Two ways to judge the economy of the 21st century

If you're retired, or were near retirement in 2000, as I was, just go back and look at your statements. My pension carrier, State Teachers Retirement of Ohio, in the mid to late 90s was busy throwing money at art and a newly remodeled building with all the latest of everything for its employees. They had so much money they didn't know what to do with it. Then came the tech bust and the party was over by 1999. At least that's what my 403-b statements from TIAA-CREF said. President Bush inherited a floundering economy in 2001--and I don't blame Clinton--there were too many dollars chasing too few opportunities and people were throwing money at any app, widget and dot com business that had a 23 year old in sweats and T running R&D. My funds had fully recovered by December 2003, I think it was, and then soared. Not bad considering 9/11 and all the bad media sob stories about "this economy." Team Kedwards in 2004 really moaned about the terrible economy--worst since the Great Depression Kerry and Edwards said. The day after the election on 2004, the Democrats shut up. But not for long. They drug out the same sad, sad stories from Appalachia and poverty moving to the suburbs for the 2006 elections, and took many seats in Congress. And Republicans let them do it. Here in Ohio our candidate, an African American, was smeared because of Governor Tafts golfing misdeed. Also, he didn't talk and walk white or spread guilt around or write autobiographies about non-accomplishments. Democrats also said we were losing the war, but that's another non-story that worked.

I have another way to judge the economy, both that of the mid-90s and the mid-2000s. My premiere issue magazine collection. Advertising out the wazoo during the days when the media was telling us how awful things were in mid-2000s. Id' seen the same thing in the late 1990s--Wired was so fat you almost couldn't find the stories. Industry Standard, before it went belly up, was just an amazing array of ads. So much advertising, and much of it inappropriate for the readership, that you almost can't imagine what the marketing departments must have been thinking. People in those positions must have thought they had the golden touch, that they couldn't do anything wrong.

I'm getting ready to review the premier issue of Cottage Living, September/October 2004. Here's the ads that appear before page 60.

Woodbridge wine--full page
kitchen appliances 2 full pages, 1/3 mostly white
women's fashion 1 full page each for J. Jill and Talbot
Andersen window 2 full pages
Pergo 2 full pages
Princess Cruises 2 full pages
VISA
ROC
Neiman Marchus
Ford Expedition
Chevy Equanox 2 full pages
Levi Strauss 2 full pages
Citi 2 full pages
Highlander
Jenn-Air 2 full pages
LL Bean
Lowes
Harchow
Bulova
Megerian rugs
Gevalia
WISP (Glade)
Emend (chemo therapy) 2 full pages
Show House (Moen faucets)
Norwegian Cruiseline

Yes, the run up was heady. So much money chasing so few products. Meanwhile, back in DC, every American had a right to a home, whether or not they could make the payments, whether or not their credit rating was awful, whether or not they when it balooned, they couldn't possibly make the payment. Money was being handed out by the fistful from a variety of government agencies to non-profits to make sure enough people got signed on--no down payment? no problema. No job--not to worry. The value of the house was supposed to go up. And so we had a really toxic mix; tainted investments, and the boys minding the store were just watching the boys.

Now we'll have to wait and see if we'll have the Bush-Obama version of Hoover-Roosevelt. Let's hope Obama doesn't give us a 10 year Depression the way FDR did.

How do you clean sticky Tupperware?

In my pretend move, I'm reaching to the back of the tall kitchen cupboards, standing on a chair. And what do I find? A large Tupperware canister, suitable for a one lb sack of potato chips or a few dozen cookies. It is so sticky, it almost wouldn't leave my hand once I took hold. The usual things I try don't work. Is it decomposing? Is it absorbing chemicals from the cupboard finish? Is this left over potato chip grease from the 1960s? So I go to the internet and google "how to clean sticky Tupperware" and someone suggests Bon Ami, which is the only ceramic cleaner I use. I dampen my piece of Bounty and go to work. Wow. This really works. And while I was at it, I buffed up a handmade ceramic bowl I found in there too that had some marks on it probably from metal. From the color scheme--gray, gold, taupe and cream, I'm guessing early to mid-1980s, and probably purchased at an artsy-fartsy shop here in Columbus, or at an art show. The name on the bottom is huge both upper and lower case, Wilks. So I google that and find a Kelly Wilks from Arkansas who works in clay, and I e-mail the supply house with which she is associated and teaches. Waiting to see if I've found the artist.

Let's pretend we're moving!

On my list of New Year's Resolutions is #11--clean out and rearrange the kitchen cabinets by pretending we're moving! We're not, of course, we absolutely love it here and haven't missed our home of 34 years even one day. So today, I'm standing on a chair cleaning a cabinet I can't reach unless I'm on a chair. Top shelf had only the waffle maker and my mother's decorative ceramic pie holder. But the next shelf down, the one I can reach, Oh My! Empty containers and a ton of supplements.

I found CVS Natural Fish Oil 120 mg, 100 softgels, probably about 90 left in the container. I looked it up here and here and here. So, I guess I'll keep them. We don't eat a lot of fish. Burp.

