Reference questions

Today when you go to the library, ask a question. Try to find a librarian, though. I don't think it gives the staff quite the same sense of "ah-ha, a live one" that a librarian (MLS from an accredited institution) experiences. "Where's the rest room?" or "Can you fix the printer?" don't count.

I love to read through the questions that bring people to my site. Because I write on so many topics, these robotic spiders scroll around a page and match up some strange words or sentences--like the first name of a mayor's wife with the Latin name of a plant. Not quite up to my road kill or black birds in a pie diseases that I used to get at the Vet Library, but interesting. Since about 9 p.m. last night these are some of the more interesting questions that brought people to my blog. I get anywhere from 120 to 180 hits a day, depending on what I'm writing about. If a big poo-bah blogger links to me, it might spike to 350 for a few days. Sometimes they just glance and move on, sometimes they stay for 30 minutes to an hour.

who administers zostavax in san antonio? [Let me get back to you on that]

how to do my thoughts [just stir gently and half bake]

lakeside "raccoon run" results [do you want 2008? I have photos but no results]

abercrombie and fitz "the christmas field guide" [Yes, I'm getting Christmas catalogs too]

24th mapping squadron [I'm 3rd from the top on this one]

dadsandsons near blogspot [is this a boolean question]

"catholic social doctrine" "joe biden" [bingo]

how come there are so many anti-obama books and no anti-mccain books [probably because no one thought he'd be the candidate--check Daily Kos--they hate him and Sarah over there]

orbiter can opener review [I have a great review on this topic--even a photo]

cnn report, in 2008, new peal medicine for cancer used in europe [this sounds fascinating but I'm not sure what "peal" is. Learn to type in just the key words

The Emmys

Primetime Emmy Awards “inexplicably attracted the franchise's smallest audience in its history. A mere 12.2 million viewers watched an . . . “orgy of trophy dispensing and politically charged speechifying.” (WaPo, Sept. 23)

Yes, ageism and sexism was in full flower--racism of course, has been entirely eliminated from their scripts. The entertainment industry mined that vein dry years ago. For that you have to read the recent polls of the Democratic party which show some ordinary working folk are tired of being called names and constantly insulted by the rich know-it-alls in their party. They're just not sure they want to pull the lever (punch the button, mark the ballot) for Obama.

It’s been years since I’ve seen an awards show. 12 million people with nothing to do--sounds like a lot of dumbed down couch potatoes to me. But I’ve seen snippets of this one. Oh, that prune political joke was almost as amusing as the SNL joke on incest, which is also going around and continues to insult women who make a difference and run for political office. Yes, the American entertainment industry deserves an award all right. You begin to understand better the view of the radical Muslims on the worth of pop culture. But hey, I share the blame. I have a TV in every room (except the dining room), and went to three or four movies this summer.

Stephen Colbert, eating from a bag of dried plums, told co-presenter Jon Stewart: "Right now, America needs a prune. It may not be a young, sexy plum. Granted, it is shriveled and at times hard to swallow. But this dried-up old fruit has the experience we need."

Generous Joe Biden lectures Americans on what Jesus would do

"Catholic social doctrine as I was taught it is, you take care of people who need the help the most." I wonder what percentage this is of his gross? Probably imperceptible.

Source. If you're not happy with this source, take it up with someone else.

Cooking the books

"Shocking exposé hit the Street last week about one of the best-loved, all-American companies: Fannie Mae, the mortgage and financial services giant. The report, written by the company's regulator, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, offered a litany of accounting improprieties at the company. You might call it "In the Kitchen With Fannie: How to Cook the Books for Fun and Profit.""

That was the story four years ago, Sept. 26, 2004 in the NYT. But even with this report, Franklin D. Raines, the company's chief executive 4 years ago, and his predecessor, James Johnson, got their bonuses. (NYT Sept 26, 2008)

Then in April of this year, paying much less than the government ask for: "Raines, former Fannie chief financial officer Timothy Howard and former controller Leanne Spencer were accused in a civil lawsuit in December 2006 with manipulating earnings over a six-year period at the company, the largest U.S. financer and guarantor of home mortgages.

