Speaking of architects

Our exercise leader, Christine, has challenged the class to count calories track the food we eat for one week. My husband is a little new at this. He was shocked to learn that although 1/2 cup of chicken, a cup of tossed salad, and 1/2 cup of cooked carrots, was only 315 calories, the one Klondike bar he had for dessert was about 450. Just didn't seem fair. Tell me about it.

The internet makes this tracking much easier than in the past.

Architects have no jobs without the wealthy--but some don't know that

Was just reading through a rant by a young architect/partner about how today's Occupiers are in a class with the poor of the French Revolution, or the northern Irish, or the riots of Arab Spring and other oppressed masses. So I viewed his firm's portfolio. Seems they do quite well with the rich and powerful and well connected. He seems to have a problem distinguishing between dictators/kings and private individuals. Even so, he'd be out of work if the Occupiers have their way--plus they'd be redistributing the wealth of his firm.

In the French Revolution people were in the streets with pitchforks and axe handles because that is the only way they could arm themselves. Today we have electronic pitchforks and a powerful surge of connectedness that Fox News and all the right wing Reaganomic spouters will not be able to shout down. One never knows exactly what triggers a movement such as this, as the freedom from Arab Spring could have been the genesis in the same way that the American Civil Rights movement helped birth uprisings in Northern Ireland back in the 60's. Like it or not we are a globally interconnected world and this appears to be the dawning of the Noosphere as predicted long ago by Teilhard de charadin. You can bet that this is all being blocked on Chinese monitors, but even oppresssive regimes like that that we are beholden too will eventually fall, as this is much larger and moving on. I encourage architects to join the fun. Just imagine the tarring and feathering of bankers and their ilk and how it could lead to a more egalitarian society. So yes, join the fun of it all and be inventive with your slogans and costumes

A Columbus man began a project in June to raise funds for a neighborhood clean-up ($1,500). He found out that it would cost $1,660 for permits and fees. Doesn't have his ducks in a row yet. So how did all these Occupy groups get their permits and approvals so quickly? In a lot of cities, they didn't, even though Tea Parties were charged and even had to get insurance. The leftists who organized these were hoping for the violence that erupted in Oakland, and the arrests in other cities. And the more violence (which the young architect thought would be fun to see), the more over-time for police.

Richmond Tea Party Sues City: Charge #Occupy Protesters Or Refund $10,000 For Rallies at Plaza

Why charge patriots $10,000 for permits, portable toilets, police presence and emergency personnel for three rallies held at the same plaza where the Occupy Richmond squatters set up their camp? The group also had to purchase a $1 million insurance policy.

Richmond Tea Party Sues City: Charge #Occupy Protesters Or Refund $10,000 For Rallies at Plaza | The Gateway Pundit

“When we were applying for our permits, did the city say, ‘Oh never mind, we’re children of the 60s, we believe in the First Amendment’? No, they didn’t tell us that,” she said. “We’re almost being punished for following the law. We do have a problem when others are protesting in the same exact park and they don’t have to follow the same rules.”

Calls and emails made by CBS Washington to “Occupy Richmond” officials and Jones’ office seeking comment were not immediately returned.

Tea Party to Mayor: Make ‘Occupy Richmond’ Pay Up « CBS Washington

In each of those cities where the Occupy Forces have not paid for permits and extra police and toilets, but other groups have, they should be required to pay.

The same thing happened in Boston.

Occupy Boston Gets Free City Services The Tea Party Paid For » American Glob

Ask a librarian

The site meter at my blog shows the question that sent the searcher to my site. I was amused by this one, "if i defalted on student loans 20 years ago how does obama's plan help me"

Figures.

Those Demonstrators in the Park

"The Occupy Wall Street misfits are actually in the minority even along Zuccotti Park, where my agents found them outnumbered by tourists and police. The same is true in Washington, D.C.'s McPherson Square. Yet you need not take my word for it. Consider the polling done by Douglas Schoen, a pollster who served President Bill Clinton and is doubtless still a loyal Democrat. He polled the Zuccotti Park patriots and found "the movement doesn't represent unemployed America and is not ideologically diverse. Rather, it comprises an unrepresentative segment of the electorate that believes in radical redistribution of the wealth, civil disobedience, and, in some instances, violence." As for Americans in general, they are not so high on the folks in the park. A USA Today/Gallup poll taken between October 15 and 16 found 22 percent approved of the movement's goals, 15 percent disapproved, and 63 percent said they did not know enough about the movement to make a judgment.

That does not sound like the Occupiers are making a lot of headway with the average American. But they are making headway with Liberal Democrats." And he goes on the name names.

The American Spectator : Those Demonstrators in the Park

Apparently night vision goggles have allowed police to determine that very few "occupiers" are spending the night in their tents. Also, in New York, the kitchen crew of Zuccotti Park have rebelled and no longer want to feed the homeless--so they are switching to brown rice and something else organic. I suppose they figure the street people can get better fare somewhere else.

Occupy Wall Street kitchen slowdown targets squatters - NYPOST.com

Yams and sweet potatoes--like OWS and the Tea Party

Our Monday exercise class instructor challenged the class to track calories for one week, so I've been reading labels and checking the internet. I'm a bit bored with the usual fare of peas, beans and corn, so today at Giant Eagle I looked at sweet potatoes--or thought I did. I actually almost picked up a yam, which isn't even close in nutritional value to a sweet potato. The two aren't even related. Yam has 3% vit. A; sweet potato has 770%. Yam is inflammatory; sweet potato is highly anti-inflammatory.

Sweet potato
770% vit. A
65% vit. C.
180 Calories
Highly anti-inflammatory
This food is low in Sodium, and very low in Saturated Fat and Cholesterol. It is also a good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin B6 and Potassium, and a very good source of Vitamin A, Vitamin C and Manganese.

Yam
3% vit. A
27% vit. C
158 calories
Moderately inflammatory
This food is very low in Saturated Fat, Cholesterol and Sodium. It is also a good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin C, Potassium and Manganese

Sweet potatoes: Popular in the American South, these yellow or orange tubers are elongated with ends that taper to a point and are of two dominant types. The paler-skinned sweet potato has a thin, light yellow skin with pale yellow flesh which is not sweet and has a dry, crumbly texture similar to a white baking potato. The darker-skinned variety (which is most often called "yam" in error) has a thicker, dark orange to reddish skin with a vivid orange, sweet flesh and a moist texture.

The true yam: is the tuber of a tropical vine (Dioscorea batatas) and is not even distantly related to the sweet potato. The word yam comes from African words njam, nyami, or djambi, meaning "to eat," and was first recorded in America in 1676.

The yam tuber has a brown or black skin which resembles the bark of a tree and off-white, purple or red flesh, depending on the variety. They are at home growing in tropical climates, primarily in South America, Africa, and the Caribbean. Yams are generally sweeter than a sweet potato.

So, from now on, I'm buying only sweet potatoes--better nutrition and highly anti-inflammatory.

For lunch I'm having sweet potato sticks, with some fresh spinach. Not sure it will exactly this in appearance, but all the nutritional stuff should be there.

The Entitlement Trap by Richard and Linda Eyre

Glenn Beck interviewed the author of this book tonight, as well as Tony Evans, a black pastor from Dallas who has a program called Adopt a School.

Book Review: The Entitlement Trap by Richard and Linda Eyre » mommablogsalot.com

The tax payers are picking up the tab for the remainders

President Obama reported between $1 million to $5 million in royalties in 2010 for “Dreams from My Father,” and between $100,001 and $1 million for “The Audacity of Hope,” and now the State Department has spent $70,000 buying up probably what's left of Dreams. I've seen them in used book sections for about $2.00. According to a State Department rep, it's just SOP. “We also provide key library collections with books about the United States,” Noel Clay, the spokesman, told The Times. Analysis of his books--style, word choice, etc. and his lack of previous experience writing, have left some doubt as to whether he's actually the author.

It's not the money--this is pennies in government waste of tax dollars. It's the appearance of narcissism and impropriety.

State Dept. spends $70K on Obama books - Washington Times

Brian and Norma chatting on an airplane

This is fiction of course, based on a circulating e-mail and my recent experience with an atheist spammer.

An atheist (St. Brian the Godless) was seated next to a little girl (Norma) on an airplane and he turned to her and said, "Do you want to talk? Flights go quicker if you strike up a conversation with your fellow passenger."

