Thursday, December 31, 2020

Women who made a difference in 2020

Chloé Zhao has made the "Change Makers List: 30 women who saved entertainment in 2020." Zhao won the Golden Lion Award this year at the Venice Film Festival (the first woman in a decade to do so) for the new drama “Nomadland.” It's about Americans suffering from the economy (of a decade ago). I read the book. I wonder what they did to it?

From my blog:  Collecting My Thoughts: Book review “Nomadland by Jessia Bruder  "I'm about 1/3 finished, but I get the drift. Convince the readers there's something terribly wrong with the USA instead of the poor decisions, divorces, childhoods and investments of selected people interviewed for the book. So far, although the "great" recession of 2008 is noted as a cause for the white collar workers, the underlying factors in many of these cases are divorce, and/or an unhappy, abusive childhood that also included divorce, disruption, and frequent moves. I've been skimming or reading books like this for 4 decades. And since the so-called War on Poverty and the disintegration of households of married couples and families, the discussion doesn't get more positive, but the journalists/fabulists don't seem to catch on."

Communist retreads in the Biden adminitration?

We know that the Biden-Harris administration is Obama 2.0. We also know of some of Joe Biden's lucrative links to the Communist Party of China. Here's a list of Communists, Red Diaper Babies, and Marxists in Obama's Circle who influenced his development, thinking and presidency. "Obama Appointees in the Communist Orbit"  Unfortunately, not only are the media without morals, they are without curiosity.  Obama Appointees in the Communist Orbit (americanthinker.com)

John Brennan, Valerie Jarrett, David Axelrod, Susan Rice, David Maraniss, Frank Marshall Davis, Jeremiah Wright.

"The Obama administration colluded with Russian agents who produced the Steele Dossier. It was paid for by Clinton, but it was Obama's minions at the FBI, CIA, and White House who weaponized this Soviet disinformation against President Trump.

We are all victims of the Obama cabal's collusion with Russia — President Trump's voters and all Americans who believe in our free and fair election process." Karin McQuillan

Wednesday, December 30, 2020

What I Learned in the Peace Corps in Africa: Trump Is Right

By Karin McQuillan

Three weeks after college, I flew to Senegal, West Africa, to run a community center in a rural town. Life was placid, with no danger, except to your health. That danger was considerable, because it was, in the words of the Peace Corps doctor, "a fecalized environment."

In plain English: s--- is everywhere. People defecate on the open ground, and the feces is blown with the dust – onto you, your clothes, your food, the water. He warned us the first day of training: do not even touch water. Human feces carries parasites that bore through your skin and cause organ failure.

Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that a few decades later, liberals would be pushing the lie that Western civilization is no better than a third-world country. Or would teach two generations of our kids that loving your own culture and wanting to preserve it are racism.

Last time I was in Paris, I saw a beautiful African woman in a grand boubou have her child defecate on the sidewalk next to Notre Dame Cathedral. The French police officer, ten steps from her, turned his head not to see.

I have seen. I am not turning my head and pretending unpleasant things are not true.

Senegal was not a hellhole. Very poor people can lead happy, meaningful lives in their own cultures' terms. But they are not our terms. The excrement is the least of it. Our basic ideas of human relations, right and wrong, are incompatible.

As a twenty-one-year-old starting out in the Peace Corps, I loved Senegal. In fact, I was euphoric. I quickly made friends and had an adopted family. I relished the feeling of the brotherhood of man. People were open, willing to share their lives and, after they knew you, their innermost thoughts.

The longer I lived there, the more I understood: it became blindingly obvious that the Senegalese are not the same as us. The truths we hold to be self-evident are not evident to the Senegalese. How could they be? Their reality is totally different. You can't understand anything in Senegal using American terms.

Take something as basic as family. Family was a few hundred people, extending out to second and third cousins. All the men in one generation were called "father." Senegalese are Muslim, with up to four wives. Girls had their clitorises cut off at puberty. (I witnessed this, at what I thought was going to be a nice coming-of-age ceremony, like a bat mitzvah or confirmation.)

Sex, I was told, did not include kissing. Love and friendship in marriage were Western ideas. Fidelity was not a thing. Married women would have sex for a few cents to have cash for the market.

What I did witness every day was that women were worked half to death. Wives raised the food and fed their own children, did the heavy labor of walking miles to gather wood for the fire, drew water from the well or public faucet, pounded grain with heavy hand-held pestles, lived in their own huts, and had conjugal visits from their husbands on a rotating basis with their co-wives. Their husbands lazed in the shade of the trees.

Yet family was crucial to people there in a way Americans cannot comprehend.

The Ten Commandments were not disobeyed – they were unknown. The value system was the exact opposite. You were supposed to steal everything you can to give to your own relatives. There are some Westernized Africans who try to rebel against the system. They fail.

We hear a lot about the kleptocratic elites of Africa. The kleptocracy extends through the whole society. My town had a medical clinic donated by international agencies. The medicine was stolen by the medical workers and sold to the local store. If you were sick and didn't have money, drop dead. That was normal.

So here in the States, when we discovered that my 98-year-old father's Muslim health aide from Nigeria had stolen his clothes and wasn't bathing him, I wasn't surprised. It was familiar.

In Senegal, corruption ruled, from top to bottom. Go to the post office, and the clerk would name an outrageous price for a stamp. After paying the bribe, you still didn't know it if it would be mailed or thrown out. That was normal.

One of my most vivid memories was from the clinic. One day, as the wait grew hotter in the 110-degree heat, an old woman two feet from the medical aides – who were chatting in the shade of a mango tree instead of working – collapsed to the ground. They turned their heads so as not to see her and kept talking. She lay there in the dirt. Callousness to the sick was normal.

Americans think it is a universal human instinct to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. It's not. It seems natural to us because we live in a Bible-based Judeo-Christian culture.

We think the Protestant work ethic is universal. It's not. My town was full of young men doing nothing. They were waiting for a government job. There was no private enterprise. Private business was not illegal, just impossible, given the nightmare of a third-world bureaucratic kleptocracy. It is also incompatible with Senegalese insistence on taking care of relatives.

All the little stores in Senegal were owned by Mauritanians. If a Senegalese wanted to run a little store, he'd go to another country. The reason? Your friends and relatives would ask you for stuff for free, and you would have to say yes. End of your business. You are not allowed to be a selfish individual and say no to relatives. The result: Everyone has nothing.

The more I worked there and visited government officials doing absolutely nothing, the more I realized that no one in Senegal had the idea that a job means work. A job is something given to you by a relative. It provides the place where you steal everything to give back to your family.

I couldn't wait to get home. So why would I want to bring Africa here? Non-Westerners do not magically become American by arriving on our shores with a visa.

For the rest of my life, I enjoyed the greatest gift of the Peace Corps: I love and treasure America more than ever. I take seriously my responsibility to defend our culture and our country and pass on the American heritage to the next generation.

African problems are made worse by our aid efforts. Senegal is full of smart, capable people. They will eventually solve their own country's problems. They will do it on their terms, not ours. The solution is not to bring Africans here.

We are lectured by Democrats that we must privilege third-world immigration by the hundred million with chain migration. They tell us we must end America as a white, Western, Judeo-Christian, capitalist nation – to prove we are not racist. I don't need to prove a thing. Leftists want open borders because they resent whites, resent Western achievements, and hate America. They want to destroy America as we know it.

As President Trump asked, why would we do that?

We have the right to choose what kind of country to live in. I was happy to donate a year of my life as a young woman to help the poor Senegalese. I am not willing to donate my country.

https://www.americanthinker.com/.../what_i_learned_in...

National Association of Black Journalists


The National Association of Black Journalists in partnership with Facebook is looking for emerging journalists to participate in fact-checking fellowships in U.S. newsrooms. That should be interesting given that there are many black conservatives and their opinions and stories are being ridiculed or deep-sixed. Hey, kids, you dance with the one who brought you whether black, white, or other. 

It's interesting that in the article it is referred to as a "fact checking industry." What? Race baiting and woke poking are also industries--with a few at the top doing extremely well. Journalism is all about facts? I thought it was about opinion. Daily Beast and WaPo call their opinion rags "news." How about the fact that more blacks voted for Trump than any Republican in recent history? Or, maybe that blacks were opening and investing in their own businesses at an unprecedented rate under this president, or that lower income Americans benefitted at a higher rate from the Trump tax cuts than higher quintiles? What about "defund the police" with BLM hurting blacks more than other groups by ignoring crime? Think they'll give that story a fail just because there is a black fact checker on fellowship.

