Friday Family Photo--Graduation Announcements

Thanks to someone in Europe who e-mailed me a genealogy question about an Anna Schürch (web page is in French but the ancestor I think is Swiss Mennonite), I pulled out a file and found the high school graduation announcements of both my mother (Franklin Grove, 1930) and my grandmother (Ashton, 1893), from high schools in Lee County, Illinois, just about 6 miles apart. I didn't remember I had these paper memorabilia.


The Ashton graduating class of 1893 class members were: Fannie A. Smith, Mary L. George, Alice B. Taylor, Lulu I. Canfield, Dollie E. Roat, Ethel E. Reid, Mary E. Wisman, Eva M. Ling, Henry H. Vauple, W. Cabot Hodges, and Louis C. Pollock. The class motto was "One step towards the goal." The Principal was H.V. Baldwin, the grammar department was Wm. Feldkirchner, the Intermediate department was Ida Thompson, and Blanche Vanness was the primary department.

The graduation program for Ashton was quite ambitious with lots of music and speeches by the students. It began with an invocation and music by the orchestra. The Salutatorian address was given by Fannie Smith, and Alice Taylor gave the mission speech. That was followed by a duet by Miss Smith and Mrs. F. Richardson. Then Henry Vauple gave "Earth's Battlefields"* and Lulu Canfield presented "A good cause makes a stour heart." The the school orchestra performed. The class retrospection was given by Mary Wisman, and "Chicago our pride"** was presented by Dollie Roat. Then the Glee Club and Quartette sang. W. Cabot Hodges, one of the 3 graduating men of the class of 1893, spoke on "Education, what it was, is and is to be," followed by Eva Ling's "select reading," which may mean she hadn't selected it in time to let the printer know the title. That was followed by a trio. Mary George read the class prophecy and Ethel Reid gave another "select reading." Then the orchestra played again. Louis Pollock, the class Valedictorian, gave the final speech after which they all sang the "class song." Then the diplomas were presented.

My mother's commencement in 1930 was on May 27 at the Methodist Church. Class members were Frances Genet Hussey, Olive Inez Weybright, Hazel Elizabeth Bill, Merrill C. Morgan, Clair R. Hood, Jack Johnston, Gordon Clark Phillips, Lucile Irene Buck, Norma Arlene Beachley, Ethel Catherine Nass, James Elwin Patch, Dallas B. Stultz, Charles J. Hepfer, Leslie Kenneth Mielke, and Arland Stanley Butler.

The class motto of the 1930 class was "Rowing, not drifting," their colors were blue and gold, and their flower was a rose.

*I looked up "Earth's Battlefields" in Google, and couldn't determine if it were poem or essay, but did find it listed for other turn of the last century graduation programs.

**The Columbian Exposition of 1893 opened in Chicago that year, and I'm sure all of Illinois took great pride in the recognition this brought their state. My grandmother attended the fair with her parents. One could catch a passenger train in Ashton or Franklin several times a day and be in downtown Chicago faster than one could drive there today.

Of course you can choose to keep your insurance

But. . . here's how it will really work. "Of course, no sane 23-year-old will "choose" a $400-plus per month insurance premium over whatever subsidized plan the government offers. And as younger people leave the private risk pool, older, sicker people will remain—driving up premiums more and more for those riskier folks who're left. Eventually, a steady stream of people will "choose" to abandon private health insurance altogether. And where will they go? Obamacare. All according to plan."

See how easy it is? Socializing medicine in 3 easy steps.

Collect, circulate and preserve

That's what librarians used to do. I watched a video on the new OSU Thompson Library today--"1,000 more seats, 1.5 million books." I even recognized the architects. But there used to be over 4 million volumes, I think. This video called the Nonstop Alternative Library is made up of volumes rescued from the Antioch College Library here in Ohio by a small group of students and alumni in the Summer and Fall of 2008. The Nonstop Liberal Arts Institute has taken on the task of preserving organizing and cataloging the collections. See

Nonstop Alternative Libraries from News @Nonstop on Vimeo.

Caught Between empty and a flat tire

A new 2009 or 2010 Dodge mini-van might have been in our future (assuming we could even find one on a lot), but not now, now that we know for certain that neither the government nor Chrysler will honor their agreements. There's nothing wrong with my 2002 van--but it won't be long before the government declares it is a "clunker." The new plan to get less fuel efficient vehicles off the road by offering a cash incentive of $4500 to purchase something with better mileage is of little value to people who can't afford or can't get the credit to purchase a newer, more expensive, smaller and more dangerous vehicle. Remember, not only have we bailed out Chrysler and GM, but we've destroyed the pension and investment account values because once the government can renege on those investors, it can do it to any. In other words, those of us in the lower income group will be hurt the most. That's why all these government plans whatever their good intentions for green spaces, for cholesterol, for cigarettes, for safe toys, for clean air, always hit the pocket books of the poor and fixed income seniors first, and then work their way up the pay scale.

Also, that's our tax money, that $4500 the government will reimuburse the automaker, which is really reimbursing the labor unions, the guys whose pensions Obama is trying to save because they so generously helped him buy the Presidency. We've already given the unions and automaker CEOs billions, but Obama's whiz kids are saying they still can't build a good car unless they get this ridiculous offer. An offer which most people with old cars can't afford, so there will be plenty of scammers running around buying up old cars from people who won't be able to replace them at any price. Next, they'll cap the pay of whatever executive was dumb enough to stay and not flee to another field, leaving the company with more Obama appointees. Besides, if Chrysler won't honor its agreements with the local dealers, some in business for generations, then why should it honor its agreement with me, the buyer, who buys bundled with that car the warranty on the various parts, the service agreements, and the supposed resale value, all of which is built into the cost of a new vehicle. No, I see no reason I should trust either Obama or Chrysler to give me a good deal.

Detroit has been pressured to build more fuel efficient and safer cars for 30 years; and for the most part, I think many of these regulations and laws have succeeded. Even so Americans burned 39% more gasoline in 2007 than they did in 1975, according to Energy Department figures, because more people hit the roads and drove more miles. My 2002 van (my third Chrysler mini-van) is an outstanding product and much better than my first one, a 1989. On the highway it gets around 27-28 mpg if there are no dead deer, semis or head winds to fight. In the city, not so great--maybe 19. But I'm sure the Obama car czar, who probably is too young to even drive and has never held a real job, will look at some sort of average for a 2002 mini-van made in the USA, and within a year or two, I'll be clunker driving. When I don't trade it (new it was about $19,000) with a voucher in hand for $4500 on a $50,000 model, I'll probably be cited for driving illegally, and told to take public transportation.

The cap and trade hoax, of which this "cash for clunkers" and automaker/union bailout at taxpayers expense are a part, is just the newest version of the 1970s DDT ban which killed or disabled millions and millions of black Africans, mostly children, so that European and American liberals could feel smug and self-righteous and continue to worship their pagan goddess, Mother Earth.

Eaten any sushi lately?

Wood print depicting a man passing a strobila of a broad tapeworm. The caption (not shown) said, "The man ate masu salmon. After a time, a strange object emerged from the anus and was pulled out: it turned out to be 2–3 m long." From Shinsen Yamaino Soushi, by Daizennosuke Koan (1850). Illustration at the CDC Emerging Infectious Diseases, "Diphyllobothriasis Associated with Eating Raw Pacific Salmon." Link And they do mean emerging.

". . . in the past several decades, regions with endemic diphyllobothriasis nihonkaiense have disappeared from Japan, yet the infection has been perpetuated among urban people who eat sushi and sashimi."

Sort of makes those farm raised salmon look a little better, don't ya think?

No one calls this a scandal

“Between 2000 and 2008, the United Auto Workers (UAW) union” gave 23.7 million dollars to Democrats, including Barack Obama. “In return, the UAW received 55 percent of Chrysler and 17.5 percent of GM, plus billions of dollars.” Newt Gingrich pointed this out. Where are our investigative reporters who were glued to Bush's every misstep?

In a rigged proceeding in which the federal government disregarded bankruptcy law in favor of the political outcome it desired, the Chrysler bankruptcy laid the predicate for the much larger General Motors bankruptcy to come. Against law and precedent, the unions were moved to the front of the line when it came to who would benefit from the bankruptcy.

