Revisionist sociology

Interesting that Ben Carson, who grew up poor, in the projects with a single mom who couldn’t read, is now called “not a typical black man,” but Colin Kaepernick, who has 3 white parents, a white girlfriend, private schools and scholarships, and wealth in the millions,  is supposed to have the scoop on what it means to be a minority male.

Friday Family Photo--Fall Cleanup

Neighbors buttoned up for Fall

A few sprinkles

Cleaning up the east side of cottage

 

Congress is the first word of the First Amendment

Back to the Lake for some fall clean up

Our internet is turned off, so I won't be taking my laptop.  I'll be reading my book, Being Mortal by Atul Gawande for our book club discussion on Monday.

When I was about 40, I noticed I was wearing my mother's hands. So whenever I look at them, she is with me! Dr. Gawande writes:   "40% of the muscle mass of the hand is in the thenar muscles, the muscles of the thumb, and if you look carefully at the palm of an older person (like me) at the base of the thumb, you will notice that the musculature is not bulging but flat. . . The hand has 29 joints, each of which is prone to destruction from osteoarthritis, and this will give the joint surfaces a ragged, worn appearance. The joint collapses.. . . The hand also has 48 named nerve branches. Deterioration of the cutaneous mechanoreceptors in the pads of the fingers produces loss of sensitivity to touch. Loss of motor neurons produces loss of dexterity (I really notice that--have to be very careful not to drop things). . . Using tiny buttons on a phone or touch screen display, becomes increasingly unmanageable."

I have all my permanent teeth, even my wisdom teeth. Dr. Gawande writes:  "In the course of a normal lifetime, the muscles of the jaw lose about 40% of their mass and the bones of the mandible lose about 20% becoming porous and weak. The ability to chew declines, and people shift to softer foods, which are generally higher in fermentable carbohydrates and more likely to cause cavities. By the age of 60, people in an industrialized country like the U.S. have lost, on average, 1/3 of their teeth. After 85, almost 40% have no teeth at all." p. 29, Being Mortal

California crime statistics

Each state compiles crime statistics and sends them on to the appropriate federal agency which then sorts and recompiles them into different category. This is the address of the California Homicide Report for 2015, Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General.

https://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/pdfs/cjsc/publications/homicide/hm15/hm15.pdf

The first thing you notice in this report (and the older ones which I looked at) is that there is a wealth of information on victims; almost nothing on the offenders. Since most violent crimes are committed by younger males within their own ethnic/racial group, we can only guess at the offender, but it's close.

In California for 2015

28.3% of the victims are black, who are 5.7% of the population for a rate of 23.5.

43.1% of the victims are Hispanic who are 39% of the population for a rate of 5.3.

21.2% of the victims are white, who are 38.5% of the population for a rate of 2.6.

http://www.mercurynews.com/2016/09/27/violent-crime-rises-in-california-u-s-but-is-still-low-compared-to-past/

http://www.ppic.org/publication/crime-trends-in-california/

The Athlete Crybullies

I don't care if workers peacefully protest climate change or gender dysphoria or abortion or advocate for their religion or non-science on their own time. If I hire an electrician, or pay a bill at the city building, or ask for an estimate to remove the animal in my attic, or get stopped by the police for speeding on Mountview Road, I don't want to get a lecture or advice on their pet beliefs. Football players are hired to do a job. And I'm disappointed to learn that Obama was paying them to "act" patriotic. So when he's out of office, they can start acting like spoiled kids. Now some are trying to make this about race? Well, OK, why is the NBA and NFL allowed to have 80% and 70% one race and not be subject to law suits by the government?

“Responding to a tip from one of his "boys," Smith brought up the fact that until 2009—eight years and a new Presidential administration after 9/11—players weren't on the field for the national anthem and instead generally remained in the locker room. According to Smith's boy (and the researcher at ESPN who checked it), the switch happened "because it was seen as a marketing strategy to make the athletes look more patriotic." " Sports.vice.com

NFL spokesman Joe Lockhart: "We also believe our players have a right to express themselves." Would that include expressing support for traditional marriage, or ridiculing popular beliefs on climate change, or refusing to accept transgenderism in their daughters’ locker rooms?

LeBron on Twitter: "Going to White House was a great honor until you showed up!" And this isn't the first time he's dissed the president. Probably 20 or so on Google. Poor loser, just like Hillary. Maybe in his next tweet he can list what Obama ever did for black people.  In December he said he’d never stay in a Trump hotel, and in November he was speaking out against the election.

Bill, the WWII veteran

Before the heat became unbearable,  I was on my walk in the apartment complex close by, and he was on his walker. I stopped to chat with him and found out he was born in 1925 and enlisted when he was 17. "I wasn't afraid to die, but I was afraid I might not be able to do what I was trained to do." He was on a destroyer, manning incredibly complex equipment--before he ever had a driver's license. He injured his hip in the war, and later in life broke it, so thus he's on a walker. The complex where he lives is beautiful and I like to walk there, but rarely meet anyone. Lucky me.

School closing due to heat

I don't know how many MMHS graduates remember this, but they actually did close the school one September in the 1950s because it was too hot. I was there. Of course, our homes didn't have AC or fans either, but . . . Today Columbus is sending the kids home early due to the heat.

Monday Memories--jury duty September 2002

From a letter. "I am on jury duty for two weeks and have been selected for a jury, but we’re not meeting until 1:30 this afternoon.  It seems like a strange way to run a circus, but apparently the judges are several weeks on civil and then on criminal, so our judge this week has been moved to criminal, so our case is being squeezed in to her new schedule.  This is the county, so there are about 90 people called for each week and you are on duty for two weeks. On the first day several women in our group went to City Center for lunch.  The orientation told us to get to know each other, and it seems a very compatible group. It is interesting to see the different ages, races, genders sitting around chatting like old friends. I'm feeling really patriotic. We get pep talks from court workers, lawyers and judges when they see us wilting from the waiting and the heat. I read on the bulletin board in the jury room that only 45% of Americans are called for jury duty and only 17% ever actually sit on a jury. Most cases go to mediation or are settled before they come to trial. The biggest challenge is getting there and parking.  I practiced several times the week before.

Now that I'm getting really good at navigating the streets of downtown Columbus, dodging the utility trucks tearing up streets, the orange barrels, and the construction sites, I have time to actually read the names of streets as I pass on my way to the construction site called Rt. 315. One main street is called "Commit to be Fit." It was apparently renamed by our mayor who is unhappy that we have won the honor of 5th fattest city in the USA.

 But I came down with a cold late Thursday.  Fortunately, my case didn’t meet on Friday, so I just laid around most of the week-end.  I had to cancel my birthday dinner with Phoebe and Mark, but Phoebe stopped by Sunday with a nice present, and on Saturday Mark brought me a box of Puffs and some tapioca.  Because of my heart medicine I’m not suppose to take any over the counter cold remedies.  So I just have to snuffle and sneeze through the testimonies."

