Day 100, and counting

"Today (yesterday April 29) marks the 100th day of Barack Obama’s presidency; a presidency that is every bit as comfortable as Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s was in blending the power of big government, big business, and big labor into one national industrial policy. And just as under FDR’s National Industrial Recovery Act, the result of the Obama agenda will be fewer small businesses, less jobs, and a longer recession. UCLA economists Harold Cole and Lee Ohanian have found that the NIRA accounted for 60% of the weak recovery and prolonged the depression by seven full years. President Obama’s senior advisor David Axelrod has called the 100-day benchmark a Hallmark Holiday. Does Hallmark sell a condolence card for the death of free enterprise?" Free enterprise's 100th Day Death March

Treated and sent home

Yesterday those of us in the Ohio State community received a "personal" e-mail from Provost Alluto and Lewellen, the HR guy:

The Ohio State University Medical Center provided treatment to a patient who was diagnosed with probable swine influenza A (H1N1) virus, which is pending confirmation at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The patient is an employee of the Medical Center who contracted the virus outside the workplace. The patient responded well to treatment and is being discharged this evening.

OSU Medical Center staff followed all recommended precautions to prevent the spread of the illness to others. Individuals who had contact with the patient prior to admission are being notified. The Medical Center is providing prophylactic/ preventive medication to those individuals, in accordance with standard CDC recommendations.

The Medical Center’s normal patient visitation schedule remains unchanged. The hospital continues to urge all visitors and staff to follow infection control steps including covering your mouth and nose if you have a cough or sneeze, and not visit patients if you are ill. Frequent use of waterless hand sanitizers is also recommended.

OSU Medical Center is working in collaboration with the CDC, Ohio Department of Health, and Columbus Public Health and following all appropriate guidelines.

So apparently, it's business as usual when you have good health care. But what a boon for Sebelius and Obama!

Thursday Thirteen
13 economic stories in today's headlines

Glancing through today's stories in the WSJ, we seeing that Obama's WAR (War against Recovery) continues with nary an objection from Congress or the Media. The other War, the one in Iraq, Bush's War, is also on the uptick, but that one is buried in the back pages because Obama's policies, promises, and apologies have emboldened the terrorists insurgents in Iraq, as well as Afghanistan and Pakistan, creating more civilian deaths and making the Middle East and America less safe.

1) Time Warner prepares to shed AOL
2) Chrysler nears bankruptcy
3) ArcelarMittal posts loss
4) As profit cools, Starbucks plans price campaign
5) Cessna to suspend new jet
6) Renault USA revenue slid 31%
7) Bayer AG earnings plummet 44%
8) German tire maker Continental AG reports loss
9) SAP AG's profit declines 16%
10) Flextronics Int'nl fell 28%
11) Google top exec departs
12) Time Warner cable posts 30% drop
13) FBI looks into losses at Freddie [this investigation began under Bush but will go no where because it will lead to Democrats in Congress]

Renaming the swine flu

President Obama formally picked Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius as his nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services with nary a squawk. She is another tax cheat, now almost obligatory for an Obama cabinet member, and daughter of Ohio's former Governor Gilligan. She is a tax and spend Democrat getting Kansas deeply in debt during the good years, and most recently solved a financial crisis in her state by cutting education funding. The nomination went through easily because of the made-up hysteria by the press and the government (Emmanuel: "never waste a crisis") about the pandemic called "the swine flu." Sibelius as Secretary of Health and Human Services will oversee a massive department with wide-ranging responsibilities, the key to the President’s vision for health care--to nationalize it--or spread limited, low level care, as it were. The 61 year old Sebelius was raised a Catholic in Cincinnati, however, she will have no problem rescinding whatever few rights and protections are left for the unborn American children. Being a Catholic means nothing on this issue (Kennedy, Kerry, Pelosi, et al)--party comes before Pope and Church when you've got a new messiah to follow. President Obama owes the radical, pro-abortion feminists because he squashed their dream of a woman president, just like he owes the unions and ACORN handing them the auto and mortgage/foreclosure bailouts.

Therefore, I propose renaming the swine flu the "Sebelius Flu." For too long, American women have languished in the background with very little named for them--diseases, laws (even Roe v. Wade didn't use a real name), mountains, buildings, etc. With four syllables, eight if you count influenza, the newly named disease will help fill up the time on the 24 hour cable news, broadcast news, and presidential news conferences. Although an awkward space filler on a teleprompter, Sebelius Influenza can be learned by even the least fluent of speakers.

They know who really supports them

HT Beth

Blogger "Just a Regular guy" noted:

"The new commander in chief, Barack Hussein Obama, made a trip to the Marine Corp base at Camp Lejeune North Carolina to talk to the troops about his vision for Iraq and the future of our military under his vision as president. As the Marine Corp band belted out ‘Hail to the Chief” Obama was announced and he soon emerged from behind a blue curtain.

The silence was deafening.

In fact the troops made more noise as they sat down than when Obama strolled out to the podium. . ."

The audacity of truth--The Obama Files

is the title of Sister Toldjah's collection of columns on Barack Obama. This one on the newest virus of amnesia affecting Democrats in Congress. . .

"In the fall of 2002, while I was chairman of the House intelligence committee, senior members of Congress were briefed on the CIA’s “High Value Terrorist Program,” including the development of “enhanced interrogation techniques” and what those techniques were. This was not a one-time briefing but an ongoing subject with lots of back and forth between those members and the briefers.

Today, I am slack-jawed to read that members claim to have not understood that the techniques on which they were briefed were to actually be employed; or that specific techniques such as “waterboarding” were never mentioned. It must be hard for most Americans of common sense to imagine how a member of Congress can forget being told about the interrogations of Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed. In that case, though, perhaps it is not amnesia but political expedience." Porter Goss

Unfortunately, the media are unable to lift their heads with Obama's foot on their necks (not that they want to), but gradually the truth might seep out. They probably haven't been able to "correct" and modify every digitized report from those years--that's the value of paper, you know.

Happy Birthday Israel

This item is from Atlas Shrugs.

"It's Israel Independence Day. I went to a zimreah (a night of Jewish songs) and I have to tell you, watching these Jewish children singing the "greatest hits" of this ancient genre in Hebrew, clapping and dancing, the parents kvelling, against the majestic architectural beauty of an old shul, I couldn't help but think -- despite the thousands of years of persecution and prosecution, the blood libels, the hate, the abject cruelty, the jealousy, the violence, the unremitting hunger for our annihilation, the constant boot in one costume (SS) or another (Hamas), I looked at the joyful throng of ebullient parents, children, bubbies and zaydees and I thought, I'd rather be on the receiving of all that evil than be on the other side.

Baruch Hashem. Happy Birthday Israel!"

Maggie's Notebook has a blog entry on the birthday, plus the anniversary of the founding of Tel Aviv in 1909.

Behind the scenes of the pirate rescue

This came through e-mail today, so I looked it up--not a whole lot more satisfactory, but if you want to join the conversation, at least Atlas Shrugs has a lot of people commenting. She says it came from Free Republic.

The flight of the FBI's passenger jet took a little less than 14 hours at 500-some knots to get to Djibouti. BOXER'S helos picked them up and transported them out to the ship. The Navy SEALs were already there, staged, and ready to act by the time POTUS's FBI arrived on board later that evening. Notably, the first request by the OSC (On Scene Commander) that early Friday morning to take them out and save Captain Phillips was denied, to wit: "No, wait until 'my' FBI people get there."

Behind the scenes of the pirate rescue

Off to buy a mop and kitty litter

Lately, I've become careless--I've been stopping at the grocery store after exercise class. Appearing in public in the retiree's uniform--sweat pants and athletic shoes is something I swore (in 2000) I wouldn't do. Lately, I've been telling myself a lie--"No one will notice." But yesterday I listened to Miss Smarty Pants on BlogTalkRadio, and she cautioned against this. And she's absolutely correct--you can wear white shoes after Labor Day, but Oh Dear, if you're my age, please do not appear in public looking like you've just been to exercise class (unless you're getting your exercise outdoors). No matter how good your legs were when you were 25, those days are gone--usually around your knees.

So I came home, showered, shampooed, and now I'm heading to Meijer's where I'll probably buy more than I intended, but I won't frighten small children and dogs.

