Wednesday, April 30, 2014

The criminal didn’t die—right away

I don't believe in the death penalty. The execution in Oklahoma of 2 men (one of which failed) is no where near as inhumane and violent as what babies in the womb are experiencing every day. For instance, the base of the fetus's skull is punctured with a sharp instrument such as a long scissors or pointed metal tube, or the body of the baby is cut into pieces and removed. A bit more violent than having a heart attack during a botched execution. One of these men, Charles Warner, raped and killed an 11 month old baby; the other, Clayton Lockett, tortured and murdered a 19 year old woman. Babies in the womb, on the other hand, did no crime except appear on the scene at an inconvenient time.

Lockett, 38, was convicted of the killing of 19-year-old, Stephanie Neiman, in 1999. She was shot and buried alive. Lockett was also convicted of raping her friend in the violent home invasion that lead to Neiman's death. Warner, 46, was found guilty of raping and killing 11-month-old Adrianna Waller in 1997. He lived with the child's mother.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/30/oklahoma-execution-botched-clayton-lockett

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/inmate-dies-heart-attack-oklahoma-execution-halted-20-minutes-due-vein-failure-officials-article-1.1773508

image

The Book of Common Prayer

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The smoking gun—redacted e-mails

Ben Rhodes gave instructions on how to cover up the Benghazi failure.  Administration was reluctant to admit it hadn’t solved the “terrorist” problem right before the election.  I suspect there will be much more to come, if people can

tear their attention away from an 80 year old billionaire who said racist things. Read this piece by Sharyl Attkisson who was silenced at CBS (where Rhodes brother is president) when her investigative pieces became too bold and truthful.

http://www.sharylattkisson.com/new-benghazi-docs-april-29--2014.html

Her book: "My Fight For the Truth Against the Forces of Obstruction, Intimidation and Harassment in Obama's Washington"

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

The Donald Sterling kerfuffle

"How did Donald Sterling get away with behavior, in a professional sports league dominated by black players, which would get a college kid kicked out of school and scarred for life? Have they no morals clause in the NBA? How was Donald Sterling voted that lifetime achievement award by the NAACP? The answer to all likely lies in the adage: Follow the money." Patrick J. Buchanan

I'm listening to an NBA rep say he's going to take the team away from him and fine Sterling for being a bad old man and saying bad things in a private conversation. No punishment for being married with mistress.

Meanwhile, John Kerry still has his job.

This Clippers/NBA flap isn't about Sterling. He was a known racist for 3 decades, the league is 81% black, and they willingly take his money. It's obviously a sport that cares little about diversity. The NBA, Sterling and the players care about green, not black. The NBA should be ashamed of their phony outrage.

The media coverage and shock and horror IS about getting Obama off the front page, particularly as new evidence keeps coming out about the Benghazi cover up. WH advisor Ben Rhodes who came up with blame the video is found in numerous e-mails planning to protect the President in the 2012 election (and they were successful, weren't they?). Ben Rhodes brother is a highly placed executive at CBS. We've got the smoking gun, but if they can smother it with the Sterling story. . .

Today Ben Rhodes’ e-mails came out

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Not that we didn’t know the video story was a lie.

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2014/04/ben_rhodes_at_center_of_plan_to_whitewash_white_house_on_benghazi.html

http://mediamatters.org/blog/2014/04/29/the-ben-rhodes-email-foxs-new-false-benghazi-at/199067

http://dailycaller.com/2013/05/11/top-obama-officials-brother-is-president-of-cbs-news-may-drop-reporter-over-benghazi-coverage/

http://www.examiner.com/article/new-documents-reveal-benghazi-cover-up-emanated-from-white-house

Arkansas tornado kills father and 2 daughters

The Tittle Family

“Rob Tittle, a FamilyLife [Christian ministry focusing on strengthening the family] staff member and kindred spirit warrior for the family, died last night in the tornado that crushed parts of central Arkansas. Two of his daughters—Tori, age 20, and Rebekah, 14—were among the 16 killed in the storm.

Rob, 48, and his wife Kerry, had heard the tornado warnings and were shepherding their nine children under a stairwell when the tornado disintegrated their home. Rob was doing what a man does—putting his family first—when the twister hit.”

http://www.familylife.com/articles/topics/life-issues/challenges/death-and-dying/the-lord-gives-the-lord-takes-away?

Monday, April 28, 2014

She was told her baby was deformed—she refused to abort

Her husband left her.  Then at 20 weeks the ultrasound for her 2nd baby showed  a chromosomal disorder called Trisomy 18 in which the baby has an extra, 18th chromosome. It causes misshapen skulls, malformed ears, and mainly—heart defects. She was told the baby had no face.

http://blogs.christianpost.com/every-child/when-science-shakes-your-faithrefusing-to-believe-20475/

“Baby Abigael came into the world a perfect baby girl. No genetic defect. No missing heart ventricle. A beautiful face. It is hard for me to believe that these ultrasounds were a medical mistake—known to some as “false positives.” It is easier for me to believe my daughter is a miracle.”

Internet safety for teens

Keep children away from predators by sharing.

The Gosnell documentary getting close to goal

Kermit Gosnell was convicted of the murder of several live and viable babies at his clinic. It is thought that over a 40 year killing spree he murdered thousands of infants. Kermit Gosnell is currently serving several life sentences.

His case became controversial after the trial received almost no media coverage - and sparked allegations of a media coverup because the case shone a spotlight on abortion.

Producer Ann McElhinney said the record breaking success of the Gosnell Movie was a testament to the thousands of small donors who wanted the truth to be told.

"We have a huge number of small contributors giving to make sure the truth is not censored," she said.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/gosnell-movie#home

http://www.toomanyaborted.com/gosnell/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/04/15/the-gosnell-case-heres-what-you-need-to-know/

Monday Memories—our trip to Illinois this Easter

Ladies of the class of 1957 MMHS enjoying breakfast


















Photo: Eating at LaVinja on Daysville Road, east of Oregon, IL.  Really good Italian food and great service. With my brother and his wife last Saturday evening.

Eating at LaVinja on Daysville Road, east of Oregon, IL. Really good Italian food and great service. With my brother and his wife April 19.  We were staying in Mt. Morris and he lives in Franklin Grove, so it was a good place to meet.

