A sinner saved by grace

Remember Mr. T? He was one my son's favorite TV characters. He has a nice testimony at Belief.net.

I was baptized when I was four years old. But when you’re younger you really don’t understand that stuff. Then I got rebaptized in 1977. As a Christian you forgive and you feed the hungry, and clothe the naked, and you visit the sick, and comfort the lonely. If I’m a true follower of my lord and savior Jesus Christ, I got to do the things you’re supposed to be doing. You just can’t say, "I believe in Jesus" and then don’t forgive somebody [or] hold a grudge against somebody. Don’t get me wrong--if somebody jumps me I’m gonna fight, but I don't send out hate vibes if I don’t like that person or the way that they dress. That’s negative energy. Then there is a contradiction to the God I serve, the God of love. He forgave me, and I should do good to the people who cross me.

In 1979, before I got famous, there was a contest called the Toughest Bouncer in America. I used to bodyguard for some celebrities and other people, and when I wasn’t doing that I used to work at a disco as a doorman or a bouncer. When I started training for the contest I called my pastor, Rev. Henry Hardy of Cosmopolitan Community Church [in Chicago]. I’ve been going there since 1977. I said, “Pastor Hardy, they’re having a contest, and when I win this contest I’m going to give you the money, so you can buy food and clothes for less fortunate people in the community." I won two years in a row—it was over $10,000. I didn’t have no car then, but I was blessed. So I gave the money freely, and then my blessing came back in the form of "Rocky III." A very nice interview here.

Voters to Weigh In on Ballot Initiatives on Election Day

In my opinion, if the moral leadership at the top is as deformed and stunted as Obama's, the local issues may not matter that much, but we all have local issues--school bonds, rezoning, e-regs, gambling casinos, and the ones that aren't clear--like Ohio's payday lenders. Here's a item from my husband's AIA newsletter, The Angle. I think architects must be torn. On the one hand, they are small businesses, and salaries and commissions are low. Obama's new taxes will kill the little guy, opening up more opportunities for the mid-size and larger firms to move in for the kill. On the other hand, they can't make it without the government contracts, and they are salivating over the go-green hype.

"Next Tuesday’s election has voters buzzing about the presidential candidates and the many congressional, state, and local races. However, ballot initiatives, unless they are highly controversial, tend to fly under the radar and do not receive the necessary press coverage so voters can fully understand the issues.

In this election, there are 152 initiatives on ballots across the nation.“Ballot initiatives bypass legislatures and put lawmaking power directly in the hands of the people,” notes Billie Kaumaya, manager of AIA State Relations. “For this reason, it is very important for voters to research each issue and to make an informed decision.”With that in mind, the State Relations team has compiled a chart of just some of the initiatives on the ballot next week that may impact architects and encourages members to further investigate these initiatives:

Taxation Initiative Summary

Arizona Proposition 100: Prohibits state and local governments from establishing a new tax or fee on the sale, purchase, or transfer of real property.

LiabilityInitiative Summary

Arizona Ballot Number 201: Issues a Homeowners’ Bill of Rights.
Sustainability/Energy Efficiency Initiative Summary

California Proposition 7: Requires utilities to generate 20% of their power from renewable energy by 2010, 40% by 2020, and 50% by 2025.

California Proposition 10: Provides $1.25 billion for research, development, and production of renewable energy technology and offers incentives for purchasing solar and renewable energy technology.

Florida Ballot Number 3: Authorizes the government to prohibit consideration of the installation of renewable energy source devices as a factor in property assessments for tax purposes.

Missouri Proposition C: Requires investor-owned electric utilities to generate or purchase electricity from renewable energy sources. Requires 2% of the retail sales to be from renewable sources by 2011, 5% by 2014, 10% by 2018, and 15% by 2021.

Land Use Initiative Summary

Georgia Amendment 3: Authorizes the state legislature to provide for the creation and regulation of infrastructure development districts. Allows counties and municipalities affected by these districts to approve their creation.

