Wake up America, and smell the gas

"The first results of the survey indicate previous assessments have severely underestimated Turkmenistan's gas reserves. The BP Statistical Review of World Energy, an industry bible, sets the country's reserves at 2.67 trillion cubic meters. Analysts expect that to be upgraded in light of the information on South Yolotan.

The findings suggest Turkmenistan should be able to confidently move ahead with plans to boost its exports of gas. At the moment, it sells most of its gas to Russia -- about 50 billion cubic meters a year, which is mostly resold to Ukraine -- and a little to Iran. But it has plans to export to China and Europe too, as well as significantly boost sales to Russia. China is building a pipeline from Turkmenistan that will have the capacity to bring 30 billion cubic meters a year, and Ashgabad has also agreed to sell 10 billion cubic meters to Europe. The European Union hopes that a gas pipeline will one day be built across the Caspian Sea, which would enable direct imports of Turkmen gas, bypassing Russia." WSJ, Oct. 16, 2009

Now that the fifth largest natural gas field in the world has been found in Turkmenistan, let‘s review what Governor Palin of Alaska, which has the mother load of energy resources for the USA, told Charlie Gibson about our relationship with Putin and former Soviet republics like the Ukraine. You didn’t see this part of the interview because ABC which is in the tank for Obama was trying to make her look like a beauty queen ingénue.

GIBSON: And under the NATO treaty, wouldn’t we then have to go to war if Russia went into Georgia?

PALIN: Perhaps so. I mean, that is the agreement when you are a NATO ally, is if another country is attacked, you’re going to be expected to be called upon and help.
But NATO, I think, should include Ukraine, definitely, at this point and I think that we need to — especially with new leadership coming in on January 20, being sworn on, on either ticket, we have got to make sure that we strengthen our allies, our ties with each one of those NATO members.

We have got to make sure that that is the group that can be counted upon to defend one another in a very dangerous world today.

GIBSON: And you think it would be worth it to the United States, Georgia is worth it to the United States to go to war if Russia were to invade.

PALIN: What I think is that smaller democratic countries that are invaded by a larger power is something for us to be vigilant against. We have got to be cognizant of what the consequences are if a larger power is able to take over smaller democratic countries.

And we have got to be vigilant. We have got to show the support, in this case, for Georgia. The support that we can show is economic sanctions perhaps against Russia, if this is what it leads to.

It doesn’t have to lead to war and it doesn’t have to lead, as I said, to a Cold War, but economic sanctions, diplomatic pressure, again, counting on our allies to help us do that in this mission of keeping our eye on Russia and Putin and some of his desire to control and to control much more than smaller democratic countries.

His mission, if it is to control energy supplies, also, coming from and through Russia, that’s a dangerous position for our world to be in, if we were to allow that to happen.

Reduced to holding pancake breakfasts?

I checked the website of the Prairie Fire Collective, the Weatherman group created in the late 1970s by Bernadine Dohrn and Bill Ayers. There was an ad on the page for a pancake breakfast fund raiser, although it was for December 2006. You really don't know whether to laugh or cry.

The Prairie Fire Collective favored coming out of hiding, with members facing the criminal charges against them, while the May 19 Coalition continued in hiding. A decisive factor in Dohrn's coming out of hiding were her concerns about her children according to Wikipedia. The Prairie Fire Collective started to surrender to the authorities from the late 1970s to the early 1980s. The remaining Weatherman Underground members continued to violently attack US institutions. East coast members favored a commitment to violence and challenged commitments of old leaders, Bernadine Dohrn, Bill Ayers and Jeff Jones.

Here's their statement of purpose. It has Bill and Bernadine written all over it.

We oppose oppression in all its forms including racism, sexism, homophobia, classism and imperialism. We demand liberation and justice for all peoples. We recognize that we live in a capitalist system that favors a select few and oppresses the majority. This system cannot be reformed or voted out of office because reforms and elections do not challenge the fundamental causes of injustice.

Prairie Fire Organizing Committee.

The unrepentent Bill and Bernadine Ayers

Bernadine Dohrn and Bill Ayers turned themselves in on December 3, 1980, in New York. Charges were dropped for Ayers. Dohrn received three years probation and a $15,000 fine. These criminals and others of the anti-war protest groups who tried to destroy the USA in the 1960s and 1970s went scot free and government officials who had violated privacy laws during their investigation were tried during the Carter Administration, receiving stiff fines, prison terms and ruined careers. They were later pardoned by Reagan. [See Wikipedia article which contains citations]

Here's what Bill Ayers, who provided the spring board for Barack Obama's career in leftist politics by including him in the Annenberg Project to radicalize Chicago school children, said in 1970. To my knowledge, he hasn't recanted, but Palin is roundly criticized by the MSM and Obama campaign as "racist" for bringing up his friendship with Obama.

"We were talking the other night and we realized that all our heroes are dead. Wow, what a trip! Ché, Nguyen Van Troi, the Vietnamese who tried to get McNamara. We're running their pictures in our paper with the line 'Live Like Him!' and they've all been killed. Outtasight, man. We've got a new slogan for the people that are going down to help with the sugar harvest: 'Cuba is for the Living!' "

Ayers' remarks typify Weatherman's tendency to define its situation in terms of extremes. Building socialism in Cuba is for the living; overthrowing American imperialism is a death trip. Weatherman, as early as the action in the streets of Chicago, already had begun to live in the shadow of death. Not long after the "Days of Rage," Weatherman would compensate for its death trip mentality with hedonistic orgies. Like a pendulum, moving from one extreme to the other, Weatherman swung from death trips to life trips to death trips … . Bill Ayers is quoted in an article by John Kifner, "Vandals in the Mother Country," New York Times Magazine, January 4, 1970. This quote appears in the publication, Weatherman, by Harold Jacobs, Ramparts Press, 1970. p. 86

Independent, non-profit, non-partisan, pt. 2

When I encounter a new name or organization I first go to the “about us” page, and then to the “funding” if I can find it (and that’s extremely difficult because so many political, community and church organizations both on the left and the right try to disguise or downplay this), and I then look at the “staff” or “advisory board” or “contacts” if possible (that too is sometimes hidden, but you may find an address).

SourceWatch (a wiki) mentioned below defined itself as “a collaborative project of the Center for Media and Democracy to produce a directory of the people, organizations and issues shaping the public agenda.” However, when I looked up that organization and moved past its own glowing descriptions, I found this definition at Activist Cash.com.

“The Center for Media & Democracy (CMD) is a counterculture public relations effort disguised as an independent media organization. CMD isn’t really a center it would be more accurate to call it a partnership, since it is essentially a two-person operation.” . . “Their books Mad Cow U.S.A. and Toxic Sludge Is Good for You! were produced and promoted using grant monies from the Foundation for Deep Ecology ($25,000) and the Education Foundation of America ($20,000), among others. Along with the more recent Trust Us: We’re Experts, these books are scare-mongering tales about a corporate culture out of control, and each implies that the public needs rescuing. Guess who the heroes in this fantasy are? “

If I had scrolled through more stuff on the SourceWatch page and found these titles, I could have figured out all by myself that it is a shill for leftist causes.

Of course, this means I have to go to the “about us” page of Activist Cash.com and find out who funds them.

“This site, created by the Center for Consumer Freedom, is committed to providing detailed and up-to-date information about the funding source of radical anti-consumer organizations and activists. We have analyzed over 410,000 pages of IRS documents to create this database, and new information will be added every month.

The organizations we track on this site are tax-exempt nonprofits. That means you have the right to know what they're up to. The same rule applies to the tax-exempt foundations that pay their bills.”

So then I need to find out what is Center for Consumer Freedom who is paying the bills for Activist Cash.com who is checking on Source Watch who is watching the speaker from AEI who is telling the health care employees at a conference this week, how to use incentives, which just might be affecting my own personal health.

At its “about us” page I learn that

“The Center for Consumer Freedom is supported by over 100 companies and thousands of individual consumers. From farm to fork, from urban to rural, our friends and supporters include businesses, their employees, and their customers.

The Center is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. We file regular statements with the Internal Revenue Service, which are open to public inspection.”

Looking through their material I see a lot on the food and nutrition industry and animal rights scams. So now I know it represents business interests of its clients, so we’re right back to the socialist do-gooders fighting the nasty mean capitalists, or WHAT ELSE IS NEW?

Independent, non-profit, non-partisan, pt. 1

These words have lost their meaning in today‘s political climate. They might have meaning for their tax status, but not their reliability, their slant or values. Ignore these terms when seeking information and do more than a cursory background check before trusting.

