Does Associated Press do this to Obama speech when he talks black?

"If I were giving advice to myself back on the day my candidacy was announced, I'd say, 'Tell the campaign that you'll be callin' some of the shots. Don't just assume that they know you well enough to make all your decisions for ya," Palin said.

That Obama is 1/2 European-American and was raised as a white is rarely mentioned, but a black linquist certainly noticed it, McWhorter. So when he speaks "black" it is a language he learned as an adult, and doesn't sound authentic. But even then, I haven't seen AP being meticulous in recording how he speaks "street" or "church." (Now that he's in office, I rarely hear it.)

I say "ya" and "Warshington." But the MSM tries to make Palin look like a dope. The people trust her a lot more than the NYT or Washington Post. The article headline was "Palin Rails Against 'Anonymous, Pathetic Bloggers'", but they could have made her sports comment the headline, or that she played trombone (you gotta love that).

Update: Excellent article at Commentary on the elitism vs. populism in the Sarah Palin love her or hate her story:

"This form of intellectual elitism is actually fairly new in America, though it has been a dominant feature of European society since World War II. It is not as exclusive or as anti-democratic as cultural elitism is in other countries, because entry to the American intellectual elite is, in principle, open to all who pursue it. And pursuing it is not as difficult as it once was, at least for the middle class. Indeed, most of this elite’s prominent members hail from middle-class origins and not from traditional bastions of American privilege and wealth. They can speak of growing up in Scranton, even as they raise their noses at dirty coal and hunting season."

Geithner's a pox on Obama's House

Another appointee in trouble for taxes.

"Labor Secretary nominee Hilda Solis became the latest Cabinet nominee to face questions about unpaid taxes Thursday as a Senate panel abruptly postponed a scheduled vote on her confirmation.

The postponement came after revelations that Solis' husband settled tax liens on his California auto repair business this week that had been outstanding for as long as 16 years." CNS News

Didn't she have to sign his tax returns? Different standard for Hispanics? I think until Obama releases Geithner from his "one and only" status as the guy who can save us, he'll continue to attract people who have "forgotten" to pay their taxes. "Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., says lawmakers are committed to giving Solis "the fair and thorough consideration that she deserves.” " Yes, and she's definitely lacking and deserves the door--out.

Someone's trying to scare you

Pass it on. Don't be a victim of Al Gore's snow job.

Pork is turning green for education

"Both the House and Senate versions of the [American Recovery and Reinvestment Act] bill include a multi-billion dollar ($14 billion in the House and $16 billion in the Senate) provision for modernizing public schools (including charter schools) with technology upgrades and energy efficiency improvements. Unfortunately, religious and independent schools are EXCLUDED from this provision, even though a companion provision relating to higher education includes religious and independent colleges and universities." Council for American Private Education

I've seen all the pleas to architects (my husband's e-newsletters) to rally around every green project because it's big bucks for the building trades (everything in the package is turning a magic green), so this one is a plea to private religious educators to get in the fray. I disagree that stimulus money should go to religious schools. No matter what shade of green.

Dirty Harry brings home the bacon

"Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is leading the fight to push President Barack Obama's economic-stimulus plan through the chamber by week's end. He's also working to make sure that his home state of Nevada benefits from the nearly $900 billion plan. . .

Dozens of other senators have sought to add their own measures to the stimulus plan.

Last week, Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas failed to win approval for an extension of tax incentives for her home-state timber industry. On Tuesday, California Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer failed to win a majority for a provision backed by Silicon Valley high-technology firms and home-state drug companies that would have allowed them to bring overseas profits back to the U.S. at reduced tax rates.

On Wednesday, Sen. Patty Murray (D., Wash.) fought to change the way transportation funds are doled out in a way that could benefit home-state interests. New York Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer this week sent a news release to constituents outlining his plan to direct millions in new federal funds to public-transportation projects in New York City. And Florida Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson angled to include tax incentives for citrus growers." WSJ
Hope and Change.
Change and Hope.
Hoping for change.
Changing the hope.

How's that release program working for you?

"Saudi Arabia said Wednesday that 11 men released from the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay are now on the kingdom's most-wanted list despite having attended its touted extremist rehabilitation program.

President Barack Obama has signed an executive order closing the detention center at the naval base in Cuba, leaving countries scrambling over what to do with released detainees.

Saudi Arabia and terror experts defended the program for terror suspects, saying it is largely effective. The Pentagon has said it's unlikely to change its policy on prisoner transfers to the kingdom."

Apparently, Mr. Obama sees some good in closing Gitmo. Wasn't it just around 11 Saudi guys who flew the planes on 9/11 looking for martyrdom? After they lose the excess pounds they gained on Gitmo from the good food and free legal advice in the "rehab" program, they're good to go. And how many of the freed detainees are going to want to go home if they face a "touted extremist rehabilitation program." Send them to Canada. Most of the American leftist movie stars who threatened to go there in 2004 if Bush won went back on their promises. So there should be welcoming arms there. Or maybe George Soros has an island somewhere with a mansion.

Faith based initiatives are in for a jolt

Hate to say I told you so, but I told you so. Obama's "common ground" initiative doesn't broaden the base, it narrows it. The new regs will be so sticky, so complex and expensive, to say nothing of forcing Christians to deny the Great Commandment of Christ (which many were doing anyway without help from Obama), that most small ministries won't be able to participate, and only the most liberal, largest most non-evangelical quasi-Christian and Warrenized churches will dabble in government grants. That means more grant money for the ACORNies, pantheistic warmists, and Muslim groups, which of course in the name of diversity, won't be held to the same standard as evangelical Christians.

However, it was a bad idea for churches to become so dependent on government money, and in effect, become an arm of the federal government in housing programs and food distribution plans (my church does both, maybe more). Folks, it's time to get back to saving the world for Jesus instead of the USDA, HHS and HUD.

The eight babies blindfold

Both conservative and liberal talking heads, bloggers and comics are beating this one to death. I'm guessing the "sperm donor" and the "doctor" are one and the same for all her babies. I can't believe the conservatives calling for special laws. Just how often does some dysfunctional woman do this that it needs legislation that isn't already on the books?

But in the few minutes the media spend to update their outrage, twice that many anchor babies will be born in California. Then with Congress's "new" open borders and family values shtick, those babies' grandparents, siblings and aunties will be urged to come and sup at the table of the rich Americans. You know them. The ones who won't do the construction jobs, the restaurant jobs, the retail jobs, the trucking jobs so we've got to import workers. At least these 14 babies' relatives say they are returning to Iraq, or where ever they came from. The Democrats want two things out of this border mess--enough gardners, maids and laborers for their private vineyards and estates, and enough voters to keep them in office.

My library fines

Before I retired in 2000, I went to the business office to pay my library fine--$12.00. I don't remember how I got it because there's no penalty until it gets to $50, or at least that was then. I was a library manager, so I could have used my password and deleted it, but I didn't. I forget who was out of the office, but I was told to not worry about it. So everytime I checked something out for the last 8 years, I was reminded I had a $12 fine. Then last week I forgot to renew an Ohiolink book, and $4 was added. Now my fine is $16. I have a book about the Apostle Paul waiting to be picked up at Ackerman Road (location of all the offices while the Main Library on campus is being "revitalized.")

Barack Obama had nearly $375 in parking tickets from his Harvard days almost 20 years in arrears, and he didn't pay them until he decided to run for president in 2007. His staff said it was nothing. Another one of those, "everybody does it," I suppose. Look at me. A librarian with a $12 fine going unpaid for 8 years. The woman he decided to crack down on for being less than $1,000 behind in her taxes, Nancy Killefer who had paid it long before he tried to appoint her, had to meet a different standard than either the President or the Head of Treasury, Timothy Geithner, who wasn't just forgetful, but an out and out cheat and crook. After he was caught the first time, he paid his taxes and penalties, then did it again and was trying to outrun the statute of limitations, which apparently I don't have on my library fine, or Obama on his parking tickets. But then, Geithner is the only genius in all the Federal Reserve System or among all the lobbyists from the Clinton era, or all the guys to choose from the Congress, who can save us. Never mind he headed the powerful NY Fed and noticed nothing coming that even hinted at a sub-prime meltdown, just like the SEC whiz kids who thought Madoff was too big to fail.

But I better pay my fine. Obama might just call on me to be the official blogger of the opposition.

Sometimes you don't need the whole story

According to the LA Times, Obama is putting the heat on the Republicans. I didn't read the whole story--just saw it pop up on my Google News page. That won't take much--they melt in a hurry with even an angry glance. After all my years of voting Democrat, this was the most difficult thing to get used to. An opposition party that didn't oppose, a party that fell for every Democrat "bi-" line that oozed across the aisle. Even Bush. He could stand up for the unborn and the embryo, he could fight the terrorists, but he was putty in Teddy's hot hands.

