You don't have to be a Conservative to enjoy this joke; it's beyond politics. And it's going around. Charlie Rowland, a talented watercolorist, sent me this version. No source was noted, and I haven't looked.
"A cowboy named Bud was overseeing his herd in a remote mountainous pasture in California when suddenly a brand-new BMW advanced toward him out of a cloud of dust.
The driver, a young man in a Brioni suit, Gucci shoes, RayBan sunglasses and YSL tie, leaned out the window and asked the cowboy, "If I tell you exactly how many cows and calves you have in your herd, Will you give me a calf?"
Bud looks at the man, obviously a yuppie, then looks at his peacefully grazing herd and calmly answers, "Sure, Why not?"
The yuppie parks his car, whips out his Dell notebook computer, connects it to his Cingular RAZR V3 cell phone, and surfs to a NASA page on the Internet, where he calls up a GPS satellite to get an exact fix on his location which he then feeds to another NASA satellite that scans the area in an ultra-high-resolution photo.
The young man then opens the digital photo in Adobe Photoshop and exports it to an image processing facility in Hamburg, Germany. Within seconds, he receives an email on his Palm Pilot that the image has been processed and the data stored. He then accesses an MS-SQL database through an ODBC connected Excel spreadsheet with email on his Blackberry and, after a few minutes, receives a response.
Finally, he prints out a full-color, 150-page report on his hi- tech, miniaturized HP LaserJet printer, turns to the cowboy and says, "You have exactly 1,586 cows and calves."
"That's right. Well, I guess you can take one of my calves," says Bud.
He watches the young man select one of the animals and looks on with amusement as the young man stuffs it into the car trunk and says "I like this one; it's a little different and seems smarter than the others".
Then the Bud says to the young man, "Hey, if I can tell you exactly what your business is, will you give me back my calf?"
The young man thinks about it for a second and then says, "Okay, why not?"
"You're a Congressman for the U.S. Government", says Bud.
"Wow! That's correct," says the yuppie, "but how did you guess that?"
"No guessing required," answered the cowboy. "You showed up here even though nobody called you; you want to get paid for an answer I already knew, to a question I never asked. You used millions of dollars worth of equipment trying to show me how much smarter than me you are; and you don't know a thing about how working people make a living - or about cows, for that matter.
This is a herd of sheep. ..
Now give me back my dog." "
Friday, September 04, 2009
HR 3200 and Marriage and Family
It seems page 838 of HR 3200 is a popular Google search--where young children and families expecting children are discussed. The alarm is spreading through conservative sites. Yes, it stinks to the high heaven of government heavy nosed snooping. However, this isn’t new to the Obama people. Follow the money back through the previous 3 administrations. It started to smell 2 decades ago, maybe before.
The federal government has been aware since the Clinton administration research publicized it that unmarried families are far more likely to be dysfunctional and living in poverty, so that does make marriage a legitimate concern. A woman who has not finished her schooling, who has her children before age 21, and doesn’t marry the father of her children, has a very good chance of becoming the responsibility of the taxpayer (and yes, that includes the Palin family), and Uncle Sam is not a generous, kind step-father. Yes, there are exceptions--usually when the grandparents take over as in our current president's case. The Bush administration carelessly threw money into the marriage consulting and advice business with very little oversite--whether it went to ACORN or Lutherans or Agnostics, made little difference, millions of tax dollars went to workshops, research and publications that probably amounted to little except paying the salaries of quasi-government workers in academe, churches, non-profits and state children‘s agencies.
That said, co-habitation before marriage (a k a "living together," "shacking-up") is not just a one way street to poverty, it is dangerous for women and children, and doesn’t result in strong marriages, according to the Rutgers’ National Marriage Project (I haven't checked their funding, but I'm guessing it came from us taxpayers, so you might as well take a look.)
The federal government has been aware since the Clinton administration research publicized it that unmarried families are far more likely to be dysfunctional and living in poverty, so that does make marriage a legitimate concern. A woman who has not finished her schooling, who has her children before age 21, and doesn’t marry the father of her children, has a very good chance of becoming the responsibility of the taxpayer (and yes, that includes the Palin family), and Uncle Sam is not a generous, kind step-father. Yes, there are exceptions--usually when the grandparents take over as in our current president's case. The Bush administration carelessly threw money into the marriage consulting and advice business with very little oversite--whether it went to ACORN or Lutherans or Agnostics, made little difference, millions of tax dollars went to workshops, research and publications that probably amounted to little except paying the salaries of quasi-government workers in academe, churches, non-profits and state children‘s agencies.
That said, co-habitation before marriage (a k a "living together," "shacking-up") is not just a one way street to poverty, it is dangerous for women and children, and doesn’t result in strong marriages, according to the Rutgers’ National Marriage Project (I haven't checked their funding, but I'm guessing it came from us taxpayers, so you might as well take a look.)
- "It is important to note that the great majority of children in unmarried-couple households were born not in the present union but in a previous union of one of the adult partners, usually the mother. This means that they are living with an unmarried “stepfather” or mother’s boyfriend, with whom the economic and social relationships are often tenuous. For example, unlike children in stepfamilies, these children have few legal claims to child support or other sources of family income should the couple separate.
