Headline slants exist everywhere, not just politics

“No Connection Between Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR) Vaccine And Autism, study suggests.”

ScienceDaily (Sep. 5, 2008) — In a case-control study, the presence of measles virus RNA was no more likely in children with autism and GI disturbances than in children with only GI disturbances. Furthermore, GI symptom and autism onset were unrelated to MMR vaccine timing. Science Daily article

The heading in the original report from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health words it a bit stronger than “suggests.”

Study Firmly Shows No Connection Between Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR) Vaccine And Autism
Focus on children with autism and gastrointestinal symptoms; findings show GI symptoms and autism onset both unrelated to MMR timing. Mailman web page

Study findings are reported online in the Public Library of Science on September 4 (http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0003140).

Genetic determinism

This makes perfect sense. I already understand the Democrats better.

Looking through the Fall opportunitites

Our community has a wealth of opportunities for adults to learn, to create and to think. I have laid out on the kitchen counter Center Stage, the programming for the Senior Center (adults 50 and over), UAPL Fall Programs 08, with programs for adults, teens and children, and UA Lifelong Learning & Leisure, Fall 2008. I could be busy morning to night, and with the exception of a few pricey trips ($1800 for a trip to Charleston & Savannah or $900 for Tulip Time at the Greenbrier), at a very reasonable price or free. At the Senior Center I could hear on Friday at 10 a.m. Ed Lentz, local historian, talk about the American Presidential Elections for $5 per class ($30 for 6). Or I could go Tuesday evenings to 4 lectures in the City Council Chambers for $40 to hear various university professors, including John Quigley, Moritz College of Law, Ohio State. After looking up his research , I think I'll pass. Another blame US first guy.

Quigley points to a series of interventions by the United States after assuming dominance of the region in the 1950s: the facilitation of a coup in Iran that overthrew a democratically elected regime and replaced it with the totalitarian Shah; a similar attempted CIA-backed coup in Syria; CIA backing of Western-loyal parliamentary candidates in Lebanon precipitating a civil war; and the backing of U.S. friendly totalitarian King Hussein in Jordan.

“In the United States, none of these interventionist actions gained public attention,” he writes. “But in the Middle East, a perception developed that the United States was out to promote its own interests.” These anti-U.S. perceptions were further solidified by the continued one-sided U.S. backing of Israel and Cold War decisions to support causes like the Islamist revolutionary Mujahideen in Afghanistan, Quigley writes.

Ultimately, anti-American sentiment caused by these actions coalesced into the current Islamist movement that gave us 911 and the resultant “War in Terrorism,” he writes. “Osama bin Laden’s militias grew out of the Afghan resistance,” Quigley writes. “Bin Laden framed his anti-United States arguments in the language of Islam, but he was voicing the same anti-colonialist sentiments that had been directed against France and Britain in the early 20th Century.”

I heard enough of this at the Lakeside programming this summer to last awhile.

Then for more enrichment, I could go to classes offered by something called "Dating Directions Certified Matchmakers," which will teach me how to flirt, go online, and set dating goals. Hmmm. I've been married 48 years, so I think I'm beyond that. Oh, here's a good one: Exploring past lives with guided regression--wear comfortable clothing! Or I could do a 2 session "Living your Passions" with guided visualization and positive thoughts. Whew! This is getting way too hot.

I could study near death experiences with someone doing it for 20 years (and it has fundamentally altered her viewpoint on death!) or observe a real life death autopsy (90 minutes on tape) at COSI or attend a session with a certified laughter Yoga instructor--wear comfortable clothing!

Also the city offers belly dancing basics with finger cymbals (this should work well with the flirting class), composting the worms (might work with the autopsy class), and introduction to beer (for the laughing Yoga?).

One trip the Senior Center offers that looks within my price range if I could find a girl friend to go is a trip to two of the homes of Rosemary Clooney, girl singer of the 40s, 50s and beyond, actress and author (and aunt of what's his name). We would stay overnight in the French Quarter Inn (of Maysville, KY), and make rolls at a bakery. This is $269 per person, double occupancy. This doesn't sound like something my husband would be interested in, but mid-October would be lovely in Kentucky. Then for $15 I could do the Holiday Wildlights at the Columbus Zoo--that would be Christmas, you know. There are some financial classes that look good--tax free investing, investment and stock market trends and indicators, how to down size and organize, legal counseling and investment counseling one-on-one. Medically there is a hearing screening and Life Line Screen for various blockages like abdominal aortic aneurysm (I think a lot of communities are offering this) and nutrition classes.

The UAPL has some interesting art and movie series, like "Objects of Wonder," which will coincide with the Museum of Art's offering this fall. We're members, so that might be an interesting peek ahead of time of what we'll see at the opening. "Objects of Wonder" features "a trove of treasures held in the more than 300 libraries and collections at OSU. The curator of the exhibit will be speaking--free, no registration required. There's an Italy travel show--having just been there, that looks good. I'll skip the movie on Darfur and the Afghani cabbie who died in military custody, but Young @ Heart was at Lakeside this summer and I missed it. There are several law topics, like Domestic and Probate Law 101, and General Law. There's a guy talking about the war between Woody and Bo. Of course, there are classes about the internet and book clubs to join. There are two art lectures, one on Manet and one on Cassat that look good.

Democrats pick up the "Jesus as Organizer" theme

In Virginia, labor leader Cecil Roberts, said,

“I used to be a community organizer and I’m in good company,” Roberts said as he introduced Barack Obama at a town hall event “Martin Luther King was a community organizer. Listen, Sarah, Moses was a community organizer and yes, Jesus was a community organizer.”

Wow. Obama is sure in good company. Then Donna Brazile, big Democrat, repeats this nonsense after it got repeated on Daily Kos that Biblical brain trust, and adds that Pontius Pilate was a governor. Well, Donna, back to the Gospels for you. Jesus wasn't on trial for organizing, he was on trial because he called himself GOD as in, I AM THE WAY, I AM THE TRUTH, I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE, I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD, and so forth. I AM has deep meaning in scripture, and it doesn't mean IAMACOMMUNITYORGANIZER. He wasn't organizing anyone to do anything except repent, get baptized and serious about worship. I don't think that's what community organizers following the Saul Alinsky model do. Having 12 ordinary type guys leave their jobs and listen to your teaching while you cast out demons, give blind people sight and feed 5,000 with a few fish and loaves of bread is not "community organizing," it's called proving who you are. Nor is facing down Pharoah and demanding that he free the Hebrew slaves and then leading them to the gates of the promised land called community organizing. You guys are embarrassing Obama, and he's got a big enough ego without this!

Plus, Pilate said three times he couldn't find anything wrong with Jesus, and then listened to his wife who said she'd had a dream. Pilate disclaimed any responsibility for Jesus' death (which is how the Jews came to be blamed, instead of all of sinful mankind), and put a guard at the tomb.

According to Philo and Josephus, Pilate was a mean old dude who infuriated the Jews by desecrating the holy city of Jerusalem. There were mass protests and many Jews were killed by Pilate, and supposedly he committed suicide when called to Rome to answer to the Emperor.

If Palin isn't influencing any women who weren't on board in the first place, if she's just dumb trailer trash with librarian glasses, why in the world are you guys so terrified of her that you are not only rewriting history, but ripping out pages of the Gospel and rolling them for a smoke?

Desperate Democrats who can count

Just like they used to count Vice President Cheney's military deferments, Democrats are now counting Vice President elect-to-be Palin's colleges. They found six (no one knows about Obama's undergrad record or transcripts or whether he attended on a diversity plan, because that would be racist to reveal; but it's not sexist to question a woman's record). Knowing that my husband (h.s. class of 1957) had about as many deferments as Cheney or more, I decided to count my colleges, and came up with at least five, including one in Indiana that has changed it's name, so don't ask which one, and one in Maine (I think it was Colby) where I partied too much and never transferred the credit I did get (a C I think), so the U. of I. has no record that I attended. What U. of I. does have for me is a record number of course withdrawals, because I would hit the road if my grades weren't high enough, and withdraw before the deadline. Now, my standards were a bit high--I didn't like getting B's and I didn't take easy courses, but that method did keep my accum in the A- range. Then when I went to graduate school (library science) we were required to take tests in four areas, whether or not we'd taken the classes for credit, although the tests would have no impact on our grade average or continuing in school. I failed all four, but had straight A's in grad school--obviously those tests didn't test anything we had in the courses.

You just can't please a Democrat. They didn't like George W. Bush's Ivy League credentials, didn't matter he had better grades than Kerry. All their guys but one (was it Biden?) voted to go to war, but it's all GWB's fault. They built the hysteria about WMD to cover for their guys, and then denied it to the high heavens. GWB ignores them and their criticism, he won't govern by polls and focus groups and a desire for a legacy--and they hate that because then they can't manipulate him. I hope Palin does the same. Democrats are such snobs and whiners. And to think I used to be one for 40 years!

Speaking of college educations, if all you did was invest your kids' college costs in an IRA for four years, when s/he retired he'd have much more than your neighbor's son who went to Yale, Columbia or Harvard with their huge endowments and Marxist professors. Or maybe send her to a small state university, save the difference and see how far she can go.

