Name calling—the last resort for Democrats

I've never been able to figure out how Donald Trump gets slammed with that racist meme. He called MS-13 thugs and terrorists. Well? Did he say all Hondurans? Or all people attempting to break into our country? No.

He tried to block people from a few Muslim dominated countries until they could be vetted--Obama's list--because the countries didn't have viable governments. Do you have any idea how many countries are dominated by Islam? About 24% of the world's population. Do you really think the President was blocking that many people, or that Obama had all of them on a list?

But once ABC, NBC, CBS, MSNBC, CNN, NYT, WaPo, Politico, HuffPo, and all the late night comedians, has-been movie stars and women dress in pink body parts costumes get on a roll, they just crash down the mountain.

Here's a photo of President Trump and the award he and other patriotic, diverse Americans--Rosa Parks, Muhammed Ali--received in the 1980s, the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, which recognizes American citizens who embody “patriotism, tolerance, brotherhood and diversity.”

If Democrats can't call a white person racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, xenophobic or white supremacist, they are left tongue tied and speechless and go back to their knitting-- promoting abortion.

Young, hip librarians taking over the field

So, maybe you hadn't heard that rumor--that librarianship was young and hip. Well, I had, since I follow these things, although not as closely as I used to. You can tell by the cover of Library Journal.

Even so, Pearl has a large following and writes terrific book reviews and appears on NPR.

Award for doing not much

Yesterday we received a Certificate of Merit. For doing not much of anything! Who do they think we are? The President of the United States?

Here's what it says on good quality card stock with fancy script and type font:

"Be it known to all who bear witness that this highest honor which
may be bestowed by RNC Victory 2012 has been awarded to
(US)
A recognized leader in
Ohio
on this 19th day of February
in the year 2010 for
DEDICATION, SACRIFICE and COMMITMENT
To the Republican Party and our efforts to elect the next
Republican President of the United States in 2012

Then there are two signatures and a little gold embossed elephant at the bottom. Really!? The voters elected an attractive, glib candidate no one knew or vetted in 2008, and now we're supposed to do it with the other party? Contributing $25 during the last campaign, to elect a man we really didn't like and was the better of the bad salvagable only because of his running mate, means we're dedicated and committed? Well, it was a bit of a sacrifice. Didn't like McCain as a candidate or Senator (he's a RINO plus), although I admire his personal service to the country.

I think this is the millennial generation hover award. Isn't that the group that has to get an award for showing up? Someone slipped up on our age.

Don't wear this to an awards event

Especially not if you are. . . rather large and going to be in every photo from the top seller award to the janitors' cleaniness prize. This photo is from yesterday's WSJ fashion article, but what I saw in a non-profit newsletter was a woman exec in a very big black and white patterned dress with jacket in a similar shiny fabric and design. And I won't provide a link. I don't think she realized when she took it out of her closet that morning for the event, that seeing the dress about 10 times in a single issue of the company newsletter would have such a stunning, memorable affect. At least I'll never forget it. The other female CEO wore a simple muted lavender suit, so she looked much more business-like standing next to the men who were all in dark suits, or even the janitors who also looked more professional than the black and white event of the day. It's not that large women have to always dress conservatively or in black, but neither should they be a moving billboard.

Notable Quotables of 2008

Everyone in the world probably laughed at, not with, Chris Matthew's tingly leg for Obama, so he got the big one at the award ceremony of the 21 awards for the year's worst reporting, but some others are just as hilarious. Since I have a gag reflex at most of the prime time "news" reporting, I've missed most of these. Two I enjoyed in the reruns

The Obamagasm Award
Some princes are born in palaces. Some are born in mangers. But a few are born in the imagination, out of scraps of history and hope....Barack Hussein Obama did not win because of the color of his skin. Nor did he win in spite of it. He won because at a very dangerous moment in the life of a still young country, more people than have ever spoken before came together to try to save it. And that was a victory all its own.”
— Time’s Nancy Gibbs, Nov. 17 cover story. [65 points]

From Camelot to Obamalot Award
“Today, the audacity of hope had its rendezvous with destiny. No mere endorsement this, more like a political anointment from the Kennedys, merging ideals from two different eras....Obama is now an adopted son of Camelot. His candidacy blessed not just by the Lion of the Senate, patriarch of the clan, but by JFK’s daughter.”
— ABC’s David Wright on Nightline, Jan. 28. [55 points]

As we used to say in the olden days, "Gag me with a spoon." Reading through these awards, and the runners-up, you see the days of the free press are over. As awful as the constant Bush bashing was, this is much worse for the country. He could handle it; I'm not sure Obama can.

Blogging raters

A few days ago I got an e-mail congratulating me on my "personal blog" with a score of 7.2. I think that's about a C+ in the real world. In other words, if I were doing this for pay, I certainly wouldn't get a raise this year. So who's on first? Well, get a load of this fascinating blogger who scores in the high 90s--like an A-

"Nowadays, more and more people are suffering from health problems such as chronic fatigue, chronic constipation and lack of energy. That kind of health problem can be related to a dirty bowel, caused partly or largely by eating and drinking foods and drinks which are not what nature intended we eat and drink". . . And it gets worse from there.

--who knew the blog world was filled with such fascinating topics?

Poets and Writers

It's been a lot of years since I picked up a writing magazine. I used to write some fiction back in the mid-1990s. It was lots of fun. The stories just came from no where and I was always surprised by the outcome. I'd write the first line, and the rest came. Then they stopped. First line and all.

