2541 The Twenty Fifth Anniversary

Intolerance and social stigma, privacy and discrimination, poverty and access to health care. That's what it's all about if you all you read or hear about the 25th anniversary of AIDS is the American primary media. Not much about how a very powerful lobby in the 1980s of special interest groups who advocated for voluntary testing and patient privacy rather than protecting the general public through the usual epidemiological procedures we've used to conquer other diseases. To read the USAToday story, you’d think it was all about poverty, being a neglected minority, and homophobia.

There's been a lot of craziness in this 25 years. Like doctors and dentists getting sued for refusing to treat AIDS patients and doctors and dentists who have AIDS suing to be able to continue in their practice of medicine. And AIDS patients claiming protection under the ADA which was never the intention of that legislation. And all the while, the men having sex with men play the victim while drumming up activism, advocacy and research grants with fund raisers by movie stars and the arts community so they can continue life as usual. Other non-life style diseases limp along with inadequate funding because there's only so much money to go around.

This disease isn't about poverty and homophobia. It started as wealth and self-loathing. It's about a group that loves to live in danger and on the edge. We have this disease in developed countries because an extremely small number of highly promiscuous men, many well-to-do with good educations, had sex with men in exotic locations. Then many of them passed it along to unsuspecting faithful male and female partners, who then passed it on to the children. Yes, eventually there were dirty needles. Yes, there are some prostitutes. Yes, there is homophobia--but mostly that state of mind is among the men having sex with men who refuse to acknowledge what they are (and they call US homophobic?) and spread the disease to their wives and lovers. Like Governor McGreevey who recently wrote a really disgusting book about all his one night stands and affairs with men which he kept from his wife so he could keep his political career. "I knew I would have to lie for the rest of my life - and I knew I was capable of it. The knowledge gave me a feeling of terrible power," he writes. I lead a pretty quiet life, but even I personally know at least five women who found out after years of marriage that their husbands were unfaithful with men--during the heighth of the epidemic in the 80s. And it is rampant in third world countries where women are sexually mutilated in adolescence by cultural custom compromising their health and their husbands are so homophobic, that they pretend they don’t have sex with men.

Here's some cites that you probably won't find in the NYT or WaPo, unless they are buried in the 25th paragraph.

"To avoid social isolation, discrimination, or verbal or physical abuse, many men who have sex with men (MSM), especially young and minority MSM, do not disclose their sexual orientation." JAMA. 2003;289:975-977. MMWR. 2003;52:81-86

"Twenty years after the first report on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in the United States, studies of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and sexual behaviors suggest a resurgent HIV epidemic among men who have sex with men (MSM)." JAMA. 2001;286:297-299. MMWR. 2001;50:440-444

"After declining steadily for 10 years, the number of reported cases of primary and secondary (P&S) syphilis more than doubled in New York City (NYC) from 117 in 2000 to 282 in 2001.1 The increases have occurred primarily among men who have sex with men (MSM)." JAMA. 2002;288:1840-1842, MMWR. 2002;51:853-856

"Of newly diagnosed HIV infections in the United States during 2003, CDC estimated that approximately 63% were among men who were infected through sexual contact with other men, 50% were among blacks, 32% were among whites, and 16% were among Hispanics." JAMA. 2005;294:674-676. MMWR. 2005;54:597-601

"Of an estimated 1,000 MSM in Chicago who stated that they had engaged in oral sex during the preceding 60 days, more than 75% never used condoms for either oral insertive or oral receptive sex (CDPH, unpublished data, 2003). Oral syphilitic lesions disrupt the protective epithelial barrier and recruit HIV target cells, increasing the risk for HIV transmission. Although oral sex might carry a lower risk for transmitting HIV than other forms of sex, repeated unprotected exposures, especially in the presence of syphilitic lesions, represent a substantial risk for HIV transmission. Syphilis might also increase progression of HIV disease." JAMA. 2004;292:2459-2461. MMWR. 2004;53:966-968

“Recent estimates of HIV diagnoses suggested a leveling of the downward trend in HIV infections nationally and increases in HIV infections among certain populations.2 Reports of syphilis outbreaks and increased unprotected sex raised concerns regarding increases in HIV transmission among men who have sex with men (MSM).” JAMA. 2004;291:417-419. MMWR. 2003;52:1145-1148

"Evidence suggests that since highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) became available, the prevalence of unprotected sex and the incidence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) have increased." JAMA. 2004;292:224-236.

Safe sex won't save us; compassion and fund raisers won't either. But sensible epidemiology and public health measures might have.

HIV/AIDS
Men who have sex with men

2540 I know nothing about Haditha

But I know a lynch mob when I hear, read, and see one. I've started changing the channels because each report is based on the same no-information. You've heard one, you've heard it expanded.

"Who. What. When. Where. Why. These are the fundamental questions of good reporting. Apply them to what is being presented by the major media about Haditha, and see how very thin factually is the reporting. Speculation, instead, leads, with comments by those with no special information, surrounding small snippets of leaks from those on the periphery of actual involvement or investigation, any cautions quickly passed over or relegated to the end of the “story.”

Regardless of where the truth ultimately is, at this point the major media’s treatment of Haditha is little more than a literate lynch mob in a rush to judgment."

Continued at Democracy Project here and here.

2539 The CBS Sunday Morning Show

I had intended to give my readers a head's up about the CBS segment this morning, because Marilyn, one of the shopkeepers at Lakeside, stopped by our table Friday evening and told us there would be a rerun (it ran on July 3, 2005). I just check my stats, and I had at least 10 hits in about 2 hours searching the topics Lakeside, or honor system or some combination. Since I'd also written about the yard sales last week-end some of which used the honor system, those also got some hits as well as the item in the July archives. When it first ran last summer, the director got phone calls from all over the nation from people who remembered vacationing there as children and wanting to reconnect.

I didn't see it this morning--the choir sang at 3 services, but it's a neat segment.

Check here for information on Lakeside.

2538 New Wal-Mart Super Store

The Lakeside Coffee 'n Cream wasn't open this week-end (season hasn't started yet), so this morning I drove out to Bassett's for my morning coffee (it's a lovely store with a great coffee shop). As I was parking, I glanced over at the Wal-Mart because I had planned to stop there later. It was gone! Not the building, but the store. I don't know why I didn't notice it last week. So I asked the coffee shop clerk, and she said there was a new Super Store a mile down the road. So I visited there after I made a few purchases.

I walked up and down the aisles finding things I didn't know I needed. Then I saw something in ladies' lingerie that just amazed me, but did answer a few things I'd been wondering about. Low-riding, hip-hugger knee-length girdles. Think about that. If a woman needs a girdle to squeeze into her low slung slacks or hip hugger jeans, and the shirt short, that girdle is going to push her belly up and over, isn't it? I'm just saying, where's a gut going to go? I thought they just had a rollover when I saw that, but now I know they had help.

2537 The Bravest President

Tonight I listened to Richard Land on radio compare George W. Bush and Harry S. Truman. But first he quoted from this article by Michael Novak who said "after Washington and Lincoln, Bush is the bravest of our presidents." Now, he doesn't say greatest, wisest, smartest, or most fluent, but bravest.

"On the number-one issue facing the nation—the war declared upon us by fascists who pretend to be religious—he has not wavered, he has not bent, he has stayed on course and true.

In Iraq, civil society, nearly comatose under Saddam Hussein, is today alive and full of vitality. Newspapers and television and magazines are full of diversity and energy, political parties multiply, private associations are functioning by the thousands, most of the country is more secure than some American cities. Iraqi exiles from around the world, far from fleeing, are coming back in droves."

He will be vilified even more this week for his support of the marriage amendment.

