Norma's plan for wealth and security--at your expense

This may look a little ragged---I sketched it out in about 10 minutes at the coffee shop this morning and I only have a little time before I leave for exercise class, but here's a reasonable draft. If you follow this, you'll be set for life with a very comfortable income with lots of perks, plus you'll feel so good about doing good.

1) Bring together a group of like minded friends--in your home would be best--for coffee and dessert.

2) Present a "problem" or "need"--could be anything you've noticed and tsk tsk'd about.

Maybe water use on the OSU golf course

wild life in the creek that runs through the neighborhood

non-native species, birds or plants, taking habitat and changing the ecology

roaming homeless people who show up in the community riding the bus from down town

no afterschool social programs or latch key for autistic children

be creative!

3) Everyone shares their "rolodex"--who we know, our neighbors, friends, members of city council, members of the state legislature or regulatory boards, boards of directors of non-profits, boards of trustees at the university and colleges we attended, department chairs at OSU, members of local Chamber, Rotary, Lions, etc.

4) Plan a fund raiser--maybe a silent auction, a "run for awareness," or a tent at a larger community festival, art show, or school event. This not only raises money but broadens your base of support--you need more people to feel invested emotionally and mentally in your plan.

5) Write your mission and vision statement/plan; open a bank account; rent a P.O. box for an address; appoint officers. I, of course, will be at the top. Find recognizable names and appoint a board that won't have to do anything except have their names displayed. Make sure one of your volunteers is a lawyer. You'll need a charter and organizing document. Apply for 501 C 3 non-profit status for your organization (charity, scientific, save animals, etc.). After you get this, it's doubtful anyone will check on you in the future, unless you do something screwy, like appear on the Glenn Beck show or dance nude in front of the city building.

6) Apply for grants from local foundations. Grant writing is an art--so you'll want to find a member in your group that has some experience in this. I used to do this, but it was years ago, so you won't ask me.

7) Using that small amount of grant money you can do a marketing campaign, pay for a professionally designed web "presence" and offer one or two educational events (again, this isn't for information, but for broadening your base of support). Get your little group on facebook and Twitter. Blog it to death. So far, you've not saved a single bird, or drop of water, or plant, but it takes a lot of money and time to gear up for the big reveal.

8) Reevaluate your mission, members and message. Redesign to become "green,", "sustainable," or "eco-something." No matter what your original concern was, this step is absolutely critical for further funding.

If you chose wildlife, you can expand to deer killed on the interstate, and you know what that means--big bad SUVs and semi's slurping up petroleum products shipped here from the middle east making us oil dependent so we need more wind mills to save the deer and stop the war in the middle east. See how easy it is to grow?

If you chose afterschool programs for autistic children, you can branch into investigations of products, healthy foods, anti-vaccine campaigns, or any of the larger health care concerns. There are lots of people on this band wagon, so it's a little dicey--not as safe as energy needs.

9) Apply for major funding and gifts--national foundations (there are thousands of these set up by rich entreprenuers to protect their wealth and run 2 generations later by feel-good, guilt-ridden descendants), state grants (which come from and are laundered from the federal) and federal grants when you're ready. There are thousands--most with very little oversight until the next administration comes in, so now's a good time.

10) Put me (or you) and your BBF BFF (a BBF was a local hamburger) on salary--nothing flashy--maybe $75-80,000 a year with full benefits. This is all covered in the 501 C 3 instructions. You don't want to raise any red flags. But make it comfortable. It's the perks that come from the travel to conferences and meetings in exotic locales, the schmoozing with other movers and shakers, and all those great connections for home loans, investment opportunities and good deals at wholesale that really make this job pay.

I don't want you to think I was smart enough to think this up on my own. No, I just read an interesting history of a non-profit in their latest annual report, and this is how the Ohio Housing Trust Fund went from a rag tag group of volunteers with no budget 20 years ago to a constitutionally backed budget of $56 million in the 2008-2009 Ohio Biennium Budget. Or you can follow and back track any group linked to Fannie Mae, whose front man is Barnie Frank. Just now I googled, "affordable house" + Fannie Mae + grants and found an amazing group of attractive annual reports. Go to it--I have to run to class.

CNU--Another non-profit seeking to change you

The Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization is the leading organization promoting walkable, neighborhood-based development as an alternative to sprawl. Not the nanny state exactly, but certainly one of the nagger earth groups. Many of these same building and design career groups gave us urban sprawl and mile after mile of cul-du-sacs and congested feeder roads 30-50 years ago. Now they’re unhappy with it, want you to move back down town, and walk every where. Good luck!

"CNU takes a proactive, multi-disciplinary approach to restoring our communities. Members are the life of the organization – they are the planners, developers, architects, engineers, public officials, investors, and community activists who create and influence our built environment, transforming growth patterns from the inside out, and making it easier for people to live healthy lives. Whether it's bringing restorative plans to hurricane-battered communities in the Gulf Coast, turning dying malls into vibrant mixed-use neighborhoods, or reconnecting isolated public housing projects to the surrounding fabric, new urbanists are providing leadership in community building.

Our relationship with our members allows us to do more than just talk about the problems of the built environment. Together, we are creating tools that make it easier to put New Urbanism into practice around the world.

CNU advocates the restructuring of public policy and development practices to support the restoration of existing urban centers and towns within coherent metropolitan regions. We stand for the reconfiguration of sprawling suburbs into communities of real neighborhoods and diverse districts, the conservation of natural environments, and the preservation of our built legacy.

Rebuilding neighborhoods, cities, and regions is profoundly interdisciplinary. We believe that community, economics, environment, health and design need to be addressed simultaneously through urban design and planning."

Oh, and it is also an international movement and very, very green--asking for lots and lots of money from the government (that's your tax money) to tear down, and start over.

Key words to look for in this movement are: sustainable, targeted, mixed use, proximity, access, mixed income, self-sufficiency, community, transect-zones, pedestrian friendly, green-space, job-creation, transportation reform, housing mix, smart growth, street design alternatives, low-carbon--think a 1930s movie about a fantasy 19th century city--no cars, happy people chatting on street corners, and ordering from the butcher personally. Or the setting for the Huxtable townhouse on the Bill Cosby TV show in the mid-1980s.

Just remember, these are the people who just 25-30 years ago brought us urban centers that looked like cereal boxes in a row, empty pedestrian malls in cities to bring shoppers down town, shops and boutiques in renovated factories, and here in Columbus, we got the fabulous City Center, just about 20 years ago which is now slated for demolition. Here in suburban Upper Arlington we've got one of these "mixed-use" complexes about 2 miles down the road that looks totally inappropriate, with about 10% occupancy because of the recession, across from a mall that they are bulldozing and rebuilding.

Obscene profits of health insurance companies?

President Obama, July 22: "Now, you know, there had been reports just over the last couple of days of insurance companies making record profits. Right now, at the time when everybody’s getting hammered, they’re making record profits and premiums are going up."

Speaker of the House, Pelosi, July 27: “I’m very pleased that our Chair of our Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and member of the leadership will be talking too about the immoral profits being made by the insurance industry and how those profits have increased in the Bush years. We all believe in the profit motive; we all want to reward success. But having that success come at the expense of America’s working families — have that success come by withholding care, when a person becomes ill, is just not right and we’re going to take this issue in a new direction."

Don't you just want to weep over those immoral, record profits--and yet they are 86th measured by profit margin. There are 85 industries more profitable than Health Care Plans (includes Cigna, Aetna, WellPoint, HealthSpring, etc.). So who will they go after next? The brewery business? #1 is Brewers at 25.9%--no wonder Obama tried to cover his mistakes by inviting the guys over for a beer. #15 is railroads. #31 at 7.1 is cleaning products! Auto parts stores is 5.8 for slot 53--not even close to health insurance. Hospitals are #77. August 12, Carpe Diem

Fox News Ratings Soar After Snub From Obama

After Anita Dunn went after Fox News (and her admiration for Mao was revealed), the ratings on Fox soared. The top 11 shows are on the Fox News Channel. Why do you suppose that is? For starters, they present more than 24/7 ONO, the Obama News Only (pronounced Oh No!). In fact, with their commentators, there are usually 2, 3, or 4 points of views. But liberals are so ga-ga over their gotta-get-over-the-guilt candidate (who just keeps campaigning), they think anyone who questions him or his programs must be evil and shut down. The same people who went bonkers over the Patriot Act (which was bipartisan and intended for terrorists) have no problem at all shutting down a news agency and sending out thought police under the guise of "hate speech" regulations.

