Our purple and green bureaucracy

As the New Yorker cartoon by Frank Cotham says, “It’s always cozy in here. We’re insulated by layers of bureaucracy.”

Red state or blue, green bureaucrats are pure gold for large companies--Goldman Sachs and General Electric, for instance--they help regulate the little guy out of competition. Even back when I was a liberal writing about supermarket coupons and sweepstakes (1983), I noted that the best and biggest offers came from the largest food companies, and eventually through the cooperation of the penny pinching consumer, would put the small companies out of business and then raise prices.

Forward looking green businessmen like Henry Paulson (our Bush Secretary of Treasury who helped design our current bailouts) and his partner Al Gore (our Clinton vice president) in GIM will get rich from imaginary carbon footprints and cap and trade points. Both will lead a lifestyle of wealth and privilege the rest of us can only imagine, with you and me footing the bill, and Joe Biden leading cheers assuring us he‘s looking out for the middle class tax payer.

But the poor will pay the most. The US poor are rich by the rest of the world’s standards, but even they will be hurt by the green quicksand that drags down the economy. It’s only when you’ve got the basics of life taken care of that you can turn your attention to taking care of the environment. It doesn’t make sense to spend billions of resources fantasizing about miniscule amounts of this or that in our food, water and air when millions around the world go to bed hungry or are unable to work, weakened by malaria through the hyper-vigilant actions of environmentalists fearing the death of a bird egg. There are thousands of non-profits, religious groups and think-tanks dependent on keeping us terrified and anxious about all the products, foods, building materials, and vehicles in our lives. They "earn" their salaries and research funding with government grants. Technically, they aren't on the government payroll, but they might as well be.

Our green bureaucrats will eventually destroy American auto manufacturers, those three companies they first built by reducing competition (did you ever wonder where the rest of them went?) or taxing them out of the industrial Midwest. First the jobs building automobiles went south, and then to overseas workers, to be shipped back to us. The newer angle is to force on us cars no one wants, built in plants that could only please a large union work force, supporting the medical bills of millions of UAW retirees for a few more years.

Dear readers, the men and women we’ve sent to Washington aren’t stupid; but at their deep purple heart of heart on the fringes, they are socialists. They may reach to extol Reagan, but they stand on the back of FDR. Government will own it all--and 2008 will be the watershed year. And for those officials of either party--staff, appointees or elected--it’s a paid-in-full ride to the end. When they retire, or are voted out, they hang around in Washington think tanks or their branches and become lobbyists, researchers, writers or conference organizers, but nothing changes.

Other than being larger, with a bigger budget, do you see anything different between the Clinton bureaucracy of 1998 and the Bush bureaucracy of 2008? And they’re all back through the revolving door, along with a few newer Chicagoans funded by the sheiks from the middle east who banrolled the Clinton.

When the deep purple falls
over green regulatory walls
And the stars begin to twinkle in DC—
In the mist of a memory
you wander back to me
Taking my taxes with a grin...

Not much justice here, move along

Seems to be a think tank in the tank for Obama and various "progressive" (socialist, marxist) causes. Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law.

Willful, crusading ignorance

A janitor/student at IUPUI (Indiana) Keith John Sampson was charged with racial harassment by a co-worker for reading a book on his break time about the Klan. The book was actually anti-Klan, but all the woman saw was the word Klan. She didn't ask, just filed a complaint. The office of equal opportunity (one woman) found him guilty without ever looking at the book (Notre Dame vs. the Klan: How the Fighting Irish Defeated the Ku Klux Klan) and put the finding in his permanent record. This amazing story, and a very well made film about the incident is at the FIRE blog. Eventually, the president of IUPUI apologized to the student when it became national news through FIRE's effort, but the woman was promoted, and no faculty member ever came to his defense. It makes you wonder what country we're living in.

Let Caroline run

She couldn't do a worse job than her uncle, cousins, and other assorted in-laws who've married the Kennedy name and used it to climb the political ladders in their states. I don't think she's killed anyone; don't know if she's ever had a job, but that too isn't unusual for the elites who inherit wealth from a capitalist ancestor and then swing left. But she can't match Sarah Palin. There's no comparison in talent, experience, and guts. In a recent interview when asked about the vilification she got for being "common," not from the educated elite, she replied

"But once the electorate knows what that candidate’s convictions are and positions are, I don’t think that matters. You just prefaced your question with the fact that I didn’t come from that ‘stock’. I got my education from the University of Idaho because that’s what I could afford. It was the least-expensive school that offered the programs I knew would benefit me in my future. My Dad was a school teacher and had four kids in college at about the same time. It didn’t occur to me to ask my parents to pay for my college education. We all worked through school and paid for schools that we could afford. I still got a great education. No, I don’t come from the self-proclaimed ‘movers and shakers’ group and that’s fine with me. It’s caused me, or rather, allowed me, to work harder and pulled myself up by my bootstraps without anyone else helping me. I think it allows me to be in touch with the vast majority of Americans who are in the same position that I am. That is desiring government to be on our side and not against us. And that means, in a lot of ways, for government to get out of the way to allow our families and our businesses to keep more of what they produce, to meet our own priorities." Interview

Caroline doesn't have bootstraps, but she's had to overcome a lot of losses in her life, and although I'd never vote for her, she's probably better qualified than the governor who will appoint her, and the various people claiming she's not qualified. Look what electing and appointing all those "qualified public servants" got us. You know, the ones with Fannie and Fred oversite, the ones taking bribes (at least she won't need to do that!), the ones who threw friends and relatives under the bus, the ones who do nothing but bring home the pork.

An updated carol

Seen at PUMA P.A.C. A sock puppet is someone who pretends to be someone else on the internet, but obviously they can be fakes in real life too as all those who trusted Bernie Madoff or Marc Dreir or even Barney Frank and Barack Obama (lots of lefties mad at him--just read PUMA PAC) found out.

Oxygen isotope ratios

Lynne Bell from the School of Criminology in Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, Canada, and her colleagues analysed oxygen isotope ratios in the bones and tooth enamel in 18 of the sunken sailors of the Mary Rose, one of King Henry VIII's war ships. This analysis showed the men may have been from the Mediterranean area and probably didn't understand English, thus didn't get the command correctly during the battle with the French. This information on why children might need to understand standard English or you your stock broker in order to do well (not really, but one could make that argument) is found at the blog about Decoding the Heavens, by Jo Marchant, mentioned in the previous entry.

What happened to the women?

The modern women’s movement is dated from the late 60s or early 1970s. It sort of evolved from the Civil Rights movement and the Vietnam war protests, I’m told. Women got tired of sleeping with, and making coffee for the movers, shakers, and criminal element, although some like Bernadine Dohrn went on to marry one. I can remember attending “consciousness raising” groups on the OSU campus--women sitting around, usually on the floor, discussing the various ways society or more specifically men had kept them from their potential or dreams, and how things would be different if women were in charge. More collaborative. Kinder. More team work. We were so radical we didn’t even serve snacks like church ladies.

Well, we’re about 40 years down the road. I’d like you to take a look at this very interesting video about the Antikythera Mechanism. http://www.antikytheramechanism.org/

Never heard of it? Me either before today when the Nature video notice popped up in my e-mail. But, neither had some of the men in the video interview. It really is fascinating, and there are two parts. If you’re like me, you prefer to read, not watch, but watching does bring you up to speed a little faster than reading 2000 years of the history of science.



However, what I want to mention is the lack of women in this story, either ancient or post modern. You do see two women applauding one exhibit, but they could be wives or secretaries, or guests. No women are included in the story.

Not for a minute do I think women have been excluded the last 30 years--although possibly the years before. Nor will I say there aren't more women in the sciences than when I was young. Even so, more women than men were graduating from high school in my grandmother’s day, and that didn’t seem to give too many a career boost. Did we really need so much help if it comes naturally? In the last 30 years, there have been many workshops, special classes, special laws, special gendered regulations, speech codes, extra math anxiety classes for middle school girls (even when my 41 year old was in middle school), Title 9, and disinterested girls served at the expense of very interested boys. Yes, there are a few women who really take to math and science, who are willing to postpone all other gratification in order to get that A or that scholarship or that PhD, and then by-pass marriage and family so she can sit in a lab at 3 a.m. on Sunday morning, but most don’t care to.

You’ve heard the old adage, it’s not paranoia if they are really out to get you? Well, it’s not discrimination if you really can’t or won’t do the job. I had an epiphany when I was about 16 or 17. It was during Algebra II class--virtually everyone who was planning to go to college was in that class. After our freshman year we began to split into certain groups, and I knew I was in over my head. Some took home-ec, office practice and shop or ag, and some went the other way (don’t remember what it was called, but something about college). It wasn't rigid like European schools--in fact, we had little or no counseling as I recall. Someone signed your choice and you were in.

