2055 Unintended consequences--loan fund opens a can of worms

When Ohio legislators set up a Research and Development Investment Loan Fund the purpose was "to position Ohio to compete aggressively for private-sector R&D investments that will create high-wage jobs; . . . to target large investments from companies with significant assets and sales; . . . to aggressively pursue research and development operations and facilities and to fund the cost of capital purchases. Assistance from the State would be in the form of a low-interest loan, partnered with a tax credit." We Ohioans were told we'd be country bumpkins if we didn't get on the technology bandwagon.

When Donato's Pizza, a small fast food pizza chain based in Ohio (yes, high tech, high wage paying pizza) tried to get some of that R & D money last year to develop a different kind of dough for the crust, they were turned down. So Donato's hired a lobbyist (with ties to the state house) who apparently convinced our legislators that because pizza flour is made from wheat, and wheat is an agricultural product, and Ohio is heavily agricultural, and it is "food science," AND TWENTY-FIVE new jobs may be in the works if Donato's qualifies for this loan, and MAYBE (but no promises) Donato's will expand their franchise in Ohio . . .etc., etc.

"The same request by Donatos for a $2.9 million low-interest loan that lawmakers turned away in October will be back Monday before the state Controlling Board. This time, Donatos is expected to win easy approval from the legislative spending-oversight panel.

The company wants the 10-year, 2 percent loan to help pay for a $4.6 million expansion of its operations in Gahanna. The renovations and new equipment would help it develop a pizza dough that rises in one day instead of three, according to state documents." Columbus Dispatch, Jan. 20, 2005

It would seem that Ohio legislators have learned nothing from our retirement fund coin scandal, the golf ethics charges for our Republican Governor who ranks 50th out of 50, and ties to the Abramoff lobbyist fiasco.

Politics. Doesn't it just drive you crazy?

2054 Procrastination Tip

Procrastination isn't my biggest problem, but I've been known to find the Christmas tablecloth in the clothes basket in July. Right now I'm kicking a grocery sack I filled when I cleaned my office in November. These are NOT trash items, but just things removed from the surface so that the room looked nice for Thanksgiving. Now I'm sort of wondering what's in it since I haven't missed anything.

The other day, reading a right brained blog (artistic), I came across the book Organizing from the Right Side of the Brain by Lee Silber. Since we had just reorganized our art studio, laundry room, storage room and furnace room, I thought I'd take a peek and see if we'd done anything right. Our local library couldn't find its copy, and couldn't find a location to loan it (that's a whole other story to be shared only with fellow librarians). But my friend Adrienne (also a librarian) found a copy in the Worthington Public Library, and today her nice husband handed it to me at the coffee shop. I have only looked at the title page and table of contents (no index), but I did see one little after thought on the last page of text that I thought was excellent if you're having trouble getting started (procrastinating as we call it) on a task:

"I put my favorite song on the stereo and make the goal of organizing the length of the song. Of course, once I start I continue because starting can be the hardest part--especially when something feels overwhelming." Jill Baldwin Badonsky, Creativity Coach.

I have a tape player and a Cynthia Clawson tape in the laundry room. This might work with the ironing.

2053 I've been tagged

Checking my e-mail this morning, I discovered that I'd been tagged by Randy Kirk. He has just celebrated his one year blogiversary, and writes that this occasion gives him the right to make up his own meme, and tag five regulars to his site. He’s thought about this question for a long time, and here it is:

The question is: What are the first five things you want to ask Jesus when you get to heaven?

1. It’s so obvious when I looked around my earthly home, that you are a master artist. Is it the fallen world that makes so many of us visually and artistically challenged and impairs our thought closing our eyes to the beauty?

2. Where are you keeping all our pets and how soon can we get together? It must be like Noah’s Ark around here because my pastor says that if heaven is to be perfect and have no sorrow, and that includes our pet, she’ll be here.

3. Did you really care about how we baptized? As you well know (since you were there when I went under in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit), I grew up Anabaptist, and spent over 30 years as a Lutheran--so I‘ve heard just about every imaginable sermon on this topic in my life time of pew sitting. And they were all convinced they were doing it your way!

4. Why didn’t you come back sooner? If you were waiting until I witnessed to a particular unbeliever you put in my path, will you let me know who she was?

5. Although I think I understand free will, could you just lay out for me, touching the highlights of history since I know others have questions and you are quite busy, what you had in mind? All that killing and disaster, hate and envy, incest and adultery, abuse and anger, disrespect and gossip, emptiness and loneliness--I tell you Jesus, it’s enough to make me fall on my knees and say, Save Me!

Thanks, Randy, for selecting me for your very own meme.

Now I’m Tagging Hokulea, Vox Lauri, Daddy’s Roses, Vinni, and Sherry. But you are welcome to add your comments here.

2051 Living with the dead

Pastor Petersen writes: "I feel very close to those I've buried, often closer than I do to those I've married or confirmed or baptized. It is a great honor and privilege to confess on behalf of the dead, to evangelize in their name, and to comfort those who mourn for them. I think about them a lot, am always aware of them. I don't really mourn for many of them, not like their families anyway. For it has not yet been my mother or father, my wife or my child who is dead. But I do commune with them, and I do remember them, all of them. For I've spoken for them, I've witnessed to what they now behold and the reward they now enjoy, and that creates a bond that goes beyond the boundaries of this life."

Is the Oscars award ceremony doomed to have shrinking audiences each year?

This was a question dated today from an on-line newsletter I receive, so I thought they really wanted my input. I clicked over to the polling site, and got the message that the poll was closed; and thank you for your participation. I was going to say that if Hollywood ever produced a movie worth seeing (worth $6, the horribly loud sound system, the bad language, and no roles for women over 45), well, sure, I might watch the awards. But if I wouldn't watch Chris Rock, why would I watch Jon Stewart?

2049 Tips and Clips from columnists and the news

Lots of interesting topics in the news--I'll check around for links, although even if on-line, they might not be accessible. These are slightly altered or paraphrased (some columnists get a tad heavy on the adverbs and adjectives).

"For those who have longed to go to movies that are uplifting, End of the Spear is one of the best. It is about forgiveness and reconciliation. The Waodani (an Ecuadorian tribe) at first refused to cooperate in the retelling of their past. Then they learned of the violence in American culture and agreed to the film to help us change." Cal Thomas. http://www.everytribe.com website for the movie.

"Organized labor, having tried and failed to unionize Wal-Mart's employees, has turned to organizing state legislators." George F. Will, on Maryland's legislative mugging and social engineering. Their hate for Wal-Mart hurts Maryland's poor and low income by limiting their choices of jobs and reasonably priced products. And if you've ever driven through western Maryland, you'll see that this will be a hardship.

"Most European countries have seen an increase in greenhouse gas emission since signing Kyoto in 1997." WSJ editorial, Jan. 19, 2006. It goes on to say that despite our industrial growth, emissions in the USA have actually declined (slightly). Something like 15 out of 17 European signers are going to miss their targets. Unfortunately, there has been no reduction in hot air by the liberals.

"The battle over wiretaps isn't a legal issue, it is a political issue between Congress and the White House over supremacy on matters of national security." WSJ editorial, Jan. 19, 2006, "Highwire Tap Act." Points out the really bad knowledge of constitutional law the current lawsuits are based on.

When reading a timeline about progress for women in Scholastic's Monthly magazine, I was surprised to see instant macaroni and cheese (1937) and the dishwasher (1949) listed right along with the sewing machine (1833), which truly did make a stunning difference in women's lives. Vol.55,no.5, Feb. 2003. The shallowness of knowledge about women displayed on the chart makes me wonder about the literary accomplishments it included.

2048 Who's eating my take-out?

Every time there's a survey on what Americans are eating or drinking, I always wonder who's eating mine? "Americans are now more likely to take out food from a restaurant than to eat on-site (NPD, 2005a). In 2005, Americans ate 80 meals per person at restaurants, down from 93 in 1985,
and took home 57 restaurant meals per person, up from 33 meals 20 years ago. Americans carried 27 restaurant meals to work this year, vs 23 in 1985." Food Technology. I'm eating about 60 meals a year in restaurants and perhaps 12 take out. Unless they count morning coffee, then I'm over 300, but I'm guessing that isn't in this figure.

OK. OK. So we did have a pizza from Iaccono's tonight, but it was the first time in three weeks we had a take out meal. And I'm sure they don't count the half a sandwich I bring home on Friday nights from our date night at a sports bar. But we Americans are fixing fewer meals at home, which may account for the increasing acceptance of overweight people. They's us. Pizza is the third most popular take-out and restaurant food in America, and french fries are number one for women and children (hamburgers for men) for restaurant food.

