Forget Maytag

When we moved here in 2002 I bought a matching washer and dryer--I'd never had a matched set. My older models used to last 15-20 years, but they'd wear out on a different schedule. I'm about to go back to a mismatch. My Maytag dryer, which has been a constant frustration for seven years because it balls the clothes instead of fluff, needs a new motor, according to the repair man, to whom I gave $35 just to come and look at it. We thought it was the timer-switch, and even that was going to be about $150 with labor, but the motor is much more expensive, both in parts and labor. What a piece of crap. The repairman said he bought a rebuilt Maytag about 15 years ago, and now at 30, it's still going strong, but the new ones aren't worth piddle.

Anyone have a recent model (not Maytag) they'd recommend? The washer squeals when stopping after spin cycle, so maybe I should just start over with one of those efficient models. I have a CD coming due, and that's certainly not worth reinvesting, so maybe that's the route to go.


I'm not sure of the date of this photo, but I think it's about 1953, and my mother had her first automatic washer and dryer. Before that she used a wringer washer and we either hung the clothes in the basement (which I've been doing this week), or outside if the weather was good. These were in the downstairs 1/2 bath which in an earlier era, was a porch to the back yard, so this bathroom had four doors, one to the kitchen, one to Dad's office, one to the outside, and one to the basement. My mother was about 40-41 in the photo.

Do leftists know people are employed in the food industry?

The food industry--agribusiness, processors, packagers, designers, marketers, chemistists, nutritionists, magazine writers, etc.--will continue to be under attack by the left as we inch our way through the health care mess. Diabetes, cardiovascular problems--it's all the fault of evil capitalism, not our genes, not our personal choices.

Here's an item from today's paper that will thrill Michael Pollan. Even by suggesting in his editorial that the food industry is the next target of the Obama surrogates, he's probably killed investment.

"Marzetti Pfeiffer foods plant is to close in western New York putting 150 people out of work." Link

Oh look. The announcement came on 9/11--maybe the President could find volunteer jobs for all those people in Wilson, NY.

Back to the gardens and kitchens ladies! Drop those brief cases and get out the aprons. It's your patriotic duty.

Dear Ted Celeste

You are a nice guy. I think you are one of the few democrats I voted for. But really, today's editorial on civility was a bit one sided. One Republican yelled out in a fit of righteous anger, "You Lie," to a President who was lying to Congress and the American people, and you just fall apart. The only items you listed were failings of the Republicans. That's odd. Listen to these NO's and Boo's during Bush's important (and truthful) speech on Social Security, when Democrats were the minority party, before 2006 when they set in concrete really rude behavior--like Barney Frank's imitation of Joe McCarthy, or confirming tax cheats like Timothy Geithner and wackos like Cass Sunstein who perform as Obama surrogates.

You suggest people look in the mirror, and Ted, that's an excellent idea, especially for Democrats with a poor memory, and those who worry about "birthers" on the right but ignore "truthers" on the left, even appointing them to influential offices within government where they can continue their paranoid hate in comfort.

Bag Lady in suburbia

Bag lady you gone hurt your back
Draggin all them bags like that
I guess nobody ever told you
All you must hold on to
Is you, is you, is you

One day all them bags gone get in
You way (x4)

So pack light (x4)
Bag Lady sung by Erykah Badu


I saw a young, slender attractive "bag lady" in the coffee shop--don't know what else to call her. She had 4 or 5 large bags outside next to the window so she could keep and eye on them, and inside she was sorting compulsively through smaller bags, wallets, boxes, etc. She was dressed for cool weather. I remember seeing her about 5 or 6 years ago at Caribou when unemployment in Ohio was under 5%, so I don't think the current Obama economy is the cause of her condition. She's probably eligible for numerous programs, especially if she's disabled because of mental illness, but perhaps in her mind the social workers just want to entrap her. Or maybe she just lives in the neighborhood and enjoys carrying her worldly possessions with her. Over the years, I've seen several mentally ill regulars at local coffee shops. Once I saw one attack the manager, and he was even with his care taker, so when I see him I usually go to a different store.

Where's the splashy headlines about this killing?

On A6 of the Columbus Dispatch I read about the murder of a Michigan man--an abortion protester. The killer, according to the news account, didn't like the activist holding a sign with graphic images of a fetus in front of students. So he shot the guy in front of the students--I suppose in his twisted mind, that wouldn't disturb them. The killer then went to a business and shot another man, and was on his way to kill a third, when he was shot by the police. Apparently he wasn't a minority, because there was no mention of an investigation of the police killing an armed and dangerous man. But also, the press and the president haven't taken much notice. Remember back in May?

"The killing of abortion doctor George Tiller, who was fatally shot in his Kansas church Sunday morning, drew a flood of denunciations from President Obama along with liberal and conservative lawmakers and abortion rights groups and abortion foes. The murder occupied front pages and led news broadcasts for nearly three days."

At the same time an army recruiter William Long was killed and Quinton Ezeagwula wounded by a Muslim terrorist (homegrown) but Obama, the men's Commander in Chief, didn't even blink. Attorney General Eric Holder called for protection of abortion clinics, but ignored the killing of a U.S. soldier and ignores the attacks against U.S. military facilities since 9/11.

Some lives, matter, some don't. Abortionists and terrorists get a pass during this administration.

Julia and Michael

Recently at Lakeside's Orchestra Hall (only movie theater in Ottawa County) I enjoyed Julie and Julia, which is not just about cooking, but also marriage and blogging. It's rare you'll ever see a movie about happily married people, but this be one! So it also launched Michael Pollan, who wants the government in your kitchen, pantry and shopping list, to comment on what overstuffed pigs we all are and why after Obama takes over 1/6 of the economy with his healthcare grab he should start in on the food industry. His book was also featured in the Public Library of Cincinnati moving slide feature (which moves way too fast for my reading level).

"The imminent release of Julie & Julia has so far launched about 5,000 articles, and this weekend, Michael Pollan will bring us one more. The film has inspired Pollan to pen over 8,000 words in The New York Times Magazine about, among other thing, the rise of cooking as a spectator sport, the decline of home-cooked meals, the evils of the processed food industry, and the brilliance of Meryl Streep.

As for whether Americans can reverse the trend that's taken us away from the kitchen and towards permanent posterior indentations on the couch, one food-marketing researcher Pollan interviews isn't optimistic: "We're all looking for someone else to cook for us. The next American cook is going to be the supermarket. Takeout from the supermarket, that's the future. All we need now is the drive-through supermarket."" The village voice

I just love being able to walk two blocks at Lakeside to the Farmer's Market, but I've read enough of 19th and early 20th c. women's magazines to know that eventually the greenies and the feminists are going to be butting heads. No one embraced the processed food industry more than the women who had sweated in the sun digging potatoes, drowning bugs, canning tomatoes and meat from the butchered stock, (I gag even remembering the texture and taste of home canned meat) and selling their eggs to put junior through school. Yes, we certainly don't need 14 versions of the Ritz cracker, nor do we need the federal government telling us what to eat.

The health care bill is just the first step says Pollan who lives and performs in Berkeley. You can expect more government control after this one is done.

"All of which suggests that passing a health care reform bill, no matter how ambitious, is only the first step in solving our health care crisis. To keep from bankrupting ourselves, we will then have to get to work on improving our health — which means going to work on the American way of eating." His NYT op ed

It is always the dream of the liberal to find that next big thing--like purifying water which totally changed life expectancy in this country, or spraying mosquitoes with DDT which rid us of the scourge of malaria, or small pox vaccines, or the polio vaccine (needed because we cleaned up the water supply), or TB screening tests. I don't think changing our diets will be that, but they'll try any way, some in good faith, others for the power over our lives.

Mary Jo (my rep), asleep at the switch

Stammering cliches, garbled platitudes, lies about wellness savings. Is this what the rest of you are getting from your representatives?

OSU Library renovation declared Stupendous

It's considered a success. Link with photos. I haven't seen it yet.

New magazine, Cesar's Way

Today I bought a copy of Cesar’s Way, a first issue journal, for my collection. It promotes the Dog Whisperer, Cesar Millan, a program I’ve watched a few times on cable. Until I glanced through it, I didn’t realize he had such a love affair with pit pulls. They are everywhere in this magazine. The photo that really disturbed me was on p. 19: Halle Berry in Miami Beach playing with a neighbor’s dog--a pit bull. The toddler in the photo appears to be her daughter, but children shouldn’t be encouraged to play with strange dogs. ALL DOGS WILL BITE--they especially will bite children whose actions they don’t understand or which appear threatening to them. If Cesar has pit bulls and trusts them, fine, but this magazine encourages their selection as pets for families, and that's dangerous for your neighborhood.

According to the Examiner.com, only Ohio has a breed specific dog law singling out pit bulls, and it is considering legislation (H.B. 79) that would keep them from being labeled inherently vicious. But in Lucas County (Toledo) where Ohio State Representative Barbara Sears, who is from suburban Toledo, introduced the bill, over 1350 pit bulls were picked up in 2007.

According to DVM360.com, other states are considering breed specific bills. In Montana, House Bill 191 seeks to prohibit the ownership, harboring, or keeping of dogs described as pit bulls. The legislation considers pit bulls to include Staffordshire Bull Terriers, American Staffordshire Terriers and "any dog that has the physical characteristics of a pit bull.

