The Library Quarterly

If you are planning to purge your bookshelves, you shouldn’t place the stack at the door to take to the garage and then your car, and then the Friends of the Library Sale later. No, if you are really determined, place them in a dark garbage sack, hustle them to your husband’s car, and don’t look back, because they will call to you like a puppy who’s been left in the culvert by a farm, in hopes someone else will want him.

I looked at this old friend (in the 1960s I was a Slavic cataloger at the University of Illinois and at Ohio State University) lying on the floor this morning and made the mistake of leafing through it. What could be less useful than what librarians were saying about their collections in 1965--collections that specifically dealt with Africa, Latin America, Southeast Asia, Islamic countries, and Russia (the former Soviet Union)? Today’s whiz kids librarians with their Twitter, air guitar and hip-hop programs and digital doo-dahs wouldn’t pause for a moment over a controversy on whether the Library of Congress should be spending time producing cards(!) in the original language or should speed things up with transliteration and English and catch up 20 years later to the incredible disgorging of the Soviet presses when improved technology permitted. Little did we understand in 1965 what “improved technology,” and a very young Russian immigrant who would invent Google, would do to our profession.

No, I just couldn’t do it. I carefully wiped off the mildew (it’s in pristine condition otherwise--none of the pages have loosened the way today’s paperbacks do after one reading), and it will go back on the shelf with all the other unread titles like The Federalist and SoDoku for Dummies. However, I did discard some of my old library school text books like AACR cataloging rules. Not too useful these days, in fact, a bit like reading recipes that call for dollops, swigs and “moderate oven.”

Slip-ups by McCain and Obama

Both candidates made very odd statements last night. First McCain mentioned that the confidence/popularity of Congress was at an all time low--I think he said 9%--lower than the President's. But he's going to restore faith in government if he's elected. Well, three of the four people trying for the new administration are Senators. If you know how to fix it, why didn't McCain, or Obama, or Biden do something?

Then Obama was asked about his plan to require (insist, suggest, encourage--he's vague on this) government service for all young people. But then he mentioned how hard the young people are working on his campaign. They are volunteers I assume, and truly committed. So if people really care, they do volunteer, so why more government funding for what's already available through the private sector? It's just another huge bureaucracy with political strings.

Friday Family Photo--Latin Class Doodles

When my husband left for exercise class this morning I had strict instructions to start cleaning off the bookshelves in his office. He had found mold on a number of the books, so he's in high gear today. I started with my sophomore Latin book and got no further. I found a band assembly program and just had to scan it and put it on my class blog (and also since I have a new computer the scanner is acting up, so that took about 30 minutes to figure out).

So when he got home, he asked how much I'd done. "I stopped after one book," I explained. "It was just too interesting." "You can't do that! How are we ever going to get done if you look at every book?" Obviously, the man never had to withdraw thousands of books from a library collection--it's like drowning puppies for a librarian.

I looked up cleaning mildewed books on google, and it seems I need some alcohol and some sunlight, or if the book is really valuable, I can put it in the freezer. Several people who had never tried it suggested 10 seconds in the microwave, but I'm already sneezing. I remember that freezer trick from my working days. Our library roof leaked spring and fall and also winter when the ice thawed (bad roof drain), so the preservation office dubbed its freezer, "The Veternary Memorial Freezer."


Latin class doodles. I think my girlfriend Tina drew Gene Autry to go with my horse and a note about "wrigglies spearment gum". We sat together and giggled a lot. She's now a great-grandmother! Still giggles.
Also written on the back cover of the lst year Latin book, "Living with the Romans":

Latin is a language
as dead as it can be.
First it killed the Romans
and now it's killing me.

Will ya won't ya can't cha
Don't ya wanta
Won't your mother let cha
Oh go on you said you would
Won't cha Huh?

They were not in my handwriting, so I flipped to the front to see if it was a used book. This book had been used by my two sisters in 1951 and 1952.

Shame on you, Charlie

The not-so-subtle sexism and hostility in Charlie's opening question for Sarah Palin about experience and hubris would have never been asked of Barack Obama, or any man running for public office. Fortunately, she was a lady as well as an experienced leader, and she "didn't blink." Ladies, we have a long way to go--vote McCain-Palin.