The Obama Treasury Department strong-armed Chrysler’s creditors into a deal in which the UAW was given 55 percent ownership of the company while Chrysler’s secured creditors – investors who would have received priority in a non-political bankruptcy proceeding – were left with just 29 cents on the dollar.

Indiana pension funds aren't the only ones getting hit. Even Democrats are invested in pensions. They should be very worried about what their president is doing to the rule of law in this country.

HT Recliner Commentaries

It's all about me

Recently I bought two new pillows for our bedroom at the lakehouse, and brought them back here while we have guests in the house. (We only rent during the Methodist conferences.) The kitty thinks this was all done for her. She also likes my computer case, transferring her fur, one hair at a time until the case is pretty much a fur ball.

Both remarks are way out of bounds

On national TV . . ."Last night the esteemed David Letterman (why does anyone watch him?) joked that Sarah Palin’s attendance at a Yankees game went well until “her daughter got knocked up by Alex Rodriguez” (Audience laughter)." That was from a commenter at another blog. Who only made it worse by suggesting . . . what if. . . "How about joking about nappy-headed ‘hos in the White House, Mr Letterman? Oh no, can’t do that, dissing the kids of da Prez."

Both remarks are sexist and disrespectful to women and sexualize children. Letterman also said Palin looked like a slutty flight attendant. But yes, on national TV you can make sexist and sexually abusive and threatening remarks about rape of a white teen-ager, daughter of a Republican governor, but you dare not make a remark about a black first lady and her daughters--not because of their position, but because of their race. Those are the really low, rock bottom, dragging on the ground, post-racial standards of the Democrats and their backers in the entertainment industry and the media. Congratulations, folks, you're even worse than we imagined.

Again, I have to disagree with another Conservative

"Sarah Palin Says U.S. Headed Toward Socialism." Honey, we've already passed go and are hoping for our get out of jail free card in the game called Obamonopoly!

It's a small world and a small car

My friend Jerry (also a retired librarian) and her husband are on a three month tour of Europe, in a little car stopping along the way for a few days to sight see. They posted a blog to keep friends and family informed. I believe they are doing France, Spain, Italy, and are now in Germany. I think they started about April 24. On May 29, five weeks into the trip, her husband posted the following:

#1-the french yell at you when you get in their way---the italians yell at you before you get in their way--and the germans just go 120 mph so you never get in their way
#2 the french never smile at americans
#3 the french have small dogs --germans have big dogs
#4 there are a lot of churches in europe
#5 the catholics spend more money on their churches than the lutherans
#6 all churches are cool and quiet and a good place to sit
#7 churches are usually in the center of the town and are still in the center of their lives---maybe we should do that---
#8 three months is a long time
#9 you never hit your thumb if you don't have a hammer
#10 and you never say never

By today they’ve got burnout and Jerry says: “We've realized that people mean more to us than museums, churches etc. We' enjoy the other things, but will remember the people the most.”


Jerry in Dinkelsbuhl, Germany. They ran into their Michigan mail carrier at Harburg Castle in Germany. It really is a small world, isn’t it? And a small car.

We met in Boston at a Medical Library Association meeting in 1988, and have kept in touch. Last saw each other in 1994. 　

More traffic expected around here

Beginning Monday (June 15), work on State Route 315 is expected to generate heavy traffic along Kenny Road, Olentangy River Road, High Street, Lane Avenue and possibly Woody Hayes Drive. Motorists should anticipate traffic delays, and are encouraged to plan accordingly to reduce frustration. More information on this project and a detailed map of entrance and exit ramp closures can be found at http://www.buckeyetraffic.org/315. The Ohio Department of Transportation also will be staffing a telephone line throughout the construction: (740) 833-8268. Read more: http://tp.osu.edu/alerts/summerconstruction.shtml.

Looks like I may have to leave for coffee at 6:15 instead of 6:30.

Why traffic stops matter

It isn't always speed or running red lights. Here in Columbus a police chase Monday resulted in the seizure of millions of dollars of heroin. It began when officers noticed a car moving erratically on Interstate 70 shortly before 7 p.m. yesterday.

"Police said when an officer tried to stop the car, the driver drove off, tossing a bag out the window. The bag contained eight packets of heroin with a total weight of 15 pounds and a street value estimated at $4 million." Reported by Channel 10, WBNS Columbus and this morning's 610 am news.

Police believe the drugs came from Mexico and have arrested Roberto Alvarado-Cebrero, 21, who says he’s in the country illegally. What a surprise. Story here in Columbus Dispatch.

350,000 wannabees, many now unemployed

So what happened to all those idealistic campaign workers who left it all to get out the vote? Some of it illegally, like here in Ohio. This is an interesting story of the unemployed and underemployed, the idealistic Obama orphans, adrift in a sea of memories.

“Toby Osherson joined the [Obama] campaign straight out of college and gave 21 months. He frames the experience in terms of national service. “I felt this was my duty to my country…this is how I sleep at night, so that I can tell my kids that when our country hit closest to rock bottom, this is what I did to help.” “

Fella, we are at rock bottom now (at least I hope we won‘t go lower, but we could), not then when unemployment was at 5%, not near 10% like now, and the President of the United States wasn’t illegally taking over major segments of the economy and destroying the country. Back when a President would speak and you could trust him and he wasn’t getting whiplash from reading teleprompters without understanding a word he was saying. Sigh. Sorry you wasted so much of your idealism and young life for such a global disaster.

You will be inspired

to clean out your refrigerator after viewing this. Get a load of that rattlesnake in the freezer!

Here's mine.



This looks a little screwy I know--about 2 lbs. of butter and some Slim-fast in the door. But occasionally I over indulge and have a Slimfast for supper. Cheese is my big downfall, and there is some cheese sitting behind the butter. That's leftover roast chicken and sliced strawberries in the front. I got those little Pyrex bowls as a wedding present 49 years ago--still using them. There's a spring mix and tomatoes in the veggy drawer and some potatoes under the sink, so that will be supper, and then I think it's time to go shopping.

Will she find a wise Latina doctor

Rush asked today in commenting on the unfortunate accident of Judge Sotomayor

The White House says Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor has broken her ankle after an airport stumble in New York City.

Sotomayor fractured her right ankle Monday morning at New York's LaGuardia Airport before boarding a shuttle to Washington for an afternoon of meetings with senators.

He was being snarky, but health is all about disparities and minorities being included in the medical system. In fact, if you read American Journal of Public Health (recent issues only contain table of contents, but older ones have full articles) the only problems the minorities and poor in the U.S. have are caused by discrimination and evil capitalists. Diseases, except for race based HIV, seem to be a thing of the past, as is personal responsibility.

If the Fed doesn't know, who does?

The Inspector General of the Federal Reserve in this video (HT Taxmanblog) acknowledges that trillions of dollars of our money cannot be accounted for. The five-minute video is taken from a Congressional hearing on May 6 where Federal Reserve Inspector General Elizabeth Coleman is questioned by Congressman Alan Grayson of Florida about huge amounts of money for which the Federal Reserve is responsible. Really, this is quite alarming.



The original Bloomberg reportreferred to in the video.

I used to wonder why Congress called upon Hollywood stars to testify on weighty problems--like oceans and apples. Now I know. They are apparently better prepared as concerned actors than the OIG of the Fed whose task is described on their website but who doesn‘t seem to know or do anything:

Ms. Coleman joined the Board's OIG in 1989 as a senior auditor. She was promoted to program manager in 1999 and to senior program manager in 2001. She was appointed to the official staff in 2004, as the Assistant Inspector General for Communications and Quality Assurance. Over the last eight years, Ms. Coleman has worked closely with the Executive Council on Integrity and Efficiency, a professional organization of about thirty statutory Inspectors General who are appointed by their agency heads in certain designated federal entities, including the Board.

Prior to joining the Board's staff, she was employed by the Government Accountability Office. Ms. Coleman has a BBA from James Madison University and is a graduate of the Stonier Graduate School of Banking, Georgetown University. She also attended the Federal Reserve System's Trailblazers Leadership Conference. Ms. Coleman is a Certified Information Systems Auditor.