In Oregon, H.B. 2852, introduced in March, would require pit bull owners to have $1 million in insurance to cover any economic or non-economic damages that result from physical injury or any damage their dog causes to personal or real property. Of course, what insurance company would do that?

Hawaii Senate Bill 79 would prohibit the ownership, possession or sale of pit bulls in the state.

A New Mexico bill introduced in February would have automatically labeled pit bulls and Rottweilers as dangerous. Under current law there, any owner of a dog deemed to be dangerous must be spayed or neutered, microchipped and registered each year.

Many dog shelters are overrun with pit bulls. Nice pit bulls exist, says Sharon Harmon, Oregon Humane Society executive director, but "you can't escape the fact that it's a dog bred to kill."

They called Bush a liar and terrorized our soldiers with rumors

So will they stand up and apologize on the floor? No, of course not, because the biggest hypocrites in the world are the Democrats in Congress. They want Joe Wilson to apologize again for saying, "You lie." Obama was lying practically every other sentence. Who's going to make him apologize to the people? And hasn't the President used this as a wonderful teachable moment--blaming all the vitriol on the other side and not himself?

"Mr. Obama then turned to use Wilson as something of an example – making this a teachable moment, perhaps – saying that “we have to get to the point where we can have a conversation about big, important issues that matter to the American people without vitriol, without name- . . ."

Oh gag! Hot Air said it best

"That’s why you farm out the rhetoric about “evil-mongers” and “political terrorists” to halfwits like Harry Reid and Democrats in the House instead of dirtying those dainty hands of yours. But as painful as the vitriol might be to your tender Hopenchangey heart, you never open your mouth to specifically rebuke your own side, do you? A wise man once had something to say about presidents who don’t keep their surrogates in line, but never mind, I guess. Enjoy the lecture from Captain Civility."

I've been pulling weeds today on my walk. There are many, but I've selected just one--don't know its name. Small single root, with tiny leaves, and it branches out and spreads like crazy, killing everything around it; and loves the heat of the curbs. If you can find the root and give it a yank, the whole thing--about 2' in circumference--comes up. I've christened it "Obamacare."

The Wisdom of Sarah Palin

"Ezekiel Emanuel is upset. The president's health care czar sees the growing resistance to his vision, to his brave new world of government-run "communitarian" health care in which politicians and bureaucrats control one-sixth of the economy and 100% of our bodies. He doesn't quite understand how it all came apart on him, but he does know who started the unraveling: Sarah Palin. . .

Sarah Palin had done the unthinkable. She had read the health care bill. Mainstream journalists hadn't read the bill. Congress hadn't read its own bill. But Sarah Palin did. Sarah Palin! He has a medical degree and doctorate in political philosophy from Harvard. The only Harvard she's knows is the chunk of ice off Prince William Sound, Harvard Glacier.

Then she writes something on Facebook -- Facebook, for Obama's sake! -- and suddenly the president, congress, the media, and everyone who is anyone inside the beltway is scurrying for cover. Palin wrote that she wanted nothing to do with Obama's "death panel," the collection of bureaucrats who Zeke was so proudly putting together to assess the "level of productivity" that would determine individual access to medical care. . .

No, Zeke believes that those who know better, who understand morality, should make decisions for those less able to do so. Like Sarah Palin. Like Trig. Like your grandma. And this is because he cares. Just ask him." Read the whole article; this woman makes me proud!

HT Pat in North Carolina, another senior blogger paying attention

What we can learn from the plight of Pakistan’s Hindus

Will Obama be honoring them on one of their holy days?

Hugh’s comments on Jihad Watch

The percentage of Pakistan's population that is Hindu has gone from 15% at partition to 1.5% today. The percentage of Bangladesh's population that is Hindu has gone since partition from 35% to 8%. Meanwhile, the percentage of Muslims in the population of India has gone steadily up. The same kind of thing can be seen everywhere where significant non-Muslim minorities have existed. The percentage of Christians -- Copts, Maronites, Assyrians and Chaldenas, in the total population of Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq -- has gone steadily down. The same is true in North Africa, where after the French left, the screws were turned on the Christians who remained. As for the Jews, they were subject to so many attacks that the Arab lands emptied out of them, and in Iran, when the Shah fell, and under Khomeini Islam returned with a vengeance and legal (and informal) protections for Jews as for Baha'is and Christians ended, the Jewish population went way down It is the same everywhere in the Muslim-ruled lands.

Meanwhile, in Western Europe, every European country opened itself to Muslim immigrants, offered them every conceivable benefit generous welfare states could offer, and whose non-Muslim taxpayers funded. Free medical care at the Western level, free education, free or heavily subsidized housing, family allowances (and Muslims have large families), and so on, and by now there may be 20 million Muslims in Western Europe, the historic victim of Muslim attacks (in East and in West, from Poitiers to Vienna), either by armies, or by ships with Muslim raiders who for many centuries ravaged the coasts of the non-Muslim lands, even going so far as Ireland and, once, Iceland. About 1.25 million non-Muslims were kidnapped by Muslims from Western Europe. In the East, among the Circassians and Georgians, and the Slavs, there were similar Muslim raids, and seizure and then enslavement of men, women, children.

Is there nothing to be learned from this? Does the Western world, or those in it who presume to protect us, not have a duty to know this history, both in the distant and in the recent past, and to draw some conclusions from it?

Phyllis Chesler writes

“. . . the fact that I support America and Israel and oppose Islamic jihad and Islamic gender and religious apartheid means that my reputation as a feminist–and the work done by conservatives on behalf of women–must be either demonized or disappeared.”

Read her views on Muslims, women, sex slavery, battered women, religion, Israel and conservatism at Pajamas Media, Chesler Chronicles.

Medical news Obama can use to ration or change health care

Nearly 50,000 older adults are treated for injuries related to falls involving a walker or cane each year in the USA.

Cancer drugs that produce only a marginal survival benefit are much too expensive. The NIH and the NCI are urging limits on the use and pricing of such drugs.

There have been reports of impaired renal function in people taking a once-yearly infusion of zoledronic acid for the treatment of osteoporosis and Paget disease.

Removal of organs from the dead donor is the norm in the West, but internationally, that's not the case.

Diet and exercise intervention in older, long-term survivors of colorectal, breast, and prostate cancer can reduce functional decline.

"Obama has to provide strong reasons for the average individual in our society for wanting to embrace health reform," said MSU Medical Ethics Professor Dr. Leonard M. Fleck. Fleck advocates in his writings the theories of John Rawls (Karl Marx lite).

Every year in the USA tens of millions of prescriptions are dispensed and billions are spent for antithrombotic medications and acid-suppressing drugs. Elderly patients can be at risk from prolonged use.

Past use of hormone therapy with estrogen plus progestin increases the risk of dying from non-small cell lung cancer for women who develop the disease. Especially for smokers.

Thousands of veterans may have been exposed to contaminated endoscopic equipment (hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV).

Three health insurance companies CEOs were grilled by Congress about rescission if the information supplied at application is inaccurate or misleading (cancelling coverage of policyholders). The committee noted it is legal, but unfair, so they smacked them anyway.

Bottled water and tap water are regulated by 2 different government entities. Requirements for bottled water (FDA) are less stringent than tap (EPA).

There are 2.8 million new cases of chlamydia each year, about half in females aged 15-25. The solution seems to be more screening, not responsible behavior or education. Certainly not chastity pledges!

The Mediterranean-type diet has been associated with healthful outcomes including reduced risk of cariovascular disease, cancer, and mortality, and more recently with cognition. Mid-life obesity, diabetes and hypertension are risk factors for late-life dementia and influenced by diet.

The most common reason for referral to adult protective services by "first responders" required through Title XX of the Social Security Act, is self-neglect, not abuse by a care giver (4 to 1). Society and the health care system have failed the most vulnerable older adults. While we look for evidence and solutions, we must act NOW!

Women physicians who travelled to Chad (Africa) heard stories of women living in Farchana Camp (UN) of rape, torture, beatings and stigma after fleeing genocide in Darfur at the hands of the Sudanese Army and Janjaweed militiamen (Arab Muslim against black Muslim). The American researchers themselves were in great danger during their time in Africa.

The increase in drug-related homicides in Mexico (400 a month) is a result of the Mexican government's crackdown on drug trafficking organizations, but it's really the fault of the demand in the US, not the supply in Mexico.

Although they can't find any evidence of health benefits for "intimate partner violence" screening, it should be implemented and rigorously tested anyway. It's the thought that counts. And the grant money.

All stories taken from JAMA August 2009 issues.

The Madison Miracle

As you probably know if you live in the midwest, Madison, Wisconsin is our most left leaning city. Detractors sometimes called it the "People's Republic of Madison," or "The left coast of the midwest" and it is the home of "The Progressive." I've only been there once or twice, and so I'm just passing along rumors about its reputation. Personal observation here. A recent issue of JAMA had an interesting CDC study on Dane County (Madison) on the the Infant Mortality Gap. JAMA itself is editorially a very liberal journal (with almost all the advertising from pharmaceutical companies), so it's important to remember that "gap" is the key word here--it's what liberals care most about--especially academicians and researchers paid by government grants. Never the individual, or even the group, but the GAP. It doesn't matter one bit if a second generation Hispanic family lives in a home with 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 3 color TV sets, and a 2 car garage, because if a 5th generation white family has 6 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, 4 HDTV sets, and a 3 car garage, you have a terrible gap problem that only demonstrates the evils of free market capitalism.

