US midterm elections: Volatile forces shape US vote

A new angle to smear the Tea Party candidates and conservative Republicans--anti-science! Whoop! Now which threatens real scientific research more, back breaking deficits and killing the golden tax goose (a thriving market economy which brings in more tax dollars), or Tea Party candidates? Obama worsened the gulf oil spill mess by destroying more jobs and shipping money and jobs to Mexico and Brazil so they can mess up the oceans with drilling.

This editorial in Nature reflects the continuing support among academics and eggheads for the failed Obama administration. They've still got the guilt glitter in their eyes and are seeing Obama through rose colored hopey changey glasses.

"In the face of fiscal constraints to come, making decisions on where to cut and how that will affect our research and innovation effort is a very serious issue," says Anne Solomon, a senior adviser on science and technology at the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress, a think tank based in Washington DC. An issue paper co-authored this year by Solomon calls for a "science and technology-enhanced Congress", in which legislators are broadly knowledgeable about science and have better access to technical expertise on the complex issues they face — from energy policy, to education, to economic and security matters. In fact, the opposite is likely to be true of the next Congress.

Obama's promise to "restore science to its rightful place" was no promise at all--it was just one more whiny childish slam at George W. Bush, and I'm surprised the editors of Nature fell for it. And hopping on the embryonic stem cell band wagon? Oh please! Is that the best you have to offer? This piece resembles the new WH charges about the Chamber of Commerce--just accusations, no facts. I concur with the reader who left this comment:

"Nature editors use weasel words and constructions that they would scarcely countenance in something placed rather deeper inside the covers of the magazine.

The fighting is now "hyper-partisan" (with no reference or supporting evidence--maybe a Lexis-Nexis comparison?) compared with past US elections. This makes progress "virtually" impossible so that "Voters on all sides sense that too many privileged Americans, including the politicians for whom they end up casting their ballots, are engaged in reckless behaviour that leaves a mess behind." Really? You've got some parsed polling data to support this assertion somewhere?"

US midterm elections: Volatile forces shape US vote : Nature News

EPA Funnels Taxpayer Money to Dozens of Liberal Community Activist Groups

An Acorn by any other name is still a nut. Community activist groups, ah, let me count the ways they can spend our money. The $2 million EPA will send out in environmental justice grants will probably go to pay more salary and administrative costs. Spread among 76 groups that's just "get out the vote" money.

educate senior citizens on climate change

community bike rides

increase awareness about the dangers of sun and heat exposure

investigate the environmental impact of practices such as idling automobiles and buses at school entrances

Kinda makes me wonder what they were doing before the money infusion.

EPA Funnels Taxpayer Money to Dozens of Liberal Community Activist Groups | CNSnews.com

Private vs Public School teachers assessment of their schools

Public school teachers have unions and all the perks. They are well paid and have terrific pensions awaiting them after 30 years, some in their 50s, young enough to start a new career or go back and teach. You can check at Buckeye Institute for your district (in Ohio). [I checked someone who teaches half time for $43,000 for 184 days, and her life time pension (based on 18 years average) is worth $638,400 at this point.] However, private school teachers seem to have in their schools more of what we want for our public schools according to a new AEI study on civics and citizenship.

•While just under half (45 percent) of public school teachers say social studies is considered an absolutely essential subject area in their district, two out of three private school teachers (68 percent) say this is true for them.

•Private school teachers are almost twice as likely to report having a great deal of control over what topics they choose to cover and how quickly or slowly they move through the curriculum (86 percent versus 45 percent).

•Private school teachers report significantly higher levels of confidence that most students in their high schools learn what they are supposed to before they graduate. This confidence differential is especially stark on items pertaining to the implicit curriculum, such as teaching good work habits and respect for authority. For example:

◦"To have good work habits such as being timely, persistent, and hardworking" garners 31 percent "very confident" responses among private school teachers, compared with 6 percent among public.

◦"To be tolerant of people and groups who are different from themselves" garners 43 percent "very confident" among private, compared with 19 percent among public.

