3716

Global warming, wind, wet ground and change

If it hadn't warmed up in Ohio several thousands of years ago melting our ice cap*, we wouldn't have this old tree to mourn. I don't know how old it is--maybe 75-100. The rain fell, the winds blew and it toppled over. We're grateful for its life and service in making this world a more beautiful place.






*North America ice sheet was 3500 to 4000 m thick over Ontario covered the continent to as far south as St. Louis, 500 m thick over central Ohio. Climate change

Apologies are NOT accepted!

"We regret to inform you that during the weekend of March 31/April 1 there was a criminal intrusion into a university database of current and former employees and that some of your personal data--your name, social security number, employee ID, and date of birth--has been compromised and could be misused. . . Please accept our most sincere apologies"

I first read about this in today's paper, but because it was the OSU Office of Research, I retired in 2000, and because I hadn't been notified of something that happened over two weeks ago, I figured I was safe. I was wrong. I never applied for a grant through the Office of Research, never worked there, had no reason to even think my name was in their data base. I was the co-author of an article in JAVMA in the 90s and that information may have in some way been cycled through the Office of Research by the other author if he obtained a grant. With 14,000 names hacked and thousands and thousands of faculty and staff members at OSU who get money for research, what were the chances one would be mine? I'm baffled.

"We regret that your personal information has been subject to unauthorized access due to this attack." What is it with apologies these days? People don't do anything wrong--only inanimate objects screw up. Stuff happens to stuff? Not even, "our firewall collapsed."

Two weeks after the theft of my identity from my employer's database, I'm offered a 12 month credit protection plan--but of course, I have to put my identifying information on-line. Goody goody.

3714

Teach the Swarm Technique

"Youngsters in a suburban Fort Worth school district are being taught not to sit there like good boys and girls with their hands folded if a gunman invades the classroom, but to rush him and hit him with everything they have: books, pencils, legs and arms.

"Getting under desks and praying for rescue from professionals is not a recipe for success," said Robin Browne, a major in the British Army reserve force and an instructor for Response Options, the company providing the training to the Burleson schools."

Story here from Oct. 2006.

Then the program was cancelled in a few months because parents didn't like it.

3713

A very sad interview

A young man from a counseling center--Christian or new age or secular, couldn't tell--was interviewed in Blacksburg today by Diane Sawyer and Robin Roberts about how to counsel the parents and children in the aftermath of yesterday's shooting. Of course, he had no answers--who would? But he could have offered something positive and hopeful. He was either muzzled, tongue tied, or didn't know the Biblical truth that there is evil and sin in this world and that God has a plan. He stumbled around in some theological quicksand about "free will," but that was about as far as he got, and Robin even had to throw him a few prompts. Some students, however, knew the source of comfort.

3712

The aftermath thoughts

So many news reporters are filling air space about the VA Tech tragedy with phrases like "make sense of" or "moving on," or "what went wrong." The rush to judgement lesson of the Duke case has had no affect on these talking heads. They question why the police and administrators or even the victims didn't do this or that. Or whether recent handgun legislation worsed the situation. Or why the technology of jammed cell phones failed. The families of these children will never makes sense of or move on. Two of my sons died over 40 years ago and there's a part of our life that will forever be stuck in a time warp because even their not being here is a reminder that they aren't here. Like that Edna St. Vincent Millay poem.

There are a hundred places where I fear
To go, -- so with his memory they brim!
And entering with relief some quiet place
Where never fell his foot or shone his face
I say, "There is no memory of him here!"
And so stand stricken, so remembering him!
But I want to address the deaths of some other young people. Ben Stein commented in Terror in our Midst (and I haven't checked his statistics) that since 9-11 when 3,000 people died in a terrorist attack, 40,000 deaths have occurred due to gang killings--many innocent bystanders, but most are black and hispanic young men killing their own kind. These young people had families and friends too. Same age group--very different past and future.

The Imus double standard comes to mind. If the media reports what these young people are doing, they will be called racist for reporting negative things about minorities and immigrants. But aren't they racist and irresponsible if they don't? Doesn't that leave them with nothing to earn their living except Anna Nicole Smith and anti-Administration diatribes? Talk about the failure of law enforcement or security. Don't those neighborhoods deserve some safety too? Is it too hard for Chris Matthews or Diane Sawyer to go on location? Or how about Terry Moran who is such a class warfare expert. Give them combat pay and put the MSM on the front lines.

