Saturday, October 31, 2020

Election nears. Pray like the country depends on you, because it does.

Lord, guide us with Your Spirit of discernment and truth. Help us navigate these issues with your grace.

Lord, protect this election from fraud, corruption, and chaos. We pray for truth to be revealed and peace to prevail.

Father in heaven, help us to maintain justice and to do what is right in Your eyes. Isaiah 56:1 Protect our nation and heal our land.

From Intercessors for America. https://ifapray.org/blog/

Jack Maxton Chevrolet is now Mark Wahlberg Chevrolet

 Our son Phil worked for many years at Jack Maxton Chevrolet just north of the home where we went for dinner last night. He was manager of the Quick Serve and had seen it through the construction of the new building before he resigned in 2018.  When we passed it on Rt. 161 last night we noticed it is now Mark Wahlberg Chevrolet.  We asked our  hosts about it, and they said it had changed hands about 2 months ago. So I looked it up and found the article in an August paper.

"Wahlberg's latest acquisition is Jack Maxton Chevrolet, 700 E. Dublin-Granville Road in Worthington. The location will be renamed Mark Wahlberg Chevrolet of Worthington and is positioned on 10 acres with 60,000 square feet of showroom, service and parts space. The dealership has 40 service bays.

"The people of Columbus have been good to us," Wahlberg said in a statement. "This latest acquisition just strengthens our roots and deepens our bond with the market."

The Maxton dealership is the second Chevrolet franchise for Wahlberg, making the Mark Wahlberg Auto Group the largest Chevy dealer in Columbus."

 https://www.thisweeknews.com/story/news/2020/08/08/mark-wahlberg-buys-worthingtons-jack-maxton-chevrolet-his-fourth-dealership-in-central-ohio/42193363/




The doodle notebook

 I bought a 2021 calendar with full pages for each day, and thought it would make a nice "gratitude" notebook.  However, the notebook I was using (purchased by my daughter in 2009 for my birthday) was about to run out in early November.  Yesterday I saw at Marc's a smallish notebook on a shelf where it didn't belong, so I asked about the price.  $.99.  Just my price.  So I bought it, thinking I could finish out the year with it--no great loss if I didn't use the whole thing.  When I opened it today, to start using it tomorrow, I found that it has doodles every third page.  So I'll waste fewer pages than I thought, since I don't think I'll be doodling. I'll use it November 1 - December 31, and then start the 2021 notebook. 

  

With the lockdown for the pandemic, somedays it is difficult to write down three things I'm grateful for that happened the day before. However, October 30, was an easy one.  Our friends the Cranes invited us and Bruce and Marty (we used to be in a couples group with all of them) for dinner at their home, which is on a small lake created by a railroad company back in the 19th century.  It's called Hidden Lake, I think because we certainly never knew it was there until we met the Cranes about 15 years ago. At one time it was on the outskirts of Columbus, and a fishing club owned it.  A few people built small fishing shacks for summer use.  Over the years, beautiful homes replaced the little fishing "resort." The lots are long and narrow, and you can hardly see the homes or the lake from the main road. 

 Before dinner Rod made fresh onion rings in a cooker in their marvelous garage.  It may be the cleanest garage I'd ever seen--and Bob keeps a very clean garage.  In the garage was the Chris Craft wooden boat Rod has restored.  The night was chilly so the doors were open, and we all ate hot, fresh onion rings as our pre-dinner treat.  Off their family room they have a 3 season room, all windows, that overlooks the little lake, and we could hear the trains going by.  Judi served sliced steak on a salad bed of lettuce, onions and grilled peppers. For dessert she served warm apple pie with a crumb topping and cinnamon ice cream. 

After dinner we gathered in the family room with a fire in the fireplace. Truly a lovely evening with a lot to be thankful for.  Good friends, good food, good home.  And I didn't have to do any of the preparation! Yes, a lovely evening with much gratitude even during the horrible year, 2020.

Friday, October 30, 2020

About those tax increases you’ve been promised

Biden says he won't be raising taxes if you earn under $400,000. He's counting on your poor public schooling, hoping you won't understand that by rescinding the Trump tax cuts, you and everyone has an automatic tax increase. He also hopes you believe corporations and businesses won't raise the prices on goods and services when the government raises taxes on their profits. Each widget and wire in the product and manufacture will go up with his tax increase that is passed along to you. If you didn't learn it in school, you should have learned in the University of Hard Knocks

https://www.hoover.org/sites/default/files/research/docs/president_bidens_economic_agenda_hassett.pdf

Testing transmissibility of SARS CoV-2 in ferrets

This may possibly have some actual research on SARS CoV-2 and masks. Ferrets.

"The study comes weeks after the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention acknowledged that the novel coronavirus can spread via aerosols. The agency updated its guidelines to include airborne transmission in mid-September, but removed the language the next day. If the virus were found to spread among people predominantly through aerosols, Marr says, that would carry practical implications for recommendations of types of masks and ventilation systems best suited to filter out airborne particles.'

In other words, recommendations for masks haven't been based on science. This may help with that.

https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/ferret-study-reinforces-role-of-aerosols-in-sars-cov-2-spread-68094?

I think this was a very clever, but very small test using SARS CoV-2 (2019) SARS (2003) and H1N1 (2009). Their transmissibility differs, and it really doesn't have anything to do with who was president of the United States when the virus appeared. Some viruses like SARS and MERS have had death rates up to 50% yet have disappeared quickly. There was no way to know at the beginning. Again, nothing to do with who was president, or who the science advisors were. That's all politics. When Democrats say that, remember, it's politics and they want to elect Biden. When the science disagrees, that's just science. Picking those you wish to believe may be more politics than science.

Tuesday, October 27, 2020

Our new Justice, Amy Coney Barrett

The latest misinformed and evil word from the left is that the Constitution is a racist document. Therefore, Judge Barrett being a textualist or originalist (follows the original meaning) is a racist. The Democrats are out of their minds. They must now pack the nine member court to "save" the country. When they get done, there will be nothing to save. The behavior of the Democrat senators during the Barrett confirmation hearings was bizarre. The President nominates, the senate confirms. Period. The president's term isn't 3 years, it's 4. Obama nominated a judge in his final year, and the Senate refused to hold the hearing process, which was their right. If Obama had had a Democrat controlled Senate, his nominee would have been approved and every whine and lie we've heard from Democrats would have been drowned out by their dance band and party. And we would have had one more judge making decisions on her "lived experience" rather than law.

My regret is that the Republican Senators let this drag out when they could have just confirmed--they already knew everything about her. They risked a last minute Borking or Kavanaugh abuse side show and we would have lost a fine judge. We didn't need another reality show of Democrats behaving badly.

Monday, October 26, 2020

A very spiritual Sunday

 Yesterday I attended two different church services, and one political gathering that opened with prayer and closed with the Doxology.  I was so tired I went to bed at 8 p.m. and slept until 4 a.m.  That's rare for me.  

I started with the 7:30 Mass at St. Andrew about 2 miles away.  I enjoyed the beautiful music, all the scripture--Psalm, Epistle, Gospel, the Nicene creed, and The Lord's Prayer.  I don't remember what the Homily was about--they are usually quite short. Then at 9:30 I went to Grace Fellowship which is about a mile north of our home, on the same street. Very friendly, young congregation.  Someone met me in the parking lot and walked me into church, explaining a little history since I told him it was my first visit.  Then when I noticed his nametag I realized I'd met him several times at Panera's where I use to go for coffee in the morning. Despite their friendliness and commitment to Christ and the Gospel, I won't go back.  Like a lot of churches with a young congregations, it was an assault on my ears and eyes. I was prepared for the noise, because our son used to play in a praise band. This was much, much louder, and since I'm on a heart rhythm drug that can be dangerous as one's heart tries to work with the thuds and booms. The light was a surprise.  It was in the dark.  All the nice windows (stained glass from the previous denomination that owned the building) are covered with darkening drapes, and sound absorbing objects are between windows (didn't do much). When the sermon started (video from Pickerington, Ohio Grace Fellowship church), the lights came up a little so one could take notes.  There were maybe 8-10 narrow columns of light in the front behind the large video screen.  When I blinked, each column would expand to about four.  It was very distracting. So my ears hurt and my eyes burned. That's not a worship experience, but it is a sensory experience which young adults may enjoy.  I still have my good hearing.  I was one of maybe 3 people people over 60. 

