Maybe it's the government health care?

Isn't this odd. Those who are the most dependent on government health care seem to have the poorest results--and we're talking access and quality here, not the end result of poverty or poor education.

Health Care Quality and Access Are Suboptimal, Especially for Minority and Low-Income Groups

"National Healthcare Quality Report and National Healthcare Disparities Report released by AHRQ. The reports, which are mandated by Congress, show trends by measuring health care quality for the nation using a group of credible core measures. The data are based on more than 200 health care measures categorized in several areas of quality: effectiveness, patient safety, timeliness, patient-centeredness, care coordination, efficiency, health system infrastructure, and access. Few disparities in quality of care are getting smaller, and almost no disparities in access to care are getting smaller, according to the report. Overall, blacks, American Indians and Alaska Natives received worse care than whites for about 40 percent of core measures."

In 2003, a key finding was "Inequality in quality persists;" in 2008 it was "Disparities persist in health care quality."

2010 National Healthcare Disparities and Quality Reports

Even with all the nannying and nagging about healthy lifestyles (imagine the billions spent on this), there's been almost no change: "Healthy lifestyles: The NHQR and NHDR track five measures related to obesity, diet, and exercise; four measures related to nicotine and other substance addictions; and four measures related to transportation safety for children. Across these measures, most showed no improvement. Median rate of improvement was 0.9% per year. Most disparities did not change, but the Hispanic-non-Hispanic White and poor-high income gaps in counseling about smoking cessation narrowed." Sooo, you can close the gap on counseling, but it doesn't do any good? Is that what the research says? Cha-ching.

Will the run and hide liberals head for home now?

The Republicans of Wisconsin stripped the bill of funding language so that they didn't need a quorum and it passed. The Democrat fraidy cats disgraced their office and districts, so we'll see if the fourteen senators will return to Wisconsin from their hideouts and litter boxes. Oh yes, and Michael Moore wants the kids to stay home from school. Well, why not. The teachers are probably too tired to teach after weeks of hooting and yelling. Give the kiddoes some vacation, too.

Wisconsin Assembly Passes Walker's Anti-Union Bill | TPMDC

Mychal Massie debates absent liberals--Sharpton, Fauntroy and Morial

". . . before throwing more stones at the tea party for reported incivility — tea party critics should take a look at organized labor’s rallies in places such as Madison, Wisconsin and Columbus, Ohio and how protesters there are behaving in ways oftentimes worse than alleged about tea partiers."



Addressing Mr. Morial: “Why is it when you speak of bamboozled, at the end of the Civil Rights era — which I and others argue was 1964 — when over 80 percent of black homes were two parent households, 40 percent were business owners. Today we have uncontrolled abortion, uncontrolled crime, uncontrolled drop outs, no marketable education skills, no marketable employment skills, no marketable linguistic skills, no marketable social skills. Who’s been bamboozled? Who’s been conned?”

Read more

I predict

School bond issues, and probably library too (there were librarians carrying signs), are going to be dropping like flies based on the crass, rude, unpatriotic, and self-obsessed behavior of teachers, the general public, who are paid much less, are watching every night on TV.

Also, I'd be really surprised if NPR and public TV are going to be able to make their fund raising quotas after showing the world what a bunch of racist snobs their executives are and how they look down on anyone not like them. They don't need the government money, but they probably do need a few people to send in money to support Car Talk and Suze Orman.

Will Betsy Liley be the next to go?

New video released Thursday afternoon indicates National Public Radio intended to accept a $5 million donation from fictitious Muslim Brotherhood front group Muslim Education Action Center (MEAC) Trust – and that the publicly funded radio network might have helped MEAC make the donation anonymously to protect it from a federal government audit. . .
Liley said she and NPR have taken millions of dollars in donations anonymously before.

“We also got an $8 million gift,” Liley said. “I don’t know if you remember this; about two years ago a number of institutions, higher ed institutions, all with women as presidents, got donations that ranged from $5 million to $12 million. They were never identified who the gifts were from, but they totaled about $80 million dollars.”

Hmmm. That should make interesting research for a women's studies paper.

Read more at Daily Caller with video

In another video as she attempts to explain coverage of climate change to a donor who doesn't want the other side of the story, she gets off on the birthers and says NPR doesn't cover their point of view after stating 51% of Americans believe he wasn't born in the United States. So, does NPR cover the news, or decide what is news? For money. Not many people like Gaddafi, but NPR covers him, don't they?

Do little girls need a spa/salon?

Usually I applaud ingenuity in finding a niche business. But a beauty spa for little girls age 1-17 years old? Nah.

I picked up a free-circ magazine/newspaper at the library this week called Columbus Parent. I think I may have the first issue in my premiere issue collection, but since I'm waiting for the paint on the shelves to cure, the magazines are a bit difficult to look at. I was going to compare the ads.

So I checked the web link--didn't work, but found it on Facebook--located in Grove City, Ohio. The note said they were cuting back due to health reasons.

"We are a full service salon and spa serving girls 1-17 yrs old! Hair Cuts, Manicures & Pedicures, Make-overs, Birthday Parties! We will schedule appointments up till 9 pm on Friday and Saturdays. Sunday is for parties and large groups." I guess inviting a few friends over for cake and ice cream and party games is too retro these days.

Just what and how is a make-over for a 3 year old, I wonder? She's practically brand new!

ALA Joins CAIR to Oppose Radicalization Hearings Sponsored by Congressman Pete King

The American Library Association [ALA] has joined with the Council On American-Islamic Relations [CAIR] to oppose Congressman Pete King's congressional hearings to "show [the] extent of radicalization in [the] Muslim American community."

Do the hearings have anything to do with libraries? Exactly why is the ALA joining CAIR in this effort?

SafeLibraries: ALA Joins CAIR to Oppose Radicalization Hearings Sponsored by Congressman Pete King

Let's aim for the border--Canada

Canada is 6th in the world in economic freedom, and the United States is 9th. Baby steps. There's a lot that could be done to restore our economic freedom.

Country rankings for trade, business, fiscal, monetary, financial, labor and investment freedoms

"The United States’ economic freedom score is 77.8, making its economy the 9th freest in the 2011 Index. Its score is 0.2 point lower than last year, reflecting deteriorating business freedom, trade freedom, government spending, and monetary freedom. The U.S. is ranked 2nd out of three countries in the North America region, and its overall score is well above the world and regional averages.

The U.S. economy faces enormous challenges. The government’s recent spending spree has led to fragile business confidence and crushing public debt. Interventionist responses to the economic slowdown have eroded economic freedom and long-term competitiveness. Drastic legislative changes in health care and financial regulations have retarded job creation and injected substantial uncertainty into business investment planning."

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

"Canada’s economic freedom score is 80.8, making its economy the 6th freest in the 2011 Index. Its overall score is 0.4 point higher than last year, reflecting gains in fiscal and monetary freedom. Canada is ranked 1st out of three countries in the North America region.

The Canadian economy continues to sharpen its long-term competitiveness. Scoring high in many of the 10 economic freedoms, Canada performs particularly well in business freedom, financial freedom, property rights, and freedom from corruption. Straightforward regulations and the competitive tax regime facilitate entrepreneurial activity and lure dynamic investment. The corporate tax rate is scheduled to decline further to 15 percent in 2012."

Lower Costs and Better Care for Neediest Patients

The author, Atul Gawande, gets an A in writing/journalism and an F in economics/politics (Obamacare) and an F in racial profiling for referring to a Sri Lankan as having "cute rabbit teeth, but it's an excellent article about innovation and research. Jeffrey Brenner is an innovator--he knows how to lower medical costs by looking at the big picture. By analyzing block by block the hospital visits of Camden's residents "He found that between January of 2002 and June of 2008 some nine hundred people in the two buildings accounted for more than four thousand hospital visits and about two hundred million dollars in health-care bills. One patient had three hundred and twenty-four admissions in five years. The most expensive patient cost insurers $3.5 million. . . His calculations revealed that just one per cent of the hundred thousand people who made use of Camden’s medical facilities accounted for thirty per cent of its costs."Lower Costs and Better Care for Neediest Patients : The New Yorker
(If I'm not mistaken, there are similar studies on crime families and city maps.) I'm not sure I'd call Brenner's program "revolutionary," except in the sense it's how most healthy people live as a matter of routine--don't smoke, don't drink to excess, don't use drugs, aren't 300 pounds overweight; we know how to cook, take medication; we have stable relationships, we attend church, we socialize; in short, we're smart enough to take care of ourselves.