Yesterday at the library sale I picked up for a quarter the Nov/Dec 2008 Poets and Writers. Do you think writing--fiction, non-fiction, biography, poetry, mystery, romance, sci-fi--is better today than the days before all the prizes and contests, degrees and workshops? Are the people on the best-seller list the best? Did they get there by entering contests? Or are contests just useful for paying off the organizers and their staff. Look at these

Fence Books awarded Elizabeth Marie Young of Berkeley the 2008 Motherwell Prize for her poety--$3,000 and publication of her book.

University of Evansville awarded David Stephenson of Detroit the 2007 Richard Wilbur Award for his poetry collection--$1,000 and publicantion of his book.

Frederick Reiken won the Fiction Open, $2,000, and his story will be published in the Winter 2009 issue of Glimmer Train Stories.

And so it goes. But look how much money these organizations bring in with their contests:

University of Evansville Wilbur Award competitors need to submit $25 per manuscript--what if 1,000 people send something? Yes, it takes some staff and handling, and someone has to read the submissions, but usually you know after the first paragraph whether it's worth it, and you've got that $25 check in hand.

Glimmer Train which is sold on newstands and certainly isn't cheap, collects $20 per entry for the opportunity to win that $2,000 prize. That journal is very well known and marketed, and I'm assuming gets thousands of hopefuls.

That Fence Books Motherwell prize will cost each entrant $25, and since it is for a first or second book of poetry by a woman, it probably gets thousands writing about baby spit up or lost loves. Here's one of mine based on the Suze Orman TV show. It's timely, got name recognition, pathos, and a snappy ending.

Girlfriend, Suze said,
while you imagined love
there's a slight chance
you missed the bounced checks,
school loans, credit cards,
child support and gambling debts,
a mortgage about to reset,
a house that hasn't flipped,
and his mother who has.

If you want to write for money, you might be better off putting ads on your blog page.

Flipping through this issue, I do see a few that have no entry fee, like National Council of Teachers of English and Nebraska Arts Council, but they are outnumbered by the for-fee contests/prizes/awards.

There's a photo on p. 18 of a party in 1963 for the founding of Filmwrights International, sort of a union. Most noticeable, given today's casual culture, is that all the men are in suits, and none of the women are identified. But the famous authors in the photo, none of whom had probably won an award to launch their careers or attended a writing workshop in Iowa or Arizona, are George Plimpton, William Styron, Ralph Ellison, Peter Mathiessen, H.L. Humes, Truman Capote, and Mario Puzo.

Call me crazy, but I think if you're good, someone is going to find out without your sending $25 to 100 contests to win $500.

Who's left?

I used to stare at the list of 50 or so organizations on the campus willing to help me, a poor lil'ol weak, helpless female, and wonder why with all the local, county, state and federal laws and local and national organizations in place and living in the best country in the world, I needed so much help. That was about 10 years ago. Slicing and dicing the university community into small manageable groups (academe is very liberal, in case you hadn't noticed) continues. I wondered who was not eligible in this announcement. I really think I might be eligible for something (age? marital status?) even though my Wenger ancestors left Switzerland in the 1740s. I just need to find someone who thinks blogging is important and can nominate me. If you cast your net broadly enough, I suppose you ensure your continued existance.

“The Distinguished Diversity Enhancement Awards recognize individuals or groups who have demonstrated a significant commitment to enhancing diversity at Ohio State and to exceeding expectations in implementing the Diversity Action Plan. The program, now in its 21st year, rewards efforts to enhance diversity on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, sex, age, disability, veteran or military service status, gender identity, economic status, political belief, marital status or social background.” Recognizing excellence, OSU Resources

The Emmys

Primetime Emmy Awards “inexplicably attracted the franchise's smallest audience in its history. A mere 12.2 million viewers watched an . . . “orgy of trophy dispensing and politically charged speechifying.” (WaPo, Sept. 23)

Yes, ageism and sexism was in full flower--racism of course, has been entirely eliminated from their scripts. The entertainment industry mined that vein dry years ago. For that you have to read the recent polls of the Democratic party which show some ordinary working folk are tired of being called names and constantly insulted by the rich know-it-alls in their party. They're just not sure they want to pull the lever (punch the button, mark the ballot) for Obama.

It’s been years since I’ve seen an awards show. 12 million people with nothing to do--sounds like a lot of dumbed down couch potatoes to me. But I’ve seen snippets of this one. Oh, that prune political joke was almost as amusing as the SNL joke on incest, which is also going around and continues to insult women who make a difference and run for political office. Yes, the American entertainment industry deserves an award all right. You begin to understand better the view of the radical Muslims on the worth of pop culture. But hey, I share the blame. I have a TV in every room (except the dining room), and went to three or four movies this summer.

Stephen Colbert, eating from a bag of dried plums, told co-presenter Jon Stewart: "Right now, America needs a prune. It may not be a young, sexy plum. Granted, it is shriveled and at times hard to swallow. But this dried-up old fruit has the experience we need."

Hand Hygiene

A gift basket? I know that these days you need to award employees for using a tissue to sneeze, but this award sounds a bit over the top to me.

"Congratulations to Taleatha Poole of Medical Information Management who won a gift basket in the May 22 Nutrition Services Hand Hygiene event prize drawing." OSU Medical Center This Week

Why isn't hand hygiene expected and enforced in Nutrition Services as a requirement of keeping the job? When I started my first professional position I needed some on the job supervision and training from my department head. Why is less expected in a medical center?

Some women

understand glamor. Thank you Beyonce. 2008 Grammy awards
And congratulations to one of my favorite groups, The Band, for their life time achievement award. Four Canadians and an American, they're the best (some deceased). Story here, in a Canadian newspaper.