The little girl, who had just started to read her book, replied to the total stranger, "What would you want to talk about?"

"Oh, I don't know," said the atheist. "How about why there is no God, or no Heaven or Hell, or no life after death?" as he smiled smugly.

"OK," she said. "Those could be interesting topics, but let me ask you a question first. A horse, a cow, and a deer all eat the same stuff, grass. Yet a deer excretes little pellets, while a cow turns out a flat patty, and a horse produces clumps. Why do you suppose that is?"

The atheist, visibly surprised by the little girl's intelligence, thinks about it and says, "Hmmm, I have no idea."

To which the little girl replies, "Well then, -- do you really feel qualified to discuss why there is no God, or no Heaven or Hell, or no life after death, when you don't know shit?"

And then she went back to reading her book reporting him to his ISP for spamming and stalking her.

Forwarded from Rick and Kate

The lemon joke

Sally Mullihan of Coral Springs, Florida decided to take one of the jobs that Americans are not willing to do. The woman applying for a job in a Florida lemon grove seemed to be far too qualified.

She had a liberal arts degree from the University of Michigan and had worked as a social worker and school teacher.

The foreman frowned and said, "I have to ask you, have you had any actual experience in picking lemons?"

"Well, as a matter of fact, I have! I've been divorced three times, owned 2 Chryslers and I voted for Obama."

Forwarded e-mail from Bill Kientz

Protestors ‘Will Come For You, Drag You Into The Streets

Geraldo Rivera ridiculed Glenn Beck on O'Reilly a few nights ago--called him paranoid and delusional because he warned us about the potential violence in the occupy movement. But here's a video of the left agreeing with him--"Take a banker out by the tower and string him up on the town square." Where are all the alarmed Democrats who thought Sarah Palin shouldn't use the word "target" in her campaign. Glenn has had these Soros/Tide Foundation/Union supported movement pegged from the beginning. Why not just believe their words, argues Glenn. They've told us what their intentions are. Yes, why don't you?

Glenn Beck: Protestors ‘Will Come For You, Drag You Into The Streets, And Kill You’ | Mediaite

Clinton on Qaddafi: "We came, we saw, he died"

Army privates who were assigned to guard prisoners were roundly criticized for "torturing" men by requiring them to don women's underwear (sexually humilited I believe was the term) taking their photos and listening to loud music, along with the Commander in Chief, for Abu Graib for their bad behavior. How much then should we expect from an Ivy League graduate, a lawyer, a former first lady of Arkansas, former first lady of our country, and the Secretary of State. She jokes about the death of Qaddafi? My how standards change for Democrats when it's their administration.

Clinton on Qaddafi: "We came, we saw, he died" - Political Hotsheet - CBS News

Tides Foundation Grantee Was Founded by Convicted Terrorist

Keep an eye on the "Velvet Revolution," which is attempting to undermine our military and links to Van Jones, Obama's former green czar.

Tides Foundation Grantee Was Founded by Convicted Terrorist - Big Journalism

Bill Maher with Van Jones About our "Occupy Wall Street" | www.StopTheChamber.com

The New American

Obama’s ‘Green Czar’ Van Jones: ‘Green Jobs’ Goal is ‘Complete Revolution’ Away From ‘Gray Capitalism’ [update 6: 9/11 Truther and The Nancy Pelosi Connection]

This is odd--faculty already get a break on their kids' tuition

Dear Medical Center Faculty:

If you have a child who is applying to The Ohio State University College of Medicine this year, we would like to know about it.

While we do not guarantee acceptance into the program, we would like to be notified that your child is applying so that we may be sure that their application receives the appropriate attention. Your child's application will be subjected to the same rigorous review process of any other applicant.

If you have a son or daughter who has applied to the College of Medicine, please contact us by email . . .

Failed Democrat Politician Sues Critics for the truth

This needs to be watched! An Ohio congressman Steve Driehaus loses his job (representing his district) after one term, and he blames the group that publicized his voting record? And an Obama appointed judge instead of laughing him out of court, is letting the suit go forward.

"During the 2010 elections the Susan B. Anthony List engaged in a campaign to identify and call out a group of allegedly anti-abortion-rights members of Congress who provided the margin that allowed President Barack Obama's reform of the nation's healthcare system to get through the U.S. House of Representatives. The Susan B. Anthony List said their vote in favor of the law, which did not include any pro-life protections, amounted to a betrayal of their pro-life principles. . .

The accompanying executive order the president signed regarding abortion was designed to provide political cover to a group of House Democrats whom he needed to win. It was no substitute for the so-called "Stupak Amendment" that would have written pro life protections into the healthcare bill but was defeated on the House floor. . .

U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Black is the former president and director of the Planned Parenthood Association of Cincinnati. As seeming conflicts of interest go this one is a real humdinger."

Failed Democrat Pol Sues Critics Over Election Loss - Peter Roff (usnews.com)

Everybody's Getting Drunk at the Holiday Party

She thinks it's the economy. It's always been pathological Ms. Casserly. I remember attending an office party 51 years ago in Indianapolis, where the host (a VP I think) had wet himself long before we got there--probably started around 3 p.m. I'll never forget what an embarrassment he was to his wife, family and company, greeting people with urine streaming into his shoes and socks trying to kiss the ladies. Out of control drinkers don't need an excuse. If it's not the economy, then it's something else.

Everybody's Getting Drunk at the Holiday Party - And Not Because It's Fun - Forbes

Rightwords... Prudent Conservatism

Check out this blog by a retired engineer--he's good.

The cries for free everything [at the Occupy sites], and down with capitalism, are so old they smell of the musty basements and ratty holes in the wall where all manner of dusty propaganda pamphlets have been stored for over 50 or more years waiting for the time to come out once again. One can almost hear Gus Hall exhorting his followers to man the streets. Or so the new generation of radicals must believe that do not realize their ancient, collectivist, anti-capitalist ideas have been thoroughly discredited, stuffed and flushed every time they have arisen in America, and will again if called for in jig time.

Rightwords... Prudent Conservatism

Slow to the gate--Ohio State students

Being a university town (Ohio State has about 50,000 students on one campus) I thought our students would be louder and rowdier about the Occupy thing, and then did finally hear that yesterday they were going to march from the campus to the state house.

Then today I read a notice about a lecture on medical disparities in the conference theater in the spiffy new $100 million union named for U.S. Bank, so I looked that up. U.S. Bank has $1.1 billion in deposits in central Ohio in 46 branches, and in exchange for the bank’s $1.05 million donation, the Minneapolis-based bank signed on for a 25-year naming rights deal to the 2,500-square-foot conference theater in the Ohio Union. Think of all the classroom buildings, theaters, playing fields, streets, parking lots, auditoriums, museums and schools that will need to give back money, if the Occupy whiners are successful in completely demonizing the banks. After all, it wouldn't be fair for some schools and cities to have the funds and not others.

Or, what if students just said NO to credit cards and used only checks or cash for their campus expenses? They could probably save even more if they said NO to beer and pizza!!!

Democrats and the Teachers' unions--Illinois

Although this story is from the Rockford Register Star in Illinois, it's business as usual for teachers' unions. Most teachers are Republicans, but they are forced to contributed to Democratic causes, candidates and scams through their unions. In Ohio, you can't teach if you don't pay union dues, although there's no compulsory membership. They just want your money. To stop these abuses so that school boards can negotiate what's best for the children, not the union officials, vote YES on ISSUE 2.

Two lobbyists with no teaching experience will be allowed to count past years as union employees toward state teacher pensions after substitute teaching for only one day in 2007, according to a published report today.

The Illinois Federation of Teachers' political director, Steven Preckwinkle, and another union lobbyist, David Piccioli, took advantage of legislation allowing union officials to get into the teacher pension fund and count previous years as union workers after quickly obtaining teaching certificates and conducting classroom work before the legislation was signed into law in 2007, according to a Chicago Tribune and WGN-TV investigation published today.

According to the report, Preckwinkle, 59, could collect $2.8 million by the time he's 78. Piccioli, 61, could receive around $1.1 million by age 78.

Illinois lobbyists qualify for pensions after 1 day subbing - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star

He wants to see less of me

After my physical, my doctor nicely told me he'd like to see less of me--meaning I need to lose some weight. Our exercise class is going to keep track of calories for one week. I don't like to commit to long term (except marriage), but for one week I can do. I found a nice Daily Food Diary on the internet, and photocopied it. A number of them required saving and unzipping, and those never seems to work for me. This one just opened, and I printed it.

