When we moved here, the kitchen had what is probably second generation cordless phone--lots of heft, ugly as sin. Probably from the early or mid-90s. But we sort of got used to being able to walk around, or keeping it in the living room in the evenings. So I bought a GE 900 cordless phone for my husband's office about 5 years ago. I had to use the laundry room to dock it since you need a phone outlet and an electric outlet side by side, but that wasn't much of a problem. (I have no idea why the previous owner had both a phone jack and cable connection in the laundry room, but maybe she ironed more than I do.) Lately, it's been dying after an hour or two off the docking station, and he's been keeping the kitchen phone in his office (it no longer rings), and that's not handy or conducive to good marital relations. So today I looked up the cost of buying a new battery, Sanik 3SN-AA60-S-J1. Seems it is about the same cost as the phone was ($14-15.00). So he bought a new phone.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Cordless phones
When we moved here, the kitchen had what is probably second generation cordless phone--lots of heft, ugly as sin. Probably from the early or mid-90s. But we sort of got used to being able to walk around, or keeping it in the living room in the evenings. So I bought a GE 900 cordless phone for my husband's office about 5 years ago. I had to use the laundry room to dock it since you need a phone outlet and an electric outlet side by side, but that wasn't much of a problem. (I have no idea why the previous owner had both a phone jack and cable connection in the laundry room, but maybe she ironed more than I do.) Lately, it's been dying after an hour or two off the docking station, and he's been keeping the kitchen phone in his office (it no longer rings), and that's not handy or conducive to good marital relations. So today I looked up the cost of buying a new battery, Sanik 3SN-AA60-S-J1. Seems it is about the same cost as the phone was ($14-15.00). So he bought a new phone.
Labels:
batteries,
technology,
telephones
Stimulus evidence one year on
Watching the workers we hired to relandscape the condo grounds (below freezing today, and a Saturday) compared to 2 miles over where ARRA funds are (posted as) being used and nothing is being done, I thought about Barro's article.
The math is a bit over my head, but I can figure out the bottom line. Robert J. Barro says, "Viewed over five years, the fiscal stimulus package is a way to get an extra $600 billion of public spending at the cost of $900 billion in private expenditure."
The stimulus
Labels:
ARRA,
GDP,
public spending
ATT will take $1B non-cash charge for health care
And now it begins.
"AT&T Inc. will take a $1 billion non-cash accounting charge in the first quarter because of the health care overhaul and may cut benefits it offers to current and retired workers.
The charge is the largest disclosed so far. Earlier this week, AK Steel Corp., Caterpillar Inc., Deere & Co. and Valero Energy announced similar accounting charges, saying the health care law that President Barack Obama signed Tuesday will raise their expenses. On Friday, 3M Co. said it will also take a charge of $85 million to $90 million."
ATT will take $1B non-cash charge for health care
HT Bob who says, "They always say, and for damn good reason, "Hind sight tells the story." "
"AT&T Inc. will take a $1 billion non-cash accounting charge in the first quarter because of the health care overhaul and may cut benefits it offers to current and retired workers.
The charge is the largest disclosed so far. Earlier this week, AK Steel Corp., Caterpillar Inc., Deere & Co. and Valero Energy announced similar accounting charges, saying the health care law that President Barack Obama signed Tuesday will raise their expenses. On Friday, 3M Co. said it will also take a charge of $85 million to $90 million."
ATT will take $1B non-cash charge for health care
HT Bob who says, "They always say, and for damn good reason, "Hind sight tells the story." "
Friday, March 26, 2010
Obama Moves to worsen the housing mess
Haven't we been this route before? Didn't it lead to the bubble bursting in 2008? Did you know you can still get 100% financing, no money down, home mortgages (check out USDA--the food people--they also throw money at new mortgages). Now today we get the news that "The Obama administration on Friday announced broad new initiatives to help troubled homeowners, potentially refinancing millions of them into fresh government-backed mortgages with lower payments." Duh! 11,000,000 homeowners with property worth less than they owe, and the government continues to provide no-money down, 100% mortgage financing which is a 100% guarantee that the cycle will continue. Administration Moves to Assist Struggling Homeowners - NYTimes.com
Maybe we need a refresher on how our friendly government loan officer and enforcer got us here.
Maybe we need a refresher on how our friendly government loan officer and enforcer got us here.
