Will the New Green just be a shade of Cabrini Green?

When city planners, social workers, developers and architects start eyeing the neighborhood and deciding that they know best how Americans should live, hang on to your wallet. You might get the Cabrini Greens of the mid-20th century, or the paradigm-shift-responsible-growth green designs of the 21st century. What we've got going up on Tremont Road here in Upper Arlington isn't exactly a Cabrini Green, but it's ugly as hell and is euphemistically called "mixed-use development." That means the developer was allowed to tear down four family units inhabited by modest income elderly and young couples, and put up four story, half million dollar condo units sitting on top of a Walgreen's or Starbucks.

Cabrini Green for those of you who didn't grow up near Chicago is the infamous public housing complex that was going to fix slum housing and crime through regulation and relocation of the poor. When I was a teen and we would drive past those shiny new developments, I probably believed that new bricks made new people. I was so open minded you could have driven a loaded dump truck through my brain. Even though I could hear my dad grumbling in the background about what a waste it was and how it'd be a slum within a decade. He was right (he was a Republican and my mother a Democrat and they regularly cancelled each others' votes on election day). Didn't work. Stacking 15-20,000 poor people and welfare families into high rises creates a high rise slum. Imagine! In fact, it probably contributed to more gang violence and white flight than anything else social scientists have pushed Americans in to over the years from their protected ivory towers and government buildings made of pork. Then when they decided to tear it all down 40 years later because it was so unsafe and unsightly (not to mention sitting on increasingly valuable land), the poor had to be uprooted again, just a different generation and a different ethnic mix.

The Green Alphabet Soup

Here's the green alphabet soup of code words for the New Green, minus the Cabrini. Keep in mind that asbestos in insulation and lead in paint were the best ideas of the smartest people of an earlier generation. A generation from now your grandchildren might be ripping out extruded-polystyrene foam and collector panels with glycol. And if you thought your local zoning board was tough, just wait till you encounter the green czars of building regulatory agencies.

LEED - Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design

USGBC - United States Green Building Council

CNU - Congress for the New Urbanism

NRDC - Natural Resources Defense Council

ND - Neighborhood Development

You may think you have the right to vote, that we have a representative form of government, and that there are courts to whom you can take your case as an American citizen, but regulatory agencies and groups can snatch that away from you faster than you can say "endangered species."

Here are the non-acronym code words and phrases that I see in all my husband's magazines and newsletters. Some can be mixed and matched, not that I'd suggest that just to take it to your community's zoning board.

sustainable

alternative

renewable

payback

energy efficiency, energy costs, energy investment, energy footprint, energy security

ecosystem, eco-friendly

wetlands

recycled

effects of global warming

green choice

safe environment

high performance replacement [fill in the blank]

drought resistant or drought tolerant landscaping

smart growth, responsible growth

access to transportation (public), walk to the grocer (this is code term for keep out big-box stores), bicycle paths, footpaths

best practices

benchmarks

neighborhood design, mixed-use design

geothermal, solar, photovoltaic, window film

How to have an award winning home

Here's how to have an award winning design that will get past your regulatory and zoning commissions and get your home into the latest building magazines.

1. Buy a lot that is near public transportation, a bike path, and within 1/2 mile of the nearest store--even if you'd never shop there. But look out for places like Ohio State where the bike path ends for 100 ft. under a bridge and the city and university can't agree on whose responsibility it is.

2. Use photovoltaic panels on the roof. Have a battery back-up if you live in a low sun area like Columbus (37% sunshine) or Seattle.

3. Collect rain water and heat it with solar panels. Keep an eye on the mold problem.

4. Use paint that has one of the approved, seal of perfection from one of the above groups. No one knows how long this stuff will last or what the long term affects are to your health, so be forewarned.

5. Make-up for the cramped square footage by having high ceilings (steep roof helps those panels). Spiders love it.

6. Don't attach your garage to the house so you can avoid all those environmental codes about fumes. Live in North Dakota? Tough.

7. Use less wood by not using headers of traditional framing and pray for no tornados in your life time. Or, don't build in tornado alley.

8. Site the house on the lot to take advantage of the sun, even if you're facing the free-way or the landfill and missing the forest, the view for which you bought the lot.

9. Don't build on a compacted landfill like just off Trabue Road in Columbus, Ohio. Something might ooze up later. (I watched them create that.)

10. Choose a climate for your lot where you won't need air conditioning. Like Huntington Beach, California or Bainbridge Island, Washington.

If you had to do all this, when would you do the rest of your job?

Dicentes enim se esse sapientes, stulti facti sunt

Darwinistas
Global Alarmists
Pantheistic Feminists
Gay Marriage Gestapo
Emergent Pastors
Liberation Theologians
Postmodernist Panderers
Diversity Distortionists
Technology Utopians
Just-Us Justice
Culture Supremacists
Thought police
Abortionistas
(Romans 1:22)

Now this is low

Seen at the home page of the Order of Discalced Carmelites

Information pirates have recently robbed e-mail addresses, especially those who use the server gmail.com. They either create new addresses in the name of a friar or sister and, pretending to be in difficulty, ask for financial help. NEVER BELIEVE IN these messages, and never send the money they asked for or give your own bank account details.

Looks pretty normal to me

Last night my husband called me into the living to see the video that's going around the internet that was shown on and commented about during O'Reilly. I looked at the fuzzy video which seemed to be two kids stretched out on the floor having an epileptic seizure. "Looks pretty normal to me," I said. "Dancing has always been about imitating the movements of sexual intercourse." He was not pleased. He loves to dance. But even the waltz was once considered an outrage by the old timers watching the young people dipping and doing. And the jitterbug? Oh. My. Goodness. And have you ever seen old footage of Soul Train--say about 30-35 years ago. Lawdy, Lawdy Miss Clawdy (1952, 1941). It's hot. And the old Elvis Presley footage on the Ed Sullivan show. Parents and grandparents were screaming--and so were kids, although for different reasons. Nope, I didn't see anything new. Not the kids. Not the outrage. I tried to locate the video to provide a link, but the old computer just froze and burped overheated.

The health and wealth justice scam

Lance Armstrong has an opinion piece in the WSJ today. To promote his foundation he gives a nod to the current health justice line, which is really an insult to common sense. Which is going to help the poor more, leveling out and dumbing down all the health care services, or basic research which benefits everyone?

A leading cancer specialist, Dr. Harold Freeman, says there's a disconnect between what we know and what we do. On many levels, we know how to defeat cancer; we just don't do it. Funding for cancer research. Investment in prevention programs. Access to screening. Early detection and effective treatment for everyone. Support for people living with cancer. Personal commitment to healthier living. These are the priorities we must pursue.

Social programs, prevention, screening and education, those are the elements of the walks, runs, and marathons, but yet all we hear is that we're losing the battle. Obviously, siphoning more off for social goals isn't going to keep anyone alive, is it?

When I count the members of my own family who have had cancer--my daughter, my mother, my father, my grandmother, my aunts, my uncles and one sibling--I can't find a single one who didn't have access to the best in whatever medical care was available at the time their illness was diagnosed. And with the exception of my daughter and my mother, all are on my paternal side of the family genealogy. Of the three who were still smoking when they were diagnosed (the only ones who actually died from cancer), you can't tell me they didn't know! These were bright people. It was the diagnosis, not education or screening, that stopped that behavior.

Before we let the liberals, progressives and marxists dismantle the research, academic and commercial powerhouses which will provide the basic research and technology we need to fight cancer, let's really look at all these media "gap" stories coming at us from all sides, whether in education, health care, legal system, housing, or nutrition. Let's stop turning health care into a big political battle that ignores that there are issues other than income that determine the state of our health.

I'm waiting for the research team brave enough to play the race card, to compare the health statistics of say, a lauded socialized system like Norway, with the health statistics of the American scrambled and cobbled together system for Norwegian Americans who have not married outside their ethnic heritage. Of course, they'd be unlikely to get a grant, and then probably couldn't get JAMA or NEJM to publish it.

Welcome to vacation land

In today's USATody a Brit complains that his Florida property taxes in Palm Beach have risen from $4,500 to $20,000 in 4 years. A "homesteader" Floridian pays $3,000 for the same unit next door.

