Categories: Bigotry & Defamation, Christian, Citizen Fights Crime, Communications, Education, Gardening, Human Rights, News of the Weird, Politics. Too much politics. And now I have to go home and compose some bad fiction. Good night, Gentle Readers...
Bigotry & Defamation
Howard Fineman wades into silly stereotypes about the Fightin' Ninth District in Virginia. I'm afraid to ask where he gets them--sounds as if he's mistaken The Trail of the Lonesome Pine for current reportage...Actually, a lot of us like a Northern big-city Ivy League lawyer-type, e.g. W Bush, e.g. President Kennedy, e.g. Al Gore, if he can keep his foot out of his mouth for half an hour at a time. Which is a skill H. Fineman evidently lacks. If Poor Howard had done his research, e.g. read this web site, he'd know that this web site has consistently mentioned his personal charm as President Obama's big asset; it's his policies we bash. And need I mention once again that my late husband was a legal immigrant from Canada and a Phi Beta Kappa at McGill? I may not be typical of much of anything, but eat your heart out, Poor Howard, you'll never know how many rustics in places like Bristol and Wytheville have told me my geographically centered accent is sexy. (I just have to call him Poor Howard because, as any folk singer knows, Poor Howard's (ideas are) dead and gone. Goodness only knows where he dug them up.)
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/curtis-houck/2015/09/15/matthews-hardball-panel-mock-gop-women-rural-virginians-theyve-got#.Vffs5A3Wv_I.blogger
Christian
Jerry Jenkins challenges Christian bloggers:
http://www.jerryjenkins.com/how-to-write-a-devotional/
Citizen Fights Crime
Unarmed citizen fights crime...and pays the price.
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/09/14/father-pays-ultimate-price-to-protect-his-family-after-armed-suspect-climbed-into-car-and-pointed-gun-at-his-wife/?
Communications
Scott Adams' post is interesting on multiple levels...
http://blog.dilbert.com/post/128998963111/this-graph-does-not-apply-to-the-reader#
Speaking of personal relationships...
http://themillionhair.tumblr.com/post/129133460799/reblog-this-if-you-are-literally-suprised-when
(At fifty? Of course I'm surprised. People who are at the stage in life where they feel a lot of physical attractions usually imagine that, after age fifty, the only difference between men and women is the degenerative diseases we get. They are wrong, of course, but most of them won't believe how wrong they are before they're at least forty.)
And..."no [one] will ever look at [a teenager] because [s/he]'s overweight"? Parents might wish. Reality is that some overweight teenagers are vulnerable to the worst kind of "admirers"/predators because they think they won't be able to find True Love, because they're fat, when in fact their biggest obstacle to finding True Love is that they're still teenagers. But people look at overweight teenagers, for sure. And what some of them think they're looking at is "desperate, easy to get, easy to exploit, easy to enslave"--and if adults have told these kids that nobody will ever look at them, the predators may be right.
http://themillionhair.tumblr.com/post/129133320459/boylstonbabe-fall-and-imagine-im-going-to
Education
It's Malala Yousafzai, so some readers may want just to skip to her petition and sign it already. But this web site recommends caution. I'm not seeing anything there about school choice. I'm not seeing any evidence that the U.N. scheme recognizes that schools operating as monopolies tend to trap and retain incompetent, even abusive, teachers. And, having gone to school during an era when home schools, church schools, charter schools, and almost all private schools were illegal, when hitting kids with planks was not illegal, and seen how even then quite a few teachers managed to be seen as abusive...I have to warn even Malala Yousafzai that schools without choice may or may not be an improvement over no school at all.
https://www.change.org/p/stand-withmalala-for-girls-education?alert_id=mXhrkLotLl_e623QQw%2F%2FqGGoMMII%2FC0TSMUf6nCu4ih1KaQnSp3esyRKcl6prrb8jvgyOy4D4dw
Today's example of an incompetent, abusive teacher comes from Morgan State University, which is not a bad school on the whole, although it used to employ one of the nastiest pieces of work I've ever known as a teacher. She was old at the time and is probably dead by now. She might have been one of Professor Brown's teachers...maybe. If so, he may have learned firsthand from her that those who exploit the race market are likely to be serious, dedicated, committed, full-time professional exploiters. The older M.S.U. professor was a loan shark who put many a Black family out of their home. Almost as bad as the racist Whites who cashed in on White fear during the riot years. Anyway, read the Tweets of this troubled mind, and ask yourselves whether this sounds like someone who is better qualified to teach children than you or any other parent is likely to be.
http://thelibertystandard.com/morgan-state-professor-lawrence-brown-calls-gop-fox-news-breitbart-white-supremacists-says-white-cops-lack-moral-capacity-more/
Gardening
What I really wanted to share, from the Dave's Garden newsletter, was the quote, for which I'm not seeing a link:
"Your problem is not having too many slugs. It's not having enough ducks."--Unknown.
I've been feeling under the weather with an irksomely familiar reaction that I suspect is to glyphosate, and as it wears off I think how many other gardening and phenology situations are like the slug/duck situation.
You don't have too many weeds. You don't have enough goats.
You don't have too many mice. You don't have enough cats.
You don't have too many Japanese beetles. You don't have enough bantams.
You don't have too many flies. You don't have enough paper wasps or white-faced hornets.
About the only creatures for which it breaks down are the ones immediately below humans on the food chain. No other animal helps humans get rid of dog ticks, of coyotes, or of bears. If we see those, we have too many of them, because we've not been doing our job as their only reliable predators.
Human Rights
Why some people are unsympathetic to Syrian refugees...This web site already did this topic, and intends to continue nagging. Yes, private organizations, especially religious organizations, and individuals if able, should be helping refugees. No, other countries should not just import masses of people who may or may not be refugees, may or may not be Syrians, may or may not even be Muslims--sounds as if Daniel Greenfield is hearing about some people who were probably outcasts from their own communities for sufficient reasons.
http://ntlconsulting.blogspot.com/2015/09/refugee-crisis-self-inflicted.html
http://ntlconsulting.blogspot.com/2015/09/europe-closing-borders.html
News of the Weird
Not his mother, teacher, baby-sitter--for which this ten-year-old is undoubtedly grateful!--she takes it upon himself to teach him proper manners by hitting him.
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/09/15/womans-reaction-to-10-year-old-boys-purported-bad-manners-caught-on-surveillance-video/?
Politics
U.S. readers only: here's an election poll to help you choose from the plethora of candidates.
http://www.isidewith.com/elections/2016-presidential-quiz
This is quite a piece of quizcraft. It's detailed and calibrated, considers policy statements only and leaves no room for favoritism, and will explain exactly which candidates claim to represent which of your views and why. (Of course, in the case of BAHH, no claim should be taken seriously as this man is a well-known liar: if someone who initiates multiple divorces, repeatedly declares bankruptcy, and still claims vast wealth, tells you it's raining outside, you want a second opinion before you put on a raincoat.) I'm impressed by the skill that went into this quiz. I recommend not feeding your e-mail or social media details into it...but I guarantee you'll be fascinated by your results.
For the record, the quiz accurately showed I like this candidate...
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/09/14/rand-pauls-response-to-those-who-say-his-tax-plan-will-leave-the-government-under-funded/?
...and Ben Carson about equally, predictably predicted that I'd also like Ted Cruz (if he's ruled eligible), and surprised with the claim that Mike Huckabee might represent my views about equally well...and Scott Walker, by a hair's breadth, better than any of the four. This shows that the quiz writers have read more about candidates Walker and Huckabee than I have.
One interesting thing about the comments on this post is that somebody's come up with a better name for The Spoiler Bill Clinton Sent Out To Rescue Hillary than mine. I've been using "Bogus-As-His-Hair," or "BAHH," but either it's his real hair (pathetic) or it's superglued on (pathetic), and this web site would like to give him a worse nickname anyway. Try this one on for size: "Bankruptcy Billionnaire in a Ball Cap." It sounds like a swearword--points! It makes fun of the thing about him that most desperately needs making fun of--double points! I like it!
Now, for everybody...This chapter is often suppressed from history because it is no fun to read. Learn why, even in 1941, some were saying that Hitler and Stalin were equally evil and should be encouraged to destroy each other. This link probably contains every kind of emotional trigger in the known universe. Read only if you're braced for an intense gross-out. (I did. Then I reminded myself that it's all in the past, almost beyond living memory. Then I took a long shower.)
http://deprogramyourcollegestudent.com/2015/09/15/the-human-cost-of-socialism-in-power/
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
Windows 10, and Other Train Wrecks in the History of Marketing
Some marketing schemes are so bad they make sense only after a few years. Consider "train wrecks" like:
* Ross Perot's will-he-won't-he farce of a "Reform Party" campaign in 1992. Can anyone who's not even positive about wanting to run be elected President of the United States? Well, Perot wasn't. But he probably did get what he wanted: just enough swing votes to keep George H.W. Bush from being reelected.
* The garbage that was the electric typewriter. Typewriters worked; Royal Standard and Underwood typewriters worked beautifully. Electric typewriters were a big step backward--they cost more, they didn't work as well, they were harder to use, they buzzed, and it cost money just to have them sitting around, not to mention that typists demanded a pay raise just for putting up with the hateful things. Nevertheless, U.S. companies like Smith-Corona, which had been building decent typewriters, abandoned what was working for them and got behind what didn't and couldn't work...because they were in on IBM's scheme to market personal word processors, from which many of us then "upgraded" to PC's, and then laptops, etc.
* The obnoxiousness of Windows 8. Had Bill Gates had the same virus Hillary Clinton had? Not necessarily, when you consider the evil of Windows 10. It's not just that Windows 10 beams everything you do (look at an adult site? mention a confidential business plan in an e-mail? use somebody's real name?) into "the cloud" for hackers in enemy countries to find. It's not only that now the letters you print and mail privately rather than e-mailing are likely to be backed up into "the cloud" rather than onto your disk drive where they belonged. It's that Windows 10 demands that you destroy the external disk drives so that, just in case you wanted to foil Windows 10's universal blabbermouth feature and type a personal letter using Open Office instead, you won't be able to keep that out of "the cloud" either. The only way anybody would buy Windows 10? Well, duh...they either bought Windows 8 on a new computer or accepted it as a free upgrade, and, having Windows 8, they get Windows 10 as a free...
Don't even say "upgrade," Gentle Readers. Windows 10 is a downgrade. Don't use it. If ever a computer software package deserved to be boycotted to death, Windows 10 does.
(Why is this post labelled "censorship"? Because, if all word and data processing is run through "the cloud," we'll see censorship like the world has never seen before. Type a subversive word like "privacy" and the Global Community Gestapo will be on your door. Using "the cloud" to publish only the things people want to publish won't bring about censorship, because "the cloud" has to compete with real publishing. Running everything through "the cloud" does have the potential to bring about censorship. And harassment. And "disappearances" in the Argentine sense.)
I don't think Bill Gates has suffered major brain damage. I think he's suffered from corporate greed, and the only way to save this man whom so many of us admire will be to hit his corporation in the pockets. If any reasonable number of people return their flashy new computers with Windows 10 to the shops, demand refunds, and walk out with an old reconditioned clunker that has a floppy disk drive...then, even though floppy disk technology needed some further improvements, Gates will get the message and develop Windows 11, with external disk drives, a full modem-free Office Suite, and "cloud" contact only for five seconds immediately following a warning-and-consent message.
Old reconditioned clunkers, like the Sickly Snail (yes, it's still here), don't allow us to do much with the Internet. Specifically, they're likely not to run online ads...which may hurt some of us in the short run but, in the long run, will sink the message into Windows' corporate brain. Some e-friends of this site have lived without online contact for eighty years, so we know we can live without it until Windows 11 hits the stores.
I had thought about writing this all weekend, ever since checking out Windows 10; I'm still not sure to what extent the malaise I've been feeling all weekend was caused by exposure to (1) airborne pesticides, (2) being stung by a wild bee (the cute little workers don't have stingers, but as I found out on Saturday, the big fat queens do), or (3) Windows 10. It definitely did begin with Windows 10.
Those who resolve to sit out this Windows Downgrade deserve some kind of reward, so here's a link to Dan Lewis's story, which made me laugh and also suggested the title for this post.
http://nowiknow.com/hey-lets-crash-two-trains-together/
* Ross Perot's will-he-won't-he farce of a "Reform Party" campaign in 1992. Can anyone who's not even positive about wanting to run be elected President of the United States? Well, Perot wasn't. But he probably did get what he wanted: just enough swing votes to keep George H.W. Bush from being reelected.
* The garbage that was the electric typewriter. Typewriters worked; Royal Standard and Underwood typewriters worked beautifully. Electric typewriters were a big step backward--they cost more, they didn't work as well, they were harder to use, they buzzed, and it cost money just to have them sitting around, not to mention that typists demanded a pay raise just for putting up with the hateful things. Nevertheless, U.S. companies like Smith-Corona, which had been building decent typewriters, abandoned what was working for them and got behind what didn't and couldn't work...because they were in on IBM's scheme to market personal word processors, from which many of us then "upgraded" to PC's, and then laptops, etc.
* The obnoxiousness of Windows 8. Had Bill Gates had the same virus Hillary Clinton had? Not necessarily, when you consider the evil of Windows 10. It's not just that Windows 10 beams everything you do (look at an adult site? mention a confidential business plan in an e-mail? use somebody's real name?) into "the cloud" for hackers in enemy countries to find. It's not only that now the letters you print and mail privately rather than e-mailing are likely to be backed up into "the cloud" rather than onto your disk drive where they belonged. It's that Windows 10 demands that you destroy the external disk drives so that, just in case you wanted to foil Windows 10's universal blabbermouth feature and type a personal letter using Open Office instead, you won't be able to keep that out of "the cloud" either. The only way anybody would buy Windows 10? Well, duh...they either bought Windows 8 on a new computer or accepted it as a free upgrade, and, having Windows 8, they get Windows 10 as a free...
Don't even say "upgrade," Gentle Readers. Windows 10 is a downgrade. Don't use it. If ever a computer software package deserved to be boycotted to death, Windows 10 does.
(Why is this post labelled "censorship"? Because, if all word and data processing is run through "the cloud," we'll see censorship like the world has never seen before. Type a subversive word like "privacy" and the Global Community Gestapo will be on your door. Using "the cloud" to publish only the things people want to publish won't bring about censorship, because "the cloud" has to compete with real publishing. Running everything through "the cloud" does have the potential to bring about censorship. And harassment. And "disappearances" in the Argentine sense.)
I don't think Bill Gates has suffered major brain damage. I think he's suffered from corporate greed, and the only way to save this man whom so many of us admire will be to hit his corporation in the pockets. If any reasonable number of people return their flashy new computers with Windows 10 to the shops, demand refunds, and walk out with an old reconditioned clunker that has a floppy disk drive...then, even though floppy disk technology needed some further improvements, Gates will get the message and develop Windows 11, with external disk drives, a full modem-free Office Suite, and "cloud" contact only for five seconds immediately following a warning-and-consent message.