This one surprised me--I don't think I see it in Columbus: "Today, there are more Chinese restaurants in the U.S. than McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and Burger King outlets combined (NAD, 2005). Young consumers dramatically favor ethnic foods. While families with kids under age 12 account for 34% of total dollars spent on foods and beverages, they account for 52% of dollars spent on Mexican foods. And, to a lesser extent than Hispanic foods, a similar trend exists with Asian foods (Lempert, 2005)."

It is a well documented, fact filled report in a reliable journal.

2047 Brand new baby blogger

Bona is a brand new blogger at My Passions, and is excited about everything, especially finding a new way to communicate her passions. Stop by and welcome her to the blogosphere as she learns the ins and outs of blogging.

2046 Oprah needs a session with Dr. Phil

says WaPo columnist Richard Cohen. Others are calling James Frey’s “memoirs,” A Thousand Little Lies. When you stretch a three hour prison visit waiting for a friend into a three month prison sentence, I’d say that’s a bit elastic for a definition of non-fiction, even by Mary Mapes standards for her wannabe National Guard story. It isn’t even “truthiness,” whatever that is, because everything that occurred during that three months just didn’t. Here’s a link to Cohen’s column, although because of my registration cookies, I don’t know if you see what I see. Sort of like Oprah’s judgment, innit?

“A mention of anything on her show will make a millionaire out of a pauper or, in the case of a writer such as the Frey the Fibber, a bestseller of undreamed proportions. The man became famous and rich on account of Oprah -- and, or so we all seem to believe, happy as well“

“The Smoking Gun Web site found out, for instance, that Frey had not spent three months in jail, as he wrote, but maybe a couple of hours or so waiting for a friend to post bond. His account of his stay in a treatment facility is questionable, as is his involvement in a train-car collision that took the lives of two teenage girls. These are not, as Frey keeps claiming, the usual tussle we all have between memory and fact, but veering departures from fact into fiction.”

“In this vast corporation [Doubleday, the publisher], there seemed to be no one who knew the difference between fact and fiction, truth and a lie. (Fiction packaged as fact is a lie.) Doubleday did not seem even a tad embarrassed that it had been snookered, that it had lent its considerable name and reputation -- built on the hard work of many an honest writer -- to a sham.”

The Smoking Gun website provides a fascinating read, especially since much of this was supposed to have happened in Ohio.

James Frey
Oprah

2045 A huge thank-you

to my cousin Connie in Florida who sent me her family memoirs on DVD prepared by her niece. How wonderful to see all her parents' old family movies converted to a modern medium with voice overs looking back over 60 years. Connie and her sisters reminisced about their parents, the homes they lived in, their schools, the town where we all grew up, the parks we knew, the church we attended and especially their mother's sewing and handiwork. I think you could fill a small museum with my aunt's sewing, knitting, crochet, handmade dolls and animals and craft projects. It just blew me away. Another segment on the DVD had Connie's father and two of his sisters (my grandmother's siblings) retelling the old family stories they remembered.

Connie's grandmother was my great-grandmother, so it was a surprise to see great-grandma moving quickly, slender and straight, smiling at the camera from the late 1930s. My aunt did a wonderful job of capturing her husband's family in natural settings, walking in and out of the house, or getting together for picnics and family dinners, sitting together in lawn chairs laughing and talking. She had a good eye and a steady hand. My aunt took movies over the years of her daughters' school classes, so I recognized many old acquaintances from home--but in the years before I knew them. I saw the old gradeschool and playground with huge trees in a town that no longer has a school. I even saw my own sisters smiling back at me before the time I have any memory of them.

If you have old fading family movies or slides from your childhood, and a few relatives around who remember what they are about, get them to someone who can preserve them (the film, not the people), before the medium and the memories are lost forever.

home movies
family memoirs

2044 Women and Losers

This could have been a Thursday 13, because these all appeared in one recent Dear Abby column, and it worked out to 13 items. How do needy women find these losers? I'm guessing she knew he was drinking too much and was abusive before she married him--they were probably living together--maybe even made a few babies. Did she think he would change? Did she think marriage was magic? That a creep was better than nobody? Here's the list. I can't figure it out.

1. She married at 23, now is 30.

2. She has 3 children, one from a previous “relationship.”

3. Husband can’t hold a job.

4. He was fired for a bad attitude and harassing women.

5. He’s addicted to alcohol and weed.

6. He wants her to participate (she doesn’t say she doesn’t).

7. He calls her 15 times a day or instant messages her.

8. He accuses her of cheating if she doesn’t respond.

9. He slaps her.

10. He has grabbed her by the throat.

11. He verbally abuses her.

12. He treats her oldest child (by the other man) abusively.

13. She has no friends or family.

Dear Abby says: Get some help. Call 1-800-799-7233.

2043 Exercise and Alzheimer's

My husband called this to my attention on the news last night. He is a participant and fill-in instructor in an aerobics class where he is the only guy. The ladies love him--and they've seen him at his worst. But he brings them flowers on Valentine's Day and had t-shirts made for them.

Anyway, back to the story: "Routine exercise, even as simple as a 15-minute walk three times a week, can help ward off dementia and related conditions among those 65 and older, according to a study published on Monday.

Exercise may help by improving brain function since it boosts blood flow to areas of the brain used for memory, according to the chief author of the study, Eric Larson, director of the Group Health Cooperative Center for Health Studies in Seattle. . .

The six-year study involved 1,740 people age 65 and older. It found that those who exercised three or more times a week had up to a 40 percent lower risk for developing dementia compared with those who exercised fewer than three times per week."

2042 The seven deadly sins

Judy and I had coffee at Panera's this morning and somehow got on the topic of the seven deadly sins. We could only name four: greed (I think that's how we got started talking about it--corporate greed), sloth, lust and gluttony. We racked our brains and couldn't come up with the other three. I told her I'd check Google, but then forgot when I was at home. Later in the day I was at the public library looking for a book they said was "lost" (usually that means misshelved). Before leaving, I wandered over to the area where Friends of the Library has its perpetual book sale. I looked through a few magazines on the shelves and before turning to leave my eye wandered to a box on the floor. The magazine cover on top was the September 2005 Johns Hopkins and read, "The 7 deadly sins and why they are not always so bad."

As it turns out, the other three are pride, envy and anger, and what we called greed is referred to as avarice. The opening statement says that over the centuries, the seven deadly sins have changed some. Each sin has its own article. But I did notice that the avarice article was about greedy CEOs. I'm guessing Howard Stern's salary with Sirius exceeds most CEOs who are actually contributing something to the business and society besides 4 letter words, don't you think?

seven deadly sins
Howard Stern

2041 The American emergency health system

as explained to an EMT in the UK appears in the comments of Random Acts of Reality, the blog of an EMT. The blog started with a recruiting video for EMTs in the USA, and the Brits were wondering if that's the way it really was, and someone made a remark that the injured would need his credit card to get into the ER. That's where the American EMT jumped in with what I think is one of the best overviews I've heard of emergency care, how it is provided, its speed, and how it is paid for.

"I've never worked a shooting that came from a legally owned gun. From what I've heard, while guns are illegal in England, illegal guns are still available if you know where to look. I've never had a paramedic or EMT shot. Any scenes that sound dangerous automatically have a police car sent to secure the scene before ambulance crew are let in."

"At no point during emergency treatment is a patient asked if they can afford to pay. They may be asked if they have insurance, and what kind if it isn't urgent, as the ambulance crew knows that somewhere down the line the patient will have to pay, and insurance companies may pay more of the bill if the patient is at the "right" hospital. That is waived in a true emergency, and they are taken to the nearest facility that will handle them. Every hospital in the country must post signs either in the ER waiting or triage rooms informing patients that they have a right to medical treatment, regardless of their ability to pay."

". . . the poor recieve medical insurance from state and national programs. Because there is a charge (but usually little or no enforcement) for an ambulance, people tend to call more for true emergencies, and maternataxis are rare (unless you count complications). I have never in my life sent or recieved an ambulance that took more than 6 minutes."

"While it would be nice for everyone to have full and complete (including preventative) care, I prefer knowing that I can always have access to an ambulance in an emergency, that it will usually get there within 4 minutes (the magic time they tell us that it takes a major artery cut to bleed to death), even if it takes me a year to pay it off later. I like knowing that we can prosecute people who purposely fake calls."

"Once a year, many local hospitals and other groups sponsor "health fairs", where for as little as $5-10 US (or less if you qualify for low-income assistance, or have insurance which prefers to pay the lower bulk cost for these tests), you can have a full physical, including a blood draw which scans for 50+ different indicators, and your results are given back to you with directions on who to follow up with."

The UK EMTs were polite and thanked him for the information--most of which they didn't know, and most Americans don't either, unless they know someone who works in the ER.