Update 2017:  The case for which I was seated involved Ohio's infamous Scott-Pontzer insurance law which was finally reversed in 2003. It was incredibly confusing and caused me to lose chunks of faith in our laws and our jury system. It was referred to as the Golden Turkey award and had allowed employees and their families injured on their own time in their own cars to collect from their employers’ auto insurance policies

https://www.clevescene.com/cleveland/absurd-at-any-speed/Content?oid=1481862

Think about it.

From Russia, Russia, Russia to KKK

President Trump is tarred and feathered for not naming "Nazi" (before the invesigation) in Charlottesville. Naming them the next day wasn't enough, because, well, he was Donald Trump and no matter what he did, it would be wrong.

But the left, Democrat and progressive media and politicians all gave Obama a pass for refusing to say "Islamic Terrorist," even when the bodies were in front us in Orlando (49 people killed and 58 wounded), Ft. Hood (13 people killed and 30+ wounded, all military) and San Bernadino (14 people killed and 22 others seriously injured) and numerous other sites since 2009. Even when gays and military were targeted and a Christmas party were the scenes of massacres. Couldn't be Islam. Oh No.  Had to be something else. Workplace violence, an unhappy arranged marriage. Discrimination.  Only social media called Obama on it. Never the news media or his star struck supporters.

Donald Trump didn't refuse to use the word Nazi, but Obama refused to link Islam and terrorism. He called them murderers. Which was true. Using their own tactics and reasoning, was Barack Obama an Islamic Terrorist because he refused to say it?

And the media? Based on how they covered those attacks by angry Muslims, wringing their hands that there could be blow-back, they should have been writing editorials after Charlottesville worrying about how Nazis and supremacists were being maligned.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/28/politics/obama-radical-islamic-terrorism-cnn-town-hall/index.html

White hoods and black hoodies--who are the real fascists?

"At the annual party rally held in Nuremberg in 1935, the Nazis announced new laws which institutionalized many of the racial theories prevalent in Nazi ideology. The laws excluded German Jews from Reich citizenship and prohibited them from marrying or having sexual relations with persons of "German or related blood."" (Wikipedia)

"Yes, there is a fascist threat in America—but that threat is from the Left and the Democratic Party. The Democratic left has an ideology virtually identical with fascism and routinely borrows tactics of intimidation and political terror from the Nazi Brownshirts." (Dinesh D'Souza)

D'Souza in his book The Big Lie says to implement the Nuremberg Laws used the laws implemented by Democrats in the U.S. to determine racial identity, except they modified the "one drop" rule--the Nazis thought that was excessive.

Today Progressives suppress their nasty, vile history, and have moved fascism to the right wing column and distance themselves. If they admit it, it is simply "America," and not the Democrat party of the 19th and 20th century who imposed Jim Crow.  Today, we have Antifa--which is basically fascism, and Democrats won't denounce them. No free speech for fascists, right? Word play and twisting. And increasingly, Trump's Jewish children are being attacked, as bankers were in the last administration, because "everyone" knows who controls the banks. The Jews. The pattern continues.

The leftists who got tired of crying "Russia, Russia, Russia" and now realize Obama hacked the election, have turned to KKK smears, white supremacist links, nationalism, etc. Do Democrats remember the KKK was their terrorist organization and how many years Republicans fought their lynching terrorism? Democrats also know, from electing Donald Trump with constant negative publicity, they can do the same with the KKK. Encourage its growth by giving them free advertising. They are the modern fascists--who else would require citizens to purchase a crappy product and then fine or jail them if they refused?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9YRmWFPZH0

Oregon offers free abortions for all--even illegals

Oregon Governor Kate Brown signed a bill which makes abortion free for every resident of the state by mandating insurance companies not charge a co-pay for an abortion. Additionally, the bill sets aside $500,000 tax payer dollars to pay for the abortions of illegal immigrants.

She'd better set aside massive amounts for counseling and increased cancer rates. In Finland the suicide rate among women who had undergone abortions in the prior year was three times higher compared to women in the general population and six times higher compared to women who gave birth. Induced abortions, particularly with a first pregnancy, increases the risk of breast cancer.

The Church's response to Islam

 William Kirkpatrick, The Catholic Thing

"Ironically, one of the factors that is driving people out of the [Catholic] Church is its response to Islamic terror. After every terrorist attack, the Vatican (or some prominent bishop) assures us that the violence has nothing to do with Islam, which we are told is a “religion of peace” – a response not a whit different from the politically correct, secular liberal response.

In fact, Church leaders often put secular leaders to shame in their advocacy for Islam. The Obama administration called for the admittance of 10,000 Syrian refugees; the USCCB called for 100,000. When European leaders began to admit that Muslim migration should be restricted for the sake of national security, Pope Francis responded by insisting that the safety of migrants was more important than national security."

And before you think this is just a Catholic problem, you can hear the same thing in Main Line Protestant churches--just different "authorities." He continues.

"As recently as ten days ago, on the anniversary of 9/11, Pope Francis declared that religions “cannot desire anything other than peace.” Well, technically, yes. Islam desires peace – except that Islamic scholars say that peace can only be achieved by the subjugation of the entire world to Islam.

Church leaders haven’t quite figured out that when Islam talks peace it really means war, but ordinary Catholics are not so Pollyannaish. And as the gap widens between what the hierarchy says about Islam and what Catholics can see with their own eyes, we can expect that many more Catholics will become alienated from the Church."

My adoption story, by guest blogger

I’ve known the guest blogger most of her life and used to sit behind her in church when she was an adorable, wiggly little girl, a little younger than my kids.  She was adopted as an infant and later was joined by two brothers.  She located her birth mother as an adult.

-------------------

I had two burning reasons on why I wanted to find my birth mother:

1. Thank her...
2. Discover my heritage

Now, in my case, when I found out who she was, I made sure to research that she didn't have a family, and wasn't married, as I didn't want to upset the apple cart, so to speak. Once it became known that she was single, living with my birth Aunt, and never had any other kids, I made the call to thank her. This is the very reason of why I do not kick my birth father's nest; he does have children, a few years older than me, and he is still married to the woman he took a brief "break" (wink, wink) from, to "meet" with my birth mother, to create me, I see no need to upset the apple cart there.  Anyhoo, back to my birth mother...

At first, I was told that I had the wrong number, knowing I didn't, but I accepted that and thanked my birth Aunt profusely for taking my call, and apologized profusely for my error (again, even knowing I hadn't made an error, because it was the respectful thing to do).
I hung up the phone, and tried to calm the trembles that had taken over my body, and thought, "Well, at least I have a name and can research my heritage from that," and then the phone rang.  I answered it, a deep, raspy voice, similar to mine, asked for me. 

