4111

When levees break and bridges fall

both Republicans and Democrats do a lot of finger pointing, but the reality is there are no votes to be had by shoring up the collapsing infrastructure of our cities. People expect good roads, sound bridges, clean water, working telecommunications systems and power lines that don't fail, but they lust after the pop and sizzle of arts centers, sports complexes, convention centers and riverfront toys.

California is spending barely 3% of its state budget compared to 20% in 1960 on infrastructure. 80% of state transportation officials admit their 10 year plan will be inadequate. $1.6 trillion is needed to update our transit systems. More regions are having blackouts. Politicians, special interest groups, and environmentalists squabble over who brings home the pork and who will fry it. The highway system, for all the raging over polluting automobiles, has returned $6 in increased productivity for every $1 invested; sports stadiums return nothing, and often cost cities more than they invested.

Read the sad tale at Joel Kotkin's "Road Work."

An Op Ed in the WSJ last week (I think it was Aug. 28) pointed out: One group finding opportunity in New Orleans--maybe as many as 100,000--are Hispanic construction and clean-up crews, who are also branching out into small retail stores. If they are illegals, the author thought that was just fine. Because so many people have left, that would mean almost 40% the populace, if estimates are correct that the city only has about 273,000 with many residents deciding to start over in other states.

4110

How do I look in New Orleans

We received some sort of cable upgrade (digital, music, + oodles more channels) shortly before we left for the summer, so last night I sat down with a piece of sugar-free peanut butter chocolate pie to explore and become reacquainted, since I don't watch much TV. I stopped at a familiar face while clicking through--Finola Hughes, was was doing soap operas back when my daughter was addicted to General Hospital in the 1980s. Goodness. She looks fabulous and hasn't changed a bit. But even if she had, I'd know that voice anywhere.

She hosts a show called "How do I look?" and for its 100th edition, they selected three school teachers from New Orleans whose lives had been up-ended by Katrina. Their stories were heart wrenching. All had very nice middle-class homes. Two of them had evacuated with their children, after first not paying much attention to the warnings (they were very accustomed to hurricane warnings) and the third had been preparing for a family reunion and didn't even know about it until one of her children called. At first, she wouldn't leave her home because of her pets, but was finally rescued by a neighbor with a boat after the levee broke. Later she had to leave her beloved dog behind anyway, as rescuers further down the line wouldn't take the dog. She cried. I cried, and held my kitty a little closer (the pie was history by this time).

With a Style group of consultants, Finola lavished them with three new outfits ($1200 budget I think she said), a massage, manicure, pedicure, new hair styles and make-up plus bunches of gifts. One of the teachers had lost 45 lbs. after the storm and was living in a trailer, still wearing clothes 4-5 sizes too large. She'd lost the weight because the storm had changed her thinking about what was important--living a healthy life for her children. One woman (with the dog) had formerly been accustomed to dressing really sharp and loved high fashion. She'd lost not only her home, but everything in her closet--damaging her sense of self as a large, attractive career woman. Another who had evacuated with her baby, then lived elsewhere for 4 months, was living with a relative in a cramped house with no space for her personal belongings. She was reduced to t-shirts and jeans, like the others. She was probably the most articulate voice for NOLA survivors I've seen on TV.

Each woman got an outfit for work (teaching), a transition outfit, and a dressy, on-the-town ensemble, all with the right accessories like jewelry and shoes. Truly, they looked fabulous, and the children of the school were the audience for the "reveal," and they were an adorable, appreciate group.

A fun, heart warming and hopeful message for all. Thanks, Finola and Style TV.

4109

She's right, for the wrong reasons

Women's studies professor at Duke, Kathy Rudy says [quoted in Taranto's Best of the Web:

"We need to face the fact that dog fighting is not the only "sport" that abuses animals. Cruelty also occurs in rodeos, horse and dog racing (all of which mistreat animals and often kill them when no longer useful). There are also millions of dogs and cats we put to death in "shelters" across the country because they lack a home, and billions of creatures we torture in factory farms for our food.

