On to week two

The parties are over, thank goodness; yesterday was the last of the holiday open houses. It's wonderful to have a full dance card--I'd feel just awful if we were never invited out, but boy it is rough on the hips! As Richard Simmons says, "A smaller behind in two thousand and nine." I start the second week of exercise class today. I was pleasantly pleased with last week--I particularly liked Monday and Friday (led by women much younger than I) which included a lot of stretching and weights. At my age, bone health is probably more important than cardio, which my husband emphasizes on Wednesday when he teaches. I didn't have any more leg pain than usual when I do nothing or just walking. The trick will be to keep it going to week 10 or 11, right? I still have some of the same measurements as high school--just not in the same places.

Older drivers in Florida

In January 2004 a new law requiring a visual acuity screen was put in place in Florida for drivers 80 years and older despite there being little evidence for an association between visual acuity and fatal motor vehicle collisions. The results were reported in Archives of Ophthalmology, 2008;126(11):1544-1547.

From 2001 to 2006, there was a nonsignificant increase in MVC fatality rates in Florida; in contrast, fatality rates among drivers 80 years and older demonstrated a significant downward linear trend. When comparing prelaw (2001-2003) and post-law(2004-2006) periods, the fatality rate among all-aged occupants increased by 6%; conversely, fatalities among drivers 80 years and older decreased significantly by 17%. The researchers are not sure what explains this relationship.

Here's my guess (I've only seen the abstract, not the article). When states first began to require drivers' licenses, those who already knew how were "grandfathered in", at least in Illinois. Neither of my parents (born in 1912 and 1913) had to pass a test--they just received a license by applying for one. Once vision tests are required, the older drivers probably also read up on "rules of the road" and practice a little, out of fear of losing their license. My father was driving before he was a teen-ager, and probably regularly by age 14 (his mother was blind and he was the oldest so he drove everyone to church). He had only one accident that I know of, at around age 87; but another driver slid on the ice and hit him. No one was injured. Still, I think an angel must have been in the passenger seat after about age 80; at least it looked that way from the back seat where I was watching white-knuckled and gasping for breath.


Judging from the hair styles (my natural color, no perm, and my husband actually still has red hair) in this undated photo of my parents visiting Columbus, I'm guessing it is fall 1982, around the time they decided to go to Florida for an extended period. They only did that once--my mother was really bored and she thought Florida traffic was unreal. Then they just went for a week or two to visit my sister and brother who lived in Bradenton.

Today's new word--VICISSITUDE

The root of this word is Latin, vicis, meaning change. Vicissitude mean regular or irregular change, don't know if Obama used it during the campaign. It also means revolution or mutation, or change of fortune or condition. It wasn't that I'd never seen the word, but I couldn't think of any situation when I'd want to use it. "Is there vicissitude on the menu tonight, honey?" So I checked google "vicissitude blog," and found a blog called Vicissitude written by a Filipina, Bambee de la Paz. And I walked right into it. Apparently she had witnessed her 56 year old father and 14 year old brother being beaten on a golf course and blogged about it. Over a thousand people responded to her blog entry. It was in the papers, some links which no longer work, and others in a language I don't read. Then I found a follow-up story that said her dad and brother have now been forbidden to come on the golf course, as have the goons that beat them up. However, the public official about whom she wrote is very unhappy and is suing her for what she wrote on her blog.

“May na-file nang kaso ng libel kahapon ang anak ko doon sa probinsya (Lano del Sur) against Bambee de la Paz (My son filed a libel case against Bambee de la Paz yesterday in our home province)," Pangandaman told GMANews.TV in a phone interview.

You've got to watch out for those golfers--they take that game very seriously!

Really bad advice for saving on food

The Extension Office at the University of Illinois has a special web page on financial advice, which includes saving on your food dollar. The worst possible advice is to suggest clipping coupons (or using a loyalty card). Here’s my e-mail to them:

Dear Debra,

I see on the web site for financial advice that clipping coupons is suggested as a way to save on food costs. Coupons are a marketing scheme--in the long run it is very deceptive. Coupons, now often shaped like credit cards, are the size of a dollar. They most often are used for promoting 1) processed food, 2) to cover price increases, and 3) to introduce a new product, which is probably a variation of one already on the shelf, like a Ritz cracker in a different shape. Coupons help the printing companies, the ad designers, and the workers in 3rd world economies who count them, but they don't help the American consumer. The smart consumer should plan menus, stick to a list, shop the walls, stay out of the snack and soft drink aisles and contribute her own labor to reduce food costs. Loyalty cards also increase food costs as do games and sweepstakes. The first coupon was a wooden nickel, and you know what we say about those.

