3353 Ten phrases I would not miss

I've seen end-of-the year lists of over used words, list of new words, and of course, Wired always has it's own list of tired and fired words. Here's my list of meaningless gobbledegook, phrases I'm sick of seeing primarily because they promise more than they deliver.

1. tax initiatives
2. voting irregularities
3. renewable energy
4. bipartisanship
5. mission statement
6. vision for change
7. experts say (also its first cousin, informed sources say)
8. interface
9. segue
10. Islam is a religion of peace

3353 What's going on in Stockton?

Do you ever read those full page ads in the paper called "legal notices" where the confiscated belongings are listed from criminal busts? No? Must be one of my odd quirks. The Drug Enforcement Administration of the U.S. Dept. of Justice lists seized property--there's lots of legal mumbo jumbo so it isn't clear to me if the listed parties can reclaim it or if it will be auctioned. On the list are lots of weapons, watches, currency, vehicles, airplanes, boats, bank accounts, jewelry, and some furniture and electronics. Then there was Strockton, California, and the property seized was grow lights, fans, carbon filters, all kinds of special boxes, etc. Apparently Victoria Chu, Ngai Chung Hung, Roex Hung, Michael Lee, Wing Chou Chan, Wayne Feng and Ka Wai Yu were dabbling in some unauthorized agricultural venture to the tune of a quarter million dollars.

3351 Monday Memories--Grandmother's Hymnal

One of the books I inherited that means a lot to me is my maternal grandmother's hymnal. Here is what we librarians call the bibliographical information and a description of it. I have a 115 page list of my grandparents books which I used for various publications I wrote when I was working. (Aren't you pleased I'm not listing them all?).

The word "Brethren" refers to "Church of the Brethren" an Anabaptist group, although at the time this title was printed, they just referred to themselves as "Brethren." The official term was German Baptist Brethren at that time. My family spoke German for about the first 100 years they were in this country (giving it up around the 1820s) and the Brethren printed the first European language Bible in the colonies--but it was in German, not English.

I used a wonderful program called "Notebook" to make this list, which I no longer have or know how to use (lots of DOS type commands), and could sort by author, title, date, publisher, subject or keyword. Any time you complain about the hymns your church is using--just take a look at what your denomination was singing 100 years ago. It's an eye-opener.

Brethren's Tune and Hymn Book: Being a Compilation of Sacred Music Adapted to All the Psalms, Hymns, and
Spiritual Songs in the Brethren's Hymn Book. Carefully revised, rearranged and otherwise improved. Mt. Morris, IL: The Brethren's Publishing House, 1894. no. 11

Subject: Brethren--Hymnbooks

Notes: Script: "Mary L. George, Ashton, Illinois."
This is a reprint of the 1879 "The Brethren's Hymnbook"
edited by J.C. Ewing, the first hymnbook with four-part
harmony, copyright by Quinter and Brumbaugh Brothers.
James Quinter selected songs from earlier editions.
Today we would recognize few of the hymns in this book.
The Brethren's Publishing House was privately owned.
In 1897 all rights and titles were turned over to the
Church's General Missionary and Tract Committee and it
moved to Elgin. When the Kable Brothers started their
printing venture in Mt. Morris, they used the printing
plant. ("Brethren Press," Brethren Encyclopedia, Vol.
1:193)

View More Monday Memories Participants
My visitors and those I'll visit this week are:Anna, Becki, Chelle, Chelle Y., Cozy Reader, Debbie, Friday's Child, Gracey, Irish Church Lady, Janene, Janene in Ohio, Jen, Katia, Lady Bug, Lazy Daisy, Ma, Mrs. Lifecruiser, Melli, Michelle, Paul, Susan, Viamarie.

3350 Oh lady, you don't want to know!

She wanted to know what sort of cold hearted bitch she was, and I was ready to respond, but didn't want to sign in for one more password. So I moved on, but I really, truly wanted to call her exactly what she'd already named herself. Other words that come to mind. . . whiny, spoiled, self-centered, childish. But maybe it's depression. I think it's what started the women's movement in the 1970s. And children's lives have been going down hill since.

3349 Randy's new blog

Randy Kirk has started a new blog called The God vs No God Debate, and you're invited to join in. Stop by and take a look. Tell him Norma sent you.

The first 5 topics will be:

What are the practical advantages of believing in God?
What are the practical advantages of not believing in God?
Why do Christians feel so compelled to convince others to believe?
Why do atheists want so badly to win the debate?
How should evidence be "weighed" in this subject area?

