Obama and Faith based organizations

For once I agree with the ACLU, although for different reasons. Christians should not be fooled. This is a deal of Faustian proportions. And we were losing at this one under the Bushes and Clinton. What's different now is Obama has promised to restrict our religious freedoms, and I believe it’s a campaign promise he will keep--most likely through a faith czar so he won’t have to take the heat. Don't let the prayer breakfast fool you.

“President Barack Obama's willingness to keep Bush-era policies on government-backed religious charities opposed by many liberals is helping to woo traditionally Republican evangelical leaders who can influence key blocs of voters.

The approach, according to conservative leaders and liberal critics alike, is part of a broader strategy by Mr. Obama and fellow Democrats to regain credibility with centrist and conservative voters who tend to be more religious and have supported the GOP in recent polls and elections.” WSJ story

After churches have been weakened by accepting government money for everything from summer lunch programs for children to housing renovations in declining neighborhoods to work release programs for prisoners, they are at risk of having their "missions" dictated or coming to a screeching halt at the whim of a government bureaucrat.

We do not worship good works. Even successful ones. Leave that one for the people who have a heart for social programming and no faith in Jesus. We worship Jesus. Not an idea. Not an -ism. Not a government program. When the government can tell you where and whom and how you can evangelize, it's time to stop the grant writing, send the volunteers home and to get back in the business of telling the good news. Jesus never took tax money to feed the poor or to provide a job. Churches shouldn't either. He never robbed Peter to pay Paul. If he had, Peter probably would have gone to his grave denying him instead of founding the church.

"You should grasp Christ, his words, works and sufferings in a twofold manner. First as an example that is presented to you which you should follow and imitate. . . However this is the smallest part of the gospel, on the basis of which it cannot yet even be called gospel. For on this level Christ is of no more help to you than some other saint. . . before you take Christ as an example, you accept and recognize him as a gift, as a present that God has given you and that is your own. . . .when you have Christ as the foundation and chief blessing of your salvation, then the other part follows: that you take him as your example, giving yourself in service to your neighbor just as you see that Christ has given himself for you." Martin Luther

Churches provide millions of unpaid laborers in the form of "volunteers" to run these government programs. This is not the Gospel of Christ. This is not the harvest. By accepting grants from USDA, Dept of Labor, HHS, Dept of Ed. etc., the real figure for federal and state workers is kept artificially low. It is just government "out sourcing." It's time for churches to reread Matthew 25 and then rewrite their mission to the poor, sick, widowed and imprisoned.

Time Warner Cable helps Haitian customers

"In an effort to relieve at least a small measure of worry for our customers with friends and family in Haiti, Time Warner Cable will immediately make all calls placed by its Digital Phone customers to Haiti free of charge through the end of February 2010. This program will be retroactive to January 12, 2010 and includes calls to both landline and cellular telephones.

If you make direct-dialed calls to Haiti during this period, you do not need to do anything to receive a credit. The program will cover any Time Warner Cable Digital Phone customer. If you made calls to Haiti in the days after the earthquake, Time Warner Cable will issue credits to your account, with no need to call a customer service representative. It’s automatic — so you can rest easier as you talk to your loved-ones — whenever and as often as you’d like." More here.

The vilification of Pat Robertson

When the 700 Club Host referred to an old story that Haitians had made a pact with the devil 200 years ago for help in driving out the French and therefore had suffered greatly over the years, Christians and non-Christians, liberals and conservatives reacted in horror. This was a bit surprising to me. Western literature, music and folklore is filled with this story. Why should the Haitians have not known the story? Their masters were Europeans; their religion was Christian mixed with elements of African pantheism. This story was not original with Robertson--was this black Haitian preacher also vilified for telling the myth and then unpacking it biblically? What sort of reverse racism, and anti-western thought is this? Or, conversely, why is it that poor descendants of slaves can't get as caught up in this story as sophisticated, educated Westerners?

The idea of making a pact with the devil is deeply ingrained in our culture--Theophilus, Solomon, Virgil, Simon Magnus, the Faust legend and the literature, music and poetry that surrounds it, and of course, the real Doctor Faustus, who was a contemporary of Martin Luther and Melanchton. And let's not forget Louisa May Alcott, Pushkin, Liszt and Berlioz. And what about Hollywood? Isn't much of that or any modern entertainment just a pact to postpone death in a never ending quest for youth, money or fame?

Lunch out today

Usually on Fridays we go to the Rusty Bucket, but I'm eating lunch out today, and in an effort not to go up yet another size, I'll stick with that as my adventure of the day. Lunch with retired librarians. Yes, I know--you yawn--but really, that's a lot of smarts sitting around nibbling sandwiches or pie sipping decaf. And today it's at the MCL at Kingsdale, what the kids in the 70s and 80s (or maybe today) called the Medicare Lounge. I am one of the lesser stars in this constellation--most of them have a lot more education than I do and participate in many more activities. Adrienne, for instance, searches out organ concerts and special music events--and actually attends them! Susan, as I recall, is a master gardener or at least a wannabee. Chuck and his wife bicycle around the country, or at least the county. Eleanor is always on a cruise to interesting places. Jim is an expert on pottery and writes for archeology journals. Ruey has an advanced degree in piano, although I've never heard her play. Hardly anyone I know says at age 6, "I want to grow up to be a librarian." I told people I was going to be a missionary-doctor. Later I said I'd be a veterinarian. I think I know why. Most of the people you see behind a desk in the library, aren't librarians. The other day I got a complaint about a grumpy unhelpful librarian at Ohio State from a total stranger. I actually knew this guy, so I set him straight--that's not a librarian, but he was indeed the crabby face of the library.

It would also be a big help if the profession would settle on a name. I vote for "librarian."

Update: Our snowstorm rolled in about 9:30 a.m. The view from my office is now a delight of beautiful fat flakes--to watch, but not for driving. So lunch has been cancelled.

The Addiction Report

Here's an odd site to stumble into--The Addiction Report, with Tiger getting almost a perfect score. I was following a different lead--why 40 years after the current women's movement began major news stories are all about men especially athletes (9 headlines) when I came across this one on addiction, featuring Tiger Woods. Pretty interesting. If you've known any addicts or attended any 12 step programs, you've heard about the cross addictions, risk taking behavior and rage incidents.

"Read and learn through real life Runners Up for Stories of the Month from Doug Thorburn's January-February 2010 Thorburn Addiction Report, which can also be accessed at http://www.preventragedy.com

Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods, involved in a 2 a.m. accident that seemed inexplicable, until the world learned of:

(1) his serial adultery with more than a dozen women (sexually compulsive; borrowing the methodology from Drunks, Drugs & Debits, 50% odds of alcoholism),

(2) the fact that he seems to have met most of these women in nightclubs and that most if not all of the women appear to be "party" girls (addicts often hang out with addicts; by itself probably 20%, but add 20% of the remaining 50%, or 10%; see "enablers of the month" below for the luscious details),

(3) that with at least two of the women he not only didn't use condoms, but didn't even ask if the women were using birth control (signs of a sense of invincibility and unnecessarily reckless behaviors; 50% by itself, but, sticking to the methodology, add 50% of the remaining 40%, or 20%),

(4) reported tantrums on the golf course (rage; by itself, 50%, but we can't go over 80% without proof of addictive use; so this simply provides more evidence that the odds of addiction are at least 80%),

(5) a report that he "had been drinking alcohol" before the incident (evidence of addictive use when combined with a misbehavior such as possible DUI; we've now exceeded 80% odds), and

(6) prescriptions to Ambien and Vicodin (which puts the odds of addiction at well over 90%). The fact that one of his mistresses reported he likes to have "Ambien sex" suggests he combines drugs, which with serial unethical behaviors ups the odds of psychotropic drug addiction and, therefore, an explanation (but emphatically not an excuse) for his extra-marital misbehaviors, to nearly 100%--or close enough to make runner-up for top story rather than merely "under watch" (whose denizens display behaviors suggesting 80% odds of addiction, but no greater due to the absence of proof of addictive use)."

But like the aide who covered for John Edwards' spooky behavior and make-believe liberalism, you do have to wonder about what was wrong with all the other golfers and hangers-on, friends, trainers and coaches, sports writers, doctors and club owners who watched all this and kept quiet. But having enablers around them, is also part of the scenario, and if you throw in a huge pot of money and a sense of power, you've got a very toxic mix more addictive and explosive than any drink ever could be.