Child abuse has become a major national problem and has increased dramatically in recent years, by more than 10% a year according to one estimate. In the opinion of most researchers, this increase is related strongly to changing family forms. Surprisingly, the available American data do not enable us to distinguish the abuse that takes place in married-couple households from that in cohabiting couple households. We do have abuse-prevalence studies that look at stepparent families (both married and unmarried) and mother’s boyfriends (both cohabiting and dating). Both show far higher levels of child abuse than is found in intact families.
In general, the evidence suggests that the most unsafe of all family environments for children is that in which the mother is living with someone other than the child’s biological father. This is the environment for the majority of children in cohabiting couple households."
Thursday, September 03, 2009
Gambling in Ohio--Issue 3, guest blog
What can I say? Nothing good, and that's a fact. I hope the voters say no in November. Gambling is a tax on the poor; it makes former Methodist pastors who become governors greedy hypocrites; it brings with it a number of social and economic problems which kicks the cost problem down the road; and oddly enough, a major financial drain on casinos is the money spent on replacing the cushions on stools in front of slot machines--people won’t get up from machines even to go to the bathroom, so yes, it is indeed addictive. Former Governor George Voinovich says it's better to raise taxes than rely on gambling to pay the bills. Buckeye RINO has this to say on the topic.
- "In theory, we can all govern ourselves, with no need for government structures beyond self. In reality, governing ourselves creates dilemmas for no one is an island unto themselves, and the free exercise of one's liberty will often interfere with the free exercise of another person's liberty, thus we create government structures beyond self.
In theory, the consequences of actions accrue to the individual that decided upon those actions. Reality is much messier. The decisions of individuals reap consequences that are far-reaching in scope.
As applied to gambling: In theory, there is no need for intervention. Individuals can govern themselves. If they ruin themselves by gambling, they have only themselves to blame. In reality, gambling is not a solitary pursuit. If one engages in gambling, others must be involved. Therefore, there is need for governing principles beyond self. Furthermore, when ruin results from gambling, the ruin is not confined to the persons who participated in gambling. The costs are socialized whether one wishes them to be, or not. Intervention is sought for these reasons.
Gambling is not an exchange in the sense of a stock trade. What instruments of value are being exchanged in gambling? The gambler is defrauded, and his wealth plundered. The gambler receives nothing of value, so there is no exchange. This is piracy.
There is a set admission price for entering Cedar Point. Consumers know in advance what they will be paying for the entertainment they receive. The transactions of an amusement park are open and transparent. Likewise for a video game arcade, there is advance knowledge of what one pays and what entertainment one will receive in exchange. Open and transparent. Gamblers have no idea how much "entertainment" they will receive for a set price. Conceivably one gambler can be entertained all day for $20, while another will lose that same $20 within seconds. Casinos are thieves that try to seize all that they can. Casinos are not open, not transparent, which is why they are the preferred venue for money laundering.
Somali pirates create jobs. Nigerian scammers create jobs. Of course casinos create jobs, but the jobs that are created are not the product of newly created wealth. They are parasitic jobs that feed off the plundered wealth that others created. Similarly, taxes, which are confiscated wealth that others created, also fund jobs. But just as we cannot tax our society into prosperity, we cannot gamble our society into prosperity. Producers are the wealth creators, and casinos aren't producers.
I believe that laws against scams, fraud, theft, and piracy are legitimate exercises of government power."
NIMFY--Not in my front yard
It seems I’m destined to be the lone voice shouting into the wind that highly visible trash cans and recycling containers intended to improve the environment cause ugly visual pollution. I got absolutely nowhere complaining that our large suburban church put its Abitibi Consolidated Paper Bins (bright green and yellow) virtually in the front yard of the Mill Run Church, and is almost as obvious at the Lytham Road campus.
This year Lakeside has started a recyclable program with each cottage owner being charged $60 a year to have an extremely large, bright blue rolling container --where? Our properties in some areas are small--about 30’ wide, with driveways, set backs, landscaping, and garden sheds or garages which hold boats, bicycles, and junk. So guess where the trash and recyclable containers are? Either at the street for several days between pick-ups, or sitting in the front or side yard. At one place I stopped today I counted at least 10 trash cans from where I stood and Thursday isn‘t a pick up day. Sometimes it’s a renter problem. The renter checks out on Saturday, puts the trash at the street (we don’t have curbs), and it is not picked up until Tuesday morning. If the cottage isn’t occupied the next week, the trash cans may sit there for days, or until a neighbor drags it to the side of the house, where it’s only slightly less obvious. If I were to replace every trash can I see on my morning walks, I'd be gone 4 hours instead of 30 minutes. Some containers have a permanent home in the front yard. Since writing about garages, I’ve seen plenty of garages and sheds that could be used to hold the containers, but no one thinks of it. It would also keep the raccoons and skunks under control. Our shed is tiny, and so is our lot, but I've seen cottages with 3 sheds, a garage, and the trash cans in front. Our "big blue" is just as obvious as everyone elses, but it's not at the street.
