1541 A Cajun East Germany

Last week during our Danube River Cruise we enjoyed many outstanding lectures. Tour guide Robert who is British and has lived and studied both in the USSR and the GDR, lectured about post WWII Germany and reunification. He said (according to my notes) that USSR had hoped it could build a model country from the ashes, and in 1949 the GDR (East Germany) was formed. While the USA poured money into Germany building housing, businesses, and currency reform, the GDR stagnated. 100,000 people a year were leaving the East for better opportunities in the West. The Berlin Wall was built and the Iron Curtain fell cutting off what had been Prussia. On the 40th anniversary, 1989, the people knocked down the wall, and no one in the West had a plan B, because no one believed the Soviets would so totally fail. After 1990, things went sour. 16 million East Germans and 4,000,000 Volga Germans had to be absorbed into the rather generous German social system and economy. It was a disaster--"Too risky to invest in a work force that had been under Communism for 45 years."

Two days later Dr. Hans Hillerbrand picked up the theme with "What is a German?" He said Germany had had one of the most generous social systems in the west, with no unemployment and few pensioners in the 1980s. But as the work forced aged, and the East Germans came into the system not having contributed anything, 1.4 trillion Euros were transferred west to east to get the former GDR's economy going again. But it is a black hole. In the GDR, 8 workers were employed where 2 were needed, but easterners wanted the same salaries as westerns, who were far more capable and productive.

In today's WSJ George Melloan writes in the "Global View" column about how government handouts and subsidies to the East Germans to bring them "up" to West German standards has failed, causing high unemployment, anger and a growing Communist party, which made a small showing in the election that took place while we were there. Unemployment in east Germany is at 19%. He notes that the ambitious 4 milllion left, resulting in a Darwinian downward spiral in the population, leaving the elderly, the lazy and the indigent.

As I was reading it I kept thinking how much it sounded like Louisiana politics and government props (before Katrina) and how much worse the federal infusion of "aid" could make life there. And then in his last sentence I see we were really "on the same page," when he mentioned the hurricane aid was going to turn Louisiana into a "Cajan East Germany."

1540 Write down those stories!

In two weeks I'll be visiting family in Illinois. While I'm "home" I hope to visit a great aunt who just celebrated her 90th birthday. I'm going to take along the genealogy information I've accumulated over the years and try to fill in a few blanks, and I hope to hear some "stories." Not everyone is a story teller, so sometimes you have to ask questions like "Where was your family living when you were born? Did you hear stories about your parents' early life you could share with me?"

Here's an essay I wrote in June 2002 about a story I heard from a neighbor. He can no longer communicate, so I hope someone in his family will write down for the great grandchildren his "library."

At age 77 my neighbor climbed down the ladder from the roof of his 2 story house, wiped away the sweat, and told me how sad he was that he was now an orphan. Two brothers and a sister had died the previous year, and he was the last one--the youngest of 9. The one brother was the family story-teller--always pumping the aunts and uncles, cousins and sibs for stories which he would then retell and embellish at family get-togethers--a bard, a chronicler of their life and times. "We lost a library," my neighbor said sadly, "no one ever wrote them down, and I'm no story teller."

But then, as though lying about his own ability, he told me the story of how his father watched 3 friends die in mine fires in south eastern Ohio, and decided to move his family to Cleveland for better opportunity and a safer job. All eleven of them took the train ride to Cleveland to find the one man he knew there. All he knew was that his friend worked for the railroad, so the family sat, ate, and slept in the train station for three days until the man came through on a train. The children swept floors and ran errands for people to get a little cash together. Finally his father saw his friend, who immediately took them home with him. Within 3 days, the father had a job, and within a year, he'd made a down payment on a house for his family. I can't repeat the story the way he did, but he had quickly stepped into his brother's shoes.

Now he has Alzheimer's. He doesn't recognize his wife, children, grandchildren or great-grandchildren. But the family still gathers and treats him with great tenderness and respect. The house bustles with friends and children running in and out, but the library has closed forever. Write your stories.