Land say Harry Truman put into place the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, NATO--the machinery needed to fight international Communism. He made the tough, unpopular decisions--like getting us into the Korean War. His approval rating was 26% when he left office in 1953. Fifty years later he is considered one of the greatest Presidents of our country, and Land thinks he is the third most consequential after FDR and Reagan. But when he left office he was vilified. Land thinks Bush was the first to see that we will be in a very long battle with Islamofacism, and in 50 years people will look back and marvel at his foresight. Bush isn't concerned by the polls or popularity, says Land, and neither was Truman.

Land's web page.

2536 What starts with C?

I saw this over at Send Chocolate--write about 10 things that start with the letter C. She didn't tag me, but I'm ready for a nap, so here goes.

C is such an excellent letter and has to work very hard with several different sounds, such as K and S and CH. Imagine a concrete cellar chute. I couldn't decide if I wanted adjectives or nouns, so I used a little of both.

1. Christian faith. And I'll toss in here church family, church attendance, church service--because it's a package deal. I blog about this at Church of the Acronym.
2. Cherished family and friends. Husband, kids, siblings, their families, new friends, old friends.
3. Collection of books. A house full. And libraries too, of course.
4. Condo community. We love our "new" place--moved here 4 years ago, and still seems new.
5. Choices and challenges. Retirement has been much more fun than I thought. I haven't missed working at all, even though I loved my job.
6. Choir practice and concerts. This is totally new for me--we made a CD this week.
7. Church volunteer opportunities. Gets me out and about--keeps me from becoming too self centered.
8. Cat on my lap. She's a sweety. Nothing is more relaxing than watching a cat take a nap.
9. Computer creativity. Love to read and explore. Have 8 blogs.
10. Creek in the back yard that attracts ducks, birds and deer. What a lovely view.
11. Contentment with my life.
12. Constitution of the United States. It's just awesome. Amazing that they could have created something so sound, yet flexible.
13. Comfortable lifestyle.
14. Couch potato. Yes, I do a bit of that. Like to nap with the TV on. With the cat.
15. Convictions. You betcha. They're all here for you to read.
16. Chronicles. I print out my blogs. Don't trust pixels.
17. Capitalism. It has its flaws, but provides the best for the most.
18. Chautauqua. We have a summer home Lakeside, OH, a chautauqua community.
19. Chocolate peanut butter ice cream for dessert tonight on the deck while the
20. Cottonwood trees are blowing their seeds all over our ice cream.

If you want to play, I think the instructions were for 10--I got carried away. Consider yourself tagged.

Friday Family Photos

My parents' wedding day, 1934

Their 65th anniversary celebration, 1999
The oldest of God's institutions (Gen. 1,2) is marriage, and its choicest blessing is children, described in the Bible as God's gift. Children exist not only for their parents; but parents also for them--for physical support and, above all, for careful nurturing for moral, mental, and spiritual imprint. Baker's Dictionary of Christian Ethics.

Now here's a no brainer

"Female genital mutilation, which is practiced in several countries and estimated to affect more than 100 million women worldwide, adversely affects obstetrical outcomes, according to a report in the June 3rd issue of The Lancet." Reported at Medscape.com

2533 Sometimes it's better not to post

your firing on the internet. Could come back to bite you. E-mail announcement here.

2532 The Muirfield Memorial Tournament

is all the talk around here this week. My husband and son were supposed to go today, but something got messed up with the tickets. In honor of all the slicing, hooking, topping, shanking and chunking golf crazed addicts who read this blog, I submit this book that I found for 50 cents this week at the library book sale. . . apparently donated by someone who fell off the wagon golf cart


It is written in the 12-step style--you know the drill, admit you are powerless, believe a power greater than yourself can restore your sanity, (I hope I'm not offending anyone who has to attend a meeting tonight), made a decision to turn your will and your life over to the pursuit of something other than golf. . .

"No one can spam God with pleadings to be granted the gift of length, accuracy, and touch, and expect to wake up one Sunday morning, skip church, and go out and set the course record. Tour professionals can play the game because they are freaks of nature, and they pray every day for God to keep them in this mutated state." p. 191

2531 Yes, your dog will bite

All dogs will bite if they sense a threat or if provoked. Your problem as a pet owner is you aren't a dog and don't see or smell or sense what they do. You do not perceive a small child's behavior and movement the way a dog does--as prey. Most dog bite situations have several things in common: 1) owner is likely to be a male adult or teen, 2) who owns a young, intact, male dog, 3) who bites a young male child, and the dog is most likely a member or a mix of one of these breeds, pit bull, Akita, Rottweiler, Doberman, Chow, German Shepherd, Huskie/Malamute type and Doberman.
Dog bite, eye

Dog bite, lip

Today's WSJ has an article about pet owners putting up a fight about breed specific insurance restrictions and local codes. This isn't new. I remember many articles in the breed magazines (veterinary library) even 15 years ago about this. What is new, I think, is that more people believe pets are "part of the family" with the same rights to freedom and choice that people have. Their dogs are definitely of greater value than your child. Restricting any behavior--even pooping in the neighbor's yard--is now considered "discrimination" by many self-centered, obnoxious, dangerous dog owners. What? Read a book or take a class in dog control and behavior modification? You've got to be kidding--I've got my rights, yadda, yadda.

Love your dog; but give it dog love, and save the people love for people. Keep a leash in your house and when visitors come and the dog goes insane with barking (realizes a stranger is in his territory and a threat to the peace), leash the dog out of sight in another room. Neither your guests nor your pet should be subjected to such upset. And you won't look stupid shouting NO NO BAD DOG at an animal who obviously doesn't understand English.

I've talked about this before.

Thursday Thirteen about cars

Kiplinger's Personal Finance (May 2006) says the average American household will buy a total of 13 vehicles. Seven are purchased after the head of the household turns 50. So that put me to counting. We've had more than 13, but here are what I'll call family cars--and that works out to 13:

1. We started married life in 1960 with a 1951 Oldsmobile 88. This car used to stall at intersections in Indianapolis and I'd get out and open the hood and jiggle something to get it going, occasionally with a push from the next guy in line. Just Married 1960, 1951 Oldsmobile
2. Dad said the tires were worth more than the car, so when the steering went bad we gave it to him (he'd bought the tires) and I think we just had a bicycle for awhile. Then we got a cute little used black Renault. I found a restored 98 Olds on the Internet for $75,000.

3. After the Renault we bought my mother's 1961 or 1962 blue Comet, which up to that time had been a perfect car, but then turned into a lemon. Don't buy automobiles from relatives.

4. Our first new car was a deep blue 1964 Volkswagen. It was on a cool fall morning the first week we owned it we discovered in Wisconsin that the heater wouldn't turn off--and the day became very warm as we returned to Illinois. I was pregnant--not a happy camper.

5. I promised I'd get a license if we got an automatic (hadn't driven since the Renault), so we bought a light blue Plymouth sedan that was about as plain and basic as a car could be. After we moved to Ohio, my brother came from Illinois and drove it back, and eventually it became my aunt and uncle's car for many years.
1965 Plymouth sedan, visiting in Indianapolis
6. It was replaced by our first (and only) luxury car, a 1969 4 dr. Oldsmobile (used) very dark green, almost black, purchased from my husband's employer--it had all the bells and whistles--even an 8 track tape deck, and we put two baby car seats comfortably in the back. The only photo I could find was lifting the Christmas tree out of the trunk.

