The jargon creep

Not a creep that uses jargon, but a description of a program so filled with gooble-de-gook you either skim over and don't notice it, or gag:

"Ohio State University College of Social Work [description] First accredited in 1919, the College of Social Work is the oldest continuously accredited social work program in the country. The college, through excellence in teaching, research, and service, prepares leaders who enhance individual and community well-being, celebrate difference, and promote social and economic justice for vulnerable populations. It fosters social change through collaboration with individuals, families, communities, and other change agents to build strengths and resolve complex individual and social problems. As an internationally recognized college, it builds and applies knowledge that positively impacts Ohio, the nation and the world. Social Work's vision is to “embrace difference, seek justice, and be the change.”

• prepare leaders (I hope they prepare a few followers, because without sensible, educated, skilled followers, there's no one to lead)
  
• enhance (vt from old French via Latin; improve, increase
  
• community well-being (a moving target--depends on the amount of the grant)
  
• promote social and economic justice (guidelines from Saul Alinsky, Mao, small sects and cults living on Pacific Islands, various dead, and some living in Chicago, heros from the 1970s and Latin American revolutions--whether in church or college these are code phrases for some form of socialism, never capitalism, the system for which most immigrants come here and with which they succeed)
  
• vulnerable populations (whatever group brings in the most government money--could be Appalachian resettled miners, mentally ill street people, Vietnam vets, unemployed TV and toaster repairmen)
  
• celebrate difference (convince middle class rural and suburban college kids that their own lives and values are worthless)
  
• foster (v. from Old English word for food and feeding; giving parental care or nurture; encourage; promote growth or development)
  
• social change (what academics and government officials do for a living which affords a comfortable life style and sense of purpose for the agent; what they promote when they don't like someone else's values, religion, appearance, beliefs)
  
• collaboration (lots of meetings, task forces, papers, and empire building)
  
• other change agents (non-profits, churches, local government officials, members of the DNC, assorted useful misfits--most surviving on federal grants)
  
• families (any mix and match group)
  
• social problem (crime, education, voter behavior, smoking, obesity, or any people or personal structure that will not respond to government intervention so that the income stream is steady)
  
• you get the idea, jargon.

I've written so many mission statements I could do it in my sleep. You take 3 columns of words, (usually nouns, verbs, adjectives with as little specificity as possible) and start building sentences that will be as vague as possible, and never hold you accountable come evaluation time.

First column: university, college, department, program, unit, committee, community, individual, agent, purpose, class, victims, technology, change, hope etc. etc.

Second column: best, finest, newest, oldest, complex, simple, collaborative, positive, negative, vulnerable, weak, strong, sustainable, eco-friendly, green, digital, economic, social, cultural, diverse, digitized, etc., etc.

Third column: prepare, promote, enhance, foster, nurture, involve, increase, decrease, build, remove, improve, resolve, recognize, change, equip, engage, etc.

Fourth possible column: these would be adverbs, or other squish words, but use sparingly.

Just for fun and comparaison, Google this phrase, "mission statement school of social work" and just browse what the individual universities describe as their mission. Stoneybrook is big on "oppression," and Georgia is concerned about families. Some are specific about skills and expectations; some just float in a sea of meaningless words. You can almost guess the age and political preferences of the writers.

Obama's manufacturing czar is just a thug

Quoting Mao once doesn't make him a Marxist--I'd need to see the rest of his record, but he sure sounds and acts like a thug or goon in a business suit.



Ron Bloom, giving a speech in which he says that "the free market is nonsense." Where does he find them?

“Generally speaking we get the joke. We know that the free market is nonsense. We know that the whole point is to game the system, to beat the market, or at least find someone who will pay you a lot of money because they’re convinced that there is a free lunch. We know this is largely about power, that it’s an adults only, no limit game. We kind of agree with Mao that political power comes largely from the barrel of a gun. And we get it that if you want a friend, you should get a dog.”

Can we trust government cost estimates?