Deja Vu--the Clinton middle class tax cuts

Obama says he will give tax cuts to 95% of the American people. We've heard it before. Bill Clinton said he was going to give the middle class tax cuts during the 1992 presidential campaign. (Obama doesn't seem to know that the poor don't pay income tax, but that's another blog.) It didn't take long for Clinton to change his mind--about a month, because The NYT called him on it on February 18, 1993, about a month after his inauguration.

"In selling his economic plan, President Clinton is gambling that voters never took seriously his campaign promise to lower the tax burden of the middle class and will respond favorably to an aggressive pitch based on equal measures of hope, fear and class revenge.

After months of polling and research, Mr. Clinton's top political advisers say they are convinced that middle-class voters will support higher taxes. The advisers say the voters will see the new taxes as the price of great improvements in Government service and as inflicting a just punishment on the rich who profited during the Reagan and Bush Administrations." Complete story

Apparently, the voters did forgive him, because they gave him another term (I'd learned my lesson by then and didn't vote for him in 1996). But the lesson of history is, don't believe any candidate when he/she promises to reduce your taxes. It's just campaign rhetoric. What's scary is, Obama has actually promised to raise taxes--but of course not for you and me, just on corporations and the rich. Yeah.

Foul, Fowler and Fowlest

What is it with Democrat party poo-bahs named Fowler? First there was that Fowler guy who joked about Gustave arriving just in time for the GOP convention, and now Carol Fowler, who has an incredibly low opinion of women who use a choice she doesn't approve of. Choices, you see, are only for Democrats.

The South Carolina Democratic Chairwoman, Carol Fowler, offered the kind of shot at Sarah Palin that the Republicans have been complaining about, but which Democrats have largely avoided, in an interview with Politico today. Fowler said McCain had chosen a running mate "whose primary qualification seems to be that she hasn’t had an abortion." Politico

The change line from 2000 campaign

This morning on WOSU I watched a rehash of past presidential debates--Dole and Clinton, Gore and Bush, and I think there were references to others, but by then I was in the shower. It's interesting to listen to the Bush campaign promises of 2000--he was promising change, and was running as an outsider. Also he and Gore agreed on what to do if the U.S. were attacked--retaliate. So I looked at the transcript of the Oct. 11, 2000 debate, and see that Bush stayed with his vision for the Middle East, even if you don't think declaring war to preserve peace makes sense (it's a common theme through out history). Both men were equally firm about defending Israel and "friends." It was interesting how often they agreed on the Persian Gulf, Rwanda and Saddam. They could have easily been running together instead of on separate tickets.

Bush: Peace in the Middle East is in our nation's interests. Having a hemisphere that is free for trade and peaceful is in our nation's interests. Strong relations in Europe is in our nation's interest. I've thought a lot about what it means to be the president. I also understand that an administration is not one person, but an administration is dedicated citizens who are called by the president to serve the country, to serve a cause greater than self, and so I've thought about an administration of people who represent all America, but people who understand my compassionate and conservative philosophy." Gore: "We need to insist that Arafat send out instructions to halt some of the provocative acts of violence that have been going on. I think that we also have to keep a weather eye toward Saddam Hussein because he is taking advantage of this situation to once again make threats, and he needs to understand that he's not only dealing with Israel, he is dealing -- he's dealing with us if he is making the kind of threats that he's talking about there." Bush: "I think it's important to reach out to moderate Arab nations, like Jordan and Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. It's important to be friends with people when you don't need each other so that when you do there's a strong bond of friendship. And that's going to be particularly important in dealing not only with situations such as now occurring in Israel, but with Saddam Hussein. The coalition against Saddam has fallen apart or it's unraveling, let's put it that way. The sanctions are being violated. We don't know whether he's developing weapons of mass destruction. He better not be or there's going to be a consequence should I be the president." MODERATOR: People watching here tonight are very interested in Middle East policy, and they are so interested they want to base their vote on differences between the two of you as president how you would handle Middle East policy. Is there any difference? GORE: I haven't heard a big difference in the last few exchanges. BUSH: That's hard to tell. I think that, you know, I would hope to be able to convince people I could handle the Iraqi situation better. MODERATOR: Saddam Hussein, you mean, get him out of there? GORE: " . . . I was one of the few members of my political party to support former President Bush in the Persian Gulf War resolution, and at the end of that war, for whatever reason, it was not finished in a way that removed Saddam Hussein from power. I know there are all kinds of circumstances and explanations. But the fact is that that's the situation that was left when I got there. And we have maintained the sanctions. Now I want to go further. I want to give robust support to the groups that are trying to overthrow Saddam Hussein, . . ."

The amazing technicolor campaign

Lipstick? We're listening to pundits argue about what an old saw about a pig in lipstick means? A man makes a slip in discussing faith and says Moslem instead of Christian and the talk shows have a melt down? Come on, folks. Let's get real! He got a laugh from the lipstick comment, then he segued to something about a fish wrapper, and flubbed it. Consider my theory. Obama attempts to talk in four vernaculars--the Kansas, mid-western twang of the grandparents who raised him, the snobbish Kerry-esque of the Ivy League schools he attended, the obscure, murky language lawyers use, and the patois of the ghetto. Are you surprised he sometimes mixes up his idioms, jargon, slang and metaphors? Admit it. You would too if you weren't sure who your audience was.

Update: an 8 page list of figures of speech (used in scripture) with the English translation.

Another convert

He was a 60s war protester, a community organizer, a Jew, a New Yorker in the midwest and he hired Obama for his first job in Chicago. He's also a convert to Christianity and is now a Roman Catholic. Read the story of Jerry Kellerman here at Busted Halo. Watching the angry leftists attack Palin for her religion (Pentecostal, Bible based, pro-life), makes me think Christians are getting some payback for denying Obama's faith. Let's stop throwing stones at those the Lord has forgiven and welcomed into the Kingdom. Even if you (left and right) don't understand the concept.

15 reasons to like Palin

and why Janet Folger says Governor Palin on the ticket will lead to McCain's victory in November:

1) She is solidly pro-life. When running for office, Palin called herself as "pro-life as any candidate can be." But what about the tough cases? She's not only right on paper; she's put her faith to action. In April of this year, Palin gave birth to a child with Down syndrome and feels blessed that God chose her to care for this special baby.

2) She is pro-marriage. Palin opposes redefining marriage. She supported the Alaska Constitutional Amendment to protect marriage as the union of one man and one woman, which passed in 1998 by nearly 70 percent.

3) She is pro-God. While a lot of people talk about God and claim Christianity, we judge a tree by its fruit. And Sarah has it. We can see it all the way back to high school where she headed the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and led the team in prayer before games.

4) She's fiscally conservative. As mayor, Palin kept her campaign promise to reduce the salary of the office and reduced property taxes by 40 percent. Homeowners can stand up and cheer. Shortly after taking office as governor, Palin auctioned the state's jet on eBay. Taxpayers can now cheer – finally someone who'll pass up the perks to serve us.

5) She is pro-drilling. Palin has been an articulate spokesperson for drilling, including opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, in direct opposition to Obama, Pelosi and the Democrats who insist we buy our gas from the terrorists.

6) She is a woman. The 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling are about to shatter. Thank you, Hillary, for helping to pave the way. But Palin's not just a woman – she's the right woman.

7) She has executive experience. She is the only one running who has the executive experience needed to help lead this country.

8) She is outside the Beltway. You could hardly get farther outside the Beltway than Sarah Palin in miles and in philosophy.

9) She is pro-gun. A life-long member of the NRA, Palin is someone who really believes in the Second Amendment. She woke up at 3 a.m. to hunt moose with her father before going to school. When that 3 a.m. call comes, she's already up and ready.

10) She is pro-defense. She was visiting the troops in Kuwait and wounded soldiers in Germany long before she was running for vice president. That other guy didn't even visit them when he wanted to become commander in chief. Her son, Track, enlisted in the Army on Sept. 11 of last year and will be deployed to Iraq on Sept. 11 of this year.

11) She is against corruption. Palin fought corruption even within her own party and publicly questioned Republican Sen. Ted Stevens about the federal investigation that resulted in indictment.

12) She is young. The youngest governor ever to hold office in her state. Younger and more experienced than what's-his-name.

13) She has already won over McCain opponents. Dr. James Dobson, who has said in the past that he would not vote for McCain, with Palin on the ticket, is now enthusiastically behind him with "the same excitement he felt when Ronald Reagan was inaugurated."

14) She turns voters into workers. Callers on my radio program who were previously apathetic said the choice moved them to tears and would move them to action. It has not only turned non-voters into McCain voters, it has turned those who were only planning to vote into those who are willing to work – and work hard.

15) She represents "change." While the other ticket talks of "change," the first woman on a GOP ticket is a far cry from the same ol' same ol' Washington insider choice Obama made.

The Republican Party is breathing fresh air. And hope is now more than just a word in this election.

Story here.

Doesn't look like America

On C-SPAN this morning there was a droning, boring press conference with Sean McCormack of the State Department (yesterday). It followed the usual format: the reporter jams as much information into the question, including long quotes from government documents, as he can, then twists it to try to catch the administration official, knowing it won't be answered. Then the spokesman says something to the effect, "I can't speak to that," or "I'll have to check on that and get back to you," or "As you well know, the Congress blah, blah,. . ."

