Dis n Dat from Hear and Der - Today's WSJ comments by SamKat - Saturday, May 16, 2020

I have been receiving the WSJ daily along with the Columbus Disgrace.  I normally pick up from the outer vestibule of our 37 unit condo each morning.  I put the CD copies on the 'round table' and deliver a few downstairs copies after I have a short workout.

I thought few people were interested in my blog until I recently learned that Blogger, my blog provider has been holding comments under a "Comments Confirmation" comments tag.  I was unaware, but recently learned, that there have been over 1200 comments since I started my SamKat blog skegley.blogspot.com in the last half of 2008, twelve years ago.  I have perused most and found that the comments, although few are traceable as to the commenter 's internet link, they are 99.9+% extremely favorable, although by 'unknown'.  Comments such as 'Just found this outstanding blog', and 'you are a great writer' just overwhelm, me now.  Why didn't blogger let me know?  Neither I, nor my family or friends who contribute so many wonderful posts have received a dime from my blog.  I still enjoy posting on my blog; however, at 87, with many life-savings expended over these last 22 years, could certainly enjoy renumeration for my wife, Jeanie, of 68 years.

Back to the WSJ, which I admire gratefully over the leftist Columbus newspaper.

Saturday's are the weekend edition of WSJ which has a lot of greatly interesting reading.  A neighbor, Dorothy Carroll, likes certain sections that I take to her door after my own perusal.  I noted a few "goodies" I want to say something about in this post.

1.) Prime Minster Boris Johnson of the United Kingdom tested postive for the COVID-19 virus on March 26 and was hospitalized, put into the Intensive Care Unit,  and released April 12.  Awareness of the well-educated Prime Minister's serious encounter and survival has seemed to have a fairly calming effect in England.

2.) I knew nothing about Aaron Ginn, 32, who early-on published a March 20  paper "Evidence Over Hysteria-COVID-19" which had over two million readers in two and a half articles it was taken down.  It can now be found on Archives.com which I intend to do today.

3.) Kimberly Strassel, who divides her time between her Friday article on the WSJ and her home in Alaska.  Kimberly also has a book I want to read "Resistance".  She also contributed an article today about how well Alaska has handled on-line education.  She has children in high school, middle school and the third grade.

4.) Purdue University's President, Mitch Daniel, delivered a May 13 Convocation Address in which he had a couple of advice comments by Timothy Leary, the Harvard Professor's comments years ago to students:

"Turn on, tune in, and drop out."  by Tim Leary.
Mitch Daniel countered that to students today with:
Turn off, tune out, and drop in."  Off the phone, On the screen, The drop-in was for visits to old friends and family.

I hope these WSJ items mean something to you whose comments will probably "Await Confirmation"
by Blogger.  They do allow me to blog freely but make it difficult to express my Christian Conservative views at times ... Oh well ...

SamKat

How Billy Graham Changed My Life WSJ 2/26/2018 George W. Bush

How Billy Graham Changed My Life

Bush, George WAuthor Information. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]26 Feb 2018: A.17.

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Billy Graham was, with C.S. Lewis, one of the 20th century's most influential figures in evangelicalism. I never had the honor of meeting Lewis, but I did know Billy, who died last week at 99. He changed my life.

I first met him on my grandmother's porch in Kennebunkport, Maine, in 1985. In her 80s, she was frail but sharp. They sat together and Billy held her hand while talking about the Bible. Later she described it as one of the most peaceful days of her life.

Soon after, I had my own personal encounter with Billy. As I wrote in "Decision Points," he asked me to go for a walk with him around Walker's Point. I was captivated by him. He had a powerful presence, full of kindness and grace, and a keen mind. He asked about my life in Texas. I talked to him about Laura and our little girls.

Then I mentioned something I'd been thinking about for a while -- that reading the Bible might help make me a better person. He told me about one of the Bible's most fundamental lessons: One should strive to be better, but we're all sinners who earn God's love not through our good deeds, but through His grace. It was a profound concept, one I did not fully grasp that day. But Billy had planted a seed. His thoughtful explanation made the soil less hard, the brambles less thick.