Mr. Gibson, she answered you the first time, you didn't like the answer, and then you just looked silly.

GIBSON: What if Israel decided it felt threatened and needed to take out the Iranian nuclear facilities?

PALIN: Well, first, we are friends with Israel and I don't think that we should second guess the measures that Israel has to take to defend themselves and for their security.

GIBSON: So if we wouldn't second guess it and they decided they needed to do it because Iran was an existential threat, we would cooperative or agree with that.

PALIN: I don't think we can second guess what Israel has to do to secure its nation.

GIBSON: So if it felt necessary, if it felt the need to defend itself by taking out Iranian nuclear facilities, that would be all right.

PALIN: We cannot second guess the steps that Israel has to take to defend itself. More here

Headline slants exist everywhere, not just politics

“No Connection Between Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR) Vaccine And Autism, study suggests.”

ScienceDaily (Sep. 5, 2008) — In a case-control study, the presence of measles virus RNA was no more likely in children with autism and GI disturbances than in children with only GI disturbances. Furthermore, GI symptom and autism onset were unrelated to MMR vaccine timing. Science Daily article

The heading in the original report from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health words it a bit stronger than “suggests.”

Study Firmly Shows No Connection Between Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR) Vaccine And Autism
Focus on children with autism and gastrointestinal symptoms; findings show GI symptoms and autism onset both unrelated to MMR timing. Mailman web page

Study findings are reported online in the Public Library of Science on September 4 (http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0003140).

Genetic determinism

This makes perfect sense. I already understand the Democrats better.

Looking through the Fall opportunitites

Our community has a wealth of opportunities for adults to learn, to create and to think. I have laid out on the kitchen counter Center Stage, the programming for the Senior Center (adults 50 and over), UAPL Fall Programs 08, with programs for adults, teens and children, and UA Lifelong Learning & Leisure, Fall 2008. I could be busy morning to night, and with the exception of a few pricey trips ($1800 for a trip to Charleston & Savannah or $900 for Tulip Time at the Greenbrier), at a very reasonable price or free. At the Senior Center I could hear on Friday at 10 a.m. Ed Lentz, local historian, talk about the American Presidential Elections for $5 per class ($30 for 6). Or I could go Tuesday evenings to 4 lectures in the City Council Chambers for $40 to hear various university professors, including John Quigley, Moritz College of Law, Ohio State. After looking up his research , I think I'll pass. Another blame US first guy.

Quigley points to a series of interventions by the United States after assuming dominance of the region in the 1950s: the facilitation of a coup in Iran that overthrew a democratically elected regime and replaced it with the totalitarian Shah; a similar attempted CIA-backed coup in Syria; CIA backing of Western-loyal parliamentary candidates in Lebanon precipitating a civil war; and the backing of U.S. friendly totalitarian King Hussein in Jordan.

“In the United States, none of these interventionist actions gained public attention,” he writes. “But in the Middle East, a perception developed that the United States was out to promote its own interests.” These anti-U.S. perceptions were further solidified by the continued one-sided U.S. backing of Israel and Cold War decisions to support causes like the Islamist revolutionary Mujahideen in Afghanistan, Quigley writes.

Ultimately, anti-American sentiment caused by these actions coalesced into the current Islamist movement that gave us 911 and the resultant “War in Terrorism,” he writes. “Osama bin Laden’s militias grew out of the Afghan resistance,” Quigley writes. “Bin Laden framed his anti-United States arguments in the language of Islam, but he was voicing the same anti-colonialist sentiments that had been directed against France and Britain in the early 20th Century.”

I heard enough of this at the Lakeside programming this summer to last awhile.

Then for more enrichment, I could go to classes offered by something called "Dating Directions Certified Matchmakers," which will teach me how to flirt, go online, and set dating goals. Hmmm. I've been married 48 years, so I think I'm beyond that. Oh, here's a good one: Exploring past lives with guided regression--wear comfortable clothing! Or I could do a 2 session "Living your Passions" with guided visualization and positive thoughts. Whew! This is getting way too hot.

