Illegal Immigration--where Bush and Obama were joined at the hip

However, whereas amnesty hurt Bush with his constituency, it helps Obama. So he just commanded it like any petty dictator who wanted cheap votes and even cheaper labor.

"Facing a difficult reelection climate, and frustrated by the inability of his party to move immigration reform legislation through the Congress, Obama has decided to simply ignore existing federal law requiring deportation of illegal aliens in custody. He has decreed that hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants who would otherwise be subject to mandatory deportation, will be permitted to stay in the United States; including many illegals currently enrolled in schools."

Immigration Dispute Has Constitutional Undertones | The Barr Code

Today is G-Day

The last of my hair color will be cut off this morning. It was a shock to me when my mother, aunt, sister, etc. went for the natural look. I felt like I'd aged. My husband and daughter both suggested I go blonde, which brown fades to anyway, but I never really cared for that look. Deborah says she loves saving the money. So, we'll see--if I don't like it I can always go back to color.

Brown, 2007

Blonde, 2003

Brown, 1981

Brown, 1971

Brown, 1964

Ask Amy: Husband’s crisis throws wife a curveball

It's really naive for a wife left behind to assume "no other woman is involved" after the husband decides to leave after 30 years. Wake up and smell the coffee, lady. Or maybe it's another man. But something doesn't pass the sniff test here.

Ask Amy: Husband’s crisis throws wife a curveball - The Washington Post

Did you evolve from slime, ooze and sludge?

Here's what the guys who think you did, think of you if you believe the Bible (In the beginning God. . .; In the beginning was the Word. . .; He is before all things. . . ; Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation?. . . ):

"It is very troubling to think that with all the billions of dollars we have spent on "education" that we have so may uneducated people. It's even more troubling to think about how the trillions of dollars wasted on religious "stuff" (buildings and properties, salaries, lawsuit settlements, velvet slippers and gold chapeaux, etc., etc.) could have been better served invested in new technology, basic research, infrastructure construction and maintenance, "real" education, social services, etc.). Shameful foolishness."

Found at a "science" blog comment.

Late July Organic Dark Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

I picked up two boxes of these dark chocolate sandwich cookies at Giant Eagle today. Oh my, they are just as good as I'd hoped they would be.

Ingredients: Organic wheat flour, organic evaporated cane juice, organic palm oil, organic powdered evaporated cane juice with organic corn starch, organic whole wheat flour, organic cocoa, organic cocoa (processed with alkali), organic chocolate liquor, organic cocoa butter, organic brown rice syrup, organic evaporated cane juice syrup organic roasted barley, organic vanilla extract, sodium bicarbonate, soy lecithin, sea salt and natural flavors.

Other bits of information from the box: We are family owned and operated and all our products are certified USDA Organic (Steve, Nicole & Family). Logos for USDA Organic (green and white), whole grain (gold) and Vegan (white).

On box: (Cardboard box, plastic tray and foil wrap.) Produced without dangerous pesticides. No trans fats or high fructose corn syrup. No artificial flavors, colors or preservatives. Kosher and Vegan. Antioxidants. 2 g whole grains per serving (3 cookies, 33 g).

The name (Late July): “Late July is a moment in time when life is simple, pure and good. It’s watching your child laughing and playing with his dog on the beach. It’s the middle of summer when you’re knee deep in sand castles and problems are a million miles away. . . A constant reminder that our ingredients need to be a special and pure as the moments they represent.

Remember ladies, dark chocolate is good for you!

Erie Spirit Sailing

If you like to sail, and didn't bring your sailboat, you can rent the experience with Captain Jim. captainjim at lakeeriesail dot com. My husband, his friends Jim and Eric, and Eric's brother David did just that earlier in the summer. Captain Jim was my husband's sailing instructor some years ago. I'd won sailing lessons in a pie contest, but wasn't interested, so my husband used them. He loved it!

English is a strange language

"Underserved populations" is the term used for groups for which researchers and politicians get government grants, so there may be lack of resources somewhere, but "underserved" they aren't. There are special programs to track them down to offer them more entitlements.

"Bloombito" is a Twitter acount which ridicules Mayor Bloomberg's attempts to woo the Spanish speaking population of NYC with the worst Spanish you've ever heard.

"Public servant" is a government employee who may earn 3x more than a private sector employee who pays his salary.

"Family balancing" is aborting the female fetus through sex selection.

"Intellectual disability" is a new term used by those wordsmiths who gave up on "mentally retarded" and "developmentally disabled," but the word intellectual used to have some snob appeal and usually meant people at the other end of the IQ spectrum.

"Current thinking" is a sloppy euphemism that usually throws out what was current 3-4 years ago, but it it used rather than citing the document.

"Adopt a pet" is something you do when you can't give birth to one.

"Reality TV" is completely unreal.

"Food insecurity" has replaced "hunger" because not enough people were hungry to fund 25 programs and all the government workers dependent on them.

"Food stamps"--we don't have them anymore, they are now SNAP, supplemental nutrition assistance program, and I think it's a plastic card.

