Night of the Orange Moon

There was an amazing sight on Friday night, February 18, just as the daylight was dimming in the west. The moon began to rise in the east, and it glowed bright orange. I'd never seen anything like it. We were returning from a dinner out with Corbett family members at Arthur's Deli in Dixon, Illinois. The orange moon wasn't quite as bright as my brother's sweater, but it was close!

Me, my brother, and my sister.

Management styles

Pastor Drumel said this morning that there are three types of management styles (he was a manager of chaplaincy services at a Baptist Hospital in Memphis before coming to UALC): Risk taker, care taker and undertaker. Churches need to be risk takers and not do things the way they did 10 years ago, or even five. So do individual Christians.

Wisconsin Democrats hide out in Illinois

We've just returned from northern Illinois where the Wisconsin Democrats are hiding out. Actually, if they'd just travel a little south of the state line and visit Mt. Morris, where we were staying, they could get a good look at how a striking union can bring down a viable, vibrant town that used to have industries and schools. Wisconsin seems to have a wise governor who wants the public unions to give back some to the state. But that might take some power and bucks from their bosses.

Why the World is Better Off Without the USSR

The world is a much better place without the USSR. Some professors and academics (and particularly American Communists) think it's a close call. Not someone like Ilya Somin who grew up there who answers philosophy professor, Brian Leiter.

The Volokh Conspiracy » Why the World is Better Off Without the USSR

Poverty Measures in the United States

Recently I was discussing poverty statistics and guidelines with several friends. We all were using a different figure. Well, that's not surprising, so do all the government agencies. USDA, HHS, Labor, the military, DoE, Dept. of Educ.--all use a different figure, and programs are usually not figured on the base, but on calulations like 120% of poverty, or 135% of poverty, etc. The 2009 weighted average poverty threshold of $21,954 for a family of four represents the same purchasing power as the corresponding 1963 threshold of $3,128, which is when the figure was first developed by Mollie Orshansky, an economist and statistician at the Social Security Administration (SSA). Back in the 1980s, when I was researching this a bit more carefully, I calculated that I was able to feed my family of four (2 teenagers) for less than the figure the government used for the "Economy food plan" on which poverty statistics were based. That's because I contributed my own labor, and was able to drive to a supermarket to purchase food, which many poor cannot do. The highest figures I've seen have been posted at the Lutheran Food Pantry which gives a base income by number in the family for qualifying for 3 days of food donations.

Although most poor families don't actually have 2 adults and 2 children (if there were 2 adults, the family usually isn't poor), that is the figure that is used in calculating the needs.

Johnson's War on Poverty, begun in the early 1960s, ended up being a war on the poor. We employ millions of people at the state, local and federal level with the money to defeat poverty, but actually, it simply provides a nice middle class living for those who service the truly poor. Occasionally, there are families who get a boost or are tied over during a rough patch, and those are the stories you'll read about in the paper. But for the most part, the poor are penalized by these programs. If they get married, they lose a benefit. If they get a raise, they might be disqualified for an important medical benefit for a handicapped child, or education benefit, so it's better not to move ahead.

Poverty statistics are used by politicians to keep certain cities firmly in the Democratic camp, while Republicans, who have never been stingy with tax dollars, are called pikers and meanies. Until Obama, President Bush was the all-time big spender on social programs. How's that working for you, America?

HHS Poverty Guidelines Family of 4, $22,250

Low Income Levels Dept. of Ed. Family of 4, $33,075

Lifeline, telecommunications benefits for low income You're on your own figuring this one out--I couldn't

Ohio HEAP (Energy): 200% of poverty level, Family of 4, $44,100

Fashion--it's not for everyone

Tennis shoes with banded hosiery that make a woman's legs look 50 lbs heavier. Other than an anorexic 12 year old, not sure who could wear this (from WSJ, Feb. 14).

Good Governance Jargon

This is a paragraph from JAMA--no need to tell you the topic, you'll see the problem just by reading it and trying to imagine where in the world or this globe does such a governing vehicle exist? (I've parsed it a bit for spacing, but have copied it word for word.)

