Food insecurity is not hunger

"According to the USDA's annual poll, 17 million U.S. households reported some degree of food insecurity in 2008, up from 13 million households in 2007," writes Scott Kilman in yesterday's WSJ. I'm not sure when "food insecurity" became the term du jour, but it means at some point during 2008 someone in the family worried about not having enough food or their "normal eating patterns were disrupted." So that's what hunger has become to the USDA--worrying about food while HHS is wringing is bureaucratic hands over obesity. Even when unemployment was at 4.5%, journalists were writing food pantry and food insecurity stories, especially during the holiday season when many charities are making appeals. Now because of unemployment at 10.2%, people who used to contribute or volunteer at food pantries now are recipients, so the stories have expanded. In 2009 they are not directed at the president's policies, as they were four or five years ago. Even in food insecurity, Obama is untouchable.

And really, no modern day president can be blamed for hunger in the U.S., because it has been the policy of the government for the last 60 years to expand its largest welfare program to . . . farmers. And what used to be using up post-war surplus by giving it to the poor (blocks of cheese, butter, and boxes of dry milk back in the 60s and 70s) is now growing subsidized food to be given to the poor through schools (breakfast, lunch, afterschool and summertime snacks), churches (they usually run the summer programs), non-profits (they provide grants from donors and the government to buy the food), and federal and state "partnerships (redistribution of USDA money to many programs, rural and metropolitan)."

This at a time when there are entire households of adults and children where no one knows how to purchase or prepare food. I needed to buy 2 large containers of applesauce to donate to Faith Mission this week, so while I was going through the store, I jotted down some basic, non-prepared food items with prices.

Fresh items: 3 lb bananas, 8 lb. potatoes, 1 lb. carrots, 3 lb. apples, 8 lb oranges, 2 lb cabbage (total $11.18); main meal items: l lb pinto beans, l lb. black beans, 2 lb rice, 2 lb macaroni, 15 oz spaghetti, 26 oz spaghetti sauce (total $8.56); refrigerator case: 1 doz eggs, 1 gal milk, 1 lb butter, 2 lb cheddar cheese (total $7.45); beverage: 11.5 oz coffee to brew ($2.50). That came to $29.69, and for another $5.00 I could have had 2 loaves of bread and 16 oz. of natural peanut butter. For another $5.00 I could buy a 16 lb. turkey because they are on special right now. So for $40, that's a lot of food on the shelves, but someone has to buy it and someone has to prepare it who knows that beans with rice and potatoes combined with milk are almost nutritionally perfect.

But you can blow your way through $40 pretty fast buying soft drinks, potato chips, prepared individual meals at $3.00 each, crackers, cookies, etc. And it's not just poor people. On my afternoon walk yesterday I walked in a neighborhood that has a Tuesday trash pick up and at one home which I would estimate at $800,000, there were 6 plastic containers at the curb, all filled with flattened boxes and containers for processed food, many for the single server type. Her children probably don't qualify for school lunches, but they might be better off if they did.

See also my blog from April 2009 on What ever happened to food stamps.

A new blog coming on?

Sometimes it's like an itch you can't scratch, but I've been thinking about a new blog--would be my 13th I think. However, I have several I've not been keeping up, like my hobby bloggy on first issue magazines (I must have hundreds), what's on my bookshelves, coffee shop conversations (some are too wild to repeat), and the class reunion (it was 2 years ago).

The other day I scanned something for the class reunion blog. It was an award I'd earned in 8th grade for reading and was given at graduation. I had no memory of this or the books we read, and no one has responded to my questions. Surely I wasn't the only kid who got one of these? Total silence. But while I was rummaging around in the basement storage area, I again pulled out grandma Mary's box of clippings, papers and scrapbooks. And I could feel it coming on. . . a web log devoted to paper memorabilia.


Also just this morning I found a really nice blogger dot com template web site. I haven't looked at all the possibilities yet, but lots of variety and good design.

Maybe I could do it just for a month the way I did Memory Patterns in November 2005.

Non-obese and non-smokers, but still have clogged arteries

Well! Think of the research grants that will need to be rewritten! Read the story by Ron Winslow in today's Wall Street Journal.

We visited this museum when we were in Egypt in March. An amazing place, and we just scratched the surface. No cameras.

Invites to join Facebook

This morning I received an invitation from the fourth wife of the first husband of my sister-in-law to join her friends group at Facebook. Very nice lady. In my husband's family it really is until death do you part. Even if they get a divorce they still are welcome at the family events, which makes it nicer for the children who get to see their former step-parent occasionally. But I prefer blogging. I did go in and follow her link, however, and saw two other recent invitations (don't know how long that shows) and one has nine followers, the other has 109. The one who has 109 has never met a stranger, and she travels a lot. Long before e-mail and Facebook, you had to take a number to visit, or go shopping, or out to dinner. I don't think I even know 109 "friends," and I'm sure I don't want to go through junior high school again with people de-friending or refusing to even respond to my invitation to come to the party.

As it is, I'm on a number of e-mail discussion lists all sent and managed by men--four by guys who were in high school with me, and one from my husband's Wednesday morning men's group (he doesn't do e-mail). And they say women like to talk. The men do catch up.

Dirty little secrets in the House Bill reveal Obama’s claims for health reform are lies

"You lie." And this time it's the non-partisan and independent Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services saying it, not a "Southern racist congressman" as the media tried to portray Joe Wilson.

" A report released Friday by the non-partisan and independent Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the agency in charge of running Medicare and Medicaid, blows the lid off of every one of Obama’s claims. All of the following quotes are from the report itself [this summary is from The Morning Bell webpage]:

Health Care Costs Increase: “In aggregate, we estimate that for calendar years 2010 through 2019 [national health expenditures (NHE)] would increase by $289 billion, or 0.8 percent, over the updates baseline projection that was released on June 29, 2009.” In other words, Obamacare bends the cost curve up, not down.

Millions Lose Existing Private Coverage: “However, a number of workers who currently have employer coverage would likely become enrolled in the expanded Medicaid program or receive subsidized coverage through the Exchange. For example, some smaller employers would be inclined to terminate their existing coverage, and companies with low average salaries might find it to their - and their employees’ - advantage to end their plans … We estimate that such actions would collectively reduce the number of people with employer-sponsored health coverage by about 12 million.” In other words, Obamacare will cause millions of Americans to lose their existing private coverage. . .

Seniors Access to Care Jeopardized: “H.R. 3962 would introduce permanent annual productivity adjustments to price updates for institutional providers… Over time, a sustained reduction in payment updates, based on productivity expectations that are difficult to attain, would cause Medicare payment rates to grow more slowly than and in a way that was unrelated to, the providers’ costs of furnishing services to beneficiaries. Thus, providers for whom Medicare constitutes a substantive portion of their business could find it difficult to remain profitable and might end their participation in the program (possibly jeopardizing access to care for beneficiaries).” In other words, the Medicare cuts in the House bill are so out of touch with reality that hospitals currently serving Medicare patients might be forced to stop doing so. Thus making it much more difficult for seniors to get health care."

There is much more--go here to read the news about the lies we’ve been told or bring up the report and read it. Few, including your congressional representative, read the bill--so you might as well read the analysis.

Here in central Ohio radio land we are being annoyed by syrupy radio ads for Mary Jo Kilroy extolling her part in this mess (I think the ad campaign is sponsored by a union). Over half of government workers (local, state, federal) are now unionized, up from 17.3% in the early 1970s. Guess who your representative is really representing? Guess who wants to unload onto the taxpayer their health care responsibilities and pie-in-the-sky promises after taking workers' dues all those years?

Did Edwards want the Veep spot with Barack?

Democrats are arguing amongst themselves over this at Politico, but I thought this was a good explanation by a reader at Ben Smith: "Edwards was a stalking horse to draw votes from Hillary. He is a two faced lowlife and had no business running when he KNEW he was already busted with a pregnant mistress and cheated on his cancer stricken wife. As for Elizabeth she is an enabler and should not have helped him run. Obama used Edwards to siphon votes from HRC and now we have months with no decision for the troops and record unemployment. Thanks Johnny! Thanks Barack!"

Tell us how you really feel!

Louder with Crowder visits Gitmo

Obama has stained Gitmo. It’s well worth watching the whole thing. The terrorist prisoners certainly have it much better than U.S. prisoners. Find out what our enemies already know (thanks to Obama).

But how would it look?

Mark Steyn on the decisions not made. Thirteen dead--fourteen counting the baby.

"Two joint terrorism task forces became aware almost a year ago that Major Hasan was in regular e-mail contact with Anwar al-Awlaqi, the American-born but now Yemeni-based cleric who served as imam to three of the 9/11 hijackers and supports all-out holy war against the United States. But the expert analysts in the Pentagon determined that this lively correspondence was consistent with Major Hasan’s “research interests,” so there was no need to worry. That’s America: Technologically superior, money no object (not one but two “joint terrorism task forces” stumbled across him). Yet no action was taken.

