Should Governor Sanford resign?

Yes. This is a no brainer. He was willing to throw his career and trust away for a sex fling, so why not throw it away for a principle? If he's willing to cheat on his wife, throw his four sons overboard, lie to his staff, and make fools of his closest friends and advisors, why in the world should the people of South Carolina, who are complete strangers and know him only from TV and personal appearances trust him? This is not a matter of forgiveness. Yes, they should forgive him, but they deserve better. The man has a proven record of deception and also misusing his office and the tax payers' money. Show him the door!

To say nothing about his naivete of putting his smarmy love life in e-mail. So add stupidity and technologically challenged to the list.

Jackson coverage way overdone

It makes you wonder what's going on in Congress and the White House that isn't getting coverage since the press is doing nothing but the Jackson death. The President is throwing the kitchen sink at us, just as in the plan book to bring the country to its knees, so when we don't hear of any major take-over--major industry, energy, media, health, military, etc.--for 24 hours, I start to wonder. I made the mistake of googling "media overdoes Jackson death," and it tried to change it to "overdose." Even the overload of Twitter became a story. No! I mean hasn't anything else happened on the globe? For once I found myself agreeing with Gibbs:

"White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters that Obama sent his condolences to the Jackson family and fans. When asked why a formal statement would not be released, Gibbs said, "Because I just said it." "

And how many days before Obama sent condolences to the family of the recruiter, William Long, one of his soldiers, murdered by Muslim terrorist? Three. Will he need to note every entertainer who dies? What about Farrah?

Also, let's not forget how the media reported on Jackson in the past for all the cosmetic surgery, child abuse charges, etc. when he was no longer a cute, youthful performer. Since they blamed the rest of us for the deaths of everyone from George Tiller to John F. Kennedy, will they now take the blame?

When they come up for air, they report on Gov. Sanford.

Remembering the taste of an egg

It goes way back. We had chickens when we lived on Hannah Ave. in Mt. Morris. Mom use to say, without a smile, the eggs cost about $1 a piece, which in the early 50s was a chunk of change. She bought special feed, and shell hardener, and equipment to keep them safe from predators. They would drop their feathers, look peaked with half closed eyes, and fall over and die. It never paid off the way the garden did. Nor do I remember what a fresh egg tastes like. Until today. I learned.


I stopped at the Farmers Market today and picked from a basket a dozen eggs retrieved from the nest yesterday. The lady sitting next to me in the Greek Civilization class said she had lived in the Dominican Republic for 22 months, and there fresh eggs would last about 30 days, longer than refrigerated eggs.

I fixed my husband and me fried egg sandwiches for lunch (his had ham salad too, which affected the taste) and then took my treasure to the basement just in case they need to be cool. However, these will never last 30 days, because this was just about the most heavenly sandwich I'd ever tasted. No wonder Mom was willing to put up with that mess in the back yard and why my Dad kept fixing himself a fried egg sandwich the last years of his life. Looking for the good old days, I think.

It's not poverty, it's income gap

That's about all we hear today. What about the gap between Michelle's salary and that of most working women? Not bad for a part time job that doesn't need to be filled when you move on. I don't have the source for this, it was passed along by Bill L. in an e-mail.

Replacing Michelle in Chicago (UNCLASSIFIED)

At the top right hand corner of Page 17 of the New York Post of January 24th, 2009, was a short column entitled "Replacing Michelle" in the National Review "The Week" column. Here it is, word for word, as it appeared: Some employees are simply irreplaceable. Take Michelle Obama: The University of Chicago Medical center hired her in 2002 to run "programs for community relations, neighborhood outreach, volunteer recruitment, staff diversity and minority contracting".

In 2005, the hospital raised her salary from $120,000 to $317, 000 nearly twice what her husband made as a Senator.

Oh, did we mention that her husband had just become a US Senator? He sure had. And that he immediately requested a $1 million earmark for the UC Medical Center, in fact?... You betcha by golly... He surely did... Way to network Michelle!

But now that Mrs. Obama has resigned, the hospital says her position will remain unfilled. How can that possibly be??? Especially if the work she did was vital enough to be worth $317,000?

Oh, by the way, let me add that Michelle's position was a part time, 20 hour week job at $317,000.00 per year !! And to think they were critical of Blagojevich's wife for taking $100,000 in fuzzy real estate commission.

Question is.. How did this bit of quid pro quo corruption escape the sharp reporters that dug through Sarah Palin's garbage and kindergarten files?

And to think how she whined in her way through those Ohio campaign appearances before unionist and pink collar workers--oh! the pain of paying off college loans and paying for private school and piano lessons for the girls. Fer sure, fer shame.

And the liberal Annenberg Fact Check really takes this one apart--the salary was lower, she worked part time only after 2007, etc. etc. Her husband's position wasn't a factor, yada yada yad. Oh yeah. I'm guessing nepotism is alive and well even at Annenberg--it certainly was at OSU where I worked.

Perspective class at the Rhein Center

These are the projects my husband's class has been working on this week. The first week population is low, but he says teaching a smaller class is easier. These are his demos (does them in class) of one point, two point, and using shadow and shade for perspective. The painting over the mantel is not his; it was done by Ned Moore of us on the beach in 1974.

This class will be offered again during the 3rd week of the season.

For Democrats, hypocrisy is the biggest sin of all

The mess the S.C. governor has made of his family life, marriage, and career is for the liberal media a mud puddle to play in. Why? It's not that their team doesn't commit adultery, fornication, steal from the office kitty, have dangerous sex with leather and various objects in a variety of body openings or bring gay lovers into prominent government positions. No. When Democrats are caught, it's "Oh well," boys will be boys. Or almost-a-boy will be a boy. If Chastity becomes Charles, she's just finding her true self. Never you mind that you watched her grow up in frilly dresses on TV in the 1970s. What I found very interesting listening to Harry Smith yesterday was to hear him call Sanford "a rising star," as though he would have had laudatory comments like that before the star crashed and burned. Today's ABC website shows mostly photos of Republicans, flanking one Democrat, the former presidential candidate, John Edwards. Now that, dear readers, is the picture of hypocrisy.

Skipping the wind energy program at Lakeside

Today's afternoon seminar was "Building advanced energy economy with off-shore wind power; Great Lakes wind energy" by the exec dir. of the Great Lakes Energy Development Task Force. Lakeside is a Chautauqua community with wonderful educational programs, but they do list to the left like a water logged boat. About 1 p.m. my husband went down to sail, came back in 10 minutes. No wind. I went down to the lakefront about 2 p.m., sought out every piece of shade I could, but the lake was like glass. So I came back to the air conditioned cottage, powered by coal.

This is the picture of wind energy--now you see it now you don't; you can't store it; you can't depend on it. God created the forces, such as temperature change that create wind, but he also created all the stored energy in coal from rotting vegetation. God had the original recycling program, but the pantheist greenies don't want it. What God hasn't provided is more tax money to throw money at these projects labeled "task force" or "feasibility study" or "potential proposal" or Obamanomics. The American people have heavily invested through government perks and tax breaks in the system we already have; now many of the same energy investors want even more gov't money to start from scratch. These guys didn't get rich by not spotting a good deal. However, down the road, President Obama may have a surprise for them--his intentions are to destroy, not to build.

Wind generates about 1% of our energy needs. Coal does the heavy lifting. Coal is at the heart of Ohio's economy (like farming), a state where the governor is closing libraries and parks while crying in his beer. As American politicians, regulators and CEOs dabble and tinkle on the energy problem, repeating every lie they can think of several hundred times a day about economy of scale, China and India will continue to use coal. Whatever the pollution they create, I'm sure the friendly wind will bring it our way.

What do you want to bet that Michelle and Barry, Barney and Nancy, Ted and Harry won't want this view from their back yard or yacht? Just like they won't want the health care coverage they expect you to take?