Labels:
Fannie Mae,
mortgage refinancing,
mortgages
It has never been about health care--you've been conned
Today I was reading something from the American Roman Catholic Bishops about why they supported the health care bill--"the anguish of mothers who are unable to afford prenatal care, of families unable to ensure quality care for their children, and of those who cannot obtain insurance because of preexisting conditions." If that's all this health care bill was about, that could have been taken care of in a hundred pages or so. Isn't it amazing with all the food programs we've had in place since WWII, like SNAP (food stamps), WIC, commodity supplements, school lunch programs, summer feeding programs, after school snacks, school breakfast programs, fresh fruits and vegetables for the low income, TEFAP and food banks, the government only expands its assistance but never succeeds in feeding the poor? And even with all the Medicaid and Medicare, the SSDI, SCHIP plus all the non-profits and the power and wealth of the churches, all these people don't have health care? Whose pockets are being lined, who is taking a giant cut if it isn't getting to the needy? Why are more trillions needed if everything thrown at it since the 1960s isn't working?
And what exactly is a pre-existing condition? Our U.S. Census now reports that one sixth of us--50 million--are disabled. Other websites say that 111,000,000 have eating disorders, and 44,000,000 have mental problems. TV ads tell us that one in ten are autistic. And the stats on obesity and diabetes seem to change with the season. Soon, we will not have a single healthy, well-fed person in the United States! Won't the illegals be disappointed when they sneak in!! They could have been sick at home! These government programs must keep expanding, not because we are less healthy than 1950 or 1900, but because we are. No government program wants to go out of business due to success!
The ObamaCare travesty/takeover was never about better health; it has always been about government control and power. The Bishops should have seen this one coming, and raised a few more red flags, and not just about abortion. Millions of Catholics have lost their lives not just to legal abortion, not just to do-gooder DDT bans, but to democide--death by government. In gulags, in death camps, in reeducation camps, in starvation through collectivization. President Obama is ridiculing his opposition--he, the biggest advocate for abortion in the highest office in the land, in the formerly most powerful country in the world. Why in the world would the Bishops trust him with the rest of our lives?
Only the Word of God stands up to earthly powers. It's time to use it.
And what exactly is a pre-existing condition? Our U.S. Census now reports that one sixth of us--50 million--are disabled. Other websites say that 111,000,000 have eating disorders, and 44,000,000 have mental problems. TV ads tell us that one in ten are autistic. And the stats on obesity and diabetes seem to change with the season. Soon, we will not have a single healthy, well-fed person in the United States! Won't the illegals be disappointed when they sneak in!! They could have been sick at home! These government programs must keep expanding, not because we are less healthy than 1950 or 1900, but because we are. No government program wants to go out of business due to success!
The ObamaCare travesty/takeover was never about better health; it has always been about government control and power. The Bishops should have seen this one coming, and raised a few more red flags, and not just about abortion. Millions of Catholics have lost their lives not just to legal abortion, not just to do-gooder DDT bans, but to democide--death by government. In gulags, in death camps, in reeducation camps, in starvation through collectivization. President Obama is ridiculing his opposition--he, the biggest advocate for abortion in the highest office in the land, in the formerly most powerful country in the world. Why in the world would the Bishops trust him with the rest of our lives?
Only the Word of God stands up to earthly powers. It's time to use it.
Labels:
abortion,
Obamacare,
U.S. Bishops
Media coverage of the Congressional threats
If you want to know why the news coverage (not the editorial page) of the Wall Street Journal has a reputation for being the most liberal newspaper in the country, just read journalist Naftali Bendavid's account of . . . just about anything political. Today's piece on the charges being thrown back and forth about threats is a good example.
You have to get to paragraph nine of Naftali's article today to learn that the Democrats have not just charged "opponents," but their Republican collegues specifically and not the progressives, socialists, or Communists who believe they had been betrayed by the Democrats with a weak bill giving concessions to insurance companies and lobbyists.
Democrats and their supporting actors in the press do not put the various crazies we've seen since Obama took office--Amy the Professorial Shooter, Stark the suicide pilot, Hasan the military doctor, or Awlaki the American Muslim cleric in their column of extremists. Oh goodness No. That wouldn't be good journalism. Wouldn't be prudent. But let a white haired, 80 year old, Tea Party participant give them the finger and they rush into the streets screaming "stranger danger" and then spend days rehashing it with Chris Matthews.
