SIDS and Seratonin

When our oldest son died in 1963, we were told his sudden, unexplained illness was "crib death." After pushing the pathology report across the desk of more doctors than I care to remember, I was told that it was an overwhelming viral pneumonia which can kill even adults if the immune system happens to be briefly impaired. Meanwhile, the medical community came up with a term for babies that go to bed healthy and never wake up--"sudden infant death syndrome," or SIDS. The new name didn't help much, and the causes of SIDS remain unknown, almost 45 years later.

Even though I know that our son's pneumonia was not within the SIDS range of causes, I've always kept my eye on the research, because the horror and emptiness of suddently losing a child gives me common ground with parents of SIDS babies. And although there have been major break throughs in all manner of diseases, and new diseases have cropped up we'd never heard of in the 60s (change the letter S to an A, for instance), there are still no answers for SIDS.

So I read with interest "Multiple serotonergic brainstem abnormalities in Sudden Infant Death Syndrome," in a recent JAMA (vol 296, no. 17, p. 2124) about research that links levels of seratonin in the brain which influences breathing, cardiovascular system, temperature and the sleep-wake cycle and sudden death. The editorial writer (p. 2143) praised the research in this field, done both in Japan and the U.S., but quickly wanted to move on to racial and socio-economic factors. There is a higher incidence of SIDS among African-Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, but particularly boys. Also, there have been aggressive "back to sleep" education programs to teach parents not to put babies down to sleep on their tummies, or in a bed with someone else, or exposing them to cigarette smoke. The rate of SIDS has gone down since the implementation of sleep safety programs.

Unfortunately, the controls used in SIDS research are children who have died of other causes--diseases, accidents, or trauma. And the SIDS babies data comes only from those parents who have allowed tissue samples to be used from their dead child. So this skews the results right there (in my opinion) because only California has a law that renders it unnecessary to obtain informed consent from the individual parents if tissue samples from their child are to be used for research on SIDS. So you've got a small group to start with (2162 infants died of SIDS in the US in 2003), with a pretty small sample, from a rather narrow geographic area.

I know nothing about medical statistics or how to figure risk factors or statistical anaysis. I could barely make my way through the "density of medullary 5-Ht neurons." However, I'm not in favor of parents being required by law to submit samples, or even have an autopsy, so we can have a more diverse racial data base. It's quite possible that most grieving parents will want as much knowledge as possible and many will want their child's death to make a contribution to science, but when laws are passed requiring you to take part in medical research, we've gone too far.

SIDS
JAMA
nablopomo

3160 Pot meet Kettle

Just switched off Maureen Dowd. Gads, talk about whiny, moral hypocrisy. She was opining to that fat guy with a face like a smashed pancake--don't even know the network. How does anyone stand that woman? I thought I would remember her phrasing and sighs long enough to get it into my blog, but she's just too outrageous. Plus her voice sounds like someone tuned her vocal chords with an emory board. Her hair color is the color of a Republican district, regardless of her political leanings. Yuk.

3159 Hanson on illegal immigration

One of the things that handed the Republicans their heads last Tuesday was their namby-pamby stand on illegal immigration. Victor Davis Hanson has some thoughts on whether or not the flow of illegals across the border is actually a good thing for Mexico and the USA, as we are often told. I think we know that Democrats, who need more victims, more low wage workers, more members for their unions, and more household and farm help (including Ms. Pelosi), will try to stop any reasonable solution to keep them out.

Even if it were true that Mexican families are more traditional (and apparently they aren't), take a look at any American city where the children are growing up without their fathers, and women without husbands. The elderly without their sons. Would we think a city like that was a good idea for a solid social and economic base? Are they picking up the negatives of our culture or transporting their poverty and crime across the border?

We've been watching what has been happening in Oaxaca because friends of ours have a son and daughter-in-law who had to flee and are now living with them temporarily in Columbus. However, the family of their daughter-in-law is still there. Hanson specifically comments on Oaxaca.

