2853 Middle of the night with the conspiracy theorists

As I mentioned about a week ago, I've been sleeping in the guest room with my cold and my cat. But that means I can leave the radio on all night. You know, I'd sort of forgotten how bizarre nighttime a.m. radio can be with UFOs, seances, tattoo artists, and 9/11 conspiracy theorists--much more outrageous than nighttime TV with its health scares, crystals and blind dates. How do these seriously sick people earn a living? I'm so happy that Popular Mechanics is on the job.

This morning on Glenn Beck I heard the author of the book that evolved from the article debunking the various theories. And it wasn't hard. Most of the time all they had to do was go to the original quote or sources--like the one about a cruise missile hitting the pentagon, where the first part of the sentence--"An American Airlines jet flying so low it looked like" a cruise missile with wings.

• Claims that air traffic control violated standard operating procedures by not immediately intercepting the stricken jets;
  
• That the fire caused by the crashes wasn't actually hot enough to melt steel and cause structural damage in the World Trade Center;
  
• That the holes in the Pentagon were too small to have been made by a Boeing 757;
  
• That Flight 93 was actually shot down by an Air Force plane.

Hear the interview with Jim Meigs and David Dunbar here at Popular Mechanics Radio. Don't miss the description of the radically different construction used on the WT towers--the lightest buildings in NYC. They did not have steel girder columns holding them up. And how the conspiracists thought the word "Pull-it" referred to bringing down a building, but they were discussing getting the firefighters out.

"How can we account for our present situation unless we believe that men high in this government are concerting to deliver us to disaster? This must be the product of a great conspiracy on a scale so immense as to dwarf any previous such venture in the history of man. A conspiracy of infamy so black that, which it is finally exposed, its principals shall be forever deserving of the maledictions of all honest men.…What can be made of this unbroken series of decisions and acts contributing to the strategy of defeat? They cannot be attributed to incompetence.…The laws of probability would dictate that part of…[the] decisions would serve the country’s interest." Joseph McCarthy, 1951

The Internet ignites a conspiracy faster than jet fuel in the hands of Islamofacists propped up by left wing bloggers. You have my word.

conspiracy theories
Popular Mechanics

2852 Heading back for "old math?"

Someone in the Ohio Department of Education (or whoever hands out teaching licenses) noticed I had no college math on my transcript back in the early 1970s. Apparently in the 60s, someone decided math wasn't needed for a "liberal" education. So I went over to Ohio State and signed up for Math 101 at the beginning of the push for "new math." Fortunately, the instructor was not a grad student from India or China (although we had some that subbed), but a math teacher from West High School in Columbus who was going to grad school. It wasn't too bad, and he was an excellent teacher, but I'm awfully glad I didn't learn the basics that way. I think I got a B+. I'd hate to haul out a calculator if I needed to figure out whether to buy a package of 8 rather than 12 of paper towels. I'm not sure how the "new math" of the 70s compares to TERC, the term used today for math instruction that doesn't use drill and memorization.

Today's WSJ has an article on the scores of American students in math, and how some schools are offering "Singapore Math" based on the methods used in Singapore, whose students score the highest. They memorize, don't use calculators, and work problems out in their heads. I couldn't even come close to figuring the problems presented in the article.

Here's a site comparing, Singapore, TERC and Saxon (which is probably closer to what I learned as a kid). So this war among math educators and even homeschoolers will make Iraq look like kids' play.

And all this leads to a website called The Math Worksheet. You select the type of problems (i.e. fractions), the level of difficulty, and whether you want the answer sheet. There is also a subscription option where you pay for quantity. I don't know what method this is called, but it looks like a good review for someone like me.

HT Dawn treader

Singapore math
math

2851 Congratulations, Median Sib

Carol, who writes the blog Median Sib has recently returned from a lovely trip in Alaska where she got married, to the same nice guy she married the first time.

2850 Lincoln Museum

Last night our book group discussed Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin. Our discussion leader had recently visited the Lincoln Museum in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Most of us had never heard of this wonderful Lincoln resource so close to home (i.e., if you were going to be in northern Indiana anyway).

"In 1905, Arthur Hall and a group of business leaders from Fort Wayne, Indiana, founded The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company. Hall, a lifelong admirer of Abraham Lincoln, wrote to the president’s only surviving son, Robert Todd Lincoln, to ask for a photograph that the company might use on its letterhead. Robert replied, “I find no objection whatever to the use of a portrait of my father upon the letterhead of such a life insurance company named after him as you describe; and I take pleasure in enclosing you, for that purpose, what I regard as a very good photograph of him.”

The company prospered, and in 1928 Hall took the opportunity to repay the Lincoln family by creating the Lincoln Historical Research Foundation, dedicated to the life and legacy of Abraham Lincoln. The Foundation, under the leadership of Dr. Louis A. Warren, began to collect Lincoln-related material in 1928, published Lincoln Lore in 1929, and opened The Lincoln Museum to the public in 1931."

The very popular current exhibit (extended) is on weddings in American history which includes the story of the weddings of the three Mary Lincolns—Mary Todd Lincoln, Mary Harlan Lincoln and Mary Lincoln Isham.

Our next selection is A share in Death by Deborah Crombie. This is the first (1993) in a series, and although mysteries are my absolutely least favorite genre, I'll play along. Also, it's my turn to do dessert that night.

Abraham Lincoln

Monday Memories: Carpenter Ants

It was our first spring in our new home. We just couldn't believe our good fortune. A gorgeous baby girl, a wonderful house in a beautiful neighborhood with old tall trees and a fresh start for my husband's career in a different city. Life was good, I thought, as I heard a light rain start. But wait. It was only raining in one room. In fact, I looked outside and it wasn't raining at all. I walked into the den and held my ear against the paneling. Sounded just like rain falling lightly--inside the walls.

The image you see on your screen is about the size of this ant and they can be more destructive than termites. The sound I heard was actually sawdust falling behind the paneling. Eventually we took the roof off the den, and found underneath a thick mat of ants, thousands, maybe millions. In those days, you could still use strong chemicals to kill ants (EPA doesn't allow it now). They really got blasted--the guys pulled the roof back and the exterminators went to work.

The next time you hear unexplained rain, put your ear on the wall.

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2848 What is your blog worth?

Why I can't imagine, but I clicked on it. And that's how web sites make money, by getting you to go there and click. So this guy is a pretty good web businessman.

My blog is worth $413,243.28.
How much is your blog worth?

Still, it's hard to get people my age to buy stuff for the sake of stuff. If we don't have it by now, we've learned how to get along without it.

2847 Would you list your birthdate on a job application?

In the USA, that is a big no-no. Your vita, or CV, or application shouldn't list any dates--not birth, graduation, honors, years of professional membership, etc. You and your wrinkles still have to face the personnel officer and/or the search committee who may be decades younger, but at least you need to get your foot in the door. Laws won't help if you're stupid. Therefore, I was surprised reading a British librarian's website with a link to his CV which just blurted all that out. He's unemployed, or underemployed, or a "consultant," and is looking for work. His birthdate and other personal information (marital status, number of children) are on his CV.

In our family my dad's employment stories were always fun. His first job was at about age 10 when he took water to men in the fields for tips. He retired the first time, I think, when he was about 55 or 57, when he sold his business. He sat around a bit staring out the window and then began a series of jobs that didn't end until his final brief illness in his late 80s. His strength was sales--never met a stranger. In the 1990s he applied for, a got, a job selling agricultural implement parts to farmers--you make the rounds of your customers, check the bolt locker and replace what's needed, send the farmer (who was probably in the field) a bill. It was one of the businesses he'd started and sold after his first retirement. But all these civil rights laws were in place by then, so they didn't now how old he was (over 80) until he filled out the post-hiring paper work. Then they saw his birth date: 1913. The next laugh was on them when he outsold all their younger salesmen.