Today I was attempting to look up information on a “consumer health care incentives” conference taking place this week. I found that web page from a table of contents that a publisher sent in an e-mail to a librarian list. All the conference topics used what I would call either jargon or mush terms--impossible for the outsider (like me who worked in a medical library for 14 years) to discern. But I could figure out the conference logo--a large carrot dangling in front of buildings labeled hospital, insurance company, government, etc. inside what looked like a stamp. So I examined the list of speakers and just picked one, Thomas P. Miller, who was presenting a paper for AEI, American Enterprise Institute, which I would define as libertarian in its economic views, conservative in its social views, and all over the map politically. Over the years I have found their reports and papers to be trustworthy and well-researched, even if I don‘t always agree with their conclusions.

After browsing Mr. Miller’s resume I found a google link directing me to a wiki, Source Watch. Wikis are all over the internet--they are user-created encyclopedias and they are not peer-reviewed--your 13 year old could contribute and probably has because anyone can edit the information an expert just contributed 30 minutes ago. The most famous wiki is probably Wikipedia, but they are proliferating like pet rabbits loosed after Easter. Sometimes a wiki can help you get someplace, but they are not in the same class with Encyclopedia Britannica which began publishing in 1768 or The World Book that you may remember from your schools days. Their advantage is they often contain really obscure information that isn’t available in a true encyclopedia.

Next entry will continue this theme, but now it's time to go to the coffee shop.

What Sarah really said to Charlie

Remember how she was denigrated and dissed for that interview? Read the full interview and see what was edited out. She had a whole lot more to say about Russia and Iran than what we heard.

The Charlotte Front and Center is a PUMA website for Hillary supporters and it is supporting McCain-Palin in their anger over the sexism and misogyny by the Obama people and supporters in the MSM.

Book TV

Each week I enjoy tuning in a few minutes or hours to Book-TV on C-SPAN, and it was gone! There in its place was a tour of Korea. So I googled asking what had happened to it. It's now on 94, which means I can't get it in my office because I don't have a box.

Bucyrus, Circleville, Columbus, Delaware, Galion, Kenton, Lancaster, Marysville, Mount Gilead, Mount Vernon, Pataskala, Thornville and Zanesville channel lineups

Big Ten Network will move to Standard Channel 58.

When available, BTN alternate games will air on Digital Channels 153-156.
Travel Channel will move to Basic Channel 14.

Time Warner Connection returns to Channel 24.

C-SPAN 2 will move to Digital Broadcast Channel 94.

Product Information Network (PIN) will launch on Digital Variety
Channel 166.

I just hate it when they mess with my favorites.

Vote from Home--in Columbus, Ohio

What a handsome group! Marc Gustafson, the founder, seems to be in two places at once--Columbus, Ohio and Oxford University where he is in Middle East Studies. His permanent address for campaign contributions is New York. He speaks Arabic.

Vote from Home is a Political Action Committee established in 2007 by a group of Marshall, Rhodes, Fulbright and Truman Scholars. VHF's mission is to recruit and track early Democratic voters in Ohio for the 2008 Election.

Walter Cronkite, former news man and Robert N. Downey of Goldman Sachs are listed on the Advisory Board of his other organization Reach The World, which Marc also founded. Marc and his group, none of whom are from Columbus, decided they needed to come to Ohio to register Democratic voters. Who knows if it is legal. They are living on Brownlee, according to Michelle Malkin. How much of this is going on in the critical states under various names? Why do these carpetbaggers think the residents who live here and pay taxes here can't be trusted with the ballot? Do we need snobby, east coast kids who travel around the world and study in Europe to come here for a few months and 'splain it to us dummies? We've got 50,000 students on one campus at OSU, plus Capital, Wittenberg and Columbus State. With OCLC, Chem Abstracts, Battelle, and OSU we are the information capital of the USA. But apparently we're too dumb to know how to register and vote!

Update: Story about the group on Brownlee in Columbus Dispatch.

How to get our tax money back from ACORN

I just sent off my absentee ballot. I took the warning on the bottom seriously:

"Whoever commits election falsification is guilty of a felony of the Fifth degree."

Didn't even say "voting" just falsification. ACORN has been committing a lot of election falsification in Ohio and saying it's up to Jennifer Brunner to figure it out because it can't be responsible for all its workers. Then Brunner says she can't be expected to correct it--there isn't time.

So I looked up 5th degree felony (Ohio felony sentencing law by Burt W. Griffin and Lewis R. Katz is the source cited on the 'net). The penalty is 6-12 months in jail and a $2,500 fine. What if ACORN had to return to the jurisdiction $2,500 for every falsified registration? Might put a huge crimp in that $800,000 Obama gave them for "services." What if Brunner had to pay up for election falsification?

The house on Brownlee according to Malkin contains out of state folks here only long enough to register others, and vote absentee. They are Marc Gustafson, Heather Halstead, Daniel Hemel, Jen Kyle and Greg Nolan. Nice, clean cut looking Ivy League type kids (except Gustafson and Halstead (a couple?) are no kids) working for non-profits, government and businesses, all here to steal our election. Two Truman scholars and two Marshall scholars. Tell me again, Heather MacDonald what exactly you don't like about Sarah Palin's small town, western values and ethics? I'd put her up against these moral midgets any day.

Why wasn't a 92% death rate enough?

Better science doesn't always mean a better life (Nov 2005). At least not a Down Syndrome baby. A faster, more accurate test for Down Syndrome.

Published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine (Nov. 10, 2005 issue), the study is known as the FASTER trial (First and Second Trimester Evaluation of Risk). It was funded by a $13 million grant from the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development – one of the largest ever grants for an obstetrical study.

But even in 1998 the termination rate following a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome was 92 per cent Research here.Think of it. $13 million of our tax money so parents and doctors can know even earlier. Does an earlier abortion cause less guilt? Less grief as the years go by?

Dear Heather MacDonald

While on my walk this morning I listened to your complete interview on Laura Ingraham [your article here]. As I understand it, when you go to the polls in 3 weeks you are choosing between Barack Obama and Sarah Palin, not Obama and McCain. You think Obama has a better grasp of economic issues than Palin because he is articulate, thinks things through and has degrees from prestigious institutions (you didn't actually say that, but it was implied with typical east coast arrogance). Also, although Obama isn't staying home with his children and believes Down Syndrome babies should be aborted, you finally conceded when pushed by Ingraham that Palin should stay home with her baby, because that is the traditional conservative view.

Here are five points you overlooked.

1) Of the four people running for office (and you're right either Joe or Sarah could become president the day after the inauguration), Sarah Palin is
a) the only one with conservative credentials, and
b) the only one with balls.

2) Of the four people running for office, Sarah Palin is the only one who didn't have the opportunity in 2006 to turn this Fannie/Freddie subprime mess around and save the economy. John McCain tried for more regulation, Joe Biden and Barack Obama sided with all the other Democrats and fought it. These three Senators failed to save us.

3) Of the four people running for office, most of the Congress, the President, most of the cabinet, and most especially the Ben and Hank club, Sarah Palin is the only one who did NOT go to one of those prestigious schools like Dartmouth, Yale, Harvard or Columbia.

4) Of the four people running for office, Palin is the only one who doesn't stammer and stutter off teleprompter, who hasn't been coached to lie to us through nonsensical press interviews. Although I'm plenty sick of the phrases "Joe Six-Pack" and "Hockey-Moms" and might have preferred a ticket of say Mitt Romney and Condi Rice, conservatives didn't want a Mormon, and Democrats don't allow black women, even Republicans, to leave the plantation.

5) And read the research, Heather. It is the marriage of women to the father that reduces poverty among children, not whether she stays home or works. The idea behind welfare was a government plan to keep women at home with the children. See how well that worked out?

Where is the laundress when you need her?

Last week I did some ironing--and tackled a bit more this morning. The Laundress seems to be rather erratically blogging these days. I don't know if she had as much laundry as she claimed, but it was always interesting.

The 20 lbs I lost 2 years ago have been creeping back since our trip to Ireland last September, to which was added all that pasta in Italy in June. So I got out some cotton slacks that were too big for me the winter of 2006 but now are bulging where they shouldn't. There's a rule of thumb in weight loss--5 lbs is a dress size (assuming you aren't obese). This rule doesn't work for slacks, at least not for the pear shaped maiden/woman. For slacks, it's the rule of thigh, not thumb. I'd guess 7 lbs, and you've blown it. Although it probably depends on where you carry your weight. Say what you want about Hillary's legs, but this is the healthiest body style--slim waist, heavy thighs and legs. Sure, you don't get those Hollywood or modeling jobs, and no one chases you at the beach, but you also are less likely to have heart attacks, diabetes and breast cancer as you age.

