GOP is looking for an Obama win in 2012

If the GOP caves on this cut cap and balance, they are handing Obama a win in 2012. Obama will blame them either way. I've tried to follow this in the news and it's too frustrating and confusing. We do know it's only a cut in the increase, not a true cut. We do know that Obama is just too clever and has too many brain dead followers for the likes of Boehner to go up against.

When has your credit rating ever been improved by doing what the Democrats want?

The GOP regulars and RINOs are unhappy with Conservatives and Tea Party folk. Was it John McCain who said something about their experience? Well, who got us into this mess? Republicans who believed the lies of the Democrats! And compromised.

Am I tech savvy or what?

Connectivity has been a huge problem, as I noted before. So I've set the laptop up on the porch on the "kitty condo" and I'm sitting on a low camp stool. I have a sailing book on my right knee and the mouse is on that. Things seem to be working right now. The cat has moved to the porch furniture and doesn't seem too upset with this arrangement.

This condo was purchased for our previous cat, the lynxpoint, that didn't live very long. She also never figured out what her tail was, and would race inside out through the little kitty condo chasing it.

Reagan's error or Obama's?

Can he spare a dime for fact checkers before he looks even more uninformed and foolish than he already is? The deal was made--Democrats reniged! That should be the lesson for today. We know there will be no cuts, but the tax increased will last forever!

Reagan’s Error - By Yuval Levin - The Corner - National Review Online

Back in Lakeside

but no internet connection, so like the vacationers, I'm at the coffee shop. Glad they have wireless, but it sure is inconvenient! And laptops are heavy, at least those bought 9 years ago!

Hot and muggy. People are setting up for the craft show which begins tomorrow. The home tour (run by the Women's Club) is also tomorrow. Too hot for me to stand in line, although I love to look at cottages.

Signing off at 6:54 a.m.

Where would spending be without Iraq?

Obviously, we'd still have a huge problem.

Chart from American Thinker using CBO figures.

Anders Behring Breivik

Mr. Breivik, the 30-something terrorist who has killed almost 100 of his fellow countrymen, is being called everything from a Christian to a war gamer to a neo-nazi to a right wing fanatic. No one is calling him a socialist, but that's the society in which he grew up. Why deny the biggest influence in his life? Norway has low unemployment, almost zero poverty, the environment is gorgeous and carefully nurtured,and in a word, it is government controlled at every turn. The Christian church has no influence there, even if babies are baptized and teen-agers are confirmed. I'm not sure this is still the case, but their taxes used to support the church; it was not the responsibility and act of worship of the believers as it is in the U.S.

Do you suppose Breivik saw the push for multiculturalism and diversity and the acceptance of the Muslim culture as a threat to Norway's tightly regulated national spirit? After all, socialism is no match for fundamentalist Islam. National socialism is first and always, national in focus.

Calorie counts found lacking in fast food restaurants

This is why I always order dressing on the side and use the dipped fork method rather than pouring it on.

"Posted calorie counts in chain restaurants are often inaccurate, and weight-conscious consumers who select soups and salads are especially likely to be served heftier dishes than advertised, according to a new study from Boston researchers [reported in JAMA]."

However, it's important to remember that there is a vendetta out on so-called "fast food" restaurants. So read with a word of caution. Eat less, move more--that's the plan that will help both your body and your brain.

Calorie counts found lacking - Boston.com

Magic of Ordinary Days

I watched the Hallmark movie (2005) last night and I thought it was quite good--The magic of ordinary days. The plot is a college woman is pregnant by her soldier boyfriend (a cad, but she doesn't realize it), so her father arranges a marriage for her to a farmer in a remote area of Colorado a super nice guy whom she doesn't at first appreciate) who agrees to be the husband and father. There's a subplot involving Japanese farm workers whom she befriends.

In the end, of course, they fall in love.

But did rural women really wear hats while singing in the church choir in robes (one very brief scene)?

The male lead is Skeet Ulrich, whose real name is Bryan Trout. He's very good, and has appeared on some TV series, most recently Law and Order; Los Angeles.

This was adapted from a book by the same name, which might be worth reading, and there is a sequel in the works according to Wikipedia.

Garth's Auctions--mid century modern

Early in our married life (1960s) I admired our friends who had Eames style furniture, but I think they are uncomfortable, and there must have been a million knock-offs in all sorts of weird colors.

I'm beginning to see why my Mom wasn't too excited about Grandma's furniture from the 1920s or 1930s. You hate to see your era become an "antique."

Garth's Auctions, Inc. - Auctioneers & Appraisers : Full Details for Lot 216

So I looked up a few Paul McCobb pieces of furniture (mostly designed late 50s) for the budget conscious that we bought around 1963. The prices are astounding, so I guess they are antiques now, too. But also, they are comfortable.

Bookclub selections 2011-2012

I'd better get busy. I usually use the summer to start to prepare at least for September. One book has 562 pages--maybe I should start that one now. The 1910 fire in Montana book sounds good--we were at Glacier National Park in 2003 when it was burning.

September 12
Two Girls of Gettysburg by Lisa Klein. (for middle school--we often select a children's or local author book) Led by Carolyn A. Author is from Clintonville, Ohio.

October 3
The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe led by Dorothy.

November 7
In a Heartbeat: sharing the power of cheerful giving by Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy. Led by Justine.

December 5
Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed by Philip Hallie. Led by Peggy.

January 9
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski (562 pages!). Led by Judy. January's meeting will be at Panera's Beechwold meeting room from 2-4 PM

February 6
The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the fire that saved America by Timothy Egan. Led by Jean. February's meeting will be at Panera's Beechwold meeting room from 2-4 PM.

March 5
The Good Earth by Pearl Buck. Led by Patty. [I read this in high school--thought it was a great book.]

April 2
Wait Till Next Year by Doris Kearns Goodwin. Led by Carolyn A.

May 7
Hold Up the Sky by Patricia Sprinkle. Led by Carolyn C.

The Story of Dick Cheney's Heart

Even if you hate Dick Cheney (as some of my regular readers do), this article is well worth reading. A first heart attack at 37? We've known people like that and the second one was usually fatal. He's had 5 and now suffers from congestive heart failure. After his last surgery he was in intensive care for 5 weeks, and then rehab.

A few years in heart research is a generation. But no medical miracles would matter if the patient didn't have spirit.

"You could, and some people do, become so fixated on the disease that they, well, they don't get to get on with their lives. You've got to get on with your life," Mr. Cheney says. "It's never stopped me, though there's nothing in particular special about me. It's a reflection about how good the technology has grown."

The Weekend Interview: The Story of Dick Cheney's Heart - WSJ.com

Terror blast in Oslo

By the time I heard about the blast (it has since been determined that it was a bomb) Obama was giving a speech and he was lying on all news outlets. Finally, (11:35 a.m.) Fox has moved its attention to Norway.

Michelle Malkin » Terror blast in Oslo – “massive vehicle bomb;” Update: Norway had taken action against jihadi cleric who threatened to kill politicians

Update: Shortly after the explosions, which appeared to be a bomb attack, a man dressed as a police officer opened fire on a summer camp for young members of the ruling Labor Party on the island of Utoya in the Oslo fjord, about 25 miles from the city, and wounded at least five, a Norwegian security official said.

“The situation’s gone from bad to worse,” said Runar Kvernen, spokesman for the National Police Directorate under the Ministry of Justice and Police, adding that most of the children at the camp were between 15 and 16 years-old. There were initial reports that Mr. Stoltenberg was scheduled to attend a meeting at the camp.

As fear spread through the capital, the police moved to lock down a wide area of the city center, where the streets were already nearly deserted.
NYT Europe

Update: A blond Norwegian who bought 6 tons of fertilizer has been arrested. Sounds like the Scandanavian Timothy McVey.

Would you follow this leader?

Warns against scare speeches and hyperbole, then gives scare speeches.

He blasts income tax rates as too low and only for the rich, then agrees to extend them.

Insults and regulates businessmen and bankers, and then complains and whines that capitalists aren’t investing in the American economy enough to bail him out of his bad behavior.

Presents a budget with a $1.6 trillion deficit and then says our spending is unsustainable.

Votes against raising the debt ceiling when he was in Congress in 2006 (Democrats), when it was manageable, and warns of the consequences if Congress (Republicans) doesn’t raise it in 2011.

