Before the Closer, we enjoyed Moonlighting with Bruce Willis

Moonlighting was Bruce Willis' first really big break with Cybil Shepherd. Then he married Demi Moore and they have 3 daughters, all with very odd names. He remarried about 2 years ago. I don't follow his movies, maybe he needs the money. Lots of people have been hurt by the reession.

As was reported earlier in the week by various celebrity real estate gossips, Golden Globe and Emmy winning actor/action star Bruce Willis listed one of his many properties in the rural and rugged mountains of Hailey, ID with an asking price of $15,000,000.

The Real Estalker: Is Bruce Willis Bailing on Hailey?

Compensation Report for Architects

"Payroll employment at U.S. architecture firms was in excess of 240,000 at the end of 2007. By the end of 2010, firm employment levels fell to under 156,000, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, producing more than a 25 percent decline in payroll positions over this period." But strangely enough, compensation is up for the industry. "Architecture compensation increased 32 percent between early 2002 and early 2011, compared to 27 percent for all professional and related staff in the economy, and 25 percent for all private workers. Architect compensation increased faster than economy-wide compensation during the period of strong economic growth between 2005 and 2008, but slower during the economic downturn. . ."

The American Institute of Architects - AIA Compensation Report, Economics

Olive and Obama on Iran violence

My Mom (d. 2000) would have voted for Barack Obama--she and Dad (married 65 years) always crossed out each others votes. Mom also didn't spank us when we misbehaved. She would have said, "I'm deeply disturbed by your behavior," and given us "the look" or lectured us about our responsibility. Sometimes, we wished she would just spank us and forget the lectures. Thought about that today hearing Obama's "harsh" criticism of Iran. What a wuss--even though I think he's invaded without Congressional approval three countries.

Obama faults Iran for British Embassy violence

Can you define "Health Care Provider?"

You see that term, health care provider, everywhere. "Call your health care provider if you have signs xyz" or "Check with your health care provider to see if. . . " People zone out and fill in the blank--usually thinking DOCTOR. But that's not what it means. Go to Google and check an on-line dictionary. Yes, according to the CFR, it does include an MD or DO, but also, "Any other person determined by the Secretary to be capable of providing health care services." Also, podiatrists, dentists, clinical psychologists, optometrists, and chiropractors; nurse practitioners, nurse-midwives, clinical social workers and physician assistants; any health care provider from whom an employer or the employer's group health plan's benefits manager will accept certification of the existence of a serious health condition to substantiate a claim for benefits;

but also

Church of Christ practitioners, if listed with the Church of Christ Scientist in Boston; and Native Americans including an Eskimo, Aleut, and Native Hawaiian recognized as "traditional healing practitioners."

ACORN Housing is at it again--with more government money

ACORN got busy changing its name after some bad publicity, but there are 170 ACORN affiliates and it is difficult to track them and their mischief. They are still hard shell socialists and a little nutty on the inside regardless of the name. Plus, they are just old fashioned crooks. "Organizing" was also removed from Obama's election campaign name, our Organizer in Chief, but it's still the same Alinsky principles.

HUD’s office of general counsel and the GAO have both claimed that Affordable Housing Centers of America, or AHCOA, is not affiliated with the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN. AHCOA formerly called itself ACORN Housing, but changed its name after the 2009 ACORN meltdown.

The Obama administration has awarded more than $700,000 in taxpayer funds to AHCOA despite a 2010 law stipulating that no taxpayer funds could be awarded to ACORN “or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, or allied organizations.”

ACORN Housing | Housing And Urban Development | GAO | The Daily Caller

What is this called? Stammering in print?

I was looking through a very dull book which I found could hold my attention if I just wrote down useless, parenthetical type phrases. Eventually, I could find one or two sentences that contained the core of the author's intention. The following is from ONE paragraph on page 185 of The freedom of a Christian, Chapter heading, "Why Remember."

Perhaps, therefore,
--though there is something to be said for that--
but, rather,
to be sure
perhaps, . . . or perhaps
but, in any case,
--in which, presumably--
at any rate

The few paragraphs leading up to this indecisive stew contain the phrases:

Clearly, the question is actually. . .
Whatever we may think of . . .
though, as we shall see
but it is clear
Or, to take a very different sort of. . .
nevertheless, we can think of instances
granting that these people should
perhaps we could argue
and, as it were,
and, more important still,
we have to ask
perhaps, therefore,
even granting that, however,
Quite often, to be sure,
--though there is something to that--
at least in part
Or, perhaps better,
it is not fitting, therefore,
if, on the contrary,
perhaps, in so doing,

Whew! Don't you just start looking for a buzz saw or hay mower?

This particular chapter first appeared in First Things, no. 135 August/Sept. 2003, pp. 20-24.

Reaganomics and American Character by Phil Gramm

I never voted for Ronald Reagan--I was a Democrat in those years, more by habit than by thought or investigation. I've since come to see my error. Interesting piece in Imprimis (Hillsdale College) by Phil Gramm.

"Ronald Reagan did not believe America was in decline, but he did believe it had been suffering under wrongheaded economic policies. In response, he offered his own plan, a program for creating economic freedom that came to be known as Reaganomics. Of course, most of Reaganomics was nothing new. Mostly it was the revival of an older understanding that unlimited government will eventually destroy freedom and that decisions regarding the allocation of scarce resources are best left to the private sector. Reagan explained these old ideas well, and in terms people could understand.

But there was also a new element to Reaganomics, and looking back, it was a powerful element and new to the economic debate. It was the idea that tax rates affect a person’s incentive to work, save and invest. To put it simply: lower tax rates create more economic energy, which generates more economic activity, which produces a greater flow of revenue to the government. This idea—which came to be known as the Laffer Curve—was met with media and public skepticism. But in the end, it passed the critical test for any public policy. It worked."

Read the rest here. Hillsdale College - Imprimis Issue

Radio talk on the internet

Listening to Jason Mattera on 77 WABC AM New York on the internet. He writes Human Events, conservative web site. First time listener. Discussions have been food vendor laws in New York City, concealed carry, and Al Sharpton and Obama's reelection campaign.

It's the end of a wonderful day. Beautiful church service, great sermon by Pastor Eric on Jesus asking Peter, "Do you love me," and greeting many old friends. Wonderful turkey tetrazinni for lunch with pumpkin pie (all from leftovers). The tree is up and decorated while a new Christmas CD from Nancy Sponseller played in the background. Then back to church at 2:30 for a very well attended art show reception--Pusecker 3 generation show. Then home for a nap.

Art show at Mill Run church

Preventive or Preventative?

Apparently, wordsmiths and experts don't agree. Some say "preventive" is an adjective; "preventative" is a noun. As in, "The doctor of preventive medicine suggested aspirin as a preventative."

Others, like WordMall, say it doesn't make any difference. Both have been around about 300 years.

The first instance of preventive given by the Oxford English Dictionary is by Francis Bacon in 1626. The first citation for preventative is from Roger Boyle Orrery in 1655.

The conclusion? Neither one is a corruption, but many contemporary grammarians favor the shorter version.

Wordmall: Preventive, Preventative

Latex-food allergy

I don't have food allergies, nor an allergy to latex (that I'm aware of), but allergies are problems for others. I saw this in my newsletter from George Mateljan, World's Healthiest Foods website. His articles are long and detailed, and he carefully cites his sources in major, peer-reviewed journals (at the website). I personally have not studied this, but found the information interest--and didn't know trees had stress mechanisms.