And by the way, one of those nine stories actually was a woman--the death of Casey Johnson, daughter of Jets owner and heiress of the Johnson and Johnson fortune--a sad conclusion that the news is still all about men and sports.

217 Democrats committing suicide

When I got back from church tonight, I checked my site meter, and my blog about the Morgenthau quote had suddenly gone off the charts, so I back tracked through referrals and found I'd been cited by Roger L. Simon.

. . . the substance is true. The New Deal made the Depression worse – and we are doing it again, only with bigger numbers and more zeros. Furthermore, now the Chinese own us. We enact this nonsensical budget and we might as well give them the whole thing – the Statue of Liberty, McDonald’s and Apple Computer. No backsies. They can have Steve Jobs’ next iPad extravaganza in Shanghai. They build everything over there already anyway.

But unfortunately this is no joke. The passing of this budget is a straight out act of economic insanity. Everyone knows it. The 217 Democrats who passed it surely know it too. Only they are too corrupt to face it honestly. Shame on them. Shame on them. Shame on them.

Gays in the military and other hot, hot issues

Some of my views aren't shared with other Conservatives; that's because we don't have to march lock step like the Liberals. For instance, I think Ohio's drug sentencing laws are too harsh; I think there is an advantage to medical marijuana over more harmful "legal" drugs and it should be legally prescribed by doctors; and I think gays should be allowed to serve openly in the military. But the rules will need to be just as strict for men who sexually and verbally harass men as they are for men who harass women. If a gay soldier causes a problem within the unit in which he/she serves, he's history. If a straight soldier can't accept that a gay guy will be watching his back, he's history. And none of that nonsense about victim perception. Let's not have careers and reputations ruined by hearsay and innuendo. The idea that today's young adults can't serve together in the military despite differences in sexual orientation when they've been taught nothing else but acceptance and kum-ba-yah since pre-school would mean an absolute failure of our school system. I may have my doubts about the reading and 'rithmatic, but they usually get the warm fuzzies right.

Brown, Becker and Card-check

“By being sworn in today, a week earlier than planned, Senator-elect Scott Brown has put himself in a position to help fellow Republicans scuttle a hotly disputed Obama administration nomination to the National Labor Relations Board next week.

A vote to appoint the prominent [SEIU, AFL-CIO] lawyer, Craig Becker, appears to be the only one in coming days in which Brown’s early arrival could make a crucial difference by giving Republicans their 41st vote in the Senate, allowing them to deploy the filibuster to block the nomination.” Boston Globe.

“Critics fear Becker would come to the board with a mission to implement the Employee Free Choice Act, using the board's regulatory powers to achieve in what Congress has not been able to do through legislation.

Unions favor the Employee Free Choice Act, which would substitute a "card check" procedure for secret balloting on union representation. Opponents say the card check approach would make it easier for union organizers to coerce employees into voting for union representation because the open process of checking to see if employees have signed union cards would replace voting in secret.

The U.S. Chamber of Congress, which represents more than three million businesses, had urged the Senate committee to reject Becker. The recommendation is only the third time in more than 30 years that the Chamber has opposed a nominee to the NLRB.” Dow Jones

"In a letter to key senators, the Society for Human Resource Management and 22 other organizations ask legislators to reject the nomination of Craig Becker for a seat on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

Becker was nominated by President Barack Obama to the five-member board in 2009 and again in early 2010, after the Senate rejected the nomination. He has been criticized by some business and employer organizations because of writings that suggest that he would take an active role in increasing the power of labor unions on the NLRB, possibly bypassing the legislative process. Becker serves as counsel to two organized labor groups—the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the AFL-CIO—and has taught and practiced labor law for more than two decades. He helped draft the proposed Employee Free Choice Act, which would give workers the choice of how they would want to vote for union representation—by a card-check process or a secret-ballot election." SHRM

Rush, Rahm and the R-word

Media Matters and lefty journalists fall for Rush's phony outrage every time! I think it's just a way for all concerned to boost their ratings and then they all go out for a beer and chuckle at all their listeners/readers who flush and rage.

Yesterday Rush had a longer than necessary monologue about Rahm Emanuel calling members of his own party F-ing Retards. Well, as you can imagine, this didn't go over well with people who look out for our citizens with special needs--people who have a bully pulpit and a personal interest like Sarah Palin who's youngest child has Down's Syndrome. But, as usual, Rush just couldn't let it go and went on and on, using the R-word, stopping to say it was Rahm's term, not his. Nevertheless, now the lefties say Palin should smack Rush around for using "retard" even though he was clearly referring to Rahm. So today, he's on it again, this time with the number of times "retarded" is used in the current health care legislation (I'd wondered about that myself) and Obama's use of the word in his autobiography. For some reason, Rahm promised he will get the offending word removed from all legislation.

I don't know how old Emanuel is, but I first noticed "retard" being used casually as a joking pejorative and put down in the early 80s. Kids have been saying it for years. And I agree with Governor Palin, that no public official would be shouting "nigger" at people he disagreed with, and it's time for Emanuel to clean up his language. Also, I've long believed that men that scream "fuck" as a verb, adjective and adverb, are doing so to intimidate women, not men. Nothing about the F bomb though in the media outrage. That's apparently OK.

Rahm Emanuel is known as having the biggest, meanest, filthiest garbage mouth in government. Someone should wash his mouth out with soap and not just for being out of step with current acceptable language.

How to talk good while navel gazing and finger wagging

Be sure to read the comments. Link.

Champions for Life

101,603 people were in attendance at the SuperBowl game in 1987 and it is estimated that another 87.1 million watched. Maybe you were one of them.

Champions For Life from American Life League on Vimeo.

NFL Stars and Athletes For Life Mark Bavaro, George Martin, Phil McConkey, Phil Simms, Chris Godfrey, and Jim Burt are true champions in promoting the Culture of Life.

Footage from Superbowl 21
Date Played: January 25, 1987
Teams: New York Giants vs. Denver Broncos
Winner: GIANTS
Final Score: 39-20
Location: Pasadena, California

You lie--again

Organizing for Obama has changed its name. It's now Organizing for America. Since it is an organization to re-elect the President, I don't understand the name change. This isn't for America; that's a lie. He launched his presidency going after socializing health care, cap and trade, and major butt and cheek kissing and bowing, instead of rolling up his sleeves and restoring the economy the only way that works--letting business get down to the business of America--capitalism. Instead, he grew the government. He's increased government jobs more in one year than Bush did in eight--and Bush was the all-time big spender on social programs until he turned the White House over to Obama.

"Organizing for America, the successor organization to Obama for America, is building on the movement that elected President Obama by empowering communities across the country to bring about our agenda of change."

I'm sure children will be suckered into "volunteering" for America through this organization.

Evolving online business, from books to writing

Today I stopped by an online book selling business blog (the blog was about the business which was at another site) that I sort of enjoyed, and discovered the owner had discontinued that effort, but is now writing for other online businesses. She'd become successful enough at finding and selling books, that she had begun to outsource, which cut into her profits and her fun. Story here. Now she's created a new site for her new business as a copywriter.

Are you looking at retirement homes?

We're not, but we thoroughly enjoyed visiting the new Willow Brook at Delaware Run in Delaware, Ohio yesterday. If you or your parents are at a stage where you're starting to think about this, I'd certainly schedule a visit. We visited our former neighbors, had a personal tour with them, and ate in the lovely dining room, The Water's Edge Restaurant, which incidentally has a French chef and is open to the public. The food was as good or better than any restaurant I've enjoyed recently.

Although this is not my favorite architectural style, nothing has been overlooked on the inside for tasteful decor and comfort of the residents. This facility just opened, so these owners/residents got to pick cabinet finishes, and extra features. A number of residents already had plans for the Erickson facility in Hilliard that went into bankruptcy, so there were some last minutes changes, and fortunately they got their money back. As I understand the plans, the area you see in this photo will eventually have buildings all around the little lake. Our friends' apartment faces the highway and a residential neighborhood (not all that close), which they just love because there is so much to look at from their large windows or balcony. They have an alcove in the living room which accomodates their grand piano--so you can see these are not small units.

