I think I got carpal tunnel just watching her. What an amazing story she tells with her art.
Friday, November 06, 2009
He probably wishes now he'd married her
He's called her "partner," and seems to be the father of her children. Now she's maybe worth millions.
- Beautiful Malice has been sold in more than 20 countries and is scheduled to be translated into at least 13 languages. Not bad for a book that was initially rejected by every literary agency in Australia.
"They said it wasn't sellable as young adult fiction," James said.
The $1 million is scheduled to be paid in four instalments over the next couple of years. The British literary agency C&W will take a cut of 20 per cent.
Liberal media checks the pulse of conservative first
Newsweek's blog is checking all the conservatives sites to see if any are offering crazy, anti-islamic thoughts about the Ft. Hood shootings. The one that makes the most sense and nails the libs perfectly isn't exactly argued with, only quoted--Victor Davis Hanson who argues that Americans' understanding of Islamic terror has not progressed in the last eight years and needs to be updated.
- In other words, the narrative after 9/11 largely remains that Americans have given in to illegitimate "fear and mistrust" of Muslims in general. A saner approach would be to acknowledge that there is a small minority of Muslims who channel generic Islamist fantasies, so that we can assume that either formal terrorist plots or individual acts of murder will more or less occur here every three to six months.
- The National Review's Jonah Goldberg poses perhaps the most interesting political question, wondering aloud about Obama's slow response to the shootings yesterday, and questions whether Obama's famed coolness could become a political liability by coming across as aloof and uncaring.
Sure sounds like a terrorist act
He killed American soldiers in the name of Allah. What's that sound like to you?
Neighbors report he had begun wearing Arabic clothing in recent weeks.
And out-birthing the birthers, and the 9/11 conspirators (Bush did it), here's the conspiracy theory--Hasan was a patsy to gin up support for the war in the Middle East.
Police woman Sergeant Kimberly Munley on routine duty brings down the shooter.
FORT HOOD, Texas -- The base commander at Fort Hood says soldiers who witnessed a shooting rampage that left 13 people dead reported that the gunman shouted "Allahu Akbar!" before opening fire at the Texas post.
Lt. Gen. Robert Cone told NBC's "Today" show on Friday that suspected shooter, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, made the comment, which is Arabic for "God is great!" before the rampage Thursday that also left 30 people wounded.
Military officials say they are still piecing together what may have pushed Hasan, an Army psychiatrist trained to help soldiers in distress, to turn on his comrades.
Cone says Hasan was not known to be a threat or risk.
Hasan was shot four times during the rampage. Cone says he is hospitalized in stable condition and that military officials will interrogate him as soon as possible.Link.
Neighbors report he had begun wearing Arabic clothing in recent weeks.
And out-birthing the birthers, and the 9/11 conspirators (Bush did it), here's the conspiracy theory--Hasan was a patsy to gin up support for the war in the Middle East.
Police woman Sergeant Kimberly Munley on routine duty brings down the shooter.
Is it hate yet?
Eleven black women have been murdered by Anthony Sowell (I'm not even going to say allegedly since he buried them in his back yard) in Cleveland. Sowell was released from prison after serving 15 years for attempted rape. Given his current crime streak, I'm guessing that charge was a plea bargain for doing something a lot more serious. So I'm wondering, were these hate crimes? Did he speak hate speech before he strangled and raped them? If Sowell were white, or the women were lesbians, someone might call them that. But these days, even the grossest, most heinous crimes must be politically correct--unless of course, we've lumped the victim and the perp in the same box. President Obama jumped the gate immediately when his black Harvard friend was stopped by police for breaking into his own home and refusing to show ID when asked, but the murder of 11 Cleveland women doesn't deserve a peep because the perp wasn't white.
Fourteen women are missing within the city's 4th district. A victim advocate group and a councilman are demanding an investigation. It's a little late for those women, but maybe it will remind people--both relatives (who don't report them missing) and police--that even druggies and prostitutes deserve someone to care and a resolution of the crime that killed them, if for no other reason than to get the creep off the streets.
Michael Belkin has written a number of articles on this crime and others, and in today's WSJ had an article about Tonia Carmichael whose body was identified.