If we must have racial balance in all professions, how about NFL, NBA and MLB? I don't see enough Asians and women on those teams.

Tuesday, December 29, 2020

List of articles on Vitamin D and Covid19

 Role of vitamin D in preventing of COVID-19 infection, progression and severity - PubMed (nih.gov)

Plus 146 similar articles, 118 free access, others abstract only. 

The transgender cancel culture hoax

The transgender movement may be the biggest "cancel culture" of them all. And it's all to cancel women. Transman or transwoman, makes no difference. It all cancels women and their specialness. I had a really good friend who thought he was a woman--long before it became trendy. He was a Christian, slightly built, odd, quirky and incredibly bright. Now (or the last time I saw him 20 years ago) he says he's a woman--Christian, slightly built, odd, quirky and incredibly bright but wearing make-up and wearing women's clothing. It's also pretty convenient to cancel the homosexuals too, since most don't see themselves as a wannabe anything but what they are.

Some things to read on this hoax--although they don't actually say what I do--that the trans-movement is anti-women. That it is the ultimate anti-female snuff movement.









President Trump honors St. Thomas Becket

"St. Thomas Becket, also called Thomas à Becket or Thomas of London, (born c. 1118, Cheapside, London, England—died December 29, 1170, Canterbury, Kent; canonized 1173; feast day December 29), chancellor of England (1155–62) and archbishop of Canterbury (1162–70) during the reign of King Henry II. His career was marked by a long quarrel with Henry that ended with Becket’s murder in Canterbury Cathedral. He is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion." Saint Thomas Becket | Biography, Death, & Significance | Britannica

Breitbart News:  President Trump issued a powerful proclamation on religious liberty Tuesday to commemorate the 850th Anniversary of the Martyrdom of Saint Thomas Becket.

“A society without religion cannot prosper. A nation without faith cannot endure — because justice, goodness, and peace cannot prevail without the grace of God,” the president declared in his proclamation, while calling the English saint a “lion of religious liberty.”

President Trump: Justice Cannot Prevail ‘Without the Grace of God’ (breitbart.com) [note Google removed the hot link because it was Breitbart.]

Trump calls for end to 'religious persecution worldwide' on 850th anniversary of Thomas Becket's death (msn.com)

Monday, December 28, 2020

Worse than McCarthyism

"In a recent paper titled “Keeping Your Mouth Shut: Spiraling Self-Censorship in the United States,” political scientists James L. Gibson and Joseph L. Sutherland reveal that self-censorship among Americans has soared. In the 1950s, at the height of McCarthyism, 13.4 percent of Americans reported that they “felt less free to speak their mind than they used to.” In 1987, the figure reached 20 percent. By 2019, 40 percent of Americans reported that they did not feel free to speak their minds." Keeping Your Mouth Shut: Spiraling Self-Censorship in the United States by James L. Gibson, Joseph L. Sutherland :: SSRN

For more examples, see "Tell only lies" at City Journal. Tell Only Lies | City Journal (city-journal.org)

What is patriotism? Ask a Hungarian



I've been spending some hours away from American cable TV and watching Israeli i24 channel which has excellent international coverage, particularly of middle east and some Africa and Europe. Learned about the Moroccan delegation visiting Israel. Interesting to watch Covid coverage on the international scene. Every nation is having 2nd and 3rd waves, no one is blaming Trump like our TDS Democrats, and everyone is vaccinating. I think Israel will win that race for highest and fastest rate vaccinated. Israel's cases are soaring as are South Africa. Everyone complains about their young adults not taking precautions. It seems to be party time in South Africa. Not much difference between blacks and whites--both are being irresponsible according to the health official interviewed. I watched a 30 minute interview of the Hungarian foreign minister who seems to be a rising star in his early 40s; he's called "right wing." So I listened to see if that meant he was a Trump supporting white supremacist. No. It means he believes Hungary has a right to control its own borders; support for Christian values; strong economic investment environment; saving Hungary's western cultural heritage; standing up to the Leftists; being suspicious of Iran's motives; a positive relationship with Israel and being watchful of Turkey's motives and encroachment and loving his country. He wants mutual respect from Biden--fat chance, since Biden is soft on Iran and China.


Also, one of the Chinese "citizen-journalists" (I think that is another term for blogging or tweeting) who blew the whistle on the Chinese virus is getting 4 years in prison. Now, in the U.S. not since Obama have any journalists gone to jail, but there is a Facebook and YouTube jail for anyone who blows the whistle on the news media's monopoly on the virus narrative. And I love watching Israeli technology news. A new Israeli made mask might neutralize 99% SARS-COV2 virus within just 30 minutes. of exposure

Would a united Christian church bring us out of this mess?

It’s been suggested before. I don’t see for this time in history.

I was reading Erling Olsen’s meditation on Psalm 124 this morning which begins, “If it had not been the LORD who was on our side . . .” Olsen had a Sunday afternoon radio broadcast in the mid-1930s on the Psalms, which was so popular it was later published and has been through many printings. In 1937 he wrote:

“The entire world is now being swamped by a tidal wave of materialism and the hearts of many are filled with apprehension concerning the future.  The whole earth appears to be in a state of turmoil as some of the nations of the earth seem bent on war, while the unrest in other nations resembles a war scare.  It seems as if all the world is seated upon a keg of dynamite, with everybody playing around the keg with a lighted torch.”

He moves from the Depression era and war threats coming from Europe in 1937  back to ancient Israel and when it did not through its own power make it to the promised land, and that’s what Psalm 124 celebrates.

Than back to 1937.  It seemed, he said, that we had turned the corner, that we were on the road to prosperity (that wasn’t the case—the economy was heading for a recession with the Depression), but he lamented that men hadn’t ceased to be materialists and doubted they had learned any lessons.  One prominent Christian, very wealthy (he didn’t give his name) suggested that only a “united Christian world could stem the rising tide of materialism, of selfishness, of broken traditions and crumbling moral standards and point the way out.”  He lamented the failure of the church visible, with its sects, still clinging to its denominationalism “in a drifting, disillusioned, discouraged world which sees in the church confusion rather than hope.”

That certainly describes the church today, so I’m thinking the proposal of that rich and influential Christian didn’t work. Olsen goes on to say, . .

“I wholeheartedly endorse the comments which that gentleman made and I agree with him that the world is on the brink of disaster as its very foundations are being shaken.  I agree with him that the only thing for the church today is to bear a united testimony, so that she may be a bulwark against the raging storm.  But let me be clear.  There can be no united Christian church except it be founded on a solid rock.. . . I am wholeheartedly for Christian unity if that unity is based on the deity of Christ, on the impregnable rock of Holy Write, on the cardinal truth of the Christian faith revealed at the cross of Jesus Christ which towers ‘o’er the wrecks of time.’ I am for unity of the Christian church in bearing an effectual testimony to a world of moral failure when it invites the individual members of society to come to the ‘fountain filled with blood, drawn from Immanuel’s veins,’ . . . What power the Christian church would have in this world if it would give faithful testimony concerning these verities of our faith.”

The church is no more united now than 80+ years ago. And during our present national and world crisis, it seems to have closed its doors and settled for the title, “non-essential.” Although individual congregations went to court to keep their doors open, most just quietly folded and turned to their technology staff, if they had one. A few used their parking lots and speaker systems.  Various religious voices brightly proclaim the church is moving into the community via technology like Zoom, Facebook, Tik Tok and on-line services, but I hardly think that replaces the hundreds of ministries that have closed which evangelize, feed, clothe, build, educate and visit the millions who need the church.

Olsen suggested that in the 1930s the failure of the church was the responsibility of those that have not been faithful to the Gospel of Christ, who have undermined faith in the scriptures and stripped Jesus of his Glory bringing him down to a life devoted to a principle.  That Jesus can transform lives and is not a mere social message is a message lost in today’s (1937) world, he said. That might be part of it, but I know some Bible-believing, gospel preaching churches that were just too comfortable and lukewarm to Stand up for Jesus. They looked to the government, to science, to social media and the confusing advice of the experts to see them through.   Prayer, worship, fasting, service—well, they can wait on a vaccine, or a new president, or a less virulent mutation while we hunker down in our homes.