No. They are never accurate. War. Peace. Highways. Social Security. CO2. Schools. Even pork (earmarks) aren't accurate. Never. Does the government ever "contain" costs. No. In today's Review and Outlook in the WSJ:

Start with Medicaid, the joint state-federal program for the poor. The House Ways and Means Committee estimated that its first-year costs would be $238 million. Instead it hit more than $1 billion, and costs have kept climbing.

Thanks in part to expansions promoted by California's Henry Waxman, a principal author of the current House bill, Medicaid now costs 37 times more than it did when it was launched—after adjusting for inflation. Its current cost is $251 billion, up 24.7% or $50 billion in fiscal 2009 alone, and that's before the health-care bill covers millions of new beneficiaries.

When our legislators get to Washington, or Columbus, or Springfield, or Albany, or Sacramento, they forget it's real money taxed from real working people. To them it's funny money; Monopoly money. All they can do is pass legislation that will 1) fulfill the dreams of their party's philosophy, and 2) win voters back home, who understandably want some of their money back in exchange for sending that person to Congress. When the Congress person's term is up, they slip into "think-tanks" or become lobbyists, and continue on the government dole. Besides, you can't predict what's going to happen in the medical field. They estimated 11,000 renal patients for Medicare and got almost 400,000. The only thing that has come in below projections is the Bush-Kennedy drug plan. We know competition brings down prices, but Democrats don't want that. We know tax cuts induce investments which provide jobs, but Democrats don't want that. They want control and power.

A high tech net for volunteers

I hope everyone contributing to buy nets and t-shirts noticed the article about malaria in today's Wall St. Journal. It's about high tech epidemiology and volunteers who help with malaria vaccine modeling. The simulations could take months or years as millions die or become disabled by a disease that about 30 years ago had practically been conquered. That is until Rachel Carson told about her vision of a silent spring, and DDT as a killer of mosquitoes that spread the disease was essentially taken off the market. In its place we have bed nets and local spraying, and do-gooders buying orange t-shirts and having basketball games and bake sales to feel like they're doing something. Meanwhile, millions of children, mostly black and brown, mostly poor, mostly not using bed-nets because they aren't accessible, are dying.

So while they slice and dice the genes of the female mosquito becoming famous for writing articles in peer review journals, they can only hope for that enzyme that will cure the disease. But doesn't volunteering just feel so good? Isn't that what counts? The feeling, not the results?

How Well Do You Know Illinois?

Recently, a high school friend sent me quiz, "How Well Do You Know Illinois?" I got most of them right, although I didn't know the original name of the Chicago Bears, and guessed at the state flower. So I wouldn't win a million. Also, if Peoria is the oldest town, there are four or five others ready to call her a liar, although it may be the oldest of the four listed. However, I also knew Ronald Reagan wasn't born in Dixon, Illinois, which means at least one answer was wrong--so maybe there were others--like the oldest town.

Could you go through these questions, not miss any and win a million dollars, if the opportunity arose.

