Pig collagen and Truth in Aging

Jumping from an article about safety data and various cosmetic products and procedures at JunkFood Science, I was looking for "pig collagen" which is used for a wrinkle filler and I wondered if it was OK for Jews and Muslims, and that took me to Truth in Aging, which I've only just skimmed, but I do agree with this.

. . .you practically need a degree in chemistry to decipher the label on a bottle of drug store moisturizer these days. Truth In Aging attempts to siphon out what really works and why, and deliver that honest truth to the consumer. I am dedicated to honest, unbiased reporting amidst claims that are often misleading and confusing. And, in all the noise, there are actually some good things out there that get missed because we are bewildered, jaded and/or cynical.

My "beauty regimen" extends to a shower, moisturizer, Merle Norman powder base foundation whisked across my face, a touch of rouge, and hair color about every 7 weeks. I use fat to fill out my wrinkles, and I do not look like I have implanted soccer balls inside my sweater. And clothes, of course, I wear. Even buy something new once in awhile. However, the products I've seen on this site will probably only be good for a laugh--like $130. My newest find was Jergen's with Shea Butter--love the smell--and it was probably about $5.

I see a lot of women my age with too much make-up--collects in the wrinkles and eyebrows--and the wrong color. We are no longer the fresh faced teens we were when we selected that rose or orange tone. Time for a reality check.

Gunk, Goo and Yuck

No, I'm not talking about Congress or Wall Street, but the trap under my office bathroom sink. I had noticed a slight odor, and asked my husband if he would release the stopper, because I couldn't figure out how to do it. Asking him to do it is just about as far as my plumbing ability goes. I watched my mother accomplish just about every household improvement and repair a non-journeyman worker could do. She painted, wall-papered, changed screens and storm windows, installed a bathroom, refinished furniture, caned chair seats, shoveled snow, mowed lawns, and made the best apple sour cream pie in the world. By the time I was 8 years old I'd vowed to never learn which end of a hammer or wrench to use--but I do make a good pie.

After he dismantled the thingy, I then poked and scrubbed, the the awful black gunk just kept coming. If you think it takes millions of years to form peat or coal, just take a look at what's going on in your pipes with a little heat, moisture and pressure. For some reason I reached under the sink to look for an old toothbrush, a housewife's handiest cleaning tool, and found water. Seems when there's a hole caused by removing the stopper lever, the water you run to clean the drain runs out inside the cabinet. Who knew? "I never thought about it," was my plumber's reply. This gave us an opportunity to reminisce over other plumbing problems faced during our life together, like when he took off a faucet forgetting to turn the water off, or emptied a pail put under the drain into the sink that hadn't been reconnected. Yes, plumbing is fun.

Big dogs and Christmas guests

If you keep a large dog or two in the house--say an overweight Lab, a friendly Rottie, a slobbery Bernese Mountain dog or a Ridgeback, please find a comfortable spot for them with toys, water and food to protect your guests from injury. Here's how dangerous that wagging tail or friendly jump is to someone on Coumadin

Side Effects of Coumadin: The most serious side effect of Coumadin is hemorrhage. Even a simple bump that does not break the skin can result in serious bleeding.

I'm no longer on Coumadin but do take a low-dose aspirin a day for A-fib (to prevent a stroke)--and even that leaves me with a lot of unexplained, how'd-I-do-that bruises. So be nice to your holiday guests. I know the dog is your baby, your snookems, your sweety pie, and "just like family," but if you had a 100 lb kid who kicked your guests in the shins, you'd probably do something about it.

This notice applies to cats, too--lots of people have allergies, and those are the ones the kitty wants to rub against. Find a nice quiet place with a closed door to restrain it. My kitty doesn't appreciate it, but my guests are happier.

This has been a public service blog for a happier, healthier Christmas.

Year end stories

As an information junkie and recovering librarian, I live for these. Especially the science "break throughs." They almost always confirm my own 6-day creationist beliefs, whether they are micro or macro. "In the beginning God. . ." But here's an interesting sociological "year end" bit of research--about how people might perform to win that end of the year bonus.