Floor lamp saga

Regular readers know that one of my New Year's Resolutions is to stop sitting in the dark, straining my eyes. I'm on the prowl for a floor lamp, one my mother would love, and my husband will probably hate. When I find the lamp, different from all the rest, I'm going to christen it, "Olive the other floor lamps." Hey! After 48 years, I think our marriage is secure. So yesterday about 4 p.m., while husband is watching his 97th football game of the Christmas New Year season:

"Would you like to go shopping for a floor lamp now? I saw a new store about 2 miles from here."

"No, that's OK. You go."

Ten minutes later Norma walks into a contemporary furnishings store on Bethel Road.

"May I help you find something."

Gulping down her shock and surprise at the woman's slovenly, ready-for-the-trail-ride appearance, "Yes, I'm looking for a floor lamp. Do you know how much wattage this lamp uses?" The tag didn't say, and there was one tiny bulb in it, but it did work. The price was $115, which I thought was reasonable because it was a very nice design.

Slovenly saleslady earns points by admitting she knows nothing about the lamp, but would check the catalog. Meanwhile Norma browses. There are floor lamps that look like three giant mushrooms stacked atop each other; there are floor lamps that spiral; there are floor lamps that swing out 25 ft. or so like bending broken cherry pickers on a windy day; there are biblical floor lamps that hide their lights under a bushel.

Saleslady returns, and says as her chin stud sparkles in the wavering light of weird and bizarre lamps, "It will take a total of 125 watts, with 2 bulbs."

It would hurt too much to look at her pretty face which she has mangled with a variety of holes, so Norma mumbles to saleslady's combat boots, "Thank you, but I need something a bit brighter."

After a spin through Marshall's which only had table lamps, and K-Mart which had floor lamps in boxes, one a "natural light" with a goose neck for close sewing that might be a possibility if hidden in the corner, she returns home to husband who hasn't moved from his lounge chair and the football game.

Are you smarter than the people you elected?

It shouldn't be difficult. The most recent annual report on Civic Literacy, released by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute in November revealed an average score of F by both citizens and elected officials. I'm not surprised. Remember the election video where Obama's supporters said it was OK for him to be running with Sarah Palin and thought she'd do a good job?

"More than 2,500 randomly selected Americans took the test on Civic Literacy, and more than 1,700 of them failed. The average score was a 49%. More shocking, the average score of elected officials was 44%, meaning that our public officials performed worse than citizens selected at random. Less than 1% of those surveyed (21 of 2,508) earned an A on the test (90% or higher)." I scored 78.79 %, which isn't all that great, but apparently better than the folks I elected. When I looked at the ones I missed, there were two I just didn't read carefully, and the others I guessed (wrong). But bad either way.

Take a stab.

Great 2009 Resolutions for Obama Administration

The Heritage Foundation is looking forward to some adjustments/changes, as we all are. I agree with most. Especially keep the Bush tax cuts in order to not further sink the economy. Right now his selection of helpers looks like either a Clinton third term, or a quasi-Bush third term, but Obama didn't get to the White House by revealing his hand too soon. So I'm not feeling as good as the leftists are bad. Here's what Heritage Foundation, via its blog, The Foundry, suggests:

TRANSPARENT GOVERNMENT [got a poor start here]
END OF TARP (Troubled Assets Relief Program) and deny any requests to use the second $350 billion of taxpayer funds.
IRAN WITHOUT NUCLEAR WEAPONS
NO NEW TAXES: Obama will make all of President Bush’s tax cuts permanent
CHEAP ENERGY: The U.S. will authorize oil production in ANWR and other promising areas in the lower 48 states
STATE DRIVEN EDUCATION [I'd like to send the new Secretary back home to Chicago, and close down that behemoth]
NO SOCIALIZED HEALTH CARE
FREEDOM TO WORSHIP: Obama will protect the ability of faith-based social service providers to honor their religious ideals; including debates about marriage
NON-ACTIVIST JUDGES
MISSILE DEFENSE
SUPPORT THE TROOPS

Read the full explanation of each issue here.

Preserving Special Media

If ever a government guide should be digitized and on the web so you could see it, I would think this one should be: "Records management handbook for United States senators and their archival repositories / Karen Dawley Paul ; prepared under the direction of the Secretary of the Senate by the Senate Historical Office. [Washington, D.C.] : U.S. Senate, 2006. Series: S. pub; 109-19. Then you'd know why information has disappeared through theft, deterioration, mishandling, or other oopsies as administrations come and go. Leafing through the copy at Ohio State University I see things that are also of interest to us average folk who increasingly are relying on non-paper to store our information. Say what you will about the way our grandparents did things, I can still read my grandparents' 1890s grocery lists, farm records and book notes, something I can't do for much of my own material from the 1990s. In the above photo (1988), I'm using one of the most advanced systems in the OSU Libraries--none of it works today--not even the curly perm.

