When Rush bores me

Rush Limbaugh is a happy, upbeat guy with a huge following (heard locally at 610 am, noon week-days) and an even bigger opinion of himself. But, lest you point fingers, he thinks everyone should have a good opinion of herself, work hard, and invest in the future of America. Your talent is on loan from God, also. Media Matters (founded by the Clintons) holds Rush to a higher standard than the other media, which makes for interesting fireworks. However, he does have some topics that bore me.

1. Golf
2. Football
3. Cigars
4. Hillary's lock box--or anything to do with the Clintons. I don't think there is anything to say about them that he hasn't already said numerous times.
5. Music--he's a former sports announcer and disc jockey, and enough younger than me that I find it a little loud and wearying.
6. The marvels of Florida.
7. Harry Reid--especially after that last round. It's like making fun of a box of rocks.
8. His weight. It's like Oprah.
9. Dinner parties he attended over the week-end.
10. Fund raising or political events he attended over the week-end.

I'm also not fond of, but don't switch channels, when he takes a phone call from a liberal. Really, it's just not fair. He's made millions, after starting at the bottom, with a great voice and wit explaining his political views, and then he gives these poor guys who've never done any public speaking some rope, and they make their own noose and throw it over the light pole. I don't know if his call screener just waits until some dolt calls in who can't put two sentences together, or if liberals who listen to him are really that confused.

Remember Mrs. Kerry?

She's the one who lost the cookie baking contest against Laura Bush. Her first husband's name was John Heinz, a Republican politician who died with 6 others in a plane accident. There is a Digital Research Library and Web-based catalog (University of Pittsburgh) for the Library & Archives of the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania (HSWP) at the History Center named for him which contains over 29,000 records. The collection is non-circulating materials documenting life in Western Pennsylvania, so having them scanned and available is great. The Reading Room and collections are located at the Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center, 1212 Smallman Street, Pittsburgh, PA, 15222. If you're doing genealogical research for Pennsylvania family members, you might take a look. I've been browsing an old book on Beaver County where my husband's grandfather and great-grandparents lived. It seems these folks really did come from Scotland (Charles Bruce, d. 1812) way back when.

How many other problems

will the greenies compound? Steamier weather in Iowa this summer was attributed to more corn (which is driving up our food costs) being grown and narrower rows.

Climatologists are building evidence that crops, particularly corn, are driving up dew points as they put water into the atmosphere through evaporation. They also may make corn-growing areas cooler and alter rain patterns. Story

Doesn't anyone read the research from the 70s when we went through all this hysteria before the gen-xers were born? It's bad enough to drive through our beautiful farmland--90.5 million acres of corn this year, up 15 percent--and see nothing but corn planted right up to the roads, encouraging erosion and destruction of bird habitat, but just crazy when you think of rising food costs, agricultural inputs and all our tax money being thrown at it.

Cellulosic ethanol--which is derived from plants like switchgrass--will require a big technological breakthrough to have any impact on the fuel supply. That leaves corn- and sugar-based ethanol, which have been around long enough to understand their significant limitations. What we have here is a classic political stampede rooted more in hope and self-interest than science or logic. WSJ hot topic

And nary a new refinery or coal mine in sight (God's plan for storing vegetative matter for later fuel use) as the Chinese burn dirty coal putting filth into the atmosphere to make our "energy saving" light bulbs, while grabbing up the oil markets. Thank you Algorians.

Unintended consequences of planning ahead

I've always been an early riser, and I go out and meet the folks about 6 a.m. at the coffee shop (different ones depending on the day). I even blog about it. Coffee Spills. But I also bring home the refill. For a long time, I just warmed it up to drink later; then I started saving some for the next morning. Then I started saving the whole thing for the next morning. Along came the "fall back" time change. Early risers hate this time of year (we love the "spring forward". Now we're waking up at 3:30 instead of 4:30. Lately, it's been 3 a.m. because I know that coffee is downstairs waiting for me. Even if I dawdle in the shower, take special care with my make-up and hair, and don't warm it up until 4:30, my mind at 3 a.m. knows it is calling, calling. Even the cat who likes to start smacking the window blinds around 4 a.m. thinks this is way to early for breakfast.