3711

To the talking heads that bring us the news

Before the families had even been notified yesterday of the terrible tragedy that happened at Virginia Tech, the bloggers and talking heads were in full swing, chastising the police for not "locking down" the campus. Here's my advice to them:

"Think of the campus as a city of 26,000. Would you suggest that police "lock down" a city, town or suburb every time there is a homicide, or domestic violence, putting their people out to do that rather than catching the guy? Would you have them checking every classroom and dorm room and off campus apartment and coffee shop while he has possibly fled the county and state? Talking heads need more than tongues. I hope you'll watch the entire interview with the police that appeared on Cable instead of snippets and rehashes."

3710

Thirty seven years later

I don't actually know the exact date of the current "woman's movement." I date it from 1970--because that's when I became aware of it and moved away from the civil rights activities in which I'd been involved into women's rights. Women have done a lot of good in the almost 40 years since then, but also a lot of harm, particularly to marriage and children. They've swamped certain professions like Protestant clergy, veterinary medicine, law, pharmacy and medicine tipping the balance to a majority of females, lowering standards and salaries. We have so many regulations on the books to protect women, you'd think we were either an endangered species or queens. Our society isn't really kinder and gentler and less mean, or more cooperative and egalitarian, is it? To look at our popular culture, women and girls are more sexualized and objectified than 30-40 years ago, less safe, and children are less likely to have a father in the home, not more. Single women are much more at a disadvantage financially than they were when I was a young woman, because now they need a household income that goes up against a two income household. Single motherhood no longer means just divorced or widowed, as it did 30 years ago, it could mean she decided the clock was ticking and it was time she borrowed a sperm donor.

I remember back when they made a big deal about women truck drivers and construction workers. And women on road crews. You still only see women as "flag persons," and I can't remember the last time I saw a woman in a delivery truck. They were rather common in the 70s when women decided it might be fun, then learned they didn't have enough upper body strength. And everytime I see a woman standing in the sun in her cutsy shorts and t-shirt with the SLOW sign, while the guys dressed for real work are driving the heavy equipment, I think, "Yes, lady, you really are slow if this is what you've aspired to."

But a picture is worth a thousand words--two pictures maybe 1,500. Here's the latest issue of Columbus CEO. Is there any phrase that makes a better case for how all these regs and rules have held women back than, "Women rule"? Would there ever be a cover phrase like that for men that wouldn't bring down the wrath of the thought police? Talk about different treatment of the sexes!!!


The second example is from the stock report I received today. I've fudged the faces a bit, but you can see there is one black male, and one white female on this board of directors. Sometimes there is a two-fer, and the female is black.


But I've been looking at these reports for 7 years, and it's always the same. That's why I modified the faces--who they are doesn't matter, nor what the company is. The Board of Directors and the officers of the company change little. I don't blame men for this, or even the business culture.

I wish we could go back and have a do-over. See if in 2007 without all the government bureaucratic red tape that has snarled the law books for 40 years, the enforced brain mush courses and the left socialist drivel that the colleges teach women instead of real courses, just where women would be. I'm guessing we'd have 3 or 4 women on this board. I've met a lot of women in their 70s and 80s who had careers before the women's movement and the numbers were rising. Colleges and businesses were swamped by less capable women kicking down the doors.

I don't think women want these jobs. They're tough, take 80 hours a week, lots of travel, bored meetings and creating networks. Maybe even golf! To be an executive or a board member, it helps if you have a wife to take care of things at home, and most husbands don't want to be her.