But back to the senators. On p. 50 it says senators are supposed to have established guidelines for maintaining permanently valuable electronic records, including e-mail. Now, I don't see in this publication what those guidelines are, only that they are supposed to have them and the senator's staff is supposed to understand them (written in-house?) and archive the paper and e-documents. There are lots of questions on her check list, like are attachments systematically saved, are documents labeled, is scheduling information retained permanently, but I don't see the requirement to do so.

So how do they dredge this stuff up for the special prosecutors 5 years later, if the guidelines are not specific about who, what, when and where? The answer seems to be on p. 1:

"United States senators personally own and control the records created and maintained within their own offices. Because of the private status of these records, members must personally establish office policies and procedures that will preserve historically valuable documentation."

So it would seem that Senator Obama can withhold from our view anything he wants about discussions with Blago--he's not required to keep anything he doesn't deem historically valuable. He's still a senator until someone else is appointed, president-elect or not.

But back to the rest of us and our special media. According to Ms. Paul

More audio and videotapes are lost by accidental erasure than by misuse.

Fax paper lasts about 5 years.

Videotape must be re-recorded after 15 years.

Color photographs need cool, dark storage.

Audiocassettes need to be rewound every 2 years to prevent "printthrough."

Use of "fast forward" and reverse speeds can distort tape tension (I think anyone who has borrowed a tape has discovered that).

Computer tapes used for archival storage should be copied to new tapes every 10 years.

Computer software has a 3-5 year period of use before becoming obsolete.

Newsprint should be copied onto bond paper.

Permanently valuable mail should be copied onto bond paper, or it should be scanned and microfilmed.

Irradiation can erase magnetic media, expose film and fade color photographs

CD-ROM and DVD are not considered suitable for long-term storage of permanent records.

Digitization is not an alternative for preservation because of technology becoming obsolete.

Microfilm, remains for now, the preferred long-term preservation medium.

And to think when I was in library school we'd shake our heads over the brittle, "burning" paper in books of the 19th century. Now we've got stuff that won't even last a decade. We're going backwards. And we're throwing the paper stuff out!

Thursday Thirteen in Central Ohio

Winter blahs? All your friends going on cruises or to Florida during the cold weather? Here are 13 things to do right here in Columbus or central Ohio, and for one (13) you're already too late, and another, you'd better hurry.

1. Greenlawn Cemetery--I've lived here over 40 years and I've driven past, but never through. And yet it is very famous for its art and architecture. Bird watchers love this place. According to Amy's Genealogy blog which has many great photos: “Little Georgie,” as some refer to him, was the only child of Eli and Sarah Blount. Eli was the owner and proprietor of the American Hotel in downtown Columbus. On 7 February 1873, the family was getting ready to go out and little George, only 5 years old, decided that the fastest way to get downstairs was to slide down the banister. Sadly, the railing broke and George fell; he died eight days later. His tombstone features an almost lifesize likeness. People regularly leave toys at his grave.

2. Need a breath of spring? Try the Franklin Park Conservatory. A favorite place for art shows and weddings. Anyone remember Ameriflora? My husband's firm was very involved, and I think we went about once a week (free passes).

3. I've blogged before about the Objects of Wonder show at the Columbus Museum of Art. Absolutely stunning material from the nooks, crannies, closets and art galleries of Ohio State University. You haven't got much more time for this one--January 11, I think. Sunday is a free day. Go early and then enjoy lunch in the Palette Restaurant designed by my husband. Great food and ambiance.

4. Another place I've driven past but not visited. The Ohio Craft Museum is located at 1665 West Fifth Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43212. Parking and admission are free. Hours: Monday–Friday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.; Sunday, 1–4 p.m. Closed Saturday. Telephone (614) 486-4402. The museum is owned and operated by Ohio Designer Craftsmen and receives ongoing funding from the Ohio Arts Council, the Greater Columbus Arts Council, and the Columbus Foundation.

5. There are a ton of things to see and do down town connected with the state government. The Ohio Statehouse is a wonderful example of a building designed to symbolize our democratic form of government--a Greek temple. Add a goddess with her hand held out, and you've got it! February, our short month, is also long and boring, so why not visit? The Ohio Statehouse is open Monday – Friday 7 a.m. – 6 p.m.; Saturday & Sunday 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. Free guided tours are offered from Mondays through Fridays on the hour from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m., and on Saturdays and Sundays from noon until 3 p.m. Tours depart from the 3rd Street Information Desk. Groups of 10 or more are requested to call 614/728-2695 in advance to assure a guide is available for your group. You could stop in after your free Sunday visit to the Museum of Art. Parking down below. Couldn't be easier.

6. Celebrate Lincoln’s 200th birthday on February 12, or sooner. "Because of the state's political stature, the Ohio Statehouse has been visited by a number of dignitaries, including Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln visited the Ohio Statehouse three times. In 1859, he spoke to a small crowd on the east terrace; in 1861, he spoke to a joint session of the Ohio Legislature in the House Chamber; and finally, on April 29, 1865, President Lincoln lay in state in the Rotunda for six and a half hours. As his casket was being transported from Washington, D.C., to its final resting place in Illinois, more than 50,000 people came to Columbus to pass by the fallen President’s body. This continues to be the highest attended event at the Capitol to date. It is important to note that the city of Columbus only had a population of 31,000 residents at the time of Lincoln’s assassination.

