4118

What happened to drowning worms?

Health and sex education for young people in the 1950s ended with high school--and about all I can remember is a matronly woman dropping a worm in a bottle of Coca Cola so we could see that it would die. Or did she force it to smoke a cigarette? We certainly didn't have any required sex or health courses in college.

In today's WSJ Christian C. Sahner, who must have had the dream job of the summer as an intern of sorts at the paper before he is launched as a Rhodes Scholar, writes about sex ed at Princeton:

"At Princeton, the freshman class must attend "Sex on a Saturday Night" (SoSN) during its first week. It's a university-organized, student-performed play designed to warn about sexual assault and alcohol abuse. Many schools have similar programs. Its noble intentions are overshadowed, however, by a deleterious message: College is time to get busy (and not just in the library)!"

The play includes 10 characters, telling raunchy, crude jokes with one hokey abstainer who uses a copy of Playboy. The message isn't neutral at all, Sahner reports. It presents "consent" as the only moral principle in "hooking up," whether gay or straight, male or female. All other considerations like pregnancy, STDs, or depression stemming from treating sexual relationships like a college sport, are all irrelevant.

It would be nice, given the statistics on moral students from in tact families that he suggests, if the students just laughed this off the way we did the worms in the bottle. But why is Princeton force feeding such a degrading view of sex with this compulsory, repulsive requirement?

Parents: you're paying the bills. Is this what you want for an education?

4117

Hillary's math

She likes to point out she has more experience than Obama. "I don’t think, based on my 35 years in fighting for what I believe in, anybody seriously believes I am going to be influenced by a lobbyist or a particular interest group." Thirty-five years. Let's see. Wife of a two-term governor, wife of a two-term President. Some time in a law firm with squishy billing and ethics. Time fighting for the civil rights of the Black Panthers; time working as an intern for an American Communist. Since 2001 she's been a senator from New York, having moved her residency there in order to run. As a member of the Armed Forces committee, she's had the inside track on the build up to the war and voted for it, confirming the information on WMD. But even if I add in PTA, baking cookies, church committees and the time she was a Republican (which could count as fighting for what you believe in for millions), I just can't come up with 35 years.

However, in listening to an interview with an author who has written about how the U.S. has failed to take the Iran threat seriously, the author ran through all the presidents who have ignored the growing problem, saying, ". . .not Jimmy Carter, not President Reagan, not the Bushes, and not the Clintons." Was that a slip or did he see those 8 years as a co-presidency?

4116

Edwards on health care

James Taranto at Best of the Web wonders about this story: ". . . liberals, who these days are more or less uniformly pro-abortion, invariably speak of that practice in terms of "privacy" and "choice." But how in the world can anyone who values privacy and choice more than life itself possibly countenance a policy of forcing women to have mammograms?"

Monday Memories--from Nigeria and Iowa

This holiday week-end four of my third cousins are gathering to honor their parents 90th and 91st birthdays. I sent a note of congratulations and remembrance, because for a number of years I have been corresponding with their mother, Marianne, who assembled a huge family genealogy and had it published in 1998. I've never met her, but her grandmother (Mary Ann George b. 1843) and my mother's grandfather (David George b. 1828) were brother and sister born in Adams County, PA, both moving to the midwest as adults [this made Mom and Marianne second cousins because they shared the same great-grandparents]. My mother had visited Marianne's family in Iowa with her family when Mom was a little girl, but I think it was the 1970s before the families reconnected, and Mom began to assemble family information with my help for the pending genealogy (which didn't appear for another 20 years).

Marianne and her husband were missionaries for the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria for 13 years, and upon returning to Iowa, she got a Master's in Social Work and had a second career in hospital social work and was an adjunct faculty member at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. Her complete biography, list of publications, and details of her work in Nigeria and Iowa can be found in the university archives. She wrote articles for the Gospel Messenger when she was in Africa. Although we received that magazine in our home, I doubt that my mother recognized her married name, or knew that this was the cousin she had visited as a little girl.

Shortly before she moved to a retirement home a few years ago (in 2003 I think), Marianne sent me some family antiques, all hand crafted. The pottery pieces were made in Maryland; the flax blanket was woven in Pennsylvania by an itinerant weaver, but spun by the girls in the family. The pastry wheel probably belonged to my great-great-great grandmother if I read the information correctly (possibly Rachel Danner, but that looks a bit murky), and is beautifully crafted. Would probably still work. The pottery and blanket belonged to yet another brother (of David and Mary Ann) Cornelius George b. 1827 and his wife Caroline Evans, who are buried in Ashton, IL.

4114

Why the Democrats have become the party of wealth

Actually, I don't know the answer to this. Guilt? Boredom? Easy to sell their votes? Foreign interests? But I think there was a lot of ignorance displayed in the comments to this column at wealth report.

"Democrats are winning the war on ideas."
• Have they had a new idea since the 60s?

"being a Republican is increasingly associated with cultural conservatism vs economic conservatism–anti-abortion, fundamental Christianity, and on some level, a general hostility to gays and ethnic minorities."
• But Democrats ran on this in 2006 as soft and squishy, pro-family and loving Jesus, and won. They watched what the Republicans did in 2004 and imitated them.

"nobody seems to have fully recognized the fault line between Burke-ean/Kirk-ean true communitarian conservatives vs Locke-ean/J.S. Mill-ean individualistic liberals."
• Huh?

"Republicans have surrendered or been highjacked by the “(im)moral majority” and neo-con paranoids, the normal people in the middle are left to vote democratic."
• Show me where these so-called "moral majority" folks are in power. Where is the community that doesn't have abortion clinics, or judges saying gays can marry, or isn't tied up in regulatory red tape trying to save a spider or worm. Yes, where is all this conservative power?

"A reason for the rich (especially those from tech industries) to turn away from the Republican party? Creationism, to which the base is attached."
• Oh sure, creationists just have so much power. I started school in the 1940s and was NEVER taught anything but evolution. The commenters have been watching too many old movies. This is a media-made straw-man and these commenters are the proof. You can't put 5 Christians in a room and get them to agree on a 24-hour day, or a billion year day.

I have no idea why the rich are supporting Democratic candidates, but I know they go where they think they can make the most money. The Republicans abandoned their base and were voted out; now Democrats are abandoning theirs.

4113

The UA Labor Day Art Show

The Upper Arlington art show must be one of the largest and warmest, one day shows in the Columbus metropolitan area. We remember when it was small enough to be held at the city building, and when my husband entered.

1975 Labor Day Art ShowThirty two years later it is huge with musical performances, special events art participation for children, food concessions, TV cameras, and huge crowds. Also, people wear a lot less clothing today than they wore 30 years ago--especially senior citizens!

We wear short shorts.
Art on the lawn
Community orchestra
Activities for children
Our friend Linda Langhorst at her booth
It was a great show, but we're leaving--too hot!

Update on my walking goal

I really hate setting goals. Walking 2.5 miles a day for 100 days should not have been all that hard, but I only got in 167, according to my ticker. I'll try to get some in today and round it off at 170, throwing in a few steps for walking in parking lots, stores, and to and from the programs this summer. Maybe I forgot to update it? Maybe some days in the 90s it was too hot to walk? Maybe I stopped at too many yard sales to look at the books?



Here's my original plan.

4111

When levees break and bridges fall

both Republicans and Democrats do a lot of finger pointing, but the reality is there are no votes to be had by shoring up the collapsing infrastructure of our cities. People expect good roads, sound bridges, clean water, working telecommunications systems and power lines that don't fail, but they lust after the pop and sizzle of arts centers, sports complexes, convention centers and riverfront toys.