"International principles of good governance
require
policy makers to act transparently,
engage relevant stakeholders,
and be held accountable.
Policy makers must make clear
the reasons for,
and provide evidence supporting,
their decisions.
Stakeholder engagement ensures that
the voices of affected communities are heard.
Additionally,
policy makers should
be held accountable for
fair deliberation and
ultimately success.Take Obamacare (PPACA) as an example. Was its passage transparent? Were the stakeholders (that's citizens) engaged? Has Congress or the President or the staff who drafted it been held accountable? Were the reasons for this takeover made clear to your liking? Was there supporting evidence for their decisions? Were the stakeholders heard, but ignored, shouted down, demeaned or ridiculed? Were the policy makers held accountable, or did they just leave office to draw a government pension leaving it to the rest to figure it out?

This paragraph was not about Obamacare, but it does say it is about "international principles," and we know how the present administration swoons over that.

Date of baptism

Last week Pastor John Stozenbach talked about his baptism in the sermon (on baptism), and mentioned the date, and then asked us if we knew the date of our baptism. I didn't. I was pretty sure it was 1950, but didn't have a clue about the day. So I' e-mailed a friend, Sylvia, who still attends that church and is my age and asked her if her mother might have recorded it (she had great scrapbooks since she was the oldest child--I was lucky to have a photograph being third). Sylvia went to the church archives and found out our class was baptized on April 2, 1950 at the Mt. Morris Church of the Brethren. I looked up the date and that was Palm Sunday. I didn't have a "confirmation" verse, but John told us to select one if we didn't. So I've chosen Acts 2:42, which describes the early church group of the baptized 3,000 converted after Peter's sermon. There were four elements of their life as a church, 1) teaching of the apostles, 2) their fellowship together, 3) sharing a meal (eucharist/love feast) and 4) prayer. Isn't that a nice model, even for old timers in the 21st century?

Then it occurred to me today that when we joined UALC in 1976 it was on Palm Sunday also, and that we were confirmed, whereas those who were Lutherans were received by letter of transfer. So Palm Sunday was a big day.

Aunt Muriel, 1917-2011

My mother's sister, Muriel, died last night. In 2009 my grandmother's youngest sister, Ada, died. Now they are all gone, but safe in the arms of Jesus.

Muriel, a teen-ager, at my parents wedding, 1934, far left front.

Two years ago at her birthday party.

The Young and Restleft--a Soap Opera for our Times

Sometimes these people just leave me speechless--and that's hard to do.

"Shame on those who got their education for free telling today's young they must start their working lives mired in debt.

Shame on the generation that got everything, took everything and bought everything and left latter generations with nothing.

Shame on the cowards who sneer that those standing up for their interests, when every day the cowards reap the benefits of those who took a stand in years past."

You dolt with no sense of life before 1970. I left college with zero debt because I didn't borrow money. I worked and saved during high school, earned it working part time in college, and spent it on tuition, books, housing, and NO WILD LIVING, and when it didn't meet my needs I borrowed from my parents. It's called "being a grown-up."

And the rest is just drivel I can't address since I don't hang out with people who are takers and not givers.

Sorry I forgot to copy the website--probably isn't worth visiting. Called himself Sleezy or Snippy or Sleepy, something like that.

The Bucket List

A high school friend has told me that Lakeside is on her "bucket list." So I've sent her the schedule for this coming summer, which is now just 4 months away. Here's the schedule, but it couldn't possibly tell you all there is to do there--art classes, lectures, movies, live entertainment, bird walks, shuffleboard, tennis, swimming, boating, people watching and lake enjoying.

Danny and Phil

August sunrise

Shuffleboard in Central Park

Why no comments about the Obama interview with O'Reilly?

I don't like the way O'Reilly conducts his interviews and I don't like the way the interviewees, whether Obama or some other government official, never answer the questions. Each has his own agenda. Also, Obama's mannerisms, words and stammering bother me. Like the White House comments right now on Egypt. The WH has waffled more than John Kerry on this, and flip flopped more than an Egyptian sandal. For a guy who doesn't even like or respect our military, of which he is the commander and chief, he sure is expecting a lot from theirs. He sounds like he's campaigning.

Got gas?

Gasoline prices in Columbus, Ohio for the last 6 years.

Will Egypt's army take control?

"CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's military announced on national television that it stepped in to “safeguard the country” and assured protesters that President Hosni Mubarak will meet their demands in the strongest indication yet that the longtime leader has lost power. In Washington, the CIA chief said there was a “strong likelihood” Mr. Mubarak will step down Thursday.

