Hartstone Pottery of Zanesville, Ohio

http://www.americanmadeeverything.com/2012/03/27/hartstone-pottery/

Today I picked up a pretty bowl made by Hartstone at the Volunteers of America store for $1.91.  It’s small and decorated with vegetables, so I thought it might be fun to own.  I didn’t know anything about the company, but was interested to find it is made near by.

“Hartstone was first produced in 1976 in Chatham, New Jersey. Pat and Sharon Hart’s goal was to create beautiful, handcrafted quality articles for the preparation and presentation of food. Hartstone’s first product was the stoneware cookie mold.

In 1983 Mr. Hart moved his manufacturing facility to Zanesville, Ohio because of its known pottery heritage and the availability of a facility to expand his growing business. In 1983, Hartstone began producing hand-decorated gift and tableware.

Hartstone Pottery now operates in a building that was once operated by the JB Owens Pottery Company, built in 1902. This beautiful old post-and-beam building, fleeced in brick, shows the scars of many alterations, including that of fire.”  http://www.americanmadeeverything.com/2012/03/27/hartstone-pottery/

A woman makes it to the top

Cecile Richards is retiring from Planned Parenthood. Her legacy is 3.5 million lives ended. That probably makes her the most powerful woman in the crime archives of the world.

The black unemployment rate

The national unemployment rate for blacks in April 2018 was 6.6%, the lowest it has been since the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) started compiling such data in 1972, some 46 years ago. I'm not one who says Obama deserves no credit--the unemployment rate was normalizing the last year of his presidency. But I do say if he had been willing to cut regulations and taxes, the recession would have really been over, and instead of the artificial date of June 2009, it could have been the actual date. The "great recession" could have been as brief as the one President Bush inherited. But if he'd done that, if he'd done something to benefit employers and tax payers instead of the federal government, he would have been drummed out of his party, and there would have been no second term.

Also both the income and the employment rate isn’t the same for all blacks. Immigrant Africans and island blacks usually have incomes higher than American blacks.   Jamaican Americans have an income of almost a third higher than that of native born American blacks.  Even Haitian Americans have a higher income than American born blacks.

Balaam’s ass, Bartholomaeus Ziegenbalg, and Donald Trump

In my morning meditation time I’m reading through Kelly Kullberg’s book, A Faith and Culture Devotional for the third time.  Today’s selection is the one I find the most fascinating of all the marvelous stories in the book—“Ziegenbalg: India’s First Missionary.”

Here’s how the story of this incredible man of God begins: “When King Friedrich IV of Denmark suffered the death of his favorite mistress in 1704, he granted a longstanding petition from both his wife and his mother.  As reformist Lutheran Pietists, they wanted missionaries sent to his trading ports.  So began the journey to India of the first ever Protestant missionary, Bartholomaeus Ziegenbalg, age 23, from Halle in Germany.” This man is so honored by Indians for the changes he brought, he was honored in 2006 by the whole country. Think about it.  Death of a mistress of a king—request from his wife—sends a German pietist to India! It’s hard to get your mind around that.

http://www.bu.edu/missiology/missionary-biography/w-x-y-z/ziegenbalg-bartholomaus-1682-1719/

Balaam’s ass is a story from the Old Testament and mentioned in the New Testament about a false prophet name Balaam who was sent by Balak of the Moabites to cast evil on the Hebrews.  On the way, his donkey sees something—an angel--and refuses to move forward.  Balaam beat the animal, but the Lord spoke to Balaam through the ass. The donkey saw the angel, but Balaam didn’t.

https://www.thoughtco.com/balaam-and-the-donkey-bible-story-700077

So what’s  Christian to do when she sees and hears about Donald Trump’s strange/immoral behavior, yet he continues to do good for the country—like border protection, possible release of Americans from North Korea, and relief from burdensome taxes and regulations that hurt the middle class?  Is God speaking in ways we don’t expect?

