Where is Paulson now in the new bill?

On Sept. 28: "The draft legislation, which will be put to a House vote on Monday, gives Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. and his successor extraordinary power to decide how the $700 billion bailout fund is spent. For example, if he thinks it wise, he may buy not only mortgages and mortgage-backed securities, but any other financial instrument. . . Rarely if ever has one man had such broad authority to spend government money as he sees fit, with no rules requiring him to seek out the lowest possible price for assets being purchased." NYT here

This is the scariest part of the bailout. Haven't heard a thing today about him. We don't even know who will be in this position come January. Hey--could be Barney Frank! Fannie, Freddie and Frankie.

Text of the EMERGENCY ECONOMIC STABILIZATION bill--it's huge. It should be a requirement that no one is allowed to vote who hasn't read the bill.

Bill and Barry disagree on banking

Barack Obama's tale is pretty fishy. It's not the way Bill Clinton remembers it.

"In BusinessWeek.com, Maria Bartiromo reports that she asked the former President last week whether he regretted signing that [1999] legislation. Mr. Clinton's reply: "No, because it wasn't a complete deregulation at all. We still have heavy regulations and insurance on bank deposits, requirements on banks for capital and for disclosure. I thought at the time that it might lead to more stable investments and a reduced pressure on Wall Street to produce quarterly profits that were always bigger than the previous quarter.

"But I have really thought about this a lot. I don't see that signing that bill had anything to do with the current crisis. Indeed, one of the things that has helped stabilize the current situation as much as it has is the purchase of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America, which was much smoother than it would have been if I hadn't signed that bill. . .

The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act passed the Senate on a 90-8 vote, including 38 Democrats and such notable Obama supporters as Chuck Schumer, John Kerry, Chris Dodd, John Edwards, Dick Durbin, Tom Daschle -- oh, and Joe Biden. Mr. Schumer was especially fulsome in his endorsement."

Story here.

Swimming with the sharks

What media bias? Gwen Ifill is moderating the debate tomorrow. We already know 97% of blacks are voting for Obama, that about 90% of the MSM have been cheering him on. She's both. A two-fer. We've already seen and heard her dismissive comments about Palin. The choice of words and sneer say it all. We know she's releasing a pro-Obama book due soon. So why is someone so in the tank for Obama moderating the debate?

I fully expect Joe Biden to be declared the winner on Thursday. I don't even have to watch. Even if he just stands there and looks goofy and says Teddy Roosevelt led us into WWII and dropped the A-Bomb on Germany in 1949. It won't matter what he says, because I saw last week's and Obama was declared the winner when he clearly wasn't. Now, it wasn't a huge gap, McCain could have been younger and more physically not disabled, he could have been more critical of Bush the way the Democrats want him to be, and he could have been taller. But he wasn't, so of course, Obama was clearly the winner as he smirked and scowled and sniveled.

Gwen Ifill assures that Biden will be the clear winner.

Humanitarian Design

Where I grew up in rural Illinois, we called this a chicken coop. Now it's called good design, and it's what architects with a social conscience have come up with for Biloxi. Read about it here.

Usually I recommend an architect designed home as superior to anything you can find in a book or magazine, but I have to disagree here. . . "As they faced utter devastation, many didn’t know they could do better than buy plans from hardware stores or use drawings that church groups had downloaded from the Internet. “It opened opportunities to do things people hadn’t thought about before,” " Where is Better Homes and Garden house plans when you need them?

Back to basics in credit and health

There's a parallel in health care to the economic crisis--and you might die of this problem before your pension recovers because there is little attention to the basics of the spread of infection. When I was hospitalized for 2 days upon our return from Italy in June, I was not impressed by the cleanliness and sanitation of the first class hospital paid for by my first class health insurance (the bills aren't all in yet, but it is over $6,000) through Medicare and State Teachers. On the other hand, the staff was pleasant, attentive and caring, and I'm sure they score A+ on that. That I spread whatever I had around the ER waiting area for 8 hours didn't seem to matter.

Our country seems to be collapsing from the clutter and fall out of "the next best thing." In health care it is antibiotics and endless expensive social studies about gaps based on race, gender, and quality of insurance coverage, and in government it is faulty loan practices by the lenders because of social engineering from Congress also sick with gapitis.