At this time Willow Brook has 1 and 2 bedroom apartments and twin singles, and our friends also had a study so they were using the 2nd bedroom as a TV room. On the 3rd floor they have vaulted ceilings with gives a nice feeling of openess. There is an assisted care wing and a "memory care" wing on the first floor. There's a lovely library in the balcony area over the lobby, and we stopped by and chatted with the volunteers who were working to get the shelves stocked under the supervision of a retired librarian. There's an artists' workshop, an underground garage, exercise facilities with the latest in equipment, a chapel (not much there yet except chairs despite all the retired preachers), and a very large activity/banquet room.

We met a number of the pleasant staff including Larry Harris, CEO, and the chef, and some of the residents, many retired pastors and professors and business people. Willow Brook is part of Christian Communities (Church of Christ). There is also a Willow Brook Christian Village (about 20 years old) and Willow Brook Christian Home (skilled nursing and rehab).

So if you're starting to look, or you have a parent thinking of moving closer to the children, this facility is about a 45 minute drive from Arlington if you use Rt 33 and about 35 using Rt 315 (we tried both). Delaware is a college town with a nice business district--however, I'm sure there are so many activities planned for the residents they don't have much time to take in the local sights. We heard only two very mild complaints from two couples we know there--they haven't found a local church and haven't changed doctors, dentists, hair dressers, etc., and are still driving back to Columbus.

Added a new widget--a Google search for my blogs

Trying to remember what is where in my twelve blogs is a bit of a challenge. Each blog has a little search window at the top, and that is useful, and I can go into edit and look at all my subject headings (tags). However, while poking around the widgets I found I could the Google search. At first, I couldn't figure out what it would do, but I added it anyway (it shows at the bottom of this page). With this search feature, I can search any topic I may have written about, for instance "Lutheran" that I may have posted here or at one of my other blogs. Try it with "Mt. Morris" and quite a bit comes up.

Sally Jenkins on the Tebow Super Bowl Ad

It's easier to just provide a link rather than copy the whole thing (which is probably in violation of copyright). But Sally Jenkins, Sports writer for WaPo, is one tough dude!

"I'm pro-choice, and Tebow clearly is not. But based on what I've heard in the past week, I'll take his side against the group-think, elitism and condescension of the "National Organization of Fewer and Fewer Women All The Time." For one thing, Tebow seems smarter than they do.

Tebow's 30-second ad hasn't even run yet, but it already has provoked "The National Organization for Women Who Only Think Like Us" to reveal something important about themselves: They aren't actually "pro-choice" so much as they are pro-abortion. Pam Tebow has a genuine pro-choice story to tell. She got pregnant in 1987, post-Roe v. Wade, and while on a Christian mission in the Philippines, she contracted a tropical ailment. Doctors advised her the pregnancy could be dangerous, but she exercised her freedom of choice and now, 20-some years later, the outcome of that choice is her beauteous Heisman Trophy winner son, a chaste, proselytizing evangelical.

Pam Tebow and her son feel good enough about that choice to want to tell people about it. Only, NOW says they shouldn't be allowed to. Apparently NOW feels this commercial is an inappropriate message for America to see for 30 seconds, but women in bikinis selling beer is the right one. I would like to meet the genius at NOW who made that decision. On second thought, no, I wouldn't. . . If the pro-choice stance is so precarious that a story about someone who chose to carry a risky pregnancy to term undermines it, then CBS is not the problem." Read the whole thing.

Remember the Sears catalog in the outhouse?

It's back!

The mighty queens of Freeville

Our bookclub meets tonight and we will be enjoying together a great read--The Mighty Queens of Freeville by Amy Dickinson. Amy replaced Ann Landers as "Ask Amy"--and after giving advice to others based on experience and small town values, she collected the snippets and pieces of her own life and put them in this delightful book. Although each chapter has a theme and could stand alone, Amy wanders in and out of her marriage, divorce, her parents' divorce, child rearing, location, age, church, house and career but manages to hold it all together. It's an adventure just following her train of thought.

I just clicked over and looked at her Feb. 1 "Ask Amy" column. Yup. Women are still dumb, after all these years. And I don't mean Amy. They still move in with a boyfriend when they have a primary responsibility to a child; they still can't come up with a put down for a fresh, married man. Don't want to lose the friendship. Duh! Doubt that is his concern.

Read the book. I recommend it. You don't have to be divorced or a single parent to get a lot out of it, but if you are, you'll love it even more.

Herb Garden Ciabatta

Click to enlarge so you can read the recipe.
From the article, "Bread for the soul" by Lisa Kingsley and Wanda J. Ventling, Lily; beautiful living through faith, Spring 2006, pp.86-93.

Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty." John 6:35 (NIV)

Notice the Italian parsley has the symbol of the Trinity, unlike the more familiar curly parsley.

Looking for Lily

It seems that Lily never made it, poor thing. Lily; beautiful living through faith is a magazine in my premiere issues collection. For some reason, I didn't code the template of that blog to alert me when there were comments. Maybe I figured no one would comment? Anyway, that entry has had more comments than any other because people are looking for it. Because I need to start cleaning out (I should write a Thursday Thirteen meme on my odd ball collections, some of which have only 2 pieces)--and my first issue hobby which used to fit in the back of a closet until the mid-80s, is totally out of control. So the most persistent one will get it. She e-mailed and left a Facebook comment, plus a comment at the blog. The problem with sorting and arranging them either by size or topic is I always open one up and start to read.

Knowing it would be leaving me soon, I decided to reread Lily (I usually don't read my first issues, just examine them for bibliographic data and research the provenance a bit). There's a very nice story about Laurie Smith, one of the TLC channel decorators. So I blogged about that at my faith blog, Church of the Acronym. She compares the goal of home decorating with that of maintaining and enhancing the soul. There's a yummy bread recipe I might copy, too.

Ellie Light meet H. L. Harris

Ellie Light (I first heard this on radio and thought it was "L.A. Light") is now claiming to be a Californian--a guy--who sent letters to the editors of many major newspapers in the U.S. supporting Obamacare--42 newspapers in 18 states, as well as Politico. Here's the Cleveland Plain Dealer story. Who knows. Maybe this guy is just trying to cash in on Ellie's fame and mystery. However, it happened 100 years ago too, according to the Jan. 6 issue of JAMA, which always has a "JAMA 100 Years Ago" feature in each issue.

"Many and devious are the ways by which those who would "doctor" our food attempt to create public sentiment in favor of chemical preservatives. During the last few months a harmless looking letter signed "H.L. Harris" has appeared in the newspapers of those cities and towns in which deaths from ptomain poisoning have recently been chronicled. This letter--we use the singular advisedly--does not vary in its wording in different papers, except for the opening sentnence. . . Not only in the form of letters do we find these much-reiterated sentiments of Mr. Harris. Overworked editors occasionally use them en bloc to fill a gaping void on the editorial page." (Reports an incident in the Alliance, Ohio Review, Dec. 4, 1909.)

It seems that H.L. Harris was an advocate of using boron compounds as food preservatives, and it turned out he worked for the Pacific Coast Borax Company and sometimes used the name H.H. Langdon. He referred to himself as a food expert, but seemed to have only one topic--attacking pure-food legislation. Harris-Langdon differed from Ellie Light in that he focused on and fooled smaller town newspaper editors. 100 years ago there was no way for small town editors to check these things. Not so today. With Google, there's no excuse for editors, with their leftist bias and custom of carrying Obama no matter what, to not do a bit of checking when something seems "too good to be true." I do it with viral messages sent to me, and I'm just a blogger. Give those unpaid college interns something to do.

If you play you pay--Infections of Leisure

When I was a librarian at Ohio State's Veterinary Medicine library, I would buy textbooks for our reserve collection. Many academic libraries don't--in some fields like education or history that could break the bank. However, there's nothing like a good, solid, frequently revised and updated textbook to save you hours of time both in research and reading. What you'll find in chapter bibliographies, notes and illustrations could save you hours of searching on-line databases or poking around in Google, plus there's been expert editorial review for quality. Let's face it, most of us aren't writing or reading for publication but for information.

