Lakeside is flag ready for the Fourth of July!

If you click to enlarge you can see 3 or 4 neighborhood cats having breakfast.

The Popcorn Palace always looks dressed in her finest floral best.

Every home on Lynn between 2nd and 3rd was flying a flag this morning.

Miscarriages

In 1963 I had a miscarriage. The doctor told me then, almost 50 years ago, that about one third of all pregnancies end in miscarriage (spontaneous abortion) and had for as long as medical science had tracked it. Incompatible with life, was his explanation. Apparently, that figure hasn't changed much according to this article on thyroid problems and the risk of miscarriage which uses the figure 31%.

What exactly is "affordable" housing?

The city of Falls Church, Virginia, is a toney DC suburb. The median home value is $670,192 and the median income is $111,461. Not to worry. Falls Church has "affordable housing." That means it gets government money to pay builders to design/build or remodel homes for households whose income is at or 80% of the median income level of the DC metro area which in 2010 was $85,198. You'd still have a huge gap if you qualified to move into Falls Church affordable housing, and every good Democrat knows it is the gap that is the problem, not the income.

I can't tell if it's just the VA taxpayer who is paying for this or if it is all taxpayers in the U.S. But I think I qualify if I want to move to Virginia--although I suspect there is a waiting list. I'm certainly living below the media income level of the DC metropolitan area.
Falls Church Affordable Housing Policy
Senior Housing

Snippets from the blog notebook

Yesterday's speaker, Stephen Rock, noted in his talk about Christians and Human Rights that the documents of the main line Protestant churches are almost indistinquishable in language from secular socialist organizations.

* * * *

Anthony Weiner is busy reinventing himself according to the news. I don't know why--Democrats loved him just the way he was.

* * * *

There are now companies who can do a "social intelligence" background check for employers to see how badly applicants have behaved within their social networks.

* * * *

Media Matters, a tax exempt "charity" is a Soros funded Democratic party shill group that you can contribute to if you like left wing stuff. Now some tax payers are going after it because it is trying to destroy Fox News, a private, for-profit company.

* * * *

How dumb are academics? They spend time, effort and (our) money to determine that behavior and culture cause 80% of health outcomes, and then wring their hands that the USA is behind other industrialized nations. Doh! Have they ever looked at the borders of Iceland, Finland or Sweden? If people desperate to leave the amenities and squalor of their own homeland will risk life and limb to get here, what sort of healthcare do you think they had before?

* * * *

Last week there were no fruits or vegetables at our farmers' market. The planting season in northern Ohio was very wet--things go off to a slow start. But yesterday I was able to buy locally grown cabbage, green pepper, cukes, but I didn't see any corn.

* * * *

What are America's (Obama's) interests in bombing Libya? Has Obama ever been able to articulate this or does he just stammer? Where are the outraged war protesters when it's their guy?

* * * *

Laura Bush visited Africa 5 times during her husband's presidency. Did she get the drooling media coverage that Michelle Obama's trip did? If Mrs. Obama, while reading Cat in the Hat had been told there was a bomb threat, would she have had nasty criticism from Rosie O'Donnell and other "comedians" for hesitating and thinking what her next move should be the way they reviled President Bush on 9/11 who was reading to children?

* * * *

Barney Frank and his girl friend Fannie Mae were big contributors to the housing melt down. Why are they both still protected by the government? Why is there no such thing as failure in Washington unless you're a white Republican cheating on his wife or making passes at gay guys?

* * * *

Mitt Romney is Obama-light.

* * * *

Bristol Palin is as useful to her mother as Carter's brother Billy, or President Reagan's daughter Patti. You might get to choose voters, but not family.

* * * *

I'm surprised that today's teen fashionistas need a website like Tomboy Style to define what their grandmothers of the 50's and 70s knew instinctively.

Jon Stewart mocks Herman Cain's speech

Jon Stewart says he's not partisan nor a propagandist for the Democrats. If he were a Republican shill and mocked the speech of a black presidential candidate using a white man's Amos and Andy dialect, he'd be off the air. And in case you think Rush Limbaugh does this, then you aren't listening. He uses clips of their own speech, like his "Just-us" routine of Jackson and Rangel.

Cain says he is not offended, that he understands Stewart is a comedian. But I'm offended, because Stewart is calling his audience, probably 90% white, stupid, racist and ignorant.

Cain says it's not a race issue, but because he's a black conservative. I'm not so sure it's not racial. If he were light skinned, skinny and had never had a private sector job he might be more acceptable. If he'd never lived among blacks and had learned that "Amos and Andy" dialect from a speech coach, he'd be much more acceptable to the left.

And of course, Obama wasn't involved in this scheme at all

"A federal jury on Monday found former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich guilty of 17 counts of corruption, including trying to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President Barack Obama." WSJ

I wonder when he'll do a tell-all?

Ilinois owes creditors from funeral homes to Xerox

Illinois is $4 billion behind in its bills.

"International Business Machines Inc. is owed $1.1 million. Office Depot Inc. is waiting for a $660,955 check. And the 17th Street Bar & Grill in Sparta is due $340.52. They are among at least 8,000 vendors including businesses, charities and government agencies waiting months for the state to pay up. At least 114 companies are due more than $1 million, according to documents from Illinois Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka.

. . . Creditors include health and education agencies, schools, charities, funeral homes, plumbing-and-heating contractors and purveyors of food, coal, clothing, electronics and pizza.

"Banks have refused us a line of credit because of the state," said David Baker, who runs the nonprofit Open Door Rehabilitation Center in Sandwich, Illinois, and is owed $880,000. "We've had a long-time relationship with bankers, but now they wonder 'What if the state never pays you?'"

DailyHerald.com : Ilinois owes creditors from funeral homes to Xerox

There Are No Socialists

As always, Victor Davis Hanson nails it. Liberals are complete phonies when it comes to the joys of socialism; they only want others, less wealthy, to redistribute their money, but want to keep their own.

We have heard that taxes, more taxes, and more taxes are the cure for the massive deficits, run up by out of control spending. OK, fine. But why then does multimillionaire John Kerry go to great lengths to avoid taxes on his yacht (why a luxury yacht when so many have so little?); why are redistributive overseers like Timothy Geithner, Eric Holder, Tom Daschle, Charles Rangel, and Hilda Solis either late or delinquent in paying the federal, state, or local governments what they owe? Were not high taxes on the upper incomes like themselves the point of it all? Should not they pay all they can to ensure that their brethren receive needed entitlements? I thought Bono would lead an international effort of multimillionaire rock stars to relocate to socialist states like Ireland or Greece, so that they might gladly pay 75% of their incomes (which at “some point” they had enough of) to help others closer to home. Why instead is he fleeing to low-tax nations? Did not such socialists have enough money by now without undermining the socialist state?

Works and Days » There Are No Socialists

Free speech or abortion rights?

"Alamogordo resident Greg Fultz’s billboard is getting national attention — and it could land him in jail. The 35-year old owner of internet sales and service company GEFNET bought the space on White Sands Boulevard to run an ad featuring an image of himself holding the black outline of an infant along with the headline, “This Would Have Been a Picture Of My 2-Month Old Baby If The Mother Had Decided To NOT KILL Our Child!” The original billboard said it was “created for N.A.N.I.,” an acronym that is the same as his former girlfriend’s first name.

Nani Lawrence has filed a petition in court against Fultz for domestic violence and charges of harassment and invasion of privacy. Last week, an Otero County Domestic Violence Court commissioner backed Lawrence’s claim, recommending an order of protection for her and that the billboard be removed by 8:14 a.m. on June 17. Judge James W. Counts is expected to approve the recommendations."

Read story at New Mexico Independent

Do fathers have rights?

Why would you pirate a book? Are you a thief?

