Prayer
For all who pray, I think Penny Nance's prayer for today is relevant:
"
I believe our first responsibility as a body of believers – now and in the days and weeks to come – is to faithfully pray for our leaders.
So please join me in covering them in prayer today.
Ask God to give our president, Congress, and other leaders supernatural wisdom and hearts that are open to His leading. Pray for a smooth transition of power – and especially for unity and peace in our nation.
Thank you, my friend and partner in ministry. May God bless the future of our nation!
Sincerely,
Penny Nance
CEO and President
Concerned Women for America
"
Animals
I think the first animal image that came in today was meant to be a dog...it's a cartoon, so it's hard to be sure...could be a "generic animal." (See under "Pictures" below.) Anyway, it seems like time for some dog pictures from Petfinder...golden retrievers do lots of funny things, so here are some funny golden retriever mixes:
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| Emmett from Maryland was allegedly dumped out beside the highway in an ice storm because he was ill. Could have happened. He's thriving now. https://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/33909494 |
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| Grace from Atlanta still needs some medical care, though she's reportedly made enough progress to be ready for adoption: https://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/36344877 |
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| Potato from New Jersey: https://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/35240632 |
On the cat side...first of all, since I was in some suspense yesterday, I should mention that Heather nonverbally said she was doing well and ready for breakfast this morning. So did Tickle. (But I've not received outstanding cat links in today's e-mail.)
Books
Billy Hallowell's written one:
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| Also available from Christianbooks.com; the intersection of faith and politics is his specialty. |
Censorship
Tom Woods recounts:
http://us5.campaign-archive2.com/?u=77713d21ff56f1c126607d2c5&id=1d046fd3c5&e=39cf8b2be9
And...remember Justin Carter? How ludicrous is it that this is still going on?
https://www.change.org/p/release-my-son-justin-carter-being-prosecuted-for-a-facebook-comment/
Communication
After reading Karl Vaters' article, I feel more inclined to side with the pastors who don't want to use the social media. Everybody has a right to say "If you want to talk to me, do it in a way that I can enjoy, too." Christians especially are prone to burnout and worse because they think they're obliged to make themselves endlessly available to extroverts whose mouths don't stop moving while they're awake. It takes remarkably few text messages from people who imagine that theirs is the only "conversation" screeching for your attention, who think they're using up less memory or battery power or prepaid cell phone time if they just use lots of obscure abbreviations and no clue to what they're blathering about, to make a reasonable adult want to block a person from ever calling or texting again. I do enjoy Twitter--partly because (a) very few people I know in real life would ever consider using it, and (b) when we do it's strictly public content we're posting to the world, and (c) we know better than to expect a Tweet to be read or returned within the month. If the people I know want to talk, we arrange to get together and talk...without interruptions from the mannerless souls who feel entitled to send anybody a text about anything and expect a reply in the middle of a conversation, a bathroom break, even a drive through heavy traffic...Enough. The clergy have a right to tell people that when they're praying, or counselling parishioners, or writing sermons, they are not accessible by any electronic device including land phones.
http://www.christianitytoday.com/karl-vaters/2016/june/8-arguments-against-social-media-why-pastors-must-use-it.html?paging=off
Crafts
Here's a young man who crochets, quite creatively:
https://asexualartists.wordpress.com/2017/01/19/interview-gilbert/
What's a toothbrush rug? +Marsha Cooper shows the answer here:
http://marshasspot.blogspot.com/2017/01/wip-wednesday-yo-yos-and-rug.html
And here's a bit of nail art...I'm testing the technology here...
Failed. That was supposed to embed an interactive image of a Tweet: @jennieshaw is a manicurist who can put pictures of your favorite books on your fingernails.New book review and cover mani for HAG-SEED, a delightfully dark retelling of the Tempest. 📚 https://t.co/qDhOPaBg7e #bookblogger #bookworm pic.twitter.com/CqCkAhhQ8c— jennie shaw (@jennieshaw) January 20, 2017
Hagseed and more books at http://www.jennieshaw.ca/ ; quite a photo blog there.