One of the oldest streets, lots of room in the rear
One of the newest streets, beautiful paving and landscaping; no plan for trash
President Hayes once stayed here; the trash can never moves
Not a good first impression for a potential buyer
This is a park, so even the Association is careless
This year Lakeside has started a recyclable program with each cottage owner being charged $60 a year to have an extremely large, bright blue rolling container --where? Our properties in some areas are small--about 30’ wide, with driveways, set backs, landscaping, and garden sheds or garages which hold boats, bicycles, and junk. So guess where the trash and recyclable containers are? Either at the street for several days between pick-ups, or sitting in the front or side yard. At one place I stopped today I counted at least 10 trash cans from where I stood and Thursday isn‘t a pick up day. Sometimes it’s a renter problem. The renter checks out on Saturday, puts the trash at the street (we don’t have curbs), and it is not picked up until Tuesday morning. If the cottage isn’t occupied the next week, the trash cans may sit there for days, or until a neighbor drags it to the side of the house, where it’s only slightly less obvious. If I were to replace every trash can I see on my morning walks, I'd be gone 4 hours instead of 30 minutes. Some containers have a permanent home in the front yard. Since writing about garages, I’ve seen plenty of garages and sheds that could be used to hold the containers, but no one thinks of it. It would also keep the raccoons and skunks under control. Our shed is tiny, and so is our lot, but I've seen cottages with 3 sheds, a garage, and the trash cans in front. Our "big blue" is just as obvious as everyone elses, but it's not at the street.
One of the oldest streets, lots of room in the rear
One of the newest streets, beautiful paving and landscaping; no plan for trash
President Hayes once stayed here; the trash can never moves
Not a good first impression for a potential buyer
This is a park, so even the Association is careless25 styles of blogging
Here's one for those of you who think you can't write a blog, or who just go anonymously to write comments at those blogs you don't like. 25 basic styles of blogging . I do most of them--some several times a day! Life blogging. Piggyback blogging. Guest Blogs. Memes. Events. Book reviews. And so forth. I didn't know anyone was keeping track or naming these styles. Must be librarians.
I came across the More Things on a Stick web site while poking around the topic "digital storytelling." I'd like to explain why this is important in academe, but haven't been able to figure out why it is all the rage. There was a workshop at Ohio State this summer. A former colleague, Karen Diaz, has written a book on its use in libraries. I can't learn anything in 2-3 minutes, especially not on video.
My grandmother Mary was a scrapbooker in childhood--began with pretty postcards and advertisements probably before she could read and then moved on to clipping cute sayings, recipes, and stories and pasting them into the old account books of her father to save on paper. I used her scrapbooks to determine what magazines and newspapers a 19th century farm family read. I would love to be able to lift some and read great-grandfather's farm accounts, but whatever homemade glue she used is like cement. Then my mother kept a "commonplace book" for years in a small 3-ring notebook of items she liked and clipped out of magazines. After her death, my niece Julie photocopied it and so its poetry, cartoons and stories from the 1940s through the 1970s were shared with a wider audience of grandchildren.
And of course, I blog. Eleven, or is it twelve, blogs. But digital story telling? Now that sounds like all work and no fun, and not enough writing.
I came across the More Things on a Stick web site while poking around the topic "digital storytelling." I'd like to explain why this is important in academe, but haven't been able to figure out why it is all the rage. There was a workshop at Ohio State this summer. A former colleague, Karen Diaz, has written a book on its use in libraries. I can't learn anything in 2-3 minutes, especially not on video.
My grandmother Mary was a scrapbooker in childhood--began with pretty postcards and advertisements probably before she could read and then moved on to clipping cute sayings, recipes, and stories and pasting them into the old account books of her father to save on paper. I used her scrapbooks to determine what magazines and newspapers a 19th century farm family read. I would love to be able to lift some and read great-grandfather's farm accounts, but whatever homemade glue she used is like cement. Then my mother kept a "commonplace book" for years in a small 3-ring notebook of items she liked and clipped out of magazines. After her death, my niece Julie photocopied it and so its poetry, cartoons and stories from the 1940s through the 1970s were shared with a wider audience of grandchildren.
And of course, I blog. Eleven, or is it twelve, blogs. But digital story telling? Now that sounds like all work and no fun, and not enough writing.
Wednesday, September 02, 2009
Suits from central casting
Excerpted From VIN SUPRYNOWICZ: “His [Ted Kennedy] monument stands all around us”
"I was raised a New England Democrat. Far from hating the Kennedys, I suppose I almost worshiped them. I wish John and Bobby had not been killed. Though you would have had to be deaf not to hear older New Englanders note that the family money had come from crime (bootlegging, specifically); that JFK's multiple adulteries (including with Sam Giancana's Mafia moll, Judith Campbell Exner -- in the White House!), creating so much cover-up work for the press and the Secret Service, so disrespectful of the lovely mother of his young children, only echoed his father's famous affair with Hollywood actress Gloria Swanson; that he was asking for trouble when he asked the unions and the mob to help him steal the presidency by rigging the returns in Illinois and West Virginia -- and then turned his back on them, actually siccing his younger brother Bobby on them like an attack dog, as soon as he got elected.
Republicans fail by losing the presidency when they do the sensible thing: nominating old Washington hands like Bob Dole, a perfectly decent fellow who knew the ropes and probably would have made a competent if uninspiring administrator. A "go-along" kind of guy with unarticulated (if any) economic principles who never stood in the path of the profligacies of Ted Kennedy and his ilk, Bob Dole was no hero of mine.
But Democrats do something far more interesting. Democrats fail -- not incrementally but massively, disastrously -- by winning the presidency, which they do by nominating virile younger men in whom Americans see the image of the brave, handsome, smooth-talking, dapper guy they wish they were.