The truth is, just in case you are in the information cave called broadcast news, we have well-trained FBI and police to investigate threats of violence. Reporters and Congressmen should not be deciding who threatened whom. A nasty fax, a brick through a window and a shot fired are at opposite ends of the voilence spectrum, and so far, the Republican side of Congress is in more danger.
- "Democrats seized on the reported violence to portray opponents as irresponsible. Republicans condemning the acts, charged Democrats with trying to make political hay."
You have to get to paragraph nine of Naftali's article today to learn that the Democrats have not just charged "opponents," but their Republican collegues specifically and not the progressives, socialists, or Communists who believe they had been betrayed by the Democrats with a weak bill giving concessions to insurance companies and lobbyists.
Democrats and their supporting actors in the press do not put the various crazies we've seen since Obama took office--Amy the Professorial Shooter, Stark the suicide pilot, Hasan the military doctor, or Awlaki the American Muslim cleric in their column of extremists. Oh goodness No. That wouldn't be good journalism. Wouldn't be prudent. But let a white haired, 80 year old, Tea Party participant give them the finger and they rush into the streets screaming "stranger danger" and then spend days rehashing it with Chris Matthews.
The truth is, just in case you are in the information cave called broadcast news, we have well-trained FBI and police to investigate threats of violence. Reporters and Congressmen should not be deciding who threatened whom. A nasty fax, a brick through a window and a shot fired are at opposite ends of the voilence spectrum, and so far, the Republican side of Congress is in more danger.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Movie Fans Study Films for Flaws
And I thought my crabby, nitpicking commenter (180 visits) was bad! These people make a life of finding mistakes in movies. I occasionally see an obvious movie gaff as big as Joe Biden's mouth, but I don't think I'd watch Jaws that often, or Pirates.
Movie Fans Study Films for Flaws - WSJ.com
Movie Fans Study Films for Flaws - WSJ.com
Labels:
Movie Mistakes,
movies,
script supervisers
Three years ago, a joke
Glenn Beck made a joke about the Titanic when he was on CNN. James Cameron has never forgiven him. Cried all the way to the bank. How high school musical.
Labels:
Glenn Beck,
James Cameron
Where was the outrage?
In February, a CNN analyst and a Huffington Post writer advocated violence against Republicans and his own party (go gangsta i.e., breaking knee caps, etc.) for opposing Obamacare and appointments even though they had no power. Don't think it got much coverage. Imagine if that had been Rush Limbaugh? Perhaps the MSM were too busy trying to blame Tea Partiers for the guy who flew his plane (turns out he was a registered Democrat) into an IRS building and a looney-tunes professor who shot up her department to notice what their side was doing (she was a liberal through and through). Now some deranged idiots at that same level of talent and smarts are either threatening or pretending to threaten members of Congress, and the Washington Post (today's afternoon edition) is only mentioning the Democrats, even though two of the people threatened were Republicans, and they didn't worry a bit when Karl Rove got threats.
It is the left that is notorious for violence in political demonstrations. Look how they tried to stir up trouble among students a few weeks ago about tuition raises. Glenn Beck made a very interesting observation on his show last night. Now that the Weathermen, SDS types and Alinskyites have oozed their way to the top levels of government and are now "The Man," they have to put down the opposition at the grass roots in the same manner as they were treated in the 60s and 70s. However, the tea partiers aren't violent, so they have to stir the pot and work people up--or even fake it.
It is the left that is notorious for violence in political demonstrations. Look how they tried to stir up trouble among students a few weeks ago about tuition raises. Glenn Beck made a very interesting observation on his show last night. Now that the Weathermen, SDS types and Alinskyites have oozed their way to the top levels of government and are now "The Man," they have to put down the opposition at the grass roots in the same manner as they were treated in the 60s and 70s. However, the tea partiers aren't violent, so they have to stir the pot and work people up--or even fake it.
- "What you need to do is collapse it from the inside. You need to get as many people from the welfare rolls onto it and collapse. But remember that there needs to be a framework that it collapses into. What that means is you must have power. It's not enough to be out on the streets. You must be Richard Nixon. You must have radicals at the top. . . Van Jones said. . . I am willing to drop the radical pose for the radical ends."
