National Socialism--could it happen again

A Chinese-American friend was visibly upset by the election of Barack Obama. Thinking perhaps she was remembering her youth in China when Mao came to power and so many capitalists had to flee (my college roommate’s family went to Brazil), we discovered she was going back further than that, to the free and democratic election by the German people of Adolf Hitler in the 1930s, the subsequent suppression of the already weakened church, and the collapse of capitalism. And to that perfect storm, I would add race-based myths-- only this time around it’s the idea that by being of African descent Obama is superior, almost messianic in his appeal not only at home but abroad. Only he can expiate the sins of a history of slavery and Jim Crow. Clicking briefly through the news programs since Tuesday, the adulation by the native and foreign press and capitulation even by Republicans have been revolting. Dancing in the streets in Indonesia because he has brown skin? Have they never had a brown skinned despot in Asia? The government will now take care of all your deepest needs ideology? Haven’t we heard this all before? I almost can’t believe my ears and eyes. The spiritualized political language and its mesmerizing affect is breathtaking in its reminder of both the past and its precursor of what’s to come.

Friday Family Photo

There's no date on this photo, but it's a polaroid, so I know it was taken by my father-in-law. They usually came for the kids' birthdays in November. The lapels, wide tie, and pinky-orange shirt scream early to mid-1970s, as does the lime green trim in the living room to match the carpet which was installed about 1973. You can't see them, but my husband's slacks were bell-bottom, also quite popular then. I got that "serf" haircut after my appendectomy in fall 1974--before that my hair was almost waist length. My husband is wearing a leather belt hand tooled by a prisoner at the Ohio Penitentiary whom we used to visit with a church program around 1972-73. (The one who escaped with his girl friend in the garbage truck.) Ned Moore painted that watercolor of us sitting on the beach at East Harbor on Lake Erie in 1974 and we bought it at an art show in September. So I'm going to say it's November, 1974.

Tip: Remove all foral arrangements before taking photos.

Remembering Heather Pick

We were all saddened to learn of the death of Heather Pick, Channel 10 news reporter. Check video here. A few years ago--maybe 2004--we were in a furniture store in Rockford, Illinois, and mentioned to the salesman we were from Columbus, and he said we must know Heather--she'd been on a station there. WREX story. She lost her battle with breast cancer, but she was an inspiration to all who watched and knew her. She will certainly be missed.

Looking for sob stories

"onCampus," the faculty/staff newspaper at Ohio State, is looking for a few OSU faculty or staff who have gone through a tough financial situation and were able to rebound from it. onCampus will choose two or three people and conduct interviews with those willing to share their stories. Please respond to Associate Editor Adam King at king dot 1088 at osu.edu or 292-8419 by Monday (11/10) if you are interested in helping others in a financial crunch learn from your experiences.

I don't think they'll want to hear from me. I've been in four of the five quintiles and have no complaints. I was bounced around by PERS and STRS when I started planning for retirement each saying my time off for children (you can buy a year I think) was the others responsibility so I didn't get it. I was passed over for one position because it was given to the wife of a OSU faculty member, and spent my years there in a department whose average salaries were less than other big 10 institutions. Oh well.

Besides, I'd just give them some ideas on being pro-active not re-active. For instance

1) save one salary and live on the other if you have 2 incomes
2) max out the 403-b (which until September was a good idea, maybe still is, we'll see how long Obama can extend this recession to make people dependent on him)
3) tithe your income
4) learn to say NO to yourself and the kids
5) don't take vacations until you're over 40
6) pay off the credit card in 30 days
7) live below your means
8) don't borrow from friends or family
9) keep your car for 8-10 years
10) one of you stay home when the children are little

There. I'll wait to hear from them.

From Toledo Blade

"The Republican Party is experiencing an "identity crisis" and must "rethink" how it can compete in the future, the state party's deputy chairman said yesterday after watching Ohio complete its transition from "red" to "blue." "

How about they try being Conservatives to compete? No one's doing that one.

Michael Reagan on Obama

Under Bush Republicans we had socialism-lite--with Obama it's the real thing.

“In the case of Barack Obama, I hope during the whole campaign, all the things he promised to do I hope was a lie. I’d hate to actually see him put these things into place… and I’ll fight tooth and nail to stop him from putting these things in place.

“But, do I think it’s good for America that a black man was elected president of the United States? Absolutely. I just disagree with his policies.”

Reagan says that with the most left-wing president in history, coupled together with hard-core liberals controlling Congress, America is on the fast track to socialism.

“If Barack Obama is allowed to institute all the things he talked about, we are in to socialism. But let’s be honest, the Republicans under George Bush have been ‘socialism lite,’” Reagan explains. NewsMax account

All opposition to Obama is being presented as racism. That's ridiculous. It's his ideas, not his color, that will sink us. And his cronies.

Proud to stand

with Dodd and Feingold on FISA in February (aka Patriot Act). Backing Bush in June. Yes, he was for sure against amending FISA to allow the government to monitor more communications without a warrant. But then political expediency (he wasn't actually there for the vote--surprise, surprise!) starts to dawn on him. He might actually get to the White House after defeating Hillary in the primaries, and these powers of surveillance might be very useful, so he flipped on a clear promise to his supporters, stabbing his leftist buddies in the back (although they're loving him for it now).

"Given the legitimate threats we face, providing effective intelligence collection tools with appropriate safeguards is too important to delay. So I support the compromise, but do so with a firm pledge that as president, I will carefully monitor the program," Obama said in a statement hours after the House approved the legislation 293-129. [WaPo account]

Democrats hated FISA under Bush (1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act under Carter), but they've already learned to love it. Especially our Ohio Democratic administration. They are practicing to be good ObamaToms. So ripping through Joe the Plumber's records in Ohio (standard procedure we were told when someone's name appears in the news) is just a foretaste of what's to come with President Obama and the new, improved FISA. The fact that asking a question about taxes hardly makes one a national security threat, unless questioning Obama is perceived not only as racism, but a security threat.

HT Larry Johnson

White House for Sale

is an interesting web site. You can't track all the money donated to Obama, but you can see a lot of it. McCain's would be a little more straight forward since he didn't weasel out on the campaign funding agreement. Both the bundlers and the mega-donors. Pick anyone at random who's made a hefty donation and google his name (often husband and wife for double the mega-bucks). For instance this guy

Nasser A. Ahmad is chief investment officer and managing partner of DiMaio Ahmad Capital L.L.C. Prior to co-founding the Investment Manager, Mr. Ahmad was previously a managing director of CS Capital, the chief investment officer for the Diversified Credit Hedge Fund Group Prior to that, he was co-head of Global Cash and Derivatives Credit Trading within the Fixed Income Division at CS. Merril Lynch has minority stake in DiMaio Ahmad Capital. Originally, according to Fundrace and Campaign Money websites, Ahmad was covering his bases with an event for Asian Americans for Obama which required $28,500 a piece or $50,000 per couple. He and wife(?) were co-chairs for a Biden event ($50,000). He's been a featured speaker on a summit on Pakistan. That speaker's bio added a bit more:


Mr. Ahmad is on the boards of Breakthrough for Human Rights (a human rights, economic empowerment, environmental
sustainability and political stability organization (new media) which glancing through the report seems to help women in India) and the Soros Economic Development Fund. He is also a board member of the South Asian Action Forum (SAAF), a Political Action Committee (PAC) consisting of community and business leaders that promotes a progressive policy platform with key rising and established U.S. policymakers to which he donated $3,000 according to Fundrace. I assume that also when to Obama.

In 2008, Mr. Ahmad joined the National Finance Committee (NFC) of Senator Obama’s presidential campaign and was appointed co-chair of the Asian American Finance committee.

Isn't it interesting that I select a name at random and he turns out to be on the board of George Soros organization.

Obama and The PAJAMA Christians

No, I'm not referring to Christian bloggers, of which there are thousands, maybe millions. Or Christians who secretly are watching porn, listening to phone sex or gambling in their home offices at night on the internet. Or baggie pants Christians eschewing or setting current fashion trends chasing hip-hop idols. I'm talking about Peace-and-Justice-and-More-Aid ChristiansThe Christian reformers of the 15th-16th century had two problems with God's Word. First, they had to get it into the language of the people through direct translation and paraphrase from Greek and Hebrew into German, or English or French in a way that people could understand the simple, clear meaning of the Gospel. Second they needed to liberate scripture from the encrusted allegories that spiritualized or created retellings of Greek and Roman myths covering up the clear word of the Gospel, particularly in the Old Testament.

Over the years, scripture again became entangled in a variety of "correct" translations (with some American Christians believing only the KJV is acceptable, which is tough on speakers of French, Russian, Navajo, etc.) and fascination with prophecy with cherry picking of verses for seven dispensations and times of The Rapture, to extreme pietism that requires women to dress or fix their hair in a certain way or men not to use technological advancements (no TV but computers are OK), or scholarly treatises so dull and obscure with multiple editors and authors of various books of the Bible, they send the parishioner fleeing the pew into the waiting arms of the atheists, humanists or government program that promises to save the world.