Shortly after we got back to Texas, a package from Billy arrived. It was a copy of the Living Bible. He had inscribed it and included a reference to Philippians 1:6: "And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns."

God's work within me began in earnest with Billy's outreach. His care and his teachings were the real beginning of my faith walk -- and the start of the end of my drinking. I couldn't have given up alcohol on my own. But in 1986, at 40, I finally found the strength to quit. That strength came from love I had felt from my earliest days and from faith I didn't fully discover until my later years.

I was also fortunate to witness Billy's remarkable capacity to minister to everyone he met. When I was governor of Texas, I sat behind Billy at one of his crusades in San Antonio. His powerful message of God's love moved people to tears and motivated hundreds to come forward to commit themselves to Christ. I remember thinking about all the crusades Billy had led over the years around the world, and his capacity to open up hearts to Jesus. This good man was truly a shepherd of the Lord.

Perhaps his most meaningful service came on Sept. 14, 2001. After the 9/11 attacks, I asked Billy to lead the ecumenical service at Washington National Cathedral. It was no easy task. America was on bended knee -- frightened, angry, uncertain. As only Billy Graham could, he helped us feel God's arms wrapped around our mourning country.

"We come together today," he began, "to affirm our conviction that God cares for us, whatever our ethnic, religious or political background may be. The Bible says that he is 'the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles.'" God comforted a nation that day through a very special servant.

In a difficult moment, Billy reminded me -- and us all -- where we can find strength. And he helped us start to heal by offering three lessons: the mystery and reality of evil, our need for each other, and hope for the present and future. "As a Christian," Graham said at the 9/11 service, "I have hope, not just for this life, but for heaven and the life to come."

A final story: One night while dad was away on a trip during his presidency, mother and I had dinner at the White House. Eventually we got to talking about religion and who gets to go to heaven. I made the point that the New Testament says clearly that to get to heaven, one must believe in Christ. Mother asked about the devout who don't believe in Jesus but do God's work by serving others. She then took advantage of one of the benefits of being first lady. She picked up the phone and asked the White House operator to call Reverend Graham.

It wasn't long before his reassuring Southern voice was on the line. He told us, as I recall, "Barbara and George, I believe what is written in the New Testament. But don't play God. He decides who goes to heaven, not you." Any doctrinal certitude gave way to a calm trust that God had this figured out better than I did.

Those of us who were blessed to know Billy Graham benefited from his deep convictions and personal example, his wisdom and humility, his grace and purity of heart. We knew that his life was a gift from the Almighty. And I rejoice that he is now in the company of God, whom he loved so much and served so well.

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Mr. Bush was the 43rd president of the United States.

Credit: By George W. Bush

Word count: 886

Wall Street Journal interviews Rep Massie, Lewis County KY -Article on front page ... thx Ramey H!