Don't follow me home

I told the friendly guy at the grocery check-out yesterday. I was kidding, of course, but he was certainly interested, not in me, but in the rhubarb pie I had discussed with the owner when I came in to buy oil and flour. The young man had heard about it several aisles away. But then, he was also buying vodka and it was only noonish.


How many circles can you count--I got at least 28, assuming you don't count the spaces between the burner coils. It was still in the 90s last evening so I frozen the filling in the shape of the pie pan, and made the pie this morning when it was cooler. Even then a kitchen at 450 for 30 minutes makes the AC work harder.

Jim and Marion are coming over tonight to help us eat this rhubarb pie with Cool Whip. It's all sugar free, but certainly not calorie free. I might have to add another round to my daily walks which are now up to about 6 miles. She is also a retired librarian and he and my husband sail together in the "Society of Old Salts."

The Obamacare Infomercial

ABC really looked foolish. What was apparent during the 2008 campaign is now chiseled in stone--we have no free broadcast press in this country anymore than they do in Muslim countries. And the other sources like cable and talk are under great pressure through regulatory agencies run by Obamaclones to preach and teach the Obamadminews. Wonder what the ratings were? Saying "others disagree," is hardly giving 2 or 3 sides to the debate. So, what are our TV choices here: sitcoms with snarky, skimpily clad, jiggly women with few lines, law and crime investigative shows where plots involve cops or priests who are crooked, PBS green-go-only shows, or "news" media falling at the feet of the President. I may have to start watching football.

It finally feels like summer

It might hit the low 90s today. The weather has held--no rain, and cooler than northern Illinois or central Ohio, but the lake is very still today which means more heat. I've been able to add a street each day to my west end to east end walk--all the way east along the lakefront, then Monday I returned on 3rd, Tuesday on 4th, and today, Wednesday on 5th. Fifth is a bit of challenge in that there is a hill between 4th and 5th. But it's interesting to see the changes from year to year--although there are more houses for sale than I realized. Yesterday I saw a huron sillouetted against the sunrise but didn't have my camera. Today I took the camera, but he/she saw me first and flew off. The only wildlife I caught was this very shy calico (she's feral but gets food from all the neighbors).


Usually, I can get 2-6 more short walks in to equal 1-2 additional miles. Today it was to the coffee shop, then the herb class, then to the sports class then to the grocery story to buy oil for the rhubarb pie crust.

Sports and Faith and Herbs and Pastels

Week One of the Lakeside 2009 season has been a bunch of Firsts for me. I've been attending Greg Linville's class on Sports and Faith in the morning. It has been outstanding. If you ever get a chance to take one of his classes at Malone University in Canton (Evangelical Friends related church school) or hear him at a conference, be sure to do it. I'm a complete non-athlete--have never even played golf, which Murray says has deprived me of one of the two best pleasures in life--the other being beer, which I've never tasted. Linville has opened up scripture in many areas, particularly in his lecture about Eric Liddell, the missionary to China, who ran in the Olympics (Chariots of Fire movie).

Then Monday and Tuesday I took a pastel class at the Rhein Center, and both efforts were total failures, but you never know you have no talent for a particular medium unless you try! My record is at my new blog, called Norma's Art.

This morning was the big--huge--stretch. The herb class led by Jan Hilty. It was so interesting I even signed up for the trip to Mulberry Creek Herb Farm in 2 weeks. I learned that this is the year of the bay, according to the Herb Society of America. It seems everyone but me knows you can keep bugs away with bay leaves. In your cupboard, just lay it on the shelves, or inside a pastry cloth, to keep those pesky visitors away. Our instructor said it is great for slow cooking, fresh or dry, although she prefers dry. It has a pleasant balsamic aroma and is good with heavy, fatty meats. It can also be added to sweet dessert dishes. We received some recipes, then walked over to Lakeside's herb garden where Jan went over the details of what was growing there. I'm sure for the old thymers it was well worn material, but it was all new to me and I came home with some freshly cut chives.



Jan cut various herbs and we all smelled them; some people took home various kinds that were ready to be harvested, but I only took the chives. I loved the lemon geraniums.

The road to nowhere, now here

The law suit about Obama's valid birth certificate will go nowhere, even if the Supreme Court were to decide to take it (it won't). The alternative media and internet discussion will be shut down, you can betcha that! You don't really think his handlers wouldn't be prepared for this, do you? The big talkers aren't touching it.

From Top News: The campaign challenging the legitimacy of Obama's 1961 birth certificate or the legality of his taking office is chronicled by WorldNetDaily, a popular, politically right-leaning site. Moreover, it appears that Peter Boyles - KHOW's morning drive time talk host - has taken up the mantle this issue; as have strong Obama opponents, like Jerome Corsi. In addition, lawyers in at least six states have argued Obama is not a natural-born citizen and cannot be president.

In an article on World Net Daily, Corsi contends that, in response to his requests for the Obama birth certificate, Linda Lingle, the Governor of Hawaii ordered the Obama birth certificate under seal, and ordered the state Health Department to refuse all press requests for the original documents.

The birth certificate on both the Obama and 'Fight the Smears' website does not reveal the name of the hospital at which Obama was born. In fact, to many it looks much more like a simple registration of birth, which Obama's mother could have applied for according to Hawaiian law, regardless of where Obama was actually born.

Joe the Lip promised us a disaster after Obama was elected

And he was right! He said we'd question his plans and results. And he was right! Biden's all over the Ohio northwestern TV stations, spreading it deep and thick. Not only has his administration taken over and destroyed what was left of the auto industry of northern Ohio by giving it to the unions with our tax money, but it is planning to destroy our energy based economy with the phony baloney cap n trade, which will benefit the same rich corporate execs (plus Al Gore) but will destroy local jobs. We've got counties up here with a 17% unemployment rate, compared to about 6% during the 2006 campaign in which Strickland and other Democrats constantly griped about "this economy." Now they want to make it even worse with green pie in the sky and kill the southern half of the state.

Ohio, Indiana, West Virginia, Kentucky and southern Illinois are all coal states. You know, the "dirty" stuff that has supplied about 90% of your electricity and powers the industries where you work. Now they want to clutter the prairies and lakes with windmills, a very unreliable source of energy, but 3 guesses who will own the stock and who will be trading those credits!

A graphic at Powerline today is worth looking at. It shows the state-by-state annual taxes incurred due to cap-and-trade based on EIA and CBO data. Ohio's new tax bill? $642.5 million annually, following Texas, Indiana, and West Virginia.

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2009/06/023883.php

Ohio turns out to be the 4th biggest loser, which is fine if you're on reality TV competing with 49 other obese contestants, but this reality is lost jobs, incomes, schools, libraries, parks, highways, and it's big votes for Democrats who always promise a thousand times more than they can deliver, and people fall for it. Just like the FDR era, where they preferred WPA jobs to real jobs. Remember, the P in WPA was changed from Progress to Projects after several years of failure.

Farmer's Market Returns

Nothing tastes quite as good--fresh from the garden. This cost me $16.00. The beets are a 2-fer--I cooked and had the greens for lunch and we had the beets and half the asparagus for supper. I didn't make a pie out of the rhubarb because I was out of oil. Maybe tomorrow. That's homemade blueberry jam in the jar--a little pricey--$4.50, but it is supposed to be good on ice cream or pan cakes. Ohio strawberries are smaller and firmer than California's, but have twice the flavor.

Farmer's market produce, if local, is very good and probably more nutritious since it hasn't sat in warehouses or refrigerated cars for days. That said, the hype from the wellness folk and environmentalists that this is the way everyone should eat is completely ridiculous. Our diet in Ohio would be extremely limited and women would again be tied to the kitchen stove, to say nothing of the various industries they are trying to destroy. Everything has trade-offs and consequences. I walked 2 blocks, brought my own bags, then walked home. That isn't realistic for 99.9% of the population. Most people will need to continue to drive to supermarkets to purchase trucked in, or shipped in produced, frozen foods, or prepared packaged foods. And it's still a good buy, and if you choose carefully, it's all nutritious.

