3753

Minorities hit hard by subprime loans

is the headline of USAToday's latest article on how the poor and minorities are victimized in the U.S.A. It really makes you wonder if the journalists learned anything else in college! A closer look at the middle paragraphs:

• Minority home buyers helped fuel the housing boom--49% of the increase between 1995-2005. [Note that this trend of "empowering" minorities by burdening them with impossible debt began under Clinton, and any attempt to reverse it has brought condemnation on Bush.]
• 73% of high income ($92,000-$152,000) blacks and 70% of high income Hispanics had subprime loans, compared to 17% whites.
• Lenders were supported by politicians and "community leaders" eager to promote minority home ownership.
• When Illinois (Cook Co.) tried to establish credit counseling programs for new minority buyers by targeting ZIP codes, the program was pulled as being "racist".
• Access became a buzz word at the expense of sound lending policies.
• Buyers/borrowers with poor credit or low salaries who wanted a cheap deal is a large part of the problem.
• Investigation by a counseling group found 9% of those in trouble were victims of fraud; the rest was poor judgement and poor financial skills.
• Rather than focus on the borrowers' poor financial skills, it appears that new regulations and programs will pounce on predatory lenders.
• Government investigations of charges even before the current problem came to light showed a "good chunk" [not my term] of higher loan cost is attributed to borrower's income, not to race or ethnicity.

But this is America, where nothing happens if it isn't about poverty, race, gender or disability.

No one wants to be reminded, but here's what it took in 1968 to get a home mortgage (our third home): the monthly PMI didn't exceed one-third of the husband's income; there were married parents/in-laws to chip in on the down payment to help a young couple; most mortgages were for 20 years; typical mortgage rate was around 6.5%; the average home and what owners expected was smaller and less grand; a typical applicant for a mortgage wasn't also paying for a leased a car, or a cable bill, monthly broadband, or a cell phone bill, nor did they eat out 2 or 3 times a week and take vacations at resort spots.

Yes, I know it sounds terribly fusty and old fashioned back in the old days when the state and federal governments weren't our foster parents, overseers and field bosses, but that's just how it was.

3752

David Sarnoff Library damaged

When I read a lengthy description of the damage to the valuable archives caused by the storm in the northeast about 10 days ago, (at the listserv of archivists) the first thing I asked myself was why any library anywhere with a valuable historic collection would store items in the basement. Especially since the companies that do this kind of rescue work from mopping up to freezing paper items to stop the rot will be stretched to the max because everyone in the area probably has damage. True, a tornado can take the top floors, but even a sewer backup can take your basement storage. Story in Philadelphia Inquirer

"Just outside Princeton, the building housing the David Sarnoff Library took nearly two feet of water in its basement, a level the staff had never expected. The water damaged a collection of laboratory notebooks, technical reports, manuals and manuscripts from the early days of radio, television and electronics.

The library rushed to hire a document-repair company to try to dry them out and save them.

"We saved these files in the first place because of their importance in documenting the birth of modern communications, from broadcast microphones to color TV picture tubes, from satellite communications to the microchips that surround us in cars, computers, and cell phones," library director Alexander Magoun wrote in an e-mail seeking donations to offset the cost of the emergency repair work."

I probably ought to check my own basement. For 34 years we lived in a house without a basement, but it's really easy to slip back into old habits.

It's not your father's marijuana

"The marijuana being sold across the United States is stronger than ever, which could explain a growing number of medical emergencies that involve the drug, government drug experts on Wednesday.

Analysis of seized samples of marijuana and hashish showed that more of the cannabis on the market is of the strongest grade, the White House and National Institute for Drug Abuse said.

They cited data from the University of Mississippi's Marijuana Potency Project showing the average levels of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, in the products rose from 7 percent in 2003 to 8.5 percent in 2006." Reuters

And the druggie bloggers are out in full force denying any problem, but they did that 35 years ago (without blogs, of course).

3750

Rosie's anti-Catholic, anti-Christian tirades

She's gone from The View (although probably not from view), but I don't think her virulently anti-Christian, bigoted remarks are the reason. A new columnist for the St. Louis Dispatch, commented on the long term affects of the Catholic compromise beginning with JFK in her February 2007 piece. So I doubt that they really bombarded Barbara Walters and Disney with their anger:

"What role should a Catholic politician's faith play in his governing decisions? After dominating U.S. headlines during the 2004 presidential contest between Catholic Senator John Kerry and Methodist President George W. Bush, the question has emerged again. The midterm elections of 2006 swept pro-choice Catholic Senator Nancy Pelosi into the third-highest position in the U.S. government, cost the pro-life movement more than a dozen House and Senate seats, and found Catholic voters migrating back to the Democratic Party despite its staunch support for legal abortion. Pro-choice Catholic and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has informally launched a presidential bid, as has pro-life Catholic Senator Sam Brownback. And the U.S. bishops recently released a statement affirming that Catholics must uphold Church teaching in public life if they wish to receive Communion." Collen Carroll Campbell

If there's a group wimpier than Republicans, it has to be Christians. The PC chat that a Lutheran pastor gave at the VA Tech memorial clearly demonstrates that.

Is this like that?

While browsing through some "Rachel Carson is our hero" blogs, I noticed a carbon neutral festival. I didn't click on it because it seemed to be serious. But it would be a great put up/down, wouldn't it? "What if we gave a festival and nobody came?". Just ask the folks to mail their ticket money and stay home. That would be carbon neutral. No cars driven from the neighboring city, no food stands burning fuel, no fast-food-consuming people wandering the booths expelling CO2, no trash to clean up, no garbage to bag, no Sheryl-porta-potties. I love it.

3748

Crow droppings #3

Sheryl Crow now says it was a joke, but at least it got people talking about global warming. When I first heard it, I thought she was joking. Then I realized liberals have no sense of humor, no irony, nor does it bother them to set rules and standards for others which they never intend to follow (Barbra Striesand's SUVs, Rosie O'Donnell's potty mouth discussing appropriate behavior or gun control, et al) because they have wealth and employ a lot of people who tend to their every personal and transportation need.

I think Sheryl's joke backfired. It did get everyone talking, yes, even other liberals, but about how silly some of the global warming advocates are. Now if we could just get people to wise up about lightbulbs, bio-fuel, and weather patterns over time maybe we won't have to suffer from more disastrous outcomes like the Carson-induced malaria deaths.

3747 Homeowner fights back, gets his way

Amy Ridenour reports on a man in Atlanta who was turned down on his request for a porch by a local historic commission, so he painted his house lime green with purple spots. Eventually, he got his way. This was reported in the 5th edition of her book Shattered Dreams: One Hundred Storiesabout government abuse. However, I know this quote just isn't so:

"Randall Carlson, a builder who has done work in Avondale Estates, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the city's preservation officials should have their power curtailed: "Most people are not going to do anything that would detract from the value of their home. I think the [commission] should be a last resort, only if people do something way out of line." "

We own property in an historic community--people buy there because they love the nostalgia and ambiance, and when the ink on the contract is dry they immediately try to add a 21st century design addition to a 19th century house, or add a huge storage shed that blocks a neighbor's view of the lake, or create a huge footprint to add a garage in an area where many of the lots are only 33' wide. My husband is an architect who probably has had 30+ jobs in that community that make it more beautiful. Now that he is virtually retired, he is part of the design review board. He has seen the problem from three angles--as a home owner who wants to protect his property values, as an architect who wants the best interests and best design for his client, and as a board member with a larger view looking out for historic preservation. The home owner is much more likely to be the problem than the association or the design board.