Old reconditioned clunkers, like the Sickly Snail (yes, it's still here), don't allow us to do much with the Internet. Specifically, they're likely not to run online ads...which may hurt some of us in the short run but, in the long run, will sink the message into Windows' corporate brain. Some e-friends of this site have lived without online contact for eighty years, so we know we can live without it until Windows 11 hits the stores.
I had thought about writing this all weekend, ever since checking out Windows 10; I'm still not sure to what extent the malaise I've been feeling all weekend was caused by exposure to (1) airborne pesticides, (2) being stung by a wild bee (the cute little workers don't have stingers, but as I found out on Saturday, the big fat queens do), or (3) Windows 10. It definitely did begin with Windows 10.
Those who resolve to sit out this Windows Downgrade deserve some kind of reward, so here's a link to Dan Lewis's story, which made me laugh and also suggested the title for this post.
http://nowiknow.com/hey-lets-crash-two-trains-together/
Morgan Griffith on the Planned Parenthood Scandal Cluster
(This one goes under "scam" because if fetal tissue is being donated without consent, for profit, with no compensation to the survivor of the operation, that's a scam.) From U.S. Representative Morgan Griffith (R-VA-9):
"Investigating Planned Parenthood
Like many of you, I am very disturbed by recently-released videos involving Planned Parenthood. The content of these videos is abhorrent and despicable, and the actions described are potentially illegal.
As summarized by the news publication The Hill, “The anti-abortion group Center for Medical Progress has released more than an hour of footage that raises questions about how Planned Parenthood obtains fetal tissue from abortions to be donated to medical research, and whether it is receiving illegal compensation. GOP lawmakers have said the videos specifically indicate the potential violation of three laws: profiting from tissue donations, altering the procedure of an abortion and donating fetal tissue without consent.”
According to reports, several states are investigating Planned Parenthood actions. Congressional committees, including the Energy and Commerce Committee on which I serve, have also launched investigations. Additionally, my colleagues and I on the Health Subcommittee are holding a hearing this week entitled “Protecting Infants: Ending Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Providers Who Violate the Law.” Further, I have signed on as a cosponsor of H.R. 3134, the Defund Planned Parenthood Act, which would immediately halt all federal funding of Planned Parenthood for one year as Congress continues investigating the organization's activities.
While Planned Parenthood and its supporters say that tax dollars are not used on abortions, money is fungible and is easily moved from one function to another. The federal government has no business subsidizing abortion directly or indirectly.
If you have questions, concerns, or comments, feel free to contact my office. You can call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405 or my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671. To reach my office via email, please visit my website at www.morgangriffith.house.gov. Also on my website is the latest material from my office, including information on votes recently taken on the floor of the House of Representatives."
"Investigating Planned Parenthood
Like many of you, I am very disturbed by recently-released videos involving Planned Parenthood. The content of these videos is abhorrent and despicable, and the actions described are potentially illegal.
As summarized by the news publication The Hill, “The anti-abortion group Center for Medical Progress has released more than an hour of footage that raises questions about how Planned Parenthood obtains fetal tissue from abortions to be donated to medical research, and whether it is receiving illegal compensation. GOP lawmakers have said the videos specifically indicate the potential violation of three laws: profiting from tissue donations, altering the procedure of an abortion and donating fetal tissue without consent.”
According to reports, several states are investigating Planned Parenthood actions. Congressional committees, including the Energy and Commerce Committee on which I serve, have also launched investigations. Additionally, my colleagues and I on the Health Subcommittee are holding a hearing this week entitled “Protecting Infants: Ending Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Providers Who Violate the Law.” Further, I have signed on as a cosponsor of H.R. 3134, the Defund Planned Parenthood Act, which would immediately halt all federal funding of Planned Parenthood for one year as Congress continues investigating the organization's activities.
While Planned Parenthood and its supporters say that tax dollars are not used on abortions, money is fungible and is easily moved from one function to another. The federal government has no business subsidizing abortion directly or indirectly.
If you have questions, concerns, or comments, feel free to contact my office. You can call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405 or my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671. To reach my office via email, please visit my website at www.morgangriffith.house.gov. Also on my website is the latest material from my office, including information on votes recently taken on the floor of the House of Representatives."
Morgan Griffith on Preventing a Nuclear Iran
From U.S. Representative Morgan Griffith (R-VA-9):
"Preventing a Nuclear Iran
Those who have read this column regularly are likely aware that, since November of 2012, I have been consistently calling for the U.S. Senate to abandon its current modern filibuster/cloture rule, which requires a super majority of Senators in order to take a vote on any issue. Under this practice, a single Senator acting anonymously can place a “hold” on legislation by notifying the Senate Majority Leader of his or her desire to “hold” the bill.
Last week I renewed my efforts, calling on the Senate to use the so-called “nuclear option” to require a simple majority to stop President Obama’s bad nuclear Iran deal. This deeply flawed and misguided deal is a serious security matter not only for the United States, but also for our allies in the Middle East. I believe we must use all tools possible to stop the deal in its tracks and avoid placing our citizens and allies at greater risk.
Requiring a super majority on a matter of such great importance is improper, is offensive to the majority rule, and is damaging to our great Republic.
Additionally, the House of Representatives last week took several votes related to the President Obama’s proposed Iran deal. I supported H.Res.411, a resolution finding that the President has not complied with section 2 of the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act, as he and his Administration failed to disclose details of the secretive side deals associated with its agreement. I also voted in favor of H.R. 3460, which would suspend until January of 2017 the authority of the President to waive or reduce economic sanctions on Iran. Finally, I opposed H.R. 3461, legislation designed to let those who approve of the President’s plan do so by voting yes. Obviously, I voted NO.
H.R. 3460 also calls into question whether the sanctions will be lifted under a future President. Why is this important? Well, if you are a high-priced lawyer advising companies all over the world, would you advise your clients to invest millions, hundreds of millions, or billions of dollars in Iran knowing that 247 members of the House are ready to slap sanctions back on Iran? Moreover, 58 Senators voted last week to express their opposition to the deal. A good lawyer would have his clients sign a statement acknowledging that investment in Iran would be a risky proposition and affirming that the law firm will not be responsible for any losses. Most businesses will choose to be cautious and not invest big money in Iran.
As for this President charging forward without the support of the American people or its Congress, it is old hat. Sadly, it seems that the President and his allies will again ram through without the support of the American people something with big consequences.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate leadership ought to use the so-called "nuclear option" to stop this bad deal. That’s what strong leaders would do."
"Preventing a Nuclear Iran
Those who have read this column regularly are likely aware that, since November of 2012, I have been consistently calling for the U.S. Senate to abandon its current modern filibuster/cloture rule, which requires a super majority of Senators in order to take a vote on any issue. Under this practice, a single Senator acting anonymously can place a “hold” on legislation by notifying the Senate Majority Leader of his or her desire to “hold” the bill.
Last week I renewed my efforts, calling on the Senate to use the so-called “nuclear option” to require a simple majority to stop President Obama’s bad nuclear Iran deal. This deeply flawed and misguided deal is a serious security matter not only for the United States, but also for our allies in the Middle East. I believe we must use all tools possible to stop the deal in its tracks and avoid placing our citizens and allies at greater risk.
Requiring a super majority on a matter of such great importance is improper, is offensive to the majority rule, and is damaging to our great Republic.
Additionally, the House of Representatives last week took several votes related to the President Obama’s proposed Iran deal. I supported H.Res.411, a resolution finding that the President has not complied with section 2 of the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act, as he and his Administration failed to disclose details of the secretive side deals associated with its agreement. I also voted in favor of H.R. 3460, which would suspend until January of 2017 the authority of the President to waive or reduce economic sanctions on Iran. Finally, I opposed H.R. 3461, legislation designed to let those who approve of the President’s plan do so by voting yes. Obviously, I voted NO.
H.R. 3460 also calls into question whether the sanctions will be lifted under a future President. Why is this important? Well, if you are a high-priced lawyer advising companies all over the world, would you advise your clients to invest millions, hundreds of millions, or billions of dollars in Iran knowing that 247 members of the House are ready to slap sanctions back on Iran? Moreover, 58 Senators voted last week to express their opposition to the deal. A good lawyer would have his clients sign a statement acknowledging that investment in Iran would be a risky proposition and affirming that the law firm will not be responsible for any losses. Most businesses will choose to be cautious and not invest big money in Iran.
As for this President charging forward without the support of the American people or its Congress, it is old hat. Sadly, it seems that the President and his allies will again ram through without the support of the American people something with big consequences.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate leadership ought to use the so-called "nuclear option" to stop this bad deal. That’s what strong leaders would do."
Robert Hurt on Foreign Policy
From U.S. Representative Robert Hurt (R-VA-5):
"
Dear Friend,
Last Friday, we paused to remember the nearly 3,000 innocent lives lost 14 years ago in the September 11th terrorist attacks in New York City, in a peaceful field in Pennsylvania, and right here in our beloved Virginia at the Pentagon. We also honored those who made the tremendous sacrifices we witnessed in response to the terrible acts of terror which took place.
Since that horrific day, we have been fortunate that no such similar attacks have occurred on our shores thanks to the vigilance of our military and intelligence personnel around the world. But make no mistake – our world remains a dangerous place as threats around the globe continue to emerge and evolve. Strong American leadership on the world stage is vital to preserve our freedoms and the American way of life. Yet our current foreign policy is falling short in meeting the challenges we face.
It has now been over a year since the President addressed the nation about the growing threat of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and commenced air strikes against its forces, but the President has still not outlined a clear, comprehensive strategy to defeat this radical terrorist group. There is no doubt that ISIL has deliberately perpetrated unspeakable acts of terror against innocent people and that it poses a direct threat to the region and our own national security.
Last week, we learned that more than 50 intelligence analysts have filed formal complaints stating that senior officials inappropriately altered their reports on ISIL and al Qaeda and that the Pentagon Inspector General has opened an investigation into these claims. The analysts allege that the reports’ conclusions were adjusted by those higher up or were self-censored, and in some cases, the reports were not even passed up the chain of command, as they should have been.
As ISIL is only growing and expanding its reign of terror, accurate intelligence is vital for us to defeat it and the other serious threats we face. We cannot defeat ISIL without a complete strategy, which must be based on truthful intelligence. It is clear we must do more to dismantle and destroy this radical terrorist organization to avoid another catastrophic attack on our nation, and I am committed to doing so.
On another front, the House of Representatives resoundingly rejected the Iran Nuclear Agreement on a bipartisan basis on Friday. Iran is the world’s largest state sponsor of terror, and given its nuclear ambitions and history, I believe the agreement reached by this Administration is a dangerous deal for our nation, our allies, and the world. This nuclear agreement allows the Iranian regime to maintain much of its current nuclear infrastructure; to continue to advance its nuclear ambitions; and to facilitate its ability to promote terror throughout the world. For these reasons, I voted against the Iran Nuclear Agreement.
And while the House took action, the minority in the Senate once again used petty procedural tactics to block Senators from even debating this critically important issue. This agreement has profound implications for both our national security and the stability of our world, and the American people and their representatives in both houses of Congress should have the opportunity to meaningfully participate in the debate and vote on this issue.
From developing a comprehensive strategy to defeat ISIL to ensuring that Iran does not build or acquire a nuclear weapon, the importance of dynamic American leadership to our national security cannot be understated. We must remember the solemn lessons of September 11 and recognize the need to stand firm against the forces of evil that seek to destroy peace and prosperity in our world.
If you need any additional information or if we may be of assistance to you, please visit my website at hurt.house.gov or call my Washington office: (202) 225-4711, Charlottesville office: (434) 973-9631, Danville office: (434) 791-2596, or Farmville office: (434) 395-0120.
Washington, DC - 125 Cannon HOB * Washington, DC 20515 * Phone: (202) 225-4711
Charlottesville - 686 Berkmar Circle * Charlottesville, VA 22901 * Phone: (434) 973-9631
Danville - 308 Craghead St., Suite 102-D * Danville, VA 24541 * Phone: (434) 791-2596
Farmville - 515 S. Main Street, P.O. Box O * Farmville, VA 23901 * Phone: (434) 395-0120
"
Dear Friend,
Last Friday, we paused to remember the nearly 3,000 innocent lives lost 14 years ago in the September 11th terrorist attacks in New York City, in a peaceful field in Pennsylvania, and right here in our beloved Virginia at the Pentagon. We also honored those who made the tremendous sacrifices we witnessed in response to the terrible acts of terror which took place.
Since that horrific day, we have been fortunate that no such similar attacks have occurred on our shores thanks to the vigilance of our military and intelligence personnel around the world. But make no mistake – our world remains a dangerous place as threats around the globe continue to emerge and evolve. Strong American leadership on the world stage is vital to preserve our freedoms and the American way of life. Yet our current foreign policy is falling short in meeting the challenges we face.
It has now been over a year since the President addressed the nation about the growing threat of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and commenced air strikes against its forces, but the President has still not outlined a clear, comprehensive strategy to defeat this radical terrorist group. There is no doubt that ISIL has deliberately perpetrated unspeakable acts of terror against innocent people and that it poses a direct threat to the region and our own national security.
Last week, we learned that more than 50 intelligence analysts have filed formal complaints stating that senior officials inappropriately altered their reports on ISIL and al Qaeda and that the Pentagon Inspector General has opened an investigation into these claims. The analysts allege that the reports’ conclusions were adjusted by those higher up or were self-censored, and in some cases, the reports were not even passed up the chain of command, as they should have been.
As ISIL is only growing and expanding its reign of terror, accurate intelligence is vital for us to defeat it and the other serious threats we face. We cannot defeat ISIL without a complete strategy, which must be based on truthful intelligence. It is clear we must do more to dismantle and destroy this radical terrorist organization to avoid another catastrophic attack on our nation, and I am committed to doing so.
On another front, the House of Representatives resoundingly rejected the Iran Nuclear Agreement on a bipartisan basis on Friday. Iran is the world’s largest state sponsor of terror, and given its nuclear ambitions and history, I believe the agreement reached by this Administration is a dangerous deal for our nation, our allies, and the world. This nuclear agreement allows the Iranian regime to maintain much of its current nuclear infrastructure; to continue to advance its nuclear ambitions; and to facilitate its ability to promote terror throughout the world. For these reasons, I voted against the Iran Nuclear Agreement.
And while the House took action, the minority in the Senate once again used petty procedural tactics to block Senators from even debating this critically important issue. This agreement has profound implications for both our national security and the stability of our world, and the American people and their representatives in both houses of Congress should have the opportunity to meaningfully participate in the debate and vote on this issue.