She then goes on to say Vick is being wrongfully charged because he's black. Oh, please! Not the race card again. Stop this incessant infantilization of adult black men who ought to know up from down. Michael Vick didn't slaughter his dogs because he was some poor black kid, he was just plain old vanilla evil. However, she's right about the mistreatment of pets. Most pets don't die of disease, old age or the cruelty like Vick demonstrated, but from owner carelessness and stupidity. There are factory farm animals raised for consumption that have a better life than some pets because the owners need to turn a profit. Pet owners don't neuter and train their animals; the animals become community nuisances with barking, biting, defecating and urinating inappropriately and dropping babies; owner sends "bad" animal off to the "shelter," where they are killed--by the millions. Facing facts, as Ms. Rudy suggests, means I give her a C+ for getting some of it right.

4108

Our upcoming trip to Ireland

Some of you have been asking (OK, only three people have asked) what our tour of Ireland will include. It's a standard college alumni tour with lectures, entertainment, walking and van tours of historical sites, and social time with the group. We did an alumni tour river cruise of Germany and Austria in 2005 and it was fabulous. Because of the age of the group (usually 40+ to mid-80s with some very seasoned, experienced travelers) there are considerations for the amount of walking and accommodations. Here's a very brief summary:

Day 1: Leave Chicago for Shannon, Ireland

Day 2: Arrive in Shannon, transfer to our hotel in Ennis; eat an Irish breakfast (will there be beets like a Russian breakfast?), Tour Ennis, including remains of a Franciscan Frairy and Creagh tomb.

Day 3: Education focus: History of Ireland and County Clare. Excursion: Ancient Burren and Cliffs of Moher. Reception and dinner.

Day 4: Educational focus: Literature--Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw, W.B. Yeats and James Joyce--the environment and historical conditions that created the literature of Ireland. Excursion: Coole Park and Thoor Ballylee. Afternoon free. Dinner at local hotel. Evening entertainment by Irish storytellers.

Day 5: Excursion: Aran Island of Inishmore. Ferry to Inishmore, the largest of the Aran Islands off the coast of County Galway; see Dun Aengus (old fortress) Lecture by local archaeologist. Lunch at Mainistir House. Minibus tour of town and medieval monuments. Free time. Dinner back at hotel.

Day 6: Educational focus: Irish Roots, covers the famine, representative from Clare Heritage Center will discuss genealogical sources. My Scots-Irish ancestors came to the British colonies in the early 18th c. so I'm not sure how much of this will apply. Leisure time. Lunch and dinner at hotel.

Day 7: Transfer to Kilkenny, stop at Rock of Cashel, former fortress of Brian Boru, high king of Ireland. Visit heritage center. Check in hotel, dinner at hotel.

Day 8: Excursion: tour of Kilkenny Castle; walking tour of Kilkenny to see Old Jail House, Black Abbey and St. Francis Abbey, founded in 1234. Visit Brod Tullaroan heritage center (9000 years of history) of Irish life. Evening program of Irish storytelling

Day 9: Excursion: Irish National Heritage Park, 35 acres of living exhibits from Stone age to early Christian era. Tour Dunbrody Famine Ship which sailed 1845-1851 to Canada. Welcome reception. Dinner at hotel

Day 10: After breakfast at hotel, we tour Waterford , home of the famous crystal. Excursion: Jerpoint Abbey, just outside Thomastown, see ruins, including 14th-15th c. cloisters. Meet residents of Kilkenny. Dinner at hotel.

Day 11: Educational focus: contemporary Ireland--government and European Union. Day free. Lunch at hotel. Evening farewell reception, entertainment with Irish dancers.

Day 12: After breakfast, depart Kilkenny for Dublin airport and return to Chicago/Columbus.

Today I’m practicing wearing my support hose which travelers of any age should wear for long flights. My 39 year old daughter developed a deep vein thrombosis (dvt) 6 months ago on a 2 hour flight to Florida and her vascular surgeon says everyone-- men and women, young and old-- need to wear them, and be careful of dehydration. We all hate to use those postage stamp size restrooms, but for long flights should drink a lot of fluids. She gave me a medical pair, but that was so uncomfortable (I have fat knees), I switched to the standard, over the counter type which are just nicely snug. I've had some light weight blazers dry cleaned and am planning my wardrobe for both cool and warm weather, and of course, some rain wear. Comfortable shoes, some slacks, a scarf or two for color, my camera and toothbrush.