•Private school teachers are also more likely to report an overall more positive school atmosphere for conveying the importance of citizenship:

◦Their high school has a community-service requirement for graduation (82 percent versus 37 percent).

◦Their administration maintains a school atmosphere where adults are respected (88 percent versus 65 percent).

◦Their high school encourages involvement in student government and other issues-oriented clubs (91 percent versus 73 percent).

Komen for the Cure Donated $7.5M to Planned Parenthood Abortion Biz in 2009

"The Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation has long denied that abortion plays any role in elevating the risk for women of contracting the deadly disease.

That's despite a wealth of research over decades showing an average increased risk of about 40 percent for women having abortions compared to those who carry their pregnancy to term.

But the contributions Komen affiliates make to Planned Parenthood, which does more than 25 percent of all abortions in the United States and aggressively promotes abortion abroad, provide another sources of frustration for pro-life people who otherwise would support the group."

The excuse that this money goes to poor women without insurance for mammograms is pretty lame. That just means it frees up more of PP other money for abortions!



Komen for the Cure Donated $7.5M to Planned Parenthood Abortion Biz in 2009

Congressional staff gain from trading in stocks overseen by employers

The Wall Street Journal on October 11 looked at congressional financial disclosures and found 72 staffers of both Republicans and Democrats who held shares in companies overseen by the staffers' employers.

"Unlike many Executive Branch employees, lawmakers and aides don't have restrictions on their stock holdings and ownership interests in companies they oversee. Congressional rules say that requiring employees to do so could "insulate a legislator from the personal and economic interests that his or her constituency, or society in general, has in governmental decisions and policy." An analysis of financial-disclosure forms for 2008 and 2009 compiled by the website LegiStorm shows that several hundred congressional aides bought or sold stocks. At least 72 traded the stocks of companies their bosses write laws for."

Congressional Staffers Gain From Trading in Stocks - WSJ.com
While the rest of us piddle around in 4-5% gains, they're doing 90%+, but hey--no conflict; husbands and wives don't even discuss what's going on--the money just keeps on rolling in. And if you believe that. . .

Obama and Palin 10th Cousins

I guess it's nothing to blog or brag about that while in Illinois in the parking lot of the Mexican restaurant I ran into my first cousin once removed, Margaret, her daughter, Sharlein who is my second cousin (we share great-grandparents Leanor and William Ballard), and her son Bryan and wife, my second cousin once removed, and his daughter, my (?) second cousin twice removed. I've checked my database and I don't have their names, but Bryan is 30 and this was the first time we'd met.

But POTUS Barack Obama is the 7th cousin 3 times removed of Warren Buffett and 10th cousin of Sarah Palin and 11th cousin of George W. Bush (and all the other Bushes are assorted cousins, too). Rush Limbaugh is his 10th cousin once removed as is his brother David. The ancestor he shares with Buffett was a slave owner who came to the continent in the 16th century. No word on whether his Kenyan ancestors helped round up fellow Africans to sell to the European slave traders.

Obama and Palin: Cousins? - NATASHA LENNARD | POLITICO CLICK

I used to think it was really odd that people took photos of grave markers, but now I do it. I was able to walk through the back yard while visiting in Mt. Morris, stroll through the school track field to Plainview cemetery and visit "the old folks at home (with Jesus)" to spend some quiet time with them. Someday at the resurrection we'll all be together again.

Great grandparents who were born in Tennessee, but lived most of their lives in Illinois

Cousin Phil, grandson of the above, and his wife who were killed in an auto accident near Oregon, IL.

Little Alma Fay, my grandmother's sister who died in 1908 as a baby, first child born after they came to Illinois.

Driving with the radio

On long trips like the 9.5 hours to northern Illinois I like to listen to a.m. radio. We like our favorite talk shows, but there's a time change to account for, so we have to listen through all the drive time chatter about traffic, whether it's in Chicago or St. Louis or Indianapolis. I think music on the radio is being wiped clear by people using i-pods, because I really didn't find much. And the political ads--they were excruciating. Not only have we already voted (mail in), but we didn't know any of the names or issues. They all sound alike--everyone running against candidate so-and-so is crooked, or let someone out of jail, or has taken special interest money, or shipped jobs off shore. I did find a familiar Cincinnati voice, Mike McConnell, but he was on a Chicago station--WGN. He's got an incredible voice and style. . . but didn't seem as loosey goosey as his former gig. And the women! Oh my, oh my. Such nasel, whiney, harsh voices. Found very few I could listen to more than a few minutes. And twirling the dial, I decided no one sounds better or is more talented than our own Bob Connors, right here in Columbus WTVN 610.