Yes, Mr. Rich European, we've experienced that at our second home, too, although Danbury Township would sock it to us even if we lived there 6 or 7 months of the year. Lakeside, Ohio, is the golden goose in that taxing district, and it makes no difference that we send almost no children to the schools--the fact is, we can't vote. This is the rub in all 2nd home communities. Celebs like the McCains, Kerrys and Clintons who have multiple homes have enough money that it doesn't matter. It really is taxation without representation. The children of Marblehead, Ohio should be using gold plated computers and swimming in diamond studded natatoriums courtesy of the vacationers who don't live permanently in the area. I could move 100 ft. to the west and lower my taxes. If the children who attend Danbury schools aren't excelling in every academic area, leading the state in testing and contests, then it's a sure sign that money isn't what makes a good school.

Dear Carly

Thank you for your "Dear Friend" Victory 2008 letter dated simply "Tuesday Morning." Nice, personal touch.

I filled out your CRITICAL ISSUES SURVEY, although I hate those kind of "when did you stop beating your spouse" questions whether done by Republicans, Democrats or Libertarians. However, I didn't enclose any money, the purpose behind the survey (when a politician asks for my opinion, I know the next question will be about money). We gave during the primaries--which were not apparently decided by conservatives, but by RINOS and Democrats in cahoots with the media. Right now we have a RINO/Democrat, a Socialist, and a Marxist (and now a Libertarian who will drain votes from both the final 2 candidates) running for the White House. Your survey did indicate that McCain has learned to mouth the global alarmist rhetoric, and that he is ignoring the serious border security problems funneling drugs, disease and dysfunctional racists into our country. When you send out some literature explaining how he will help our energy situation by using the vast resources we already have, and how he'll respect the sovereignty of the nation, issues important to conservatives, maybe I'll open my wallet.

Recycle your greeting cards

Here's another way to put fuel in the gas tank without burning corn and creating food riots. Recycle your greeting cards and spend that $4-5.00 on gasoline! On Saturday I got the box of cards out from under the bed and my husband had a selection of 20-30 Mother's Day cards, and he picked one from 1990, which of course, I didn't remember and enjoyed just as much as if he'd gone to the card store. In 1990 this card was $2.00, so I figure it would have been about $4.00 in 2008.

It gave us an opportunity to remember our own mothers, who were both alive in 1990, and also how he used to tape (VCR) the Blondie movies (although we had a break-in in 1986 and our VCR and tapes were stolen). Our son-in-law was just a future dream at that time, and my husband hadn't started his own business, and I probably didn't have tenure yet at OSU. I think Mystery our first cat was 14 and still alive and our Lynxpoint not yet born. I was driving my first Chrysler product van and loving it--now I'm on my third.

We enjoyed church with our children, and many stopped to admire my Mother's Day gardenia corsage--not too common these days at a service where many of the women are in jeans or slacks (contemporary service, 9:45). Then we came back to the house for a wonderful dinner prepared by our daughter (lasagna and lemon pie) and son (salad and Texas toast). She had purchased a pasta maker so this was really a fresh item. I think this is much better than going to a restaurant. I don't mind providing the tableware if everyone else brings the food. The tornado warnings sent them all home to check on their pets.

Also on the week-end I think I put about 50 miles on my car just running back and forth across the river to the Mill Run Church where we hung the Spring Show for the Upper Arlington Art League. That's actually what gave me the idea that we could recycle a card. UALC members on this side of the river could probably save gas just by switching back to Lytham. The grandchildren will survive, which is usually the excuse given for those who live a mile from Lytham driving over there.

Although, to tell the truth, the expensive part of the art show wasn't the gasoline, but seeing a piece of art by Jeanie Auseon that we agreed to buy. I don't think I could explain the medium because it is some type of photographic print on fabric stitched with a silver thread. If you see the show I think it is #45.

The Upper Arlington Art League spring show was judged by Tracy Steinbrook who is an instructor at the Cultural Arts Center in Columbus. The UAAL is one of the oldest community art groups in the NW area. The show runs until June 12 and can be viewed at The Church at Mill Run, 3500 Mill Run Drive, Hilliard, Ohio 43026. The show is sponsored by the Visual Arts Ministry of Upper Arlington Lutheran Church. Come out and support your neighbors.

Be a good neighbor, screen your trash containers

Since noticing that Upper Arlington Lutheran's Mill Run Campus has an Abitibi* recyclables green and yellow trash container in its front yard instead of at the back of the SW parking lot where it would be screened by trees, I've been looking at other commercial and church buildings in our area.

Our UALC campus on Lytham Road screens (or hides) its regular brown dumpster from view by location and landscaping at its service drive (you'd have to be looking for it to see it), but has the green and yellow dumpster across the street in an open parking lot, quite visible from Lytham Rd, and even Middlesex, on the east side, rather than in a corner on the west side where the vans are parked. The Christian Church on Haviland, two blocks away, has only the brown dumpster, and it sits in the parking lot not screened by anything. It's visible from the street and from every adjoining property.


St. Andrew's Catholic Church on McCoy has its regular dumpsters unscreened on two sides, but they are snuggled in close to its utilities building at the edge of the south end of the McCoy parking lot which is a similar color. They sort of blend into their environment. The green and yellow dumpster at St. Andrew's is barely visible from the street because of its location at the west side of the McCoy parking lot, but it does greet the parishioners as they come for worship. The neighbor's trees and landscaping screen it from their view.


Advent Lutheran on Kenny Road doesn't screen either its brown dumpster or the green and yellow dumpster, but puts them as far away from the church as possible on the SE side. That puts the green and yellow one, unscreened, next to their apartment complex neighbors. However, the almost spectacular, prominent position of Advent Lutheran at that intersection makes both visible at the Tremont/Kenny intersection.

Commercial and municipal neighbors take much greater care of the visual environment than churches. It's not clear to me if churches have different zoning codes because of the way they are (not) taxed, or if they don't have the same sense of propriety that businesses have. There are two shopping centers at Fishinger and Rt. 33. Some of the fast food firms are free standing, like Arby's and McDonald's and I'd give them both a A for being good, hide-the-trash neighbors.


They've built special enclosures and painted them to be unobtrusive. The owners of these small shopping centers which lease to a variety of businesses--coffee shops, pizzarias, restaurants, pet food store, dry cleaners, gift stores, etc.--have provided screens for all the dumpsters, and they are all placed in the back where the customers and the passing traffic don't see them. Then there is additional screening either by privacy fencing, a brick wall or landscaping so they aren't displayed to the residences next door. I am wondering if the green and yellow guys aren't allowed in commercial spaces. That probably has a history that goes back 30 years or so, because I've seen news stories about problems in recyclable drop off areas that weren't maintained properly.

NIMFY
* (From their web site) The Abitibi-Consolidated Paper Retriever® Program promotes recycling by placing Paper Retriever bins, at no-cost, in highly visible areas at schools, churches and other non-profit organizations in the greater metro areas . . .

Update: Meijer's between Bethel and 161 has three Abitibi containers parked along side their brown dumpsters, all nestled at the south end of the parking lot under a screen of trees. They are good neighbors--they also have a container as you go in to leave plastic bags, provide alcohol handwipes beside the grocery carts, and employ handicapped. They also have friendly, well-trained staff, so if their values and prices meet your needs, drop off your newspapers and stop to shop.

More ways to save for your gas tank

I've been making little suggestions (eat at Evelyn's at Lakeside instead of Rusty Bucket in Columbus) on how to save money so it can go in your gas tank, or how to spend it so you don't mind (drive to Chicago to the Art Institute). Now as a public service, I'm going to send you over to Deborah, who is a quilting librarian, a very crafty, talented gal, and she will save you money by reviewing the movie The Messengers, which she saw via Netflix. Not only creepy, but dumb and predictable she says; but a very well written review. Librarians are such a talented group!

On Wednesday I saw gasoline for $3.47/gal at a Speedway on Rt. 33 (Upper Arlington). Across the bridge about a mile (Hilliard), I passed another Speedway and it was $3.79/gal. I don't know if the guy on Rt. 33 was asleep or what, but a $.32 difference in one mile seems a bit over the top even for the day before the prices always go up.