John F. Kennedy was woefully unprepared to be president. His lack of experience and his health problems, so obligingly covered up by a press corps that loved him -- Addison's disease, colitis and back problems so severe he had to wear a brace, possibly caused by his decades-long steroid treatments, while all we got to see was touch football on the beach -- left him woefully inadequate in his summit meetings with Khrushchev in Vienna. Khrushchev read the callow young president as a playboy dilettante and decided he could get away with deploying missiles to Cuba, bringing the world to the brink of war.
Did Kennedy "bravely stand him down," as we were all taught? Kennedy agreed to pull our own missiles out of Turkey. (We're told "they were obsolete, anyway." We won the battle of Guadalcancal with stuff that was more obsolete.) Khrushchev won ... in the short run, which is all the victory a socialist can ever hope for, given that their underlying philosophy will always breed poverty and disaster in the end.
Bill Clinton was of the same mold but worse -- a greedy crook with his hand always out for a check (whether it be a corporation looking for a contract in Little Rock, or the Chinese military seeking our satellite and missile technology), but nonetheless a big, handsome teddy bear of a foul-mouthed multiple adulterer, if not (as I believe) something closer to a serial rapist.
And now the Democrats have given us Barack Obama, a handsome, dapper, smooth-talking, virile younger president who is -- hard as it is to believe -- vastly less qualified for the presidency than John F. Kennedy.
He has no idea he has taken an oath to protect a Constitution that promises us a government of sharply limited powers. (Where in that Constitution does he find any authority for federal bureaucrats to manage auto companies? To meddle in medicine or insurance?) He has no experience commanding even the small military units once officered by JFK or Jimmy Carter -- let alone the mighty administrative experience in matters of life and death once shouldered by Washington, Jackson, Eisenhower.
He has never worked in, let alone managed, a small business that had to meet payroll by selling actual merchandise to actual customers. (At least Harry Truman once sold shirts.) He is the perfect creature of the arrogant leftist academy -- actually believing in the magic power of rhetoric to alter reality, seeing no need to test out such theories on some little hamburger or yogurt stand before attempting to micro-manage the largest economy in the world.
For six months, Barack Obama has had it all his way, with a populace virtually hypnotized into allowing him to advance a far-left agenda learned at the knees of his mother's communist friends, aided by such powerful and privileged yet philosophically hollow allies as Ted Kennedy."
"I was raised a New England Democrat. Far from hating the Kennedys, I suppose I almost worshiped them. I wish John and Bobby had not been killed. Though you would have had to be deaf not to hear older New Englanders note that the family money had come from crime (bootlegging, specifically); that JFK's multiple adulteries (including with Sam Giancana's Mafia moll, Judith Campbell Exner -- in the White House!), creating so much cover-up work for the press and the Secret Service, so disrespectful of the lovely mother of his young children, only echoed his father's famous affair with Hollywood actress Gloria Swanson; that he was asking for trouble when he asked the unions and the mob to help him steal the presidency by rigging the returns in Illinois and West Virginia -- and then turned his back on them, actually siccing his younger brother Bobby on them like an attack dog, as soon as he got elected.
Republicans fail by losing the presidency when they do the sensible thing: nominating old Washington hands like Bob Dole, a perfectly decent fellow who knew the ropes and probably would have made a competent if uninspiring administrator. A "go-along" kind of guy with unarticulated (if any) economic principles who never stood in the path of the profligacies of Ted Kennedy and his ilk, Bob Dole was no hero of mine.
But Democrats do something far more interesting. Democrats fail -- not incrementally but massively, disastrously -- by winning the presidency, which they do by nominating virile younger men in whom Americans see the image of the brave, handsome, smooth-talking, dapper guy they wish they were.
John F. Kennedy was woefully unprepared to be president. His lack of experience and his health problems, so obligingly covered up by a press corps that loved him -- Addison's disease, colitis and back problems so severe he had to wear a brace, possibly caused by his decades-long steroid treatments, while all we got to see was touch football on the beach -- left him woefully inadequate in his summit meetings with Khrushchev in Vienna. Khrushchev read the callow young president as a playboy dilettante and decided he could get away with deploying missiles to Cuba, bringing the world to the brink of war.
Did Kennedy "bravely stand him down," as we were all taught? Kennedy agreed to pull our own missiles out of Turkey. (We're told "they were obsolete, anyway." We won the battle of Guadalcancal with stuff that was more obsolete.) Khrushchev won ... in the short run, which is all the victory a socialist can ever hope for, given that their underlying philosophy will always breed poverty and disaster in the end.
Bill Clinton was of the same mold but worse -- a greedy crook with his hand always out for a check (whether it be a corporation looking for a contract in Little Rock, or the Chinese military seeking our satellite and missile technology), but nonetheless a big, handsome teddy bear of a foul-mouthed multiple adulterer, if not (as I believe) something closer to a serial rapist.
And now the Democrats have given us Barack Obama, a handsome, dapper, smooth-talking, virile younger president who is -- hard as it is to believe -- vastly less qualified for the presidency than John F. Kennedy.
