The Iraqi elections

Sworn enemies voted side by side; those who refused to participate four years ago were now part of the process; one-third of the candidates were women; there was open campaigning for months; no violence; 60% turnout. And what does the NBC reporter say on last night's news? [paraphrase] "This was the first test of the Obama administration." Unbelieveable. It's one thing to be in the tank for Obama; it's another to thing completely to drown there.

He also is praying for Obama

Is anyone else ready for Spring?

This is our back yard in June. I'm listening to the snow plow scrape the ice off our street. It was very pretty floating down on Wednesday and Thursday, but . . . A water main has broken and we have many inches of ice in front of our drive. I am so ready. And all day I thought it was February, and it's only January 31!

When I pray for Obama

Although I'm not sure how God will do this without dumping the reading lists of better educated presidents like Bush, Truman and Clinton in Obama's lap, I often ask God to give the current president a sense and understanding of the past. Of all that is lacking in his qualities, and there are many, this one really stands out in every speech. You can't cover that with rhetorical flourishes. Even if he doesn't write them, I assume he tells his speech writers what he wants. I used to write speeches for a state of Ohio official, and to find her ideas and cadence I reviewed very carefully what she'd said in the past and who the audience would be. (She's deceased.) Charles Krauthammer mentions Obama's ignorance about the U.S. relations with Muslims in his limp apology on our behalf for being disrespectful (I don't think he used the word ignorance).

"America did not just respect Muslims, it bled for them. It engaged in five military campaigns, every one of which involved -- and resulted in -- the liberation of a Muslim people: Bosnia, Kosovo, Kuwait, Afghanistan and Iraq.

The two Balkan interventions -- as well as the failed 1992-93 Somalia intervention to feed starving African Muslims (43 Americans were killed) -- were humanitarian exercises of the highest order, there being no significant U.S. strategic interest at stake. In these 20 years, this nation has done more for suffering and oppressed Muslims than any nation, Muslim or non-Muslim, anywhere on Earth. Why are we apologizing?" Washington Post

Well, WE AREN'T. Mr. Obama's on his own here.

The not-so-green Mayor of Columbus

Usually I complain about tree-huggers, global alarmists, and the pantheistic Mother Earth folks who think she needs assisted care in a very expensive nursing home, but I truly do care about what happens to our land, and that includes the soil, water and air we all share. The Mayor of Columbus has big dreams--like a trolley line to no where and light rail to Cincinnati and Cleveland. On the other hand, he is penny wise and pound foolish. Do you know what he is cutting to save money? Yard waste pick-up. 26,000 tons of blowing, rotting green matter and trash that will have to be dumped somewhere by private parties who have no access to legal dump sites. Smart move! Now it will go into the rivers and streams, the nooks and crannies between jurisdictions, or into the regular trash, where the workers can't inspect every bag.

This is indicative of government at every level--local, state and particularly federal. Let's cut essential city services, like police, fire, and trash. The poor, low income and elderly will be hurt the most so the bureaucrats can keep their jobs and play around with new programs. I'm sure there will be enough money to install more cameras at trash sites and scenic ravines to catch the dumpers.

That was then, this is now

I'm not going to list it as a "new" word, but I was curious about when the little word "then" took over from ex- or former when referring to divorced spouses. "Then" is another one of those little over-worked four letter words. You know the others. It comes from the Old English word thonne related to the Old High German word denne. It means, "at that time," "soon after that time," "next in order of time," "following next after in order of position," "next in a series," "in that case," "according to that," and "as a necessary consequence." It's the little, multiple use English words that foreigners leave out.

Here's the definition that fits the use I refer to, "existing or acting at or belonging to the time mentioned." I suppose you can apply it to a wife or husband, but to say, "he and his then wife (1992) bought the house and remodeled it. . ." just sounds sort of crass. As though she is just one in a series, perhaps. To my tender ears. Still, if you can use it with a secretary of state or a judge. . .