1. $100 What is the Capital of Illinois?
a. Chicago
b. Champaign
c. Springfield
d. East St.. Louis
***********************************************************
2. $200 The State Motto is . . ..
a. Home of Ronald Reagan
b. Prairie State
c. Land of 100 Lakes
d. Land of Lincoln
***********************************************************
3. $400 - State that DOES NOT border IL?
a. Iowa
b. Missouri
c. Texas
d. Indiana
***********************************************************
4. $1000. Which is furthest down south?
a. Chicago
b. Decatur
c. Carbondale
d. Bloomington
***********************************************************
5. $2000 What is the State bird?
a. Chicken
b. Cardinal
c. Pheasant
d. Eagle
***********************************************************
6. $4,000 - Which community is oldest in Illinois?
A. Chicago
b. Peoria
c. Effingham
d. East St. Louis
***********************************************************
7. $8,000 - The Chicago Bears were known as...?
a. Always has been known as Chicago Bears
b. Decatur Bears
c. Sucky Bears
d. Decatur Staleys
***********************************************************
8. $16,000 - What town is home to Superman?
a. Harristown
b. Pana
c. Metropolis
d. Peru
***********************************************************
9. $32,000 - City that has never been the capital of IL?
a. Springfield
b. Peoria
c. Kaskaskia
d. Vandalia
***********************************************************
10. $64,000 - State Flower?
a. Corn Stalks
b. Yellow Dandelions
c. White Daisies
d. Purple Violets
***********************************************************
11. $125,000 - how do you pronounce "Moweaqua"?
a. Mo-we-qua
b. Mow-wee-aqua
c. Mowey-qua
d. Mow-aqua
***********************************************************
12. $250,000 - Jesse Jackson stuck his nose into the business of what town concerning the 6 criminal kids?
a. Springfield
b. Decatur
c. Peoria
d. Chicago
***********************************************************
13. $500,000- Going to the boat means?
a. Cruising Lake Decatur
b. Going to your mother-in-laws house
c. Riverside Gambling
d. Going to jail
***********************************************************
14. $1,000,000 - Which President was born in Dixon, IL?
a. Reagan
b. Clinton
c. Jefferson
d. Nixon
*******************************************
ANSWERS ARE BELOW.....................
1. 100 C - Springfield
2. 200 D - Land of Lincoln
3. 400 C - Texas
4. 1000 C - Carbondale
5. 2000 B - Cardinal (even though hunters like to claim it as the pheasant)
6. 4000 B - Peoria -- Even though East St Louis looks as if it should be the oldest [others also claim to be the oldest, Cahokia, Palestine, Shawneetown]
7. 8000 D - Decatur Staleys --- Even though C (sucky bears) would work too:)
8. 16000 C - Metropolis (yep its a real city in southern IL)
9. 32,000 B - Peoria
10. 64,000 D - Purple Violets -- Even though (a) Corn Stalks should be.
11. 125,000 A - Mo-we-qua
12. 250,000 B - Decatur
13. 500,000 C. Riverside Gambling --- Better not mean (b) going to your mom in laws
14. 1,000,000 A - Reagan [wrong!]

A story of love and determination

My friend Helen sent this story e-mail. It's going around. So I checked it as I usually do, and Snopes says it is true, and it appears on a number of blogs. Here's a longer version without photos.

"While it is tragic that someone should die, especially so young, it's difficult to see the story of Katie Kirkpatrick Godwin as a sad one.

She did not allow illness to make her weak, she did not allow it to change her relationship with her God or her family or her husband. She did not let sickness stop her from living, take away the hope or faith that made her believe she had a future. She had a lovely wedding and she had love and she gave love and love doesn't die.

And that is how Katie beat cancer."

Why doesn't Obama trust black voters?

Al Gore was the same way in the 2000 election in Florida. Remember the hanging chads? That happened because a black district hadn't voted the straight Democrat ticket and Gore's people wanted a recount by eyeballing little bits of dangling paper to determine intent. Now Eric Holder, Obama's Attorney General, has decided black voters in Kinston NC couldn't possibly vote if the "Democrat" designation wasn't beside the name of the candidate. The story is at the Washington Times, but never you mind, I'm guessing Obama's White House doesn't approve of this one as real news either.

The Justice Department's ruling, which affects races for City Council and mayor, went so far as to say partisan elections are needed so that black voters can elect their "candidates of choice" - identified by the department as those who are Democrats and almost exclusively black.

The department ruled that white voters in Kinston will vote for blacks only if they are Democrats and that therefore the city cannot get rid of party affiliations for local elections because that would violate black voters' right to elect the candidates they want.

Now which is more serious--made up lies about Rush Limbaugh being racist, or the highest offices in the land saying blacks can't vote without the Democrats telling them how?

The appeal of celebrity

Because of reality shows on TV, the ordinary people with little talent can now be a star--if they are fat, have a beat up truck, a house falling down, have multiple births, are little people, are former cheerleaders, want to swap wives, or have a terrible wardrobe.

