1567 Bill Bennett's comments on abortion

Bill Bennett on his radio show tried to refute an article in a book (Freakonomics) that says abortions would reduce crime, and he gets strung up by the liberals who cooked up this scheme? Really! Liberals have been saying for years that killing the unborn will "save" children from poverty and a terrible life (and help our taxes). They've also published this crime theory and blacks in scholarly journals.

"Fertility declines for black women are three times greater than for whites (12 percent compared to 4 percent). Given that homicide rates of black youths are roughly nine times higher than those of white youths, racial differences in the fertility effects of abortion are likely to translate into greater homicide reductions." Quarterly Journal of Economics "The impact of legalized abortion on crime" by John Donohue III and Steven D. Levitt. (2001) James Taranto suggests that what really made them mad was his suggesting it was immoral.

Where was the outrage when academics proposed it? Where was Nancy Pelosi then? That woman's hypocrisy really gravels me for some reason. She and Feinstein are so whiny. How do you Californians stand it?

1566 I'll bet you're surprised, but I'm not

You are a Social Moderate (56% permissive) and an... Economic Conservative (61% permissive) You are best described as a: Centrist Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid Also: The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

1565 How to control poverty in New Orleans

With very little government interference. Support and promote intact families in the media, in entertainment, in books, in churches, in the entire culture. Women, save your children from poverty.

1564 No slippery slope?

We could just pass the homosexual unions discussion and go directly to legalizing polygamous unions like the Netherlands. LaShawn Barber reports. Once you decide marriage is not between a man and woman, there is really no logical reason not to include any sort of union so the group can get their benefits. We've had serial monogamy for many years with men and women supporting by court decree spouses and children from various unions including those they never married.

1563 What to wear on a river cruise

Casual. I checked with my friend Nancy who travels a lot--in fact, she’d been on a Rhine cruise earlier this year. Casual, she said, very casual. So I carefully went through my Wal-Mart and K-Mart clothes and threw in a few better quality accessories, like Chadwick's and Kohl’s. I really didn’t need my basic, dressy black dress (plus it was a bit snug), but we had plenty of room, so I did take it just in case we had a dress-up occasion. Our weather was great--about 50s in the morning, maybe 65 in afternoon. Cool is better than hot, when you're struggling through cobblestone streets and hills. Here’s what I took.

We had 2 carry-ons bags and one smaller and one larger suitcases. We divided our clothes between the 2 larger suitcases, so that if one got lost, we’d each have at least 3 changes of clothes. Medications and make-up were in the carry-ons. We each packed one change of clothes in our carry-on and a change of shoes. One couple on the cruise did not have their luggage until the 5th day, and had only their carry-on. So pack that bag very carefully!

I chose a brown, black, cream and beige color scheme, with just a couple of other colors, like a bright blue and moss green thrown in so I didn't get too bored.

black, brown, cream

Brown knit slacks
Black knit slacks
Black cotton pull-on slacks to wear on the plane

Black knit skirt (rolled up for carry on)
Brown print skirt
Denim skirt

Cream knit short sleeve sweater (rolled up for carry on)
Cream long sleeve blouse
Black, brown, cream striped turtleneck
Cream long sleeve cotton knit shirt with small blue brown print
Moss green long sleeve turtleneck
White 3/4 sleeve blouse to wear on the plane
Dressy blue/black/pink jacket with sleeveless blue blouse
Short sleeve white knit shirt (never used)

Beige moleskin over-shirt, cardigan style
Beige linen blazer
White cardigan (never used)
Two scarves, one in blue tones, one in autumn colors
Lined, light weight, rain resistent blue jacket with hood

PJ’s, underwear, hose, anklets etc.
Black athletic shoes, loafers, sandals, heels
Tan sandals

If I'd packed differently, I would have left out the dress and bought a dressy sweater set to wear with slacks or a skirt. Dresses do seem to be a dying breed. My husband had two sport coats and two ties, but one would have been sufficient.

