1904 Time to use up the roll of 37 cent stamps

There will be a postage hike next year, so it's time to think about writing all those notes and cards you've been putting off because you were baking cookies, attending parties or writing Christmas cards. Use up the last of your stamps so you won't have to do the add-on thing.

I jotted down my list this morning at the coffee shop

two friends who've had accidents, are recovering, but I just heard about it

two thank you notes for dinner party invitations

notes to our four pastors for their service

thank yous to the 5 people who serve on a committee with us

welcome to a new neighbor which will also do double duty as a Christmas card

note to my sister-in-law about a change in plans

note to a new widow--holidays are tough

They are all in the mail slot, and although I'm usually not a list maker, it feels good. E-mails in place of thank yous, or get-well notes, or sympathy thoughts are just gauche in my opinion. E-mail is prefect for work memos, reminders and regular, ongoing correspondence. But if our relationship is so weak that I don't rate a 37 cent stamp or a phone call when I'm down for the count, maybe we need to reevaluate.

(Comments from face strangers on the blog are OK, however.)

postage stamp increase
postage increase
manners
etiquette

You know who you are if

you need to send this greeting card.

E-mail sent through Web sites launched in Los Angeles and San Francisco is providing people with a free, sometimes anonymous, way to tell their casual sex partners they might have picked up more than they bargained for.

You've got mail. And most likely male.

HT Jane Galt

If 1941 were 2005

what do you suppose the questions, thoughts and reactions would be? American Thinker has some answers. For instance, these classics:

Q. “Since there are always root causes for bellicosity, what’s the root cause of Japan’s attack?”

A. Americans have never bothered to learn Japanese language, culture, and history. So we don’t understand Japan’s complaints against us. There would never have been a Pearl Harbor attack if we had been nicer to Japanese immigrants.

Q. “What’s the root cause for Adolf Hitler’s and Nazi Germany’s animosity towards America?”

A. Jews have disproportionate influence in the current American administration. That’s why President Franklin Delano Roosevelt supports Zionism and the idea of a Jewish state in the Middle East. That’s also why Roosevelt is such a lackey of the British, who persist in standing in the way of Germany’s legitimate need for lebensraum in Poland and in other parts of Eastern Europe.

Not only that. We should be sending a team to Switzerland to talk to Hitler’s emissaries and find a way to stop this totally unnecessary war right now.

Thanks to Sister ToldJah for the link.

Turn your radio on

Gospel music wasn't in my faith tradition. I remember vaguely hearing gospel on the radio, however. About 10 years ago I heard Cynthia Clawson on a TV advertisement, and went into see who it was. So I ordered the tape--perhaps the only thing I ever ordered that I saw on TV. Turn your radio on

gospel music
Gaithers
Cynthia Clawson

1900 The Extreme Male Brain

If you have a child with Asperger’s or autism, you may want to look at an interview at Medscape.com with Simon Baron-Cohen. Here’s the beginning of an interesting article:

Medscape: You advance the proposition that people with autism have an imbalance in 2 cognitive capabilities, which makes them behave as though they are, at least in the cognitive realm, much more male than female.[1] What are these fundamental differences between men and women that may help us understand the psychology of autism and Asperger's disorder?

Simon Baron-Cohen, PhD, MPhil: In the general population, you find that, on average, males have a stronger drive to systemize and females have a stronger drive to empathize. Those are the 2 cognitive processes we've been focusing on to try to understand autism and why it should be more common among boys than girls. We've found that people on the autistic spectrum show an exaggeration of the male profile.

Includes comments on fetal testosterone and "assortative mating" (both parents in computer field or both parents engineers).

autism
Asperger's

1899 Unintended Consequences, pt. 3, taxes

Found at Chicago Boyz

With wages frozen by government edict during WWII, employers begin offering non-taxable health insurance to attract and retain scarce employees. The next sixty-odd years will feature numerous proposed government solutions to this unintended secondary effect of the original government solution.