Obama says "the 'half steps' now urged by the GOP for the stimulus bill are the same ideas that led to the financial crisis." No sir, that's not how we got here. Open your recent history book if it hasn't been digitally modified yet. READ as the ALA poster you posed for says. We got into this mess from our elected officials (aka the government) interferring in the economy; first in social programming, then in housing. Some with good intentions, most from lobbying efforts. Or, social mortgage programming trying to make a mortgage a civil right for the low income, the illegals and the single moms. Of course, the clever investors and house flippers just drove their fancy SUVs and Mercedes through the loop holes. Then the builders and developers became as dependent on government funds as the farmers. To get out from under the "new deals" our Congresses from Carter through Bush 43 forced on the banks, the risk was simply passed along to investors. Now you demand BO's New Deal Redux to dig us deeper in debt and socialism like a decade of FDR. There aren't enough Republicans around DC to stop your power grabs, but it was nice of you to give them a nod.

Today's new word is AGW

Another acronym, and I'm only listing it because once I knew it and today I said it wrong. AGW isn't Al Gore Warming, which is what I said while reading through a bunch of meteorology and weather blogs and journals (my oh my--there is definitely no consensus--not on anything). AGW is Anthropogenic Global Warming. Anthropo meaning human being, and -genic meaning producing or formed. Here's the quote, and you can see that my Al Gore Warming fit just fine in the context, and how I could make such a silly mistake, but it's just wrong:

In its most extreme form, this approach has AGW supporters labeling skeptics as equivalent to “holocaust deniers” and “tobacco lawyers.” Efforts have been made in several quarters to decertify climatologists or meteorologists who show any skepticism for AGW theory, making public adherence to the theory a minimum qualification for publication and professional standing. Enormous efforts are made to squelch skeptical speech. Just as one example, the BBC has run a zillion shows and specials sympathetic to AGW. When Channel 4 ran one single show (called the “Global Warming Swindle”) which outlined parts of the skeptics’ position, 37 scientists attempted to have it suppressed by the government." from Skeptic's guide to global warming, Ch. 2

People really become threatened when you speak against their religion, AGW and it's high priest AG.

Executive compensation

“I don’t get too worked up about this one way or another. Once the government is a part owner of these companies, it is perfectly reasonable to expect them to dabble with things like compensation policy, and no surprise that focus of such dabbling would fall on whatever particular hobby horses the party in power seem to obsess about. Which is reason #4097 why government shouldn’t be bailing these guys out.” Coyote Blog When are we going to cap Congress? Didn't they just give themselves a $93,000 raise that wasn't called a raise. When does the Secretary of Treasury get the same rules as the rest of us. How can a guy who plans to spend a trillion dollars of our tax money to wage a war against our economy with pork and pay-offs complain about a CEOs salary?

One of Bush's last proclamations

National Sanctity of Human Life Day, 2009
A Proclamation by the President of the United States of America (January 15, 2009)

All human life is a gift from our Creator that is sacred, unique, and worthy of protection. On National Sanctity of Human Life Day, our country recognizes that each person, including every person waiting to be born, has a special place and purpose in this world. We also underscore our dedication to heeding this message of conscience by speaking up for the weak and voiceless among us.

The most basic duty of government is to protect the life of the innocent. My Administration has been committed to building a culture of life by vigorously promoting adoption and parental notification laws, opposing Federal funding for abortions overseas, encouraging teen abstinence, and funding crisis pregnancy programs. In 2002, I was honored to sign into law the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act, which extends legal protection to children who survive an abortion attempt. I signed legislation in 2003 to ban the cruel practice of partial-birth abortion, and that law represents our commitment to building a culture of life in America. Also, I was proud to sign the Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2004, which allows authorities to charge a person who causes death or injury to a child in the womb with a separate offense in addition to any charges relating to the mother.

America is a caring Nation, and our values should guide us as we harness the gifts of science. In our zeal for new treatments and cures, we must never abandon our fundamental morals. We can achieve the great breakthroughs we all seek with reverence for the gift of life.

The sanctity of life is written in the hearts of all men and women. On this day and throughout the year, we aspire to build a society in which every child is welcome in life and protected in law. We also encourage more of our fellow Americans to join our just and noble cause. History tells us that with a cause rooted in our deepest principles and appealing to the best instincts of our citizens, we will prevail.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim January 18, 2009, as National Sanctity of Human Life Day. I call upon all Americans to recognize this day with appropriate ceremonies and to underscore our commitment to respecting and protecting the life and dignity of every human being.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fifteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord two thousand nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-third.

GEORGE W. BUSH

Yes, a just and noble cause.

Is this a rerun?

I've packed away a number of nice wool slacks I bought 2 years ago, and slipped them under the bed. Maybe next year, maybe not. Life's too short at this end of it to sit uncomfortably. But I stopped at the Discovery Shop today and picked up two lovely, 100% wool, top brand, completely lined slacks for $4 each. Up a size. They are a little loose (a 10), but that's better than a tight 6 or 8. Upon examining one, I think it may have been one I donated last year. It looked awfully familiar.

I'm in an exercise class 3 times a week (new year's resolution), but if I have to do something I don't like, I'd prefer to walk. Too cold and too icy. My daughter who hates exercise even more than I do, is going great guns with the treadmill--she's up to 5 miles a day and has added weights. My SIL told me the other day that she's up at 5:30 a.m. When she was a baby she'd sleep 18 hours a day--should have known then she wasn't just a "good" baby. Although she was--huge blue eyes and big smile. She has a ton of health problems, and rather than add one more medication which would have to clear her liver, she decided the only alternative was exercise. She says she has much more energy now. I'm very proud of her. I have an exercycle in the garage that's about 15-20 years old and has maybe 100 miles on it. It used to be in the basement but it gathered laundry.

The vacuum cleaner's been making a funny whine. Today my husband was running it in the bedroom and called down stairs, "I think there's something wrong with the vacuum." (This morning he called up from the lower level and said, "The cat's thrown up all over everything. I have to go to the bank.") So I went up to investigate and took the bag cover off. Oh. My. Goodness. That poor little bag was bursting full, and returning last week's dirt to the carpet. So I scrounged around in the basement and found a new bag and replaced it. It's much quieter now and doesn't squeal when you don't make it work against itself. If your vacuum cleaner has been talking back, check it's little tummy.

About the cat. Yesterday I gave her a new, dry cat food--just for a treat--supposed to be good for hair balls. Oh, she loved it--has been making goo-goo eyes at me. Now, I didn't see any hair balls when I investigated, but I doubt there could be a single thing left in her tummy either. She's pretty small--not quite 7 lbs (although in the middle of the night on my head she feels much heavier) and from the looks of the laundry room, she's lost about half her weight. I'm thankful for small things--it was the laundry room and not the living room (white loopy rug).

I'm having guests for lunch tomorrow--soup and salad. I've made broccoli soup and corn chowder. I serve corn every chance I get because my husband doesn't like it (loathes it), so unless I have guests, or sprinkle some out of a freezer bag, I never get to have it. While I was at the Discovery Shop, I saw a great deal on some china (Mikasa) that was a dead ringer for my Syracuse, plus I liked the shape of the cups better. I was really tempted--but I don't really need 11 more plates and 7 cups.

There are two professions who need to go to a terrorist reeducation camp--urban planners and lighting designers. This morning in my very dim living room, one of the ceiling can lights burned out. Right over the couch where I was reading (it's a little like using a flash light under the covers). The trim piece on can lights end up painted to the ceiling, so you can't get to the bulb, plus it's like reading by spot light when they do work. Twenty years ago the city of Columbus rezoned downtown, taxed the people and gave tax breaks to retail and restaurants to build a "city mall." I don't think these "let's revitalize down town" ideas have worked--like creating pedestrian malls and forcing people to walk. It was a big success for about a year or two, but it was not built because of market forces, but by government fiat talked into it by urban planners. $116 million to build. Now they've decided to tear it down and make a park, at the cost of $165 million. I'm sure the next big "urban planning" will be multiple use, green something. And the rest of you will be helping, because I'm betting our mayor and governor, both Democrats, will be begging for bailout money. They've just let the last class of police recruits go a few weeks before they graduate and are discontinuing yard waste pick up. Brilliant. But let's spend money to tear down a mall and make a park no one will use because without police it won't be safe.

Local politics is the farm club for the guys who eventually go to Washington and spend even more money. Although some actually skip the local level, go straight to the state capital, for a term then to the U.S. Senate to do nothing for two years, run for President for two years, and then go to the White House.

Reading to children

You won't find me criticizing this president or the former president for reading to children. This is one important aspect of the Obama presidency no one can quibble with--he's a role model for young men who know nothing about husbands or fathers, and one more--when he was an Illinois senator he posed for a reading poster to encourage children.

