IMPROVE YOUR MENTAL HEALTH *

* Courtesy of Better Health, Fall 2021

"Here are some things to do to help you with your mental health well-being."

* If something (or someone) is weighing on your mind, write about it. Researchers found that those with anxiety who wrote about what's on their mind three days a week over a 12-week period had increased feelings of well-being & fewer depression symptoms after one month. One reason I blog.

* Read a book. Getting lost in a book can lower levels of cortisol & other unhealthy stress hormones by 68%. One reason I'm a fanatical reader.

* Do something for someone else. Pay for the food for the car behind you in the drive-through. Take a meal to a family going through a crisis. Acts of kindness can lift the spirits of those you help boosts your well-being in the process.

* Take some time to laugh. Watch a comedy movie. Listen to a humorous podcast while driving. Check out funny videos or comedians online. Laughter is good for the heart & increases blood flow by 20%. Check out Dry Bar Comedy. It features "clean" comedians.

ROAD TRIP REDUX

On SAT we got back from a week visiting Nathan, Laura, Calvin & Claire. We were really taken with Claire's charm. [She is 19 months old.] When Laura got her up in the morning or Nathan got her up from her nap, she was prone to say, "Papa Get Up?" We got to watch Calvin's first 2 soccer practices, which brought back generally good memories of Nathan's soccer practices & games when he was a little tyke. Another highlight was accompanying Nathan & the kids to the Minnesota Zoo in Apple Valley. Hopefully they'll be able to join us with the rest of our kids & grandkids at Thanksgiving.

WHAT I'M READING

I finished reading "The 2ned Book of General Ignorance:  Everything You Think You Know Is Still Wrong," by John Mitchinson. Now I'm reading "Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Extraordinary Book of Facts," by Bathroom Readers' Hysterical Society. You might say I'm into light reading these days.

DEPT. OF SHAMELESS JOKE-STEALING *

Courtesy of Reader's Digest, July/Aug 2021

"What would be your main strength?" "Well, I can communicate with animals." "Wow, impressive. Any weaknesses?" "They can't understand me."

TRENDING

"Brainpower better with age? Some mental abilities IMPROVE after 50." Drudge Report

POLITICAL POTPOURRI

"Humorless politics a sad sign of our times." Drudge

"No discussion of gender ideology can ignore the ongoing movement to eradicate girls' & women's sports & protective spaces. Many or most of the people pushing this are not transgender themselves. But they are activists, they are energized, & they seem to be winning. This movement promotes dangerous bills like the Equality Act . . . " Abigail Shrier, Imprimus:  A Publicatio of Hillsdale College

MILLENIALS

"BURN OUT:  Millennials dumping jobs to plot new careers." Drudge

THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE CALIFORNIA

"Gavin Newsom tells Californians to stay home safe on recall election day." Babylon Bee

VERSE OF THE DAY

"O God, there are two things I beg You not to do to me; only then will I be able to face You. Don't abandon me. And don't terrify me with Your awesome presence." The Living Bible

REDEEMED

"My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, my future is secure . . . I now live by faith, lean in His presence, walk by patience, am uplifted by prayer, & I labor with power." A young pastor in Zimbabwe, Africa, later martyred for his faith in Christ, Men's Devotional Bible

SACRIFICES

"Sacrifices make strong men. Sacrifices help wonderfully to wrench us away from earth & self-pleasing, & lift us heavenward." Devotions for the God Guy  I just started using this devotional book in my daily quiet time.

GUIDED BY THE SPIRIT

"And to see & know Jesus, look to His exaltation on the cross. There, 'it is finished' (John 19:30). You cannot believe by your own reason or strength, so God has sent His Spirit to guide you into all truth (John 16:13), to grant you to believe God's Word & trust in the Word for life & salvation (John 6:63: 20:29). God desires such worshipers (John 4:23-24). 'These are written so that you may believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, & that by believing you may have life in His name' (John 20:31)." Kevin Armbrust, The Lutheran Witness, April 2021

TODAY'S HYMN OF PRAISE & ADORATION

Before Jehovah's Awesome Throne, LW #454, St. 5

Wide as the world is Your command, vast as eternity Your love; Firm as a rock Your truth shall stand When rolling years shall cease to move.

WHEW!

After coughing most of the day on SAT & all the way through the night from SAT into SUN, I decided to take a COVID test, which I did at CVS on SUN. Since it wasn't a  Rapid Response test, I didn't get the results until late last night. Thank goodness, my test was negative, which was a great relief to Lois, me, my family, & my friends. Even though I receive the Pfizer vaccine in MAR, I thought it was prudent to get tested, due to the variant that's been surging.