1539 The Michael Jackson Treatment

Cindy Sheehan gets my Jacko moves. Whenever a story about her comes on the news, I pick-up the remote and change channels, a method I used during the trial. I've also e-mailed NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox (don't watch CNN) asking them to stop making her into news. So far, I've seen snippets of "King of the Hill" and some shopping channel gems, but that's better than watching non-news.

1538 Blew her out of the media

A certain grieving mother got blown out of the limelight by Hurricane Katrina, and now can be found grinning and laughing as she is arrested in what appears to be a mosh pit for storming the White House in a war protest. Ah Cindy. I think your 15 minutes of fame is over. You are so yesterday I'm not even going to post the photo I came across while looking for something. . .interesting. . . relevant. . . and age appropriate.

1537 Why weren't they prepared for this?

"Speaking at a symposium in New York last week, Arthur Jones, chief of disaster recovery for Louisiana's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, told the Associated Press that his agency he was caught off guard by the tidal wave of violence.

No disaster planner, he said, predicted that people would loot gun stores after the storm and shoot at police, rescue officials and helicopters." Katrina death toll

Hello! 1. Law abiding citizens leave. 2. Crooks stay. 3. Gun stores are unguarded. Not my field of expertise, but I think I could have figured this one out. Number 4 is Looting.

Who hires these local Homeland Security "experts." And they were supposed to protect us from terrorists?

Update: I heard today that there were no more murders during the Katrina aftermath than any other week. Can't confirm it yet, but I was hoping someone would subtract the usual death toll from the Katrina toll to come up with a figure. Also, Michael Brown says FEMA does not send volunteers or staff into unsafe areas because they are not military or police, and the media was reporting violence and gunfire. Now it appears much of that was way over-hyped and exaggerated.

1536 Roberts is in; who's next?

A strong judiciary and a weak Congress is not what our Founders had in mind, but that's the hand we've chosen to put in our glove. So who's next? This will be Bush's real legacy--Supreme Court members stay on for 30 years or more--and we know there will be a battle.

All we'll hear from liberals is ABORTION and various thinly veiled issues dealing with "morality." I'm assuming the rest of the issues are all code words for ABORTION. Do we really want the next 30 years of court battles determined by that and the direction it has taken us?

"Most of all, perhaps, [legalized abortion] has corrupted liberalism. For all its flaws, liberalism could until the early seventies claim a proud history of standing up for the powerless and downtrodden, of expanding the definition of the community for whom we pledge protection, of resisting the idea that might makes right. The Democratic Party has casually abandoned that legacy. Liberals’ commitment to civil rights, it turns out, ends when the constituency in question can offer neither votes nor revenues." Richard John Neuhaus

In most areas of traditional morality Christians (according to polls) have been willingly co-opted by the larger culture in divorce, remarriage, gambling, pornography, addictions, cheating on tests, and over-all bad behavior. Even 30 years ago, there was a clear difference in behavior, but we've lost our witness. So let's at least hang on to honesty and recognize that we've pretty much lost the ABORTION battle, even among Christians. We might as well look at the next candidate's expertise on other issues--areas dealing with business, the environment, education, etc.

It was interesting that during the Democrats' grilling of Roberts the biggest complaint was his "silence." Oh, that we had some of that precious commodity from the committee members! My oh my. Don't they love a camera! Like that has-been in Sunset Boulevard, Norma Desmond played by Gloria Swanson. "This is my life. It always will be. Nothing else...just us. The camera...and those wonderful people out there in the dark."

Yes, for all of us people out here in the dark.

1535 Women may regret this

If men behaving badly, but not sexually, creates a hostile environment for women, then will men be able to sue for sex discrimination when women in the work place just do the usual girl thang using all the codes women understand and men don't? Gossiping. Sniping. Whispering. Whining. Changing their minds. Giggling. Glaring. Sighing. Procrastinating. Interrupting. Wearing too much perfume. Taking off their expensive shoes because their feet hurt. Adjusting the themostat during menopause. Temper trantrums. Kitchen sink arguments. And of course, intuition.