Raines, a Seattle native and prominent Washington figure who was President Clinton's budget director, is relinquishing company stock options, proceeds from stock sales and other benefits. His part of the settlement is worth $24.7 million. . ." He'd worked in two different Democratic administrations, made over $91 million from 1998-2004, and blamed the Bush Administration for his problems. [Does anyone in the government from the janitors to the President ever accept the blame for mistakes?] "Raines, the first black CEO of a Fortune 500 company, has been trying to restore his reputation and challenge shareholder suits. Raised in a Seattle family that relied on welfare checks, Raines broke through racial barriers to become an adviser to President Carter and head of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget from 1996 to 1998 under Clinton." (Seattle Times, April 18, 2008 [AP])

Breaking through racial barriers to be a first anything is not necessarily a guarantee of success. And just fining the perps more millions than the rest of us can imagine obviously doesn't solve the problem either.

So what did the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight report to the Congress [Chris Dodd, Chair of Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs and Barney Frank, Chair of Financial Services, both Democrats, now squawking and pointing fingers at Republicans] this year--four years later? Well, Fannie and Fred were rising to the challenge, the Director said.

"[Fannie and Fred] were able to fulfill their key mission of providing stability and liquidity to the conventional conforming loan market. Their support of the mortgage market grew by 15 percent in 2007 versus 8 percent growth in 2006, to a total of $5.0 trillion in guaranteed mortgage-backed securities outstanding and mortgage investments. Their market share of total mortgage originations grew from 37.4 percent in 2006 to 75.6 percent by the fourth quarter of 2007. There is increasing pressure for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to do even more to support the mortgage market, which is problematic in absence of GSE reform legislation to strengthen the regulatory process."

Do you feel stable yet? Did GSE reform legislation [that means Congress has to do something] happen? Did the Chris and Barney dog and pony show just toss the report into the circular file? And the press release explaining how they plan to get to root causes doesn't make me feel any better. Sort of sounds like the Secretary of the Treasury will be the most powerful man in the world. Don't remember electing him, do you?

I'm just reading my script

was her response to my interrupting her "just 4 quick" questions about what did I think about middle class families getting squeezed by American companies getting tax breaks to go overseas. Wow. How many times have we seen that ad on TV? It is Ohio, you know. Well, I threw it right back at her and asked where did she think these companies were supposed to go when our unions and environmentalists have driven them out of our major cities. I told her I was a pensioner, and where did she think my income was supposed to come from, yada yada. Poor thing. "I'm just reading my script" she whimpered. I hope she's getting minimum wage and not being paid under the table or working as a volunteer.

60,000 greet Palin at The Villages in Florida

The big question: Was Murray there or was he still in Mt. Morris playing golf?

The Villages, a vast, upscale planned community north of Orlando, has about 70,000 mostly adult residents -- many of them military retirees -- who vote reliably Republican in statewide races. Tens of thousands inched along roads into the picturesque town square of the complex, where they stood in sweltering heat for about four hours as local GOP officials and a country band revved up the crowd.

"Sa-Rah! Sa-Rah!" they chanted at every mention of her name, applauding loudly and waiving tiny American flags that were distributed -- along with free water bottles -- by local volunteers. The fire chief estimated the crowd at 60,000. Story here.

The first news story I found on this included so much editorializing, I had to skip it and find something more reliable. The "reporter" didn't even slip in quotes from other candidates to give his own point of view--just blabbed away. I don't mind opinions, but when I read a news story, I'd prefer something else--like reporting. Save opinions for blogs and the editorial page.