When I googled the phrase, "his then wife," I got about 196,000 matches. I was wrong about the usage, because using this phrase goes back many, many years, to the point of being almost quaint. I found early 1800s:

can any limitations be implied in favour of the testator's issue by his then wife unprovided for by the settlement (1845)

yielding and paying therefore yearly during the said term unto the plaintiff and Nancy his then wife, since deceased (1870)

I think this means his then wife. I feel that very strongly (1896)

Plaintiff herein further states that, during and by reason of the late War of the Rebellion, the said deed from the said Joseph C. Parry and his then wife, ... (1905)

Even so, some of the more interesting ones were recent

[Jenrette, a liberal Democrat] had sex with his then-wife, Rita Jenrette, behind a pillar on the steps of the Capitol Building.

When I met my husband, his then wife threatened me, harassed me, and basically made life a living hell.

Sienna might have been cheated on by Jude Law but Jude cheated on his then-wife, Sadie Frost, with Sienna.

Snodgrass says Hyde carried on a five-year sexual relationship with his then-wife, Cherie, that shattered his family . . .

He had the contract in his hand to sign when his then wife, Laura, asked him if he really, really was ready to give up the adrenaline kick . . .

In September 1992, Pavarotti and his then wife, Adua, . . .

Podhoretz recounts that Mailer rushed up to Podhoretz's apartment after Mailer had stabbed his then-wife Adele Morales in 1960. . .

When Giuliani was in office and having an affair with Judith Nathan — who later became his wife — both she and his then-wife, Donna Hanover, ...

His then-wife gave him some A.A. pamphlets which he pretended to ignore, but he sneaked into the bathroom to read them.

English: such an interesting language.

Sonya Apples

When I can't get Honey Crisp, my favorite, which is most of the year, I usually buy Braeburn, but last week an apple I'd never seen, heart shaped with the coloring of a ripe peach, appeared at Marc's for $.99/lb. So I bought 5, and this week bought 6 more. Very good eating! I eat an apple a day, and find that they control hunger much better than grain, dairy or another type of fruit such as bananas or grapes. So I know what I like. If you're near a Marc's today, take a few home. You won't be sorry.



Orange Pippin web site says: "Sonya has two distinctive features. Firstly, its unusual shape - it is a very tall apple, a shape which is characteristic of 'pearmain' apples such as Adams Pearmain. However the parentage is Gala and Red Delicious, so Sonya is very much in the Golden Delicious and Red Delicious style.

Sonya's other distinctive feature is its exceptional sweetness - which is what you would expect from an apple which is related to both Golden Delicious and Red Delicious." This is interesting in that I wouldn't cross the road for a Red Delicious--I find little flavor in them.

How did we get here?

So many people I know have given up. Their attitude is "Oh well, I'm not going to be here to see it." For some reason they think their pension and/or Social Security and annuities will still be here by the end of Obama's first term--perhaps enough to see them to the grave. Scary. While some of you were dancing in the streets and trashing the mall, some of us saw the lights going out all over the country--and not to save electricity. It was the dimming of a dream and hope for the future. Then I read

April 1, 2013 -Unemployment is approaching 25 percent, inflation is close to 40 percent, major portions of the U.S. are having power "brownouts," and Americans are forced to go to foreign countries for timely and quality medical care. How did the world's largest and most prosperous economy fall into such a morass in only a very few years?
Read the rest of Shape of Things to Come?

Shameful expenditures

$18 billion in executive bonuses is the height of irresponsibility, but spending $1.2 trillion in government pork is a fiscally justifiable use of taxpayer funds. Here’s a visual that will demonstrate. Brain Shavings

Today's new word is CLAMANT

Actually, this was yesterday's, but I got a bit bogged down looking through google entries and went to bed. Here's the reference

We are content not to know the deep things of God. . . ponder the things He has said until we hear their clamant call, and obey." G. Campbell Morgan.

I didn't have a problem understanding the meaning--thought it might be something to do with "claim," because that is how I would pronounce it. But you just never know, so I looked it up. Big fat dining room dictionary says, it comes from the Latin clamare meaning to call, see claim. However, the meaning is "crying out, clamorous, loud, demanding notice, or urgent." I really don't get a sense of urgency in the word "claim." Like "quit claim deed," or as the CW song goes
You claimed you loved me,
but I was suspicious when
you dated three
of my best fren
So I checked google, and after about 40 entries that were just dictionaries, including Vietnamese, or were in Latin (clamant is 3rd person plural verb apparently), I decided no one is using it much these days, so there's no clamant call to learn or remember it.