She identified herself as my birth mother, and her first question to me was, "Did you get an education?" It blew me away, I immediately responded yes. She then went on to say that she was not able to provide for me the way she thought she should, and that is why she chose to give me up for adoption, especially when she learned that there was a couple (my Mom and Dad) who was so anxious to start a family and couldn't, and would be able to provide for said child (me) in the ways in which she couldn't (my Mom and birth mother shared the same OBGYN).

At a later date, she said that she had been considering abortion, which brought a whole other round of Thank You's from me. And no, I wasn't angry with her for sharing that with me;  it had to be a tough decision for her.  Thank Heavens, the mutual OBGYN offered another solution, and my parents were there, waiting, to call me their own . I then apologized over and over for finding her, but that I had to tell her Thank you for her choice to allow me to have the life that I have had.

The conversation progressed from there and we wound up meeting each other, and continued to do so for awhile, until life seemed to take over and we lost touch, but again, I am OK with that because I accomplished my two objectives and after meeting her, I am sure she is OK with it too

Orthodox Jews overwhelmingly support President Trump

"The same religion that enabled the Jews to survive slavery, exile and oppression for thousands of years also held the secret to defeating the left. Even when totalitarian systems command your body, only you can give them control of your mind. The left seeks physical power as a means of controlling your mind. What it most wants is for you to become complicit in your own corruption at their hands. If it fails to control your mind, it will lose. That is the lesson to be taken away from the fall of the Soviet Union. If the left is defeated in America, that is how it will fall." They  voted 71% for Trump and 90% for Romney. And their marriage rates and birth rates are much higher than liberal Jews.

Daniel Greenfield in an article about Orthodox Jews

http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/267920/most-pro-trump-jews-america-daniel-greenfield

http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/265449/trumps-jews-and-obamas-jews-daniel-greenfield

Oliver North speaker at PDHC banquet

PDHC had its "Life & Liberty Celebration" at Villa Milano Thursday night, September 21. There was a huge crowd to hear Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North, grandfather of 17. At the end of his speech, he held up a check for $1,000 and challenged the audience to contribute 36 checks in that amount for each of the years since it opened.  He raised $50,000 within a matter of minutes.

 

In 2016 PDHC provided support for 872 life decisions, talked to 8,000 middle and high school students in 50 schools about healthy relationships and sexual integrity, provided education and support for 531 families through parenting classes and resource programs, and provided abortion recovery programs for hurting women and men. On average, PDHC has 154 interactions each day through intervention, prevention, extension and recovery components.

Mother of a heroin addict knows her son is safe

If you've watched 60 minutes, you've heard about the heroin epidemic in Ohio.  It happens to good, Christian families who have done everything "right." A terrible tragedy.  Here's a message from my friend whose son died from this scourge.

Hebrews 13 tells us , “I will never, never, leave or forsake you.”

I never realized the true meaning of this verse until I experienced the death of my mom, and then my son. When my mom passed, her last word was, “Jesus.” He then gave me a beautiful vision of my mom walking hand-in-hand with her Lord into paradise. When my son passed, although he was a heroin addict, Jesus showed me my son was not alone when he died. JESUS WAS THERE. He also showed me he was in his grandmother's arms. He was in paradise with Jesus and his grandma. He was freed from the power of that drug. He was healed and made whole.

OUR GOD LOVES YOU WITH AN EVERLASTING LOVE. DRAW NEAR TO GOD AND HE WILL DRAW NEAR TO YOU!

  "The study, published online August 14, 2017 in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, found that food purchases paid for with SNAP benefits consisted of higher spending on less healthy foods, including sugar-sweetened beverages, red meat, and convenience foods, and lower spending on healthier foods such as fruits and vegetables, compared with purchases paid for with other means."

https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/features/snap-program-spending-less-healthy-foods/ 

http://www.ajpmonline.org/article/S0749-3797(17)30343-4/fulltext

Using the S word--sustainable

 
If you need an "S" word, use "stewardship." Sustainable is a totally squishy word which used to imply renewable resources, respect for early methods and traditions of planting and harvesting, and kind to the earth. Increasingly it has come to mean anti-capitalism, anti-good jobs, thousands of little organizations and non-profits with ties to big-left money and handsome salaries for their CEOs standing on the backs of people who produce, foundations begun by capitalists now controlled by marxists, and efficient laundering funds for Democrat candidates.

Sustainable? Don't wear clothes, especially cotton (it's also racist) sit on the floor because couches and chairs use fabrics, sleep on the floor without mattresses or blankets, no rugs or carpets, no towels for showers, no curtains or lampshades, don't live in cold climates because you can't have coats. Floors should be mud, because otherwise you're cutting down trees or using fossil fuel to make fake wood. Native American women chewed leather to make it soft for clothing, you can, too. Oh wait. Check with PETA before you use animal skins.

Facebook will help with Russia investigation

So Facebook will turn over records of a Russian firm using ads on FB during the 2016 campaign. Given all the money the government of Russia sunk into the Clinton Foundation, it should be interesting.

Will Facebook turn down fake ads from American firms, even Democrats?  Will it turn down Washington Post, owned by Jeff Bezos, probably the biggest seller of misinformation. Will Facebook turn over ads by U.S. interests (aka U.S. government) appearing during Brexit campaign, or Canadian elections, France, Germany etc.? They were worth billions.  Where does the collusion between FB and Congressional Democrats end? What other special interest ads, say, from conservative PACs, or from Christian non-profits and para-church organizations, will FB decide were subversive or at least working against Clinton?

And what about the billions in free advertising our own main stream media provided Trump by covering every outrageous thing he said, did or rally he held? Or even the constant attention he got on FB and Twitter from his enemies which seemed to energize his campaign base? I was a Cruz supporter in the summer of 2016, and stopped watching Fox because of all the freebies it gave Trump.

About a month ago former President Obama was "interferring" again in Kenya's election. Does that count? Or can retired presidents influence foreign elections? Charges against Kenyatta for his violent tactics are well over a decade old, yet Obama supports him.

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/24/us/cash-flowed-to-clinton-foundation-as-russians-pressed-for-control-of-uranium-company.html?mcubz=1

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2740140/Its-time-America-Barack-Obama-Joe-Biden-use-Labor-Day-fire-Democrats-ahead-Novembers-elections.html

http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-facebook-russia-20170921-story.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/kenyan-president-uhuru-kenyatta-funded-and-orchestrated-violence-of-feared-mungiki-militia-after-9991224.html





 

Happy Fall

Sustainable--a growing industry for non-profits

 

 

 I wonder if this sustainable fiber and textile advocacy group knows they have a racist photo of cotton on their website July 2017 report. A customer in Hobby Lobby recently took to social media to be outraged about cotton stalks in the store, and a college president apologized to black students for having them in decorative floral arrangements in his home.