"Screaming and yelling by men at work may now be sex-based discrimination if women at work find the behavior more intimidating than men do. On September 2, 2005, in E.E.O.C. v. National Education Association, (No. 04-35029), the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the “reasonable woman” standard applies to workplace abusive conduct, even if there is no sexual content to the behavior. This decision significantly expands the types of behaviors that may furnish a basis for a claim of discrimination." ASAP

And what is this reasonable woman standard? Was Governor Blanco "reasonable" to ask for more time to think about about the federal government's involvement in Katrina? Yes, a woman being hounded by shouting male advisors on all sides in a crisis would be "reasonable," but completely ineffective.

Screaming at anyone is bad behavior and that supervisor should fail on his or her own merit. Or lack thereof.

Photos of our Danube Cruise: Linz and Melk, Austria

Austria is a rather small country today, having lost much of its vast Austro-Hungarian Empire after WWI. Linz is the provincial capital of Upper Austria, with the oldest church in Austria. This is also where we toured a modern university and had a lecture on the Austrian educational system. Melk was Bob's favorite of the whole trip, and after we docked he walked into town and got an amazing view of the massive Benedictine Abbey before our tour the next day. I, of course, was wowed by its library.

Linz Main Square

Linz trolley

Linz, Johannes Kepler University

Melk Abbey

Melk Abbey interior

Melk Abbey Library

Melk, town view

Photos of our Danube Cruise: Regensburg and Passau

Columbus, Ohio is about 200 years old--Regensburg is about 2,500! I thought my architect husband would have a melt down--Romanesque, Gothic, Italianate, Baroque, Roccoco, neoclassical and romantic all within a few blocks. One thing we heard from all our outstanding local German and Austrian guides, important for any era--fame, power, ruling families, governments, churches and wealth come and go. A "global economy" was flourishing in Regensburg 1000 years ago due in large part to the Jews for 500 years then they were driven out, according to our guide. Around 500 B.C. Regensburg was a Celt settlement, and then the Romans used its strategic location to build a fortress, the walls of which are exposed and showing beneath many of the "modern" (17th century) buildings.

The Roman fort walls peeking out below

St. Peter's Cathedral, started in 1254 and finished around 1520.

Steinerne Brucke, over the Danube, built in the 12th century

Our story-teller guide showing us a door used during the black plague

The organ of the Cathedral at Passau where we heard a wonderful noon concert

Parish church in Passau

Photos of our Danube Cruise

Photos will not do this trip justice. Every village and city we saw was lovely; our boat and crew were wonderful; our guides were fabulous. Still, I want to record just a few to save in my blog. We still do the old fashioned photo album so we view our photos more than once.

Nuremberg: Let's start with the most sobering, and then move on. Hitler loved Nuremberg. Here Hitler convinced millions they were the master race in mass rallies. This concrete expanse was designed to make the individual feel both insignificant and part of something larger at the same time (according to our guide). With huge spotlights, it became a Cathedral of Lights.



Where the war trials were held.

Lovely scene in old Nuremberg, with a Starbucks nearby

On the upper deck enjoying the river view

1534 Cheney's heart problems

Surely I'm not the only Republican who thinks it is time for Cheney to step down. These latest problems are not minor. It's common to say the vice president is "a heart beat away from the Presidency," but that expression should not refer to Dennis Hastert.

1533 I'm still waiting

for someone to give the specifics on what President Bush should have done differently during Hurricane Katrina that would have made a difference--saving lives, property or speeding evacuation. If John Kerry had been President, or Bill Clinton, I think the results would have been the same . . . and so would the criticism, only it would have come from the Republicans. But it would have been John Kerry on vacation (in France? at one of his wife's mansions?). The Red Cross still wouldn't have been allowed in to provide water and food to 20,000 people waiting for buses. The buses still would have been windshield deep in water if Kerry hadn't lost by 180,000 votes in Ohio. People still would have refused to leave their homes if Hillary were still first lady. The hurricane category 3 levee still would have been breached if Bill Clinton were in office. Louisiana's National Guard still would have been the Governor's responsibility to call up.