The balloon fiasco is just the latest example of what can go wrong. Millions of people watched and prayed and soon became very dissolutioned when first they thought the 6 year old had died, then he was hiding, then the family had pulled a hoax.

"A celebrity is a person who is know for his well-knowness." (Daniel Boorstin) It isn't even about money anymore. It's a craving for the public's attention.

Here's People Magazine's rules for a successful cover.

Young is better than old.
Pretty is better than ugly.
Rich is better than poor.
TV is better than music.
Music is better than movies.
Movies are better than sports.
Anything is better than politics.
And nothing is better than a celebrity who just died. (Richard Stolley, quoted in Neal Gabler, Life; The Movie, 2000. See also The Magazinist

Obama's Human Rights record

Not so great. Much worse than Bush's--actually, not even close. He at least freed all those second class citizens, aka women.

Bret Stephens examines Obama's Human Rights record.

China: no pressing whatsoever on human rights
Sudan: "incentives and disincentives" for the genocidal Sudanese government of Omar Bashir
Iran: denied funding for a human-rights group working the Iran beat to appease Tehran
Burma: where 150,000 died of starvation in plain view being denied humanitarian aid, Obama is going to change to constructive engagement
Tibet: ignore the Dalai Lama and concede to China with constructive engagement (see Burma)

International Day of Climate Action

World wide stupidity and insanity. It always amazes me that people who sincerely believe God couldn't speak the creation into existence in 6 days, just as sincerely believe they can organize themselves into committees, focus groups, clubs and dictatorships to change the climate.

Plan to restrict free speech

A proposal sponsored by the Obama administration at the United Nations that purports to seek protection for "freedom of opinion and expression" actually is a call for a worldwide crackdown on freedom of speech and a mandate for nations to ensure "that relevant national legislation complies with … international human rights obligations" – a clear threat to the First Amendment, according to critics.

The resolution was submitted recently by the United States and Egypt. It was approved by the U.N. Human Rights Council as a first step in its process through the international organization.

It demands that all nations condemn and criminalize "any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence." Steven Groves of the Heritage Foundation told WND the issue is not about free speech at all but about installing international precedents to stifle any criticism of Islam.

Full story at World Net Daily.

The United Nations has become a totally worthless organization, filled with petty tyrants and dictators who won't obey our laws when their here strutting their lies, and don't allow any freedoms in their own countries, from which people flee to come here to find what they don't have at home. Now Obama wants us to become just another third world, banana republic where everyone can be equally poor to fit his narcissistic personality. Unfortunately, he's succeeding.

Changing sheets listening to Fox

Fox News was on in the background while I was changing sheets today. Sounded like news to me. Can't imagine what the WH is so in a snit about. The stories I heard were H1N1 vaccine--reasons to get it, who, where, etc. That was an interview with a doctor. Story about Christopher Dodd wanting more rules for banks. Straight line reporting, quoting him--didn't even point out his ethical failings and his sweetheart deals. Then there was a science feature about a blob robot, again an interview with an expert. It appears the White House can't tell the difference between opinion and news. Probably watching too much ABC, NBC, NBC and CNN--because on those channels, you really can't tell. Today the Fox Business Channel starts for us on our cable service--we enjoy Neil Cavuto on regular Fox and look forward to seeing him and a few others on the Business Channel, like Dave Ramsey, Elizabeth McDonald and John Stossell.

People who demean Fox News don't recognize unfiltered, non-Katified news, and don't notice that the panels have more than one viewpoint--sometimes 3 or 4! Oh, the horror of it. It's not Obama 24/7!

Socialism sells. . . then kills

Joe Wilson and his opponent have now both raised $2 million for their campaigns. His "You Lie" statement of truth energized both campaigns. The Democrats are now the party of the fat cats, rich energy moguls going green, foreign born lobbyists and smelly Euro-socialists, in addition to their usual supporters, Hollywood celebrities and the public librarians. So they have a lot more money than we do.