If he'd told them upon application that he was over 80, I'm sure they would have found some reason to not hire him. And that's the way it is these days with being over 40 or over 50, depending on the job. In the library field, where you're competing with gamers and gen-xers for jobs, I'd get some botox, hair dye, and lie. . . what they know can hurt you.

2846 A 9/11 collection

"Never did I imagine that we would remain free from further attacks, and for that, I blame the Bush Administration and its courageous efforts--despite all the whining, screaming, and hysteria to the contrary--to do what it thought was right to protect America." Dr. Sanity

"It's too late to decide to attack Bin Laden, so let's attack this TV show." Althouse.

"Seeing all the attacks of the 90s laid out and dramatized (with a couple of screwed-up attempts to get Bin Laden thrown in) was kind of shocking, even for someone who is already familiar with the facts. I understand why the Clinton people do not want this to air. About the two disputed scenes: Berger does not slam down the phone but he comes of very very badly anyway. The scene with Albright doesn’t look to have changed at all (from descriptions I heard earlier). I tend to share Lileks’ (and your) view about pre-9/11 actions getting a pass, but I must say, seeing one incompetent act after another does make me angry with the Clinton Administration. I imagine it might have the same effect on other viewers." A viewer who watched the ABC movie, Path to 9/11, in New Zealand, comment on Instapundit

"Once the 9/11 attacks did occur, measures were taken that have reduced the likelihood of a recurrence. But before the attacks, it was psychologically and politically impossible to take those measures. The government knew that Al Qaeda had attacked United States facilities and would do so again. But the idea that it would do so by infiltrating operatives into this country to learn to fly commercial aircraft and then crash such aircraft into buildings was so grotesque that anyone who had proposed that we take costly measures to prevent such an event would have been considered a candidate for commitment. No terrorist had hijacked an American commercial aircraft anywhere in the world since 1986." Review of the 9/11 Commission Report in the NYT by Richard Possner.

"As wild as it may seem to Americans, especially heathens, the war against terror is a religious war. Whether the enemy chooses to conquer us by force with bombs and flaming airplanes, or by our own suicidal and weak-willed acceptance of their demands to change our way of life (swimming pools today; the legal system tomorrow) to adhere to their religious laws, he will attempt to conquer us by any means necessary." LaShawn Barber

"Ysidro came to the United States because of the promise of freedom and the ability to make his own way in the world. He died because terrorists fear and hate that about America and the West. Ysidro stood for something they could not abide: the ability to make his own decisions and live life his own way. Ysidro deserves to be remembered far more than the lunatics who took his life and all the others. Godspeed, Ysidro. I'm sorry we didn't get the chance to know you better. The terrorists stole that opportunity from us." Captain Ed, writing a remembrance about one of the 9/11 lost

2845 My score is dropping

I think it is because I just cleaned my office and don't have any food in here. Or maybe because I had to guess at all the Periodical Table questions. It's been a long, long time since chemistry class.

2844 Triple the fun

Cathy is a school teacher and she lists this as one of her pleasures this past week. It was fun, clean, and smelled good. When you're working with kids, you can't beat that!

"Placing shaving cream all over the table at school and "finger painting" with the kids. One of the kids decided to imitate what he must see and had it all over his face. We drew faces, wrote letters, made waves, and just had plain old fun. And, afterwards, had a clean table and a great smelling room (it really is an excellent cleaner)."

2843 Lessons in pie baking

After all these years of declaring myself the second best pie baker east of the Mississippi (my mother was #1), I've learned an extremely painful lesson today. I've lost my touch. I may never bake again.

I probably should have figured this one out even without high school chemistry, but apparently, if you're going to make a fresh fruit pie ahead of time, you should freeze it, not refrigerate it. You need something to stop the sugar's reaction with the fruit.

A few days ago I made a fresh peach, two crust pie. As a special treat, I actually used sugar which I rarely do. Then I covered it and put it in the garage refrigerator (which sometimes works, sometimes doesn't, but seems to be on a roll right now). When I went to get it this morning to put it in the oven, the juice had expanded (exploded?) and was everywhere the pie pan wasn't in gooey puddles. I gingerly carried it into the house and with a half a roll of paper towels attempted to clean it up.

It is now in the oven and smells wonderful; however, we all know that the juice is now below the bottom crust, burbling and bubbling, waiting to become permanently gelled to the pie pan as it bakes. The pan is nearing 50 years old (I had it before I was married), but still, I wasn't anxious to toss it. In order to eat this, we'll probably have to treat it like peach cobbler, dousing it with some vanilla ice cream. Sigh.

2842 Do your eyes get misty

when you meet an old friend, especially one you thought was dead? That's a bit how I felt when leafing through the premiere issue of Hallmark Magazine, September/October 2006, Vol. 1, no.1, at the coffee shop today. My friend Bev, who loves to surprise people with little personal gifts, passed it along to me, knowing I collect premiere issues. It will have strong ties to its products and expects to have 550,000 out there for the next issue. There are many delightful articles in this beautifully designed magazine, but when I got to the end there was an excerpt from Alice McDermott's new novel, After This, with soft watercolor illustrations.

I was immediately transported back to an era of women's magazines when you eagerly picked up the latest issue because of the serialized fiction, or short fiction, sometimes on different colored, or textured paper. There I was, for a moment, back in my parents' home on Hannah Ave., stretched out on the living room sofa on a steamy summer afternoon, no air-conditioning or fan, magazine propped up on my then very flat belly, trying to ignore my mother's call to come and snap the green beans before they got tough.

I've confessed here before that I am not much of a fiction reader, having discovered non-fiction in graduate school. But when I did read it in the 60s or 70s, it was most likely in a woman's magazine, perhaps while waiting in the doctor's office or business lobby. Ladies Home Journal, Cosmopolitan (before all the cleavage and sex articles changed it), Redbook, Woman's Home Companion--they all gave many women writers their start. I thought fiction had pretty much disappeared from the traditional woman's magazine, but when I Googled the topic, I learned that isn't so. At least feminists are still writing articles about how it rots women's brains and doesn't reflect real women's lives and somebody somewhere absolutely must do something about it. I don't know what. Force women to write and read about lesbian sex? Women scientists who discover malaria is best controlled by DDT and lose their jobs? Women pols based on Nancy Pelosi's character? Who would read that drivel?

The mother of Arthur Schlesinger Jr., Elizabeth, wrote unkindly about women's fiction in the New Republic in March 1946. Although it wouldn't get her a PhD in women's studies, it harks back to a 1933 study about how trivial the 5 most widely read ladies' magazines were. Actually, she only included one line about fiction, ["boy and girl tales, generally with happy endings consumed endless space"], but we know fiction doesn't consume "endless space" these days. It's been replaced by diet and exercise articles, like we needed to learn that we should eat less and move more.

In March 1949 Ann Griffin in American Mercury blasted women's fiction--out of 100, she said, maybe 10 would be concerned with a genuine, recognizable problem. The settings were "never-never land inhabited by disembodied spirits completely free of entangling environments." And everybody lived in New York, Florida or San Francisco (just like today's mainstream media slant), nobody worked, and no one had problems with housing, the high cost of living (1949?) or elections.

Then came the feminists roaring through in the 1970s, so magazines had to have the obligatory push for women to all be working and worrying about day care, wardrobes for the office, and additional education. I'm not convinced that feminists didn't kill a very nice market for women writers and illustrators. So if you're looking for a thesis topic, I've just given you one.