'Go the (Blank) to Sleep': A Bedtime Reality (WSJ)



But the topic, getting kids to sleep, puzzles me too. Our children, now 43 and 42, where NEVER a problem at bedtime, which was about 7 p.m. After supper, we kept things very low key, read quiet stories, gave them a warm bath, said prayers, sometimes played records (remember those?) and listened to their concerns of the day. I used to listen to horror stories of bedtime, and scratch my head. It was one of the most pleasant hours of the day at our house.

Gay rights in New York

If it's homophobic to disagree with recognizing gay marriage, unacceptable since the beginning of history in all cultures and religions, is it fear of numbers or fear of children to be limiting it to two men, or two women, or two people who are not minors? Polyandry. Polygamy. Man-boy lovers. How about child Muslim brides or boy-grooms? Is it anti-Muslim to say no to that in the USA? Step aside gay rights folks--there's a long line behind you, and it ain't pretty. They are on the internet and social networks and building up steam and "rights" hysteria based on your victories.

Does anyone know?

Why do Democrats want to turn the rest of the country's economy into Detroit, South Bend, Toledo and Cleveland--all under the jack boots of the unions and the Democrat incapacitating control?

Something to think about in 2012.

What is "environmental literacy?" Will it help us understand the complicated text and regulation on our ugly giant recycle bins to determine which plastic, metal and glass they want?

Something to think about in 2012.

Who are the idiots writing and proofing Obama's speeches that are loaded on to the teleprompters? This latest gaff of declaring a dead soldier alive, was not just bizarre it was hurtful to family and friends, later apology not withstanding. It's increasingly evident that his writers and staff not only have no grasp of American culture, they can't even proof their own research. Someone should at least be counting the first person pronouns (I, me, mine, my) so he doesn't sound like the narcissist he is.

Something to think about in 2012.

Why have the main stream media, Fox News, CNN and Democrats in general not investigated the ties to the Muslim Brotherhood of the wife of Anthony Weiner and assistant to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton through her family (mother and brother) while instead focusing on his bad on-line bedroom behavior and lies?

Something to think about in 2012.

How about that "draw down." It will leave more troops in Afghanistan than we had during the Bush years after Obama dawdled and stumbled over the surge recommended by his military staff which could have brought our troops home much earlier. Is it just to play well to centrists and moderates during the election campaign--hey--it worked in 2008.

Something to think about in 2012.

Why does Media Matters, an organization begun by Clinton people and funded by Soros, have tax exempt status, allowing it to attack private, for-profit news sources? Is it because it supports only leftist causes, and the reelection of Obama?

Something to think about in 2012.

Why does Obama offer job crushing tax hikes with his left hand while handing out the myth of his economy recovery with his right hand? The only jobs "saved" (did you hear Biden in Columbus?) were government and union jobs.

Something to think about in 2012.

What are America's (Obama's) interest in bombing Libyans and why does he not get Congressional approval for extending the war?

Something to think about in 2012.

Why do Democrats criticize the Republican's debt plan when they don't have one?

Something to think about in 2012.

If Obama's policies are Bush-lite, why are Republicans even considering Mitt Romney, who is Obama-light?

Something to think about in 2012.

Programming for week 2 at Lakeside, Ohio

Two interesting seminars are scheduled: "Faith and foreign policy in the U.S." and "Cultural bridges as U.S. military strategy." And of course, a highlight at the Rhein Center, my husband will teach his class on perspective drawing and watercolor techniques.

Parts of Stephen Rock's latest book, "Faith and foreign policy," are on the Internet, and after looking at it, I probably won't walk out, which I often do rather than argue with the speaker.

Good preparation for this week is this document titled, "The American religious landscape and political attitudes" (2004) which defines traditionalists, centrists and modernists within 3 groups, the evangelicals, mainline protestants, and Roman Catholics. Traditionalists are the largest group within each category of Christian.

After Democrats were defeated in 2004 I remember watching a panel of them on PBS discussing the election and they agreed that they needed to (pretend) move to the centrist/traditional Christian viewpoint--and it worked in 2006 and 2008, mainly by redefining what values words mean. Obama used the "hope and change" vision that is New Testament language with a familiar ring to push his socialist agenda. He fooled many, but we're smater now. Unfortunately, too many "centrists" were just fence sitters and fell for a pretty face and charming rhetoric.

Dynamite program tonight at Hoover: Riders in the Sky. A very funny and musically talented cowboy quartet. Monday we'll hear the Jazz Ambassadors of the U.S. Army. Next Friday, Second City, which will have the whole audience laughing. This week's herb study is on horseradish--the herb of the year. What a strange name, and I'm sure Carolyn will explain.

I used our sparkling clean and fresh laundromat on 2nd street this morning. It's official: my washing machine has died. It won't spin out the water. We drove to Sandusky last night to look at Sears and Lowes. Doesn't seem to be much of a recession there. The parking lots of the motels were full (Cedar Point is near by) and so were the restaurants. Traffic everywhere.

Three things I like about President Obama

1. He's Black. Or bi-racial, or African-American or Kenyan-American. Whatever you want to call his ethnic background, his mother was Euro-American secularist and his father was a Kenyan Muslim, many of us thought this would never happen in our life time--not even Jesse Jackson or Michelle Obama. It hasn't improved race relations one iota, but in that sense it's good, because it shows character and politics trump race. Something conservatives had figured out before the election of 2008. Even black Republicans voted for him for that reason--and are now sorry.

2. He's married to the mother of his children and from all public appearances, is a better father than he is a President. This will be a lasting legacy, and I hope young men of all races and politics imitate him.

3. Barack Obama has given conservatives and libertarians a kick in the pants that they needed to put down the remote and the golf club and figure out what they believe and why! Whether you call them Tea Party, or 9/11 groups or grass roots conservatives, many are paying attention for the first time. Some voted for the first time realizing they've sold out their core beliefs for the good life. This is positive, even though Democrats denigrate citizen involvement unless they've organized them and taken their money. We conservatives now know or will soon learn:
Our American history, including the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Federalist Papers

FDR and LBJ were among our worst presidents growing this wet snow ball known as incapacitating entitlements

RINOs are not our friends and should be voted out of office for the sin of bipartisanship and "crossing the aisle."

Medicare and Social Security are bloated, corrupt and a huge part of our deficit problem (so Tea Partiers need to stop gripping about cutting them)

The role of the Supreme Court in our problems

How special entitlements from federal block grants to summer lunch programs have hurt minorities and low income

How the government helped create the last housing bubble and is doing all the wrong things to correct it

The relationship of church and state--stop looking at the buttons on the uniform and pay attention to the real battles

What are our property rights

How important to the economy are small businesses

Cooperation is growing among Christian groups that formerly quarrelled about everything from baptism to the Pope

People are really looking at local issues like city council, library boards, schools, zoning and seeing all politics are local and knowledge begins at home

Conservative women cadidates are more popular, knowledgeable and well known than liberal--and they've earned their spots instead of riding in on coat tails

Life issues like abortion, sex slavery, stem cell research, and euthanasia have made the Republicans the party of the "least of these" and the Democrats the party of the rich and powerful.

Great programs this week

On Tuesday evening we enjoyed Carpe Diem String Quartet. Originating at Ohio Wesleyan University, they are a wonderful group that promotes music education as well as enjoyment of all kinds of musical styles. Korine Fujiware (1/4 Japanese, if I got her story correct) composed Montana, and it was wonderful.

The Wednesday evening it was the Raleigh Ringers based in Raleigh, NC. They are a group of 17 who play both handbells and chimes. They have released a number of CDs and have performed on public television.

Tonight we plan to see Water for Elephants after a reception for donors. It's a crummy week for weather, but the programming is terrific.

What unemployment problem?

A Wall Street Journal review of financial-disclosure forms reveals that about 250 congressional staff members earned a total of $13 million in 2009 from former employers, companies they run or other side jobs.