When offered a free clinic in their building which included a social worker assisting them with things most of us (reading this blog) know how to do, resulted in some worry and objections. . ."This doctor’s office, people were slowly realizing, would be involved in their lives—a medical professional would be after them about their smoking, drinking, diet, medications. That was O.K. if the person were Dr. Brenner. They knew him. They believed that he cared about them. Acceptance, however, would clearly depend upon execution; it wasn’t guaranteed. There was similar ambivalence in the neighborhoods that Compstat strategists targeted for additional—and potentially intrusive—policing."

Yes, how do you get people to give up personal freedom and bad habits in exchange for good health?

States in budget crisis--WaPo catches on

Better late than never--Washington Post finally realizes that union pensions are unsustainable. Whether it realizes these protests are about union survivals and not teachers' wages and benefits isn't clear, but at least they seem to realize they need to report SOMETHING!

Alaska, Arkansas and North Dakota are the only states without a budget shortfall. Illinois seems to be in the worst shape, at least in percentage. Now what was that again about the crazy Sarah Palin?

States in budget crisis | The Washington Post

Food sold in recycled cardboard--one more thing to watch for?

"Researchers found toxic chemicals from recycled newspapers had contaminated food sold in many cardboard cartons. The chemicals, known as mineral oils, come from printing inks."

BBC News - Food sold in recycled cardboard packaging 'poses risk'

NPR's Schiller caught in a sting--slams the Tea Party

Poor NPR. They just can't catch a break these days. I think they'd be much better off defunded by the government, then they could say what they please about the Tea Party, about race quotas, about Republicans, well, about anything. So, has NPR seen the "heavily edited tape," or are the executives taking Schiller's word for it? Has Ron Schiller ever been in the same room with a conservative, let alone heard them say all the awful things he spouts?

The NPR Vice President for Fund Raising (not sure of actual title) Ron Schiller told two men he thought were from a group like the Muslim Brotherhood some pretty nasty things about the Tea Party, which as we know, isn't really a party at all, but a grass roots movement of millions, unlike the Obama-Pelosi astroturf of unions and chains. Why he was getting so chummy with a group that wants to bring the world Sharia Law (he would definitely not be working under them), and even chuckled at their jokes, is beyond me. And as for "fundamental Christian," what would he call the group he thought he was talking to or the run of the mill environmentalist who worships the earth and wants us to return to the 7th century with the Muslims? Where are the videos of the "race baiting" Tea Partier carrying signs anywhere near as horrifying as what we've seen recently at the pro-union, pro-one world government demonstrations in Madison and Columbus?

— "The Tea Party is fanatically involved in people's personal lives and very fundamental Christian — I wouldn't even call it Christian. It's this weird evangelical kind of move."

— "Tea Party people" aren't "just Islamaphobic, but really xenophobic, I mean basically they are, they believe in sort of white, middle-America gun-toting. I mean, it's scary. They're seriously racist, racist people."

— "I think what we all believe is if we don't have Muslim voices in our schools, on the air ... it's the same thing we faced as a nation when we didn't have female voices." In the heavily edited tape, that comment followed Schiller being told by one of the men that their organization "was originally founded by a few members of the Muslim Brotherhood in America." There's no sign in the edited tape that Schiller reacted in any way after being told of the group's alleged connection to an Islamic group that appeared to be connected with Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood.

— That NPR "would be better off in the long run without federal funding," a position in direct conflict with the organization's official position.

Schiller is also heard laughing when one of the men jokes that NPR should be known as "National Palestinian Radio

In Video: NPR Exec Slams Tea Party, Questions Need For Federal Funds : The Two-Way : NPR

Mr. Schiller, who has a partner Alan Fletcher, is not married to or related to Vivian Schiller, who made a mess of the Juan Williams firing. His track record for fund raising brought him to NPR from University of Chicago.

Unedited version

The oil crisis--it's been going around

When the gas prices go up, the "Garfield" cartoon linked to the oil crisis comes around--oldest I found was early 2008. Remember, President Bush gave us an unsuccessful stimulus to try to goose the economy and it didn't work any better than Obama's. But anyway. . . without using a copyright cartoon of Garfield, here it is:

A lot of folks can't understand how we came to have an oil shortage here in our country.
~~~
Well, there's a very simple answer.
~~~
Nobody bothered to check the oil.
~~~
We just didn't know we were getting low.
~~~
The reason for that is purely geographical.
Our OIL is located in:
~~~
ALASKA
~~~
California
~~~
Coastal Florida
~~~
Coastal Louisiana
~~~
Kansas
~~~
Oklahoma
~~~
Pennsylvania and Texas
~~~
Our DIPSTICKS are located in Washington, DC !!!!


HT Murray

To the victor belongs the archives

As a Protestant (first an Anabaptist, then United Church of Christ, and currently Lutheran) I've had a pretty narrow view of history. In 2009 when our Lutheran church group travelled to the Holy Land we went with a group from the Greek Orthodox Church in Columbus, and that truly was my first association with this very important Christian heritage. All Christians share the early documents of the church and the ecumenical councils and the creeds. But the Protestant Reformation is strongly rooted in Rome, not Constantinople.

Today I watched the first 2 installments of The History of Orthodox Christianity. It's written, produced and distributed by GOTelecom (Greek Orthodox Telecommunications, Inc). Recently I've been listening regularly to St. Gabriel's Radio (WVKO in Columbus, OH) which carries a lot of EWTN syndicated shows like Mornings with Mother and The Father Corapi show, and I've learned a lot, been reinforced in many faith issues, and disagree a lot--just changing channels when they get to worship of Mary or purgatory. But to follow that up with the Greek Orthodox point of view on "tradition and history" of the church is quite amazing.

Also, the spread of Islam in the early church years and the lack of cohension and even human kindness between the eastern and western Christian church were appalling. It's sort of the difference between what the hen and the pig contribute to "ham and eggs." Also, the difference in the art to help tell the story is a real culture shock.

OrthodoxWiki
Orthdox Church in America

The Buckeye Union Lesson

Oh the screaming, yelling and angst at our state house. But tell me, do you know one union official who isn't a Democrat, Socialist or Communist? Public unions exist to keep one party in power, and work for one world government, and not for the good of the professions they claim to represent, the taxpayers, and certainly not the children of Ohio.

"The bill gives Ohio and its cities and counties new tools to manage the costs of some 360,000 state and local workers. They will earn pay increases on the basis of performance, rather than the automatic seniority and length-of-service increases that now apply beyond the annual increases negotiated by unions. It also allows collective bargaining for wages up to inflation, but not for benefits or pensions. Far from a "right" divinely etched into stone, Ohio only allowed government collective bargaining in 1983.

Workers will need to pay 20% of their health benefits, below the Ohio average of 23% in the private economy but above the 9% that now prevails in government. Mr. Kasich's budgeteers estimate that the bill would have saved Ohio at least $216 million in 2010 and some $1.1 billion for local governments, where most of the state's collective bargaining contracts are negotiated. Beyond the numbers, other details include prohibiting public employees from striking and giving local government more flexibility in contract disputes by revising a rigid binding arbitration process."

The Wall Street Journal: The Buckeye Union Lesson - WSJ.com

Today in History--Patsy Cline died--one of my favorites

March 5, 1963, Patsy Cline died in a plane crash.

