What Constitutionalism Means

Why do Conservatives/Republicans make such a big deal about loving the Constitution, but try to change it, and liberals/progressives/Democrats not so much? Well, maybe it's because the Democrats don't bother to go the legal, constitutional route to change the constitution!

For two features of our constitutional politics could not be plainer: First, that from Woodrow Wilson’s day to our own, progressives have been far more likely than conservatives to express impatience with the whole constitutional scheme of limited government; and second, that progressives have long sought, often successfully, and still seek to change the Constitution without going to the trouble of formally amending it.

If you doubt the first point, recall how liberals reacted to the difficulties they encountered in enacting Obamacare. The political system was said to be broken; complaints were leveled against the undemocratic Senate. If you doubt the second point, recall that after the ERA failed, liberals achieved almost everything they had wanted from it through the courts. There is nothing that liberal legal academics and activists refuse in principle to read into the Constitution because the ERA is absent from it.

What Constitutionalism Means - Ramesh Ponnuru - National Review Online

President and Provost’s Council on Women

Why do women need so much help? Twenty years ago in Sisson Hall I browsed a list of fifty organizations and departments on the Ohio State University campus to assist women. Now we're 40 years into the modern woman's movement and I see this in today's OSU OnCampus e-newsletter: "President and Provost’s Council on Women, a service committee tasked with advocating to the president and provost for the advancement of all women at Ohio State."

‎"Since 1991, the proportion of young women enrolled in college has exceeded the enrollment rate for young men, and the gap has widened over time. In 2005, about 43% of women ages 18 to 24 were enrolled in college, compared with 35% of young men. This represents a major shift in the gender balance at U.S. colleges and universities. Between 1970 and 2005, the gender composition has shifted to the extent that women now make up the majority—54%—of the 10.8 million young adults enrolled in college." (2007)

For the 2011-12 academic year, the PPCW is undertaking two projects: The Technology & Work/Life Project, which will examine the effects on work/life balance of technology and the push to be connected all the time; and the Dual Career (Partner Hire) Project, which will address the status of campus-wide practices in the successful recruitment of faculty and professional staff who are partners. At its first meeting on Sept. 27, PPCW members will form subcommittees to begin addressing these two projects. . .

The second initiative under discussion is the practice of hiring or assisting the spouse or partner of a highly qualified faculty candidate as a way of recruiting world-class talent to Ohio State. Alternately known through the years as the “Trailing Spouse” or the “Two-Body Problem,” it is becoming increasingly important in today’s competitive climate in which exemplary faculty candidates, particularly minorities and/or women, are wooed by several universities.

If women need more time with their families or "alone time," they should turn off their phones or not carry them. If burnout is a problem, drop out of something or reduce your class load. Definitely do not grab for that next brass ring or one more credit card to float your education. If you don't want to be a "trailing spouse," don't have a career that matters to anyone but you and your family.

Any other questions?

Heartbeat Bill Ohio: Call Your Ohio Senator Today!

You have the opportunity to do something special--save a life. I was there Tuesday to support the Heart Beat Bill.



Heartbeat Bill Ohio: Call Your Ohio Senator Today!

Southern Poverty Law Center brings in the big bucks

We're on a lot of hit lists for money. Here's one that won't get a dime--but I haven't heard from them lately. Southern Poverty Law Center--the guys who publish lists of hate groups. They take in about $34 million a year (probably by sending mailings to rich white folks feeling guilty about their wealth), have assets of about $230 million, and pay their CEOs over $300,000/yr. I keep telling you, poverty is big business for the the middle class. If poverty were to disappear tomorrow, thousands would be out of work, and we could start the cycle all over!

Information from Charity Navigator. The good news is it takes zero government dollars.

It's Banned Books Week!!!

It's BANNED BOOKS WEEK--the American Library Association's big marketing hoax. And that's what it is. If you even read their own promos--"Fortunately, while some books were banned or restricted, in a majority of cases the books were not banned, all thanks to the efforts of librarians, teachers, booksellers, and members of the community to retain the books in the library collections." In other word, guys, you need librarians to protect you!

What American Library Association means is, if you the voter, reader and local tax payer criticize, question, or comment on your library's choices, your title might end up on the "banned" list. When my children were little I complained about "Little Black Sambo" being read to them at the library children's story hour and pulled them out of the group like any smart mom would when I was told it was harmless and the children loved it. What about the "Complete Infidel's Guide to the Koran" by Robert Spenser? I checked OhioLink--4 copies in Cuyahoga Public branches, one at a Cedarville, but about 100 copies of pro-Islam books. Is it on the banned list, or just the "not selected" list? Spenser was on a panel for ALA to discuss Islam, and CAIR objected and pulled all their speakers. Is that banning? The film "Islam vs. Islamists" was pulled by PBS after ONE affiliate objected before it was even shown. Did ALA object as banned?

Pulpit Freedom Sunday: October 2, 2011

Lyndon Johnson (D-TX) when he was a Senator got an amendment to the tax code passed in 1954 with no legislative analysis, no committee hearings, and no debate which silenced pastors from supporting specific candidates running against Lyndon B. Johnson. For the last 57 years, that amendment to the tax code has scared off pastors from saying anything that could be considered political--like abortion, marriage, education, or current candidates for office who are hostile to Christianity. Let’s take back the first amendment rights of pastors and churches. (Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.)

Pulpit Freedom Sunday's Purpose Is to Help Pastors Secure Their First Amendment Rights In the Pulpit and Beyond - BCNN1

Stephanopoulos: Obama Is on Road to Defeat in 2012

Give me a break, George. You know the media will never let this happen to the President you groomed, lied about and got elected.
Stephanopoulos: Obama Is on Road to Defeat in 2012

No room for Jews in new Palestinian State

Not only does the new proposed Palestinian state eliminate Jews, it will also not be open to Palestinians living in the camps for generations in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. Of what use would they be then? They are just window dressing now to get sympathy from liberal Christians.

Blog: No room for Jews in new Palestinian state

I, I, I, I, I'm, I'm finally going to admit who I am

"Now the Republicans, you know when I, I talked about this earlier in the week. They said 'well, this is class warfare.' You know what? If asking a billionaire to pay their fair of taxes. To pay the same tax rate as a plumber or a teacher is class warfare, then you know what? I, I, I, I, I'm, I'm a warrior for the middle class. I'm happy to fight for the middle class,"

President Barack Obama stammered this at the Brent Spence Bridge in Cincinnati, OH, and he still doesn't come up with a figure for "fair," but his wife wears $42,000 bling to the DNC fund raiser.

The jewelry was "on loan," but the message was clear to all those who can afford this extravagance. "Vote for me and you'll have no worries."

Seventy-eight presidents in New York City

but Obama is in Cincinnati flogging new bridges. The federal government pays NYC $25 million to protect the various anti-American poo-bahs who land here to discuss and vote in the United Nations. And many from countries that have no vote for their citizens, or who do but not for women.

Michelle's new bling worn at the DNC fund raiser is probably worth some of the annual budgets of countries that get to thumb their noses at the U.S. "The First Lady wore Katie's Lotus cuff priced at $15,000 with 2.9 carats of diamonds, her Gothic cuff at $15,350 with 2.17 carats in diamonds and the Quatrefoil bracelet at $11,800 with 1.73 carats in diamonds."

Boatlifters: The unknown story of 9/11

Here's a 9/11 story I'd never heard--the great boatlift, where 500,000 New Yorkers were rescued in nine hours.

Be sure to watch the video. You'll get chills.


Boatlifters: The unknown story of 9/11 | Journalist Profile | Reuters.com

LiFE Sports at Ohio State--more than a camp

“Ohio State's College of Social Work and Department of Athletics have teamed up to utilize their expertise in positive youth development and prevention to address issues of school failure, substance use, and juvenile delinquency. The collaboration created the Learning in Fitness & Education through Sports (LiFE Sports) initiative to enhance the quality of youth development, sport and recreational programs through service and outreach, teaching and learning, and research.

A central component of the initiative is its annual four-week summer LiFE Sports camp that serves more than 600 youth ages 10-18 on the Ohio State campus. Unlike most summer programs, however, LiFE Sports is "More than sports. More than camp."