Well, somehow, the Infant Mortality Gap has disappeared in Dane County, and they can't figure out why--obviously, someone has miscalculated, because this just can't happen, not even in liberal Madison. I was a little puzzled too, reading through the stats

Of a population of 472,000 in 2007, only 4.8% is black

black women giving birth in Dane County have a median household income of $28,103 compared to white women giving birth with a household income of $50,927

77% of the black women giving birth are unmarried, compared to 19% of the white women (That ought to clear up the household income problem, right? Two incomes instead of one--duh!)

71% of the black women giving birth in Dane County have a high school diploma or less versus 21% of the white women (This is a very awkward way to say the white women are more likely to be college educated--the University of Wisconsin is located there.)

and

62% of the black mothers are on Medicaid, but only 13% of the white mothers in Dane County.

Despite poverty ($28,103 is called poverty in this study), out of wedlock births, and incomplete education, the gap has disappeared. So they're looking for all sorts of possibilities since 2002, the first year of the decline--increase in graduation rate, reduction in smoking, improved prenatal care, better record keeping, broader health insurance coverage, targeted public health programs, better neighborhood safety, advocacy for black women and their families and other variables. For now it will remain a mystery, because anything good that happened during the Bush Administration will have to be debunked, especially in Madison.

Personality development in adulthood

Most of this research sounds like common sense. I remember my pediatrician reminding me that children are born with their personalities, same as eye color, intelligence, athleticism, etc. Check the webpage of Brent W. Roberts, University of Illinois, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, who was featured in the last U of I LAS News.

Highlights of Recent Findings of Brent W. Roberts

Personality traits predict mortality, divorce, and occupational attainment as well as, if not better than socioeconomic status and cognitive ability (Roberts, Kuncel, Shiner, Caspi, & Goldberg, in press).

Personality traits continue to change in middle and old age (Roberts, Helson, & Klohnen, 2002; Roberts, Walton, & Viechtbauer, 2006). Specifically, people become more socially dominant, conscientious, and emotionally stable as they age.

People who are engage in counterproductive work behaviors (e.g., fighting, stealing, malingering) become more more alienated and less controlled than people who do not engage in counterproductive work behaviors (Roberts, Bogg, Walton, & Caspi, 2006).

People who become more involved in work and stay in stable marriages increase on measures of conscientiousness over time (Roberts, Caspi, & Moffitt, 2003; Roberts & Bogg, 2004).

People change their perception of their environment more than they change their self-perceptions over time (Harms, Roberts & Winter, 2006).

Goals for investments in work and marriage are related to increases in agreeableness and conscientiousness in college (Roberts, O'Donnell, & Robins, 2004)

People who are more conscientious avoid most of the risky behaviors that lead to premature mortality and participate in the positive health behaviors associated with longevity (Bogg & Roberts, 2004).

Glenn Beck and ACORN

Yesterday on both the radio and TV shows, Glenn Beck played a tape of an interview at a Baltimore ACORN program that assists people applying for government subsidies for mortgages, helps with tax problems, and other assorted problems. A tour of the beautifully designed ACORN-ilk websites which lured unqualified people into sub-prime mortgages with government kick-back loans, to then running foreclosure workshops (all with government grants), or to borrowing government money to fix up the damaged home they helped them buy are disgusting. ACORN takes their cut at every level. Membership fees isn't how ACORN makes its money or pays its staff.

Yes, the Beck information was shocking, but not more important than the health care scam or cap and trade or automobile take over or the McCarthy-worthy interrogation that Barney Frank put on a few months ago.

Whether you love or hate ACORN, every smarmy act by the Baltimore ACORN staff could be explained.

For those who love ACORN, it could be (and the one you'll hear the most), 1) it's just one bad apple, these people do fine work; 2) it was all staged; 3) legally a prostitute only has to report the income, and all the ACORN tax advice was correct; 4) the ACORN workers were not being judgemental and that's the most important value in today's world (work in a phrase from the Bible here if possible); 5) and then ACORN apologists will segue to Christian, Jewish or other faith based organizations who have made similar "mistakes." They'll for sure bring up scandals they've read about priests. Maybe some witch burning in American history--that's always good. Or homosexual evangelical pastors visiting male prostitutes, etc. It's key to remember that for the left, hypocrisy (not sex slavery of children, not laundered money, not lying), is the most evil of all sin. And that part about the illegal, under-age prostitution ring the mortgage applicants were going to use the house for? Well, that's all open to interpretation, and Media watch dogs and fact checkers on the left will parse that tape to shreds, and close their eyes and ears.

And if you think ACORN is evil, the spawn of Satan, and this tape just proves it, you'd better look at the "laundered" government grant money your own organization gets, because the federal government has been taking more and more power from the local level through laws and regulations for decades, then to support those programs it taxes us, then it turns around and passes that money back to the local jurisdictions, states, non-profits, universities, think-tanks, foundations, churches, and political groups like ACORN, to do the "work of the people." (There's a sidewalk going in on our street and I'm betting it's your stimulus money.)

President Bush's administration was extremely careless with oversite of outsourced government programs, and fertilized the dirt in which the little acorn has grown to a huge tree with deep roots and wide branches. Remember, before Obama, no president had spent more on social engineering programs than Dubya, especially in education. Obama has left him in the dust with his trillions compared to Bush's billions.

The crime Beck exposed (although it wasn't his tape or his investigation) isn't the corruption, like he claimed. There were plenty of YouTube videos of ACORN stealing votes and bussing voters across Ohio's state lines during the 2008 campaign, and we just let that go. ACORN helped elect Obama, so nothing will come of this tape. It's the routine usurption of our rights and stealing our money that has been going on for decades through many administrations that is the big crime.

If conservatives try to make ACORN the whipping boy for problems that go back to Wilson and Roosevelt and probably before, this mess will never be cleaned up and we should never, never again go into a foreign war to aid a 2nd or 3rd world country in becoming a democracy, because we don't do so great at representative government ourselves.

Check out these verbs! What bias?

Here's the USA Today's account of the 9/12 March on Washington:

Tea Party Patriots are storming the Potomac.The conservative activists who staged taxpayer tea parties last spring and packed town-hall-style meetings to rail against “Obama care” this summer plan to march here Saturday to protest what they call out-of-control government spending.

Encouraged by conservative commentators such as Fox’s Glenn Beck [obviously we old doddering fools couldn't find our way on our own] and organized virtually on Twitter, Facebook and other social networking sites, the march will constitute “the largest gathering of fiscal conservatives ever,” says Adam Brandon of FreedomWorks. The advocacy group led by former House majority leader Dick Armey is planning the event, although other organizers say theirs is an unprompted movement.

And here's my guest blogger, pensioner Murray, from Illinois

"Tomorrow [Thursday] I leave for Washington DC. Why am I going? Well, I figure since my senators refuse to communicate with me about how they want to further infringe upon our freedoms, (or anything else) I will go to them and join thousands of other grass-roots people in hopes that we will make a difference. We have no other avenue! In case you don't know who the grass-roots people are, they are the crazy, misinformed old people who consist of Nazis, idiots, racists and people like you and me. The March On Washington promises to be the largest civil protest against the Federal Government ever. Yet, so far the media (with the exception of Fox News) has given the event zero exposure along with our legislators. But our legislators know we're out here cause most were afraid to face us as they cowered during their break and refused to meet with us. If you want to see any of this demonstration on 9/12 do not count on NBC, CBS, or ABC. You will have to tune to Fox News around 11:30 a.m. eastern time.

This protest March is about healthcare and the reckless spending that has guaranteed the recession to last for years to come and financially cripple our grand children. Obama says that we grassroots people have attempted to derail HIS health plan with lies and myths but have no plan of our own. Well, that's a lie. There are plenty of suggestions out there like tort reform, eliminating illegals from free care, letting Medicare negotiate the price of drugs and allowing insurance companies to cross state lines. These suggestion cost NOTHING but they aren't even in Obama's plan nor does he want to hear them. The reason is simple....these remedies go against the special interests groups pure and simple! If our legislators would have read the plan before they attempted to explain it to their constituents, they could have dispelled any myths or lies. But they obviously didn't know what was in the plan. Obama says he's gonna pay for it by taxing the insurance companies and taking 500 billion from Medicare which in turn implies that it won't cost you and I anything. Who the hell does he think has to replace the Medicare dollars and where will the insurance companies get the tax money? You see, every time our government gives away our tax dollars, we then get taxed not only enough to maintain the current bloated budget but also put back the money we gave away. The illegals and non-contributors say "Gracious Mucho" and us grass-root taxpayers say "OUCH" Obama says the special interests are cringing at the thought of this plan going through. Gee, that's not a lie?? As far as I know there hasn't been a major piece of legislation that has passed in years that hasn't been favorable to special interests. The prescription Drug Plan is the easiest example. That dog was written by special interests and is still barking plus all our legislators know it. That's one of the main problems with any bill that they pass, no matter how good or bad, we have to live with it forever.

Anyway, I'll be the good looking guy in the protest March carrying a sign that says "Put "WE THE PEOPLE" back in government". The reverse side will say " Where is ABC CBS NBC?" I put this on the back because I'm sure they won't be there covering the event but they will surely be there tonight when Obama tries to sell HIS plan.