I won't request the 4th ed. of Infections of Leisure from my public library--I know what the response will be--you have an OSU address, get it from them. Well, no library in OhioLink has a copy; OSU has the 3rd (2004), parts of which have been digitized. Maybe it's in the pipeline, or maybe it's just the old librarian's prejudice against textbooks in their collections. But read this MD reviewer in the Jan. 6, 2010 JAMA:

"As one who has completed an infectious diseases followship, I was astounded by the amount of new material I learned from this book--even gleaning one particularly salient fact from a table comparing infections acquired from hamsters, gerbils, and guinea pigs."

So what are infections of leisure? For a huge number of us that means our pets--dogs, cats, birds, horses, rodents. Or even our neighbors' pets who are burying their feces in our garden, or dropping them where birds can help spread the problem. For others it is combining the ancient practice of tattooing and body piercing with 21st century pathogens or cruise ship travel. Titles of the 19 chapters are:

At the shore / Mark A Clemence and Richard L Guerrant
Freshwater : from lakes to hot tubs / Bertha S Ayi and David Dworzack
The camper's uninvited guests / Gordon E Schutze and Richard F Jacobs
Infections in the garden / Burke A Cunha and Diane H Johnson
With man's best friend / Julie M Collins and Bennett Lorber
Around cats / Ellie J C Goldstein and Craig E Greene
Feathered friends / Matthew E Levison
Less common house pets / Bruno B Chomel
With man's worst friend : the rat / James G Fox
Closed due to rabies / Jesse D Blanton and John W Krebs
Sports : the infectious hazards / Arezou Minooee, Leland S Rickman, and Geeta Gupta
Traveling abroad / Martin S Wolfe
From boudoir to bordello : sexually transmitted diseases and travel / Jonathan M Zenilman
Infections from body piercing and tattoos / Mukesh Patel and C Glenn Cobbs
Infectious diseases at high altitude / Buddha Basnyat, Thomas A Cumbo, and Robert Edelman
Infectious risks of air travel / Alexandra Mangili and Mark Gendreau
Perils of the petting zoo / John R Dunn and Frederick J Angulo
Infections on cruise ships / Vivek Kak
Exotic and trendy cuisine / Jeffrey K Griffiths

Humans are surprisingly smug about being able to control the planet or finding miniscule dangerous amounts of a chemical in processed food. Yet they can't control their own dangerous personal behaviors like oral/anal sex or cleaning up after their pets. We'd rather pass legislation costing billions but remain ignorant of many novel pathogens that jump from animal to man which we encounter every day--an area we could control. Maybe the library could buy one less book on global warming.

If you're interested, I've seen book sites selling this book for anything from $66 to $150. So shop around.

O wert thou in the cauld blast

Tonight we're going to a Robert Burns dinner, and the hosts provide the food and the guests the entertainment. I will be reading this poem/song. He wrote it during his final illness for Jessy Lewars who helped the Burns family during his illness and his wife's confinement. The melody most commonly used for this song is by Mendelssohn, but I won't sing it, for which everyone will be grateful. I used to be a soprano. Now I have 4 notes--but they aren't all in a row.

O wert thou in the cauld blast,
On yonder lea, on yonder lea,
My plaidie to the angry airt,
I'd shelter thee, I'd shelter thee;
Or did Misfortune's bitter storms
Around thee blaw, around thee blaw,
Thy bield should be my bosom,
To share it a', to share it a'.

Or were I in the wildest waste,
Sae black and bare, sae black and bare,
The desert were a Paradise,
If thou wert there, if thou wert there;
Or were I Monarch o' the globe,
Wi' thee to reign, wi' thee to reign,
The brightest jewel in my Crown
Wad be my Queen, wad be my Queen.

cauld = cold
lea = grassland
plaide = length of tartan cloth
airt = direction
aroond = around
blaw = blow
bield = shelter

In writing about Bobby Burns, Elbert Hubbard says (1916), "Poetry and love-making should be carried on with caution: they form a terrific tax on life's forces. Most poets die young, not because the gods especially love them, but because life is a bank-account, and to wipe out your balance is to have your checks protested. The excesses of youth are drafts payable at maturity. Chatterton dead at eighteen, Keats at twenty-six, Shelley at thirty-three, Byron at thirty-six, Poe at forty, and Burns at thirty-seven, are the rule. When drafts made by the men mentioned became due, there was no balance to their credit and Charon beckoned. Most life-insurance companies now ask the applicant this question, "Do you write poetry to excess?" " Link.

Another Obama scandal--mirandizing Abdulmutallab

"We have since learned that the decision to Mirandize Abdulmutallab had been made without the knowledge of or consultation with (1) the secretary of defense, (2) the secretary of homeland security, (3) the director of the FBI, (4) the director of the National Counterterrorism Center or (5) the director of national intelligence (DNI).

The Justice Department acted not just unilaterally but unaccountably. Obama's own DNI said that Abdulmutallab should have been interrogated by the HIG, the administration's new High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group.

Perhaps you hadn't heard the term. Well, in the very first week of his presidency, Obama abolished by executive order the Bush-Cheney interrogation procedures and pledged to study a substitute mechanism. In August, the administration announced the establishment of the HIG, housed in the FBI but overseen by the National Security Council." Read Krauthammer's column

It was like Christmas!

First, the Christmas flower (amaryllis) from brother Rick and sister Kate bloomed. My, how magnificent! Cute pot too. Then Joan sent a check for $34 to buy my 1979 Lady Clairol make-up mirror. God knows, I don't need it--it's too late! It will probably cost half that to mail it, but I've found a box and wrapping paper. Lynne, a Watkins salesperson in Nebraska, sent me my 3 Lemon Cream Shea Butter in a JAR, plus 3 darling little samples, one being peppermint foot cream--never heard of such a luxury. Last week I got my once a year letter from my college roommate who put me in touch with a mutual friend, Denise from Forreston, I'd met when I was 6 and she was 3, and she mailed me a stack of photographs. What a joy to see her and her siblings after all these years, and actually she doesn't look much different from the only other photo I had of her in a snow suit with Santa Claus.

But that means the clutter is starting to build on my desk again, and I haven't yet cleaned out the box.

[The two paintings on the easel are my husband's of our trips to Jerusalem (2009) and Ireland (2007); he's president this year of the Central Ohio Watercolor Society.]

Would you invite this scold to your next get-together?

"It’s all well and good that President Obama wants to meet with Republicans — giving the appearance of reaching out — but when it’s mainly to “chastise” them for opposing his programs, as the AP is reporting after his session at the House Republicans’ retreat in Baltimore today, it’s little but a continuation of the lecture he gave to Congress, the Supreme Court, and even the American people on Wednesday evening. “I am not an ideologue,” he’s reported to have said. Yet it appears that he rejected the Republicans’ proposals for a different approach to health care, a line-item veto for spending bills, and across-the-board tax cuts." Roger Pilon

I disagree Mr. Pilon. The appearance of reaching out means nothing--especially not "well and good." This man never grew up, never learned to accept responsibility or hard knocks. Not only is he the biggest narcissist we've ever elected--and that quality is probably essential to some degree for any pol--(is the count in on the first person singular used in that speech?)--he's the biggest scold, finger wagger, and head swirler/twirler with flaming eyes I've ever seen. He's just scary to watch with or without sound. Imagine scolding Congress before a TV audience when they are your team, and correcting the Supreme Court so everyone can see your speech writer didn't do his research.

The man never learned any manners and his managers are in chaos trying to figure out what they want him to be.

Great art, great message

Panera's changes the hanging banners/art about 5 times a year, I think. Some stores have permanent art, some don't. I created a fan page for the one at 5 points, Upper Arlington, because I see a lot of FaceBook and church members there. I also see artists and writers, professors, retirees, new mothers, a Roman Catholic book group, a collection of Columbus school teachers, a Lutheran book club, school children, my neighbors, and last week met a publisher/chef (who lives in our former house). And that's just the folks I talk to. When our town was hit by Hurricane Ike, this store was one of the few places around with power, and they practically fed the entire community for days. It's one thing to go without a shower--but no coffee?