It’s interesting how similar in mission and vision this sounds to the outdoor camping experiences offered by churches and service organizations when I was growing up. Like Camp Emmaus of the Church of the Brethren, or School of Missions camp on Lake Geneva in Wisconsin that I attended, Boy Scout Camp my husband attended, Camp Willson run by the YMCA where my son attended, or Camp Wyandot for the Campfire Girls when my daughter was young.

All except that “research” component, and in parsing that sentence, I can’t quite figure out who is doing the research--the youth, the social workers or the athletes. Maybe our camp counselors were doing research, but I don't think so.

Our camps, too, were more than “sports,” more than camp. They were a place for spiritual growth, for wisdom and understanding, for growing strong in Christ.

From my scrapbook, 1950, with both my name and town incorrect

The fields are white for harvest

Almost there. My hair is silver in the front, sort of blondish on top, and a darker gray in the back. I'll save about $500/year with no color. I've selected 6 groups to receive a donation. ". . .fields are white for harvest. . ." John 4:35.

1) Into the field; 2) Lower Lights Christian Health Center; 3) Pinecrest Community (probably new beds); 4) Pregnancy Decision Health Centers, Columbus; and 5-6) World Mission Prayer League [Lutheran] and Lutheran Bible Translators.

Why do American Progressives side with dictators?

Glenn Beck asked a simple question on his show this evening. "Why are the progressives in academe always on the side of the dictators--Hitler, Mussolini, Mao, Che, Castro, and now the jihadists?" Then he gave chilling examples with text and photos of Harvard and Columbia in the 1930s with Hitler's staff who were invited to their campuses, speaking before the students, welcomed by the deans and presidents; Howard University and the anti-Jewish black Muslims in the 90s inviting the students to scream JEW in answer to questions posed by the speaker; and the radical, fundamentalist Muslims of today, like Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, invited to many of our more prestigious campuses.

Just a few Iranian ex-pats turned up today, very brave, to protest at Columbia the visit of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (Columbia students were disinvited to a dinner in his honor at the last minute). Glenn pointed out something I hadn't thought of: the American media aren't just weak, liberal, water carriers for Obama--they're afraid for their lives.

Since we can't keep him and his tour of terror out of the U.S. when he rattles cages at the United Nations, we need to get the U.N. out of the U.S.

OnStar Tracks Your Car Even When You Cancel Service

Don't say you weren't warned. By Glenn Beck--you know the paranoid guy?

Navigation-and-emergency-services company OnStar is notifying its six million account holders that it will keep a complete accounting of the speed and location of OnStar-equipped vehicles, even for drivers who discontinue monthly service.

OnStar Tracks Your Car Even When You Cancel Service | Threat Level | Wired.com

Missoni for Target

Too many eyes, not enough bandwidth. Missoni for Target crashed the Target website. Of course, when I looked at it, if I hadn't know it was a famous Italian designer, I would have thought it was "What not to wear" and the clothes they throw in the trash can. But then, I've never been known as one who was up on the latest fashion. Loud, zig zag stripes. Sweater coats. I think I just packed up a sack of 70s stuff for Goodwill!

Missoni : Clothes, Accessories, Electronics, Bed...: Target

The Ohio Project--Issue 3--Obamacare in Ohio

Usually, I don't like to see amendments to the state constitution for one time issues--that's why we have a representative government with voters. But increasingly, all states, including Ohio seem to be going this direction. If we don't defeat Obamacare, our costs will continue to rise and we'll all be pushed into a Medicaid type insurance plan as more and more employers pull out of their plans or the insurance companies go belly up. Yes, Mr. President--that will be our "choice" to stay with private health plans--they'll be non-existant. So I support Issue 3 which will be on November's ballot.

Issue2/Senate Bill 5 is also critical, because if the public unions continue to bankrupt our state, we may not even have that single payer insurance, since Obama intends to pass along so many costs to the states. Even if you have to hold your nose on a few of these issues, it's important to stop the extortion and bankruptcy.

The Ohio Project

David Brooks is waking up, but he's still a sap

No one pays me big bucks to be in the "rich" class like Mr. David Brooks, NYT columnist, but somehow, with only a few courses in Soviet history in college plus 40 years as a Democrat, and I had Obama all figured out in 2008. When he said he intended to redistribute the wealth, I believed him. One of the few truthful things he has said in the last 5 years.

He [Obama] claimed we can afford future Medicare costs if we raise taxes on the rich. He repeated the old half-truth about millionaires not paying as much in taxes as their secretaries. (In reality, the top 10 percent of earners pay nearly 70 percent of all income taxes, according to the I.R.S. People in the richest 1 percent pay 31 percent of their income to the federal government while the average worker pays less than 14 percent, according to the Congressional Budget Office.)

Obama Rejects Obamaism - NYTimes.com

Oil and gas industry sees jobs in Utica shale

The Green ghouls will probably kill any hope for more jobs in Ohio. Sure we've got a Republican in the State House, but Obama's in the White House and he's got all his EPA buddies, czars and regulations to continue to grind down anyone who won't go along.

The Ohio Oil & Gas Energy Education Program is trying to make the case that the state is on the verge of an economic oil and gas boom, which could provide jobs and local energy sources for Ohio. . .

Environmentalists and green energy companies want to preserve the renewable energy standards, which will require utility companies to produce or acquire 25 percent of the energy they sell in Ohio from advanced energy sources in the coming years.

Oil and gas industry sees jobs in Utica shale | Ohio politics

Seeing the inside of a bill and the inside of the city

Today I attended a "celebration" (aka rally) for the HeartBeat Bill in the Atrium of the Statehouse in Columbus. There was a prayer service from about 7-11, so I got there about 10:30 and got a fairly decent seat, although it was filling up. When the lineup of speakers started all the introductions (for speeches of about 2 minutes) were done by Janet Porter--and I must say, she was outstanding. Just the right personality and voice to do this. The organization of the pro-lifers was stunning--I thought--as I browsed the booklet and list of county organizations. A number of the people introduced have been working on this for 38 years! When they started, they never expected the abortion movement to end up as powerful and deadly as it has--some thought Roe v. Wade would be overturned quickly. They were certainly wrong, as 50,000,000 dead children show. But they have made a number of inroads and have been saving children, although many fewer than they want.

The Bill passed the House in June, so now it goes to the Senate, and it is Senators they are working on, and a number of them spoke to us. They are confident this will go to the Supreme Court and that Ohio will win. There's nothing in the bill about when life begins--it's all about the heartbeat since everyone recognizes that as a sign of life.

One of the black speakers expressed regret there weren't more "American faces like his" in the audience (I saw perhaps 10-15) because for the black community abortion is nothing short of a Holocaust, being a much greater cause of death for them than all the major diseases. One of the oldest speakers was Dr. Jack Willke, Founder of the National and Ohio Right to Life. Another speaker was a young woman named Katelyn who is a paramedic and a former Marine whom I'd met at another gathering. She knows the importance of a heartbeat in determining life.

One of the speakers was from Texas, another from Illinois, another from Indiana. It's a long way to come on your own dime to speak for 2 minutes! That's how committed to saving lives these people are.

I left about 2 p.m. and caught a bus to return home that went down Neil Avenue to the campus area, and I saw many lovely restored houses--must have been a very grand neighborhood about 100 years ago. The bus went through the medical and law campus, past the new Union, on to Woody Hayes Drive and the new (very odd) architecture building, past the agriculture campus, then turned east to Olentangy. Soon everyone but three of us on the bus were either Asian or Indian. They seemed to be headed for apartments north of where I live and don't live on the campus.

All in all, an interesting day.

Bernadine Dohrn, co-host of Obama’s career-launching fundraiser

From attacking "pigs" to attacking an innocent baby in the womb and the mutilation of Sharon Tate. And in 1993 she, the happy little homemaker, child-care expert, was still amazed that people thought so little of her!

"Much like Vladimir Lenin’s ever-widening category of people considered “harmful insects,” destined for death or the gulag, Bernardine’s category of “pigs” was rapidly expanding. In the very recent past, the pigs had been America’s police and boys in Vietnam. Now, Bernardine was about to enrich the brethren at the War Council with her thoughts on the vicious Tate-LaBianca murders executed by the satanic Charles Manson “family.” The victims would get no sympathy from the future childcare advocate, who, here in Flint, was hell-bent on herding their mutilated bodies into her widening “pigs” category.