So truly, I can't be blamed for thinking there was no longer any fiction in the ladies' magazines. It's apparently out there, but I've been reading the Wall Street Journal, or Weekly Standard, or JAMA, or New Republic, or American Artist. And my doctor's office just seems to have golf and boating magazines.

fiction writers
women's magazines
women and media, Hallmark

2841 Rep. Pryce tongue tied on immigration?

To listen to Deborah Pryce's reelection ads, you'd think Ohio doesn't have an illegal immigration problem. She's actually got an opponent this round, but doesn't even address the issue that both Democrats and Republicans say they care about and want action. And she's stupidly campaigning for Democrat votes (that won't happen) by supporting stem cell research in her ads. That issue probably doesn't even register.

Not reform; enforcement. We've got a border. Enforce it. Protect it. How hard is that to say Ms. Pryce? Reform is just another word for more illegals at low wages to pad the sagging Social Security rolls in hopes there's someone around to clean the kitchens and bed pans of America. But guess what? With the unions recruiting them (they need members too), they won't even be available for the reason you're letting them in.

Pryce votes.

2840 Democrats' cherry picking

That's what I've heard Republicans say about focusing on one item, the strawman they set up, in the huge report about the intelligence that preceded the war. Well, Captain's Quarters is actually reading the report, and provides links. He had some analysis by p. 16 that showed Joe Wilson a big liar, but the Dems didn't lead with that story, did they?

"The Senate Select Commitee on Intelligence Phase II reports may take some time to process, reading the source data rather than just relying on the conclusions, but I've found one interesting nugget already. In the WMD accuracy report, a significant passage demonstrates the falsity of one leftist talking point (page 16, emphases mine):"

I opened the first section--151 pages, and peeked at the second, 211 pages, which seems to be posturing by the committee members. I wonder if anyone but the staffers ever read these? What gets rolled out for the media is really skewed. It says pretty clearly that all this mish-mash is based on material gathered after the war.

And all this smoke screen at a time when the Democrats are threatening ABC's broadcast license if they run the docu-drama about the Path to 9-11. Powerline includes a list of the terrorist activities just during the 90s. It is what it is.

2839 Why we must forward e-mails

I NEVER forward an e-mail chain letter or health alert or money appeal, but receive many that tell me to do that. I particularly don't like my e-mail address being forwarded in those batches. I do occasionally recopy what other bloggers say, so this comes from KeeWee's Corner, and I don't know where she got it. But I love it.

I must send my thanks to whoever sent me the one about rat crap in the glue on envelopes because I now have to use a wet towel with every envelope that needs sealing.

Also, now I have to scrub the top of every can I open for the same reason.

I no longer have any savings because I gave it to a sick girl (Penny Brown) who is about to die in the hospital for the 1,387,258th time.

I no longer have any money at all, but that will change once I receive the $15,000 that Bill Gates/Microsoft and AOL are sending me for participating in their special e-mail Program.

I no longer worry about my soul because I have 363,214 angels looking out for me, and St. Theresa's novena has granted my every wish.

I no longer eat KFC because their chickens are actually horrible mutant freaks with no eyes or feathers. I can't enjoy a good Latte from Starbucks anymore because they WOULD NOT send any coffee to that poor Army Sgt who requested it.

I no longer use cancer-causing deodorants even though I smell like a water buffalo on a hot day.

I have learned that my prayers only get answered if I forward an email to seven of my friends and make a wish within five minutes.

I no longer drink Coca Cola because it can remove toilet stains.

I no longer can buy gasoline without taking a man along to watch the car so a serial killer won't crawl in my back seat when I'm pumping gas.

I no longer drink Pepsi or Dr. Pepper since the people who make these products are atheists who refuse to put "Under God" on their cans.

I no longer use Saran wrap in the microwave because it causes cancer.

And thanks for letting me know I can't boil a cup water in the microwave anymore because it will Blow up in my face...disfiguring me for life.

I no longer go to shopping malls because someone will drug me with a perfume sample and rob me.

I no longer shop at Target since they are French and don't support our American troops or the Salvation Army.

I no longer answer the phone because someone will ask me to dial a number for which I will get a phone bill with calls to Jamaica, Uganda, Singapore, and Uzbekistan.

I no longer worry about sudden cardiac arrest, since I can now cough myself back to life instead of wasting time calling 911.

I no longer have any sneakers -- but that will change once I receive my free replacement pair from Nike.

I no longer buy expensive cookies from Neiman Marcus since I now have their recipe.

I can't use anyone's toilet but mine because a big brown African spider is lurking under the seat to cause me instant death when it bites my butt.

Thanks for all the endless advice Andy Rooney has given us. I can live a better life now because he's told us how to fix everything.

And thanks to the great advice, I can't ever pick up $5.00 I dropped in the parking lot because it probably was placed there by a sex molester waiting underneath my car to grab my leg.

If you don't send this e-mail to at least 144,000 people in the next 70 minutes, a large dove with diarrhea will land on your head at 5:00 PM this afternoon and the fleas from 12 camels will infest your back, causing you to grow a hairy hump. I know this will occur because it actually happened to a friend of my next door neighbor's ex-mother-in-law's second husband's cousin's beautician, who is a lawyer.

Have a wonderful day.

2838 Friday night date

We've been going out on Friday nights probably for about 38 years. Recently it's been Rusty Bucket; before that Old Bag of Nails; but we've closed a lot of nice casual restaurants and sports bars. Schmidt's on Henderson, Gottliebs in Grandview.



Anyway, I feel too rotten with this cold to go out tonight, plus I can't taste anything. Even the cat has moved to the other bed after keeping me company the first night.

Yesterday David, our investment advisor was in the dining room with my husband (I didn't join them so as not to spread the germs), and he said, "Hmm, something smells really good." I thanked him (baked chicken with an apricot/mustard sauce), but said I couldn't smell it. For lunch today I had some of that sliced left over chicken on a piece of toast--homemade bread my son sent over. I'm sure it was fabulous. Couldn't even taste it.

2837 John McCain for President

If he's the best the Republicans can put forward in 2008, I hope Hillary is running, because I'd vote for her. He gets a black mark from me for personal character. Deserted his first wife after she stood by him through all his Vietnam prison years and campaigned for his release. She never told him about her injury, so when he discovered she wasn't the pretty babe he married, bye bye. Then he looks around for a rich second wife because he had a name (thanks to his first wife) and no money. Doesn't hurt that she's got good looks and political connections.

Then the second black mark is the McCain Feingold Campaign Reform which restrains our freedom of speech. This is not a good foot to start on in a race against Democrats, who are already severely attempting to undermine free speech.

The third black mark is he is smarmy, dishonest, sneaky and a back stabber.

There. I feel much better.

Hillary is looking better all the time. She's stayed married to her piss-poor husband, who has given her every reason to leave, and has been a good senator representing the interests of New Yorkers, even though she had absolutely no ties to that state and was a blatant carpetbagger. Better a carpetbagger than a bumbling, mumbling baglady, like McCain.

John McCain
campaign finance
Free Speech

2836 Funning the liberal bloggers

Go to Google and type in "60 books Bush" and find the outrage among the liberal bloggers that Bush is reported in a national magazine to have read 60 books this past year. That hardly puts him in Truman's league, whom elitists also made fun of, but it is about 55 more than I've read. Lincoln got by with the Bible, Shakespeare and a few law books, and was self educated. They made fun of him too.

"Democratic newspapers had a field day ridiculing his biography. He is "a third rate Western layer," the Herald gloated. "The conduct of the Republican party in this nomination is a remarkable indication of a small intellect, growing smaller." Team of Rivals, p. 257

See what others think about this lastest round of Bush bashing.

This writer calls it "drunk with literacy" and "idle flatulence."