But I do wonder about Obama's PR people. Have they never seen how Bush was reviled and ridiculed for being caught in a classroom with children when 9/11 happened? And he was caught out of the White House when Katrina happened? And the Obamas have only been there 2 weeks and are already escaping from the pressure! No, my criticism is for his managers. This is not good. It sets him up for comparison with Bush, who did it first and ignored the criticism--which I doubt that Obama does as well.

Also, some of us even remember how librarians, who vote 223 to 1 Democrat to Republican and choose the books, DVDs and e-sources that are placed on the shelves of your public library and in the minds of your children, dissed the First Lady. They tried to keep Laura Bush, a former librarian, from appearing at the American Library Association. Yes, President Obama, books are dangerous things. Or, at least photos of presidents reading to children are dangerous.

An honest mistake?

Healthcare workers are now giving the GAD (Geithner and Daschle) excuse. A mistake. They've been reusing needles and syringes, according to a story in the WSJ today. I guess we haven't heard much about it since it wasn't AIDS, just Hepatitis C.

"It isn't that health-care professionals have malicious intent or a desire to shortchange the patient, but they just aren't thinking through and understanding how they are putting the patient at risk."

And that was said by a victim of hepatitis C. Wonder what excuse the administrators of the clinics give? And honest mistake? I didn't know? Well, it was only reused once or twice? Will this hurt my confirmation for Surgeon General?

Why should we trust Timothy Geithner?

Now the media are touting something he said, or wrote, 20 years ago about Japan. Hey--what about all that experience with the Fed? Did he see the meltdown coming? And if so, who did he tell?

Geithner did not see the current collapse coming. And if you think about it, the idea that he did makes no sense. He foresees this huge economic mess and his reaction is to give a speech in Hong Kong, not actually do anything about it here at home--although he runs one of the Fed’s most important branches. Like so many others in positions of power and trust, Geithner was eminently well placed to see the developing crisis and avoid or mitigate its worst effects. He should have known, but he didn’t. His view was much more conventional. He saw no shocks that the financial system couldn’t handle. He could not have been more wrong, but this is the guy that Obama wants for his Treasury Secretary.Link

Why does Obama think this guy is, next to him, our only salvation? Why do only the rest of us have to pay our taxes? What happened to hope and change, or is this the change he was talking about? Tax crooks are known BEFORE they take office.

Vocabulary Review

New words are nice; but let's review.

Global warming vs. climate change

One is a political, social and economic juggernaut designed to bring down global investments, high employment and capitalism, requiring hysteria and lemming like behavior; the other is a scientific, measurable fact, something that has been going on since Ohio was covered with glaciers, Lake Erie was flooding Cleveland, and Greenland was green, requiring some humility, hard science and common sense. I've noticed in the last 2 or 3 years the terms "climate change" and "climate extremes" are replacing "global warming" in the media. Usually in cities where the writers are buried in snow up to their green tushies for the first time in 50 years.

Animal rights vs. animal welfare

One is a political movement designed to bring down or stop medical research and pharmaceutical companies, various industries and capitalism in general; the other is a compassionate, moral and scientifically sound way to treat animals for the best interests of people.

Feminism vs. women's rights

One is a far reaching political movement designed to stomp out certain patriarchal cultures and behaviors by replacing them with matriarchal forms just as repressive and capitalism in general; the other suggests that although not a better or more moral species, women have a lot to offer society especially in government and business.

Pro-choice vs. pro-abortion

One is a political movement in which struggling people fearing loss of convenience and power, destroy the weakest and most frail, often with cruel and painful methods, choosing death today; the other is the same but a tad more truthful. The first means "this is for you, not for me;" the second means, "it's OK for me, too."

Undocumented workers vs. illegal aliens

One is a political and social term used by most politicians, business CEOs and union officials, all looking for more votes, higher profits, or more members; the other is the term the rest of us use for the people flooding across our borders, swamping our social services, taking our jobs and sending money back to their villages to prop up a corrupt and failing government, primarily run by people of Spanish European ancestry whose ancestors used to control most of North and South America and now want it back. People who use the second term are more realistic and truthful. And sometimes the truth hurts. Usually, but not always, the more syllables, the more obfuscatory.

Technorati: climate change, global warming, animal rights, abortion change, illegal aliens

The real problem is pork

It's a trillion dollar bridge to nowhere says the Morning Bell (Heritage Foundation):

"According to a Gallup Poll released today, 54% of Americans either want Congress to reject Obama's debt plan entirely, or they want major changes to it. Only 37% support the plan in its current form. A full 78% of Americans are significantly concerned that the plan will not stimulate the economy fast enough and 53% of Americans believe the plan will not have an effect at all."

I'm against it because I don't like being lied to, whether by Democrats, Socialists, Marxists, Republicans, RINOs, or Libertarians; Methodists, Muslims, New-Agers, or pantheistic warmists; white, cream, black, brown, taupe or bi-racial; men, women or transexuals; old, young, boomer, tweens or 20-somethings. The fact is, we got into this hole by overspending at every level of society, from our personal households to the White House, encouraging spending from the highest level. We're here because the government interferred at every level of our economy and society. We've not going to reverse it by giving the folks who created the problem even more power. We are not going to spend our way out of it by raising taxes to kill more businesses. And I don't for a fraction of a second think that Obama's cap on CEO salaries (a mote in the eye when compared to the boulder of government greed blinding us) will be only for those companies getting bailouts. Do you?

Outsourcing the news to India

Apparently the Times of India is tracking Obama's revisions of his pledges and promises, even if the U.S. media aren't. According to them, via Hot Air, in just 2 weeks there were 17 promises of hope and change that were tossed. I doubt that the U.S. press will ever allow Obama's ratings to drop--they've invested so much energy and money in getting him elected.

HT Recliner Commentaries

March will be a 2-fer for me

March is Women's History Month and Irish Heritage Month in the United States. According to the U.S. Census Bureau 36.5 million
U.S. residents claimed Irish ancestry in 2007 (the year we visited Ireland). This is more than eight times the population of Ireland itself (more than 4 million). Irish was the nation’s second most frequently reported ancestry, trailing only German. My ancestors also came from Germany and Switzerland and were Lutherans and Mennonites many of whom became German Baptist Brethren (Church of the Brethren) shortly after arriving. The Scots-Irish I'm assuming were Presbyterian types--but I don't have much evidence.

Although I have no idea why, Irish Americans make more money. The median income for households headed by an Irish-American is $56,966, higher than the $50,740 for all households. In addition, 8 percent of people of Irish ancestry were in poverty, lower than the rate of 13 percent for all Americans. Appalachia is heavily Scots-Irish and they sure aren't rich. 72% of Americans of Irish heritage own their own home, which is also higher than the national average of 67%. After visiting Ireland and learning its history and how brutally they were driven off their land, I can sort of see that one. There are 9 cities in the U.S. named Dublin, one right here in central Ohio where famous people like Jack and Tiger play golf at Muirfield and others and librarians go for millions and millions of shared records (OCLC).

There were 154.7 million females in the United States as of Oct. 1, 2008 and 150.6 million males. By age 85, there are twice as many women as men in that age group, but I don't hear of too many government grants going to address that situation. They all go the other direction--to give women even more advantages and health benefits. $34,278 is the median annual earnings of women 16 or older who worked year-round, full time, in 2007, up from $33,648 in 2006 (after adjusting for inflation). Women earned 77.5 cents for every $1 earned by men. But that's a pretty silly statistic because men and women doing the same job with the same education and the same family situation, make virtually the same salary--women may even edge ahead on this, if you're comparing single people. During the ice storm last week I saw two women and a truck at 6 a.m. cleaning the parking lot and side walks where I get coffee. I'm guessing that if they are private contractors with some hustle in their bustle, they are pulling down just as much money as the guys, and getting home in time to fry up some bacon in the pan.

There were 116,985 women-owned businesses with receipts of $1 million or more and nearly 6.5 million women-owned businesses in 2002. Women owned 28 percent of all nonfarm businesses and employed more than 7.1 million people. 38% of women 16 or older worked in management, professional and related occupations, compared with 32% of men. So you can see that President Obama's confiscatory tax policies are going to really hurt business women, which makes the Lilly Ledbetter Act a piece of poo.

There's a pretty good chance that those taxes will be prepared by a woman--62% of tax preparers were women in 2007--our accountant owns her own firm.

Playing with demographics

The latest doom and gloom story (USAToday) about the economy is that more siblings are home sharing, and more older parents are living with adult children. Of course, no percentages based on population, just numbers. I wonder if these giants of journalism remember that we had a baby boom from 1945 to ca. 1962, which means now in the 21st century we're having an elder-boom. We'd have that even if our Fed and Congress hadn't cooked up our subprime meltdown. One of the highest foreclosure rates is Las Vegas--which if you were watching HGTV the last 2 or 3 years, was a hot bed for speculators from California, as was Florida for just about everyone from Georgia and north. Many of the people who took out these mortgages never lived in the homes, nor intended to. They just drove off in their Mercedes and left it empty. Flipping was the name of the game. And the early-in speculators did extremely well. We have friends and family who sold homes and bought homes where the price was bid up beyond the asking price, and at the time, everyone thought it was just wonderful. What goes up, comes down.