Sunday, December 27, 2020

UV-LED lights kill coronavirus.

UV-LED disinfection of Coronavirus: Wavelength effect – ScienceDirect   Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology B: Biology

This study shows promise in disinfection for Covid19. The study attempted to find the disinfection efficiency of ultraviolet light-emitting diodes irradiation at different wavelengths or frequencies on coronavirus. It is said to be the first of its kind in the world, according to the Jerusalem Post.

UV LED lights kill 99% of COVID in 30 seconds, new study - TheBlaze

Saturday, December 26, 2020

Temperature and humidity and Covid

There is some research to show that higher humidity levels can help fight the Coronavirus in your indoor spaces. Op-ed: Humidity can aid in the fight against COVID-19 | News | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

There could be 3 reasons for this: Studies suggest that

  1. higher humidity can enhance the body’s ability to fight off infection;
  2. that the coronavirus decays faster at close to 60% relative humidity than at other levels;
  3. and that drier air can lead to greater numbers of tiny coronavirus particles that travel farther and penetrate deeper into the lungs.

I’ve never had much luck with humidifiers, however, we have stopped running the fans when we take a shower and  don’t wipe down the water from the tile and glass doors.  I leave the door open to the hall when I shower.  It’s a small amount, to be sure, but right now it’s OK to steam up the mirror.

Also, the new case load and death rate from Covid is also affected by the temperature and humidity of the country, as research has found, and could be important for policy.  In the U.S., however, it is just easier to blame President Trump. Effects of temperature and humidity on the daily new cases and new deaths of COVID-19 in 166 countries - PubMed (nih.gov)

Blueberry French Toast Casserole

About 2 decades ago, before I started saving everything at my blog, I was searching for the perfect bread pudding recipe—like my mom made from leftover bread. I missed her and wanted that special taste for a memory.   And I wrote about it.  I found some good ones, but never the exact match because she probably didn’t use a recipe.

This recipe was posted by a guy friend, Brian Good, on Facebook.  But the website had a gazillion ads, and I couldn’t read the directions.  So I looked it up by name on a different site.  It says it is great for brunch or dessert. This one has slightly fewer eggs and cream cheese than the one I saw posted on FB. By soaking the bread overnight, it becomes more of a souffle or a bread pudding. The cream cheese gets creamy and the blueberries add a bit of sweetness and tartness at the same time. Hope you enjoy it! Blueberry French Toast Casserole | Tasty Kitchen: A Happy Recipe Community!

Ingredients
  • 1 loaf Texas Toast Or Thick Cut Bread, Cubed (French Toast Style Also Works)
  • 12 ounces, weight Cream Cheese, Cubed (Any Kind Other Than Fat Free)
  • 1 cup Blueberries, Fresh
  • 8 whole Eggs
  • 2 cups Milk
  • ½ cups Maple Syrup
  • Cinnamon, To Taste
  • Nutmeg, To Taste
  • ½ cups Pecans, Chopped (optional)
Preparation

Place the bread cubes in a greased 13×9-inch baking dish; add blueberries and cream cheese evenly throughout the bread cubes.

Beat eggs, milk, cinnamon, nutmeg and syrup with a wire whisk until well blended. Pour over the ingredients in the baking dish; cover. Refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Bake, uncovered, for 35 minutes. Add the pecans if desired, then bake for an additional 10 minutes or until the center is set. Serve with additional syrup, if desired.

If you are making this recipe for dessert, forego the maple syrup and serve with whipped cream.

Enjoy!

Luke and Laura's 40th anniversary coming up in 2021!

 Can't believe I'm that old.  Genie Francis and Anthony Geary (Luke and Laura), two soap opera stars whose characters married in 1981 will be at the big 40 in the New Year, November 17.  I only know that because my daughter watched this SOAP, General Hospital, and so I watched it, too.  She was probably in 8th grade.  But what was my excuse?

Luke and Laura Today: Where the ‘General Hospital’ Stars Are Now | Heavy.com

"Luke and Laura’s wedding on November 17, 1981 brought in 30 million viewers and remains the highest-rated soap opera episode in American daytime television history. Elizabeth Taylor cameoed during the event, and Princess Diana even sent champagne."

Geary's retired and living in the Netherlands, and Francis still performs at 57 on the soap as a mother.  I think I've seen her in other venues, maybe even Hallmark movies?  Genie Francis as Peyton MacGruder on Taking a Chance on Love (hallmarkdrama.com)

Facebook can’t face the truth

Zuckerberg and his wife supported Biden/Harris big time, funneling mega-bucks for training poll workers and campaigners.  And we all know how that campaign fraud went.  However, it is technically free, and those of us who use it need to know the only product FB sells is us—our information.  Personal information about buying habits, religion, politics, opinions, photos—it’s all consumed and regurgitation by Facebook to buy and sell us. 

But Facebook is also pushing it’s own politics, and will blacklist our posts that they don’t like.  I’m reposting some of my blogs at my Facebook site, and they all come up with a warning—even if it is a recipe or a holiday tradition. FB by technical snooping knows I’m not one of them.  I’m just some deranged, low class, low caste college educated American who escaped the clutches of the Democrat party in 2000 for fresh air, liberation and truth.  There are a lot of us out there—every ethnicity, age, sex, religion—black, brown, white, rich, poor, employed, retired, Protestant, Jew, Muslim, Catholic. The U.S. capitalist system with freedom of religion and the religion of meritocracy has allowed Zuckerberg to arise to the heights of success, but he landed on a dead branch of socialism and is trying to clip the wings of others.  Ironically, it’s the capitalist way. Always kill off the competition.

I got a black mark for pointing out the racism and eugenics of the Leftists among us. I got a black mark for citing Newsmax, a conservative TV News source. I got a black mark for posting a an AA list on how to stay sober just for today. So I’m embedded in the the FB file dungeons as a right wing nut, no matter if I post recipes or voter fraud stories.

I have a lot of cookbooks and recipe files—some almost 100 years old, from my mom and mother-in-law to Inglenook to Betty Crocker to a collection from Ogle County Illinois homemakers.  But there are more people who have come forward to testify about voter irregularities at the polls, from the cemeteries  and from voting machines than I have recipes.  All those patriots are willing to put their reputations (and lives) on the line, and they’ve been silenced by the very government and political parties they want to save.

Friday, December 25, 2020

Sonja loves snow

She was hoping for a white Christmas and she got one. We get very little snow in central Ohio, and only rarely on Christmas, but we had about 3 inches by 10 p.m. last night.  Sonja got her wish.  Our lights on our deck outside are buried, but muted.  And she’s thinking about her friends Ann and Phil.  Annie died of kidney cancer in February, and our Phil died of glioblastoma, brain cancer, in April. Sonja is in recovery from breast cancer.  As children they were all members of UALC, and their parents all are friends or ours.   Sonja spoke at Phil’s service in June at Gender Road Christian Church.

"It is so quiet and peaceful. . .what a blessed Christmas Eve, even as I have a few tears as I am sending love to my Annie and Phil in Heaven. Annie would be loving this snowfall, and Phil would be loving his Christmas tree.

Thank you God for this white Christmas, my soul needed it. . . kinda makes me want to dig out my little tree, and put it up, instead of continuing to bah humbug the festivities, but honestly, not decorating the inside of my house has kept me focused on the reason for the season, and I know it sounds strange, but it has made it really special to me."  (Facebook post, Dec. 25, 2020)  Photo is Phil and Sonja in February showing off their hair after chemo.

And yesterday, Christmas Eve, we also got a call from Keith, a friend of Phil's who has been under the weather with that nasty virus we've all been trying to avoid. He's almost completely recovered now. He was wonderful support for Phil and us when he was ill, and spoke at both the GRCC service in June and at Lakeside interment of ashes in August.


Keith and Phil in February

Thursday, December 24, 2020

Christmas cards—a nice tradition

For the last two years I haven't added a newsy letter to Bob's Christmas card--a watercolor with a greeting. Our lives changed forever on Oct. 1, 2019, so there is not much to write about for Christmas 2019 and 2020.   And the cards we've been receiving mostly say something like, "stay well," "stay safe," stay safe and well," Hope you staying safe," or "Hope we can see each other soon." A very different holiday, but we certainly look forward to hearing from friends and relatives. This year we’ve received some phone calls in place of cards—don’t recall that from years past.  Maybe 5 or 6.