Yes, his critics have a small intellect, growing smaller.

book reading
George W. Bush
liberal bloggers

2835 What's in a name?

For yesterday's Thursday Thirteen the contributors were challenged to write 13 things they liked about themselves. I didn't play--I often have mine written ahead of time, and I sort of liked thinking up 13 wedding gifts I still use after 46 years. That alone tells a lot of my good qualities. Sentimental, frugal, careful, tenacious, etc. But I can see why the co-hostess did it. I am puzzled and perplexed by the titles women give their blogs. When I teach people how to blog I encourage them to put a little thought into the title. It is the front door, and if you've ever put your house up for sale, the realtor will tell you: clean up the door, trim the bushes, and put fresh lightbulbs in the lamps. I can't tell you how many versions I see of "crazy," "mad," "goofball," "mundane," "boring," "tired" or not very flattering descriptions of an animal or body part appearing in blog titles. Frankly, I don't want to go much further if I arrive at a pretty template that says the equivalent of, "this blog sucks, why are you here."

If anyone told them that their children were boring or mundane, they'd scratch their eyes out, but for someone reason find it OK to say that about their childrens' mother.

2834 Labor unions recruiting illegals

Labor unions are heavy contributors to these various immigrant marches and demonstrations so trendy this year. Unions have no qualms about accepting dues from illegals (that's a legal loophole that needs to be plugged). How does the rank and file union member tolerate this? Do they not get what bringing in people who will take lower paid jobs will do to them? Why would an employer hire someone at union wage?

Toledo Blade is having a lock-out. I don't know enough about union negotiations to comment on the issues, but I can read salary information. In Sunday's paper there was a full page ad listing salaries [top range], medical benefits, pension plan, etc. Benefits: they all get 100% medical, surgical, vision, dental; paid sick leave up to 13 weeks; up to 5 weeks vacation; tuition reimbursement; paid holidays, employees assistance plan, overtime pay after 37.5 hours; paid military/jury leave.

I only jotted down two positions, neither of which require a lot of education, communication skills, team effort or personality. Rack sales: $38,617 + benefits ($13,516) = $52,133. Driver: $44,447 + benefits ($15,556) + OT ($7,419) = $67,422.

Next we'll be hearing that Americans don't want to drive delivery trucks or stock newspaper stands. There's a lot of illegals in northern Ohio probably willing to work for much less.

illegal immigration
Immigration Reform
labor unions
unions

2833 A disappointment

Last night I turned on CBS Evening News which I do occasionally, but I usually watch ABC or Fox. I wanted to see what Rush Limbaugh had to say during the Free Speech minutes, which will apparently be a regular feature (not him, but a guest). What a disappointment. Not Rush. Katie. With all that hype I expected. . .well, something. She was dull, bland, looked very tired, and not very well dressed. The female reporters at the Toledo stations we watch have a lot more pizzazz. They've killed what she did best--chit chat, gossip, looking doe-eyed and closing with a zinger.

Katie Couric
CBS Evening News
Rush Limbaugh

2832 The spiritual dimension of exercise.

I saw this subtitle in a retirement article today and comment on the concept at my other, other blog.

Thursday Thirteen

Our anniversary (46th) is next week, so here's a list of wedding gifts I still use.



1) Cookbooks from my mother
2) 6 pc kitchen tools by Ekco (still have 4 pieces)
3) Electric hand mixer (sometimes a bit sluggish, but still does the job)
4) Silverplate flatware, 8 place settings
5) Set of 8 orange glasses, now faded to pink, still have 7
6) White linen tablecloth, used most holidays
7) 3 bowl set of pyrex, with lids
8) kitchen knife set, one piece missing
9) Purple pitcher (art glass)
10) Set of 8 wooden coasters (still have 7)
11) 2 glass coasters with silver plate rims
12) silverplate dish engraved with our names
13) Set of 8 glass dessert dishes, still have 5

Oh yes, and we still have the two childhood friends, JoElla and Tom, who stood up with us.

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2830 The biggest culprit in my eyes

in the whole Plame Blame mess of the last few years is Patrick Fitzgerald, the special prosecutor. From the beginning of the investigation, he knew Dick Armitage of the Bush administration was the loose lips source of Novak's story and still he went on and on with the investigation. There was no attempt to out Plame, no conspiracy to besmirch her husband. Just carelessness. Get that man out of there and make him pay back every penny he has taken as a dishonest, cruel special prosecutor who has tried to ruin so many lives. Fred Barnes has a whole list of guilty participants, but I think the top blame for Plame goes to Fitzfizzle.

Patrick Fitzgerald
Valerie Plame
Joe Wilson
PlameGate

2829 Trip Tale: Church of the Spilled Blood

As cathedrals go, this one is fairly new--being completed just shortly before the Russian revolution in 1917. This is the name our guide gave it, but the guide book I bought calls it "The church of the Saviour on the blood." It was built on the spot where Tsar Alexander II was assassinated in March 1880. He had brought about many reforms in 19th century Russia, but not enough for a terrorist group known as "The People's Will." It was quickly decided to build a chapel on the spot where he died (the second attempt that day), but it wasn't finished until 1907 so used concrete in construction, had radiators for heat and electrified lighting.





The Soviets closed it in 1930 and used it to store opera sets. In 1970 it became a museum. Restoration has taken a long time because the original mosaics and marble and enameling were badly damaged.




It was about a 45 minutes walk from our hotel to this cathedral, so we saw it on our last day which had nothing scheduled. Then we went to the Russian Art Museum and back to our hotel for lunch (we were the only people in the dining room), to be picked up by our van at 3 p.m. and the return train trip to Helsinki.

St. Petersburg
Church of the Saviour on the blood
cathedrals

2828 Do we need more or less government to fight fat?

Trust for America’s Health released a study in late August about obesity, linking it to poverty. They must have a good marketing arm, because this information has been out there for years, in medical studies, at ball games, at county fairs, and in direct observation at schools. If you haven’t noticed that the USAn is getting fatter by the year, you’re staying at home munching in front of the TV or computer screen. Monday I was at a local art fair that drew thousands and commented to my husband that overall, people who go to art shows are not as fat as people who attend sporting events.

“According to an August 2006 report from Trust for America's Health (TFAH), adult obesity rates continued to rise in 31 states over the past year while government policy efforts have consistently failed to provide viable solutions to the growing obesity crisis.”

But why is it government policy is creating the problem? Do we even have a policy on obesity? Or do we have a hodge-podge of programs design to prop up agricultural interests with food surpluses and school lunch and breakfast programs? Do we have a huge bureaucracy at the federal and state level designed to keep people helpless? This report acts as though no middle class or wealthy people are over weight. It assumes that poor people cannot be held accountable for their poor choices at the store. That they only buy “energy dense” foods because they can’t afford more nutritious food.

They’ll blame fast food restaurants and high prices at neighborhood mom and pop stores, and then scream bloody murder if a Wal-Mart Superstore with acres of fresh fruit and vegetables tries to build in the neighborhood, serve the community and employ the residents.

You can walk into any gas station/grocery kiosk or mom and pop store and buy milk, eggs, orange juice, bread, peanut butter, canned soups, fruits and vegetables and probably small amounts of meat and canned fish like tuna, baby food and cereal. I'm not sure you can buy dried beans, but you can probably get canned beans. But you do have to by-pass the candy, cookies, chips and dip, the soda pop and beer. Life is full of choices, even for poor people with limited incomes. You might even have to choose better food for the family over cell-phones, cable and artificial nails.