On the other hand, who needs surveillance operations and intelligence budgets? Major Hasan was entirely upfront about who he was. He put it on his business card: “SOA.” As in “Soldier of Allah” — which seems a tad ungrateful to the American taxpayers who ponied up half a million bucks or thereabouts in elite medical-school education to train him to be a Soldier of Uncle Sam. In a series of meetings during 2008, officials from both Walter Reed and the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences considered the question of whether then-captain Hasan was psychotic. But, according to at least one bigwig at Walter Reed, members of the policy committee wondered “How would it look if we kick out one of the few Muslim residents?” So he got promoted to major and shipped to Fort Hood.

And 13 men and women and an unborn baby are dead." . . .

" “Diversity” is one of those words designed to absolve you of the need to think. Likewise, a belief in “multiculturalism” doesn’t require you to know anything at all about other cultures, just to feel generally warm and fluffy about them. Heading out from my hotel room the other day, I caught a glimpse of that 7-Eleven video showing Major Hasan wearing “Muslim” garb to buy a coffee on the morning of his murderous rampage. And it wasn’t until I was in the taxi cab that something odd struck me: He was an American of Arab descent. But he was wearing Pakistani dress — that’s to say, a “Punjabi suit,” as they call it in Britain, or the shalwar kameez, to give it its South Asian name. For all the hundreds of talking heads droning on about “diversity” across the TV networks, it was only Tarek Fatah, writing in the Ottawa Citizen, who pointed out that no Arab males wear this get-up — with one exception: Those Arab men who got the jihad fever and went to Afghanistan to sign on with the Taliban and al-Qaeda. In other words, Major Hasan’s outfit symbolized the embrace of an explicit political identity entirely unconnected with his ethnic heritage.

Mr. Fatah would seem to be a genuine “multiculturalist”: That’s to say, he’s attuned to often very subtle “diversities” between cultures. Whereas the professional multiculturalist sees the 7-Eleven video and coos, “Aw, look. He’s wearing . . . well, something exotic and colorful, let’s not get hung up on details. Celebrate diversity, right? Can we get him in the front row for the group shot? We may be eligible for a grant.” "

It's probably an urban legend, but. . .

"Iranian Air Defense Radar: 'Unknown aircraft you are in Iranian airspace. Identify yourself.'

Aircraft: 'This is a United States aircraft. I am in Iraqi airspace.'

Air Defense Radar: 'You are in Iranian airspace. If you do not depart our airspace we will launch interceptor aircraft!'

Aircraft: 'This is a United States Marine Corps FA-18 fighter. Send 'em up, I'll wait!'

Air Defense Radar: (no response .... total silence)"

Seen at DANEgerus

Palin on Newsweek

Sarah Palin had some photos taken for an article "I'm a runner," in Runner's World. I've looked at the article. The photos are cute. Newsweek didn't choose one with her son Trig--that might be a reminder to Democrats that they've successfully legislated about 90% of Down Syndrome babies out of existence plus untold millions of other babies that don't measure up to their high standards.

Besides, I've seen women show more leg than that just going to work--or they did when they were younger and looked better. Here's Sarah's comments on the Newsweek cover from her Facebook page.

"The choice of photo for the cover of this week's Newsweek is unfortunate. When it comes to Sarah Palin, this "news" magazine has relished focusing on the irrelevant rather than the relevant. The Runner's World magazine one-page profile for which this photo was taken was all about health and fitness - a subject to which I am devoted and which is critically important to this nation. The out-of-context Newsweek approach is sexist and oh-so-expected by now. If anyone can learn anything from it: it shows why you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, gender, or color of skin. The media will do anything to draw attention - even if out of context."

Here's what Runner's World editor has to say: "On the cover of this week’s issue of Newsweek is a photo that was shot for the August 2009 issue of Runner’s World, in which Sarah Palin was featured on the monthly “I’m a Runner” back page. Runner’s World did not provide Newsweek with the image. Instead, it was provided to Newsweek by the photographer’s agent, without Runner’s World’s knowledge or permission."

Don't trust the internet--especially not dot gov

"Forget everything bad you’ve ever heard about President Barack Obama’s $787 economic stimulus. Combing through the data on the $18 million Recovery.gov website you’ll find tons of Obama stimulus success stories from across the country. In Minnesota’s 57th Congressional District, 35 jobs have been saved or created using $404,340 in stimulus funds. In New Mexico’s 22nd Congressional District, 25 jobs have been saved or created using $61,000 in stimulus cash. And in Arizona’s fighting 15th Congressional District, 30 jobs have been saved or created with just $761,420 in federal stimulus spending.

The it-would-be-funny-if-it-weren’t-our-tax-dollars-at-stake punch line here is that none of the above Congressional Districts actually exist." Morning Bell, Heritage Foundation.

and this one. . . Watchdog.org

"The government’s Web site that is supposed to tell taxpayers how their stimulus dollars are being spent, and which spends $84 million per year to do so, shows that $6.4 billion of the stimulus has been spent in 440 congressional districts that don’t exist [there are only 435 to begin with], according to a report by the Franklin Center, as reported by Watchdog.org.

The site, Recovery.gov, reports, for instance, that North Dakota’s 99th Congressional District has received $2 million in stimulus funding. But North Dakota has only one congressional district. The nation’s capital now contains 35 congressional districts, according to Recovery.gov."

And these guys want to take over health care.

Michigan got a bunch of new districts. . . According to Watchdog.org, the federal recovery Web site operates on an $84 million budget. One would think such hefty price tag would ensure more accurate reporting. Instead, it says nearly $6.4 billion was used to "create or save" fewer than 30,000 jobs in these 440 "phantom" congressional districts. That's almost $225,000 per job.

A note about town names

Many years ago I was looking at a letter written to my great-grandparents in the 1850s and it was addressed to the town of Ogle, Illinois. That puzzled me a little because I'd grown up in Ogle County, they had lived in Lee County, and I'd never heard of the town of Ogle. My dad, who knew every road and farm in northern Illinois (he delivered fuel oil and later owned a bolt supply service for farming equipment) explained it was an early name for Ashton.

Today I came across a clipping in my grandmother's quilt pattern file published sometime during or after 1982 (photos of missing children on the back, but no quilt information). The article is written for the Dixon paper by George Lamb who had written Historical Reminiscences about Dixon, Illinois in 1970. The column was called, "We Remember When," and included Nachusa (Taylor), Nelson (Summerset), Shelburn (Rocky Ford), Ashton and Franklin Grove. So here's the story.

In 1854 the railroad that passed through the eastern section of Lee County established a freight stop and at first called it Ogle Station. Later the name was shortened to Ogle and after a time this name was dropped in favor of the town title of Ashton.

In 1853 Christian Lahmann, who owned the tract of land south of the railroad several miles east of Dixon, platted about 10 acres of it and christened what the hoped would be a thriving new village, Chaplin. The name lasted only until the village of Franklin Grove was incorporated first in 1857 and, again, in 1865."

I'm sure all this is in the Lee County History (2 vols.) which is somewhere on a family member's book shelf.

Townhall meetings are OK in China, just not here

In the USA, citizens meeting peacefully to question President Obama's policies are vilified and criticized by our Congress, White House aides, and our media. Some citizens have been beat up or intimidated by SEIU Obama goons, and Obama didn't even say they acted "stupidly," nor have charges been brought against the union thugs in the Democrat controlled jurisdiction. Democrat operatives aren't calling Chinese citizens "tea baggers" and "astroturf."

"When the SEIU members went to the town hall meeting hosted by Democrat Congressman Russ Carnahan, did they have a fight on their minds? Were they spurred on by The President’s words or the HCAN national Field Advisor Margarida Jorge’s talking points? Did the favorite White House guest, Andy Stern promise the POTUS that the situation would be dealt with, as a way to curry favor with the King? We may never know if there was a specific instruction given, but we do know that four adults from the same gang decided simultaneously to mingle with the protestors and then single one out for a beating. We also know that the union has hired for them, Paul D’Agrosa one of the top criminal defense lawyers in St. Louis. Finally, we know that County Counselor Patricia Reddington, who serves at the pleasure of Democrat County Executive Charlie Dooley (previously a union member) is not moving the case." Big Government

According to ABC News, the Chinese townhall is OK, and no one has even "vetted" the questions. Do you believe that? [I don't.]

"In the afternoon at the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum Mr. Obama will host a town hall meeting with “future Chinese leaders.” Several hundred students, the youth of China, will join the President at the event, coming from many local universities.

Beforehand the White House solicited questions online which the President will respond to during the town hall. White House aides estimate hundreds, if not thousands, have already been submitted online.