The OIG is tasked with the responsibility to prevent and detect fraud, waste, and abuse, and to promote economy and efficiency in the programs and operations of the Board, keeping the Chairman and Congress fully and currently informed of problems.

An Inspector General may be removed from office by the President, and must communicate the reasons for any such removal to both Houses of Congress, as outlined in Section 3(b) of the Inspector General Act of 1978.

If you ever need to draft a mission statement, be sure to read theirs. But only after you watch her testimony. It's good for a laugh.

Obama finally issues statement about Pvt. Long's death

According to LaShawn Barber, the President, after days of silence, finally commented on the death of one of his soldiers.

"Two days after military recruiter Private William Long’s murder (as opposed to hours after abortionist George Tiller’s murder on a Sunday, no less) by a Muslim convert, President Barack Obama finally released a statement, though it’s not posted on the White House web site yet (as of 9:26 a.m. PT):

“I am deeply saddened by this senseless act of violence against two brave young soldiers who were doing their part to strengthen our armed forces and keep our country safe. I would like to wish Quinton Ezeagwula a speedy recovery, and to offer my condolences and prayers to William Long’s family as they mourn the loss of their son.” (Source)

Obama’s statement about Tiller:

“I am shocked and outraged by the murder of Dr. George Tiller as he attended church services this morning. However profound our differences as Americans over difficult issues such as abortion, they cannot be resolved by heinous acts of violence.”

Nothing about how he has contributed to the anti-military hysteria and this act by a Muslim convert with his ridiculous stance on investigating torture and waterboarding and tearing down all Bush accomplished. But it's OK to criticize the pro-life movement and blame them for the violence of one person.

Conservatives who don't get it

When I listen to Rush or Hannity or read Karl Rove or Victor Davis Hanson, sometimes I just shake my head. They are speaking/writing as though Obama really intends to save the country instead of destroy it. They ponder the stupid, idiotic, unpatriotic things he is doing and wonder why he thinks they will work. He's not stupid, gentlemen, and those things like the apology tours or taking over car companies only look dumb if you still believe he has any intention of being a real president. Haven't you ever known anyone whose job it was to fire all his co-workers after a merger, and then finally lock up the empty store and walk out with his paycheck?

Hanson (a classicist and a farmer) begins an excellent story of his relationship with a very difficult neighbor over water rights with a note about the trillions and trillions of national debt Obama is ringing up and how there aren't enough "rich" to tax, so that will leave it to the rest of us to bail him out. He closes with

"Obama will come to his senses with his ‘Bush did it’, reset button, moral equivalency, soaring hope and change, with these apologies to Europeans, his Arab world Sermons on the Mount to Al Arabiya, in Turkey, in Cairo, etc., his touchy-feely videos to Iran, his “we are all victims of racism” sops to Ortega, Chavez, and Morales. It is only a matter of when, under what conditions, how high the price we must pay, and whether we lose the farm before he gains wisdom about the tragic universe in which we live." VDH June 5

No, he won't "come to his senses," and it isn't just a matter of time, because he hasn't lost them and there is no more time. He is doing exactly what he planned to do, just a little faster than we all expected.

Is WaPo reporter complicit in blaming U.S.?

So it was the fault of President Carter and all those nasty capitalists of the 1970s that these coddled, wealthy, ungrateful people were spies for Communist Cuba?

"What Walter Kendall Myers kept hidden, according to documents unsealed in court Friday, was a deep and long-standing anger toward his country, an anger that allegedly made him willing to spy for Cuba for three decades.

"I have become so bitter these past few months. Watching the evening news is a radicalizing experience," he wrote in his diary in 1978, referring to what he described as greedy U.S. oil companies, inadequate health care and "the utter complacency of the oppressed" in America. On a trip to Cuba, federal law enforcement officials said in legal filings, Myers found a new inspiration: the communist revolution.

Myers, 72, and his wife, Gwendolyn, 71, pleaded not guilty Friday to charges of conspiracy, being agents of a foreign government and wire fraud. Their arrest left friends and former colleagues slack-jawed, unable to square the man depicted in the indictment with the witty intellectual with a prep-school background they knew. Washington Post in a much too sympathetic story for my tastes by Mary Beth Sheridan

Don't you wonder about wealthy people, children of privilege and elitist educations (like our first couple) deciding that everyone should be poor like the Cubans? What kind of guilt does that?

The author of this piece apparently was really stunned 4 years ago when through her "embedded" experience with the military she discovered such shocking things about our soldiers--they were decent, patriotic, and non brainwashed. Imagine.

"First of all, she said she was "overwhelmed by the military," but she did learn by being embedded that members of our armed forces were not "blood-thirsty maniacs." Yes, she really did say that.

In fact, she said, they were "really decent people." And even "sweet." Of course, after being shot at they were eager to shoot back — a military attitude that seemed to surprise her.

She also reported that when she asked soldiers why were they in Iraq, every single one told her, "to help the Iraqi people." Again she was surprised that the military could create such a unity of purpose even though, she said, she didn't see any "brainwashing" going on. She also noted that many soldiers had no opinion about the war. They had gone where they were ordered to go, like all good soldiers. Such an attitude seemed to dazzle her as well.

She didn't have anything much to say about "reporters as citizens," but clearly she appeared to be one citizen who had very little familiarity with, or understanding of, or even quite possibly respect for the military before her tour of duty. In a way, it is kind of sad that only after some first-hand experience did she learn what most American citizens believe: that American soldiers are "decent people." And that it is those soldiers, not our journalists, after all, who protect our freedom of the press." Reporters as citizens

Filling in

Today I made broccoli soup for lunch. But I didn't quite have enough broccoli to satisfy my tastes, so I dug around in the veggy drawer and there was about a quarter of a head of limp cabbage, so I chopped it up and tossed it into the chicken broth with the onions and potatoes. Tasted fine--maybe even better than usual. We had home made blueberry pie with that. And that's another filling in story.

Yesterday I was taking one of my barefoot walks and noticed a group of people, adults and children, down by the creek on the east side of our property. And I use the term "our" loosely since we live in a gorgeous grove of trees surrounded by a sweet little creek owned by an association of 30 residental condominiums in five buildings. If this community were to be built today instead of 1977, the builder would have tried to cram 60 units or more in the same space. When I got to this group, I saw they were building a bridge across the creek. I asked what they were doing, and the man told me building a bridge for the children to cross the creek. "Maybe you should check with our association before you continue," I said. "This is our property and if your children get hurt playing here, we'd be held responsible." The little boy, maybe 10 years old, said, "Oh we cross here all the time; it would be safer to have the bridge." "Maybe you could play on your side of the creek," I observed (their home and property could buy and sell mine several times). "Why don't you talk to our condo president," I said to dad, and I gave him his name. I returned to our unit and called him; the family continued building the bridge (and I use that term loosely--it was two timbers stuck inside four cement blocks wedged into the ground with short planks between the timbers).

Later I looked out and two couples (one the president) were standing down there. Apparently, they'd come to an agreement with the family not to proceed until it could be brought to the association meeting this month. We had missed our Friday night date, so I invited the two couples to go to the Rusty Bucket with us and to stop by after the restaurant for blueberry pie which I'd just taken out of the oven after my walk.

When I made the pie I was using the first decently priced blueberries I'd seen this spring--2 pints for $4.00. But you do get what you pay for and they were a bit scrawny and I must have pulled off 20-30 stems and thrown out some squished berries. So when I sprinkled them with Splenda, flour and cinnamon, they looked a bit shy of a full pie. So I looked in the frig and found some strawberries about a week past prime, sliced them up and tossed them in with the blueberries, although not sure how that would turn out. Actually, if I hadn't announced to my four guests last night that there were strawberries in the blueberry pie, they would have never known, because they just turned purple and blended right in. So if you're ever a little short, think cabbage with the broccoli and strawberries with the blueberries.