My new garden journal

In herb class today at Lakeside we made garden journals from plain brown 3 ring notebooks. We covered them with scrapbooking paper, magazine clip art, poetry, quotes, or our own art work. The instructor gave us 3 hole punch sheets with calendars, notes, layout sheet, wish list, etc. and 3 hole dividers to which we could add envelopes for saving notes.

I pasted this quote on the cover: "I appreciate the misunderstanding I have had with Nature over my perennial border. I think it is a flower garden; she thinks it is a meadow lacking grass, and tries to correct the error." Sara Stein, 1988.

Farmers' Market today in Lakeside

Tuesday and Friday--haven't seen this year's merchants yet. Love the veggies, but despite rising prices caused by fuel costs, U.S. food is still a great buy. Just make sure it is "grown in the U.S.A."

Last year's produce

Back to the old, tired and biased news sources

Now that we're at the lake house, I have to watch ABC or CBS if I want some news. You might hate Fox News, but Glenn Beck and Bill O'Reilly aren't newscasters, they are opinion/talking head shows. Fox News just gives the news, and some of it you'll not find on broadcast, and some of it is dumb car chases and pretty women. Not so the news on broadcast TV. I was shocked by the opinion inserted into the two stories I remember from yesterday, the Wal-Mart law suit and the Supreme Court and John McCain's comments on the fires in Arizona. This morning at the coffee shop on Fox News I got the real McCain story--that he was quoting from a US Forest Service testimony and report about fires. I, of course, realized the snippet ABC was quoting used the words "some" and "may" but they had to interview someone from La Raza to make it "fair," the radical, anti-U.S. organization that wants the southwestern states to be returned to Mexico.

The End of Green Ideology

"President Barack Obama’s administration has thrown billions of dollars at wind, solar, ethanol, and other alternative-energy resources. Now the Fukushima tragedy is being used to justify continuing these economically dubious programs. We can bet that none of these alternative energies will easily replace oil, gas, and nuclear power in the foreseeable future.

At market prices, without public subsidies, a unit of energy produced by solar or wind in the US costs five times more than a unit produced by oil, gas, or nuclear plants. Moreover, supporters of alternative energies systematically downplay their negative environmental impact. A wind turbine requires 50 tons of steel and half a square mile of ground space. If California were to rely on solar power for its electricity consumption, the entire state would have to be covered with photovoltaic cells."

The End of Green Ideology by Guy Sorman - Project Syndicate

Michele Bachmann--she's now THE candidate to watch

She's a conservative and a Tea Partyer. Now that's refreshing. Let's see if the Democrats, who can't stand a talented beautiful woman with a special needs child, will be able to tolerate one who had 23 foster children.

"Bachmann has faced up to the Democrats' gaudy lie that people, aged 56 and over, are facing Medicare cuts with the Ryan Plan. They are not, not with the Ryan budget. Though with the Obamacare Plan we are all facing the eclipse of Medicare. Medicare will be slashed for everyone very soon, and that is written into the president's policy. Better it is to note that Ryan's reform gives us plenty of time to fix the system before the under 55-year-olds enter the depleted policy and are faced with the cuts that even the older seniors now face."

The American Spectator : The Pulchritudinous Michele Bachmann

Blogging break -- see you at Lakeside

I have a few things to take care of--mostly of a technical nature, but I shall return.

Weasel words and phrases to watch for--because they are meaningless

WAGE INEQUALITY doesn’t mean poor, doesn’t mean rich. It means a high school student working at Panera’s in a part time job makes less than a computer programmer with a college degree working for Bill Gates. It means Bill Gates makes more than the President of the United States. Wage inequality is an inflammatory phrase, however, so think about it the next time you hear it. It also means that a 2 income household generally has more money than a one income or no income household receiving government assistance, which shouldn't be rocket science.

FOOD INSECURITY doesn’t mean hunger or starvation, and especially doesn’t mean too few calories. It means that some time during the last week, month or year, a person or head of household wasn’t sure where tomorrow’s meals were coming from. Could be one day until the social security check arrived, or the support payment from the ex-, or perhaps a tornado blew through town and you have no kitchen, pantry or paycheck and the bank is gone, too. Think about that term when you hear about 14% of the nation being “food insecure.”

FOOD STAMPS don’t exist anymore; The program is now called SNAP and they don‘t use stamps, but a plastic debit-like card. Regardless of the name, they were never intended to feed families, only to supplement the resources a family already had. So if some wise guy asks you if you could live on food stamps, say NO, because that’s not the intention. The USDA began this program in the 1940s to assist farmers--there were surpluses after WWII. Now the USDA is about food subsidies, not farm subsidies, and it is also about changing behavior which costs more and is more complicated, requiring many more staff which is where a lot of the money goes. The government has about 26 food programs spread across six different federal agencies.

A LIVING WAGE begs the question whose life, what wage and living where? In 1983 when I worked for JTPA (Job Training Partnership Act which replaced CETA) I was told a living wage was $10.50 an hour in order to live minimally in Washington DC (it would have been middle class for Columbus). Not even college grads were making that 28 years ago in most cases. But that’s what the workshop presenters wanted in government entitlements--housing, child care, food, education--for welfare mothers. If a stay-at-home mom goes back to work waiting tables at lunch when the kids go to college, should she be paid “a living wage?” Listen carefully when you hear a speaker demand a “living wage” for the poor. Does he mean your babysitter, which would put you out of work? Door to door Bible salesman, which means you couldn‘t afford it? The school teacher today earns more per hour than an accountant or architect. 10 years out of college making $70,000 for 10 months with a guaranteed pension at age 55 with a union to protect her. Or how about your congressman?

ACCESS used to mean a wheel chair ramp into a restaurant or public building. Not anymore. Now it is folded into anything someone of a minority or different culture might have in their original homeland. And that includes food at public institutions or schools and no pork in government feeding programs. It might mean no gluten or peanut butter for you kid even if he's not allergic. It also means having farmer’s markets in poor neighborhoods, a long, long way from the truck farmer. It means making the low income people experimental subjects for every cockamamie sociology and nutrition program your local college or university can dream up. “Eat it, it’s good for you. Because I said so.”

SUSTAINABILITY is the all-purpose, go-to word when “green” or “tree-hugger” or “renewable” sounds too crass or over done. It’s meaningless when you think about it. Agriculture, whether industrial type farms or organic plots or your backyard, requires huge inputs--seeds, fertilizers, water, labor, and technology. Boondoggles like growing corn for ethanol were found wanting 30 years ago, but agriculture lobbyists keep at it. Fields were planted right up to roads creating run off and destroying wild animal habitat leaving birds with no home which then required more pesticides. Thousands of acres of corn changed the moisture content in the air which created storms in neighboring counties and states. Trucking the corn to storage kept huge vehicles running day and night polluting the air. Trees and animals are actually renewable resources, and petroleum is decayed vegetable matter with stored energy waiting to be used, but don’t confuse an environmentalist with science. They’re looking for religion. Oh yes, is there anything uglier than a wind farm?

Here’s a myth that helped create our housing crisis

“Homeport Programs at Columbus Housing Partnership is a private, nonprofit organization founded in the belief that a decent and affordable home is the cornerstone of family life and a healthy community.”

1) When you see the word HOUSING linked with NONPROFIT, it means government grants fund it, or the government provides tax incentives to foundations, churches or private companies like Nationwide or Huntington to help fund it.

2) PARTNERSHIP means that rather than private developers bringing their skills and resources to the neighborhood, they are encouraged to “invest” in a corporation offering tax credits where the money will first be used by the CHP to pay its staff and office expenses before it selects the builders and unions that will “redevelop” poor neighborhoods, most of whom will be making political donations to the Democratic party or the Mayor or city councilmen.

3) The mortgage industry and the construction trades may be private non-governmental businesses, but they are the biggest beneficiaries of the government's experiment of putting low-income families in mortgages they can‘t possibly afford, rather than rental property they can afford until they can develop home ownership and budgeting skills, can learn a few home repairs, or save enough for a down payment and all the expenses that go along with ownership.