7. Our little brown 1974 Ford Pinto was our first "second" car--lots of fun to drive.

8. A beige 1977 4 dr. Buick sedan replaced the Olds. When we were shopping, my husband wanted a sportier 2-door. I looked at our little guy and said, "The kids are going to be big some day, I think we should get a 4-door, because it will be hard to stuff them in the back seat." And I was right, because he was over 6' and our daughter was 5'8" by the time we traded it. This is the car in which our kids learned to drive and get into trouble even though it was a really boring sedan. "Our life is so beige," my daughter complained. (Also had a cream colored house and company car.)
Our 1977 Buick after a snow storm
9. In 1986 I replaced the 9 year old Buick with a 1983 (or maybe 1981) maroon Buick 4 dr. Skylark which had all the luxury options, plush unholstery, sound system, etc. Possibly the most comfortable sedan we ever had, but being a used car it had some mechanical problems.

10. Which gave me an excuse to buy my dream car--a 1987 red Mustang, which I had wanted lusted after since my brother bought one in 19631964 1/2. I had a tenure track job at the university and was wallowing in empty-nest grief--so I deserved some happiness, right? However, the night I drove it off the lot it rained buckets, and I discovered that the Mustang model had no gutter around the door frame so if you opened the door after a rain (and it rains a lot in Ohio), you got soaked as the water sheeted off the roof. I hated my dream car, and because it was low to the ground, it also just killed my back. Couldn't wait to unload it.
1987 Mustang in same location as the 1951 Olds photo. See how much the trees grew in 28 years

11. I fell in love with my Plymouth mini-van, white, used 1989, and never looked back. The seats are exactly right for me, and I've tried other vans and SUVs. I sold the Mustang to a lady in Worthington looking for something cute for her teen-agers to drive to school. I think a week or two later they wrecked it.

12. Traded the white van in 1994 for a 1995 green Dodge mini-van, which I drove until the air-conditioning died in the very hot summer of 2002 and we were expecting company. Its age and mileage didn't warrant the repair costs.

13. Traded the green van for my 2002 silver Dodge mini-van, which I still love.

We had several company-owned cars which we drove as a second car--a brown Audi, a cream color Ford Fiesta, a beige Nissan Sentra. A car for personal use is absolutely the best perk you can have because all we did was pay for the gas (tax laws may have changed, but you didn't report it as income). The Fiesta and the Sentra we eventually owned. Then when my husband started his own business in 1994, he leased 2 different Ford Contours (both a shade of beige), then bought a 2000 Ford Explorer which he still has.

During all these years, with the cars we owned, or drove as a company car, or leased, we've had only one accident. My husband rear ended someone in one of the Contours in the mid-90s--minor damage, but the high pitched squeal from the alarm damaged his hearing because he couldn't get out of the car and the air bag smacked him around a little. Still, not a bad record for two boring, beige people.

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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2529 Dan Brown's Truthiness

Rodney Clapp in the May 16 Christian Century writes about the errors in Da Code. It's not a journal I regularly read (too liberal most of the time), but I thought he had some good points. Be careful--this may hurt some conservatives' feelings.

1. The book is written like a movie script.
2. The characters have no inner dimension.
3. It's designed for tourists.
4. It is the striptease of truthiness--the seductive solving of obscure and opaque puzzles.
5. Resembles the "Left Behind" series which decodes the Bible through dispensational theology.
6. Plays to a culture that stays close to the surface--a sand castle on the beach that will erode and melt from view.
7. People most drawn to Da Code tend to be ex-Catholics.
8. The anxiety and urgency of the post 9/11 world made it easier to tap into fears of dungeons and theocracy.
9. As a novel, it is a cop out--the hero never locates proof.
10. Brown's claim to doing research--39 books--is nothing in the academic world. [I used that many for just a journal article in library science.]

DaVinci Code
Dan Brown

2528 Let's have pizza tonight!

At the library today I was reading a history of the pizza industry/craze in the United States, so I think we'll have take out tonight. No other foreign food has ever immigrated so successfully. It first really took off about 60 years ago in the midwest--and I was there, reluctantly. The first time I ate pizza was in 1955 or 1956 on a date with a tall, dark and handsome Italian-American whom I met because we both played trombone. I think he wanted to really impress me so we went to an Italian restaurant in Rockford (40 miles from my home, so counting the distance from Oregon to Mt. Morris, then Rockford then back, then to Oregon, he must have driven close to 100 miles round trip for that pizza). I was aware of two condiments--salt and sugar. I'd never tasted oregano, or garlic, and probably had never had any cheese other than Velveeta. I didn't even know how to eat it and asked for a fork--embarrassing him I'm sure. Leonard, where ever you are, forgive me. I love pizza now. I'm sorry I didn't believe you.

The second time I had pizza I was a freshman in college at Manchester in Indiana in 1957, and a carload of us went to a restaurant in the next town (getting out of North Manchester was excitement in those days), and they all ordered pizza. Being weak willed, I went along. It didn't seem to taste too bad that time. And it wasn't the beer--I still have never tasted beer because it smells like rotten grain.

By the time I had my first big date with my husband in 1959 at the University of Illinois, he took me to a restaurant in Urbana after a dance. I thought pizza tasted pretty darn good that night (maybe it was love?). However, in the intervening 4 years, I think the fat calories had increased considerably because I could see my happy reflection in the grease puddles on the pepperoni slices. And I was hooked.



Before (L) and after (R) pizza

2527 Saying good-bye

Today I said good-bye to my medical student. I'm a volunteer, a "senior partner" for a medical student. Because I'm pretty healthy, he didn't have much to do, but I've enjoyed learning about his studies and activities. He's from Cleveland, is bright, personable and capable, the kind of guy any of us would love to have as a son or a doctor. He says he'll see me again even though my part of the program is over, but hey--I'm not so old that I don't remember that great line of handsome young men.

Another good-bye really is permanent. A friend who'd been in a church study group with us about 10 years ago died suddenly on Saturday. She and her family had just arrived at a restaurant and she went in the rest room, apparently not feeling well, and collapsed and died. When we walked into the funeral home this evening we saw a teen in a dark suit who looked so much like his grandfather it almost took my breath away--and it was confirmed by the old black and white photos posted of her and her sweetheart in his navy uniform. They were married 52 years had 5 children and 12 grandchildren. They will miss her laughter, love and wisdom. But as our pastor has often said, although it was a shock for us, God was not surprised.

2526 The U.S. isn't falling behind in stem cell research

as reported in the latest Wired (14:06, June 2006). "Ever since President Bush hobbled domestic stem cell research nearly five years ago, US scientists have been left with just 22 viable embryonic cell lines to use for federally funded projects." says Greta Lorge in "Where the cells are."

However, in the April 2006 issue of Nature Biotechnology there was a review of all scientific publications involving the use or derivation of human embryonic stem cells, starting with the very first paper in 1998 and ending just over a year ago. Librarians love review articles. The authors' intention was to blame Bush for the U.S. falling behind, but instead says The New Atlantis (Number 12, Spring 2006, pp. 112-115) . . .

"The study itself, however, tells a very different story. Owen-Smith and McCormick reviewed the 132 human embryonic stem cell articles published in 55 scientific journals since 1998. Far from showing the United States lagging behind in the field, they found that American scientists had by far the most publications—46 percent of the total, while the other 54 percent were divided among scientists from 17 other countries. They also found that the number of papers in the field published by Americans has increased each year, with a particularly notable growth spurt beginning in 2002. . . 85 percent of all the published embryonic stem cell research in the world has used the lines approved for funding under the Bush policy"

President Bush said, "We should not use public money to support the further destruction of human life," and I agree, but as it turns out both morality and scientific research can go hand in hand.