The gospel preached from Jeremiah Wright's pulpit may have shocked some, but a quieter version of liberation theology has been recycled through American churches for years--actually predates Black Liberation Theology. PAJAMA Christians turn Christ into Moses, and he's not just leading them in some exodus from evil, Satanic capitalism. He's got a long list of rules to create a just kingdom on earth. However, instead of personal belief, behavior or sacrifice, they want the government to bring in the kingdom through our ever more bloated programs supported by taxes. (From my pocket to Washington, to a government employee, back to Ohio, to a government employee, then to a trust fund for the poor, to the pocket of a government employee with a few bucks left over for the poor.)

The Gospel isn't difficult, but you would think so, as seldom as it is preached, taught or sung either by conservatives or liberals. Luther writes in "A brief instruction on what to look for and expect in the Gospels":

For at its briefest, the gospel is a discourse about Christ, that he is the Son of God and became man for us, that he died and was raised, that he has been established as a Lord over all things. . . . Just as there is no more than one Christ, so there is and may be no more than one gospel. . . .Thus when Isaiah in chapter 53 says how Christ should die for us and bear our sins, he has written the pure gospel. And I assure you, if a person fails to grasp this understanding of the gospel, he will never be able to be illuminated in the Scripture nor will he receive the right foundation. . .

You should grasp Christ, his words, works and sufferings in a twofold manner. First as an example that is presented to you which you should follow and imitate. . . However this is the smallest part of the gospel, on the basis of which it cannot yet even be called gospel. For on this level Christ is of no more help to you than some other saint. . . before you take Christ as an example, you accept and recognize him as a gift, as a present that God has given you and that is your own. . . .when you have Christ as the foundation and chief blessing of your salvation, then the other part follows: that you take him as your example, giving yourself in service to your neighbor just as you see that Christ has given himself for you."

Obama has promised to undo the "faith based initiatives" the federal and state governments now use to rebuild and change society by requiring "nondiscriminatory" hiring. This in fact means for Christians, their organizations would become non-Christian. Christian non-profits have become so dependent on the government for funding, using their own funds to build bigger campuses, I suspect most would rather give up the Gospel than give up their own idea of what the gospel is--i.e., helping people through government grants, most of which go to pay their staff, keep their buildings open, and provide an outlet for volunteerism and service for their members to feel more holy.

Martin Luther's Basic Theological Writings edited by Timothy F. Lull is google scanned.

What I saw at the coffee shop

Gracious, goodness,
Lord Almighty.
This old gal
got quite a sighty.
Should we object
or bring a law suit
when common sense
we give the boot?

Here.

Even with fraud and bussing in the homeless

Obama raised and spent millions more than any candidate in history, much by theft and fraud which will never be investigated, carpet baggers ran around the nation registering Democrats, many states had early voting, and raised the dead, and still . . .

"The report released Thursday estimates that between 126.5 and 128.5 million Americans cast ballots in the presidential election earlier this week. Those figures represent 60.7 percent or, at most, 61.7 percent of those eligible to vote in the country.

“A downturn in the number and percentage of Republican voters going to the polls seemed to be the primary explanation for the lower than predicted turnout,” the report said. Compared to 2004, Republican turnout declined by 1.3 percentage points to 28.7 percent, while Democratic turnout increased by 2.6 points from 28.7 percent in 2004 to 31.3 percent in 2008." CNN

I'm not surprised that Republican turn out was low (or that single women were high); I overheard two older people at the library on Tuesday discussing whether it was worth it to vote. The press and polls tried to build Obama at every opportunity and suppress McCain's support. Conservatives didn't have a candidate until the end of August when Palin appeared, then all the "moderates" jumped ship. The slavish devotion of the press corp and op-ed-ers to expiate their guilt was palpable. I wish them luck, because the race industry is just too huge to be dismantled in the voting booth.

Affordable housing in Ohio--and your state, too

Because the current value of your 401-k, your 403-b, or your private investments and the value of your house are tied directly to the government's interference in the housing market in the past 15 years, it's time for you to take a look around, become familiar with the real estate, as it were. Today I'm looking at the Ohio Department of Development and how many fingers and thumbs are trying to pull out a plum.

Here's some history from the Ohio Housing Trust Fund Annual Report 2008 :

To address Ohio’s housing needs, Ohio’s housing advocates, led by the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio (COHHIO), began a grass roots campaign to improve Ohio’s housing conditions. The campaign’s first success came in November 1990 when Ohio’s voters approved Issue 1, a constitutional amendment making housing a public purpose. During the following year, the Ohio Legislature passed implementing legislation (House Bill 339) to establish the Ohio Housing Trust Fund (OHTF) and an Advisory Committee to work with the ODOD, the administering agency, to develop the fund’s housing programs and policies.

OK, start small with volunteers, get some funding, get established, hire more staff to find more funding.

In the 1992-1993 Ohio Biennium Budget, $5 million of state general revenue was allocated to the fund. Immediately, Ohio’s housing advocates began lobbying for an OHTF permanent, stable funding source.

So that's the beginning. Identify a need, get a small grant to keep you going until you can get more money. No low income person's rent is ever paid, but the goal is set with meetings and workshops--rent, coffee and snacks eat up a lot of budget. Keep the need out front--"affordable housing," but keep expanding what that means. From homeless to poor to low income.

For the next 12 years, the fund’s allocation level struggles with a sluggish economy and the high demand for other state-funded services, including education. During that period, the allocation level fluctuated from $5 million for a biennium to $20 million for one year.

OK, funding is too iffy to pay all the salaries, so let's rethink this. We need to bring in more people at every level of the housing industry for a larger stake.

In 2002, established the Affordable Housing Taskforce, (when the word Trust Fund loses its glow, try Taskforce) recommend an increase in fees to have a permanent, dedicated funding source for the OHTF. Continue to raise fees, while warning about the housing crisis and lauding a public/private partnership to increase affordable housing for low- and moderate-income families.

What started as "homeless" in 1990, is now "moderate-income" housing. Continue to lobby the governor's office and state legislature and broaden your base in the building industry so they can get a piece of the pie. By the early 2000s, you've got so many endorsements, businesses, non-profits (which have also been expanding using the same methods) and financial institutions (which are being threatened for "red lining") plus religious organizations (faith based initiatives), you can go for yet another increase in fees for 2004-2005 for the funding of OHTF. And finally, the pot and the end of the rainbow.

In the 2008-2009 Ohio Biennium Budget, the Ohio Legislature appropriated $53 million each year to the OHTF. Subsequently, the State Controlling Board approved an increase in the OHTF appropriation authority for SFY 2008 to $56 million.

From grass roots, rag-tag volunteers for the homeless to $56 million dollars in just 18 years. Not bad. Of course, we still have homeless; we still have decaying housing stock in the older neighborhoods like Hilltop and near East side and over there south of Children's Hospital. But we have an unending stream of funding, the non-profits and religious organizations have places to put staff who might not otherwise have jobs, the volunteers have a place to go to feel good, and it certainly is reducing the gap between the rich and the poor--by helping indirectly to destroy the wealth of the middle class.

The bigger the housing trust funds became, the bigger the crisis grew--the more funding was needed. Take a look at this explanation by Fannie Mae, that sweet thing who was stealing from you all along while her front man Barney said everything was just fine.

And we've just elected a guy who claims we aren't doing enough!

Tickled Pink

You can take a look at it here, and it won't let me copy the cover, which is not worth scanning. However, be forewarned if you see one (free-circ, usually in lobbies of stores or supermarkets), it's just a package of ads with a few articles in the margins. That's actually how women's magazines got their start in the 19th century, but they have come full circle. Anyway. . . the all out dumbest thing I've ever seen in a woman's magazine is on p. 15. An advice column for women by a gay man--on sex and relationships. Truly, it was beyond dumb, it was disgusting. I'm glancing through to see if there's anything else you couldn't find in the stack you have waiting to go to the trash. . . breast cancer, skin spots, exercise tips, fall weddings, safety tips for halloween, Thanksgiving tips, and so forth. One thing worth reading, however, is a very short piece on p. 37 that looks like a scanned diary, called Soul Searching. If I would have known then. . . addressed to a 21 year old into the clubbing life.

"This drinking and smoking, the stress you are under, trying to take on the world's problems, it's a ridiculous way to live, The risks the doctor is talking about with this disease. . . pregnancy complications and skin infections and heart attacks. . . all very real things that will happen to you.