"The only commercial source of latex in the marketplace is Hevea brasiliensis, the genus and species of rubber tree native to South America. When the gene stock for this tree was transported by the British to Asia, this tree began to express more of its "defense proteins" in response to the abrupt stress of a non-native environment. Included in these defense proteins were chitinase enzymes.

When rubber trees are tapped for their sap, which in turn gets processed into latex, some of these chitinase proteins get carried over into the latex. One particular 3-dimensional section of these proteins is a fairly common trigger of antibody reactions in humans. This immune system reaction to a section of the chitinase protein constitutes a latex allergy.

Certain foods have what is called a "Hevea-like" domain in their proteins. In other words, they have a 3-dimensional section of their proteins that is identical to the 3-dimensional section found in the chitinase proteins of latex. The existence of this identical spot allows for cross-reactivity between latex and certain foods. This cross-reactivity is called latex-food allergy, or latex-food syndrome. The primary foods associated with latex-food allergy are: avocado, kiwi, banana, and chestnuts and to a lesser degree, hazelnuts, peanuts, walnuts, almonds, passion fruit, strawberry, apple, fig, grapefruit, watermelon, pineapple, cherry. Pear, peach, mango, tomato, carrot, celery, sweet pepper, tomato, spinach, coconut, and paprika have at times also been associated with latex-food allergy.

We are not aware of any genetic modifications for the above food list that increase their Hevea-like protein domains. Although genetic modifications of food do introduce new proteins into those foods, we have not seen any research suggesting that these new proteins have any connection with latex cross-reactivity."

'Occupy Wall Street' Steadily Becoming Just Another Big Labor Protest

"News that two major labor unions will co-opt an “Occupy” protest in Washington next month solidifies two facts about the waning protest movement: it is an entirely ordinary function of left-wing activism, and it is wholly unserious about addressing special interests’ influence over the political process. The Washington Post reports that the Service Employees International Union and the Communications Workers of America will stage a protest at the Capitol next month in conjunction with occupiers."

'Occupy Wall Street' Steadily Becoming Just Another Big Labor Protest

Unions are the political shock troops for the Democratic Party. United Auto Workers, Teamsters, United Steelworkers, Transportation Workers, Industrial Workers, National United Nurses, and Laborers’ International. With AFSCME, the SEIU, and the CWA, those account for some of the largest and most politically active labor unions in the nation. And they are all backing (and financing) the Occupy movement.

The Non-Green Jobs Boom

On the way to the coffee shop this morning I was listening to the local NPR news and it was an interview about alternative energy sources in Ohio. It was an excellent presentation and very balanced. The guest (don't know his name) said 2 things worth remembering: 1) alternative energy production in Ohio now exceeds that of nuclear; and 2) by 2025 we are required by law to have a quarter of our energy from non-fossil fuel sources.

So this article in today's WSJ is timely.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported recently that the U.S. jobless rate remains a dreadful 9%. But look more closely at the data and you can see which industries are bucking the jobless trend. One is oil and gas production, which now employs some 440,000 workers, an 80% increase, or 200,000 more jobs, since 2003. Oil and gas jobs account for more than one in five of all net new private jobs in that period. . .

Good news? You'd think so, but liberals can't seem to handle this truth so they are now trying to discredit the jobs that accompany it. The American Petroleum Institute recently commissioned a study by the Wood Mackenzie consulting firm, which estimated that better federal energy policy would create an additional 1.4 million jobs by 2030. . .

The Office of Natural Resources Revenue recently noted that federal revenue from offshore bonus bids (from lease sales) in fiscal 2011 was merely $36 million—down from $9.5 billion in fiscal 2008. The Obama Administration has managed the nearly impossible feat of turning energy policy into a money loser, pouring taxpayer dollars into green-energy busts like Solyndra. The Washington Post reported in September that Mr. Obama's $38.6 billion green loan program had created a mere 3,500 jobs over two years. He had predicted it would "save or create" 65,000.

Review & Outlook: The Non-Green Jobs Boom - WSJ.com#printMode

Sarah Palin's Thanksgiving Tribute to Trig

"This need for selflessness [in Alaska, American's last frontier] – and the blessings that come with it – sharpened for me almost four years ago when I was given the gift of broader horizons, clarified priorities, and more commitment to justice and compassion for my fellow man who faces challenges and fears. I was granted this through a gift that arrived in a tiny, six-pound, awe-inspiring bundle. We named him Trig."

Sarah Palin Gives Moving Thanksgiving Tribute to Her Son Trig | LifeNews.com

More than 90% of Down Syndrome babies are aborted. This little survivor was ridiculed on late night TV shows, and if he'd had parents who didn't want him, our president would have favored killing him as he was in the birth canal.

Chicago Teachers' Union President on tape

Pro-unionists will see nothing wrong here with the exception it was on Fox News: she was caught on tape "mocking Arne Duncan, the education secretary; discussing her own Dartmouth College drug use; and deriding a Chicago Tribune editorial cartoon of her." Upset and pushed into an apology, she challenged people to watch the whole video, which James Warren did and then wrote about it.

Karen Lewis, Chicago Teachers Union President, Apologizes for Remarks in Seattle - NYTimes.com

More on the wealth gap

The NBA. Millionaires arguing with billionaires.

A great day of thanksgiving

Not all churches have services on Thanksgiving, but Upper Arlington Lutheran does--7:30 last night at Mill Run, and 10 a.m. today at Lytham Road. We sang some wonderful hymns of thanksgiving and praise. Now thank we all our God; Come, you thankful people, come; We praise you, O God; O God beyond all praising; O beautiful for spacious skies; For the fruit of all creation. An inspiring sermon by Pastor Buff Delcamp on the 10 lepers who were healed and only one came back to say thank you. Our Senior Pastor Paul Ulring announced that it was Buff's 34th year with the church. Our son in law's father, Paul, attended with us, and because our congregation is so scattered over 9 services on Sunday, it is really great to see and greet people we haven't seen in maybe a year.

Then over the river and through the burbs to our daughter's lovely home and a fabulous meal. There was a huge turkey and honey baked ham, butternut squash, mixed vegetable salad (cauliflower, broccoli, tomatoes, onions with sweet dressing) stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry salad, hot rolls, deviled eggs, cherry pie and pumpkin pie. Everything was yummy and we brought home many leftovers.

Occupy Wall Street Just Getting Started

"What is the real point of "Occupy Wall Street"? The violence in Oakland offers the first clue. Now with politically connected union bosses and Acorn involved, it might just be worth looking at its links to Democrats."

Occupy Wall Street Militancy Just Getting Started - Latest Headlines - Investors.com

Supporters: President Obama, Nancy Pelosi, United Steelworkers, Apollo Alliance, Teamsters (454 incidents of violence since 1991), New York Communities for Change (NYCC), various anti-Israel groups, SEIU, Acorn, Mayor Bloomberg, Communist Party of the USA, Socialist Party, even American Nazi party (which is also socialist). The point is not to get college loans forgiven, or foreclosures stopped. If that were the case they'd be picketing the White House. The reason for the "occupation" is to bring down the American government and replace it with some form of Communism/Socialism.