In the afternoon from 2-4:30 (ran long) I went to a friend's home with about 10 other like minded Trump supporters from my church.  There was one woman we all met for the first time, the founder of WomenFightingForAmerica.com.  Since our church has been on lockdown since April, it was really good to see people I hadn't seen in 6 months. The guest from Florida and our host talked a lot about what is at stake in this campaign--particularly religious freedom--but others talked about their concerns about our community which has been moving from red to purple to blue these last 2-3 elections, our schools which are buying into Critical Race Theory, the plans the left has for riots in DC after the election, regardless of how it turns out, and the squishiness of some evangelical churches and organizations. Very little was said about Trump because we don't see this as a race between Trump and Biden, but between two different philosophies and sets of values.


An amazing woman, Amy Coney Barrett

I knew a lot of amazing women when I was growing up. My grandmothers and aunts (Bessie, Leanor, Marian, Gladys, Lois, Dorothy, Muriel, Mary) mothers of friends (Esther, Millie, Rita, Rosalie, Ada, Hazel, Lois, Vivian and others with faces in my memory, but not their names). School teachers, nurses, businesses owners, farmers) and the mothers who were there for us when we burst through the door after school. And, of course, my own mom, the brightest star in my galaxy of women. But I don't think we ever imagined such a talented jurist, a woman on the Supreme Court, mother of 7, like Amy Coney Barrett. I'm glad I lived long enough to see it.

  




Sunday, October 25, 2020

I can hardly recognize my country

It's unbelievable. About half the country is hoping against hope that the death count increases, that the vaccines will prove to be ineffective, that new therapeutic measures will not be developed, that the hopes and dreams of small business owners will be dashed with another lockdown, that the numbers will show an economic depression rather than have the unemployment numbers go down and investments and sales go up, and that everyone from small children with chaotic school schedules to the elderly afraid to leave their homes can be constantly living in fear.

Yes, half the country hates President Trump that much they are willing to destroy it.

Saturday, October 24, 2020

Reality shows—muscle cars

I wonder who writes the scripts for "reality shows?" This morning at the gym I started watching a show about muscle cars and the guys who love and restore them. It might have been Counting Cars, a spin off of Pawn Stars, but not sure, since this was the first time I saw it and I didn't see the opening. I was sort of tired of politics, and wanted to go 10 miles. Fox was showing clips from the last debate, usually Biden bloopers about fossil fuel or Covid.

I didn't watch a whole program but it took in a car show (some restored cars $150,000), the 2 characters stopping a guy on the freeway and eventually buying his Dodge Charger to restore it (it deserved better, they said), and later we'd see it restored and the guy who was going to buy it. But the cutest human interest story was when the muscle bound, bandana head, full of tats guy brings in his two tiny dogs to the shop, sweet talking them, and hands them over to the Hungarian immigrant wash and detail guy to give them a bath. That was laugh out loud funny, and I'm not sure all of it was in the script. You know it wasn't real because no one I know would hand over their 3 lb mixed breed Chihuahua to a novice to bathe in a yellow floor bucket with a wringer. But it was good theater. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counting_Cars And I got my 10 miles + in.

Biden on minimum wage—the debate

Don't be fooled by their sob stories. Democrats trot out this tired donkey weighed down by this burden every election. It's a tiny percentage of American workers—4.3% of hourly wage earners and 2.9% of all workers. Part-timers like your teen who has to be taught everything may be on minimum before he proves his ability to follow directions. By misleading you with the importance of minimum wage (instituted in the 1930s so whites could better compete against blacks), Joe doesn't need to talk about his tax increases, his hostility toward capitalism, his own ill-gotten family wealth, the wealth transfer out of the middle class wallet to the low income and the high income, and how his far left Marxist supporters don't believe you should have personal property let alone a decent wage. And btw, his Marxist supporters will call me a racist for quoting statistics. It's a rule. Even math is racist.

And did you hear Joe whine at the debate about first responders being paid minimum wage? On what planet? Average base pay of a firefighter in NYC is about $87,000. In Chicago, about $76,000. In Columbus, OH $47,000. But the payoff is always the benefits, especially retirement. And did he tell you, that even a federal minimum which is about half of what a lot of cities offer, 2 people working full time at minimum wage sharing a home earn to much to qualify for any common benefits like Food States or Section 8 or Medicaid?

Friday, October 23, 2020

What has happened to our prayers?

Since Memorial Day week-end and the death of George Floyd, which by the way has never been proven to be about racial  animus, which led to 3 months of protests, looting and burning. Billions were raised for BLM, the centers of many cities were destroyed, and we were being gas lit by the media who were telling us that these were peaceful protests and a result of the unhappiness over the pandemic.  This is Critical Race Theory (CRT) at it’s most obvious.  Something right before my eyes is said to be something else, and it’s the result of racial injustice, and because I’m white, I’m the cause of the unrest and inequality. That there is no objective evidence and I point that out is also racist according to CRT.

Now I see it in the community prayers sent by our church—which is still not open in October. And this isn’t the first one, just the most recent.

  • We pray against the evil one, who comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. We come against the powers and principalities of this present darkness, that seek to divide us against one another by race, gender, economic status, or political affiliation, and pray for the curse of injustice to be broken in Your world.
  • Father, cause those whom You have set in authority over us to lean not to their own understanding, but to acknowledge You in all their ways. Direct their paths, Lord, that they may speak in ways that will heal our divisions, and to act in ways that will overturn inequalities and lead to peace.

I’ve been a member for over 40 years had we’ve rarely had prayers about our socio-economic differences, which this prayer actually heightens and creates more divisions! It reads like the vanity signs I see in my neighbors’ yards.  Someone or a group on our large staff has managed to blend Bible and identity politics. Here we are in the midst of a pandemic,  people are living in fear and panic.  Some of it is being ramped up by government bureaucrats. Grandparents can’t hold their grandchildren, and special events are called off. We can’t worship together and church members, families and friends are divided by politics (not their race, income or sex).  The people in the pew (if we could get into the church building) are not happy, are not “loving their neighbors” and it has nothing to do with race. Some staff and members  have decided to be morally superior and woke. Wokeness is a system of infiltration.  It’s inviting the Devil in and throwing him a party. And wokeness only needs a permissive leader to open the door and we’ll never get it out of the church. The Woke movement can destroy us. Maybe it already has.

Our church staff needs to understand that the goal of Critical Race Theory is not better race relations or equality. No goals of CRT align with the gospel.  CRT goal is to dismantle not just the status quo, but also the church, the family and the Constitution that protects us from an overbearing government. It is the opposite of what God wants for us.

Go to Australia to get your updates on Biden

I just watched Sky News Australia and got a fairly complete story on the Biden Family Scandal. Why do they get the news in Australia and we don't? The report even included the Twitter and Google scandal of censoring the story. And it was over 22 minutes!  We might get 2-3 minutes on Fox and the others are mum. . https://youtu.be/_zhWHsfEa0U

Media has ‘never been so untrustworthy as it is now, said another Australian commentator. https://youtu.be/Fa4JwFj4uz4

Biden would lock us down—it’s his plan

Trump did what a president who is not a dictator is supposed to do--told the 50 governors of the states united to do what was right for their states. Some governors went out of control, but hey, that's our system. This is a very bad virus with high infectivity and low death rate, especially for children and young adults. Obama claims he left the guidelines. Yes, and I read the guidelines in JAMA and they were followed, but it isn't the job of the president to check the supply line to the hospitals, or to see if they are following them. (They weren't). That is a local and state responsibility.

To see Biden wave a cloth, non-medical mask and claim this is how he'd save us shows he hasn't looked at the "science."  But I have.

The Biden family crime syndicate

This is such a nightmare. I don’t like Biden don’t want him as a President, but I feel such pain for those who have had their party taken over by radicals, then to get this kind of a candidate. And what a horror they’ll have if he makes it to the White House. I doubt that this is unusual, and therefore Trump who is not part of the club is such an anathema.

When Trump said “drain the swamp” I doubt even he knew the level of corruption he would find once he was on the inside. As a businessman and entertainer, he was well aware of the smarmy deals and palm greasing that goes on to keep the economy moving.   The impeachment was begun on the flimsiest of stories—pushed by the Clinton campaign in 2008, but apparently started by the McCain group and then dropped. This is so huge it makes the “golden showers” story the depth of a spider web and Biden the size of Grand Central Station with millions walking through. (Shows my age—and my readers (Hi Gene!) that I can use an analogy long gone and we’d all know what I was saying).

