3975

Hands off the sports program, Dr. Gee

Gordon Gee, a former President of Ohio State (1990-1997), will be the new OSU President. At Vanderbilt he shaped up the sports program. I see he's not happy with the graduation rate of the OSU football players. He thinks the system is "broken." If college is supposed to prepare a young person for the real world, and some want to be professional sports players, why do we care if they graduate? Bill Gates didn't graduate, and he's done OK, and he did even play football! If the young, large necked guys don't graduate from OSU, and don't play NFL, but later decide to try a junior college or technical school because they see the light, what's so terrible. Would they have done better if they never had attended the largest university in the country? The OSU football program actually makes money, and it funds the programs like women's basketball and volleyball that run in the red. People don't fill that stadium to see scholars smash mouthing each other.

Graduation rates are way over rated, as are degrees. Librarians have degrees; lots of them. Knowledge is supposed to be power. Ha. We can't even get a librarian appointed as Librarian of Congress.

3974

Friday morning from the lobby

of the Fountain Inn in beautiful downtown Lakeside, I'm working away at my other, other blog. Yesterday I read an interesting article about weight, hormones, age and activity level in Real Simple, July 2007. My friend Bev had left it at the cottage. So I've written down 20 tips from that article, and invite you over there to read them.

Last night's performance was a fabulous guitar ensemble--a teacher and 3 of his students. Really blew us away. We also had a pot luck dinner with other artists from our Rhein Center which is really booming. We attended the opening of the Lakeside Art show also yesterday afternoon. Really--a knock your socks off show. We bought #307 by Robert Moyer. It's not a happy palette but fabulous composition and watercolor technique. We usually buy art either for my birthday or our anniversary, or both. Also the Amish quilt show is this week--that's always a popular feature.

Time to head for the coffee shop, and then a looooong walk along the lakefront to burn off the effects of all the good food I've been exposed to this week.

Thursday Thirteen from the hotel lobby

1)Yesterday my laptop failed, so I walked to the hotel in the dark where I'm typing at 5:15 a.m. At least no one is around.

2) The time hasn't been set to EST on this machine and it says I'm up even earlier.

3) I spent a lot of time yesterday taking photos for a photo essay, but can't download them.

4) I don't want to reload the software because I'll lose all the great photos I downloaded last summer and this summer.

5) My home computer has stopped reading CDs--it keeps telling me to "insert CD" and doesn't recognize them.

6) Sounds like it is time to call a computer whiz guy to spend some time with both of them.

7) In the meanwhile, I won't be visiting many Thursday Thirteeners today.

8) To my right is the fire extinquisher

9) next to it is the water fountain.

9) Then on my left there is a large chalk board and an artificial plant.

10) The chair is very uncomfortable.

11) The tiny table (seems to be from a kindergarten class 50 years ago) on which the computer is sitting is so low that my knees won't fit under it.

12) So I'm sitting side saddle.

13) I hope you're grateful for this Thursday's Thirteen.

Blogosphere and the Terrorists

Daniel Henninger has an article about how terrorists are using the new media in today's WSJ. Read it here.

There is no more unchallenged verity in our times than that the World Wide Web, the Internet, is a boon to mankind. But as with nuclear or biological warfare, the Web is a dual-use technology. Technically adept Muslims, using out-of-the-box PC software and hardware, are outputting an electronic torrent of slick Web sites, discussion forums, videos, e-magazines and long-form movies, all with one purpose--to incite Muslims to join the jihad against the enemies of Islam in Baghdad, London, Glasgow or New York. Forget those Iraqi attack videos on YouTube; this is a sophisticated, globally distributed propaganda operation.

They need to be careful--once their ladies find out about shopping on the internet, they might have another revolution on their hands! They can't keep them buried in the 7th century forever.

Breakdown!

My laptop has failed, so unless I want to run down to the hotel each time, I won't be blogging much.

3970

Praised for his bravery

After the Koran toting Muslim men had been led away, the British judge praised the bravery of civilians who were sitting in court, Angus Campbell, 43, and Arthur Burton-Garbett, 72, who tried to stop Razmi Mohammed as he fled the scene of the bomb attacks in London. Campbell is a fireman, and Burton-Garbett a former soldier. Seems the terrorists defense was that a car bomb loaded with nails and metal wasn't intended to maim or kill.Story at BBC News

3969

Stress? What stress?