Truly, all I've read or heard is, "Bush was clueless," "Bush didn't care," "Bush was on vacation," "ineffective response," or equally vague put downs, but nothing pointed like the criticism of Louisiana's governor and New Orleans' Mayor, who had very specific responsibilities for the safety and well-being of their citizens and functioning communication systems, but were unable to coordinate them or give up power to the next higher agency. In fact, right before Rita hit, weren't we hearing complaints from Nagin that New Orleans seemed to have a federal mayor? Wasn't he asking for that just two weeks ago?

I just think it is important all Americans understand what the federal government's response is supposed to be. After all, Bush accepted the responsibility for a slow response. We've got FEMA, and a whole alphabet soup of government agencies, and all sorts of laws and regulations that stop at our state borders. I don't want to see the Bush administration just holler Mea Culpa without some pretty careful explanation, because it just means the federal government will grow and more laws and regs that no one understands will be on the books. I'd like to see the books closed on some older disasters--have those families and businesses recovered? I think it is important because there are other disasters, like earthquakes and tsunamis that could wipe out transportation routes. So, just who is in charge here?

1532 Economic literacy

Should a course on economic literacy be taught in schools? Not just budgeting. Not how to read a stock report. But something with a little history?

"I break economic literacy into two components -- factual and conceptual. Alas, most well-educated Americans are illiterate in both areas. First, the facts. Whenever I teach a seminar on basic economics, I always survey the audience: What proportion of the American labor force earns the minimum wage or less and what is the standard of living of the average American today relative to 100 years ago?

Even among highly-educated groups such as journalists or congressional staffers, the median answer is depressingly similar -- they think 20% of the American work force earns the minimum wage or less. In fact, the actual number is something less than 3%. Usually a non-trivial portion of each group thinks that our material well-being is lower today than 100 years ago. Their median answer is that we are 50% better off than we were 100 years ago. In fact, the average American is at least five and maybe 30 times better off than we were in the good old days. There's a dramatic range because it's hard to value the opportunity to listen to your iPod while recovering from open heart surgery. But 50% is a very bad answer." Russell Roberts replies to WSJ's question about what the public doesn't know. . .

Imagine how news stories would change if journalists were required to be literate in economics! Think of the trees that have died to produce stories about families that can't survive on minimum wage.

1531 Cottage; America's favorite home inside and out

The book is finally ready--it was waiting for us in the pile of mail. Last year I'd noticed an item in the AIA newsletter about a deadline for submitting suggestions for a book about cottages. I printed it out and put it in my husband's line of vision with an extremely strong suggestion that he enter one of his Lakeside designs. He submitted some photographs along with a paragraph or two about "the healthy house" and Lakeside which is on the National Historic Register. The authors, M. Caren Connolly and Louis Wasserman contacted him, and last May sent a photographer Rob Karosis to Lakeside. The book had a proposed publication date of summer 2005 and we're sorry it wasn't available to the Lakeside market this summer, but now it's out and absolutely lovely!



We are so thrilled with it, and the photographer of Foley's home did a fabulous job. Take a peek inside the book--Cottage; America's Favorite Home Inside and Out.

From the introduction: "For many people, cottage living is a dream come true. And, as the cottages in our book show, every dream is different. Cottage owners typically ignore the commonly accepted real estate maxims, such as building for resale, maximizing square footage, including a bathroom for every bedroom, and tacking on a three-car garage. Instead they think outside the box and create intimate homes that express their personalities and how they enjoy living their lives. The cottages in this book, and the dreams of their owners, have cast a spell over us. We invite you to read their stories and imagine yourself enjoying the hospitality each cottage graciously offers."

Bob's healthy house is pages 29-35.

Lakeside, Ohio

1530 Big and Little Things I noticed

Obese Americans. I didn't see any. Travel though old cities of Europe with cobblestone streets, hills to climb, many irregular steps, and much less handicapped access than what we have come to expect, limits travelers and tourists to those in reasonably good health. The ages of the tour members ranged from early 40s at the lower end to mid-80s in the upper, but despite some frailty among a few of our older members, no one was what I would call obese. Nor did I see obese Germans and Austrians, who seem to look quite healthy and athletic based on what you see in American cities. (They obviously are running off all those wonderful breads and pastries.) I know I've read that they are catching up with us, but it is very noticeable the minute you step back inside an American airport.