I could study near death experiences with someone doing it for 20 years (and it has fundamentally altered her viewpoint on death!) or observe a real life death autopsy (90 minutes on tape) at COSI or attend a session with a certified laughter Yoga instructor--wear comfortable clothing!

Also the city offers belly dancing basics with finger cymbals (this should work well with the flirting class), composting the worms (might work with the autopsy class), and introduction to beer (for the laughing Yoga?).

One trip the Senior Center offers that looks within my price range if I could find a girl friend to go is a trip to two of the homes of Rosemary Clooney, girl singer of the 40s, 50s and beyond, actress and author (and aunt of what's his name). We would stay overnight in the French Quarter Inn (of Maysville, KY), and make rolls at a bakery. This is $269 per person, double occupancy. This doesn't sound like something my husband would be interested in, but mid-October would be lovely in Kentucky. Then for $15 I could do the Holiday Wildlights at the Columbus Zoo--that would be Christmas, you know. There are some financial classes that look good--tax free investing, investment and stock market trends and indicators, how to down size and organize, legal counseling and investment counseling one-on-one. Medically there is a hearing screening and Life Line Screen for various blockages like abdominal aortic aneurysm (I think a lot of communities are offering this) and nutrition classes.

The UAPL has some interesting art and movie series, like "Objects of Wonder," which will coincide with the Museum of Art's offering this fall. We're members, so that might be an interesting peek ahead of time of what we'll see at the opening. "Objects of Wonder" features "a trove of treasures held in the more than 300 libraries and collections at OSU. The curator of the exhibit will be speaking--free, no registration required. There's an Italy travel show--having just been there, that looks good. I'll skip the movie on Darfur and the Afghani cabbie who died in military custody, but Young @ Heart was at Lakeside this summer and I missed it. There are several law topics, like Domestic and Probate Law 101, and General Law. There's a guy talking about the war between Woody and Bo. Of course, there are classes about the internet and book clubs to join. There are two art lectures, one on Manet and one on Cassat that look good.

Democrats pick up the "Jesus as Organizer" theme

In Virginia, labor leader Cecil Roberts, said,

“I used to be a community organizer and I’m in good company,” Roberts said as he introduced Barack Obama at a town hall event “Martin Luther King was a community organizer. Listen, Sarah, Moses was a community organizer and yes, Jesus was a community organizer.”

Wow. Obama is sure in good company. Then Donna Brazile, big Democrat, repeats this nonsense after it got repeated on Daily Kos that Biblical brain trust, and adds that Pontius Pilate was a governor. Well, Donna, back to the Gospels for you. Jesus wasn't on trial for organizing, he was on trial because he called himself GOD as in, I AM THE WAY, I AM THE TRUTH, I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE, I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD, and so forth. I AM has deep meaning in scripture, and it doesn't mean IAMACOMMUNITYORGANIZER. He wasn't organizing anyone to do anything except repent, get baptized and serious about worship. I don't think that's what community organizers following the Saul Alinsky model do. Having 12 ordinary type guys leave their jobs and listen to your teaching while you cast out demons, give blind people sight and feed 5,000 with a few fish and loaves of bread is not "community organizing," it's called proving who you are. Nor is facing down Pharoah and demanding that he free the Hebrew slaves and then leading them to the gates of the promised land called community organizing. You guys are embarrassing Obama, and he's got a big enough ego without this!

Plus, Pilate said three times he couldn't find anything wrong with Jesus, and then listened to his wife who said she'd had a dream. Pilate disclaimed any responsibility for Jesus' death (which is how the Jews came to be blamed, instead of all of sinful mankind), and put a guard at the tomb.

According to Philo and Josephus, Pilate was a mean old dude who infuriated the Jews by desecrating the holy city of Jerusalem. There were mass protests and many Jews were killed by Pilate, and supposedly he committed suicide when called to Rome to answer to the Emperor.

If Palin isn't influencing any women who weren't on board in the first place, if she's just dumb trailer trash with librarian glasses, why in the world are you guys so terrified of her that you are not only rewriting history, but ripping out pages of the Gospel and rolling them for a smoke?