The girl from the Midwest flew off the hinges, waxing lustfully over the demonic spectacle of the criminally insane mutilation of pregnant actress Sharon Tate and her friends by the swastika-tattooed Manson brood. The crime done by the Manson clan is too mortifying to describe here, particularly the ripping open of Tate’s belly, but it wasn’t to Bernardine Dohrn. The future professor of child education at Northwestern saw a kind of deliciousness in these true Manson “revolutionaries.” She imbibed at the image of the cabal’s dehumanization of Tate, gleefully sharing her feelings with the assembled. Dohrn thrilled:

Dig it! First they killed those pigs. Then they ate dinner in the same room with them. Then they even shoved a fork into the victim’s stomach! Wild!

It was two days after Christmas, when America was still celebrating the image of the birth of the Christ child. Bernardine, however, was celebrating the image of the slaughter of the Tate child

Guest Post: Tracing the Origins of the Days of Rage Protest « RickMick

Glenn Beck provides the genealogy of Days of Rage

If you don't subscribe to GBTV, you missed Glenn Beck's monologue on the Days of Rage this past week-end (it fizzled miserably), back, back way back to the Weather Underground of 1969. He updated us on Jeff Jones, Mark Rudd, Tom Hayden, Carl Davidson, and of course, Bill Ayers and his wife Bernadine, and what they're doing today. Noted that Tom Hayden is teaching at Occidental in California, where the Obama transcripts are being held hostage. Here's a web site that will do about the same--it's a good read.

Guest Post: Tracing the Origins of the Days of Rage Protest « RickMick

However, don't discount the Days of Rage--which ended up on the steps of the Smithsonian instead of Wall Street, I think he said. The Weathermen started small too, and four of them managed to bomb a building of the University of Wisconsin and kill and injure people. And have you ever read a more apologetic marker for violence? If I were the family of that dead grad student, Robert Fassnacht, I'd sue for such a limp, vacuous account of this tragedy.

This article updates what happened to the dead, injured, and perps.

Math for dummies and Democrats

"Responding to a complaint from Republicans about his proposed tax on the wealthy, Obama added: "This is not class warfare. It's math."" (AP)

"If the President wants to increase the amount of money Uncle Sam takes in, all he needs to do is unleash the economy. Maximizing fossil-fuel production could bring in as much as $50 billion a year in royalties beginning a few years from now. Easing the regulatory burden and throwing the arbitrary authoritarianism in the trash could easily lead to at least much in additional annual income and other tax collections within a year, if not sooner.

In any event, the problem isn’t the intake, it’s the outgo. If fiscal 2011 spending comes in at roughly $3.60 trillion as expected, that will represent a 32% increase over the $2.73 trillion spent in fiscal 2007. What in the world do we have to show for it?"

BizzyBlog

Andrew Breitbart and the DMC

The Democrat Media Complex (DMC) is what Andrew Brietbart calls the unholy coalition of the Democratic Party, the Old Media (press, TV, Hollywood/pop culture) and increasingly the New Media (Salon.com, Huffington Post, Daily Koz, blogs, social networking, etc.). He was an unthinking Democrat until the Clarence Thomas Anita Hill hearings, and although he didn't change his politics, that when first realized that the Democrats controlled the media and the message. So how did a country with guaranteed freedom of speech and respect for western civilization come to be one where any speech that doesn't toe the party line is suspect and people in power are anti-capitalist?

There are a variety of theories about how we got to the anti-western cultural wasteland of today which welcomes Marxist/progressive thought in almost all areas of our life, including churches. Glenn Beck goes back to Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. Andrew Breitbart in "Righteous Indignation" traces it to the Frankfort School of Marxists which fled to the U.S. in the 1930s to escape Hitler. . . and to his own California, land of warmth, beauty and fun.

One of these kill-joys of the Frankfurt School was Herbert Marcuse, who was welcomed into FDR's administration even though he was an avowed Marxist. He worked in the OSS (pre-CIA) and State Department and later went on to teach at university, and wrote "Eros and Civilization," much beloved on college campuses. Or as Breitbart says, he promoted a society of perversity and having sex every possible way--and what college kid couldn't appreciate that? He is the father of both "sex sells," and "political correctness," says Breitbart, which was originally called "repressive tolerance," or suppressing the common values and promoting the formerly outlawed or repressed ideas.

"And so Marxism came stealthily to our shores, squatted here, planted its roots, and grew like a weed--all before we even noticed it. It happened at the university level and at the governmental level and at the media level." This was necessary in Marcuse's thinking because the various Marxist led anti-colonial and worker riots weren't going to work in America, and it needed to be torn apart from the inside by destroying capitalism and creating victim groups with "diversity" and "multiculturalism" and the constant refrain that Western civilization and particularly the U.S. was exploitive.

"Marx and Hegel had paved the way for the Progressives, who in turn had paved the way for the Frankfort School, who had then attacked the American way of life by pushing "cultural Marxism" through "critical theorgy."

All this says Breitbart includes the rationale for radical environmentalism, artistic communism, psychological deconstruction of their opponents, and multiculturalism and repressive tolerance, aka political correctness.

"If Marcuse was the Jesus of the New Left, then Saul Alinsky was his Saint Paul. . ."

The World Stopped Turning a year ago

And I blogged about it here.

Happy Constitution Day--September 17

It's 224 years old. "We the people. . . "



We the People: Honoring Constitution Day - YouTube

Sometimes you have to break the bad news. . .

My husband was dabbing some peanut butter and jelly on his Ritz crackers at lunch (with the football design) and he sighed, "I don't think Ritz taste as good as they used to."

"Well, honey, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but I've read that as we age, our taste buds start to fade. I'm afraid this is a complaint many people our age have about their favorite foods."

But I don't think he believed me.

The number of taste buds decreases beginning at about age 40 to 50 in women and at 50 to 60 in men. Each remaining taste bud also begins to atrophy (lose mass). The sensitivity to the four taste sensations does not seem to decrease until after age 60, if at all. If taste sensation is lost, usually salty and sweet tastes are lost first, with bitter and sour tastes lasting slightly longer.

Additionally, your mouth produces less saliva as you age. This causes dry mouth, which can make swallowing more difficult. It also makes digestion slightly less efficient and can increase dental problems.

The sense of smell may diminish, especially after age 70. This may be related to loss of nerve endings in the nose. Medline

Toilet shopping again

This time it's for our cottage at Lakeside. I'd like a taller toilet. I feel like we've got a kindergarten comode up there and that's not good for someone with a bad back. Plus, the floor is feeling a tad squishy. Nothing shows beneath, but in 1944 when this house was built, I think things were sturdier, so it may only be the subflooring under the linoleum is getting wet. In any case, I'd like to not have to rip up the floor, so maybe when we take the toilet out that would solve the problem and the floor would dry out.

Nothing's easy when married to an architect. I think we'll have to go to Lowe's and look. So far, my choice is the cute little Jacuzzi Perfecta round which is $127. And I liked one of the reviewers who seemed to have a sense of humor.

I've had mine for well over a year and it rarely (but still does about once every 3-4 months) clogs. I rated it average on features because what features should a toilet have? Stuff goes in it, you flush it down, works 99% of the time, end of story. Well, the seat that comes with it is cheap and needs to be replaced so I guess that's a feature con.

Obama’s ‘Jobs Bill’ Makes ACORN Eligible for $15 Billion in Taxpayer Money

Here we go again. More pay offs to unions--and ACORN, who helped elect him the first time.

The draft legislation, which had not yet been introduced in Congress at press time, makes ACORN, Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA), and a phalanx of leftist groups that regularly feed at the public trough eligible for funding.

Pajamas Media » Obama’s ‘Jobs Bill’ Makes ACORN Eligible for $15 Billion in Taxpayer Money

Like minded, but not united

Saturday night I attended a gathering of "like minded" conservatives. They were all Christians, but members of a number of different churches from Lutheran to Roman Catholic to Pentecostal to "not a member." And their issues were diverse, too--abortion (Heartbeat bill), Issue 2 (public unions), Issue 3 (defeating Obamacare), protecting Israel from extremists to confronting jihadism at home. But none of these issues will matter if Americans continue to struggle financially, because they'll lose interest in the highly charged and critical moral issues.