The movie Philomena

Philomena poster.jpg

I loved that movie--although sad, it had a lot joy and forgiveness and humor. Amazing acting by Judi Dench and Steve Coogan.  When I see movies that are anti-Christian or anti-Catholic, I just remember the source—Hollywood (or whatever the international equivalent is). Its bread and butter is sex,violence, denying God, and sin, or there would be no story.  As far as the gay theme, I looked a little deeper.  The Catholic Church and Philomena were people of the morals of the time—sex outside marriage is immoral and only kings and statesmen got around it—and the public was in on that, even Philomena who acknowledges her sin in the movie/book. Even as a young teen she knew what she was doing.  The eighties and nineties and early 21st century, right up to Obama’s 2012 campaign during which he claimed to support traditional marriage, had a morality that didn’t support open homosexuality for public figures.  For librarians, like my dear boss Jay and his long time partner, no one cared, or all the lesbians like Dora and Pauline I worked with in the 1960s. Both parties were hypocrites.  Remember how the Democrats pushed out an active gay representative (Republican) from Florida whose life was well known to his fellow congressmen when he sent texts to young male staffers?  Anyway, in the Philomena story, her son who is gay, goes along with the prevailing morality in order to get ahead in Washington and keep his career, with a fake girlfriend and a hidden boyfriend. These were his choices for his career. So which is more phony?  The son or society? Many gays were open; he wasn’t.  He could have been a hairdresser, an actor, an author,  a librarian, etc., and no one would have batted an eyelash.  He chose his lifestyle and his career.

Back to the young Philomena, pregnant at 14 in the 1950s.  These days it is estimated that over 60% of the abortions are forced, in the same way relinquishing babies were forced in the mid-20th century. Today’s 14 year old “Philomena” is “encouraged”with threats of abandonment and financial need, to abort by boyfriend, parents, teachers, peers, and sometimes her church.  Frankly, although God doesn’t grade on a curve, the greater sin in my eyes is killing the child for the indiscretions of the parents.

Sunday, April 27, 2014

It’s about the Resurrection

It's a week since Easter, the biggest holy day for Christians world wide. Our church welcomed 4,500. Unless you attend a liturgical service where you have the opportunity to say one of the three historical creeds, or sing some traditional hymns, it's possible to not hear much about the resurrection again until next holy week. You don't get the whole gospel unless this is included.

Resurrection of the body also our hope. Although we aren't given the details in the Bible, we will have physical glorified bodies, just like Jesus. The book of Acts makes 24 references to Jesus' resurrection and Paul talks about it often in his letters to the first century churches--it was a very successful time for the Christian church. Let's not get stuck on Good Friday; celebrate Easter all year.

“Living, He loved me;
Dying, He saved me;
Buried, He carried my sins far away;
Rising, He justified freely forever;
One day He’s coming—O, glorious day!” (One day, J. Wilbur Chapman)

The sad state of a formerly great organization

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Where do they think the next generation of girl scouts are coming from, if not the womb?

Can coconut oil help dementia?

http://youtu.be/Dvh3JhsrQ0w

 

Dr. Newport is a neonatologist whose husband began showing signs of dementia at age 51. This is a TED talk, and it’s fairly technical.

Remember when people weren’t called racists if they didn’t like the president?

hate-bush-free-cupcake

Saturday, April 26, 2014

The liberal equivalent of “climate denial”

yourDnial

Canonization special

Two popes being canonized, and two popes attending.  April 27, 2014.  It has never happened before, and probably never will.  Some familiar U.S. media folk in the special like Peggy Noonan and Mary Matalan.

Benign fascism

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“In the Twentieth Century, a nation of great beauty and culture embraced Fascism, and a backward peasant society embraced Communism, and the most evolved civilization in Europe embraced Nazism. And observers still wonder why the great anglophone democracies were almost alone in not going down this path. I think the reason's simpler than it seems: No one - Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Mao, Franco - had devised a form of totalitarianism appealing enough to seduce them. Now they have. As the Bundy example illustrates, a free people will cheerfully abandon bedrock principles like equality before the law if state power is being used to torment a racist or a homophobe or someone whose very presence offends against the citizenry's sense of its own virtue. Whether or not this is a middle-of-the-road fascism, it's certainly a very flattering strain: what, after all, is wrong with benign despotism in the cause of preventing  "climate change" or transphobia - or ensuring that Nevada's desert tortoise has an area the size of the United Kingdom to gambol and frolic in?” Mark Steyn

Does it matter if Cliven Bundy is a racist? Not to her

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0zoee4k7yE#t=61

Mark Steyn says: “. . . if what the Bureau of Land Management is doing is wrong, the fact that Cliven Bundy is a racist sexist homophobe whateverphobe doesn't make it right - any more than at Ruby Ridge FBI sniper Lon Horiuchi shooting Vicki Weaver in the back of the head as she was cradling her ten-month-old baby and running away from him is made right by the fact that she allegedly had "white supremacist" sympathies.”

Un-African, and un-presidential

There's some fuss right now that Obama was playing golf instead of going to his aunt's funeral. Actually, Auntie Zeituni has caused him a lot of grief as a free-loader and law breaker who needed the Bush administration to pull Obama out of a mess with her in 2008 (a lot of thanks he got). Bush officials issued a 72-hour cease-and-desist order to all fugitive apprehension teams to spare Obama embarrassment over his auntie right before Election Day when it came out that she had been living illegally in the U.S. for some years, and had evaded a 2003 deportation order.

And look, his Kenyan father was a polygamist, as was his father, so she was only a half aunt in a family full of halves some with their hands out for a favor, expecting "my brother's keeper" treatment. Still, one of his half brothers, Malik, who is not a millionaire, managed to make it.

For his book and his political career, Obama's African family was useful when need presented itself. " A delegation of African relatives flew in for Mr. Obama’s inauguration in 2009 and received royal treatment." http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/23/us/politics/amid-politics-obama-drifted-away-from-kin.html?_r=0

The racism of Bundy vs. Biden and Reid

On the internet you never know what is true or what has been edited. Yesterday I read two accounts from blacks who are Cliven Bundy's friends who say he isn't a racist. I also read some of the full interview (and no way to verify that), which had obviously been edited to hurt his case against the BLM, because everyone knows it's worse to be racist than a gov't agency planning to kill or steal cattle of a private citizen. However, some of us remember the Biden and Reid comments about Obama during the 2008 campaign, which in my opinion were much worse, and they are elected to the most powerful offices in the land, and are Democrats. Bundy is just a cowboy.

As reported by CNN: “His [Biden] remarks about Obama, the only African-American serving in the Senate, drew the most scrutiny."I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy," Biden said. "I mean, that's a storybook, man." “

LA Times: And Reid didn’t apologize until 2 years later, 2010: “Harry Reid, the Democrat Senate Majority Leader and the national government's highest-ranking Mormon, has admitted now remarking apparently with some amazement on the nation's highest-ranking black Democrat as being notably "light-skinned" and having "no Negro dialect unless he wanted to have one."

What is PB2?

