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Mary Margaret Clark (Schultheis)

It is beyond exhausting to continue to defend oneself against the cries of being a far right-wing conspiracy theorist for simply following other news outlets which are outside of those who write and produce the news from the ivory towers of traditional media sources...whose journalists have, by their own admission, voted 97% Democratic. Therefore, I won't.  I know who I am, I know what my core values are, and I know that the answer to all of the world's problems lies not in the principles of secularism, but in following the teachings of the One who made us. The divide is great between us, as is evidenced on this forum.  May we all continue to seek the truth, not OUR  truth, but THE truth, wherever that leads.  

Michael McLeod

Jesus would have SOOO voted democrat.

He'd have flipped over every trinket table Trump set up.

David Barbour

Mike, That wasn't kind!  What would your mother say?  You've expressed plenty of ideas, now

just let it go!!  We in the majority are called to be letting go of the hostility and change the conversation.

Lawrence Foster

Dave Barbour - You are absolutley correct:  "JUST LET IT GO!!"   

Though Dave's post mentions you specifically Mike, you are not the only one that needs to follow Dave's advice.  The amount of re-phrasing main-stream "news" media opinions by many folks here is what has caused this web site to undergo "the deterioration of a pleasant environment in which to communicate." 

When Jane set this up she specifically stated that opinions (such as the political items) and other things that could be long pieces of expression by folks should be put over on the User Forum link.  I know that when some folks came in after the web page had been up for a while they were not aware of it.  Jane reposted that request to keep those kinds of expressions off the Message Forum.  It worked for a short while and then those folks came back at it.  I know that I also contacted two people about that when they repeated their posts even after Jane asked them not to.  Again, it worked for a short while but then the bombasts kept coming back and they are still here.

Come on, people - just let it go, please!! 

Now if by chance these words have gotten to you and you might be feeling a bit guilty then I give you the words of IC parish pastor Father Crosser:   "Three Our Father's, Three Hail Mary's, and make a good  Act of Contrition."   

Don't forget:  User Forum   

David Mitchell

Dave,

Refresh my memory. Was the "candy bomber" one of those pilots who were dropping candy over the city of Beriln as they were making those vital re-supply flights in and out of the city after the Russians had tried to close it off? 

(added later - I was trying to recall the term "Berlin Airlift", but coud not remember it at the time.) 

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

And to the entire group,

Just to revisit one of my previous posts about the Nocolas Kristof article in the NY Times about the "Children of Pornhub" and his lengthly investigation into child trafficing and sex trafficing - I have learned that PayPal had suspended handling any payment accoutns for this site almost a year ago, and since the article broke about a week ago, Visa and Mastercard have also blocked payment permission through their channels.

This comes just before today's news of a famous fashion world icon. Peter Nygard (whoever that is) being chaarged for child sex traffficking. I said months ago (after the Jeffrey Epstein story broke) that this whole issue is much, much bigger than most of us realize and we will hear lots more. And I supect that Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, and Prince Andrew (and many other high profile people) are in that story much deeper than they wish to admit.

If you are looking for a cause, let me suggest (again) the three websites I have been following on this for the past few years. You might learn something of importance and maybe consider a donation to their cause. 

Exodus Cry  (who cooperated with Kristoff on his NY Times article - and a very conservative Christian based group, that has testified on the topic before the United Nations)

World Without Exploitation (I beleive it's run by some female lawyers in NYC)

Destiny Rescue  (more specifically devoted to child trafficking 

There are many others. Some partnering up with corporate sponsers and action groups, including even a few universities - Villa Nova and Dayton Univesity. I mostly follow just these three sites.

* I wish you could watch the world-wide film documentary produced by Exodus Cry. It's titled "Nefarious". They travel all over the world, from Moldova, to Thailand, visiting and showing different aspects of the story.  It would break your heart.

David Mitchell

Golly what timing!

As I was typing that post this email notice hit my mailbox;

John Jackson

Right on, Dave!