". . . the state of Oaxaca is also one of the chief sources of illegal immigration to the United States. Hundreds of thousands of dissatisfied Oaxacans have fled to the U.S. and now send millions of dollars back southward. Why, then, is the city on the brink of chaos? Could it be that far from stabilizing Mexico, the continual flight of millions of Mexico's disenchanted - one in 10 currently live in the U.S. - has only made things worse..." The rest of the story.

nablopomo
illegal immigration
Oaxaca

3158 Interesting reading for Veterans Day

I was looking around in the US military archives for my father's separation record**, and found a military photo archive of the war in the Pacific, where I saw a photo about a rescue at sea of prisoners of war from a torpedoed Japanese ship. From there I went to: "Recollections of Lieutenant Commander Landon L. Davis, Jr. of submarine USS Pampanito (SS-383) concerning the 15 September 1944 rescue of British and Australian prisoners of war who survived the sinking of Japanese prison ship Rakuyo Maru enroute from Singapore to Formosa. Pampanito was initially assisted in the rescue by USS Sealion (SS-315), and later by USS Barb (SS-220) and USS Queenfish (SS-393). Pampanito then set course for Saipan, where the survivors were disembarked." It was really an amazing story of picking up the men who had been prisoners for 3 years. They had been abandoned by their captors when the ship was going down--and most were in terribly weakened, emaciated condition.

"The experiences that these men had with the Japs were very interesting. They had been prisoners and, as such, had been subject to every sort mistreatment-quite a few beatings, lack of food, various types of punishment. I don’t believe that there were any cases of actual torture of any of the men that we had, except that anybody who is a prisoner gets kicked in the seat of the pants every now and then, and they had been subject to such treatment as standing in the sun in the middle of a courtyard all day long because of some minor infringement of a rule, but they hadn’t been subject to tortures that people lead you to believe. Their own story was that they were enlisted men and as such, didn’t know anything and the Japs did not want to question them because they knew they couldn't get anything, but they did say that officers were tortured, particularly if they were high ranking and they thought that they had some dope that they didn’t hesitate to do most anything to them to get some dope from them. They had come into contact with both the regular Imperial Army, with the reserves, and with the Korean Guards."

And an interesting observation about what distance does to your commitment to the war--any war.

"It's quite seldom in the submarine navy that we come in contact with the actual so-called horrors and disagreeable side of war. We go merrily along and sink a ship and then go under the waves and never see the results of the thing, but this was one time when our whole crew was exposed to one of the most thrilling and interesting stories that I have ever witnessed myself and you could see every man on board get a big relief and a lift in his feeling an a great hate for the Japs, too, after contacting these poor fellows who had been subject to their mistreatment for three years, and there wasn't a one of us who wouldn't go out of our way now to take a good hard sock at those Japs, whereas before we were sort of noncommittal about it, even though we were fighting the war very seriously."

**Separation Records: "Of the 4,000 requests per day, more than 40 percent ask for only a copy of the separation document, the DD Form 214, or its predecessor forms. Packed with important information such as dates and character of service, final rank, awards earned, and military occupation specialty, the separation document is a key to veterans benefits such as home loans, civil service appointments, education, training, and medical care." From Prologue Magazine, vol. 37, no.1

3157 A tribute to Veterans

This morning I was listening to a Veterans Day Tribute on 700 a.m. Cincinnati. An Iraq veteran of two tours of duty called in to comment. When I see and hear the negative, bad press we get about the war, I wonder if the news people ever talk to the guys who have been there (I know the answer, so I don't really wonder), or read their blogs. This soldier had spent 9.5 months in Fallugia during his second tour, and he said it definitely wasn't pleasant and he had a number of close calls, but he is very proud of what America is doing there. He said the Iraqis he talked to are happy the Americans are there--they feel free for the first time in the memory of many. He also asked why Americans will get excited about corruption or poverty or hunger in Africa, but ignore that it was the same in Iraq and was caused by one man.

He also paid a tribute to the Vietnam vets. He said that many times he and his colleagues looked to and remembered their bravery (and their lack of support from the American people) when they were in really awful, dangerous conditions.

Veterans Day
Iraq War

3156 The Kohler Cimmaron

Such a romantic name for a toilet. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Yesterday we invited a plumber to take a look at our misbehaving toilets and leaking sink faucets. He told us that we couldn't have power flushing toilets back to back--which even the manufacturers didn't know until a few were installed. You can picture, can't you, what happens if two flushes take place at the same time, or if one flushes while the other is being used. Those two toilets will just have their innards replaced--they are less frequently used. The other two we decided to replace with the 1.6 liter model, which according to the literature will save 4,000 gallons of water a year! The plumber recommended a specific plumbing supply store, but didn't recommend Lowe's except for one model of American Standard.

