3832

Is there anyone out there who believes this is about a girlfriend?

World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz's girlfriend's compensation package is the problem? Oh, please. Wolfowitz is on the Bill Clinton side of feminism, and liberals don't usually object to that, nor do they worry about nepotism.

The wife of our former President is running for President; the son of a former President is our President; when a Senator or Congressman dies in office, his wife is appointed to the office; the wives of disabled Presidents have run the country; the wife of the Democratic Mayor of Columbus gets a cushy, well paid job in our Democratic governor's administration; the wife of a former President of Ohio State University has a job and office open up where previously none existed; same for a librarian whose husband had been appointed a full professor in another department. And it is no different for girlfriends, boy toys and significant others.

The Wolfowitz "ethical lapse" is part of the larger Bush Derangement Syndrome, but with a slightly broader base.

Wolfowitz was Bush's former deputy defense secretary who helped move Bush into the war in Iraq.

He's a NeoCon, a former liberal, so he's doubly hated by the left because he left.

But most importantly, because the World Bank is a liberal institution run along the same management lines as the United Nations, he was going after corruption within the organization. If aid with no strings attached and no outcome requirements worked in the last 40 years, Africa wouldn't be mired in rotting infrastructure and corruption. If he were successful, the board and the corrupt officials taking the "aid" would be out of power.

Wolfowitz's transparency about the girlfriend when he was appointed, his willingness to recuse himself, his taking the advice of the ethics committee, were signs of what was to come. The Board panicked. Wolfowitz needed to go. Plus there's all that messy Iraq War stuff and believing Jihadism really is a threat to the world. I doubt that the Bush Administration will stand up for him; but if they cut him lose, it won't stop the liberal left from attacking something or someone else. I personally find Wolfowitz's marital behavior a huge downfall for him (and his family), but fiscally, he was probably what the World Bank needed, but didn't want.

Get a church!

Yesterday I was reading a chatty, well-paced blog by a self-identified atheist librarian. She was ridiculing the fashion tastes of the Christians who were gathering in the meeting room of the library. They must have been more joyful than allowed to be in the halls of the inner sanctum of a public library, because she said, "Get a church!" I wonder if she says "Get a kitchen" to the amateur chefs, or "Get an agent" to the wanna-be writers, or "Get a concert hall" if they sponsor the very loud hip hop groups for the teens that gather at my suburban public library as part of their "reach out to youth" program.

I truly wish the women I see at church were as modestly and attractively dressed as the ones she described and found so hilarious. I'd much rather see a floral print and lace collars than tight jeans and skinny tee's that leave the cleavage and muffin tops bursting in all their fullness for God.

Of course, what is really funny is a librarian, even me, giving out fashion advice. We're known for being tenacious, directional and investigative, but somewhat fashion challenged. And we're proud not to be taken for Paris or Rosie or some other clothes-hanger type. There are exceptions, of course. There's Matthew, the Well Dressed Librarian, and then there's Pam over at Health Sciences, and I'm sure there's more, but it's a pretty short list.

I recently saw some Christian women dressed similarly to the group she described. They were part of a prison ministry--feeding and clothing and job mentoring for some ex-cons. I wonder if atheist-librarians do that?

3830

Another dusty day

I'm in my work clothes waiting for the carpenter. We're having a new stove top installed today and it needs a slightly larger opening than the old one, which I think was installed in 1990, if I've got the ownership correct.

Old stove top, one eager burner, two half-hearted, and one out to lunch--and breakfast and dinner.
So I've moved everything out of the kitchen that I could and covered the table, chairs and bookshelves.

3829

My current choice

Harris Sherline has an editorial at American Daughter about the choices Republicans have at this point in the 2008 campaign. Romney is the only one I'd support. So I left this comment.