At our condo we have the same problem. Everyone who has ever visited here remarks on the beauty--if it were to be built today, there would be double the number of units and it would have an army base look with row on row of garages or porches. We have quite a selection of colors available to the individual unit owners, and variety in landscaping, but there are rules. Often it is the wealthiest owners, or those who spend part of the year somewhere else who think the rules are for everyone else and ignore the owner's handbook.

3746

Jazz vs. Rock

At the public library the other day I was browsing the CDs in the music collection. If I wanted Contemporary Christian I'd have a pretty small selection (it all sounds like secular music to me), but since I don't know much about choral or orchestral, the collection suits my needs. Something seemed a bit odd. There were 17 drawers of jazz and 13 drawers of rock. So I asked a musician friend of mine about this. "Isn't rock a much larger, more popular genre of music than jazz?" She thought for a moment, and then said, "It probably reflects the taste of someone on the staff." Then she followed that with, "Well, jazz lovers are probably more likely to use the library, and people who like rock are using a different source--either purchasing or downloading or sharing." I didn't look for the break-out of rap or hip-hop, so I don't know how that is cataloged. I'll have to look the next time.

I'm so glad my library allows journals to circulate. Some libraries don't. And good parking! I was talking to a Worthington Public Library user the other day and she said she likes to use ours just because the parking is so much better. Our new drive through drop off was a huge waste of money, however, as is the proposed coffee shop inside the library (at least I haven't heard that it has been removed from the proposed levy renewal) and the salary of a marketing director.

3745

Crow Droppings, #2

The Sheryl Crow absurd story did inspire me. Did you know the bacteria count on women's desks and keyboards is much higher than on men's? Yes, it's because of make-up and keeping food to nibble. So imagine what is going on in our bathrooms? The toilets are probably cleaner than the medicine cabinet or cosmetic shelf.

Yes, I do eat sometimes at this messy desk. Janeen takes photos of her projects. Here's mine.
So today I decided to do a thorough check of the bathrooms and pitch samples and half-used things. Believe it or not, I threw out a can of Avon bathpower from the mid-50s. Yes, I know people collect that stuff, and I wouldn't have dreamed of using it, but it just felt a little creepy that I would still have something I got from my sister when she sold Avon products (I think she was a sophomore or junior in high school and did quite well at it).

You'd think with all this help I'd be prettier--or at least smarter, since some of these bottles are at least a decade old. Most of this was thrown out.
While I was doing it, I spread out to the upstairs closets and my husband's bathroom. So the whole area is in total chaos, and I've come downstairs for a cup of coffee and a little blog reading.

It's really strange to be inspired to clean by crow droppings.

Update: Now she says she was kidding. A little slow there.

3744

Crow droppings

Have you ever lived in an area where the sky turns black on a sunny day and the grackles or blackbirds or crows descend and roost in the trees dropping a white slimy goo on everything? I remember visiting someone in Annandale, VA and it literally was not safe to breathe the air outside her condo. Dried droppings everywhere, driveway, sidewalks, patio, lawn furniture, flowers, shrubs under the trees; and where it wasn't dry, it was wet, smearing the windshields, covering the lawn, disfiguring the trees, a threat to human health and driving away native song birds.

That's what Sheryl Crow wants for us with her one square of toilet paper per visit to the rest room idea, and special sleeves for nose blowing and mouth wiping. Not for her of course, she has people. To wait on her. Do her laundry. Mop up the floors her bathrooms.

Then in some residential areas, the pest control comes out and tries to scare away the birds with loud noises, gun shots, firecrackers or music. They try to dislodge the birds and make them go elsewhere, to become someone else's problem.

Sheryl Crow needs pest control.

3743

Chemo Brain

Sheryl Crow has reportedly said that we should use less toilet paper. Maybe 1 square per visit to the rest room. I hope this is an urban legend, a misquote, and joke on the conservative bloggers who try to find ways to make fun of the fundy evironmentalists. Perhaps she and her girl friend are whooping it up at the fuss they stirred. Because if it isn't one of those, it's chemo brain, the impaired mental function of some cancer survivors.

"Now, I don't want to rob any law-abiding American of his or her God-given rights, but I think we are an industrious enough people that we can make it work with only one square per restroom visit, except, of course, on those pesky occasions where 2 to 3 could be required." [Washington Post blog]

They already use this method at the St. Petersburg, Russia top tourist spots. We were well acquainted with the lack of toilet paper last summer. If you didn't take some tissue or paper towels into the rest room, you were out of luck.

Even with adequate toilet paper, women (I don't know about men) have both urine and fecal residue on their hands with every use of a toilet--at home or public restroom--and toilet paper is getting thinner and weaker, especially in public restrooms. Serious implications for women with long or artificial fingernails. This stuff is found in the open sample dishes in restaurants, for goodness sake. How do you think it got there? On hands! They transfer the matter and bacteria to their clothing, their purse, their wrist and hand jewelry, cell phones, the flush knob on the toilet, the door clasp of the stall, the faucet at the sink, and anything else they touch in the rest room. The hand blow dryers just move it all around the rest of your clothing. Then it's back to the children, the car, the restaurant, or shaking someone's hand. (Maybe Sheryl just doesn't want her fans to touch her?)

But who will ever see it?

I asked when I discovered my husband had ordered a mirror for his bathroom from the Frank Lloyd Wright Studio in Oak Park, IL. "I will. Every morning. And I'll love it," he replied matter of factly.



Lots of popcorn packing

The cat had to inspect everything

3741

Short Librarians?

In 1966 I finished "library school" (master's degree program) at the University of Illinois. I didn't have to look for a job because I'd worked in the Slavic Languages department of the library both as an undergrad and a graduate student. Those were the cold war years--today someone with a slavic specialty might have to do something else. Those who entered library work in 1965 were told in a conference with Dean Downs at the University of Illinois there was a shortage and a great future. Those who entered in the 70s, 80s, 90s, and today are told the same thing. We were all pretty much told the same thing--the librarians of the 30s and 40s were retiring--technology was changing the face of the profession. Yet, every year library schools closed limiting regional choices. There is no shortage of librarians. There might be a shortage of students to sit in the classroom or dial in for on-line courses and pay the salaries of professors and deans in the library schools that are left, but there is no shortage. There may be a shortage of librarians willing to work for $25,000 a year after years in graduate school and huge school debt, but there is no shortage of highly qualified people with masters degrees willing to design systems, manage libraries, supervise paraprofessional staff, work with decent budgets, and publish in the professional journals. The big lie. Don't let our Congress build another bridge to nowhere.

3740

The lonesome blog

The lost cause. Unfortunately. The crazy dems and the wimpy republicans killed it. But I blame mostly the Republicans.

3739

Monday Memories--looking back on an employment issue

This memory is taken directly from a letter I wrote to my mother in 1991--16 years ago. We were both Democrats (I no longer am) so it wasn't unusual for me to ramble on about political things, just the way I do now with my blog. I had to give a report at my department's faculty meeting and wasn't too enthusiastic about the topic or recommendations. But given what happened last week with the Supreme Court decision about partial birth abortion, I thought I'd resurrect the letter.

"I have to report to the library faculty on Thursday on a rule change for tenure. It is to allow an extension of time for babies, child care, care of an ill person or personal illness. I was not enthusiastic about the rule, but my committee voted me down, so I have to report anyway.

Why is it I get so suspicious about all these rules that are suppose to help women when things don't get any better? Safe legal abortions were to give women a choice--well, we've aborted 25 million babies and 54% of women with children under 6 are in the labor force. In 1950, only 12% of women with children under 6 were working. There is more violence against women, more child abuse, and recently I read that the surplus of women in all age groups is shrinking, not because men are living longer, but because women are dying at a faster rate than they used to. Meanwhile, I think we inched up about 5 percentage points on closing the income gap.

