Ready for prime time--the Deka arm

You don't need to be a techie or nerd to find this story of wedding engineering, surgery and computers absolutely fascinating. These dollars are well spent! From the Black Anthem web site.

A career with a future--terrorism studies

There was Russian Language and Area Studies, Black Studies, Women's Studies, and now, a Graduate Certificate in Terrorism Studies

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

Isn't it odd that when an American born Muslim, member of the military with an elite education shoots up a military base and kills and wounds many Americans, the administration doesn't get too worked up about it. But when a foreign Muslim doesn't bring down a plane and doesn't kill anyone, the administration eventually goes into high gear. Perhaps it's because both these guys had the same mentor in Yemen, so their age, ethnicity, nationality and careers weren't the defining similarity. I wonder if this certificate program teaches profiling? Nah.

Monday Memories--New Year's 1946

This was the first entry in my mother's Commonplace Book, a little 5 x 7 leather bound 3 ring notebook where she pasted items that interested her. As a young child I would sit for hours and pour through what she had saved.

Her final hand written entry (in the scanned copy) is undated; but it was near the end of her life--perhaps the end of 1999. She died in January 2000. There is no attribution other than her name.

If
Each day we fill a page
The year a volume makes
These last ten books are very full
of joys
changes
sorrow
growth.
Gently place this year on the shelf--
if there is room.
Close the decade.

Cute crafts from a very busy Mom

Lora is a book club friend, an OSU professor of music and mother of two lively boys who need some special help. At her blog she writes, "At the end of the day at our house, if no one has been to the emergency room, Children's Services has not called, my sweater wasn't on inside out at work, and we have eaten something other than poptarts and donuts for at least one meal, I call it good!" I hadn't checked her blog for awhile and see she's taken up the craft of felting--mittens, Christmas stockings, caps, birds, and really fun monsters! Link here.

My retirement blog

My last entry, Nov. 1, was pretty funny. You'd think I'd have more to say--I'm in my 10th year now. My cousin mentioned in her Christmas card that she was retiring as of Jan. 1, 2010, so I think I'll write a "letter blog" to J. on that topic. However, she's been a teacher, and my experience with other retired teachers is that after a month or two, they go into subbing because it's so much fun to do what they love without all the paper work and committees. Norma's Retirement Blog, Growth Industry.

Even if you can't find it. . .

It never goes away in cyberspace.

Two ions are walking down the road. Suddenly, one ion says: "Damn, I think I lost an electron!" The other ion says: "Are you sure?" The first ion turns to the other ion and replies: "Yeah, I'm positive!"

“A recent study done in England discovered that subjects who cursed while in pain could tolerate the pain longer. Experimental subjects inserted their hands in a bucket of very cold ice water and told to curse repeatedly. Results showed that subjects who repeated "f--- U" kept their hands in the cold water longer than subjects repeating non-curse words. Wow, maybe Canadian doctors can now recommend cursing while their clients wait 9 months for treatment for back pain. Can tipsters think of other practical applications of cursing?”

These are two of the topics I came across on the TIPS archive for July 2009, a discussion list for the teaching of psychology that can be searched by thread or date. I’m not sure why lists that require a subscription by people interested in a particular topic, then put their archive online for anyone to see. Most of the topics are serious, but I know that some of the off hand remarks I made on discussion lists back in the early 1990s as a librarian are still out there. That’s scary. I was always the one who didn’t stay on topic.

Can you match my score (100%)

I got all the answers right on the Sleep Quiz. But I did guess on two of them--just because I thought they might be trick questions. About 15 years ago I took one of those sleep diagnosis tests at OSU hospital. Had the best night's sleep of my life even though I was wired to machines. How crazy is that? I think I messed up my sleep pattern--it was during the first Iraq War and I started getting up to watch CNN. Maybe it's a coincidence, but since then I've been waking up about 2 a.m. wondering how long before it's time to get up. After an hour or so I do fall back to sleep. Then the cat gets a hair ball or a snow plow comes by. Also, I just love to nap. That's really bad sleep hygiene, as is evening exercise classes, drinking coffee late in the day, or doing anything interesting after 5 p.m. Your mileage will differ.

