read have claimed. It was created in 1996 in a Republican initiative when Clinton was president and Laura Bush (who was a librarian) was a big supporter. It was created with a merger of several agencies, probably to reduce duplication.

https://www.wired.com/story/institute-museum-library-services-layoffs/

There are thousands of small or unorganized collections of memorabilia or "culturally significant" objects through out the country--some connected to a local public institution, like a library, some not. I'm sure IMLS was a source of grant money if the person or group that started it died off. To my knowledge IMLS doesn't fund our Museum of Catholic Art and History in Columbus.  https://www.catholicmuseum.org/about-us/ For years a retired priest collected "stuff" as small Catholic churches in Ohio were closed, and it was stored in an old school building. It now has its own home in an unused Catholic building. I've never been there but the website looks great. As far as I know it runs on donations and gifts from benefactors and volunteers. Another one I know about because I attended a program about it at Lakeside is a collection of a black family from Toledo. These are microcosms of our culture. I think they should be supported at the local level--not the federal. Our own Ohio History Connection may have been a recipient of such grants--I never looked in to it, but the people of Ohio need to support that and not depend on Mississippi and Arkansas.

Are we shocked by Biden's criminal behavior?

4.8 million noncitizens have been given Social Security numbers since fiscal year 2021 and Doge.com has identified 20 million deceased individuals marked alive in the Social Security database according to Elon Musk. They were looking for fraud and theft and instead found the Democrat Party attempting to take over the country by importing desperate people and gangsters. Musk was shocked. I wasn't.

https://www.theblaze.com/news/millions-of-noncitizens-received-ssns-and-some-even-voted-musk

My idea on how to save the Democrat Party

I have an idea about how to save the Democrat party. It's not original--I thought of it watching Kristi Noem's commercials. She's the former Governor of South Dakota and current Secretary of Homeland Security. Have a handsome, credible Democrat (someone as likeable as Harold Ford, Jr.) invite all the Communists and Socialists to leave the Democrat Party. That's it. Run the commercial on all Networks several times a day. Ford could be nice and not threaten to put them in a prison for thugs, even if they deserve it. They could either join the celebs who've gone to Ireland or Mexico, or they could start their own party and be open about who they are. That would leave the liberals to develop some ideas that don't include destroying the country or using all the Soviet style show trials.

Almond flour pastry

On the 26th I wrote about the low glycemic index of almond flour. Although I bought finely ground for my experiment, it's like eating bran. I guess you need the finely ground without the testa or skin. This sticks to your teeth for hours.

California is the largest grower of almonds which were developed in Asia and have been harvested since antiquity. In California, the shaker machine to knock the almonds off the trees is followed by a picker-upper machine that collects the fallen fruits. You would think an agricultural crop this ancient could find a better word than "picker-upper."

Almond hulls and almond by-products | Feedipedia

Signal chat-gate--adding a leftist editor by mistake

Recently I was added by mistake to a chat group of relatives discussing the next family reunion. Except I wasn't part of the clan, nor could I figure out how or why I was added. Not all names are readable, and some people use nicknames, or a collection of letters. I finally figured out the person was the wife of a step cousin, and I'd never met her. Probably she added contacts to her phone from her husband's phone and to my knowledge he and I had only met once years ago and I never saw him again. It may have been at the wedding that made us shirt tail cousins. My name has probably been shared through "reply all" to set up the next reunion.

Someone asks, if you realize you've been mistakenly added to a chat group, when would you mention it. Especially if it involved a sensitive matter, like war. Yes, let's put the responsibility on the Editor Jeffrey Goldberg of Atlantic. Would he be ethical enough to delete himself from the group, or would he use it against the man he hates? Obviously, he'll side with hate. He didn't speak out to my knowledge or object to having a man with dementia running the war effort in the last administration, and every enemy of the U.S. saw that daily on the TV. In fact, two wars were started and thousands have died because Biden showed the world what was wrong with him.