 

 I think this is an organization to fight "fast fashion" which provides much of the market for cotton. The word "sustainable" has become a political buzz word; always be careful when you see it.

"This paper argues that U.S. foundations currently have a key moment of opportunity to invest in the sustainable fiber and textile sector in ways that will mobilize consumer awareness and accelerate improvements in many stages of the textile production  chain. Such improvements would in many cases tie into and further strengthen the sustainable agriculture movement in the U.S. and abroad. Sustainability in textiles also involves many aspects of toxics reduction and labor issues, thus highlighting the close connections between environmental and human health impacts and presenting opportunities  for foundations already involved in environmental  health and justice work. http://www.safsf.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/SAFSF_CommThrd_D7_FINAL.pdf 

Investing in young children

Head Start, a federal program for pre-schoolers to prepare them for school, was declared a failure after 40 years and again after 50 years and trillions of dollars by the government’s own assessment. No politician for 55 years has dared suggest dismantling it, and the only solution was more money and more fiddling with the design which tries to make up for no dad in the home, low income of young single moms and the chaotic living conditions of the children, which may include mom’s boyfriends, or abuse, or foster care, couch surfers, poor nutrition, unsafe neighborhoods, etc.
Then came Early Head Start in 1994—practically beginning with pre-natal care. EHS had by 2009 over 650 programs. Despite marginal increases in the percent of parents who read to children through EHS, by age 5 there was no improvement even with rigorous studies.  EHS and Head Start don't change the family dynamics. So I was somewhat surprised when I read about a genetic design (although nothing surprises me much these days where bureaucracy and government grants are concerned).

“Using genetically-informed designs. Because genetic differences play an important role in children’s academic achievement and behavioral adjustment,  research to inform EHS should make use of methods that take genetic factors into account. Examples are studies using twins and adopted children as experimental subjects.”  (10 ideas, Nicholas Zill)

That’s the kind of talk that gets Charles Murray kicked off liberal college campuses. Even so, it’s darn scary to put “genetic differences” into the hands of the federal bureaucracy, the only component that has grown and advanced ($100 million in 1965, $16 billion in 2011)  in the whole Head Start half a century of no progress.

 http://nieer.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Investing_in_Young_Children.pdf

https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/1013_investing_in_young_children_haskins_ch3.pdf

The Impact of Islam on Christianity

Since the 7th century, the enslavement, rape, forced conversions and mass murder of Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, Greeks, Africans, Europeans, Persians, Jews, Turks, Egyptians--all in the Golden Age we hear so much about.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxLa-5gy9pY

1400 years of Islamic history. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uj8J62BqRMo by J. K Sheindlin.

“There are 1.2 billion Muslims in the world today. Of course not all of them are radicals. The majority of them are peaceful people. The radicals are estimated to be between 15-25%, according to all intelligence services around the world. That leaves 75% of them - peaceful people. But when you look at 15-25% of the world Muslim population, you're looking at 180 million to 300 million people dedicated to the destruction of Western civilization."

Courageous Trump at the UN

"I think it's safe to say, in the entire history of the United Nations, there has never been a more straightforward criticism of the behavior, the unacceptable behavior of other member states," [John] Bolton said.

In addition, he said Trump's critiques of the nuclear deal revealed the White House would not tolerate "half-measures and compromises" that allowed Iran and North Korea to progress to the verge of having deliverable nuclear weapons.

He also praised Trump's line, which was met with near silence at first, that the collapsing regime in Venezuela was an example of socialism being successfully implemented.

"There are a lot of people in the UN. who have never heard anything like that from an American president," Bolton said. "I think this was an outstanding speech, and I think it will serve the president very well."

http://freebeacon.com/national-security/bolton-trumps-u-n-speech-the-best-of-his-presidency/

"In over 30 years in my experience with the UN, I never heard a bolder or more courageous speech," [Benjamin] Netanyahu tweeted. "President Trump spoke the truth about the great dangers facing our world and issued a powerful call to confront them in order to ensure the future of humanity."

http://freebeacon.com/national-security/netanyahu-praises-trumps-u-n-address/

Georgia Tech student shot by police

I was wrong when I said there are no riots when whites are shot by police. The media do not identify Scout's race as they always do when a black man is shot, nor are they identifying (with pronouns) his gender, since he was an LGBTQ leader confused and unhappy in his body which is probably why he was asking to be shot while approaching police with a knife. And the rioters are not students--they are equal opportunity mobsters. Students were having a peaceful memorial, at least to an interview I watched.

I've read four accounts from NYT to ABC to Fox--all are extremely careful how they identify him-- "Scout," "student" and "LGBTQ activist." I've chosen the male pronoun because he was either a man trying to be a woman, so his DNA tells the story, or he was a woman trying to be a man and was using testosterone, which has been shown to be at the root of most violent and risk taking behaviors regardless of whether it is natural or injected.

Monday Memories--my ablation and hospitalization

From a letter. "I had my ablation (AV node reentry slow pathway) on January 18th [2002].  Then while I was wearing a Holter monitor on the 29-30th, it picked up some serious a-fib again (this was my fault for doing too much while we were moving to our condo and having the house closing).  Apparently the pulmonary veins don’t know the ship has left the dock and they continue to do what they’ve always done.  So it was back to the hospital for 3 days to be put on Rythmol. It sure is good to be out of the hospital!  The doctor didn't make rounds until about noon, so I didn't get out until about 1:30 Friday. I had lunch there--it was pretty good, a vegetable lasagna.

I only got 2 hours sleep each night.  The woman in my room was on some sort of machine suctioning fluids and gurgling--sounded like a creek running through the room.  A long time smoker, she had emphysema and an aneurysm. Plus, because her surgery was so serious, there were always medical staff trooping in and out, and when they weren't testing her, they seemed to be taking my blood pressure or temperature or giving me medication, but not all at once, just spacing it out so I couldn't sleep. Anyone who can survive in a hospital must be pretty darn healthy. I felt sorry for this woman's daughters though. They had flown in from different states, and would sleep in the lounge and then come in and try to watch her. They were exhausted, and of course, it is pretty boring just sitting. And they frequently had to alert the nursing staff to problems, so I think it is very important that family be around when there is surgery recovery.

My first morning there, about 5 a.m., I was watching two male staff, one teaching and one learning, drop off our medication.  They unlocked the two boxes for 4007 for bed A (Bruce) and bed B (her name), and I heard the one tell the other “this is for Bruce,” and he pulled out box B, looked at the name, and put mine in it, thus mixing up our medication.  The learner was definitely old enough to need glasses and he had a white pony tail hanging from his almost bald head. So when the RN came in I told her.  She went over and unlocked the boxes, looked at the names, and switched them.  The next morning, I noticed he was wearing glasses.