This week I packed up at least 5 or 6 pair of slacks and jeans that ranged from size 4 to 8, (expensive brands have a come-on of smaller size tags), all purchased at the Discovery Shop for about $4 each. Some were wool, some cotton, some poly-whatever blend. I'm back in the 10s, at least until I can get control of that craving for Pumpkin ice cream that is only available this time of year. In the fall I'm like a squirrel preparing for a long winter.

The house is loaded with food I don't usually keep on hand. We got the bad news Monday that our house guests won't be coming--she's in the hospital in Alexandria, VA with pneumonia. And since they live in Huntington Beach, CA, they aren't too happy about that. So having too much food around is a small problem compared to what these dear loved ones are going through. It's never fun to be hospitalized, but if you have to be, better close to home where you have your own doctor, and your kids are near by.

So if your prayer list isn't already jammed, please add a total stranger, sister Kate.

Are you an artist?

Here's some instruction on the web by James Gurney that will make you weep with envy and fill you with resolve to get all those supplies out and ready to go! I used to do that sketching trick from the van windows when we'd travel back from Lake Erie with watercolor pencils.

Why Blacks are supporting Obama

1) He's pro-life, 2) he won't withdraw the troops until the job is done, 3) Sarah Palin is his VP choice. Wow.



HT Dr. Sanity and Cheat Seeking Missiles

If you were poor or low income

sitting on the edge of the bottom quintile, hoping to move up a notch, which would you prefer:

1. a job in an Ohio coal mine in Appalachia at $25/hour, or a job at an interstate McDonald's at $8/hour serving the people from Columbus and Cleveland who come down to see the fall colors in Appalachia


2. the opportunity to shop at a Walmart on the outskirts of your community once a week, or driving 60 miles after filling the tank for the round trip to a Walmart 2 counties away to shop once a month


3. living in your humble 2 bedroom home which grandpa bought in a not so great neighborhood near your friends and church, or being pushed into a balloon mortgage out in the suburbs by developers who bought the land with the help of city council rezoning to "revitalize" the down town


4. being denied access to military recruiters who might make promises and come through on 50% of them, or hang out on the street corners with your friends and do a few drugs


5. a job that has potential but no guarantees, or the security of a steady income stream from WIC, low income housing support, food stamps and SCHIP


6. a used automobile that's not very fuel efficient or bus transportation that might get you within 2 miles of shopping and the doctor's office


7. a used automobile that's not very fuel efficient or a fancy 10 speed bike and snappy lycra shorts with matching helmet

Don't answer based on your income or education in 2008, answer truthfully what you would do if your income was $20,000 a year. Think local, not global, as the tree huggers would say. You can't create another scenario. This is my fantasy, not yours.

The Death Penalty

Unlike many Democrats who support the death penalty for inconvenient or impaired babies, and many Republicans who will save babies but not wretched criminals, I do not support the death penalty. But if I did, Ohio's own fatso complainer, who first claimed he was too fat, then that he got fat in prison, surely deserved it. If you want to read more about this worthless piece of slime, for whom Jesus gave his life because all of us are fallen and don't live up to God's standard of perfection, read Cheat Seeking Missiles.

Anthropogenic global climate change

That big word means simply, "human caused,"--it's the same word stem as "anthopology" the study of humans, or "anthopomorphic," giving God human qualities or attributes. Anthropogenic global climate change theories and worries may be the absolute height of ANTHROPOCENTRICITY, the belief that humans are the most significant entity of the universe and everything must be interpreted in terms of our experience, especially science. Are you ready to come down a notch or two.

The human contribution to the greenhouse effect is 0.28%. Ocean biologic activity, volcanoes, decaying plants, animal activity, etc. (none of which we can control) accounts for 4.72%, and 95% of it is caused by water vapor. Feel better now? Less guilty or more helpless? If these stats make you feel more helpless, it's because of your wanting to feel powerful, the root is your anthropocentricity. If you feel less guilty, then you probably suspected all along they were feeding you a load of crap.

And here's some more. The human contribution to sources of CO2 emissions is 3.4%. Nature does the rest--96.6%.

Every region, state and city seems to be writing and passing standards and legislation for either green house gases, or CO2 emissions or both while we the voters watch Dancing with the Stars or cheer the Buckeyes or pull our hair out over the Bengals. Wake up America. They are stealing our country (what we haven't already destroyed with sloth, gambling, pornography, hedonism, and turning away from God) with massive e-regulations you never voted on that will put Kyoto to shame. The EPA is expanding at such a rate, that the head may soon have to fight Hank Paulson to determine who is the most powerful!

Ohio is already loaded with this alternative-save-the-planet stuff, with only lip service being given to the economic advantages of clean coal, which is God's stored sunshine and energy just waiting for us to be grateful. And don't you think the rest of the country isn't eyeing Lake Erie--the next battle over water will make fights over oil look like squabbles on the playground!

Read this policy analysis on the expanding authority of the EPA.

A financial crisis, not an economic crisis

Could have fooled me, but here's what an expert says. And wasn't it the experts that got us into this mess?

It turns out that John McCain, who was widely mocked for saying that "the fundamentals of our economy are strong," was actually right. We're in a financial crisis, not an economic crisis. We're not entering a second Great Depression, says Casey B. Mulligan is a professor of economics at the University of Chicago.

How do we know? Well, the economy outside the financial sector is healthier than it seems.Daily Policy Digest, digesting Casey B. Mulligan, "An Economy You Can Bank On," New York Times, Oct. 10, 2008

Following the Jennifer Brunner story

Maggie is on top of this. Check out her story If you Democrats think your guy is so great, there's no need for him to steal the election. And you Republicans keep in mind the local elections matter too.

"Acorn -- the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now -- has been around since 1970 and boasts 350,000 members. Acorn is now getting more attention as John McCain's campaign makes an issue of the fraud reports and Acorn's ties to Barack Obama. It's about time someone exposed this shady outfit that uses government dollars to lobby for larger government, says the Wall Street Journal." Read more.

Bailing with a hole in the bucket

Guest blogger Murray says:

I know that you know it is not too comforting knowing that the same people who allowed this country's subprime mortgage crisis to happen are the ones that our government put in charge of fixing it. I also know that you know that they really don't have the slightest knowledge how to fix it. I also know that you know that this is really a bailout to the Wall Street high flyers and the sleazy investment banking business. Now they are adding the very bankers that caused the stink to the team assigned to fix the problem. It seems that once you're in bed with them you can't get rid of them. Kinda like bedbugs.

Since it's the subprime mortgages that are the basis of the problem I would think the first thing they would do is put a stop to making these ridiculous loans. They have not done this. Banks and mortgage companies are still creating such loans. You can go to google and ask for "low price no money down mortgages" and you'll find all kinds of ads for these kinds of loans. It's pretty obvious to me that if we don't stop loaning with no money down and bad credit the "bailout" will go on forever.You can even apply on line. Here are a couple of examples:

http://www.mortgage-helper.com/zerodown.html

http://www.forthebestrate.com/no-money-down-mortgage.aspx

OK, the damage has been done. Our astute legislators are throwing billions of our hard earned tax dollars all over the place. They say not to worry cause the are going to sell these worthless mortgage packages and they will get the money back. Why... they say we might even make a profit!! Well, let me tell you. IF THEY DO FIND SOMEONE DUMB ENOUGH TO BUY THESE WORTHLESS PACKAGES JUST WHAT DO YOU THINK THEY WILL DO WITH THE MONEY? Pay it towards the national debt? No, No, NO..... They will do the same thing they always do. THEY WILL SPEND IT. Folks, once they voted to spend that 700 billion, that money was spent never to return. That money can only be returned by you and I. The tax man cometh. If OBAMA gets elected it will come immediately. Find a way to protect yourself. Your first attempt would be to vote for McCain as feeble as that may be.

MURRAY

Why can't OSU cite its own or peer reviewed research?

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. It's happened twice now in about 6 weeks. If I see something health related in my OSU human resources site I think I should expect something other than shilling for an anti-aging supplement company. I noticed an article under Wellness about Vitamin D and immunity. It's flu season so I clicked on it and it brought up an interesting page (reformated from the original) about vitamin D research. I made the assumption I was reading research from the University's canyons of labs, offices, gov't grants and libraries, but by the time I started rolling through footnotes that began with #25, I realized something was wrong. So I scrolled to the bottom and got a link to Life Extension Magazine, a pop-health webpage that sells anti-aging supplements! And it wasn't even current--it was almost 2 years old!