Toilets. When you could find public toilets, they were well designed and managed. Toilet paper in Germany and Austria seems to be universally supplied by companies that produce paper towels and only know that product. A few places we experienced pay toilets which seems a throw back to the system we had here in bus and train stations in the 1950s. I didn't notice that they were any cleaner or nicer than those that didn't charge, but it does provide jobs. The stalls seem to be more sturdy, intended to last longer than a few months or years, mostly covered with ceramic tiles with stainless steel doors and really solid locks.

Churches and cathedrals. These seemed to be maintained by the state by taxing the Catholics (I suppose it is the same for Lutherans, but we didn't go through any protestant churches on a tour). Europeans like to criticize our American politics being influenced by religion, however, I think Americans would really balk at having the state collect taxes to support the churches. The cathedrals are a huge draw for tourists who bring in millions of Euros to support the economy. If anything, the state ought to do all it can to support these wonderful old buildings, which cost millions to maintain. We rarely saw a cathedral without scaffolding and plastic to catch debris.

Minorities. Although there were many African Americans on our flight to Frankfurt, they must have all been going elsewhere for a holiday. I literally saw only Caucasians and Japanese in Europe. I know there are "guest workers" in Germany and Austria who are darker, but I didn't see them. A few security personnel in the airports looked exactly the same as in the United States. I saw only one or two people in wheelchairs (it would be extremely difficult in the cities we visited), and only one retarded person. You know what? I think I missed the diversity of our large cities (disclaimer: we have almost none in our suburb which is pretty WASPish). For all our complaints about political correctness, affirmative this and that, and immigration policies, we are still a nation that accepts everyone as a goal, even if we haven't reached it yet. As unemployment soars in Europe, I think we'll see increasing resentment against minorities who have never become citizens, and even those who have.

Smoking. May I say a big thank you to all those liberals who have pushed cigarettes and cigars out of our faces, and eliminated the stink from our clothes and hair. Oh, how quickly you forget how unpleasant it is to sit in a smokey restaurant, or even to sit or stand outside with something that smells like old dirty clothes smoldering. Pugh!

Television. We had TV in our cabins, and unless we were going through one of the 21 locks on the Danube, we had fairly decent reception. I would sometimes watch German programming while trying to fall asleep (time change you know). Did you know you can watch a home make-over in German and pretty much figure out what is going on? They seem to love something that looks like a Judge Judy show, only it appears to have actors, not real plaintiffs and defendants. One time while flipping through I found three running simultaneously. We could also get BBC and CNN International. So we kept up with Hurricane Rita. One of the oddest things I heard on CNN (which I rarely watch at home) was a comment and clip of President Bush warning people to evacuate and take safety. The commentators said he was responding much more quickly than he did with Katrina having learned from the government's poor response. But after the video clip of his warning, she said, "This is the same speech he gave to the people in the path of Katrina in late August." Now why a warning has more impact if he is in a suit and tie in DC than in boots and jeans in Crawford, I have no idea.

Part I: Our Wonderful Trip
Part II: Our Danube Cruise
Part III: Photos: Nuremberg
Part IV: Photos: Regensburg and Passau
Part V: Linz and Melk
Part VI: Photos: Durnstein and Vienna--under construction
Part VII: East Germany Lessons for us
Part VIII: What to wear on a cruise
Part IX: Dancing on the Danube

1529 Our Danube Cruise

Our tour was arranged by the University of Illinois Alumni Association through AHI (Alumni Holidays International) which was the host for our cruise on the Danube River from Nuremberg to Vienna. I must say, it is an outstanding tour company and we literally didn't have a worry in the world. Every little detail was taken care of, and the ship they hired, MS Switzerland, was outstanding with attentive staff, fabulous food, and lovely decor.