The Politics of Hollywood

Chris Matthews observed in an interview this morning that since the beginning of the Cold War in 1947, Hollywood hasn't made a single anti-Communist film. I had just turned on the radio, so I don't know the context. I suppose he meant Hollywood in the genre or form sense, not the place. I have no way of checking that information--even with Google that would be tough, because anymore, what is "Hollywood?" Someone would be sure to find something anti-Mao or anti-Stalin (although that's not anti-marxist, just the person) on film that got swept up. And they even make movies in Ohio--that's flyover country that liberals only visit during presidential campaigns. However, it does make some sense. There have been a lot of movies about WWII, Nazis, and blacklisting Hollywood communists. The Nazis killed far fewer people than the Communists did. Of course, the Communists have been in power longer, and killed millions upon millions of their own citizens (and it continues through starvation in North Korea), not just "others" like Jews, East Europeans, gypsies and the disabled.

But American liberals have out done even the Soviet, Chinese and North Korean Communists. We Americans killed probably well over 40,000,000 unborn babies since the early 70s, and untold millions of Africans by taking DDT off the market--our own Rachel Carson holocaust. Add to that record, our global warming hysteria and regulations which will bring death to people in undeveloped countries. Already our regulation-crazy Democrats have pushed the Iraqis to sell their oil to the Chinese rather than mess with our rules. And in case our warm and fuzzy liberals have forgotten, the Chinese are still Communists who need oil. So, who am I, or Chris Matthews who raised the issue, to criticize the blood money of rich Hollywood investors, producers, directors and actors?

Why the liberals want Obama

To assuage their guilt, which unless they have a history of owning slaves, carpet bagging, red lining, organizing to bus black children out of their neighborhood, guarding the school door with guns, or dissing their black co-workers, is most likely misplaced.

This is the final argument in a "Letter to the Dispatch editor," Sept. 2.

“Obama's election would tell this country and the world that America is better than it has seemed recently. Watching again Ken Burns' The Civil War epic on television is a grim reminder of where we were. Obama can be a telling statement of where we are now.”

JOHN W. VanDERVOORT
Columbus

This is the most pitiful reason I've ever heard to choose a president--because of what you've done wrong in the past and to please people in Europe and Asia (like they've never had an ethnic or racial problem!) rather than what he can bring to the office through his abilities and experience. What an impossible burden to put on Obama!

Wasn't this settled?

Eat less, move more, don't smoke. "Combined impact of lifestyle factors on mortality: prospective cohort study in US women," Rob M van Dam, BMJ 2008;337:a1440 Here.

I guess it needed more study. Alcohol consumption was also part of the study, but there are trade offs, depending on the amount. The danger is always that "light" will move on to "excessive," thus eliminating the health benefits.

Conclusions
Avoiding cigarette smoking is of pivotal importance for the prevention of premature death. In our study of middle aged women, adherence to lifestyle guidelines involving a healthy diet, regular physical activity, and weight management was also associated with markedly lower mortality. Of note, our results indicate that a healthy diet and regular physical activity have important health benefits independent of reducing adiposity. These findings underscore the importance of intensifying both efforts to eradicate cigarette smoking and those aimed at improving diet and physical activity.

The non-epidemic of AIDS

Just as people who aren't buying into the "we can control the world" pantheism theme of global warming are sneered at and vilified as deniers, so also were those who denied that AIDS was an epidemic EVERYONE needed to fear. You didn't even need much biology to figure out that it was gay men, bi-sexual men, intravenous drug users and sex workers who had the problem. But no, we were constantly bashed if we believed AIDS is a very specific problem that threatens some people with very specific behaviors. And even then, we knew intuitively that it was the extremely promiscuous gay men who were immune compromised from other venereal diseases who posed the most risk to other gays. The monogamous librarians raising some kids and a garden out back probably weren't the same threat as the swingers hitting the bath houses in San Francisco.