Holly brought in dinner Thursday night to the hospital, and all the stuff for a manicure (a huge bag of colors to choose from) and gave me a nice relaxing manicure. So that evening I had Bob, Lindsey, Holly, and Mark and Phoebe at my bedside, but only one chair. Phoebe brought me tapioca from the Chef-o-Nette which is located in our old neighborhood.  Either the manicure or the tapioca could be a special gift to anyone in the hospital.  Holly has artificial nails, but knows how to do it. Phil stopped in on Thursday and Friday morning and brought me Caribou coffee from my favorite coffee shop."

Little Golden Books

Yesterday I received a “Little Golden Book,” EVERYTHING I NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED FROM A LITTLE GOLDEN BOOK. It’s adorable AND Printed in China. Little Golden Books were part of Western Publishing which bought Kable Printing in 1957, a firm in the town where I grew up, Mt. Morris, IL. The town provided a nice living for many and printed, published and supplied magazines and serials for the world, especially in agriculture. It's struggling now. Although eventually, changing technology would have downsized it, Kables was ruined by a union strike in Mt. Morris in 1974. Western was purchased by Mattel in 1979 and possibly another 4 times that I know of before the permanent closing of the plant we continued to call Kables a few years ago. Now the town has a retirement home as the largest employer, no elementary or high school, and a community arts program to bring in visitors. It should be Trump country. Its story is repeated all over mid-America.

http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/western-publishing-group-inc-history/

https://collectingmythoughts.blogspot.com/2010/12/story-of-kables-and-mt-morris-timeline.html

A humorous "guide to life" for grown-ups! One day, Diane Muldrow, a longtime editor of the iconic Little Golden Books, realized that, despite their whimsical appearance, there was hardly a real-life situation that hadn't been covered in the more than 70-year-old line of children's books—from managing money, to the importance of exercise, to finding contentment in the simplest things. In this age of debt, depression, and diabetes, could we adults use a refresher course in the gentle lessons from these adorable books, she wondered—a "Little Golden guide to life"? Yes, we could! Muldrow's humorous yet practical tips for getting the most out of life ("Don't forget to enjoy your wedding!" "Be a hugger." "Sweatpants are bad for morale."), drawn from more than 60 stories, are paired with delightful images from these best-loved children's books of all time—among them The Poky Little Puppy, Pantaloon, Mister Dog, Nurse Nancy, We Help Mommy, Five Pennies to Spend, and The Little Red Hen. The Golden greats of children's illustration are represented here as well: Richard Scarry, Garth Williams, Eloise Wilkin, J. P. Miller, and Mary Blair, among many others. Sure to bring memories and a smile, this book is a perfect gift for baby boomers, recent grads, lovers of children's literature—or anyone who cherishes the sturdy little books with the shiny cardboard covers and gold foil spines! (Good Reads)

The kitchen sink protest

“Angeles Maldonado, a professor at Arizona State University, gave her Global Politics of Human Rights class the option of completing a group project or taking a final exam.

Her students opted for the project, and the 20 students in Maldonado’s class decided that their final project would be a protest against President Trump’s policies.” Breitbart News

Just protesting the wall wasn’t enough—after both Clinton and Obama had voted for it as senators, so they also included  LGBT rights, women’s rights, Black Lives Matter, immigration, and the prison system.  And the kitchen sink.

What really happened—Wall St. Journal

"The Democratic Party saddled itself with an ethically compromised and joyless candidate, because it had nobody else. Hillary spent eight years planning her first presidential bid, and the next eight warning Democrats not to get in the way of her second. The Clinton Foundation was erected to serve as bank and Rolodex, and to enable the Clintons to retain their grip over the party. And that party was committed to a Clinton coronation, right up to Mr. Sanders’s cheeky assault.

Mr. Obama aided Mrs. Clinton’s ambitions by decimating his party. By the time Barack Obama finished his eight years in office, his party held 65 fewer House seats, 14 fewer governorships and controlled 30 fewer state legislatures. It had turned a once-filibuster-proof Senate majority into minority status. The big-tent Democratic coalition shriveled to a coastal, progressive minority, wiping out a generation of Democratic politicians and most of the party’s political diversity." Kimberley A. Strassel, Sept. 15

Childhood Cancer Awareness Month

Another beautiful story by Carol Shaw Johnson whose granddaughter Lily is being treated for cancer after 5 years in remission.

"Today is September 17th – the 17th day of Childhood Cancer Awareness month. Today I want to honor Matthew LaRocca. Matt’s journey with childhood cancer began in November of 2009 when he was 11 years old and in the fifth grade. His family was living in Florida, and his parents took him in for an MRI to confirm a sinus infection. Instead, the doctor looked at Matt and said, “Buddy, you have a pretty big brain tumor in there.” The LaRoccas’ lives changed forever in that moment. The tumor was over 5 cm, and the doctors thought it had been there from birth. That would’ve explained some minor issues Matt had dealt with for years for which they never had answers. Matt had brain surgery on November 16, 2009, but the surgeon was only able to remove a small piece of the tumor for a biopsy. The tumor was a Ganglioglioma and it was benign. However, it was growing and it was located on Matt’s brain stem, and that made it very dangerous. The brain stem controls major bodily functions such as breathing and heart rate. Amazingly, Matt returned to school within a week of surgery.

Matt’s parents, Dean and Kim, left no stone unturned as they sought out the best treatment for Matt. They sent Matt’s records and scans to doctors throughout the country to get opinions to help them determine what to do. Matt was started on a chemo regimen to hopefully shrink the tumor.
Meantime, the family realized that they couldn’t make the journey alone. In addition to Matt, they had an older son, Jordan (15 at the time), a daughter, Alyssa (14 at the time), and then Ryan, age 5, who was the youngest of the 4 siblings. Since so much of their extended family lived in Nashville, they decided to move back home to Tennessee. There, they would not only have a large support system of friends and family, but they’d have Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital as well. Once they were back in Nashville, Matt continued his chemo while Dean and Kim continued their search for Matt’s best treatment options.

Matt had varied interests. One thing that Matt enjoyed was cooking. He had the idea that he would start making and selling snickerdoodles, 7-layer bars and “crazy croutons.” He named his made-from-scratch goodies “Miracle Matt’s Munchies.” He often took treats for the nurses and other patients when he went to clinic, and they looked forward to his homemade yummies. Matt even had a cookbook printed that was sold to help raise money for his treatment. I was happy that I was able to buy one. Kim wrote: “ He loved to bake for the very people that would stick him with needles, administer chemo, and make him do such odd facial gestures for neuro checks. He took his cooking seriously and did it all with such joy, passion, and love. I sometimes would wonder how such a young man could be so giving in spite of such a frustrating plight. But He pushed himself in everything he did. He kept up with school as best he could, read with his little brother, and offered to help bring the groceries in from the car when it was all he could do just to walk on his own.”

