Friday Family Photo--Party Time

I'd better get going on this cleaning. We're having a bunch of people (Cursillo team) over tonight. We're providing the meat, otherwise it's pot luck. Do you know what this hostess' nightmare is? The woman who brings a "salad," still in the grocery bag and needs about 10' of counter space, your sink, utensils, and frig to put it all together! Ladies, puleeeze. Pot luck means you bring it in the pot, not in 6 baggies with contents that need to be washed, cut up and mixed!


De Colores!

Update: I'm also saving the environment. Today I used one of those "friendly green" concoctions that cost triple the usual. Cleans like crap. I looked at the label and it is vinegar and water. Then I sewed a button on my husband's favorite summer shirt rather than throw it away the way rich politicians do. It had been in the back of the closet since 2007. Then on my walk I pulled weeds along the curb and didn't spray an herbicide.

Watermelon gum, or why I hate coupons

You just can't win with a coupon. I received a plastic, looks-like-a-credit-card coupon from Staples for $10. (Paper coupons are the size of a dollar bill; the original coupon was a wooden nickle--it's inflation.) First I went to the wrong store--it was store specific and apparently they were only sent to certain zip codes. Then the item I wanted, rechargeable batteries, was $19.99, and the minimum amount was $20. I asked the floor clerk about that, and he said Yes, it would count because of taxes. Nope. The check-out clerk said I had to buy something else. So I grabbed a pack of gum, which turned out to be $1.49 watermelon flavored, sugar free, with pieces so small it will get lost in my ample mouth. (I have all my wisdom teeth.) But I did win, in a way. I left the store with only what I came in to buy. Coupons aren't about reducing prices; they are about bringing you in. Or taking you in. Who, but the government, could stay in business by giving stuff away?

Should Senators be paid to promote stimulus spending?

Sounds like a conflict of interest to me. This is a "webinar" announcement received today.

"How the Stimulus Funds impact commercial real estate" is the subject of John Sununu's presentation on Tuesday. John is a current member of the Congressional Oversight Panel charged with the distribution and earmarking of the stimulus funds. This is a live webinar broadcast and you will be able to participate in the Q&A that follows. Because of the generosity of our sponsors, we are able to bring this first in the stimulus series to you for free. We want to help you make smarter decisions relevant to the design, construction, modernization, management, and operation of your buildings. By attending this webinar, you'll be able to do your job better, and will be prepared for what's ahead in your field. Listen in as former U.S. Senator John Sununu offers an in-depth look at the stimulus package and answers the questions weighing on your mind."

Obama's cost cutting measure--recommending death

The scariest thing in the whole bill, if you're over 65 or disabled by an accident or disease (others are included in Medicare, not just seniors) is this

"One troubling provision of the House bill compels seniors to submit to a counseling session every five years (and more often if they become sick or go into a nursing home) about alternatives for end-of-life care (House bill, p. 425-430). The sessions cover highly sensitive matters such as whether to receive antibiotics and "the use of artificially administered nutrition and hydration."

This mandate invites abuse, and seniors could easily be pushed to refuse care. Do we really want government involved in such deeply personal issues?

For more fun and games read McCaughey's entire article, and check the link to the 1018 page bill. It's zipping around the internet via e-mail (thanks Charlie), but it's always a good idea to check the original source, rather than a forward. After the Terri debacle my husband and I wrote up all our end-of-life instructions, and even after 45 years of marriage and knowing each other longer, we disagreed on what certain terms meant and delved into the medical literature. Don't assume someone you know well understands your values and beliefs or your tolerance for pain. Put it in writing. And certainly don't leave it up to the government to counsel you when you're ill and vulnerable.