4) DECENT doesn’t mean cheap. Home Again, a Columbus rehabbing project of $25,000,000, in one year (2006) did 96 roof repairs costing nearly $1,500,000. That’s nearly $14,000 a piece in crumbling neighborhoods of small houses 70-80 years old with poor streets, utilities and public schools. After Hurricane Ike a damaged church in affluent Upper Arlington with a huge roof had it replaced (not repaired) for $5,200.

5) AFFORDABLE in government housing speak means money has been transferred from tax-payer abc to entitlement receiver xyz, but many in that chain are not poor--they are staffers in government backed programs and agencies (like HUD, USDA, HDAP, OHFA COHHIO) earning good salaries, with excellent benefits and job security, which is why the programs must be continuously expanded.

6) FAMILY LIFE may be a single mom with several children. Does she really need a mortgage to add to the burdens the government has already imposed on her and the children? Like limits on her income or savings if she is to qualify for health care or nutrition supplements. The housing money would be better spent on job training and moving the children to charter schools, or a small private van service to get her to a good supermarket outside her unsafe neighborhood (but with repaired roofs).

Dear Reader, do you think the households of Andrew Weiner or Arnold Schwarzenegger are “healthy?” What about their “communities” that are circling the wagons defending them?

A house is shelter. Period. It should not be turned into a government experiment in economics, morality or education, nor an evangelization vehicle for churches.

Politico Admits 'Error' in Attributing quote to Palin

Are they trying to stir up trouble? Sometimes I miss a quotation mark or an attribution/link, but I don't take ads on my web page, and I'm not a professor at a famous university.

Politico.com admitted Friday that it made an "error" in attributing a nasty quote about Rep. Michele Bachmann to former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

The quote came in an opinion piece Thursday by former Virginia Democratic Party chief Paul Goldman and George Mason University professor Mark J. Rozell. The piece speculated on whether Bachmann's possible presidential run might compel Palin to get in the race, and argued that her recent bus tour sent a message to Bachmann, R-Minn. -- a message they attributed directly to Palin.

And it was nasty.

Politico Admits 'Error' in Attributing Bachmann Criticism to Palin - FoxNews.com

Media feeding frenzy in Juneau, which isn't covering the story

I hope they are bored out of their minds. And how clever to release it on paper. Does the media do this to all former governors, or just women they love to hate? At least the birthers knew they were looking for something--a birth certificate. What are these guys looking for?

"Alaska officials on Friday released thousands of pages of emails sent and received by Sarah Palin during her first 21 months as governor, giving a fresh glimpse at the time when she rose to national prominence and became the GOP vice presidential nominee. Reporters and photographers crowded into a small to pick up the six boxes of emails — 24,199 pages and weighing 100 pounds — to begin poring over them. Some carried boxes down the stairs and others, wheeling them on dollies, scrambled to be the first ones to reach elevators." Link

Debbie Wasserman Schultz: "Jim Crow Was The Wrong Analogy To Use"

Someone must have told Ms. DNC the Jim Crow laws were the Democrats' idea.

But also, allowing ex-felons and illegal immigrants to vote with no ID is probably a side you don't really want to say is the image you equate with African Americans. And how she thinks the 2000 Gore Bush hanging chad fiasco fits in here is bizarre. Bush, as you recall, won that district; it was the Democrats who didn't want to believe minority voters could choose anyone but whom they were told to vote for.

HotAirPundit: Debbie Wasserman Schultz: "Jim Crow Was The Wrong Analogy To Use"

Do what I say, not what I do--Democrats

According to a 2008 article at American Thinker by Randall Hoven, lawyers and law firms are heavy donors to the Democratic party, with 76% of all donations to Democrats, the same percentage as Hollywood. (BTW, this is a paltry number compared to Democrats in the library profession.)

American Thinker Blog: Lawyers and the Democrats

So why, if they are so liberal and progressive, are law firms doing such a poor job of recruiting African Americans into their profession, even with affirmative action?

According to a completely unrelated article by James Lindgren in the Journal of Contemporary Legal issues, Vol. 17, 2008, "In 1960, 2.0% of male lawyers and judges ages 36-45 were African Americans. After several decades of affirmative action, in 2000 the proportion in the same age group has grown only modestly to 2.8% of male lawyers. Since the 1980 Census (when most African-American lawyers ages 31-65 would have graduated from law school before the era of affirmative action in law school admissions), the changes for African-American men have been even less impressive in employment by private firms and companies: from 1.8% of males in 1980 to 2.1% in 2000."

The Private and Public Employment of African-American Lawyers, 1960-2000 by James Lindgren :: SSRN

And in yet another unrelated statistic from the census, the anecdotal evidence that blacks are losing out in self-employment apparently isn't true either. Without affirmative action, they haven't done that much worse than the lawyers. Self-employed blacks have gone from 3.6% to 4.1% since 1960, compared to 11.1% to 11.4% for whites. It is down for both groups over the last 100 years.

GK Chesterton comments on the Weiner scandal

Not really, but he does talk about small, round, hard things. . . like Weiner's . . . brain.

"A small circle is quite as infinite as a large circle; but, though it is quite as infinite, it is not so large.

In the same way the insane explanation is quite as complete as the sane one, but is not so large.

A bullet is quite as round as the world, but it is not the world. . .

A lunatic's theory explains a large number of things, but it does not explain them in a large way. I mean that if you or I were dealing with a mind that was growing morbid, we should be chiefly concerned not so much to give it arguments as to give it air, to convince it that there was something cleaner and cooler outside the suffocation of a single argument."

Delusional Democrats and Union Thugs in Wisconsin

Kathleen Vinehout, a Wisconsin state senator who fled to Illinois to avoid her duty to her constituents said this after an improbable naive and hopelessly pious statement about honor and harmony too bizarre to even quote:

On March 9th, Republican Leaders invented a new process of passing a bill, without warning, without a hearing and without even a bill on the Senate floor. Republican Leaders engaged in legislative trickery to deny us the democratic process; seeking only to advance their national agenda.

James Lindgren offers another view at "SSRN, Social Science Research Network" which probably state Democrats routinely ignore, just has they ignore the national one.

This essay takes a brief and preliminary look at the remedies available to the Wisconsin Senate to enact its 2011 proposed budget legislation without Democratic senators who fled the state in February 2011. Article VIII, §8 of the Wisconsin Constitution requires a three-fifths quorum only for statutes that are fiscal, that is, statutes that actually appropriate money, impose taxes, create a debt, or release a claim owed to the state. Even then, these categories have consistently been interpreted in the most limited form conceivable.

Weiner's wife and marriage

It's been a surprise to me that the slogan of the day (the last 2 days) for Associated Press (distributed to multiple syndicates) has been that the "Weiners have a strong marriage." Look, she was out of the country when the scandal broke, he was using her absenses which are frequent since she's Hillary's aide to sext his on-line buddies, and they've both been using the Clintons as mentors. I supposed that's a fool's idea of a strong marriage, but if she hangs in there with him, she's just another abused Muslim wife married to a despot. It's in her tradition.

How great a lover and husband can he be? In order to achieve those erection photos, he needed to be masturbating while excitedly anticipating others seeing it. Who really gets that overwrought by the sight of the erect male member other than other males? Who buys all those male porn magazines--other men. There will probably be more to come out of the closet for this guy. There are some secular Jews who don't like Israel although they may see themselves as Jews (Weiner actually is pro-Israel except for his party choice), and some married men who don't really like or respect women, may love their own wife (again, Weiner has a strange way of showing devotion and loyalty). I'm just saying. . .

Father's Day is June 19--think about it!

"To everyone who had a great dad who was always there for you, great. And if you got a crummy one in life's father lottery, well, honor him anyway. The Bible promises you a blessing if you do. It's the only one of the Ten Commandments that comes with a promise.