The daughter you think about having one day that will look just like you? Gone at 8 days old, when you are 26, from complications of open-heart surgery to correct a heart defect your uncontrolled diabetes gave to her. The body you are abusing with the Alabama Slammers and the Marlboro smokes? Riddled with scars from a staph infection that gets into your bloodstream because you are too stubborn to go to the doctor. Think you are going to live forever? Think again. . . you are lucky to survive the massive heart attack that almost kills you on January 2, 2004.

Please. . . listen to what the doctors are telling you right now. . .Oh that guy you think is perfect for you right now? Drop everything and Run!!!"

Not exactly me, but close

After seeing the less than flattering article about bloggers' brains in Scientific American, I decided to check PubMed (National Library of Medicine). I had a little problem with my search strategy--it kept changing "blogging" to "logging," a topic I don't care much about. So finally I went for KISS and typed in, B L O G, and it took that. So of course, I found an article about medical bloggers (I have a list of my own favorites, too). "Examining the medical blogosphere: an online survey of medical bloggers." J Med Internet Res. 2008 Sep 23;10(3):e28.

A total of 80 (42%) of 197 eligible participants responded. The majority of responding bloggers were white (75%), highly educated (71% with a Masters degree or doctorate), male (59%), residents of the United States (72%), between the ages of 30 and 49 (58%), and working in the healthcare industry (67%). Most of them were experienced bloggers, with 23% (18/80) blogging for 4 or more years, 38% (30/80) for 2 or 3 years, 32% (26/80) for about a year, and only 7% (6/80) for 6 months or less. Those who received attention from the news media numbered 66% (53/80). When it comes to best practices associated with journalism, the participants most frequently reported including links to original source of material and spending extra time verifying facts, while rarely seeking permission to post copyrighted material. Bloggers who have published a scientific paper were more likely to quote other people or media than those who have never published such a paper (U= 506.5, n(1)= 41, n(2)= 35, P= .016). Those blogging under their real name more often included links to original sources than those writing under a pseudonym (U= 446.5, n(1)= 58, n(2)= 19, P= .01). Major motivations for blogging were sharing practical knowledge or skills with others, influencing the way others think, and expressing oneself creatively. CONCLUSIONS: Medical bloggers are highly educated* and devoted blog writers*, faithful to their sources* and readers*. Sharing practical knowledge* and skills, as well as influencing the way other people think, were major motivations for blogging among our medical bloggers. Medical blogs are frequently picked up by mainstream media; thus, blogs are an important vehicle to influence medical and health policy.

There. That sounds more like me*. Except for being picked up by the mainstream media and I don't think I've influenced any health policy. But I am a published author in both the science and library fields; I use my real name; I verify my facts and link to sources. However, I am a tad older than the survey median. That must be why. No one's called or contacted me.

Palin and Jindal

That's my plan for 2012. By then the American people should know you can't tax your way out of a recession and they'll be ready for another pretty face, or two. Right now, the trashing of Palin will continue because 1) the Democrats are afraid of her and will need to diminish her accomplishment, intelligence, clothes, etc. and 2) the McCain staffers don't want to admit to their huge error, which was always chasing the middle. The only smart thing they did was to select Sarah. You go girl.
Lots of buzz and buttons on the internet.

Martin Luther on baptism

Somewhere I'm sure there is a collection of just this topic. Luther had a lot to say to the "blockhead" reformers who followed him, because he wouldn't budge on this one. When we were in confirmation classes in 1976 our pastor said a wise thing, and I paraphrase, "We can argue all you want on matters of theology or polity, or meanings of different verses, but if baptism is going to be a problem for you, you'll need to find another church." Because we attend the traditional service and not many young families do, we don't participate in as many baptisms as we used to. Many years ago when our son was very small (the children at that time were always called to the front to sit around the font while the baby was baptized, our little guy returned to the pew and whispered to me, "Mommy, I can still feel the water of my baptism on my head." Visually, it's a beautiful experience of grace, like no other. The baby has done nothing, said nothing, accomplished nothing.

"Our baptism, thus, is a strong and sure foundation, affirming that God has made a covenant with all the world to be a God of the heathen in all the world, as the gospel says. Also, that Christ has commanded the gospel to be preached in all the world, as also the prophets have declared in many ways. As a sign of this covenant he has instituted baptism, commanded and enjoined upon all heathn, as Matt 28:19 declares: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father," etc. In the same manner he had made a covenant with Abraham and his descedants to be their God, and made circumcision a sign of his covenant. Here, namely, that we are baptized; not because we are certain of our faith but because it is the command and will of God. For even if I were never certain any more of faith, I still am certain of the command of God, that god has bidden to baptize, for this he has made known throughout the world. In this I cannot err, for God's command cannot deceive. But of my faith he has never said anything to anyone, nor issued an order or command concerning it.

True, one should add faith to baptism. But we are not to base baptism on faith. There is quite a difference between having faith, on the one hand, and depending on one's faith and making baptism depend on faith, on the other. Whoever allows himself to be baptized on the strength of his faith, is not only uncertain, but also an idolator who denies Christ. For he trusts in and builds on something of his own, namely on a gift which he has from God, and not on God's Word alone. So another may build on and trust in his strength, wealth, power, wisdom, holiness, which also are gifts given him by God. . .

If I were baptized on my own faith, I might tomorrow find myself unbaptized, if faith failed me, or I became worried that I might not yesterday have had the faith rightly. But now that doesn't affect me. God and his command may be attacked, but I am certain enough that I have been baptized on his Word. . . nothing is lacking in baptism. Always something is lacking in faith. However long our life, always there is enough to learn in regard to faith."

Martin Luther's Basic Theological Writings, (Fortress, 1989) ed. by Timothy F. Lull, p. 364-365. The 2005 ed. has been google scanned.

Great Orators of the Democratic Party--From Best of the Web

Too funny not to share.

• "One man with courage makes a majority."--attributed to Andrew Jackson

• "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."--Franklin D. Roosevelt

• "The buck stops here."--Harry S. Truman

• "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."--John F. Kennedy

• "You know why I think [my wife] Jill likes Claire McCaskill so well, Sen. McCaskill? Jill is one of five sisters, Claire is one of three sisters. And I tell you what, you women raised with sisters are different than women raised with brothers. My sister is smart, runs every one of my campaigns; is beautiful; graduated with honors from college; is homecoming queen. But she's a . . . she is what I call a 'girl-boy' growing up, you know what I mean? And I tell you what? Girl-girls are tougher than girl-boys. But there's one important thing I noticed.The great thing about marrying into a family with five sisters, there's always one that loves you. 'Cause you can count on splitting them a bit. You know what I mean? I shouldn't be going off like this, but--hey, folks, 37 more hours, 37 more hours."--Joe Biden

What's another term for free lance writer?

Unemployed. Whether they call themselves writers, journalists or free lancers, they are really threatened by bloggers. Some bloggers make a lot of money with ads (I've never been interested in that.) Some writers solve the problem by just starting a blog and double dipping! The June 2008 Scientific American has an article by Jessica Wapner on brain research of bloggers. The on-line title is different than the print. I have 11 blogs. If I played golf on the senior circuit like Salley or exhibited quilts in arts shows like Mary, or worked 24/7 for Obama like Lynne, I would be praised. But I like to write. I think free lancers like Wapner who write for a living, hate us.

She says blogging (writing about personal experiences) serves as a stress-coping mechanism, might aid sleep and reduce viral load in AIDS patients. Possibly could help cancer patients. But on the darker side, look out! It just could be uncontrollable like hypergraphia, or an out of control drive like eating or sex or a type of lobe lesion like aphasia! There must be some neurological underpinnings at play, considering the explosion of blogs (I think blogging is actually decreasing has young people move on to the next tech widget and ad-on).

Since no one knows how much people used to write, doodle or create scrapbooks before blogging, or if this fascination with the brain of bloggers is influenced by an over supply of grant money and the need for promotion and tenure, just how will this be judged? How to weigh the influence of the computer, or broad band, or improved templates and access, or boomers entering retirement and having no other talent than stringing together sentences, posting photographs of their travels, or writing poetry? There's a lot of fudge words in this article, but "several researchers are committed to uncovering the cluster of neurological pathways," reports Wapner.

I can hardly wait. Meanwhile, I'll blog.