Obama's second term

My husband, who follows main stream Obamedia closer than I do, stuck his head in my office this morning and mentioned that Obama's second term is just a given when you listen or watch the news. I'm not surprised. In today's Columbus Dispatch there was a small article about the trial of some of the Obama campaign workers who helped steal Ohio for him. It certainly won't be any different a year from now when he begins campaigning seriously. The "Vote Today Ohio" three, Daniel Hausman, Amy Little and Yolanda Hippensteele, were just the tip of the iceberg of outsiders brought in by the busload to an important swing state. Obama couldn't have made it without Ohio, whose electoral vote he absolutely needed. We were flooded with these "illegal" Obamaniacs. These three got the proverbial wrist slap--a year's probation, $1,000 fine, and 60 day suspended jail sentence.

For the press, the younger lady whined that this could ruin her career in public service, but I don't think so. Oh honey, you'll be a martyr--you'll be richly rewarded. Maybe a cabinet post in the next term. The strings are firmly attached--just learn to dance.

Fancy Nancy

Scooter Libby went to prison for the "outing" of a desk-jockey CIA agent. He forgot conversations. Pelosi forgets briefings. And the outing of our entire intelligence apparatus by Democrats is OK. Story here.

Swine flu--Mexico and the U.S.

In Mexico, they are dying. In the U.S. they are getting sick, being treated, and going home.

Besser CDC update today, Apr. 28:"The CDC today raised the number of confirmed cases in the U.S. to 64, with 45 of them in New York. No deaths have been confirmed in the U.S. That will change, Besser said."

In Mexico, no one really knows how many are sick, or how many have died. I doubt that the government has reported it accurately. The government is in charge of their health care and their media may have about the same independence (none) as ours. So that may be the head scratcher answer for our journalists who can't seem to figure out why Mexicans are dying and Americans aren't.

The Mexican government for years has been dependent on money sent home by its illegal immigrants in the U.S., instead of developing its own infrastructure. Mexico is a country rich in natural resources, but entire cities and families have been descimated by emigration (who are probably now returning home). So far, their health care system hasn't even been able to get help to family members of those who have died, and this is spread person to person. I saw this from a blogger in Mexico (Medical News Today)

I live in Cancun, on the Caribbean coast of Mexico, about 1hour and 30 minutes by plane from Mexico City. Mexico City is the Swine Flu ground zero. A few days ago most of the Cancun population watched news coming from Mexico City with detachment. "This is over 1000 kilometers away," I heard one person say "we are fine." Gradually, local attitudes have changed.

Yesterday we all watched the national news and heard that restaurants, nightclubs, schools, theatres, sports stadia, and anywhere that might hold large groups of people had not only been closed in Mexico City, but along the vacation resorts of the Pacific coast - Acapulco, Puerto Vallarta, Zihuatanejo. Can you imagine the economic consequences of closing restaurants, bars and nightclubs in tourist resorts?

Friends in Mexico City phone me and describe empty streets. The few who do venture out wear masks and go about their business as swiftly as they can.

The whole of Mexico is scared. "Will I get this? If I do what will happen to me? Am I hearing the truth? They say it is not so bad and easily treatable, but they would say that, wouldn't they?"

I heard a young mother say today that she was told not to bring her daughter to preschool because she had a temp (teething), but she had the little girl at the senior center where I was volunteering. Doesn't seem to be much alarm here--although I think that was poor planning on her part, considering many elders are immune compromised. Probably because Americans know they don't have government health care. YET. However, a pandemic will be a good excuse for the government to take over, just like Obama took over the auto industry, to share it with the unions, who supported him and the banks. If we already had Obama-care, I think there would be a different story--a much larger, faster spread and many already dead. The government handled the last swine flu outbreak (1976) badly, with more people dying from the vaccine than from the flu.

Another thing journalists are asking is why young, healthy adults are dying. My parents' generation didn't die in the last flu pandemic in 1918. They were young children. It was young healthy adults that died--like our soldiers called to fight in Europe, but dying before they got there. That's how it spread--lots of young, healthy people crowded together. We lost more soliders to the flu than we did to the war, a war in which it wasn't unusual to lose more men in one campaign than the 6years we've been in Iraq. Most of that generation is gone now. The immunity is over. It died with my parents' generation.

We know now how to treat the effects of the flu, but it will be interesting to see if Obama uses this as a crisis to take over health care with out a vote or objection.

If we already had Obama-care, we'd be holed up in our homes like the Mexicans, whimpering, wondering why the people ever voted for the man who nationalized our industries, destroyed our military, created a constitutional crisis by attacking the former president, and groveled and pandered before foreign leaders. Oh well.

Update: In Wednesday's WSJ article about the swine flu, you had to get all the way to the end to find, "the sorry state of Mexico's public and private health system. . . patients often wait hours to days to see the doctor." Just the kind of Obama-care we need north of the border.

Update 2: On the way to the grocery store Wednesday I heard a young child had died in the U.S. of swine flu. On the way home, I learned the child was a Mexican brought to the U.S. for better treatment. It's a tragedy for the family, but a plus for Obama's team which is looking for opportunities to nationalize health care, so maybe it's not as good as an American death, but it's close.

The story of small town recreation in 1957

According to a July 1957 issue of the Mt. Morris Index (a weekly newspaper that launched the printing career of the Kable Brothers), a movie company came to Mt. Morris, Illinois on July 3, 1957, to do a recreation advertisement movie. The filming crew returned on July 15 because they needed several more people to film another segment. A classmate of mine, Nancy, remembers being in the film along with her parents and brother and when we had coffee during my Easter visit to Mt. Morris, she mentioned it.

Coffee with Lynne and Nancy at the Mounder Cafe
She found the article in the Index which reported that it was a 20 minute color motion picture and the title of the documentary was "Town & Country Recreation.” The Director was Oz Zielke, Cameraman Frank Plieffer of Dallas Jones Productions of Chicago, and Gene Balsley, Unit Manager. The film was sponsored by the nonprofit Athletic Institute of Chicago and was designed to show towns and villages how they can offer their citizens the most recreational opportunity at the least cost per person. The fictional city in the story is "Spring Valley," however, most of the actors and the majority of the locations were to be taken from the Mt. Morris vicinity, since the sponsors of the film felt that Mt Morris was representative of what can be accomplished by a good recreation program, including both town & farm families.

I poked around on the internet and found a description of such a film in a database of old marketing and documentary films, from the 1930s through the 1980s. Films about bullying from the 1950s; and visiting an airport in the 1940s, etc. According to a description of Audiovisual Geeks on Internet Archive, it is: "The A/V Geeks Film Archive is an ephemeral film collection curated by Skip Elsheimer. What started as a hobby more than ten years is now a lifetime commitment. His collection has grown to over 20,000 films gathered from school auctions, thrift stores, closets and dumpsters. He presents themed film shows in his home base of Raleigh, North Carolina and he's taken his shows on the road across the United States. Films from Skip's archive have been released on DVDs. For more information about A/V Geeks upcoming shows, the DVDs, stock footage inquiries and donating to the collection, visit http://www.avgeeks.com. Skip is happy to be able share these selected films from his collection online - giving them a life beyond their intended purpose as little cultural time capsules of our immediate past. Enjoy!"

So we're waiting to hear from "Skip." My friend Nancy is hoping this is the film, and if it gets transferred to video and put on the internet, or to DVD, we’ll all get to watch “the way we were.”

I have never cataloged or described a film (I was a cataloger of Slavic material back in the 1960s), but I think the numbers tell how far into the film the description is. I don’t know what some of the abbreviations mean. They could be descriptors or tags for what the camera is doing or of the film quality--I just don’t know. I’ve looked in the Library of Congress Thesarus for graphic material, but don’t know if the person who did this description used it or something more simple like a homemade template for the video database. I think CU might be “close up,” WS could be “white space,“ FG possibly Foreground. But these are wild guesses. Maybe I’ll check with some other retired librarians.

There is no lake in Mt. Morris, so I'm wondering if that scene might have been taken at Lake Louise near Byron--because school buses may have taken children there. I remember it well--I almost drowned there!