These days someone would jump to my rescue and say I had “math anxiety” and I would be assigned to a special group. I even called it that during most of my adult life. I’d make many excuses--and it was true, I surely was anxious as I saw the numbers and letters swimming and scooting around with little squiggles and making no sense whatsoever the way geometry had. Rather than sit there and watch my classmates all succeed where I would fail, I made a detour and transferred to a psychology class. I could have asked for help--we had great teachers; I suppose I could have even had tutoring, the fact remains I didn't. If it would have mattered to me, if I'd loved math, I would have. I might have been anxious, but I wasn’t stupid. I just couldn’t make any sense out of algebra and moved in another direction.

Back to the video. Did you notice the elderly man in the video, the master instrument maker of medieval instruments, the one who’s to build the replica? Wearing hearing aids. Notice his delight at the computer model. Is there a woman out there of any age who could or would do either one? Design the replica or the computer model? Even with math anxiety counseling and middle-school workshops? Asian women, you say? Well, yes, far more than the Euro-women. But I scan a lot of photos of boards, awards, and special honors--the number of women at the top in any field (other than the ones men choose not to enter) is discouraging after 40 years of special help.

Still, a book about it http://www.decodingtheheavens.com/ might be doable for book club selection.

Why I don't read Time Magazine

The last time I read Time was during the time we spent in Finland in 2006, and I was desperate to read something in English so I bought the international edition. Biggest waste of $5 ever. And this? It's pathetic.

"His genome is global, his mind is innovative, his world is networked, and his spirit is democratic," gushes Time magazine's David Von Drehle in his "Person of the Year" profile of Mr. Obama. Time betrays its parochialism by almost invariably choosing the American president-elect for the honor every fourth or eighth year. But although the selection of Mr. Obama was predictable, Time's choice for a cover is instructive. The Che Guevara-esque, eyes-to-the-far-distance portrait by "street artist" Shepard Fairey is a throwback to the magazine's earliest days, when hero worship was considered an honest form of journalism." At WSJ op ed on presidential monuments.

His campaign funding indeed had a global genome, and all we know about his world is what he wrote in his own autobiography, including his place of birth. But his innovative mind? He not only has an annoying stutter as he grasps for adjusting the facts, but he's forgetful of faces, names and dates. He barely knew Governor Blagojevich, Bill Ayers was a total mystery, Rev. Wright was just a guy in front of the church, Grandma was conveniently never available for an interview, and Farrakhan who?

A trip to No Man's Land

There's a scanned issue of The Gospel Messenger Supplement for Kansas at Brethren Archives. The Gospel Messenger used to be published in Mt. Morris, Illinois, which was a growing community with many German Baptist Brethren (renamed Church of the Brethren about 100 years ago), with a college and printing press located there. The supplement is dated May 15, 1888, and is all about encouraging the Brethren to move to the wonderful state of Kansas.

It's my recollection that the railroads owned huge tracts of land in the west they needed to sell, and a number of their salesmen were drawn from the Brethren who talked their fellow church members into moving west. I suppose it was missionary zeal combined with financial gain. There's an interesting map in the issue which shows Kansas bordering with territories, one labeled simply no man's land, not the United States. After extolling the virtues of the state--it was dry (no saloons), McPherson College had just opened (Brethren college), good soil, large numbers of Brethren within a day's ride, etc. I noticed this little item:

"Any Brethren buying round trip tickets to Higgins, Tex. can without much difficult secure teams and visit Brethren in No Man's Land."

The Brethren publishing firm was originally private and moved to Mt. Morris from Lanark. The original publisher, M.M. Eshelman, failed and the founders of the college took over, D.L. Miller and Joseph Amick. They merged Brethren at Work with Primitive Christian of Huntingdon, PA, which is why you see both towns on the masthead, and renamed it Gospel Messenger. Then this private business was turned over to the church in 1896, which moved it to Elgin, IL in 1899 [all this is according to Mt. Morris Past and Present, 2nd ed. p. 221]. The building was purchased by the Kable Brothers who had already purchased a failed printing company.

When the Brethren split three ways, conservative, moderate and progressive, the progressives took the name "The Brethren Church," and the conservatives "Old German Baptist Brethren," which left the middle and largest group with no name. I'm quite sure that I've seen a poem in an issue of either the 1888 or 1889 issue of Gospel Messenger titled "What shall we name the baby?" or something like that, but I haven't been able to track it down. I'm sure it refers to naming the larger of the three groups.

Kansas and Kansans, 1918, with article on the Brethren.

Got a G.I. in your life?

G.I. Jobs might be worth a look. An Ohio company got high marks as a military-friendly employer, it was announced November 8, 2007

AEP Recognized as Military-Friendly Employer for Fifth Consecutive Year.

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Nov. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- G.I. Jobs magazine is recognizing American Electric Power as one of the nation’s 50 most "military-friendly" employers for the fifth consecutive year. AEP is among only seven companies that have been named to the publication’s top-50 list each year since its inception in 2003.

G.I. Jobs helps provide training and career opportunities for veterans and those in transition from military to civilian employment.

This year’s honorees, including five electric utility companies in addition to AEP, were selected from a pool of approximately 2,500 corporations with annual revenues of at least $1 billion.

The December 2007 edition of G.I. Jobs, which features the list of military-friendly employers, can be accessed at http://www.gijobs.net and this press release at http://www.gijobs.net/press.cfm?id=27.

It's a small, small world

This week I reconnected with my first piano teacher, a 17 year old (in 1949) from Forreston, IL. My college roommate enclosed our piano recital program in her Christmas card. There were the names of all the kids I went to school with--Leatrice, Darrell, Rosalie, Paul, Colleen, Harlan, J.D., Paul, Carolyn, etc. I really don't remember Miss T., but she must have been one ambitious teenager--my sister says she was also the choir director at the Reformed Church. But within 5 minutes through the miracle of the internet and her unusual surname and married name, I'd tracked her down. She'd grown up in Minnesota, and her name appeared on a school list (with her married name) and her year of graduation from Forreston High School and Hope College. Then I found her on Facebook, with a "friend" who had her last name, and I looked him up. He was a politician born in 1955, so I figured he was her son. Then I found her on a genealogy website under her married name looking for her birth name family. That gave me her e-mail. Five minutes. And she wrote back. Scary isn't it?

Then Sunday I was sitting in the church lounge before the 8:15 service with a woman I'd never seen (we have 9 services, so that's not unusual in our church). We chatted a bit about the cold. She had come early because her husband was in the choir and I was there early because I come at 7 a.m. to pray with the pastor before the service. We began sharing a few stories--she said she'd grown up in northern Ohio, I said northern Illinois.

"Where?" she asked.
"Mt. Morris," said I.
"You're kidding--I used to live there."

Mt. Morris is pretty small (ca. 2800), and sometimes I meet people, particularly librarians who have heard of it because of the magazine agency, or someone's mother went to college there. Once I met a guy in Indianapolis who lost his wife to an affair with a guy from Mt. Morris, but lived there? That's never happened. She lived there in the 1960s after I was gone, but knew a number of my classmates through church and extension. Still exchanges Christmas cards with some friends there.

It's a small, small world. On the internet and in the Lutheran church lounge.

Our government schools

Seen at Grammar Vandal.

Just one big happy company trading in favors

According to Bloomberg:

"Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which got $10 billion and debt guarantees from the U.S. government in October, expects to pay $14 million in taxes worldwide for 2008 compared with $6 billion in 2007.

The company’s effective income tax rate dropped to 1 percent from 34.1 percent, New York-based Goldman Sachs said today in a statement. The firm reported a $2.3 billion profit for the year after paying $10.9 billion in employee compensation and benefits."

Ho, Ho, Ho. Merry Christmas. So we taxpayers, many of whom are now applying for unemployment checks or standing in a line of 937 for 10 jobs waiting tables, passed the hat for Goldman Sachs Christmas bonuses, which I'm sure were part of "compensation and benefits." Were no guidelines written into this give away package? The $18 billion bonus fund was set aside in 2007. Why didn't they use their own money for the bailout?

Couldn't Congress see this coming? Their own stimulus package so they can pay the mortgage on the multi-million dollar home and the 3rd Mercedes lease. Normally, I don't worry myself about bonuses, perks and salaries--unless I've loaned the company money or own stock in it. And I think I'm now an owner and should have a say in this one. What do you think?

Henry Paulson, the architect of these bailouts, and currently king of the world, is a former employee of Goldman Sachs and a partner with Al Gore in the next great ponzi scheme, cap and trade, a multi-million dollar business called, Generation Investment Management (GIM).