And one said, “From the Left coast” and he reads my blog!

This is an earlier version of his card, but he added more snow and a Christmas tree when it became this year’s “winner.”  I didn't take a photo of the finished product.




Just for Today Bookmark found in a book

When I checked online there were several different versions of this “anonymous” card with challenging thoughts.  I must have picked mine up over 30 years ago (it’s orange), and it has been lodged in various books, diaries and drawers since.  So I took another look today. It’s called “working a program.” I’ve italicized (#4, #8) the ones I have no problem with—piece of cake to spend 30 minutes to an hour in the morning usually, with something inspirational (right now it’s Magnificat, but I’ve used other sources). And no problem strengthening my mind—I am not a mental loafer. I read, research and write possibly 5-6 hours a day.   But the rest?  No success, but then I haven’t actually been trying the other 7.  I hate to set goals or make lists, so that’s part of it.  Also I don’t like other people telling me what to do, when, and how—probably why my diets fail after a few weeks.  And this Just for Today bookmark  is something that tells me I’m not doing it the right way to satisfy someone else. 
The biggest challenge for me is #6:

Just for today I will be agreeable.

I will look as well as I can,

dress becomingly,

keep my voice low,

be courteous,

criticize not one bit.

I won't find fault with anything,

nor try to improve or regulate anybody but myself.

No problem with “look as well as I can or dress becomingly.”  Always have my make-up on and completely dressed for the day in something attractive before my feet hit the first floor (in shoes, not slippers) in the morning. But the rest?  NO. I doubt I could go 5 minutes. And if you are nodding your head, then you probably have the same problem!  You wish I would change!! Some of us, and we know who we are, just can’t resist finding a better way to do something or improve something—or someone. We seem to gravitate to social media, too.

Just For Today Card

A popular sobriety aid is the Just for Today card that some AA [Al-Anon, Families Anonymous, Overeaters anonymous] members carry in their pocket or purse and refer to when thinking of a drink or they are disturbed by a life event.

Just for today

  1. - Just for today I will try to live through this day only, and not tackle all my problems at once. I can do something for twelve hours that would appall me if I felt that I had to keep it up for a lifetime.
  2. - Just for today I will be happy. This assumes to be true what Abraham Lincoln said, that most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be.
  3. - Just for today I will adjust myself to what is, and not try to adjust everything to my own desires. I will take my luck as it comes, and fit myself to it.
  4. - Just for today I will try to strengthen my mind. I will study. I will learn something useful. I will not be a mental loafer. I will read something that requires effort, thought and concentration.
  5. - Just for today I will exercise my soul in three ways: I will do somebody a good turn, and not get found out; if anybody knows of it, it will not count. I will do at least two things I don't want to do just for exercise. I will not show anyone that my feelings are hurt; they may be hurt, but today I will not show it.
  6. - Just for today I will be agreeable. I will look as well as I can, dress becomingly, keep my voice low, be courteous, criticize not one bit. I won't find fault with anything, nor try to improve or regulate anybody but myself.
  7. - Just for today I will have a program. I may not follow it exactly, but I will have it. I will save myself from two pests: hurry and indecision.
  8. - Just for today I will have a quiet half hour all by myself and relax. During this half hour, sometime, I will try to get a better perspective of my life.
  9. - Just for today I will be unafraid. Especially I will not be afraid to enjoy what is beautiful and to believe that as I give to the world, so the world will give to me.

Wednesday, December 23, 2020

Racism rears its ugly head again--teachers and elderly are TOO white

 It's a form of eugenics.

After 9 months of preaching "science" at us (unless it was a therapeutic the President recommended then it wasn't science, it was hate that came to the fore), our national health plan is now to NOT vaccinate seniors after the hospital workers, but to use race as the criteria.  Blacks are not less healthy because of their race; it's their lifestyle.  Fewer children raised with married parents, more obesity, more life style diseases, poor diets (by choice), and higher crime rates. It's not racist to use medical science instead of social change goals.  

Those woke goals have never been shown to improve the health and welfare of minorities.  This pandemic and the leftist goals behind the plan to close down the economy, shut down the best chance minorities have had in my lifetime to achieve, thrive and excel--the Trump economy. The Left is terrified that minorities will get ahead--they could lose the lock on their vote.  It would take a few months for  them to get to me because there are a lot of logistics to get people convinced and lined up.  I prefer to get the vaccine after a few bugs are worked out.  But minorities are already very reluctant.  I watched Dr. Varon of Houston on Newmax this morning, and he said about 50% of his healthcare workers do NOT plan to get the vaccine. At Houston Hospital, Head Of COVID-19 Unit Sees Some Staff Wary Of A Vaccine : NPR  When asked why, he said most of them are black and Latinx, and because of a history of racism in the 1950s and 1960s, they are suspicious of being a guinea pig.  Add to that the number of educated, wealthy, crunchies who are anti-vaxxers anyway, and you can see we've got a problem. 

 Our medical ethics swamp has decided the elderly are "too white." But their own history (which includes Medicaid and Obamacare) has made minorities suspicious and reluctant to trust their own industry.  Add to that the critical race theory that is invading every level of education, all the non-profits and the corporations, plus many churches, plus four years of demeaning the President who got the Warp Speed program going in record time, and we've got a full fledge mess on our hands. Minority health care workers are also more suspicious of Trump (wonder whose fault that is--Gov. Cuomo and Gov. Newsom and MSM have continually laid a foundation of doubt that this vaccine could be safe). 

Harald Schmidt, an expert in ethics and health policy at the University of Pennsylvania, says because older people are whiter, this will "level the playing field." What? Kill off granny in the nursing home so a Walmart stocker who because of youth isn't at risk can be first in line? Does that make sense? If this is "ethics" is suspiciously pre 20th century. And teachers are too white? Democrats/liberals/progressives definitely plan to keep the schools on lockdown and destroy another generation of black children who are already being short changed.
Medical Ethicist: Elderly Shouldn't Get Vaccines First Because They're Too White | National Review

Experts debate CDC guides for vaccine: ‘white people dying will level playing field,' teachers are too white (bizpacreview.com)

‘Level The Playing Field A Bit’: ‘Ethics Expert’ Implies Vaccines Shouldn’t Be Prioritized For Elderly Because They’re ‘Whiter’ | The Daily Caller

It's shocking how the left is willing to let people die because they hate Trump.  Oh, and have you noticed that the AMA has flipped on HCQ American Medical Association Rescinds Hydroxychloroquine Prevention Order – [your]NEWS and now all of a sudden with the vaccine available it's no longer "unscientific" to talk about herd health? Fauci Predicts U.S. Could See Signs Of Herd Immunity By Late March Or Early April : Coronavirus Updates : NPR  A few months ago, that concept was ridiculed.

The infamous Zeke Emanuel, buddy and advisor to Obama, and the "too white" for prime time Schmidt co-authored a textbook titled, “Rationing and Resource Allocation in Healthcare.” 

https://youtu.be/mNF3vqzKMz0  What Tucker has to say about being "too white." Not a big deal to kill people because they are white.

Switching from Fox to Newsmax for news

It’s so difficult to find the right contact to let a tv or radio show know they are doing something right.  I think this went to customer service, but I wanted to let Rob Finnerty know I’ve been enjoying his morning show:

“Sending a comment to Rob on Wake Up America to let you know how much I'm enjoying the morning shows (I watch several).  I Wake Up with you while on my exercycle--I do about 10 miles, stopping to walk and stretch.  I'm 81.  I left Fox about 3 weeks ago, so this is some adjustment for an old lady. I think Newsmax is more conservative than Fox, however, there is a clear distinction on Newsmax between opinion shows and news shows.  I like that.  I can make up my own mind if you provide the sources. Your guests are reasonable, yet conservative, a view difficult to find on the alphabet media and other cable shows. No one is shouting at me or becoming hysterical. I'm a retired university librarian, so I'm not looking for recipes, fashion or theater reviews.  Thanks for the news. I've been blogging for over 17 years.”