7. Then stroll a few blocks and visit the incredible Ohio Judicial Center on Front Street. "The building was constructed in an era when architectural sculpture – carved and sculpted decoration and inspiring slogans – was popular. In carving the exterior, sculptor Alvin Meyer used the highly ornamental Beaux Arts style, incorporating symbolism and history. The exterior features portrayals of Ohio industry, bas relief sculptures, inscriptions and sculptures devoted to Ohio’s history." We watched the murals being cleaned back in the 1990s--which upset some citizens who thought the "original" colors too bright--and for one of the early repairs of the building before this current one (when my husband was a partner in another firm), we actually had the original architectural drawings from the 1930s in our house! They were a piece of art in themselves. Even if you are not a librarian, go up to the 11th floor and visit the Law Library. SPECTACULAR!!

8. I knew Ohio used to be under a glacier (we've had global warming big time), but I didn't know about Glacier Ridge Park. This is the one I said you'd need to plan for NOW. Winter survival skills Learn techniques to survive the winter cold, with John Bieseker of Coyote Trails. Only Jan 4, 2009 2 p.m. Named for the end moraine that was left behind when the Wisconsin Glacier retreated some 12,000 to 17,000 years ago, much of this Metro Park was once covered with farm lands. With help from Honda of America, Metro Parks has restored a 250-acre wetland area. Eleven miles of trails wind through the park.

9. Yes, this is a bit heavy on art, isn't it? Can't sing or dance. And what better topic for these days of sub-prime meltdowns and no more house flipping than real estate?
Dublin Arts Center
7125 Riverside Drive
Dublin, Ohio 43016.
January 6
Charles Kanwischer: Real Estate Drawings
DAC gallery
Opening reception
6 to 8pm
Artist's talk, The Poetics of Real Estate, 6:30 pm
Exhibition continues through Feb. 20

10. Sharon Weiss Gallery in the Short North. There's all kinds of things to see in the Short North, but I chose this because we were in Florence this past summer. Open Thursday through Saturday from 12 until 5pm, and Sunday from 1 until 4pm. The gallery is located at 20 East Lincoln Street, just east of North High Street in the Short North. January 2009 is Rachel Stern, artist, featuring paintings from Florence, Italy.

11. Short North is the home of The Gallery Hop which is First Saturday of the month, so if you miss this month, try February or March. Our friend Jeff Hersey runs Terra Gallery, 8 E. Poplar Ave., in the Short North. He's a member of the UALC Visual Arts Ministry.

12. Anthony Thomas candy tours
1777 Arlingate Lane
Columbus, OH 43228
614-274-8405
Free Open House Factory Tours are every Tuesday and Thursday from 9:30 am. to 2:30. In about an hour, tour groups can experience candy making from start to finish in our 152,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art candy factory. Opened in May 1995, it is conveniently located off I-270 in west Columbus, Ohio. I'm thinking they get crowded around Valentine's Day, so beat the rush and go in January or March.

13. This one was listed in the paper, but must be a mistake--the museum website said it is only open April through mid-December. The Dispatch reported that Jackie Kennedy's dolls were there. Mid-Ohio Historical Museum, 700 Winchester Pike, Canal Winchester, Ohio -- "Memories," dolls from the Jackie Kennedy Onassis collection; antique dolls and toys, such as the Stallsmith collection of china dolls; dolls from the 1800s and early 1900s; playroom from the 1950s; docent-led tours by appointment; closed on holidays and holiday weekends; $3 (614-837-5573). Call to be sure, maybe the website hasn't been updated and the Dispatch is correct.

Happy New Year!

Originally, I had 13 New Year's Resolutions finished for Thursday Thirteen, which upon rereading them, sounded about as interesting as "I promise to clip my toe nails," and "I will brush the cat twice a year." So I deleted the entire post (after printing it and putting it in my desk drawer). But I will share #5, as it was just about the most interesting, plus I told the group at Bill and Joyce's party last night, so they'll probably all ask us about it.

5. Buy a floor lamp for the living room.

Back story: About 25 years ago, my sweet, non-critical mother said on one of her visits, "Don't you think it's a little dim in here?" For 48 years I've lived in poorly lit spaces as some sort of concession to living with an architect, and we have different tastes in decor. The result of this is, if we don't both fall in love with something, we don't buy it. Look through any decorating or architectural magazine and you might see table lamps, but rarely floor lamps. If you want to know why, try googling the term "floor lamps" and then click on "images." Ugly your name is floor lamp. I want one or two like the 1930s style my parents had--a center bulb in an open globe with three naked side light blubs, all gently enfolded in a nice silky shade--preferably with cellophane to protect from dust.

Floor lamps spread and diffuse light--they don't throw and bounce it. Designers love track lights, floods, and buried can lights, all of which I hate, hate, hate. We also are cheap--keep what comes with the house, which is why we had funny glass baubles ca. 1940 over the 1960's modern dining room table on Abington, and why we have its first cousin from Woolworth in our hall here at the condo. Jim Tuthill, the carpet cleaner, commented on the hall fixture when he was here on Tuesday. He had something similar in his house rescued from an old theater in downtown Columbus when he worked there as a janitor. The previous owner took her fixture with her, and I think this one was in the basement.