Desperate Democrats who can count

Just like they used to count Vice President Cheney's military deferments, Democrats are now counting Vice President elect-to-be Palin's colleges. They found six (no one knows about Obama's undergrad record or transcripts or whether he attended on a diversity plan, because that would be racist to reveal; but it's not sexist to question a woman's record). Knowing that my husband (h.s. class of 1957) had about as many deferments as Cheney or more, I decided to count my colleges, and came up with at least five, including one in Indiana that has changed it's name, so don't ask which one, and one in Maine (I think it was Colby) where I partied too much and never transferred the credit I did get (a C I think), so the U. of I. has no record that I attended. What U. of I. does have for me is a record number of course withdrawals, because I would hit the road if my grades weren't high enough, and withdraw before the deadline. Now, my standards were a bit high--I didn't like getting B's and I didn't take easy courses, but that method did keep my accum in the A- range. Then when I went to graduate school (library science) we were required to take tests in four areas, whether or not we'd taken the classes for credit, although the tests would have no impact on our grade average or continuing in school. I failed all four, but had straight A's in grad school--obviously those tests didn't test anything we had in the courses.

You just can't please a Democrat. They didn't like George W. Bush's Ivy League credentials, didn't matter he had better grades than Kerry. All their guys but one (was it Biden?) voted to go to war, but it's all GWB's fault. They built the hysteria about WMD to cover for their guys, and then denied it to the high heavens. GWB ignores them and their criticism, he won't govern by polls and focus groups and a desire for a legacy--and they hate that because then they can't manipulate him. I hope Palin does the same. Democrats are such snobs and whiners. And to think I used to be one for 40 years!

Speaking of college educations, if all you did was invest your kids' college costs in an IRA for four years, when s/he retired he'd have much more than your neighbor's son who went to Yale, Columbia or Harvard with their huge endowments and Marxist professors. Or maybe send her to a small state university, save the difference and see how far she can go.

Deja Vu--the Clinton middle class tax cuts

Obama says he will give tax cuts to 95% of the American people. We've heard it before. Bill Clinton said he was going to give the middle class tax cuts during the 1992 presidential campaign. (Obama doesn't seem to know that the poor don't pay income tax, but that's another blog.) It didn't take long for Clinton to change his mind--about a month, because The NYT called him on it on February 18, 1993, about a month after his inauguration.

"In selling his economic plan, President Clinton is gambling that voters never took seriously his campaign promise to lower the tax burden of the middle class and will respond favorably to an aggressive pitch based on equal measures of hope, fear and class revenge.

After months of polling and research, Mr. Clinton's top political advisers say they are convinced that middle-class voters will support higher taxes. The advisers say the voters will see the new taxes as the price of great improvements in Government service and as inflicting a just punishment on the rich who profited during the Reagan and Bush Administrations." Complete story

Apparently, the voters did forgive him, because they gave him another term (I'd learned my lesson by then and didn't vote for him in 1996). But the lesson of history is, don't believe any candidate when he/she promises to reduce your taxes. It's just campaign rhetoric. What's scary is, Obama has actually promised to raise taxes--but of course not for you and me, just on corporations and the rich. Yeah.

Foul, Fowler and Fowlest

What is it with Democrat party poo-bahs named Fowler? First there was that Fowler guy who joked about Gustave arriving just in time for the GOP convention, and now Carol Fowler, who has an incredibly low opinion of women who use a choice she doesn't approve of. Choices, you see, are only for Democrats.

The South Carolina Democratic Chairwoman, Carol Fowler, offered the kind of shot at Sarah Palin that the Republicans have been complaining about, but which Democrats have largely avoided, in an interview with Politico today. Fowler said McCain had chosen a running mate "whose primary qualification seems to be that she hasn’t had an abortion." Politico

The change line from 2000 campaign

This morning on WOSU I watched a rehash of past presidential debates--Dole and Clinton, Gore and Bush, and I think there were references to others, but by then I was in the shower. It's interesting to listen to the Bush campaign promises of 2000--he was promising change, and was running as an outsider. Also he and Gore agreed on what to do if the U.S. were attacked--retaliate. So I looked at the transcript of the Oct. 11, 2000 debate, and see that Bush stayed with his vision for the Middle East, even if you don't think declaring war to preserve peace makes sense (it's a common theme through out history). Both men were equally firm about defending Israel and "friends." It was interesting how often they agreed on the Persian Gulf, Rwanda and Saddam. They could have easily been running together instead of on separate tickets.