Requirement to buy health insurance

Some people are screaming about this in the Obamacare. Not me. I think it makes perfect sense. Nothing else about the federal government insurance taking over the industry does. We are required by law to carry automobile insurance to protect the other driver. We are required to carry mortgage insurance to protect the bank who loaned us the mortgage. When you buy or lease a car I think the company that loans you the money will require full property coverage until its paid for. I don't know any home owners who don't have fire and theft coverage, and many renters do, but it may depend on where you live. If there were really a free market for health insurance, and you didn't want it, there could be a law that you carry something to protect the hospital and staff who might be called on to treat you during a catastrophic event or illness (because they pass that cost on to me, so if you don't carry it, you're expecting me to pay). If employers hadn't gotten into the business of health insurance after WWII to attract better workers, I think we'd all have better choices and better coverage. We had private health insurance probably 10-15 years early in our married life and careers. That chunk they take off the top of your salary could have been in your hands with you deciding if you wanted well-care, pregnancy, vision or dental, or whatever. The government could have been there for the 10% who would be too high a risk for private plans (mental illness, inherited problems, catastrophic, etc.). We are in this cost situation because of government care--there's fraud, lack of oversite, and burdensome regulations. And lawyers, of course. Don't forget the law suits.

Nor do I agree with many people my age who say it's just terrible that Obama wants to rein in the costs of Medicare. I really question that I needed to be hospitalized last summer (bill was well over $5,000, but I have no way of knowing what it really was, because by the time if filtered down to me it was something like $300 out of my pocket). I know other seniors who have experienced the same--without the insurance, would they have needed that "level" of care? Unfortunately, once you start down that road--emergency room, intensive care, intubation, surgery, dialysis, and then maybe complications from bacterial infections after surgery plus all the misery and anxiety of being hospitalized, then the follow up, yes, I'd say someone needs to really look at this. I wonder sometimes if elders are being used as guinea pigs, considering that the billions of dollars spent in those final weeks and months of life often don't extend life.

I tried to look up the percentage of income that goes to health care, but unfortunately that figure depends on the political views of the writer. I saw everything from 5.7% to 15%. And if they say it costs more than housing, they aren't factoring in all the costs of housing, and they are adding in the employer's contribution for health care. Apples. Oranges. But it is a lot and it's going up fast. And it will be more if the government does it, with worse care. Folks. We know that from experience. Medicare is out of control BECAUSE it is a government program. Why would it be different if you had it too?

Now no homeowner in Massachusetts is safe

A report is called in to police that someone is trying to break into a house. So they go there. Unfortunately for Massachusetts, it's a black man trying to get into his own house, and he gets very testy with the police expecting them to know he's someone very important, Professor Gates of Haaavard.

Now even the President, who didn't comment for days on a Muslim terrorist killing one of our soliders right here in the United States, has decided to weigh in.

"President Obama addressed the arrest of Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. at his Cambridge home during his news conference tonight, saying that "anyone would be angry" and "the Cambridge police acted stupidly."

Obama prefaced his reply by saying that "I might be a little biased here" because "Skip Gates" is a friend, and by acknowledging that "I don't know all the facts."

He then recited what has been reported, and joked that if he tried to jimmy the lock at his current residence -- the White House -- "I'd get shot." Boston Globe report.

Good luck, Cambridge. It's open house in your neighborhood from here on out. He wasn't arrested for trying to get in his own house as the media has reported, he was arrested for disorderly conduct--accusing the police of racism. And Obama was right--he didn't have all the facts. But he did have them about the murder of his soldier and he chose to keep quiet.

"Why don't we all just try to make the best of it."

Words of an Obama supporter and campaigner on his handling of the economy, taken from my comment window. I'm not willing to "just try" because I can see he has no intention of doing anything about the economy. He is using it and the fear mongering the Democrats have thrown at us for 8 years about "this economy" to put his social programs in place. If he were really serious about the economy and getting people back to work, he wouldn't be doing things that destroy jobs and discourage investment, which thicken the books of regulations on existing businesses, and taking over massive segments of the economy to burden us further. Complete take over by the government is his goal, and that is impossible to do when people aren't frightened, brow beaten and discouraged. He promised his followers and the true-believers that he would fundamentally change America, and that is a promise he can't keep if we go back to 4.5% unemployment.

I'll believe he's serious about improving health insurance when he says, "I know this can work, and we'll start with all federal, state and local officials, elected and appointed, me and my family, Congress and SCOTUS included, and civil service staff, run it as a model for 5 years to tweak and improve it, just to show to you it can work."

40 years of modern feminism and we've still got this

It's British TV and comedy, but spot on. Increasingly, men (if white) are depicted as equal opportunity morons, and it's still open season on older people, Christians, Sarah Palin and well dressed CEOs. Oh wait, that's the news.