Abigail's Teas & Treasure

Last summer I wrote about the closing of the landmark restaurant, The Abigail, in Lakeside, and the reopening of it under the name Evelyn's. Well, that didn't work out and the buildings (two cottages joined) are owned by the bank, which has leased it to a local woman. She told me her name, but I've forgotten it already. I stopped in this morning to check out "Abigail's Teas & Treasure." If you've been coming here a long time (our first year was 1974), you'll be happy to see that it pretty much looks the same, with seating on the porch and in the main room. However, it is now self-serve and primarily a bakery, deli, sandwich place. Dessert menu looks terrific and it will be open from 6 a.m. until Hoover closes, so you can stop in after the program instead of lining up down the street for ice cream.

Oh yes, free wi-fi and a computer is available if you need to check your e-mail.

Conservative bloggers losing it over Iran

"Here we get a hard dose of Hopenchange," said Allapundit at Hot Air. Some bloggers seem gob smacked that Obama was outraged over the death of baby killer George Tiller, that he called health care a ticking time bomb, but he's oh-w-t-f over Iran's election and the deaths of protestors.

Look folks, if we couldn't rally interest among the liberals in winning the war in Iraq when we had a patriot for a commander in chief, someone who understood the basic principles of freedom and democracy, who actually believed women and the unborn were worth something, why in the world would you expect the U.S. to intervene in Iran's election, when we have a marxist running the show? Check your history books. This is WAY above his pay grade and value system!

Son of Elmo

There used to be in our basement a spider so large that we named him--Elmo. He wasn't a pet, but we didn't kill him. I've heard tales of my son-in-law and his brother Pete setting Lakeside hurdles time getting out of the basement and refusing to go down there to do laundry for years. Yesterday we had the exterior treated for spiders, but we don't do anything on the inside. Maybe we should. From tippy toe to toe I'm guessing Son of Elmo is about 3 inches.

Ohio's Democratic Governor wants to cut library funding

It's hard to even imagine what Ohio's librarians would be doing if Strickland were a Republican (librarians vote 223 to one for Democrats). I'm sure they'd have a lynch mob ready, maybe they'd organized something like a tea party. But as it is, library patrons are getting e-mails (UAPL sent one to me) since there was only about a week's notice that his was going to happen. Oh, and also some day care funding for poor kids will be cut.

Ohio Governor Ted Strickland has proposed cutting Ohio Public Library Fund by a jaw dropping $227,000,000 in his biennium budget. This could possibly cause the closure of many libraries relying solely on state support. Ohio is home to many of the nations highest ranked and rated public libraries. LISNews.

Remember, all you liberals, Obama's economic plan was only going to hurt the evil rich. He had to poke his long, sticky government fingers into our economic dyke that had a leak, but all he did was enlarge the holes and create a flood. Just because Obama's plan is destroying investment in business which brings in taxes which pays your salaries, or directly employs you, it's all going to be sooooo fair. This man never intended to save anything--only to destroy. Wake up! FDR managed to drag out the Great Depression for a decade; Obama could even beat his record.

One of the prettiest homes in Ogle County

Here's a lovely home in Oregon, Illinois. Check out the beautiful lawn, landscaping and new garden room, as well as a delightful home office, 3 bedrooms and 3.5 baths, fabulous views and oodles of storage with first floor laundry room. When your friends fill up the huge kitchen, just shoo them out to the lovely deck! Link.

Geithner wants YOU to play by the rules!

The biggest tax evader/cheat in Obama’s administration, our very own Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner, wants to make sure you’re not doing anything funny over there in Switzerland--or Gibraltar and Luxembourg. Sweet!

From Weekly Digest, U.S. Treasury:

WASHINGTON--As part of the Obama Administration's aggressive efforts to enforce U.S. tax laws and reduce offshore tax evasion, the U.S. Department of the Treasury today announced the conclusion of negotiations with Switzerland to amend the U.S.-Switzerland income tax treaty to provide for increased tax information exchange. Official signing of the protocol is expected in the next few months.

"This Administration is committed to reducing off shore tax evasion to help ensure that all U.S. taxpayers are playing by the same rules," said Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. "This treaty will increase our ability to enforce our tax laws and will help bring an end to an era of offshore accounts and investments being used for tax evasion."

The protocol would revise the existing U.S.-Switzerland income tax treaty to allow for the exchange of information for income tax purposes to the full extent permitted by Article 26 of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Model Income Tax Convention.

In recent months, the Administration has demonstrated its commitment to closing the tax gap. At the G-20 Leaders' Summit, the U.S. strongly supported efforts to ensure that all countries adhere to international standards for exchange of tax information. In the FY 2010 Budget, the Administration delivered a detailed reform agenda to reduce the amount of taxes lost through unintended loopholes and the illegal use of hidden accounts by well-off individuals. The Treasury Department recently concluded Gibraltar's first-ever tax information exchange agreement and also signed an agreement with Luxembourg to provide for greater exchange of tax information.

I'm sure glad they're cracking down on these rich guys. You're next.

Oops! She's done it again!

Started a new blog to keep me on my art toes this summer. I don't have a scanner connected, so I'll have to use the digital camera.

Monday Memories--Mother's mixing bowl

Do you ever freeze any leftovers and then aren't quite sure what they are? That happened to me yesterday. I thought we were going to have spaghetti for supper, and when I thawed the package (unlabeled) it was chili. So I made chili-mac by adding some cooked macaroni and added two lonely slices of cheese. Quite tasty with the fresh blueberries topped with plain yogurt, and key lime pie later. Anyway, while we were eating my husband mentioned that tonight the artists are having their potluck at the home of the Rhein Center director. I'm in class until 5:30, pot luck is at 6. So what to bring that can be reheated? The chili-mac tasted so good, I decided to go to the little grocery up the street and buy the beans and a little hamburger. This morning I began looking through the cupboard for the right dish, and found this, which I'd forgotten I have since I'm not sure I ever used it--a covered vegetable dish in the apple pear design by Harker.

I bought it a few years ago from a local "antique" store because it reminded me of a bowl that my mother had for many years. I'm a little fuzzy on the details, and it was no longer in the kitchen after my dad died, or I would have asked for it. Maybe someone else in the family also has happy memories of pies and cookies from this mixing bowl?

I heard this morning that there is an e. coli outbreak from raw retail cookie dough. When I was cleaning the bowl and spoon from Mom's bowl, there was no danger because Mom carefully checked to make sure no cracked or damaged eggs went into her food. She was also careful about washing her hands and cleaning the counter top after handling eggs or raw meat. But these days, the salmonellosis passes directly from the chicken to the eggs, and no crack is necessary. So I don't think it is safe to eat anything with eggs uncooked.

Most types of Salmonella live in the intestinal tracts of animals and birds and are transmitted to humans by contaminated foods of animal origin. Stringent procedures for cleaning and inspecting eggs were implemented in the 1970s and have made salmonellosis caused by external fecal contamination of egg shells extremely rare. However, unlike eggborne salmonellosis of past decades, the current epidemic is due to intact and disinfected grade A eggs. The reason for this is that Salmonella enteritidis silently infects the ovaries of healthy appearing hens and contaminates the eggs before the shells are formed. USDA

So, things change. Not everything in the "good old days" was safer or better, but some things, like memories of Mom in the kitchen and safe eggs were.

The Mayflies (Hexagenia) are thick

The good news is, it means the Lake is healthier--I think. Although they aren't really sure why they have returned, since farming and industrialization of this area originally also contributed to their growth. See this article. The Mayfly virtually disappeared in the 1950s, and since the early 90s have made such a come back that they pile up under street lights and can cause slippery streets and power outages! Their life on land is quite brief, exhausting themselves at any available light source, have sex, then die, but they have a rather complex life before coming ashore.