The Disposable Woman - NYTimes

Charlie Sheen's TV show and behavior for the public in "real time" aren't the only things going on in our culture that say women are disposable. How about gay marriage, surrogate pregnancies, gay adoption of children, the disappearance of women from substantial roles in film after about age 40 when they are no longer sex kittens and too young to play grandma roles, and can we please get some women in the lighting design field? I'm so sick of buried can lights, lights that shimmer and quiver because they are "environmentally sustainable" and ugly lamps. Also, to look at the lack of women in the leadership of many businesses that need to grow from inspired entrepreneurship, I suspect the government is pushing them all into "public service." Unfortunately, there are female, morally bankrupt, addle-brained, implanted and botoxed counterparts of Charlie Sheen, but because they are more disposable, they don't last as long.

The Disposable Woman - NYTimes.com

To say nothing of the women so stupid they actually spend time with this abuser--or watch his show.

"Our inertia is not for lack of evidence. In 1990, he accidentally shot his fiancée at the time, the actress Kelly Preston, in the arm. (The engagement ended soon after.) In 1994 he was sued by a college student who alleged that he struck her in the head after she declined to have sex with him. (The case was settled out of court.) Two years later, a sex film actress, Brittany Ashland, said she had been thrown to the floor of Mr. Sheen’s Los Angeles house during a fight. (He pleaded no contest and paid a fine.)"

R&B and Rap entertainers running for cover of charities

Of course, we'll never know if the money really goes to charity--because who tracks that? Entertainers and politicians have a very low charitable donation rate, preferring that the government take care of those things on their behalf with other people's money. Even CNN caught on to the hypocrisy. Why would their agents even book them for these venues--never mind, I know, because they get a percentage of the huge fee. Do you suppose they'll cough up their percentage?



#more-6225

Poet from the past on my aunt's refrigerator, Arthur Frederic Otis

My cousin Dianne copied some of the clippings from her mother's refrigerator for us to enjoy. Her funeral was two weeks ago yesterday. Pastor Ginny of the Church of the Brethren had used some of her clippings in her eulogy. My husband said, probably thinking of our own top drawer, that he really enjoyed "The top kitchen drawer" by Arthur Frederic Otis. Just because (I'm a librarian), I checked this author in Google. I didn't find a lot, but more than what most people have. He was born in 1895 and died in 1984--a very long life for someone of his generation--almost 90. As near as I can tell his publishing life began rather late--the first thing I could find was from the mid-1940s, and he had a number of poems, verses, and short fiction published in the Saturday Evening Post, and The Rotarian, and I even found a few songs.

But sadly, the first thing I found was a death notice for his son, Arthur Frederic Otis, Jr. in an Illinois veterans' database: "Otis, Arthur Frederic Jr., Pfc., USMCR - Son of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur F. Otis Sr., 600 Riford Rd., Glen Ellyn." In 1945, Arthur Sr. published (apparently privately) a book titled, "Forever nineteen." Searching a little deeper, I found this title listed with other books about WWII battle of Okinawa, where young, very young, Arthur was killed in action, June 20, 1945. How the family (I found 2 sisters in a historical society obituary notice) must have grieved, and I wonder if this publication, written when he was 50, started his writing career. Arthur Otis was also in the University of Illinois alumni database, but I don't know what his professional life was. In November 1948 he filed for copyright for a book of poetry, Dancing Shadows, 128 pages. However, I think his best creative act was the smiles of his readers, like Aunt Muriel, with his light verse about ordinary things like cluttered drawers, flat tires, and the things of everyday, mundane life.

Aunt Muriel (94) with her newest great grandson (7 weeks) a few days before she died. And if Aunt Muriel were alive, she would have loved this story!

Adult Stem Cell Research Avoids Ethical Concerns | Science and Technology | English

The latest issue of "Healthy Pet" (Winter 2010) has an article about adult stem cell therapy helping pets with arthritis, hip problems, ligament injuries, etc., however, I can't find much recent research that there's much progress for people. I think adult stem therapy is being done on humans in other countries. Praise God for George Bush, who held the line on embryonic stem cell research, which pushed researchers to look for alternatives with adult stem cell lines.

Adult Stem Cell Research Avoids Ethical Concerns | Science and Technology | English

CARL

"Paul Kengor says that conservatives were reluctant to face up to the truth about Obama because they didn’t want to be accused of “McCarthyism” for raising the issue of his communist connections. The 600-page Kengor book [Dupes] includes the excerpts of the [Frank] Davis FBI files that others have shied away from. Kengor, a professor at Grove City College, is not afraid to tackle the terrible truth. We need more like him in academia.

The difference between calling Obama an anti-colonialist, a socialist, or a Marxist mentored by a top operative of the CPUSA is that one category should immediately earn you an FBI investigation. Former FBI agent Max Noel says the Bureau used to investigate candidates for federal employment by analyzing Character, Associates, Reputation, and Loyalty to the United States. The first letters in those words make up the acronym CARL.

Obama could not have been elected president if he had been subjected to the CARL test. Leaving Davis aside – and he was on the FBI’s “security index” — Obama’s relationship with communist terrorists Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn was enough to disqualify him for the presidency. Photos of the Weather Underground bomb factory they abandoned in San Francisco in 1971 reveal these Cuban-trained terrorists were working on anti-personnel weapons, including stabbing devices, and had C-4 plastic explosive."

Exposing Un-American Activities

Builders Exchange needs director of membership development

"The successful candidate should have a bachelor’s degree in marketing or a business-related field. A minimum of two years sales experience is preferred. Knowledge of commercial construction, association operations and general database skills are also preferred. The Builders Exchange offers a competitive base salary, commission and benefits."

Builders Exchange - BX weekly online newsletter

Does that look like racial discrimination to you--asking for a bachelor's degree in marketing? I heard that Seattle officials think so. It's called social justice to defeat institutional racism to not require a minority (black) to have the degree others (white) must have to qualify.

It's practically an admission that 50 years of special recruiting, workshops, summer programs, loans, grants, and non-discrimination laws haven't worked--at least not for black males, who since the late 1970s have been losing ground in the college area--to both black women and white men.

Interview with Pete Holmes on Fox (near the end).

Summer Internship for Native Americans in Genomics (SING)

When I saw this I wondered where they were going to find the Native Americans in Illinois, but I recall that Ohio State you only needed to be 1/32 of (any race) to be considered eligible for a minority placement. Also, do they expect these Native Americans to return to "the community" to practice genomics?

Summer Internship for Native Americans in Genomics (SING) | The Institute for Genomic Biology

Number of Words in the English Language: 1,008,879

In English conversation class today (at our church) someone asked how many words are there in English. I guessed 2 million--someone else said 4,000. I was a little off, but not as far as she was. 1,008,879. I think that's the most of any language, however, some like Finnish, can invent new words just by adding pieces parts (which we sort of do too). We borrow from many languages, and English is now global. Did you know there are over 50 words for sheep in English? You probably won't ever need to know them, but in New Zealand, you might.

The Global Language Monitor » Blog Archive » Number of Words in the English Language: 1,008,879

According to another source, about 200,000 words are in common use today. An educated person has a vocabulary of about 20,000 words and uses about 2,000 during a week's conversation.

A Union Education - WSJ.com

". . . unlike in the private economy, a public union has a natural monopoly over government services. An industrial union will fight for a greater share of corporate profits, but it also knows that a business must make profits or it will move or shut down. The union chief for teachers, transit workers or firemen knows that the city is not going to close the schools, buses or firehouses.

This monopoly power, in turn, gives public unions inordinate sway over elected officials. The money they collect from member dues helps to elect politicians who are then supposed to represent the taxpayers during the next round of collective bargaining. In effect union representatives sit on both sides of the bargaining table, with no one sitting in for taxpayers. In 2006 in New Jersey, this led to the preposterous episode in which Governor Jon Corzine addressed a Trenton rally of thousands of public workers and shouted, "We will fight for a fair contract." He was promising to fight himself."

A Union Education - WSJ.com

In Ohio, you can't get a teaching job if you don't join the union. You might be a libertarian or a Republican, but you'll be paying to elect Democrats.

I've read through many articles about what is expected of teachers today and some of the rigid rules that interfer with educating children. I also talk to teachers. It makes me wonder, what really does a union do for these people except offer them expensive insurance and legal help if they are fired?