Women still make most of the food choices in the U.S. If a woman has finished high school, married the father of her children, and is out of her teens when she has her first baby, the chances are she will not be poor. Fat maybe, but not poor.

obesity
poverty
low income
nutrition

Gas prices in Ohio redux

We paid $2.49 in Bucyrus driving home from the lake on Sunday, but this morning in Columbus, in some areas, it is $2.20. How about your area? Does this increase or decrease the pressure to drill in Alaska, to build new refineries, or find alternatives? Will the recent information about new oil find in the Gulf hurt or help environmentalists and/or Democrats? While lying awake in the middle of the night (recovering from my cold) I listened to a radio talk show--2007 GM cars will have a 100,000 mile warranty.

The one constant is that movie stars will continue to drive the biggest gas hogs while telling the rest of us to conserve.

Gas Prices

2826 In sick bay

I've banished myself to the guest room because I've come down with a bad cold. I know where I got it--I think she reads my blog. So I'm really pleased that we finished the redecorating in that room that used to be electric bright yellow with hundreds of yards of drapery fabric and canopies (decorators used to live here). Actually, they hadn't painted the room yellow--they had made it a dark forest green--the next owners changed it to yellow. Now it is something called buttercream with a slightly darker shade on the trim. It is warm enough to have the window open, so I just stayed in bed and looked at the magnolia in the day light and the moon at night. We're using my parents bedroom suite from the 1950s in that room.


I have a number of things on my agenda during the next few weeks, including my sister-in-law's wedding, so I hope this doesn't turn into bronchitis like last year.

2825 Trip Tale: Touring St. Petersburg by water

When we returned to St. Petersburg after visiting Tsarskoe Selo the six of us decided to go on a canal boat ride to tour the city. Peter the Great admired European cities, so it was carved out of swamp land on the Neva River. During the time it was being built aristocratic families were required to move there and masonry building was not allowed anywhere else, reserving the resources for Peter's city. It was renamed Petrograd in 1914, Leningrad in 1924, and returned to its original name in 1991.

The guide dropped us off in the canal boat area and we negotiated with the ticket vendors. If you're pressed for time, you can skip this unless you find one with a guide narrating the sights in your language. The loud speakers were ear splitting in a very brisk but monotone Russian, but the wind was even more brisk. Gloria and I took shelter under a canopy and swaddled ourselves in one of the blankets for some shelter.





This part is not the canal, and it felt a bit like being a thimble bouncing on the ocean. These are some of the cruise ships that bring tourists by the thousands. Smaller cruise ships travel the river between Moscow and St. Petersburg with stops along the way.

2824 Trip Tale: Where to eat in Pushkin, Russia

The town that grew up around Tsarskoe Selo (the summer palace of the Russian imperial family) was renamed Pushkin in the 20th century.

Street musicians, "Dark eyes," and "White nights."

Tsarskoe Selo had huge crowds, but we arrived early.

Beyond the main palace area there is a battered residence of the tsar's cossacks. After the Revolution, one of the buildings was used as a kindergarten. Then in WWII the buildings were badly damaged by the Nazis. Our van went down a quiet side street where there is a tiny restaurant among these buildings called "The High Tower." It has about five tables and wonderful food. Our guide said it was her first time there and she would report back to the tour company that we were all pleased. We had a fresh salad, soup, poached chicken with sauce and a delicious cranberry dessert.

Monday Memories: My 10 minutes of fame

Recently I wrote about the Hillbilly Housewife and her food budget. In September 1982 I was front and center of the food section of the Columbus Dispatch, "Scratch cooking saves money," written by Becky Stiles Belt. It says, "Not many families with two adults and two teen-agers eat for $55 a week. Norma Bruce and family do. . . She spends less than the government allots for a family of four on food stamps. She contends that not only does her family save money, they eat more nutritiously.


"Bruce makes almost all her meals from scratch. She calls herself a "wall shopper"--a person who shops along grocery store walls where produce, meat and dairy products are located and avoids the largely processed foods in the center of the store. Bruce's meals are built around "whole foods"--grains, meats, natural cheeses and a lot of fresh vegetables and fruits."

The article goes on to mention that I worked part-time and sympathized with harried working parents--that I saved time by preparing one-dish or make-ahead meals such as soups and casseroles and master mixes such as biscuit mix, cocoa mix and granola.

The big issue for me, which was down played in the article because of advertising revenue, was that I never used coupons. "Her research of government and independent studies led her to believe that time she would spend clipping coupons for processed foods would be better spent making the foods from scratch. 'The time Mom used to have for home-prepared meals is now used matching ads, making trips to different stores for double coupon day, attending coupon trading get-togethers and attending special classes on how to save money refunding,' said Bruce in a consumer newsletter she wrote for friends. Her own sample studies in coupon clipping, storing and use indicate about four extra minutes are needed for each coupon used."

I was also interviewed on this topic on a radio talk show, and in a morning television spot, and invited to speak at ladies' luncheons. I don't think anyone believed me, because people want to believe in a "free lunch."

Ah fame. It is such a fleeting thing.

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2822 What do you think of your blog? A meme

At one of Nea’s blogs, I noticed this meme.

1) Are you happy/satisfied with your blog with it's content and look?

Now that I’ve learned to change the background of the standard template, I like it a lot. I use a different template for each blog, some are easier to read than others. I get a kick out of going back and rereading the old entries. If I enjoy it, that’s whom I write for.

2) Does your family know about your blog?

My sibs and son read occasionally, my daughter doesn’t use the internet except for business. I think some cousins, nieces and in-laws take a peek once in awhile. I print it for my husband, who doesn’t use a computer, and the family stories I print and send to my aunt.

3) Do you feel embarrassed to let your friends know about your blog or you just consider it as a private thing?

Goodness no. I tell everyone who will listen. I flog my blog. I have even taught blogging.

4) Did blogs cause positive changes in your thoughts?

I have always written essays and a lot of letters, so this is a natural for me. However, I was never a diary person. The only change is now whatever I see or read becomes and idea for a blog. I’m glad I have it particularly for trips and vacations and things I want to remember. It has also kept me much more engaged in current events and politics.

5) Do you only open the blogs of those who comment on your blog or you love to go and discover more by yourself?

Although I have met some interesting people through commenters, I get my best leads reading comments on other people’s blogs and going to their sites. That’s how I found Nea (and this meme). I probably have hundreds of links (on the left column), but those are people I do recommend, or they are part of a group I belong to. I try to read them.

6) What does visitors counter mean to you? Do you care about putting it in your blog?

I have 2 different free statistics site meters on this blog, and a third type on some of my other blogs. They all track stats slightly different, but only show the last 100. I’m always puzzled when the numbers suddenly go up (like they did last week), or down.

7) Did you try to imagine your fellow bloggers and give them real pictures?

I’m not sure what this means, but I use real photos, and most of the people I visit do also.

8) Admit. Do you think there is a real benefit for blogging?

I was in education, so anything you do to improve communication skills is positive, but occasionally I come across blogs that make me wonder why the person bothers--bad grammar, spelling, topics, potty language, etc. I also get concerned that people who think they blog anonymously reveal so much information about themselves, and negative things about their employment. Not a good idea. These digital comments never go away.

9) Do you think that blogger-society is isolated from real world or interacts with events?

The bloggers I read regularly or recommend are all very good and quite aware of world events. Even the mommy blogs, almost totally focused on babies, children, and school show the woman is really paying attention to details. I am wowed by the photographs, art, and crafts that are posted. Hobby blogs are just amazing.

10) Does criticism annoy you or do you feel it's a normal thing?

I’ve never met a person who loved criticism. But I do write for me. And I’m my biggest critic.

11) Do you fear of some political blogs and avoid them?

Some are outstanding. I avoid the name callers and potty mouths. Extreme left or extreme right are flip sides of the same pancake. Only the paranoia has a different odor.

12) Did you get shocked by the arrest of some bloggers?

Never heard of it.

