Are we at the end of a natural warming period

There are two strong memories from my childhood: the snow was very deep and we were at war most of the time. I was born at the end of a warming blip that had existed during most of the the lifetime of my parents (1916-1940) which was part of a larger trend that began around 1850 after a cold period of several centuries. Whereas their formative years contained memories of dust storms, shriveled crops and nights so hot in Illinois they couldn't breathe, I remember giant snow drifts and winters that seemed to last forever followed by warm, idyllic and pleasant summers. Of course, I was shorter then, so it wasn't that tough to say it was up to my waist. However, another warming blip began in the 1970s, and I can remember driving to Illinois in the winter with our children and not seeing a snowflake. I still remember the summer of 1988--it was so dry and hot in Ohio, the Bruces broke down and bought an air conditioner for our Columbus house, and took a lake cruise to get out of the heat of Lakeside. Now things seem to be getting cooler again with lots of ragged, wild weather around the edges. I wouldn't even think of driving to Illinois in the winter now--the last five years where I grew up have been brutal with deep snow. Here in temperate mid-Ohio we muddle through gray winters as we always have with one or two blizzards a year and then weeks of melting snow drifts. This morning I woke up to the sound of snow plows, but didn't recognize the noise. We may get 2-4" as the northeast is pummeled.

The other memory--that of war--is a reminder that we need to be vigilant. Hitler was marching through Poland (Polenfeldzug) when I was born. I believe our President was trying to work out some sort of "accord." During my youth and right up to the collapse of the USSR, some version of socialism has been the enemy of our republican form of government--either the National Socialism of Hitler, or the Communism of Lenin/Stalin/Mao--both of which chewed up most of Europe and Asia. The other, centuries old absolute loyalty to a monarch, was Japan, now a democracy. This is another thing that is cyclical. Our ignorance and forgetfulness. Socialism doesn't need armored tanks anymore.

Sports and Greed

Recent events in science, politics, national security and the economy have caused many of us to completely lose faith in our so called “free and independent press,” because broadcast and print journalists carried the water for Obama in 2007-2008, downplayed the pinholes in the expanding housing bubble when there was still time to do something, research institutions and gatekeepers of the peer review sources manipulated data and blacklisted colleagues for the sake of government grants and personal gain in science, and cable, new media “fact checkers” and news aggregators played up every mistake of the military during the Bush years while ignoring the big picture with an end result of helping our enemies. The final straw has been the Tiger Woods story, at least for me. Yesterday I was reading How Tiger Protected his Image, in the WSJ. As I tried to work my way through the convoluted, complex story of Tiger’s deal with Golf Digest, I stumbled over many other media sources--Conde Nast, Tiger Woods’ own foundation, American Media, Inc., The National Enquirer, Men’s Fitness, News of the World, News Corp., Woods’ handlers, representatives, photographers, Laveley & Singer law firm in LA, spokespeople, editors, Media Industry Newsletter, and finally (but not the first) the hapless, untipped waitress in the church parking lot and her family.

And no, this isn’t just a story about sex, or even possible redemption, which for some reason many Christian writers are playing up. It’s a story about a systemic problem--greed. When his wife or babies test positive for an STD, then maybe we can say it’s about infidelity and sex, but in the meantime, the sports and information industries have some explaining to do their values.

Obama has led us off the cliff

We've all been wondering--why are they doing this to us?

"This week the president told the nation that we are "on the precipice" of passing historic health care legislation. He could not have chosen a better word, because that's what a majority of readers -- and the American public -- believe: that we're about to plunge into a health care system that is more expensive and offers lower-quality care than what we have now." Byron York

HT Murray

Why I believe in global warming

"The Earth has recently been warming. This is beyond doubt. It has warmed slowly and erratically for a total of about 0.8 degrees C since 1850. It had one surge of warming from 1850 to 1870 and another from 1916 to 1940. The official thermometers suggest the net warming since 1940 is only about 0.3 degrees C. If we correct the thermometer records for the effects of growing urban heat islands, for widespread intensification of land use, and for the recently documented cooling of the Antarctic continent over the past thirty years, the net warming since 1940 would be even less.

Physical evidence from around the world tells us that human-emitted CO2 has played only a minor role in the planet's recent temperature increases. Instead, the mild warming seems to be mostly due to the natural 1,500-year climate cycle (plus or minus 500 years) that goes back at least one million years." (p. 6, Singer and Avery, 2008)

You don't have to read very far into the book Unstoppable Global Warming to see how much and how long we've been manipulated to be fearful and loathing of a natural cycle, or how politicians on the right and left both could take advantage of this. It's not a long book; you don't have to give up believing in global warming. An open mind is all you need--and just a suspicion that man doesn't control the climate but that he does have the capability and technology to relieve the suffering, poverty and pollution he has caused.

Read it for yourself. I'd hate to think Americans are repeating the story of the Vikings who sailed from Iceland to Greenland around 985 finding green pastures and a wonderful, productive land to colonize, only to be starved and frozen out 400 years later when the weather patterns changed, as they had been doing regularly. Now we have technology and science on our side. Or do we?

Let's consider the motivation of the AGW scare mongers. The big three of all ages comes to mind: wealth, power and religion.


Welcome home from the Global Warming conference, Mr. President.

How the government can make you an outlaw

Wendy Williams of Massachusetts writes in the Wall Street Journal

My husband retired from IBM about a decade ago, and as we aren't old enough for Medicare we still buy our health insurance through the company. But IBM, with its typical courtesy, informed us recently that we will be fined by the state.

Why? Because Massachusetts requires every resident to have health insurance, and this year, without informing us directly, the state had changed the rules in a way that made our bare-bones policy no longer acceptable. Unless we ponied up for a pricier policy we neither need nor want—or enrolled in a government-sponsored insurance plan—we would have to pay $1,000 each year to the state.

My husband's response was muted; I was shaking mad. We hadn't imposed our health-care costs on anyone else, yet we were being fined ("taxed" was the word the letter used).

We've spent much of our lives putting away what money we could for retirement. We always intended to be self-sufficient. We've paid off the mortgage on our home, don't carry credit-card debt, and have savings in case of an emergency. We also have a regular monthly income of about $3,000, which includes an IBM pension. My husband, 61, earns a little money on the side, sometimes working as an electronics consultant on renewable energy projects. I'm 58 and make some money writing science books. We are not wealthy, but we aren't a risk of becoming a burden on society either. How did we become outlaws?

Read more how what was supposed to save the middle class from the costs of the uninsured ended up costing every one more and offering less. But then, have you ever known the state or federal government to take over a private industry and then save you money? Wendy concludes, "The mandate in Massachusetts was sold as something that wouldn't penalize people like my husband and me. But those political promises were only good for as long as it took to get the mandate enacted into law." And that's exactly what will happen with Obamacare, which at this time, no one even knows how it reads or what it is, not even the sponsors. "Getterdone--we'll hope 'n change it later" is Reid and Pelosi's motto.

HT Bob C.

EPA targets wrong enemy

We've known for half a century or more that our biggest health problems are self induced--misused sexuality, legal drugs we take voluntarily like cigarettes and alcohol, and overeating. Our personal habits are difficult for the government to control, although it does take a regulatory stance, primarily through taxes, when companies make huge profits from our bad behavior (the diet industry is huge, the "health food" industry massive, smoking cessation remedies are covered by government health plans with little proof they work, big pharma has made a fortune from AIDS and STDs. Now EPA is going after those evil toxins, not for our health, but to kill more industries and put more people out of work.

Despite the ongoing epidemics of cigarette-related disease, novel influenza and obesity, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson is focusing on a very different set of purported health risks: deadly toxins and chemicals in "our bodies." This effort will do nothing to promote public health while raising needless anxiety and spurring expensive, useless regulation and litigation. . .

Administrator Jackson's program is amazingly unscientific--even for the EPA. Since the EPA addresses "risks" that are too small to be measured, and thus not amenable to quantification, they have resorted to ignoring benefits [of chemicals] and assessing only hazards. . .

Even the American Chemistry Council has signed on to EPA's new crusade--squirming to avoid the heavy penalties for non-compliance. Too bad ACC thereby implies that its member companies' products have been poisoning our kids all these years. That isn't the case; nonetheless they now want to be perceived as very sorry, eager to mend their ways and thankful for the EPA's help.

Full story at Forbes.com

What has been accomplished at Hopenchangen?

First, and most importantly, it's another stage for our President who holds the record for a president spending the most time outside the country. I think because he really dislikes America.

Second, an opportunity for Kleptocracies to rattle their sabres.


Third, an excuse to burn fossil fuel and make huge carbon footprints before they outlaw jets, automobiles, and speaking out, all of which emit huge amounts of CO2.