Has anyone asked the question "Why is everyone waiting to hear what Obama wants?" What about what you and I want? Aren't we "WE the People"?

18,000 demonstrate on Sept 5 near Cincinnati, Ohio

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Winter catalogues

Oh NO! And it's 80 degrees. Talbots and L.L. Bean are already here. However, glancing through both (What? a $99 "hoodie" are you crazy?) I noticed blazers seemed to be having a comeback. So this morning, I wore my tan jeans (Lazurus, birthday 2004) and my navy linen/rayon blazer ( Chadwicks ca. 1997) with a white shirt to the coffee shop. Then I read the article in WSJ--something about a jeans jacket over a mini-dress over pants, or something. And I'd just put the 80s in the back of the closet, and here they are again. Back to the drawing board. I'll just never be a fashionista. I used to say I looked better than a lot of women who planned to go to work, but I've noticed with the down economy, people are sprucing up a bit.

Yesterday I saw a woman who appeared to be of middle eastern origin wearing bright fuscia leggings, under a shear black mini-dress with a lot of jewelry and 3" high heels. At a 3 store shopping area in Upper Arlington. Did I miss a fad while I was gone for the summer?

Republicans--hopeless or helpless?

Although I never voted for George H.W. Bush, I thought Republicans were silly to toss him over for the "no new taxes" broken promise. Obama started breaking promises from the get-go, and our brave, proud media have scarcely batted an eyelash, nor his loyal supporters. Was it Jan. 21 that he raised taxes on the poor with that huge cigarette tax increase? Do you know a single rich guy who smokes hurt by that? Everything he's done in the last 7 months has either intentionally, or unintentionally hurt the economy. The rich can just ride it out. Republicans in Congress still look like idiots. If they can't make a difference because of their small numbers, they could at least stand on principle.

Yesterday I read in our local paper about a closing of a small bakery business--53 years old. Not only that, but the owners have also lost their home. I feel badly because I used to go there all the time when we lived on Abington, but I've probably only stopped in once or twice in the last 7 years. Their cakes, cookies and bread were to die for. The line to get things before an OSU football game went outside the door when my kids were little. The number of times I'd call my husband at work about 4:45 and ask him to swing by there and bring a dessert home--ah, I'm salivating.

The savings rate is up; that's good. But when people don't buy those little extras, and in this case the business employed about 20 people, everyone in the local community is hurt, the city gets fewer taxes, the state gets less, and the U.S. gov't, which thought the owners were "rich" will really get less. So then Obama will raise our taxes to make up for what he can't get from the "rich."

"When's the last time a poor person gave you a job" may be a cliche, but it is oh so true, and investment came to a screeching halt last July when the business world could see who would be the next president, a man very hostile to capitalism.

The education speech Obama should have given

If he wants to make a difference to minority children (although why he wants them to succeed isn't clear--is it to volunteer? To become a government bureaucrat? To become a social worker and visit people receiving welfare? He definitely doesn't want them to be rich) he needs to talk to their parents, the NEA, the Department of Education and Congress about school choice and supporting home schoolers. Particularly, the parents in DC need to hear this message. Obama and other minority government officials and civil servants send their children to tony private schools that need minorities for "balance" and government grants. Not everyone can afford the school where the Obama girls go or where Jesse Jackson and Al Gore sent their kids, but vouchers do work and its been proven to be very helpful, especially for minority children who most need to escape the prison of the public system. There is a bigger gap now than 20 years ago between minorities and whites. Part of this is, I'm sure (if they are measuring public schools and not all schools), the better students have been pulled out by their parents, or the parents have fled to the suburbs to avoid forced bussing leaving the city schools to struggle with minorities, mix and match quasi-families, immigrants, and special needs students.

". . . students at inner-city [NY] Catholic high schools, who are mostly minorities, achieve nearly 90 percent graduation rates," and these schools could be saved with an adequate voucher program according to the City Journal article. Cleveland would be thrilled with figures half of that. The disabled also get a better chance with the voucher system, and indirectly it prevents the public schools from funneling children into special programs in order to get government money which isn't used on the children with problems.

"You Lie!" Joe Wilson

From Blogsphere: HT Nancy at American Daughter

". . .tonight Obama stood before Congress and lied to the members. Rep. Joe Wilson has read the bill. Barack Obama has not read the bill, and is relying on his handlers to tell him what to say. Politicians on both sides of the aisle called upon Wilson to apologize, which he did. Many, including John McCain, seemed to think that Wilson was rude for calling out from the audience. Personally, I believe that Obama was rude for lying to Congress and to the American citizens who were watching and listening. And Obama was arrogant and disdainful for assuming that we are stupid enough to believe his lie. ActBlue immediately created a fund-raising page for Joe Wilson's 2010 Democratic challenger Rob Miller titled No More Name Calling. So far they have raised a grand total of $100 from three supporters. And Wikipedia had to disable editing of their article on Joe Wilson due to vandalism. Which is more important -- the veneer of manners or the gut of honesty? Have any of these pantywaists ever watched a session of the British parliament? In any event, the future probably will favor Wilson. We understand that he has aspirations for higher office, and the governorship in his state may soon be vacant. In this timely moment, he has just become a national ideological hero. He gave voice to the frustrated silent majority, and they are ecstatic:"

The new battle cry of all TRUE AMERICANS:

YOU LIE!!!!!

Blogger: "Joe has just been launched into superstardom. We just watched history being made."

Blogger: "I want to bear his rebel children!!!"

Here again are the phone numbers to contact and congrat Joe:
DC office: 202 225 2452
SC office 803 939 0041

Blogger: "Joe's switchboard is melting down!!"

Blogger: "we need to protect Joe Wilson Now!!!!! after Nancy was looking at the seating chart...she is gonna try to start some shit"

Blogger: "I'm definitely adding him to my list of Great Americans!"

Blogger: "Joe now has 4200 followers on Twitter and growing by the minute, lol. An hour ago he had 2,800"

Blogger: "If there is no concrete plan then why did Obama say he was going to "clarify" on TV tonite. There was a lie right there..."

Blogger: "Good for him, I say. Exercise your first amendment rights before they're taken away."

Blogger: "Bravo Mr. Wilson. Bravo."

Steve Jobs (Apple) is back!

About a year after his liver transplant, he's back in control (at least visibly). Could he have done this recovery with Obamacare and no private wealth?

At 54, he probably would have been considered expendable by whatever government panel needed to make the decision, assuming of course that while he was waiting during the application process, he hadn't become too ill to survive the operation. That happens even now with people on gov't care. As a private businessman, at least he didn't have to worry about losing his job due to his disability.

Still, we all know, that rich guys even under socialism have other options (see Finland or England). Even under Obamacare, he would have gone to the front of the line.

Liberals and fascism

“Scratch a "liberal" and you'll find a fascist. I've never met a leftist yet who does not despise ordinary people and who does not harbor a hankering for authoritarian dictatorship by elites.” Patrick Joubert Conlon commenting on Thomas Friedman who thinks we need liberal fascism.

I'm always surprised by the liberals who can forget or ignore the millions and millions of Chinese murdered by their own government and then praise the result as benign. Although it happens so often, I don't know why I'm always caught off guard. Heard the same sentiment at the lectures on China this summer at Lakeside from people in the audience old enough to remember what happened in the 1940s.

A mostly lovely day

A bit of rain, but mid-70s low 80s most of the day. Finally got my hair done (cut and color), postponed from last week when I decided to spend week 11 at Lakeside. The sun had pretty much bleached it out. I truly had considered going gray (or white?), but don't like it. Reentry has been a challenge. No place to walk that has sunrises, but I have walked mostly on drive-ways and asphalt, this morning in the Meijer's parking lot. We came home to plumbing repair--in the middle of the night Sunday/Monday I heard a drip drip drip. Got that fixed today after being banished from my bathroom for 2 days. I got 1/2 the tar cleaned off my van, a gift from some inconsiderate truck ambling along Rt. 4 dribbling as he went. The cat has diarrhea, and we've been trimming her tail, since she hasn't quite figured out how high to lift it! Like me she's getting old and creaky--doesn't seem quite sure about jumping up on my lap. The dryer switch has died, so I have wet laundry hanging around the lower level (but no clothes line). My husband has matted and framed four of my summer paintings, so I'll be ready for the art show at Mill Run next week. Tomorrow we're doing some sort of art adventure with 3 other couples, but I'm a bit fuzzy on the details since I didn't plan it. Sunday we're invited to a party for a couple celebrating their 50th. The invitation has their wedding photo, which is a nice touch--wedding dresses were much more beautiful and not so revealing 50 years ago. But my goodness, they look young!

Dinner tonight: bratwurst, lightly steamed and buttered beet tops, fried new red potatoes, and strawberries topped with dark chocolate ice cream.

Summer's over. I'll be back at the lake to volunteer for the Midwest Bird Symposium later in the month, but for now, it's just a pleasant memory.

What Obamacare will look like for older women

Osteoporosis. After all, Dr. Zeke says if you are over 65, you can't contribute much and aren't worth treating.

Emanuel, however, believes that "communitarianism" should guide decisions on who gets care. He says medical care should be reserved for the non-disabled, not given to those "who are irreversibly prevented from being or becoming participating citizens . . . An obvious example is not guaranteeing health services to patients with dementia" (Hastings Center Report, Nov.-Dec. '96).

