2067 Young People in Debt

This morning I read a book review of Tamara Draut's "Strapped." Draut says that today's young adult children of the baby boomer generation can't get ahead financially because of astronomical student debts, depressed wages, rising health care costs and soaring property values. The solutions offered by some young adults are silly and counterproductive--"the government should do something."
If I've heard it once, I've heard it a hundred times, "things aren't like they were in your day." I agree. We had it much harder, thank goodness. We started married life with an 8 year old car and eventually went on foot and bicycle when the car died. But our parents, who had been teens during the Depression, thought we had it easy--and frankly, so did I.

I believe there are a few basics that still apply, so I'll just jump right in on Ms. Draut's coat tails. So if your mama was a baby boomer and went into debt or worked two jobs to give you everything you asked for rather than what you actually needed, you may just have to go back to grandma's methods if you want to turn this around in your generation.

1. Postpone your wants and take care of your needs.

2. Tithe your gross income to your church or synagogue.

3. If you have two incomes, save one and live on the other for month to month expenses. Use the "other" account for new tires, a leaky roof or a health emergency, but if you're using it to buy groceries and movie tickets, you'll never get ahead.

4. Borrow money only for a home mortgage or car loan.

5. Pay off all credit cards in 30 days to avoid charges and interest.

6. Never put groceries on your credit card. If it won't last until the bill comes, don't put it on the card.

7. Buy less house than the bank says you can manage. Instead, go for the best, safest and most convenient neighborhood you can afford. Same for renting if you are still in that stage.

8. Children get very little from fancy vacations that they can't get from something closer to home. It's your time they want. Take them to a state park, family farm or the local amusement park and save the tours or cruises for "couple time."

9. NEVER let the children see or hear you obsessing over brand names, styles and models, whether it's clothes, cars or appliances. Don't take them to the mall as an event.

10. Meals will cost you either time or money. If you can contribute your own labor you'll save a lot of money, fat and sodium. Save eating out for "date night."

Here's two tips about the English language: SALE is a four letter word that means SPEND, and CREDIT is a six letter word for DEBT.

Ms. Draut's testimony in 2004 for Demos (a liberal think tank) before the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit.

Strapped
personal debt

2066 A new study on Body Mass Index at MidLife

Yes, now that the early boomers have turned 60, we'll be seeing a lot more of this. There are a few things I was surprised to find in JAMA's January 11 article "Midlife Body Mass Index and Hospitalization and Mortality in Older Age."

Even if you started out fit and trim with no risk factors for coronary heart disease, cardiovascular disease or diabetes, if you packed it on in mid-life, you were in trouble by age 65, with more hospitalizations and/or early death. The study was done in the Chicago area with 17,643 men and women with a baseline for 1967-1973 with review of hospitalization and mortality beginning at 65.

"Whether excess weight has an impact on cardiovascular outcomes beyond its effects on established risk factors is controversial. Using data from a prospective cohort study of individuals who were free of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, or major electrocardiographic abnormalities at baseline, Yan and colleagues assessed the relationship of midlife body mass index with morbidity and mortality outcomes in older age. The authors found that compared with persons who were normal weight at midlife, overweight or obese persons with similar cardiovascular risk factors had higher risks of hospitalization and mortality from coronary heart disease, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes when aged 65 or older." JAMA This week

Since I've been within 15 lbs of 130 (ranging from 115 after my first pregnancy to 145 after age 64), I'm trying to figure out where I fall in this range. I'm not "normal weight" now, but I was at mid-life and baseline. Well, maybe there will be another study for us late bloomers.

Another thing I found interesting was the education level of the participants. I didn't see any mention of this in the text (just the charts), but only among the low risk people (there were 5 risk categories each with normal, overweight and obese groups) did the normal weight participants have the highest mean of education. In all the other categories the overweight (but not obese) had slightly higher levels of education than the normal or the obese.

Body Mass Index
Obesity

2065 How to warm a Canadian

Instructions here.

2064 Asking questions in heaven

This morning in the car I was listening to Bill Pierce on 760 am (Detroit WJR) and heard an interview with Bill Hancock, an NCAA director, who took a 2,700 mile bike ride across the US to work out his pain and grief over losing his son Will, an Oklahoma State basketball player in a plane crash. The title of the book is "Riding with the Blue Moth," and that is the name he gives grief, because sometimes it is flying constantly in your face, like at the anniversary of a death, and other times it leaves you alone. "The Moth becomes an almost welcome companion, allowing Bill to mourn when he needs to. “Now I do not try to escape it when it arrives. I simply listen to what it has to say, and wait quietly for it to fly away.” " Curled up with a good book.

