754 Spinsanity is pulling the plug

Spinsanity is a website that analyzed political articles for spin. "Countering rhetoric with reason" was its slogan. January 19 was its swan song; it has folded its tent, got on the bus, Gus, rode off into the sunset, and said, "Good-bye, farewell and Amen."

The three writers wrote an anti-Bush book while blogging for four years. I questioned their own spin when they tried to deny the last recession started in 2000, six months before Bush took office. I have some account sheets for my 403b I'd like them to look at. Either that, or TIAA-CREF hired some really, really poor fund managers.

753 More about egg safety

The January cover of Emerging Infectious Diseases has a 17th century genre painting by Diego Velázquez of a woman cooking eggs. The description is lengthy, but I noticed this passage, because I mentioned Salmonella Enteriditis in blog 741.

“The 17th-century Spanish diet was known for its parsimony. A main concern in the common kitchen was the long-term availability of food. The safety of food, a more modern concern, was probably not on the mind of Velásquez' food preparers. Unlike our contemporary equivalents, they would have known little about the dangers surrounding food. Nor would they have understood Savarin, whose sensitive 18th-century palate might have recoiled at the sight of eggs poaching slowly in oil on a clay stove.

An ancient staple, eggs have run the gamut from plentiful protein to gourmet delicacy. Yet, basic food and epicurean aspirations converge at one point: safety. With high levels of Salmonella Enteriditis in shell eggs, adequate cooking and proper temperature of the eggs overrule tradition, challenging the consistency of the sauce and the moment of delivery to the table. In our times, safety issues concerning not only eggs but all foods beg a different interpretation of another well-known Savarin aphorism, "The destiny of a nation depends on the manner in which it feeds itself." "

The article in this issue suggests between 180,000 and 200,000 illness a year in the US from Salmonella Enteriditis. The figures are not firm because only about 2,000 hospitalizations and 70 deaths occur. But still, make sure those eggs are thoroughly cooked before you eat them.

Blog 741 began with spelling problems, particularly the phth combination, diphtheria being one of four common English words that have such a combination. In the same issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases there is an article about diphtheria causing the death of the painter Georges Pierre Seurat at age 31.

752 More ice and snow hit Ohio

Here in Ohio we're getting what those of you just west of us received earlier. I'm setting out for the coffee shop but may have to turn around and come back if it is too bad. Some people here were without power for over a week over Christmas, then it flooded when it thawed. In a few weeks we'll head for Florida to spend some days and grab some rays with the greatest hostess in the world, my sister-in-law. Life is one big party with lots of laughs, and I love key-lime pie. The down side is listening to them in the car. They truly are the world's worst back seat drivers--they deserve each other.

751 Americans begin earlier

As reported in WSJ this week, AXA Financial has produced a report that says Americans begin retirement planning at an earlier age and save larger sums on average than other people.

According to the press release, "Nearly 80 percent of Americans surveyed have a plan for where they want to live, what they want to do, and how much money they’ll need in retirement. Most people started planning for retirement early, in their 30’s.

Americans are taking responsibility and making themselves more knowledgeable about retirement issues, with 90 percent of respondents saying funding retirement is primarily their individual responsibility – not the government’s or their employer’s."

"Working Americans are saving, on average, $687 per month toward retirement. (Based on other responses, this figure reflects their investment in such savings vehicles as conventional savings plans, life insurance policies and pension plans.)Retirees save $535 per month, on average.

Retirees, on average, say they are retiring at 58 years old. American workers, however, say they would like to retire at 55, but, in reality, don’t expect to retire until they are 63."

Although we know many people who have retired in their 50s (including my father), they all started other companies, jobs or went into consulting. So I think many "retirees" are actually workers. I retired at 60, and my husband began turning down clients a year ago, and is just finishing up contracts now at 67, but still has a few dawdlers on the books.

This looks like an interesting report in light of the President's proposals to let Americans have Private Retirement Accounts to ease the SS squeeze. However, it is 97 pages--not sure it is THAT interesting, but take a look and see. Also, AXA is in the investment business, so I'm sure their surveys differ from a survey with a political agenda.

A total of 9,200 people were interviewed in Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, United Kingdom and the United States. 813 Americans between 25 and 75 were surveyed, of whom 403 were working and 410 were retired.

750 Sometimes Blogs become Usenet

Usenet is sort of a big messy bulletin board with some nice people (see my links to Writers and Wannabes, most of whom I met at a Usenet forum) and a whole lot of crazies who have PHDs in four letter words, viciousness and sarcasm ad nauseum. Blogs usually don't become that discussion oriented because the writer/owner of the blog can delete comments. But discussions can get intense and sort of "real time-ish." Witness this one, mostly between Michael and Jo. Belmont Club and Captain's Quarters also have lively discussions among the readers.

749 Verbs on the Financial Page

The markets are quite verbal, aren’t they? Prices, markets and stocks don’t just “go up” or “go down,“ or simply “move,” which must make it difficult for learners of the English language. Today I read that they hold, tumble and plunge. Then they rally, rollick and pick up speed. Sometimes they rise, shift, climb and fly. Occasionally they stall and need a push. Some are assertive--they dictate, decide, post and report. Some suffer, then shrug it off. And how about those that ignore, droop, lag behind and drag? Oft times they strengthen, support, gauge and ratchet up. They fall hard when they drop.

If you think reading about financial verbs is too dull, stop over at Ariel's site and look at basketball in metaphysical terms. Now there is a vocabulary (in English) that's pretty dense for me.

748 Boxer continues to hit below the belt

Two cranky Democrats voted against Dr Rice‘s confirmation to be the first African American woman to attain such a high office in government--the failed contender John Kerry and California Democrat Barbara Boxer. She’ll be confirmed, but this kept her from being Secretary of State in time for the 2005 inaugural and the most important woman in the government. So we can have blacks providing the prayer and singing anthems at the inauguration for the last 50 years, but we dare not let them be seen in positions of power? Unless a Democrat appoints them, that is. Rice, who says her parents raised her to believe she could accomplish anything, even during the darkest days of segregation, is up against Democrats who think blacks should stay on the plantation if they work for Republicans.



What a team. They grandstanded their dislike for Bush and grilled her for 11 hours. Everyone knows she will be confirmed. What a bunch of sore losers. Correction. What a bunch of losers.

747 This world is not heaven

So wrote Peggy Noonan in her very critical review of the President's inaugural address. Yesterday she was the "color commentator" on the FoxNews coverage of the event, and when her co-host Shepard Smith asked her opinion of the speech she just stammered and sputtered and said she'd have to have some time to think about it.

In a Wall Street Journal editorial today she called it: a foreign policy speech; romantic longing to carry democracy to foreign lands; God-drenched; on a mission; over the top; suffering from "mission inebriation." She also said it made her yearn for nuance, that it "put the world on notice," and told it to "shape up." She then closed with a suggestion that "they" [the administration?] ease up, calm down, breathe deep, and get more securely grounded.

Noonan is a strong Bush supporter--gave up her job to work on the campaign. If his supporters say this, imagine what his detractors must be saying.

James Taranto writes at Best of the Web today (Jan. 21) directing comments to Noonan's concern: "The lesson Bush drew from Sept. 11 is that "realism" is unrealistic--that the "stability" that results from an accommodation with tyranny is illusory. To Bush, there is no fundamental conflict between American ideals and American interests; by promoting the former, we secure the latter. Maybe he'll turn out to be wrong, but for now the burden ought to be on those who, in the wake of Sept. 11, hold to a pre-9/11 view of what is "realistic."

Noonan is right that "ending tyranny in the world" is a fantastically ambitious aspiration, one that isn't going to be realized anytime soon. But Bush didn't promise to do it in the next four years or even in our lifetimes. He said it was "the ultimate goal" and "the concentrated work of generations." "

746 Happy Anniversary

Three years ago today we moved into the condo. The complex was built in the late 70s, one of the earlier ones in a city not accustomed to this type of housing. We were definite in our ideas; one floor, new, 3 bedrooms, and not a destination location. Oh well. We love it anyway. Three floors, not new, 2 bedrooms, a destination location, and a fabulous view. Haven't missed our house even one day. He's a better artist than this, but it's the thought that counts.


Condo 3rd anniversary card

745 The Inauguration Costs

While watching someone sing about eagles soaring (written by John Ashcroft), I'm calculating the inauguration costs. Such complaints from both liberals and conservatives! So since WaPo says Clinton spent $33,000,000 in 1993, I ran that figure through one of those "What is it worth now" calculators. Using the CPI it would be $42,030,000 in 2005; using the share of GDP figure it would be $54,450,000--there were several other indicators, but all were more than $40,000,000. No matter how it is sliced, it is a lot of money for a party. And even if he gave it all away, liberals would say he was grandstanding. (Pause) [Wow. In that white outfit Laura Bush is one dynamite librarian and First Lady!] Hail Columbia, here comes the Veep.