I realize there are no perfect candidates, but here's how I make my choice. No womanizers who will have constant stories being leaked to the press from the angry ex's and the other party; no one with cancer, even in remission, because the stress of the campaign could cause it to return and then we'll either have the wife or the Veep running the country; no one who has deserted his wife and married money. That only leaves Romney of the top contenders. This is a problem, not for me, but some Republicans are living in the 19th century. So maybe we need to also look and see if the bench is deeper than we think. Someone who will be realistic about our borders and illegals; someone who will do some of the fiscal things Bush promised, like fixing SS; someone who understands terrorism isn't going to go away with nicey talk; someone who has character, charm and a good television presence just for those voters who never look any further. Someone like Tom Tancredo.

3828

Illegal aliens

Our border guard, who is helpless, noticed her first.



But, there she was in the shadows near the border, looking for a spot to cross.



Ah, safely across, now to just blend in.


Now to scope out a place for a nest to drop her babies, who will then see our condo grounds as their forever home, a place to come back to next year. Last year, she was probably hatched in a nest right on the creek, but this looks cozier. I may have even taken cute photos of her mommy leading her and the sibs, upstream. The skunks and woodchucks probably won't come this close, so it might even be safer to have the babies here. It's close enough to walk to the creek. Afterall, the residents will probably make sure her nest is protected, and might even bring food and protect her from those noisy lawn guys with trucks and mowers.


As I type this, she has boldly walked up to my border guard, and seems to be saying, "Catch me if you can. I've come to stay."

3827

Food tag

Or a blog link fest. Not sure. Gekko tagged me.

1. Add a direct link to your post below the name of the person who tagged you. Include the city/state and country you're in.

Nicole (Sydney, Australia)
velverse (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)
LB (San Giovanni in Marignano, Italy)Selba (Jakarta, Indonesia)
Olivia (London, England)ML (Utah, USA)
Lotus (Toronto, Canada)tanabata (Saitama, Japan)
Andi (Dallas [ish], Texas, United States)
Todd (Louisville, Kentucky, United States)miss kendra (los angeles, california, u.s.a)
Jiggs Casey (Berkeley, CA, USA! USA! USA!)
Tits McGee (New England, USA)
Kat (Ontario, Canada)
Cheezy (London, England)
Paula (Orange County, California, U.S.)
Jeff (Colorado, USA)
gekko(Arizona, USA)
Norma (Columbus, OH)

2. List out your top 5 favorite places to eat at your location.
My daughter's home on special holidays. For Mother's Day we had salmon with a yummy smokey sauce, tossed salad, asparagus, wheat rolls, and lemon pie.

Rusty Bucket . Sports bar. Loud, friendly, good sandwiches. We've closed a lot of restaurants, but this one seems to be doing OK.

Schmidt's--I love their Bahama Mamas and cross cut fries. It's been too long--they also have great cream puffs. Thirty years ago, we went here regularly--not so much now. Going downtown seems a big effort.

Big Fat Greek Cuisina has wonderful seafood and Greek dishes. There have been several restaurants in this location over the last 10-15 years, and we've enjoyed most of them. We love to dip the warm pita bread in the green stuff.

We love small dinner parties at friends' homes. The price is right, the atmosphere terrific. And we're usually home early.

3. Tag 5 other people (preferably from other countries/states) and let them know they've been tagged.
Sally (England)
Janeen (Ohio)
Em (Florida)
Renny (Norway)
Mr. Cloud (Canada)

3826

Jewish Genius

If you read no other article today, be sure to stop at Commentary and read Charles Murray's article on why Jews are smarter than the rest of the population. He's a Scots-Irish from Iowa and he examines all the different theories and history of Jewish intelligence. The American "normed" intelligence is 100; for Jews it is 110.

The imbalance continues to increase for still higher IQ’s. New York City’s public-school system used to administer a pencil-and-paper IQ test to its entire school population. In 1954, a psychologist used those test results to identify all 28 children in the New York public-school system with measured IQ’s of 170 or higher. Of those 28, 24 were Jews.

Although in the end, after citing all the theories going all the way back to the Babylonian captivity, some of which have to do with employment selection, he has painted himself into a corner and finally concludes,

At this point, I take sanctuary in my remaining hypothesis, uniquely parsimonious and happily irrefutable. The Jews are God’s chosen people.