HT Reclusive Leftist, good writing with some great wacko commenters

Terrorist Attacks on Religious Figures, Religious Institutions, and Military Targets

News from START, Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, based at the University of Maryland.

"As four suspects face possible conviction for plotting to bomb a New York City synagogue and Jewish community center and shoot down military aircraft, the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) releases information on attacks on religious figures and institutions and military targets in the United States. The data were taken from the Global Terrorism Database (GTD), which includes information on over 80,000 attacks between 1970 and 2007.

There have been 25 terrorist attacks against religious figures or institutions in the United States, four of which were unsuccessful attempts. These 25 attacks resulted in a total of eight fatalities. Nine of the 25 attacks involved explosives or bombs.

Nine of these attacks involved Jewish targets, including synagogues in Dallas, Nashville, New York, and Sacramento.

Worldwide, there have been 1615 attacks on religious figures and institutions, with largest concentration in South America, Middle East, and South Asia.

There have been 38 terrorist attacks against military targets in the United States, eight of which were unsuccessful attempts. Attacks against military targets were frequently aimed at recruiting centers. The GTD contains no records of attacks against military aircraft in the United States.

The United States has experienced over 1350 terrorist attacks since 1970, peaking in the mid 1970s with 120 attacks per year. Since 1977 there have been fewer than 50 attacks per year. More than half of these have involved bombs or explosives, and the most common type of target has been private businesses."

The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terror (START) is a U.S. Department of Homeland Security Center of Excellence, tasked by the Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate with using state-of-the-art theories, methods, and data from the social and behavioral sciences to improve understanding of the origins, dynamics, and social and psychological impacts of terrorism. START, based at the University of Maryland, College Park, aims to provide timely guidance on how to disrupt terrorist networks, reduce the incidence of terrorism, and enhance the resilience of U.S. society in the face of the terrorist threat.

Let's all thank the people in our government who continue to protect us against terrorist attacks, and continue to challenge, advise, and/or vote out of office, those who won't.

Going down a God-Awful Road

Barbara Boxer is such a racist! She thinks if a black man speaks on energy, she needs to trot out what another black says. Oh! lady. Are some of your best friends black? Like your cleaning lady? Your gardener? The only transparency in government today is the liberals' motives.



Alford on the O'Reilly show last night: "It was pure race. It was like down there in Mississippi, back in the bad old days, when one Black preacher would rise up against the big boss, he'd go find another black preacher to fight against that black preacher. Yeah, it is — it was ugly. And she jumped — she opened up a pit, a mud pit that I wasn't going to jump into. . . I think it's her persona. I don't think she can help herself. When she gets caught up in a rut like that or against the wall, race comes out. . . the brainchild of Anita Hill attacking Clarence Thomas was Barbara Boxer. You go back to the election 2004 and all of that garbage against Ken Blackwell, secretary of state of Ohio, saying he rigged the election, that was Barbara Boxer." Oh yes, we remember dear Barbara in Ohio.

Bad idea all the way around

Gov. Ted Strickland, who has been quite two faced about gambling (outlawed cash-paying video games in bars and taverns, opposes casinos, but calls Keno just part of the lottery), and the state legislature last week approved a plan to install up to 2,500 video slots at each of Ohio's seven tracks as a way to raise hundreds of millions of dollars for the state budget. So gambling’s OK as long as the state’s raking it in for social and education programs, but not if private parties get their cut by competing with the state. When Ohioans voted down casinos do you suppose that meant they wanted slots in their place?

No, Mr. Governor, Mr. former-preacher-man. It’s bad for people, bad for Ohio and bad for horses. State run gambling is a tax on poor people and stupid people and then we have to raise more taxes to help them out of the hole we helped them dig. Horses are thrown away like the racing greyhounds, over medicated, over raced. Who would adopt a has-been thoroughbred today? Good for dog food or to be shipped to Asia as steaks. There is just nothing good in this scenario.

Although it’s one of the few issues where I’d stand with the Council of Churches and the Methodists on their liberal social agenda. If the Lutherans have commented, I’ve missed it. The Methodists have got this one down cold. They put up a valiant fight against the state lottery--which was supposed to bring in all sorts of money for education, but it didn’t. Cleveland is probably lower now than it was then (just 28% of the class of 1998 earned a diploma; 23% of white students graduated -- far lower than any other district studied -- while 26% of Latinos and 29% of blacks graduated. Stats from Manhattan Institute

"Religious leaders vowed to fight Ohio's plan to install video slot machines at racetracks to help close a budget gap.