Our Campus Directors were Cecilia R. Berry a native of Hungary and resident of California who works for AHI and Robert A. Dalton, of England who is a private contractor. They were both outstanding, and as we floated down the Danube, other lecturers joined us providing information on German history and culture, German reunification and its political and economic implications, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the Austrian education system. Particularly interesting was Dr. Hans Hillerbrand, a professor of religion at Duke University. He began his career as an exchange student in the 1950s at Goshen College in Indiana and is a well known author in the area of religion.

Here's the site and description from Notre Dame's Alumni.

"Once upon a time, Charlemagne dreamed of connecting the waterways of Europe into one vast thoroughfare from the North Sea to the Black Sea. The formidable engineering and political challenges this vision presented took nearly 1200 years to overcome. The Main-Danube Canal, one of the most impressive engineering feats of all time, was the realization of this dream and, since September 25, 1992, has linked an enchanting world of fairytale castles and cities steeped in tradition.

On this exciting journey through the heartland of the Bavarian Alps and the breathtaking Wachau Valley, you’ll marvel at spectacular natural beauty, well-preserved medieval charm and architectural splendor. You’ll traverse the Main-Danube Canal and the Danube River as you relax in comfort aboard the elegant M/S Swiss Pearl. You’ll explore historic Nuremberg, regal Regensburg, picturesque Passau, the Wachauer towns of Linz, amazing Melk and Dürnstein and of course classic Vienna!"

1528 We had a wonderful trip

but it is good to be home. Our daughter and son-in-law met us at the airport last night and offered to take us out to eat (their wedding anniversary). But we'd been up for about 20 hours, so we declined. She took home the pumpkin pie and topping she'd brought over. Maybe today. . .

I'll be writing more as I find my notes and thoughts. First a comment about airports. We saw many. Columbus, Chicago O'Hare, Frankfurt, Nuremberg, Vienna, Munich. The only place I encountered rude staff with incomprehensible English was in Chicago!

I felt so sorry for one elderly Asian traveler at O'Hare trying to decipher verbal instructions. I would have taken him aside and in a gesture of American welcome and kindness helped him, but I couldn't understand a word the staff woman said. Elegant hairdo, long brilliant fingernails, and a spotless uniform, but not an understandable syllable or phrase of standard English. What a shame. Except there was that guy named Spencer where our passports were checked. He smiled, he was friendly, and he welcomed us home.

O'Hare was also our only experience with a delayed connection. Our international flight from Munich (Lufthansa) was within a minute of the scheduled arrival time. Our flight home had been coming in from Dallas and was redirected to Indianapolis. They scrambled to find another plane, and we were on the runway only 30 minutes late, then sat behind 26 others because it had been raining. Even so, in what must have been the shortest in air time I've ever had between Chicago and Columbus, we were only one hour late getting in.

Now, that's all out of my system, so on to happier thoughts to collect.

Signing off for awhile

While I'm gone, stop and read my archive column for Lakeside, Ohio stories and my recollections of long ago and far away. See you when we get back.


Lovely Wachau Valley


Beautiful Ogle County

This one's for you--son

Take a look.

1525 Where will the Conference be in 2006?

The ever-liberal and sensitive-to-diversity American Library Association had planned to have its Conference in New Orleans in 2006. The listserv is providing a variety of views on whether it is appropriate to be worrying about that during this time of disaster and great need. Considering that many organizations in the past have opted to boycott cities that are not friendly to women or gays or labor unions, I'm wondering why ALA ever considered New Orleans in the first place. By anyone's standards it was a mess before Katrina--a tourist mecca served by the working class hovering above the poor, living in project housing. New Orleans not only had the French Quarter, great hotels and jazz, it had a huge poverty rate among black Americans with enormous racial divisions and income gaps among whites, blacks and mixed race. Crime was at crisis levels (endangering locals more than tourists), with bars on the windows of even modest homes. The state and local governments have historically picked the pockets of the poor and used them to build a political base by doling the money back to them. It was an environmental disaster waiting to happen, with layers of bureacracy, red tape and regulations that paralyzed everyone trying to fix it.

Just the poverty alone should have been a red flag to the conference planners, but they never noticed the problem until it showed up on Fox and CNN.