- "Environmentalists" wake up in the middle of the night sweating and whimpering about offshore oil platforms only because they've never seen what's under them. Louisiana produces almost 30 per cent of America's commercial fisheries. Only Alaska (ten times the size of the Bayou state) produces slightly more. So obviously, Louisiana's coastal waters are immensely rich and prolific in seafood.
These same coastal waters contain 3,200 of the roughly 3,700 offshore production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. These oil production platforms off the Bayou state's coasts also extract 80 percent of the oil and 72 percent of the natural gas produced in the Continental U.S., without causing a single major oil spill in half a century of this process. This record stands despite dozens of hurricanes -- including the two most destructive in North American history, Camille and Katrina -- repeatedly battering the drilling and production structures. So for those interested in evidence over hysterics, by simply looking bayou-ward, a lesson in the "environmental perils" of offshore oil drilling presents itself very clearly.
Fashionable Florida, on the other hand, which zealously prohibits offshore oil drilling, had its gorgeous "Emerald Coast" panhandle beaches soiled by an ugly oil spill in 1976. This spill, as almost all oil spills, resulted from the transportation of oil -- not from the extraction of oil.
Assuming such as Hugo Chavez deign to keep selling us oil, we'll need increasingly more and we'll need to keep transporting it stateside -- typically to refineries in Louisiana and Texas. This path takes those tankers (as the one in 1976) smack in front of Florida's panhandle beaches. Recall the Valdez, the Cadiz, the Argo Merchant. These were all tanker spills.
The production of oil is relatively clean and safe. Again, it's the transportation that presents the greatest risk. And even these spills (though hyped hysterically as environmental catastrophes) always play out as minor blips, those pictures of oil-soaked seagulls notwithstanding. To the horror and anguish of professional greenies, Alaska's Prince William Sound recovered completely. More birds get fried by landing on power lines and smashed to pulp against picture windows in one week than perished from three decades of oil spills."
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Off shore drilling, the rest of the story
I saw a reference to this in my cousin’s last weekly letter, and thought it quite interesting. You may not agree, but let’s agree we’re only hearing one side from the environmentalists. Offshore Oil Drilling: An Environmental Bonanza By Humberto Fontova. Excerpts:
Please sneeze in your sleeves
Alice’s e-mail from the University of Nebraska has been coming to me for well over 10 years. I don’t know if there is a “real” Alice or not, but she always has good things to say about food, nutrition, health and safety. This month she had a number of humorous videos on hand washing.
I liked this one the best. It’s from the Maine Medical Association (c2005). If you are Obamaphobic, you don’t have to worry. The sneeze in your sleeve message has been going around for a long time. But they are right--it's a difficult concept when you've been taught all your life to use your hand or a Kleenex.
Some of the videos showed proper hand washing technique, but most left the water running the whole time. Isn't that a bit wasteful? Will it be the Greenies against the germophobes? I think "passing the peace" at church will probably evolve to a shoulder or hip bump. And I'm sure many of the old time Lutherans will be happy to stop that frivolous act of fellowship. I saw in the paper the French are giving up cheek kissing, too.
I liked this one the best. It’s from the Maine Medical Association (c2005). If you are Obamaphobic, you don’t have to worry. The sneeze in your sleeve message has been going around for a long time. But they are right--it's a difficult concept when you've been taught all your life to use your hand or a Kleenex.
Some of the videos showed proper hand washing technique, but most left the water running the whole time. Isn't that a bit wasteful? Will it be the Greenies against the germophobes? I think "passing the peace" at church will probably evolve to a shoulder or hip bump. And I'm sure many of the old time Lutherans will be happy to stop that frivolous act of fellowship. I saw in the paper the French are giving up cheek kissing, too.
Monday, September 07, 2009
With a midwestern twang
Obama stuttered through this challenge in today's Labor Day speech in Cincinnati:
Your turn Mr. President. Take the plugs out of your ears. You'll hear lots of solutions.
- "I've got a question for all these folks who say, you know, we're going to pull the plug on Grandma and this is all about illegal immigrants -- you've heard all the lies," Obama said. "I've got a question for all those folks: What are you going to do? What's your answer? What's your solution?