TRENDING

"100-year-old woman sets world record as powerlifter." Drudge Report

DIVERSITY

"Taliban enjoys deep belly laughter over diversity training materials left behind by U.S. military." Babylon Bee

SAND

"Carl Sagan said there are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on the world's beaches. Of course, neither can be literally counted. But researchers at the University of Hawaii estimated the number of grains on earth. Their answer:  seven & a half quintillion. (That's 75 followed by 17 zeros.") Reader's Digest, July/Aug 2021

GENDER IDEOLOGY RUN AMOK

"We also know that in almost every case when a child's healthy puberty is medically arrested, placing the child out of step with his or her peers, that child proceeds to cross-sex hormones. And when puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones are administered to a girl, she becomes infertile. She may also have permanent sexual dysfunction given that her sex organs never reach adult maturity. Given this, the claims made by so many doctors & gender activists today that these medical transition measures for children are safe & reversible--that they are a 'pause button,' without serious downsides--are not only dishonest, but destructive. We would not accept this sort of glib salesmanship in any other area of medicine." Abigail Shrier, Imprimus-A Publication of Hillsdale College, June/July 2021

POLITICAL POTPOURRI

President Biden arrived in office with the southern border secure and Afghanistan in a state of fragile equilibrium. Eight months later, the border continues to be deluged with migrants overwhelming our capacity to properly house and process them, and we are evacuating our personnel from Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, overrun by desperate Afghans fleeing the Taliban." Rich Lowry, National Review Online

"1. This is President Biden’s darkest moment. Simply stated, when Biden is getting bashed by CNN and MSNBC, you know he has blundered terribly. Just look at these opening paragraphs from an op-ed on MSNBC. “President Joe Biden addressed the nation about the state of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan on Monday — mainly, it seemed, to say he regretted nothing. . . . He blamed the Taliban's rapid advances across the country on Afghan security forces' failing ‘to mount any real resistance to the Taliban.’

“But the president had virtually nothing to say about what's on everyone's minds: how poorly prepared the U.S. was for the Taliban's blitz and the vulnerable position he has left so many Afghans in as a result.” Not even MSNBC was in a mood to give the president grace for his dreadful decision." Michael Brown, Townhall

IS HE . . . OR ISN'T HE!

After developing a nasty cough on SAT & coughing through the night into SUN, I decided I better get tested for COVID. I did the test at CVS yesterday. Unfortunately, it wasn't the Rapid Test, so I may not get the results until TUE. Sad.

AFGHANISTAN

"CNN praises Taliban for wearing mask during attack." Babylon Bee

"Joe Biden has been wrong about most major foreign-policy questions all of his adult life, but — as a long-time senator and then vice president — didn’t have much power to do anything about it. That’s no longer the case, and we are now seeing the gut-wrenching consequences in Afghanistan, where Biden rejected the advice of his military and intelligence officials and ignored the clear evidence on the ground, and ordered a calamitous U.S. withdrawal." The Editors, National Review Online

"While President Joe Biden cowers at Camp David, the Taliban are humiliating America. The retreat from Afghanistan is our worst foreign-policy disaster in a generation. As the Taliban marches into Kabul, they’re murdering civilians, reimposing their vicious Islamist law, and preparing to turn Afghanistan back into a bandit regime. The U.S. embassy has told Americans to shelter in place. Refugees are fleeing to the airport, begging to escape the coming bloodbath. None of this had to happen." Ben Sasse, NRO Ben Sasse is one of Nebraska's congresspersons.

CRIMINAL MINDS

"A man has been charged for landing a helicopter in a busy parking lot to fulfill Dairy Queen pit stop." Fox News  Might be worth it for a turtle pecan cluster blizzard.

WHAT I'M READING

I finished reading "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," by Stieg Larsson. As I mentioned earlier, I watched the movie some years back. In many respects, the movie was faithful to the book, but not entirely. I'd give this book a thumbs up. Now I'm reading "City of Sedition:  The History of New York City During the Civil War," by John Strausbaugh. It's possible that New York City was even more dysfunctional than it is under Bill DeBlasio.

As part of my daily quiet time, I also started reading "A Year in the Gospels with Martin Luther." It consists of sermons that he preached about the Gospel in general & the Gospels specifically.

EDUCATION

"With schools reopening for in-person instruction in a few weeks, many people are understandably fixated on the dangers COVID-19 poses to students’ safety and well-being. While the pandemic remains a real concern, another very worrisome issue will face our nation’s high-school students when they return to the classroom: whether conservative students will be treated fairly if their views and ideas do not comport with the overall zeitgeist of particular schools." Samuel Abrams, NRO

SAY WHAT?!

"A recent article (which I will not link here) proclaimed the salacious news that a Christian woman is stripping online (and getting rich in the process) because that is what God wants her to do. She claims to have a personal relationship with Jesus, but without the baggage of thousands of years of man-made doctrine. And, she claims, whenever she asks God about stripping naked online, He always gives her the same answer: yes!

"This is the just latest example of a disturbing trend that has been growing in recent years, a trend in which you can claim to have a relationship with Jesus and speak of your great love for God while that relationship makes any tangible impact on your life." Michael Brown, Townhall

TODAY'S VERSE

Job 13:20-21  "But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, & that He will stand upon the earth at last, & I know that after this body has decayed, this body shall see God! Then He will be on my side! Yes, I shall see Him, not as a stranger, but as a friend! What a glorious hope." The Living Bible

ASSURANCE

"I want more than anything in the world for Jesus Christ to live out His life throughMe. Without Him I am nothing; with Him I have the promise of everlasting life. Is there any better deal you can cut? Does anything else give you that assurance." Bill McCartney, Men's Devotional Bible

THE CRUCIFIED & RISEN ONE

"Jesus' crucifixion culminates His work as the Christ, the Son of God; accomplishes salvation for the world; (John 3:14-16) & fully reveals His identity (John 8:28, 12:32). The eternal Son of God does not remain dead, but on the third day rises from the tomb & appears to His disciples (John 20). Even the resurrected Jesus shows His identity through the marks of the crucifixion (John 20:19-29). The Jesus who appears to the disciples on Easter Sunday (& a week later, on the eighth day, see John 20:26) is the crucified & risen One, whom Thomas properly identifies as "Lord & God" (John 20:28)." Kevin Armbrust, The Lutheran Witness, April 2021

TODAY'S HYMN OF PRAISE & ADORATION

Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise, LW #451, Sts 1 & 4

Immortal, invisible, God only wise, In light inaccessible hid from our eyes, Most blessed, most glorious, O Ancient of Days, Almighty, victorious, Your great name we praise!