“Shows how ‘RECREATION ROT’ was eliminated in the small rural town when a young doctor took the advice of a county extensionist and built a live-wire activity program around a paid recreational leader. Color 1957 Documentary-promotional film about town planning, cast as a drama. A young doctor decides that his town is so boring that a general depression is settling over the populace, so he resolves to involve the community in a plan to develop recreation facilities. Some good images of idealized small town Americana; the color is pretty good. 00:00:26:00 Color 1957 cu Sign: WELCOME TO Spring Valley THE TOWN THAT ENJOYS PROGRESS. 00:00:29:00 Color 1957 vs Montage of small town life: Suburban street, boys riding bicycles; PAN over Main Street; various houses and buildings; WS farm with cornfield in FG; farmer on tractor; two men greet one another on sidewalk; elderly man raking lawn, woman brings him water. 00:02:30:00 Color 1957 ms Man enters office, hangs hat and coat on coat rack, looks out window through Venetian blinds. 00:07:30:00 Color 1957 vs Community meeting: various men and women around conference table; CU faces - they read as ordinary citizens. Also at 0:13:30. 00:11:26:00 Color 1957 ms Two women hanging laundry on clothesline. 00:16:18:00 Color 1957 cu, ws Sign says CAR WASH $1.00; PAN to group of teenagers, mostly girls, washing cars. 00:16:34:00 Color 1957 ms Woman at mailbox, opens it, retrieves newspaper. 00:18:30:00 Color 1957 ws PAN from lake to school bus; group of children in bathing suits exit school bus, run toward CAM; children run across beach; bus driver blows whistle, they all stop. 00:19:00:00 Color 1957 vs Montage of community recreation activities, brief shots: middle-aged people square-dancing, good; adult-education class, man draws diagram on blackboard; teenage boys in shop class, jig saw; softball game, girl hits baseball; tennis instruction; skiing and sledding; camping, children emerge from tent; elderly men playing dominos; boy with stamp collection; badminton; golf instruction; family packing car trunk (a Buick station wagon, two-tone aqua & cream) for camping trip; Buick station wagon drives down country road."

BlogTalkRadio

Today I checked into BlogTalkRadio and was tickled to find Fly Lady. I used to get Fly Lady e-mail and followed the instructions for a week or two. For the clutter-challenged, she's (they) great. Take a listen on how to make your bed while still in it.

Then I looked at Missus Smarty Pants Fashion Rescue--I think that's more down my aisle. For clutter, I have a neatnik husband.

Obama at 2 months, looking for 3?

This doesn't include Korea, or the pirates, or hacking the weapon system, or the swine flu, or trying to create a constitutional crisis.

Why the Axelrod-Rahm team feared the tea parties

This Texan, Katrina Pierson, knows the dangers of socialism, she knows the founding fathers, she knows her choices.

A message from Joe Alutto and Larry Lewellen

The Provost and Vice President for HR of Ohio State University want you to do what I was taught in kindergarten. "Understand that the symptoms of swine flu closely resemble seasonal flu and include fever, weakness, coughing and lack of appetite. It is contagious. The best way to prevent swine flu is to continue to follow these steps:

Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue or your forearm (not your hand) when you sneeze.

Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth to prevent germs from spreading.

Wash your hands often with soap and water and use hand sanitizers.

Avoid being in close contact with those who are ill. If you are ill, please limit your exposure to others by staying home from work or school.

Swine flu can be successfully treated with medication. If you think you might have the flu, please see your primary care doctor. He or she can test you for the flu and will be able to identify the strain of the flu you may have. University students should call or visit the Wilce Student Health Center if they have questions or concerns."

I remember about 15 years ago we had a big cost cutting campaign in the OSU Libraries. My suggestion was to launch a hand washing campaign to cut down on sick days. I was told it was not a line item, therefore it wouldn't count even if we could do it. All the things they are saying about prevention are common sense, and you should have been doing anyway. I also carry a squeeze bottle of alcohol hand rub in my car and my purse. And every time I see a cashier pick up my coffee cup by the lip and hand it too me, I want to smack him.

Also, if swine flu had been on the uptick after George W. Bush had returned from Mexico, you can bet your patooty that the press would have blamed him. As it is, because Bush stressed the spread of disease as a weapon of terrorists and beefed up that component of security, we should be in good shape--as long as Obama doesn't wait as long as he did with the pirates. But if he fails, he can blame Bush anyway as not having done it right. Nothing was achieved in his 100 days, and he can either use the excuse he was a baby, out of the office campaigning in Illinois, or it was Bush's fault. The press was so sickening over this 100 day meme over the week-end it was enough to give one flu symptoms. And nothing but taking over large sectors of the economy, creating a constitutional crisis over interrogation techniques and raising more debt has been accomplished. Way to go BO.

It's been hot, hot, hot

The flowering trees won't do so well in this heat, but it's always nice to see them in bloom. These are from Saturday.







north creek

south creek

view from our patio

If disco had lasted longer. . .

Maybe we wouldn't have an obesity problem?
Boogie, Oogie, Oogie. Taste of Honey.



HT, 2nd cup of coffee

Our President parsing

John Crace The Guardian, Friday 3 April 2009
Article, Barack Obama, the World's Greatest Orator (™all news organisations), didn't exactly cover himself in glory when the BBC's political editor Nick Robinson asked him a question about who was to blame for the financial crisis. Normally word perfect, Obama ummed, ahed and waffled for the best part of two and a half minutes. Here, John Crace decodes what he was really thinking ...

Nick Robinson: "A question for you both, if I may. The prime minister has repeatedly blamed the United States of America for causing this crisis. France and Germany both blame Britain and America for causing this crisis. Who is right? And isn't the debate about that at the heart of the debate about what to do now?" Brown immediately swivels to leave Obama in pole position. There is a four-second delay before Obama starts speaking [THANKS FOR NOTHING, GORDY BABY. REMIND ME TO HANG YOU OUT TO DRY ONE DAY.] Barack Obama: "I, I, would say that, er ... pause [I HAVEN'T A CLUE] ... if you look at ... pause [WHO IS THIS NICK ROBINSON JERK?] ... the, the sources of this crisis ... pause [JUST KEEP GOING, BUDDY] ... the United States certainly has some accounting to do with respect to . . . pause [I'M IN WAY TOO DEEP HERE] ... a regulatory system that was inadequate to the massive changes that have taken place in the global financial system ... pause, close eyes [THIS IS GOING TO GO DOWN LIKE A CROCK OF SHIT BACK HOME. HELP]. I think what is also true is that ... pause [I WANT NICK ROBINSON TO DISAPPEAR] ... here in Great Britain ... pause [SHIT, GORDY'S THE HOST, DON'T LAND HIM IN IT] ... here in continental Europe ... pause [DAMN IT, BLAME EVERYONE.] ... around the world. We were seeing the same mismatch between the regulatory regimes that were in place and er ... pause [I'VE LOST MY TRAIN OF THOUGHT AGAIN] ... the highly integrated, er, global capital markets that have emerged ... pause [I'M REALLY WINGING IT NOW]. So at this point, I'm less interested in ... pause [YOU] ... identifying blame than fixing the problem. I think we've taken some very aggressive steps in the United States to do so, not just responding to the immediate crisis, ensuring banks are adequately capitalised, er, dealing with the enormous, er ... pause [WHY DIDN'T I QUIT WHILE I WAS AHEAD?] ... drop-off in demand and contraction that has taken place. More importantly, for the long term, making sure that we've got a set of, er, er, regulations that are up to the task, er, and that includes, er, a number that will be discussed at this summit. I think there's a lot of convergence between all the parties involved about the need, for example, to focus not on the legal form that a particular financial product takes or the institution it emerges from, but rather what's the risk involved, what's the function of this product and how do we regulate that adequately, much more effective coordination, er, between countries so we can, er, anticipate the risks that are involved there. Dealing with the, er, problem of derivatives markets, making sure we have set up systems, er, that can reduce some of the risks there. So, I actually think ... pause [FANTASTIC. I'VE LOST EVERYONE, INCLUDING MYSELF] ... there's enormous consensus that has emerged in terms of what we need to do now and, er ... pause [I'M OUTTA HERE. TIME FOR THE USUAL CLOSING BOLLOCKS] ... I'm a great believer in looking forwards than looking backwards.

Isn't it odd that he can be so crystal clear on abortion and the viability of unborn children (or aborted and alive children), and what a danger to society pro-lifers are, and yet be clueless about the economy. Knowledge? Values? Character? Education? Social-network? Broken teleprompter?

Mild mannered librarian on the road

My friend Jerry and her husband just landed in France yesterday. They are going to spend 3 months traveling around Europe. Sounds like fun, but having just returned from the Holy Land, I'm glad it's them and not me. Here's Jerry and I a few years back.