3825

Monday Memories

Monday Memories: Did I ever tell you about: Our First Spring in Columbus?


This photo is a bit fuzzy, but it is my husband and his mother (possibly Mother's Day) Spring 1968. We bought the house right after a big snow storm, and we were anxious to see what would come up in the Spring. There is the magnolia tree right behind them, and some wonderful daffodils (had already bloomed) that continued on another 10-15 years. There's the mighty oak tree in the front yard that didn't drop its leaves until February, the tree my husband says he doesn't miss one bit. Our drive-way was separated from the neighbor's by some very messy, straggly bushes that eventually we cut way back in order to get them to fill out.

My children wouldn't remember that the house across the street was painted white then. Early in the 70s the paint was blasted off to reveal a wonderful "used brick" pattern, not popular in the early 40s when it was built, but right in fashion in the 70s. Our house was still white then, with black shutters. About 7 or 8 years later we took off the shutters and painted it a light gold with a darker trim color. It had a standing seam metal roof with bits of green and black roof paint from an earlier day, so we also painted that--tan I think. I'm sure my in-laws made a huge fuss over our baby daughter, and this may have been their first visit both to see her and our new home. June was a lovey, gushy grandmother who adored all her grandchildren and thought they could do no wrong.

3824

Back home again in Indiana

One of the nice people I've met at the coffee shop is Sharon Burns. She's also the only person I know who is making plans to retire in Evansville, Indiana. I won't even tell you all the great things she has told me--she wouldn't want too many people to rush over there and buy property. But she is also an author. She's written this book published by Barnes & Noble.


Pop over to the link and read the synopsis. If it is as interesting and charming as she is, it should be a good read. My parents are gone now, but it might have some useful information for others.

3823

We're fat, lazy and addicted, but we can control the climate

This morning I was listening to a radio interview with Governor Strickland (Ohio) who gave a rah-rah presentation about what a boost bio-mass energy sales are going to be for an agricultural state like Ohio. This was prefaced by the usual blah-blah about the seriousness of global warming and what we're going to do about it, because we, the human race, can turn it around.

And the thought occurred to me:

We can't do the right thing for the one body we actually do control--we eat too much, full of bad stuff and don't exercise; we smoke, drink and use drugs, legal and otherwise, all of which we know are bad for us; but we claim not to be able to stop these bad habits. To top it off, we teach our children that a minuscule loop of latex will protect them from the most vicious and voracious bacteria and viruses in history. And we're going to stop global warming by putting corn into gas tanks, mercury into light bulbs, buying phony carbon exchanges and gazing at the moon on Earth Day?

Where's the tooth fairy when you need him?

Standing Women

"In the spirit of Mother Earth." This is an event being held today in 63 nations at 1 p.m., according to the Columbus Dispatch.

I don't care who or what you worship, but worshiping Mother Earth isn't benign or positive thinking. It's a very, very old religion. People were no more peaceful when the men went off to war with battleaxes and spears and the women gathered berries and roots, birthing in huts in the woods and bowing down to trees rocks and ancestors.

Now someone will jump on me and proclaim that I'm negative and hateful just because I point out the obvious.

3821

School choice is saving us money

Education by the Numbers is the title of a new study about school voucher and tax credit programs. "This study calculates the fiscal impact of every existing voucher and tax-credit scholarship program, in order to bring empirical evidence to bear on the debate over the fiscal impact of school choice. Of the 18 voucher and tax-credit scholarship programs in the United States, twelve began operations before the current school year and their fiscal impact can thus be assessed." It was prepared by Susan L. Aud, PhD, for the Milton and Rose Friedman Foundation.

"When a student uses school choice, the local public school district no longer needs to pay the instructional costs associated with that student, but it does not lose all of its per-student revenue, because some revenue does not vary with enrollment levels. Thus, school choice produces a positive fiscal impact for school districts as well as for state budgets." (from summary) School choice does not take money away from the district--it saves money. It does cut back on some power, and that in my opinion, is the real threat, whether from private, voucher, or homeschool.

One program that is different than most states is Ohio's Autism Scholarship Program.