Is Granny Headed to the Ice Floe?

"Just because CLASS has been dismissed, however, doesn’t mean the threat has gone away. In fact, in a very real sense, Medicaid itself is a stealth CLASS program. Technically, seniors can qualify for government provision under Medicaid only if they impoverish themselves by “spending down” their assets. However, an entire cottage industry of lawyers is now helping seniors protect their assets and still get Medicaid long-term care coverage. Long-term care is the fastest growing expense in the Medicaid program. As 78 million baby boomers reach the age of 65 at a rate of 10,000 per day, expect them to take full advantage of the legal opportunities to obtain Medicaid benefits at taxpayer expense."

Is Granny Headed to the Ice Floe? | John Goodman's Health Policy Blog | NCPA.org

Monday Memories--Posting bond to get married in early 19th century in Tennessee

Charles A. Sherrill, Tenn. State Library & Archives; has furnished the following information on this subject according to his understanding of the material he has read at the TNGenWEb Project.

"The groom had to assure the State that he was able to be legally married (was not already married to someone else, under age, or ineligible because of close blood relationship, etc.)

This assurance was given in the form of a bond for a certain amount of money. The friend or relative signed as the groom's security on the bond, commonly known as becoming a bondsman.

If indeed the groom had been sued for violating the marriage contract, the bondsman would have had to pay any legal damages if the groom defaulted.
No money actually changed hands at the time the bond was issued. This bonding procedure was used across Tennessee and in other southern states in the 19th century.

It's a good thing no money actually changed hands--I doubt that James or John (Polly's brother) could have come up with $1250.

Mary "Polly" Gresham Corbett died in 1884 at age 96. Two of her brothers married two of James' sisters, Martha and Polly. As near as I can tell from the records handed down, James Corbett and his siblings were 2nd generation Americans, and their father, an Irish immigrant, fought in the Revolutionary War, and received a pension. Although in the 19th century they all lived in Tennessee, originally they lived in North Carolina, the western part of which became eastern Tennessee.

There's still time to volunteer for the final harvest

The Community Garden at Upper Arlington Lutheran Church on the south side of the Mill Run campus has harvested almost 7,000 pounds of produce, and has some more harvesting to do. The food goes to Lutheran Social Services, Hilliard Summer Free Lunch program, Hilltop Lutheran and the Mid-Ohio Food bank. Tomatoes, greens, zucchini, squah, turnips onions, peas, beans, kohlrabi, cucumbers, peppers and garlic. UALC is in the NW suburban area of Columbus, Ohio.

UALC will be contributing $150,000 for a new church (North American Lutheran Church synod) plant on the east side of Columbus.

New discipleship group starts October 24

Event: "Faith of our Fathers" Discipleship Group

Description: Education, worship and discussion based on materials surrounding the Christian heritage of the USA

Start Date: Oct 24, 2011

Weekly: Monday Evenings through December

Room: 2031/32 or 3002/04, but look on lobby sign room could change without notice

Event Starts: 7:00 pm, Event Ends: 8:30 pm

Location: UALC, The Church at Mill Run - 3500 Mill Run Drive, Hilliard, OH

The spectacle on Wall Street

"From one perspective, this spectacle [Occupy Wall Street] of febrile mental paralysis is simply sad: The New York Times, The New Yorker: they’ve always listed left, but not always looney left. What a falling off there’s been!" . . .

"The 53 percent who actually work and pay income taxes represent a large slice of the putative 99-percent the children downtown are skirling about. Not many of those taxpayers, I reckon, are amused by the congeries of anti-American, anti-capitalistic nonsense that is emanating from Zuccotti Park. And it is worth noting that the anxious carnival spirit that has been coursing through the park has a tenuous hold on the proceedings. Already, widespread theft has instilled a certain grumbling wariness into the populace. It’s hard fighting against the evils of private property when some unfranchised redistributionist collars your laptop or makes off with your wallet."

Roger Kimball

Why I'll never be a fashionista

Kate Bosworth as seen at The Adorned Precedent. Everything I have that looks like this has been stuffed in the back of the rag bag for years. I've seen 2 years olds with better fashion sense. But I'm a librarian. What do we know about fashion?

The Organizers vs. the Organized in Zuccotti Park

You can laugh at the OWS group, but really, they sound so . . .I don't know. . . human and flawed, just like the rest of us. And it's the reason the "commons" idea didn't work in 3rd grade when the teacher assigned you to working groups, and why it didn't work in the 70s with the feminist communes, and why it's not working in Zuccotti park. When self-interest is allowed, the whole group advances. When you pretend everything is fair and equal and start taking money to be sure it will be, all hell breaks lose.

The drummers claim that the finance working group even levied a percussion tax of sorts, taking up to half of the $150-300 a day that the drum circle was receiving in tips. “Now they have over $500,000 from all sorts of places,” said Engelerdt. “We’re like, what’s going on here? They’re like the banks we’re protesting."

All belongings and money in the park are supposed to be held in common, but property rights reared their capitalistic head when facilitators went to clean up the park, which was looking more like a shantytown than usual after several days of wind and rain. The local community board was due to send in an inspector, so the facilitators and cleaners started moving tarps, bags, and personal belongings into a big pile in order to clean the park.

The Organizers vs. the Organized in Zuccotti Park -- Daily Intel

Should Americans Support the Tea Party or Occupy Wall Street? @PolicyMic | Tom Palmer

The Tea Party has a coherent message: Stop the bailouts, stop the cronyism, and stop swindling today’s voters with empty promises and sinking future generations under mountains of debt…

What caused the crisis, the indebtedness, the unemployment, the stagnation? The culprits are state agencies and enterprises, including our Federal Reserve…

The Occupiers have the wrong address. The subprime crisis was designed in Washington, not New York…

Should Americans Support the Tea Party or Occupy Wall Street? @PolicyMic | Tom Palmer

But Occupiers want to blame the Jews--so it has to be Wall Street Bankers.

Occupiers and blaming the Jews

"For almost 200 years, blaming the world's economic woes on the Rothschilds, Wall Street, or Jewish bankers has been "the socialism of fools" - and the mother's milk of demagogues, from Hitler to Henry Ford to the bloggers who insist Goldman Sachs' Zionist high command engineered the financial collapse. If the occupiers want mainstream credibility, they must distance themselves from the crackpots and hate-mongers who seem to think the detested "1 percent" is synonymous with Jews.

Second, while the tea partyers place themselves in a tradition of American protest dating to the Founding Fathers, the occupiers ought to take a more critical look at their own identification with the Arab Spring. Six months ago, who didn't applaud the young Egyptians using social media to topple a geriatric dictatorship? But now, who isn't having sobering second thoughts?"

Occupiers must face the fringe - Philly.com

Seriously out of practice

We're having guests for dinner this evening--small group from church, small menu--soup and salad. I'm so out of practice. Maybe we need to join one of those non-gourmet dinner clubs. These days I mostly stove-top grill or microwave leftovers. The oven might be turned on once a week. Desserts are too tempting, so if we need one, I buy it. It's a good reason to clean the house.

Scratch days are long gone here

A fall treat--Dairymens Eggnog

"Pumpkin pie spice eggnog" is back in the dairy case. Boy! Is that good in coffee! I usually cut it with some milk, but it's still delicious.

Dairymens is a Cleveland company with quite a history. I buy it at Marc's, but don't recall seeing it anywhere else.

Project 21 Black Conservatives

Just in case you thought Herman Cain was lone voice speaking as a black conservative.

Project 21 is an initiative of The National Center for Public Policy Research to promote the views of African-Americans whose entrepreneurial spirit, dedication to family and commitment to individual responsibility has not traditionally been echoed by the nation's civil rights establishment. Maybe you need a speaker?

Project 21 Black Conservatives

Canada ranks No. 1 in “Best Countries for Business”

"Canada ranks No. 1 in our [Forbes] annual look at the Best Countries for Business. While the U.S. is paralyzed by fears of a double-dip recession and Europe struggles with sovereign debt issues, Canada’s economy has held up better than most. The $1.6 trillion economy is the ninth biggest in the world and grew 3.1% last year. It is expected to expand 2.4% in 2011, according to the Royal Bank of Canada. . .