I doubt that this will ever be investigated—the media won’t and Congress can’t and I’m not even sure the country could take it. It would look like revenge, plus the Bidens have almost a half century of history in the government. Even in personal things—his wife was a married campaign worker when they began dating (according to her first husband).  You can’t do this kind of foreign corruption alone. Hundreds know, aided, planned, covered and will believe their own lies. Those who helped are our own corporate giants. Just as big a grifter and graft as the Bidens. China is massive both in economy and peoples. Militarily it could stomp us to death. It’s an evil empire, and the U.S. has gone along with it for trade—money. One of the evils of capitalism.  Since Nixon surprised us in the 70s and opened up the deals. Men like Howard Zinn have been destroying our history and culture for 3 decades, spitting out graduates who hate the United States,  but this is worse. You just feel dirty even reading about it. This goes to our core. Who and what is the United States. Hand washing and social distancing isn’t going to cut it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhyYaFvELaU  Zinn

https://www.illinoisreview.com/illinoisreview/2020/10/the-biden-crime-family-from-embarrassment-to-extortion.html Biden crime family

http://www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/modern/jb_modern_nixchina_1.html  Nixon 1972

Wednesday, October 21, 2020

Fair and balanced?

This was posted recently by the Washington Times.

“From June 1 through July 31, the ABC, CBS and NBC evening newscasts focused 512 minutes of airtime on the President, or nine times more than the 58 minutes allotted to Biden,” it continued.

“The extra airtime devoted to Trump consisted almost entirely of anchors and reporters criticizing the President. During these two months, our analysts documented 668 evaluative statements about the President, 95% of which (634) were negative, vs. a mere 5% (34) that were positive.”

In contrast, 67% of the evaluative statements about Mr. Biden are positive.

“Do the math, and viewers heard 150 times more negative comments about Trump than Biden. That’s not news reporting — that’s a negative advertising campaign in action,” the study said.

https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/rich-noyes/2020/08/17/study-150-times-more-negative-news-trump-biden  I’m assuming this was the source Washington Times used.

Ring around the rosy, pocket full of corruption

“Last week when all this [Biden laptop] broke, the focus quickly shifted from Hunter Biden’s emails to a decision by Facebook and Twitter to censor the Post’s reporting, and, in Twitter’s case, lock the Post’s official account for posting “hacked” materials (there’s no evidence the emails were hacked). When Twitter tried to walk back but also justify its draconian policies, the media reported on that, and when a handful of Republican senators announced they’d be subpoenaing Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey over the imbroglio, the media reported on that, too.

What they didn’t report on is the obvious thing the emails reveal: Hunter Biden was trading on his family name overseas, and Joe Biden, despite his many denials, seems to have been aware of this and might have even been a part of it.”

https://thefederalist.com/2020/10/20/why-big-media-will-never-report-on-hunter-bidens-emails/?

What if Jesus had returned the summer of 2020

I think the parable Jesus told in Luke 12:39-48 might be worth looking at.  The master had put a faithful, trusted steward in charge of his servants and the steward thought it would be awhile before the master came back.  He behaved badly and encouraged bad behavior among the other servants. Things didn’t go well—the steward was cast out with the unbelievers.

Tuesday, October 20, 2020

She said, He’s not a gentleman and I can’t get over it

And I said,

Think of equivalencies:

  • Peace for Israel and its neighbors or he's not a gentleman.
  • Prison reform or he's not a gentleman.
  • Freedom for veterans to get medical care close to home or he's not a gentleman.
  • Late term abortions or he's not a gentleman.
  • Loss of religious freedom or he's not a gentleman.
  • Increased taxes or he's not a gentleman.
  • A lockdown at the federal level to take all the freedoms Americans enjoy or he's not a gentleman.

You've obviously got a heart, now grab a brain. What bothers you about Trump really doesn't matter in the long run.

Election Prayer from EWTN received today

Lord Jesus Christ, You told us to give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God. Enlighten the minds of our people in America. May we choose a President of the United States, and other government officials, according to your Divine Will. Give our citizens the courage to choose leaders of our nation who respect the sanctity of unborn human life, the sanctity of marriage, the sanctity of marital relations, the sanctity of the family, and the sanctity of the aging. Grant us the wisdom to give You, what belongs to You, our God. If we do this, as a nation, we are confident You will give us an abundance of Your blessings through our elected leaders. Amen. (published in 1992)

When I first saw this prayer, I thought it was right on target--sanctity of life. That's my issue. That's the issue in 2020. All the wrangling about Judge Barrett, the hysterical women grieving that they might not have the "freedom" to choose to end the life within them, and the two very clear options we Christians have. Then I saw the date--almost 30 years old!

In 1992 there were 3 candidates; George H.W. Bush, the sitting president; Bill Clinton, governor of Arkansas; and business man and independent, Ross Perot. It was, in my opinion, the Republicans who voted for Perot out of anger at Bush for a tax increase, who elected Clinton. I was a Democrat then and voted for Clinton, but also realized the foolishness of my Republican friends who bolted the party. And there are Republicans today who are doing the same thing. They don't like Trump's personality, style and manner, so they ignore what he's done in giving Republicans a spine transplant and how he's achieved with no power base in DC many of the policies they used to say they wanted. Both parties are terrified of losing their sweet gigs, heady power and access to big money.

OK, Christians. Whether Democrat or Republican, you do have a higher power than party or your personal dislike you have to answer to. If an executive order from a President you hate means your favorite environmental protection regulation won't get an increase in the budget, or there's no increase to fund illegals going to college, no one dies. But abortion is a generational issue. Real people die and their descendants never exist. Thousands of women who were perhaps encouraged to abort will go through life with deep regret, missing family members and even additional life threatening illnesses. If you can't think of a fetus the size of your little finger as a "person" consider that approximately 10,000 late term abortions of viable babies 7-9 lbs. are performed a year. Roe v. Wade is almost 50 years old. That's 500,000 persons who were tossed in the trash. A city and a third of it would have been black. Now the entire Democrat party is at the level only Barack Obama held in 2008. There are none to speak up for the next generation--the so called future that Vice President Biden says he'll lead us to.

Vote for life, vote for the next generation.

Monday, October 19, 2020

The anger problem separating us

IBM Watson does polls--including health and in 2018 surveyed Americans on "anger." I heard Al Kresta (radio talk show, Ave Maria, MI, Oct. 14) discussing this, but can't find the details at the poll website, so I'll quote him. And I assumed he used newer material not available to non-subscribers. Also, I couldn't find the wording of the questions, which makes a huge difference in my opinion.

Kresta said, Americans are angrier than ever. In the 2008 election 43% of Democrats were angry about McCain; and 46% of Republicans were angry about Obama; in 2012 56% of Democrats were angry about Romney, and 75% of Republicans were angry about Obama; and then in 2016 the wheels fell off and 90% of Democrats were angry about Trump, and 89% of Republicans angry about H. Clinton. The problem, Kresta pointed out is bi-partisanship is almost impossible when everyone is angry. Which is why Obamacare had no support from Republicans, whereas all social safety net programs in the past were bi-partisan.

He also commented that in 1958 (when I was a freshman in college) 73% of Americans trusted the government and in 2019, only 17% did. (Maybe it was all those WWII movies.) With the advent of the pandemic in 2020 and the tremendous amount of misinformation, cherry picking of which "science" to believe, and the politicization of the virus, I'm sure those 2018 figures are now off the charts.

Anger is a bigger problem for Christians than the rest of you as it is one of the 7 deadly sins, and Paul chastises first century Christians who apparently also had a lot of hard feelings as Greeks, Jews, and pagans all tried to work together. Most of the people on my FBF list are baptized and confirmed Christians who, at least until the churches closed on order of their governors, were attending a recognized Christian sect, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Methodist, Catholic, etc., regularly or semi-regularly. Paul quotes Psalm 4:4 and says Be angry but do no sin. We feel the anger in response to something we perceive as wrong, so the feeling isn't the sin. Righteous anger is OK, but needs to be channeled to action. However, politicians and the media are using our anger knowing it can motivate or bring more to their side. Like the moderators of the debates and townhalls. They are making both sides angry--first, the ones who believe the lies become irate and second, the ones who are wronged are angry about the lies.

Pastors and priests who think they need to jump on the racism or climate, or income bandwagon for their sermons should probably switch gears and think about the anger seething in their congregations. They can't win, but by avoiding the clashes going on under their noses isn't a winning strategy either.

Friday, October 16, 2020

The Townhalls—only one worked for the candidate

I didn't watch the dueling townhalls (apparently some NBC affiliates didn't carry Trump's), but heard some summaries this morning on the radio. Samantha Guthrie on behalf of Democrats and NBC asked 43 questions and the audience asked 10. Is that a townhall? She asked 4 or 5 questions about white supremacists which the President answered and has answered so many times you can see it's a hate theme for Democrats not an honest question. And she continued to reword the questions. No one ever asks Biden about the violence of BLM and ANTIFA, because he thinks their violence is just an idea, not a threat and it's in our imagination that buildings have been burned and people terrorized.