Also, elder-boomers have no problem living with their gen-x children--they are quite close; I suspect it's the elders helping the youngers with the mortgage. Also, many 40-50 somethings would rather live with Mom and save on the nursing home because they can inherit more money. There was really a relatively small blip in history when the generations didn't live together under one roof.

Nearly 3.5 million brothers or sisters are living in a sibling's house, according to 2007 Census Data, up from 3 million in 2000. And 3.6 million parents live with their adult children, up from 2.3 million. About 6.7 million householders live with other relatives, such as aunts or cousins, compared with 4.8 million in 2000.

Also, let's not forget the millions who flooded over the borders during the booming Bush economy, who are counted in the census, who live with relatives, use the social services system, but are not Americans. And I ask you, am I supposed to feel sorry for these people featured in the story?

Colt Phipps, 40, of Scottsdale, Ariz., worked in the mortgage industry until his business failed because of the housing crisis. His home, which was worth nearly $1 million, was foreclosed upon. So Phipps and his fiancée moved in with his parents, going from their 5,000-square-foot house to a 1,400-square-foot house. He also brought his two Shar-Pei dogs along and does what he can to pay rent to help his parents with the mortgage. He is still looking for work, and his fiancée, formerly a loan processor, is now working at Home Depot.

I can just imagine what sort of a deal he worked for himself to get that million dollar house. If it were my house, they could live there--without the dogs and only if they were married.

Ice storm misery and deaths

The governors, mayors, churches, local Red Cross volunteers and friends and neighbors have handled last week's devasting ice storm blamed for 55 deaths and the cold and misery of thousands, to say nothing of the loss to the economy and taxes of those states due to closed businesses. When we were at dinner Friday night we ran into friends from our old neighborhood whose daughter and 3 grandchildren had come "home" from another state that was still without power. A good reason to keep a full gas tank in cold weather since gasoline pumps need electricity.

The Democratic governor of Kentucky has, of course, praised President Obama even though I don't think FEMA has come through yet, and I doubt that Obama has visited the devastation. If Bush were still in office, we'd be hearing a different tune--Kyoto failed and therefore the temperature extremes and ice; the Guard was all out of the country, yada yada. Ah, hope and change. You've gotta love it.

Remember, it's up to the locals to ask for help from the federal government and to have their local emergency plan (and busses) in working order. That was the big mistake of Katrina, not a President vacationing in Texas. NOLA had an ineffective mayor and the state a poor governor.

Aren't you afraid?

Our cruise to the Holy Land and sites of the early Christian church (Cairo, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Galilee, Antioch, Tarsus, Antalya, Aspendos, Perga, Ephesus, Athens and Corinth) is coming up, and as recently as last Thursday was revised and rescheduled. I have no idea what's going on, but I do know that I don't remember a time in my life when there wasn't something scary going on in that area of the world.

It's been a year since a lone gunman killed five women working at a Lane Bryant store near Chicago. He's never been caught. And yet every American is less safe than a year ago when they were shot, but the President has a 70% approval rating. He's weak, apologetic and a puppet of the left within our country and abroad--and so don't tell me it's not safe to go to Israel or Turkey! There might be dangerous waters in the Mediterranean Sea, but those Illinois women simply went to work in a quiet suburb of Chicago minding their own business and not looking over their shoulders. Just like us today.

Post Office in trouble

A very naive reader of USAToday suggested today that all we need to do is cut out the junk mail to save the Post Office. Sorry, dearie, then your postage would really go up--what you call "junk" is what floats the rest of the boats. And who are you to tell me that the grocery store flyer is junk, or the appeal from Lower Lights medical ministry on the west side is junk, or the church newsletter (ours is no longer mailed, but I still get one from my former church) is junk, or the pizza and spaghetti coupons from Iacono's, or the post card from the guy running for city council or the office supply store are junk? Hello! How much more of our economy would you like to see go under and ask for bailouts with your tax dollars?

"The Postal Service lost $1.1 billion in its latest quarter. That number would be even larger if it weren't for direct mailings, which now constitute 52 percent of mail volume, up from 38 percent in 1990. Revenue from direct mail "is the financial underpinning of the Postal Service—it could not survive without it," says Michael Coughlin, former deputy postmaster." Newsweek

NBC rejects pro-life ad for Super Bowl

Some pro-lifers are unhappy that NBC rejected a very tasteful, non-political ad about hope and change from CatholicVote to run during the Super Bowl. Not me. I think they should have the right to reject any ad that works against their business plan which includes ads demeaning to women and putting animals above people. Soon, under the current administration, businesses may not have the right to pick and choose to benefit their stockholders--it may be the government's way or no way. Vote with your remote on objectionable ads. Then write and threaten never to buy their product again.

The pro-life people who raised money to show a baby in her mother's womb (a concept much more offensive to sports fans than watching young women prance around showing surgically enchanced body parts to oogling, drooling old men) now have more funding to show it on other channels, like BET where it might reach the African American community much at risk from the leftist drive to eliminate them before they see the light of day.

More GAD--Geithner and Daschle

They apologized for tax mistakes to get their jobs; they really aren't crooks with friends in high places, they're just stupid and inept. Not so the same deal for the little guy with little problems.

My son who manages an automotive quick serve at a dealership received a very threatening letter about his taxes last week. He said he'd mail it to me so I could scan it for my blog, but I'll try to reconstruct for you the double standard for the working stiff and the ones stiffing us in Congress and the Oval Office. The notice said that if he didn't comply immediately he'd be in deep doo-doo.

HE OWES $.50--YES, FIFTY CENTS!!!! No forgiveness for the little guy. The computers can't even be programed to save the government money by not sending notices that cost more to send than to collect.

GAD! Geithner and Daschle.

Today's new word is GAD

Actually it's an acronym for Generalized Anxiety Disrorder, and I read about it in the January 21 JAMA (Vol 301, no.3:295). It's not that I'm unsympathetic with people who have these vague symptoms, but it really does sound like it's a created disease to give the pharmaceutical companies something to sell. The most interesting part of any medical article is the paragraph I can understand, and that's usually the first one that provides a mini-review of the literature. Here's the story on GAD, and you'll recognize it immediately because 15 of your best friends, 7 of your lunch buddies and 10 choir members at your church probably have these symptoms. At least if they are my age. You just didn't know what to call it:

"Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is the most common anxiety disorder in primary care and is defined by chronic, difficult-to-control worry and anxiety. Related somatic and psychiatric symptoms include muscle tension, sleep disturbance, and fatigue. Individuals with GAD have poorer quality of life, with impairments in role functioning (encompassing social, occupational, and family functioning) on par with those observed in major depressive disorder and other common medical problems such as arthritis and diabetes."

Wow! Not only that but the prevalence of GAD "is as high as 7.3% in community-dwelling older adults and higher in primary care where they are most likely to present for treatment." And with the baby boomers getting older, you know what that means. . . more GAD and increasing human and economic burdens. More for the universal health care plan of the president and his socialist staff to cover! Not only that, but older adults have been excluded from some of the large scale studies, so we need new studies and new drugs to determine the safety, efficacy and tolerability of new SSRIs.

The other day I was reading the blog Crazy Aunt Purl, and she has found a wonderful cure for this type of vague, anxious feeling--she's opted out of the recession. First, before the meltdown, she gave up extreme consumerism, buying only the essentials. She just decided not to be a slave to it, found out she liked having less clutter, less waste. When the meltdown came, she was in good shape--because it was her choice. Second, she switched her alarm from an all-news, all-the-time station, didn't turn on the TV cable news, didn't read the financial news articles or the sad stories about lost dogs, dropped her e-mail subscriptions to the bad-news bears, and didn't listen to the news in her car. She took a vacation from the anxiety and worry that the constant yammering of 24 hour news, most of it bad, spews at us. Smart lady, that Purl. No GAD for her!

Sit down, shut up and pay attention

My brother has asked for a repeat, so here it is.

Lilly Ledbetter Act--It's not about equal pay

The 1963 Law already is the equal pay act--this is about comparable worth. And it's about destroying what's left of our economy so you can be even more dependent on the federal government. Here's a discussion at the Independent Women's Forum. Personally, I'm not fond of podcasts, so if you'd rather read about it, go here.