What hurts the U.S. is its heavy tax burden. This year it surpassed Japan to have the highest corporate tax rate among developed countries. The U.S. also gets dinged for a poor showing on monetary freedom as measured by the Heritage Foundation. Heritage gauges price stability and price controls and the U.S. ranks No. 50 out of 134 countries."

The Best Countries For Business - Forbes

Instead of liberal celebs threatening to relocate to Canada, maybe we'll see American entrepreneurs go there. It's closer than China, safer than Mexico. For starting a new business, the U.S. ranks #13 (New Zealand is #1).

RMIT--The Richest Man in Town

The total wealth of America's RMITs (some are women) is $355 billion.

• These 100 people employ more than 91% of Americans.

• All of the fortunes are self-made.

• Only one of them is a professional manager as opposed to a company founder.

• Less than 10% of them have taken their company public.

• Eighty-one percent of RMITs are doing business in their hometown.


Who Are the Richest People in Town? - BusinessWeek

To paraphrase an anarchist--Benjamin Tucker*

This blog is written to suit Norma, not its readers. She hopes that what suits her will suit them; but, if not, it will make no difference. No reader, subscriber, or body of subscribers, will be allowed to govern her course, dictate her policy, prescribe her methods, or choose her topics. Collecting My Thoughts is published for the very definite purpose of advocating certain ideas, such as faith in Jesus Christ, the free market, conservatism, education, recent medical and technological break-throughs, pro-family issues like not killing the unborn, family memories, and public policy; no claim will be admitted, on any pretext of freedom of speech, to waste its limited space or Norma's time in hindering the attainment of that object. Norma is not afraid of discussion, or even an argument, and shall do what she can to make room for short, serious, and well-considered objection to her views, but intolerance of Christians, Christiphobia, church bashing, blasphemy, name calling, bullying, and long boring essays on atheism should be posted on the reader's own blog. Also, since Norma in an earlier career translated Soviet medical material heavily laced with Marxism, she probably knows more than the reader about the joys of attaining socialist goals, so don't bother cluttering with that clap-trap either. As a former humanist, a career public employee (although not a union member), a librarian and a 40 year registered Democrat, there are few arguments from the other side or from the basement archives Norma hasn't heard.

*Tucker wrote a journal called Liberty in the 19th c.

Uncertainty holds back economic recovery

Politicians, policy experts and business leaders gathered in September to try to make sense of the economy and what the government is doing about it. I noticed this panel and the burden our non-elected appointees and czars are imposing on the economy. Small businesses, particularly, can't keep up with the rules, or even hire the staff to wade through them to be in compliance, so why hire or expand, even if you have the money or credit? We were discussing the business climate with a retired friend last night who has passed his firm on to his sons (who divided it), and they no longer have permanent workers, everything is contracted. The complexity of running a small business is overwhelming them. This is why stiffer regulations are supported by some very large firms--puts the competition out of business.

"The next panel “The Uncertain Environment and what it Means for American Business” was led by Bob Norton, chief income tax officer for Vertex Inc. Panelists included David A. Heywood, vice president, tax and general counsel, Lockheed Martin Corp.; Hal S. Jones, senior vice president and CFO, The Washington Post Co.; Michael Kenny, CFO, Panduit Corp.; and Cathy Santoro, vice president, finance and assistant treasurer, Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

Norton listed areas that are replete with uncertainty on many fronts. Among them: global economy, geo-political sea changes, technology revolution, security (cyber and other) and regulation. He also provided statistics to reinforce reasons why businesses are facing uncertainty. For example, federal agencies issued 3,573 final rules in 2010, while Congress enacted 217 bills into law. The result of this, he added, is that ”significant law-making power is being delegated more and more to unelected bureaucrats;” the number of pages in the Federal Register last year topped 81,405; and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act requires 11 new federal agencies tasked with creating 235 rulemaking provisions – 100 rules by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission alone.

Jones said that two-thirds of The Washington Post Co.’s revenue comes from education and training, and that this year more than 400 pages of new regulations have been issued related to education. Dealing with so many new rules has caused the company to hold back on hiring, marketing, planning or expanding. The company is willing to comply with the rules, he said, but not knowing what they are is causing the business to stay on hold.

Kenny expressed concern about tax reform and stated he favors business tax reform – not corporate tax reform. (With more than 90 percent of U.S. businesses operating as pass-through private companies, thus taxed at the individual rate, just doing corporate tax reform won’t help these private companies.) He also noted concern for companies that are not large enough to stay abreast of the constant flurry of new rules and laws, not a issue for his company, but a real challenge for untold others."

FEI

Does Obama get the credit for killing Qaddafi?

Ilya Somin: Ilya Somin's response to 'Credit due Obama for Qadhafi death?' - The Arena | POLITICO.COM

President Obama deserves credit for facilitating the overthrow of a brutal dictator at little immediate cost to the United States. Republican critics were wrong to claim that this result could only be achieved with a much larger commitment of U.S. forces.

On the other hand, it is far from clear whether the new regime in Libya will be any better than the old. The new Libyan government includes many different groups, including an influential radical Islamist faction..... If radical Islamists do take over Libya, the result could well be a regime that is just as oppressive as Gadhafi’s and much more hostile to American interests.

The United States may also pay a price for violating our 2003 agreement with Libya, under which Gadhafi agreed to stop supporting terrorism and give up his nuclear program in exchange for the US and Britain implicitly committing themselves to not seeking his overthrow....

Obviously, Gadhafi deserved to be overthrown. He certainly had no “right” to tyrannize over the people of Libya. But, after seeing what happened to him, other dictatorships such as Iran may be less willing to sign similar deals....

Finally, by going to war without congressional authorization, the president violated both the Constitution and the 1973 War Powers Act. Then-Senator Barack Obama got it right back in 2007, when he wrote that “[t]he president does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation.”

So stay tuned for the unintended consequences.

Update: LA Times--not real pleased and pointing out it's not going to help him much with his friends or enemies. This year, he has sent U.S. troops into action on land or in the skies of seven countries on two continents. More serious, in my opinion, is his encouragement of "Arab Spring" which is bring out of the wooodwork a whole new batch of bad guys.

What’s on the I-pods of the Occupiers?

Take the Money and Run; Eat the rich; Let’s go crazy; Shakedown; All I need is a miracle; Tax man; Been caught stealing; Money for nothing; Money’s too tight to mention; Smooth operator; Money changes everything; Little lies; Burning down the house; Money, money; Material girl; 9 to 5; Gold digger; Putting on the Ritz; Free money; The pretender;

Actually, I used to be very fond of Jimmy O'Bama

Friday family photo

This was her after breakfast nap. The click on the phone awoke her, so she shifted positions to her before lunch nap. She got up long enough to investigate what I was fixing for lunch, and now she's in her after lunch curl position. She wasn't really reading the book; but you probably knew that. She prefers fiction. She's a calico, a rescue from Cat Welfare in Columbus. Her name, however, is from a horse catalog. Horses have much nicer names than cats.

Note to a successful California architect supporting "Occupy"

You're a little late to the gate realizing how dependent architects are on the wealthy of this country, and also, I might add, the federal government. I'm not sure it's ever been that different--yesterday we toured the home and gardens of F.A. Seiberling, Stan Hywet, in Akron, OH. 65,000 sq. ft, 23 bathrooms, and preserved to be the absolute latest in everything, ala 1915. There were 3,000 separate blueprints and drawings. A special railroad spur to bring in building materials and workers. We were told the landscape architect walked the 3,000 acres (now only 70) for a year just to site it properly. It boggles the mind to think of the thousands and thousands of jobs he created globally in the rubber industry, as well as right there in Akron. And in those days there was no income tax deducation for "doing good"--he just did it. And after the recession following WWI in the 1920s, he went bankrupt from a bad business decision, and started all over at age 62. His next company wasn't as successful as Goodyear, but it did become 7th in the nation in rubber.

There are some good, sincere people wandering around the Occupy movement--I've visited (on the web) about 15 cities/states from Nova Scotia to Missoula to West something Missouri. For the most part, they know nothing about the laws, codes, zoning and tax structure of the business world; they are completely ignorant on the taxes paid or percentage the wealthy contribute to the government or the economy or their own lives; they've taken out student loans for degrees like social work or English that can never be a ROI ($250,000 at Columbia) and racked up huge debts for living expenses; they want "fair" but can't say why Tiger should be paid more than his caddy, Oprah more than the camerman who may work even harder; they are clueless about how dependent they are on the successful, smart, risk takers like Steve Jobs who dropped out of college. They have more greed, envy and lust for material goods than any wealthy person I've ever met.