The reason I wasn't enthusiastic about the rule change is because tenure is already a much too long, grueling process--this is just a band-aid on a big wound. But without acknowledging it, they are saying that Yes, all those services women supplied in the home for families in the past are important and do have to be accounted for (the rule applies to both men and women, although I don't think the men are rushing home to take care of the children.)"

Hmmm. Sixteen years. Aren't women still asking for special exceptions and exemptions on the job for family needs?

You do the math

Which presidential appointee has given orders that killed more Americans? Attorney General Janet Reno (Clinton) or Attorney General Albert Gonzales (Bush)?

Which organization has promoted legislation and law suits which have killed more babies able to live outside the womb? The NRA or NOW?

Which are vilified more in the media?

The shy bridesmaid

After a week of really heavy emotions and anger at all the talking heads and media types both liberal and conservative, I just laughed out loud at this wedding photo, which I'm calling, "The camera shy bridesmaid." I was looking for a website that would tell me how to wash a silk garment (the Ohio State extension folks said be very careful, but a site that sells silk by the type and yard gave some good additional information). Somehow, I wandered into a message board for brides-to-be losing weight. One bride then posted her wedding and honeymoon photos, which is where I found this. Maybe one of her friends didn't meet her goal weight.

3736

Noonan knows

the press, and she really laid it out in Week-end edition of WSJ in "Cold Standard." In describing how common sense has broken down in many areas of our lives, particulary the mental health gurus uprooting the walls that used to protect us and then blaming someone else,

"The literally white-bearded academic who was head of the campus counseling center was on Paula Zahn Wednesday night suggesting the utter incompetence of officials to stop a man who had stalked two women, set a fire in his room, written morbid and violent plays and poems, been expelled from one class, and been declared by a judge to be "mentally ill" was due to the lack of a government "safety net." In a news conference, he decried inadequate "funding for mental health services in the United States." Way to take responsibility. Way to show the kids how to dodge."

the politicizing of every tragedy and event, and the Bush derangement syndrome,

"The anxiety of our politicians that there may be an issue that goes unexploited was almost--almost--comic. They mean to seem sensitive, and yet wind up only stroking their supporters. I believe Rep. Jim Moran was first out of the gate with the charge that what Cho did was President Bush's fault. I believe Sen. Barack Obama was second, equating the literal killing of humans with verbal coarseness. Wednesday there was Sen. Barbara Boxer equating the violence of the shootings with the "global warming challenge" and "today's Supreme Court decision" upholding a ban on partial-birth abortion."

culminating with the inexcusable actions that NBC took (and other networks followed) to allow Cho to glorify his insanity,

"Brian Williams introduced the Cho collection as "what can only be described as a multi-media manifesto." But it can be described in other ways. "The self-serving meanderings of a crazy, self-indulgent narcissist" is one. But if you called it that, you couldn't lead with it. You couldn't rationalize the decision. Such pictures are inspiring to the unstable. The minute you saw them, you probably thought what I did: We'll be seeing more of that."

For some reason Noonan chose not to list among the demise of common sense Cho's course work in literature (and I'm guessing other humanities and social sciences), might have included the bizarre twisting of every thing that might be positive in western literature and history (it did when I was on campus in the 90s). This is one area of his ramblings which pretty much reflected what he was being taught in college.* For that, one only needs to open a syllabus of a freshman lit or history course to find the poison that will rot a young, unstable mind, and turn off a health one.

*You can fulfill an English requirement by studying movie Westerns, or gangsterism in hip hop music, or sexuality in disabled women or probably even the fantasy life of your professor if you make a good case. It's ideology before thinking and politics before craft.

3735

Is Al Gore the new Rachel Carson?

Were you surprised that the Christian Science Monitor declared Al Gore "the Rachel Carson of global warming?" [Story was in Wall Street Journal by Katherine Mangu-Ward] I was stunned. This should be an insult, a death blow to his movement. Do the editors not know? More Africans have died of malaria since the 1970s when her book was read by do-gooders and entertainers who then lobbied and protested DDT off the market than were killed in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Malaria was all but defeated. They aren't apparently being killed by the increased use of pesticides to deal with the resurgence of mosquitoes, although that can't be too healthy either. Then when I checked Amazon.com I see that he wrote an introduction to a new edition of one of her books, so I guess he just doesn't care about black and brown people, to turn on a phrase of a well-known comedian.

Now, through Al Gore's misinformation and whipped up hysteria, the West will be shutting down factories and mines in developing countries, even as we try to find places (outside our own country) to manufacture energy saving lightbulbs that contain mercury. And then the food stuffs we might have sent them to keep their poor babies alive (assuming we don't send in medical teams to abort them), we'll be burning in our SUVs.

I don't think this is good for your movement, Al.

3734

Ten great Christian biographies

was the name of the radio program I walked to for exercise yesterday. I'd never heard Albert Mohler before, but a very interesting program for a librarian. He says he's done shows on a number of different biographies, his favorite genre. I'll have to dig around and see if they are on-line. I walked 2 miles before lunch, and 2 miles in the afternoon. So now I have 21.5 miles in my 50 Days of Easter Walk, which I do with other bloggers. I should have really done a few extra rounds and clipped off that .5 mi. I think he said it was G K Chesterton who thought fast walking was best for thinking. Because of time for commercials and finding it a bit late, I heard Augustine, Aquinas, Luther and Chesterton.

3733 Many conservative bloggers are rude

to their peer bloggers on the left. They call them names like moonbats and wingnuts, change their surnames, i.e., Moore and Moran might become Moron, disparage their 19th century Marxist reasoning, or bully them for having no reasoning at all, point out the failed socialist programs that undergird their solutions, ridicule them for misleading the poor to get votes for the Democrats, post unflattering cartoons of leftists or videos of mumbled speeches that go nowhere, and upload photos showing lines and wrinkles on has-been senators or a covered humble head of an attractive Californian visiting a dictator. For shame!

Yesterday I was reading a media site for information on new and discontinued magazines for my other, other, other blog. And I discovered they keep an eye on Rush Limbaugh, excerpt part of his monologue, and put it out like raw meat for the wild dog, scavenger bloggers. There were two obvious errors, both of omission, in what was posted, because I was listening to that show.

First, Rush had either seen or been sent the information from the website at VA Tech (said it was in the English Dept. site). He quoted some of it, apparently not realizing it was from Nikki Giovanni's poem read at the memorial service--at least he never mentioned it. The poem included the usual concern for the poor, dispossessed, and baby elephants who also don't ask for their fate and the violence done to them.* Rush then went on to comment, that based on Cho's manifesto which railed against the rich and the bullies and the fact that he'd been in this English class, the only conclusion was that he was a liberal. Rush parodies the left all the time (knowing they have no sense of humor), and although this was not said to be funny, it was said to be ironic (left also has a problem with irony), and to juxtapose a madman's ramblings with the marxist, deconstructionist blather that passes for literature and writing courses on our campuses of higher education.

Second, most of his program yesterday was devoted not to Cho, but to his favorite charity, leukemia research. He has raised approximately $17 million dollars in the last 17 years devoting just a few hours of air time one afternoon a year. His listeners contribute, but this year he personally was donating over $300,000. I doubt that any left of center media watch organization or left wing blogger ever mentions this, choosing instead to pull several sentences out of his monologue, and not mentioning the context in which it was said. Then that fuels the fanatics who don't do their own listening and research.