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ICYMI: Wall Street Journal Profiles Congressman Massie on Front Page Inbox x ramey hoskins 7:09 PM (10 hours ago) to Now this is the type of individual we desperately need in Congress. The following was forwarded to me by my friend RB in Ashland, Ky. To all of you:  The following article appeared in the WSJ today.  We need more men like him in Congress.  He does not take orders from the party leadership; he is his own man and he works to limit government spending.  He is a conservative who was raised right close in Lewis County along with his wife.  He has two degrees from MIT and his loyalty and direction are desperately needed in Congress.  He is my Congressman and I was fortunate enough to meet him and talk with him when he held a town hall meeting here in Ashland last spring.  He is personable, smart and I just wish we had more like him in politics.  He has a mind of his own and the Republican establishment cannot handle him.  I love it when the establishment can't lord it over new members.  Enjoy, and hope our country can come up with more like him.  RB Subject: ICYMI: Wall Street Journal Profiles Congressman Massie on Front Page Contact: Friday Aug 2, 2013 (202) 225-3465 Freshmen GOP Lawmakers Revel in Maverick Power By PATRICK O'CONNOR The original front page WSJ article can be read here. ASHLAND, Ky.—U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie lives off the electrical grid in a solar-powered home on a 1,200-acre farm in the Appalachian foothills. The first-year congressman and engineering graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology built the house from lumber he logged and milled. The Kentucky Republican also lives off the grid politically. Just a few weeks after his election, he helped spearhead an unsuccessful coup against House Speaker John Boehner and has since voted regularly against party priorities. The defiant posture of Mr. Massie and a dozen or more like-minded conservatives has changed the agenda in Washington. In a capital where partisan power is nearly evenly balanced, he and a small but committed group of new House activists have discovered that they have the ability to block not just Democrats but their own party's leaders—and they are willing to use it. "I'm going to hang in here like a hair in a biscuit," said Mr. Massie, who has twice appeared on the TV show "Junkyard Wars," as one of the competitors who build machines from scrounged objects. "I'm digging in for the long haul. This place is worse than I thought." Republicans hold just a 17-vote majority in the House, which means such a relatively small but cohesive bloc can derail just about any measure that doesn't draw Democratic support. That already happened when Mr. Boehner was unable to bring the conservatives into line on a big farm bill, compelling unhappy Republican leaders to make wholesale changes in the legislation. Trouble also lies ahead on a proposed immigration overhaul, as well as efforts to fund the government and extend the U.S. borrowing authority this fall. Mr. Boehner has told audiences in New York and Washington not to expect much activity from the House for the rest of the year. The speaker was forced to rely on Democrats, for example, to help pass disaster relief for superstorm Sandy, the Violence Against Women Act and an extension of Bush-era tax rates for people who make less than $400,000. Mr. Massie, 42 years old, represents a potent strain of small-government conservatism. He and his colleagues, unlike some of their predecessors, didn't come to Washington content to trim government. Instead, they believe wide swaths of what government does need to be reconsidered from the ground up to deal with deficits and a potential explosion in entitlement spending. These lawmakers, who now are the front line of the tea-party movement, are unwilling to fall in line with GOP colleagues. They are, however, willing to vote against what is perceived as their own political interests, as some did in opposing farm subsidies popular back home. "There are a bunch of zombies here," Mr. Massie said in an interview, referring to lawmakers in both parties. "Most of them come here with the purest of intentions, but they just get bitten…I don't know whether to hug 'em or hit 'em with a baseball bat." The White House has concluded that this conservative bloc is so formidable that it now is, in effect, seeking to work its agenda through the Senate instead of the House. Mr. Massie is hard to pigeonhole, though he leans to the libertarian wing of the Republican Party. He drives an $80,000 Tesla electric sedan with a license plate that says, "Friends of Kentucky Coal." He wants lower taxes and less federal spending. He has sponsored or co-sponsored 61 