Judi McLean Parks and co-author James W. Hesford had a hunch that compensation packages had something to do with the rising tide in fraud, estimated to total $994 billion annually in the U.S. Specifically, they suspected the type of compensation plans--contingent versus non-contingent--(and the form of that contingency, as a bonus or penalty based on performance), might be related to fraudulent reporting and the misappropriation of assets.

To test their hypothesis, McLean Parks and Hesford conducted a controlled laboratory study using a random sample of students who were paid for solving anagrams according to one of three different compensation plans, although in all cases the expected value of the compensation--regardless of the form of the compensation--was identical. The students self-scored their work and in half of the cases signed a statement attesting to the veracity of their reported results.

� Participants receiving a 'flat salary' for their work were the most honest about reporting their scores.

� Many participants who received a performance based bonus cheated when reporting their results.

� Participants who were penalized based on low performance not only cheated but also stole the nice pens that were to be returned at the end of the study!

McLean Parks believes the study's results have implications for CEO compensation plans and the financial difficulties many companies are experiencing today. "All I have to do is look at Enron, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac to know that this does happen. And now we've demonstrated the causal link to contingent pay." Fraud uncovered at Fannie Mae alone from 1998-2004 has been estimated to be in excess of $10.6 billion."

So a fair salary with no year end bonus, even for the big wigs? Could it stop corruption? From clerk-in-the office to CEO, I suspect no one will buy it. Even the secretaries in Dreier's law firm were making $200,000 a year. That's a huge temptation not to blow the whistle and go back to $40,000.

There's too much common sense in this research. Let me count the ways--they too are all Biblical. Greed, envy, and pride; lying, cheating and stealing; waste, sloth and addictions; anger, hate and licentiousness. Full news release at Science News Daily.

Madoff, Dreier and Blagojevich

Marc Dreier, the big spender and power hungry lawyer, has losses alleged to be $380 million plus a bunch of staff and partners wondering where their next paycheck is coming from (jail?), and the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme could be $50 billion, an amount hard to hide, so Rod Blogojevich trying to weasel a paltry $500,000 and a job for his wife looks like small potatoes doesn't it? Plus, the outrageous other stories make Obama a charmed politician again--pushed the criminal activity of the Illinois governor right off the front page. But then, Obama hardly knew him. Helped with his campaign, his staff talked to him recently, but really, he's absolutely clean. All the media say so. And look how they sniffed out all those other stories of corruption! Yah! So much for investigative reporting.

Really, I've never been so discouraged or dispirited with both our government and our greedy, power hungry movers and shakers. It's hard to say which is more corrupt. Who do you trust these days? Certainly not George Bush who has allowed the government to slide into socialism using the economy as an excuse--after he became the all time big spender; and certainly not Barack Obama who will finish the job with his marxist buddies; and not an ex-president who took millions from foreign interests who hope his wife will stroke them; and not scummy Wall Street CEOs buying art collections and mansions, and not the inept union bosses; and not an ex-vice president in business with Hank Paulson to sell phony carbon credits; and not the people we elected who promised so much and then threw it all away; and not the regulators they appointed and hired to see that everything was done right and then didn't notice a thing was wrong despite a ballooning staff and budget. . .

I think we all, especially me, need to apologize to the welfare cheats and illegal, criminal aliens who have been stealing from us for the past 20-30 years. To all the lazy bums we've griped about, my sincere apology. Yes, you screwed up, but you didn't reach for the stars, didn't set high enough goals in your petty crimes. Some of you went to jail, and Dreier and Madoff are out walking around, or on "house arrest." Is that fair? I wish now you were the only crooks we needed to worry about. These small time criminals have allowed our prejudices toward the poor and stupid to take our eye off the rich and smart crooks. I think I can even say the little guy had limited options. But what do you say about the guys who went to Harvard and Yale, who cheated the friends and charities and staff who trusted them, who sat in the pew or synagogue when not jetting around the world, who threw lavish parties, and moved in all the right social circles, who sold the voters down the river, and partied and parceled out the pork 'til they couldn't hold any more?