"And you know what? They don't have one."
Your turn Mr. President. Take the plugs out of your ears. You'll hear lots of solutions.
Finger wagging from the White House
"Changing its tactics in the health-care debate, the White House has begun stressing the moral imperative to provide health insurance to all Americans. "I am my brother's keeper, I am my sister's keeper," President Obama now argues. "And in the wealthiest nation on earth right now, we are neglecting to live up to that call." But Obama is just plain wrong that America is neglecting its obligations to the most vulnerable. The real health-care problem is not moral but structural and systemic.
We already spend hundreds of billions of dollars every year providing health care to the elderly, through Medicare, and to the poor, through Medicaid. The first of these programs—which, experts estimate, may squander up to $60 billion every year in waste, fraud, and abuse—is running a staggering, and unsustainable, long-term deficit of $38 trillion. The second is in even worse shape, with a 2006 survey finding that as many as half of all physicians have either stopped accepting new Medicaid patients or limited the number they'll see because reimbursements are so low. On paper, poor patients have great government insurance; their only problem is that they can't find a doctor." Continue reading at City Journal, It's the system.
We already spend hundreds of billions of dollars every year providing health care to the elderly, through Medicare, and to the poor, through Medicaid. The first of these programs—which, experts estimate, may squander up to $60 billion every year in waste, fraud, and abuse—is running a staggering, and unsustainable, long-term deficit of $38 trillion. The second is in even worse shape, with a 2006 survey finding that as many as half of all physicians have either stopped accepting new Medicaid patients or limited the number they'll see because reimbursements are so low. On paper, poor patients have great government insurance; their only problem is that they can't find a doctor." Continue reading at City Journal, It's the system.
No narrative
That's why Obama is in free fall.
Oh yes, there's a narrative all right, and unfortunately Mr. Hunt, it resonates with a lot of Americans who still support him and who will insist you're talking about his race and not culture or beliefs or character.
- "No narrative. Obama doesn't have a narrative. No, not a narrative about himself. He has a self-narrative, much of it fabricated, cleverly disguised or written by someone else. But this self-narrative is isolated and doesn't connect with us. He doesn't have an American narrative that draws upon the rest of us. All successful presidents have a narrative about the American character that intersects with their own where they display a command of history and reveal an authenticity at the core of their personality that resonates in a positive endearing way with the majority of Americans. We admire those presidents whose narratives not only touch our own, but who seem stronger, wiser, and smarter than we are. Presidents we admire are aspirational peers, even those whose politics don't align exactly with our own: Teddy Roosevelt, FDR, Harry Truman, Ike, Reagan.
But not this president. It's not so much that he's a phony, knows nothing about economics, is historically illiterate, and woefully small minded for the size of the task-- all contributory of course. It's that he's not one of us. And whatever he is, his profile is fuzzy and devoid of content, like a cardboard cutout made from delaminated corrugated paper. Moreover, he doesn't command our respect and is unable to appeal to our own common sense. His notions of right and wrong are repugnant and how things work just don't add up. They are not existential. His descriptions of the world we live in don't make sense and don't correspond with our experience." Geoffrey P. Hunt, American Thinker
Oh yes, there's a narrative all right, and unfortunately Mr. Hunt, it resonates with a lot of Americans who still support him and who will insist you're talking about his race and not culture or beliefs or character.
Cap and Trade--what a nice gift for workers--lost jobs
"The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Data Analysis found that, for the average year over the 2012-2035 timeline, job losses will be 1.1 million greater than without a cap and trade bill. By 2035, there is a projected 2.5 million fewer jobs below the baseline. Some of these jobs will be destroyed completely. Others will move overseas where carbon capping isn’t in their country’s agenda and therefore the cost of production is cheaper.
We’re not the only ones who project unemployment from cap and trade. The Brookings Institute, for instance, projects that cap-and-trade will increase unemployment by 0.5% in the first decade below the baseline. Using U.S. Census population projection estimates, that’s equivalent to about 1.7 million fewer jobs than without cap-and-trade. A study done by Charles River Associates prepared for the National Black Chamber of Congress projects increases in unemployment by 2.3-2.7 million jobs in each year of the policy through 2030–after accounting for “green job” creation."
