Only eleven weeks until Lakeside (summer)

Yesterday I bought a Family Circle--the cover said it had a walking plan/program that would get me in shape by summer. Promises, promises. But it does sell magazines. I remember when Family Circle's cover price went from 7 cents to 10 cents--I think the cover story was about the first lady, Jackie Kennedy. This issue was $1.99 and quite fat with advertising. Magazines in the past 2 years have become very skinny--so a return of advertising means someone at the top of the food chain believes it is safe to invest again. Everyone benefits from advertising, so even though I rip out a lot of pages, I know it keeps the printers, paper producers, ink makers, ad writers, free lance writers, editors, secretaries, magazine fulfillment agencies, library check-in clerks, etc. in a job. Even the news stand seller and the guy who drives that little beat up van, tossing them on the sidewalk benefit. Then they take what's left of their paycheck after the government takes its "share," and spread it around your community, they may even go out and buy some of the products advertised (although a lot of it seemed to be either medical products or pet products I'd never use).

Back to the summer deadline. I saw a recipe for a rich, dense chocolate cake that would be just perfect for next Sunday's church brunch, and it's sugar free. Served with raspberries, I think it will be wonderful. That combined with all the walking (the walking program was only 4 weeks, so I guess once you get up to speed you just repeat), and we're good to go.

When Less is More

Government regulations and higher taxes often result in less income for the government, not more. The current administration's "redistribution scheme" is not really about "fairness" but power and control. The wealthiest people in the U.S. already pay the bulk of our taxes, but lower rates than many middle class workers (increasingly many low income people pay no federal taxes at all). This happens to state governments too. This is from a very handy website for truckers, Weigh Station and Truck Safety, but if you're going to be travelling, check out your state by clicking on the map.

"Ohio used to have a split speed limit for most of the state's freeways- 65 for cars and 55 for trucks. Many truckers thought this would never change but now most of Ohio's roadways have just one speed limit for both cars and trucks.

The split speed limit ended first up the Ohio turnpike when the turnpike authority changed it to 65 for cars and for trucks. Toll rates increased dramatically between 1982 and 1999. Many truckers refused to pay the high rates. Governor Taft and the Ohio Turnpike commission decided to lower the tolls and increase the speed limits to draw the trucks back onto the turnpike from the side roads. Part of the plan to get truckers to use the Ohio turnpike more was increasing the enforcement of weight laws on the side roads."

Not every state's rates have been updated within the last 2 years, but if you want to see which states are in the biggest tax trouble, just take a look at their fuel taxes--the more they charge, the deeper in debt! California and Illinois are broke--in fact, they're busted flat and stole from their state pensions! The new health care mandates will put even more pressure on state governments, so I don't know who's left to steal from--the neighbors--Indiana? Nevada?

The California fuel tax rate is $0.476 per gallon of diesel. This rate includes a 6% state sales tax and a 1.25% county tax.

The Illinois fuel tax rate is $0.413 per gallon of diesel fuel. This includes a 6.25% sales tax. Local governments can levy additional taxes. The city of Chicago levies an additional $0.1275 tax. [Note: and the roads are crappy!]

The Ohio fuel tax rate is $0.28 per gallon of diesel fuel. The fuel tax is supposed to increase $0.03 per gallon every 2 years according to legislation passed in 2003.

The Kansas fuel tax rate is $0.27 per gallon of diesel fuel. This rate includes a 1 penny per gallon environmental fee.

The Texas fuel tax rate is $0.20 per gallon of diesel.

The Maine fuel tax rate is $0.295 per gallon of diesel. This fuel tax rate includes $0.07 per gallon of diesel for the Coastal and Inland Water Fund and $0.06 per gallon of diesel for the Groundwater Fund.

What costs $8,000 a gallon that we all buy?

The ink for our printers. That's why printers are so cheap--the profit is in the ink. However, you can save a lot just by changing your font, according to Diane Blohowiak, director of computing at University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. The fonts most ink-stingy, are Century Gothic, Garamond, Courier, Brush Script, and Times New Roman. I use Times New Roman almost exclusively, with some Courier thrown in at my Premiere Issue blog. I was surprised that Arial was so slurpy with ink. It looks so innocent with all those straight, sleek lines. Hmmm. Looks can be deceiving. Also, Times New Roman is the easier font to read because of its dainty little feet.

Of course, once everyone switches fonts, the price of ink will go up again. It's like gasoline costs and more miles per gallon.

Story here.