Also I heard the oddest sex and skin answer at the Biden Townhall. A mother who identifies as a woman asked him about her 8 year daughter whom she identified as transgender. It wasn't clear to me if the daughter was a girl wanting to be a boy or a boy who had announced to the world he was a girl. It also wasn't clear if 8 year olds should be taken seriously, because that wasn't addressed. Anyway, Biden answered her with a personal recollection from his childhood of something his father said about 2 black gay men kissing in public. He can't seem to say anything without bringing up race. And like a lot of old people, flips back to his childhood because those memories are fresh. I haven't seen any research or gossip about gay men wanting to be women, but the gay men I’ve known didn’t seem interested in that. Then just for good measure I think he threw in something about murdered transwomen--I suppose he'll pass a law about making murder illegal.  What a concept.

Although I hate to ever pose such a question to a search engine because of all the kooky stuff that will then appear on my screen or e-mail, I did find an article about murdered transwomen (aka men). It seems a reporter located information for 157 in the last 7 years. All black. If these murders follow the patterns of other murders, they were killed by black men and they were sex workers. This was never brought up in the article which had a political purpose--to get more legislation to protect black transwomen. Federalist actually did some research, and like other murders, the sex of the victim and perp line up. 34 black transgender were killed by other blacks, 2 by Hispanic, and 1 by white. Of the 9 white murders of transgender women, 7 were killed by whites, and 2 by Hispanic. Also, domestic violence, drugs and prostitution were involved in most of the murders.

https://thefederalist.com/2019/11/04/the-left-is-lying-about-a-hatred-and-violence-epidemic-against-transgender-people/

Thursday, October 15, 2020

Dennis Prager conversation

How the left became so radical—the lack of debate, "anti-racism" training, corporate wokeness, critical race theory, and infantile thinking. Plus, some excellent advice for those afraid to speak their minds

https://www.prageru.com/video/ep-156-when-childish-worldviews-take-over/

CRT training for the government

Nice work if you can get it--and it's all on our dime.

"One critical race theory training guru, Howard Ross, has raked in more than $5 million in federal contracts for workshops that tell White people they are inherently racist and impediments to “race-based growth.” He's had contracts for workshops on “Difficult Conversations About Race in Troubling Times” at the Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the National Credit Union Administration. Mr. Ross even landed a $500,000 contract with NASA to guide employees through issues of sexual orientation, power and privilege."

Sex and skin color. It's all leftists think and dream about. But that's just the tool to destroy the culture and nation.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/sep/6/christopher-rufo-claims-win-trump-ends-white-privi/?

Suicide of the Liberals

When I saw the title, "Suicide of the Liberals" in the October, 2020, First Things, I thought it would be "our" liberals who wave their little flags at "peaceful" protests led by BLM, and donate to racial justice causes, and meet with other faculty at the university to promote reeducation workshops on American history. But, no. It was about what happened in Russia in the first 20 years of the 20th century--i.e. the Russian Revolution. As the author points out:

"Revolutions never succeed without the support of wealthy, liberal, educated society. Yet revolutionaries seldom conceal that their success entails the seizure of all wealth, the suppression of dissenting opinion, and the murder of class enemies.

There were many groups colluding and cooperating in bringing down the Russian government--the Maximalists, the Socialist Revolutionaries, Kadets, Mensheviks, populists, anarchists, and the Bolsheviks, who finally gained control. The author reports that the liberals in Russian society (referred to as the intelligents) well-educated, not particularly wealthy or of high social class, with a regulated life and obligatory beliefs for a "moral" person, with a devotion not unlike a strict religion.

The Russian liberals of the early 20th century had great distain for anything conservative and could excuse all manner of violence and intolerance as noble and understandable. Like robbery, extortion, murder and demands to abolish the police. Better to side with people a mile to one's left than be associated with anyone an inch to one's right.

There wasn't a word in this article by Gary Saul Morson about 2020 and what is happening in our country, but it certainly sounded familiar. Like Twitter and Facebook yesterday shutting down the Biden China story and the President's press secretary. Or critical race theory appearing in government departments and medical schools attached to major universities. People being threatened or having careers destroyed over a different opinion in politics. Or a candidate for vice president twisting history to fit her wish for a liberal supreme court justice. The willingness to move a mile left and not an inch to the right. Yes, very familiar indeed.

https://www.firstthings.com/article/2020/10/suicide-of-the-liberals?

When did Twitter and Facebook become the Internet Police?

"Senate Republicans said Thursday they will subpoena Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey over the decision to block a news report critical of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.

"This is election interference and we're 19 days out from an election," Senator Ted Cruz said, a day after the social network blocked links to the article by the New York Post alleging corruption by Biden in Ukraine." Yahoo News

Republicans are checking to make sure we're not in North Korea.

Could the Biden China e-mails and the broken laptop be a hoax? Well, it's 2020 and anything can happen. However, the blocking of the story by Facebook and Twitter, where it could be sorted out, certainly doesn't look good for the tech giants who are controlling our lives.

“Facebook says it will rely on its fact-checking partners to determine the story's legitimacy, but until then, it is taking steps to tamp down on its spread. Twitter has issued a statement claiming it took action against the article due to the company's "Hacked Materials Policy." Twitter is blocking the post from being shared on its platform.” Brian Boyd

Tuesday, October 13, 2020

The year was 1215

The Magna Carta, established the principle that no one, including the king or a lawmaker, is above the law, and establishes a framework for future documents such as the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. And yes, all you who jump on your victimhood or identity, it didn't include all people, but the principle was established.

And the First Right in what is called the Bill of Rights includes as First among the Firsts , RELIGION. Religion underpins all the rest--the government can't establish religion and it can't prohibit the exercise of it. Then comes speech, press, and peaceful assembly. We've allowed the governors of the states to shred our First Amendment. Take back your rights. They didn't give us these rights, and we shouldn't have handed them over like helpless children who had nothing to protect us.

Good news about masks (observational)

The masks must be working! I attended morning mass at St. Andrew this morning. About 60 people--all but a few around my age. No coughing, throat clearing, nose blowing, gagging or sniffling, and you know how congested old people always are, especially in the morning--and the architecture of the sanctuary encourages echoes. It was heavenly (although I realize heaven is filled with praises to God and may be noisy). I think the masks are cutting back on those other coronaviruses, respiratory syncytial (sin-SISH-uhl) viruses and rhinoviruses--the ones that cause common colds. So let's hope they can block SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus causing Covid19.

Tragedy on the Ohio State campus

An OSU student from NJ was shot and killed 2 days ago near the  campus at a private party. It's hard to tell, but from the photos, he doesn't appear to be a POC, not even 1/4 or 1/8. The teenager with a police record who is a POC has been charged with his murder. He is not a student. If this were reversed, would there be mobs gathering on campus to protest the systemic racism and would the memorials be replaced with riots?

https://nypost.com/2020/10/11/ohio-state-student-from-new-jersey-shot-dead-near-campus/

https://abc7ny.com/kintie-mitchell-chase-meola-obituatry-ohio-state-shooting/6968887/

Monday, October 12, 2020

Know where you stand

“I want a laity, not arrogant, not rash in speech, not disputatious, but men who know their religion, who enter into it, who know just where they stand, who know what they hold, and what they do not, who know their creed so well, that they can give an account of it, who know so much of history that they can defend it.” St. John Henry Newman

This was written during a time of anti-Catholic hysteria and anti-Catholic sentiment in England. But the quote fits well in today's secular opinion, on-line rage, "wokeness," and cancel culture. There was a time during the reign of Elizabeth I of England when Protestants were told Catholics had the plague and they shouldn't breathe the same air. They were forbidden to attend their own churches. Sound familiar?

From the podcast of James T. Majewski, Oct. 9 www.catholicculture.org

Which hoax?

The hoax is how Democrats have treated the Covid tragedy. Trump acted promptly as soon as the word was out from WHO.    We have a pandemic with a high infection rate, and a low death rate. I realize that China’s reports are suspect, but that’s also what their first published reports indicated. [Feb. 11, 2020, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, summarized in April 7, 2020 JAMA] 

  • Unusual pneumonia Dec. 26, 2019.
  • Dec. 30, 2019 first Wuhan case. 
  • Dec. 31, 2019 WHO notified by Wuhan Health Commission. 
  • Jan. 1 open market closed. 
  • Jan. 30, 2020 WHO declares an international emergency.
  • Jan. 30, 2020 Trump closes flights for international travelers from China.