The problem is this; raising funds for a disease is a little gold mine--and once you're on a roll, no one wants to give that up. If cancer disappeared tomorrow, millions would be out of a job and a reason for living. It's incredibly political--think of the Bush-bashing if he doesn't pour enough money into AIDS; or how much love and warm fuzzies former presidents can get by funding a foundation to fight AIDS. In Africa, the money for AIDS is stealing from the general health of the population.

In his paper 'The myth of a general AIDS pandemic', Professor Chin argues that UNAIDS has been very successful in raising unprecedented global financial support for HIV/AIDS programmes, but has achieved this by 'grossly exaggerating the scope and trend' of the pandemic. While Professor Chin stops short of accusing the agency of deliberately lying, his implication is that UNAIDS has depended on inaccurate alarmism to ensure a continued flow of funds to the innumerable NGOs, government programmes and activist groups that constitute the AIDS industry.

While no-one is denying that AIDS remains an extremely serious problem in certain parts of sub-Saharan Africa, UNAIDS' distortions have had serious implications for global health. Because AIDS budgets in many African countries are now often bigger than the entire national health budget, this has led to distortions in the provision of overall primary care, with carers, clinicians and other scarce resources being diverted into AIDS, undermining funding for basic health services.

Story at Medical Progress

Maybe Chin won't call the UNAIDS a bunch of liars, but I will. Don't be manipulated by the disease mongers. Know where your own money and your tax money goes.

Same old Ellen

I thought for once I might agree with Ellen Goodman when the headline read, "Women need to get over Palinitis." Nope. It really sticks in her craw. She used the entire column to quote all the haters and fear mongers, and then adds her own snarky, snippity, cynical, trash-talking cant to insult and demean not only Palin, but those Republicans and Hillary supporters who plan to vote for her. How does this help her candidate? If you were even considering Obama, but liked the idea of a woman that close to power who didn't get there on daddy's money or hubby's coattails, are you really going to appreciate being insulted by some snooty, back biting, feminasti columnist? Is that how Democrats expand their base? By being base?

Family Religious History Chart

At my other, other blog, Church of the Acronym, I wrote about finding the Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture at Wheaton College. I had started out looking for a modern translation of Egeria's travel guide to Jerusalem (a fourth century Spanish nun), but you know how it is on Google--it's really a delightful surprise package. Anyway, in addition to reading assignments, quizes etc. in the course (History 483), "Christianity in North America from the colonial era to the present," there is an assigned paper (a few exceptions) in which the student develops a chart for four generations of her/his own family beginning with self, listing the religious affiliations of each family member as fully as possible and briefly noting other important religious/social data.

This would be a piece of cake for me: my parents, their parents, and their grandparents and some of their great-grandparents were all part of the Church of the Brethren (the name since 1908; earlier name was German Baptist Brethren, or Dunkards). Mother's German-Swiss ancestors and Dad's Scots-Irish ancestors were all part of the same faith family. Going back any further, things get a little murky. I know there were Mennonites and Lutherans on Mom's side, and Presbyterians and Methodists on Dad's. In the chart the student is to include important conversion or revival experience, if they were part of an acrimonious church split (the Brethren frequently split) and if they were part of an ethnic minority (wasn't everyone except the English?). Then the 2nd part of the assignment is to write a 12-15 page research paper placing some aspect of the student's religious family history in the context of broader themes in the history of American Christianity. If it were me in the class, I'd write about education, because the Brethren came later than most Protestant groups to the importance of education (it was worldly), but then squabbled about it and established printing presses, Sunday Schools, high schools and colleges. So my great-grandfather (David) learned only enough to read the Bible and do some math for his carpenter job, and his daughter (Mary) went to college--a huge jump in just a generation. His psalter was in German (he was probably 4th or 5th generation American), and she knew only English.

Can you track your family's religious journey four generations?

Peggy Noonan worries

What if neither one is up to the latest crisis?

"A fearless prediction: My beautiful election enters its dark phase.