Pray for the president

Obama on the radio news break is a good time. I pushed the off button while leaving the coffee shop and prayed:

Oh Lord, your servant, our president, is feeling the responsibility placed upon him, and we know he is unworthy, as we all are. May you abundantly bless him with a believing heart, and make him a valiant soldier of the cross. Protect the smallest and weakest in our world by raising up legislators to defeat legal measures to kill them. Give him and the women visiting the PDC for an ultrasound today a tender heart for the unborn in their wombs. Amen

Today's new word is PUSILLANIMOUS

The Latin word pusillus is the source--it means "very little" from pusus, meaning boy. Not exactly a compliment, even if you're referring to a group of toddlers playing soccer (I've seen them at the park with their hyper dads). Webster's in the dining room says destitute of manly strength and firmness of mind; weak or mean spirit; cowardly. I didn't jot down the origin of the quote, but here it is: "In the old days a guy who voted "present" on 130 bills while a member of his state senate was rightly viewed as pusillanimous." And that, not the battle going on in Gaza, is what worries me about our trip to the Holy Land.

The day google ate its young

I thought it was me--that I'd opened something in e-mail that attacked my computer. Everything I looked up seemed to have a warning that the site would harm my computer. So I shut everything down, removed cookies, history, etc. (I had no idea what I was doing, but it seemed a good idea). I walked away for awhile, and when I came back and turned it on, everything seemed fine. Now I find out it was Google, attacking itself.

A major hiccup at Google this morning caused the entire Internet to be flagged as malware.

The problem appears to be centered around the Google Safe Browsing API — even that returned a “This site may harm your computer” warning — the security diagnostics service that powers Firefox’s malware blocking service. ZD Net

And here I thought I was some sort of genius for getting rid of it. Sigh.

Trying to appease the PUMAs

Although he can't do for women what President Bush did--he freed millions more women from tyranny in Afghanistan and Iraq than Lincoln freed slaves--he can undo a 2007 Supreme Court ruling about the statute of limitations on filing a job discrimination claim. It was easy. No deliberation. No discussion. No stats, just myths. Stroke of the pen. I don't know why 6 months was bad and 12 months is good. I guess if you don't get a new job, you can look back and say, "Now that I've been unemployed for awhile, I think it was discrimination and not my performance, but I just didn't realize it until now."

I read through the complexities of this, and it still is no piece of cake, even though it will be full employment for trial lawyers, as are most of these government regs. Never you mind--the media have put a feather in Obama's cap. (Lawyers should kiss his feet, or go higher.) Most smaller companies won't be able to afford to fight it, so we'll see some incompetent, unhappy people staffing various offices and boards. And more reluctance on the part of employers to take a chance on placing women in line for top positions. Was Michelle Obama on that Chicago hospital board because of her brilliant legal abilities, or because she was Mrs. Obama? What spouse of a white legislator would be allowed to complain or file a discrimination suit and not kill his/her future with the party? The actual facts are that when you sift all the numbers nationwide, black women are making more than white women and Hispanic women. Now, sociologists and economists try to blame this on a number of reasons, like maybe white women stay home longer after a birth of a baby, or black women may have a second job, but they really don't know. Maybe it's the Oprah factor.

If women, of any color, won't play the game, they won't have the gain. Here are the items you need to look at when comparing incomes of men and women, or even women with women: Women who

first and foremost are married, because most top male executives are--today marriage is the big divider between getting by and doing well

have a spouse who manages the home, the nanny and the housekeeper

have a spouse willing to chauffer the children to sports and activities, take the pets to the vet, serve on the school committees, meet with the teachers, make all the appointments for doctor, dentist and hair cuts, hire and supervise the lawn service, oversee the nutritional needs of the household, and help out mom and dad at the retirement home

are willing to work 60-80 hours a week

spend hundreds of hours a year on the Bluetooth while sitting in airports, sleeping in first class on airplanes

are willing to have no personal relationships with other women, or maybe occasional casual sex with lower ranked male colleagues

willing to endure the long commute from the fashionable suburban McMansion

can show, and this is critical, that they have never bumped anyone better qualified out of line because of affirmative action or need for diversity in the company (which brings huge resentment with networking colleagues whether or not they admit it)

Today's new word is CRUCIFER

When I was checking my robe this morning in the robe room at church, I noticed there were instructions for the CRUCIFER taped to the wall with some diagrams. After reading it, I understood that the crucifer is the person who carries the cross into the church service when we process in or out of the sanctuary. I'd always called him, "the guy who carries the cross," but then I didn't come from a liturgical background. CRUCIFER comes from the Latin word for cross, crux, crucis. I looked around the internet to see what other churches suggested for their crucifers, but most of the instructions were for acolytes to ask the crucifer what to do. On our instruction sheet it does tell the crucifer not to hold the cross with an awkward hand position which makes your elbows stick out like wings, and lower it when under the balcony. I have seen people who do that. So I don't know if these are our homegrown, UALC rules, or if they were copied from another's church manual.

We had people there at 7 a.m. to pray in the sanctuary, including two pastors, then about eight of us processed in and sat in the front rows, ready to go up to serve communion. We said the liturgy, sang the hymns. But during "passing the peace" one of the choir members noticed there were no communion rails (lowest step below the altar). So he came to the front, alerted some of the men, and there was much hustling to get the rails back into place.

I noticed a small water bottle at eye level, some incorrect knots, a wine stain on someone's robe, and the word crucifer, but not that the communion rail was missing.

The training of children

As I've mentioned before, I've been reading a chapter a day of Westminster Pulpit (10 volumes, compiled from sermons of G. Campbell Morgan preached about 100 years ago). So far I haven't found anything that doesn't speak to today's problems, just a few words with which I'm unfamiliar. In chapter 9 of vol. 2 he discusses "The Training of our children," using Proverbs 22:6--"Train up a child in the way he should go, and even when he is old he will not depart from it." He nailed me on this one.

. . . Christian people generally today believe the Bible to be true. A great many would . . .indulge in their own peculiar method of criticism in the presence of this particular text.

"In the beginning God created"--yes!

"And God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son"--certainly true!

"Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap"--there can be no question about that!

"Train up a child in the way he should go, and even when he is old he will not depart from it"--well, that is open to question; we are not quite sure about it.

And in my case, I even believe the book of origins, Genesis, also believed by Jesus, which many Christians toss over the shoulder with a few grains of salt because they learned it differently in school. But he caught me indeed on this business of children. It's easier for me to grasp a 6 day creation than this one, because of what I've seen and experienced in my own life and those I love. I'll laugh at you if you explain a billion years of evolving from slug-slime, but nod in agreement if you try to sort out what happened to the kid we knew who was raised by godly parents, was a pastor for 20 years, who has left his wife and family or she's embezzled from her employer while in a position of respect and honor.

Pastor Morgan doesn't let anyone off the hook here. He's speaking to parents, aunts and uncles, grandparents, pastors, Sunday school teachers and school teachers. He chides parents for setting ideals too low--that we want educated, successful, cultured, socialized offspring.

What is Jesus Christ's estimate of greatness? . . . in the Kingdom of God there is never a single blessing pronounced upon having, never a blessing pronounced upon doing. All the blessings are upon being. . . That the boy may be a Godly man, that the girl may be one of the King's daughters all glorious within, that first. Everything after, but that first. To neglect that is to lose sight of the goal and ruin our children by love which is false love. . . You have to be what you want your child to be. . . your boy will be what you are, and not what you tell him to be. . . You can't turn your child toward the Kingdom if you are a rebel.

He spends a lot of time on the word TRAIN and on "according to HIS way. . ." pointing out that what works with some won't work with all, and training is very individualized. But by far, his strongest words are for fathers--that's where Christians have failed, according to him. "Be very much and very constantly in comradeship with Jesus Christ. . . In God's name, if you do not know Christ, keep your hands off the bairns. You cannot train the boy to be a carpenter unless you are a Christian man and in fellowship with Him constantly. The parents' responsibility cannot be relegated to Sunday-school teacher, or Day-school teacher. . . all I can do in the presence of the old affirmation of ancient scripture which is fresh in its application today is to pray that my Father will keep me so near to Himself that I may know how to be a father to my children."

That's a sermon that can still make the congregation squirm in the pew.

The Iraqi elections

Sworn enemies voted side by side; those who refused to participate four years ago were now part of the process; one-third of the candidates were women; there was open campaigning for months; no violence; 60% turnout. And what does the NBC reporter say on last night's news? [paraphrase] "This was the first test of the Obama administration." Unbelieveable. It's one thing to be in the tank for Obama; it's another to thing completely to drown there.

He also is praying for Obama

Is anyone else ready for Spring?

This is our back yard in June. I'm listening to the snow plow scrape the ice off our street. It was very pretty floating down on Wednesday and Thursday, but . . . A water main has broken and we have many inches of ice in front of our drive. I am so ready. And all day I thought it was February, and it's only January 31!