You have to avoid walking near the street lights--couple of inches thick.

Happy Father's Day at Lakeside

We're here--looks like a great season!

Packing and unloading and putting away is a pain, but we're pretty much settled in. Yesterday it looked like we were leaving home for good. And we hadn't even brought the suitcases downstairs yet when I took this photo. My husband teaches an art class this week, so he had to bring along all the supplies for the students (included in the fee). The cat was getting worried.


But she's happy to be here now, and is settled into her second, no third, favorite spot. She really likes the porch best, sitting on her "kitty condo" watching the bugs, squirrels, and neighborhood cats.



Week One seminars look good--several on "environmental challenges" which I'll skip--although there's one on Thursday afternoon on Lakeside trees which should be fairly non-political. There's several on sports and faith in the U.S.--I'm not much into sports, but it's a topic I know nothing about--could be fun. This afternoon there's "Boats that visited Lakeside," at 2. Eugene Swanger is going "Ancient Greek Insights on Thursday and Friday. He's fabulous--usually does China or Japan, so I'll for sure check this out.

Frank Lloyd Wright on What's my Line

Our local architectural tour group is planning a trip to Buffalo August 14-16, but we have a conflict and won’t be going this year. It’s a fun group and great prices, if you're interested. Buffalo is a fabulous city for architecture. Contact Patsy Frost at Schooley Caldwell, pfrost@sca-ae.com if you’d like to be included. The bus holds 36. Our main interest as a group is visiting Frank Lloyd Wright sites/designs, but we see other things too. In Buffalo the group will visit the Martin House Estate, the new Greatbatch Pavilion there, the Mausoleum in Forest Lawn Cemetery, the Heath House and the Davidson House, with stops at the newly restored Erie Canal Harbor area and the Butler mansion; they'll stop at Oberlin to tour the Weltzheimer House on the way back to Columbus.

Anyway, FLW was on What’s my Line, and at the end after they’d guessed who he was the host asked him if he’d done anything recently, and he mentioned the Price Tower in Oklahoma. We stayed there when we toured in 2006.

Beautiful chickens

Artistically speaking, poultry are beautiful animals--vibrant colors, distinct breeds, and dumb as a rock for the most part. A number of times I have passed up some great chicken art--I'm mean, unless you have a themed kitchen, what do you do with them? I remember one time I saw a huge collection of magazine or calendar art from Watt Publishing's Poultry Tribune, inside a post binder at a used book store, and unfortunately, passed it up. Another time I saw a very reasonably priced watercolor in a local gallery, but again, passed. Today I was at a tag sale at Advent Lutheran Church. Art is always overpriced at these events, but there it was. . . an original 8 x 10 oil for $1.00. The price seemed right, although I'm sure the artist is a hobbyist. It's on good quality linen canvas, not stretched and poorly framed. It's sort of folk art, with a great deal of attention to the feathers. I just love it. The artist, P. Julian, either had a good grasp of the beauty of chickens or copied a 19th century print. Isn't it beautiful?

Friday Family Photo--June 17, 1961

By authority of the Board of Trustees of the
University of Illinois
and upon recommendation of the University senate
Norma . . .
has been admitted to the Degree of
Bachelor of Arts in the Teaching of Russian
and is entitled to all rights and honors thereto appertaining
Witness the Seal of the University . . .






And today I can't speak or read Russian, but it was useful in getting into grad school to become a librarian.

Lobbyists doing very well under Obama

Here's a job growth sector Obama has really helped. Lobbying. Lobbyists began pouring money into his campaign and Democratic coffers when it became apparent Obama was the front runner, and it hasn't stopped. People who still believe the Republicans are the party of big business haven't noticed how the huge companies and sectors support increased government regulation and interference in business. Why? Well, it knocks down (but not out) the competition, and totally demolishes the little guy who might have gotten big. Only the biggest can afford to wade through that snarl of paperwork, hire the lawyers, and grease the palms of the local, state and federal officials in the pork game.

Although Obama vowed to reduce the influence of lobbyists, so far, he has succeeded in slowing the economy to a crawl and raising lobbying by 80% (from 2008) from a $1.8 billion in 2002 to $3.3 billion. (WSJ, June 15, State of Capitalism article) The $787 billion "fiscal stimulus" that we just absolutely, positively had to have or go under has turned out to be just one more slush fund for Congress, and the nose of the camel in the marxism tent.

NYT article

Tom Daschle, health care lobbyist

Total spending

Are we hearing the same guy?

Over at the Velveteen Rabbit, Rachel Barenblat is concerned that so many Jewish bloggers seemed to be hearing completely different Obama speeches (the Cairo speech, for instance): the conservatives heard one thing, the progressives another. But I had to stop reading when I got to this:

The novelty of having a president who is well-spoken may never wear off for me. :-) Beyond that, I am still gobsmacked at hearing ideas and opinions which resonate for me coming out of the mouth of the White House -- it's just amazing how much more a part of this country I feel, these last few months. May it continue!

I hear something very different. I see a head swivel as he mindlessly reads in a very monotonous tone; even if I'm not watching, only hearing, I can see it. When he's off teleprompter he can't say anything succinctly or coherently and he has a bad stammer. The only explanation is that our political beliefs influence our hearing and seeing. Lots of liberals hate Sarah Palin because she has a twangy, "You betcha," and says, "Hey," instead of hello. They thought Bush's Texas drawl was a sign of ignorance, but didn't seem to hear Clinton's or Gore's. Doesn't bother me a bit--we twang a bit in Ah-Hi-YAH too. I listen to the words. Obama electrified the Democrats in 2004--although what I heard was a novice on the race stage doing a good imitation of a black preacher, someone who grew up white and learned how to speak like a black man in adulthood and wasn't quite comfortable so he mimicked. I heard a string of platitudes, and people who knew him, pointed out he'd given variations of that speech many times, some to very small, bored audiences. He's petty and whiny, and it comes through in his voice. He's repetitious, narcissistic, snooty, and full of himself, and it all shows in his voice and mannerisms. So, Miss Rachel, are we hearing the same guy? Are you listening as he explains why he needs to take over control of more and more and more of the economy? Just what about higher taxes and trillions in deficits resonates with you? And managed care with long waits, does that put a smiley face on you? Why in the world would you want that?

LA Times still reluctant to use the T-word

Seems as though the T-word is still a No-No for journalists.

"The Yemeni Interior Ministry reported over the weekend that nine foreigners were abducted Friday while picnicking near the northern town of Sadah. They were described as seven Germans, including a doctor, his wife and three children, a British engineer and a South Korean teacher. The six adults were based at a hospital in Sadah, where foreign doctors and nurses have worked for more than 30 years.

There were conflicting reports Monday about whether children were among the dead. Some accounts, citing unnamed government security officials and local tribesmen, said police had recovered seven to nine bodies. Three, with gunshot wounds and signs of mutilation, were found by shepherds and others, according to varying accounts. According to some accounts, two children were found alive.

The British and German embassies could not immediately confirm the deaths. South Korea identified its missing citizen as a 34-year-old woman.

"We are aware of these reports. We are looking into them," said German Chancellor Angela Merkel."

And it's not that they didn't have opportunities as they poured over their thesarus.

". . . there were suggestions that Al Qaeda militants might have been involved. Kidnappings are common in Yemen, but the killing of hostages has been rare."

"Sunni extremists backed by Al Qaeda; a secessionist movement in the south. . ."

"Islamic extremists have carried out a number of attacks on foreigners. . ."

"The discovery of the bodies came a day after authorities announced the arrest of Hassan Hussein bin Alwan, a Saudi national accused of financing Al Qaeda activities in Yemen and Saudi Arabi."