This morning I killed a little time trying to encourage sleepiness by shifting to the couch. I didn't want to watch Birdman of Alcatraz (when I was a veterinary librarian, I had his books in the collection), so I watched a cooking show on Food Network about another bird, the turkey, thinking it would put me to sleep. But I got caught up in the techniques. Aren't these TV chefs amazing? The eye and ear are not clever enough to determine how the chatter evolves seamlessly with the green bean casserole. I know it's the miracle of writing (are their writers on strike, too?) and editing, but it's the smoothness that amazes me. The tricky biscuit dough wreath rolled in cinnamon just appears on the sheet from rolling to cutting to placing in seconds, but her cheery, instructional voice doesn't change, her jeweled sweater doesn't have egg wash splashes, nothing sticks to the rolling pin, there's nothing under her fingernails, and strands of her long, blonde hair don/t appear in the gravy. The woman is amazing.

What would Jesus buy?

This film just might save you from making huge mistakes this Christmas. It tells the story of anti-consumerism preacher Reverend Billy. Along with his Church of Stop Shopping Gospel Choir he goes on a cross-country mission to save Christmas from the Shopocalypse. I saw the trailer--actually saw the words "Merry Christmas" at a store--although it may have been a movie set. I don't think it's in Columbus yet.

I looked through a few blogs, and saw the usual anti-business, anti-capitalism comments from readers and wondered if the person writing had thought about where she was in the food chain of consumerism. Distribution of the product? Marketing? Salesclerk? Gas station attendant gasing up the SUV? Restaurant worker serving shoppers? Construction worker building the mall? Sanitation worker hauling the trash? Musician selling the iTunes? Farmer raising the turkeys and pumpkins? Baker making the pies and cookies? Think about it. Where do you want the consumerism to stop and how much 'til you can't pay the rent?

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But did they have a legal driver's license?

Personal vehicles were the most common conveyance used to smuggle cocaine into the United States in 2006, arriving primarily across the U.S.-Mexico border.

Seizures: 27% in California; 20% in Arizona; <1% in New Mexico; 10% in West Texas; and 42% in south Texas.

Cocaine Smuggling in 2006

Update on Ramos and Campeon

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Guess who's coming to dinner?

During the last two decades, Dengue Fever has been on the increase in Latin America and the Caribbean. It’s a mosquito transmitted disease with 4 virus serotypes, and having one doesn’t make a person immune-- he can get the other three. Each infection places the person at greater risk for Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF), a life threatening condition. There is an outbreak on the Mexican side of the Mexico-Texas border. So guess who’s coming to dinner? This is reported in a recent issue of JAMA. This content is free, and well worth reading when you get tired of hearing about bird flu and MRSA on CNN or Fox.

JAMA, although one of my favorite journals, has a strong liberal editorial bias when it comes to health issues which are impacted by current public policy, so no mention is made in this issue about U.S.-Mexico border security, only that, "Clinicians in the south Texas area and members of the public should be aware of the potential for DHF in addition to dengue fever in the region." Gee, thanks for the heads up.

JAMA also doesn’t go back to basics and point out that dengue fever, because it is mosquito spread, can be controlled with DDT. Although just a few mosquitoes can infect an entire household with the virus and those people can in turn infect co-workers and schoolmates, neither JAMA nor the WHO document it cites, mentions control of mosquitoes with DDT.

However, a 2005 document at Yale Global let it slip out:

"Dubbed "breakbone fever" when it was first diagnosed more than three centuries ago, because it causes extreme pain in the joints, dengue began its global spread around Asia during World War II, when it traveled with warring armies from country to country. After the war, Aedes mosquitoes and dengue flourished along with Asia's rapid population growth and urbanization and then was carried aboard ships and planes to Africa and the Mediterranean.

When the use of the insecticide DDT in Latin America was stopped in the 1970s after the apparent eradication of yellow fever, which Aedes mosquitoes also carries, dengue was able to stage a comeback in the New World."