Men who marry the mother of their children reverse the devastation of childhood poverty. It's worth more than a college education in family economics compared to the single mom household. On the other hand, married dads who walk out on the family, usually for another, younger version of the wife of their youth, hurt everyone involved, including his kids, friends and community." Norma Bruce, June 20, 2010

Why are librarians' salaries so low?

From my blog 5 years ago, March 2006.

There are people needing promotion and tenure to study this, but here's my take. Librarians have no organization to represent their own interests. Oh, they have lots of organizations--out the wazoo--but just look at the names: American Library Association; Medical Library Association; Association of College and Research Libraries; California Library Association. Do you know what my husband's professional organization is called? The American Institute of Architects. Get it? It is representing ARCHITECTS. People, not government entities or buildings. And although I'm sure it leans left like most professional organizations, I haven't heard that the AIA is trying to get President Bush impeached while they redesign cities in Mississippi as service projects.

"Librarians and library workers are under-valued, and most people, whether members of the public, elected officials, faculty, corporate executives, or citizen board members, have little or no idea of the complexity of the work we do." from California Library Association web site.

In my opinion, this inclusion of “library workers” in all attempts to get the professional, degreed salaried librarians paid a fair wage worthy of a master's or higher degree is part of the problem. “Library workers” may have high school degrees or they may have PhDs in Victorian Poetry or Trombone Performance, but they are not degreed librarians. This may explain why people (even librarians) believe the degree isn’t important, and so the salaries can stay low. Anybody can do it, right? Just ask the ALA (which spins its wheels in political, i.e. federal and state, battles).

But, then, it's not my battle anymore--or even theirs. Librarianship is going the way of the buggy whip manufacturer. A few with special crafting skills are still needed, but it's not a career or profession anyone should reach for.

Daily challenges

Today someone gave me three of these.

Yes, Panera's cinnamon rolls--620 calories each, 24 grams of fat (There is a nutrition calculator on the internet.) On the plus side, they do contain 20% rda of vitamin C and 13 grams of protein--that's more than a can of black beans! Right now, they are packaged separately and I'm debating their future. It's the last day of exercise class. Should I take them along and divide them among the ladies (and one man)? Should I put them in the freezer where they might call to me? What would you do?

Gingrich is deaf to his team's advice

"Newt Gingrich’s entire team of paid Iowa campaign staff, as well as his national spokesman and senior aides in New Hampshire and South Carolina, have resigned en masse, a staffer told The Des Moines Register.

“You have to be able to raise money to run a campaign and you have to invest time in fundraising and to campaign here in the state and I did not have the confidence that was going to be happening,” said Craig Schoenfeld, the Iowa executive director of Newt 2012."

Iowa caucuses


Go, go, gone Gingrich, I hope. There are some excellent people in the field. We don't need all his baggage.

Why we watch reality TV

OK. You caught me. I do watch some reality TV--like the people looking for 2nd homes in exotic places for $2.5 million on HGTV; the guys pimping their semi-trucks purple and pink; the fellows bidding on lockers full of stuff so that they can earn a living at auctions; occasionally a hoarding show on TLC; the clothes closet make-overs on What Not to Wear. Once in awhile I turn on one of those talent shows ala Arthur Godfrey 50 years ago. But never those shows that involve "rejection, elimination, and other forms of public humiliation." So why do people watch this stuff?

1) Connection; 2) Self esteem boost (Geez, I'm not THAT bad); 3) Social information (what NOT to do).

Right now I'm watching (sort of) the Weather Channel--first hurricane of the season is Adrienne, or Adrian (haven't seen its spelling). I suppose that's a reality show. We're having a neighborhood picnic tonight.

Psych Your Mind: Why we watch reality TV

Health disparities

The new golden goose. Disparities. It's must be the magic word for getting grant$$.

African-Americans have the highest life time risk for HIV (1 in 22) compared with whites (1 in 170) and Hispanics (1 in 52). Sociologists and government health workers try to attribute this to poverty, homophobia and housing, and increasingly, you see geographic location thrown in. However, this idea is repugnant, insulting and degrading to the millions of low income men and women who do not have multiple same sex partners or are not unfaithful to their spouses.

Tiger and Arnold (Austrian males have the highest rate of promiscuity) and Weiner are certainly not poor or powerless, nor lacking in health insurance, yet they've chosen a promiscuous life style endangering the women they married and the children they've conceived.

It is personal choices not neighborhood, not income, not race that determines whether one will have HIV. Unfortunately, that choice may be a man choosing not to tell his wife or girlfriend that he is gay and has been having sex with men. It is his own homophobia, not mine.

HIV/AIDS and African Americans | Topics | CDC HIV/AIDS
HIV, AIDS and Men Who Have Sex with Men
Fact Sheet

Wisconsin union protestors spoil the day for Special Olympians meeting with the governor

This is the "progressive" political philosophy that has brought about the death of over 90% of children with Down Syndrome aborting them before they catch their first breath. This is the thoughtless political philosophy that allows the President of the United States to yuck it up about their abilities, and late night comedians left wing bloggers to ridicule Sarah Palin's son. Did these young (and probably paid) "zombies" have any idea what they were doing? Maybe not. Brains of mush. The Olympians are much smarter, kinder and happier than this crew brought in by the unions.

Why read Chesterton today?

Recently I began reading G.K. Chesterton's Orthodoxy. So far, I've made it through the Introduction written by Philip Yancy, and part of Chapter 1. Actually, I've never cared much for Yancy's writings--he always seems so tentative and uncertain--I think because I just can't identify with what he's fleeing--fundamentalist, legalistic Christianity. Even in this small introduction, he continues to needle his strawman, stereotypical Christians. But he says in the Introduction that Chesterton revived his faith, and when he feels himself going dry, he goes to the bookshelves and pulls off a volume (in collected works it's possible he exceeds Luther and Calvin).

From the American Chesterton Society page:

All the issues we struggle with in the 21st century, Chesterton foresaw, and wrote about, in the early 20th century. Social injustice, the culture of death, statism, assaults on religion, and attacks on the family and on the dignity of the human person: Chesterton saw where these trends, already active in his time, would lead us. He was a witty, intelligent, and insightful defender of the poor, the downtrodden, the weak, and especially of the family. He loved good beer, good wine, and good cigars. He wrote in just about every genre: history, biography, novels, poetry, short stories, apologetics and theology, economic works, and more.

As a literary critic, Chesterton was without parallel. His biography of Charles Dickens is credited with sparking the Dickens revival in London in the early 20th century. His biography of St. Thomas Aquinas was called the best book on St. Thomas ever written, by no less than Etienne Gilson, the 20th century’s greatest Thomistic scholar. His books Orthodoxy and The Everlasting Man are considered the 20th century’s finest works of Christian and Catholic apologetics. And audiences still delight in the adventures of Chesterton’s priest sleuth, Father Brown, as well as such timeless novels as The Man Who Was Thursday, The Napoleon of Notting Hill, and others.

I like this quote (from Yancy's introduction): "I tried to be some 10 minutes in advance of truth and I found that I was 1800 years behind it." Whether this applies to Chesterton's conversion to Roman Catholicism or his personal beliefs, I'm not sure, but I know that if it's truth you're seeking it's best to return to the basics.
American Chesterton Society

Why university libraries are becoming closets

When I returned to work in the late 1970s at Ohio State University Libraries, one niggling problem was "closet libraries," which had been set up by various specialties and faculties to serve their specific needs. I guess they thought the library system was not flexible enough or knowledgeable enough to handle them.

A few disappeared. There is no longer an Agricultural Economics reading room, an Arnold Credit library, the one that served plant pathologists, or the journal collection for the veterinary medical faculty on the third floor of Sisson Hall, or other special collections (I'm more familiar with the ones west of the river). But they just popped up somewhere else. Increasingly, these collections are digital, and although they may meet in Thompson Library (recently renovated), they long ago by-passed the library.
Six digital media collections containing over 850,000 media assets that will reach over 20,000 students in 105 course sections annually.