I'm disappointed you're going down this rabbit hole filled with swampy socialist dreams, when the upper 10%--probably even the upper 20% have created work space for you in their lives. Which from your web page and blog looks a whole lot spiffier than our life.

Road Trip

Hope to have some good photos to post when I get back, but it is very gray and rainy. Conestoga is a great group which supports the Ohio Historical Society. Ohio is part of the original expansion of the colonies, the old Northwest Territory. The NW Ordinance set the bar very high--no slavery, the importance of education and religion, setting up elections, etc. There are so many interesting historical sites in Ohio, that it would not be possible to visit them all--but we'll make a stab at it.

Ohio's Health Care Freedom Amendment Issue 3

Vote Yes. This from National Review Online.

"Most ballot initiatives have little resonance outside the states that consider them. That’s not so with the upcoming vote in Ohio. Ohio’s November vote on the Health Care Freedom Amendment (Issue 3) will have national implications, and could play a role in determining the future of our nation’s health-care system.

The Ohio Health Care Freedom Amendment preserves the freedom of Ohio citizens to choose their health care and health insurance. It makes clear that no government has the right to force free people to buy a government-approved health-care package from a government-approved insurance company.

In this, it’s following in the footsteps of efforts made in numerous other states, from Idaho to Missouri to Georgia, that have adopted measures to reject aspects of the new Obamacare law and reclaim some basic freedoms for citizens from an overreaching federal government.

Ohio’s ballot initiative, however, will be particularly significant because of its timing. Earlier this month, both the plaintiffs and the Department of Justice filed petitions for certiorari, asking for an ultimate review by the Supreme Court of HHS v. Florida. In all likelihood, the Supreme Court will review the case in January or February 2012, with a decision coming by June. That means the vote in Ohio will be the last expression of popular will on the question of Obamacare before the Supreme Court hears and rules on the health-care law’s constitutionality.

Generous Giving Stats & Trends

Dream weaving seen today at a philanthropy web site:

"According to the Borgen Project, annual expenditures of $19 billion between now and 2015 could eliminate global starvation and malnutrition. Another $12 billion per year over that same time period could provide education for every child on earth. And an additional $15 billion each year could provide universal access to clean water and sanitation."

Not true. Global starvation, malnutrition and sanitation have never been about enough money or calories. It's about power held by the governments which hold the people, which make the laws, which ignore the terrorists (like Uganda and Libya); it's about resources diverted from infrastructure like roads which move food and goods to market into glittering palaces like those that housed Saddam Hussein and his sons or Idi Amin or Pol Pot or Joseph Stalin. 35 years ago when I worked with agricultural credit files as a librarian, the evidence was clear, and it's never changed. We the people still believe you can fight evil with more money.

Generous Giving Stats & Trends

Can't always trust what you read on the internet

Herman Cain sings "Imagine there's no pizza" in 1991

This was in Omaha for a Press Club event. Not a bad voice.

One of the 53 percent

Today I talked to an assistant manager--mid twenties--at a nice chain restaurant--asked him about his college loans. "Don't have any," he said. "I didn't go to college--don't need to." Next he'll get his own store with the chain, then he hopes to some day own his own restaurant; probably started at minimum wage running the register or bussing tables. I believe in eduction--especially would like to see more students graduating from high school that didn't need remedial work in college. But this man had good people skills, excellent English, no nose or ear rings or tattoos (showing), he shows up on time, works hard, is friendly to old ladies, and he has a plan. And then there are the "occupiers" . . .

I'd be mad too if I were paying $65,212 a year to attend Columbia School of Social Work (I checked the website), and then found out my first salary wouldn't pay the postage to mail the laundry back home to mom, let alone buy pizza and beer. You might think that before investing over a quarter of a million dollars in an education a student would check out how much writing grants or visiting poor children paid. Now they want us, the 53%, to pay their college loans.

"The protesters' [at OWS] online manifestos read like a Marxist child's letter to Santa Claus, demanding everything from college loan debt forgiveness to a living wage "regardless of employment." " Ben Boychuk

Where's my bailout?

BEN BOYCHUK: "If the Occupy Wall Street protests were merely a gathering of liberals angry at the pathetic state of the economy and the incestuous relationship between Big Government and Big Business, most Americans likely would be on their side.

But something else is happening here.

We don't have much real data about who these protesters are or what exactly they believe. But we have a few hints. The protesters' online manifestos read like a Marxist child's letter to Santa Claus, demanding everything from college loan debt forgiveness to a living wage "regardless of employment."

New York Magazine took a snapshot poll of 100 protesters camping at Zuccotti Park in Lower Manhattan. About 34 percent of the "young, smart, educated young people" the magazine surveyed are "convinced the U.S. government is no better than, say, Al Qaeda."

So it's fair to say a sizable minority of the people camped out in New York and dozens of other cities around the country are on the fringe of mainstream American politics.

And yet Occupy Wall Street has touched a nerve for the right reasons.

"If you're a bank or an insurance firm, and you create a product that your investors and your regulators can't understand in a crisis, you aren't punished...Instead, you get rewarded with bailout money," my City Journal colleague Nicole Gelinas observed recently. "It's hard to argue with the Zuccotti protesters' manifesto on this point: 'They have taken bailouts from taxpayers with impunity."

The difference between the Tea Party marches of 2009 and the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations of 2011 is the difference between "No more bailouts!" and "Where's my bailout?" For the Tea Party, Big Government -- too many regulations, too much federal meddling in Americans' lives -- is the problem. For Occupy Wall Street, bigger government-more taxes, more regulation, more subsidies -- is the solution. The choice is yours."

Red and Blue America; what does Occupy Movement mean?

Michael Moore Occupies Wall Street

Michael Moore has made a fortune criticizing and lying about capitalists. Recently, he’s been on the front lines of Occupy Wall Street. He gave aid and comfort to the enemy during the Iraq War (when it was Bush’s problem). He makes films about the racist, evil, greedy United States which are forced on American students in high school and college. Then with his profits from the films he invests in American companies. His own “investment portfolio has included owning significant shares of stock in medical, health, pharmaceutical, defense and big oil companies, such as Pfizer, Merck, Eli Lilly, Pharmacia Corporation, Tenet Healthcare, Sunoco, General Electric and even the “evil” Halliburton. He has also invested in firms that outsource jobs to the Third World – including China, where slave labor is rampant. He wants to soak the rich with higher taxes, but uses accountants to exploit every loophole and exemption to reduce his burden to Uncle Sam.” The left is filled with such hypocrites. You can bet that as they destroy your retirement portfolio, they’ve figured out how to make a few more dollars.

KUHNER: The hypocrisy of Michael Moore - Washington Times

A hole in their souls

I’ve visited many Occupy sites (west coast, east coast, Canada, mid-west, south, as well as Columbus and Toledo) and read their complaints, demands and suggestions. It’s obvious that this movement, at least in North America, is not an economic or political problem, but a spiritual one. People who have more “stuff” than they know what to do with are unhappy because some people have more--more stuff, more debt, more bling. It’s the opposite of need. It’s the black mold of selfishness and greed--the very thing they see in others. And they want others to be sucked into their misery. They aren’t poor, they’re suffering from income-envy; they aren’t hungry, they’re overfed and underexercised; they aren’t sick, they’re over medicated; if they‘re thirsty, they just open a plastic bottle and trash the environment. They’ve got a huge hole where there should be wholeness in God.

This should be a great mission field for Christians. We've been there--we used to think stuff, or power, or position, or a relationship would satisfy the spiritual cravings of our sinful nature, too. They don't even know what riches are out there for them, and they are scrambling for pennies!

One job, created or saved--$800,000

I was browsing the government ARRA "transparency" site for the first stimulus (looked like it had been months since it was updated), and I came across a place in Georgia, Huston County, I believe, where upgrades to a public housing project TJ Calhoun was to get $800,000. Under jobs created or saved category, the word "one." But nothing had been done, so I guess that's a moot point. Meanwhile, on the radio, I can hear the familiar voice castigating Republicans for wanting people to stay unemployed. ARRA money went to unions and to government agencies. ARRA Junior won't be any different.

Why has the President sent troops to Uganda?