Our Friday night date

We usually go out to eat on Friday night with another couple--Joyce and Bill or Joan and Jerry or Ron and Jane or Sue and Wes, etc. But last night, everyone must have been busy or we gave up too early. So I suggested a movie. After some intense questioning (my husband resists change) we settled on "New in Town" at the dollar theater, which I think is now $1.50. It was billed as a romantic comedy, as was "Shopaholic," our other choice in that not G but not R group.

I thought I'd blog about it while I still remember the plot (24 hours later), because it is truly forgetable. And yet it isn't. When you're watching it (released in January 2009) you could swear you've seen this 4 or 5 other times. And you have. Only the names, climate, clothes and marital state change. This one is supposed to take place in New Ulm, Minnesota, but was actually filmed in Canada, and I guess they nearly froze their tushies off. Renee Zellweger and Harry Connick, Jr. play the leads--her the on the rise executive from Miami, and him the union boss--so you know where this is going. As smart as she's supposed to be, she doesn't seem to understand how cold it is in Minnesota, but as the movie moves on, and on, her clothing does change from 4 in. designer heels and skinny suits to muklaks and parkas. Nor does she seem to know you don't drink alcohol if you are stranded in a snow drift. I'm from balmy Ohio and even I know that. But drunken blondes are supposed to be funny, I guess. I'm not sure Min-e-so-tans talk like they do in this movie, but they did have to let them have the last say, even though they were scrapbooking Jesus lovers, because they were unionized. And all Hollywood has to make the executive the butt of the joke, so the worker can beat them, right? We watched about 5 minutes of credits scroll by at the end, and I wonder how many of those are small, independent contractors hoping to someday be big companies?

Just two other things, then I'm done. Renee's skin looked like she really had been affected by the severe weather--very red chapped and blotchy, and the small popcorn was $4.75--more than our two tickets.

Mercury spill clean up in Columbus

Those of us who are a certain age and living in Columbus were probably amused, or not, at the thought of the $300,000 mercury spill clean up at the local Volunteers of America last week. We used to play with that much mercury on a desk top when I was in grade school in Forreston. I'm not sure it was for science class--we probably just couldn't go outside to play so the teacher brought out some mercury.

People who have too much time

complete things like this. I saw it at a Canadian librarian's blog, who saw it at other librarians' blogs. I think I've done it before, but I've done more now. Still haven't been to Paris--never had any desire, but who knows? I didn't know how fabulous Turkey was until I visited.

Things you’ve already done: bold
Things you want to do: italicize
Things you haven’t done and don’t want to - leave in plain font

1. Started your own blog.
2. Slept under the stars.
3. Played in a band.
4. Visited Hawaii.
5. Watched a meteor shower.
6. Given more than you can afford to charity. (Actually, you can always afford more.)
7. Been to Disneyland/World. (both)
8. Climbed a mountain.
9. Held a praying mantis.
10. Sang a solo.
11. Bungee jumped.
12. Visited Paris.
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea.
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch.
15. Adopted a child.
16. Had food poisoning. (Just last month)
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty. (I was there--can't remember how we got to the top)
18. Grown your own vegetables.
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France.
20. Slept on an overnight train.
21. Had a pillow fight.
22. Hitch hiked.
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill.
24. Built a snow fort.
25. Held a lamb.
26. Gone skinny dipping.
27. Run a marathon.
28. Ridden a gondola in Venice.
29. Seen a total eclipse.
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset.
31. Hit a home run.
32. Been on a cruise. Just last month.
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person.
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors.
35. Seen an Amish community.
36. Taught yourself a new language.
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied.
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person.
39. Gone rock climbing.
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David in person.
41. Sung Karaoke.
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt.
43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant.
44. Visited Africa. (Just last month.)
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight.
46. Been transported in an ambulance.
47. Had your portrait painted.
48. Gone deep sea fishing.
49. Seen the Sistine chapel in person.
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling.
52. Kissed in the rain.
53. Played in the mud.
54. Gone to a drive-in theater.
55. Been in a movie.
56. Visited the Great Wall of China.
57. Started a business.
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia.
60. Served at a soup kitchen.
61. Sold Girl Scout cookies.
62. Gone whale watching.
63. Gotten flowers for no reason.
64. Donated blood.
65. Gone sky diving.
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp.
67. Bounced a check.
68. Flown in a helicopter.
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy.
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial.
71. Eaten Caviar.
72. Pieced a quilt.
73. Stood in Times Square.
74. Toured the Everglades.
75. Been fired from a job.
76. Seen the Changing of the Guard in London.
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle.
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person.
80. Published a book.
81. Visited the Vatican.
82. Bought a brand new car.
83. Walked in Jerusalem.
84. Had your picture in the newspaper.
85. Read the entire Bible.
86. Visited the White House.
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating.
88. Had chickenpox.
89. Saved someone’s life.
90. Sat on a jury.
91. Met someone famous.
92. Joined a book club.
93. Lost a loved one.
94. Had a baby.
95. Seen the Alamo in person.
96. Swum in the Great Salt Lake.
97. Been involved in a law suit.
98. Owned a cell phone.
99. Been stung by a bee.

Unintended consequences of trying to save the earth

The Army has a new blog--it's quite interesting. The Earth Day entry reports on how environmentally proactive the Army is, which was a surprise to the writer. What s/he writes about here I've seen up at Lake Erie. Attempts to control the lake and where it wants to be have been disastrous for the shore line, the beaches, the plant life, the fish, and eventually property owners. Imagine trying to hold back the ocean. Fortunately, the U.S. Army came to the rescue in Flordia.

"Just one example is the Soldiers with the 97th Transportation Company at Fort Eustis. They traveled to Florida to help dismantle the world’s largest man-made reef, and a manmade creation that had proven to be destructive to the coastal marine life, as the tires were dismantled by the pounding waves. This wasn’t just an everyday mission for the Soldiers - it was a project they cared about. In several interviews, the crew explained how their environmental standards are of the highest caliber, and they work hard to ensure that with every mission their environmental footprint is as small as possible. They were proud of the opportunity to help the coastal Florida community preserve the marine habitat."

You wonder how much damage is going to be done to our greatest resource--people--considering that only about 1% of our energy is supplied by the so-called alternatives. The measures to destroy fossil fuel through regulation and taxation before there is actually an alternative, to say nothing of the products made from petroleum that are NOT fuel, are mind boggling. We did this with DDT and malaria--millions and millions (mostly Africans) have died and they are just now hoping for a vaccine that might be 30% effective, and using bednets soaked in insecticide (who knows the side effects of breathing that?).

Save the earth; kill the people.

Federal bailout funds coming to Ohio

Upper Arlington, that wealthy suburb of Columbus, the same city that wants a $25 million levy for an addition to the library (last levy was 2 years ago), is hoping to snag a modest $500,000 of the more than $28 million in ARRA funds to install sidewalks along streets that serve as school and bus routes. No self-respecting, safety minded, SUV driving, Gen-X UA parent allows a child to walk or bike to school--so I'm not sure if a little foot will ever meet that concrete. I hope they don't get it. And if our city planners of the 1930s hadn't put the sidewalks up against the street, we'd all be a lot safer.

The process of getting this $500,000 could easily consume that much in employee time because like any government money, it has to pass through many hands. First our own UA city staff has to research it and work through complex applications; the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission which reviews, coordinates and makes recommendations; the Ohio Department of Transportation which administers the funding, makes sure all the applicants meet state infrastructure standards, and requirements; and of course, all the Washington career worker-bees, and party loyalists who are writing those standards and funding requirements. Just to get that little sum to UA city Manager, Virginia Barney, will cost a bundle. Even not getting it has a dollar cost to the tax payer--all over the country wherever ARRA funds are sought unsuccessfully. This is how our politicians, Democrats and Republicans, grow our economy; first you grow the government; second you expand what you just grew. (details from the UA News, April 22, 2009, opinions my own)

Then today's Columbus Dispatch reported that we're going to reinvent the Great Depression CCC and put men to work. Ohio officials are using federal stimulus money to "resurrect the idea and create the Recovery Conservation Corps" expecting to "create" 20,000 jobs funded with $47 million of the federal stimulus (maybe we could give them the library money and 10,000 jobs?), plus another $2 million of state money to transport these workers to their jobs of litter pick-up, building repair, and removing invasive plants.