Also, politicians don't set up some of these ridiculous standards in a vacuum. It's coming from professional organizations and academicians--all probably formerly teachers. I have no idea why a teacher's performance or that of her school should be judged on how well a child with an IQ of 85 and one who is a recent immigrant learn English. They are teachers, not miracle workers! Where is the union in defending them against the state or federal standards? Anyone know how many classroom teacher jobs were saved by ARRA one time money as compared to administrators' jobs? Where is the union? Anyone know who came up with the current ridiculous math teaching fads? Where is the union?

Michelle Obama gets a Republican boost on obesity

It's the hypocrisy of her campaign that conservatives resent. Who's tending the WH garden? Her staff. She's a nag. And Governor Huckabee is putting weight on again, which I think shows how difficult this is even with education, knowledge and a TV camera in your face.

AFP: Michelle Obama gets a Republican boost on obesity

Mengumpulkan Pikiran Saya

Someone translated my Morgenthau article into Indonesian (I think): Mengumpulkan Pikiran Saya. I'm about to roll over to 405,000 visitors.

Brenda Leigh--you should be ashamed of yourself for misleading young women

We've borrowed and returned 2 seasons of "The Closer" from the library, and checked out seasons 3 and 4. We've thoroughly enjoyed the excellent writing and acting of this TNT show, which ends after the seventh season this year. Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson (Kyra Sedgwick) would be such a beautiful role model for young women who want to be both authoritative, tough and a good manager, but yet feminine and tender too. She wears modest feminine attire, loves her kitty, and is usually emotionally exhausted when coming home from work.) Unfortunately, the writers gave her a live-in boyfriend as a subplot (they marry in later episodes) to help her solve crimes and a former married lover as her boss for tension and humor at work. I guess it would just be too much work to figure out how she could possibly be a fine, capable woman and be sexually chaste too. Since the crime and the team's dynamics are the center piece each episode, how hard could it be to make Brenda really smart?

Since young women (and even some old) have decided living with the guy is an OK opening for marriage and long term plans like having a family, the divorce rate has soared and the child poverty rate has gone out of sight, with only 8% of children from married households living in poverty and 56% with single moms living in poverty. How smart is that, Hollywood, to promote this? Don't you want people to continue buying your product?

Women could virtually wipe out poverty in a generation just by having higher standards for themselves and the men they love.

.

Newmont Mining Corporation

I see I've bought 50 shares of Newmont Mining Corporation (NEM), a gold producer, with significant assets or operations in the United States, Australia, Peru, Indonesia, Ghana, Canada, New Zealand and Mexico. Well, I hadn't planned to buy gold for my retirement portfolio, but apparently if you do, you'll be helping me.

Discovery & Development | Newmont Mining Corporation

SunChips' compostable bags get quieter

In a world of chaos and intractible problems, it's nice to know that sometimes there is a solution to . . . noisy snack bags.

SunChips' compostable bags get quieter | Drug Store News

Are they paid for recruiting for the government programs

I noticed this disclaimer on a private, non-governmental website encouraging people to sign up for government benefits. There are two ways (alluded to in the message) to make money doing this: 1) either the government reimburses them for the referrals, or 2) they resell the information collected from those who inquire.

"FamilyFinancialHelpUsa.net is not a government agency and is in no way affiliated with any government agency. This is not an application for Food Stamps, LIHEAP or HUD Public Housing. We are a private organization. We use the information you provide to connect you to the correct site to apply for food stamps, LIHEAP and HUD Public Housing in your state. Additionally we will give you the opportunity to participate in private offers that we believe may benefit you through email. We will also provide you with ways to get other free things that may interest and help your family after entering the site. You are not required to participate in these offers or buy anything to get access to your free financial aid and other free help for the family. Please support our sponsors who keep this site free."

Inspiring story by Jewish Ethiopian Immigrant to Israel

Hope and Change--it's not just a political slogan

Hope and Change is the message of the New Testament, and it was stolen by the Obama campaign because the clever marketing firm that ran the campaign knew the familiarity and the challenge of it have a comfortable, familiar ring, even if the candidate was preaching political concepts unacceptable to most Americans--concepts that have failed in every country they've been tried. "Hope and change" (the slogan) is also an underlying desire of youth--in my generation it was the 18-23 year old's mantra, but since adolescence has been lengthened since the mid-60s, so has young adulthood, and now it's the 20-30 year olds who yearn to make changes in the world and believe they are the generation to do it. Constant, unremitting change (they are fuzzy on this but it includes risk taking, hedonism/slackerism, entertainment and sports) is in fact their hope as they postpone marriage, family and career.

Paul lists seven questions in Romans 8.31-39

31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[k] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We have our only HOPE in Jesus Christ, and yes, because our lives will CHANGE, we CHANGE the world.

Do be fooled or misled by political slogans. Jesus didn't come to change political systems, or to be a humanist mystery called "peace and justice." He's not a member of any nation or political party. He's Lord and Savior of the universe, The Word of God, the Alpha and Omega, and he's Hope and Change.

In yesterday's sermon John Stolzenbach said he uses this passage from Romans at every funeral. Yes, it's truly amazing in listing changes and hope. "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Life here is full of changes--don't leave home without hope.

A New Newt - Gingrich Tries to Reconnect With America

I don't care what he converts to or how many films he makes about a pope, I certainly hope Republicans aren't fooled again by nominating an unelectable candidate. Maybe the current Mrs. Newt believes him, but I don't.

A New Newt - Gingrich Tries to Reconnect With America - NYTimes.com

FBI File: However bad you thought Ted Kennedy was, he was worse!

Mayrantandrave has an interesting story about this sad, old man when he was young, frisky, interviewing Communists, and renting a brothel.

FBI File: Ted Kennedy and the Santiago Brothel « Mayrant&rave

There's a reason my parents left the farm

Barbara Kingsolver, author of Animal, vegetable, miracle (HarperCollins, 2007) our March book selection for book club is an excellent writer. But I could do without the preachy lectures. I've known for years, and so have our churches and government, that there is more than enough food grown in the world for everyone to be not just nourished, but fat! Growing it isn't the problem--it's the political systems that control and distribute it that fail. That was well publicized 40-50 years ago. And our own USA government through the U.S. Department of Agriculture has some pretty misguided regulations and policies itself.

So, despite her interesting experiment as Tiger Mom of the homestead, our personal food choices really don't make much difference, except for our own health. If I were to choose to eat 24/7 at McDonald's it doesn't change a Haitian dictator's behavior. Today I was reading an article from a Lutheran magazine from 1991, 20 years ago, about Haiti, and I might as well have been reading today's newspaper. The American food industry and our personal food choices (the only part of this we do control) will not give the Somalians a viable representative government, nor stop the Chinese government's policy of one child. We could ban petroleum products and industries tomorrow, and it would not feed one starving African child or free one Thai child prostitute. This is the 21st version of "clean your plate there are starving children in China" which some of us heard as children.

Kingsolver says it was a family decision to take a food sabbatical, to eat deliberately, to shop the local food landscape of Southern Appalachians. My first thought was, "they grow wheat and oats in southern Appalachia? And why should she be able to freeze her rhubarb to eat in the winter, if I can't buy pay some one to grow and freeze it commercially to eat in the winter?

If you"put the kitchen back in the center of the American diet," you put women back in the kitchen too. They won't be medical researchers, or astronauts, or academicians, or retail clerks, or factory assembly line workers, or restaurant chefs, or plumbers, or accountants if they are spending 2 hours a day finding and delivering fresh, locally grown food, and another 2 hours preparing it--milling, grinding, setting aside to rise, peeling, stewing, sanitizing, preserving--and then maybe mulching or plowing or sowing or harvesting in the hours left. But that's what women did for thousands of years while the men went out and slaughtered animals for meat or each other to protect the fields and families at home. I'm only at about page 60, but not sure I have the time (a week) to devote to this.

I'd already decided to skip the parts by Steven L. Hopp, but at p. 54 I found "profit driven, mechanized food industry," and wondered if Mrs. Kingsolver had hand copied her manuscripts, bound them in calf leather from her farm and distributed them in pony driven carts for only a dozen or so people to read.