My first printer, a Laser-Jet 4-L, was very efficient. The toner only had to be replaced about every 3 years, but cost about $70 a cartridge. Still much cheaper than what I pay to replace my micro cartridges in my HP PhotoSmart C3180. I only stopped using the better one because I couldn't find the cartridge locally.

Stupak's decision didn't surprise me

Many Democrats fell on their swords rather than their principles in this frightening health "care" (take-over) debate. I would guess Bart Stupak (D-MI) knew before his vote what course his future would be. Here's Jim Taranto's take:

"Stupak allowed himself to be thoroughly humiliated during the ObamaCare debate. A proponent of socialized medicine but foe of abortion, he held out for months, insisting that he wouldn't vote for a bill that permitted federal funding of abortion. At the last minute he and a small group of "pro-life" Democrats ran up the white flag, casting the deciding votes in exchange for an executive order that everyone understood was meaningless.

Thus Stupak cast aside his putative principles and failed even to save face. You can see why he might want to "spend more time with the family"--and never have to show his face in public again."

I also believe the Conservative cause was weakened by hanging the defeat of this disaster on a few pro-life Democrats. Even if Obama had carved in the marble of his heart that he would no longer support late term abortions or taking the lives of Down Syndrome babies (93% aborted) and would not joke about special needs children and adults on late night talk shows, in the balance, it wouldn't undo all the other death blows he's dealing to the country.

$25 Million to create a model

Childhood Obesity Demonstration Project of Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA).

CHIPRA provides $25 million for FY 2009-2013 for a childhood obesity demonstration project. The law directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Administrator of CMS, to conduct a demonstration project to “develop a comprehensive and systematic model for reducing childhood obesity by awarding grants to eligible entities. . ."

I'm probably not eligible to apply for a grant, so I'll just submit mine for free.

Take their computers away
Send them outside to play.
Fly a kite or toss a ball
They can run, they won't fall.

CHIPRA reauthorization got an additional $32.8 billion on top of the $25 billion, and it will all come from the increase in cigarette taxes, Obama's first tax increase upon taking office. So unfortunately the parents of these fatties will have to continue smoking in order to pay for all of this new health care.

Urinary Concentrations of Triclosan in the U.S. Population

Triclosan is a synthetic chemical with broad antimicrobial activity that has been used extensively in consumer products, including personal care products, textiles, and plastic kitchenware. 75% of the population shows some Triclosan in their urine. For once, there is no gap between races and gender, so I'm sure that will give research some pause. But higher income people have more in their urine than lower income.

I looked at the April 2010 updated FDA page, and didn't see anything alarming. That won't stop the alarms, of course. I'm sure it's killed far more than its share of dangerous germs.

Environmental Health Perspectives: Urinary Concentrations of Triclosan in the U.S. Population: 2003–2004

Call me if you find this woman

I never thought our plan for creating a family (adoption) had much to do with anyone's health or taxes except our own. Fast forward 40+ years. Adoptive parents for some years have been able to take a federal tax credit for adopting. Ohio State University also offers many perks for adoptive parents, including time off, stopping the tenure clock, etc. (We missed all that government largess.) It's a pretty screwed up system, in my opinion. 1) Make abortion legal and socially acceptable, 2) reduce the number of babies, especially white infants, available for adoption, 3) increase foreign adoptions due to scarcity at home, 4) then offer tax credits on the exorbitant costs to obtain an ever increasing scarce adoptable child/infant. Does this sound like Congress has a collective IQ above 100?

But it gets better. Low-income families (about 17%) are more likely to adopt through public agencies, which are cheaper (ca. $2500) because they are tax supported, and who may hesitate to adopt their own foster children, for whom they have been receiving a subsidy, plus special medical benefits. Better educated, higher income adoptive parents (about 80%) adopt privately (ca. $40,000 depending on where and whom). So the federal tax credit for adoption is going primarily to people who actually pay taxes, and not to people who don't. Doh! The credit of up to $12,170 for both international and domestic adoption expenses didn't matter much to those who might not earn enough to owe much tax or any tax at all.

In the 2000 page Obamacare bill is a provision to give the low income, non-tax paying adoptive parents the cash difference (don't know the formula and don't know when this goes into effect). If they don't pay enough in taxes to allow for the credit for adoption-related expenses, the federal government will send them the difference in a refund. The credit tops out at $13,170. Although how you "refund" something that wasn't paid, I don't know. The idea is to encourage them to adopt special needs and their own foster children. Cha-Ching. A one time payout/bonus from the feds replaces a monthly subsidy by the state. How clever of the federal Congress to help the state governments with this pittance while slapping them with all the new mandates in Medicaid.