3348 A new epidemic among teens?

The Dec. 28 issue of New England Journal of Medicine (355:26) has a series of articles on mental illness in teens. Now, it's not that new diseases can't arise--afterall, when my grandmother was a child, virtually no one got polio. It became an epidemic in the 20th century because sanitation improved and children no longer had the harmless mild type. Still, as my class prepares for its 50th reunion next summer, I am sort of wondering why we students didn't see mental illness among our classmates (there were a few teachers I sort of wondered about, however). The lead article suggests the screening of all teens to catch the "silent epidemic of mental illness among teenagers" which is leaving them vulnerable to emotional, social, and academic impairments in later life.

I'm sure if my friends and I had had screening, that the usual anxieties about grades, or mood disorders from squabbles with parents, fatigue from bad schedules or bruised and broken hearts from dating, or poor social skills resulting in rejection by the "in-crowd" would have rated us off the charts for feelings of hopelessness and depression. And I didn't know a single person in my high school who had an eating disorder or a drug/alcohol problem to the extent that we began to see in the late 60s and early 70s. However, I think pharmacologic intervention for huge numbers of teens who might have otherwise passed through a phase of sadness or emptiness without medical help, is a pretty high price. We don't even know the long term results for adults. Does the phrase "follow the money" come to mind for anyone but me?

3347 Go Bucks--but learn to spell

Yesterday at the coffee shop someone had written on the children's blackboard in the back of the shop:

" 'Gator meat tastes like WOLFERINE."

Here is a photo of a wolverine, a member of the weasel family and the Michigan mascot. According to their website, no one knows how the school got that name, although there are some interesting theories. Wild wolverines do not exist in Michigan. Although they've been known to get wild when they visit Columbus.


If I were a betting woman, or if I even followed football, I'd say OSU by at least two touchdowns.

3346 Mandated folate levels

This is certainly odd. Or maybe not. In the 1990s, the federal government mandated folate be added to cereal foods because in pregnant women it can reduce certain birth defects. But. . .

"Fortification of enriched cereal-grain products with the B vitamin folic acid to help prevent pregnancies affected by neural tube defects (NTDs) such as spina bifida and anencephaly became mandatory in the United States in January 1998. Although median serum folate concentrations among nonpregnant women of childbearing age increased initially after the mandate, levels decreased 16% from 1999--2000 through 2003--2004, and RBC folate concentrations decreased 8%." MMWR Jan. 5, 2007

I'm guessing it is certain low-carb fad diets that suggest you not eat bread, rolls, macaroni products, rice, corn meal, etc. The largest decrease was among non-Hispanic whites. You can't mess with Mother Nature--eat all the colors, ladies--just eat less if you're fat. And move more. It works. And be especially careful if you are childbearing age.

3345 One of the best movies I've seen

Finally got my husband to go to Dream Girls with me. Of course it's the best I've seen this year--not too hard since this is only the 7th, but I'd say the best I've seen in a decade. Maybe 2 decades. I'm ready to see it again, and that's really unusual for me. I think Overboard is the only movie I saw twice in the theater.

Every performer was outstanding--Eddie Murphy, Jamie Foxx (I've never liked either one), Beyonce, Anika Noni Rose, Danny Glover--but Jennifer Hudson was just extraordinary. I've never watched American Idol, but I've read about her smack down by Judge Simon. She's Fabulous. Couldn't believe-my-ears stunning. Not just her singing but her acting. Why they call her "supporting actress" I'm not sure unless they mean it as in "foundation" or "no-story-without-her."

The movie doesn't get preachy--if you lived in the 60s you catch the fleeting frames of history--but it does show that greed, bad behavior and infidelity know no racial preference. Yes, you have to suspend belief a bit--you are watching a broadway musical of the 1980s based on a 1960s girl group, in a 21st century movie verson, but as my daughter always says, "Mom, it's a movie!" Yes, it is, and this is what movies should be. Not truth. Not reality. Not a sermon. Just knock-your-socks-off terrific. And who knew Eddie Murphy could sing like that?

Dream girls
Jennifer Hudson
Beyonce Knowles

3344 Those who write for a living also work for minimum wage

or less. "It's a great story but hard to do. Everyone had an agenda and hardly anyone, I thought, completely told me the truth. Worst of all the story took me longer to research and write than any other story I've ever written. A teenage dropout flipping burgers at McDonalds wouldn't accept my hourly wage on this story." Read the whole story, Murder on the Last Turn. He blogs about writing it here.