bills, including ones to abolish the Federal Reserve and the new health-care law, as well as a measure to make legal possession of guns in a school zone. He and his wife, Rhonda, grew up in Lewis County, Ky., population 13,870. They left after high school to attend MIT, where Mr. Massie, with the help of scholarships and financial aid, earned degrees in mechanical and electrical engineering, as well as the prestigious Lemelson-MIT Student Prize, known as the Oscar for inventors. At MIT, the couple started a company in their apartment to sell a virtual-reality computer technology Mr. Massie created, using some of the 24 patents he developed. In 2003, after building the company to a 60-person team that raised $30 million from investors, the Massies sold their stake and moved back to Kentucky to raise their four children on the farm where Rhonda Massie grew up. Mr. Massie's father, a beer distributor, and his mother, a nurse, still live in Mr. Massie's childhood home, about 15 miles away in Vanceburg, Ky. Mr. Massie took a one-week course to learn how to build a timber-framed house on his farm, which he bought from his in-laws. He used a bulldozer to fell the 600 trees he used and assembled the solar electricity system himself. He later acquired 50 head of grass-fed cattle. Mr. Massie said he began reading the Lewis County Leader, a local newspaper, where he learned county officials had proposed a levy to build a government office to lure a branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Mr. Massie, who estimated the levy would have cost him $100, wrote letters to the newspaper and staged a protest that drew 150 opponents. Officials later dropped the idea, and Mr. Massie was soon drawn to politics by the small-government wave that washed across the U.S. in 2010. That year he ran his first political campaign and was voted the top elected official in Lewis County. As the county's judge-executive, Mr. Massie scoured financial records and halted services he thought the county didn't need. To save money, he installed a new water tank at the county jail himself. When Mr. Massie ran for Congress in 2012, his maverick reputation had already reached Washington. Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy and other House Republicans donated more than $50,000 to Mr. Massie's top rival in the GOP primary, according to the Federal Election Commission. Mr. Massie used the donations to reinforce his portrayal of his opponent as beholden to Washington. "Once she wore the establishment hat," he said, "it was all over." He won over college student John Ramsey, who had given $3 million of his inheritance to build a group that backs free-market, small-government conservatives in the mold of former U.S. Rep. Ron Paul. The group, Liberty for All PAC, spent more than $640,000 on Mr. Massie's behalf, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan group that tracks political donations. Mr. Massie won the seven-candidate GOP primary with 45% of the vote, and then beat Democrat Bill Adkins by nearly 30 percentage points. House freshmen used to be a quiet breed. But consecutive elections have swept away older lawmakers and replaced them with newer faces, instilling younger members with a measure of power over party elders. In Washington, Mr. Massie joined a handful of freshmen who won seats despite opposition from congressional Republicans. First-year U.S. Reps. Jim Bridenstine of Oklahoma and Ted Yoho of Florida both beat incumbent Republicans. It took Mr. Massie just a few weeks to run afoul of party leaders. In late December, Mr. Boehner was negotiating with President Barack Obama to avoid a combination of pending tax increases and spending cuts that was nicknamed the fiscal cliff. As talks fizzled, Mr. Boehner asked the House to approve extending tax rates for all but million-dollar earners. Mr. Massie, who was sworn in early after his predecessor resigned, opposed raising tax rates and voted to block it. Mr. McCarthy, the No. 3 Republican in the House, bounded across the House floor to scold the newcomer, Mr. Massie recalled. Mr. McCarthy then turned to Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, ringleader of the revolt, and said: "Jim, he doesn't even know what he's doing. He doesn't know what you're getting him into." After Mr. McCarthy left, other Republicans congratulated the freshman for standing his ground, Mr. Massie said. Mr. Boehner pulled the bill. Mr. Massie's reputation was cemented weeks later when he tried to deny Mr. Boehner's re-election as speaker. Although the plot fizzled, 12 Republicans voted for someone else or abstained, the most defections by fellow party members for a speaker since 1923. Mr. Massie and his allies are supported by a network that raises money and builds support