We’re not the only ones who project unemployment from cap and trade. The Brookings Institute, for instance, projects that cap-and-trade will increase unemployment by 0.5% in the first decade below the baseline. Using U.S. Census population projection estimates, that’s equivalent to about 1.7 million fewer jobs than without cap-and-trade. A study done by Charles River Associates prepared for the National Black Chamber of Congress projects increases in unemployment by 2.3-2.7 million jobs in each year of the policy through 2030–after accounting for “green job” creation."
Happy thoughts for Labor Day from President Reagan
As the unemployment rate soars (9.7% and some areas of Michigan and Ohio would be thrilled with that figure), and jobs are not being created, it's time to look at a stimulus that really did work. Notice. If Obama wants to improve health, he should first correct the continued downward spiral of this economy, the worst in 26 years. Job insecurity and unemployment are not good for health. If he just wants to take over more of the private sector, he should continue on his current course.
"Common sense told us that when you put a big tax on something, the people will produce less of it. So, we cut the people's tax rates, and the people produced more than ever before. The economy bloomed like a plant that had been cut back and could now grow quicker and stronger. Our economic program brought about the longest peacetime expansion in our history: real family income up, the poverty rate down, entrepreneurship booming, and an explosion in research and new technology. We're exporting more than ever because American industry became more competitive. And at the same time, we summoned the national will to knock down protectionist walls abroad instead of erecting them at home." . . .
"Ours was the first revolution in the history of mankind that truly reversed the course of government, and with three little words: "We the people." "We the people" tell the government what to do, it doesn't tell us. "We the people" are the driver, the government is the car. And we decide where it should go, and by what route, and how fast. Almost all the world's constitutions are documents in which governments tell the people what their privileges are. Our Constitution is a document in which "We the people" tell the government what it is allowed to do. "We the people" are free. This belief has been the underlying basis for everything I've tried to do these past eight years."
Ronald Reagan Farewell speech, Jan. 11, 1989.
It looks like we the people, the citizen politicians, have some work to do. Or we won't be a beacon much longer.
"Common sense told us that when you put a big tax on something, the people will produce less of it. So, we cut the people's tax rates, and the people produced more than ever before. The economy bloomed like a plant that had been cut back and could now grow quicker and stronger. Our economic program brought about the longest peacetime expansion in our history: real family income up, the poverty rate down, entrepreneurship booming, and an explosion in research and new technology. We're exporting more than ever because American industry became more competitive. And at the same time, we summoned the national will to knock down protectionist walls abroad instead of erecting them at home." . . .
"Ours was the first revolution in the history of mankind that truly reversed the course of government, and with three little words: "We the people." "We the people" tell the government what to do, it doesn't tell us. "We the people" are the driver, the government is the car. And we decide where it should go, and by what route, and how fast. Almost all the world's constitutions are documents in which governments tell the people what their privileges are. Our Constitution is a document in which "We the people" tell the government what it is allowed to do. "We the people" are free. This belief has been the underlying basis for everything I've tried to do these past eight years."
Ronald Reagan Farewell speech, Jan. 11, 1989.
It looks like we the people, the citizen politicians, have some work to do. Or we won't be a beacon much longer.
Using MS Paint to draw
I've done really simply lines using MS Paint, usually to figure out perspective; but this sketch of a woman (see link) is amazing. Of course, it is a big help to be a good artist to begin with, but this shows what can be done with a simple program (came with my last 3 computers). The trick is knowing when to let up on the mouse and have an extremely steady hand (I don't).
http://sketchingdrawing.com/?p=20
This artist has many instructional videos and well worth the look for all my artsy readers.
Sunday, September 06, 2009
The H1N1 Pandemic?
It seems we have a pandemic because the definition of pandemic was changed?