Larry, I’ll point out that there was little discussion of these topics in the month or so after the election, and I agree that the Forum should not totally (or mostly) be about what’s happening in our country.  So now that at least a smattering of Republicans (including Mitch McConnell today) have accepted the reality that Biden won according to the (until recently) accepted rules of the game, I’m happy to stop my bloviating on this topic.

But I’ve got three kids and eight grandkids who have to live in this country long after you and I are gone, and in none of the preceding Republican administrations would I have even thought to worry for their future like I do today.   And, since our education at BWHS many years ago sought to instill in us some sense of moral and civic responsibility, I think it’s perfectly appropriate that these topics be discussed  from time to time.

Michael McLeod

Gonna get awful boring in here if you stick us all in a corner. 

I think it's legit to debate - here, there, or anywhere else - subjects such as which way Jesus would have gone given the political pressures our day. And when I see falsehoods as a journalist I'll shoot them down as they come - here, there or anywhere else.

Timothy Lavelle

Larry,

Good post. I admire your heart, it's a good one.

But I'm with some others. I want a forum where we are who we are, not who others require. If people say batshit crazy stuff here, then I recall the stuff about "they came and took the first jew" we learned as kids. We're supposed to get hot about it...supposed to say something about it.

Something like..."You're Fired!"

I do think you're right though...that this is not a place to gripe simply because pornhub increased your monthly subscription cost but that's just me. 

Larry, the best way to make this forum reflect what you believe is for everyone to stop worrying even a little about what someone else thinks of them. For cryin' out loud, our next designation in life is "ancient" so why not be our true selves? Speak your truth, like you did. Thanks bud. Tim 

David Mitchell

And besides, Christmas is coming and we're supposed to be good little boys and girls. 

Speaking of Christmas, I hope you are all still clicking those little buttons on Amazon - gotta keep those grey Mercedes vans full of goodies on the road.  

"Sleigh bells ring,,,,are ya listnen?"

And on that note, I have a question; I have just received my four hundred and sixty eighth coupon for 20% off at my local "Bed Bath & Beyond recognition" store.  Do you suppose I could use them all at once and get a cumulative discount? I'm thinkin' I could go in and buy that new counter top Ninja Convection Multi-Roaster for $195 and get it for no cash with about $935 and change coming back to me. 

Michael McLeod

Dave, have you ever considered the possibility that the coupons from Bed Bath and Beyond are a hint that you need to pay more attention to personal hygiene?

On a less important front, I think there should be a long-term, congressionally overseen, bipartisan, five-star examination of our voting tabulation system over the next four years aimed towards modernizing the system and continuing to clarify the results of this past presidential election. It would serve two purposes: one, pragmatic. Like many other social systems, the voting process was tested by the pandemic, and the silver lining of that is the opportunity to make that system better as a result. Also, the more we continue to look at whatever issues and suspicions have been tossed around over a relatively short time, the better we'll be able to give every citizen assurance that the system is an honest one - or not.  If there are leaks in the boat let's fix them for good this time.  People keep saying our democracy has been tested, and our faith in it - for many - has been shaken. We don't need that  civic hangover to linger over our heads, given the challenges in front of us. We need a united front to handle the aftermath of the virus and the crushing issues, domestic and global, that are actually a hell of a lot more important than who our president happens to be. Let's man the oars and pull together for at least four pragmatic years -- then, when we get to shore, we can return to being at each other's throats over dogma. 

You may say I'm a dreamer.

Mark Schweickart

Larry – Be careful what you wish for. You might get another screechy rendition of a song you'd rather not hear from yours truly. Woo hoo! And since, many of us are tired of political positions being articulated let me ask eveyone to just hold your nose and answer this important question: Are you also sick of Christmas songs yet? No...? Well, good, 'cause here's another one. This is a cover of a song by Robert Earl Keen called Merry Christmas from the Family. I had never heard of this song or this performer, but happened to catch it on the radio during a Christmas season a few years ago. I thought it was a welcome change from Frosty and Rudolph, so I made a version of my own. I changed the melody, and modified the lyrics to downplay the drunkenness that his version celebrated. And even though this does not directly portray the Schweickart family, I think there is enough of a strain of Ohio Hill-William in most of my dear classmates that we all should recognize a bit of ourselves in this.