Fourth, a fun time for marxist/socialist/progressive protesters, who all thought their grandparents had all the fun in the 1960s and a free night in jail.

Fifth, Hugo Chavez got a megaphone for Karl Marx.

Sixth, Glenn Beck got to joke about how to pronounce Copenhagen, driving Media Matters crazy because those people are humorless.

Seventh, yet another pulpit for the non-debater, Al "The science is settled" Gore.

Eighth, chance for greenies to attack a polar bear.



Ninth, not to forget why this happened, it showed how bankrupt, silly and meaningless all the climate change hoopla really is, and that it's just another wealth transfer to the pockets of dictators while keeping the poor in desperate poverty in third world countries.

Tenth, and finally, Hopenchangen, by showing the violence and thieving motives of the left really made the tea party people who have been meeting around the country planning to take their country back look even more sensible, well-behaved, strong, intelligent and patriotic.

Our Christmas gift, a new TV

Maybe I'll just put a bow on the new Town and Country minivan we bought 3 weeks ago. We've started (a bit late) researching a 32" flat screen TV for the living room, and by the time our daughter got done explaining LED, LCD and plasma screens, HD, USB ports, resolutions, etc. plus the costs of the various box options from Time-Warner, our eyes had glazed over and our enthusiasm for today's shopping trip to Best Buy had waned. Any suggestions? So far we've compared (on line) Vizio, Sony, Insignia, and Panasonic. The living room set is ca. 1994, the family room ca. 1985. I truly doubt that we can expect that type of longevity from the new models. And you know what? With wearing glasses I hate and falling asleep in the middle of the programs, I'm not sure it matters. Also, we've been told by the cable company that our wiring is bad, but that we have to hire someone to redo it.

I'll accept recommendations and cautions, but no scolding for being lazy slugs who don't like to shop.

Update: We looked at all of them and selected the Sony Bravio 32L5000 and bought the 4 year extended warranty, which usually we don't. However, the life expectancy of today's models aren't even close to our old "fat" models--we have 3 TVs of various sizes from the 1980s, and one from the early 90s. The clerk said 6-8 years for this one. They'll fix it if one or two pixels go bad whereas the company warranty requires much more. We've been less fortunate with the VCR and disc players. We rarely use them and they seem to be a waste of time for us (one was actually stolen in a home burglary in the mid-80s) and then the technology changes. And we still have to call our daughter for instructions each time we turn it on.

Still blaming Bush!

Only now it's his absence! E.J. Dionne Jr. just can't accept the fact that the health bill is just down and dirty awful. Now it's that the Dems don't have their nemesis and hatred to energize and unite them. Mr. Dionne, there's no there there. This is old, rehashed FDR, early 20th century stuff that has driven Europe to its knees. You've elected a Chicago thug-marxist. Don't be fooled by the Wall Street fat cats he hangs with. Marxists don't mind making oodles of money--they're crooks for goodness sake. The American people don't want this socialist stuff. Stop blaming Bush! Obama never intended to restore the economy, only to destroy it.

"For his part, Obama has not appreciated until recently how closely he has been tied to Wall Street and the banks. He has been too reluctant to underscore how much of Washington's dysfunction has been pushed to new levels by the Republican Party's decision to grind the Senate to a halt. He has tried to make clear the size of the mess he inherited from Bush, but has not sold the country on the extent to which he has begun to clean it up.

Americans may not be sold on anything until unemployment starts dropping. Even then, Democrats will have a tough time making the sale if the process that produced the health-care bill comes to define the image of how they govern the country. Democrats have every right to blame Bush for the fix we're in. They can't blame him for the problems they're creating for themselves."

Friday Family Photo--college 1958

In 1958 I tranferred from Manchester College in Indiana to the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana to study Russian and Spanish. It didn't hurt that my high school boyfriend studying engineering was also there. However, that didn't last, but there was a young man from Indiana living about a mile from my dorm, McKinley Hall (owned by the YWCA) in Armory House (privately owned) who was studying architecture. Our first date was for the St. Pat's Ball in 1959. These photos were taken the first day of classes 1958 in the dorm room my husband shared with Lou Wozniak. This was truly Mr. Neat living with Mr. Clean. Looking at these photos I'm guessing there wasn't a pencil or hair out of place. He was about 25 lbs lighter, solid muscle (cross country runner) and had curly red hair.

The ghost of capitalism stalked the Copenhagen scam

That's a loose translation of Chavez' speech.

From the Australian: "Then President Chavez brought the house down.

When he said the process in Copenhagen was “not democratic, it is not inclusive, but isn’t that the reality of our world, the world is really and imperial dictatorship…down with imperial dictatorships” he got a rousing round of applause.

When he said there was a “silent and terrible ghost in the room” and that ghost was called capitalism, the applause was deafening.

But then he wound up to his grand conclusion – 20 minutes after his 5 minute speaking time was supposed to have ended and after quoting everyone from Karl Marx to Jesus Christ - “our revolution seeks to help all people…socialism, the other ghost that is probably wandering around this room, that’s the way to save the planet, capitalism is the road to hell....let’s fight against capitalism and make it obey us.” He won a standing ovation."

Well, if those applauding the demise of our economy want that climate blackmail money, they better hope capitalism isn't a ghost just yet, or they won't get a dime of the billions Hillary has promised them. Marxism is a broke, busted bamboozle that murders its own citizens in every country where it's been tried--maybe 100 million in the 20th century counting China, USSR, Vietnam and North Korea. If Chavez thinks Karl Marx is so great, and capitalism so bad, let him get help and pay offs from Cuba. They're close by. He probably didn't get points ridiculing his buddy, Obama, over the Nobel prize.

However, in a way I have to say that Ahmadinejad and Chavez do have a point. We had it all, and threw it away in our last election by choosing a marxist thug to run a quasi-capitalist economy sinking deep into deficit territory through 70 years of wealth transfers. How smart was that?

Where's our moral right to tell any country how to run its affairs, its industry or its military?

• We have the technology to clean up pollution and to help our neighbors to the south and in Africa both, but not if we let our federal government continue to destroy private business, initiative and free markets. Not if we destroy our fossil fuel industries.
  
  
• We have free elections which Venezuelans and Iranians can only dream about and which would give Chavez and Ahmadinejad nightmares. Yet we reelect the Barney Franks and Harry Reids and wonder why we're in a mess with the White House controlling the Congress.
  
  
• We stay home from the polls and don't object when the left goes to court to aid illegals and the non-registered who were denied the vote.
  
  
• Our president gives away like it was nothing one of our most precious rights--trial by jury--to admitted terrorists who should have been tried by the military tribunals set up by law.
  
  
• We have freedom of religion guaranteed by our Constitution, yet we're fast placing legal muzzles on preachers in the name of gay rights, and our mainline churches are ripping their Bibles to shreds.
  
  
• We're infantilizing huge segments of our population, check any city--Detroit, New Orleans, Cleveland--overrun by helpless poor, and its been run for decades by Democrats, keeping them forever at the bottom, discouraging hope and progress until it's time to vote.

Yes, who do we think we are giving green advice!

Who is behind all this, asks guest blogger Murray

Time Magazine's missed opportunity--photo of the fed up American patriot in Washington DC.
If you’re tired of bad news, I’ll give you some more. I believe we have a behind the scenes enemy with an agenda to destroy our economy--an enemy who has placed Barack Obama in office and is now using him and our legislators to destroy our great country from within. Who, I don’t know, perhaps some form of a secret society. However, if you review the last several years, it leaves little doubt regarding the possibility. This enemy has developed a strategy over many years to create a massive crisis for our great country to bring it down.

Bush and the Republicans were demonized to the point that the people began to hate them. It's still being done every day. If you back a Democrat or Obama into a corner, they start playing the “Blame Bush Game” because they have no other excuse or answer to justify their destruction. I was no Bush fan. I believe that the Bush administration did a lot of things wrong, but the Democrats played a huge role in the downturn of our economy and promoted the excessive spending DURING the Bush Administration and then later turned up the volume as they came into power. They now all deny their participation. Going backwards and blaming Bush solves NOTHING!

Why do I think there is an enemy group behind the scenes? Could one man be this bad all the time all by himself?