The President will call on the roughly 400 college students in the audience at random and no one from US will have vetted their questions, The White House says. Aides says this event "is the same as if it were in Iowa,” referencing the many town halls then-candidate Obama held during the 2008 Presidential campaign.

The town hall will be live streamed on the White House website, an unblocked website in China, in order to reach the “broadest possible audience,” Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications Ben Rhodes says." ABCNews

An unblocked website in China. Interesting.

The Time Traveler's Wife--Monday Memories

We hadn't seen a movie since Julie and Julia during the summer at Lakeside, so last night we went to the dollar theater to see The Time Traveler's Wife. I'd gotten the basic story from someone at the coffee shop and was hoping it wasn't a chick flick. Having paid $3 for our 2 tickets and $4 for a small popcorn, we settled in for the 7:30 show. I didn't know it was about a librarian! Henry is born with a wandering gene that causes him to inexplicably move around in time, even sometime appearing as the older Henry with the younger Henry. Only his clothes remain when he "travels" so when he reappears he's naked so he's often rummaging around or breaking into stores to get clothes. He meets a young girl periodically as she is growing up (she brings him her brother's clothes so he can dress in the woods), and they finally meet in the mid-1990s in a Chicago library, fall in love, and get married. After several miscarriages they have a baby girl who also has his genetic anomaly, so she too is moving back and forth in time watching her parents. Interesting movie, and my husband liked it more than I did, since I'm not much into fantasy. Henry is played by Eric Bana who bears an uncanny resemblance to our son--same age, height, weight and coloring. I kept wondering where (which movie) I'd seen him, then I realized why he looked so familiar.



When we got home we discovered the cat had done a little time travel herself. She was a rescue cat with a few bad habits caused, we think, by her abandonment. To be kind, she "had issues" about food and had learned to survive by stalking trash cans. Ate everything in sight. Dug things out of the garbage disposal. Would be on the kitchen counter in a flash if you turned your back. But she's over 10 now and not so limber, and is a bit more relaxed and trusting about food. But last night she reverted to kittenhood and while we were gone jumped to the countertop, and dug out the chicken bones and potato skins and had them all over the floor when we got home. And when that one last kernel of popcorn hit the floor when I took off my coat, she gobbled that down too.

Sarah Palin's book, Going Rogue

I hadn't planned to buy a copy, and it certainly won't be accessible at UAPL if other titles written by conservatives are any example (16 copies of an anti-Bush book are in the budget--they trained us well--we conservatives buy rather than wait for a 2nd copy of our books). The venom and wrath of the left lashing out at her again will probably boost the sales. Here's an item that highschool friend Bob C. sent. The source seemed a little iffy, so I looked it up. It is written by Dewey Whetsell of Alaska, and he is a sax playing fisherman, a firefighter, and a writer, who has a few books to sell. This is the blog, Restless Brain Syndrome that reposted his article. It's gone viral on the internet, which either shows Dewey's talent as a writer, or that a lot of people out there still love Sarah.

I know why men find Sarah so threatening, or the left in general, but really, I just don't get the women who become hysterical at her name. Other than Shirley Chisholm and Barbara Jordan I can't think of too many female politicians to do anything but ride the coattails of husbands and fathers.

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

"The last 45 of my 66 years I've spent in a commercial fishing town in Alaska. I understand Alaska politics but never understood national politics well until this last year. Here's the breaking point: Neither side of the Palin controversy gets it. It's not about persona, style, rhetoric, it's about doing things. Even Palin supporters never mention the things that I'm about to mention here.

"1- Democrats forget when Palin was the Darling of the Democrats, because as soon as Palin took the Governor's office away from a fellow Republican and tough SOB, Frank Murkowski, she tore into the Republican's "Corrupt Bastards Club" (CBC) and sent them packing. Many of them are now residing in State housing and wearing orange jump suits. The Democrats reacted by skipping around the yard, throwing confetti and
singing "la la la la" (well, you know how they are). Name another governor in this country that has ever done anything similar. But while you're thinking, I'll continue.

"2- Now with the CBC gone, there were fewer Alaskan politicians to protect the huge, giant oil companies here. So, she constructed and enacted a new system of splitting the oil profits called "ACES". Exxon (the biggest corporation in the world) protested and Sarah told them "don't let the door hit you in the stern on your way out." They stayed, and Alaska residents went from being merely wealthy to being filthy rich. Of course the other huge international oil companies meekly fell in line. Again, give me the name of any other governor in the country that has
done anything similar.

"3- The other thing she did when she walked into the governor's office is she got the list of State requests for federal funding for projects, known as "pork". She went through the list, took 85% of them and placed them in the "when-hell-freezes-over" stack. She let locals know that if we need something built, we'll pay for it ourselves. Maybe she figured she could use the money she got from selling the previous governor's jet because it was extravagant. Maybe she could use the money she saved by dismissing the governor's cook (remarking that she could cook for her
own family), giving back the State vehicle issued to her, maintaining that she already had a car, and dismissing her State provided security force (never
mentioning-I imagine-that she's packing heat herself). I'm still waiting to hear the names of those other governors.

"4- Now, even with her much-ridiculed "gosh and golly" mannerism, she also managed to put together a totally new approach to getting a natural gas pipeline built which will be the biggest private construction project in the history of North America. No one else could do it although they tried. If that doesn't impress you, then you're trying too hard to be unimpressed while watching her do things like this while
baking up a batch of brownies with her other hand.

"5- For 30 years, Exxon held a lease to do exploratory drilling at a place called Point Thompson. They made excuses the entire time why they couldn't start drilling. In truth they were holding it like an investment. No governor for 30 years could make them get started. This summer, she told them she was revoking their lease and kicking them out. They protested and threatened court action. She shrugged and reminded them that she knew the way to the court house. Alaska won again.

"6- President Obama wants the nation to be on 25% renewable resources for electricity by 2025. Sarah went to the legislature and submitted her plan for Alaska to be at 50% renewables by 2025. We are already at 25%. I can give you more specifics about things done, as opposed to style and persona . Everybody wants to be cool, sound cool, look cool. But that's just a cover-up. I'm still waiting to hear from liberals the names of other governors who can match what mine has done in two and a half years. I won't be holding my breath.

"By the way, she was content to to return to AK after the national election and go to work, but the haters wouldn't let her. Now these adolescent screechers are obviously not scuba divers. And no one ever told them what happens when you continually jab and pester a barracuda. Without warning, it will spin around and tear your face off. Shoulda known better."

Four little words

If you want to know why programs to end social ills or create social benefits never die, they only expand, just Google these four words, "dedicated revenue streams to" and then browse municipal, county, state and federal ways to keep a lot of people employed solving society's problems. Here's a few I found

• "The General Assembly has to think out of the box to come up with new and sustainable revenue streams." Democratic candidate addresses the Virginia state budget. The Republican suggested sacrifice and discipline.
  
  
• "Miami-Dade County Food and Beverage Tax: A Dedicated Revenue Source Invested for Results" [to end homelessness]
  
  
• . . . the General Fund would be placed under increasing stress in the next four years, making it hard to produce sufficient revenues to make up for the diversion of the two new dedicated revenue streams to transportation uses [New Jersey transportation proposals]
  
  
• Western Wyoming Community College Distict's Series 2007 Lease Revenue Bond SPUR Raised To 'A+' On Dedicated Revenue Streams
  
  
• The federal government could follow the example of enlightened states and municipalities that use dedicated revenue streams to fund arts and cultural programs. Some 40 communities nationwide dedicate a portion of hotel/motel taxes to arts and cultural programs, acknowledging that cultural activity attracts tourism.
  
  
• The VSO [Vermont Symphony Orchestra] must find new, permanent, and dedicated revenue streams to perpetuate this annual musical offering to the state’s most underserved regions.
  
  
• “As Colorado’s open spaces and agricultural lands continue to rapidly vanish, counties are searching for dedicated revenue streams to protect and preserve their valuable resources,” said Environment Colorado Land Use Associate Pam Kiely. “This legislation [sales tax increase] will provide an essential tool to tackle this problem.”
  
  
• "Americans purchase more than 30 billion single serving bottles a year—was used to create $3 billion-a-year revenue stream dedicated to a federal entity investing in the creation of clean water sources. A dedicated funding stream with a sound policy rationale to support investment ininfrastructure is not a new notion, just an underused one."
  
  
• [Robert] Moses leveraged tolls and other dedicated revenue streams to borrow money, and put shovels in the ground immediately even if all financing was not complete. He knew that once a project started it would be difficult to stop.
  
  
• As councilmember, I will establish one or more dedicated revenue streams to fund metro expansion. I will also seek funding from the federal government as well as our metro partners in Maryland and Virginia. [DC for Democracy, no party given, but he was pro-choice and pro-gay marriage]
  
  
• These proposals [tax on beverage and containers] could both increase dedicated revenue streams to preserve and promote City recycling and decrease the amount of waste to be transported through MTS sites.
  