Translation: Don't give much care to a grandmother with Parkinson's or a child with cerebral palsy.

He explicitly defends discrimination against older patients: "Unlike allocation by sex or race, allocation by age is not invidious discrimination; every person lives through different life stages rather than being a single age. Even if 25-year-olds receive priority over 65-year-olds, everyone who is 65 years now was previously 25 years" (Lancet, Jan. 31).

NY Post, "Deadly doctors."

It's an imperfect document, said Obama

“[The Constitution] is an imperfect document.” Barack Obama

“Why should we be governed by people long dead? … In any case, the group that ratified the Constitution included just a small subset of the society; it excluded all women, the vast majority of African Americans, many of those without property, and numerous others who were not permitted to vote.” Cass Sunstein

“We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.” Signers of The Declaration of Independence

I am not aware of Barack Obama or Cass Sunstein pledging their lives, their fortunes or their sacred honor to preserve the US. Citizen Wells Read the full article here.

More on Sunstein’s ideas to control you through more regulations about which you‘ll have no say, because he‘s appointed and needs no confirmation. It's almost impossible to take this guy out of context--he hides nothing!

Here's a fun idea. Go to Google and type in "Let's get rid of Cass Sunstein." Using that phrase, you can find both the progressive/marxist blogs and the conservative/alarmist blogs.

Weeping with WaPo

It could really tear at your heart strings--Washington Post's version of how Obama was first tested on health care while an Illinois Senator. After the first page I thought I'd gag at the obsequious adulation, so I don't know if the writer got around to what's happened in Illinois with all the mandates that now deny people doctors, or that Medicaid, a state run program, has been broke for years. Our Illinois friends chose to keep their mother in an Ohio nursing home (she's on Medicaid) and make the grueling drive back and forth. (They are, of course, union members, DINKS and Democrats.) However the writer did let it slip that the 2004 speech at the Democratic convention was a rerun he'd used many times. That with a phony blaccent and pulpit flourishes was enough to make liberals swoon.

"Summoning a story he would repeat during his 2004 speech at the Democratic National Convention, Obama talked about a father he met who would soon lose his job and health insurance after being laid off from a plant in Butler, Ill. His son needed $4,500 worth of drugs because of a liver transplant, Obama said. . . "

It's great drama, syrupy fiction, and just what we've come to expect from WaPo.

Mainstream Media Fails Again

says Nancy Matthis at American Daughter.

"The mainstream media made no mention of the controversy surrounding Van Jones until AFTER he resigned. The usual suspects, who have shaped the news for years, -- CBS, NBC, the Washington Post, and the New York Times -- carried no news at all until the Jones affair was over. Then they reported, briefly (trying to minimize the damage to Obama), that Jones had resigned as the result of a vicious right-wing smear campaign. That is a very biased way to characterize an expose consisting entirely of video clips of the man's own speeches."

Yes, the explanation of his own midnight escape on a holiday, slow news week-end could be funny, but we haven't heard the end of Van Jones, I'm sure. He's becoming more famous by the minute and will really be raking in the honoraria for his speeches. He has never denied his own words and charges of hatred and racism against 80% of this nation. There are plenty more well off, handsome, whiny marxists in the O-Admin looking for victims to scam. Bloggers just need to peek under a few more rocks. Just look at George Soros. Well, he's not handsome or in the administration, but he's one of them as is Michael Moore, Jeremiah Wright, Bill Ayers, etc. This line of business (taking over a country) requires a constant but small stream of unhappy people overseen by clever and well-educated organizers infiltrating the colleges, non-profits, churches, and professional organizations, and they know just which levers to pull to release the dam.

Unelected, Unconfirmed, Unaccountable

Just in case you were counting.

1. Richard Holbrooke — Afghanistan Czar
2. Jeffrey Crowley — AIDS Czar
3. Ed Montgomery — Auto Recovery Czar
4. Alan Bersin — Border Czar
5. David J. Hayes — California Water Czar
6. Ron Bloom — Car Czar (moved to Manufacturing Czar today)
7. Dennis Ross — Central Region Czar
8. Todd Stern — Climate Czar
9. Lynn Rosenthal — Domestic Violence Czar
10. Gil Kerlikowske — Drug Czar
11. Paul Volcker — Economic Czar
12. Carol Browner — Energy and Environment Czar
13. Joshua DuBois — Faith Based Czar
14. Jeffrey Zients — Government Performance Czar
15. Cameron Davis — Great Lakes Czar
16. Van Jones — Green Jobs Czar (resigned)
17. Daniel Fried — Guantanamo Closure Czar
18. Nancy-Ann DeParle — Health Czar
19. Vivek Kundra — Information Czar
20. Dennis Blair — Intelligence Czar
21. Ron Bloom — Manufacturing Czar
22. George Mitchell — Mideast Peace Czar
23. Kenneth R. Feinberg — Pay Czar
24. Cass R. Sunstein — Regulatory Czar
25. John Holdren — Science Czar
26. Earl Devaney — Stimulus Accountability Czar
27. J. Scott Gration — Sudan Czar
28. Herb Allison — TARP Czar
29. Aneesh Chopra — Technology Czar
30. John Brennan — Terrorism Czar
31. Adolfo Carrion Jr. — Urban Affairs Czar
32. Ashton Carter — Weapons Czar
33. Gary Samore — WMD Policy Czar

"The departments raided of their authority in favor of Czars include the Departments of State, Defense, Homeland Security, Justice, Treasury, Health and Human Services, Labor, Interior, Energy, Commerce, and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) — that’s the entire cabinet except for the Departments of Education, Transportation, and Veterans’ Affairs."

HT Hot Air and Belmont Club.

Google a few of these characters. It's darn scary!

"In today's world, however, the number of children in a family is a matter of profound public concern. The law regulates other highly personal matters. For example, no one may lawfully have more than one spouse at a time. Why should the law not be able to prevent a person from having more than two children?" John Holdren, Obama's Science Czar, p. 838, Ecoscience.

"Taking Machine politics nationwide was one of the great dangers of electing Barack Obama to executive office. Appointing run of the mill political actors like Valerie Jarrett, Arne Duncan, and now Cameron Davis [Great Lakes Czar] takes limited local players onto the national stage, which begs the question…is Congress and the National Press up to the task of checking the Chicagoans?" Chicago Daily Observer

Cass Sunstein, next to go?

Let's have a bit more transparency, some sunshine on the Obama appointments, the ones that need confirmation. The crazies--animal rightists, statists, marxists, and Nudge-nuts.

"Cass Sunstein is another of member of President Obama's administration. His nomination to head the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) has been stuck in committee since June because of his extreme ideas. Sunstein is an advocate of something called libertarian paternalism, which means give people the choice to make their own decisions, but instead of just laying out the facts, control the number of choices, then use knowledge of behavioral sciences (like psychology) to guide them to do what you want. In other words treat the voters the way you treat young children." Yid with a Lid

"Cass Sunstein, President Barack Obama’s nominee to head the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), has advocated a policy under which the government would “presume” someone has consented to having his or her organs removed for transplantation into someone else when they die unless that person has explicitly indicated that his or her organs should not be taken.

Under such a policy, hospitals would harvest organs from people who never gave permission for this to be done." CNSNews" Should fit nicely with the death panels, right?

"Cass Sunstein, a Harvard Law professor who has been appointed to a shadowy post that will grant him powers that are merely mind-boggling, explicitly supports using the courts to impose a "chilling effect" on speech that might hurt someone's feelings. He thinks that the bloggers have been rampaging out of control and that new laws need to be written to corral them.

Advance copies of Sunstein's new book, "On Rumors: How Falsehoods Spread, Why We Believe Them, What Can Be Done," have gone out to reviewers ahead of its September publication date, but considering the prominence with which Sunstein is about to be endowed, his worrying views are fair game now. Sunstein is President Obama's choice to head the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. It's the bland titles that should scare you the most. . . Czar is too mild a world for what Sunstein is about to become. How about "regulator in chief"? How about "lawgiver"? He is Obama's Obama. Kyle Smith "

"Cass Sunstein says: An example of a little nudge is that Congress should enact very soon a greenhouse gas inventory, by which American citizens see who are the big contributors to the climate change problem. Amazingly, there isn’t a climate—a greenhouse gas inventory. That little nudge, there’s every reason to think, would achieve considerable good, because no company likes to see in the newspaper that it’s one of the worst contributors to the climate change problem. So information disclosure is a really simple, often costless and sometimes very effective nudge." Interview at Democracy Now! [Wow, is that name a stretch!]

Calling the school answering machine

Homosexual adoption update

About 2.5 years ago I wrote about the strange case of the heir of the IBM fortune who had adopted her lover, and then they split up.

Honest, I was looking for the amount of CO2 termites contribute to global warming, and somehow wandered into this strange story of the granddaughter of IBM founder, Thomas Watson, who adopted her adult lesbian partner, then they split, and now about 15 years later, the ex-partner is trying to get herself listed as the 19th grandchild of her ex-lover's biological mother so she can help support her own biological mother, who apparently had no objections to giving her up for adoption. Serves the greedy little twit right if she loses her suit. Serves the flaky IBM granddaughter right if she loses in court to her ex-lover. Some people give adoption a bad name. Some people give women a bad name. Some people give money lust a bad name. Some do all three.
Posted by Norma at 3/19/2007

Today I checked to see what had happened. A lot. Court rulings. Reversals by a higher court. I wonder if this will go higher?