The first time I was caught was a scare story about plastic baby bottles--that link led to an advocacy page loaded with the words, "might," "could," "it is thought," and nothing concrete out of thousands of studies.

If an OSU researcher has a break through, ah-ha moment, and it's out there at a popular science or consumer health website, by all means, let us know. But don't be making stuff up, folks, and sending off to buy supplements.

Meet the most powerful man in the world

until January 20, 2009. Who said you wouldn't get to the top with a degree in English (the degree of choice for directionless students when I was in school)?


Henry Merritt Paulson, Jr., was born on March 28, 1946, in Palm Beach, Florida. He graduated from Dartmouth College with a bachelor's degree in English in 1968 and from Harvard University with a master's degree in business administration in 1970.

Paulson began his career as a staff assistant to the assistant secretary of Defense from 1970 to 1972. He then became a member of the White House Domestic Council in the administration of Richard Nixon, serving as a staff assistant to the President from 1972 to 1973.

After his time in Washington, D.C., Paulson joined Goldman Sachs, an investment bank, at their Chicago offices in 1974. He became partner in 1982, and from 1983 until 1988 he was the head of the Investment Banking Services for the Midwest region. In 1988, he became managing partner of the Chicago office, and in 1994, he was appointed to the position of President and chief operating officer. In 1999, he became chairman and chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs.

President George W. Bush nominated Paulson as secretary of the Department of Treasury in 2006, and the U.S. Senate unanimously confirmed him on June 28, 2006. As the seventy-fourth secretary of the Treasury, Paulson is the leading policy adviser to the President on domestic and international economic affairs.

From The American Presidents On line reference source at Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904

Marxism, a refresher

All history, according to marxism (named for Karl Marx 1818-1883) is a struggle between the exploiter (in modern times, the capitalist) and the exploited (the worker). The struggle will only cease when capitalism is destroyed and a classless society exists. The golden age arrives when private property, marriage, nationality, and religions are abolished. Religion is a tool of the oppressor, as are conventional or traditional ethics and idealism (including humanism and liberalism). High on the list of marxist ideals are concern for public health, a sense of public duty (even if it has to be required), mutual respect, moral purity, modesty, brotherhood above family, race and class, and a solidarity with working people everywhere. Fraternity with capitalists, of course, is excluded from these principles, and class hatred is permitted for the cause of assuring justice. For Christians, this is most clear in Liberation Theology and Black Liberation Theology, both of which have made great inroads in both conservative and liberal Christian groups, who have become impatient to "bring in the Kingdom" while expelling God and replacing him with "the poor."

Beginning in Latin America, Liberation Theology is based on the belief that the Christian Gospel demands "a preferential option for the poor," and that the church should be involved in the struggle for economic and political justice in the contemporary world—particularly in the Third World. Dating to the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) and the Second Latin American Bishops Conference, held in Medellin, Colombia (1968), the movement brought poor people together in Christian-based communities, to study the Bible and to fight for social justice. However, since the 1980s, the church hierarchy has criticized liberation theology and its advocates, accusing them of wrongly supporting violent revolution and Marxist class struggle” (Columbia University Encyclopedia 2004).

Black Theology developed alongside Latin Liberation Theology and had its roots in the Civil Rights and the Black Power movements of the 1960s. In the process, many “black ministers consciously separated their understanding of the gospel of Jesus from white Christianity and identified it with the struggles of the black poor for justice.” Rev. Wright correctly credits two books written by James Cone, “Black Theology and Black Power” in 1969 and “A Black Theology of Liberation” in 1970, that made liberation the organizing centre of his theological system and subsequently of many Black churches.While Latin Liberation Theology was concerned with classism and Black Theology was concerned with racism, both held a common concern for the poor (Westminster Dictionary of Christian Theology 1984). Orthodoxy Today

Liberalism used to mean free from restraint, particularly from a system, like the church or a federal or national government. It eventually came to promote the interests of the middle class which included helping the disadvantaged and minorities, non-violence and environmentalism because in the long run, liberals would benefit. In past years, liberals and marxists were hand shaking enemies because marxists can't tolerate personal freedom. But liberals were much more hostile toward conservatives who see justice as a moral code existing outside their own vested interests (usually but not always, God), so increasingly liberals in the USA have assisted and promoted and been swallowed up by the marxists.

Barack Hussein Obama is not a Muslim, he is a Christian and a marxist as illustrated above--they are not necessarily incompatible. If your "Christian" label pre-dates Liberation Theology, you'll just have to adjust. Get over it. But whatever label you give him, he hates capitalism, which means he is not good for America and your 401-K or your annuities or your health plan (or Europe, or the struggling Third World economies, for that matter). This is clear in the way he has taken advantage of the huge meltdown of capitalism in the past month, almost prematurely dancing on its grave, while rushing in with the claim that he will save us from the jaws of death. He is funded and backed by notorious criminals both here and abroad, progressives and marxists who go by a variety of names--like George Soros, Moveon.org, Hate America First, Daily Kos Kids, and ACORN who are about to dismantle our right to vote, and then will go after our freedom of information. I would add the feminists in that marxist crowd, except they're the only ones who are true to their team and have stayed poor--they haven't been much use to him except to make the coffee like the good old days of the 60s.

Some Christians amaze me

Not because of their good works, or their awesome miracles, their faith that moves mountains, but because they have any faith at all. I was reading Andy's account of the death watch at his father's bed. We've done this twice--in 1996 for my sister and my husband's step-father. You are with them, and yet they aren't there. But I didn't rush to the hospitals in Bradenton and Indianapolis loaded with personal baggage. How much harder that would have made saying good-bye. Andy writes:

We had a good week anyway. We laughed a lot, and cried a little. We spent time with funeral home staff members, lawyers, doctors, and nurses, but we still had a lot of time left over to reminisce, to compare memories and to try to make some sense out of the chaos of a home that featured an alcoholic, crazy mother and a philandering, adulterous father who would grab his car keys and drive away whenever the butcher knives appeared, my mother’s weapon of choice to torment the kids. He ran away from us all his life. Now he can’t run anymore.

He’s left behind a mess. His estate, such as it is, was left to a former roommate who is now dead. His latest will, which was supposed to designate my Columbus sister Cathy as the recipient of his home, was never signed, and so the good State of Ohio gets to figure it all out. My dad’s house apparently goes to the estate of the former roommate. Whoopee. I’m washing my hands of the whole affair, even though technically I’ve been named as the executor of his will. It’s what I told him I would do, and would not do when he told me he was leaving the house to his roommate. I refuse to execute injustice, at least if I can help it.

Many days I remember to thank God for my fine, upright, honest parents, who worked hard and loved their children and extended family, always available for moral and economic support. And I ask forgiveness for the many times I was cranky or short with them when they didn't see things my way. After all, they weren't "fun," they rarely talked about our accomplishments (would be unseemly), we didn't take vacations, they often ignored my demands for more attention, they insisted that I do the right thing, be respectful and have good manners. I had to go to church, had to earn my own way, had to do well in school (actually, they never, ever said that--it was my own idea based on what I thought they wanted). They wouldn't take my kids off my hands when I was desperate for a break and oftened ignored my own failures at parenting, and just looked the other way! My Dad could be so casual about money that one time he sent me $10,000 (coupon bond) in the U.S. mail uninsured with no information or explanation about what it was. Even when I was 60 years old he thought he needed to remind me to put on an apron, but by then I could get back at him by hugging him, something not on his list. Some of the best times I had with Dad were the last two years of his life, and I still wonder why we waited so long. And when their time this side of eternity was over, they simply closed their eyes and were gone. Then there are the days I completely forget about them and think I got here all on my own, without their genes, love, hard work and discipline. Andy's blog was a good reminder.

65th wedding anniversary, 1999

At least she's honest

When looking through LibGuides that I mentioned a few posts back, I came across a library guide (don't remember the institution) for information on global warming. All of it led to sources that I would call pro-anthropogenic (human caused) climate change. One of the nice features of LibGuides is you can e-mail or text message the librarian who created the resource for additional information. Their photos are even posted--and I tell you, librarians today are much more attractive than my graduating class. Anyway, she responded: "This guide was created to support a teach-in that was not intended to present the other viewpoint." I'm not sure how a librarian assigned to a "teach-in" differs in responsibility from preparing materials for a regular class, but I suspect either way, you get the view of the librarian, not a range of viewpoints and studies.