It has only been a week

Africa and Hawaii have had their revenge for the European explorers and colonialists seizing their land. Our globalist, bi-racial president has taken this country further into socialism in one week than FDR and LBJ did in 4.5 terms. The stimulus package is a complete fraud--a ploy to take over what we didn't hand over since 1933; our future citizens, workers, soldiers and grandchildren will be tossed out with the FOCA garbage where they will neither cost us in social services nor contribute to the greater good; our cabinet officers are crooks and sneaks; and little acorns dance in the woods of green.

New roots in Vermont

The architectural article in today's WSJ is about a 3 generation Korean-American family (via Communist North Korea over 60 years ago) with a retreat reflecting Korean culture and Vermont practicality. They own quite a chunk of land and built the family compound for about $300 sq. ft. With 48' of glass in the 12' wide dining room, the children can play in the middle of winter without shoes as the room can heat up from the sun to 87 degrees. Our little manufactured porch, 6' wide, at Lakeside does that too--in the winter sun we can almost heat the entire house built in the early 1940s.

I grew up in northern Illinois and even in the 1940s and 1950s I saw many out-buildings of similar concept on farms. They were probably designed by a clever farm wife who helped support the family and send the kids to college with her butter and egg business. These buildings had steep pitches to drop the winter snow and clerestory windows for warmth and light, the nests for the chickens were framed high enough for manure droppings to fall to the floor (also helps with heat and composting), with easy access waist high to reach under biddy for her precious eggs.

Outsiders who come in to rural areas or the inner city or to vacation/leisure towns and set about to recreate a feeling, or to preserve the past, or to establish a name for design, need to realize that eventually, the locals will not be able to afford to live there. I've seen that myself at Lakeside, where my husband has beautified the town with about 35 projects, being the architect for a renovation, a total remodeling or completely new designs on empty lots. When an area is "improved" the property values around it go up, and then the taxes go up. The early sellers do quite well; those who wait or who want to stay there because of location (ice fishing, boating) or family (generations of quarry workers from east Europe) may be out of luck. We have home owners from across the nation coming there for a few weeks in the summer to stay in fabulous cottages--that would have never happened before the 1970s gasoline crisis when leisure spots closer to home began to look more desirable to Ohioans, and the idea spread. Water mains and gas lines were laid and roads improved, and real estate development boomed. I've seen many homes in Lakeside, Marblehead and Catawba leave a family after 3 or 4 generations because the heirs cannot afford to own it, so it is sold to wealthier families. And I've seen owners sell because although they haven't "preserved" or "renovated," the neighbors have and they can't afford the taxes and insurance on a home they only use a few weeks of the year.

Most noticeable is what happens to the urban poor, what happens when a city neighborhood is "improved" or as we say these days "gentrified?" When I drive through some of the wonderful neighborhoods of user friendly townhouses in downtown Chicago full of white and light brown yuppies, close to the parks, the lake, museums and shopping, I do wonder what happened to all those poor and black welfare families of razed Cabrini Green. Did they go on to be middle or upper class citizens, no longer dependent on the government for housing?

When we moved to Columbus in the 1960s, one of the first architectural tours we took was German Village, which had been a run-down slum, and was experiencing a new birth. It was so exciting to see--I still have the fading color photos we took. Tiny brick houses and duplexes that still looked quite traditional on the outside and were already being subjected to some fairly rigid codes, were light, airy and contemporary on the inside--never really reflecting the humble origins of the German working class that built them in the 19th century. That was 42 years ago, so I'm sure those kitchens I lusted for have been done over again, once or twice, and now maybe are being subjected to all sorts of green remodeling to conserve energy, fight radon or remove toxic materials installed just 20 or 30 years ago. So where did the poor go when the gay decorators and lawyer-doctor trendy couples moved in? Well, they moved further out, maybe rented or got a foreclosed house with help from the government and started that neighborhood on a downward slide with trucks up on blocks and broken windows covered with plywood.