Reading Alexis de Tocqueville

Some of us in Columbus are attending a study group called "Faith of our Fathers" produced by David Barton, Wall Builders. We watch one disc and then rearrange the chairs and discuss what we saw and heard. The first night he mentioned that most of us had read very condensed versions or sections of Tocqueville's "Democracy in America" in American History. I remembered it and even today you do hear it mentioned, so I bought the 2 vol. in paperback, c. 2003. What an amazing book! I'm not reading straight through--just nibbling certain chapters. Tonight I read the end of vol. 1 which is about the 3 races--European, Indian and Black. You can hardly believe this guy was only 26 when he wrote this. His grasp of what was happening to the Indians as Americans pushed them further and further west is incredible. Also, I had a peculiar sense that the American spirit and culture I was reading about of his 19th century travels was still true even 30 years ago, but not today.

WallBuilders.com: The American Heritage Series: DVDs

UC Davis chancellor Linda Katehi apologizes for pepper spray incident

We're used to Obama blaming Republicans for everything. Like the most recent failure of the super committee. The fact that Democrats could find no cuts (only slower growth) means nothing to him--only that Republicans wouldn't raise taxes. (He's running against Congress right now.) It's always someone else's fault--he's such a school yard bully. He comes to the support of his buddy Gates against the Boston police who were doing something lawful, but he praises the outlaw and lawless Occupiers.

But that's old news. The myopia of liberals is amazing and seems to know no end. On my blog and an e-mail list of my "homies" I've been blamed (because I'm a conservative) for what unionized state employees of California, the most liberal and most financially distressed state in the nation, did to their protesting occupiers, whom they've up to now coddled and praised.

UC Davis chancellor Linda Katehi apologizes for pepper spray incident - Crimesider - CBS News

Dan Quayle is still Right!

Remember when Dan Quayle was unmercifully pilloried in the press for criticizing the fictional Murphy Brown for having a baby out of wedlock? Then a few years later the research came dribbling in, and there was a famous essay in Atlantic, "Dan Quayle was right" by Barbara Whitehead which was in turn followed up by people in the Clinton administration studying poverty in children. The figures are stunning. Only 8% of children of married parents grow up in poverty--compared with 56% of single moms.

Why the writers of Bones bring in a "baby makes 3" with no marriage in season 7 I don't know. Even if the star is pregnant, there are many ways to work around that. Not only do babies complicate plots, but most certainly kill the series. All research for the last 2 decades points to unmarried parents as the #1 reason for poverty among children. Actors, screenwriters, directors, investors and producers commanding thousands of dollars per episode don't care about poor children, only big bank accounts. And what do you want to bet they are all liberal Democrats supporting Obama?

Your souls are empty

Joyce is unhappy her daughter doesn’t have a job, and is mad at people who don’t show enough sympathy (at a discussion about jobs) which had posted a job search story tongue in cheek:

Okay I know this write up is absurd and makes fun of something that is NOT funny. I have posted many times. My daughter graduated from a real library school. She has had library internships, and worked for a college archivist while an undergraduate. She has put out a tremendous amount of applications. Had a librarian help her with her resume. Had an expert help her with her resume. Taken 15 extra credits toward archives. Is now working on a certificate for web design. Is willing, and has applied to anywhere, anyplace. I do not find this amusing. This is bullying and elitism. There are bright motivated people who cannot find work. I think you all need to be ashamed and annoyed and think you are annoying. She is currently working as a paraprofessional. It is not funny. And you should all look in the mirror and ask yourselves what kind of people you are and what are you…your attitudes mirror your souls and your souls are empty.

And an unidentified, unemployed library student lets her have it:

Joyce, the truth is that no one owes your daughter a job. From your description she sounds motivated and qualified, but the market is so glutted with librarians right now that she is indeed lucky to be working in a library at all. Furthermore, the post is indicative of the moronic and anti-social behaviour that a lot of library school students (and librarians!) exhibit. This kind of behaviour and attitude has no place in a professional work environment. It ain’t elitism if it’s true. Also, your comment loses all credibility with the “your souls are empty” bit. Calm down, helicopter parent.

And Jean levels another plan for Joyce's daughter:

Hi Joyce – your frustration about pursing librarianship after the arc of the profession began to descend is clear. My concern for you and your daughter is that in pursuing a certificate in web design there’s a high chance you’ll be disappointed again. I’ve worked in the tech field for 30 years and have seen many trends and technologies come and go. Anything termed “web design” and offered at a certificate level is already passe. Web development today involves sophisticated platforms and rich systems/business process integration — and while there are jobs within this ecosystem, introductory training in markup languages, scripting and graphics probably won’t be enough to position someone for a job with stability and growth potential. Another thing to be aware of is that the job market is so horrible that loads of experienced, unemployed tech folks are taking lower level jobs and they’ll also be competing with your daughter.

The fact is, all college professors from law to library school to social work, have to suck in more students to keep their jobs. Only when they graduate do they discover the difficult truth. . . there are no jobs where the students want to be. Maybe there's something in Bucyrus, Ohio or Jefferson County Tennessee . . . but don't count on it. Library Science has the fourth highest unemployment rate at 15% and the fifth worst median salary at $36,000.

This is from Annoyed Librarian, who was a lot more fun before she went over to the dark side (Library Journal).

Classic Country

My husband's been at an art show most of the afternoon, and it's raining, so I'm listening to the music channels on cable. I worked my way through Christmas for about 30 minutes and decided it's just a little early with Thanksgiving being next week. Then I did some blues and jazz and Christian gospel. Now I've settled on Classic Country, which seems to be the 70s through about 1985 before country went to town with bling and pop. I didn't know there was a song about a 1957 Chevy. Sung by Billie Jo Spears--hadn't heard about her either. She's probably doing the retirement home circuit now--born in 1937. Also enjoying the Statlers, George Strait, Johnnie Cash and George Jones.

Do they write love songs about Toyotas?

A few health tips

We've had a bedbug scare in Columbus. I think 2 were found in a school and they sent notes home, closed it and sprayed. Bedbugs don't kill or even spread disease. But sometimes treatment is lethal. Like that NC woman who had renal failure, diabetes, hypertension and depression and was taking 10 medications when she and the hubby decided to treat the home for bedbugs with 9 cans of an insecticide NOT for bedbugs, and 9 cans improperly used. Then she put it in her hair and applied a bedbug and flea insecticide to her arms and sores on her chest. She died 9 days later in the hospital. I just don't think bedbugs were her biggest problem. JAMA, Nov. 9, 2011

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

I don’t put anything in my mouth or on my skin that isn’t a product of the USA or a territory, or Canada. For olives I make an exception--Spain or Italy. We pay a lot for USDA and HHS, so I want that protection. Imagine my surprise today when I picked up a 4 oz. Johnson’s baby powder and it was product of Indonesia! I looked at the large bottle, and it only had “distributed by” and nothing about country of origin. Hey! Baby powder is basically corn starch. Are you telling me there is not enough corn in the USA (even with turning it into fuel to be “green”) for baby powder? My empty container says “Made in USA.” READ ALL LABELS.

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

‎97.6% of the pregnant women who go to Planned Parenthood for help are sold an abortion. In 2009 332,278 surgical abortions or RU 486 were delivered, or 27.6% of all abortions in the U.S. (1.2 million). Defund Planned Parenthood--they lie about their services for pregnant women. PP is a killing machine using our tax dollars. Planned Parenthood 2009 Annual Report

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

Occupy Wall Street Crowd Blind to Benefits of Capitalism

"The Occupy Wall Street movement has shown a lack of understanding of how the market capitalist system works. They appear to think that the cell phones they use, food they eat, hotels they stay in, cars they drive, gasoline that powers the cars they drive and all the myriad goods and services they consume every day would be there under a different system, perhaps in more abundance.