3709

Monday Memories--the last prom dress

This week there's a lot of talk about proms--how expensive they are, the cleavage, the skimpy dresses, the school rules, and the music. I've been listening to the moms call in to Laura Ingraham's show who's talking about the influence of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton and Lindsey Lohan on the clothing fads of middle school and high school girls. I went to my high school prom 4 years, and folks, you've just got to realize that strapless gowns were very popular in 1954. By 1957, I think they were less so, but I'm not sure why. I had a mother who sewed. I never had a strapless prom dress or strapless anything, nor did my sisters, but they were very popular in the 50s. There were girls wearing summer shorts and tops in the 50s that really you couldn't tell from underwear. Peasant blouses with elasticized scooped necks were pulled down over the shoulder to mid-arm. Halter tops were very popular. Short shorts were much shorter than anything I've seen in public in recent years; sheer nylon dresses that revealed every piece of lace in your slip were all the rage. Swim suits were more modest in the 50's and day time dresses had a lot more fabric, but it was not a modest era except in the minds of today's grandmothers.

Senior prom, May 1957, sheer flocked nylon with crinolines, forest green linen top, with matching, pleated cummerbund, made by my mother, who didn't use a pattern. No one I dated knew how to dance, so although I went to 4 proms, it was mainly to shuffle around and talk to the other kids. No one went out for dinner--the school had a banquet attended by all students in junior and senior classes
The 60s fashions were far worse of course, because dresses got short, really short, barely over the buttocks short, couldn't sit down short. The 70s saw a trend to ethnic and folk dress with more coverage, fringe, bandanas, flared slacks and more color. The 80s were big hair, and big shoulders, baggy bulky knit sweaters and tights. So if today's teachers and mommies are objecting to the prom dresses, ask them about theirs!

3708

Prom wasn't this tough when I was in school

This is a photo of a permission slip for . . . well, read it here. I didn't know things were this bad in schools. Are the children totally out of control or do administrators just not have enough to do? Maybe the folks who want to reinstate Bible reading and Creationism are right. Story at Travelin' Librarian.

Don't blame Obama for Nappy Roots

Sure, they appeared together at a Democratic fund raiser, and Obama took no offense then at their lyrics or their name then. They are quite successful and have had this name for over a decade. It's just considered a bit edgy--or was back in the 90s. Now it's just old news. It's sort of like gays using the word queers or women using the word chicks or babes. Or it was old news until the Imus double standard. This is different. . .

"He [Imus] didn't just cross the line," Mr. Obama said in an interview with ABC News. "He fed into some of the worst stereotypes that my two young daughters are having to deal with today in America." [NYT via Taranto in OpinionJournal.]

In the first case, he was just another Democrat raising funds trying to appeal to the with-it and young. In the second, he's an African American running catch-up in the me-too race with Jesse who was chasing Al.

3706 The Justice Department and Sandy Bergler

The AG should have the right to fire anyone he hired into a political appointment. I'm not the least bit worried about "politics" in a political appointee position. And I don't give a tooten e-mail about their system (except that pols aren't catching on to the problem that e-mails and IMs don't just go away whether you're setting up a date or a sting). I am very concerned that the Justice department covered for the Clinton administration official in not breathing a word about the Sandy Berger burglarly and crimes at the National Archives in front of the 911 commission. That whole investigation was done not knowing he was a criminal. Who knows what was compromised or why Gonzalez let this happen. He was supposed to take a lie detector test, but Justice hasn't followed up on that either. I'm also concerned that certain National Archives employees attempted to "catch him" on their own, without reporting him, and possibly bungled the burglary. They should be fired. They way overstepped their responsibility by trying to second guess his motives and behavior and should have called their supervisor or security.

3705

Double your coupons and your calories

Shopping at a major super market is like a scavenger hunt--can I buy real food, just food? Can I buy without playing with my food?

There's a full page Giant Eagle ad for loss leaders today that combines the words FREE and FOR (that's not new--but many don't see the subliminal message). Thirty years ago when I wrote an anti-coupon newsletter I wrote that it is difficult to convince American shoppers that stores don't stay in business to give away their products, but it has only gotten worse. Boneless chicken and 1 lb of strawberries are both "buy one get one free" (with a loyalty card which means the base price is much higher than a non-participating store and the frequent shopper knows how to play the game with multiple cards). These are not processed foods and are sort of teasers to get you in the store--makes you feel good--buying something real and wholesome. The other "buy one get one free" is for 13 oz. of Lay's potato chips. This means that for $3.48 you get 26 oz of chips. Then you can buy four 12 oz twelve packs of some Coke products for $12.00, and three 56 oz cartons of Breyers ice cream for $10.00. Remember back maybe 3 years ago when the standard package for pop was a six pack? You can't find them anymore.