Education
If you think about it Liz Davis' remark does make sense, thusly: burning a cross on someone else's lawn is less of a threat to the union's hegemony (because it's stupid and not respectable) than legally, respectably supporting school choice. But she sounds so...Christian-phobic!
https://www.conservativereview.com/commentary/2017/01/betsy-devos-is-scarier-than-the-kkk-says-dc-teachers-union-head
Frugal
Whether this post describes Norb Leahy's energy consumption or someone else's, the writer is on the right track. Nevertheless...I'll take any reasonable offer on a dare bet that I can find ways to get your electric bill down to two figures per month...all year if you live in a Southern or Southwestern State, all summer if you live in a Northern State or in Canada.
https://ntlconsulting.blogspot.com/2017/01/electric-cars.html
Health
For regular readers who've followed this story as it's unfolded, good news. For new readers, a hopeful story about a young cancer survivor.
http://thesmittenedlife.blogspot.com/2017/01/january-18th_18.html
Music
Yesterday I linked to my favorite recording of the song "The Times They Are a-Changin'," which I agreed with someone out there was probably the baby-boomers' anthem. I mentioned that I didn't care for Bob Dylan's recordings of his own songs, and steered you to a band that covered several of them. Coincidentally, at the same time, Jack Welch was posting that he does like Dylan. I'd like for youall to know that I support his right to say that.
https://wendywelchbigstonegap.wordpress.com/2017/01/17/not-the-rolling-thunder-review/
Pictures
+Martha DeMeo shares some lovely thimbles:
http://themarthareview.com/going-down-memory-lane/
+LB Johnson shares some funny animal graphics:
http://thebookofbarkley.blogspot.com/2017/01/tuesday-funnies.html
Politics
Rand Paul introduces a bill some of our correspondents should love. Report, and full text:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2014/07/25/rand-paul-introduces-bill-to-reform-civil-asset-forfeiture/?utm_term=.ff474bf16ca3
https://www.paul.senate.gov/files/documents/FAIRAct.pdf
For those who are thinking, "Why wasn't this in the law like a hundred years ago?"--there are two sides to everything. Here, in the interest of fairness, is the pro-forfeiture side:
https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/forfeiture-as-an-effective-law-enforcement-tool
Quote
Jonah Goldberg shared a quote from Eugene Peterson that's especially relevant today:
"
I ran across this quote recently from the pastor and author Eugene Peterson.
Classically, there are three ways in which humans try to find transcendence — religious meaning — apart from God as revealed through the cross of Jesus: through the ecstasy of alcohol and drugs, through the ecstasy of recreational sex, through the ecstasy of crowds. Church leaders frequently warn against the drugs and the sex, but at least, in America, almost never against the crowds.
"Relationships
Ciara is so right. Until a woman wants a baby, abstinence from making babies is any real woman's real choice. Nephews: you'll know when you really love her, or when he really loves you, as the case may be, because you'll find things to do on dates that are more fun than that horrible 1950s-stereotype debate about "going further."
http://www.theblaze.com/news/2017/01/18/pop-star-ciara-says-abstinence-before-marriage-made-her-feel-very-powerful/
Science
Another take on Scott Adams' logical, scientific view of climate science. (It's worth scrolling down: Nick Stuart posted an excellent comment.)
http://blog.dilbert.com/post/156040355101/could-a-climate-science-expert-change-your
Here's another post that was probably set up with excellent intentions, but it's bad science. Why? Because it attempts to compare results for all vaccinations, and that's not scientific. Different vaccines prevent (or fail to prevent) different diseases. Many vaccines have been pulled off the market because they were useless or harmful, but still...comparing results for all vaccines is like comparing mileage for all motor vehicles. This link is being shared because this web site has cited many better studies forwarded by the same correspondents, but this particular study appears to be garbage. We won't use it; neither should you.
http://preventdisease.com/news/10/102510_vaccines_did_not_save_us.shtml
On a different track; this post isn't science, but it's about scientists.
http://www.nationalreview.com/node/444042/print
Women's Issues
The position of this web site is that women are entitled to their own choices about what they do with their bodies, but it's very hard for us to imagine abortion being a woman's own choice. It may be a woman's reaction to any number of abominations that this web site isn't even going to enumerate; it's not her choice. Susan B. Anthony, Mary Wollstonecraft, and other early feminist icons, however, went further. They were downright judgmental about it:
http://www.nationalreview.com/node/444050/print
And one reason why the left wing turned on Dr. Joycelyn Elders just might be that, without being at all judgmental about abortion victims, she discussed several healthier choices women can make.
Writing
Jerry Jenkins on characters:
http://www.jerryjenkins.com/3-simple-ways-create-memorable-lead-characters/
For the Republican readers/writers...do you dream of a cruise to Europe networking with some of the best known writers/editors/publishers in your party? For me, a big help toward dealing with my utter inability ever to afford this kind of extravagance was Jack Fowler's mention that the new'n'improved Queen Mary still has a "smoker" section with a selection of cigars...I'm curious. For any reader, is that an attraction?
http://www.nrcruise.com/
Zazzle
I've become wary of Zazzle, due to cookie wars, but let's try this one more time...magnets are on a half-price sale today, so here are dog, cat, and bird magnets.
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| http://www.zazzle.com/z/3ewde |
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