Al Gore might have invented the internet and a new religion, but he's not smart like Hank in money matters. GIM is part of the major carbon-credit trading firms that currently exist: the U.S. Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) and the Carbon Neutral Company (CNC) in Great Britain. The CCX, is a regulated exchange whose members are committed to cutting their emissions (all the big players are in it--Ted Turner, Kofi Annan, Gore's former chief of staff, Peter Knight, Canadian industrialist Maurice Strong). It is the only cap-and-trade system in North America for six greenhouse gases. Last September, Goldman Sachs bought 10% of CCX shares for $23 million. CCX owns half the ECX (European Climate Exchange), so Goldman Sachs has a stake there as well. See how neatly this works--and it is so bi-partisan, Republicans, Democrats, Americans, Canadians, Brits, Socialists and little 3rd world U.N. tyrants all working together, singing Kum-ba-ya around a non-polluting campfire.

Another former Goldman employee--18 years--is Obama's choice for a "sweeping overhaul" of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Gary Gensler. He probably had his cap set (no pun intended) on the SEC but has lost out the Mary Schapiro, head of FINRA, which was asleep at the switch in catching Bernie Madoff.

When Paulson was appointed in 2006 apparently two things on his side (to assure confirmation) was that 1) like most Goldman Sach CEOs he was "insanely wealthy", and 2) a committed environmentalist. Something for everyone.

For information on CCX, ECX, GIM, Hank and Al, see here, and here.

You also can't trust those Christmas carols

Some years ago I was told--probably during a sermon--that there weren't three wise men--there were three types of gifts to honor the new born king. So a 19th century minister came up with "We three kings of Orient are/ bearing gifts we traverse afar. . ." Then during Advent our senior pastor preached on the meaning of the carols, and I discovered the Bible doesn't say the angels sang. Nope. They said. Kind of takes the fun out of it, doesn't it? We think we're singing right along with the angels, and they weren't even humming! Also, the Bible doesn't say Mary travelled on a donkey either. Wow, that ruins a lot of Christmas cards and pagents, doesn't it?

Then this week I was listening to Father Mitch Pacwa, S.J. preach about St. Paul. It's apparently the 2000 anniversary of his birth--although they don't know exactly--and there was a special series on the sacraments. I listened to the one on baptism, and learned all sorts of things. Did you know Paul's letters in the New Testament are arranged by size? I didn't. The longest is first, so to look at what he said chronologically about baptism he cited 1 Cor 6:9-11, 12:12-13, Gal. 3:23-27, Romans 6:3, then Col. 2. Also he said St. Paul never spoke about Hell, never condemned anyone to go there, but Jesus spoke a lot about it. I guess I'd never thought about it before, and to think Paul gets all the bad press for being cranky. Along the way he mentioned that 8,000,000 Muslims in Africa convert to Christianity each year, and there's been a large increase among the Kurds. The sermon is about 48 minutes, and quite interesting, although I'm not sure why. He must have quite a following because he has his own web site and program on EWTN.

Given in the Cathedral of Saint Paul in Birmingham, AL on September 4, 2008. Part I: Baptism in Saint Paul's Writings

No bailout needed here for the abused client

Considering that SEC and FINRA moved not at all against Bernie Madoff despite their huge budgets and staff, despite tips he was running a ponzi scheme, I certainly stopped to ponder the justice of this rule violation for an architect:

Rule 2.104 Code of Ethics for architects states:

“Members shall not engage in conduct involving fraud or wanton disregard of the rights of others.”

The Complainant and his wife retained Mr. Alexieff to design and prepare construction documents for an addition to their house. During the time that the project was being designed and constructed, Mr. Alexieff failed to renew his architectural license in the state where he practiced and where the project was located.

The National Ethics Council ruled that Mr. Alexieff violated Rule 2.104 of the Code of Ethics by performing architectural services for the Complainant, including signing and sealing architectural drawings, without a valid architectural license. The Council concluded that the Complainant had a right to expect that the architect he retained was licensed and would maintain a current license throughout the duration of the project. The lapse in Mr. Alexieff’s architectural license was in wanton disregard of the Complainant’s rights because it created a high degree of risk that the Complainant would be adversely affected.

The Council imposed the penalty of a three-year suspension of membership on Mr. Alexieff. AIArchitect This Week, Dec. 19

He doesn't renew his license and gets a 3 year suspension of membership. Bernie must have dotted all the i's and crossed his t's in order to fool both the outgoing Cox (SEC) and incoming Schapiro (FINRA to SEC). Reminds me of the Democrats here in Ohio dumping on former Gov. Taft for a golf game, then appointing a bunch of crooks under Strickland, like the "plumbers" and Dann.

FINRA, Madoff, and Obama's SEC choice

"Mary Schapiro, Barack Obama's choice to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission, previously appointed one of Bernard Madoff's sons to a regulatory body that oversees US securities firms.

It has emerged that in 2001, Ms Schapiro, now the chief executive of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), employed Mark Madoff to serve on the board of the National Adjudicatory Council - the division that reviews disciplinary decisions made by FINRA.

Last week, Mark and his brother, Andrew, were understood to have approached the authorities after their father apparently confessed to orchestrating a $US50 billion ($70.9 billion) securities fraud.

Bernard Madoff is under house arrest in his $US7 million Manhattan apartment and will be electronically tagged after he failed to secure further signatories to guarantee his $US10 million bail.

Both sons have emphatically denied any involvement in what could be the biggest fraud perpetrated by an individual.

However, the link with Mark may prove controversial for Ms Schapiro and the US president-elect, who has moved fast to replace Christopher Cox, the current head of the SEC.

The watchdog has already come under fire for failing to detect Mr Madoff's activities." Story link here, here, here, here and here.

In my opinion, her useless, ineffective term with FINRA who couldn't catch a thief if they stumbled over him unconscious, is a far more damning recommendation than her appointment of Madoff the Lesser. Makes no difference if she was in like flinn with Reagan and Bush and Clinton. She's much too tainted. FINRA and SEC both have to clean up the family tree and get rid of the incest.

Let's see. Obama's got a Secretary of State with huge financial obligations to the Saudis through her husband's library and foundation. He's got a Chief of Staff with fingerprints all over the Blagojevich appointment scandal. He's got a Secretary of Education that helped Bill Ayers with the Annenberg connection in the failing Chicago schools. Those three he knew about. This one probably caught him off guard. Gary Gensler who spent 18 years at Goldman Sachs, the ones who got a jump start on the bail outs in 2007, was under something in Treasury, he appointed to head Commodities Futures Trading Commission.

Sure is lots of hope and change coming our way folks.

Pig collagen and Truth in Aging

Jumping from an article about safety data and various cosmetic products and procedures at JunkFood Science, I was looking for "pig collagen" which is used for a wrinkle filler and I wondered if it was OK for Jews and Muslims, and that took me to Truth in Aging, which I've only just skimmed, but I do agree with this.

. . .you practically need a degree in chemistry to decipher the label on a bottle of drug store moisturizer these days. Truth In Aging attempts to siphon out what really works and why, and deliver that honest truth to the consumer. I am dedicated to honest, unbiased reporting amidst claims that are often misleading and confusing. And, in all the noise, there are actually some good things out there that get missed because we are bewildered, jaded and/or cynical.

My "beauty regimen" extends to a shower, moisturizer, Merle Norman powder base foundation whisked across my face, a touch of rouge, and hair color about every 7 weeks. I use fat to fill out my wrinkles, and I do not look like I have implanted soccer balls inside my sweater. And clothes, of course, I wear. Even buy something new once in awhile. However, the products I've seen on this site will probably only be good for a laugh--like $130. My newest find was Jergen's with Shea Butter--love the smell--and it was probably about $5.

I see a lot of women my age with too much make-up--collects in the wrinkles and eyebrows--and the wrong color. We are no longer the fresh faced teens we were when we selected that rose or orange tone. Time for a reality check.

Gunk, Goo and Yuck

No, I'm not talking about Congress or Wall Street, but the trap under my office bathroom sink. I had noticed a slight odor, and asked my husband if he would release the stopper, because I couldn't figure out how to do it. Asking him to do it is just about as far as my plumbing ability goes. I watched my mother accomplish just about every household improvement and repair a non-journeyman worker could do. She painted, wall-papered, changed screens and storm windows, installed a bathroom, refinished furniture, caned chair seats, shoveled snow, mowed lawns, and made the best apple sour cream pie in the world. By the time I was 8 years old I'd vowed to never learn which end of a hammer or wrench to use--but I do make a good pie.