2040 A letter from home

Capt B, one Marine's view in Iraq, describes what it is like to get a letter from home.

"But what I will tell you about is the smell inside an envelope from home. Where you can actually smell some of the things that were there when the letter was written. You can close your eyes and recognize the smell of the familiar little one who wrote you the letter. You can pick up on familiar surrounding’s like the pledge cleaner that was used on the table where the letter was written on or remember where the flowers are in your home that are neatly placed and accompany your letter. The smell of the room where the letter was written in cuts through the familiar burning tire trash smell you’re currently surrounded in. It’s a nice treat to get mail regardless who it is from. You get the letter here in a country that doesn’t even have a mail system. It might have been a week old which is better than past wars where it could have been months before you received a piece of mail, it’s a special piece of home."

2039 A silly meme for Monday

I saw this at Eamonn Fitzgerald's Rainy Day.

1. My uncle once: served bravely in WWII, but died in the CBI theater due to someone else's stupidity.

2. Never in my life: have I lost a permanent tooth, but the crowns are increasing. I even have my wisdom teeth.

3. When I was five: I attended kindergarten in Alameda, CA.

4. High School is: where I learned most of what I know of useful, lifelong skills, especially typing and playing trombone.

5. My parents are: (were) honest, hard working, loyal, disciplined, and they stayed married over 65 years despite one being a Republican and one a Democrat.

6. I once met: Michael Jackson in a hotel in Columbus, OH. He was such a cute little boy. He probably doesn't remember.

7. There's this girl I know who: wears blue lipstick to look different and "with it" but looks like a corpse. Considering the number of dead people in the world, that's not terribly original.

8. Once, at a bar: (last Friday night, in fact) I saw about 20 women gather for an after work party squeezing around two of those round tall tables.

9. Last night: my daughter dropped by after borrowing our SUV so her husband could deliver her new washing machine.

10. Next time I go to church: I will hear a sermon on glorification, according to the schedule announced eariler.

11. When I turn my head left, I see: flashes of light that aren't there. It's called po- post- something I've forgotten, but it happens.

12. When I turn my head right, I see: my books, family photos, phone, TV and cd player.

13. How many days until my birthday?: You mean there's more?

14. If I was a character written by Shakespeare I'd be: someone's mother.

15. By this time next year: I hope I've visited Finland and Russia.

16. A better name for me would be: In Latin my name means pattern or model, which I translate to mean "follow his woman, she's never wrong," so why would I change it?

17. I have a hard time understanding: why people enjoy being late. They are perceived as rude, not important, which I think is their goal.

18. If I ever go back to school I: would be an artist.

19. You know I like you if: I want to hang out with you on Friday nights.

20. If I won an award, the first person I'd thank would be: my parents.

21. Take my advice: always.

22. My ideal breakfast is: an apple--Braeburn, but Honey Crisp when they are in season, quartered then sliced into about 12 pieces, with the skin on.

23. If you visit my hometown: you won't see much, but it has an interesting history in printing and publishing.

24. Why won't someone: find a good rest home for Teddy Kennedy.

25. If you spend the night at my house: I'll put out fresh towels and change the sheets in the guest bedroom.

26. I'd stop my wedding: if the groom didn't show up.

27. The world could do without: one more salty, crispy snack food high in fat and calories.

28. I'd rather lick the belly of a cockroach than: watch a film made by Michael Moore. (I used Eamonn's here--sounded perfect)

29. Paper clips are more useful than: i-Pods. (the keyword being "useful")

30. If I do anything well, it is: blogging frequently.

31. And by the way: I have 6 other blogs for you to visit. One isn't on blogspot.

I won't tag you but this is fun to do as quickly as you can with the first thing that comes to mind.

2038 Homeless--can we find a better word?

Dr. Helen addresses the topic of homelessness in this post. She comments on what I've often thought--not having a "home" really isn't the problem, is it? It's as though (in their bleeding hearts) if someone stepped up and paid the rent, it would all go away. I remember when the do-gooders put the mentally ill and retarded on the street in the 70s (with a temporary stop in group homes or half-way houses). I remember talking at church one day with a former pastor who was so excited that the blind, deaf and retarded people (i.e., they had all three disabilities) he worked with were finally going to have their "right" to live in society:

"No, it is not a "war" against the homeless. It is poor forethought and planning for the homeless when good Samaritans opened the mental institutions and turned the mentally ill out onto the streets--a large portion of the homeless are mentally ill-in some studies up to 50%. In addition, the gentrification of downtowns by urban yuppies and city planners caused a rush of condeming, closing or knocking down Single Room Occupancy Housing (SRO) which was devastating to the poor who lived in cheap housing. For example, in New York City in 1960, there were 640,000 people living in SRO's and rooming houses and by 1990, there were only 137,000. No wonder there are so many homeless there." Dr. Helen

2037 Bits of metal and plastic in my life

My life has been falling apart. A few days before Christmas one of the kitchen cabinet doors swung open 90 degrees--all by itself, and wouldn't close. We don't know if the house settled after 30 years, or what happened. To keep it closed, I tied a piece of dental floss around the knob and tied it to the coffee carafe thermos which I pushed under the cabinet next to the wall. The weight of the carafe would hold the door shut, but if I would forget and open the door quickly, the carafe would go swinging into the air and smack me, or knock something on the floor. So I attached a bright orange sticky to the dental floss so I could see it. Would you believe that you can get used to dental floss and orange paper dangling from your cabinets and not even notice them after awhile?

Then on Christmas Eve, one of my molars broke in half during my nice family dinner and I apparently swallowed it. The old filling held. Of course, it was a 3 day holiday, so it was Dec. 30 before I got into the dentist's chair, got the old filling removed, and a temporary to cover it until I got the "real temporary" crown today. And of course, I had to start all over on my dental deductible because now it is 2006. Some of my fillings are older than my dentist, so I think we'll be having this conversation often.

Then Friday night about 9 p.m. my glasses fell in my lap. A part had fallen off. I found my 2003 glasses (by feeling) which will work in a pinch and hoped the optometrist's office was open on Saturday.

As of this moment, we have fixed the cabinet door by putting a stick-on magnet on the trim piece and building up the screw on the back side of the handle with a small washer so it will connect with the magnet; today I got a very shiny, bright temporary crown and will get the porcelain crown in two weeks--but the sun is shining (as it will do 37% of the days in Ohio) and I'll blind you if I smile; and Saturday morning the optometrist's staff was able to fix my glasses in about two minutes.

For now, we are pasted and patched back together.

2036 My librarian's hat

Let me pause here to put on my librarian's hat. If you want to check further than internet rehash of the story on paternal age and genetic diseases (my blog 2034), or any medical story for that matter, there are a number of medical journals that have free text online, where you can get the whole story plus the references. This story, for instance goes all the way back to the 1950s when they first suspected the sperm and age of the father were involved in defects.

However, you might see this:

Only to click on it and see this: This item is restricted. Subscribers have full text access and guests have some free access. SIGN IN or see below for access options.

Well, be sure to scroll down to look at your options. JAMA and all its other journal archives are free AFTER a year. So it is worth your while to register so you can take advantage. I can go on-line at Ohio State as faculty emeritus, however, this option actually is easier with a "remember me" option. You may not have access to a university or large public library that carries this, but now you can look at them anyway.

Some journal registrations are a pain in the rear, but JAMA's wasn't too bad.

2035 Republicans may disagree

but I think it is time to get the TV cameras out of the judicial hearing rooms. Yes, I know you love to see Democrats making fools of themselves, but it is an embarrassment for all of us. That Kennedy/Biden dog and pony show. Yuk. Would any of that have happened without the opportunity for camera face time? Supporters of the candidate (of either party) posture and preen and try to make him/her look like God's gift to our Constitution, and the opposition refuses to look at his/her record and instead drone on about the nanny's grandmother's history and high school fraternities. Somewhere I read that only 14% of the nation watched--I think that is a stretch unless you're counting click throughs.

Peggy Noonan actually found Biden endearing! "The great thing about Joe Biden during the Alito hearings, the reason he is, to me, actually endearing, is that as he speaks, as he goes on and on and spins his long statements, hypotheticals, and free associations--as he demonstrates yet again, as he did in the Roberts hearings and even the Thomas hearings, that he is incapable of staying on the river of a thought, and is constantly lured down tributaries from which he can never quite work his way back--you can see him batting the little paddles of his mind against the weeds, trying desperately to return to the river but not remembering where it is, or where it was going. I love him. He's human, like a garrulous uncle after a drink."

Sounds like she's looking for a paddle on the same river of thought.

2034 Society won't want to hear this

For years we've known the dangers of older women and pregnancy, and now it appears the older father presents it's own set of problems--genetic.