Fourteen women are missing within the city's 4th district. A victim advocate group and a councilman are demanding an investigation. It's a little late for those women, but maybe it will remind people--both relatives (who don't report them missing) and police--that even druggies and prostitutes deserve someone to care and a resolution of the crime that killed them, if for no other reason than to get the creep off the streets.
Michael Belkin has written a number of articles on this crime and others, and in today's WSJ had an article about Tonia Carmichael whose body was identified.
My millionaire foreign relatives are dropping like flies
I get some version of this several times a week.
- I am a Diplomat, named WXYZ Scummbag, mandated to deliver your inheritance to you in your country of residence The funds total US$7.5 Million and you were made the beneficiary of these funds by a benefactor whose details will be revealed to you after handing over the funds to you in accordance with the Agreement I signed with the benefactor when he enlisted my assistance in delivering the funds to you. I am presently at JFK Airport in the United States of America and before I can deliver the funds to you, you have to reconfirm the following information so as to ensure that I am dealing with the right person 1.Full Name..............2.ResidentialAddress..........3..Age........4.Occupation...........5.Direct Telephone Numbers....................6.A Copy Of Your Identification.............After verification of the information with what I have on file,I shall contact you so that we can make arrangements on the exact time I will be bringing your package to your residential address.Send the requested information so that we can proceed.
Regards, WXYZ Scummbag
What's that smell?
Last night for dinner we had steak, fresh beets, tossed salad, and cranberry cream (low sugar) pie (cooked the fresh cranberries with about a TBSP of orange juice, sprinkled it with Splenda, tossed in some walnuts, mashed it, and added a carton of sugar free Cool-Whip when it had cooled). Then we went to Bible Study (Pastor's Notebook) at church. When we walked in about 8 p.m. I said, "That's odd. It smells like sauerkraut in here. What's that smell?" "Don't smell anything," he said reaching for the TV remote.
This morning I was trying to remember where I'd stashed those little packaged handwipes, and checked under the kitchen sink. WHOA!! I found it. There was a small bag of turnips that had been covered up and forgotten. Amazing how much a rotten turnip smells like rotten cabbage. Are they in the same family?
This morning I was trying to remember where I'd stashed those little packaged handwipes, and checked under the kitchen sink. WHOA!! I found it. There was a small bag of turnips that had been covered up and forgotten. Amazing how much a rotten turnip smells like rotten cabbage. Are they in the same family?
What is environmental justice?
It’s “reparations” all dressed up in high heel sneakers and combat boots, ready to kick butt, and for starters it‘s just a million dollars for a tiny down payment to blacks for slavery--the real goal is global.
Gone, but not forgotten, Van Jones [moved over to John Podesta's building] explains the concept of environmental justice. “If all you have is a clean energy revolution, you haven’t done nothin . . . We want a new system. We‘re gonna change the whole thing. . . That‘s why you were born.”
- “The goals of the [EPA] Environmental Justice Grant Funding Program are to help communities understand and address environmental challenges and create self-sustaining, community-based partnerships focused on improving human health and the environment. Past projects have focused on issues including exposure to toxins, farm worker pesticide protection, mercury in fish, indoor air quality, drinking water contamination, and pollution from shipping ports.
In addition to the traditional criteria, EPA is encouraging applications that address the disproportionate impacts of climate change in communities by emphasizing climate equity, energy efficiency, renewable energy, local green economy, and green jobs capacity building.” Link to Obama‘s new and improved and much more radical EPA”
Gone, but not forgotten, Van Jones [moved over to John Podesta's building] explains the concept of environmental justice. “If all you have is a clean energy revolution, you haven’t done nothin . . . We want a new system. We‘re gonna change the whole thing. . . That‘s why you were born.”
One man's tool is another man's tax
From AIA [American Institute for Architects] Angle, November 5, 2009
"Three weeks after AIA Board member Mickey Jacob, FAIA, testified before the House Small Business Committee about the AIA's plan to rebuild and renew the economy, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved legislation designed to help small businesses weather the economic storm.