Since I enjoy art and like to draw and paint, I want to call your attention to the winter banner. It's not only wonderful design, but a great message. For Christians, I'd add Reach, Redeem, Reclaim. The figure appears to be either an African or Asian male raising his hands in praise for blessings swirling and twirling, curving like vines, coming down from heaven, but also offering up something much more stylized like a small tree or leaf. In the background behind the head it could be his/her hair flowing or something roaring and twisting--maybe an ocean or an oozing mass of something he'd like to escape. I'm not sure why s/he's wearing a long sleeve sweater, but it does allow the artist to pick up on the most recent interior color scheme--gold, cream, brown, rust--yet some new colors, the purple, lavendar and pale blue are brought in and work well.

It looks great across the room, but even better up close where you can see the detail.

Update: The artist is Andrea Eberbach. You can see her portfolio here. Now that I've seen some other pieces, I think this is probably a woman and the dark background behind the head is her hair. But it works for me either way.

Exercise classes at Upper Arlington Lutheran

There are 3 fitness level classes at UALC, two at Lytham and one at Mill Run. I've seen those hard bodies leave the building at MR and I know that class isn't for me, but I can grapevine, cha-cha and swing, I can punch and kick and throw the basketball, I can stretch, and huff and puff with 5 lb weights, and I can enjoy my friends for an hour (I absolutely hate to exercise, always have) knowing it's good for my bones, heart and brain.

I also bring a bottle of window cleaner and an old t-shirt and mop up the spills left by the children. Works great on carpet.

Fair, balanced, and better looking

"A Public Policy Polling nationwide survey of 1,151 registered voters Jan. 18-19 found that 49 percent of Americans trusted Fox News, 10 percentage points more than any other network.

Thirty-seven percent said they didn’t trust Fox, also the lowest level of distrust that any of the networks recorded.

There was a strong partisan split among those who said they trusted Fox — with 74 percent of Republicans saying they trusted the network, while only 30 percent of Democrats said they did.

Read more at Politico.

Some call it fusion; I call it ugly--Arcosanti

A 1970 experiment of living in the desert. Paolo Soleri began construction on this experimental town in the Arizona desert nearly 40 years ago. Still going. Still ugly. If you read this blog often, you know I read all my husband’s professional journals, newsletters and e-mails. During our 50 year marriage I’ve been through the modern and post-modern phases (i.e. from buildings that look like tall cereal boxes lined up on a shelf to those that look like funnel cakes with gargoyles attached). I don’t just read about them; we tour them--sometimes on our own, sometimes with groups. Lately everything is about going green. It’s where the money is. And architects and builders are lobbying Congress hard to throw more ARRA money their way so they can tear down what their fathers did in the 70s and get some do-over money. I can’t think of anything I’ve seen recently that looks less friendly to the environment than blobs of concrete in a desert. This video has a number of stories on it--I only watched the Soleri one. Construction video. Maybe after I've had my coffee. . .

Fat cat bankers and corrupt CEOs

Fat cat bankers. Doesn't that have a familiar, 1930s ring to it? Sure sounds anti-semitic to me--I mean if you know anything about history and the lead up to WWII. I think it's code. Wouldn't surprise me if there were a purge coming for the White House staff. Axelrod and Rahm will decide they need to spend more time with their families or day jobs and quietly disappear. What other industry is being singled out for harassment, punishment, ridicule and defamation?

Robert Burns poem?

I was browsing YouTube looking for the audio of "Oh, Wert Thou in the Cauld Blast" by Robert Burns and found this lovely Ukrainian vocal band. I have no idea what they're saying, but it certainly is nice (I hope).

Thursday Thirteen--Cleaning the desk top

For many years when I was working at the Veterinary Medicine Library at Ohio State, I would have an annual review with my boss, Jay Ladd. He always did this in my office rather than his, because that way he could look around and see how things were progressing in my library (located a mile or so from the Main Library). Of course, you want to make a good impression, so we’d make sure the public areas were neat and dusted. But what to do about the mess in my office? I soon perfected this method. Scoop up everything on the top of my side desk, computer desk and top of the filing cabinets and dump ot into a large box which would then go under my desk (not visible to anyone but me). What I learned from many years of doing this was that if I left the box unpacked for 6-8 weeks or so, most of the “to do” list just disappeared.

Since Christmas (or maybe before) the clutter in my home office has been growing. So this morning, it all went into a box. I need a list of 13 things, so this will just scratch the surface of what's in the box.

1) Garage Slab, vol. 1, no. 1. This goes with my hobby bloggy, In the beginning, but I just got this one last week and haven’t entered the information yet.

2) Three 8 x 10 group photos of class reunions. I do that blog too, MMHS1957 and I think one of them is missing, but although I pulled out the photos, I haven’t checked yet.

3) A recipe for pie pastry and apple pie on a 3 x 6 lined index card found in a library book. Beautiful handwriting. Appears to be exactly the same as what I learned from my mother who was the best pie baker east of the Mississippi River.

4) 4 or 5 returned Christmas cards. Need to change the addresses in my records, but haven’t yet. Computers are not handy that way.

5) My I-Touch that I’ve never learned to use, inside a small plastic case designed for a calendar.

6) My little notebook for new words--one of my 2009 New year’s resolutions.

7) The warranty and instructions for my 1979 lighted make-up mirror, but the lady who wanted to buy it never sent me the money.

8) An empty bottle of Valu-Dryl I was using to look up the ingredients for my husband’s winter cold 4 weeks ago.

9) 215 photographs to put in a new album for our 50th anniversary event. The album is a Martha Stewart (too big for the box so it’s on the couch) on sale for about $7, and Walgreens was having a sale, $.15 per print. That way I don't have to take old albums apart. These were all stored on my computer.

10) A lighted magnifying glass that doesn’t work too great--should probably toss it.

11) A 2010 calendar of daily phrases in German. However, there’s no pronunciation guide, and I don’t know German. Must be why it was for sale at Marc’s for about 88 cents. It could be a note pad if I turn it over.

12) A letter and stack of genealogy information from 2nd cousin once removed Marianne in Iowa who is 93.

13) Several weeks’ worth of church newsletters with names checked of people I need to send cards to, but haven't gotten around to it.

That’s only the top inch or so. I have a ways to go.

This cleaning method only works if you don’t stop to put anything away while you’re filling the box. The original dump only takes a few minutes. Once you begin sorting, shelving and filing, it’s an all day job.
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Really bad frugal living tips

Driving home from the coffee shop this morning, I heard a review of a frugal tips book currently getting air play and pixels. The worst was "use a beauty school student instead of your regular hair dresser and pay only $20." Well, why not go really cheap and cut it yourself, or let your husband and/or girl friend do it? No thanks. I pay about $90 every 7 weeks, and I'm fine with that. I help the local economy and a small business woman. Melissa (Shear Impressions) owns her own business, attends the same church we do, graduated from Grandview H.S., is about my children's age, and I've known her since she finished her own schooling about 25 years ago and worked for David Keith. We can pick up the chat where we left off in December, she calls if I've forgotten, and I can buy the products I like at her shop. One time I had to have a work-in because I'd scheduled wrong, and was planning to leave town for a class reunion. There was another younger gal renting a chair from Melissa, so she took me. "Your reunion?" she cooed. "Oh, honey, let's jazz it up a bit." For six weeks, I was about as blonde as Marilyn Monroe, whose real name was Norma, remember.


I had my first professional hair cut for another class event--the eighth grade trip to Chicago. (I'm the one in the middle.) Before that, my mother chopped away at it with her sewing shears. I'm sure she read up on it, but. . . She also gave us home permanents. Whew! Did they smell.


Most women I know would give up their church before they'd give up their veterinarian or their hair dresser.

Bare foot walking, pt. 4

Remember last summer when I was walking barefoot in the grass in an effort to ease some foot problems? My theory, as I recall, was that the grass would stimulate the nerves in my feet which had started to hurt after wearing a certain pair of sandals. And in the course of my very brief research, I learned that barefoot we walk and run differently than when we wear shoes. Keep in mind, however, in many countries parasites enter the body through bare feet. But here are some bare truths from Nature Magazine which I just received today.

Runners in sports shoes run differently from those who run barefoot and who have never worn shoes. Research published online by Nature this week shows that unshod runners land on their toes, or the foreparts of the sole (fore-foot strike), whereas shod runners tend to land on their heels (rear-foot strike). The first style of running uses the body of the foot to cushion the leg and body from the shock of impact, whereas shod runners might run more risk of impact-related injury.