*from Giovanni's address: "We do not understand this tragedy. We know we did nothing to deserve it, but neither does a child in Africa dying of AIDS, neither do the invisible children walking the night away to avoid being captured by the rogue army, neither does the baby elephant watching his community being devastated for ivory, neither does the Mexican child looking for fresh water, neither does the Appalachian infant killed in the middle of the night in his crib in the home his father built with his own hands being run over by a boulder because the land was destabilized. No one deserves a tragedy."

Friday Family Photo--Cousins

Sister on the left, me on the right, and our cousin Dianne in the middle
I think this was taken in October. We weren't doing anything special--just sitting around having a cup of tea. My cousin had stopped by on her way to visit her mother, and I was in Illinois visiting my sister. We've lived in Ohio for 40 years, so times with my family are done in little snatches--mini-vacations, weddings, funerals, health emergencies and reunions. When I was a child it never really occurred to me that I would be away from my siblings, or lose touch with the cousins I saw every Sunday at grandparents. Then I got married, moved to another state, and became part of another family, and saw more of them in Indiana than mine. Now it seems normal, and our holidays and special times revolve around our little family here, but for many years I felt adrift.

3731

Dear Bill O'Reilly,

Your using the Cho clips while discussing whether it was gratuitous, was ridiculous. We are regular watchers of your show, but this is a story you bungled.

Bill's note to me:

"Dear Valued Visitor,

Thank you for contacting the Customer Service Team at BillOReilly.com.

[publicizing his show]

Sorry, but due to the overwhelming volume of emails, we are unable to respond to specific show content questions for The O'Reilly Factor."

I'll bet you are.

3730

What it means to be me. . .

Cynthia Blair Kane in The New Standard (central Ohio's largest circulation Jewish newspaper) writes:

"I have always been a Jew.
I was a little Jew in my mother's womb,
I was a Jew before my parents knew if I was going to be a boy or a girl and
I was a Jew before they picked out a name."

Reminds me of Psalm 139.

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was made in the secret place...your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before they came to be." Psalm 139: 13-16

3729

Hoping-for-Defeat Harry

Senate Majority Leader Hogwash Harry Reid (D-Nev) said Thursday the war in Iraq is "lost." Heedless Harry Reid (D-Nev) said he told President Bush on Wednesday he thought the war could not be won through military force, although Haughty Harry (D-Nev) said the U.S. could still pursue political, economic and diplomatic means to surrender in Iraq.

"I believe myself that the secretary of state, secretary of defense and - you have to make your own decisions as to what the president knows - (know) this war is lost, with my help, and the surge is not accomplishing anything as we've successfully blocked funding, as indicated by the extreme violence in Iraq yesterday," said Help-the-Enemy Harry Reid, (D-Nev). slightly adjusted for truth from Associated Press story on MyWay News

The Democrats. Constant in criticism, sniveling in surrender, but bold against the unborn.

3728

How to say thank you to your employees by age group

Today's WSJ had an article on the "kudo kids" now entering the labor force. From the time they were infants, they've been told how great they are, receiving a lot of affirmation for not doing very much. A "thank you" guru reports on how to say thank you or "good job" to your employees based on their ages.

Over 60--It's called a paycheck

40-60--A few self-indulgent treats or freebies

Under 40--Require a lot of stroking and constant feedback. They need praise for showing up.

This all started sometime ago. I remember going to a middle school athletic "honors" banquet with my daughter, maybe around 1981-82. Every child got a little trophy. I think hers was for working at the refreshment stand during sporting events. I was a bit deflated (although I knew she wasn't an athlete, I sensed a lot of praise inflation even 25 years ago).

3727

At my other blogs

• How "Hispanic" became a racial category
  
  
• Was I the only Christian disappointed?
  
  
• Children in coffee shops
  
  
• As American as apple pie
  
  
• Lake Erie Living

3726

Ask at your local library

Dear Home Editor,

I am a regular reader--my husband is an architect, I'm a retired librarian. I note that you suggest to your readers that to apply for "a chance to win great prizes," one of which is a $35 acrylic throw, they need to have internet access and an e-mail address. Then you offer the services of their local library where the staff will help them set up a free e-mail account and, presumably, teach them how to get onto your website, find the right page, the correct window, and enter all the appropriate information. Whether a person would actually go to this much trouble to get a "chance to win" a $35.00 throw, I don't know, but I do know it would cost about $100 in staff time to teach someone who knew nothing about the internet how to set up and manipulate an e-mail account.

Also, once this person is up and running on the internet, she must enter your giveaway site by noon Eastern Time. That would be 9 a.m. in California. Are libraries even open that early on the west coast? As you well know, nothing is free, not even giveaways which are part of marketing. Libraries are definitely not free, nor is information. Please be responsible in your own offers and suggest a phone number or snail mail option if people don't have, don't want, can't learn, or physically can't get to the internet. You are a print medium.

I have 10 blogs and 2 e-mail addresses, and use the internet 4-5 hours a day. My husband does not know how to turn on the computer and I don't mow the lawn. It's not for everyone.

Norma Bruce
Faculty Emeritus
Ohio State University Libraries

3725

Doing my part for the environment

You've heard the expression, "Think globally, act locally." Yesterday on my walk I picked up some trash along the way. Now, that does slow me down, but if I don't do it who will?

At one spot I found both the letter and the envelope. I don't know if it was tossed out of a car window, or if it had blown out of the garbage truck because we've had some really windy days with our very cold spring, or perhaps it blew out of a trash recepticle placed for pick up. When I looked at the addressee I thought someone had listed a fake name and address which got into database--it was just too classic. The first name was of a well known painting of a woman with an enigmatic smile; the surname phonetically was "mall walker;" and the house number was 1234. Obviously, I have way too much time on my hands, but I actually googled the person, and yes, the family lives in a nearby neighborhood. Then I found the vita of one of the residents (recent MBA from Ohio State looking for a job), with e-mail and phone number, reviewed his job history, and of course, Google showed me a map of where the family lived, and the letter from ADT told me that they didn't have a security system and that 1 in every 5 homes will experience a problem with security. If I wanted to, I could have pulled up a floor plan of the house from the county auditor site showing me the location of windows and doors, drive-way's relation to feeder streets and main arteries to the free-ways.

Trash is so informative. Don't let anything go in the trash intact that you wouldn't want someone else to find, because there are just too many ways to find you.

Poetry Thursday

"Think of places that most need to see a poem. Think of people who most need to read a poem. Go to those places, to those people and leave your words for them to find." The assignment calls this Guerrilla Poetry. Not my term, but I did pass this one out to a few people and post it on a bulletin board at the coffee shop. Actually, my blog is where I do this. I don't really like the idea of cluttering up public places. It seems a bit pushy.

I wrote this poem while reading about the difficulty of preserving archives, how memory changes over the years, varies from person to person, and is valued depending on who the victors are. The archives themselves can be biased and/or violated, as we learned in the Sandy Berger theft of 9-11 materials from our National Archives, or even by what is selected to be released, printed, digitized and stored within our various levels of government.

Interview with a western journalist
by Norma Bruce

The problem is not
that I know nothing,
but that I know everything.

Now that I've disappeared
into the general population,
it's with the locals I survive.

So when you speak to me of
identity, ethnicity and faction,
who would you have me be?

Unless you've seen your mother raped,
don't talk to me of the evils of
genocide, vengeance or escalation.

Correct your own country's history,
douse your own archives with gasoline,
then we'll talk.

For my past, present and future
I shall burn in Hell,
but at least I'll burn for Croatia.*

*Quote about Croatia from "Archives, documentation and institutions of social memory, essays from the Sawyer Seminar."

3723

Do you work with difficult people?

Fat Doctor has the answer. She "pretends the patient is Jesus. And that he's testing me. Don't wanna make Jesus angry, so I behave myself appropriately."