The final question was on diversity in the State Department--and why doesn't it look more like America, and could he supply specific numbers. He agreed; it doesn't look like America, despite goals and plans, and that he would look into the rules and regulations about which department has those figures.

The camera angle/view then moved back as the event ended and the press corp stood up to leave the room (before this I hadn't seen how many people were in the room, but the spokesman knew them all by name). Interestingly, that group didn't look like America either. I think I saw two women (although with clothing styles, it is hard to tell), and maybe two people of color, one of whom was foreign (from the accent). Pot to Kettle.

Change you can xerox

Here's an interesting story from a Canadian blogger. Says Obama's been borrowing phrases again.

Taranto looks into community organizing

"As a "community organizer," Obama toiled within a subculture of such abject dependency that even home repairs were "social services," provided by government (or, in Obama's Chicago, not provided). It was an utterly bizarre intersection between the cultural elite and the underclass. By Judis's account, Obama's Columbia degree was useless. He would have been more helpful if he'd gone to vocational school instead." Story here.

PUMA not happy with "surrogate" headline

"Obama to Dispatch Female Surrogates, the NYT validated Obama’s claim to having executive experience, I guess Obama didn’t like that, so he put in word, and then, presto, the New York Times turned it into something about the Obama CAMP , that faceless entity that makes decisions for the Lord Obama. . ." PUMA Who knew the NYT would take orders from Obama?

Who ya gonna call, Ohio?

"The latest numbers also show that overall, McCain is trusted more than Obama by a 54% to 41% margin. In addition, the plurality of voters (42%) say they would not be comfortable at all with Obama as president. Just 25% say that about McCain. If voters were faced with the toughest decision of their lives, 54% say they would rather ask McCain for advice, while 38% would choose Obama." Rassmussen poll, Sept 9

What Sarah's got that her savagers don't

"In short, Sarah Palin is the emblem of what feminism was supposed to be all about: an unafraid, independent, audacious woman, who soared on her own merits without the aid of a patriarchal jumpstart, high-brow matrimonial tutelage and capital, and old-boy liaisons and networking." Victor Davis Hanson

Fourth time--is it a charm?

I picked up my new glasses this morning. This is the fourth pair since early June. I had selected dark, rectangular frames (sort of early 1960-ish), all the rage right now, but got some strange reflection, like a prism, where the lens and frame met--tried 3 different styles, both metal and plastic. I finally said I would have to go back to something similar to my old pair, with a frame only at the top. This photo is either the first or second pair, when I wore them occasionally in Italy in June. The third pair I could see distance and computer range, but couldn't read comfortably. I wore those about 15 minutes. No one will even notice the fourth pair because even I can hardly tell them from the old ones.

Palliative is now pro-active

Don't miss this very disturbing article at Junk Food Science about end-of-life care, palliative care, government health insurance, and new legislation in California which requires caregivers to encourage patients to end their lives when a cure isn't possible.

"As similar distortion of the meaning of palliative care was also seen in a very troubling editorial that appeared in the August issue of the American Journal of Nursing, suggesting that nurses can and should help terminally ill patients hasten their dying. It was authored by Judith Schwarz, Ph.D., RN, who is the clinical coordinator for the northeast branch of the assisted suicide advocacy group, the Hemlock Society, now calling itself Compassion & Choices in the Northeast. She is also the contributing editor for ethical issues for the American Journal of Nursing. Her editorial was republished online by the Nursing Center."

Like abortion, the wording of the California bill is couched in "choice" terms. "Compassion & Choices" is the new, improved and laundered name of the Hemlock Society, the pro-suicide group, and it was the sponsor of the California bill. It's a long article, I can't summarize, so go there and read it. Judith Schwarz, whose opinion piece is in the AJN is having a workshop on 9/11 in NYC. How tacky is that? In her photo she looks like an older Nurse Ratched.

Time out for a commercial

I love Bounty paper towels. If you're buying the 60 cent kind that melts in your hand as soon as it hits water, how are you saving money? I just cleaned my entire kitchen with 3 half sections of Bounty! First I folded it to fit my hand and then dampened that. I wiped down the glass stove top which is very picky. Then I rinsed it. Then I wiped down the marble counter tops and wood cabinets, rinsed and cleaned around the faucets. Then I sprinkled Bon Ami in my 18 year old ceramic sink which gets stained easily because of scratches and scrubbed hard with the folded piece of Bounty. When it was sparkling (rinsing the towel as I went), I scrubbed the two sink drainers (metal), rinsed, and then the inside of the garbage disposal. I rinsed again, then wiped down the marble floors, which are almost as cranky about what you can use as the glass stove top. No dirty sponge gather bacteria or rag to wash.

I also use Bounty to quick cook fresh veggies in the microwave, by placing a soaked piece on top of the raw veggies in a small glass bowl. It also works marvelously for warming up left overs, because they don't dry out in the reheating--just place a damp piece of Bounty over the bowl or dish. They are soft enough to grab a piece for a table napkin if you are out, or even in place of a Kleenex. I've also used them in place of table mats. When we eat on the deck, a section of Bounty and some Windex (glass table) does the trick in seconds.

I've tried the others, but they just don't hold up! Around here Bounty is about $1 a roll, and if you buy humongous quantities, they may be less, but I rarely buy more than a package of 8, and keep a roll in the kitchen, the bathrooms, and the laundry room.

Faith and the American Presidency

How much do you know (or can you guess) about the American Presidents and their faith? This is a multiple choice quiz which gives you a better score than fill in the blank, which I would have flunked. As it is, I got 15 out of 20 correct. That's not a terrific score for someone who enjoys reading biographies of presidents.

Sarah Palin’s Christian testimony

You’ve heard Obama and McCain interviewed by Rick Warren, and maybe you heard a CNN reporter giving snippets and declaring them scary. Here’s a recording of her testimony in her words. If you don't want to hear the ads and a telephone interview with a woman who was at the Republican convention, start about 1/3 into the tape. It lasts about 14 minutes and she is speaking to a particular graduating group and there were special guests in the audience. According to the host, the site at the church got so many hits, it brought down their server, but someone had captured it. It is going around the internet, and I'm sure for non-Christians not accustomed to the language, certain phrases will sound very foreign. I've heard many similar send offs (although not from our governor). The pastor talks about Alaska being a refuge state "in the last days." Although I'm not a dispensationalist and have never heard this particular point, I don't think it hurts one bit to live your life as though Jesus were coming back this afternoon. I think Martin Luther said something similar, as did St. Paul.

Update: Today I was reading Martin Luther's letter that accompanied his translation (?)/commentary of the Book of Daniel in the Old Testament. He was so convinced that they were in the last days and the Lord was coming back, he wasn't sure it was worth it to get the book into German so the ordinary person could read it. When I find it again, I'll post, but it was very interesting. A letter to John Frederic, I think. Anyway, CNN needs to upgrade its understanding of Christian eschatology.

The tale of two women

Kinky Friedman says the tale of two women is about the one McCain picked and the one Obama didn't. Agreed. If Obama had chosen Hillary, he would be unbeatable. I wasn't supporting Hillary (especially since Bill was part of the package), but the snub of her and her followers was huge. Now . . . we'll just have to see, but it looks like he might lose.

Their love is here to stay

Richard at 3 Score and 10 tells about his wife's illness, cancelled cruise plans, and a bad insurance package that ripped them off. But here was the silver lining, I thought.

"I mentioned a long time ago that when she was in the hospital in Finland, unconscious, I sat beside her every day and sang to her. (Lots of songs, but always including Our Love is Here to Stay by George and Ira Gershwin, it was "our song" when we were courting, and I sang it to her at our wedding reception) Now we sit together every night, after we have prayer, and sing "Its very clear, our love is here to stay, Not for a year but ever and a day". Now, we sing it together, usually adding some Finnish songs including Hosianna Davidin Poika (Hosanna to the Son of David). No matter how lousy the day has been, I feel better after that."

Sniff.

Black raspberries might fight colon cancer

Ohio State professor of public health Gary Stoner has co-authored a study that reports black raspberries are rich in several substances thought to have cancer-preventing properties. Of course, you’d need to eat about 4 bowls of berries a day to get the benefits. Story here. I wonder if . . .



Right now in the freezer we have Pierre's Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip, but I can't find a picture or mention of it on their home page.

Listening to lies about the economy

CNN had extensive coverage of Biden banging the drum for a depression, and the sooner the better. Yes, he actually was doing that even when the August 2008 report read thusly:

Real median household income in the United States climbed 1.3 percent between 2006 and 2007, reaching $50,233, according to a report released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. This is the third annual increase in real median household income.

Meanwhile, the nation’s official poverty rate in 2007 was 12.5 percent, not statistically different from 2006. There were 37.3 million people in poverty in 2007, up from 36.5 million in 2006. The number of people without health insurance coverage declined from 47 million (15.8 percent) in 2006 to 45.7 million (15.3 percent) in 2007.