We're supposed to believe that an African country with a stable government, an army, marines, air force and national defense group, with over 800,000 young people turning 18 each year can't beat back a rag tag band of terrorists numbering 500-3,000 calling itself The Lord's Resistance Army.

Only 100 troops you say? That's all Kennedy sent to VietNam in 1961--fifty years ago. From little acorns. . .

Could be:

Oil

Minerals (80 something)

Wag the dog, pt. 4

Something even more sinister

or

Just because he can.

Jodi and Susi plan for retirement

Note: The story of Jodi and Susi is fiction--at least the main characters. The amounts and the disparities in the pensions are true. This is why I’m voting for Issue 2 in Ohio.

Jodi and Susi are both 55 and were roommates at a Christian college. After graduation Jodi went on for an MBA right away, but Susi took a teaching position in a poor community because she could get assistance paying her college loans from the government. Later she got an M.S. with assistance from the school district where she settled. Jodi spent years paying off her school loans; Susie invested her windfalls from the federal and local governments.

Both women today make $90,000 a year, Jodi as a manager of several Wendy’s restaurants working about 60 hours a week, 12 months a year, and Susi as an assistant principal working about 40 hours a week, 10 months a year. Susi goes interesting places in the summer to teach teachers in 6 week workshops, does a little touring on the side, and invests her additional summer salary, looking ahead to when she can retire with 35 years next year at 56 in the state teacher‘s system. Jodi would like to travel, but keeps it modest because she needs to invest in her 401-k and private savings, looking ahead to when she can retire at age 67 or later.

Next year Susi will begin drawing her $70,000 pension and will begin substituting in different districts, selecting carefully only those jobs she truly loves--like working with low-income children slipping through the cracks of all the regulations imposed by the U.S. Department of Education and the State Board of Education, and the local board. There are days when she's reduced to tears by the burden of what is expected of her. The school districts will benefit because they won’t need to pay her as much as a regular teacher who will need union negotiated benefits, plus she’s an outstanding teacher with experience and will do a better job than a beginner.

Jodi has another 12 years to work and pay into Social Security, to which she began contributing at age 16. When she retires, her “government” pension will be $28,150 (this figure will be larger in 2023, but that’s what it would be today). She has paid much more into FICA than Susi has paid into STRS because restaurant managers don’t have a powerful union. Technically she’s Susi’s employer so she’s also been contributing to Susi’s pension. She has also worked longer days, and more days per year than Susi. She too is reduced to tears some days as she has to do basic remediation for some of her employees who attended schools where Susi taught because they are unprepared for the work world.

Susi, by the way, never actually joined the teacher’s union, but she had to pay dues anyway if she wanted to teach in a public system in Ohio. Like the majority of teachers in the United States, she votes Republican and doesn’t like it that the unions contribute primarily to Democratic candidates and causes. She’s also pro-life, and is really bothered that teachers unions contribute heavily to candidates and organizations that support abortion, and especially to Barack Obama, who is very pro-abortion and pro-embryonic stem cell research. She contributes to pro-life organizations, but not as much as she surrenders to the union.

In any case, next year at 56 she has great plans to enjoy her retirement with her pension and her private investments. Meanwhile, Jodi puts a smile on her face, her lunch in her briefcase, and heads for the free-way.

Friday Family Photo--The Wedding 1970

My husband's brother, James B. DeMott, died on September 14 at 63. This is a photo of them together before Jim's wedding in 1970 (not sure of the date).

Fall flavors

I bought pumpkin bagels this week. They are OK, but somehow the flavor of pumpkin and the texture of a bagel just don't seem right. Is this being too judgemental?

My new coffee thermos mug from Panera's is leaking . . . something. But there's nothing in it. I've sent the promo company a note. I think I'll take it back. It was made in China, and I violated my own rule about not putting things made in China in my mouth or on my body.

Teachers unions give more money to political campaigns than all the other unions combined, but very little to Republicans--$56 million to Democrats and $4 million to Republicans. But only 45% of the teachers are Democrats. So I guess we know why we've got crappy schools in cities run by Democrats. . . which is just about all the big ones. But the recorded dollar number is just the tip of the iceburg.

Waiting for Superman--the movie

Tuesday night I saw the documentary Waiting for Superman. The depiction of the familes trapped in bad public schools is gut wrenching, but in a way beautiful, as you see the deep love and commitment the parents (poor, middle class, black, white, Hispanic, inner city, suburban) have to their children and their belief in education. I'm the third generation in my family to attend college, and I'm not sure I'm that passionate about the value of higher education. One statistic surprised me: if we could get rid of the 6-10% of really awful teachers (can't be fired because of the union) and just replace them with mediocre, we could have a system as good as Finland's, which is rated best in the world.

Having lived in two very small towns, Forreston and Mt. Morris, Illinois, I think I had some outstanding teachers in the days before unions and high wages. But a few did get the boot before they could do much damage. Two on sex charges (and that seems to be about the only way to get rid of bad teachers today), one of was fired even before the school year started when the administration found out he liked to have "slumber parties" for the athletes and the other for exposing himself. Two male teachers were not prepared to deal with teen-agers, who even in the 1950s could think up a lot of mischief. My first grade teacher was really harsh, and just died a few years ago. She was too mean to die, but boy did I learn phonics!

My all time crush on a teacher was my third grader teacher, Miss DeWall. I've forgotten her first name, but she left after one year to get married and I believe she died while I was in college. She was kind, beautiful, attentive to all, very thorough, and lots of fun. Every child should be so fortunate to have a Miss DeWall in her life.

Marisa's Take: Occupy Wall Street looks like church to me

Note to Marisa: This doesn't look like my church.

The Occupy Wall Street movement where crowds of the ignorant, uninformed and unwashed, most of whom have never voted, have taken over private property and obstructed freedoms of other citizens. They are demanding the wealth of others to pay off their debt and greed. (You don’t need to be wealthy to lust after others belongings or God wouldn't have included it in the commandments.) Marisa Egerstrom, a PhD candidate in religious history, and a member of Protest Chaplains thinks the OWS looks like something built on Christ’s teaching, life, death and resurrection. Sorry Marisa, we aren’t reading the same Gospel. I had a number of classes in Russian and Soviet history, used to translate Russian medical material to earn my college tuition, and had a Chinese roommate in college whose family fled the massacres by Mao. The OWS really looks a lot like people demanding national socialism, not realizing that they are useful idiots, expendable in the next stage of the movement/revolution, just so much fodder to get people worked up.

I wonder how CNN would cover honest believers witnessing to the protesters about Jesus death and ressurection on their behalf.

My Take: Occupy Wall Street looks like church to me – CNN Belief Blog - CNN.com Blogs

Food buzz words

Food security (a buzz-word) and/or good nutrition is not food self-sufficiency (another buzz word). I've noticed that many political celebrities have photo ops at trendy, high priced Chicago or Washington restaurants or campaign events that serve waygu-steak or fancy ethnic foods, while the rest of us are encouraged to get dirty and harvest our back yard gardens or raise a few chickens in order to save the planet.

The biggest offender? Michelle Obama.

For the moderately obese--a chance to earn some money

and help other people. If you're willing to admit to being moderately obese, OSU Nutrition Study is looking for you (male or female) and has $300 for you to join a simple study. You don't even need to diet! Non-smoking, moderately obese people (body mass index between 30 and 44), with family history of obesity, aged 21-40, needed for study on body processes that affect weight control; must give 2 small blood and urine samples, do a 20-30 minute breath test that measures internal calorie use rates, and take vegetable oil capsules for 6 weeks; compensation of up to $300. Contact: 614-689-0954

Why is President Obama so anti-life?

Obama has failed miserably in many areas, but one promise he kept was about approving more embryonic stem cell lines, even though by the time he became president, adult stem cells were the gold standard. "As president, I will lift the current administration’s ban on federal funding of research on embryonic stem cell lines created after August 9, 2001 through executive order ..." The National Institutes of Health continues to waste more taxpayer funds on destructive embryo research adding more lines. What does Obama have against the unborn that he is so Hell bent on destroying them?

Two very famous men of our time, Barack Obama and Steve Jobs, were born to very young, unwed mothers (who eventually married their birth fathers, although Obama's father being a Muslim was already married.). It was not an auspicious beginning, but Jobs was adopted and Obama was essentially raised by his grandparents. Neither faced poverty, want or lack of love and they went on to achieve the highest in politics and wealth that our current culture offers (although not in spiritual matters--and that's what counts in the end as Jobs has discovered).