From developing a comprehensive strategy to defeat ISIL to ensuring that Iran does not build or acquire a nuclear weapon, the importance of dynamic American leadership to our national security cannot be understated. We must remember the solemn lessons of September 11 and recognize the need to stand firm against the forces of evil that seek to destroy peace and prosperity in our world.
If you need any additional information or if we may be of assistance to you, please visit my website at hurt.house.gov or call my Washington office: (202) 225-4711, Charlottesville office: (434) 973-9631, Danville office: (434) 791-2596, or Farmville office: (434) 395-0120.
I met with Ernie Reed of Charlottesville.
Washington, DC - 125 Cannon HOB * Washington, DC 20515 * Phone: (202) 225-4711
Charlottesville - 686 Berkmar Circle * Charlottesville, VA 22901 * Phone: (434) 973-9631
Danville - 308 Craghead St., Suite 102-D * Danville, VA 24541 * Phone: (434) 791-2596
Farmville - 515 S. Main Street, P.O. Box O * Farmville, VA 23901 * Phone: (434) 395-0120
"
Monday, September 14, 2015
Link Log for September 14
Not much surfing today; a long day in the content mine. Watch this site for Congressman Griffith's news tomorrow morning! Categories: Crafts, Education, Food (Yum), Phenology Links.
Crafts
Clever cabled cap, with a stealth tribute to the late Sir Terry Pratchett.
http://knitting.livejournal.com/10891397.html
Socks to wear with sandals that have thongs between the toes:
http://knitting.livejournal.com/10891204.html
Education
"Isn't that the purpose of school? To make me happy with who I am?" whined the self-absorbed adolescent. No, dear child. What adults are paying for the school to do is to teach you skills and information. If your relationships with friends and family don't reflect baseline contentment with who you are (as a growing, changing, learning student), then you have two alternatives: (1) Hire a therapist to explore your emotional problems. (2) Learn to focus on something beyond the end of your nose, which is what, when you start doing it, allows you to be perceived as an adult (whether you start doing it at twelve or at forty). It's not all about me-me-me-me-me all the time. (The world is not just one great big blog.)
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/09/13/read-what-was-written-on-a-high-school-students-distracting-shirt-that-got-her-suspended/?
Food (Yum)
+Sandy KS shares frugal vegan recipes:
http://blogjob.com/foodwithaplan/4-meatless-monday-meals/
Phenology Links
Migrating monarch butterflies in Illinois:
http://ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com/3780955.html
Crafts
Clever cabled cap, with a stealth tribute to the late Sir Terry Pratchett.
http://knitting.livejournal.com/10891397.html
Socks to wear with sandals that have thongs between the toes:
http://knitting.livejournal.com/10891204.html
Education
"Isn't that the purpose of school? To make me happy with who I am?" whined the self-absorbed adolescent. No, dear child. What adults are paying for the school to do is to teach you skills and information. If your relationships with friends and family don't reflect baseline contentment with who you are (as a growing, changing, learning student), then you have two alternatives: (1) Hire a therapist to explore your emotional problems. (2) Learn to focus on something beyond the end of your nose, which is what, when you start doing it, allows you to be perceived as an adult (whether you start doing it at twelve or at forty). It's not all about me-me-me-me-me all the time. (The world is not just one great big blog.)
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/09/13/read-what-was-written-on-a-high-school-students-distracting-shirt-that-got-her-suspended/?
Food (Yum)
+Sandy KS shares frugal vegan recipes:
http://blogjob.com/foodwithaplan/4-meatless-monday-meals/
Phenology Links
Migrating monarch butterflies in Illinois:
http://ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com/3780955.html
Thursday, September 10, 2015
Link Log for September 9-10
Categories: Animals, Anniversary, Books, Crafts, Cybersecurity, Deliberate Omission, Etiquette, Flowers, Funny, History, Medical Care, Phenology Link, Politics, Science, Welfare Cheats.
Animals
How to keep dogs from damaging doors:
http://blogjob.com/theadventuresofpandazeusandbaby/2015/09/09/ways-to-stop-a-dog-from-scratching-up-a-door/
Anniversary
The Queen's:
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/09/09/queen-elizabeth-ii-makes-history-as-britains-longest-reigning-monarch/
Books
Hilary Grossman's new novel:
http://www.itsjustlife.me/book-cover-reveal-plan-bea-by-hilary-grossman/
Crafts
Natalie Ford knits again. (More charming knitted things under the "Forward," "Back," and "Patterns" buttons.)
http://www.natalieford.com/?p=1367
Cybersecurity
Dave Urbanski demonstrates that Facebook's policy of publishing private people's real names in no way protects them from being "followed" or "friended" by convicted felons. (And this web site is sure a company that hassles a writer who wants to use the name on the covers of his popular books, e.g. Salman Rushdie, because that's not his full legal name, believed that "Eskabar Juice" is somebody's real legal name...not.)
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/09/09/the-unbelievable-story-of-violent-criminals-who-maintain-facebook-pages-behind-bars-and-the-mind-boggling-ways-they-use-them/?
Deliberate Omission
As a Bible Maven, I replied on Google + to something Billy Hallowell posted at The Blaze. Google + claims to be restricted to readers over age 18. This web site is open to readers of any age, so this web site is more family-filtered than my Google + page. A medical term that snags in my family filters is over there.
Etiquette
Etiquette products?
http://blogjob.com/ideasforindoorliving/polite-ways-to-keep-people-from-double-dipping/
http://blogjob.com/ideasforindoorliving/best-ways-to-share-leftover-food-after-a-party/
Flowers
Are you cleaning out your flower beds, Gentle Readers?
http://blogjob.com/gettingoffthegrid/2015/09/09/cleaning-flower-beds-for-winter/
Funny
Short story that I can believe may be true:
http://blogjob.com/writebuzz/2015/09/09/the-sound-of-flip-flops-on-the-face/
History
They're not even reenacting a battle--just a "period" style--and they get hatemail. Some people are just haters. Got it. Anyway, these historians seem to be having fun. (Thanks to Elizabeth Barrette for this link; thanks to Jonjon for prompting me to discover their web page earlier in the week.)
http://www.vox.com/2015/9/9/9275611/victorian-era-life
Medical Care
Here's a web site that offers an improvement over Obamacare because it cuts out the insurance gamble. This doctor's "Direct Patient Care plan" is an individual contract where patients opt into a club-type plan, pay $50 per month at times when they don't need much medical care, then get all the medical attention they may need at some future time for the same $50 per month. Because it's an individual contract, I respect individuals' right to sign on to it. I personally prefer a cash fee for specific services rendered, but for retirees on a fixed income, the built-in inequalities of return on this kind of investment may not matter as much as the security of being able to budget for medical expenses each month.
http://dpctransformation.blogspot.com/
Phenology
From Alabama:
http://blogjob.com/gettingoffthegrid/2015/09/07/enough-is-enough-pears/
Politics
This web site has no foreign policy...but this web site does commend, to the consideration of both parties, the logical beauty of the Scott Adams policy. (By promoting awareness of this policy as such, this web site is preemptively warning politicians to give due credit to a private individual, a writer, for this policy if they use it.)
http://blog.dilbert.com/post/128709386661/a-demonstration-of-persuasion-part-of-my-trump
Btw, regular readers may have noticed that comments on this site are now hosted by Disqus. Disqus is a free comment hosting service that many people find easier to use than Google; you register once and then, unless you abuse the system, you can comment and socialize at hundreds of other sites that use Disqus, indefinitely. (You can even see the comments someone has made over years in the past before deciding whether you want to debate with the person. Disqus penalizes spam and blatant hate, but not rudeness; some Disqus users get mean.) Here's a political site that also uses Disqus, that's publicized a stupid, annoying remark just so you can see how a range of almost all conservative commenters reacted to it. I give my own comment full marks for blandness, wordiness, nerdiness, and auntliness.
http://eaglerising.com/23522/fox-news-geraldo-rivera-says-ben-carson-only-gets-support-because-hes-black/
Science
A new gene splicing issue to worry about? Or a bogus issue? The diamondback moth, like the corn earworm moth, becomes a pest when greedhead farming techniques have displaced more sustainable and health-supporting techniques. Organic farms have lost some profit to the population explosions the monocrop-and-poison-bomb farms have created, but the threat to crops is dramatically reduced when sustainable organic farms allow natural predators to defend natural crops.
http://acsh.org/2015/09/saving-crops-with-gm-moths-instead-of-pesticides/
Welfare Cheats
This Link Log is long because I had an opportunity to observe a welfare cheat turn down a day's temp work because she was too ill to work, then borrow (without asking) a mutual friend's car (in which the friend and I had planned to go somewhere) and go out on the town till 10 p.m. She was unfit to work all right--visibly stoned on pills; she admitted having taken four or five different over-the-counter pills to get "high," but seemed more hostile and irrational than "high" and wanted to careen around in a car in traffic. Thanks to Obamacare, we all paid for the medication this scag "needs" to manage her various "diseases" like indigestion, insomnia, and backaches: the occupational injuries incurred by watching TV all day. I think there's a lot to be said for the idea of returning the job of overseeing welfare programs to private, local charities, even though, historically, they never seem to have raised enough voluntary contributions without some sort of help from church or state. The federal government has no way to distinguish between the pillhead I observed, and an honest woman who might have "good days and bad days" with genuine chemical sensitivities or multiple sclerosis.
The pillhead doesn't think of herself as a scag--dresses like a member of one of the more conservative local churches, although I don't think she attends one, and makes a big show of not using alcohol, tobacco, or marijuana. Only "pain medication" because working three days a week is, ooohhh, so strenuous. (Not that she's interested in exploring physical therapy or improving her diet. If she'd tried those and they hadn't worked, I could understand. She refuses to try alternatives to pill-popping.) And she's just one representative of a substantial part of our middle-aged and senior population in my formerly anti-drug home town, now known for its high incidence of prescription drug abuse. I blame the individual pillheads; I also blame the insurance industry, and Obamacare, for enabling them.
Anyway, thanks to Andria Perry for providing this opportunity to rant in the Link Log...
http://blogjob.com/greatamericandream/2015/09/07/the-great-american-dream-all-free/
Animals
How to keep dogs from damaging doors:
http://blogjob.com/theadventuresofpandazeusandbaby/2015/09/09/ways-to-stop-a-dog-from-scratching-up-a-door/
Anniversary
The Queen's:
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/09/09/queen-elizabeth-ii-makes-history-as-britains-longest-reigning-monarch/
Books
Hilary Grossman's new novel:
http://www.itsjustlife.me/book-cover-reveal-plan-bea-by-hilary-grossman/
Crafts
Natalie Ford knits again. (More charming knitted things under the "Forward," "Back," and "Patterns" buttons.)
http://www.natalieford.com/?p=1367
Cybersecurity
Dave Urbanski demonstrates that Facebook's policy of publishing private people's real names in no way protects them from being "followed" or "friended" by convicted felons. (And this web site is sure a company that hassles a writer who wants to use the name on the covers of his popular books, e.g. Salman Rushdie, because that's not his full legal name, believed that "Eskabar Juice" is somebody's real legal name...not.)
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/09/09/the-unbelievable-story-of-violent-criminals-who-maintain-facebook-pages-behind-bars-and-the-mind-boggling-ways-they-use-them/?
Deliberate Omission
As a Bible Maven, I replied on Google + to something Billy Hallowell posted at The Blaze. Google + claims to be restricted to readers over age 18. This web site is open to readers of any age, so this web site is more family-filtered than my Google + page. A medical term that snags in my family filters is over there.
Etiquette
Etiquette products?
http://blogjob.com/ideasforindoorliving/polite-ways-to-keep-people-from-double-dipping/
http://blogjob.com/ideasforindoorliving/best-ways-to-share-leftover-food-after-a-party/
Flowers
Are you cleaning out your flower beds, Gentle Readers?
http://blogjob.com/gettingoffthegrid/2015/09/09/cleaning-flower-beds-for-winter/
Funny
Short story that I can believe may be true:
http://blogjob.com/writebuzz/2015/09/09/the-sound-of-flip-flops-on-the-face/
History
They're not even reenacting a battle--just a "period" style--and they get hatemail. Some people are just haters. Got it. Anyway, these historians seem to be having fun. (Thanks to Elizabeth Barrette for this link; thanks to Jonjon for prompting me to discover their web page earlier in the week.)
http://www.vox.com/2015/9/9/9275611/victorian-era-life
Medical Care
Here's a web site that offers an improvement over Obamacare because it cuts out the insurance gamble. This doctor's "Direct Patient Care plan" is an individual contract where patients opt into a club-type plan, pay $50 per month at times when they don't need much medical care, then get all the medical attention they may need at some future time for the same $50 per month. Because it's an individual contract, I respect individuals' right to sign on to it. I personally prefer a cash fee for specific services rendered, but for retirees on a fixed income, the built-in inequalities of return on this kind of investment may not matter as much as the security of being able to budget for medical expenses each month.
http://dpctransformation.blogspot.com/
Phenology
From Alabama:
http://blogjob.com/gettingoffthegrid/2015/09/07/enough-is-enough-pears/
Politics
This web site has no foreign policy...but this web site does commend, to the consideration of both parties, the logical beauty of the Scott Adams policy. (By promoting awareness of this policy as such, this web site is preemptively warning politicians to give due credit to a private individual, a writer, for this policy if they use it.)
http://blog.dilbert.com/post/128709386661/a-demonstration-of-persuasion-part-of-my-trump
Btw, regular readers may have noticed that comments on this site are now hosted by Disqus. Disqus is a free comment hosting service that many people find easier to use than Google; you register once and then, unless you abuse the system, you can comment and socialize at hundreds of other sites that use Disqus, indefinitely. (You can even see the comments someone has made over years in the past before deciding whether you want to debate with the person. Disqus penalizes spam and blatant hate, but not rudeness; some Disqus users get mean.) Here's a political site that also uses Disqus, that's publicized a stupid, annoying remark just so you can see how a range of almost all conservative commenters reacted to it. I give my own comment full marks for blandness, wordiness, nerdiness, and auntliness.
http://eaglerising.com/23522/fox-news-geraldo-rivera-says-ben-carson-only-gets-support-because-hes-black/
Science
A new gene splicing issue to worry about? Or a bogus issue? The diamondback moth, like the corn earworm moth, becomes a pest when greedhead farming techniques have displaced more sustainable and health-supporting techniques. Organic farms have lost some profit to the population explosions the monocrop-and-poison-bomb farms have created, but the threat to crops is dramatically reduced when sustainable organic farms allow natural predators to defend natural crops.
http://acsh.org/2015/09/saving-crops-with-gm-moths-instead-of-pesticides/
Welfare Cheats
This Link Log is long because I had an opportunity to observe a welfare cheat turn down a day's temp work because she was too ill to work, then borrow (without asking) a mutual friend's car (in which the friend and I had planned to go somewhere) and go out on the town till 10 p.m. She was unfit to work all right--visibly stoned on pills; she admitted having taken four or five different over-the-counter pills to get "high," but seemed more hostile and irrational than "high" and wanted to careen around in a car in traffic. Thanks to Obamacare, we all paid for the medication this scag "needs" to manage her various "diseases" like indigestion, insomnia, and backaches: the occupational injuries incurred by watching TV all day. I think there's a lot to be said for the idea of returning the job of overseeing welfare programs to private, local charities, even though, historically, they never seem to have raised enough voluntary contributions without some sort of help from church or state. The federal government has no way to distinguish between the pillhead I observed, and an honest woman who might have "good days and bad days" with genuine chemical sensitivities or multiple sclerosis.