The Small Business Financing and Investment Act (HR 3854) includes several provisions designed to achieve the goals of the AIA’s Rebuild and Renew Plan for Long-term Prosperity that Jacob unveiled at the hearing. Among other things, the bill would expand eligibility for Business Stabilization Loans established under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and increase the maximum loan size from $35,000 to $50,000. It also would streamline paperwork for the loans; in his testimony, Jacob cited the extensive amount of paperwork required to access Recovery Act programs and funding.
As the bill was being debated on the House floor, more than 1,000 AIA members contacted their members of Congress and encouraged them to vote in favor of the legislation. The bill eventually passed with wide bipartisan support by a vote of 389-32.
“For small architecture firms, the ability to access short-term lines of credit can mean the difference between survival and liquidation. In this economic crisis, too many firms have faced the horrible choice of having to lay off staff or going without pay in order to keep their doors open,” Jacob told the committee in early October. “Architects aren’t looking for bailouts; they need tools that help them and their clients create jobs through new building projects."
“The Small Business Financing and Investment Act is one key plank in our Rebuild and Renew Plan for Long-term Prosperity. Now Congress and the administration need to ensure a steady flow of credit to the real estate industry and enact policies that empower architects to design livable, sustainable, and vibrant communities," said Andrew Goldberg, Assoc. AIA, senior director, AIA Federal Relations.
During the debate, an amendment was offered that would have stripped the bill of many of its key provisions. The AIA Federal Relations team, while working with the Small Business Committee staff, used the AIA’s vast grassroots network in an effort to defeat the amendment. Within hours, the amendment’s sponsor officially withdrew the amendment.
The bill will now head to the U.S. Senate, and the AIA is organizing a similar grassroots effort to ensure the bill receives bipartisan support and can be signed into law."
And this doesn't begin to count the green bills AIA is supporting. Clap and Trade will kill Ohio's economy--we don't have much sun or wind, and no one seems to want our nuclear plants. Coal, of which we have an abundance and which can be made clean and efficient, has been demonized by the environmentalist earth worshipers. Imagine having to pass out the bacon not only to states but also professions and non-profits, all with "vast grass roots networks." Legislators must go crazy.
"Three weeks after AIA Board member Mickey Jacob, FAIA, testified before the House Small Business Committee about the AIA's plan to rebuild and renew the economy, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved legislation designed to help small businesses weather the economic storm.
The Small Business Financing and Investment Act (HR 3854) includes several provisions designed to achieve the goals of the AIA’s Rebuild and Renew Plan for Long-term Prosperity that Jacob unveiled at the hearing. Among other things, the bill would expand eligibility for Business Stabilization Loans established under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and increase the maximum loan size from $35,000 to $50,000. It also would streamline paperwork for the loans; in his testimony, Jacob cited the extensive amount of paperwork required to access Recovery Act programs and funding.
As the bill was being debated on the House floor, more than 1,000 AIA members contacted their members of Congress and encouraged them to vote in favor of the legislation. The bill eventually passed with wide bipartisan support by a vote of 389-32.
“For small architecture firms, the ability to access short-term lines of credit can mean the difference between survival and liquidation. In this economic crisis, too many firms have faced the horrible choice of having to lay off staff or going without pay in order to keep their doors open,” Jacob told the committee in early October. “Architects aren’t looking for bailouts; they need tools that help them and their clients create jobs through new building projects."
“The Small Business Financing and Investment Act is one key plank in our Rebuild and Renew Plan for Long-term Prosperity. Now Congress and the administration need to ensure a steady flow of credit to the real estate industry and enact policies that empower architects to design livable, sustainable, and vibrant communities," said Andrew Goldberg, Assoc. AIA, senior director, AIA Federal Relations.
During the debate, an amendment was offered that would have stripped the bill of many of its key provisions. The AIA Federal Relations team, while working with the Small Business Committee staff, used the AIA’s vast grassroots network in an effort to defeat the amendment. Within hours, the amendment’s sponsor officially withdrew the amendment.
The bill will now head to the U.S. Senate, and the AIA is organizing a similar grassroots effort to ensure the bill receives bipartisan support and can be signed into law."