Dewey, the library cat

You'd think being a librarian and a cat lover, I'd have heard about Dewey Readmore Books, but I just noticed the book about a library cat (they aren't uncommon) at JoAnn's blog, Every Day Matters who had read it on a trip. So I looked at Amazon, which no longer lets me down load cover photos, and I read the PW review,

From Publishers Weekly One frigid Midwestern winter night in 1988, a ginger kitten was shoved into the after-hours book-return slot at the public library in Spencer, Iowa. And in this tender story, Myron, the library director, tells of the impact the cat, named Dewey Readmore Books, had on the library and its patrons, and on Myron herself. Through her developing relationship with the feline, Myron recounts the economic and social history of Spencer as well as her own success story—despite an alcoholic husband, living on welfare, and health problems ranging from the difficult birth of her daughter, Jodi, to breast cancer. After her divorce, Myron graduated college (the first in her family) and stumbled into a library job. She quickly rose to become director, realizing early on that this was a job I could love for the rest of my life. Dewey, meanwhile, brings disabled children out of their shells, invites businessmen to pet him with one hand while holding the Wall Street Journal with the other, eats rubber bands and becomes a media darling. The book is not only a tribute to a cat—anthropomorphized to a degree that can strain credulity (Dewey plays hide and seek with Myron, can read her thoughts, is mortified by his hair balls)—it's a love letter to libraries. (Sept.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Then I checked around and it also had some other nice reviews, this one from USAToday. I just may have to take a look.

My cat loves books. If I have one in my lap, she wants to sit on it. If the light is dim, she will sit right at my elbow blocking the light. She loves to walk around on the bookshelves checking out the latest gap or space, to see if she can fit into it.

Obama has promised to change the country

McCain wanted to change the government. There's a difference, you know. I've always considered McCain left of center, and I think most conservatives do. But that was our ticket, and he was certainly way to the right of Obama! As was Hillary. It's simple. Obama doesn't like us. How do I know? Have you ever had a friend/spouse/boss who said, "You're great, I love you, but you need to change who you are, and do everything I say, or else?"

So the election is history; what will Ohio bloggers do next? For your city and county, I suggest you look at the web site of the Ohio Department of Development. The CHIP, Community Housing Improvement Program, in my opinion is a tiny piece of the current meltdown facilitated by the CRA, banks and Congress. No, it's not exactly putting working class families in suburban bi-levels and ranches with balloon mortgages, it's more like rehabing houses for the poor and then putting them in mortgages (with a government funded down payment) they can't afford in struggling, older neighborhoods.

It has about $25 million (the 2008 awards come to over $30 million, so I don't know why the numbers don't match the web page). Ottawa Co. where we have a second home, got over $500,000 for Port Clinton. I can't figure out which pot Franklin County uses, because it's not on that list. Seems to have its own list. But with amounts this large, going to every state, snarled and tangled in obfuscating names, not only of the agencies, but the non-profits, it could be a life-time hobby or research project to sort it all out.

It's really slippery, the acronyms endless--HDAP, OHFA, ODD, OHTF, OHCP plus all the codes, RRS, IPMC, RCO, NEC, OPC, OMC, IECCC, IFGC . We have an alphabet soup of federal money and housing codes here. I think we really need to take a look at the whole "faith based initiatives" and other non-profits (like ACORN) the government is using to cover up some of these wasteful, ill conceived and failed programs. They are sprinkled everywhere--some housing programs are through USDA. You find pockets of housing money buried in almost every agency, from employment to health, because government is no longer about governing, but about changing lives through nutrition, housing, technology, medicine, etc. If a roof that doesn't leak or a window not broken or no trash in the yard were enough to stop crime, reduce obesity, or get junior to finish school, we'd never have someone from Worthington or Shaker Heights who was in jail, or fat, or taking a GED.

So Obama's a little late to the starting gate, it's been going on since FDR's day. But because the Republicans were so big on "faith-based" I think the churches have actually been weakened. They're flabby, singing happy praise songs and talking about being spirit filled while Obama has promised he will remove our right to evangelize or speak out from the pulpit (many don't do it any way). Rather than dismantle their programs and lay off their staff, many of whom are poor, they'll cave. I know churches. Every peace and justice verse will be brought out to trump life changing salvation.

So take a look around your neighborhood. The problem may be closer to home than Barney Frank. Yesterday I went from the New Deal to the CRA to my collapsing 403-b in just a few paragraphs. Check it out.

How the election of a black President will help black Africans

The United States of America now has what no other country in the world has, a democratically elected black leader of a free, constitutional republic. Europeans, the descendants of the slavers who purchased black Africans from the Arab Africans to be shipped to the "new world," can claim no African or even mixed race leaders; Africa can claim no free democracies (with the exception of Botswana which seems to be a model which all Africa could look to). Kenya had looked hopeful until Obama's cousin Odinga's followers massacred a few thousand after losing an election.

With his plans to destroy our current sources of energy--coal, gas and oil--his plans to raise taxes on successful small business, his plans to strengthen unions while discouraging business growth, his plans to bring the corrupt ACORN to the top (they are already at the table), his plans to allow millions more to flood our borders to bankrupt our social systems, his plans to shut down opposition in the press and airways, and his plans to reduce the military, the USA will be so weak that there will be nothing left over for the bailouts and food subsidies through various ill-advised and poorly planned NGO and government aid to African dictators and monarchs. Much of our aid simply destroyed African markets, however well intentioned. Other, initiative and ambition. Since none of this has helped Africa in 50-60 years, indeed has kept the former European colonies in a perpetual stage of adolescence, the reduction of American aid (and European, particularly France) to shore up weak leaders and economies in Africa will in the long run help Africa. It's the least he can do for change.

Luther's afterthought on fleeing the plague

Martin Luther's advice is wonderfully practical as well as theological and spiritual. After the details on what to do during the time of a plague, he adds this afterthought on how one should care and provide for the soul in time of death. It seems appropriate to review: The best thing is to be leading a good life--attend church and listen to the sermon and know God's word

. . .those who are so uncouth and wicked as to despise God's word while they are in good health should be left unattended when they are sick unless they demonstrate their remorse and repentance with great earnestness, tears, and lamentation. A person who wants to live like a heathen or a dog and does not publicly repent should not expect us to administer the sacrament to him or have us count him a Christian. . . Sad to say, there are many churlish, hardened ruffians who do not care for their souls when they live or when they die.

Second, everyone should prepare in time and get ready for death by going to confession and taking the sacrament once every week or fortnight. He should become reconciled with his neighbor and make his will so that if the Lord knocks and he departs before a pastor or chaplain can arrive, he has provided for his soul, has left nothing undone, and has committed himself to God. . .

Third, if someone wants the chaplain or pastor to come, let the sick person send word in time to call him and let him do so early enough while he is still in his right mind before the illness overwhelms the patient. . .

Then he continues with more practical advice--where to locate the cemeteries. He says he's not a doctor of medicine and doesn't know if cemeteries pollute the air, but he thinks the ancient custom of both the Jews and pagans of locating cemeteries outside the city was prudent.

A cemetery rightfully ought to be a fine quiet place, removed from all other localities, to which one can go and reverently meditate upon death, the Last Judgment, the resurrection, and say one's prayers. Such a place should properly be a decent, hallowed place, to be entered with trepidation and reverence because doubtlessly some saints rest there.

He goes on to complain about the condition of Wittenberg's cemetery where there is no respect for the graves. And closes with the reminder to battle the real and spiritual pestilence of Satan who now poisons and defiles the world.

From Martin Luther's Basic Theological Writings, (Fortress, 1989) ed by Timothy F. Lull. The 2005 edition has been scanned.

New safety standards for Amish buggies

This may not be a problem in your state, but in Ohio there have been 1400 accidents in the last 10 years involving animal drawn buggies and wagons with motor vehicles resulting in 17 fatalities.

"After a decade of advocacy and education, Ohio State University Extension recommendations for lighting and marking animal-drawn equipment have been standardized, paving the way for national and international adoption of safety procedures on vehicles, such as Amish buggies, horse-drawn farm wagons and urban carriages.

The standard, officially adopted by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE), outlines the practices and procedures for establishing a unique identification system for slow-moving, animal-drawn vehicles on public roadways or highways. The document includes proper lighting and marking of both the vehicle and the animal, such as the use of headlamps, tail lamps, battery-operated or generator-powered lighting systems, and retroreflective material, as well as how to display the slow-moving emblem."

Read the OSU press release with links to instructions and diagrams.

Buy real food

I've started buying butter. It's because of the ingredients list on the package: cream, salt. Have you ever worked your way through the list of ingredients on margarine? Oh sure, it has zero cholesterol, but what's that other stuff? How do we know it isn't going to gum up the works down the road a few generations. The latest thing I saw at the market was "spreadable butter by Olivio" which was more expensive than butter but had about 1/3 the cholesterol. In recent years one of the problems with margarine was increasingly the fat content was reduced--that's done by adding water and that affects cooking and baking. I've seen margarine with a fat content as low as 35%.

My grandmother's butter churn, Superior, 1910 . It could make 5 lbs of butter, and that would last about a week. Grandma didn't care much for meat, but obviously liked rich cream sauces, soups, and baked goods. Although the farm house had no rural electricity, they had a generator, and that wheel on the side, although it could be hand cranked, had a belt to attach to the generator.