The pillhead doesn't think of herself as a scag--dresses like a member of one of the more conservative local churches, although I don't think she attends one, and makes a big show of not using alcohol, tobacco, or marijuana. Only "pain medication" because working three days a week is, ooohhh, so strenuous. (Not that she's interested in exploring physical therapy or improving her diet. If she'd tried those and they hadn't worked, I could understand. She refuses to try alternatives to pill-popping.) And she's just one representative of a substantial part of our middle-aged and senior population in my formerly anti-drug home town, now known for its high incidence of prescription drug abuse. I blame the individual pillheads; I also blame the insurance industry, and Obamacare, for enabling them.
Anyway, thanks to Andria Perry for providing this opportunity to rant in the Link Log...
http://blogjob.com/greatamericandream/2015/09/07/the-great-american-dream-all-free/
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
Morgan Griffith on the Medical Innovations at Radford
From U.S. Representative Morgan Griffith (R-VA-9):
"Telemedicine Advances in the Ninth
Last week, I had the opportunity to visit a facility right here in the Ninth District that is making strides in health care innovation and improving patient care.
At the Radford Health and Rehab Center, some of the nurses will be wearing “smart glasses” as part of their wound care program. These glasses are equipped with a tiny camera, and will transmit a live feed of images the wearer sees to the supervising nurse. This will allow the supervisor to assist with assessing wound types and ensuring patients get the most accurate diagnosis and appropriate care. Additionally, a supervising nurse will in essence be “following” the nurse doing wound care, as if that supervising nurse were actually in the room. The supervisor can assess, evaluate, and assist nurses remotely, just as they might do in person.
We were able to watch from the Radford Health and Rehab Center’s conference room as a wound was being treated – a nurse in one room was advising a technician in another how to treat it. It was remarkable.
Patients may opt out of this program, but with less people in the room as a result of the smart glasses, their use by the nurse may make the patient feel less nervous and more at ease.
The Radford Health and Rehab Center is the first long term care facility to use this technology, though approximately 30 hospitals as well as Brown University make use of smart glasses to assist in training and improve their quality of care. Medical schools and emergency services training programs also use smart glasses.
While this technology is helpful in training medical students, it also seems to be beneficial to doctors. If doctors are able to see an image of a wound being transmitted to them from a long term care facility such as Radford Health and Rehab, the doctor would not necessarily have to travel to the facility to help with care. I can’t help but imagine that increasing the use of this sort of technology could help to address the shortage of doctors, especially in more rural areas.
From time to time, I learn of developments in health information technologies that not only amaze me, but that are truly innovative and have a significant impact on advancements in medical care. Previously, I have discussed in this column an internal medicine specialist at Toronto General Hospital and his team using an iPhone 4s, an $8 ball lens, a flashlight, and double-sided tape to create a sort of microscope that was then used to diagnose intestinal worm infections in students in rural Tanzania.
I am very intrigued by this smart glasses technology, and am pleased to see such advancements taking place here in our area. I have no doubt that many more great things are to come from the Fighting Ninth."
"Telemedicine Advances in the Ninth
Last week, I had the opportunity to visit a facility right here in the Ninth District that is making strides in health care innovation and improving patient care.
At the Radford Health and Rehab Center, some of the nurses will be wearing “smart glasses” as part of their wound care program. These glasses are equipped with a tiny camera, and will transmit a live feed of images the wearer sees to the supervising nurse. This will allow the supervisor to assist with assessing wound types and ensuring patients get the most accurate diagnosis and appropriate care. Additionally, a supervising nurse will in essence be “following” the nurse doing wound care, as if that supervising nurse were actually in the room. The supervisor can assess, evaluate, and assist nurses remotely, just as they might do in person.
We were able to watch from the Radford Health and Rehab Center’s conference room as a wound was being treated – a nurse in one room was advising a technician in another how to treat it. It was remarkable.
Patients may opt out of this program, but with less people in the room as a result of the smart glasses, their use by the nurse may make the patient feel less nervous and more at ease.
The Radford Health and Rehab Center is the first long term care facility to use this technology, though approximately 30 hospitals as well as Brown University make use of smart glasses to assist in training and improve their quality of care. Medical schools and emergency services training programs also use smart glasses.
While this technology is helpful in training medical students, it also seems to be beneficial to doctors. If doctors are able to see an image of a wound being transmitted to them from a long term care facility such as Radford Health and Rehab, the doctor would not necessarily have to travel to the facility to help with care. I can’t help but imagine that increasing the use of this sort of technology could help to address the shortage of doctors, especially in more rural areas.
From time to time, I learn of developments in health information technologies that not only amaze me, but that are truly innovative and have a significant impact on advancements in medical care. Previously, I have discussed in this column an internal medicine specialist at Toronto General Hospital and his team using an iPhone 4s, an $8 ball lens, a flashlight, and double-sided tape to create a sort of microscope that was then used to diagnose intestinal worm infections in students in rural Tanzania.
I am very intrigued by this smart glasses technology, and am pleased to see such advancements taking place here in our area. I have no doubt that many more great things are to come from the Fighting Ninth."
Morgan Griffith on Public Service
From U.S. Representative Morgan Griffith (R-VA-9):
"Serving You
A role of my office is to serve as a liaison between the Ninth District and the federal government. My team and I are willing and able to assist constituents with legislative concerns, in communicating with a federal agency, scheduling a Capitol tour, etc., and encourage you to be in contact with us should there be anything we can do.
We have established monthly traveling office hours throughout the district at which a team member or I will be present. A schedule of upcoming traveling office hours can be found on my website, www.morgangriffith.house.gov.
We regularly receive requests from constituents dealing with the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Internal Revenue Service, Medicare, the Social Security Administration, the Department of Labor (Black Lung issues), and many other agencies. We can often intervene on a constituent’s behalf to answer questions, find solutions, or cut through red tape. We also can assist you with requesting or renewing passports, requesting expedited processing of these documents, and dealing with travel visa issues.
Before we can obtain information about your situation, we must provide the agency with your written authorization. Completing our privacy authorization form, which can be found on my website, is one of the first steps you must take in order for us to be able to assist you. You may also obtain the form by calling or visiting my offices or our traveling staff office hours. When returning this form to us, please take care to include any pertinent information and claim numbers we may need.
Constituent services such as these are typically handled by members of my team based out of our Abingdon and Christiansburg offices. You may call or visit either location for assistance, or drop by our staff traveling office hours discussed above.
As always, you can call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405 or my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671. To reach my office by email, please visit my website at www.morgangriffith.house.gov."
"Serving You
A role of my office is to serve as a liaison between the Ninth District and the federal government. My team and I are willing and able to assist constituents with legislative concerns, in communicating with a federal agency, scheduling a Capitol tour, etc., and encourage you to be in contact with us should there be anything we can do.
We have established monthly traveling office hours throughout the district at which a team member or I will be present. A schedule of upcoming traveling office hours can be found on my website, www.morgangriffith.house.gov.
We regularly receive requests from constituents dealing with the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Internal Revenue Service, Medicare, the Social Security Administration, the Department of Labor (Black Lung issues), and many other agencies. We can often intervene on a constituent’s behalf to answer questions, find solutions, or cut through red tape. We also can assist you with requesting or renewing passports, requesting expedited processing of these documents, and dealing with travel visa issues.
Before we can obtain information about your situation, we must provide the agency with your written authorization. Completing our privacy authorization form, which can be found on my website, is one of the first steps you must take in order for us to be able to assist you. You may also obtain the form by calling or visiting my offices or our traveling staff office hours. When returning this form to us, please take care to include any pertinent information and claim numbers we may need.
Constituent services such as these are typically handled by members of my team based out of our Abingdon and Christiansburg offices. You may call or visit either location for assistance, or drop by our staff traveling office hours discussed above.
As always, you can call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405 or my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671. To reach my office by email, please visit my website at www.morgangriffith.house.gov."
Sunday, September 6, 2015
Link Log for September 6
I found time to hang out on Google + and discovered lots of good stuff this weekend, including The Best News I've Seen Online In Weeks...Categories: Animals, Communication, Desperation of the Old Left, Faith, Food, Human Rights, Phenology Link, Politics, Seniors, Taxes, Woman-Hating, Writing. (The Best News is in the Human Rights category.)
Animals
+Barbara Radisavljevic shared this exotic bird story by +ameer prince :
Victoria Crowned Pigeon
And this one by +Rex Graham :
Blond-Crested Woodpecker
Here, a cute cat advertises a cute book:
https://wendywelchbigstonegap.wordpress.com/2015/09/05/angus-still-sees-clearly-from-one-eye/
Communication
Some people seem to want to believe that everything writers write is a personal message about their relationships with writers they know personally. (Personally, this writer tries to avoid knowing that sort of people.)
http://www.lifesuccessfully.com/mouthy-momtrepreneur/facebook-is-supposed-to-be-fun-sarcastic-memes-gone-wrong
How bad is it to call someone "nice" these days?
http://blog.dilbert.com/post/128401835811/nice-guy-part-of-my-trump-persuasion-series
Desperation on the Left
(Thanks to +Allen West Republic )
Faith
Have the homosexual lobby finally gone too far? Here's a totally un-photogenic woman with an uninspiring record and an obvious need (1) to find another job and (2) to read the Bible more thoroughly, simply refusing to do her job as specified in her contract. The natural, logical solution, if she refuses to resign, would be to fire her. Instead, because the woman-haters have been so hateful about her, she's in jail--probably as a matter of "protective custody"! And she's getting all kinds of outpourings of support. Because of the hate, Gentle Readers. These correspondents were ignoring her, as was I, because she deserved it, until the hate storm started to build.
https://publiushuldah.wordpress.com/2015/09/06/the-truth-about-the-supremacy-clause/
http://noisyroom.net/blog/2015/09/05/free-kim-davis-fire-shepard-smith/
There were about half a dozen of these in the e-mail by Sunday morning but I think two of them is enough. I'll say this to Kentucky readers, if we have any: Why do youall want to feed, at your expense, someone who's willing and able to earn her own daily bread?
Food (Yum)
+Susan Zutautas bakes cupcakes for dogs...and their humans. They're probably sweeter than the dogs would prefer and less sweet than the humans would, but they can be shared.
http://recipesbysusan.blogspot.com/2014/08/cupcakes-for-your-dogs-next-birthday.html
Beth Ann Chiles' recipe for this weekend is also good for sharing with pets:
http://www.itsjustlife.me/recipe/lowcountry-boil-on-slightly-savory-saturday/
+Bethany Marsh cooks vegan:
Vegan Wrap Sandwiches
Calling all fans of Dan Piraro's "Bizarro" cartoons...he's on the guest list for this vegan cooking weekend in California:
McDougall Seminar
Human Rights
Hindus, nice peaceable Hindus, threatening the lives of Christians in India? Is that even possible? This web site finds it very easy to believe. All nations are not equally wealthy. Few if any immigrants are going to get rich, by our standards, by coming to these United States and being, by our standards, insanely frugal and hard-working. But by their standards, being insanely frugal and hard-working here may still seem like a relatively decent life, compared with what some of them have; from time to time Reuters still reports on a cute eight-year-old Indian whose recycling business is helping to feed his siblings and who dreams of going to school. So we need to make it very, very clear that refugees are not going to be immigrants.
http://ntlconsulting.blogspot.com/2015/09/hindus-attack-christians-in-mumbai.html
No link to the Huffington Post because this web site is quite sure the story was in your morning papers already, but...what do Protestants do when the Pope challenges every Catholic parish to adopt a refugee? We challenge every Protestant church, of course. Protestants have no Pope. Many Protestants don't even recognize bishops. Some Protestant churches affirm a doctrine called "the priesthood of all believers," which means you and I can issue these challenges as well as the Pope can. So I am. Protestant readers, can your church adopt a refugee?
However, Sharona Schwartz reports that in Syria the persecution of non-Muslims seems to be subsiding back to the sort of dominance display Muslims, and sometimes Jews and Christians too, have been making for years. Christians aren't allowed to proselytize in Israel either; Jews don't proselytize, which is good for them because how far would they get? Apart from the discriminatory weapons clause, this reads like the traditional contract Real Muslims have always made with non-Muslims in Muslim countries. People can live with it. Syrian Christians should be able to stay in Syria on these terms.
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/09/06/heres-the-contract-the-islamic-state-group-is-forcing-christians-to-sign-in-syria/?
Phenology Links
Good phenological news in Illinois:
http://ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com/3773250.html
Politics
Patricia Evans e-mailed the full text of this fairly short op-ed:
Michael Giere, The Bull Elephant, September 3, 2015 http://thebullelephant.com/econ-101-a-cruel-master/
Publius Huldah in Clarksville:
https://publiushuldah.wordpress.com/2015/09/05/exposing-the-scam-in-the-push-for-an-art-v-convention/
Jonah Goldberg explains why, over and above the issue of Bogus-As-His-Hair's honor, he also has reservations about Candidate BAHH's competence. Which this web site shares. (This web site agrees that foreign-born Hugh Hewitt's "never mind any real political issues, just comfort rich White guys by always nominating one of them" advice to Republicans was third-rate advice that has cost Republicans elections. That does not make Hewitt's softball questioning of BAHH third-rate questioning. What the Hewitt interview showed is that BAHH has no real politics, nor has he any shame, twang, twang...)
http://link.nationalreview.com/view/55c8a77718ff4357208b470830z2e.205f/e0380a51
So why is even BAHH polling higher than Hillary Rodham Clinton? This web site does not believe there are all that many woman-haters out there. There are just so many reasons why the country is ready for a change. This web site respects ex-Senator Webb and is glad he's offered to let himself be drafted. And Al Gore...has been identified with some bad science, but so have most of the Republicans, and at least Gore hasn't used brain damage as an excuse for his mistakes. But I suspect the past eight years are going to be held against anybody with a D behind his or her name.
http://noisyroom.net/blog/2015/09/06/president-barack-obamas-complete-list-of-historic-firsts-updated/
Comic moment in politics:
http://ntlconsulting.blogspot.com/2015/09/ben-carson-brilliant.html
Why Senator Kaine just isn't ever going to be able to represent Virginia accurately in Congress...I appreciate his faithfulness to his beliefs, mind. If he could move into Nancy Pelosi's district, where this record would represent the will of his constituents, this would be a good record.
http://ntlconsulting.blogspot.com/2015/09/us-senate-scorecard.html
Seniors
Senior sisters seem to have Meals on Wheels' needs covered:
http://www.dailygood.org/story/1127/cooking-with-love-t-wayne-waters/
Taxes
Property tax season draws nigh...The +Allen West Republic remind us that in the nineteenth century property tax was the main form of tax in these United States. Of course, the system wasn't perfect. Property taxes were high enough that people who'd suffered financial reversals lost their homes. People who did not own houses or land were non-taxpayers, second-class citizens, and usually not allowed to vote even if they were White and male. Income tax was perceived as an improvement, much as gas-powered cars were perceived as a cleaner alternative to horse- and ox-drawn wagons. However, it was possible for people to pay wages in cash without all the formalities that keep people from paying neighbors who need the wages for services the prospective payers need.