"There are now approximately 20 different disorders that are correlated with paternal age. . . The risk of having a child who later develops schizophrenia is about 1 in 110 when a father is age 40--similar to a 40 year old woman's risk of having a child with Down's Syndrome." JAMA v.291,no.14(2004):1683-1685

An interview with Dr. Dolores Malaspina who has done extensive research on paternal genetic birth defects in Medscape.com. In the US, the age of the father is often not even recorded, but Israel, where she has done her research, has more detailed information in birth registries.

schizophrenia

2033 Win a prize from Cordelya

Cordelya's blog turned up on the new member list of Homespun bloggers this week, so I took a look. She likes to pose questions. This week she is talking about "lifehacks," or those techniques that reduce life's problems or chaos. Here's her proposal.

What is your best lifehack? Blog about it, tell me about it, and pass it on, and you might be the lucky person to receive a $15 iTunes e-certificate. Here's what you do:

Write a blog/journal entry about your best lifehack
Include the following little snippet of code in your entry:
Cordelya wants to know your best lifehack, and she's giving away a $15 iTunes e-certificate to a random contributor. Find out how to enter here.

Connect your entry to this entry by trackback if you have that capability, or post a comment on this entry with a link back to your entry so I can go read it.

So rather than make a separate entry (I don't even know what an iTune is so doubt that I need the certificate), I'll just pass along my tip (lifehack) for budgeting your way out of a financial mess: tithe your income to your church or synagogue. I don't know anyone who does that who can't make the month meet the bills. I don't know if it is a spiritual principle, or if it is you just have nothing left over for foolishness and thus develop good spending habits, but it works.

However, I did read in the WSJ the other day about a program called "Individual Development Accounts" which have helped the poor buy homes, start businesses and save for college. In two of the examples, the poor people in the program found money to invest by--are you ready for this--giving up cable TV, manicures, and cell phone. I love it. Only in America!

2032 Serves Twelve--or two if you're lucky

The weather has turned cold again in Ohio after several days of balmy 60s. Yesterday the wind blowing across the sipping hole in my Caribou cup played the Buckeye Fight Song.

So it is time to think about comfort food--Bread Pudding. Here's my blog about my search for the perfect recipe from last January. I'm going to go check the frig and pantry and see if I have the ingredients.

bread pudding

2031 Would more aid change things?

"Under President George W. Bush, America has dou­bled its development assistance to $19 billion in 2004, including tripling its assistance to sub-Saharan Africa since 2000. It has expanded access to the U.S. market through the African Growth and Opportuni­ties Act. The U.S. is the world’s largest humanitarian aid donor, providing $3.3 billion in 2003. The U.S. is the world’s largest source of bilateral and multilateral support to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other infectious diseases, including $2.4 billion in interna­tional HIV/AIDS programs.[2]

Yet the U.S. is often criticized for not providing enough resources for development. The basis for this criticism is the theory that if only aid flows increased, developing countries would achieve economic growth and development. Economic analysis and the histori­cal record do not support this reasoning."

Calls for a new "Marshall Plan" over look the fact that sub-Saharan Africa has received a Marshall Plan several times over. Some third of the countries receiving regular aid since the 1960s have actually gone backward. "To put this in perspective, if all of the aid spent over those four decades were gathered together in today’s dollars and simply handed out to the 719 million people of sub-Saharan Africa, per capita GDP would increase by over $756— more than doubling its current per capita GDP."

Read this for the history of development aid, and the new proposal for a challenge account.

2030 Marine says they're winning

There’s an interview at Blackfive with a proud Marine, Capt B, you’ll not want to miss. Not only does he think his job is great, he’s got some heart touching stories about the work he does, like sharing a Pepsi with a little Iraqi girl. But the closer is the best:

What message, ignored or downplayed by the MSM, about our role in Iraq do you think it is most important for the American people to hear?

WOW, well its actually very simple but is the focus point for both the supporters and anti supporters of the war. We are winning and doing a just thing here. We are so close to this thing taking off on its own and the Iraqi people taking the reins. I wouldn’t be surprised if it didn’t happen in the next year. For example the other day in Ramadi, a suicide vest attacker blew himself up in the crowed and although wounding and killing numerous Iraqi’s and Coalition service members, they simply got back in line to be accepted in the service. That wouldn’t have happened a year ago. They would have fled and we would be back to the drawing board. You got to war a chance and with the kick butt support I’ve seen from the American people we will wrap this thing up and get the hell outa dodge, but only when its time to.

2029 Daniel Henninger the Wordsmith

He's a male Ann Coulter. I swear. "Reasonable people can disagree on the views of these conservative jurists, but first we need reasonable people." The word list for the hearings:

Kennedy: Grand hulk, ranting, tilting his Princeton windmill

Biden: magical mystery tours of his life

Feinstein: reciting staff written questions she didn't understand

Schumer: going no where with a mother-in-law story

Graham: puckish

Democrats: exhausted and befuddled, flat-lined, hostage taking, scorched earth politics, laugh track, incoherent

tactics: borking, ranting, smears, moral punctiliousness

hearings: Roman circus, judicial filabuster with the nuclear option, contest with propaganda, same swamp (as the Rehnquist confirmation hearings)

left wing opposition groups: frustrated

Alito: largest presence, mental firepower, thoughtful remarks, discussing law which puts Democrats on unfamiliar ground.

Alito hearings

$38.00 per gallon

for coffee makes gasoline look cheap.

This is from Blogger Boy at HIStalk, a blog about health care information technology. In this guest article, the writer is talking about the expenses of a vendor at a health information convention, in this case, the HIMSS Annual Conference, Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society. Even though not going first class, this vendor’s booth cost almost $190,000, and he gives a fairly close break-out of the expenses, like $2500 for coffee and cookies and $565 for a keg of beer plus the cost of people to serve these items. He goes on to explain about the cookies and coffee:.

“In order to give the Otis Spunkmeyer cookies away in your booth, you have to rent the machine from the convention center. There is a $500 charge for the machine and a $100 delivery fee. In addition you must have a certified cookie attendant at $80 an hour for a 4 hour minimum. No, making your own cookies for years and years does NOT qualify you to be a certified cookie attendant. For that price you receive 275 cookies. I’ll do the math for you: that comes out to be $3.35 per cookie. You can get additional cases of cookies (160 in each case) for $200 ($1.25 each). Now I like cookies as much as the next person but that seems a bit high. The coffee that just seems to go hand-in-hand with the cookies is $38 a gallon with a 3 gallon minimum. I don’t know what that would work out to be a cup but I can guarantee you it is a touch more than Starbucks.”

I suppose after you’ve paid over $100,000 to get the booth and rent the space, you don’t sweat the cookies. During my years as a medical librarian, I munched my way through a lot of freebies in Boston, Chicago, Seattle, San Antonio and Kansas City while looking at software, books, new journals and bibliographies. We Vet librarians would compare notes with each other on where to get the best book bags and t-shirts and who offered the yummiest breakfasts. I knew these giant hotel exhibit areas cost the vendors, and that the chocolate party we had at the top of the John Hancock Building in Chicago must have cost somebody a pretty penny, but I was still thinking “free,” instead of “add this to the cost” I’ll pay for any health related product and service I buy--to say nothing of never learning about the small companies that couldn't pay that.

Government benefits are like that too, aren’t they? Free, until you do the math.
Full article here.

2027 The Friday Paint Along

Although it isn't exactly a New Year's Resolution, I do want to get back to my painting. After all, that's why we did the massive move, repacking and reorganization in December, so my drawing table could have north light. Now I'd better make good on it. My husband continues the reorganization as he is cataloging his slides--going back to the 60s.

So here I am, all ready for art class. The apron is a heavy white canvas fabric (100% cotton made in Canada) with black cats, a gift from my sister. I put this on about an hour before so I don't forget or lose my nerve. There's my red bag bought at the Port Clinton Wal-Mart for $3 a few years ago--love that store. Inside are all sorts of goodies, like my favorite brushes in side the cardboard tube of a Reynoldswrap box, with small straight edge and erasers. And smallish pieces of good quality watercolor paper--I like 300 lb., but will use 140 if that's all I have tucked inside a tablet so they won't bend. Also a file folder of reference stuff, mostly pulled from magazines--but just for practice. And I have a small clear plastic zippered make-up kit, also purchased at Wal-Mart that holds a little color pan, watercolor pencils, color chart, and itsy-bitsy pieces of w.c. paper--postcard size. I use the small plastic bottles that came with it for water, and the soap dish for the w.c. tubes. Not that I ever paint on location, but with this I could. Inside that I also have reference photos and small sketches.

So if is off to paint with my friends and take a break from blogging.