Great Father of glory, pure Father of light, Your angels adore You, enveiling their sight. All laud we would render; oh, lead us to see The light of Your splendor, Your love's majesty!

VERSE OF THE DAY

Job 13:20-21 "O God, there are two things I beg you not to do to me; only then will I be able to face You. Don't abandon me. And don't terrify me with Your awesome presence." The Living Bible

CRIMINAL MINDS

"NYC woman arrested for walking dogs without leash." Drudge Rep

FACEBOOK

"Facebook to scan prayers for misinformation before passing them on to God." Babylon Bee

TRENDING

"School board meetings now being held in football stadiums to accommodate all the angry parents." Babylon Bee

"Kamala Harris petitions Britney Spears' judge for conservatorship of Joe Biden." Babylon Bee

CRIMINAL MINDS

"Some residents in a northern Michigan community are complaining about noise during summer nights. Rowdy teens? No. Adults playing pickleball." Norfolk Daily News, 8/13

DEPT. OF SHAMELESS JOKE-STEALING

"Today is the 6-month mark of the Biden Presidency. Biden's done a lot since January. He got almost helf of Americans vaccinated, signed a $1.9 million COVID relief bill & started dating Olivia Rodrigo. Now that she's got her driver's license, she can take him to his urology appointments." Jimmy Kimmel Live! With Anthony Anderson, latelaughs, NDN 8/13

SAND

"Sand can taste good. We think of it as the blanket covering a beach, but technically sand is any material made up of grains measuring six one-hundredths of a millimeter to two millimeters in diameter. With that definition, salt & sugar qualify." Reader's Digest, July/Aug 2021

POT

"States where recreational weed is legal have seen more drug crime, not less." Aron Ravin, National Review Online

CLIMATE CHANGE

"American progressives who believe that a more Western European model of government and politics will get them what they want should pay more attention to the news. Because the kinds of disruptive and radical Green New Deal policies they would like to try to impose on disorderly and borderline ungovernable Americans are not being met with adulation, or even cooperation, in much of Western Europe. As I wrote earlier this week, progressives are at some point going to have to deal with the fact that their climate agenda has been exposed time and again to the acid test of actual democracy and has, for the most part, failed." Kevin Williamson, NRO

GENDER IDEOLOGY

"Today, however, we don't leave these children alone. Instead, the moment children seem not to be perfectly feminine or perfectly masculine, we label them as 'trans kids.' Teachers encourage them to reintroduce themselves to their classes with new names & new pronouns. We take them to therapists or doctors, nearly all of whom practice so-called affirmative care--meaning they think it is their job to affirm the diagnosis of gender dysphoria & help the children medically transition." Abigail Shrier, Imprimis:  A publication f Hillsdale College, June/July 2021

DUMB KIDS

"The left is truly dumbing down America’s kids. It’s nothing new. But based on the insane education policy recently implemented by the state of Oregon, it looks like the future of America’s already awful public school system is getting worse.

"Last month, as the media just learned, Oregon’s Gov. Kate Brown quietly signed a bill that dropped the requirement that high schoolers had to prove they were proficient in reading, writing and math before they graduated. The bill’s supporters claim that considering math and reading as essential skills all these years has been, you guessed it, unfair to kids of color who do not test well. They claim the new bill was written “to truly reflect what every student needs to thrive in the 21st century.” Michael Reagan, Townhall

 

WHAT I'M READING

In case you're one of the many who's endlessly fascinated by the details of my personal life, I finished reading "Franklin & Winston:  An Intimate Portrait of an Epic Friendship," by Jon Meacham. It was a pretty good read. Jon Meacham is the former editor of Newsweek, but I won't hold that against him. I previously read his biography of Thomas Jefferson, & that was also a pretty good read. Now I'm reading "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," by Stieg Larsson. I watched the movie some years ago. It's a hard book to put down.

WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

We're continuing to watch Deep Space 9 & Star Trek Enterprise on Netflix. Lois got back late from Omaha yesterday--she went on an excursion with a friend--so I watched another Jim Gaffigan comedy special, then started watching "Road to Perdition," "a 2002 American period crime piece directed by SAm Mendes. It stars Tom Hanks, Jude Law, Paul Newman, & Daniel Craig.  