History Multimedia Database (Humanities)
Arts & Sciences Media Manager (Humanities)
Charles Csuri Archive (Arts)
History of Art Visual Resources Library (Arts)
Huntington Archive (Arts)
Knowlton School of Architecture Digital Library (Engineering)
Related project: Praise Poetry Video Database (Humanities)

And this is just the group that has a defined mission statement (committed to cutting through the red tape, sharing resources and making things work on a grassroots level--I think they mean library) and collegial arrangements for staff, faculty and course credit. There are others.

Now it's the main library (Thompson) that has become the closet for books in special collections.

Social media for the MSM editors

"Editors from major newsrooms around the country, including CNN, 60 Minutes, USA Today and the Los Angeles Times, will arrive on [the Ohio State University] campus next week for the Kiplinger Program in Public Affairs Journalism's social media KipCamp. They will spend the week exploring how to leverage Facebook, tweet strategically, tell better visual stories and more." No mention in the blurb of conservative news sources, nor the dangers of blogging and microblogging. I hope they rush someone in to cover the Weiner type problems and the reasons the left defended him, and even now are saying it was just sex instead of a culture of cover ups and hypocrisy.

A list of the fellows from AP, NPR, CBS, WaPo, NBC and various environmentalist journalists, all on the warming bandwidth.

The dignity of work

This is a repeat from a blog I wrote in 2006 after working at the food pantry.

Did you know that the "working poor" families and the welfare families in this country have about the same income, but the working families by percentage of income are the most generous of any group? Yes, they donate a higher percentage of their incomes than do the wealthiest income group; and welfare families with about the same income give almost nothing to others. There is dignity in work and self-sufficency. Occasionally, something happens to people of limited means--maybe grandchildren have to be taken in, or a heating bill is outrageous, the support check doesn't come, or there's an illness, so they need a little boost from the food pantry.

Nearly all of Texas’ anti-abortion subcontractors are Christian groups

This is wrong. Morally and ethically and pragmatically. It weakens the churches and prevents them from proclaiming their message of salvation to people who are poor, suffering and vulnerable.

From 2006 to 2010, the state spent $11.7 million on its Texas Alternatives to Abortion Services Program, with nearly $7 million of that finding its way to 33 nonprofits (all but one with Christian affiliations) via the state’s primary contractor, the nonprofit Texas Pregnancy Care Network, according to public records obtained by the Texas Independent.
The Alternatives to Abortion Program — funded by state and federal money — was created in the 2005 legislative session for “the development and operation of a statewide program for females focused on pregnancy support services that promote childbirth,” according to the contract between the Texas Health and Human Services Commission and TPCN.

Nearly all of Texas’ anti-abortion subcontractors are Christian groups | The Washington Independent

Whether it's pregnancy services, summer lunch programs, food pantries, tutoring and language services, housing programs, financial counseling or jobs programming, churches need to cut the siphon that leads to the federal and state governments' money tank. If we're not allowed to discuss Christian marriage with the recipient of counseling services, or tell Bible stories while the children eat lunch, then it's time to ask member Christians for more money and tell the feds to get out of your church.

More signs of late brain maturity--stress from debt

"Researchers [at Ohio State University] found that the more credit card and college loan debt held by young adults aged 18 to 27, the higher their self-esteem and the more they felt like they were in control of their lives. The effect was strongest among those in the lowest economic class.

Only the oldest of those studied – those aged 28 to 34 – began showing signs of stress about the money they owed." Rachel Dwyer

I suspect the researchers should have included in the study the amount of alcohol and drugs these 20-somethings ingested as teen-agers. That's a known factor for destroyed brain cells, or slowing their maturity.

But then, what's Congress' excuse?

The Spring of the Unexpected Soft Patch

These are actual quotes written by degreed economists and journalists (and a few bloggers), who never seem to expect the outcome when a president who campaigned to fundamentally change our country and redistribute income from the wealthy to the poor through regulation and taxes actually succeeds in his plans. Why only the conservative talking heads like Fox's Beck and EIB‘s Limbaugh, some of whom don’t have a degree in anything, had full knowledge about the end results, I don’t know, but apparently they do read history and their parents talked about the Depression.

GM chief financial officer resigns unexpectedly. March 10, 2011

Obama's support among blacks slips unexpectedly, Hispanics too. April 7, 2011

Though economists are anxious about the unexpected slackening, they largely remain confident that the lull will prove just a soft patch and they still expect a strengthening jobs market to revive growth in the next quarters. April 15, 2011

Sales For Sarah Palin’s Second Book Spike Unexpectedly. April 17, 2011

Housing Starts in U.S. Unexpectedly Decrease to 523,000 Pace. May 17, 2011

Orders for long-lasting goods unexpectedly fell in February, raising concern over the sustainability of the rebound in U.S. business investment. March 24, 2011

Sales of existing U.S. homes unexpectedly declined, manufacturing in the Philadelphia region slowed and consumer confidence dropped, pointing to an economy that is struggling to regain momentum following the surge in energy costs. May 20, 2011

Consumer confidence unexpectedly decreased in May to the lowest level in six months as Americans grew concerned over the outlook for jobs and the economy. May 30, 2011

The economy will be in full-fledged recession by year end (although I can argue that the economy has remained in recession since 2008). The mainstream financial media are all calling the “unexpected” bad news as a “soft patch” in the economy. Tomorrow’s Non-Farm jobs report is going to be very weak. June 1, 2011

Denmark's economy unexpectedly went into recession, new figures showed yesterday. Denmark's economy contracted for a second quarter after consumers cut spending. Denmark now joins Portugal as the only European nations in a recession -- defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth. June 2, 2011

Obama Eligibility Lawyer Unexpectedly Resigns: Mole Within Hawaii's Department of Health Alerted Corsi That No Long-Form Birth Certificate Existed Prior to February 24th. June 2, 2011

The jobless rate, unexpectedly, edged up to 9.1%, the second straight monthly gain and the highest this year. June 3, 2011

Oil Rebounds as API Shows Unexpectedly High Stock Draw. June 7, 2011

Read this carefully and explain

"This parking space is for expectant mothers and fathers with new born children."

Think about this "gender neutral" message for a moment. . . Does the huge luxury store that caters to my every whim for cheese or wine or meat want to earn points and create a customer-friendly image with politically correct, nonsexist nonsense which sounds like it was translated from a foreign language?

Why does an expectant father need a special parking place? Is he bloating or having charley horse pains in his hip as his waist expands so far he can't see his feet? Or this. If a woman has a new born in the car and drives to the Giant Eagle, is she even aware that she might be expecting another wee one? Or is the sign missing a comma, and really means the space is only for expectant mothers, or for fathers driving around with a new born in the car?  But that would mean mothers with a new born can't park there.

Also, think of the insensitivities this communicates to radical feminists (aka feminazis) who believe pregnant women are not even mothers, but simply carriers of a clump of parasitic cells that can be removed because it isn't a human yet.
 
Think about this and the last time you went to the store with young children.  Is it really more difficult to schlep a new born into the store than two toddlers and a sullen teen-ager who would rather not be seen with you? Which one really needs to be nearer the door?

Believe me, forty plus years ago I never took young children or babies to the grocery store, or to church, or to day care.  Saturday morning at Kroger's or Tarpy's was MY time, and I wasn't about to share it.

Huma Abedin is not a typical congressional wife

As more dribbles out about this drip and his swooning fan feminist supporters, it sounds like the wife settled. I guess he needed a cover to keep up what he was doing. Poor Hillary--she's been through it, and should be able to offer a shoulder to cry on.

"Former President Bill Clinton officiated at their July 2010 wedding. Their marriage drew extra attention since Abedin is Muslim and Weiner is Jewish."