It's a hilarious story.

3722

What do you think of NBC's behavior

The murderer gets his wish for immortality--NBC complies, and all the other media fall in line and once out, it will never die on the internet. When I bring up my RR homepage, his ugly face and the tape is there.

A foul mouthed Don Imus MSNBC hired to say outrageous things gets fired for doing what he was hired to do. He says "nappy headed hos. A man who murders over 30 people sends NBC taped rants and then uses NBC to tell his story to the world. Same network. I'm trying to think of as many synonyms as possible for the executives of NBC (and Fox, ABC and CBS and cable affiliates) who made the decision to play the Cho images over and over and over. These words describe NBC, the main newsperp, not Cho.

money driven

bottom liners

bottom feeders

profit motivated

power besotted

goof ups

disgusting

bumblers

bunglers

shallow

muddled thinking

screw ups

rotten

fetid

odious

vile

four letter word for bottom discharge

irrational

atrocious

outrageous

scandalous

unrestrained

merciless

undignified

disrespectful to families of victims

unprincipled

brutal

barbarous

repugnant

loathsome

evil

troubled

disturbed

creepy

careless

duplicitous

rotten

3721

Nominate a library web site

I've been ranting at a library blog about how difficult most library websites are to navigate. Since the Mt. Morris Public Library was the first I ever used (when it was still in Old Sandstone) and I worked there in high school (before the present building expanded), I looked at it in my quest for easy-to-use and understand library websites. Although I don't care for the pea green background color of the site, I must say, it is easy to navigate and clear, and has a helpful form for requesting information. Good job, Mt. Morris.

As I recall, this collection which began as a philanthropic effort by the women's club became a public library around 1931. My mother was a teen-age college student in Mt. Morris and was issued card number 14 or something like that and used it until she died in 2000 at 88.

------------------

Usually I express nothing but frustration with the Ohio State University Libraries web sites, however, I've just looked at the Cartoon Research Library (part of OSUL) and after staring at it for 2 or 3 seconds, figured out how to use it. I loved the special database, especially searching by genre. How cool is that--especially if you are unfamiliar with the names of the artists or even what to call their art.

Just ignore the little band of boxes across the top which send you off into the larger library system (don't go there unarmed without vast knowledge of how to work the system).
-----------------

Bismarck, North Dakota: address (name and state) at bottom; four columns, too many colors, difficult to read and find information; couldn't find a link to staff names or comment/contact window--possibly buried on a hard to find page.
----------------

New Albany-Floyd County Public Library, IN: Very amateurish, too many colors. Main photo appears to be of an office through the glass doors, but it's hard to tell. Purples, green-blues. Blobs of information. Can't find a list of staff or way to comment or request.
-------------------------

Alameda Free Library, California: seems to have a new library. All the money must have gone for the building, leaving none for the website, which is amateurish, with poor color choices (what is it with libraries and sense of color--I've never seen so much purple and pea green!) Can't find any list of staff or way to contact them. Might be there, but not easy to locate.

-----------------------------
Toledo Lucas County, Ohio: although the site is attractive and eager to please, the main features are the lyceum--all programming, not the collection. That's not why I come to a library, and for a web site, it is really disappointing. I wasn't allowed to even look at the database titles without a pin number, so can't tell you much about that. The staff, at least, is not in alphabetical order, although based on their titles, there are no librarians there, only "managers." I did finally find a "suggestion for purchase" form, which my library doesn't have. This library has a very long list of rules, procedures and guidelines, maybe being urban they have to, but the overall impression is sort of oppresive.
---------------------
Flagstaff City-Coconino County Public Library: The main page is a bit hokey--can't decide between flashing cartoons and dignified photos. I'd not miss it a bit if all library sites dumped the free, flashing cartoony stuff. No address or state name on the main page; no list of staff, only departments. You'd have to hunt a bit to find a way to send an e-mail or request. Very nice history page--more libraries should have one. The long list of rules to get a library card really makes my PL look like the tooth fairy--I suppose they have more of an illegal immigrant problem than we do. There you have to show your ID and proof of address--mine lets you register online, but does want your SS#, which I'm against. But everyone seems to do it, even with the high turn over of staff who have access to it.

3720

Amazing gifts for women soldiers

If you ever need a reason to feel crummy about your craft skills, just go visit a knitter or quilter's blog! Oh my goodness those folks are talented. Somewhere on a shelf in my laundry room I have some yarn and needles, but have never even made it to "purl." Today I wandered into the blog home of Debra Spincic of Texas. Not only is her own work amazing, but she had photos of a quilt show that I assume is a local Texas group. Then scrolling down, I see she is buying quilt tops on e-Bay, having them quilted (finished, I assume), and then they will go to injured women soliders at Walter Reed. See her project here. Here's the quilt show favorites she featured.

I'm so depressed by my total lack of talent, I'm going out for coffee where I'll try to post my poetry for our Poetry Thursday assignment, "Think of places that most need to see a poem. Think of people who most need to read a poem. Go to those places, to those people and leave your words for them to find."

Nominated again!

I got another Thinking Blogger Award from RennyBA, who blogs from Norway. Right now he's enjoying Springtime and a Lifecruiser Cyber cruise. So stop by and say hello. Although he gets a lot more comments than I do. Since I've already nominated a few other thinkers in a previous post, I'm assuming I've fulfilled that requirement.

Politicizing the tragedy

Within minutes of the news of the shootings at VA Tech, the terrible tragedy was being politicized on both the left and the right, by the talking heads, the talk show hosts, the blogs, the politicians. The poor parents hadn't even been notified yet--they were still trying to call their dead children, and we had started a very angry, politically charged "conversation" about gun control, American culture, "we" and "we're all to blame." Rosie O'Donnell and other hot shots have a private security force to protect them, so we know she'll call for gun control for others--that's what left wing entertainers do. But it was equally upsetting to hear the conservative talk hosts railing against the lefties who they believe are trying to bring them down with this issue, and then second guessing the police investigation of the first murders in the dorm. The blame game was unbelieveable. I feel so sorry for the school officials who never ever thought they would be facing a carnage like this. A pox on both houses. As I understand the laws of Virginia, the murderer had done everything legal. I think the college administration and the police who must have faced a scene most would only see in war or horror movies have behaved with honor and dignity. No one would ask a city of 30,000 to secure a shut down after a murder or have cameras in every building, but that's what people are shouting now! Let the parents at least bury their children before you get on the soap box for your favorite cause.

This man, as it now turns out, was criminally insane. You don't pass legislation or make grand judgements about an entire nation because an insane college student has fantasies, is paranoid, or is a psycopath--and consumed with or by evil. What we may need to look at, instead of gun control, is our privacy laws and disability laws which have put many of us in danger both from disease and people who can't control their minds or take their medication.

3717

Do smoking cessation pills and programs work?

I know many former smokers; my son-in-law quit 9 years ago, his father knows the exact day in 1980 that he quit after 37 years of being a smoker. Both my father and my husband's father began smoking as teen-agers; one quit at 39, the other around 50 (his wife didn't quit and died of lung cancer). A good friend of ours quit about 5 years ago in his 60s after heart surgery, but has recently been diagnosed with cancer. I know many people who thought they could not live without a cigarette but miraculously discovered after lung cancer, COPD or triple by-pass, they could indeed live well and not smoke. Of all the former smokers I know, all quit by. . . quiting. They stopped lighting up, usually cold turkey not gradually, and just suffered the short term consequences and discomfort rather than the agony and pain of losing a lung or the disability of having a stroke or heart attack.