Life in 1957

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6bHs8Vm3EQ&app=desktop
Part of a PBS series Making sense of the Sixties. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhV5CJsoQdg&list=PLl5jpZP-bgnm062FH0VVktr8zOveXLehI
The 1950s and after Sputnik   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlZRHBGlBJY
Rules in the 1950s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrYX9j3Tqzw

May 3 National Day of Prayer

Today we’ll not be attending any particular service, but will be at a funeral for a faithful servant of God who died at 94, so I know we’ll be bathed in prayer.  Here’s what I wrote six years ago.

“Prayer Breakfast at Upper Arlington Lutheran Church this morning: Bishop John Bradosky of the North American Lutheran Church hit it out of the ball park! A fantastic review of religion in America--the role of the Great Awakening, the beliefs of the founders, how the United States form of government is different than all others, that 94% of the founding documents were based on the Bible, that clergy and pastors had a huge role throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, including the founding of such important universities as Harvard and Columbia, that "separation of church and state" was intended to protect the church from being harassed by the state, not the other way around by keeping the church out of the public square, and that the change needs to begin not in the White House, or the state house, or the court house, but in the house of God! Wow.”

Why we have a Russian mess—President Obama

“Russia doesn't make anything. Immigrants aren't rushing to Moscow in search of opportunity. The life expectancy of the Russian male is around 60 years old. The population is shrinking. And so we have to respond with resolve in what are effectively regional challenges that Russia presents.” President Barack Obama, August 2014.

He was wrong on all three; what else didn’t he know about Russia? Combine this with what he said in 2012 to Romney, and what he whispered to the Russian president Medvedev off mic, and you can see what a loser we elected. In his defense, he probably didn’t know anything about Russia and was repeating what his advisors had told him.

https://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2014/08/barack-obama-talks-economist

Worse than we thought

"The wreckage of Barack Obama’s foreign policy is coming into focus. Syria: the “red line” fiasco, with hundreds of thousands killed. North Korea: a do-nothing policy that brought America’s West Coast perilously close to coming under nuclear threat. Iran: a deal that would have been foolish even if the mullahs hadn’t cheated, $100 billion and sanctions relief now, in exchange for promises that Iran could walk away from at will. We now know that the deal was even worse than that." John Hinderacker, Powerline

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2018/04/the-obama-disaster-and-the-tweet-of-the-day.php?

If the elections were this week

The attention span of voters is short--like 24-48 hours, but today these four things help the Republicans.

1) Michelle Wolf, sickening comedienne who revolted even Democrat journalists at the White House Correspondents Dinner;

2) the two Koreas meeting and shaking hands when Democrats had predicted WWIII;

3) busloads of central Americans demanding entrance at our borders, well fed and financed by the left;

4) realization by workers that taxes really are lower and Democrats lied again.

Right to life isn’t just about abortion

“Jacob Koehler, a senior from Springfield, Ohio, won the Ohio Right to Life Oratory Contest. The competition, which is held every spring in central Ohio, challenges high school juniors and seniors to write and present an original speech on the many issues pertaining to the right to life: abortion, infanticide, euthanasia or stem cell research. In his speech, Jacob focused on the life of his grandmother, who is currently struggling with Alzheimer's. He passionately spoke of how her life is still valuable, no matter how dependent on his family she might become.

"Jacob's speech was passionate, well-articulated, and really tugged at the heartstrings of the audience," said Mike Gonidakis, president of Ohio Right to Life. "It is crucial that the next generation is able to powerfully and persuasively communicate the pro-life cause. Ohio Right to Life is excited to send Jacob to the National Right to Life Contest where we are sure he will represent pro-life Ohio very well." “

https://www.ohiolife.org/jacob_koehler_wins_the_ohio_right_to_life_oratory_contest

Take care of your teeth

When I was a young child, health was sometimes combined with art at our school (we had no art classes in either Forreston or Mt. Morris) and we'd color special pages with messages--like "Take care of your teeth and they will take care of you." And it's true. Early and consistent care of teeth will greatly benefit you. Here's some good news. 75% of baby boomers will enter long-term care with most of their natural teeth. Very different from my parents or grandparents generation. My in-laws were in their 40s when I met them, and both had dentures. All sorts of health problems are linked to oral conditions. I still have all my teeth—even my wisdom teeth, but I had a close call with gingivitis in my 30s.  That can lead to periodontal disease which causes loss of connective tissue and bone.  It’s the leading cause of tooth loss.  So I needed surgery to correct it.  You don’t ever want that—very painful.  "The effects of oral health on systemic health," by Shawn F. Kane.  You'll be able to understand most of this.  https://www.agd.org/docs/default-source/self-instruction-(gendent)/gendent_nd17_aafp_kane.pdf