Three Word Wednesday on a Sunday afternoon

Three word Wednesday offers these words for thought and composition. But it’s Sunday. Should I try? Is that cheating? Why not--I didn't see them until Sunday.
Deception
Panic
SchemeWinter in central Ohio is a season of deception. Early on Saturday it was rain; then snow; then sleet. By the time we left for the neighbors’ for a pancake breakfast, my worry meter had started to buzz. It wasn’t registering panic yet, but there certainly was caution. “I think I'll change into my low shoes,” I said, kicking off my stacked heels that looked Oh so smart with my new velvet jeans. “What’s their driveway like?” “You won’t have a problem, I can get you right up to the front door,” my husband said matter of factly.

When we arrived, his driver's side to exit the van was too slick to even stand up, let alone walk safely to the house. So I came up with a scheme. He climbed over the center post--fortunately, I had remembered to carry my to-go coffee into the house before we left. I removed the floor mats from the van, tossed them on to the slippery ice and made us stepping stones of rubber and carpet. We arrived hale, hearty and hungry, with no broken bones, ready for pancakes, real maple syrup, fresh fruit and breakfast casserole--the recipe I need to get, because it was so yummy.

When we left about two hours later, the gray skies had warmed slightly to rain, and we waddled safely to the waiting car.

What has she done to deserve this?

Joyce Beatty lives in Columbus, OH and was elected to represent the 27th district (Ohio) in 1999. Now she’s landed a real cushy position at Ohio State for $320,000! My, not once did I meet anyone at Ohio State who was worth that--not even the president of the university. Of course, I retired in 2000, and now President Gee is the highest paid public college president in the country.

"Ohio State pays 154 employees at least $250,000 a year, with university president E. Gordon Gee topping the list at $775,000 a year," transparency center director Mike Maurer said. Mr. Gee's total annual pay package, between $1.6 million to $2 million, makes him the highest paid public university president in the nation, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education and the Columbus Dispatch.

From the Buckeye Institute via an OSU student blogger, .Justin Higgins

Mass in Motion

Sandy at Junk Food Science has a great article about a new tax waster [or waister, if you will] in Massachusetts, called Mass in Motion. It's $750,000 in grants for wellness programs. Remember, this is the state which has sent Barney Frank to Congress year after year to supervise Fannie Mae. If employers can tap you on the shoulder and coerce you into a "lifestyle management program" can voters suggest that some of the Congress need to lose pork in order to be returned to Washington?

I'm no expert on weight loss, but some of the things in the "tool kit" have already been judged in peer reviewed research to have little affect in long term weight loss--such as Weight Watchers

There was no difference between the low-carbohydrate approach of Atkins, the high-protein low-glycemic load approach of the Zone diet, the very low-fat approach of Ornish, and the low-calorie/portion-size approach of Weight Watchers, according to a 2005 study published in JAMA

And drinking 8 glasses of water a day was also debunked some time ago as a weight loss aid. I think that myth was started by plastic bottle manufacturers.

These type of grants (the $750,000 to Massachusetts) are ubiquitous--the only surprise is that it is so modest. They are everywhere, especially from HHS and USDA which props up our farmers, and the private foundations; it keeps the grant writers busy and the bureaucrats and lawyers employed. They often go hand-in-hand with greenies and vegan wannabees--so you throw in a few million for bike lanes, redesigned housing complexes, and community gardens. Mike Huckabee may be one of our most famous former fatties, and he put Arkansas on a diet because it worked positive results for him. The results are quite mixed, and Sandy also reported on this two years ago. There was an increase in underweight children, and the percentage of overweight and at risk African American girls significantly increased as they grew.

I can't prove it, but I'm guessing if you chart the huge weight gains of Americans and the rise in diabetes and other obesity related health problems, you might track it back to government interference 30-40 years ago with our food commodities like corn and sugar. When I was growing up we had real sugar in Coca-cola and candy bars, and I sure didn't see so many obese people. Our legislators and regulators, probably after a few hearings before Congress, slapped tariffs on imported sugar (because it was bad for us and made us dependent on foreign imports), and then paid U.S. farmers to grow more corn to put high fructose corn syrup in everything from soup to soft drinks. And each generation got fatter. Anyone know where there's a chart?