We've been invited to a fund raiser/dinner/silent auction for a good cause, and they want $25.00 a ticket per person. I don't know what the total party will cost--but in Ohio retiree dollars, probably about the same as the inauguration with a lot less glamor and not so good food.

Gotta run. Here comes the President.

Later: The speech in a nutshell. “We are led, by events and common sense, to one conclusion: The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands. The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world.”

Still later: I've been listening to and watching the past inaugurals on c-span for a couple of hours. I think those accusing G.W. Bush of being too religious or too Christian need to sit down and listen to Kennedy and Johnson, or some of the prayers said in the past at these events. Makes Bush sound like he could give lessons in political correctness. Also, much invoking of God in our destiny and blessings and claims for liberty for all men everywhere.

Kansas City Star

744 Dear Adelle

Every time I try to call you, Adelle, to talk about my bill [press one, listen; press two, listen; press one, listen--I get this message, "The mailbox is full; please call later." So I can't even leave you a message to say, I really doubt that Medicare is going to respond to your claim in less than 30 days. I mean, lady, get real! It is the government. So here's what I've done. I pressed the number for "appointments" (press three) and I got a real live person immediately. She was very helpful and told me not to worry until I get something labelled, "Final Notice." She has also put it in my file that I talked to her, not you. I told her to add that I tried several times last week too. You have a good day, Adelle, where ever you are, and you might expand that mailbox just a bit.

743 Stirring The Social Security Pot

There is a group who already has its collective mind made up and set in concrete--the Bush-haters are not going to like or support any plan for revamping the failing Social Security system that comes during a Bush administration. Another group won't pay attention or care. Then there's the lump in the middle--the rest of us who are looking at and sifting the information and weighing the options. I see a lot of discussion among Conservatives, who are known for not blindly following their President or party. The Wall Street Journal columnists, for instance, have been very cautious and have suggested the down side of personal accounts.

Two problems appear that worry everyone: what happens to those programs that now dip into the pot of money we regularly give the government which have nothing to do with retirement; what happens if you retire with a combination account and that part of your life span is in a stock market down swing?

We already have President Bush's retirement plan at our house (at least as I understand it): we have a mix of Social Security, private 401k, SEP IRA, a teacher's annuity (403b)*, a teacher's pension and miscellaneous IRA accounts and savings our executor will have to figure out someday. Because a teacher's pension is considered a government plan, I am not eligible for Social Security--not mine and not the wife's portion of my husband's. This is called a government offset, and as I have poked around in the articles about Social Security, anything you might receive from SS in the new plan will be "offset" by your private defined contribution. There is little advantage here for the retiree, unless you are allowed to pass it along to your heirs, or the offset stops at a point and you can enjoy the nest egg you kept warm. As it is, many retiree households are already dependent on defined contribution plans for pension coverage--maybe half, according to a December WSJ article.

There are way too many details not worked out (that would be done by Congress and the people who cut down trees) to make firm opinions about this plan. But I do worry about the half a sentence that slips through unnoticed in the law which will be used to launch ships or save owls or infringe on freedoms by bevies of lawyers and future legislators. Sometimes the devil you know is better than the demons you don't know.

Die young and get nothing under current plan

What would a “small” increase (to save the system) in current payroll taxes cost the average worker?

How would PRAs really work?

*401(k) plans are retirement plans that some private corporations offer their employees. A 403(b) plan is similar to a 401(k) but it is offered to employees of some non profit organizations. In both of these plans the individual chooses to deduct part of their paycheck and place it into an investment portfolio they formulate. These plans allow individuals to select among different types of investments, depending on how much risk they are willing to assume. The contribution into the account reduces the individual's taxable income. Employers may choose to match a portion of the employee's contribution up to 50 percent. These investments grow tax free until the money is withdrawn during retirement.

If you are employed or self-employed you may open an individual retirement account (IRA) and contribute up to $3,000 a year (or your earned income, if less). Married couples can contribute up to a total of $4,000, even if one spouse is not employed outside the home. Depending on your individual circumstances, you may be able to deduct part or all of your IRA contributions on your federal income-tax return. All investment earnings in your IRA compound on a tax-deferred basis. You pay tax on your earnings and contributions that were deductible when you actually withdraw the money from your account. If you withdrawal money from your traditional IRA before age 59 1/2 it may be subject to a 10% early withdrawal penalty and income tax. FinanceListings definitions

742 Happy New Year!

I found a Russian blog today. I’m so excited. I could actually read it.

Дорогие друзья, с новым годом!
Желаю вам здоровья, успехов, любви и счастья!

It’s such a beautiful language.



I'm not endorsing the site--my Russian is too rusty. He appears to be in London and is a doctoral student working as an editor. Great photographs.

741 Spelling lesson

Putting on my coat 45 minutes before my doctor's appointment, I said to another regular at the coffee shop, "Do you know how to spell "ophthalmology?" He hesitated a moment, then said, "Well, I'm not a very good speller, but I do know that one. O-p-t-h-a-l-m," and then he hesitated, "then it's either an "a" or an "o". "You were in trouble on the first syllable," I said. And I spelled it. "Think of 'my eyes are off, so I'm going to the ophthalmologist.'" This phth is actually more often pronounced as p-th, and is called a medial cluster. It doesn't appear in many English words, which is probably why it is so often misspelled. Diphtheria isn't very common anymore, thank goodness; Ben Franklin tried to rid our language of diphthongs, and who uses naphtha soap anymore? So other than having an appointment with an ophthalmologist, you have little use for the medial cluster.

Next to ophthalmology, the most frequently misspelled word I came across when helping people find information in the veterinary medicine library, was Salmonella enteritidis . It is the reason you don't want to eat raw cookie dough. Years ago, you only got it from cracked eggs; now the chicken has it and transmits it directly to the egg. Don't order your eggs, "over easy."

(See how much fun it is to read a librarian's blog?)

When I got outside, rain and sleet had fallen on the two inches of snow, so I had to scrape the car windows. As I was doing that, I heard a siren in the distance, coming from the direction of the main artery I was planning for the 1.5 mile drive to the ophthalmologist's office in a large medical complex. (I was planning on 15 minutes just to get into the parking garage.) When I got to that road, I could see a huge back up, so I turned around and took another route, which happened to go past my house. By that time, I was white knuckled, so I pulled into my own drive-way and called the office to cancel. My eyes may be off, but my brain knows when not to be on the streets.

740 How it used to be--1992

Billy Frolick writes an interesting bit of whimsy in the January 17 New Yorker about an 8th grader (written in first person) who has to choose a year from U.S. history and live for a week as if it were that year. He chose 1992. It is quite amusing, and informative, but probably not if you reached adulthood after 1995 (and I don't get many readers under 30). As a librarian, I smiled when he said he needed to go to the library to do some of his research instead of using the internet.

There's a good overview of what is happening to scholarly publishing and how it has changed since 1992 at the Social Science Research Network beginning with the procedure for writing and submitting to a refereed journal (which is still done), and the possibilities of putting it all out there today, where the authors primarily are making those decisions. Or as the author says, "You only need to know what you're looking for." The author, David Warsh, is a good example: the full version of what I read at another site, is located here.

As I noted in 736 free isn't always cheap, and I might add quantity is no guarantee of quality. Although "working papers" and departmental "pre-prints" have been around many years, the internet access has only added to the confusion. I think librarians will still be needed for many years--maybe now more than ever.

739 After dinner games and old TV shows

A few months ago we went out for dinner with Ned and Rosalee and then went to their house to play Boggle. It is a word game with a 3 minute timer. The words need to be at least 3 letters. Three minutes, three letters--sounds about like my attention span, so I went out an bought one for our house. My husband mentors a 4th grader in an urban school and has taken the game with him a few times.

So tonight we played Boggle after supper. We played 5 or 6 sets and I won. We had to get out the dictionary and even though we made up some words, when we checked, they really were words, like "thew." (He made that one up--I didn't think it was a word, but it was.) When I came up with "nosh" he thought I made it up. I told him it was like being at a party and hanging around the snacks eating all night, but having always been thin, he didn't believe me. So we had to look that one up too.

If the players pick out the same words, those are dropped from the score. But I won 68 to 18. I don't think you have to be particularly good with words since most of these are 3, 4 or 5 letter words, but you do have to think upside down, backwards and at an angle.