Night Time is the Right Time--the Huxtable family

October 10, 1985, the Huxtable family entertained Cliff's parents with lip-synching the Ray Charles classic, "Night Time Is the Right Time." Episode #27. Never was another consistently good show on TV for the whole family. Loved the clothes.

Cosby Show sing Night Time Is The Right Time by Ray Charles
- Watch more Music Videos at Vodpod.

Obama loves a teachable moment

". . . and there’s no better one than Obamacare’s six month anniversary (September 23). Pay attention, class: The central piece of Barack Obama’s presidency is a law that was passed by a narrow partisan margin over a public outcry—a law that increases dependency on government and will do untold damage to American health care. Repeal of that law will presumably require a Republican president in addition to a Republican Congress, so the homework assignment for 2013 is tough but worthwhile. Repeat after us: Don’t let Obamacare reach its third birthday." Matthew Continetti

Obama's Reading List

Where is it? The media ridiculed President Bush for being such a dunce--until they learned about his reading list which was primarily history, biography and political science, but included Camus. Then the non-reading reporters chastized him for not reading topics more liberal, or not a different title by an author. Here's the stunned Richard Cohen of WaPo:

"Bush read 95 books in 2006 alone. In 2007, he read 51 books and as of last week, he had read 40 in 2008. . . [Karl] Rove appreciates that he's written a caricature-buster. "In the 35 years I've known George W. Bush, he's always had a book nearby," he writes. "He plays up being a good ol' boy from Midland, Texas, but he was a history major at Yale and graduated from Harvard Business School. You don't make it through either unless you are a reader.""

So today we get "Obama's Rap Palatte " and Thomas Chatterton Williams questions why he's being praised for his "updated" selection, referring back to a Rolling Stones article, although even 2008 articles featured his i-pod so he'd appear "with-it."

Hip-Hop. Jay-Z, little Nas and Lil Wayne, to name three. Rapping about pornography and drugs, violence and murder, and of course, dissing women.

But yes, bloggers say Obama does read. (I googled it), although not as much or as widely as Bush. He can list his favorites (including his own titles) and his current reads, which don't overly impress me, but hey, it's better than my TBR list. But I refuse to listen to music that disses women and for a wife and 2 daughters, it's not a good idea for him either.



Thomas Chatterton Williams wrote Losing my Cool about how reading helped him escape many of the negative aspects of black culture.

The Kirwin Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity

I've been looking through the programming, publications and propaganda put out by the Kirwin Institute here at Ohio State University in Columbus and find nothing but hopelessness, divisiveness, anger, and hatred. Why are we employing people to constantly be stirring the pot? Were there not enough academics in the Black Studies, Women Studies, Social Work, Public Health, etc. departments to do this? I read one heart breaking piece on the black women, forgotten, being pulled out of the Anthony Sowell property in Cleveland a year ago. No mention that the killer was a black man--just condemnation of a racist society that cares so little when a black woman disappears. No mention that a few had never been reported missing by their families.

Some samples, just in case anything were resolved, to continue the employment of the staff:

Social justice issues are never static and new challenges and issues are constantly emerging [so we can keep our grant money flowing?].

In addition to our core research areas, the Institute has several emerging research initiatives that are responsive to new issues that have profound impacts on racial and ethnic groups. . . Our work operates on the premise that opportunities exist in a complex web of interdependent factors, and that to alleviate inequities in any single area, we must first consider the entire structure that supports these inequities. [We're on a roll--let's see how far we can go with this web!]

Inequality has a geographic footprint. We have pioneered the use of maps to communicate the history and presence of discriminatory and exclusionary policies that spatially segregate people [Let's draw in academics from geography and urban planning.]