1 We have a President who came out of nowhere, who has a questionable background and associations with known communists and who continues those relationships.
2 . . . who signs unread bills laden with PORK after promising to end PORK barrel spending.
3 . . . who constantly blames the previous administration for our economic crisis.
4 . . . who builds his administration with liars, tax cheats and communists.
5 . . . who encourages bribery as a tool to get votes for his agendas.
6 . . . who stymies us with "political correctness".
7 . . . who thinks terrorists and war prisoners should be treated like citizens.
8 . . . who refuses to try to win the wars, puts out timelines for withdrawals and shares our war plans with the enemy.
9 . . . who travels abroad and downplays our great country's past role in the world.
10 . . . who has professed to be Muslim.
11 . . . who has agendas that promise to economically destroy our country.
12 . . . who claims to have created 600,000 jobs when in reality we lost 7 million more.
13 . . . who promotes and finances the activities of SEIU and ACORN and they him.
14 . . . who ignores our Constitution and allows others to do the same in the name of change.
15 . . . who TOTALLY ignores the very citizens that he pledged to work for while they try in every way just to get him to listen to them.
16 . . . who turns a blind eye to illegal immigration.
17. . . who demonizes and attacks anyone who is critical of his actions.
18 . . . who feels the need to constantly campaign to sell his agendas. (While I'm typing this I just seen on TV that Obama is at Home Depot today selling HIS "cash for caulkers" tax credit which is on its 2nd round, but with a new name.)
19. . . who promises us one thing (transparency, for instance) and then does the opposite and lies to the taxpaying citizens on a daily basis.
20. . . who has promoted various hoaxes like Global Warming, Swine Flu, gate crashers, slap the bad guy CEOs hearings, etc., to distract from the damage his administration is trying to accomplish.

All presidents have used some of these tactics and misused their power from time to time, but a watchdog press has been on duty to warn us. Today’s MSM, the mainstream media, are also being controlled by someone. In the past, there has been no group powerful enough to completely control the news. The politicians aren't organized or smart enough. Now there no longer exists any investigative reporting among them. There are only a few outlets for the "behind the scenes" stories that expose what is really happening in our government and to our economy. One being Fox News. ABC, CBS, NBC, all fail to report the facts regarding the destruction taking place every day. All you get from them is a high profile personality with daily drivel. They accept Obama's deception.

The enemy knew there was no way our great country could be taken by force so the way to put it down was the economy. Obama was selected to orchestrate and direct this destruction. They wanted a person that could appear to ride in on his white horse and "save" us from the evil doings of that nasty Bush Administration. The enemy picked a person that could "sell" himself and their agendas. The Democrats were so power hungry that they easily went along with Obamanomics. Besides, it allowed them ample PORK for reelection.

So where are we now and what do we do? Well, if you consider yourself a grass roots taxpayer, middle class or over 65, you're pretty much screwed. Obama, the MSM and the Democrats refuse to listen to the masses. You can call all of them, write to them, e-mail them, march against them and they refuse to respond. The polls all show the masses are not pleased, but the polls get ignored. The grass rooters can say they will just vote them out of office, but the first opportunity isn't until November 2010. While were waiting for that date they are burying us with political correctness, debt., taking away our freedoms, destroying our healthcare, raising our taxes, indoctrinating our children, destroying Social Security and Medicare, devaluing the dollar and expanding their power over us.

Now if you don't think those actions will economically destroy this great country then continue to sit back and relax. Or if you don't think this is what's going on, you could get a job with the MSM and hope you will be able to look your children and grand children in the eye 5 years from now. The unions and community organizers will be doing the same thing in 2010 they did for Obama. They will be hauling anyone that breathes to the polls and falsify registration wherever possible for a Democratic incumbent. Both the Senate and the House voted unanimously to cease funding ACORN but Obama never signed the bill plus a Federal judge in a district court has ruled it UNCONSTITUTIONAL. Also, only about one third of the stimulus money has been spent at this time and that will be released in time for the next election to buy House votes.

Unstoppable global warming

It's waiting for pick-up after I do my mail-run today. There are probably used copies available for sale, but I like to use the public library when I can, since so many of the books I want to read it doesn't buy.

Author: Singer, S. Fred (Siegfried Fred), 1924-
Title: Unstoppable global warming : every 1,500 years / S. Fred Singer and Dennis T. Avery.
Call Number: 363.73874 Si, 2008 c. 1
Item Class: 28 Day Circ 10 Cent Fine 1002145441
Hold Expiration Date: 26-DEC-2009
Pickup Location Name: (20000) Lane Road

From the Amazon review: "Since the 1,500 year cycle was discovered in the early 1980's it's general characteristics have been confirmed by measurements in: tree rings (living, preserved and fossilized), pollen, coral, glaciers, boreholes, stalagmites, tree lines, and sea sediments. The most recent cycles have been recorded in human history with forced migrations, starvation, and disease during the cold portion of the cycle and greater population, expanded farm land, greater crop variety, and extra building during the warm portion.

The causes of the 1,500 year cycle are not well understood although 600 of them have been identified in the last million years. This permits us to be relatively confident that we have been moving into the warm phase of the cycle for the last 150 years. It also suggests that we may have one or two degrees more warming if we are to get to the typical high of the warm phase."

If believing that man controls the climate is part of your humanist based religion and it gives you comfort and makes you feel powerful, you probably wouldn't consider reading a broad overview or even entertain the thought that you are probably sitting on a spot formerly covered by a glacier. So, go look somewhere else for comfort.

Visit a Nursing Home Week in Ohio

It's official. Our governor wants us to visit a nursing home this week.

"The department [of aging] created "Visit a Nursing Home Week" to encourage people to look at nursing home residents not as patients with conditions that need care, but as individuals with thoughts and feelings, some of them isolated from the ones they love, who might appreciate some fellowship, particularly during the holidays. With the help of the Office of the State Long-term Care Ombudsman, the department also encourages facilities to design special events during the week to welcome visitors.

"Many nursing home residents have family and friends who visit them regularly," said Strickland. "Others seldom have visitors and some have no one to visit them. Visitors help residents stay connected to the world around them and give them a sense of friendship and belonging. And that's why this week is so important.""

In the 80s when I returned to Illinois to visit my parents, I'd usually drive to Oregon and visit my grandparents at the nursing home. Anyone would have taken in grandma (despite what you read, most frail elderly are cared for by relatives), but grandpa had dementia, and after 70 years of marriage, she thought it best to go with him.

I don't know any churches who don't have volunteers who regularly visit nursing home residents. All levels of government in developing their social programs take their ideas from the churches, whether it's the penitentiaries or the Peace Corps or universities and colleges. In fact, the volunteers are essential for keeping staff and management on their toes because they might notice things (sores, urinary tract infections, missing glasses, wrong dentures, etc.) that staff miss, although it is usually a family member who spots this first. One time when I was volunteering with Kay, a member of our church who'd had an aneurysm at 18, I heard something that sounded like a bird chirping in the next room. Thinking there might be a trapped animal, I went to investigate. It was an elderly woman left alone strangling in the restraints of her wheelchair. I desperately tried to free her, but couldn't lift her, so I ran to get help. The staff didn't seem any too concerned and just ambled down the hall.

But if you do visit, you need a special heart. Ignore the odors; ignore their desire that you be someone else, perhaps long deceased; ignore your own frailties. Also ignore their forgetfulness that makes them believe and say, "no one comes to visit." You probably passed their daughter or spouse or niece in the hall, and they've already forgotten. Twenty-five years ago, I never heard anyone crying out for "daddy," it was always "mommy." Maybe that will be different 20-30 years from now.

When I was in elementary school, one big event of the season was walking over to "the Brethren old folks home" (now Pinecrest, with apartments, duplexes, nursing care and dementia care) to sing Christmas carols. My friend Lynne includes that in her Christmas story at the class reunion blog.

Jane Hamsher's attack on Hadassah Lieberman

Kathleen Parker at WaPo writes about Jane Hamsher’s attack on Mrs. Lieberman, but never calls her out as a leftist radical. Even "progressive," a much too gentle word for her, isn't used. What’s the deal? Parker blames the “new Media,” and the internet, and defines the attack as “anti-feminist” calling Hamsher a “political activist.” Huh? That’s like calling a terrorist a freedom fighter.

Let’s move on to Breitbart’s Big Hollywood for the real Hamsher story.

After cutting her teeth in the business by producing what many feel is the most offensive and degrading main-stream film of the past twenty years (and, some would say, screwing Quentin Tarantino in the process) Hamsher seems to have finally found her calling as a more abrasive, and dangerous version of Arianna Huffington. With her oddly named blog FireDogLake (named after her three favorite things, sitting by the fire with her dog watching Lakers games) she has created a left-wing haven for bloggers not merely content with attacking their opponents with words, but with some serious action.