So time to chip in, Conservatives. Yes, both parties are full of pork-fed liars, but for now, getting Congress out of the clutches of the White House Statists is important. These are very deep pockets among the Obama crowd. I used to think it wasn't ethical to get involved in other states' elections. But that was before we knew the extent of Soros, ACORN and the Chicago machine.

Joe Wilson for Congress blog.

Photo from Stop blaming capitalism for socialism's failures at But now you know.

Captured CO2

Last week there was a dust storm over Australia that dumped tons of red dust in the ocean. The dust contained nutrients which fed huge blooms of phytoplankton. Those tiny plants provide food for larger ocean creatures. The plankton has captured about 8 million tons of CO2. This will be deposited on the ocean floor. That's one month of emissions from a dirty coal-fired plant in China making energy conserving light bulbs for Americans so they can sit in dim rooms feeling good about themselves for not using American clean coal mined here in Ohio and other Appalachian states providing good jobs. The DC and California greenies don't like the ocean doing the natural CO2 capture and storage primarily because they can't make any money that way or tax it.

Ohio State sets new enrollment records

According to OSUToday: "Ohio State has set new records this fall – in the size, quality and diversity of its student body. There are new records in the number of students attending the Columbus campus and several regional campuses. New autumn quarter enrollment figures show a 2.7 percent increase in Ohio State enrollment, with a record 63,217 students on all campuses and a record 55,014 on the Columbus campus – a 2.4 percent increase. Across all campuses, there are a record 49,915 undergraduates including 9,510 new first-year students — providing more students than ever access to higher education." Read more: the full report (51 pages) or the press release http://osu.edu/news/newsitem2575

The library has now moved back to the main campus, so in order to go there, I'll have to compete for parking again. I loved having it on Ackerman Rd. The ACK STAX. I think I used the library more those 3 years than all the other years in my retirement (9).

Cash for Oldsters

"No one ever went broke underestimating political cynicism, but these days even we can't keep up: On Wednesday [Oct. 14], President Obama announced that he wants to send every American senior a $250 check.

"Even as we seek to bring about recovery, we must act on behalf of those hardest hit by this recession," Mr. Obama said. Of course it's a mere coincidence that these checks are being proposed, and probably passed, just as Congress is about to vote on health care."

So says Review and Outlook at Friday's WSJ. Keep in mind, only the opinion page in the Wall Street Journal is conservative--the news section follows like a puppy at Obama's heels. (Nice doggie, good doggie, here's a bone, now don't bite or I'll bury you with the other chickens in the Fox Den.)

A group of us seniors was talking Sunday evening in our home. Actually, we aren't the "hardest hit" at all; one observed that we have all lived at a much reduced, simpler lifestyle when we were younger--it is no sacrifice or terror for us to reenter that territory like it might be for children and grandchildren who have enjoyed all the perks and materialism that a booming free market economy offers, and much of it sterile and unspiritual to boot! Also I know couples my age and older with 5 and 6 pension streams, their two or three homes and cars are paid for, and their "gotta have it" odometer is no longer functioning. A few born in the 20s and 30s remember the Great Depression, but most remember their parents' stories and advice. We are the fortunate generation, not the hardest hit.

In a recent e-mail, the ever vigilant Murray observed:

Now remember, the reason to rush the [stimulus] Bill through without reading it was to avoid a another crisis to go along with the housing bubble burst that was ALL Bush's fault. So why has only about 15% of the $787 billion stimulus been released? Gee, I thought rushing this money into the economy was the key point. But wait, take another look at Emaneul's statement again [never waste a good crisis]. They don't want to waste a crisis so therefore what's the best strategic plan for the Obama team? (not for you & I silly) It seems to play out like this. They are trickling the money into the economy and plan to dump 2/3 of it in just before the next election. So let's see, 1/3 over the first two years and then wham, 2/3 just before the next election. Hmmmmm! Who does that help?