Thank you, Mr. President. At a time when a lot of us are scratching our heads over some of your other decisions, it is nice to be reminded how standing firm in the face of media criticism and poll numbers pays off.

stem cell research
Wired magazine

2525 Tom Tancredo condemns the Senate bill

The House Immigration Reform Caucus Chair, Tom Tancredo (R-Colorado) said this about last Thursday's fiasco in the Senate:

"The battle is joined," said Tancredo. "Today, the U.S. Senate passed the largest illegal alien amnesty in American history. It is bad for our national security, it is bad for American workers, and it sends a very bad message to those waiting legally for their chance at the American dream. The only good news is that Congressmen are going home next week where they are guaranteed to get hell from their constituents for this amnesty."

"A majority of House Republicans are holding firm as the last line of defense against the Senate’s amnesty plan," continued Tancredo. "The President is well known for arm-twisting, but immigration is in the front of Americans' minds, and I doubt Members will easily flip on this issue. Speaker Hastert has reaffirmed his 'majority of the majority' rule, which makes sure that my party’s leadership doesn’t collude with the Democrats to pass an amnesty bill." Key features from his press release.

Senators DeWine and Voinovich of Ohio, both Republicans, definitely sided with businesses interests rather than the people they represent. If it looks like Republicans are in disarray, indistinguishable from their Democratic colleagues, who are beholden to unions which take illegals into membership, seeing is believing in this case. Follow the money.

In my opinion, to attempt any sort of "comprehensive" bill before securing the border will endanger the lives of millions of Mexican illegals and decimate their villages as they rush north to take advantage of amnesty and all the social benefits their relatives will receive. Amnesty did not stop illegal immigration in 1986 with IRCA, in fact, it increased because our borders are porous. All the same points were made in the 1970s during the Carter years, the 80s during the Reagan years, and the 90s during the Clinton years. Remember? They thought NAFTA would keep more Mexicans working at home.

We didn't secure the borders in Iraq, so we'd better do it at home.

2524 Blogger burping

Blogger seems to be rebelling about uploading my photos for my Thursday Thirteen (in draft). I'm guessing bunches of you are posting your holiday picnic and memorial observance photos. My TT this week will be on automobiles, so I really had to do a hunt through the photo albums. But my, what fun. Hope I can get the photos to work--it will be much more interesting. It also occurred to me that I almost never took photos of cars, and if I did, they didn't get into the family albums.

As I was explaining to my husband what I was doing he began to tell me about our Packard. We never had one. However, my sister Carol and I shared a Packard (about 1950 model I think) for driving back and forth to college--she was at Goshen and I was at Manchester (both in Indiana about 50 miles apart). Talk about a tank! It was even the color of one. We could get 4 other co-eds in it with all their luggage. The trip was 250 miles on 2-lane roads, and I think Dad figured it was cheaper to buy us a car to drive back and forth than to take time off work to drive us to college.

2523 The trophy wife

At dinner last night I was browsing through the latest GSLIS Annual Report (University of Illinois Graduate School of Library and Information Science)--the campus wide bioinformatics master's program, the certificate of advanced study in language and speech processing, advanced study certificate in digital libraries, and its LEEP (online education) program. I said to my husband, "If I were 20 years younger, I might just try one of these." Without missing a beat he said, "If you were 20 years younger, I'd have a trophy wife."

Monday Memories Honoring our Veterans

For all who have served, thank you for our freedoms. May we honor you by not abandoning them.
Dad and his brother in 1944

"From the Halls of Montezuma
To the shores of Tripoli
We fight our country's battles
In the air on land and sea.
First to fight for right and freedom
And to keep our honor clean;
We are proud to bear the title
Of United States Marines."
The Marine Hymn

"After the Marines participated in the capture and occupation of Mexico City and the Castle of Chapultepec, otherwise known as the "Halls of Montezuma," the words on the Colors were changed to read: "From the Shores of Tripoli to the Halls of Montezuma." Following the close of the Mexican War came the first verse of the Marines' Hymn, written, according to tradition, by a Marine on duty in Mexico. For the sake of euphony, the unknown author transposed the phrases in the motto on the Colors so that the first two lines of the Hymn would read: "From the Halls of Montezuma, to the Shores of Tripoli." "

Victory in Tripoli, our first war with Islamic terrorists in the 18th century.

Who would have thought when Dad and Uncle Russell had this candid shot fighting in the Pacific, that members of our Senate 62 years later would be trying to gut our history, honor and country?

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Marine Hymn

2521 The ultimatum

After seeing this fashion trend several times this week at Lakeside, I told my husband that if he starts wearing suspenders with plaid shirts, I'm outta here.

men's fashions

2520 Charlie Gibson's Amazing Escape

Can you imagine how happy Charlie must be to escape all those ladies on Good Morning America? I'm a woman and I'm often embarrassed by the chatter and talking over each other they do on that show attempting to be bright and cheerful. It seemed to me they often passed to him some stories that were definitely less than a guy-thing.

I don't know when he starts his evening duties anchoring the news, but I just watched for what seems the umpteenth time an overview--just in time for Memorial Day--of the latest Iraq scandal. If ever the mainstream media deserved the moniker "lamestream," it has been this story. Our troops perform with honor and courage 99.99% of the time, and this is what gets airplay on one of our most solemn holidays to honor our war dead. It is being investigated, as it should be--our system works. I hope it will turn out to be as phony as the Jesse MacBeth story.

Charlie, I'm going to give you a break here and assume someone else wrote the words and you were told to read them. Good luck in the new assignment.

Charles Gibson
ABC News

2519 Is the Kerry story going to be flipped again?

Let it go. Viet Nam would never have been an issue in the last presidential campaign if Kerry hadn't trotted out his make-over. (His behavior after his service, yes--that would have been an issue.) Now Captain reports that Kerry might be trying to bring the Swift Boat Vets up again. Story here. Captain says he hasn't posted on this topic in 18 months, but has a list of unanswered questions ready.

John Kerry, who by the way, served in Viet Nam.

2518 Who would lie about Spudnuts

My entries on how to fix a broken zipper (can't be done) and memories of Spudnuts in Urbana, IL (University of Illinois) in the 1950s and 60s get a lot of hits. This week I heard from Mark, who left this comment:

"My grandfather, Herman Trapp and my dad, Fred Steffens; owned and ran the Spudnut stores in Urbana, IL until my grandfather’s stroke in the middle ‘60s. I love spudnuts and Krispy Kremes don’t come close. I remember as a kid, crawling on bags of potato flour and helping Grandpa stock the stores on the weekends. Glad to see you have fond memories of the Spudnut and the Spudnut coffee house.

Mark Steffens
CPS - Sales and Technical Service"

Now, I haven't checked out the veracity of this memory, but I want to believe it, so I asked for his permission to post it. Roadfood.com has a forum about Spudnuts, the various shops, and people like me still yearning for them.

Here's a recipe for spudnuts, using mashed potatoes, not potato flour, but this lady says they taste really good.

Spudnuts
potato flour

2517 Saling at the Lake

Yard Saling, that is.

The right image is important--I wore two shades of denim and sensible librarian shoes

Lots of variety in this one--chairs, toys, mattresses, floral wreaths, picture frames, pots and pans

Lakesiders use the honor system--just drop the money in the jar and make your own change. This jar was full and I didn't see anyone around to take it in the house.

Every house on this corner had a sale. I think some people are just trading.

Yard sales
Lakeside, Ohio

2516 Bloggers, too

Columnist Kathleen Parker wrote "People such as [Howard] Stern and [George] Carlin have built careers out of making obscenity funny, that is, if you're emotionally trapped in a 7-year-old boy's psyche." . . .[who] find great hilarity in body functions and are prone to uncontrollable giggles upon hearing vocabulary that refers to human anatomy."