Automobile companies in the 1980s improve the anti-theft features of their products. As cars become more difficult to hot-wire, thieves increasingly turn to carjacking. The US Department of Justice begins keeping survey statistics for this crime in 1987.

CAFÉ (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) fuel economy requirements in the 1990s cause carmakers to build smaller, lighter vehicles. Consumers react to the space shortage and crash dangers by buying SUV's.

From the Gristmill (environmental)

. . . a 10 percent improvement in fuel economy reduces fuel consumption by 6 to 8 percent (a good thing), but also increases driving by 2 to 4 percent. The increase in driving increases congestion, parking costs, noise pollution, and traffic accidents. Plus, making driving cheaper fosters sprawl, while an increase in vehicle traffic makes walking and biking more dangerous and less convenient. Assigning a rough dollar value to these competing effects, it looks as though an increase in fuel economy standards is actually a net economic loss for society, because the costs of increased driving outweigh the benefits of fuel and pollution savings.

Q and O Blog (conservation)

“As gas prices continue to top $2 a gallon, all those drivers of fuel-efficient cars may not have reason to gloat for much longer. Oregon is worried that too many Honda Insights and Toyota Priuses hitting the roads will rob it of the cash it expects out of its 24-cent-a-gallon tax. So the Beaver State is studying ways to ensure that "hybrid" car owners pay their "fair share" of taxes for the miles they drive. That means allowing the taxman to catch up to hybrid owners just as often as he catches up to gas guzzling SUV drivers. And if Oregon goes ahead, it won't be long before other states follow.”

GAO Report, 04-641

High cigarette taxes contribute to smuggling which results in lost tax revenues, but more important illegal cigarette trafficking worldwide is a multibillion dollar a year crime phenomenon, according to ATF, with some cigarette smugglers having ties to terrorist groups.

1898 Three a day

According to Forbes, from the start of 2001 through September 2005, Congress made 1971 changes to the U.S. Tax Code--roughly three for each day it was in session. But the ONE thing they needed to do, they haven't--change the Alternative Minimum Tax so that 15 million citizens don't get bumped into a higher tax bracket.

"Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said Tuesday that Congress has run out of time this year to act on legislation that would save millions of taxpayers from the grasp of the alternative minimum tax in 2006.

The tax was created decades ago to prevent the wealthiest citizens from sheltering most of their income from the Internal Revenue Service. But because inflation has driven wages higher through the years, it increasingly threatens more taxpayers considered to be middle-class, with incomes of between $50,000 and $75,000."

The AMT was created in 1969 to assure that millionaires paid their fair share. Trying to soak the rich is not a good tax plan--the next rung up the ladder might be where you land and someone below will decide you are the rich guy. While only 19,000 people owed the AMT in 1970, over 3 million are paying it now, according to the IRS. It requires that you figure your taxes twice and pay the higher amount. You can be penalized for paying state and local taxes or deductions for your children. Instead of catching people with large investments, it's grabbing those with large families. It should be scrapped.

Who's minding the store? Certainly not the Republicans who control Congress. The economy is booming and will falter if the tax cuts instituted by Bush are allowed to die. Tax reform and Social Security reform are being bumped off the agenda by headline grabbing Democrats and their torture issues. So much better to torture Americans with high taxes. They were wrong last year about "worst economy in 70 years" and couldn't win votes with that. They are wrong about Iraq which today is proving to be on its way to a democracy. So they've tried a new schtick. We've got gulags sprinkled around and we're torturing people.

This will come back to bite you, young Democrats and young Republicans. Your baby boomer parents may pass on to their reward before they ever get a chance to pass anything on to you thanks to Congress' inaction (maybe its revenge of the Republicans?). The capital gains cut expires in January 2009 and by 2011 you may be in a bracket to enjoy a return to the 40% bracket. Or you may get married and get the marriage penalty reinstated, which will return in 2010.