HT Silicon Alley Insider

President Obama wants to hear from you

Really. He said so many times. Not all blacks voted for him. Not all gays are liberals. Not all women are feminists. Not all Hispancis crossed the border in this century. Not everyone at the tea parties were Republican retirees. He says you should speak out, you should effect change, so JUST DO IT!!

Here are the president's words, and a link where you can go to write a letter to your local papers (based on your zip code) so you don't have to reenter the information several times.

“I have always said that I don’t think that the LGBT [insert your group here] community should take its cues from me or some political leader in terms of what they think is right for them. Real change comes from the bottom up, not the top down. As your President, I will fight to make LGBT equality a reality at the federal level. But it is the LGBT community [insert your name, family, group, church here] that has to decide what is in their best interest, and to help make it happen by engaging actively with the political process.”
Barack Obama, April 30, 2008


"This is what change looks like when it happens from the bottom up. And in this election, your voices will be heard.

Because at a time when so many people are struggling to keep up with soaring costs in a sluggish economy, we know that the status quo in Washington just won’t do. Not this time. Not this year. We can’t keep playing the same Washington game with the same Washington players and expect a different result – because it’s a game that ordinary Americans are losing….

The politics of hope does not mean hoping things come easy. Because nothing worthwhile in this country has ever happened unless somebody, somewhere stood up when it was hard; stood up when they were told – no you can’t, and said yes we can."
Barack Obama, February 13, 2008


". . . it’s so important that you continue to speak out, that you continue to set an example, that you continue to pressure leaders — including me — and to make the case all across America.
Barack Obama, October 10, 2009

Let's take him at his word. He wants us to speak up, stand up, demand no more same old, same old, from corrupt, pork crazed, deficit deranged politicians!

Then go to this link, it's extremely easy to fill out your message to your local papers, (it's Obama's own website) and be clear, specific and polite.

Here's mine--and I think I clicked on the Columbus Dispatch, WSJ and USAToday. Whether their editors are honoring these, I don't know. But it certainly is easier than contacting each one and trying to figure out different templates. It has a preview before you send, with an easy editing feature. Of course, Obama will have your home address and e-mail, . . . but oh well, did you think he wouldn't know?

Easy solutions for fixing health care [subject line you fill in]

[Message] Our system will work much better if competition across state lines is included in the plan. Once we eliminate the fraud from Medicare and Medicaid we will have a template for reform; but let's not add to that plate until we've cleaned it up. People in this country illegally are breaking the law and should not be eligible for any plan, not employers, not public option. The government should not be silencing people who have alternative views any more than it should be taking over private businesses and running them. And that includes insurance companies, car companies, banks, small businesses, large businesses. That's statism, and it's not the hope and change Americans voted for. Also, Democrats and Republicans both seem much too cozy with lawyers and don't want to consider tort reform. Why is that?

Also, legislators who have broken laws--ethics or tax--should be excluded from the process until they are cleared.

Only about 10% of our citizens are without health care in any given week/month. That's probably about the number who also want vaccines. When we get the vaccine campaigns correct without fear, scare tactics and declared national emergencies, maybe we can move to larger targets.

A generation that applauds for death panels

Last night Glenn Beck looked into the camera (wearing glasses) and reminded us there is a generational divide in support of the take over of America's health system, of the generation that is supporting the President's health plan. They applauded Robert Reich in 2007 when he spoke at Berkeley about how elders were not going to be treated because it is too expensive. Beck read to us a letter from a reader of Time magazine about their cover story on him. It truly was chilling.

"I had to wait through eight years of an administration that brought this country to the brink. Frankowski should sit down quietly while the rest of us get to the task of cleaning up Bush's mess. Besides, this health-care debate isn't about those over 30; it's about the millions of uninsured, recently graduated young people saddled with loans we can't imagine paying off, who are sick and tired of living in an abyss created by our elders' stupidity. Obama would be smart to focus on college towns. Step aside, grandma. We want health care and we want it now."

Today I came across a blog, SanityRanch.com no longer active, where the last item written Aug. 22, 2008, was this:

I just received my eldest daughter’s senior year yearbook from Pomona High School, Arvada CO. I am at the moment shaking as I write this post. The yearbook, cover to cover, bears a font which would be perfect on a slasher-flick poster. It’s a Halloween font, with every single letter dripping black blood. Every page, every header, and to cap it off every single child’s name in the baby picture section. MY child’s name, right there above her angelic smiling toddler face, dripping black blood.

This is the result of a generation of children raised with time-outs. This is the result of a teenaged yearbook staff allowed to run the entire process without adult supervision. This is the result of a generation of kids being raised in what has been described as a culture of death. Names above baby pictures, dripping blood.

The kind of thing people like Michael Schiavo, and nearly the entire nation of Denmark and the state of Oregon, might just approve of.

Traumatized, shocked, appalled. And thinking quite seriously if litigation.

My daughter’s senior memories, dripping black blood.

Long before Glenn Beck was even at Fox, she certainly knew about this generational divide.

Is it H1N1, just regular flu or a cold?

There are reports that any flu patient seen by a hospital or doctor is being reported as having H1N1, which could account for the numbers in the latest crisis the government is promoting. A few days ago CBS reported in a month's long investigation, state-by-state results of tests for H1N1 found that most cases were negative. (Remember, never waste a crisis--Rahm Emanuel) Although why, during the health care push Obama would want to emphasize how ineffective and chaotic this drive to get people vaccinated is, I can't imagine. If they can't handle this, how will they handle 300 million? In Columbus, you can't even get the regular vaccine, and people stand in line for hours on a rumor for H1N1. Anyway, I looked it up, and maybe this is just another urban legend, but here's what I found, and I think I've read this before.

"H1N1 is a type of viruses, comprising dozens different strains. No specific strain was ever shown to be the cause of this particular new swine flu, chiefly because it was never shown to be present in all the cases, then or now. But from the outset, the national media was counting all these numbers as cases of the disease even there was no verifiable method for specifically identifying the disease. Without a screening test, the cases were being diagnosed by symptoms only. This is precisely what happened with the nonexistent Avian flu of 4 years ago. [5] If we're diagnosing by symptoms only, then any case of any flu can be counted. And that's exactly what has happening here all along with swine flu."

No longer than these vaccines have had to be developed and the short time to be proven effective, we're essentially testing them on children! Another doctor says there has been no testing since July--so why are these being counted as H1N1 if no one knows?

The Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

Will Obama attack them too, or are they protected from his anger and ire because of their Spanish surnames? The web site of the El Paso Chamber (all in English, incidentally). According to today's WSJ wealthy Mexicans are migrating to El Paso in the largest number since the revolution of 1910. Link. Murder has exploded in Juarez, now at 300 a month (Isn't that more than Iraq and Afghanistan?). Even the non-rich need body guards to stay in business, so they are moving to El Paso.

Cindy Ramos-Davidson, chief executive of the El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, said her staff was swamped with requests from Juárez businesspeople wanting to settle in El Paso. They started more than 200 companies in the 12 months ended July 31, a 40% jump from the same period last year.

WalMart believes Moms don't watch Beck

On October 9 I wrote to Eduardo Castro-Wright of Walmart in Bentonville, AR about pulling advertising from Glenn Beck because of pressure from groups like Color of Change and MoveOn.org. I pointed out that they need a capitalist country if they are going to succeed and advertising with Beck, an old fashioned "muckraker" will help restore our economy (even though he's not a journalist--most of them are either dead or cowed into submission by pressure from special interest groups or the White House). Even though there is a black man in the White House, we Americans are being insulted and called racists by the leftist and marxist groups that support him. So when Obama showed he was one of them--prejudging an entire segment of the country in the Gates incident--Beck called him on it.

Do you know what Walmart wrote back? In an unsigned letter some department called "Executive Communications" wrote a reply very condescending to women, addressing me as "Dear Norma," about my "reaching out to us."

"Our ads are targeted at moms, and fundamentally these ads are about saving people money so they can live better. We buy advertising on shows that run the spectrum politically and socially because we want to be on the programs moms are watching. As our core customer, she is "the boss." At the same time, we want to make sure our commercials don't appear in programs that detract from the message we are trying to deliver."

Wow. Apparently they haven't read any of the conservative, politically astute mommy bloggers that I read. Ladies, I think you have your work cut out for you. Walmart thinks you're not interested in the future of the country. And just where is that "spectrum" of different political and social ideas? Even the comedy and drama series are getting their talking points from the White House. Are the moms only watching football? Gambling? Food channel? Those are the only shows I can think of whose outcomes haven't been influenced by the White House directives to continue campaigning for Obama's take over of health care and the global warming myths.