The virus seems to be going first class these days, using airplanes to travel, plastic lids and containers for breeding, and residing in clean, urban settings. You definitely will not need to be living in a swampy rural area to get this virus. Dengue currently infects about 50 million people, particularly in Asia, and has researchers scratching their heads, looking at computer models, and apply for grants. "Warming globalists" will note in their hot air, alarmist messages how these diseases were once defeated, but will blame global warming on their resurgence without mentioning that DDT could be among the tools to help control them.

Maybe they think mosquitoes are on the endangered species list and need to be protected?

[Emerging Infectious Diseases also notes its mysterious suppression and then reemergence, but doesn't say why or how. The decade of the 1970s seems to hold the secret. . . could it be. . .? "In the Pacific, dengue viruses were reintroduced in the early 1970s after an absence of more than 25 years. Epidemic activity caused by all four serotypes has intensified in recent years with major epidemics of DHF on several islands. Despite poor surveillance for dengue in Africa, epidemic dengue fever caused by all four serotypes has increased dramatically since 1980. . . In 2005, dengue is the most important mosquito-borne viral disease affecting humans; its global distribution is comparable to that of malaria, and an estimated 2.5 billion people live in areas at risk for epidemic transmission."

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The AIDS Estimate

What's the reason for overestimating the effects or spread of a terrible disease? WaPo reports on the inaccuracy of the UN estimates of the size and course of the AIDS epidemic.

The United Nations' top AIDS scientists plan to acknowledge this week that they have long overestimated both the size and the course of the epidemic, which they now believe has been slowing for nearly a decade, according to U.N. documents prepared for the announcement.

AIDS remains a devastating public health crisis in the most heavily affected areas of sub-Saharan Africa. But the far-reaching revisions amount to at least a partial acknowledgment of criticisms long leveled by outside researchers who disputed the U.N. portrayal of an ever-expanding global epidemic. Source Washington Post (may need registration)

It is good that 40% fewer will suffer, unfortunately I doubt that it means that the programs in place have been successful, but rather those who run the programs have been inflating the numbers in order to get more money. The unintended consequences are probably doner fatigue both from NGOs and governments, and less money directed to other programs that need it.

I've written about this before: "Western interference in the economies, politics and cultures of third world developing countries has not turned out well. The American Left loves to point fingers at Christian missionaries who started hospitals, schools, churches and developed a written language for Africans, Asians, and Islanders, but their footprints are tiny compared to the disaster of foreign aid from Europe and the U.S. The missionaries at least were accountable to God and their denomination; the governments and the U.N. agencies who soaked the guilt-swamped for more money funded various interventions in their societies which were accountable to no one, not even us taxpayers, elevating a class of dictators, bureaucrats and home grown thieves."

For all the statistics on what aid has done, check The White Man's Burden; why the West's efforts to aid the rest have done so much ill and so little good, by William Easterly (Penguin Press, 2006) and The Trouble with Africa; why foreign aid isn't working, by Robert Calderisi (Palgrave Macmillan, 2006). From WaPo's review of Easterly's book: [He writes about] "the spirit of benign meddling that lies behind foreign aid, foreign military interventions and such do-gooder institutions as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the United Nations. In his account, such efforts are fatally contaminated by what the philosopher Karl Popper called "utopian social engineering." Easterly's list of well-meaning villains stretches from the economist Jeffrey Sachs to the rock singer and charity impresario Bono."

Sleep soundly

Baldilocks says, because SSgt Lawrence Dean, USMC, is watching out for you. See the interview.

Christian basher tries to intimidate

I'm being watched for racist comments because I'm a "self-proclaimed" Christian by

Dr. R. Watnicke
The University of British Columbia
2329 West Mall Vancouver, BC Canada V6T 1Z4
tel 604.822.2211

He left a comment on my Thanksgiving entry of four years ago when I noted the international diversity of the crew working at White Castle, the only place open on that holiday. He didn't like my humor I guess. I said the Supervisor was Canadian because his haughtiness (with the staff) reminded me of Peter Jennings (he was alive and well then). In Canada it is currently considered a hate crime to publicly criticize any identifiable group, or to say they are wrong for any reason. Especially from the pulpit. Witnessing to a non-Christian about Jesus I suppose could be hate speech in Canada, because you would be telling him you think he is a sinner, and therefore doing something wrong, and that would be an attack. This is what passes for tolerance in some countries.