He has no idea he has taken an oath to protect a Constitution that promises us a government of sharply limited powers. (Where in that Constitution does he find any authority for federal bureaucrats to manage auto companies? To meddle in medicine or insurance?) He has no experience commanding even the small military units once officered by JFK or Jimmy Carter -- let alone the mighty administrative experience in matters of life and death once shouldered by Washington, Jackson, Eisenhower.
He has never worked in, let alone managed, a small business that had to meet payroll by selling actual merchandise to actual customers. (At least Harry Truman once sold shirts.) He is the perfect creature of the arrogant leftist academy -- actually believing in the magic power of rhetoric to alter reality, seeing no need to test out such theories on some little hamburger or yogurt stand before attempting to micro-manage the largest economy in the world.
For six months, Barack Obama has had it all his way, with a populace virtually hypnotized into allowing him to advance a far-left agenda learned at the knees of his mother's communist friends, aided by such powerful and privileged yet philosophically hollow allies as Ted Kennedy."
A reminder for seniors about health
As I've noted before, "you can't beat good genes. That's still the number one factor in good health and a long life, and you didn't have a thing to do with it. If you're still alive tomorrow, give thanks for your parents and grandparents who gave you a good start. My mother died in her 88th year, her brother at 99, her father at 94, and her sister is still going at 92. Dad died at 89, his father at 92, and his grandfather was 88 in 1950 when he died, and one of his daughters (my grandmother's sister) recently died in her 93rd year.
Second, don't smoke;
third, drink alcohol only in moderation, and if you think a 6 pack after work is moderation, you need to relearn the meaning of the word;
fourth, reduce your calories;
and fifth, get some regular exercise."
And then, fight the President and Congress tooth and nail against their take-over of the health care industry. It won't be good health for you, that's for sure.
Second, don't smoke;
third, drink alcohol only in moderation, and if you think a 6 pack after work is moderation, you need to relearn the meaning of the word;
fourth, reduce your calories;
and fifth, get some regular exercise."
And then, fight the President and Congress tooth and nail against their take-over of the health care industry. It won't be good health for you, that's for sure.
It's about love
"Lakeside is for lovers" is a phrase I’ve seen on cards, buttons, t-shirts and other memorabilia. And it’s true--and not just for the strolling, hand-holding lovers you see on the dock.
Several years ago I wrote a poem which was published in the weekly newspaper called “The last day of July” about a young couple who met and parted at Lakeside during WWII, planning to see each other the next summer. But it didn’t happen. Finally, when both were great-grandparents some 60 summers later, they met again, but it was the last day of July and their summers were over.
Another type of love I see so often at Lakeside is that of adoptive and foster families. On my corner of Lakeside I’ve seen the American melting pot of special needs and international adoption. Now some of those children are grown and bringing their bi-racial, multi-ethnic children to be Lakesiders too. I saw these children only a few weeks of the year, so their growth and maturity are compressed. First they were toddlers and then it seemed overnight pouty teen-agers with more than the usual identity issues, and now their kids are almost as tall as grandma and grandpa.
At Lakeside I see a love for a past that is often a nostalgic fantasy. In the 70s Lakeside looked to me like the sleepy towns of the 1940s or 1950s, and now it seems to be a spiffy stage set for a 1970s or 1980s TV show, but with i-pods instead of boom boxes and rip rap along the lakefront instead of flat rocks easing into the lake. But it is always “that’s how life used to be” to people who came here as children, like my 92 year old neighbor who began coming when she was 6 months old.
Lakeside has porches often filled with four generations of family--laughing, telling stories on each other, playing monopoly or scrabble. I’ve attended 90th birthday parties and 50th wedding anniversary celebrations for people who were younger than I am now when I met them in our early years at Lakeside. But I’ve also written a poem about a college student who spent the summer riding her bike up and down the streets gazing at the homes where her family used to be--a family now torn up by divorce and scattered, a family that would never again have all those generations together.
On my walks along Lakeside streets (around 100 this summer) I see memorials and plaques for people I didn’t know had died--and family and friends wanted them to remain a part of the community with a tree, or flower bed, or a shelter for a potato digger.
At Lakeside, one can compress a love of learning into a week or a season--environment, Civil War, literature, music, politics, current events, health or finances. We do more and hear more these few weeks than all the rest of the year. I go home to Columbus in September vowing to find similar activities, but as the cold weather and early sunsets descend, I give up on being a Lakeside lover until the next year.
Several years ago I wrote a poem which was published in the weekly newspaper called “The last day of July” about a young couple who met and parted at Lakeside during WWII, planning to see each other the next summer. But it didn’t happen. Finally, when both were great-grandparents some 60 summers later, they met again, but it was the last day of July and their summers were over.
Another type of love I see so often at Lakeside is that of adoptive and foster families. On my corner of Lakeside I’ve seen the American melting pot of special needs and international adoption. Now some of those children are grown and bringing their bi-racial, multi-ethnic children to be Lakesiders too. I saw these children only a few weeks of the year, so their growth and maturity are compressed. First they were toddlers and then it seemed overnight pouty teen-agers with more than the usual identity issues, and now their kids are almost as tall as grandma and grandpa.
At Lakeside I see a love for a past that is often a nostalgic fantasy. In the 70s Lakeside looked to me like the sleepy towns of the 1940s or 1950s, and now it seems to be a spiffy stage set for a 1970s or 1980s TV show, but with i-pods instead of boom boxes and rip rap along the lakefront instead of flat rocks easing into the lake. But it is always “that’s how life used to be” to people who came here as children, like my 92 year old neighbor who began coming when she was 6 months old.