Hamsher’s latest foray into the realm of on-line coercion is her latest call to arms is against Hadassah Lieberman, wife of Sen. Joe Lieberman (I, CT). Mrs. Lieberman’s crime? She is the wife of a Senator who has proclaimed his opposition to Obama Care. Hamsher is targeting Susan G. Komen for the cure, a breast cancer charity that Mrs. Lieberman serves as Global Ambassador for. . . through her blog and her tangled web of PACs and non-profits she foments rage and builds momentum and loyalty from extremists who read her pages and then targets those readers on behalf of candidates and authors/film makers who are looking to sell to that demographic.

Hamsher's blog is really ugly, and not afraid of telling off the White House. And apparently, she also used to be Andy Stern's (SEIU) girlfriend (isn't there a huge age gap or is he not aging gracefully?), or still is--didn't bother to go that far. That's how she went from just ordinary leftist wet behind the ears to raging, anti-semitic, racist, obscene, violent radical.

Medical slang and acronyms

Some of these are really awful, or disrespectful, or unbelievably gross. Link. A selection:

AALFD - Another A**hole Looking For Drugs

ALS - Absolute Loss of Sanity (nutcase)

BFH - Brat From Hell (usually accompanied by PFH - Parent(s) from Hell)

Blamestorming - apportioning of blame for mistakes, usually to any locum or lowliest medic in sight

Brothelizer test - microbiology test (on swab or sample) requested by the Genito-Urinary Clinic or STD clinic to check for sexually transmitted diseases. A positive test result means the patient has "failed the brothelizer test".

Coffee and a Newspaper - Patient is Constipated (i.e. long time sitting on toilet with drink and reading matter)

COSMONAUT - Cat Owner, Smells, Made Of Nuts And Used Tampons ("mad cat lady" with poor hygiene and body odour)

D&D - Divorced and Desperate (middle aged female who visits doctor weekly just for male attention) Also Death and Donuts--the night shift

Doc In A Box - a small clinic/health centre, with ever-changing staff.

Donorcycle - motorbike: the biggest cause of donated organs! (hence reckless motorcyclists are known as Organ Donors and rainy days are Donation Days)

Dunlap Syndrome - belly done lapped over the waistband; obese (spare tyre, Dunlop being a brand of tire)

FORD - Found On Road Dead

GOLP - Generalised Old Lady Pains

GPH - Goddamns Per Hour

Improving His Claim - Victim of minor accident, needs no treatment but wants something to support his insurance/legal claim.

Janitor's fracture - a fracture so obvious that a janitor (cleaner) could diagnose it

LFTWM - Looking for 3 Wise Men (applied to young pregnant females who deny having had intercourse)

Lipstick Sign - if a female patient is well enough to put on, she is well enough to be discharged

MGM syndrome - Faker putting on a real good show

OFIGATOOS - One Foot In the Grave And The Other One Slipping

Please Optimize Medical Treatment - don't call us until you've done your job first

Pumpkin Positive - a penlight shone into the patient's mouth/ear would encounter a brain so small that the whole head would light up

Qwertyitis - what a doctor suffers from when he spends more time on a computer than with actual patients

Scumdex - 1 pt for every tattoo, extra piercing, IVDU scar, etc. The higher the scumdex, the greater the likelihood of survival.

Twelve other reasons to stop smoking

Besides the obvious one, death. The list is in the November 14, 2008 US News and World Report. I came across it today looking for the success rate of cessation programs, either medication and/or counseling. I wanted to know this because of the billions the government spends on that through Medicare and Medicaid, and the only former smokers I know who kicked the habit for good, did it without either. Like my Dad, who quit at about 39 when he started coughing up blood (died at 88), and my father-in-law (died at 92) who quit cold turkey around 50 when he reached for that 3rd pack of the day the first time.

So here are 12 other reasons. Link.

1. It fogs the mind. . . smoking in middle age is linked to memory problems and to a slide in reasoning abilities . . elderly smokers face a heightened risk of dementia and cognitive decline, compared with lifelong nonsmokers.

2. It may bring on diabetes. . . current smokers have a 44 percent greater chance of developing type 2 diabetes than nonsmokers do, and the risk was strongest for those with the heaviest habit, who clocked 20 or more cigarettes per day.

3. It invites infections. . . there are very strong data showing that the risk of infection by pneumonia-causing bacteria is substantially greater for smokers than for nonsmokers. . . research suggests that smoking may interfere with immunity, compromising people's ability to fight infections. . . children exposed to secondhand smoke at home during early infancy (especially those born prematurely or with a low birth weight) are more prone to a throng of severe illnesses.

4. It may stultify a sex life. . . Smokers are more apt to experience erectile dysfunction than nonsmokers are, and this risk climbs as the number of cigarettes smoked increases.

5. It may lead to wrinkles...everywhere. . . including the inner arm and perhaps the buttocks.

6. It may hasten menopause. . . chemicals in cigarette smoke can hurry menopause by killing off egg cells made by ovaries, thereby dwindling the egg cell reserve.

7. It may dull vision. Several studies have found a robust link between smoking and eye disease . . . active smokers may face two to three times the risk for developing the disease experienced by those who have never smoked.

8. It hurts bones. Smoking weakens the body's scaffolding and is a serious risk factor for osteoporosis . . . Smokers may also experience slower healing of broken bones and wounded tissues than do nonsmokers.

9. It may injure the insides. . . heartburn, peptic ulcers, and possibly gallstones, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. . . elevated risk of developing Crohn's disease.

10. It may stifle sleep. . . smokers are four times more likely to get nonrestorative sleep than those who don't smoke, and researchers deemed nicotine the likely culprit.

11. It shaves years—and quality— off life. Men who have never smoked live on average 10 years longer than their peers who smoke heavily.

12. Tobacco use and smoking have been linked to much more than lung cancer. . . Lung and bronchial cancer topped the list, naturally, but other types included stomach, pancreatic, kidney, urinary bladder, and cervical cancer.

Extortion, threats, and corruption in the White House

Offutt Airforce Base is being threatened with the BRAC list (closure) if Ben Nelson (D-NE) doesn't fall in line. Michael Goldfarb, the Weekly Standard. That's thousands of jobs--a lot more than the piddling few Illinois will get with transferring prisoners from Gitmo. I'm still trying to find this story somewhere other than the blogosphere. Not that our media is so great about telling us what's going on with the stinks-to-the-heavens in this administration, but this is our security he's threatening, if that is true.

This is a bigger problem than just passing health care. The Democrats, who now have nothing at all to show for this ridiculous bill that's been gutted except a notch in the gun belt of the president, are risking our security. It's going to raise costs, cause rationing, lower the level of care, and there will still be millions of uninsured. It's about power. "Offutt is the headquarters for US Strategic Command, the successor to Strategic Air Command, and not by accident. STRATCOM was located in the middle of the country for strategic reasons."

It's the Chicago way.

Today's new word--archetypal

Again, not new, but can't think that I've ever used it, so I looked it up to find out why. Here's the context. "Polonius (Hamlet) is the archetypal yes-man, a court toady." Doesn't that just bring up an image of Robert Gibbs--Obama's yes-man. He sniffs at Climategate; sneers at Fox as not real news. Toady is such a wonderful word. But I digress. It comes from archetypum, arche + typos, stamped first. Archē (arkay) ἀρχή in Greek means that which was in the beginning, a first principle. It's the word used in the first verse of the Gospel of John, "in the beginning" and numerous other places in the Gospels. "Archetypal yes-man" then means constituting a model for all the court toadies to come.

There are so many delightful words that begin or end with "arch" meaning first in time or first in importance.

•monarch: The sole ruler of a state or country.
•archbishop: The chief bishop of a diocese.
•architect: The chief builder or designer.
•archeology; archeologist: The study of ancient civilizations; a scientist who excavates ancient cities.
•hierarchy: A group arranged in order of rank or grade.
•patriarch: The father or ruler of a family or group.
•matriarch: The mother or woman who rules the family or tribe.
•archdiocese: The district presided over by an archbishop.
•anarchy: Without a leader; absence of government and law.
•archduke: A chief duke.
•archipelago: A sea with a cluster of islands.
•archenemy: Chief enemy.
•archetype: Chief model.
•archaic: Belonging to ancient times; old-fashioned.
•archangel: Chief angel.
List from Word Focus

The real threat from global warming

It's driving politicians mad!

"Global warming just might be the most important problem facing Western civilization after all. Not because of anything the globe is doing, but rather because of the scientifically-proven fact that our politicians have all gone stark raving mad and could well agree to a plan, proposed at the Copenhagen Summit, to cut carbon dioxide emissions--and our economic output--by as much as 95%. . .