If he only had a brain T.

Suspected al-Qaeda financier arrested by Yemenis

Hassan Hussein bin Alwan provided money for attacks in Yemen and Saudi Arabia, according to recent reports. His arrest "will be instrumental in understanding the system for global terrorism financing" the Yemeni Embassy annouced, boldly using the T-word American journalists have black listed.

Let's hope Obama, Pelosi and Reid don't get to decide the interrogation techniques. This guy would probably love to be on Gitmo about now.

Geithner's profile

Was it photoshopped? That photo of Geithner in yesterday's WSJ (p. A8 in our edition) was odd, did you notice? Is his nose really as long as it appeared (a sign of lying in fairy tales, and so far the BOADMIN seems one long fairy tale, mystery or true crime story). Geithner's ears looked slightly pointy, too. In fact, the eye brows. . .

Therefore and However

A very important word in the New Testament is THEREFORE. It's a sign you need to go back and reread the paragraphs that come before. That is usually (if you're reading Paul who wrote most of the NT) the death and resurrection of Jesus. Lots of peace and justice Christians miss the whole point by not checking. An important word in medical studies is HOWEVER. What often follows that word in medical studies are phrases such as "such optimism has been tempered," "there are questions about safety and utility," "more refinements are needed," "some have questioned," "seem to be unrealistic expectations," and "further studies are required to clarify the underlying mechanism." That's the part they don't mention when they breathlessly report something in 30 seconds on the evening news.

However, that being noted, there's a very interesting article in the April 15 JAMA (Vol. 301, no. 15, p. 1565-1572), "Hypoglycemic episodes and risk of dementia in older patients with type 2 Diabetes Mellitus."

Now I didn't know that people with diabetes were at increased risk of dementia, or that insulin can cause hypoglycemia or that there was no research evaluating hypoglycemic episodes in older patients who have diabetes. I found the results and conclusions very interesting. They certainly had a wealth of evidence to work with--27 years of records of 16,667 patients with a mean age of 65 years who are members of Kaiser Permanente in California.

Who decided we have a health care crisis?

Follow the money. I'd place my bet on the pharmaceutical companies, with the Democratic party not far behind. No one in the United States is denied ACCESS to medical care, even if they don't have insurance. About 13-15% of the population (included in the census are all the people who aren't supposed to be here, and that's millions) don't have private, employer or government health insurance. There are two substantial groups within that figure--young adults who are eligible for insurance through their employer but choose to spend the money (payroll deduction and co-pay) on something else and people who are eligible for government programs that cover health, but just don't bother to do it, or are not mentally capable of figuring out a rather complex, bureaucratic system bound in red tape. Both my children when they were young adults and first living on their own were employed, but did not opt for health insurance; both were in auto accidents which were not their fault, and fortunately the other driver had the basic coverage (required in Ohio). But in the ER, no one told them they wouldn't be treated when they couldn't produce a card. For several years we bought temporary health insurance for them because we believed we would be financially wiped out if they had a life threatening accident or illness.

If we have a crisis, which we don't, it is one brought on by behavior--smoking, drinking, drugs, over-eating, not exercising and not honoring the marriage bed. If Americans cleaned up those problems on their own volition, not only would poverty drop to unprecedented lows (very few children who have married parents are poor), but we could drastically reduce all kinds of diseases, especially diabetes, cancer and heart disease. The AIDS/HIV "epidemic" was brought on by the promiscuous behavior of our wealthiest and best educated demographic--so we know more information and more nanny state lectures aren't going to help until people take personal responsibility.

But it's much easier for the Obama Administration (Republicans do it only slightly less aggressively) to take over yet another segment of the economy by playing the crisis card.

Let me tell you about a crisis we will have--rationed care. Yesterday my husband had his regular dental check up--goes twice a year. His dentist noticed something in his throat and suggested he see his internist. No rush--next check up (in the fall) would be fine he said. Then he called today and said, No, maybe you should get that checked sooner. After checking his calendar my husband had free time the week of July 20th--about a month from now. So he called his doctor and made an appointment for the time he was free. Done deal. Not a year from now. Not two years, when whatever it is has a chance to grow into something serious or disappear on its own.

Now THAT is the coming health care crisis. Time is money. And it is also good health.

Too good to publish, too slow to sing

That's the title of my poetry collection that I've never uploaded to one of those nifty do-it-yourself publishing sites like lulu.com. It's been on my to-do list for years, but I never get that magic coin, "a round tuit," and just blog instead. When I was employed, publications were part of my job; as was being a peer-reviewer and a committee member who kept other librarian writers' noses to the publication wheel. Looking through the notebook (for me it doesn't really exist if it's not printed on paper) I found this one from 13 months ago, and am really stunned at how accurate I was in verse about the man who wasn't yet even selected by his party at its national convention. The one slip I made was assuming Michelle would continue to have a power base, but Emmanuel and Axelrod have learned from the unpopularity of Hillary during Bill's terms, and have pretty much put her in the vegetable garden, or placed her as an accessory for photo-ops. As a city girl, she's probably more comfortable jetting to fancy restaurants in expensive clothes than digging weeds like a sharecropper.

Listening to Obama, variation on a theme

Oil prices continue to rise
it should be no great surprise
next they'll raise our taxes
If we elect Presidents Obam-es.

Don't you dare question them
you're only being dense and dim
he's been made messianic
by his handlers in a panic.

Move On's the group who's in control
George Soros too is on a roll
with flubs, flips and gaps
gaffes, waffles and flaps.

No wisdom makes it past his lips
he's made more than his share of slips
how'd he ever get through college
with such a lack of basic knowledge.

Preachers who scream and shout
from his pulpit in a pout,
Roman Catholic or UCC
is this what passes as loyalty?

They took to task poor Dan Quayle
over potatoe they did wail
but mix-ups over world war two
we're not supposed to notice and rue.

Prevarication or just lies
no matter which the flag he flies
no matter what today's faux pas
We've got his Highness Obama.

Just git-er done

At my church blog I’ve written about my frustration with Philip Yancey’s book on prayer. I’m reading my less-than- favorite author because I really enjoy the group that has chosen it. However, I’m now in chapter 12 and have really appreciated this part of his message, because he seems much more sure of himself and less full of angst, remorse, and questions. (You may have noticed I easily become frustrated with people who are constantly taking their emotional temperature or licking a finger to see which way the wind is blowing.) Also, he really speaks to my own lack of both athleticism and persistence in prayer.

Although the Old Testament doesn’t say anything about athletic games, Paul in the New Testament, being a Roman citizen in a Hellenized world, is quite familiar with the discipline of mastering a sport. And so Yancey writes about how he became a runner 30 years ago, and likens it to prayer discipline. He had met Peter Jenkins, the writer of A Walk Across America and agreed to walk with him. He was not athletic at all and realized he had only a short time to prepare to walk across Texas in July.

“As our agreed-upon time approached, I realized that if I planned to walk through Texas in July with a sixty-pound pack on my back, I had better get into shape. I bought some cheap running shoes, stepped out the door, and sprinted down the driveway, expecting to run a few miles. At the end of the block I pulled up, gasping and wheezing, with an abrupt lesson in physical fitness. Lay off exercise for a decade or more, and the body no longer responds.

I ran as far as I could that day--one block--then walked a block, ran another block, and limped home humiliated. The next day I ran two blocks, kept walking, and ran some more. Within six weeks, just in time for my Texas assignment, I was running seven miles without stopping. That began a routine of aerobic exercise that continues to this day. My body has become so accustomed to the regimen that if I have to skip a few days because of injury or illness I feel edgy and restless.

I learned early on never to ask myself, “Do you feel like running today?” I just do it. Why? I can think of many reasons. Regular exercise allows me to eat what I want without worrying about weight gain. It does long-term good for my heart and lungs. It allows me to do other activities, such as skiing and mountain climbing. All these benefits represent the kind of “deferred gratification” [that regular prayer brings].