After he dismantled the thingy, I then poked and scrubbed, the the awful black gunk just kept coming. If you think it takes millions of years to form peat or coal, just take a look at what's going on in your pipes with a little heat, moisture and pressure. For some reason I reached under the sink to look for an old toothbrush, a housewife's handiest cleaning tool, and found water. Seems when there's a hole caused by removing the stopper lever, the water you run to clean the drain runs out inside the cabinet. Who knew? "I never thought about it," was my plumber's reply. This gave us an opportunity to reminisce over other plumbing problems faced during our life together, like when he took off a faucet forgetting to turn the water off, or emptied a pail put under the drain into the sink that hadn't been reconnected. Yes, plumbing is fun.

Big dogs and Christmas guests

If you keep a large dog or two in the house--say an overweight Lab, a friendly Rottie, a slobbery Bernese Mountain dog or a Ridgeback, please find a comfortable spot for them with toys, water and food to protect your guests from injury. Here's how dangerous that wagging tail or friendly jump is to someone on Coumadin

Side Effects of Coumadin: The most serious side effect of Coumadin is hemorrhage. Even a simple bump that does not break the skin can result in serious bleeding.

I'm no longer on Coumadin but do take a low-dose aspirin a day for A-fib (to prevent a stroke)--and even that leaves me with a lot of unexplained, how'd-I-do-that bruises. So be nice to your holiday guests. I know the dog is your baby, your snookems, your sweety pie, and "just like family," but if you had a 100 lb kid who kicked your guests in the shins, you'd probably do something about it.

This notice applies to cats, too--lots of people have allergies, and those are the ones the kitty wants to rub against. Find a nice quiet place with a closed door to restrain it. My kitty doesn't appreciate it, but my guests are happier.

This has been a public service blog for a happier, healthier Christmas.

Year end stories

As an information junkie and recovering librarian, I live for these. Especially the science "break throughs." They almost always confirm my own 6-day creationist beliefs, whether they are micro or macro. "In the beginning God. . ." But here's an interesting sociological "year end" bit of research--about how people might perform to win that end of the year bonus.

Judi McLean Parks and co-author James W. Hesford had a hunch that compensation packages had something to do with the rising tide in fraud, estimated to total $994 billion annually in the U.S. Specifically, they suspected the type of compensation plans--contingent versus non-contingent--(and the form of that contingency, as a bonus or penalty based on performance), might be related to fraudulent reporting and the misappropriation of assets.

To test their hypothesis, McLean Parks and Hesford conducted a controlled laboratory study using a random sample of students who were paid for solving anagrams according to one of three different compensation plans, although in all cases the expected value of the compensation--regardless of the form of the compensation--was identical. The students self-scored their work and in half of the cases signed a statement attesting to the veracity of their reported results.

� Participants receiving a 'flat salary' for their work were the most honest about reporting their scores.

� Many participants who received a performance based bonus cheated when reporting their results.

� Participants who were penalized based on low performance not only cheated but also stole the nice pens that were to be returned at the end of the study!

McLean Parks believes the study's results have implications for CEO compensation plans and the financial difficulties many companies are experiencing today. "All I have to do is look at Enron, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac to know that this does happen. And now we've demonstrated the causal link to contingent pay." Fraud uncovered at Fannie Mae alone from 1998-2004 has been estimated to be in excess of $10.6 billion."

So a fair salary with no year end bonus, even for the big wigs? Could it stop corruption? From clerk-in-the office to CEO, I suspect no one will buy it. Even the secretaries in Dreier's law firm were making $200,000 a year. That's a huge temptation not to blow the whistle and go back to $40,000.

There's too much common sense in this research. Let me count the ways--they too are all Biblical. Greed, envy, and pride; lying, cheating and stealing; waste, sloth and addictions; anger, hate and licentiousness. Full news release at Science News Daily.

Madoff, Dreier and Blagojevich

Marc Dreier, the big spender and power hungry lawyer, has losses alleged to be $380 million plus a bunch of staff and partners wondering where their next paycheck is coming from (jail?), and the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme could be $50 billion, an amount hard to hide, so Rod Blogojevich trying to weasel a paltry $500,000 and a job for his wife looks like small potatoes doesn't it? Plus, the outrageous other stories make Obama a charmed politician again--pushed the criminal activity of the Illinois governor right off the front page. But then, Obama hardly knew him. Helped with his campaign, his staff talked to him recently, but really, he's absolutely clean. All the media say so. And look how they sniffed out all those other stories of corruption! Yah! So much for investigative reporting.

Really, I've never been so discouraged or dispirited with both our government and our greedy, power hungry movers and shakers. It's hard to say which is more corrupt. Who do you trust these days? Certainly not George Bush who has allowed the government to slide into socialism using the economy as an excuse--after he became the all time big spender; and certainly not Barack Obama who will finish the job with his marxist buddies; and not an ex-president who took millions from foreign interests who hope his wife will stroke them; and not scummy Wall Street CEOs buying art collections and mansions, and not the inept union bosses; and not an ex-vice president in business with Hank Paulson to sell phony carbon credits; and not the people we elected who promised so much and then threw it all away; and not the regulators they appointed and hired to see that everything was done right and then didn't notice a thing was wrong despite a ballooning staff and budget. . .

I think we all, especially me, need to apologize to the welfare cheats and illegal, criminal aliens who have been stealing from us for the past 20-30 years. To all the lazy bums we've griped about, my sincere apology. Yes, you screwed up, but you didn't reach for the stars, didn't set high enough goals in your petty crimes. Some of you went to jail, and Dreier and Madoff are out walking around, or on "house arrest." Is that fair? I wish now you were the only crooks we needed to worry about. These small time criminals have allowed our prejudices toward the poor and stupid to take our eye off the rich and smart crooks. I think I can even say the little guy had limited options. But what do you say about the guys who went to Harvard and Yale, who cheated the friends and charities and staff who trusted them, who sat in the pew or synagogue when not jetting around the world, who threw lavish parties, and moved in all the right social circles, who sold the voters down the river, and partied and parceled out the pork 'til they couldn't hold any more?

List of Madoff's Clients, NYT

Friday Family Photo

We no longer have a Lazarus Department Store in Columbus, but we still have our Lazzy Bear. I'm sure the same bear appeared in other stores and were named appropriately. I think the deal was you got one with a certain purchase amount--maybe $20. So Christmas 1986, our little Lazzy was sitting in the living room near the tree, home alone while we went out to eat, and our house was robbed. Yes, we'd just installed dead bolts, so they broke out a back window instead of just slipping the latch on the door. They went through my jewelry, which wasn't worth much, but did find what small amount of gold I had, like my high school class ring (ugliest class ring ever), my wedding pearls, a few crosses and pins; they bent a fork to see if it was sterling (it wasn't and I still have the bent fork); took our son's electric guitar and my husband's rifle from his childhood hunting days with his dad and uncles, our VCR and all our Blondie and Dagwood tapes copied from the TV, a pillow case to put it all in, and. . . my Lazzy Bear!

When word got around, I think my friend Nancy bought us a new Lazzy and someone replaced my pearls. We filed a report with the police and insurance company, but how do you put a value on little trinkets you got from a Sunday school teacher, or a piece of jewelry from your Mom. And an ugly high school class ring?

And who would be mean enough to steal a Lazzy Bear?

Connecting the dots, Ayers and Duncan

American Princess does research like the rest of us, she Googles it. And it's just not that hard to find out who will really be running education from Washington.

My favorite subject in all of this Chicago mess is the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, which is the project on whose board Bill Ayers and Barack Obama served together. I love this project because right up the street from me, I have an Annenberg Challenge school, which I think is known in the community as the “Peace School,” and is very interactive with residents of my little neighborhood. They hold peace studies rallies, drum circles, indoctrinate children in what appear to be Marxist values and hold the weekly farmers market (who said communism couldn’t taste fresh?). . . Arne Duncan is Bestest Buddies with the Chicago Annenberg Challenge. In fact, he worked with the Annenberg Challenge to program curriculum in Chicago Public Schools.

I mean, we're really not that surprised, are we? We knew Bill Ayers wasn't going away. Blagojevich is just a smoke screen for all the other gunk in the engine of the new administration.

Chrysler doesn't need a bailout

Cereberus’ $2 billion stake in Chrysler represents only about 7% of its assets. That means that it has tens of billions of dollars at its disposal to engineer its own private bailout of Chrysler. Out of Control explains why it doesn't. . . "Chrysler’s management is clueless; its unions are suicidal; and the auto market for the foreseeable future is in a deep freeze. The idea that Chrysler could make a comeback under such circumstances – when it couldn’t do so during a booming economy -- would represent more than an SUV-full of triumph of hope over reality."

Visit a Nursing Home Week

"Governor Ted Strickland, the Ohio Department of Aging and the Office of the State Long-term Care Ombudsman invite all Ohioans to share their holiday celebration, fellowship and compassion with nursing home residents during the state's third annual Visit a Nursing Home Week, December 24-31, 2008."