The only problem is that carbon dioxide, by any reasonable definition, is not a threat. Not counting our recent cooling period (or somehow massaging it away), the average global temperature, we were told, has increased by 0.6 degrees Celsius since 1900. To put this into perspective, 0.6 degrees is just barely within the human body's ability to detect. The new EPA ruling is not based on any observably harmful changes in the environment. Contrary what Al Gore may have told you, sea levels have not risen, the Arctic ice is melting and re-freezing pretty much as usual (although the amount of ice seems to depend on whom you ask), the main part of Antarctica is colder than ever, and hurricanes have, if anything, decreased in severity. The ruling is based solely on what a small number of scientists, who are psychologically committed to one specific conclusion, think might happen." Link Don't blame science for Climategate.

More arrests at Copenhagen's Hopenchangen

Wonder of Fancy Nancy has wept tears and spoken out against the leftists protesting in Copenhagen. Remember how she slandered the peaceful tea party protesters? Thousands of rowdy leftists--progressives, socialists, marxists and people along for the excitement--waving the Communist international flag--and where is Nancy? With tears. I want to see the tears she sheds over the "tone," violence and anger from the left. She insulted well behaved American patriots, many her age (but without the botox and surgical enhancements). Shame on you, Nancy. You're an embarrassment to your fellow senior citizens! This was said while choking back tears:

"Q: Madam Speaker, in terms of the political tone, the tone of the debate, Hoyer said earlier this week he thought it was the most vitriolic since ‘93-’94. And around that time we also saw acts of domestic violence, domestic terrorism. How concerned are you about the tone of the political debate, in terms of people talking about anti-government rhetoric and so on and the possibility of violence?


Speaker Pelosi: Well, I think we all have to take responsibility for our actions and our words. We are a free country, and this balance between freedom and safety is one that we have to carefully balance.

I have concerns about some of the language that is being used because I saw this, myself, in the late ’70s in San Francisco. This kind of rhetoric was very frightening, and it created a climate in which violence took place.

So I wish that we would all, again, curb our enthusiasm in some of the statements that are made, so that understanding that some of the people — the ears that it is falling on are not as balanced as the person making the statement might assume." From Caffeinated Thoughts

Who are the Deniers Now?

"A couple of years ago, supporters of global warming theory began referring to skeptics as “deniers” — implying that anyone who doubted climate change should be lumped with Holocaust deniers.

Now the shoe is on the other foot, thanks to the eye-popping e-mail dump that hit the Internet recently and quickly became known as “Climategate.” The response of much of the global-warming “community” has been … denial." Kansas City Star,"At the very least, it’s time for AGW hard-liners to climb down from their pulpits and stop treating every dissent as evidence of evil."

Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW)

Unstoppable Global Warming, Every 1,500 Years (Rowman & Littlefield, 2008) by Fred Singer and Dennis Avery sums up the theory of human-caused (anthropogenic) global warming:

• Computer models that cannot explain past temperature, let alone accurately forecast future ones, and whose funding depends on the public's fear of radical warming.
  
  
• Activists who oppose modern technology, abhor expanding human populations, and especially hate the low-cost energy that alleviates human poverty and misery. They say we must...renounce attractive lifestyles, give up high-yield farming, shorten millions of lives, and put more pressure on Third World forests for fuelwood.
  
  
• European politicians.
  
  
• Journalists looking for scary headlines.
  
  
• Various national and international bureaucracies and UN-appointed members and staff of the Intergovernment Panel on Climate Change. [p.198] Link

It's on list of books to read.

You don't need Sean or Rush to be a skeptic

Knowing I don't believe that humans control the climate, a friend asked me if I get my information from Sean and Rush. Why she would think that, I'm not sure since she knows how I love research and I question everything, regardless of the political slant and I seriously doubt she ever listens to either one of them. But the librarian in me just has to list this, 500 peer-reviewed papers supporting skepticism. . . Now I wouldn't agree with all of them, however, they represent an interesting span--some back to the early 1980s. But it's important to understand how government and foundation research grants are doled out, how peer-review is done, and how if you're not in the main stream (which could be flowing the wrong direction), you will be underfunded, understaffed, and under-promoted, whether in climate, astronomy, economics, library science, or war games. Even getting a published work to the shelf of a public library is political.

The triple crown of cooling

Joe Bastardi of Accuweather.com thinks we could be in more trouble if the earth cools. He sees the patterns of the past.

Today's new word--greenwashing

Although I've talked about this a lot (I receive all my husband's e-newsletters in architecture, materials, and construction methods), I didn't have a term.

"Greenwashing," a pejorative term derived from the term "whitewashing," was coined by environmental activists to describe efforts by corporations to portray themselves as environmentally responsible in order to mask environmental wrongdoings. The term "greenwashing" was originally confined to describing misleading instances of environmental advertising, but as corporations' efforts to portray themselves as environmentally virtuous have diversified and proliferated, so have charges of greenwashing. The term is now used to refer to a wider range or corporate activities, including, but not limited to, certain instances of environmental reporting, event sponsorship, the distribution of educational materials, and the creation of "front groups." However, regardless of the strategy employed, the main objective of greenwashing is to give consumers and policy makers the impression that the company is taking the necessary steps to manage its ecological footprint. Business Ethics

It is ubiquitous. And the public is very gullible. I'd throw "green jobs" into that mix, too. That's just a grab for government dollars. Greenwashing made the cover of TIME, but I don't read it unless I'm desperate and a copy has been abandoned somewhere, so I missed this very useful word.

Global warming measures and malaria

We've killed a lot of Africans and Asians with our messing around with malaria and other mosquito borne diseases--more than all the wars of the 20th century; more than all the lives lost in the transatlantic slave trade. But we could possibly do something with the money we're planning to throw at an unsuccessful warming trick. Like try to undo the damage.

"Take malaria. Most estimates suggest that if nothing is done, 3% more of the Earth's population will be at risk of infection by 2100. The most efficient global carbon cuts designed to keep average global temperatures from rising any higher than two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels (a plan proposed by the industrialized G-8 nations) would cost the world $40 trillion a year in lost economic growth by 2100—and have only a marginal impact on reducing the at-risk malaria population. By contrast, we could spend $3 billion a year on mosquito nets, environmentally safe indoor DDT sprays, and subsidies for new therapies—and within 10 years cut the number of malaria infections by half. In other words, for the money it would take to save one life with carbon cuts, smarter policies could save 78,000 lives." BJORN LOMBORG

Unfortunately, to environmentalists a perceived non-threat to polar bears is a bigger deal than a real threat to an African child.

More Al Gore misinformation: Several weeks ago, Mr. Gore claimed on a TV talk show that the earth's core was millions of degrees hot, and at the Copenhagen climate change summit, he claimed new computer modelling suggesting a 75% chance of the entire polar ice cap melting during the summertime by 2014. However, Dr. Wieslav Maslowski, the climatologist whose work the prediction was based on, refuted his claims. “It’s unclear to me how this figure was arrived at. I would never try to estimate likelihood at anything as exact as this,” said Maslowski. Go home, Al. Buy a smaller home. Make a smaller footprint. You are an embarrassment.

Watching Glenn Beck

If you're not watching Glenn, if you're only getting him through the George Soros funded marxism filter (Media Matters), you're missing one of the best shows on TV. It's part theater (comedy, mime, silliness), part classroom (lots of blackboard and visuals) part spirituality (heavy redemption theme) and part politics and patriotism (libertarian). The left has no response except to ridicule, call him names, and threaten his sponsors. Because most of his sources and guests are very solid--Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, Joe Lieberman, Judge Napolitano (the guy with a hairline down to his eye brows) and he gives them time to talk without interruption, you can actually understand different perspectives.

Recently, he's been going after Robert Creamer, the convicted felon husband of Illinois Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky. Because Glenn made light of being unable to pronounce her Slavic name, they got all over him and tried to inflame the Chicago Polish community. After that made the rounds of all the lefty bloggers they found out she was of Russian heritage, not Polish. And really, the way names get transliterated and adjusted by the census takers and Ellis Island gate people, who knows how Poles would pronounce it if she were Polish. (I used to work with an Illinois woman 40 years ago who had a Polish surname with a -wiec ending (vee-etts or vee-etch) which she pronounced -wick because she was 3rd generation American and didn't even have relatives who spoke Polish. But Beck was supposed to know. That's the level the left has fallen to--judging not his information, but his pronunciation of a Russian name they thought was Polish. It's not like the Left ever mispronounced BUSH as SHRUB or anything.

I've read through the Media Matters columns (many) on Glenn's Creamer story (from Breitbart TV) and they can't dispute anything Glenn says about Creamer, only that the facts are "smears." I believe Creamer has called him a McCarthyite--problem is McCarthy was an elected official going after the media and celebrities, so what to make of that? A bit like Creamer, one person removed from Congress, and author of the President's health care plan, going after someone in the media and or entertainment field to shut him up, isn't it? I don't know what you have to do in Illinois to get convicted as a felon, but it must be tough. He and his wife were also big Blagojevich supporters--or am I thinking of another Illinois politician?