“It is powdered peanut butter, which is not nearly as strange as it may sound. To make it, the manufacturers squeeze the oil out of roasted peanuts, and what remains is the powdered peanut butter – all natural with no artificial sweeteners or preservatives. When you’re ready to eat it, you mix a bit of the powder with a little bit of water, and you get the same consistency as full-fat peanut butter, but with 85% less fat calories.” Daily Garnish Blog

Flourless brownies made with PB2,

Ingredients:

  • cooking spray
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 large egg white
  • 1 cup PB2
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp water
  • 1/2 cup raw honey
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 3/4 cup chocolate chips

325 degrees, 9 x 9 pan, 30 minutes. Beat egg and egg white. In a large bowl combine the PB2, cocoa powder, salt, baking soda and mix well with a spatula. Add the egg and egg whites and stir. Add water, honey, vanilla and stir with a spatula until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Pour the mixture into the prepared baking pan and bake about 30 minutes. Set aside to cool, then cut into 12 bars cutting 3 rows x 4 rows

Why the wealthy have done well under Obama

It’s a puzzle considering how Obama demonizes the “fat cats” that the upper 20% have done so well the last 4-5 years (aka the recovery) and the rest of the economy flounders. Record numbers are on food stamps, and many college new graduates are discouraged. Unemployment among young black men is much higher than before the recession.  This semi-annual report from Blackrock gives a pretty good explanation of how quantitative easing has helped the investors in stocks.  Now, this is a policy of the Federal Reserve, not the President’s, but at least he didn’t nix it.  If you are invested in a pension, 401-k or 401-b or IRAs, you’ve seen a similar, but smaller advance. People with CDs or savings accounts (usually less wealthy) have seen their savings eroded.

“One year ago, US financial markets were improving despite a sluggish global economy, as easy monetary policy gave investors enough conviction to take on more risk in their portfolios. Slow but positive growth in the US was sufficient to support corporate earnings, while uncomfortably high unemployment reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve would continue its aggressive monetary stimulus programs. International markets were more volatile given uneven growth rates and
more direct exposure to macro risks such as the banking crisis in Cyprus and a generally poor outlook for European economies. Emerging markets significantly lagged the rest of the world amid fears over slowing growth and debt problems.

Global financial markets were rattled in May when then-Fed Chairman Bernanke mentioned the possibility of reducing (or “tapering”) the central bank’s asset purchase programs — comments that were widely misinterpreted as signaling an end to the Fed’s zero-interest-rate policy. US Treasury yields rose sharply, triggering a steep sell-off across fixed income markets. (Bond prices move in the opposite direction of yields.) Equity prices also suffered as investors feared the implications of a
potential end of a program that had greatly supported the markets. Markets rebounded in late June, however, when the Fed’s tone turned more dovish, and improving economic indicators and better corporate earnings helped extend gains through most of the summer.

Although autumn brought mixed events, it was a surprisingly positive period for most asset classes. Early on, the Fed defied market expectations with its decision to delay tapering, but higher volatility returned in late September when the US Treasury Department warned that the national debt would soon breach its statutory maximum. The ensuing political brinksmanship led to a partial government shutdown, roiling global financial markets through the first half of October. Equities and other
so-called “risk assets” managed to resume their rally when politicians engineered a compromise to reopen the government and extend the debt ceiling, at least temporarily.

The remainder of 2013 was generally positive for stock markets in the developed world, although investors continued to grapple with uncertainty about when and how much the Fed would scale back on stimulus. When the long-awaited taper announcement ultimately came in mid-December, the Fed reduced the amount of its monthly asset purchases but at the same time reaffirmed its commitment to maintaining low short-term interest rates. Markets reacted positively, as the taper signaled the Fed’s perception of real improvement in the economy, and investors were finally relieved from the anxiety that had gripped them for quite some time.

The start of the new year brought another turn in sentiment, as heightened volatility in emerging markets and mixed US economic data caused global equities to weaken in January while bond markets found renewed strength. Although these headwinds persisted, equities were back on the rise in February thanks to positive developments in Washington, DC. For one, Congress extended the nation’s debt ceiling through mid-March 2015, thereby reducing some degree of fiscal uncertainty for
the next year. Additionally, investors were encouraged by market-friendly comments in new Fed Chair  Janet Yellen’s Congressional testimony, giving further assurance that short-term rates would remain low for a prolonged period.

While accommodative monetary policy was the main driver behind positive market performance over the period, it was also a key cause of investor uncertainty. Developed market stocks were the strongest performers for the six- and 12-month periods ended February 28. In contrast, emerging markets were weighed down by uneven growth, high levels of debt and severe currency weakness, in addition to the broader concern about reduced global liquidity. The anticipation of Fed tapering during 2013 pressured US Treasury bonds and other high-quality fixed income sectors, including tax-exempt municipals and investment grade corporate bonds. High yield bonds, to the contrary, benefited from income-oriented investors’ search for yield in the low-rate environment. Short-term interest rates remained near zero, keeping yields on money market securities close to historic lows.”

Friday, April 25, 2014

Income inequality?

Is this income inequality or job choice?  The owner of a local commercial and residential moving company, Two men and a Truck (franchise), is a woman, Gail Kelley. Right now, you can interview for a job at $12/hour lifting and moving heavy objects, but after 21 years as the owner, Ms. Kelley probably makes a lot more.

The President needs to know there are choices people make that can account for their success.  According to ColumbusCEO she originally wanted to be a ballerina, but failed. Then she wanted to be an artist (has a BFA from CCAD). After working for Radio Shack for 16 years, she and her husband bought this franchise and moved to Columbus. Now after business success she has started painting and is selling her work. Business success has allowed her to be an artist.

The real income gap—the occupation, not the gender

According to ColumbusCEO magazine, May 2014, there is a considerable income gap—among professions. Salary averages for a range of executive and professional occupations:

Annual Mean Wages—BLS, May 2012, Wage estimates (it doesn’t say if this is a national or local mean)

$40,970  real estate agents

$60,829  HR specialists

$67,080,  accountants

$71,500  architects and engineers

$82,600 software application developers

$122,,810  lawyers

$169,920 CEOs

$247,240 surgeons

The BLS figures are quite removed from occupational surveys (it is much lower).  Maybe the professions are promoting a rosier picture? Or different information?  For instance the Information Architectural Institute posts the salaries closer to the high nineties and includes the age ranges, benefits, geographic spread, education level, etc.

“For example the median expected annual pay for a typical Human Resources Manager in the United States is $89,406 so 50% of the people who perform the job of Accountant I in the United Sates are expected to make less than $89,406,” reports Salary.com .

image

The nationwide mean for CEOs is $176,840, but in Columbus it is $176,230, Indianapolis $189,100, and Cleveland $188.320, but the BLS figures are $169,920. Quite a gap between Columbus and Indianapolis, both state capitals and home of many businesses and industries.

Anyway, there is a big differences between a female real estate agent and a female surgeon, a male accountant and a male CEO.