No one's going to buy just those loss leaders, but let's just play along. So you grill the chicken, put out the chips, pour the pop into giant glasses and triple scoop some ice cream on the strawberries. Maybe a 5,000 calorie meal. And we're blaming McDonald's and Wendy's for obesity? You can almost peg the weight gain in the world to the introduction of corn fructose in soft drinks instead of sugar. Now we're going to put it in our cars to make Al Gore happy (I won't comment on his weight gain because that makes liberals unhappy).

Even moderately processed and packaged food is swamped by the aisles of highly processed, overpackaged, high fat (or reduced fat--just add water), or fructose added or salt added foods. I like to shop at Meijer's because it doesn't require a loyalty card (add 10-20% to your food bill to play those games and contests). It also has a very large, well stocked produce section with a nice variety of leafy green and root crops, probably because of the high number of Hispanic, Asian and Muslim residents living in that area. First generation immigrants are almost always thinner than their children because of their traditional cooking habits. Now that a natural food store has gone in near by, it has also improved its natural and organic sections.

After I bag the apples, bananas, fresh pineapple, strawberries and the greens (sometimes cut and in bags), tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, peppers, onions, etc., I move on to fresh meat and dairy, and then swing back through for the semi-processed. With only two people in our household, frozen vegetables are a better deal than fresh because I don't have to worry about them going bad before I can get to them. But even finding a simple bag (not an icy chunk in a box) of frozen vegetables or berries out of season is a challenge. I have to find the sections, hidden away, swamped by the ones with sauces and gimmicks, sweepstakes and coupon offers.

Our abundance and craving for choices, the latest flavor or gimmick is killing us. Don't play the victim and whine. Slow down, go on a hunt for real food. Although the walk through the aisles of high calorie, over processed food will add steps to your exercise routine.

When I'm 64

John Lennon and Paul McCartney's love song When I'm 64 was sung last night at a birthday dinner for Carol, who is now 64. When people in their 20s write or sing about age, they probably don't expect to ever actually be there because it is so far off (some having a better grasp of this than others, obviously). Sharon and Eric hosted the party and we played Apples to Apples after dinner which was lots of fun, especially for me and the birthday girl who really don't enjoy games much. Certain readers of this blog wouldn't like the game because the players use words and make comparisons, but we all had a lot of laughs.

3703

The broken string

I read a very moving story about Itzhak Perlman at someone's blog today--it's apparently been making the rounds in e-mail since 2001, she received it and put it on her blog. But it is an Urban legend. However, she found it so comforting, I didn't leave a comment. There's another one going around e-mail about how George Bush's modest Texas White House is so much more energy efficient and well designed to complement the environment than Al Gore's mansion. I checked that out too, and it is true. I can't remember if I blogged about that--don't think so. I have some liberal readers who become a bit upset if GWB does something right, so I try to respect their tender feelings.

I've been waiting all afternoon for the cold rain to stop. I think it is about 38 degrees. I wanted to walk outside because I'm in a 50 Days of Easter walking group. We keep track of our minutes and miles and encourage each other. But this is better than the snow that was predicted. Flowers and fruit trees in central Ohio are certainly longing for a bit of global warming.

3702

The VPL--flaunt it

The other day I wrote that Katie Couric had pretty much taken the pleasure out of watching TV, but I'll admit to turning it on if I want to take a nap. I clicked through a pre-Don Imus comedy show because of the bad language and racism (ca. 1999 I think), past the food channel where the hostess was GRILLING her waffles in butter and cheese, and was then treated to a bevy of gay fashionistas and some skinny-babe magazine editors who collectively could have fit into a size 00 reacting in mock real horror to the VPL. Truly, you would have thought they were discussing the shortage of bird flu vaccine, the war in Darfur or the fact that carbon footprints are a complete hoax. Their little faces all screwed up, pinched and pale. What some people do to earn a living!

The mid-20th century brief was a huge improvement over the early 19th century drawers for women. Fashionistas and clothing designers have returned us to that era 200 years ago of torture and strings with no coverage.