However, I went in an looked at the 2007 Census report and was charmed to see what I realized my last few years of working. We were in a recession in 1999 and 2000; then the 9/11 attacks took place in 2001, we went to war, and although the economy struggled, Bush took on the burst bubble from Clinton, as the next president will take on this burst bubble. (U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 1968 to 2008 Annual Social and Economic Supplements., p. 5)

Household income is going to continue to go down, Mr. McCain and Mr. Obama--hello! Have you heard? Baby Boomers are retiring! They certainly aren't poor, but they aren't living on salaries, but on investments, that item Obama wants to tax more (i.e., the rich). They aren't buying high end consumer goods; they aren't buying new houses; they don't need new clothes and new cars. I bought my van in 2002, I love it, and see no reason to trade. My income (a pension check) is about 1/3 of my (fabulous) salary. They're taking money out of the country and spending it in Europe and Asia.

And we continue to import poor people to flood our social services at the bottom. Neither McCain nor Obama have a plan to stop a huge economic and social problem created by bad legislation in the 1960s when socialist brain surgeons decided the country was too white and too European.

Change? Hope? You bet. And you'd better hope someone is paying attention to demographics, or you'll be as famous as FDR following Hoover, dragging us down, and down and down for a full decade.

Watching CNN

election coverage is just sputtering amazing! I've never seen so many sour faces and lame excuses as I have today watching CNN's stunned disbelief (still) about the McCain Palin ticket. This is not a gang I usually watch. If they weren't so pathetic, I'd laugh. As it is, I'm just smiling. Next: an expose of her church. Hmmm. Now why would they be looking there? I don't think they'll find another Jeremiah, but whoever they find, I'm sure they'll build a story. She worshipped at a (whisper) pentecostal church!!!! Spiritual quicksand, I believe were the words. How judgemental. They speak in (whisper) tongues!!! OMG! (So do Lutherans in my church.) And now she attends a Bible Church (independent, non-denominational). Now they are parsing her words about prayer.

I've now had this program (Blitzer?) on for over 30 minutes, and it's been one big bash-fest of McCain-Palin, from quoting Democrats to each other. Ooops. Now interviewing a former aide, Meg Stapleton--and Blitzer is trying to refute what she is saying, and he is trying to paint Palin as a flip flopper. Stapleton makes a statement; Blitzer restates it--wrong. The man looks like a hired hit man for Obama.

The baby and the former POW

Have a little baby and a candidate ever shared the spotlight at a presidential convention? If Sarah and Todd Palin never do another good thing in their lives, they have probably saved more than a few babies from distruction just by showing him off and calling him perfection. They've called attention, or the media have, to the awful news that over ninety percent of these little ones are being aborted after testing reveals their situation. But to have him on stage with a man who also survived when others wanted him dead and broken. That is just a perfect image of this passage in Isaiah 46 where God says false gods like Bel and Nebo are burdensome and unable to rescue:

Listen to me, O house of Jacob,
all you who remain of the house of Israel,
You whom I have upheld since you were conceived,
and have carried since your birth.
Even to your old age and gray hairs
I am he, I am he who will sustain you.
I have made you and I will carry you;
I will sustain you and I will rescue you.

Wellness Programs

This is going to sound petty, but I’ll write it anyway. Do highly educated people with fabulous health benefits need to be enticed into using both their brains and their benefits with “wellness” forums, freebies and football cheerleaders? What ever happened to common sense and self-interest? These people actually do pay for all their benefits--their salaries are reduced to compensate, but I think if they received the money in their paychecks then had to purchase the benefits from a list and see the money decrease, they’d be less likely to have a need to be cajoled and bribed into using them.

“Sponsored by the [Ohio State University] Faculty and Staff Wellness Program, the University Staff Advisory Committee, Your Plan for Health and the Department of Recreation Sports, you can visit more than 100 exhibitors and health care professionionals [sic]; grab a free lunch; obtain various health screenings; and cheer with the Buckeye players, band, cheerleaders and Brutus Buckeye. Be sure to get your free biometric screening to complete your Personal Health Assessment (visit http://yourplanforhealth.com/pha.html to reserve a time). You also can purchase fresh produce from a farmer's market, learn how to "go green," and sample goodies from a healthy cooking demonstration.”

Has anything changed in fifty years?

The Anti-capitalistic Bias of American Intellectuals
Ludwig von Mises, The Anti-capitalist Mentality, [1956]
edited and with a preface by Bettina Bien Greaves (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2006).
CHAPTER 1: The Social Characteristics of Capitalism and the Psychological Causes of Its Vilification
"The anti-capitalistic bias of the intellectuals is a phenomenon not limited to one or a few countries only. But it is more general and more bitter in the United States than it is in the European countries. To explain this rather surprising fact one must deal with what one calls “society” or, in French, also le monde.

In Europe “society” includes all those eminent in any sphere of activity. Statesmen and parliamentary leaders, the heads of the various departments of the civil service, publishers and editors of the main newspapers and magazines, prominent writers, scientists, artists, actors, musicians, engineers, lawyers and physicians form together with outstanding businessmen and scions of aristocratic and patrician families what is considered the good society. They come into contact with one another at dinner and tea parties, charity balls and bazaars, at first-nights, and varnishing-days; they frequent the same restaurants, hotels and resorts. When they meet, they take their pleasure in conversation about intellectual matters, a mode of social intercourse first developed in Italy of the Renaissance, perfected in the Parisian salons and later imitated by the “society” of all important cities of Western and Central Europe. New ideas and ideologies find their response in these social gatherings before they begin to influence broader circles. One cannot deal with the history of the fine arts and literature in the nineteenth century without analyzing the role “society” played in encouraging or discouraging their protagonists.

Access to European society is open to everybody who has distinguished himself in any field. It may be easier to people of noble ancestry and great wealth than to commoners with modest incomes. But neither riches nor titles can give to a member of this set the rank and prestige that is the reward of great personal distinction. The stars of the Parisian salons are not the millionaires, but the members of the Académie Française. The intellectuals prevail and the others feign at least a lively interest in intellectual concerns.

Society in this sense is foreign to the American scene. What is called “society” in the United States almost exclusively consists of the richest families. There is little social intercourse between the successful businessmen and the nation’s eminent authors, artists and scientists. Those listed in the Social Register do not meet socially the molders of public opinion and the harbingers of the ideas that will determine the future of the nation. Most of the “socialites” are not interested in books and ideas. When they meet and do not play cards, they gossip about persons and talk more about sports than about cultural matters. But even those who are not averse to reading, consider writers, scientists and artists as people with whom they do not want to consort. An almost unsurmountable gulf separates “society” from the intellectuals.

It is possible to explain the emergence of this situation historically. But such an explanation does not alter the facts. Neither can it remove or alleviate the resentment with which the intellectuals react to the contempt in which they are held by the members of “society.” American authors or scientists are prone to consider the wealthy businessman as a barbarian, as a man exclusively intent upon making money. The professor despises the alumni who are more interested in the university’s football team than in its scholastic achievements. He feels insulted if he learns that the coach gets a higher salary than an eminent professor of philosophy. The men whose research has given rise to new methods of production hate the businessmen who are merely interested in the cash value of their research work. It is very significant that such a large number of American research physicists sympathize with socialism or communism. As they are ignorant of economics and realize that the university teachers of economics are also opposed to what they disparagingly call the profit system, no other attitude can be expected from them.

If a group of people secludes itself from the rest of the nation, especially also from its intellectual leaders, in the way American “socialites” do, they unavoidably become the target of rather hostile criticisms on the part of those whom they keep out of their own circles. The exclusivism practiced by the American rich has made them in a certain sense outcasts. They may take a vain pride in their own distinction. What they fail to see is that their self-chosen segregation isolates them and kindles animosities which make the intellectuals inclined to favor anti-capitalistic policies."


Accessed from http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/1889/109991 on 2008-09-07
This material is put online to further the educational goals of Liberty Fund, Inc. Unless otherwise stated in the Copyright Information section above, this material may be used freely for educational and academic purposes. It may not be used in any way for profit.

The only change since 1956 I see is that now librarians, Hollywood/ TV celebrities, and rock stars see themselves as "the molders of public opinion and the harbingers of the ideas for the future," and have become anti-capitalistic. They support for the most part, Barack Obama over John McCain, both wealthy non-intellectuals, with well placed friends in the business world.

McCain Street in Ohio

Lots of things puzzle me about politics. This is a big one. Why are Democrats and media complaining that Palin is being kept under wraps? What do those two owe the press? Or hostile Democrats? Since Thursday McCain and Palin have been in Wisconsin, Michigan, New Mexico and, now back to Ohio where he made the announcement--was it just a week and a half ago?
What: McCain Street USA Rally in Lebanon, OH on September 9th

When: September 9, 2008 7:00AM

Where: Outside of The Golden Lamb
27 S. Broadway
Lebanon, OH

Core Values and Principles of Free Enterprise

The Cline Center for Democracy at the University of Illinois is named for one of its very successful graduates, Richard G. Cline and his wife, Carole J. Cline. It has four programs, and I was only looking at the objectives of this one, the Program in Democratic Governance and Societal Welfare. The first objective is to conduct a program of research that refines our understanding of (1) the relative benefits of democracy for societal welfare, (2) how democracies can best be structured and supplemented to enhance human well-being, and (3) how best to achieve optimal institutional arrangements in diverse democratic societies.