Librarians always bring their personal values and viewpoints to their work--maybe moreso than some other professions. Librarians have a value system that is a blend of missionary and social worker. They are do-gooders in sensible shoes. When I was at the Ohio State Veterinary library, I purchased a nice collection of pet health books--the kind you can buy in pet stores for owners, not for researchers or veterinarians, the people I was hired to serve. It was my personal view, and it was not in my collection statement which gave the official version, that better educated pet owners would benefit both the animal world and the veterinarian. Also, I had lots and lots of unassigned gift money. In those days, my library was both the first stop or last resort for both children and adults because the public libraries had so little. Nor could a public library afford to buy books on relatively obscure breeds or pets (I also had an excellent collection for owners of snakes, flying squirrels, hamsters, rabbits, llamas etc.) I think I saved a lot of animals' lives by advising students to use a plant species instead of animal for their science project. If a beloved pet died, I often got the call. Well, was I going to describe Cushing's Disease in Fido from a textbook or a breed specific book? (And yes, of course, I would tell them to talk to their vet, but these people were in deep shock and grief.) And then you find out he was 18 years old and had practically been on life support for two years, and the owner was still grieving. So you put all those research skills aside and just listen letting the other work pile up. In my own mind, I justified stepping away from my primary duties as good PR for the college and library opting for the long range benefits rather than short term gain.

But I don't know why other librarians do what they do, except I know absolutely that politics goes with them to the work place. When you look at a library guide whether on-line or in print, look for what's missing.

Getting a head start on stealing the election

American Thinker poses a scenario where Obama and McCain are neck and neck after a last minute rally by McCain in the final weeks of the campaign. The polls are closed and McCain is leading by only 50,000 votes and then. . . our Secretary of State (register-and-vote-on-the-same-day Jenny) "discovers" some uncounted votes in Cuyahoga County.

"Meet Jennifer Brunner, Ohio's real life Secretary of State, whose actions in the lead up to this election have been so shamefully partisan -- violating both federal and state law in the process -- that it is doubtful any result on Election Day from Ohio is going to be accepted as credible.

Coupled with the outrageously illegal registration activity of ACORN and the shockingly illegal actions of the Obama campaign itself and what you have is an effort to not only "count every vote" but also steal as many votes as will be necessary for Obama to win the state on Election Day." American Thinker

Everyone in Ohio knows we have these thousands of phony registrations--people were bussed in to vote during that one week of same day vote registration. Legitimate, legal early voters saw them, saw the vans, busses and out of state license plates, the "community organizers" herding their flocks, some drunk and disorderly. Now Brunner's excuse, even as ACORN admits the problem that they've signed up all these non-eligible voters (more than we have voting age citizens), her excuse is there isn't time or resources to check all these registrations before Nov. 4. The Obama campaign has hired ACORN to do its dirty deed--to steal Ohio.

Our last Governor's term ended in disgrace because of some unreported golf games with cronies and an obscure fund raiser's misdeeds. This Governor, Strickland, a former Methodist pastor, needs to get down on his knees, do some soul searching and clean house or he won't even get as high a rank (50th) as Gov. Taft.

Sub-prime, from the archives

I wrote this April 25, 2007, complaining about the way the topic was written up in USAToday. It began with the obligatory sob story, and it wasn't until the middle of the article you found what was going down. Even so, I gleaned these facts from the article (perhaps the reporter figured the editor wouldn't read that far). I haven't changed a word of it, so all this was well known 18 months ago long before we knew this meltdown was going to happen. The only words missing are CRA and ACORN. It was reported in the news, discussed on talk radio and cable panels, and commented on in the blogosphere. And still people are falling for Obama's ridiculous lies.

A closer look at the middle paragraphs:

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

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

And you wonder why I call Obama a marxist?

Actually, the real reason is all those Soviet history courses I took back in college, the PL 480 books I cataloged, and my Chinese roommate whose family lost it all under Mao, but here are three more reasons a bit more current, seen at the Taxman Blog about Obama's interview with Charlie Gibson. Gordon calls it socialism. I think B.O's well beyond that when you look at the encouragement by his campaign of sexism and misogyny, add up the millions coming from foreign countries that will never be investigated because of Congress, the thousands being illegally registered to vote in the swing states that can't be verified because of lack of staff and desire on the part of Democrat officials, and the felons in Florida swamping their ability to check. These are old tactics, maybe a bit more sophisticated than 1917 and 1949, but they still work:

Listen to Obama's interview.

1) He doesn't care if the capital gains rate increases Treasury receipts, he's raising it out of "fairness".

2) Democrats refuse to drill to lessen our energy dependence, even if it means struggling workers pay more for a gallon of gas. Caribou are more important than people....


3) Never mind that the end result of the Fannie Mae was a worldwide financial meltdown, democrats still think it's a good idea to push loans for people who cannot/will not pay them back.

He hasn't changed much, has he?

In an interview with Jet, Feb. 26, 1990, a pop culture magazine published in Chicago for African Americans, we find that no accomplishment of an African American is good enough, high enough, or satisfactory enough for Mr. O. Not even his own.

Barack Obama, a 28-year-old second-year Law student, was elected in balloting by last year's editors [student law review, Harvard]. Obama, a native of Hawaii, said his election shouldn't be seen as a sign social barriers have been broken down.

"I wouldn't want people to see my election as a symbol that there aren't problems out there with the situation of African-Americans in society," he said. "From experience I know that for every one of me there are a hundred or a thousand Black and minority students who are just as smart and just as talented and never get the opportunity," he added.

By 1999, 58% of Chicago's blacks had some college or a college degree; 54% were home owners; 39% were married; and 43% were white collar workers. (Marketing stats from N'DIGO). I'm sure the 2008 stats are even higher. And I'm just as sure, it's not good enough for Mr. O.

Can you name another nation in the 21st century with a black president or black presidential candidate who could claim statistics like this for his black population?

It's possible you weren't even aware of the black middle class because our race baiting media hide their wealth, accomplishments and achievements. It's also possible you didn't know that 100% of American historically black Protestants believe that God is alive and well, compared to about 63.6% of Mainline Protestants (mostly white). Unfortunately, about 98% of those God-fearing folk are going to go to the polls and vote for a false Messiah.

10 million documents on tobacco

50,000,000+ pages. Give or take a few. Hurry before California melts down and look at its Legacy Tobacco Documents Library. I was a librarian, I've seen it all, but this is awesome.

I found it through Library 2.0, LibGuides of Babson College Horn Library, which has 248 guides, and the ones I looked at (about 6 or so) were all current within the month. The geology librarian at OSU had heard about LibGuides which has almost 18,000 guides at the CIC geoscience Librarians meeting.

Today I was following a pick-up truck with some construction materials in the bed. It had a bumper sticker that read, "Librarian, the original search engine." Must have bought it used, because he didn't look like any librarians I know.

Worst advice I've ever heard

Last Thursday my husband called me into the family room to check out the Dr. Phil show. We sat there in stunned disbelief as we heard absolutely the worst advice on finances anyone could possibly be promoting. In fact, if his TV audience actually did what he said, I'm sure we would have been in a total financial meltdown by Saturday! I'm sure Phil and his friend Oprah and Rachel all have enough to get by, but there are a few retail clerks, waitresses, builders, truck drivers, etc. who need to stay in business. I'm surprised he didn't cause a run on banks and a new purpose for mattresses.

Barack's cousin Odinga

Jerome Corsi was being interviewed this morning on the radio. He was detained (not imprisoned) for a few hours in Kenya, and not for promoting his book (he only brought his personal copy) as the AP erroneously (surprise!) reported. All his papers were in order and clearly stated the research nature of his trip. He went to Kenya to dig up some more dirt on the relationship between Odinga and his cousin Barack Obama, who had been his campaign advisor (this is illegal, btw, for a sitting senator to be involving himself in another country's election). Seems the campaign theme was "hope and change" and that when Odinga didn't win, his supporters took to the street rioting in a seige of ethnic violence. In Kenya, there's a slight difference. You shout out the other tribe's name; in the U.S., you just shout "racist." And instead of threatening rape, as an Obama supporter Sandra Berhard has done during our 2008 campaign, you do it to women and boys as they flee their burning home.