Also, there's a grammatical error in the first paragraph, but I won't embarrass them by pointing it out on my blog. Also, they seem to think Glenn Beck is a cable "news" show--another mistake. Opinion disguised as news is what Katie Couric and the New York Times do.

Rosie's done one thing right

Her chair. I saw a photo of her today in USAToday doing her Sirius XM radio show on satellite. It appears she's sitting in an Aeron Herman Miller chair. Oh, how I miss mine.

She's irreverent, irrelevant and irritating, but she loves Obama so she won't get get hassled for her opinion by the White House, which only complains about right wing opinions and tries to close them down. She'll probably have Anita Dunn, the Mao-admirer who told high school kids he was an example of choosing your own path in life (not mentioning he was responsible for the deaths of 70 million.) Maybe they could discuss body disposal.

Bonita's Apples

Bonita is a blogger I follow who takes the most wonderful photographs--especially of food (always very healthy and often over a campfire), her family outings in the mountains or interesting places, and her Bahai fellowship. We got permission to use one as a reference photo for a painting (by my husband) and this is the result. The cat didn't want to get up so she came along for the show. He didn't like it, but I made some suggestions and I think he's going to keep it. I think a bit more dark on the right side of the oar would really give more depth, but he says no.

Our trip to New England October 1977--Monday Memories

Today I was looking through the photo album of our trip to New England in October 1977. The photos were taken with my little instamatic camera and the plastic pages of the album have pretty much sucked out all the color, although I think it was gray much of the trip. Plus I taped the description on the open end, so it's virtually impossible to take any photos out. But here's one that many people, particularly artists, will recognize--Motif #1 in Rockport, Massachusetts. It may be the most painted scene in America.

Also on that trip we stopped in Boston for two days and stayed with my college roommate, Dora Hsiung and her husband, who is also an architect and a watercolorist like my husband. Dora and I roomed together at McKinley Hall at the University of Illinois. So I went into Google to see what shows she's doing these days and found a slide show selection of her work of fifty wall hangings, installations and sculptures, many large-scale, which are on view at the Chinese Culture Center (CCC) in San Francisco as part of its Xian Rui (Fresh and Sharp) exhibition series. She is a fabulous artist, and I still have the fabric piece she gave me in 1977, and always look forward to their Christmas cards.


Find more images like this on Chinese Culture Center Online Gallery


Photos of Dora and me in the 50s and 80s

Still clueless about what Obama is doing

ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" October 25.

When will our vigilant, "free" press wake up? Yes, they are nibbling around the edges, but only Laura Ingraham nails it. Where else do you see this kind of passion from the White House, except when attacking America's free speech? And this is the guy who's had a free ride to the White House from the press--yes, even from Fox News. But Laura, the ratings will make no difference when he shuts you down after shutting you out! It's all a cover so we don't focus on what's really happening.



HT David Zurawik, Baltimore Sun.

The fun way to change behavior

Probably works better than lectures and finger wagging from the nanny state.

Florida gets the most--$580,096,634

Treasury Dept. Press Release on ARRA Housing money

Call me crazy, but I think "supporting local developers," "working quickly," "tax credits," "innovative programs," and "building affordable housing," are what brought us to this mess.

"WASHINGTON – As part of the Obama Administration's efforts to strengthen communities and ease pressures on the housing market, the U.S. Department of the Treasury today announced $284 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act) funding to spur the development of affordable housing in California. To date, 45 state housing authorities have been awarded a total of $3.1 billion in payments in lieu of tax credits for affordable housing projects.

This innovative Recovery Act program allows the federal government to partner with states to support local developers and helps ensure that housing developers can access the financing necessary to build affordable housing," said Treasury Deputy Secretary Neal Wolin. "We have worked quickly to make available more than $3 billion to state housing agencies, and we expect to see continued efforts at the state level, so that these funds can be delivered to the communities that need it most."

In May 2009, the Treasury Department launched an innovative program to provide payments in lieu of tax credits to state housing agencies to jump start the development or renovation of qualified affordable housing for families across the country. Upon receiving notice of these allocations, state housing agencies manage a competitive process to disburse funds to qualified developers. This is an ongoing program open to additional state applications through 2010."

More low income people pushed into mortgages they can't afford to supply jobs for the building trades and unions.

Maybe it's Kerry's first term?

At some very far left blogs, I've seen grousing (swearing, cursing, gutter language like you wouldn't believe!) that Obama is doing a Bush third term. No indeed, they are not happy with the hope and change--it looks like Bush retreads to them. They know and we know why he's waffling on his assurances to us during the campaign. So Dick Cheney's speech at the Republican Convention in 2004 looks more interesting. Maybe, Obama is really Kerry's first term, minus the experience and the military service, of course? Wanting to be under the authority of the UN, seeking approval from our critics, flip flopping on a variety of issues--yes, except for the lack of experience, it all sounds very familier.

"The President's opponent is an experienced senator. He speaks often of his service in Vietnam, and we honor him for it. But there is also a record of more than three decades since. And on the question of America's role in the world, the differences between Senator Kerry and President Bush are the sharpest, and the stakes for the country are the highest. History has shown that a strong and purposeful America is vital to preserving freedom and keeping us safe — yet time and again Senator Kerry has made the wrong call on national security. Senator Kerry began his political career by saying he would like to see our troops deployed "only at the directive of the United Nations." During the 1980s, Senator Kerry opposed Ronald Reagan's major defense initiatives that brought victory in the Cold War. In 1991, when Saddam Hussein occupied Kuwait and stood poised to dominate the Persian Gulf, Senator Kerry voted against Operation Desert Storm.

Even in this post-9/11 period, Senator Kerry doesn't appear to understand how the world has changed. He talks about leading a "more sensitive war on terror," as though Al Qaeda will be impressed with our softer side. He declared at the Democratic Convention that he will forcefully defend America — after we have been attacked. My fellow Americans, we have already been attacked, and faced with an enemy who seeks the deadliest of weapons to use against us, we cannot wait for the next attack. We must do everything we can to prevent it — and that includes the use of military force.

Senator Kerry denounces American action when other countries don't approve — as if the whole object of our foreign policy were to please a few persistent critics. In fact, in the global war on terror, as in Afghanistan and Iraq, President Bush has brought many allies to our side. But as the President has made very clear, there is a difference between leading a coalition of many, and submitting to the objections of a few. George W. Bush will never seek a permission slip to defend the American people.

Senator Kerry also takes a different view when it comes to supporting our military. Although he voted to authorize force against Saddam Hussein, he then decided he was opposed to the war, and voted against funding for our men and women in the field. He voted against body armor, ammunition, fuel, spare parts, armored vehicles, extra pay for hardship duty, and support for military families. Senator Kerry is campaigning for the position of commander in chief. Yet he does not seem to understand the first obligation of a commander in chief — and that is to support American troops in combat.

In his years in Washington, John Kerry has been one of a hundred votes in the United States Senate — and very fortunately on matters of national security, his views rarely prevailed. But the presidency is an entirely different proposition. A senator can be wrong for 20 years, without consequence to the nation. But a president — a president — always casts the deciding vote. And in this time of challenge, America needs — and America has — a president we can count on to get it right.

On Iraq, Senator Kerry has disagreed with many of his fellow Democrats. But Senator Kerry's liveliest disagreement is with himself. His back-and- forth reflects a habit of indecision, and sends a message of confusion. And it is all part of a pattern. He has, in the last several years, been for the No Child Left Behind Act — and against it. He has spoken in favor of the North American Free Trade Agreement — and against it. He is for the Patriot Act — and against it. Senator Kerry says he sees two Americas. It makes the whole thing mutual — America sees two John Kerrys.

2004 Republican National Convention on Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2004

Has Bill McKibben abandoned Jesus for Al Gore?

Looking back through his writings, I'd say YES. Five or ten years ago he was obsessed with correcting self-centered, me-and-Jesus Christianity, the failures of dispensationalism on the one end and Rick Warren on the other, with some CO2 and environmentalism as top dressing. Oddly, I didn't find much criticism of the humanistic, communistic, peace and justice Christians. The ones whose churches have emptied out from lack of following Jesus. From admiring Cuba's agriculture, to criticizing just about everything in American culture, his Christian veneer is desperately thin, even five years ago. Yesterday, the big 350 event, shows he's completely moved to climate changism. Algorism. No more "let's pretend". Since Jesus put all Creation in motion, (In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. John 1:1-3 RSV), it's odd to see yet another man-made, spiritual but not Christian, movement go global. Ah, the power of the internet. Paul was much more convincing back in the first century and demanded much more of people than demonstrating, painted faces, group projects, and protests. Yes, much more demanding.