2026 As best I can

I'll avoid all the Friday the Thirteenth references as best I can, but Nathan Bierma, whose column on language I enjoy on subscription and in the Trib, says that phrase "as best as is either a grammatical error or an exception to a firm rule of English syntax."

"As best as" is striking, because "best" is the superlative form of "well," and English doesn't use any other superlative in this phrase. We say "as much as" but not "as most as"; "as red as" but not "as reddest as." The phrase "as best as I can" may be a mix-up of "as well as I can" and "the best that I can."

After talking to a few experts about this, who agreed it isn't standard, but isn't a serious problem, he went high tech and googled the expression finding some form of it going all the way back to 1377. Standard or not, it's got a bit of age.

Bierma's column here.

2024 Ted Kennedy's dog

Someone e-mailed me today after reading my Ted Kennedy scum bag post that he had a dog named Splash, and wasn't that really an odd name--you know, considering his history.

I thought it must be an urban legend, but looked it up. Of course, you still never know--this is after all the internet we're talking about--where a dog might be posting and you'd have no way to know. But here's the story at Anchoress.

2023 United Way

Although I retired five years ago, the Office of Human Resources at the university keeps my name label current--they send me notices about health care programs for which I'm not eligible, and "Bucks for Charity" (a United Way Campaign for the university community) booklets. Before I toss the booklet for 2005 (why is it coming in 2006?), I browse a bit through what I'm not going to support. Inside I find the campaign was Oct. 10-Dec. 2 (lost in the Christmas rush?), and that it includes eleven local federations of charities.

One of the eleven is COSMO, Community Share of Mid Ohio and its figure is 10%--and I think that is 10% of the total charity. Then within that, other agencies get a percentage of that 10% (this is a guess, because I can't find the explanation--although the figure could be the percentage of their total budget for each group). Within this acronym is

the ACLU mid-Ohio chapter, 18.8%;

BRAVO, which works to eliminate violence perpetrated on the basis of sexual orientation and gender, 31%;

Kaleidoscope for gay, lesbian, bixexual, transgendered and questioning youth, 14.8%;

NARAL Pro-Choice (formerly known as National Abortion Rights Action League, then the National Abortion & Reproductive Rights Action League, but it still kills babies);

Coalition on sexual assault;

domestic violence network, 5.7%;

NOW education and Legal Fund, 12% (recently changed its name to Legal Momentum apparently to hide its connection to NOW);

Open Hand for AIDS, 15%;

Stonewall (gay rights), 19.1%;

a variety of environmental, disability, animal rights, and arts groups;

Camp Fire, 28%; Cat Welfare 1%; and Habitat for Humanity, 4.9%.

Why Cat Welfare and Habitat are included with ACLU and gay advocacy, and Camp Fire isn't with Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts over in the Central Ohio group, I have no idea, but if I were going to donate, this lump sum would turn me off big time, and I support both of them privately. My sweet kitty is a Cat Welfare graduate.

Then there is also in the booklet a United Way of Central Ohio with 67 agencies, and a Black United Fund of Ohio, which "supports projects serving critical human service needs of Ohioans." It includes 12 members agencies, but not one description says the agency is for blacks. Can you imagine the uproar if there were a whites-only category in United Way?

I think I blogged about this last year--can't find it--but about 20 years ago I was invited to a big party because I was in the top category of donors for the campus campaign. It was sponsored by a beer company. I never donated again.

2022 More storage

In December we were pitching things out and rearranging and repacking things (we've been here 4 years). Today at Meijer's I saw a very pretty set of nesting boxes--three--on sale for $10. The largest one is big enough to hold some of my watercolor tablets and odd size paper; the mid-size can hold some rolled up things and odd frame sizes; the smallest is empty for the moment, but will probably end up holding negatives, since those seem to be all over the place yearning for a spot to call home. If you've ever seen those storage shows on cable, they find the cutest boxes to put things in.



That isn't my painting. It's one of my husband's of a barn near Westerville, OH--although I'm not sure it is still there. But tomorrow I'm going back to my painting group--I've done nothing to speak of since the summer. Too much blogation.

I'm adjusting the time on this so I can keep the Thursday Thirteen on top.

storage
watercolor

2021 Why Mrs. Alito cried

Imagine having a gas-bag, womanizer, alcoholic, bantam rooster-brained killer, still living on his father's ill-gotten wealth, who never worked a day in his life, questioning your husband about his character.

Alito hearings
Senator Ted Kennedy

2020 Was thinking the same thing

Beth and I are on the same wave length today about Teddy. "I can't hear him speak, especially in such a condescending and morally superior manner that I don't think about Chappaquiddick Island." Blue Star Chronicles

2019 Couldn't figure out why

the Dems were peeing in their pants with excitement about the Abramoff scandal. According to Don Surber, who usually has things pretty straight, "He steered $1.5 million to Democrats in Congress and $2.9 million to Republicans in recent years." All campaign finance reform did for us was make it possible only for rich guys with lots of personal wealth to run for office, and increase the power of the lobbyists.

(Pause for a group sing-a-long)
Step up, step up, step up
and take some blame,
John McCain, McCain, McCain.

Surber's comment with dollars and sense, here.

2018 Please write to me, I’m a locked up bad guy

Have you ever seen one of these cyber prison sites, where inmates plead for pen pals and tell how lonely they are? “It’s really lonely here at Christmas. I haven’t had a visitor in 15 years.”

Why are we giving criminals access to the internet? Why do they have e-mail accounts? Who is paying for the phone lines and broadband and dsl lines? Who is providing the computers? Do they have printers? Do the prison staff and legislators think these guys will get jobs using computers if and when they finish their sentence (for murder, rape, robbery, fraud, etc.).

If librarians want to worry about their records getting into the hands of the wrong people (the FBI), maybe they should check to see if these guys can hack their library websites and get the patron records. The photo and house plan of your home and street are on your county web site. Think they haven’t got oodles of time to figure out how to use that information?

I just picked a name at random from one of these lists, and looked up his crime with Google. Seems he’s recently been up for parole. I don’t think he got it, but could the next time. Do you really want him out looking for you, or your bleeding heart teen-ager who thought it might be kind to “visit someone in prison.”

“Last week, the board heard requests by STUV and WXYZ, both convicted in FFFFF County.

STUV was sentenced to death for the [month and year] murders of xxxxxxx, a 48-year-old farmer, and xxxxxxx, 18.”

So I looked up STUV’s appeal. It was a brutal crime--like the ones you see on The Closer or Law and Order reruns. The 18 year old apparently just walked in on it. Seems there was supporting testimony during the trial on his behalf that he had a terrible childhood, was abused, had a long juvenile record before turning to adult crime, and had an alcohol and drug problem. I don’t know how much you know about the criminal justice system, but prison isn’t the place to go to get help for a life time of wretchedness.

Tookie found the only solution for his sin, and it wasn’t a computer.

2017 Daring to find our names

Although it's possible that gay cowboys have been in the closet until the recent much heralded movie Brokeback Mountain, gay and lesbian librarians sure haven't been. That's why I was a bit surprised when browsing my honorary's website (Beta Phi Mu) to find that a book had been published, "Daring to find our names" which chronicles their gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender/queer history and careers (their words, not mine). Not that I pried into people's private lives, but I always knew my profession was heavily homosexual. I didn't know much about transgender until one of my staff members changed sexes and thus was part of a legally married female couple, although neither one were lesbians. I knew who the guys' partners were, who had died of AIDS--even went to the memorials and funerals, and who was being unfaithful to whom. My very favorite boss of all times, Jay Ladd, was a very popular librarian at Ohio State. He was a "company man," but knew how to treat his own staff fairly. His research field was a gay writer, and his partner was a gay artist. No big deal. So where's the daring?

Although I wasn't aware of it for a number of years, I worked for several women librarians who not only were lesbians, but were abusive to each other. I never suspected, because of their antipathy, that they were anything but old maid housemates. But I also knew lesbian secretary/professor couples. Hey, we weren't THAT protected in the 1950s and 1960s in academe.

The problem today is not sexism, homophobia, and discrimination, but a sluggish, overarching, stuck-in-the-70s liberal bureaucracy, particularly in ALA, that can't get down to library business. And a coming out book that costs $106.00 for 272 pages.

2016 Don't walk and talk on your cell phone

The Illinois Alumni magazine arrived yesterday, and when I opened it I saw a small article that the family of a student killed when hit by a bus has sued the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District. But when I read a little further I just shook my head. It's not that I don't sympathize with her parents. . . but the 18 year old was talking on her cell phone crossing the street at Sixth and Chalmers. I used to work and live in that area and I suppose they could have created curb cuts in the last 40 years, but I'm surprised a bus can even navigate that area. We always, always had to use all five senses to avoid the bicyclists and mopeds. But what phone call is so critical that you need to talk while walking--anywhere, let alone in the street shared with cars, bikes and buses. Yet how often have we seen people doing just that--not paying attention to other pedestrians, or uneveness in the pavement, or not watching for bikers, and certainly not paying attention to cars as they cross the street.