Gitmo, Illinois

"During his campaign, Obama maligned President George W. Bush for detaining our enemies, even though they were being held according to the laws of war. Now, Obama has adopted that policy (though for a new facility) and outraged the far Left. “Prolonged imprisonment without trial is exactly the Guantánamo system that the president promised to shut down,” said Shayana Kadidal, a lawyer for the Center for Constitutional Rights.

Preoccupied with building the new detention center, the president has failed to set up legal rules for determining who can be detained. Prisoners facing long-term captivity without trial will inevitably seek to challenge their detention in federal courts, a right that they have under the 2008 Supreme Court decision Boumediene v. Bush. Unfortunately, the Obama administration has neglected to work with Congress to establish evidentiary rules governing these proceedings, such as how to handle classified information, witness testimony, and discovery rights. With so many legal and procedural questions still unanswered, Obama remains determined to use taxpayer dollars to buy and renovate a Gitmo look-alike so that he can claim to have carried out his pledge to close the original facility. This is the price the American public pays when a president makes a hasty promise without knowing if it’s possible to keep it." read the full account, A New Guantanamo by Stephanie Hessler

Ray Stevens on Obamacare

Congress--We the people have awakened to your tricks. About 1.2 million views.

Put some oomph into that New Year's Resolution!

Diet and Exercise are the most common New Year's Resolution. Joining an exercise class was one from my 2009 list that I actually kept, plus I had those wonderful 70 sunrise walks along Lake Erie in the summer when I wasn't in the class. Watch this video on Alzheimer's Disease research for a low key, somewhat dry but informative, pep talk on how oxidative damage may be contributing to brain decrease. It's about 16 minutes, but well worth it.

Sorting, stashing and trashing

We (or more accurately, he) packed up the tree and poinsettias to go back to the garage attic today. I had thought that since it is shedding, this might be the year to pitch it, but he said no, it could go another year.

Today I pulled out the extended-family and friends photo albums and was determined to insert the photos we got for Christmas. Nothing is easy, however. I hadn't done this since 2003. I have two family/sibling albums, mine and my mother's (which I had made for her because she always threw photos into a box). So I also spent time combining those albums into a notebook of ungodly dimensions. It's very painful for me to give up anyone's history or photo, but I just had to make some decisions. We had 13 years of annual photographs for one family (not related), so I selected the oldest and newest and a few in between. The baby in the 1993 card now looks older than her three older sisters. Some album pages were in terrible shape. JoElla, my friend from grade school and my college roommate, kept falling out--or her 3rd grade class photo did--now she's a grandmother and I have those photos too. So I pulled out some double side tape and she's in there for good! I inserted a loose photo of my sister bottle feeding her grandson at my house in 1993 and his photo at 17 with his family. Time warp! I've finally wised up after 50 years and I just write the date on the photo--nothing worse than trying to figure out the date from the shades of hair, the shoulder pads, or lack of hair. The worst part was finding spaces for families that have divorced. Or people who have died. Makes me so sad. Our good friends in 1987 with 2 toddlers and a baby looking so happy, and again in 2000 when the oldest was heading off for college, and now it's all gone. I found the wedding invitation from the early 60s sent to my parents from my cousin--I think I'll send it to his daughter who lives here in Columbus.

Time. It just goes too fast, doesn't it?

Christmas 1965, Champaign, IL

So what does work? The common cold

With three events cancelled this week, we're still slogging through my husband's annual holiday cold, or so it seems. My colds usually last three weeks, his two weeks. "Americans spent about $3.6 billion on over-the-counter cold, cough and throat remedies in 2009 . . . In addition, cold and flu sufferers will spend millions of dollars on prescription antibiotics that have no effect on viral infections." according to a NYT health/money article. And I know that, but was out there helping the profit margin at CVS and Wal-Mart refreshing our supply of dated OTC cold "remedies," none of which seem to work. This time I bought real Claritin because I couldn't find the generic Loratadine that I like, and I bought a different unbrand antihistamine because the one we like wasn't around anywhere. We also used the old faithfuls of more bed rest, chicken broth, and a whole lot of football (which is the only plus for holiday colds). For the first time my husband put Vicks on the soles of his feet instead of his neck--that remedy is going around the internet! The article continues:

"So, what does work? While few, if any, medicines can shorten the duration of a cold, some can help reduce the onerous symptoms of upper respiratory infections. Nasal sprays shrink swollen blood vessels and relieve stuffy noses, though the relief is temporary and you should not use spray for more than three days.