Now, the snag here is there has always been money (grants) for this, so this is additional money, but these jobs are designated for low-income, disadvantaged, drop-outs, homeless and disabled. You see, Democrats believe that if low IQ men, or ex-cons, or mentally ill, or physically disabled people would just try harder, they could all have government jobs. With all the billions and billions that have been designated for that during the last 50 years, I wonder why we still have people sleeping under bridges? In recent years, when the economy was booming under Bush, disabled and disadvantaged were being incorporated into the regular income stream as tax payers--I saw them many places as grocery baggers, stockers, janitors, and in protected, sheltered workshops. Often with one-on-one, or two-on-one job coaches and supervisors, in part subsidized by the state. Sometimes it was a private-public partnership type thing, but often it was just a private business willing to spend the extra time training them. Workers with disabilities hired for REAL jobs put money into the community--into goods and services, transportation, restaurants, house. But not a program to pick up litter by the homeless (something state workers are hired to do). So this ARRA money will primarily be going for the social services required to assist minimally functioning people who either can't or won't or are too ill to work. More games with our money and with the wording of ARRA, which is pork distribution by Obama to those who supported him.

Government cannot and has never created jobs. It only redistributes money from workers by handing it off (for a fee) to other workers. No job is "created."

Fancy Nancy and her memory problems

162 Democrats in Congress voted to go to war in 2003--after months of study, debate, building international alliances and proclaiming the build up of WMD during the years of Bill Clinton. But unfortunately, these are the same folks who didn't read the bail out numbers and passed it anyway proclaiming the sky is falling (and now they've proved it). So I'm guessing those still left, like John Kerry, Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, Hilliary Clinton, Jack Murtha, Joe Lieberman, etc. will follow Nancy Peloser and swear they have no memory of being briefed about anything, especially not interrogation techniques. For pity's sake, they thought we used water guns and gossip to find out the enemies' secrets. Doesn't everyone? It was those evil Bushies who brainwashed them (without waterboarding) into believing there was a global terrorist threat after 9/11.

Not too long ago librarians, university faculty and other ACLU-an and Hollywood types got the vapors at the thought Wal-Mart was using RFID tags to track pallets, because citizens would be next, and there was that awful Patriot Act (also voted for by Democrats) which allowed the government, with a warrant, to listen in on terrorists in the US contacting those abroad. But they are certainly silent about violation of First Amendment rights at peaceful demonstrations called Tea Parties. In fact, they are joining a chorus of ridiculers and paranoid Obama protectors who go on national TV to proclaim our Constitutional protections are dangerous because not everyone voted for the messiah.

Isn't funny how politics changes your viewpoint on privacy and terrorism with just a stroke of midnight, January 19, 2009.

It's a God thing

That's what serendipity is called at our church. I was asked to help with a new member breakfast (they don't usually let me in the kitchen, so maybe everyone else was busy), and I thought it might be a good way to meet new people, so I agreed. I'd fogotten that UALC offers chef quality meals--it wasn't just your usual Lutheran coffee and donuts--it was home made biscuits, crisp bacon, egg casserole, coffee cake, mounds of fresh fruit, three kinds of juice, coffee and tea. So leftovers will be our supper tonight!

I joined one of the tables and met 3 people joining 2 services at Lytham, and 4 people joining 2 services at Mill Run. While I was asking David (whom I know from exercise class) about the memory problem with my almost new computer, Gary, one of the other church servers, over heard us and handed me his card. He owns a computer parts and repair service, CPRS, Inc.! How great is that! After chatting a bit while cleaning up, I found out he does the computer work for a lot of individuals and businesses I know--some of whom I thought would be doing their own. Also, he served in Haiti with my husband on the mission team.

I haven't even called him yet, but since I don't know anyone else to recommend, his e-mail is gbollinger@myvideopal.com. His card says he'll remove viruses, setup a custom arrangement or network, hardware and software upgrades, databack up and recovery, HDTV setup and calibration, and if you go to his web site, www.myvideopal.com, he has a free video for the technically challenged. And he's pretty darn good in the kitchen, too.

How about that fun game, Shaken Baby?

This one mystifies me. How did it make it from the bar where the drunk gamers were yukking it up, "Listen, [belch] what if," get on the drawing board, and make it past adults in the marketing department of Apple?

Why not, "steal the food from the homeless guy" or "tape the puppy's mouth shut and tie him in the hot sun," or "assault the substitute math teacher." "Hey," as one blogger indignantly said, "it's just a game. It's not like it was real."

More wasted research dollars on social problems

Yesterday I saw a nicely dressed woman walk up my sidewalk and look at my house number and walk away. I saw “U.S. Census” on her bag. I went to the door and yoo-hooed, “Is that it? Am I counted?” “Oh no,“ she laughed. “That will be next year.” Maybe they’ll also be checking my appliances, light bulbs, plumbing and heating units for my carbon footprint. Checking my cupboard and waistline for obesity. Clocking the mileage on my exercycle. Look what Obama's been able to do to kill the economy in just 100 days. What will it be at 465 days?

“CWC (Carbon Water Climate Clutch of Ohio State) has partnered with the PHPID (Public Health Preparedness for Infectious Diseases) to fund a grant to determine "How is the carbon cycle being disrupted by human activities (e.g., fossil fuel combustion) and how can the cycle be re-balanced to mitigate Anthropogenic Climate Change (ACC) and its adverse effects?"

It’s important to understand that ACC, anthropogenic climate change, although never proven (climate records go back about 150 years), is a given in this study grant--don‘t apply if you think it is a hoax. To get promotion and tenure at any university you have to buy into this. Keep in mind, a “green job” has never been defined--but this would be one. I think it’s like victimhood--it’s in the eye of the beholder (grant applicant).

We (this is both federal and state money) don't need to spend money to determine footprints and meaningless surveys, but we should research how these crazy theories hurt the poor, create food and fuel shortages, shore up a few investors like Al Gore and George Soros in the cap and trade exchange (located somewhere in Europe), and destroy large segments of the economy so that we can come under global domination, most likely by the Chinese. the Big O is still laying the ground work for that.

“Specifically, the project seeks to identify the most effective ways to move the public health system to adopt strategies aimed at reducing the carbon footprint on a population scale. As ACC continues, the effects on public health are anticipated to worsen: shortages of food and water are developing and will intensify; the extent and range of disease-carrying insect vectors will broaden; destruction of coastal areas through rising ocean levels and storm-surge flooding will affect millions; and intensified summer temperature extremes will threaten, directly and indirectly, millions more.


“The "twin" issue of peak oil, or the world's reaching the maximum rate of petroleum extraction, poses different risks than ACC does — depletion of energy resources amplifies all of the previously mentioned threats by limiting societies' ability to provide resources toward ACC mitigation. These issues all devolve back to the collective carbon footprint of U.S. citizens and are potentially solvable through society-wide behavior change.


“This project will begin with a descriptive survey of U.S. state and local health departments to assess their baseline understanding of the general concept of carbon footprint and its attendant problems as outlined above. Secondly, the experimental arm of the study will be a pilot intervention project. A "tool kit" of resources will be disseminated to facilitate health departments' engagement with citizens, the business community, and other governmental agencies with the aim of enhancing public cooperation in reducing the collective carbon footprint.” Link

And here's another one that appeared in two different e-mails I received today (on behalf of my husband)

The House of Representatives will soon vote on legislation that would provide funding for undergraduate and graduate architecture and engineering programs relating to the design and construction of high performance buildings. The bill, The Green Energy Education Act of 2009 (HR 957), could be on the House floor as early as today.

The Green Energy Education Act will help educate today's college and graduate architecture and engineering students on the numerous benefits of high performance buildings by authorizing the National Science Foundation to provide grants to universities to develop curricula, laboratory activities, training practicums, and design projects focusing on green buildings and advanced energy technologies. Ensuring that today's architecture and engineering students are aware of the importance of high performance buildings is a necessary step to facilitate increased construction of green buildings in the future.

This is unbelieveable waste. The magazines and newsletters have been filled with this stuff for decades. The Ohio continuing education requirements in being green, environmentally friendly, sustainable and off the grid could fund Al Gore's HVAC bill for years.