CONTROVERSY

"But offense & controversy are necessary in a free society, & even the most despicable opinions have a place. If you do not want to read them, hear them, digest them, that is your prerogative. But, the social media tycoons & their sycophants on the left should not have the ability to act as guardians at the gate of free expression. They should not, in their own way, exercise a 21st century version of prior restraint, dissuading people from reading things they themselves have decided are 'against community standards.' And the larger questions are:  whose community are they worried about? And what exactly are the standards that govern that pristine & protected society?" Column by Christine Flowers, Norfolk Daily News 8/9

TRENDING

"AOC announce she is leaving politics to host Jeopardy." Babylon Bee

ON THE BORDER

"July busiest month for illegal border crossings in 21 years." Drudge Report

POLITICAL POTPOURRI

"POLL:  More Dem voters favor socialism than capitalism in major shift." Drudge

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

"Touchless Taco Bell could be future of drive-thru." Drudge

OLYMPICS

"Never have so many won so many accolades for so real achievements on the world stage. That about sums up the Olympics 2021--or, as I call them, the O-limp-pics. Indeed, the time has come to retire the hallowed motto of the Games:  'Faster, Higher, Stronger . . . It's getting more & more difficult not to root against American Olympians who've turned the medal stand into their own personal grandstands. According to The New York Times, several militant athletes had been plotting for weeks to hijack the Games . . . The O-limp-ics 2021 are proof-positive that spoiled American athletes top the planet in self-absorption, narcissism  entitlement. Take a bow." Column by Michelle Malkin, NDN 8/10

A CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY

"Abortion is a gruesome and hideous act. It is not like a dermatologist removing a wart or a dentist removing a tooth, as abortion proponents argued in their early efforts to legalize it. Rather, abortion brutally dismembers a living human being. Skulls are crushed. Arms and legs are dismembered. And the human remains of children are scraped together, placed in a plastic body bag, and sent to an incinerator for disposal. Animals killed at slaughterhouses for food are treated more humanely. The procedures for the demise of condemned prisoners on death row are far more compassionate. Is abortion a procedure that we should continue to tolerate? Decent humanity requires that it be ended." Thomas Glessner

IS HE . . . OR ISN'T HE!

After developing a nasty cough on SAT & coughing through the night into SUN, I decided I better get tested for COVID. I did the test at CVS yesterday. Unfortunately, it wasn't the Rapid Test, so I may not get the results until TUE. Sad.

AFGHANISTAN

"CNN praises Taliban for wearing mask during attack." Babylon Bee

"Joe Biden has been wrong about most major foreign-policy questions all of his adult life, but — as a long-time senator and then vice president — didn’t have much power to do anything about it. That’s no longer the case, and we are now seeing the gut-wrenching consequences in Afghanistan, where Biden rejected the advice of his military and intelligence officials and ignored the clear evidence on the ground, and ordered a calamitous U.S. withdrawal." The Editors, National Review Online

"While President Joe Biden cowers at Camp David, the Taliban are humiliating America. The retreat from Afghanistan is our worst foreign-policy disaster in a generation. As the Taliban marches into Kabul, they’re murdering civilians, reimposing their vicious Islamist law, and preparing to turn Afghanistan back into a bandit regime. The U.S. embassy has told Americans to shelter in place. Refugees are fleeing to the airport, begging to escape the coming bloodbath. None of this had to happen." Ben Sasse, NRO Ben Sasse is one of Nebraska's congresspersons.

CRIMINAL MINDS

"A man has been charged for landing a helicopter in a busy parking lot to fulfill Dairy Queen pit stop." Fox News  Might be worth it for a turtle pecan cluster blizzard.

WHAT I'M READING

I finished reading "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," by Stieg Larsson. As I mentioned earlier, I watched the movie some years back. In many respects, the movie was faithful to the book, but not entirely. I'd give this book a thumbs up. Now I'm reading "City of Sedition:  The History of New York City During the Civil War," by John Strausbaugh. It's possible that New York City was even more dysfunctional than it is under Bill DeBlasio.

As part of my daily quiet time, I also started reading "A Year in the Gospels with Martin Luther." It consists of sermons that he preached about the Gospel in general & the Gospels specifically.

EDUCATION

"With schools reopening for in-person instruction in a few weeks, many people are understandably fixated on the dangers COVID-19 poses to students’ safety and well-being. While the pandemic remains a real concern, another very worrisome issue will face our nation’s high-school students when they return to the classroom: whether conservative students will be treated fairly if their views and ideas do not comport with the overall zeitgeist of particular schools." Samuel Abrams, NRO

SAY WHAT?!

"A recent article (which I will not link here) proclaimed the salacious news that a Christian woman is stripping online (and getting rich in the process) because that is what God wants her to do. She claims to have a personal relationship with Jesus, but without the baggage of thousands of years of man-made doctrine. And, she claims, whenever she asks God about stripping naked online, He always gives her the same answer: yes!

"This is the just latest example of a disturbing trend that has been growing in recent years, a trend in which you can claim to have a relationship with Jesus and speak of your great love for God while that relationship makes any tangible impact on your life." Michael Brown, Townhall

WHAT I'M READING

In case you're one of the many who's endlessly fascinated by the details of my personal life, I finished reading "Franklin & Winston:  An Intimate Portrait of an Epic Friendship," by Jon Meacham. It was a pretty good read. Jon Meacham is the former editor of Newsweek, but I won't hold that against him. I previously read his biography of Thomas Jefferson, & that was also a pretty good read. Now I'm reading "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," by Stieg Larsson. I watched the movie some years ago. It's a hard book to put down.

WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

We're continuing to watch Deep Space 9 & Star Trek Enterprise on Netflix. Lois got back late from Omaha yesterday--she went on an excursion with a friend--so I watched another Jim Gaffigan comedy special, then started watching "Road to Perdition," "a 2002 American period crime piece directed by SAm Mendes. It stars Tom Hanks, Jude Law, Paul Newman, & Daniel Craig.  