We don't eat oil, but we're dependent on it for everything in our culture. The government has done the same thing in the name of being "independent of foreign oil" and going green. Then when the government botches it up and creates huge industries like carbon exchanges and ethanol that support their mistake, they can tax us again to try to correct it.

Today's new word is TWITTERSQUATTING

New word of the day--twittersquat--a verb. I don’t Twitter, could never say anything in 140 words or less, and I can’t think of anyone who is that hyper about staying connected to me. I started this digital revolution in communication in the early 90s with e-mail, then learned HTML and wrote my own web page back when you had to know code and how to FTP. I actually remember the first time I saw the World Wide Web demonstrated in a workshop and asked, "What would you do with it?" I can remember when a vet librarian from Tennessee suggested that the rest of us try out a new search tool called GOOGLE. Yes, I'm an old timer. Early on I joined a group on Usenet which was only text, discovered mean nasty people who would insult me for no reason, so I switched to blogging (writing a diary) in 2003 so I could throw them off my cyber-property. But that's about where I stopped. No Facebook or social networks. Hey, I remember junior high school--who wants that on the internet? Therefore, I was unaware of "twittersquating." Here’s the definition from Erik which I noticed at Techmeme.

“Twittersquatting, like cybersquatting, is when somebody registers a company's trademark (or a famous person's name) as a Twitter username with the intent of profiting or causing confusion. Other possible names for this practice include username squatting, usernamesquatting, squitting, usersquatting, and brandsquatting.”

So, just add it to the catalog of sins for which Jesus died, or your list of CW "somebody done me wrong" songs. You know what people do when they squat.

Sneaky new taxes

Murray's a bit suspicious of some of Obama's plans to only raise taxes on the rich. I haven't checked out either one of these, but I do own a second home and the county that taxes us should have gold plated computers and diamond studded swim pools in their schools, because few in the community have children (in that district). Based on square footage and what we cost the county in services, it is pure robbery. I can't imagine why this would be considered "double dipping"--we pay huge taxes for what we receive--a county sheriff driving through occasionally. He writes today in an e-mail

"There are new rules taking place in your financial world that your legislators seem to think you don't need to be aware. Like in the first bailout there is a provision that says you can no longer double dip on the tax savings with your vacation home and personal residence. You will pay taxes on your residence only if you exceed the limits but the vacation home, rental or flipper must be taxed. I'm not totally clear on this since it is written like most tax laws, so if it affects you, you might want to check it out.

Then in Obama's "save everyone" plan he says he's going to lower the PAYROLL tax tables so that individuals will have more money each week to spend. THIS IS NOT A TAX REDUCTION! It only means there is less tax taken out on payday, but at tax time you are still going to have to pay on what you earned. People who do this are going to owe big time on 4/15. I may be wrong on this but it's the way I see it.

Who knows what other changes were in the bailout that's been kept quiet. With all the jockeying around with the tax code makes it almost impossible to plan your financial future. You must remember this. The government's source of income is YOUR TAXES. So, with the current federal debt, the bailout plus Obama's grandiose plan TAXES WILL BE GOING UP UP UP in spite of what any of your favorite party members say. So you better plan now as best you can particularly with your taxable retirement funds."

The bailout and the run on handouts certainly can not be laid at BO's feet--except in the sense that he and McCain were two of the senators who thought it had to be signed immediately or the world would collapse, and put into play a contract with America that any 5 year old should have questioned. Everyone with a retirement plan from age 20-90 is participating in a loss of trillions in value, and now he plans a few more trillion to "stimulate" the economy. FDR tried this for a decade and the Depression didn't budge. Governments don't grow the economy by taxing us and spending our money on public works projects. The recent drop in gas prices from over $4 a gallon in the summer to under $2 in December amounted to a couple of thousand in the wallet for most families--especially Californians for whom driving is like breathing. But it didn't stimulate the economy. (It just proved all the libs were wrong that announcing drilling would bring down prices immediately.) We were on a credit binge (spending $117 for each $100 earned) and the hangover isn't pretty. Going into more debt is not the way to fix this.