Back story. Dave, a mild mannered librarian, joined the National Guard a few years ago, and is now back in his dangerous job as a politically conservative information specialist. He quotes from a British article about the stress that librarians undergo. His view is a bit different.

Basically, the study defines librarians as "stressed" because they're underpaid, hate their jobs, and have high absenteeism. I'm sorry, that situation sucks, but it's not real stress. Dealing with IEDs and sniper attacks is stressful; having two BI* sessions in a day isn't. Even during the new, toned-down Basic Training, I found myself pining for the days when my big worry was being swamped at the reference desk by students working on some of our least favorite assignments. Unfortunately, most of us in the West live such spoiled, sheltered lives, that we have little idea what real hardship looks like."

In the USA, we have hip, young, tattooed and pierced librarians who love their value-free environment as they contribute to the greater good of society by stocking the shelves with anti-Bush and anti-Christian materials.

*BI means "bibliographic instruction," whereby librarians teach classes how to use the catalog and databases. We used to call it "user education," but I think some students got the wrong idea because I used to get questions on how to grow marijuana when I worked in the agriculture library.

3968

The Russian Internet

You've probably wondered about the Russian Internet, haven't you? Well, Eugene Gorny has written his thesis on this topic, and it is in English, so much easier to read than his blog. Check it out here.

3967

Defending the Bush Tax Cuts

We all know the Democrats intend to raise taxes when they take over in 2008. It's not like they hide their plans. Mike Volpe at Proprietor Nation reminds us to beware of some of the biggest lies, myths and distortions about taxes by reviewing what he knows about basic economics:

"How many Democrats uttered the words, "tax cuts for the rich". Of course, this is an outright lie. Every tax bracket, including but not exclusively the rich, lowered their rate. The Democrats proclaimed that in dollar terms the rich got the overwhelming piece of the tax cuts. Well, in the words of any third grader, duh. The rich make the overwhelming amount of money and pay the overwhelming amount of the taxes. 3% of 50,000 dollars is a lot less than 3% of 1 million dollars. Of course, the rich got the biggest part of the tax cuts, their pool is by far larger. A millionaire pays more in taxes than most people make in income. They played the traditional class warfare, pitting the wealthy Republicans versus the middle class of the Democrats. Well as Gregg Jackson pointed out in "Conservative Comebacks to Liberal Lies" targeted tax cuts, the kind the Democrats bemoaned, are nothing more than a form of communism, where the poor are propped up on the backs of the wealthy. Furthermore, logic tells us that it is the wealthy, not the middle class, that creates jobs. A three percent tax cut for someone making fifty thousand may put more money in their pockets, but they won't hire any new workers as a result of it. A millionaire on the other hand, is something totally different."

3966

A common language

In developing her theme on why Americans can't afford to lose their common language, Peggy Noonan lost me with this phrase:

"She's one of a small army of advertisement giver-outers in New York."

Giver-outers? Surely a professional writer can do better than that. "She's one of a small army which gives out advertisements in New York," or "She's one of a small army of advertisement distributors in New York." And she used the phrase twice. Ah, New York, New York.

"Europe is lucky: All those different cultures and languages are bundled up all close to each other and next to each other. They learn each other's languages with ease."

Oh really? "Close to and next to." With ease? In Denmark, I had to use my hands to order a cup of coffee in the airport; in Estonia, I found people who spoke Russian much better than Estonian. In Finland, the Vietnamese and Somali immigrants can speak Swedish because Sweden controlled the country for so many years and it is still required in the schools. But the Finnish Laplanders (Sami) aren't necessarily happy about speaking Finnish since their people reside in four countries.

I personally think it is great to learn several languages-- the children in Haiti learn four, not that it has stopped endemic corruption or built a decent infrastructure. But which languages should they be? Do our illegal immigrants speak decent, educated Spanish, let alone understandable English? Yes, a common language would be great. Starting with our best known writers.

3965

The world's most active poet?