And this doesn't begin to count the green bills AIA is supporting. Clap and Trade will kill Ohio's economy--we don't have much sun or wind, and no one seems to want our nuclear plants. Coal, of which we have an abundance and which can be made clean and efficient, has been demonized by the environmentalist earth worshipers. Imagine having to pass out the bacon not only to states but also professions and non-profits, all with "vast grass roots networks." Legislators must go crazy.
Friday Family Photo--The Hit Men
My son dropped off a copy of his new CD yesterday. They really aren't at all violent as the photo would suggest--I think that's a guy thing. They are just a bunch of guys who jam and love music. Would like some "hits" though. My guy is in the middle.
The Impact of Federal Spending on Ohio
Unemployment is soaring--nearing 10%. If this administration had a plan, and some think it does, to take over responsibilities and rights of both the states and the private sector, you could say it's working beautifully. The state's Unemployment Insurance fund is being drained. Ohio, like your state, then seeks federal help. But that comes with strings--ropes and chains that bind, then strangle. Total government expenditures relative to the private economy is called "the government expenditure wedge." The government expenditure wedge is determined by dividing government expenditures by net domestic business output. From the Buckeye Institute's May 2009 report:
- "The historic relationship between the growth in the private economy, the size of the government expenditure wedge, and the change in the government expenditure wedge illustrates that increases in government spending relative to the size of the private sector causes a reduction in the overall growth of the economy.
For example, between 1965 and 1983, the government expenditure wedge grew quickly, rising 16.6 percentage points to 49.0%. Growth in the private sector slowed to 2.5% per year.
On the other hand, between 1983 and 1988, growth in the private sector accelerated to 5.1% per year as the government expenditure wedge fell 3.3 points back down to 45.7%.
Consequently, the costs of accepting federal dollars from the ARRA will be a long-term drain on the private sector. The ARRA [American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009] will increase the government expenditure wedge from 49.16% to 52.41% for an overall 3.25% increase. This increase will reduce the growth in real net business output by 2.5%, which translates to a reduction of 1.7 million jobs nationally - of which between 66,400 and 91,200 jobs will be lost in Ohio."
Thursday, November 05, 2009
Who informs the government?
I was more than a bit surprised to watch the President's and the Congress's reactions to the tragic shootings at Ft. Hood, Texas today. We were watching Fox News which cut away to what we thought was a Presidential news conference. But Obama was talking about something totally different--acknowledging people in the audience, etc., and then apparently someone slipped him a note, and he finally began to address, without a teleprompter, what the rest of the nation already knew. But he knew less than we did (at least those watching Fox), and stumbled and stammered. Don't his people keep him informed? I checked the CNN video which didn't show what we saw. That's ObamaNews, I guess.
Then Fox cut away to an announcement from Congress. They planned to observe a moment of silence and then get back to work on the all important bills for . . . what? Well, at that point, no one really knew (still don't) what happened in Texas. Isn't Ms. Pelosi third in line to be president? Were precautions being taken to protect her? Have they all forgotten that there were multiple targets on 9/11? Or the Virginia Tech shooter? Have they ever heard of diversionary tactics? Let's hope this was only one deranged, disturbed man who had his own personal demons, but you would think until there was a full investigation, our elected officials would be a bit more cautious.
Then Fox cut away to an announcement from Congress. They planned to observe a moment of silence and then get back to work on the all important bills for . . . what? Well, at that point, no one really knew (still don't) what happened in Texas. Isn't Ms. Pelosi third in line to be president? Were precautions being taken to protect her? Have they all forgotten that there were multiple targets on 9/11? Or the Virginia Tech shooter? Have they ever heard of diversionary tactics? Let's hope this was only one deranged, disturbed man who had his own personal demons, but you would think until there was a full investigation, our elected officials would be a bit more cautious.
Another epidemic for school children
Big Hollywood has posted more Obama propagandizing. Most of the eleven videos of the indoctrination of children with song, dance and rap lauding our current president have been removed from Big Hollywood. This one was still up when I checked. The transcripts have been included, so even if the videos are removed you can see that children who should be learning to read, write, spell and communicate so they can get good jobs or go to college when the Obama stranglehold over the economy ends, are wasting their time learning propaganda songs like good little members of the Komsomol (Комсомол, short for Коммунисти́ческий сою́з молодёжи, youth wing of the communist party).