Anyway, I'm getting too old to sit in the dark and squint to read. The older you get, the better light you need, even if it shows your wrinkles. Which may be why my Mom waited until her 60s to say anything. With my new glasses and better lighting, I may be able to keep resolution #2 which is to read one chapter a day in my 10 volume Westminster Pulpit, a collection of the sermons from 1906-1916 of G. Cambell Morgan. I got a set for Christmas.

Thank you, thank you, Mr. President

As I read the year end article on science breakthroughs in the paper yesterday I could only whisper a Thank You to George W. Bush for holding the line on embryonic stem cell research. Perhaps you've forgotten, but that issue became a subplot in the 2004 election. Like the Iraq War, stem cell research was off the political agenda in 2008. GWB held out.

"In an effort to cause the country to abandon this conviction [ethical principles], some advocates of the research, including nearly every prominent Democrat in Congress, have made reckless and irresponsible promises, offered false hope to the suffering, depicted their opponents as heartless enemies of science, and exploited sick people for crass political gain." Link.

It's not illegal in the U.S., never has been, to experiment on human embryos, to wallow up to your knees and soul in a bioethical swamp that hasn't been drained. But it wasn't expanded with government money during the Bush years. And then. The break through that only PETA extremists could quibble about (originally done in mice).

"A crescendo of discoveries pushed stem cells from the lab dish to news headlines this year. Only two years ago, a Japanese research team led by Shinya Yamanaka of Kyoto University announced a method for turning mouse skin cells into unspecialized ones that resembled embryonic stem cells, prized by biomedical researchers for the potential to turn into any kind of tissue. This year, teams made use of the discovery in human cells to earn "Breakthrough of the Year" status from Science magazine. For the first time, two teams created families of induced pluripotent cells — unspecialized cells derived from specialized cells — from patients suffering 11 different diseases, including Parkinson's disease and juvenile diabetes. And a team led by Harvard's Doug Melton demonstrated "lineage switching" in a Nature journal study, switching ordinary kidney cells into specialized tissues that produce insulin in mice. The end goal of cell reprogrammers is to create immune-system-friendly transplant tissues for patients." USAToday

Now we won't have to have colonies of poor women farming their eggs, and Bush has saved the Democratic Party from yet one more accolade of being the party of death, already enthusiastic about abortion and euthanasia for the less than perfect, the poor, the elderly and the handicapped.

"In one fell swoop the politics of the issue shifted, says Ramesh Ponnuru, a harsh critique of the Democrats' stem cell policy and author of "The Party of Death: The Democrats, the Media, the Courts, and the Disregard for Human Life." "I am not surprised to see that politicians running for office on the Democratic side are talking about this issue less because there is not as much profit to it anymore," Ponnuru said. Democrats had downplayed the possibility that adult stem cells could be used as an alternative. They argued instead that embryonic cells represented the cutting edge of science. "Now that same argument can be turned against them," Ponnuru said. "If they want to go based on clinical results, adult stem cells are better. If they want to go based on which has more promise, these (new) alternatives are better." Link

Thank you again, Mr. President. So your Treasury guy was a bust--you still saved a lot of lives.

The unfairness doctrine

If it were up to me, and it is because I change stations or channels, I'd eliminate these guys from the airways and TV screens of America

Anderson Cooper

Chris Matthews

Larry King

The View

Charlie Rose

Mostly it's just their liberal twaddle--global warming, health scares, what's wrong with our culture--that makes little sense because they spew sound bites we've been hearing for 30 years. But Larry and Charlie just look worn out and bored; Anderson takes himself way too seriously; Chris shouts; the View insults women's intelligence. I know some of you enjoy this, so it's OK by me if advertisers and consumers want to support them. I can change channels. And I expect you to do the same when my favorites come up and not legislate/regulate them off the air.

Great Orators of the Democratic Party

Via Best of the Web.

• "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

• "I'm really coming into this as somebody who isn't, you know, part of the system, who obviously, you know, stands for the values of, you know, the Democratic Party. I know how important it is to, you know, to be my own person. And, you know, and that would be obviously true with my relationship with the mayor."--Caroline Kennedy

Off teleprompter, she's as good as Obama and most of us. She can hire a speech writer for the big events. I think she meets all the constitutional requirements for office even though she has rarely voted and hasn't contributed much except her name to local or national candidates who will fawn all over her. That gives her a cleaner record than most pols. She's no Sarah Palin, but maybe she's a fast learner.

One more week to see the Blue Shoes Art Show

If you'll be attending the New Year's Eve Jazz Service at The Upper Arlington Lutheran Mill Run campus on December 31, walk up to the second floor gallery area and enjoy the Fairfield Blue Shoes MRDD exhibit, hosted by the Visual Arts Ministry of UALC and promoted by Cheryl Fey, art director with Blue Shoe Arts, who said the self-taught artists receive all the money their art brings in, minus the cost of their supplies. Cheryl is such fun to talk to--a woman with a mission and a heart for God's special people.