So on the prettiest day in weeks, we were toilet shopping. I almost passed out at the price--nearly $400 for a very ordinary toilet and the seat wasn't included--that was another $15-30 depending on what you selected. Colors were another $100. My husband liked some of the fancier models, but I nixed that since I do the cleaning and I don't want any cutesy carved looks to gather the residue of poor aim. The sink faucets seemed to be near $200. So off we went to Lowe's.

At Lowe's we found the exact same (to my eye) Kohler Cimmaron complete with seat for $222 or $226 (elongated bowl costs $5 more). Comfort model (that means it's for grown ups and not children), with a class 5 flushing system (no idea what that means, but I think it's good). We went home, looked it up on the web, got all the specs, and it still looked like the exact same model. My husband called the plumber; he assured us that Lowe's and the supply house don't carry the same thing. Then he called a contractor he uses a lot in his business; he assured us that Lowe's and the supply house don't carry the same models, but he gave us the name of another supply house. My husband was definitely believing the plumber and the contractor, but I was believing my eyes and the specs.

So finally I said--"Let's call Kohler's and ask them." He did and identified himself as an architect specing a job--which was actually the truth. The Kohler rep assured him that they are the exact same model, it's just that Lowe's purchases in such huge quantity, they can offer a cheaper price. Plus, she said, even that price will vary from store to store (I noticed this while checking the web, that we found the Cimmaron as low as $217.) We also checked consumer comments about this model on the web, and found some very satisfied customers. One web site even described how easy it was to install--had his 17 year old daughter do it--but we weren't willing to go that far.

Back we went to Lowe's after dinner and ordered two Kohler Cimmaron toilets, one in stock, and one to arrive in a few days because of the color (which does cost more and doesn't come with the seat). Even so, with the 3 new sink faucet fixtures (now very hard to find the brass color, so if you want that, rush out and buy it now) we spent nearly $800, but probably $500 less than at the supply house.

nablopomo
bathroom fixtures

Friday Family Photo--Veterans Day

When you go home
Tell them of us, and say,
For your tomorrow
We gave our today
Kohima Epitaph
Across the nation we're observing Veterans Day, November 11, which memorializes the end of WWI (armistice was the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918), and honors all veterans of the armed services. Today's photos are my Uncle Clare looking sharp and spiffy in his dress uniform in New Orleans and home on leave with his parents. He was 32 when he went into the Army Air Force in 1942. I think he could have had an exemption because he was a farmer and essentially was managing the Illinois and Iowa farms for his parents who were 68 and 66, and doing all the physical work on the home place. But I think he also saw the war as an opportunity to do some of the things he'd always dreamed of--he was a fabulous mechanic and loved airplanes. I have a dim memory of my mother telling me he couldn't be a pilot because of a hearing problem, but was trained for photographic mapping, and was an aerial engineer for the 24th Mapping Squadron of the 8th Photo Group, Reconnaissance (10th Air Force) which served in the China, Burma, India theater.

In New Orleans

With his parents, on the Franklin Grove farm

On a Geocities site I found the following information about this squadron: "The 8th Photographic Reconaissance Group arrived in India on 31 March 1944, assuming operational control of the 9th Photographic Reconaissance Squadron, 20th Tactical Reconaissance Squadron and 24th Combat Mapping Squadron on 25 April 1944, with the 40th Photgraphic Reconaissance Squadron joining the unit on 6 September 1944.

The main mission of the units attached to the 8th Photographic Reconaissance Group was to gather phtographs to be used in making target maps, assessing target damage and identifying potential targets"

Clare and a pilot were killed in an explosion when the plane hit a gasoline supply, through the stupidity of his commanding officer who insisted the men go up in a blinding storm. No one else in that unit lost his life and we found out how Clare died when a great nephew attended one of their reunions. I'm glad my grandparents never knew since they suffered this loss so terribly the rest of their lives (died in 1963 and 1968).

