The Church's response to Islam

 William Kirkpatrick, The Catholic Thing

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

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

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

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

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

My adoption story, by guest blogger

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Orthodox Jews overwhelmingly support President Trump

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

Daniel Greenfield in an article about Orthodox Jews

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

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

Oliver North speaker at PDHC banquet

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

 

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

Mother of a heroin addict knows her son is safe

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Using the S word--sustainable

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

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

Facebook will help with Russia investigation

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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





 

Happy Fall

Sustainable--a growing industry for non-profits

 

 

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

 

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

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

Investing in young children

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

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

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

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

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

The Impact of Islam on Christianity

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

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

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

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

Courageous Trump at the UN

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Georgia Tech student shot by police

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

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

Monday Memories--my ablation and hospitalization

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

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

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

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

Little Golden Books

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

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

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

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

The kitchen sink protest

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

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

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

What really happened—Wall St. Journal

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

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

Childhood Cancer Awareness Month

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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