CONTROVERSY

"But offense & controversy are necessary in a free society, & even the most despicable opinions have a place. If you do not want to read them, hear them, digest them, that is your prerogative. But, the social media tycoons & their sycophants on the left should not have the ability to act as guardians at the gate of free expression. They should not, in their own way, exercise a 21st century version of prior restraint, dissuading people from reading things they themselves have decided are 'against community standards.' And the larger questions are:  whose community are they worried about? And what exactly are the standards that govern that pristine & protected society?" Column by Christine Flowers, Norfolk Daily News 8/9

TRENDING

"AOC announce she is leaving politics to host Jeopardy." Babylon Bee

ON THE BORDER

"July busiest month for illegal border crossings in 21 years." Drudge Report

POLITICAL POTPOURRI

"POLL:  More Dem voters favor socialism than capitalism in major shift." Drudge

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

"Touchless Taco Bell could be future of drive-thru." Drudge

OLYMPICS

"Never have so many won so many accolades for so real achievements on the world stage. That about sums up the Olympics 2021--or, as I call them, the O-limp-pics. Indeed, the time has come to retire the hallowed motto of the Games:  'Faster, Higher, Stronger . . . It's getting more & more difficult not to root against American Olympians who've turned the medal stand into their own personal grandstands. According to The New York Times, several militant athletes had been plotting for weeks to hijack the Games . . . The O-limp-ics 2021 are proof-positive that spoiled American athletes top the planet in self-absorption, narcissism  entitlement. Take a bow." Column by Michelle Malkin, NDN 8/10

A CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY

"Abortion is a gruesome and hideous act. It is not like a dermatologist removing a wart or a dentist removing a tooth, as abortion proponents argued in their early efforts to legalize it. Rather, abortion brutally dismembers a living human being. Skulls are crushed. Arms and legs are dismembered. And the human remains of children are scraped together, placed in a plastic body bag, and sent to an incinerator for disposal. Animals killed at slaughterhouses for food are treated more humanely. The procedures for the demise of condemned prisoners on death row are far more compassionate. Is abortion a procedure that we should continue to tolerate? Decent humanity requires that it be ended." Thomas Glessner

MEA CULPA

Yes, I realize that I have been blogging a lot lately. Just remember--I blog for my own mental health.

TRENDING

"STUDY:  Most prefer to get revenge on others immediately." Drudge Report

"PEPSI releasing alcoholic Mountain Dew." Drudge

THE PLEDGE

"Public school starts day with Pledge of Allegiance to Dr. Fauci." Babylon Bee

THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE CHICAGO . . . 

"Chicago is grieving. The city saw 105 murders in July and has 445 this year, more than any other major city in the country. One 29-year-old police officer is dead after she was shot while conducting a traffic stop on Saturday. Chicago hasn’t experienced anything like the murder surge of the last year and a half since the 1990s, when the demolition of major public-housing projects precipitated turf wars among displaced gang members. So what is happening here?

"Some reasons for the spike will be familiar to residents of other big cities that have recently experienced a violent-crime surge. These include the isolation and economic carnage of the COVID-19 pandemic, alienated young people, and demoralized police. Some point to root causes such as generational poverty and discrimination against communities of color. These, too, are not unique to Chicago.

"But Chicago stands out in one way: Put simply, politics trumps professionalism when it comes to public safety in the Windy City. And as a result, two keys to effective crime-fighting — constitutional policing and community policing — are absent here." Ed Bachrach & Austin Berg, National Review Online, 8/10  

"A group of Chicago police officers turned their backs on Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Saturday during her visit to University of Chicago Medical Center, where two officers were hospitalized after being shot at a traffic stop.

"One of the officers, Ella French, 29, later died of her injuries. The father of the second officer, himself a retired member of the Chicago police, berated Lightfoot and blamed her for the incident, a source told the Chicago Sun-Times." Zachary Evans, NRO 8/10. Lois & I lived in Chicago from 1975-1980.

. . . LIKE OKLAHOMA

"A 'war zone' that 'smelled lovely.' Explosion of women's deodorant rocks truck stop. About 27,000 lbs of Degree women's spray deodorant exploded in Northeast OK after a semi-truck caught fire on FRI." Fox News, 8/9

. . . LIKE MARYLAND

"A federal appeals court on WED affirmed a Maryland beach town's right to ban women from topless bathing. A 3-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond ruled unanimously that Ocean City's law, which allows mento be topless but not women, is constitutional." Norfolk Daily News, 8/9

. . . LIKE CALIFORNIA

"In blistering drought, CA farmers rip up precious almond trees." Drudge Report

CLIMATE CHANGE

"John Kerry family jet already emitted estimate 30 times more carbon in 2021 than average vehicle does in year." Fox News

LIBERALS

"Essentially, liberals are ready and eager to believe anything and everything bad about this country. That’s how you get Jussie Smollett. It’s how you get the Covington kids story. it’s how you get hoax after hoax reported as fact and screamed from the mountain tops, only to be corrected in the dark in the hopes that no one will notice that no one bothered to do any journalism in the process of reporting.