Transcript:
We believe in Barack Obama
He loves you and he loves your mama
We believe in Barack Obama, yeah
With all the change he’s building
Gonna bring hope to the children
We believe in Barack Obama, yeah
Change
That we can believe in
Change
That we can believe in
Change
That we can believe in
We believe in Barack Obama
He loves you and he loves your mama
We believe in Barack Obama, yeah
With all the change he’s building
Gonna bring hope to the children
We believe in Barack Obama, yeah
Change
That we can believe in
Change
That we can believe in
Change
That we can believe in
Yeah, haha, haha.
Alright, come on now, here we go;
You know we gotta get Barack and all of his crew
In the White House so they can prove that
In their hearts they know what to do
And that includes Michelle and the kiddies too
[kids chanting]
“There is not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America — there’s the United States of America.”
We believe in Barack Obama
He loves you and he loves your mama
We believe in Barack Obama, yeah
With all the change he’s building
Gonna bring hope to the children
We believe in Barack Obama, yeah
[Chant at end of song – unintelligible]
Transcript:
We believe in Barack Obama
He loves you and he loves your mama
We believe in Barack Obama, yeah
With all the change he’s building
Gonna bring hope to the children
We believe in Barack Obama, yeah
Change
That we can believe in
Change
That we can believe in
Change
That we can believe in
We believe in Barack Obama
He loves you and he loves your mama
We believe in Barack Obama, yeah
With all the change he’s building
Gonna bring hope to the children
We believe in Barack Obama, yeah
Change
That we can believe in
Change
That we can believe in
Change
That we can believe in
Yeah, haha, haha.
Alright, come on now, here we go;
You know we gotta get Barack and all of his crew
In the White House so they can prove that
In their hearts they know what to do
And that includes Michelle and the kiddies too
[kids chanting]
“There is not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America — there’s the United States of America.”
We believe in Barack Obama
He loves you and he loves your mama
We believe in Barack Obama, yeah
With all the change he’s building
Gonna bring hope to the children
We believe in Barack Obama, yeah
[Chant at end of song – unintelligible]
Afghanistan myths
Victor Davis Hanson, a military historian, reviews them
Today only Obama’s indecision and confusion stops our military.
“We have experienced soldiers and military leadership, a just cause and Western unity. In other words, we have everything we need to defeat the Taliban -- except a commander-in-chief as confident about fighting and winning as he once was as a candidate.”
- it’s not unconquerable or the graveyard of empires
- although fierce fighters, they’ve never defeated invaders without outside help
- it isn’t ungovernable--had a long period of peace in modern times
- we didn’t take our eye off the “good” war--from 2001 to 2007 things were quiet
- and finally, it’s not Vietnam
Today only Obama’s indecision and confusion stops our military.
“We have experienced soldiers and military leadership, a just cause and Western unity. In other words, we have everything we need to defeat the Taliban -- except a commander-in-chief as confident about fighting and winning as he once was as a candidate.”
Richard's Fear
He writes a blog called Three Score and Ten or More, and sometimes calls himself an old coot. He's seen and done it all--was a Mormon missionary as a young man in Finland, had a career in theater, he's a father, grandfather, husband, handyman, traveler, and writer of a blog. Recently he wrote about fear--with a lead in about things that go bump in the night through out our life times. Every thing from stage fright to jumping out of an airplane. Then he gets to his current fear--for our way of life and country.
- "These have always been the kinds of things that I felt were frightening, but they are immediate things, and you either survive them or not (obviously I did). When I say I am frightened, I don’t fear an immediate strike of lightening, but my fear is as vivid, just not as immediate and my fear is not of personal death, but for the death of the type of nation I have come to love.
A number of things which have happened since the election of President Obama which have made me nervous and distrustful, but I never felt an emotion that approached real fear until the administration launched its attack on the Fox News network, (The Fox Network such as it is, holds no special place in my heart) an act, which, if upheld, essentially vitiates any hope we have for freedom of expression, a central focus of our Constitution and our way of life. Political correctness forces have been picking at this freedom for some time, but this is a frontal assault on the core of Bill of Rights. Almost at the same time it was revealed that our country (as one of a group) has endorsed a United Nations resolution that could become law in our country if some have their way, making public speech or criticism of an faith or religious group an international crime (the article I read implies that it identified this form of criticism as a form of terrorism).