California is spending barely 3% of its state budget compared to 20% in 1960 on infrastructure. 80% of state transportation officials admit their 10 year plan will be inadequate. $1.6 trillion is needed to update our transit systems. More regions are having blackouts. Politicians, special interest groups, and environmentalists squabble over who brings home the pork and who will fry it. The highway system, for all the raging over polluting automobiles, has returned $6 in increased productivity for every $1 invested; sports stadiums return nothing, and often cost cities more than they invested.

Read the sad tale at Joel Kotkin's "Road Work."

An Op Ed in the WSJ last week (I think it was Aug. 28) pointed out: One group finding opportunity in New Orleans--maybe as many as 100,000--are Hispanic construction and clean-up crews, who are also branching out into small retail stores. If they are illegals, the author thought that was just fine. Because so many people have left, that would mean almost 40% the populace, if estimates are correct that the city only has about 273,000 with many residents deciding to start over in other states.

4110

How do I look in New Orleans

We received some sort of cable upgrade (digital, music, + oodles more channels) shortly before we left for the summer, so last night I sat down with a piece of sugar-free peanut butter chocolate pie to explore and become reacquainted, since I don't watch much TV. I stopped at a familiar face while clicking through--Finola Hughes, was was doing soap operas back when my daughter was addicted to General Hospital in the 1980s. Goodness. She looks fabulous and hasn't changed a bit. But even if she had, I'd know that voice anywhere.

She hosts a show called "How do I look?" and for its 100th edition, they selected three school teachers from New Orleans whose lives had been up-ended by Katrina. Their stories were heart wrenching. All had very nice middle-class homes. Two of them had evacuated with their children, after first not paying much attention to the warnings (they were very accustomed to hurricane warnings) and the third had been preparing for a family reunion and didn't even know about it until one of her children called. At first, she wouldn't leave her home because of her pets, but was finally rescued by a neighbor with a boat after the levee broke. Later she had to leave her beloved dog behind anyway, as rescuers further down the line wouldn't take the dog. She cried. I cried, and held my kitty a little closer (the pie was history by this time).

With a Style group of consultants, Finola lavished them with three new outfits ($1200 budget I think she said), a massage, manicure, pedicure, new hair styles and make-up plus bunches of gifts. One of the teachers had lost 45 lbs. after the storm and was living in a trailer, still wearing clothes 4-5 sizes too large. She'd lost the weight because the storm had changed her thinking about what was important--living a healthy life for her children. One woman (with the dog) had formerly been accustomed to dressing really sharp and loved high fashion. She'd lost not only her home, but everything in her closet--damaging her sense of self as a large, attractive career woman. Another who had evacuated with her baby, then lived elsewhere for 4 months, was living with a relative in a cramped house with no space for her personal belongings. She was reduced to t-shirts and jeans, like the others. She was probably the most articulate voice for NOLA survivors I've seen on TV.

Each woman got an outfit for work (teaching), a transition outfit, and a dressy, on-the-town ensemble, all with the right accessories like jewelry and shoes. Truly, they looked fabulous, and the children of the school were the audience for the "reveal," and they were an adorable, appreciate group.

A fun, heart warming and hopeful message for all. Thanks, Finola and Style TV.

4109

She's right, for the wrong reasons

Women's studies professor at Duke, Kathy Rudy says [quoted in Taranto's Best of the Web:

"We need to face the fact that dog fighting is not the only "sport" that abuses animals. Cruelty also occurs in rodeos, horse and dog racing (all of which mistreat animals and often kill them when no longer useful). There are also millions of dogs and cats we put to death in "shelters" across the country because they lack a home, and billions of creatures we torture in factory farms for our food.

She then goes on to say Vick is being wrongfully charged because he's black. Oh, please! Not the race card again. Stop this incessant infantilization of adult black men who ought to know up from down. Michael Vick didn't slaughter his dogs because he was some poor black kid, he was just plain old vanilla evil. However, she's right about the mistreatment of pets. Most pets don't die of disease, old age or the cruelty like Vick demonstrated, but from owner carelessness and stupidity. There are factory farm animals raised for consumption that have a better life than some pets because the owners need to turn a profit. Pet owners don't neuter and train their animals; the animals become community nuisances with barking, biting, defecating and urinating inappropriately and dropping babies; owner sends "bad" animal off to the "shelter," where they are killed--by the millions. Facing facts, as Ms. Rudy suggests, means I give her a C+ for getting some of it right.

4108

Our upcoming trip to Ireland

Some of you have been asking (OK, only three people have asked) what our tour of Ireland will include. It's a standard college alumni tour with lectures, entertainment, walking and van tours of historical sites, and social time with the group. We did an alumni tour river cruise of Germany and Austria in 2005 and it was fabulous. Because of the age of the group (usually 40+ to mid-80s with some very seasoned, experienced travelers) there are considerations for the amount of walking and accommodations. Here's a very brief summary:

Day 1: Leave Chicago for Shannon, Ireland

Day 2: Arrive in Shannon, transfer to our hotel in Ennis; eat an Irish breakfast (will there be beets like a Russian breakfast?), Tour Ennis, including remains of a Franciscan Frairy and Creagh tomb.

Day 3: Education focus: History of Ireland and County Clare. Excursion: Ancient Burren and Cliffs of Moher. Reception and dinner.

Day 4: Educational focus: Literature--Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw, W.B. Yeats and James Joyce--the environment and historical conditions that created the literature of Ireland. Excursion: Coole Park and Thoor Ballylee. Afternoon free. Dinner at local hotel. Evening entertainment by Irish storytellers.

Day 5: Excursion: Aran Island of Inishmore. Ferry to Inishmore, the largest of the Aran Islands off the coast of County Galway; see Dun Aengus (old fortress) Lecture by local archaeologist. Lunch at Mainistir House. Minibus tour of town and medieval monuments. Free time. Dinner back at hotel.

Day 6: Educational focus: Irish Roots, covers the famine, representative from Clare Heritage Center will discuss genealogical sources. My Scots-Irish ancestors came to the British colonies in the early 18th c. so I'm not sure how much of this will apply. Leisure time. Lunch and dinner at hotel.

Day 7: Transfer to Kilkenny, stop at Rock of Cashel, former fortress of Brian Boru, high king of Ireland. Visit heritage center. Check in hotel, dinner at hotel.

Day 8: Excursion: tour of Kilkenny Castle; walking tour of Kilkenny to see Old Jail House, Black Abbey and St. Francis Abbey, founded in 1234. Visit Brod Tullaroan heritage center (9000 years of history) of Irish life. Evening program of Irish storytelling

Day 9: Excursion: Irish National Heritage Park, 35 acres of living exhibits from Stone age to early Christian era. Tour Dunbrody Famine Ship which sailed 1845-1851 to Canada. Welcome reception. Dinner at hotel

Day 10: After breakfast at hotel, we tour Waterford , home of the famous crystal. Excursion: Jerpoint Abbey, just outside Thomastown, see ruins, including 14th-15th c. cloisters. Meet residents of Kilkenny. Dinner at hotel.

Day 11: Educational focus: contemporary Ireland--government and European Union. Day free. Lunch at hotel. Evening farewell reception, entertainment with Irish dancers.

Day 12: After breakfast, depart Kilkenny for Dublin airport and return to Chicago/Columbus.