Presents no plan to reduce costs, then complains about the Republicans’ plan which actually is a plan.

In March Assad of Syria (a dictator) was a “reformer,” and now Syria needs “regime change” (same dictator).

Was against wars the last administration was involved in and gave comfort to the enemy with his votes and words, and now he has started his own in Libya.

Guantanamo--who even knows what is going on there, but he was against its existence 4 years ago and promised to close it during his campaign, but hasn‘t done anything.

He’s against wiretaps, deep water drilling, etc. but it’s OK for other countries, even those near by.

Yes, this man who waffles and wiggles and lies, is our president.

Blogging may be light

I've apparently picked up another computer infection--not sure why my MacAfee and firewall stuff aren't working. Gary says you can get them between updates of the virus protection. It's really irritating. Wicked people in the world. So I'm in the kitchen at the laptop which prefers to try to connect to my neighbor next door instead of my office in the next room! Anyway. . . thoughts along the way. . .

Although it was totally narcissistic, Obama's comment that the 2012 vote will be about him and his policies not the other candidate is something I agree with. He currently loses against any unnamed person of any party. Still, "this is all about me all the time" attitude irks me. I saw something at Tammy Bruce about a campaign ad, but didn't see a link.

His whining over the debt ceiling is so irritating. Not even Richard Nixon, old Tricky Dick, was this annoying.

And we think Obama had too little experience to be a president? Look at poor Syria. "Until he became president, Bashar al-Assad was not greatly involved in politics; his only public role was head of the Syrian Computer Society, which introduced the Internet to Syria in 2001." [Wikipedia] I think Assad is an ophthalmologist by training, and his wife was born in the UK.

The House approved the Republican "Cut, Cap, and Balance" deficit plan to end the federal government's cycle of borrow and spend, borrow and spend. This wouldn't have happened if it weren't for the Tea Parties. Let's see if they can stop the stampeding elephants and RINOs from crushing the plan. Republicans helped create this debt.

Tom Zawistowski of the Portage County (Ohio) Tea Party reminds Boehner, "Most in Washington are representing the people who will get the money when they raise the debt ceiling but few are representing the people who will be on the hook to pay another $2 trillion in debt plus interest. We expect the conservatives we helped elect to represent us, the taxpayer." Boehner's another Nancy Pelosi type, an old timey wheeler and dealer, except he weeps and she didn't. Not sure these new guys have the patience for that.

Our oppresive heat continues. I walked early this morning and was still looking for shade at 7:20. My daughter, who is at the lake house, says the heat index there is 120. We thought that sounded a bit high, but I suspect it's for Toledo, 50 miles to the west, which is always hotter than Lakeside since it isn't on the Lake. But at least they did have some rain up there. We almost lost our impatiens during Methodist conference, but they've come back nicely with daily watering.

After 60 Years, Campus Crusade for Christ to Change Name

Has Campus Crusade for Christ gone all soft and emergent? They've changed the name to "Campus Crusade." That could be for environmentalism, or panty raids, or more beer. God help them (no he won't).

After 60 Years, Campus Crusade for Christ to Change Name

Bodice rippers workshop

Romance novelists have to be accurate (historical romance is 25% of the take), so someone (the cleverness of these people just amazes me) supplies a clothing workshop on Victorian dress. Deeanne Gist shows writers how "to squeeze into a dozen layers that a lady would have worn in the 1860s—stockings, garters, bloomers, chemise, corset, crinoline or hoop skirt, petticoats, a shirtwaist or blouse, skirt, vest and bolero jacket. By the end, workshop attendees were skeptical that seductions ever occurred, with so many sartorial barriers."

I've never worn a corset, but I do occasionally wear a back brace, and I can assure you there's nothing easy about that, and something has to go under it to protect my skin. Whatever it pushes out of the way in keeping me from bending over, bulges out somewhere else! And in Victorian days they didn't have velcro which makes getting in and out a little faster than lacing. And in those days bloomers were not pants, but two legs tied together at the waist so one could use the toilet without disrobing. So maybe. . .

How to Undress a Victorian Lady in Your Next Historical Romance - WSJ.com

The End of the Growth Consensus

Both parties have forgotten the lessons of the 80s and 90s, when 44 million jobs were created. Technically, this recession ended two years ago--but Obama is killing us and investment with his redistribution and "fairness" plans. Bush was certainly no small government guy and was a big spender, but he makes Obama, who is building on his mistakes, look like a drunken Teddy Kennedy with a credit card with no limits.

Big government has proved to be a clumsy manager, and it did not stop with monetary and fiscal policy. Since President Obama took office, we've added on complex regulatory interventions in health care (the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act) and finance (the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act). The unintended consequences of these laws are already raising health-care costs and deterring new investment and risk-taking.

Read the whole story here: John Taylor: The End of the Growth Consensus - WSJ.com

Who's the bigger hypcrite?

Bob Conners on WTVN this morning interviewed a woman named Heather about some awards for really "bad-for-you" restaurant food, where a serving might have enough sugar and cholesterol for 3 days, and enough calories to fuel you for an entire day. I was waiting for one more nanny-state recommendation like eating green or planting a garden, but then she surprised me with her own hypocrisy. She put herself through graduate studies in nutrition by working at the Cheesecake Factory (and she was bold enough to claim you could eat healthy there if you reduced your portions, which of course no one does. You don't go to the Cheesecake Factory for a low-calorie, healthy meal.) She said her customers always looked a bit shame faced when she told them what she was studying, because they knew without being told, that they weren't eating right.

This is a different case, but I can recall NOT applying for the Women's Studies Library position at Ohio State University back in the 80s because I knew, 1) I would be required to buy, disseminate and distribute materials that violated my personal ethics, and that, 2) I wouldn't be able to do a good job for the people who needed that library for their research because of my own beliefs. Sure, I could've slipped in a title or two with a Christian viewpoint, but who would be fooled by that?

Everyone makes choices, Heather. You could've worked in the Human Ecology library and made less, but with a clear conscience.

2012: The End of the World As We Know It

"Like a replicating amoeba, America is pulling apart into two separate cultures. One is strongly committed to the birth of an even more robust, pro-growth, entrepreneurial capitalism. The other thinks Che Guevara and Karl Marx had important social insights relevant to America today, and wants to follow the path of Juan Peron 's Argentina, if not Hugo Chavez's Venezuela. This is the stark choice facing the American people in 2012." Read the rest: The American Spectator : 2012: The End of the World As We Know It

It's just too darn hot

Ella Fitzgerald sang that, and probably the lyrics are too racy to post, so I won't.

I walked for 10 minutes at 7:30 and at 8:45 went out for another 20 minutes. I stepped aside for the joggers, not out of respect because truly I think they are crazy, but because I didn't want to be splatter with sweat!

It's in the 90's here in Columbus with a heat index over 100, but there has been plenty of rain. That keeps things lush and green, but a bit like being in a steam bath. The Nationwide PGA tournament is going on across the street--I think it would be awfully hot on the golf course. Lots of trucks, toilets and traffic for tournaments this big.

Yesterday on my way to get my hair cut I was driving along Rt. 33 and noticed a change in the road crews from 2 or 3 years ago. Remember all those jobs Americans wouldn't do at 4.5% unemployment? At 9.2% they are doing them quite nicely. The crews are older, lighter and taller. (Although I wish they'd wear safety goggles when using tree chippers.) There could be two things happening: Mexican workers have gone home, or even the state is checking for illegal documents and complying with the law.

Didn't see any women. During the blush years of the feminism of the 70s, you saw women trying everything from carpentry to road work to truck deliveries. If they stayed with it, they probably got promoted to a desk job, and younger women decided they'd try something cooler and more attractive even if the pay and perks weren't that great.

Right here in Ohio--O’Keefe’s latest sting target: Medicaid bureaucrats

The Ohio Medicaid female employees assisting these "Russian drug dealers" seem to have passed their customer/client workshops with flying colors. They are helpful and friendly, assuring them that Medicaid workers won't look for drugs, and offering advice on Planned Parenthood services for abortions for their underage "sisters" who "do favors" for customers. To me this is a bigger problem than the ACORN videos (which apparently these women never watched since they got so little coverage on the main stream media) in which illegals were being helped. The "Russian" even calls back to thank them and assure them nothing like this sort of help would be offered in Russia. I bet not.