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruled on July 23 that the adoption of Patricia Spado by her then-same-sex-partner, Olive Watson, in 1991 was valid, reversing a Probate Court ruling that had threatened to derail Spado’s attempt to claim a portion of the trust established by Thomas J. Watson, Jr., son of the founder of International Business Machines (IBM). Adoption of Patricia S., 2009 WL 2195428. Full story here.

Archivist or Librarian--does anyone care?

"On July 28, President Obama announced his intent to nominate David S. Ferriero to the position of Archivist of the United States. Mr. Ferriero currently serves as the Andrew W. Mellon Director of the New York Public Libraries (NYPL). Mr. Ferriero succeeds Professor Allen Weinstein who resigned as Archivist last December." National Coalition for History

Well, he's not an archivist, and as a librarian I can tell you these are different specialties, but it's much closer than the Librarian of Congress ever came to being a librarian. And closer than the last guy, Allen Weinstein who had been a history professor, writer, editor and head of a think tank/non-profit. These position usually don't change with the administration but he has Parkinson's Disease and cited ill health. It's probably just a title and I wish him well. To the victor belongs the archives. And the appointments.

And it requires confirmation! Since none of the czars do, and they will affect our lives far more than this position, it's time to demand a little sunlight on them. There are plenty more Van Joneses in the O-Administration; besides it sounds like he's just moved on over to John Podesta's Center for American Progress Action Fund. Sandy Berger's daughter works there. He definitely had a strong NARA connection. (He's the guy who stole the documents from the Archives and stuffed them in his socks.) See Guide to the Political Left for information on CAP.

Only Americans can save the economy

Stop waiting for the President to do something. Stop applying for phony "shovel ready" stimulus money (as of yesterday less than 14% had been spent by federal agencies).

1. Go out and buy something from a local business today. Skip the internet.
2. If you are in business, put an advertisement in a local newspaper or magazine or TV channel.
3. Take the kids to the zoo or go to a movie and then out for ice cream.
4. To to the lumber yard or hardware store and buy that item to do the home repair you've been promising.
5. Leave bigger tips--bus boys pay rent too, you know.
6. Buy school supplies for a low income family at the neighborhood five and dime dollar or drug store.
7. Have a party--invite the neighbors.
8. Put $5 more in the collection plate next Sunday.
9. Buy stock in an American company whose products you know and trust.
10. And if you live in a state like Ohio that is proposing more gambling to bring in jobs, consider the fall out, the outside interests, and cost of social problems before you vote.

Off shore drilling, the rest of the story

I saw a reference to this in my cousin’s last weekly letter, and thought it quite interesting. You may not agree, but let’s agree we’re only hearing one side from the environmentalists. Offshore Oil Drilling: An Environmental Bonanza By Humberto Fontova. Excerpts:

"Environmentalists" wake up in the middle of the night sweating and whimpering about offshore oil platforms only because they've never seen what's under them. Louisiana produces almost 30 per cent of America's commercial fisheries. Only Alaska (ten times the size of the Bayou state) produces slightly more. So obviously, Louisiana's coastal waters are immensely rich and prolific in seafood. These same coastal waters contain 3,200 of the roughly 3,700 offshore production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. These oil production platforms off the Bayou state's coasts also extract 80 percent of the oil and 72 percent of the natural gas produced in the Continental U.S., without causing a single major oil spill in half a century of this process. This record stands despite dozens of hurricanes -- including the two most destructive in North American history, Camille and Katrina -- repeatedly battering the drilling and production structures. So for those interested in evidence over hysterics, by simply looking bayou-ward, a lesson in the "environmental perils" of offshore oil drilling presents itself very clearly. Fashionable Florida, on the other hand, which zealously prohibits offshore oil drilling, had its gorgeous "Emerald Coast" panhandle beaches soiled by an ugly oil spill in 1976. This spill, as almost all oil spills, resulted from the transportation of oil -- not from the extraction of oil. Assuming such as Hugo Chavez deign to keep selling us oil, we'll need increasingly more and we'll need to keep transporting it stateside -- typically to refineries in Louisiana and Texas. This path takes those tankers (as the one in 1976) smack in front of Florida's panhandle beaches. Recall the Valdez, the Cadiz, the Argo Merchant. These were all tanker spills. The production of oil is relatively clean and safe. Again, it's the transportation that presents the greatest risk. And even these spills (though hyped hysterically as environmental catastrophes) always play out as minor blips, those pictures of oil-soaked seagulls notwithstanding. To the horror and anguish of professional greenies, Alaska's Prince William Sound recovered completely. More birds get fried by landing on power lines and smashed to pulp against picture windows in one week than perished from three decades of oil spills."

But then, I never thought it was about safety, bio-diversity, wildlife, fish, etc. Did you? It's about shutting down the economy, about not using petroleum at all, for any reason.

Please sneeze in your sleeves

Alice’s e-mail from the University of Nebraska has been coming to me for well over 10 years. I don’t know if there is a “real” Alice or not, but she always has good things to say about food, nutrition, health and safety. This month she had a number of humorous videos on hand washing.

I liked this one the best. It’s from the Maine Medical Association (c2005). If you are Obamaphobic, you don’t have to worry. The sneeze in your sleeve message has been going around for a long time. But they are right--it's a difficult concept when you've been taught all your life to use your hand or a Kleenex.



Some of the videos showed proper hand washing technique, but most left the water running the whole time. Isn't that a bit wasteful? Will it be the Greenies against the germophobes? I think "passing the peace" at church will probably evolve to a shoulder or hip bump. And I'm sure many of the old time Lutherans will be happy to stop that frivolous act of fellowship. I saw in the paper the French are giving up cheek kissing, too.

With a midwestern twang

Obama stuttered through this challenge in today's Labor Day speech in Cincinnati:

"I've got a question for all these folks who say, you know, we're going to pull the plug on Grandma and this is all about illegal immigrants -- you've heard all the lies," Obama said. "I've got a question for all those folks: What are you going to do? What's your answer? What's your solution?

"And you know what? They don't have one."

An out and out lie. Only about 15 million citizens (not 47 million) are without health insurance and no one is denied access. Those trumped up numbers include illegals, people between jobs, people who could buy it but don't, and people who are already eligible for government care and are having trouble applying (which can sometimes create 4 years of documentation and expensive lawyer fees to get declared disabled). He just flat out ignores all the other possibilities, like creating more competition by allowing sales across state lines for health insurance; the tort reform that Democrats run from because of their lawyer buddies (did lawyers write all these rules and lobby for this bill?); reduction of federal mandates that few people need; and reducing fraud and waste in Medicaid and Medicare and SCHIP; kick out the lobbyists, like you promised.

Your turn Mr. President. Take the plugs out of your ears. You'll hear lots of solutions.

Finger wagging from the White House

"Changing its tactics in the health-care debate, the White House has begun stressing the moral imperative to provide health insurance to all Americans. "I am my brother's keeper, I am my sister's keeper," President Obama now argues. "And in the wealthiest nation on earth right now, we are neglecting to live up to that call." But Obama is just plain wrong that America is neglecting its obligations to the most vulnerable. The real health-care problem is not moral but structural and systemic.

We already spend hundreds of billions of dollars every year providing health care to the elderly, through Medicare, and to the poor, through Medicaid. The first of these programs—which, experts estimate, may squander up to $60 billion every year in waste, fraud, and abuse—is running a staggering, and unsustainable, long-term deficit of $38 trillion. The second is in even worse shape, with a 2006 survey finding that as many as half of all physicians have either stopped accepting new Medicaid patients or limited the number they'll see because reimbursements are so low. On paper, poor patients have great government insurance; their only problem is that they can't find a doctor." Continue reading at City Journal, It's the system.

No narrative

That's why Obama is in free fall.

"No narrative. Obama doesn't have a narrative. No, not a narrative about himself. He has a self-narrative, much of it fabricated, cleverly disguised or written by someone else. But this self-narrative is isolated and doesn't connect with us. He doesn't have an American narrative that draws upon the rest of us. All successful presidents have a narrative about the American character that intersects with their own where they display a command of history and reveal an authenticity at the core of their personality that resonates in a positive endearing way with the majority of Americans. We admire those presidents whose narratives not only touch our own, but who seem stronger, wiser, and smarter than we are. Presidents we admire are aspirational peers, even those whose politics don't align exactly with our own: Teddy Roosevelt, FDR, Harry Truman, Ike, Reagan.