As with physical exercise, much of the benefit of prayer comes as a result of consistency, the simple act of showing up.”

Whether gay or straight

Republicans can't catch a break. Democrats can frolic and wallow in a pit of slime, and everyone says, Oh well, it's no one's business, but not Republicans. Whether it is Newt and his third wife, a gay Congressman texting young pages, or a cabinet member with a gambling problem, the press just salivates--but only for Republican meat and potatoes.

John Ensign, a rising GOP star and possible presidential candidate, says he won't resign. Sen. John Ensign, an emerging Republican leader who has been mentioned as a possible 2012 presidential ...Link

Here's a news flash: Republicans, conservatives, Christians, whatever your label, have exactly the same personal and social problems as everyone else. Faith, like a condom in the wallet, provides no protection if you don't use it. The only difference seems to be Republicans know it's wrong when they are doing it. Democrats discover it is wrong later when the wife, kids, office, peers, press, etc. find out, abort it literarly or figuratively, or pay child support for 18 years, apologize on national TV and play kissy face, or rent an apartment outside the beltway and get the guy on the staff, and no one cares and they all move on.

NFL player gets 30 days--killed a pedestrian while drunk

Maybe if you are Donte Stallworth, this seems like justice--1000 hours of community service, loss of driver's license (for awhile), 10 years of probation, paying the family an undisclosed amount of money (to bring closure), a lifetime to regret his actions, a promise to help with alcohol and drug education, and oh yes, 30 days in jail.

After a night drinking at a bar in Miami Beach's Fountainebleau hotel, police said Stallworth hit Reyes, a construction crane operator who was rushing to catch a bus after finishing his shift around 7:15 a.m. Stallworth told police he flashed his lights in an attempt to warn Reyes, who was not in a crosswalk when he was struck. Stallworth had a blood-alcohol level of .126 after the crash, well above Florida's .08 limit. Stallworth stopped after the crash and immediately told officers he had hit Reyes. Police estimated Stallworth was driving about 50 mph in a 40 mph zone.

But to those of us who aren't paid millions of dollars to run around a football field or who don't even watch those who do, who don't drive Bentleys, and don't drive drunk it smacks a bit of favoritism, wealthy owners and pulled strings. There must be a lot of people doing jail time for a whole lot less who are really wondering about the system.

Oh yes, and he gets to have his career back.

On Mustangs and other wild things

A friend of mine is thinking about buying a 60s-something Mustang, although he is 70-something. So for him I'm rerunning the Thursday Thirteen blog I did about our cars several years ago, skipping ahead from #1 to #10, the Mustang.

1. We started married life in 1960 with a 1951 Oldsmobile 88. This car used to stall at intersections in Indianapolis and I'd get out and open the hood and jiggle something to get it going, occasionally with a push from the next guy in line. Just Married 1960, 1951 Oldsmobile
8.-10. In 1986 I replaced the 9 year old Buick with a 1983 (or maybe 1981) maroon Buick 4 dr. Skylark which had all the luxury options, plush unholstery, sound system, etc. Possibly the most comfortable sedan we ever had, but being a used car it had some mechanical problems.

Which gave me an excuse to buy my dream car--a 1987 red Mustang, which I had wanted lusted after since my brother bought one in 19631964 1/2. I had a tenure track job at the university and was wallowing in empty-nest grief--so I deserved some happiness, right? However, the night I drove it off the lot it rained buckets, and I discovered that the Mustang model had no gutter around the door frame so if you opened the door after a rain (and it rains a lot in Ohio), you got soaked as the water sheeted off the roof. I hated my dream car, and because it was low to the ground, it also just killed my back. Couldn't wait to unload it.
1987 Mustang in same location as the 1951 Olds photo. See how much the trees grew in 28 years

I sold it to a woman from Worthington who wanted a car for her teens to drive to school. I think she owned it two weeks before they wrecked it.

The Mustang hurt my back whether I was the driver (getting in) or the passenger, however, driving was less painful because I had something to hang on to.

More Obamath

HT Bits Blog

For a change, try ISBNdb

I read about this at a librarian blog today--I'd never heard of it--I've been gone too long to keep up on all the techie things about library searching. But instead of just linking to Amazon, which many library catalogs do these days (don't know if they get a kick back but they should) this librarian says ISBNdb can offer a range of sites for checking prices and availability. Here's an example.

"ISBNdb.com project is a database of books providing on-line and remote research tools for individuals, book stores, librarians, scientists, etc. Taking data from hundreds of libraries across the world ISBNdb is a unique tool you won't find anywhere else."

President Obama speaks out on the Iranian election

Fox News (you google it--I can't take any more) carried a long, long, long clip--could have been said in 1/3 the time and words. I think I agree with him, but boy! is this man painful to watch when he's off teleprompter. And to think people were near fainting just a few months ago at the thought of a graceful, fluent speaker.

I've got my orders

He's an easy guy to live with, but he does have a favorite TV show--The Closer. Tonight he said, "The Closer is on tonight, so when I get home from my meeting I don't want any Book-TV or funny stuff like that on. If I'm late, you'll need to fill me in. Channel 30, TNT."

Yes, boss. The Closer.

Kuitman thru-you

My son has been encouraging me to watch (and listen) to Kuitman, who pieces together snippets of video and sound from across the internet to create something new. Check it out here. I think my favorites were Mother of all Funk Chords, and Babylon Band. Kuitman is an Israeli musician, and his site was so popular when he first put it up earlier this spring, it crashed. Somewhere while looking for it, I also saw a video of him talking about how he did it.

Monday Memories of 1959

My brother is working on the 50th reunion of his high school class. Not only is he a "local" but he was also the class president. I think he's having a good time strolling down memory lane with his classmates. In today's WSJ, which I know he reads because he is a stock broker, Edward Kosner reviews Fred Kaplan's "1959: The year everything changed."

You can throw a dart at a timeline and write a book about almost any year (except 1957, imo) opines Kosner, but when examined closely, you can see important events that got us to where we are today. The most important one, from my view--1959 is the year I met my husband at the University of Illinois. We'd both broken up with our high school sweethearts (to whom we'd been engaged) and found each other. He told me on our first date that he planned to marry me--he was a big city (Indianapolis) slicker with a good line, and I laughed at him, much too smart to be taken in by that one. Other important events of 1959 outlined in this book were:

1. Castro took power in Cuba.
2. Berry Gordy started Motown.
3. Allan Ginsberg recited "Howl" at Columbia.
4. Pioneer space craft.
5. Lady Chatterley's lover heated up book reading.
6. Toyota and Datsun (Nissan) made their U.S. debut.
7. The microchip was introduced--the germ plasm of our digital age.
"Evolved from the transistor, the silicon integrated circuit was the work of a tinkering engineer named Jack Kilby. He showed off his little gizmo at a radio engineers' trade show in New York in March 1959. The debut of Kilby's microchip -- the germ plasm of our laptop, hand-held, wall-mounted, broadband, blog-sodden digital age -- merited two paragraphs in the next day's New York Times."
8. The first U.S. soldier was killed in Vietnam.
9. Frank Lloyd Wright's Guggenheim Museum opened.
10. Martin Luther King studied nonviolence in India.
11. The Birth control pill Enovid was approved for sale.
12. Jack Kerouac's "On the road" was launched.
13. The rise of Malcolm X.
14. The U.S. Civil Rights Commission documents racial discrimination in a 668 page report.

Kosner notes, "And, for all the wonders integral to 21st-century life, it's hard to argue that we're happier today than in good old, prehistoric 1959."