About that little law suit attraction--the bridge. I really hope the bridge idea gets voted down. You hate to ruin a little guy's fun, but there's a good reason why by age 13, little girls outnumber little boys (boys start life with a numerical advantage of about 106 to our 100). Boys/men are risk takers. I raised a son, and had many trips to the ER. This moves them way out in front in law, politics, economics, science and inventions of all types and fills up our prisons, but it shortens their lives. When we get a big rain, that sleepy little creek becomes a raging torrent, up over the banks by about 6 feet. Not only would the water sweep children off that flimsy bridge who snuck out of the house to get a closer look, but it would act as a dam stopping everything that Turkey Run Creek would pick up as it moved through the golf course, and roared under Kenny Road onto our property, further flooding our lawn, and possibly the lower level of the units. Many serious floods in Ohio have been nothing more than sleepy creeks that got dammed up during storms by building debris floating down from construction sites, couches from someone's yard back in the hills, and a few tires from the farmers' fields.

Look who’s bringing change from the top down now

"In the 13 years between Obama's return to Chicago from law school and his Senate campaign, he was deeply involved with the city's constellation of community-organizing groups. He wrote about the subject. He attended organizing seminars. He served on the boards of foundations that support community organizing. He taught Alinsky's concepts and methods in workshops [a Chicago Marxist who advised his followers to go after the middle class because the poor have no power, Saul Alinksy died in 1972] . When he first ran for office in 1996, he pledged to bring the spirit of community organizing to his job in the state Senate. And, after he was elected to the U.S. Senate, his wife, Michelle, told a reporter, "Barack is not a politician first and foremost. He's a community activist exploring the viability of politics to make change." Recalling her remark in 2005, Obama wrote, "I take that observation as a compliment."

And he also said, "Change won't come from the top, . . . Change will come from a mobilized grass roots." From The Agitator

But look who’s at the top now, asking all of us to change for his vision of what’s right socially, economically and politically. He even tries to change history. Yes, this is definitely change from the top down.

The Obamas date night

I think it's wonderful that the President and First Lady take a night off for a date and go to fabulous places.

The couple did not take the large 747 to New York, but flew a much smaller C-20 (G3). The press pool flew in a separate plane, identified by the military as a G5, followed by a staff in a third plane (G3). White House staff said the smaller planes were more fuel efficient.

AF-1 landed at Kennedy Airport. Marine One flew them over the Brooklyn Bridge to Lower Manhattan.

The motorcade made its way over to West Street, banged a right on a cobblestone Clarkson, then on to Carmine. They ended up at 6th and Washington place.

The first couple dined at Bluehill Restaurant where reservations are reportedly hard to get. The restaurant features "locally grown fare" and has it's own farm in upstate new York.

The first couple arrived at the Belasco theater on West 44th Street, where they will see "Joe Turner's Come and Gone." ABC News Blog

However, now that he is a CEO and head of the union and major stockholder of two automobile companies telling us all what we can drive, how far, and how many miles per gallon, and whether executives can use their private jets to attend meetings, and what their pay scale should be, shouldn't he be setting a better example? Shouldn't the Obamas have to scale it back a bit; aren't they asking EVERYONE to sacrifice for the children and grandchildren? Are there no nice restaurants or good theater in D.C.? And how much does that truck garden produce cost by the time the "truck" brings the produce from upstate NY at current gasoline prices? Is the restaurant owner driving a hybrid with the radishes, onions and potatoes in the back seat in canvas bags? What would the Car Czar and the Pay Czar say about the Obamas' misuse of valuable resources?

We will have our Friday night date tonight (Saturday) at Rusty Bucket--and every week that we can, driving our wonderful Dodge van and Ford SUV while we are still allowed to own American full size cars.

ABC did hold seats for the View ladies on Amtrak

Scott Baker at Breitbart TV did some investigating to check on the "outrage" because Barbara Walters and Whoopee Goldberg called Glenn Beck a sack of Dog Poop on national television.

Glenn Beck, his wife and friends, took Amtrak to the Correspondents Dinner in Washington, D.C. When they boarded they found a conference table on the train and were told those seats are reserved. It turns out Walters and Goldberg of the View got on and took the table, and Glenn joked about it on his radio show--I heard him. And although I almost never watch the View, I must have had it on at the cottage the day he was their guest victim, and heard these women literally boil him in oil for lying. No Salem witch trial could have been more vicious. Well, (HT Maggie's Notebook) they were the ones lying, and you can follow the story of the lies and hilarity at Breitbart TV about the 7 minute View Ambush. Although, it's quite possible that the ladies of the View have been celebrities for so long that they don’t realize that not everyone gets the kind of treatment they received on Amtrak. And they took 7 minutes of their show to call Glenn a liar. But he didn’t lie--they did. Do you suppose they will ever apologize? Of course not. It really isn’t about Glenn Beck, but about the Media being able to lie about conservatives--who's to stop them?

Scott's original show which he refers to in the interview with Beck.

In 2003 we rode the Southwest Chief from Chicago to LA, stopping several days in Flagstaff to visit the Grand Canyon.

The firing of Jackie Norris

Obama's teleprompter suggested it was because Michelle was getting such low-level events (elementary school graduations), but in Iowa, well, this snark was suggested, "I guess it’s possible that Norris was the one who urged Michelle to wear those $800 ugly ass shoes to a homeless shelter, and encourage the First Couple to go out on date nights that cost the taxpayers $250k a pop, while everyone else is struggling to make ends meet." Iowa Republican Whatever the reason for the change, we sure know it wasn't the one given by Norris! I'm with Michelle on this one. Maybe they just didn't get along. I've heard some of the ridiculous things she's said about . . . well, just about everything. . . and quite possibly Jackie noticed too. Iowa helped put the Obamas in the White House, but like their religion, their memory and loyalty leaves much to be desired.

John Stewart calls Harry Truman a war criminal

Oh, these liberals. They are so screwed up. See this excellent film at Pajamas TV.

What will you do with your "stimulus" check?

According to the AARP web site:

"More than 52 million Social Security beneficiaries will today (May 7) begin receiving an extra $250 payment, as part of the effort to reinvigorate the American economy and boost consumer spending. The additional bonus check, which also will be sent to older veterans and railroad retirees, is part of the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act—the so-called stimulus package—passed by Congress and signed by President Obama on Feb. 17.

You won’t have to file any forms to get the money. Payments will show up through May as an extra check or an automatic bank deposit, depending on how you receive your benefits. Couples who are eligible will receive a total of $500.

A spokesman for Social Security says those who usually get their benefit checks during the first week of the month will be the first to receive their additional payment, which could be as early as today.

No one knows yet what recipients will really do with their $250, but that hasn’t stopped the Social Security Administration from asking. On April 9, the SSA posed the question on its website. So far, more than 4,000 people have responded. Their answers suggest that recipients are likely to go out and spend their windfall—exactly what the plan’s architects hoped for."

If you read my blog, you know I've been debating whether to even cash mine--I really can find no evidence in any of the government sites or government media that I am eligible. I don't receive SS, not on my own work account, and not on my husband's, because I receive a state teacher's pension. Back in the 1980s receiving both was declared double dipping--but only for teachers and state civil servants--private pensions weren't affected (but just you wait--I'm sure you too will be asked to save the system). So we called our accountant, and she didn't know either, but there was something new, that I hadn't seen. Apparently at one site, it is reported that people receiving FEDERAL pensions (but not SS) were eligible for the stimulus check. So we're extrapolating from that comment that STATE pensions also apply (civil service, teachers, etc.) Our accountant did say, however, that it is virtually impossible to give back a check from the government, even if they were wrong to send it.

OK, now what to do with it. I'd hoped to donate the entire amount to an organization that doesn't take government grants--so that wouldn't be most church run social services. So I was thinking our *local pregnancy distress center, PDHC--maybe a donation to honor the service of Pvt. William Long, whose death has been covered up by the hoopla over the murder of George Tiller, a man who killed thousands of babies through out his career. President Obama has not commented on Long's death by a Muslim terrorist, but expressed great concern over Tiller's death, which shows who his supporters are. But then last night's Channel 10 news reported that many Southern Ohio food pantries have closed, and they're sending our mobile Lutheran Food Pantry Truck once a week to help some of the smaller cities, like Ironton, which used to be a thriving town. The food banks, which depend on government surplus, warehouses, food processing plants and buy outs are stretched pretty far, and church members are taking up the slack. So I may divide my check by purchasing food for the food pantry to feed the children already here, and donating the remainder to save the children not born yet.