1897 Congratulations, Iraqis

Another great turnout to vote, showing the terrorists who have invaded your country, the world, and the Howard Deans and Dick Durbins in our own disgraceful, run-for-cover Democratic Party that you're willing and able to have a democracy.

I'm watching some inspiring footage on Fox. The coverage on other channels is poor and somewhat less enthusiastic, which seems to be focusing on Sunni turnout last January and on the violence of the insurgency. CNN is unbelieveably negative ignoring completely the real story. The Democrats have tried so hard to have this fail, and will continue to diminish their accomplishments I'm sure. This must be a crushing blow.

And to the American people--they've shown us great courage and determination to vote. Our voting turn out is paltry by comparison. Maybe for 2008 we should invite some Iraqis here to beat the drum for democracy.

1896 The Closer will be back on TNT

We've enjoyed that show and seen ads that it will be back December 27.

Speaking of closers, what happened to Robin McGraw's outfit on the White House Christmas show on TNT last night? Usually she is dressed attractively and modestly for a middle-aged woman. Sort of looked like the closer broke. I don't know what it was--looked like a velvet halter top with her popping out the top and middle. It was really awful. It was a great show, however.

Country band Rascal Flatts was wonderful with a medley featuring ``The Little Drummer Boy,'' ``Go Tell It on the Mountain'' and ``Santa Claus is Coming to Town.'' R&B star Ciara performed The Jackson 5's ``Give Love on Christmas Day''; ``American Idol'' winner Carrie Underwood sang the Wham! hit ``Last Christmas''; and The Click Five ran through Chuck Berry's ``Run Rudolph Run.'' Gospel star CeCe Winans and jazz singer Jane Monheit rounded out the show. (She looked fabulous in her long gown, although I'd never seen her before.)

1895 Health benefits of chewing gum

In this morning's paper I read that chewing gum after colon resection speeds recovery, apparently because it is a "sham feeding" and mimics eating. The digestive juices aid the healing. Just think: now hospitals can add $200 to your bill for a pack of gum! Colon Cancer Today

So I went on line to see what other health benefits gum chewing might have. I found benefits from breath freshener to medication dispenser. I know it is a stress reliever and it can burn a few calories. However, looking like a cow chewing a cud is not attractive, so it would be my advice if you are over 21, to keep this habit at home.

Then this item: "Researchers are finding more and more benefits in chewing gum (sorry, Mom). Beside the mindless relaxation it can provide, it may also help to reduce dental plaque and the bacterial damage that can lead to cavities. One gum in particular—mastic gum, which has been used as both a chewing gum and a food in Mediterranean cultures for many centuries—appears to give particularly good results." Life enhancement

Memoir alert. When I was a little girl, maybe 7 or 8, I was outside the bank building in Forreston, which had some columns with ledges large enough for sitting. I was with another little girl--don't remember her name--but the family was quite poor. We were watching a parade. She found some gum stuck to the column, pulled it off and popped it in her mouth with the biggest grin. I've never forgotten how yucky I thought it was or how delighted she was.

"[Chewing gum is a], confection consisting usually of chicle, flavorings, and corn syrup and sugar (or artificial sweeteners). Prehistoric people are believed to have chewed resins. Spruce resin was chewed as a thirst quencher by Native Americans, from whom pioneers adopted the custom. Refined paraffin was later used and then chicle, which was probably first imported into the United States through Mexico. A chicle gum was patented in 1869 by William and Semple. In the present-day manufacture of chewing gum blocks of chicle are ground, melted, and cleared in a whirling vat, and then the flavorings (e.g., fruits, licorice, mints) and other ingredients are added. The gum is rolled through sheeting machinery and chopped into sticks or into candy-coated pellets. Insoluble plastics may be mixed with or substituted for the chicle. The United States is the major producer, exporter, and consumer, of chewing gum. Columbia University Press via Answers.com"

1894 When life doesn't imitate art

Michelle Williams claims, "Just being 'Mom' is enough." Wrong. All the studies show that marriage to the baby's father is the critical element in a child's well being. Doesn't matter how rich or educated you are or how many photographers follow you around, or whether you can hire a nanny or if you breast feed to boost baby's immunity.