Lots of signs of the new darkness. Mr. Obama's army is swarming, blocking lines when Obama critics show up for radio interviews. A study out Thursday said the Obama campaign has become more negative than the McCain campaign. There is the hacking—no one at this point knows by whom—of Sarah Palin's personal email account. From Mr. Obama himself, a new edge. He tells an audience in Elko, Nev., to "argue" with McCain supporters and "get in their face." Bambi is playing Chicago style. No doubt everyone around him has been saying, and for some weeks now, "Get tough." But this is not how to get tough, and it does not reflect a shrewd reading of what the moment demands. People want depth, not ferocity. We've got nerves that jingle-jangle-jingle.

And it gives Mr. McCain a beautiful opening. He can now play Oldest and Wisest, damning the new meanness more in sorrow than in anger.

There's another reason things will get more mean than meaningful. Here is the tough, sad, rather deadly assumption I see rising among our media people, our thinkers, observers and chatterers, the highly sophisticated who've seen'em come and seen'em go: It is, again: What if neither of them is the right man? What if neither of them is equal to the moment? What if neither party is equal to the moment? Article here.

Remembering the Depression

I don't and most likely neither do you, and it looks like our Administration and the two presidential candidates haven't even read a magazine article about it, let alone a history textbook or taken an economics class. Couldn't they have at least listened to their parents tell stories of the "bad old days?"

I think the older McCains were out of the country, and Obama's father and his parents were in Africa in those years, so unless his Hawaiian grandparents mentioned it to him, he probably knows nothing either. Obama's confused about money anyway and where it comes from (Biden's son was a lobbiest, Fannie, Freddie, and Hollywood have funded his campaign with bazillions and still he poor mouths about a bad economy, etc., and he never had two nickles until the Bush years, but he's had a brain freeze), so we'll give him a pass.

But I do remember this, from what my parents told me. Dad and Mom were never unemployed and they owned their own home (maybe two different ones, but I don't remember when they bought the house from my early childhood). Their college closed after a bad fire and there was no money to rebuild. There must have been scholarship money, because that's how Dad went to college. However, a college education meant nothing then; they worked in a printing plant, took in roomers, and Mom worked as a housekeeper for awhile. My maternal grandparents lost most of their wealth in the 1920s equivalent of the tech bust of the 1990s--they had over speculated in farm land during WWI. After the war ended, no one needed all those commodities and the bottom dropped out for the American farmer long before it did for Wall Street investors. Also, my grandfather was just a careless manager. Even in bad times, personal skill matters. But they still hung on to three farms through hard work.

But things didn't really go south until Franklin Roosevelt took over. The U.S. could have been spared a lot of pain and loss if the government--all of them--had acted more responsibly and infused less socialism. If you think things are a mess now, just wait until Obama tries to equalize everything.

I've been listening to the media and the Democrats hammering "this economy" since the run up to the 2004 election, so to paraphrase what I heard on a CNN special today from a reporter who belatedly has realized that just maybe her job is on the line too if the media continues to dig this hole deeper--let's all just breathe.

The distorted Gospel of liberal Christians

A member of a UCC congregation thought I was singling out her branch of Christianity in a previous post. I wish it were only UCC-ans who had the problem of following another Jesus (the community organizer Jesus), but it's mainline Protestants in general. I simply observed that you can tell Obama is a Christian because he follows the path of the UCC by imposing change and repentance from the top down instead of allowing God to work in the sinner. I won't go into all eleven pages of a sermon given at a WordAlone convention in 2007 by Rev. Prof. Karl P. Donfried, Dr. of Theology, but here's a brief summary in that presentation of what's happening in my denomination/synod, ELCA, Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, with headquarters in Chicago.