From there I looked at how The Cline Center scholars see free enterprise and social welfare. We know what Marxists and Socialists and Progressives want (redistribution of all resources which will be under the control of government for all citizens except the party faithful, who get more; see here for definitions and explanations), but what about the rest of us, especially Christians? None of these economic systems are specifically Christian or non-Christian because all are grounded in material, not spiritual matters.

- Free enterprise conceptions of welfare are grounded in materialism, the satisfaction of material wants and needs, and the promotion of material progress. Correspondingly, the acquisition and holding of property is at the heart of this value. Also related to the materialistic foundations of free enterprise is that social welfare is conceived of in terms of improvements in the level of material well-being of individuals. Therefore, when free enterprise proponents gauge its impact on societal welfare, they examine its impact on levels of wealth, as opposed to, for example, the distribution of material wealth. Equality of opportunity is valued, not equality of condition.

A second value is individualism. Thus, a high premium is placed on a core set of individual freedoms and liberties. This core set of values includes the choice of employment; the use of various forms of property as one sees fit; and the unencumbered enjoyment of the benefits that accrue from fruits of one’s labor or utilization of one’s property. The idea of “individualism” also encompasses the value of individual initiative, entrepreneurship, and the importance of the profit motive or the individual pursuit of self-interest. Free enterprise theory maintains that it is through these mechanisms that free enterprise economies provide for societal welfare. However, to achieve these ends free economies must function in an environment of free and fair competition.

I agree with Mr. Obama!

Catching the ABC interview this morning, I found one thing on which we agree. It is offensive, very offensive, for some Christians to question his faith. He's offended, and so am I. I don't like it at all when "holier than thou" Christians question why I'm not a dispensationalist, or why I'm a 6 day creationist, or why I don't support the death penalty based on my faith. Who are you to judge? Jesus' work on the Cross on our behalf is about salvation, not about agreeing on the theological details. Jesus was apolitical, and the only stake he has in this election is how Christians behave themselves. It's ugly all around.

Have you ever read his testimony? I'd match it against most members in any one of the mainline Protestant churches and many evangelical. (I saw it at a UCC site.) Whenever I meet a new person at my church, the chances are 99.9% that they aren't a convert, they are a transfer. We Christians are making little impact because we just keep trading off our members. We are to be presenting our testimony not to amuse ourselves or increase memberships, but to make converts. If you don't like that, take it up with Jesus Christ.

Mr. Obama and Mr. Jindal are both the face of America, one whose father and extended family was/is Muslim and the other whose family is/was Hindu. Both are converts to Christianity and have achieved political power in our times that almost couldn't have been believed 10 years ago. I side with Jindal on his conservative politics, but I'm thrilled both are going to be in heaven with me. I'm in this for the long haul, not for November 2008. There will be no political rancor there; only worship.

Fay, Gustav, Hannah, Ike and Jeri

Poor Haiti! Probably the poorest country in our hemisphere and it's been hit by some bad hurricanes this late summer. And now Jeri. Oh, she's not a hurricane. She's Jeri Platt, a Columbus Methodist who has been on many mission trips to Haiti, and she's a fabulous watercolor artist. The Visual Arts Ministry hung a show of her wonderful paintings of the Haitian people at the Church at Mill Run, 3500 Mill Run Drive, Hilliard, OH 43026. There will be a reception for the artist next Sunday afternoon, 2-4 p.m. The show is on the second floor in the main corridor, September 6-October 16, 2008.

Update: We went over to Mill Run after the first service at Lytham to see how it looked (We were out of town when it was hung). I think there are 24 paintings, and they are just wonderful. NOTHING IS FOR SALE! She uses her art to tell the story of Haiti and Christian missions. But if they were for sale, I'd be in line.

Absentee and recounts

It could get messy. If the election is close, if there are recounts, there will be howls, protests, and conspiracy theories, to say nothing of sex, lies and video tape and the main stream media pushing for their guy. Here's how a U. of I. professor of political science, Brian Gaines, sees it:

The extremely tight 2000 election, and resulting dispute over the Florida recount, raised some uncomfortable questions about the U.S. voting system. Have we adequately addressed those concerns? Are there other potential issues or controversies waiting in the wings in the event of another close contest?

"Unfortunately, there's no such thing as a fool-proof electoral system. Blunders and fraud can creep into many different stages, from ballot design, to eligibility screening, to tabulation. Recounts often reveal serious problems. New Mexico's handling of the 2000 presidential election was a shambles, but the state was spared scrutiny because all eyes were on Florida. Washington state had an orderly, uncontroversial recount in its U.S. Senate race that year. The secretary of state crowed that his state managed recounts properly, so watching them was "like watching grass grow." Four years later, his successor oversaw a tumultuous triple recount in which new, previously overlooked ballots emerged late in the process, reversing the outcome. I'll hope for a controversy-free election, but if it is as close as I expect, there will probably be serious problems somewhere. Personally, I worry about the huge growth of absentee voting. Hardly anyone ever points out that absentee ballots defy modern practice by not being secret. Secret ballots emerged in the 19th century as the main device to prevent vote buying and intimidation of voters. We've quietly rolled back that reform in the interest of boosting turnout, on the assumption that decentralized, non-secret ballots are secure. I'm not confident that's right, and I expect a blow up over systematic abuse of absentee ballots by some campaign one of these days."

Then add all the motor-voter, convict voting rights (Democrats want these votes) and soldiers stationed abroad (Republicans want these included), the elder vote who wants to vote at home, all the questioned residency of college students voting for the first time, and we may not know for months who the next president is. These folks don't necessarily turn up in the polls we are reading day to day. The fact that these aren't "secret" will probably be an issue to keep lawyers employed for months, if one party or the other makes an issue. Also, we can expect to see dead people voting again in certain large blue cities as well as large turnouts of confused voters who can't read or figure out the ballots and so someone will demand a recount. Not the whole state, but just certain precincts or counties with identifiable blocks of voters. When it rains or gets cold in Ohio in November (that's a lot, folks), or when the lines are long and the polls close, or if certain people feel intimidated because of the neighborhood or the church where they vote, of if the community organizers from ACORN messed up, or the media talking heads guess it wrong too early, it will be the Republicans fault. About that, I have little doubt.

David Axelrod makes Karl Rove look like Snow White

So says one reader of this BusinessWeek article about the brains behind the Obama campaign, David Axelrod.

David Axelrod has long been known for his political magic. Through his AKP&D Message & Media consultancy, the campaign veteran has advised a succession of Democratic candidates since 1985, and he's now chief strategist for Senator Barack Obama's bid for President. But on the down low, Axelrod moonlights in the private sector.

From the same River North address, Axelrod operates a second business, ASK Public Strategies, that discreetly plots strategy and advertising campaigns for corporate clients to tilt public opinion their way.

And maybe it was a joke, but another reader left a comment asking for "a great infumercial telling what a community organizer is."

More scarce than a banned book?

The Obama nation; leftist politics and the cult of personality is a very scarce book in Ohio libraries, one of the most critical states in the election. At UAPL, there have been 18 requests for the one title that is circulating, and as near as I can tell from the record, there are 2 more copies in various stages of slowly, slowly dressing and primping to come out of the backroom and basement. God forbid that a library director or collection head should ever anticipate a need based on the cultural and social make-up of the community who pays her salary!

Not much chance that these requests will be filled before the election, is there? Also, hundreds, maybe thousands of regular readers are like me and just don't place a hold when they see the line--it's no different than the line at the restaurant or bank. You just leave. But librarians have their rules. Yes, indeedy. 1) buy slowly when you have the magic number of requests you can't fill; and 2)quickly swamp your shelves with anti-Bush books, even the most obscure and non-reviewed.

Cuyahoga County Public Library (suburbs of Cleveland) has 31 copies, none of them available; Columbus Public Library owns 56 copies with 148 requests. Ohio State has zero copies, but that doesn't surprise me. I mean, young people don't vote, right? It tends to a 100 or so scholarly titles like Bush's brain, All the President's spin, and Bushwacked plus two titles on impeaching him in the Law Library and eleven lauditory titles about Obama.

Banned Books Week (BBW), sponsored by the useless American Library Association which has never been able to get librarians a middle-class wage, is coming up--last week in September. Remember, folks. It all starts with what isn't purchased, not with complaints from the library users. Librarians politically are more liberal than the ACLU, Hollywood, and MoveOn dot org combined. For every registered Republican librarian, there are 223 Democrat librarians to out-buy them. Library purchases are critical to the success of a title. The chances of a conservative book getting to the new bookshelves are slim to none unless you request it. And even then, the chances aren't good. Librarians would rather be left behind than choose right.

What some people say

Some say Sarah Palin doesn’t have enough experience to be a heartbeat away from the presidency. Others say Obama has no experience to be the heartbeat of the presidency. She at least probably won’t make this mistake, having been in the executive office of our largest state. This was mentioned by Paul Feldman, a WSJ reader.

In his speech last week “he listed lots of “I will” statements but most of those things are prerogatives of the Congress, not the president.”