Thursday, April 24, 2014

ACA affects employment expansion

A new survey demonstrates the Affordable Care Act's negative impact on employment. According to the Journal, "nearly half of small-business owners with at least five employees, or 45% of those polled, said they had had to curb their hiring plans because of the health law, and almost a third—29%—said they had been forced to make staff cuts, according to a U.S. Bancorp survey of 3,173 owners with less than $10 million in annual revenue that will be released Thursday." WSJ editorial, April 24, 2014

“As part of its "Faces of the Affordable Care Act" multimedia feature, the Journal is profiling two small businesses—T. Cain Grocery Inc. of Fairhope, Ala., and retail and wholesale bakery Ovenly LLC of Brooklyn, N.Y.—and it will revisit them periodically to update readers on critical decisions they face or have made as they cope with the law.”  WSJ report

Decreasing the increase

The Democrats believe in and pass federal programs that require coercion and the Republicans believe in and pass federal programs that require choice. Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot of difference in cost or outcome. They all require sending money to Washington and letting them design the program. I sometimes wish the Republicans were the cheapskates (with our money) the Democrats accuse them of being--but all they can do is decrease the rate of increase--which brings out the howls that Republicans hate the poor, women, gays and children. Health insurance costs were increasing at a lower rate under Bush than Obama, but they were still increasing.

premium-growth

Reid rants

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Imagine!

Young Americans for Liberty's photo.

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Glenn Beck is not a preacher or priest—he’s an entertainer with a political message

I first heard Glenn Beck on the radio right after 9/11. He was so silly in between thoughtful messages, I hated the program, and complained to the local a.m. station. Then I listened about once or twice a week in the car--Friday was really bad. Then he got a program on CNN (painful debut) and then moved to Fox where he really began to blossom with interesting guests. He's one of the best interviewers on TV or radio -- so different from Hannity or O'Reilly--and is fair even to those he disagrees with.

Then he said "take this job and shove it" and started his own TV network to add to his publishing and touring companies. Not only is he an author of many books, but he is a collector and devoted to American history. All over the country groups called 9/12 (for changing lives after 9/11) sprang up and he probably did more for book clubs than Oprah. A mention on his show shot authors to the top of Amazon, even those long dead. He had massive turnouts in Washington DC and Israel for his public presentations inspiring conservative movements without controlling them.

Liberals hate Beck, as do many traditional old guard GOP. Some Christians rail against him for his less than orthodox version of Christianity--a mixture of Mormonism, vague spiritualism with some Catholicism, and fundamentalist end times bias. But when he starts sounding like a preacher instead of an entertainer with a political message, I just tune him out. He is libertarian, pro-life, an advocate for the disabled, and a recovering alcoholic.

I know who my shepherd is and He knows me. I get hateful e-mails from Christian preachers and friends about Beck. Meanwhile the other side, the one that booed God three times at their last convention and put abortion in its basic beliefs, continues to take over the country.

Thought for today

Photo

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Home again

Back from our Easter trip to Illinois. We met many new people. Like the two policemen, young, handsome and polite, who gave us a $130 ticket near Greenfield, Indiana, and the fine crew of good old boys who rescued us with a tow and tire repair near Danville, Illinois. Got to see the inside of an auto repair shop that was established by the owner's grandfather in 1924.  But great service!  If you’re ever near Danville and need help, call Carnaghi Towing and Repair, Tilton, IL.  Don’t ever ignore your “check tire” light.  Get it up on a rack and look for nails causing a slow leak.

We spent Wednesday evening with my husband’s sister Indianapolis, then went on to Illinois and spent Thursday through Sunday with my sister. We had a nice visit with my cousin Dianne. The ladies of my high school class had a breakfast at a local restaurant, while my husband was having breakfast with a group of men from the Church of the Brethren in Leaf River.  We had dinner with my brother and wife Saturday evening at La Vigna near Oregon. On Easter Sunday we attended services at Trinity Lutheran and had a nice Sunday brunch in Polo at LaBranche which is an extension of the facilities at the White Pines State Park.

La Vigna

White Pines LaBranche

On the trip I finished reading "Maisie Dobbs" for our May book club.  I'm not crazy about detective genre, but this was very interesting. Enjoyed it a lot. This is the first in a series, and I just might try another one.  It used to be that I would get car sick if I tried to read in the car, but that doesn’t bother me now.  Also started (audio) of the infancy narratives of Jesus by Benedict XVI and also liked that. I've probably read those dozens of times, and never found what he did.

Maisie Dobbs

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

What’s happening to college tuition rates of increase?

I don't think who is in the White House should affect college tuition, but this is odd--huge increases in the last 5 years.
•The 14% real increase in average published tuition and fees at private nonprofit four-year institutions from 2008‑09 to 2013‑14 was larger than the 9% increase over the previous five years.
•Average published tuition and fees at public two-year colleges increased by just 4% in inflation-adjusted dollars, from $2,425 (in 2013 dollars) in 2003-04 to $2,530 in 2008-09, but by 29%, to $3,264 in 2013-14.

And now the federal government has control of the loans? Looks like we're headed for another bubble ready to burst just like housing in 2007.

https://trends.collegeboard.org/college-pricing/figures-tables/tuition-and-fee-and-room-and-board-charges-over-time-1973-74-through-2013-14-selected-years

http://www.brookings.edu/research/papers/2014/04/14-income-based-repayment-akers-chingos

This isn’t the real cost

The greatest cost is in loss of time and bonding between mother and child.  Most day care/childcare workers don’t have the level of training and love as the child’s mother—if they did, they’d be paid higher salaries or they’d open their own business, or become an administrator (who earn about the same as teachers) and hire the day care workers. No one in a nursing home says, “I wish I’d spent more time at the office and less at home with the kids.”

The average annual cost of care for an infant in a day-care center can range from $4,863 in Mississippi to $16,430 in Massachusetts, according to a report last year by Child Care Aware of America. Depending on your state, the average cost of full-time care for an infant in a day-care center ranges from 7 percent to about 19 percent of the state median income for a married couple with children, the report adds. In 2012, in 31 states and the District of Columbia, the average annual cost for an infant in center-based care was higher than a year’s tuition and fees at a four-year public 

The median salary of a day care worker is $8.94/hour, less than a receptionist, a retail clerk at WalMart, a cashier, a stocker, security guard, a fork lift operator, photo technician in department store, etc.  Unless she has a child in the center and gets a break on her costs, I’m thinking she’ll move on rather than go on food stamps.

And children are resilient, they can perhaps overcome this.  But what about Mom? How can she make up for the hours and years her child is in day care, and she’s 20 miles away in the classroom, or behind the computer, or driving in traffic?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/youd-better-budget-for-that-baby/2014/04/15/791a3ccc-c4d7-11e3-b574-f8748871856a_story.html?wpisrc=nl_headlines

http://www1.salary.com/Retail-Stock-Clerk-Full-Time-salary.html

http://jobsearch.about.com/od/jobs/qt/childcare-worker-earn.htm

http://www.northernstar.com.au/news/mothers-prefer-home-child-care-by-people-they-know/2231074/

http://www.naccrra.org/sites/default/files/default_site_pages/2012/ccgb_mothers_workforce_jan2012.pdf

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Rise of the superbug

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikZQPB45Zbw

University of Texas at San Antonio microbiologist Karl Klose discusses the problem of antibiotic resistance in a 2013 TEDx talk.(There’s a gap in the middle—a technical talk with no tech back-up.)