Ratio Of Takers To Givers Reaches A Tipping Point

Minimum wage increases hurt blacks the most. Larry Elder

Economist Milton Friedman called minimum-wage regulations among the "most anti-black" laws on the books. Why? A disproportionate number of blacks are unskilled and, therefore, are disproportionately harmed when laws force employers to pay more than the market value of labor.

Ratio Of Takers To Givers Reaches A Tipping Point - Investors.com

Uncle Omar and Aunt Zeituni

President Obama has at least 2 relatives living in the United States illegally. When it was first revealed right before the election of 2008, President Bush, always soft on illegal immigration anyway, tried to play the nice guy, not that it was ever appreciated.

Bush administration officials ordered immigration authorities across the country to halt all deportation enforcement actions until after the campaign season was over. An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) source familiar with Western field offices told me at the time: "The ICE fugitive operations group throughout the U.S. was told to stand down until after the election from arresting or transporting anyone out of the U.S. This was done to avoid any mistakes of deporting or arresting anyone who could have a connection to the election, i.e., anyone from Kenya who could be a relative. The decision was election-driven."

Now, we know there was at least one other Obama deportation fugitive hiding in plain view who benefited from the freeze.

More damningly, we know that both Republican and Democratic administrations continue to play politics with homeland security while paying lip service to the 9/11 dead.

America's Uncle Omar Problem - Page 2 - Michelle Malkin - Townhall Conservative

Kurt Cobain lunchbox

It's in the 90s today, but I decided to bike up to the train station (Lakeside, OH) for the Archives sale. On my way there I looked at the last hill and decided it was too hot, so I turned around, and as I did, I saw the sign that said it was at South Auditorium rather than the Train Station, so I was already there. Nothing much to interest me, but maybe the good stuff was gone. I thought everything was over priced, using the Volunteers of America store as my guide. I did see a Kurt Cobain lunchbox ($3.00)that really puzzled me. I tried to imagine who in the 1990s would have bought a kid a lunchbox like that. When I got home I googled it (mainly to see what the going rate was). It wasn't issued until 2006 or 2007 when his widow, Courtney Love, sold the rights to some songs and his image. Probably only women bought such an item, and showed it off at work once or twice then put it away.

So I read through his biography. What a sad, sad, empty life. Proof, if you needed it, that money can't make a person happy who's taken a bad situation and made it worse with drugs.

On e-bay someone wanted $50.00 for a Kurt Cobain lunchbox. Good luck--it's going for $3 in Lakeside, and even then, had no takers.

We love Brenda as The Closer

We've been fans of TNT's The Closer since it began in June 2005. It's now in it's 7th and final season, and we're watching the first season on DVD on our new digital TV at our lake house. We don't have cable here, so we're watching one episode an evening, and on Monday nights we go to a neighbors to see last week's and this week's episodes. I've seen some of these episodes several times, and now I can just watch for the humor and team building, watching Brenda's team come together after first resenting her. In the first season we get to watch her and Fritz fall in love; how she got her crazy house; how she came to acquire kitty; why she is always lost; and her addiction to junk food.

Unfortunately, Mr. James Duff (story coordinator), we also see certain themes from the very beginning--favorites of Hollywood: 1) anti-religion, particularly Christianity, but there's nothing kind about Muslims either; 2) sensitivity to gay issues, but with almost vicious reality about gays being the perps as well as the victims; 3) guys as slime balls (except Fritz) when it comes to sex, and women being powerful and smart; 4) southern stereotypes from Brenda's oozing "thank you," to her mother's solicitous, hovering behavior; presenting the right political spectrum in the most unflattering roles possible while not making them either the perp or the victim--just hauling them in for questioning so they can be mouthpieces for the hostility of the writers and producers (nothing similar for the left or socialist view--afterall, that IS Hollywood); people within the legal system, lawyers, police, DAs, private investigators, etc. as criminals. Much of this we'd come to expect on Law and Order--which was particularly hostile to conservatives and Christians, but had good story lines.

Still, even understanding how Hollywood sees those of us in fly-over country as soggy Tea Bags, I'd like to see a little respect once in a while. We pay cable bills too, and buy advertised products. Brenda Leigh Johnson and her crew are great--just too one dimensional and predictable in their dislike for American values.

Get over it!

The VFW is miffed that neither Obama nor Biden were going to attend their convention--they agreed to send "second tier" officials. Really? They did come in 2009 and 2010 as I understand it. How often do you think the guy can leave his golf game? Besides, you don't like him, and he doesn't like you. He's just not that into you. Get over it and move on. Be the big boy he isn't.

Advice to a young friend still in an ELCA congregation--get out while you can

The recent battle in ELCA was supposed to be about ordained ELCA gay pastors being released from the celibacy vow. The 2009 vote to OK "committed relationships" (it's been in play and voted down since 1988) won't stop there. Obviously, this inclusiveness conference your pastor is attending is the next step. And it won't stop with gay marriage or anything similar, because polygamy and sex with minors are waiting at the door for approval. Lutherans who mistakenly believe all this will go away if we are just "loving and accepting" of differences are badly mistaken. If it were me, I'd find a believing church while you are young enough to establish new friendships and outlets for service. Our new synod is North American Lutheran Church, headquartered at UALC--about 400 churches right now. It will grow, but ELCA is moving to make it more difficult for congregations to leave. Get out while you can.