Feliz Navidad.

David Mitchell

Larry, et al,

I agree we need to move on to other topics, but my conscience would not allow me to avoid mentionng this article from today's  USA Today.

I will not comment, nor do I suggest or invite any comment in return, but this article begs to be read by every American.  If you are curious, it is titled:  

"Former Houston police captain held repairman hostage in attempt to prove voter fraud"

'nough said. 

John Maxwell

Frank Ganley

Wasn't this another warm and caring forum today. Mary Margaret and Dr. Jim there is a reason for my abscence from the forum only you two as the rest of you have proven to be false friends. Mr LaVelle saying all should be treated with respect but only if we agree with him. The rest also subscribe to this form of friendship. We have been cursed, scorned and it would make everyone disappear as what we think and believe is bullshit. Oh you all are holly holy holy yet support a regime that advocates and finds abortion fine and dandy. I don't believe God likes it. I have been called a dangerous fellow for being a conspiracy theorist  but For four years you have done and said anything even though every one of you plots have been proven false. 5 years ago we were well liked. Because we weren't supporting trump. Short memories as being the winner of a $700.00 split on the 50/50 which lookin back on the following 4 years  was foolish of me to donate all that cash to pay for this website on to have bite me in the ass. How stupid of me, oh well never again. My wife and I had an A+ weekend while in Beauford as a semi guest of Mary Ann Nolan , I wasn't horrible then but I am now almost to be a threat to your thinking. Mr. LaVelle even talked to me then boom  I am we are Satan incarnate. I I can't wait for my donation to be eaten up by time. What I stand for are the same that Superman looks for truth, justice and the American way!  The rest of you i bid you goodbye. May you all have a great Christmas and after. But I  have warned you what you will see coming down the road, you are going to have to live with who you voted for. If I had the money I'd move  to England, but medical problems I suffer from I'd die waiting for care. The spine operation that has been scheduled for tomorrow TO REPAIR A HERNIATED DISCS Would TAKE PLACE late NEXT YEAR. , live with biden and his idiot

Michael McLeod

All kidding and politics aside: Really sorry you are still having issues with your back, Frank. I've had more than one friend with back issues and I understand what a tough road that is. Hope the new year brings you some relief. Hope the same for the rest of us.

Mark Schweickart

Mike (being the reporter you are) and everyone else (who will want to travel by air someday once Covid is defeated)  –  There is a very disturbing investigative report in the L.A. Times today about the severity of the problem of toxic fumes permeating the cockpit and passenger cabins on commercial jet planes – a problem that apparenlty has been going on for years and being ignored by Boeing, Airbus and, sadly, our FAA. Apparently it is not just Covid that one needs to worry about if traveling by air.

https://www.latimes.com/projects/toxic-chemicals-planes-covid-19-travel-woes/#nt=1col-7030col1-main

Michael McLeod

Mark:

I was going to post this earlier but I'm trying to be more of a happy-face guy. Saw your message and so much for that. I'd call this a coincidence. But it's really not. We are creating a poisonous planet (with the help of people power who pretend it's not so) so there is no shortage of stories about it. So yep you have your story and I've got one too. Why worry about cockpits when you can die from breathing the air in your very own neighborhood?

From today's papers:

LONDON — A 9-year-old girl who suffered a fatal asthma attack in 2013 became the first person in Britain to officially have air pollution listed as a cause of death, a British official said.

The landmark ruling puts a face and a name on one of the millions of people whose deaths are hastened by air pollution across the world every year. And in Britain, legal experts said, it could open a new door to lawsuits by pollution victims or their families.