Lakeside has porches often filled with four generations of family--laughing, telling stories on each other, playing monopoly or scrabble. I’ve attended 90th birthday parties and 50th wedding anniversary celebrations for people who were younger than I am now when I met them in our early years at Lakeside. But I’ve also written a poem about a college student who spent the summer riding her bike up and down the streets gazing at the homes where her family used to be--a family now torn up by divorce and scattered, a family that would never again have all those generations together.
On my walks along Lakeside streets (around 100 this summer) I see memorials and plaques for people I didn’t know had died--and family and friends wanted them to remain a part of the community with a tree, or flower bed, or a shelter for a potato digger.
At Lakeside, one can compress a love of learning into a week or a season--environment, Civil War, literature, music, politics, current events, health or finances. We do more and hear more these few weeks than all the rest of the year. I go home to Columbus in September vowing to find similar activities, but as the cold weather and early sunsets descend, I give up on being a Lakeside lover until the next year.
Reagan statue unveiled in Dixon, Illinois
The city of Dixon, Illinois on the Rock River hopes to revitalize the downtown area and has developed "Heritage Crossing Riverfront Plaza." Poet William Cullen Bryant, a proponent of Manhattan’s Central Park, called the Rock River “one of the most beautiful of our western streams,” and Ronald Reagan who was a life guard at near by Lowell Park in 1926, remembered the "Hudson of the Midwest" fondly. On August 14 a statue Reagan, "Begins the Trail" by Dixon native and sculptor Don Reed was unveiled and dedicated. The artist said "he hoped the figure captured some of Reagan’s “energy and warmth” and that residents would be able to “identify with him as someone a lot like us.” Nancy Reagan sent a letter thanking the city, and said "Ronnie would be pleased." The statue "depicts the future California governor and two-term president of the United States as a 39-year-old movie star riding a horse in a hometown parade, prior to his entry into politics." (All information from various editions of saukvalley.com) Another account reports that the dammed up swimming area where he was a lifeguard for 7 years was very dangerous and he is credited with saving 77 swimmers.
I haven't had much luck with a good photo to download, but here are two from Shaw News Service. Didn't find one in the Rockford paper. Reagan lived in Dixon until 1933; he attended Eureka College.
I haven't had much luck with a good photo to download, but here are two from Shaw News Service. Didn't find one in the Rockford paper. Reagan lived in Dixon until 1933; he attended Eureka College.
DNC Astroturf
The DNC (Pelosi, too) has called grassroots tea parties and protests "astroturf." Now they have the nerve to call their own organized group a "grassroots project." [for a Columbus, GA gathering]
- "As Members of Congress get ready to head back to Washington, Organizing for America (OFA), a grassroots project of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) dedicated to supporting the President’s agenda for change, will hold a rally Tuesday, September 1, 11:30 . . . "
Health Care for Obama Now (H-CON)
Here's a video of Health Care for America Now (HCAN) instructing the ethically challenged in how to prevent the opposition from having a voice at Jan Schakowsky's (D-IL) townhall meeting. Nice. "Be civil, but shut 'em down with HEALTH CARE NOW until they get frustrated." I wonder if they've ever been smacked with a cane? Seniors are getting a bit testy at free care for illegals, and limited care for those who paid for the system.
State of Emergency--dialysis for illegal immigrants
The University Medical Center in Las Vegas is a tax supported hospital and is required by federal law to treat illegal immigrants. Illegals (or foreign nationals) come to the ER for kidney dialysis and the cost at UMC can run from $11,000 to $18,000 per visit for an emergency dialysis patient because of the testing required and because they are so sick when they come. The federal government has kicked the can down the road on the immigrant health issue as it has on many unfunded mandates, and the costs land on the local medical facilities. Read the full story. This is just one hospital spending $24 million a year; it's even worse in California, and nationwide it’s in the billions.
This story punctures the myth that the poor don’t have health care, or that the billions spent on illegals for their health care isn’t a huge problem which the federal government, regardless of who’s in the White House or Congress, has steadfastly refused to solve. Mexico really doesn’t want its citizens to come home. If the brilliant minds from anarchist to liberal to libertarian in Washington haven't been able to solve this small piece of the puzzle for just one disease for one specific group, what makes you think they can take over the whole enchilada without a huge, ongoing case of indigestion?
This story punctures the myth that the poor don’t have health care, or that the billions spent on illegals for their health care isn’t a huge problem which the federal government, regardless of who’s in the White House or Congress, has steadfastly refused to solve. Mexico really doesn’t want its citizens to come home. If the brilliant minds from anarchist to liberal to libertarian in Washington haven't been able to solve this small piece of the puzzle for just one disease for one specific group, what makes you think they can take over the whole enchilada without a huge, ongoing case of indigestion?
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
Recommended on-line medical journal
I recommend journals, as well as websites. I can't help myself. If you or anyone you care about has a problem with thyroid, you can sign up for a free subscription to Clinical Thyroidology, published by the American Thyroid Association. Oh sure. I can't understand everything. But I can read an editorial, abstract, summary and conclusions. Waiting for CBS or ABC to give it a snippet really isn't satisfactory.