Happy Birthday, Minnesota

It must have been a fairly low key celebration--150 years old on May 8, 2008. They're pretty liberal up there and a bit embarrassed. Lars Walker, a Lutheran and writer of Christian fantasy, a genre I've never read, and who writes at the blog for Brandywine Books, wrote this poem reflecting how things have changed in his life time (I'm guessing he's in his mid-50s).

I’m from Minnesota.
Where brave Paul Wellstone took a stand.
We stole it from the Native Americans,
Except for that little pointy chunk at the top,
which we stole from Canuckistan.

He thinks he might have stolen some ideas from James Lileks, and I think I'm not supposed to post the whole literary masterpiece here, but go and look at his stuff--looks like he's a great writer.

Lars says that the only reason they don't all crawl back to Europe (he's Norwegian American) ". . . is because nobody would know what to do with the Hmong and the Somalis." Ohio had its bicentennial in 2003; I don't remember if anyone tried to give it back to the Indians or not. Mainly, I remember the barn paintings.

"Ohio, my own state, "The Buckeye," you know
The only State starting and ending in O.
It's hi in the middle and round on each end;
The State of Ohio I do recommend."
Nellie Dennis Root

4838

Gas costs squeeze daily life

USAToday headlines on May 9. But only for some. I'm retired, so gasoline price increases affect my leisure, hobbies, relationships and service opportunities, and increasingly my food costs, energy costs and anything that's moved by truck drivers. But not so much my cost to get my check, which is a fixed amount. Indirectly, it is reflected on my investments which I will need later on.

Some retirees know what's important--and that an extra dollar per gallon is worth it to. . . see art. It would be more painful not to have art in your life than to have high gasoline prices.

On Monday our friend, a member of several local art activities here in Columbus, noticed he was running out of time to see the Winslow Homer and Edward Hopper exhibits at the Chicago Institute of Art. His wife is a cancer survivor and they've recently lost a dear friend of 50 years--so in a sense, I think they feel that time is short in many ways. So he and his wife drove to Chicago (300 miles). On Tuesday they took in the Robie House and all the great walking tour stuff (Oak Park) of Frank Lloyd Wright, and on Wednesday they stood in line at the Art Institute to get in to the exhibit, and spent another four hours touring. On Thursday they drove back to Columbus. Counting the tickets, housing and food, I'm sure the gasoline was a minor cost.

But oh, I wish I'd thought of that!

Mine is bigger than yours

My instruction manual, that is.

"Chromosomes contain the set of instructions to create an organism. Men have one X chromosome and one Y chromosome, the latter being responsible for the characteristics that make men male, including the male sexual organs and the ability to produce sperm. In contrast, women have two copies of the X chromosome. But, because the X chromosome carries a bigger instruction manual than the Y chromosome, biology's solution is to largely inactivate one X chromosome in females, giving one functional copy of the X in both men and women.

'Our study shows that the inactive X in women is not as silent as we thought," said Laura Carrel, assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, Penn State College of Medicine, Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. "The effects of these genes from the inactive X chromosome could explain some of the differences between men and women that aren't attributable to sex hormones.' "

Read about it here, although it won't answer the question why one woman would have eleven blogs.

Put those scissors down, babe!

Clipping coupons will not put money in your gas tank. But that's what I heard on a TV feature last night. Even in tough economic times, it's hard to convince Americans that food companies, health and beauty industries and super markets, to say nothing of the airlines, are not in business to SAVE you money, but to get you to SPEND money. Coupons, loyalty cards, sweepstakes, green stamps and wooden nickles are just flip sides of the same pancake--marketing. What is the purpose of marketing? Right. To get you to spend money to support a business and its stockholders or investors. It's not evil at all. In fact, in the long run, marketing is a good thing. But right now, until someone comes up with a decent energy plan that allows new refineries or drilling for oil (we've got plenty) or cutting regulatory red tape, you may have to let go of some favorite shibboleths. Here are the basics.

1. Before leaving the house to shop, check your refrigerator or pantry. Make a list if you're a list maker (I'm not), but have an idea what you NEED. A NEED is not a WANT. Repeat that several times as you enter the store.

2. Go to one store where you know the layout, the quality and the staff.

3. Pick up the weekly flyer on the way in, look at the loss leaders, but buy them only if you've done #1.

4. Do not buy in quantity (for more than 2 or 3 weeks) unless you live 50 miles from the store and need to save on gasoline. Most people who regularly buy in quantity also have a weight problem. Your extra pounds will add to the gas bill and health costs. There are psychological reasons people buy in quantity that have nothing to do with saving money, but it's a good excuse.

5. Shop the walls, although this is harder to do than it used to be (creative design and moving merchandise to make you wander around is one method used to separate you and your money). Buy fresh if you can; if you're cooking for one or two, sometimes frozen is more nutritious because fresh will lose its nutrients sitting around waiting for you to get an inspiration.

6. Don't use a coupon unless it is attached to the item, or you ALWAYS buy that product. For instance, I just love Era laundry detergent and I buy it whether or not it is on sale. But I would use a $.50 off coupon, realizing that it means the price is going up and this is to ease the pain.

7. Stay out of the snack food section. There's not a single item in there you or your family need. Snacks are all empty calories, high sodium, high fat, delicious and guaranteed to make you want more and spend more. Just don't go there. Don't even accept a sample! In some stores this will cause several detours (but exercise is good). I've been shopping at Marc's recently, and you can't get to the real food without going past the snack aisles which are huge, or detouring through cheapy remaindered stuff, which is as addictive as snacks, at least for this shopper.

8. Make your own low fat items by adding water to the jar and shaking. That doesn't work with cookies or pudding, but you get my drift. Low fat almost always means the first ingredient is water.

9. At home use 6 or 8 oz. glasses instead of 12 or 16. You'll never notice the difference or miss the calories. It's not so much the size of the container you buy as it is the portions you put on the table that save you money.

10. Shop on Monday if you can. Lots of markdowns for meat that haven't passed the due date for freshness and safety.

11. Shop early in the day.

12. Don't go to the store hungry. A fist of coupons and no breakfast is a recipe for disaster.

13. Keep in mind that coupons and loyalty cards are supporting a huge industry--and those workers might suffer as you cut back--it involves investors, executives, middle management, designers, office staff, ink suppliers, paper goods, newspaper and magazine companies, the people in 3rd world economies who make their living counting them, and even the stores who may have to hire an extra part timer to account for the slow down of the other staff who have to pause and examine your coupon or card. But be firm--right now it's your family or theirs. Stand tall and put down those scissors.

Have you ever wondered about all those negative health stories in the news?

"Is it possible that the constant drumbeat of negative news stories — the dire state of our healthcare system and need for a massive overhawl, the epidemic of obesity and chronic diseases in need of "disease" management by a third party, errors in need of a nationalized electronic database to improve safety, and the crisis of uninsured necessitating mandates requiring everyone to purchase health insurance — might not be entirely objective, accurate portrayals and that certain interests might, instead, be working very hard to convince us of all this? Can we trust that their new healthcare delivery system will deliver care that's in our best interests, or their's?" Read Sandy's take on the "Medical Home" concept.

Karl Rove's Advice for Barack Obama

Democrats hate Karl Rove, but he's declared Obama the victor. And Dems do think he's the genius behind George Bush--that Bush is much too stupid to be president, or win reelection without Karl. So maybe they should pay attention to this genius pulling the strings for the last 8 years, putting words in his mouth and steel in his spine. He advises Obama to do nothing and say nothing that could appear he's pushing Hillary out of the race, because she's as good as gone. That shouldn't be hard. This man Obama does less and says less than any politician in my life time. Rove also says Obama is unbeatable in November, but also said in six months, everything could change.

If he's elected, I can only pray he continues on his path of doing and saying nothing.