Hundreds of photos at the 350 site. From expensive sail boats to high tech bicycles. But I thought this one on the site of a destroyed culture seemed to best illustrate what eco-fundamentalists want for us--especially America. Didn't the rulers of some of these civilizations need human sacrifice to stay in power?

Atheist Pat Condell speaks out on free speech

It's not often I agree with an atheist about religion, but this be one of those times.



Our First Amendment rights are under attack.

Giving out awards

A The New Republic Jonathan Chait notes in "The case against awards" that:

"A recent statistical analysis by Robert T. Hodgson, published in the Journal of Wine Economics (I kid you not), found that a wine that wins one competition is no more likely to win another competition than any other wine. Which is to say, wine awards are handed out completely at random. If you listen to movie buffs, they will tell you that the Academy Awards regularly commit unforgiveable sins of commission or omission. Look closely at any field that gives out awards, and you will probably find that injustice is more the rule than the exception.

I've often suspected as much at art shows when I look at the winners. However, since I think the point of his article was to reference Obama's recent prize when he erroneously says, "the committee frequently chooses recipients in order to encourage or empower them, rather than to reward actual achievement" at least I can't think of any examples, one person comments:

Originally the award was designed to be given to those who had done the most to bring about peace. This means it should go to international mediators and those who make peace with their internal or external enemies. While there might not be good candidates every year, there are many who fit this criterion who haven't received the award. It took the Nobel Committee in Oslo 23 years to award Carter for mediating the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty. There are two figures in the Obama administration who deserve it for their work in the Clinton administration: George Mitchell for mediating the Good Friday Agreement in Belfast in 1998; Richard Holbrooke for mediating the Dayton Accords for Bosnia in 1995. Obama should give each of them half of the peace prize.

I think I could go for that--split it with people who deserve it. Although wasn't Clinton given the credit for the Belfast Agreement? He certainly is revered in Ireland.

Google and social networks

Independent booksellers fight back

This is a very, very old problem. The people who do it better get more customers, and the smaller firms (which years ago put the mom and pop firms out of business) complain to the government. I feel badly for the book sellers--I like nothing better than to nose around a cosy bookstore, but there sure are a lot of holes in their arguments. The letter to DOJ from the ABA.

I really think their gripe is with the publishers, not Wal-Mart, Target and Amazon. The book business has been screwy for many, many years. Long before Sam Walton ever thought of expanding his little five and dime store. I remember thinking that when I sat by the hour tearing the covers off books and hauling the guts to the trash bin behind the bookstore.

Mr. President, there is no consensus

Why does he keep smacking us with the global warming myth? Calling us names like naysayers and cynics. Defeatists. Living in the past. Pretending that most people believe it? Any thinking person can see where we're going with the cap and trade bills and agreements--not to protecting future generations, not to lower energy costs, not to saving glaciers and polar bears. Not only do we know the temperature hasn't risen in a decade, but we're on to his one world, global control scheme. It's just an opinion but considering what a bad country he believes he's heading, I think our president, hopes soon to be ruler of the world. (Look out Norway, he's got his eye on you!)

“There are those who will suggest that moving toward clean energy will destroy our economy — when it’s the system we currently have that endangers our prosperity and prevents us from creating millions of new jobs. There are going to be those who cynically claim — make cynical claims that contradict the overwhelming scientific evidence when it comes to climate change, claims whose only purpose is to defeat or delay the change that we know is necessary.” Obama's remarks at MIT, Friday

If anyone bought into this, it would be the building trades, architects in particular. Their livelihood depends on it--they're wetting themselves over the thought of tearing down the clunkers and getting government money to build green. And yet the cover story of Architect says 46% believe in climate change, 34% believe it isn't caused by humans, 13% believe global warming is a myth perpetuated by the media, and 7% aren't sure that building green will help when China and India are expanding so rapidly. So let's see, that's 46% for, and 54% who either don't believe it's man made, or it's a myth, or that there aren't political solutions. Does that sound like a consensus to you?

And how about Pew Research Center? According to the New York Times

The decline in the belief in solid evidence of global warming has come across the political spectrum, but has been particularly pronounced among independents. Just 53% of independents now see solid evidence of global warming, compared with 75% who did so in April 2008. Republicans, who already were highly skeptical of the evidence of global warming, have become even more so: just 35% of Republicans now see solid evidence of rising global temperatures, down from 49% in 2008 and 62% in 2007. Fewer Democrats also express this view – 75% today compared with 83% last year.

Obama and Waxman are losing ground on this, even among their own people. No wonder he wants to rush it through. The biggest drop of support is in the Mountain States. Hmmm. Do you suppose they are figuring out what cap and trade will do to their economy?

What's the hurry, Mr. President? "Never waste a [man made, trumped up, media engorged, one-world government] crisis."

Kiplinger drinks the Obama Kool-aid

This little item came through today in AIArchitect, the "Kiplinger Connection."

Economic Stimulus
Was the economic stimulus a success? Depends on how you measure.
The answer’s no, if set against Obama’s original goals: Holding joblessness around 8% and limiting the economic contraction this year to about 1.2%. [Yup, he missed that big time.]

But measured against what would have been, it was a rousing success. [You're kidding, right? Have you noticed your grandchildren will pay for this?] Washington added about $90 billion to GDP in the second and third quarters, through direct payments to the states, COBRA subsidies for the unemployed, reduced income tax withholding plus the first round of infrastructure spending. [Notice how little was spent on infrastructure--but isn't that what he promised?] Otherwise, the second quarter contraction would have been worse than the 0.7% it was, and third quarter GDP would have been expected to come in flat. As it is … GDP surely rose in the third quarter, probably by a healthy 3.5% or so. [Gee, maybe he can keep this going 10 years like FDR did?]

One reason for the view that the stimulus isn’t panning out: Obama’s tendency to focus on infrastructure development. Spending on it has been slow to take off…with long lead times for planning and contracting … and slow to pay off in terms of increased business spending and job creation. [Or maybe he was wasting too much political capital on stealing our health care and had no appointments who knew anything about business and capitalism?]

Shoulda coulda woulda--there is no way to measure "what would have been," just as there's no way to know about that job you didn't take, or the one you didn't marry, or that promotion you didn't get, or club you didn't join, or that trip you didn't take. Sure--might have been super, or it could have been a bust. You just don't know. Nor do we know what would have happened if the federal government had just let the recession run its course, let bad companies fail--no cash for clunkers, no take-over of banks and automakers, no petty czars poking their noses into business, no threatening Fox News for pointing out the obvious, no denigration of 95% of American businesses who belong to the Chamber, no take over of the economy in order "not to waste a crisis." But if government stayed out of our business, out of market manipulation, out of mortgages, out of schools--well, wouldn't that mean we don't need them. And what would they do with all that surplus, pent up wind power?

Trying out the new sidewalks

This morning I took advantage of the new sidewalks and timed myself on a walk around the neighborhood which formerly would have meant wet shoes and falling into the traffic from the bad slope. Half an hour, or approximately 2 miles. The intersection wasn't quite finished, so I didn't connect to the sidewalks on the other side that would have led to the park, choosing instead to walk briefly inside Columbus (no curbs, no sidewalks, poorly paved street) and then back again into our community. In spite of the gray skies, the color in the trees is still beautiful. I don't know how many variety of maple trees there is, but they all seemed to be a different color--ochre, yellow, burgundy, gold, red, lime with a touch of rose, scarlet, purple, and some as green as an August day. With some shin stretches and good solid shoes I should be able to tolerate walking on concrete. So as I'm walking and enjoying the fall weather, I'm thinking--M W F exercise class, T Th S walking the neighborhood for half an hour. That really sounds good until the wind picks up and the temperature drops into the 20s. My mother took up cross country skiing at my age--don't think I'll do that--she was just amazing--but in her memory, I'll try to keep up. Besides, we don't get much snow here.