*Other cities in Ohio

This looks much harder than blogging

But maybe I should try it. My New Year's Resolution to get back to painting lasted about 3 weeks. Peter Yesis is painting a 30 day, self-portrait challenge. He's got a few more days to go and is reall bored. He even painted a portrait of his feet! Go to the left column of the blog for the thumbnails.

The Voca People

do a pretty good overview of the music I remember the last 50 years. "The Voca people are 8 friendly aliens from the planet Voca, a musical planet that has no verbal communication but use vocal expressions only. They have heard the music from earth for decades now and with their imitation abilities they have decided to pay a one evening tribute to humanity and to perform the songs they love as musical- gratitude." Actually, they are Israelis. Remember them, President Obama?



HT Lady Light who also sent me this one for Cotton Eyed Joe--which will really perk you up if you’re down!

EFCA; Free or Forced Choice?

What ever happened to the secret ballot? What else should we let unions destroy? How many more businesses do you want to have micromanaged by Washington? Let’s intimidate the worker and owner alike! What a concept!

Many conservatives believe “Employee 'Forced' Choice Act (EFCA) is legislation that would severely damage small businesses and eliminate worker freedoms leading to job loss and increased unemployment. EFCA would open workers up to intimidation and allow a government arbitrator to mandate contacts without the consent of employer or employee."

You’ll only get the union views from the Obamedia, so here's the other side.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce describes three provisions of the bill, each of which is unacceptable:

* Elimination of Secret Ballot: This legislation mandates that a union be recognized if a majority of employees in a designated bargaining unit sign authorization cards. This is the provision from which the nickname for the bill, "card check," comes. If this provision is enacted, the current system where a federally supervised election process with secret ballots determines whether employees will have a union in their workplace would be effectively eliminated.

* Writing contracts through government imposed arbitration: The second provision would result in contracts being written by federal arbitrators instead of the process of collective bargaining and negotiating.

* Unreasonable and one-sided penalty expansion: Finally, the Employee Free Choice Act imposes dramatic new penalties on employers for violations of the National Labor Relations Act, but not a single new penalty on unions or labor organizers. Read the full explanation of their objections here.

“This legislation — the misnamed Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) — would hurt both workers and businesspeople, and it is not the type of legislation we need if this nation’s economy is to make a timely recovery.

While it may be convenient to paint a picture of business owners and workers having contradictory interests, the current economic situation illustrates how shallow that thinking is. When businesses fail, workers lose their jobs. And when workers aren’t treated well, businesses do not thrive. The interests of workers and business owners are not in conflict — they coincide.

The centerpiece of EFCA is the weakening of workers’ ability to vote by secret ballot on whether or not a union should be formed, by allowing unions to replace these elections with a public card check system. When workers are forced to declare their allegiance to a union in the open, they are far more subject to intimidation and coercion.” Doug Wheeler

“Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, a state business association with nearly 4,000 members, reports that about 70 percent of state respondents to a survey conducted May 17 oppose ending the current secret ballot system. The study was sponsored by the Economic Freedom Alliance, a vocal opponent of the measure.

"The business community is united like never before in opposition to this legislation," said James Buchen, WMC vice president, in a statement. "Wisconsin businesses need to continue to fight this legislation because organized labor isn't going to stop." More than 300 Wisconsin businesses - including several in west-central Wisconsin - signed a letter to Congress in opposition to the legislation.” Leader-Telegram (WI), June 3, 2009

HT Maggie Thurber

Half a page on George Tiller

nothing on Pvt. William Long. WSJ, June 4, 2009. What media bias?

Well, at least one of the paragraphs described the gruesome details of late term abortions. There possibly are people who are unaware of the brutality of the procedures. Why Tiller's "preferred" method was considered good for the mother, I have no idea. I suspect it was just easier for him. His method wasn't to stab the baby in the skull and then dismember it after it was dead (Obama is the only elected politician who has said that's O.K. to my knowledge). *SCOTUS upheld the ban on late term abortion procedure known as "partial-birth abortion." Tiller preferred a lethal injection into the baby--sort like the death penalty they use for condemned murderers who've gone through years of appeals and which bring out the crowds for candle light vigils. After the injection which kills the baby the mother goes back to her motel room to wait to go into labor, and in a few days returns to the clinic for the still birth. If this was an agonizing decision, as the proponents claim, even though Down Syndrome or a heart condition or a tumor aren't fatal diseases for either mother or child, it has to be a terribly uncomfortable wait, knowing you will give birth to a dead baby, especially if initially the pregnancy was a source of joy. Do you go sit by the pool? Read a novel? Watch reality TV? And since Tiller performed abortions at a clinic and not a hospital, I don't know what he did if there were complications like hemorrhaging.

*Here's what happened:

"The Supreme Court handed a victory to the Bush administration and abortion opponents on Wednesday with its decision to uphold a 2003 federal law that bans partial birth abortions.

The decision enforces the law that prohibits the procedure of partially extracting a fetus 20 weeks or older intact from a woman's uterus and then crushing or cutting its skull before it is fully delivered.

"This is the most significant upholding of any restriction on abortion ever by the Supreme Court," said Stephen Wermiel, who teaches constitutional law at American University." FoxNews, April 18, 2007

If this was a "victory" for Bush, it's right up there with him freeing millions of women from the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Bare foot walking, pt. 3

When I was a student at the University of Illinois I used to pass two disabled students at lunch time--I think it was in Lincoln Hall (now closed for renovation). I believe one may have been blind and in a wheelchair and the other had no arms. The U. of I. was a forerunner in services for the disabled, beginning I believe with disabled veterans after WWII. The armless man would push/guide the wheelchair with his pelvis, and ate his lunch using his feet as his hands. He was quite limber, as was I at age 19, and his toes functioned as fingers. Blind students attending college didn't surprise me because my grandmother was blind and I'd seen her do many remarkable things that sighted people didn't or couldn't, including distinguishing her many grandchildren by voice (she often mistook me for my sister, but so did sighted people). But I'd never seen someone hold a sandwich with his toes. (Don't know who prepared his sack lunch.) At that time I could pick up objects with my toes, I know, because I tried it after seeing him. But walking barefoot the last few days I discovered that the joints in my toes no longer are flexible--at all. I have no idea when this ended, because I so rarely go barefoot, I haven't tried to move anything with my toes in probably 40 years.

I suspect that a healthy, limber foot should be able to pick up objects. Aren't joints supposed to move? What do you think?

Today I wore hose on my barefoot walk. The temperature has dropped about 30 degrees and we've had a lot of rain, so I thought I'd just check this out rather than not do it at all. It works fine (assuming you aren't planning to use those hose for anything else) and washing your feet afterwards is much easier because anything that sticks, is probably on the hose. Not sure why, but I found the wet grass less slippery. I thought it would be the other way.

When walking barefoot in the grass you certainly see and hear and feel more of nature, even listening to Luther's Catechism on CD. A multi-sensory experience, this barefoot walking.

Give us this day our daily bread And let us all be clothed and fed. Save us from hardship, war, and strife; In plague and famine, spare our life, That we in honest peace may live, To care and greed no entrance give.

Luther wrote his small catechism in 1529, but this hymn of the Lord's Prayer in catechetical form was 1539. The tune on the CD is not the one Luther wrote.

The Obama Car

"Incredibly “green,” this car runs on hot air and broken promises. It has three wheels that speed the vehicle through tight left turns. It comes complete with two Teleprompters programmed to help the occupants talk their way out of any violations. Built by union labor with full benefits, its base price is only $83,000, but low government financing is available for any payment requested. Subsidized insurance available." From Polipundit, HT Taxmanblog.

Not to worry--it's just Karl Marx!

Well, that's comforting.

. . . the bankruptcy filings of General Motors and Chrysler, and the transfer of stock ownership from the firms' long-suffering shareholders to the government and unions, communists of the world can rejoice. The workers are now, finally, significant owners of the means of production. The United Auto Workers control about 65 percent of Chrysler and 17.5 percent of General Motors."