At the boxoffice, she starred as a wife and met her baby's father. On the home front, she gets no prize from me for mother of the year. Of course, it also matters how many young women she might be influencing to follow her example.

Michelle Williams
Heath Ledger

1893 Holiday weight gain

That's an expression where it is accurate to use the word "holiday" instead of "Christmas," at least in my house and on my hips. Beginning with the last week of October (Halloween and cooler weather), through two November birthdays, Thanksgiving, various seasonal invites and dinners, Christmas and then New Years, it is easy to add the conventional six pounds and only lose two each year. So this year, I'm "watching out" and "telling why" in journaling with an e-mail buddy who also needs to lose weight. It's my usual ELMM plan--Eat less move more--with an occasional Slim Fast if a party falls within 12 hours.

Last night I made the most wonderful scalloped potatoes, and had two helpings. I realize a lot of people avoid potatoes when watching calories--and I often do. But potatoes are a wonderful, miraculous gift from God. I used Half 'n Half and cheddar cheese--but it is a delicious, wholesome dish made with low fat milk. I just happened to have those ingredients.

Somewhere when I was working as an agricultural bibliographer (fancy name for a librarian) I read that when combined with milk it is a near perfect food (it lacks calcium). Potatoes are high in vitamin C, have no cholesterol, are fat-free, have many vitamins and minerals and are cheap and easy to store. It's the gravy, sour cream and sides that give it a bad name for weight watchers. The introduction of the potato to Ireland in the 17th century caused a huge population growth among the peasants because it so improved their nutrition.

"The potato, a name derived from the native American Indian word "batata", was first cultivated by the Inca Indians in Peru over 4,000 years ago. The mountainous terrain of the Andes, fluctuating temperatures, poor soil conditions and elevations over 10,000 feet proved to be the ideal settings for the Symara Indians to develop over two hundred varieties of potatoes. The potato is a member of the nightshade family (Solanaceae) along with peppers, eggplant and tomatoes. The growth and quality of potatoes is greatly influenced by cool temperatures, moisture, light, soil content and nutrients. Ideal conditions for best yields are daytime average temperatures around 70 degrees F and cool night temperatures as these affect the accumulation of carbohydrates and dry matters in the tubers.

In 1536, Spanish Conquistadors conquered Peru, became aware of the potato and carried them back to Spain. In 1586, the potato was introduced in Britain by Sir Francis Drake. In 1770, a French pharmacist named Antoine Parmentier, saw the potato as a solution to the recurring famine problem in France and helped King Louis XIV popularize it by creating a feast with only potato dishes. In 1774, Frederick the Great sent free potatoes to the starving peasants after the famine of 1774, but they refused to touch them until soldiers were sent in to persuade them. During his presidency (1801-1809), Thomas Jefferson served "French Fries" in the White House as an introduction in the US. In the mid-19th century, the British introduced potatoes to Nepal and they soon became a staple crop. The potato is now a very common food item worldwide, grown in about 125 countries and all 50 states in the US." Potatoes

scalloped potatoes
holiday weight gain

1892 20th century war deaths

were exceeded by Communist governments killing of their own people--democide.

"Overall, the best estimate of those killed after the Vietnam War by the victorious communists in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia is 2,270,000. Now totaling almost twice as many as died in the Vietnam War, this communist killing still continues.