Maybe if he’d spent more time in the Senate and less on the road running to leave that job, he’d know that?

An Ohio Democrat, Kathy Dunn, says there’s no comparison between Hillary and Sarah. Agreed! Governor Palin got where she is without riding her husband’s coat tails, she’s not a lawyer, didn’t go to a private girl’s school, and wouldn’t have carpetbagged her way into office, as Hillary did in 2000 looking for an open Senate seat since there wasn‘t one in Arkansas.

Al Hubbard says that Americans are wiser than they are given credit.

“They seem to know that if you restrict supply and tax production, prices go up.”

But Al, that gives Washington more reasons to bail out the voters to build a bigger, more helpless base!

Ellen Goodman compared Bristol Palin to Jamie Lynn Spears and calls Sarah Palin a bridge to nowhere. If both teens had been pro-abortion and acted on those values, Goodman would have been applauding.

Does Ellen know Biden and Obama both voted for “the bridge to nowhere.” Governor Palin stopped them.


" ’I kissed a girl and I liked it;’ Then I went to Hell" is a church sign in Columbus referring to a tune by Katy Perry about lesbian love. Equality Ohio has identified 300 churches in Ohio that welcome gays. Must be a part of that whopping 8% of the population that belongs to Main Line protestant denominations. Nothing is killing Protestantism like the incessant pressure from liberal members to ordain and marry gays. My church welcomes gays too--and the divorced and shacking up, and the embezzlers and wife beaters, and the druggies and alcoholics, the gossips and snipers. God doesn’t grade on a curve, but gays will need to go elsewhere to marry. I’m sure there are ELCA pastors in Ohio who will violate their ordination oath, or whatever that is called--or do violence to the meaning of marriage in scripture. But it won’t happen at UALC (3 campuses, new service times).

Not even Bill Ayers, Obama’s mentor, used this excuse

Two men charged with the beating death of a homeless man with a baseball bat to the head repeatedly, say they “never meant any serious harm.” Contrast this lame excuse with Bill Ayers saying his bombing of the capital didn’t do enough (as reported in the New York Times on Sept. 11, 2001) “I wish we’d done more,” he complained.

84.7% of the U.S. population is covered by health insurance, which obviously is no guarantee that you’ll survive a trip to the hospital. 2,000,000 people acquire bacterial infections in U.S. hospitals each year, and 90,000 of those patients die as a result. (Seen in WSJ )

I see that Chicago children are boycotting their schools this week. A little help from a community organizer, I suspect, because usually children don't think these things up. What happened to all those millions that Bill Ayers poured into Obama’s career to look into the school problems in Chicago? Wasn’t anything corrected during Obama‘s leadership from 1995-1999 of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, and sitting on the Board of CAC until 2001?

Equal pay for equal work? Is that tired canard coming up again? Yes, ladies when you also relocate as often as men, publish as much as men, join as many organizations, play as much golf (yuk) with your enemies and friends, and learn to negotiate your FIRST salary (on which all else builds), and don't stop out for 4 or 5 years, then we’ll talk equal work.

In March 2005, what about unequal pay among women workers of different ethnicity?: "A white woman with a bachelor's degree typically earned nearly $37,800 in 2003, compared with nearly $43,700 for a college-educated Asian woman and $41,100 for a college-educated black woman, according to data being released Monday by the Census Bureau. Hispanic women took home slightly less at $37,600 a year."

Did you hear that John Edwards is charging more now for speaking engagements than before the scandal. Well, he does have an ill wife and three frightened children to support. Speaking of multiple homes. . .

That tingly guy, Chris Matthews on August 10 (video) "called the question, “What has he done?”, a show-stopper. No one could point to a single effective action Obama has taken to cross the aisle, while everyone acknowledged that John McCain has taken actual risks to do so. David Brooks tells the room that Republican Senators and staffers insist that Hillary Clinton works across the aisle and keeps communication open, but Obama has never bothered to do that, and both Democrats and Republicans on the Hill agree on his arrogance." from Hot Air. So why is Obama and staff outraged to be the butt of do-nothing jokes at the Republican Convention?

Would you hire this candidate?

At AIA Archiblog Nick Ruehl, an architect and mayor, was blogging about what he saw and heard at the conventions, and compared the candidates’ speeches to how architects try to sell themselves to potential clients.

"We are constantly trying to find folks who will vote for us. We (or our marketers) write all kinds of words and phrases that try to explain who we are, what we will do, how we will do it, and what we’ve done it in the past. We add our best graphics, shake and bake and put it out there for all to see. When we make it through to the interview shortlist, we refine our message, dress the part, and make the pitch.

How does that selection committee make a decision? Based on some rational, objective, weighted criteria that flows through a spreadsheet to a final score? Based on our relationship that we have developed with the prospective client? Based on the network of relationships that our prospective client has with our current or past clients? Style? Attitude? Our past work?"

. . . "the election will ultimately be won on which candidate is trusted most by the voters. I said that I believed people hire their architect because they trust him. Joe was quick to say that he would hire an architect for his home because the architect is more creative than he. He would look at the architect’s past work, check references, and see if the architect performed relative to schedule. He really placed a high priority on creativity.

As we drilled down a little more, I asked him if he thought it was important that the architect he would hire reflected the client’s spirit or his own? He talked about needs (space) and then continued on with comments about volume, light, exterior connection, interior design, etc. I then asked him if he would hire an architect that he didn’t trust to reflect his spirit. His eyebrows rose again.

So, whom do you trust to be America’s lead architect for the next 4 years?”

I’ve seen a lot of marketing in my 48 year connection on the sidelines of architecture. As a sole practitioner since 1994, my husband did almost no marketing (we paid for a yellow pages one line entry), it was all done word of mouth, people seeing the finished product and liking it, reputation, showing up at the selection process, his honesty and trustworthiness, and working with a younger developer early on who had promise and more connections to the building industry. His final (we think) home in Lakeside is getting so much attention for a beautiful, spacious design on a tiny lot (33'), that he's getting calls to come out of retirement. In fact, I remember when that client called two years ago--I first told her he had retired, but I passed her phone number on to my husband. She had seen another house he'd done. Fortunately, she was more desperate for a good architect, than he was for retirement.

When my husband was a partner in a larger firm, one of his partners responsibilities was to beat the bushes for “votes,” and he worked his network of social organizations like symphony, arts memberships, clubs, temple, churches, former clients and family contacts (he had several generations of family in Columbus and his father had also been an architect). What Ruehl doesn't mention (maybe because he isn't old enough), eventually that type of marketing winds down--everyone in your network is probably your age, unless you have a huge marketing arm (my husband's former firm probably only had 20 employees). Everyone, even architects, run after the "youth vote," which is why there are so many forgettable, awful boxes and baubles sitting around our cities and vacation communities passing for good design.

So I'd look at past work. That's why Mr. Ruehl, I'm by passing the flash and clever marketing and voting for past record and yes, how he touched my spirit. McCain's speech was not highly rated Thursday night, and he followed a line up of some of the worst speakers in the Republican party. But I have a confession. I hate campaign speeches, and Governor Palin's and John McCain's were the first convention acceptance speeches I'd ever watched since 1956 when I knew I was going to write a school paper on it (my parents didn't have TV--don't remember where I watched it).

McCain and I don't agree on immigration and the global warming hype, but his speech Thursday at the convention was the first time I'd ever actually listened to him, consequently there wasn't "too much Vietnam," as some have complained. (My children are 40 and Vietnam was ancient history to them in school; I'm sure they couldn't place it on a time line of the 20th century.) I was deeply moved by his account of how he had changed from a self-centered, risk-taking fly boy into a man who was broken, but saved by his love for country and his comrades who helped him survive torture, unset bones, and starvation. It wasn't his description of torture, because he barely touched that. It was the remarkable change in him. I've never been asked to risk anything, have never encountered any of the sacrifices he's made. Maybe that's why he touched my spirit.

I want someone better than me to lead the country. Obama's not that person. Obama's just a younger, smart alecky me. I'm voting McCain, not because of Sarah Palin, although she's the reason I tuned in, but because he touched my spirit.

Same ol', same ol'

Obama's education plan is business as usual says World Magazine. Just more billions thrown at even younger children.

Since Congress passed the first Elementary and Secondary Schools Act in 1965, every president has offered his signature education proposal. Carter promised to establish a federal Department of Education (and did); Reagan threatened to abolish the same (and didn't). Bush I had his Goals 2000, Clinton his Improving America's Schools act, Bush II his No Child Left Behind. Education reform has become such a fixture of the campaign season no one seems to wonder why education still needs reforming—didn't we already do that? In government bureaucracies, "reform" usually means something other than reform. Obama's plan is no exception.

In all Fairness

Nancy Pelosi plans to strip you of your right to hear an alternate view to the Obamedia, and the DBS (Democrat Broadcast System). I don’t think she plans this for the left wing press, however. Today I picked up a copy of The Free Press, published by the Columbus Insitute for Contemporary Journalism, which according to the verso of the cover is “a 501(c)3 nonprofit tax-exempt organization, whose mission is to conduct, sponsor, encourage and support journalistic activity, including research, investigation, writing, publication and distribution of materials that addres contemporary social issues.” That’s a lie, or course, it’s beyond muckraking, in fact, gives that fine 19th century tradition a bad name. Now why is there no call for these rags to be balanced? Is it because no one reads anymore? I picked it up at my local library, which feels a strong need to stock free-circs but not Christian or conservative magazines and books.