There are well established steps to prevent infections in hospitals. And even today with widespread information available on the growth of super bugs, doctors may ignore them. Even in the 1980s when I worked in the Veternary Medicine Library at Ohio State I was seeing a return to interest in infectious diseases--antibiotics having already run out of miracles. We knew in the 1990s that workers in vet hospitals were transmitting bacteria to their sick charges, or taking things home to their own pets, just because of poor disinfection of rooms, equipment, and (!) artificial fingernails, which are terribly difficult to keep clean.

Laura Landro writes on super bugs in today's Wall St. Journal, and it isn't anything new that will save us--it's a return to basics.

[Peter Pronovost, a professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine] With no new antibiotics immediately on the horizon for either class, preventing infections "comes down to blocking and tackling," Dr. Pronovost says -- quickly diagnosing infections, using appropriate antibiotics and "going back to basics" such as getting health-care workers to wash hands.

In partnership with the Michigan Hospital Association, Dr. Pronovost developed a program to prevent bloodstream infections, which can be caused by both gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria and often strike patients in ICUs with large catheters inserted into their veins. With five practices -- handwashing, draping patients before inserting the lines, cleaning the skin properly, avoiding catheters in the groin and removing them as soon as possible -- the consortium reported that the rate of infections in Michigan ICUs dropped by 66% over an 18-month period. The process saved more than 1,729 lives and $246 million.

Dr. Pronovost says that while the steps are well-established, his research shows doctors skip steps more than a third of the time. Today, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, part of the federal Department of Health and Human Services, plans to announce that it will provide funding to expand Dr. Pronovost's program to 10 other states.

If you borrowed money for a home before the mid-90s, you can probably come up with five basics that the Congress and lending institutions have been igoring for a decade.

1. good job
2. good credit rating
3. no more than 1/3 of monthly income for housing expenses
4. neighborhood with sound housing stock
5. 20% down so buyer would have something invested

Time to clean up the bugs in hospitals and Congress.

Perhaps the dumbest thing in this article by Ms. Landro is the report that HHS plans to expand funding for Pronovost's program to 10 other states. Haven't we known this for a century? More posters reminding doctors to scrub down (up?) at a million dollars a pop?

Longing for the 60s

Even boomers hate to grow old and see their star setting (and their pension funds shrinking). Never fear, old Al Gore is here, with the same old 60s agenda and methods, and getting really bold. On Sept. 24 at the Clinton Global Initiative he said, "If you’re a young person, I believe we’ve reached a point of civil disobedience . . . to do things like take down coal plants." Notice, he's not going out to get arrested or his head bashed in by angry locals--nope, wants the young'ns to step up and put the miners and townspeople out of jobs. Just like he doesn't want to reduce the size of his jet or his house, but he wants you to sit in the dark or use funny light bulbs made only in China in their coal factories.

Maybe that's an issue that can be addressed at the debates on Thursday.

"Mr. Biden, how do you plan to protect the poor and middle class as the troublemakers on your fringe try to bring down the coal, oil and natural gas industries before alternatives and technology are in place--for instance, your predecessor recommending civil disobedience at coal plants. Will you be flying by glider to meet with important foreign dignitaries to make use of your vast experience or will you be flying on a wing and a prayer?"

In today's WSJ, a reader William L. Anderson, writes: "If Al Gore's pet projects (he's a major partner in Kleiner Perkins) had to compete head-to-head with coal fired plants, his return on investment would be near zero, and would be negative if these projects were not heavily subsidized through tax breaks and out right payments from taxpayers. Thus, Mr. Gore is trying to hamstring the competition, and in doing so will become a very wealthy man."

And if he and the Democrats are successful, Ohio's economy as well as that of other coal states will be ruined, punishment I suppose for the 2000 and 2004 elections.

Ohio--you need to vote for the candidates who won't ruin our economy--McCain-Palin.

“This crowd couldn’t make sausage”

“The 228-205 defeat reflects badly on all concerned, starting with the Democrats who run the House. The majority party is responsible for assembling a majority vote, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi failed in that fundamental task.

Her highly partisan speech on the floor -- blaming "right-wing ideology of anything goes, no supervision, no discipline, no regulation" for the financial distress -- is no excuse for Republicans to vote no. But it is indicative of the way she has governed for the past two years -- like Tom DeLay without the charm. The cynics are saying Ms. Pelosi deliberately tanked the bill by giving 95 Democrats a pass, knowing failure would hurt John McCain, and given her track record we can see why people would believe it.”