Also, for the exciting life of a retiree, this week I bought a Dick Van Dyke DVD from 1962--6 episodes for $2.00. I didn't remember any of these, and thoroughly enjoyed it. That was really a well written, beautifully acted show. Since I never watched TV much until I was married (my parents didn't own one), this series is one of the earliest I remember. My father-in-law worked for RCA, so my husband grew up with TV and remembers even the test patterns.

738 FOBT vs. colonoscopy

One of my Canadian readers (you know who you are) got here because I'd left a comment at his blog when he wrote about the FOBT. Now we regularly visit each other's blogs for topics other than fecal occult blood testing. However, today in the WSJ it was reported that those quicky smear tests done in a doctor's office failed to detect advanced precancerous lesions 95% of the time. That's code for, "they are worthless." Now, the home tests score a little higher. They get it right about 23% of the time. I haven't looked up the article in the Annals of Internal Medicine (one of my favorite journals, btw) to see if that was early or advanced. However, the colonoscopy can actually prevent cancer by finding polyps in the early stage so they can be removed. The sigmoidoscopy is in the middle manager range, but why would you even bother when you can go right to the top--or the bottom, as the case may be.

737 Bad hair day

I saw a woman at Meijer's today with my hair style--the one I had in 1966! I was so shocked, I braked the grocery cart and stared. It was one of those beehive thingies with the French twist in the back. I didn't know there were hair stylists alive who still knew how to do that. I rarely keep a hair style longer than a year. The one I have right now (different than the photo which was 2003) is about a year old, and I'm really bored with it.

When I was growing up, after I gave up French braids, my mother always cut my hair--she also permed it. Whew! Did those things smell. Then when I was in 8th grade we went to Rockford and I got a professional hairstyle, a snazzy two piece, lime-green and white, sleeveless dress with a straight skirt (my first), and white linen high heels, and poof, I had grown up overnight. In my memory, I was always letting my hair "grow out." However, I remember a haircut before the Christmas dance when I was a junior in high school, a hair set the morning of my wedding day, and a haircut and set to have my senior photo in college taken. I'm sure there were more trips to the "beauty parlor" than that, but it must have been "growing out" most of the time, because my old photos show a lot of pony tails and shoulder length hair.


8th grade Chicago trip

My husband had beautiful red curly hair when we met. However, very short hair was popular for men, so I had to take his word for it that he had curls. He said it was so wild and unruly when he was a child, he'd be sent out of class to comb his hair. Living through our children's teen years took care of most of his hair, and then about 10 years ago it lost most of its color.


On the beach

This painting of us on a beach of Lake Erie 30 years ago is by Ned Moore, one of the best watercolorists in Ohio. My husband still had his red hair, and my hair, as usual, was growing out, in braids almost to my waist. It is one of my favorites.

736 When free isn't cheap

No matter what your profession, you probably are inundated by information--most likely from some type of aggregator or news service which was supposed to make that sort of thing easier by sending only the abstracts and links you care about to your mailbox. It doesn’t, really--make it easier, that is. It’s too tempting to subscribe to several, and end up with 57 unread messages everyday, so I still rely on my links and my list of bookmarks (I’m power hungry, I suppose).

William Watson describes what he does with one of his services--I shouldn’t be surprised that I’m not the only one looking for the free information and skipping it when asked to pay. I’ll register for a paper (NYT, WaPo, LA Times, Chicago Trib) if it is free, and I’ll pass up the current issue of a journal if the archives are free. Library journals (of the profession pushing “information should be free” mantra) are almost never free. Even liberals want to be paid.

Anyway, Watson writes in this article:
“The way the SSRN works is if you like the abstract they've sent you, you can follow a handy link and download the full study. Most of the time the download is free but some of the institutes want money, usually $5 U.S. per study.I sometimes pay the five bucks but I must confess - truth in column writing requires it - that what I usually do instead is google the author's personal Web site to see if the paper is posted there. It usually is and - bingo! - the download is free. Think of it as Napster for nerds.”

And so he goes on to say open access is fine if you believe that journals with operating costs (like editors) provide no useful function, and that cheap drugs (he’s Canadian) are nice if you believe pharmaceutical research costs nothing. Free rides are not always free, is what I think he’s saying.

735 Washington Post gets it wrong he says

Kenneth Anderson comments, "The Washington Post, in its Sunday, January 16, 2005 editorial opposing the confirmation of Alberto Gonzales as attorney general, gets it wrong on the Geneva Conventions. My guess is that the editorial writers have never actually read the relevant article of the conventions, but instead have simply relied on press releases from various rights groups that tell the WaPo what it wants to hear. . ." After quoting the incorrect editorial, he continues:

"The Bush Administration was - and is - NOT in violation of Article 5 of the Third Geneva Convention. Read it. It does NOT say that a "competent tribunal" shall determine whether any doubt has arisen with respect to the POW status of a detainee. It says, rather, that "should any doubt arise" as to whether a detainee is entitled to POW status, then the person shall be treated as a POW until a competent tribunal shall determine his or her status. The question of who is entitled to determine whether any doubt has arisen is left open - it does not say that this matter must be determined by a competent tribunal. It leaves open the possibility that the President or the Secretary of Defense may determine, even for an entire group of detainees, that no doubt arises and hence no tribunal is required."

The content of Anderson's blog is Law of War and Just War Theory.

On January 7 Anderson noted: "I particularly reject Mark Danner's quite slippery op-ed piece in the NYT of yesterday, Thursday, January 6, titled "We are all torturers now." Cute, but sorry: we're not. What Danner does, quite inexcusably, is mingle the undeniable abuses of Abu Ghraib with the fact that the White House counsel sought, in the context of the interrogation of a known senior Al Qaeda chief, the outer limits of what could permissibly done in the way of questioning. I don't know, quite frankly, why one has a lawyer if not to ask what the outer limits of legal behavior are."

Noted at Pejmanesque.

Are all Bush's Hispanic nominees having a problem with confirmation or just the top rung? Apparently, Dr. Rice is a foot shuffling mammy to Bush haters and Hispanics are just illegal wetbacks not smart enough to check with lawyers.

734 Miss Universe of 1957

A newsletter about collectibles and antiques comes to my e-mailbox. I read it mainly for the old recipes, but also I enjoy the little stories people tell about finding things, or trying to find the rightful owners of photographs and Bibles they've purchased at a sale. Jan, a reader, writes about finding some old Miss Universe brochures when cleaning out her aunt's house.

"My husband's aunt died and we were in charge of having an estate sale of all her belongings. I found so many wonderful things to keep that I pulled out of the house before the sale. One of these was a stack of Miss Universe program brochures from 1953 to 1959. This lady and her sisters were hostesses at the Miss Universe pageant in Long Beach, CA, and my husband remembers, as a young boy, these beautiful girls from all over the world staying at their house for a week during the pageant. Anyway, my hobby is selling on E-bay, and just for the heck of it one day I offered one of these brochures for sale. I was amazed that it went for over $100 - people were bidding like crazy for this program brochure that originally cost 25 cents at the pageant.

One day I offered the 1957 program brochure on E-bay as an auction. I got an email from a woman in South Dakota, and she asked me: "My mother was in the Miss Universe pageant that year. But she would never talk about that time in her life - it is like a closed chapter - and we would love to know about it. I don't suppose her picture would be in that book." She gave me her mother's maiden name, and I told her, "Sure, her picture is here, on page such and such." She was so excited to hear this and she won the auction and I sent her the program. I received an email from her telling me how delighted her sisters and she were to finally have this artifact from their mother's past!... Jan" The Collectors Newsletter #287 December 2004

Just out of curiosity I went online and looked at the Miss USA for 1957 and according to the website the Miss USA for 1957 was disqualified because she was underage, married for the second time and had two children! She was replaced by the first runner-up. No wonder she didn't talk about it!


Miss USA 1957 (for a day) of Miss Universe Pagent

Now it is possible that all the candidates of Miss USA are folded into that brochure, but apparently the 1957 event was quite a scandal. But I don't know why any candidate other than Leona Gage (Mrs. Ennis), the disqualified Miss USA, would not tell her daughters about it. There are several horror movies of the early 1960s with an actress named Leona Gage, and a book for sale at a used book site called My Name is Leona Gage, Will Somebody Please Help Me? It was published in 1965, and if the blurb on this paperback is true, life didn't go well for Mrs. Gage Ennis. "Her beauty attracted brutality; her love, rejection; her tenderness, contempt. Suicide, birth, stardom, drugs, beauty, madness- here is the fantastic true story of Leona gage." For someone who only had 48 hours of notariety, she was still apparently well known enough in 1965 to warrant a book. In 1999 someone was looking for her on a genealogy site--wanted to write a story about the 1957 pageant.