Woman-Hating
I don't think the hating on Kim Davis is even about the same-sex marriage distraction, Gentle Readers. What we are seeing is a resurgence of real oldfashioned woman-hating. Here's another outburst:
http://louderwithcrowder.com/racist-arbys-employee-im-19-shes-an-officer-and-im-colored/
Of course, in this case, the women were certainly asking for something...
http://libertyunyielding.com/2015/09/04/government-worker-indicted-for-trading-food-stamps-for-sex/
Near-nudity in the pictures, hate in the comments. (How is Beyonce a role model? Would some of these people care to do a little research on what the music industry is like, and has always been like, for young people--of either sex--who don't push the limits and shock people? I don't like the simulated sex in music videos either...but just see how well a wholesome video of a nice, fully dressed singer strumming a guitar and singing "I Love America" or "Oh My Papa" would sell these days, before you blame young singers. It was bad enough back when Roy Drusky lost recording contracts for singing wholesome songs and Jeannie Riley's agent chopped up her dresses to keep the miniskirt image going; it's not got better since.)
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/09/05/michelle-obamas-birthday-tweet-to-beyonce-includes-extra-message-that-rubs-a-few-folks-the-wrong-way/?
The main cause of asexuality is hormones, the same ones involved in sexuality only in different mixes, but in some cases hate may be involved:
https://asexualartists.wordpress.com/2015/09/05/a-word-about-abusive-behavior/
As a nation we'd been fairly successful in limiting the expressions of this kind of attitudes to a handful of rappers for many years. Lorena Bobbitt was unsporting, but she did all of us a lot of good. But the price of liberty is eternal vigilance. Women need to present a united front. Men needed to see that, the minute the crass physical reference plopped out of BAHH's mouth, his political career was over. They needed to see the fools who wrote the threats to Kim Davis behind bars. They need to know that peaceful coexistence requires zero tolerance for any kind of disrespect toward women, public or private.
Writing
I'm with Hope Clark on this one. Not because writing almost every day since high school has necessarily made me a great writer, but because it's what I do. (I'm not online every day, but I write during some part of almost every day.) Btw, Clark's web site is a guide to people and organizations seeking writers--despite the times when, like this week, all the writing jobs (all two of them) are military and all the writing contests involve entry fees.
http://fundsforwriters.com/write-daily-or-not/
Ursula K. LeGuin invites us to be gorgeous:
http://lithub.com/a-writing-lesson-from-ursula-k-leguin/
Jerry B. Jenkins explains why not being a very "visual" writer may not be all bad:
http://www.jerryjenkins.com/how-to-evoke-powerful-images-in-your-readers-mind/
Animals
+Barbara Radisavljevic shared this exotic bird story by +ameer prince :
Victoria Crowned Pigeon
And this one by +Rex Graham :
Blond-Crested Woodpecker
Here, a cute cat advertises a cute book:
https://wendywelchbigstonegap.wordpress.com/2015/09/05/angus-still-sees-clearly-from-one-eye/
Communication
Some people seem to want to believe that everything writers write is a personal message about their relationships with writers they know personally. (Personally, this writer tries to avoid knowing that sort of people.)
http://www.lifesuccessfully.com/mouthy-momtrepreneur/facebook-is-supposed-to-be-fun-sarcastic-memes-gone-wrong
How bad is it to call someone "nice" these days?
http://blog.dilbert.com/post/128401835811/nice-guy-part-of-my-trump-persuasion-series
Desperation on the Left
(Thanks to +Allen West Republic )
Faith
Have the homosexual lobby finally gone too far? Here's a totally un-photogenic woman with an uninspiring record and an obvious need (1) to find another job and (2) to read the Bible more thoroughly, simply refusing to do her job as specified in her contract. The natural, logical solution, if she refuses to resign, would be to fire her. Instead, because the woman-haters have been so hateful about her, she's in jail--probably as a matter of "protective custody"! And she's getting all kinds of outpourings of support. Because of the hate, Gentle Readers. These correspondents were ignoring her, as was I, because she deserved it, until the hate storm started to build.
https://publiushuldah.wordpress.com/2015/09/06/the-truth-about-the-supremacy-clause/
http://noisyroom.net/blog/2015/09/05/free-kim-davis-fire-shepard-smith/
There were about half a dozen of these in the e-mail by Sunday morning but I think two of them is enough. I'll say this to Kentucky readers, if we have any: Why do youall want to feed, at your expense, someone who's willing and able to earn her own daily bread?
Food (Yum)
+Susan Zutautas bakes cupcakes for dogs...and their humans. They're probably sweeter than the dogs would prefer and less sweet than the humans would, but they can be shared.
http://recipesbysusan.blogspot.com/2014/08/cupcakes-for-your-dogs-next-birthday.html
Beth Ann Chiles' recipe for this weekend is also good for sharing with pets:
http://www.itsjustlife.me/recipe/lowcountry-boil-on-slightly-savory-saturday/
+Bethany Marsh cooks vegan:
Vegan Wrap Sandwiches
Calling all fans of Dan Piraro's "Bizarro" cartoons...he's on the guest list for this vegan cooking weekend in California:
McDougall Seminar
Human Rights
Hindus, nice peaceable Hindus, threatening the lives of Christians in India? Is that even possible? This web site finds it very easy to believe. All nations are not equally wealthy. Few if any immigrants are going to get rich, by our standards, by coming to these United States and being, by our standards, insanely frugal and hard-working. But by their standards, being insanely frugal and hard-working here may still seem like a relatively decent life, compared with what some of them have; from time to time Reuters still reports on a cute eight-year-old Indian whose recycling business is helping to feed his siblings and who dreams of going to school. So we need to make it very, very clear that refugees are not going to be immigrants.
http://ntlconsulting.blogspot.com/2015/09/hindus-attack-christians-in-mumbai.html
No link to the Huffington Post because this web site is quite sure the story was in your morning papers already, but...what do Protestants do when the Pope challenges every Catholic parish to adopt a refugee? We challenge every Protestant church, of course. Protestants have no Pope. Many Protestants don't even recognize bishops. Some Protestant churches affirm a doctrine called "the priesthood of all believers," which means you and I can issue these challenges as well as the Pope can. So I am. Protestant readers, can your church adopt a refugee?
However, Sharona Schwartz reports that in Syria the persecution of non-Muslims seems to be subsiding back to the sort of dominance display Muslims, and sometimes Jews and Christians too, have been making for years. Christians aren't allowed to proselytize in Israel either; Jews don't proselytize, which is good for them because how far would they get? Apart from the discriminatory weapons clause, this reads like the traditional contract Real Muslims have always made with non-Muslims in Muslim countries. People can live with it. Syrian Christians should be able to stay in Syria on these terms.
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/09/06/heres-the-contract-the-islamic-state-group-is-forcing-christians-to-sign-in-syria/?
Phenology Links
Good phenological news in Illinois:
http://ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com/3773250.html
Politics
Patricia Evans e-mailed the full text of this fairly short op-ed:
Michael Giere, The Bull Elephant, September 3, 2015 http://thebullelephant.com/econ-101-a-cruel-master/
Publius Huldah in Clarksville:
https://publiushuldah.wordpress.com/2015/09/05/exposing-the-scam-in-the-push-for-an-art-v-convention/
Jonah Goldberg explains why, over and above the issue of Bogus-As-His-Hair's honor, he also has reservations about Candidate BAHH's competence. Which this web site shares. (This web site agrees that foreign-born Hugh Hewitt's "never mind any real political issues, just comfort rich White guys by always nominating one of them" advice to Republicans was third-rate advice that has cost Republicans elections. That does not make Hewitt's softball questioning of BAHH third-rate questioning. What the Hewitt interview showed is that BAHH has no real politics, nor has he any shame, twang, twang...)
http://link.nationalreview.com/view/55c8a77718ff4357208b470830z2e.205f/e0380a51
So why is even BAHH polling higher than Hillary Rodham Clinton? This web site does not believe there are all that many woman-haters out there. There are just so many reasons why the country is ready for a change. This web site respects ex-Senator Webb and is glad he's offered to let himself be drafted. And Al Gore...has been identified with some bad science, but so have most of the Republicans, and at least Gore hasn't used brain damage as an excuse for his mistakes. But I suspect the past eight years are going to be held against anybody with a D behind his or her name.
http://noisyroom.net/blog/2015/09/06/president-barack-obamas-complete-list-of-historic-firsts-updated/
Comic moment in politics:
http://ntlconsulting.blogspot.com/2015/09/ben-carson-brilliant.html
Why Senator Kaine just isn't ever going to be able to represent Virginia accurately in Congress...I appreciate his faithfulness to his beliefs, mind. If he could move into Nancy Pelosi's district, where this record would represent the will of his constituents, this would be a good record.
http://ntlconsulting.blogspot.com/2015/09/us-senate-scorecard.html
Seniors
Senior sisters seem to have Meals on Wheels' needs covered:
http://www.dailygood.org/story/1127/cooking-with-love-t-wayne-waters/
Taxes
Property tax season draws nigh...The +Allen West Republic remind us that in the nineteenth century property tax was the main form of tax in these United States. Of course, the system wasn't perfect. Property taxes were high enough that people who'd suffered financial reversals lost their homes. People who did not own houses or land were non-taxpayers, second-class citizens, and usually not allowed to vote even if they were White and male. Income tax was perceived as an improvement, much as gas-powered cars were perceived as a cleaner alternative to horse- and ox-drawn wagons. However, it was possible for people to pay wages in cash without all the formalities that keep people from paying neighbors who need the wages for services the prospective payers need.
Woman-Hating
I don't think the hating on Kim Davis is even about the same-sex marriage distraction, Gentle Readers. What we are seeing is a resurgence of real oldfashioned woman-hating. Here's another outburst:
http://louderwithcrowder.com/racist-arbys-employee-im-19-shes-an-officer-and-im-colored/
Of course, in this case, the women were certainly asking for something...
http://libertyunyielding.com/2015/09/04/government-worker-indicted-for-trading-food-stamps-for-sex/
Near-nudity in the pictures, hate in the comments. (How is Beyonce a role model? Would some of these people care to do a little research on what the music industry is like, and has always been like, for young people--of either sex--who don't push the limits and shock people? I don't like the simulated sex in music videos either...but just see how well a wholesome video of a nice, fully dressed singer strumming a guitar and singing "I Love America" or "Oh My Papa" would sell these days, before you blame young singers. It was bad enough back when Roy Drusky lost recording contracts for singing wholesome songs and Jeannie Riley's agent chopped up her dresses to keep the miniskirt image going; it's not got better since.)
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/09/05/michelle-obamas-birthday-tweet-to-beyonce-includes-extra-message-that-rubs-a-few-folks-the-wrong-way/?
The main cause of asexuality is hormones, the same ones involved in sexuality only in different mixes, but in some cases hate may be involved:
https://asexualartists.wordpress.com/2015/09/05/a-word-about-abusive-behavior/
As a nation we'd been fairly successful in limiting the expressions of this kind of attitudes to a handful of rappers for many years. Lorena Bobbitt was unsporting, but she did all of us a lot of good. But the price of liberty is eternal vigilance. Women need to present a united front. Men needed to see that, the minute the crass physical reference plopped out of BAHH's mouth, his political career was over. They needed to see the fools who wrote the threats to Kim Davis behind bars. They need to know that peaceful coexistence requires zero tolerance for any kind of disrespect toward women, public or private.
Writing
I'm with Hope Clark on this one. Not because writing almost every day since high school has necessarily made me a great writer, but because it's what I do. (I'm not online every day, but I write during some part of almost every day.) Btw, Clark's web site is a guide to people and organizations seeking writers--despite the times when, like this week, all the writing jobs (all two of them) are military and all the writing contests involve entry fees.
http://fundsforwriters.com/write-daily-or-not/
Ursula K. LeGuin invites us to be gorgeous:
http://lithub.com/a-writing-lesson-from-ursula-k-leguin/
Jerry B. Jenkins explains why not being a very "visual" writer may not be all bad:
http://www.jerryjenkins.com/how-to-evoke-powerful-images-in-your-readers-mind/
Mark Warner on Sequestration
From U.S. Senator Mark Warner (D-VA):
"Friends,
As many of you know, no one has worked harder than me on the issue of our debt and deficit. And as many of you also probably know, nothing makes me angrier than sequestration.
We’re currently less than one month away from the end of this current Federal fiscal year. If Congress doesn’t agree on a budget by October 1st, we’ll see the return of these mindless, across-the-board cuts.
As a businessman and former governor, I know there’s a smart way to cut government and there’s a stupid way to cut government. Sequestration is the stupid way. Sequestration doesn’t look at what government programs are working versus which ones need improvements. It cuts all without regard to their goals or effectiveness.
There is no state in our nation that has been harder hit by sequestration than the Commonwealth. And continued sequestration would be devastating for Virginia. It would cut back key military investments at a time when our nation is engaged in conflict in Afghanistan and supporting efforts to defeat the terrorists of ISIL. It would cut back investments in veterans' care, roads and bridges, scientific research, and more.
Repealing the sequester without locking in a sensible, balanced deficit reduction plan risks disrupting the credit markets and harming our economy. Congress must commit to negotiating a balanced budget that reduces our deficit.
That’s why I’ve been pushing the Republican Senate leadership to engage in bipartisan budget negotiations now – not a month from now – so we don’t again find ourselves on the brink of another federal shutdown when sequestration comes roaring back at the end of September.
Now, I want to be clear: this is going to require both parties to get out of their comfort zones. Everything must be on the table in order to come up with a long-term solution – that’s how negotiations work.
The last thing the Commonwealth or the country needs is running out the clock until the end of September and putting the risk of another federal government shutdown in play.
Thank you,
Mark R. Warner"
"Friends,
As many of you know, no one has worked harder than me on the issue of our debt and deficit. And as many of you also probably know, nothing makes me angrier than sequestration.We’re currently less than one month away from the end of this current Federal fiscal year. If Congress doesn’t agree on a budget by October 1st, we’ll see the return of these mindless, across-the-board cuts.