List of Madoff's Clients, NYT

Friday Family Photo

We no longer have a Lazarus Department Store in Columbus, but we still have our Lazzy Bear. I'm sure the same bear appeared in other stores and were named appropriately. I think the deal was you got one with a certain purchase amount--maybe $20. So Christmas 1986, our little Lazzy was sitting in the living room near the tree, home alone while we went out to eat, and our house was robbed. Yes, we'd just installed dead bolts, so they broke out a back window instead of just slipping the latch on the door. They went through my jewelry, which wasn't worth much, but did find what small amount of gold I had, like my high school class ring (ugliest class ring ever), my wedding pearls, a few crosses and pins; they bent a fork to see if it was sterling (it wasn't and I still have the bent fork); took our son's electric guitar and my husband's rifle from his childhood hunting days with his dad and uncles, our VCR and all our Blondie and Dagwood tapes copied from the TV, a pillow case to put it all in, and. . . my Lazzy Bear!

When word got around, I think my friend Nancy bought us a new Lazzy and someone replaced my pearls. We filed a report with the police and insurance company, but how do you put a value on little trinkets you got from a Sunday school teacher, or a piece of jewelry from your Mom. And an ugly high school class ring?

And who would be mean enough to steal a Lazzy Bear?

Connecting the dots, Ayers and Duncan

American Princess does research like the rest of us, she Googles it. And it's just not that hard to find out who will really be running education from Washington.

My favorite subject in all of this Chicago mess is the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, which is the project on whose board Bill Ayers and Barack Obama served together. I love this project because right up the street from me, I have an Annenberg Challenge school, which I think is known in the community as the “Peace School,” and is very interactive with residents of my little neighborhood. They hold peace studies rallies, drum circles, indoctrinate children in what appear to be Marxist values and hold the weekly farmers market (who said communism couldn’t taste fresh?). . . Arne Duncan is Bestest Buddies with the Chicago Annenberg Challenge. In fact, he worked with the Annenberg Challenge to program curriculum in Chicago Public Schools.

I mean, we're really not that surprised, are we? We knew Bill Ayers wasn't going away. Blagojevich is just a smoke screen for all the other gunk in the engine of the new administration.

Chrysler doesn't need a bailout

Cereberus’ $2 billion stake in Chrysler represents only about 7% of its assets. That means that it has tens of billions of dollars at its disposal to engineer its own private bailout of Chrysler. Out of Control explains why it doesn't. . . "Chrysler’s management is clueless; its unions are suicidal; and the auto market for the foreseeable future is in a deep freeze. The idea that Chrysler could make a comeback under such circumstances – when it couldn’t do so during a booming economy -- would represent more than an SUV-full of triumph of hope over reality."

Visit a Nursing Home Week

"Governor Ted Strickland, the Ohio Department of Aging and the Office of the State Long-term Care Ombudsman invite all Ohioans to share their holiday celebration, fellowship and compassion with nursing home residents during the state's third annual Visit a Nursing Home Week, December 24-31, 2008."

I'll observe Nursing Home Week by sending a contribution to the Good Samaritan Fund at Pinecrest Community in Mt. Morris, Illinois. According to the letter below, half of their 123 residents rely on state assistance, and although the letter doesn't say why the state of Illinois can't support them, the total payment Pinecrest receives from Medicaid and the cost to provide the care means Pinecrest loses $4200 per day.