outside the party structure. Club for Growth, FreedomWorks and the Heritage Action for America use social media and direct outreach to congressional offices to fan discontent among conservative voters nationwide over legislation they oppose. "The internal forces here in Washington, D.C., don't produce the right answer," Mr. Massie said. "We need to rally people on the outside." In March, Mr. Massie and 15 other Republicans nearly upended legislation to fund the government. Some opposed the bill because it failed to cut funds for the health-care law. Others were annoyed that party leaders denied an amendment to prevent Mr. Obama from spending taxpayer money to play golf. Democrats say the infighting helps them paint the GOP as out of step with voters, while tamping enthusiasm among conservative activists. "You've got the far right worrying about the far, far right and pulling the entire party out-of-step with independents," said Steve Israel, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. GOP leaders tried to bring the agitators into the fold. They scored a victory in March by persuading Mr. Bridenstine to support a budget blueprint that Mr. Massie and nine other Republicans opposed. To win his vote, House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) spent more than an hour with the freshman, trying to quell Mr. Bridenstine's concerns about increased spending. During voting, House Armed Services Chairman Buck McKeon (R., Calif.) sat next to Mr. Bridenstine to prevent others from lobbying him against the bill. Mr. Bridenstine said the Ryan plan "was the best we could do" to stabilize the debt. Republican leaders aren't likely to try a similar effort with Mr. Massie. He told his staff to give his cellphone number only to his most fiscally conservative colleagues. Of Mr. McCarthy, the GOP majority whip, Mr. Massie said, "I run around tying shoes and Kevin runs around untying them." The rhetoric by House Republicans has cooled since party leaders put off until fall a fight over extending the U.S. borrowing limit. The controversies buffeting Mr. Obama have also galvanized Republicans, including the targeting of conservative groups by the Internal Revenue Service. "The energy has dissipated some," Mr. Massie said. Party leaders "have succeeded in peeling off some members." He recently attended a session with Mr. Boehner in the speaker's Capitol office. Mr. Boehner told the group to be patient. Change, he said, takes time. Mr. Massie used the meeting to lobby Mr. Boehner on one of his favorite causes, telling the speaker to oppose legislation that would give states the authority to collect sales tax on Internet transactions. Mr. Boehner told him the bill would never reach the floor, Mr. Massie said. Representatives of retailers Best Buy, Home Depot, Target and others had piled into Mr. Massie's office in June to give him an earful about how online retailers now have a pricing advantage, according to participants in the talks. The speaker recently promised his rank-and-file he wouldn't allow a vote on an immigration bill unless a majority of his caucus supported it—a nod to Mr. Massie and others. Mr. Massie also made a concession to party leaders when he backed a revised farm bill after GOP brass, bowing to conservative pressure, stripped money for food stamps. But the Kentucky Republican and his allies were back at it last week, nearly passing a measure to defund the National Security Agency's data-collection program. Back in his district, Mr. Massie revels in his outsider status. He returns to Kentucky on weekends and during the week he stays in the basement of his aunt's house in Virginia. At a town-hall meeting this spring, he told constituents about a recent flight home from Washington. His 4th congressional district, which is heavily Republican and 92% white, favored former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in the 2012 election by 29%. The congressman took his seat in the last row of the plane when a man next to him jabbed him in the ribs. "Do you realize who's on this flight," the man said, gesturing to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, all fellow Republicans. "I was sitting there," Mr. Massie said, "hoping he doesn't ask me what I do for a living." The original front page WSJ article can be read here. ###   NOTE: Please DO NOT respond to this email as this inbox is unattended. To contact my office please click here UPDATE SUBSCRIPTION OPTIONS | PRIVACY POLICY | CONTACT US Click here to Reply or Forward Sage One - Exclusive Pricing Avail. Reclaim your day with Sage One - for Online Accounting, Invoicing & Project Management. See offer! Why this ad?Ads – 2.74 GB (18%) of 15 GB used Manage ©2013 Google - Terms & Privacy Last account activity: 8 hours ago Details