"Democrats hate you, whether you’re doing anything they disapprove of or not. If you aren’t with them 100 percent, you are their 100 percent enemy. It’s not a matter of degrees, it’s a matter of fact. It’s better to start living and voting like it, and working to influence the votes of others now, before they turn the whole country into that baseball game and its aftermath. Because there won’t always be footage to prove them wrong, and common sense will never override the liberal narrative without irrefutable proof." Derek Hunter, NRO 8/10

TRENDING

"STUDY:  Distrust in government rising worldwide." Drudge Report

"Tokyo olympics viewership plummeted 42% from Rio." Drudge. You don't think it had anything to do with American athletes kneeling during the Star-Spangled Banner, do you?

"Internet has never been so authoritarian." Drudge

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

"Plant-based fish rattling seafood industry." Drudge

THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE CALIFORNIA

"Dixie now second largest in CA history . . . Can't find enough firefighters." Drudge

A BACK-TO-SCHOOL SHOPPING LIST FOR YOUR LIBERAL CHILD *

* Compliments of Babylon Bee

> Ziplock baggies of kale

> A brown paper bag. This should be used to cover your child's head if they're white

> A coffin, since they will probably die of COVID

> Extra opposite-gender clothing in case they need to switch genders during recess

> Gasoline & matches in case they encounter an American flag

> Set of crayons for drawing inclusivity rainbows. Don't forget to remove all white crayons

BACON APOCALYPSE

"Like ancient Egypt, California is beset by plagues, most of them self-inflicted — homicidal summer wildfires, a crime spike, electricity blackouts, the end of the internal-combustion engine, failing public schools, water shortages, highest-in-the-nation taxes, a COVID response that gutted the economy and did little to contain the virus, metastasizing homelessness, critical race theory, official confusion about obvious differences among men and women, Governor Gavin Newsom, and, of course, University of Southern California head football coach Clay Helton. With all that, it’s hardly surprising that many Californians are fleeing for other states, crossing the Colorado River in a kind of exodus that’s also remindful of Bible stories: For the first time since William McKinley captured the White House, the state’s population is falling.

"Even so, it’s a little surprising that the next plague may well be hunger — not actual corpses-in-the-streets famine, but a bacon shortage in which some of the living may envy the dead.And not just bacon. State regulators are set to block, in January, the sale of chickens, veal calves, and pigs raised in conditions prohibited under 2018’s Proposition 12, the Farm Animal Confinement Initiative. You can’t blame this on Newsom or the state legislature’s Democratic supermajority. Instead, blame California voters, two-thirds of whom believed that they could suspend the laws of economics and that nobody would have to pay for it.

"They were wrong, of course. The bacon shortage — newspaper shorthand for a shortage of all pork products — may be unintended, but it was utterly predictable. Pork producers in Iowa and other midwestern states, and poor people all over the U.S., will pay more so that most California voters can feel less bad about themselves." Will Swaim, National Review Online 8/9

ROE V. WADE

"The Supreme Court of the United States will hear arguments in October concerning the constitutionality of a Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. It is anticipated that SCOTUS will either reverse Roe v. Wade or cut its heart out, rendering a decision with no real precedential value. Roe opened the door for abortion on demand and the subsequent deaths of more than 64 million unborn children. The time has come for SCOTUS to deal Roe a death-blow and put an end to abortion in the US . . .

"There are more than 2,500 pro-life pregnancy centers nationwide that provide alternatives to abortion services, empowering mothers considering abortion to choose life. These life-affirming agencies have a major impact in reducing abortion in their community and creating a culture of life in America.

"According to a recent study by Charlotte Lozier Institute, pro-life pregnancy centers provided more than $266 million in services to their clientele in 2019 — the vast majority of whom are seriously considering ending their pregnancies through abortion. Such services, provided at no cost . . . 

"The most impressive thing about the work of pro-life pregnancy centers and medical clinics is that their work is primarily supported through private donations, as opposed to government funds. Many volunteers that believe life is a better choice for any mother considering abortion provide countless hours of work, love and devotion for mothers coming to these centers. Trained medical staff, including nurses and doctors, also frequently donate their time to support women, babies and families." Thomas Glessner, Townhall 8/9

 

COVID

"To shake hands or not? Age-old human gesture still in limbo." Drudge Report

THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE FLORIDA

"Thousands of fish killed by toxic red tide wash ashore on FL beaches." Drudge

LUTHERANS

"The Babylon Bee guide to all the different Christian denominations."

Lutherans:  All the boring part of Catholicism married to all the boring parts of Protestantism. The original Protestants, the Lutheran church began in 1963 shortly following Martin Luther's "I Have A Dream" speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial. In order to join, a person must be at least 70 years old, live inLake Wobegon, & have a bizarre obsession with Jell-O.

TRENDING

"Obama's party ruined as mansion sinks into sea thanks to climate change." Babylon Bee

DEPT. OF SHAMELESS JOKE-STEALING

* Compliments of Reader's Digest, July/Aug 2021

> My husband wants to make cauliflower crust pizza, so now I hae to run to the grocery store & find a new husband.

> ME:  I don't get why our kids are such picky eaters. It's just food. Eat it. WIFE:  Have a salad. ME:  I'd rather die.

> Almost left the grocery store without buying a bag of spring mix to throw, unopened, into the garbage in 2 weeks.

TRANS ACTIVISM 

"For a movement that is supposedly about the latest oppressed minority gaining full human rights, transactivism has progressed remarkably far and fast. What campaigners mean by “trans rights” is gender self-identification: that trans people be treated in every circumstance as members of the sex they identify with, rather than the sex they actually are.