Humans have more bacterial cells than human cells.  Yuk.

Snow on tax day, April 15 in Columbus, Ohio

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Our next door neighbor’s deck.

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Walhalla Ravine, Columbus

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True health

"Scientific research has multiplied the possibilities for prevention and treatment, and has discovered therapies to treat many illnesses", said the Pope. "But when we speak of in full health, it is necessary not to lose sight of the fact that the human person, created in the image and semblance of God, is a unity of body and spirit. These two elements are distinct but inseparable, because the person is one entity. Therefore, even illness, the experience of pain and suffering, does not relate only to the bodily dimension, but to man in his entirety. This creates the need for an integral treatment, that considers the person as a whole and unites medical care with human, psychological and social support, spiritual guidance, and support for patients' families". Pope Francis, April 12, at the  Congress of the Italian Society for Oncological Surgery

Monday, April 14, 2014

Meet me in St. Louis

I'm watching "Meet me in St. Louis" with Judy Garland and Tom Drake who was "Uncle Buddy" to my nieces and nephew, the brother of their maternal grandmother who was also his dancing partner. Always fun to see this movie. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=1531

Abortion clinics in minority neighborhoods

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Let’s play ball!

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Sunday, April 13, 2014

Saturday, April 12, 2014

Don’t try these excuses

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Jay Carney and Claire Shipman have a strange way to decorate

In the background of this family kitchen are two Soviet propaganda posters.

Are they dumb? Flaunting their politics? Haven't studied world history?

"Washingtonian MOM magazine's spring issue has a profile of White House Press Secretary Jay Carney's wife, ABC News contributor Claire Shipman, that features a picture taken inside their home. In the background of the photo, you can see two framed Soviet-era propaganda posters."

The link between the media (ABC) and the administration (Obama's press secretary) is bad enough, but this?

http://www.businessinsider.com/soviet-propaganda-posters-jay-carney-2014-4#ixzz2ygREzGWq

If you like realism and propaganda go to the Russian Museum of Art in St. Petersburg. Some of it is amazing and not seen outside Russia because the Soviets killed millions and we used to notice those things. But as kitchen décor?

The sad fact is that progressives in much of the developed world have a soft spot in their hearts for communism.  Yeah, it murdered a hundred million people or more, but you can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs.  And those who were murdered were not very fashionable, for the most part.

The Washingtonian photo is a tell.  There is a sickness, a willful blindness toward the crimes of communism because it is so close to the progressive ideology that animates the American Ruling Class.  Shipman and Carney are the perfect exemplars of that class.  Smart, fit, busy, anxious to make their own lives perfect, and convinced that the price other people pay for their progressive dreams is not worth mentioning or even noticing. American Thinker Blog

The voter ID victim scam

Democrats are trying to frighten blacks with the voter ID thing again. Last night I heard yet another Democrat claim that 25% of [poor?] blacks don't have ID. That would mean they also don't have a bank, a pharmacy, a doctor, a car, and they don't use food pantries or free medical centers or any government services. All require ID. What's wrong with you Democrats? Why aren't you helping them get identification and appropriate services instead of scaring them into being block voters?

I volunteer at a clinic where people either have no income or less than $15,000 and I have yet to meet ONE who didn’t have an ID, and some are foreign and some out of state.  Why are the Democrats lying about this? For the same reason they lie about the income gap—votes.

Eric Holder

PolitiChicks's photo.

Attorney General Eric Holder is giving black Democrats a bad name as a whiny, petulant "nothing's my fault" kind of guy. When Tom Ashcroft and Alberto Gonzalez were maligned and beaten up by Democrats and the media, they didn't take it personally, but politically. And Obama's the ONLY President ever treated this way? Gracious. Clinton was impeached! Nixon resigned! Several have been killed in office. Vice President Agnew was forced to resign. Vice President Dan Quayle was so ridiculed by Democrats and the media I was embarrassed for THEM (I was a Democrat then). Remember the Murphy Brown incident, and he was right--but don't confuse liberals with the facts. Jimmy Carter is the butt of a million jokes, and was even in office. Last time I checked none of them were black, although Gonzalez was Hispanic. There is enough disgrace and malfeasance in Holder's tenure to sink several Attorney Generals, and he uses his race as an excuse? Man up!

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2014/04/a-fed-up-eric-holder-goes-after-congress-unprecedented-unwarranted-ugly-and-divisive/

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/john-boehner-race-no-issue-in-gop-treatment-of-obama-eric-holder/

http://www.black-and-right.com/2012/04/16/eric-holder-and-lenny-breuer-protected-by-boehnerthe-wimp/

"The frustration is that the American people have not been told the truth about what happened at the IRS. The American people have not been told the truth about what happened in 'Fast and Furious.' The administration has not told the American people about the truth about Benghazi," Boehner said. "And we've been going through all these hearings, having to hold people in contempt because they've made it impossible to get to the documents. They've not been forthcoming. They owe the American people the truth." John Boehner, CBS file

“Why should Republicans tolerate the corruption of Holder and Breuer?   House Speaker, John Boehner, is protecting Holder and his gang and trying to make a deal with Holder to avoid a criminal contempt court action against Holder which Congress would easily win.   Is it because V. I. Governor de Jongh pulled the race card with,“It is a sad day in our nation when reckless allegations can be published without substance or verification as part of the smearing of our President or his Attorney General. This kind of broad brush stereotyping was shameful in the days of Jim Crow, and it is more so today?”    So, Boehner won’t be called a racist and will be a nice guy? Boehner participates, along with Holder and Breuer, enabling total public corruption and the perversion of US Law and the US Department of Justice.   Leo Durocher of the Brooklyn Dodgers, expressed it best, “Nice guys finish last.””  Black and Right

Friday, April 11, 2014

ICD-10 is part of the ACA and will be delayed again

Slipping past with all the other hoopla about ACA, the president has moved another date, originally planned for June of this year, to well beyond the elections of 2014. "On April 1, 2014, President Obama signed into law legislation that states that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) cannot adopt the ICD-10 code set as the standard until at least Oct. 1, 2015. This is the second consecutive one-year delay for the ICD-10 implementation and is expected to be the last such delay."

Notice the "at least."  It could be later and it's already been delayed once. How's that for planning?

Luckily, there are now codes for injuries that occur while skiing on waterskis that are on fire as well as codes for orca bites. As you may imagine, these codes will certainly streamline my ability to treat my patients with these very common ailments.

So why is it that our government and its agencies think that there administrators are well qualified to develop codes for medical diagnoses? How is it that bizarre codes for humorous and extremely unlikely scenarios are being included and programmed into the system?