"In addition to the Cleveland voucher program, Ohio provides up to $20,000 in state funding for privately provided education services, including private school tuition, for students with autism. Assessing the fiscal impact of the Autism Scholarship Program is difficult, as autism ranges in severity from very mild to very severe, meaning that private school costs for these students will also vary considerably. To make matters worse, Ohio school districts do not currently report data on instructional spending for autistic students.

Since Ohio does not make sufficient data available, we cannot calculate the program’s fiscal impact on local public school districts. We can, however, calculate its fiscal effect on the state of Ohio. Funding for disabled students in Ohio uses weights for the various categories of special needs. For example, a disabled student receiving a weight of 2.5 would generate special education funding for the local school district equal to two and a half times the foundation funding level for one regular student. Students with autism receive a weight of 4.735 for their Basic Aid portion of the formula revenue. In addition, these students are counted in the general enrollment and generate funds that way as well. Determining the formula revenue associated with an autistic student requires multiplying the foundation amount ($5,169 in 2005 and $5,283 in 2006) by 5.735. This gives us the total funding burden that is shared between the state and the local districts. We multiply this by the local share percentage (which is 0.68) to determine how much is funded locally. What is left over after this local share is subtracted is the average state formula spending per student. The results of the calculations for 2005-06 and 2006-07 are shown in Table 7. (of the article)

Even though the program serves very few students, and even if we make the conservative assumption that each student uses the maximum voucher amount of $20,000, the Ohio Autism Scholarship Program has generated $1 million in savings for the state."

HT Joanne Jacobs

3820

Party Girl

Terrapin Station had this list of questions and I hadn't done one for awhile. It's all about parties.

1) Would you rather be the host or the guest? I like both. "Party" isn't exactly what I do--maybe more of a "gathering." If I go to someone else's party, I get to meet new people. Last Saturday we went to a Kentucky Derby party--we all wore hats and dressed up, watched the race and enjoyed a fabulous meal with interesting people. I like to have "Whistle stop" parties--if you talk about weight, age, or health, I'll blow the whistle and stop you.

2) When you are hosting, do you clean everything up the minute the guests go home? Usually. If it is really late, it can wait, but all the dishes are rinsed and in the kitchen. Right after the meal (if it's a dinner), I load the dishwasher and keep everyone out of the kitchen, but I can see and hear what's going on. The dining room is a bit tight for 6 or 8, so they really can't move, which helps my plan.

3) If you had the wherewithal, and I guess I mean more than money, to throw a great theme party, what would the theme be? Doing something on a movie theme is fun. We went to one for my son-in-law's birthday--although I think for our age group we'd have to do an era, or specific stars. We rarely see movies anymore unless they are on TNT or AMC. The 70s were the pits for movies. 90s and 50s pretty good. 30s and 40s the best. If money were no object, I'd rent a spot and we'd have some sort of opening for an art show.

4) What's the worst time you ever had at a party? This one's easy. The first party I attended as a married woman was my husband's office Christmas party. It was a small company and I knew most of the people. The host was so inebriated by the time we got there (and we're always on time) that he had wet his pants. He was so drunk, it didn't bother him either and he didn't change his clothes. It made the guests really uncomfortable. I think we left early.

5) And to end on a brighter note, what was the best? I always tell people that my daughter's wedding was the best party. She was old enough (and independent enough) to do most of the planning herself, so I just had to show up, look pretty and enjoy myself. I got to see all my friends, dance, and eat good food. She was probably a frazzled wreck, but, hey, it's all about the mother-of-the-bride, right?

3819

Librarian publishes her third book

Nancy Pearl is the 62 year old librarian who developed the program whereby a whole city or town reads the same book. She's now published "Book Crush: for kids & teens." USAToday story

Mine is hardly an unbiased opinion, but I don't think librarians are the best guides on how or why children read--or adults either for that matter. I've seen some fabulous book blogs, and the best are simply by people who love reading and want to share their joy. However, not everyone loves to read or wants to read. Nothing emotional, spiritual, or intellectual happens when they read like when they play guitar, or hit a golf ball, or feel the tug of a fish on the line, or smell the leather of a saddle against the sweat of a horse. Zero, nada, zip.