O’Keefe’s latest sting target: Medicaid bureaucrats « Hot Air

In the video, the men explain to Ohio Medicaid workers that they are Russian immigrants who sell illegal drugs, drive a modified McLaren F1 sports car with a gold-coated engine, and use their underage sisters to perform sexual favors in exchange for drugs.
In response, Ohio employees tasked with disbursing federal Medicaid dollars are shown coaching the men through the process of applying for benefits. “If it’s not something registered here, maybe I just wouldn’t mention it,” a Franklin County Medicaid officer named Traci Daniels tells the men, when asked whether they should mention owning a vehicle that retails for nearly $1 million, as they apply for government aid designed to help poor people. “Not that I can say that. You didn’t hear that from me. But, that would right there, that would throw him off. He would be immediately not qualified.”

The Association between Penis Size and Sexual Health among Men Who Have Sex with Men

I found 251 matches on Google for this author and the grant number "t32 da07233" that supported this and other non-essential sex research. I suspect most gay men know the answers to his questions, and if there's a way to be paid for sex and not be a pimp or prostitute, Mr. Grov has apparently found it. As our Congress and President spar between the teams of "revenue" (increased taxes) and reduced spending (cuts), I hope they consider that we are overloaded with frivolous wasteful government jobs that pay the mortgage for one employee but don't benefit the public.

The Association between Penis Size and Sexual Health among Men Who Have Sex with Men

Now with a title like this, we'll see how good my filter and spam catcher is.

At the bus stop on Kenny Road

The group waiting at the suburban bus stop on Kenny Road was the picture of American diversity. We don't have very good public transportation in Columbus, so I'm guessing this bus was going somewhere near the OSU campus or downtown. Without my naming gender or ethnicity, I'll just say that some were listening to music nodding their heads (at least you don't need boomboxes anymore), some were talking animatedly with their hands, one was leaning out into the street to see where the bus was, and one was sitting on the ground quietly reading a book--a real book, a print on paper book.

The one reading a book was Asian--don't know if he was Japanese or Chinese or Indonesian or Korean. But I think he is a good example of why Asian immigrants do so well in the United States. There are only 20,000 genes in the human body, and all groups are 99.9% the same in make-up, but there seems to be something about the free market and the mix if genes in Asians that works very effectively. Maybe the ones wanting hand-outs and government control of their lives stayed in the old country, I don't know, but when I look around my neighborhood, there is no shortage of small, family run businesses owned by Asian immigrants.

Where Are All the New Jobs?

Given all the uncertainty and the oppressive regulations currently in effect with promises of more to come, would you expand your business or start a new business?

Where Are All the New Jobs? | John Goodman's Health Policy Blog | NCPA.org

Another Obama Lie Exposed: 85% of Bush Tax Cuts Went to Middle Class, Not the Rich

Well, maybe "a lie" is a bit harsh. He thinks the middle class is wealthy and they should give more money to the government to run his new and extended programs, or to help the economy emplode. It's not a lie if you think like a liar! Since half the people don't pay federal taxes, don't the rest by definition have to be "the rich?"



From CNN, Dec. 10. 2010

Bush tax cuts: $544.3 billion. The package would extend the Bush tax cuts for everyone for two years.

The bulk of that cost -- $463 billion -- is for the extension of cuts for families making less than $250,000, including two years of relief for 2010 and 2011 for the middle class from the Alternative Minimum Tax.

The rest -- $81.5 billion -- is attributable to the extension of cuts that apply to the highest income families.

The cost of extending all the tax cuts over 10 years would have been $3.7 trillion.

Another Obama Lie Exposed: 85% of Bush Tax Cuts Went to Middle Class, Not the Rich (Video) | The Gateway Pundit

JAMA: State Should Seize Fat Children from Parents

I haven't seen the July 13 issue of JAMA yet, but it contains an opinion piece that suggests obese children might need to be removed from their parents' home. Yes, and that's because the state has done such a wonderful job in those areas already assigned to it.

Jonathan Bean, who I believe teaches at Ohio State, writes: "Disclosure: I was a “super-obese” teenager at 320 lbs. My brothers were normal weight. My parents urged me to limit my diet but I ate secretly. Then, on my own, I lost 140 lbs in a single year and have kept if off for 28 years (I’m 10 lb over my 21 year old weight). That was my decision. Imagine if the know-it-alls in DCFS had put me in foster care, supervised by my new rotating parents and caring social workers. Yes, children, this is our Brave New World fast in the making."

JAMA: State Should Seize Fat Children from Parents | The Beacon

I think they are panicking because childhood obesity has leveled off in the last decade, and they fear a funding source might be drying up. Maybe you should write the author and give him a piece of your mind. Sounds like he needs it. David S. Ludwig, MD, PhD, Children's Hospital, 300 Longwood Ave, Boston, MA 02115. (david.ludwig@childrens.harvard.edu).

The thinking poem

If you're black
are you cutting him slack?

If you're brown
are you hanging around?

If you're rainbow
do you think he's slow?

If you're white
do you think he's your knight?

If you're taupe
do you think he's a dope?

If you're green
do you think he's a dream?

If you're a liar
do you think he's on fire?

If you're thinking
what I'm thinking
you think he's stinking.

Project Gunrunner and Fast and Furious--Obama's Watergate?

"After watching this [C-SPAN] video, the reasons behind David Ogden’s resignation [from DoJ] after working for Attorney General Eric Holder for less than a year, appear clear: He wanted to reduce his chances of becoming the “fall guy” for the Obama Administration after news of this doomed-from-the-start gun-running operation became public."

» Project Gunrunner Tied Directly to President Obama - Big Government

Something borrowed

Let's see a movie.

OK. What's on?

There's a Kate Hudson movie at the dollar theater. You know how you love Kate Hudson.

Who's Kate Hudson?

Why the Arabic World Turned Away from Science

"To anyone familiar with this Golden Age, roughly spanning the eighth through the thirteenth centuries a.d., the disparity between the intellectual achievements of the Middle East then and now — particularly relative to the rest of the world — is staggering indeed. In his 2002 book What Went Wrong?, historian Bernard Lewis notes that “for many centuries the world of Islam was in the forefront of human civilization and achievement.” “Nothing in Europe,” notes Jamil Ragep, a professor of the history of science at the University of Oklahoma, “could hold a candle to what was going on in the Islamic world until about 1600.” Algebra, algorithm, alchemy, alcohol, alkali, nadir, zenith, coffee, and lemon: these words all derive from Arabic, reflecting Islam’s contribution to the West.

Today, however, the spirit of science in the Muslim world is as dry as the desert."


The New Atlantis » Why the Arabic World Turned Away from Science

It's amazing what a little rain can do

It's very dry and crispy in northern Ohio, so it is a treat to see all the green around Columbus. Our complex has well water sprinkler system, but the whole metropolitan area has had more rain than the Toledo area. Still we expect some heat build up, so after church I put on some walking shoes, a sleeveless denim dress, and walked for about 15 minutes. It's not as much as I get at the lake where I walk everywhere, but it sooths the conscience.

Some of our neighbors still haven't discovered that now that we have sidewalks, they are expected to take care of the area they can't see from their yard (huge bushes to hide the street). Weeds, grass clippings, and branches from the bushes are making the walk a bit hazardous. 1195 Kingsdale Terrace has a lovely house and yard, but I wish they'd step around the corner and see what we see. 'Taint purty.

Had to go to Caribou this morning since Panera's opens late. I noticed that there's a bulletin board for customers to post their "goals." Some are really funny, but pathetic too, because they are so unrealistic and vague ("change the world"), there's no way to get there from here. I've written before about the best book I ever read on the topic of planning is "Stop setting goals." Worth another look:

The book I'd been waiting for my whole life I didn't read until the first official day of my retirement (Oct. 1, 2000). Its title grabbed me and I knew it was written for me: "STOP SETTING GOALS" by Bob Biehl (Nashville: Moorings, 1995).

The premise is that some people are energized by achieving goals they have set, and others (a higher percentage) are energized by identifying and solving problems. And it isn't semantics. To ask problem solvers to set goals puts knots in their stomachs and interferes with their natural gifts. To ask goal setters to work on a problem puts them in a foul mood because they think "negative" when they hear "problem."