Searching the internet I found lists of accident reports, alphabetic by name of the soldier or civilian--thousands and thousands died in accidents--and his name is listed. Also found this report of USAAF Serial Numbers, "64105 (F-7A, 8th BRG, 24th CMS) w/o on takeoff accident at Hsing Hing, China Oc 29, 1944" which I assume was his plane since nothing else matches the date.

Originally buried near Chengtu, China after his death on October, 29, 1944, Uncle Clare came home on the Honda Knot in 1947 (I found this information on a Lee County, IL obituary web site) with over 200,000 dead soldiers and sailors with fighter escorts and awaiting dignitaries. While we waited in rural Illinois to bury him with other family in Ashton, he was being welcomed home in San Francisco:

"In San Francisco, a similar ceremony took place under an overcast October sky as the army transport ship Honda Knot slipped through the frigid waters beneath the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco Bay. An aerial escort of forty-eight fighter planes flew over the vessel before dipping their wings in salute and banking away. Surface ships from the Coast Guard and the Navy approached the Honda Knot and led her through a misting rain to anchorage off Marina Point, where a gathering of five thousand mourners waited to pay tribute to the war dead that the ship was delivering home to American soil from the Pacific theater. A navy launch approached the Honda Knot and offered another massive wreath from President Truman. Dignitaries in the audience included Army General Mark Clark, who had led American troops in Italy during the war, and the Secretary of the Navy John L. Sullivan, who honored these fallen heroes, many of whom had passed under the Golden Gate Bridge on ships bound for the Pacific war. Six of the 3,012 flag-draped coffins aboard the Honda Knot were removed the next day to lie in state in the rotunda of San Francisco’s city hall, where ordinary citizens of a sorrowful nation paid their last respects. The six dead represented servicemen from the Army, the Navy, the Marine Corps, the Air Force, and the Coast Guard, along with a civilian, all killed in the war. From the early morning until late that night, thousands of mourners filed by the coffins of knelt in prayer by their sides. The arrival of the Honda Knot and the Joseph V. Connolly officially initiated what one observer called the "most melancholy immigration movement in the history of man," the return to the United States of 233,181 American dead after the end of World War II. America's army of fallen warriors was coming home from the four corners of the earth, from Guadalcanal and Australia, from New Guinea, Japan, China, and Burma in the Pacific theater. From the Mediterranean theater men were returned from Libya, Sicily, Italy, Yugoslavia, and Romania. The bodies of men who had died in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany also came home. David Colley site

Clare is listed on this memorial site for the 10th Air Force.

Update: The National Archives has a site for WWII Honor List of Dead and Missing. You select by branch of the military, then by state, then by county. I found Uncle Clare, although his name was misspelled.

Veterans Day, War Memorials, World War II, Army Air Force, 10th Air Force, China Burma India Theatre

Good-bye Dorothy

One of the ladies I have had listed on my TT site has a URL that's either been removed or hacked, because a sex/porn site comes up when I try to check her blog. I was going to post her website, then thought, "Wait, that's silly. Someone will click on it." Then I got to thinking that maybe Dorothy was a front--a weirdo who had posted on Thursday Thirteen and then clicked her/his red shoes and left OZ. What do you think?


nablopomo
Thursday Thirteen

Thursday Thirteen

Last week I wrote about women and finances. This week I'm still on the money kick, so I'm adding 13 more ideas, proverbs, sayings and legends about money that apply to anyone.

1. Spend less than you earn, and you will be financially secure, especially if you invest that $1 you didn't spend today. If you are 20, spend $1,000 less a year than you earn, invest at 12.5%, and you'll have a million by age 60. If you are 40, spend $10,000 less than you earn, invest at 12.5% and you'll still have a million at 60. Ron Blue

2. Debt isn't the problem--but greed, self-indulgence, impulsivity, impatience, fear, self-image, self-worth, self-discipline, ignorance, stress, addictions and loneliness might need some work.

3. There are more verses in the New Testament about money than about heaven and hell; there are 500 plus verses on both prayer and faith, but over 2,000 verses dealing with money and possessions.