So it is possible that because the 1957 pageant was so famous, the bidders on E-bay weren't even who they said they were, but were doing a bit of a scam on Jan--maybe hoping she'd just give them the brochure. The names of all the contestants who placed are on the web, so it wouldn't have been difficult to provide a name for "good old Mom."

Update: Leona Gage died October 9, 2010. She was 71. Link.

733 Saying Good-bye

Vinni, one of my "faithful bloggers" linked over at the left of the page, has had to say good-bye to an old friend. He's sad, but it was time. She had a few years on him and some risky behavior. But check out that photo.

732 Read the labels for an education

Do you suppose the nerdy/artsy/fartsy types who design and edit webpages really do have a sense of humor? This little blurb just delighted me:

Prunes, or "dried plums" as growers now prefer to call them, have long been the butt of jokes.

About dried plums

When I stopped laughing I got down to the serious content of this blog--information contained in labeling.

This week I bought a package of Sunsweet "gold label" Lemon Essence Dried Plums in a foil, resealable bag. They are truly delicious.


However, the nutrition information of the label is really interesting. A serving size is 1.5 oz (7 dried plums), so I'm guessing 5 would be about an ounce. According to the package, an ounce of dried plums (5) has 16 times the antioxidants of an ounce of banana; 8 times the potassium of an ounce of apple; 6 times the B vitamins in an ounce of orange; 83 times the vitamin K in an ounce of banana (obviously not a good source of vit. K) and 5 times of fiber of an ounce of apple. I don't know about you, but 5 dried plums is plenty, but I've never eaten just an ounce of apple--I want the whole thing--same with a banana or an orange. I mean, did God outdo himself with the lowly little plum, or what?

Not only that, but the label says the dried plums will fit my active life style! They will go in my briefcase or purse and never bruise like an apple, they are always in season since they are dried, and always ready to eat. WOW! Plus, you can go to www.AmazingSunsweetTestimonials.com and read, well, amazing testimonials about prunes--I mean dried plums.

731 Real estate values

I love to read real estate ads. The hyperbole, the squish words--vintage, curb appeal, redefines elegance. Today I saw a photo of a vintage house in a university town (Ann Arbor) that looked like a clone of our first home in Champaign, Illinois not far from the university. It even had a bump out dining room window. It was selling for about $450,000, and the ad said it had been magnificently updated.

With David's family Christmas letter, he included a photo of our old house--the one that looks like the Ann Arbor house. He was in Champaign last year to give a lecture, and had stopped at the house for a photo op. He and wife Gina had been our upstairs tenants and neighbors and friends. The house was probably 50 years old when we bought it, and time has not been kind. We added a second front door so the upstairs tenants had a private entrance, and we painted it charcoal gray with white trim (a popular color scheme in 1964). It had lovely wood work the color of my grandmother's home of the same era, with glass door book shelves, huge windows in the kitchen, a dining room with a built in china cabinet which was the largest room in the house, a basement with a dirt floor, and a gravel driveway with no garage.

The photo showed a home that looked like it hadn't been painted since we did it in 1964; the formerly gracious front porch had lost its columns and railing; ugly oversized windows had been put in the front, second floor room; the bushes were overgrown; and a mattress was leaning against the side of the house.

It was a plain, utilitarian house with painful, unhappy memories, but because it was an income property (I was 22 when we bought it), it put us on a solid financial footing that carried us through the ups and downs of the next forty years.

I salute you, little duplex on White Street. You deserved better.


White St. House in 2003


White St. House in 1964

730 Movie review of "Coach Carter"

Glenn Beck the past few days has been predicting the outcome of professional sports games by using the arrest records of the players. He thinks that if you want to get the job done in a contact sport, hire a crook (obviously, he is joking, but he's always a little over the top). For the Jets and the Steelers, he thought the Jets had a stronger criminal element because they had more assaults against women; the Steelers sort of wimped out with some marijuana and drug charges. Tough choice between guys who beat up women and guys who fry their brains.

A new movie, "Coach Carter," reviewed in today's WSJ is about a coach who is preachy and tough. He demands shirts and ties, push-ups and "Yes Sir." It's not an award winner, but the reviewer hopes student athletes and their parents will absorb the positive message. Boston Globe review here. Trailer here.

Maybe an OSU Alumnus will buy tickets (or rent the whole theater) for Maurice Clarett and his mother.

729 More wine words

Some weeks ago I wrote about the lovely descriptive vocabulary of wine connoisseurs. Last night, in keeping with my New Year's resolution to try to eat better using the government's new guidelines, I served grilled salmon, braised cabbage lightly buttered and salted, 1/6 of a cantaloupe with white grapes, sugar-free lemon pie with a cranberry/orange sauce, and a Pink Catawba wine (ca. $4.00 a bottle). I thought it was the best wine I'd ever had, and you can't beat the price. The pie was great, too.

In today's WSJ, the wine reviewer really outdid himself with a vocabulary to describe the $60/bottle wine (forgotten the name since as you can see, I don't buy expensive wine).

majestic
touches our soul
big, muscular
lemony acidity
rich earthiness
tastes brick red
tightly wound
complex and explosive
depth
lovely and complete
rose petals and finesse
hard as a rock
dry finish
massive, tough
soulful
intense and haunting
vibrant
bountiful

Sounds like it could be the manuscript for Paula's romance novel, instead of a bottle of wine, doesn't it?

728 Biased book reviews

I used to write book reviews for Choice magazine, and other less well-known publications, usually in the areas of animal health, and I used my name and position to establish my authority for recommending (or not) the title or software. In today's Wall Street Journal, James Bowman takes on two of the biggest, most influential (in library circles) review vehicles in the publishing world which is disgorging 500 books a day. Both shield the names of the reviewers. I write about this at my group blog journal of nbruce. As I've noted here before, research has shown that librarians are liberal, 223:1. I'm guessing a lot of the anonymous reviewers for Kirkus and Publishers Weekly are librarians or are writing for librarians.

727 Secrets, Steps, Strategies, and Myths

With one of these four words in the title, you can boost your sales. I'm thinking of adding one or all four to my blog subtitle, or slipping them into a meta tag. All these books were big sellers in 2004. So now you know the secret.

Thin commandments; the 10 no-fail strategies for permanent weight loss

Dr. Ro's 10 secrets to livin' healthy

French women don't get fat; the secret of eating for pleasure

Weight watchers weight loss that lasts; breakthrough the 10 big diet myths

Your best life now; 7 steps to living your full potential

Perricone promise; look younger in 3 easy steps

The secret life of bees

726 Comfortable in the 21st century

It has finally happened. Writing 19-- seems odd. It's taken five years, but finally I'm comfortable in the 21st century.

There are still a number of Americans who are children of Civil War veterans--not grandchildren, but children. Just recently I've come across some articles about them. One is a black woman in Tennessee whose father was in the Confederate Army as the cook for his uncle. Lillie Harding Vertrees Odom's father was the son of a white woman and a black man, and was raised by his paternal grandfather who was also white. According to her, there was no favortism in the family, and when the war started he went too as his uncle's servant. Peter Vertrees, her father, died in 1926. I noticed her story at www.LISNews.com. Another story is about the 98 year old son of a Confederate veteran. In Wisconsin, Bill Upham was only 8 years old when his Civil War veteran father died--he was born in 1841. Story here. There was a 45 year age difference between his parents.

725 Today in the Obituaries. . .

In the Columbus Dispatch Obituaries for January 13 a local resident "fell asleep in the Lord," another "was promoted to Glory," one was "welcomed into Heaven," another was "reunited with his beloved" and several had a version of "went home to be with the Lord Jesus Christ." Mostly, people just "passed away," the ever popular euphemism for death, and a few "departed this life," which is a vague hint there may be another hope for the next flight. Eight years ago when I checked the obituaries, I discovered most people were dying without a verb to help them in their journey. So today's paper, although only a snapshot of what is happening this week, shows a slight increase in spirituality. The verbs are much more dynamic, descriptive and other-worldly. I wrote a poem about lack of verbs in obituaries in 1997.

Dying for a Verb
September 28, 1997 by Norma J. Bruce

Emmy Lou departed this world;
Frank entered his eternal rest;
Polly is at home with the Lord.

Ray’s gone to his home in glory;
Ted is asleep with the angels;
Ann Louise simply crossed over.

And I am left to wonder why
They sent him off without a verb--
“Ralph David, May 15, at home.”

When my earth's book is overdue,
Please open heaven’s library;
Let me live in God’s promises.

When finally I fold this tent,
Lease me a heavenly mansion
Renewable eternally.

When I slip out of the saddle,
Boost me up high to ride bareback
On a steed into the stronghold.

When the last crumbs have been swept up,
Seat me at the banquet table
To listen with the disciples.