Problem solvers see goal setters as sort of pie-in-the sky, never-finish-anything types, and goal setters see problem solvers as negative nay-sayers. Bigotry, in both directions.

I'm willing to bet that most librarians are problem solvers and that's why they chose the field. I used to be in Slavic Studies. In my own mind, I thought the Soviet Union collapsed from pathologically terminal five year plans--too much goal setting and not enough problem solving.

Biehl poses an interesting question that works for both groups. "What three things can we do in the next 90 days to make a 50% difference (by the end of this year, by the end of the decade, by the end of my life). It makes no difference if you say, "what three goals can we reach" or "what three problems can we solve," because either personality can get a handle on this question.

I was challenged during my last year at work to stop using the word "problem" and replace it with "challenge" or "opportunity." It was a good time to retire. It took away all motivation for showing up at work for a darn good problem solver.

Call his bluff - Charles Krauthammer

These are the days I'm ashamed I registered as a Republican in 2000. These guys/gals have no spine. Boehner said getting Obama to commit to something and stick with it is like trying to nail Jello, but the Republicans are the bowl of Jello, sweet, low fat, and completely useless. They are up against a liar, a cheat, a swiveling socialist head that speaks out of any hole that's open, and all they can do is worry that they'll look bad in November 2012 when he tries to blame them for his failures. His own party can't trust; why should Republicans?

He won’t sign anything less, he warns, asking, “If not now, when?” How about last December, when he ignored his own debt commission’s recommendations? How about February, when he presented a budget that increases debt by $10 trillion over the next decade? How about April, when he sought a debt-ceiling increase with zero debt reduction attached

Call his bluff - The Washington Post

Thursday Thirteen -- Comparing Grandmothers

13 things about my grandmothers that make them different than today’s grandmothers

We are at Lakeside on Lake Erie, a summer Chautauqua community, where I have noticed big differences between today’s solicitous, attentive grandmothers and those no nonsense, sensibly shod ladies of the 1940s and 1950s when I was spending time with grandmothers. One of my grandmothers was born in 1876 (a centennial baby), and the other in 1896 (a turn of the century baby). So even they were a world apart in life style and experiences. Altogether, I had six grandparents (2 sets of grandparents, 1 great-grandparent couple), and loved them all, and have many fond memories of spending a lot of time with them, but. . .

My paternal grandparents, great-grandparents and Uncle and aunt and their baby, 1935

1. I never saw either of my grandmothers in slacks, let alone jeans, shorts or a swim suit.

2. I never saw either of my grandmothers on a bicycle. Can’t even picture it!

3. I never saw either grandmother drive a car, although I know one did when she was young and middle age (one was blind, the other had mild strokes in her 60s). I also never saw them ride a horse either, but I know they both did--one even rode a horse to church with several children aboard.

4. My grandmothers never read to me.

5. My grandmothers never supervised crafts for me or played games with me or took me swimming, because that’s what cousins and older sisters were for in those days.

6. My grandmothers never had house pets--there might be a cat or dog around, but it lived outside where it could earn its keep.

7. Neither of my grandmothers was a particularly fine cook--if we ate well at their homes it was a holiday and the younger generation of aunties or daughters supplied the food. Both kept gardens and canned.

8. I never ate in a restaurant with my grandmothers when I was a child, nor did they buy me huge helpings of ice cream I couldn‘t finish.

9. My grandmothers never wore make-up--or even wedding rings as I recall.

10. Neither of my grandmothers cared much about house cleaning or yard work.

11. When they were my age (now) both my grandmothers were in business--one managed several farms, the other a small call-in service to pick up and remove dead animals.

12. Neither was the huggy, smoochy type, but both knew how to soothe a crying baby.

13. Both were married over 60 years, one over 70.

The Elder Justice Act

The new Elder Justice Act (EJA) is a part of Obamacare (PPACA). There were already two acts (Older American Act and Violence Against Women Act) and seven federal agencies spending $651 million in 2009 to protect older Americans under President Bush. EJA authorized $777 million over 4 years, which is pennies for an increase, especially to cover the goals spread over 50 states and hundreds of agencies. But it plays well for votes. Massive government programs often start small. The reasoning of the two authors from Chicago(XinQi Dong, and Melissa A. Simon received 3 grants to write the article I read in JAMA, one from the bailout) is that the current acts and appropriations did not protect older adults, therefore more money for the same failed programs was needed.

The key, gold plated, diamond encrusted words here that will create a never ending income stream for lawyers, doctors, academicians, advocates, workshop providers, community organizers, nursing home administrators, care givers, accountants, physical therapists and broadband providers are

Grants
Incentives
Staffing
Electronic records
Collect
Disseminate data
Sponsor and support training programs
Hearings, conferences to set research priorities

I defend her right to burgers and fries

It's not often I defend Mrs. Obama--only in 2 areas--as a fine example for other young women in marriage and family (i.e., she married the father of her children) and in her desire to see a healthier America (even if I don't always support her methods like that garden someone else has to take care of). All First Ladies seem to come under attack--they (the opposition) were merciless with Hilary Clinton and Nancy Reagan. They even picked on Mary Lincoln. Lady Bird wanted to beautify the country and campaigned against bill boards and she succeeded. Helen Taft wanted to beautify Washington, D.C. with better parks and she succeeded. So Michelle Obama wants us not to be so fat.

Meanwhile, yesterday she ate a 1700 calorie lunch (burger fries shake) and the conservative bloggers and talkers are going crazy. Lighten up. Criticize her politics--that's bad enough. However, diabetes and high blood pressure are serious and even more deadly in the black community. We all pay for that in loss of lives, and in our own insurance costs, whether it's Obamacare or one of the Blues.

Also, every dieter knows an occasional pig-out helps the cause.

Sudan leader's hat tip to Bush

When we visited Ireland in 2007 we found that Bill Clinton was beloved by the Irish for brokering the peace. George W. Bush right now is much loved in South Sudan for the same reason. (Although I don't think Obama mentioned it Saturday, the day of the big Reveal.) And obviously, Politico, a left source, is pretty snarky about it too in this article. But it will be up to the people of South Sudan to make this work. Right now they really don't have much understanding about what a "country" is, at least not in the sense the Irish did. But they do want to be able to harvest their crops, marry, have families and visit relatives without being slaughtered by Arab Muslims.

Sudan leader's hat tip to Bush - Reid J. Epstein - POLITICO.com

The Omaha anecdote and the Obama antidote

"The Omaha Public Schools used more than $130,000 in federal stimulus dollars to buy each teacher, administrator and staff member a manual on how to become more culturally sensitive. . . ." The book is infused with the usual hate and diversity drivel about America--and we paid for 8,000 copies.

James Taranto reports today that Clinton asked for a stimulus package in 1993 of 16 billion when unemployment was 7.3, and Congress didn't approve and 12 months later unemployment was 6.5. The economy recovered without massive infusion of federal money. Obama asked for 800 billion when unemployment was 7.6, got it, and the economy tanked and unemployment rose to 10.2.

Liberals believe government programs fail because they aren't big enough. It's the classic plan of doing more that fails. Really? How about a nice big tax increase, that should do it. How big did the stimulus need to be in order to really tank the economy into a real Depression--which actually we haven't avoided yet.

Obama continues Bush errors

G.W. Bush made two huge mistakes during his two terms--No Child Left Behind (NCLB) domestically, and in foreign policy believing that 7th century Muslim cultures wanted Democracy, free markets or rights for women. They obviously don’t like Western culture, are fearful of 50% of the world’s population (women) and want no part of democracy. Not even do the women want this. Not only did this spend us terribly into debt, but Obama is following in his tracks with Bush-lite “Race to the Top” education policy and supporting various elements of Arab Spring, especially the Muslim civil war in Libya. Both are a waste of money and blood--theirs and ours. We don’t need educational reform imposed from Washington; and Muslims don’t want our form of government, especially not for women, whom they need to keep enslaved for their own self esteem and sexual slavery. I say, let them keep their ways if it works for them. Bush believed in the beauty of democracy. I don't know what Obama believes in, but if he doesn't want it for us, why impose it on them?