Today I’m practicing wearing my support hose which travelers of any age should wear for long flights. My 39 year old daughter developed a deep vein thrombosis (dvt) 6 months ago on a 2 hour flight to Florida and her vascular surgeon says everyone-- men and women, young and old-- need to wear them, and be careful of dehydration. We all hate to use those postage stamp size restrooms, but for long flights should drink a lot of fluids. She gave me a medical pair, but that was so uncomfortable (I have fat knees), I switched to the standard, over the counter type which are just nicely snug. I've had some light weight blazers dry cleaned and am planning my wardrobe for both cool and warm weather, and of course, some rain wear. Comfortable shoes, some slacks, a scarf or two for color, my camera and toothbrush.

Friday Family Photo--The generations

In the black and white photo taken probably in August or September 1935, we see my uncle John and his wife Opal holding baby Evelyn, John's parents (my grandparents) Joe and Bessie, and Bessie's parents (my great grandparents) Bill and Leanor. Evelyn was the first grandchild and first great grandchild, so this is what I'd call a Four generations photograph. By the time I came along, there were so many grandchildren it was no big deal, but I did live on the same block as my great grandparents, so there is a photo of me at age 5 with her.


Fast forward 58 years. Now here is a real generations photo! In the color photo taken in July 1993 in Mt. Morris, IL, we see the descendants and spouses of Joe and Bessie, who both died in 1983. At their 60th wedding anniversary in 1972, they had 23 grandchildren and 31 great granchildren, but I'm not sure what the count was 21 years later. Aunt Opal is the only one from the b & w photo still alive at the 1993 reunion. She is the white haired woman in the dark shirt with sun glasses in what might be called row 3 a little to the right, sitting next to me in the pink dress. Evelyn died in 1978. I think one of Evelyn's sons is in front of Aunt Opal. My husband is behind me, my daughter behind him with her hands on his shoulders, and her fiance, now husband, behind her. My parents are next to me with my sister Carol next to Dad and my brother in front of him. My other sister was at the reunion but isn't in the photo.

4106

What I knew about retirement after 18 months

Tomorrow it will be seven years since I retired. Officially, I retired on October 1, 2000, but I had some vacation and sick leave, so August 31 was the day I turned in my keys. I stayed late that night, left in the dark, and shed a few tears as I hauled out the last few boxes. Today I came across a note I'd written to a fellow librarian 18 months later in February 2002 to let her know how retirement was going. I had written an extensive plan, called "Post Employment Plan" and made it public on my web page (no longer have that), so I was catching her up on how things were going.

"I’m enjoying a lot of the things I said I'd do--and trust me when I say I had absolutely no hobbies (except reading) and was a bit concerned which is why I made my plans so public. Accountability. But I am taking a writing class, a Spanish class, a painting class, and ballroom dance (for the second time since 2000--slow learner). We did the Alaska cruise in 2001 and will do an Atlantic seaboard cruise this fall [this was changed to a land tour due to a hurricane]. I'm in a book club with Marti and Adrienne, and in the Visual Arts Ministry at our church. I've got a genealogy software program, have entered about 3,000 relatives, and discovered that I am my own 6th cousin because of all those Tennessee marriages of 1st cousins. Also have found an occasional "love child", and that has been REALLY interesting. For a year I did try helping an international student with English, but decided the age gap was a problem (I was older than her parents). I never did take up roller blades--have some hip pain, so I'm sticking with walking at the gym at Bethel and Olentangy. Bird watching has been tough--can never find the little suckers. But I do sit on the deck of our condo and try it, and enjoy watching the condo crew show up to mow the lawn. I'm going to be the guest poet at an "open mic" poetry reading in April, and will be in a barn painting show to celebrate Ohio’s bicentennial. Also had a piece published in "Stories of Ohio; Tales my grandparents told me" (if I'd do the genealogy research, I could join Ohio First Families).

If it costs less to be retired, I haven't seen it. Too many things to do. But time is money, and I'm a billionaire. My advice about retirement is the same as you've heard elsewhere. The health insurance is a real problem--it is now 1/3 of my retirement check and was 1/7 when I started. I'm wondering if health premiums might be 100% by the time 65 rolls around [it isn't]. You all know what the stock market has done to your funds, so adjust and be cautious. I bought TIAA-CREF SRAs every year I worked, and haven't used it yet [still haven't], but it is a good idea to have something besides your pension. Because of STRS, I get nothing from Social Security, but every case is different--so make an appointment and check it out if you are nearing retirement age."

Then in October 2003, I started blogging. I think I may have posted this before, but can't find it. Plus, it's just fun to read it.

4105

Only Republicans get booted for bad behavior

Democrats don't seem to care--there are a number of Democrats under not just a cloud, but a downpour, beginning with Teddy letting a young woman drown, Jefferson of Louisiana and his cold cash and misuse of the national guard, Ray Nagin wanting a chocolate city after he let welfare residents sink or swim in New Orleans, and flowing right up to Hillary who's been accepting funny money from a man named Hsu (pronouced shoe). And don't tell me about how Republicans run on "family values" so it's about hypocrisy. Bunches of Democrats won election in 2006 by switching to, "I just found Jesus," during their campaigns.

"It seems like a high price to pay for toe-tapping and hand waving, but Craig pleaded guilty rather than dispute the charges. He has to take responsibility for that action as well, and as a Senator, he knows that his credibility depends on actions in and out of Washington. The accusations and the guilty plea reflect poorly on him and poorly on the GOP if they try to shield him. Basically, Craig embarrassed himself, and the party doesn't want to pay the price for Craig's individual actions." Captain's Quarters.

4104

What Bill says about Hillary

Dick Morris, who is no prize for ethics and morality himself, contradicts a few critical points in Bill Clinton's commercial for his wife's candidacy. For instance, Morris points out:

Hillary considered (threatened) running for governor of Arkansas in 1990 when Bill didn't want to, so after doing some polling, he decided to run for a 2nd term.

"Hillary's main extra-curricular activity in law school was helping the Black Panthers, on trial in Connecticut for torturing and killing a federal agent. She went to court every day as part of a law student monitoring committee trying to spot civil rights violations and develop grounds for appeal."

"Hillary interned with Bob Truehaft, the head of the California Communist Party. She met Bob when he represented the Panthers and traveled all the way to San Francisco to take an internship with him."

There are other allegations that shouldn't be too difficult for bloggers to verify. But there's enough here to sound pretty scary. Most of this was reported by Carl Bernstein in his new book about Hillary, but Morris provides his insider take just on the dishonest commercial which paints a totally different Hillary--even has her in different places. But would Bill Clinton lie?

4103

A delightful group of young people

Christiane Anampour couldn't grasp the difference between women who dress modestly and radical muslims who force women to wear burkas and keep women out of school in her program on CNN, but the community of Saline, Michigan gets it. Last week at Lakeside we enjoyed a program of fiddlers from the high school in Saline (also included guitarists and cellists). The girls all wore swingy, fashionable skirts and collared shirts, and the boys wore neatly fitted jeans and collared shirts. No one was over weight or anorexic; no one was tattooed; no one had nose or eyebrow studs; no one wore too much make-up. What a fabulous group of young people, and Michigan should be proud.

Now in their 14th year, "The Saline Fiddlers represent the positive side of today's youth while reflecting the rural traditions of Saline and ultimately the country. The performers, all students at Saline High School, earn their places through competitive auditions based on musical ability and personal integrity. Each Fiddler balances academics, sports, school organizations, church activities, jobs and social lives with this demanding commitment to music."

4102

How to stomp out artistic talent in children

Backstory: Some teachers from our local Wickliffe Progressive Elementary school went to Harvard this summer to attend Project Zero Classroom 2007 (usually zero means worthless, but perhaps I'm behind the times). They studied with Melissa Rivard and Mara Krechevsky for a week, which the participants called "a great opportunity." Upon returning, the participants shared what they learned at an in-service day, and it was reported in our local SNP newspaper.