These are some of the most delightful, colorful paintings we've ever exhibited. We fell in love with the first one, Noah's Ark--notice the animals are sea sick. I would have never thought of that! We bought it. One of the disadvantages of being in that ministry is we keep buying more art, and because we both also paint, we are getting a bit cluttered here at home.

The second photo shows some wonderful butterflies--want to guess what their bodies are made of? Salt shaker caps. The third one has almost perfect perspective and is an orchestra. There are so many things to see in this painting you could look at it for hours. Click to enlarge.





Reminder: The Mill Run Campus is now closed on Friday and Saturday to save energy costs. So if you want to see the show, check it out on Thursday, or on Sunday if you attend services there.

Your health savings account

If you've got some money left in your HSA you'll lose at the end of the year, you might take a look at your booster and vaccine record. Thursday when we were at our son's for Christmas, my husband went to pick up his cat Edy and move her over and she bit him--really chomped down hard. Edy was a feral kitten and although she seems quite loving and friendly, she occasionally returns to her wild behavior, and that hand apparently looked suspicious. Animal bites are very dangerous because you can't clean a puncture wound. Only a human's mouth is worse. This article in JAVMA about the danger of animal bites is a bit dated on dollars and stats, but accurate. All pets will bite, especially male dogs biting male children. Just never say never. My husband isn't threatening and likes cats, but the cat saw he was sitting on her territory (the couch) and she wasn't about to be moved. He had had his tetanus shots for Haiti, but that won't clear the bacteria from her mouth. The next day his hand and wrist started to swell and redden from fingers, heading for the elbow. Of course, it was a holiday week-end for the doctors. But we got a 10 day dose of an oral antibiotic called in and the cellulitis and inflammation are retreating. Get attention immediately if this happens to you or your children.

However, our daughter and son-in-law, during the discussion of options, apparently weren't up on their shots, so today they were both off to get boosters and vaccines to use up their HSA before they loose their 2008 balance. A good use of the money if you have any left in your account. You never know where an Edy might turn up.

Cat bite wounds

Are you making New Year's Resolutions?

In January 2006 I made a quasi-resolution to get back into my painting. We'd spent several weeks cleaning and decluttering and I had a new workspace with natural north light. I still haven't used the new area I set up described in this blog. But today I got an e-mail from Mindy Newman about the Tuesday watercolor workshop at the UA Senior Center. I'm there on Tuesdays anyway serving lunch, so that might be a good deal. $10 a class, walk-in, in case you're interested. Mindy's a fun teacher. She's especially outstanding with beginners, so even if you've never picked up a paint brush, she'll find you have talent. I'll add it to my "maybe-a-resolution list" I'm working on a Thursday Thirteen Reveal. This is just the advertisement.

This photo has appeared several times, but since I mentioned my premiere issue collection blog yesterday, that's what is on the bottom two shelves. That too should be one of my resolutions--if I were to make any, that is. When I was looking at the Stampington web site yesterday I see that it is coming out with a new magazine about aprons! So I'll have to watch for it to add to my collection. My sewing memories blog gets a lot of hits about aprons.

Since this photo was taken, I've bought several pretty storage boxes which help keep them in place. I can still see the titles, but it puts a little color on the shelves. Can't do that in libraries.

And all those books. Just look at them! Some belonged to my great grandfather. If I were to make any New Year's resolutions, I might make one about reading some of my books. I got new glasses yesterday. That should help. The new glasses (they should be called plastics since they aren't made of glass anymore), or my new eyewear was returned 4 times. I think these are keepers. I went back to the original frames I had during the Italy trip. Turns out it wasn't the frames afterall--the prescription was wrong.



And then there are all the oldies but goodies: eat right, exercise more, try new recipes, keep my desk clean, brush the cat, yada, yada.

Ask a Librarian

As I was leaving Panera's this morning, I told the counter clerk I was having my carpet cleaned today, and I told her the story of my old carpet on Abington looking like new when we were getting ready to sell. The man waiting for his shopping bagful of bagels asked me his name, so I told him, Jim Tuthill, and he asked the clerk for a pencil. Then I told the clerk who had been having a problem with her car and driving a friend's car to work to take it to my son at Jack Maxton Quick Service Plus, and the guy waiting for his bagels wrote that name down too.

Update: Wow. You should see my carpets. This guy is fabulous. We paid him more than he asked for, it looks so good (and because he's so reasonable you can do that). I had triple vacuumed everything yesterday to try to get all the cat hair, but he dug out handfuls of the stuff. And she's just an itty bitty 6.5 lb kitty. The white carpet is white again; the forest green is glowing; and the pale green is pale; and the bright blue is bright. Not much can be done for the stairs--they are carpeted in a brown/white patterned wool, and it is starting to wear. Now imagine all this with brown walls, red walls, orange walls, lemon yellow walls, and bright blue walls the way it was in 2002. And the floral drapes. Oh yes, we were the color clowns--or they, the decorator guys who lived here, were. We looked like HGTV--3 shows worth at least.