Watch the video free online on the Nature Video YouTube channel.

And of course, always watch for dog poop. Not fun between the toes.

Itsy bitsy contact lenses

Even in the summer, I rarely wear sunglasses, although I have in recent years purchased big giant ones that cover about 1/3 of my face and just place them over my regular glasses (I wear trifocals). Research done at Ohio State shows we should wear them even in the winter, and if you wear contacts, you can have UV blocking lenses. Little rabbits wore them to test their effectiveness. I don't even want to know how they found out they were or weren't affected. (But if you read the original, it will tell you.) From OSUToday:

"Heather Chandler, PhD, assistant professor, and a group of researchers from The Ohio State University College of Optometry found that UV blocking contact lenses protect the eyes from harmful UV rays.

According to the article (“Prevention of UV-Induced Damage to the Anterior Segment Using Class I UV Absorbing Hydrogel Contact Lenses”), overexposure to UV radiation can lead to harmful changes in the cornea, conjunctiva and lens, including cataracts, the most common cause of visual impairment around the globe. According to the researchers, some estimates say that by the year 2050, there will be 167,000 to 830,000 more cases of cataracts.

“Unfortunately, people are generally unaware of when their eyes are at greatest risk for damage from UV exposure,” said Dr. Chandler. “This research involving UV-absorbing contact lenses can provide another option for protection against the detrimental changes caused by UV.

The study exposed rabbits daily to the equivalent of about 16 hours of exposure to sunlight in humans — enough to induce UV-associated corneal changes. The rabbits who wore UV-absorbing contact lenses (Senofilcon A) were not affected by the UV exposure."

Looks like I should be paying more than five bucks for my sunglasses, too. Yes, and we should be wearing sunblock year around, however, in Ohio, we are so thrilled to see sunshine, we rarely think about blocking it.

Who’s more dangerous, Rana or O’Keefe?

Tahawwur Hussain Rana, the Canadian Pakistani who has been living and working in Chicago for 15 years in the immigration business and is accused of helping in the Mumbai, India, terrorist attacks and the terrorist attack on a Danish newspaper, got 2 lines yesterday in the New York Times for pleading not guilty. However, James O’Keefe the journalist famous for his ACORN tax-advice-for-pimps video scoop, got a ton of ink and pixels in the NYT for a possible felony arrest stemming from a trespassing incident in Mary Landrieu’s office--sort of a libertarian Woodward and Bernstein act for the other team. (That one's OK--investigative journalism. . . sniff!) We all knew she took that perfectly legal bribe on behalf of Louisiana--she corrected the amount to a larger figure on national TV. So if he was involved in something dangerous or illegal to get a story, sort of makes you wonder what he was looking for.

From the left wing media angle, exposing ACORN's moral bankruptcy is a far more serious crime than blowing up hotels and killing innocent people. So he'll need some darn good lawyers. You'll have to google up an Indian paper or a Canadian one to get much detail on Rana. Or you could wade through the NYT archives for an AP story.

Update: September 2012: Story on Rana and Headley.

Rousseau

Glenn Beck's been hitting the progressives pretty hard--and much of what those of us my age and younger (that would be most of the nation) know as the good old USA. Needless to say, we're getting a bit defensive. Oh sure, Hitler and Stalin are flip sides of the same coin and need a good smack, but Teddy Roosevelt? This morning in reading a piece by Nancy Pearcy editor at large of The Pearcey Report, I read this:

"Most of the ideologies that bloodied the 20th century were influenced by Rousseau. His writing inspired Robespierre in the French Revolution, as well as Marx, Lenin, Mussolini, Hitler, and Mao. So if you get a grip on Rousseau's thinking, you have a key to understanding much of the modern world."

She goes on to describe how he hypothesized that human relationships "are not ultimately real; instead they are secondary, or derivative, created by individual choice. . . . his most influential work opens with the famous line, "Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains." He did not mean chains of political oppression, as we Americans might think. For Rousseau, the really oppressive relationships were personal ones like marriage, family, church, and workplace." And what will liberate us according to Rousseau, she asks?

"The state. The state would destroy all social ties, releasing the individual from loyalty to anything except itself. Rousseau spelled out his vision with startling clarity: "Each citizen would then be completely independent of all his fellow man, and absolutely dependent on the state." No wonder his philosophy inspired so many totalitarian systems."

Rousseau and his mistress abandoned their five children on the steps of a state-run orphanage, Pearcey writes, even though most died or became beggars. Rousseau thought the state better qualified to raise children than the parents. In his own case, he might have had a point.

Today the government approves and encourages aborting them if they are inconvenient or not perfect; it spends their money before they are born turning them into beggars more dependent on the state.

Quotations from "Rousseau," A Faith and Culture Devotional, Daily readings in art, science and life, by Kelly Monroe Kullberg and Lael Arrington, Zondervan, 2009, p. 225-226.

A sad day in Lakeside

The auction of Abigail's Tea Room. Two years ago it sold and we all had high hopes, but it didn't work out. Then last year there was a temporary tenant, and that didn't draw enough customers. Now the two cottages joined at the hip that once were the Abigail will be auctioned with the contents. http://www.auctionzip.com/Listings/785947.html

Here's a photo of a painting I did of the Abigail a number of years ago.


Yes, you can't see much--it was mostly covered with vines in the summer, usually with people waiting to get in. If you already have another job, wouldn't you like to open a restaurant 12 weeks during the summer?

HT Wes

Norma's Mushroom Soup

After my husband brought home some wonderful cream of mushroom soup from Malabar Farms Restaurant on Sunday, I decided I wanted to try making it. I googled, and I asked on FB, but didn't find or hear anything that resembled what I tasted. So I made it up, using what I do with all vegetable soups. Broth, potatoes, onions, a blender, plus half and half or milk or canned milk and whatever is the vegetabe of the day--broccoli or sweet potato or carrot. Here's how it worked out.

1 can (8 oz.) beef broth
2 medium size potatoes, peeled, cut in small chunks
1 medium onion

Cook together until soft, then removed the solids and run through the blender. Return to the broth.

Add 8 oz. half and half, or whatever you have. If you want fewer calories, use milk.

Meanwhile saute 8 oz or so of sliced or chopped fresh mushrooms (mine were organic from Canada) in a little olive oil. While cooking (shrinks), sprinkle with a little flour, pepper and thyme. Stir frequently. When the mushrooms have browned, add to the broth/potato mixture.

I checked some on-line recipes that used a little sherry, but I didn't have any so I sprinkled in a little Merlot, maybe a TBsp. Tastes great.

I decided to use beef broth instead of chicken, which I usually use. It just sounded better with mushrooms. The potatoes, in any vegetable soup, provides the thickening. Plus, I think it makes the soup much more hearty than making a white sauce.

If you have a better one or a favorite--let me know. I'd invite you over for lunch but you probably live in Florida, Georgia or California.

This in the blog so I don't lose it.

The Scott heard 'round the world

Is there any explanation we haven't heard? The silliest was that the voters are angry that health reform hasn't happened. Wow. Is that a misintrepretation. The second silliest was that Obama didn't get his message out. However, he's just one man, and not really all that conservative on other issues, but winning that seat is historic. Neo-neocon after watching Greta's piece on him (Fox) writes

"It struck me that, less than a week after the Brown election, we’ve already heard more good things from friends of the previously-unknown Brown than we’ve heard about Obama from his friends in the more than two years he’s been in the spotlight. In fact, if it weren’t for Obama’s shady friends—the ones he suddenly wasn’t all that friendly with, or whose dirty deeds he hadn’t really known that much about after all, such as Ayers, Rezko, and Wright—we’d think him nearly friendless."

She's always worth reading--on any topic. And it would seem that some lefties are getting nasty. Now they are throwing Obama, hope and change under the bus--getting crowded down there. That's how you can tell they weren't real Democrats. Those guys stick with their man through thick and thin, scandal and mayhem.

Haggis, neeps and tatties

Today is Robert Burns birthday (b. Jan 25, 1759) the traditional time for Burns Suppers in Scotland and serving haggis, neeps and tatties. We're going to a Burns dinner this week-end and it's traditional for the guests to perform and the hosts to serve the food. Not sure what they'll serve or we'll do. But we missed several Christmas and New Year's events due to my husband's cold, so we're a bit starved for some good food and conversation. Yup. This is how old people party.