Click to read
Pinecrest was established by the Church of the Brethren, the first building begun in 1891 and finished in 1893. It wasn't called that when I was growing up--we just called it "The Old Folks' Home." Long before anyone had heard of Medicaid or Social Security, the Brethren were concerned about the elderly and orphans who had no family to care for them and voted in 1890 to raise funds for a shelter to care for both. The first building I remember was a brick, 2 story--although it was old by the time we elementary school children would walk there to sing at Christmas, or for a special Sunday afternoon program performed the church junior choir. It's a mystery to me how they managed that with the infirm, sick and elderly--installing toilets in 1902! It had 21 residents in 1905 ranging in age from 51 to 86, only 7 men, and all were Brethren. The residents helped grow their food with a rather large garden on site. Children, infants to teens, were cared for in a separate building across from the current building on Brayton Rd. from 1912 through 1923. A new facility was built in 1963 with an FHA approved loan--the Rockford paper said it resembled an ultra-modern luxury motel! After the old brick building, I'm sure the new facility with room for 100 residents was quite a change. Then later independent living apartments were built in 1974 and 1988, Pinecrest Village, where my parents lived their last years. An Alzheimers unit was added in the 90s called Pinecrest Terrace. [Details from Pinecrest Community; our 100th year 1893-1993]

The first chaplain at Pinecrest Manor, as the nursing home was named, was Foster B. Statler, who baptized me when he was the pastor of the local Brethren Church. He was followed by John I Masterson, father of my childhood friend and college roommate, and former Superintendent of Forreston schools. I've had a lot of relatives at Pinecrest over the years, most recently my Aunt Betty and Aunt Ada, but also many now deceased like Uncle John, Uncle Orville, and my grandmother after a surgery, who got excellent care as their lives became more limited.

I think the key is the location--a small town--with excellent, caring staff. My mother was a volunteer at Pinecrest for 30 years--one of hundreds--beginning in 1963 when her mother died, and when you have townspeople so closely involved in the care, you know someone is keeping an eye on things. Although I haven't lived in Mt. Morris for over 50 years, I recognize the names of many people who participated as volunteers, auxiliary, staff or Board members--Edna Neher, Harold Hoff, Bill Powers, Marj Powers, Vernon Hohnadel, Alma Fridley, Kenny Zellers, Rev. Carl Myers (who married us), Stan James, Harold Ross, Ralph Zickuhr, Eldo Henricks, Bob Martin, LaVerne Edwards, Art Hunn, Richard Park, Dale Henricks, Arman Stover, Robert Urish, Bill Clark, J.R. Worley, Albert Avey, Warren Reckmeyer, Dick Noser, Donna Ritchey Martin, Mary Ann Watt, Gary Montel, and others (I'm using an old list). So its development over the years was really a community effort.

Nursing homes all over the country are probably in need of help this Christmas--charitable giving is down, and endowments are suffering losses and states are struggling to meet their Medicaid obligations. If you have one close to you emotionally or geographically, now might be the time to remember them, to become a Good Samaritan.

Scatological and Eschatological

One means obscene--particularly words dealing with excrement, and the other means biblical, "end of the world" and "the last judgment." When people opened the Wall Street Journal and read the front page story about a man named Markopolos who had been warning the SEC about Bernard Madoff for NINE years, there were probably a few choice words both obscene and theological that spewed over the coffee cup. All I said was, "WOW." I don't swear or use the F-word, but if I did, this would have been the day to let loose.

"Securities and Exchange Commission investigators discovered in 2006 that Bernard Madoff had misled the agency about how he managed customer money, according to documents, yet the SEC missed an opportunity to uncover an alleged Ponzi scheme.

The documents indicate the agency had Mr. Madoff in its sights amid multiple violations that, if pursued, could have blown open his alleged multibillion-dollar scam. Instead, his firm registered as an investment adviser, at the agency's request, and the public got no word of the violations.

Harry Markopolos -- who once worked for a Madoff rival -- sparked the probe with his nearly decadelong ..."

So what were their excuses, both the SEC watchdogs and the media watchdogs? Well, it seems we had a bunch of yapping Chihuahuas guarding a pit bull.

No definitive evidence [that's your job--to find it]

Could have been a vendetta [isn't that what they said about the John Edwards' mistress story and bloggers finding the phony CBS Bush documents?]

Occasionally he got facts and dates wrong [like you never do!]

"Once" he misstated a date [sometimes I mix up my kids' birthdates--that doesn't mean they weren't born]

So "Marco Polo" discovers the guy who "Made Off" with the funds and trust of thousands of investors and charities all over the world, and the Security and Exchange Commission headed by Christopher Cox (former Republican congressman appointed by Bush) with a budget of $900 million a year and an enforcement staff a third larger than it was in 2000 can't even follow up on nine years of tips. I think once Cox falls on his sword and takes the blame, this item will be removed from the SEC page.