Friday Family Photo--The generations

In the black and white photo taken probably in August or September 1935, we see my uncle John and his wife Opal holding baby Evelyn, John's parents (my grandparents) Joe and Bessie, and Bessie's parents (my great grandparents) Bill and Leanor. Evelyn was the first grandchild and first great grandchild, so this is what I'd call a Four generations photograph. By the time I came along, there were so many grandchildren it was no big deal, but I did live on the same block as my great grandparents, so there is a photo of me at age 5 with her.


Fast forward 58 years. Now here is a real generations photo! In the color photo taken in July 1993 in Mt. Morris, IL, we see the descendants and spouses of Joe and Bessie, who both died in 1983. At their 60th wedding anniversary in 1972, they had 23 grandchildren and 31 great granchildren, but I'm not sure what the count was 21 years later. Aunt Opal is the only one from the b & w photo still alive at the 1993 reunion. She is the white haired woman in the dark shirt with sun glasses in what might be called row 3 a little to the right, sitting next to me in the pink dress. Evelyn died in 1978. I think one of Evelyn's sons is in front of Aunt Opal. My husband is behind me, my daughter behind him with her hands on his shoulders, and her fiance, now husband, behind her. My parents are next to me with my sister Carol next to Dad and my brother in front of him. My other sister was at the reunion but isn't in the photo.

4106

What I knew about retirement after 18 months

Tomorrow it will be seven years since I retired. Officially, I retired on October 1, 2000, but I had some vacation and sick leave, so August 31 was the day I turned in my keys. I stayed late that night, left in the dark, and shed a few tears as I hauled out the last few boxes. Today I came across a note I'd written to a fellow librarian 18 months later in February 2002 to let her know how retirement was going. I had written an extensive plan, called "Post Employment Plan" and made it public on my web page (no longer have that), so I was catching her up on how things were going.

"I’m enjoying a lot of the things I said I'd do--and trust me when I say I had absolutely no hobbies (except reading) and was a bit concerned which is why I made my plans so public. Accountability. But I am taking a writing class, a Spanish class, a painting class, and ballroom dance (for the second time since 2000--slow learner). We did the Alaska cruise in 2001 and will do an Atlantic seaboard cruise this fall [this was changed to a land tour due to a hurricane]. I'm in a book club with Marti and Adrienne, and in the Visual Arts Ministry at our church. I've got a genealogy software program, have entered about 3,000 relatives, and discovered that I am my own 6th cousin because of all those Tennessee marriages of 1st cousins. Also have found an occasional "love child", and that has been REALLY interesting. For a year I did try helping an international student with English, but decided the age gap was a problem (I was older than her parents). I never did take up roller blades--have some hip pain, so I'm sticking with walking at the gym at Bethel and Olentangy. Bird watching has been tough--can never find the little suckers. But I do sit on the deck of our condo and try it, and enjoy watching the condo crew show up to mow the lawn. I'm going to be the guest poet at an "open mic" poetry reading in April, and will be in a barn painting show to celebrate Ohio’s bicentennial. Also had a piece published in "Stories of Ohio; Tales my grandparents told me" (if I'd do the genealogy research, I could join Ohio First Families).

If it costs less to be retired, I haven't seen it. Too many things to do. But time is money, and I'm a billionaire. My advice about retirement is the same as you've heard elsewhere. The health insurance is a real problem--it is now 1/3 of my retirement check and was 1/7 when I started. I'm wondering if health premiums might be 100% by the time 65 rolls around [it isn't]. You all know what the stock market has done to your funds, so adjust and be cautious. I bought TIAA-CREF SRAs every year I worked, and haven't used it yet [still haven't], but it is a good idea to have something besides your pension. Because of STRS, I get nothing from Social Security, but every case is different--so make an appointment and check it out if you are nearing retirement age."