Sometimes atheists are right

From a summary of Atlas Shrugged. Liberals ponder why Christian consevatives admire her writing since she was an atheist. Truth is truth, and enabling bad behavior is still damaging no matter which party does it or their motives for good.

Politician invariably respond to crisis that in most cases they themselves have created, by spawning new government programs, laws and regulations. These in turn create more problems and poverty, which inspire politicians to create more programs and the downward spiral repeats itself until the productive sectors of the economy collapse under the weight of taxes and other burdens imposed in the name of fairness, equality, and do-goodism.

The writer of this blog (Curly Willow Ranch) is a volunteer at a domestic abuse shelter for women. When a woman tries to manipulate the system for her own use playing the victim, or mentally can't respond to the responsibilities required (like toileting her children), the shelter can't help her.

We're at an age

when instead of weddings, we're attending the 50th anniversary parties.

We didn't know them when they got married, but here we are with the happy couple, 50 years later.

Vote or Die--the Democrat motto for Blacks

South Sudan Is About to Become a Nation - News Analysis - NYTimes.com

Although I guess I'm not surprised that New York Times gave more credit to George Clooney than to George Bush, it remains a fact that it was a priority of President Bush to stop the killing of black Christians by Arab Muslims with the establishment of a new country. Whether these western drawn borders hold any better than they did in the middle east remains to be seen.

South Sudan Is About to Become a Nation - News Analysis - NYTimes.com

Why is the President puzzled that business isn't expanding?

I’m puzzled that the President is puzzled that uncertainty is keeping people from expanding businesses and hiring more people. (New unemployment figures 9.2) Sure can tell that he’s never run a business. I’m beginning to understand why he was never around for a vote on anything. He must have left town when the questions got tough. With his threatening to raise taxes and transfer more wealth to entitlement programs, with his starting a 3rd front war, what could there be to cause tremors in the business climate? I wonder.

Thursday Thirteen July 7, 2011 from Lakeside, Ohio

Can you tell I don't have my editing software on this laptop? That photo actually says Thursday Thirteen from Lakeside, Ohio.

We've been here since Monday June 20, at the chautauqua on Lake Erie, Lakeside, Ohio. It is a gated community with a 10 week season. We own a cottage here, so we're here most of the summer, but started coming here in 1974 when our children were very young. Here are a few things I've done here recently.

1. Used the new (last year) laundromat because my washing machine died the first day we were here. It's about 25 years old, so it will probably not be worth trying to find a repairman.

2. Lots of walks along the lakefront at sunrise, but the weather has been a bit overcast, so they haven't been as beautiful as last year when I had 70 sunrise walks.

3. Visited the local farmers' market three times, but because of a very wet spring the growing season has been delayed, so I've only purchased one head of cabbage and one green pepper, but they have been fabulous--grill lightly with onions in olive oil, toss in a little corn and butter, and it's a fabulous lunch.

4. Won a jar of horseradish at the herb group meeting last week. The topic was horseradish--didn't know there was a horseradish company in Springfield, Ohio. Love it! It may be my first door prize.

5. Walked to the tiny local grocery store about 6 times--since I'm carrying the purcases, I don't buy a lot at a time. Staples are more expensive than a supermarket, but the meat is about the same, and there is wonderful made in the store ham salad, potato salad and cole slaw.

6. Read a book from the local library (inside the Methodist church run by volunteers), "Chosen by a horse." It was an excellent memoir and you don't have to like horses to enjoy this poignant story of a woman's healing through her love for her pet.

7. Slowed down a bit to manage our colds, which we got about a week ago.

8. Had friends Wes and Sue over for dinner of bratwurst and sauerkraut on our deck.

9. Enjoyed the fireworks on the 4th on the lakefront with our friends John and Wilma.

10. Went to friends' cottage to watch the last Glenn Beck Show on June 30. We don't have cable here. Then we all went out to eat.

11. Attended some amazing music programs the first week like Carpe Diem, a string quartet, and Raleigh Ringers, a handbell and chime group from Raleigh, NC. Usually I get sleepy and go home after an hour, but these groups were outstanding.

12. Attended several lectures on Christians and foreign policy and how the military builds cultural bridges. Both speakers were excellent.

13. Had a wonderful boat ride around the area with the "wooden boat society" group followed by a delicious dinner of walleye at the Hotel Lakeside. Enjoyed the company at our table--former clients of my husband.

If you'd like to play Thursday 13, check it out.

Lakeside Wooden Boat Society Summer Evening Cruise

Tonight we have tickets for the wooden boat cruise and dinner. First there will be a cruise on Lake Erie (weather permitting, and right now it looks permissable) from the Lakeside Dock at 6 p.m. Then at 7:30 there is dinner at the Hotel Lakeside (Walleye Primavera is our menu choice, but there was also filet mignon or portabella stuffed chicken breast as choices). Then after dinner there will be a lecture by Neil Allen on "Strangers in our Bay" about the unique boats from the 1940s to the present that have visited Sandusky Bay.

Are Lutherans taller than Methodists?

It's Lutheran Chautauqua Week--and so is next week. It's also the 4th of July week, so Lakeside is bursting at the seams. There were about 700 kids in the parade on Monday. Last night's program at Hoover Auditorium (seats about 3,000) was a group of Kenyan Acrobats. The men performers were athletic, slender and muscled; the women were overweight--extremely. Not like here where many men are overweight.

As I sat in my seat looking up and around waiting for the program to begin it occurred to me I had never seen so many tall people--i.e. well over 6'--in my life. I wondered if they were Lutherans. Descendants of the Scandanavians and Germans who settled around here. It is particularly striking among the women. When I was growing up a 6' woman was relatively unusual, but it is nothing today to see women 6'3 or 6'4. I suppose they marry men their height or taller and pass it on to the next generation. Women my height (5'5") just grow sideways.

Yesterday's afternoon program on Stress and Nutrition by Dr. Wendy Stuhldreher was pretty much what I expected--eat less, move more, and eat all the colors. Eating fish is always recommended, but I was impressed by one chart she showed where mackerel exceeded all others (twice as much as salmon) in what we need in acronyms, EPA and DHA. She recommends drinking milk, something I haven't done in about 50 years. . . either skim (yuk) or 1% (almost yuk). So while I'm blogging this morning I'm sipping a cup of milk.

I left before the Q & A, so maybe she addressed this, but the audience was very lean and healthy looking, even with the average age of about 65. In fact, I've seen so many overweight people here, particularly young people, it's almost like a "not welcome" sign had been posted outside the Green Room. She was definitely preaching to the choir. Doesn't that happen with so many topics that could educate us? People, particularly those on vacation, don't want to hear bad news, whether it's political, religious or dietary.

She recommended we look at the portion control web site, MyPlate.gov

Rush Limbaugh launches Two if by Tea

Glenn Beck is launching a TV channel/network/subscription show, and Rush Limbaugh starts a bottled tea company. He was giving away samples of his "Two if by Tea" in Joplin, MO, where he was a speaker over the 4th, but he and his wife compensated the other vendors for their lost sales due to his give away. Class act.

I guess these conservative talkers want to put their mouth where their money is--in the free market.

Rush Limbaugh launches Two if by Tea | South Florida Business Journal And I wouldn't call this a sympathetic artice--sort of snarky.

Week 3 at Lakeside--Health and Wellness Week

Looking at the brochure, I'm not sure there is much for me.

Tuesday 10:30 Bipolar disorder. I'm not and I don't think I know anyone close to me who has this.

Tuesday 1:30 Nutrition for stressful time. I'm not stressed.

Wednesday 10:30 Exercise for the busy person. I'm not busy, just lazy.

Wednesday 1:30 Health care reform in the era of the Silver Tsunami. I hope he's not going to tell us Obamacare is good for the senior citizen.

Thursday 10:30 Transitional care: How do patients get from one place to another? Not sure what this topic is, but it's by a geriatrician.

Thursday 1:30 The human brain and spirituality. My brain is in the loving care of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That's about as spiritual as I get on that topic.

Friday 10:30 Delirium: a serious problem for the hospitalized elder. This is an important topic whether for self, family or if visiting on behalf of the church.

Tom Joyner--Don't you dare touch the first black president!

Black Informant criticizes the critics who criticize: old Buffalo Butt reemerges for a rerun.