Obama less popular than Bush
The leftists among us are blaming everyone but themselves for the Obama Slide. They can't believe the average voter actually understands that health care bill, or that we care about the trillions he's spending, or that we don't approve of him destroying business or that we know cap and tax is a huge hoax to enrich the same people and pols who already own the energy supply.
In March, 50 days after taking office and before the big health care debate, Obama’s poll numbers were falling, primarily because of his handling of the economy.
“Overall, Rasmussen Reports shows a 56%-43% approval, with a third strongly disapproving of the president's performance. This is a substantial degree of polarization so early in the administration. Mr. Obama has lost virtually all of his Republican support and a good part of his Independent support, and the trend is decidedly negative.” via WSJ
And then, end of July, 6 months into his term, despite his stumbling defense of Obamacare:
“30 percent of the nation's voters "strongly approve" of Mr. Obama's job performance, according to a survey released Monday by the Rasmussen polling organization. The poll showed that 40 percent "strongly disapprove" of the president's performance, marking the first time the disparity has reached double digits.”
Now at 7 months, it’s about 37% approval for Obama--depending on the topic and pollster.
George W. Bush was in office 37 months with an unpopular war before he fell to the Obama historically low level according to Gallup.
“President Barack Obama's approval ratings, once seen as historically high, could soon be among the worst early poll numbers for a modern American president.
He has already, however, outlasted the brief honeymoon of the last Democratic president, Bill Clinton.
The Gallup Organization — whose polls show Obama at just 50 percent approval rating less than eight months into his first term — says only two modern presidents, Gerald Ford and Bill Clinton, saw their approval ratings drop below 50 percent by this time in their presidencies. Ronald Reagan is the next in line, with his numbers dipping after 10 months, while Jimmy Carter retained positive approval numbers for more than a year.” via Politico
In March, 50 days after taking office and before the big health care debate, Obama’s poll numbers were falling, primarily because of his handling of the economy.
“Overall, Rasmussen Reports shows a 56%-43% approval, with a third strongly disapproving of the president's performance. This is a substantial degree of polarization so early in the administration. Mr. Obama has lost virtually all of his Republican support and a good part of his Independent support, and the trend is decidedly negative.” via WSJ
And then, end of July, 6 months into his term, despite his stumbling defense of Obamacare:
“30 percent of the nation's voters "strongly approve" of Mr. Obama's job performance, according to a survey released Monday by the Rasmussen polling organization. The poll showed that 40 percent "strongly disapprove" of the president's performance, marking the first time the disparity has reached double digits.”
Now at 7 months, it’s about 37% approval for Obama--depending on the topic and pollster.
George W. Bush was in office 37 months with an unpopular war before he fell to the Obama historically low level according to Gallup.
“President Barack Obama's approval ratings, once seen as historically high, could soon be among the worst early poll numbers for a modern American president.
He has already, however, outlasted the brief honeymoon of the last Democratic president, Bill Clinton.
The Gallup Organization — whose polls show Obama at just 50 percent approval rating less than eight months into his first term — says only two modern presidents, Gerald Ford and Bill Clinton, saw their approval ratings drop below 50 percent by this time in their presidencies. Ronald Reagan is the next in line, with his numbers dipping after 10 months, while Jimmy Carter retained positive approval numbers for more than a year.” via Politico
Traveling south
We have five Purple Martin houses at the end of our street. In June, they were all full occupancy, with parents raising families and busy eating insects. Now they are empty. Gone to winter in Brazil.
I'd planned to go back to Columbus this week, but the weather forecast was fabulous, so I decided to stay. This is Senior Venture Week at Lakeside and the theme is "Ohio history: from the Ice Age to Ice Cream." There are two days of lectures on Ohio canals, two on various ice age topics (our under a glacier period for you g-warmists), and lectures on our 8 Presidents and Toft's Dairy (my favorite ice cream). Maybe there will be samples? Love that Moose Tracks!
Last night after the movie, "My sister's keeper" based on a Jodi Picoult novel, we had a discussion on biomedical ethics led by a local pastor. Some people in the audience had read the book, and weren't happy with the change in ending. SPOILER--don't read this:
- "The Book: Anna wins her case, but before she can announce whether she's decided to give her kidney to Kate, she's involved in a car accident and becomes brain-dead. Her lawyer, who has power of attorney over Anna, grants the kidney to Kate, who lives -- believing that she was given a second chance because Anna took her spot in heaven.
The Movie: Before the case is decided, Kate and Anna's brother Jesse reveals that Kate no longer desires to undergo operations. Their mother comes to terms with the impending demise of Kate. After Kate dies, Anna's lawyer visits the house with legal papers claiming she has won the case and now has medical emancipation from her parents."
Spending in the name of Obama
It's amazing how many advertisers are using Obama's name to hawk their product. Reminds me of the Dr. Oz, Oprah, and Rachel Ray ads which traffic in their names without permission. I've seen ads like
- "President Obama wants you to go back to school"
"President Obama wants you to have a new car"
"President Obama wants you to save your home"
and this one by an American whose eyes were opened by his schooling in Iran selling his gaming technology,
"This unique approach is the embodiment of “e-diplomacy,” and reflects the new “soft diplomacy” approach favored by the Obama Administration."