People are waking up about Obama. As a Senator his pro-growth voting record was ZERO. He hasn't changed as President. The Tea Party gets it; the 9/12 Glenn Beck groups get it; the libertarians get it; about 50% of the Republicans get it; and about 25% of the undeclared, fence-sitters get it. Time to shake things up in local elections this November and nationally next November.

The new old jobs bill is a joke. He hasn't bothered to even discuss the plan the Republicans came up with months ago, but he demands on his campaign tour that they pass his (which no one filed so now it isn't even titled Jobs Bill--a different bill is). This one is even worse than the one he proposed last year because it draws down Social Security even more.

As for me, I'll work on the Heartbeat bill. Might save a child or two and the two parties will still be arguing about jobs.

Breitbart is everywhere! Book, Old media TV and New Media

I'm really enjoying Andrew Breitbart's book Righteous Indignation, but it's slow going because of all the perfect one-liners I want to slap on my liberal friends' bumpers! He was the classic Gen-x slacker who slept, drank and gambled his way through Tulane for an "American Studies" degree (barely a 2 point). Even though he's the generation of my children, I see so many similarities of my thinking in the 80s and 90s when I was a Democrat waking up, and his.

The Anita Hill-Clarence Thomas hearings were his first break out of the plantation experience--and he saw the media coalition with the Democrats for the first time. I saw the "lynching" but didn't connect the dots and get the media connection. I did see Democrats in a new light after that, however.

Big Peace, Big Government, Big Hollywood, Breitbart.com, Big Journalism--all are web sites that are part of the “New Media” and created by Andrew Breitbart, author of RIGHTeous IndigNATION. The Old Media, he says, don't hate Rush Limbaugh because he’s a conservative, but because he launched an underground army with talk-radio that mobilized the conservatives.

And then the New Media came on the scene with bloggers (even little ones like me), aggregators (Drudge) and Fox News, then Twitter, YouTube and probably even viral e-mail--all using the internet destroying the monopoly. In his book he tells how “media is everything and how the left has been able to maintain and control the cultural narrative, and that includes the news, Hollywood, and academia.” To be interviewed on TV, Brietbart says, “It would be easier for me to say, "Hi I'm from Al-Qaeda, and I want to tell you why I'm at war with western civilization."

He's definitely attacking the media coalition with the Democrats in this book, and says that the fact that Obama (a candidate they created and groomed) is black was a huge plus because any criticism can be labeled racism.

James Byrum DeMott 1948-2011

We were planning a trip to Indianapolis today to say good-bye, but last night he died. We had visited him in June and saw a shadow of the man in this photo (taken in 1994). Jimmy won a baby beauty contest as a little guy. He was doted on by loving parents and grandparents (Neno and Biggie), and babysat by his older sister and brother. He was 10 years younger than my husband, and besides the years of separation, their personalities were totally different.

He served in VietNam, was married to Nancy Keel, and worked many years for the railroad. He loved, absolutely loved, hot cars. As a little tyke he started going to the Indy 500. In June he was still able to walk us to his stand alone garage which held with his "baby," a 1971 Chevelle that he restored and raced--not street legal. This garage was bigger than most houses and was outfitted with every imaginable tool for automotive work and was so spotless you could eat off the floor--also 2 easy chairs, a frig, and big TV, plus his 5-seater pick up truck, bright red. I'm guessing Jim and his buddies had some great times back there. Behind that garage was another full 2-car garage where they kept stuff like lawn equipment. He and Nancy have over 2.5 acres and have planted many trees. The love and care they put into that place reminded me very much of how his dad used to take care of his yard. Even in June he was too weak to ride the mower, so Nancy was doing it. And now unfortunately . . . she has been diagnosed with lung cancer and is still hospitalized. No services until she's well.

Jimmy as a teen in 1963--standing, I'm sitting in front of him.

Reince, Keynes and McCain's--a poetry challenge

Reince (pronounced rains) Priebus and John Keynes (pronounced canes) and John McCain's are words that rhyme. I just can't come up with a poem that would include the head of the GOP, a deceased British economist, and a US Senator. I hear from Reince just about twice a week asking me for money--as head of the GOP, and apparently a very bright fellow who grew up in Wisconsin. John Maynard Keynes is the Brit who thought and taught it's OK to spend money you don't have, and he's given us Keynesian economics currently digging a hole for our grave. Then there's John McCain's candidacy that caused us such grief in 2008, but which brought us the lovely Sarah Palin.

Let me noodle that for awhile, as Paula would say.

Nissan Leaf Electric Car

Right now, the click through reports say the all electric Nissan Leaf is being made in Japan, and eventually it will be made in Tennessee. I hope so. Because my tax supported Ohio State University is plugging (no pun intended) it. But a very handsome website.

Nissan Leaf Electric Car: 100% electric. Zero gas. Zero tailpipe.

Gardacil and Candidates Perry and Palin

This blogger has lost respect for Sarah Palin for the Gardacil flogging she gave Perry.
Just remember all the things the Clintons said about Obama during the campaign, but Hillary got one of the most powerful posts in the world out of it. Maybe. . .

Rick Perry made a mistake when he mandated by executive order that all girls from the age of 12 on receive the Gardasil injection to protect them from contracting the Human Papiloma Virus, a sexually transmitted disease. His intent was to mandate the vaccine so that the insurance companies would have to pay for it. He SHOULD have let the Texas legislature pass it as a bill, but he didn't do it. He has admitted he made a mistake, and he has apologized for it. Well we say, "Let he who is without guilt cast the first stone." Who doesn't make mistakes? But, how many have the dignity, honesty and integrity to apologize for it publicly? The present occupant of the White House certainly would not.

In his mandate there was a clause that allowed parents to "Opt Out" and not have their daughters vaccinated, but that was given little publicity. Not one girl child in Texas was vaccinated with Gardasil against her will. Bachman also tried to imply that Rick Perry had received a donation from a pharmaceutical company, but was cautious not to name which one. Governor Perry himself identified it as being Merck Laboratories, and the amount of their donation to his campaign had been $500,000. We happen know Texans who can easily write a personal check for that amount and often do, and not just to Rick Perry. Democrats too are recipients of the generosity. Michelle Bachman was way off base with her ugly implication. In trying to attack Perry she did herself more harm than good. Would Merck have profited from this action? Yes, of course they would, as do all the pharmaceutical companies who profit from the "mandated baby shots" all newborn infants receive, and no child can enter school without.

When Sarah Palin continued to harp on the subject and to criticize her now former good friend, We lost a great deal of respect for her. She might say that she's not afraid to call fellow Republicans on thing they do wrong, but Sarah Palin knew all about the "Gardasil affair" when she came to Texas to endorse Rick Perry, and it didn't seem to bother her then at all. In fact she brought along her youngest daughter Piper, to meet the wicked Governor. In March of 2007, the Texas legislature overturned Perry's executive order. That should have been the end of the story.

Two Sisters From The Right: Random Thoughts

Can you hear that heartbeat?

A lovely song about the heartbeat of a living child--nice acoustic guitar. Gather on September 20th at the Ohio Statehouse in the Atrium for the Heartbeat Bill Rally: 7-11 am Prayer; 11am-2pm Speakers; 2-4 pm Balloon Delivery to the Senators; 4-5pm Closing Prayer

Can you hear that heartbeat? - YouTube

The Heartbeat bill will 1) require a test for a fetal heartbeat, Sec. 2919.19(C); 2) inform women of their baby's heartbeat, Sec. 2919.19(D), and 3) legally protect babies with detectable heartbeats. Sec. 2919.19(E). Some pro-lifers are "all or nothing." This bill doesn't repeal Roe v. Wade, and doesn't roll back to conception for a definition of "life," or "living." But it could save thousands of babies. This is the slavery issue of our era--the chance to be involved in something really important. Many people of the 1850s and 1860s wouldn't personally own a slave, but also wouldn't agree that no one else had the "right" to own one. Many thought slaves should be freed, but didn't want them in their community taking their jobs. Others would help them escape, but would do it in secret. So now pro-lifers, anywhere on the continuum have a chance to save lives.

It's nibbling around the edges--meaning that conservatives are learning from liberals and progressives and Marxists the important of winning the small victories and then keeping the pressure on. If it gets struck down? So what. We'll keep going. When the Supreme Court finally outlawed partial birth abortion (something our President approves of), it was the Nebraska version of the Ohio law (30 states followed Ohio's example). I think Ohio is the first state with the Heartbeat Bill, but it won't be the last.