That’s harsh. Even I don’t think Nancy would sink that low. Destroy the economy to get Obama elected? Hmmm. Well, maybe she would.

The beltway crash

A bank regulator tells his side

John Corby on 610 a.m. in Columbus offers a call-in show with topics from uses for bacon (yesterday) to what's the dumbest trick you pulled as a teen-ager. Today, the subject seems to be a bit more serious--the government bailout. As I walked in the door (I was outside picking up branches from the storm 2 weeks ago) I heard

--a bank regulator saying the banks were forced into the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) and each bank had to have a plan and a department. Bank field examiners spent over 50% of their time enforcing the Act, which took away from the enforcement of safety and soundness of the investments. Every bank in the nation, under the CRA, had to reinvest part of its own capital in the community, i.e. lending to borrowers, primarily minorities, who were not qualified for loans. This participation (which was forced) showed the banks were supporting the community. The caller said he and other bank employees who realized what was going on would have never been able to speak up for fear of losing their jobs, and that those who oversaw the CRA at his bank were the most liberal and militant in the organization. Then the banks were blamed for all the subprime loans they were forced to write. From the horse's mouth

Before we taxpayers fund the bailout, we need to dump the CRA which started the downward plunge and abandon this crazy idea that everyone needs "the American dream." And that includes its slush fund, Housing Trust Fund, which goes to the states for local organizations to put poor people in housing (which usually no one else would buy) including my own church. It's a nightmare for many. There needs to be good, sound, affordable housing stock. But it doesn't mean that every welfare mother who's taken a training program in computer programming and found a decent job should be shoehorned into "affordable" housing with a mortgage which will be a burden to her and her children. I'm sure this was all done with the best intentions, but the consequences have resulted in a national crisis. These same people in a good rental or subsidized housing with an adequate investment vehicle on the side would have been far better off and not experienced one more failure in their lives.

"The CRA forces lenders to spend money, time, and resources on documentation, PR, and other compliance costs. Moreover, the examination process to determine the level at which a bank is meeting its CRA obligations can sometimes take several months. This has become a major point of leverage—and source of funding—for “community” activist groups. Lending institutions, rather than face the increased expense of a slowed deposit facility application due to a CRA challenge, have committed over $7 billion to such groups and $23 billion to community development lending projects since 1977. Some companies seek to mitigate the threat by funding activist groups’ projects, instead of reforming their overall approach to community reinvestment, according to Jonathan Macey of Yale Law School.

Groups like the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), aware that even small delays in approval can result in substantial losses of money for financial institutions, have been exploiting such a strategy for years. For example, Chase Manhattan and J.P. Morgan donated hundred of thousands of dollars to ACORN around the time that they applied for permission to merge." The Community Reinvestment Act's Harmful Legacy March 20, 2008

How electing Obama will hurt the poor

1. The National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL) gives him a score of 100% on his pro-choice voting record. I think Ashley Judd noted that in a TV enterview yesterday (Hollywood stars are important supporters of our glamcan). Did you know approximately 79% of Planned Parenthood clinics are placed in target minority neighborhoods. While African-Americans make up only about 13% of the U.S. population, their abortions account for 35% of the total. Since Roe v. Wade was passed in 1973, there have been 13 million African-American abortions in a U.S. black population estimated at some 37 million. Genocide against the poor is a not-so-subtle way to reduce poverty.

2. A lot of you think the poor don't pay taxes. Oh, they do, just not federal income taxes. That's for the middle class and rich. But by far, the rich pay the largest share of federal income taxes. Along with their big incomes, they have big, hot shot lawyers and accountants. Obama will actually get less tax money if he rescinds the Bush tax cuts, but that doesn't matter, because what he cares about is "fairness." Punishing the rich by taking from them. So he'll need to drop down a few pay grades to the ordinary middle class to make up the difference.

3. But we have all kinds of taxes factored into our system. That $1,000 tax rebate for working families? Guess where it will go. Look at your computer or your shoes or a lightbulb. Wrapped by and bundled in taxes from the designer's table to the cashier's hand. And Obama's plan to "tax the rich" will affect every product and service the worker and non-worker alike has to purchase. If you think shareholders will earn less or CEOs will just roll over and accept less, think again. The cost of the product and service will go up. The poor pay a larger percentage of their income for food and basic services than you do. Every product that gets to the store has been taxed many times at many levels by many businesses, and those are the very folks Obama wants to tax more. Why in the world would you think that cost wouldn't be passed on to you? Or to the poor?