13) Did you think about what will happen to your blog after you die?

If it is like comments on listservs or old webpages I did in the mid-90s, it may live longer than me. But I do keep a hard copy.

14) What do you like to hear? What's the song you like to put its link in your blog?

I don’t want to open a blog and find music.

15) Five bloggers to be the next "victims"? Let's see ...

If you liked this and found something interesting, take a stab.

2821 East Harbor State Park beach

Global warming has been messing with Ohio long before Al Gore heard of it. We used to have glaciers. East Harbor State Park used to have a three mile beach. When we first saw it in 1974, it had already been destroyed. A huge storm had ravaged it in 1972, so only about 1500 ft. remained when we enjoyed the white sand beach and tall trees.

However, even 30 years ago, the locals told us the beach was destroyed not by Mother Nature, but by good intentions with unintended consequences--a man-made break wall installed in 1957 to stabilize the peninsula during winter storms. Instead, some believe it resulted in the loss of the beach.


Dick Taylor of Findlay is campaigning to have it removed. Engineers (the same guys who built the levees in New Orleans?) disagree on the solution. Taking it out now would cost millions, but it needs a new study. The last one was done in 1981.

The Toledo Blade Story.

2820 Has someone hacked the Target site?

Take a look at this presidential action figure page. See anything odd about President Franklin Roosevelt?


HT Florida Cracker

2819 An odd public service announcement

The other day on the radio I heard a health public service announcement asking parents to teach their children to cover their mouth with their hands or a tissue when they sneezed or coughed--because of the threat of bird flu. Huh? How about those 150 cold viruses. Don't they count? What about common courtesy? Good manners?

Bird flu kills AFLAC duck

2818 Praying for your child's future spouse

In looking back at my stat meter to see what people had been reading, I came across a 2004 blog on the fragility of males (more are conceived but fewer survive).

There was a comment attached to this which I thought was worth a reminder. The woman's name is Brenda, but there is no profile to link to. So, thanks Brenda.

". . . it is never too early to start praying for your sons and their future wife. I started praying for my two sons when they were 9 and 10. Both are married now and between them we have three wonderful grandchildren. I would encourage you to pray specifics; you know your sons best and what their personalities are and the type of godly women they will need to bring out their potential as well as what will be a balance in their lives."

Kittens at dawn

Jan who's been feeding the feral kittens has gone back to Virginia, so they showed up here this morning. The smallest one, who apparently was the tamest, wasn't getting any food. When I stood up they all scattered, but then she ran up to the bowl. I was able to touch her head without her running away. The others kept their distance. There were 7 of them, but I think two ran under the neighbor's car. There is a group here who captures feral cats and has them neutered and released. Obviously, the mommy of this little troop got away.

2816 Good Food on a Budget

Hillbilly Housewife has some interesting budget and food plans. Back in the days when I wrote "No Free Lunch," an anti-coupon newsletter, I could feed a family of four on less than the amount the USDA charted for poor people--can't remember if it was called the Thrifty Plan then (she mentions this). My point was that games you play with your food (coupons, sweepstakes, clipping barcodes) cost you money at the check-out. Food companies aren't in business to give their products away. She has a menu plan for $45 a week for four-six people, that I doubt I could have put on my table. There's very little meat in it and a lot of beans and rice. However, it is nutritious and inexpensive, and we'd have less of an obesity problem and healthier children if more people put these dinners on the table.

Emergency menu for $45

Make your own convenience food

It's a fun site, easy to read and follow, even if you don't want to cut your food budget.

2815 Do you suppose

smokers know what they smell like? Like a 10 year old athletic shoe. On a homeless person. Deceased. For quite awhile. In hot weather.

2814 You are invited to my other blogs

Who would write eight blogs? Me. You are invited to visit the others. Usually, the entries are shorter and less frequent.

Church of the Acronym is about my faith and my church, UALC in Columbus Ohio and other religious things. This link is about our trip to Columbus, IN for an architectural tour. This was my second blog, so it's coming up on its second blogiversary. The emblem at the top is called a Luther Rose, and depending on your screen, some views are better than others.

So then I decided it would be fun to have a blog about my hobby, collecting first issues of journals and magazines, In the Beginning. Here's what I wrote about the first issue of Wired.

I was seeing so much crazy research on obesity related health problems I decided to start blogging about it, at Hugging and Chalking. Here's one I did about immigrants picking up our eating habits.

Because I go out for coffee every day and overhear conversations or talk to total strangers, I started a special blog called Coffee Spills. Yesterday I had to drive 5 miles to a McDonald's I used to visit often. It had been remodeled and the whole routine had changed, but all the old crowd was there. Here's a poem written at a Caribou, one of my favorite places for coffee.

Ordinary Time is a group blog about walking. All the bloggers are ladies, and several seem to be ministers or wannabees. Not sure why I was invited, but it helped me with my walking plan to get in shape before we went to Europe.

In November 2005 I wrote a one month blog, Memory Patterns, about sewing based on my old patterns and memories. It was so much fun. I wasn't a very good seamstress but my Mom and one of my sisters were. Lots of old photos and old patterns on this one. Here's one about a baby quilt made by my mother. This blog gets about 10-15 visitors a week, usually people looking for a specific pattern.

My most recent blog effort is Illegals Today. I didn't activate comments to discourage weirdos from positing, and I try to pull up and post some interesting research. Much of it is a critique of a college textbook on immigration, most of which is pretty anti-American and anti-western culture. But even the poor chapters were interesting. This post was about how Mexico treats its illegal immigrants. Only democracies have this debate. Totalitarian and marxist countries just jail or shoot them.

So there it is. All my other blogs.

2813 When bloggers go on vacation

WSJ reported that going on vacation is a problem for high profile bloggers. Not me. My stats actually increased when I was in Finland and Russia. I'm not sure what that means. Were people checking back often? Of course, the article was about blogs that may get 70,000 hits a day and hundreds of comments, where the regulars chat with each other. For no reason that I can figure, my stats changed this past week from an average of about 177 a day to 240. I think my readers are coming back from vacation.

Me on a blogger's vacation
High profile bloggers sometimes have guest hosts blog while they're gone. The closest I come to a guest host is MurrayT who actually has his own blog but he gets more readers for his positive, upbeat style here. He's a clever guy. But I appreciate all my readers and commenters.

Next week the Thursday Thirteen is an assigned topic. I probably won't write it because it would be like school or work.

2812 Ask a Librarian

For years librarians have looked for ways to bring more people into the library. No problem now. The federal and state governments are increasingly sending them in to file forms via computer. I don’t have an answer, but I understand the problem. At our house, I’m the "Ask a Librarian."

My 68 year old husband doesn’t use a computer. I do all his documents for his business, search for information for him, accept his e-mail for meetings, send attachments, etc. If he wants to read my blog, I print it. The other night he asked me how long would it be before the ordinary person wouldn’t be able to function without knowing e-mail and the Internet. What’s spurring him on, I think, is his new digital camera. He needs a way to download and edit his photos.

So I said, "First you need to learn how to use a mouse. Let's start with the Solitaire game." Oops. He's never played Solitaire. I have to begin with plugging in the laptop and turning it on and closing it down. Doing it wrong, or getting impatient, I’ve learned the hard way, can erase everything.