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obama - a treacherous invention of George Soros and the like

Thanks John & Yvette M.! Wall Street Journal Sizes Up Obama A "deadly" article regarding Obama, at the Wall Street Journal, which today is the most widely circulated newspaper in America . Article from the Wall Street Journal - by Alan Caruba: "I have this theory about Barack Obama. I think he's led a kind of make-believe life in which money was provided and doors were opened because at some point early on somebody or some group (George Soros anybody?) took a look at this tall, good looking, half-white, half-black, young man with an exotic African/Muslim name and concluded he could be guided toward a life in politics where his facile speaking skills could even put him in the White House. In a very real way, he has been a young man in a very big hurry. Who else do you know has written two memoirs before the age of 45? "Dreams of My Father" was published in 1995 when he was only 34 years old. The "Audacity of Hope" followed in 2006. If, indeed, he did write them himself. There are some who think that his mentor and friend, Bill Ayers, a man who calls himself a "communist with a small 'c'" was the real author. His political skills consisted of rarely voting on anything that might be deemed controversial. He went from a legislator in the Illinois legislature to the Senator from that state because he had the good fortune of having Mayor Daley's formidable political machine at his disposal. He was in the U.S. Senate so briefly that his bid for the presidency was either an act of astonishing self-confidence or part of some greater game plan that had been determined before he first stepped foot in the Capital. How, many must wonder, was he selected to be a 2004 keynote speaker at the Democrat convention that nominated John Kerry when virtually no one had ever even heard of him before? He outmaneuvered Hillary Clinton in primaries. He took Iowa by storm. A charming young man, an anomaly in the state with a very small black population, he oozed "cool" in a place where agriculture was the antithesis of cool. He dazzled the locals. And he had an army of volunteers drawn to a charisma that hid any real substance. And then he had the great good fortune of having the Republicans select one of the most inept candidates for the presidency since Bob Dole. And then John McCain did something crazy. He picked Sarah Palin, an unknown female governor from the very distant state of Alaska . It was a ticket that was reminiscent of 1984's Walter Mondale and Geraldine Ferraro and they went down to defeat. The mainstream political media fell in love with him. It was a schoolgirl crush with febrile commentators like Chris Mathews swooning then and now over the man. The venom directed against McCain and, in particular, Palin, was extraordinary. Now, 3 full years into his presidency, all of those gilded years leading up to the White House have left him unprepared to be President. Left to his own instincts, he has a talent for saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. It swiftly became a joke that he could not deliver even the briefest of statements without the ever-present Tele-Prompters. Far worse, however, is his capacity to want to "wish away" some terrible realities, not the least of which is the Islamist intention to destroy America and enslave the West. Any student of history knows how swiftly Islam initially spread. It knocked on the doors of Europe, having gained a foothold in Spain . The great crowds that greeted him at home or on his campaign "world tour" were no substitute for having even the slightest grasp of history and the reality of a world filled with really bad people with really bad intentions. Oddly and perhaps even inevitably, his political experience, a cakewalk, has positioned him to destroy the Democrat Party's hold on power in Congress because in the end it was never about the Party. It was always about his communist ideology, learned at an early age from family, mentors, college professors, and extreme leftist friends and colleagues. Obama is a man who could deliver a snap judgment about a Boston police officer who arrested an "obstreperous" Harvard professor-friend, but would warn Americans against "jumping to conclusions" about a mass murderer at Fort Hood who shouted "Allahu Akbar." The absurdity of that was lost on no one. He has since compounded this by calling the Christmas bomber "an isolated extremist" only to have to admit a day or two later that he was part of an al Qaeda plot. He is a man who could strive to close down our detention facility at Guantanamo even though those released were known to have returned to the battlefield against America . He could even instruct his Attorney General to afford the perpetrator of 9/11 a civil trial when no one else would ever even consider such an obscenity. And he is a man who could wait three days before having anything to say about the perpetrator of yet another terrorist attack on Americans and then have to elaborate on his remarks the following day because his first statement was so lame. The pattern repeats itself. He either blames any problem on the Bush administration or he naively seeks to wish away the truth. Knock, knock. Anyone home? Anyone there? Barack Obama exists only as the sock puppet of his handlers, of the people who have maneuvered and manufactured this pathetic individual's life. When anyone else would quickly and easily produce a birth certificate, this man spent over a million dollars to deny access to his. Most other documents, the paper trail we all leave in our wake, have been sequestered from review. He has lived a make-believe life whose true facts remain hidden. We laugh at the ventriloquist's dummy, but what do you do when the dummy is President of the United States. We the people are coming! Only 86% will send this on. Should be a 100%. What will you do? Please send it on if only to one person.