The article says the university has launched an investigation into traffic and pedestrian safety and is improving safety programs that are already in place. A stop sign has been added and speed limits lowered. Students held a candlelight vigil and cried.

But has anyone instructed the students in how to use cell phones and be safe?

cell phone safety
University of Illinois

2015 When does pregnancy begin?

"Judge Alito's writings include remarks that suggest he believes pregnancy begins at the fertilization of an egg, rather than when a fertilized egg implants itself in the wall of the woman's uterus." [I think this was USAToday quote on Jan. 9] Medical textbooks also say that, at least they did when I worked in a medical library.

I don't know when you started your life journey, but I know I started mine when the egg in my mother was fertilized. And according to a Zogby poll, almost 50% of women believe pregnancy starts with fertilization. It's only been within the last 20 years or so that physicians, geneticists, medical organizations and feminists have declared that pregnancy doesn't begin until implantation in the uterus. Interesting timeline. Seems to be a political decision, doesn't it, based on wishful thinking, not science. Some things not based on sound science, like intelligent design, can't even be hinted. I wonder how this slipped through?

We all started somewhere, mostly likely at the beginning.

2014 He's white, he's old, he's sick

No celebrities are rushing before the cameras to save Clarence Allen from execution in California. A legally blind diabetic, Allen is confined to a wheelchair, and has had two heart attacks and a stroke while he sat on death row. I'm against the death penalty because I am pro-life; I'm also against people who show up to protest only when it suits their own agenda.

Story in USAToday.

death penalty

Happy Birthday Cathy

I'm a few days late, but I know she had a big one. She said I could move her to another link category, but for now I'll just let her stay with the Ladies. So stop by and wish her a happy birthday.

2012 No sir, the evidence isn't clear

Robert Reich was interviewed for the Wall Street Journal Supplement about "Guns, Butter and Retired Boomers" yesterday. In "Debating the issues," as a follow up to concern about the cost of entitlements with Medicare bypassing the cost of Social Security by 2025, Reich skips it and flits on over to early childhood education (and that drum beat for compulsory early ed was repeated today in an op-ed in the WSJ by James Heckman in "Catch 'em Young").

"The evidence is clear and compelling that these expenditures provide very large social returns. . . I'd have the government spend more on K-12 in poor communities. . .I'd even be in favor of a progressive voucher system if it was inversely related to family income."

No, Mr. Reich, there really is no evidence that we can compensate for unmarried mothers, who haven't finished high school and had their first child before 20 by sending the kids to an enriched pre-school for socialization and health care.* Head Start gains are lost by about age 7 or 8 because the children live in the environment that produced them. By then, Mommy may be on the second or third boyfriend, and more children are vying for her time.

Head Start, our government's early childhood education plan, has done a good job of employing adults, bloating state and local agencies' budgets, giving legislators a "feel good" bi-partsan vote, and providing safe day care and health benefits to poor children, but it has never been able in 40 years to do what a father in the home and married parents committed to their family well-being can do.

Whenever Head Start is criticized, some sort of "ideal" program is trotted out that no large number of poor children attend, and it certainly isn't administered by a federal bureaucracy. When tests show that early progress is short-lived and the children fall back, the blame is put on the controls or the test design, or not enough money, not enough programs, not enough incentives for workers, or not enough children enrolled--never the concept.

About a million children a year are served by Head Start and I think the cost is up around $7 billion. With the money we spend, it should be a first class education. But no matter. In the 90s the progressive experts were saying it was the welfare reform that was making children poor, and now it's probably that mean old Mr. Bush. If you want the real reason Head Start doesn't work, just look at FEMA in the rebuilding of Louisiana and then ask yourself why you think the government will turn this around for poor children.

The gap will never be closed because poor children from single parent poor families with early education will be attending school with children of in-tact families, higher incomes and well educated parents. And it is the gap, unfortunately, that concerns the educators and politicians.

*William Galston, once an assistant to President Clinton, put the matter simply. To avoid poverty, do three things: finish high school, marry before having a child, and produce the child after you are 20 years old. Only 8% of people who do all three will be poor; of those who fail to do them, 79% will be poor. And their lives did not improve if their mother had acquired a stepfather for them.

Maggie Gallagher, president of the Institute for Marriage and Public Policy, says that children raised outside marriage are more prone to poverty, substance abuse, school failure, delinquency and adult crime.

Head Start
early childhood education

2011 Every school needs one

A website to expose the radicals on campus. This one is for UCLA, but they are every where (the profs, not the sites).

2010 Word of the Year

Is there more than one panel for "word of the year?" I thought podcast made it, but on the list from the American Dialect Society, it is a runner up to "Truthiness." Not once have I ever heard anyone use "truthiness" but frequency doesn't seem to be the call here.

Word of the Year
WINNER truthiness: the quality of stating concepts or facts one wishes or believes to betrue, rather than concepts or facts known to be true. First vote: 32. Run-off: 66

Katrina: all Katrina-related words. First vote: 36. Run-off: 22

podcast: a digital feed containing audio or video files for downloading to a portable MP3 player. From the brand name MP3 player iPod + broadcast. 2

intelligent design: the theory that life is could only have been created by a sentient being. Often acronymized and pronounced as ID, the theory is being pushed by explanations of evolution. 5

refugee: a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war,
persecution, or natural disaster. 2

Cruiselex: Cruiselex is not itself a nominated word, but the term refers collectively to all the other Tom-Cruise-related words of the year in the special category below. 0

Heck of a job: catch phrase coined by President Bush. 5

brown-out: the poor handling of an emergency. 1

disaster industrial complex: the array of businesses which make profit from by providing emergency services, especially those that result from no-bid government contracts. 3

Podcast did make some of their other lists, and so did intelligent design (I believe it made the "most outrageous" list, but lost to Crotchfruit).

Intelligent merchandise

I not a huge fan of Intelligent Design in the schools and don't keep track of all the arguments, but I can certainly enjoy their merchandise--the t-shirts, coffee cups, book bags, etc. Here is Intelligently Designed Apparel and Merchandise. Each individual design then has its own page which includes some cute explanations:

"The sensory and motor mechanism of the E. coli bacterium consists of a number of receptors which initially detect the concentrations of a variety of chemicals. Secondary components extract information from these sensors which in turn is used as input to a gradient sensing mechanism. The output of this mechanism is used to drive a set of constant torque proton-powered reversible rotary motors which transfer their energy through a microscopic drive train and propel helical flagella from 30,000 to 100,000 rpm. This highly integrated system allows the bacterium to migrate at the rate of approximately ten body lengths per second. Would you please find out who filed the patent on this thing?"

Of course, if you're not open minded and believe everything you were taught in elementary school, skip it.

intelligent design

2008 Winning the genetic lottery

On January 3 USAToday ran a story which followed up on 19 years of winners of the "High School Academic Team." The group selected in 2005 represents the 20th year the paper has featured this program which includes a scholarship, a trophy and a story in the national newspaper.

Although the winners came from many different backgrounds, they often shared certain things in common: "educated, committed parents, some wonderful teachers and mentors, high expectations and the opportunities to pursue their passions." Of the 72% of the 378 winners who responded to the survey of the winners,

• 94% said they grew up in homes with both a mother and a father.

• 57% of their fathers had doctorates, and 58% of their mothers had a master's degree or doctorate.

More than 95% of the fathers and 91% of the mothers had at least a bachelor's degree, and 100% of the parents had at least a high school diploma.

• In 43% of the families, only one parent worked outside the home for the majority of the student's school years.

In the survey, parental involvement/influence was rated "very important" to their high school success by 81% of the respondents — slightly more than "personal work ethic" (79%), "finding an activity I was passionate about" (77%) and "a great teacher or mentor" (74%).

2007 Lucas, Brandon and Josh

On my way back from the Mill Run Church yesterday I was stopped at an intersection for a light and read for the first time what I thought was just a large Christmas greeting. There were three white Christmas trees with gold halos, and a large banner with photos of Lucas, Brandon and Josh, apparently killed by a drunk driver on Christmas Day, 2004. So I looked it up when I got home.

"Joshua Worthington, 19; Lucas Carmean, 19 and Brandon Kent, 21, all died instantly when the Jeep Wrangler they were traveling in was struck head-on by a man who was driving the wrong way on Interstate 71 in Columbus near the 17th Avenue exit.