In the late 1970s I worked in the Agriculture Library in an agricultural credit program at Ohio State University. It was a terrific job--I think I worked 9 a.m. - 1 p.m., had summers off, and got full credit towards retirement. The job lasted about 3.5 years, and then I moved to the Latin American Studies library (I think that was the name then) in the Main Library (Thompson Library, now closed for remodeling), where I worked with John Bennett. He had a PhD in Romance Languages, was working in the library, writing and publishing poetry in his off hours. He was a good companion and interesting co-worker, even if I didn't understand his poetry. It seemed he had something new every week--or at least month. I looked at the OSUL NewsNotes today, and he's still at it.

John M. Bennett, Rare Books & MSS Library, has published a book of collaborative full-color visual poetry, D RAIN B LOOM, Puhos, Finland: xPress(ed), 2006. 147 pages. Co-author is Scott Helmes.

I found NewsNotes by browsing Knowledge Bank, a digital archive of things published at and by OSU.

3964

Would your dog walk under an umbrella?

IPWatch offers an obscure patent each day, and I thought this dog umbrella (2003) had possibilities--not for any dog I've ever known, but someone might have one. Take a look.

According to the site, the term intellectual property is now commonly used to refer to the bundle of rights conferred to owners by each of the following fields of law: (1) patent law; (2) copyright law,; (3) trademark law; (4) trade secret law; and (5) the right of publicity. The About Us page says: "IPWatchdog.com is dedicated to providing a free, reliable and easily understandable resource on intellectual property law and related topics. We promise to demystify intellectual property and explain to you what it is, why you would want to consider obtaining intellectual property and how to go about obtaining worthwhile protection. We also explain various pitfalls to avoid, as well as what you can do to help yourself."

Today's cartoon really speaks truth to me.

3963

Run Cindy, run

Cindy Sheehan needs media attention the way the rest of us need oxygen. Since she "resigned" and "sold" her Crawford property, she's been out of the lime light. Her big mouth and her deceased son are her only claims to fame, but I think there are politicans in both parties who have less going for them. At least she is passionate. So she may run against Granny Nancy, the rich, smooth, slick Californian just a few heartbeats from the presidency.

Good luck, Cindy. What you lack in smarts, you make up in guts.

What we learn from nature about God

I love a visit with Pastor Brad. He's been on vacation, backpacking in the wild. His spiritual refreshment was not what you might expect.

Since the advent of the car and paved roads, it is fairly easy to get a good view from a mountain top somewhere. You can simply drive to some "Look Out Point," put the car in park and enjoy the view. You cannot do that in the wild. In one day, my friends and I had to walk over four mountains, carrying 35 lbs. on our backs, fighting the heat and exhaustion just to get to a decent campsite. Not only did we have to contend with heat and fatigue, we had to fight ticks, chiggers, biting flies, and even snakes. And it rained. In fact, the wood was so wet that we could barely build a decent fire.

So what did I learn from nature? It's fallen. Instead of fruit trees, the ground grows thorns and prickly things. There is almost nothing edible in the forest, and even that which is edible is fairly lousy. Except the occasional blackberry, but even that gift comes with thorns. Even clear mountain streams can prove lethal if the water is not filtered and treated before drinking.

The Bible teaches that "the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God" (Rom. 8:20-21). So even the beauty of nature is tainted with the corruption of the fall. I could not see God as clearly as I wished in nature because it is fallen as I am fallen. Sin permeates the natural world and obscures the glory of God.

So as I walked over the cursed land I dreamed of a day when the Creator will liberate His creation from bondage. I imagined a day with no more thorns, chiggers, mosquitoes, and ticks. Even the earth longs for the day of redemption. Together we groaned for the return of the King.

Monday Memories--the old oak tree

Last week when we were in Illinois we visited the woods where my cousin and her husband are building their retirement home. As my aunt and uncle aged, it became difficult for them to care for the property which can become overgrown in just a matter of a few years. But Frank had been patiently reclaiming it, just as they had done over 30 years ago, and we were able to walk back to an area where our families had breakfast in the woods under a beautiful oak some 30 years ago. 50-100 years ago this wooded area was pasture, and the soil is packed hard by cattle hooves. We found our opening, but the magnificent oak was dead. It was alive last summer, Frank said with a final glorious burst of color in the fall. The extension agent thought perhaps it had been struck by lightening. So many happy memories here. Good-bye old friend.