I did offer at that post White Castle's turkey stuffing recipe, not realizing I'd pick up some turkeys along the way.

10 White Castle hamburgers, no pickles
1 ½ cups celery, diced
1 ¼ tsp. ground thyme
1 ½ tsp. ground sage
½ tsp. coarsely ground black pepper
¼ c. chicken broth

In a large mixing bowl, tear the burgers into pieces and add diced celery and seasonings. Toss and add chicken broth. Toss well. Stuff cavity of turkey just before roasting. Makes about 9 cups (enough for a 10- to 12-pound turkey). Note: Allow 1 hamburger for each pound of turkey, which will be the equivalent of ¾ cup of stuffing per pound.

Vancouver is one of my favorite cities.

Are Canadians wimps or just socialists?

Today I read that Rush Limbaugh and Dr. Laura can't be broadcast in Canada because of Canada's strict "hate speech" laws. I just can't believe that Canadians would put up with their government telling them what they could listen to. I've never heard either one of them say anything even remotely hateful--harsh, yes; funny, yes; annoying, yes; narrow, yes; conservative, yes; bombastic, yes; parody, yes; snide, yes; repetitive, yes; smart, yes; incisive, yes; common sense, yes.

Dr. Laura, at least back in the days when I could get her program, was awfully hard on stupid people, racist people, whiney people, and people who had not treated their children well. Dr. Laura got bumped here in Columbus (in my opinion) in the fall of 2001 because she was outrageous enough to say that babies should only be adopted by a married man and woman. Money talks, and sometimes it says good-bye. As far as I know, single adoptive parents didn't interpret that sound research as hate speech, but gays did, and they have tremendous power--far beyond their numbers might suggest, because they are wealthy, educated, and political. They certainly had some power with Clear Channel. There's a solution--you change the channel if it makes you mad.

Read Dr. Laura's blog entry, "For years," to see what Canadians and Ohioans are missing.

I watched Limbaugh interviewed on Fox this afternoon. He said the 5 weeks he spent in drug rehab were the most valuable of his life. He became addicted to OxyContin after spinal surgery. Later he lost his hearing and had a cochlear implant,a device that converts a mechanical signal of hearing into a electrical signal that the brain can interpret. Usually the Left would wet themselves, fawn and shuffle to show sympathy to a druggie with a handicap, a two-fer. But not Rush whom they hate so bad it makes them feel good, like they're doing something patriotic or spiritual. I guess it got them in shape for hating Bush.

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The Writers' Strike

It's hurting California's economy even if the rest of us are breathing a sigh of relief for the hurting culture. This Californian supports the strikers.

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Monday Memories--head covering or prayer veil

Somewhere I have a small envelop containing a prayer covering. Mother always kept a few in her desk so that if we were visiting around Easter or the fall communion date for the Brethren Love Feast, her daughters or granddaughters could wear one to the service, and I think I may have brought one home after her funeral in 2000. There is a fairly long, but not unbiased, article about head coverings for Mennonite women here. We were not Mennonite and most Brethren women gave up the veil or covering in the 1920s. I've seen photos of my maternal grandmother in a bonnet similar to the ones on the left when she was a young married woman. As I see it, they have both a spiritual and cultural use. Among the Brethren, it was called dressing "in order," and it reminds us that there is a God given order between men and women, and humans and God. But they are also a witness to others about your faith and help maintain modesty. Women who cover their heads would look a bit silly with bellies hanging over waist bands, and bursting bosoms over the top of skinny t-shirts. Even sillier than those who do it with no head covering.

I was probably 11 or 12 when I was baptized. My parents drove from Forreston (15 miles) so I could attend the instruction classes at the Church of the Brethren in Mt. Morris, which I think were on Sunday afternoon. Most of the class was the children in this photograph. After baptism, I was given my own prayer veil which I wore to communion to sit with the women, twice a year. The last I wore a covering was about 10 years ago when I attended communion at my parents' church.

Interesting selection of head coverings for women over the centuries, including Lutherans, Episcopalians, Baptists, and Anabaptists.