Good source of book reviews

I read more reviews than books--occasionally even send a suggestion to my local PL. Studies in Intelligence at the CIA website is a good source, but I'd hurry. Who knows what Obama will allow in the future if he finds you (you're probably a right wing pro-life terrorist Iraq War veteran) visiting a CIA website. The latest issue reviews a book about Roald Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) The physical journal is quite handsome, with really well balanced reviews. The reviewer makes careful note of things that matter to me--summaries, footnotes, bibliography, index, etc. I don't want a reviewer who writes like the new best friend of the author, or someone who only picks it apart.

Another book review source I really enjoy is JAMA--any issue. If you're not reading those, you're missing some excellent, thoughtful writing, even if the book might be over your level of medical knowledge. Plus, the poetry and essays are good. Great cover art. The April 1 issue has a painting of some government officials mulling over the economy.

Most of my actual links to government sources pre-date the current administration, so they may not be valid, but here's some interesting stuff about the CIA, including that 15 years ago they had their eye on religious groups.

Obama run-for-cover up, pt. 2

As he hits 100 days, he bangs more and more on his perceived failings of the Bush administration handling of terrorism which kept us safe for 7 years. Here are today's headline stories in the WSJ, one of the national newspapers that carried his water and swooned for over two years. Some reporters, who are probably fearing for their jobs if they report the truth, seem to be waking up that this is worse than anything Hoover-FDR dreamed up for my grandparents.

1) Chrysler near bankruptcy

2) Regulators fell one bank, spare rival

3) Home sales fell 3%, layoffs rose in March

4) Spending stimulus gets a slow start

5) Fed's earnings fall 8%

6) Worries about UK soaring debt

7) Donors pledge $250 million to stop piracy (no word from the brave "talk is change" president)

8) Small business owners quit taking salaries

9) Steel woes signal shakeout

10) AutoNation falters in downturn

11) Amgen curbs its projection

12) Marriott reports loss as revenue falls 15%

13) UPS hit by downturn

14) EMC profit declines 20%

15) CME group profit drops 30%

16) Sell off stings Conmed

Expect GE (owner of NBC) to continue to push the PR, alternative energy stories, especially about all the wonderful jobs that will be created. Never mind if they are as fuzzy on the details as they were on Obama's expertise and experience a year ago. Look for a windmill in prairie vista or lake near you--but only if you earn less than a million a year.

Obama--the economy killer.

The Obama run-for-cover up

Investigation of Bush policies with Nancy Pelosi claiming she knew nothing, leading the chorus of Democrats who sat on all those committees and have been in charge since 2006, is a cover for today's stories on the business pages. Here's what the headlines were in today's WSJ, the most liberal newspaper in the country (the news, not the opinions):

1) Health plans lose members to layoffs.

2) Newscorp may sideline MySpace founders.

3) GM plants to close much of summer.

4) Slump for freight handlers.

5) VW net tumbles 74% on global slump.

6) GE braced for storm.

7) Boeing cuts outlook.

8) Ebay profit falls 22%.

9) Employers making cuts.

10) Glaxo profit falls.

11) Altria Group falls 77% (cigarette sales down)

12) FDA expands access to morning after pill to 17 year olds (actually that's good needs for investors, because that increases the market)

13) Sports museum goes bankrupt--items now in control of U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

Good job patriotic Democrats and Progressives. And it hasn't even been 100 days!

17 year olds and the morning after pill

Will the pharmacy be in trouble if it doesn't report abuse (underage sex) of a minor and parental neglect or will only Wal-Mart be held accountable since it was open and nothing else was. Here's some comments on the side effects of the Plan B abortificant and the federal judge now says your child can get without your knowledge from About.com Women's Health. Don't you think these worried women/girls should be asking a doctor, or their mothers instead of a computer screen? This is 3rd world witch doctor stuff.

I took the morning after pills 2 weeks ago and since then having stomach discomfort, pain and backache every now and then. A week ago, I had my menstrual. Unfortunately still having the same discomfort and pain after 4 days. Is what I am going through normal? cami

I took the morning after pill 4 days ago and i am still suffering from abdominal pain i feel pressure on my abdomen giving me an urge to pass urine. I also have noticed some vaginal spotting ( little bit of blood). I don’t know if this is normal and how long it should go on for, everyone i know has never experienced these symptonms. JJ

i took the morning after pill 5 days ago was on my period the week before taking it have been bleeding for around 2 days discoloured blood sort of orangy coloured is this normal after taking this? Kayla

I’ve taken this pill once and I will never EVER taken it again. My body is SO screwed up!

I took the pill back in the end of March of 07. I had a very heavy period with lots of clotting a couple of weeks later that lasted 2 1/2 weeks. I didn’t have any nausea or back pain like that has been mentioned here though. The period lasted from end of April through Mothers Day weekend (which is in MAY). I did not have another period until September of 07 that lasted for almost 2 weeks of heavy bleeding and passing clots. It’s now the middle of January of 08 and still have not had a cycle since Sept. All of my tests I’ve taken (home and at the health clinic) have been negative for pregnancy. I need to get an appt with my gynecologist, but have any of you experienced LACK of periods as a side effect with this pill? Mel

I took the day after pill on the 26 and now its ben 3 weeks. I been having spotting bleeding. though I notice it only when I wipe. I am expected to have my next pireod on the 21 or 24. Is it normal for wipe little dots of blood? Sandy

Hey. After having very drunken sex with not a regular partner nearly 3 week ago, i took the emergency pill as soon as the chemist open the morning after. Since then about a week later i had what i thought was a period, but it was only light and lasted 2 days. After only jus finishing my period the day before the incident i thought this was rather strange. My next period is due on saturday, and i’ve been having servere stomache cramps since monday? I’m now beginning to stress as i don’t really understand the whole light period thing. Being only 16, it was one stupid silly mistake, which i regret. I’ve decided that if i don’t come on by the weekend then i’m going to take a pregnancy test anyway. I’ll keep u posted. If anybody’s had any of the similar symptons, please feel free to let me know. Thanx. Loz

Reading through these I see a number who talk about "unprotected sex with my boyfriend" which seems to be the popular, but wordy phrase, or who stopped using their regular birth control. Is this what you liberals intended for children? It would be my guess, based on the correct grammar, spelling and use of apostrophes, some of these are from older women, or they are made up fantasies. It's likely that all age restrictions will be removed, so I guess 5 and 10 years olds will be able to buy them too--no questions asked.

In his ruling, Judge Edward Korman said that "FDA staffers were told the White House had been involved in the decision on Plan B. The government said in court papers that politics played no role." Well why not. The President supports infanticide for botched abortions; what's it to him if children get this drug? He's got the Secret Service to go on his daughters' dates.

The standard dose of the Levonelle 2 morning-after pill comprises two tablets each containing 750µg of levonorgestrel that are taken as a single dose. Girls or women taking Levonelle 2 therefore receive 1,500µg of levonorgestrel in the course of a day. By contrast, the Norgeston daily mini-pill contains just 30µg of levornogestrel. Levonelle 2 thus delivers 50 times the daily dose of the mini-pill.

The summary of product characteristics for Levonelle 2, a type of morning-after pill, states that patients who have used this type of pill and who nevertheless become pregnant should be evaluated for ectopic pregnancy. Other sources3 confirm this, and ectopic pregnancies are a significant cause of maternal deaths4.

Other side-effects include nausea, vomiting and tenderness of breasts5. Link

HT Gayle

The story of a fire marshall out of control

Richard has a great story at his blog (written by his friend) that you just have to read. It begins:

"I have a neighbor who lost his house recently. Oh, not as you may suppose, it was not a foreclosure, just a really HOT fire. Yep, burned it right down, along with six other homes on that street. They SAY it started with a wreck of a Diesel tanker. The funny thing is the whole neighborhood watched the newly established fire department as they "fought" the blazes. The reason we were all standing there was because WE used to be members of the town Volunteer Fire Dept, and we had actually arrived on the scene to HELP fight the fire. The NEWLY HIRED Fire marshal arrived in his new eco friendly car to inform us that the NEW FULL TIME FIREFIGHTERS would be arriving shortly with the trucks, hoses, and respiration gear and that THEY would fight the fire. WE WOULD NOT BE NEEDED other than to just do what HE TOLD US TO DO." Read the rest.

Do good now, not from the grave

WSJ today reported financially strapped colleges are auctioning the goose that use to lay their golden eggs--their donors' gifts and good will. Link. This is not a new travesty. It's an old sin. One of my first jobs when I returned to work in the late 70s was purchasing for a for a small "subject collection" within a library, which had already lost its physical space and had been folded into another library as a line item in the budget. They did hang the portrait of the donor in that larger library near the classification number of his interest, but I have no idea where it is now (30 years later). Not that it will matter--I think that library is also going to be closed and his heirs probably are deceased.