3960

The Flowers of Lakeside

Yes, our streets are really this close to the houses, and people do rest in hammocks.
A walk along the lakefront.
The Patio Restaurant, where fresh donuts are made every morning.


This is a WWI memorial for the soldiers from the township, but I suspect the cannon is from the War of 1812, because there was a famous battle on Lake Erie.

3959

The Four Freshmen and Kelly Crum Delaveris at Lakeside

Saturday night the crowd at Hoover Auditorium were enchanted by the mellow jazz renditions of the latest reincarnation of the Four Freshmen, who were big stuff (remember "Graduation Day?") when I was in high school. This group actually began in the late 40s, were really big in the 50s and early 60s, slipped out of sight but continuted performing. I think the last of the original group retired about 10 years ago. But they were fabulous. Then on Sunday at Family Night in the Park, we were treated to the Latin sounds of the 50s-70s of Brasileira with Kelly Crum Delaveris, a graduate of Upper Arlington High School who sings in Portuguese. She and the Four Freshmen recently performed with the Columbus Jazz Orchestra in Columbus at a Stan Kenton salute. You probably know what the FF sound like, but here's a link to listen to Kelly.

Updating genealogy

I don't have my genealogy database with me on my laptop, but today I noticed at the Brethren Genealogy listserv that the FamilyHart database had been updated--524,488 people and 182,471 families. It is a Pennsylvania Dutch family, so I took a peek at the list of surnames. Yup. We're there. Well, not me personally, because only one of my grandfather's brothers (George d. 1944) is listed. But if you are related to any Shirks or Wengers, you'll find family there. My great grandmother, Nancy J. Wenger is (according the the FamilyHart DB) a 10th generation descendant of Hans SCHÜRCH. The Schurch family originated in Sumiswald, Bern, Switzerland. There are many spellings of the family name in America including Shirk, Sherk, Shoerg, Schrock. And a lot of Hans! I think I tracked Nancy back to Anna Burkhart Shirk, then sort of lost Anna in the mists of time. I think Anna married a Wenger and they had a son who immigrated. I'm not a real genealogist, I only have copies of a few wedding certificates, death notices and draft records. I rely on the kindness of strangers who do the heavy lifting.

3957

U.S. military deaths

According to a story in the Plain Dealer (AP), as of Saturday, 3,603 members of the U.S. military have died since March 2003, 2,952 in hostile action. Most of the Iraqis who have died, have been killed by other Iraqis, or other Muslims passing through who don't like their fellow faith members because of something in the 7th century. Iraq's boundaries, by the way, were drawn up by a woman who thought they could all just get along. But back to Americans. In that same period of time, over 5,500,000 American babies have been legally aborted (estimation based on Planned Parenthood statistics for 2003 and 2004). Even if you figure 1/4 may have miscarried or died of problems in utero even if not disturbed by the medical profession and their mothers, that's a lot of little people. It's a future city, isn't it? In a generation, it could be a small country. And also, during that four years, over 24,000 teenagers have died in automobile accidents, and over 1,200,000 were injured. That's how AllState figures it--and just changing the legal driving age to 18 so their brains could mature could eliminate a large number of those deaths. Why doesn't AP make little gray boxes in newspapers for our dead children?

More on talk radio and fairness

After some excellent links to commentary (Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was a keynote speaker at ALA recently and beat the Fairness horse for applause) Heretical Librarian pretty much sums it up

Whatever form it takes, it is clear that the Democrats' impending assault on talk radio has nothing to do with "fairness" or "diversity" or "media consolidation"; rather, it is a naked attempt to silence conservative talk radio. After all, why is there all this concern about ensuring a fair representation of views on public airwaves, yet no concern about the equally one sided dominance of liberal and leftist viewpoints at public universities? Besides, does anyone really think that liberals would even be making an issue of talk radio if Air America had been a roaring success instead of a bankruptcy ridden failure?