Pantheism, The Earth Charter and the Election

If the Earth Charter looks as familiar as an old family photo album, or sounds like a warm, fuzzy spiritual guide to Earth Day that demands nothing, then you're probably under 40, received 12 years of public school education and are a Democrat / Progressive / Socialist and/or Marxist. If you are horrified reading the 14 points, you just might be a Republican, a Conservative, a libertarian, or just an old fogie 60-something Democrat or old fashioned liberal, and possibly an evangelical Christian or an observant Jew. The key words and phrases are

global interdependence
sustainability
cultural diversity
ecological integrity
dialogue
biosphere
affirm
uphold
spirituality
community and
blah, blah and blah, zzzzzzzzz.

1. Earth worship (global warmism/pantheism).
2. Evolution, broadly defined.
3. Socialized medicine.
4. World federalism.
5. Animal rights (animals are seen as our brothers and sisters).
6. Income redistribution among nations and within nations.
7. Eradication of genetically modified crops.
8. Contraception and “reproductive health” (legal abortion); every small and weak creature except the human fetus is protected in the scheme.
9. World-wide “education for sustainability” which includes spiritual education.
10. Debt forgiveness for third-world nations.
11. Adoption of the gay rights agenda, including gay marriage in the churches.
12. Elimination of nuclear weapons and the right to bear arms.
13. Redefining the media so it will support the environmental agenda, not report on it.
14. Setting aside biosphere reserves where no human presence is allowed.
(America’s School: Battleground for Freedom, by Allen Quist, Chaska: EdWatch, 2005.)

I know it sounds a lot like the Hillobama political platform, but its base is religion, its core is Pantheism. These are the principles that will or now guide your children's teachers, your legislators, your journalists, your social workers, your medical researchers, and unfortunately, some of your pastors. But don't take my word for it, read their web page. And if you can stand it, don't miss their call to action.

"In order to build a sustainable global community, the nations of the world must renew their commitment to the United Nations, fulfill their obligations under existing international agreements, and support the implementation of Earth Charter principles with an international legally binding instrument on environment and development."

In other words, the Earth Charter must take precedence over the U.S. Constitution which guarantees all our freedoms, including religious.

BTW, I read in today's paper that France's foreign minister called on the United Nations to consider FORCING Myanmar's military rulers to accept relief shipments. Yeah, two moral midgets making demands of a military, Castro-marxist-style government. The UN will have to meet in committee for 3 or 4 months objecting to everything sensible, and by then they'll mostly be dead (the victims, not the UN). Meanwhile, Bush will send in the troops and get the job done.

Barbara Walters and Miley Cyrus

Show and tell. More than we needed to know. They didn't need the money, or the fame. I guess it's a mystery why some women do this.

What if?

Big 10 schools had to racially balance their football and basketball teams--the group actually on the floor, field or bench during the game instead of factoring in everyone in the department?

"The Ohio State athletics department has been selected to receive a Diversity in Athletics Award in the category of Overall Excellence in Diversity, to be presented Wednesday (6/11) at the Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas, site of the 2008 National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics Convention. Using independent research conducted by the Laboratory for Diversity in Sport at Texas A&M and supported by the NCAA, the award winners are those that have achieved the highest total combined scores in the areas of diversity strategy, gender diversity of departmental employees, racial diversity of departmental employees, value and attitudinal diversity of departmental employees, graduation of African-American female and male student-athletes, and gender equity compliance." OSUToday, May 6

A very lucky daughter

Your heart (if you're a book lover) has to leap a bit at this post by Semicolon about her summer reading challenge for her children--completing a list of 10 books plus memorizing two poems. Reading through the list for the 13 year old almost gave me a heart attack! I've read about half of them, but certainly not as a 13 year old. I think she's a homeschooler.

The Bible. Romans.

The Bible. I Samuel.

Costain, Thomas. The Conquering Family. .

Hale, Shannon. Book of a Thousand Days.

Little, Paul. Know What You Believe.

McKay, Hilary. Forever Rose.

McCaughrean, Geraldine. The White Darkness.

Malley, Gemma. The Declaration.

Marshall, Catherine. Christy.

Richardson, Don. Peace Child.

Shakespeare, William. The Merchant of Venice.

Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein.

Sire, James. How to Read Slowly.

Stevenson, Robert Louis. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Two poems to memorize:

The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe.

Macavity by T. S. Eliot.

But as much as I admire her encouragement and support her challenge, I know that you can lead children to a book, but you can't make them like it (or even read it). Semicolon and her daughter are cut from the same cloth--a perfect fit. And aren't they both fortunate!

4829

Visual pollution

Most people recognize this kind of pollution

as seen from the north side of our Mill Run UALC campus
but they'll walk right by this disaster sitting in our front yard on the south side of the church.
Let's not put in place environmental solutions that cause more problems at the local, national or global level.

From Petrarch: "It occurred to me to look into my copy of St. Augustine's Confessions. . . where I first fixed my eyes it was written: “And men go abroad to admire the heights of mountains, the mighty waves of the sea, the broad tides of rivers, the compass of the ocean, and the circuits of the stars, yet pass over the mystery of themselves without a thought.” "

From the Brazil [Portuguese] journal Cad Saude Publica Nov-Dec 2002: "Interviewees defined garbage as anything useless and considered it a problem whenever it accumulated in the surroundings producing a bad smell or visual pollution, attracted animals, caused disease in children or adults, or was shifted from the individual to the collective/institutional sphere of action to solve the problem."

Update: One commenter asked if I had picked up the trash I photographed (in the park that adjoins our church property), and the answer is YES! I took a plastic bag with me, and one of those long grab hooks and cleaned up quite a bit that I could reach--I also do that along Kenny Road because people throw things out of cars, and along Turkey Run. I hope someone else will remove the UALC VBS signs at the street intersections on public land. They are a safety hazard.

Oops of the day

When I left the house this morning, I picked up the bag of scooped, smelly kitty litter to deposit in the trash can. But when I opened the car, I still had it with me. Oops.

I was looking at a blog today that had a big clickable photo on the side column entitled: Astrology photo of the Day. That's odd, I thought. I clicked on it and Yes, it was Astronomy photo of the Day. Oops.

Orlando repackages its bakery overages under the word "Oops," and I saw them at Marc's today. Got 6 huge freshly baked sandwich buns for $1.00.

The polls have closed in Indiana, but a judge has ordered them to stay open in the Chicago suburban area of northern Indiana--Obama territory. Oops.

Marc Dann hasn't resigned, that I know of, but the Ohio Dem webpage has removed his name. Oops.

Dinner on the deck

What a gorgeous day! The photo is April 2006, but it looks much the same today. 79 degrees this evening. We had dinner on the deck--roast pork, brown rice with mushrooms and onions, peas, and sugar free chocolate cookies and ice cream. We saw yellow warblers, robins, cardinals, mallards and a hawk. Usually a few bees try to join in, but this evening they were out chasing their own dreams. Our neighbor was planting flowers down by the creek.

I think our nearest tree, a locust that shades the patio and the deck, is about to give up. It's probably about 35 years old, and we can see that about 1/3 is not leafing out this spring. Most of our neighbors have taken theirs out and replanted. But you sure hate to lose a mature tree even one that is messy in the fall. Storms moving in tomorrow--the forecast is for 2-3 inches of rain on Thursday. Well, it was nice while it lasted.

Fixing up the United Nations building

One thing we can do in the United States to improve skylines (visual pollution), meet energy regulations (green goals) and politics (Marxist doublespeak) is knock down the UN building instead of restoring and repairing it. The building (in New York) is aging--it's now about 60 years old--and although in Europe that wouldn't mean much, in the United States, it doesn't meet code. I visited it in 1954 or 55, I think, with a Church of the Brethren youth seminar group. That's back when the youth were going to save the world. Dag Hammarskjold was told he had won election to Secretary-General on April 1st, 1953, and his first reaction was it was an April Fool's joke because he didn't know he was a candidate. It was and still is a joke. But the joke is on us. The organization is worthless and is a hole into which pour money.

Fixing a 60 year old building to bring it up to current standards? Keep in mind by the time you have to pay off all the crooks, the cost overruns should double or triple this figure.