So it puzzles me that two men who should be grateful for life itself are so careless about their own responsibilities. Jobs denied his out of wedlock child for years, putting mother and child on welfare, and Obama is the most virulently relentless advocate for killing the helpless unborn that we've ever had in any branch of government, federal or state. One is left to wonder if deep down there isn't some pool of self-hatred and lack of self-worth that they, particularly Obama, would demand such power over others' lives.

Are flares back in style and I missed it?

I bought a pair of light colored (oyster) chino slacks today, hook and button waist, slightly riding low, Merona, nanotex, and although I wasn't surprised at the length, since I usually have to shorten slacks, I was surprised they are flared.

But for $2.99 (I bought them at Marc's a remainder outlet), I won't quibble. Now I'll go hem them.

Internments and relocations of Americans and aliens during WWII

The round up was ordered by President Roosevelt within hours of the attack on Pearl Harbor. . .

During World War II when Franklin D. Roosevelt was president, more than 158,000 U.S. residents were either relocated and/or interned under restrictive governmental actions, and another 836,000 individuals had their freedom restricted by the government. About 130,000 were Japanese aliens and Japanese Americans living on the west coast who were put in internment camps, of which about 58% were citizens. Other Japanese ancestry citizens who lived away from the coast and not near military bases were not disturbed.

Less well known is the fact that German and Italian aliens living in the U.S. were arrested by the FBI and interned in 55 camps created just for Europeans, as well as many German-Americans and Italian-Americans. 236,000 Americans of German ancestry and 600,000 Americans of Italian ancestry were subject to restrictions.

This M.S. thesis by Larry DeWitt says 31,275 Europeans were arrested, and 25,655 were sent to the camps. Some were put on parole, or released. Also arrested were foreign merchant seamen and other non-Americans unfortunate enough to be in the U.S. at the time.

Larry DeWitt's Master's Thesis: The U.S. Social Security Board and its Program of Assistance and Services to Enemy Aliens and Others During the Relocations and Internments of World War II- Chapter 1 (I removed the hot link to this document because it had been hacked for a not very pleasant web sit.)

Wormwood Occupies

In my e-mail box today, an offer to claim $4.5 million: "listen dear client all you need to do is only forward your information required.reason because this is legibly signed by this delivery security office and also we discovered this email reported in this office last-night telling us that this consignment box worth of this fixed sum of money was about to be scammed by 419scammers. so we the entire organization formed in order to protect the interest of our clients."

Is this from an Occupy group, do you suppose? It makes as much sense as they do--protesting student loans while attending Columbia University in the most expensive city in the country; demanding collapse of corporations while wearing and using all their products; storming banks and capital buildings on a holiday; chanting and repeating phrases while wiggling their fingers. It's raining in Columbus; we can only hope for some rain on Wall Street.

The 53%--a new website lauding Americans who face adversity and survive

Some are immigrants, some are disabled, some are single parents struggling to get through college, but they have this in common--they don't approve of those who say they are the 99% and want to destroy the economic base of our nation.

We are the 53%

There's a lot of pressure to abort. . .

Sometimes it's the woman's parents, sometimes the boyfriend, and increasingly it's the culture--her peers.

At the eighth week of pregnancy, my daughter had her first sonogram. She called and told me all about it, with great excitement in her voice. She didn’t know if her baby was a boy or a girl yet, but he or she had a head, body, arms, legs, fingers, and toes! My daughter overflowed with joy as she told me how her baby had wiggled around on the screen in front of her, moving tiny arms and legs.

Then she said, “And Mom, when I got back to my dorm room after the sonogram, I had an e-mail waiting for me … from a friend telling me it wasn’t too late to take the abortion pill. I still had one more week left before it would be too late!” Mifepristone (formerly known as RU-486) can be taken as late as nine weeks after the first day of a woman’s last menstrual period—in other words, until she is seven weeks pregnant.

Kristin continued, “Mom! My friend was telling me that I could take a pill and make my ‘problem’ go away. But it’s not a ‘problem’—it’s a baby! I’ve seen him! He has arms and legs, and even though I can’t feel him yet, he’s moving all around inside of me!”

And Baby Makes Two: A Pro-Life Profile in Courage | LifeNews.com

This political ad is a bit disingenuous

American Crossroads today (October 11) announced it is releasing a TV ad in Pennsylvania and Florida as part of a continuing campaign to aggressively counter President Obama's efforts to sell his second stimulus plan at state and local events.



When could we ever trust what he said?

How smart is WiseWoman?

In common parlance, the words "wise woman" mean someone who depends on cards and herbs and pagan rituals to heal or help someone. But not so in the federal government.

The WISEWOMAN program (Well-Integrated Screening and Evaluation for WOMen Across the Nation) is administered through CDC's Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention (DHDSP). The WISEWOMAN program provides low-income, under-insured or uninsured women with chronic disease risk factor screening, lifestyle intervention, and referral services in an effort to prevent cardiovascular disease. The priority age group is women aged 40–64 years.

CDC funds 21 WISEWOMAN programs, which operate on the local level in states and tribal organizations.

The current budget for this program which essentially screens women for health problems is $16 million and change. So I was browsing through the screening pie charts and was more than a little shocked to see that 84% with hypertension, 84% with high sholesterol and 88% with diabetes had previously been diagnosed.

It seems we have an awful lot of programs to meet the needs of the uninsured, but wasn't that the reason we needed to rush Obamacare through without reading it--because so many didn't have these things, which are clearly right under their noses, plus screening women previously diagnosed. A screening or a diagnosis or a counseling moment doesn't mean treatment, doesn't mean research. Actually, doesn't mean diddly squat if the patient doesn't follow through.

You can look at the list of accomplishments, but you'll find nothing about mortality or extended life for those participating.

A Pair Of (Nobel) Aces

The Nobel Prize for Economics goes to two Americans, Thomas Sargent of New York University and Princeton's Christopher Sims, who have separately exposed the flaws in government stimulus spending. For President Obama, a Keynesian, it's the Anti-Peace Prize. Stimulus spending is the equivalent of a "sugar high." Obama certainly didn't deserve a peace prize (in fact that looks pretty silly now), but these guys seem to know what they're talking about.

A Pair Of (Nobel) Aces - Investors.com

Working families party, SEIU, ACORN organizing the Occupy groups--this is definitely NOT grass roots

She says the capitalist system isn't working for any of us? Hmm. Wonder what she wants to replace it with? European socialism? National socialism? Communism?

"In 1992, Joel Rogers​ co-founded the New Party, a Marxist coalition that endorsed and helped elect left-wing political candidates; one of its most noteworthy members in the mid-1990s was Barack Obama​. After the New Party closed its doors in 1997, it was reinvented the following year by Joel Rogers’ partner, Daniel Cantor, as the Working Families Party, which became a powerful front group for ACORN." [FrontPageMag.com]

Obama's connection to the Working Families Party is probably why you'll not hear him chastizing the organizers of this, which if it works like the 1960s, will severly hurt his campaign.

1 Million Workers. 90 Million iPhones. 17 Suicides. Who’s to Blame? | Magazine

While everyone's all soft and gooey about the loss of Steve Jobs, let's all pause for a moment of silence for the American jobs that would have never been created by Jobs. American unions would not have tolerated any of this--especially not dormitories for workers. But it has been a boon for the Chinese economy.

1 Million Workers. 90 Million iPhones. 17 Suicides. Who’s to Blame? | Magazine

Monday Memories--Salt Fork State Park 1972

The colors weren't as brilliant as this year, and it must have been much colder since we're all wearing winter coats in the photos, but we took a 3 day vacation to Salt Fork State Park on October 15, 1972. As I recall I caught a terrible cold, was very sick so we went home early. The photos are starting to fade in the album. . . a bit like my memory. Camping, even when you have a cabin with a bare bones kitchen, isn't much fun with small children--or at least it wasn't for this mom.

The note under this photo said, "Lost." I think we missed the trail we were looking for.

Our cottage was near the water.