"Tom Joyner who some years ago had no problem at all blaming all of ills of society on then President Bush. This is the very same Tom Joyner who had no problem playing a rap song entitled “George Bush Doesn’t Care About Black People” on his nationally-syndicated radio show. No problem at all.

But say a mumbling word about “our first Black President” and all of hell must be unleashed."

(Joyner criticized Halperin of TIME magazine, a huge apologist for Obama, who called his Messiah "a Dick," which then earned him title of "Republican" by those further left than he is.) The left eating its young to stay alive.

What do you know about "Agenda 21" and your local community?

"Seattle, Washington is sort of “ground zero” when it comes to “Sustainable Development” and it has already spread like a cancer to YOUR community like wildfire. Read the Seattle plan and then check your local community “plan” for your future and see how the language matches. That’s because it comes from the SAME globalists who are peddling UN Agenda 21 right under our noses!"

Check out this link for more information.

Why do American liberals say so little about Islamic views of women?

This of course is a rhetorical question: we know the answer. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend." They think they will be able to co-opt the Muslims later, but they'll learn as have centuries of Christians, that you can't co-exist or cooperate with Muslims.

"Islam is a male-made religion, founded on masculinity, patriarchy, and male domination. It is notorious for its repression, subjugation, and discrimination against women. Islamic religion portrays women as inferior to men in every respect-spiritually, physically, mentally, and even intellectually. Islam's holy book, the Koran, divinely sanctions and decrees this negative impression. The Koran has been corroborated by the Hadiths (traditions of Muhammad's sayings and deeds) and perpetuated by the interpretation of the mullahs, the sheiks, and the imams."

Leo Igwe, "Traditional African Practices and Islam"

The Osu Caste System in Nigeria

Americans in general, and particularly educators and school children, have a very warped view of slavery, not only that of the 18th and 19th century type in America, but slavery that existed in Africa during that time, and exists to this day. Slavery, now called "trafficking in persons," is world wide and a bigger problem today involving more slaves and owners than it was during the cross-Atlantic slave trade.

Slavery and/or caste is based on a dehumanizing system that still exists in modern Africa and Asia, and you can look at any Nigerian blog or forum to become informed. But in America's schools, the memory of slavery is used to pummel school children into the belief that it was a result of evil capitalism, European greed and corrupt Christianity. They are lied to about the Founders and their struggle to eliminate it from our government long before the Civil War as they struggled to bring people of many cultures and states into an infant country.

And in order to keep peace with the Muslims, our educators, church pastors and media mavens will probably never tell the role of Arab Muslim slave traders using the interior African tribal leaders to round up and sell not only war bounty, but also religious, agricultural and domestic caste slaves for their own power and wealth. European slavers could have never managed to make it into the interior of Africa to capture and trade humans--physically it just wasn't possible. They were really low man on the totem pole of guilt and crimes against humanity for the 16th and 17th century slave trade. It was the Arabs and the Africans who made the system work.

Yes, teach American school children about the evils of slavery, but at least teach them the truth. That is is bigger today than ever, that only Christians and the U.S. government are making a dent in it, and that many modern governments still support the structures that allow a caste system among their citizens.

The Osu Caste System

The President who isn't there. . . or here. . . or anywhere

"Obama floats above every issue, either tasking subordinates or directing operations from on high, convinced he's above the fray and blameless. Occasionally he'll get frustrated by criticism and peer down from Mt. Olympus to scold the little people for their slacker ways, pointing out the harm their ineptitude may cause, such as allowing poisoned food, unwarned tornadoes and lack of a college education for illegal immigrants. And he never forgets to remind about white men's greed in a world of need." Fore Left!

However, he has worked in 76 games of golf since taking over the White House.

Skulls of mush

You can't pray, read the Bible, or discuss Creationism, but you can promote your union. "If teacher unions want to be strong and well-supported, it's essential that they not only be teacher unionists but teachers of unionism. We need to create a generation of students who support teachers and the movements of teachers for their rights." Howard Zinn

From a web page promoting progressivism, feminism and unionism being required subjects taught in public schools. Therefore, I won't link.

It's a small, small world

Monday morning about 7 a.m. I struck up a conversation with a woman in the coffee shop who was wearing a raincoat--a little unusual for Lakeside. It rains here, but most of us just carry an umbrella or put a newspaper over our head. As it turns out, she was from the San Francisco area and was accustomed to overcast, cool weather because of the bay. It was her first visit to Lakeside, so I showed her the newspaper and how she could sign up for classes and attend programs. She told me her husband was planning to attend the 10:30 lecture, and she described him.

When I got to the lecture I spotted him immediately because he was the tallest man in the room. I introduced myself, and we talked a bit. During the week I'd see the couple and their cousins and we'd wave and say a few words.

Last night he stopped by our seats in Hoover Auditorium (program was Second City Comedy troupe) and asked if we'd attended First Community Church in the late 60s. We'd been members there before we joined Upper Arlington Lutheran, so we said yes. He said that our names sounded familiar to him and he decided we'd known each other from that church, particularly a men's group that met on Wednesday, and we had invited him to our home for dinner when he was going through a divorce. About 40 years ago he moved to California, but had grown up in the Cleveland area and remembered his mother talking about Lakeside, so they decided to visit.

What a small world. We didn't remember him, but I do remember we often invited young batchelors or students for dinner in those days.

Older Americans Fuel Entrepreneurial Boom, Says New Study

According to the nonprofit Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, individuals between the ages of 54 and 64 represented 22.9% of the entrepreneurs who launched businesses in 2010 – up from 14.5% in 1996. Since 2007, the foundation says, this age group has created new businesses at a higher rate than any other.

Baby Boomers Fuel Entrepreneurial Boom, Says New Study From the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation - Encore - SmartMoney

Glenn Beck's final show on Fox and move to GBTV

We don't have cable at Lakeside, so we went to friends' cottage to watch Glenn Beck's final program on Fox last night, and then we all went out to eat at the Patio Restaurant, then back to our home for some wonderful Toft's Blue Berry Waffle Cone Ice Cream.

Glenn is starting his own TV network--I suppose it will be like Oprah's with some programming not from his company, but he'll have a 2 hour news and commentary similar to his current one hour on Fox. It will be by subscription. It was pretty much what we expected--some highlights, chalkboard, and funny stuff, tributes to his staff and audience. One funny clip was showing Jon Stewart's writers (about 15 I think) for his 6 minute monologues, and Glenn's ...two for his 20-40 minute monologues.

I noticed today that Dave Ramsey, a debt counselor, has the same message financially that Glenn has politically: "The government can't fix it. Now is the time for the church to rise up together in faith and lead our nation out of this mess—one family, one church, one community at a time." That's the same message I heard on Glenn Beck's sign off on his final program last night. The power of one.

Lakeside is flag ready for the Fourth of July!

If you click to enlarge you can see 3 or 4 neighborhood cats having breakfast.

The Popcorn Palace always looks dressed in her finest floral best.

Every home on Lynn between 2nd and 3rd was flying a flag this morning.

Miscarriages

In 1963 I had a miscarriage. The doctor told me then, almost 50 years ago, that about one third of all pregnancies end in miscarriage (spontaneous abortion) and had for as long as medical science had tracked it. Incompatible with life, was his explanation. Apparently, that figure hasn't changed much according to this article on thyroid problems and the risk of miscarriage which uses the figure 31%.

What exactly is "affordable" housing?

The city of Falls Church, Virginia, is a toney DC suburb. The median home value is $670,192 and the median income is $111,461. Not to worry. Falls Church has "affordable housing." That means it gets government money to pay builders to design/build or remodel homes for households whose income is at or 80% of the median income level of the DC metro area which in 2010 was $85,198. You'd still have a huge gap if you qualified to move into Falls Church affordable housing, and every good Democrat knows it is the gap that is the problem, not the income.

I can't tell if it's just the VA taxpayer who is paying for this or if it is all taxpayers in the U.S. But I think I qualify if I want to move to Virginia--although I suspect there is a waiting list. I'm certainly living below the media income level of the DC metropolitan area.
Falls Church Affordable Housing Policy
Senior Housing

Snippets from the blog notebook

Yesterday's speaker, Stephen Rock, noted in his talk about Christians and Human Rights that the documents of the main line Protestant churches are almost indistinquishable in language from secular socialist organizations.