Bush: Peace in the Middle East is in our nation's interests. Having a hemisphere that is free for trade and peaceful is in our nation's interests. Strong relations in Europe is in our nation's interest. I've thought a lot about what it means to be the president. I also understand that an administration is not one person, but an administration is dedicated citizens who are called by the president to serve the country, to serve a cause greater than self, and so I've thought about an administration of people who represent all America, but people who understand my compassionate and conservative philosophy." Gore: "We need to insist that Arafat send out instructions to halt some of the provocative acts of violence that have been going on. I think that we also have to keep a weather eye toward Saddam Hussein because he is taking advantage of this situation to once again make threats, and he needs to understand that he's not only dealing with Israel, he is dealing -- he's dealing with us if he is making the kind of threats that he's talking about there." Bush: "I think it's important to reach out to moderate Arab nations, like Jordan and Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. It's important to be friends with people when you don't need each other so that when you do there's a strong bond of friendship. And that's going to be particularly important in dealing not only with situations such as now occurring in Israel, but with Saddam Hussein. The coalition against Saddam has fallen apart or it's unraveling, let's put it that way. The sanctions are being violated. We don't know whether he's developing weapons of mass destruction. He better not be or there's going to be a consequence should I be the president." MODERATOR: People watching here tonight are very interested in Middle East policy, and they are so interested they want to base their vote on differences between the two of you as president how you would handle Middle East policy. Is there any difference? GORE: I haven't heard a big difference in the last few exchanges. BUSH: That's hard to tell. I think that, you know, I would hope to be able to convince people I could handle the Iraqi situation better. MODERATOR: Saddam Hussein, you mean, get him out of there? GORE: " . . . I was one of the few members of my political party to support former President Bush in the Persian Gulf War resolution, and at the end of that war, for whatever reason, it was not finished in a way that removed Saddam Hussein from power. I know there are all kinds of circumstances and explanations. But the fact is that that's the situation that was left when I got there. And we have maintained the sanctions. Now I want to go further. I want to give robust support to the groups that are trying to overthrow Saddam Hussein, . . ."

The amazing technicolor campaign

Lipstick? We're listening to pundits argue about what an old saw about a pig in lipstick means? A man makes a slip in discussing faith and says Moslem instead of Christian and the talk shows have a melt down? Come on, folks. Let's get real! He got a laugh from the lipstick comment, then he segued to something about a fish wrapper, and flubbed it. Consider my theory. Obama attempts to talk in four vernaculars--the Kansas, mid-western twang of the grandparents who raised him, the snobbish Kerry-esque of the Ivy League schools he attended, the obscure, murky language lawyers use, and the patois of the ghetto. Are you surprised he sometimes mixes up his idioms, jargon, slang and metaphors? Admit it. You would too if you weren't sure who your audience was.

Update: an 8 page list of figures of speech (used in scripture) with the English translation.

Another convert

He was a 60s war protester, a community organizer, a Jew, a New Yorker in the midwest and he hired Obama for his first job in Chicago. He's also a convert to Christianity and is now a Roman Catholic. Read the story of Jerry Kellerman here at Busted Halo. Watching the angry leftists attack Palin for her religion (Pentecostal, Bible based, pro-life), makes me think Christians are getting some payback for denying Obama's faith. Let's stop throwing stones at those the Lord has forgiven and welcomed into the Kingdom. Even if you (left and right) don't understand the concept.

15 reasons to like Palin

and why Janet Folger says Governor Palin on the ticket will lead to McCain's victory in November:

1) She is solidly pro-life. When running for office, Palin called herself as "pro-life as any candidate can be." But what about the tough cases? She's not only right on paper; she's put her faith to action. In April of this year, Palin gave birth to a child with Down syndrome and feels blessed that God chose her to care for this special baby.

2) She is pro-marriage. Palin opposes redefining marriage. She supported the Alaska Constitutional Amendment to protect marriage as the union of one man and one woman, which passed in 1998 by nearly 70 percent.