You get the idea. This is a funding scheme that will never end.

Cal baseball's demise is Title IX fallout

This is happening because of Title IX, but that isn't mentioned in the article.

According to Saving Sports, a blog devoted to Title IX:

Five teams eliminated at Cal. Baseball, Men's and Women's Gymnastics and Women's Lacrosse will be eliminated at the end of the season. Men's rugby, the only varsity program in the entire country, will be downgraded to "varsity club" status -- which in essence is an accounting device to get the team's players off the books to help with Title IX enforcement.

Cal baseball's demise shocks big-league alums

As seen on TV--terrorists for global warming

Children are executed in a British global warming terror commercial which has to be the most evil, most cause-defeating ad ever created. After 2 children do not agree with the teacher to encourage their families to reduce their carbon footprint, they are blown up, splattering the other children with body parts. Hard to imagine any ad agency this stupid. It's British, not USA, but the hard sell for global warming is about the same.

I guess it's true--you can't fix stupid.  It's called the 10:10 campaign.

Whatever happened to Shirley Sherrod?

Is her 15 minutes of fame over? The last news I can find about her is dated August 24 and she'd turned down a new job at the USDA and was going to lie low for awhile. I don't know if Obama ever apologized to her or not, but I doubt that firing her was Vilsack's idea. As it turned out, or turned up after her name kept appearing, she and her husband were involved in some payout from the government that needed further investigation, so I think she's smart to disappear for awhile. And consult with her lawyer.

Some new regulations came out of this, and number one is, well, I'm flummoxed that it wasn't in place: "1.) The department should follow existing resignation protocol and review all relevant facts before making a decision." I mean, even political appointees deserve some fair play.

The rug

There's a lot to think about in this simple video.

Helping Wisconsin stay competitive in the global market

Somebody needed to help--might as well be me. Yesterday I bought an 8 oz tub of Rondole spreadable cheddar with horseradish. My goodness that is yummy on Ritz crackers. Not everyone enjoys reading the genealogy of American companies--but I do. Even the companies the libs love to hate, like McDonald's or Wal-Mart started out small with a better idea and better product until they were hated by competitors and socialists.

But what about Rondole Cheese? Here's what I found out and have pieced together in a few minutes.

At around the turn of the 20th century, three cheese factories were established in Wisconsin's rural North Central region--the Hamburg Cheese Manufacturing Co., the Cornbelt Cheese Factory and the Riverside Cheese Factory. These were known for producing outstanding bulk cheeses.

As these factories were handed down through generations of family ownership, competition became increasingly fierce, but not from one another. Family-run cheese companies were under pressure from cooperatives and large processors that had taken cheese production to new levels. Modern manufacturing facilities, huge investments in research and development, and even larger investments in marketing and distribution were challenging the capabilities of many family-operated companies.

In 1969, in an effort to remain competitive, Hamburg, Cornbelt and Riverside merged to create Wisconsin River Valley Cheese Inc. The new concern constructed a manufacturing plant on 80 acres in central Wisconsin, where production would continue on the high-quality cheese products for which the three predecessor companies had become known. Production began in 1970, but just two years later, Wisconsin River Valley Cheese was purchased by Connecticut-based Anco International. In 1974, the company was renamed InoFoods and the Rondele brand was born.

In 1974, InoFoods introduced its first product, a soft spreadable gourmet cheese named Rondele. Soon after its introduction, Rondele began competing favorably against the European imports that had long dominated the spreadable category. Kraft acquired InoFoods in 1990 making enhancements to the production facility, but in 1996, its focus on gourmet cheeses changed and sold InoFoods to Vermont-based Waterbury Specialty Foods.

Waterbury's interests were then acquired by the independent Rondele Specialty Foods, which re-established the product line, refocused distribution and initiated manufacturing initiatives, while driving brand equity. Facilitator Capital Fund, a Wisconsin-based private equity fund, and a group of private investors acquired rondelé in 1998. In late 2004 Lactalis USA, a subsidiary of Groupe Lactalis, the world's 8th largest dairy manufacturer, which included President’s brand, acquired Rondole Specialty foods.