4. Ben Franklin wrote: Money never made a man happy yet, nor will it.

5. Money talks; it says good-bye. Source unknown.

6. Want to safely double your money? Fold it over once and put it in your pocket. Anon.

7. It's hard for Lutherans to lift their hands above their wallets. A visiting speaker at our church said that (forgotten his name but not the image)

8. I'm proud to be paying taxes in the United States. The only thing is--I could be just as proud for half the money. Arthur Godfrey

9. Never spend your money before you have it. Thomas Jefferson

10. My husband and I are considered "deadbeats" by the banking industry because we have no credit card debt, but we use them. However, Ron Blue suggests that just having a credit card will cause a family to spend 34% more, regardless of whether the full statement is paid off each month or not. Change to cash only if you really want to save.

11. Some couples go over their budgets very carefully every month; others just go over them. Sally Poplin

12. What some people mistake for the high cost of living is really the cost of high living. Doug Larson

13. Forget hybrids or foreign cars. The cheapest car to drive is the one you already own. Ron Blue. "Master your money," Moody, 2004.

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! Leave a comment and I'll add your name and URL. View More Thursday Thirteen Participants
Visitors and visited:
Amy, Amy Blunders, BabyBlue, Barb, Barbara, Beckadoodles, Blessed Assurances, Brony, Bubba, Buttercup and Bean, Carey, Carmen, Caylynn, Chaotic Mom, Chelle Y., Cheryl, Cindy, CJ, Courtney, Dane, Danielle, Darla, Dawn, Denise, DK Raymer, Domestic Geek, Factor 10, Faerylandmom, Expressing myself, Firefly, Friday's Child, Gattina, Ghost, Irish Church Lady, It’s all about me, Jaime, Jane, Janeen, JB , Joan,, Joe, Joy Renee, Just Tug, Kate, Kathy, Kaye, Kelly,Kendra, Lady Bug, Lazy Daisy, Mrs. Lifecruiser, Lyndsay, Lynn, Ma, Mama Duck, Mar, C.A.Marks, Mary, May, Michelle, Mistress of the dark MommyBa, N.Mallory, Nat, Nathalie, Raggedy Randy, Ribbiticus, Shannon, The Shrone, Southern Girl, Sunny Days, Susan, Tammy, Titanium, TC, Test, Tigerprr, TNChick, Wendy,

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3152 The media is still spinning the war

The Democrats have won Congress but the media doesn't stop the spin. And that includes Bill O'Reilly who seems to be as blind as the CNN guys that Bush lost this election because of the war. I've talked to lots of Republicans, and I don't know a one who hasn't supported Bush on the war. But I also don't know any who

• were happy with their Republican team in Washington, spending like drunken sailors at Put-in-Bay on a Saturday night, or
• who were satisfied with the incomprehensible, foolish drug plan, or
• who wanted this administration to be a high roller in the education sweepstakes, or
• who don't wonder every time they saw a Hispanic bussing tables, roofing an apartment building or cleaning the office if they are illegals.

You see, Democrats and their lackeys in the press, wouldn't like George W. Bush, or vote for George Bush, or mention some of his successes even if the troops had mopped up the Iraqi borders and found WMD by June 2003. If it were really about the war, we wouldn't be seeing him in monkey faced cartoons, or hear slurs about his education and intelligence. The media killed acres of trees printing the Plame-game-blame story only to have it go up in flame and become a footnote. They practically gave Sandy Berger a medal for stealing. They just hate Bush, pure and simple. Liberals can talk into the wee hours about prejudice and narrow mindedness of Christians, but they need to look into a mirror to see real, frothing at the mouth, irrational hate. Truly, they frighten me.

About 40% of registered voters (and a lot of dead Democrats) went to the polls Tuesday (a dismal turnout compared to Iraqi voters, but near a record for an off-year). Over 50% were Democrats, many were Independents, and many were Republicans crossed over the aisle and voted for the other guy rather than vote for a Republican who went to Washington with promises and left with egg on his/her face. But both Democrats and Republicans passed conservative issues on the ballots, and almost all the Democrats who got elected are so far right of Nancy Pelosi that she's going to have to work awfully hard the next two years to keep them on the plantation. She used them, recruited them, and sold her San Francisco soul to get herself elected as majority leader on their good intentions. Other than the word Democrat behind their names, they have nothing in common with her.