Prior respiratory syndromes (SARS and MERS) were the opposite.  Slower transmission, but death rate 10% to 50%.  Death rate for Covid19, even reported by China in February, was 2.3%  for confirmed cases.  This is about the same as U.S. overall (almost zero for children, higher for elderly with co-morbidities)  And because people were anticipating a much higher death rate like SARS or MERS, the U.S. took drastic measures and closed down the economy. Even after it became apparent the damage that was doing to the country in proportion to the virus, Democrats and the media have continued to spread fear and urging that further lockdowns are needed—Biden has all but promised it.  Even when the “flatten the curve” and shortage of equipment turned out not to be true and the emergency hospitals Trump authorized were unnecessary. 

The “hoax” isn’t the virus; even the low death rate is higher than seasonal flu and it can always mutate.  It’s always been serious. We are being hoaxed by people who have demonstrated for 4 years they are desperate to get rid of the President. Even if they have to bury the economy.   If Biden is elected, the day after inauguration in 2021 he will take credit for the incredible drugs developed to further reduce hospitalizations and death rates, and the media will go silent on reporting cases. When the true disaster of mental health, deaths from non-Covid in nursing home lockdowns, educations interrupted, businesses ruined, suicides, churches closed, hospitals bankrupted—then they’ll blame that on Trump and the governors will just run for reelection.

New treatment for A-fib

“Scientists at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center also discovered that atrial fibrillation drivers don’t always have the shape of a closed loop but may instead consist of “hubs” where the electrical activity of atrial fibrillation is multiplied much like a small tornado. The study results were reported in The Journal of the American Heart Association.

“Thinking of atrial fibrillation drivers as hubs may change the way we interpret mapping results of the heart to identify these drivers. Finding these reentrant atrial fibrillation drivers is key for doing targeted ablation and successfully treating AFib,” said Vadim Fedorov, professor of physiology and cell biology at the Ohio State College of Medicine and lead author of the study.

At least 2.7 million Americans live with atrial fibrillation, with some suffering from persistent atrial fibrillation that lasts for longer than seven days at a time. When medications don’t work, physicians use ablation.”

https://wexnermedical.osu.edu/mediaroom/pressreleaselisting/ohio-state-research-pinpoints-heart-condition

OSU has discovered racism—yet again

For decades, academe has been soaking up tax dollars for special departments, workshops, conferences, vice presidents for diversity and inclusion, and now with more CARES money floating around, plus BLM pulling in billions in literally black mail, the medical college which has been on a socio-economic-race kick for longer than I can remember, is launching yet another effort.  This one I’m sure will include Critical Race Theory, because with that, no solutions are ever developed, the problems are just expanded.  But this one has a cutesy acronym.  It means, shut up and listen to us roar at you.

“This week, the Wexner Medical Center and health science colleges launched a new webinar series, Roundtables On Actions Against Racism (ROAAR). The focus of these roundtables is to elevate critical conversations about racism and engage community leaders to work collaboratively to achieve meaningful and lasting change.”

Science journals’ editorials against Trump

These science journals promote an amazing misuse of a world tragedy. Since I regularly read medical and science journals, especially JAMA and NEJM, let me assure you they have all been way left in their editorial coverage since I began reading them in the 1980s. Also, in clinical trials, they are quick to demand all sorts of fair, unbiased and diverse controls, sex, age, weight, culture, socio-economic status, smoking, alcohol use, marital status, health history, but in this pandemic, they only look at Trump.

I think they are angry that his leadership in cutting red tape and "making deals" has uncovered the stultifying "science" culture which has its own deep state and swamp. This isn't China, David Foster, or even Sweden. In a country where we have a Constitution to protect us from the state, "scientists" see this as a lost opportunity for the federal government to take the same grab for power that the states have with mandates, lockdowns and petty local demands.

The "scientists" (I think Obama had one advisor on this one) have loved the EMR installed by fiat at a cost in the billions (which is why medical costs soared during Obama's reign) with no known benefit to health or reduced cost because it's plan was data diving and not to get you quickly admitted or treated. Now they are called on to do actual research, find new drugs, figure out the mutations, think outside the box--as a businessman would do. We already have many new drugs ready to be on the market--it's called competition--and you can see how the popular and science media have reacted. Why can't everyone get this drug, why compassionate use for a guy we hate, why should he speculate or dream when that's a scientist's job, why does he listen to a virologist or an epidemiologist and not a cell biologist (or someone on our board); and most importantly, why didn't he die!

Trump has shown in 4 years that our bloated government, our stagnant universities, our rigid peer review publication system, our technology sector with embedded lobbyists in Washington to make sure start ups get squashed with new laws needs a shake up. I don't believe the pandemic was a plot (many do), but leftists in every field, every corporation, every university, every church, realize that if they don't act very quickly and get rid of this man, their days of fancy awards, fat grants at our expense, flying to conferences to wine and dine, and living in their self designed bubbles, just might be threatened. Bring him down and get rid of him, no matter the cost. We all know the next Democrat elected whether this year or in 4 years will return things to "normal" crony capitalism, but they are are afraid of the fall out.

Saturday, October 10, 2020

The President tamps down fear

Joel Ross of Citadel Realty Advisors opines on 10/8: "Trump did a good thing for everyone by getting sick. He showed the virus is not a death penalty, and now there are drugs to deal with it if caught early. The reality, despite the press pushing FEAR, is that most people do NOT get sick at all, or not very sick, and if you do get it, the chance of dying is 1% or less, and if you are healthy, it is tiny so long as it is caught very early. That is not much different than with most illness. If you act early, there is often a protocol to cure, or at least mitigate it. The media, of course, could not let Trump give a message of hope to everyone. The advances in medicine are terrific now, and much more is coming thanks to AI and other technologies."

Evangelicals increasingly follow the mainline churches and the world

“The irony of the reshaping of the spiritual landscape in America is that it represents a post-Christian reformation driven by people seeking to retain a Christian identity,” noted Dr. George Barna, Director of Research at the Cultural Research Center. “Unfortunately, the theology of this reformation is being driven by American culture rather than biblical truth."

Among those associated with evangelical churches.:

--44% claim the Bible is ambiguous in its teaching about abortion

--34% argue that abortion is morally acceptable if it spares the mother from financial or emotional discomfort or hardship

--34% reject the idea of legitimate marriage as one man and one woman

--40% accept lying as morally acceptable if it advances personal interests or protect one’s reputation

--39% identify the people they respect as being only those who have the same beliefs as their own

And it's even higher in charismatic and Pentecostal churches.

 https://www.arizonachristian.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/CRC_AWVI2020_Release11_Digital_04_20201006.pdf  American Worldview Inventory 2020

Friday, October 09, 2020

The One Party system

It's a bold, aggressive plan. Turn the U.S. into a one party system. Destroy our freedoms through elections. Republicans never think this BIG.

Democrats, if they win this November,

  • plan to pack the court,
  • add two new states,
  • destroy the Electoral College,
  • impeach any appointments of Trump who stand in their way,
  • reinstate Iran as a recipient of billions,
  • latch on to any foreign plan to control the climate while destroying jobs,
  • kick to the curb the successful peace initiatives between Israel and her neighbors, and
  • reestablish the power China has over us.

And Biden and Harris won't discuss it.

https://townhall.com/columnists/justinhaskins/2019/03/08/democrats-plan-to-steal-the-senate-in-2020-create-new-states-n2542816?

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/09/19/how-democrats-could-pack-the-supreme-court-in-2021-418453

https://nypost.com/2019/08/22/ocasio-cortez-slammed-for-calling-the-electoral-college-a-racist-scam/

https://www.redstate.com/brandon_morse/2020/08/17/democrats-quiet-israel/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/policy-2020/climate-change

Regeneron

The President can't say enough or sing the praises loud enough for Regeneron. Now he's been attacked because,

1) his was "compassionate use" cure,

2) the CEO of the company belongs to the same golf club,

3) Trump called it a cure "without evidence," and

4) Trump can absolutely never be allowed a victory in anything, especially not where this one last plot to undo the 2016 election by the Democrats could be foiled.

Democrats were so mad that the President didn't die of Covid, and worse, recovered quickly using a drug developed within months during his administration and encouragement, that now Ms. No-Mask Pelosi is spreading lies and forming a commission to see if he was sick before he got sick. Brilliant

Poverty simulation workshop at Ohio State

Another way for poverty pimps to earn a living--put on workshops for churches, non-profits, and academe. OSU is promoting yet another one. Participants get to feel virtuous by planning a budget using government programs guaranteed to keep people in their place--including the ones who sign up. It's an industry supporting the middle class.

There's nothing like a job to pull someone out of poverty, but consciousness raising never reduced single motherhood, or a poor education, or a prison record, or mental health challenges. Unmarried parents is the primary cause of childhood poverty. Back in the day (early 80s) when I worked for the state of Ohio and either attended or planned these gatherings (we didn't call it simulation then, just information on state and federal resources) we were told by those above us, our experts and leaders who lived on government grants, that one needed to earn at least $10/hour to go beyond what the state/federal programs could offer. For 1983 that was unheard of! Those of us earning our living doing this didn't make that unattainable salary. I don't know what the figure is today, but the 2019 median income for middle class was $68,703. The government, btw, has no official definition for middle class.