The perfect birthday card

Sometimes it's just not worth it. I look and look and look. Some cards are so not true. When my dad was alive it was virtually impossible to find a good card--sailboats and golf clubs were just not him. I always look for the right words after I find the right art. This week was my son-in-law's birthday. He's not the home made card type--and I do many of those with my own art. So the hunt was on. Finally, I found it. The art was just awful--bad colors, yucky graphics, but the text fit.
(on the front)
Son-in-law
Strong
Good-hearted
Intelligent
Real
Beyond amazing

(inside)
It means so much
to have someone like you
in our family.
Hope you know
how much you're loved
and appreciated.
The four of us went out to eat at our favorite sports bar and caught up (at least my daughter and I did--the guys probably talked sports). She's doing such an amazing job on her treadmill exercise routine--but hurt her tendon on the recent vacation trip, so we're taking over my exercycle today (which is gathering dust) so she can get aerobic but not put pressure on her foot. I don't know how many dress sizes she's dropped but at least four, and all through the discipline of regular, intense exercise. She was dangerously close to being a diabetic, and all her labs are normal now. She's such an inspiration, I'm even wearing my sweats and athletic shoes to go for a walk (on our new sidewalk) after coffee. It's takes a lot to get me to exercise, and to appear in public dressed this way.

And I apologized for the poor art work--He did like the sentiment.

We no longer have this couch, so I'm guessing ca. 2005

Thanks America!

Some very wealthy suburbs of Columbus, Ohio, are getting new sidewalks, road repairs, and other dinky little jobs cleaned up at your expense (stimulus money). Soon I'll be able to walk to my favorite coffee shop--I don't think it's this stretch, but one further south if I read the papers correctly. Now, we've certainly sent our share to Washington, D.C. and because of the wealth here, Obama will get his pound of flesh in return for these sidewalks. In recent years (since 2004) the progressive movement in U.A. has really been flexing its muscle, but really, if the richest communities in the country like Upper Arlington, Dublin and Worthington, loaded with OSU faculty and government employees, can't pay for their own sidewalks across the street from one of the finest golf courses in the nation, something's really screwy in the federal government.

One of the city workers stopped me on my walk yesterday and asked how I liked the brick retaining wall (had to cut into our landscaping), and I said it looked nice. He started to say something about Obama (I had the impression he thinks it's free money), and then quickly changed the subject when I asked him why Arlington needed stimulus money.

Here's an August article from Business First detailing some of the other projects around our city.

Friday Family Photo--Christopher

In two Monday Memories I featured our nephew Caleb, entering the army reserves. This is our nephew Christopher, grandson of Brother Bob and Sister Jean (as is Caleb, son of Joan and Dan), son of young Robert and Christa. He's recently finished his Air Force training and was hoping for an exotic relocation--wishes granted--he'll be in Dayton, OH!

Obama's promises to the gay lobby

The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. "By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against LGBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all."

On October 10 the president gave this speech to the HRC which included:

My expectation is that when you look back on these years, you will see a time in which we put a stop to discrimination against gays and lesbians -- whether in the office or on the battlefield. (Applause.) You will see a time in which we as a nation finally recognize relationships between two men or two women as just as real and admirable as relationships between a man and a woman. (Applause.) You will see a nation that's valuing and cherishing these families as we build a more perfect union -- a union in which gay Americans are an important part. I am committed to these goals. And my administration will continue fighting to achieve them.

Of course, he’s flipped, flopped, and bamboozled the American public before resulting in the biggest loss in approval numbers in the briefest time of any president. I don't know why the GLBTs should have any more faith in him than Christians, business people, insurance salesmen, auto dealers, bankers, home owners, newscasters or anyone else he's lied to and absconded with their wealth and freedoms. Of any group in the U.S. in danger from his cozy relationship with Muslims, it would be this community.

What's behind the closed doors?

While I head for the coffee shop, Murray will give you his ideas on what Harry Reid was trying to do this week with the healthcare bill.

This week Senator Harry Reid (D-Nev) tried taking 250 billion of expenses out of the healthcare Bill in an attempt to lower the overall cost. $250 Billion! How ? By simply eliminating it from the healthcare Bill and paying the 250 billion out to doctors over a 10 year period of time. This would be unfunded and simply be added to the national debt!

It appears there were two problems he was trying to solve. Lower the cost of the health plan to make it look better and still appease the doctors who aren't supporting the plan. You see, even though the AMA claims to be for the plan, the majority of the doctors in this country are not. That's why Obama held that little fiasco handing out white coats to a select few who were supposed to be doctors in an attempt to fake us out one more time. Obama is good at that.

Fortunately 12 Democrats plus the Republicans defeated the move which proved to be a miscalculation by Reid. I'm sure there will be other attempts to make this "dog" bill look better before it's over. This attempt to extract 250 billion of costs out of the healthcare bill has NOT CAUSED A RIPPLE in the mainstream media. With all the attention and focus on this bill, wouldn't you think NBC, CBS, ABC and the major newspapers would jump all over this? No, no, no! They'd rather give us another report on the Swine Flu.

Well the only people that have so far [Thursday] is Fox News. You know Fox. That's the News station that the Obama administration keeps trying to shut down. They have all the others cooperating but so far they haven't been able to quiet Fox but that doesn't mean they haven't been trying! They put political pressure on Fox's advertisers and claim that Fox IS NOT a news station.

There probably is another reason for sneaking out some of the costs of the healthcare bill. These are my own thoughts. You see, Tuesday the Democrats were behind closed doors ( no Republicans allowed in spite of the fact that Obama calls this a bi-partisan effort) to merge two of these bills into one. Now in order to do this there had to be some arm twisting to get everyone in the room to agree. So how do they do this? PORK! Yes folks, it's PORK time again. Since the CBO has already come up with a number, they can't come out of that room with a bigger one. So I think ol' Harry figured if he gets the 250 billion out of the Bill then there's room for $250 billion of negotiable PORK. Pork is always a tool that is used to pass a dog bill. Regardless, whether that was the plan or not, you can count on the fact that if there isn't any PORK in the current Bills , there certainly will be!
Murray

If you can find another reason for the closed doors, the campaign to isolate and then close down Fox, and the sneaky $250 billion move, write me!

70 year old woman shoots intruder in motel

In town for the Quarter Horse Show, this lady grabbed her gun when an intruder in the motel room where she was staying demanded money. He's dead. She had a permit. She probably saved their lives, but is very upset. The annual All-American Quarter Horse Congress is in its third week at the state fairgrounds and ends Sunday. It is the world's largest single-breed horse show and attracts more than 600,000 people to Columbus each year. Don't mess with the cowgirls.

Update: He's now been identified -- had a prison record and was wanted in Missouri.

She’s been there

Tucked inside the story of her saddness and regrets over her own abortion in 1986 at Ambivablog, was this interesting aside:

"I once had a flabbergasting conversation with the mother of the family I told you about that lost a daughter to cancer. She’s a close friend of mine, a vivacious, youthful 80 now, and I love her very much, but I think of her as what I call an “NPR listener” -- someone who holds all liberal principles as unquestionable and superior. We were talking after one daughter’s abortion, but before the other’s illness became known. She was telling me about a conversation she’d had with a priest or minister who was pro-choice, and she said with vehemence, “He's not stupid. He knows that’s – “ with a wave of her hand – “nothing.” I was open-mouthed. This is a woman who will carry a spider carefully outdoors and release it! And I thought, “That ‘nothing’ was your grandchild.” How can someone have such reverence for the tiny miracle of a spider (which I share, by the way), yet believe that a human embryo, burrowed into the wall of a womb and growing and unfolding its design with a dizzying impulsion, is “nothing”?

I know exactly how, because I’ve been there.

The story of her abortion

Sometimes things aren't as they seem

Have you been wondering about the more than usual chaos in the vaccine supply this year? First they hype the H1N1 flu; then tell everyone to get the seasonal flu vaccine; then waffle on who should get H1N1; leak stories about health providers not wanting it; then show long lines of people waiting.

So, is this 1) intended to induce panic so you'll feel out of control and turn even more to the government or 2) it's a preview of how the socialized medicine system will work.

Here's today's item from OSUToday, which every day sends me something different

". . . only faculty and staff who have previously registered for an appointment will receive their seasonal influenza vaccination. Walk-ins can no longer be accommodated due to the remaining supply of vaccine dedicated for campus use. Keep in mind, the university's supply is running very low, as stated yesterday."

There's two more click throughs to find out about swine flu, which will also require prior registration and supplies will arrive on a weekly basis.

Our church (UALC) has cancelled its two seasonal flu shot Sundays (with Kroger Pharmacy), something it does each year. Wasn't a problem last year. I got mine at Walgreens before they ran out, and my husband found a dr. office that had 2 left and he went there directly.

The lies we believe

Lies have been in the news lately. How about those lies we tell ourselves? Dr. Chris Thurman has written a book, "The Lies We Believe" which he says are at the root of a lot of our personal problems and unhappiness. Give up those lies and you're on your way to . . . well, maybe a healthier life? My copy came from the church library and seems to be a 2nd ed., although it doesn't actually say that--a combination of the original book and workbook. It's a Christian book published by Thomas Nelson. As part of the "growthwork" he lists 30 lies, and the reader is to rate herself from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree) avoiding if possible too many 4s which would sort of be fence sitting. These are the lies we believe, and the rest of the book explains how to recognize them in your thinking, and try to go for the truth. Because who wants a life based on lies? (Apparently a lot of people!)