So when I read about Medicaid paying for smoking cessation programs I wondered if that's the best use of our tax money. 41 million Americans have their health insurance through Medicaid, and 29% of them are smokers. Medicaid is handled by the states--in Ohio, 37.6% of our state taxes go to fund Medicaid. Thirty-eight of the 50 states offer some sort of coverage for at least one smoking treatment according to MMWR 2006:55:1193-1197. Some are a mix and match between drugs and behavioral modification.

Obviously, it's not healthy for anyone to smoke, but does any one but the pharmaceutical companies and the people who run these programs really benefit?

3716

Global warming, wind, wet ground and change

If it hadn't warmed up in Ohio several thousands of years ago melting our ice cap*, we wouldn't have this old tree to mourn. I don't know how old it is--maybe 75-100. The rain fell, the winds blew and it toppled over. We're grateful for its life and service in making this world a more beautiful place.






*North America ice sheet was 3500 to 4000 m thick over Ontario covered the continent to as far south as St. Louis, 500 m thick over central Ohio. Climate change

Apologies are NOT accepted!

"We regret to inform you that during the weekend of March 31/April 1 there was a criminal intrusion into a university database of current and former employees and that some of your personal data--your name, social security number, employee ID, and date of birth--has been compromised and could be misused. . . Please accept our most sincere apologies"

I first read about this in today's paper, but because it was the OSU Office of Research, I retired in 2000, and because I hadn't been notified of something that happened over two weeks ago, I figured I was safe. I was wrong. I never applied for a grant through the Office of Research, never worked there, had no reason to even think my name was in their data base. I was the co-author of an article in JAVMA in the 90s and that information may have in some way been cycled through the Office of Research by the other author if he obtained a grant. With 14,000 names hacked and thousands and thousands of faculty and staff members at OSU who get money for research, what were the chances one would be mine? I'm baffled.

"We regret that your personal information has been subject to unauthorized access due to this attack." What is it with apologies these days? People don't do anything wrong--only inanimate objects screw up. Stuff happens to stuff? Not even, "our firewall collapsed."

Two weeks after the theft of my identity from my employer's database, I'm offered a 12 month credit protection plan--but of course, I have to put my identifying information on-line. Goody goody.

3714

Teach the Swarm Technique

"Youngsters in a suburban Fort Worth school district are being taught not to sit there like good boys and girls with their hands folded if a gunman invades the classroom, but to rush him and hit him with everything they have: books, pencils, legs and arms.

"Getting under desks and praying for rescue from professionals is not a recipe for success," said Robin Browne, a major in the British Army reserve force and an instructor for Response Options, the company providing the training to the Burleson schools."

Story here from Oct. 2006.

Then the program was cancelled in a few months because parents didn't like it.

3713

A very sad interview

A young man from a counseling center--Christian or new age or secular, couldn't tell--was interviewed in Blacksburg today by Diane Sawyer and Robin Roberts about how to counsel the parents and children in the aftermath of yesterday's shooting. Of course, he had no answers--who would? But he could have offered something positive and hopeful. He was either muzzled, tongue tied, or didn't know the Biblical truth that there is evil and sin in this world and that God has a plan. He stumbled around in some theological quicksand about "free will," but that was about as far as he got, and Robin even had to throw him a few prompts. Some students, however, knew the source of comfort.

3712

The aftermath thoughts

So many news reporters are filling air space about the VA Tech tragedy with phrases like "make sense of" or "moving on," or "what went wrong." The rush to judgement lesson of the Duke case has had no affect on these talking heads. They question why the police and administrators or even the victims didn't do this or that. Or whether recent handgun legislation worsed the situation. Or why the technology of jammed cell phones failed. The families of these children will never makes sense of or move on. Two of my sons died over 40 years ago and there's a part of our life that will forever be stuck in a time warp because even their not being here is a reminder that they aren't here. Like that Edna St. Vincent Millay poem.

There are a hundred places where I fear
To go, -- so with his memory they brim!
And entering with relief some quiet place
Where never fell his foot or shone his face
I say, "There is no memory of him here!"
And so stand stricken, so remembering him!
But I want to address the deaths of some other young people. Ben Stein commented in Terror in our Midst (and I haven't checked his statistics) that since 9-11 when 3,000 people died in a terrorist attack, 40,000 deaths have occurred due to gang killings--many innocent bystanders, but most are black and hispanic young men killing their own kind. These young people had families and friends too. Same age group--very different past and future.

The Imus double standard comes to mind. If the media reports what these young people are doing, they will be called racist for reporting negative things about minorities and immigrants. But aren't they racist and irresponsible if they don't? Doesn't that leave them with nothing to earn their living except Anna Nicole Smith and anti-Administration diatribes? Talk about the failure of law enforcement or security. Don't those neighborhoods deserve some safety too? Is it too hard for Chris Matthews or Diane Sawyer to go on location? Or how about Terry Moran who is such a class warfare expert. Give them combat pay and put the MSM on the front lines.

3711

To the talking heads that bring us the news

Before the families had even been notified yesterday of the terrible tragedy that happened at Virginia Tech, the bloggers and talking heads were in full swing, chastising the police for not "locking down" the campus. Here's my advice to them:

"Think of the campus as a city of 26,000. Would you suggest that police "lock down" a city, town or suburb every time there is a homicide, or domestic violence, putting their people out to do that rather than catching the guy? Would you have them checking every classroom and dorm room and off campus apartment and coffee shop while he has possibly fled the county and state? Talking heads need more than tongues. I hope you'll watch the entire interview with the police that appeared on Cable instead of snippets and rehashes."

3710

Thirty seven years later

I don't actually know the exact date of the current "woman's movement." I date it from 1970--because that's when I became aware of it and moved away from the civil rights activities in which I'd been involved into women's rights. Women have done a lot of good in the almost 40 years since then, but also a lot of harm, particularly to marriage and children. They've swamped certain professions like Protestant clergy, veterinary medicine, law, pharmacy and medicine tipping the balance to a majority of females, lowering standards and salaries. We have so many regulations on the books to protect women, you'd think we were either an endangered species or queens. Our society isn't really kinder and gentler and less mean, or more cooperative and egalitarian, is it? To look at our popular culture, women and girls are more sexualized and objectified than 30-40 years ago, less safe, and children are less likely to have a father in the home, not more. Single women are much more at a disadvantage financially than they were when I was a young woman, because now they need a household income that goes up against a two income household. Single motherhood no longer means just divorced or widowed, as it did 30 years ago, it could mean she decided the clock was ticking and it was time she borrowed a sperm donor.

I remember back when they made a big deal about women truck drivers and construction workers. And women on road crews. You still only see women as "flag persons," and I can't remember the last time I saw a woman in a delivery truck. They were rather common in the 70s when women decided it might be fun, then learned they didn't have enough upper body strength. And everytime I see a woman standing in the sun in her cutsy shorts and t-shirt with the SLOW sign, while the guys dressed for real work are driving the heavy equipment, I think, "Yes, lady, you really are slow if this is what you've aspired to."

But a picture is worth a thousand words--two pictures maybe 1,500. Here's the latest issue of Columbus CEO. Is there any phrase that makes a better case for how all these regs and rules have held women back than, "Women rule"? Would there ever be a cover phrase like that for men that wouldn't bring down the wrath of the thought police? Talk about different treatment of the sexes!!!


The second example is from the stock report I received today. I've fudged the faces a bit, but you can see there is one black male, and one white female on this board of directors. Sometimes there is a two-fer, and the female is black.


But I've been looking at these reports for 7 years, and it's always the same. That's why I modified the faces--who they are doesn't matter, nor what the company is. The Board of Directors and the officers of the company change little. I don't blame men for this, or even the business culture.