The dead, who had been barricaded inside the church, were members of the country's dominant Kikuyu tribe. They were among hundreds that sought shelter in an Assembly of God church near the western Kenyan city of Eldoret. The city is a stronghold of the nation's main minority tribe, the Luo. According to witnesses, a mob barricaded the church and started the fire with gasoline-soaked mattresses. While many escaped through open windows, at least 30 victims and possibly dozens more were trapped in the flames.

The incident was the most violent of several that have erupted in Kenyan cities since a hotly contested presidential election. Sitting Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki, a Kikuyu, narrowly defeated opposition leader Raila Odinga, who is a Luo.

Odinga's followers have alleged that voting fraud perpetrated by pro-Kibaki polling officials tilted the election's outcome. The election took place Dec. 27, and Kibaki was sworn in Dec. 30. Riots in urban centers across the country quickly ensued, causing more than 300 deaths as of Jan. 2, according to Agence France-Presse. . . Baptist Press

Obama and his cousin are NOT members of the Kikuyu, they are Luo. Looks like Obama was destined to be a minority candidate whether he ran in Kenya or the USA, and he's just darn mad about that. Democrats have already warned us that American blacks will take to the streets if Obama doesn't win; they've accused their own party members of racisim when he was low in the polls in early September; they accused two of their candidates, Clinton and Biden, of racism early in the primaries; they've upped the ante on every possible criticism of Obama and his policies and friendships calling them racist. Do we see a theme here? Who is the person using race baiting in this campaign?

A new generation of consumers

The children of China in school today outnumber the total population of the United States. I think Wal-Mart figured this out many years ago--the Walton family organization (they are 26th today in wealth, Buffet is 1st) is a marketing genius. First they bought the labor there using our know-how and raw-materials, then they marketed there. The people had money from the jobs to spend on the products they were creating. Why not skip the middle step and just market to the Chinese? By-pass all those stupid protestors and regulations trying to keep Wal-Mart jobs out of their communities. You may have noticed in those gut wrenching videos of the earthquake last spring as people scrambled to get out of danger, how extremely well dressed they were and what lovely buildings and parks were being destroyed. That's the new consumer generation American business caters to, not us. We're yesterday's news. How the global financial meltdown, which some are now suggesting belatedly was economic terrorism with help from our own stupid Congress, we'll have to see. The U.S. government caught on to the Walmartization of China, particularly the USDA, and is acting accordingly.

Meanwhile, we're still shipping tofu from Ohio soybeans to China (much bigger market--they actually like tofu). Then we buy their funny contaminating mercury light bulbs made in dirty coal factories and feel self-righteous because Ohio environmentalists believe in Al Gore and want alternative sources of energy not our clean coal. It's called trade.

Who gets the bonus?

The Food Stamp Program is USDA's largest domestic nutrition assistance program serving more than 28 million individuals each month and has given the states that administer the program $48 million in bonuses this year for 2007. It was renamed SNAP as of October 1, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which is supposed to imply healthier food.

OK, call it whatever you wish, but what do states do with their bonuses for outstanding customer service? For improved program access? For processing applications in a timely manner? For excellence in administering benefits. Do the poor people get this money or do the government employees? I’m counting $48 million in bonuses--that’s about $1.70 per person on the program. However, we know it would cost more than that to cut them each a check, so who’s getting the bonus? Do they close the office early one Friday and have a big party for the clerical staff? Do the Executive Directors get to go to Hawaii or Florida?

1) $18 million
USDA's Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services announced Sept. 26 $18 million in bonus awards to states in fiscal year (FY) 2007 for outstanding and timely customer service in the administration of what has been known as the Food Stamp Program, soon to be known by name change from Congress as "SNAP" - Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
$12 million
Each year USDA awards a total of $12 million in high performance bonuses to the eight States with the best and most improved program access index.

$6 million
USDA also awards a total of $6 million among the six States with the timeliest processed applications.
2) $30 million
In June 2008, the Food Stamp Program awarded $30 million to states for excellence in administering benefits.

To see if your state was awarded a bonus see USDA FNS Press Release Ohio must have a really shoddy work force helping the poor because we didn't get a single bonus. Or maybe they call it a paycheck?

From Marx to Bernacke

She writes:"Yes, the proximate cause (trigger, really) of this unfolding meltdown is the mortgage crisis. And this we have courtesy of Barney Frank, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Obama’s ACORN, and their collective PC folly that home ownership is a right and not something to be earned. But the foundational cause is that ancient, yet ever-ascendant humanism which holds that Man knows better than God: “This fruit doesn’t look dangerous; License, not submission, brings fulfillment; Government, not Providence, can be our safety net; Paper, not Nature’s gold, will be our money”, (and will conveniently enrich those who control it). The list is endless.

Now comes the day of reckoning. The piper waits, but we’re unable to pay. The house of cards has fallen. We’ve been dancing with a harlot dressed like a bride, but now the veil is lifted. Pick whatever metaphor you please - almost all of them apply."

From Marx to Bernacke

How ACORN and Brunner will steal Ohio for Obama

Our Secretary of State, Jennifer Brunner, put in place a week of same day registration and voting, then claims she can't be expected to check all those phony addresses and names before the election. Brunner says she wanted to avoid the questions of 2004 when some doubted the results. Who? The Democrats who believed the polls and MSM talking heads instead of the results.

People in Ohio this week may register to vote and cast an absentee ballot on the same day. Critics, including state Republicans, say this may open the door to voter fraud. Election officials are hoping to avoid a replay of 2004 when some people had to wait hours to vote. NPR

Is this how Brunner thinks confidence will be restored? Homeless people from God knows where were being bussed in to vote last week. A friend of ours went down to Vet's Memorial to vote because they'll be out of town on election day, and said the sight was stunning. Story Why wait for hanging chads?

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals set aside a federal judge's order a day earlier that Democratic Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner institute the means to verify voter registration information and make it available to Ohio's 88 county election boards.

Brunner argued that it would take two to three days to create the necessary computer programs, and that nothing in the Help America Vote Act required her to do what the lower court ordered. A three-judge panel of the appeals court agreed in a split decision.

Why didn't she have such a program already in place. I thought this was to instill confidence in the process.

Farrakhan calls Obama the Messiah

I've heard conservative talking heads joke about Barack Obama's Messianic complex, but when you hear Louis Farrakhan speaking to the Nation of Islam call him that, it's a bit more eerie. Check out this web site

FARRAKHAN: You are the instruments that God is going to use to bring about universal change and that's why Barack has captured the youth.

And he has involved young people in a political process that they didn't care anything about. When the Messiah speaks, the youth will hear, and the Messiah is absolutely speaking.

Creeps me out. Hmmm. Can we say that or is it on the "racist" vocabulary list along with Ayers is a terrorist, baby daddy, skinny, that one, his wife's patriotism, his full given name, etc.?

Here's Farrakhan blaming Jews for black music destroying the youth (ADL site)

“Do you know some of these satanic Jews have taken over BET?... Everything that we built, they have. The mind of Satan now is running the record industry, movie industry and television. And they make us look like we’re the murders; we look like we’re the gangsters, but we’re punk stuff.”

And he's not too nice to Christians and gays either. Is there anyone this guy likes, besides Obama?

Good-bye Cincy

The goal of Green Cincinnati Plan is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 8% in 4 years, 40% in 20 years, and 84% by 2050. This plan has 80 specific recommendations. Everything from riding your bike, to air drying your dishes to composting your garbage. And why are they doing this Earth Day repeat that anyone who lived through the 70s remembers?

"You‘ve seen and heard about it everywhere, from the media and the scientists to celebrities and your own family members. Earth‘s climate is changing, and we all are to blame." GCP Introduction

Because they saw Al Gore's movie and listened to some Hollywood starlet who reads script for a living say it is true. Helloooo Ohio--you used to be under a glacier. We are not to blame for climate change. There are a hundred good reasons to have clean air and water, but why don't you start with cleaning the trash off the city streets, the old mattresses from the underpasses, and requiring all the legislators to reduce their BMI and their hot air. The world would be a much cleaner, cooler place. No one has a clue how much greenhouse gas emissions will be reduced by these measures, but I think we can guarantee that for every new "green" business or activity you bring to town that can smell a greenback a mile away, you'll drive ten established businesses out who won't be able to afford this idiocy.

Mayor Mallory needs to read Kids Against Anthropogenic Global Warming written by a 14 year old. Not everyone under 65 has been sucked into this silliness.

Our mission here at Kids Against Anthropogenic Global Warming is to make aware that AGW is nothing but an unproven theory. We don’t want to pay all these carbon taxes when they are enforced, especially if its for something unproven.

You go girl.