1. I must be perfect.

2. I must have everyone's love and approval.

3. It is easier to avoid problems than to face them.

4. I can't be happy unless things go my way.

5. My unhappiness is someone else's fault.

6. You can have it all.

7. My worth is determined by my performance.

8. Life should be easy.

9. Life should be fair.

10. I shouldn't have to wait for what I want.

11. People are basically good.

12. All my marital problems are my spouse's fault.

13. If my marriage takes hard work, my spouse and I must not be right for each other.

14. My spouse can and should meet all of my emotional needs.

15. My spouse owes me for what I have done for him/her.

16. I shouldn't have to change who I am to make my marriage better.

17. My spouse should be like me.

18. I often make mountains out of molehills.

19. I often take things personally.

20. Things are black or white to me.

21. I often miss the forest for the trees.

22. The past predicts the future.

23. I often reason things out with my feelings rather than the facts.

24. God's love must be earned.

25. God hates the sin and the sinner.

26. Because I'm a Christian, God will protect me from pain and suffering.

27. All of my problems are caused by my sins.

28. It is my Christian duty to meet all the needs of others.

29. A good Christian doesn't feel angry, anxious, or depressed.

30. God can't use me unless I'm spiritually strong.

If you are not a Christian or even if you have no religious faith at all, you can probably substitute something that fits. Some of these don't sound like lies (18-21), but I'll read further to see how he explains that.

Also, if you're not married, or don't have significant problems in your marriage, I'm guessing you can fill in those with parents, siblings, friends or work colleages.

I see lies number 1-11 as those you believe when you're young--at least up to age 40. One day you wake up and realize . . . Life isn't fair, You can't have it all, Not everyone is going to love me and I really don't care, I can too be happy if I don't get my own way--in fact, I just might be happier, and People aren't basically good--some are real stinkers, some evil, and some are depraved and seem to have been so since the beginning.

There are other lies we buy into, especially when we're older. The ones about family and friends, for instance. This is not Thurman's list--just mine.

1. They had good parents, a great education and all the advantages--they shouldn't be acting this way (be in jail), (divorcing the wonderful long suffering spouse), (living in poverty), (failing at careers), etc.

2. I shouldn't be this sick--I've been very careful.

3. All you need to do is set limits.

4. If you expect the best, you'll get the best.

5. Other families don't have these problems.

6. Other people have more (better, richer, smarter, etc.) friends.

7. I don't have time to (fill in the blanks--read, play tennis, join a gourmet club, travel, knit, paints, etc.)

8. Everyone at church is a hypocrite.

9. Science has all the answers.

10. Poverty is the root cause of crime (assault, mental illness, terrorism, homelessness, abuse, etc.).

11. When I get that next promotion (car, house, outfit), I'll be happy.

12. I can fix other people.

13. If they had just listened to me. . . then. . .

14. If the pastor doesn't visit me in the hospital, the church call doesn't count.

15. I'm always the one who has to clean up the mess others make.

16. It's easier to lie than to tell the truth.

17. One more bite won't matter. . . I'll just even this up a bit.

And there are more--can you make your own list?

However, if you are over 60, it's the "shoulda coulda woulda's" that hobble us, more than the lies. I'll have to make a list of those.

More on the Kinston NC nanny case

More on Attorney General Holder treating southern blacks like children. Although the majority of registered voters in the town of Kinston are black, they don't vote in proportion to their registration, therefore they are considered the "minority" and apparently in deep need of nannying.

This item appears in James Taranto's column (Oct. 21).

. . . the Aug. 17 letter in which Loretta King acting assistant attorney general in the Civil Rights Division, informed the Kinston's lawyers of the decision:
According to the 2000 Census, the City of Kinston has a total population of 23,688 people, of whom 14,837 (62.6%) are African-American. The total voting age population is 17,906, of whom 10,525 (58.8%) are African-American. The American Community Survey for 2005-2007 estimates the total population to be 22,649, of whom 14,967 (66.6%) are African-American. As of October 31, 2008, the city has 14,799 registered voters, of whom 9,556 (64.6%) are African-American.

Although black persons comprise a majority of the city's registered voters, in three of the past four general municipal elections, African Americans comprised a minority of the electorate on election day; in the fourth , they may have been a slight majority. For that reason, they are viewed as a minority for analytical purposes. Minority turnout is relevant to determining whether a change under Section 5 [of the Voting Rights Act] is retrogressive.

Black voters have had limited success in electing candidates of choice during recent municipal elections.

The letter does not allege any effort to suppress the black vote. Assuming the absence of such efforts, the reason that "black voters have had limited success in electing candidates of choice" is that so many of them have not bothered to vote!

The Justice Department's position, then, is that the Voting Rights Act requires the department to intervene on behalf of the political preferences that it imputes to people who cannot be troubled to go to the polls. This may well be a correct reading of the law--in which case, it's a screwy law.

Also, it's quite possible that black voters in Kinston didn't go to the polls because there was no one running for whom they wished to vote. Here we are electing city council members soon, and I don't recognize a single name, haven't followed the issues, and my vote will just be a wild guess (unless I start doing my duty as an informed voter). There are many reasons for low voter turn out--youth, old age, and disinterest probably being the big three.

Biden quoting Reagan

Although without attribution I think it's called something else.

David A. Ridenour at National Center: "Speaking to the AFL-CIO's 2009 legislative conference in Atlantic City, Vice President Joe Biden said, "When a guy in Minooka is out of work, it's an economic slowdown. When your brother-in-law's out of work, it's a recession. When you're out of work, it's a depression."

Hmm... Sounds a bit familiar.

Didn't Ronald Reagan say on the campaign trail in 1980, "Recession is when your neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours. And recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his"?

I hate it when people remake a classic."

It doesn't end with gay pastors

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has been sparing over its sexuality statement for 20 years (1989 the task force was formed), and in August 2009 the liberals won--by a tiny margin. The English in the document is so obscure you'd never get out of Writing 101 if you tried this at the college level. Now hundreds of Lutheran churches are leaving as soon as they can secure their buildings and pensions and work out the business relationships with new umbrella organizations through which they can continues missions, teaching and publication. As I have often pointed out to my clueless (and holier than thou) friends, it wasn't going to end with gay marriage, or ordaining gay pastors in "loving committed relationships." Polygamists and man-boy love advocates were waiting in line for us to lower the bar.

So I hate to say "I told you so," but I will. Obama's nominee Chai R. Feldblum, to the Equal Employment Opportunity Council, is a lesbian who believes any number, any mix and match, makes a family and a household. Read her story at InsideCatholic.com

Obama has flip flopped on so many issues, his backing off of marriage between a man and woman is no surprise.

Feldblum's advocacy of the homosexual lifestyle is quite startling, given the fact that she teaches at a Catholic law school. As a matter of fact, she is seen in this video arguing not only that the government has a duty to promote homosexuality but also proclaiming, "Gay sex is morally good."

Since President Obama nominated Feldblum on September 15, his outreach to the homosexual community has rapidly accelerated. His keynote speech to the Human Rights Campaign on October 11 contained all the positions advocated by his EEOC nominee: "You will see a time in which we as a nation finally recognize relationships between two men or two women as just as real and admirable as relationships between a man and a woman."

Obama's declaration "to repeal the so-called Defense of Marriage Act and to pass the Domestic Partners Benefits and Obligations Act" reflects Feldblum's commitment to employ the power of government to encourage the growth of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender social units, thus presenting a direct challenge to traditional marriage."

My only question is what is this woman doing at a Catholic school? A question we soon won't be able to ask because it is hate speech to believe what God said in Genesis 1-2. Hate speech legislation isn't about protecting minorities from violence--that happens most in their own communities--it's about shutting up and outlawing anything you don't want to hear, including the truth.

Rt. 66 Norwegian style

This is on Renny BA's blog. Stop by for a visit. He features many interesting sights, sounds and foods of Norway--even commented on the Nobel mess, although he's not at all political. I just thought this was a great video and I love the enthusiasm.



If you ever plan to motor west
Travel my way, the highway that's the best.
Get your kicks on Route 66!

He also has some great autumnal photos on his blog--seems to come a little earlier than here in Midwestern USA.

I think my mother used Rt 66 when she drove the family from Illinois to California and back during WWII.