I was interested to hear what he was going to ask in heaven, because I'd just blogged about it here.

"But Andie [his granddaughter], seventy-two days old when the tragedy occurred, would have to grow up without her father. Bill talks to her as he travels, trying to establish a link, through his insights, to her lost parent. He writes, “Andie, we’ll learn the reason when the time is right…the first day when I get to Heaven, I’ll be sitting in the front row with my hand in the air…my question for God will be, Why have you been so good to me?” "

I almost had to stop the car. What a wonderful question to ask.

2063 In case you didn't understand

why some of us didn't want Terri's life taken from her by her care givers, it's because some of us knew such a person in a similar condition. Here's an excerpt from the obituary of a friend, age 52, who had a stroke at 17 when she was a freshman in college, and has been totally dependent on others all these years. I used to be one of her volunteers and still stopped in at the nursing home to say hello occasionally. She died Friday.

"[survived by parents and sisters and an extended family] and a large number of volunteers who have enriched her life since she suffered a debilitating stroke at the age of 17. [She] loved classical music, good books, languages, friends and family, and orange sherbet. Thanks to her loving family, her volunteer family, and the caring staff at [the] Care Center she continued to laugh, cry, and enjoy life through those who were willing to share their lives with her."

And oh, she loved her sherbet, and would cry if you pronounced it "sherbert."

Talking points from the NYT, Michael Moore, and the Democrats

Chris Matthews suggested on Hardball that bin Laden had taken his talking points from Michael Moore. But others have gone further.

"MSNBC's Joe Scarborough weighed in on the subject [of the bin Laden tape], going beyond Moore to claim that bin Laden was also borrowing language or ideas from the likes of Howard Dean, Sen. Kerry and Sen. Ted Kennedy. His guest, Tucker Carlson, who has his own MSNBC show, then spread the net further, to include opinion columnists at The New York Times.

The exchange from the transcript follows.
*

SCARBOROUGH: Now, of course, Tucker, I'm not comparing these Democrats to Osama bin Laden, but look.

First thing, Osama talks about how our troops are terrorizing women and children in Iraq. John Kerry said the same thing in front of Bob Schieffer on "Face the Nation."

Osama's saying that George Bush knows he can't win this war, something that Howard Dean said, and, also, that this was launched for political reasons, which of course Ted Kennedy said last year, that this was all dreamed up in Texas for political benefit.

CARLSON: By the merchants of war who financed Bush's presidential campaign, in the words of Osama bin Laden and many on the left. In other words, Halliburton is responsible for this war, every single talking point.

I hate to think of Osama bin Laden reclining in his cave in Waziristan, reading the op-ed page of "The New York Times."

But, clearly, he is. He's got every talking point. It's uncanny."

2061 Can't tell her friends from her enemies

WaPo ombudsman and colmnist, Deborah Howell, has received such hate mail for stating the facts about Democrats and the Abramoff lobbying scandal, that the Post's web site was shut down. She says, Yes, it is a Republican mess, but. . .

". . . there is no doubt about the campaign contributions that were directed to lawmakers of both parties. Records from the Federal Election Commission and the Center for Public Integrity show that Abramoff's Indian clients contributed money to 195 Republicans and 88 Democrats between 1999 and 2004. ...These facts have been reported many times in The Post and elsewhere. So why would it cause me to be called a 'right-wing whore' and much worse?"

Well, I know why, and I'm surprised she doesn't get it. The Left isn't used to the MSM reporting truth, so when it happens they are shocked, horrified, and driven nasty e-mails and blogagging. Actually, Rush gets this all the time (he says) when he wanders from the right's expectations.

Story at Editor and Publisher

Deborah Howell

2060 A Democrat looks at the Alito Hearings

Dan Gerstein has some interesting thoughts on leftwing bloggers and Democratic leadership during the Alito hearings. You can almost see him shaking his head in disbelief that the fringe still thinks the old tactics will work.

"We think that if we simply call someone conservative, anti-choice and anti-civil rights, that's enough to scare people to our side. But that tired dogma won't hunt in today's electorate, which is far more independent-thinking and complex in its views on values than our side presumes."

I love that line "that tired dogma won't hunt" don't you?