When the final ticket’s been bought,
Give me the best seat in the house
To hear the angels’ choir sing.

When I’ve gathered up the harvest,
Fill my buckets, silos and bins
To overflowing with God’s love.

When the bow breaks in the treetops,
Bear me up on wings of eagles
Never faint, tired or weary.

Pine box, urn, or fancy casket,
Paragraph, note or just a line;
Don’t send me off without a verb!


At home with the Lord. Hope to see you there.

724 Hyphen happy editors

Today's American English writing standards require far fewer commas than when I was in school. Even when I wrote for my professional journals in the 1990s, the editors would always chop away at my commas. However, someone took those commas from the punctuation dump, whacked them around a little bit and retooled them into hyphens. The Wall Street Journal is quite vigorous about recycling commas into hyphens. Today I found in the International section:

far-reaching; ground-level; Soviet-era; free-market; Stalin-era; second-term; oil-rich; two-thirds; joint-venture; foreign-investment; often-ambivalent; watered-down; market-opening; mid-1980s; low-end; and Congress party-led.

On the technology page I found home-page restoration and tracking-cookie detection. The Op-Ed page included war-torn; import-hungry; record-breaking; and current-account in a three sentence paragraph. Or, as the WSJ would edit, "a three-sentence paragraph." When I got to the Money and Investment page I found health-care; continuing-education; credit-card; cost-cutter; waste-cutting; cost-saving; one-time; light-speed; business-related; and more-rigorous.

I thought I had figured out that hyphens were inserted to make a few nouns and adjectives that were clinging to each other into a single adjective, but upon careful reading, I discovered many inconsistencies. I propose an idea. Perhaps it is our German genes coming to the fore. In our cell memory (and about 1/3 of Americans can trace their ancestory to that part of Europe) we want to experience very-long, impossible-to-pronouce nouns. If you've got a better theory, I'm will to listen--just don't hyphenate it.

723 How to fold a shirt

I haven't tried this yet, but I understand it works. How to fold a shirt.

722 Jogging my memory for exercise

A reader has asked me why I don't write more blogs about our hometown. So I decided to pull out my freshman yearbook to see if anything rang a bell. I have recorded these remarks exactly as written, with blanks, missing words, misspellings and grammatical errors. One is from the reader who suggested I write about home. The challenge, if he decides to take it, is to determine which one is his (at age 16)?

Good luck and have fun when you deliver papers.

Best wishes to a swell girl, but you really were a pest.

How’s your horse?

How about the times at G.A.A.?

Good luck to a neice girl.

Remember the talks about “you know who.” Was I a help?

We didn’t even have fun at your house, did we?

Best of luck in trombone playing.

Since I can’t of anything to write I’ll just say Good Luck. So Good Luck.

Good luck to a swell girl with only three more years of slavery.

Don’t flirt with any boys while you have a boyfriend.

We’ll suffer together through hic, haec, hoc again this year.

To a wonderful girl--I hereby nominate you for student council next year.

Remember when I had that party out to my house? I was with ____, and you were with___ ? (blanks are actually in the original and I have no idea who this person is talking about)

Remember the real cool parties we have had. All we do is sit around and eat and “gab.”

Set besides you on the bus.

My old study hall neighbor. We got along pretty good when you & Sara weren’t jabbering.

So there you have it. Memories from the old, home town.


"The Campus"

Update: He e-mailed me the correct answer. After 50 years, he was able to identify his own comments dashed off at a yearbook signing event (I think we didn't get the yearbook until summer so the Spring events would be in the book). It's also quite possible he wrote the same thing in every girl's yearbook, which made it easier to remember.

721 Why would anyone want to be alone?

He's devoted and in his face, breathing his exhaled air and ripping up dog cages like they were tinker toys. Brando, who never wants to be alone again, is featured in Ken Foster's story at Urban Dog. There's something about Brando that reminds me of Rosa, my son's dog, who eats bedspreads and wallboard, and tops it off with a piece of carpet for dessert, with a side order of phone cable. "But Mom, she's just a puppy," he's been saying for a year and a half. I noticed a link to Urban Dog at Book Moot and decided to investigate.


This is NOT Rosa, but is a Chocolate Lab (brown hair, brown skin).

720 Stage IV Pink and Black

Joanne Jacob's education blog mentions the death of Charter Schools advocate Sue Bragato who died January 5, 2005 at 47 from metastisized breast cancer at home with family and friends. Sue put up a web page about her disease to which others contributed.

Susan Andrews tells her story at Sue's site, a story of being shuffled around going from nothing to stage IV (terminal) in a matter of months.

"Can you believe that 15 months after my last mammogram, I was diagnosed with stage IV. Most of you didn't even know there are stages. There is 0- IV. My stage is terminal. Nobody talks about this stage. I'm on an internet support group of stage IV ladies. We lose our friends all the time and the last one we lost was 42, she lived 2yrs after her diagnosis. Some in our group were first diagnosed at early stages and then after a few months or years were restaged at IV. I believe our youngest member is 33.

So how did the American Cancer Society come up with the age 40 for yearly mammograms? We want people to be aware of these things about breast cancer. We are trying to start a campaign for Pink & Black ribbons. The public makes Breast Cancer out to be all fuzzy, pink and cute. There is nothing cute about nausea and vomiting. I got some of the meanest stares at my bald head that I couldn't hide well enough with most hats. Our real situation is mostly unknown by the public. Most people think that after chemotherapy is done, you're cured. Hello, there IS NO CURE." Susan Andrews

Maureen, who found a lump and was told her pain was from an infected cyst, writes:

"The following week when I went back the cyst was gone but the pain wasn't, she than ordered a mammogram since the pain wasn't as bad as the week before. It just showed increased density and to keep an eye on it. My doctor than sent me to a Breast Surgeon who had me have another Ultrasound which now said that the cyst was gone but breast tissue in the subareolar region looked suspicious and recommended a biopsy, which they did and found out I had " Invasive Carcinoma with Lobular and Ductal Features". I pretty much figured I had cancer by than but since I had been so careful with my health and since I felt they caught it in time I was sure it would be maybe a stage 1 and they would just have to do a lumpectomy. After my dx they ordered a Cat and Bone Scan and then I went back to my surgeon who told me there would be No surgery because it had already metastasized to the bones. Since my mother-in-law had died of breast cancer I knew about metastases." Maureen Moore

Ladies, we're not making huge progress against this disease--they are just finding it earlier, finding lumps that may have never been a problem. But when you or the technology find something, don't take "it's probably just a . . . fill in the blank [fibroid, hematoma, a swollen lymph node, infected cyst]. Don't accept, "We'll keep an eye on it," or "Don't worry about it," even if it makes you feel good. They remove and biopsy moles that change color and grow; they remove and biopsy polyps in the colon as soon as they are found; they needle-biopsy lumps in the neck. Get that lump to the lab!

719 Advice for Democrats

Dan Gerstein has a face smacking lecture for his fellow Democrats in today's Wall Street Journal. Still, he just can't resist impugning George W. Bush's record and reputation--his Vietnam service, the Iraq war, his terrorism battles, and even the 2000 election.

He whines that Karl Rove was ruthless and cunning, and Dems "shouda cudda wuuda" this and that. Hello? Did you see any of the ridiculous political ads we were forced to watch in Ohio all summer and fall of 2004? Danny Boy, get a grip before you suggest changes in your party.

He asks a rhetorical question he himself should heed: "When do we stop beating our heads against the wall and try something and someone different?"

Peggy Noonan's advice (and she's a Republican) actually makes more sense. (Jan. 6, WSJ) "The Groups--all the left-wing outfits from the abortion people to the enviros--didn't deliver in the last election, and not because they didn't try. They worked their hearts out. But they had no one to deliver. They had only money. The secret: Nobody likes them. Nobody! No matter how you feel about abortion, no one likes pro-abortion fanatics; no one likes mad scientists who cook environmental data. Or rather only rich and creepy people like them. Stand up to the Groups--make your policies more moderate, more nuanced, less knee-jerk.

Don't reflexively oppose President Bush on Social Security reform. Talk and listen and consider; ask open-minded questions at hearings. If he's wrong--if his prescriptions don't promise to make the system stronger and more just down the road--then make a persuasive case, one a grown-up could listen to and understand. Don't do "sound bites for blue heads in Dade County," be serious. People can tell when you're not. They just punished you at the polls again because you weren't. You have nothing to gain but stature."

718 Women fall through the glass ceiling

Three of the four people fired in the September "circle the wagons" CBS scandal were women. Isn't it great that women have knocked a big enough hole in the glass ceiling that they can fall back through?