As a businessman and former governor, I know there’s a smart way to cut government and there’s a stupid way to cut government. Sequestration is the stupid way. Sequestration doesn’t look at what government programs are working versus which ones need improvements. It cuts all without regard to their goals or effectiveness.
There is no state in our nation that has been harder hit by sequestration than the Commonwealth. And continued sequestration would be devastating for Virginia. It would cut back key military investments at a time when our nation is engaged in conflict in Afghanistan and supporting efforts to defeat the terrorists of ISIL. It would cut back investments in veterans' care, roads and bridges, scientific research, and more.
 |
Repealing the sequester without locking in a sensible, balanced deficit reduction plan risks disrupting the credit markets and harming our economy. Congress must commit to negotiating a balanced budget that reduces our deficit.
That’s why I’ve been pushing the Republican Senate leadership to engage in bipartisan budget negotiations now – not a month from now – so we don’t again find ourselves on the brink of another federal shutdown when sequestration comes roaring back at the end of September.
Now, I want to be clear: this is going to require both parties to get out of their comfort zones. Everything must be on the table in order to come up with a long-term solution – that’s how negotiations work.
The last thing the Commonwealth or the country needs is running out the clock until the end of September and putting the risk of another federal government shutdown in play.
Thank you,
Mark R. Warner"
Friday, September 4, 2015
Link Log for September 4
Categories: Books, Crafts, Economy, Mental Health, Obamacare, Phenology Links, Words
Books
A promo for Ronald Bailey's new book, The End of Doom, came in the e-mail. I wouldn't be qualified to rate it, not that that would stop me reading it if the actual book had come in the mail, which it didn't. Would any Real Scientists out there care to try? Meanwhile, here's an official science fiction reading list:
http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/016336.html
Arthur Chappell's latest book review:
http://blogjob.com/arthurchappellbookreviews/2015/09/02/childrens-fantasy-book-review-george-r-r-martin-the-ice-dragon/
My latest book review:
http://blogjob.com/priscillaking/2015/09/04/106/
Crafts
Does this can rack give anyone any ideas?
http://blogjob.com/ideasforindoorliving/best-ways-to-store-canned-goods-on-a-pantry-shelf/
Economy
Some U.S. citizens would do the jobs that some employers claim they can't find U.S. citizens to do. So why don't they? Well, for the time period Anna Morris is describing, gender discrimination was a factor. Then there's geography. And then there's the fact that some employers hire only foreigners, even if U.S. citizens cry and beg, because they intend to do things they couldn't get away with doing if their employees had other job alternatives, English skills, etc. Anna Morris may have been lucky in the situation she describes, but she didn't feel lucky at the time...and "protecting" penniless, unemployed citizens from the abuses perpetrated against non-citizens is a shabby excuse for a solution.
http://freedomfightersofamerica.blogspot.com/2015/09/trump-magic-braggart.html?
Mental Health
Some of what social workers call abuse is just roughness, carelessness. My parents believed spanking children was a good thing; I grew up believing that too, had to see firsthand that more creative kinds of discipline can be better. But people shouldn't fool themselves, even if they're the ones who have to leave a real abuser. Real abusers are typically rage addicts. Their violence is likely to escalate. If they don't "hit bottom" by being thrown into jail (which is what should happen--minimal disruption of the victim's already stressful life, major disruption of the abuser's) they may maim or kill someone they love.
http://blogjob.com/rusty2rustyschatter/2015/09/04/domestic-voilence-is-not-a-joke/
Obamacare
Why Congress should've known it was doomed, and the President should've refused to have his name linked to it:
http://ntlconsulting.blogspot.com/2015/09/affordable-plumbing.html
Phenology Links
http://blogjob.com/livingoffthegrid/2015/09/01/off-grid-in-spain-the-grapes-are-ripe/
Words
How Vice-President Agnew helped change the meaning of the word "effete":
http://nowiknow.com/how-a-vice-president-changed-the-english-language/
Books
A promo for Ronald Bailey's new book, The End of Doom, came in the e-mail. I wouldn't be qualified to rate it, not that that would stop me reading it if the actual book had come in the mail, which it didn't. Would any Real Scientists out there care to try? Meanwhile, here's an official science fiction reading list:
http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/016336.html
Arthur Chappell's latest book review:
http://blogjob.com/arthurchappellbookreviews/2015/09/02/childrens-fantasy-book-review-george-r-r-martin-the-ice-dragon/
My latest book review:
http://blogjob.com/priscillaking/2015/09/04/106/
Crafts
Does this can rack give anyone any ideas?
http://blogjob.com/ideasforindoorliving/best-ways-to-store-canned-goods-on-a-pantry-shelf/
Economy
Some U.S. citizens would do the jobs that some employers claim they can't find U.S. citizens to do. So why don't they? Well, for the time period Anna Morris is describing, gender discrimination was a factor. Then there's geography. And then there's the fact that some employers hire only foreigners, even if U.S. citizens cry and beg, because they intend to do things they couldn't get away with doing if their employees had other job alternatives, English skills, etc. Anna Morris may have been lucky in the situation she describes, but she didn't feel lucky at the time...and "protecting" penniless, unemployed citizens from the abuses perpetrated against non-citizens is a shabby excuse for a solution.
http://freedomfightersofamerica.blogspot.com/2015/09/trump-magic-braggart.html?
Mental Health
Some of what social workers call abuse is just roughness, carelessness. My parents believed spanking children was a good thing; I grew up believing that too, had to see firsthand that more creative kinds of discipline can be better. But people shouldn't fool themselves, even if they're the ones who have to leave a real abuser. Real abusers are typically rage addicts. Their violence is likely to escalate. If they don't "hit bottom" by being thrown into jail (which is what should happen--minimal disruption of the victim's already stressful life, major disruption of the abuser's) they may maim or kill someone they love.
http://blogjob.com/rusty2rustyschatter/2015/09/04/domestic-voilence-is-not-a-joke/
Obamacare
Why Congress should've known it was doomed, and the President should've refused to have his name linked to it:
http://ntlconsulting.blogspot.com/2015/09/affordable-plumbing.html
Phenology Links
http://blogjob.com/livingoffthegrid/2015/09/01/off-grid-in-spain-the-grapes-are-ripe/
Words
How Vice-President Agnew helped change the meaning of the word "effete":
http://nowiknow.com/how-a-vice-president-changed-the-english-language/
Wednesday, September 2, 2015
Link Log for September 2
Categories: Alert, Animals, Economy, Food (Yum), Frugal.
Alert
Demonstration of Dumbth scheduled in Arlington tomorrow. A peaceful counter-demonstration might be indicated.
"We are united with Andy Parker, Alison’s grieving father, in demanding change, and in saying #WhateverItTakes.
Will you come with me and show our state leaders, the news media and the rest of the country that Virginians want gun safety?
RSVP here: http://action.momsrising.org/signup/VAGunSafety_presser/?t=5&akid=7096.1995681.4M7QVm
What: Press conference urging action on gun safety
When: Tomorrow, Thursday, Sept. 3, 10:00 AM
Where: In front of Arlington County Courthouse, 1425 N. Courthouse Rd, Arlington, VA ( there’s metered parking on the street and a parking garage nearby MAP)"
By "gun safety" they mean "more red tape surrounding firearms sales, as recommended by the United Nations' Special Committee on Foundations for Possible Future Takeovers." The trouble is that what Real Virginians mean by "gun safety" is "hitting your target, or, if unable to hit your target reliably, not carrying a gun but benefitting from the facts that your neighbors do and that evildoers don't know you don't." So someone in Arlington might want to go out and gently introduce these people--poor Mr. Parker, God help him, is probably beyond reason and should be left alone, but introduce the ladies around him to some facts. Such as: (1) the suicide-homicide who killed Alison Parker had in fact complied with the kind of regulations Mr. Parker has been manipulated into worrying about; and (2) if we want Virginia newspapers to read like the Washington Post in the 1990s, with a funeral tribute to another teenager shot in the back almost every Sunday, the kind of gun control D.C. had in the 1990s might be a good way to achieve that...of course Real Virginians don't want to achieve that.
The correspondent who sent me this message isn't from Virginia. Will counter-demonstrators please show her and her friends a pleasant and instructive time in Arlington.
Animals
It's heartening to find somebody out there actually preferring gray cats to the types that are often considered prettier...so, have I already introduced Grecy Garcia, of what sounds like the Philippine Islands Cat Sanctuary?
http://blogjob.com/happystruggleofapetowner/2015/09/02/my-fondness-on-gray-cats/?ref=priscillaking#TtWKzwYwM0S7o9sz.21
In the course of today's hack writing I took a virtual tour of Symi, a sun-baked island in the Greek Dodecanese chain. If your browser can handle lots and lots and lots of pictures, you might appreciate this Blogspot-based photo album. ("Field-Herping" is not a British family name...it indicates that reptiles and amphibians are this blogger's specialty, though he photographed birds, flowers, and a few of his trail buddies as well.)
http://carlcorbidgefieldherping.blogspot.com/2012/04/field-trip-to-greek-island-of-rhodes.html
Economy
Some claim that the wages are lower in right-to-work states. Not so, says Natalie Johnson; rather, the cost of living is higher in the mandatory-union states, and also in Virginia, and so wages are necessarily higher in these states. Meanwhile, she reports, Michigan has gone right-to-work and seen an immediate result of more jobs available at comparable wages. Cheers to Michigan! I wish this article had a nice computer-generated fifty-state chart, but it's worth reading and sharing as it is:
http://dailysignal.com/2015/09/02/the-truth-about-wages-in-right-to-work-states/?
Food (Yum)
Smoothies...
http://blogjob.com/foodwithaplan/homemade-smoothie-recipes/
I wouldn't bother making this smoothie, myself. It would be a tasty smoothie, but why run the blender when frankly it's hard to resist just devouring the food!
http://blogjob.com/imalady/2015/09/02/shake-it-up/
Frugal
These solar lamps don't seem especially frugal at first blink, but since there's no operating cost they'd be a nice Green gift for a frugal person anyway. (Do any McCaffrey fans out there find themselves thinking of "the glows" people carried in and out, shaded and unshaded, in the cavernous Holds of Pern?)
http://blogjob.com/ideasforoutdoorliving/2015/09/02/ways-to-light-up-a-balcony-without-electricity/
Alert
Demonstration of Dumbth scheduled in Arlington tomorrow. A peaceful counter-demonstration might be indicated.
"We are united with Andy Parker, Alison’s grieving father, in demanding change, and in saying #WhateverItTakes.
Will you come with me and show our state leaders, the news media and the rest of the country that Virginians want gun safety?
RSVP here: http://action.momsrising.org/signup/VAGunSafety_presser/?t=5&akid=7096.1995681.4M7QVm
What: Press conference urging action on gun safety
When: Tomorrow, Thursday, Sept. 3, 10:00 AM
Where: In front of Arlington County Courthouse, 1425 N. Courthouse Rd, Arlington, VA ( there’s metered parking on the street and a parking garage nearby MAP)"
By "gun safety" they mean "more red tape surrounding firearms sales, as recommended by the United Nations' Special Committee on Foundations for Possible Future Takeovers." The trouble is that what Real Virginians mean by "gun safety" is "hitting your target, or, if unable to hit your target reliably, not carrying a gun but benefitting from the facts that your neighbors do and that evildoers don't know you don't." So someone in Arlington might want to go out and gently introduce these people--poor Mr. Parker, God help him, is probably beyond reason and should be left alone, but introduce the ladies around him to some facts. Such as: (1) the suicide-homicide who killed Alison Parker had in fact complied with the kind of regulations Mr. Parker has been manipulated into worrying about; and (2) if we want Virginia newspapers to read like the Washington Post in the 1990s, with a funeral tribute to another teenager shot in the back almost every Sunday, the kind of gun control D.C. had in the 1990s might be a good way to achieve that...of course Real Virginians don't want to achieve that.
The correspondent who sent me this message isn't from Virginia. Will counter-demonstrators please show her and her friends a pleasant and instructive time in Arlington.
Animals
It's heartening to find somebody out there actually preferring gray cats to the types that are often considered prettier...so, have I already introduced Grecy Garcia, of what sounds like the Philippine Islands Cat Sanctuary?
http://blogjob.com/happystruggleofapetowner/2015/09/02/my-fondness-on-gray-cats/?ref=priscillaking#TtWKzwYwM0S7o9sz.21
In the course of today's hack writing I took a virtual tour of Symi, a sun-baked island in the Greek Dodecanese chain. If your browser can handle lots and lots and lots of pictures, you might appreciate this Blogspot-based photo album. ("Field-Herping" is not a British family name...it indicates that reptiles and amphibians are this blogger's specialty, though he photographed birds, flowers, and a few of his trail buddies as well.)
http://carlcorbidgefieldherping.blogspot.com/2012/04/field-trip-to-greek-island-of-rhodes.html
Economy
Some claim that the wages are lower in right-to-work states. Not so, says Natalie Johnson; rather, the cost of living is higher in the mandatory-union states, and also in Virginia, and so wages are necessarily higher in these states. Meanwhile, she reports, Michigan has gone right-to-work and seen an immediate result of more jobs available at comparable wages. Cheers to Michigan! I wish this article had a nice computer-generated fifty-state chart, but it's worth reading and sharing as it is:
http://dailysignal.com/2015/09/02/the-truth-about-wages-in-right-to-work-states/?
Food (Yum)
Smoothies...
http://blogjob.com/foodwithaplan/homemade-smoothie-recipes/
I wouldn't bother making this smoothie, myself. It would be a tasty smoothie, but why run the blender when frankly it's hard to resist just devouring the food!
http://blogjob.com/imalady/2015/09/02/shake-it-up/
Frugal
These solar lamps don't seem especially frugal at first blink, but since there's no operating cost they'd be a nice Green gift for a frugal person anyway. (Do any McCaffrey fans out there find themselves thinking of "the glows" people carried in and out, shaded and unshaded, in the cavernous Holds of Pern?)
http://blogjob.com/ideasforoutdoorliving/2015/09/02/ways-to-light-up-a-balcony-without-electricity/
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
Link Log for September 1
Topics: Animals, Books, Charity, Movies, Poetry, Politics, and oh right there was a Human Rights link, too, but my comments on it grew into a separate post.