- For those of you who want to learn the secrets of the Obama Campaign's online fundraising success and how you can apply them at your college or university, there will be a live, 60-minute Webinar:
"Fundraising Secrets from the Obama Campaign Your College Can Use Now"
Wednesday, September 16, 2009 1:00 - 2:00 PM (ET) . . .
Before joining the Obama campaign in Chicago, Steve managed online organizing at the Center for American Progress [Clinton retreads now in Obama Camp which became leading war room for escalation in Afghanistan], where he built support for progressive [i.e. socialist/marxist] positions on issues ranging from alternative fuels to ending the war in Iraq. Steve has also managed online operations for the Children's Defense Fund and American University's College of Arts and Sciences.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Murray's going to Washington!
Murray from Illinois has e-mailed his group:
"OK THAT'S IT, I'VE HAD IT!!! I've written to my legislators and received no satisfactory response. Plus Senator Durbin refuses to even acknowledge I exist. He refuses to hold any town meetings and professes that he'll not be "suckered punched" by a bunch of crazies like me. So I'll be off to DC to join the thousands of other crazies on 9/12 to protest the destruction of our great country. You know... the one Obama calls the greatest country in the world that he wants to change??
Anyway, just in case I run into one of your senators, tell me their name and what you would like me to say to them. Just so you don't ask me to tell him/her to keep up the good work!"
"OK THAT'S IT, I'VE HAD IT!!! I've written to my legislators and received no satisfactory response. Plus Senator Durbin refuses to even acknowledge I exist. He refuses to hold any town meetings and professes that he'll not be "suckered punched" by a bunch of crazies like me. So I'll be off to DC to join the thousands of other crazies on 9/12 to protest the destruction of our great country. You know... the one Obama calls the greatest country in the world that he wants to change??
Anyway, just in case I run into one of your senators, tell me their name and what you would like me to say to them. Just so you don't ask me to tell him/her to keep up the good work!"
Monday Memories from my cousin
Bill and Gayle were married August 30, 1959 in the Mt. Morris, Illinois Church of the Brethren. She writes this about the memories of the last 50 years.
"We grew up on the same street, went to the same school and attended the same church. Our first date was on June 5, 1955. Our first home was Mrs. Isley’s upstairs apartment 3 blocks from the campus of the University of Northern Iowa where we were students.
Gayle remembers:
-purchasing an Eureka vacuum cleaner with wedding money
-washing, starching, hanging, sprinkling and ironing ALL our clothes
-being afraid to light our gas oven & burning cookies
-waxing our linoleum floors every Saturday
-shopping at Cardinal Grocery & saving King Korn yellow stamps
-attending all of Bill’s varsity basketball games
-being relieved to learn that my new husband cleaned his own “game”
-wearing skirts, never slacks or jeans, to class
-playing Johnny Mathis, Ray Conniff, Nat King Cole, Percy Faith & Henry Mancini records on our stereo (no TV)
-intertwining “homemaking” with “homework”
Bill remembers:
-driving our ‘48 green Plymouth sedan
-having a basketball scholarship to help with expenses
-eating at the Panther Pizzeria after games (Pizza was new back then)
-working at the Western Auto & selling a lot of Lawn Boy mowers (new)
-hunting for pheasant and quail on Iowa farms
-having teammates over for meals
-juggling basketball practices, games, roadtrips and classes
We laughed a lot that first year and we still do; but the important relationship with our Lord and Savior didn’t come until we went to Alaska to teach. It has been our joy to follow Christ through the ups and downs of life for many years now. We’ve been blessed with four beautiful children and eleven grandchildren so far. We are grateful for our fifty years together. We want to encourage you to trust and obey God on your personal journey too!"
Thank you Gayle--wonderful memories and good advice!
I vaguely remember ironing.
"We grew up on the same street, went to the same school and attended the same church. Our first date was on June 5, 1955. Our first home was Mrs. Isley’s upstairs apartment 3 blocks from the campus of the University of Northern Iowa where we were students.
Gayle remembers:
-purchasing an Eureka vacuum cleaner with wedding money
-washing, starching, hanging, sprinkling and ironing ALL our clothes
-being afraid to light our gas oven & burning cookies
-waxing our linoleum floors every Saturday
-shopping at Cardinal Grocery & saving King Korn yellow stamps
-attending all of Bill’s varsity basketball games
-being relieved to learn that my new husband cleaned his own “game”
-wearing skirts, never slacks or jeans, to class
-playing Johnny Mathis, Ray Conniff, Nat King Cole, Percy Faith & Henry Mancini records on our stereo (no TV)
-intertwining “homemaking” with “homework”
Bill remembers:
-driving our ‘48 green Plymouth sedan
-having a basketball scholarship to help with expenses
-eating at the Panther Pizzeria after games (Pizza was new back then)
-working at the Western Auto & selling a lot of Lawn Boy mowers (new)
-hunting for pheasant and quail on Iowa farms
-having teammates over for meals
-juggling basketball practices, games, roadtrips and classes
We laughed a lot that first year and we still do; but the important relationship with our Lord and Savior didn’t come until we went to Alaska to teach. It has been our joy to follow Christ through the ups and downs of life for many years now. We’ve been blessed with four beautiful children and eleven grandchildren so far. We are grateful for our fifty years together. We want to encourage you to trust and obey God on your personal journey too!"
Thank you Gayle--wonderful memories and good advice!
I vaguely remember ironing.
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