Copied from Linked IN:

Rob Finnerty is the anchor of 'Wake Up America' on Newsmax in New York City. He is a former Morning News Anchor in market 11 Tampa, Florida at WTSP 10 News. In 2016, he was part of a groundbreaking team that launched a morning show with a completely new format in a newsroom-based studio. The show was unlike anything else in local television, and quickly become the standard for how viewers consume local television news in the market.


Before moving to Newsmax, Finnerty was an Anchor/Reporter in Kansas City, MO, and co-hosted the talk show 'Better Kansas City' with a live studio-audience. He has also worked as an anchor at KBAK/KBFX in Bakersfield, California and as a sports anchor & reporter at New England Cable News (now NBC) in Boston, MA. At just 25, he covered the World Series, Super Bowl & the 2008 NBA Finals. Rob is originally from Cape Cod, Massachusetts and he graduated with a degree in Communications from Fairfield University in Fairfield, CT. His passions in the industry center around politics, sports and major domestic and international headlines and he is represented by Ken Lindner who can be reached directly at Ken@klateam.com.

Tuesday, December 22, 2020

Lotsa Lettuce for Columbus

 An Orlando firm, Kalera Inc. has acquired a building near Rickenbacker International Airport in Columbus, where it will construct a new 75,000-square-foot indoor growing facility that will have the capacity to produce millions of heads of lettuce and create 65 jobs locally when it opens in 2021, CEO Daniel Malechuk said.  

This is supposed to be the equivalent of several hundred acres of farm land production--no information on address or the cost of renovating the building.

Orlando firm plans 'vertical farm' in Columbus - Columbus Business First (bizjournals.com)

Christmas meme from 2006

 I'm looking through my blog for Christmas menus using pork roast, and found this meme from 2006.

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Egg Nog, definitely. I purchase it, then cut it in 1/2 with skim milk. We can't tell the difference.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just set them under the tree? We wrap--my husband always gets his under the tree first. My daughter's gift wraps are really elaborate and artistic. Mine are reused bows and paper.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? We have white lights outside, and colored on the tree.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? No. We have open season on kissing in this house.

5. When do you put up your decorations ? Ours are up from Thanksgiving through New Year's Day.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? It depends if I'm doing Christmas Eve or Christmas day. Lately it's been boneless pork roast with an orange cranberry glaze.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child The excitement. Particularly to see what doll clothes my mother had made.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? Santa wasn't part of our tradition--I always knew the story, and sort of hoped it was true, but realized about age 7 it wasn't. My husband, however, was a true believer, until he noticed that under Santa's red suit was a shirt the same as his uncle's (Santa used to stop at his Grandmother's.)

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? We did when I was a child, and when our children were young. Now we open them all on whatever day they are with us.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? No theme except tradition. We have very old decorations--some from our first Christmas in 1960; some handmade by our children. I used to buy one or two each year and date them, but don't any more.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? It's fun to see it fresh and white around Christmas, but I'm always anxious for it to melt to make better driving conditions.

12. Can you ice skate? No. I tried it a few times as a child and found it very difficult. Spent a lot of time sitting on the ice.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? My father was discharged from the service in December 1945, and I remember that Christmas Mother got us (my 2 sisters and me) a doll house. It continued well through the grandchildren, and maybe great granchildren, being redecorated many times.

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? The coming of Christ for our salvation.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Although I don't make them anymore, my husband's grandmother, Neno, made a fabulous sugar cookie cut-out.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Christmas Eve services at our church with lighted candles singing "Silent Night."

17. What tops your tree? An angel.

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving presents? Giving.

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? Although it is secular, I love "White Christmas" sung by Bing Crosby. I heard it first in California where it was damp and foggy and we were homesick for Illinois. It makes some sense because it was written by a Jew, Irving Berlin, about a Californian.

20. Candy Canes Yuck or Yum? OK for decorating, but I never eat them. Fudge would be my choice for Christmas candy.

Monday, December 21, 2020

Will Biden and Harris do anything about the China Covid19 Cover-up.

“The New York Times and ProPublica reviewed “thousands of secret government directives and other documents” in creating their report. Specifically, there were “3,200 directives and 1,800 memos and other files” originating from the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), China’s internet censor, created by CCP leader Xi Jinping in 2014. The report also draws from data from Urun Big Data Services, which helps China’s local governments monitor and censor China’s internet. The New York Times and ProPublica received these documents from the hacker organization CCP Unmasked, along with some duplicates from China Digital Times.”

Hacked Documents Expose China’s COVID-19 Cover-Up | The American Spectator | USA News and Politics

“Though China makes no secret of its belief in rigid internet controls, the documents convey just how much behind-the-scenes effort is involved in maintaining a tight grip. It takes an enormous bureaucracy, armies of people, specialized technology made by private contractors, the constant monitoring of digital news outlets and social media platforms — and, presumably, lots of money.”

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/world-news/no-negative-news-how-china-censored-the-coronavirus/articleshow/79817668.cms?

No problem.  In the U.S. we have Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to do the controlling. They censor Conservatives.  We’ve got armies of Democrats.

First Corona virus death in U.S. February 29, 2020

Cases of a new virus from Wuhan, China, were being reported all over the world, and the few in the U.S. involved foreign travel. These were cases, not fatalities. 

On January 29, 2020 the President's Coronavirus Task Force it was established.

On January 30 the President closed tourism coming from China.

 On February 26, 2020, U.S. vice president Mike Pence was named to chair the task force, and Deborah Birx was named the response coordinator.

Then a man died in a Washington state on February 29.  President Trump had already closed travel from China at the end of January.  Ohio by March 3 had yet not had ANY confirmed cases, let alone deaths, when Governor DeWine began cancelling events. At this time, DeBlasio, Pelosi and Cuoma were still inviting tourists to come to their states/cities. 

On March 4, when many states had yet not had one case, the HHS announced the intent to purchase approximately 500 million N95 respirators and Secretary Azar announced that HHS was transferring $35 million to the CDC to help state and local jurisdictions that have been impacted most by the coronavirus.

 On March 6 the President signed an $8.3 billion bill providing $7.76 billion to federal, state, and local agencies for combating the coronavirus, and authorizing an additional $500 million in waivers for Medicare telehealth restrictions.

On March 11, the WHO announced it was a global pandemic, and the President in a speech to the nation said,  “We are cutting massive amounts of red tape to make antiviral therapies available in record time.  These treatments will significantly reduce the impact and reach of the virus. . . and he also said:

“The vast majority of Americans: The risk is very, very low.  Young and healthy people can expect to recover fully and quickly if they should get the virus.  The highest risk is for elderly population with underlying health conditions.  The elderly population must be very, very careful.”  Today, December 21, that is still the case.  Even with thousands of deaths, the fatality rate from this virus is about .3% with the elderly at higher risk, and young people suffering higher than usual deaths from non-Covid reasons. 

On March 13, the president also declared an emergency for COVID-19 under Section 201 and 301 of the National Emergencies Act. The National Emergencies Act (NEA) generally authorizes the president nearly unlimited discretion to declare a national emergency. President Trump Declares State of Emergency for COVID-19 (ncsl.org)

On April 29, Operation Warp Speed announced—a public private partnership initiated by the U.S. government to facilitate and accelerate the development, manufacturing, and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics.

My question for Democrats; if the President had extended the national lockdown to mandatory after the two weeks at Governors’ discretion, how would you or the national media have accepted the order from the president you’d been trying to impeach, whom you called a Nazi, whom you called illegitimate because he won the Electoral College and not the popular vote?  Also which has been more effective in your opinion, Operation Warp Speed or the lockdowns?

Gelid—will probably not use this

The Merriam-Webster word of the day is Gelid.  Never heard of it, and after reading the explanation, I doubt I would ever use it since I’ve gone 80 years without it.

“Gelid first appeared in English late in the 16th century, coming to our language from Latin gelidus, which ultimately derives from the noun gelu, meaning "frost" or "cold." (The noun gelatin, which can refer to an edible jelly that undergoes a cooling process as part of its formation, comes from a related Latin word: gelare, meaning "to freeze.") Gelid is used to describe anything of extremely cold temperature (as in "the gelid waters of the Arctic Ocean"), but the word can also be used figuratively to describe a person with a cold demeanor (as in "the criminal's gelid stare").