Labels:
CNN,
Congress,
news media,
Obamacare
Some topics for Glenn Beck
We really enjoy sitting down together at 5 p.m. and watching Glenn Beck. Those of you who only get snippets through the George Soros funded Media Matters and other filters (Glenn usually greets their snoops as the "unemployed hippy-dippy dudes sitting in mom's basement" screening and reporting back to the watchdog agency) are missing some great history lessons and reading lists. He's probably done more for libraries and Amazon than any other author/host because he reads so much, and those titles fly to the top of the best seller list, faster than an Oprah Book Club selection. He even suggests going back and reading original sources--marxist, socialist, founding fathers, etc., something dear to this researcher's heart. Beck's film documentaries are stunning. I studied Russian history (19th and 20th century) back in college in the 50s and 60s and saw newsreels of the decimation of the Ukrainian farmers, the forced collectivization and starvation and the millions murdered in China's revolution. Some of the footage in his documentaries certainly ring more true, even with the dramatic voice overs, than watching a Katie Couric or Charlie Rose. That said, there are other topics I'd like to see on his programs.1. There have been some really fabulous federal government programs that benefited millions of Americans and grew the economy. It would not be a violation of his core values and beliefs to mention
- the national park system
- the homestead acts and land giveaways
- the interstate highway system
- the land giveaways to the railroad barons who opened millions of jobs and opportunities for immigrants and city bound poor
- various public health advancements like clean water, polio vaccination, meat inspection, flour and milk enrichment, compulsory TB testing
- the Army Corps of Engineers and flood control
- mining rights to energy developers which revolutionized our industries
- compulsory education
- land grant colleges and universities.
2. Glenn has recently stepped on a real hornets nest--he's taken on the liberal church--more specifically the way "liberation theology" has infiltrated the pastors and pulpits, and "social justice" themes have replaced the gospel of Jesus Christ. Glenn is absolutely correct that Jesus not once asked the Roman government to feed the poor or visit the sick or set the slave free. What Glenn is missing in these mini-sermons is that in the United States, the Christian church was at the forefront of social change, long before the federal government got in that game. In fact, the government has usurped and co-opted the churches and made them just another non-profit employee of the government through tax grants for feeding programs, summer camps, pre-schools, prisoner reentry programs and housing renovation in poor neighborhoods while at the same time telling churches they can't preach the gospel or hand out printed material because they are taking government money to do their jobs!
- The great religious awakenings of the 18th and 19th centuries were followed by great fervor for combating sin and a movement toward greater personal responsibility all because of renewed faith in God, not the government
- Sunday schools were begun by "church ladies" so that children working in factories could get an education--this is the foundation of the public school movement
- the big three social movements of the 19th century, abolition of slavery, temperance, and woman's rights, were all Christian movements with women doing the heavy lifting; the woman's rights movement of the 19th century was not the feminist movement of today; it was faith-based action
- the Lyceum and Chautauqua movements of the 18th and 19th centuries were the originators of self-improvement movements and adult education--both were begun and funded by concerned citizens, not the government
- a less punitive justice system in the form of penitentiaries (penitent) rather than debtor's prison or corporal punishment was pioneered by the Quakers
- the spread of printed materials to an expanding reading public went viral through church printing presses--Methodists, Lutherans, Baptists, Congregationalists, etc. During war time soldiers were given free reading material and libraries by both the Protestant and Catholic presses
- medical care for the wounded during the Revolutionary and Civil Wars was led by bands of committed Christian men and women with nuns and priests working all sides of the conflict
- churches pioneered stewardship of the earth and the humane treatment of animals, long before the government thought to regulate it (19th century agricultural journals--take a look)
- it was the church groups that met the immigrant ships of their own ethnic groups and helped them resettle and learn the language, customs, and establish businesses
- after WWII pacifist denominations created a volunteer rebuilding program for Europe, which later the government used as a model for the Peace Corp and Vista.
The Security of Your medical records
Your medical records weren't secure when they were paper; and they are even less so in electronic form. Any shred of privacy disappeared with HIPAA (1996, 2002). I've lost count of the number of times I've sat waiting in an exam room of a specialty clinic with the previous patient's information (including SS#) on the screen, or the name of the customer on the clip board with the number of the prescription at the pharmacy pick-up counter window. Read the small print in those privacy notices--it simply tells you who will see it--and that usually includes just about everyone you don't already know. "The HIPAA Privacy Rule allows a covered health care provider to use or disclose protected health information (other than psychotherapy notes), including family history information, for treatment, payment, and health care operation purposes without obtaining the individual’s written authorization or other agreement." (FAQ, HHS.gov)
Deborah Peel: Your Medical Records Aren't Secure - WSJ.com
- President Obama said in his 2009 speech that electronic records for all, "will cut waste, eliminate red tape and reduce the need to repeat expensive medical tests [and] save lives by reducing the deadly but preventable medical errors that pervade our health-care system."