Some may have ended up on the Hilltop, where in the past 10-20 years non-profit housing groups with government grants have been trying to "improve" the housing, fairly solid early 20th century 4-squares cut up into 4-plexes. If they succeed, they will push the poor further away from jobs and city services, which are being cut back anyway, strangled by new environmental codes and regulations and the housing meltdown created by our government's belief that everyone needed a piece of the real estate pie.

I don't have a solution; but every improvement, whether private or government, has consequences. The green ones more than most.

Obama is not Jesus; he's Joseph

Excellent post at Billoblog on the stimulus package that concludes

We can look forward to the economic miracle that is Zimbabwe and the liberty of Cuba. And, like the Egyptians, we will sell ourselves, and our children to the seventh generation, thoughtlessly. The only big difference is that the crisis for the Egyptians was real, while the Democrats are hyping a false sense of crisis about a problem they cannot solve using their socialization policies, but, as with the Depression, can only make worse. But, like the environmental “crisis” and the energy “crisis,” the goal is not solution; it is the destruction of individual rights in the name of socialism.

NYT needs to encourage births

Babies grow up to read newspapers and pay the salaries of journalists and editors. I heard about the March for Life because I listen to Christian radio, but I think that was the only outlet that mentioned it around here. Maybe the media were still drunk from the Tuesday festivities.

“More than 300,000 people assembled in Washington, D.C. [January 22] for the 36th Annual March for Life. But as far as The New York Times is concerned, it never happened,” Feder observed. [BoycottNYT.com editor Don] Feder was the keynote speaker at the event’s Rose Dinner.

He continued, “If 50,000 feminists had gathered on the Mall in D.C., to demand passage of the so-called Freedom of Choice Act, it would have been above-the-page-one-fold coverage in The Times, accompanied by an aerial photo of the crowd.” From Accuracy in Media

If 10 Code Pink ladies stood under a street light at 3 a.m. outside a veterans' hospital protesting, the NYT would have sent a crew. Didn't they get front row seats at the inauguration?

Invitation to President Obama.

From Washington Post story (section A):

"Deirdre McQuade, spokeswoman for Pro-Life Activities at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said turnout at the annual Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Northeast on Wednesday night filled the basilica's 16,000-person capacity and spill into two overflow buildings. A morning youth concert and Mass yesterday at Verizon Center also filled up -- there were 20,000-plus seats -- and crowds were sent to nearby churches. . .

For eight years, marchers had been greeted by a message from President George W. Bush, who supported their cause and appointed two Supreme Court justices who voted to uphold federal restrictions on some abortion procedures.

In contrast, Obama issued a statement yesterday reaffirming his support for a woman's right to choose to end her pregnancy. Roe v. Wade, the statement said, "not only protects women's health and reproductive freedom, but stands for a broader principle: that government should not intrude on our most private family matters."

Of course, Washington Post is bi-lingual: "abortion foes," "abortion opponents," on the right side, and "a woman's right to end her pregnancy," and "reproductive freedom" on the left side.

Tonight's cruise dinner

You probably think this isn't the greatest time to go to the Holy Land, but reading the paper, it's not a good time to be in Mexico either. In fact, I'd say Mexico looks hotter than Hamas. Anyway, the people going on the cruise to the Holy Land are getting together for a pot luck tonight. We're in the section of the alphabet that's bringing a main dish, so I'm taking sweet sour meatballs. I've blogged this about 2 years ago, but it was an entire dinner. So here's the story excerpted from that entry

To make the meatballs you first have to leave the computer--probably when Blogger.com is acting up. Go to the kitchen and mix in a sauce pan one 15 oz can of sauerkraut, one 12 oz. jar of chili sauce, and one 16 oz can of whole cranberry sauce (sizes make no difference). Remove half of it from the pan and put it in the freezer for another day. Makes a wonderful topping for a boneless pork roast. While the mix is warming up, check the computer to see if Blogger is working, and if so, download that picture before it quits.