"This is not a human right at all. It is a demand that everyone else lose their rights to single-sex spaces, services, and activities. And in its requirement that everyone else accept trans people’s subjective beliefs as objective reality, it is akin to a new state religion, complete with blasphemy laws. Even as one country after another introduces gender self-ID, very few voters know that this is happening, let alone support it." Helen Joyce, National Review Online 8/8

WOMEN

"Throughout the 2020 campaign, Joe Biden went out of his way to appeal to women, whether by picking Vice President Kamala Harris as his running mate or pushing the "Biden agenda for women." These symbols and rhetoric, much like the rest of the Biden presidency, have proven to be empty. From economic policy to education, the administration is advancing policies that restrict opportunities for women. 

"Many women who expected a big boost coming out of the pandemic-induced recession have been unpleasantly surprised. The policies of the Biden administration are limiting America's recovery and are making it difficult for women, who were hit particularly hard by the pandemic, to find jobs.

"Instead of removing roadblocks from the economy, the administration is doubling down on job-killing policies. The government expanded welfare payments and eligibility at the height of the pandemic. But now Biden is unwilling to stop paying many workers $20 an hour not to work. Unsurprisingly, many women haven’t re-entered the labor force, and small businesses are struggling to stay fully staffed."  Teri Christoph, Townhall 8/8

YOUNG PEOPLE

"If it seems that young people these days believe absurd things, that they utterly lack both the ability and the inclination to reason logically—well, it’s not your imagination. Today’s college graduates can’t think, or at least don’t think, because they’re not being taught to . . . 

"Remember that deconstruction, as the name implies, is not about building up; it’s about tearing down. It not about “criticism,” in the sense of objectively evaluating the good and bad; it’s about “critique,” which focuses solely on the bad. It’s not about solving problems; it’s about complaining about them and blaming others for them.

"It also, of necessity, privileges emotion over reason. Something is bad because someone thinks it’s bad—or, more to the point, they feel it’s bad. They don’t like it. It offends them in some way, perhaps because it doesn’t seem fair or equitable. Math is certainly like that. Not everyone is good at it, and those who are possess certain advantages over their math-challenged fellows. That’s bad because it’s not fair. And so math must be critiqued. It must be deconstructed.

"The same is true of biology. Men have certain inherent physical advantages over women? That’s not fair! It makes some people feel bad. Gender must therefore be deconstructed. Little do they realize that, in tearing down the edifice of biological sex, they are destroying the very foundations of civilized society—marriage, family, child-rearing, the transmission of time-tested traditions. They don’t think that way, because they don’t think at all. They merely emote . . . 

"Meanwhile, as a parent, you should look for private schools, at all levels, that do teach those skills—like Hillsdale College and New Saint Andrews College in Idaho. I’m sure there are others. You can also talk with your kids regularly about what they’re learning, do your best to counter the Marxist nonsense, and try to model effective critical thinking in both word and deed. You can also share books like Jordan Peterson’s12 Rules for Lifeand Scott Newstock’sHow to Think Like Shakespeare. Read them together and talk about them afterward.

Because, if there’s one upside to the fact that most young people can’t think, it is this: If your son or daughter does learn to think, there’s a good chance they’ll be running things one day, once this rudderless airplane that is deconstructionism finally careens into the mountainside of reality." Rob Jenkins, Townhall 8/8

A PRAYER FOR THE NATION

"Almighty God, You have given us this good land as our heritage. Grant that we remember Your generosity & constantly do Your will. Bless our land with honest industry, truthful education, & an honorable way of life. Save us from violence, discord, & confusion, from pride & arrogance, & from every evil course of action. Grant that we, who came from many nations with many different languages, may become a united people. Support us in defending our liberties, & give to those to whom we have entrusted the authority of government the spirit of wisdom, that there may be justice & peace in our land. When times are prosperous, may our hearts be thankful, & in troubled times do not let our trust in you fail; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. Lutheran Service Book

KNOWING GOD

"If you want to know what God is like, look at His Son. If you want to hear God, listen to His Son! A man will make no mistake following Christ! Let a man begin with Jesus wherever he must to be honest with himself; let him investigate Jesus all the way. Let him go along with Jesus as far as truth dictates--as far as honest inquiry leads." Richard Halverson, Men's Devotional Bible

LIFE THOUGHTS IN THE CHURCH YEAR

"Jesus gave His flesh for the life of the world (John 6:51). For the the lives of unborn persons or incapacitated ones? For the life of the world. For neighbors with congenital deformities or chronic disabilities? For the life of the world. For those who can't clothe themselves yet or who can't bathe themselves anymore? For the life of the world. For those who have promoted assisted suicide or participated in abortion! For the life of the world!" Grace Lutheran Church bulletin, 8/8

IMMORTAL LIFE

"Most importantly, Jesus, God's true Son, is our representative in His resurrection from the dead. Because He is raised to victory & immortal life, we will also be raised. And even now, Jesus--the living & powerful Lord Jesus--is present with His church, His people. To borrow from the Gospel of John, because He lives, we live also." Jeffrey Gibbs, The Lutheran Witness, April 2021

TODAY'S HYMN OF PRAISE & ADORATION

Praise the Almighty, LW #445, Sts. 1, 2, 5

Praise the Almighty, my soul, adore Him! Yes, I will laud Him until death; With songs & anthems I come before Him As long as He allows me breath. From Him my life & all things came; Bless, O my soul, His holy name. Alleluia, alleluia!