And Rt. 66 Toledo style

Rt. 66 Kitchen Bar and Grill near the University of Toledo in Toledo, Ohio--it's a miracle these clowns didn't kill anyone.

Short memory--the paranoid conspiracies of the right, never the left

Thomas Frank at the Tilting Yard in the WSJ today displays a very short memory. The only paranoid conspiracies and talkers he can think of are all appearing on Fox News. He's forgotten Rosie and the Dixie Chicks; Carville and Dean; Carter and Gore; Rahm and Dunn; Moore and Soros. I guess he got the Obama memo on denigrating Fox. Next he’ll be touting volunteerism and green tips. He apparently doesn’t remember the Hollywood stars and talkers who bought into the conspiracy theories about 9/11, accusing George Bush of plotting the whole thing; or the Katrina Hurricane when an entire state and city firmly in control of Democrats managed to blame President Bush for years of their neglect, Corps of Engineers, environmental EPA decisions, etc.; nor does he remember all the Democrats who pounded the podiums about WMD in the late 90s when they thought Al Gore was going to be President; or how the Republicans were accused of stealing not only the 2000 election but the 2004; and who can forget the Patriot Act conspiratists? And have you read Janet Napolitano's latest dictionary of terrorism words? I mean before it got pulled for really, really bad press. Wow. Talk about paranoid. It's her middle name! And who could be kookier than the global warmists? They make the birthers look absolutely reasonable, but with less evidence. Yes, Mr. Frank, Mr. Pseudo-journalist, you ought to see a doctor--your short term memory is really slipping.

So whose news is biased? Associated Press?

Here’s the Fox News account on Sept. 14 of the Senate vote resulting from videos which Brietbart TV supplied Glenn Beck radio and Fox News (Sept. 10 airing), followed by the accounts of CBS (page not available except in cache), MSNBC/NBC, and ABC, all of which used the identical Associated Press report which gave more coverage to ACORN's excuses than the tapes. I cut and pasted the first part--they are all identical. I wonder which one Mr. Gibbs thinks isn't news?

Fox News, Sept. 14, 2009 (AP) WASHINGTON -- The Senate voted Monday to block the Housing and Urban Development Department from giving grants to ACORN, a community organization under fire in several voter-registration fraud cases.

The 83-7 vote would deny housing and community grant funding to ACORN, which stands for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.

The action came as the group is suffering from bad publicity after a duo of conservative activists posing as a prostitute and her pimp released hidden-camera videos in which ACORN employees in Baltimore gave advice on house-buying and how to account on tax forms for the woman's income. Two other videos, aired on the FOX News Channel, depict similar situations in ACORN offices in Brooklyn and Washington, D.C.
----------------
CBS News Sept. 14, 2009 (AP) Washington --The Senate voted Monday to block the Housing and Urban Development Department from giving grants to ACORN, a community organization under fire in several voter-registration fraud cases.

The 83-7 vote would deny housing and community grant funding to ACORN, which stands for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.

The action came as the group is suffering from bad publicity after a duo of conservative activists posing as a prostitute and her pimp released hidden-camera videos in which ACORN employees in Baltimore gave advice on house-buying and how to account on tax forms for the woman's income. Two other videos, aired frequently on media outlets such as the Fox News Channel, depict similar situations in ACORN offices in Brooklyn and Washington, D.C.
---------------------
MSNBC Sept. 14, 2009 AP WASHINGTON - The Senate voted Monday to block the Housing and Urban Development Department from giving grants to ACORN, a community organization under fire in several voter-registration fraud cases.

The 83-7 vote would deny housing and community grant funding to ACORN, which stands for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.

The action came as the group is suffering from bad publicity after a duo of conservative activists posing as a prostitute and her pimp released hidden-camera videos in which ACORN employees in Baltimore gave advice on house-buying and how to account on tax forms for the woman's income. Two other videos, aired frequently on media outlets such as the Fox News Channel, depict similar situations in ACORN offices in Brooklyn and Washington, D.C.
----------------
ABC News Sept. 14, 2009 AP - The Senate voted Monday to block the Housing and Urban Development Department from giving grants to ACORN, a community organization under fire in several voter-registration fraud cases.

The 83-7 vote would deny housing and community grant funding to ACORN, which stands for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.

The action came as the group is suffering from bad publicity after a duo of conservative activists posing as a prostitute and her pimp released hidden-camera videos in which ACORN employees in Baltimore gave advice on house-buying and how to account on tax forms for the woman's income. Two other videos, aired frequently on media outlets such as the Fox News Channel, depict similar situations in ACORN offices in Brooklyn and Washington, D.C.

Note: On September 15, four days after the tapes were first aired on Fox, Charlie Gibson laughed when asked about it on WLS (Chicago) saying that he was unaware of the scandal.

Fixing troubled mortgages for the elderly

Sometimes older is not wiser. It seems that Pedro Garcia, a retired corrections officer, refinanced the home he bought for $23,000 40 years ago for $490,000 with what is known as an exotic "option ARM." In 2009 the house was valued at $150,000. When his payments had balooned beyond his pension's monthly income he quit paying. Bank of America, under pressure from tax cheat Geithner to remedy these bad decisions and "predatory lending" when money was flowing, refinanced it for $85,000 and then gave him a reverse mortgage on that, so he is now paying nothing. Of course, he'd already used that refinancing money--$70,000 to fix up the house, medical bills for his ill wife, and monthly living expenses. I guess the bank just eats that. But he still has a small second mortgage, which has also been modified by that lender. Something like 500,000 borrowers have been rescued by Obama's $75,000,000,000 foreclosure prevention plan. (WSJ story here) According to the article, Mr. Garcia and others were misled by these predators and the ARMs they pushed. No mention in this article about the number of non-profit organizations (like ACORN) that worked with banks and pushed both subprimes and ARMs especially for minorities. 32% of option ARMs were in foreclosure or delinquent as of August, compared to 48% of subprime. The difference is the option ARM people were good credit risks, sensible and wiser. Go figure. Pot. Rainbow. Free money.

And we're still seeing schemes from the government to put people into more housing debt, this time it's Obama instead of the Bushes or Clinton. Earlier this week there was an article on the tax credit plan for first time buyers. Claims for the $8,000 tax credit might have significant fraud. What a surprise! This little goodie if it is extended, will cost the tax payers an additional $16.7 billion. The new proposed ceiling might be $300,000 income per couple instead of the current $150,000. Under the current stimulus plan we the tax payers pay $43,000 for each borrower who uses that $8,000 tax credit. If they raise the ceiling, each tax credit will cost us $250,000 per home sale. (WSJ story here) Folks, you all took second grade math. Does this make any sense to you?

Update: On April 3, 2008 Michelle Malkin exposed the housing counseling racket, deep within the Bush Administration: ". . . mortgage counseling is a thriving racket that benefits far Left groups ranging from the AARP to ACORN to La Raza and Legal Aid. The Department of Housing and Urban Development funds hundreds, if not thousands, of these groups across the country. In October, HUD announced more than $44 million in new housing counseling grants to over 400 state and local efforts. The White House has increased funding for housing counseling by 150 percent since taking office in 2001." http://michellemalkin.com/2008/04/03/the-left-wing-mortgage-counseling-racket/

But wait--she appears on Fox News from time to time, so it must not be reliable.

The jargon creep

Not a creep that uses jargon, but a description of a program so filled with gooble-de-gook you either skim over and don't notice it, or gag:

"Ohio State University College of Social Work [description] First accredited in 1919, the College of Social Work is the oldest continuously accredited social work program in the country. The college, through excellence in teaching, research, and service, prepares leaders who enhance individual and community well-being, celebrate difference, and promote social and economic justice for vulnerable populations. It fosters social change through collaboration with individuals, families, communities, and other change agents to build strengths and resolve complex individual and social problems. As an internationally recognized college, it builds and applies knowledge that positively impacts Ohio, the nation and the world. Social Work's vision is to “embrace difference, seek justice, and be the change.”