The implications are mind boggling and hold more threat to our existence as it is than could be completely imagined.
I was calming down on this subject, but as I sat in our Cardiologist’s office, the President was shown being interviewed by some lady newsperson and his answers to her softball questions were so self convicting of Obama’s feeling that any organized criticism of his programs deserve stifling that my feeling rose again."
We the People--it's poetry
We the People of the United States,
in Order to
form a more perfect Union
establish Justice,
insure domestic Tranquility,
provide for the common defence,
promote the general Welfare, and
secure the Blessings of Liberty
to ourselves and our Posterity,
do ordain and establish
this Constitution for
the United States of America.
in Order to
form a more perfect Union
establish Justice,
insure domestic Tranquility,
provide for the common defence,
promote the general Welfare, and
secure the Blessings of Liberty
to ourselves and our Posterity,
do ordain and establish
this Constitution for
the United States of America.
This book was on the bargain shelf at Barnes and Noble. There's almost no commentary or hoopla. Just the words of the writers. It includes the U.S. Constitution, the Amendments to the Constitution, The Declaration of Independence, The Articles of Confederation, and Common Sense by Thomas Paine. Most of us haven't looked at this since high school when some knowledge was probably required.
By the way, are you smarter than a 1954 eighth grader?
What's wrong with this book?
Nothing that I can see. Here's a review from Amazon by a reviewer who has eclectic tastes and writes frequently.- "The Way Into Torah" is a superbly written, highly accessible introduction for the general reading seeking guidance on how to effectively read, study, and understand the Torah, including the other books of the Bible and the related sacred texts that grew up around it. Norman Cohen is Rabbi and Professor of Midrash at Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion, and brings his expertise and experience to bear in presenting just what the Torah is and how it came about, the different approaches to studying the Torah, the various levels of understanding the Torah, and what the Torah study is an essential aspect of the Jewish experience. The Way Into Torah is an ideal beginning point for commencing a personal study of the Torah.
I found it in the freebie box at church, but its most recent provenance before it was purchased at a used book sale for $2.00 then donated to our church, was the Upper Arlington Public Library. So, it isn't only Lutherans and Evangelicals they don't like there. I went into the catalog and did a word search on "Torah," and found 2 titles, both for juveniles. Then I did a subject search on "Judaism," and found a hodge podge, bits and snippets. This book was truly needed for some balance and fleshing out of the collection.
Someone who knows more about the range of possibilities for good books on Judaism and its sacred texts needs to go there and review the collection. Not that you'll get far, of course. When I pointed out to them that their most recent book on Lutherans was over 40 years old despite having one of the largest Lutheran churches in the country right here in Upper Arlington, they made a real effort and bought ONE additional title, a collection of essays published in the 21st century. Wow. They're only nice to us when there's a bond issue, so have your list ready early.
Banned Books week is over for this year, but here's my friendly, insider reminder: objectionable books are banned before they ever get to the shelf--it's called book selection in library-speak. But "deacquisition" of one that slipped through is also a useful technique.
Matching thread for my matchy matchy outfit
The other day I mentioned that I'd bought a 3 piece outfit--slacks, sweater, long sleeve shirt--the shade of infant formula spit up at the Discovery shop for $3.00. At that price, I figured I could wear it to exercise class, washing the car or for swimming in Lake Erie. However, the slacks are a bit too long. So I dug around in my mother's sewing cabinet, through Neno's (my husband's grandmother born in 1887) wooden spools and those from the years when I used to sew. No matches for my matchy matchy bargain. I'll have to check with the neighbors. A new spool of thread would probably cost more than the outfit.
4150 OSU students
That doesn't seem like a very high number--on a campus of 50,000+. The weasel word is "chose." I'm guessing several thousand were either busy working, studying or didn't have the opportunity.