To view this double standard from another perspective, both World Wars cost twenty-four million battle deaths. But from 1918 to 1953, the Soviet government executed, slaughtered, starved, beat or tortured to death, or otherwise killed 39,500,000 of its own people (my best estimate among figures ranging from a minimum of twenty million killed by Stalin to a total over the whole communist period of eighty-three million). For China under Mao Tse-tung, the communist government eliminated, as an average figure between estimates, 45,000,000 Chinese. The number killed for just these two [Communist] nations is about 84,500,000 human beings, or a lethality of 252 percent more than both World Wars together. Yet, have the world community and intellectuals generally shown anything like the same horror, the same outrage, the same out pouring of anti-killing literature, over these Soviet and Chinese megakillings as has been directed at the much less deadly World Wars?" War versus Genocide and Mass Murder

I'm posting this because I've come across some interesting revisionist history, which I'll go into later after I've done a bit more research. But just keep these figures in mind.

1891 Frozen car door tip

When car doors stick to the weather stripping around the doors in this cold weather, you can break a door handle trying to get in, or damage the weather stripping. Jonathan Welsh of WSJ suggests rubbing a bar of soap or wax from a candle on the weatherstripping. He also mentions a commerical product (Armor All) would probably work (didn't sound like he'd actually tried it).

However, I'm just not sure about all this, so I googled the topic. One site on auto detailing said never get car wax on the door frame seals, so I would think candle wax wouldn't be a good idea. Armor All was listed for door locks but I didn't see anything about weather stripping. Plus, remember, ladies, your coats or dresses may have to touch that weatherstrip when entering or exiting.

So my vote would be with the bar of soap. But then I read this:

The Pat Goss site recommends preemptive action with a silicone spray: "Luckily, prevention is painless. Spray the rubber around the doors with silicone, which is readily available in auto parts stores. It’s a good idea to spray silicone on all the weather-stripping surrounding car doors four times every year. Silicone is so slippery it prevents ice that forms on the weather-stripping from sticking to the car’s body. Your doors open easily when your neighbor’s are frozen solid."

We need advice from a Canadian.

1890 Feet binding 21st century

California Closets has an interesting example of torture for the sake of perceived beauty in a current ad showing a young woman in a pastel skirt and sweater standing in her closet with about 22 pair of leg and ankle killer 4" heels, with one pair of flats and one pair of athletic shoes. I saw it in Architectural Digest, and the same photo is on their web page, www.calclosets.com, but showing only about half of the magazine ad. To show off her legs they have her straddling a chair while standing up--I hope it wasn't a long photo shoot.

The only women I see dressed up are at the coffee shop, set for the work day in pants suits or slacks, with fairly sensible shoes. If the heels are higher than 2", the women are 25 or younger. I suppose they might change at work. I wore those torture instruments when I was in my teens and twenties too, but nothing higher than 2 7/8, which I think we called 3". They cause cramping in the calves and arches, sprained ankles, corns and callouses. They contort your torso and probably damage your spine, decreasing efficiency and mobility.

Not unlike the situation that Chinese women endured for the beauty of bound feet. This historical site said it is hard to imagine today, but I don't have any problem at all understanding it. Maybe you'll see the resemblance in these photos.



"Throughout history in all cultures a common ultimate goal is to achieve beauty. Just as all people look different, all people have a different outlook on the question, what is beautiful? For some time in the nineteenth century, in America a definition of beauty included corsets, making women's waists as small as possible. Over time beauty has resulted in a lot of pain and in this instance, resulted in broken ribs and damaged internal organs. Body piercing and tattoos fall under the same category although the consequences are not as severe. Great pain has been suffered for centuries for women to achieve perceived beauty. Probably the most detrimental act was one that approximately one billion women in China have preformed for nearly one thousand years. This act, foot binding, was an attempt to stop the growth of the feet. Foot binding is a bizarre and terrible custom, yet it is hard to understand exactly what foot binding was like with the modern outlook we have today. The reason for women binding their feet went deeper than fashion and reflected the role of women in Chinese society. It was necessary then in China for a woman to have bound feet in order to achieve a good life." Feet binding

1889 So it's not the economy, Stupid?

It's gasoline prices--that's how shallow Americans are, I am grieved to say. Yesterday's paper reported that the President's job approval rating has rebounded from 28% to 43%, depending on which polls you follow (some were lower than others). Apparently, lower gasoline prices have a lot to do with the uptick.