If the builders knew why didn't Barry and Barney?

"Approximately $216 billion in subprime and Alt-A mortgages will reset for the first time this year, which could ultimately push 3 percent of all outstanding mortgage debt into default. As a result, a large number of households will return to the renter pool throughout 2008. To compensate, builders are expected to expand existing apartment inventory by 1.1 percent, or more than 100,000 new market-rate units." Buildings, Annual Industry Forecast, 2008

Living green

Instead of making a big old footprint the way Algore and the Hollywood left do, Greenpa has an upfront list on the right hand side of his blog on how to live green.

1) Off the grid. 31 years. Solar electricity
2) Limited power- house electricity has 4 golf cart batteries.
3) Composting toilet. Outside. (eew, you do that indoors!?)
4) No road to house. You gotta walk.
5) No running water in house. Water pumped by wind.
6) Showers solar heated; outdoors.
7) Heat with wood. One stove in house-..
8) Cook with wood 8 months, propane in summer
9) Most of our fuelwood now is from trees we planted
10) No refrigerator. 31 years. You don't need one either.
11) Big garden.
12) Eat locally when possible, not obsessive about it.
13) No pesticide use ever, gardens or crops; not even organic (ok, except a little in the outhouse and the greenhouse...)
14) Earth sheltered solar greenhouse (aren't they all solar??)
15) Shut up about it. Nobody likes preaching.
16. These are our choices- yours are yours.

I respect a guy who walks his talk.

I don't respect the regulators and legislators who think we all should be living like Greenpa (rest assured they won't be). For instance, S.B. 221 and H.B. 562 in Ohio.

The Senate bill creates an Advanced Energy Standard (AES)--a minimum of 25 percent of electricity sold by Ohio's investor owned utilities must come from renewable (wind, solar, biomass, fuel cell, hydro), clean coal and advanced nuclear sources by 2025. Right off the bat you know the feds under the greenies and global warming alarmists will shut down the coal and nuclear industries, so that leaves it to your imagination on how we're going to light, heat, cool or cook in Ohio. Folks, in a good year we might get 37% sunshine, and we can't even put up a clothes line in Upper Arlington. Our sunshine is underground in coal where the good Lord stored it for later use.

The amended substitute House Bill 562 signed into law on June 24 provides for definitions and classifications of wind farms. I haven't seen any in Ohio, but they are ugly as sin on the prairies of Illinois. Ohio doesn't have prairies, it has Appalachia. We are part of the Pittsburgh Coal Bed with 34 billion short tons of coal. Both presidential candidates are mouthing platitudes about clean coal, but the alarmists will shut that down as soon as either one gets to the White House.

How do you site a wind farm? First you commission someone or something to do it through an initiative (that's a difficult word to spell and understand). Legislators do that too through, you guessed it, using our tax money. They have public meetings using the help of public institutions like universities which are also paid by us. Interestingly enough, the public always agrees with them and the project moves ahead. Right now they are looking at the western basin of Lake Erie as a "demonstration site." This will be sold to Ohioans as "economic development" even though we are a very rich coal state and much of our economy depends on coal.



There goes the neighborhood, and tourism, and shipping and fishing.

Cleaning the bathroom

This story is for Bev, who patiently reads through my political stuff hoping for a good story. She loves me, my cat and my foibles.

I've never claimed to be an organized housewife. Drives my husband crazy. He knows exactly where his Boy Scout folding cup from fifth grade is. So today I started on the guest room by moving a few things to my closet off the master bedroom. However, that bathroom is my husband's, so after I rearranged my shoes which our house guests will never see, I started on his bathroom. I'll be using this while our California relatives are here, so for my sake, I decided to attack it. I don't care if a guy is a bachelor or married or a CEO with a private office suite and maid service, men's bathrooms are always YUK!

While cleaning the shower (on my knees) I got a good look at the bottom of the shower door. Double yuk. The seal on the bottom of the flap was so mold covered, I think that's all that was holding the trim piece on. I saw there were 4 screws, and needed a Phillips screw driver. I know how to do that, so I went to the basement and found a small Phillips. Three screws came out after much effort and a blistered palm. The fourth wouldn't budge. I think this is a type of Murphy's Law--4 screws, 3 come out. So instead of yelling until I was hoarse from the second floor to the basement the way the other person in this marriage does, I walked down.

"There are four screws on the trim piece of the shower door, and I could only get three of them out. I'm trying to clean off the mold. Can you do the fourth one?"

"Phillips?"

"Yes, I got it out of the store room."

"I'll get my bigger one out of my tool bin in the garage."

"What's wrong with my Phillips?"

"Not enough torque."

"What's torque?"

he explained.

What's for dinner?

One good reason to blog about your menus or dinners, you can look back when company's coming and see what worked. My husband's brother and sister-in-law are coming next week, so last night my husband said, "What's for dinner Tuesday night (the day they arrive)?" I was still thinking about the dust in the guest room and cleaning out some closet space, so I drew a blank. Then I was looking through my January blog entries, and I FOUND IT.

My husband is the only one in his family who's only been married once. In the above photo (Bruce sibs with their father), there are 12 marriages represented and another three "significant others" that we've known over the years who've disappeared from view and the Christmas card list. Family holidays and get-togethers are always so interesting. They are all terrific people and we have a lot of fun.

How Democrats brought down the economy through ignorance, sloth and bribes

When Republicans tried to rein in the GSEs (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) our Democrat economic brain trust said: Maxine Waters, "Wasn't broke." Gregory Meeks, "I'm pissed off [that you're investigating this]." Barney Frank, "I don't see anything that's an issue." Lacy Clay, "Political lynching."



And now they want us to elect another Democrat to fix it. I've always thought of Obama as a marxist, Hillary as a socialist and McCain as a Democrat, so maybe they've got this one right. Vote McCain-Palin. It couldn't get worse than what these financial wizes whized. And if I may continue in that vein about Democrats, "they haven't got a pot to pee in" when it comes to the poverty of their ideas.

McCain got it; Obama didn't

Remember that Chicken Little thought the sky was falling and that Foxy Woxy could save her and the other animals she had frightened. Well, meet Foxy Woxy, the one Democrats want us to elect to guard the hen house.

Where were they then--before the bailout?

All the people who went to the elite schools, who had the law degrees, MBAs, PhDs, who peopled the econ and finance faculties at left and liberal institutions like Harvard and Yale, Columbia and Darmouth, and who had years on the banking and finance committees in Congress, who knew several languages, had passports and travelled, wore the right clothes and drank the expensive wines, who knew all the beltway gossip and sent their children to private schools. Where are they? Where were they? When all this stuff was coming down over a year ago. And they didn't notice? Or told their staff to check on it because they were too busy running for a bigger job. You know--the folks who make fun of the lack of sophistication and experience of say, a Sarah Palin.

December 16, 2007, Financial Times: "A plethora of opaque institutions and vehicles have sprung up in American and European markets this decade, and they have come to play an important role in providing credit across the financial system. Until the summer, structured investment vehicles (SIVs) and collateralised debt obligations (CDOs) attracted little attention outside specialist financial circles. Though often affiliated to major banks, they were not always fully recognised on balance sheets. These institutions, moreover, have never been part of the “official” banking system: they are unable, for example, to participate in Monday’s Fed auction.

But as the credit crisis enters its fifth month, it has become clear that one of the key causes of the turmoil is that parts of this hidden world are imploding. This in turn is creating huge instability for “real” banks – not least because regulators and bankers alike have been badly wrong-footed by the degree to which the two are entwined."

Or, as a blogger I've never heard of before wrote today: "The very dipsticks who gave you this crisis now promise to solve it for you. I told you: this is not an economic crisis anymore, it’s a full-blown political emergency, and they’re all trying to hang on to "power". They can’t, so prepare for the sound of goose-stepping boots in your streets." Automatic Earth

The summer of 1929

The Great Depression is generally dated as beginning with the crash of the stock market in the fall of 1929, but as I've mentioned before, for farmers it had already begun. In a desperate attempt (in my view as a non-farmer) to salvage their heavily mortgaged farms, my grandparents who owned several farms in Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska (and possibly Kansas) decided to fatten cattle on the plains of Nebraska, then ship them back to Illinois. Today we think of land as wealth, but when it is mortgaged for more than it is worth, being taxed, and you can't sell it, it's much like today's housing market when the bubble burst.