I have a lot of respect for the caring birth-mothers who seek a better life for their child/children while also looking out for their own welfare, and that of their own families who may not be able to absorb another child. I can't think of a single woman who tells the social worker/ government agency/ or lawyer, "Please find a low-income, marginally educated, non-tax paying family for my precious little one."

If she's out there, no one has interviewed her or told her story.

Who do they come for next?

The Obama administration has gone to a great deal of effort to destroy the livelihood of many well-off, well-educated, talented people--for no reason other than they are rich people who supply jobs and investment opportunities for others. Even the most radical appointments and groupies around the president have come from very comfortable, middle class or upper class life styles. Since most people in the U.S. didn't inherit their wealth or life style, what's all the anger about when people move up the quintiles to the next level? I've been in four of the five myself. So if they kill off the potentially poor before they are born because they believe they will have a miserable life, and the unacceptably rich after they become successful, who will they come for next. You?

Beheading planned in Saudi sorcery case - CNN

A Lebanese man charged with sorcery and sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia is scheduled to be beheaded on Friday, the man's lawyer said Wednesday. He had a TV show in which he predicted the future.

Lawyer: Beheading planned in Saudi sorcery case

A clever American pro-bono lawyer from a top flight law firm could get him off as a simple terrorist.

Shawnee State Park along the Ohio River

Joe Wagenhals has been out clicking the Nikon. He went a little south of here and found some fabulous red bud trees in bloom. http://jwagenhals.zenfolio.com/p899244680/slideshow . Just relax and enjoy. Also, you can visit his website. Watch for an upcoming photography show at Upper Arlington Lutheran Church, Mill Run campus, Oct. 31, 2010 through Jan. 4, 2011.

The Liberal’s Biggest Blind Spot: Who Really Rakes In Their Government Largesse?

"It was in late 2008, under President Bush, that a threatened financial meltdown triggered some hasty and dangerous Washington policy decisions to bail out large firms. Unfortunately, President Obama has doubled down and more on those policies, with unprecedented levels of government spending, most favoring big finance, big auto companies, big labor unions, and now big pharma and medical insurance companies."

The Liberal’s Biggest Blind Spot

From the Foundry 2010 Chart Book

Letter to Mennonite Central Committee (MCC)

Arli Klassen
MCC Executive Director

Dear Ms. Klassen,

Today I received the Spring 2010 "A Common Place," featuring stories about microfinance in Cambodia and the earthquake in Haiti.

MCC's primary concern seems to be the material and political well-being of the people you're assisting with small loans, food aid, and "peace and justice" for immigrants. In the several years I've been receiving this publication (I sent a donation after the Tsunami which put me on your mailing list) I've seen very little about reaching anyone for Christ. Yes, you donate food and material goods, but if you tell them the Good News of the cross and resurrection it isn't reported. They are clearly Jesus for you (Matt. 25), but who is going to tell them so they have what you have? Is Jesus a secret? After the homes are built, the wells dug, the forests replanted and the schools staffed, then will you tell them? Or are they just supposed to figure it out?

In fact, the only spiritual part of the Spring issue is the story about the amazing faith of the Haitians.

"Earthquake survivors living in a camp in my neighborhood gather every evening to pray and worship--singing praises such as "God blessed us. He saved us," and asking, "God, don't leave us outside, give us homes." People shared testimonies of how they or their loved ones were trapped and rescued from under their homes. "When the earth shakes, Jesus is near us and we don't need to be afraid," my friend Emmanuel Michel preaches." [from article and photos by Ben Depp]

Over 30 years ago at Ohio State University I worked in a program sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development that did exactly what you describe in your small loan program. USAID didn't tell them about Jesus, although it did work with missionaries, nor would I have expected it. You folks, however, have a "great commission" to do so.

The cost of government workers

It is now known that government workers earn higher wages and have better benefits than private sector workers in the same or similar position. Therefore, I think it's time to start looking at some of the perks the private sector workers don't get, but have to pay for, or else Ohio will end up on the California/Illinois trophy head-on-the-wall award for bad fiscal management. Like this one for Ohio State University faculty and staff employees, for instance.

"If your dependent will be taking classes during summer term and you have an eligible regular appointment of at least 50 percent full-time equivalency, your family members can enjoy the benefits of higher education at a lower cost."