Why it's called the Massacre River

My husband is still hoping for a mission trip to Haiti this year--now probably postponed to April. The Massacre River separates Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Why the unusual name? In today's letter, Pam Mann, a missionary/teacher in Ouanaminthe from Upper Arlington Lutheran Church writes:

". . . Why the river's name was changed to Massacre. Before the arrival of Christopher Columbus, the indigenous Taino and Arawak people called the river Guatapana. However, in 1936, the centuries-old name was changed. Dominican Dictator Trujillo ordered the genocide of all blacks living in the DR who could not pronounce the Spanish verb, pereir, “to perish”. Spanish r's are tricky for Haitians as are English r's. In a few days time, an estimated 25,000 were slaughtered by machete, knives or bullets. Haitians fleeing to their homeland were tracked down and butchered by machetes when the bullets ran out. The waters of the Guatapana River ran red with Haitian blood and a horrified nation renamed it.

False claim of hurting the middle class

Stimulus money was used to pay off the public unions’ benefit packages in many states to balance the budget and kicked the problem down the road to Walker of Wisconsin and Kasich of Ohio and other Republicans who ran on this issue. There is no stimulus money left (can I say we told you so?) and states can't print money like Washington. So what do the unions do? They trot out that dog and pony show about hurting the middle class. Today's Columbus Dispatch says:

"Not only are the public-sector workers affected by Senate Bill 5 not representative of the majority of Ohio's middle class, but the comfortable wages, automatic raises, benefits, pensions, job protections, sick-day payouts and negotiating power enjoyed by many of these public-sector workers comes at the expense of the vast majority of Ohio's middle-class taxpayers. Most of these taxpayers have nothing remotely like these benefits nor the economic security that the public sector takes for granted and regards as a right."

Editorial: False claim | The Columbus Dispatch

Not only that, but we (not-in-the-unions) are your bosses, Mr. Fat Cat Union Boss! Let's get rid of public unions. All of them.

I recommend this blogger--May Rant and Rave

This one about Fancy Nancy revising her own commendation by the DNC is really good. You perhaps thought I was single focused and tough--hey--I'm a napping pussycat compared to Mayrant.

Why we call them union thugs

In your face, know your place in Wisconsin harassing Walker supporters.

HT May Rant and Rave

Is there Fast Food in Iraq?

MMWR report in JAMA

Of the resettled Iraqi refugees (San Diego) over 18, 24.6% were classified as obese, and 64.3% of those over 65 were hypertensive.

You'll need aerobic exercise to benefit your brain

In the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences study, "scientists started with 120 elderly volunteers who were relatively inactive but did not have dementia. Half were randomly assigned to begin walking 40 minutes a day, three days a week for a year while the remainder only stretched and performed toning exercises for the same time period. After 12 months, the group that walked showed an average 2% growth in the hippocampus compared with when they began, while the control groups suffered a more than 1% shrinkage in the same region compared with when the study started.

“If you estimate the change at an individual level,” says study co-author Arthur Kramer of the University of Illinois, “a yearlong exercise program can turn back the clock about two years with respect to the volume of the hippocampus.” "

"Exercise training increases size of hippocampus and improves memory, "
PNAS 2011 108 (7) 3017-3022; published ahead of print January 31, 2011

Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2011/01/31/want-to-improve-your-memory-take-a-walk/#ixzz1Euftky36

Expensive lunch, but interesting Christian missionaries

Today I attended a luncheon and information session sponsored by the Fellowship of Christian Faculty and Staff at the Faculty Club on the Ohio State campus. The topic was human trafficking, aka slavery. Yes, it's still a big business--bigger than the transatlantic slave trade of the 18th century . . . estimates run to 12.7 million people, and some figures are higher. It's very lucrative--humans can be resold many times. And about two million of them are children. 46% of "johns" (male customers) would knowingly buy sex from a minor according to a survey of perverts. That's why, I suppose, the Planned Parenthood abortion clinics don't report their underage clients--they're in on it, as undercover videos have shown.

The speakers were Joe Chongsiriwatana, a former software engineer, who will be representing ZOE International Ministries in Thailand. Joe and his wife Yumi met and married at Ohio State, recently lived in San Francisco raising their 3 children, and have been called by God to minister to children in Chiang Mai, Thailand, children either who have been sold into prostitution and have been picked up by the police and brought to the facility, or those about to be sold by their parents.

The other speaker was Connie Anderson, Director of Justice Ministries, for the Great Lakes area of Intervarsity. She talked about a few local programs and ministries for victims of prostitution and trafficking, like Price of Life, DOMA International and Gracehaven Shelter and CORRC. She commented that the problem is so huge you don't know where to start, so she suggested (with a slide of a snow covered mountain) that we kick a few rocks to start an avalanche.

IJM - Reality of Human Trafficking from International Justice Mission on Vimeo.

But what irritates me is what I had to pay for parking. $5 for a salad bar isn't excessive, but $6.00 for 2.5 hours of parking is. All the parking lots and garages on the OSU campus have changed in recent years--I can't even remember the last time I was there. When I got to the gate I saw the sign "no key cards until 4 p.m." and the price sign I saw was $2 for 3 hours, but that apparently was for evening. So it was an $11.00 salad.

No wonder "children" are insured to age 26

Poor things. Look how they dress!

Blogrolling is gone

I'd noticed my blogrolling lists windows had been blank for some time, so I went in to look at it and discovered the service no longer exists. It apparently became infected with malware and the owner decided to take it down. So I've deleted. It was a useful aggregator. I was on Over 50 Bloggers, State of Ohio Bloggers and Bear Flag League (California) bloggers. Unfortunately, I had removed the direct links to the bloggers I really liked. Unintended consequences to getting too techie.

Why should we believe him on other health and life issues?

During the 2008 campaign, Barack Obama consistently misrepresented his position on the "born alive" abortion issue. That he is strongly pro-choice was never an issue. He's in the bag with Democrats on that one. All of George Bush's protections for unborn life and embryonic stem cell research (my reason for changing my party affiliation in 2000) have pretty much been rolled back. But Obama was so far over the cliff on the born alive issue (a baby born alive is killed outside the womb), that even strong pro-choicers like Catholic Nancy Pelosi couldn't support that method. Then he lied about it. It was two and a half years ago, but as health care issues keep coming up, and he needs to clarify his position on everything from Muslim countries' riots to war in Afghanistan, to prisoners at Gitmo, to unions destroying state budgets, I have to ask, why should we believe anything he says?

One of these things is not like the others

Didn't Sesame Street have a song like that?

One of these things is not like the others,
One of these things just doesn't belong,
Can you tell which thing is not like the others
By the time I finish my song?

The CDC calls the following 5 items, "high-value prevention services" which can save 100,000 lives each year.

1. Smoking cessation assistance
   
2. colorectal cancer screening
   
3. breast cancer screening
   
4. annual influenza immunization
   
5. daily aspirin to prevent heart disease.

Three quarters of former smokers quit on their own. And I don't know anyone who successfully, permanently stopped smoking with a government sponsored workshop, phone call counseling, nasal spray or a drug patch. Do you? The studies only have a few months or a year follow-up, but somehow the drug companies have got that one included in many government programs.

But I have heard of other uses for the nicotine patch I might consider--like improving memory in older persons. Now that I could get into.

Only the aspirin and the immunization are actually preventative. Two of these are screening for what you already have or will have. Breast cancer screening can find a lump--but doesn't prevent it. Colonoscopies can spot trouble spots that will become cancer but aren't there yet.

Kline: Morrison thwarted his abortion clinic case

Because Phillip Kline is/was a Republican pro-life attorney general, I suspect he will be found guilty of ethics charges. This is a tangled case, but we do know 164 girls under the age of 15 (78 in one year) had abortions with Planned Parenthood owned clinics and Dr. Tiller, the Kansas Killer of the pre-born, clinics. Paul Morrison is the Democrat (link to 2005 story) who replaced Kline and the charges of child rape went away (near as I can tell). If you interpret this story and testimony differently, please comment. If you want to argue the merits of abortion or underage sex, don't bother. You'll be deleted if you try to put that trash on my blog.