- "A 2009 poll conducted for National Public Radio, the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health asked if people were confident their medical records would remain confidential if they were stored electronically and could be shared online. Fifty nine percent responded they were not confident."
Deborah Peel: Your Medical Records Aren't Secure - WSJ.com
Labels:
health insurance,
medical records
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
That's No Angry Mob, That's My Mom
Haven't read the book, but I love the title. Librarians are 223:1 liberal to conservative--probably won't be in my public library. "A full-throated defense of Tea Partiers and shows just how right conservatives have been on healthcare reform, the stimulus package, cap-and-trade, cash for clunkers, and more."Book Details - That's No Angry Mob, That's My Mom
Labels:
book review,
tea party
$10 billion for 165,000 new IRS agents
The IRS is the "enforcer" of the new health care mandates. It will have the power to
Illegal immigrants are exempt from all the taxes and penalties in this law.
- "monitor individuals and businesses’ health insurance statuses through the mandatory reporting the bill requires. Under the law, every individual and most businesses are required to report to the IRS, on their tax returns, whether they have purchased or provided the required level of coverage and disclose to the IRS which months, if any, in which they failed to do so.
Using this information, the IRS would then determine whether an employer or individual falls under the mandate, which contains exceptions for religious conscience, hardship, incarcerated persons, and members of Indian tribes.
If either an individual or a business has failed to comply with this mandate for any month out of the year, they are required to pay a separate tax to the IRS. For individuals this is a maximum of $750 per person (up to $2,250 per household) and $750 per uncovered employee for businesses. Article here.
Illegal immigrants are exempt from all the taxes and penalties in this law.
Labels:
audits,
Internal Revenue Service,
mandates,
Obamacare
Reach deadline at risk
Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemical Substances (Reach).
And after the deadline, then what? I'm assuming that once the chemicals are registered with the required safety information THEN they will be withdrawn because they will be declared unsafe. That might be why some are still not registered. Also, in the EU, not all are using English, so those safety and substance requirements are a bit dicey. Lots of really fun acronyms in this article.
Reach deadline at risk
And after the deadline, then what? I'm assuming that once the chemicals are registered with the required safety information THEN they will be withdrawn because they will be declared unsafe. That might be why some are still not registered. Also, in the EU, not all are using English, so those safety and substance requirements are a bit dicey. Lots of really fun acronyms in this article.
Reach deadline at risk
Labels:
chemicals,
European Union,
REACH,
safety
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Americans are in for a big shock

when they see how much "free" government health care is going to cost them. After the band has stopped playing, the balloons have popped, and Obama has moved on to amnesty for illegals and higher taxes on CO2.
We are pensioners--Social Security for my husband and STRS for me (I'm not eligible for SS spousal benefit because of my teacher's pension). Our "health" expenses in 2009--insurance, drugs, dental, medical, etc. (we have vision insurance but neither of us used it) ran to about $11,000. How can that be when we have the premiere government health plan--Medicare? According to the Pelosi-Obama-Reid-Con (PORC) health care will be free for all!
We paid for it through payroll deductions while we were employed; we pay for the plan again quarterly (for me) or through deductions in the SS (for him). Then we each have to buy a supplemental plan (different companies) to cover the things that Medicare doesn't. Then we pay out of pocket for the rest that neither Medicare nor the supplement cover, like vaccinations for shingles or H1N1. Neither one of us was sick or hospitalized in 2009. My husband had a few "preventive" measures like some suspicious skin spots removed. But Obama assures us that prevention is going to save us money, so that's OK (it's never actually been proven because careful people then live longer and pay for more health care down the road). Does anyone think that we'll ever see that $2500-$3000 reduction Obama is promising each household/family? Or will it just keep going up, up and away through higher taxes and higher premiums?
Labels:
health insurance,
Medicare
Fun to read--Men are from Mars, etc.
This came from Rusty, who has a nice jazz radio program on KAMU-fm in College Station on Friday afternoons and whom I didn't know in high school. It's probably an urban legend, but I got a big laugh.- Here's a prime example of "Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus" offered by an English professor from the University of Colorado for an actual class assignment:
The professor told his class: "Today we will experiment with a new form called the tandem story. The process is simple. Each person will pair off with the person sitting to his or her immediate right. As homework tonight, one of you will write the first paragraph of a short story. You will e-mail your partner that paragraph and send a copy to me.