3343 My baby has her first cavity!

After 15 years of avoiding dentists, my daughter finally went to one she picked out of the yellow pages for her husband, who had a broken crown. She had noticed a tiny black spot on a molar a few weeks ago. The dentist, after she recovered from the shock of seeing an adult mouth with no fillings, told her that because she had not had a cleaning in 15 years, they would need to do it in stages because of plaque build-up. Plaque is the sticky white stuff that forms on teeth and can cause tooth loss from gum disease--even a tooth with no cavities can be lost from poor dental care.

But when the dentist looked closer, there was also no plaque. My daughter brushes twice a day and flosses regularly. However, she also had thyroid cancer about 9 years ago (thyroid was removed), and has some dry mouth, so lack of saliva apparently cuts down on the plaque build up. Whatever the reason--good dental hygiene, good genetics or good luck, the dentist said she'd never seen a mouth like that. And the black spot? Neither the x-rays nor the dentist could find it, so my daughter had to tell them where it was--and yes, it was a cavity.


My baby's first cavity! She'll be 40 this year.

dental hygiene
dentist
gum disease

3342 The Frozen Chosen

I've been following a discussion at another blog about the way WaPo messed up a story about the Falls Church and Truro Episcopal congregations (Fairfax, VA) worship and leaving the denomination. To say the reporter attempted to portray the believers (some prominent Republicans) as weirdo kooks would be mild hyperbole, but close enough. The comments have been as interesting as the original article, and it seems that Lutherans and Episcopalians also use the term "frozen chosen" which originally was a derogatory term for Calvinists, particularly Presbyterians. Anyway, I saw this joke in the comments and laughed out loud.

A young boy was shocked to find that his neighborhood playmates had never been baptized. Thinking quickly, he led them all to the nearest church.

A janitor, the only person there at the time, opened the door and let them in. Upon hearing what they wanted, he led them into the bathroom, where he proceeded to sprinkle each of them with water from a toilet.

Walking home, the boys began to wonder what demonination they had joined.

"Well we can't be baptists," one boy said, "because they dunk you all the way in."

"Well, we can't be Catholics," another boy said. "They pour water over your head and light candles."

After further discussion, another boy finally interrupted in disgust. "Come on, guys, didn't you smell that water? We're 'piscopalians!"

3341 Common errors in English

Oh, I'm in heaven. I could spend all day at this site. I've already learned you shouldn't say make a "360 degree turn" because then you'd be right back where you started. Instead, it's 180 degrees that gets you in an opposite spot--if you're making new year's resolutions, or something.

I saw this at Now Norma Knits another fabulous knitting site. I think knitting blogs are some of the most attractive and interesting in the blogosphere. And here's another Norma with strong opinions. It must go with the name.

And yes, I did make a New Year's resolution, and maybe 2 are still percolating as possibilities. I announced this at my other blog (2nd blog, but I have 10), but I'll reveal it here, since it is now day 6 and I've kept it this long. I am reading the One Year Bible (NIV translation). Each day you get an Old Testament and New Testament passage, a Psalm passage, and some verses from Proverbs.

3340 Today's atheists lack charm

In today's Wall Street Journal there was an editorial that had a very familiar ring. Sam Schulman says today's atheists are no match for their forebearers like George Eliot, Carlyle, Hardy, Darwin, H.G. Wells and George Bernard Shaw. They have no arguments you didn't hear in college and lack charm. He says atheists think religious people like me are stupid, full of superstitions, unsafe for children, full of fables and indefensible. Mr. Schulman goes on to say atheists don't focus on Islamic extremists who openly spew hate and kill apostates. It's people who attend church and actually believe something that upset them. He concludes that atheists are shallow, peevish, unsympathetic whiners who are rigid and preachy. Amen to that.

Now I know what the problem was with an editorial I read in the Upper Arlington News by Richard Ades this week. It was so garbled and poorly written including everything from the 9/11 attack to Merry Christmas attacks that I was hard pressed to make sense of it. But Sam Schulman has shed some light on it. Mr. Ades has been reading Richard Dawkins and watching too much PBS.

I sent a letter to the SNP/UA News. Let's see if they'll publish criticism of one of their own.

3339 White female in charge?

Calm down, Nancy Pelosi. Eighty percent of librarians are female and 89% are white. No one's beating a path to our door. Librarianship is the lowest paid profession that requires an advanced degree. Garbage collectors (usually men) make more. So don't get a swelled head about this position.

"But women weren't just waiting; women were working. Never losing faith, we worked to redeem the promise of America, that all men and women are created equal. For our daughters and granddaughters, today we have broken the marble ceiling."