I read to my children when they were young (it's a great cuddle time), it was a positive experience for the three of us, and both could read by the age of four. We made our own books too, using the cards they received for holidays. We had spelling contests, illustrated stories, and played word games. They always got books for birthdays and Christmas from my parents. One loved school; one hated it except for recess. They had excellent teachers, in a great school system, and parents who had a good education and who read to them. One does read fiction selectively by certain authors, only in hard cover, and only what she purchases; the other never reads. Neither have a library card.

I also took them to story hour at the local public library within walking distance of our home. They both disliked this experience, but for different reasons. My daughter wanted to stay right with me in the adult section, clinging to my leg; my son wanted to go play in the park next to the library. Neither thought sitting with strangers on the floor of the library was a fun way to hear a story.

I just mention this so nobody gets too puffed up about her ability to inspire children to read. And don't have too many regrets if you didn't have the time, inclination or interest and you think you've failed your children. If they are readers, they will find a way. There are many studies on learning types, environment, accessibility, illustrations, word difficulty and choices. And the "research" changes from era to era. When I was a little girl, teachers and librarians discouraged books in series, now it is encouraged. Comic books in a library? They would have been horrified, but not today.

Yes, by all means expose children to good literature with good illustrations; just don't be alarmed if they go another direction.

3818

Helicopter parents

That's a term for parents who hover. I thought I was the world's most hovering Mom, but I was a novice. Or maybe some of today's parents just seem that way because others are so neglectful.

The Columbus Dispatch had a photo of a boy, about 8 or 9, flying a kite in a park, talking to his mom on the cell phone with one hand, managing the string with the other. She calls every day at the same time, the article noted.

He was with his father.

Last night we went out to eat with a young, about-to-be-divorced mom and her two young sons. Both the father and grandfather called to talk to the boys.

3817

Tighty whities

Are tight, shorter length jeans back in style for all guys, or just gays? I saw a photo on the fashion page in WSJ of skinny leg, tight jeans, hitting snug in the crotch as well as the ankle just above the shoe. This wasn't the photo (from Sartorialist) but the same idea--tight and white. Quickly--hit the resale shops before all the 80s jeans are gone.

3816

A Mother's Day post

Joan has a great Mother's Day post today--stop by and enjoy it. I'm not a "goal setter," (I'm a problem solver), but I liked it. Not everyone wins in the gene pool, but Joan and her sibs (most are also bloggers) and my sibs and I were very fortunate. Joan's mom is Methodist minister (as was her father) and I've also visited her blog, and she's writing about her mom!

My mother wasn't a pastor, but she certainly did her share of teaching Sunday School, Bible school, and women's Bible study around her dining room table while volunteering for about 35 years at the local nursing home after looking out for her own mother and mother-in-law. My mom was a talented writer--even wrote some short stories--but I can't imagine her ever taking up blogging. She even destroyed my father's letters from WWII after we children found them in the attic. I have every letter she ever wrote to me--just filled with Illinois crop and weather reports and updates on my grandparents' health. Just fascinating stuff, but I enjoy seeing her handwriting.

Yes, Joan and I are blessed.

3815

Sometimes I have trouble with English, too

Perhaps we shouldn't be too surprised if newspapers are shrinking or folding and people are communicating in text messages with no capital letters, numbers for words, and no punctuation. English is a world-wide language, can be difficult, and each culture puts its own slant on it. I use English all the time, and sometimes I struggle. (I have a problem overusing adverbs and parenthetical statements.) Yesterday I was reading Terry Teachout's theater column in the Wall Street Journal (you can see part of it here on his blog). I don't do theater, although I did see a matinee in New York about 50 years ago, but I like to keep up. Please don't misunderstand; he's a superb writer, but I'm out of practice. It's like reading some of the old research articles from the 20s or 30s in JSTOR--it's good exercise, but tiring. Maybe it's my age, or the age we live in age in which we live. I was exhausted by my own pauses: read, reread and ponder the meaning. I knew the idioms and phrases weren't critical to the sense of the essay, that he was just enjoying being playful, but still. . . I love words, language and meaning, and it shouldn't be so difficult. For instance:

"not excluding," does that mean "including?"