It's been awhile since I looked, but I think "family" has a rather broad definition in this case. Like the foster child of your same sex partner (not sure about opposite sex partner's foster child). And there is a "cap" on the benefits, but it's over $8,000 $6,000 per semester/quarter (in the process of changing from quarter to semester system).

Behavior, income and health

Because I knew the March 24/31 issue of JAMA contained that dreaded article that we need 60 minutes a day of exercise to maintain a normal weight (I'm barely managing 40 min. 3-4x a week), I didn't look at it until today. I discovered in that issue another, far more interesting article on socioeconomic status, personal behavior and health outcomes done in Britain, which has a single payer, government health care system and far more government interference in personal lives than we experience here.

Let me back up. One of the most frustrating features in reading JAMA is the constant emphasis on "the gap" and not on improved health outcomes for all groups over time. There's usually a PhD, MSoc or MSPH among the authors, which means the article will dredge up the obligatory difference between Blacks and Whites, or Blacks and Latinos or 10 years of education vs. 14 years, or inner city hospitals vs. suburban rather than lives saved by advances in technology, surgery or new miracle drugs. In many articles, there is at least the suggestion that the top two quintiles are somehow to blame for the bottom two in health differences, and more government funding (taking from the top 2) would somehow equalize this.

I'm guessing publication of this one was held up, and certainly not promoted in 2 minute summaries on the evening news. "Association of Socioeconomic Position with Health Behaviors and Mortality," JAMA, Vol. 303, no. 12, pp 1159-1166 with editorial content on pp. 1199-1200. CONCLUSION: "In a civil service population in London, England [i.e., white collar but from different social classes], there was an association between socioeconomic position and mortality that was substantially accounted for by adjustment for health behaviors, particularly when the behaviors were assessed repeatedly."

Let me translate. Smoking, drinking, over eating and little physical activity are not good for you, whether one or all four, and you are more likely to do these things if you have lower/working class origins. Health insurance doesn't change you or the outcome of your bad behavior. You don't become poor and less educated because of the degree of access to health care, and it's terribly hard to change behavior whether rooted in the genes or the early life culture.

Where do I get that free Obamacare?

Apparently, the President hasn't explained clearly enough the bill no one wanted, read, or understood.

Two weeks after President Barack Obama signed the big health care overhaul into law, Americans are struggling to understand how — and when — the sweeping measure will affect them.

Questions reflecting confusion have flooded insurance companies, doctors' offices, human resources departments and business groups.

"They're saying, 'Where do we get the free Obama care, and how do I sign up for that?' " said Carrie McLean, a licensed agent for eHealthInsurance.com. The California-based company sells coverage from 185 health insurance carriers in 50 states."

Read more

What makes this Census different?

Michelle Malkin, after filling in "American" in place of race says:

"So, what makes the Obama census campaign different from other census programs? First, its naked, left-wing special interest pandering. The White House is championing a “Queer the Census” movement by pro-gay marriage groups, for example, and the Commerce Department is working with open-borders leaders who want to use the census as leverage to stop all immigration raids.

The electoral stakes are high. Some $400 billion in federal funding and, most importantly, the apportionment of congressional seats are up for grabs. Instead of straightforward enumeration of the American population, Obama and the left’s identity politics-mongers are turning the $1 billion, taxpayer-subsidized census public relations drive into a government preferences lobbying bonanza."

Full article here.

Why health care costs so much

"American health care is an accidental system. Private coverage - the type most Americans have - has its origins in the wage controls of the Second World War as employers offered rich health-insurance benefits in pre-tax dollars. Public coverage like Medicaid and Medicare, on the other hand, takes its inspiration from the Beveridge report in Britain, drafted in the early 1940s; Lord William Beveridge believed in zero-dollar health care - that people ought to pay nothing at the point of use. Today's American health care fuses these two systems, but with a common economic flaw: people are overinsured, paying pennies directly on every dollar of health service they receive.

The end result: for every dollar spent on health care in the United States, just 12 cents comes out of the individuals' pockets. Imagine what food costs might be if your employer paid 88% of your grocery bill or what a trip to Saks might be like if your company covered the vast majority of the costs of the shopping spree."

RealClearMarkets

The lying and stealing commandments as practiced by ABCNews

This account of Glenn Beck cautioning his listeners about the "social justice" scams in the name of the Gospel is pretty much a lie about stealing, but that's what happens when you don't listen to Glenn Beck--you just read the filters.