"Before the arrival of novel A/H1N1 virus, pandemics were said to occur when a new subtype of influenza virus to which humans have no immunity enters the population, begins spreading widely, and causes severe illness . . . But the 2009 pandemic, taken as a whole, bears little resemblance to the forecasted pandemic. Pandemic A/H1N1 virus is not a new subtype but the same subtype as seasonal A/H1N1 that has been circulating since 1977. . . Experts are unsure that the 2009 pandemic—which the World Health Organization presently characterises as moderate—will be any worse than seasonal flu." from article by Peter Doshi, doctor student, MIT, BMJ 2009;339:b3471
HT Junkfood Sciene
"Before the arrival of novel A/H1N1 virus, pandemics were said to occur when a new subtype of influenza virus to which humans have no immunity enters the population, begins spreading widely, and causes severe illness . . . But the 2009 pandemic, taken as a whole, bears little resemblance to the forecasted pandemic. Pandemic A/H1N1 virus is not a new subtype but the same subtype as seasonal A/H1N1 that has been circulating since 1977. . . Experts are unsure that the 2009 pandemic—which the World Health Organization presently characterises as moderate—will be any worse than seasonal flu." from article by Peter Doshi, doctor student, MIT, BMJ 2009;339:b3471
HT Junkfood Sciene
What did you do this summer?
Almost too much to think about it--especially, since I probably missed about half of the programming! It wears me out to think of it, so I'd better blog before I forget. Last night Kevin said there had been 90 days of programming at Lakeside. Somewhere I saw a note that Rhein Center had about 6,000 signed up for classes. So here's what I did, other than the 70 sunrise walks (and 3 sunsets), and I didn't do everything there was to do--don't have that much energy. Like during Health and Wellness week I was too tired to go to the lecture on Fatigue. Also, sometimes my husband was sailing when I was at seminars or lectures:
SEMINARS
SEMINARS
- Ohio Week
Canal Craze, Randall Buchman
Ohio and Erie Canal, Randall Buchman
Miami and Erie Canal, Peter Wilheim
Milan Canal, Ken Dickson
History of Tofts Dairy, Eugene Meisler (with Moose Tracks samples)
Civil War Week
Lincoln and his Admirals, Craig Symonds
Battle of Mobile Bay, Craig Symonds
Religion and Faith in the Civil War, Fr. Robert J. Miller
God's storm troops, the Jesuits, Fr. Robert J. Miller
Civil War sketch artists, Ken Bach
American Writers and Composers
Aaron Copland
Mark Twain
Some of the evening programing fit this theme too
I had a lot of conflicts with arts classes that week
Interfaith Week--lectures on Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity
I only attended Gene Swanger's Buddhism lecture--had conflicts with arts classes. Also attended Gene's lecture on ancient Greek insights during another week. I'd go to hear him give a weather report.
Peace and Justice Week
Topics on moral theology, global issues, juvenile justice, sustainability, malnutrition, none of which I attended, as I was busy with some tours, and I think that was also the week Gretchen did her talk on Aprons
Great Lakes
Shipwrecks--Anthony Wayne and Cortland
History of Passenger Travel
U.S. Coast Guard Temporary Reserve during WWII
Hot Button Issues--didn't attend--topics were terrorism, immigration, globalization, etc.
Health and Wellness week
Integrative medicine, Laura Kunze
Health Maintenance, John Weigand
Future of Medicine, John Weigand
Exercise, Kitty Consolo
Nutrition for healthy seniors
China (M-W)--attended all lectures by Kerry Dumbaugh--I think there were five
Astronomy (W-F) attended all by Dr. Thomas Statler and wife of Ohio University, 4 or 5
Sports and Faith
Lord's Day-Eric Liddell, Greg Linville
Biblical defense of sports, Greg Linville
Coaching today's students, Sue Ramsey, women's basketball coach at Ashland U.