Gone are Mary Mapes, producer of the report, Josh Howard, executive producer of "60 Minutes Wednesday," his top deputy Mary Murphy, and senior vice president Betsy West. Competitive pressures for ratings, not hate for George Bush, is given as the reason for their flub. See? Given opportunity and free rein, women can be just as competitive in the market place as men.

Anchor Dan Rather wasn't fired. I guess he just reads what is put in front of him.

717 So you're not a librarian?

You don't have to be a librarian to enjoy Geoff's Blog Driver's Waltz, to which I've added a link. He's Canadian, an academic librarian, a husband and homeowner, with a herd of pets and has some photo galleries on his web site that are really good. He also has one of the best looking blog skins I've seen, attractive, easy to read and navigate.


Geoff's Daisy

716 Greetings from Iraq

While posting an entry at my blog about new journals, In the Beginning, I was browsing the web page for Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. I came across the story of Captain Kevin Kuwik, the Assistant Basketball Coach at OU who was called up to serve an additional 18 months in the fall of 2003. He's now in Iraq and his letters are posted at the Bobcat webpage. He is a graduate of Notre Dame and has coached in Tennessee and Vermont. He says he'd appreciate some mail--snail or e-mail. CPT Kevin Kuwik, HHC/113th Engineer Battalion, APO AE 09334. kevin.kuwik@us.army.mil

715 Made in Sri Lanka

After tossing about $60 of groceries in the cart, and $25 of HBH (health, beauty & household) purchases, I looked through the 50% off racks in the clothing section. I selected a rose colored, corduroy short jacket with three buttons and three pockets and some elastic at the bottom edge and wrists. I looked at the tag. "Made in Sri Lanka." I wondered if the women who had constructed it in the garment industry there were still alive. I hoped that because they had factory jobs perhaps they lived inland, but I'm suspecting that they were probably in their home villages for the week-end which may have been close to the water. Sri Lanka is an island, after all.

But there's another tsunami coming for those women. In November, the Washington Post reported that as of January 1, 2005 many of the garment industry jobs originally outsourced from the southern US, will be leaving some of the world's poorest countries to take up shop in China.

On Jan. 1, World Trade Organization rules governing the global textile trade will undergo their biggest revision in 30 years. The changes are expected to jeopardize as many as 30 million jobs in some of the world's poorest places as the textile industry uproots and begins consolidating in a country that has become the world's acknowledged low-cost producer: China.

About $400 billion in trade is at stake, but the implications are greater than the money involved. Since 1974, many developing countries have pinned their economic hopes on a complicated system of worldwide quotas that guaranteed each a specified share of the lucrative textile markets in the United States and Europe. By specifying how many blue jeans or how much fabric an individual country could export, the quotas have effectively limited the amount of goods coming from major producers like China, while giving smaller or less competitive nations room to participate. Capital and jobs followed the quotas, helping countries build an industrial base through textile exports.

The jobs are low-paying and tough: Overseas textile plants have been a central target for labor and human rights activists. But the textile industry has, since the Industrial Revolution, provided an opening wedge for broader economic development, and officials in dozens of countries hoped it would continue to do so.

The USA and Europe, in order to protect their own workers, have punishingly high tariffs and quotas for some of these countries affected by the tsunami. After we clean up the ravages of the earthquate driven storm, we'll need to look at what our own policies are doing. I'm sure the message won't be lost on Muslim terrorists.

714 NGOs worth supporting

Diplomad says there are some NGOs worthy of your support. He still has nothing good to say about UN relief agencies--reports they are still having meetings (16 days after the tsunami) while the militaries of the U.S., Australia, Singapore, Malaysia and New Zealand are the quick responders.

The agencies he says are doing a terrific job are:

International Organization for Migration (IOM)

CARE

Catholic Relief Services

Mercy Corps

Save the Children

"All of these have very dedicated people working under very tough conditions for a fraction of the salaries earned by the UN blowhards. All of these organizations moved extremely quickly (especially IOM) in the wake of the tragedy and have saved countless lives."

713 Oil for Food Scandal

Sunday night the report was released. And who in the media is working on Sunday night?

WaPo reports quietly and calmly on Tuesday:

"The committee that released the audits and other internal U.N. documents is headed by former Federal Reserve chairman Paul A. Volcker. It is investigating allegations of corruption in the $64 billion program, which oversaw the sale of Iraqi oil for the purchase of humanitarian goods while the nation was under U.N. economic sanctions.

In a 35-page briefing paper, the Volcker committee said the audits highlighted the "wholesale failure of normal management and controls" over some of the program's operations. It also faulted the United Nations' internal auditors for failing to scrutinize areas of the program that were most vulnerable to corruption: the sale and purchase of oil and humanitarian goods."

So the sale and purchase of oil and humanitarian goods were not audited by the U.N.? Well, duh! That means the corruption the Volcker committee found were in the non-critical parts? He found only "inappropriate management?" They spent all these months and found--nothing. I'm no expert in accounting, but it truly is hard to investigate a non-audit.

I'm not going to carefully track this story because others are doing that. Check here for a blog on "UNSCAM." Here's a story from NRO in April. And an investigation from 2003.

712 Necessary Rules of Conduct for Children

A photocopy of three pages of "Necessary Rules of Conduct for Children" fell out of our road atlas today. I have no idea how they got there, but I remember photocopying the article from [Proceedings and Addresses?] of the Pennsylvania German Society [early 1900s]. Since I don't have the whole article I can't give you the correct citation (shameful behavior for a librarian and I'm not sure I want to go into the stacks at OSUL to look for it). Anyway, it is fun to read.

#62. Abstain from all coarse, indecent habits or gestures in school, such as to stretch with the hands or the whole body from laziness; to eat fruit or other things in school; to lay your hand or arm upon your neighbor's shoulder, or under your head, or to lean you head forwards upon the table; to put your feet on the bench, or let them dangle or scrape; or to cross your legs over one another, or stretch them apart, or to spread them too wide in sitting or standing; to scratch your head; to play or pick with the fingers; to twist and turn the head forwards, backwards and sideways; to sit and sleep; to creep under the table or bench; to turn your back to your teacher; to change your clothes in school, and to show yourself restless in school.

#83. All indecent habits which, under Rule No. 62, you ought to avoid in school, much more ought you to avoid in church.

It's possible these are a translation or modification of the rules developed by Christopher Dock, and I'm guessing something similar is used by homeschoolers even today. For a good laugh, try googling the terms "rules of conduct for children" and just see the "suggestions" and "guidelines" and "appropriate behavior" you'll bring up. Things have changed a bit since the 18th century. Although here is a fairly stern one for a library.

711 New book reviewer link--Deborama

Deborama's book reviews is a new link I've added. Like me, Deborama actually has a number of different blogs because she is interested in so many things and just can't contain her enthusiasm. I like that! She describes her self as a "hot" 52 year old Minnesotan living in the UK, and that I can't verify. She could be a 13 year old from San Diego, and how would I know? She's just all over the map spiritually, so that page I'm not recommending--I settled that puzzle when I was 34 and don't wish to get mired down again. Seems to have an interest also in words and food. Me too.

710 What she loves about the South--especially Texas

Ambra collects a few of the things she likes about the South at her Nykola blog.

"Still I say, the South is the only place in all of America where a white person and a black person can sit down together at the same table and eat a bowl of grits. . . Sometimes I wish the South could come up North and teach classes. On the top of the docket of topics would be “How to open a door for a woman, How to say 'Ma'am' and 'Sir', How to say thank you, How to fry food, How to barbebque, How to worship God.”

In defense of the South, a region about which people generally have very few nice things to say, I’m going to re-run my list of things I love about Texas:

Chivalry

Everything’s big

Chapels in the airports

The presence of the following fast food chains: Chik-fil-A, Whataburger, Popeye’s, Sonic

White people who know how to barbeque and eat grits

Nice, friendly, and outgoing people

Christian bookstores within a 5 mile radius

Four bedroom, 3 bathroom, 2500 square ft. homes for sale at the sickeningly low price of $175,000 (you couldn’t even buy a 350 sq ft condo in Seattle for that price)

State pride.

Primetime television starts at 7:00 pm

Biscuits with everything."

Every state is different. When we moved to Columbus, Ohio from central Illinois the people and the weather seemed the same. However, during my first visit to downtown Columbus I noticed everyone smiled and said "Hello." I hadn't experienced that in Illinois, not even in much smaller towns. I'm not sure it's still that way, but it should be.

709 Lawyer was surprised

She was expecting a "vegetable," but instead Terri was sitting in her wheelchair, without tubes, making eye contact, showing understanding and expression. The lawyer, who'd never seen her before was surprised, having thought her family had perhaps been exaggerating her level of ability.