In August 2010 it was announced that Lactalis American Group, which operates manufacturing plants south of Merrill and in Belmont, Wisconsin, received $57,000 in Dairy Manufacturing Facility Investment credits for the $2.7 million expansion at both locations.

“Agriculture and dairy are the backbone of Wisconsin’s economy – contributing more than 10 percent of the jobs in Wisconsin and about $59 billion to our economy every year,” Governor Doyle said. “The Dairy Manufacturing Facility Investment Tax Credits we are announcing today are helping Lactalis stay competitive on the global market, so that it can continue to thrive and support jobs here in Wisconsin.”

To support breast cancer research--the pink glove dance

This is a great video. St. Vincent Medical Center in Providence. Love the final shot with the janitor.



When you donate for any disease cause, just be sure it really is for research and that the sponsoring agent isn't taking a huge cut. Education and information is nice, it's important, but it doesn't cure anyone.

Not even close

Glenn Beck Restoring Honor, August 28, 2010

Tides supported One Nation rally, October 2, 2010

The One Nation Working Together demand more rally on October 2, had both required attendance and paid transportation and it couldn't even come close to Glenn Beck's Restoring Honor Rally on August 28, 2010. This is an aerial shot--you could have flown in a few Tea Party rallies and still had plenty of room. Obama just can't draw a crowd anymore, and besides, he left town.

Sweden's Political Landscape: In Muslim Neighborhoods, Firemen and Emergency Workers Refuse to Enter Without Police Protection

We are in the midst of being innundated with political ads by phone, TV, radio and internet. How would you like to live in Sweden which has 7 political parties and governs with alliances that can fall apart quickly. The Sweden Democrats party isn't very old (although I don't know how old any of them are) and appears to be more nationalistic than the others--looks to me like this is their Tea Party. Sweden now has about 1/9 of its population as immigrants, so I'm guessing the politically incorrect nationalists are starting to look a bit better to the liberal Swedes.

"During the last several decades, massive immigration-flows to Sweden have transformed the country to the point where immigrants, many of whom refuse to learn Swedish and integrate into Swedish society, now make up almost 20% of the country's total population. Of the 9.4 million Swedes, roughly 1.5 million are foreign-born. In addition, there are an estimated 1 million children of immigrants, 100,000 illegal immigrants, and 50,000 more asylum-seekers awaiting clearance. Further, about 100,000 additional immigrants enter the country each year.

In Malmö, Sweden's third-largest city, almost 40% of the population is foreign; and some immigrant neighborhoods in the city have unemployment rates exceeding 60%. In Malmö's mostly Muslim Rosengard neighborhood, fire and emergency workers refuse to enter without police protection. An immigrant-fuelled crime wave affects one of every three Malmö families each year, while the number of rapes has tripled in 20 years.

Highlighting the increasing assertiveness of Sweden's Muslim community, the Muslim Council of Sweden recently dispatched letters to each of the major political parties in Sweden demanding special legislation for Muslims in Sweden. The demands included: the right to specific Islamic holidays; special public financing for the building of mosques; a demand that all divorces between Muslim couples be approved by an Imam; and that Imams should be allowed to teach Islam to Muslim children in public schools."

At least in Finland the immigrants learn Swedish, just like the Finns do. I wonder if on her next trip with 40 of her closest friends, Michelle might want to be a guest of Sweden? Might open her eyes. Then she could talk to her husband.

Sweden's Political Landscape: In Muslim Neighborhoods, Firemen and Emergency Workers Refuse to Enter Without Police Protection :: Hudson New York

Happy Blogiversary to me

This is my 7th blogiversary. Yes, been blogging for 7 years. Began October 3, 2003, then back filled to October 1, because it just didn't look tidy.  Do you realize how hard it is to find an image of a blogiversary cake with a candle shaped like a 7?  I guess not very many people make it this far--especially not if they have 12 blog.

Now that I've changed my template, all the colors are wrong for the headings, links and side-bars. Sighs. Too bad. Why should my blog be better coordinated than my closet?