Louisiana Amendment 6: Removes certain restrictions for the taking of blighted property when property is taken for the removal of a threat to public health or safety caused by the existing use or disuse of the property.

Nevada Question 2: Prohibits the government from occupying property taken in an eminent domain action until the government provides all property appraisals. Requires the government to prove that property taken in an eminent domain action be taken for “public use.” Provides that just compensation be at the highest assessed value. (Nevada law requires constitutional amendments to pass in 2 consecutive elections. This also passed in November 2006).

Rhode Island Question 2: Authorizes a $2.5 million bond to purchase or protect conservation easements and public recreation easements, greenways and other open space, recreation lands, agriculture lands, forested lands, and state parks.

Water Infrastructure Initiative Summary

Maine Question 3: Authorizes the state to issue a $3.4 million bond to raise funds for drinking water and wastewater programs, including the construction of such facilities.

Missouri Constitutional Amendment 4: Limits the availability of grants and loans to public water and sewer districts only. Removes the limits on the amount of funds available.

Ohio Issue 3 Protects: private-property rights for owners of land with underlying groundwater or non-navigable waters located on or flowing through the property.

Pennsylvania Bond Question: Authorizes the state to borrow $400 million for grants and loans for the acquisition, construction, improvement, expansion, extension, repair or rehabilitation of drinking water system, storm water and no-point source projects, nutrient credits, and wastewater treatment system projects.

Building Permits Initiative Summary

Oregon Measure 63: Exempts owners of residential or farm property from building, plumbing, electrical, and mechanical permits and inspections when making certain changes or those totaling less than $35,000 in one year.

To view all of the ballot initiatives in your state, please visit your state’s election page."

Sarah Palin will appear at Road to Victory Rallies in Canton, Marietta, Columbus and Owensville today!

Road to Victory Rally with Sarah Palin-Canton, OH

McKinley Senior High School

Canton Memorial Fieldhouse

1735 Harrison AvenueCanton, OH 44708

Sunday, November 2ndDoors Open: 9am

Road to Victory Rally with Sarah Palin-Marietta, OH

Marietta College Dyson Baudo Recreation Center

215 Fifth Street Marietta, OH 45750

Sunday, November 2nd Doors Open: 11:30am

Road to Victory Rally with Sarah Palin-Columbus, OH

Lane Aviation - Rickenbacker International Airport

2295 John Circle DriveColumbus, OH 43217

November 2nd

Doors Open: 2pm

And November 3rd, tomorrow at

Road to Victory Rally with Sarah Palin-Lakewood, OH

Lakewood Park14532 Lake Avenue(at Belle Avenue)

Lakewood, Ohio 44107

Monday, November 3rd

Doors Open: 6:30am

It's your money

This is a composite of two ads that have come to the house--don't know if they are on TV because I don't watch it much. The guy in the middle is Tony Rezko, whom you may remember is under the bus with grandma, Rev. Wright, and Father Phleger until the pardon comes through. A dear Friend and Fundraiser. The one on the right looks a little like Bill Ayers, unrepentent terrorist, but is actually Allison Davis, who got a $20 million piece of pork. Davis and Rezko were partners, but the connection to Obama goes further back--Obama used to work for him (a lawyer). The Sun Times says Davis' father was the University of Chicago's first African-American professor, and maybe so, but in the photo he's lighter than I am. When I worked at OSU our minority recruiter told me you only needed to be 1/32 minority to qualify for a scholarship or aid, and I think Davis misses that by at least one generation.

The man on the left is Kenny Smith, a campaign volunteer, who got a $100,000 grant and is being investigated (as of 9/25/08). Now it's small potatoes compared to the credit card fraud to raise campaign money, and the Tony Rezko deal, but I think those of you from Illinois ought to peek under the kickback rug of his Illinois campaign to see what other pots are calling the kettle black.