Here's the technique that caught my eye, and I hope the journalist got it WRONG!

"I'm excited to use the thinking routines, where children are making extensions or connections," she said.

Instead of a child creating a drawing, then explaining to the other students what the picture means, the other students will talk about what they see in the drawing.

"This leads to discussions," she said. "Instead of just telling the information, the kids are creating it by thinking about it."

Oh yuk! I suppose it depends on the age of the artist, but if Johnny has worked very hard drawing his dog and her puppies playing in the kitchen, and the other kids decide it is a cow and her calves entering a barn, I think it's the last time he'll be willing to try his hand at drawing.

None of these techniques sound new to me--my kids were getting this "let's have the children discuss their own ideas" instead of telling them things so they have meaningful content from which to draw even in the 1970s. My children graduated from high school not knowing which came first, WWII or the Vietnam War (both were ancient history by the time they finished). It wasn't popular to teach facts or time lines, but I'm sure they had fascinating discussions filled with their own fluffy ideas.

This was drawn by a 10 year old Chechnya child. It says, "Family" at the top, and Mama, I, and Papa at the bottom. It's from a war site, but I hope no one tried to get the child to draw pictures of bombs or torture. The drawing ability, balance, design and use of color are wonderful, and show that this child had some traditional art training and didn't waste her time in frivolous discussions of her classmates' drawings.

4101

Polygamy might be better than nannygamy

Polygamy will be the next change in marriage law. After the gays push through same sex legal unions, there will be no reason to limit it to two consenting adults, or three or even adults. They already have a political action group to decriminalize it.

Polygamy has some benefits, according to an ABC program I watched the other night about a community of polygamists in Arizona. Legally, the man (a school teacher) has only one wife, however, their community and church recognize both women equally. The younger one is hoping he'll take a third wife, because she needs some help. There are seven children, five by wife #1 and two by wife #2. The women are close friends and help each other; the older one helped the younger with a difficult birth. The older wife goes to work in an an office, while the younger one stays home to care for the children. She's pooped.

I saw an ad for a nanny in our local paper. Truly, it sounds like this family needs polygamy, a wife #2, not a nanny. Here's what "young professional couple" wants

• nanny to work 2-3 days full time, with possible full time
  
• prior experience with newborn (the "delightful" girl is 3 months old)
  
• pediatric CPR training
  
• First aid certificate
  
• college degree
  
• interest in child development
  
• car
  
• driver's license
  
• references
  
• must pass background check
  
• caring, experienced and energetic personality
  
• willing to do housekeeping
  
• be able to cook
  
• do the laundry
  
• run errands

My advice to mommy (or daddy--the ad doesn't say but I suppose it could be a same-sex couple) is: stay home with the baby for awhile if you are this anal about proper child care. These are the delightful years. There's no committee meeting, conference or promotion worth missing those smiles and kisses.

4100

The Atlanta Fashion Police

Did you hear that someone in Atlanta's city government wants to outlaw baggy pants that show boxer shorts or thongs by amending the indecency laws? This is the silliest thing I've ever heard. If men want to look stupid and ridiculous, want to cripple their legs and look fat, well, let them. They are probably looking that way because mama and the government check has been coddling them.

But what's the excuse for older women who ought to know better? Look at the cover of this catalog. If you are 5'10" and weight 100 lbs, with the figure of a hanger, you possibly can look good in this. But for most women, if your BMI is 26, it will instantly bloom to 30 if you wear these outfits. I've seen Amish women in more flattering and feminine outfits than these.

4099

We must be winning in Iraq

Based on yesterday's top toilet news stories on which the MSM focused, I've concluded that we must be winning in Iraq. Mothers who toilet train infants and a Republican senator that knows all the hand signals and footsy-wootsy stuff to pick up men in restrooms seemed to be all they could talk about. Talk about "elimination communication!"

Update: It seems Craig's shoe is a bigger story than Hillary and Obama's Hsu. Sex can work up more voter interest than corruption, apparently.

4098

The power of a web

Yesterday morning when I returned to the house from coffee (about 7:30), I noticed the garage door was up. Must have forgotten to push the down button when I looked for the eclipse, I thought. When I pulled in and pushed the down-button in the car, the door went down and right back up. Must have not pulled in far enough, I thought, and got out and looked. No, there was plenty of clearance. I went into the house and told my husband there was something wrong with the garage door. Later when I came back from running a few errands, the door was down. When I asked what the problem was, he told me there was a spider web on the bottom of the far side of the door with a leaf caught in the threads, and the leaf passed over the light beam that signals something is in the way of the door (which is very heavy and could crush a child or a bicycle). I'm amazed both at the power of the little spider (who probably rode back from the lake with us on the side mirror of the van), and the technology put in place due to injuries from garage doors.

This leads me to the thought that technology cannot always protect people, especially stupid risk takers. Within a 1/2 mile of our home yesterday, pitch black outside, I thought I saw something in the headlights of the car in front of me where the street splits to a Y, so I slowed down (I was already only at about 30 mph because of just having left the drive-way). Yes, there was a biker in dark clothing, including a hooded sweatshirt so not even his pale skin reflected light. There were no lights or reflective tape on the bike. He had apparently stopped because he'd taken the wrong leg of the Y and was waiting to change lanes. I just shook my head in disbelief. There must be an angel riding on his handle bars offering to light his way, because truly this man was a very dim bulb.

It's baaaaack

Orange and avocado. Hot colors of the late 50s and again in the 70s. Is it time again? I didn't think so, but here it is in the September 2007 Architectural Digest.





For more choices, visit Eastern Accents.

Tara Parker Pope to leave me to my own devices

I never miss Tara Parker Pope's health columns in the Wall Street Journal. They are readable, timely, and easy for the layman to understand, and most important to me, she usually leads the reader to her sources. Last week she wrote about firing up the grill and why women might want to think twice:

"Postmenopausal women who often ate grilled barbecued and smoked meats had a 47% higher risk for breast cancer than low meat eaters." From Epidemiology, May 2007

She offered these tips: 1) Microwave food about a minute before grilling; 2) eat lots of vegetables with your grilled food; 3) Use marinades; 4) flip your food often; 5) cook red meat medium or rare; 6) cook at a lower temperature whether in your oven, stove or grill. I think that's a really helpful summary of research we wouldn't ordinarily read.

But today she announced it was her last column:

"In recent weeks I have been reflecting on the power of information to improve health."

I think I know how she feels. "Information" is the most over rated value we have and as a librarian I learned that early. Information isn't wisdom; it isn't action; it doesn't come with a guarantee it won't be misused; it doesn't build relationships; and it definitely isn't power. Librarians have learned that and increasingly spend their time fiddling with IT gimmicks that will manipulate the information, parsing it into i-pods or applets or digital snipplets.

She writes movingly about her own mother's health crisis. Using her skills at manipulating information Tara was able to find their second best choice for oncologist who was a complete bust (first choice was taking no new patients), because he was rude and dismissive both about her information skills and her mother's health. A chance remark by her mother put them back with their first choice because she had been his patient years ago. They pursued together the best options for her mother, and for awhile she was cancer free, but it returned and claimed her. Pope clings to the idea that everyone has the power to take control of her own health, and that taking charge didn't save her mother's life, but made the end better. But if it hadn't been for that chance remark. . . all the information in the world and the wonders of the internet for her to search wouldn't have led them to the right doctor.

More on TPP

4095

That's why it's called risk

Sometimes it is good when Rush Limbaugh has a guest host. The guy he has on today, Mark Belling of Milwaukee, has been explaining the mess with the subprime loans better than any I've heard. He's been trying to pound it through the listeners' heads with rhetorical questions, "that's why it's called risk."