I've noticed that about female bloggers--only they seem to be trapped in a tipsy ditsy babe-at-the-bar persona. Twice this month on Thursday Thirteen I've come across women who tried to use the F-word the maximum number of times in 13 sentences. If there is anything uglier in our language than the Stern and Carlin dog and pony excrement show, it's ladies' night out at the potty mouth party. It's their blog and they can write what they want, but they shouldn't get indignant and hostile when I comment on their juvenile behavior. If they aren't craving attention, turn off the comment feature.

Thursday Thirteen

2515 When Maria was Bridget

If your ancestors were Irish and immigrated to the USA, Canada or Australia in the 19th century, you may think that because millions of immigrants were absorbed before (about 15% of the US population was foreign born in the early 20th century), why should it be any different now with illegal workers from Mexico who will get amnesty (displacing those who have been waiting on the legal quotas) and bring into legal residency their entire families, including parents and adult children? The rest of the story

illegal immigration

2514 Spam blocks

Many blogs now support spam blockers, and some require registering name, e-mail and URL in order to comment. Many comments are not visible at that site until the blogger approves them. Some comments can go through automatically because they were checked earlier and accepted.

These are the borders of the blog world, put up to keep other writers out who are interested in selling a product, advocating a life style, or just being nasty. If there were no money in it, there would be very little spam. The blog citizen wants to have borders and decide who is allowed in. So why do we care? Wouldn't 1000 messages in our comments window, all the same, be good for stats? What if the spammer wants to sell hot lesbian sex or cheap Viagra or a new cookbook. Why shouldn't he use my bandwidth? Why should I be allowed to deny them access to my blog or make it more difficult? What if the spammer isn't leaving a thousand messages for me to delete--just 150? Wouldn't that be OK? I mean after all, arent't these just guys trying to make a living, and once they scam a few thousand folks, they'll turn to honest work?

That is the attitude and point of view that some of my readers have about the illegal immigrants and the USA border--and my comments were way down this week mainly because people just moved on not wanting to "get involved." But here's a few--imagine you're reading about spammers intruding on your space and bandwidth instead of people sneaking into your country, your town, your workplace, and your identity.

People deserve to live. It is easy for those of us who have much to look down our noses at those who have little.

I can't say I agree with your take on the issue, but I admire you greatly for researching and voicing your concerns.

For instance, with a virtually open border, 100,000,000 Mexican didn't come over the last 20 years. Only 12 million did.

Hot topic that I'll not debate but I don't think anyone can deny the fact that those numbers are mind-boggling.

I'm in Canada so I'm not going to voice my thoughts on these issues.

Claudia, a Hispanic-American leaves a plea

at About.com's Immigration Issues.

2512 Our neighbor to the South and the Narcos

LinknZona looks at the information in the CIA Handbook (something all libraries have for many countries) and comments on how the facts are either laundered to not look so bad, or just can't be determined--like Mexico's population.

"Mexico has 48 consulates in the US while we have only 9 in Mexico. This is a gross imbalance and as has been shown elsewhere (e.g. michellemalkin.com) the Mexican consulates are deeply involved in influencing, or even running, American illegal immigration policy."

Kennedy and McCain had help with the S.2611 "reform" bill from the pro-immigration forces. But it would seem there are strong interests here at home in not closing the border, and it isn't for humanitarian reasons.

"These major drug syndicates, also called drug cartels, are run by people called Narcos, although Narcos can also refer to lower level gangsters and smugglers. If you travel professionally in Mexico and have professional friends from Mexico (as I have and do), you will hear that virtually all the politicians in Mexico are controlled by the Narcos. This includes the current and several former presidents of Mexico. Presidente Fox has much more than a phony concern for the poor people in Mexico behind his demands for an open border. By telling the poor and oppressed of Mexico to migrate north, Mexico relieves its social pressure for reform, gains as much as $50 billion sent back from illegal immigrants in America, and serves its Narco masters. Presidential elections in Mexico have been fixed (see here for example) and it looks as if Fox is headed down this path. Reform would cost hundreds of billions of dollars to the Mexican economy, the crooked politicians, and to their Narco allies."

2511 They are missing a prefix

I e-mailed DeWine and Voinovich today telling them what a disaster they are for the party and the nation, and would you believe the e-mail forms won't work without a prefix--like Mr. Miss or Mrs. Well, fellas, when are you going to add Senora and Senorita because that's where you've taking us.

Business interests, Democrats and Unions

They got what they wanted out of the Senate--S.2611 passed. The Democrats and Republicans who actually need to be responsive to the voters, weren't for it. They'll need to be reelected. It is a really ugly, ugly coalition. In 1986 it was the agricultural interests--now it's the Chamber of Commerce and other business interests. Republicans who are not up for reelection must have their sticky fingers in investments that will benefit. They don't need to worry about their Social Security, which theft of will be forgiven under this plan, because they are exempt and get to have a private plan. The Democrats need a permanent underclass in this country or they can't get elected. They need new ways and new folks to make tax transfers to. The unions have been losing numbers and strength for years and need a transfusion. And the Republicans have sold their soul for a mess of pottage.

There's even some in this mix, and I hope they are few, who don't want to interrupt the flow of drugs into this country, but I don't know what to call them--old fashioned criminals?

2509 Laid back at the Lake

The painting above the fireplace is us at the beach our first summer at Lakeside (the beach being East Harbor State Park since Lakeside just has rocks). My husband is stretched out over two chairs watching a very fuzzy, snowy Canadian TV show on our non-cable TV. This is window washing time--an exhausting, grubby job. We have division of labor--he does the tough stuff, I do the easy jobs.

2508 The game we won't play this week-end

We opened our new game, Lighthouse-opoly tonight. Bill and Joyce are coming for the week-end--thought we'd give it a try. But oops. There are supposed to be 6 tokens, a lantern, captain's wheel, ship, keeper's cap, bell and buoy. All we got was a buoy. So I logged into the site to fill out a customer report and noticed that one of the categories was "missing pieces." Makes me wonder if they have this problem often. I suppose we could create little tokens from twisty ties and q-tips, but somehow, that just doesn't sound like as much fun as a captain's cap or a bell.

All sorts of changes in the neighborhood (at the lake). Took some photos today. My azalea, which is planted in the wrong spot because I have such a brown thumb, is blooming like crazy.

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen reasons I have called my SenatorsSenate bill 2611 (Hagel/Martinez bill) will be called Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act if it passes. (Or Mexamerica.) We're not talking just about workers. There are 13 groups to think about. CIRA will have both amnesty (for current illegals) and a guest worker plan (legals). And a plan for all their extended families. These are the cumulative figures for the next 20 years. While our Senators dither and blather about agreeing on a "comprehensive plan" millions are scrambling this moment to get across the border so they can claim amnesty under this plan.

1. Amnesty for current illegals--10,000,000

2-3. Spouses and children of Amnesty recipients--6,000,000

4. Guest workers--20,280,000

5-6. Spouses and dependent children of guest workers--24,330,000

7-8. Siblings and adult children of newly legal immigrants listed above--5,080,000

9-10. Employment based visas with spouses and children--13,580,000

11-12. Parents of the newly naturalized citizens listed above--4,970,000 (his and hers)

13. The usual immigrants still allowed under our current laws--19,000,000

Like the enabling parent who never cuts the apron strings for its helpless adult child, the USA contributes to Mexico's poverty by employing 15% of its labor force who can then send money back home to keep the inept government afloat.

You may check out these figures at www.heritage.org/research/immigration/wm1076.cfm

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2506 Taylor Hicks

I've seen American Idol maybe once in five years. Reminds me of the Arthur Godfrey show--which I never watched either since my parents didn't have a TV. But this guy, who RR put on its front page this morning, certainly has the look, although I'd have guessed him to be CW. Maybe someday I'll hear something he sings.