During his tenure at the SEC, Chairman Cox has made vigorous enforcement of the securities laws the agency's top priority, bringing ground breaking cases against a variety of market abuses including hedge fund insider trading, stock options backdating, fraud aimed at senior citizens, municipal securities fraud, and securities scams on the Internet.

And then there is FINRA, which WSJ says has an even bigger budget than SEC.

"Then there's the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), a "self-regulatory organization" funded by industry. Its 3,000 employees ride herd on the brokerage industry, and these private cops are armed with an even bigger budget than the SEC. FINRA doesn't disclose tips and complaints when they don't result in enforcement action, so we can't know for sure whether FINRA was contacted about the alleged Ponzi scheme." To catch a thief

I realize the op ed page and the news pages of WSJ are different--one conservative the other the most liberal of all news sources in the USA--but just maybe if the journalists hadn't been chasing every positive story they could find about Obama, they just might have turned up this one.

Blogrunner and NYT

My blog was picked up and shown on New York Times/Blogrunner feature today--if I'd known that, I'd have provided more information!

Blogrunner is a service from The New York Times that automatically monitors news articles and blog posts and tracks news events as they develop across the Web.

Blogger (owned by Google) features various blogs daily, but to my knowledge, even with eleven blogs, it has never found me noteworthy.

To us a child is born, to us a son is given

That must be on a million Christmas cards, that passage from Isaiah 9, and it is just one example of the gospel in the Old Testament. Martin Luther writes in his "A Brief Instruction on What to look for and expect in the Gospels," [1522]:

"When you lay hold of Christ as a gift which is given you for your very own and have no doubt about it, you are a Christian. Faith redeems you from sin, death, and hell and enables you to overcome all things. O no one can speak enough about this. It is a pity that this kind of preaching has been silenced in the world, and yet boast is made daily of the gospel. . . Christ as a gift nourishes your faith and makes you a Christian. But Christ as an example exercises your works. These do not make you a Christian."

He could almost be talking to the speakers in the 21st century pulpits and the congregation in the pew, waiting expectantly through warrenized, emerging and peace and justice sermons. Luther's warning almost 500 years ago has fallen on death deaf ears, because people prefer reinventing ways to find God and push away the gift--even in this gift giving season.

"Be sure, moreoever, that you do not make Christ into a Moses, as if Christ did nothing more than teach and provide examples as the other saints do, as if the gospel were simply a textbook of teachings or laws."

In proofing this I noticed I'd written "death" instead of "deaf." But isn't that the end result when churches forget the gospel and preach either law or example, and not the gospel, which Luther says is briefly summarized in Paul's letter to the Romans, 1:1-4.

"The gospel is a discourse about Christ, that he is the Son of God and became man for us, that he died and was raised, that he has been established as a Lord over all things. . . even the teaching of the prophets, in those places where they speak of Christ, is nothing but the true, pure, and proper gospel--just as if Luke or Matthew had described it."

I don't have the almost 60 volumes of Luther on my bookshelves, but I did recently buy from a used book dealer Martin Luther's Basic Theological Writings, edited by Timothy F. Lull (Fortress Press, 1989). There is a 2005 edition and parts of it have been scanned by Google. I'm perfectly happy with my $9 used copy because I don't like to read books on a CRT. But if you do, the material I quoted is on pp. 94 and 95 of the 2005 edition.

Extra! Extra! Read all about it!

No more paper in newspaper.

The American Society of Newspaper Editors scheduled an April vote in Chicago to become simply the American Society of News Editors. Under the proposed changes, which require membership approval, editors of news Web sites also would be permitted to join, as would leaders of journalism programs. Google news story

Is it over yet?

The only channel I can get in the guest room is WOSU--and it seems they've been running their funds drive for about 6 weeks. The same thing is on every night, all night! We've had some colds here in the Bruce house, so I've had about 2 weeks of sleeping in that really nice room with some really boring TV.