Kline: Morrison thwarted his abortion clinic case | CJOnline.com

Doctors who wrote "passes for teachers skipping classes," will probably not see any charges. Ethics violations are sweet at the feet of the DNC and Obama's reelection committee.

More Civility by Obama minions

"On Feb. 13, just the other side of the news cycle, a post on "Organizing for America," the website for the president's campaign arm, urged progressives to protest a proposal from Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker to reform public-employee benefits and limit collective-bargaining rights. The message, from Organizing for America's regional director for Wisconsin, began this way: "We've got a fight on our hands and it's personal."

Stephen Hayes: So Much for a 'More Civil' Public Discourse - WSJ.com

Redecorating is not for the timid

Or the old. Actually, it isn't even redecorating. When the Miller Brothers (614-203-4997) were here in January 2002, we decided not to paint out the gray and black trim that worked rather nicely with the floor colors. We just had the orange dining room, the brown living room, and the red hall and family room painted, leaving some of the trim that was in good shape not repainted. But over time, and with the ceiling repair needing a fresh coat of paint, we decided to finish the paint job we started in 2002. Whew! That's a lot of trim! It included 10 doors, all cross and Bible, all but one both sides. Crown molding in the entry and in the stairwell, requiring a tall ladder, and a very large 5-shelf built in bookcase on the upper level that I think was designed to be a closet, because it is so deep and includes a laundry chute. Today Paul told me it could be 30 days before the paint would "set" enough to put back heavy books and magazines, but he would read the can label to be sure. Right now the books (many of which belonged to my parents, grandparents and great grandparents) are sitting on a bed in the guest room, and the magazines (my collection of first and premiere issues) are on the floor and in one of the laundry baskets.

You can see the gray and black trim in the entry hall. The hall walls will now be light and the trim the khaki color that is on the living room trim. Makes the area much lighter.

Parents Upset With Teachers' Viagra Lawsuit - Milwaukee News Story - WISN Milwaukee

Milwaukee Public School teachers are fighting to get Viagra in their drug plan--costing the district another $800,000. I wonder if that helps with educating Wisconsin's children? Wonder what else the district could do with that money? The demonstrations at the state house is costing about $3 million a day. Now that's some serious change.

Parents Upset With Teachers' Viagra Lawsuit - Milwaukee News Story - WISN Milwaukee

The Showdown Over Public Union Power

By fleeing the state and their jobs, the Democrats of Wisconsin have shown the nation how seriously they are indebted to the unions, which support only Democrats. This shows the primary reason we should not have government workers unionized. It corrupts the government with payola, favoritism, cronyism, influence and in the case of teachers, it doesn't do much for the education of children to have the union bosses more concerned about their own power rather than education, which the state has decided is one of its jobs. Businesses do it too, you say? No. They split their donations, and in recent years, especially on environmental issues, the Democrats are the biggest recipients of big business donors because more regulation drives out their competition, and Democrats just love regulation.

"Public unions are also among the biggest players in national politics. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (Afscme) has been the third-biggest contributor to federal campaigns over the past 20 years, having given $43 million. The National Education Association is number eight with $31 million in contributions, while the SEIU—half of whose 2.2 million members are government workers—is No. 10, with $29 million in campaign donations.

Unlike businesses and industry groups that are also big givers but tend to split their donations between the parties, some 95% of government workers' donations has gone to the Democratic Party, whose members are far more likely to favor raising taxes and boosting spending than are members of the Republican Party.

Steven Malanga: The Showdown Over Public Union Power - WSJ.com

Doctors signing "sick" notes in Wisconsin for mental health

If doctors really were signing notes for absences for those at the union riots in Wisconsin, that would be an ethics violation and probably HIPAA too, so I'm sure Obama's Justice Department will want to investigate. . . yeah, that'll happen. On the other hand, if those were imposters (aka actors) playing "doctor" for the TV cameras and the demonstrators, they are probably in violation of the Screen Actors Guild code.

Quite a demonstration for school children, who now see how it is done and can copy. If you don't like what's going on, then lie, cheat, or steal (from the other taxpayers who are paying your bills). Also, be rude, loud and hostile to prevent others from speaking.

One recipient said she wasn't advised about mental health issues by the "doctor" but about her civil rights and what to say to her employer. When is the last time a doctor discussed that with you--on a street corner?

Story by McIver News Service

Still in Hiding. Could Union Bill Be Passed Separately Tuesday?

Illinois is enjoying a brief influx of tourist dollars as the Wisconsin Democrats hole up in the Best Western Clock Tower Inn in Rockford. They have abdicated. Should be replaced, in my opinion. An AP report at WTMJ says:

"Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald says his chamber of the Wisconsin legislature will convene to pass non-spending bills and act on appointments on Tuesday even if minority Democrats remain out of state in an effort to block a vote on Governor Scott Walker's budget repair bill. Could one of those bills be the union aspect of the budget bill, in a separate vote on Tuesday? Democratic state Sen. Jon Erpenbach told The Associated Press on Monday that Republicans could attempt to attach the part of the proposal taking away collective bargaining rights to an unrelated bill and pass it Tuesday."

Read the rest here. Capitol Chaos: Could Union Bill Be Passed Separately Tuesday? | Today's TMJ4 - Milwaukee, Wisconsin News, Weather, Sports, WTMJ | Local News

Boomers Find 401(k) Plans Come Up Short

You have to read to the midsection or botton to see why: many boomers started too late with too little. Vanguard now recommends 15% be set aside for retirement.

Boomers Find 401(k) Plans Come Up Short - WSJ.com

Also, I'm not sure who came up with that idea that retirement requires less than your working life. It's very expensive to do the things you waited all your life to do--or in my case, didn't know you wanted to do until you got there. And no, you can't retire early if you are paying off your kids' college loans (or your own), got a divorce in mid-life, still have a mortgage, want a second home, or you want to go out to eat a lot and travel more.

Gen-Xers will have to learn from the Boomers' mistakes: Increase your savings, decrease your want list. Also, real estate is only an investment if you buy it to rent it. If you live in it, it is your home. If it is your home, all those nice things or decor are something to enjoy now, instead of later when you are 65 or 70. If that matters to you, don't complain when the bill collector (disguised as Father Time) comes around.

Night of the Orange Moon

There was an amazing sight on Friday night, February 18, just as the daylight was dimming in the west. The moon began to rise in the east, and it glowed bright orange. I'd never seen anything like it. We were returning from a dinner out with Corbett family members at Arthur's Deli in Dixon, Illinois. The orange moon wasn't quite as bright as my brother's sweater, but it was close!

Me, my brother, and my sister.

Management styles

Pastor Drumel said this morning that there are three types of management styles (he was a manager of chaplaincy services at a Baptist Hospital in Memphis before coming to UALC): Risk taker, care taker and undertaker. Churches need to be risk takers and not do things the way they did 10 years ago, or even five. So do individual Christians.

Wisconsin Democrats hide out in Illinois

We've just returned from northern Illinois where the Wisconsin Democrats are hiding out. Actually, if they'd just travel a little south of the state line and visit Mt. Morris, where we were staying, they could get a good look at how a striking union can bring down a viable, vibrant town that used to have industries and schools. Wisconsin seems to have a wise governor who wants the public unions to give back some to the state. But that might take some power and bucks from their bosses.

Why the World is Better Off Without the USSR

The world is a much better place without the USSR. Some professors and academics (and particularly American Communists) think it's a close call. Not someone like Ilya Somin who grew up there who answers philosophy professor, Brian Leiter.