I remember when Mom started buying margarine. There was a huge advertising campaign for it, and it was cheap--and white. Yes, I think it was against the law (dairy lobby) to make it look like butter. So you got this white blob and added a little packet of color. It was the job of the youngest daughters of America to stir that mess up and then it was scooped into a dish. It had no flavor as I recall--just greasy. Then there was a big improvement. The white stuff came in a bag with the yellow dye inside. Squishy, squishy twist and shout. This was also a kid's job. Eventually, margarine came in blocks like butter, then tubs and somehow it was made to taste better. I still prefer butter, and since it actually tastes good, I think you use less.

Chad, aka Murray, guest blogger

Obama didn't know his aunt was living in this country illegally. An immigration judge ORDERED her to leave the United States years ago after denying her request for asylum. Now that Obama does know, what's he or anybody else doing about it?? I guess that tells us something about how he feels about illegal immigration. Of course, the media brushed this off already. I found out from a little blurb in the local newspaper. Can you imagine the headlines if this were McCain or Palin? Now the government is investigating whether any laws were broken in the disclosure that Obama's aunt was living in this country illegally!

Obama wants to raise taxes on corporations and hit the big oil companies with a windfall profit tax. I mean, you just know before you get to economics 101 that the end result of this is higher costs to the consumer and they actually pay the price. Plus some companies will layoff people or the larger ones will plant their business in another country where taxes are lower. Now that's what I call a great economic stimulus plan!

Obama is going to lower income taxes for 95% of the population. Well, he better import some people cause 95% of the people don't pay taxes anyway. You supposed the tax break includes his illegal aunt?

Obama is going to share the wealth so that all the non- contributors do not have to worry, they will get more of the money that you contributors earn. This continues a trend that we already have going for us. Encourage people not to work.

Obama cannot tell you where all the campaign donations have come from nor will he even try. No one is even investigating. He claims the money is coming from small donors like you and me. Yeah right! Here we're going through the toughest economic times of our live time and he wants us to believe that the little people donated hundreds of million dollars to his campaign. Tells you how he feels about campaign finance reform. If you do not have to prove where the donations come from then there are no rules.

Obama wants us to believe that the entire economic mess is Bush's fault. Bush hasn't done everything right but he certainly isn't responsible for the crash. Obama doesn't mention that it was his party that stopped all attempts to head off the housing bubble and the demise of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae while taking campaign in donations from them. So how can he help resolve it if he doesn't know who or what caused it?

Obama has a lock on this state. I'm registered in Illinois. As far as the election goes it's not because he is the best man for the Presidency it's that the voters do three dumb things that perpetuate getting idiots and morons elected. They vote their party or in this case because Obama is an Illinois Senator and black. These types of voters made their decision months ago. Now since Obama has a lock on Illinois and since we still have this idiotic electoral college, my vote means nothing thank you very much!

From now on call me Chad.
Murray

Voter fraud is everywhere

Only if Obama loses will it get investigated. Check out this news video story from Atlanta about how many Georgians are voting in Florida or Ohio, both battle ground states. This morning on the radio I heard a very disturbing interview with John Fund about fraud in Wisconsin. In Ohio with the same day register and vote "golden week," it was golden for fraud. Even people like BuckeyeRINO who went to vote early said he could understand why they are careful on election day and so sloppy during early voting.

The early voting environment in my county doesn’t lend itself to confidence in the integrity of the system that Jennifer Brunner has provided us with. No matter how the elections turn out, there will still be questions raised about how they were conducted. My early voting experience in Erie County was, at the least, unsettling.

My son said he voted early at Vet's Memorial last week (before the early rush) and was surprised no one asked for ID especially since he had moved since registering. In Ohio they're accepting park benches as addresses for the homeless. Tough to mail a confirmation to a bench. You can never match up a vote with a registration, so how will Brunner stop this fraud?

I was supposed to be a poll watcher today, but the new rules made that virtually impossible unless you can be on your feet from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.--they won't allow shifts.

Due to the clarification issued by the Franklin County board of elections, effective Monday, October 27, 2008--Each political party is limited to one poll observer per precinct for the ENTIRE DAY. If you are receiving this email you have been scheduled for a half day shift and we are going to have to ask you to commit to the entire shift. We understand that working the entire day is a sizeable obligation. If you are NOT able to fulfill this commitment please reply to this email by 3pm Tuesday, October 28, 2008.

Most of the center left Democrats I know would not want fraud, but will they object? Would they get as angry as they did about the Supreme Court returning the decision to Florida about hanging chads, after ballots were handled multiple times in trying to determine the intention of the voter couldn't possibly be what was shown on the ballot? Unless Democrats raise the objections, I don't think we'll hear a peep from the Obamachine.

Both parties have teams of lawyers ready to go, just as they did in 2000, when the investigation would have moved on to another state even though each recount still came up with Bush as the winner. Ohio Democrats cried buckets in 2004, despite the significant advantage that Bush had. They couldn't believe their own polls or post voting surveys which had given Kerry an advantage could be wrong. Our press is useless--we have to rely on student news media and bloggers, which is just silly. Maybe one of the 3rd party candidates could investigate voter fraud--doesn't look like AG's of the winning party will do it.

Unintended consequences

My favorite breakfast is a sliced Honey Crisp apple (preferably huge and from Minnesota, but I'll take Michigan or NY if nothing else is available) and half a cup of whole walnuts. The problem is I had a frenulectomy in 1977 to close the gap between my front teeth. Let me tell you, when you've had surgery in your mouth you'll know it forever. I can't actually bite into a whole apple--it has to be sliced. After that surgery, all my teeth started to shift. You wouldn't think a tiny piece of flesh removal could do that much, but it did. Probably because I still have all my permanent teeth, even four wisdom teeth, as well as most of my childhood fillings. Even brushing my teeth and flossing can't remove the residue from this sticky breakfast, so I often don't eat until I get back from the coffee shop where I might talk or smile. The tiny shift of my front teeth has affected the enamel on my bottom teeth wearing it thin--so on it goes, 30 years later.

Every time we do something to improve something else, or to discourage something, or to destroy something, there are unintended consequences waiting. For instance, polio was virtually unknown when my grandmothers were children. Improved sanitation of the 20th century actually created the epidemics that began around the time of WWI. Middle class people were much more likely to get polio than the poor, and there was a time when they thought African Americans were immune! But in fact, in earlier times, everyone had had some exposure as children, got sick, and then recovered but had continued immunity. After the public water supplies were cleaned up, no one was able to withstand the exposure, which occasionally still lurked in water.

Let's jump a head to a bigger problem. Slum housing. At least, that's what it used to be called. In the earlier centuries in America, poor people built or rented their homes, and moved up or down as their income and circumstances dictated. The freedom to own land was a huge appeal to the immigrants who came here in the 18th and 19th centuries. My maternal grandparents had rented in Wichita when they were first married in 1901, then returned to Illinois in 1908 and lived out their lives on a farm inherited from grandma's father. My paternal grandparents were tenant farmers in the next county in the 1920s, had a large family (nine children) and a disability (my grandmother was blind). My grandmother's parents and other relatives were very good about helping, but there wasn't a government plan to assist them like there would be today for disabled poor people. There was charity, of course--my dad got a grant to go to college from the Polo Women's Club. So first their own children helped with the farm labor doing age appropriate tasks, and eventually, their adult children pooled their money and purchased a small home for them in town during WWII. Later, my grandfather who went to work in a plant when all the younger men had gone off to war (he really wasn't suited for farming), was able to save money, buy another home, and then another home, renting one. That's how housing worked in the early to mid-20th century.

Both Presidents Hoover and Roosevelt extended what started as a panic, then became a recession and then a depression by inserting government programs into problems instead of letting them heal themselves. My maternal grandparents had already begun sinking because of the easy credit for agricultural land and products in the 1920s. Like today, it was an over extension of credit that brought the economy down, but my other grandparents, tenants who had nothing anyway, really weren't affected. The New Deal of the 1930s built on Hoover's (a liberal Republican) mistakes and extended the Depression another 8 years. But worse still are the long term, unintended consequences of those programs.

The New Deal began the federal government's interference in the housing market which extends right up to the balance today in our 401-k and 403-b. It went way beyond zoning and health and safety, long a concern of government. The reason for the housing shortage after WWII, for the existence of all those Lustron homes in Mt. Morris, was rent control, and the government giving a corporation money to develop a house to meet the need and use factories developed during the war. Cheap housing just disappeared from the market, so rent and home prices soared. The government created that shortage. We didn't have fewer buildings in 1946 than 1941, just more rules. So who benefited from that? Certainly not the poor. Then when the poor had no access to even bad housing, the government stepped in again and built public housing, which quickly became a cesspool of crime, rigid segregation by race and very inhospitable living conditions. When public housing failed (remember the demolition of Cabrini Green in Chicago?), the government came up with new plans to "solve" the housing crisis--housing vouchers, community development agencies and non-profits, tax breaks or subsidies, condemning large tracks and rebuilding with tax incentives which created gentrification and scattered the poor yet again!