A $100,000 state of Illinois grant for a botanic garden in Englewood was awarded by Obama in 2001 to a group headed by a onetime campaign volunteer, Kenny Smith. It was never built, plus according to the Sun-Times, $65,000 of the grant money went to his wife. Kenny B. Smith, heads the Chicago Better Housing Association, which was in charge of the project for the blighted South Side neighborhood. He was a volunteer in the Illinois congressional campaign. Smith wrote another $20,000 in grant-related checks to K.D. Contractors, a construction company that his wife, Karen D. Smith, created five months after work on the garden was supposed to have begun, records show. K.D. is no longer in business. Well, what a surprise. Condensed a bit from the Sun Times story.

But the original plans for this Englewood garden goes further back and awarding state money, back to Obama's failed congressional race. Obama vowed to "work tirelessly" to raise $1.1 million to help Smith's organization turn the City of Chicago-owned lot into an oasis of trees and paths. But Obama lost that race, no more money was raised, and today the garden site is a mess of weeds, chunks of concrete and garbage. The only noticeable improvement is a gazebo. Try, try again. He still owed Kenny and Karen.

The AG of Illinois, Lisa Madigan, is a Democrat, and just like our Jennifer Brunner in Ohio she's really had a struggle figuring out if there's been any hanky panky. (It almost makes me wonder if women should have been given the vote--weren't they going to do things differently, dump the good-ol-boy stuff?) The article I found was over a month ago, and I don't recall any outrage about this like what exploded over Joe the Plumber's small tax lein in Ohio and giving his middle name. His story made international news overnight with the help of someone "plumbing" the computer records of the State of Ohio's computers. What is it with Illinois' AG--doesn't anyone know how to hack the records?

What's for dinner?

Lots of bloggers write about the facts of life things--menus, cleaning, health tips, auto-repair, etc. I need to once in awhile because of my unrelenting Obama-Bashing during the campaign. I mean you could go crazy looking at all the Obama lies and mess ups. Today after church in the narthex, a blog reader came up to me and said, "Norma, why don't you just say what you mean, speak your mind?" Being funny of course.

So for dinner today:

baked, wild caught salmon
baked red skin potatoes
tossed salad with cherry tomatoes, broccoli, mushrooms and shredded carrots
sugar free banana chocolate pudding topped with fresh raspberries

Best campaign video I've seen

Also the best quality and the most informative. Great voice-over. Watch the whole thing. What I like is the theme, "words matter. I don't know who you are."

Who could support such a heinous crime?

Barack Obama does.

"This Act may be cited as the "Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003"

SEC. 2 FINDINGS

The Congress finds and declares the following:

(1) A moral, medical, and ethical consensus exists that the practice of performing a partial-birth abortion -- an abortion in which a physician delivers an unborn child's body until only the head remains inside the womb, punctures the back of the child's skull with a Sharp instrument, and sucks the child's brains out before completing deliveryof the dead infant -- is a gruesome and inhumane procedure that is never medically necessaryand should be prohibited.

(2) Rather than being an abortion procedurethat is embraced by the medical community, particularly among physicians who routinely perform other abortion procedures, partial-birth abortion remains a disfavored procedure that is not only unnecessary to preserve the health of the mother, but in fact poses serious risks to the long-term health of women and in some circumstances, their lives. As a result, at least 27 States banned the procedure as did the United States Congress which voted to ban the procedure during the 104th, 105th, and 106th Congresses." . . . "
(N) Implicitly approving such a brutal and inhumane procedure by choosing not to prohibit it will further coarsen society to the humanity of not only newborns, but all vulnerable and innocent human life, making it increasingly difficult to protect such life. Thus, Congress has a compelling interest in acting -- indeed it must act -- to prohibit this inhumane procedure."