* * * *

Anthony Weiner is busy reinventing himself according to the news. I don't know why--Democrats loved him just the way he was.

* * * *

There are now companies who can do a "social intelligence" background check for employers to see how badly applicants have behaved within their social networks.

* * * *

Media Matters, a tax exempt "charity" is a Soros funded Democratic party shill group that you can contribute to if you like left wing stuff. Now some tax payers are going after it because it is trying to destroy Fox News, a private, for-profit company.

* * * *

How dumb are academics? They spend time, effort and (our) money to determine that behavior and culture cause 80% of health outcomes, and then wring their hands that the USA is behind other industrialized nations. Doh! Have they ever looked at the borders of Iceland, Finland or Sweden? If people desperate to leave the amenities and squalor of their own homeland will risk life and limb to get here, what sort of healthcare do you think they had before?

* * * *

Last week there were no fruits or vegetables at our farmers' market. The planting season in northern Ohio was very wet--things go off to a slow start. But yesterday I was able to buy locally grown cabbage, green pepper, cukes, but I didn't see any corn.

* * * *

What are America's (Obama's) interests in bombing Libya? Has Obama ever been able to articulate this or does he just stammer? Where are the outraged war protesters when it's their guy?

* * * *

Laura Bush visited Africa 5 times during her husband's presidency. Did she get the drooling media coverage that Michelle Obama's trip did? If Mrs. Obama, while reading Cat in the Hat had been told there was a bomb threat, would she have had nasty criticism from Rosie O'Donnell and other "comedians" for hesitating and thinking what her next move should be the way they reviled President Bush on 9/11 who was reading to children?

* * * *

Barney Frank and his girl friend Fannie Mae were big contributors to the housing melt down. Why are they both still protected by the government? Why is there no such thing as failure in Washington unless you're a white Republican cheating on his wife or making passes at gay guys?

* * * *

Mitt Romney is Obama-light.

* * * *

Bristol Palin is as useful to her mother as Carter's brother Billy, or President Reagan's daughter Patti. You might get to choose voters, but not family.

* * * *

I'm surprised that today's teen fashionistas need a website like Tomboy Style to define what their grandmothers of the 50's and 70s knew instinctively.

Jon Stewart mocks Herman Cain's speech

Jon Stewart says he's not partisan nor a propagandist for the Democrats. If he were a Republican shill and mocked the speech of a black presidential candidate using a white man's Amos and Andy dialect, he'd be off the air. And in case you think Rush Limbaugh does this, then you aren't listening. He uses clips of their own speech, like his "Just-us" routine of Jackson and Rangel.

Cain says he is not offended, that he understands Stewart is a comedian. But I'm offended, because Stewart is calling his audience, probably 90% white, stupid, racist and ignorant.

Cain says it's not a race issue, but because he's a black conservative. I'm not so sure it's not racial. If he were light skinned, skinny and had never had a private sector job he might be more acceptable. If he'd never lived among blacks and had learned that "Amos and Andy" dialect from a speech coach, he'd be much more acceptable to the left.

And of course, Obama wasn't involved in this scheme at all

"A federal jury on Monday found former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich guilty of 17 counts of corruption, including trying to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President Barack Obama." WSJ

I wonder when he'll do a tell-all?

Ilinois owes creditors from funeral homes to Xerox

Illinois is $4 billion behind in its bills.

"International Business Machines Inc. is owed $1.1 million. Office Depot Inc. is waiting for a $660,955 check. And the 17th Street Bar & Grill in Sparta is due $340.52. They are among at least 8,000 vendors including businesses, charities and government agencies waiting months for the state to pay up. At least 114 companies are due more than $1 million, according to documents from Illinois Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka.

. . . Creditors include health and education agencies, schools, charities, funeral homes, plumbing-and-heating contractors and purveyors of food, coal, clothing, electronics and pizza.

"Banks have refused us a line of credit because of the state," said David Baker, who runs the nonprofit Open Door Rehabilitation Center in Sandwich, Illinois, and is owed $880,000. "We've had a long-time relationship with bankers, but now they wonder 'What if the state never pays you?'"

DailyHerald.com : Ilinois owes creditors from funeral homes to Xerox

There Are No Socialists

As always, Victor Davis Hanson nails it. Liberals are complete phonies when it comes to the joys of socialism; they only want others, less wealthy, to redistribute their money, but want to keep their own.

We have heard that taxes, more taxes, and more taxes are the cure for the massive deficits, run up by out of control spending. OK, fine. But why then does multimillionaire John Kerry go to great lengths to avoid taxes on his yacht (why a luxury yacht when so many have so little?); why are redistributive overseers like Timothy Geithner, Eric Holder, Tom Daschle, Charles Rangel, and Hilda Solis either late or delinquent in paying the federal, state, or local governments what they owe? Were not high taxes on the upper incomes like themselves the point of it all? Should not they pay all they can to ensure that their brethren receive needed entitlements? I thought Bono would lead an international effort of multimillionaire rock stars to relocate to socialist states like Ireland or Greece, so that they might gladly pay 75% of their incomes (which at “some point” they had enough of) to help others closer to home. Why instead is he fleeing to low-tax nations? Did not such socialists have enough money by now without undermining the socialist state?

Works and Days » There Are No Socialists

Free speech or abortion rights?

"Alamogordo resident Greg Fultz’s billboard is getting national attention — and it could land him in jail. The 35-year old owner of internet sales and service company GEFNET bought the space on White Sands Boulevard to run an ad featuring an image of himself holding the black outline of an infant along with the headline, “This Would Have Been a Picture Of My 2-Month Old Baby If The Mother Had Decided To NOT KILL Our Child!” The original billboard said it was “created for N.A.N.I.,” an acronym that is the same as his former girlfriend’s first name.

Nani Lawrence has filed a petition in court against Fultz for domestic violence and charges of harassment and invasion of privacy. Last week, an Otero County Domestic Violence Court commissioner backed Lawrence’s claim, recommending an order of protection for her and that the billboard be removed by 8:14 a.m. on June 17. Judge James W. Counts is expected to approve the recommendations."

Read story at New Mexico Independent

Do fathers have rights?

Why would you pirate a book? Are you a thief?

'Go the (Blank) to Sleep': A Bedtime Reality (WSJ)



But the topic, getting kids to sleep, puzzles me too. Our children, now 43 and 42, where NEVER a problem at bedtime, which was about 7 p.m. After supper, we kept things very low key, read quiet stories, gave them a warm bath, said prayers, sometimes played records (remember those?) and listened to their concerns of the day. I used to listen to horror stories of bedtime, and scratch my head. It was one of the most pleasant hours of the day at our house.

Gay rights in New York

If it's homophobic to disagree with recognizing gay marriage, unacceptable since the beginning of history in all cultures and religions, is it fear of numbers or fear of children to be limiting it to two men, or two women, or two people who are not minors? Polyandry. Polygamy. Man-boy lovers. How about child Muslim brides or boy-grooms? Is it anti-Muslim to say no to that in the USA? Step aside gay rights folks--there's a long line behind you, and it ain't pretty. They are on the internet and social networks and building up steam and "rights" hysteria based on your victories.

Does anyone know?

Why do Democrats want to turn the rest of the country's economy into Detroit, South Bend, Toledo and Cleveland--all under the jack boots of the unions and the Democrat incapacitating control?

Something to think about in 2012.

What is "environmental literacy?" Will it help us understand the complicated text and regulation on our ugly giant recycle bins to determine which plastic, metal and glass they want?

Something to think about in 2012.

Who are the idiots writing and proofing Obama's speeches that are loaded on to the teleprompters? This latest gaff of declaring a dead soldier alive, was not just bizarre it was hurtful to family and friends, later apology not withstanding. It's increasingly evident that his writers and staff not only have no grasp of American culture, they can't even proof their own research. Someone should at least be counting the first person pronouns (I, me, mine, my) so he doesn't sound like the narcissist he is.

Something to think about in 2012.

Why have the main stream media, Fox News, CNN and Democrats in general not investigated the ties to the Muslim Brotherhood of the wife of Anthony Weiner and assistant to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton through her family (mother and brother) while instead focusing on his bad on-line bedroom behavior and lies?