4. When the cost of gasoline goes up because Obama and friends are going to make it increasingly difficult to be energy independent with oil and coal as well as new technology and alternatives, it's the guy earning less than $40,000 who will be hurt the most, and it's his family who will have less money to spend because it is going into the gas tank.

5. When electricity rates go up because Obama and friends don't like coal, will they ask the working poor to sit in the dark and not turn on their TVs?

6. When the environmental regulations keep getting stepped up by Obama and friends, it's the poor who will be hurt the most with new requirements for their homes, and automobiles.

7. The only accomplishment of the current Democratic Congress (other than the failed bailout) has been the increase in minimum wage, which always hurts the entry level worker and the small businessman the most. We can expect more of this.

8. Obama's dislike and denigration of the military and its worth will close one more door for the poor who will be discouraged from joining the military with a lackluster, weak Commander in Chief. They have traditionally used this method to learn skills and get an advanced education while building their sense of pride and self worth in a country gone soft and valueless. He would rather they become totally dependent on the government rather than serve their country with honor.

9. Obama and friends will up the global warming hype, hurting the poor first, not only in our own country, but also those in the third world.

10. And of course, if Obama wins, racism is over! After all, if he doesn't win, it is racism that kept him from the White House. So if he wins, we're past all that. No more race-based benefits from the government. Think of that!

John calls Katie on her Gotcha Journalism

You go, John! Someone should teach her some manners, and if it has to be you, go for it. I think we'd all get better TV news if the interviewee would smack down the journalist--right or left--when she inserts her own politics, whether Charlie Rose or Greta van whatsit.

John McCain: Of course not. But, look, I understand this day and age of "gotcha" journalism. Is that a pizza place? In a conversation with someone who you didn't hear … the question very well, you don't know the context of the conversation, grab a phrase. Gov. Palin and I agree that you don't announce that you're going to attack another country …

Couric: Are you sorry you said it?

McCain: … and the fact …

Couric: Governor?

McCain: Wait a minute. Before you say, "is she sorry she said it," this was a "gotcha" sound bite that, look …

Couric: It wasn't a "gotcha." She was talking to a voter.

McCain: No, she was in a conversation with a group of people and talking back and forth. And … I'll let Gov. Palin speak for herself.

Check the video, yesterday in Columbus. (I don't watch Katie, but my son told me about it so I looked it up.)

John Kerry unhinged

Watched him on Fox last night. A scary dude. So glad he was defeated in Ohio in 2004 which kept him out of the White House.

It's very clear the Democrats have dropped the bailout ball--going all the way back to President Carter in the 1970s when this social engineering of the poor began with the "American dream" of home ownership and expanded under Clinton in 1993. Did the rich get richer? You bet. Oh, and the agencies, lobbyists, and foundations that mushroomed to help the poor. How many jobs did they produce for recent idealist college grads? The rich usually benefit in these social engineering programs, particularly the people putting them in place with the regulations and loop-holes, blocking reform. The Chris Dodd and Barney Frank dog and pony show--wonder how much richer these guys were in 2007 compared to 2004? Well, guys, it's probably gone now, at least on paper--but the people in Congress don't seem to suffer that much, do they? Fewer rich people for Obama to tax. And you know what that means, don't you? The tax man cometh for you.

I don't always recommend a Wiki, but I'm in a hurry to get to my volunteer job today--if you're a Democrat or Marxist, there will be plenty of sources pointing the other way, but you'll have to find them on your own:

"In early 1993 President Bill Clinton ordered new regulations for the CRA which would increase access to mortgage credit for inner city and distressed rural communities.[7] The new rules went into effect on January 31, 1995 and featured: requiring strictly numerical assessments to get a satisfactory CRA rating; using federal home-loan data broken down by neighborhood, income group, and race; encouraging community groups to complain when banks were not loaning enough to specified neighborhood, income group, and race; allowing community groups that marketed loans to targeted groups to collect a fee from the banks.[4][6]