When I pray for Obama

Although I'm not sure how God will do this without dumping the reading lists of better educated presidents like Bush, Truman and Clinton in Obama's lap, I often ask God to give the current president a sense and understanding of the past. Of all that is lacking in his qualities, and there are many, this one really stands out in every speech. You can't cover that with rhetorical flourishes. Even if he doesn't write them, I assume he tells his speech writers what he wants. I used to write speeches for a state of Ohio official, and to find her ideas and cadence I reviewed very carefully what she'd said in the past and who the audience would be. (She's deceased.) Charles Krauthammer mentions Obama's ignorance about the U.S. relations with Muslims in his limp apology on our behalf for being disrespectful (I don't think he used the word ignorance).

"America did not just respect Muslims, it bled for them. It engaged in five military campaigns, every one of which involved -- and resulted in -- the liberation of a Muslim people: Bosnia, Kosovo, Kuwait, Afghanistan and Iraq.

The two Balkan interventions -- as well as the failed 1992-93 Somalia intervention to feed starving African Muslims (43 Americans were killed) -- were humanitarian exercises of the highest order, there being no significant U.S. strategic interest at stake. In these 20 years, this nation has done more for suffering and oppressed Muslims than any nation, Muslim or non-Muslim, anywhere on Earth. Why are we apologizing?" Washington Post

Well, WE AREN'T. Mr. Obama's on his own here.

The not-so-green Mayor of Columbus

Usually I complain about tree-huggers, global alarmists, and the pantheistic Mother Earth folks who think she needs assisted care in a very expensive nursing home, but I truly do care about what happens to our land, and that includes the soil, water and air we all share. The Mayor of Columbus has big dreams--like a trolley line to no where and light rail to Cincinnati and Cleveland. On the other hand, he is penny wise and pound foolish. Do you know what he is cutting to save money? Yard waste pick-up. 26,000 tons of blowing, rotting green matter and trash that will have to be dumped somewhere by private parties who have no access to legal dump sites. Smart move! Now it will go into the rivers and streams, the nooks and crannies between jurisdictions, or into the regular trash, where the workers can't inspect every bag.

This is indicative of government at every level--local, state and particularly federal. Let's cut essential city services, like police, fire, and trash. The poor, low income and elderly will be hurt the most so the bureaucrats can keep their jobs and play around with new programs. I'm sure there will be enough money to install more cameras at trash sites and scenic ravines to catch the dumpers.

That was then, this is now

I'm not going to list it as a "new" word, but I was curious about when the little word "then" took over from ex- or former when referring to divorced spouses. "Then" is another one of those little over-worked four letter words. You know the others. It comes from the Old English word thonne related to the Old High German word denne. It means, "at that time," "soon after that time," "next in order of time," "following next after in order of position," "next in a series," "in that case," "according to that," and "as a necessary consequence." It's the little, multiple use English words that foreigners leave out.

Here's the definition that fits the use I refer to, "existing or acting at or belonging to the time mentioned." I suppose you can apply it to a wife or husband, but to say, "he and his then wife (1992) bought the house and remodeled it. . ." just sounds sort of crass. As though she is just one in a series, perhaps. To my tender ears. Still, if you can use it with a secretary of state or a judge. . .

When I googled the phrase, "his then wife," I got about 196,000 matches. I was wrong about the usage, because using this phrase goes back many, many years, to the point of being almost quaint. I found early 1800s:

can any limitations be implied in favour of the testator's issue by his then wife unprovided for by the settlement (1845)

yielding and paying therefore yearly during the said term unto the plaintiff and Nancy his then wife, since deceased (1870)

I think this means his then wife. I feel that very strongly (1896)

Plaintiff herein further states that, during and by reason of the late War of the Rebellion, the said deed from the said Joseph C. Parry and his then wife, ... (1905)

Even so, some of the more interesting ones were recent

[Jenrette, a liberal Democrat] had sex with his then-wife, Rita Jenrette, behind a pillar on the steps of the Capitol Building.

When I met my husband, his then wife threatened me, harassed me, and basically made life a living hell.

Sienna might have been cheated on by Jude Law but Jude cheated on his then-wife, Sadie Frost, with Sienna.

Snodgrass says Hyde carried on a five-year sexual relationship with his then-wife, Cherie, that shattered his family . . .

He had the contract in his hand to sign when his then wife, Laura, asked him if he really, really was ready to give up the adrenaline kick . . .

In September 1992, Pavarotti and his then wife, Adua, . . .

Podhoretz recounts that Mailer rushed up to Podhoretz's apartment after Mailer had stabbed his then-wife Adele Morales in 1960. . .

When Giuliani was in office and having an affair with Judith Nathan — who later became his wife — both she and his then-wife, Donna Hanover, ...

His then-wife gave him some A.A. pamphlets which he pretended to ignore, but he sneaked into the bathroom to read them.

English: such an interesting language.

Sonya Apples

When I can't get Honey Crisp, my favorite, which is most of the year, I usually buy Braeburn, but last week an apple I'd never seen, heart shaped with the coloring of a ripe peach, appeared at Marc's for $.99/lb. So I bought 5, and this week bought 6 more. Very good eating! I eat an apple a day, and find that they control hunger much better than grain, dairy or another type of fruit such as bananas or grapes. So I know what I like. If you're near a Marc's today, take a few home. You won't be sorry.



Orange Pippin web site says: "Sonya has two distinctive features. Firstly, its unusual shape - it is a very tall apple, a shape which is characteristic of 'pearmain' apples such as Adams Pearmain. However the parentage is Gala and Red Delicious, so Sonya is very much in the Golden Delicious and Red Delicious style.

Sonya's other distinctive feature is its exceptional sweetness - which is what you would expect from an apple which is related to both Golden Delicious and Red Delicious." This is interesting in that I wouldn't cross the road for a Red Delicious--I find little flavor in them.

How did we get here?

So many people I know have given up. Their attitude is "Oh well, I'm not going to be here to see it." For some reason they think their pension and/or Social Security and annuities will still be here by the end of Obama's first term--perhaps enough to see them to the grave. Scary. While some of you were dancing in the streets and trashing the mall, some of us saw the lights going out all over the country--and not to save electricity. It was the dimming of a dream and hope for the future. Then I read

April 1, 2013 -Unemployment is approaching 25 percent, inflation is close to 40 percent, major portions of the U.S. are having power "brownouts," and Americans are forced to go to foreign countries for timely and quality medical care. How did the world's largest and most prosperous economy fall into such a morass in only a very few years?
Read the rest of Shape of Things to Come?

Shameful expenditures

$18 billion in executive bonuses is the height of irresponsibility, but spending $1.2 trillion in government pork is a fiscally justifiable use of taxpayer funds. Here’s a visual that will demonstrate. Brain Shavings

Today's new word is CLAMANT

Actually, this was yesterday's, but I got a bit bogged down looking through google entries and went to bed. Here's the reference

We are content not to know the deep things of God. . . ponder the things He has said until we hear their clamant call, and obey." G. Campbell Morgan.

I didn't have a problem understanding the meaning--thought it might be something to do with "claim," because that is how I would pronounce it. But you just never know, so I looked it up. Big fat dining room dictionary says, it comes from the Latin clamare meaning to call, see claim. However, the meaning is "crying out, clamorous, loud, demanding notice, or urgent." I really don't get a sense of urgency in the word "claim." Like "quit claim deed," or as the CW song goes
You claimed you loved me,
but I was suspicious when
you dated three
of my best fren
So I checked google, and after about 40 entries that were just dictionaries, including Vietnamese, or were in Latin (clamant is 3rd person plural verb apparently), I decided no one is using it much these days, so there's no clamant call to learn or remember it.

It has only been a week

Africa and Hawaii have had their revenge for the European explorers and colonialists seizing their land. Our globalist, bi-racial president has taken this country further into socialism in one week than FDR and LBJ did in 4.5 terms. The stimulus package is a complete fraud--a ploy to take over what we didn't hand over since 1933; our future citizens, workers, soldiers and grandchildren will be tossed out with the FOCA garbage where they will neither cost us in social services nor contribute to the greater good; our cabinet officers are crooks and sneaks; and little acorns dance in the woods of green.

New roots in Vermont

The architectural article in today's WSJ is about a 3 generation Korean-American family (via Communist North Korea over 60 years ago) with a retreat reflecting Korean culture and Vermont practicality. They own quite a chunk of land and built the family compound for about $300 sq. ft. With 48' of glass in the 12' wide dining room, the children can play in the middle of winter without shoes as the room can heat up from the sun to 87 degrees. Our little manufactured porch, 6' wide, at Lakeside does that too--in the winter sun we can almost heat the entire house built in the early 1940s.

I grew up in northern Illinois and even in the 1940s and 1950s I saw many out-buildings of similar concept on farms. They were probably designed by a clever farm wife who helped support the family and send the kids to college with her butter and egg business. These buildings had steep pitches to drop the winter snow and clerestory windows for warmth and light, the nests for the chickens were framed high enough for manure droppings to fall to the floor (also helps with heat and composting), with easy access waist high to reach under biddy for her precious eggs.