Acetaminophen and ibuprofen can reduce fevers and body aches. Rinsing your nasal passages with a saline solution or breathing steam can help loosen mucous and increase nasal secretions, which can help to prevent a secondary sinus infection. Humidifiers and hot showers also help. Drinking warm liquids like tea has been shown to reduce a variety of cold and flu symptoms.

And don’t forget chicken soup. The age-old remedy, as you’ve no doubt heard, actually does help to reduce the symptoms of the common cold."

So far, I haven't caught his cold, but I'll touch a door handle or table top at the coffee shop that a germy 2 year old's parent recently used and I'll then be down for the count. If that's the worst health problem I experience at my age, I'll be grateful for the cold. (My New Year's resolution is "practice gratitude and appreciation.")

HT Tara Parker Pope of NYT

TLC's One Big Happy Family

Today I clicked into One Big Happy Family, the story of the Coles, who are indeed happy, live in a beautiful home in a nice neighborhood, but are all overweight.

"Each half-hour One Big Happy Family episode will follow the Cole family, which resides in Charlotte, NC and weighs a collective 1,400 ponds between the four of them. Norris, the 41-year-old father who weighs 340 lbs., is a stay-at-home dad while his wife Tameka, a 36-year-old who weighs 380 lbs., is responsible for financially supporting the family while also serving as the disciplinarian for their two children -- 16-year-old Amber, who weighs 348 lbs., and her 14-year-old brother Shayne, who weighs 308 lbs."

Since diet and exercise are usually the #1 New Year's Resolution, it's a good program to watch while surfing for bowl games.

June 1, 2010 update: "The day the doctor said Coles would die, he weighed in at 345 pounds. He's now down to 263. His wife was 380 pounds, and she's at 259 now. His two kids were each in the 330-pound range, and they're down to the 290s.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/2010/06/01/2010-06-01_change_your_diet_or_youll_die_so_tlc_family_steers_away_from_fatty_food.html#ixzz0pi4ozho3

$230 million of tobacco settlement diverted

The 10th district Court of Appeals ruled yesterday that Ohio could spend the tobacco prevention money (American Legacy Foundation via The Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Foundation) on an expansion of health care for children. This is part of the lucrative settlement from the 1998 tobacco companies settlement. Between the 1998 Tobacco Settlement and tobacco taxes, Ohio will receive $1.8 billion, but only $7.4 million goes for prevention. Less than the CDC recommends. In my opinion, they might as roll the dollars and smoke them. Tobacco use is up, and I doubt there's hard evidence that educational programs on tobacco prevents smoking or chewing in children; it only educates them about tobacco and its harmful effects. I've been in education all my life, but education does not mean wisdom, or action, or prevention, or right choices. It's just. . . education . . . and the person makes the choices. I don't know a single smoker who doesn't know the facts, dangers, and pitfalls. They know they stink, have yellow fingers and wrinkles, but the pleasure outweighs the negatives and they keep kicking the stop date down the road. Most obese people have more knowledge than some dieticians--they just don't use it. People who talk or text while driving have probably heard dozens of times how dangerous it is--but they don't act on what they know, even if they've seen the accidents or attended the funerals.

Health librarians were salivating when they first got a whiff of this tobacco money back in the 90s. I remember sitting in the meetings wondering what would happen to programming and staff when, 1) the settlement money ran out, or 2) if education were successful and people really did stop smoking, what would happen to the tobacco tax supported programs?

Well, I think adults do smoke less--usually because of a health scare, or the health of a family member, like a child with asthma. But it takes a lot. The other day a woman I know went outside the coffee shop to smoke and slipped on the ice jamming her cigarette into her face. Will she stop smoking? No. Does she not know the dangers? Yes. She'll just be more careful about icy parking lots next time.

New Year's Resolution for 2010

Looking through last year's resolutions, it appears I didn't post them (13) because they were so boring, but instead I blogged about them as they came to mind. I must be the only person in the world who made a resolution to buy a decent floor lamp--#5 on the list. You'll be thrilled to learn that I bought one on Dec. 30, 2009--I would have rejected it in January, but I finally concluded there are no decent floor lamps anymore. I put it in a corner of the living room where I hope no one will notice it, and when I turn it on it reflects on the ceiling and 2 walls, and improves visibility.