"The contract for construction management was awarded to Skanska USA Building Inc. in October 2007. Under the accelerated strategy, the entire project would be completed within five years, so that construction costs ($195.4 million), as well as the swing space cost estimates, would be reduced. This led ACABQ to recommend on 18 October the approval of the accelerated strategy and the appropriation of $992.8 million for the biennium 2008–2009 budget." UN Chronicle

The US contribution to the UN budget is 22%. "The US budget is determined by Congress after the president makes initial requests. The Bush administration, for example, requested $1.26 billion for mandatory contributions to the UN, UN agencies and other international organizations for the Fiscal Year 2007 (October 1, 2006 to September 30, 2007). Included in this request was $422.7 million for the UN regular budget and $1.13 billion in peacekeeping dues." Fact sheet

Green Continuing Ed

I don't know what you have in your profession, but I must see dozens of this type of continuing ed, workshop, conference, and license points stuff every month addressed to my husband (who doesn't do e-mail). This one is from the US Green Building Council. For a lot of bucks, they'll keep architects, engineers and builders up to the minute, month after month, class upon class, on how to market their company as a greenie.

Go Dann Go!

Ohio's Attorney General is refusing to resign. He says he's rolling up his sleeves, zipping up his pants, and now he's ready to do the work of the people (Democrats ought to ban that phrase from their guide book for political hacks). Ohioans haven't had an impeachment since 1808--200 years. Our guys don't even know how to do it! Wonder what this will cost the taxpayers in lawyer fees? So the Democrats, the guys who wet themselves over former Governor Taft's unreported golf outings, are pulling out all the stops, pressuring him to resign. Things are so murky in the OAG's office that they definitely don't want a public trial bringing up all the dirt. Short of calling in the Clintons to knee-cap him, I don't know what else they can do.

Go Dann Go
by Norma Bruce

You're so defiant
You're not compliant
with standards and oaths
You're such an oaf
Go Dann Go!

You're ready to joust
Strickland wants to oust
from his party with pleas
and he's won't say please
Go Dann Go!

From 1808
to 2008
and now we've got Dann
who's everygirl's man.
Go Dann Go!

My Bob Taft poem

Book Club selections for 2008-2009

Last night our book club (now in its 26th year) met to discuss "Inside the Kingdom; my life in Saudi Arabia" by Carmen bin Ladin (Warner Books, 2004). Several of our members have been missionaries or have traveled extensively, so we had an interesting fashion show and delicious treats to reflect the theme.

We voted to start our meetings at 7 p.m. to get us home a little earlier (a quarter of a century ago most members were still putting children to bed), and at least for January and February, 2009, the meeting will be in a church lounge just to see if we like that, and if it will help in finding locations in the dark and snow! Changing the day of the month and from evening to afternoon didn't fly. All meetings are the first Monday, except September and January, when they are second Monday.

We also selected our titles for 2008-2009. A very strong field of 15 titles was voted on and the winners are:

September: Faith Club--3 women talk about their faith, what they learn about themselves and each other, non-fiction

October: The shack by William P. Young. This is an allegory, and we were warned that this book is so good, "You will read this, even if you don't read it now."

November: The Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi. A Sudanese woman, formerly an emigre to the Netherlands, now living in the U.S. "A good follow-up on lives of Muslim women to the bin Ladin book," said a member.

December: Once upon a town by Bob Green. A story about the little town of North Platte, Nebraska, that fed 6 million GIs during WWII. Easy to read for a busy month.

January: Educating Alice by Alice Steinbach. Reporter for Baltimore Sun talks about what she learns on assignments. Travel and diary.

February: Blood of the Prodigal by P. Gaus. Our mystery genre reader recommends a mystery about the old order Amish by an Ohio author. She said it isn't the strongest in the series, but it's the first and that's a good place to start.

March: Shaping of a life by Phyllis Tickle. Devotional material especially for women--growth and transformation. Some heard her at the Faith writers conference.

April: Two old women by Velma Wallis. Story of two Alaskan Athabascan women left behind so the rest of the tribe could survive. But they don't die. . .

May: Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame. This will be our "classic" for the year--or a 2-fer, because some times we read a children's book. Two members actually recommended this. May is the meeting where we will select the next year's titles, and we'll meet at my place with Marcy being co-hostess. I'll add the other locations when I update.

We also had some terrific titles recommended that didn't make the cut, but I'll add them so you know your colleagues have found them enjoyable.

Three cups of tea, non-fiction; King Leopold's ghost, history; Gilead, contemplative; 90 minutes to heaven, autobiography; To kill a mockingbird, classic; Autobiography of Henry VIII, really fat novel.

How your body works

This is fun, animated and informative. "Getting Older"

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23958246/

Subtle deficits in memory begin in the 40s; nerve clls for hearing don't regenerate; body fat doubles between 25 and 75. . . fun stuff.

Derek Jeter is boring

he says in an interview for Players Club magazine, my newest premiere issue featured at my hobby bloggy In the Beginning. He stays home and watches movies, and he'd like to get married and start a family. You may never read this article--it's a niche publication--intended only for athletes. Also, the magazine will have a shorter than usual life span. Lenny Dykstra, the founder of the magazine intended to help athletes with their wealth, is suing and being sued by his publisher, Doubledown Media.

Mandates driving up health insurance costs

As a state senator in Illinois, Barack Obama "voted to require that dental anesthesia be covered by every health plan for difficult medical cases. Today, the requirement is one of 43 mandates imposed by Illinois on health insurance, according to the Illinois Division of Insurance. Other mandates require coverage of infertility treatments, drug rehab, "personal injuries" incurred while intoxicated, and other forms of care.

By my count, during Mr. Obama's tenure in the state Senate, 18 different laws came up for a vote and passed that imposed new mandates on private health insurance. Mr. Obama voted for all of them." “Obama's Health Care Record” By Scott Gottlieb

Some bloggers

really have the touch. I was glancing through "Stuff White People Like," or something like that, and found some really interesting. . . stuff. Like 200-500 commenters on posts that don't say much, but are well written. I have no idea who writes it--white, black or brown, team or individual, male, female or transitioned, employed, on-the-dole or retired, rural, ex-pat or urban. The posts I read where intelligent, witty, observant, well constructed and illustrated. Whoever does it has a good eye, sharp wit, and writing skills that should demand a good salary. The website, however, can't handle traffic. I went upstairs, sorted the laundry, then went to the basement and loaded the washing machine; I fiddled with the dial on the radio to get Rush; reheated my coffee; made some notes on paper; all while waiting for the "about" page to load. No thanks. That's why I'm not linking.

Spring 2008 at Lakeside

Lakeside was a hopping place this past week-end--must have been a lot of boards and committees meeting, despite the heavy rains. We bought gas in Bucyrus at $3.46, compared to $3.65 in Columbus, and I picked up my Saturday coffee on the way in saving a 15 mile round trip and $.50 on the coffee. But our best way to make up for the higher cost of this trip over Spring 2007 was enjoying our first dinner at Evelyn's, spending about $14 less than our usual Friday night date in Columbus. That's the new name of the Abigail Tea Room, a Lakeside gathering place for over 50 years. Apparently everyone else had the same idea, because by 6 p.m. on Friday there was a line standing on the porch waiting to get in. What fabulous food! We started the season with perch sandwiches, not unusual for a restaurant on Lake Erie, but there were many wonderful items. We particularly enjoyed the warm, fresh baked potato chips, and the salads with crisp fresh ingredients, and the freshly baked, warm bread and rolls. Yes, the prices are a bit higher, but everything was so fresh and delicious. The new owners are Mary Martin and Peg Walsh, and if I heard the story correctly, they fell in love with Lakeside on their first visit, and Abigail's had just gone up for sale. According to their flyer, their mom, mother of 10, was a terrific cook, so some of the items I'm guessing reflect that love and interest. The adjoined cottages that make up the restaurant will remain this season, but I believe there are plans to separate them, using the one on the north as a residence, and rebuilding the other for the restaurant.

Other changes I noticed: the house across the street from Evelyn's, which I think used to be called Knight's Rest or something like that, is now a shrimp/coral color instead of white. I see there is an efficiency for rent for $395 a week. Couldn't read the price on the larger apartment. I think it is owner occupied, with two rental spaces. There was no shortage of cottages being fixed up. Jan's on Oak Avenue and Second is finally almost finished (huge problems with her first contractor), but painted a surprise robin egg blue--at least a surprise to my husband (her architect) who had selected a very different color scheme.