Anyone who's ever read the Old or New Testaments knows there's not a smidgen of advice, commandment or admonition about taking money from the rich through government which got it through taxes or take-overs to "help" your fellow man. But many churches and their non-profit para-church arms regularly take government grants in a Faustian contract not to mention their religious beliefs, then preach diversity, sustainability, justice and whatever from the pulpit. Now, during the Bush administration, the liberal churches were all over President Bush for his conservative Methodist beliefs. Believe that sex should be reserved for marriage? Abstinance programs? Yikes. Marriage of a man and woman? That's just horrible!! That's obviously a violation of separation of church and state (which isn't in the constitution) because sexual purity is a religious, worthless, impossible to achieve concept. Sanctity of life? That's violating women's bodies in the name of religion, since everyone knows a fetus is a parasite without rights. Dr. Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa, and Desmund Tutu are brought up as examples of "social justice" by Jim Wallis in this story. But I don't recall them taking government money, do you? In fact, the U.S. government kept a pretty close eye on Dr. King and Democrats tried to destroy him. Glenn would be in perfect agreement that theirs was a life style all religious people should seek, using their own resources, own time, and own beliefs.

When the rich don't buy

All sorts of people are losing their jobs--not so much from the recession, although that's part of it--but from the hostile, unfriendly, investment-cooling policies of the Obama administration. Let's say, just for fun and fantasy, you are worth a few million (like the current President) or many millions (like our former Presidents Bush and Clinton). How eager in today's climate would you be to invest in the finer things of life--like art. Now if you're a speculator, this might just be a great time. But let's say you became wealthy through solid investments and/or the smarts of your handlers and political friends.

In the WSJ today there's a story about a classy art gallery defaulting on loans. And apparently there have been a number of NY galleries go under. The rich aren't buying and probably credit sources have dried up because the bailouts have gone to a much higher tier in the credit food chain (that's not in the article--just my opinion). What happens when a first class art gallery closes? Staff is left go, of course; rent isn't paid and that hurts the bank that holds that mortgage; real estate firms are hurt; neighborhood business is hurt; the staff and shoppers who would have patronized the area shops now go elsewhere to spend their money; the delis and restaurants in the area lay off their immigrant counter clerks and bussers; the graphic artists and printers that worked up the catalogs have to cut back; the webpage designer for the gallery's sales has lost an important customer; rent payments and mortgage payments fall behind sending the economic ripples far down the subway line through people that never bought a piece of art in their lives; less tax money comes to the city, district and state; city workers get laid off; more demand on unemployment payouts.

On the plus side there are very good buys for art speculators; warehouses and storage facilities are doing well as banks look for places to store the seized art; court dockets fill up keeping their clerks busy; there's a demand for bubble wrap and protective coverings as art goes into storage; fraud investigators have more work as owners try to hide sales; lawyers are rubbing their hands since it looks like the terrorist trials might move elsewhere; they all need to hire more support staff.

And in Washington DC and the rubber chicken campaign circuit, our President flogs his health care plan oblivious to the ripples he sends out every day that keep the economy struggling and businesses sinking to the bottom of the government quagmire.

God, Satan and the Environmentalists

The coal mine tragedy in West Virginia is in the news. It is already morphing from a story of anxious relatives, grieving co-workers and community to one of the need for more government regulation for safety, and (who knew?), the dangers of fossil fuels. Let's forget for a moment that we Americans could save 2,000 to 3,000 lives a year by just raising the legal driving age to 18; what clout in Washington DC would that have? So whatever the hoopla or spin by the media, it isn't rooted in concern for the lives of the miners and their families and way of life in Appalachia.

Turn the page of the newspaper to the World Bank investing $3.75 billion to finance a coal fired power plant in South Africa. Notice the global spread of personal names and titles--Hitachi Power (Germany), Eskom Holdings (South Africa), the African National Congress, and S. Vijay Iyer (India) of the World Bank. This investment has the support of China, India, Brazil, and the African country members of the World Bank. Not so much the United States, which owns a lot but not enough to fight the rest.

I do love this quote by Mamatho Netsianda (who claims he answers to no white man) of Chancellor House Holdings, the investment arm of the African National Congress, which has a 25% stake in the new coal fired Hitachi Power. "I don't care who our shareholders are--whether it's God, Satan or the ANC--I'm running the company in accordance with South African law." Lucky he doesn't have a part African statist president changing all the rules as he goes along in order to by-pass both the laws of the nation and the power of the Congress at the expense of the shareholders.