Then in October 2003, I started blogging. I think I may have posted this before, but can't find it. Plus, it's just fun to read it.

4105

Only Republicans get booted for bad behavior

Democrats don't seem to care--there are a number of Democrats under not just a cloud, but a downpour, beginning with Teddy letting a young woman drown, Jefferson of Louisiana and his cold cash and misuse of the national guard, Ray Nagin wanting a chocolate city after he let welfare residents sink or swim in New Orleans, and flowing right up to Hillary who's been accepting funny money from a man named Hsu (pronouced shoe). And don't tell me about how Republicans run on "family values" so it's about hypocrisy. Bunches of Democrats won election in 2006 by switching to, "I just found Jesus," during their campaigns.

"It seems like a high price to pay for toe-tapping and hand waving, but Craig pleaded guilty rather than dispute the charges. He has to take responsibility for that action as well, and as a Senator, he knows that his credibility depends on actions in and out of Washington. The accusations and the guilty plea reflect poorly on him and poorly on the GOP if they try to shield him. Basically, Craig embarrassed himself, and the party doesn't want to pay the price for Craig's individual actions." Captain's Quarters.

4104

What Bill says about Hillary

Dick Morris, who is no prize for ethics and morality himself, contradicts a few critical points in Bill Clinton's commercial for his wife's candidacy. For instance, Morris points out:

Hillary considered (threatened) running for governor of Arkansas in 1990 when Bill didn't want to, so after doing some polling, he decided to run for a 2nd term.

"Hillary's main extra-curricular activity in law school was helping the Black Panthers, on trial in Connecticut for torturing and killing a federal agent. She went to court every day as part of a law student monitoring committee trying to spot civil rights violations and develop grounds for appeal."

"Hillary interned with Bob Truehaft, the head of the California Communist Party. She met Bob when he represented the Panthers and traveled all the way to San Francisco to take an internship with him."

There are other allegations that shouldn't be too difficult for bloggers to verify. But there's enough here to sound pretty scary. Most of this was reported by Carl Bernstein in his new book about Hillary, but Morris provides his insider take just on the dishonest commercial which paints a totally different Hillary--even has her in different places. But would Bill Clinton lie?

4103

A delightful group of young people

Christiane Anampour couldn't grasp the difference between women who dress modestly and radical muslims who force women to wear burkas and keep women out of school in her program on CNN, but the community of Saline, Michigan gets it. Last week at Lakeside we enjoyed a program of fiddlers from the high school in Saline (also included guitarists and cellists). The girls all wore swingy, fashionable skirts and collared shirts, and the boys wore neatly fitted jeans and collared shirts. No one was over weight or anorexic; no one was tattooed; no one had nose or eyebrow studs; no one wore too much make-up. What a fabulous group of young people, and Michigan should be proud.

Now in their 14th year, "The Saline Fiddlers represent the positive side of today's youth while reflecting the rural traditions of Saline and ultimately the country. The performers, all students at Saline High School, earn their places through competitive auditions based on musical ability and personal integrity. Each Fiddler balances academics, sports, school organizations, church activities, jobs and social lives with this demanding commitment to music."

4102

How to stomp out artistic talent in children

Backstory: Some teachers from our local Wickliffe Progressive Elementary school went to Harvard this summer to attend Project Zero Classroom 2007 (usually zero means worthless, but perhaps I'm behind the times). They studied with Melissa Rivard and Mara Krechevsky for a week, which the participants called "a great opportunity." Upon returning, the participants shared what they learned at an in-service day, and it was reported in our local SNP newspaper.

Here's the technique that caught my eye, and I hope the journalist got it WRONG!

"I'm excited to use the thinking routines, where children are making extensions or connections," she said.

Instead of a child creating a drawing, then explaining to the other students what the picture means, the other students will talk about what they see in the drawing.

"This leads to discussions," she said. "Instead of just telling the information, the kids are creating it by thinking about it."

Oh yuk! I suppose it depends on the age of the artist, but if Johnny has worked very hard drawing his dog and her puppies playing in the kitchen, and the other kids decide it is a cow and her calves entering a barn, I think it's the last time he'll be willing to try his hand at drawing.