  
• Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) introduced legislation this week (HR 3032) that would create a new trust fund, supported by dedicated revenue streams, to fund an expanded federal water infrastructure effort. [$10 billion from taxes on soft drinks, pharmaceuticals, and other consumer products, as well as a 0.15 percent corporate tax on profits over $4 million.]
  
  
• Some states also create dedicated revenue sources to support out-of-school time initiatives. Dedicated revenue sources raise and/or direct public funds for a specifi c purpose. Mechanisms for generating dedicated revenue include special taxes, guaranteed expenditure minimums, fees and narrowly based taxes, income tax checkoffs, and children’s trust funds. Creating dedicated revenue sources can be diffi cult, but this funding can provide resources for out-of-school time programs throughout a state, including rural communities.

And so it goes. I don't know what they'll do if people actually stop drinking soft drinks or using throw away containers. Find a new tax I guess. One important "dedicated stream" is that which funds the various housing trusts which now exist in at least 40 states. The one in Ohio went from almost nothing to $56 million (FY 2008) in just 20 years. I think ours is based on transfer of real estate fees, but your state may be different. Transfer of wealth is not just for the federal government.

The Skeptics Handbook on Global Warming

If CO2 is not THE cause of climate change, then the whole Cap-and-Trade Scheme, as well as Kyoto Protocol is WRONG, and must be abandoned. But hurry, the gravy train is about to leave the station.

Free download here. I printed my copy--only 16 pages.

Origins of the current economic crisis?

Glenn Beck's been blaming Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson; maybe he should drop back another 100 years. Jason at Ohio Liberty Studies Group writes:

The basis of “Hamilton’s Curse” [by Thomas DiLorenzo] is simple. That, although the Jeffersonian philosophy of federalism initially triumphed when the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights were adopted, it is Hamilton’s vision of a strong, imperialist central government that has ultimately come to pass, and that we live under today. DiLorenzo provides us with a laundry list which gives us an overview of Hamilton’s political legacy:

“an out-of-control, unaccountable, monopolistic bureaucracy in Washington, D.C.; the demise of the Constitution as a restraint on the federal government’s powers; the end of the idea that the citizens of the states should be the masters, rather than the servants, of their government; generations of activist federal judges who have eviscerated the constitutional protections of individual liberty in America; national debt; harmful protectionist international trade policies; corporate welfare (that is, the use of tax dollars to subsidize various politically connected businesses); and central economic planning and political control of the money supply, which have instigated boom-and-bust cycles in the economy.”

That’s quite a legacy. Alexander Hamilton was this nation’s first Treasury Secretary, and a defender of the central bank, high taxes, protectionist tariffs, and public debt. Each of these, according to Hamilton, would bring with them untold blessings to the American people if instituted. It was Alexander Hamilton who sought to establish the first central bank. It was Hamilton who instituted the very first “bailouts.” It was Hamilton who unapologetically doled out favors and taxpayer funds to his personal friends and business associates. It was Hamilton’s belief in the “implied powers” of the Constitution that gave us the Judicial Review, the “living” Constitution, and justices legislating from the Supreme Court bench. It was Hamilton who espoused deficit spending by the federal government. Anytime you hear a politician talking about all of the wonderful things that the federal government can do for the “public good,” chances are you are listening to a Hamiltonian.

Someone didn't connect the dots in federal-state partnership

Tip lines and 250 agencies can't take the place of old fashioned common sense.

"Innovative Anti-terror Information Sharing: Maryland’s Federal, State, and Local Partnership Model," Chapter 11 in Safeguarding Homeland Security; Governors and Mayors Speak Out was just released Sept. 18. 2009. Former Maryland Governor Robert Erlich wrote about how Maryland was connecting the dots through an innovative federal-state partnership, but they seemed to have slipped up on Maj. Hasan who lived, worked and worshipped in Maryland.

Chapter summary: Maryland created the first fusion center which collects and analyzes disparate data or information to try to “connect the dots” to prevent acts of terrorism. The public is encouraged to provide information through a “tip line.” The Center has federal, state, local, and private sector participation representing 250 agencies or organizations. The Maryland Center is led by members of all three levels of government. A principal objective of such a fusion center is to develop a pattern of cooperation and information sharing.

Maj. Nadil Hasan had communicated 10 to 20 times with Anwar al-Awlaki, an imam released from a Yemeni jail last year who has used his personal Web site to encourage Muslims across the world to kill U.S. troops in Iraq. No formal investigation was opened into Hasan. Rep. Pete Hoekstra of Michigan, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said it was his understanding Hasan and the imam exchanged e-mails that counterterrorism officials picked up. Hoekstra requested that the CIA, FBI, NSA and DNI preserve all documents relating to the Fort Hood attack and related matters for potential investigation by Congress, so this isn't swept under the rug as just some demented soldier going crazy.

Dr. Val Finnell a former classmate of Hasan in Public Health (in Maryland) says Hasan was always focused on another subject. "He would frequently say that he was Muslim first and an American second. That came out in just about everything he did in the university," said Finnell. Hasan would become visibly upset when people challenged him about his beliefs, but no one ever thought he would resort to such violence.

"Instead of being investigated and punished for his treasonous behavior, political correctness assured that Hasan was fast-tracked through the Army ranks and allowed to continue as a psychiatrist treating soldiers returning from the front.

Political correctness is a lie employed by liberal elites to preserve myths about favored groups. It is sold as a way to ensure that society treats people fairly. But it is actually a derangement whereby normally lucid people disregard inconvenient truths and willfully reject facts to avoid confronting uncomfortable realities.

On Meet The Press last Sunday, Army Chief of Staff General George Casey now infamously said about Hasan’s rampage, “As horrific as this tragedy was, if our diversity becomes a casualty, I think that’s worse.” Gary Bauer

Subsidyscope to track the bailout

There are many websites to track government money, and although I haven't determined if this one, Subsidyscope is biased, it is by Pew Charitable Trusts, which is usually reliable. I would call your attention to SIGTARP quarterly report, although it does have its own website. It's easier to work back and forth to different programs if you stay at Subsidyscope. Neil Barofsky needs to watch his back. He was an end-of-term Bush appointee to keep an eye on TARP money as the Special Inspector General (SIG) and so far he doesn't like what he sees. He's supposed to go after waste, theft and abuse, and it has become the Democrat's candy shop. Ought to start with Obama, then Geithner, then Frank, toss in Pelosi just to make sure we have diversity of gender, color and religion, but doubt that will happen. I'm just saying. Cute logo, too.

TARP inspector general Neil Barofsky agrees that the mortgage modifications "will yield no direct return" and notes charitably that "full recovery is far from certain" on the money sent to AIG and Detroit. Mr. Barofsky also notes that since Washington runs huge deficits, and interest rates are almost sure to rise in coming years, TARP will be increasingly expensive as the government pays more to borrow. Link to WSJ article

Smells like Murder episode of The Closer

The Closer, starring Kyra Sedgwick, is my husband's favorite show. In the summer he goes to a neighbor's to watch it, so I don't see the episodes until they are reruns. Last Monday was "Smells like Murder" which I think is the fourth one that had Charlie (Sosie Bacon, her real life daughter) Brenda's rebellious, risk taking niece. In this episode there's a sub-lot about Charlie receiving a package of marijuana from a friend and then baking it into brownies. From the IMDB.com summary:

"Back at home, Brenda arrives to find Charlie cooking. Brenda asks what the delicious smell is. Charlie says it's a surprise, but she promises they're going to have a lot of fun tonight.

Brenda sniffs her way through the house and finds brownies in Charlie's room. She takes one. [If you don't watch this show, Brenda is a chocoholic and sugar addict, always sneaking food she shouldn't be eating, rolling her eyes and then hiding the leftovers in her purse or desk.]

Later, she wobbles out into the dining room, a little too relaxed. She tells Charlie they need to talk. She had a brownie. Or two, or three. Charlie looks totally freaked out. But Brenda says they're the best brownies she's ever had in her entire life. Brenda is stoned.

Later, lying on the living room floor, Brenda talks through the case, trying to figure out who could have done it. But then her words start to sound funny and she's singing Willie Nelson.

Fritz comes home to this scene, his wife on her knees, singing to him. He looks at her eyes, immediately figures out what's up and asks Charlie what's going on. Brenda shows him the brownies. He suggests she go to bed.

Fritz [a recovering alcoholic] is not amused. "Who the hell do you think you are, bringing marijuana into my house?" he asks Charlie. He figures her friend sent her weed - and he signed for it. He asks her if she knows what could have happened if he'd eaten one, telling her he's in AA. He's yelling. "It's not my fault you're a drunk," she says, snottily.