Celtic Woman. Do-Wap. Great Performances with people I've never heard of in front of wildly enthusiastic audiences. And some dopey people riding around Europe in a convertible stopping to eat. What's so bizarre, is that they try to act as though this is what public TV is about. But the rest of the year they show such slanted, leftist drivel to keep some Hollywood unemployed marxist film maker busy that it is ridiculous. At least during funds drive they should show the really ugly, anti-American stuff so people can make a reasonable choice whether to support them.

Antiques Road Show. Now that's worth watching.

Pot Dodd accuses Kettle Madoff

"The SEC, already faulted in connection with the collapse of Bear Stearns Cos. and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., now faces criticism for failing to detect what Madoff termed “a giant Ponzi scheme.” Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, and Senator Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican, have questioned its vigilance in enforcing securities laws." Bloomberg

And where was Dodd during the banking failures, during the Fannie Mae melt down, during the scummy scammy non-profit housing agencies blackmailing the banks in the name of diverse neighborhoods and multicultural mortgages? We've got the foxhound watching the fox watching the hen house with nary a yelp or growl.

Too much too soon and too little too late

That's FDR in the 1930s. He extended the Great Depression through government interference and an alphabet of failed public works programs and allowed millions in Europe to die in Hitler's aggression, not getting into the war in Europe until two years--TWO YEARS PLUS--after Hitler invaded Poland. And my goodness, how long had Japan been terrorizing China--certainly years before they bombed Pearl.

The other day I was at the temporary location of the OSU Libraries off Ackerman Road and pulled the September 1939 Life magazine off the shelf, schlepped to a table (they are huge), and sat down to browse. It's really fascinating to see what we the people (I was not yet born, but you know what I mean) knew when and how the U.S. government in our name did nothing. Who knows if it was the will of the people--the polls of the time, mixed in with ads for corsets and clunky shoes, said supplying (either England and/or Germany) arms was OK, but go ahead and you guys have a world war without us. The writers even called it a world war--and we weren't in it. I looked through several issues. Despite Bush's failures on the financial front in 2008, I was again so glad that he pursued the terrorists in Afghanistan and Iraq and has kept his word for all these years. He acted with virtually total support of both parties, and one by one they fell away, abandoning principals and allies.

Really folks, the USA's record for the 20th century is pretty crummy. Yes, you can talk about the "greatest generation"--they did respond after millions had already died in Europe and China. But we dawdled around in WWI, jumping in at the last moment/months of the war. We abandoned millions of our east European allies to the Soviets in 1945. We negotiated Korea and 55 years later we're still messing with north Korea. Then we ran out on the Vietnamese thanks to our home-grown spoiled boomers like Bill Ayers, Bernadine Dohrn and Jane Fonda.

God bless George W. Bush and we'll let history decide if we had any Presidents in the last 100 years who had all the body parts those guys are reputed to possess, spine, balls, and guts.



Life Magazine September 18, 1939 : Cover - Britain goes to war, gunner loading anti-aircraft shells. Germans beat British - French in first week of propaganda. German tanks push Poles 150 miles in seven days. French vs. the Westwall. Sinking of the "Athenia" - British ocean liner, two page art by Seielstad. American neutrality - Legion commander says stay out of war. Photo essay - Submarines, R14, James Hicks. The week the war began - a retrospective. Beltsville, Maryland research center helps farmers grow more - color feature. Postilion hat. Girls legs on campus go Scottish. Sidney Waugh designs America's first modern glass. Ted Allen wins horseshoe meet. Girls shoot in National target matches. Air-Raid shelters. London moves art treasures to safety. Full page Elgin watch ad with Robert Edison Fulton, Jr., explorer, mountain climber. Full page red movie poster ad for "Dust be my destiny" with John Garfield and Priscilla Lane. Full page Vanta ad, garments for infants and children. Modern American glass. Eleven-year-old soprano Gloria Jean. Life calls on Winston churchill. Photo of Barber Clay Cope shaving Pete Hilton.