So Daniel Gross of Slate says it's no big deal. No Mr. Gross, it's not what you think--that maybe unionists will start thinking like owners. We've zipped right over socialism and communism in four months and landed on National Socialism, i.e., Nazi, for short. That's not when the government owns the means of production, but when it through a charismatic leader controls the owners of production and has them--the press, the church, the military, academe and the unions--in a choke hold and scared to death to speak up. The power grab in the past four months has been stunning; we haven't seen anything like it since the 1930s.

I've heard and read some very naive conservatives discussing the elections of 2010--that Obama will then have to face the growing opposition from those liberals with buyer's remorse who've realized "hope and change" was just a catchy slogan and the conservatives who've finally gotten a grip. Sorry. I don't believe it. By 2010 he'll own the state governments, beginning with California, through bail-outs. By then, all opposition communication channels from radio to TV to newspapers to the pulpit to the internet to satellite will be gone, silenced by "regulation," hate speech laws, and fines for carbon footprints.

How to kill a red state

There are lots of ways a Democratic president can punish a traditionally conservative state.

1) Destroy the coal industry

2) Destroy the auto industry

3) Use their own tax money to relocate an industry that's been here for 125 years.

"Prompting protests from Ohio officials, a Georgia city has asked the federal government for money from the $787 billion stimulus package to help finance the transfer of NCR Corp. from Dayton to Georgia.

Although Columbus, Ga., Mayor Jim Wetherington said he does not know if the federal government will approve his request, he wants stimulus money to help refurbish a 340,000 square foot facility and construct a 100,000 square foot building for NCR to make ATMs." Columbus Dispatch.

So much for keeping "American jobs" at home. Just move them around with their own tax money.

Orange Health Alert by Norma

Last week I checked out a book from the local library called "Food Cures," published by Reader's Digest. The cover says, "fight disease with your fork." You wouldn't be allowed to say that on an actual food product by law, but you can say anything in a book title, even if it's false. In fact, if you open that book, there's not a single study cited.

But there are five things you can do that may help you live a longer life--and I've mentioned them many times.

1) You can't beat good genes. That's still the number one factor in good health and a long life, and you didn't have a thing to do with it. If you're still alive tomorrow, give thanks for your biological parents and grandparents who gave you a good start. My mother died in her 88th year, her brother at 99, her father at 94, and her sister is still going at 92. Dad died at 89, his father at 92, and his grandfather was 88 in 1950 when he died, and one of his daughters is still going at 92.

2) Don't smoke.

3) Drink alcohol only in moderation, and if you think a 6 pack after work is moderation, you need to relearn the meaning of the word. You're using Obamath.

4) Reduce your calories.

5) Get some regular exercise.

There are several to compete for the next five, and I'll just mention some I've noticed recently among my friends who are over sixty.

Bicycling doesn't seem real smart to me, even with a helmet. Motorcycles almost look safer.

Stay off ladders whether cutting tree limbs, cleaning gutters or painting the house. My husband who got 1-5 right, is really bad about this one.

Only the marriage bed is undefiled, as the Bible says. Think of the diseases and heartache you can avoid.

If your doctor can't be bothered to return your calls (or your wife's calls), you need to get a different doctor.

Colon cancer can be prevented through testing--and I think it's the only cancer that can--it's called a colonoscopy, and if polyps are found, they can be removed before they turn into cancer. Don't bother with the FOBT--by the time it finds anything it's probably too late--that's why they're cheap.

If you use sun screen because you're in the sun a lot, don't forget to increase your vitamin D, which your bones need to fight osteoporosis; broken bones kill a lot of us old folks, especially fair skinned women like me.

Remember to get your flu shots--ordinary flu kills a lot more people than swine flu.

Unless you or your spouse have allergies, get a pet. They'll add laughter and comfort to your life, and you may even need to take them out for a walk.

Terminally stupid

A judge has tossed a California woman’s would-be class action lawsuit finding that a reasonable consumer would not expect the brightly colored balls in Cap'n Crunch to be actual berries. Per Kevin Underhill, Lowering the Bar: “Plaintiff did not explain why she could not reasonably have figured this out at any point during the four years she alleged she bought Cap’n Crunch with Crunchberries in reliance on defendant’s fraud.” And could the Plaintiff's name really be Sugawara? Sounds a lot like a child trying to say, "sugar water." Listen (read) carefully. Fruit Loops do not contain fruit; Crunchberries are not real berries.

HT Underlawyered, always a great read in blogdom.

Obamath

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported on the 31st that “President Obama has a sweeping goal for his speech Thursday in Cairo, Egypt: to begin remaking the dynamic between the United States and Muslims abroad.” By lying?

Although the number of Muslims in the US has grown a lot in recent years, it certainly is no where near “one of the largest Muslim countries in the world” as our President offered as more disinformation (propaganda) to Egyptian leaders this week.

According to Debbie Schlussel The Pew Center(a liberal think tank)--“found that only 0.6% of Americans are, in fact, Muslims, or 1.8 million out of 300,000,000 residents of America. That includes Muslim illegal aliens, too (of which there are far more than the conventional wisdom admits).”

According to Pew, 78.4% of the US are Christian, 1.7 Jews, .7 Buddist, .6 Muslim, .4 Hindu, 16.1 nothing, and the rest, various religions.

Truly, you can’t trust anything this man says, not about his own religion, his father's religion, his grandmother's religion, Rev. Wright's religion, and certainly not about the country’s.

And lookee what surfaced AFTER the campaign. My apologies to all the conservatives I said were wrong about Obama's faith. HT Deb.

Joyce Kilmer and Lucy Stone

When I was growing up, I thought Joyce Kilmer, the author of the poem Trees, was a woman.

I think that I shall never see
A poem as lovely as a tree. . . etc.

After all, Joyce is my name too. However, he was an American who died in WWI at the age of 31, and whose daughter died in 1917 of the after affects of polio, but which had been instrumental in his conversion to Catholicism.

Well, every morning for months I stopped on my way to the office and prayed in this Church [of the Holy Innocents] for faith. When faith did come, it came, I think, by way of my little paralyzed daughter. Her lifeless hands led me; I think her tiny feet know beautiful paths. You understand this and it gives me a selfish pleasure to write it down."

Lucy Stone was a 19th century suffragist who kept her maiden name after marriage. She was involved in the big three of that century--temperance, slavery, and woman’s suffrage--all stemming from her religious beliefs. She received her degree from Oberlin here in Ohio. After a very full life of activism, Lucy Stone died on October 18, 1893 at the age of 75.

Now the reason I’m putting these two very different, talented people together is that The National Marriage Project of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, in Piscatawy, NJ, is located at 54 Joyce Kilmer Avenue in Lucy Stone Hall B217.

The National Marriage Project has released a study that shows what poor preparation for marriage living together is. According to the study, “since 1970 the number of Americans living together outside of marriage has increased more than 1,000 percent, with such couples now making up about ten percent of all couples.” What has resulted are weaker marriages, worse marital relationships, and children often put in danger through the impoverishment of the mother, or the abuse from her boyfriends. Try giving this to your graduating daughter. Should they live together? Here’s what the research finds:

l. Living together before marriage increases the risk of breaking up after marriage.

2. Living together outside of marriage increases the risk of domestic violence for women, and the risk of physical and sexual abuse for children.

3. Unmarried couples have lower levels of happiness and wellbeing than married couples.

The main stream bias and the Tiller murder

Today's WSJ has a tiny, 4 paragraph AP boilerplate article about the Moslem convert who Monday gunned down Army recruiters in Arkansas, killing one. Then it has a 24 paragraph article about Scott Roeder who killed abortionist George Tiller.

In 2008, according to the story, Dr. Tiller aborted 192 future American citizens, killing them during late term abortions under a Kansas law that allows for this to save the mother's mental or physical health. This murder has shocked many in the pro-life movement, some of which have devoted their lives to saving the lives of others. I've heard of no prayer vigils or remorse among the leftists who picketed V.A. hospitals or the Bush appearances, or even Laura's speaking engagements in front of ALA (librarians). Nor has there been a peep (that I can find reported) from President Obama about the death of Pvt. William Long by a home grown terrorist. Is this his way to placate Muslims? Or to encourage them?