But there is no evidence this could be or ever has been the case. The reason is that only market capitalism solves the two major problems that face any economy-how to provide an incentive to innovate and how to solve the problem of decentralized information. The reason there is so much innovation in a market system compared to socialism or other forms of central planning is that profit provides the incentive for innovators to take the risk needed to come up with new products."

Occupy Wall Street Crowd Blind to Benefits of Capitalism

Basic Economics for Christians--Please write this book

I read in the November Columbus CEO that business owners/executives scored only 38% on tests of financial literacy. So that got me to thinking. How would the rest of us score? So I decided to look into starting a book discussion group that would read a title (I made this up--doesn‘t seem exist) “Basic economics for Christians.”

We know the "Occupiers" know diddly squat about economics, but what about educated conservatives? I think most people who identify themselves as conservatives or Tea Party supporters and who want the government shrunk don’t realize how dependent they’ve pesonally become on the federal government through block grants to states for housing, mandated education standards like NCLB, and churches that accept government money for their “social justice” programs. Maybe they know the Federal Reserve System is not a government agency, but I’m guessing they don’t. Do they know the government has been involved in housing since the Royals were handing out land grants and charters (original colonies mostly named for royalty--North Carolina, Virginia--west of that for Indian names).

Socialism and Keynesian economics might be terms Conservatives have heard of, or even disparage, but do they know they are both anti-Christian and anti-saving for the future? John Maynard Keynes was a homosexual who had little use for families or Christian values--especially not providing for them in the future. He thought money should be spent today and not taken out of circulation for future needs. Do conservatives realize that both GW Bush and Barack Obama are Keynesians? They say they understand what it means that Obama’s advisors at the highest level are Socialists--but so were FDR and his advisors, an era that many revere?

Do they know that for the first two hundred years of the United States our history was taught with a moral and ethical base in public schools, and that since the 1920s God has disappeared from textbooks and in his place is an economic view of history? Do they know what has happened to manufacturing, transportation, and technology just within their own lifetimes? Do they even realize what their own consumerism and desire for more stuff have contributed? Do they know there didn’t used to be an income tax, or how many pages the current code is?

Do conservatives really understand the words million, billion and trillion? When conservatives complain about the cost of federal government do they know that from one dollar in taxes 21 cents go to Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP, 20 cents to Social Security and 20 cents to defense? Medicare, Social Security, and Defense are HUGE issues for conservatives, and a huge drain in a bloated government. Franklin County, Ohio, where I live gets $1.2 Billion in defense contracts. Want that cut? Even if we could reduce fraud, graft and waste, there would be a lot even with a squeaky clean payout.

What we understand and how we vote might be easier if we all understood consumer price index, gross domestic product, corporation, dividends, Laissez-Faire, Marx, Adam Smith, deficit, human capital, price controls, non-profits, for profits, etc. Time to get informed.

Has anyone written the books I'd like to read?

When architecture imitates life

Stata Center, MIT, designed by Frank Gehry

According to Robert Campbell (reported at Wikipedia), "the Stata is always going to look unfinished. It also looks as if it's about to collapse. Columns tilt at scary angles. Walls teeter, swerve, and collide in random curves and angles. Materials change wherever you look: brick, mirror-surface steel, brushed aluminum, brightly colored paint, corrugated metal. Everything looks improvised, as if thrown up at the last moment." And apparently that's the point. Freedom. No wonder college students riot and camp out in tents and go to jail without knowing why. Look what they had to pass walking to class!

AMA take on Obamacare

Grace Isenhart posted this on Facebook.

Apparently the American Medical Association has weighed in on the new economic stimulus package:

The Allergists voted to scratch it, but the Dermatologists advised not to make any rash moves.

The Gastroenterologists had sort of a gut feeling about it, but the Neurologists thought the Administration had a lot of nerve.

The Obstetricians felt they were all laboring under a misconception.

Ophthalmologists considered the idea shortsighted.

The Coroners yelled, "Over my dead body!" while the Pediatricians said, 'Oh, Grow up!'

The Psychiatrists thought the whole idea was madness, while the Radiologists could see right through it.

Surgeons decided to wash their hands of the whole thing.

The Internists thought it was a bitter pill to swallow, and the Plastic Surgeons said, "This puts a whole new face on the matter."

The Podiatrists thought it was a step forward, but the Urologists were pissed off at the whole idea.

The Anesthesiologists thought the whole idea was a gas, and the Cardiologists didn't have the heart to say no..

In the end, the Proctologists won out, leaving the entire decision up to the a$$holes in Washington .

ADHD drug may affect puberty

Juvenile male rhesus monkeys given methylphenidate hydrochloride (ritalin) a drug widely used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder exhibited delayed progression of puberty, according to a recent PNAS study.

http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2011/09/12/1102187108.full.pdf

Joe Paterno in line for annual pension over $500,000

"Paterno's pension records obtained Tuesday from the State Employees' Retirement System credit him with more than 60 years in the system. The formula used to determine benefits makes him eligible for a pension equal to 100 percent of the average of his three highest-salary years. . . There also is a long-service supplement that could boost Paterno to 110 percent of his final average salary ($568,000).

The New York Times also reported Tuesday night that Paterno transferred full ownership of his house to his wife, Sue, for $1 in July. The couple had previously held joint ownership of the house. Paterno's attorney Wick Sollers told the paper in an e-mail that the transfer had nothing to do with the scandal but was part of an ongoing "multiyear estate planning program.""

Paterno has not been charged with a crime. However, the investigation into Sandusky's behavior had been going on for 9 years, 2 years with the Grand Jury.

Penn State Nittany Lions scandal -- Joe Paterno in line for annual pension over $500,000, according to review - ESPN

Embryonic stem cell research fails

The first thing Obama did upon taking office was approve more embryos for medical experiments using our tax dollar. It was never illegal, but the lines had been limited under Bush. This gave adult stem cell research a jump ahead, and it has taken off. The ethically challenged and far less successful embryonic research still has not had a success. And this one has been ended.

First tests failed--millions of cells injected in 4 patients, and the best they can report is there were no adverse effects.

There is confusion when you see stories about "stem cell research." Using ADULT stem cells for therapy is NOT controversial, and has shown great promise--like the recently reported heart failure story. Embryonic stem cell research involves killing a potential person.

Siberia has the largest Lutheran church (geographic area)

According to Thrivent Magazine, Fall 2011, p. 8, the largest Lutheran church in the world (geographically) is the Siberian Evangelical Lutheran Church, Сибирская Евангелическо-Лютеранская Церковь. Founded in the 1990s, this organization has 13 ordained pastors and deacons who serve roughly 1,000 members in congregations and missions across 6 time zones in a 3,000 mile area. (Thrivent magazine) I'm wondering if this is part of the Lutheran group they discovered after the break up of the USSR made up of descendants of German POWs of WWI who never got back to Germany and intermarried with the Siberian women. The liturgy was in German but none of the members any longer spoke German.

Are you beautiful?

You might be better paid than the Occupiers! Oh the horror! A new book whose author has been flogging this at least since the early 90s now has a book, Beauty Pays, and is making the rounds of talk shows and interviews.

Daniel Hamermesh says society generates premium pay for beauty and penalties for ugliness. Beautiful people earn $230,000 more in a lifetime than those with below average looks. They are happier, marry good-looking people, who are more likely to be highly educated.