So, who put that gas hog SUV in your garage? Who forced you to buy a bigger house further away from the workplace with cheap mortgage money? Who did you elect to Congress who won't let us drill for oil in Alaska (actually, quite a few Republicans), or build refineries? When will the [wo]man on the street step up and say, "It's my fault."

The economy has never been better. The GDP grew 3.8% in the third quarter, the 10th consecutive quarterly increase of above 3%, which makes this the longest streak of growth since WWII! Unemployment at 5% is lower than the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, and you hardly hear anyone mention inflation, unless they are reminiscing about Jimmy Carter's presidency. And would you believe that Bush is rated poorly in the polls for the economy? That's sheer ignorance, or somebody's sniffing gasoline fumes.

U.S. economy
polls
gasoline prices

1888 This President believes

and openingly acknowledges that he is an evangelical, born-again Christian, that we are saved by the grace of God through our faith in Jesus Christ as Savior. He believes in equality of treatment among citizens in taxation and the law. He believes we need to be stewards of the earth. He would protect the interests and security of our nation through military action, but would like to avoid it. He would do everything he could to reduce the desire for abortion. This President is Jimmy Carter, but I think he and George Bush would be in complete agreement on these statements. [Based on Carter's editorial in the USAToday yesterday]

Consistency counts

in parenting
in budgeting
in dieting
in learning a new skill
in relationships
in gas mileage
in fashion
in teaching
in the workplace
in scheduling
in worship
in volunteering
in training puppies
in winning awards
in blogging

Freepers and Pinkos picket outside Walter Reed Hospital

Homespun blogger Tom has a post about the pro Castro Code Pink picketers (about 11) and the pro-troops counter supporters (about 26) demonstrating outside the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington DC. "Wounded veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan are taken out to dinner [by the Free Republic supporters] every Friday night on a luxury bus, and return to the hospital at about 9:30 They reenter the hospital right where the Pinkos hold their protest. We want the troops to see a pro-troop rally, and not just the Pinkos. As it is, the Pinkos have been packing up and going home at 9pm, we suspect so that they won't have to look at the troops on the bus flipping them off, which they have done."

So much for "we support our troops, not the war." I can't imagine the hate and loathing it takes to picket wounded soldiers who defend your right to hold up that sign!

1885 Is it crabs?

That's what comes to my mind as I click through the channels and come across young black rappers grabbing their crotch and dancing around with their legs spread and pelvis lifted. (Should crotch be plural? Groups of grabber-rappers mean more than one crotch, but each grabber only has one.) It apparently has a hostile meaning. Rap groups actually hire "hand gesture" experts to help them look more intimidating, and I'll bet you a cup of coffee they are women. So much for authentic culture. I went to a poetry reading at the public library and a perfectly nice white boy could hardly keep his hands decent while performing.

"Why do white liberals accept the “gangsta” persona as a perfectly legitimate expression of black culture? . . . Hopping around and making violent hand gestures, their long gold chains swaying, pants drooping low and eyes shaded, backed by adoring, barely-clad, pelvis-grinding young black women—with the sound off, the thuggish menace of these performers was unmistakable. The sensibility reverberates across the globe at present, from urban Morocco to the burning suburbs of Paris. [French Muslim rappers use the same moves]

Black parents have decried to me the presence of such trash on BET, but liberal white America, especially its suburban progeny, tends to see black gangsta imagery as culturally authentic—to be respected and understood rather than subjected to the condemnation or mockery it deserves." Read the whole article here: 10 November 2005 Thugs on Parade, City Journal

There's a lot of guilt in liberal white America and it's making a lot of entertainers rich.

crabs
gansta rap
hand gestures