"CBS owner William S. Paley detested Godfrey but bowed to his incredible popularity. CBS president Frank Stanton loved Godfrey because his shows were so cheap to produce but drew consistently high ratings. In 1955 when Disneyland cost $90,000 per hour, and costs for a half hour of The Jack Benny Show totalled more than $40,000, Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts cost but $30,000. This figure was more in line with the production of a cheap quiz program than fashioning a pricey Hollywood-based show on film." MBC Archives

Cheap to produce and high ratings. Nothing's changed much in 50 years.

Taylor Hicks
American Idol
Arthur Godfrey

2505 Blogging might be light

Friday through Monday, if I can't find a connection at the Lake. We'll go up on Thursday, clean like demons, relax a bit, then welcome friends for Saturday and Sunday. Lakeside and Marblehead take turns having the Memorial Day ceremony and I don't remember whose turn it is this year. There is a Civil War cemetery near by on Johnson's Island, which was a POW camp for the Confederates. As many as 15,000 men were held there over the course of the war. I believe they have ceremonies there too. Gitmo is paradise compared to sitting out a few winters on an island in Lake Erie.

2504 Google jockeying

I saw this term at ACRLog and immediately recognized the behavior. "What is that? A Google jockey is a participant in a presentation or class who surfs the Internet for terms, ideas, Web sites, or resources mentioned by the presenter or related to the topic. The jockey’s searches are displayed simultaneously with the presentation, helping to clarify the main topic and extend learning opportunities." Now, I don't do it in a class, but I do it all the time when I'm reading medical or political or economic material and don't understand the context or terms, or want to know more about what the author has published. Sometimes I fall off the horse, forgetting that I need to get down to the wire.

2503 Dan Quayle was right

Lloyd Bentsen was a good man, and served his country well. He was a brave WWII pilot, and served in many capacities. The media is not serving him well, however, by quipping at the end of every 20 second obit his comment about Dan Quayle not being Jack Kennedy. I think I heard 3 or 4 announcements of his death, and it was like a template--do these news guys all use rip and read script?

Dan Quayle may well have been a much better man than Jack Kennedy--we'll never know. Jack might have become his brother Ted. One is remembered for being assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald and the other by the media. But it wasn't too long after Bush and Quayle left office, that Atlantic Monthly printed the article, "Dan Quayle was Right" by Barbara Dafoe Whitehead. In that article she reminds us again of the terrible toll divorce and single motherhood has taken on America's children. Quayle, you'll remember, was unmercifully ridiculed and demonized for taking on the fictional Murphy Brown, whose writers turned her into American's poster mom, who with friends and boyfriends, attempts to raise her child.

"On the night Murphy Brown became an unwed mother, 34 million Americans tuned in, and CBS posted a 35 percent share of the audience. The show did not stir significant protest at the grass roots and lost none of its advertisers. The actress Candice Bergen subsequently appeared on the cover of nearly every women´s and news magazine in the country and received an honorary degree at the University of Pennsylvania as well as an Emmy award. The show´s creator, Diane English, popped up in Hanes stocking ads. Judged by conventional measures of approval, Murphy Brown´s motherhood was a hit at the box office."

Ten years later in 2002 he was interviewed on CNN and asked if he'd say anything differently, and he said no, and he was pleased to see so many fatherhood initiatives.

Do you know that immigrant children are healthier than our native-born children? As our immigrants assimilate and take on our casual family relationships (i.e., shacking up instead of marrying), their children become less healthy. They have poverty, crowded conditions at home, uneducated parents, no health insurance, and probably a lot of stress in the home, yet they are healthier because they are more likely (in that first generation) to have parents married to each other and living together.

Dan Quayle was right. The left has continued to pillory him, panning his 1996 book, "The American Family; discovering the values that make us strong." Their only plan to fight poverty is more government programs, but Uncle Sam makes a terrible step-father.

Dan Quayle
Lloyd Bentsen
fatherhood

2502 The lamestream media

American Daughter is using that term; Rush Limbaugh calls them the driveby media. Many people still refer to our usual news outlets on TV, radio and newspapers--CBS, NBC, ABC, Time, Newsweek, CNN, etc. as mainstream media, or MSM. As I've mentioned before, "MSM" also means "men having sex with men" and is commonly used in the medical literature. So sometimes I get confused. Especially if the MSM are talking about the MSM.

2501 Family stories

The prompt for writing group this week is about unusual family stories--either those we've been told or just knew about--did we know the people involved, is it funny, tragic or weird, is the story true and what can be learned from it. I poured through my notes, jogged my memory, and exercised discretion, but decided my family was incredibly boring or else they were gossips who didn't keep secrets for me to uncover. So last night I turned off the computer, went into the living room and said to my husband, "My family is not weird; can I use yours?" He was busy nodding off during a 1950s Dorothy Dandridge movie on TV, and was either startled into consciousness or insulted. "My family might have been on the cutting edge of societal change, but they weren’t weird."

2500 Dixie Poults

have laid an egg for their fans

Dixie Chicks

2499 Library notice

The public library sent me an e-mail that a book I requested some weeks ago is now available (I think it was in cataloging). It's called The Jasons; The Secret History of Science's Postwar Elite. I have no recollection of this book, but I must have read a review of it and decided I wanted to look at it. But what surprised me when I checked Amazon.com just now was, it told me that "Customers who searched for "the jasons" also expressed interest in: Men's underwear, low sling, no line (had a photo), Geeks of War, and Learning to eat soup with a knife." The last two seem to be books, but I was a bit surprised that Amazon is hawking skimpy underwear for men or that people looking for books on history of science are buying underwear at the same time! Now that I've read the PW and LJ reviews at Amazon, I'm wondering "What were you thinking?"

2498 A pricey, but beautiful spring day

The furnace man just left. They wear little blue booties when they come in the house--isn't that thoughtful? His voice and mannerisms were exactly the same as one of my high school classmates--a jolly, talkative guy who I think is a closet introvert. It was sort of eery. It wasn't a repair, just a tune up, cleaning the heat pump and a new filter for the furnace. $166. I asked for a price on having the air ducts all swooshed out with that huge vacuum cleaning system furnace companies use. I remember we had that done once in the 34 years we lived in our house, and it is just amazing the gunk and dirt that is cleaned out. So it's based on the number of cold and hot vents. Walking through the rooms I counted 24, which will bring that to about $650. All the main rooms have a cold air return, but there isn't one in the kitchen or any of the baths and halls or laundry room.

And there's a guy on his knees on our sidewalk repairing the mortar between the flagstones which disintegrate with the freezing and thawing and the salt. That will be about $270 as I recall. And my husband called from the Lake and has an eye irritation, so I've made an appointment for him to roll into town at 4:45 and see the doctor. Money talks--it says good-bye.

2497 Happy Birthday NYPL

Answers.com today had this item, and since it concerns a library, I'm noting it: "Ninety-five years ago today The New York Public Library, at the time the largest marble structure ever built in the United States, was dedicated by President Taft in New York City. Designed by J. M. Carrère and Thomas Hastings, it took 16 years to build. Edward Clark Potter sculpted the two lions which guard the entrance. The building's main reading room is 78 ft (23.8 m) wide by 297 ft (90.5 m) long, with ceilings 52 ft (15.8 m) high. The library has nearly 2 million cardholders, and its collection grows by some 10,000 items a week."

Usually when I'm visiting a city, I make a point of visiting the major library, however, the last time I was in New York was in the early 1960s, and wasn't yet a librarian. This summer we'll be in Helsinki and St. Petersburg, and I'm hoping to see some biblioteki (that's not a transliteration of anything in particular--just thought it sounded good).