None of these techniques sound new to me--my kids were getting this "let's have the children discuss their own ideas" instead of telling them things so they have meaningful content from which to draw even in the 1970s. My children graduated from high school not knowing which came first, WWII or the Vietnam War (both were ancient history by the time they finished). It wasn't popular to teach facts or time lines, but I'm sure they had fascinating discussions filled with their own fluffy ideas.

This was drawn by a 10 year old Chechnya child. It says, "Family" at the top, and Mama, I, and Papa at the bottom. It's from a war site, but I hope no one tried to get the child to draw pictures of bombs or torture. The drawing ability, balance, design and use of color are wonderful, and show that this child had some traditional art training and didn't waste her time in frivolous discussions of her classmates' drawings.

4101

Polygamy might be better than nannygamy

Polygamy will be the next change in marriage law. After the gays push through same sex legal unions, there will be no reason to limit it to two consenting adults, or three or even adults. They already have a political action group to decriminalize it.

Polygamy has some benefits, according to an ABC program I watched the other night about a community of polygamists in Arizona. Legally, the man (a school teacher) has only one wife, however, their community and church recognize both women equally. The younger one is hoping he'll take a third wife, because she needs some help. There are seven children, five by wife #1 and two by wife #2. The women are close friends and help each other; the older one helped the younger with a difficult birth. The older wife goes to work in an an office, while the younger one stays home to care for the children. She's pooped.

I saw an ad for a nanny in our local paper. Truly, it sounds like this family needs polygamy, a wife #2, not a nanny. Here's what "young professional couple" wants

• nanny to work 2-3 days full time, with possible full time
  
• prior experience with newborn (the "delightful" girl is 3 months old)
  
• pediatric CPR training
  
• First aid certificate
  
• college degree
  
• interest in child development
  
• car
  
• driver's license
  
• references
  
• must pass background check
  
• caring, experienced and energetic personality
  
• willing to do housekeeping
  
• be able to cook
  
• do the laundry
  
• run errands

My advice to mommy (or daddy--the ad doesn't say but I suppose it could be a same-sex couple) is: stay home with the baby for awhile if you are this anal about proper child care. These are the delightful years. There's no committee meeting, conference or promotion worth missing those smiles and kisses.

4100

The Atlanta Fashion Police

Did you hear that someone in Atlanta's city government wants to outlaw baggy pants that show boxer shorts or thongs by amending the indecency laws? This is the silliest thing I've ever heard. If men want to look stupid and ridiculous, want to cripple their legs and look fat, well, let them. They are probably looking that way because mama and the government check has been coddling them.

But what's the excuse for older women who ought to know better? Look at the cover of this catalog. If you are 5'10" and weight 100 lbs, with the figure of a hanger, you possibly can look good in this. But for most women, if your BMI is 26, it will instantly bloom to 30 if you wear these outfits. I've seen Amish women in more flattering and feminine outfits than these.

4099

We must be winning in Iraq

Based on yesterday's top toilet news stories on which the MSM focused, I've concluded that we must be winning in Iraq. Mothers who toilet train infants and a Republican senator that knows all the hand signals and footsy-wootsy stuff to pick up men in restrooms seemed to be all they could talk about. Talk about "elimination communication!"

Update: It seems Craig's shoe is a bigger story than Hillary and Obama's Hsu. Sex can work up more voter interest than corruption, apparently.

4098

The power of a web

Yesterday morning when I returned to the house from coffee (about 7:30), I noticed the garage door was up. Must have forgotten to push the down button when I looked for the eclipse, I thought. When I pulled in and pushed the down-button in the car, the door went down and right back up. Must have not pulled in far enough, I thought, and got out and looked. No, there was plenty of clearance. I went into the house and told my husband there was something wrong with the garage door. Later when I came back from running a few errands, the door was down. When I asked what the problem was, he told me there was a spider web on the bottom of the far side of the door with a leaf caught in the threads, and the leaf passed over the light beam that signals something is in the way of the door (which is very heavy and could crush a child or a bicycle). I'm amazed both at the power of the little spider (who probably rode back from the lake with us on the side mirror of the van), and the technology put in place due to injuries from garage doors.