If you ask CMS administrators, they will tell you that these new codes were adopted by the US government after careful consultation with coding experts, CMS administrators and physician advisers. However, I am not exactly sure which physicians were involved in signing off on codes for “balloon accidents,” “spacecraft crash injuries,” and “injuries associated with a prolonged stay in a weightless environment.” http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2014/01/heels-obamacare-rollout-icd10.html

Thursday, April 10, 2014

The pay gap, for good reason.

When I was 28, I stopped working for ten years to be a full-time, stay at home mom. Then I worked part time until my youngest was a senior in high school and was always at home in the summers. Don't regret a minute of it. Loved my job, but any day with my children was better than a day at work. Was there a pay gap? I certainly hope so. Why should I have been paid the same as a woman who had worked all those years? Are my kids any better than those who went to day care or grandma's? There's no way to know. I didn't raise them. But I'm better for it.

Throw back Thursday, 1988, back on tenure track to Associate Professor after the kids were grown and gone.

1988 Feb. dance

The United States is different from most countries

Here's the part in our founding document that Obama doesn't believe:  "that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights. . ."  In most countries, it is the government that confers rights. Progressives/socialists all have the same goals. Take back from the people what they believe belongs to the government. They don't believe there is a Supreme Being so how could he confer rights?

Obama’s War on Women—it’s the economy

Why is Obama pandering to women with this phony war on women? Ted Cruz might have the answer. "The reality are women are hurting and they are hurting under President Obama's economic agenda. Under President Obama 3.7 million women have moved into poverty. Under President Obama, the median income for women has dropped over $700. The Obama economy is a disaster. And the people who are hurt the most are the most vulnerable among us, they’re young people, they’re Hispanics, they’re African-Americans, they are single moms. And all of the smoke and mirrors that the White House has designed to distract from the failures of the Obama economy and the people who are hurting and no one is being hurt more than women by the Obama economy.” (On Neil Cavuto show, April 8)

Democrats in the Senate have red faces over the comparison of their own staff salaries.  Especially the Senator fro Alaska—a difference of $23,000 a year.  And why not?  They were apparently hired based on skill, service, job difficulty, and seniority.  Just like women in the private sector.

This bill (which failed) was full employment for lawyers.

An Irish wedding with a huge surprise

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYKwqj5QViQ#t=295

 

"Those most important words, I do ya, Hallelujah."

Wednesday, April 09, 2014

The Pope, Obama and The Devil


On why Jews support Democrats

"Hatred for the Jew is endemic to the dominant force in today’s Democratic party.  Anywhere you find leftism whether it was national socialism, Nazism, whether it was communism, whether it was socialism now in Europe or whether it was in the Democrat party today. . . So why do Jews support it?  Two basic reasons: one, there is something very attractive to people who have been persecuted to the notion that nothing will be judged, because if nothing is judged, then they can’t judge the Jew. The Jew can’t be evil, the Jew can’t be put in an oven. 

“The second salient point is if you’re called a Jew it is different than any other religion that is out there. To be called a Christian you have to believe something. You have to believe that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior. And from that belief stems other beliefs, other practices, cultural things, behaviors, rights, and rituals.

“To be called a Muslim you have to believe something. You have to believe that the Koran is the final testament of God and Mohammed is perfect messenger. From that belief stems certain rights, and rituals, practices and behaviors.

“To be called a Jew you don’t have to believe anything. All you have to do is plop out of the Jewish womb, they call you a Jew. All right, so lets call these people the plopping Jews. It is the plopping Jew that votes Democrat. And as you go down the line to first the reform Jew who is basically a plopping Jew with a better social calendar.

“All the way up to Conservative and Orthodox, that’s people who actually have Judaism as part of their moral cultural upbringing, not just an accidental Jew. The more Jewish you are by practice, by choice, not just by accident, the more likely you are to support the Republicans. And not just the Republican candidate, but down the line on every single issue. The Republican Party and the practicing Jew shares values."     Evan Sayet, speech  “Hating What’s Right: How the Modern Liberal Winds Up on the Wrong Side of Every Issue,”  2013  Heritage Foundation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xkyn3JaLrcw

77 cents or 88 cents, it’s all a lie

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Tuesday, April 08, 2014

Lying about the gender gap--again

Today our bold and brave President announced that for 5.5 years his administration apparently hasn't been enforcing a law passed in 1963--51 years ago. This equal pay dog and pony show by him is such an embarrassment. He lies, and excuses the discrepancy on his own staff while blaming private business. All he has done is promote more law suits and more paper work in a floundering economy.

In 1996, two of my colleagues at OSU looked at the discrepancy in the pay of male and female librarians (Bradigan, Pamela S. and Carol A. Mularski. "Evaluation of Academic Librarians' Publications for Tenure and Initial Promotion," The Journal of Academic Librarianship, v. 22 September 1996 pp. 360-365.) What did they find? Male librarians publish more and relocate more often and are more likely to accept the more challenging jobs. That translates into better pay. If anything, the higher pay that male librarians are willing to go after pulls up the median. The female librarians indirectly benefit from having more men in the field.

Here's how the 77 cent difference plays out. "A receptionist working 38 hours a week at your local dentist’s office is evenly stacked up against a stock broker or a coal miner. The salary of a male neurosurgeon is compared to a female manicurist. A male electrician is contrasted against a Denny’s waitress." MattWalshblog

Abortion clinics rarely inspected

Twenty five abortion clinics in New York were inspected a total of 45 times in 12 years.  Democrats’ War on Women.  Tanning salons are inspected more frequently—twice a year. Yet 75,000 abortions were performed in New York city alone. Remember the old saw, “safe and legal?”

image

Notice the inviting wording in the Internet ads for abortion—early, soft touch, dignified, same day appointment, gentle aspiration, private.  You’d never know about the horrors, violence and death.

http://nypost.com/2014/04/07/health-department-fails-to-regularly-inspect-abortion-clinics/

You can donate to a Gosnell movie.

The gender gap is in clothing

The gender gap may be in clothing. Look at any ad or go into any place of business and tell me that a man in dress slacks and a nice shirt, doesn't look 50% more prepared to be an executive than a woman in slacks and a shirt/sweater showing cleavage. Ladies, if you mean business, then dress like it. Don't dress for a picnic if you want to be on the board.

Yesterday I was in 3 places of business. Observed working women in jeans and sweat pants. I saw no men dressed like that. It's not a salary difference, but goals. I'm not asking for girdles and high heels the way we did in the 1960s even at entry level, but just a little pride and modesty.

Twenty years ago I suggested to a 20-something clerk that she not wear jeans to work (in the veterinary medicine library).  She was quite insulted (although it was a written policy by the library manager above me), and said she didn’t have time to dress nicely for the job.  So I suggested she prepare her clothes the night before.  She soon left for another job.  Which was fine, because she also didn’t want to arrange the serials for binding in alphabetic order.