"repays careful watching," does that mean you get back the time if you pay attention?

"a couple of much-admired revivals not with standing," does that mean yes, the play has had revivals that were good?

"it goes without saying," I know that means "I'm going to say something you'll agree with, but I'm saying it anyway," but . . . it's still confusing to say you're not going to say it and then you do.

"an actor who sings not a singer who acts," would mean one is better at cross over than the other?

"can't be anything other than gorgeous," means very pretty, but why do so many of our idioms use the negative to be positive? Do Greeks or Cambodians do this? Probably, if they speak English.

"would that this tale were something other than an ordinary celebrity vehicle," What do you call that construction of, "would that. . .were. . .other than"? Future pluperfect past something?

"deliver the goods with postage to spare," must mean it's beyond successful, but I'm not familiar with the phrase. Is it theater English? New Yorker English? An idiom from his school days? Pony Express?

"so transparent as to be but invisible" I'm sure this construction has a name (so . . .as to be . . .), but it's been a long time since English class.

"a pair of golf-playing straw businessmen in bespoke suits" Yes, I did have to look up "bespoke" which is past tense of "bespeak" which is a British tailoring term meaning you choose the material. And I know a straw man is something made up to knock down. But strung together (a play about African Americans), I'm a bit confused.

Friday Family Photo

Here it is. The new bed, with the new bedspread, and the new wall color. Not quite finished yet. The bathrooms still have some work now that the carpenters are finished (try to get that done before you paint). I'm hoping this will be the last bed. We've had a problem with that.

After: new color is light gold with some green undertones, flipping the wall and trim colors from the guest room, looks good with the wood tones. Coverlet is cream, gold, green and blue. Bed is from Amish Vault in Bucyrus, OH.
Before: with dark blue faux glaze that was awful to try to cover. Every room in the house was either faux glazed or wallpapered, but this one seemed to have an impenetrable glaze over the glaze--and was actually lighter than most of the other rooms, so we did it last.
Still a bit of work to do
Have you seen that ad on TV where the guy starts flipping the wall switch asking his wife in the next room what it is for? She has no idea. Meanwhile, down the street a garage door is going up and down on a car hood, "Life comes at you fast," is the voice over as it crashes onto a bewildered woman inside the car. We'd forgotten that switch that shows above the dresser top because it was faux painted too. No idea what it goes to, but if a garage door starts moving. . .

3813

Casual Friday Circus

On Friday I get "the best dressed" award. There's just no competition. Today I had on navy, non-faded jeans with a touch of appliqued lace and felt flowers on the left leg and a pressed white shirt, and black heels. My hair was combed; and I was wearing a touch of make-up--powder and rouge, but no lipstick. A watch, glasses and wedding rings completed the ensemble. Compared with my fellow coffee drinkers, I could have walked the red carpet at the Oscars. The competition wore pajamas, shower thongs, rumpled khaki knee-length shorts, skimpy t-shirts over colored bras, horizontal striped short shorts with full side pockets, hooded sweat shirts and rock group tour shirts.

The young lady in the sketch has a lovely face--I can tell now that she doesn't wear the Goth make-up she used to wear or color her hair odd hues. Her puffy muffin top spilled over her low-slung gray sweat pants, and her bra straps hung over shoulders, barely up to the job asked of them. The t-shirt reminded me of what men wore 60 years ago who worked summer construction. But she was well dressed compared to her friend wearing the flannel, print pj bottoms. These young ladies, who I think are students at the local high school, make the case for school uniforms.

Still, the teen years are for experimenting and rebelling. When I was a teen I wore faded boy-cut Levis and most of my friends didn't. I'm sure my parents just sighed and rolled their eyes. I did wonder about some of the adults I saw today. Some boomer moms come in and their kids are better dressed and coiffured than they are. Is that rebellion in reverse?