And just as the leftist media tried to blame you and me for the deaths of President Kennedy and his brother Robert, Martin Luther King, and the school shooters, now as a conservative Christian who believes in the sanctity of life, even that of butchers like Tiller, I'm lumped together with a fanatic like Scott Roeder who acted out of his own animus and hatred for Tiller. Like the guy who killed Pvt. Long, he was being "watched."

I didn't kill Nicole Brown Simpson just because I believe in marriage, and she was married to a jealous, has-been athlete. I didn't kill Vince Foster, that Clinton aide who committed suicide in a park with an ancient gun, after he got unflattering press. I didn't send Susan Boyle to a mental health clinic just because I thought she was fabulous and she couldn't handle the adoration and the press.

George Tiller was a murderer of thousands of innocents; Scott Roeder, if he did this, is also a murderer of one.

Ad ditional nonsense

Why KIA thinks this is a good ad, I have no idea. But everytime I see it, I think of the Obamacar, our government motors car we've been condemned to buy through a combination of his driving us off a cliff through micromanaging, cap and trade and sell-outs to the unions. So, what does this say-- you can get two rodents on the exercise wheel instead of one? Is that the message? We're rats in a trap? Smaller families through selective abortions? We are going 'round and 'round? Who knows.

Rectal herpes

I write a lot of medical stuff, although not as much as I used to as I get further and further away from my former job (veterinary medicine library). Today someone visited my site looking for “rectal herpes,” so I checked to see what I’d written, and found a 2006 article about what must be one of the dumbest characters in the anals annals of medicine. Not only did he smoke a pack of cigarettes a day, but was also a user of marijuana and meth AND he was a promiscuous 31 year old gay man.

“He has AIDS, rectal discharge, pain when defecating and blood in his stool, pelvic pain, nausea, and weakness. It's the pain, not the AIDS that has sent him to the doctor this time. He has regular anal intercourse without condoms with his "usual partner" who also is HIV positive, and he has other partners.” NEJM, Jan. 19, 2006 .

He was diagnosed with AIDS as a teen-ager (12 years before) and over the course of his disease has received at various times zidovudine, lamivudine, nelfinavir, ritonavir-lopinavir, cephalexin, clarithromycin ethambutol, didanosine, stavudine, and efavirenz. In addition to AIDS he developed Kaposi's sarcoma, oral thrush, rectal herpes simplex and anal condylomas because even with all this medical treatment (or because of it) he never gave up his promiscuity. Then he was treated with acyclovir, fluconazole, and dapsone; for the current problem, he got ceftriaxone and azithromycin. Now he had lymphogranuloma venereum proctitis. A series of lab tests showed he didn’t have gonorrhea, herpes simplex, chlamydia and syphilis--all common among gay men--maybe those bacteria couldn‘t survive the chemical soup floating through his body.

I’m sure that under Obamacare, these careless, do-nothings (except for bath houses, male prostitutes and voting) will have full access to the government run pharmacies, and the elderly and poor will have fully managed and minimum care of aspirin and 7-Up.

Let them drive golf carts

One Oar in the Water, an Ohio blogger, has a good piece on golf carts. I'd been thinking the same thing. Two weeks ago when we were at Lake Erie I stopped at a produce stand. Across the street was a thinly populated Chrysler dealership. The building and out lots looked almost new. It’s not hard to imagine what the taxes from the business, real estate, and employees mean to that area. Every business up and down that high way, all through the county and on into Port Clinton are affected. This is what President Obama doesn’t seem to understand by micro managing this business--how many models, how much for advertising, imports, who can be a dealer and who can’t. Or does he? I believe he has no intention of “saving the economy,” and what he’s doing to the auto industry, and next the health care industry, all the cap and trade nonsense, is just fast tracking us into the waiting arms of the Chinese.

Has the President expressed his sorrow and advice yet?

"The suspect arrested in the fatal shooting of one soldier and the critical injury of another at a Little Rock, Ark., Army recruiting booth today was under investigation by the FBI's Joint Terrorist Task Force since his return from Yemen, ABC News has learned. The investigation was in its preliminary stages, authorities said, and was based on the suspect's travel to Yemen and his arrest there for using a Somali passport. The suspect, Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, 24, had changed his name from Carlos Leon Bledsoe after converting to the Muslim faith.

Law enforcement sources said he offered no resistance when Little Rock police arrested him today. It was not known what path Muhammad, a U.S. citizen who is a recent convert to Islam, had followed to radicalization."

Just wondering. After all, President Obama is the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. This was his man who was gunned down. He ran for this job, and it included being a war time commander. Does he have nothing to say? Here are his comments at the death of Dr. Tiller, the civilian, the abortion doctor, just in case you've forgotten, comments made before there was any investigation as to movtive: "However profound our differences as Americans over difficult issues such as abortion, they cannot be resolved by heinous acts of violence."

". . . today's Democrats really are isolated from the military. Harry Truman had been an artillery captain; John Kennedy and Carter, Navy officers. But Bill Clinton did everything possible to avoid the draft, and Obama, motivated as he was to public service, never gave a thought to volunteering for the military.

Nonetheless, circumstances made Obama commander in chief of a nation fighting two wars." David Broder

Bare foot walking, pt. 2

My feet and legs felt good this morning, so I took two more walks bare foot, one in the morning and in the afternoon, then decided to look it up. Google found some interesting stuff, keeping in mind Google can find something good to say about every imaginable health cure from eating bugs to amputating limbs.

But according to my limited research, I was correct in sensing that my body aligns itself very differently in bare feet than in shoes. This very interesting article in New York Magazine contained some references, interesting snippets, and some great photoshopped pictures of feet.

The sole of your foot has over 200,000 nerve endings in it, one of the highest concentrations anywhere in the body. Our feet are designed to act as earthward antennae, helping us balance and transmitting information to us about the ground we’re walking on.

For all I know, other areas of the skin are also well endowed with nerve endings, but after a few strolls in the back yard my arches, ankles and toes were starting to feel more alive. I wouldn't call it a tickle, but they definitely had been in prison far too long.

Try this test: Take off your shoe, and put it on a tabletop. Chances are the toe tip on your shoes will bend slightly upward, so that it doesn’t touch the table’s surface. This is known as “toe spring,” and it’s a design feature built into nearly every shoe. Of course, your bare toes don’t curl upward; in fact, they’re built to grip the earth and help you balance. The purpose of toe spring, then, is to create a subtle rocker effect that allows your foot to roll into the next step. This is necessary because the shoe, by its nature, won’t allow your foot to work in the way it wants to. Normally your foot would roll very flexibly through each step, from the heel through the outside of your foot, then through the arch, before your toes give you a powerful propulsive push forward into the next step. But shoes aren’t designed to be very flexible. Sure, you can take a typical shoe in your hands and bend it in the middle, but that bend doesn’t fall where your foot wants to bend; in fact, if you bent your foot in that same place, your foot would snap in half. So to compensate for this lack of flexibility, shoes are built with toe springs to help rock you forward. You only need this help, of course, because you’re wearing shoes.

Other articles made reference to the coolness of walking bare foot, which was true if I was in the shade, but some areas of the lawn are already dry and crusty from the current heat; other articles get close to spiritual--in touch with the earth, being grounded, etc.

Another mentioned it as a natural form of reflexology, with the manipulation of joints and tendons in the foot and toes.

"[Reflexology is] A type of massage applied to the feet to compensate for the lack of barefoot-walking on uneven ground. Small rocks and roots would randomly work with your body weight, stimulating the release of static charged channels of trapped energy linked to other areas in your body. Also stagnant blood and lymph flow is discharged as the renewal of oxygen fresh blood is supplied, stimulating tissues at a cellular level. Similar to acupressure principles, reflexology works with the body’s energy flow to stimulate self-healing and maintain balance in physical function. This technique reduces pain, increases circulation and thus relaxation." Some kind of sanctuary

I don't know about energy flow, but nothing is more boring (or hot in June) than walking or running along an asphalt road, and nothing more punishing to the knees and feet than walking long distances on concrete. At least walking in the grass is low impact and fun. I had none of the usual shin splints. The real test for me will be when I put a pair of sandals on--stay tuned.