Stop underestimating the President!

Some conservative bloggers/FB-ers depict Obama as dumb, out of step, sucker for socialism, etc. Really? Who else could claim with a straight face in a news conference that Republicans want to deprive people of insurance when the ONLY politician who has actually done that--and for millions--is President Obama? Many believe him. I don't call that dumb--except for the sillies who swallow it. The Pied Piper theme still appears in 21st century books, TV and movies, and we've got one in the White House.

Sunday, April 06, 2014

Rich white folk

Who is the President's base? Rich whites says Derryck Green.

"Even as he ran for the Illinois state senate, the U.S. Senate and the White House, Barack Obama's main constituency has been rich, liberal white people. Black folk supported him along the way, but their loyalty of support does not necessarily constitute a political base.

Aside from that short stint as a "community organizer" and attending Trinity United Church of Christ — it would seem to build his "street cred" and "authenticity" among those who would be his most loyal supporters — Barack Obama never spent a significant amount of time around black people. "

He begins with a  review of how Barack Obama used the gay marriage issue to get elected. He was against it before he was for it. And are liberals at Mozilla suggesting he be run out of town? http://www.nationalcenter.org/P21NVGreenMarriage90612.html

Noah and Jesus

I heard two reviews from committed Christians of the movie Noah at church this morning: one said it was awful, a terrible waste of money and didn't follow scripture; the other said it was fantastic, stayed very close to scripture and only embellished where there is no story, and was completely satisfied with using the word "creator" instead of "God," because Noah wasn't Christian and wasn't Jewish and millions of cultures don't use our word. The first said, don't see it, the other said, see it and let's talk about it.

I would never expect a movie to recreate any stories in Genesis, because of the 90 minute format. However, one young seminary student in our Sunday School class suggested it is like a "midrash" in Jewish tradition or a story from scripture that is embellished and used for moral or ethical teaching. I've always been surprised when I see children's books from the Bible how many aspects are not included in the original, to make them more interesting. Talking animals, friends, stars, angels.

Speaking of Noah, The Killing of Jesus a book by Bill O'Reilly sounds like a travesty. No, I haven't read it, only heard him talk about it in interviews. For some reason he thinks Josephus is an authoritative source for history, but not Luke. Luke used primary sources, like interviewing Mary, who obviously was not only present at the birth, but also the miracles, the crucifixion, and the empty tomb. Primary always trumps secondary, which Josephus used. Virtually all the New Testament is quoted in the early church fathers even before it was canon. O'Reilly decided through his research that no one was near enough to the cross to hear Jesus' words. So that would make John's account fiction? And he doesn't cover miracles because he can't prove them.

The oldest copy we have of Josephus is 11th century--for the New Testament there are thousands of extant copies of various parts dating to second century sources. He seems to think that by reading history (his version) people will read the real thing? Really O'Reilly? Also, I don't like O'Reilly. He's rude to his guests and is arrogant. Supposedly he's a Catholic and conservative, but I haven't seen a lot of evidence of that. Dennis Miller, whom he has on his show regularly, is work watching.

Saturday, April 05, 2014

Three Grandmas read Beyonce’s lyrics

GRANDMA 1: "Have you heard Kanye West and Beyoncé's new song 'Drunk in Love?' It's ridiculous"
GRANDMA 2: "They sing it together? Kanye West and Beyonce? What is Kanye West, a basketball player or a singer?"
GRANDMA 3: "Kanye West is a singer."
GRANDMA 2: "No I think he's a basketball player."
GRANDMA 1: "No. He's a rapper."
GRANDMA 2: "Kim Kardashian likes 'em big, trust me. He's a basketball -- although I've never seen him play."
GRANDMA 1: "He's not tall."
GRANDMA 2: "Oh then he's a rapper. But you don't like the song? What did you say --"
GRANDMA 1: "Oh, the newest song is ridiculous. Watch. All the teenagers are singing this. 'Woo, 'cause you a myth and I'm a mother-f***ker. Yeah tonight I see some super freaky hos.'"
GRANDMA 2: "That's -- that's --"
GRANDMA 1: "'That could go from being strippers to a super CEO. You reverse, you reverse, and I'm impregnating your mouth.'"
GRANDMA 3: "Oh."
GRANDMA 2: "Why you even putting this out for me to see? would you even put that in --"
GRANDMA 1: "'Cause I'm a visionary."
GRANDMA 2: "Why do you do this sh**?"
GRANDMA 1: "'I put you on that bike you bound girl, we too won't turn down, we drunk in love f***'"
GRANDMA 2: "Oh god."
GRANDMA 1: "You know --"
GRANDMA 2: "This is a disk, a record?"
GRANDMA 1: "Yeah. Number one."
[CROSSTALK]
GRANDMA 3: "But a teenager, kids don't read this --"
GRANDMA 2: "But Beyoncé, her husband is such a sweetheart. You don't mind her saying 'we be all night and everything all right. Boy I'm drinking, park it in my lot. 7-11.' What the hell is 7-11? 'I'm rubbing on it, rubbing rubbing. If you're scared go --' We never talk when we have sex. What's all this talking? 'Then I fill the tub up half way then I ride it with my surf board. Surf board, surf board. Grinding on the' -- Get out of here, I don't want to finish. 'Grinding on that wood, grinding grinding on that wood. I'm swerving on that, swerving, swerving on that.' They must have a big bathtub.'"
GRANDMA 3: "Hold up that doocy? D'USSÉ? It's the sh** if I do say so myself.' Wait, 'hold up that douche. Douche?'"
GRANDMA 2: "What the hell is D'USSÉ?"
GRANDMA 1: "Hold up the deuce means this."
GRANDMA 3: "Oh that. 'It's the sh** if I do say so myself. Slip, slide the panties right to the side. Ain't got the time to take of drawers. I'm Ike, Turner, turn up, Baby no I don't play, now eat the cake, Anna Mae
Said, "Eat the cake, Anna Mae!"'"
GRANDMA 2: "Oh, this is disgusting."
GRANDMA 3: "Who the hell is Anna Mae anyway?"
GRANDMA 2: "I don't know, I think she wrote a book."
GRANDMA 3: "'I'm nice, for you all to reach these heights. Sleep tight, we sex again in the morning, your beastesness --"
GRANDMA 2: "Your breastases."
GRANDMA 3: "Your breasts."
GRANDMA 2: "'-- is my breakfast. We goin in we--' Oh my. And that's a number one hit? That's a piece of sh**"
GRANDMA 3: "I don't like those lyrics at all."

https://grabien.com/story.php?id=7114

The culture of the left

"I think it's [Mozilla firing of CEO] narrower than that [intolerance]. This is the culture of the left not being satisfied with making an argument or even prevailing in an argument, but in destroying personally and marginalizing people who oppose it, in the same way that proponents of climate change declare the issue closed. It's over. There's no debate. It is settled science." Charles Krauthammer

Liberals on Hobby Lobby: Corporations can't exercise personal values
Liberals on Mozilla: Corporations should exercise personal values.
- Laura Yingling

Let's flip this on you liberals. What if there were a complete change in the administration and the culture about abortion, and everyone who'd contributed to Planned Parenthood were driven out of their jobs by obnoxious, bossy mobs on Twitter and Blogs--or whatever would be current at that time . You just might see this bullying and "inclusive for me and not for you" a bit differently.