I'll observe Nursing Home Week by sending a contribution to the Good Samaritan Fund at Pinecrest Community in Mt. Morris, Illinois. According to the letter below, half of their 123 residents rely on state assistance, and although the letter doesn't say why the state of Illinois can't support them, the total payment Pinecrest receives from Medicaid and the cost to provide the care means Pinecrest loses $4200 per day.

Click to read
Pinecrest was established by the Church of the Brethren, the first building begun in 1891 and finished in 1893. It wasn't called that when I was growing up--we just called it "The Old Folks' Home." Long before anyone had heard of Medicaid or Social Security, the Brethren were concerned about the elderly and orphans who had no family to care for them and voted in 1890 to raise funds for a shelter to care for both. The first building I remember was a brick, 2 story--although it was old by the time we elementary school children would walk there to sing at Christmas, or for a special Sunday afternoon program performed the church junior choir. It's a mystery to me how they managed that with the infirm, sick and elderly--installing toilets in 1902! It had 21 residents in 1905 ranging in age from 51 to 86, only 7 men, and all were Brethren. The residents helped grow their food with a rather large garden on site. Children, infants to teens, were cared for in a separate building across from the current building on Brayton Rd. from 1912 through 1923. A new facility was built in 1963 with an FHA approved loan--the Rockford paper said it resembled an ultra-modern luxury motel! After the old brick building, I'm sure the new facility with room for 100 residents was quite a change. Then later independent living apartments were built in 1974 and 1988, Pinecrest Village, where my parents lived their last years. An Alzheimers unit was added in the 90s called Pinecrest Terrace. [Details from Pinecrest Community; our 100th year 1893-1993]

The first chaplain at Pinecrest Manor, as the nursing home was named, was Foster B. Statler, who baptized me when he was the pastor of the local Brethren Church. He was followed by John I Masterson, father of my childhood friend and college roommate, and former Superintendent of Forreston schools. I've had a lot of relatives at Pinecrest over the years, most recently my Aunt Betty and Aunt Ada, but also many now deceased like Uncle John, Uncle Orville, and my grandmother after a surgery, who got excellent care as their lives became more limited.

I think the key is the location--a small town--with excellent, caring staff. My mother was a volunteer at Pinecrest for 30 years--one of hundreds--beginning in 1963 when her mother died, and when you have townspeople so closely involved in the care, you know someone is keeping an eye on things. Although I haven't lived in Mt. Morris for over 50 years, I recognize the names of many people who participated as volunteers, auxiliary, staff or Board members--Edna Neher, Harold Hoff, Bill Powers, Marj Powers, Vernon Hohnadel, Alma Fridley, Kenny Zellers, Rev. Carl Myers (who married us), Stan James, Harold Ross, Ralph Zickuhr, Eldo Henricks, Bob Martin, LaVerne Edwards, Art Hunn, Richard Park, Dale Henricks, Arman Stover, Robert Urish, Bill Clark, J.R. Worley, Albert Avey, Warren Reckmeyer, Dick Noser, Donna Ritchey Martin, Mary Ann Watt, Gary Montel, and others (I'm using an old list). So its development over the years was really a community effort.

Nursing homes all over the country are probably in need of help this Christmas--charitable giving is down, and endowments are suffering losses and states are struggling to meet their Medicaid obligations. If you have one close to you emotionally or geographically, now might be the time to remember them, to become a Good Samaritan.

Scatological and Eschatological

One means obscene--particularly words dealing with excrement, and the other means biblical, "end of the world" and "the last judgment." When people opened the Wall Street Journal and read the front page story about a man named Markopolos who had been warning the SEC about Bernard Madoff for NINE years, there were probably a few choice words both obscene and theological that spewed over the coffee cup. All I said was, "WOW." I don't swear or use the F-word, but if I did, this would have been the day to let loose.

"Securities and Exchange Commission investigators discovered in 2006 that Bernard Madoff had misled the agency about how he managed customer money, according to documents, yet the SEC missed an opportunity to uncover an alleged Ponzi scheme.

The documents indicate the agency had Mr. Madoff in its sights amid multiple violations that, if pursued, could have blown open his alleged multibillion-dollar scam. Instead, his firm registered as an investment adviser, at the agency's request, and the public got no word of the violations.

Harry Markopolos -- who once worked for a Madoff rival -- sparked the probe with his nearly decadelong ..."

So what were their excuses, both the SEC watchdogs and the media watchdogs? Well, it seems we had a bunch of yapping Chihuahuas guarding a pit bull.

No definitive evidence [that's your job--to find it]

Could have been a vendetta [isn't that what they said about the John Edwards' mistress story and bloggers finding the phony CBS Bush documents?]

Occasionally he got facts and dates wrong [like you never do!]

"Once" he misstated a date [sometimes I mix up my kids' birthdates--that doesn't mean they weren't born]

So "Marco Polo" discovers the guy who "Made Off" with the funds and trust of thousands of investors and charities all over the world, and the Security and Exchange Commission headed by Christopher Cox (former Republican congressman appointed by Bush) with a budget of $900 million a year and an enforcement staff a third larger than it was in 2000 can't even follow up on nine years of tips. I think once Cox falls on his sword and takes the blame, this item will be removed from the SEC page.

During his tenure at the SEC, Chairman Cox has made vigorous enforcement of the securities laws the agency's top priority, bringing ground breaking cases against a variety of market abuses including hedge fund insider trading, stock options backdating, fraud aimed at senior citizens, municipal securities fraud, and securities scams on the Internet.

And then there is FINRA, which WSJ says has an even bigger budget than SEC.

"Then there's the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), a "self-regulatory organization" funded by industry. Its 3,000 employees ride herd on the brokerage industry, and these private cops are armed with an even bigger budget than the SEC. FINRA doesn't disclose tips and complaints when they don't result in enforcement action, so we can't know for sure whether FINRA was contacted about the alleged Ponzi scheme." To catch a thief

I realize the op ed page and the news pages of WSJ are different--one conservative the other the most liberal of all news sources in the USA--but just maybe if the journalists hadn't been chasing every positive story they could find about Obama, they just might have turned up this one.

Blogrunner and NYT

My blog was picked up and shown on New York Times/Blogrunner feature today--if I'd known that, I'd have provided more information!

Blogrunner is a service from The New York Times that automatically monitors news articles and blog posts and tracks news events as they develop across the Web.

Blogger (owned by Google) features various blogs daily, but to my knowledge, even with eleven blogs, it has never found me noteworthy.

To us a child is born, to us a son is given

That must be on a million Christmas cards, that passage from Isaiah 9, and it is just one example of the gospel in the Old Testament. Martin Luther writes in his "A Brief Instruction on What to look for and expect in the Gospels," [1522]:

"When you lay hold of Christ as a gift which is given you for your very own and have no doubt about it, you are a Christian. Faith redeems you from sin, death, and hell and enables you to overcome all things. O no one can speak enough about this. It is a pity that this kind of preaching has been silenced in the world, and yet boast is made daily of the gospel. . . Christ as a gift nourishes your faith and makes you a Christian. But Christ as an example exercises your works. These do not make you a Christian."

He could almost be talking to the speakers in the 21st century pulpits and the congregation in the pew, waiting expectantly through warrenized, emerging and peace and justice sermons. Luther's warning almost 500 years ago has fallen on death deaf ears, because people prefer reinventing ways to find God and push away the gift--even in this gift giving season.

"Be sure, moreoever, that you do not make Christ into a Moses, as if Christ did nothing more than teach and provide examples as the other saints do, as if the gospel were simply a textbook of teachings or laws."

In proofing this I noticed I'd written "death" instead of "deaf." But isn't that the end result when churches forget the gospel and preach either law or example, and not the gospel, which Luther says is briefly summarized in Paul's letter to the Romans, 1:1-4.

"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. . . even the teaching of the prophets, in those places where they speak of Christ, is nothing but the true, pure, and proper gospel--just as if Luke or Matthew had described it."

I don't have the almost 60 volumes of Luther on my bookshelves, but I did recently buy from a used book dealer Martin Luther's Basic Theological Writings, edited by Timothy F. Lull (Fortress Press, 1989). There is a 2005 edition and parts of it have been scanned by Google. I'm perfectly happy with my $9 used copy because I don't like to read books on a CRT. But if you do, the material I quoted is on pp. 94 and 95 of the 2005 edition.

Extra! Extra! Read all about it!

No more paper in newspaper.

The American Society of Newspaper Editors scheduled an April vote in Chicago to become simply the American Society of News Editors. Under the proposed changes, which require membership approval, editors of news Web sites also would be permitted to join, as would leaders of journalism programs. Google news story

Is it over yet?