Among Six Types Of Failure, Only A Few Help You Innovate

When I see the term FAILURE, my mind immediately strays to the Obama Administration. Fail early and often certainly seems to be their motto, although I'm not sure I see much innovation resulting from this, as the article (about computer design and problem solving) suggests. And even the examples the author gives for "abject failure"-- BP oil spill and the mortgage meltdown --haven't been failures, but rather golden opportunities, for BO. Yes, he appeared weak and ineffective, but he did manage to drive all those oil rigs into the deep water off other countries where they can't contribute to the U.S. economy, but can still spoil the oceans. And the collapsed housing market was just another reason to rachet up government regulations, one of the primary causes of that failure. These failures have contributed to his assuring us we just need more of the same, and for many voters on the left, that works. It's soothing and familiar.

Among Six Types Of Failure, Only A Few Help You Innovate | Co. Design

He must have gotten bad news from the doctor!

Today I saw a man jogging. Lots of people jog, but I've only seen this guy do two things, 1) sit on his porch, and 2) walk slowly around the block with his even slower dog looking for a yard to poop in. Now he's jogging? And sweating? Must have been told by the doctor that he needed to do some exercise.

Actually, I couldn't jog even if the doctor prescribed it. Besides walking is better for you and rarely damages the knees.

Week 11--Senior Venture Week at Lakeside

This week we're learning about notable Ohioans. Sunday night I watched a movie on the Wright Brothers, and yesterday I attended a program on Ohio Astronauts. I didn't know we had 24 astronauts! The speaker covered just a few of the highlights, like John Glenn, James Lovell, Judy Resnick (died in the Challenger explosion), Sanita Williams, and Neil Armstrong. I'd sort of forgotten what rock star celebrities these guys became. We got our babies up on the night of July 20, 1969 to watch the "first step".

But we learned that NASA isn't going away even though manned space flight (now called "crewed space flight" so as not to use the word man) is being discontinued. A young female employee giving her first presentation talked to us about her research in radioisotopes and about the Discovery Mission. There is still a lot going on.

I had no idea someone had written a song about the astronauts, but I found this on the internet.

Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins
were launched away in space
Millions of hearts were lifted,
proud of the human race
Space control at Houston, radio command
The team below that gave the go
they had God's helping hand.

Yes, it was a very proud time for Americans.

Get the shingles vaccine!

Are you an older adult (over 50)? For your own sake, get the shingles (herpes zoster) vaccine--even if your insurance doesn't cover it! A friend of ours is suffering so, and it is needless. Shingles is like sleeping on a bed of poison ivy times 100. You won't die, but you may wish to!

Desperate for jobs boost, Obama taps labor economist

Really? This is what he spent his "vacation" working on? More of the same with Alan Krueger. ". . . advocated for hiring tax credits for businesses and increased government spending on infrastructure, two programs Obama aides are considering proposing this fall. There's a reason for this rut. 80% of people in government, at any level, have never held jobs in the private sector. They don't know that there's no hiring if you're being choked to death with regulation, red tape, and threats of higher health care costs.

Desperate for jobs boost, Obama taps labor economist for top White House post - The Washington Post

Nero in the White House

"Three significant historical events have been eclipsed by Obama: 1) Jimmy Carter will no longer be looked upon as the worst president in American history; 2) Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton will no longer be recognized as the greatest liars in presidential history; 3) Clinton's stain on Monica's dress, and what that did to White House in general and the office of the president specifically, will forever pale in comparison to the stain and stench of Obama."

Murray sent along this good read by Mychal Massie. I guess Massie is a racist?
Nero in the White House

Unequal Harm: Racial Disparities in the Employment Consequences of Minimum Wage Increases

Increases in minimum wage are very popular with politicians--Democrats run on it, and Republicans don't want to appear to be meanies, so they shuffle along and agree to it. But it is those in the lowest job ranks who get cut first as employers look for ways to save (it doesn't increase their income, you know). When Democrats took over both houses in 2007, it was the first step downward for the coming recession--hit employers hard, then the poor. And most of all, young and black. Unemployment in the current recession is about 25% for young white males without a high school diploma, but 50% for young blacks. But why?

The authors find that they’re more likely to be employed in eating and drinking places–nearly one out of three black young adults without a high school diploma works in the industry. Businesses in this industry generally have narrow profit margins and are more likely to be adversely impacted by a wage mandate. There’s also substantial variation in regional location, as black young adults are overwhelmingly located in the South and in urban areas.

Unequal Harm: Racial Disparities in the Employment Consequences of Minimum Wage Increases | EPI Study

Here's how one small businessman (RV parks in Arizona) handled the problem of a 41% increase in 2 years of minimum wage in a heavily labor intensive business. In his case, it was the retirees who were let go, a trade off of experience for younger, faster, healthier workers.