Bush, Clinton, Clinton, Bush, Bush. . .

Let's break the chain. We seem to be in a rut. Elect a new name. We don't need to repeat history--recent or ancient.

William Bradford [Plymouth Colony of the Pilgrims], who was elected governor thirty times between 1622 and 1656, proved to be a steady hand in directing the colony, as well as an able historian of its courage and trials. Story of Thanksgiving

Trick my Truck

I've been enjoying watching truck makeovers on CMT this week-end. Nice personal interest stories with the Chrome Shop Mafia working their miracles. I don't know if the writers' strike will affect them or not--the banter seems pretty standard from show to show. Trick my Trucker, a weight loss and make-over show (series) for the drivers was even more fun. Seeing overweight smokers with hair and beard styles stuck in the 70s get into good nutrition, exercise get a shave and a haircut was awesome. Took 25 years off their appearance.

Eugene Jackson's Lifeline, a semi that rescues stranded big rigs got spiffed up.

Hollywood and the Iraq War

Remembering the WWII movies, it's hard to imagine today's bevy of beauties like Cruise, Clooney and DiCaprio doing the same for the Iraq War. First of all, they wouldn't be able to disguise their hatred for Dubya. But here's a second thought--about wealth and guilt:

"I used to believe that one of the reasons that a lot of the male movie stars of the 30s and 40s drank so much was out of guilt that they were making more money in a week than most Americans earned in a year, and that even in the middle of the Great Depression they were living like royalty. But I also suspected that they turned to alcohol partly out of shame because they were engaged in what would generally have been regarded as a passive, feminine occupation — playing dress up, being told what to do and how to do it by male directors, standing by while rugged stunt men did all the heavy lifting and, worst of all, wearing makeup all the livelong day."

But then along came the war and they were able to do guy stuff and be patriotic--even giving up lucrative contracts to serve their country. Those who were too old or had disabilities like John Wayne, made propaganda films. Today's mega-rich male stars? She calls them bimbos.

Poverty in America--we can end it

That's a slogan of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, not George W. Bush, John Edwards or Charlie Rangel.

No one who's ever read a government, foundation or religion report believes poverty will end, especially not in the United States because the bar is always being raised. It's not "poverty" that energizes politicians to ask for more taxes or para church organizations to seek donations, it's the income gap. Those on the bottom are in poverty, even if my early 1970s SAHM life style in the educated middle class was a pretty close match with today's poverty. No air conditioning, one older car, one TV set, no cable, no computer, no dinners out, no vacations. It was mac and cheese at the end of the month; sewing the kids' clothes; postponing repair projects until we had the money. Everyone we knew lived the same way.



The good news is that the USA is the land of opportunity and the percent of change was 90% in the bottom quintile of income 1996-2004--people who will have moved up and out within the next decade--and they have been doing that at least since the 1950s according to a new Treasury Dept. report. Many of the poor of the 1990s are now in the top quintile, because the bottom always includes young people starting out willing to make sacrifices and take risks.

Today's face of poverty, however, does have a distinct, unchanging look--women and children, some recent immigrants, the unhealthy, disabled, and elderly with no family. The bad news is new poor will flood in across the border (our poverty looks pretty good to them). The bad news is we loose to death and injury more young people on our roads in one year than we lost in 4 in Iran and Iraq. Many will never again be a productive citizen and will need care and assistance. The bad news is we have many children born pre-maturely, with their first 3 months of life costing a million dollars. Even choosing a Caesarian a week or two early causes death and injury to be paid for down the road. Neither private insurance or SCHIP will solve a million dollar hospital bill. They may never be healthy--they may always need more medical care, extra help in school and modified work environment.

The bad news is many people will by choice addle their brains with alcohol and drugs, decreasing their intelligence and ability to earn a living for themselves or their families down the road, or their ability to help others. The bad news is that some people will inherit diseases or conditions for which there is no cure, only modified living arrangements, and they will need some type of help the rest of their lives.