I stopped on Second to say Hello to Marilyn at her new location for Marilyn's Too. Last year she lost her lease, and had combined her two stores. This one has sweaters and carpets, some angels, Christian gifts, stationery. I stepped over the carpenter tools and new front door and took a peek inside. This shop is next door to Coffee and Cream.

And Third Street will certainly be more pleasant now that the couple who own Toys on Third and Home on Third have purchased the huge lodging at the corner of Third and Maple that had all the porches closed in to create more rooms, and it looked like an ugly box filled with old couches. It is being beautifully restored working from old photographs.

The Greening of the Rich

Andie MacDowell (movie star, 50) is taking a page from the home and gardening handbook of Al Gore and John Edwards, trading her 2.5 acre lot in the Blue Ridge Mountains (354 homesites) for one 3.5 acres. This way she can have a pasture and barn and more sq. ft. than she can possibly use. Of course, it wouldn't be Hollywood if it weren't eco-friendly. . . with riding trails and a golf course designed by Arnold Palmer. Seen at "Private Properties" in WSJ, but is also at Ecorazzi which seems to track this behavior by celebrities.

My great grandfather used to own land in the Smokies area (Dandridge), but sold it for a chance to make a living for his large family in Illinois. Back then (very early 20th century) it was just a hard scrabble living trying to farm on the sides of mountains. The story I was told, which might be apocryphal, was that he knew someone in Texas and someone in Illinois, but the train to Illinois came first.

The browning of green

"Kyoto has emerged as the single biggest threat to the global environment. Thanks to Kyoto, we are seeing a revival of megadams that threaten to destroy many of the world’s remaining river valleys, we are seeing a renaissance of nuclear power, which remains a costly and dangerous technology, we are seeing our foodlands turned into fuel lands, and people in the Third World rioting because they can’t afford the doubling of grain prices that has resulted."

Many scientists "who didn’t toe the government line lost their funding, were drummed out of their jobs, found it impossible to publish in crucial journals, discovered that they were pariahs in their academic departments, or were exposed to furious criticism in the press of a sort most research scientists will never encounter, including being compared to Holocaust Deniers by quite mainstream-media figures like Scott Pelley of 60 Minutes. That is certainly quite enough persecution to have a chilling effect on debate." Read the rest of the interview with the author of The Deniers.

Ohio's Attorney General is

Disgusting! His behavior, his apology, and his refusal to resign! This guy is unbelievable--or worse--maybe he's too believable. He's a man of the day--the rules are for everyone else, but not him, especially politicians. Marc Dann, it's time to get out of Dodge and let our former-pastor-Governor who ran on Christian values 2006, appoint someone who knows what an oath and vow mean, to say nothing of the laws about sex with your staff.

Is it only the Republican gay public servants who are held accountable? This is a heck of a lot more serious than text messaging house pages or a wide stance in the men's rest room! His office is described as a regular "animal house" by state employees.

Dispatch editorial: Scram Dann

The more things change. . .

This morning while waiting for my husband to finish his meeting, I opened the Wall St. Journal before using it to wrap the pizza to help keep it cold for the trip home from Lakeside. The articles included

soaring gasoline prices

food price inflation

consensus of 55 economists for gloomy report

Olympic athlete training was helped by new technology

newly started security firm in Iraq was struggling to find enough employees

Hollywood celebrities, joined at the hip with the Democrats, were reliving 1968 glory days in this election cycle

But wait! The date on the paper which I'd pulled out of the kitchen cabinet was August 13, 2004!

Gas prices and leisure activities

We're heading for Lake Erie today--yard work and spring house cleaning are on the agenda for our summer home. Gasoline is about 75 cents higher than the last time I went, and it takes about 10 gallons, so that's an additional $7.50 just this year, and maybe $10.00 more than last year at this time. That's about the cost of half a medium pizza in Columbus (if we were going to order one, which we won't), or a pack and a half of cigarettes (if we were smokers, but we're not), or 1/3 of our Friday night date at the Bucket (which we'll not be doing), or a little more than the cost of a new first issue for my hobby (of which there aren't many right now), or 1/3 the cost of a new best seller at the book store (wait for the library copy), or two Starbuck lattes (which we don't drink). I'll easily make up the difference if I just stay out of the Port Clinton Wal-Mart, or buy only the item I need (that wonderful Watkins skin product that I can only find there). So, it's not hard to make up the difference.

Here's the rub. For every item, meal or book we don't buy to make up for gasoline, that difference impacts the bus boy at the restaurant we don't go to, or the clerk in the coffee shop who didn't serve us, or the shelf stocker at the super market because we didn't select. We are a consumer society, and so when we stop buying to save money, which everyone can do, someone is hurt further down the line.

When you change the buying habits of a nation, the world has to change also. It's the reason why the price of rice, which is not a biofuel, goes up when environmentalists push the federal government to promote corn in our gas tanks instead of our processed food. It's a boon for farmers and Con-Agra, but causes food riots in Haiti and Egypt. People who would be buying wheat or corn, now grown on acreage that use to grow wheat, switch to rice, and the price of rice soars.

How do they find these financial wizards?

WaPo, in alerting us all to higher prices, lists the dire circumstances of people who must have flunked high school consumer ed.

Tracy and her partner also stopped buying the cereals they like in favor of whatever was on sale; stopped picking up convenient single-size packs of juice, water or crackers; and, in order to save gas, stopped going to multiple stores. "I find the whole thing a huge hassle, but I've reached a tipping point," said Tracy, a government human resources specialist who is pregnant with her second child. "Clearly, I'm not unable to feed my family. But I just can't feed my family the way I'd like to feed them." via Taranto who quoted WaPo

1. She's pregnant with her second child, but has a "partner" not a husband. Statistically, children raised by women who haven't married the child's father have a much greater chance of being poor.

2. She's been driving around to multiple stores rather than shopping in one place. Shopping was something to do rather than having a purpose.

3. She's been purchasing single serving items rather than managing her time and resources and doing some of the labor herself.

And Tracy, this government worker--who supposedly is high enough up to be called a "specialist," whines that this is the way she really wants to feed her family--by providing them the most expensive, empty calories she can find. Her preferred methods have never been good ways to shop--pick up any magazine sold at the check out and they explain it.

Food in the United States is still a tremendous bargain--it's been artificially low due to welfare--welfare for farmers. You don't need 23 types of crackers--maybe you don't need crackers at all. You don't need a strawberry latte--you can probably make it through the day with a plain, old cup of coffee at a fraction the cost and calories. You certainly don't save money in the long run by clipping coupons! You can get 10 lbs of potatoes for under $5 instead of buying 6 oz. of desiccated, dried and cheesed potatoes for $2.50 + a 50 cents off coupon. Shop the walls; buy fresh and add your own labor. Buying organic is nice, but considering all the really bad stuff your kid will eat when he can make his own choices, it's a bit over the top when prices are high. Eat out just once a week instead of 3 or 4, which is the average for working women.

I've served people at the Food Pantry that seem to know more about nutrition and how to feed a family than Tracy, interviewed for WaPo's clipping and scrimping story.

Minimum wage and unemployment

Both are up. We knew that would happen because the history of minimum wage shows that employers, especially the smaller ones, will eliminate positions filled by the marginally useful employee in order to pay for the increase for the more useful employee. Besides, it was a safe campaign promise in 2006. Only about 10 states weren't paying more than the federally mandated minimum. The minimum wage now is $5.85, but in Alaska it's $7.15, in San Francisco $9.36, in Ohio $7.00, and in Washington, $8.07.

Read what Amy has to say about the relationship.

What minimum wage buys is more votes. First, tell low income people that your party is their only hope; then when they buy into that, make sure they stay poor.