In general, family fortunes accrue from entrepreneurship or investment of resources in someone else's idea--capitalism, as it were. Some of these guys weren't very nice, either, and after their children, step-children and grandchildren weren't able to run through it all, it is donated for a tax break to a church, college, research organization or museum. Then the liberals take over, and often they are not ethical about meeting the fine print, or the intended mission. Let's say it's an endowed chair from a railroad magnate and the money is shaved a bit to support research in wind energy because the land on which the tracks were laid in the 19th century, is open again. Or there is a fund to support a Christian program, but there's no one around who is familiar with that religion, so it goes into the general pot of "spirituality" so a Methodist pastor who saved every penny is funding the Bahai faith. Or the Cuyp paintings are auctioned to save the Van Dyck because the roof is leaking which might damage them all, so the less popular are sold to save the others. I think their reasoning is, "Well, this was ill-gotten gain anyway, now I'll do some good as pay back."

It wouldn't hurt some of these progressives to only have control of the money for 5 years to use it as it was intended so you can keep an eye on it. No one will do what you wish 50 years from now.

The Utopian vision, Arcadia, is associated with bountiful natural splendor, harmony, and is often inhabited by shepherds. The concept also figures in Renaissance mythology.

An Arcadian Fantasy--Earthy Day

From, Conclusions: Robert Carter, "Knock, Knock: Where is the Evidence for Dangerous Human-Caused Global Warming?" ECONOMIC ANALYSIS & POLICY, VOL. 38 NO. 2, SEPTEMBER 2008.

"To focus on the chimera of human-caused greenhouse warming while ignoring the real threats posed by the natural variability of the climate system itself is self-delusion on a grand scale.

• That human-caused climate change will prove dangerous is under strong dispute amongst equally well qualified scientific groups. The null hypothesis, which is yet to be contradicted, is that observed changes in climate or climate-related phenomena are natural unless and until it can be shown otherwise. The science of climate change is far from settled. Meanwhile, there is no compelling evidence that human-caused climate change poses a strong future danger.

• No measurable environmental benefits have resulted from actions taken under the Kyoto Protocol, nor can they be predicted to result from carbon dioxide emission restrictions more generally. On the other hand, the social and economic disbenefits of governments deploying such instruments are now reported daily in the media. The available scientific data, and proved relationships, do not justify the belief that carbon dioxide emission controls can be used as a means of ‘managing’ or ‘stopping’ future climate change.

• Bowen (2005) has well written:
‘Science is based upon empiricism – the objective observation of natural phenomena, and the attempt to encompass them in classifications, models and theories of everexpanding scope. This enormously important principle of the Enlightenment still needs affirming. The principle is under threat, from those of every religious and political persuasion and from those of none, who seek to impose their world view upon scientific enquiry. Science is not more important than morality. But without empiricism, there can be no science’.

The projections (which are not predictions) of computer modellers that are now almost the sole basis for IPCC climate alarmism must be assessed against the best available empirical evidence.

• Climate variation has always occurred and always will. Citizens are right to be concerned about the possibly damaging effects of both the warmings and coolings which lie ahead. As with most potential natural disasters, however, the appropriate action is to have in place reactive response plans to manage the change when it occurs. Dangerous climate extremes will not be prevented by reducing human carbon dioxide emissions, but – as they occur – should be adapted to using similar response strategies to those applied to other dangerous natural events such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunami and sea-level change.

• Attempting to ‘stop climate change’, or, in the present state of our knowledge and technology, even to modify it, is an arcadian fantasy. The Australian government should defer its Emissions Trading Scheme bill until the completion of a thorough and independent judicial review into alleged humancaused global warming – as assessed against the reality of dangerous natural climate change.

• Lastly, because we are far from understanding all the climatic feedback loops concerned, cutting carbon dioxide emissions is as likely to ‘harm’ as to ‘help’ future climate as judged against a human viewpoint.

Therefore, application of the principles of ‘do no harm’ and ‘precaution’ implies that the correct climate policy is one of monitoring climate change as it happens, adapting to any deleterious trends that emerge, and compensating those who are disadvantaged through no fault of their own."

Thursday Thirteen not written

I had most of it drafted--13 ways the feminists of the 1970s changed our society forever, mostly for the worse, but it got way too long and depressing. By the time I wrote about the population of a small country aborted, the spread of STDs with the free sex movement, the links between pantheistic goddess worship and environmental movement, the awful movies, the growth of porn, the rise of obesity brought on by more processed foods and dependency on eating out, the growth of the pre-school movement which reduced parental influence even more, Title 9 sports, the impoverishment of children caused by the marginalization of men and denigration of marriage, the crummy fashions from ethnic chic to stretchy pants suit, and most importantly (next to the aborting of our future) the launching of inflation in the early 1970s and a nation living on credit setting the scene for today. See? No fun at all. The research by the feminists (basically a marxist movement) will all report that women were the victims, either of the programs they put in place, or the right wing back lash (another thing they created), but I was there at the beginning. I was marching around the state house waving my ERA sign. I am woman, hear me roar. Departments of Women's Studies are now a huge industry wasting students' time with required courses, and libraries are dying, so I guess I'll be shouted down. But you read the truth here.

The New Thompson Library at Ohio State

My husband's e-mail this morning offered him a place in this afternoon's tour (no open shoes, and long pants, please). He thought about it, then said no. I suppose I eventually will get an invite--although I never got one for the new Veterinary Medicine Library (which I spent my last 2 years on) when it opened. And now they're talking about closing it less than a decade later. Anyway, here's the photo. It seems to be real, not a mock-up--looks like construction equipment there in the front.



I have no idea, not having been inside, what all that glass is about. It's death and destruction for paper materials, causes glare on computer screens, blinds the staff, and makes a building very hard to heat and cool. But, oh well, the tax payers will get the invoice--and since the planning was started in the 90s, we won't put this one on Strickland or Obama.

George Carlin on caring for the Earth

The language is a bit rough, but he certainly nails it.

Vote No on Issue 4 (Library) of $25 million

This information comes from the letters in the UA News, April 22

If a school levy fails, people lose jobs, children's education is strained and communities suffer. But the library levy is not one of those. It is an overpriced, ballooned request upon citizens in a challenging economic climate.

This is the third time the library tax has increased since 2001, and should it pass, UA taxpayers will be paying nearly five times what they paid to the library just 8 years ago.

Of the 3 plans presented to the library board, the most expesive was chosen, and added to.

Operating costs are not included in this request. Therefore, we can expect more down the road.

No library employees will lose their jobs if this levy fails.

Over half the UA library patrons live outside the city of UA and do not pay UA property tax.

One letter writer counted 18 chairs in the atrium, 4 in the video area, 3 being used. Saw children using study cubicles for coloring books. [Actually, I applaud the parent for bringing something to keep the children busy, rather than letting them run loose disturbing others.]

A $25 million dollar levy is over the top for unnecessary expansion. Most seats are vacant. There are a dozen DVD copies of the movie Elf. [And 15 copies of anti-Bush books, and every movie Michael Moore ever made.] Proponents arguments are not for literary or educational need, but for more free entertainment.

People are losing their jobs. Why gold plate the library? Does it really need a cafe, a gathering place, fireplaces--after an outcry these perks were removed, but do they think the taxpayers have forgotten? A $25 million levy goes far beyond "improvements" and is empire building.

If issue 4 passes, UA tax payments to the Library will rise from $996,000 in 2001 to almost $4.7 million annually.

Of the proposed 35,000 sq. ft. Tremont (main) expansion more than 1/3, 14,000 sq. ft. is for the library's staff/mechanical storage space, and the entire lower level will be off limits for patrons.

Two of the library's trustees voted against the levy, citing the bad economy.

Critical repairs are needed: the library has $3 million+ on hand for that.

Other details at changeinua.org.

The recent Miller Park (south of Lane Ave.) branch totaled about $1 million--administrators said no public funds would be used, but records show otherwise.

Residents opposed the "cafe" originally proposed; now it's called a vending area.

Advice from a resident: rein in tax increases, budget for necessary maintenance, prioritize services, heed board members Magill and Perera; be accountable to voters.