The Ohio Council of Churches and the United Methodist Church say they will ask the Ohio Supreme Court to declare the plan unconstitutional on multiple grounds. The churches say they will urge local leaders to delay installation of slots until the court completes its review or state leaders back down.

The churches say they will also mobilize their members to begin a grassroots campaign against the plan. The churches will hold a news conference on Wednesday to outline their opposition plan.

"For 19 years the Ohio Council of Churches, the United Methodist Church and tens of thousands of other in the faith community have successfully stopped predatory gambling from entering the state of Ohio with slot machines and casinos," the churches said in a joint statement. Cincinnati.com

Invasion of privacy

ABC News and the Obesity Police have gone too far in bringing up Regina Benjamin's weight. What else can the media do to discourage women from running for public office? The biggest topic on the anti-Hillary blogs wasn't her politics, it was her legs. So far, I think Benjamin's the best of the bunch of all the Obama appointees. At least I don't think she has evaded her taxes, been a lobbyist or hired an illegal. And OMG! She has actually worked for a living--owned her own medical practice! It's not a position with power, but she will have some visibility and like Clarence Thomas who also came up from poor, southern rural roots, she exemplifies the best in our society. And she'll be a role model for young women who don't fit the rah-rah cheerleader mold. Women like Sarah Palin who played on the team instead of cheering for it and didn't run on the reputation of a husband or father. You go girl. Now, some of the male members of Congress on the other hand, Murtha, Dodd, Kennedy, Frank. . . that's a lot of fat cat flatulence in the atmosphere. Didn't Dodd and Kennedy sponsor some anti-obesity legisation?

Retiring minds

Twice this week I made a mistake with my maturing CD. On Monday I went in to the bank to retrieve it. Wrong day. One day too soon and I hadn't read the small (or even medium) print. So yesterday I parked between Huffman's (grocery) and the bank, intending to shop, then retrieve the CD. Forgot. Here's an item from my 2005 blog about Sally Kriska's teaching at Lakeside.

One of the tips that Sally passed along was the 10-24-7 tip. She said that in order to incorporate something into the long term memory, review it 10 minutes after hearing/reading it, then review in 24 hours, and then a week later. Then it is much more likely to make it to the long term memory, because most things drop out of our memory very quickly."

Today I'm doing Fran's mail run and she'll do mine next week. I tell myself every day, "don't forget the Wednesday mail run." But retiring minds are forgetful. Now, what was I saying?

Impatience with the messiah analogy

At first it was tongue in cheek--referring to Obama as "the messiah" during the campaign. After all, it was so far beyond the pale it made a point. And that ridiculous Soviet realism style art on the posters and buttons--glinting eye, jutting jaw. It all fit. A leftover from an era when God had been kicked out of the public square. But I'm tired of it. Yes. It disturbs me. I think he and his true-believer followers have internalized it at some very deep level of consciousness. We're not helping them clarify their thinking by repeating and cheapening the word messiah. So Christians particularly might just stop joking about it. 'Taint funny anymore, folks.

This morning I was reading a 100 year old sermon by G. Campbell Morgan on the resurrection with reference to Romans 1:4, the centerpiece of our faith, looking forward to the final resurrection of the saints. He says he dreams of unborn ages and new creations, and marvellous processions out of the being of God, through the risen Christ and the risen saints. Then he tells his congregation (in London) to go away rejoicing in the resurrection of Jesus because it is the message of a great confidence.

"He is King, Priest, Warrior, and Builder, and all the great relationships are linked to His resurrection because he demonstrated thereby as the Son of God.

His Kingship is an absolute monarchy. I have no anxiety about His reign. I believe in an absolute monarchy when we can find the right King. We have found Him.

As to His Prophetic mission, it is one of absolute authority. What He said is true. It cannot be gainsaid. All the words gathered from His tender lips, and printed here and preserved for us, are words which abide. "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My word shall not pass away."

As to His Priesthood, the resurrection demonstrates its absolute sufficiency. Why do you grieve God by this perpetual grieving over sin, and the declaration that you cannot believe He can forgive you?