• prepare leaders (I hope they prepare a few followers, because without sensible, educated, skilled followers, there's no one to lead)
  
• enhance (vt from old French via Latin; improve, increase
  
• community well-being (a moving target--depends on the amount of the grant)
  
• promote social and economic justice (guidelines from Saul Alinsky, Mao, small sects and cults living on Pacific Islands, various dead, and some living in Chicago, heros from the 1970s and Latin American revolutions--whether in church or college these are code phrases for some form of socialism, never capitalism, the system for which most immigrants come here and with which they succeed)
  
• vulnerable populations (whatever group brings in the most government money--could be Appalachian resettled miners, mentally ill street people, Vietnam vets, unemployed TV and toaster repairmen)
  
• celebrate difference (convince middle class rural and suburban college kids that their own lives and values are worthless)
  
• foster (v. from Old English word for food and feeding; giving parental care or nurture; encourage; promote growth or development)
  
• social change (what academics and government officials do for a living which affords a comfortable life style and sense of purpose for the agent; what they promote when they don't like someone else's values, religion, appearance, beliefs)
  
• collaboration (lots of meetings, task forces, papers, and empire building)
  
• other change agents (non-profits, churches, local government officials, members of the DNC, assorted useful misfits--most surviving on federal grants)
  
• families (any mix and match group)
  
• social problem (crime, education, voter behavior, smoking, obesity, or any people or personal structure that will not respond to government intervention so that the income stream is steady)
  
• you get the idea, jargon.

I've written so many mission statements I could do it in my sleep. You take 3 columns of words, (usually nouns, verbs, adjectives with as little specificity as possible) and start building sentences that will be as vague as possible, and never hold you accountable come evaluation time.

First column: university, college, department, program, unit, committee, community, individual, agent, purpose, class, victims, technology, change, hope etc. etc.

Second column: best, finest, newest, oldest, complex, simple, collaborative, positive, negative, vulnerable, weak, strong, sustainable, eco-friendly, green, digital, economic, social, cultural, diverse, digitized, etc., etc.

Third column: prepare, promote, enhance, foster, nurture, involve, increase, decrease, build, remove, improve, resolve, recognize, change, equip, engage, etc.

Fourth possible column: these would be adverbs, or other squish words, but use sparingly.

Just for fun and comparaison, Google this phrase, "mission statement school of social work" and just browse what the individual universities describe as their mission. Stoneybrook is big on "oppression," and Georgia is concerned about families. Some are specific about skills and expectations; some just float in a sea of meaningless words. You can almost guess the age and political preferences of the writers.

Obama's manufacturing czar is just a thug

Quoting Mao once doesn't make him a Marxist--I'd need to see the rest of his record, but he sure sounds and acts like a thug or goon in a business suit.



Ron Bloom, giving a speech in which he says that "the free market is nonsense." Where does he find them?

“Generally speaking we get the joke. We know that the free market is nonsense. We know that the whole point is to game the system, to beat the market, or at least find someone who will pay you a lot of money because they’re convinced that there is a free lunch. We know this is largely about power, that it’s an adults only, no limit game. We kind of agree with Mao that political power comes largely from the barrel of a gun. And we get it that if you want a friend, you should get a dog.”

Can we trust government cost estimates?

No. They are never accurate. War. Peace. Highways. Social Security. CO2. Schools. Even pork (earmarks) aren't accurate. Never. Does the government ever "contain" costs. No. In today's Review and Outlook in the WSJ:

Start with Medicaid, the joint state-federal program for the poor. The House Ways and Means Committee estimated that its first-year costs would be $238 million. Instead it hit more than $1 billion, and costs have kept climbing.

Thanks in part to expansions promoted by California's Henry Waxman, a principal author of the current House bill, Medicaid now costs 37 times more than it did when it was launched—after adjusting for inflation. Its current cost is $251 billion, up 24.7% or $50 billion in fiscal 2009 alone, and that's before the health-care bill covers millions of new beneficiaries.

When our legislators get to Washington, or Columbus, or Springfield, or Albany, or Sacramento, they forget it's real money taxed from real working people. To them it's funny money; Monopoly money. All they can do is pass legislation that will 1) fulfill the dreams of their party's philosophy, and 2) win voters back home, who understandably want some of their money back in exchange for sending that person to Congress. When the Congress person's term is up, they slip into "think-tanks" or become lobbyists, and continue on the government dole. Besides, you can't predict what's going to happen in the medical field. They estimated 11,000 renal patients for Medicare and got almost 400,000. The only thing that has come in below projections is the Bush-Kennedy drug plan. We know competition brings down prices, but Democrats don't want that. We know tax cuts induce investments which provide jobs, but Democrats don't want that. They want control and power.

A high tech net for volunteers

I hope everyone contributing to buy nets and t-shirts noticed the article about malaria in today's Wall St. Journal. It's about high tech epidemiology and volunteers who help with malaria vaccine modeling. The simulations could take months or years as millions die or become disabled by a disease that about 30 years ago had practically been conquered. That is until Rachel Carson told about her vision of a silent spring, and DDT as a killer of mosquitoes that spread the disease was essentially taken off the market. In its place we have bed nets and local spraying, and do-gooders buying orange t-shirts and having basketball games and bake sales to feel like they're doing something. Meanwhile, millions of children, mostly black and brown, mostly poor, mostly not using bed-nets because they aren't accessible, are dying.

So while they slice and dice the genes of the female mosquito becoming famous for writing articles in peer review journals, they can only hope for that enzyme that will cure the disease. But doesn't volunteering just feel so good? Isn't that what counts? The feeling, not the results?

How Well Do You Know Illinois?

Recently, a high school friend sent me quiz, "How Well Do You Know Illinois?" I got most of them right, although I didn't know the original name of the Chicago Bears, and guessed at the state flower. So I wouldn't win a million. Also, if Peoria is the oldest town, there are four or five others ready to call her a liar, although it may be the oldest of the four listed. However, I also knew Ronald Reagan wasn't born in Dixon, Illinois, which means at least one answer was wrong--so maybe there were others--like the oldest town.

Could you go through these questions, not miss any and win a million dollars, if the opportunity arose.

1. $100 What is the Capital of Illinois?
a. Chicago
b. Champaign
c. Springfield
d. East St.. Louis
***********************************************************
2. $200 The State Motto is . . ..
a. Home of Ronald Reagan
b. Prairie State
c. Land of 100 Lakes
d. Land of Lincoln
***********************************************************
3. $400 - State that DOES NOT border IL?
a. Iowa
b. Missouri
c. Texas
d. Indiana
***********************************************************
4. $1000. Which is furthest down south?
a. Chicago
b. Decatur
c. Carbondale
d. Bloomington
***********************************************************
5. $2000 What is the State bird?
a. Chicken
b. Cardinal
c. Pheasant
d. Eagle
***********************************************************
6. $4,000 - Which community is oldest in Illinois?
A. Chicago
b. Peoria
c. Effingham
d. East St. Louis
***********************************************************
7. $8,000 - The Chicago Bears were known as...?
a. Always has been known as Chicago Bears
b. Decatur Bears
c. Sucky Bears
d. Decatur Staleys
***********************************************************
8. $16,000 - What town is home to Superman?
a. Harristown
b. Pana
c. Metropolis
d. Peru
***********************************************************
9. $32,000 - City that has never been the capital of IL?
a. Springfield
b. Peoria
c. Kaskaskia
d. Vandalia
***********************************************************
10. $64,000 - State Flower?
a. Corn Stalks
b. Yellow Dandelions
c. White Daisies
d. Purple Violets
***********************************************************
11. $125,000 - how do you pronounce "Moweaqua"?
a. Mo-we-qua
b. Mow-wee-aqua
c. Mowey-qua
d. Mow-aqua
***********************************************************
12. $250,000 - Jesse Jackson stuck his nose into the business of what town concerning the 6 criminal kids?
a. Springfield
b. Decatur
c. Peoria
d. Chicago
***********************************************************
13. $500,000- Going to the boat means?
a. Cruising Lake Decatur
b. Going to your mother-in-laws house
c. Riverside Gambling
d. Going to jail
***********************************************************
14. $1,000,000 - Which President was born in Dixon, IL?
a. Reagan
b. Clinton
c. Jefferson
d. Nixon
*******************************************
ANSWERS ARE BELOW.....................
1. 100 C - Springfield
2. 200 D - Land of Lincoln
3. 400 C - Texas
4. 1000 C - Carbondale
5. 2000 B - Cardinal (even though hunters like to claim it as the pheasant)
6. 4000 B - Peoria -- Even though East St Louis looks as if it should be the oldest [others also claim to be the oldest, Cahokia, Palestine, Shawneetown]
7. 8000 D - Decatur Staleys --- Even though C (sucky bears) would work too:)
8. 16000 C - Metropolis (yep its a real city in southern IL)
9. 32,000 B - Peoria
10. 64,000 D - Purple Violets -- Even though (a) Corn Stalks should be.
11. 125,000 A - Mo-we-qua
12. 250,000 B - Decatur
13. 500,000 C. Riverside Gambling --- Better not mean (b) going to your mom in laws
14. 1,000,000 A - Reagan [wrong!]