Fair elections

There was an on-line poll about whether the Iranian elections were conducted fairly. 1282 had voted by the time I saw it. Most voted No. I voted "undecided." How would I know, or anyone who wasn't there? How would the Iranian people know? Was our 2008 presidential election "fair?" The media overwhelmingly backed one candidate, even when there were many in the primaries. The media believed in beating up the girls--they didn't like Hillary and they smeared Sarah. Was that fair? Voters were bussed into Ohio, a key state, and shock and awe, they weren't voting Republican. "Activists" didn't know they weren't allowed to register and vote here. They got a wrist slap. Was that fair? ACORN was planting little oaks all over the country. Was that fair? Money flowed into the winning candidate from outside the United States. Was that fair? Now why should I expect Iran to have fair elections if we can't even guarantee it here? Let's stop talking about fair--life isn't fair--but elections should be legal, and dead people should stop voting.

Lauer on Letterman

It comes after the gas. . . the good old boys sticking up for each other. I don’t think Lauer gets it. The left hates her because she is 1) smart, 2) capable, 3) pro-life, and 4) didn’t get to her position on the coattails of her husband or father, so they attack her family. What Letterman said was a whole lot worse than what got Don Imus fired. Remind me. Do "entertainers" ever ridicule or suggest assaulting the young sons of politicians?

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

HT Blatherings Blog

Update: Sarah Palin has graciously accepted his apology, but with a zinger of her own: In a statement Tuesday, the Alaska governor said she accepted Letterman's apology "on behalf of all young women, like my daughters, who hope men who 'joke' about public displays of sexual exploitation of girls will soon evolve."

She's made it clear that entertainers using their bully pulpit to make ribald, sexist, sexual jokes about any women, of any age, is not acceptable. It's really been open season for disgusting sex jokes about conservative women since Obama swept into office. There's Obama's lipstick on a pig comment; Obama's chief Axelrod called Prejean a "dog;" Playboy publishing a hate f**k article using prominent Conservative women as objects; the gays attacking women who actually agree with the administration's published stand on marriage; Letterman calling Palin a slut, and 14 year old daughter getting knocked up and so on (he then later made it worse by claiming--oh no, I meant her other daughter, as if that were OK). Nice guys these Obamatons. And where are the feminists? Oh, still playing with their marxist marbles, and this game isn't worth getting into because it doesn't further their agenda.

A note of thanks from Ahmadinejad’s Teleprompter

The Totus of the Potus can speak and translate teleprompter talk, and he/she has a message from Ahmadinejad's teleprompter here. The references to "seedlings" refers to ACORN and the good ideas they used during their election.

Hello, Great Satans, unclean and eaters of the pig. It is I, the blessed screens of the newly re-elected Grand Leader of the free land of Iran.

I want to thank you for the generosities of your leader, the man Obama, whose friends of the seedlings of oak trees have made The Great Mahmoud's re-election by landslide so very possible. Now you eaters of the cloven hoof and other infidels and moneychangers, may, thank Merciful Allah, wonder why the Great Satan is so committed in secret to our Great One? . . . "

The media bias and terrorists

There certainly are more coverage and media outrage about the murder of abortionist George Tiller and a Holocaust museum guard than there was about the murder of Pvt. Long, the military recruiter by a Muslim terrorist or the women murdered and wounded at a Jewish charity in Seattle in 2006 by Naveed Afza Haq (mistrial in 2008--he's still not convicted). In fact, the buzz in the news is all about right wing extremists and conservative talkers. Well, just to provide a little balance, here's a counterterrorism list which includes the Lakawanna 6, Ali Al-Tamimi, Jose Padilla, Hesham Mohamed Hadayet, Iyman Faris and others, as well as white supremists. One of the women Haq shot in the Jewish Federation building was pregnant, but she's the one who called 911 and got him to talk to dispatchers, bringing the crisis to an end. The lefty columnists like Krugman who are now blaming conservative talkers for the museum guard's death and Tiller's death weren't calling out anti-war congressmen like Reid and Pelosi and anti-Bush agitators like Code Pink when those women were shot. Why the double standard?

My stats are down, but not this bad

The Daily Kos
Oct: 82,893,374
May: 25,293,380
Change: A decrease of 57,599,994, or 69%

Without Bush to hate, the lefty bloggers are struggling.

Bloggasm

Déjà vu all over again--Iran

The Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control has an interesting page called “Iran Watch,” just as it had one called “Iraq Watch” updated until three years ago. Here is Iran’s Nuclear Timetable updated this week. “Iran tested an advanced missile on May 19 – just two days after U.S. President Barack Obama outlined a plan to engage Tehran in an effort to end its destabilizing nuclear and missile work.”

The Iraq Watch data is interesting because it documents some of the speeches and letters of Senate and House Democrats (also Republicans) in the Clinton years who were concerned about the WMD of Saddam Hussein, calling for military action. Also the traditionally liberal media were on top of the WMD story until it became a Bush problem.

"The U.N. inspectors have learned that Iraq's first bomb design, which weighed a ton and was just over a yard in diameter, has been replaced by a smaller, more efficient model. The inspectors have deduced that the new design weighs only about one thousand three hundred pounds and measures about twenty-five inches in diameter. That makes it small enough to fit on a Scud-type missile. The inspectors believe that Iraq may still have nine such missiles hidden somewhere.

The inspectors have also concluded that Iraq's bomb design will work. Iraq, they believe, has mastered the key technique of creating an implosive shock wave, which squeezes a bomb's nuclear material enough to trigger a chain reaction. The new design also uses a "flying tamper," a refinement that “hammers" the nuclear material to squeeze it even harder, so bombs can be made smaller without diminishing their explosive force.

How did Iraq progress so far so quickly? The inspectors found an Iraqi document describing an offer of design help—in exchange for money—from an agent of Pakistan. Iraq says it didn't accept the offer, but the inspectors think it did." The New Yorker, Dec. 13, 1999

If you are of the “Bush Lied, People Died” crowd, you need to find out if you’re still being lied to by doing your own research. But do it quickly. Digital information is easily removed--I’ve been unable to find links I used the last 2 or 3 years. Some government sources disappeared on January 20. Also, if you are an out-of-work academic, they are hiring.

The Aeron chair

There was a story about it in the WSJ this week, but I wrote about the Aeron four years ago.

More diversity in management language

English is a rich language because it has borrowed so heavily from other languages--has over a million words. The President is leaning too heavily on the Russian/Ukranian/Serbian word for Caesar-- monarch, supreme ruler or king--Czar, or Tsar (царь). The blog at Heritage suggests the President needs more diversity:

"To start, let us refer to Mr. Feinberg as a pay Shogun. A shogun was a military leader in Japan serving the Emperor, so that seems fitting. Similarly, Steve Ratner could be retitled the car Kaiser. Carol Browner could be called the environmental El Supremo, befitting the supreme importance President Obama places on destroying our economy in the fight against global warming. To emphasize the warmth of his feelings toward the Arabs, the President could title his middle east envoy, Senator George Mitchell, the peace pharaoh.

A basic rule of economics is that things obtain value through scarcity. In contrast, excess, like an excess of currency, devalues an object. The proliferation of czars has debased the label. The President needs diversity in his labels. History is replete with titles for dictators great and small."

Speaking of diversity in language, it isn't enough these days to have someone on your medical staff who can speak/translate/interpret Spanish. This could create some new jobs under Obamacare. Isn't he promising that with all the money he's going to save with universal health care that there will be more for jobs? OK, maybe not in your town, or your field. So what if you were a Chrysler dealer creating jobs for 150 people in Cleveland--go learn some Spanish medical terms and be a translator at a hospice in Peoria. Unfortunately, the doctor pointing this out in the June 10 issue of JAMA, wasn't much of a linguist.

"It is equally important to appreciate various forms of Spanish dialect. Even in Spain, where Castilian Spanish is spoken, there are Basque, Catalan, Galician, Valencian, and many more variants of the language. There are major differences among dialects from South America, the Caribbian, or Spain." (p. 2327)

Basque, Catalan, Galician, and Valencian are not even Spanish, but are different languages. Basque isn't even a Romance language. Some Caribbean islands use English, French, Creole, Dutch, Portuguese or patois. Oh well, it's the thought that counts, right?