The only channel I can get in the guest room is WOSU--and it seems they've been running their funds drive for about 6 weeks. The same thing is on every night, all night! We've had some colds here in the Bruce house, so I've had about 2 weeks of sleeping in that really nice room with some really boring TV.



Celtic Woman. Do-Wap. Great Performances with people I've never heard of in front of wildly enthusiastic audiences. And some dopey people riding around Europe in a convertible stopping to eat. What's so bizarre, is that they try to act as though this is what public TV is about. But the rest of the year they show such slanted, leftist drivel to keep some Hollywood unemployed marxist film maker busy that it is ridiculous. At least during funds drive they should show the really ugly, anti-American stuff so people can make a reasonable choice whether to support them.

Antiques Road Show. Now that's worth watching.

Pot Dodd accuses Kettle Madoff

"The SEC, already faulted in connection with the collapse of Bear Stearns Cos. and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., now faces criticism for failing to detect what Madoff termed “a giant Ponzi scheme.” Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, and Senator Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican, have questioned its vigilance in enforcing securities laws." Bloomberg

And where was Dodd during the banking failures, during the Fannie Mae melt down, during the scummy scammy non-profit housing agencies blackmailing the banks in the name of diverse neighborhoods and multicultural mortgages? We've got the foxhound watching the fox watching the hen house with nary a yelp or growl.

Too much too soon and too little too late

That's FDR in the 1930s. He extended the Great Depression through government interference and an alphabet of failed public works programs and allowed millions in Europe to die in Hitler's aggression, not getting into the war in Europe until two years--TWO YEARS PLUS--after Hitler invaded Poland. And my goodness, how long had Japan been terrorizing China--certainly years before they bombed Pearl.

The other day I was at the temporary location of the OSU Libraries off Ackerman Road and pulled the September 1939 Life magazine off the shelf, schlepped to a table (they are huge), and sat down to browse. It's really fascinating to see what we the people (I was not yet born, but you know what I mean) knew when and how the U.S. government in our name did nothing. Who knows if it was the will of the people--the polls of the time, mixed in with ads for corsets and clunky shoes, said supplying (either England and/or Germany) arms was OK, but go ahead and you guys have a world war without us. The writers even called it a world war--and we weren't in it. I looked through several issues. Despite Bush's failures on the financial front in 2008, I was again so glad that he pursued the terrorists in Afghanistan and Iraq and has kept his word for all these years. He acted with virtually total support of both parties, and one by one they fell away, abandoning principals and allies.

Really folks, the USA's record for the 20th century is pretty crummy. Yes, you can talk about the "greatest generation"--they did respond after millions had already died in Europe and China. But we dawdled around in WWI, jumping in at the last moment/months of the war. We abandoned millions of our east European allies to the Soviets in 1945. We negotiated Korea and 55 years later we're still messing with north Korea. Then we ran out on the Vietnamese thanks to our home-grown spoiled boomers like Bill Ayers, Bernadine Dohrn and Jane Fonda.

God bless George W. Bush and we'll let history decide if we had any Presidents in the last 100 years who had all the body parts those guys are reputed to possess, spine, balls, and guts.



Life Magazine September 18, 1939 : Cover - Britain goes to war, gunner loading anti-aircraft shells. Germans beat British - French in first week of propaganda. German tanks push Poles 150 miles in seven days. French vs. the Westwall. Sinking of the "Athenia" - British ocean liner, two page art by Seielstad. American neutrality - Legion commander says stay out of war. Photo essay - Submarines, R14, James Hicks. The week the war began - a retrospective. Beltsville, Maryland research center helps farmers grow more - color feature. Postilion hat. Girls legs on campus go Scottish. Sidney Waugh designs America's first modern glass. Ted Allen wins horseshoe meet. Girls shoot in National target matches. Air-Raid shelters. London moves art treasures to safety. Full page Elgin watch ad with Robert Edison Fulton, Jr., explorer, mountain climber. Full page red movie poster ad for "Dust be my destiny" with John Garfield and Priscilla Lane. Full page Vanta ad, garments for infants and children. Modern American glass. Eleven-year-old soprano Gloria Jean. Life calls on Winston churchill. Photo of Barber Clay Cope shaving Pete Hilton.

The Coming Depression

Instead of calling it The Great Depression which was jointly widened, deepened and lengthened by Presidents Hoover and Roosevelt, we can call this one BOB's Depression, Bush-Obama-Bernancke Depression. Apparently, Bernecke if not a fan of FDR seems to be an apologist.

"It's clear to me that Ben Bernanke wants to go down as the Franklin Roosevelt of this episode, not the Herbert Hoover," said Laurence Ball, an economics professor at Johns Hopkins University. . .

"The financial system now is collapsing as quickly and as completely as it did during the Great Depression, but right now the monetary authorities are doing everything right," said Gary Richardson, associate professor of economics at UC Irvine and a research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research. "In the Great Depression, they did lots of stuff wrong; the problem got worse because they exacerbated it." LA Times, Oct. 11, 2008

Can the man not count the number of years after FDR took office where he ran the economy into the ground? He seems to be a believer in more is better (interference). It would make no difference what Bush does now--he's been totally marginalized by his own party, Hank and Ben, and the "office of the President-elect," and Obama will certainly wait until after January 20, to suggest anything, if he and his Clintonistas have a plan, so he can get the credit.

March 2, 2004 Speech
June 15, 2007 Speech

All in the Family

Today a friend was explaining to me an educator's theory (I've forgotten her name) of class and education:

the lower and working class families tend to live for today, without saving a lot, or looking ahead, and they hold their family members very close and rely on family;

the middle class and upper middle class are more goal oriented, they save, they encourage their children to take risks and achieve, and they are less bonded emotionally to their kids and immediate family;

the upper class and extremely wealthy live on past loyalties and connections, and they also hold their values, family and wealth very close.

Watching the Madoff ponzi scheme meltdown and his family ties I think she's on to something. Madoff's niece married a SEC employee, and Walter Noel (Fairfield Greenwich Fund with close ties to Madoff) has 4 or 5 sons-in-laws in the business and they have involved banks and clients for billions around the world--Spain, Brazil, Switzerland, etc.

"The Securities and Exchange Commission plans to probe the relationship between the niece of financier Bernard L. Madoff and a former official at the agency, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday. The probe comes on the heels of an admission by SEC Chairman Christopher Cox that the agency was aware of numerous red flags raised over Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, the focus of an alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme." Market Watch

"In 2002, Vanity Fair dispatched the photographer Bruce Weber to shoot a lavish spread of Mr. Noel’s wife and their five grown daughters at his home in Connecticut (“Golden in Greenwich,” read the headline). That was followed, in 2005, by a Town and Country story on the Noel family’s tropical retreat in Mustique." NYT

Makes you wonder if the glossies will be the next victim of the meltdown, because they follow all the socialites and charity balls. Some charities are closing their doors, and the wealthy aren't answering their phones. In today's WSJ, Holman W. Jenkins, Jr. asked, "When has the SEC ever found a fraud except by reading about it in the newspaper.?" These allegations surfaced in the late 90s, but the SEC never recommended any action. Sort of reminds me of the banking committees in Congress, aka The Barney and Chris Dog and Pony Show. They didn't think there was any problem in the Fannie and Fred housing schemes to back loans to people who couldn't possibly pay it back. Jenkins also suggested that the government, when Madoff makes bail which is tough since the people who could help him are his victims, he be put in charge of Social Security, an even bigger ponzi scheme.

Chart of Madoff losses

Keeping track

Some things are just easier on paper. Over a year ago I found this journal in the freebie box at church, "God's Little Devotional Journal for Teens." There's a devotion and a column for writing on each page. The original owner had only written on 2 or 3 pages, and then moved on, and someone had dropped it off at church. I thought there might be something in the essays or quotes I could use, so I brought it home, where it sat for some time. Then one day I decided to record the names of people to whom I'd sent notes, because each page was dated (but no day of the week, so the year didn't matter). Although I use e-mail and blog, I still enjoy sending and receiving first class mail the old fashioned way. Along with the name of the person, I also noted why I'd sent the card or letter--illness, death in family*, birthday, new baby, baptism, etc. Today I looked through it, and found over 100 names--and since I didn't have it with me in the summer there may have been more. It is a nice way to recycle an old calendar or day book, and it's much easier than trying to enter it in a computer program. I sit at the kitchen table, go over the names in the church newsletter, or notes I've taken during the week of others I need to thank for something, or that I jotted down from names read during a church service, write out a few words on my little card, record it in the journal, and put them in the mail slot. It's probably not more than 30-45 minutes a week, if that, since I don't do it every week.