3) She is pro-God. While a lot of people talk about God and claim Christianity, we judge a tree by its fruit. And Sarah has it. We can see it all the way back to high school where she headed the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and led the team in prayer before games.

4) She's fiscally conservative. As mayor, Palin kept her campaign promise to reduce the salary of the office and reduced property taxes by 40 percent. Homeowners can stand up and cheer. Shortly after taking office as governor, Palin auctioned the state's jet on eBay. Taxpayers can now cheer – finally someone who'll pass up the perks to serve us.

5) She is pro-drilling. Palin has been an articulate spokesperson for drilling, including opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, in direct opposition to Obama, Pelosi and the Democrats who insist we buy our gas from the terrorists.

6) She is a woman. The 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling are about to shatter. Thank you, Hillary, for helping to pave the way. But Palin's not just a woman – she's the right woman.

7) She has executive experience. She is the only one running who has the executive experience needed to help lead this country.

8) She is outside the Beltway. You could hardly get farther outside the Beltway than Sarah Palin in miles and in philosophy.

9) She is pro-gun. A life-long member of the NRA, Palin is someone who really believes in the Second Amendment. She woke up at 3 a.m. to hunt moose with her father before going to school. When that 3 a.m. call comes, she's already up and ready.

10) She is pro-defense. She was visiting the troops in Kuwait and wounded soldiers in Germany long before she was running for vice president. That other guy didn't even visit them when he wanted to become commander in chief. Her son, Track, enlisted in the Army on Sept. 11 of last year and will be deployed to Iraq on Sept. 11 of this year.

11) She is against corruption. Palin fought corruption even within her own party and publicly questioned Republican Sen. Ted Stevens about the federal investigation that resulted in indictment.

12) She is young. The youngest governor ever to hold office in her state. Younger and more experienced than what's-his-name.

13) She has already won over McCain opponents. Dr. James Dobson, who has said in the past that he would not vote for McCain, with Palin on the ticket, is now enthusiastically behind him with "the same excitement he felt when Ronald Reagan was inaugurated."

14) She turns voters into workers. Callers on my radio program who were previously apathetic said the choice moved them to tears and would move them to action. It has not only turned non-voters into McCain voters, it has turned those who were only planning to vote into those who are willing to work – and work hard.

15) She represents "change." While the other ticket talks of "change," the first woman on a GOP ticket is a far cry from the same ol' same ol' Washington insider choice Obama made.

The Republican Party is breathing fresh air. And hope is now more than just a word in this election.

Story here.

Doesn't look like America

On C-SPAN this morning there was a droning, boring press conference with Sean McCormack of the State Department (yesterday). It followed the usual format: the reporter jams as much information into the question, including long quotes from government documents, as he can, then twists it to try to catch the administration official, knowing it won't be answered. Then the spokesman says something to the effect, "I can't speak to that," or "I'll have to check on that and get back to you," or "As you well know, the Congress blah, blah,. . ."

The final question was on diversity in the State Department--and why doesn't it look more like America, and could he supply specific numbers. He agreed; it doesn't look like America, despite goals and plans, and that he would look into the rules and regulations about which department has those figures.

The camera angle/view then moved back as the event ended and the press corp stood up to leave the room (before this I hadn't seen how many people were in the room, but the spokesman knew them all by name). Interestingly, that group didn't look like America either. I think I saw two women (although with clothing styles, it is hard to tell), and maybe two people of color, one of whom was foreign (from the accent). Pot to Kettle.

Change you can xerox

Here's an interesting story from a Canadian blogger. Says Obama's been borrowing phrases again.

Taranto looks into community organizing

"As a "community organizer," Obama toiled within a subculture of such abject dependency that even home repairs were "social services," provided by government (or, in Obama's Chicago, not provided). It was an utterly bizarre intersection between the cultural elite and the underclass. By Judis's account, Obama's Columbia degree was useless. He would have been more helpful if he'd gone to vocational school instead." Story here.

PUMA not happy with "surrogate" headline

"Obama to Dispatch Female Surrogates, the NYT validated Obama’s claim to having executive experience, I guess Obama didn’t like that, so he put in word, and then, presto, the New York Times turned it into something about the Obama CAMP , that faceless entity that makes decisions for the Lord Obama. . ." PUMA Who knew the NYT would take orders from Obama?