He's been saying this for some time--in 1994, on "plainness": "The authors examine the impact of looks on earnings using interviewers' ratings of respondents' physical appearance. Plain people earn less than average-looking people, who earn less than the good-looking. The plainness penalty is 5 to 10 percent, slightly larger than the beauty premium. Effects for men are at least as great as for women. Unattractive women have lower labor-force participation rates and marry men with less human capital. Better-looking people sort into occupations where beauty may be more productive but the impact of individuals' looks is mostly independent of occupation, suggesting the existence of pure employer discrimination. Copyright 1994 by American Economic Association."

Beauty in the classroom is from 2003

Forbes review

Obama’s Keystone Evasion

Sometimes, Obama is the most transparent of any president we've ever had. Like his campaign tricks. He doesn't even try to hide what he's doing. Put in a plug for the veterans, who he hates, while postponing a real job creator.

President Obama’s announcement that he will delay a decision on approval of the Keystone Pipeline until after the 2012 election typifies his feckless presidency. Torn between the need to create jobs, reduce the cost of energy and get our economy going on one hand, and the emotional biases of his environmentalist base on the other, Obama punted. I assume that if and when the time comes–post-election–Obama will do what he has wanted to do all along, and kill the pipeline.

Obama’s Keystone Evasion | Power Line

The pipeline wouldn't have been a "stimulus jr." or an FDR WPA temp job project. According to this author, "the pipeline would moderate the price of oil and create between 250,000 and 553,000 permanent American jobs."

Americans' Ability to Afford Food Nears Three-Year Low

The percentage of Americans reporting that they had enough money to buy the food they or their families needed continued to decline in October, nearing the record low seen in November 2008. The percentage who did not lack money for food in 2011 fell to 79.8% from 80.1% in September, continuing a decline that began in April.

I'd love to be able to dig a little deeper into these questions. The food questions, for instance. This question asks about anytime in the last 12 months, and I assume the same people who were called in October, weren't called in September. Also, how do you have over 90% saying they have no problem obtaining fresh fruits and vegetables, when 79.8 say they didn't have enough money to buy the food their family needed? I think the word "need" is key here. There are American families (I know this will shock you) who think soft drinks and pizza are a "need." I stand next to them in the check out lines. Also, a lot of people think everything they buy at the supermarket is "food" when in fact about 20-30% of the bill are health and beauty, or as we say in Ohio, taxables (we don't tax food here).

There is no question included in the survey about whether the interviewee knows how to cook, or does she/he just open a package or turn on the microwave. You can feed a lot of people with $5.00 of potatoes, a gallon of milk, and a pound of cheese, but not if you buy potatoes in a box with chives and dried cream sauce. There is no question included about where they shop. Last week at Marc's (deep discount and remainder store) a manager told me they did $20,000 more in October 2011 than October 2010. That says something that when squeezed, shoppers will change from the fancy, beautifully appointed, and widely displayed varieties of Giant Eagle at the Market, to the crowded, sort of rumpled, down at the heels Marc's where the staff never smiles or rushes up to help you.

One thing the charts in this survey show--during Obama's reign, basic needs have gotten worse in shelter, food, insurance, even the perception of safety (walking at night).
Americans' Ability to Afford Food Nears Three-Year Low

Don't ask me to "go green"

Going "green?" Newsletters, reports, directories, etc. suggest "going green" and saving the organization money. Pinecrest in Mt. Morris, IL was the most recent to suggest it. No thanks. A church or organization directory on line is useless as far as I'm concerned. Where will I write their cell phone # or the date I sent a card? I like to take the Pinecrest newsletter or the Ohio Historical Society newsletter or the TIAA-CREF newsletter to the coffee shop or the coffee table and take a closer look. I still think UALC made a HUGE mistake by discontinuing mailing its newsletter, even if it is available on-line. It's amazing what I see that I don't if it comes up on a screen for 20 seconds as I go through e-mail. Besides, my husband doesn't do e-mail. I know, some day it will probably not even be an option, but until then, I want to support the Post Office.

And if you're planning to e-mail your Christmas letter this year, go ahead, but it probably won't be read.

I know just the guy for this position

"The Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology (EEOB) in the College of Arts and Sciences at The Ohio State University invites applications for a tenure-track position at the Assistant Professor Rank in Evolutionary or Ecological Genomics. We seek outstanding individuals who address fundamental questions in evolution and/or ecology either through the generation of large-scale sequence or gene expression data or by using either computational/statistical approaches for the analysis of genomic data."

Paul's letter to the church at Colossae explains creation and beginnings.

Colossians 1:15-23
15 Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, 16 for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see—such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. 17 He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together.

18 Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything. 19 For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, 20 and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.

Paterno Firing Sparks Riots--Glenn Beck unhinged

I turned off the Glenn Beck radio show today--he went bonkers over the rioting at Penn State. Compared to the rioters of the Occupy variety, these made some sense, but Glenn threw them into the same bag. Paterno may have not done all he was morally required to do, but he did what is legally required--he went through the chain of command and assumed (mistakenly) that someone else was investigating and taking care of their responsibilities. I don't think college coaches get annual lectures from County Child Services on what to report the way public school teachers do.

Also, we live in a sex saturated society--our reality TV has unwed pregnant teens on reality shows; politicians actually defend the rights of people to watch whatever on the internet, knowing that many of these "stars" male and female are underage; whenever religious groups object to girls and women being sexualized by the entertainment media, they've considered ridiculously old fashioned (unless they are Muslims, and then it's OK); late night "comedians" made jokes about assaulting Palin's daughter without being fired; and what straight teen could ever go to his school administration after being assaulted by a gay teen in the rest room because the protected groups are the only victims recognized? This is the sexpocrisy the college kids have experienced all their lives.

So college kids riot when they see adults pointing fingers and passing the buck before there's even a trial of the guy who actually did the deed? I'm with 'em on this one. They have a lot more on their side than people trying to bring down the financial system.

Paterno Firing Sparks Riots | Road Runner Image Gallery - Road Runner#rr%2F55278605%2F55272965%2F

The hypocrisy over the Penn State sex scandal

Am I the only one who recognizes the hypocrisy going on with the cya at Penn State? There is a national organization, "North American Man Boy Love," Nambla or some such name, which grooms young boys to be lovers of gay men. They have their own news bulletin and wiki. They are all over the internet and no one shuts them down or arrests them that I've heard of. These gay men influence legislation to lower the age of consent and to have their lifestyle accepted with other gay rights issues which involve consenting adults. I have come across a corresponding radical lesbian organization that sponsors camps for underage teen-age girls to help them "discover" their sexuality, but I think that's less common. Nambla doesn't consider sex with a teen-ager as pedophilia. Some advocates don't think sex with non-teen boys is abuse. You can google it, but it's a good way to pick up a virus, a hacker, or nasty e-mails. By even suggesting that they are perverts, I'll have nasty comments I'll have to monitor and remove.

Also, today I was reading a summary of a research article in JAMA that used 600 boys/young men ages 12-24 in 8 cities and their STDs and drug use with older gay men. Not a word about reporting the perps, and this was governmentt sponsored research. Are abused boys OK if it's for research?

African American Voices at Ohio State University

This sounds like a wonderful program, but I am wondering if Choirs of Scandinavian Heritage or Hungarian Lutherans would be allowed to perform their Christian songs while excluding black and brown ethnicities.