Because this is hurricane season, we chose to fly out of O'Hare rather than Charlotte, and it is actually a shorter distance to Frankfurt. But I like Charlotte's airport better.

1562 More work for lawyers

News that Paxil may cause birth defects during the first trimester, should fill in the time for any lawyers not flogging the Vioxx cases and Katrina mold.

1561 Not yet, but maybe someday

Viet D. Dinh, suggests Vietpundit. I would say it's pretty remarkable he's made it this far.

1560 More comments on the Chronicle Librarian article

Paul provides some real horror stories about some instructors in his library school education. Wow. Wasn't that way when I went to college--I think the professors kept their politics to themselves. We talked about really old fashioned concepts like books, serials, history of information and the future of computers and how to make information accessible. I think the most dramatic thing I remember is discussing "In cold blood" by Truman Capote. Seems a little tame now. Must have been the blue jeans. No instructor--or even students--wore jeans to class in grad school. Raises the standards if you need to look nice to keep your job.

Paul recalls, "The head of the program, since departed, gave a seminar on the Robert Maplethorpe pictures that caused so much controversy due to their explicit depictions and federal funding. We got to see the famous photo of a naked Maplethorpe with a bullwhip stuck in his anus. She also showed us a photo by Mapplethorpe's protege which showed a four-year-old girl sitting down, raising her dress to reveal her vagina (no panties). She had, as our Director said, an "impish grin that revealed her hidden sexuality." Me and the woman sitting to my right were horrified, but we seemed to be the only ones. But, as David Durant points out, many often choose not to speak out in order to fit in."

1559 Little quiz time

You Are A: Lamb!

Peaceful and gentle, lambs have been used in religious imagery for millennia. Lambs are baby sheep, an animal tended by shephards since the dawn of history. As a lamb, you tend to stay together in a flock and graze on grassy land. Lambs don't mind being led and tend not to go off on their own.

You were almost a: Duckling or a Chipmunk
You are least like a: Monkey or a PuppyWhat Cute Animal Are You?

I saw this at Jenna's site.

1558 Why women?

"Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) affects approximately 2 million people in the United States. RA is prevalent across all ethnic groups, and can occur at any age, although most cases are seen in adults between ages 30 and 60 years. Women comprise 75% of all cases.[1] The disease accounts for more than 9 million physician visits and 250,000 hospitalizations annually, presenting a huge economic burden on society.[1] RA is a chronic, progressive autoimmune inflammatory disease of unknown etiology that attacks the synovial tissue leading to irreversible joint damage, chronic pain, stiffness, and functional impairment.[2] Most patients with RA develop permanent bone erosions and joint space narrowing and with time, many are disabled and may require joint replacement surgery. RA can reduce the average life expectancy by about a decade.[3]" From www.medscape.com. The sooner it is diagnosed, the more successful the treatment, but there is no cure.

"Autoimmune diseases run the gamut from mild to disabling and potentially life threatening. Nearly all affect women at far greater rates than men. The question before the scientific community is "why?" We have come a long way in the diagnosis and treatment of autoimmune disease. But more work is needed, especially in the areas of discovering the causes and developing more effective treatments and prevention strategies." from AARDA page

My daughter has Hashimoto's Disease, an autoimmune disease with a female to male ratio of 50:1. This disease destroys the thyroid. Do you suppose it is unreasonable to wonder if this was reversed--75% of RA cases were male--we'd have more answers? More funding? Just a thought.

1557 The Democrats may be socialists

but the Republicans are liars, opines Professor Chaos, who attended a party and didn't like what he heard.