"The partner will read the first paragraph and then add another paragraph to the story and send it back, also sending a copy to me. The first person will then add a third paragraph, and so on back-and-forth.
"Remember to re-read what has been written each time in order to keep the story coherent. There is to be absolutely NO talking outside of the e-mails, and anything you wish to say must be written in the e-mail.
"The story is over when both agree a conclusion has been reached."
The following was actually turned in by two of his English students:
THE STORY:
(first paragraph by Rebecca)
At first, Laurie couldn't decide which kind of tea she wanted. The chamomile, which used to be her favorite for lazy evenings at home, now reminded her too much of Carl, who once said, in happier times, that he liked chamomile. But she felt she must now, at all costs, keep her mind off Carl. His possessiveness was suffocating, and if she thought about him too much her asthma started acting up again. So chamomile was out of the question.
(second paragraph by Bill)
Meanwhile, Advance Sergeant Carl Harris, leader of the attack squadron now in orbit over Skylon 4, had more important things to think about than the neuroses of an air-headed asthmatic bimbo named Laurie with whom he had spent one sweaty night over a year ago. "A.S. Harris to Geostation 17," he said into his transgalactic communicator. "Polar orbit established. No sign of resistance so far..." But before he could sign off a bluish particle beam flashed out of nowhere and blasted a hole through his ship's cargo bay. The jolt from the direct hit sent him flying out of his seat and across the cockpit.
(Rebecca)
He bumped his head and died almost immediately, but not before he felt one last pang of regret for psychically brutalizing the one woman who had ever had feelings for him. Soon afterwards, Earth stopped its pointless hostilities towards the peaceful farmers of Skylon 4. "Congress Passes Law Permanently Abolishing War and Space Travel," Laurie read in her newspaper one morning. The news simultaneously excited her and bored her. She stared out the window, dreaming of her youth, when the days had passed unhurriedly and carefree, with no newspaper to read, no television to distract her from her sense of innocent wonder at all the beautiful things around her.
"Why must one lose one's innocence to become a woman?" she pondered wistfully.
(Bill)
Little did she know, but she had less than 10 seconds to live. Thousands of miles above the city, the Anu'udrian mothership launched the first of its lithium fusion missiles. The dimwitted wimpy peaceniks who pushed the Unilateral Aerospace disarmament Treaty through the congress had left Earth a defenseless target for the hostile alien empires who were determined to destroy the human race. Within two hours after the passage of the treaty the Anu'udrian ships were on course for Earth, carrying enough firepower to pulverize the entire planet. With no one to stop them, they swiftly initiated their diabolical plan. The lithium fusion missile entered the atmosphere unimpeded. The President, in his top-secret mobile submarine headquarters on the ocean floor off the coast of Guam, felt the inconceivably massive explosion, which vaporized poor, stupid Laurie.
(Rebecca)
This is absurd. I refuse to continue this mockery of literature. My writing partner is a violent, chauvinistic semi-literate adolescent.
(Bill)
Yeah? Well, my writing partner is a self-centered tedious neurotic whose attempts at writing are the literary equivalent of Valium.
Oh, shall I have chamomile tea? Or shall I have some other sort of F---ING TEA??? Oh no, what am I to do? I'm an air headed bimbo who reads too many Danielle Steele novels!
(Rebecca)
A$$h@le.
(Bill)
B*tch!
(Rebecca)
F*** YOU - YOU NEANDERTHAL!!
(Bill)
In your dreams, Ho. Go drink some tea.
(TEACHER)
A+ - I really liked this one.
Labels:
English class,
literature,
tandem story
Religious Colleges should be allowed to follow their beliefs
even at sporting events. Goshen College, where my sister attended in the 1950s, is about 50 miles from Manchester, a Church of the Brethren college I attended. We shared a car (ca. 1951 Packard) to get back and forth to our parents' home in northern Illinois. Both colleges are picture post-card perfect, midwestern liberal arts schools. Goshen was recently in the news because a parent from a competing school athletic team complained that the Star Spangled Banner wasn't sung or played at athletic events at Goshen. I believe a compromise has been reached by using an instrumental version.