Obama is the most radical proponent of abortion to have ever been elected to the U.S. Congress. As the Act states, his beliefs have further coarsened our society to all vulnerable and innocent human life, lives like Sarah Palin's child, who pro-abortion forces would have preferred to be killed because of an extra chromosome. Barack Obama gets a 100% rating from NARAL. Abortion is at genocide levels in the black community. This man has a lot of hate and fear--for his father's race. Look how he's treated his own family.

"Abortion is an evil the scope of which and depths of which very few people in our culture feel. The magnitude of it’s just horrific. . . 12 million black babies dead since 1973. I don’t think Barack Obama will touch that with a ten foot pole. And he should. . . He’s the most radical abortion proponent in the United States Congress, and that’s tragic.” John Piper, who has one of the best messages I've ever heard for panicked Christians on both sides on the sovereignty of God and what Christians are to be doing.

No one will investigate if he wins

Now we now how he was able to beat the Clinton machine, don't we? Look out Democrats. You're next.

"On the grubby little racket of his online credit card fraud, Senator Obama merely has to run out the clock now. If it's not exposed before Tuesday, no one is going to have any appetite for investigating it once he's won."

Worse than we thought. Well, it does make us look pretty silly for exporting democracy, doesn't it?

Two-thirds of the record-breaking haul Obama raised for the final stretch of the campaign comes from a racket set up to facilitate fake names, phony addresses and untraceable cards.

With Obama, the end justifies the means. It always does for marxists.

Watching the movie Face in the Crowd tonight. Very instructive.

. . .Lonesome Rhodes, small time hick crook, becomes the national TV spokesman for Vitajex, an innocuous dietary supplement. A frenetic montage of Rhodes's hyperbolic ads for Vitajex is one of the film's most memorable sequences, highlighting the presumed gullibility of the American public to a persuasive con-artist. In the tradition of classical tragedy, Rhodes is undone by his thirst for power and by Marcia Jeffries who, despite building his stardom, becomes so fed up that she allows him to expose his contempt for his fans on the air.

As a "Cracker Barrel" broadcast ends, Rhodes is shown, with sound off and an announcer doing a voiceover, smiling and waving to the camera as he speaks contemptuously of his audience. In the control room, Marcia and the technical staff hear him continue to mock his viewers as "idiots," "morons," "guinea pigs." Fed up with Rhodes's betrayal, aware she helped create the monster, Jeffries pushes slide switches that throw Rhodes's comments on the air. In minutes, furious, betrayed fans who heard the remarks are calling the network. In a symbolic moment, an unaware Rhodes's popularity is shown plummeting as he rides an elevator down following the show. The film ends with a meltdown. . . On the street, Marcia falters when she hears Lonesome screaming for her, but Mel bolsters her by stating that although they were all taken in by Lonesome's allure, their strength lies in the fact that they can now discern fantasy from reality.

Tax Attack

Someone show this to Senator Obama.



"Declaring that the "Corporate Tax Must Come Down," Andrew Patterson of Edmond, Oklahoma won the first prize of $5,000 in the Tax Foundation's CompeteUSA YouTube Contest with a video called "Tax Attack." The contest was part of the CompeteUSA campaign which aims at raising awareness of America's high business tax rates and how those taxes have an impact on our competitiveness, wages, and living standards.

In "Tax Attack," Patterson highlights that businesses make everyday decisions based on corporate tax systems and that our high business taxes are making American corporations look internationally for their offices, banking, labor and operations. Patterson, who lives in Edmond, Oklahoma, is a business owner himself, providing film and postproduction services to companies including retailers, business firms, nonprofit organizations and natural gas companies."

Seems we're already doing a lot of that wealth redistribution Mr. Obama likes so much, but how's he going to get American companies to come home? Force them so he can tax them more?

Cory the well driller

writes to Senator Obama. He's Joe the Plumber a few years later. Started with nothing, borrowed money, spent his own sweat, expanded, created jobs, provided a service, and became successful. I won't post the letter here, but I have gone to Cory's web site and he is exactly who he says he is. Cory Miller's letter to Senator Obama.It's quite long--go to the link and read the whole thing.