Matt had a great sense of humor, and he applied that humor to his brain tumor! His family started a website: http://www.braintumorhumor.com. Matt loved seeing the looks on people’s faces when he wore one of his t-shirts with a funny quote or saying about brain tumors. He felt it was a way to break the ice when people didn’t know what to say to someone going through such a difficult experience. Leave it to Matt to find humor in even the direst circumstances.

Matt also loved Legos. They were a signature interest for him. He enjoyed putting together Lego kits and creating designs with them. It was good therapy, both emotionally and physically. One day Matt said, “Hey mom, you know how sometimes people send me a little money in the mail?” Kim replied, “Yes.” Matt continued, “Can you tell them to just send Legos instead?” The boy loved his Legos!
Cold weather was something that Matt especially enjoyed, and so when he was offered a wish through the Make A Wish Foundation, he chose a cruise to Alaska. That trip was one the whole family will always remember.

As Dean and Kim explored options, they unexpectedly were able to talk with Dr. Ben Carson at Johns Hopkins. Dr. Carson discussed Matt’s case with Dr. George Jallo – another doctor in his group and the top doctor in the country on brain stem tumors. Everything fell into place to the point that the LaRoccas felt assured that this was the path God wanted them to follow. They went to Baltimore to meet with Dr. Jallo who would perform the surgery. As they were leaving, Dr. Carson came in and said, “So this is Matthew LaRocca!” He told them the story of a little boy who had a tumor similar to Matt’s and how he had been given 6 months to live. He laughed and said, “That was 20 years ago and he is in college now.” Kim said that the look on Matt’s face was priceless – a mix of relief and shock. That trip gave them hope. Matt’s surgery to de-bulk the tumor was done by Dr. Jallo at Johns Hopkins in January 2011. Matt had been suffering for 16 months from violent hiccups because of the tumor, and the surgery finally gave him relief from that, too.

Matt returned home and seemed to be doing well when, without warning, on April 6, 2011, his battle on earth ended. He was twelve. His mom wrote: “He won! Matt beat that cowardly brain tumor. While we are broken and void in heart, we are so thrilled that Matt is free to run again! Life will never be the same, but we are thankful for the battle he waged.”

Months after Matt’s death, Kim wrote on his CaringBridge page: “Matt was brave beyond his years and fought with the knowledge that the end of his life's story wasn't promised to be long. I recall him taking me to lunch not long after he was diagnosed. We talked about many things, I'm sure - music, food, school, life - but I clearly remember him looking at me and casually saying, ‘You know, Mom, there is no guarantee I'm going to make it through this.’ I recall looking him in the eye to see if I could read anymore into what he said (which I couldn't) and knowing my only response could be, ‘Matt, no one is guaranteed tomorrow. Not me, not your dad and not you, but I am going to see to it that you out-live us both because parents aren't supposed to bury their kids.’ In a way, he did outlive us. He accomplished real living sooner than we did.”

After his death, Matt’s family donated lots of Legos in Matt’s memory to help kids with brain tumors in their therapy. If you're reading this and wondering what you can do to help, here it is. Why don’t you buy a couple of Lego kits and take them to your nearest children’s hospital. Tell them you’re giving them to honor Matt LaRocca – a young boy who battled a brain tumor with humor, determination, snickerdoodles, and Legos. If you do, come back to this post later and leave a comment letting us know. Matt’s family would love to know that people are still honoring his memory by giving Legos to kids in the hospital.

Matt, you must be smiling down from heaven as you see how your family has continued your work to help others who are battling brain tumors. You taught us all lessons in treasuring life and helping others.

Boycotting Grey's Anatomy and NFL games which I never watched anyway!

Ellen Pompeo says she doesn't want Trump voters to watch her show, the popular and over rated Grey's Anatomy. She hasn't aged out of any influence on that show (14 seasons and she's almost 50--worth over $30 million), so gen-xers are sticking by her. She also used a lot of profanity in kicking her supporters and fans off the train.  I didn't know the show was still chugging along, since I've only seen it occasionally in reruns. She always looks like an angry frump--plays to type. With her political views, and if she were a real doctor, I'd be terrified to have her near me. So self important. And then there's the NFL millionaire jokers who disrespect the flag and national anthem, a publicity stunt begun by the ungrateful Colin Kaepernick (3 white parents, white Muslim hot girlfriend, bad stats). So darn it, can't even watch football!   Filthy rich people who've never read the Constitution.  What would we do without their telling us what to think and where to go?

When I Googled "Ellen Pompeo wants a boycott" I see she's done this before for other shows she doesn't like usually for presenting ideas that conflict with her personal far left views (why do TV and movie celeb-millionaires who read other people's words for a living have such missionary zeal for Communism?) But by telling Trump voters to not watch her show seems counter productive if she wants a platform.

https://www.yahoo.com/celebrity/celebs-stop-polite-start-getting-real-fans-twitter-195857527.html

Friday family photo--the laundry

This is the laundry at Lakeside after I decided the dryer was unsafe. Pink, blue and cream are our colors

I've had a lot of jobs in my life time from newspaper carrier to agricultural worker to author to librarian, however for 57 years I've been a housewife. Let me tell you my most exciting laundry story. I've been buying bargain laundry detergent my whole career, but recently bought a small jug of Tide. Hey. It works. My husband does all the hard stuff and gets really dirty. His work jeans look fabulous.

Manning is a pardoned traitor

Lipstick, hormones and blonde hair does not make a man a woman and a pardon by Obama doesn't make him less a traitor. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2017/09/14/former-cia-directors-shun-harvard-after-the-school-invites-chelsea-manning-to-campus/?

• "After serving in Iraq since October 2009, Manning was arrested in May 2010 after Adrian Lamo, a computer hacker in the United States, indirectly informed the Army's Criminal Investigation Command that Manning had acknowledged passing classified material to the whistleblower website, WikiLeaks. Manning was ultimately charged with 22 specified offenses, including communicating national defense information to an unauthorized source, and the most serious of the charges, aiding the enemy. Other charges included violations of the Espionage Act, stealing U.S. government property, charges under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and charges related to the failure to obey lawful general orders under Article 92 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Manning entered guilty pleas to 10 of 22 specified offenses in February 2013." (Wikipedia) 
•  "Among the records Manning has admitted to passing on to WikiLeaks were a video showing a 2007 U.S. Apache helicopter attack in Baghdad that killed 11 men and 750,000 classified documents that contained military and diplomatic dispatches." (NPR) 
• "Manning placed the lives of at least 900 Afghans aiding U.S. troops at risk by orchestrating the biggest leak in American military history." (Breitbart) And he has the gall to claim discrimination because he's a transwoman. (Twitter)

Margaret Sanger's legacy

In 2014, a total of 303,844 blacks died in the U.S., but 343,440 black babies were aborted. That's more than all the Africans imported to the colonies as slaves in several centuries--but just one year! But Mrs. Clinton called Sanger her hero, she's honored by numerous organizations as a "first" among womanhood, and we tax payers provide half a billion a year to the organization she founded. The Smithsonian has her statue--which I don't think should be removed, but it needs a plaque dedicated to the millions of children she's help kill. (73abort.com)

Robert E. Lee statue in Texas

Robert E. Lee complied with all the requirements for amnesty and restoration of his citizenship in 1865, but his request was never acted upon. Finally, in 1975 President Ford corrected the error of the Andrew Johnson administration.