Animals
"Feline estate planning" was the headline of Dan Lewis's e-mail. Seriously, Gentle Readers, each of us needs to consider (from year to year) what will become of our pets if anything happens to us. For most of ten years the agreement was that Oogesti or I would take over each other's cats. When he left us, fortuitously leaving only one cat to one grandchild, I asked Lisiwayu. When she remarried, I asked another friend of the Cat Sanctuary who doesn't have a screen name here. (Thanks for the prompt, +Theresa Wiza .) Baby-boomers have spent our whole lives being defined by ourselves and the media as "young" so the friend's eyes popped and her jaw dropped and she automatically said, "But nothing's going to happen to you." Face it, fellow Boomers, every one of us is over fifty by now; even in a little paper like the Kingsport Times-News we see obituaries for people younger than ourselves, almost daily. A healthy, active, drug-free lifestyle (and good genes) may be keeping some of us able to dress like students and attract student admirers, but we are the grandparent generation. Things happen. Injuries more than deaths, so far--but injuries affect our ability to care for pets. So, even if you need to reassure friends that recognizing your fragility does not mean you're feeling paranoid or suicidal, please make an emergency pet care plan today.
http://nowiknow.com/where-old-english-cats-go-to-retire/
Books
This web site's book reviews are migrating to Blogjob. Should this web site still provide links to them? Of course...I'm wary. Once bitten twice shy. If not properly compensated in due course these book reviews can migrate right back here. But here's where they are at the moment of writing.
http://blogjob.com/priscillaking/2015/09/01/book-review-codependent-no-more/
http://blogjob.com/priscillaking/2015/08/31/book-review-old-macdonalds-factory-farm/
http://blogjob.com/priscillaking/2015/08/30/book-review-dakota/
New release from Neil Gaiman:
http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2015/08/have-i-actually-been-eaten-by-bear.html
Often when we snooze, we lose...but in this case those who hesitate may gain. If you don't already have One Nation, Newsmax is offering it free with five dollars for shipping. (They like their readers to be reasonably well informed.)
temporary promotion link here
Charity
Beth Ann Chiles encourages readers by donating money to charities in exchange for comments. During September, everything you can think of to say about her blog posts (barring idiocies like typing each word as a separate comment) will be fifty cents donated to a good private nursing home. I hope this information makes some Gentle Readers feel less shy about telling her who's reading her posts than youall are about introducing yourselves here.
http://www.itsjustlife.me/comments-for-a-cause-giving-back-bit-by-bit/
Movies
What do you think of War Room, Gentle Readers?
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/09/01/movie-critics-trash-and-destroy-hit-christian-film-that-shocked-at-the-box-office-but-wait-until-you-see-the-stunning-audience-reaction/?
Poetry
"Poetry mashup: #BeowulfTrump "? One good and one excellent result, at the time of writing; by your time of reading there could be more.
http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/016331.html
Politics
Paul Craig Roberts tackles the Supreme Court as a political issue. U.S. policy wonks only:
http://connect.freedomworks.org/node/248131/discussions/1608336
Animals
"Feline estate planning" was the headline of Dan Lewis's e-mail. Seriously, Gentle Readers, each of us needs to consider (from year to year) what will become of our pets if anything happens to us. For most of ten years the agreement was that Oogesti or I would take over each other's cats. When he left us, fortuitously leaving only one cat to one grandchild, I asked Lisiwayu. When she remarried, I asked another friend of the Cat Sanctuary who doesn't have a screen name here. (Thanks for the prompt, +Theresa Wiza .) Baby-boomers have spent our whole lives being defined by ourselves and the media as "young" so the friend's eyes popped and her jaw dropped and she automatically said, "But nothing's going to happen to you." Face it, fellow Boomers, every one of us is over fifty by now; even in a little paper like the Kingsport Times-News we see obituaries for people younger than ourselves, almost daily. A healthy, active, drug-free lifestyle (and good genes) may be keeping some of us able to dress like students and attract student admirers, but we are the grandparent generation. Things happen. Injuries more than deaths, so far--but injuries affect our ability to care for pets. So, even if you need to reassure friends that recognizing your fragility does not mean you're feeling paranoid or suicidal, please make an emergency pet care plan today.
http://nowiknow.com/where-old-english-cats-go-to-retire/
Books
This web site's book reviews are migrating to Blogjob. Should this web site still provide links to them? Of course...I'm wary. Once bitten twice shy. If not properly compensated in due course these book reviews can migrate right back here. But here's where they are at the moment of writing.
http://blogjob.com/priscillaking/2015/09/01/book-review-codependent-no-more/
http://blogjob.com/priscillaking/2015/08/31/book-review-old-macdonalds-factory-farm/
http://blogjob.com/priscillaking/2015/08/30/book-review-dakota/
New release from Neil Gaiman:
http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2015/08/have-i-actually-been-eaten-by-bear.html
Often when we snooze, we lose...but in this case those who hesitate may gain. If you don't already have One Nation, Newsmax is offering it free with five dollars for shipping. (They like their readers to be reasonably well informed.)
temporary promotion link here
Charity
Beth Ann Chiles encourages readers by donating money to charities in exchange for comments. During September, everything you can think of to say about her blog posts (barring idiocies like typing each word as a separate comment) will be fifty cents donated to a good private nursing home. I hope this information makes some Gentle Readers feel less shy about telling her who's reading her posts than youall are about introducing yourselves here.
http://www.itsjustlife.me/comments-for-a-cause-giving-back-bit-by-bit/
Movies
What do you think of War Room, Gentle Readers?
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/09/01/movie-critics-trash-and-destroy-hit-christian-film-that-shocked-at-the-box-office-but-wait-until-you-see-the-stunning-audience-reaction/?
Poetry
"Poetry mashup: #BeowulfTrump "? One good and one excellent result, at the time of writing; by your time of reading there could be more.
http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/016331.html
Politics
Paul Craig Roberts tackles the Supreme Court as a political issue. U.S. policy wonks only:
http://connect.freedomworks.org/node/248131/discussions/1608336
Open Letter to the U.S. State Department
This web site doesn't flip easily. What are web sites for? We clarify. We explain. And today it seems appropriate to explain why, after nagging readers about Syrian refugees for days, we're unenthusiastic about a federal plan to bring in, oh, say, about the combined populations of Kingsport and both halves of Bristol, just randomly collected Syrians who want to come to the U.S., and plunk'em down, oh wherever.
First point: Some of these Syrians are in mortal danger specifically because they are Christian, or Jewish, or Muslims of a more peaceable (and Koranically correct) persuasion than ISIS. The Christian ones are my brothers and sisters in the faith; the Jewish or rightminded Muslim ones might be yours. We have to do something. I've offered to lodge a few Syrian Christians, if necessary, because (unlike many people in cyberspace) I have more house-room than money. I expect most readers, being in the United States, can do more for their Syrian fellow believers by donating money. In any case, leaving these people to the tender mercies of ISIS is remarkably like leaving German Jews to the tender mercies of the Third Reich.
Second point: Some correspondents are panicking at the thought of having These People possibly dumped on us, or our neighborhood. While I'm not in favor of dumping masses of people anywhere, I must say: chill, youall. "Invasion"? Bristol and Martinsville (each) get this kind of population influx every year during Race Week. Bothersome, especially if the refugees were here during Race Week, but hardly comparable to Real War as the Middle East knows it.
Third point: The position of this web site is that the State Department is offering to do the right thing, but not in the best way. Instead of promising to treat a huge mass of "unvetted" refugees "equally," which is guaranteed to mean treating a lot of them ineptly and making them angrier than they already have abundant reasons to be, State should simply clear the way for religious and humanitarian organizations to "vet" these refugees and lodge them among friends. There should be no way anybody could even imagine the refugees as an army...neither panicky small-town types, nor disgruntled refugees. State should allow Christians to direct Christians to Christian communities, Jews to direct Jews to Jewish communities, and so on. These United States no longer have room for everybody to move in and live with us, but we do still have the wherewithal to allow victims of religious persecution to find sanctuary space to practice their religion. And work out whatever exchange of skills and resources work for them and for the individuals who support them--absolutely no welfare.
Fourth point: Even if we solidify the idea of "birthright citizenship" for those who've grown up with it as part of our common law, we should end it now. Children born to Syrian refugees should grow up knowing that unless they make the commitment to become naturalized citizens of the United States, they are Syrians.
Fifth point: Terrorists are neither brute nor human, they are ghouls, and they have deliberately planned to use our sympathy for the victims of terrorism by planting bogus victims among mass refugee resettlement efforts. They will do their worst to bring any legitimate refugees a large, "non-discriminatory" effort may have rescued into their party. Like Al Qaeda's strategy of flying passenger planes head-on into buildings, this strategy won't get ISIS very far because very few people who are competent enough to do it are demented enough to want to do it. Gangs like ISIS and like Al Qaeda do better with torture and murder. But they will be trying to ensure that no good deed will go unpunished, we can be sure.
Dang, State Department. Here we "conservative wacko birds" have been, encouraging people to think in terms of our church or community group paying somebody rent on an unsold house for one or two nice families of our kind of people. Like, people whose minds might be open to pro-U.S. ideas. Like, maybe the young adults in these families could learn English and make themselves useful to our Army in exchange for the hospitality we're willing to offer their parents and children. Like the people from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, only with lighter complexions and heavier accents. And here youall go, filling people's minds with these images of invading armies...and mixing up a lot of Middle Easterners who may define their religious beliefs mainly as differences from one another, but they take those beliefs very seriously, does sound a bit like a recipe for bringing out their aggressive tendencies and making them feel like an army.
Oh, there goes a hater, already spinning like a top. "See, Syrian Christians, American Christians don't care whether you live or die. See, they expect you to turn on them and join ISIS." And it's the hateful feeling of having a huge, unwieldy thing forced upon them that these correspondents are reacting to, State! It's like the mothers in New Orleans howling hate at those adorable little girls, Ruby Bridges and Yvonne-who-didn't-write-a-book, back in the 1960s; those poor women weren't one little bit upset by the fact that some of the United States' best private colleges were integrated, and would probably have been delighted if their kids had been admitted to, e.g., Berea; it was the feeling of force that drove them berserk. These correspondents are the kind of people who, when we heard last winter about the rising water levels and possible flooding, started clearing spaces for the "refugees" from two other towns to stay with us if they had to. If they were thinking in terms of a few families of fellow believers, they'd be circulating messages about the ancient Syrian Christian church and the fascinating history and prehistory of Syria and the cuteness of Syrian children and so on. Shove in one hint of top-down force, and you automatically activate the part of each correspondent's brain where the inner child is still longing to beat up the playground bully.
Washington will always be my city. I love Washington, D.C., the way I love my own body--I don't want my body to become bloated and ineffectual, either. That's why I say: too many people in Washington think they need to "manage" the rest of the country, from some sort of ivory tower inside the Beltway etc. etc., instead of working toward their goals as individuals...and about that, whatever their goals may be, they're wrong.
This petition came in the e-mail from Patricia Evans, and it made me queasy. So I did some nice boring research for an hour or so. Then I consulted Grandma Bonnie Peters. Then I called Adayahi. This web site has a position. Yes to Syrian refugees--in small manageable numbers, individually "vetted." No to whole cities-full of random Syrians just plopped down in places where they'll burden an already overburdened welfare system and aggravate ill feeling on both sides.
No Refugee Resettlement without Local OK Petition | GoPetition
First point: Some of these Syrians are in mortal danger specifically because they are Christian, or Jewish, or Muslims of a more peaceable (and Koranically correct) persuasion than ISIS. The Christian ones are my brothers and sisters in the faith; the Jewish or rightminded Muslim ones might be yours. We have to do something. I've offered to lodge a few Syrian Christians, if necessary, because (unlike many people in cyberspace) I have more house-room than money. I expect most readers, being in the United States, can do more for their Syrian fellow believers by donating money. In any case, leaving these people to the tender mercies of ISIS is remarkably like leaving German Jews to the tender mercies of the Third Reich.
Second point: Some correspondents are panicking at the thought of having These People possibly dumped on us, or our neighborhood. While I'm not in favor of dumping masses of people anywhere, I must say: chill, youall. "Invasion"? Bristol and Martinsville (each) get this kind of population influx every year during Race Week. Bothersome, especially if the refugees were here during Race Week, but hardly comparable to Real War as the Middle East knows it.
Third point: The position of this web site is that the State Department is offering to do the right thing, but not in the best way. Instead of promising to treat a huge mass of "unvetted" refugees "equally," which is guaranteed to mean treating a lot of them ineptly and making them angrier than they already have abundant reasons to be, State should simply clear the way for religious and humanitarian organizations to "vet" these refugees and lodge them among friends. There should be no way anybody could even imagine the refugees as an army...neither panicky small-town types, nor disgruntled refugees. State should allow Christians to direct Christians to Christian communities, Jews to direct Jews to Jewish communities, and so on. These United States no longer have room for everybody to move in and live with us, but we do still have the wherewithal to allow victims of religious persecution to find sanctuary space to practice their religion. And work out whatever exchange of skills and resources work for them and for the individuals who support them--absolutely no welfare.
Fourth point: Even if we solidify the idea of "birthright citizenship" for those who've grown up with it as part of our common law, we should end it now. Children born to Syrian refugees should grow up knowing that unless they make the commitment to become naturalized citizens of the United States, they are Syrians.
Fifth point: Terrorists are neither brute nor human, they are ghouls, and they have deliberately planned to use our sympathy for the victims of terrorism by planting bogus victims among mass refugee resettlement efforts. They will do their worst to bring any legitimate refugees a large, "non-discriminatory" effort may have rescued into their party. Like Al Qaeda's strategy of flying passenger planes head-on into buildings, this strategy won't get ISIS very far because very few people who are competent enough to do it are demented enough to want to do it. Gangs like ISIS and like Al Qaeda do better with torture and murder. But they will be trying to ensure that no good deed will go unpunished, we can be sure.
Dang, State Department. Here we "conservative wacko birds" have been, encouraging people to think in terms of our church or community group paying somebody rent on an unsold house for one or two nice families of our kind of people. Like, people whose minds might be open to pro-U.S. ideas. Like, maybe the young adults in these families could learn English and make themselves useful to our Army in exchange for the hospitality we're willing to offer their parents and children. Like the people from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, only with lighter complexions and heavier accents. And here youall go, filling people's minds with these images of invading armies...and mixing up a lot of Middle Easterners who may define their religious beliefs mainly as differences from one another, but they take those beliefs very seriously, does sound a bit like a recipe for bringing out their aggressive tendencies and making them feel like an army.
Oh, there goes a hater, already spinning like a top. "See, Syrian Christians, American Christians don't care whether you live or die. See, they expect you to turn on them and join ISIS." And it's the hateful feeling of having a huge, unwieldy thing forced upon them that these correspondents are reacting to, State! It's like the mothers in New Orleans howling hate at those adorable little girls, Ruby Bridges and Yvonne-who-didn't-write-a-book, back in the 1960s; those poor women weren't one little bit upset by the fact that some of the United States' best private colleges were integrated, and would probably have been delighted if their kids had been admitted to, e.g., Berea; it was the feeling of force that drove them berserk. These correspondents are the kind of people who, when we heard last winter about the rising water levels and possible flooding, started clearing spaces for the "refugees" from two other towns to stay with us if they had to. If they were thinking in terms of a few families of fellow believers, they'd be circulating messages about the ancient Syrian Christian church and the fascinating history and prehistory of Syria and the cuteness of Syrian children and so on. Shove in one hint of top-down force, and you automatically activate the part of each correspondent's brain where the inner child is still longing to beat up the playground bully.