Making cocoa with honey

Hot Cocoa Recipe With Honey

Ingredients:

1-2 TBS (2 for a super chocolaty drink!) cacao powder

2 cups milk (we prefer using organic whole milk for a creamier hot cocoa drink)

3 TBS honey

pinch of salt

Optional additions:

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp peppermint extract

Directions:

Add all the ingredients into a saucepan in the order listed. Include any of the optional additions that you choose. Heat on medium heat and slowly whisk together as the milk warms. Make sure the milk doesn’t boil since you don’t want to scald it! Boiling the hot cocoa would also destroy some of the health benefits of using raw honey. Once the hot cocoa is hot and mixed well, remove from heat, pour into mugs and enjoy!

This is the recipe from my previous blog, but this is what I made.  I mixed 2 TBSP of cacao with 2TBSP of honey (purchased from a friend who has hives), mixed with 1 1/2 cups of hot decaf plus some whole milk and a smidgen of vanilla.  Tastes fine.

You can see my blogs on the benefits of chocolate.

http://collectingmythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/05/dark-chocolate-is-good-for-us.html

http://collectingmythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/02/habitual-chocolate-users-perform-better.html

http://collectingmythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/03/but-make-it-dark-chocolate.html

A month with no processed food

Can we do it? For the month of May we are giving up processed foods (my definition). So today we are finishing up the donuts and potato chips just to get a clean start. We're not milking cows or harvesting wheat here in the 'burbs, so some processing is allowed.

I couldn't figure out how to make our hot cocoa, but found a recipe for using honey. http://montanahomesteader.com/hot-cocoa-recipe-honey/ Of course, cacao is highly processed, but it's also very bitter along with having lots of health benefits, so you need a sweetener. I just might try this.

Supper tonight: ham, steamed fresh baby spinach, grilled bell peppers with onions and mushrooms, fresh fruit on skewers with some cheese.

We live in crazy times

Louie Gohmert on Robert Mueller

https://www.scribd.com/document/377409983/Gohmert-Mueller-UNMASKED#

“I was one of the few who were NOT surprised when Mueller started selecting his assistants in the Special Counsel’s office who had reputations for being bullies, for indicting people who were not guilty of the charges, for forcing people toward bankruptcy by running up their attorney’s fees (while the bullies in the Special Counsel’s office enjoy an apparently endless government budget), or by threatening innocent family members with prosecution so the Special Counsel’s victim would agree to pleading guilty to anything to prevent the Kafka-esque prosecutors from doing more harm to their families.”

On Mueller’s Five Year Up or Out Policy. . . which got rid of a lot of experienced FBI agents

“If an FBI Director has inappropriate personal vengeance in mind or holds an inappropriate prejudice such as those that infamously motivated Director J. Edgar Hoover, then the older, wiser, experienced agents were not around with the confidence to question or guide the Director away from potential misjudgment. I also cannot help but wonder if Mueller had not run off the more experienced agents, would they have been able to advise against and stop the kind of abuses and corruption being unearthed right now that occurred during the Obama administration.

Rather than admit that his Five Year Up or Out Policy was a mistake, Mueller eventually changed the policy to a Seven Year Up or Out Program.”

A movie for the #metoo movement

The Bill Cosby trial and #metoo movement brings to mind a great movie to watch this week-end, just as a refresher in guilt and complicity almost 60 years old. The Apartment (1960).