"In 1975, Lee's full rights of citizenship were posthumously restored by a joint congressional resolution effective June 13, 1865.

At the August 5, 1975, signing ceremony, President Gerald R. Ford acknowledged the discovery of Lee's Oath of Allegiance in the National Archives and remarked:

"General Lee's character has been an example to succeeding generations, making the restoration of his citizenship an event in which every American can take pride." https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2005/spring/piece-lee.html

Now ugly racist elements in our society that wish to destroy the hard fought unity won in the bloodiest war of our history, are demanding not just the removal of Civil War statues, but also founders, poets, musicians, college presidents, etc.

 But these same elements revere statues and the memory of the biggest murderer of all, Margaret Sanger, Planned Parenthood founder. Hillary Clinton claimed her as her hero. Her centennial was celebrated last year.  Our government sends the abattoir she founded half a billion dollars each year. Thirty percent of her victims are blacks. And here's what she thought of immigrants. (A Plan for Peace, Margaret Sanger) was published in Birth Control Review (April 1932, pp. 107-108) https://www.issues4life.org/pdfs/1932_peaceplan_margaretsanger.pdf

Of a population of one hundred million, Sanger considered only about 15% were fit to reproduce.  The others should be sterilized and sent to special concentration camps. Would you be here if your immigrant ancestors would have met the fate she recommended?

 

So, Hillary, why’d you lose the white women?

1.  Basket of deplorables.

2.  Ferguson and Baltimore.

3.  Women have sons-–fake campus rape charges.

4.  Benghazi.

5.  E-mails.

6.  First amendment.

7.  Second amendment.

8.  Same old , same old.

9.  Entitled.

10. Bathrooms.

Love me like a Princess had a fund raiser last night, and I saw a photo of my cousin (2x removed, Joy's daughter) on FB at the event.  Not sure, but she may have been modeling for the fund raiser.

 "Love Me Like A Princess© is a 501c3 nonprofit organization. We advocate for domestic violence survivors, based in Central, Ohio. Our Program is designed to help survivors take the final steps to reestablish themselves as productive and self-sufficient members of our communities. Our goal is to help those survivors who are willing to help themselves, speed up and complete their healing process. Love Me Like A Princess© workshops, continuing education programs, resources and services are effective, flexible and convenient for all survivors, including those with unique working schedules and special circumstances."

What happened, Hillary?

Counties won:
Trump 2626
Hillary 487

States won:
Trump 30
Hillary 20

Electoral:
 Trump 304
Hillary 227

http://time.com/4587866/donald-trump-election-map/

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/national_world/2016/12/06/1206-clinton-won-487-counties.html

https://www.cnbc.com/heres-a-map-of-the-us-counties-that-flipped-to-trump-from-democrats/

http://www.cnn.com/election/results/president

Decline in global poverty is breath taking

"The global middle class expanded, as real income went up between 70 percent and 80 percent for those around the world who were already earning at or near the global median, including some 200 million Chinese, 90 million Indians and 30 million people each in Indonesia, Egypt and Brazil.

Those in the bottom third of the global income distribution registered real income gains between 40 percent and 70 percent, Milanovic reports. The share of the world’s population living on $1.25 or less per day — what the World Bank defines as “absolute poverty” — fell from 44 percent to 23 percent."

https://www.cato.org/blog/capitalism-global-trade-reduction-poverty-inequality 

The country with the most success in overcoming poverty did not receive foreign aid. Nor did churches and NGOs set up camp there.

Tax reform

So no wonder Democrats claim ANY reform will benefit the rich. They pay the bulk of the taxes, money that could be invested in businesses, charities, or their children's education which employ millions of people, or on spending and purchasing from other businesses which support workers who do pay taxes.The top 1 percent paid a greater share of individual income taxes (39.5 percent) than the bottom 90 percent combined (29.1 percent).

What if Democrats had supported the 2007 bi-partisan effort?

But Senator Obama voted against it with other Democrats beholden to big labor interests.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/why-immigration-reform-didnt-happen-in-2007/article/2513987

Here's how Obama excelled in politics. As a senator, he either didn't show up to vote so there would be no record, or he'd vote no if it was something that would benefit the country but not him. As a president, he vetoed everything the Republicans supported on immigration and health care because he couldn't be king if they passed.

In the Illinois legislature, the U.S. Congress and in the WH he supported abortion on demand for any reason, 40% of which are for blacks. I'm not going to guess about his motives on that holocaust. "In the United States, black children are aborted at three times the rate of white children; Hispanic children are aborted at one and a half times the rate. Whatever the intentions of the abortion industry, by functional standards, abortion is a racist institution." (73abort.com)

Miss America contest uses Anti-Trump questions

The Leftist culture  hated the Miss American contest--ridiculed it--until they found out they could use and manipulate these women as a weapon against President Trump.
 http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2017/09/11/when-did-miss-america-pageant-turn-into-nasty-woman-protest.html
https://pjmedia.com/video/miss-america-contestants-competed-for-anti-trump-quips/

• "By presenting an unattainable image of the ideal woman, Miss America not only reinforces noxious gender roles and stereotypes, but also implies that a majority of women have failed at womanhood itself." (2015)
• "Yet, there's this ridiculous message the pageant peddles: We enjoy judging women on their looks and bodies, and we will set as a body ideal a standard impossible for the vast majority of women on this planet.' (2013)
• "Can you believe it? They still have Miss America pageants. I thought they went out with Capris and beehives, or at least bangles and roller disco." (2008).
• "Watching the pageant "is almost the experience one gets when one opens a time capsule," says Robert Thompson, director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University in New York. "Miss America is in many ways a perfect reflection of a slice of American values as they stood a quarter-century ago."" (1999)

An anniversary celebration--sort of

Our condo association had its fall picnic Sunday evening on the grounds and I announced that we and our neighbors were celebrating our anniversaries on Monday and Tuesday for a total of 115 years.  We’d gone out on Friday at the Rusty Bucket for dinner together.  When I told the waitress she looked at me strangely, and said, "Anniversary of what?"