Leanne Brown is not a poverty pimp, but she wrote a hugely successful cookbook on eating well on $4/day SNAP budget. And she made it free. She's a Canadian. https://www.leannebrown.com/cookbooks/... I don't know if the OSU poverty simulation teachers will tell you, but I'm telling you, these are really great, nutritious and cheap.

Thursday, October 08, 2020

Let’s hear it for Kellyanne

In this 100th anniversary of the vote for women, and women are being honored for all sorts of achievements and not being blamed for some atrocities, I don't hear feminists giving much credit or kudos to Kellyanne Conway, the woman I think put Trump in the White House. She was masterful (if we are still allowed to use this sexist term) in moving him to just the right pockets of supporters and weak spots the Democrats had missed. He was down in the polls before she was appointed his campaign manager and he won the election.

Her marriage, to a former Republican and conservative who hates Trump, is about to be wrecked, not by her loyalty and friendship with the President (since 2006), but by their 15 year old daughter who is being shamelessly used by the vultures on the left who will chew her up and spit her out because Trump is their target.

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/stop-hailing-claudia-conway-as-your-resistance-hero/?

Years from now when she and her mother have mended their fences and hurt feelings, the internet will have archived all the dirty laundry and those who helped kill a family will have moved on to another hate project.

The good old days

Whether nostalgia or bad memory or politicians, you may be wrong about "the good old days," crime, climate, income gaps, etc.

"According to a YouGov poll last year, between 21 percent and 45 percent of respondents across the Western world thought that climate change “likely” or “quite likely” will make the human race extinct. At the same time, both the absolute numbers and the proportion of people dying from natural catastrophes like storms, floods, droughts, or wildfires has plummeted over the last century – and that includes all kinds of natural disasters (such as earthquakes and tsunamis) not just the ones that climate change may have worsened."

https://www.humanprogress.org/nothing-is-more-responsible-for-the-good-old-days-than-a-bad-memory/?

A few years ago I recall a report that asked people what percent of the population was homosexual, and many guessed 20-25%. The correct answer was a little over 2%. But it was the topics and characters of films, books and TV programs that caused them to make that wrong estimate. There are some people who think 50% of people who get Covid19 die (99.75% recover).  I think 24/7 news and social media are worsening our memories.

How did American Presidents handle SARS, MERS and Covid19?

April 4, 2003 WebMD - SARS had a death rate around 10% after killing about 80 of the infected. President Bush didn't quarantine Americans who had it until the number rose to 115 and had spread to 29 states by April 2003. No Americans died. Also "China apologized today [April 4, 2003] for not doing a better job of informing the public and international health organizations about the SARS epidemic and pledged full cooperation with the World Health Organization's team currently investigating the outbreak in Guangdong, China."

May 13, 2014, Reuters -"President Barack Obama has been briefed by his advisors on the two confirmed U.S. cases of the deadly virus known as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, or MERS, White House spokesman Jay Carney said on Tuesday."

MERS, a corona virus, (MERS-CoV) had a 35% death rate. Why didn't Obama close travel and at least quarantine returning doctors from the affected area in Muslim countries?

January 30, 2020, The New York Times - President Trump closed travel from China and restricted foreign travelers who had been to China the previous 14 days before there was a single U.S. death from SARS-CoV 2 (Wuhan Virus, Covid-19) or known spread.

President Donald Trump responded to his health advisors faster than either Bush or Obama did to theirs.

The hoax that Democrats are spreading with help of the media is that by doing something different, Trump could have prevented 200,000 deaths. This is all in retaliation for winning the election in 2016.

Not only are Democrats better at lying, the Republicans are spineless wimps for playing by their rules.

Life has risk, Kelly Ripa

I heard it again.

Kelly Ripa (Live with Kelly and Ryan) is not willing to take the risk to see her or her husband's parents during this dangerous time. (It's Bob's favorite show and he never misses). Life comes at you fast, Kelly. It's been a year today since our 50 year old son (your age) had surgery for glioblastoma and about 6 months since he died. We are your parents age. Is this worth it? Not seeing them to protect them? Is Covid19 their only risk? No heart disease or cancer or falls? If one were to pass from H1N1 or a stroke, you could say, "At least it wasn't Covid?"

This summer of the pandemic and lockdowns:

1. We came early (end of May) and stayed late (mid-October) at our vacation home in Lakeside on Lake Erie. From purple iris to changing maples. It helped with grief, our health, and our happiness even with extreme cutbacks in activities.

2. We watched our neighbors at Lakeside handle this pandemic three ways.

a. Stayed home in Arizona, or New York or Florida where they went nowhere either due to governor lockdown or their own fears for their health.

b. Stayed inside their cottages in Lakeside leaving only long enough to feed the feral cats and go to Walmart for groceries.

c. Were outside attending events, visiting with friends, shopping at Walmart and Bassetts and Erie Rd Market, eating in local restaurants, and taking long walks (most people have dogs, we don't).

3. We've watched more TV than usual, but have enjoyed the porch for reading and chatting with friends and strangers through the screen. I've made frequent use of the "Little Free Library" on our street, found 3 keepers, and donated 5-6 titles.

4. We've done less entertaining, but

a. Celebrated our 60th wedding anniversary in a neighbor's yard, with prepackaged snacks, masks, social distancing, and 25 guests.

b. We invited a widower to have dinner with us--probably our only dinner guest, which is a cut back, but certainly important for him.

c. A neighbor who didn't have TV came over 2 nights to watch the RNC national convention in August.

d. We rented a cottage across the street and enjoyed the company of my husband's siblings who are also aging, and we don't see them often.

e. We rented a 6 seat golf cart to tour the town with our relatives, and a neighbor took our whole group on a wonderful sail boat ride.

  

f. We invited friends to have ice cream with us on our porch.

g. We hosted a niece and nephew for a week in our cottage.

5. The Chautauqua programs were limited, however,

a. We attended church most Sundays because Lakeside has a nice park, a gazebo with benches, responsible volunteers, preachers and musicians. Hymn singing and communion in pre-packaged cups.

   

b. I attended talks and lectures I would have skipped any other season, and enjoyed them all--especially being out and about and seeing people. Although everything was also available on-line, I only saw 2 such events. Some of the usual Chautauqua fare was only virtual--I skipped those.

c. We enjoyed many music programs in many genres--symphony, concert band, reenactment, jazz, blues, funk--almost all local (northern Ohio) and all as happy to see us as we were to see them.

   

5. We’ve eaten in several local restaurants, most inside.

a. The Patio in Lakeside, usually twice a week, for Sunday breakfast and mid-week perch. Inside, tables spaced and removed.

b. Marblehead Galley for prime rib, outside on deck.

c. Big Boppers for breakfast inside (very windy that day, and there is plenty of outdoor seating).

d. Crosswinds, inside, newly decorated, acrylic panels  between booths.

e. Tin Goose, small airport, inside.

f. Wednesday night picnic in Perry Park, Lakeside.

g. Hotel Lakeside, reservations, week-ends, Chef Stacy.

I walk 4-5 miles a day, but yesterday had to drive to Sandusky for new shoes to protect my feet. On this morning's walk I saw incredible beauty along the lakefront including two islands, pleasure boats, and freighters. The leaves are starting to turn, there are flowers I've never seen in the summer, and there seem to be so many construction projects, including several new homes. Somebody around here is living, and I'm one of them. Tomorrow might be too late.

                                                 Photo by Beth Sibbring, October 5, 2020


Which hoax?

I've heard the Covid19 hoax so often, I think I could repeat it from memory. The virus is real; the Democrat party lies about how Trump enabled it and did nothing are the hoax. He said it very early, and they’ve twisted his words into their lie. And those lies are working, just as the Charlottesville lie and the MS-13 lie worked for the racism charges. The media and the Democrats constantly abuse us with Covid19 fear, lies, and twisted statistics. Intelligent, college educated, Christian Trump haters are passing the hoax around and it's moving faster than the virus. I'm not sure they believe the hoax, but they hate the President more than they love Jesus, that's for sure, and for that, God will not be mocked.

Here’s an example, but believe it or not, it’s more reasonable than most. “I am, however, feeling quite relieved that the person most deserving of contracting the covid virus has finally had to admit that this disease is a health issue, not a political one!!  Perhaps drs. and scientists are the reliable experts after all.”