Mozilla’s statement on diversity:

"Our organizational culture reflects diversity and inclusiveness. We welcome contributions from everyone regardless of age, culture, ethnicity, gender, gender-identity, language, race, sexual orientation, geographical location and religious views.

I guess they didn't see the irony of this. Mozilla supports equality for all except . . . No one with a conservative or religious view on marriage can work there with all those tolerant people, or about 60% of the population. If you EVER see the words DIVERSITY and/or INCLUSIVENESS just substitute intolerance, bigotry and bullying of a different stripe allowed.

Violates liberal values?  Well, these pushy, arrogant, ugly people aren’t liberals. http://m.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/04/mozillas-gay-marriage-litmus-test-violates-liberal-values/360156/

The post Haiti pot luck for the team

Dinner for 14 tonight, so I'm cleaning my desk. Found this in the pile, "Zeal behind the wheel" in Growing strong in the seasons of life by Charles Swindoll.

at 45 mph. . . "God will take care of you"
at 55 mph . . ." Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah"
at 65 mph . . . "Nearer, my God to Thee."
at 75 mph . . . "Nearer, still nearer!"
at 85 mph . . ."This world is not my home"
at 95 mph . . . "Lord, I'm coming home."
Over 100 . . . "Precious Memories."

Friday, April 04, 2014

KJV is still king of translations

image

http://www.raac.iupui.edu/files/2713/9413/8354/Bible_in_American_Life_Report_March_6_2014.pdf

How to end poverty

I'm so disappointed. I agreed to review a new Christian title that promised a solution to extreme poverty. Same old same old--more money donated by Christians. There's not a corrupt government in the world that can't soak up every bit of wealth we have. Jesus asked us to be generous, not stupid. Free market capitalism is the only solution to poverty--not redistribution, even if it is voluntary. Charity and NGOs and government aid (all with the best of intentions) have desperately hurt third world countries while lining the pockets of tyrants. Plus we're losing the solution to poverty in our own country, so why would anyone take our advice?

Broken window theory of Obamacare

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Mozilla CEO fired, er, resigns due to thuggery

Political donations are covered under the first amendment--freedom of speech. Belief in traditional marriage is covered under the first amendment--freedom of religion. In 2008, Obama assured his supporters he was a Christian and supported traditional marriage--one man and one woman--he even supported don't ask don't tell for the military throughout his first term. And now a CEO Brendan Eich  is ripped by the left, deprived of his first amendment rights to speak and believe, and forced to resign because in 2008 he donated money for California's Proposition 8. Why not fire Obama for what he did in 2008 (and 2009-2012)?

 http://hotair.com/archives/2014/04/03/mozilla-ceo-resigns-after-uproar-over-his-opposition-to-gay-marriage/

In theory, it is not the government trying to coerce him, it's a private business, (try firing a Muslim or Orthodox Jew for their beliefs), but we know who are controlling business culture these days, and it isn't businesses like Hobby Lobby or Chick-fil-a.

Never did like Firefox. And supposedly, Mozilla is a non-profit 501c3 getting government perks for existing and competing with for-profits.You know he won't sue and further be smeared by militant gays, but I wish he would.

Gay activists are for purging, discrimination, stifling free speech, denying religious freedom, burning heretics at the stake of their profession, and bullying in the worst way. In 2008 the president made the same stand as the Mozilla CEO, Brendan Eich . I'm sorry he caved at the hands of despicable thugs. Did the President speak out for what he believed and campaigned on in 2008? Of course not. He's not for basic American values of speech and religion.

Easter humor (secular)

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Thursday, April 03, 2014

Let’s play raise the minimum wage

In Ohio minimum wage is for entry level and part time work and workers quickly rise above that.  But let's play Obama's game.  Two adults working full time at minimum ($7.95) would be above 210% of federal poverty level for a household and lose eligibility for many government programs.  200% of FPL is considered, “self-sufficient.”  That’s too much to get SNAP (food stamps) or HEAP (energy assistance). There are people who actually cut their hours so they can maintain government benefits because of the tax advantage.

image

In Ohio: To be eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, for example, a family's income cannot exceed 130 percent of the FPL. To be eligible for publicly funded child care initially, a family's income cannot exceed 125 percent of the FPL. After that, families may remain eligible until their income exceeds 200 percent of the FPL.

http://www.accaa.org/povertyInfo.asp

The Unaffordable health insurance act

Shannon Wendt of Michigan details her problems with “affordable.” She’s in an Americans for Prosperity ad, one of those that Obama and Reid say are lying. Link

Their 2013 plan: $221 monthly premium, deductible of $5,000, 20 percent coinsurance, $10,000 out-of-pocket maximum, and no lifetime or yearly maximums. The plan did not include maternity care, because the Wendts decided it was cheaper to pay those expenses in cash. It did cover any complications involved in pregnancy or childbirth, such as an extra tests or procedures.

Their 2014 plan: $381 monthly premium, $10,000 deductible, 30 percent coinsurance, and $17,000 out-of-pocket maximum. The plan could cost nearly $10,000 more than the previous plan, Wendt says. Also, the plan does not meet ACA standards and will be canceled at the end of 2014.

An ACA-compliant plan that fits the family’s needs: $981.49 monthly premiums, $2,800 deductible, 20 percent co-insurance, and a $12,000 out-of-pocket maximum. The plan, quoted to her by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, would raise premium costs more than $8,000.

Wednesday, April 02, 2014

This is legal in Ohio in late 2nd trimester (23-24 weeks)

A needle is guided to the fetus’ heart with the aid of an ultrasound, and poison (often digoxin or potassium chloride) is injected directly into the beating heart of the fetus, causing an immediate heart attack.  Another method is to sever the umbilical cord essentially destroying its lifeline to the mother—but the cord is part of the baby, not the mother. Did you know that the baby has a sense of touch at that age and can grab the umbilical cord? When the baby is dead, either from a heart attack or lack of oxygen, it can then be cut up and removed.

Democrats support this. Feminists support this.  Progressives support this. Even some Republicans and Libertarians support this.  It’s called “reproductive health.”  No reproduction. And definitely not health.

What Democrats call this

Protecting “A Woman's Right to Choose” The Democratic Party strongly and unequivocally supports Roe v. Wade and a woman's right to make decisions regarding her pregnancy, including a safe and legal abortion, regardless of ability to pay. We oppose any and all efforts to weaken or undermine that right.  2012 Democratic Platform

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