I wish we could go back and have a do-over. See if in 2007 without all the government bureaucratic red tape that has snarled the law books for 40 years, the enforced brain mush courses and the left socialist drivel that the colleges teach women instead of real courses, just where women would be. I'm guessing we'd have 3 or 4 women on this board. I've met a lot of women in their 70s and 80s who had careers before the women's movement and the numbers were rising. Colleges and businesses were swamped by less capable women kicking down the doors.

I don't think women want these jobs. They're tough, take 80 hours a week, lots of travel, bored meetings and creating networks. Maybe even golf! To be an executive or a board member, it helps if you have a wife to take care of things at home, and most husbands don't want to be her.

3709

Monday Memories--the last prom dress

This week there's a lot of talk about proms--how expensive they are, the cleavage, the skimpy dresses, the school rules, and the music. I've been listening to the moms call in to Laura Ingraham's show who's talking about the influence of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton and Lindsey Lohan on the clothing fads of middle school and high school girls. I went to my high school prom 4 years, and folks, you've just got to realize that strapless gowns were very popular in 1954. By 1957, I think they were less so, but I'm not sure why. I had a mother who sewed. I never had a strapless prom dress or strapless anything, nor did my sisters, but they were very popular in the 50s. There were girls wearing summer shorts and tops in the 50s that really you couldn't tell from underwear. Peasant blouses with elasticized scooped necks were pulled down over the shoulder to mid-arm. Halter tops were very popular. Short shorts were much shorter than anything I've seen in public in recent years; sheer nylon dresses that revealed every piece of lace in your slip were all the rage. Swim suits were more modest in the 50's and day time dresses had a lot more fabric, but it was not a modest era except in the minds of today's grandmothers.

Senior prom, May 1957, sheer flocked nylon with crinolines, forest green linen top, with matching, pleated cummerbund, made by my mother, who didn't use a pattern. No one I dated knew how to dance, so although I went to 4 proms, it was mainly to shuffle around and talk to the other kids. No one went out for dinner--the school had a banquet attended by all students in junior and senior classes
The 60s fashions were far worse of course, because dresses got short, really short, barely over the buttocks short, couldn't sit down short. The 70s saw a trend to ethnic and folk dress with more coverage, fringe, bandanas, flared slacks and more color. The 80s were big hair, and big shoulders, baggy bulky knit sweaters and tights. So if today's teachers and mommies are objecting to the prom dresses, ask them about theirs!

3708

Prom wasn't this tough when I was in school

This is a photo of a permission slip for . . . well, read it here. I didn't know things were this bad in schools. Are the children totally out of control or do administrators just not have enough to do? Maybe the folks who want to reinstate Bible reading and Creationism are right. Story at Travelin' Librarian.

Don't blame Obama for Nappy Roots

Sure, they appeared together at a Democratic fund raiser, and Obama took no offense then at their lyrics or their name then. They are quite successful and have had this name for over a decade. It's just considered a bit edgy--or was back in the 90s. Now it's just old news. It's sort of like gays using the word queers or women using the word chicks or babes. Or it was old news until the Imus double standard. This is different. . .

"He [Imus] didn't just cross the line," Mr. Obama said in an interview with ABC News. "He fed into some of the worst stereotypes that my two young daughters are having to deal with today in America." [NYT via Taranto in OpinionJournal.]

In the first case, he was just another Democrat raising funds trying to appeal to the with-it and young. In the second, he's an African American running catch-up in the me-too race with Jesse who was chasing Al.

3706 The Justice Department and Sandy Bergler

The AG should have the right to fire anyone he hired into a political appointment. I'm not the least bit worried about "politics" in a political appointee position. And I don't give a tooten e-mail about their system (except that pols aren't catching on to the problem that e-mails and IMs don't just go away whether you're setting up a date or a sting). I am very concerned that the Justice department covered for the Clinton administration official in not breathing a word about the Sandy Berger burglarly and crimes at the National Archives in front of the 911 commission. That whole investigation was done not knowing he was a criminal. Who knows what was compromised or why Gonzalez let this happen. He was supposed to take a lie detector test, but Justice hasn't followed up on that either. I'm also concerned that certain National Archives employees attempted to "catch him" on their own, without reporting him, and possibly bungled the burglary. They should be fired. They way overstepped their responsibility by trying to second guess his motives and behavior and should have called their supervisor or security.

3705

Double your coupons and your calories

Shopping at a major super market is like a scavenger hunt--can I buy real food, just food? Can I buy without playing with my food?

There's a full page Giant Eagle ad for loss leaders today that combines the words FREE and FOR (that's not new--but many don't see the subliminal message). Thirty years ago when I wrote an anti-coupon newsletter I wrote that it is difficult to convince American shoppers that stores don't stay in business to give away their products, but it has only gotten worse. Boneless chicken and 1 lb of strawberries are both "buy one get one free" (with a loyalty card which means the base price is much higher than a non-participating store and the frequent shopper knows how to play the game with multiple cards). These are not processed foods and are sort of teasers to get you in the store--makes you feel good--buying something real and wholesome. The other "buy one get one free" is for 13 oz. of Lay's potato chips. This means that for $3.48 you get 26 oz of chips. Then you can buy four 12 oz twelve packs of some Coke products for $12.00, and three 56 oz cartons of Breyers ice cream for $10.00. Remember back maybe 3 years ago when the standard package for pop was a six pack? You can't find them anymore.

No one's going to buy just those loss leaders, but let's just play along. So you grill the chicken, put out the chips, pour the pop into giant glasses and triple scoop some ice cream on the strawberries. Maybe a 5,000 calorie meal. And we're blaming McDonald's and Wendy's for obesity? You can almost peg the weight gain in the world to the introduction of corn fructose in soft drinks instead of sugar. Now we're going to put it in our cars to make Al Gore happy (I won't comment on his weight gain because that makes liberals unhappy).

Even moderately processed and packaged food is swamped by the aisles of highly processed, overpackaged, high fat (or reduced fat--just add water), or fructose added or salt added foods. I like to shop at Meijer's because it doesn't require a loyalty card (add 10-20% to your food bill to play those games and contests). It also has a very large, well stocked produce section with a nice variety of leafy green and root crops, probably because of the high number of Hispanic, Asian and Muslim residents living in that area. First generation immigrants are almost always thinner than their children because of their traditional cooking habits. Now that a natural food store has gone in near by, it has also improved its natural and organic sections.

After I bag the apples, bananas, fresh pineapple, strawberries and the greens (sometimes cut and in bags), tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, peppers, onions, etc., I move on to fresh meat and dairy, and then swing back through for the semi-processed. With only two people in our household, frozen vegetables are a better deal than fresh because I don't have to worry about them going bad before I can get to them. But even finding a simple bag (not an icy chunk in a box) of frozen vegetables or berries out of season is a challenge. I have to find the sections, hidden away, swamped by the ones with sauces and gimmicks, sweepstakes and coupon offers.

Our abundance and craving for choices, the latest flavor or gimmick is killing us. Don't play the victim and whine. Slow down, go on a hunt for real food. Although the walk through the aisles of high calorie, over processed food will add steps to your exercise routine.

When I'm 64

John Lennon and Paul McCartney's love song When I'm 64 was sung last night at a birthday dinner for Carol, who is now 64. When people in their 20s write or sing about age, they probably don't expect to ever actually be there because it is so far off (some having a better grasp of this than others, obviously). Sharon and Eric hosted the party and we played Apples to Apples after dinner which was lots of fun, especially for me and the birthday girl who really don't enjoy games much. Certain readers of this blog wouldn't like the game because the players use words and make comparisons, but we all had a lot of laughs.