Go back to the kitchen and tear and crumble in a bowl at least two pieces of stale bread and let it dry a little while you go back and finish your blog entry. Oh, turn off stove and remove the sauce because you might forget and it will scorch.

Next, add one and a half pounds of ground chuck to the bread crumbs, an envelope of dried onion soup, and 2 eggs and thoroughly mix. Shape into 10 nice sized meatballs, and lightly brown for a few minutes. Spray a casserole dish with a non-stick (I use olive oil), and arrange the meatballs. Pour the sauce over the meatballs, completely covering them. Put in the oven at 375 for at least 45 minutes. Check your e-mail. Freezes well, or makes great sandwiches the next day.

For this event I used a mix of ground pork, sausage and hamburger, probably a total 2.5 lbs, making 8 large meatballs to take tonight and a bunch of smaller ones which I popped in the oven at lunch time, of which I've just eaten 2 in case I don't get any tonight. Because I had more meat, I used all the sauce. Actually, I think I like the ground chuck version better.

A lot goes a little way

I just read the ingredients on my Trader Joe's "Next to Godliness Liquid Dish Soap" formulated to perform effectively while being safe for the environment. Usually, I love Trader Joe's products, and I thought I'd used this one before and found it satisfactory, but. . .

coconut derived surfactants, earth salt, lavender oil, tea tree oil, grapefruit seed extract and water

just doesn't do it. The label says it hasn't been tested on animals so we don't even know if it's safe for humans, do we?

My tea bags of black leaves come from bushes, so I asked Google, "what is tea tree oil," and was told that it comes from steam distillation of the leaves of Melaleuca alternifolia, a plant native to Australia. It's not even tea! "Tea tree oil contains consituents [sic] called terpenoids, which have been found to have antiseptic and antifungal activity. The compound terpinen-4-ol is the most abundant and is thought to be responsible for most of tea tree oil's antimicrobial activity." You can use it for vaginitis, dandruff, acne and athletes' foot. Gee, I didn't know those ailments were even related!

Anyway, use twice as much of the TJ Soap as the bad old stuff and don't expect suds.

Father John Corapi

If they are not praying to saints or Mary, or saying the rosary, I love to listen to Catholic radio. And Father John Corapi is one of the best. I heard a stunning sermon this morning in the car, rushed into the house leaving the groceries, and turned on the kitchen radio. It was all about his profligate past in Hollywood outrunning the police with cocaine in the trunk of his Ferrari and hanging out with starlets. I think he said he was at a party with John Belushi the night he died. Here's what catholic-tube says about him

A soldier, investment banker, multi millionaire real estate investor, cocaine addict, and Catholic Priest. It’s said that every saint has a past and every sinner has a future. So too, is the path of Father John Corapi, now famous for his touring the world to spread the good news of Jesus Christ and his Church. Fr. Corapi’s past has led to a great witness that has led many back to the church. He has put together many series that have aired on EWTN, including his famous series on the Catechism of the Catholic Church. You can find out more about the ministry of Father Corapi by visiting his website.

And I always thought it was the Baptists that had the great testimonies, but his is hard to beat. And he has a great voice.

Cash or cans?

Food is flying off the shelves at food pantries across the country. Instead of the clients being people on food stamps, it's people newly unemployed and living in their own homes. I'm a member of a large Lutheran church with three campuses, and we support (I think) an exceptionally well run "choice" Food Pantry with very capable staff. Our church, UALC, heard the appeal in November and December.

"Through November and Thanksgiving services, enough food was donated to carry the local LSS Food Pantry through much of February: donations of 1,549 bags of food, cash and gift cards were valued at $30,935." UALC Cornerstone, January 11-17, 2009

Last year LSS of Central Ohio food pantries served 148,546 people. I'm guessing that is "visits" and not actual people, because when I've volunteered, I see the same people over and over. Most of that is a 3 day supply of emergency food for people with documentation and in the computerized system, but "over-nights" are at the discretion of the manager until the client can get into the social service system.