Here's a note from last year's blog about this event. "My husband and I both have surnames that travelled with invaders to Britain during the Norman invasion in 1066, which means our origins were French, then again into Scotland, but with so much mixing and matching over the centuries, especially in the British Isles, who knows really? We are both 8th or 9th generation Americans, with families that originally settled in Pennsylvania after getting off the boat before the Revolution, then traveling further west and south in the next generations and intermarrying with boatloads of Germans, some of whom kept their language for almost 100 years. Lots of Presbyterians in our family trees. . . his more recently than mine."

What is haggis? "Haggis is a meat dish which is made by stuffing a sheep or cow stomach with offal, oatmeal, and an assortment of spices, and then boiling the dish until it is thoroughly cooked."

What is neeps? Peeled and chopped turnips. I actually like this dish and used to serve it to the family on mystery vegetable night. Lots of Scots descendants in Appalachia and grandpa loved his turnips.

What is tatties? Mashed potatoes.

Stalking the evil French fry again!

Noticed this at OSU Today: "Ohio State researchers are looking for healthy MEN ONLY, ages 35-65, who are overweight (body mass index 25-40). You may be reimbursed up to $415 for your time and participation in research on how psychological stress boosts the unhealthy effects of fast foods in ways that could promote obesity and heart disease."

Fat men rejoice. No one cares if you eat home made cookies and pie, lasagna and spaghetti, steak and potatoes, when you're under stress. And if you've already participated in the Yoga and breast cancer study, then don't sign up for this.

Ritalin for the elderly

Today I was going to blog about the use of Ritalin (methylphenidate) for children who are ADHD or ADD. It is one of the most frequently prescribed medications since it gained FDA approval in the 1980s, working as a stimulant to improve the symptoms of poor concentration, hyperactivity, and impulsiveness. I'm agin it, as you might suspect. However, as I was reading its affects on the body, I wondered if it had been used with older people. And yes, says one of my favorite science writers, Tara Parker Pope, at the Well Blog of the NYT. There are small studies that show it improves balance and walking in the elderly, and possibly cognitive ability. Also has been used in depression studies.

"Fundamental change"

That is getting to be a really ugly phrase from government officials. And it isn't just our president; it was building long before he set his cap for becoming the most powerful man on the plant. I saw it today in a JAMA editorial, "Extra calories cause weight gain--but how much?" The up side is, no one knows. The down side is, the government will take action anyway.

There's a lot of interesting detail in this editorial. For instance, in the 1970s women age 20-29 had a mean body mass of 23; 30 years later the same group had a BMI of 29, representing a weight gain of 35 lbs (16 kg). I've been to a lot of class reunions over the years, and I'd say that's shy 10 lbs or so.

Also, did you know that in theory if you ate just one more chocolate chip cookie each day, you'd gain hundreds of pounds in your life time? But you don't. Why? Because after you reach a certain weight, it takes a lot of those cookie calories just to maintain your weight gain. The same principle applies to weight loss through calories restriction and increased exercise. That same body will attempt to conserve energy, and after you reach your goal and go back to eating normally, you gain weight rapidly.

[Pause here to wipe off my fingers--I'm eating chips.]

So the conclusion after weighing all the evidence is,

"An effective public health approach to obesity prevention will require fundamental changes in the food supply and the social infrastructure. Changes of this nature depend on more stringent regulation of the food industry, agricultural policy informed by public health, and investments by government in the social environment to promote physical activity."

Last night for dinner I had one skinless chicken thigh, baked, beans and rice, fresh strawberries -- and two donut holes. I'd had my other fruits and veggies earlier in the day. Just let the government come knocking at my door for those donut holes.

Missing Mom

January 24, 2000

A blog about prisons

I've been in a number of prisons, not as a prisoner, but as a visitor primarily following the same guy through the system until after seven years or so he was "shock parolled" after his 5th wife was murdered by her boyfriend leaving a baby to raise. I guess the parole board thought he was the guy to do it. The reason he had a baby was that he had escaped in the prison garbage truck and they left town together.

Yesterday the Conestoga group met at the Ohio Historical Society (now open only on Saturdays due to budget cuts by the state) to hear David Meyers talk about the local music scene. Wonderful presentation with great photos. David has over 4,000 pages of manuscript on this topic and a huge rare record collection--that's sort of what a fascination with local history can do. But he has also written about Ohio's prisons, and his latest book is out. While checking that web page I came across his blog, Central Ohio's Historic Prisons. Because of Dave's encyclopedic interests in music, records, film, prisons, local history (he also worked on Columbus Unforgettables series now out of print), screen writing, religion and family, he somehow manages to merge all of them in his blog--with photos. See the record labels about the great Ohio Penitentiary fire, April 21, 1930! And did you know the Professor of psychology at OSU who coined the term "moron" was once the coach of the USC Trojans? It's all on Dave's blog. Ah, a blogger after my own heart.

He's also on Facebook, and a member of UALC for you locals.

Should you forward a chain letter?

I don't. But you have to decide. Some I check out and if they prove to be true, and I think the message is reasonable, factual and important for people who stop by here, I will post excerpts or direct to it. A recent one was "Luteran Airlines" which I posted (after checking) on my faith blog. It was hysterical. One of the reasons I fact check is that although there may be parts of it that are true, someone along the links in the chain has modified, twisted or glamorized it. I didn't see most of the hate-Bush chains because people I know either didn't believe them or didn't receive them, but I've certainly come across them on the internet. Obama's "I will fundamentally change the country" theme and his blatant narcissism making him the butt of so many jokes have certainly caused an increase in these letters. People are angry, hurt and outraged, and I don't blame them. But there's no need to lie or twist the truth--his lack of transparency, his lies and his colleagues are sufficient. Please, stop with the chain letters.

Here's a web site useful for Christians who either do or don't forward chain letters. Very interesting. Christians who break all chain letters But you decide. Read the right hand column.

"But it's real, I checked." "It isn't animation or photoshop." "It's a real person in that video."

That doesn't matter. It's still a chain letter because it's viral and it's circulating like wild fire. If you got it once, you'll probably get it again from someone else.

"But I don't really believe all the chain curse stuff, I just liked the joke/poem/sayings etc."

That is what's called the 'hook' and it is the big manipulation. Give you a tasty carrot so you'll pass it along with the stick as well. It's still a chain letter, it's still viral, and you won't be the first or last person who was impressed enough by the joke or poem or whatever to pass it along, with the curse crap still attached. Whether you believe the curse stuff or not, passing it along, posting it without thoroughly trashing it makes you appear to believe it, and you don't want to look like a gullible schmuck, so just don't promote/spread it.

The D Word

Carlos Alcala who writes for McClatchy had an article in today's Dispatch about the reluctance to use the D (death, dying) word. My goodness, I wrote about that thirteen years ago. I even wrote a poem about it because I like to write about words, fudge phrases, jargon, new words, vocabulary and euphemisms. My concern is not the euphemisms, but that now more and more people don't even get a verb!

Today in the obituaries

Dying for a Verb
By Norma Bruce
September 28, 1997

Emmy Lou departed this world;
Frank entered his eternal rest;
Polly is at home with the Lord.

Ray’s gone to his home in glory;
Ted is asleep with the angels;
Ann Louise simply crossed over.

And I am left to wonder why
They sent him off without a verb--
“Ralph David, May 15, at home.”

When my earth's book is overdue,
Please open heaven’s library;
Let me live in God’s promises.

When finally I fold this tent,
Lease me a heavenly mansion
Renewable eternally.

When I slip out of the saddle,
Boost me up high to ride bareback
On a steed into the stronghold.

When the last crumbs have been swept up,
Seat me at the banquet table
To listen with the disciples.

When the final ticket’s been bought,
Give me the best seat in the house
To hear the angels’ choir sing.

When I’ve gathered up the harvest,
Fill my buckets, silos and bins
To overflowing with God’s love.

When the bow breaks in the treetops,
Bear me up on wings of eagles
Never faint, tired or weary.

Pine box, urn, or fancy casket,
Paragraph, note or just a line;
Don’t send me off without a verb!