My father's name was Howard William, and most of my life I thought he'd been named for his maternal grandfather, William, but late in life Dad told me he'd been named for William Howard Taft, who was president until 1913, and who dedicated the NYPL. Taft would have just recently left office when Dad was born (inauguration was March 4 in 1913 and Dad was born later in March), but maybe my grandparents didn't like Woodrow Wilson. The doctor forgot to register Dad's birth name at the county courthouse, so when he went to file for Social Security Dad discovered his birth certificate said, "Baby Boy" instead of Howard William. But both of his parents were still living, so the county accepted their affidavit that he was what he'd been called his whole life.

Call your Senators right now!

Don't wait! I have just phoned the Columbus offices of Senators DeWine and Voinovich and told them I do not want to have our country overwhelmed by millions of immigrants as S.2611 will do.

Read American Daughter.

"The Senate is poised to pass S. 2611 this week, the giant amnesty bill that would change the demographics of our country and start us on the slide into rampant crime, drug culture, and third world poverty. Every thinking American is needed at this moment to phone, fax, or visit their United States Senators and oppose this legislation."

She links to the phone numbers.

Numbers USA provides these 10 years estimates:
20 million — Frist's bill (S. 2454)
25 million — McCain/Kennedy bill (S. 1033)
31 million — Senate Judiciary bill (no #)
32 million — S. 2611 (now on Senate floor, based on the Hagel/Martinez bill)

Remember the CIRA (S.2611) is conservatively 103 million immigrants in 20 years, according to Heritage Foundation research. Only about 20% of those will be "guest workers" the rest are their relatives and children. And they are stealing our Social Security with the blessings of the Congress!

Monday Memories of summer camp

Have I ever told you about summer camp?

Americans have had a long love affair with the camping experience, both the organized and informal types. My mother told stories of camping as a little girl with her parents in the 1920s. They packed their cooking utensils and tents and strapped the dog's carrier to the running board and headed for Nebraska where they owned property. The family also attended a summer camp in northern Indiana, Winona Lake.

When I was a child, my parents never camped or even took family vacations. However, our little town, Forreston, where we lived until I was in 6th grade, offered "summer recreation" about which I have extremely fond memories. Today it would be called a day camp. The school and grounds (there was only one building for both elementary and high school) were open for crafts, sports and games. We played volley ball and bat mitten in the gym, and soft ball and running games outside. We made those necklaces and bracelets from colorful plastic coated strings, wood burning projects, weaving, and pottery. There were team sports, but summers were pretty hot, so I remember also sitting in a circle under a shade tree for quiet games. I think I only walked 2 blocks to get there, and spent most of the day with my friends. It was all supervised by adults and I don't remember them being at all intrusive or controlling--they just organized things and walked around with clip boards (in my memory). For the 1940s, I think it was a pretty progressive way for the town to look after the children (and we all had mothers in the home since few women were employed, so that wasn't the purpose).

Our house at the star, school at the square
But the absolute best event was rolling our swim suits in a towel, boarding the school bus at the school and driving the 30 miles to Sterling (singing the whole way) which had an outdoor pool. I couldn't swim but I loved splashing around and screaming. Then on the way back, when we were all famished and reeking of chlorine, the driver would stop at a road side ice cream stand and all the wet, bedraggled children would stream out of the bus and get in line for a Sugar Daddy or an ice cream bar. Since I never got these treats at home, I probably thought this was the best part of summer camp!

But we children also went to summer church camp at Camp Emmaus east of Mt. Morris, IL. In 1950, when it had only been open a few years, the costs were about $11 a week and I blogged about it two years ago. My older sisters must have attended as soon as it was opened. We had campfire, singing, vespers, Bible study, crafts, and great food. Not only was I a camper there, but I was also later a junior counselor and a junior cook. The camp looks very much the same today, and is managed by Bill Hare, who was a camper when I was. My brother was the camp manager when he was in his mid-20s.

From my scrapbook, 1950, with both my name and town incorrect
Camp Emmaus 1953, Sara and me (on left)

When I was in high school, maybe about 15 years old, I attended a School of Missions camp on Lake Geneva in Wisconsin with a few other girls from my community. It was interdenominational and more study oriented, although there were water sports. In the photo of our cabin I recognize me, my sister Carol (back row left), her friend Dottie (they were 2 years older), and my classmate Priscilla. We apparently brought dresses along to wear for church. That's me in the front with the hoop and white 2" heels (fun to wear on gravel streets). The other photo is Priscilla and me, dressed for typical camping activities.

My husband attended Boy Scout camp for several years when he was in elementary school. He doesn't remember its name (when he was little he thought his mother's name was "Mom" too), but knows it was near Indianapolis. His parents, always a bit ahead of the curve, bought a cabin in Brown County, Indiana, when he was about 14 years old, so from that point, the outdoor camping experience was to help with the Christmas trees and the family cabin.

This is getting a bit long, so I'll have to write about my childrens' camp experiences at another time.

Banner photography by Donald Kinney.

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Camp Emmaus
summer camp
Forreston, Illinois
Mt. Morris, Illinois

2495 For peace and quiet

build your home next to a cemetery--an old cemetery--according to this Canadian story. New cemeteries aren't particularly pretty, and you might find some digging going on.

"Our" cemetery is having a 200th anniversary celebration remembrance in June. We bought our spots a few months back and I blogged about that here. The invitation says that many of the 70,000 people memorialized at Union fought for our nation in the Revolutionary War and wars since; other established businesses we use every day; some were famous athletes or government of civic leaders. Our friend Jack Park is going to tell some stories about Woody Hayes, Fred Taylor and others. And there will be some historial re-enactors and barbershop quartet.

When I was researching the Forreston part of my Monday Memories, I found this photo of a cemetery that was very close to our house where we children used to play. The girl scout troop was cleaning and weeding as a community service project.

2494 Senate Would Allow 100 Million New Legal Immigrants over the Next 20 Years

The Happy Carpenter doesn't think that's such a hot idea and has the following suggestions on immigration. I think they look pretty good after the first 2 which sound a bit impractical. If you stop by there be sure to scroll up and read the comment of his nephew.

2493 Syphilis is on the increase

Is there any way they can blame President Bush? It has happened on his watch. From 2001-2004 the rate increased to 2.7 cases per 100,000 population, up from 2.1 in 2000. The CDC say this is a result of more gay sex, and the rate is increasing particularly among blacks. For whatever reason, the medical world calls this MSM--"men having sex with men." Since most people think MSM means Main Stream Media, I think they should find a new acronym, or just stick with gay sex. Syphilis is actually going down among women, and often they are getting the disease from bi-sexual men. Bi-sexuals are called "non-gay-identified-MSM who have female partners," or NGI MSM in this article. No pun, but that's a mouthful. Perhaps the rate is going down among women because more men are not pretending to be straight and thus not leaving women with their little gifts.
The article also said physicians under report syphilis and even when it is reported there is a "challenge of locating sex partners about whom limited information is known." In the real world, we call that casual sex or extreme promiscuity. Also, according to the CDC, syphilis and AIDS are often linked and the internet is contributing to the problem. (JAMA, April 26, 2006, taken from MMWR 2006:55:269-273)

"Over the past several years, increases in syphilis among MSM have been reported in various cities and areas, including Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco, Southern California, Miami, and New York City. In the recent outbreaks, high rates of HIV co-infection were documented, ranging from 20 percent to 70 percent. While the health problems caused by syphilis in adults are serious in their own right, it is now known that the genital sores caused by syphilis in adults also make it easier to transmit and acquire HIV infection sexually." Triad Health Project

syphilis
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
gay sex
CDC

2492 Libraries probably aren't allowed to report this

A librarian is asked about finding the sexual offender site on the library computer. Here's what happened:

"A young woman approached LHL to access the database. She was guided to a computer and into the database. LHL discreetly retired to the desk.