4810

Hot on the trail of grant money

“The future of humanity and the quality of our daily lives necessitate a deeper understanding of Earth’s climate system, which sustains all life and is now threatened and compromised by human activities (population growth, economic development and unsustainable resource use).” Executive Summary Proposal for a $12 million Climate, Water and Carbon Program (CWC) at Ohio State University (dated 2006, but now approved and funded). On the web page, it says they want to find out why there is “rapid” climate change, so maybe they threw that word WHY in there to cover all their bases just in case it's the sun or weather patterns. Could there be a possibility that humans aren’t causing it? And if so, how would you get money for funding a new program if you didn’t comply with scientific orthodoxy that already has a “consensus” on the cause and effect of the problem? I thought it strange that the research is going to be on Mt. Kilimanjaro, when most of Ohio used to be under a glacier, and some of Ohio's climate changed quite rapidly, as did Europe's and Greenland's. And imagine the carbon footprint those faculty and grad students will make flying back and forth to Africa!

Click over to “Is it Hot In Here?” to watch the lecture of Dr. Jay W. Richards of the Acton Institute on April 17, 2008. He explores the biblical foundations for our stewardship over the environment and its importance in the debate on Global Warming. He also discusses the mainstream views on Global Warming and answers four of the main questions concerning global climate change:

1. Is the earth warming?
   
2. Are we causing it?
   
3. If the earth is warming and we are causing it, is that bad?
   
4. Would the advised policies make any difference?

Dr. Richards notes that if all the countries could manage to comply with the Kyoto Protocol, the reduction in temperature would be so small as to be unmeasurable, and would cost $50 trillion--to accomplish nothing. He poses the question--is there a better way to serve the poor and mankind with that money? Clean water, perhaps? He reminds us that the climate has been warming since 1850 (cooling since 1998), but not since 1000, and for awhile in the 1970s there was a consensus on global cooling. He agrees that concentrations of C02 is going up, but we don't know why--it increases as the temperature increases, but temps go up first. He also ponders: Do we know what the optimum climate is? Why do we think what we've experienced in our lifetimes is what is best in the future, when it wasn't that way in the past? Since the CWC appears to actually be concerned about water quality (I'm glad someone is), perhaps they need to also take on a few economists--I didn't see any on the list of cooperating faculty looking for grant money, but they could be there.

And what about President Bush's new goals for 2050? According to Steven Hayward in Monday's WSJ, "the average residence in the U.S. uses about 10,500 kilowatt hours of electricity and emits 11.4 tons of CO2 per year. [To meet the adjusted goals,] the average household emissions will have to fall to no more than 1.5 tons per year. In our current electricity infrastructure, this would mean using no more than about 2,500 KwH per year." This is not enough to run the computers and lights for the CWC program at Ohio State. "The clear implication is that we shall have to replace virtually the entire fossil fuel electricity infrastructure over the next four decades with CO2-free sources – a multitrillion dollar proposition, if it can be done at all."

Oh yes, Dr. Richards says that predicitions of global disasters are always wrong, and if I heard him correctly, he also includes in that various predicitions of end-times by Christians.

4809 Digging for Danners

My Ohio State e-mail account is currently a magnet for spam on gambling and Russian spam. Does everyone get Russian language spam or am I just one of the lucky ones? I never got it before the new "secure" system OSU OIT instituted awhile back. It can almost make one yearn for cheap ink cartridges, mortgages, and virgin lesbians, which used to be the content of my spam. Yesterday I had about 500 items in those categories.

After figuring out how to trash 20 at a time, but scanning for those I didn't want to lose, I found an older one I had not deleted but held to read later. And it was from the Brethren genealogy listserv on Samuel Danner, grandson of Michael Danner, Sr., who immigrated in 1727. I'm a descendant of Henry Danner, not Jacob, Samuel's father, but I copied and pasted into my Family Tree Maker notes to be figured out later. I'm a descendant of Henry's daughter, Rachel. Merle Rummel, who contributed this information to the listserv on April 16 had an interesting item about the location of a Sauer Bible in the Danner family. The first Bible printed in America in a European language was not in English, but in German and Christopher Sauer of Philadelphia published it:

"Brethren Roots and Branches (predecessor of our current Brethren Roots) of 1987 (Spring-Summer and Fall-Winter) had two discussions on the Sauer Bible owned by Samuel Danner Sr (son of Jacob Danner - grandson of Michael Danner), father of the minister Samuel Danner. This was the family records of the birth and marriages of Samuel SR Family (did not include deaths). The second presentation included the children and spouses of Samuel JR - and a partial list of grandchildren. The Bible is at the Duggan Library, Hanover College, Hanover IN. The records are in German -from the sequence of names - the Bible was passed down for 3 generations.

Jeremiah Wright is not the issue!

If I hear one more cable news or talk show host broadcasting the lies of Jeremiah Wright, I think I'll--change channels. White, mainstream liberal Protestant congregations have been hearing a just-as-damaging, more quiet, less call-and-response version of liberation theology since the early 1960s. Catholic Leftists Priests started it in South America in the 1950s, and bored Protestants who didn't think Marxism could be evil, picked up the theme for their various movements. They've always been sympathetic to Castro, to radical labor movements, and La Raza and the sanctuary movement. Wake up O'Reilly and Hannity--we've been hearing this for fifty years!

James Cone developed and refined liberation theology further with his book calling it black liberation theology in 1969. The feminists picked it up in the 1970s, and the environmentalists, vegans, animal rightists and America-for-illegals folks within the church also have used it as a spring board for organizing and action.

It would seem that the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the "Good News," God's plan for redemption of the world, one sinner at a time as the message of faith is created by the Holy Spirit in the believer, is just not flashy enough to make the news! But the ground work had been laid a hundred years before in the seminaries, first in Europe and then the United States. We Americans had "the social gospel" which shifted the burden of individual sin to the shoulders of social, institutional or corporate evil. You might say the preaching of the "gap gospel" that is pervasive in political speeches, tax plans, and protestant pulpits got its start right here in Columbus with Washington Gladden (1836-1918) at the First Congregational Church (forerunner denomination of UCC, Rev. Wright's group). Gladden taught that the teachings of Jesus were about the right ordering of society. Really, he could be Wright's mentor. The various liberal social movements and redefining of whole passages of Scripture gave rise to the Fundamentalists, and then the Evangelicals, attempting to correct or balance it. But even some of them, like Rick Warren (Purpose Driven Life, Purpose Drive Church) have gone looking for an ambulance at the bottom instead of a fence at the top of the cliff in the late 20th century, abandoning the clear meaning of salvation for a less confining social gospel.

Feminists don't like the "oppressive patriarchal language" of the God-head, so in Protestant gatherings (conservatives stay home) we get nonsense like this from Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori saying Jesus isn't the only way to heaven because, she believes it would "put God in an awfully small box," and that "human beings come to relationship with God largely through their experience of holiness in other human beings." The Presbyterian Church USA’s 2006 General Assembly approved a document, "The Trinity: God’s Love Overflowing," which offered words for the Trinity such as "Compassionate Mother, Beloved Child and Life-giving Womb." The document only specifies the use of God-—Father, Son and
Holy Spirit—-in the baptismal formula, but I'm sure that will be tossed too within the decade. I've been hearing this bastardization of Scripture at Lakeside from the summer Methodist programs for years, praying to Mother-Father God and Sophia, the Spirit of Wisdom--so much so I don't even attend their gatherings in the auditorium on Sundays anymore. It's not worth the spike in my blood pressure (which is usually 118/65).

When liberation theology knocked on the door of the seminaries in the 1950s and 1960s asking for a hand-out from the plate of humanism and the cup of social gospel, it soon ate their lunch. In my Lutheran denomination, ELCA (headquarters in Chicago), they can beat up the English language surpassing even Bill Clinton in not being able to determine "what the meaning of IS is." They have repackaged Galatians and Genesis both, redefining the Law and Gospel as well as marriage.