Examples of GELID

"A fleet of military aircraft and navy and merchant ships continue searching the gelid waters north of Antarctica for a Chilean Air Force cargo plane that went missing on Monday evening with 38 people on board." — Pascale Bonnefoy and Austin Ramzy, The New York Times, 11 Dec. 2019

"Back at school, January is gelid. The roads around campus are two inches deep in slush left behind from a New Year's Day snowstorm." — Koren Zailckas, Smashed, 2005

Latin and typing were the most useful classes I ever had in high school.  Every job I ever had and all during my retirement (now 20 years) I have appreciated what I learned then.

Sunday, December 20, 2020

The science of doing something, anything

"Biden and other leaders claim to be following “the science,” but that obviously doesn’t include the research showing the high costs and low benefits of lockdowns and school closures. Closing schools was a dubious move in the spring, when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned that it would likely do little to stem the pandemic (and noted that school closings in other countries had failed to make a discernible impact). Today it makes even less sense in light of the accumulated evidence."



After analyzing 23 countries and 25 U.S. states with widely varying policies, Andrew Atkeson of UCLA and fellow economists found that the mortality trend was similar everywhere once the disease took hold: the number of daily deaths rose rapidly for 20 to 30 days, and then fell rapidly.

Insufficient data, and the science of pandemics

". . . The CDC declares that “there are insufficient data to recommend either for or against the use of vitamin D [to control the pandemic].”

Somehow, though, the “insufficient data” problem disappeared when it came to lockdowns and mask mandates. Before the pandemic, the official expert consensus was against those measures, but the consensus was promptly discarded in the hope that these sacrifices might help. The evidence since then could easily be called insufficient, given the lack of randomized studies and the inconvenient data showing that places with lockdowns didn’t fare any better than the places without strict measures. And given what has emerged about the minuscule rate of transmission in outdoor settings, you could certainly say there’s insufficient evidence to order people to stay inside their homes or to mandate masks outdoors. . .  

It’s not surprising that groups with disproportionately high rates of Covid mortality are also prone to vitamin D deficiency: African-Americans and other minorities, the obese, residents of nursing homes and other elderly people. Levels of vitamin D tend to decline with age, and because the vitamin is synthesized in the body by exposure to sunlight, people tend to have lower levels if they spend less time outdoors or have darker skin that absorbs less ultraviolet radiation from the sun."

 Pandemic Penitents | City Journal (city-journal.org)

And now we're in a second wave, and possibly a mutation that will be moving much faster so we'll just do more of what hasn't been working. So, the more we stay inside, the less sun and less Vitamin D, and the more depression from lack of sun and lack of socializing.  So, the experts tell us to do more of what's killing us.





There are no peer review articles supporting wearing a mask for Covid19, but there are many for using Vitamin D.

There's a skills gap, but the myth is racism

"Black students never catch up to their white and Asian peers [8th grade proficiency tests]. There aren’t many white-collar professions where possessing partial mastery of basic reading and math will qualify one for employment. The SAT measures a more selective group of students than the NAEP, but even within that smaller pool of college-intending high school students, the gaps remain wide. On the math SAT, the average score of blacks in 2015 was 428 (on an 800-point scale); for whites, it was 534, and for Asians it was 598—a difference of nearly a standard deviation between blacks and whites, and well over a standard deviation between blacks and Asians. The tails of the distribution were even more imbalanced, according to the Brookings Institution. Blacks made up 2 percent of all test takers with a math SAT between 750 and 800. Sixty percent of those high scorers were Asian, and 33 percent were white. Blacks were 35 percent of all test takers with scores between 300 and 350. Whites were 21 percent of such low scorers, and Asians 6 percent." The Bias Fallacy | City Journal (city-journal.org)

I looked at the charts, and by the way, the white students never catch up to their Asian peers either.

If all these liberal and leftist organizations from non-profits to universities to big tech are looking for black people to fill positions of responsibility and high skills, there will not be enough people to go around based on testing, except by continually adding "people of color" who are immigrants or visiting foreign scholars. 

Zoom--will there be more to come?

 I'd been concerned about how dependent American churches had become on Zoom.  Hate to see this story about infiltration by Communist China.

Zoom employee was Chinese spy who shut down anti-China video - TheBlaze

Zoom helped China suppress U.S. calls about Tiananmen, prosecutors allege - The Washington Post

FAQ on Zoom Security Issues - The Citizen Lab

Zoom’s Waiting Room Vulnerability - The Citizen Lab

"Zoom and other providers have experienced breakneck growth as people around the world get used to working from home and communicating with family and friends online.

For Zoom, that growth has also revealed security vulnerabilities and a relationship with China that had at least one conservative pundit calling for a boycott.

"Stop using Zoom immediately," said Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk in a tweet. "Any tech company that aligns with China must be ex-communicated from our country. The Chinese Communist Party is using Zoom as a way to spy on our citizens." " Politifact

Things you didn't need to know about the movie Hoosiers

 My husband was a Hoosier in high school (Arsenal Technical High School) and knew well the story about little Milan High school winning the state championship in basketball in 1954.  In those days all schools competed against each other, not just schools their own size. 1954 State Champions - Milan Indians - Milan 1954 Museum (milan54.org)  So when the movie Hoosiers came out in 1987, we of course had to see it, and have watched it many times.  It also makes it more interesting that Duke Low, one of Bob's high school buddies has a small part in it.  It goes by so fast, I can never catch it, however.  Duke has been active in community theater most of his adult life and we see him at reunions.

"A Million Movies" is a series narrated by Jeff Terrel and if you are even just an ordinary, once a year movie goer, you'll enjoy the behind the scenes peek at the movies you've forgotten. Here's "Fifteen things you didn't need to know about Hoosiers" https://youtu.be/10ZJHLm-0NU  A really great underdog story.

A fan of the movie and the series writes in the comments: "My son and I went to visit as many filming locations from Hoosiers in June of 2019. My son just graduated high school and he and I love the movie. The main gym is a tourist attraction in Knightstown, IN. One of the playoff games’ gym is at Saint Phillip Neri School, in Indianapolis. This gym has not been preserved well. Butler field house, where the state championship was filmed, is exceptional, and the Cafe was in New Richmond, Indiana. Another playoff gym is in Lebanon, Indiana. That gym is part of a senior living facility. The old Hugh school has been converted, and other living corridors have been constructed. If it had not for the head maintenance man, we would not had been able to play on it. This gentleman, and everyone we met in Indiana, were unbelievably kind and welcoming to their Texas visitors. It was so cool to visit those sites."

Watching the Cheddar channel

I've seen the Cheddar app scroll by on my screen, so today I decided to try it.  Sunday is not a regular news day, so I don't know how typical it is.  It was offering a subscription to a service called Curiosity Stream. I came in the middle showing how a change in type face saved the New York transit system--Helvetica, one of my husband's favorite fonts.  But it went on to discuss LEGEND which has been studies to show improvement in reading speed.  I don't need an additional service, have too much TV now, but some good documentaries would certainly be a relief from some of the distasteful, overly sexualized and violent offerings. How the NYC Subway Was Saved By a Typeface on Cheddar 

CuriosityStream to Go Public via Reverse Merger Deal on Cheddar

As seen on Cheddar--why is all the Great Christmas music from the 40s and 50s  https://youtu.be/4bK1inqVb_Y 


I've always thought "I'll be home for Christmas" (1943) is the saddest of all holiday songs.


Corona virus mutation

 "Health officials have announced a new coronavirus mutation that has been discovered in the UK, which seems to be spreading quickly in some parts of England."

I was watching Israeli TV this morning (i24) and one of the big stories was that a fast spreading mutation of the Covid19 has been found in England.  Israel has closed out tourists from that area, and is imposing new lockdowns.  I think the virus laughs at lockdowns and masks, and particularly is making fools of the Democrats who spread the hoax that the deaths and numbers on the increase are President's Trump fault.  Other countries are having the same problems, but the Trump haters used the virus to "impeach" him because he is such a threat to the entrenched politicians and bureaucracy.  

A new coronavirus mutation was discovered that’s spreading rapidly – BGR

England COVID Mutation 'Out of Control' Health Secretary Says (msn.com)

Israel to ban people entering from 3 countries due to new UK strain - DeasileX

Saturday, December 19, 2020

No surprise to me--it was McCain who leaked

I've seen several news sources--all conservative--carry the story about McCain's leak.  