3703

The broken string

I read a very moving story about Itzhak Perlman at someone's blog today--it's apparently been making the rounds in e-mail since 2001, she received it and put it on her blog. But it is an Urban legend. However, she found it so comforting, I didn't leave a comment. There's another one going around e-mail about how George Bush's modest Texas White House is so much more energy efficient and well designed to complement the environment than Al Gore's mansion. I checked that out too, and it is true. I can't remember if I blogged about that--don't think so. I have some liberal readers who become a bit upset if GWB does something right, so I try to respect their tender feelings.

I've been waiting all afternoon for the cold rain to stop. I think it is about 38 degrees. I wanted to walk outside because I'm in a 50 Days of Easter walking group. We keep track of our minutes and miles and encourage each other. But this is better than the snow that was predicted. Flowers and fruit trees in central Ohio are certainly longing for a bit of global warming.

3702

The VPL--flaunt it

The other day I wrote that Katie Couric had pretty much taken the pleasure out of watching TV, but I'll admit to turning it on if I want to take a nap. I clicked through a pre-Don Imus comedy show because of the bad language and racism (ca. 1999 I think), past the food channel where the hostess was GRILLING her waffles in butter and cheese, and was then treated to a bevy of gay fashionistas and some skinny-babe magazine editors who collectively could have fit into a size 00 reacting in mock real horror to the VPL. Truly, you would have thought they were discussing the shortage of bird flu vaccine, the war in Darfur or the fact that carbon footprints are a complete hoax. Their little faces all screwed up, pinched and pale. What some people do to earn a living!

The mid-20th century brief was a huge improvement over the early 19th century drawers for women. Fashionistas and clothing designers have returned us to that era 200 years ago of torture and strings with no coverage.

Eeeeeek! A VPL!
Before I decided to write about VPL, I googled it to be sure it was something less frightening than an attack by Islamofacists. There were about 73 acronym matches. Vancouver Public Library; Veterinary Products Laboratory; Visual Programming Language; and so forth. Butt we all know, that's not the VPL they were so afraid of.

Hello! The country is getting older. There is now a cable channel for retirement age viewers. Can a resurgence of Granny Pants be far behind? Ladies! Let's make a case for comfort and flexibility. Flaunt your VPL. Compliment your friends on their VPLs. Put those VPL photos in the family scrap book. Teach your daughters they don't have to be a slave to a string stitched to a postage stamp. Don't let the fashion dictators decide where your elastic will go. Stick it to 'em!

3701

The FTO gene

"A nondescript gene that no scientist has studied before determines why some people gain more weight than others. A new study of nearly 40,000 Europeans found that people with mutations in both of their copies of the gene known as FTO are 70 percent more likely to be obese than those with regular copies of the gene. Researchers says that identifying a genetic basis for obesity could lead to novel treatments for the increasingly prevalent condition blamed for life-threatening heart disease and type 2 diabetes, among other disorders. . . Obesity is on the rise worldwide, correlated with gains in affluence. According to a recent study in JAMA The Journal of the American Medical Association, nearly 100 million men, women and children in the U.S. alone are considered obese." Reported in Scientific American.

It is called FTO, not for fat-to-obese, but because it was originally studied in a mouse that had a fused toe.

Nowhere does it say this gene makes people fat, only that if you have this gene, you may need to be more careful about your calorie intake because you'll take on weight more easily than others. I don't think I have this gene--but I have gained 100 pounds since I graduated from high school 50 years ago. Usually I gain about 20 pounds over a period of years and then work hard to lose it, and it slowly comes back. I don't remember exactly all the details, just the big efforts--1960 I lost 20 lbs by turning down desserts and second helpings; 1982-83 I lost 20 lbs in an aerobics class; 1993 I lost maybe 15 through intensive walking and cutting calories; 2006-2007 I lost 20 lbs by reducing calories.

Diets are not difficult; keeping weight off is just awfully hard. We are constantly faced with groaning tables and restaurants on every corner. None of our ancestors had that problem--affluence, abundance and desk jobs. When I jumped about 15 pounds in two years between 2002 and 2004, I could see exactly where the scale was going, so I've "lost" it yet again. However, I know it isn't truly lost, that it is hiding behind every bag of potato chips and box of take-out pizza. And I can't blame grandma. It's just me.

Also, the research says don't wait for a pill, that ELMM is the only real solution if you have this gene--Eat Less, Move More.

3700

How God uses the Internet

Here's a neat story about how God uses the internet to meet the needs of his children. I got an e-mail today at my medscape.com account which I use on this blog from a Chaplain in Australia. A 97 year old woman in the nursing home where he serves sang in a weak voice a line of a table grace for him and asked him if they could sing it at lunch some day. He'd never heard it before but checked the internet. He got 3 matches for the first line, one was mine, and I had the entire grace.

I was really baffled and had no memory of ever writing about this grace which we used when my children were small. I knew it was from an InterVarsity hymnbook, so I spent about 15 minutes tracking the book down. I thought the cover was black, so that threw me off a bit (it is light beige). Anyway, I found it in Hymns II (1976), a paperback hymnbook, and sent him the information. I gave him the author, tune name, number of sharps and time, and hope he can find it. If not, I'll try to copy and fax it to him, hoping that this is the hymn she remembers. Often the elderly can recite liturgy or sing a hymn even when they say nothing else for days or weeks.

I couldn't find it on my own blog using the search window, but finally tracked it down in a Thursday Thirteen I'd written in February 2006 about my Prayer Job Jar. I had mentioned rote prayers like table graces and listed that one. The search didn't work because of the slash at the end of the phrase (my theory). I like this grace because it includes the gospel and our response to it, and is easy for children to learn. Although I think we used "you" instead of "thee."

We thank Thee, Lord,
for Jesus Christ,
And for the blood He shed;
We thank thee for
His risen life,
And for our daily bread.

3699

The unintended consequences of protecting women

Don Imus and Mike Nifong aren't the only guys with funny names apologizing in stories about women. Now Paul Wolfowitz is doing it for having a girlfriend at the World Bank. And she's Arab. Frankly, what DA Nifong did makes all the others pale by comparison, and is a horrible abuse of power, but since the MSM helped create that lynch mentality (Ladies of the View included), it is being soft pedaled and Imus is getting the play by play. He's expendable.

"Paul Wolfowitz's position as president of the World Bank appears shaky, as the bank's Board of Directors met overnight to discuss what to do about a favoritism scandal he is involved in. . . The World Bank's board released a statement early Friday detailing its review involving Wolfowitz's girlfriend, Shaha Riza. She was given a job at the U.S. State Department when Wolfowitz took charge of the bank in 2005. World Bank rules ban romantic involvement between workers and supervisors." Story here.

As I understand it, you can't supervise a "friend," and if you help her get a job somewhere else on the advice of your ethics committee, you are then violating another rule. Should he have just put her out on the street, or should he keep her as a paid mistress off the payroll of the bank?

This happens all the time in academe, but because salaries aren't the greatest and they don't have much power (and no ties to the present administration), no one objects. Presidents and deans are recruited. But a deal has to be struck to bring along the wife, the girl friend, boy friend or significant other. I remember one time getting a science librarian with no science background but who had a husband recruited for another department in the university. If the wife didn't get the job, he didn't come. If there is no position open at the university that fits her/his qualifications a position miraculously opens up on the art faculty. When he finds a better position at Yale or Brown or in industry marketing pet food, there will be only one position open when he/she leaves.

Bankers and former Bush appointees (there wouldn't have been a problem if he'd been a Democrat from Clinton's reign) need to learn that "me two" excuse that deans and college presidents use.