According to Columbus Police reports, the accident occurred at approximately 3 a.m. Christmas day when a vehicle driven by 28-year-old Donald Lee Richardson of 2205 Dresden Street, Columbus, was southbound in the northbound lanes of I-71 between Hudson Avenue and 17th Avenue and struck the Jeep carrying the three Grove City men. All three were pronounced dead at the scene of the accident."

Richardson had already been convicted on two drunken driving charges and had been arrested for a third for a hearing in May. I followed up the story but lost track of it after June 2005 when he was out of the hospital and sitting in jail awaiting trial. Ohio has crappy drunk driving penalties.

2006 Where there's fire there's Morels

I'd never heard of Morels, a prized, spungy mushroom until 1993 when my cousin Mel Johnson of Byron, IL contributed a recipe for steak and mushrooms to a family cookbook I was compiling. He explained in it how and where to find Morels: "Morels can be found near decaying elms, south of Byron, Illinois in mid-April." That's a pretty big territory, so I suspect Morel hunters don't give up their secrets easily. Almost the entire state is south of Byron.

In the most recent (summer 2005) issue of Agroborealis (School of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences, Univ. of Alaska, Fairbanks) it was reported that Alaskans were expecting a bumper crop of Morels because one to three years after a fire, they are abundant, and 2004 was the scene of many forest fires. This article, in pdf, has some very clear line drawings of Morels and the poisonous "false Morels." In addition to the scientific information, the article includes some recipes.

I'm just in love with agriculture magazines, and this one is always a delight. Not every article is on-line, but enough are that it's an interesting read.

Seven deadly sins in the workplace

This advice comes from an article on library managers, but I think they are universal--some even apply to volunteer positions or church committees. When I listen to complaints about the workplace whether it is a hospital, a ranch or a sales environment, I hear these same complaints. A list of sins and strategies are at FreePint Newsletter, a really neat newsletter just filled with bits of information on many topics, all focused on information providers.

Micromanagement

Lack of communication

Fostering divisiveness

Abusiveness

Failure to listen

Avoiding conflict

Taking credit for others' work

"FreePint is an online network of information searchers. Members
receive this free newsletter twice a month: it is packed with tips
on finding quality and reliable business information on the Internet.

Joining is free at <http://www.freepint.com/> and provides access to a
substantial archive of articles, reviews and events, with answers to
research questions and networking at the FreePint Bar."

HT Peter Scott.

2004 Bird feeder tid-bits

If you have a bird feeder in your yard and enjoy watching them from the window, here's a list of eight things you should do to keep it safe, including telling your neighbors what they should do. Good luck, especially with the one about keeping rodents away. Rodents love bird feeders. Excuse the pun, but I don't think it will fly.

It would be so much easier and safer if people just wouldn't feed the birds and ducks. Then the birds could return to eating natural food sources, helping the environment by controling insects and weeds, and you wouldn't be contributing to spreading Salmonellosis (a bacterial disease), Trichomoniasis (a parasitic disease), Aspergillosis (a fungus causing pneumonia and bronchitis), and Avian Pox (a virus causing warts).

Here's a neat, inexpensive contraption to keep birds away from a food supply, and I suppose it would work with a garden area too. It was designed by Janet Schmitz of Union Grove, WI and submitted to the National Hog Farmer for its Aug. 15, 1988 issue on Inventions. She says, "We were having problems with barn swallows and various other birds in our finishing barns and around feed bins. We were concerned about the potential for spreading disease. I took some aluminum baking tins and nailed and/or glued some wood lathe to the backs for support." These reflectors move in the air current and in the sunlight they are very irritating to the birds. But a side benefit writes farmer Schmitz is that it entertains the pigs. In 1988 this cost about $1.40. Probably $3.00 now. I like the little piggies she apparently painted on her invention. A very creative lady.

Even 18 years ago, farmers had an institutional memory, probably passed down from grandpa, that you don't want diseased birds around hogs (flu epidemic of 1918). But I don't think it's a good idea to have bird waste and rodent pests around your yard and patio either.

2003 I will not look in the free box

Reciting that mantra three times as I walked through the parking lot and into church yesterday didn't work. The service was fabulous--Pastor Jeff preached the best sermon on justification I've ever heard (this is my most favorite theme), so with donut hole in hand I headed for the library. Of course, I ate it first, since food isn't allowed. Just one peek in the box. How could it hurt?

And I came away with two fairly substantial books. Anne Graham Lotz' 2003 title, "My Heart's Cry," and "The art of reading scripture," an Eerdmans title, 2003. The Lotz book, in hard cover, I assume was withdrawn from the church library because several years ago the women's group used this and they may have bought multiple copies. She is Billy Graham's daughter and in my opinion, the best preacher in the whole family. The Eerdmans title is probably a donation, and the librarian didn't select it.

On the outside chance that someone donated it directly to the box and the librarian didn't see it, I'll take a look and suggest it if I think it is useful. I suspect they know their audience, and this isn't a book most will read. Looking inside at the acknowledgements I see it is a volume of essays of a "four year conversation," and one they DIDN'T include was on the visual arts (included a woodcut from the essay). So. . .

2002 Reinventing the image of God

Week-end edition of the Wall Street Journal has an interesting interview with Leon Kass, former chairman of the President's Council on Bioethics, by Bret Stephens. It begins with a discussion of Hwang Woo Suk, the South Korean researcher who has admitted to fabricating cloned stem cells. The media were complicit in the fraud, he believes.

"As far as Dr. Hwang is concerned, Dr. Kass is merciless, and he fires grapeshot: "Scientific fraud is always revolting, but it is fortunately rare and, in the end, truth will out. But in this case, American scientists and the American media have been complicit in the fraud, because of their zeal in the politics of stem-cell and cloning research and their hostility to the Bush funding policy. Concerted efforts have been made these past five years to hype therapeutic cloning, including irresponsible promises of cures around the corner and 'personalized repair kits' for every degenerative disease. The need to support these wild claims and the desire to embarrass cloning opponents led to the accelerated publication of Dr. Hwang's 'findings.' . . . We even made him Exhibit A for the false claim that our moral scruples are causing American science to fall behind."

The article also includes his concerns about performance enhancing drugs, psychotropic behavior modifying drugs, life-span increasing drugs, and living wills. Read the article here.

2001 Report of Commission to Strengthen Social Security

About four years ago, December 2001, The Report of the President’s Commission "Strenthening Social Security and Creating Personal Wealth for All Americans" was issued--it had 256 pages. Of course, we all know that it is now languishing, and not even President Bush seems too excited about it. However, that isn't what I wanted to tell you. Surprise.

I happened to find it in the CyberCemetery which is where old committees, commissions, departments and agencies are buried. CyberCemetery is part of the Federal Depository Library Program, created through a partnership of the University of North Texas Libraries and the USGPO to provide permanent public access to the Web sites and publications of defunct U.S. government agencies and commissions.

Let's say, for example, you wanted to know who the chair of the 9/11 commission was, but you didn't remember the right title. The search window will accept, "chair 9/11 attack." And it finds "The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States" and it finds 170 pages for you to look at, probably because the chair's name appears in the side bars so frequently.

Using quotation marks to define your search, such as "food pyramid" instead of food pyramid, will get you closer to the defunct committee or commission report you want. The second phrase will find the word food and the word pyramid anyplace in the document. It's a wonderful way to waste time. By keying in "agriculture" I learned that the first Iraqi aircraft used after the war was an Mi-2 helicopter from the former Saddam Hussein’s military, refitted to spray date palm trees. That came from a news release of The Coalition Provisional Authority, now defunct--I think. I tried to download its history, and my computer failed. Ghosts in the cemetery?

Quilt Show Photos

I went back to the Mill Run Church this afternoon with my digital camera and took some pictures. I don't have a great camera and am sort of inexperienced at this, but I hope it will give you the idea. There are about 40 pieces, wall hangings, quilts, and pillows in a show described here.

This is a close-up of "Lyle's Letter to Santa." You can see the 7 year old's handwritten letter on the Ohio Star, bordered with fabric reminiscent of the early 20th century.

This is a close-up of the hand drawn squares done by children in Sri Lanka after the Tsunami which were pieced and quilted here by our quilt ministry to be returned to them after this show.

This is a family history quilt using photo transfers and it has matching pillows.

The texture of the cantaloupe is achieved by the different depth of the stitching. This is a small wall hanging.

The show is at The Church at Mill Run, 3500 Mill Run Drive, Hilliard, OH 43026, and it continues through February 24, 2006. The church web site is http://www.ualc.org

Quilting
Quilt shows

1999 A Japanese English Homemade Reality Show

This young lady accosts people in Japan and gives them an instant English lesson. It's called YouTube. She's actually pretty good. I don't know if she arranges with her "guest" ahead, or not, or who is holding the camera. I've looked a few others on YouTube, and this enthusiastic English teacher is definitely the best of the batch. I also link to Badaunt, a New Zealander who teaches English in Japan. Wonder if she watches this?