Goldberg not commenting on relationship with Mike Waltz after Signal chat leak

Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture, and Society at The Ohio State University

Here in Columbus, Ohio, at The Ohio State University we now have the Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture, and Society. The new center was funded as part of a $24 million allocation for intellectual diversity centers in Ohio Senate Bill 117. I sincerely hope it can balance the DEI ideology with intellectual diversity. Today the Columbus Dispatch (Democrat controlled) contained an article about the first event on March 25. The co-sponsors were The Center for Ethics and Human Values, the Institute for Democratic Engagement and Accountability and the John Glenn College of Public Affairs. Four other Ohio universities have these centers, but I'm not sure they all have the Chase name.

The article states that confidence in higher education in America has slumped in recent years. It's my personal opinion that the Obama and Biden administrations (12 years) has contributed to this,
"A Gallup poll published in July 2024 found that Americans are nearly equally divided on their confidence levels in higher education. Those who have a lot of confidence in higher education, about 36%, just barely outweigh those who have some confidence (32%) and those with little or no confidence (32%) in higher education. That is in stark contrast to when Gallup first measured confidence in higher education in 2015, when 57% had a great deal or quite a lot of confidence and only 10% had little or none."

And one of those reasons for the falling confidence was not in the article but in the advertisement that popped up in the middle of the digital version. Maybe the Dispatch and Ohio State had no control over the LGBTQ ad for transition and affirmative care to change the physical appearance of those with gender dysphoria at Cleveland's University Hospital. I scrolled through it and in the small print it said it's for over 18 (that's still high school), but I'm sure that is a soft landing and there are many "farm clubs" contributing to its customer base. Another reason for low confidence is the funding all universities accept to "educate" foreign students. We're seeing that play out now with Trump trying to deport a professional trouble maker.

The Johns Hopkins president was concerned about the "drift to authoritarianism" and a number of students led a protest and wanted OSU President Carter to join them.

 
And we're off to the races to turn this Center to the Left. That's what has happened to so many foundations and NGO's funded by conservatives and patriots.

I used to blog about Lily and her treatment

 I loved reading this story about Lily and Lily's Garden.  She's now 23, and I blogged about her childhood cancer and her relapse years ago because I met her grandparents and aunt when I began blogging in 2003. 

https://issuu.com/vanderbilt-ingram/docs/vicc_momentum_winter_2025/s/66101244?

Collecting My Thoughts: Lily’s Leukemia battle

Collecting My Thoughts: Larisa’s report on Lily’s Leukemia

Collecting My Thoughts: Update from Larisa on Lily’s leukemia

Collecting My Thoughts: An update on Lily, Leukemia survivor, from her mother

Collecting My Thoughts: Childhood cancer--a grandmother's guest blog

Who was the first president of the United States?

Have you ever listened to the spring break interviews on civics or history? Jesse Watters on Fox has a side kick named Johnny, and I think that's how he started when he worked with Bill O'Reilly. He asks the questions of the man on the street, or on the beach. They would be hilarious if they weren't so scary. My hope is they ask a thousand intelligent students before they find dumb and dumber ones to show on TV. If they don't know who the first president of the U.S.* was or what country we defeated in the Revolutionary War, why should they understand what a tariff is? Or what Elon Musk is doing to keep their future safe? It's so scary to think the Democrats will recruit them to vote but refuse to educate them.

*Before we were the United States we had a Continental Congress and it had a President, Peyton Randolph, so technically you could call him first. But there were others, even though the office was very different then.  The 14 Men Who Were President Before George Washington.  Other sources say there were 6 and since some served more than once they don't get counted twice.

Almond flour pie crusts and other recipies

 Easy Low Carb Diabetic Almond Flour Crust - The Naked Diabetic

"Extra Fine Ground Almond Flour – This type of almond flour works best for recipes calling for sifting. When you want a more packed crust, always choose the finest grind available. Extra Finely ground almond flour is ideal for pie crusts and crusts that you want to cover the sides of a pie plate. The finest grinds also work better in cake and bar recipes,."