• How far do we go with government bail outs when people make the wrong decision?


• What about all those people for whom it was the right decision? Many people bought their dream homes and were able to ease into homes they might not have purchased otherwise.


• What about the banks and Wall Street companies who bought up those loans and now want a Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac bailout of a bad investment?


• Are the people who borrowed the money (at a risk) really worse off than they would have been paying rent for three years (at a higher monthly cost than the loan) and getting nothing back?


• When real estate goes up, it's a huge windfall for some. What about them? They took a risk and won.


• What are the unintended consequences of the government bailing out poor credit risks?


• What if the decline is a good thing--a correction in the market?


• What if the house was over valued when they bought it? Is that my responsibility?


• This might be a terrific time for people who are savvy investors to buy a house. Prices had gone out of reach for many, and are now more reasonable again.


• Many of the people who took out 2/28 loans were also offered fixed loans for 30 years at a slightly higher monthly cost. If they had done the prudent thing, paying a little more now for more security later, they wouldn't be in this mess.


• Because new rules are being put in place, we're making it impossible for people caught in the first mess, to get out of it.


• This is a small percentage of a small percentage. We won't know for 5 years if this correction is really a tremendous opportunity for the market to correct itself. Do we want to meddle with the market before we know?

One problem I can see coming is that those who bought a home at a fixed rate with money down in a neighborhood where others bought with ARMs and no equity are going to see property values fall as banks foreclose, neighbors file for bankruptcy or owners abandon their property. Next, rents are going to start going up for everyone, because there will be former home owners out looking for a place to live.

Either way, if you haven't been putting money aside for the inevitable rainy day, your wallet is in for a surprise.

Power of the blog

About four years ago I blogged about my Fornasetti plates. That entry gets quite a few hits. The link to a gift shop no longer works. Somehow, Alice, the friend who gave them to us as a house warming gift in 1965, found the entry and has e-mailed. How nice to hear from her. Bill died about four years ago, but we remember many happy times with them in Champaign-Urbana, IL. Here's the face I was blogging about--Julia by Piero Fornasetti.

4093

Please disobey our laws

It's not only our administration that is suggesting this to illegal immigrants. Our church governments, usually made up of people who don't reflect those of us in the pew, are saying it too:

You’re driving into a major city taking in all the sights and sounds. It looks like any other major metropolitan area when suddenly you see a large sign suspended above the highway. It monstrous letters it say, "Please make every effort to ignore our laws!" You're taken back for a moment as you continue your drive into the city. Certainly they can’t mean that – but soon you find they do. Everyone you encounter is doing whatever they desire and totally ignoring all laws. Stop signs mean nothing, speed limits are ignored and people take whatever they want from local merchants without paying. You have found yourself in the city of Evangelical Lutherans. Cue theme music and closing credits.

The above scenario is no more bizarre than what happened at the recently concluded annual General Conference of the Evangelical Lutherans Church of America. On the closing day of the Conference a resolution was passed by 538-431 vote pleading with the leadership of the denomination to ignore their own church law. Oh, and this was immediately following passing another resolution upholding their church law. Confused? Welcome to the Lutheran Twilight Zone!" Bob Burney

We only need to look at history to see how this will end. Either the liberals will take over, inch by inch, vote by vote,* or the conservatives will pull out (taking most of the money**) and form another synod with other disaffected congregations or synods. ELCA is losing members and money with this fight that's been going on for eight years.

Then among those who believe marriage is God's plan for one man and one woman and that pastors should not be openly living-in-sin whether straight or gay, there are ordained women pastors in ELCA. Well, the guy-group (mostly straight, but also some gays) is still smarting over losing that battle years ago (women have been ordained in some Lutheran churches for over 50 years), so it's raising its ugly head again and that will split the conservatives. How many protestant "fellowships/ congregations/ denominations" are there? 30,000? I'm not sure this is what Martin Luther or John Calvin or Menno Simons had in mind, but there it is--testimony to the whole world that where two or three are gathered in His Name, there will be a fight over the dress code or baptism or music and a new denomination will be born.

*This was a back door, political maneuver brought up at the last minute at the Chicago Assembly, with the press alerted and waiting in the halls to report the outcome and spin it.

**ELCA national office still shows our congregation (UALC) supporting them. However, our "benevolence payments" of $662,618 goes directly to the Southern Ohio Synod, and not to the national office. It's been that way for four years. These funds, and an additional $400,000 for other mission work, do not pass through national's office. This is another way to "spin" support for non-biblical viewpoints.

Who will the Democrats go after next?

The best quote: "I strongly urge President Bush to nominate a new attorney general who will respect our laws and restore the integrity of the office." — Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. He's never met a law yet that he respected because they aren't written for his kind. They hounded Ashcroft and bayed at Gonzales. They don't fool me. They just don't have anything else to do. What scares me is the "tit for tat" [retaliation] that will go on if the Democrats elect the next president. The Republicans just might get some backbone. Scary, isn't it, that our elected officials will spend all their time combing through e-mails and old phone records, attempting to catch each other in misstatements.

The end of summer

Technically, it's not over, but we came back to Columbus today. This morning I walked along the lakefront to take a few pictures. . . and then the batteries died.





Then back to the cottage to pack up. Sigh.

Monday Memories--Thank you, Indy Barb

Last week we received a DVD with photos of my husband's class reunion prepared by Indy Barb the reunion committee. My, oh my! What a lot of work they put in on that! At least I think it was her [she says in the comments it wasn't]. By the time the disc got to my hands, it was out of the envelope. Just adding all the names to the photos must have been a huge task. Reunions are only as successful as the committees, and we both graduated with people who are willing to work hard at it. Not only did it have the reunion photos (3 days--a dinner, an alumni gathering on the campus, and a picnic), but she'd also scanned a large part of the important class photos from the yearbook. We have the '57 yearbook, but many people have lost theirs over the years, so I know they will be thrilled.

BMOC. A class officer. I think I might have been too, however, his high school was larger than my town.



My husband on the far right--credit says they were having a mock political campaign. Looks like it was Ike and Adlai.

My husband always knew he'd be an architect, and Tech was certainly the place to go! Here he is (on the left) with one of his models. I remember this one well. It used to travel around with us from apartment to apartment when we were first married incorporated into a table.

4089

I wish I watched more TV

Then I would sit in a chair and do nifty exercises with little weights for my upper arms. Yesterday I went to the antique show here at Lakeside. I was bending over to examine an "antique" that I know was from the 1960s, and I glanced down at my bent right arm. The flesh from my front upper arm had sort of fallen in little ripples into the crook of my elbow! So I immediately straightened up. But I must have hit my hand, because today I have a huge black bruise about the size of a silver dollar on the back of my right hand, just like Dad used to get--but he was old! Then this morning after church we were watching the DVD of my husband's class reunion (Arsenal Technical High School, Indianapolis, which I will write about tomorrow). There weren't many pictures of us, but they did catch us on the dance floor, and Oh, I thought we just looked so super, but photos don't lie. We had the same turkey wattles as everyone else.

I'm not sure TV will help my neck, but it's worth a try.

4088

Are Democrats stupid?