He picks up her phone and finds her friend's number. He's calling her parents. He tells Charlie to go to her room and that she's going home as soon as possible.

Brenda comes out, asking about the fuss. Fritz tells her they're sending Charlie back. This spurs a Brenda realization, even while stoned. She writes down "send back." And then she takes a nap."

When I checked this episode on-line, some viewers (younger than me and apparently wise to the ways of this drug) either thought it was a lame episode and not realistic, or they thought it was hilarious. It was neither, but it was realistic in some parts. People still do this either as food poisoning or a prank.

The October 21, 2009 issue of JAMA had a lengthy article from the CDC MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) about a group of preschool teachers who ingested brownies with marijuana that had been purchased and shared by one of the staff from a vendor who claimed to be part of a church group (that was false). They experienced nausea, dizziness, headache, numbness and tingling of fingertips, face, forehead, arms and hands. When the director discovered her staff was ill, all with similar symptoms, the LAPD was called and the Dept. of Public Health of California. Only one staff person spit it out immediately noticing the unusual taste, and the other six, although they thought the brownies had a medicinal aftertaste, ate them anyway. One woman was a breastfeeding mother; two required medical attention at an urgent care facility. All had blood and urine tests. Symptoms lasted 3-10 hours; all recovered. The sidewalk vendor was never found.

Accidental ingestion of marijuana has led to coma in children. THC is the major psychoactive ingredient and it rapidly distributes to the adipose tissue, liver, lungs, and spleen, and then is released back into the blood stream where it is converted to THC-COOH which can be detected for anywhere from days in infrequent users to weeks or months in frequent users.

I'm guessing that because this happened in California where the DPH may be accustomed to some strange drug episodes and the staff of the pre-school were cooperating with the investigation, it was cleared up pretty fast. In some other states, they might have had to hire a lawyer and lost their jobs.

Teaching pre-schoolers to use the phone

I've been updating the family address and phone list. Everyone seems to have 2 phone numbers and work numbers, and e-mail, and they keep moving! It's getting a bit long now that more of my nieces and nephews' children are college age and they too have cell phones. My niece told me a funny story about her youngest, a very lively and challenging little boy.

"When he was three, we let him have an old cell phone to play with. I was having an especially crazy morning (oversleeping, running late, getting Wy ready for school, the dog had terrible "stomach" problems all over the carpet, etc. etc.) Wy was having a very long "conversation" with his sister on his cell phone. I was impressed at how long the conversation was and actually was thankful. . . it gave me a chance to clean up the carpet mess. I finally told him he had to tell her goodbye so that we could leave for pre-school, to which he said goodbye and then told me that she wanted to talk to me. I took the phone and quickly said goodbye. . . only to hear someone say, "Hello... Hello..." I was dumbstruck and asked who it was. She replied that she was the 911 operator. I was mortified. I had no idea that old cell phones, even when they didn't have service, could still dial 911. The pre-school had been teaching the little ones what to do in an emergency. . . dial 911. Upon further investigation, it seemed that this was the 3rd call that he had made that morning. He told her ALL about my bad morning, including all the gory details about the dog's mishap. I told her how sorry I was and she just laughed and said it was the best call she had ever gotten. Shortly after that is when I started noticing numerous white hairs. Wy definitely keeps us all on our toes and laughing pretty much on a daily basis.

Obamacare won't help these women

On the way home today I was listening to WOSU (to avoid football games) and heard two women being interviewed about their health problems and insurance. Both had insurance--one had a combination of private and Medicare, the other, much younger who had Lupus, was on disability and was a widow with death benefits. The older one for some reason thought if the current health care "reform" passed, no one would be suffering the way she is--she and her husband have sold their "dream home" and moved to less expensive housing away from the city because of their high medical costs. The younger woman, ironically, was caught in a catch-22 situation only our government could dream up. When her death benefits were increased slightly over $100 a month, (I assume it was a private pension, but didn't hear that part) it put her over the maximum to qualify for the Medicaid benefits for her son who has an expensive disability and also needs speech therapy. Between her death benefits and her disability payments she is squeaking by but there is no extra money for additional speech therapy and her son only gets about 15 minutes a week at school which isn't enough to make any permanent changes.

Nothing in the current plan makes anything better for either woman, regardless of the clucking and tsk-tsking of the host. They probably both have better coverage right now than people in their situation will have in 3-4 years when these expensive "reforms" kick in, especially the older woman as Medicare benefits are cut and nothing is done about the fraud and mismanagement currently in the system.

The older woman was angry--"Health care should be a right"--that in her retirement years her money was going for her medical bills (I think she wants us to pay for it so she can live in her "dream" home). She thought it was very unfair--but she said she loved where they had moved. The younger woman with the disabled child was more philosophical and spiritual, believing she was fortunate to have what she had.

Climate politics

My thoughts exactly. From a letter to the WSJ

"The politics of global warming is an updated version of colonialism by the developed nations, which want to impose regulations on the "primitives" through the threat of denial of finances. This is to be done while ignoring the more pressing needs of the subjugated people under the guise of saving the planet, and it is really no different from previous colonial powers that also ignored humanitarian needs with the theological rubric of saving souls. Now it will be the United Nations that is the colonial monarch that dictates to the developed nations and takes ransom via global taxation.

Zev Joseph

Charleston, W.V."

Serendipity is a librarian's best tool

Yesterday as I stepped through the door of Panera's, Tina gave me a shout out--"Norma! We don't have any coffee!" I could have had espresso with some water added, or hot tea, but instead I headed two blocks south passing up a Starbucks to Caribou which used to be my morning spot. While there I picked up a "free circ" I'd never seen before--The Garage Slab. It wasn't a vol.1 no.1, but it was on a topic I'd recently covered in my blog--garages. If you've got any guys on your Christmas list who are hard to buy for, this is it. Four issues for $12.95. Not only is it about the style and contents of garages, but beer, sports, tools and cars. And each issue has a "guest mechanic" so if you like to write, you might just submit something. From the web site: instructions Although this issue's dedication to Aldrich Hamilton, a former newspaper man and printer, who "died," was resuscitated, and 20 hours later was photographed and interviewed reading his issue, would be hard to beat. I think he was interviewed by his son.

If you could visit anyone's garage whose would it be?
My son's, he has half of my tools! He hasn't changed a bit!!
There's even an advice column called Peg's Board. "Dear Peg, How do I get my buddies out of my garage without getting flack from them about being old and boring now that I have a wife and kid?" Seeking sleep in Solon, Ohio.

Dear Sleep Seeker, (gives a list of suggestions and etiquette rules), then, "Barring that just kick 'em out when you're ready for bed and blame it on your wife. She'll never know."

Attractive design; clever theme; humor; great photography; good quality paper; nice graphics and layout; an abundance of advertisers; published and printed in Columbus by Greasy Shirt Publishing, but available in 11 other states.

Site Meter Reports foreign visits

In the last few hours I've had visits from

A Corua, Galicia, Spain

Brussels, Belgium

Perth, Western Australia

Via Del Mar, Valparaiso Chile

Saint-Mand, Ile-de-France

Leeds U.K.

New Delhi, India

Seoul, Korea

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Tel Aviv, Israel

Burnaby, British Columbia

Many cities in Ontario

Zagreb, Croatia

Pretoria, South Africa
I hope they found what they were looking for.

Site Meter Reports

It's been a reasonably busy week here at the old blog, now over 6 years old. About 3,750 pages were viewed--that's about 1,000 more than "visits." Even so, that's not an indicator of readership, because Google or Yahoo any number of other crawlers might find my blog and so it shows a "hit list" but the searcher might choose 2 entries above it, read that and never get to mine. And the search engines might pick up words randomly on the page like something from the quote at the top, a line from poetry, and then a recipe causing some real head scratching. This past week my blog on Neal Boortz's story (fictional) on the Carrington Automotive Enterprises was picking up 20-30 hits per 100, or about 40 a day, and something on guy paper dolls I did years ago was grabbing about 15 a day (100 is a free service and so that's my ideal price range, nor do I pay to see who is visiting--but many do). The first week in November my issue three (guest blogger) was very popular--wish I'd written it! The Carrington story is zipping around the internet via e-mail and it's very good. It's an illustration of small business taxes and just how easy it is to be called "rich" in Obama fantasy land of redistributive wealth. At least one of my anonymous readers, probably John, just goes bonkers that it's not a REAL example of a REAL Sub-S corporation. There's a lot of truth in fiction, parables, myths, legends, fables, morality plays and fairy tales--maybe moreso that the evening news. In order to disagree with the truth, some go after the genre. Like the conversation with my shoulder pads when it was finally time for them to go. Honest, I really don't talk to my clothes.

I'm happy for her, but. . .