So not only does she condemn a person who caught a deadly (but treatable on 99.75% of the cases) virus (most likely in the open air, outside ceremony for Judge Barrett) she passes along the lie that he did nothing.  I recall watching him every evening in March, meeting with his  task force and “science” advisors. Democrats complained it was a political stunt.  The science itself, or even the concept and definition of “science,” has become political, not just the virus.  Now that the President hopes to clear the red tape for emergency use of a drug that speeded his recovery but  not yet approved by FDA (he allowed himself to be a guinea pig), the media and Trump haters are already claiming foul, because no success, no peace agreement, no prisoner release, no technology triumph can be accorded to him. It’s a rule in 2020: He must never, ever be given credit for anything.  If anything is passed, reviewed, accomplished, it must be pointed back to Obama, or maybe Clinton. Never, never, never allow this President to have even the barest recognition that he’s a good leader telling us not to be afraid as strong leaders have advised since the beginning of history.

Wednesday, October 07, 2020

RGB on population control

Ruth Bader Ginsberg, channeling Margaret Sanger: “Yes, the ruling about that surprised me. [Harris v. McRae – in 1980 the court upheld the Hyde Amendment, which forbids the use of Medicaid for abortions.] Frankly I had thought that at the time Roe was decided there was concern about population growth and particularly growth in populations that we don’t want to have too many of. So that Roe was going to be then set up for Medicaid funding for abortion. Which some people felt would risk coercing women into having abortions when they didn’t really want them. But when the court decided McRae, the case came out the other way. And then I realized that my perception of it had been altogether wrong”

Roe v. Wade and the budding environmental movement/ population bomb fears of the 1970s met and wedded. It's not really about "women's health."

https://lifelegaldefensefoundation.org/ginsburg-populations-we-dont-want-too-many-of/?

Do not be afraid

This past week I've come to the conclusion that perhaps the President has understood the seriousness of this virus better than the scientists, his task force, Congress, the governors, the Mayors, the naysayers, his enemies in the press and even his most ardent supporters. He knows this is a battle that can't be won by science or talking heads on TV. It's a battle of the heart and mind.

The Bible refers to "fear" hundreds of times. First and most important, Fear of the Lord. Worship, respect, prayer.

Second, there are the "Fear not" passages. Command. Advice. Comfort.

Millions and millions of people across our nation and the world were praying for President Trump this week. Even Nancy Pelosi! From their homes, in their cars, in parades, on the sidewalks outside the hospital, on social media. Catholics, Orthodox, Evangelicals, Fundamentalists and non-denominational Christians were united. People of other faiths, Jews, Hindus, Muslims and the "Nones." If they are serious about their faith, even Christians who don't like him, his personality and policies were praying for his recovery. That was the first use of Fear as used in the Bible.

And when President Trump left the hospital benefitting from high tech, new drugs and some low tech tender care, he told the nation and the world not to fear, don't be afraid of the virus. I think he knows who the real enemy is, and it isn't the virus. It's been the same advice every great leader through the centuries has known instinctively, or by studying history, or through divine guidance.

“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:7

“I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.” Psalm 34:4

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." Matthew 6:34

The hateful media ridiculed and criticized him for telling us not to be afraid of the virus. Facebook and Twitter were flooded with hate and despair. Would they have said that to FDR as he faced Hitler in the 1940s, or Eisenhower after his severe health problems in both terms in the 1950s? Did they tell JFK it's just too scary to make space flight trials to the moon? They know only the fear, anxiety and worry of the American people can accomplish what their party has intended all along. Retreat, defeat, and surrender.

Tuesday, October 06, 2020

What we’ve learned since Friday

If nothing else, the President’s  illness has shown us as never before that

1) none of the mitigating efforts including frequent testing, daily temperature taking, social distancing and wearing masks can protect all of us, poorest to richest, weakest to most powerful, all the time, from an infinitesimal virus that has spread around the world; somewhere someone we encounter has not washed her hands, has hugged someone, or brushed up against a particle too small to be blocked by any mask and too quick for soapsuds.

2) A positive attitude and prayer is better for our health than gloom, doom and hatred, even with the finest doctors and anti-virus wonder drugs.

3) The Democrats are determined no matter what to destroy him--and that's the real "hoax" he's been talking about all during this time, not the reality of the virus. The hoax is that they "care" about us or our nation more than they care about regaining power over the White House and especially the courts.

The reality is their hate and deception. These last few days has exposed their nakedness.

Hope from the President upon release from hospital

I agree with Trump 100%. Don't let the virus control you!

The hoax the Democrats love to shout about, isn’t Trump’s opinion, definition or treatment of the virus, but their obsession with it trying to use it to get him out of office. Don’t let fear dominate your life. That was the message of FDR and Churchill. That’s his message. That's what great leaders say. Not "Lockdown the nation" as Joe Biden says. That's not a strategy--it's waving a white flag.

Most people who test positive are never treated in a hospital, but he was because he’s the president. 99.75% who get Covid recover, and yet, all you hear all day from the media is Covid will kill you. That’s unlikely, but it is definitely a risk at his age and weight. (Losing weight should have been one of the mitigating recommendations).

And Oh, the misinformation and fear mongering I've heard about the steroid! It’s very common and used for lung inflammation. My son was on it (didn’t save his life) after his infection while being treated for glioblastoma. Common and cheap. Oxygen levels can fluctuate wildly—I watched the monitor for hours. When this latest media fake outrage cools down they’ll go on to “Why does he get first class care” when millions don’t, or "Why is he getting experimental treatment and others don’t" (actually he was a guinea pig). Big Pharma used to practice on Africans before trying their products on Westerners, now they have the wealthy and powerful before lowering the prices.

Did doctors disagree? Probably. When Phil was hospitalized in February there must have been 20 specialists focusing on every body part and function imaginable (lung, heart, skin, oncology, dental, etc.) in and out of his room for a week and they didn’t agree on much of anything (but they certainly do agree on sending bills).

Their dirty little secret has been made public--the media blame every person who gets sick, or hospitalized or dies, just as they did the president. The only difference is this time, they were hoping the patient would die.

What Saint Paul said

Most Americans are familiar with the idiom, “Damascus road experience” even if they haven’t read about Saint Paul’s conversion in the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament. But I had completely missed his retelling of that in the first chapter of Galatians. Perhaps it is the translation.

“But when he [God] who FROM MY MOTHER’S WOMB* HAD SET ME APART and called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me . . . “ Do you really think “from” excludes “inside?”

In evaluating the policies and philosophies of the candidates, I put life issues first, as does one of our founding documents, “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Just a few years ago there was only one U.S. politician who would go on record as against the born-alive infant protection act—Barack Obama (as Illinois state senator) and he was left of NARAL, which is hard to do. Now his entire party of sheeples has followed his lead.

Joe Biden, who may have once been pro-life, has gone against his church, his savior, the founding documents, and his own conscience.  And Donald Trump, like Saint Paul, who may once have been pro-choice (with no vote in Congress) but is now pro-life, is the one chosen by God from the womb to save babies.

Late term abortions are indeed rare, as my pro-choice friends remind me—maybe 1.3% of all abortions.  “Only” 5,000-10,000 a year. In Ohio that’s 106 and in New York that’s 1590.**  How many are the proper number for you?

*NIV translated the passage as “from birth,” with “from my mother’s womb” another translation.

**https://lozierinstitute.org/late-term-abortion-stats/ June 2020

Candace Owens ridicules a BLM advocate

https://youtu.be/085u0NnAgjA  10 requests

This BLM advocate which Candace quotes primarily discusses personal property (your home, inheritance, retirement, etc.), which by its standards shouldn't exist at all, even for blacks.  Although she speaks of a voluntary system (because you are a white racist and should "give" things to blacks), the BLM manifesto says private property shouldn't exist at all. Only the party/government would control property on behalf of the "community." This is the rationale for destroying private property during the riots and looting after the Floyd death. It isn't yours anyway, so they have a right to destroy it.

BLM is a Marxist, not a Civil Rights, organization. (Churches are particularly behind the times on this point.) Under Marxism, personal property is virtually the original sin. Marxism also claims the nuclear family only exists to hold on to property through inheritance, so it has to go too. BLM is busy airbrushing it's website to obfuscate its anti-American values, and collecting $10 billion from corporate, "woke" sponsors in a massive shakedown.

The hoax isn’t the virus

This is the hoax--how Democrats and their lackeys in the media, entertainment, academe and unions are presenting the constant lie about how the pandemic was handled. Everyone in the country/world has been proven wrong about this virus at some point in its progression or treatment. From the modeling, to the anti-vaxxers, to the members of the task force, but especially the media. And still NOT ONE published clinical trial on masks and the corona virus exists.