Eeeeeek! A VPL!
Before I decided to write about VPL, I googled it to be sure it was something less frightening than an attack by Islamofacists. There were about 73 acronym matches. Vancouver Public Library; Veterinary Products Laboratory; Visual Programming Language; and so forth. Butt we all know, that's not the VPL they were so afraid of.

Hello! The country is getting older. There is now a cable channel for retirement age viewers. Can a resurgence of Granny Pants be far behind? Ladies! Let's make a case for comfort and flexibility. Flaunt your VPL. Compliment your friends on their VPLs. Put those VPL photos in the family scrap book. Teach your daughters they don't have to be a slave to a string stitched to a postage stamp. Don't let the fashion dictators decide where your elastic will go. Stick it to 'em!

3701

The FTO gene

"A nondescript gene that no scientist has studied before determines why some people gain more weight than others. A new study of nearly 40,000 Europeans found that people with mutations in both of their copies of the gene known as FTO are 70 percent more likely to be obese than those with regular copies of the gene. Researchers says that identifying a genetic basis for obesity could lead to novel treatments for the increasingly prevalent condition blamed for life-threatening heart disease and type 2 diabetes, among other disorders. . . Obesity is on the rise worldwide, correlated with gains in affluence. According to a recent study in JAMA The Journal of the American Medical Association, nearly 100 million men, women and children in the U.S. alone are considered obese." Reported in Scientific American.

It is called FTO, not for fat-to-obese, but because it was originally studied in a mouse that had a fused toe.

Nowhere does it say this gene makes people fat, only that if you have this gene, you may need to be more careful about your calorie intake because you'll take on weight more easily than others. I don't think I have this gene--but I have gained 100 pounds since I graduated from high school 50 years ago. Usually I gain about 20 pounds over a period of years and then work hard to lose it, and it slowly comes back. I don't remember exactly all the details, just the big efforts--1960 I lost 20 lbs by turning down desserts and second helpings; 1982-83 I lost 20 lbs in an aerobics class; 1993 I lost maybe 15 through intensive walking and cutting calories; 2006-2007 I lost 20 lbs by reducing calories.

Diets are not difficult; keeping weight off is just awfully hard. We are constantly faced with groaning tables and restaurants on every corner. None of our ancestors had that problem--affluence, abundance and desk jobs. When I jumped about 15 pounds in two years between 2002 and 2004, I could see exactly where the scale was going, so I've "lost" it yet again. However, I know it isn't truly lost, that it is hiding behind every bag of potato chips and box of take-out pizza. And I can't blame grandma. It's just me.

Also, the research says don't wait for a pill, that ELMM is the only real solution if you have this gene--Eat Less, Move More.

3700

How God uses the Internet

Here's a neat story about how God uses the internet to meet the needs of his children. I got an e-mail today at my medscape.com account which I use on this blog from a Chaplain in Australia. A 97 year old woman in the nursing home where he serves sang in a weak voice a line of a table grace for him and asked him if they could sing it at lunch some day. He'd never heard it before but checked the internet. He got 3 matches for the first line, one was mine, and I had the entire grace.

I was really baffled and had no memory of ever writing about this grace which we used when my children were small. I knew it was from an InterVarsity hymnbook, so I spent about 15 minutes tracking the book down. I thought the cover was black, so that threw me off a bit (it is light beige). Anyway, I found it in Hymns II (1976), a paperback hymnbook, and sent him the information. I gave him the author, tune name, number of sharps and time, and hope he can find it. If not, I'll try to copy and fax it to him, hoping that this is the hymn she remembers. Often the elderly can recite liturgy or sing a hymn even when they say nothing else for days or weeks.

I couldn't find it on my own blog using the search window, but finally tracked it down in a Thursday Thirteen I'd written in February 2006 about my Prayer Job Jar. I had mentioned rote prayers like table graces and listed that one. The search didn't work because of the slash at the end of the phrase (my theory). I like this grace because it includes the gospel and our response to it, and is easy for children to learn. Although I think we used "you" instead of "thee."

We thank Thee, Lord,
for Jesus Christ,
And for the blood He shed;
We thank thee for
His risen life,
And for our daily bread.