"You see, Mr. Obama, I’m the guy you intend to raise taxes on. I’m the guy who has spent 25 years toiling and sweating, fretting and fighting, stressing and risking, to build a business and get ahead. I’m the guy who has been on the very edge of bankruptcy more than a dozen times over the last 25 years, and all the while creating more and more jobs for East Texans who didn’t want to take a risk, and wouldn’t demand from themselves what I have demanded from myself. I’m the guy you characterize as “the Americans who can afford it the most” that you believe should be taxed more to provide income redistribution “to spread the wealth” to those who have never toiled, sweated, fretted, fought, stressed, or risked anything. You want to characterize me as someone who has enjoyed a life of privilege and who needs to pay a higher percentage of my income than those who have bought into your entitlement culture. I resent you, Mr. Obama, as I resent all who want to use class warfare as a tool to advance their political career. What’s worse, each year more Americans buy into your liberal entitlement culture, and turn to the government for their hope of a better life instead of themselves. Liberals are succeeding through more than 40 years of collaborative effort between the predominant liberal media, and liberal indoctrination programs in the public school systems across our land. . . Mr. Obama, your political philosophies represent everything that is wrong with our country."

Today is All Saints Day

Tomorrow, All Saints Sunday, in church at the 8:15 service on Lytham Road (Upper Arlington Lutheran Church) the names of our loved ones in heaven will be read during the service.



Video of “For All the Saints” comes from a worship service at Mt. Olivet United Methodist Church in Arlington, Virginia. One of my favorite hymns.

All Saints is Allhallows. So Halloween (which is not a Christian festival) is the Eve of Allhallows. The first general observance of All Saints' Day was ordered by Pope Gregory IV in 837.

Obama's marxism a bit dated

It's no wonder I recognized it from my college courses--he's apparently stuck back in the 1960s and 1970s with Bill Ayers and friends, while Europe and Asia struggle to release themselves from his type of chains. Here's a summary about marxism in Asia at the Irish Left Review.

From Marx to the Market
Not so long ago, there seemed to be a very different light shining from the East. It’s barely thirty years since the final defeat of the South Vietnamese regime set the seal on the most humiliating defeat the USA has suffered since appointing itself as the world’s policeman after 1945. The victory of the Vietnamese Communists was one by-product of a curious fact: the Communist International, founded by the Bolsheviks with the primary goal of spreading revolution in Western Europe, had its greatest impact in East Asia. Nobody would have found that more surprising than the Bolsheviks themselves.

Communist parties were able to take power under their own steam in China, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. The Korean Communists had the benefit of support from the Red Army but still had a strong domestic base when they took over the north of their country. There were also long-running Communist insurgencies in Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines, while Indonesia was once home to the largest non-ruling Communist party in the world.

A quick glance at the regional scene will tell you that the challenge once posed by Asian Communism to the capitalist order has been almost entirely eclipsed. The Indonesia CP was smashed by Suharto’s bloody coup in the 1960s, while the Communist guerrillas in Thailand and Malaysia have long since been defeated. The Filipino CPP/NPA survives, but is a much diminished force. The turnaround is most striking, though, in the states where Communist parties or their descendents are still in power.

China’s great leap forward has grounded itself on the embrace of private enterprise (although not, it should be said, the dogma of the Washington Consensus). . . and much more."

The author neglects to mention the millions of deaths of our South Vietnamese allies caused by the shameful exit of the U.S. at the end of the war; or the millions and millions of Chinese who met their early deaths on the road to restoring the economy of China before it scambled on their bodies to capitalism. Oh well.

Yes, Theresa, it is a single issue election

Character. The sum of those distinctive mental and moral qualities, and those traits instilled by nature, education religion and habit. Theresa Hogan has a long article on the Op-Ed page of the Dispatch today, claiming some Republicans are voting a single issue, ABORTION. Well, that would be enough for me, but the single issue for me is the man Barack Obama. I don't care if he is a Christian, Muslim or Buddhist. He must be a man of character.