Huma Abedin is not a typical congressional wife - CNN.com

Obama’s Jobless America

The Bush Obama recession is starting to look a whole lot like the Hoover FDR Depression. FDR extended Hoover's attempts to right the economy for a decade by diddling the federal government with a variety of socialist schemes, some of which we're still struggling with (like a poorly planned Social Security trust fund), or were resurrected during the Johnson years for the "war on poverty." When a foxhole is won against poverty, liberals just dig a a new hole in which to throw money.

Morning Bell: Obama’s Jobless America | The Foundry

May Jobs Report Is Troubling as Unemployment Rate Increases | The Heritage Foundation

The day the elephants came to town

Plus some other wonderful photographs from Joe's portfolio.

Now for today's project--painting the garage

Instead of buying off the shelf storage units for the garage, we had some new shelves and a tall closet built to hang out with the former kitchen cabinets. The bottom two shelves are stationery, the others can be moved. The cabinets won't be painted on the inside, so they are already jammed. I think we could have purchased gold plated cheaper, but oh well, the price you pay for living with an architect. We also have beautiful new hardware that doesn't match the hinges. Hate that. Here's Paul Miller and a few scenes from today's project--which will probably last 3 days. The last photo is stuff that needs to go either to a shredder, a technology dump, or back on the shelves. I wonder what people do who have a clutter problem? We're actually rather tidy people.

Paul is doing a lot of careful prep work--that's the key to a good paint job whether interior or exterior. Clean, sand, fill holes, etc.

Our new sidewalk

A home is not an investment. It is a money pit only slightly more practical than a boat. And you do have to live somewhere. Here's one of our recent adventures with our money pit which we bought in 2001--completed last week. We have a different one going on today. . .

This was our sidewalk--some sort of stone or slate with a variety of crumbling mortar. We repaired it in 2005, but it continued to crumble, shed, and disintegrate.

So here it is all chopped up, but oh, look at that, underneath part of it was the original concrete sidewalk, still in perfect condition, except for a few nicks and bumps from the ear splitting jackhammer. Oh well, too late, we'd already started. After he'd already started, he knocked on the door and said, do you really need this first step--I could just slope it a little (because obviously the new walk was going to be higher than the old, and the step up wouldn't be standard height. So we OK'd that, and now we're all set for wheelchairs.

This is the new concrete walk, installed over the old concrete walk, which we didn't know was still there. It has color, a pressed stone pattern, and joint cracks added. We also discovered upon removing the old slate, that there was a good size planting area next to the garage. We went around and looked at our neighbors, and they did indeed have that. But it just makes it harder to get in and out of the car, so we didn't reinstall that. Now, because it is the new sidewalk is so high, we'll have to have some new landscaping. But, you can't take it with you . . . so we're helping the local economy.

Ohio State to graduate nearly 10,000 on June 12

John Boehner, the 53rd Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, will deliver the commencement address during Ohio State's spring commencement on Sunday (6/12) in Ohio Stadium. A record 9,655 students will earn degrees. The graduates, who are among the brightest in the university's history, enter the stadium at noon.

From his website: Boehner, 61, is the 2nd oldest of 12 brothers and sisters and grew up in Cincinnati. He represents the Ohio 8th district. "Before he ever made his first run for elected office – a spot on his neighborhood homeowners’ association – John ran a small business in the plastics and packaging industry. His experience in the private sector – meeting a payroll, paying taxes, dealing with government red tape – prepared him well to be a reformer in the public sector."

The One state solution--in only 4 minutes--

There now, that was easy, wasn't it?

Now here's a shocker

Liberals, Democrats, Grad Students, Easterners More Likely to be Atheists.

Gallup: Liberals, Democrats, Grad Students, Easterners More Likely to be Atheists | CNSnews.com

Remember when the Republican gay Congressman was forced to resign?

There's a different standard for NY Congressmen who digitally diddle young women.

Obama inspired ship, Funded By Obama’s Pals, Sets Off to Join Jew-Hating Leftist-Islamist Gaza Flotilla II

Remember the Audacity of Hope--Obama's book--the title inspired by Rev. Wright's sermon? Rashid Khalidi, director of the Middle East Institute at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, is at it again.

OBAMA INSPIRED SHIP, Funded By Obama’s Pals, Sets Off to Join Jew-Hating Leftist-Islamist Gaza Flotilla II | The Gateway Pundit
Voice Of The Copts - Obama Inspired Ship to Join IHH Gaza Flotilla

Herbert Goldhor, 1917-2011

Professor Goldhor interviewed me when I applied for the Graduate School of Library Science at the University of Illinois, Urbana. I don't remember much of the conversation, except his asking me, "Have you ever worked in a library," and when I told him about the 3 libraries--Mt. Morris Public, Manchester College, and University of Illinois, he smiled with relief.
Many people think libraries sound good until they actually experience them.

This is one of the more personal and charming obituaries I've read--perhaps written by him (many people do) or a family member. Nice story about a second chance at love.

CHAMPAIGN – Herbert Goldhor, 94, died on Tuesday (March 29, 2011) at home in Seattle, Wash., where he had lived since 2004 after having spent most of his adult life in Champaign.

A memorial service will be held in Seattle for family and close friends later this spring.

Dr. Goldhor was born on Feb. 8, 1917, in Newark, N.J., the fourth child of Adolph and Dora Balshan Goldhor. In May 1948, he married Dr. Eleanor Cheydleur and they had four children (Jonathan, Richard, Beth and Barbara) and later 11 grandchildren, all of whom are still living.

After Eleanor died in 1988, Herbert rediscovered his childhood sweetheart, Ruth H. Schwartz from New Jersey, and married her. They enjoyed 15 wonderful years together living abroad in various different countries including England, France, Denmark, Canada and New Zealand until Ruth died in 2004.

Dr. Goldhor's career as a librarian began in 1943 when he received a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago's Graduate Library School. After serving in Europe during World War II, he joined the Library School faculty of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he remained for six years (1946-1951).

In 1952, he moved to Indiana to become the chief librarian of the Evansville and Vanderburgh County Public Library, a job that he thoroughly enjoyed for 10 years.

Dr. Goldhor then returned to the twin cities to direct the Library School at the UI from 1962-1978, during which time he also taught graduate courses and published numerous articles and two books. In 1975 he became director of the school's Library Research Center, a position he held until his retirement in 1987.

Throughout his career, he believed strongly that public libraries, access to information and ideas, and continued learning were essential to a democratic society.

Dr. Goldhor enjoyed health and strength for most of his 94 years. When he was 84 years old, he and his wife Ruth hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, spent the night at Phantom Ranch, and hiked out the next day. To train for this endeavor, they walked up and down the stairs of the Century 21 building in Champaign. Dr. Goldhor was still working out at the local gym up to a few weeks before his death.

He had a positive, open attitude towards life and was interested in learning and experiencing new things. He had a great sense of humor including the saying in later years, "I am always quite relieved when I read the obituaries in the paper to NOT find my name there!" Well, now his name is here ... Yes, Herbert Goldhor's life on earth has ended and he will be greatly missed. However, his love for books and his positive influence at both the personal and professional level will live on, and in this way his name will be remembered fondly by many.

Memorials may be made to the Graduate School of Library and Information Sciences at the University of Illinois (www.lis.illinois.edu/giving) or to the American Friends Services Committee (afsc.org).

Gay teens have riskier behavior

A CDC report released today and carried through AP to many major newspapers is sure to create a flurry of new grant money and programs to 1) create guilt in the non-gay population because the stigma must be their fault, 2) excuse sexual behavior teens know they shouldn't be doing, and 3) pay the salaries of researchers and social workers for many future studies.

Students who report being gay, lesbian or bisexual and students who report having sexual contact only with persons of the same sex or both sexes are more likely than heterosexual students and students who report having sexual contact only with the opposite sex to engage in unhealthy risk behaviors such as tobacco use, alcohol and other drug use, sexual risk behaviors, suicidal behaviors, and violence, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"This report should be a wake-up call for families, schools and communities that we need to do a much better job of supporting these young people. Any effort to promote adolescent health and safety must take into account the additional stressors these youth experience because of their sexual orientation, such as stigma, discrimination, and victimization," said Howell Wechsler, Ed.D, M.P.H, director of CDC's Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH). "We are very concerned that these students face such dramatic disparities for so many different health risks."