". . . Republicans have won the presidency twice in a row because they're doing a better job of pulling moderates/independents their way--in particular married women and white Catholics who are uncomfortable with the Democrats on values issues. Judging from the dreadful tack our party took in the Alito process, it's clear that we haven't yet internalized these political realities--most likely because our anger at George Bush continues to blind us to them. Many Democrats just don't want to acknowledge that he's president and is going to pick conservative justices--let alone that the two we got, John Roberts and Samuel Alito, are about as good as we could hope for."

And to borrow a phrase, he says, Let's move on. He's also asking where is the leadership that will do that? And when I look ahead to 2008, I'm thinking the same thing about the other side.

2059 The Girl Next Door

is now hosting the Thursday Thirteen which was started by Leanne. I've closed a lot of restaurants in my day; I hope I didn't close this down. But I've visited the girl next door and her site looks stable. I don't know how all this works, but the various color codes are on her site.

2058 People like this are amazing

There is a blog called 25 things for Charity that I clicked to because of Zoanna, who is one of my links, and one of its participants. These people commit to making 25 things for charity, then they post a photograph and tell about the organization that will be receiving it. Isn't that a terrific idea? Also, being the type of person I am (what you see is what you get, just the facts ma'm, no nonsense, always on time, why in the world would you do that type), I just love the name of the blog. Very descriptive, leaving no doubt about what it is. And they've got a great motto:

"Hell, there are no rules here-- we're trying to accomplish something."
Thomas A. Edison
US inventor (1847 - 1931)

With rules like that, even I might find 2 1/12 things a month.

2057 A New Year's Resolution for the Guys

At the coffee shop this morning I was reading a gay journalist's column in Columbus Alive, our local entertainment paper. I won't go into most of it, because I just don't care what young junior high guys see in the locker room--or think. But he did mention a New Year's resolution he made about three years ago that he has kept, and I thought it was worth passing along, with my own added suggestions.

He resolved to not make "old man noises." This he described as sighing and moaning and groaning through various physical activities. And he has kept that resolution. If his knees ache when he suddenly stands up, so what. No one needs to know, and he just bites his tongue.

My suggestion is that you guys resolve to give up your young man noises too, and you all know what those are. Women hate them, we just keep quiet. We are not impressed. It doesn't increase our affection for you. Doesn't raise the libido. Doesn't get you out of the job jar. Pretend you're in a job interview, or meeting a client, or performing on stage, and just hold it. It won't kill you. Women the world over will thank me if you keep this resolution.

2056 Television confessional

TV has never fascinated me. Perhaps I was too old--21--when I actually first watched regularly. So my early memories of TV aren't what most people my age have. Little Opie on Andy Griffith was the first star I actually followed, and soaps were 15 minutes and so was the evening news. And our set was black and white (a wedding gift from my in-laws), so watching TV didn't seem to take so much effort. Or I was younger and had more working brain cells. Now we have cable with about 60 choices and there's nothing to watch.

But over at Blest with Sons, there is a really great confessional and a conversion, not only what TV meant to her growing up (it was her friend and companion), but what she thinks of it now.

Blest writes: "I was raised on television! (not blaming my parents, mind you) I was a socially inept, persecuted (gotta love that public school socialization), fantasy-livin’, latch-key kid. Television was my social life, my comforter, my escape, my friend, my mentor… Oh yeah, I had books too. But the beauty of A.D.D. is that I could read and watch tv at the same time! (and eat too! Multi-tasking at its finest!) I have hours and hours of warm comfortable memories built around television."

And then she goes on with 5 random thoughts, like why do we call that piece of furniture for which we all rearranged our lives the "entertainment center?" The center of entertainment! And why shouldn't something else in our lives like a bookshelf or spending time together be the center?

HT Sherry.

2055 Unintended consequences--loan fund opens a can of worms

When Ohio legislators set up a Research and Development Investment Loan Fund the purpose was "to position Ohio to compete aggressively for private-sector R&D investments that will create high-wage jobs; . . . to target large investments from companies with significant assets and sales; . . . to aggressively pursue research and development operations and facilities and to fund the cost of capital purchases. Assistance from the State would be in the form of a low-interest loan, partnered with a tax credit." We Ohioans were told we'd be country bumpkins if we didn't get on the technology bandwagon.