OSU now has a fund to provide $500 for a student who has experienced sexual assault or "intimate partner violence." This is to cover things like broken stuff, cell phone with prepaid minutes, emergency housing, help in breaking a lease, court costs, etc. This supplements other funds and insurance for students in distress. "Any OSU student who has alleged to a university official that they have experienced sexual violence can apply for assistance. A police report is not necessary in order to access the funds." Hmmm. There is a list of people--university staff and officials--who are consulted. If the student didn't report anything to the police, does the official have to? Wonder if the parents get to know too? And if he/she returns to the abusive one, do they get a second request for funds?
The Sexual Wellness Program at the Ohio State Student Wellness Center is devoted to promoting safer sex and healthy relationships. This program is home to The Condom Club, which offers condoms to OSU students at an extremely low cost--50 condoms for $5.00 and also access to free oral dams, latex gloves, finger cots and lubricant. Must be going after the GLBT group. And because 44% of the couples who use condoms do so incorrectly, The Center has volunteers called "sexperts" to help with this problem.
I worked with hundreds of student employees over my career at OSU (and U of I)--it was the small town and rural stock that worked the hardest and had the best values. Asian and Indian students were also outstanding, if you could keep them before a higher tech unit snatched them up. 99% were serious about their education and didn't party on week-ends or sleep around. When they graduated, many started at more than I made, but librarianship has always been at the bottom.
Do you suppose there was this much assault, violence, STDs, and abortions for college men and women back in the bad old days of the 40s and 50s when women had hours, didn't share dorms or apartments with men and the doors were locked at an appointed hour? Sometimes fences are more useful than ambulances.
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Mind games of conservatives and liberals
One can't remember the past they came from, the other can't figure out the future they're creating despite all the evidence of what's happened in other countries.
If it's one thing that frustrates me about conservatives and Republicans it's their thinking that we used to inhabit some sort of capitalistic, entrepreneurial, free market paradise. We never did and never will. When I hear my peers who've been sucking on the Medicare teat for years, moaning about socialized medicine I'm just gob smacked.
I received a good K-12 education, a bachelor's and master's degree in tax supported institutions. The U.S. and Illinois government and my local town fathers didn't do that to be kind and benign. They figured I was a good bet and would return the favor with more taxes for them. I had pure water, vaccinations, and safe (modified with vitamins and minerals) food courtesy of the government's public health and agriculture programs. The townspeople in the little towns where I lived taxed themselves for the good of the entire community, even those who couldn't pay. Before I was born my blind grandmother got a "pension" which sometimes fed the family.
Even I know who built our interstates and why--I was around then. I know that the biggest recipient of government welfare over the years is agriculture and that I benefit from those prices every time I go to the store (even though I've paid up front through my taxes). Even I know the federal government has been tinkering with the housing market since the great land rushes of the 19th century. I never had a VA or FHA insured loan, but I certainly knew Republicans who did, and I always had a break on my taxes in the days I still had a mortgage. My dad didn't use the GI Bill, going right back to work when he got out of the Marines in 1945, but millions of men bettered themselves on the government's dollar as a pay back for the risks they took, going from farm boy and mechanic to doctor and lawyer. My husband brought home the bacon many times on pork construction projects funded by the U.S. or a state or a local government. My career was in academe--can't get much more government dependent than that!
Even I know that when you do favors for the government, it repays you in kind. My ancestors, who were pacifists and didn't bear arms, supplied the fledgling American government food stuffs (probably would have been taken from them if they hadn't) during the Revolution and were rewarded with land in Ohio before it was a state. One of my ancestors, Michael Danner, was the King's Commissioner of Highways in the colonies and helped to lay out the famous Monocacy Trail; I'm guessing that led to some pretty good perks and he moved on up when Pennsylvania became a state. The same guys who were given land to build the canal system to open up the Midwest to commerce and transportation got to also destroy it for the benefit of railroads, with state and federal favors and help.
But as naive as conservatives seem to be, that's not as frustrating as the blindness of progressive/socialists and Democrats who don't seem to be able to read history. They don't believe that what happened in Nazi Germany (state controls the business owners and uses the proceeds for war), the Soviet Union (state owns business, labor and agriculture and creates famines and misery) and Red China (state murders its own citizens to achieve its economic goals) can happen here--because they're too smart.