Republicans know they can't trust the press to tell us anything positive about what is happening in Iraq, so we ignore that (Democrats are stuck hearing and believing the same ol' same ol' with never a new thought or idea cross the threshold of their brain). But on these other issues--the drug plan, illegals underfoot thousands of miles beyond the border, good money thrown after bad for the schools--we beyond the beltway can see for ourselves and don't need to depend on Charley or George or Katie to interpret and lie to us. Also, because these issues are about spending tax money and were "bi-partisan," and Democrats also love to spend, these items are soft pedalled by the media.

I also don't believe that gay bashing Mark Foley and Ted Haggard depressed the Republican vote--if anything, the unrelenting coverage by the liberal media about this seamy side of the gay lifestyle, probably helped defeat the gay marriage issues. And at least in Ohio, the so called "culture of corruption" which the media also love to spin, took a back seat to Gov. Taft's ineffective, bland, and weak administration. And the nasty, dirty advertising by both sides? I don't know a single voter who was swayed by that, but I have heard compliments from both Democrats and Republicans for the clean campaign of Ted Celeste (although that too didn't change minds). Only the ad agencies made out on that one. It was not Mary Jo Kilroy's finest hour when she accused in breathless tones Deborah Pryce of being Mark Foley's good friend.

Still spinning and humming the old tunes.

Update: In his Thursday Thirteen today, Dane reports on his visit to New Orleans: "Did you know that New Orleans is the only American city that was built below sea level? Consequently they do not bury their dead below ground. They store them near polling areas and trot them out every election day to vote."

Update2: Angle of Repose, a Californian, tells a GOP caller why he won't contribute: "I then went into my reasons - out of control spending, growth in government, a poorly run war. And the biggest reason: my voice means nothing to the Republican leadership. . . Illegal immigration is the prime example of this."

Update3: This from Tammy Bruce on Republicans voting the immigration issue: "Republicans did not vote for Democrats dressed up as Republicans because they want an open border and amnesty. They did it because the Repubs in office refused to secure the border. . . The president refused to listen to the people, smeared the Minutemen, and was more worried about what Vicente Fox was thinking than what we were thinking."

election results
Republican party
media spin
nablopomo

3151 Do you ever buy

an outfit too small hoping you'll lose weight and eventually wear it? I don't. I know myself too well and am too practical to do that. But I do have items in my closet that I used to wear, and they hang around hoping to be used again even though they don't fit. This is a pants suit I just love. Sort of a gray and blue Glen plaid in a size 8.* I can't remember when I bought it or was able to wear it, but it was after 2000 and before 2004, and it has the shorter jacket (which I do wear with another skirt). Anyway, this suit is my goal. I can now get the pants all the way up--I just can't sit down in them. But hey, in August, I couldn't even get them zipped. Another 10 lbs and I'll be ready to sit.



This dress, also an 8*, is a recent purchase, on sale of course, for less than we spend on our Friday night date. It doesn't show well on a hanger, but is a navy polyester, all lined, gently fitted, with a lace jacket (nice for women my age). I have no place to wear it, unless someone dies or gets married. Although we have friends celebrating a 40th anniversary at the country club at the end of the month, so I might think about that. Everyone dresses so casually these days, there's no place to go in a lace jacket!



* Remember today's size 8 was a size 12 in 1960, and I was 20 lbs thinner then. Aren't closets fun?

women's fashion
clothing size
health and fitness
nablopomo

3050 November is National Adoption Month

If you are part of the adoption triangle (adoptee, birth parent, adoptive parent) you are part of an amazing transaction where grief and sorrow are miraculously turned into joy and hope. Not all adoptions create picture perfect families--but then I don't know any families like that made the other way, do you? Abortions, on the other hand, create nothingness forever and ever.
Here are 10 posts I’ve written about adoption in the three years I’ve been blogging. Caution: you are not entering a warm, fuzzy zone.

Pets are not family

Marriage and adoption

The adoption experts--a review

Adoption in Australia

Adoption Hollywood style

Pregnancy decision health center

Judge Roberts’ adopted children

Advice for faculty women who are new mommies

Time off for new parents--donated vacation leave

The dogs of divorce

National Adoption Month, Adoption, pregnancy decisions, nablopomo

3049 Christmas movies

Already? Yes, Amy is ready with her list of 24 Christmas movies to watch between now and December 25. My public library, which is so lame on Christian content, does in fact have a great video and dvd collection. They may not know why we celebrate Christmas in library land, but your public library is a good source for fun and follies.