I'm so glad I thought to note why I was sending the card--I realize looking through the names that for many people this will be a difficult Christmas because of a death or loss--I've forgotten, but they certainly haven't. And I'd completely forgotten that Tom (our best man and my husband's friend since childhood) and Pat welcomed their first grandchild. Also, it's a reminder that some people are still "at home" or in a nursing facility, and perhaps I need to send another card. I have trouble moving information from my short term into my long term personal memory bank, and just like my computer hard drive, I get glitches and unexplained shut-downs. I also noted if I used my own cards--which I sometimes make just because it's fun, or if I sent a blog post to someone who doesn't use the internet. I used to make little notes on my calendar so I could remember, but this works much better. There's still enough room I can use it another year or two.

Also, looking through it today, I see there are many sayings and proverbs that are great. They have no attribution, so I hope they are in the public domain.

Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God.

Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss it, you will land among the stars.

Definition of status: Buying something you don't need with money you don't have to impress people you don't like.

The way to get to the top is to get off your bottom.

You can lead a boy to college, but you cannot make him think.

Don't ask God for what you think is good; ask Him for what He thinks is good for you.

No person was ever honored for what he received. Honor has been the reward for what he gave.

There are times when silence is golden; other times it is just plain yellow.

Then the little essays are worth reading too, even though some are directed toward teen-agers.

"According to nutritionist Pamela Smith one hundred laughs a day provide a cardiovascular workout equal to ten minutes of rowing or biking." [My note: I've never counted how many times I've laughed in a day, but this idea might be worth watching a funny movie rather than riding a bike.]

"Farmers have a saying that goes, "Once you're standing in the pigpen, it's a little too late to worry about soiling your Sunday clothes." And that sound piece of advice carries beyond the farm. The key to avoiding wrongdoing and compromise in life is to decide in advance to stay as far away from it as possible." [My note:] Good advice for future Madoffs and Blagojeviches, whose misdemeanors and crimes are all over the paper today.

After a paragraph or two about a job interview, the essay concluded: "There are a few things you should never discuss with coworkers: your love life, your medical history, and your salary." Good advice at any age!

After a Mark Twain anecdote about a lawn mower, this advice: Treat what you borrow as if it were a prized possession, returning it promptly. If something happens to it while it is in your possession, make repairs or replace it, not to your satisfaction, but to the satisfaction of the owner. Always remember, while the item is in your hands, it is not yours, It still belongs to the other person." [My note:] Rush Limbaugh likes to say, "Talent on loan from God," but that applies to everyone. Instead of thinking God has "gifted" you something think of it as a loan to be given back.

Notes at the end of copied manuscripts: "He who does not know how to write supposes it to be no labor; but though only three fingers write, the whole body labors." [My note: And so it is with blogging, but 9 fingers instead of 3 (I'm a touch typist--ca. 60 wpm. My left thumb has nothing to do; does yours?).

*You can google anything--advice on writing a condolence letter.

Christmas weddings and frozen car doors

There must be some women having second thoughts about a Christmas wedding--or maybe it's Spring. My "How not to marry a jerk" post has been getting a lot of hits lately. Maybe it's gay guys realizing that now that they can, it's time to rethink this. Not as many as "frozen car door"--some really cold weather north and west of us, but enough to make me think someone, maybe Mom, has noticed some problems. I put the jerk (not the car door) into 3 categories, might be, definitely is, and run as fast as you can. With frozen car doors, I just listed a range of possibilities. Seems no one agrees. But one commenter defended her jerk, too.

How's your state doing on freedom of speech?

Nearly three-quarters of colleges and universities maintain unconstitutional speech codes, according to a report released today by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE). Here's my alma mater--the school that used really poor judgement and hired Bill Ayers as a professor of education. Everyone else has to be silent, but terrorists can speak out about this terrible country and the state that pays his salary, I guess.

"In September 2008, faculty and staff members at the University of Illinois received a memo from the university’s Ethics Office informing them that, “when on university property,” they were prohibited from engaging in a wide variety of political expression, including attending a rally for a particular candidate or political party or wearing “a pin or t-shirt in support of the Democratic Party or Republican Party.” The memo even implied that faculty and staff could not drive onto campus with political bumper stickers on their cars. After news of the memo generated controversy, University President B. Joseph White responded with a vague statement that university employees needed to “use common sense” to determine what types of political activity were acceptable. Eventually, after extensive condemnation fromthe public and fromfree speech and academic freedom organizations including FIRE, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the American Association of University Professors, White issued another statement clarifying that faculty and staff could, after all, wear pins and t-shirts, place bumper stickers on their cars, and attend rallies on campus, provided they were not on duty at the time." FIRE'S Spotlight on Speech Codes, 2009

In last year’s report, FIRE gave 259 of 346 colleges and universities that designation: 75 percent, compared with 74.2 percent this year. I did a word search on Ohio for "red light" and didn't see Ohio State, but I think I noticed Ohio University.

WAAANNA

White and Asian Americans Need Not Apply. Although in California, it appears that Asian is a minority in a state where they are probably the 2nd largest group, and in Ohio, Asians are called "people of color." I've looked through some of the photos at the websites, and it appears the "one drop" rule still applies.

http://www7.nationalacademies.org/FORDfellowships/fordpost.html Ford Foundation

http://www.apa.org/mfp/pdprogram.html American Psychological Association and Association of Neuroscience Departments and Programs

http://www.ucop.edu/acadadv/ppfp/ University of California

http://www.cis.cornell.edu/jobs/PostdoctoralFellowshipNotice.pdf Cornell

http://www.h-net.org/announce/show.cgi?ID=160822 Michigan

http://www.colorado.edu/graduateschool/DiversityInitiative/postdocs/index.html Colorado

http://www.trincoll.edu/Academics/DeanOfFaculty/AnnPlatoFellowship.htm Trinity

http://www.trincoll.edu/Academics/DeanOfFaculty/AnnPlatoFellowship.htm North Carolina

http://pharmacology.ucsd.edu/IRACDa/iracda/index.html San Diego

http://sbs.osu.edu/sbs/resources/SBS_Postdoc-ad-2008.pdf Ohio State University

The Mayflower Compact

In modern English: "In the name of God, Amen. We whose names are under-written, the loyal subjects of our dread sovereign Lord, King James, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, etc.

Having undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith, and honor of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God, and one of another, covenant and combine our selves together into a civil body politic, for our better ordering and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the Colony, unto which we promise all due submission and obedience. In witness whereof we have hereunder subscribed our names at Cape Cod, the eleventh of November [New Style, November 21], in the year of the reign of our sovereign lord, King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth. Anno Dom. 1620." from the web page, Pilgrim Hall Museum

Transcription of the Original: "In ye name of God, Amen. We whose names are underwriten, the loyall subjects of our dread soveraigne Lord King James by ye grace of God, of Great Britaine, Franc, & Ireland king, defender of ye faith, &c.

Haveing undertaken, for ye glorie of God, and advancemente of ye Christian faith, and honour of our king & countrie, a voyage to plant ye first colonie in ye Northerne parts of Virginia, doe by these presents solemnly & mutualy in ye presence of God, and one of another, covenant & combine our selves togeather into a civill body politick; for our better ordering & preservation & furtherance of ye ends aforesaid; and by vertue hearof, to enacte, constitute, and frame shuch just & equall lawes, ordinances, acts, constitutions, & offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meete & convenient for ye generall good of ye Colonie: unto which we promise all due submission and obedience. In witnes wherof we have hereunder subscribed our names at Cap-Codd ye .11. of November, in ye year of the raigne of our soveraigne lord King James of England, France, & Ireland ye eighteenth, and of Scotland ye fiftie fourth. Ano: Dom .1620." From Mayflower families site.

This document is fundamental in the history of the United States, and appears in The Citizen's Almanac; fundamental documents, symbols, and anthems of the United States, (U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Office of Citizenship, Washington DC, 2007) U.S. Government Official Edition, ISBN 978-0-16-078027-1, for sale by the U.S. Superintendent of Documents.

However, in the official U.S. Government document, as it appears in this citizenship handbook (which is quite handsome, by the way), the words "In the name of God, Amen." don't appear, as they do in the original. It's a short document, fundamental, concise and clear; why leave that out? I couldn't see that the editors changed the words or meaning of an Emerson hymn (which I'd never come across before) or a Whitman poem.

There are researchers (University of Illinois) concerned that the Bush Administration has been making changes in government documents that only appear digitially--like numbers and names concerning the war, and that campaign promises of Obama have been scrubbed. There seems little concern about what is happening to "official authenticated and fundamental documents." If you send your child to the library to use various digital collections and compilations of American history, you'll find an extremely selective group downplaying religion, the role of churches, the great awakenings, morality, virtues, and instead highlighting corruption, racial unrest, gender inequity and depravity--probably the worst form of bias, banning, blacklisting and book burning I've seen in my years in the information field, because digital access is key (and easy) when the paper copies have all been withdrawn.