The American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten (salary is $500,000) says that going back to school has never looked like it does now. Weingarten explains that because of President Donald Trump’s response to the coronavirus, which she says has been chaotic, contradictory and inept, and the lack of federal guidance and funding, we’re seeing a patchwork of school reopening plans across the country.

As you should know, education is in control of state and local government, not the federal government. This has been the standard since the passage of the NW Ordinance in 1787. "Religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged." It is the state governor, the local mayor and the school board which decide the opening and online options, not the President or the federal Department of Education. Weingarten has overlooked that and continues blathering  the Democrat hoax and passes it along to teachers who pay dearly to read this nonsense.

Do you really believe she or any Democrat/ Socialist/ Communist/ Libertarian or even the President's own supporters would have obeyed if Trump had mandated lockdowns and nationwide compulsory masks as Biden says he'll put in place (it's illegal). They would have had a nationwide strike.

Monday, October 05, 2020

Why Democrats hate Judge Barrett

"Judge Barrett isn’t the kind of woman the left tolerates. She’s independent, strong and has rejected the notion that women are still victims in American society. She is too religious, too respectful of her husband, has too many children and loves the United States of America. Not to mention her love for the U.S. Constitution. It’s no wonder the left is trying to destroy her. After all, she stands for everything they stand against: the nuclear family, true tolerance, freedom of religion, the principle that each person, no matter how small, has value, and much more." Katie Pavlich, The Hill, 9/30/20

Media, disinformation and science

http://junkfoodscience.blogspot.com/

For a number of years, I followed this blog, "Junkfood Science". She did amazing research. Unfortunately, she retired the blog in 2009, but I see she posted her concern in a letter to her readers in May 2020. I think it's worse now than in 2009. Click on over and read her May letter. It's so appropriate in this politicized pandemic.

"Media has become an expanse of junk science, disinformation and doublespeak, politics and marketing. All of us are now on our own to question everything, seek out original sources and do our own fact-checking, research and critical thinking. You'll be surprised at how much of what "everyone knows" is not true."

No published trial on the effects of masks in Covid-19 transmission

"And what of EBM [Evidence Based Medicine] in all this? The deluge of studies on the previously little studied coronaviruses would point to a prodigious increase in knowledge, but only a few add to our understanding. Many are clearly 'me too' efforts where researchers need to have their name associated with the pandemic. A good example of this is the number of reviews of the evidence on masks published in the last three months – fifteen to our knowledge. Yet, the number of published trials on the effects of masks in Covid-19 transmission is – so far – zero."

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/covid-19-and-the-end-of-clinical-medicine-as-we-know-it?

Who is benefitting from corona hype? Democrats and big business

Is the constant hyping of the corona virus part of the plan to defeat Trump? Sure looks like it. It's served Democrats well. Even though it's the governors who have shut us down, not the President, their ratings are better in Covid approval than the President--Americans actually approve of having their freedom restricted by government. And they call Trump a fascist? They play with words, not facts, not data.

It's too dangerous to go to church, but not to Target or the liquor stores (or the marijuana stores in Ohio). It has bankrupted small businesses, but benefitted big business like Amazon, Target, Wal-Mart. Who are more likely to be regular church goers, Democrats or Republicans? Urban knowledge workers can sit at home using Zoom and not suffer any set backs. This all benefits the Democrats; Republican strengths are small business and rural people.

Woodstock was held during the Hong Kong flu epidemic, which killed 100,000. No one in the 1960s expected the government to make them safe. No one closed businesses, schools, or churches. The media pretty much ignored it. And the young people enjoying the music certainly weren't social distancing.

Alex Berenson, Sept 23: “For six months, many big media outlets have done everything possible to attempt to spread panic about the coronavirus. In March, the crisis was ventilator shortages, which proved to be nonexistent. In May, they hyped the almost nonexistent risk Covid presents to children. Over the summer, they pretended that hospitals in the Sunbelt were near collapse. Now they focus relentlessly on a single figure, the death count.”

https://youtu.be/xCn5LuZOFZI There are a few brave souls out there who think the governors' and mayors' handling of Covid19 (lockdowns, school closing, shutting down churches, businesses destroyed) were unconstitutional. I certainly think so, but I'm no expert. But I know enough to know the first speaker on this YouTube misquoted the first amendment, but he was basically on the right track.

Sunday, October 04, 2020

Our First Amendment Rights

Why is it, the only ones who seem to be enjoying the rights assured to American citizens in the First Amendment--freedom of religion and assembly, freedom of speech and press--are those who are trying to destroy those same freedoms?

  • Is your church open?
  • Are your YouTube videos being fact checked by Big Tech?
  • Is the press so biased it might as well belong to only one party?
  • Are your peaceful protests or patriotic parades supporting the president being infiltrated by radicals who then shut you down?

Welcome to cancel culture.

You may be required to attend a reeducation class at work created by neo-Marxists and critical race theorists.

You may avoid your main line or evangelical church, tired of sermons on "systemic racism."

You may find yourself rejected by family members and friends for exercising those very freedoms they claim to also support.

Saturday, October 03, 2020

What is critical race theory and do you really need a seminar to soften you up?

If your church, university department, community organization or civic group--or all of them--are thinking about a "peace, justice and reconciliation" workshop or seminar for the board or members, make sure they read this one first. Since the 90s, these reeducation camps/mafia have been a cottage industry, lining the pockets of so called specialists. Many otherwise smart people have swallowed this "systemic justice" myth--time to get a spine and at least tell them to do their homework. It's just dressed up Marxism in its Sunday best. And be prepared to be called a racist or white supremacist for objecting--even if you're black!

https://thefederalist.com/2020/10/02/forced-denunciations-and-sensitivity-training-mimic-communist-brainwashing-tactics/

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-ends-critical-race-theory-training-federal-employees

Critical Race Theory is central to

  • believes racism is present in every aspect of life, every relationship, and every interaction and therefore has its advocates look for it everywhere
  • relies upon “interest convergence” (white people only give black people opportunities and freedoms when it is also in their own interests) and therefore doesn’t trust any attempt to make racism better
  • is against free societies and wants to dismantle them and replace them with something its advocates control
  • only treats race issues as “socially constructed groups,” so there are no individuals in Critical Race Theory
  • believes science, reason, and evidence are a “white” way of knowing and that storytelling and lived experience is a “black” alternative, which hurts everyone, especially black people
  • rejects all potential alternatives, like colorblindness, as forms of racism, making itself the only allowable game in town (which is totalitarian)
  • acts like anyone who disagrees with it must do so for racist and white supremacist reasons, even if those people are black (which is also totalitarian)
  • cannot be satisfied, so it becomes a kind of activist black hole that threatens to destroy everything it is introduced into

https://newdiscourses.com/2020/06/reasons-critical-race-theory-terrible-dealing-racism/

Friday, October 02, 2020

Why are our churches talking justice and racial reconciliation now—it’s trendy and they are woke?

2020 wasn't about George Floyd. BLM was launched in 2014 by three lesbian feminists steeped in Marxism.

"Homicide is the leading cause of death for young black men in the U.S., and around 90 percent of the perpetrators are also black. Yet for months [2014] we’ve had protesters nationwide pretending that our morgues are full of young black men because cops are shooting them. Around 98 percent of black shooting deaths do not involve police. In fact, a cop is six times more likely to be shot by someone black than the opposite. The protestors are pushing a false anti-cop narrative, and everyone from the president [Obama] on down has played along.” . . . Jason Riley https://imprimis.hillsdale.edu/race-relations-and-law.../

  • When did we pray for the millions of babies aborted?
  • When did we hear sermons on bitter divorces and the need for understanding and acceptance? In fact, when did we ever even hear a sermon about marriage?
  • When did we pray for all the families who’d lost loved ones from cancer or heart disease as we do for Covid19?
  • When did we as a congregation ask for justice for the trafficked child or abused woman?
  • When the Columbus police were told to stand down during the summer riots, did our church collect money for the damaged or destroyed businesses?

Yes, we need reconciliation, but it’s between members, not races.

Never a better description of what's on the left.

“Imagine to find yourself again in a wide open field, alone with your Guardian Angel;

to your left you see the devil on a lofty throne, he is surrounded with many devils nearby; and around them you see an immense number of people acknowledging him as their master and lord and they render him homage, who by sinning in one way and who in another. Examine the behavior of the disgraced courtesans of that king of abomination: some are furious because of hatred, envy and rage; others are given to murdering, there is a group worn out with their vain pursuit of riches and fame but finding it hollow. Many are hardly human so sunken are they in fleshly vice, corrupt in the animalistic passions. See how they are all without peace, disordered and without restraint; see how they despise each other as they try to hide behind a hypocritical appearance of love.”

St. Francis de Sales, 1567-1622