- Dwight Lenox--tribute to Lou Rawls
Terra College Harpist group
Barbershop Festival, 60th
Corky Siegal & Chamber Blues
Jay Ungar & Molly Mason Family Band
Johnny Knorr Orchestra
Lakeside Symphony (I think there 8 performances) included Jean Geis Stell, pianist, a Lincoln portrait (Copeland) during Civil War Week, an opera, Don Pasquale, ballet Point of Departure
Hoagy Carmichael tribute
Black Wire (strings)
Debbie Boone
Matt Dusk (Canadian singer)
Air Force Band
Von Trapp Family Singers (great grandchildren of Maria)
OSU Alumni Band
Leahy (Canadian siblings)
Melissa Manchester
Phil Keaggy and Fernando Ortega
Glenn Miller Orchestra
Lima Marimba Ensemble
Pantasia Steel Drum Band from Findley, Ohio
Kings Brass
Mike Albert--Big E--very popular Elvis impersonator
Hey Mavis--Ed Caner
Pavlo
Chapter 6
Lowe Family
Dave Bennett--in the style of Benny Goodman
Beatitudes Cantata by Mike Shirtz
- Anthony Gibbs--U.S. Colored troops, Civil War
Eleanor Smith--Helen Noye Hoyt, Civil War nurse
Karen Vuranch--she did Pearl Buck and Clara Barton 2 different weeks
Marvin Cole--Mark Twain
- Watercolor with Robert Moyer
Watercolor with John Behling
Drawing with Geddes Levenson
Pastel with Joan Garverick
and I also took at class in English sonnets, with Steve Ricard which I blogged about, at the Rhein Center
- Guided bird walks (4)
Herb classes (7) and events, a tea, blending and making tea, and tour of an herb farm
Walking tours with guide of Lakeside (2)
Guided tree walk (identified 36 trees, I think)
Nest egg seminar (1); there was a whole series, but usually during my nap time
Heritage Society lectures (2)
Chaplain's Hour (1)
Lakefront worship (9), Dr. Irwin Jennings
Hoover worship (1), Cantata
Antique Show, 49th
Drama, "Sword of the Spirit" about John and Mary Brown
Community theater, "Cheaper by the Dozen"
Gladiolus show
Art Show
Photography Show
Antique auto show
July 4 fireworks
Country Dance in the street
Adirondack Chair auction
Reception at home of Trustees President
Women's Club program on Aprons
Movies (3)
Tour guide for Hotel Open house
Lecture on trees of Lakeside, Bill Smith
- The Garden in Port Clinton
Bruno's in Marblehead
Avery's in Marblehead
The Patio in Lakeside (9)
Hotel Lakeside Cafe
Society of Old Salts Picnic
Ice cream social and band concert at the Hotel
Breakfast at Idlewyld B & B
Jones is just the tip of the iceberg
How many Czars? In Russian it means Caesar. Van Jones? One black conservative blogger called him the "Watermelon Man," green on the outside and red on the inside. Besides, all that green talk hurts minorities the most. As does marxism in general where ever it's been tried.
"Not since the administration of Franklin Roosevelt has an American president appointed a known communist to such a high position in the federal government. Not only is Green Jobs Czar Jones an avowed Marxist, he has joined together with such certifiable leftist loonies as Cynthia McKinney, Ralph Nader, and Howard Zinn in signing the 9/11 Truth Statement, and expressing his belief that the 9/11 attacks on New York’s World Trade Center was “an inside job,” involving a conspiracy within the administration of George W. Bush. He has acquiesced in the claim that the government response to Hurricane Katrina was a Bush conspiracy, as well, and that the levees may have been dynamited as part of some sinister plot." Thomas McAdam
"When Ronald Regan was president, he appointed 3 Czars, over 8 years. George W. Bush appointed 14 in 8 years. In his first one-half year, Obama has appointed 34 Czars. At this rate, we can anticipate 272 Czars in Obama’s fist term; and 544 Czars if he lasts two terms. Lots of grist for your Louisville City Hall Examiner’s mill. Mne nuzhna praktikovat’sa v Russkam." Also McAdam in the same article which lists all the czars' names. I think the transliteration says, I need to practice my Russian.
Update: I just read that Jones has resigned. I'm sure he'll hang around in the background, because after all, it's all just a smear campaign. Someone made up all those words and past events of his life! "On the eve of historic fights for health care and clean energy, opponents of reform have mounted a vicious smear campaign against me," Jones said in his resignation statement. "They are using lies and distortions to distract and divide."
Don't relax folks. There's more where he came from. These are the kind of people Obama has surrounded himself with his entire life--even as a child with his mother's friends. Pulling up one weed doesn't guarantee a harvest.