HT Biblioblog who finds this addictive.

1998 Happy Orthodox Christmas

Yesterday was Christmas for a huge number of Eastern Christians. So I was googling to see how it was celebrated. Things aren't so great for Kosovars, Serbs, and Romas, despite the well wishes of the season. I didn't understand this region's ethnic battles when we were at war there in the 90s, nor WWI or WWII. But this I do know: Ethnicity trumps religion every time, whether it is Ireland, the former Yugoslavia or Iran/Iraq. These items are from a Greek on-line newspaper, but I noticed some of them at other sites using a standardized news feed.

Serb president says no independence for Kosovo
BELGRADE (AP) - Serbian President Boris Tadic said in an interview published yesterday that he will never accept independence for Kosovo. “As far as I am concerned, I will never sign any decision granting independence to Kosovo,” Tadic told the Glas daily. He said the solution for Kosovo should result from a compromise. He added that the Belgrade delegation will seek to defend “Serbia’s national interests.” “We will use all political and diplomatic means to defend them,” Tadic was quoted as saying.

Roma
The UN mission in Kosovo urged a community of Gypsies to leave lead-contaminated camps in northern Kosovo and move to a former French military base. About 560 Gypsies, also known as Roma, have lived for more than six years in three makeshift camps in northern Kosovo near an industrial area polluted with high levels of lead. The contamination poses a serious health risk to the 125 families living there, the World Health Organization said. The UN and others have described their plight as one of the region’s worst humanitarian problems. (AP)

Visit
Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian prime minister handed out sweets and sipped the local firewater with Serbs yesterday in a rare visit to the dwindling Serb community on Orthodox Christmas Eve. “I came here to see how you’re doing, how you live, and to wish you a Happy New Year and Merry Christmas,” Bajram Kosumi said as aides carried in bags of sweets and chocolate for the children. (Reuters)

1997 Small Comfort

Don't you think the troops get awfully tired of the nonsensical phrase, "We support the troops, but not the war." How many gays would be happy to hear from parents and friends, "We support you, but hate your sexual identity and believe it is a sin," or how many artists want to hear, "We support your decision to be an artist, but my God, that thing's ugly; what does it mean!"

So although I'm sure the troops were happy to meet with the VP, think what some support from home would mean in bringing this thing to a close.

1996 Obedience

Our Women of the Word (WOW) study this winter at Upper Arlington Lutheran Church (UALC) is Priscilla Shirer's "He Speaks to Me." This is a Lifeway publication, so if you are familiar with their DVD/video + workbook format (Beth Moore), you know the drill. I had to leave after the DVD yesterday to hang the quilt show, but I think Priscilla is a dynamic speaker. She fully engages with her audience. So far, her examples don't speak to me (about small children), but at 66, I'm not the target audience. However, this morning in preparing day 1 of week 1, I noticed on p. 10 this phrase: "obedience requires sacrifice," followed by her examples of serving family before her own desires, time with the Lord, not overeating, controlling spending and honoring her husband's authority. I'm not sure I agree--that this list could be called "sacrificial." Well, only in upper middle class America.

This is a list of joys, in my opinion. 1) She has a family to serve. So many don't. At my age, I know many widows. I visit nursing homes filled with people whose self-worth as Christians was built on serving others, and now are tasting the bitter fruit of no purpose to live. 2) She has a Bible to read and lives in a country where that is permitted and protected by law. So many don't. 3) She has enough food available that she can choose to overeat. So many don't, or may have only one or two staples to choose from. 4) She has a good income--a dual income in fact, which creates discretionary spending. So many don't. Their choices are all made for them--pay the minimum and hope the bill collectors don't call. 5) She has a husband who loves and protects her and enables her to have a Christian ministry. She is an African-American in a country where the marriage rate for blacks is 39%, down from 80% a hundred years ago.

Sacrifice? What do you think?

Cross posted at Church of the Acronym.

1995 Do it for the children

social security reform

1994 Bad guys and bad stuff

The Ohio State University is offering for the first time a course on Bioterrorism. The new course examines possible threats to public health, plants and animals. The undergraduate course, the first of its kind at Ohio State, was proposed by OSU's International Studies Program to help train students in the Intelligence and Security major.

To teach the wide-ranging course material, OSU Plant Pathologist, Charles Curtis brings together scholars from across the university including professors from Public Health, Plant Pathology, International Studies and the Food Animal Health Research Program. Guest lecturers include a former deputy assistant to the defense secretary for chemical and biological defense. Professor Curtis says that among the general population there's a lack of awareness about the potential biological threats that exis. Full story here at the WOSU site.

We had dinner with the Curtises about a month ago and I enjoyed learning about this course. I've known Chuck about 20 years and he is always on top of things and has a wonderful rapport with his students. I know this will be an important course for people intending to go into government careers.

Bioterrorism

A very long disengagement

is the title of an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education, "Chronicle Review," Jan. 6, B7, by Mark Bauerlein. It seems I've heard this refrain before--even thought it myself about 20 years ago when my children were in high school--or maybe 30 years ago when they were just starting their formal education.

His article draws on a number of surveys which seem to all show that today's high school and college students are running on empty when it comes to history, civics, literature, arts, geography, and politics, all seemingly from a decrease in reading and an increase in blogging, chat rooms, surfing the net and e-mail. What they've gained in technology, they've lost in curiosity. They seem to be suffering from "acute peer consciousness."

Yet, my children didn't have technological distractions, these wireless apron strings to their friends, but even 20 or 30 years ago I was complaining that the school was emphasizing thinking skills, broad context, personal responsibility and a deeper understanding of life without expecting the children to have background and content put there by the school system. Memorize facts? Don't even think it, you old fashion Mama! They were expected to drop their buckets into empty pools and bring something up.

Yes, a very long disengagement--but I doubt that personal technology is the culprit.

1992 New Quilt show at UALC

Our church's Visual Arts Ministry, of which we are both members, hung a huge quilt show this morning. Well, maybe not huge by your standards, but there are about 40 quilts, and our arms get sort of tired. Ken said, "I think we're going to need to recruit some younger members" (we're all over 50). This show which will run between January 7 and February 24 at the Church at Mill Run, 3500 Mill Run Dr., Hilliard, OH 43026, includes rich, vibrant colors, traditional patterns like log cabin and pin wheel, family memory quilts with photo transfers, humorous hangings, contemporary and modern art, seasonal and historical pieces. These quilts are not for sale, and most represent many hours of love preparing a gift for family or friends.

One very interesting quilt designed and made by a member to memorialize her father is called “Lyle’s Letter to Santa.” In this design she focuses on a letter handwritten by her father to Santa Claus in 1915 when he was seven years old. So the center of the quilt is a star on which is his handwriting stitched with embroidery and a photo transfer. The star is called “Ohio Trail” and represents his ancestry; the ribbon, greens with candles and a bit of Victorian flair represents the era. Then at the bottom there is an embroidered sleigh, red on a white background, which represents the gifts he asked for in the letter, all in the sleigh. This is truly a magnificent tribute.

The Quilters Ministry is about six years old and meets monthly for fellowship and instruction. This year they made 14 quilts for Project Linus which is based in Illinois and gathers homemade quilts for sick or traumatized children. They've also made quilts for orphanages in Guatemala and China from which members adopted children.

Each year that we've hung this show I've seen spectacular growth and talent. These ladies are a real pleasure to work with. And the reason Upper Arlington Lutheran Church (UALC) has a building with an address in Hilliard is that we have three campuses, one in Upper Arlington, one in Hilliard, and one on the west side of Columbus. If the church founders had picked a spiritual name 40 years ago like Resurrection or Trinity or Bethlehem, we wouldn't have this confusion.

Quilting
Lutheran churches

1991 Found at Thursday Thirteen

"Novelist in training" has some great cat photos. I found her at the Thursday Thirteen, and she also has a photo blog mostly of Utah where she lives in addition to this one. Great stuff. Don't know where she is in novel land or if she's published yet. I'll have to look further.

1990 But they have strict gun laws

Banks are robbed in the European Union at a rate of one every 90 minutes, and they are becoming increasingly violent with explosives and kidnapping employees. Seems they are also using knives and hypodermic needles.

There's a story in the BBC News, but I don't think it mentions the weapons, which I saw in another newspaper--Financial Times, I think. The BBC reporter seems to be concerned that greater security will cause the criminals to become even more violent. Must have been trained at the New York Times or WaPo school of terrorism reporting.