My daughter stopped by last night to drop off some magazines. I'm thrilled that she's dropped 4 dress sizes because she was dangerously close to being a diabetic and has a full range of other endocrine problems including thyroid cancer, Hashimoto's and metabolic syndrome. We can't do much with the genes we were given, and the endocrine system can get out of whack causing severe problems. She was always beautiful at any size, but I'm thrilled she's healthier--the labs are all back to normal. And it's all been through a very disciplined exercise program. Thyroid medication and diets did nothing for her. Exercise did. She's switched to an exercycle (mine, since I wasn't using it) after an injury, but is ready to return to the treadmill in her basement. For some people it's diet, some it's exercise, some it's both. The point is to get healthy and hit a balance.

However, when she told me she thought she'd need a size 8 pair of jeans next, I had flash backs to 23 years ago when she used to borrow my clothes. In her senior pictures she's wearing one of my dresses and one of my suits. I don't think kids dress up for school photos anymore, but in the 80s they still did that.

This morning I took my closet apart, rearranging summer and winter clothes, hanging by color, storing some, pitching others, but was really looking for a size 8 Tall pair of Bill Blass jeans that I'd never shortened, and then "outgrew" so they'd been hanging around feeling blue. After an hour and not finding them, I decided I'd given them away. Then moved my hand to the back of the closet and found them--still with the tags. I have on the other pair (shortened, Easy Fit, "antiqued"), but I'm more than happy to donate to the cause of good health.

Spreading a big TARP over a sink hole

From Forbes.com: - the $700,000,000,000 bailout will most likely fail according to the government's auditor Neil Barofsky. Some programs, such as $50 billion in mortgage modification subsidies and incentives, were not designed with any reasonable opportunity for a return to taxpayers. . . As of Wednesday, the Treasury said it had received repayments of $73.02 billion and had collected dividends, interest and warrant sale profits totaling $13.03 billion. How did we get here?

Remember how TARP, Troubled Asset Relief Program, had to be RUSHED through with no thought or the world as we know it would come to an end? But never waste a crisis. Obama's thuggery has stolen our freedom and our economy . When the state controls the owners of business you have Germany in the 1930s and 1940s. When it owns the business you have post-1920 USSR. Are these the "progressive" choices you want--national socialism or communism? Didn't we fight this in WWII and even longer in a Cold War in Europe and some hot spots in Asia called Korea and Vietnam? Why did we ask such a sacrifice of generations of our military if we would just give it all away in an election?

And it continues unabated. Our elected Congress is being pressured to rush health care bills, rush climate change bills, rush anything called eco- or sustainable or green, rush confirmation of cabinet, czars and judges so only socialists and/or communists get a seat at the table, rush, rush, rush. Or Obama's plans could collapse. So far, he's won all the battles; his plan is working, folks.

Housing program doesn't work so give them even more money

USAToday reported in October on a money black hole (under Bush and predecessors) so Obama has decided it just needs more money

Federal funding for a housing counseling program carried out by local non-profit groups such as ACORN has more than tripled since 2002, even though it has been criticized by government auditors for failing to show results.

President Obama's budget calls for a 54% increase next year — $100 million in all — for the program, which helps people buy or refinance a home, prevent a foreclosure or find rental housing. The Senate agreed, while the House of Representatives suggested $70 million; final negotiations over the bill are pending.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has been unable to provide much proof the program works, according to government reports, despite an increase in funding from $20 million in 2002 to $65 million last year." Link for details on the failures.

It's very hard to ever defund a "poverty" program, and even harder if it is for the "working family" or "low to moderate income" even if the program doesn't work. For instance, after forty plus years and billions of dollars for Head Start, studies show after a year or two in school, most gains are lost due to the children's home environment. It would be political death to NOT vote for the Head Start fantasy. Same with the "right to home ownership" dream which both parties claim and Bush really loved. At its worst it did nothing more than push already economically fragile people into debt beyond their wildest dreams; and at best, it funneled them into foreclosure workshops and refinancing failures. Either way, the agencies, groups, churches and nonprofits keep their own staff employed.

Yesterday it was announced that NeighborWorks America (created by Congress) received almost $5 million from HUD to provide training for housing counselors through its various agencies, so it would seem the first payouts are forthcoming.

"Today NeighborWorks America announced that it received $4,860,802 in funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which will support training and certification opportunities for thousands of counselors from HUD-approved nonprofit counseling agencies, as well as nonprofit housing counseling at local NeighborWorks organizations. Link to details

It's a revolving door, but it keeps the staff of foundations, non-profits, churches, and government offices employed. With unemployment at the highest levels since Jimmy Carter days, now is hardly the time to hand out tax dollars to training classes for luring people into mortgages.

Finally, some transparency!

At last Obama is being absolutely clear and transparent in this move of the trial of 9/11 perps to New York where they can enjoy all the rights and benefits of citizens.

Attorney General Eric Holder made official Friday morning what was reported by the media for hours beforehand, the Obama Administration's intention to bring the alleged 9/11 conspirators who've been held at Guantanamo for years to trial in New York. . . Holder said five defendants would be tried in New York. Besides KSM, they were Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak bin 'Attash, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali and Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi. Mohammed and the four others are accused of orchestrating the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people on Sept. 11, 2001.

They've already had a trial and pled guilty. There's no doubt of their guilt--we all know and they know and are proud of what they did. So why would Obama do this?

That's where it's so transparent. This allows terrorists a global stage to bring their case to the world--a way for Obama to again tell the world what a terrible, awful, yucky country we are--they are probably getting bored with his monotonous presentations, so here's his opportunity to pass the baton to some jihadists. Also, it allows him to put George W. Bush on trial. See? Has there ever been a move more transparent than this one?

It's very clear
Obama's here to stay,
Not for a day
forever and a year. . .
Have you noticed? He doesn't even try to hide what he's doing anymore. It's so pathetic. His poll numbers are in free fall, but it doesn't matter.

New Yorkers don't want this; 9/11 families don't want this; sensible, safety minded Americans in the rest of the country don't want this. They know it's wrong, that it violates all our laws and common sense. It doesn't matter. Obama has taken control.

We're probably the only country in the world whose Congress and President cheer wildly a bill which would put its citizens in jail for not buying health insurance, and then turn around and give away our most treasured rights and military intelligence to committed, non-citizen terrorists who want to destroy us.

Friday Family Photo--Niagara Falls 1963

Yesterday there was a review in USAToday of a debut historical novel by a Canadian that's had some good reviews, The Day the Falls Stood Still by Cathy Marie Buchanan, although what interested this reviewer the least, the historical and scientific aspects of the Falls, would probably interest me the most.

The other day while looking through some photos to use as painting references, I came across a fat envelope of black and whites that had never been put in an album, nor identified. I remember the trip well. First we drove from Champaign Urbana to Kalamazoo to my brother's wedding, then on to Detroit, to Niagara Falls then into Canada, down through New York state, and to our final destination, New York City. It's a huge stack of photos from my husband's Boy Scout box camera mostly of the weird 1960s contemporary architecture and canyons of streets and the skyline of New York (without the twin towers of WTC which opened a decade later). I don't think there were any photos of the wedding, although those might be in an album, because I do have some of baby brother and beautiful bride. If I wrench the camera out of his hot hands, we might get a photo or two of people, but usually, we have mounds of photos of buildings--with many left over as unusable that are never thrown away. If there are photos of us together, someone has probably sent us a photo. But I did find two--this one of me standing in front of the Falls (I probably just stepped up) and one of me in a canopied I.M. Pei building in Detroit.

This trip was miserable for me. Our only child Stanley had died a few months before, I think I was crying every night in strange motel rooms and was not impressed with the scenery, the buildings, or the history. That's not a hump on my back--I'd lost so much weight that my clothes didn't fit. I couldn't wait to get home. It may sound odd, but seeing new sights and places is even more a reminder of the loss than being around the familiar ("I say, "There is no memory of him here!"/ And so stand stricken, so remembering him!" St. Vincent Millay). I probably sulked most of the trip and wasn't a good companion for my wonderful tour guide. And it's still hard to get people in his photographs 46 years later.

We visited Niagara Falls again in 2004 on a group tour with other architecture devotees (we do Frank Lloyd Wright and anyone or thing else interesting along the way). There have been so many tall buildings (casinos and hotels, I think) built along the river that it has changed air currents, and the Falls seems to be in a perpetual fog that doesn't lift. It was terribly commercial in 1963, and even more so in 2004. But still magnificent and impressive.