Something to think about in 2012.

How about that "draw down." It will leave more troops in Afghanistan than we had during the Bush years after Obama dawdled and stumbled over the surge recommended by his military staff which could have brought our troops home much earlier. Is it just to play well to centrists and moderates during the election campaign--hey--it worked in 2008.

Something to think about in 2012.

Why does Media Matters, an organization begun by Clinton people and funded by Soros, have tax exempt status, allowing it to attack private, for-profit news sources? Is it because it supports only leftist causes, and the reelection of Obama?

Something to think about in 2012.

Why does Obama offer job crushing tax hikes with his left hand while handing out the myth of his economy recovery with his right hand? The only jobs "saved" (did you hear Biden in Columbus?) were government and union jobs.

Something to think about in 2012.

What are America's (Obama's) interest in bombing Libyans and why does he not get Congressional approval for extending the war?

Something to think about in 2012.

Why do Democrats criticize the Republican's debt plan when they don't have one?

Something to think about in 2012.

If Obama's policies are Bush-lite, why are Republicans even considering Mitt Romney, who is Obama-light?

Something to think about in 2012.

Programming for week 2 at Lakeside, Ohio

Two interesting seminars are scheduled: "Faith and foreign policy in the U.S." and "Cultural bridges as U.S. military strategy." And of course, a highlight at the Rhein Center, my husband will teach his class on perspective drawing and watercolor techniques.

Parts of Stephen Rock's latest book, "Faith and foreign policy," are on the Internet, and after looking at it, I probably won't walk out, which I often do rather than argue with the speaker.

Good preparation for this week is this document titled, "The American religious landscape and political attitudes" (2004) which defines traditionalists, centrists and modernists within 3 groups, the evangelicals, mainline protestants, and Roman Catholics. Traditionalists are the largest group within each category of Christian.

After Democrats were defeated in 2004 I remember watching a panel of them on PBS discussing the election and they agreed that they needed to (pretend) move to the centrist/traditional Christian viewpoint--and it worked in 2006 and 2008, mainly by redefining what values words mean. Obama used the "hope and change" vision that is New Testament language with a familiar ring to push his socialist agenda. He fooled many, but we're smater now. Unfortunately, too many "centrists" were just fence sitters and fell for a pretty face and charming rhetoric.

Dynamite program tonight at Hoover: Riders in the Sky. A very funny and musically talented cowboy quartet. Monday we'll hear the Jazz Ambassadors of the U.S. Army. Next Friday, Second City, which will have the whole audience laughing. This week's herb study is on horseradish--the herb of the year. What a strange name, and I'm sure Carolyn will explain.

I used our sparkling clean and fresh laundromat on 2nd street this morning. It's official: my washing machine has died. It won't spin out the water. We drove to Sandusky last night to look at Sears and Lowes. Doesn't seem to be much of a recession there. The parking lots of the motels were full (Cedar Point is near by) and so were the restaurants. Traffic everywhere.

Three things I like about President Obama

1. He's Black. Or bi-racial, or African-American or Kenyan-American. Whatever you want to call his ethnic background, his mother was Euro-American secularist and his father was a Kenyan Muslim, many of us thought this would never happen in our life time--not even Jesse Jackson or Michelle Obama. It hasn't improved race relations one iota, but in that sense it's good, because it shows character and politics trump race. Something conservatives had figured out before the election of 2008. Even black Republicans voted for him for that reason--and are now sorry.

2. He's married to the mother of his children and from all public appearances, is a better father than he is a President. This will be a lasting legacy, and I hope young men of all races and politics imitate him.

3. Barack Obama has given conservatives and libertarians a kick in the pants that they needed to put down the remote and the golf club and figure out what they believe and why! Whether you call them Tea Party, or 9/11 groups or grass roots conservatives, many are paying attention for the first time. Some voted for the first time realizing they've sold out their core beliefs for the good life. This is positive, even though Democrats denigrate citizen involvement unless they've organized them and taken their money. We conservatives now know or will soon learn:
Our American history, including the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Federalist Papers

FDR and LBJ were among our worst presidents growing this wet snow ball known as incapacitating entitlements

RINOs are not our friends and should be voted out of office for the sin of bipartisanship and "crossing the aisle."

Medicare and Social Security are bloated, corrupt and a huge part of our deficit problem (so Tea Partiers need to stop gripping about cutting them)

The role of the Supreme Court in our problems

How special entitlements from federal block grants to summer lunch programs have hurt minorities and low income

How the government helped create the last housing bubble and is doing all the wrong things to correct it

The relationship of church and state--stop looking at the buttons on the uniform and pay attention to the real battles

What are our property rights

How important to the economy are small businesses

Cooperation is growing among Christian groups that formerly quarrelled about everything from baptism to the Pope

People are really looking at local issues like city council, library boards, schools, zoning and seeing all politics are local and knowledge begins at home

Conservative women cadidates are more popular, knowledgeable and well known than liberal--and they've earned their spots instead of riding in on coat tails

Life issues like abortion, sex slavery, stem cell research, and euthanasia have made the Republicans the party of the "least of these" and the Democrats the party of the rich and powerful.

Great programs this week

On Tuesday evening we enjoyed Carpe Diem String Quartet. Originating at Ohio Wesleyan University, they are a wonderful group that promotes music education as well as enjoyment of all kinds of musical styles. Korine Fujiware (1/4 Japanese, if I got her story correct) composed Montana, and it was wonderful.

The Wednesday evening it was the Raleigh Ringers based in Raleigh, NC. They are a group of 17 who play both handbells and chimes. They have released a number of CDs and have performed on public television.

Tonight we plan to see Water for Elephants after a reception for donors. It's a crummy week for weather, but the programming is terrific.

What unemployment problem?

A Wall Street Journal review of financial-disclosure forms reveals that about 250 congressional staff members earned a total of $13 million in 2009 from former employers, companies they run or other side jobs.

My new garden journal

In herb class today at Lakeside we made garden journals from plain brown 3 ring notebooks. We covered them with scrapbooking paper, magazine clip art, poetry, quotes, or our own art work. The instructor gave us 3 hole punch sheets with calendars, notes, layout sheet, wish list, etc. and 3 hole dividers to which we could add envelopes for saving notes.

I pasted this quote on the cover: "I appreciate the misunderstanding I have had with Nature over my perennial border. I think it is a flower garden; she thinks it is a meadow lacking grass, and tries to correct the error." Sara Stein, 1988.

Farmers' Market today in Lakeside

Tuesday and Friday--haven't seen this year's merchants yet. Love the veggies, but despite rising prices caused by fuel costs, U.S. food is still a great buy. Just make sure it is "grown in the U.S.A."

Last year's produce

Back to the old, tired and biased news sources

Now that we're at the lake house, I have to watch ABC or CBS if I want some news. You might hate Fox News, but Glenn Beck and Bill O'Reilly aren't newscasters, they are opinion/talking head shows. Fox News just gives the news, and some of it you'll not find on broadcast, and some of it is dumb car chases and pretty women. Not so the news on broadcast TV. I was shocked by the opinion inserted into the two stories I remember from yesterday, the Wal-Mart law suit and the Supreme Court and John McCain's comments on the fires in Arizona. This morning at the coffee shop on Fox News I got the real McCain story--that he was quoting from a US Forest Service testimony and report about fires. I, of course, realized the snippet ABC was quoting used the words "some" and "may" but they had to interview someone from La Raza to make it "fair," the radical, anti-U.S. organization that wants the southwestern states to be returned to Mexico.

The End of Green Ideology

"President Barack Obama’s administration has thrown billions of dollars at wind, solar, ethanol, and other alternative-energy resources. Now the Fukushima tragedy is being used to justify continuing these economically dubious programs. We can bet that none of these alternative energies will easily replace oil, gas, and nuclear power in the foreseeable future.

At market prices, without public subsidies, a unit of energy produced by solar or wind in the US costs five times more than a unit produced by oil, gas, or nuclear plants. Moreover, supporters of alternative energies systematically downplay their negative environmental impact. A wind turbine requires 50 tons of steel and half a square mile of ground space. If California were to rely on solar power for its electricity consumption, the entire state would have to be covered with photovoltaic cells."

The End of Green Ideology by Guy Sorman - Project Syndicate