Floor lamp update

New Year's Resolution number 5 was to buy a floor lamp. I've now visited four stores, so yesterday I stopped at a large builders supply chain, which will remain nameless, because I like the store. I stopped there after my mail run to the church's suburban location, telling the return campus receptionist I'd be about 15 minutes late. After browsing the shelves, I settled on one not-as-ugly-as-the-others, which had two lights--a 100 watt that reflected on the ceiling and a movable arm with a squirrely, low energy bulb that was supposed to be "full spectrum" to help with reading. The box in 3 languages was explicit about that low energy bulb--13 watts. All I could find on the shelf was a 15, so I lugged the box, now getting a bit heavy, to the service desk. Two handsome young people looked quite blank when I told them the problem, and the young woman got on her cell phone and called someone. Many older people think sales staff are being rude or ageist, but I suspect they just know nothing or aren't trained. Then the woman-child said, "He first has to cut some wire for another customer than he can help you." I stood in the light bulb aisle about 10 minutes, then returned the box to the shelf. No one came.

Usually, the only people in these warehouse supply places who know anything are the gray haired part-timers who have retired from something else, got tired of golf and want to get away from their wives' honey-do list. Also, I suspect there has been a serious staff cut back, because I've never had a problem at this store getting help.

All was not lost, however. I stopped at the Discovery Shop (cancer donations) because occasionally entire rooms of furniture are donated (a truck was there). No floor lamps, and the clerk said they go fast. She knew exactly what I was looking for. But I did find a beautiful pair of navy blue velvet jeans which look unworn for $5. Not a lamp, but they are a reminder that I need to stay with my exercise program (was a size 8 last year, these are size 10), New Year's Resolution 6.

Finally, I've agreed with Obama!

Although I didn't hear it directly, I heard it reported that Obama thinks the government should extend the time on the digital conversion. He's not President yet, but I'm guessing someone's listening--especially since they ran out of money, and there aren't enough landfills to accept all the old sets. I never saw the importance of it anyway--TV being the wasteland that it is, why do something to expand it? No one in Obama's administration wants more views on radio. As soon as Obama appoints just one liberal to the FCC vacancy, the fairness doctrine will go away (fair to conservatives, that is). Yes, it doesn't have to be Pelosi or Reid or Obama that takes away our right to hear the whole story, it only has to be a regulatory commission. This is how groups like ACORN brought down the banking industry and started the world wide recession with the CRA--any group under these rules is allowed to complain about treatment or coverage. The way I figure it, there are 60 different viewpoints on religion, politics and gender in the country, so by the time a station manager/owner has to file all the papers and hire a lawyer, the talking heads will be removed and we can all go back to do-wop and hip-hop top 20 formats and destroy the radio industry by having them all move to the Internet.

I really do listen to Obama's speeches, at least the first 2 or 3 minutes, before I change channels. I swear I don't know what excites you libs. The man says nothing but platitudes, promises and proverbs. Off teleprompter he's a worse speaker than Bush. Ah, ah, ah, er, um. And if he hadn't sat under the tutelage of Rev. Wright for 20 years, he wouldn't even get the cadence correct that makes it sound like he's God's oracle. You don't learn that in Hawaii living with white grandparents from Kansas.

But back to the digital TV conversion boxes which I wrote about the other day. My daughter came over last night to work on our two TVs that aren't hooked to cable. The kitchen TV which is also an am/fm radio, its primary use, may be a lost cause. The TV in the guest room is going great guns, even though it looks a little odd. The cord runs from the back of the TV, then drapes across the second bed, where an old pair of rabbit ears is propped up with several pillows, and from there to an outlet too far. She thinks we can buy a new set of rabbit ears for about $10, and then if we get an extension cord/surge protector we can construct something a little less hill billy.

As I mentioned before, I used to get WOSU fairly clear if I was lucky. Now I'm getting all sorts of channels--don't recognize the stations even. For instance, Channel 4 (NBC) and Channel 6 (ABC) come in as 4.1 and 6.1, then they both have sister stations 4.2 and 6.2 that seem to be 1950s-1980s reruns. Weird sci-fi movies, Martha Stewart. Sort of neat. It has a remote and there's an on screen menu. If a channel doesn't broadcast in digital the screen shape is a bit narrow, but nothing seems distorted. Now, WOSU is the poorest. I may try to put it on the dressing table so I don't have to drag it across the bed. First we'll try those new rabbit ears.

Today's new word is IRENIC

Number one on my list of New Year's Resolutions for 2009 was to learn a new word a day--or maybe a week. I expanded the borders a bit on this one--deciding a new word could just be one I'd skip over in reading, but probably not be confident to ever use. I keep a small spiral bound note pad next to the lamp in the living room, which is next to my parents Merriam-Webster 2nd Unabridged New International (1948) in the dining room. I find it much more satisfying to use rather than an on-line source, although it bothers my back just a stitch to lean over (sits on my mother's sewing cabinet).