You think Katrina destroyed housing and hurt the poor? Nothing like what the residue of our federal government's housing experiments over the years have done! At every step, private enterprise has either been discouraged through regulation, or allowed to run wild through lobbying efforts and kick-backs to government officials who hold the keys to housing very tightly. Fast forward to the latest failure of our government to help the poor and low income with housing: the creation of the Community Redevelopment Act under Jimmy Carter, and it's expansion during the Clinton era to the point where banks were held hostage by "non-profits" with massive amounts of government funding receiving huge fees for each low income family they stuffed, unprepared, into a mortgage that didn't fit.

None of this was intended. There were enough good intentions to wall paper Washington DC. But there are consequences when you try to change people's behavior through government programming or reprogramming. Don't be fooled by politicians who weep and mourn over our "selfishness" when we have spent trillions on these government created crises and have only kept the poor down longer than they would have been if we'd done nothing and only stood by and wrung our hands.

Change round up

This doesn't look like a good idea to me. Keep your change, dig it out of the bottom of your purse, wallet or pocket and put it in a dish, box or piggy bank at home. Periodically take it to the market (this little piggy, get it?), buy canned food, and donate it to your local food pantry. I have a bunch of reservations about food pantries, but right now many people are stopping by for help who perhaps in the past were donors. The price increases in the stores are shocking--higher fuel costs, less investment in local companies due to punitive environmental regulations, and it's only going to get worse as the coal industry is shut down through the global warming, cap and trade hoaxers. Government do-good, feel-good programs hurt the poor first. The trillions we spend on poverty programs are disturbingly inefficient and wasteful of tax money, propping up inefficent industries, farmers and community organizers. Better to step in and do your part personally than to turn more over to the government.

Yesterday I spent about an extra $10 at Meijer's--some things that are easy to store and will provide a bit more variety than what might be on the shelves. I've heard things are lean and the shelves empty. Instead of a big blow out of grocery bags at Thanksgiving and Christmas, our church has the food bin in the lobby on Sundays during November and is asking that people donate smaller amounts the entire month. Sometimes businesses collect food; sometimes radio or TV stations. Which ever, this week when you're shopping pick up a few extra cans and donate. Keep your change, and then recycle it. Know where it is going.

Having a chat with the Devil about fear

In 1527 Martin Luther provided some theological and practical thoughts on how Christians should respond to the plague. The Black Death (bubonic plague) had swept across Europe several times since its initial appearance in 1350 brought there through trade with Asia. It was discovered in Wittenburg in August, the university was closed, and the students sent home. Luther was busy so he stayed, but in November replied to a pastor on what Christians should do. Luther was always very practical, and of course, people of that era didn't know about bacteria (lived in the intestines of rats and could be transmitted to animals or humans through fleas) or how the disease was spread, but he did know what Scripture said about helping one's neighbor.

He provides almost a script in confronting fears, horror and disgust when caring for the sick (it was a truly ugly, disgusting way to die). His advice is useful when confronting fear of any kind:

When anyone is overcome by horror and repugnance in the presence of a sick person he should take courage and strength in the firm assurance that it is the devil who stirs up such abhorrence, fear, and loathing in this heart. He is such a bitter, knavish devil that he not only unceasingly tries to slay and kill, but also takes delight in making us deathly afraid, worried, and apprehensive so that we should regard dying as horrible and have no rest or peace all through our life. And so the devil would excrete us out of this life as he tries to make us despair of God, become unwilling and unprepared to die, and, under the stormy and dark sky of fear and anxiety, make us forget and lose Christ, our light and life, and desert our neighbor in his troubles. We would sin thereby against God and man; that would be the devil's glory and delight. Because we know that it is the devil's game to induce such fear and dread, we should in turn minimize it, take such courage as to spite and annoy him and send those terrors right back to him. And we should arm ourselves with this answer to the devil:


"Get away, you devil, with your terrors! Just because you hate it, I'll spite you by going the more quickly to help my neighbor, I'll pay no attention to you.

I've got two heavy blows to use against you. The first one is that I know that helping my neighbor is a deed well-pleasing to God and all the angles; by this deed I do God's will and render true service and obedience to him. All the more so because if you hate it so and are so strongly opposed to it, it must be particularly acceptable to God. I'd do this readily and gladly if I could please only one angel who might look with delight on it. But now that it pleases my Lord Jesus Christ and the whole heavenly host because it is the will and command of God, my Father, then how could any fear of you cause me to spoil such joy in heaven or such delight for my Lord? Or how could I, by flattering you, give you and your devils in hell reason to mock and laugh at me? No, you'll not have the last word! If Christ shed his blood for me and died for me, why should I not expose myself to some small dangers for his sake and disregard this feeble plague?

If you can terrorize, Christ can strengthen me.

If you can kill, Christ can give life.

If you have poison in your fangs, Christ has far greater medicine.

Should not my dear Christ, with his precepts, his kindness and all his encouragement, be more important in my spirit than you, roguish devil, with your false terrors in my weak flesh? God forbid! Get away, devil. Here is Christ and here am I, his servant in his work. Let Christ prevail! Amen.

The second blow against the devil is God's mighty promise by which he encourages those who minister to the needy. He says in Psalm 41:1-3, "Blessed is he who considers the poor. The Lord will deliver him in the day of trouble. The Lord will protect him and keep him alive; the Lord will bless him on earth and not give him up to the will of his enemies. The Lord will sustain him on his sickbed. In his illness he will heal all his infirmities."


Are not these glorious and mighty promises of God heaped up upon those who minister to the needy? What should terrorize us or frighten us away from such great and divine comfort? The service we can render to the needy is indeed such a small thing in comparison with God's promises and rewards that St. Paul says to Timothy, "Godliness is of value in every way, and it holds promise both for the present life and for the life to come" I Tim. 4:8. . . [and continues for more pages] from "Whether one may flee from a deadly plague," in Martin Luther's basic theological writings, ed. by Timothy F. Lull, Fortress Press, 1989, p. 736-755

A note with this passage says Luther suffered a severe attack of cerebral anemia in 1527 followed by deep depression which may be one reason for the mild tone!

The 2005 edition of this title has been google scanned.

It's just not the same

When Annoyed Librarian went over to Library Journal, the home camp of the people she ridiculed (for pay), I thought she'd lose her readers. I haven't read her in weeks, but stopped by today. Just doesn't have the same feel at all. All the zip and zing is gone. But her loyal followers are still there. Not enough that I'd de-link AL, heaven knows it's very hard to find good consistent bloggers of my gender talking about something besides baby spit up and fashion trends, so I hate to eliminate someone who is good at pointing out the various shibboleths of the profession. Sometimes it was the only way for me to keep up on the various technological enhancements of librarianship by reading her making fun of them.

Where Hillary misjudged Barack

I was reading through a January 2007 article "Hillary, Barack: The Differences And Similarities," By E.J. DIONNE JR and noticed where she, and the McCain-Palin campaign made their mistake:

In a 2002 speech, Clinton signaled her respect for this approach by praising Al From, the DLC's founder and chief executive, for understanding "from the very beginning . . . that the right ideas were more important even than improving technology, organization or fundraising." Both Clintons have employed Mark Penn, the premier DLC pollster who is incessant in his efforts to locate the political center.

If Obama had the right ideas he'd be a lot further ahead; if he had no ideas, he'd still be ahead; he has every tired, worn-out socialist marxist idea that failed around the world, that guarantees our economy will be crushed under more regulation and more taxes, he's stomping the center left and he's still ahead.

The economy collapsed after the 2008 conventions (although I was blogging about Fannie and Fred 18 months ago) making the race about something totally different, and it was the Democrats' fault, and yet the Obamachine was able to grab that brass golden ring and ride the Merry Go Round and Round and Round with it. Clever clips, better graphics, and much faster responses. Their turn around time on a McCain slip was amazing, but McCain might take days to bring up an Obama flip or flim-flam. When we walked out of the Nationwide Arena Friday evening, all pumped up by Ahnold, Hank Jr., and McCain, what was projected on the white building across the street, but an Obama ad about 50 ft high. Brilliant.

And even if Americans--decent, hard working, religious people who close their eyes and ears to his socialist garbage, his dangerous economic plan, and his disgusting abortion views--really understood his ideas, he'd still be ahead. Even when they clearly know that he can't reduce taxes for 95% of Americans because a huge percentage don't pay taxes, and by increasing taxes on business he drives them out of the country, he'd still be ahead. Even if they went on line and totalled the trillions we've spent on poverty programs, he'd still be ahead. He's got what Hillary said wasn't as important as the ideas--TECHNOLOGY, ORGANIZATION AND FUNDRAISING.