Saturday, September 05, 2009
Why you need an independent guidance group for end times
Who would that be--the group that Obama said in April you needed to help you make decisions about end of life. Well, maybe his chief medical advisor, Ezekiel Emanuel.
"Someone like Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, health advisor to Obama, and Zeke's brother Rahm, who loves to hurl thunderbolts from Mount Olympus and bully freshman congressmen. They and their ilk will give us "guidance" about who is worthwhile, who is ready to die, who shall live a week or two longer. Zeke is a Harvard academic who is arrogant enough to believe that he can change human nature and decide the most intimate and complex of human issues -- those of life and death. The man, a bona fide MD, clearly prefers writing bushels of words about what's good or bad for society to caring for people and being responsible for suffering patients. The soft-spoken arrogance and vanity of this administration is sometimes stunning.
Dr. Emanuel thinks health care must be distributed according to the group to which an individual belongs. Valued groups include young and healthy persons, and favored racial and gender groups. Those of less value, of course, are those with medical problems and the elderly.
According to Emanuel's "Complete Life" plan, society's scarce resources should be spent mostly on those under 40 years of age. ["Unlike allocation by sex or race, allocation by age is not invidious discrimination. . . . Treating 65 year olds differently because of stereotypes or falsehoods would be ageist; treating them differently because they have already had more life-years is not." Dr. Emamuel, Lancet, Jan. 31, 2009] Old folks get what's left over as determined by him and his ilk. How they will make their decisions is not at all clear." American Thinker.
Let's be nice to condemned murderers, terrorists, and abortionists. Those old timers need to go. They've lived their time. It's the liberal, caring way.
"Someone like Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, health advisor to Obama, and Zeke's brother Rahm, who loves to hurl thunderbolts from Mount Olympus and bully freshman congressmen. They and their ilk will give us "guidance" about who is worthwhile, who is ready to die, who shall live a week or two longer. Zeke is a Harvard academic who is arrogant enough to believe that he can change human nature and decide the most intimate and complex of human issues -- those of life and death. The man, a bona fide MD, clearly prefers writing bushels of words about what's good or bad for society to caring for people and being responsible for suffering patients. The soft-spoken arrogance and vanity of this administration is sometimes stunning.
Dr. Emanuel thinks health care must be distributed according to the group to which an individual belongs. Valued groups include young and healthy persons, and favored racial and gender groups. Those of less value, of course, are those with medical problems and the elderly.
According to Emanuel's "Complete Life" plan, society's scarce resources should be spent mostly on those under 40 years of age. ["Unlike allocation by sex or race, allocation by age is not invidious discrimination. . . . Treating 65 year olds differently because of stereotypes or falsehoods would be ageist; treating them differently because they have already had more life-years is not." Dr. Emamuel, Lancet, Jan. 31, 2009] Old folks get what's left over as determined by him and his ilk. How they will make their decisions is not at all clear." American Thinker.
Let's be nice to condemned murderers, terrorists, and abortionists. Those old timers need to go. They've lived their time. It's the liberal, caring way.
Why bother going to college?
Or getting an advanced degree, or filing a law suit when you can just lie about it? Rapper/Doctor Roxanne Shanté's house of cards collapses. If investigators can find out so much about an obscure has-been musician from the 80s, why is it so tough to get college records for politicians? But she apparently did attend some college for 3 months. Not quite the PhD she claims.
Should Presidents talk to school children?
Libertarians, Democrats, some Republicans and Socialist/Progressives/Communists were horrified that George W. Bush was reading to school children on 9/11. I wasn't. He is a big reader of history and biography (despite his enemies' claim he's an illiterate boob) and his wife is a former school librarian (whom the hypocritical, liberal librarians tried to boycott at the NOLA ALA). I didn't really have an opinion--still don't. But where are those critics today with Obama planning to be piped into classrooms nationwide with lesson plans, no less, by-passing school boards and superintendents. I think it's a bad idea from his handlers-- 1) he's way over exposed, 2) besides a swiveling head with eyes glued to the teleprompter that's very annoying, he's lost that lovely "blackcent" that white liberals loved during the campaign, and 3) few audiences are more fickle than children who often want to do just the opposite of what an authority figure says.