3699

The unintended consequences of protecting women

Don Imus and Mike Nifong aren't the only guys with funny names apologizing in stories about women. Now Paul Wolfowitz is doing it for having a girlfriend at the World Bank. And she's Arab. Frankly, what DA Nifong did makes all the others pale by comparison, and is a horrible abuse of power, but since the MSM helped create that lynch mentality (Ladies of the View included), it is being soft pedaled and Imus is getting the play by play. He's expendable.

"Paul Wolfowitz's position as president of the World Bank appears shaky, as the bank's Board of Directors met overnight to discuss what to do about a favoritism scandal he is involved in. . . The World Bank's board released a statement early Friday detailing its review involving Wolfowitz's girlfriend, Shaha Riza. She was given a job at the U.S. State Department when Wolfowitz took charge of the bank in 2005. World Bank rules ban romantic involvement between workers and supervisors." Story here.

As I understand it, you can't supervise a "friend," and if you help her get a job somewhere else on the advice of your ethics committee, you are then violating another rule. Should he have just put her out on the street, or should he keep her as a paid mistress off the payroll of the bank?

This happens all the time in academe, but because salaries aren't the greatest and they don't have much power (and no ties to the present administration), no one objects. Presidents and deans are recruited. But a deal has to be struck to bring along the wife, the girl friend, boy friend or significant other. I remember one time getting a science librarian with no science background but who had a husband recruited for another department in the university. If the wife didn't get the job, he didn't come. If there is no position open at the university that fits her/his qualifications a position miraculously opens up on the art faculty. When he finds a better position at Yale or Brown or in industry marketing pet food, there will be only one position open when he/she leaves.

Bankers and former Bush appointees (there wouldn't have been a problem if he'd been a Democrat from Clinton's reign) need to learn that "me two" excuse that deans and college presidents use.

3698

Why librarians won't protect your children.

It's your responsibility. It's that simple. Movies, internet, e-books, music or books. Our UAPL head librarian says so. Our local news channel had an interesting interview last night with a reasonable, educated Upper Arlington parent who discovered her child was checking out X (or maybe it was R) movies from the public library when the overdue notice came. She requested a block on her child's library card so that he couldn't check out this material, but was told it isn't the library's responsibility (interview with a very stone faced, reasonable, educated library director). Apparently, parents need to go to the library with all children under the age of 18 to protect them from porn on the computer screens and disgusting movies. Because kids will be kids. In my day we had the National Geographic Magazine.

The other extreme is the parents who use the library as a drop off day care center. I've been at the terminals when they come in from the nearby school. For some reason, library staff put up with this role for the really careless parents, but won't cooperate with the really caring parents. I've read articles in professional journals about what a service this is.

I was a librarian. I have a master's degree plus. And 23 years of working the desk, budget, committees, publications circuit, continuing education requirements and stacks duty. True, I've never been employed by a public library--I'm just a client, a tax payer and a critic. This much I know. Librarians are very smart people--some aren't the most charming folk you'll ever meet--but they have a lot of education and high IQs. Can find information for you on all kinds of things and amazing excuses not to buy what you suggest if it doesn't line up with their political and religious views.

There must be a way for librarians to figure out they are responsible to and paid by their community--especially when when the main building sits in the city park next to the largest elementary school. At least get a clue in time for the next bond issue.

UAPL has recently created a $47,000 a year public relations position to work on its image. There's a cheaper way to do this: be responsive to the concerns of the community.

3697

This month's word

Worthington is a city north of Columbus. We're not supposed to call it a suburb because I think it was there first. Columbus just sort of oozed out to meet its southern boundaries. On my way through Worthinton on Rt. 161 the other day I noticed a small sign in its city park: "Character trait of the month: Commitment."

I've spent more time than I should on this month's word, let me tell you. Do you suppose people will be more committed to their spouse, children, church, job, parents, values, party, country or book club schedule because of a sign in a park? I've been married 47 years. That's commitment. I attend church even when I don't feel like it. That's commitment. I had three months of sick leave accumulated (although I didn't get to keep it) when I retired. That's commitment. I blog every day. That's commitment. I don't believe Al Gore, but I've done my part to cherish the earth because the Bible tells me so. That's commitment. Never in my life would I adopt a value because I saw a sign in a city park. I wouldn't even apply for a grant to do this warm fuzzy. That's commitment.