Did you hear the lefties are now threatening Joe Lieberman's wife because he won't walk the plank for Obamacare? How low can they go?

Who will you believe?

Losing private coverage, cost increases, rationed care, doctors fleeing the field--it’s all there in Obamacare. Why would we want this? What were we promised during the 2008 campaign and since January 20? It hardly matters, does it? Go back and look it up, but it was all Lies. It was all lies. Our representatives have failed us by not reading their bill and then demeaning the outrage of the voters who did read it; our senators might as well be employees of the lobbyists and special interests. We were told the “system” was broken even though over 80% were satisfied with their employer or private based health insurance. In Europe about that many are dissatisfied or think their government plan is broken!

What to think when government agencies have different agendas? The White House Council of Economic Advisors says something completely different than the CBO and the CMMS. The new "fat cat" Obama attacks on the banks is just to take your eye off health care ball/bill, which is probably a ruse to take your eye off the economy busting cap and trade plan, which is probably a deception to confuse you about the complete take over through various regulations, laws and loss of freedoms of everything we thought we had in this country.

Robert Creamer, the Illinois convicted felon who wrote this plan, must be rubbing his hands with glee, a witch over a caldron, "Well my pretties, Fair is foul, and foul is fair: Hover through the fog and filthy air." Indeed.

Today’s new word--impacted

“The Internet has impacted news and journalism more than almost any other category of information.” Library of Congress Preservation Newsletter, Oct. 2009

Not a new word--just grates on my ear/eye when I hear it/see it, and I always wonder if it’s correct. Not trusting the Library of Congress to be jargon free, I looked it up at Daily Writing Tips.

Using the word “impact” as a verb meaning to strike forcefully against something was first heard in 1916, according to Daily Writing Tips. And verbs have participles, thus the above sentence with “has impacted.”

Before that (and still in use) “impact” meant pack in or up, to press together--like an impacted tooth or impacted bowel. Impact as a noun was noted almost 200 years ago in 1817, “the effect of coming into contact with a thing or a person” or collision, forcible contact. And nouns become verbs all the time. Like Google and google. Or mother and mother. House and house. Impact is a word the EPA loves to use.

And the writer of that tip doesn’t like it either, but didn't say it was incorrect--just disconcerting.

Learning new words was one of my unmet New Year’s Resolutions for 2009. When I go back and reread them, I see I didn’t learn them, just wrote about them.

Wildlights at the Columbus Zoo

Last night we got in line, after line, after line along with thousands of others from central Ohio to see the Wildlights (Nov. 20-Jan.2). The temperatures had moderated a bit, and I think everyone within 100 miles had decided this was a good time. I can't tell you how many children and elders we saw in rolling vehicles bundled in coats and blankets. It was really fun to see people of all ages, but particularly multi-generational families, out having a good time. We took our house guests, Zeke and Frandy, citizens of Haiti and students at the University of Akron. But it was our first time to see the lights too, and I doubt that we'd been to the zoo in 20 years. All the animals that weren't asleep were visited, because people wanted to get inside warm buildings! We didn't leave home until about 6:30, and if you're planning to take in this show, I recommend you start out much earlier than we did. We were probably at our exit off Rt. 33 at least 30 minutes, and I think the people exiting the outbelt waited even longer. While we were waiting the boys sang "O Holy Night" for us in French. (They know four languages.) Fortunately, in our last line, the ticket line, someone had extra coupons for one person free with one adult purchase, so between the four of us that saved us $14.

At church today, our guests were able see our Haiti missionaries, Dave and Pam Mann, home for the holidays, and visit four of our nine services to meet the people who support Institution Univers. Our son joined us for dinner, and tonight our UALC couples' group and some neighbors will get together at our home.

No, you take her!

From Tim Reynolds AP report on how Tiger is hurting the other pro golfers and the fans.

"Take Dodie Mills, a 61-year-old pediatric nurse from Port Charlotte, Fla. She was at the Shootout to see Kenny Perry, among others, but says her real lure to watching and playing golf has been Woods.

Him, she wants to forgive.

The women whom Woods has reportedly been linked to, Mills has much harsher words for them.

"I think all the fame, all the money he has, all the women took advantage of it," Mills said. "He and his wife love each other. I know they do, and Tiger will do what's right. ... I can understand how a man in that position can be very easily swayed by women. I was 23 once. He's in his prime. All these women wanted a piece of him."

Mills was hardly alone in that assessment.

Noted sports attorney David Cornwell also pointed out that the women — more than 10 by some counts — who have been romantically linked to Woods in the last two weeks should bear as much of the blame as the golfer himself."

What vow did these women break? Who was bringing possible disease and mayhem home to the marriage bed? Poor, little helpless, self-centered, rich beyond his wildest dreams, Tiger. Victimized by all these low life Bimbos, run of the mill waitresses and "non-professionals" as a former madam called them. While his wife was pregnant. Yeah, lots of sympathy I'd give the adulterer. Most of these dreary look-alikes thought she only was "special," that she was the one to light the fire the wife at home couldn't. Where's the sympathy for confused, morally corrupt women? Give me a break. That's about the most idiotic piece of writing I've seen on this topic!

Getting a jump on New Year's Resolutions

Eat less, move more, don't smoke. Works for everyone. It was settled long ago--even our mothers and grandmothers knew this. But it's still good for a research grant.

"Combined impact of lifestyle factors on mortality: prospective cohort study in US women." Rob M van Dam and others. (Harvard School of Public Health) BMJ 2008;337:a1440 Free access to entire article.

If it's too cold to walk outside, walk in the halls and stairwells or the mall. And don't you believe that old myth that it's too expensive to eat healthy. It costs far less to take some fresh fruit to work, or warm up a few veggies in the microwave than to eat a loaded ciabatta bread with chips.

Now, if I could just take my own advice. . .

Creating jobs and wealth

Congressman John Campbell (R-CA) at Townhall wrote about how Obamanomics (saving and/or creating non-existent jobs) could work in real life using the Obamath. He gave an example of “saving” calories he could have eaten but didn't, and how he could gain weight. He asked his constituents for examples and thought this one the best.

Dear John:

Using Obamamath, I've just saved, nay, created a great deal of money. How? I had wanted to buy a new Lamborghini Gallardo roadster so that I could drive to the White House to personally thank our beloved President for all that he is doing to save us from financial ruin. The trip, via New Orleans in order to view the results of former President Bush's failure to forestall Hurricane Katrina, would have been an approximately 6,000-mile roundtrip.

I didn't buy the Lamborghini, as it wasn't manufactured by Government Motors. I not only saved (created) some $243,000 (including tax) by not making this purchase, but I saved (created) an additional $1,500 by not purchasing fuel for the trip.

Since both the Gallardo and its fuel would have been imported, I'm sure that the Governmental Accountability Office would classify these as "green" savings.
Thus by not buying a Lamborghini Gallardo, and not driving it to visit our President, I will have created a total of $244,500 in Green Savings. Not bad for an amateur!

But think for a moment: If each of the approximately 4 million families who live in Barack Obama's Illinois and Joe Biden's Delaware were to NOT buy a new Lamborghini, and NOT drive to the White House (via New Orleans), we would create an additional $1 trillion in new Green Wealth. Now that's Obamawealth with a vengeance!

But it's only a suggestion

Washington Post, again late to the party, says: "Arrests suggest U.S. Muslims, like those in Europe, can be radicalized abroad." Link. Actually, they can be radicalized at home too, as the Ft. Hood terrorist has proven, and other examples from the WaPo article. A-3 of yesterday's WSJ had a full page (2 stories) on young American Muslims radicalized right here in the good old US of A. Products of American schools and parents. David Headley (changed his Pakistani Muslim name) who is fair skinned due to an American mother is charged with helping the 2008 deadly Mumbai attacks. Then five American Muslims have been arrested by Pakistani anti-terrorism authorities. They had been reported missing by their DC area families. I wonder if they'll be treated as well as the Gitmo detainees by the Pakistanis?