The girl, Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, lived near a major circular road in southeast London and died in February 2013. An asthmatic, she had been taken to the hospital nearly 30 times in less than three years and suffered numerous seizures.

Her mother said during the inquiry in recent weeks that if she had been told air pollution was contributing to her daughter’s ill health, she would have moved, The Guardian reported.

James Hamilton, M. D.

Mike McL., 

Not that I am defending air pollution, but, having filled out many death certificates, there is a lot of subjectivity involved, especially if no autopsies are performed. I suspect, if British forms are similar to ours, it may (or should) have read something like thls: Cause of Death - Respiratory Arrest /Secondary to Hypoxia/Secondary to Acute Asthmatic Attack/Contributing Causes - Atmospheric Pollution.

Asthma itself , without pollution, is not infrequently a cause of death. To put "Air Pollution" as the " Cause of Death" would be a subjective opinion.

(I have had some experience with soldiers who returned from the Iraqi War with truly direct exposure to severe air pollutants and developed pulmonary disorders. This was quite different from the young girl in your above story and is a tale of its own.). 

Jim 

Michael McLeod

this doesn't help much, Jim, but I thought I'd add it - the emphasis appears to be legal rather than medical and revolves around the pollution as being a contributing cause rather than the primary cause. 

Coroner Philip Barlow said Wednesday after a two-week hearing that he concluded Ella “died of asthma, contributed to by exposure to excessive air pollution.”

“Air pollution was a significant contributory factor to both the induction and exacerbations of her asthma,” he said, adding that in the three years before her death, the girl was exposed to levels of nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter that exceeded World Health Organization guidelines.

Legal and health experts hailed Wednesday’s ruling as a landmark for Britain and other countries because it directly linked air pollution to a specific death. The United Nations Environment Program wrote last year that if air pollution were to be declared a cause of Ella’s death, it would be “the first time that air pollution has ever been explicitly linked to a named individual’s death.”

David Mitchell

Frank,

I hope your surgery goes well and you gradually get some relief from the pain that has been hindering your life for these past several years.

As for politics, I suspect we are not so awfully far apart on one or two important isuses, but my rants are against the methods and the character of the man, whom I believe has demonstrated a conspicuous lack of honesty and moral fiber most of his adult life - before and since taking office.

That and the fact that I am so terribly disappointed in my own Republican party for beign so submisive.

We were once the party of Lincoln, and the Democrats were the party of Jim Crow Racism. My how the landscape has shifted.

Get well soon. Wash your hands. And slow down your back swing.

Michael Boulware

Bad News. Steve Polis passed away last night. Tom McGarity let me know by e-mail.

John Maxwell

Michael McLeod

Jack: I'm always puzzled why people bring up the Bucks so rarely on this forum and happy to see that you did so.

My prediction is we will beat Northwestern -- you don't have to be Nostradamus to call that one -- and go on to the national championship, which Alabama will win. Will be thrilled to be wrong about that part of my prediction.

We are loaded with talent in the incoming class for next year with two highly touted quarterbacks and will continue to dominate the big ten. But peeing in the tall grass with the big fellas on the national stage is a whole 'nother level. I remember seasons where I was just thrilled with beating that school up north and winning a bowl game. Now more is expected of osu. These past few years have been the greatest stretch of osu football in its history and I'm happy to be alive to enjoy it. Wish I could have shared it with my dad.

Mary Clare Hummer (Bauer)

Such sad, though not unexpected news, Mike B. I haven't seen Steve in a few years but he was always such a kind and generous person. He certainly had great business sense but had great people sense as well. Remember that pre-reunion (15th? 20th?) party he hosted at his bar downtown, The Plugged Nickel? We all had such fun!  And, allaying some of my fears for my daughter's Senior Prom in 2001, who shows up driving the party bus but Steve!!!  I know, too, when one of our other classmates ended up scraping bottom in the carreer and luck departments, Steve provided a home for as long as was needed in one of the many apartment properties he owned. He shared with and helped many without fanfare or expectation. Rest in peace, Steve.