But not this president. It's not so much that he's a phony, knows nothing about economics, is historically illiterate, and woefully small minded for the size of the task-- all contributory of course. It's that he's not one of us. And whatever he is, his profile is fuzzy and devoid of content, like a cardboard cutout made from delaminated corrugated paper. Moreover, he doesn't command our respect and is unable to appeal to our own common sense. His notions of right and wrong are repugnant and how things work just don't add up. They are not existential. His descriptions of the world we live in don't make sense and don't correspond with our experience." Geoffrey P. Hunt, American Thinker

Oh, he has a narrative all right. I read it all the time in editorials of professional and academic journals and see and hear it from the talking heads of the MSM. But it's not personal and doesn't connect with you and me; but does with many. It's the drumbeat narrative of the left--America suffers spiritually and psychologically under capitalism; we're like a Soros funded bad movie--a sinister influence in the world; the War on Terror is a fraud; terrorists are misunderstood freedom fighters; markets are fundamentally unjust. Americans distrust their government and authority in general; we reject universal health care because we are mean and opportunistic; we are immoral to care about the individual; we care about outcomes and investments and don't see society as a whole. Americans are bad because they rebel against their Mother--Earth. Only America and Somalia have rejected the UN convention on the Rights of Children, yada yada. A just society depends on collective wisdom. Castro is a good, kind decent man who only took property from the rich to elevate the poor workers, and it was rightfully theirs. Chavez too. Just an old sweety. The unborn and the elderly cannot contribute to the greater good and are therefore expendable. Only community should be considered, never money or financial gain for the individual (bureaucrats and politicians excepted, of course). Only national leadership in all sectors of society and morality can pull us out of our ethical cesspool of aggression and outdated biblical beliefs of right and wrong.

Oh yes, there's a narrative all right, and unfortunately Mr. Hunt, it resonates with a lot of Americans who still support him and who will insist you're talking about his race and not culture or beliefs or character.

Cap and Trade--what a nice gift for workers--lost jobs

"The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Data Analysis found that, for the average year over the 2012-2035 timeline, job losses will be 1.1 million greater than without a cap and trade bill. By 2035, there is a projected 2.5 million fewer jobs below the baseline. Some of these jobs will be destroyed completely. Others will move overseas where carbon capping isn’t in their country’s agenda and therefore the cost of production is cheaper.

We’re not the only ones who project unemployment from cap and trade. The Brookings Institute, for instance, projects that cap-and-trade will increase unemployment by 0.5% in the first decade below the baseline. Using U.S. Census population projection estimates, that’s equivalent to about 1.7 million fewer jobs than without cap-and-trade. A study done by Charles River Associates prepared for the National Black Chamber of Congress projects increases in unemployment by 2.3-2.7 million jobs in each year of the policy through 2030–after accounting for “green job” creation."

Happy thoughts for Labor Day from President Reagan

As the unemployment rate soars (9.7% and some areas of Michigan and Ohio would be thrilled with that figure), and jobs are not being created, it's time to look at a stimulus that really did work. Notice. If Obama wants to improve health, he should first correct the continued downward spiral of this economy, the worst in 26 years. Job insecurity and unemployment are not good for health. If he just wants to take over more of the private sector, he should continue on his current course.

"Common sense told us that when you put a big tax on something, the people will produce less of it. So, we cut the people's tax rates, and the people produced more than ever before. The economy bloomed like a plant that had been cut back and could now grow quicker and stronger. Our economic program brought about the longest peacetime expansion in our history: real family income up, the poverty rate down, entrepreneurship booming, and an explosion in research and new technology. We're exporting more than ever because American industry became more competitive. And at the same time, we summoned the national will to knock down protectionist walls abroad instead of erecting them at home." . . .

"Ours was the first revolution in the history of mankind that truly reversed the course of government, and with three little words: "We the people." "We the people" tell the government what to do, it doesn't tell us. "We the people" are the driver, the government is the car. And we decide where it should go, and by what route, and how fast. Almost all the world's constitutions are documents in which governments tell the people what their privileges are. Our Constitution is a document in which "We the people" tell the government what it is allowed to do. "We the people" are free. This belief has been the underlying basis for everything I've tried to do these past eight years."

Ronald Reagan Farewell speech, Jan. 11, 1989.

It looks like we the people, the citizen politicians, have some work to do. Or we won't be a beacon much longer.

Using MS Paint to draw

I've done really simply lines using MS Paint, usually to figure out perspective; but this sketch of a woman (see link) is amazing. Of course, it is a big help to be a good artist to begin with, but this shows what can be done with a simple program (came with my last 3 computers). The trick is knowing when to let up on the mouse and have an extremely steady hand (I don't).

http://sketchingdrawing.com/?p=20

This artist has many instructional videos and well worth the look for all my artsy readers.

The H1N1 Pandemic?

It seems we have a pandemic because the definition of pandemic was changed?

"Before the arrival of novel A/H1N1 virus, pandemics were said to occur when a new subtype of influenza virus to which humans have no immunity enters the population, begins spreading widely, and causes severe illness . . . But the 2009 pandemic, taken as a whole, bears little resemblance to the forecasted pandemic. Pandemic A/H1N1 virus is not a new subtype but the same subtype as seasonal A/H1N1 that has been circulating since 1977. . . Experts are unsure that the 2009 pandemic—which the World Health Organization presently characterises as moderate—will be any worse than seasonal flu." from article by Peter Doshi, doctor student, MIT, BMJ 2009;339:b3471

HT Junkfood Sciene

What did you do this summer?

Almost too much to think about it--especially, since I probably missed about half of the programming! It wears me out to think of it, so I'd better blog before I forget. Last night Kevin said there had been 90 days of programming at Lakeside. Somewhere I saw a note that Rhein Center had about 6,000 signed up for classes. So here's what I did, other than the 70 sunrise walks (and 3 sunsets), and I didn't do everything there was to do--don't have that much energy. Like during Health and Wellness week I was too tired to go to the lecture on Fatigue. Also, sometimes my husband was sailing when I was at seminars or lectures:

SEMINARS

Ohio Week
Canal Craze, Randall Buchman
Ohio and Erie Canal, Randall Buchman
Miami and Erie Canal, Peter Wilheim
Milan Canal, Ken Dickson
History of Tofts Dairy, Eugene Meisler (with Moose Tracks samples)

Civil War Week
Lincoln and his Admirals, Craig Symonds
Battle of Mobile Bay, Craig Symonds
Religion and Faith in the Civil War, Fr. Robert J. Miller
God's storm troops, the Jesuits, Fr. Robert J. Miller
Civil War sketch artists, Ken Bach

American Writers and Composers
Aaron Copland
Mark Twain
Some of the evening programing fit this theme too
I had a lot of conflicts with arts classes that week

Interfaith Week--lectures on Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity
I only attended Gene Swanger's Buddhism lecture--had conflicts with arts classes. Also attended Gene's lecture on ancient Greek insights during another week. I'd go to hear him give a weather report.

Peace and Justice Week
Topics on moral theology, global issues, juvenile justice, sustainability, malnutrition, none of which I attended, as I was busy with some tours, and I think that was also the week Gretchen did her talk on Aprons

Great Lakes
Shipwrecks--Anthony Wayne and Cortland
History of Passenger Travel
U.S. Coast Guard Temporary Reserve during WWII

Hot Button Issues--didn't attend--topics were terrorism, immigration, globalization, etc.

Health and Wellness week
Integrative medicine, Laura Kunze
Health Maintenance, John Weigand
Future of Medicine, John Weigand
Exercise, Kitty Consolo
Nutrition for healthy seniors

China (M-W)--attended all lectures by Kerry Dumbaugh--I think there were five
Astronomy (W-F) attended all by Dr. Thomas Statler and wife of Ohio University, 4 or 5

Sports and Faith
Lord's Day-Eric Liddell, Greg Linville
Biblical defense of sports, Greg Linville
Coaching today's students, Sue Ramsey, women's basketball coach at Ashland U.

MUSIC, most of these were in Hoover Auditorium at 8:15, some on the lakefront on Sundays, or early evening. Hoover also has many non-music programs, like acrobats, comedians, ventriloquists, but usually I don't go to those.

Dwight Lenox--tribute to Lou Rawls
Terra College Harpist group
Barbershop Festival, 60th
Corky Siegal & Chamber Blues
Jay Ungar & Molly Mason Family Band
Johnny Knorr Orchestra
Lakeside Symphony (I think there 8 performances) included Jean Geis Stell, pianist, a Lincoln portrait (Copeland) during Civil War Week, an opera, Don Pasquale, ballet Point of Departure
Hoagy Carmichael tribute
Black Wire (strings)
Debbie Boone
Matt Dusk (Canadian singer)
Air Force Band
Von Trapp Family Singers (great grandchildren of Maria)
OSU Alumni Band
Leahy (Canadian siblings)
Melissa Manchester
Phil Keaggy and Fernando Ortega
Glenn Miller Orchestra
Lima Marimba Ensemble
Pantasia Steel Drum Band from Findley, Ohio
Kings Brass
Mike Albert--Big E--very popular Elvis impersonator
Hey Mavis--Ed Caner
Pavlo
Chapter 6
Lowe Family
Dave Bennett--in the style of Benny Goodman
Beatitudes Cantata by Mike Shirtz

REENACTORS--this is a great way to enjoy history or biography

Anthony Gibbs--U.S. Colored troops, Civil War
Eleanor Smith--Helen Noye Hoyt, Civil War nurse
Karen Vuranch--she did Pearl Buck and Clara Barton 2 different weeks
Marvin Cole--Mark Twain

ART CLASSES at the Rhein Center

Watercolor with Robert Moyer
Watercolor with John Behling
Drawing with Geddes Levenson
Pastel with Joan Garverick
and I also took at class in English sonnets, with Steve Ricard which I blogged about, at the Rhein Center

MISCELLANEOUS

Guided bird walks (4)
Herb classes (7) and events, a tea, blending and making tea, and tour of an herb farm
Walking tours with guide of Lakeside (2)
Guided tree walk (identified 36 trees, I think)
Nest egg seminar (1); there was a whole series, but usually during my nap time
Heritage Society lectures (2)
Chaplain's Hour (1)
Lakefront worship (9), Dr. Irwin Jennings
Hoover worship (1), Cantata
Antique Show, 49th
Drama, "Sword of the Spirit" about John and Mary Brown
Community theater, "Cheaper by the Dozen"
Gladiolus show
Art Show
Photography Show
Antique auto show
July 4 fireworks
Country Dance in the street
Adirondack Chair auction
Reception at home of Trustees President
Women's Club program on Aprons
Movies (3)
Tour guide for Hotel Open house
Lecture on trees of Lakeside, Bill Smith

EATING OUT!