Over a week ago (Dec. 4), the story in the WSJ about the al-Qaeda bombing of a graduation ceremony in Somalia brought ears to my eyes--and a lot of anger. Even the liberal WSJ seemed at a loss for appropriate "explaining away" the horrible images of a graduation blown up by fellow Muslims--why? For accepting aid and assistance from the U.S. so Somalia can drag itself out of the middle ages. Did Obama even mention it? No, he can personally and ignorantly condemn the Boston police on a moment's notice, but for 19 dead Muslims blown to pieces, a message from the State Department will have to do. It's not like there wasn't warning--an April WaPo story said the administration was "mulling" over the evidence. In that story it was reported 20 Somali-Americans were training in Somalia. Mulling. Is that another word for dithering--as in Afghanistan troop requests? He's the one with all the warm fuzzies, who thinks the power of himself will quell all this violence and evil. Oh wait. No, that was before his Afghanistan speech. Our just-fell-off-the-turnip-truck President must be a delight for the Muslim terrorists. Or maybe the Somali Muslims didn't get that message that he now knows there is good AND evil. Maybe they know he has no intention of stopping them. The account of Abdinasir Mohamed's of doctors, engineers, professors and government officials being left in a pile of mangled bodies is something all jihad-deniers need to read.

No creator, designer or planner

"MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small, non-coding RNAs found in viruses, plants and animals. They regulate gene expression by binding to complementary sequences within target miRNAs. The mammalian genome encodes hundreds of miRNAs that collectively affect the expression of about one-third of all genes."

And to think this all just happened. No creator, no designer, no planner. We couldn’t exist without "the awesome power of miRNAs" as Nature magazine calls it. Awesome. Power. Seems I've heard that theme before.

Psalm 66: 1 Shout for joy to God, all the earth;
2 sing the glory of his name;
give to him glorious praise!
3 Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!
So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you.

Prosperity in the Heartland

A recent study at the University of Illinois found that much of rural America is actually prosperous. What accounts for their flourishing? Family ties and civic-minded churches, says the blogger at First Things, at Green Acres is the Place to be. I receive regular newsletters from the U. of I. on research, but must have missed this one of a few days ago.

"Why Some Rural Places Prosper and Others Do Not" was coauthored by Andrew Isserman, Edward Feser, and Drake Warren and published in the International Regional Science Review in July 2009.

Counties in America's Heartland came out on top with half its rural counties prospering. USDA defines the Heartland as Illinois, Indiana, and Iowa and parts of six adjacent states.

In the Southeast and Southwest, fewer than one in twenty rural counties prosper.

Prosperous rural counties have more off-farm jobs, more educated populations, and less income inequality than other rural counties. Geographical factors like climate, topography, distances to cities and airports, and interstate highways are unimportant in distinguishing prosperous counties from others.

"Instead, the results supported what many rural people believe to be true—civically engaged religious groups and a common ancestry can really matter," Isserman said.

Interstate highways and airports not so much. Hmmm. Go tell that to the pork fed Congress that never misses an opportunity for naming. From reading the press release it doesn't look like the scholars will pursue faith and shared values as a reason for prosperity--plan to dig deeper on the lack of prosperity in those counties with high minority populations.

When better isn't good enough

"After much soul-searching, I have decided to take an indefinite break from professional golf. I need to focus my attention on being a better husband, father, and person." Tiger Woods

Imagine that. He needs soul-searching to reach deep within his vacuous, moldy value system to see if bedding Bratz look-alike Bimbos was the best work out routine for his wife, family and career. If we can believe these devoted groupies, some of whom are probably confessing just to get their photo on the web, "everyone" knew--they were seen publically, photos were taken, arrangements were made for the hook-ups. Since he made no attempt to hide it, even other golf celebs knew and didn't say anything, just what did Tiger think was going to happen? (Probably not that his wife would clobber him with a golf club.) Where was the press which was so concerned about Lindsey Lohan, Britney Spears, Michael Vick, Dave Letterman (for 2 or 3 days) and other morally shriveled celebs? Apparently firmly attached to the Tiger gravy train. It was worth more to keep quiet than to sell that story to his adoring, blind public.

When these ladies of the night (and day and morning) start comparing dollar figures, there is going to be some flaming wrath and law suits like you wouldn't believe, but by then the press will have moved on to protect their next income source.

Humility isn't his strength

Or maybe it's just his generation. "By our count there were 38 I's (including two I'ms, but excluding two I's in a quote from Martin Luther King) in President Obama's speech accepting the Nobel Peace Prize." James Taranto, Dec. 10

I receive this honor with deep gratitude and great humility. . . . I cannot argue with those who find these men and women--some known, some obscure to all but those they help--to be far more deserving of this honor than I. . . . I am the Commander-in-Chief. . . . I come here with an acute sense of the costs of armed conflict. . . . I do not bring with me today a definitive solution to the problems of war. . . . I make this statement mindful of what Martin Luther King Jr. said. . . . I am living testimony to the moral force of non-violence. . . . I face the world as it is. . . . I--like any head of state--reserve the right to act unilaterally. . . . I prohibited torture. . . . I ordered the prison at Guantanamo Bay closed. . . . I have reaffirmed America's commitment to abide by the Geneva Conventions.

Norwegians don't like the snub

Apparently 44% of Norwegians think our president was rude to forgo the festivities. Yes, we know how they feel don't we? Except a much higher percentage of Americans think he did nothing to get this prize and he probably should have stayed home, or turned it down.

Newly minted Nobel Laureate Barack Obama has stirred up some bad feelings in Oslo, Norway, by opting out of a round of events traditionally attended by the prizewinner — not the least of which is lunch with the King of Norway.

According to a report by the U.K.’s Guardian, Obama has scratched off a dinner with the Norwegian Nobel committee, a press conference, a television interview, appearances at a children's event promoting peace, a music concert — as well as a visit to the exhibition that honors him at the Nobel peace center. Newsmax story

Editor and Publisher, 125 years old, to cease publication

"NEW YORK Editor & Publisher, the bible of the newspaper industry and a journalism institution that traces its origins back to 1884, is ceasing publication.

An announcement, made by parent company The Nielsen Co., was made Thursday morning as staffers were informed that E&P, in both print and online, was shutting down.

The expressions of surprise and outpouring of strong support for E&P that have followed across the Web -- Editor & Publisher has even hit No. 4 as a Twitter trending topic -- raise the notion that the publication might yet continue in some form.

Nielsen Business Media, of which E&P was a part, has forged a deal with e5 Global Media Holdings, LLC, a new company formed jointly by Pluribus Capital Management and Guggenheim Partners, for the sale of eight brands in the Media and Entertainment Group, including E&P sister magazines Adweek, Brandweek, Mediaweek, Backstage, Billboard, Film Journal International and The Hollywood Reporter. E&P was not included in this transaction." Link.

The Massachusetts Primary--Guest Blog

Yesterday the primary took place in Massachusetts to replace Senator Ted Kennedy. Link. AG Martha Coakley won the Democratic nomination with 304,056 votes or 47% of the Democratic vote and 37.5% of the total vote. Scott Brown won the Republican nomination with 141,810 votes or 89% of the Republican vote and 17.5% of the total vote. You can cross parties in the primary so it is difficult to say whether a Republican voted Republican or did they cross over and vote Democratic. But a big factor is that only 11% of all registered voters in Massachusetts are registered Republicans. The last time there was a Republican Senator was Edward Brooke who lost his seat in 1979.

But how come Massachusetts gets a Republican governor every second or third election? Because they need one to clean up the financial mess the Democrats create. Well, the Democratic train wreck is here now and the nation, along with Massachusetts needs to put a Republican in this seat. Is it impossible? It is next to impossible, but the time has never been better. Republicans don't vote much in Massachusetts elections as they think it is no use. Well, with these very small turn outs the Republicans have a better chance than normal. I have addressed this communication to those of you who live in Massachusetts. You must vote! Also, please send this to all the people you know in Massachusetts and work to get a better turn out. I believe the election date to fill this seat is January 18th or close to this date.

Democratic candidates for governor in NJ and Virginia were voted down. That made big news and sent an unsettling message to the 111th congress. A Republican Senator from Massachusetts would be like setting of the A bomb in Congress.

Again, please vote and pass the word onto your fellow Massachusetts residents and friends. It is not impossible. And just as important, Scott Brown is a well qualified state Senator who has great values and represents a true difference to the liberal politicians trying to destroy or republic, our culture, and our future.

Bill L.

(Bill and I attended the same high school in Illinois, although I'm not sure we ever spoke. He was in my sister's class; an upperclassman and an athlete and I . . . wasn't. His permanent residence is Florida for the taxes and the weather, but he has had a home on Cape Cod since 1976. His roots and both children (small business people) and grandchildren are there. He lived in Massachusetts for a decade in the 1970's and for three short years in the late 1990's when he worked out of Sweden as a senior executive for a global manufacturing corporation headquartered in Goteborg, Sweden. Bill maintains an extensive e-mail list for discussion and information and that's how I came across this information.)