The worst news about poverty is that young woman you see above, barely hanging on. There are too many children being raised by unmarried mothers, with Uncle Sam as a distant and uncaring step-father, while the real "daddy" hangs out with his buddies and shows up just to get a loan or make a sperm deposit. Even if she eventually finishes high school and gets a grant to complete some college, her chances of giving her children what her married friends have are slim to none. Marriage of the parents is the best safety net a child can have--her chances of growing up in poverty are extremely slim if only her mother had made better choices about sex.

Poverty shouldn't be a slogan or a bumper sticker to be trotted out by politicians or preachers to get your vote or money. You are obligated by God to help, assist and love the poor. The poor are not obligated to be your feel-good project or "teach" your teens about life for a school requirement.

You are never obligated to close the gap between quintiles by reducing or taking the incomes of others, nor do you need to stand in the way of those who are trying to escape it--which many poverty programs do. You are not obligated to help the wealthy, fair-skinned Mexican government officials continue to be irresponsible and neglectful of its own brown children, by inviting people to cross the border for money to send home, and stay here illegally, decimating their culture and villages.

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The strong Canadian dollar

is apparently hurting some Canadian industries that supply substantial markets in the USA, and are now less competitive.

"So now that Americans are taking a second look at our goods because of our strong dollar and their weak Greenback, Quebecers like Jean Charest are beginning to panic.

My suggestion to Charest is this: Quebecers really don’t like the USA and the American people, so here is Quebec’s best opportunity ever, to wean itself from the American teat.

All Quebecers have to do is learn how to live with a little less. A little less tourism - A little less manufacturing - Maybe even a little less hydroelectric sales. And then they’ll never again need to be upset by the big bad ugly Americans.

On the brighter side though, Quebecers are crossing into the USA in record numbers to buy their Christmas gifts, and to spend their vacation money in a country where their inflated dollar buys them more.

Charest must be overjoyed at his Quebecois compatriots’ newfound buying bonanza south of the border while Quebec manufacturers, retailers and service-providers wonder if they’ll have a job in the New Year." Howard Galganov

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Political Correctness in 1994

Today I was skimming through a letter I'd written to a high school friend in October 1994. Sounds just like my blog. Except in those days, I was a Democrat. I see the seeds of change.

I've always enjoyed large compilations of information--encyclopedias, handbooks, etc., so when I saw the title The Oxford History of the American West (1994) on the new book shelf at the public library, I checked it out. The cover is a lovely realistic painting of mountains, cowboys, cattle--probably by a WPA artist. But inside. Oh my. Political Correctness reigns. There is not a kind, decent or pleasant word about "our" country, the one we know. It glorifies every ethnic group that ever made it to either shore, and vilifies anyone of European descent. Although the authors are somewhat puzzled about how to write about the Spaniards. After all, someone might realize that Spaniards (Hispanics) were also European. Some sections are so odd, it is almost comical--if this weren't being taught in schools. For instance, the Indians knew how to treat animals, because although they killed them, ate them and skinned them, they respected them. I seriously doubt that made a difference to the animals. This is followed by a section on how the wives and slave women of the Indian men spent their lives tanning and preparing hides (not presented as a negative against Indian culture). Apparently, political correctness doesn't apply if women are abused within the culture of a maligned minority.

That got me wondering about the term, "political correctness." Looking through various articles on the internet for at least 5 minutes, I discovered that it actually began as a Marxist term, but was used tongue in cheek by the left in the 70s and 80s to describe the over zealous. In the early 90s, the conservatives snatched it and turned it on the left to describe their nit picky language ways. Seems fair.

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Scrap the Flight 93 Memorial

WorldNet Daily reports: "Two years ago U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo asked the Park Service to revamp a proposed memorial to the heroics of Flight 93 passengers and crew, who died trying to retake their airliner from terrorists on Sept. 11, 2001, because of its use of a crescent, an Islamic symbol.

But the crescent remains, and now he's telling officials to scrap the plan and start all over." I can't find the letter on Tancredo's web site, but it is repeated at a number of sources.

The intention of the design doesn't matter. It's the result. It's the message. If it upsets the victims' families, someone needs to take another look.


Joanne Hanley, memorial superintendent, has said all along that people are seeing things that aren't really there. The "thing" I'm seeing is a crescent. I'll bet if it were a cross, someone on her staff would notice.