CDC Media Relations - Press Release: June 6, 2011

The problem with this whole victim excuse is that many straight teens also engage in risky sexual behavior--maybe a lower percentage, but in numbers far higher. How successful have government health programs been in reducing or eliminating that, and is their reason also stigma, victimization and discrimination?

I would have said it differently, but here it is. . .

"It's hard to avoid the conclusion that the threat of tax increases and increased regulatory burdens have produced something in the nature of a hiring strike."

Yes, Michael Baron, you sound like you are blaming the American business community for Obama's failures.

Eventually, though, he does get around to cheap political rhetoric, ignoring his own budget commission, his incessant campaign mode, launching war against Paul Ryan, and cronyism with banks and lobbyists.

Barone did miss Libya and his anti-semitism, however. Well, maybe next time.

Dan Quayle right again--Single Moms at Midlife have more health problems

Remember Dan Quayle--how he was ridiculed for taking on the Murphy Brown single mom story line about 20 years ago? Oh, the press had a ball with that--said he was too dumb to know she was fiction. Then a few years later, the research shows that despite the income and social class of the mother, children of single mothers didn't thrive as well as children in two parent homes with a mom and a dad. It turns out that Uncle Sam can't be a step-father--even for those kids who don't need any financial assistance and have educated moms.

According to a growing body of social-scientific evidence, children in families disrupted by divorce and out-of-wedlock birth do worse than children in intact families on several measures of well-being. Children in single-parent families are six times as likely to be poor. They are also likely to stay poor longer. Twenty-two percent of children in one-parent families will experience poverty during childhood for seven years or more, as compared with only two percent of children in two parent families. A 1988 survey by the National Center for Health Statistics found that children in single-parent families are two to three times as likely as children in two-parent families to have emotional and behavioral problems. They are also more likely to drop out of high school, to get pregnant as teenagers, to abuse drugs, and to be in trouble with the law. Compared with children in intact families, children from disrupted families are at a much higher risk for physical or sexual abuse. Link to Barbara Dafoe Whitehead's article.

This study done at OSU shows that later marriage doesn't reverse some of the negative health affects of single motherhood. It "was beyond the scope of this study to determine why unwed mothers in general had poorer health than others. But other research suggests it may be related to the high levels of stress and the poor economic conditions faced by single moms." Or maybe women who don't take care of their bodies when it comes to sex, don't take care of it in other ways?

Single Moms Entering Midlife May Lead To Public Health Crisis

Seems God was on to something when he created marriage for man and woman.

Monday Memories--John Stolzenbach

John is retiring and Sunday June 26 will be his last Sunday to preach at Lytham Road campus of UALC where he pastors the two traditional services. When we began attending UALC we met John and Sue in the new member's class. They had started attending at the invitation of his brother Jim (now deceased), and we came because I had attended a women's event at UALC and met a number of women who formerly had been members of the church we were attending. Four couples in that class formed a small group Bible study, and four years later John who was a school teacher when we met him, became a Lutheran pastor. There are several fare-well events for John, and there will be another one on June 26. We attended one on May 26.

John's special gift from the Lord is a Servant's heart for the hurting Servants--like those grieving, divorced, addiction/recovery. He sees the many funerals he does as an opportunity to reach the lost as well as the family. He's also known for his sense of humor. After our daughter's wedding a Jewish friend said, "I don't think I ever had such a good time at a Christian wedding."

Our Savior, the Democrats | The Weekly Standard

"How does Wallis—the old Students for a Democratic Society agitator who touted the Vietcong in the 1970s and the Sandinistas in the 1980s, who denounced welfare reform in the 1990s as a betrayal of the poor, and whose funding by George Soros was exposed last year—enlist Catholic bishops and mainstream evangelicals in his endless political campaigns?"

Jesus can forgive the SDS stupidity, and he died for Wallis' sins against the poor and lying about Soros funding, but enlisting Christian leaders for a "circle of protection" around federal programs that primarily line the pockets of the well heeled government staff? Um, no. Even Jesus has his limits.

Our Savior, the Democrats | The Weekly Standard

Palin’s End Run

Canada Free Press: "The mainstream media have indignantly reported on Governor Sarah Palin’s barnstorming “One Nation” bus tour across the Eastern United States with sputtering speculation, crafty criticism, risible ridicule, and, as usual, insufficient insight. The reason for the media apoplexy is simple. Palin is the first potential national candidate to successfully demonstrate that today’s news organizations are yesterday’s news."

But that's not all. She's a woman who didn't ride into town on her husband or father's coattails, and the media just can't or won't accept that. They are very 20th century.
Palin’s End Run

School Application Criticized For Birth Questions

What is going on in California? Limits to the number of straight guys (2) on a soft-ball team and the judge says it's OK. Anti-semitism reeks in the anti-circumcision literature. Now a school asking for birthing delivery information?

School Application Criticized For Birth Questions « CBS Sacramento

81% of US Mosques Promote Jihad

"The minarets are our bayonets, the domes our helmets, the mosques our barracks and the faithful our army." Turkish nationalist poet Ziya Gokalp, 1912

Interesting survey which includes extensive links to sources on how American Moslems perceive themselves in a non-Islamic culture.

81% of US Mosques Promote Jihad

I didn't have a recipe, but. . .

I decided make mushroom soup. I knew I didn't have all the exotic ingredients chefs call for, but I did have chicken broth, olive oil, onions, celery, some butter and flour and ordinary not-so-wild mushrooms. Then as I was tasting it I thought, Hmm, a little wine might pep this up. But all I had was Merlot. After a few tablespoons I could see we would have pink soup, so I stopped there. However, a few hours later, it's just a nice taupe. I don't think it makes much difference in the flavor. I checked my blog and the last time I used beef broth and did use Merlot, but since it was darker, you couldn't see the color.

Unintended consequences again--hookworm

It seems a little might be good for you.

The Smart Set: Take Two Hookworms and Call Me in the Morning - May 6, 2011

Why we need legal immigrants

This morning I was shopping at a small center near Kenney Road and Old Henderson Road, the northern boundary for Upper Arlington, an up-scale suburb of Columbus, Ohio, where I live. As I looked around the stores, I decided over 50% are probably owned by immigrants. There were 4 or 5 hair and nail salons with English names, but Asian writing on the windows; a Turkish bakery; a Thai restaurant; an Indian restaurant; a belly dancing studio; a martial arts studio, a photography studio and some others I couldn't identify.

Owning your own home is not "the American dream," that's shelter and a hole in the financial boat, but owning your own business with the chance to become wealthy or have something to pass on to your children has been a dream of just about every immigrant group that has come by ship or plane, or on foot. I think Americans are sitting on their hands and wallets waiting for the government to do something about the economy, but immigrants are not waiting. They've escaped dictators, Communists, Socialists and anarchists. They've struggled and sacrificed and are willing to work 18 hour days, 7 days a week just for the opportunity to be in business.

I welcome these immigrants to my neighborhood.

Misquoting Republicans is a cottage industry for the media

Sarah Palin never said she could see Russia from her house. So who did say it?

It was actually comedian Tina Fey, who was impersonating Ms. Palin on Saturday Night Live who uttered this line that is now widely attributed to the former Alaska governor.

The basis for this line comes from a September 2008 interview with ABC News's Charles Gibson, who asked Palin what insights she had from her state being so close to Russia. She responded: "They're our next-door neighbors, and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska." Christian Science Monitor

But never mind the truth--ridiculing Republicans, especially if they are women, gets more sales.

The same article, however, really splits hairs about Al Gore's famous, "I invented the Internet." He used the word "created." Well, that's a short stretch isn't it?