She tried to walk home from church bare foot.

Bush was a big spender

especially on social programs. He increased government spending more than any of the six presidents preceding him, including LBJ. You’re thinking, well, it was 2 wars, but it wasn’t that. Some of the increase was from mandatory spending--would happen regardless, but much was discretionary. He added thousands of new programs during his eight years in office. In 2008, there were 1,816 subsidy programs in the federal budget that spread hundreds of billions of dollars annually to special interest groups. The number of subsidy programs grew by 30 percent since 2000 and by 54 percent since 1990 according to Mercatus Center at George Mason.

Then President Obama, in just four months, has made President Bush look like a stingy piker, carefully monitoring the government purse strings. According to Obama’s own ten-year deficit projections, this so-called "New Era of Responsibility" will have deficits every single year that will be bigger than the deficits of the Bush years. Mercatus analyzes Obama’s budget and concludes: “Based on his budget, the only promises the President can credibly make are high marginal rates, higher tax burdens for all, dramatic spending increases, and unprecedented and sustained levels of debt for the American people, their children, and grandchildren. Unfortunately, we know the consequences of such policies: slower growth rates, higher unemployment rates, lower standards of living, and higher levels of poverty.”

Not to mention all the segments of the economy that have been taken over in Obama's War on the Economy (O WOE) to create a socialist country.

I don't believe in the death penalty

but if I did, this man, Daniel Wilson, would be first on the list to go. Locking a woman in the trunk of her car and setting the gas tank on fire, or beating up an elderly neighbor and leaving him to die, Yup. And you know what? Because he's a white male who killed a white woman and another white male, they aren't even "hate" crimes.

Deploring violence is a one-way street

"Shortly after the murder of George Tiller, pro-life groups put out statements denouncing the crime. These statements came from all over the pro-life camp. Some were more forthright than others, it is true, but most were admirable in their categorical rejection of vigilante killings.

This morning, a U.S. Army recruiting station was attacked. One recruiter was killed, another hurt. Any statements from the antiwar Left deploring that violence? I've seen none from Code Pink, which has called U.S. servicemen "war criminals" and worse in service of a "fascist dictatorship," and whose rhetoric has, in general, been comparable to that of the less temperate branches of the pro-life movement. If you want to check International ANSWER'S press statements, you'll find nothing deploring this violence." Media Blog

To Mary Mapes and the establishment left, where are you with your outrage and condemnation today? Will the President make a statement about the murdered Army recruiter like he properly did yesterday about the abortion Dr? Will he condemn the vigilantes in Berkeley? Founding Bloggers

Governor Palin has also put out a message deploring the killing of Dr. Tiller. And she has a child most pro-abortion people wanted to die because he is has Down Syndrome (93% are killed before birth). We wait to hear a Democratic governor or the President speak out about a U.S. serviceman being killed.

It’s ironic and angering that only three weeks ago, Democrats in Congress shot down a bill to include military veterans on a bill giving them “hate crime” status and protection, but did grant it to convicted pedophiles. The Democrats felt including members of our military would be insulting to gays and minorities (but adding pedophiles would not be insulting).Vicki

The class of 57 had its dream

And that probably didn't include growing old, but we did. Our former high school, new when we graduated, is located between the town cemetery and the retirement home--so we should have had a clue. Some of us have already passed the 70 mark, some will soon, but most of the class of 1957 were born in or around 1939. The country was in the midst of the Great Depression that had been dragging on for 10 years. That was the year Hitler marched into Poland, and we were toddlers when Japan dropped bombs on Pearl Harbor. It was hard times and some of our parents might not have been thrilled by our showing up! If you look through the yearbooks of my home town at the class of 1953, it was about half the size of ours. People were cautious about the future in the 1930s. Here's a column from the Cleveland Plain Dealer that former classmate Mike and wife Judy sent me. Regina Brett’s "50 life lessons," written when she turned 50 in 2006. Can you think of 20 more to make it 70?

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Life is too short for long pity parties. Get busy living, or get busy dying.
17. You can get through anything if you stay put in today.
18. A writer writes. If you want to be a writer, write.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: "In five years, will this matter?"
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
35. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
36. Growing old beats the alternative - dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood. Make it memorable.
38. Read the Psalms. They cover every human emotion.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
41. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
42. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
43. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
44. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
45. The best is yet to come.
46. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
47. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
48. If you don't ask, you don't get.
49. Yield.
50. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.


51. Here's one from the 1880s: "The husband must not see and the wife must be blind." The Gospel Messenger, December 18, 1888.
52. Less stuff means less stress
53. Naps and chocolate (dark).
54. Like apples of gold in settings of silver is a word spoken in right circumstances.
55. "It is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all." Laura Ingalls Wilder
56. When it comes to politics, keep an open mind. It will pay off in the end. Murray
57. Having more than one political party can be good but it can also be very ugly. Murray
58. "Life by the yard is hard; by the inch is a cinch." Or something like that I saw on my sister-in-law's refrigerator.
59. "I know folks all have a tizzy about it, but I like a little bourbon of an evening. It helps me sleep. I don't much care what they say about it." Lillian Carter

How could it be worse?

I just noticed at a right wing on-line site that pro-lifers fear a backlash from the President because of the murder of an abortion doctor. Murder is always wrong; whether it be the innocent unborn or the guilty perps. However, how is it going to get worse? This is already the most anti-life president in the history of the country--he's way far left of Congressional Democrats on the born alive issue. He has co-opted the most Catholic of the Catholic institutions, named for Jesus' mother, for goodness sake, to promote his pathological, twisted view born of some hatred for babies of teen mothers in difficult circumstances. He doesn't wring his hands over the murder rate of black men; or the pedophiles on the internet; or the people in the auto industry having their lives destroyed by his take-over; or the millions of African children dying due to misguided western environmentalists; or even the state of poverty of some of his own first degree relatives. This man needs to get a grip.

Monday Memories of going barefoot

I looked through my albums, but I was a poor deprived child--my mother's camera broke after the first two children, and I can't find a photo of me in bare feet. Although I'm pretty sure that like most children growing up in the 1940s, I rarely wore shoes in the summer except to go to church. Several years ago my son had a summer job mowing lawns. I was a bit concerned because he was suffering from a bad back--stenosis of the spine, I think. Anyway, after a summer of walking behind a lawnmower, he was fine. I'm not sure he was barefoot, however, he might have been.

To stay on track here, the toes on my right foot began to hurt last summer while I was wearing a pair of sandals and giving a presentation in front of the Green Gables (Lakeside) on 19th century architecture. I sort of limped home and put the sandals away. Most of the time, the foot didn't hurt as long as I didn't wear them.

Last week-end I put on a different pair and the same pain started--I think it is a nerve between the 3rd and 4th toes, but I suppose it could be on the ball of the foot. So I googled it--found a picture and pointed. I read through the stuff, book marked it, but have already forgotten what that nerve area is called. (Cousin Bill, help me out here.) But I did remember my son. So today I went outside with my CD of Luther's Small Catechism, took off my shoes and socks, and walked for about 30 minutes in the back yard. It's a very different sensation. For starters, you have to lift your foot a little higher because dragging your toes through grass is not a fun feeling. Then you have to watch for sticks and rocks. And dog poop. I wouldn't say my foot feels better, and my back hurts a little from the awkward gait, but it wasn't too bad for a childhood memory.

Reassuring China

According to today's WSJ, Timothy Geithner "is expected to try to reassure China--the largest holder of U.S. Treasurys--about its U.S. debt investments as well as the strength of the dollar." Now, the Obama team can't be blamed for China owning us--that goes back a bit. But the Chinese aren't stupid. They thought they were investing in capitalism! What a surprise! One more company, GM, taken over today and given to the unions, and the President announces it is only going to get worse. Old Timmy's going to have to really peddle fast to get out of this mess. Plus, doesn't this sound a tad tentative?

expected
to try
to reassure