However, I was surprised to read in the paper that Goshen was still 55% Mennonite in student body. Mennonites along with the Quakers and Brethren are one of three historic peace denominations in the United States. In my family database I have many Mennonites and Brethren, and a few Quakers since they tended to hang out together in the 18th and 19th centuries. Are the rest of us really in danger of losing something if a few college students don't want to sing about an 1812 battle in a voice range that is almost impossible to reach and which celebrities regularly slaughter at base ball games?
Manchester's Brethren roots, on the other hand, are hard to find on the college web site. They are mentioned in the history section. Of the 10 or so MC web pages I searched with the "find" feature, Jesus' name appeared once. Environmentalism and religious pluralism are much bigger than Jesus at Manchester if pixels mean anything. At the About page the following values are listed: learning; faith; service; integrity; diversity; and community. It was hard to tell if there is any viable connection (other than funding support) from Church of the Brethren.
Anyway, I think little Goshen should stick to its guns--uh, um, its beliefs.
However, I was surprised to read in the paper that Goshen was still 55% Mennonite in student body. Mennonites along with the Quakers and Brethren are one of three historic peace denominations in the United States. In my family database I have many Mennonites and Brethren, and a few Quakers since they tended to hang out together in the 18th and 19th centuries. Are the rest of us really in danger of losing something if a few college students don't want to sing about an 1812 battle in a voice range that is almost impossible to reach and which celebrities regularly slaughter at base ball games?
Manchester's Brethren roots, on the other hand, are hard to find on the college web site. They are mentioned in the history section. Of the 10 or so MC web pages I searched with the "find" feature, Jesus' name appeared once. Environmentalism and religious pluralism are much bigger than Jesus at Manchester if pixels mean anything. At the About page the following values are listed: learning; faith; service; integrity; diversity; and community. It was hard to tell if there is any viable connection (other than funding support) from Church of the Brethren.
Anyway, I think little Goshen should stick to its guns--uh, um, its beliefs.
Labels:
anabaptists,
Goshen College,
Indiana,
Manchester College,
pacifism,
peace studies
Monday, March 22, 2010
Fed Loses Secrecy Suit, Considering Options
The Federal Reserve lost an appeal March 19 in a bid to keep hidden the details of its estimated $2 trillion in bailouts to bankers around the world, prompting celebration among anti-Fed campaigners and promises of a continued fight from the banking cartel.
Read the story here
Read the story here
Labels:
Federal Reserve,
FOIA
Iranian and Chinese funds support Obama
Hassan Nemazee was a prominent Democratic party fund-raiser. He pleaded guilty last Thursday to stealing hundreds of millions of dollars to buy property in Westchester County, donate to charity and give money to political campaigns. He was a national finance chairman for Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign before raising more than $500,000 for Barack Obama's campaign after the Democratic National Convention in August 2008. Mr. Nemazee was charged with bank fraud on Aug. 25, 2009.
This Business Week account doesn't discuss his funding of the Obama campaign. Can you imagine this slipping through if it were Bush?
Iranian and Chinese funds support Obama, Biden, Clinton and Kerry
This Business Week account doesn't discuss his funding of the Obama campaign. Can you imagine this slipping through if it were Bush?
Iranian and Chinese funds support Obama, Biden, Clinton and Kerry
Labels:
bank fraud,
campaign 2008,
Democrats,
Hassan Nemazee
Conestoga Spring Soiree
Soiree. Doesn't that sound classy? Well, it was a lovely event, and I learned a lot of history. Conestoga is sort of a "friends" group of the Ohio Historical Society. We do really interesting things and once a year there is a fund raiser. This year it was at the Bricker-Doody House in Upper Arlington. I've driven past that house for 40+ years, so it was fun to get a peek inside, and to also learn the history of John Bricker, former Ohio Governor and Senator. He was Attorney General from 1933-37, Governor, 1939-1945, and in 1944 he was the Republican nominee for Vice President on Thomas E. Dewey ticket.A reenactor performed as Senator William E. Jenner of Indiana, reminiscing about his days in the Senate with Bricker from the perspective of 1980 looking back on their careers (Bricker died in 1986, Jenner in 1985). It was fascinating. Also two of Gov. Bricker's grandchildren shared memories of staying in the house when they were children.
The home has been beautifully restored and expanded, and it was so nice of the Doody family to share it with us for a good cause.
Labels:
Conestoga,
John Bricker,
Ohio Historical Society
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