1556 Telenovelas on Time Warner

So I was a few months late discovering our Spanish language channel. I was out of town all summer. I'm having a blast watching what I think are the telenovelas, or maybe they are just Latin soaps. Yesterday there was the most incredible cat fight between two women, with screaming, hair flying, eyes popping, slapping, kicking, and one helpless older guy watching and another peeking from behind a door snickering. The fashions, hair-dos, sets, story lines, family fueds, automobiles and other toys are way beyond your usual (yawn) suds stories. Even the commercials are less objectionable when you don't know what they are saying. I'd supply some links, but I haven't been able to catch the titles.

1555 Why Paula dumped me

She says it was this post that unlinked me from her blogroll. I have my doubts. She's got thicker skin than that. I'm old enough to be her mother and am from northern Illinois where she's from--maybe she's got issues? I've been reading her stuff since pre-blog days. She's a Romance writer--not sure if she's published, but I know someday she'll be rich and famous. Of course, I've never read a romance novel, so how would I know? But she loves what she does and that's part of it. Maybe luck? Possibly. Right time, right place? Follows guidelines? Probably. Most likely after the kids are out of the nest and she has plenty of time to concentrate.

Many writer-wannabes back in the 90s thought the internet would launch their writing careers. I think it eats up their energy and writing juices. The really good ones eventually get published, along with some really awful ones if the Half Price Book Store shelves are telling the truth. Since I have no idea what Paula's real name is, I may never know if I pass up her best seller in the bookstore.

1554 Ready to stay home for awhile

After a week in Florida in February, a week in Illinois in April, July and August at Lakeside interrupted by five days in Oklahoma and Arkansas for a Frank Lloyd Wright - Fay Jones architectural tour, and a September Danube River cruise in Germany and Austria to be followed by another week in Illinois, I'm ready to stay home for awhile. My husband's had even more travel with two trips to California to be with his dying father and then his funeral in March and May. That's why this poem written by my girlfriend Lynne (since highschool) which arrived yesterday in the mail, means so much.

It's grand to go on holiday
and break the set routine.
It's nice to get away, you say
and have a change of scene.
It's tonic, so they say,
to see and to explore
The exciting world outside your door.

But then comes the moment--
you have had enough!

Then it's home you long for
Your own small, cozy kingdom
Where you know just where you are.
Oh, it's good to get back home
and breathe your native air,
And settle in your very own
familiar easy chair.

Thanks, Lynne, my thoughts exactly.

1554 How to clean your iPod and Nano

See what I told you? I don't have a niche. This guy explains, with photos, how to clean your iPod with Brasso, and he gets 45 comments. I think I know what an iPod is, but have no idea about nanos. I thought that was Mork and Mindy talk. Oh, that was nanu. I saw Todd's blog at the Make.blog which I saw at Lethal Librarian, who belly dances.

Update: See how the bloggers are getting the jump on the news writers? Today's paper had an article about the Apple iPod and Nano--it gets good marks for features like holding 1,000 songs (who in the world needs that?), pictures of album covers, photos, podcasts and audiobooks. But bad marks for scratching!

1553 Library Juice runs dry

Not sure that you would care--I don’t really. Library Juice is a radical left wing librarian's on-line serial, whose writer/editor smugly proclaimed to be above the blogging fray. I don’t link to him although I do link to liberal blogs about librarianship (the majority of librarians are liberals, but many can stay on topic, promote the profession and do an excellent job in their blogs). Jack Stephens has a note about this at Conservator, referring to Lethal Librarian and reports that while proclaiming to support freedom of information, Library Juice also published 7 different issues in support of Fidel Castro, old Mr. Fuzzy Bear himself.

I hope Mr. Litwin can find himself (he's going to start blogging). He seems to violate everything our profession used to stand for, and now that the profession is struggling to stay afloat, maybe he's jumping the [librarian]ship.

Blake, at LISNews.com also commented on Library Juice. "Rory was a big part of LISNews for years, and if I remember right, one of his big problems with LISNews is how I let everyone have a say. I don't subscribe to that theory in any way. However much I may want to start firewalling people that annoy me, I'll just never do it. I'll never avoid conversations I don't want to have by silencing everyone. It's easy to figure out who is a delusional nut job and who is interesting and informative, and I read people based on the reputation they've made for themselves. I don't think it does any of us any good if I silence them. I welcome constructive criticism, and I also welcome people I disagree with into my world."

