It’s Peace and Justice Week at Lakeside

I'm not at all interested in this week's educational offerings at Lakeside, so I think I'll make up my own schedule and work a little harder at my physical therapy. The Lakeside Women's Club at 1:30 on Tuesday has a violinist; there's a bird walk on Wednesday morning at 8 a.m. and a history lecture about the Chautauqua movement at 3:30; there's a program about invasive carp at 1:30 on Friday, and the foreign affairs program at 2:30. Haven't done a tram tour in a number of years--might sign up for that.

If you are visiting friends and family in northwestern Ohio today, bring bottled water. Algae bloom and toxins in Lake Erie have contaminated Toledo's water supply. http://www.toledoblade.com/local/2014/08/03/Water-crisis-grips-area.html

Thank you, President Obama

I heard on the news tonight that Toledo's unemployment is now 15.4%. If Obama cared one bit about Americans, if he had any real American political or economic savvy at all, he would have made the economy his top priority on January 21. Instead, he put his social programs, the take over of the economy by the government, in first place.

The city Easter Egg Hunt (Roll)

Maggie in Toledo writes:

"The City of Toledo is facing a $27.7 million deficit. The mayor is talking about laying off police officers, cutting salaries by 10% and voiding all labor contracts.

But we've somehow got enough money for an Easter Egg Hunt????"

Yes, Upper Arlington is having one too--Civic Association--probably not parks and rec. I have no idea how much it costs. They are awful. Just awful. I think our kids were about 5 and 6 when we finally decided they might be old enough for a little group fun. OHMYGOSH. It was a stampede--kids screaming and yelling and fighting. I'd never seen anything like it. My little ones were terrified and cried. I was horrified. Even 50 cents would be too much to contribute to watching spoiled suburban kids knocking each other down to grab a piece of smushed chocolate.

Dye and hide the eggs at home; it's a lot more fun and much safer.

Good enough to run for Congress

FEMA sent money to crooks who simply applied for it after Katrina and Rita blew through Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. But as we see in the negotiations for the packaged stimulating pork, this is a tradition in government. Yesterday's Columbus Dispatch reported that 15 Toledoans, some applying from prison and others claiming property damage in cemeteries and empty lots received FEMA money. Link.

If there were that many from northern Ohio, imagine how many there must have been who actually lived in the states affected by the storms. I think Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi should check out these dipsticks for the Congressional farm club. These crooks (the Toledoans, not Reid & Pelosi) weren't thinking big, but in politics not everyone starts at or near the top. And these folks are innocent until proven guilty (the Toledoans, not Reid & Pelosi).

Toledo's poverty statistics

Just in time for the convention, we're getting "new" stories on poverty and minorities. In Toledo ABC Channel 13 is pulling stats from the latest census report. 22.6% Toledo residents in poverty (family of 4) compared to 12.3% nationally. And 41.3% of those in poverty in Toledo are black. Instead of tracking the story by race, they should report it by marital status, because that's what causes poverty among women and children. No father in the home.

How is an unmarried woman with children going to show the same economic gains as a married woman and man with children, when counting "households?" That's two incomes against one. A four person household can be a woman with 3 children, or a husband and wife with 2 children, or two gay lawyers and their adopted children. Plus, now that boomers are retiring, the MSM should be reporting that incomes fall after retirement, even if "wealth" hasn't changed at all. But that doesn't play well in speeches and poverty stories.

Toledo Blade: "Overall, the Census found 37.3 million people living in poverty in 2007, of which 13.3 million were children. The poverty level for a four-person family in 2007 was $21,203. Among age groups, seniors had the lowest poverty rate at 9.7 percent, while children had the highest at 18 percent. The poverty rate for 2006 was 12.3 percent, but the change in 2007 was not statistically significant."

Apparently all our poverty programs put in place in the last 30 years have failed. According to a 1987 article in the NYT, “In 1980, Census Bureau figures show the country's overall poverty rate was 11 percent while it was 32 percent for blacks, 25 percent for Hispanic people and 10 percent for whites.” Poverty pimps will find ways to show it is higher now even if the poor own their own home, have an automobile, cable TV and cell phones. If you point out how poverty has decreased in cities (decreased around 50% in Toledo and Columbus by 2000), the Democrats will just tell you that's because the poor moved to the suburbs! Maybe all the "urban development" didn't help the poor? Perhaps all those environmental regulations pushed out industry so the working class have moved to retail and service industries?

Also, in reporting what's happened to gas prices under a Democratic Congress, let's also ignore the gains made during the Bush administration. The median household income in Lucas County, Ohio rose from $40,348 in 2005 to $42,296 in 2006. The percentage of people below the poverty level dropped to 16.8 percent in 2006 from 17.4 percent in 2005.