Who ya gonna call, Ohio?

"The latest numbers also show that overall, McCain is trusted more than Obama by a 54% to 41% margin. In addition, the plurality of voters (42%) say they would not be comfortable at all with Obama as president. Just 25% say that about McCain. If voters were faced with the toughest decision of their lives, 54% say they would rather ask McCain for advice, while 38% would choose Obama." Rassmussen poll, Sept 9

What Sarah's got that her savagers don't

"In short, Sarah Palin is the emblem of what feminism was supposed to be all about: an unafraid, independent, audacious woman, who soared on her own merits without the aid of a patriarchal jumpstart, high-brow matrimonial tutelage and capital, and old-boy liaisons and networking." Victor Davis Hanson

Fourth time--is it a charm?

I picked up my new glasses this morning. This is the fourth pair since early June. I had selected dark, rectangular frames (sort of early 1960-ish), all the rage right now, but got some strange reflection, like a prism, where the lens and frame met--tried 3 different styles, both metal and plastic. I finally said I would have to go back to something similar to my old pair, with a frame only at the top. This photo is either the first or second pair, when I wore them occasionally in Italy in June. The third pair I could see distance and computer range, but couldn't read comfortably. I wore those about 15 minutes. No one will even notice the fourth pair because even I can hardly tell them from the old ones.

Palliative is now pro-active

Don't miss this very disturbing article at Junk Food Science about end-of-life care, palliative care, government health insurance, and new legislation in California which requires caregivers to encourage patients to end their lives when a cure isn't possible.

"As similar distortion of the meaning of palliative care was also seen in a very troubling editorial that appeared in the August issue of the American Journal of Nursing, suggesting that nurses can and should help terminally ill patients hasten their dying. It was authored by Judith Schwarz, Ph.D., RN, who is the clinical coordinator for the northeast branch of the assisted suicide advocacy group, the Hemlock Society, now calling itself Compassion & Choices in the Northeast. She is also the contributing editor for ethical issues for the American Journal of Nursing. Her editorial was republished online by the Nursing Center."

Like abortion, the wording of the California bill is couched in "choice" terms. "Compassion & Choices" is the new, improved and laundered name of the Hemlock Society, the pro-suicide group, and it was the sponsor of the California bill. It's a long article, I can't summarize, so go there and read it. Judith Schwarz, whose opinion piece is in the AJN is having a workshop on 9/11 in NYC. How tacky is that? In her photo she looks like an older Nurse Ratched.

Time out for a commercial

I love Bounty paper towels. If you're buying the 60 cent kind that melts in your hand as soon as it hits water, how are you saving money? I just cleaned my entire kitchen with 3 half sections of Bounty! First I folded it to fit my hand and then dampened that. I wiped down the glass stove top which is very picky. Then I rinsed it. Then I wiped down the marble counter tops and wood cabinets, rinsed and cleaned around the faucets. Then I sprinkled Bon Ami in my 18 year old ceramic sink which gets stained easily because of scratches and scrubbed hard with the folded piece of Bounty. When it was sparkling (rinsing the towel as I went), I scrubbed the two sink drainers (metal), rinsed, and then the inside of the garbage disposal. I rinsed again, then wiped down the marble floors, which are almost as cranky about what you can use as the glass stove top. No dirty sponge gather bacteria or rag to wash.

I also use Bounty to quick cook fresh veggies in the microwave, by placing a soaked piece on top of the raw veggies in a small glass bowl. It also works marvelously for warming up left overs, because they don't dry out in the reheating--just place a damp piece of Bounty over the bowl or dish. They are soft enough to grab a piece for a table napkin if you are out, or even in place of a Kleenex. I've also used them in place of table mats. When we eat on the deck, a section of Bounty and some Windex (glass table) does the trick in seconds.

I've tried the others, but they just don't hold up! Around here Bounty is about $1 a roll, and if you buy humongous quantities, they may be less, but I rarely buy more than a package of 8, and keep a roll in the kitchen, the bathrooms, and the laundry room.