No, but they know the American people, and they may be right. If something doesn't work, we just keep doing it, or electing it hoping for better luck next time. The Democratic candidates for president are on the road to New Orleans, the most corrupt, the most patronage puffed, the most crime ridden city and the most bamboozled by the Democratic party (as of August 2005--Katrina Hurricane) in the United States. It will be another attempt to lay this at the feet of President Bush, which is so absurd I do wish the man would step on them with his big cowboy boots and just lay it all out about whose responsibility it was that the city was sitting on leaking levees controlled by parish boards, that its public housing was filled with poor blacks with no hope, that its government health care was the pits, that the streets were swarming with criminals and that the Mayor and the Governor never did a thing to evacuate those projects even with all the warnings they had, letting the buses drown in the flooding and the criminals take over while they evacuated their cabinets and family members.

But here comes another black, Democratic savior for the Democrat racists in NOLA--Barack Yo'mama Obama

The Gulf Coast restoration, Mr. Obama said, has been weighed down by red tape that has kept billions of dollars from reaching Louisiana communities. As president, he said, he would streamline the bureaucracy, strengthen law enforcement to curb a rise in crime and immediately close the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet in order to restore wetlands to protect against storms.

Mr. Obama also said that he would seek to lessen the influence of politics in the Federal Emergency Management Agency by giving its director a fixed term, similar to the structure of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The FEMA director would serve a six-year term, under Mr. Obama’s plan, and report directly to the president.

Mr. Obama, an Illinois Democrat, and several presidential hopefuls are scheduled to arrive in Louisiana this week to highlight how New Orleans has — and has not — recovered from Hurricane Katrina. Democrats have sought to use the city as an example of what they believe was among the Bush administration’s greatest domestic failures. Jeff Zeleny, NYT, Aug. 26, 2007 Jeff, how'd you keep a straight face writing this drivel?

Over a million volunteers from every state in the nation and every imaginable religious group have headed to NOLA in the last two years to pull it out of the mud. I'm guessing they've done more than all the federal FEMA dollars and reelected-Nagin nonsense combined. And I think that is under reported.

4087

Visiting some new links

Sometime soon, when updating my template I'll be adding Lady Light, The Sandusky Library Archives, and Rev. Jesse Peterson. Rev. Peterson has a column in Worldnet Daily and writes on issues important to African Americans, families, and particularly fathers. He's a Conservative. Recently he wrote about evil using the analogy of the movie Grizzly Man, where the man who loved grizzlies is finally killed by them, because that's just what wild animals do.

"Not surprising, of course. Be as nice as you want; at the end of the day, grizzlies are grizzlies – wild animals that will kill you when it suits them.

Evil is the same way. No one needs to provoke Kennedy, Dean, Reid, or the NAACP. They serve the side of destruction. That's just what they do.

No matter what you do, no matter how nice you try to be, no matter how genuinely you try to have a dialogue, no matter how much money you give, evil will never cease to be evil. Liberals, black and white, will attack conservative white Republicans as racists regardless. Ask Bill Bennett.

Or ask President Bush. He's invested more government money in black America than Bill Clinton. He's put more black Americans in prominent leadership positions than Bill Clinton. He's been a fine moral example, unlike Bill Clinton. It doesn't matter. Evil people love Bill Clinton because he is one of them. Those who oppose President Bush hate him because he's good. They will forever oppose him for this reason. Just recently, Congressman Charles Rangel called President Bush the modern-day "Bull" Connor." Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson

Here’s a great library blog from Sandusky, Ohio--the history of the area written by the library’s archivist. We are close to Sandusky when we are at our summer home on Lake Erie, so I’ll be visiting Sandusky History frequently. According to the blog The Sandusky Library Archives Research Center has a collection of about 10,000 photographic images documenting many facets of the history of Sandusky, Erie County, the Lake Erie islands, and the Firelands region. The blog has a lively writing style and includes scans of many of these photographs as well as items from the newspapers. Like many public libraries, it began as a subscription, private organization for a literary club and was supported by a women’s group before it became a public, tax supported institution:

"The public library in Sandusky can trace its roots back to 1825 (only seven years after Sandusky was founded), when a subscription library was created, called the Portland Library. F.D. Parish, one of the city's first lawyers, was the first librarian, with about 300 books under his care. This organization was succeeded around 1840 by the Sandusky Lyceum, a literary study society; the Lyceum was in turn replaced by the Philomathesian Society in 1845. In 1855, the Young Men's Library Association took over the role of public library for Sandusky, until 1870, when the Library Association of Sandusky was founded. This organization was commonly known as the "Ladies' Library Association," because the membership of its board was composed entirely of women of the community. In 1886 the Library Building Fund Association was created to raise funds for the construction of a library building. In 1895, the Library was incorporated and became the first free public library in the community." From the first entry.

Lady Light Blog will be a new link probably listed in my Faithful bloggers group. Most in that list are Christians, but she's a Jew and the title of her blog is Tikkun Olam. She writes about her faith and Israeli politics, throws in a little humor and some good photos. Enjoy!

4086

Zit-geist: what's your favorite teen movie?

I probably won't be seeing the latest teen coming-of-age movie, Superbad, although it's not getting bad reviews. Raunchy. I can't find the title of my favorite teen movie, because I've only seen parts of it on TV, never the beginning or the ending. From the clothing, I'd guess it was made 1950-52. The plot: new teacher comes to town, rents a room, falls for young dude with hot car. When school starts she finds out the guy is a high school student. Anyone know the title? Is it on DVD?

Here's some of my favorites:

The old Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney films from the 30s and 40s are fun to watch--they were always putting on a show

Any of the moon-June-croon musicals of the 1950s

Rebel without a cause (1955)

The graduate (1967)--Benjamin's a bit beyond teen years, but close. Katherine Ross was so pretty--she's my age.

American Graffiti (1973) This can bring tears to the eyes of a 50s grad

Grease (1978) Not as good as the 50s, but cute

Karate Kid (1984) Macchio and Morita--great team

Breakfast club (1985) Trying to figure out my kids!

Back to the future (1985) Loved it; much better than the sequels

Pretty in Pink (1986) Molly had a great career, didn't she?

Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)--always think of my kids cutting school

Sister Act (1992) Yikes, 15 years ago--OK, not strictly a teen movie, but takes place in a school. Whoopi and Maggie, what a team

Shattered Hearts (1998)--Made for TV. Star athlete and top student, both college bound, fall in love. He is struck down by cancer. Very sad.

Almost famous (2001)--main character is a teenager who follows a rock band

4085

What I want for my birthday

I stopped at the gift shop in Lakeside this morning to take a photo of a ring. I'm showing it to dear husband, or DH, as some of you call yours. That isn't my hand--I'm taking the photo. Now I've shown it to him, and I hope the rest is history. I don't wear much jewelry and this isn't my birthstone, but I thought this would be nice with the occasional dressy outfit. Plus, it's a size 5--just calling my ring finger's name. What do you think?

4084

Civil War Week at Lakeside

I'd planned to blog about some of the great lectures and musical programs this week at Lakeside that feature the U.S. Civil War, however, Tell Toledo has done such a good job, I'll just refer you there. I will add that the power point failed for Randall Buchman's talk on Mr. Lincoln's 11 train trips through Ohio (last one was the funeral train), so he did the whole thing without visuals. But you know what? When a guy is as good as this retired professor, it didn't make a bit of difference. We could see everything he described!

4083

Who wants to be a millionaire?

Rev. Jacob Frank Schulman and his wife Alice invested 25% of their income each year (married in 1954). He died in 2006 at 78 with an estate of over $20,000,000. Over the years they have been donors to various Unitarian causes, a branch of Christianity to which he converted in the 1950s. The story was in the WSJ today.

From his obituary: "Dr. Schulman was born March 26, 1927 in Nashville, Tennessee. He had an outstanding academic life with degrees from the following institutions: B.A. - University of Oklahoma; S.T.B. - Harvard University; D.Min. and D.D. - Meadville Lombard Theological School; M.A., D.Phil.,B.D. - University of Oxford.