And imagine what is to come!

"During the Democratic Convention in Denver last year, Julia Giacopuzzi, age 15, was rushed by a police officer, had her arms twisted behind her back, lifted up off the ground and then cuffed. Her crime? Sidewalk chalking that Obama is a pro-abortion candidate.

Three Pro-Lifers were arrested and thrown in jail for this heinous crime, even though they had a permit issued to them by the police and the city of Denver."

Now, why is it a crime to tell the truth about a candidate? He was/is pro-abortion; the most pro-abortion elected official in the entire United States. He approves of infanticide if it was the mother's intent to kill the baby before birth, and something went wrong in the procedure (wrongful birth).

And that was before the infamous document from Janet Napolitano (remember, Obama wasn't even aware of the tea parties, so it was all her fault) warning police departments to be on the look out for pro-lifers, recently returned veterans, and others who didn't vote for Obama.

When the fox guards the hen house

the chickens all go into hiding. When the weasels suck the eggs, there's no new generation to object. When the affable, day-dreaming farm wife goes out to check on her small business efforts, she'll find the coop blew away in the Obama tornado of 2009.

The latest threatened probe of former president Bush and his administration officials is a cover-up of the mess Obama's made his first 3 months in office. His sucking up to fascists, dictators, Communists and socialists in his global trots; his campaign promises now turned into real threats to life, limb, freedom and the economy as patriotic citizens become "threats" because they didn't vote for him; his unheard of trillions of debt beyond anyone's imagination even in October to sink us with inflation what hasn't been stolen from us; his take over of major segments of the economy; his conciliatory words to North Korea's nose thumbing; his hiring of tax cheats and crooks for his cabinet; his friendships and alliances with Ayer-heads; his bizarre love affair with a teleprompter formerly mistaken to be the ability to be an orator; the hostage taking and sentencing of an American reporter; the piracy off Somalia where he diddled and fiddled for 4 days before allowing the Navy Seals to handle it (a brief preview of things to come); the hacking of the $300 billion joint Strike Fighter project; his complicity as a senator in the current recession (budget was controlled by a Democratic congress since 2006, but the housing mess goes back to the Carter years); and the growing concern even among the main stream press who carried his water for 2 years of campaigning, now choosing words to describe his administration and problem solving like "uncertainty," "confusion," "unclear," "lack of clarity," and "frustration."

Only Democrats elected since 2003 are safe in this probe, because Bush had their full support and the war effort was built on the Clinton era intelligence. We have all the speeches from pre-2001 of Hillary and Ted, John Boy and Kerry. They'll need to be disposed of too, because no one but Obama can be in charge and they, particulary Hillary, are a huge threat to his power. But don't look at Obama for any of the blame. He was safely hiding out in Illinois voting to kill born alive babies.

Chavez blame game

I won't be reading his book, the one Obama accepted as a gift after listening to a despot denigrate his country for 50 minutes. Curiosity seeker-buyers have pushed it to the top of the Amazon list. Man, does this guy know how to market, or what? Too bad his politics aren't democracy and capitalism. I'm sure he's more than happy to take the profits and store them out of his country. The book appears to blame Latin America's failures on white Europeans. So what is Chavez' ethnicity? According to one census account I read (for 2000) Venezuela is 34% mulatto (African European mix), 10% black, 21% white, 34% mestizo (European Indian mix) and 2% Indian. Now, in the United States that would mean 44% black, 21% white, and 36% Indian. Also, the Venezuelans have long played loosey goosey with their own racial designations--according to the report I read (sorry I didn't note the link--I usually do). Looking at Chavez, who in photos appears to be darker than Obama, I'm guessing he's part mestizo and part mulatto, which would make him a big part European, right? So we've got one big boss, the son of a white teenager who had an affair with an older married African, hobnobbing with another big boss ridiculing his own ancestry. Where are their manners? It's not nice to dis your mama. Or your country.

President sensitive to our concerns

After the tea parties, Obama really wanted to show the American people how serious he was about cutting government spending.

President Barack Obama ordered his cabinet to identify and shave a collective $100 million in administrative costs from their budgets (less than the Murtha airport which has almost no customers). . . However, since President Obama’s inauguration, $270 million has been spent on television advertisements designed to influence public-policy decisions. Morning Bell, April 21, 2009

Here's a graphic of what a trillion looks like. Compare it to 100 million.

Remembering the Seventies--Monday Memories

I first heard the details about the modern women's movement in my living room. A neighbor/friend with whom I worked on a fair housing committee mentioned she was losing interest in civil rights, but had become interested in women's rights. Not the one from the 19th century, not getting out the vote of the early 20th century, but Equal Rights Amendment, equal pay stuff. Neither of us were employed, although we both had advanced degrees, and that wasn't unusual in my neighborhood near Ohio State University. I think her teenage daughter had run away from home; shortly thereafter she did too, and I never saw her again. Not too long after that I remember attending “consciousness raising” groups on the OSU campus--women sitting around in dumpy duplexes, usually on the floor, discussing the various ways society or more specifically men had kept them from their potential or dreams, and how things would be different if women were in charge. More collaborative. Kinder. More team work. We were so radical we didn’t even serve snacks like church ladies.

Yes, I remember when the professional schools of medicine, veterinary medicine, pharmacy and law weren't over 60% female. I just stared in amazement when the female student vet walked in to look at my 5 week old kitten in 1976. I remember when suburban neighborhoods weren't expensively furnished ghost towns during the day. People were around and children were playing in yards unsupervised. I remember when most pastors in Protestant mainline churches were male seminary graduates. I can even remember when people only went out to eat (unless they were fabulously wealthy) on special occasions. I can count on one hand the number of times I'd been in a fast food restaurant before 1970. I remember when I knew no one who homeschooled and no one sent their children (except Catholics) to private school. Grover and Big Bird were just a few years old and quite innocent; Phil Donahue was leaving Dayton around 1970, as I recall.

I didn't read a lot of medical literature in the early 1970s (except baby stuff), but it seems it was more about disease, cures and epidemiology and not so much about poverty, ethnicity and gender in those days. Children played in their own neighborhoods, or mothers organized play groups and supervised each others children. I didn't see a Wal-Mart until about 1978, or later,--in Bradenton I think. I used disposable diapers only on car trips, held the babies in my lap not car seats, their toys and clothing were made in the U.S.A. (or by me), and I never took my children to grocery stores or church. Like most of the people we knew we had one TV, one car, and one telephone.

That's sort of how I remember the 70s. The women's movement changed everything and brought us many of our current social, economic and health problems. More on that later.

[Sorry, this missed the deadline for Monday. There's no one to blame, but me.]

Obama and infanticide

All Democrats at the federal level said induced labor abortions which resulted in later killing the born alive aborted babies was wrong (Born alive infants protection act). Only one elected man in our government, in the Illinois legislature at the time, believes in infanticide. Barack Obama.

How to have a dialog with a liberal--Shut Up!

Andrew Klavan, HT Pauli.

Why is a political organization in the public school?

Upper Arlington Progressive Action began as a John Kerry fund raising organization in 2004 and a way to thumb a nose at UA conservatives, then flexing its muscles moved on to Barack Obama's enthronment in 2008. Now it is "sponsoring" Earth Day at Wickcliffe School in Upper Arlington, which is supported by my real estate taxes, state taxes, and federal taxes. I can't think of any similar conservative organization (by name), political or religious, but I'm pretty sure they wouldn't be allowed in one of our public schools (or the library--remember that group that wanted to pray!) to promote a conservative agenda of free markets, capitalism, Constitutional interpretation, party candidates, and the economic fight against environmental regulation and cap 'n trade which promises to hurt children most. Nor would they be allowed, if it was part of their mission statement, to tell the children the story from Genesis about how God created the earth and that he loves them. So why does UAPA get to do this?

"Please join the Wickliffe Progressive School community, UAPA and Sustainable UA for an Earth Day Event on Saturday, April 25, 2009, at Wickliffe School, 2405 Wickliffe Road. These groups will be working together to get volunteers, Ohio-native plants and monetary donations for a community beautification event in celebration of Earth Day."

Also at the UAPA website is support for the Library levy, something we just went to the bank for 2 years ago, Jennifer Brunner, Democrat, and a tirade against Rush Limbaugh. He's the current go-to-guy-for-hate since Bush left to write his memoirs. Also he's on 610 and they are promoting a different AM station on their web site.