When Donato's Pizza, a small fast food pizza chain based in Ohio (yes, high tech, high wage paying pizza) tried to get some of that R & D money last year to develop a different kind of dough for the crust, they were turned down. So Donato's hired a lobbyist (with ties to the state house) who apparently convinced our legislators that because pizza flour is made from wheat, and wheat is an agricultural product, and Ohio is heavily agricultural, and it is "food science," AND TWENTY-FIVE new jobs may be in the works if Donato's qualifies for this loan, and MAYBE (but no promises) Donato's will expand their franchise in Ohio . . .etc., etc.

"The same request by Donatos for a $2.9 million low-interest loan that lawmakers turned away in October will be back Monday before the state Controlling Board. This time, Donatos is expected to win easy approval from the legislative spending-oversight panel.

The company wants the 10-year, 2 percent loan to help pay for a $4.6 million expansion of its operations in Gahanna. The renovations and new equipment would help it develop a pizza dough that rises in one day instead of three, according to state documents." Columbus Dispatch, Jan. 20, 2005

It would seem that Ohio legislators have learned nothing from our retirement fund coin scandal, the golf ethics charges for our Republican Governor who ranks 50th out of 50, and ties to the Abramoff lobbyist fiasco.

Politics. Doesn't it just drive you crazy?

2054 Procrastination Tip

Procrastination isn't my biggest problem, but I've been known to find the Christmas tablecloth in the clothes basket in July. Right now I'm kicking a grocery sack I filled when I cleaned my office in November. These are NOT trash items, but just things removed from the surface so that the room looked nice for Thanksgiving. Now I'm sort of wondering what's in it since I haven't missed anything.

The other day, reading a right brained blog (artistic), I came across the book Organizing from the Right Side of the Brain by Lee Silber. Since we had just reorganized our art studio, laundry room, storage room and furnace room, I thought I'd take a peek and see if we'd done anything right. Our local library couldn't find its copy, and couldn't find a location to loan it (that's a whole other story to be shared only with fellow librarians). But my friend Adrienne (also a librarian) found a copy in the Worthington Public Library, and today her nice husband handed it to me at the coffee shop. I have only looked at the title page and table of contents (no index), but I did see one little after thought on the last page of text that I thought was excellent if you're having trouble getting started (procrastinating as we call it) on a task:

"I put my favorite song on the stereo and make the goal of organizing the length of the song. Of course, once I start I continue because starting can be the hardest part--especially when something feels overwhelming." Jill Baldwin Badonsky, Creativity Coach.

I have a tape player and a Cynthia Clawson tape in the laundry room. This might work with the ironing.

2053 I've been tagged

Checking my e-mail this morning, I discovered that I'd been tagged by Randy Kirk. He has just celebrated his one year blogiversary, and writes that this occasion gives him the right to make up his own meme, and tag five regulars to his site. He’s thought about this question for a long time, and here it is:

The question is: What are the first five things you want to ask Jesus when you get to heaven?

1. It’s so obvious when I looked around my earthly home, that you are a master artist. Is it the fallen world that makes so many of us visually and artistically challenged and impairs our thought closing our eyes to the beauty?

2. Where are you keeping all our pets and how soon can we get together? It must be like Noah’s Ark around here because my pastor says that if heaven is to be perfect and have no sorrow, and that includes our pet, she’ll be here.

3. Did you really care about how we baptized? As you well know (since you were there when I went under in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit), I grew up Anabaptist, and spent over 30 years as a Lutheran--so I‘ve heard just about every imaginable sermon on this topic in my life time of pew sitting. And they were all convinced they were doing it your way!

4. Why didn’t you come back sooner? If you were waiting until I witnessed to a particular unbeliever you put in my path, will you let me know who she was?

5. Although I think I understand free will, could you just lay out for me, touching the highlights of history since I know others have questions and you are quite busy, what you had in mind? All that killing and disaster, hate and envy, incest and adultery, abuse and anger, disrespect and gossip, emptiness and loneliness--I tell you Jesus, it’s enough to make me fall on my knees and say, Save Me!

Thanks, Randy, for selecting me for your very own meme.

Now I’m Tagging Hokulea, Vox Lauri, Daddy’s Roses, Vinni, and Sherry. But you are welcome to add your comments here.

2051 Living with the dead

Pastor Petersen writes: "I feel very close to those I've buried, often closer than I do to those I've married or confirmed or baptized. It is a great honor and privilege to confess on behalf of the dead, to evangelize in their name, and to comfort those who mourn for them. I think about them a lot, am always aware of them. I don't really mourn for many of them, not like their families anyway. For it has not yet been my mother or father, my wife or my child who is dead. But I do commune with them, and I do remember them, all of them. For I've spoken for them, I've witnessed to what they now behold and the reward they now enjoy, and that creates a bond that goes beyond the boundaries of this life."