But the fun part was we have new residents who had moved in during July, so we’d never met.  He’s the new director of the school of music at OSU. They are from Texas, but natives of Iowa and met in high school (one of the questions on the quiz).  When we’d finished eating and playing our games, a group of men singing OSU stuff like Carmen Ohio and Hand on Sloopy walked up to our group—it was about 1/3 of the men’s glee club.  Wonderful voices. Their director was a friend of our new neighbors and did lots of inside jokes and stories.   It wasn’t for us, and it was all planned, but it sure was fun.

 

A surprise for our anniversary

I knew my husband attended a one day art class at Lakeside this summer, but hadn't seen the results.  It's a pendant he painted of the Marblehead Lighthouse, with lake, trees, sky and sailboat, and it's an anniversary present.

Monday Memories--Aunt Muriel September 2002

From a letter.  "Aunt Muriel called twice this month to wish us a Happy Anniversary and also on my birthday.  I said something about my last letter, but she didn’t receive it for two weeks.  I looked back in the computer, and I’d written it Sept. 4.  Even allowing that maybe it sat a day or two, it seems even by pony express it should’ve made it to Illinois by the 11th.  I said to Bob that sometimes I don’t know how she stays so perky.  She no longer has parents, husband or siblings, and most of her contemporaries have passed away. I think she and Mom lived next door to each other for 40 years, and as a teenager she lived with my parents.  I was the one to tell her of the death of her last surviving cousin, making her the only surviving cousin out of 28.  Fortunately Diane and Frank live close by--I think they visit almost every week-end.  She is really wonderful to her mother.  Just a rock."

Ready for Irma

We have a lot of family in Florida--my sister Carol's children Cindy and Greg and grandchildren, my brother's children, my husband's niece Susie and her children, my cousin Janet, and my husband's cousin Norma Lou and husband. And then there's my friend Jerry and her husband Jim, who use to live in Michigan and vacation in Florida, and now it's the other way around. A few days ago they were driving south as Floridians fled north.  Now they are ready.

 

 

 

Carol's granddaughter and great granddaughter waiting out the storm

 

The English Reformation was like Mao’s Cultural Revolution of the 20th century

Did you ever wonder why the Crawley family of the fictional Downton Abbey TV series lived in an abbey?  “There are many old country houses in the UK called "xxxxx Abbey", due to the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1538, after which the land and the buildings themselves were sold to the wealthy.”  (Quora) “In Apr 1536, there were over 800 monasteries, abbeys, nunneries and friaries that were home to over 10,000 monks, nuns, friars and canons. By April 1540 there were none left. Much of the property was bought by or granted to landowners; monastery churches were sometimes converted to parish churches, while some buildings, such as Tintern Abbey, were left to ruin.”

“One of Eamon Duffy’s key resources [The Stripping of the Altars: Traditional Religion in England, 1400-1580] are the extant last wills and testaments. By collecting the data from wills he was able to trace the changes in English religion that Henry VIII and his officers enforced. Put simply, the wills made by Catholics before Henry VIII’s break with Rome expressed simple belief and enthusiasm for the Catholic faith.

In their wills the English provided for Masses to be said for the repose of their souls. They left funds for the maintenance of the church and her services. They left money to build extensions to churches and monasteries, provide for bells, vestments, altar cloths and candles. They provided funding for the poor, left money in their wills for schools and hospitals, and left endowments for colleges and orphanages.

In short, the wills are evidence of the health and vigor of the Church in England just before Henry VIII enforced the destruction of English Catholicism.

Similarly, the wills after the break with Rome reflect the new understanding of the faith. The old clauses granting funds to the Church and all her good works began to disappear. Being taught that Masses for the repose of their souls were pointless, they stopped providing for them in their wills. Being taught that religious art, vestments, stained-glass windows and statues were vain or idolatrous, they stopped leaving money for such things. They no longer left money for the poor, but left it for their relatives.

England in the Middle Ages was referred to as “Mary’s Dowry.” The churches, cathedrals, monasteries, convents, colleges and shrines were wealthy. There was corruption, certainly. Wherever there is a concentration of money and power there is bound to be corruption. But Duffy shows that the state of the monasteries and of religious life in England was robust, dynamic and strong.

Henry VIII’s depredations were about more than wanting to marry his mistress and have a male heir. He and his commissioners had also spotted that the monasteries and churches provided rich pickings. The king himself grabbed vast amounts of land for the crown and he awarded his faithful subjects with rich prizes of religious houses and their lands and goods.” Catholic England

DWS and the Awan deal

HT Happy Hayride.  “The legal teams for Imran Awan and Hina Alvi are close to finalizing immunity deals with the Justice Department that could spare them jail time in exchange for testimony against sitting members of Congress, federal law enforcement sources said. FBI sources familiar with the case said late Friday that Imran Awan’s legal counsel was “deep in the process” of structuring an immunity deal for himself and his wife with Justice Department lawyers. The deal would allow the couple to freely testify against any or all Democratic lawmakers they worked for as IT specialists, including Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz. True Pundit reported on Thursday that the couple was working on a plea deal to avoid prison time. But on Friday federal sources said those talks had progressed into a likely immunity deal for the duo.”http://truepundit.com/fbi-awans-finalizing-immunity-deals-with-doj-in-exchange-for-testimony-on-members-of-congress/

Irma, Harvey and Climate Change

Has climate change created fewer hurricanes?  Something to think about. Things have been historically quiet since Katrina, when it was predicted that we were in for terrible storms. I’m watching TV with non-stop coverage, and they still don’t know where Irma will go even with deserted streets and hunkered down people who aren’t leaving. So why do these climate mystics and gurus think they know what will happen next month or next year or in 2030? We even have better technology, and drones, since 2005 and they still have computer models that look like a plate of spaghetti on the floor.  They should look backwards.  Last week I was walking on the shores of Lake Erie, the shoreline of 10,000 years ago on 6th street.  Absolutely climate change exists.
https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/despite-hurricanes-harvey-irma-science-has-no-idea-climate-change-causing

“What ensued [after Katrina] was an historically unprecedented 12-year absence of major (category 3 or higher) hurricanes making landfall in the United States, until Harvey, which ties for 14th-most intense hurricane since 1851. The events after 2005 were “consistent with” some projections, but any other events would have been as well.The long absence of landfalling hurricanes also points to another problem when opinion writers connect GHGs [greenhouse gases] to extreme weather. Science needs to be concerned not only with conspicuous things that happened, but with things that conspicuously didn’t happen. Like the famous dog in the Sherlock Holmes story, the bark that doesn’t happen can be the most important of all. 

It is natural to consider a hurricane a disruptive event that demands an explanation. It is much more difficult to imagine nice weather as a disruption to bad weather that somehow never happened.”