As to His triumph, He has broken in pieces the gates of brass. He has cut the bars of iron asunder. He has triumphed gloriously, and He will win His battle and build His city. Then so help me God, as He will permit me, I fain would share the travail that makes His Kingdom come, entering the fellowship of His sufferings, for all the while the light of His resurrection is upon the pathway, and I know that at the last, the things which He has made me suffer will be the things of the unending triumph."

That others have sneaked another name into those titles, responsibilities, and 3rd person pronouns is indeed a shame, but let's not encourage them.

Malaria, DDT and children who are dying today

Westerners must look like the most evil, inhumane specters of death to 3rd world peoples. We tell developing countries not to spray their swamps and villages or wait on industrialization so we won't breathe their dirty air, so we can continue on our merry way in pursuit of climate control. I'm surprised they didn't boot Hillary right out of India with her pandering about clean air and global warming sop. We don't have enough wind mills to even power the electric cars being built, nor do we have a dump for the batteries or the mercury filled light bulbs made in coal fired plants in China.

And then there's the Boston Globe reporter who writes that DDT makes him shudder. Really? Has he ever seen children dying of malaria or adults disabled by it? Now that should make him shudder.

“Why do we sit around looking for the impact on things we cannot see when we have the problem we can see right now?’’ Abwang Bernard said. “We have 5-year-old children dying. Many people have four episodes of malaria a year. They miss weeks and weeks of work. They cannot feed their families. Why not protect them for their future?

“I understand the environmental arguments, but sometimes they cry so much fear, their arguments become inhuman to the people. It’s almost like they want the people to perish for the animals. No chemical has no side effects. But let us first reduce infant mortality. That is the environment I care about right now.’’

Obama hasn't read the bill?

Is that why he doesn't know that private insurance will be regulated or driven out of business under this plan he's trying to railroad through? I doubt it. He truly believes that too much knowledge killed Hillarycare, so he's trying to see that as much of this remains in the dark as possible. It's easier to lie or say he doesn't know than to allow an open, honest discussion. When asked about Section 102 of the House legislation, he said he wasn't familiar with it, but he keeps telling us Americans we will be able to keep our own plan if we like it. Not so, and here's why, according to Heritage Foundation Morning Bell, July 21

Approximately 103 million people would be covered under the new public plan and as a consequence about 83.4 million people would lose their private insurance. This would represent a 48.4 percent reduction in the number of people with private coverage.

About 88.1 million workers would see their current private, employer-sponsored health plan go away and would be shifted to the public plan.

Yearly premiums for the typical American with private coverage could go up by as much as $460 per privately insured person, as a result of increased cost-shifting stemming from a public plan modeled on Medicare.

It is truly frightening that the President of the United States is pressuring Congress in an all out media blitz to pass legislation that he flatly admits he has not read and is not familiar with. President Obama owes it to the Americans people to stop making promises about what his health plan will and will not do until he has read it, and can properly defend it in public, to his own supporters.

A very small percentage of American citizens do not have health insurance, and most of the misuse and outrageous spending on health that we do have is in government programs. So what's the big rush? It's not like he's got a bottom line or anything.

And in another act of transparency, Obama has decided not to release the mid-July economic forecasts. Wouldn't want the Congress making decisions on health care based on anything but his obombastic promises.

It's working

Congressman Chris Lee of NY said, "Since the stimulus was announced, we've lost 2 million jobs, so it hasn't done what it has proposed to deliver." Not so fast young man. I was watching a Toledo station last week and they were ecstatic that the area had landed 50 jobs for road repair. They said it was the stimulus money. And, Ohio had to pay half, but oh well. There were probably more government workers than that through whose hands it passed, so don't tell me it's not working! Gas is down to $2.20 in Columbus and that's probably put more money into people's wallets than anything.

Health care myths, pt. 2

Can the government do health care cheaper. No, that's a myth, or just a bald face lie. I was really puzzled by a report on rare and neglected diseases (TRND). Seems it costs private drug companies 2-4 years and $10 million to get a candidate molecule through preclinical development. Big hearted Congress is going to appropriate $24 million to work in this preclinical area and then pass it on to the drug companies for clinical trials. Maybe I'm math challenged, but even if the government could do something less costly (costs are probably high due to gov't regs), isn't that 2.5 molecules? Plus it wants "some funding from licensing." Sort of like owning a car company, heh?