The health care take over (don't call that 2,000 page bill a reform), the energy scam under the guise of saving the planet, the holier than thou diversity and multicultural blather that is really about losing our free speech and creating globalism. The huge fortunes that were amassed in energy, commerce and transportation in the 19th and 20th century built with government help were just Al Gore and George Soros doing business today with the phony CO2 credits and cap and trade. It's just harder to see since there's nothing tanglible. There's no there there. Gore's become a millionaire many times over by just doing what Americans have always done--using the government to build their fortune. That is capitalism, American style, dressed up to save the world.
Really, progressives/marxists/democrats are smart people who have lost all sense of both history and the future. Despite all the gun laws they've put in place, they are willing to put a loaded gun to their head and blow out what's left of their brains. Which wasn't much.
If it's one thing that frustrates me about conservatives and Republicans it's their thinking that we used to inhabit some sort of capitalistic, entrepreneurial, free market paradise. We never did and never will. When I hear my peers who've been sucking on the Medicare teat for years, moaning about socialized medicine I'm just gob smacked.
I received a good K-12 education, a bachelor's and master's degree in tax supported institutions. The U.S. and Illinois government and my local town fathers didn't do that to be kind and benign. They figured I was a good bet and would return the favor with more taxes for them. I had pure water, vaccinations, and safe (modified with vitamins and minerals) food courtesy of the government's public health and agriculture programs. The townspeople in the little towns where I lived taxed themselves for the good of the entire community, even those who couldn't pay. Before I was born my blind grandmother got a "pension" which sometimes fed the family.
Even I know who built our interstates and why--I was around then. I know that the biggest recipient of government welfare over the years is agriculture and that I benefit from those prices every time I go to the store (even though I've paid up front through my taxes). Even I know the federal government has been tinkering with the housing market since the great land rushes of the 19th century. I never had a VA or FHA insured loan, but I certainly knew Republicans who did, and I always had a break on my taxes in the days I still had a mortgage. My dad didn't use the GI Bill, going right back to work when he got out of the Marines in 1945, but millions of men bettered themselves on the government's dollar as a pay back for the risks they took, going from farm boy and mechanic to doctor and lawyer. My husband brought home the bacon many times on pork construction projects funded by the U.S. or a state or a local government. My career was in academe--can't get much more government dependent than that!
Even I know that when you do favors for the government, it repays you in kind. My ancestors, who were pacifists and didn't bear arms, supplied the fledgling American government food stuffs (probably would have been taken from them if they hadn't) during the Revolution and were rewarded with land in Ohio before it was a state. One of my ancestors, Michael Danner, was the King's Commissioner of Highways in the colonies and helped to lay out the famous Monocacy Trail; I'm guessing that led to some pretty good perks and he moved on up when Pennsylvania became a state. The same guys who were given land to build the canal system to open up the Midwest to commerce and transportation got to also destroy it for the benefit of railroads, with state and federal favors and help.
But as naive as conservatives seem to be, that's not as frustrating as the blindness of progressive/socialists and Democrats who don't seem to be able to read history. They don't believe that what happened in Nazi Germany (state controls the business owners and uses the proceeds for war), the Soviet Union (state owns business, labor and agriculture and creates famines and misery) and Red China (state murders its own citizens to achieve its economic goals) can happen here--because they're too smart.
The health care take over (don't call that 2,000 page bill a reform), the energy scam under the guise of saving the planet, the holier than thou diversity and multicultural blather that is really about losing our free speech and creating globalism. The huge fortunes that were amassed in energy, commerce and transportation in the 19th and 20th century built with government help were just Al Gore and George Soros doing business today with the phony CO2 credits and cap and trade. It's just harder to see since there's nothing tanglible. There's no there there. Gore's become a millionaire many times over by just doing what Americans have always done--using the government to build their fortune. That is capitalism, American style, dressed up to save the world.
Really, progressives/marxists/democrats are smart people who have lost all sense of both history and the future. Despite all the gun laws they've put in place, they are willing to put a loaded gun to their head and blow out what's left of their brains. Which wasn't much.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
Posts