The Coming Depression

Instead of calling it The Great Depression which was jointly widened, deepened and lengthened by Presidents Hoover and Roosevelt, we can call this one BOB's Depression, Bush-Obama-Bernancke Depression. Apparently, Bernecke if not a fan of FDR seems to be an apologist.

"It's clear to me that Ben Bernanke wants to go down as the Franklin Roosevelt of this episode, not the Herbert Hoover," said Laurence Ball, an economics professor at Johns Hopkins University. . .

"The financial system now is collapsing as quickly and as completely as it did during the Great Depression, but right now the monetary authorities are doing everything right," said Gary Richardson, associate professor of economics at UC Irvine and a research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research. "In the Great Depression, they did lots of stuff wrong; the problem got worse because they exacerbated it." LA Times, Oct. 11, 2008

Can the man not count the number of years after FDR took office where he ran the economy into the ground? He seems to be a believer in more is better (interference). It would make no difference what Bush does now--he's been totally marginalized by his own party, Hank and Ben, and the "office of the President-elect," and Obama will certainly wait until after January 20, to suggest anything, if he and his Clintonistas have a plan, so he can get the credit.

March 2, 2004 Speech
June 15, 2007 Speech

All in the Family

Today a friend was explaining to me an educator's theory (I've forgotten her name) of class and education:

the lower and working class families tend to live for today, without saving a lot, or looking ahead, and they hold their family members very close and rely on family;

the middle class and upper middle class are more goal oriented, they save, they encourage their children to take risks and achieve, and they are less bonded emotionally to their kids and immediate family;

the upper class and extremely wealthy live on past loyalties and connections, and they also hold their values, family and wealth very close.

Watching the Madoff ponzi scheme meltdown and his family ties I think she's on to something. Madoff's niece married a SEC employee, and Walter Noel (Fairfield Greenwich Fund with close ties to Madoff) has 4 or 5 sons-in-laws in the business and they have involved banks and clients for billions around the world--Spain, Brazil, Switzerland, etc.

"The Securities and Exchange Commission plans to probe the relationship between the niece of financier Bernard L. Madoff and a former official at the agency, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday. The probe comes on the heels of an admission by SEC Chairman Christopher Cox that the agency was aware of numerous red flags raised over Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, the focus of an alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme." Market Watch

"In 2002, Vanity Fair dispatched the photographer Bruce Weber to shoot a lavish spread of Mr. Noel’s wife and their five grown daughters at his home in Connecticut (“Golden in Greenwich,” read the headline). That was followed, in 2005, by a Town and Country story on the Noel family’s tropical retreat in Mustique." NYT

Makes you wonder if the glossies will be the next victim of the meltdown, because they follow all the socialites and charity balls. Some charities are closing their doors, and the wealthy aren't answering their phones. In today's WSJ, Holman W. Jenkins, Jr. asked, "When has the SEC ever found a fraud except by reading about it in the newspaper.?" These allegations surfaced in the late 90s, but the SEC never recommended any action. Sort of reminds me of the banking committees in Congress, aka The Barney and Chris Dog and Pony Show. They didn't think there was any problem in the Fannie and Fred housing schemes to back loans to people who couldn't possibly pay it back. Jenkins also suggested that the government, when Madoff makes bail which is tough since the people who could help him are his victims, he be put in charge of Social Security, an even bigger ponzi scheme.

Chart of Madoff losses

Keeping track

Some things are just easier on paper. Over a year ago I found this journal in the freebie box at church, "God's Little Devotional Journal for Teens." There's a devotion and a column for writing on each page. The original owner had only written on 2 or 3 pages, and then moved on, and someone had dropped it off at church. I thought there might be something in the essays or quotes I could use, so I brought it home, where it sat for some time. Then one day I decided to record the names of people to whom I'd sent notes, because each page was dated (but no day of the week, so the year didn't matter). Although I use e-mail and blog, I still enjoy sending and receiving first class mail the old fashioned way. Along with the name of the person, I also noted why I'd sent the card or letter--illness, death in family*, birthday, new baby, baptism, etc. Today I looked through it, and found over 100 names--and since I didn't have it with me in the summer there may have been more. It is a nice way to recycle an old calendar or day book, and it's much easier than trying to enter it in a computer program. I sit at the kitchen table, go over the names in the church newsletter, or notes I've taken during the week of others I need to thank for something, or that I jotted down from names read during a church service, write out a few words on my little card, record it in the journal, and put them in the mail slot. It's probably not more than 30-45 minutes a week, if that, since I don't do it every week.