And now for a change of pace

The carpet cleaner is coming tomorrow. We have white carpet against brown marble floors. And it hasn't been cleaned since we moved here in 2002. So today, while blowing my nose (I have a cold), I'm scurrying around trying to get piles of this and that off the floor. He will work around the furniture, but most likely not boxes and piles of books. So when I removed the debris from under my office couch, I found a stack of premiere issue magazines awaiting description in my other, other blog, called In the Beginning. So if you want to see a blog that probably is not like any others you've read, go there. I added three entries today, but there are nine still on top of my desk, and several hundred more calling to me upstairs. It's an odd hobby, but someone had to do it. Actually, other people do--people in the magazine business, but my blog has my special touch--opinion and no ads. I don't remember why I thought it was a good idea now. They can really take over a place.

The Party's Over

On September 19 Patrick Buchanan posted a very good article on what has happened to our economy, titled, "The Party's Over." For the most part I agree.

“Government must save us!” cries the left, as ever. Yet, who got us into this mess if not the government — the Fed with its easy money, Bush with his profligate spending, and Congress and the SEC by liberating Wall Street and failing to step in and stop the drunken orgy?

For years, we Americans have spent more than we earned. We save nothing. Credit card debt, consumer debt, auto debt, mortgage debt, corporate debt — all are at record levels. And with pensions and savings being wiped out, much of that debt will never be repaid.

Our standard of living is inevitably going to fall. For foreigners will not forever buy our bonds or lend us more money if they rightly fear that they will be paid back, if at all, in cheaper dollars.

We are going to have to learn to live again without our means.

The party’s over."

I'd add to that, the insane belief that home ownership, fueled by the CRA hoodlums through 3-4 administrations, Fannie Mae and Barney Frank, is a "right." Or that it is even an "investment." It's only an investment if you rent it to someone for a profit. Otherwise, it's a place to live. Then next, I'd hang Hank Paulson up by his thumbs for bailing out the banks with fewer guidelines (voted for by both presidential candidates) than we give children on how to spend money from the tooth fairy. But Pat wrote this in September and probably in his wildest dreams didn't see the collection plates that would be passed between the aisles of Congress.

Also, this article is whizzing around the internet under the name of Linda Monk. I don't know how her name got attached to it--but she's probably more famous now. Any way, Pat Buchanan wrote it. Check his web site. He's a libertarian, a Catholic, and he doesn't like Bush.

Democrats haven't denied this explanation

It's been over a week. This interview explained the bi-partisan support for Bush

who has kept us safe since 9/11 even with the flawed intelligence he inherited. So if you have problems with the terrorist surveillance program, write your Democratic Senator or Representative. The rest of us should stop buying the New York Times whose owners and editors leak information to our enemies.

The Christian bailout of 2008

"If 2008 is remembered as the year of the “bailout,” when the federal government spent billions to rescue the nation’s financial system, it should also be recalled for another kind of bailout—Christians with impeccably pro-life records who suddenly abandoned what they declared to be a sinking ship." Touchstone

Code in my node

Down for the count. Really miserable with a winter cold, but I made it through Christmas. I've switched a social engagement so I don't have to host in a germy house on Sunday; we have one Hormel heat and eat in the cupboard (they are wonderful according to my husband) and we got carry out pizza last night. I have a few leftovers from Christmas Eve still in the frig, but after today, someone will need to go shopping.

My husband's gone off to spend his gift certificates at Dick Blick, which is also having an after Christmas sale. I've been admiring my 10 volumes of Westminster Pulpit by G. Campbell Morgan, although I'm only opening them, not reading. My eyes don't seem to be focusing.

This would have been a good day to go for a walk--it's supposed to be in the 60s. And in some places in the city gasoline is $1.29--so a good day for a drive too, for all those after Christmas specials (which I'm missing).

My Christmas card

Not everyone is fortunate enough to be married to an artist, someone who has consistently been kind, thoughtful, considerate and creative for 50+ years. I didn't get a dual bag vacuum cleaner, but I did get a very nice, hand made Christmas card. It's the only blogger award I've ever received, and since he doesn't use the computer, he only reads what I print out.



Then he also painted a watercolor version of this, which now hangs in my office. There have been many "do not enter" signs on his office door in the last few weeks.

Consider your year-end gifts carefully

Choose a worthy cause, like "Sponsor and save a lifestyle."

Double whammy if you’re 70.5

President Bush has signed legislation that will temporarily suspend the penalty for seniors who fail to take the required minimum distribution from IRA and employer retirement accounts in 2009, but you’ll still need to do the required distribution for 2008--and that’s based on your fund balance at the end of 2007. Not good, folks, not good. Imagine this (and I know you can with little trouble). Congress, particularly Democrats, with Hank and Ben leading the charge, just had to rush through that horrendous September bailout which was supposed to create more credit from banks so they could help business. At least, that’s the way we were told it would work. But so far, all that’s happened is a run on the government for more bailouts, from the auto industry to universities to home builders. And the lending institutions have continued to give their year end bonuses and perks. But those mental midgets we elected just couldn’t figure out a way to rush through a plan to change the wording in the 2008 requirement--the year a lot of us lost 40-50% of the value of our accounts. How tough would it have been to change 70.5 to 71.5 or 72.5? I'm not sure this is the best source, but I'm going with it now because it doesn't require registration. Full text of HR 7327 here, but use your "find" command (control F) with the word "retirement" to get to the correct section.