Shirl Kennedy in reviewing an article in Current Cites about libraries being drafted for e-government in the current issue of Library Journal says:

"he problem is obvious. Among other scenarios, this article describes how, earlier this year, senior citizens signing up for the Medicare prescription drug plan "were encouraged to seek information and register online." As a result, public library staffers not only had to assist these folks in using the Internet, but they also had to become familiar with the ins and outs of this particular government program. Hurricane Katrina, in the areas affected, resulted in an influx of people who needed to use library computers to register for FEMA benefits. I've tried to help several people in my library sign up for federal financial aid for college online...or file their income taxes. Privacy issues aside, this stuff is time-consuming...and while I am tied up extensively with one customer, several others are being inconvenienced. "

I can’t even imagine the work load on public libraries for these tasks. There seems to be money for computers, but not additional staff for hand holding. Sometimes I don't understand the information that comes up and I use a computer everyday, so there must be a lot of anxious seniors who don't even know what "enter" means or how to move a mouse cursor.

Here's a school in Illinois that has 7th graders teaching senior citizens how to use the computer.

2811 The Devil wears Prada

It's been a slow week at Lakeside, so we went to see a movie. From the looks of the audience, so did everyone else in town.

"From beginning to end, the movie is funny and fascinating and real. And Streep rules it like a particularly nasty goddess."


Although I might not have thought it was as good as this reviewer, Orson Scott Card, it was much better than I expected.

Perhaps the best movie I've ever seen for Meryl Streep. Anne Hathaway seemed to do a lot of running, sort of like those car chase scenes you see in action movies. If you've seen one gallop in 4" heels, you've seen enough.

2810 A shocking experience

Rolling at a stroll pace through the Wal-Mart Superstore, I felt a tingling in my right hand, the only one actually on the cart handle. I stopped. Shook my hand, thinking I'd pressed a nerve, and kept going, moving down a side aisle. When I returned to that aisle heading for the groceries, both hands on the handle, I felt a very distinct shock, coming through the cart handle. It was a bit stronger than hitting your "crazy bone" in your elbow or building up static electricity with your shoes on a carpet. I lifted my hands, the tingling stopped. Put them back on the handle, it returned. I moved to a side aisle, it stopped. I returned to that main aisle, it returned. Hmmm.

Wal-Mart, Target, other big box stores and some large libraries use an RFID, radio frequency identification, tagging system that consists of a tag with a microchip in the merchandise and a reader, which has a transmiter and receiver. It can track a lot of information about point of use and where an item is in transit or storage. I can't imagine it was tracking me, but I'm wondering if my cart or some merchandise in it was misbehaving with something embedded in the aisle material?

When I checked out, I told the cashier (sales associate?) and she looked surprised. I told her she should report it to someone. I turned around and Dave Kilbreth a local contractor was behind me in line. I asked him what he thought, but Dave's a lumber and nails sort of guy, and he was as mystified as I.

Friday Family Photo

Here it is September already. We were married in September 1960, and in our little photo album, there was no photo of us with Rev. Carl Myers, who married us. So we fixed that in 1999 at my sister's wedding in the same church, same pastor (although he was retired from the pulpit). His brother was my high school English teacher. Carl also officiated at my father's funeral and I think he was the soloist at my mother's funeral.

2808 Some librarians deny

that this YouTube video could happen in their libraries, because they never see a janitor, let alone see one dancing. Remember the card catalog? We used to get requests to purchase them when people wanted to store their tapes in them. But that would be pretty low tech now in an era of i-pod storage.

Thursday Thirteen

13 phrases about architecture that make me shudder.

If architecture is best understood through our senses--why design and build theaters, libraries, schools, churches, homes, and federal or state buildings that assault and sicken, that weave, swoop, glare, and dismantle our sense of space? I visit many sites (my husband is an architect) just for fun and read many articles because the magazines keep coming.

Wexner Center at Ohio State; maintenance nightmare and tax money sponge

These writers' phrases of approval are often synonymous with "ugly," to my eye, and I know in 30-50 years we'll be taking them down.

1) cadence of chaos
2) giddy
3) radiating from every curve
4) recycled
5) engage in new forms
6) salvaged from demolished (insert a building that was lauded in the 1960s here)
7) faceted glazing
8) challenge your preconceptions
9) paradigm shift
10) glass addition to . . .(usually a 19th century building)
11) holistic and ecological
12) splayed
13) edgy or renegade or "on the cusp" or whatever shape a computer can work up

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! Leave a comment and I'll add your name and URL. View More Thursday Thirteen ParticipantsBanner by MeVisitors and visited:
Annebrit, Kimando, Mousenomia, Courtney, Phoart, Aginoth, Renee, Chelle Y. Frances, Frances, Kimmy, Crse, Mandy, Wandering, Chris, Laurie, On the rock, Tricia, Jersey Girl, Lazy Daisy, Jane,

2807 Rumsfield's speech to the Legion

It's being sliced and diced by the anti-administration folks, but Blue Star Chronicles has posted the whole speech, with her comments. She's got other good things to read too. She's worth linking to.

"Indeed, in the decades before World War II, a great many argued that the fascist threat was exaggerated — or that it was someone else’s problem. Some nations tried to negotiate a separate peace — even as the enemy made its deadly ambitions crystal clear.

It was, as Churchill observed, a bit like feeding a crocodile, hoping it would eat you last.

There was a strange innocence in views of the world. Someone recently recalled one U.S. Senator’s reaction in September 1939, upon hearing that Hitler had invaded Poland to start World War II. He exclaimed:

“Lord, if only I could have talked with Hitler, all this might have been avoided.”

Think of that!

I recount this history because once again we face the same kind of challenges in efforts to confront the rising threat of a new type of fascism.

Today, another enemy — a different kind of enemy — has also made clear its intentions — in places like New York, Washington, D.C., Bali, London, Madrid, and Moscow. But it is apparent that many have still not learned history’s lessons."

He's not calling our war protesters fascists or Nazis (indeed, they'd be the first slaughtered by the Islamofacists), but he is reminding them and us that feeding the crocs in hopes of placating them has been done and done and done.

On the other hand, doesn't that anonymous Senator sound like Kerry?

2806 Rhetorical question

Why is it that every Democrat and media muffin and leftist news source from Lamont to Sheehan to the New York Times can bad mouth the President, his motives, his commitment, his intelligence and denigrate our troops, Murthering them and lie about them, and hide all the achievements of the Iraqi people, BUT when the president goes on the offensive, and stops playing kissy face with them, all of a sudden he's being "political?" I flipped through the ABC/NBC/CBS morning news today (no remote and no cable), and I swear they were reading the same script/crap. Shame on you guys. You should all be splitting one rip and read salary. Click to off.

2805 Cleaning gutters

Worst home maintenance job in the world. Glad I don't do it! When we sold our home of 34 years, my husband was happy to say good-bye to the giant oak tree that didn't finish dropping its huge leaves until February. But the worst job was cleaning gutters. He would sit on the roof (metal), brace his feet on the guttering, and scoot around with a pail and yard bag. Metal roofs are hot in the sun and cold in the shade. A few times we tried a gutter cleaning company, but all they did was scoop it, drop it, and drown it. So then we had muck on the side of the house as it splashed going down, and clogged down spouts. That's history now. We love those yard and roof crews at the condo.



But there's still the cottage at Lakeside. This is a photo, taken this morning, of the late summer gutter cleaning. There will be a late autumn (if he can beat the snow) and a late spring cleaning also. Last year he came up with our son-in-law in the late fall and there was an early snow. They worked terribly hard, but much of the debris had frozen, so the mess was waiting for him in the spring. Although this is a one story house, it has a high foundation and an extension ladder is required. The tree behind him is a magnolia, which is magnificent in bloom, the few years we've seen it.

Are you sure you want a second home?

Things are quiet this week

The final week of the season at Lakeside has no programming, so it's a good time to work on the first selection for book club, Team of Rivals, which has about 900 pages. But we're also having a brisk wind from the northeast and the waves are huge. Lake Erie being so shallow can really kick up a storm. The dock has been closed for three days. My husband tried the video feature on his digital camera and got some good wave action--I just don't know how to put it on the blog. Any suggestions for a non-techie blogger?