I also dusted off a resolution from 2006 to get back to my watercolor, #9 and join Mindy's class. I actually did a few--maybe 10 through the year, and about 70 drawings/sketches. At least I had enough to make it into an art show. I sort of did 11 and 12 which involved cleaning kitchen and bathroom cabinets. I may have been really crazy and did those twice! #13 was to read Dewey, and suggest it to the book group--did that.



And my new word a day--well, that didn't last too long, but I still keep an eye out for words or phrases new to me. Today it was "boom bag raft" (a method to move logs on lakes). The worst day was when I found vaticinated, decoction, phantageusia, ventoseness, noisome, hyposmia, anosmia, retronasal, orthonasal and habromania all in the same book review!

Another 2009 resolution was to read a chapter a day in a 10 volume set of Westminster Pulpit (compiled from sermons of G. Campbell Morgan preached about 100 years ago). I got about half finished then began reading other things and never got back to it.

I did successfully complete #6, which was to join the exercise class at UALC, Lytham Road, 9:15-10:15, M-W-F.

This year's is much simpler. Keep a gratitude journal. Not sure if it will be a blog.

Twelve movies I've never heard of

Apparently, this writer/photo compiler (Matt Pais) thinks someone in each film deserves an Oscar. I wonder if any of these films will come to the dollar theater, which seem to be the only ones I see. Great '09 performances the Oscars will ignore.

Holiday smoochies--not yet

No kisses for Christmas or New Year's yet. They'll have to wait. We cancelled three events this week due to my husband's cold. Maybe next week?

Photo from Christmas 2001.

Friday Family Photo and Memory

If you have old technology stashed away, it's a worry to preserve them if they contain irreplaceable information. Such is an audio cassette of a talk my mother gave on August 25 of either 1995 or 1996--both dates are hand written on the tape. I have contacted Advent Media to see if several items along with photographs and music could be transferred to a CD--but we know too that eventually it will become unusable. There's nothing like print on paper (or ink on scrolls) and black and white photos. Here's the story and the story it holds.

My mother and two other lay members of the Mt. Morris Church of the Brethren were asked to give a brief meditation--the sermon (as I wrote that I realized I could check Google on the date--yes, it was Aug. 25, 1996, my parents' 62nd wedding anniversary). Mother died in 2000, so it has been a long time since I heard her voice. This audio is amazingly accurate--it reproduces her voice exactly as it was in her 80s--it's just not the voice I like to recall. The theme they were to address was something about God in their lives, or God becoming real. I've forgotten exactly.

So, picture this tiny, white haired woman, known by all in the congregation and much respected for her good works and loving attitude, in an aqua blue or purple dress with heels walking to the podium. She announces first that she has no notes and has never told this story before (I had never heard it either). Then she takes the audience back to her childhood when her family was deeply immersed in their church (Franklin Grove Church of the Brethren) and attended twice on Sunday. She says she never doubted God's love, but they just weren't that close. He was off somewhere busy looking after people who didn't have her nice, secure, regulated life. Then she moves ahead 25 years to WWII when she was a very busy young mother of four very busy youngsters living on Hitt Street in Mt. Morris. Again, she reports our family had a comfortable life, and that the war was far away, hadn't really come to Mt. Morris despite the fact that almost all the men had gone to war (see War Record of Mt. Morris, Kable Bros., 1947--virtually every man under 40 was gone and even some WWI veterans had reenlisted). I don't think she noted that her husband, brother, four brothers-in-law plus numerous cousins of my father had enlisted.

Then she carefully described the drive-way our house shared with the Crowells, the garage and the house. Wooden boards provided an approach to the garage from the gravel drive-way that got muddy and slippery in the rain. She didn't describe the car, but I remember it--a 1939, 4 dr, blue Ford sedan--stick shift, of course (photo here). Since most of the congregation was 50 or over, she probably figured she didn't need to describe a clutch and gear shift.