After a 45-minute visit Christmas Eve, attorney Barbara Weller concluded Schiavo was so alert that she "should have been gathered around the Christmas dinner table enjoying the holiday with her family."

Weller, along with attorney David Gibbs, took over the lead counsel role in September for Terri's parents, Robert and Mary Schindler, who are in a protracted legal battle with her husband, Michael Schiavo, to keep their daughter alive.

Full story here.

708 Woman defies belief, but not aging

A San Diego woman, Debra Scheufler, has filed a lawsuit saying she wants to make advertisers tell the truth about "age-defying" creams that don't live up to their claims. She filed a class action lawsuit in California against Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom and Estee Lauder for selling anti-aging creams that allegedly employ false advertising.

From the looks of this photo, she has a good case. She definitely has not been able to turn the clock back, but I’ve never heard of a single native speaker of English who thought “anti-aging” would really change her birth date. NBC San Diego story here. Maybe she has spent too much time in the sun?

Hand washing and physicians--the news isn't good

My husband has had a cold for a week, and so far, I don't have it. Mid-week I purchased some Purell antiseptic hand lotion, which air dries, leaves your hands soft and smells nice. He's carrying it around the house along with his Kleenex, Vicks, cough drops and cup of water. I follow him with a cleaner and paper towels. I'm not really a clean freak, but his colds run 7-10 days, and mine last 3 weeks.


Hand sanitizer

Here's a study from the Annals of Internal Medicine that will make you want to wipe down your doctor before s/he lays a hand on you.

"Doctors cleansed their hands 57% of the times that they should have. They cleansed hands most often when a hand-rub solution was easily available. They did not wash hands as often when they had busy workloads with many patient interactions and when they performed activities with high risks for spreading infections. These activities required cleansing hands immediately before examining patients or between examining different body sites on the same patient. Medical students and internists (internal medicine doctors) washed hands most often, whereas anesthesiologists, critical care physicians, and surgeons washed hands least often. Doctors who valued hand hygiene and considered themselves role models washed hands often."

It sort of suggests that the more money you make (older, more specialized), the less likely you are to wash your hands! This study sounds absolutely 19th century. The hand rub solutions cause fewer skin irritations and are more hygienic than soap and water scrubbing.

706 Babs on Barb

Babs, "Girl in Right," takes the blame and shame for Barbara Boxer in this funny post:

"So I admit it. I'm responsible for helping get both Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein into the Senate. I was young(ish) and busy, and thought "boy wouldn't it be great to have women Senators?". What an idiot. I've since realized that it's not important to have women Senators (doctors, lawyers, professors, etc.) unless they're good. Do you want to be on a flight piloted by a woman who got the job because they needed to fill their quota of skirts? How about a trauma patient in the ER?"

I recall all the times in the voting booth when I didn't recognize any of the names--judgeships, commissioners, etc.--so I'd pull the lever for a woman, figuring they couldn't do any worse. Last week we found out that these people, even though female, work their way up to being super-silly.

Babs is a new mommy with an adorable Russian toddler who looks a lot like John Kerry in his bunny suit.

705 Photos of the Relief Efforts at Navy Site

Sent by the American people

"Indonesian citizens are delighted as a U.S. Navy helicopter drops food, cookies and water to them at a village on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia. Helicopters assigned to Carrier Air Wing Two (CVW-2) and Sailors from USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) are supporting Operation Unified Assistance, the humanitarian operation effort in the wake of the Tsunami that struck South East Asia. The Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group is currently operating in the Indian Ocean off the waters of Indonesia and Thailand. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 3rd Class Jacob J. Kirk"

This site of over 19,000 photos by the Navy was pointed out by Doyle.

You can call it Operation Unified Assistance if you wish, but the box tells it all. I sure hope we don’t turn too much of this “coordination” over to the UN--there are lives to be saved.

704 College Tuition Hike

“With college costs running as high as $40,000 a year, House and Senate education committees have tuition control on their to-do lists.” Investor’s Business Daily.

“Tuitions are rising an average of seven percent to eight percent annually, at least twice as fast as overall inflation, according to the College Board, the New York-based organization best known for admissions tests like the SAT. (Only inflation in health-care costs surpasses that.)”

Well, not at Ohio State, it isn’t $40,000 a year. These writers must be planning on sending junior to Harvard or Yale. But even figuring inflation, costs are higher than when I started at Manchester College in the late 1950s. I think my costs were about $1,000 a year (and it was similar at the University of Illinois to which I transferred). That would calculate today at $6,797--and it is unlikely you could do that today, unless you lived at home and attended a regional campus. The costs at Manchester, seem to have increased much faster than a state school, coming in around $24,770 for tuition, fees, and room and board. Still, today’s college student and parent expect many more amenities and wouldn't live they way we did then.

703 A game of cats and mouse

These are the kittens of the librarian of the Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Library (what a mouthful!) at The Ohio State University.


Susan's kittens

Singing in the shower

When did I stop singing in the shower? Is it something you do only when young? Only before your soprano turns to a gravely tenor? Or is it when you forget your Russian? Yes, I used to sing folk songs about birch trees in the shower--sad songs of unrequited love, of soldiers dying, of birds flying away.

That memory was really buried deep until today when I read the following in “Birch Use in the Former Soviet Republics,” by Andriy Boyar, Agroborealis, Summer 2004 (University of Alaska, Fairbanks).

“In Central and Eastern European countries, as well as in Russian Siberia, one of these features [related to the environment] is the relationship of people to the birch tree. Birch forests are a truly distinguished characteristic of the Russian, Belorussian, and Ukrainian landscapes. They are of national pride. Hundreds of songs, legends and fairytales are devoted to birch. The Slavs learned to write and read using flat pieces of split birch bark when paper was unknown to them in early centuries. The beginning of spring is timed from the first appearance of birch leaves; the first spring month in the Ukraine is named Berezen, from the root word for birch.”

I had no idea that birch trees did anything other than whisper your lost love’s name in a very minor key or provide a backdrop for Soviet films. They have medicinal uses and the article includes a list of 28 ailments that birch helps, from gout to bronchitis to dandruff. The author provides relevancy for internet searches for these terms in both Russian and English and the method of using the birch product.

And birch beverages! Who knew? I think I’d heard of kvass, but didn’t know it was made from birch sap. Mr. Boyar provides a recipe in case you want to gather some birch sap this spring (I think it is more difficult than collecting maple syrup). Birch also has cosmetic uses for freckles, pimples, face masks, and oily skin. Birch branches are cleaning tools for sweeping yards and whipping the body in sauna. In rural households it is still used for lighting and heat. Ukrainians decorate with birch branches for Christian holidays and fishermen used to use it for fishing gear. Hail the amazing birch and the ingenious Slav.

There is a lot of research on the versatile birch going on in Alaska, and the previous issue of Agroborealis describes that. These files are pdf, in a nice readable format. Many libraries can catalog these free government agricultural and forestry journals for a local on-line collection so they will come up in a search. This involves staff availability, but if you request it, they may try to accommodate.

701 Today I was unprofessional

If you don't read another blog today, stop by and read "Today I was unprofessional" by Varifrank.

The room fell silent. My hindi friend then said quietly to the Euros:

"Can you let your hatred of George Bush end for just one minute? There are people dying! And what are your countries doing? Amazon.com has helped more than France has. You all have a role to play in the world, why can't you see that? Thank God for the US Navy, they dont have to come and help, but they are. They helped you once and you should all thank God they did. They didnt have to, and no one but them would have done so. I'm ashamed of you all..."

He left the room, shaking and in tears. The frustration of being on the other side of the globe, unable to do anything to assist and faced with people who could not set aside their asininity long enough to reach out and help was too much for him to bear. I just shook my head and left. The Euros stood speechless.

700 The Electoral Challenge

“Stranded on Blue islands,” Dirty Harry, a blogger who admits he is no court reporter, paraphrases DeLay at the Electoral Challenge this afternoon:

"This is a shame. This is noise not justice. This is the second day of the 109th Congress and Democrats immediately prove they've learned nothing by their loss. They've turned to the X-Files wing of the party. They're all about spite, conspiracy mongering, and stating the President himself had a secret computer to manipulate votes. This is an assault against the institution of our Democracy. The party that was once behind The New Deal, Civil Rights, Space Program now are out of ideas. Pre-election memos prove that the Democrat high command encouraged crying voter foul even if none occurred. This is a crime and not a victimless one. This is a direct attack to undermine our democracy and a constitutional election. It's likely Democrats will always cry foul even if there's no evidence in the future. Crying wolf. What happens if something actually happens? No one will listen. Democrats need to rise above this self destructive and yes, destructive behavior. They hurt the House and Senate and themselves. This petition is beneath us. Vote no, Get to the real work."