1552 The value of a college education

My post on this topic about 18 months ago really raised some hackles. You just don't gore this sacred cow! However, this week I noticed in our local paper that a young man I watched grow up (sat in front of us in church on Sunday) who is about three years younger than my son, had been hired by the local school board as treasurer--for $108,000 a year. Obviously, some areas of education pay much better than others--especially if you are not directly involved in educating!

1551 The blog roll

Paula cut me loose; Mr. Cloud says I'm hanging by a thread because of my politics. Twyla gave up blogging. Lori doesn't have a blog roll. Other bloggers who linked to me have just disappeared, with no explanation. Moved on, gone on vacation, on hiatis, died, divorced, whatever.

I'm coming up on the second anniversary of blogging--October 2003 I started. If I'd been smart or if I'd wanted fab stats, I would have never admitted to being a retired librarian, and I would have used my daughter's photo (she's gorgeous). I would have used lots of sexually loaded language, like certain popular sites, and found a niche like knitting dog hair, or buying shoes. The internet may be the new communication/information medium, but no one wants to hang out with senior citizens. Not even other seniors. I've taught about 10 over-55 year olds how to blog, and none have kept up. They posted about 2 or 3 then went back to golf, or publishing books, or drinking coffee. Even my best friend won't read blogs, and my sister and brother rarely check in. Murray, who has an opinion on everything and is a good writer, seems to have lost his password; Eric is quiet, thoughtful and philosphical, but must have writer's block.

The number of Americans who say they read blogs jumped 58% in 2004, to 32,000,000 people, according to Pew. And there are supposed to be 18,000,000 blogs, which means I should get at least 2 regulars. Those who follow the trends say "pungent entries" bring people back. "Pungent" means being sharp, incisive, and to the point--even irritating, from the Latin words meaning fist or fight. Hmmm. Paula and Mr. Cloud find me irritating, but it doesn't seem to work with them.

Update: Just checked on Eric. He's got his third entry. Oh, praise the Lord!

1550 Our new Spanish cable station

We've recently had a Spanish language channel added to our regular selection, 99 on our local Time-Warner. I've been watching/listening (TV is actually behind me in my office) and have noticed again, that all Latinas on TV news, commercials and soap operas look like Jennifer Lopez's sister. The men however, come in all shapes, sizes and ethnicities. The men can be much more Indian looking, or northern European looking, they can be round or thin, short or tall, and it doesn't seem to hurt their careers. The women, however, seem to need a certain look. And a lot of cleavage.

1549 Finally, my question is answered

Michael Brown, in his testimony about Katrina, has answered my question, "What part of this is Bush's fault?" Dems just had vague, political-based criticism. Mushy, weak verbs. Hate that. I never heard specifics. Brown had one, although he didn't say Bush, you know where this buck stops.

He testified that FEMA has been starved and broken being stuck in Homeland Security. Interestingly, Democrats had had the same criticism about three weeks ago--until someone reminded them that the huge umbrella agency was their off-spring (Lieberman) and not Bush's idea (I think he initially rejected it). Then they sort of muffled that and spewed their hatred for Bush. Then Brown said the federal agencies who should have responded to FEMA's requests didn't, and he specifically pointed to the Department of Defense. Well now, if you can't blame the President for his people not working together, who else is there? This inter-agency squabbling and turf protection sounds just like the CIA/FBI communication break downs in pre-9/11. I think it is like a mold that grows on big government. Bush's solution, which is to grow the federal government even bigger and moldier, sounds like he isn't listening. Crony or not, Brown has a valid point.

Even so, the Democrats acted like spoiled children by boycotting the hearings--listening is difficult for them as we saw during the Roberts hearings.