Jack Lemmon (Baxter) hands over his apartment key willingly to lechers in the firm so he can curry favor and advance in the company. Shirley MacLaine (Miss Kubelik) is the boss's mistress hoping to move up from elevator operator to being Mrs. Sheldrake, for whom Baxter provides the apartment for servicing Miss Kubelik. Fred MacMurray (Sheldrake) has no intention of leaving his wife and 2 kids as he makes the moves on at least 4-5 female employees out of 32,000 including his secretary Edie Adams (Miss Olsen) who after she's fired tells the real Mrs. Sheldrake what's happening at work. The only character even slightly innocent is Baxter's neighbor, Jack Kruschen, (Dr. Dreyfuss) and even he is ethically challenged for covering up Miss Kubelik's attempted suicide in the apartment.

Did none of these #metoo women watch movies? It got five Academy Awards.

Ethnicity vs. nationality

Sunday we celebrated with the Oromo Evangelical Church, which is part of our Lutheran synod. They had recently occupied a church building near Baltimore, Ohio with the financial help of our congregation and other Lutheran churches in central Ohio.  The Oromos are from Ethiopia. I saw many different skin tones and hair styles (and lovely Ethiopian fashions). In this YouTube video the speaker says her parents and grandparents are Ethiopian. But when she referred to herself as African in her video, she got push back from people who said she was too light. Her brother Noah is very dark. So she did a genetics test through National Geographic. 56% east African, about 28% Arabian, some Jewish diaspora (possibly from slavery days in Egypt), some Asia Minor and going way back--Kenya. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4a7Z8Q43cfw

If you keep looking through the sequence, there are several people sharing Ethiopian genetics tests on YouTube. I saw one from UK, and one from Canada.  They too said people had told them they weren’t African because they were too light.

Kanye and Trump

Although I don't think Kanye's remarks were political or economic (I think it was plain old friendship), the Democrats are deathly afraid of economic revitalization for American blacks. If Trump succeeds, they could possibly lose a locked down voting block. He must be stopped, even if the rising middle class will be hurt. Electing black politicians has never helped black citizens; education, strong families, and creation of businesses has always been the way. Many of our largest cities have powerful political machines from the black population, and still the city struggles. Government can help families with a safety net for hard times, but as a wealth builder, government only builds that for politicians.

The New Yorker called it “galling.”  Vox was inside out about it. Rolling Stone said they are “made for each other.” Huffpo claims Kanye is being erratic and outrageous.  Get over yourselves, leftists.

The importance of relationships in our health

Inheriting good genes and taking care of your body are important, but "Close relationships, more than money or fame, are what keep people happy throughout their lives, the [80 year] study revealed. Those ties protect people from life’s discontents, help to delay mental and physical decline, and are better predictors of long and happy lives than social class, IQ, or even genes. That finding proved true across the board among both the Harvard men and the inner-city participants. . .The people who were the most satisfied in their relationships at age 50 were the healthiest at age 80.”

https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2017/04/over-nearly-80-years-harvard-study-has-been-showing-how-to-live-a-healthy-and-happy-life/

“Good relationships don’t just protect our bodies; they protect our brains,” said [Robert] Waldinger in his TED talk. “And those good relationships, they don’t have to be smooth all the time. Some of our octogenarian couples could bicker with each other day in and day out, but as long as they felt that they could really count on the other when the going got tough, those arguments didn’t take a toll on their memories.”. . .

“Aging is a continuous process,” Waldinger said. “You can see how people can start to differ in their health trajectory in their 30s, so that by taking good care of yourself early in life you can set yourself on a better course for aging. The best advice I can give is ‘Take care of your body as though you were going to need it for 100 years,’ because you might.”

An interview with Ross Douthat on Pope Francis

Ross Douthat is an author and New York Times Op-Ed columnist. He received his bachelor’s degree from Harvard University in 2002. He is the author of several books including, Privilege, Grand New Party, Bad Religion, and most recently, To Change the Church.

https://www.hoover.org/research/change-church-ross-douthat

Douthat and Robinson spend a large portion of the episode discussing the Catholic teachings surrounding marriage, divorce, and communion. They examine the history of Catholicism and divorce, going back so far as to understand the lessons of the New Testament on divorce and how those lessons were radically conservative for the time. They talk about how problematic the terms “conservative” and “liberal” are when used in the context of the Church as the political leanings do not necessarily correlate with moral leanings of religion. They go on to discuss the future of the Catholic Church under Pope Francis and how the Bishops can handle all of the changes.