Today I took the book toOoh-la-la", a coffee shop/deli that just opened in Lakeside this season.

2803 Live from the Ladies' Room

It's a bit disconcerting to hear cell phone conversations from the next stall in the ladies' room--especially with toilets flushing and hand dryers humming. But imagine hearing the conversation over national television! Poor Kyra Phillips, CNN anchor. Her blather about her marriage and her bitchy sister-in-law went out over the President's speech in NOLA. Apparently, no one at CNN controls was paying attention to the speech and a colleague finally went to the rest room to stop her. Story here.

Kyra Phillips
CNN

2802 Trip Tale: Tsarskoe Selo

This was the Tsars' summer residence, having been originally built for Peter the Great's Lithuanian bride, Ekaterina Alexeevna (became Empress Catherine I) in the early 18th century on land formerly controlled by Sweden. The last Tsar, Nicholas II, was born and lived here 22 years. Some of this family's private rooms have been restored. After the Communist revolution it became a museum, and in 1937 the town around it was renamed Pushkin, in honor of Russia's famed poet. Each monarch who lived here remodeled and changed things so there is a long list of architects and decorators. Catherine the Great was particularly interested in the gardens and used German and English designers.

Tsarskoe Selo (Царское Село) was virtually destroyed by the Nazis in WWII, and horses were stabled in some of the buildings. It is only partially restored, but is so huge it can accomodate throngs of visitors--as our little G-6 tour discovered.

2801 Now is the time

to be sure of your core beliefs and values. The elections are about two months off. Unfortunately, the research says that our brains are more impressed by the volatile emotion of the moment and negative ads than our intellect and reasoning. Both parties are going for the niche voter--knowing that may be the key.

In Ohio, for instance, the ads for Strickland (D) contain all the buzz words for a Republican--family, lower taxes, and jobs for the middle class. But he is a Democrat. Then the Republicans are rhyming an ad with Brown's name, like "Brown has let us down," using typical buzz words, higher taxes, hurt the elderly. So you can't rely on just the words--know your own core beliefs and what a candidate believes. We're getting 3 or 4 ads every half hour.

So take a few minutes to clarify what you really believe, and refine it for the local campaigns. Then when the political ads start swamping the airwaves and cyberspace, you won't be hood winked. Don't vote just for a party. Vote for the candidate who will work the hardest for your beliefs, but if a party best respresents you, support it. Don't let gasoline prices or the latest bomb threat in Baghdad decide your vote. Bush bashing or Hilary hating is not a rational plan for getting through the election ads. Yes, I know it's not a presidential year, but many important state and federal seats are open.

Update: Here's another buzz word/phrase to look out for: "Interestingly, Andrew Cuomo has a political ad on TV how he took on the NRA to keep guns out of the hands of criminals, but never mentions that his program was so ineffective and stupid that Congress passed a national law to prohibit it." Budd Schroeder at American Daughter

2800 And if a Republican had said this--with pride?

Chris Wallace to Joe Biden: “What kind of a chance would a Northeastern liberal like Joe Biden stand in the South if you were running in Democratic primaries against southerners like Mark Warner and John Edwards.”

Joe Biden: “Better than anybody else. You don’t know my state. My state was a slave state. My state is a border state. My state has the eighth-largest black population in the country. My state is anything from a Northeast liberal state.”

So is he saying Delaware is a southern state because of slavery? That slavery is what defines the South even in 2006? That Delaware borders the South and therefore isn't in the northeast? That Delaware is a conservative state? Delaware was the first state to sign the Constitution; its state colors are colonial blue and buff. Sounds a bit northeastern to me.

2799 Gasoline prices in Ohio

Yesterday we filled up at $2.59 in Columbus, and today passed a station in Dublin on our way out where it was $2.54. Last year, the WSJ reports, it was averaging $2.53 in the midwest in August. This is still higher than two years ago, however, I think it makes the Democrats very angry. It was an easy issue--took no thought or planning. They know that for some reason, nothing makes a voter madder than high gasoline prices and when the media mentions it every evening on the news, the President's poll numbers dip. People who bought huge SUVs and Hummers and power boats knowing what gas guzzlers they are, will actually vote for a party based on gasoline prices. Amazing. Americans are a very spoiled bunch.

Monday Memories

Memories of School

I saw this meme at Cathy Knits, and it is supposed to be for Friday, but I’m moving it to my Monday Memories. Cathy is a teacher and her school started August 4!

1. What is your earliest memory of school?

I attended kindergarten in Alameda, California, and I remember a lot about it. It was a one floor plan with canopies outside joining the buildings. We were given milk in small bottles which tasted wretched--why I don’t know, because I like milk. There were African American and Filipino children in my class and I’d never seen either being from rural Illinois.

2. Who was a favorite teacher in your early education?

Miss DeWall was my third grade teacher in Forreston, Il and my favorite. None of my classmates remembered her so I finally contacted her cousin (my age and also a teacher) to confirm it wasn’t just my imagination that she was so wonderful, kind and funny.

3. What do you remember about school “back then” that is different from what you know about schools now?

My first grade teacher would yank on my braids if I got my face too close to my work, and would tie a towel around my head if I talked out of turn. I don’t think that would be allowed today, nor was it appropriate then--other teachers didn’t behave that way. Special needs children were in the classrooms, but often didn’t stay in school because there was no work at their level and they weren't treated well. However, I remember a 16 year old in a 7th grade class. The female teachers all wore suits or dresses and high heels. Classrooms were much quieter. The music teacher served many schools in the district and we'd do a fabulous production once a year; there were no art classes except what the classroom teacher provided in any school I attended, K-12.

4. Did you have to memorize in school? If so, share a poem or song you learned.

We did some memorization, but not a lot. It’s one of the lacks that makes me wonder when the "golden age" of education was. I was always impressed that my mother, who went to school in the 1920s, could recite "Hiawatha" while we were doing dishes. I do remember some songs we learned, like Yankee Doodle, Waltzing Matilda and Home on the Range.

5. Did you ever get in trouble at school? Were there any embarrassing moments you can share?

See above. I was always talking out of turn. Still do. I was a real mess in first grade. I’m living proof you can have a bad start, and still love school. We’d moved in mid-year, and in my new school I stood up to look at someone else’s paper because we were “spelling,” and I was clueless. Although we were reading at the first school, we hadn’t started writing down words as the teacher spoke them aloud. I also had to stay after school one time until I could tell my teacher what a paragraph was. In 2001 my Dad drove me through a cemetery where her gravestone was--but she hadn’t died yet! I think she was over 100 years old when she died a year or two ago.

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2797 Get back to work

If you're reading this at work, I hope you don't work for the IRS. WSJ via the Treasury Inspector General reported that 74% of IRS employees had "inappropriate" e-mail messages when their mailboxes were reviewed--chain letters, jokes, offensive content and sexual content.

2796 Forreston, Illinois Veterans' Memorial

On September 11, 2006 the final list of names for the Forreston Veterans' Memorial will be released to the engraver. Over 600 names will appear representing wars from the Civil War through the current Iraq conflict. My father, a veteran of WWII, is on the list, but I was surprised as I looked through the site, how many names I recognized, WWI, WWII, and 1950s and Vietnam era (some of whom were my contemporaries). I saw neighbors, fathers of classmates and friends, local business men and community leaders--people I hadn't thought of in many years. Which is why memorials matter. Many people have contributed to our freedom; many disagreed at the time that it was a worthwhile sacrifice.

If you have someone to add or a name to correct, you can go to the online site for an e-mail. A Forreston address, (past or present) is required for eligibility. National Guard and Reserves need to have been on active duty and have veteran status to be included.