This leads me to the thought that technology cannot always protect people, especially stupid risk takers. Within a 1/2 mile of our home yesterday, pitch black outside, I thought I saw something in the headlights of the car in front of me where the street splits to a Y, so I slowed down (I was already only at about 30 mph because of just having left the drive-way). Yes, there was a biker in dark clothing, including a hooded sweatshirt so not even his pale skin reflected light. There were no lights or reflective tape on the bike. He had apparently stopped because he'd taken the wrong leg of the Y and was waiting to change lanes. I just shook my head in disbelief. There must be an angel riding on his handle bars offering to light his way, because truly this man was a very dim bulb.

It's baaaaack

Orange and avocado. Hot colors of the late 50s and again in the 70s. Is it time again? I didn't think so, but here it is in the September 2007 Architectural Digest.





For more choices, visit Eastern Accents.

Tara Parker Pope to leave me to my own devices

I never miss Tara Parker Pope's health columns in the Wall Street Journal. They are readable, timely, and easy for the layman to understand, and most important to me, she usually leads the reader to her sources. Last week she wrote about firing up the grill and why women might want to think twice:

"Postmenopausal women who often ate grilled barbecued and smoked meats had a 47% higher risk for breast cancer than low meat eaters." From Epidemiology, May 2007

She offered these tips: 1) Microwave food about a minute before grilling; 2) eat lots of vegetables with your grilled food; 3) Use marinades; 4) flip your food often; 5) cook red meat medium or rare; 6) cook at a lower temperature whether in your oven, stove or grill. I think that's a really helpful summary of research we wouldn't ordinarily read.

But today she announced it was her last column:

"In recent weeks I have been reflecting on the power of information to improve health."

I think I know how she feels. "Information" is the most over rated value we have and as a librarian I learned that early. Information isn't wisdom; it isn't action; it doesn't come with a guarantee it won't be misused; it doesn't build relationships; and it definitely isn't power. Librarians have learned that and increasingly spend their time fiddling with IT gimmicks that will manipulate the information, parsing it into i-pods or applets or digital snipplets.

She writes movingly about her own mother's health crisis. Using her skills at manipulating information Tara was able to find their second best choice for oncologist who was a complete bust (first choice was taking no new patients), because he was rude and dismissive both about her information skills and her mother's health. A chance remark by her mother put them back with their first choice because she had been his patient years ago. They pursued together the best options for her mother, and for awhile she was cancer free, but it returned and claimed her. Pope clings to the idea that everyone has the power to take control of her own health, and that taking charge didn't save her mother's life, but made the end better. But if it hadn't been for that chance remark. . . all the information in the world and the wonders of the internet for her to search wouldn't have led them to the right doctor.

More on TPP

4095

That's why it's called risk

Sometimes it is good when Rush Limbaugh has a guest host. The guy he has on today, Mark Belling of Milwaukee, has been explaining the mess with the subprime loans better than any I've heard. He's been trying to pound it through the listeners' heads with rhetorical questions, "that's why it's called risk."

• How far do we go with government bail outs when people make the wrong decision?


• What about all those people for whom it was the right decision? Many people bought their dream homes and were able to ease into homes they might not have purchased otherwise.


• What about the banks and Wall Street companies who bought up those loans and now want a Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac bailout of a bad investment?


• Are the people who borrowed the money (at a risk) really worse off than they would have been paying rent for three years (at a higher monthly cost than the loan) and getting nothing back?


• When real estate goes up, it's a huge windfall for some. What about them? They took a risk and won.


• What are the unintended consequences of the government bailing out poor credit risks?


• What if the decline is a good thing--a correction in the market?


• What if the house was over valued when they bought it? Is that my responsibility?


• This might be a terrific time for people who are savvy investors to buy a house. Prices had gone out of reach for many, and are now more reasonable again.


• Many of the people who took out 2/28 loans were also offered fixed loans for 30 years at a slightly higher monthly cost. If they had done the prudent thing, paying a little more now for more security later, they wouldn't be in this mess.