“. . . the ELCA has, for all intents and purposes, jettisoned Scripture as the anchor of our faith by removing it from its creedal and confessional context and because the ELCA has allowed those who reject this Lutheran context to be among its most prominent interpreters. Instead of proclaiming a Gospel of grace and redemption that calls sinful humanity to repentance and new life, the ELCA adamantly promulgates a message based on secular humanism that is fixated on issues of racism and sexism, and that is more concerned with establishing new rostered racial justice monitors than it is with feeding and nurturing the ordained pastors of this church. This alien and distorted Gospel, no longer drawing on the deep wells of Scripture as classically interpreted, is now actualized through a political agenda of good works that is hell bent on rectifying the injustices of a selfish and violent world with superficial language about “social justice” that seems to aspire to the highest levels of naiveté. At every corner exuberant banality appears to be the order of the day."

As a way of explanation, UCC is way out in front in "good works" and revising Biblical texts to change the world (since Jesus didn't or couldn't), the latest being marriage of homosexuals, adding homosexuals to clergy rosters, and falling head first in the cesspool of modern environmentalism that will eventually destroy any hope for an improved life for third world citizens. But that's only because they are the oldest in the United States being descendants of the Puritans. The Lutherans didn't even have a hymnal in English until about 130 years ago, having come here not from England, but Germany, Scandinavia, the Baltics, etc. and eschewing "diversity" and the English for about 100 years.

The other day I took something into the church to be photocopied--a list of the beautiful paintings by Jeri Platt of mission work in Haiti (second floor, Mill Run campus). I glanced down at the staff member's desk and my eye fell on a printout that included the words, "diversity" and "social justice." Groan. Probably sponsored by a government grant like our summer lunch program, but I just didn't ask. It's too upsetting to see the church and the gospel co-opted by the "exuberant banality" of government-speak.

Will Bush follow FDR's bad legacy?

It wasn't the crash of 1929 that put this country into a 10 year Depression, it was the government policies that followed trying to correct from above. First Hoover, then Roosevelt. FDR cleaned up his legacy with WWII, but he drastically extended the Depression which preceded those years and set the ground work for a huge federal bureaucracy.

In 1933 there was a moment when the U.S. really did seem poised for recovery -- the moment of Franklin Roosevelt's inauguration. Confronting the banking crisis, President Roosevelt did what President Bush, Congress and the Treasury are likely to do in coming days: create a mechanism to sort out banks and their holdings, to separate good assets from bad. Story here at WSJ

I hope somebody in Washington has read American history. We know the direction Obama will take--any route that takes freedom away from the American people, especially people who have investments and personal assets who aren't dependent on the dole. But what about McCain? He's speaking out, but he was in Congress too. Obama was only "present," a newcomer who was basically a cut-out observer who has been running for president most of his term, but McCain actually was there. What's his record on Fannie and Fred and the Fed?

Charlie Rangel calls Palin disabled.

Even for a Democrat under investigation for tax evasion, this is the lowest of low. Keep going guys, you’re only helping the McCain-Palin ticket calling supporters and undecided “disabled,” “racists,” “clingers to religion,” and other words those among the beltway do-nothings think are pejoratives. But the “differently abled” folks aren't so thrilled with this comment either, even if they mistakenly think Democrats are their champions, you liberals of both parties who think the disabled should be eliminated before birth.

Don't give up your day job

Recently I switched my opening page from Dell(?) to Google, after trying RR for awhile. I'm happy with the Google page because it seems a bit more straightforward, not so dependent on pop culture, and it's easy to select the news source from its list. I was viewing Business Week looking for information on the recent government bailouts, but found their series of videos less than satisfactory. When the cable networks put up the talking heads, I think they've been vetted a bit, but these people need a good haircut, some decent make-up, and a little work with a voice coach. Back to reading the news for me. Let's see what Congress will do. Will the Democrats rather have the economy go to hell in a handbasket thinking they will win the election like they tried to sabotage the war effort?

Yesterday, SiteMeter was wacko again, don't know if anyone else noticed. And Blogger was posting constant error messages. I suppose some may be after affects of the storms. This threw my TTLB way off again, careening like a sunken polar bear on melting ice.

I made another pot of homemade cream of tomato soup and shared it with my son who couldn't believe I hadn't added any sugar--it's quite sweet.