Is it better to give cash/checks or food stuffs? Here's my opinion. The manager/director can buy much more food for your dollar than you can. However, that food is cheap because of federal funding--so you're paying for it either way. Churches, clubs and immigrant societies have always had a community food basket for the poor, elderly and unemployed. Compared to the volunteer spirit that goes back to the roots of this country, the government is a newcomer as a food donor. The present food stamp program began during Johnson’s Great Society in the 1960s and was expanded during the Carter years, and every administration since, including the Republicans. It's political suicide to cut it and it began as welfare to farmers.

According to the Cato Institute, “The largest portion of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s budget consists of food subsidies, not farm subsidies. Food subsidies will cost taxpayers $55 billion in fiscal 2007 and account for 61 percent of the USDA’s budget. The largest food subsidy programs are food stamps; the school breakfast and lunch programs; and the women, infants, and children (WIC) program. The federal government as a whole has about 26 food and nutrition programs operated by six different agencies.“ When I serve at the food pantry I see brands and companies I've never heard of; I suspect they serve only charities with government surplus, or outright purchase. In Columbus we have a huge warehouse, Mid-Ohio Food Bank, that serves only the food pantries and they're asking for funding to enlarge it. MOFB's stocks are down. Supermarkets are more efficient and waste (donate) less, there are more odd-lot type discounters to buy up near due date and over stocks, and health regulations have cut down on what can be donated. Which means more of your tax dollar for food subsidies.

The biggest distributor of these programs is "faith based and community" initiatives like our Lutheran church. So any food pantry, whether they are supported by your church or a community cooperative, is really tax supported via the USDA (it was also involved in housing programs in rural areas which contributed to our melt-down). Which brings me to my point--purchasing your donation at the local level.

For every can of soup or package of pasta I buy locally whether at Marc's or Meijer's, I am helping a stock boy or produce lady keep their jobs. They in turn can meet their rent payments, put gas in their used auto, and eat a meal out occasionally at McDonald's. This allows the bulk gasoline driver to keep his truck on the road, the landlord of the apartment building to avoid foreclosure, and the feedlot owner in Kansas to ship spent, older cows to slaughter in Iowa where the butchers and packers will pay their rent, fill their gas tanks and maybe donate to their local food pantry to help the unemployed who planted too much corn for ethanol due to Al Gore's environmental hysteria which helped contribute to food shortages world wide.

I'm a pensioner. Every time I go to the grocery store, I pick up a few cans of soup, a package of pasta, a jar of jelly, or some canned meat and drop it off on Sunday in the food box at church--amounts to about $10 a week--and you know the prices, that doesn't buy a lot. I've read every label and compared every price, and I know the money is circulating right here in Columbus to help the people who aren't lining up on Champion Avenue.

Blago and the Gitmo detainees

Not that I have any sympathy for Rod Blagojevich, the Illinois governor accused of trying to sell Obama's senate seat, but the rush to impeach and marginalize him by his own party, particularly Obama supporters, is interesting in light of the care, feeding and pro-bono legal care of the Gitmo accused terrorists by the left. The smell of the bread crumbs that lead back to Obama's campaign managers, appointees and lackeys has the whiff of 3 day old fish left in the hot sun.

From little ACORNs marxism grows big trees

If you check out the roots of the various housing organizations to whom the Bush administration gave money to keep the housing industry afloat (literally throwing it with little oversite) and the tangled web of the various "get out the vote" groups in 2006 and 2008 that bussed people hither and yon for registration where they weren't eligible, you'll find ACORN or groups it is funding. So this item on Newsmax is no surprise--they had power to spend and money to burn long before Obama, the community activist, team took the reins.

"Ordinarily, neighborhood stabilization funds are distributed to local governments. But revised language in the stimulus bill would make the funds available directly to non-profit entities such as ACORN, the low-income housing organization whose pro-Democrat voter-registration activities have been blasted by Republicans. ACORN is cited by some for tipping the scales in the Democrats' favor in November.

According to Fox news, Sen. David Vitter, R-La., could appear to be a “payoff” for community groups’ partisan political activities in the last election cycle."

Republicans were so busy supporting the war abroad and fighting the Democrats in Congress, they forgot to check the foxholes and bunkers within our own borders for our homegrown axis of evil.