"newly declassified text messages from former FBI agent Peter Strzok indicate that McCain leaked the infamous 'dirty dossier' to legendary journalist Carl Bernstein."

No  big surprise, the Democrat media, the so called mainstream media are ignoring the story.  The Democrats hated McCain until he turned against the President in the battle over Obamacare, and then suddenly he became a war hero, again. When he was campaigning against Obama in 2008, they even had a whisper campaign against his adopted daughter as a "love child."  So of course, the President is on a twitter rage.
  • Trump vented his fury at late Senator John McCain in a tweet late on Wednesday
  • He was responding to the release of newly declassified texts from Peter Strzok
  • Former FBI agent Strzok led the Bureau's Russian collusion investigation in 2016
  • Texts with his FBI lover reveal probe may have opened earlier that admitted
  • Also say that McCain leaked British ex-spy Christopher Steele's 'dirty dossier'
  • A McCain aide previously testified that he handed off the dossier to journalists
  • Watergate legend Bernstein's byline was on the CNN story revealing the dossier 


The only way the MSM can get the story out is to focus first on McCain's daughter (who can't deny it), but is understandably supportive of her father's meanness. Meghan McCain Tells Trump 'You Still Obsess over My Dad' after He Calls Him 'Overrated' (msn.com)


Are you sick of theories, studies, and guesses about Covid19?

 This one is about Vitamin D levels. 

New Study Found 80% of COVID-19 Patients Were Vitamin D Deficient (healthline.com)

  • A new study that looked at 216 people with COVID-19 found that 80 percent didn’t have adequate levels of vitamin D in their blood.
  • The study also found that people who had both COVID-19 and lower vitamin D levels also had a higher number of inflammatory markers such as ferritin and D-dimer, which have been linked to poor COVID-19 outcomes.
  • A different study found that COVID-19 patients who had adequate vitamin D levels had a 51.5 percent lower risk of dying from the disease and a significant reduced risk for complications.
  • Medical experts theorize that maintaining adequate vitamin D levels may help lower risk or aid recovery from severe COVID-19 for some people, though more testing is needed.

Are there still rational Democrats?

 Asked Mike Huckabee in today's newsletter

"In recent weeks, Rep. Gabbard has backed bills to protect girls’ sports from males claiming they’re female, to bar abortions of babies that have developed to the point of being able to feel pain and to require doctors to give a base level of care to babies born alive during abortion procedures. Not long ago, all three of those measures would have struck the average American as unnecessary because how could anyone in their right mind think that a boy who claims to feel like a girl really was a girl, that doctors shouldn’t give life-saving care to any newborn baby, or that babies in late stages of development should be allowed to be butchered in the womb?

Unfortunately, we've not talking about people in their right minds, we're talking about people with left minds. Today, the Democratic Party has become so radical in its embrace of transgenderism and abortion that Rep. Gabbard is being vilified by the left for tiptoeing even one inch outside their approved circle of insanity.

Rep. Gabbard was a guest on my TBN show when she was running for President and being treated very badly by her own Party (that claims to stand up for women, but only certain women with certain beliefs.) We disagree on most issues, but we had a friendly conversation about things on which we found common ground. I’m sure she was vilified by the left just for talking to me, too.

It’s long been said that a conservative is a liberal who got mugged. I’m hoping and praying that Rep. Gabbard, if she stays in the Democratic Party at all, represents the start of a coming awakening and revolt by Democrats with common sense who are tired of having their grasp of reality mugged by radical left insanity."

I thought Gabbard was a three time winner in the primaries--a female, minority veteran.  But it wasn't to be so, instead we got a senile old white guy with 40+ years in the biz (and now compromised by his China connections) and an Indian-Jamaican American with a very bad record as a prosecutor that not even 1% of Democrats wanted in the primary, so she called them all racists.  Well, Mike, I hope you're right.  It would be good to see some sanity.

Mom's Meat and Potato Quiche

 I was looking through my box of handwritten recipes the other day, and saw, "copied from Mom 1990" Meat and Potato Quiche.  So I decided to try it today because I had all the ingredients.  It's in the oven now, but I don't have great hopes for it.  It uses shredded potatoes for the crust, and I'd forgotten that potatoes are very watery and turn pink when shredded.  Directs say, press them into a 9" pie dish, bake for 15 minutes at 425 then add the meat, cheese and egg mixture, then put it back in the oven for 30 minutes.  I could see immediately that the egg/milk liquid seeped through the crust, so I expect a very difficult clean up.

Meanwhile, I checked the internet, and found several versions of this, and finally one that was an exact match.  Yes, watery potatoes, and liquid seeps through!  But one comment said, "Exactly like 'More with Less Cookbook,' and I know Mom liked that.  So I got mine out, and checked.  Exact match.  You can use diced chicken, ham or sausage, and I used some of the Thanksgiving turkey.  Taste test will be later.

Meat & Potato Quiche Recipe - Food.com

Doris Janzen Longacre wrote "More with less" cookbook and also "Living more with less." She was a Mennonite missionary.  I wrote about this cookbook at my blog in 2014.  She was my age and died when she was 39, but her cookbook sold over a million copies. In the 70s we thought if we had/ate less, we some how would help people who were poor with few material goods.  We know now, that isn't how it works. Life for the poor is improved when they have viable jobs and a decent government. One that doesn't abuse them.  Being careful with money, calories and nutrition is its own reward. Better health and less stress.  At that 2014 blog I included this, "Life is too short," which sounds like her philosophy and she might have written it, however the link is broken, so I can't tell for sure. But it was definitely my philosophy as a young mother in the 1970s. And life is too short to spend time tracking down obscure and broken links (although I do it often) in your 80s.

Life is too short to ice cakes; cakes are good without icing.
Life is too short to read all the church periodicals.
Life is too short not to write regularly to your parents.
Life is too short to eat factory baked bread.
Life is too short to keep all your floors shiny.
Life is too short to let a day pass without hugging your spouse and each of your children.
Life is too short to nurse grudges and hurt feelings.
Life is too short to worry about getting ready for Christmas; just let Christmas come.
Life is too short to spend much money on neckties and earrings.
Life is too short for nosy questions like "How do you like your new pastor?" Or—if there’s been a death—"How is he taking it?"
Life is too short to be gone from home more than a few nights a week.
Life is too short not to take a nap when you need one.
Life is too short to care whether purses match shoes or towels match bathrooms.
Life is too short to stay indoors when the trees turn color in fall, when it snows, or when the spring blossoms come out.
Life is too short to miss the call to worship on a Sunday morning.
Life is too short for bedspreads that are too fancy to sleep under.
Life is too short to work in a room without windows.
Life is too short to put off Bible study.
Life is too short to put off improving our relationships with the people we live with.

So maybe I'll browse some more in that cookbook. . . and think about Mom.

Here's another blog written by someone else. Life-Changing Cookbooks: More-with-Less - Paste (pastemagazine.com)

15 minutes later: Taste test. Not ready for prime time; glad I didn't try this one for company brunch.




You'll be back, a musical parody

 https://youtu.be/CFduNE4pXAQ

This parody was written by Lonnie Lacy, an Episcopal priest living in south Georgia. Behind the Hamilton Video – GOD NEARBY (lonnielacy.com)  I thought it was very well done, and he heard from many about how it had helped in a bad time.  It has had over a million views, but I missed it earlier, so here it is.

The ending where he replaces the hymnals and communion elements made me  teary.

The President's Christmas Message

 https://youtu.be/XIIP6Tq_iqk

For Christians, this is a joyous time to remember God's greatest gift to the world. More than two thousand years ago, the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary. He said, ‘Do not be afraid, you have found favor with God.’ The angel told her that she would give birth to a baby boy, Jesus, who would be called the Son of the Most High. Nine months later, Christ was born in the town of Bethlehem. The Son of God came into the world in a humble stable.

As Christians everywhere know, the birth of our Lord and Savior changed history forever. At Christmas, we give thanks to God and that God sent his only Son to die for us and to offer everlasting peace to all humanity. More than two millennia after the birth of Jesus Christ, his teachings continue to inspire and uplift billions and billions of people all over the globe. His Divine word still fills our hearts with hope and faith. And, Christians everywhere still strive to live by Jesus' timeless commandment to his disciples, ‘Love one another.’   Dec. 3 National Christmas Tree lighting

You are not alone--New Book by Roger D. Blackwell, Ph.D.