In the meantime, in order to keep the peasants at bay, they will extend unemployment benefits. Thus they will be using your tax dollars to enable them to delay the so called stimulus money until THEY can best take advantage of it while the masses are beating the bushes looking for jobs. I guess the rush wasn't so important after all !!

This is the kind of deception and lying that we've become used to but shouldn't be comfortable with. It's like the other day when things weren't going well for Obama so he says he wants to give S.S. recipients $250 checks to offset no COLA for 2010. (your congressman gave himself a $4,700 raise on his 174,000 dollar salary) Obama throws out crumbs with your tax dollars so he can milk it for all it's worth. In this case he's hoping to get the seniors off his back by waiting to cut the checks until right before the midterm elections. Hmmmm! This must part of the transparency he promised.

It's just like his ObamaCare. If it passes Heh,Heh,Heh.... benefits won't start for the uninsured until 2013 after the elections. Why? Because that's when we find out just how bad this plan is and how much it's really going to cost after it's too late. Why do I say it's bad? Well, if they won't bother to read it, won't post it on the Internet and use trickery to calculate the cost, what other conclusion can you come to? Besides, the 4 things that need to be in any healthcare plan that would lower the healthcare costs aren't in it. In fact, the largest cost to the healthcare industry (free healthcare for illegals) is being totally ignored as are the illegals themselves. That in itself tells you this package stinks. Today I find out that one of the ways the Democrats used to help lower the overall cost of the healthcare bill was to take some of the expensive provisions out of the Bill and put them in a separate bill to pass. Ahhh, isn't transparency wonderful? Isn't this the kind of information that should be exposed on the 6 o'clock news or make the headlines?

The latest polls show that 54% oppose and 35% are for the healthcare plan. But that doesn't matter. We're dealing with what Obama wants. The Obama team has ignored us at the town hall meetings, tea parties, our e-mails and the March on Washington. Obama stages his own town hall meetings and runs them like he's campaigning. Welcome to ObamaWorld!

New editor in blogger

For several days I tried "new editor" in the basic posting template at blogger. Didn't like it. When I copied and pasted text from another source, I couldn't control the paragraphs; I couldn't see what I was editing; there was no spell check, had to use IE's; sometimes in the window things ran off the margin. Really, I could see no advantage. Still haven't seen a correction to the label problem (2000 limit) and I've read through the discussions at the blogger.com forums. Some people seem to be in worse shape than I. So I continue to use the labels I have and hope someone fixes this problem. If you don't have an "Anita Dunn" label there's really no work-around.

Monday Memories--giving Caleb the boot

Last week I posted a photo of me hold newborn baby Caleb. Here he is now at the party for him before he leaves for Army Reserves Boot Camp. His mom is a fabulous hostess, and it was great to see all the friends and relatives and catch up on what everyone is doing.

We will all go together when we go

It's about the bomb, but listen and think about freedom of speech and press. If the President can attack and take out one, he can take them all.



And we will all go together when we go.
What a comforting fact that is to know.
Universal bereavement,
An inspiring achievement,
Yes, we all will go together when we go.


And then think about the President cozying up with our enemies--leaving us defenseless. Yes, this 1959 song is sounding quite appropriate.

HT Tsedek Tsedek

Dunn explains how it's done

How to keep the press in your pocket and suppress all other views.



She says: "Obama's presidential campaign focused on "making" the news media cover certain issues while rarely communicating anything to the press unless it was "controlled," White House Communications Director Anita Dunn disclosed to the Dominican government at a videotaped conference.


"Very rarely did we communicate through the press anything that we didn't absolutely control," said Dunn.


"One of the reasons we did so many of the David Plouffe videos was not just for our supporters, but also because it was a way for us to get our message out without having to actually talk to reporters," said Dunn, referring to Plouffe, who was Obama'schief campaign manager.


"We just put that out there and made them write what Plouffe had said as opposed to Plouffe doing an interview with a reporter. So it was very much we controlled it as opposed to the press controlled it," Dunn said.

HT Chicago Ray


Here's Plouffe (Obama's Campaign Manager) keeping the press out of the National Press Club