I write on approximately 20 topics if you count all my blogs, everything from childhood memories of Camp Emmaus, to first issues of journals, to political campaigns to misuse of credit. However, the difficulty level of my blog (when I type in the URL to one of those widgets) is always middle school or high school. I think in order to rate higher, you need to use a lot of non-English words or quote famous people, neither of which I do.

So today's new word is IRENIC. Here's the context, the reason I wrote it down

"While not declaring the Roman Catholic Church apostate, Norman Geisler and Joshua Betancourt address the doctrines that evangelicals find problematic in Catholicism. The work is irenic in tone, meticulous in examination, and extensive in sourcing and footnoting."

Change that e to an o and you get IRONIC, which is what my mind tends to do when I'm not sure. However, IRENIC means peaceful or conciliatory. If your name or your mother's name is IRENE, it's from the Greek, "goddess of peace."

Other new or rarely used words for January

1. effete--excessive self indulgence, feeble, impotent, no longer fertile
   
2. immanence--nearness of God, God with us, Emmanuel
   
3. eremacausis--slow burning fire; gradual oxidation, decay
   
4. solecism--speaking incorrectly; minor blunder in speech; breach of etiquette
   
5. immutable--not capable or susceptible of change; unchangeable
   
6. insensate--without sensation; without sense or intelligence; unfeeling or foolish
   
7. Euroclydon--tempestuous northeast wind of the Mediterreanean
   
8. gibbet--gallows; to execute by hanging; a projecting arm of a crane; to expose to infamy

What's really fun is to see how other bloggers use these words. For instance, would you ever say or write, "effete Arugula"? That's stretching it a bit, don't you think? I avoid arugula in spring mix--think it is bitter. And would you feel safe living in the Euroclydon Nursing Home?

Frozen pipes and visiting moose

It's about 18 degrees here in Columbus. We had a smattering of snow yesterday, some ice on the fringes. Monday was a slick day--I think 4 people were killed and some semi's ran off the road. But at Tundra Medicine, they haven't seen zero in three weeks and the moose are visiting regularly. She's getting a tad stir crazy, what, with just the plumber to talk to. Stop by and leave a comment. That is always our big fear with our summer home--frozen pipes--because they ice fish just a few blocks away. We leave the heat set at about 50 degrees and leave all the cabinet doors open, but if the power goes off--good luck! And I hear a dog sled race has been called off in Minnesota--too much snow; and the Russians and Ukrainians are fighting over gas lines, which might leave some of Europe wishing for more global warming.

Americans often feel the same way

So many people I know say, "I rarely watch TV; or, I need to turn it off when the grandchildren are visiting." Therefore, what this Jordanian author Diana Abu-Jaber says about returning to her birth country, reminds me of what many Americans think of our hyper-sexualized and violent TV stories

"Years of shows like “Baywatch”—and now, even worse, so-called reality TV, give Middle Easterners the idea that Americans are all corrupt and decadent and frightening. Sort of in the way the American media portrays Middle Easterners as frightening and sinister."

Look!! A way for westerners to bond with middle easterners.

Digital Converter Box

Those of you hoping the government will take over health care should notice they are now out of money to offset the cost for the digital converter boxes and there is a waiting list. We were on time as usual, got our coupons, and received the 2 boxes as a Christmas gift. However, they don't work. We have a $14 b & w 7" set in the kitchen with an am/fm radio, and a 1988 9" set in the guest room that gets WOSU fine, an occasionally if the wind is blowing, and it's a month with 5 Tuesdays, a few other channels. So our techie relative, our daughter, is going to come over today to see if she can make it work. As a fall back, I found a phone number of a high school kid who is doing his "service credits" for graduation by helping senior citizens hook up their boxes.

The Federal Government has run out of money to help analog TV owners go digital in mid-February.

"USA Today" reports the $1.3 billion dollar program to offset the cost of buying converter boxes scraped bottom on Sunday.

Instead of giving out discount coupons worth $40 apiece, the Feds are now compiling a waiting list. If consumers can't wait, they can always spring for the box's 40-to-70-dollar cost without the coupon. MSNBC

The high cost of utopia

For every three “imperfect” children (in our stunted minds, not God’s) we may be losing two “perfect” children.