I'm a wife, mother, daughter, sister, retiree, Christian, conservative, friend, volunteer, painter, blogger, Lutheran, and an educated female, and there's not one thing in this publication for me! It's pure trash. But I think they should be allowed to publish their demands for impeaching Bush, digging up Columbus to find the original tracks for mass transit that were buried in a conspiracy, lies about an oil shortage, homage to Algore, quotes from Greenpeace, and a whole 2 pages of jokes by Cynthia McKinney, and Obama's inability to escape his race (has anyone but him mentioned it?). Oops. I just saw something I liked. An advertisement about voting with a paper ballot. That would be good.

Freepers, creepers,
Where’d you get those bleepers?
Whoppers, bloopers,
Where’d you get those lies?

Gosh, all mighty
Why y’all up tighty?
Commies, Marxists
Speaking lies to power.

Here's a REAL community organizer

No kidding. I wasn't even looking for him, but I recognized the description from the stunning resumes of other COs most recently in the news.

"Through his remarkable ability to master languages, media and ideas, his insights into the importance of organization and social sructures, and his intuitive grasp of the needs and possibilities of his era, he was able to forge an alliance between thought and action which made his name a wonder of its age."

No, it wasn't Obama in late 20th century, it was John Calvin in the 16th century. "A life of John Calvin," by Alister E. McGrath, Basil Blackwell, 1990, preface. But why go for reformer when you're already the Messiah?

Cindy McCain was very impressive

She's not accustomed to giving speeches, but I thought she was terrific. Check it out.

Todd Palin introduced Cindy at a lunch on Thursday, according to WSJ. He said, "If someone had told me 10 days ago that I would be introducing Cindy MCain, I would have thought that they were a little nuts," Mr. Palin said to big applause. "But then, if I had a crystal ball a few years ago, I might have asked more questions when Sarah decided to join the PTA."

What we missed five years ago

Five years ago we travelled to California and back on Amtrak to celebrate the 90th birthday of my husband's father, returning to Ohio shortly after Labor Day. We saw the Grand Canyon and Glacier Park (plus a whole lot of scenery you can only see from the train) and all the fabulous California stuff. Unfortunately, Glacier was having huge forest fires. Here's what we missed--at Bonita's site.

The Cellophane House

And for their next trick. The environmentalists and green design folks will probably try to foist this one on us, which truly exceeds the awful boxes that the USSR threw up in the mid-20th century to demonstrate their political theory, pizzazz, and how much they cared.

“The Cellophane House is a dwelling designed for mass-customization and minimal environmental impact, modular on a room-to-room basis and as an entire unit. It’s composed of 85-90 percent recycled material and its component parts are largely assembled off-site. It may be the tightest synthesis yet of Modernism’s dreams of orderly and egalitarian dwellings with the sustainable ideals of the current era.” Photo and story from AIArchitect This Week.

And what happens when you convince the general population to not be wasteful and the price of "recycled materials" soars? Or when bio-fuel hybrid efficient cars cause the government to lose gas taxes? Or when there are fewer dump trucks going to the landfill (a story in our local papers)? Well, guess what? The price of whatever you have left--materials, fees and taxes--just goes up.

Luther or Calvin

I always score higher as a Calvinist than a Lutheran on these internet quizes, so I thought I'd better look into it. Grace Brethren has purchased the church building up the road about 1/2 mile--it is a grand daughter of my "home" denomination, Church of the Brethren (Anabaptist--left the progressive Brethren in the 1930s which developed from an earlier 19th century split) but I think it's basically Baptist in theology and style with some dispensationalism on the side. Is that Calvin? Maybe someone could clarify this for me.

Today I pick up:

The following items, which you requested, are now available and being held for you at the library.
Author: Luther, Martin, 1483-1546.
Title: Martin Luther's basic theological writings / edited by Timothy F. Lull ; foreword by Jaroslav Pelikan.
Call Number: 230.41 Lu c. 1
Item Class: 28 Day Circ

Author: McGrath, Alister E., 1953-
Title: A life of John Calvin : a study of the shaping of Western culture / Alister E. McGrath.
Call Number: B Calvin c. 1
Item Class: 28 Day Circ

Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick

At our home on Lake Erie this summer, it seemed all we heard about was Mayor Kilpatrick. Folks, this wasn't just about sex, as you might read in an AP story.

"Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick pleaded guilty to two felony counts of obstruction of justice on Thursday morning. Kilpatrick will forfeit his office and serve 120 days in jail, ending a scandal that began when the Detroit Free Press published raunchy text messages between Kilpatrick and his ex-chief of staff. Messages proving that, in spite of Kilpatrick's testimony during a civil lawsuit, the pair had, in fact, been knocking boots.

As much as Detroiters are relieved to be rid of their lubricious, dissembling mayor, Barack Obama has to be even more relieved." Story

Was it only this past May Obama was in Detroit seeking support of this super delegate?

OBAMA: So I want to first of all acknowledge your great mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick, who has been...(APPLAUSE)
... on the frontlines -- has been on the frontlines doing an outstanding job of gathering together the leadership at every level in Detroit to bring about the kind of renaissance that all of us anticipate for this great city.

And he is a leader not just here in Detroit, not just in Michigan, but all across the country. People look to him. We know that he is going to be doing astounding things for many years to come.

And so I'm grateful to call him a friend and a colleague. And I'm looking forward to a lengthy collaboration in terms of making sure that Detroit does well in the future." Obama speech in Detroit in May, Right Michigan

More smears, but who’s counting?

I take most of my blog entries and links from journalists writing for real newspapers (or their blogs), even the ones I don't like (NYT, WaPo, LA Times) but increasingly the MSM is going to the hyperbologs for their sources. Crazy, innit? I'm just an elderblogger and I find better sources than trained, whipper-snapper journalists. Soledad of CNN has 4 children, I've heard (possibly gossip). I wonder why she isn’t at home with the kids? She’s obviously a bit addled by the responsibilities of a 24 hour news channel.

“I just watched CNN's Soledad O'Brien sandbag former White House Communications Director Nicole Wallace by asking her how Sarah Palin can claim to be a defender of special needs children when she cut the budget for that Alaska office by 62 percent. Wallace wasn't familiar with the charge -- which isn't surprising, since it's only being made on DailyKos and another liberal site. (Tip for Ms. O'Brien: DailyKos is not a reliable news site.)

This charge is based on looking at the budget for Alaska's Special Education Service Agency for 2007-2009. In fact, the December 2006 budget document that they cite would have been prepared by the outgoing administration -- that of Republican Frank Murkowski, whom Palin defeated.

What's gone unmentioned is that Palin signed into law a dramatic reform of the state's education financing system that equalizes aid to rural and urban districts, while significantly increasing funding for special needs students." More details at Weekly Standard Blog

Just what is a community organizer?

It got some laughs last night at the Republican Convention--that much ballyhooed resume filler. But it’s not really that funny. ACORN is no joke. Obama's job is outlined at Windy Citizen who says “community organizer” has more in common with the “brutal contact sport of Chicago politics than it does with any kind of charitable act, such as serving food to homeless people.” Saul Alinsky was the Godfather of community organizers.

“One of the most important lessons that Alinsky taught community organizers is not to rely on high-minded ideals like "brotherly-love or "the common good" to get people to fight for particular goals. Instead, as a community organizer you are always looking for ways to appeal directly to a person's self-interest, whatever that may be. This is not to say ideals do not matter to community organizers. But at the end of the day, an ideal is only as good as what it can help you accomplish.

So, if you are a community organizer and want to organize an area, you first try to meet with as many indigenous leaders as possible, the kinds of men and women who populate neighborhood churches and civic groups that others will listen to and naturally follow. The purpose of these one-on-one meetings is not to become their friend. You want to find out what their self-interest is so you can use it. This includes milking their personal connections to expand your base of support. As a community organizer, the sole source of your power is your relationships. And the more people you have in your pocket, the more likely it is that you can use them to get what your base wants.”

"This is also what most coverage of Obama's days as a community organizer fails to appreciate. For whether you are an Alinksy-schooled community organizer or a Chicago politician, you are a student of power. If you have survived long enough to succeed in either position, like Obama has, you have learned not to worry so much about the power you have. What keeps you up at night is the power you do not have. In community organizing and politics, you know the only thing that can hurt you is what you cannot control.[like Gov. Palin?]" John Maki, Windy Citizen

Obama's blog is run by Sam Graham-Felsen, an avowed Marxist who writes for socialist and marxist publications, but apparently not often enough to earn a living which is why he's on Obama's payroll, blogging. Anyway, today's entry is supposed to be an answer to just what is a community organizer. David Plouffe his Campaign Manager says he helped people who were out of work. Well, gee whiz, I did that in 1983 through JTPA. I'll have to go back and look at my resume--I don't think I had any indoctrination in political theory or methods.