Buppie, Who me?

This morning there was an e-market mail for me, "Buppies who are looking for love, romance or just friendship now have a unique resource that can help them discover their future soul mate." That gave me a chuckle--I'm a WURL--White Urban Retired Librarian not a Black Urban Professional. This appeal was only slightly less on target than "You have a mega-fortune waiting from a long lost relative (in Nigeria, Uganda, UK) if you just send me some cash."

But I did go on-line and found out there is a BET web series called Buppies that has had all sorts of problems getting off the ground, but apparently is now up and running starring (and partially financed by) Tatiana Ali of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air fame (which I only saw on reruns). She plays the role of Quinci. Just glancing through the plot lines, it sounds a bit like Sex and the City meets Friends, but I never watched either one, so that's a wild guess.

After losing her father and being dumped by her fiancé, Quinci, the socialite daughter of a Hollywood celebrity, realizes that her friends are her only real family left. This provocative and ironic series chronicles the relationship dramas of Quinci's dysfunctional but virtually inseparable friends as they navigate the perks and pratfalls faced by LA's young black power elite.

From there I wandered into Steve Harvey and an award show. Didn't know he had a clothing line. Looks like hats are indeed coming back.

Eating out--we're creatures of habit

It's price. It's taste and freshness (i.e., the menu). It's relationships. It's wait time. So we usually go to the Rusty Bucket on Friday night, about 5 p.m. and meet Joyce and Bill or Wes and Sue or Jack and Sue (a different Sue, of course) or Joan and Jerry or the Visual Arts Ministry from UALC. It's a sports bar and neighborhood hang out--not far from Ohio State with a bazillion TVs and a noisy bar area (we don't sit on that side so we can talk). I also usually stop at Panera's in the morning. I used to visit 3 different coffee spots, but then they made a slight change in their coffee, and it became worth going back on a regular basis, plus there is a fire place, good music, and again, the relationships you build over time. The morning staff. The exterminator. The retiree who's taking care of his invalid wife. The high school students. The Christian author. The friend you met in a Bible study in 1973. The chef/publisher you meet quite by accident who now owns your former home of 34 years.

Panera's is a lovely place for lunch or breakfast meetings, but somehow, a Friday night date? Hmmm. Not so much. Just not the right ambiance. But I did do a little price comparison this morning, since I'm big on price. Panera's has a yummy new sandwich--"Mediterranean salmon salad" with chilled salmon, field greens and romaine, Kalamata olives, red onions, feta cheese, mandarin oranges and sliced almonds for $8.95. Laying down a few pieces of chicken or fish on a bed of lettuce with a little fruit and nuts seems to be all the rage today, and Rusty Bucket has something similar--"Blackened salmon salad" with baby spinach, iceberg and romaine lettuce, fresh strawberries, candied pecans, red onion slices, and blue cheese crumbles for $9.95. Very little difference in price, although you'd need to tip at the Bucket for them serving you at the table. At 5 p.m. there's no wait at the Bucket, but at 6 you might wait 20-30 minutes. At Panera's you might wait to order, and then wait for your name to be called as they prepare it. So for a dollar or two, I think we'll stick with our regular date night spot for 5 p.m. on Friday, and continue paying ridiculous prices to drink coffee away from home at 6 a.m.

Either one of these salads probably has 480-550 calories, depending on what you do with dressing, but last night I had the Philly Cheese sandwich with fries and sour cream dip, which is probably about 2,000 calories and a week's worth of sodium.

It only took me a month

There have been many assessments of Obama's first year--the left claiming his victories, and the right claiming his failures, or even victories if like me they thought the downward spiral was intentional. But at the end of February 2009, I provided a first month evaluation. If he'd been like other state and federal employees, he wouldn't have made it beyond the probation period. I was 100% on target.

I think the federal government--whether Bush with the Democratic Congress or Obama with the Democratic congress--needed to back off in 2008 and 2009 and let those companies in debt, banks and insurance companies included, struggle and die or merge and be bought out. President Bush failed his party and became President Hoover overnight--but he really stopped governing in October and turned everything over to Treasury and the incoming Obama administration. Hoover had 3 years of throwing money at the problem 1929-1932, Bush didn't. Then FDR continued socializing industries and the courts for another 12 years, until WWII pulled us out of it. Hoover is blamed and Roosevelt acclaimed. Baffles me. Allowing the economy to come back on its own is what happened in 1999-2000 during the last bear market. Jump starting it with tax cuts for tax payers, not tax takers, is what got it going again after 9/11.

Obama and the banks

When the clutch/herd/murder/band/covey/swarm of advisers around Obama saw the stock market rally Monday at even the hint that Scott Brown might win, they squashed it on Wednesday with Obama's announcement of more bank regulation. I never had an economics course, but I was listening to Michele Bachmann, the lone voice of sanity in Minnesota (and the next legislator I'll support), yesterday who says Pelosi has painted a bulls eye on her forehead. Let me paraphrase until I can look her up. "Just get out of the way--no more new regulations or taxes and reduce what we already have. The economy will start to turn around in a quarter." Obama's move was a real smack down for any even considering saving the economy, a pay back for Tuesday's vote. I think he was responding to Brown's clear message, "Brown ran on a very specific, very clear agenda. Stop health care. Don't Mirandize terrorists. Don't raise taxes; cut them. And no more secret backroom deals with special interests." Krauthammer link.

But how was this portrayed by WaPo, which continues to carry his water even after all the disastrous moves (I won't call them mistakes, because I think they were intentional) with the economy, national security, and the environment of his first year. Here's what showed up in my e-mail--"The populist brushfire that has burned through Democratic fortunes this week threatened Friday to claim Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, imperiling his nomination for a second term and sending an unsettled stock market tumbling for the third straight day." Not a peep that the stock market tumble was as a direct result of Obama's announcement. Nope--just those stupid independent voters, those misinformed racist chicken littles out there running around like their heads were cut off. Why did this hurt the economy when unemployment is over 10%--and much higher here in Ohio?

"Daniel Ariens, whose company manufactures and markets snowblowers and lawnmowers, works closely with two regional banks in Chicago. If you want to stimulate the economy, he says, you can't keep "beating down on people who finance the infrastructure of this economy."

Todd Teske, CEO of Briggs & Stratton Corp., is concerned about who will pay for more regulation. "I've heard this has the potential for driving up costs for the banks," he said. "To the extent those costs are passed on to their customer base, that becomes problematic."

"Uncertainty over financial regulatory authority and what it means to the largest financial providers to the economy is not good," Keith Sherin, chief financial officer of General Electric Co., said Friday. GE is challenging some proposals in Washington that could change how its bruised finance arm, GE Capital, is structured, regulated or taxed. A recently proposed Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee could cost GE Capital $500 million, after taxes, for a full year." WSJ Link

Could the problem be that no one in the Obama administration has ever worked for any sector other than the government which only sees higher taxes and more regulations as the way to recovery and/or growth? Think about it. Gov. Granholm of Michigan is one of his economic advisers.

Friday family photo--Kirby

I was tracking back through some visitors to my blog that had stopped at my story about my cousin Kirby Johnson and his time with The Lincolns, a group of friends from the University of Illinois which later changed their name to the Wellingtons, and found this photo (p. 75 of Mouse Tracks in case this shows differently on your page).

Living cheap in New York

This one surprised me. Not that a 22 year old could live on less than $30,000 in NYC, but that she could also save $5,000, contribute to a retirement fund, and travel to Europe. Read about cheapskate's daughter at "Down but not out in Brooklyn." The keys?

Shared a nice apartment ($3,100 a month) and took the smallest room.

Used a subway card.

Ate inexpensive but healthy meals--beans and rice, whole grains, fresh vegetables, lentils, joined a food co-op. Ate at cheap restaurants.

Had no college debt to pay off.

Enjoyed the many free things to do in New York.

Faith Lutheran Church, Forreston, Illinois

Our family members were "visitors" here for five years--we participated in everything. Bible school, junior and senior choirs, Sunday School, confirmation classes, lots of church dinners, special dramatic events--we did it all. In the past 50 or so years I've been back several times. Still a warm, loving, welcoming congregation. This video is in honor of their 150th anniversary last fall.