Why do people do these?

This must be the longest meme on the Internet, and I'm guessing there used to be more, because who would quit at #99? I “borrowed” this from Pauline who in turn borrowed it from someone else. The things I’ve done are starred; the ones I’d like to do are not on the list, but your mileage will differ. The ones I might never do are left alone. I guess I don't have any interest in Paris or China or seeing a concentration camp.

*1. Started your own blog. Yes, in October 2003 and 10 more--links on the right side bar.
*2. Slept under the stars. Oh, I’m sure--when I was a teen-ager--Camp Emmaus, and our own back yard (small town--different time).
*3. Played in a band. First chair trombone, high school band, Mt. Morris, IL.
*4. Visited Hawaii. Yes--1985 I think. Fabulous--nothing like it.
*5. Watched a meteor shower. Yes, seems like it was in the 1950s.
*6. Given more than you can afford to charity. Yes, but you always get more than you give--that‘s a promise from God.
*7. Been to Disneyland/World . Yes, both. 1977 California and 1986 Florida.
*8. Climbed a mountain. Someplace in California, summer 1957.
*9. Held a praying mantis Yes, as a teen. Haven’t seen one in years.
*10. Sang a solo. Yes, used to be a soprano--now have a range of about 5 notes.
11. Bungee jumped.
12. Visited Paris.
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea. I’ve seen plenty on land and over Lake Erie.
*14. Taught yourself an art from scratch. Yes. I don’t take lessons unless I’ve learned a lot first. How else would I know I want to do it?
*15. Adopted a child.
*16. Had food poisoning. I remember that pie.
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty. I’ve seen it up close, but not that close.
*18. Grown your own vegetables. I dug up a small section of the back yard on Abington Rd. once. I think those were the most expensive tomatoes and pole beans on record.
19. Seen the Mona Lisa.
*20. Slept on an overnight train. We did Amtrak in 2003--great trip. Coach isn’t too great for sleeping, we did that a few nights too--cross country.
*21. Had a pillow fight. Probably camp or an overnight.
22. Hitch hiked.
*23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill. I had so much sick leave left when I retired, I had to give up several months of sick days, but I’m sure I did at some point.
*24. Built a snow fort. And snow horses.
*25. Held a lamb. Or was that a calf.
26. Gone skinny dipping. No way.
27. Run a Marathon. I walked the “Raccoon Run” at Lakeside about 30 years ago.
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
*29. Seen a total eclipse. With a huge crowd at a park in Illinois.
*30. Watched a sunrise or sunset. More times than I could count. Most recently in 2008 on the dock at Lakeside.
*31. Hit a home run. I’m sure I did when I was in grade school--I was a very good athlete then. We even played ball in skirts.
*32. Been on a cruise. Alaska 2001. River cruise in Germany/Austria 2005.
*33. Seen Niagara Falls in person. We were there in 1963, and again about 3 years ago. Better the first time--the tall buildings detract and create a misty fog.
*34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors. How far back? Grandpa was born near Dayton, Ohio, Grandma near Ashton, Illinois. But I’m 9th generation, so that would be a lot of places to visit just in the USA.
*35. Seen an Amish community. Lots of those in Ohio.
*36. Taught yourself a new language. Not sure what “taught yourself” means. No one else can do it, right? But I’m not too good at it.
*37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied. Oh, yes. Just about a year ago.
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person.
39. Gone rock climbing.
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David. In Florence we saw the replica.
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt.
*43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant. A stranger paid for our meal once--thought our children were well behaved.
44. Visited Africa.
*45. Walked on a beach by moonlight. Ocean, but also Lake Erie.
46. Been transported in an ambulance. Can you get admitted faster if you go by ambulance?
*47. Had your portrait painted. By my husband.
48. Gone deep sea fishing.
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person.
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling.
*52. Kissed in the rain.
*53. Played in the mud. And the road tar. Small town.
*54. Gone to a drive-in theater often as a teen. White Pines, between Oregon and Polo. Here's a list of some Illinois theaters that might be revived, but White Pines isn't among.
55. Been in a movie.
56. Visited the Great Wall of China.
*57. Started a business. I was certainly part of my husband’s--his staff, and I may have been named vice-president, or something. (He used to say, “The kids left home, Norma got tenure and the cat died, so it was time to start my own business.” Having benefits really helps the transition.)
58. Taken a martial arts class.
*59. Visited Russia. In 2006--took the train to St. Petersburg from Helsinki. I never thought it could happen (was a Russian major in college during the Iron Curtain years).
*60. Served at a soup kitchen.
*61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies.
62. Gone whale watching .
*63. Received flowers for no reason. My husband loves surprises. One time a guy in a Gorilla costume delivered them and I think he sang.
*64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma.
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
*67. Bounced a check. Once. I had 2 accounts and wrote a check on the wrong one.
68. Flown in a helicopter. Could have done this in Alaska but I stayed in the lodge and took a nap and my husband went.
*69. Saved a favorite childhood toy. I incorporated them in the decorating.
*70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial. In high school on a church trip.
71. Eaten caviar
*72. Pieced a quilt. It only got to the top phase--never finished it, but I come across it every now and then.
*73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades.
*75. Been fired from a job. I was fired from Beaky’s Barrel (drive-in restaurant) because I couldn’t keep the orders straight and was too slow, but I was only 13.
76. Seen the Changing of the Guard in London.
77. Broken a bone. Never.
*78. Been on a speeding motorcycle. It wasn’t exactly speeding--it belonged to a co-worker and I was the passenger, but we did make it to the highway.
*79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person. Breathtaking. August 2003.
80. Published a book. I wrote it--no one wanted it. Just journal articles.
81. Visited the Vatican.
*82. Bought a brand new car. First new car was a Volkswagen--1964 I think. Bright blue.
*83. Walked in Jerusalem. Coming up in 3 months. So I’m fudging on this a bit.
*84. Had your picture in the newspaper. Several times. Most recently I think was about an art class I was in.
*85. Read the entire Bible. Might have dozed off in a few places or skipped a few OT battles and laws.
*86. Visited the White House. I think my niece’s husband got us up moved up in line--he worked for a gov’t agency.
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating. Watched Dad chopped off chickens' heads, and cleaned by Mom, but I never did it, never want to.
*88. Had chickenpox. Yes, and measles, whooping cough, pneumonia and scarlet fever, too. In the days before vaccines and penicillin.
*89. Saved someone’s life. I witnessed to someone who became a believer and later a pastor.
*90. Sat on a jury. Hope I never get called again.
*91. Met someone famous. Ran into Rod Serling in the Columbus airport years ago. Passed the “Jackson 5” in the hall at a downtown hotel in Columbus when they were still together. I've been to rallies for John McCain and George Bush, although I probably couldn’t get past the Secret Service.
*92. Joined a book club. Great group--I joined in 2000 when I retired. They stick to business and are all nice people. They’ve been together 26 years.
*93. Lost a loved one. Many.
*94. Had a baby. Two.
*95. Seen the Alamo in person. Library conferences take you to interesting places.
*96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake. I was pretty small, so I probably waded.
*97. Been involved in a law suit. One of those group things where you get 10 cents by the time the lawyer takes his share.
*98. Owned a cell phone. Technically--although I always ask which button to push if it rings.
*99. Been stung by a bee. Twice. Once in Forreston at Sauerkraut Day, and once while watch my son play pee-wee football--crawled up inside my slacks.

Happy New Year

Yes, it's a bit early, but I want you to click over and read the University of Nebraska at Lincoln Extension website, by Alice Henneman. I signed up for her newsletter many years ago, while I was still with Ohio State. This year she's looked for a way to use the letters in Happy New Year, and I think she's done a good job. The "R" stands for "reading materials." She uses a quote from Mark Twain, "Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint." Now with the internet we have access to all sorts of strange theories, drugs, spiritual health gurus and health hype. Most of us, assuming we don't have a serious disease or haven't been in a terrible accident, need to eat less move more. ELMM. I know I do. (Would you believe I caved yesterday and bought a bag of corn chips--they weren't Fritos, but tasted just as good, and now I'll have to throw out what's left.) Of course you'd believe it. You've done the same thing. I have a friend from high school who has battled cancer twice, but she keeps walking and is an inspiration I'm sure to the entire town, who see her out there in all kinds of weather. Plus it pumps up those endorphins and strengthens her bones and resolve.

But back to UNL Extension in Lancaster County Nebraska, Go and read it.