"The transition of the old Democratic Party to what exists today should not surprise or confound conservatives. Nor should Alinsky's tactics seem foreign. After all, for nearly 40 years, Republicans and the conservative agenda have been getting hammered by the left through the successful use of Alinsky tactics.

In that cause, radicals and the liberal-left gravitated toward the print and electronic media, toward the university professorate and the law. The left, consciously or unconsciously, adopted Alinsky's rules. The impact changed the nature of the Democratic Party and the direction of the United States. Increasingly, the left is succeeding in changing the nature of the Republican Party as well.

Suffice to say the greatest change has taken place in the relationship between the state and the individual. America is rapidly descending from a representative Constitutional Republic to a collectivist empire controlled by elites of one sort or another." Saul Alinsky and DNC Corruption

Update: USAToday rushes to defend the honor of Barack Obama, who is hurt and angry that his "community organizer" position was a joke at the convention. You know folks, the Obama people started this by denigrating her position as mayor when McCain first announced his choice. As James Taranto noted: "Obama spokesman Bill Burton quickly denounced McCain for proposing to put "the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency." This took a degree of chutzpah, since the Democrats have just spent four days touting Obama's experience as a "community organizer" as a central qualification to put him no heartbeats away. Even after listening to those speeches, we're still not sure what a "community organizer" is."

If you can't stand the heat, Team Obama, stay out of this lady's kitchen.

Granny Gloria

Daniel Henninger observed today that "Gloria Steinem is 74. Sarah Palin is 44. Times change." Gloria seems to think this choice for VP was a ploy to get Hillary's supporters. Says Hillary and Sarah "only share a chromosome." Like they're the only women (or men) who matter. I guess she never thought about the millions of conservatives like me who haven't had anyone on the ballot since Reagan. The millions of families who are middle class and work for a living and can't identify with the elitists on the ballot and don't want their taxes raised. The millions of families who don't want us to abandon our allies. The millions of families who have members who need special care but don't want to dispose of them. Hey, I didn't even get to vote for Reagan because I was a Democrat in those days and didn't like him. So when I vote the McCain-Palin ticket, it will be the first time I ever voted for a conservative at the national level. Like many conservatives, there was a really good chance I was going to sit this one out. McCain made a good choice.

How the liberal media treated a Bush daughter

About a year ago, I blogged about first daughter's new book on AIDS. Here's what liberals thought of her effort.

Jenna Bush's book for young people

Jenna Bush has authored a book "Ana's Story; a Journey of Hope" (HarperCollins, 2007, 209 pp. $18.99). It is non-fiction, for teenagers and about AIDS, is based on 6 months of conversations with women and children with HIV or AIDS when the president's daughter was working with UNICEF. It was reviewed, probably reluctantly, by Bob Minzesheimer in USAToday. In general, he was positive, pointing out it was easy to read with 35 pages of sources addressing common myths about AIDS and HIV. The paper edition differed from the online version. In paper he wrote that it doesn't address how much U.S. support should go to organizations that distribute condoms as opposed to religious groups that promote only abstinence. How picky is that? Reviewers and talking heads always want the book they themselves didn't make the effort to write and publish. I wonder if Minzesheimer would board an airplane that had the same failure rate as condoms?

In another column this reviewer points out that when Oprah even mentions a title (Eat, pray, love; Middlesex) it leap frogs to the top of the best seller list. That won't happen to a book by a conservative, even if the topic is one of her favorites.

The commenters at the revised online article are the usual collection of Bush-haters and author-wannabees complaining about favoritism. They are well worth reading for their ignorance, pomposity and narrowmindedness, just in case you'd forgotten how green the left is. If even five young people read this book and decide that HIV is probably something in their future if they don't change their lifestyle, she will have achieved her goal.

Speaking of AIDS and abstinence, The invisible cure: Africa, the West and the fight against AIDS by Helen Epstein (Farrar Straus & Girous, 2007) reports on the Uganda campaign of "zero grazing," "love faithfully," and "sticking to one partner," later known as ABC (Abstain, Be faithful, use Condoms). Uganda's decrease in HIV began in the late 1980s, and its approach became standard policy for the USAID and President Bush's PEPFAR. Uganda experienced an unprecedented decrease in HIV during the 1990s. The US policy experienced howls of protest and outrage because of its religious implications. However, "an increasing number of scientists have concluded that an ABC approach is supported by scientific evidence . . . 1) condom use hasn't been effective in epidemic areas (they are used inconsistantly and create more risk taking) and 2) number of partners and overlapping relationships is the key to increase or decrease in spreading sexual diseases. Epstein says multiple concurrent relationships create the "super highways of hyperepidemics," and casual sex constitutes the "on-ramps." The reviewer (JAMA, August 6, 2008, pp. 587-589) reports that Epstein challenges many sterotypes and myths about Africans.

Liberals can't tell snarl from snark

The woman they love to hate. This piece by a female, liberal journalist [Hillary Chabot] shows what we can expect from the media.

"A feisty Sarah Palin charged straight at Barack Obama last night as the virtually unknown governor of Alaska transformed herself into John McCain’s snarling campaign pit bull last night before cheering delegates and the eyes of the nation at the Republican convention."

I watched the whole speech. She was charming and direct; she pulled no punches; she built on the jokes told by Giuliani and Huckabee, both entertaining speakers. And worst of all for liberals, socialists and marxists, she told the truth. She smacked back at Obama's staff and his allies in the media unkind, belittling remarks about her town, her experience and her state. She put the MSM on notice that they weren't going to tell her what to do because she wasn't going through that sorority pledging process, or show up at their parties, so they could just go find some other gal who cared. Oooo, that must have smarted. This was no snarl, but it was the truth told with a smile and a sparkle in her eye.

This [Barack Obama] is a man who can give an entire speech about the wars America is fighting, and never use the word “victory” except when he’s talking about his own campaign,” the combative Palin said.

“But when the cloud of rhetoric has passed, when the roar of the crowd fades away, when the stadium lights go out and those Styrofoam Greek columns are hauled back to some studio lot - what exactly is our opponent’s plan? What does he actually seek to accomplish, after he’s done turning back the waters and healing the planet?

“The answer is to make government bigger, take more of your money, give you more orders from Washington and to reduce the strength of America in a dangerous world. America needs more energy, our opponent is against producing it. Victory in Iraq is finally in sight, he wants to forfeit.”

Here's a good example of the press misstating and misinformation:

"She leaned heavily on her own biography, introducing her husband, Todd, as a commercial fisherman, a union member, a world-champion snowmobile racer and an Eskimo. She described herself as a mom-turned-politician with the "same challenges and the same joys" as other families." WaPo

She specifically said his heritage was Yup'ik, not Eskimo (Todd Palin's grandmother), at least to my ears, and called her husband a snow machine champion. Maybe those are little slip ups, maybe not. The news is all about slant.

Snarls are for Jeremiah Wright; attacks are for Bill Ayers and the Weathermen. Governor Palin is just a sweet little lady with a lace glove across the face when the big boys get too close compared to Obama's friends and mentors. But sometimes the truth hurts.

What do Alaskans think of Governor Palin?

Deb Frost writes at American Daughter her opinion

She has EXECTUTIVE experience *running a government* (something NONE of the other candidates can actually boast, even John McCain) as Governor of Alaska and got there by defeating the *incumbent* Republican Governor, who was definitely part of the ‘old school’ and who WAS very much in the pocket of the big oil companies. We in Alaska wanted change – and we got it in the person of Sarah Palin!

Sarah Palin is everything she looks to be and more. Her approval rating as Governor of Alaska has been as high as 95% and is currently leveled out consistently in the upper 80 percentile throughout the state (and in both parties) - the HIGHEST approval rating of ANY sitting Governor.

Sarah has been turning around corruption in the Legislature of Alaska - turning things on their ear for that matter; cutting spending in spite of the increased income the state is currently receiving due to the high oil prices - she has insisted on putting a huge amount of the ‘windfall’ into savings for the future rather than spending, spending, spending - and has insisted from the get-go on what she refers to as ‘honest, ethical and transparent governing’ - no more closed door meetings and dealings - the big oil companies thought she would be a pushover and have learned better to their chagrin.

She understands the ‘real people’ and the economic issues we all face (Alaskans along with the rest of the country) - she was one of ‘us’ not long ago. Rather than passing useless ‘laws’ or throwing money at pet projects, she (most recently) temporarily suspended the state gas tax (on gasoline at the pumps, fuel oil and natural gas for homes, etc.) and has ordered checks issued to ALL residents of Alaska this fall in an attempt to assist with the burden of high fuel costs for the upcoming winter. I could go on and on, but that’s enough for now. She isn’t doing these things to be popular – she is doing it because her constituents are HURTING financially and she can help.

She became Governor of Alaska by defeating the Incumbent Republican Governor and doing it *without* the money or the support of the Republican Party, which was amazing in itself - and she won by a landslide. The ‘powers that be’ at that time totally underestimated Sarah and learned better the hard way. She has done exactly what she claimed she was going to do and is just as popular today as the day she was elected - perhaps more so since even the Democrats up here seem to like her - she works well with both sides in the Legislature here.

No wonder our leftist media are quaking in their high heel sneakers.