President Dithers

Ten months and he's still studying Afghanistan! Now he's decided they have corruption and that changes the game plan. Why? We've got loads of it in our own government, and it never stopped us before! We've got Barney Frank who assured us everything was fine in Fannie Mae, and Timmy Geithner who couldn't figure out his taxes so he just didn't pay them, and bunches of people from Chicago knee capping everyone and taking names, threatening news outlets. We've got eco-lobbyists and rich marxists camping out at the White House. This whole Afghan dither thing is so blatantly political I would think even his most loyal, boot licking supporters would have it figured out and show some concern for the lives of our military and those of our allies. Or on a good day, perhaps they could show a little caring for the people of Afghanistan who must really be confused by a President who says victory isn't necessary, especially since a year ago he said this was THE WAR. Giving speeches to our military 3 days in a row first at Ft. Hood, then Arlington, and today at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, Alaska do you suppose he ever got an inkling what war is about? Apparently not. The speeches looked like they were given through clenched teeth and drawn from a heart of stone.

Obama is terrified of offending his far left base. Or maybe the Chicago goon squad he brought with him to DC. Whichever, he won't do anything to offend them for fear of losing support for health care (which he just had to rush through with no one seeing it) or cap and trade so together they can kill all our economy. He just had to rush rush rush the stimulus package or something really awful like 9% unemployment could happen, again without anyone knowing what was in it. And it has all sorts of surprises that had zip nada zilch to do with stimulating the economy, but which affect health, taxes, and especially energy. Little bombs of excrement that his closest advisors tucked inside and none of our elected representatives got to debate.

But he must deliberate even longer on Afghanistan and not let it detract from his war on our economy.

Media starts to report on health care costs

Maybe it's just because Fox is cleaning their clocks, or perhaps there are just too many lies to ignore it any longer.

"Could it be that the press is finally catching on to the fact that the Democrats’ health care reform bills don’t decrease costs? New York Times columnist David Leonhardt rips up the House bill in a column today. He writes, “Making the medical system more efficient is, in short, about saving lives and giving Americans a long overdue raise. It is arguably the single most important step that the federal government could take to improve people’s lives. And the bill that the House of Representatives passed last weekend simply does not get it done.”

The Politico also gets in on the act, writing “Barack Obama ran for president on a promise of saving the typical family $2,500 a year in lower health care premiums. But that was then. No one in the White House is making such a pledge now. It’s one of the most basic, kitchen-table questions of the entire reform debate: Would the sweeping $900 billion overhaul actually lower spiraling insurance premiums for everyone? No one really knows. …. [MIT health economist Jonathan] Gruber, the favorite economist of the White House, said the bill “really doesn’t bend the cost curve.” … Reminded that Obama demanded a bill that lowers health care spending, Gruber said: “That is what he would like to do. But he’s not doing it.””

And ABC News corrects the Democrats’ claim that insurance company profits are responsible for increasing health insurance costs. ABC News reports, [T]he companies’ profits still represent a miniscule percentage of the $2.5 trillion Americans spend every year on health care. “Insurance company profits in the large picture have very little to do with the overall rising cost of health care,” said health care expert Henry Aaron, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.” Link

St. Algore the Green

“I’ve done a Christian [-based] training program; I have a Muslim training program and a Jewish training program coming up, also a Hindu program coming up. I trained 200 Christian ministers and lay leaders here in Nashville in a version of the slide show that is filled with scriptural references. It’s probably my favourite version, but I don’t use it very often because it can come off as proselytising,” Gore tells Newsweek.

Right. Someone might think you were a Christian instead of just a eco-capitalist.

HT Lookinferlearning via Soylent Green

Thank you President Bush

Hillbuzz is not a blog I follow, but this essay, from a former Bush detractor is very touching and so true. After commenting on his strength after 9/11 and his quiet visit last week to Ft. Hood to comfort the troops, he comments:

"Thank goodness George W. is still on his watch, with wonderful Laura at his side. We are blessed as a nation to have these two out there…just as we are blessed to have the Clintons on the job, traveling the world doing the good they do.

And we are blessed to have Dick Cheney, wherever he is, keeping tabs on all that’s going on and speaking out when the current administration does anything too reckless and dangerous.

Cheney’s someone else we villainized and maligned in the past who we were also wrong about. There has never been a Vice President, including Gore, Biden, or Mondale, who was more supportive of gay rights than “Darth Cheney”. There has never been a Vice President more spot-on right about the dangers facing this country from Islamic terrorism.

We live in strange, strange times indeed.

We are now officially committed fans of George W. and Laura Bush. We are fans of Dick Cheney. Our gratitude for them makes us newly protective of them, and the continued role they play in this country."

Strange times indeed.

Looking back at the origins of FHA

The right margin of this interesting article from Woman’s Day about an early FHA backed mortgage is missing because my grandmother who clipped it was interested in the quilt pattern on the other side (Star and Ring). From the clothing and hair styles, I’d place it about 1948 because the husband isn’t in uniform and those drapes look familiar.

FHA has had an interesting history. On the one hand, it allowed generations of Americans to own their own homes, but the unintended consequences are it contributed mightily to our current recession brought on by the collapse of the housing market.

It was created in 1934 during the Great Depression because housing loan periods used to be much shorter with a final balloon payment, and when the economy failed, many people lost their homes. But there were also some fairly stiff standards on the quality of the home, a modest down payment and the ability of the buyers to pay. After 25 years or so, politicians decided this was unfair to African Americans who were being left behind in the decaying inner cities as whites moved out to newer housing stock (like in the picture of the Knudsen family home near Washington D.C.).

So that’s how we got all this “creative financing” with the seller, instead of the buyer, providing the down payment, but not really, because it actually came from a non-profit organization like a church or community group (think ACORN) which got the money from the government. In 2000, these types of mortgages made up less than 2% of FHA insured mortgages. By 2007, that percentage jumped to 35%. And I guess you know the rest of the story.

“The FHA’s standard insurance program today is notoriously lax. It backs low downpayment loans, to buyers who often have below-average to poor credit ratings, and with almost no oversight to protect against fraud. Sound familiar? This is called subprime lending—the same financial roulette that busted Fannie, Freddie and large mortgage houses like Countrywide Financial.” WSJ, Aug. 11, 2009

To be fair, conventional loans during the same time period were also requiring nothing down, so there’s plenty of blame to go around when mortgage lenders, non-profits dependent on government grants, home flippers with venture capital and politicians collude.

But this is just a reminder that more government interference in the housing market is not necessarily a good thing. The current housing credit of $8,000 for “first time buyers” (and there’s tremendous fraud in this) is costing us taxpayers something like $48,000 for each one.

Incidentally, Dorothy Ducas, the author of the Woman's Day article had a very interesting career and would make an interesting topic for a thesis if it hasn't been done.

A generation raised to expect breakfast

The man in front of me at Panera's today (fabulous bakery items, in case you've never been there) was buying a delicious selection of breakfast goodies--dense in calories and nutrition. In jest I said something like

"You must be really hungry today."

"These are for my employees. I love to see their smiles and they work harder."

"How nice," I replied. "All I ever got was a paycheck for working hard."

When we were out of earshot of others, he explained in hushed tones the real reason.

"I'm a contractor and I've learned that most of my mid-20s employees grew up getting breakfast, lunch and snacks provided to them by their schools. They have no idea how to feed themselves and they expect to be fed by whoever is in charge. When I give them a job to do, they say, 'But we haven't eaten yet.' "

Most are on food stamps and they come to me from an agency. If I want them to work, I have to feed them."

I'm still in shock. What have we done?

Fascinating radio lead in

While driving to the coffee shop this morning, the radio announcer provided the lead in to two news stories, but by putting them in one sentence, he created a startling word picture.

"A stench returns to a Cleveland neighborhood and the President still hasn't made a decision on Afghanistan."

Stench indeed. And the smell of politics is overwhelming that of the dead bodies hidden by a serial killer of women. He'll sit on it until he gets his way with health care, endangering the lives of our military and Afghan allies. The man has no shame.

Cite your sources, please

Today I was reading a passage about Leo Tolstoy in the book A Faith and Culture Devotional. Parts of the book are used in an on-line guide, so this link is to that. I have the print copy. (It's a wonderful book in case you're looking for Christmas ideas.)

The passage about Tolstoy’s treatment of his wife Sophia and their children was used to show how a quest for holiness and perfection may backfire in the lives of those nearest and dearest.

“There is so little genuine warmth about him; his kindness does not come from his heart, but merely from his principles.… no one will ever know that he never gave his wife a rest and never—in all these 32 years—gave his child a drink of water or spent five minutes by his bedside.”

But Philip Yancey, the author of the essay on Tolstoy, provides no citation. Yancey is an editor of Christianity Today and should know better. Oh well, now we have the internet and it shouldn’t be that tough to track down, right? Wrong. I spent about 45 minutes (it was an interesting search) and still don't have the exact source. I did find a wonderful source at NPR with photos of Sophia and a new book about the family, but not that passage. However, I kept finding this same quote in numerous sources, all without a citation. It was like trying to track one of those viral e-mails or an urban legend.