Strawberry rhubarb pie

The pie I fixed for our final meeting of the Visual Arts Ministry of UALC Wednesday just tasted so good I made another one today. Pastor Drummel said that when he lived in the south he didn't get rhubarb pie. He and his wife are Baptists, but have moved to this area to help a family member who attends our church, so he is now a very popular part-time pastor at our Lutheran church. He's also an excellent artist. Maybe I should take him a piece tomorrow?

Of course, I'll have to check it out first. "No crust, no pie," is my motto. I don't care how fabulous the filling is, if you've messed up the crust, forget it! I'll never be as good as my mother, but I'm better than most. But today I ran out of flour--was about 1/4 cup shy. I was going to go knock on the door of a neighbor, but decided may 1/4 of a cup of Bisquick might work. We'll see. It's too hot to taste.

Who's a Republican?

Apparently, if you voted for George W. Bush, you be one.

KERRY: Are you a Republican? You answer the question. Did you vote for George Bush? Did you vote for George Bush?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I voted for George Bush and I...
KERRY: Thank you.
(UNIDENTIFIED MALE sits while booed by crowd) John Kerry quotes

So why is there all this angst about not accepting Colin Powell as a Republican? He usually voted for Democrat presidential candidates in the past, and voted for Barack Obama to be his president in 2008. Case closed, according to John Kerry. I think it is pretty simple. If a man's race is more important to you than his political values, he's a Democrat and so are you.

What I was taught

Everything I was taught in school about poverty and political disenfranchisement being the root causes of so many of societal ills and revolutions has been proven wrong in just a few months of this presidency/congress. In the 50s, I was taught that the Germans accepted Hitler because the agreements forced on them by the Allies after WWI were so punitive it reduced them to poverty and they were looking for a savior, someone who could tell them how wonderful they were, and who could find a scapegoat for them to hate. They wanted hope; they wanted change. So what's our excuse? Poverty in the USA had to be redefined as "income gap" by the academics, social scientists and politicians, both Republican and Democrat. Yes, some homeless wandered the streets, just as they do in socialist countries, primarily because liberals in the 1970s shuttered all the institutions that took care of them. Drugs could take care of mental illness they said; group homes with no caring staff could handle people with special needs. Ah, the beauty of freedom to sleep on a city grate at night and panhandle during the day. Children too suffered from being born to single mothers, ensnared by the feminists' myths that marriage is just leftover of patriarchy. That was U.S. poverty--a tiny percentage even if you included the illegals and their baby anchors. Our middle class citizens who never knew want unless someone pulled their credit or raised ticket prices on a rock concert are lining up to bow to a narcissist with a big head and small heart. We have a leader who tries to diminish the accomplishments of his people so he can look bigger than life, worthy of worship--really, worthy to take over the whole world once he removes the only country who could have stopped him.

No, I don't claim to understand my friends and relatives who don't yet have buyer's remorse. They aren't even chagrined as they see their retirement accounts shrink, the job losses in their communities and watch as Obama takes over private businesses. Oh, they say, the recession started under Bush's watch. Indeed it did, and Bush inherited one from Clinton (go back and check your accounts--mine were sinking in 1999). Bush's administration had the tech bust plus the tragedy of 9/11 (now forgotten by careless voters), and turned that around quickly by encouraging investment and building our self confidence and sense of security. We all can see that Bush spent money like a drunken Ted Kennedy for 8 years--our deficit certainly isn't Obama's doing. But Obama spent more in 100 days than Bush ever thought about, but for some reason the Potus with the Totus is still racking up those points with the true believers as we slip further and further into national socialism.

Why do they hate George Bush so much?

Lots of people voted for Barack Obama simply because they hated George Bush, and by association John McCain. I don't pretend to know how McCain became the Republican candidate--he certainly isn't a conservative (but neither was Bush), and seemed even less so a Republican. The only thing positive about his campaign was Sarah Palin, and because she is so visibly pro-life (didn't even kill her baby with Down Syndrome or get her daughter an abortion) she was virulently hated by the left and snubbed by the right who really are sort of embarrassed by all those people trying to save babies). The latest Palin attack dog with a public face is David Letterman, who proposed her daughter be raped by an athlete as a joke--he even got applause, but no outrage from leftist feminists.

McCain was indeed a war hero, but certainly was a thorn in Bush's side through out his administration despite the fact we all know the country would be safer with him as Commander in Chief. It's even possible McCain would have immediately expressed his condolences when one of his miliary recruiters was murdered. Obama ignored the death of Pvt. Long, who was killed by a Muslim, although he was quick to see the political advantages of decrying the Tiller murder and the guard murder at the Holocaust Museum. I think McCain would have been the perfect Democratic candidate--far better than either Clinton or Obama. At least McCain is what I considered a Democrat all those years I voted as a Democrat up to age 60.

The Bush hatred goes back to the election of 2000. The Democrats just never got over it--that he didn't get the popular vote but the electoral vote put him in office. Oh, I know the fanatics say it was the Supremes who put him in, but SCOTUS judged the state law of Florida which was hanging by chads, corruption and ignorance in one black polling district, not even the whole state. Democrats essentially said that not that many blacks could escape the plantation to vote for a Republican. Besides, we know the lawyers were lining up to question all the close districts where the dead Democrats had voted in Florida and other states, especially Illinois, Oregon, etc. With those recounts, which would have taken forever, GWB still would have won. Democrats are so accustomed to stealing elections it is almost a birth right, and winning the electoral vote is not even stealing. Just feels like it, and Democrats rely heavily on feelings.

They didn't learn to love GWB just because was very soft on immigration--it would have been good for big business and big labor both--just very bad for the rest of us. They didn't love his Kennedy Drug Plan nor No Child Left Behind, even though if it had been a Democrat plan to throw money toward the NEA instead of away from it, they would have loved it. GWB, because he spent more money on social programs than any president before him, should have been their hero.

The Democrats in Congress voted for the war in 2002, 296-133, and we went to war in part on the intelligence of the Clinton administration. Go back and look at the Kennedy and Kedward speeches about WMD in 1999 and 2000--they were building up for their own war, and then called it Bush's war--the war they voted for. Now with Obama pursuing the war in Afghanistan, they can't even squeal about that. Where are those Code Pink Ladies--out shopping for new ridiculous outfits?

So it's not Bush's war per se, we know, because Congress declares war. Maybe it's because GWB liked to talk about military victory and Obama wants terrorists to be street criminals? I was reading one liberal/progressive/marxist blog yesterday that was comparing Bush's 2005 Annapolis speech with Bobama's. Bush's was about strength, power, victory, challenges, bravery, patriotism, and Obama's was, well, it was just one more head swiveling, yada yada speech by the teleprompter--hiding, keeping out of harm's way, reconciliation, wimp-out, negotiation, etc., so that the USA can continue the traditions of the last 64 years of going to war with no intention of winning. The blogger was salivating over Obama's ideas and criticizing Bush. You know--where we negotiate North Koreans into millions starving to death under a brutal dictatorship, and 20 years later abandon millions of Vietnamese allies when we run out.

Naked legs

We live across the street from a golf course. 99% of the men seem to wear shorts (knee length) when they play golf. Why is that? And mostly the same color--khaki, beige, buff, cream or taupe. Are there no bugs on golf courses? Do your calves need to be exposed to hit a golf ball? They even wear shorts when it's cool. When it rains. In the fog. When it's 87 in the shade. All the golfers in the TV and newspaper Flomax commercials are wearing long pants. They seem to have a good time and play a decent game. Tiger manages to wear long pants and he's a pretty fair golfer, so what's with the naked legs?