Washington will always be my city. I love Washington, D.C., the way I love my own body--I don't want my body to become bloated and ineffectual, either. That's why I say: too many people in Washington think they need to "manage" the rest of the country, from some sort of ivory tower inside the Beltway etc. etc., instead of working toward their goals as individuals...and about that, whatever their goals may be, they're wrong.
This petition came in the e-mail from Patricia Evans, and it made me queasy. So I did some nice boring research for an hour or so. Then I consulted Grandma Bonnie Peters. Then I called Adayahi. This web site has a position. Yes to Syrian refugees--in small manageable numbers, individually "vetted." No to whole cities-full of random Syrians just plopped down in places where they'll burden an already overburdened welfare system and aggravate ill feeling on both sides.
No Refugee Resettlement without Local OK Petition | GoPetition
Monday, August 31, 2015
Morgan Griffith on EPA Rules
From U.S. Representative Morgan Griffith (R-VA-9):
"WOTUS Rule – An Update
A federal judge in North Dakota acted on August 27 to block the Obama Administration’s controversial Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule, which was challenged as a threat to state sovereignty by 13 states (Virginia is not among the challengers). Though this is encouraging, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began on August 28 to enforce its plan in all but those 13 states involved in the pending suit.
In May, the House of Representatives with my support and the support of 24 Democrats passed the Regulatory Integrity Protection Act (H.R. 1732). This bill would require the EPA to withdraw the WOTUS rule. A different bipartisan bill that would also restrict the WOTUS rule passed the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works in June. I am hopeful it will be considered and passed by the full Senate, so the WOTUS rule can be stopped in all states.
A Very Significant EPA “Miscalculation”
Last week, as summarized in a Wall Street Journal report, “The Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday it had underestimated the amount of water built up in an abandoned Colorado mine, a miscalculation that led to a massive release of toxic sludge into the Animas River earlier this month.” The report also indicates that “…the misjudgment was the most significant cause of the spill.”
Further, an EPA official “…noted that provisions for a ‘worst-case scenario’ weren’t incorporated into the agency’s plan to deal with the mine, which had long been the subject of state and federal cleanup efforts.”
Wow.
EPA’s inspector general as well as the Interior Department have launched investigations as to what transpired here, and I expect there will be congressional hearings on this matter as well.
I can’t help but think that had a private company made a similar “miscalculation,” it would face substantial fines and penalties.
I believe EPA ought to fine itself just as severely as it would a private business, and return a portion of their budget to the Treasury to help offset the costs of the cleanup. EPA actions must be scrutinized and the agency must be held accountable."
"WOTUS Rule – An Update
A federal judge in North Dakota acted on August 27 to block the Obama Administration’s controversial Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule, which was challenged as a threat to state sovereignty by 13 states (Virginia is not among the challengers). Though this is encouraging, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began on August 28 to enforce its plan in all but those 13 states involved in the pending suit.
In May, the House of Representatives with my support and the support of 24 Democrats passed the Regulatory Integrity Protection Act (H.R. 1732). This bill would require the EPA to withdraw the WOTUS rule. A different bipartisan bill that would also restrict the WOTUS rule passed the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works in June. I am hopeful it will be considered and passed by the full Senate, so the WOTUS rule can be stopped in all states.
A Very Significant EPA “Miscalculation”
Last week, as summarized in a Wall Street Journal report, “The Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday it had underestimated the amount of water built up in an abandoned Colorado mine, a miscalculation that led to a massive release of toxic sludge into the Animas River earlier this month.” The report also indicates that “…the misjudgment was the most significant cause of the spill.”
Further, an EPA official “…noted that provisions for a ‘worst-case scenario’ weren’t incorporated into the agency’s plan to deal with the mine, which had long been the subject of state and federal cleanup efforts.”
Wow.
EPA’s inspector general as well as the Interior Department have launched investigations as to what transpired here, and I expect there will be congressional hearings on this matter as well.
I can’t help but think that had a private company made a similar “miscalculation,” it would face substantial fines and penalties.
I believe EPA ought to fine itself just as severely as it would a private business, and return a portion of their budget to the Treasury to help offset the costs of the cleanup. EPA actions must be scrutinized and the agency must be held accountable."
Morgan Griffith on Grieving
From U.S. Representative Morgan Griffith (D-VA-9):
"Grieving
Like you, I am heartbroken by the tragic incident in Franklin County on August 26 during which WDBJ7 journalists Alison Parker and Adam Ward were killed and Vicki Gardner, head of the Smith Mountain Lake Regional Chamber of Commerce, was injured. Both Alison and Adam grew up in our area, with Alison graduating from high school in Martinsville and Adam from high school in Salem. They will continue to be in my prayers, as will their families and loved ones, the WDBJ family, and our community. I will also continue praying for Ms. Gardner’s recovery.
I have no doubt that many of you join me in asking God for comfort and healing. As our area continues to grieve and cope, may we remain grateful for the important work undertaken by journalists like Alison and Adam and others in the public eye who may find themselves at risk. May we also be ever thankful of law enforcement and first responders serving our communities and working to keep us safe from harm."
"Grieving
Like you, I am heartbroken by the tragic incident in Franklin County on August 26 during which WDBJ7 journalists Alison Parker and Adam Ward were killed and Vicki Gardner, head of the Smith Mountain Lake Regional Chamber of Commerce, was injured. Both Alison and Adam grew up in our area, with Alison graduating from high school in Martinsville and Adam from high school in Salem. They will continue to be in my prayers, as will their families and loved ones, the WDBJ family, and our community. I will also continue praying for Ms. Gardner’s recovery.
I have no doubt that many of you join me in asking God for comfort and healing. As our area continues to grieve and cope, may we remain grateful for the important work undertaken by journalists like Alison and Adam and others in the public eye who may find themselves at risk. May we also be ever thankful of law enforcement and first responders serving our communities and working to keep us safe from harm."
Thursday, August 27, 2015
Link Log for August 27
Categories: Announcement, Art, Christian, Economy, Human Rights, Kid Stuff, Music, Obamacare, Pictures.
Announcement
"Where are the book reviews?" someone might ask. Answer:
http://blogjob.com/priscillaking/2015/08/26/book-review-the-reader-over-your-shoulder/
For as long as Blogjob continues paying for two blog posts a day, the book review and one other full-length post will be appearing there. It's an interesting system, an improvement over some other general blog-and-social sites some correspondents and I have been using. You get paid for anything within some reasonable limits, but only so much of it per day; it takes several days of steady work to earn money. Also, the system seems to enforce a strict standard of peer reviewing: you don't have to please any specific editor or sponsor or community, you can write for your own readers, but if you don't write things some people rate higher than they rate other professional bloggers' blogs, you will not have readers. So this blog site is definitely not for some Bubblews "bloggers"--they know who they are. If you are a committed, professional-quality blogger with regular readers, feel free to click here and join our new blog community:
http://blogjob.com/?ref=priscillaking
Art
Beth Ann Chiles shares an art walk in Iowa.
http://www.itsjustlife.me/river-city-sculptures-on-parade-2015-16/
Christian
I actually opened this link right after closing one that's under "Human Rights" below; my comment, if you scroll down to it, reflects what was on my mind.
http://www.lizcurtishiggs.com/a-thing-of-beauty/
Economy
Stephen Moore of the Washington Times rants about why he can't get a loan on a more overpriced house in Potomac, Maryland. I wouldn't live in Potomac if someone gave me the house, and think anyone who buys a house there deserves it, but to each his own. Anyway, although I'm sharing the link, I wholeheartedly recommend that you track down this story on paper, Gentle Readers. The Washington Times web site is as brutal on browsers as NYTimes used to be. It's a sad day when Washingtonians can't do things more nicely than New Yorkers. Do not click on this link. Use it for reference only.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/aug/23/stephen-moore-mortgage-woes-of-the-middle-class/#!
Personal trainers are going through the same attack from protectionist competitors these days that massage therapists went through ten years ago. I sympathize. What Logan Albright might have overlooked is that the good ones aren't the ones who need the protectionist regulations. The ones who have been in the field for a while, have never been sued, and work mostly with regular clients are the ones who are delighted to train and recommend other trainers, or masseuses, or whatever other independent professionals are involved in this kind of thing. Then there are the ones who worry about competition.
http://www.freedomworks.org/content/government-wants-regulate-your-personal-trainer
Human Rights
Our Syrian refugees are the tip of an iceberg, Gentle Readers.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/refugees-suffocate-dead-truck-austria_55defe14e4b08dc094867ca8?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jk-rowling-speaks-out-for-migrants-holding-church-services-in-calais_55cdfffee4b055a6dab00f28
Etc. Etc. Etc. I picked the JKR link because everybody's interested in her, not because there's any lack of Huffington Post or Reuters stories like the ickier link above. Not that I'm asking anybody to subject their computer to the Huffington Post, although I did manage to open it and find that it's not as hard on browsers as it used to be. But let's say this to the people who are concerned about hordes of destitute immigrants etc. etc. The position of this web site is that the way to avoid having a bloated government bungle a job is to do the job. (Ross Perot was a spoiler candidate but he was right about that.) Or, people who are feeding and/or lodging refugees are in the best position to make sure that "their" refugees go home as soon as Real Muslims have...er um...dealt with the blasphemous thugs of ISIS as prescribed by the Koran. I'm not earning enough from hack writing to feed another human; I can offer a family floor-mat space--no treat in winter, but better than a truck trailer. As far as I'm concerned, Syrians sound easier to put up with than Africans, in a general way, but the questions are whether they're certified disease-free and speak English--who cares what they look like. What about you?
Kid Stuff
"Construction toys for girls"? Looks a lot like the paper dolls I used to play with, only painted on wood. I'd be interested in knowing how the little girls youall know react to this.
http://scottadams-startupreview.tumblr.com/post/124955317890/construction-toys-for-girls-building-blocks-for
Music
Kimberly Brown explains exactly why she likes a song you might or might want to hear:
http://blogjob.com/mymusicreviews/2014/09/19/10/
Obamacare
How Obamacare is really working--not.
http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/08/obamacares_true_cost.html
http://www.freedomworks.org/content/obamacare-enrollees-several-states-plagued-narrow-doctor-networks
Pictures
One of the historic lighthouses of North Carolina:
http://www.itsjustlife.me/wordless-wednesday-142/
Announcement
"Where are the book reviews?" someone might ask. Answer:
http://blogjob.com/priscillaking/2015/08/26/book-review-the-reader-over-your-shoulder/
For as long as Blogjob continues paying for two blog posts a day, the book review and one other full-length post will be appearing there. It's an interesting system, an improvement over some other general blog-and-social sites some correspondents and I have been using. You get paid for anything within some reasonable limits, but only so much of it per day; it takes several days of steady work to earn money. Also, the system seems to enforce a strict standard of peer reviewing: you don't have to please any specific editor or sponsor or community, you can write for your own readers, but if you don't write things some people rate higher than they rate other professional bloggers' blogs, you will not have readers. So this blog site is definitely not for some Bubblews "bloggers"--they know who they are. If you are a committed, professional-quality blogger with regular readers, feel free to click here and join our new blog community:
http://blogjob.com/?ref=priscillaking
Art
Beth Ann Chiles shares an art walk in Iowa.
http://www.itsjustlife.me/river-city-sculptures-on-parade-2015-16/
Christian
I actually opened this link right after closing one that's under "Human Rights" below; my comment, if you scroll down to it, reflects what was on my mind.
http://www.lizcurtishiggs.com/a-thing-of-beauty/
Economy
Stephen Moore of the Washington Times rants about why he can't get a loan on a more overpriced house in Potomac, Maryland. I wouldn't live in Potomac if someone gave me the house, and think anyone who buys a house there deserves it, but to each his own. Anyway, although I'm sharing the link, I wholeheartedly recommend that you track down this story on paper, Gentle Readers. The Washington Times web site is as brutal on browsers as NYTimes used to be. It's a sad day when Washingtonians can't do things more nicely than New Yorkers. Do not click on this link. Use it for reference only.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/aug/23/stephen-moore-mortgage-woes-of-the-middle-class/#!
Personal trainers are going through the same attack from protectionist competitors these days that massage therapists went through ten years ago. I sympathize. What Logan Albright might have overlooked is that the good ones aren't the ones who need the protectionist regulations. The ones who have been in the field for a while, have never been sued, and work mostly with regular clients are the ones who are delighted to train and recommend other trainers, or masseuses, or whatever other independent professionals are involved in this kind of thing. Then there are the ones who worry about competition.
http://www.freedomworks.org/content/government-wants-regulate-your-personal-trainer
Human Rights
Our Syrian refugees are the tip of an iceberg, Gentle Readers.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/refugees-suffocate-dead-truck-austria_55defe14e4b08dc094867ca8?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jk-rowling-speaks-out-for-migrants-holding-church-services-in-calais_55cdfffee4b055a6dab00f28
Etc. Etc. Etc. I picked the JKR link because everybody's interested in her, not because there's any lack of Huffington Post or Reuters stories like the ickier link above. Not that I'm asking anybody to subject their computer to the Huffington Post, although I did manage to open it and find that it's not as hard on browsers as it used to be. But let's say this to the people who are concerned about hordes of destitute immigrants etc. etc. The position of this web site is that the way to avoid having a bloated government bungle a job is to do the job. (Ross Perot was a spoiler candidate but he was right about that.) Or, people who are feeding and/or lodging refugees are in the best position to make sure that "their" refugees go home as soon as Real Muslims have...er um...dealt with the blasphemous thugs of ISIS as prescribed by the Koran. I'm not earning enough from hack writing to feed another human; I can offer a family floor-mat space--no treat in winter, but better than a truck trailer. As far as I'm concerned, Syrians sound easier to put up with than Africans, in a general way, but the questions are whether they're certified disease-free and speak English--who cares what they look like. What about you?
Kid Stuff
"Construction toys for girls"? Looks a lot like the paper dolls I used to play with, only painted on wood. I'd be interested in knowing how the little girls youall know react to this.
http://scottadams-startupreview.tumblr.com/post/124955317890/construction-toys-for-girls-building-blocks-for
Music
Kimberly Brown explains exactly why she likes a song you might or might want to hear:
http://blogjob.com/mymusicreviews/2014/09/19/10/
Obamacare
How Obamacare is really working--not.
http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/08/obamacares_true_cost.html
http://www.freedomworks.org/content/obamacare-enrollees-several-states-plagued-narrow-doctor-networks
Pictures
One of the historic lighthouses of North Carolina:
http://www.itsjustlife.me/wordless-wednesday-142/
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