Eventually I revised my search and found a partially scanned copy of Sophia’s autobiography with extensive notes at the end about the battle of the diaries. I looked through it quickly, and I’m guessing this popular legend about Tolstoy's family life came from her book, translated and published in 1922. Autobiography of Countess Tolstoy [Sophie Andreevna Tolstoy] By Sofʹi︠a︡ Andreevna Tolstai︠a︡, translated by S. Koteliansky and Leonard Woolf. 1922.

However, in reading the extensive notes at the end (more interesting and complicated than my original quest), it is easy to see that wives of famous people (Mary Lincoln comes to mind) don’t fare well at the hands of male historians and biographers. They seem to grasp that although she was caring for 9 children when Lev decided to go on his spiritual quest and give away all their wealth and possessions, and that several of her 13 children died, and there were family squabbles enough to populate several large Russian estates, she was the one who was crazy. Go figure.

Did she say what I think she said?

"On Tuesday, that heavy task [of facing grieving Americans] fell to President Obama. At a memorial service five days after the largest mass killing on a U.S. military base, he reached for words of sorrow and solace, then summoned determination." Ann Gerhart, WaPo, Nov. 11

Yes, I think she just called it. He's a cold, cold caricature of a caring person, of a decent, warm human being. He reached, couldn't find it, so he just went on with banalities. As a eulogist and comforter, he flunks. That speech combined with his bizarre behavior last week at the news conference in which a stunned nation waited while he just announced more wealth redistribution and gave shout outs, have pretty much confirmed that we've got President Robotic Obama in office. Nothing will detract him from his agenda or his focus on himself.

Atlantic and NYT, ever the apologists, ever the big O cheerleaders, swooned over this cold collection of dead words and slipped in their own spittle.

Take back America in 2010

It's up to you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=UZkvkLmkYVg

Veterans Day

The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. I've told the story of how my parents, who were very young children, heard about the end of WWI. Because WWII was the defining event of their young married life, I'd never thought to ask them about WWI, until. . .

"I didn't hear about WWI memories until sometime in the early 1990s. I had interviewed my father for an oral history to include in a family recipe collection for a reunion of the descendants of his parents who had died in 1983. I had interviewed my mother about her parents' personal library for two articles I wrote. Both recalled in their 80s the first Armistice Day (now called Veterans' Day) even though they were 5 and 6 years old. I imagine they listened in on adult conversations and caught the fear and dread that gripped their communities. My mother's father who was 44 was registered for the draft. And although I haven't seen the record, I would assume my father's father, who was a much younger man, did too. There were no radios or television, and newspapers would have been too slow. So the plan was to ring bells when word came to the nearest town that the armistice had been signed. The church bells would be rung; then each farmer would begin to ring the bells they used on the farm; then the next farmer a few miles further away would hear and begin ringing his bells. Both my parents had exactly the same memory of that first Armistice Day--hearing bells tolling throughout the countryside from all sides. The war was over."

Armistice Day now honors all Veterans, living and dead. On this day I think I've shown photos of Uncle Clare, and Uncle Russell (Joe) and Dad, so here's a photo of Uncle John, Dad's brother. Dad's brother John was inducted into the Army in December, 1942. He served with glider troops in North Africa and Sicily. In England during preparation for the invasion of France, he served as glider instructor. He took part in the invasion of Normandy and was wounded then and again in Belgium. He was discharged in June 1945. Uncle Russell, Dad and John's younger brother (probably still a teen) served in Sitka, Alaska, and then was with the first wave of Marines who stormed Iwo Jima and was wounded; he was awarded the Purple Heart. Dad's cousins Andy, Bill and Phil were in the Army serving in Europe, Philippines and Korea; his cousin Wayne and brother-in-law Glaydon (Gramps) were in the Navy and served in the Pacific; cousin-in-law Harlan served in the Army in New Guinea and the Philippines; brother-in-law Johnny was in the Coast Guard; brother-in-law Charlie was also in the service, but I don't know the branch. Another brother-in-law, my mother's brother Clare, was in the Army Air Force and died in the China, Burma India Theater in 1944. Dad served on the U.S.S. Mayo and made two trips across the Atlantic and one trip each to Okinawa, the Philippines and Japan. Not bad for a farm kid who had probably not been further away from home than Chicago and never learned to swim. All but two of these men were from the same town and all are deceased now. [Service records and photos of over 400 men and women for a town of less than 3,000 appear in "War Record of Mount Morris" edited by Harry G. Kable, 1947.] Even the town band was part of the National Guard and served in the Fiji Islands. (From a blog I wrote 11/10/05)

Best carpet spot cleaner I've found

A bottle of glass cleaner--can be Windex, or just a blue or green knock-off. We have a cat. Hair balls and vomited dyed cat food (that's for owners since I think cats are color blind). The first time I grabbed a bottle of window cleaner it was because it was handy. In my office and our lower family room/laundry room level we have very tightly woven, expensive commercial carpet that could serve a busy theater lobby it's so good. This stuff cleaned it like a dream and left no light spots. So the next time she tossed her cookies on the white living room thick shag, I tried it on that. Works like a dream.

Today I'm taking a bottle with me to exercise class with a heavy cloth (paper towels are OK, but can come apart and then you're cleaning up paper pieces). The carpet in our fellowship hall is disgusting. People are very careless with food and coffee spills, and I think I'll try some spot cleaning. I've made no progress after a year+ of complaining about the pink soap dribbling and staining the white counters in the ladies room. I even brought one of the pastors in to show him. Our maintenance staff must not notice the pink stains turning gray. It's useless to remind people to be cleaner and cautious because of the flu if the rest rooms and carpet look grubby, don't you think? I'm a visual person. The visual environment counts too!!

Sensitivity vs. stupidity; fairness vs. foolishness

Apologists and victimologists for Nadil Hasan who can only find evil motives on the Christian far right could benefit from Eugene Robinson's column today. He says there's a difference between being sensitive and being stupid, and apologists are actually hurting American Muslims by refusing to see that the military had plenty of warning about this guy and dropped the ball.

• He had told people of his serious doubts about U.S. military campaigns
  
• He made no secret of his reluctance to serve in Afghanistan
  
• Army doctors told their superiors of their concern about his divided allegiance
  
• Fellow officers had complained about his anti-american rants
  
• He was possibly a follower of a radical cleric.

And if you've been following the story you know there were more speculations, some being investigated, others being buried.

If you disagree, please contact Mr. Robinson, eugenerobinson@washpost.com

How to understand what's happening

to the Christians in the United States. Lutherans are in grief and shock--well, maybe not those who think only the local congregation matters. But the August "Church Wide Assembly" which approved gay pastors and marriage after 20 years of nibbling around the edges, for some reason, surprised some (not me). Here's one of the best explanations I've read by David Housholder to catch you up, just in case you're not a Christian, or you only show up for weddings, funerals and Christmas Eve.
Full document here.

"There are two emerging Christianities.

1) One is a postwar liberal movement with roots in the 19th century social gospel, liberal German theology from that same era, and flavored with a shot of very resilient Marxism. This faction has firm control over most mainline Protestant North American denominations, colleges, and seminaries. Their preaching is cool and reflective and nuanced.

"Let us then go forth brothers and sisters to renew our efforts to establish justice and peace throughout God's creation. For the sake of the greater Gospel and the Christ who was crucified."

2) The other was born around campfires on the mission field and the songs of slavery. Its piety is "warm to hot," expressive, potent, and unpredictable. There is a supernatural vibe to the body language and speech. It is a high-touch world of prayer and laying on of hands. It can be found in storefront churches full of immigrants in any major world city."

These two, writes Housholder repel each of like two poles of a magnet--in some ways they gain identitiy by NOT being like the other and each sees their group as an upgrade over and against the other. They are mutually patronizing. When I (Norma) used to be on Usenet (all text) for a writers group, the Christian groups were the most vicious and snarly so I never joined any of those groups. Liberationist or charismatic or dispensationalist, it made no difference.

The fault line is not whether gays are saved by the work of Jesus Christ (Christians can't work their way to salvation), but whether they can be pastors in committed relationships or can be married in the church. In the good old days of theological splits and snipes, writes Housholder, traditional family morality was upheld by both groups (even as our divorce rates soared). Now that is gone. The Protestant denominations are unraveling. Yours too, in case you aren't there yet, there is a study group or task force planning to take you for a free and painful ride until the crash at the end.

All the king's horses and all the king's men will not be able to put Humpty Dumpty back together again. A community cannot be held together with two sets of rules on the big-ticket issues. There may be more understanding and consensus on the abortion issue than this one which goes to the heart of biblical revelation from Genesis to Revelation.

The grand coalition of North American Protestantism has unraveled, he says. Liberals will retain control of the mainline denominations, Housholder predicts, and the conservatives will either 1) stay and keep quiet, 2) leave the mainline world and join a non-denominational group, or 3) be visionary and creative.