Women paid less than men

The line in the Helskinki Compaint Choir that I love is, "women are still paid less than men." Yes, you're hearing this tidbit slipped into the anti-McCain campaign ads, too. It's a ploy to get women voters, although they are pretty much in the tank for Obama anyway. Yes, more appealing to the victim mentality. No wonder Sarah Palin was a breath of fresh air!

I've written more than once on this myth, even using my own experience when I went to my boss and complained, only to find out the other woman (a minority) had an additional degree, and the guy--well, he had asked for more in his job interview, which means we started out at different levels, levels on which our promotions and merit pay were built.

The September 10 issue of JAMA is all about medical education. After they get their school loans paid off, and practice loans under control, most doctors do quite well. So, how are women doctors doing? I didn't see anything about salaries, but the specialties women enter as compared to men are certainly revealing.

According to Appendix II, "Graduate Medical Education, 2007-2008" compiled by Sarah Brotherton and Sylvia Etzel, women are collecting in certain areas of medicine. A wild guess here, but these are fields that are not among the highest paid, but probably offer more flexibility in scheduling to accomodate family needs. If they start to whine in 20 years, I hope someone refers them to this article. And the male doctors need to watch out too--because if they choose a specialty dominated by women, their own incomes will go down. Sorry, folks, I didn't write the rules, I just live by them. Here's some areas of specialty where women are more than 50%. Keep in mind, some of these programs are quite small--if transplant hematology only as 3 people, and 2 are women, they have 66.7 of those slots. Also, you'll notice a preponderance of women in the areas of family and children, from OB/GYN, to peds, to geriatric.

allergy and immunology, 56.1
pediatric anesthesiology, 54.6
dermatology, 63.8
pediatric emergency medicine, 74
family medicine 54.4
geriatric medicine 58.7
endocrinology, diabetes, metabolism, 67.4
rheumatology, 58.3
transplant hematology, 66.7
medical genetics, 59.4
molecular genetic pathology, 58.3
neurodevelopmental disabilities, 87.5
obstetrics and gynecology, 76.7
blood banking/transfusion medicine, 70.3
cytopathology, 65.6
pediatric pathology, 62.5
pediatrics, 72.8
pediatric rheumatology, 75.4
pediatric rehabilitation, 75
psychiatry, 54.3
child psychiatry, 59.3
psychosomatic medicine, 66.7
a number of combined specialties included children
all with high representations by females

Also, it looks like most of tomorrow's abortion doctors will be women.

Who can clean up this financial mess?

I don't know, and neither does anyone else, but I have two observations.

1) We should stop being so hard on people who from time to time need help from the government, either because they've lost a job and didn't have savings, or because the boyfriend has walked out on a mother with three children, only two of whom are his. Stuff happens. And if it can happen to our best educated receiving king-sized paychecks and all sorts of breaks from the Government, then it can certainly happen to the little guy. These bail outs are corporate welfare.

2) McCain hasn't been too self-revealing about specific financial plans, but Obama through out his campaign has, so we know what he will do:

1. He will raise taxes, but only on the most successful, the brightest and best
   
2. It is patriotic to have your taxes raised, so quicherbitchen
   
3. He will demand more regulation, as though the financial industry doesn't have whip smart lawyers and accountants who know how to put Senators on their payroll
   
4. He will send more corporations who employ Americans rushing to set up shop overseas where regulatory climates are friendlier
   
5. He will take even more campaign money than he already has from the guys who have been causing this current mess, because TV ads and Hollywood parties are so expensive
   
6. He will set up more goon squads so that you can't hear on the radio or read on the net what he's up to, because that would be racism if his true colors were known

Now, that's just what I know from watching his campaign ads--I haven't read much of his web page except for what Daniel, a Catholic Democrat Librarian Obama-lover has posted on his own web site.

So it's time for John and Sarah to speak up. We've got the Obama message down pat. Speak up, John.