• His Supreme Court and lower court nominees.
  
• Who will be rubber stamped because he'll have a filibuster-proof Congress.
  
• Who will decide critical cases based on their personal feelings and beliefs rather than the Constitution.
  
• Which Obama sees as a mere list of negatives.
  
• His tax plan and rescinding the Bush tax cuts.
  
• Taxes imposed because of his idea of fairness, not need.
  
• Which will destroy our economy with the same heavy hand that FDR used in the 1930s to extend and expand the Great Depression another 10 years after he took office.
  
• His disregard for our security and the military.
  
• A flaw so large that even his enemies have sensed it sending warnings through Joe Biden.
  
• His willingness to run out on our allies, regardless of the circumstances that took us into the war, or what will get us out.
  
• His unwillingness to face the serious charge of being a socialist by joking about sharing in grade school but never answering the charge.
  
• His prancing around Europe like he was an elected leader, claiming to be a citizen of the world. Posing with symbols of fascism.
  
• His address to the nation (infomercial) before he has been elected.
  
• His choice of friends and associates, known terrorists, crooks and race baiters, while at the same time showing complete disregard for the living conditions and feelings of his blood relatives, white and black.
  
• His inability to identify with or respect rural and working people and their values.
  
• His lying about his position as "professor" when he was only a "lecturer," then using his attack troops in the press to go after Joe the Plumber because he hadn't passed his apprenticeship, and used his middle name (Obama doesn't like to use his).
  
• The same lackey press who have been unable to find a thing askew in Obama's college record, employment history, his friendships, or his family.
  
• His lack of experience--well, Theresa, dear heart, that's as wispy and dangerous as the web of the recluse spider (shy, lonely and sedentary, weaving its web in high and dark corners).
  

A serious typo

Can you spot it? I don't think this is the message this wealth building seminar ($97 to attend) wants to convey.


Do you think printer should give the customer a refund?

Fire the proofreader?

Hope no one notices that we don't own the IRS, it owns us?

Five myths about Obama's health care

Sally Pipes article in Forbes dated Nov. 1 is not an eye opener, if you’ve been paying attention. But she does use Obama’s own words and then debunks them. She is president and CEO of the Pacific Research Institute and author of the newly released book Top Ten Myths of American Health Care: A Citizen's Guide.

MYTH #1: "If I were designing a system from scratch, I would probably go ahead with a single-payer system."

A single-payer system is a great idea--until you get sick.

MYTH #2: "One of the issues we must face and can't ignore is the explosion of health care costs that is crushing families and businesses across our country."

. . . the longevity gains associated with medical innovation are currently worth $2.8 trillion annually. That's larger than the GDP of the U.K.

MYTH #3: "Under my plan, we'll make sure insurance companies cover evidence-based, preventive care services--weight loss programs, smoking-cessation programs and other efforts to help people avoid costly, debilitating health problems in the first place."

Contrary to popular belief, medical spending on the average smoker is $100,000 less than that on the nonsmoker. An ounce of prevention may help Americans live longer. But it certainly won't lead to reduced health care spending.

MYTH #4: "[John McCain] loves to talk about his tax credit. But what he doesn't tell you is that he taxes health care benefits for the first time in history. "

By combining a credit with the modified tax treatment of employer benefits, as the McCain plan does, families at all income levels would pay lower taxes on average. Obama can't say the same about his health plan.

MYTH #5: "I know the outrage we all feel about the 45 million Americans who don't have health insurance."

Foolish as it may seem, a sizable number of financially comfortable individuals--particularly the young---opt against owning insurance. Another 12 million are eligible for government programs and haven’t signed up.

There’s much more detail in the article than what I’ve included.
http://www.forbes.com/opinions/2008/10/31/obama-health-care-oped-cx_scp_1101pipes.html

Is Obama still smoking? Just asking. Maybe it's like the brother and auntie living in poverty. Do as I say, not as I do?