“Two healthy babies are miscarried for every three Down's Syndrome babies that are detected and prevented from being born, research has suggested.

The losses are down to the invasive methods used to test for the condition, which affects approximately one in every 1,000 babies conceived, the researchers claim. They also cast doubt on the advice and risk assessment given to the 6,000 women each year who are offered screening and subsequent testing to assess the health of their unborn baby.

If an expectant mother is deemed to be at risk of carrying a Down's baby following a blood test, she will then go on to undergo an amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling (CVS) test, which involves inserting a fine needle through the abdomen to either withdraw amniotic fluid or take a tissue sample.

The NHS cites a miscarriage rate of between one and two per cent following the tests, but the researchers, from the charity Down's Syndrome Education International, point out that only the number of Down's babies terminated, miscarried or born are recorded, not the number of healthy babies lost.”

What’s really ugly about this report is that the writers and researchers believe killing the unborn non-Down’s child is a tragedy--the other not so much. From Catholic Physician’s blog citing the Telegraph .

Ramalinga Raju--A tough couple of weeks for rich crooks

Stepping in front of trains, slashing wrists, messing with the minds of their friends, foundations and children. And now the outsoucing business guru in India who began with John Deere in Illinois after graduating from Ohio University and Harvard.

"Today, Satyam has over 53,000 employees on its payrolls, spread across 60 countries. In an interview with ET in 2007, Mr Raju had described his entry into the infotech sector as “a naïve decision.” What Raju calls naiveté — in effect a pioneering spirit motivated by passion and not profit — was backed by the hard edge of a keen intellect."

And he was cooking the books. July interview.

Hot Sauce for the Hispanic governor

isn't any sauce for the first black president. Oh no. We all know that fabulous pile of money raised for Obama during the campaign didn't come just from the little guys, and can't stand scrutiny. It won't be looked into--there are no investigative reporters left--so why are they even bringing it up? He has been ordained, crowned, chiseled in marble, and named supreme ruler by our media and he's already discussing his 2nd and 3rd term so he can fix things. This is play money compared to some of the rest.

This article by law professor Matt Mayer is the best you'll read on why Democrats need to follow the Constitution and seat Burris.

How hard can it be to get federal money?

Amateurs can do it. Ohio's former Attorney General Marc Dann was a crook and a philanderer. He was fired. Finally. But while in office he created a Washington job for Craig Mehall, a job unique among states' attorney generals, for $98,000. According to the Columbus Dispatch

1. No other AG had a Washington liaison
   
2. Mehall had no Washington experience
   
3. Mehall had never been a lobbyist
   
4. He was a lawyer, not licensed in Ohio
   
5. He had been a volunteer for Dann
   
6. He was from Chicago
   
7. He missed deadlines due to his lack of experience
   
8. He leaked information
   
9. He borrow a private plane from one of Dann's other political buddies
   
10. He continued to work for Ohio after Dann was fired

Mehall was just let go--due to budget shortfalls in the state, although his boss is long gone. Still, the governor's office says "he did a lot of good" by getting millions in law enforcement grants and representing Ohio in consumer rights and debt-relief. He would have been successful in getting a regional crime lab on behalf of a consortium of institutions, but someone backed away from it. Not too bad for someone with no experience, hired by a crook, who wasn't even from Ohio. Why do lobbyists need to do this? What are our elected representatives doing if not bringing home the pork?

What's her name is out of a job

Never heard of her, but if this is her level, I'm not surprised. I mean, how much of this incredible talent for wordsmithery is needed? How many writers are needed to photocopy the praises of the president-elect? She thinks Obama is extraordinary and Bush is a knucklehead. And what will she and the other unemployed or underemployed writers say in two weeks or next year?

With only 15 days to go until the inauguration of our president-elect, to this day, I cannot for the life of me even begin to imagine why on earth this brilliant, extraordinary man wants the job but am impossibly thrilled that he does (provided there is anything left to govern after W. is finished. The news from all over seems to get a little bit worse every day and he seems to get a little more absent.) Heckuva job. The Gaza is imploding. Iraq is forgotten. The rich feel poor and the poor are actually poorer. And, as if that all weren't enough, now Ann Coulter is back. And Laura Bush is about to be paid $8 million from Scribner's for a memoir? Married to a knucklehead for 31 years, her steep reward will now be roughly $258,000. for each year?