If you don't vote in Massachusetts, consider sending a contribution to Mr. Brown's campaign. Something or someone has to stop the Obama machine. Norma

A beautiful Christmas card

This may be the all time favorite e-Christmas card going around. It's from 2004, but never gets old. One of the lists from my high school (Bill L.) sent it this year. It comes from Ashland University here in Ohio, and I think may be one of the best PR tools a school could have. Great links, easy to read web-page.
http://ecard.ashland.edu/index.php?ecardYear=2004adm

More on this topic at my faith blog, Church of the Acronym.

Can Google make you stupid?

No, but it can help get you there if you're not careful.

"Larry Sanger has made his living on the Internet. He co-founded Wikipedia, one of the world’s top 10 Web sites with more than 65 million visitors monthly, and he now leads two other ambitious online projects. So why does he fear what the Internet is doing to our minds and those of our children?" Inquiring minds want to know.

Google won't make you any more stupid than reading only Reader's Digest instead of the original, Bible commentaries instead of the Bible, or consulting a watch instead of figuring out the position of the sun and moon. It's a tool, and I love it. I actually know (or used to) some of the arcane rules for searching complex databases, but I "google" it instead. The difference is, I know not to trust everything I read and check several sources, look for not just two sides of a question, but four or five. I've even poked through that long list of e-mails from the Climategate whistleblower and read a number of scientists who don't agree there is a consensus on the cause of global warming.

Right now I'm reading "A faith and culture devotional" by Kelly Monroe Kullberg and Lael Arrington (Zondervan 2008). I just love it that Kelly and Lael sifted through the world of Christian intellectuals and selected the authors and the topics in art, literature, history, science, etc. and that they provide further reading suggestions and web sites if a particular topic interests me. From there I can google til my heart's content.

My Monday book group, and we all read and we know how and when to Google.

Obama pays Hillary's bills with our money

Stimulus money--about $6 million--pays off Marc Penn, Hillary's pollster. I guess that answers the question about where are the jobs.

And here's his version:

"A public relations firm headed by Hillary Clinton's former campaign strategist shot back Wednesday at a report saying it received nearly $6 million in federal stimulus funds, blasting the claim as "fundamentally inaccurate."

The Hill newspaper reported that two companies run by Mark Penn -- Clinton's pollster during her 2008 presidential run -- received $5.97 million from the $787 billion stimulus package so he could preserve three jobs at his public relations firm, Burson-Marsteller.

The firm had secured a contract to work on a campaign advertising the nation's switch from analog to digital television, and the Hill reported that $2.8 million of that contract was given to Penn's polling firm, Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates.

But Burson-Marsteller on Wednesday disputed the newspaper's report, calling it "fundamentally inaccurate" in a statement. The firm said it was awarded a "competitive bid contract" in 2009 to support the Federal Communications Commission's initiative to "educate and advertise the congressionally mandated switch to digital television."

The firm said the contract, which included other vendors, was completed "under budget" and cost $4.36 million -- not $6 million." Fox News

Competitive bid, eh?

I don't care if it is 100% organic cotton

This is drop dead ugly, and women should be insulted to be told it's fashionable. Bad hair, too.

Blizzard closes Wisconsin

What? We're used to the University closing in Columbus when the high wind and snow gets blowing building a few drifts over the parking lots, but Madison? What happened to the global warming? This sure isn't climate change, because when I was a kid it always piled up in Wisconsin and then sort of slopped over into Illinois.

"In response to the blizzard that has impacted the state, [Wisconsin] Governor Jim Doyle has ordered the closure of all state government and University of Wisconsin campuses for public business. The Governor's order directs that state employees are not to report to work, unless their job duties include the provision or support of an emergency response, public health or public safety function, and their absence would compromise delivery of essential public health, public safety or emergency response functions that are required to continue despite weather conditions."

I tried a couple of sites today and they either weren't working or closed due to the weather.

Digging out (Madison) at Wunderphoto

Soapbox Jill at Real Debate Wisconsin

Robinson's column on race

Now, if a conservative white radio commentator had been this racial, all hell would break loose, but I think we get Mr. Robinson's drift.

Drunk driving accidents down

In Ohio in 2007 there were 1,255 traffic fatalities, 389 (31%) were alcohol related. We made headway in 2008--that dropped to 1,190, 356 fatalities, or 30%. A change in one year of 8.5%. Of course, if it was your wife, daughter, son, or dad killed or injured by a drunk driver feeling invincible, that figure runs about 100% doesn't it? Even worse and more dangerous than drunk driving, is allowing teen-agers to drive before age 18. Even riding with a teen makes life more dangerous for the passengers, whether or not he's driving!

Per mile travelled, you're safer in urban areas than rural. In fact, the worst stats are for those states with the wide open spaces--except Utah, bless their tea totalling, Mormon livers.

"State impaired-driving laws have been enacted in all 50 States and the District of Columbia that make it illegal for a driver or a motorcycle rider with a BAC of .08 or above to drive a vehicle. In 2008, the alcohol-impaired-driving fatality rate declined from 0.43 fatalities per 100 million VMT in 2007 to 0.40 in 2008. In 2008, Montana had the highest alcohol-impaired fatality rate in the Nation – 0.84 fatalities per 100 million VMT while Vermont had the low-est rate in the Nation – 0.16 per 100 million VMT. In 2007, Montana had the highest alcohol-impaired fatality rates in the Nation – 0.93 – and Utah had the lowest alcohol-impaired driving fatality rate – 0.21 fatalities per 100 million VMT. Traffic safety facts"

And the man who probably saved more Americans from death by car crash was Robert McNamara of Kennedy/Vietnam fame and "inventor" of the seat belt. He was both safety and fuel conscious when not many others were.

"Soon after taking over at the Ford Division in 1955, McNamara had gone way out on a limb by adding several safety devices to the 1956 model and then making them the focal point of the marketing campaign. By today’s standards it was a modest effort. The 1956 Ford’s five-part Lifeguard System included two standard features, a deep-dish steering wheel that gave way in a crash and safety latches that kept doors from springing open on impact. Three options also were offered: front seat belts anchored to a steel plate; a padded instrument panel and padded sun visors; and rearview mirrors with backing that reduced glass fallout when shattered. Also, the front and back seat supports were redesigned to reduce the possibility of their coming loose in a crash." American Heritage

I used a seat belt for the first time in the mid-50s when I worked for a feed company and the owner had a sporty Ford.

If Europe wants to continue paying guilt money

And that's what Copenhagen-Hopenchangen is about. Be my guest. European countries had colonies all over the world, including North America, South America, Africa and Asia. The guilt money that France and the UK have poured into the various corrupt African dictatorships could sink a fleet of Somali pirate ships, but it hasn't done a thing for the people. There are many books on this topic, written mostly by liberals--government, non-profits, and NGO officials. All the money does is prop up goosestepping, military regimes. And we aren't much better. Our own environmentalists have been killing Africans for years through our misguided, misdirected anti-DDT programs. Far more Africans have lost lives and livelihood through bleeding heart (for animals and insects) liberal-environmentalists than ever made it through the swamps and jungles to the coastal areas with their African captors and on to the slave ships owned by Europeans to be sold in the Islands and the future United States. And now they are about to do it again, only to all of us this time.

If Obama wants to help some Africans, let him begin with his own extended family. The Obama Diaspora. Although one brother is following in his footsteps and will write about book about. . . nothing except being an Obama.

Here in Ohio

Much of the upper Midwest is covered in snow today. Here in Ohio it is 51, but we'll soon get your wintry blast, but not the blizzard. About every 5-10 years we get a blizzard--although Iowa and Nebraska would laugh at it.

Also in Ohio yesterday the state put a murderer to death with a single injection. The official announcement on the radio sounded a bit like a weather reporter announcing a new gizmo.

I don't support the death penalty--why should we the people sink to the low of a common criminal? However, if I did, I would have chosen his method. Ken Biros got off and out much too easy, and he was convicted close to 20 years ago. After killing Tami Engstrom, he dismembered and mutilated her and scattered her body parts here and there in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

A wordsmith? Hardly!

Tina Brown writes: "It's a strange paradox for a great wordsmith, but when Obama makes an important policy speech these days he leaves everyone confused."

Only guilt-ridden, diversity obsessed liberals who'd probably never listened to a really good black preacher thought Obama was a great wordsmith. So he gave one inspiring, crowd-weeping speech in 2004--and even then there were detractors (in his own party, probably PUMAs) who noted that speech had been around the block many times when he was drumming up votes for his Senate run.

Nuance? Sub-text? Really! How about this one. He's a marxist (aka progressive, socialist, communist). Do your homework, folks.

Obama's Fog of War by Tina Brown