Mr. Schulman was ordained in the Unitarian ministry in 1954 at the Arlington Street Church, Boston, Massachusetts. He served many congregations: Arlington Street Church, Boston; First Unitarian Church, Worcester, Mass.; First Unitarian Church, Youngstown, Ohio; Emerson Unitarian Church, Houston, Texas; Unitarian Church of Horsham, West Sussex, England; and Huntsville Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in
Texas. His last position before retirement was as Chaplain and Dean and Fellow in Theology at the Harris Manchester College, University of Oxford. Mr. Schulman was also named Minister Emeritus at Emerson Unitarian Church of Houston and at All Souls Church Unitarian Universalist, The Woodlands, Texas.

Frank Schulman was a prolific writer of books, pamphlets, and articles on topics from "Blasphemous and Wicked: The Unitarian Struggle for Equality, 1813-1844" (1997) to the pamphlet he edited, "Ralph Waldo Emerson Speaks." In addition, he was a sought-after lecturer, delivering the Berry Street Lecture (1981); the Minns Lecture (1982); and the Billings Lecture (1983). Mr. Schulman also served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and the Korean War."

However, if you're not interested in the pay of a minister and scholar, you might also consider sending your 18 year old to a state school instead of a private, or ivy-league college, and investing the difference each year in the stock market for the long haul. Your student will probably come out of this decision at age 50 or 60 thanking you and piling flowers on your grave. Plus s/he won't have that huge debt at graduation.

Thursday Thirteen--How I spent my summer

We have a summer home on Lake Erie in Lakeside, Ohio, a Chautauqua community established in 1873, which offers many activities and learning experiences. Here’s a few of the things I did this summer, but not all at Lakeside.

1. Reunions in Indiana and Illinois: Attended the 50th class reunions of Arsenal Technical High School (Indianapolis) class of 1957 and Mt. Morris High School (Illinois) class of 1957, seeing many friends and some former faculty. Had great family get-togethers with my siblings, their children, my parents’ siblings, my husband’s siblings and their children.

With 2 of my nieces
2. Science and social science: Attended several geology lectures by Charles Herdendorf (OSU) about the Great Lakes and sunken ships. They were so interesting I wished I’d taken a geology science elective instead of chemistry. Also attended lectures on Asia (Korea and Taiwan) by Eugene Swanger, always fascinating. Civil War lectures this week were detailed and informative on Lincoln and battles of the war.

3. Endured three laptop failures, losing all information when the software was reloaded. I had to blog from the hotel lobby a few mornings. I've reloaded for the 3rd time, and I'm NOT updating some of the available software, including MS thinking that may be the problem.

4. Enjoyed two ferry trips to Put-in-Bay, once to visit friends who have a cottage there and tour the island, and then with my husband’s sister Debbie and her husband John from California. New visitors' center is wonderful. Great restaurants.

5. Enjoyed lots of early morning cups of coffee at Coffee and Cream where I watch the news channel and read the papers, planning my blogs, and chat with other vacationers and residents. I see lots of daddies on early a.m. duty with kiddoes in the p.j.'s.

6. Helped some of my neighbors rescue feral kittens, finding a home for one of them. Saving the world, one kitten at a time.


7. Writing: Took a writing class with Patricia Mote at the Rhein Center for the Living Arts.

8. Art: Attended a watercolor workshop one evening, but another class I’d signed up for was cancelled. Attended two lectures with Rustin Levenson, an art preservationist and restorer. Purchased a painting by Robert Moyer from the Lakeside Art Show. My husband has sold 7 of his paintings and many prints, which will help finance the trip to Ireland in the fall. Toured the Ohio Supreme Court Building and State House to see the art (in Columbus). The Court building was a WPA project and has murals, mosaics, decorative plaster, bas-relief sculpture and bronze ornaments and a very interesting law library open to the public.

9. Food: Maintained my winter weight loss despite the constant temptations of Lakeside’s business district--delis, ice cream shops, fresh do-nuts, and Abigail’s Tea Room. Tried a delicious blueberry dessert I saw in the Plain Dealer--twice. Also yummy visits to Schmidt’s, Salvi’s and Rusty Bucket in Columbus with friends and family.

10. Movies: "Amazing Grace" and "Away from Her." Julie Christie is still beautiful. However, because it is about Alzheimer's, it's a bit of a downer. Lakeside has the only movie theater in this county.

11. Read: A book of short stories by Alice Munro, one was the story on which the movie "Away from Her" was based. Also listened to two audio books on my walks, and read numerous journals and blogs. From my own bookshelves I loaned 2 novels. Borrowed a book on Canada travel for a future trip, and brought along 2 on Ireland which I haven't opened.

12. Walked: not quite the 250 miles I want to do before September 3, but I’ve got a few days left to do some more. I think I've done about 150.

13. Attended some fabulous programs at Hoover Auditorium and other Lakeside spots, including Phil Dirt and the Dozers, Mike Albert the Big-E, Chapter Six, Verb Ballet, Banu Gibson, "Whose line is it anyway?" Gaelic Storm, Johnny Knorr (dance band with dancing), 8 performances by the Lakeside symphony, Mary Wilson, Brasilia, and The Dodworth Saxhorn Band. There will be a few more programs next week but we'll be back in Columbus.

Well, that about ties it up for the summer. Family, friends, great programming, good food, and of course, many sunsets, a lot of rain (although we haven't flooded yet in this area), church on the lakefront, and blogging.

Check out other TT-ers at the Thursday Thirteen Hub.

Poetry Thursday

I can't find that I posted this poem which I wrote in July 2003. It is based on two incidents 57 years apart.

Pet in the Road at 163 and 269
July 27, 2003

You are sleeping tucked away in bed
when I see your pet.
You are dreaming of the beach
as I pass at 6 a.m.

You didn't see her slip out the door
for that one last chase.
You realize she is missing
when no friend is waiting.

You hide your face and hot tears
when the stranger stops to help.
You turn to your big sisters,
but they are all crying too.

You will keep her in your heart
though your arms are empty now.
You will weep years later
as you pass a pet in the road.

You just never know

I've learned a lot about food allergies reading Janeen's blog who has children with food allergies. You'll be surprised by what's in your wine that could cause an allergic reaction.

4079

Balancing work and children

It’s not something you usually see a homeschooler/blogger writing about--it seems to be a conflict that employed mothers have. But Sherry, who writes a wonderful book review blog says:

"I have this theory that it’s important for children to see you doing something you love —for me that’s reading and blogging— at least some of the time. Not that I read and blog just to show my children how important those activities are, but I think for them to develop a love for reading, they need to see me reading. Engineer Husband loves science and math, so as they see him doing science and math, they begin to enjoy those subjects, too."

As much as I respect her book reviews, I’ve just got to disagree a little bit. As reported here before, some children will never enjoy reading, and will not grow up to be readers, and particularly will not grow up to be library users, even if they do read books. My children always saw me reading, I read to them, and I taught them to read, and I took them to the library to check out their own books, and they always received books as gifts for birthdays and Christmas, and for no reason at all. Phffft. One doesn’t read at all and hated school; the other loved school and will only read books in hard cover that she personally has purchased and only by a select group of authors.

Here’s my take:

Far sighted children are less likely than near sighted to be engaged readers, even with glasses for correct vision

Athletic children are less likely to chose a good book to entertain themselves

Children who are intuitive and sensitive and love a crowd to charm, are less likely to hang out in libraries or hit the books after school

If your son is a stud muffin, he's much less likely to be a reader than if he's a geek.