Entering the fall back season

This is the time of year I dread; "spring forward, fall back" when Americans all get an extra hour of sleep. Tonight we change our clocks. My super organized hubbie will have them all changed by 7 p.m. tonight. I already wake up about 4 a.m. which is why you see such early times on my blogs and e-mails. Why would I want to get up at 3 a.m.? It used to take me about a week or so to adjust, now I don't adjust. I'll just be waking up at 3, changing rooms, turning on pbs and getting disgusted with all the nonsense that we pay for from government grants to support leftist film/docu losers. (PBS is the only channel that works in the guest room.)

Then it's my squirrely eating--as cold weather comes on, I get hungrier. But because its cold, I walk outside less. I lost about 20-30 lbs in the summer of 1960, it was my freshman 10 which grew during my sophomore and junior years. Dimples appeared where I'd never seen them. At that time I had a bit of a sweet tooth. I completely gave up candy and sweets and really had no problem with that until recently (salty snacks became my choice) when I discovered how tasty canned frosting was, and how much was left over after making brownies or a cake. Now I don't even wait to bake something; I just open the can.

Also this is consumer season squared at our house. Consumption drives 72% of the American economy, and most retailers make it on the Christmas season, even if political correctness keeps the word out of the ads. The catalogs--Harry and David, L.L. Bean, Cheap Joe's, FLW Foundation, etc. have been coming through the mail slot for a month. But it's worse at our house--from late October through Christmas we have three birthdays, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Each year we say it won't be like last year's, but there are the homemade cards (one of my husband's paintings usually, but those aren't cheap to produce), the special seasonal gift appeals--all for good causes--like food pantry, Lutheran Social Services and Samaritan's Purse, a little bit of entertaining, eating out more, perhaps a drive to Indianapolis to visit family, the donations to our kids' IRAs, the presents from the catalogs that my husband buys for his relatives without letting me know (he loves surprises, I don't), and all those last minute sales that beckon. Really cuts into the resolve.

So how do you handle the season?

The Mac is Back--0n the campaign trail with John McCain

A carload of us headed for the Nationwide Arena this afternoon to see John McCain, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Hank Williams, Jr., plus a number of local and Ohio politicians. It was great fun and great weather. We chatted with a lot of people in line, and then in the seating area. Joe the Plumber actually had his own line of people and seating area. There were cheerleaders, a choir from a local school, someone from the German government (we were admiring his clothes), and a stunning number of young people. At first we didn't think the crowd was very large--maybe 10,000, then by 5:30 when the work day ended, we saw a huge influx of people. The woman in front of me kept holding up her sing, "Homeschoolers for McCain" so I couldn't actually see John McCain when he was speaking, but that was the only negative.

The driver of the car was both a WWII and a Korean War veteran. Betcha there aren't many of those at an Obama gathering. When John McCain asked for a show of hands of veterans so he could thank them, I told Marv to raise both arms. He had enlisted while still in high school, and when the war was over, went back to school and worked nights. Then he was in college when he was called up as a reservist for Korea. I wonder if kids at Obama rallies can fathom that sort of responsible behavior since Obama believes in running out on your allies.

Arnold's best line was, "John McCain spent more time in a POW prison than Obama has spent in the Senate." Big cheers. It speaks to experience and to . . . experience.

While we were waiting in line to get into Nationwide, the man next to us wearing a "Veterans for McCain" button said he'd been in the Air Force from 1955 to 1985--30 years. I wonder how many Obama rallies had 30 year military veterans. People who know the cost of security and freedom.

Then there was some silly stuff too. I chatted a bit with the 3 women in front of me. One crossed the line and went over to hug a man in another line who looked a little startled. I jokingly said to the other two, "I hope she knows that guy." "No, she probably doesn't, said the one. "She does that all the time."