The new rules, during a time when many banks were merging and needed to pass the CRA review process to do so, substantially increased the number and aggregate amount of loans to low- and moderate-income borrowers for home loans, some of which were "risky mortgages." " Community Reinvestment Act

Real food

in times of real stress and real need. Today I looked up the raw peach to check the nutritional value. It is low in calories and fat, but high in carbs, so nutritionists seem to think they are a mixed blessing. Not me. When I was a little girl, my nickname was Peachy. I love peaches. Apples, particularly Honey Crisp, are my first choice, but I'm out--only have Braeburn and Gala on hand. So I sliced up two peaches (leave on the skin) and grilled lightly in some margarine, sprinkled with cinnamon and a touch of vanilla, topped with a 1/2 cup of whole walnuts, and I'm enjoying a warm, delicious breakfast almost as much as if I had an apple. My favorite way to eat peaches is in warm peach pie with vanilla ice cream.

If you're under stress because of what is happening to your pension or your plans to buy a new home, you'd better stop with the salty, crunchy snacks that provide pleasure and no benefits and start with some good food. Real food. In the long run, it's a bargain. It will cost you less to eat real food, you'll feel like you're doing something useful (preparing), and you'll get more mileage for your dollar.

Today I chatted with a man at the coffee shop who has a very important job. He was having a large coffee, a large cinnamon roll, and a large chocolate chip cookie. He needs to be kinder to his tummy and brain.

Monday Memories--credit for the payroll

In 1960 I was a secretary at a small tool and die company in Indianapolis. I ran the office, answered the phone, prepared invoices, filed, wrote the checks for payroll, ordered supplies--the usual, plus made the coffee and cleaned the restrooms. After a few days of my coffee, the boss relieved me of that job. My boss was good looking for an old guy--he was about 33 and had a glass eye (I was 20 so he seemed ancient.)

After a month or so, and I learned to drive the truck, I was sent downtown to the bank to get a loan either for payroll or for the next job. I just did what I was told, but even I knew the boss was borrowing against a job that most likely we didn't have yet, or was a long way from the design table. But it all seemed to work.

I hadn't thought about that little building with the gravel drive-way and the trips to the bank to borrow money for the boss who hadn't finished elementary school until thinking about all the companies this week wondering about their line of credit for payroll, remodeling or new products. One or two missteps and I think that Indy bank would've owned the company and my boss's house. Now we have to wait and see what the brilliant minds with years of experience and advanced Ivy League degrees who got us into this mess will do to save our homes and businesses.

A note to visitors behaving badly

Think of visiting a blog as visiting another's home, or sitting in a restaurant overhearing a conversation, or waiting in line at the theater listening to the opinions of the others interested in the same film. Don't loose your manners just because you think no one will know. If you read something here you don't like, fine, leave a comment. Make your case. But if you insult me because I'm not a Democrat, or not a Marxist, or not your religion or not your sex, or you're young and I'm old, and you bring out the spray paint or throw your feces instead of being reasonable and joining the conversation, then you will be deleted, tossed in the trash. Think about your own home or property--you would not want such trespassers behaving badly, would you?

The good news

Sandy always looks on the bright side and refuses to be scared by government stats asking for more money:

after infancy, old age is the single biggest risk for dying. In 2004, the death rate was:

0.08% for ages 18-24 (38% lower than in 1950)

0.19% for ages 35-44

0.42% for ages 45-54

0.91% for ages 55-64 (52% lower than in 1950)

2.16% for ages 65-74

5.27% for ages 75-84

13.82% for ages 85+ (32% lower than in 1950)

Dying of cancer is one of the biggest fears for young adults, but it can be reassuring to realize that, despite the media portrayals, cancers are primarily diseases of aging. Overall death rates from cancers are 0.09% for ages 25-34 years and don’t even cross above 1% until age 75+. Health of the Nation

Greeting McCain-Palin in Columbus

A friend and I met near her home and drove to Franklin Park Conservatory on Columbus' east side, then boarded a bus to Capital Center on the campus of Capital University. The huge line wound around the streets of Bexley, down an alley, past all the t-shirt, political button and bumper sticker hawkers, until finally we got inside the building. It was great fun with the opportunity for a lot of people-watching before the candidates arrived to loud cheers, roars and music. Of course, there were a lot of university students there, but also people with babies and children. I was surprised by how many disabled people had made the effort to be there--and it was not a comfortable environment if you were on crutches, a cane or in a wheelchair. Palin's promise to be a voice for those with special needs in the White House was met with loud cheers. Although, she could've given the weather report and been cheered. The crowd loved her. Eat your heart out Katie Couric (if you have one). You should be so popular.