The Volokh Conspiracy » Why the World is Better Off Without the USSR

Poverty Measures in the United States

Recently I was discussing poverty statistics and guidelines with several friends. We all were using a different figure. Well, that's not surprising, so do all the government agencies. USDA, HHS, Labor, the military, DoE, Dept. of Educ.--all use a different figure, and programs are usually not figured on the base, but on calulations like 120% of poverty, or 135% of poverty, etc. The 2009 weighted average poverty threshold of $21,954 for a family of four represents the same purchasing power as the corresponding 1963 threshold of $3,128, which is when the figure was first developed by Mollie Orshansky, an economist and statistician at the Social Security Administration (SSA). Back in the 1980s, when I was researching this a bit more carefully, I calculated that I was able to feed my family of four (2 teenagers) for less than the figure the government used for the "Economy food plan" on which poverty statistics were based. That's because I contributed my own labor, and was able to drive to a supermarket to purchase food, which many poor cannot do. The highest figures I've seen have been posted at the Lutheran Food Pantry which gives a base income by number in the family for qualifying for 3 days of food donations.

Although most poor families don't actually have 2 adults and 2 children (if there were 2 adults, the family usually isn't poor), that is the figure that is used in calculating the needs.

Johnson's War on Poverty, begun in the early 1960s, ended up being a war on the poor. We employ millions of people at the state, local and federal level with the money to defeat poverty, but actually, it simply provides a nice middle class living for those who service the truly poor. Occasionally, there are families who get a boost or are tied over during a rough patch, and those are the stories you'll read about in the paper. But for the most part, the poor are penalized by these programs. If they get married, they lose a benefit. If they get a raise, they might be disqualified for an important medical benefit for a handicapped child, or education benefit, so it's better not to move ahead.

Poverty statistics are used by politicians to keep certain cities firmly in the Democratic camp, while Republicans, who have never been stingy with tax dollars, are called pikers and meanies. Until Obama, President Bush was the all-time big spender on social programs. How's that working for you, America?

HHS Poverty Guidelines Family of 4, $22,250

Low Income Levels Dept. of Ed. Family of 4, $33,075

Lifeline, telecommunications benefits for low income You're on your own figuring this one out--I couldn't

Ohio HEAP (Energy): 200% of poverty level, Family of 4, $44,100

Fashion--it's not for everyone

Tennis shoes with banded hosiery that make a woman's legs look 50 lbs heavier. Other than an anorexic 12 year old, not sure who could wear this (from WSJ, Feb. 14).

Good Governance Jargon

This is a paragraph from JAMA--no need to tell you the topic, you'll see the problem just by reading it and trying to imagine where in the world or this globe does such a governing vehicle exist? (I've parsed it a bit for spacing, but have copied it word for word.)

"International principles of good governance
require
policy makers to act transparently,
engage relevant stakeholders,
and be held accountable.
Policy makers must make clear
the reasons for,
and provide evidence supporting,
their decisions.
Stakeholder engagement ensures that
the voices of affected communities are heard.
Additionally,
policy makers should
be held accountable for
fair deliberation and
ultimately success.Take Obamacare (PPACA) as an example. Was its passage transparent? Were the stakeholders (that's citizens) engaged? Has Congress or the President or the staff who drafted it been held accountable? Were the reasons for this takeover made clear to your liking? Was there supporting evidence for their decisions? Were the stakeholders heard, but ignored, shouted down, demeaned or ridiculed? Were the policy makers held accountable, or did they just leave office to draw a government pension leaving it to the rest to figure it out?

This paragraph was not about Obamacare, but it does say it is about "international principles," and we know how the present administration swoons over that.

Date of baptism

Last week Pastor John Stozenbach talked about his baptism in the sermon (on baptism), and mentioned the date, and then asked us if we knew the date of our baptism. I didn't. I was pretty sure it was 1950, but didn't have a clue about the day. So I' e-mailed a friend, Sylvia, who still attends that church and is my age and asked her if her mother might have recorded it (she had great scrapbooks since she was the oldest child--I was lucky to have a photograph being third). Sylvia went to the church archives and found out our class was baptized on April 2, 1950 at the Mt. Morris Church of the Brethren. I looked up the date and that was Palm Sunday. I didn't have a "confirmation" verse, but John told us to select one if we didn't. So I've chosen Acts 2:42, which describes the early church group of the baptized 3,000 converted after Peter's sermon. There were four elements of their life as a church, 1) teaching of the apostles, 2) their fellowship together, 3) sharing a meal (eucharist/love feast) and 4) prayer. Isn't that a nice model, even for old timers in the 21st century?

Then it occurred to me today that when we joined UALC in 1976 it was on Palm Sunday also, and that we were confirmed, whereas those who were Lutherans were received by letter of transfer. So Palm Sunday was a big day.

Aunt Muriel, 1917-2011

My mother's sister, Muriel, died last night. In 2009 my grandmother's youngest sister, Ada, died. Now they are all gone, but safe in the arms of Jesus.

Muriel, a teen-ager, at my parents wedding, 1934, far left front.

Two years ago at her birthday party.

The Young and Restleft--a Soap Opera for our Times

Sometimes these people just leave me speechless--and that's hard to do.

"Shame on those who got their education for free telling today's young they must start their working lives mired in debt.

Shame on the generation that got everything, took everything and bought everything and left latter generations with nothing.

Shame on the cowards who sneer that those standing up for their interests, when every day the cowards reap the benefits of those who took a stand in years past."

You dolt with no sense of life before 1970. I left college with zero debt because I didn't borrow money. I worked and saved during high school, earned it working part time in college, and spent it on tuition, books, housing, and NO WILD LIVING, and when it didn't meet my needs I borrowed from my parents. It's called "being a grown-up."

And the rest is just drivel I can't address since I don't hang out with people who are takers and not givers.

Sorry I forgot to copy the website--probably isn't worth visiting. Called himself Sleezy or Snippy or Sleepy, something like that.

The Bucket List

A high school friend has told me that Lakeside is on her "bucket list." So I've sent her the schedule for this coming summer, which is now just 4 months away. Here's the schedule, but it couldn't possibly tell you all there is to do there--art classes, lectures, movies, live entertainment, bird walks, shuffleboard, tennis, swimming, boating, people watching and lake enjoying.

Danny and Phil

August sunrise

Shuffleboard in Central Park

Why no comments about the Obama interview with O'Reilly?

I don't like the way O'Reilly conducts his interviews and I don't like the way the interviewees, whether Obama or some other government official, never answer the questions. Each has his own agenda. Also, Obama's mannerisms, words and stammering bother me. Like the White House comments right now on Egypt. The WH has waffled more than John Kerry on this, and flip flopped more than an Egyptian sandal. For a guy who doesn't even like or respect our military, of which he is the commander and chief, he sure is expecting a lot from theirs. He sounds like he's campaigning.

Got gas?

Gasoline prices in Columbus, Ohio for the last 6 years.

Will Egypt's army take control?

"CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's military announced on national television that it stepped in to “safeguard the country” and assured protesters that President Hosni Mubarak will meet their demands in the strongest indication yet that the longtime leader has lost power. In Washington, the CIA chief said there was a “strong likelihood” Mr. Mubarak will step down Thursday.

State TV said Mr. Mubarak will speak to the nation Thursday night from his palace in Cairo.

The military‘s dramatic announcement showed that the military was taking control after 17 days of protests demanding Mr. Mubarak‘s immediate ouster spiraled out of control.

Footage on state TV showed Defense Minster Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi chairing the military‘s supreme council, with around two dozen top stern-faced army officers, seated around a table. Not at the meeting were Mr. Mubarak, the military commander in chief, or his vice president Omar Suleiman, a former army general and intelligence chief named to his post after the protests erupted Jan. 25.

That could be a sign that Mr. Suleiman, as well, was being pushed out of power."

Egypt army takes control, signals Mubarak on way out - Washington Times

History of Prostitution

Before I pass along this interesting reprint (1937, Eugenics Society) of a 19th c. book, I'll copy a few sentences.

"It has been well observed that a people's virtue or vice does not consist in the arithmetical increase or decrease of immoral actions, but in the prevailing sentiment of an age or people, which condemns or approves them." Russia, p. 262

The author had just summarized how late Russia had entered the modern era, and how in the Elizabethan age of England the Czar of Muscovy was considered a barbarian. Maybe he's not saying we get the government and culture and values we deserve, but I think that sentence could apply to our current age.