Check it out here.

3048 What's irritating about watching the returns

Charley and George looked so delighted and smug last night, wiggling in their seats, I thought they'd pee their pants. All the media bashing Bush all the time. From the Wall Street Journal to CNN, those poor Democrats in the cities and boonies never get an alternative view. Unless they read blogs. The media are spinning this as a repudiation of Bush--I don't think so. If the Democrats couldn't win this time, they'd have to disband and try something else. Oops. They did that. Many of the Democrats who won sounded more faith and values and good ol' boys than the Republicans who seem to have left their base. Of course, they'll get chewed up and spit out by their own seniors.

I really don't think people went to the polls to vote against the war; Americans don't want us to lose another war. We failed miserably in Vietnam and left millions of our allies to die horrible deaths as we fled. That was terribly cruel. Many Republicans were voted out (or not voted for by Republicans who just didn't go to the polls) because they didn't keep their promises, not because they supported Bush. Some, like DeWine and Chaffee, were voted out because they didn't support the President. So we exchanged liberal Republicans for conservative Democrats. Unfortunately, that puts Nance Pelosi in a position of power. The word is out that she employs illegals, which is why she is soft on immigration reform. Now it's not as good as flying the confederate flag or for not reporting your outside income accurately, but I'm sure the bloggers will dig up something good.

Nancy Pelosi
Republican Party

3047 From Judah to America

“From Judah and Israel, across Europe, and into America, the centuries have shown that a State that is denied a moral compass does evil, and a State guided by a moral compass that has lost its integrity within the State's halls of power is worse than a State with no moral compass at all. Thus, the danger in current American political discourse is not that religious language will poison the world of politics, but that political participation will gut religious language of all truth.”

Lee, Randy Randall, "When a King Speaks of God, When God Speaks to a King: Faith, Politics, Tax Exempt Status, and the Constitution in the Clinton Administration" . Law and Contemporary Problems, Vol. 63, No. 1 & 2, Winter/Spring 2000 Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=256868 or DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.256868

3046 People who shouldn't vote

There are a few people who you hope won't show up at the polls today, but I'm sure some Democrat will offer them a ride, or say they were disenfranchised. That's not true. They are too dumb to vote. I was listening to Glenn Beck on Friday while I was ironing. I really don't like his "Moron Trivia" routine because I just hate learning how stupid people are. In this routine, he calls up people who are in NFL cities who work at convenience stores as "shelf replenishment engineers." There's a football connection, but sports bore me, so I won't get into that. Last Friday it was between Baltimore and Cincinnati. I think he talked to five women and one man with four questions. The women sounded to me like they were over 50 and heavy smokers. You know the sound, that deep throaty rattle that women get when they've damaged their vocal chords from years of looking sophisticated.

Anyway, the first question was which politician had embarrassed himself that week trying to tell a joke that had backfired. The women didn't know; so he asked them the next question, "Who is John Kerry?" None of them knew--not even with prompting from Glenn. One of the questions was which party won the November elections (this was 4 days before the election.) My sex went down in such a stunning defeat in both cities, I don't even remember the rest of the questions. But the one male, who had a slight Hispanic accent, got every question right!

Glenn Beck, voters

3045 Wonder where the money went

Ibrahim and Mohamed are buying up expensive houses in the Columbus suburbs and paying way more than the asking price. Such a deal! The Columbus Dispatch revealed this week that 14 such deals worth more than $11 million have closed since Spring. The money is borrowed with no downpayment, the seller gives back to the buyer the difference between what he asked and what he got, and some giant houses are standing empty in some fancy neighborhoods. Nationalities are not known for sure, but they are middle easterners, apparently Jordanian and Egyptian. Ethical real estate professionals and the local BIA are advising home sellers to not take the offers. So the buyers are creating their own companies. One agent who lost his license several years ago has been involved in four of the sales.

"It’s been a growing problem nationally for lenders and neighborhoods. The FBI says banks reported losing $1 billion to mortgage fraud last year, more than double the previous year.

Reports of suspected mortgage fraud jumped 35 percent in the first quarter of this year compared with the same period in 2005, according to a report released Friday by the U.S. Treasury Department.