Children are born either readers or non-readers, in my opinion. You can stifle it, discourage it, make it difficult for them to get books; their friends can tease them, or exclude them for reading, but if they are readers and derive pleasure from it, they will find a way--billboards, cereal boxes, instructions on games, crawlers on movie screens. The non-readers--well, you can lead them to the library and load them up, but you can’t make them like it. Neither of my adult children have library cards.

This mother's advice: read to your children because you like the story or pictures, and it is good cuddle time. There are other things more important than reading.

4078

Soldier-moms have work-family conflicts

Now isn't that a big surprise! Women in the Air Force who have served in war zones have a work-family conflict that might be related to PTSD. Weren't the feminists warned this might be the case back in the 70s when they were still insisting there should be were no gender distinctions and differences? Story here. The study was presented at the American Psychological Association annual meeting in San Francisco this month, but I don't see that it has been published in a peer-reviewed journal, so be advised.

The Againstocrats--a review

You'll find the complete review of The Argument: Billionaires, Bloggers and the Battle to remake Democratic politics by Matt Bai, reviewed by Fred Siegal in City Journal. After exposing the fleshy pink underside of the power hungry billionaires and Moveonskis, he gets to bloggers. My personal favorite:

The bloggers, for their part, are as emotionally stunted as the billionaires, but as inhabitants of "a fantasy game inflected world," far less literate: "The Daily Kos and other blogs resemble a political version of those escapist online games where anyone with a modem can disappear into an alternate society, reinventing himself among neighbors and colleagues who exist only in a virtual realm." Bai adds: "One of the hallmarks of the netroots culture was a complete disconnect from history—meaning basically anything that happened before 1998." Unlike the radicals of the 1960s, who knew something of the anti-Stalinism that had preceded them but dismissed its significance for their time, the bloggers take pride in their ignorance. In the eyes of the bloggers, "the more history you knew," explains Bai, "the more bogged down and less relevant you were likely to be."

But if they were short on learning and thinking, they were long on "profanity, hyperbole, and conspiracy theories." America, the bloggers believe, yearns to be governed by Deanlike Democrats, but is thwarted by so-called moderates willing to compromise with the Republican foe. Like sixties radicals, the bloggers see moderates as the real enemy, but unlike them, they have no positive ideology. Markos Moulitsas Zúniga, founder of the influential Daily Kos blog, insists, "I'm not ideological at all, I’m just all about [Democrats'] winning."

You'll not find a more interesting or well-written on-line journal than City Journal. Summer 2007 issue now available.

Monday Memories--Mamas and Papas

Enjoy. John Phillips and his daughter MacKenzie and 2 other drop outs from other groups sang here at Lakeside maybe 10-15 years ago. I think they may have been called the New Mamas and Papas. I have one of their LPs--left behind by a tenant who ran out on her rent ca. 1966.

4075

Sugar: the new oil

Have you seen that new TV show CANE being advertised where the voiceover proclaims that "Sugar is the new oil?" Here's what's happening in Brazil with sugar as a biofuel. As seen at this Dept. of Commerce website.

• Brazil is the largest sugar cane producer (425.7 million tons produced in 2006/07 harvest).

• Brazil is also the world's biggest ethanol exporter (3.5 billion liters exported in 2006 or US$ 1.6 billion). The United States is the largest buyer of Brazilian ethanol when both direct and indirect exports are considered. The U.S. Government’s Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI) exempts imports from the Caribbean from payment of $0.54 per gallon import tariffs, encouraging Brazilian alcohol exports to that region. As a result, recorded exports to destination such as El Salvador, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago and Costa Rica are generally destined for the U.S. market; however, exports tend to occur, for limited periods, when gas prices spike in the United States.

• World’s leader in ethanol production (Brazil has 351 producers who generate an output of 18 billion liters/year. About 15 billion liters are destined for internal Brazilian consumption and around three billion are exported.)

• The sugar-alcohol sector’s annual revenue is about US$20 billion (2006).

• 86 new ethanol projects should result in investments of US$17 B (US$14 B in new plants and US$ 3 B in existing plant expansions).

• 80% of flex fuel cars (filled with either alcohol or gasoline, or a mixture of both). In 2006, 1.4 million flex fuel cars were sold in the Brazilian market.

• Alcohol production average cost in Brazil: US$ 1.06/gallon (excludes freight and taxes)

• Petrobras’ large distribution and logistics network in Brazil has always played a key role to boost the ethanol program. The company is investing US$340 million through 2011 to expand its export ethanol infrastructure.

• Petrobras is Brazil’s largest ethanol buyer through its BR Distribuidora subsidiary.

• Petrobras is building ten micro ethanol refineries adopting a family production model. Petrobras is also partnering with Japanese Mitsui to build 40 plants to export ethanol to Japan.

The United States and Brazil are exploring ways to partner on developing second-generation biofuels.

Opportunities may exist in the future for US companies in the biomass to liquids (BTL) and lignocelulose arenas.

Just a thought. Burning sugar sure makes me hot. I wonder what it does for the environment?

4074

Glut of teachers in southwestern Ohio

Today's paper reported (AP) that school districts in Warren County are being flooded by applicants for job openings. More than 3,000 applied for 63 positions in Mason; 2,000 applied for 21 positions in Springboro near Dayton; and Lebanon had 800 applicantsfor 30 jobs. Even assuming that some applicants applied in all those places, that's a lot of teachers looking for jobs.

Guess who the union protects? The ones with the most experience--I'm not sure they can even accept entry level positions if they are willing. The districts are making the most of their dollar by hiring new grads. Starting salaries are around $34,000. Positions have been eliminated in some of the districts in that area as people move to the suburbs.

Feel badly for underpaid teachers? Study shows the average hourly wage is $34.06, and the districts with the highest pay like Detroit, New York and Los Angeles have the poorest test scores.

4073

Ohio Birds and Biodiversity

is the title of an interesting blog with some great photographs by Jim McCormac. Great photo of the paparazzi who just found a dragonfly. Britney and Paris look out!


Really terrific photos of unusual flora and fauna with explanations. I didn't know frogs attacked and ate birds, but he's got a photograph of one doing it.

4072

Lemon Cream Shea Butter

This is so yummy on your skin. I just love Shea Butter (butyrosermum parkii) which comes from a nut tree in Africa. I noticed a jar of J.R. Watkins Lemon Cream Shea Butter at Wal-Mart and bought a 130 g. jar. Marvelous! It's a Canadian company, and they have a web site from which you can order. J.R. Watkins Catalog Other ingredients include cocoa seed butter, apricot kernel oil, avocado oil, coconut oil, jojoba seed oil and a lot of unpronounceables, but I don't care. I just love shea butter. Do nut based cosmetics bother other people with nut allergies, I wonder?

4071

Annoyed Librarian's Blog

I hope s/he doesn't become so popular that there is a reveal or outing. I'm sure s/he loves the job. AL has passed the 100,000 viewers site meter mark and always garners many comments. AL has become a sounding board for many frustrated, unemployed librarians who were lured into expensive graduate programs with tales of shortages in librarianship. Librarianship is a very liberal profession, 223 to 1 liberal to conservative, but even libs need to eat and pay rent. Today s/he is skewering the Librarian 2.0 Manifesto published in the August issue of American Libraries, line by line, which is itself a take-off on Library 2.0.

"I will create open websites that allow users to join with librarians to contribute content in order to enhance their learning experience and provide assistance to their peers."

I don't want anyone contributing any content in order to enhance their "learning experience." If they want to contribute content, they can get their own website. Or better yet, a blog. Any moron can start a blog. (No wisecracks!)

Anti-2.0 manifesto