How do you survive birth as a still-born baby in the Missouri Ozarks, learn hard work as a kid on the farm, and obtain a college education without debt or money from parents?  Those are just a few of the topics in a new book by Dr. Roger Blackwell, You Are Not Alone and Other Lessons a Teacher Learned from Parents, Professors, and 65,000 Students (Union Hill Publishers, 2020).

After studying at Northwest Missouri State and the University of Missouri, Dr. Blackwell received a Ph.D. from Northwestern University before becoming Professor at The Ohio State University in the Fisher College of Business and the College of Medicine.  At Ohio State, he taught Marketing and Consumer Behavior in mega sections of 1,000 students per quarter as well as courses in Quantitative Research, Thanatology and Black Business Studies.  His 65,000 students over 40 years at Ohio State is believed to be more than any other U.S. professor.  He also co-authored Consumer Behavior, a pioneering textbook used throughout the world in multiple languages and editions.  His previous 39 books were about business and economics but his new book You Are Not Alone is about lessons from life observed over many decades teaching and researching on six continents.  Among lessons he learned at an early age was how get an education while working part-or full-time and how to buy a rental property at age 16 and use it to finance graduate education.

While a graduate student at Northwestern, he also learned the answer to what he considers the most important question anyone can ask, Does God Exist? In You Are Not Alone, he explains how to answer that question along with many other lessons from his early life in Missouri, near death experiences, and teaching on six continents.

You Are Not Alone also describes how after retiring from the university, he was sentenced to a Federal Correctional Institution where he tutored hundreds of inmates to receive a GED, and learned lessons about a nation that can only be learned in prison. He found helping inmates prepare for a better life after their release was just as rewarding as placing hoods on Ph.D. students in universities.  Before prison, Blackwell defended God; in prison, he learned to depend on God.   While in prison, Blackwell also began writing Saving America: How Garage Entrepreneurs Grow Small Firms into Large Fortunes, his other recent book describing how to start and grow a successful business, also published by Union Hill.

Blackwell now lives in Columbus, Ohio where he continues his career serving on boards of private organizations and teaches business seminars in the U.S. and other nations. You Are Not Alone and Other Lessons a Teacher Learned from Parents, Professors and 65,000 Students is available from Amazon and other booksellers and his website www.rogerblackwellbusiness.com.    

Friday, December 18, 2020

We remember, Joe—author unknown

Here is my little bitty small issue with the whole "let us all be the United States” again, from Joe Biden.

For the last 4+ years, the Democrats have gone scorched earth on the Republican party.

You have salted the fields and now you want to grow crops.

The problem is we have memories longer than a hamster.

We remember the protests the day of/after the inauguration.

We remember the 4 years of vicious personal attacks.

We remember “not our president” and the “Resistance…”

We remember being called racist and evil.

We remember Maxine Walters telling followers to harass Trump supporters in department stores and gas stations.

We remember the President's press secretary being chased out of a restaurant.

We remember hundreds of Trump supporters being physically attacked.

We remember Trump supporters getting Doxed, and fired from jobs.

We remember riots, looting, and desecrating statues.

We remember  a liberal "comedian” holding up the President’s severed head.

We remember a play in Central Park paid with public funding, showing the killing of President Trump.

We remember Robert de Niro yelling “F..k Trump” at the Tony’s and getting a standing ovation.

We remember Trump being accused of being a Russian spy and the media going with it.

We remember Nancy Pelosi tearing up the State of the Union Address.

We remember how totally in the tank the mainstream media was in opposition.

We remember the non-stop and live fact-checking on our President and his supporters.

We remember non-stop in your face lies and open cover-ups from the media.

We remember the partisan impeachment.

We remember the President and his staff being spied on.

We remember Republican congressmen shot on a ball field.

We remember every so-called comedy show turn into nothing but a Trump ridicule and hate-fest.

We remember 95% negative coverage in the news.

We remember the state governors asking for and getting everything they wanted to address Covid19, then blaming Trump for the pandemic.

We remember leftists threatening outside the homes of prominent Republicans.

We remember the attempted destruction of Brett Kavanaugh and his family.

We remember people pounding on the Supreme Court doors.

We remember that we were called every name in the book for supporting President Trump.

We remember many in Hollywood said they would 'leave this country' after Trump was elected and then, like the hypocrites they are, they stayed.                             

We remember a President who built the strongest economy this country had ever seen, the lowest unemployment rate, and a record low unemployment rate for Blacks and Hispanics, in spite of continued lack of cooperation from the Democratic Party.

This list is endless, but you get the idea.

My friends will be my friends, but a party that has been attacking for 4 long years does not get a free pass with me

.....So, Joe Biden, take your "let’s be united" and shove it

The Trump enemies still blame him . . . for Europe?

A “widespread and intense” surge in COVID infections in Europe has forced authorities to make an extraordinary plea to residents this Christmas.

Coronavirus Europe: Desperate plea for virus-riddled continent (news.com.au)

"The WHO’s European region is made up of 53 countries and includes Russia and several countries in Central Asia, a region that has registered more than 22 million cases of the new coronavirus and close to 500,000 deaths.

In the last seven days, nearly 1.7 million new cases have been recorded, as well as more than 34,500 deaths.

As a second wave of the novel coronavirus is sweeping over the continent, many countries have once again introduced tough measures to curb the spread."

Appreciating a haven for those who’ve left the Democrats

There’s a movement afoot to “walkaway” from the Democrat party.  Some of the millions who have done it have personal reasons—they were rejected by friends and family for asking sensible questions about the goals of the party. This was an interesting, well written posting on Facebook.

“You know, one thing I really grew to appreciate over the last election season was reading the #walkaway stories. They were from everywhere. They were the classic tapestry that is America. They were from all walks of life, races, creeds, faith experiences and sexual orientations. The common thread is that they wanted to stand together in the goal of betterment for all.

75 million people chose to stand together. You will never convince me that anywhere near that number hung together as a coalition for Biden/Harris Basement Campaign and if they did, they were not paying attention to the back door deals that were being made along the way. I love you all [members of the Walkaway movement].  I pray blessings on each of you.

But just know that this election was about so much more than Trump. It was about deposing Washington Swamp Politics. They tried everything in their power to get rid of Trump because he did not play by their rules. I wish he had tweeted less. Gosh, I wish someone had taken away his phone.  But he got a lot of important things done. If you don’t agree, no need to educate me. I actually read a lot. The truth is, Hillary was “supposed” to win and Trump got in their way. They fought and challenged and subverted and lied and impeached to no avail for 4 years.

Then they made sure they cheated well enough to claim a victory for a man whose rallies could not draw flies. Although the courts have turned away cases, they have not disputed the cheating. They have only refused to make a ruling. The courts are not going to do that. So between now and January 20, 2021, I hope President Trump will continue to press forward and fight the good fight. He has cut taxes, secured our borders, strengthen trade agreement , implemented tariffs, strengthened funding for HBCU’s, spearheaded a COVID mobilization that has us months if not years beyond what the naysayers told us. He brokered many peace deals and has been nominated for 3 Nobel Peace Prizes.

The left will be pressing Joe to undo everything. And yeah, that makes me sad. I’ve always identified as Republican, but I have realized after this cycle that R’s and D’s are not that different. You just pick the lesser of the evils and pray they don’t sell you out as soon as their office is assigned to them. And the media are Oh ever so willing to feed you the Company line. Their 6 to 7 figure salaries are secure so long as they read the appropriate talking points. They call people like myself names, say we’re stupid and uninformed, all the while, covering up the fact that the only Russia collusion was Democrat purchased, the only Ukrainian scandal which led to the impeachment mess was about Hunter and the media covered that up.

And this is what makes me sad. When you read the Walkaway stories, they were people who saw the power of unity as Americans voting for the love of One Country United. They were able to set aside their difference for love of Country. They didn’t like the idea of violent summers and freedoms compromised. Nothing scary. Just a lot of people working together to make things better for us all. So although I always saw myself as a Walkwith, I guess I am a Walkaway, too. My heart breaks for what we are losing and what should have been. God help us. I really pray please God, help us. This was a moment in time when we had a chance to improve the lives of so many and it was stolen. It breaks my heart. It really does. (Stanla Finley)