Trust not in rulers; they are but mortal; Earth-born they are & soon decay. Vain are their counsels at life's last portal, When the dark grave engulfs its prey. Since mortals can no help afford, Place all your trust in Christ, our Lord. Alleluia, alleluia!

Praise, all you people, the name so holy Of Him who does such wondrous things! All that has being, to praise Him solely, With happy heart its amen sings. Children of God, with angel host Praise Father, Son, & Holy Ghost! Alleluia, alleluia!

COVID

"To shake hands or not? Age-old human gesture still in limbo." Drudge Report

THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE FLORIDA

"Thousands of fish killed by toxic red tide wash ashore on FL beaches." Drudge

LUTHERANS

"The Babylon Bee guide to all the different Christian denominations."

Lutherans:  All the boring part of Catholicism married to all the boring parts of Protestantism. The original Protestants, the Lutheran church began in 1963 shortly following Martin Luther's "I Have A Dream" speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial. In order to join, a person must be at least 70 years old, live inLake Wobegon, & have a bizarre obsession with Jell-O.

TRENDING

"Obama's party ruined as mansion sinks into sea thanks to climate change." Babylon Bee

DEPT. OF SHAMELESS JOKE-STEALING

* Compliments of Reader's Digest, July/Aug 2021

> My husband wants to make cauliflower crust pizza, so now I hae to run to the grocery store & find a new husband.

> ME:  I don't get why our kids are such picky eaters. It's just food. Eat it. WIFE:  Have a salad. ME:  I'd rather die.

> Almost left the grocery store without buying a bag of spring mix to throw, unopened, into the garbage in 2 weeks.

TRANS ACTIVISM 

"For a movement that is supposedly about the latest oppressed minority gaining full human rights, transactivism has progressed remarkably far and fast. What campaigners mean by “trans rights” is gender self-identification: that trans people be treated in every circumstance as members of the sex they identify with, rather than the sex they actually are.

"This is not a human right at all. It is a demand that everyone else lose their rights to single-sex spaces, services, and activities. And in its requirement that everyone else accept trans people’s subjective beliefs as objective reality, it is akin to a new state religion, complete with blasphemy laws. Even as one country after another introduces gender self-ID, very few voters know that this is happening, let alone support it." Helen Joyce, National Review Online 8/8

WOMEN

"Throughout the 2020 campaign, Joe Biden went out of his way to appeal to women, whether by picking Vice President Kamala Harris as his running mate or pushing the "Biden agenda for women." These symbols and rhetoric, much like the rest of the Biden presidency, have proven to be empty. From economic policy to education, the administration is advancing policies that restrict opportunities for women. 

"Many women who expected a big boost coming out of the pandemic-induced recession have been unpleasantly surprised. The policies of the Biden administration are limiting America's recovery and are making it difficult for women, who were hit particularly hard by the pandemic, to find jobs.

"Instead of removing roadblocks from the economy, the administration is doubling down on job-killing policies. The government expanded welfare payments and eligibility at the height of the pandemic. But now Biden is unwilling to stop paying many workers $20 an hour not to work. Unsurprisingly, many women haven’t re-entered the labor force, and small businesses are struggling to stay fully staffed."  Teri Christoph, Townhall 8/8

YOUNG PEOPLE

"If it seems that young people these days believe absurd things, that they utterly lack both the ability and the inclination to reason logically—well, it’s not your imagination. Today’s college graduates can’t think, or at least don’t think, because they’re not being taught to . . . 

"Remember that deconstruction, as the name implies, is not about building up; it’s about tearing down. It not about “criticism,” in the sense of objectively evaluating the good and bad; it’s about “critique,” which focuses solely on the bad. It’s not about solving problems; it’s about complaining about them and blaming others for them.

"It also, of necessity, privileges emotion over reason. Something is bad because someone thinks it’s bad—or, more to the point, they feel it’s bad. They don’t like it. It offends them in some way, perhaps because it doesn’t seem fair or equitable. Math is certainly like that. Not everyone is good at it, and those who are possess certain advantages over their math-challenged fellows. That’s bad because it’s not fair. And so math must be critiqued. It must be deconstructed.

"The same is true of biology. Men have certain inherent physical advantages over women? That’s not fair! It makes some people feel bad. Gender must therefore be deconstructed. Little do they realize that, in tearing down the edifice of biological sex, they are destroying the very foundations of civilized society—marriage, family, child-rearing, the transmission of time-tested traditions. They don’t think that way, because they don’t think at all. They merely emote . . . 

"Meanwhile, as a parent, you should look for private schools, at all levels, that do teach those skills—like Hillsdale College and New Saint Andrews College in Idaho. I’m sure there are others. You can also talk with your kids regularly about what they’re learning, do your best to counter the Marxist nonsense, and try to model effective critical thinking in both word and deed. You can also share books like Jordan Peterson’s12 Rules for Lifeand Scott Newstock’sHow to Think Like Shakespeare. Read them together and talk about them afterward.

Because, if there’s one upside to the fact that most young people can’t think, it is this: If your son or daughter does learn to think, there’s a good chance they’ll be running things one day, once this rudderless airplane that is deconstructionism finally careens into the mountainside of reality." Rob Jenkins, Townhall 8/8