Democrats in favor by 140-95

But they blame Republicans for the failure of the bailout bill? Huh? Not a single Republican vote was needed to pass this rescue, plus they insulted John McCain when he returned to work on it. Pelosi is an embarrassment to her party and position--all she did was nag and whine.

Do you remember what you weighed in 7th grade?

I do. I was 5'3" and 114 lbs. by the end of the school year. We had "public" weigh-ins. I don't know how common that was, if it was the teacher's idea, the county or the state; it may have been included on our grade reports. I wasn't teased. Some were, and I'm sure it was a miserable experience for them. No one would put a child through that today. Or would they?

Arkansas has been held up as a national model for its childhood obesity program. The 4th annual report is now out. Junkfood was removed from the schools, nutrition and wellness was included in the curriculum, and exercise and physical activity were included for a recommended healthy lifestyle. The Arkansas Act included compulsory BMI screening with reports sent to parents. Even by the third report, no reduction in childhood obesity was shown, and by the fourth participation was down. It seems the counties with the fewest number of overweight children were showing the most underweight children, and there's concern that the intense focus on weight and a healthy lifestyle might actually be causing children to adopt unhealthy behavior!

Sandy at Junk Food Science has a complete run down on this Arkansas program, and has covered it before, citing studies that show BMI in childhood means nothing for health in adulthood and low-fat diets for children aren't good for their development. In fact, no one even knows what a healthy BMI is for children, and it was never meant to be a diagnostic tool for "good health." Also, there's concern that in a poor state, this unproven program has taken important dollars that could be better used elsewhere (math, science, reading, for example).

Since Act 1220 was enacted in 2003, it has failed to have any measurable effect on children’s weight status; it has failed to demonstrate meaningful improvement in their overall diets or physical activity levels; it has failed to demonstrate improved health outcomes; and there are growing indications that it’s having unintended consequences. Parents, healthcare and educational professionals, as well as taxpayers, might rightfully question if the costs for these school-based initiatives might be better utilized in efforts to help improve the future of Arkansas’ children.

Another really interesting read at Sandy's blog is on the myth of the thin Old Order Amish (Lessons from the Amish), those guys who eat healthy and get lots of exercise--like 12-16 hours a day!

It’s one of the most popular contemporary myths — and the foundation of present-day obesity public policies — that if we all lived rural lifestyles and did hard physical labor all day; ate homegrown, homecooked foods; and had none of today’s modern conveniences and electronics, we would all be thin. It’s a nostalgic vision of past eras ... but it’s not true.

Even living these idealized lifestyles, eating virtuously and physically active far beyond what most of us could imagine, the Old Order Amish are just as fat as the rest of the United States white population. In fact, the average BMIs of mature Amish women (over age 40) are 1-2 kg/m2 higher than those of other U.S. women the same age.

I think the jury is still out on why we're all getting so fat. Maybe we can blame global warming and President Bush.

Inspiring sights and sounds

Thursday I was at the Lane Road Library and parked very close to the walking path that borders the park next to the library. There was a frail woman, a little unsteady--maybe 65-70--walking by herself. She was quite thin and wan, but the glow on her face could have lit up the town. I'm guessing she was recently released from the hospital after surgery or chemo or both and was so grateful to be out and moving on her own. She looked joyous and was taking in every bird, leaf and blade of grass that we miss in our routines. Then later in the day I was doing the mail run for the church and had to back out because a home health van was blocking my exit. The driver hopped out, opened the back doors of the van, and carefully maneuvered a large man in a wheelchair on to the lift, and was lowering it. I couldn't see the man's face--so I don't know who he was. But I thought of all the effort it took for him and his caregivers to get him to Lytham Road so he could attend a Bible Study for an hour. Probably several hours.

Because of the nice weather, we've been able to have the windows open at night, and during the night I can hear the trains--maybe 2 miles from here. Since our Amtrak cross country trip in 2003 I've loved hearing the trains. It's a fabulous way to see the country and meet the folks.

Which candidate understands foreign policy, war, energy and security?

Michelle Obama and the answer.