Inspiration and perspiration

When I got home from exercise class this morning, I decided to tackle the mismatched storage boxes in the garage. I really don't like storage boxes that say STOR-ALL or Progressive. So now they are either white, green or royal blue. But. . . in order to do that I had to do some shifting and repacking, and thus came across a box full of VHS movies. Other than the Dagwood and Blondie series, most we've never watched. I think most of them used to be our daughter's who is quite a movie buff. I'm thinking we should have a movie night once a week, view them, then pass them on to the library. As it is, I selected about 12 to donate that I knew I would never be desperate enough to watch. I used to have a notebook with an alphabetic list of our movies and TV shows on VHS, but that seems to have been separated from the box of tapes.

When ART imitates Life

According to the data rich CDC 2008 report (dated Dec. 2010) on assisted reproductive technology (ART), 61,426 live births were recorded in 2008 from 148,055 discrete ART cycles. It was mandated in 1992 through the Fertility Clinic Success Rate and Certification Act (FCSRCA) that fertility clinics had to report the outcomes of assisted reproduction. This is an amazing database, regardless of your political or religious views, and has been a model for those for nursing homes, hospitals and physicians. (JAMA, "public reporting of clinical outcomes of Assisted Reproductive Technology Programs," Sept. 14, 2011, p. 1135-1136.

The ART database tracks oocytes retrieved, embryos transferred, embryos and gametes frozen for later use, donor eggs, non-donor eggs, age of mother, multiple births, etc. In the meanwhile, there were about 1.2 million abortions in 2008--over 28,000 just in Ohio. I'm guessing primarily the rich use ART; the poor and black are going the abortion route. Non-Hispanic black women account for 30%, Hispanic women for 25% of total abortions--blacks are about 12% of the population.

Occupy Columbus

A group has assembled in Columbus, the Occupy Wall Street wannabees, not to demonstrate on behalf of the poor, but to ask demand the stuff others have created or earned--their wealth, their companies and corporations, their money that goes to foundations, their lifestyles. They are calling themselves the 99%, saying 1% have 20% of the wealth (and pay 40% of the income taxes). Income isn't wealth, as we all know, and they demand a share of their wealth funnelled through the government, of which they will receive very little after the layers of bureacracy are paid their grand salaries and benefits. If they truly are representatives of the 99%, there would be Christians among this motley crew.

I find that hard to imagine, outside of the PAJAMA (Peace and Justice and More Aid) Christians. Christians, those called by the name of Jesus Christ, are those bought, purchased, ransomed with the blood of the Lamb who are a Kingdom of Priests called from every tribe and language and people and nation to serve God. (Rev. 5:9) They already have every possible riches, wealth, understanding, wisdom, and power to use in their worship of God, so why would they trade that for these trinkets?

When the Tea Party gathered to demonstrate, they won elections, but. . .

George Will: “I disagree with some of the Republicans. I wish the Occupy Wall Street demonstrators long life and ample publicity for two reasons: I think they do represent the intellectual spirit of the American left, but also I remember 1960s. We had four years of demonstrations like this led up to 1968 when the Nixon/Wallace vote was 57 percent — the country reacting against demonstrators, and Republicans went on to win five of the next six presidential elections.”

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/10/09/george-will-i-wish-the-occupy-wall-street-demonstrators-long-life-and-ample-publicity/#ixzz1aKSuPxc3

Republicans should not get their hopes up

Just because Democrats are moaning and groaning behind the skirts of the MSM, doesn't mean they will give up on Obama. He's not stupid, and he's learning this how to be president thingy bit by bit, although always shifting the blame to someone other than himself for his failures, which is extremely unpresidential and adolescent.

Barack Obama was created by the media who found him photogenic and liked how he spoke (didn't speak like a Rangel or Jackson). Also helping were the genuinely liberal (generous, interested in liberty) whites wanting to undo years of bad behavior by the Democrat party toward blacks (Jim Crow laws, Tuskegee experiments [ended by Nixon admin after 40 years], civil rights bills fought by 90% of the Democrats before the Republicans finally pushed through the 1964 Civil Rights Act signed by a Democrat president, neighborhood abortion clinics which have targeted black babies, urban renewal projects which have destroyed many black neighborhoods, etc.) which caused them guilt and angst.

Yes, they all have buyer's remorse and they don't know what to do with him, but I believe he will go for a second term. They just have too much invested, and I don't think Republicans should even imagine he won't run, or they'll get soft and go all RINOish again like they did in 2008.

Obama fooled the Democrats; don't let him fool the Republicans and Libertarians.

The Ohio Education Association squabbles with its staffers' union

I’ve been reading some of the pro- and anti-Senate Bill 5, Issue 2 (restricts public unions in Ohio). For those of you outside (or inside) Ohio, all teachers in Ohio public schools must pay union dues, but technically they don't have to be members. Since a lot of their money goes toward political issues in which they have no say, a lot of teachers are muzzled with their own money. Make any sense to you? Me neither. But. . .

Seems that the OEA (Ohio Education Association aka “union” with revenue of nearly $62 million) has a problem with its employees' union called PSU (Professional Staff Union of the OEA) and some of the dirty linen was being aired, so the PSU blog was taken down. Yes, I can see the OEA wouldn‘t want this circulating, but it was copied to PDF and posted by The Columbus Tea Party.

“The truth of the matter is that OEA failed to bargain in good faith with PSU. In fact, they wasted five bargaining sessions before even responding with a written counter-proposal. Does that sound like collaborative leadership?

No doubt both the teachers, their highly paid (nearly $200,000 a year) union reps and the lowly PSU staffers will all be out on the streets of Columbus joining raised fists in solidarity against the evil rich tomorrow with "Occupy Columbus." It will keep their minds off the "public" and children.

This is really working well for the anti-American forces behind the Occupy Wall Street movement. The first few weeks they couldn't get any traction, but now that it has spread to cities like Toledo, Columbus, and Cincinnati and people are already unhappy about a number of things messed up by the government and particularly Obama's leadership (although they would never say that), the socialist/marxist crowd is practically wetting itself with glee and anticipation.

Discord Riddles Libyan Factions--send in the drones

"Six weeks after the fall of Tripoli, the palmy days of rebel unity have begun to disintegrate into a spiral of infighting, political jockeying and even the occasional violent flare-up threatening to derail Libya's post-Gadhafi transition.

Regional rivalries between fighters from the western mountains and Tripoli have in recent days come perilously close to exploding into open warfare in the capital. In some neighborhoods, multiple leaders claim sovereignty for their groups amid a deepening battle over the makeup of a citywide military council."

No surprises here, and let's hope Mr. Obama stays out of this one.Discord Riddles Libyan Factions - WSJ.com

Holding hands?

I'm sorry, but I almost dropped the cat when I read this advice column at Ask Jen & Barb.

My children are 9 and 11. Girl and Boy respectively. They fight all the time. Spout hateful words at each other constantly. I have tried things like making them hold hands and of course lectured them. Any ideas on how to get my children to show each other they love and care for each other.

Hi Jessica, They need major consequences. There needs to be a zero tolerance for hateful words. Take away whatever it is they hold near and dear to them (i.e. time on the computer, toys, play dates, etc.). They need to know that if they treat each other that way, they will have consequences. Stay strong and do not waiver. Good luck! Jen

Probably Mom is yelling at them. And she wonders why they are nasty to each other? And what sister and brother want to hold hands? Yuk!! When are these kids together? In the car--when Mom is on the cell phone ignoring them so they quarrel to get her attention. Or she's on the computer at home so they fight in order not to be ignored. This case needs a bit more investigation.

How can I get my children to show they love and care for each other? | Jen and Barb, Mom Life

Obama's Thursday news conference

This isn't how I perceived it, but littletboca is indulging in some wishful thinking that Democrats actually see through this guy:

"[Democrats] sat and listened to a man who’s acting like a caged animal – he’s on the fight and will attack any and all who get in his way. His body language along with his rhetoric reveals his anger and discontent. Americans, it looks like we have a problem that could be worse than the economy.

The Commander in Chief alienates himself from his duties in the White House; he’s in a campaign mode and oblivious to the real world. Obama appears to be functioning on hot air and incapable of facing reality. This person truly is living in a fictitious make believe world.

Democrats know the Obama’s jobs plan isn’t paid for and they know the brunt of the cost for this second stimulus will be placed on taxpayer’s shoulders. Democrats must be thinking about several things this morning: (1) How can we replace this person in the 2012 elections, and (2) How do we get him to stop campaigning and, (3) What do we do with him between now and 2012?

Obama Dealt Democrats a Losing Hand | RedState