Update: One of the Ohio bloggers has put up a video. Here's the link. It's been a long campaign; many urgent issues were not addressed at all that are of major concern to conservatives. Only the back and forth ads. The economy crunch in September blew everything out of the water, and Democrats could have had that fixed by getting down to business 18 months ago. We all saw it coming (although O'Reilly says he didn't), but for some crazy reason (I guess because we retirees are so rich), Obama ran with the pointed finger, none of somehow aimed at his buddies. Go figure. The man is a political genius and a moral failure. Anyway, enjoy the video--it's well worth watching again--Arnold is much more specific than McCain, although for that Californian to talk down socialism--that's a little stretch!

Another Obama relative surfaces

Christians who think the government should be doing the Matthew 25 routine instead of the tithe and time, should note that the Bible also has a few things to say about taking care of ones family first.

The British newspaper The Times reported Wednesday that it had tracked down Barack Obama’s aunt Zeituni Onyango. Although born in Kenya, Onyango now lives in the United States, in Boston. The report of The Times shows her living conditions are not exactly grand.

Zeituni Onyango is affectionally described by Obama in his book Dreams from My Father. Today, however, it seems that Obama and Onyango have little to no contact. The latter now ‘lives in a disabled-access flat on a rundown public housing estate in South Boston.’

Another relative of Obama, whom he also affectionally described in his best-selling autobiography, also lives in Boston, in even worse circumstances than Zeituni. Uncle Omar, as the uncle is called by Obama in his book, ‘was beaten by armed robbers with a “sawed-off rifle” while working in a corner shop in the Dorchester area of the city. He was later evicted from his one-bedroom flat for failing to pay $2,324.20 (£1,488) arrears, according to the Boston Housing Court.’

As The Times pointed out in its report, ‘the US press has repeatedly rehearsed Mr Obama’s extraordinary odyssey, but the other side of the family’s American experience has only been revealed in parts. Just across town from where Mr Obama made history as the first black president of the Harvard Law Review, some of his closest blood relatives have confronted the harshness of immigrant life in America.’

Aunt Zeituni indicated that she was willing to talk about Barack, but only after the November 4 election. “I can’t talk about it, I just pray for him, that’s all,” she said, adding: “After the 4th, I can talk to anyone.” Times OnLine, because of course, U.S. papers can't talk either.

Poor Auntie Zeituni. Doesn't want to be plunged like Joe the Plumber! Wonder what the pay off is if she keeps quiet?

summary here

Friday Family Photo

This is a really terrible polaroid shot--wasn't even good when it was new. I think my father-in-law was just learning how to use it and didn't get the preservative fluid on it right--remember you had to smear it with something? This was taken at my in-laws' ranch style home on Mitchner on the east side of Indianapolis. They had moved there in 1957, and in order to finish at Arsenal Technical High School in the city, my husband listed his address as his aunt Bert's--the other half of the double they had lived in for about 15 years. And the furniture! I still remember the bright red couch with lime green accessories, step end tables and those funny lamps. One looks like a flying saucer about to land, the other like a strangled boa constrictor. That huge old TV with rabbit ears--wow! Did my parents even own one? Their decor was so much more modern than my own parents' style, that I'm sure I was impressed. My father-in-law worked for RCA and they had had a TV since the late 1940s. I wore that outfit, which was new then, for years--black and white wool tweed with black leather trim.

This photo is so tiny I had to see it on the computer screen before I realized that we still have the coffee grinder that's sitting on the end table. I knew it was from their home, but didn't know its age. Now I know it is at least 45 years old.

What you don't see here is our struggle to smile. Our only child had died about two months before, so this may have been one of our first ventures back into normalcy by attending a family function, perhaps Easter, but I noted only the year on the back of the photo.

Where Obama gets his TV ads

According to this writer,

from thin air

by deleting phrases from actual sentences

by forgetting the ellipsis and adding a period

by being deliberately dishonest.