And remember you won't pay higher taxes? Well, what is a user fee passed along to the consumer, if not a tax? In the omnibus spending bill for 2009 signed March 11 by Obama, Congress appropriated $1 billion for the FDA to regulate human drugs and biologics, which is made up in part from new user fees paid by the industries (google PDUFA). And I'm only guessing, but we'll still be getting our generics from India and China without the quality controls in order to "cut costs." (Have you forgotten pet food and lead in paint of children's toys?)

Also, a part of the big lie about costs is that what they shave off the federal ledger for health will be shifted to the states--and we all know what great shape Medicaid is in! States pay half of Medicaid now. How far back in time are they planning to go to recover those costs from surviving family members? Five years? Ten years? Also, if there is a profession with more garbled, obfuscation in its flowing prose than politics, it has to be medicine. Please translate into English or dollars

"accessible, comprehensive, integrated care based on healing relationships"

But perhaps the biggest problem with the "cost" lie is that cost is all Americans care about, and it's the most critical measure we have against some mythical, socialist industrialized nation with rationed care. Americans really do care about safety, timeliness, respect, quality, choice, outcomes and efficiency. Also, for every life we save with surgery, new drugs,chemo, or new technology, that's a life that is going to require even more care--very expensive, monitored and lab test care--than before the life-saving event. The person who dies on a waiting list in Europe saves their government a lot of money. Unfortunately, that's the sort of community spirit Obama wants for us.

Health care myths, pt. 1

Let me count the ways we're lied to by politicians. There has been a bunch of lies in Obama's recent lectures, but just let me point out the biggie--reduced costs if we go to universal, government owned health insurance. Name one thing the government does more cheaply or which hasn't mushroomed in costs beyond what was promised/predicted, whether it's a war, education, or social program. It is not in politicians' nature to ever, ever cut back--they only know how to spend more because it isn't their money. Also, it's what keeps them in power. Medicare, a government program originally intended to insure retired people formerly insured by employers (a bad private system from the get-go right after WWII) has incrimentally become the biggest boondoggle in government, with no one to blame but Congress and past and present presidents. I wonder if anyone has ever checked Congressional districts by higher-costs per-capita for Medicare or Medicare based on number of repeat terms in Congress by their representatives?

The June 24 JAMA reports that Medicare is expected to operate at a deficit this year and is projected to exhaust its reserve funds in 2017--2 years earlier than previously predicted (http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/TRSUM/index.html). That doesn't sound like news to me, but maybe the years are different. All I know is that after I retired from the University, my health insurance costs soared under my pension plan (state), and then when I went on Medicare (federal) I needed to buy a pricey supplement with a high deductible to control costs, plus I really couldn't find out the real cost of anything because the bills are so confusing. (I think that's intentional so you just stop looking at them and think it's "free.")

Essentially, Obama is saying we haven't been able to control costs or tests or lawyers or end of life care or expansion of coverage with a plan for a limited population, so give us a larger group and more bundles of money, and then we'll show you what we can REALLY do. Republicans, even the non-RINOS--just nibble around the edges--they don't really have much of a contribution and are no help at all.

A private system not tied to employers with incentives and competition is the only way to truly bring down costs, with a government safety net for that 10% who will never be able to manage on their own, and requirements to be covered, just like car insurance or house insurance. Yes, some 19-year-old might have to give up his pizza, tobacco and beer to have money for insurance. Unfortunately, that window of opportunity closed a long time ago when I was a young woman not paying attention, pushing a baby stroller with a trundle seat and washing cloth diapers, owning one TV, one car and one phone with a mortgage that fit our income. I'm older than dirt.

They've ruined The Closer

Whenever there's a good series and it runs a few years, the writers run out of ideas. The Closer is in its 5th season. So some hot shot comes along and says, let's bring in a new character to the ensemble. I know, let's have two females battling and at the same time let the new character say negative things about police in her role as a victims investigator. Oh goodie. I just turned it off in mid-program. I watched that gal once, and once is enough. Bring back Irene Daniels if another woman is needed.