OHIO--THE HEART OF IT ALL.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/ohio-heartbeat-bill-abortion-paves-roe-wade-challenge/story?id=12876224

Abortion organizations and marketing go after minorities, the disabled, the sick and females. And sometimes, or often, it's simply for the convenience of the mother.

Frank Sinatra--I did it my way

I was looking for something to test my sound system which seems to have developed some static, so I chose old blue eyes and doing it his way. Underneath the YouTube was this in the comment section:

The music you listen to isn't who you are. You can still be a cool/good/normal person no matter what you listen to. For as long as I can remember, people have been saying, "Oh, I'm not a tool, I listen to (insert random classic rock band or other "old school" type music) so I'm not like all the other idiots of today!" When really, you probably are, if only for assuming liking a certain music will gain you special status with the general public.

Someone, maybe another commenter, must have been critical of today's music . . .or maybe critical of someone who liked Frank. Works either way.

Googling the new Obama jobs bill

Although Obama wants the current jobs bill passed before anyone gets a chance to read it, I can't find any articles analyzing it in depth except his jobs bills from other years. No matter how I construct the search strategy, this is the same ol' same ol'. More taxes on the "rich" and more tax breaks for the people whose taxes he just increased (the job creators). All these proposals have been turned down in the past, and now he's making it a campaign swing through all the states so he can hammer Republicans. The rich are those making $200,000 or $250,000 as a family. And that means small businesses. It costs about $80,000 for a business to add a $40,000 employee--so if his taxes are increased, and he then gets a $2,000 tax break for hiring someone (for a year), how would that be an incentive?

This is about all I found--and tell me if this isn't a way to drive us into a Depression but blame it on Republicans for balking:

1) Remove itemized tax deductions (mortgages and charitable deductions) and some exemptions for people earning over $200,000 a year and families which take in $250,000 (this is a way to slow job creation by small businesses)


2) tax carried interest earned by hedge fund managers as ordinary income rather than as capital gains

3) take away special preferences enjoyed by oil and gas firms (but give them to “green energy developers which continue to fail)

4) close tax loopholes enjoyed by corporate jet owners (let them drive buses made in Canada) but what will that do other than hurt that industry like when they increased taxes on luxury yachts.

This won't fill the gap, so then he'll go after your mortgage deduction and your charitable deduction.

Muslim speaker warns Canadians (and us) about jihadists

A Canadian-Indian-Muslim-Marxist-cancer survivor (not sure how this works) talks about Communism and Islamo-Fascism and how blind the western governments are. We are illiterate when it comes to Jihad, he says. The Muslim Brotherhood is dangerous yet welcome in the White House.

Watch live streaming video from ideacity at livestream.com

Book Club--beginning a new year

Monday our book club (I joined in 2000) met for our first day time meeting. The group is about 30 years old with some of the original members, and many of us preferred meeting during the day and not going out at night. Our first selection was "Two Girls of Gettysburg" and we had a wonderful time talking to the author Lisa Klein, who is actually a Shakespeare scholar. She got into Young Adult fiction when her career didn't go the intended direction, and I think I'll look at some of her other books, too. She talked a little about her Shakespeare interests, the genre of YA, and the thrill of the research.

She told us that one of the main characters in this book, Lizzie, is based on the memoir of Tillie Pierce of Gettysburg. Next month's title is a whopper.

For a very quick review, here's the rest of the selection:

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.

A number in our group had recently visited Gettysburg (our hostess just this past month) and if I had a bucket list, I would add this. I visited in 1949, but visitor centers in all parks and memorials have really changed.

The Slow, Certain Death of the Global Warming Theory

You certainly don't read about the death of global warming anywhere but conservative websites. If I link to Alan Caruba (this author), my comment window sometimes has to suffer from deletions. Wow. People get so angry when confronted with the facts which disturb their political views. And it isn't just liberals either. I listened to a Christian dispensationlist Sunday give exactly the same list of decade long disasters that Al Gore sites for his case--only he was using the list to call people to repentence because God was giving us a wake up call. Both have a very US-centric view of their own religion, whether it is environmentalism or dispensationalism.

Do you really think today it is worse than the little ice age when millions died of starvation in Europe? Are the wars today worse than the 70,000,000 killed by the Chinese Communists in the 1940s and 1950s? And do we even know how many were taken out by tsunamis or earthquakes in the days before recorded history?

What we do know in the U.S. is that we have more man made disasters with modern technology and disaster insurance enabling people to build homes along coast lines, or live in terrible climates because of air conditioning and central heating. But that can hardly be called God's warnings about the second coming of Jesus, or even climate change.

One need not be a climate scientist or meteorologist to conclude that humans have nothing to do with the climate or the weather. Watching huge hurricanes wreak havoc, along with other weather-related events should be enough for anyone to conclude that humans do not “cause” such things.

Occam’s Razor is the ancient principle that the simplest explanation is the most likely the correct one, but billions in public funding, taxpayer’s dollars, have been diverted to the “research” that corrupt scientists have used to justify the global warming fraud.

The Slow, Certain Death of the Global Warming Theory | CNSnews.com

Hiring the unemployed

When I was on a search committee at Ohio State for a new librarian, we looked at the resume/vita pretty carefully for gaps. Or unusual positions. There are so many questions you CAN'T ask, you have to read between the lines. If there was spit up on her shoulder, that could explain some gaps. But if the guy had been a used car salesman for 5 years after graduate school, it did raise some questions about just how committed he was to being a science bibliographer.

The Obama 2012 election campaign is coming to Ohio this week. Oh, wait, it's the jobs bill campaign. Yeah. You betcha. Did you known that this bill prohibits discrimination against the unemployed when hiring? Think about that! How long "unemployed?" Do you want a med tech doing your lab results who has been out of work 5 years? Or a computer repairman? And what about academe? Or a chef? A lawyer?

Maybe the person's unemployment was a result of a down economy, but maybe it wasn't: when employers began tightening their belts and cutting the dead wood, that employee was let go, and with all the extension of "unemployment benefits" he just continued in that mode and didn't try very hard to find a job.

And now you get to interview him. Do you even want him bussing tables, or changing tires?

How the Great Society harmed Blacks--Mychal Massie

In 1964, Republicans – led by Sen. Everett Dirksen, R-Ill. – were responsible for the Civil Rights Act, which overturned 80 years of Democratic opposition to ending race-based and gender-based inequality. It was intended to provide all peoples, regardless of race and/or, sex, the right to service in all public facilities, and banned the unequal application of voter requirements insuring all the right to vote. Sexual consideration pursuant to employment could only be considered where sex is a bona fide occupational qualification for the job.

The Act should have ended there . . .

Read more: How the Great Society harmed blacks

Blackburn Demands Feds Give Answers on Their Gibson Raid, Inquest

Why is the government attacking a successful U.S. business that is actually hiring? Maybe it's just easier than guarding the border?

Blackburn Demands Feds Give Answers on Their Gibson Raid, Inquest - HUMAN EVENTS

Classmates dot com settlement--it isn't a hoax--apparently

Today I received an e-mail notice about a settlement ($10.00, woot!) in the Classmates.com class action law suit. Although I've never heard of "hoax-slayer" I think this information is interesting if you want to pursue this. For $10, I won't, but it always pays to be careful and not jump into the viral/virtual mess of "free money" which requires some personal information. Since it wasn't offering $10 million and only $10.00 I thought it might be legit.

9/11 ANNIVERSARY: Leaders in tears as America begins ceremonies to remember | Mail Online

Incredibly beautiful photographs at this site.

9/11 ANNIVERSARY: Leaders in tears as America begins ceremonies to remember | Mail Online

Whatever happened to the presidential book race?

When it came out in 2008 that President George W. Bush was an avid reader--about 100 books a year, non-fiction--the left, particularly librarians, were incredulous, critical of the selections, or used the word "allegedly" when reporting it. Then about two years later it was revealed that Obama was more into fiction, and read very little--maybe 10 books a year. Then they just made excuses. This past summer it was explained as "escapist fiction" for his vacation and books for his daughters. Well, maybe there will be something for the ALA Banned Books Week, because I'm sure there's a good reason Obama doesn't read and George Bush does.