Releasing children from the class routine to watch the inauguration was quite appropriate. It was an historic moment. They did that for us for Eisenhower back in the 50s. However, if he wants to see what goes on in the classroom, he needs to actually visit public schools and meet the children face to face. Afterall, his girls go to private school and it's probably not the same.
That said, I think conservative groups need to focus on major problems, like the scandal of his czars, his economic plan that is killing us with trillions of debt and take-overs of business, his hostility toward everything this country has stood for in the past, and his "no victory" war plans for the future. Let's skip the kid stuff.
Releasing children from the class routine to watch the inauguration was quite appropriate. It was an historic moment. They did that for us for Eisenhower back in the 50s. However, if he wants to see what goes on in the classroom, he needs to actually visit public schools and meet the children face to face. Afterall, his girls go to private school and it's probably not the same.
That said, I think conservative groups need to focus on major problems, like the scandal of his czars, his economic plan that is killing us with trillions of debt and take-overs of business, his hostility toward everything this country has stood for in the past, and his "no victory" war plans for the future. Let's skip the kid stuff.
Good works among Christians--a bit of history
As I've noted several times at this blog and my other blog, I believe churches have compromised their message and mission by taking money from the state and federal governments to run their programs. There was very poor oversite of this during the Bush (1 and 2) and Clinton years, and probably before. One only has to review the very early years of the USDA's food surplus programs--originally intended to help farmers--in which food pantries (most run by churches which had soup kitchens during the Depression) have participated for over 60 years. Once there was no more surplus to distribute, tax money was used with church volunteers doing the management. Obama has promised to tighten any religious connections--another promise he'll probably keep if the Georgetown speech is any indication.
The following item is about a tiny church with a tiny program, all of which was supported by church members, not the government, and which probably had very little waste or corruption. I'm posting it (originally an e-mail) because it combines 1) a book I was reading this morning by A.C. Wieand, 2) my interest in first issues of serials, 3) my interest in genealogy, and my early years in the Church of the Brethren (my own baptism, as well as that of my parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents). I found this in cleaning out my webmail box this morning, written to someone who asked about a photograph of nursing students taking the train from Oregon, IL to Mt. Morris, IL during WWI to attend a program at Mt. Morris College.
**Land for the original hospital was donated by my great grandfather.
The following item is about a tiny church with a tiny program, all of which was supported by church members, not the government, and which probably had very little waste or corruption. I'm posting it (originally an e-mail) because it combines 1) a book I was reading this morning by A.C. Wieand, 2) my interest in first issues of serials, 3) my interest in genealogy, and my early years in the Church of the Brethren (my own baptism, as well as that of my parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents). I found this in cleaning out my webmail box this morning, written to someone who asked about a photograph of nursing students taking the train from Oregon, IL to Mt. Morris, IL during WWI to attend a program at Mt. Morris College.
- I have a copy of the Bethany Bible School Evangel, vol. 1, 1921 which gives many of the names of the graduates and classes beginning with about 1909 (opened in 1905). I looked through it and didn't see any of those names. However, I know that there were training institutes held at Bethany that weren't part of the curriculum because my grandparents attended. I'm sure there's a better history than what I have, but the original building was President Emanuel Hoff's home on Hastings, and then several buildings were built but there continued to be a Hastings St. Mission. On p. 55, "All who knew the crowded condition of the Hastings Street Mission will be glad to know that the situation has been temporarily relieved by the purchase of another building. Through this additional building, it is hoped that some of the many boys and girls who have been turned away in the past may be given an opportunity to attend the classes. . .[these are listed as] knitting, basketry,
handwork, printing and wireless telegraphy. Classes have been organized among the Polish and Bohemian mothers. They are being taught cooking and sewing. [also listed for this mission] Daily vacation bible school in the summer (many photos), mid-week prayer meetings, junior Christian workers' meetings and junior church services. There was also a Douglas Park Mission, and service opportunities at the County Hospital, the county home (Oak Forest), the police station. A hospital opened on Dec. 31, 1920 called "Bethany Sanitarium and Hospital."** On p. 101 it says "A Nurses' Training Class, offering practical training in caring for the sick, has been offered since 1914. This course has appealed not only to the single sisters but perhaps more mothers have been enrolled in it than in any other course." "While a regular Nurses' Training course cannot be offered in this small insitutiton, as it grows this will no doubt be its largest mission."