"One of the tasks of black theology, says [James] Cone, is to analyze the nature of the gospel of Jesus Christ in light of the experience of oppressed blacks. For Cone, no theology is Christian theology unless it arises from oppressed communities and interprets Jesus' work as that of liberation. Christian theology is understood in terms of systemic and structural relationships between two main groups: victims (the oppressed) and victimizers (oppressors). In Cone's context, writing in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the great event of Christ's liberation was freeing African Americans from the centuries-old tyranny of white racism and white oppression." The Marxist roots of Black Liberation Theology

Truly, Jeremiah Wright is a prophet in reverse--he's reminding us again and again, how far we have fallen in our seminaries and churches, and what it will take to climb out of the pit. I do not doubt his salvation, but I do question his friendship with Barack Obama, who can't help but be hurt by his eagerness to be in the spot light.

A perfect score

on geeky buzzwords at the Wired site.

"Wired has a history of sniffing out trends and launching them into the mainstream. Take our vocab quiz to see how many you know: Match the meme on the left with its definition on the right."

I subscribed to Wired for years and years--but haven't seen it for awhile. It was a solid bargain--$10 for a year. I also have the premiere issue in my collection.

HT Bruce Gee

My plan isn't working

Snacks don't bother my husband. And he doesn't bother them. I can buy him a 3-stack box of Ritz Crackers and he will carefully eat maybe 5 of them a few times a week, carefully spread with peanut butter and no-sugar jelly. One box lasts and lasts. That is, unless I get the munchies. My weakness is salty, crunchy snacks, and since our trip to Ireland in September I've taken on a few pounds that just don't want to leave. So if I buy him snacks, I usually have him hide them. Except. If I purchase the individually wrapped crackers, then I tend to leave them alone.

But today I bought him an 8 pack of Lance Captain's Wafers, Grilled Cheese flavor. I had a late breakfast/lunch because I had a 10:30 doctor's appointment. So I was sort of grazing--recovering my strenth from being poked and hooked up to a machine wearing one of those barely there gowns and freezing to death. Hmmm. Comfort food. Wonder what a grilled cheese flavored cracker snack tastes like? So I opened one. My goodness, that was yummy! Who in the world spent hours in the food lab taste testing cheese flavors so it would taste just a bit like your mother's slightly charred grilled cheese on a cast iron skillet smeared with a little margarine or Crisco? Can I get that job?

Are they good for me? Not as bad as you might think, except for the fat and sodium. At least there's no cottonseed oil. Look at the ingredients.

Ingredients:
Enriched Wheat Flour (Containing Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Vegetable Oil (Contains one or more of the following Vegetable Oils: Canola Oil, Corn Oil, Palm Oil, Soybean Oil), Dairy Whey, American and Cheddar Cheeses (Cultured Milk, Milk, Cheese Culture, Salt, Enzymes), High Fructose Corn Syrup, Sugar, Maltodextrin, Salt, Reduced Lactose Whey, Malt Syrup, Leavening (Sodium Bicarbonate, Monocalcium Phosphate), Butter, Buttermilk Powder, Nonfat Dry Milk, Whey Protein Concentrate, Sodium Phosphate, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Soy Lecithin, Cream, Artificial colors (Contains FD&C Yellow #5 and FD&C Yellow #6), Lactic Acid, Peanuts. CONTAINS: WHEAT, MILK, SOY, PEANUTS. 200 calories, 90 from fat. But it does have calcium and iron and 4g of protein.

Lip smacking, snacking good! And I do feel so loved--nothing like something from the kitchen.

Would you be confused?

Me neither.

"Virginia-based Smithfield Foods is being sued by the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation for allegedly infringing the foundation’s “Race for the Cure” trademark, the Washington Post reports. The lawsuit came after the company filed a trademark application for “Deli of the Cure,” which it plans to feature on packaging to emphasize its corporate donations for breast cancer research. The foundation argues the slogan will confuse consumers."Seen at Capital Research Center Foundation Watch

Which consumers are confused? Consumers of deli products, or consumers of advertising for races? The national organization of all the races, marathons and walkathons take a huge cut of the proceeds for letting the locals use their name, advertising flyers, etc.

Frankly, save me from the colors pink and green. Curing breast cancer is about more than being aware or getting a mammogram; and saving the planet is more about respect for God's creation than thinking you're a big green deal with screwy light bulbs and crossover or hybrid cars. I'm all for businesses being "responsible," but there's way too much coziness between drug companies, food companies, clothing designers, etc. and these various causes, whether it's cancer, diabetes or MS. The Komen Foundation not only takes a cut from the local races, but gets money from huge corporate sponsors and its investments. It has bragging rights on something like raising $1 Billion--and that's great if it all went for research, but it doesn't. It goes to administer the foundation, to sponser races, and to raise awareness. A neoplasm found early doesn't mean it won't kill 10 or 15 years down the road--you just know about it sooner. Besides, it's been in business for 25 years. Is $1 billion that great? And if someone else makes a sandwich and says "it's for the cure," how are they hurt? Unless of course, Smithfield wasn't funneling their contribution through Komen.

Yearning for a Spudnut

If there's something from the 1950s that causes the heart to pitter a pat more than a 55 Chevy, it's got to be a Spudnut--a yeast do-nut made with potato flour. I've blogged about them several times here, here and here, and George Young sent me some additional information he found in the South Arkansas Historical Journal, VOL 5,FALL 2005 (Published by the South Arkansas Historical Society) "SpudNuts: A South Arkansas Breakfast Legend" By Joan Hershberger. The store (in 2004) was still open under original management and had quite a history since the 1940s in El Dorado, AR, with the manager being trained in the mysteries of the SpudNut by the Pelton Brothers, who invented them.

"The shop’s continued success and recognition as a locally owned family business originates in part from the loyalty of the shop’s first, and only manager, Bud McCann, according to Nancy Varnell, second generation co-owner of the shop. Varnell’s mother, Daisy Stringfellow, original owner of the local shop, discovered Spudnuts during a trip to visit relatives in Salem, Ore. En route, she stopped and ate at one of the original Spudnut Shops in Salt Lake City, Utah, and was impressed with the taste and the fact that Spudnuts were sold door-to-door in the city every morning."

"Currently, there are only 37 Spudnut Stores in existence. All exist because they maintained their own original recipes – owners can no longer buy from the Pelton Brothers. The Peltons dissolved their corporation and the Spudnut Franchise was sold at their retirement to a company which proved unable to reliably provide the mix and supplies. It is impossible to purchase a Spudnut Franchise.

At one time, Varnell knew of Spudnut Shops in Texarkana, Pine Bluff, Magnolia and Bastrop, Louisiana. Only the Magnolia and El Dorado shops remain in business in this area."

George sent a link to some additional information on how to find a SpudNut with some addresses http://ruthvenphotos.com/files/spudnuts.html

Lice and locusts, but no butterflies

In the mornings I'm inside our church at Mill Run and see the paraments and banners depicting butterflies. They appear after Easter and probably are taken down after Pentecost. Although I know they are used as symbols of renewal and rebirth, they are not a biblical image. Butterflies as a spiritual symbol predate Christianity, and I don't recall seeing them used much until the 1960s and 1970s. (Although I really wasn't paying much attention.) The most frequently named bugs from the Bible are: Locust: 24, Moth: 11, Grasshopper: 10, Scorpion: 10, Caterpillar: 9, and Bee: 4. Lots of animals in the Bible. Eagles soaring; Lambs sacrificed; Fish caught; Goats separated; Bees swarming; Storks migrating; Lions killing; Deer leaping; Horses of war, famine, pestilence and wild beasts racing; Hens gathering a brood, yes. But no butterflies in the Bible that I can find.

Butterflies have a life cycle that involves a complete metamorphosis; locusts have what is called an incomplete metamorphosis--they just keep moulting and changing until they are mature. When Jesus comes back and the dead rise and we all get our new bodies--maybe then the butterfly will be a good symbol because there will be a complete metamorphosis--but until then, I think a locust might be a better symbol. They keep very busy during all their changes to the next level and really reproduce their numbers.

And I really don't expect to see one daintily embroidered into satin for a parament.

Lake Wenatchee Washington

This must be about the prettiest state park in Washington--and we've never been there but I think I'll add it to the list of places I'd like to see. Bonita, a blogger who takes wonderful photographs of food, family and fun things to do, gave permission to use her photo as a reference for my husband's painting. He started it yesterday and finished around noon today. I think it turned out pretty good.