"The Watul, or Gipsy tribe of Kashmir is remarkable for many lovely women, who are taught to please the taste of the voluptuary. They sing licentious songs in an amorous tone, dance in a lascivious measure, dress in a peculaiarly fascinating manner, and seduce by the very expression of their countenances. . . and have been known to amass large sums of money." Semi-civilized nations, p. 420

My, doesn't that sound like the movie star gossip rags I browsed while waiting in the grocery store line yesterday. When the author gets to New York in his survey, he divides its prostitution into five grades, the first being the wealthy kept women of wealthy men; then those in comfortable brothels run by former prostitutes; then on to the immigrant women with poor English, the Irish below the German; and the fourth group he calls repulsive refuse, diseased and drunk with vagrants for clients. The last group are even more wretched, and have no shelter, are starving, drunk, and begging for a glass of gin. The author describes them as the outcasts of society, and the direction those in the higher classes are moving.

Good Samaritan saves a tire

At church Sunday, someone took the time to write out a note and slip it under the windshield wiper of my husband's car, "low tire." This nice person wasn't counting on the way my husband processes information. All he saw was a restaurant check (other side) and he put it in the car thinking it was from me (this baffles me, since this isn't how we communicate). Last evening he brings the "restaurant check" to me and asks what I want done with it. I looked at it and didn't recognize the name of the restaurant, so I asked him where it came from, and he said it was on his windshield. So, being a clever investigative librarian, I turned it over and saw the note. "Someone has left you a note. Do you have a low tire?" "Don't think so, but I'll go look." He came back in the house and confirmed that yes, one tire was very low. He'd already made a number of errands that day. So today he took his SUV to our son at Jack Maxton, who found all four were low, but one was really low.

Thanks, who ever you are, for saving a tire or preventing an accident.

Closet cleaning tip

I saw a way to trim your closets: turn all of your clothes hangers around, then turn them back when you wear an item. If the item is never warn in a season, (year), consider discarding.

I don't need that trick. I can tell by looking in the closet what hasn't been worn, and there are several reasons: 1) Doesn't fit; 2) isn't comfortable; 3) it's not attractive on me; 3) it needs to be ironed, and if I wear it, I'll have to iron it.

So this morning, 6 nice cotton blend blouses are leaving the house. All have enough cotton in them that I spray starch and iron and look rumpled 10 minutes after I wear them, so I tend to choose something else. Four light weight cotton jackets--one is ugly, one wrinkles, one is uncomfortable and one doesn't fit. Also a fancy 2 piece blouse that I've worn for winter dress-up events, but it's actually too sheer to be comfortable in any weather. A kitty vest that I really like, but is about 12 years old.

This jacket is leaving home.

Confused, bothered and befuddled — Everyday Math

Since I don't have grandchildren, I'm not really up on what children are learning in school these days. The closest I came to any gossip was several years ago when my husband complained about an elementary science/math class in which he volunteered on the Hilltop (low income). Even the teacher couldn't figure out the problems and asked him for help. It was his last year to volunteer--it was like watch child cruelty. Then a few weeks ago I was in the middle of a discussion (I was just listening) of a mom, a teen-ager, and a software writer who were discussing something called "spiraling" and "Chicago Math" aka "Everyday math." The 10th grader was obviously a bright young lady, but she had decided to avoid all routes to what might have been a promising career in science, which she loved, because of the way math was taught. She never could get that "a-ha" feeling of accomplishment and feel comfortable moving to the next concept. She was planning on a career in literature, she told me. So I looked it up--Chicago Math (University of Chicago) or EM, Everyday Math. As one who was never really strong in math, but have found it useful to know the multiplication tables, how to divide, know what a percentage means and calculate my grocery bill as things pass through the clerks hands, I think this sounds absolutely awful. Sort of like those awful story problems in third grade--if a train is going 15 mph, and a donkey runs along side, how long before it gets to Chicago. Sounds like some egg heads have hijacked our math classes so the Japanese, Chinese and Indians can get hired on emergency visas 10 years from now.

Confused, bothered and befuddled — Joanne Jacobs

If you've never heard of EM or Chicago Math, view this YouTube, and you be. . . stunned.

Dietary Guidelines Call for More Exercise, Less Food

Just to look at me, you probably wouldn't notice I've lost 80 lbs. Yes, 20 lbs. in 1960, 20 lbs in 1983, 20 lbs in 1993 and 20 lbs in 2006. Same 20 lbs each time. And by the miracle of the fashion industry I weigh 10 lbs more in 2011 but am 2 dress sizes smaller. Who knew?

The new guidelines don't look all that different than the 2005 guidelines. Maybe they are pushing more exercise? Anyone can lose weight. All diets work. It's keeping it off that's the problem. But I will admit that the weight I lost in 1983 stayed off the longest, because it was through aerobics, and not by dieting. Whatever crosses the lips and tongue eventually has to be atoned for in energy use. The 20 lbs I lost in 2006, which was by eating healthier--more fruits and vegetables, and saying no to desserts, French fries, pizza, and salty snacks--began creeping back in the fall of 2007 when we went to Ireland, and were eating lots of wonderful food 3 times a day on a Illini Alumni Tour. Then the Italy Tour in 2008 pretty much restored everything I'd lost in 2006. My goodness that Italian food is good.

Some people say they just don't know why they gain weight. I know exactly why. Today, instead of 5 vegetables which I would have eaten 4 years ago for lunch when I was losing weight while eating healthier, I had a sandwich with meat and cheese, some chips, and a few pieces of dark chocolate.

Dietary Guidelines Call for More Exercise, Less Food - WSJ.com

The Oct. 27, 2010 JAMA featured several articles on obesity and testing interventions on class II and class III obesity. This study included commercial weight loss programs. It seems to be a rather successful weight loss with follow up after 2 years. Unfortunately, there was no significant effect on cardiopulmonary fitness, cholesterol levels, physical or mental quality of life, or depression. There was a reduction in C-reactive protein levels and improvement in leptin levels.

The greatest obesity problem in the U.S. is among African American women, of whom about 28% are obese, much higher than black men or white women of Hispanics. And would you believe they are pondering whether there is a biological factor?

"The degree of adiposity associated with a given level of BMI varies by age, sex, and racial and ethnic group.​ Relative to white men and women at the same BMI level, black men and women tend to have higher lean mass and lower fat mass.​ The relative, although not absolute, health risks associated with a given BMI level may be lower for blacks than for whites. Asian populations tend to have higher body fat percentages at a given BMI level and possible higher risks; however, this theory has been disputed.​ Considerable discussion has addressed the public health and policy issues of using different BMI cutoff points for different ethnic groups that have different relationships with BMI, body fat, and health risks." Katherine M. Flegal, Prevalence and Trends in Obesity Among US Adults, 1999-2008. JAMA. 2010;303(3):235-241.

Why the privileged left the "Workers' Paradise"

"In January 2010, my father went to hear a talk by Boris Gulko, a Russian Jewish chess grandmaster who had won the USSR championship in 1977 and later emigrated to the United States, eventually winning the US championship as well. Knowing my interest in chess history, my father asked whether I had any questions I wanted him to pose to Gulko. One of my proposed questions was why Gulko had decided to leave the Soviet Union. My father said that this was a stupid question. The answer was too obvious.

Nonetheless, I persisted in urging him to ask it. After all, Gulko had been a privileged member of the Soviet elite who had every reason not to risk those privileges.

Gulko’s answer to my question was a telling one. He said that he did not want to be a “slave” anymore. Despite his relatively privileged status, he could no longer tolerate life under the control of a totalitarian state that, among other things, could take away all his privileges at any time.

Like most Soviet Jews, Gulko had experienced plenty of anti-Semitism. But it was not so much the special oppression of the Jews that led him to emigrate, but the generalized oppression he endured along with all the other citizens of Lenin’s Workers’ Paradise. My parents’ motives for leaving were in many ways similar to Gulko’s. They too were fleeing communism as much or more so than anti-Semitism. Only their decision was easier than his, since they didn’t have as much to lose."
Ilya Somin Memoirs

Somin's story of his family's coming to the USA when he was 5 knowing no English is very interesting. You can hear him debate the constitutionality of Obamacare here.