Some people get Obama loud and clear

In 2008 we were in a recession cycle and an election cycle. But even those of us who had to hold our noses to vote for McCain could tell a growth candidate from a non-growth. As senators, Obama's growth record votes were zero, and McCain's 94%. Is it any wonder he's floundering in restoring the economy. Look at his record!

According to the Club for Growth it costs $80,000 for a small business to create a new $40,000 job--a so called "middle class" salary. That's because of taxes, benefits, mandates, etc. Now how big of a government stimulus and additional tax breaks would a small businessman need to create a job and hire you? The first stimulus in 2009 failed to create or save jobs. The money went to save unions (public and private) and to create new government jobs (unemployment hovering around 3.5 in that sector). The second will too. Why? Obama is pro-growth for government, and anti-growth for the private sector. His record as a senator said it; his record as a president proves it.

Last night I attended a gathering of "like minded" conservatives. They were all Christians, but members of a number of different churches from Lutheran to Roman Catholic to Pentecostal to "not a member." And their issues were diverse, too--abortion (Heartbeat bill), Issue 2 (public unions), Issue 3 (defeating Obamacare), protecting Israel from extremists to confronting jihadism. But none of these issues will matter if Americans continue to struggle financially, because they'll lose interest in the highly charged and critical moral issues.

People are waking up about Obama. The Tea Party gets it; the 9/12 Glenn Beck groups get it; the libertarians get it; about 50% of the Republicans get it; and about 25% of the undeclared, fence-sitters get it. Time to shake things up in local elections this November and nationally next November.

The media, the Tea Party, and the President

"We have seen Obama in numerous cowboy movies. Obama is the loud mouth guy standing on the steps of the jail-house yelling at the crowd. He works the crowd into a frenzy causing them to overrule the sheriff and the law, drag out the prisoner and hang him without a trial.

Since the beginning of his presidency, on numerous occasions, our community-organizer-in -chief has worked his minions into a frenzy to punish white police, banks, Wall Street, corporate CEOs, private jet owners, Arizonians, insurance companies, doctors, the rich, and anyone opposing Obamacare.

As testimony to the effectiveness of the Tea Party, Obama has instructed his minions, Congressional Black Caucus and unions to escalate their slander and level of vitriol which now includes threat of violence. The left has set aside September 17th as their National Day of Rage. Lord knows what evil they have scheduled. The left has created a violent hate-filled game titled, "Tea Party Zombies Must Die". www.teapartyzombiesmustdie.com

Meanwhile, the liberal media appears tone deaf to the lies, hate, anger and violence coming from the left. When Obama instructed his minions to "push back twice as hard" against those who opposed Obamacare, black conservative Kenneth Gladney was beaten and sent to the emergency room by SEIU thugs. Clearly, Obama's new enforcers are misinformed flash mobs of black youths attacking whites across America."

Lloyd Marcus

PBS alters transcript to hide Obama gaffe

Timothy Birdnow notes the mistakes Obama made about Lincoln in his "pass this jobs bill now speech," and how PBS covered for him. Well, you can't complain he is stuck to the teleprompter and then gripe that he's not reading the words written for him. He can't be a Lincoln scholar, a Keynesian economist, a climate scientist and a military expert all at the same time.

Blog: PBS alters transcript to hide Obama gaffe

Democrats and Socialism

Fifty three percent of Democrats and 61% of liberals have a positive image of Socialism according to a 2010 Gallup Survey. 42% of Democrats in a recent Rasmussen survey thought the government should control the economy completely. Somehow they are able to separate the disasters from the dreams--afterall, "Nazi" is short for National Socialism where the government controls all business, and Communism is just Socialism with goals beyond the national borders, but everything is owned and directed by the government.

What’s meant by "socialism" in these surveys by Gallup and Rasmussen is that government needs to direct as much of the economy as possible. So how's that working out for us? The Obama Administration isn't the first to gobble up huge portions of the private sector, or take what used to belong to the states. I remember when there was no Department of Education, no HUD, no HHS. Now our biggest cities like Detroit and Cleveland are Democrat controlled, but with holes in the center from constant federal funding feeding on their problems. Our state universities couldn't survive without sucking on the teat of the federal government for "research grants."

The War on Poverty is nearly 50 years old and it's being fought by poverty-pimps commanded by wealthy bureaucrats and the fox holes are fatherless homes. So when the Tea Party, the Conservatives and Republicans, call Democrats and their Presient what they themselves have self-identified--socialists and communists--why the retaliation and name calling of racist, homophobe, fear monger, hater, etc.?

Dreamers Refusing to Wake by Fred Siegel - City Journal

The debate--Romney and Perry

For now until and unless I find out something I don't like, Perry is my pick since Jindal and Ryan don't seem to want to run. I've had enough of pretty boy socialism, limp wrists and bowing and scraping, and the White House filled with union goons and Chicago hoodlums. Let's have a little cowboy bluster to fill the sails of the economy instead of just hot air.

Romney said that his business experience makes him more qualified than "career politicians" to create jobs as president. But Perry took some air out of his balloon by pointing out that that business experience didn't help Romney create jobs in Massachusetts. It ranked near the bottom of the country in that category. Perry noted that Texas had created more jobs in a few months than the Bay State under Romney created in four years. Romney tried to explain quickly the difficulties of governing in a liberal state but primary voters probably don't care about Romney's misfortune.

Romney, though smooth enough for most of the debate, played a dangerous game by cheap-shotting Perry on Social Security. How dare Perry call Social Security a "Ponzi scheme," said Romney, who presented himself as a champion of Social Security and Perry as a destroyer of it. But Social Security is a Ponzi scheme for the young and Perry properly stood by his remark and calls for Social Security reform.

American Spectator

Henry Clay ran for president 5 times and lost each time

He also served in the Senate before he was 30 (the age stated in the Constitution). However, he's an important American statesman. The Contenders starts tomorrow night on C-SPAN with the story of Clay.

C-SPAN The Contenders

Who's the genius on the staff who scheduled it?

I think Boehner did Obama a big favor by not accepting his jobs speech/campaign speech timing. It was an idiotic plan made by a troll. What politician (besides Obama) schedules a campaign speech opposite the other team's debate? He has nothing to say and chose a huge venue for its release. The bigger the venue the smaller the speaker. He was taking a chance that Republicans wouldn't even show up (then in addition to blaming Bush, the Tea Party, and riots in Muslim-land, he could blame the House).

“It is a big deal that the House said ‘no’ to the president from our end,” a White House source with intimate knowledge of what took place between the House and the president told me Thursday. “This confirms what we all know: They will do anything in the House to muck us up.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0911/62505.html#ixzz1XN2HVlhM

Thursday Thirteen--13 memorable music programs at Lakeside, Summer 2011

We have a summer home in Lakeside, Ohio--a Chautauqua community estblished as a Methodist campground in 1873 with educational and cultural programming every day. Here are 13 of the musical shows we really enjoyed. Lakeside has a large auditorium that seats over 2,500, plus a bandstand in the park, and a theater called "Orchestra Hall," but most musical events are in Hoover Auditorium. There are 2 hotels, several B&Bs, plus private cottages for rent. Lots of planned activities for children. Gated community. No alcohol.

1. On Aug. 27 Helen Welch provided a tribute to “ladies of song,” including Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald, Aretha Franklin, Karen Carpenter and Patsy Cline. She is British, lives in Hudson, Ohio, and belts out some fabulous songs.

2. Shiloh Mountain Trio sang at the bandstand the Sunday night of the last week, Aug. 28. A Christian group, they are siblings and children of a Baptist pastor. They are named in honor of Mt. Shiloh Baptist Church in Cadiz, Ohio. We stayed for the whole concert and even bought a CD. YouTube of how they make their music.

3. Mike Albert is the Big-E (an Elvis impersonator) and very popular at Lakeside. He always puts on a fabulous show--this is probably the 8th time we’ve seen him.

4. Although it wasn’t billed as an evening program at Hoover Auditorium, Thomas Lloyd who is the band director at Columbus State (didn’t know they had one) gave an interesting lecture on the Music of the Civil War Era, and we in the audience had an opportunity to sing many of the songs with his leadership. This was the 8th Civil War Week at Lakeside.