She needed something at the store--she doesn't say what, but it must have been critical, because she left and came back quickly (very small town) leaving the children with the eldest in charge. As she approached the garage, she eased it carefully so as not to nick the siding on the house, and the car stalled on the slippery board ramp. She put it into reverse to back up and try again. The car wouldn't move. She tried again, and again, giving it a bit more gas, the rear wheels spinning. Finally, she got out to investigate and she found my little brother pushing with all his 3 year old strength, saying, "I'll help you Mommy!" She scooped him up in her arms, splattered head to toe with mud from the spinning tires, and placed him in the front seat, and put the car effortlessly in reverse, and drove up the slippery ramp. She says she was flooded with such a sense of joy and peace she never again doubted that God was close and watching. The incident also set aside her sense of absolute self-sufficiency and pride in being able to take care of anything.

She told the congregation she never shared the story because she knew others might doubt it or give a logical reason the reverse gear had failed and saved my brother's life, or even feel badly they hadn't had such an incident of protection when it was needed. So I suppose that's why she waited and treasured it privately, bringing it out like a precious jewel during difficult times when she wanted to know she and her family were secure in God's arms.

Somewhere in the talk she addressed her two great-granddaughters who know my brother as "Grandpa Rocky." So I don't know who else in the family was there that day--probably also my father and my niece, some of my aunts and uncles and my father's aunts and uncles--so this story is for all who weren't there. The photo is my brother, probably a year or two later, because he's wearing an outfit she made out of my father's WWII Marines camouflage issue.

A year after the promised transparency

White House dot gov yesterday, when everyone was focused on the crotch bomber or leaving the office for a 4 day week-end, another 25,000 new WH visitor list were posted for Sept 16-30. It was announced on Sept. 4, and this list appeared on December 30. It's pretty tedious to look through (like the e-mails of climategate), and by the time you're finished reading all the times the words "historic commitment," "unprecedented transparency," "milestones in transparency," and "transparency initiatives" the phrases begin to sound a bit hollow, PR-ish, and oh so campaign trail. Well, they promised December, they didn't say when, or how much. Who knew everyone who walked through as a tourist would be included with SEIU reps, CEOs of banks and equity firms and hundreds of lobbyists (apparently they are OK as long as they are "transparent"). Looks like more of the same MO--overwhelm us with information and then strike when the public is flat out gob smacked. While we look at all the energy CEOs' visits, they'll sneak cap and trade or amnesty for illegals in.

Robert Wenzel says these folks were there:

Further research shows that Goldman Sach's CEO Lloyd Blankfein pretty much spent the entire day at the White House on October 29. He met with the president twice that day (one meeting had 119 attendees the other 16). On that day he also met one-on-one with Larry Summers. He also met one-on-one with Summers on February 4.

On October 29, Jamie Dimon met with the president twice, it appears in the same meetings as Blankfein. He also met on that day with Larry Summers but with another person present. He also met one-on-one with Rahm Emanuel that day, something Blankfein did not get to do.

Steven Rattner, who for a time ran the government's auto task force and is co-founder of the investment firm, Quadrangle Group, met with Larry Summers over 25 times.

Microsoft's Steve Ballmer met with Summers once. George Soros met with Summers in February.

While SEIU President Andy Stern doesn't show up on the visitors list this time, after topping it last time, his top assistant Anna Burger met with the President 10 times.

Leo Gerard, president of the United Steelworkers, met with the President 4 times.

In addition to his many meetings with Larry Summers, Steve Rattner met with the President twice.

David Rubenstein co-founder of the private equity firm, Carlyle Group, was in the 119 attendee meeting with Lloyd Blankfein and Jamie Dimon, when they met with the president.

Daniel Weiss, Senior Fellow and the Director of Climate Strategy, for the George Soros front group, Center for American Progress, visited with the President (in large groups) 4 times.

Waterford's Times Square Ball

When we were in Ireland in 2007, we visited the Waterford factory and watched the incredibly skilled glass blowers, visited the museum (of duplicates) and the gift shop.



In January of this year, it declared bankruptcy. This year, the company made a Celtic knot pattern dedicated to the theme “Let There be Courage” for the traditional Times Square Ball. They'll need it.



From Nick Obourn here’s a little bit more information on the Times Square Ball itself: The 2010 version of the New Year’s Eve ball for Times Square is a twelve foot geodesic sphere, which weighs 11,875 pounds. The ball itself is covered in 2,668 Waterford Crystals and is powered by 32,256 Philips LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes). And believe it or not, the ball is capable of creating a palette of “more than 16 million colors” and “billions of patterns,” according to the Times Square Alliance website