The 1905-06 photo shows the 2 founders (Hoff and Wieand) and 33 students. A hand drawn graph on p. 89 shows 375 students in 1919-20, and 350 in 1920-21.
**Land for the original hospital was donated by my great grandfather.
Friday, September 04, 2009
Seventy sunrises
We've been here at Lake Erie for 10 of the last 11 weeks, and I've walked the lakefront every morning at sunrise. I think I needed a jacket only 3 times--the rest of the time was just a long sleeve shirt and sweat pants. I didn't always have my camera, but when I didn't I always regretted it--each sunrise is different, and the September is about an hour later than the late June. First I was watching the 6 o'clock ferry from Marblehead to Kelley's, then the 7 o'clock. I wasn't alone; I saw the gate keepers arrive, dog walkers, freighters, sail boats, fishermen, kayak, coffee drinkers, Bible readers, lovers, coast guard maneuvers, families of mallards swimming and purple martins breakfasting, feral cats and an occasional skunk and bat. Only once did I get caught in a shower, and it was brief. The big storms seemed to be in the evening.
I'd rather be sailing
This is from the musical, “The New Brain,” written by William Finn, and the musical is autobiographical. It is sung here by Kevin Smith Kirkwood, but there are other versions on the internet. A few years ago my apple pie won a prize--sailing lessons, which I didn't use, but my husband did. Now our Lakeside time revolves around sailing, the wind, the sun, is the flag up, and biking down to the lake every 15 minutes to check. He absolutely loves it.
Synopsis from Wikipedia: "Gordon Schwinn, a talented young songwriter, works at his piano to meet a deadline. Gordon is irritated because he must write a song about Spring for a children's television entertainer who dresses as a frog. He takes a break from his writing and meets his agent Rhoda at a restaurant for pasta. During lunch, Gordon clutches his head and falls face first into his meal. Rhoda calls an ambulance, and Gordon is taken to the hospital. He learns that he has an arteriovenous malformation. Gordon needs an operation, and if he doesn't have it, he could die or never regain the use of his faculties.
While in the hospital, Gordon contemplates his situation. His greatest fear is dying with his greatest songs still inside of him; and so from his hospital bed, and while in a coma, and all throughout his ordeal, he begins writing the songs. He also has several hallucinations that involve various people whom he has encountered. In particular, a homeless lady that he met on his way to get pasta with Rhoda continually pops up.
Gordon eventually has the surgery and recovers completely. The creative block he was experiencing before his ordeal lifts, and he gains new insights. His near death experience encourages him to re-evaluate and better appreciate the people and relationships in his life."
Synopsis from Wikipedia: "Gordon Schwinn, a talented young songwriter, works at his piano to meet a deadline. Gordon is irritated because he must write a song about Spring for a children's television entertainer who dresses as a frog. He takes a break from his writing and meets his agent Rhoda at a restaurant for pasta. During lunch, Gordon clutches his head and falls face first into his meal. Rhoda calls an ambulance, and Gordon is taken to the hospital. He learns that he has an arteriovenous malformation. Gordon needs an operation, and if he doesn't have it, he could die or never regain the use of his faculties.
While in the hospital, Gordon contemplates his situation. His greatest fear is dying with his greatest songs still inside of him; and so from his hospital bed, and while in a coma, and all throughout his ordeal, he begins writing the songs. He also has several hallucinations that involve various people whom he has encountered. In particular, a homeless lady that he met on his way to get pasta with Rhoda continually pops up.
Gordon eventually has the surgery and recovers completely. The creative block he was experiencing before his ordeal lifts, and he gains new insights. His near death experience encourages him to re-evaluate and better appreciate the people and relationships in his life."
A Cowboy Named Bud
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." "
"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." "
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."
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