The Garden in Port Clinton
Bruno's in Marblehead
Avery's in Marblehead
The Patio in Lakeside (9)
Hotel Lakeside Cafe
Society of Old Salts Picnic
Ice cream social and band concert at the Hotel
Breakfast at Idlewyld B & B

And I read four books (Yancey, Wenger, Lewis, Morgan) and some essays and magazines on Ohio, because I have a nice little collection of Ohio books at the lake that I don't have at home. Usually I walked 4-6 miles a day, not much biking this year. Four week-ends we had guests and that was a lot of fun since some had never been to Lakeside.

Jones is just the tip of the iceberg

How many Czars? In Russian it means Caesar. Van Jones? One black conservative blogger called him the "Watermelon Man," green on the outside and red on the inside. Besides, all that green talk hurts minorities the most. As does marxism in general where ever it's been tried.

"Not since the administration of Franklin Roosevelt has an American president appointed a known communist to such a high position in the federal government. Not only is Green Jobs Czar Jones an avowed Marxist, he has joined together with such certifiable leftist loonies as Cynthia McKinney, Ralph Nader, and Howard Zinn in signing the 9/11 Truth Statement, and expressing his belief that the 9/11 attacks on New York’s World Trade Center was “an inside job,” involving a conspiracy within the administration of George W. Bush. He has acquiesced in the claim that the government response to Hurricane Katrina was a Bush conspiracy, as well, and that the levees may have been dynamited as part of some sinister plot." Thomas McAdam

"When Ronald Regan was president, he appointed 3 Czars, over 8 years. George W. Bush appointed 14 in 8 years. In his first one-half year, Obama has appointed 34 Czars. At this rate, we can anticipate 272 Czars in Obama’s fist term; and 544 Czars if he lasts two terms. Lots of grist for your Louisville City Hall Examiner’s mill. Mne nuzhna praktikovat’sa v Russkam." Also McAdam in the same article which lists all the czars' names. I think the transliteration says, I need to practice my Russian.

Update: I just read that Jones has resigned. I'm sure he'll hang around in the background, because after all, it's all just a smear campaign. Someone made up all those words and past events of his life! "On the eve of historic fights for health care and clean energy, opponents of reform have mounted a vicious smear campaign against me," Jones said in his resignation statement. "They are using lies and distortions to distract and divide."

Don't relax folks. There's more where he came from. These are the kind of people Obama has surrounded himself with his entire life--even as a child with his mother's friends. Pulling up one weed doesn't guarantee a harvest.

Why you need an independent guidance group for end times

Who would that be--the group that Obama said in April you needed to help you make decisions about end of life. Well, maybe his chief medical advisor, Ezekiel Emanuel.

"Someone like Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, health advisor to Obama, and Zeke's brother Rahm, who loves to hurl thunderbolts from Mount Olympus and bully freshman congressmen. They and their ilk will give us "guidance" about who is worthwhile, who is ready to die, who shall live a week or two longer. Zeke is a Harvard academic who is arrogant enough to believe that he can change human nature and decide the most intimate and complex of human issues -- those of life and death. The man, a bona fide MD, clearly prefers writing bushels of words about what's good or bad for society to caring for people and being responsible for suffering patients. The soft-spoken arrogance and vanity of this administration is sometimes stunning.

Dr. Emanuel thinks health care must be distributed according to the group to which an individual belongs. Valued groups include young and healthy persons, and favored racial and gender groups. Those of less value, of course, are those with medical problems and the elderly.

According to Emanuel's "Complete Life" plan, society's scarce resources should be spent mostly on those under 40 years of age. ["Unlike allocation by sex or race, allocation by age is not invidious discrimination. . . . Treating 65 year olds differently because of stereotypes or falsehoods would be ageist; treating them differently because they have already had more life-years is not." Dr. Emamuel, Lancet, Jan. 31, 2009] Old folks get what's left over as determined by him and his ilk. How they will make their decisions is not at all clear." American Thinker.

Let's be nice to condemned murderers, terrorists, and abortionists. Those old timers need to go. They've lived their time. It's the liberal, caring way.

Why bother going to college?

Or getting an advanced degree, or filing a law suit when you can just lie about it? Rapper/Doctor Roxanne Shanté's house of cards collapses. If investigators can find out so much about an obscure has-been musician from the 80s, why is it so tough to get college records for politicians? But she apparently did attend some college for 3 months. Not quite the PhD she claims.

Should Presidents talk to school children?

Libertarians, Democrats, some Republicans and Socialist/Progressives/Communists were horrified that George W. Bush was reading to school children on 9/11. I wasn't. He is a big reader of history and biography (despite his enemies' claim he's an illiterate boob) and his wife is a former school librarian (whom the hypocritical, liberal librarians tried to boycott at the NOLA ALA). I didn't really have an opinion--still don't. But where are those critics today with Obama planning to be piped into classrooms nationwide with lesson plans, no less, by-passing school boards and superintendents. I think it's a bad idea from his handlers-- 1) he's way over exposed, 2) besides a swiveling head with eyes glued to the teleprompter that's very annoying, he's lost that lovely "blackcent" that white liberals loved during the campaign, and 3) few audiences are more fickle than children who often want to do just the opposite of what an authority figure says.

Releasing children from the class routine to watch the inauguration was quite appropriate. It was an historic moment. They did that for us for Eisenhower back in the 50s. However, if he wants to see what goes on in the classroom, he needs to actually visit public schools and meet the children face to face. Afterall, his girls go to private school and it's probably not the same.

That said, I think conservative groups need to focus on major problems, like the scandal of his czars, his economic plan that is killing us with trillions of debt and take-overs of business, his hostility toward everything this country has stood for in the past, and his "no victory" war plans for the future. Let's skip the kid stuff.

Good works among Christians--a bit of history

As I've noted several times at this blog and my other blog, I believe churches have compromised their message and mission by taking money from the state and federal governments to run their programs. There was very poor oversite of this during the Bush (1 and 2) and Clinton years, and probably before. One only has to review the very early years of the USDA's food surplus programs--originally intended to help farmers--in which food pantries (most run by churches which had soup kitchens during the Depression) have participated for over 60 years. Once there was no more surplus to distribute, tax money was used with church volunteers doing the management. Obama has promised to tighten any religious connections--another promise he'll probably keep if the Georgetown speech is any indication.

The following item is about a tiny church with a tiny program, all of which was supported by church members, not the government, and which probably had very little waste or corruption. I'm posting it (originally an e-mail) because it combines 1) a book I was reading this morning by A.C. Wieand, 2) my interest in first issues of serials, 3) my interest in genealogy, and my early years in the Church of the Brethren (my own baptism, as well as that of my parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents). I found this in cleaning out my webmail box this morning, written to someone who asked about a photograph of nursing students taking the train from Oregon, IL to Mt. Morris, IL during WWI to attend a program at Mt. Morris College.

I have a copy of the Bethany Bible School Evangel, vol. 1, 1921 which gives many of the names of the graduates and classes beginning with about 1909 (opened in 1905). I looked through it and didn't see any of those names. However, I know that there were training institutes held at Bethany that weren't part of the curriculum because my grandparents attended. I'm sure there's a better history than what I have, but the original building was President Emanuel Hoff's home on Hastings, and then several buildings were built but there continued to be a Hastings St. Mission. On p. 55, "All who knew the crowded condition of the Hastings Street Mission will be glad to know that the situation has been temporarily relieved by the purchase of another building. Through this additional building, it is hoped that some of the many boys and girls who have been turned away in the past may be given an opportunity to attend the classes. . .[these are listed as] knitting, basketry,
handwork, printing and wireless telegraphy. Classes have been organized among the Polish and Bohemian mothers. They are being taught cooking and sewing. [also listed for this mission] Daily vacation bible school in the summer (many photos), mid-week prayer meetings, junior Christian workers' meetings and junior church services. There was also a Douglas Park Mission, and service opportunities at the County Hospital, the county home (Oak Forest), the police station. A hospital opened on Dec. 31, 1920 called "Bethany Sanitarium and Hospital."** On p. 101 it says "A Nurses' Training Class, offering practical training in caring for the sick, has been offered since 1914. This course has appealed not only to the single sisters but perhaps more mothers have been enrolled in it than in any other course." "While a regular Nurses' Training course cannot be offered in this small insitutiton, as it grows this will no doubt be its largest mission."

The 1905-06 photo shows the 2 founders (Hoff and Wieand) and 33 students. A hand drawn graph on p. 89 shows 375 students in 1919-20, and 350 in 1920-21.

Truly a work of love and following the great commission.

**Land for the original hospital was donated by my great grandfather.