Marble ceiling, indeed! Lots of libraries have marble ceilings, and floors, and walls. If you want to make a difference in marble buildings, Ms. Pelosi, maybe the Librarian of Congress could be a librarian?

3338 Death of a friend

John Neff, 72, a former teacher at Upper Arlington High School passed away New Year's Eve of Alzheimer's Disease. His wife and I were in a Bible study group "Harried Housewives," many years ago, and in the 1970s, we occasionally went out together as couples. I saw her at the coffee shop this morning and she told me of his merciful passing. According to the obituary published in the Columbus Dispatch, "John enjoyed his teaching career at Upper Arlington High School, where he taught Sophomore English, Psychology, and Humanities, and was the Alcohol/Drug Educator for the district the last seven years of his career. While at UAHS, he developed a course "The Bible as Lit" . . . He was very active at the Hilltop Church of God, where he taught a young adult Sunday school class and was active in the State Board of Christian Education for that church. Since 1983, he had been actively involved at First Community Church, where he taught adult education classes, served on the Adult Education Council, and Spiritual Searcher Committee, serving as Chair at different times of each, and was a member of the Board of Church and Ministry for the Central Southeast District of the U.C.C. For 22 years, he was a member of the First Community Church Chancel Choir which was a deep joy in his life. Following his teaching career, he did some light catering and was quite the gourmet cook. He was a man of many talents and was very widely read. . . The last job he had before his illness robbed him of his health was as manager of the Utzinger Memorial Garden at the Farm Science Review, a job he loved very much. He spent many hours in his own green house planting seeds to be replanted into his own garden and yard."

Services were held at FCC on January 3, 2007 with Rev. James Long officiating.

Alcohol in breast milk and child abuse

Whatever you think about the morality, pleasure or efficacy of drinking alcohol, you can't honestly say it tastes good. With flavorings, possibly some drinks taste less awful than others. I have never tasted beer because it smells like rotten grain, and I think that's why God gave us a sense of smell.

So if you are pregnant or nursing, are you telling me you can't avoid a bad tasting, mood altering drug for 15 months? (9 months + the 6 average for nursing) Come on, ladies--toughen up. The terrible twos and the teen years are coming at you fast. Get a spine. Put down that bottle of beer or glass of Chardonnay. You can wait three hours 'til your breast milk is safe for someone who weighs 8 lbs and is totally dependent on you.

alcohol
breast milk

3336 My letter to Glenn Beck

Hey, I'm on a roll. Just can't seem to stop writing letters.
.

Dear Glenn,

I wrote to WTVN protesting the programming change. Letter here.

Now I'm wondering. I just heard you insult me and President Ford by joking about his funeral. You said no station but WTVN carried it because they were looking for a reason to avoid carrying you (paraphrase, so don't get picky on me). I listened to it on WTVN radio. It was very moving, and I loved the hymns and the eulogies. My husband, sister (Illinois--way out of range for WTVN) and many friends, and some of my blog readers who e-mailed me, also either watched or listened.

Grow up, Glenn. Not everything is about you. There are times you're ahead--you should just shut up while you're there.

Norma Bruce
(you're on here, but I've switched to Cincinnati for today)

3335 And you think you've got thank you notes to write

Look at all the folks Jordan Richards will need to thank!

3334 The minimum wage smoke screen

I suppose I shouldn't complain that the Democrats will try to make hay with this. But it irritates me no end. In Ohio, the voters were dumb enough to add it to the Constitution through an amendment in November! So nationally, we couldn't get that bad.

A tiny fraction of people in this country (520,000 in 2004, mostly teen-agers, most in leisure and hospitality industry) work for minimum wage, and most of them are part timers on their way up to the next wage level who are not the sole support of their family. No fast food restaurant or motel around Franklin Co. Ohio is hiring at minimum--they are probably paying $7 or more to even get someone to finish filling out the application. Even our illegals are getting about $15/hour in the so-called "jobs that Americans don't want." In 1983 I worked for the Ohio Department of Aging on a grant from JTPA--Job Training Partnership Act. (Yes, I was on the dole--but I was a Democrat then.) I remember attending a conference on low income workers. At that time, 24 years ago, we were told that in order to offer a woman what she could get on welfare [Washington DC], she would have to have a job at $10.50/hour to make up for comparable housing subsidies, food stamps, free medical, free tuition, transportation, and pay for babysitting so she could work, taxes and insurance. That was 1983 money. So how ridiculous is it to look like your political party is a saviour of the low wage earner by raising minimum wage?

Every time Nancy Pelosi was on the news today, I changed channels, and finally put in a DVD of Boston Legal.

George Will's suggestion--let the market decide.