Outsiders who come in to rural areas or the inner city or to vacation/leisure towns and set about to recreate a feeling, or to preserve the past, or to establish a name for design, need to realize that eventually, the locals will not be able to afford to live there. I've seen that myself at Lakeside, where my husband has beautified the town with about 35 projects, being the architect for a renovation, a total remodeling or completely new designs on empty lots. When an area is "improved" the property values around it go up, and then the taxes go up. The early sellers do quite well; those who wait or who want to stay there because of location (ice fishing, boating) or family (generations of quarry workers from east Europe) may be out of luck. We have home owners from across the nation coming there for a few weeks in the summer to stay in fabulous cottages--that would have never happened before the 1970s gasoline crisis when leisure spots closer to home began to look more desirable to Ohioans, and the idea spread. Water mains and gas lines were laid and roads improved, and real estate development boomed. I've seen many homes in Lakeside, Marblehead and Catawba leave a family after 3 or 4 generations because the heirs cannot afford to own it, so it is sold to wealthier families. And I've seen owners sell because although they haven't "preserved" or "renovated," the neighbors have and they can't afford the taxes and insurance on a home they only use a few weeks of the year.

Most noticeable is what happens to the urban poor, what happens when a city neighborhood is "improved" or as we say these days "gentrified?" When I drive through some of the wonderful neighborhoods of user friendly townhouses in downtown Chicago full of white and light brown yuppies, close to the parks, the lake, museums and shopping, I do wonder what happened to all those poor and black welfare families of razed Cabrini Green. Did they go on to be middle or upper class citizens, no longer dependent on the government for housing?

When we moved to Columbus in the 1960s, one of the first architectural tours we took was German Village, which had been a run-down slum, and was experiencing a new birth. It was so exciting to see--I still have the fading color photos we took. Tiny brick houses and duplexes that still looked quite traditional on the outside and were already being subjected to some fairly rigid codes, were light, airy and contemporary on the inside--never really reflecting the humble origins of the German working class that built them in the 19th century. That was 42 years ago, so I'm sure those kitchens I lusted for have been done over again, once or twice, and now maybe are being subjected to all sorts of green remodeling to conserve energy, fight radon or remove toxic materials installed just 20 or 30 years ago. So where did the poor go when the gay decorators and lawyer-doctor trendy couples moved in? Well, they moved further out, maybe rented or got a foreclosed house with help from the government and started that neighborhood on a downward slide with trucks up on blocks and broken windows covered with plywood.

Some may have ended up on the Hilltop, where in the past 10-20 years non-profit housing groups with government grants have been trying to "improve" the housing, fairly solid early 20th century 4-squares cut up into 4-plexes. If they succeed, they will push the poor further away from jobs and city services, which are being cut back anyway, strangled by new environmental codes and regulations and the housing meltdown created by our government's belief that everyone needed a piece of the real estate pie.

I don't have a solution; but every improvement, whether private or government, has consequences. The green ones more than most.

Obama is not Jesus; he's Joseph

Excellent post at Billoblog on the stimulus package that concludes

We can look forward to the economic miracle that is Zimbabwe and the liberty of Cuba. And, like the Egyptians, we will sell ourselves, and our children to the seventh generation, thoughtlessly. The only big difference is that the crisis for the Egyptians was real, while the Democrats are hyping a false sense of crisis about a problem they cannot solve using their socialization policies, but, as with the Depression, can only make worse. But, like the environmental “crisis” and the energy “crisis,” the goal is not solution; it is the destruction of individual rights in the name of socialism.

NYT needs to encourage births

Babies grow up to read newspapers and pay the salaries of journalists and editors. I heard about the March for Life because I listen to Christian radio, but I think that was the only outlet that mentioned it around here. Maybe the media were still drunk from the Tuesday festivities.

“More than 300,000 people assembled in Washington, D.C. [January 22] for the 36th Annual March for Life. But as far as The New York Times is concerned, it never happened,” Feder observed. [BoycottNYT.com editor Don] Feder was the keynote speaker at the event’s Rose Dinner.

He continued, “If 50,000 feminists had gathered on the Mall in D.C., to demand passage of the so-called Freedom of Choice Act, it would have been above-the-page-one-fold coverage in The Times, accompanied by an aerial photo of the crowd.” From Accuracy in Media

If 10 Code Pink ladies stood under a street light at 3 a.m. outside a veterans' hospital protesting, the NYT would have sent a crew. Didn't they get front row seats at the inauguration?

Invitation to President Obama.

From Washington Post story (section A):

"Deirdre McQuade, spokeswoman for Pro-Life Activities at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said turnout at the annual Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Northeast on Wednesday night filled the basilica's 16,000-person capacity and spill into two overflow buildings. A morning youth concert and Mass yesterday at Verizon Center also filled up -- there were 20,000-plus seats -- and crowds were sent to nearby churches. . .

For eight years, marchers had been greeted by a message from President George W. Bush, who supported their cause and appointed two Supreme Court justices who voted to uphold federal restrictions on some abortion procedures.

In contrast, Obama issued a statement yesterday reaffirming his support for a woman's right to choose to end her pregnancy. Roe v. Wade, the statement said, "not only protects women's health and reproductive freedom, but stands for a broader principle: that government should not intrude on our most private family matters."

Of course, Washington Post is bi-lingual: "abortion foes," "abortion opponents," on the right side, and "a woman's right to end her pregnancy," and "reproductive freedom" on the left side.

Tonight's cruise dinner

You probably think this isn't the greatest time to go to the Holy Land, but reading the paper, it's not a good time to be in Mexico either. In fact, I'd say Mexico looks hotter than Hamas. Anyway, the people going on the cruise to the Holy Land are getting together for a pot luck tonight. We're in the section of the alphabet that's bringing a main dish, so I'm taking sweet sour meatballs. I've blogged this about 2 years ago, but it was an entire dinner. So here's the story excerpted from that entry

To make the meatballs you first have to leave the computer--probably when Blogger.com is acting up. Go to the kitchen and mix in a sauce pan one 15 oz can of sauerkraut, one 12 oz. jar of chili sauce, and one 16 oz can of whole cranberry sauce (sizes make no difference). Remove half of it from the pan and put it in the freezer for another day. Makes a wonderful topping for a boneless pork roast. While the mix is warming up, check the computer to see if Blogger is working, and if so, download that picture before it quits.

Go back to the kitchen and tear and crumble in a bowl at least two pieces of stale bread and let it dry a little while you go back and finish your blog entry. Oh, turn off stove and remove the sauce because you might forget and it will scorch.

Next, add one and a half pounds of ground chuck to the bread crumbs, an envelope of dried onion soup, and 2 eggs and thoroughly mix. Shape into 10 nice sized meatballs, and lightly brown for a few minutes. Spray a casserole dish with a non-stick (I use olive oil), and arrange the meatballs. Pour the sauce over the meatballs, completely covering them. Put in the oven at 375 for at least 45 minutes. Check your e-mail. Freezes well, or makes great sandwiches the next day.

For this event I used a mix of ground pork, sausage and hamburger, probably a total 2.5 lbs, making 8 large meatballs to take tonight and a bunch of smaller ones which I popped in the oven at lunch time, of which I've just eaten 2 in case I don't get any tonight. Because I had more meat, I used all the sauce. Actually, I think I like the ground chuck version better.

A lot goes a little way

I just read the ingredients on my Trader Joe's "Next to Godliness Liquid Dish Soap" formulated to perform effectively while being safe for the environment. Usually, I love Trader Joe's products, and I thought I'd used this one before and found it satisfactory, but. . .

coconut derived surfactants, earth salt, lavender oil, tea tree oil, grapefruit seed extract and water

just doesn't do it. The label says it hasn't been tested on animals so we don't even know if it's safe for humans, do we?

My tea bags of black leaves come from bushes, so I asked Google, "what is tea tree oil," and was told that it comes from steam distillation of the leaves of Melaleuca alternifolia, a plant native to Australia. It's not even tea! "Tea tree oil contains consituents [sic] called terpenoids, which have been found to have antiseptic and antifungal activity. The compound terpinen-4-ol is the most abundant and is thought to be responsible for most of tea tree oil's antimicrobial activity." You can use it for vaginitis, dandruff, acne and athletes' foot. Gee, I didn't know those ailments were even related!

Anyway, use twice as much of the TJ Soap as the bad old stuff and don't expect suds.