5. The closing concert of the Lakeside Symphony Orchestra on Aug. 19 featured guest pianist Dr. Angelin Chang, professor of piano at Cleveland State. Our friends David and MaryAnn enjoyed the show with us.

6. Another winner with the Orchestra was Chad Hoopes on Aug. 16, a violinist who at 16 has a fabulous career ahead. I was enchanted. Instead of giving him a bouquet of flowers, he was presented with a print of one of my husband’s paintings (the orchestra).

7. Michael Shirtz, director of choral music and Arts at Terra State Community College in Fremont, played on Aug. 11 with his quartet. He’s so talented, and earlier in the season was also a presenter on history of American music.

8. We actually weren’t here on July 23 to hear the OSU Alumni Band, but if we had been, we would have heard a fantastic concert.

9. The Lakeside Symphony Orchestra opened its 48th season on July 27 with a program of “Light Classics.”

10. Carpe Diem String Quartet on June 21 originated at Ohio Wesleyan University and provides many educational programs, but they also can really wow an audience.

11. If you ever have the opportunity to hear the Raleigh Ringers Handbell Choir based in Raleigh, NC, don’t miss it. I’ve never seen such huge handbells!

12. And oh do we love Riders in the Sky who’ve performed in all 50 states, and here at Lakeside a number of times. They sing cowboy music.

13. Usually we don’t have secular music programs on Sunday evening, but this year on May 29 (Memorial Day week-end) the performers were Phil Dirt and the Dozers. This incredibly talented group can sing anything, but are particularly famous for their 50s and 60s music, and are great fun to watch and listen to.

The last sunset

Summer for the Bruces is over on Labor Day week-end. We returned to Columbus on Sunday, so this last Sunset was either Friday or Saturday. Sunsets and sunrises this summer were not as spectacular as some--the heat and haze blocked a lot.

Obama's New Old Jobs Program

It's busy work Mr. President. The stimulus (ARRA) didn't stimulate--that one mile of sidewalk in my neighborhood didn't produce anything the community couldn't afford. And FDR's WPA didn't create jobs it was a relief program for able bodied workers. And no business can take a "tax break" if they don't have a product or a market--and you've killed both.

On a visit to Asia, the late economist Milton Friedman observed workers digging a canal, using shovels. He asked a government bureaucrat why they weren't using modern excavation machinery. The answer: "You don't understand. This is a jobs program." Friedman replied, "Oh, I thought you were trying to build a canal. If it's jobs you want, then you should give the workers spoons, not shovels."

Gov't Is Job Killer, Not Creator - Investors.com

Dear POTUS: If we can’t believe you on civility… | The Anchoress

The Anchoress writes:
"I have one question. When you get up there before the joint-session of Congress, with your “You-are-the-only-folks-keeping-the-barbarians-from-the-gates” Vice President seated behind you, and you tell us you have a plan, and that it is a plan for all Americans, knowing that the whole nation (and every man and woman in that chamber) is aware that Teamsters leader Jimmy Hoffa referred to “your army” and called for the opposition “sons of bitches” to be “taken out” while you said nothing, gave no correction, made no rebuke — not even by way of a later statement, how will you make them believe you?

Mr. President, we all remember your eloquence in Arizona last January, when you declared that irresponsible rhetoric had no place in public discourse. You said,

“At a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized – at a time when we are far too eager to lay the blame for all that ails the world at the feet of those who think differently than we do – it’s important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we are talking with each other in a way that heals, not a way that wounds.”"

Dear POTUS: If we can’t believe you on civility… | The Anchoress

Whodathunkit?

"Single women are in much worse financial condition than other Americans, according to an analysis of the Federal Reserve Board’s most recent Survey of Consumer Finances." an OSU College of Education prof was quoted as being surprised. I'm not.

Labor On--his thoughts about "Labor Day"

"I have wondered how a nation so rich, so vibrant and so innovative could allow its wealth-creation mechanism to be controlled by elected career politicians and appointed bureaucrats. They are not creators or generators of wealth and value. They are parasitic blood-sucking consumers of the labor and inspiration of others." Charles Earl

Little Stuff-minoosha: Labor On

Illegal Immigration--where Bush and Obama were joined at the hip

However, whereas amnesty hurt Bush with his constituency, it helps Obama. So he just commanded it like any petty dictator who wanted cheap votes and even cheaper labor.

"Facing a difficult reelection climate, and frustrated by the inability of his party to move immigration reform legislation through the Congress, Obama has decided to simply ignore existing federal law requiring deportation of illegal aliens in custody. He has decreed that hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants who would otherwise be subject to mandatory deportation, will be permitted to stay in the United States; including many illegals currently enrolled in schools."

Immigration Dispute Has Constitutional Undertones | The Barr Code

Today is G-Day

The last of my hair color will be cut off this morning. It was a shock to me when my mother, aunt, sister, etc. went for the natural look. I felt like I'd aged. My husband and daughter both suggested I go blonde, which brown fades to anyway, but I never really cared for that look. Deborah says she loves saving the money. So, we'll see--if I don't like it I can always go back to color.

Brown, 2007

Blonde, 2003

Brown, 1981

Brown, 1971

Brown, 1964

Ask Amy: Husband’s crisis throws wife a curveball

It's really naive for a wife left behind to assume "no other woman is involved" after the husband decides to leave after 30 years. Wake up and smell the coffee, lady. Or maybe it's another man. But something doesn't pass the sniff test here.

Ask Amy: Husband’s crisis throws wife a curveball - The Washington Post

Did you evolve from slime, ooze and sludge?

Here's what the guys who think you did, think of you if you believe the Bible (In the beginning God. . .; In the beginning was the Word. . .; He is before all things. . . ; Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation?. . . ):

"It is very troubling to think that with all the billions of dollars we have spent on "education" that we have so may uneducated people. It's even more troubling to think about how the trillions of dollars wasted on religious "stuff" (buildings and properties, salaries, lawsuit settlements, velvet slippers and gold chapeaux, etc., etc.) could have been better served invested in new technology, basic research, infrastructure construction and maintenance, "real" education, social services, etc.). Shameful foolishness."

Found at a "science" blog comment.

Late July Organic Dark Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

I picked up two boxes of these dark chocolate sandwich cookies at Giant Eagle today. Oh my, they are just as good as I'd hoped they would be.

Ingredients: Organic wheat flour, organic evaporated cane juice, organic palm oil, organic powdered evaporated cane juice with organic corn starch, organic whole wheat flour, organic cocoa, organic cocoa (processed with alkali), organic chocolate liquor, organic cocoa butter, organic brown rice syrup, organic evaporated cane juice syrup organic roasted barley, organic vanilla extract, sodium bicarbonate, soy lecithin, sea salt and natural flavors.

Other bits of information from the box: We are family owned and operated and all our products are certified USDA Organic (Steve, Nicole & Family). Logos for USDA Organic (green and white), whole grain (gold) and Vegan (white).

On box: (Cardboard box, plastic tray and foil wrap.) Produced without dangerous pesticides. No trans fats or high fructose corn syrup. No artificial flavors, colors or preservatives. Kosher and Vegan. Antioxidants. 2 g whole grains per serving (3 cookies, 33 g).

The name (Late July): “Late July is a moment in time when life is simple, pure and good. It’s watching your child laughing and playing with his dog on the beach. It’s the middle of summer when you’re knee deep in sand castles and problems are a million miles away. . . A constant reminder that our ingredients need to be a special and pure as the moments they represent.

Remember ladies, dark chocolate is good for you!

Erie Spirit Sailing

If you like to sail, and didn't bring your sailboat, you can rent the experience with Captain Jim. captainjim at lakeeriesail dot com. My husband, his friends Jim and Eric, and Eric's brother David did just that earlier in the summer. Captain Jim was my husband's sailing instructor some years ago. I'd won sailing lessons in a pie contest, but wasn't interested, so my husband used them. He loved it!

English is a strange language

"Underserved populations" is the term used for groups for which researchers and politicians get government grants, so there may be lack of resources somewhere, but "underserved" they aren't. There are special programs to track them down to offer them more entitlements.

"Bloombito" is a Twitter acount which ridicules Mayor Bloomberg's attempts to woo the Spanish speaking population of NYC with the worst Spanish you've ever heard.

"Public servant" is a government employee who may earn 3x more than a private sector employee who pays his salary.