When I was a little girl I heard many stories about this summer of 1929, because Mom was in high school and for her the summer in Nebraska was sort of an adventure, although she was a rather studious, sober child and I think she knew they were in serious financial trouble. Today I received a letter she wrote in August 1929 from Caldwell, Kansas. Without sharing the personal "girl talk" with her friend here's her account--very much the way I remember her telling me over 50 years ago as we would do up the dishes after dinner. I haven't changed anything--spelling or sentence structure.

"I have been riding around in the car and sleeping and working all summer. The reading that I have done could be put in a thimble along with your finger. I have missed the piano lots but I haven't had any time for music at all. [This did surprise me a little because I rarely saw her play the piano--only the cello.]

Muriel and I go riding every day on our horses. I sure will miss my dear Blackie this winter. I have grown so very fond of her. [As a child I was horse crazy and would just be distraught at the thought that she had to leave her horse behind.]

On Sundays we generally go about the country. One time we visited the Indian mission on the Rosebud reservation just north of us in Dakota. It was a most interesting excursion. Another Sunday we set out for the forest and game preserve, but got lost in the hilly country around the Niobrara River (a most beautiful place).

Pa had to come to Caldwell so we all packed up and came along. We left Ted [the dog] at the tenants and the canary at Brills our nearest neighbor. The tenants have so many small children that we thought the canary would be safer where there weren't so many children and love of pets.

We have been here in Caldwell since Sunday evening. We started Friday morning about eight o'clock and spent the night in a tourist cabin at Humphrey. On Saturday we stopped at Lindsborg to see Mr. ------- [this must have been a former resident of their home community]. We found both Mr. and Mrs. at home and very glad to see us. It is very difficult to tell which of Mr's eyes is glass. It is his left one. He looks and talks just like he used to. They have a very nice home there and intend to settle permanently, I believe, as Mr. is very well liked.

We had some very bad roads after we got farther south and had to fight mud till we got within 40 miles of Wichita [paved roads would not be common for another decade]. Cars were sliding all over the roads and as we were all in the same fix everybody was friendly and lent less fortunate travellers a helping hand. One fellow had taken off his shoes and stockings and had rolled up his pant legs and was helping push their family car up a steep grade. He looked so awfully comical because he was fat and his clothes were very good, but he took it good humoredly one car pushed another one up the hill on his bumper. [It's possible that my Uncle Clare was with them to help with the driving, but I think he was with Grandpa to drive the cattle to Illinois. Grandma was thoroughly modern, and in those days loved to drive--although I never saw her drive a car.]

We stopped Saturday night at McPherson. They have wonderful cabins there, so nice and clean, toilets and hot and cold shower baths. Sunday we drove the remaining distance of 125 miles and stopped for a while at Wichita at the air fields. We watched a cabin plane go up many times with passengers. The fare was $2.50. [No mention is made of them taking a ride as I suspect the price was too high. It's another reason I think Clare was not with them--he was crazy about airplanes and died in one in 1944 in WWII.]

We have been house keeping in two upstairs rooms of the dairy house so as not to be a bother to the tenants, as they already are taking care of a woman and three of her children. [There was no plumbing or electricity in this building, which wasn't a house.]

We cook on our little Camp Kook [I think this is a cast iron dutch oven on legs to use over a fire]. It has been so handy. We bought a little cook stove for the ranch house at Crookston which we use for baking, washing and heat the rooms when it is chilly and it is chilly quite often.

I love the hills at Crookston, but it has become almost a relief to see level plains again, although I think the Nebraska climate up in the hills can not be beat, at least by Illinois.

We will go back to Crookston tomorrow and then start for Home (Franklin Grove, IL) the middle of next week and probably get home a week from this Sunday. But it depends on how long it will take Pa to get to Crookston with a carload of cattle, as we won't leave till he gets there too. We are anxious to get home a week before school starts so as to get straightened around."

Mother in 1929

Cells from human testes superior to embryonic stem cells

was the headline in the paper October 8. Well, good. They can start using men as cell farms and poking and proding them instead of pregnant women. If GWB never did one more good thing in his life time other than these three, 1) appoint two outstanding judges to the Supreme Court, 2) stay focused in Iraq and not turn tail and run out on the people he liberated, and 3) hold the line on growing embryos so the guys in lab coats could experiment, then he should go down in history as our finest President. Ever.

Abstract: "Human primordial germ cells and mouse neonatal and adult germline stem cells are pluripotent and show similar properties to embryonic stem cells. Here we report the successful establishment of human adult germline stem cells derived from spermatogonial cells of adult human testis. Cellular and molecular characterization of these cells revealed many similarities to human embryonic stem cells, and the germline stem cells produced teratomas after transplantation into immunodeficient mice. The human adult germline stem cells differentiated into various types of somatic cells of all three germ layers when grown under conditions used to induce the differentiation of human embryonic stem cells. We conclude that the generation of human adult germline stem cells from testicular biopsies may provide simple and non-controversial access to individual cell-based therapy without the ethical and immunological problems associated with human embryonic stem cells." Nature, online Oct. 8, 2008

"On Aug. 9, 2001, Bush announced his decision on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research in an address to the nation. He said only research on stem cell lines already in existence by the time of his speech would be eligible for federal funding.

He said research on these stem cell lines was permissible because an embryo had already been destroyed. But federal funding would not be allowed for research on any stem cell line created after Aug. 9, 2001, as to discourage future embryo destruction. However, privately funded human embryonic stem cell research has remained permissible on either the “existing” human lines or on lines derived after August 9, 2001.

At the time of the address, the National Institutes of Health determined that there were 64 stem cell lines in existence. However, researchers have expressed doubts about how many lines are actually available for use, whether the cells provided enough genetic diversity and whether the lines are contaminated with animal cells. On Sept. 5, 2001, Thompson acknowledged that only 24 or 25 of the cell lines were established embryonic stem cell lines.

On Nov. 7, 2001, the NIH Human Embryonic Stem Cell Registry was launched. It lists all the cell lines that are eligible for federally funded research, as well as contact information for researchers who wish to use them." Stem Cell Research 101

And I should give Bill Clinton and Congress of the late 1990s some credit too, who held the line all through the 90s with just a little slip up in 2000, which opened up those original lines for research. The U.S. never fell behind on stem cell research, in fact it led the world. It was only the federal money that was restricted--and my goodness, look what you can accomplish! You wouldn't know that if you only let NYT or WaPo form your opinions about the value of human life.

The Hank and Ben Show

Seen at jomama

Is it too early for a repeat? So much has happened in 2 weeks. Our investment advisor says we're the lucky ones--our portfolio has dropped "only" 8%--the market 20%. By next week it won't make much difference, but we'll be using cash to draw down our IRAs which we are required to do next year.

I’ve got the low down, trillion dollar, Ben and Henry Blues
by Norma Bruce

Woke up this morning ‘bout five fifteen,
Read my big ol Bible and a new magazine,
Jumped in the van, turning on the key
Let me tell you mama, there’s no stopping me.

Driving on to Main Street, stopping at the light
Heading for the coffee shop the other side of night,
Singing with the radio, changing stations now
Got the dog and pony show, candidates take a bow.

Mitigating factors, oozing out the wazoo,
Sell ‘em or hold ‘em, it’s all a rescue.
I’ve got the low down, trillion dollar
Ben and Henry blues.

Warm bakery bread and yeasty brown rolls
Congress still propping up the C-E-Os
Espresso coffee chai and tea
The government ya know--that’s just you and me.

NINJA loans for aliens, flipping for the rich,
From coastal homes, to buildings in the sticks,
McBama to Fannie to Goldman Sachs
They’re pointing fingers and covering tracks.

Mitigating factors, oozing out the wazoo,
Sell ‘em or hold ‘em, it’s all a rescue.
I’ve got the low down, trillion dollar
Ben and Henry blues.

Doesn't scare a Chicagoan

No, this isn't about who's the next president. Three people were murdered in Columbus' Hilltop area, execution style, in a home that had apparently become a drug deli. One local said, "It looked like a drive through." One of the deceased had the usual high recommendation from a relative, "He had a good heart, . . he was smart. He cared about his family. I don't think he deserved to be killed like that."

Do residents feel unsafe? One young woman, 28, according to the Columbus Dispatch said the block is generally good and that she wasn't frightened to live there.

"I'm from Chicago," she said. "It don't scare me."

Keep that in mind as you go to the polls.

Corporate executives and directors of Fannie Mae

Look how much they earned to screw up your retirement accounts. Click on each name. Some are on more than one board. You can check on their donations--Linda K. Knight, one I just chose at random--has made two $500 donations to Obama and one $500 donation to Chris Dodd.