I'm so glad I thought to note why I was sending the card--I realize looking through the names that for many people this will be a difficult Christmas because of a death or loss--I've forgotten, but they certainly haven't. And I'd completely forgotten that Tom (our best man and my husband's friend since childhood) and Pat welcomed their first grandchild. Also, it's a reminder that some people are still "at home" or in a nursing facility, and perhaps I need to send another card. I have trouble moving information from my short term into my long term personal memory bank, and just like my computer hard drive, I get glitches and unexplained shut-downs. I also noted if I used my own cards--which I sometimes make just because it's fun, or if I sent a blog post to someone who doesn't use the internet. I used to make little notes on my calendar so I could remember, but this works much better. There's still enough room I can use it another year or two.

Also, looking through it today, I see there are many sayings and proverbs that are great. They have no attribution, so I hope they are in the public domain.

Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God.

Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss it, you will land among the stars.

Definition of status: Buying something you don't need with money you don't have to impress people you don't like.

The way to get to the top is to get off your bottom.

You can lead a boy to college, but you cannot make him think.

Don't ask God for what you think is good; ask Him for what He thinks is good for you.

No person was ever honored for what he received. Honor has been the reward for what he gave.

There are times when silence is golden; other times it is just plain yellow.

Then the little essays are worth reading too, even though some are directed toward teen-agers.

"According to nutritionist Pamela Smith one hundred laughs a day provide a cardiovascular workout equal to ten minutes of rowing or biking." [My note: I've never counted how many times I've laughed in a day, but this idea might be worth watching a funny movie rather than riding a bike.]

"Farmers have a saying that goes, "Once you're standing in the pigpen, it's a little too late to worry about soiling your Sunday clothes." And that sound piece of advice carries beyond the farm. The key to avoiding wrongdoing and compromise in life is to decide in advance to stay as far away from it as possible." [My note:] Good advice for future Madoffs and Blagojeviches, whose misdemeanors and crimes are all over the paper today.

After a paragraph or two about a job interview, the essay concluded: "There are a few things you should never discuss with coworkers: your love life, your medical history, and your salary." Good advice at any age!

After a Mark Twain anecdote about a lawn mower, this advice: Treat what you borrow as if it were a prized possession, returning it promptly. If something happens to it while it is in your possession, make repairs or replace it, not to your satisfaction, but to the satisfaction of the owner. Always remember, while the item is in your hands, it is not yours, It still belongs to the other person." [My note:] Rush Limbaugh likes to say, "Talent on loan from God," but that applies to everyone. Instead of thinking God has "gifted" you something think of it as a loan to be given back.

Notes at the end of copied manuscripts: "He who does not know how to write supposes it to be no labor; but though only three fingers write, the whole body labors." [My note: And so it is with blogging, but 9 fingers instead of 3 (I'm a touch typist--ca. 60 wpm. My left thumb has nothing to do; does yours?).

*You can google anything--advice on writing a condolence letter.

Christmas weddings and frozen car doors

There must be some women having second thoughts about a Christmas wedding--or maybe it's Spring. My "How not to marry a jerk" post has been getting a lot of hits lately. Maybe it's gay guys realizing that now that they can, it's time to rethink this. Not as many as "frozen car door"--some really cold weather north and west of us, but enough to make me think someone, maybe Mom, has noticed some problems. I put the jerk (not the car door) into 3 categories, might be, definitely is, and run as fast as you can. With frozen car doors, I just listed a range of possibilities. Seems no one agrees. But one commenter defended her jerk, too.