No surprise here--NY Times lies about President Bush and covers for Clinton

In fact, the Times' article ignored a wealth of its own reporting, dating back to the era of Bill Clinton, whom the article mentioned only once, in passing.

For example, in September 1999, the Times noted that, "Fannie Mae, the nation's biggest underwriter of home mortgages, has been under increasing pressure from the Clinton Administration to expand mortgage loans among low and moderate income people and felt pressure from stockholders to maintain its phenomenal growth in profits."

The 1999 piece went even further:

"In moving, even tentatively, into this new area of lending, Fannie Mae is taking on significantly more risk, which may not pose any difficulties during flush economic times," the Times noted presciently. "But the government-subsidized corporation may run into trouble in an economic downturn, prompting a government rescue similar to that of the savings and loan industry in the 1980's."

Likewise, the Times made no mention over the weekend of President Clinton's aggressive deregulation of the financial services industry, which empowered banks, brokerage firms and insurance companies to engage in some of the very practices -- such as credit default swaps -- that contributed most to the current fiscal crisis.

While the Times mentioned that mortgage bankers and brokers donated almost $850,000 to President Bush's 2004 re-election campaign, the newspaper omitted the fact that the top three recipients of campaign contributions from Fannie Mae and its sister organization Freddie Mac over the last two decades were all Democrats.

Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd, head of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs; President-elect Barack Obama; and Bush's 2004 opponent John Kerry all benefited from Fannie and Freddie.

Asked to respond to the White House criticism, Times Executive Editor Bill Keller said Sunday's article "was based on on-the-record interviews with dozens of current and former (Bush administration) officials."

"It is part of an ongoing series that examines in-depth the accountability of numerous players in the economic meltdown, including Congress, rating agencies, brokerage houses and the Fed," Keller said.

Merry Christmas

Let's not forget the other babes

After Herod got word that there was a Jewish baby born recently, "king of the Jews" who could be a threat to his power, he decreed that all male babies under the age of two should be murdered [Matthew 2]. "Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted because they are no more." It's a sad, sad story from history. But so is this--a leader, a king maker like no other we've ever had, not because of his color, as some want to think, but because he's the first president openly and proudly hostile to the unborn, our future:

"Despite some Catholics’ claims to the contrary, the new president’s approval of legalized abortion is unmistakable. Unlike Bill Clinton, Al Gore, and John Kerry, Barack Obama refused to make even verbal gestures toward compromise or nuance during the presidential campaign. The flatfooted line he delivered at the Saddleback Forum—that a decision about when life begins is “above my pay grade”—proved that he has internalized the peculiar logic of Roe v. Wade and Casey v. Planned Parenthood, which cast laws against abortion as government’s unconstitutional intrusion into private metaphysical decisions. But his earlier line that he didn’t want young women “punished with a baby” proved that he has also internalized what stands behind those decisions: a worldview in which life is not a gift but a burden to be shouldered only when we will." First Things

We both laughed

My husband is the flowers and jewelry for gifts type--if I ever got an appliance as a gift I probably requested it. Like the year he gave me a laptop. I returned it--didn't like it, but the one I bought (half the price) hasn't been all that reliable. But some men may not be amused. Well written and acted, though.

This ad is ubiquitous

It's at every blog, news source, and on-line product I see. "My Teeth are Finally White." Not once did I bite--so I have no idea what would come up if I clicked.

I drink a lot of coffee and tea, and my teeth are definitely not white. I notice it in most people my age. Think about it. If you expose anything to the chemical make-up of food and saliva for many decades, you'll have staining, whether it's your brick walkway, a ceramic sink or your own teeth. I think I've found a solution. I've started wearing lipstick again. Had only used it occasionally for probably 30 years. Sure, it's an optical illusion, but it works.

And so, it is Christmas Eve Day. The temperature here in Columbus is 39 degrees, it rained during the night, so I'm hoping the ice build up is gone. I haven't left for the coffee shop yet, hoping a few more early travelers will clear the roads for me.

We'll have a casual dinner here with the children tonight--soup and sandwiches--then church, and tomorrow we'll go to Canal Winchester to our son's home. His handsome face and mellifluous voice were on TV yesterday, as he was interviewed about an unhappy event. For the second time in 6 weeks someone has died in front of his place of work in an auto accident. He and some fellow workers rushed out to help, but it was too late. Then a nurse stopped to help. God bless the Good Samaritans of this modern age. Two elderly women, one dead, one in critical condition according to the news. You almost pray that she expires without waking up--they were 81 year old twins, we heard. They've probably spent their lives together, sharing and caring, and so it was perhaps at the end.

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.