Love him or hate him, admire or denigrate him, his minions and lackeys are masters of puppetry, show, fluff, alinskyized groups, speed and visual impact. He picks an old-time, aging liberal for a running mate and uses text messaging to announce it, and the kiddoes swoon from excitement, ignorning the fact that Democrats refused Biden several times. They get little old ladies to leave their home in Illinois and paint store fronts and make coffee in Wisconsin; they get honor scholars to come home from Europe and give false addresses in Ohio and live in a dump so they can bus in the homeless and confused who haven't voted in years, or maybe never. They build a Greek Temple for $5 million to announce what we all knew--he was going to be the candidate and then rip into Palin for her clothes; he prances around Europe posing with fascist imagery but the kids have never studied history, so still they swoon. His agents and organizers, managers and gurus understand that what matters is the feeling, the excitement of the moment, not the facts. Reminds me of the movie Face in the Crowd.

Lonesome Rhodes:This whole country's just like my flock of sheep!
Marcia Jeffries: Sheep?
Lonesome Rhodes: Rednecks, crackers, hillbillies, hausfraus, shut-ins, pea-pickers - everybody that's got to jump when somebody else blows the whistle. They don't know it yet, but they're all gonna be 'Fighters for Fuller'. They're mine! I own 'em! They think like I do. Only they're even more stupid than I am, so I gotta think for 'em. Marcia, you just wait and see. I'm gonna be the power behind the president - and you'll be the power behind me!

Obama is lauded as an articulate intellectual when in fact he stammers and stutters and repeats old ideas calling it change; he talks about social programs as though we haven't already spent trillions and suffocated the poor with a well fed, well paid bureaucracy; when he can't face the truth he just jokes about it, tosses someone under the bus, or sends in his goons to destroy the questioner. He has no past that anyone can find--not legislative or personal, but it doesn't matter. In this election it's the money--and he's spent over half a billion (much through theft and fraud), the right technology (some of it in the state offices of Ohio) and a solid organization of adoring volunteers and paid staff.

He must be the messiah

The dead are rising in Cleveland, missing aunts are found in Boston, homeless in Columbus have addresses, a birth certificate is miracuously found and declared valid in Hawaii. And money--it just appears from nowhere, no one, no how--follow the money.

See James Taranto: Beloved Aunt: America is fed up with compassionate conservatism. Is heartless liberalism the answer?

Clearly Obama is anything but a soft touch. In fact, his blasé attitude about deporting his beloved aunt and bankrupting fellow Americans [coal story] is downright chilling. Maybe a period of heartless liberalism is a needed corrective after eight years of compassionate conservatism. But here's the big question: Would Obama be as brutal in defending America's interests as he is in pandering to xenophobes and global warmists?

Top three presidents since WWII were mature

Of all our presidents since World War II, the three who ranked highest among all American presidents in a 2005 survey of scholars by the Wall Street Journal were: Ronald Reagan, Harry Truman, and Dwight Eisenhower. Joe Biden says there will be an international incident soon after the election of Barack Obama to test him. Article here.

IBD/TIPP Tracking Poll: Day Twenty-One

Now it shows a 2.1 point spread?
Posted: Sunday, November 02, 2008. 46.7 to 44.6 with 8.7 undecided. It's hard to imagine anyone being undecided at this point, you can only hope they are pro-life coal miners.

"The race tightened again Sunday as independents who'd been leaning to Obama shifted to McCain to leave that key group a toss-up. McCain also pulled even in the Midwest, moved back into the lead with men, padded his gains among Protestants and Catholics, and is favored for the first time by high school graduates."

Sounds like some Christians just might be realizing that if we got 40+ million abortions with Roe v. Wade and pro-life presidents, how many more will there be when we have the one who has the most leftist record ever in the history of the nation on abortion.

Although I listen to conservative radio in the morning, the news breaks are all CNN. Today Tammy Bruce (no relation, lesbian, former president of NOW, former lefty now a conservative) was subbing for Laura Ingraham who has laryngitis. So it was a bi-polar moment when the news came on--it was all rah, rah Obama, McCain doesn't have a chance after hearing Tammy trying to rally the troops for McCain-Palin.

Update, final poll: Final IBD/TIPP Tracking Poll Shows Obama Leading McCain 51.5% to 44.3%.

pea and poop

Usually I don't worry about spelling and typos on the internet, because everyone dashes something off, and often doesn't take the time to look through. But this one on my site meter was just too cute to pass up.

"the solution to my environmental problem is people letting their pets pea and poop in other peoples yard on the sidewalk at the park and killing the grass"

Now, I don't talk about pea and poop, but I might have noted something I saw at the park that was killing the grass, and we have certainly all been stepping in it as we get closer to the election.

I'm not sure what vegetative matter (peas and poop?) and how much heat it took to make coal, but it's an essential part of the economy of West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Kentucky. The article in the Dispatch today covering what Sarah Palin said about the most recent outrageous take down of our economy promised by Obama--to bankrupt the coal industry and cause higher electricity costs--with cap and trade so high no one will be able to afford it, didn't even get the quote right. I've listened to it several times and even with his trademark stammer and stutter (off teleprompter) you can clearly hear the word "bankrupt" and his intentions, but the headline is: "Palin charges Obama would cripple Ohio's coal industry." Obama promised he will bankrupt anyone who builds a coal fired plant and the CD writer tries to explain it away.

The media owners of the CD and PD, WaPo and NYT need to get some pre-1990 text books and take a look at what happened to the press after they helped bring in "reform" in Cuba in the 1950s, Russia in the early 20th century, China in the 1940s, Vietnam in the 50s, Korea in the 40s, etc. After the marxist dictator takes power, they are the first to go, next it's the buddies and cronies who still have some backbone and know where the bodies are buried. Go back and read some of those trials from the 1930s in the USSR, like Bukharin's, all those loyal revolutionaries who had sacrificed so much and shed the blood of others for the marxist dream. Then next in line are the unions. Of course, most of those governments, with the exception of North Korea which is still taking food aid for its starving people, have now come full circle and dumped their endless 5 year economic plans built on a million graves and are beating us at our own game. Pea and poop, indeed.

Allegory of Unfaithful Jerusalem

When gays sift through Scripture hunting with no avail for support for their sexual practices and marriage to each other, the big one that is skipped over is male/female and husband/wife imagery for spiritual truths that is everywhere, from the story of Creation to the final judgement. In the Old Testament a major theme is God's relationship with Israel, as husband and wife, and in the New it is Christ the loving bridegroom and the believing Church the bride.

This morning I was looking up a reference that Martin Luther had made to a passage in Ezekiel about caring for your neighbor in times of the plague (he's writing in the early 1500s when this was a big concern), and read the entire Ezekiel 16. I'm sure in conservative churches, Americans hear this passage often as an allegory of what has happened to the United States and her abandoning Christian roots, but it wouldn't happen from the pulpits and classrooms of UALC where I'm a member. Given that this is the day before we elect new leaders, throw the bums out, pass or toss bond issues, say yes or no on various issues from water rights to street lights, it's an amazing read. Take it to the polls instead of that guide your party has printed up so slick and pretty.

I'm not going to reprint the entire chapter because it is easily available on the internet. I use almost exclusively the NIV, although for "English as it was never spoken," I use NASB, because it is so literal with little attention to the beauty of our language. Regardless of the translation/paraphrase you use, the message is the same.

God's spokesman, "Son of man," begins in verse 1 with a description of a female baby of mixed ethnicity being thrown away; then God finds her in the trash still with the umbilical cord uncut, cleans her up, and says, LIVE. He then provides her with the finest of everything. She grows up and becomes beautiful. They make a covenant (marriage). But then she uses her beauty, fame, wealth, everything God gave her, and even the abundant food, to go a whoring--making sacrifices to foreign idols. This ungrateful wife even sacrifices her own children to idols, and forgets her youth when she was naked, bare and kicking about in her own blood when rescued by God. Here's the passage, however, that really struck home for me as an allegory of our country at this time.

Ez 16:32-35 " You adulterous wife! You prefer strangers to your own husband! 33 Every prostitute receives a fee, but you give gifts to all your lovers, bribing them to come to you from everywhere for your illicit favors. 34 So in your prostitution you are the opposite of others; no one runs after you for your favors. You are the very opposite, for you give payment and none is given to you."

Comments on the Berg-Obama legal standing case

American Thinker (article by Mark J. Fitzgibbons) stopped by to respond to D. who left a response here calling Mark J. Fitzgibbons an idiot (I had quoted him). The backstory is: dismissing a challenge to Obama's constitutional qualifications to run for President on grounds that a mere citizen does not have legal standing to sue. I couldn't find a photo of Mr. D., so I googled his image, finding this D shaped exit hole made by an Emerald Ash Borrer. So here's the response.