Father John Corapi

If they are not praying to saints or Mary, or saying the rosary, I love to listen to Catholic radio. And Father John Corapi is one of the best. I heard a stunning sermon this morning in the car, rushed into the house leaving the groceries, and turned on the kitchen radio. It was all about his profligate past in Hollywood outrunning the police with cocaine in the trunk of his Ferrari and hanging out with starlets. I think he said he was at a party with John Belushi the night he died. Here's what catholic-tube says about him

A soldier, investment banker, multi millionaire real estate investor, cocaine addict, and Catholic Priest. It’s said that every saint has a past and every sinner has a future. So too, is the path of Father John Corapi, now famous for his touring the world to spread the good news of Jesus Christ and his Church. Fr. Corapi’s past has led to a great witness that has led many back to the church. He has put together many series that have aired on EWTN, including his famous series on the Catechism of the Catholic Church. You can find out more about the ministry of Father Corapi by visiting his website.

And I always thought it was the Baptists that had the great testimonies, but his is hard to beat. And he has a great voice.

Cash or cans?

Food is flying off the shelves at food pantries across the country. Instead of the clients being people on food stamps, it's people newly unemployed and living in their own homes. I'm a member of a large Lutheran church with three campuses, and we support (I think) an exceptionally well run "choice" Food Pantry with very capable staff. Our church, UALC, heard the appeal in November and December.

"Through November and Thanksgiving services, enough food was donated to carry the local LSS Food Pantry through much of February: donations of 1,549 bags of food, cash and gift cards were valued at $30,935." UALC Cornerstone, January 11-17, 2009

Last year LSS of Central Ohio food pantries served 148,546 people. I'm guessing that is "visits" and not actual people, because when I've volunteered, I see the same people over and over. Most of that is a 3 day supply of emergency food for people with documentation and in the computerized system, but "over-nights" are at the discretion of the manager until the client can get into the social service system.

Is it better to give cash/checks or food stuffs? Here's my opinion. The manager/director can buy much more food for your dollar than you can. However, that food is cheap because of federal funding--so you're paying for it either way. Churches, clubs and immigrant societies have always had a community food basket for the poor, elderly and unemployed. Compared to the volunteer spirit that goes back to the roots of this country, the government is a newcomer as a food donor. The present food stamp program began during Johnson’s Great Society in the 1960s and was expanded during the Carter years, and every administration since, including the Republicans. It's political suicide to cut it and it began as welfare to farmers.

According to the Cato Institute, “The largest portion of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s budget consists of food subsidies, not farm subsidies. Food subsidies will cost taxpayers $55 billion in fiscal 2007 and account for 61 percent of the USDA’s budget. The largest food subsidy programs are food stamps; the school breakfast and lunch programs; and the women, infants, and children (WIC) program. The federal government as a whole has about 26 food and nutrition programs operated by six different agencies.“ When I serve at the food pantry I see brands and companies I've never heard of; I suspect they serve only charities with government surplus, or outright purchase. In Columbus we have a huge warehouse, Mid-Ohio Food Bank, that serves only the food pantries and they're asking for funding to enlarge it. MOFB's stocks are down. Supermarkets are more efficient and waste (donate) less, there are more odd-lot type discounters to buy up near due date and over stocks, and health regulations have cut down on what can be donated. Which means more of your tax dollar for food subsidies.

The biggest distributor of these programs is "faith based and community" initiatives like our Lutheran church. So any food pantry, whether they are supported by your church or a community cooperative, is really tax supported via the USDA (it was also involved in housing programs in rural areas which contributed to our melt-down). Which brings me to my point--purchasing your donation at the local level.

For every can of soup or package of pasta I buy locally whether at Marc's or Meijer's, I am helping a stock boy or produce lady keep their jobs. They in turn can meet their rent payments, put gas in their used auto, and eat a meal out occasionally at McDonald's. This allows the bulk gasoline driver to keep his truck on the road, the landlord of the apartment building to avoid foreclosure, and the feedlot owner in Kansas to ship spent, older cows to slaughter in Iowa where the butchers and packers will pay their rent, fill their gas tanks and maybe donate to their local food pantry to help the unemployed who planted too much corn for ethanol due to Al Gore's environmental hysteria which helped contribute to food shortages world wide.

I'm a pensioner. Every time I go to the grocery store, I pick up a few cans of soup, a package of pasta, a jar of jelly, or some canned meat and drop it off on Sunday in the food box at church--amounts to about $10 a week--and you know the prices, that doesn't buy a lot. I've read every label and compared every price, and I know the money is circulating right here in Columbus to help the people who aren't lining up on Champion Avenue.

Blago and the Gitmo detainees

Not that I have any sympathy for Rod Blagojevich, the Illinois governor accused of trying to sell Obama's senate seat, but the rush to impeach and marginalize him by his own party, particularly Obama supporters, is interesting in light of the care, feeding and pro-bono legal care of the Gitmo accused terrorists by the left. The smell of the bread crumbs that lead back to Obama's campaign managers, appointees and lackeys has the whiff of 3 day old fish left in the hot sun.

From little ACORNs marxism grows big trees

If you check out the roots of the various housing organizations to whom the Bush administration gave money to keep the housing industry afloat (literally throwing it with little oversite) and the tangled web of the various "get out the vote" groups in 2006 and 2008 that bussed people hither and yon for registration where they weren't eligible, you'll find ACORN or groups it is funding. So this item on Newsmax is no surprise--they had power to spend and money to burn long before Obama, the community activist, team took the reins.

"Ordinarily, neighborhood stabilization funds are distributed to local governments. But revised language in the stimulus bill would make the funds available directly to non-profit entities such as ACORN, the low-income housing organization whose pro-Democrat voter-registration activities have been blasted by Republicans. ACORN is cited by some for tipping the scales in the Democrats' favor in November.

According to Fox news, Sen. David Vitter, R-La., could appear to be a “payoff” for community groups’ partisan political activities in the last election cycle."

Republicans were so busy supporting the war abroad and fighting the Democrats in Congress, they forgot to check the foxholes and bunkers within our own borders for our homegrown axis of evil.

New notebook time and new word for the day

The notebook I started Dec. 5 is full. Last week I bought four spiral bound, hard cover note books, 8.5 x 5.3, lined, 100 pages, at Marc's for $.67 a piece. There is a clear acrylic over the front cover. They are called "Sherbert Notes Journal" and I bought them in pink, lime, pale blue and lilac. The stationer is FYI Stationers and the producer Carolina Pad of Charlotte, NC. Marc's carries overstocks, remaindered and seconds so if you see something you like, buy it--it won't be there when you return 10 minutes later. A few weeks ago I saw some plain white, Mikasa china bowls (probably seconds), 2 for $.99. I have white china with a silver band and am short a few bowls (replacements cost about $60.00), so I thought I could work with something similar, and they looked fine, but when I went back there weren't any more.

Now for the new word. About 20 years ago I was a volunteer in a nursing home with a young woman who had suffered a brain aneurysm when she was 18 and was totally paralyzed. She needed people with her during her waking hours because she couldn't generate thought (a theory of another volunteer). Fortunately, she had parents and sisters and not a husband who wanted to be free of her, so no one starved her to death to end her life, but she did eventually die at about age 50. She couldn't talk, move voluntarily or see, but she could definitely experience emotion, as I found out if ever I said "Would you like some sherbert." She is the one who taught me that there is only one R in sherbet. It took 10 minutes to spell it on her message board which involved rows of letters each assigned a number and holding her hand to see if I could detect a movement if I called out the right letter. So when I saw that these notebooks were titled, "Sherbert Notes," I decided someone didn't know how to spell sherbet. But when I looked in my dictionary, here's what I found:

sherbet n. Turkish and Persian from Arabic Sharbah for drink. 1. a cold drink of sweetened and diluted fruit juice 2. or sherbert, an ice with milk, egg white, or gelatin added.

Even my spell check tried to drop that second R. And this is my new word for today.

The inaugural luncheon

Perhaps this is just a poor shot, but the wait staff is more diverse than the guests or head table.

History turned on its head

The story of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Don't miss this fascinating series featuring Joan Peters, White House advisor during the Carter administration discussing her writing of her 1984 book Time Immemorial.



HT Lady-Light

Things to do during an Ohio ice storm

Especially if you live in an all electric home and are watching the tree limbs outside droop to the ground.

Run some water through the coffee pot to clean it, and watch the little clumps fall through

Brew a 1/2 regular, 1/2 decaf pot of coffee in case you can't get to the coffee shop tomorrow, and put it in a thermos

Run that load of laundry that's been sitting on the floor for 2 days

Heat up a can of that wonderful hearty beef and vegetable Progresso soup and put it in a thermos

Check the flashlights

Look for batteries in the basement and office desk

Find the candles and matches

Finish the watercolor started yesterday while the light is good

Make sure the double garage door which weighs 5 tons isn't frozen to the driveway in case the opener won't work

Check for your scraper and shovel, this looks like more than a credit card size storm

Call about that hair appointment and plead for a rescheduling

Call "the children" (40 and 41) to see that they got to work OK and nag them about being careful on the roads

Enjoy the peacfulness of fat snowflakes slowly falling.