"Family balancing" is aborting the female fetus through sex selection.

"Intellectual disability" is a new term used by those wordsmiths who gave up on "mentally retarded" and "developmentally disabled," but the word intellectual used to have some snob appeal and usually meant people at the other end of the IQ spectrum.

"Current thinking" is a sloppy euphemism that usually throws out what was current 3-4 years ago, but it it used rather than citing the document.

"Adopt a pet" is something you do when you can't give birth to one.

"Reality TV" is completely unreal.

"Food insecurity" has replaced "hunger" because not enough people were hungry to fund 25 programs and all the government workers dependent on them.

"Food stamps"--we don't have them anymore, they are now SNAP, supplemental nutrition assistance program, and I think it's a plastic card.

Ratio Of Takers To Givers Reaches A Tipping Point

Minimum wage increases hurt blacks the most. Larry Elder

Economist Milton Friedman called minimum-wage regulations among the "most anti-black" laws on the books. Why? A disproportionate number of blacks are unskilled and, therefore, are disproportionately harmed when laws force employers to pay more than the market value of labor.

Ratio Of Takers To Givers Reaches A Tipping Point - Investors.com

Uncle Omar and Aunt Zeituni

President Obama has at least 2 relatives living in the United States illegally. When it was first revealed right before the election of 2008, President Bush, always soft on illegal immigration anyway, tried to play the nice guy, not that it was ever appreciated.

Bush administration officials ordered immigration authorities across the country to halt all deportation enforcement actions until after the campaign season was over. An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) source familiar with Western field offices told me at the time: "The ICE fugitive operations group throughout the U.S. was told to stand down until after the election from arresting or transporting anyone out of the U.S. This was done to avoid any mistakes of deporting or arresting anyone who could have a connection to the election, i.e., anyone from Kenya who could be a relative. The decision was election-driven."

Now, we know there was at least one other Obama deportation fugitive hiding in plain view who benefited from the freeze.

More damningly, we know that both Republican and Democratic administrations continue to play politics with homeland security while paying lip service to the 9/11 dead.

America's Uncle Omar Problem - Page 2 - Michelle Malkin - Townhall Conservative

Kurt Cobain lunchbox

It's in the 90s today, but I decided to bike up to the train station (Lakeside, OH) for the Archives sale. On my way there I looked at the last hill and decided it was too hot, so I turned around, and as I did, I saw the sign that said it was at South Auditorium rather than the Train Station, so I was already there. Nothing much to interest me, but maybe the good stuff was gone. I thought everything was over priced, using the Volunteers of America store as my guide. I did see a Kurt Cobain lunchbox ($3.00)that really puzzled me. I tried to imagine who in the 1990s would have bought a kid a lunchbox like that. When I got home I googled it (mainly to see what the going rate was). It wasn't issued until 2006 or 2007 when his widow, Courtney Love, sold the rights to some songs and his image. Probably only women bought such an item, and showed it off at work once or twice then put it away.

So I read through his biography. What a sad, sad, empty life. Proof, if you needed it, that money can't make a person happy who's taken a bad situation and made it worse with drugs.

On e-bay someone wanted $50.00 for a Kurt Cobain lunchbox. Good luck--it's going for $3 in Lakeside, and even then, had no takers.

We love Brenda as The Closer

We've been fans of TNT's The Closer since it began in June 2005. It's now in it's 7th and final season, and we're watching the first season on DVD on our new digital TV at our lake house. We don't have cable here, so we're watching one episode an evening, and on Monday nights we go to a neighbors to see last week's and this week's episodes. I've seen some of these episodes several times, and now I can just watch for the humor and team building, watching Brenda's team come together after first resenting her. In the first season we get to watch her and Fritz fall in love; how she got her crazy house; how she came to acquire kitty; why she is always lost; and her addiction to junk food.

Unfortunately, Mr. James Duff (story coordinator), we also see certain themes from the very beginning--favorites of Hollywood: 1) anti-religion, particularly Christianity, but there's nothing kind about Muslims either; 2) sensitivity to gay issues, but with almost vicious reality about gays being the perps as well as the victims; 3) guys as slime balls (except Fritz) when it comes to sex, and women being powerful and smart; 4) southern stereotypes from Brenda's oozing "thank you," to her mother's solicitous, hovering behavior; presenting the right political spectrum in the most unflattering roles possible while not making them either the perp or the victim--just hauling them in for questioning so they can be mouthpieces for the hostility of the writers and producers (nothing similar for the left or socialist view--afterall, that IS Hollywood); people within the legal system, lawyers, police, DAs, private investigators, etc. as criminals. Much of this we'd come to expect on Law and Order--which was particularly hostile to conservatives and Christians, but had good story lines.

Still, even understanding how Hollywood sees those of us in fly-over country as soggy Tea Bags, I'd like to see a little respect once in a while. We pay cable bills too, and buy advertised products. Brenda Leigh Johnson and her crew are great--just too one dimensional and predictable in their dislike for American values.

Get over it!

The VFW is miffed that neither Obama nor Biden were going to attend their convention--they agreed to send "second tier" officials. Really? They did come in 2009 and 2010 as I understand it. How often do you think the guy can leave his golf game? Besides, you don't like him, and he doesn't like you. He's just not that into you. Get over it and move on. Be the big boy he isn't.

Advice to a young friend still in an ELCA congregation--get out while you can

The recent battle in ELCA was supposed to be about ordained ELCA gay pastors being released from the celibacy vow. The 2009 vote to OK "committed relationships" (it's been in play and voted down since 1988) won't stop there. Obviously, this inclusiveness conference your pastor is attending is the next step. And it won't stop with gay marriage or anything similar, because polygamy and sex with minors are waiting at the door for approval. Lutherans who mistakenly believe all this will go away if we are just "loving and accepting" of differences are badly mistaken. If it were me, I'd find a believing church while you are young enough to establish new friendships and outlets for service. Our new synod is North American Lutheran Church, headquartered at UALC--about 400 churches right now. It will grow, but ELCA is moving to make it more difficult for congregations to leave. Get out while you can.

Among Six Types Of Failure, Only A Few Help You Innovate

When I see the term FAILURE, my mind immediately strays to the Obama Administration. Fail early and often certainly seems to be their motto, although I'm not sure I see much innovation resulting from this, as the article (about computer design and problem solving) suggests. And even the examples the author gives for "abject failure"-- BP oil spill and the mortgage meltdown --haven't been failures, but rather golden opportunities, for BO. Yes, he appeared weak and ineffective, but he did manage to drive all those oil rigs into the deep water off other countries where they can't contribute to the U.S. economy, but can still spoil the oceans. And the collapsed housing market was just another reason to rachet up government regulations, one of the primary causes of that failure. These failures have contributed to his assuring us we just need more of the same, and for many voters on the left, that works. It's soothing and familiar.

Among Six Types Of Failure, Only A Few Help You Innovate | Co. Design

He must have gotten bad news from the doctor!

Today I saw a man jogging. Lots of people jog, but I've only seen this guy do two things, 1) sit on his porch, and 2) walk slowly around the block with his even slower dog looking for a yard to poop in. Now he's jogging? And sweating? Must have been told by the doctor that he needed to do some exercise.

Actually, I couldn't jog even if the doctor prescribed it. Besides walking is better for you and rarely damages the knees.

Week 11--Senior Venture Week at Lakeside

This week we're learning about notable Ohioans. Sunday night I watched a movie on the Wright Brothers, and yesterday I attended a program on Ohio Astronauts. I didn't know we had 24 astronauts! The speaker covered just a few of the highlights, like John Glenn, James Lovell, Judy Resnick (died in the Challenger explosion), Sanita Williams, and Neil Armstrong. I'd sort of forgotten what rock star celebrities these guys became. We got our babies up on the night of July 20, 1969 to watch the "first step".

But we learned that NASA isn't going away even though manned space flight (now called "crewed space flight" so as not to use the word man) is being discontinued. A young female employee giving her first presentation talked to us about her research in radioisotopes and about the Discovery Mission. There is still a lot going on.

I had no idea someone had written a song about the astronauts, but I found this on the internet.

Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins
were launched away in space
Millions of hearts were lifted,
proud of the human race
Space control at Houston, radio command
The team below that gave the go
they had God's helping hand.

Yes, it was a very proud time for Americans.