"Ohio State Gospel and Spiritual Choir will feature traditional Sunday Morning gospel songs typical of the worship service experience and music style of the traditional black church. The African American Voices student choir will also be featured on Thursday (11/10) at 8 p.m. in Weigel Hall Auditorium."

The only website I could find for "African American Voices" at OSU, was dead, so I can't tell if it is an OSU group or a visiting group. The Spiritual Choir seems to have a variety of faces since "gospel choir" isn't limited to ethnicity or style.

Photo from Lantern, 2007, 16th anniversary performance

Illinois in deep doo-doo--Ohio will follow

Sad news from "home" (haven't lived there since 1957, but old habits. . . ) The state is in even worse shape financially than what is generally known. And now Ohio can get in line since Issue 2 failed. "Nursing homes like Pinecrest [which I support with donations] will not be vouchered for July Medicaid billings until December--payment will follow some time after that." As the federal government heaps mandates on the states which are required to balance their budgets, we'll see more of this. The town lost its schools forcing a merger some time in the 90s--teachers unions were useless to stop it. A union strike in the 70s killed the town's main industry. Government and the unions, arm and arm, into the sunset.

You could tax every wealthy person out of existence, take every penny they had, and you wouldn't be able to solve America's addiction to debt. You know in your own life you have to cut spending and not put more on the charge card. Why is it so difficult for men and women who have achieved the pinnacle of success, fame and wealth, to figure this out?

The American Dream

is not a house, or a nicer car, a dream job, the perfect family or a college degree. The phrase comes from this--and it isn't all that old:

James Truslow Adams, a one time investmen banker who lived on his wealth to become a writer, wrote in his 1931 book Epic of America “but there has been also the American dream, that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for every man, with opportunity for each according to his ability or achievement.”

We've definitely moved away from the idea "according to his ability or achievement, And that was true in 1931 also, as we moved deeper into FDR's socialism and on to "according to his demands and visions of entitlement." Wikipedia says Adams was heavily influenced by Marxism, so maybe it's come full circle.

Five women

I like Hermann Cain, but I think his candidacy is toast. There's just no way Conservatives can jump all over Bill Clinton and his bimbo eruptions, defending the women who accused him of assault and rape, and then claim it doesn't matter with Cain and that the women are plants or unreliable. Both Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh today sounded absolutely stupid on this issue and I think they were offensive to all women. Both have been all over the rape and assault stories emerging from the various Occupy sites. Sauce. Goose. Gander.

Yes, Ted Kennedy had more accusations, and one woman ended up dead; and Bill Clinton couldn't keep his pants zipped, and John Edwards would have gotten away with it if it hadn't been for a yellow rag--it certainly wasn't the regular media pursuing the story. But they were Democrats. 'Nough said?

It's Brussels Sprouts week--bleh!

That's what my World's Healthy foods newsletter said. I don't like Brussels sprouts--but I do like their cousins, other cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, kale, cauliflower and cabbage. Eating more vegetables--all types and colors--can help with weight control.

A recent issue of Lancet says:

"In this report, we used a simulation model to project the probable health and economic consequences in the next two decades from a continued rise in obesity in two ageing populations—the USA and the UK. These trends project 65 million more obese adults in the USA and 11 million more obese adults in the UK by 2030, consequently accruing an additional 6—8·5 million cases of diabetes, 5·7—7·3 million cases of heart disease and stroke, 492 000—669 000 additional cases of cancer, and 26—55 million quality-adjusted life years forgone for USA and UK combined. The combined medical costs associated with treatment of these preventable diseases are estimated to increase by $48—66 billion/year in the USA and by £1·9—2 billion/year in the UK by 2030."

Health and economic burden of the projected obesity trends in the USA and the UK : The Lancet

Two books, two adoption stories

Today our book club will be discussing "In a heartbeat," the story of the Tuohy family and their adoption of Michael Oher, a black teen-ager. The very successful movie, "The blind side," told the story of how they came to meet Michael and fold him into their loving family, assisting him to become a high school and college graduate and a successful NFL player.

It is an inspiring story--although I disagree with some of the basic points--like "how little it takes to help fill the desperate wants" of the poor and unfortunate, or the subtext that Michael would not have succeeded in life without them and the boost they provided.

At the same time I was reading "Prairie Tale" by Melissa Gilbert, of Little House TV fame. She was adopted when less than a day old and grew up in a family of glitz, glitter and glam, passionately loved, treasured by parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, managers, co-stars, and given every opportunity our culture could bestow on a child. She was no Laura Ingalls Wilder! At a very young age she had multiple "families" from the various TV and movie crews in which she lived an alternate fantasy. Unlike Michael Oher, she became extremely promiscuous, an alcoholic, obsessing about her origins, resentful of her parents and fame, and a woman without any moral compass or spiritual/religious guidelines. Even after multiple affairs, body and facial surgery to look more glamorous, and a life of fame and enormous wealth, she needed a therapist to help her feel "whole," and considering that this year she is getting a divorce from her second husband whom she acknowledges as the love of her life in the book, she's still on a journey.

'Glee' has a harmful and inaccurate adoption story line

Unfortunately, some teens believe what they see on TV--actually, many adults do too. You don't get a "do-over" with an adoption. There might be problems with laws, lawyers, and birth parents or adoptive parents changing their minds later, but you don't get to yank the baby back from the "real parents," the ones who have legally adopted her.

State laws vary, but most don't allow a birth mother to change her mind after she has signed adoption papers, according to a 2006 study by the non-profit Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute. States with a revocation period often limit it to 30 days or fewer.

"For adopted children, the show raises the fear that they may be taken away from their adopted families," says Austin's petition, posted on Change.org, a website promoting petitions and social action. "And for young women facing unplanned pregnancies, many of whom are in Glee's target demographic, the show gives the inaccurate impression that adoption is a temporary solution, not a permanent one."

Fox's 'Glee' has 'harmful' adoption story, petition says - USATODAY.com
There's already enough misinformation out there about babies and single moms. Young mothers of the Glee demographic need to know that the baby will be an adult many years longer than the cutsy first two years.

The comments in this article are telling. The range from "grow up--it's a TV show" to disbelieving that anyone could take the show seriously. Boy, are they clueless!

Obama bundler pays no taxes

George Kaiser is one of the richest men in the world--maybe $9 billion. If Obama took all his wealth, he still couldn't pull off the jobs bill. But Kaiser hasn't paid taxes in years--as in zip, nada, zilch-- and he was one of Obama's "bundlers" during the last campaign. Probably donating heavily for the next one too. He's a huge donor to philanthropic causes, keep in mind. I suspect his efforts go much further than the same amount sent to Washington. He was also an investor in Solyndra, which may have been payback for his campaign efforts. His tax offsets to income are completely legal--set up for the wealthiest by our bi-partisan Congresses over the years. But keep in mind, his wealth is in oil and gas, and he's still backing the gov't investments in "green" energy. The government (aka our tax money) doesn't need to be involved in any way--there are plenty of deep pockets like Kaiser to fund the research and development.

Solyndra | George Kaiser | Obama's Solyndra case follows Blago's pattern | The Daily Caller

George Kaiser's $10 Billion Bet - Forbes

Obama's failed jobs plan is being blamed on Republicans

President Barack Obama likes to claim Republicans are holding up his "jobs plan" (aka campaign for a 2nd term, or Stimulus, Jr.), but the Democrat controlled Senate is holding up the House jobs plan, a common-sense, bipartisan jobs bill known as "Plan for America’s Job Creators."