Is the Oscars award ceremony doomed to have shrinking audiences each year?

This was a question dated today from an on-line newsletter I receive, so I thought they really wanted my input. I clicked over to the polling site, and got the message that the poll was closed; and thank you for your participation. I was going to say that if Hollywood ever produced a movie worth seeing (worth $6, the horribly loud sound system, the bad language, and no roles for women over 45), well, sure, I might watch the awards. But if I wouldn't watch Chris Rock, why would I watch Jon Stewart?

2049 Tips and Clips from columnists and the news

Lots of interesting topics in the news--I'll check around for links, although even if on-line, they might not be accessible. These are slightly altered or paraphrased (some columnists get a tad heavy on the adverbs and adjectives).

"For those who have longed to go to movies that are uplifting, End of the Spear is one of the best. It is about forgiveness and reconciliation. The Waodani (an Ecuadorian tribe) at first refused to cooperate in the retelling of their past. Then they learned of the violence in American culture and agreed to the film to help us change." Cal Thomas. http://www.everytribe.com website for the movie.

"Organized labor, having tried and failed to unionize Wal-Mart's employees, has turned to organizing state legislators." George F. Will, on Maryland's legislative mugging and social engineering. Their hate for Wal-Mart hurts Maryland's poor and low income by limiting their choices of jobs and reasonably priced products. And if you've ever driven through western Maryland, you'll see that this will be a hardship.

"Most European countries have seen an increase in greenhouse gas emission since signing Kyoto in 1997." WSJ editorial, Jan. 19, 2006. It goes on to say that despite our industrial growth, emissions in the USA have actually declined (slightly). Something like 15 out of 17 European signers are going to miss their targets. Unfortunately, there has been no reduction in hot air by the liberals.

"The battle over wiretaps isn't a legal issue, it is a political issue between Congress and the White House over supremacy on matters of national security." WSJ editorial, Jan. 19, 2006, "Highwire Tap Act." Points out the really bad knowledge of constitutional law the current lawsuits are based on.

When reading a timeline about progress for women in Scholastic's Monthly magazine, I was surprised to see instant macaroni and cheese (1937) and the dishwasher (1949) listed right along with the sewing machine (1833), which truly did make a stunning difference in women's lives. Vol.55,no.5, Feb. 2003. The shallowness of knowledge about women displayed on the chart makes me wonder about the literary accomplishments it included.

2048 Who's eating my take-out?

Every time there's a survey on what Americans are eating or drinking, I always wonder who's eating mine? "Americans are now more likely to take out food from a restaurant than to eat on-site (NPD, 2005a). In 2005, Americans ate 80 meals per person at restaurants, down from 93 in 1985,
and took home 57 restaurant meals per person, up from 33 meals 20 years ago. Americans carried 27 restaurant meals to work this year, vs 23 in 1985." Food Technology. I'm eating about 60 meals a year in restaurants and perhaps 12 take out. Unless they count morning coffee, then I'm over 300, but I'm guessing that isn't in this figure.

OK. OK. So we did have a pizza from Iaccono's tonight, but it was the first time in three weeks we had a take out meal. And I'm sure they don't count the half a sandwich I bring home on Friday nights from our date night at a sports bar. But we Americans are fixing fewer meals at home, which may account for the increasing acceptance of overweight people. They's us. Pizza is the third most popular take-out and restaurant food in America, and french fries are number one for women and children (hamburgers for men) for restaurant food.

This one surprised me--I don't think I see it in Columbus: "Today, there are more Chinese restaurants in the U.S. than McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and Burger King outlets combined (NAD, 2005). Young consumers dramatically favor ethnic foods. While families with kids under age 12 account for 34% of total dollars spent on foods and beverages, they account for 52% of dollars spent on Mexican foods. And, to a lesser extent than Hispanic foods, a similar trend exists with Asian foods (Lempert, 2005)."

It is a well documented, fact filled report in a reliable journal.

2047 Brand new baby blogger

Bona is a brand new blogger at My Passions, and is excited about everything, especially finding a new way to communicate her passions. Stop by and welcome her to the blogosphere as she learns the ins and outs of blogging.