"First of all, thank you for blogging about the issues I raised in my piece in American Thinker, "Who Enforces the Constitution's Natural Born Citizen Clause?"

The comment of this person "d" neglects that my piece does in fact address and criticize Senator McCain's motion to dismiss for lack of standing.

This person "d" refers to himself as a lawyer, as in "we lawyers." "This" lawyers did address the importance of standing in my article. And I also address, without the luxury of space in that article, the fact that courts have given somewhat wider standing latitude when constitutional rights are being litigated. I know this from having written briefs in constitutional cases, including before the United States Supreme Court. I am also very much aware that the mere raising of a constitutional claim does not create standing. However, as my article does address, the court-made doctrine of standing should not preclude citizens from enforcing the Constitution in this case, and should not be assumed to be broader than the Constitution itself to the point that the Constitution may not be enforced by citizens, which certainly would be the opposite of the intent of that document.

Since I assuredly won't be asking "d" to be co-counsel in any case, I am not worried about his criticism of Mr. Berg's failure establish facts at the pleading stage in a manner consistent with evidentiary standards. Since the case was dismissed before discovery was had, we do not know whether the allegations contained in the pleadings lacked merit or not. And I know that "d," as one of "we lawyers," would be able to blog about the best evidence rule for all the people who have relied on FactCheck.org as conclusive evidence of Senator Obama's natural born citizen status.

Therefore, as you so aptly state, lawyers and judges do sometimes "use exactly the same law and/or regulation to mean the exact opposite if its intent." The Roman historian Tacitus wrote about that, and how it aided the fall of the Roman Empire. Indeed, the "inconvenience of facts," a term employed by "d," may have been avoided by resorting to judicial doctrines instead of the Constitution itself, which is why the decision in the Berg case has offended so many people."

Now if Mr. D. will just come back. I suspect he was an Obama-robo-spider, crawling the internet with pre-planned responses. Here, Spiddy, here Spiddy. Come and get it.

I revisited the original post at American Thinker and found 81 comments. I don't know if D dropped by to offer suggestions there or if he just picks on little old ladies. But the responses are well worth reading, if you have the time.

Environmental Stewardship Study Guide

The May 2008 The Lutheran features a cover topic "Stewarding God's creation," with a study guide on p. 19.


The author of the guide, Robert C. Blezard, has a MDiv from Boston University with some additional work at Lutheran seminaries at Gettysburg, PA and Philadelphia. I haven't been to seminary and I've only had enough science (4 years in high school, 1 year in college) to meet graduation requirements. But folks, this guide is not a guide, it is a political tract.

How do you write a study guide for a Christian journal that doesn't guide, doesn't encourage study, isn't Biblical, isn't accurate historically and isn't scientific? Is it any wonder ELCA is losing members to more conservative denominations who have something to say, or to agnosticism which says, I don't know?

For starters, "stewardship" isn't a "clunky term." Adding a suffix to a verb or noun is a perfectly acceptable way to create another noun--kinship, friendship, guardianship, etc. It's not clunky; it's the way our language expands on an idea. Why the author thought the word even needed explanation, I don't know--Christians have been having "stewardship Sunday" forever. And why chose the most narrow definition of steward, i.e., NOT the owner, when it means manager, agent, superviser and director?

And how does a pastor/writer ask "Who's world is it anyway? Who created it?" without offering a few Bible verses? It's unreasonable for the writer to assume the participants have been taught anything except evolution in school, everything and everyone evolved from a blob of something or a big blast, unless they were homeschooled! I attended elementary school in the 1940s and 1950s and even I only learned evolution--several shifting versions and different timelines. Here's a few suggestions for Pastor Blezard:

Gen. 1:1, Ps 90:2, Jeremiah 10:6, Isaiah 43:10, Revelation 4:11, Job 38:4-7.

Why waste limited space (it's a one page guide) with poorly constructed questions guaranteed to get a one word answer such as,

"If a steward of a plantation farms in a way that depletes the soil and jeopardizes future cultivation, is that good stewardship?"

A plantation? Hey! bring it on home--ever heard of a farm, garden or flower pot? Then he goes on to present only two models of how billions of people in thousands of cultures have viewed the earth, either

1) endless and indestructible or 2) finite and fragile.

My area of research was agricultural journals of the 19th century, and be assured there were minimally educated people with great sophistication on how to care for and improve the land (and organizations such as extension to teach those who didn't know), and in most cultures people knew enough about their local living conditions, forests, deserts, and mountains not to contaminate them.

Along with endless questions and no Biblical references, the author makes statements with no footnotes that may or may not be true, but we know he believes them.

We are now 6 billion strong and the Earth is showing great signs of strain

Larry Rasmussen says the Hebrew words are better rendered "to serve and protect." (Genesis 2:15)

Use of Earth (note the capital letter) resources, both renewable and nonrenewable, is escalating at an alarming rate, with dire consequences.

Global warming is just one consequence, along with a shrinking wildlife habitat, dwindling freshwater supplies, collapse of fisheries, species extinction, and degradation of air and water.

Scientists say these pressures imperil the capacity of the planet to sustain life.

Not a reference or footnote. And who is Larry Rasmussen? His neighbor? Cousin?

Then comes a long list of questions (Exercise 4) that just beg for a few statistics if they are going to be discussed. I write a lot about buildings, consumerism, food, applicances, etc., yet off the top of my head, if I had to discuss with fellow church members the size of houses and cars in my life time, we'd be reduced to reminiscing about the family Chevy and grandma's house.

I'm bullish on protecting Lake Erie and keeping the western states from piping our fresh water to deserts that were never intended to be agricultural land, but Exercise 5 is really weak. He seems stuck back in the 1970s when no one swam in the Great Lakes and there was no regulation of waste (or when the mid-west still had industries).

Again, he gives an either or statement:

Should human health or economic interests come first in making decisions?

When DDT was removed from the international market, was the human health of the Africans considered, or just a few Americans who wanted to run free and barefoot through the grass birdwatching? Let's define some terms here. Economics for who? Haitians? Rwandans? Maybe they'd like some of the lifestyle we denigrate as "poverty." Maybe they'd just once like the opportunity to be overweight or obese.

Since the first paragraph says,

"God gave us a perfect home, full of life and resources, and charges us to take care of it,"

I think it would be appropriate for a Lutheran pastor to mention the Fall. The world isn't perfect, Pastor, and hasn't been for thousands of years. Creation ended with God's stamp of approval and he pronounced it VERY GOOD. Not a single industry, business, government, culture or smoke stack messed it up. Man was deceived by Satan, began to doubt, then denied what God said, and then disobeyed. Deceit, doubt, denial and disobedience continue to this day, and is probably most evident in the pantheism of global warmism and worship of the environment and "Mother Earth."

God has the solution for sin, and the first paragraph would have been the perfect spot to insert the name of Jesus and his work on our behalf on the cross. I think it's good to always let your readers know where you're coming from, and Jesus' name appears no where in this guide for Lutheran Christians. So next time. . . let's put it right up front and go from there.

Obama plans to bankrupt Ohio's coal industry

Oh sure you can build it, but no one will come.

"So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can; it's just that it will bankrupt them because they're going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that's being emitted." B.O.

That's like telling Iowans they can't grow corn. Floridians they can't invite tourists. New Yorkers they can't borrow money. Detroit they can't build cars.

Listen to this terrifying (for Ohioans) interview

HT BizzyBlog.

A sinner saved by grace

Remember Mr. T? He was one my son's favorite TV characters. He has a nice testimony at Belief.net.

I was baptized when I was four years old. But when you’re younger you really don’t understand that stuff. Then I got rebaptized in 1977. As a Christian you forgive and you feed the hungry, and clothe the naked, and you visit the sick, and comfort the lonely. If I’m a true follower of my lord and savior Jesus Christ, I got to do the things you’re supposed to be doing. You just can’t say, "I believe in Jesus" and then don’t forgive somebody [or] hold a grudge against somebody. Don’t get me wrong--if somebody jumps me I’m gonna fight, but I don't send out hate vibes if I don’t like that person or the way that they dress. That’s negative energy. Then there is a contradiction to the God I serve, the God of love. He forgave me, and I should do good to the people who cross me.

In 1979, before I got famous, there was a contest called the Toughest Bouncer in America. I used to bodyguard for some celebrities and other people, and when I wasn’t doing that I used to work at a disco as a doorman or a bouncer. When I started training for the contest I called my pastor, Rev. Henry Hardy of Cosmopolitan Community Church [in Chicago]. I’ve been going there since 1977. I said, “Pastor Hardy, they’re having a contest, and when I win this contest I’m going to give you the money, so you can buy food and clothes for less fortunate people in the community." I won two years in a row—it was over $10,000. I didn’t have no car then, but I was blessed. So I gave the money freely, and then my blessing came back in the form of "Rocky III." A very nice interview here.