Government doesn't create jobs--businesses do. Americans do. This plan was unveiled over 6 months ago, and the President has ignored it, and the Senate won't pass it. Instead, they've launched more class warfare (fits well with how they are doing in other countries) by claiming if we just taxed the richest 1% more, we could put people back to work. This Job Creators plan involves fixing the tax code and reducing regulatory burdens. It suggests new trade agreements and new markets for American products. It promotes domestic production of energy and paying down our debt. What does the president offer? More campaigning, more blaming and more spending. The President continues to campaign, knowing his plan won't pass (not even his own party likes it) and can't work, just so he can blame Republicans. For bi-partisan efforts to restore the economy, look to the plans put out by the Republicans, not a failed President and Senate.

Great trip to Greensburg PA, 35 miles east of Pittsburgh to the Westmoreland Museum of American Art to see this wonderful show, The Tides of Provincetown. Next it will be in Wichita, KS, then back to the east coast. It is worth a drive to see it. This art colony was started in 1899 and the show is examples through the years.

I'd never heard of Greensburg (about 3.5 hours from Columbus), and on the map it looked like small town, but it isn't--at least not for people like me who grew up in towns under 3,000. About 16,000 says the 2000 census (when will new figures start appearing? They had all that stimulus money.) There's a nice video on the town website--click and you can see many of the sights of Main Street where we walked to find a place to have lunch. Many huge, lovely churches, and it's the county seat, and that building is quite grand, too. We saw lots of reviving businesses in the downtown area.

What's in your frig today?

Food prices are going up and up, but food is still a good buy. You don't need a farmer's market to eat well, although that's wonderful in the summer.

What's in your refrigerator today in fresh fruits and vegetables? Here's my list.

Sweet potatoes, 2 varieties white and orange (yams)
onion white (cut and wrapped for storage),
broccoli
cauliflower
3 kinds of sweet bell peppers, red, yellow, green
carrots
baby spinach
turnip greens
head lettuce
celery

apples
cranberries
Tomatoes
orange juice
tomato juice
apple cider
dried prunes

In the freezer I have corn, beans and peas.

Potatoes, dried things that don't need refrigeration like raisins, are in the cupboard, not the frig, and bananas are on the counter top.

But I read every label. I try to buy only from the USA or Canada. I like to keep white grapes on hand, but haven't found the right label lately. Occasionally Philippines and Costa Rica, which I'm hoping come under some sort of scrutiny through their political relationship with the USA. Yesterday, the peppers sign said "Canadian grown" but at least one batch had Mexico labels.

What's up with HIV testing?

The gains in our life expectancy in the United States have primarily been in the area of public health, not miracle technology, end of life nursing care, pharmaceuticals or screening for disease. Malaria and polio and small pox didn't become footnotes in our history books because people were given choices. When my sister Carol got polio in 1949, the poster quarantining us and warning the whole town went up immediately--even in a rural community.

So I'm wondering why men entering the prison system, who've had most of their rights taken away, have the right to say NO to being tested for HIV. Male to male/men having sex with men (MSM) is still the #1 method of transmission of HIV/AIDS followed by IV drug use. Although MSM represent 2% of the population, they account for 64% of all new infections (including 3% among MSM who are injection drug users [IDUs]). In prison, sex is how you get and return favors. Even men who aren't gay have sex with men in prison, plus rape and sexual assault makes the younger, weaker and disabled men very vulnerable. There is actually a law passed during the Bush years that addresses the seriousness of rape and assault in prisons. However, counting noses for sexual assault will not provide treatment for a disease that can now be controlled with anti-retroviral drugs.

Today I was reading about a program for HIV screening of male inmates in the state of Washington, 2006-2010. When the program was opt-in (inmates offered the test during incoming medical evaluation and they needed to agree to it), there were fewer diagnoses of HIV than when prisoners were offered opt-out (during evaluation they were told the testing was standard but they could refuse it). Opting out brought in about double the new diagnoses. The numbers of new diagnoses using either opt-in or opt-out was not huge--but what baffles me is why they were given a choice, since in other STDs, testing seems to be a part of the screening without prisoner choice. Also, these are NEW diagnoses--some carriers were already know to the health authorities since they were not new to the system.

Since a higher proporation of prison inmates are minorities, and a higher proportion of minority men have HIV/AIDS, this option to be tested has a greater impact on the minority population in general, since most of the incarcerated will evenually leave prison and go home to their families--untreated and undiagnosed, and probably not reporting they were assaulted in prison.

Of those diagnosed with new cases (not the total group), 42% who had newly diagnosed HIV identified themselves as heterosexual and 21% reported sex with men, and 32% reported IV drug use. Many young people today do not remember the severity of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s before the new drug treatments--and combine that with the generally lack of foresight among the young, and I believe you have a toxic brew that could be made less dangerous if the prison systems required HIV testing with no opt-in, opt-out, or crying about violation of rights by some do-gooders who can't look beyond next year to see what will happen down the road.

Raj Nair is from Columbus

Glenn Beck and Raj Nair (not sure of his title on the show) were discussing Glenn's recent visit to Ohio and last year's visit to Wilmington, and Raj mentioned he is from Columbus and likes Schmidt's Restaurant. We do too! It was our "date night" location for many years.

You can ask Raj questions at Raj@gbtv.com



Here is Raj with hair and also here. And jumping into Mirror Lake before the Michigan game in 2008.

Standards--for dems and dose

Sex scandals or even wiffs of them, don't bring down Democrats--Bill Clinton a serial woman abuser and skirt chaser, Barney Frank's lover who learned some government secrets before dumping him, Jesse Jackson's love child, John Edward's affair that his staff and wife knew about while he was campaigning. But they do cause a problem for Republicans--mainly because they don't have the protection of the media. Let a gay representative text a page, or a woman staffer feel threatened in the presence of a black man, and Oh My. You might as well erase the name from the ballot and send the staff home.

Which I suppose will bump Newt to the top--everyone knows his scandals, plus he's had his other marriages annulled and is a "good Catholic" now instead of a bad Baptist.

Do you still own a "record player?"

We still own a turn table/record player--it's in my husband's office and soon we might start playing the old Christmas records. At the library I saw a 1981 Time Life album of the Statler Brothers for 50 cents, still sealed, so I bought it.

Side One: Flowers On The Wall/You Can't Have Your Kate And Edith Too/Ruthless/Bed Of Roses/Do You Remember These? Side Two: Class Of '57/I'll Go To My Grave Loving You/Who Am I To Say?/Do You Know You Are My Sunshine? Really like that Class of '57 written by the two who actually are brothers, Harold and Don Reid. The group's name comes from a box of tissues in their hotel room when they were starting out.

Sautéed Vegetables with Cashews

This looked awfully good when it came via e-mail from The World's Healthiest Foods. The vegetables are several types of peppers, onions and snow peas cooked in a little chicken broth tossed with cashews and a little home made dressing. Love that sort of stuff for lunch. But. When I looked up the nutritional values I found this: 372.28 calories per serving, of which 266.17 calories are from fat. The culprit seems to be the cashews--1 oz. of cashews is 156 calories, of which 112 are from fat. And I don't know about you, but I've NEVER eaten just one ounce of cashews--I'd be better off not to have them in the house where I'd pass the pantry and reach for a handful about 3 p.m. when I get the munchies.