The young woman came back. "I can’t find him in this thing. He said he was in there!"

LHL said, "Well, let's check if he is in the general offender database."

"He'd better be," she said. "He SAID he was in the computer."

LHL found him and pulled up the entry. The young woman went berserk. She pulled her little boy over to see the screen, pointing at it and hollering, "Look, there he is on the computer! That's his name! See?" She was laughing and hugging her son, obviously happy to have found him.

Her next stop was to find an arson charge for the same man. This seemed to be even more exciting because it had a mug shot. More laughing and hugging.

LHL was stunned. I was stunned when she told me. It was as though her boyfriend was a celebrity because he was "in the computer".

See? This is why saying that parents need to decide what's good for their children in libraries (like my public library) is a can of worms. What do you do when the parents are totally irresponsible?

This odd case is reported at Feel-good librarian.

2491 What's Cindy Sheehan up to these days?

Making money off her dead son and dishonoring his memory, some think. Fighting against the war that took his life, others say. Read this website devoted to her and her personal appearances and see what you think.

An interesting subtext to this website is the "aging left" archive. Meeting with Cindy must bring back the memories of another war protest when they were young and virile (and of the millions of Vietnamese we abandoned and left to die or be "reeducated.")

Cindy Sheehan

2490 New notebook time

My new notebook has pretty roses. I blog a lot, but in going through the old one, I found 40+ topics I had noted, but either wrote about something else, or decided against it.

1)Karen Schoemer's book, "Great Pretenders; my strange affair with 50's pop music." This article about how she meets and admires Pat Boone was in American History, March 2006.

4) Poetry in medical journals, Cancer prayer. "Hope is sometimes a puddle/of stale rainwater for a parched mouth. . ." Marc J. Straus, MD

9) Movies that got it wrong.

11) Rituals of our lives.

12) Childhood obesity--watching mothers pick up their children at pre-school.

13) 13 things to lie awake and worry about (for a Thursday Thirteen).

14) Automobile advertising--photo doesn't match the small print.

15) Textbooks in libraries.

16) What I remember from the 70s.

20) End of life laws in Britain.

22) $150 billion--Americans paid to tax preparers and accountants for help with taxes

23) "Sometime we get manuscripts from dead people. I don't mean the living dead, though we get those too." Poetry editorial, March 2006.

25) Letters to the editor; put downs and set ups. [This one's practically finished--I'll have to take another look on a slow day]

26) Did I ever tell you about my Mustang? [for a Monday Memories]

27) Social changes in our society with self-employment/at home employment.

28) Cigna ad "Benefits of caring."

29) Dumbing down curricula to raise performance of low-income and immigrant children.

30) Verizon's content guidelines--seem to be much stricter than churches, TV, libraries, etc.

31) The gene that protects against alcoholism

32) OSU Lantern ad--is this ethical?

36) Do adverbs matter? darkly striking, smiled sweetly, closely followed, probably true

38) Two men sharing a loaf of cinnamon bread [this was for Coffee Spills]

39) Bush's tax cuts--capital gains revenues have increased by 79.9% 2002-2004. Total income slice going to the richest 1%, 5% and 10% of Americans is lower than during the Clinton years.

40) Lots of real estate ad stories, like the furnished 2 bdrm in Bayfield overlooking Madeline Island with fireplace, deck, kitchen, for $190,000.

42) Ilaria Montagnani and kick boxing.

43) Government growth under Bush. (sounds like a gardening story, doesn't it?) Biggest growth in gov't regs is in Security and Exchange Commission, FDA, IRS and ATF--we've got 66,000 more snoopers. Gov't regs are costing us about $8,000 per household.

44) Poetry editor of JAMA is Charlene Breedlove--she published a poem by Joannie Strangeland. Am I the only one who finds that funny? Pseudonyms?

And to think I have a box of these old notebooks--all with stories hoping to be written. Instead, they languish in blog hell.

2489 America’s Diabesity Problem

There’s a word my spell check flags. DIABESITY. It's a combination of two words--one disease and one condition--diabetes and obesity. Dr. Val Jones at Medscape.com this week says:

"America's diabesity problem is not about moral failure, laziness, or lack of effort. It's about the wrong philosophical underpinnings. We have fallen for the idea that there is a quick fix for everything -- especially weight loss. We look to fad diets, extreme athletics, diet pills, and surgical interventions as a miracle cure for all of our problems.

We must make a philosophical frame shift towards a rehabilitation model of weight control. Why rehab? Because rehabilitation involves a long-term commitment; an acknowledgment that the opportunity for weight regain will never go away; and that an individualized, multidisciplinary approach has the best chance of success.

Rehabilitation literally means "the restoration of lost capabilities." It is a hopeful word, because it presumes that individuals have the capacity to improve, to walk farther, feel better, maintain a healthy weight, and add life to years. Rehabilitation medicine physicians use an integrative, holistic approach to wellness. They coordinate teams of physical therapists, occupational therapists, social workers, psychologists, and nutritionists to help patients meet their goals. For this reason, I believe that rehab specialists are the best equipped to provide the kind of complex, long-term solution that is required to reverse the diabesity epidemic. Let's rehabilitate America!"

Why does this concept make me feel so uncomfortable? Is it the "We must. . ." phrase that makes me envision even more government fingers in our food and athletic socks? I don’t think rehab is a positive word for most people--not if you've ever suffered through restoring a shoulder after rotator cuff surgery, or arm mobility after a mastectomy. And yes, I'd say looking for a quick fix is a type of laziness, Ms. Jones.

I'm a bit heavier than I'd like to be--maybe 15 pounds, and to be honest, it isn't fast food, it is just f-o-o-d. Too much, too often. There. I've said it. I'm now walking 2-3 miles a day, but I also just made a peanut butter chocolate pie. I won't gobble it down in one sitting--I'll only have one small piece a day--my husband will eat half. And I'll eat it--gasp!--because it tastes good. It tastes a heck of a lot better than exercise feels. Move more + eat less works every time. No team, no therapist, no counseling. There. That's my philosophy, Ms. Jones.

obesity
diabesity
exercise
health

2488 Notice to Ohio Restaurants and Contractors

I am sick to death of hearing our local business people whine that they can't find American workers--no, not find them, what they say in Ohio is American workers won't work as hard or as long as the Mexicans. Well, fellas, just keep it up because the unions are salivating just waiting to get ahold of your fine Mexican roofers and rough carpenters, and you won't be paying them $8.00 an hour then. You may be saving money on the front end, but the rest of us are paying on the back end. And when you've given the country away? Then what? How about I stroll into a restaurant or show up at the job site wearing one of these?

If you're hiring illegals, you too are an illegal, the only difference is you know better and you are a citizen.

Illegal immigration

2487 Why can illegals get Social Security and I can't?

"The Senate voted yesterday to allow illegal aliens to collect Social Security benefits based on past illegal employment -- even if the job was obtained through forged or stolen documents." Story here.

I wonder if I got Mexican citizenship and snuck back across the border, I'd be able to collect my own Social Security?

Because my pension is from state teachers (STRS Ohio), I can't collect either my SS or the spousal part of my husband's. I think the NEA really ought to look into this, although I know it would rip out their liberal souls to do it. And yes, I'm well aware this happened under Reagan; that doesn't make it right to give criminals with forged IDs and SS numbers benefits and deny them to me.

Would almost serve 'em right if it was my SS number they stole! They couldn't get a dime.

Illegal immigration
Social Security