Under various scams, the buyer can be either a victim of manipulative middlemen who skim cash from mortgages in convoluted transactions, or a co-conspirator "straw borrower" who fronts for sham loans.

Ohio has been hit particularly hard by foreclosures and mortgage fraud, banking and lawenforcement officials say."

Inflated appraisals and mortgages use to be common in inner-city neighborhoods--now they are going upscale.

3044 A letter to Kerry

A Sergeant stationed in Iraq has written a letter to John Kerry. His wife submitted it to American Daughter where you can read the whole thing:

"I am a Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps. I am currently on my second tour in Iraq, a tour which I volunteered for. I speak Arabic and Spanish and I plan to tackle Persian Farsi soon. I have a Bachelors and an Associates Degree and between deployments I am pursuing an M.B.A. In college I was a member of several academic honor societies, including the Golden Key Honor Society. I am not unique among the enlisted troops. Many of my enlisted colleagues include lawyers, teachers, mechanics, engineers, musicians and artists just to name a few. You say that your comments were directed towards the President and not us. If we were stupid, Senator Kerry, we might have believed you."

He reminds the Senator that they know what he has said about them in the past, and if he thinks people misunderstand him, it's because he can't communicate clearly.

3043 As you go to the polls

keep in mind that the Democrats do not want to keep the current tax cuts which have lifted our economy. They want to penalize you for doing well, because the lower rates have actually brought in more revenue to the government. Also ask yourself, didn't I already give? Why do they want more? Both parties are guilty of the gimmees.

• Federal income tax
  
• State income tax
  
• city income tax
  
• county income tax
  
• sales taxes--state and local--Ohio doesn't tax food, but some states do
  
• Intangible taxes (on your investments)
  
• Use taxes--gasoline, airports
  
• excise taxes--cigarettes, gasoline--federal and state. About 82% of what consumers pay for a pack of cigarettes (average cost $4.12) ends up going to the government in taxes and other payments rather than for the cigarettes.
  
• estate taxes--also known as the death tax--federal and state
  
• inheritance taxes--state and local
  
• gift taxes--also called transfer taxes
  
• personal property taxes--local taxes imposed on your car, furniture, boat, etc. and other items you already own but are taxed for year after year (we don't have this in Ohio, but we did when we lived in Illinois and Indiana)
  
• real estate taxes--usually your county hits you up for this--reevaluates your home's worth, raises the taxes, then also raises the millage
  
• Social Security taxes--also known as FICA, Federal Insurance Contributions Act, or payroll taxes
  
• Medicare taxes
  
• hospitality and entertainment taxes--like hotels, motels--usually a city tax
  
• utilities taxes
  
• telephone taxes, state, federal and local (surcharges and fees are not taxes) The Spanish American War (1898) tax was just lifted this year.
  
• licenses--driver's, hunting/fishing, business, amusement, etc.
  

If you live in these states, you have the highest local/state taxes in addition to what you pay the federal government; Wisconsin, Nebraska, Kansas, Idaho, New York, Maine, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, and Texas.

federal taxes
state taxes
estate taxes
death tax
telephone taxes
Medicare
Social Security

Monday Memories

Did I ever tell you about our slumber parties in the 50s?

I posted this photo at the class reunion blog, but thought it was sort of cute and decided to also post it here for Monday Memories.


I'm not in the photograph because I'm taking the picture with my Brownie Hawkeye, and it appears to be taken in the morning. But that's our living room on Hannah Avenue, before my Mom redecorated with new wallpaper in a gentle beige and brown stripe. She also took out the pocket doors and wall where I was standing to take the photo. It looks like we were using a card table for gifts.

There are many things here that identify this as the 50s besides the Brownie Hawkeye: pin curls tied up with a scarf around the head (no one had hair dryers); bermuda shorts with knee socks; hard sided over night cases; scarves tied under the collar of a neatly pressed white blouse; big print wall paper in the living room; book club novels in the bookcase; hair cuts by Mom; and home permanents we gave each other.

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My visitors and those I'll visit this week are:Ma, Viamarie, Mrs. Lifecruiser, Debbie, Lazy Daisy, Lady Bug, Janene, Janene in Ohio, Michelle, Anna, ChelleY. Jen, Melli Becki, Paul, Friday's Child, Irish Church Lady,Cozy Reader

1950s
teenagers
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