I looked up red, green and yellow peppers, and sliced up you’d have about 25 calories, then grill in olive oil add another 40, the grilled onions for another 35; snow peas about 40. So it looks like if you removed the cashews, you still have a delicious vegetable dish, very colorful, with few fat calories. I'd probably skip the dressing too, because it disguises the flavor of the vegetables.

November is National Blog Posting Month

You'll see a banner on the right below my Facebook badge "NaBloPoMo" or National Blog Posting Month. Apparently, there are bloggers out there who can't force themselves to post every day so there are contests and prizes to encourage this! Wow! And they need prompts for something to say. Unbelievable! This has never been my problem--I usually post several times a day here, although I do fall behind in the other eleven.

A notice about debt

This is a public service announcement for any Occupiers, or people who call themselves the 99%-ers, or those earning the new Girl Scout badge for good credit. If you believe ads like this that promise "rewards," or "deals," or "savings," or "earnings," or "shopping made easy," or "20% off," or "cash back," please know that they are asking you to spend money and go into debt. Debt has to be paid back, sometimes with interest, sometimes after the item wears out! You are making the 1% richer if you don't realize that "save" actually means "spend." Don't say you weren't warned or that you didn't know, and go whining to the banks or the President that life is unfair.

He's the best horse in the race, but I don't have to like it

The College Board and News Corp. sponsored a forum on education with four GOP presidential candidates last week . . .

Michele Bachmann (local control), Rick Santorum (moral values) and Herman Cain (business principles) stuck mainly to their talking points, but Mr. Gingrich kept the crowd of 1,000 or so engaged and entertained with a wide-ranging tutorial on everything from the failures of "L.A. Unified" to Jeb Bush's Florida "virtual school." The session was a reminder of Mr. Gingrich's knowledge of government and rhetorical skills, which were overwhelmed by his early campaign missteps.

Political Diary - WSJ.com

Health, abortion issues split Obama administration and Catholic groups

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops organization, in line with the church’s teachings, has refused to refer trafficking victims (sex slavery) for contraceptives or abortion. The American Civil Liberties Union sued, and HHS officials said they made a policy decision (ignoring the review board recommendations) to award the grants to agencies that would refer women for those services.

The bishops conference is threatening legal action and accusing the administration of anti-Catholic bias, which HHS officials deny. . .

Under HHS policies, career officials usually oversee grant competitions, and priority consideration is given to the review board’s judgment. The policies do not prohibit political appointees from getting involved. “I think it’s a sad ma­nipu­la­tion of a process to promote a pro-abortion agenda,” said Sister Mary Ann Walsh, a spokeswoman for the conference. She has written on the organization’s blog that the decision reflects an HHS philosophy of “ABC (Anybody But Catholics)’’. "

Health, abortion issues split Obama administration and Catholic groups - The Washington Post

NYPD Union Warns of Lawsuits Against ‘Occupy’ Supporters

Looks to me that patience is wearing thin, according to this story in the Wall Street Journal today. Twenty police officers have been injured policing these cry babies, and apparently those within the encampment aren't reporting things like assaults and rapes for fear of bringing bad publicity on the group (reported in The Blaze). Haven't women learned anything from making the coffee and providing the sex during so many revolutionary movements?

"Ed Mullins, president of the New York Police Department’s Sergeant’s Benevolent Association, said Thursday that if one of his sergeants is assaulted while policing the protests, his union would file civil lawsuits seeking monetary damages against individual protesters as well as any groups whose support has sustained the demonstrations in lower Manhattan. Any civil suit would be in addition to criminal charges faced by those protesters involved.

“What I’d like to make clear is people can protest, that’s their right, it’s done every day of the week (in New York City),” Mullins said. “But if a sergeant gets injured we are going to hold you accountable.”

Mullins specified that it wasn’t just a warning to the protesters. “We’re going to hold those who allow this to fester accountable too,” he said.

He said the list of those potentially liable could include people providing financial support, food and other supplies to the protesters, the city itself and even Brookfield Properties, owner of Zuccotti Park, where protesters have camped since Sept. 17

So far, Mullins said, more than 20 officers have received injuries while policing the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations. He said in many instances the protesters have “intentionally and maliciously” instigated violent confrontations with police."

NYPD Union Warns of Lawsuits Against ‘Occupy’ Supporters - Metropolis - WSJ

The pro-communist, anti-capitalist, Jew-hating roots of Occupy Wall Street

Interesting collection of anti-semitic immigrants, billionaires, non-profits, and U.S. media all getting a foot in the door. I never liked our home-grown hate terrorists like David Duke, or the skin-heads but when they turn out to be ungrateful, rich immigrants whose countrymen were killed by the thousands by the Communists, like George Soros and Kalle Lasn, then I get testy. I remember feeling that way when I was a student at the University of Illinois and we had well-heeled, snooty foreign students who were perfectly happy to have their government paying their way for a foreign education, but looked down on Illinois' African American students (aka Negroes in those days). To me they were worse than our home-grown racists.

Adbusters is one of the big and early promoters of Occupy Wall Street.

Adbusters Media Foundation, which publishes Adbusters, was founded in 1989 by two radicals, Kalle Lasn and Bill Schmalz. Lasn, the intellectual driving force behind the magazine, was born in Estonia in 1942. He spent his childhood in a German refugee camp and in Australia. In the 1960s, he founded a market research company in Toyko, and in 1970, moved to Vancouver. For 20 years, he produced documentaries for PBS and Canada’s National Film Board.

But then, somewhere along the line he developed an intense hatred of the American consumer economy and became an anti-capitalist revolutionary. The magazine has fostered the development of an international anti-consumerist movement.

As a Christian who grew up in the anabaptist tradition, I'm well aware that worshipping material wealth is a sin. But so is attempting to destroy the livelihood of a billion people. And Lasn certainly isn't campaigning against capitalism for his spiritual health.

The technology of candy corn

The ingenuity, quality control and passion for making candy corn just amazes me. It's a big seller at Halloween time.



HT Neo-Neocon

Today's new word--acidulous

Sure it has the word "acid" in it, but is that what it means? Yes. Sometimes that's a fooler. But it does mean "bitter, sour in taste," with the synonyms, acerbic, biting, piquant, pungent, sharp, tart, vinegarish, and vinegary. I saw it in a book notice in Books and Culture in this context,

In this week's podcast, Stan Guthrie and I discuss Janet Malcolm's Iphigenia in Forest Hills, an acidulous account of a sensational murder trial.

What's Your Kid Getting From College?

Most college debt amounts to that of buying a new Prius--about $28,000--says this author in today's WSJ, but it's the wrong question. What are they getting in exchange for their (your) money?

"At WhatWillTheyLearn.com, students can click onto ACTA's recent survey of more than 1,000 American four-year institutions—and find out how their colleges and universities rate. Two findings jump out. First, the more costly the college, the less likely it will require a demanding core curriculum. Second, public institutions generally do better here than private ones—and historically black colleges such as Morehouse and service academies such as West Point amount to what ACTA calls "hidden gems."

McGurn: What's Your Kid Getting From College? - WSJ.com

But whatever the Occupiers are protesting (and many have absolutely no idea), it's misplaced. It's not the banks' fault their parents and teachers let them slide; that they spent more time on gaming or gaming the system or shooting the breeze at the union than they did hitting the books; that they choose a major without ever checking out the facts about the job opportunities. The ability to communicate either orally or in writing or both is still critical, unless the student plans to live at home in mom's basement and sell internet ads--and for that he doesn't need a $250,000 Harvard education.