• Because new rules are being put in place, we're making it impossible for people caught in the first mess, to get out of it.


• This is a small percentage of a small percentage. We won't know for 5 years if this correction is really a tremendous opportunity for the market to correct itself. Do we want to meddle with the market before we know?

One problem I can see coming is that those who bought a home at a fixed rate with money down in a neighborhood where others bought with ARMs and no equity are going to see property values fall as banks foreclose, neighbors file for bankruptcy or owners abandon their property. Next, rents are going to start going up for everyone, because there will be former home owners out looking for a place to live.

Either way, if you haven't been putting money aside for the inevitable rainy day, your wallet is in for a surprise.

Power of the blog

About four years ago I blogged about my Fornasetti plates. That entry gets quite a few hits. The link to a gift shop no longer works. Somehow, Alice, the friend who gave them to us as a house warming gift in 1965, found the entry and has e-mailed. How nice to hear from her. Bill died about four years ago, but we remember many happy times with them in Champaign-Urbana, IL. Here's the face I was blogging about--Julia by Piero Fornasetti.

4093

Please disobey our laws

It's not only our administration that is suggesting this to illegal immigrants. Our church governments, usually made up of people who don't reflect those of us in the pew, are saying it too:

You’re driving into a major city taking in all the sights and sounds. It looks like any other major metropolitan area when suddenly you see a large sign suspended above the highway. It monstrous letters it say, "Please make every effort to ignore our laws!" You're taken back for a moment as you continue your drive into the city. Certainly they can’t mean that – but soon you find they do. Everyone you encounter is doing whatever they desire and totally ignoring all laws. Stop signs mean nothing, speed limits are ignored and people take whatever they want from local merchants without paying. You have found yourself in the city of Evangelical Lutherans. Cue theme music and closing credits.

The above scenario is no more bizarre than what happened at the recently concluded annual General Conference of the Evangelical Lutherans Church of America. On the closing day of the Conference a resolution was passed by 538-431 vote pleading with the leadership of the denomination to ignore their own church law. Oh, and this was immediately following passing another resolution upholding their church law. Confused? Welcome to the Lutheran Twilight Zone!" Bob Burney

We only need to look at history to see how this will end. Either the liberals will take over, inch by inch, vote by vote,* or the conservatives will pull out (taking most of the money**) and form another synod with other disaffected congregations or synods. ELCA is losing members and money with this fight that's been going on for eight years.

Then among those who believe marriage is God's plan for one man and one woman and that pastors should not be openly living-in-sin whether straight or gay, there are ordained women pastors in ELCA. Well, the guy-group (mostly straight, but also some gays) is still smarting over losing that battle years ago (women have been ordained in some Lutheran churches for over 50 years), so it's raising its ugly head again and that will split the conservatives. How many protestant "fellowships/ congregations/ denominations" are there? 30,000? I'm not sure this is what Martin Luther or John Calvin or Menno Simons had in mind, but there it is--testimony to the whole world that where two or three are gathered in His Name, there will be a fight over the dress code or baptism or music and a new denomination will be born.

*This was a back door, political maneuver brought up at the last minute at the Chicago Assembly, with the press alerted and waiting in the halls to report the outcome and spin it.

**ELCA national office still shows our congregation (UALC) supporting them. However, our "benevolence payments" of $662,618 goes directly to the Southern Ohio Synod, and not to the national office. It's been that way for four years. These funds, and an additional $400,000 for other mission work, do not pass through national's office. This is another way to "spin" support for non-biblical viewpoints.

Who will the Democrats go after next?

The best quote: "I strongly urge President Bush to nominate a new attorney general who will respect our laws and restore the integrity of the office." — Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. He's never met a law yet that he respected because they aren't written for his kind. They hounded Ashcroft and bayed at Gonzales. They don't fool me. They just don't have anything else to do. What scares me is the "tit for tat" [retaliation] that will go on if the Democrats elect the next president. The Republicans just might get some backbone. Scary, isn't it, that our elected officials will spend all their time combing through e-mails and old phone records, attempting to catch each other in misstatements.