I saw only a few minutes of it on C-SPAN while visiting a woman in a nursing home. Her companion was convinced that the Saudis controlled all the voting machines in Ohio. It was best not to stay long.

699 Speaking of magazines

I don’t have a first issue of Redbook magazine to write about in my http://premiereissue.blogspot.com/ site, but I did read that it has reinvented itself as a couples magazine. It started years ago as a married woman’s magazine (with good fiction as I recall), then sort of lost its way in the 60s and 70s, and is now returning to its roots. Magazines are all about advertising, and apparently there is money in coupledom now.

According to Folio, a “redesign unveiled in February [2004] includes new sections such as Redbook Married Life and Redbook Busy Life.” A feature on marriage is promised each month, in addition to a story about marriage and sexuality. A few months back, the magazine added “My Life as a (New) Wife,” and “Love Lab,” where writers test popular romance advice to see what actually works. I’ve just checked the website, and if marriage were only about sex, this would be your magazine.

Another new magazine Conceive, the first-ever fertility magazine, was scheduled for May 2004, (although I never saw it) for the waiting rooms of OB/GYNs and a launch in September. It focuses on creating a family by whatever means it takes, including adoption. You won’t believe the web page--when you click on the egg (to enter the site) a little sperm dives in!

If magazines are truly all about advertising and they show trends, I wonder if this renewed interest in marriage and family might be an area for churches to consider--a route to evangelize. Our church has about 10 Sunday services, but I can’t recall a sermon on marriage. I suppose it might offend the divorced, widowed, or single people. But if there is a minivan in a woman’s future, she might be thinking of eternal security too. Having children is what got me thinking about God’s miracles.

Incidentally, if you’ve found this blog entry because you googled the words “sex” and/or “sperm,” just move on. Sorry to disappoint you, but this site’s not for you.

698 My New Yorker Subscription

The label says 15APR1805 which I hope is gobble-de-gook for sometime in mid-April this slip shod, yellow rag will stop coming through the mail slot. Several days ago a nice young man who is paid to invite me to re-up called and offered me another special. I told him "No, the magazine is an insult to anyone who isn't a left wing New Yorker," and should I go on. He sort of chuckled. Apparently, I wasn't the only one to give him an earful. He invited me to vent because, he said, they are supposed to get the subscribers' opinions.

It's not like I'd never read this magazine before subscribing. During the 90s, a friend passed hers along to me, and then I'd donate it to the Friends of the Library sale, so it had been recycled a few times before going to the dump. Now it goes direct--no stopping at the sale. I don't know what happened in the three years I didn't read it, but it is really worthless--unless you live in New York, donate to Move On Dot Org and read The Daily Kos for balanced and fair politics.

I'm only on page 8 of the January 10, 2005 issue. There is a cartoon of a little boy--maybe about 8 or 9--standing in front of a Mr. Milquetoast, WASPish type Dad, sitting in your basic suburban living room--lounge chair, end table with books, floor lamp, pictures on the wall, arched doorway, carpeted stairs to second floor, front door with privacy glass--you know the drill. Screams middleclass. The disgruntled kid looks at the floor and growls, "Unfortunately, the urine test counted for half of the grade." Whoopee. Now isn't that hilarious. Only in New York(er).

697 Andy Geiger to resign as OSU athletic director

He says it just isn't fun any more--the last two years, particularly those spent with Maurice Clarett's antics, have been full of problems.

I know just how you feel, Andy. My last year at work wasn't fun anymore, so I decided to retire. Every day was the same--regular meetings, ad hoc meetings, task force meetings, building committee meetings, lunch meetings, breakfast meetings, search committee meetings, skills upgrade meetings, sensitivity training meetings and appointments with the doctor. Get out with your dignity, Andy.

Mr. Geiger and I could possibly be related, I suppose. I have seen him in the coffee shop, but thought bringing up genealogy to a total stranger might be pushy. Martin Weybright III married Mary Elizabeth Geiger back in the 1780s. Their son Jacob was my great, great grandfather. Martin III and Jacob were both born in the Lancaster, PA area, as was Mary Elizabeth, but pioneered in Montgomery County, Ohio area in the early 19th century. All were members of the Brethren (now Church of the Brethren).

696 How to really help the Tsunami victims

Maimonides, the medieval Jewish sage wrote that the highest of the eight levels of charity was strengthening the name or hand of the poor brother or person with a loan or going into business with him because then his dignity is preserved and he isn’t beholden to you. Dr. Meir Tamari writes on this topic at My Jewish Learning.

Today’s WSJ opinion page has an article and an eye-popping chart about how tariffs discriminate against third world countries. Sri Lanka, one of the hardest hit by the tsunami, was paying $249.2 million (mostly garment industry), but the Scandanavian countries with 12 times more exports to the USA paid only 227 million.

The duty rate on products from “rich” European countries is about 1% while the average rate on Sri Lankan goods is over 16%, according to this editorial. The author suggests that when Bill Frist gets back home, he bring up the idea that the best aid may be “strengthening the hand” rather than providing more gifts and aid.

695 Do banks send e-mail?

One of my e-mail addresses--from OSU--is nothing but a spam dump (don't ever use my bruce dot six address). I must get 30-40 spam a day. I missed a message from my bookclub last week because I was slogging my way through 3,000 spam + 10 messages using delete and probably missed it. Because the OSU e-mail address was used with so many listservs, and they are archived on the internet (isn't it wonderful to be able to go back and read the off hand, stupid remarks you made in 1996?), that address is easy pickens. Other universities have managed to corral that problem, but not OSU.

Yesterday there was an "e-mail" from "my" bank, so of course I deleted it without opening. Maddie Dog has a warning posted at the blog Where's your Brain:

"WARNING: I see that people are still clicking on email links that appear to be from banks or the like. DON'T do it! No bank will ever tell you to click their links in an email and submit passwords or user names. If in doubt, open a new browser and go to your bank directly. Delete all such emails no matter how official they may look!"

694 Thanks, but no thanks

I'll drink the glass of red wine occasionally to help my heart, but don't ask me to eat Indian cuisine for my memory.

"The pigment that gives curry spice its yellow hue may also be able to break up the "plaques" that mark the brains of Alzheimer's disease patients, early research suggests."

Pejman refers us to this article on promising research.

693 Buckeyes on Parade

"The Ohio State University Marching Band has been invited to officially represent the state of Ohio in the 2005 Presidential Inaugural Parade for President George W. Bush on Jan. 20, and will perform "Beautiful Ohio" as it passes the reviewing stand. The trip marks the band's fourth Presidential Inaugural Parade appearance. The group also was selected to march in the 2001 parade that celebrated President Bush's first inauguration.

"We are very excited about returning to Washington, D.C., to march in the parade," said Jon Woods, marching band director. "We consider it an honor to be selected. It is a privilege to play for the President of the United States and to represent the state of Ohio."

The Ohio State Marching Band is the world's largest all-brass and percussion marching band. The band is known for its precision marching and military-style uniforms. It is composed of 225 playing members and a drum major. In addition to "Beautiful Ohio," the band will play "Across the Field," "I Wanna Go Back to Ohio State" and "The Buckeye Battle Cry." "

Story from OSU Today.

692 Photo Op

If this were a photo of the President on the flight deck, oh what a controversy we would have.

Seen at "Best of the Web."

Colds and flu and other viruses

A story in the paper yesterday listed a T/F quiz about what to do if a co-worker showed up at work to share your office and work station with a bad cold. First correct answer was wash your hands frequently; second was report it to your supervisor. Homicide was the wrong response.

At the Veterinary library our materials were on occasion returned with blood, guts, semen and vomit, and almost always human viruses. We really weren't in that much danger from the zoonotics, but a sick patron could infect and reinfect my staff. We had a roll of paper towels and cleaner handy, and a box of kleenex for patrons at the circ desk. Viruses can live a long time on hard surfaces like counter tops, door handles, and books returned with fingers that just swiped a runny nose. When kids are going into debt for higher education, they don't stay home to nurse a cold. Even if you have to buy these supplies out of your own pocket, it is worth it.

Viruses can live up to 48 hours on surfaces, but it might be a week before you show any symptoms, so just wash your hands frequently anyway. Carry "Wet Ones" or other wipes with you, or if you work in a library or office, hand them out to your staff to use when they can't get to a wash room.

"Passing the Peace" at church is also a problem. Carry some hand wipes in your purse or pocket, rather than worry that you've touched the hand that touched the hand that touched the door knob, etc. My husband is an usher and he's going to suggest to his team leader that they pass them out with the bulletins or at least have them available for people who want them.

Is it a cold or flu; airborne or surface; here's the scoop.