20 Best Low Carb Almond flour recipes for diabetics

"Living with diabetes doesn’t mean giving up delicious foods. With the right ingredients and recipes, you can still enjoy mouthwatering meals while managing your blood sugar levels. Almond flour is one such diabetic-friendly ingredient. In this article, we’ll explore 20 of my favourite almond flour recipes all crafted with diabetes management in mind. . . 

Almond flour or almond meal and ground almonds, is rich in healthy fats, protein, essential nutrients and fibre. Unlike refined white all purpose flour, almond flour has a lower glycemic index, meaning it doesn’t cause spikes in blood sugar levels. Making almond flour a great option for those watching their carbohydrate intake."

The lonely letter c

I did it again. I was looking at a dictionary and my eyes found the page no one ever reads--the list of how to pronounce English. There were 10 selections for "a" (although it didn't list Aaron) and none for "c" which has no sound of its own. It showed K and S and sh (-cion). It's why English has about a million words--the sun never set on the Union Jack. And this was an American list--probably if the editors had tossed in Canada, India, Ireland, Scotland, New Zealand and Australia they would have needed a few pages for "a"; but still nothing for "c".

Ashley Mason and sleep routines

After I experienced sleep/back problems yesterday I opened the podcast by Peter Attia and it was advice about sleep hygiene. "In this episode, Ashley Mason provides a masterclass on cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I), detailing techniques like time in bed restriction, stimulus control, and cognitive restructuring to improve sleep. She explains how to manage racing thoughts and anxiety, optimize sleep environments, and use practical tools like sleep diaries to track progress. She also offers detailed guidance on sleep hygiene, explores the impact of temperature regulation, blue light exposure, and bedtime routines." We learned a lot and refreshed our memories on things we knew but weren't doing, 

The Peter Attia Drive: #341 - Overcoming insomnia: improving sleep hygiene and treating disordered sleep with cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia | Ashley Mason, Ph.D.

One thing she mentioned was don't listen to podcasts in bed--oops! (or watch TV or read a book or read e-mail) Last night we stayed up until 11 and finished watching Chip and Joanna redecorate a hotel before going to bed.

Apricot pastry bites

I think it's been about 10 years since I "gave up" anything for Lent, but this year I did think I could be sugar free. About 2 weeks after Ash Wednesday I was sort of hankering for something sweet, and a friend brought over a wonderful pie. I resisted (mostly, except for a sliver). But then I made a pastry bite--I like pies more than cookies or cake. I made the crust, cut it out with grandma's pastry cutter, and after baking it, I put a dollop of "Simply Fruit" jam on it. Tasted pretty good. Next time I'll make the crust thicker and maybe larger (comes in a set of 3) because I make a flaky crust, and it was hard to handle. Notice from the photo I had to eat a few to make sure they were OK. Apricot.

 

Harold Ford, Jr. on Fox News

Although I've never met him, I just love Harold Ford, Jr. He seems to be the only Democrat who has common sense, compassion and calmness. He's never said he likes Trump, but he did say he's the most powerful president of his lifetime. He is an African American who is one of the "liberals" on the Fox panel at 5 p.m., The Five. He now lives in New York but for years was a representative from Tennessee, as was his father. But I noticed today as he was interviewed about Schumer that reasonable Democrats do sound like fence sitters or maybe passive aggressive. What do you think? Do you like him too?

Happy Birthday, Dad

Happy Birthday to my dad--he would be 112 today, died in 2002. I don't have a lot of mushy, gushy remembrances like some of my FBF or blogging friends, but I do laugh at some of the stories I remember. He was really sappy with the grandchildren, but with his own kids--well, there was that thing called the Great Depression and WWII and trying to get his life back on track, and put all that behind him. My favorite story is the day he went to the court house to get his birth record for Social Security and was told he was registered as "baby boy." (I've seen the ledger book in calligraphic handwriting of 1913.) When asked could anyone vouch for his identity, he said, "Yes, my mother and father." We all got a good laugh, but Grandma sure wasn't happy about it. She'd had his name picked out a long time, and the doctor just forgot to register it (born at home).