State TV said Mr. Mubarak will speak to the nation Thursday night from his palace in Cairo.

The military‘s dramatic announcement showed that the military was taking control after 17 days of protests demanding Mr. Mubarak‘s immediate ouster spiraled out of control.

Footage on state TV showed Defense Minster Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi chairing the military‘s supreme council, with around two dozen top stern-faced army officers, seated around a table. Not at the meeting were Mr. Mubarak, the military commander in chief, or his vice president Omar Suleiman, a former army general and intelligence chief named to his post after the protests erupted Jan. 25.

That could be a sign that Mr. Suleiman, as well, was being pushed out of power."

Egypt army takes control, signals Mubarak on way out - Washington Times

History of Prostitution

Before I pass along this interesting reprint (1937, Eugenics Society) of a 19th c. book, I'll copy a few sentences.

"It has been well observed that a people's virtue or vice does not consist in the arithmetical increase or decrease of immoral actions, but in the prevailing sentiment of an age or people, which condemns or approves them." Russia, p. 262

The author had just summarized how late Russia had entered the modern era, and how in the Elizabethan age of England the Czar of Muscovy was considered a barbarian. Maybe he's not saying we get the government and culture and values we deserve, but I think that sentence could apply to our current age.

"The Watul, or Gipsy tribe of Kashmir is remarkable for many lovely women, who are taught to please the taste of the voluptuary. They sing licentious songs in an amorous tone, dance in a lascivious measure, dress in a peculaiarly fascinating manner, and seduce by the very expression of their countenances. . . and have been known to amass large sums of money." Semi-civilized nations, p. 420

My, doesn't that sound like the movie star gossip rags I browsed while waiting in the grocery store line yesterday. When the author gets to New York in his survey, he divides its prostitution into five grades, the first being the wealthy kept women of wealthy men; then those in comfortable brothels run by former prostitutes; then on to the immigrant women with poor English, the Irish below the German; and the fourth group he calls repulsive refuse, diseased and drunk with vagrants for clients. The last group are even more wretched, and have no shelter, are starving, drunk, and begging for a glass of gin. The author describes them as the outcasts of society, and the direction those in the higher classes are moving.

Good Samaritan saves a tire

At church Sunday, someone took the time to write out a note and slip it under the windshield wiper of my husband's car, "low tire." This nice person wasn't counting on the way my husband processes information. All he saw was a restaurant check (other side) and he put it in the car thinking it was from me (this baffles me, since this isn't how we communicate). Last evening he brings the "restaurant check" to me and asks what I want done with it. I looked at it and didn't recognize the name of the restaurant, so I asked him where it came from, and he said it was on his windshield. So, being a clever investigative librarian, I turned it over and saw the note. "Someone has left you a note. Do you have a low tire?" "Don't think so, but I'll go look." He came back in the house and confirmed that yes, one tire was very low. He'd already made a number of errands that day. So today he took his SUV to our son at Jack Maxton, who found all four were low, but one was really low.

Thanks, who ever you are, for saving a tire or preventing an accident.

Closet cleaning tip

I saw a way to trim your closets: turn all of your clothes hangers around, then turn them back when you wear an item. If the item is never warn in a season, (year), consider discarding.

I don't need that trick. I can tell by looking in the closet what hasn't been worn, and there are several reasons: 1) Doesn't fit; 2) isn't comfortable; 3) it's not attractive on me; 3) it needs to be ironed, and if I wear it, I'll have to iron it.

So this morning, 6 nice cotton blend blouses are leaving the house. All have enough cotton in them that I spray starch and iron and look rumpled 10 minutes after I wear them, so I tend to choose something else. Four light weight cotton jackets--one is ugly, one wrinkles, one is uncomfortable and one doesn't fit. Also a fancy 2 piece blouse that I've worn for winter dress-up events, but it's actually too sheer to be comfortable in any weather. A kitty vest that I really like, but is about 12 years old.

This jacket is leaving home.

Confused, bothered and befuddled — Everyday Math

Since I don't have grandchildren, I'm not really up on what children are learning in school these days. The closest I came to any gossip was several years ago when my husband complained about an elementary science/math class in which he volunteered on the Hilltop (low income). Even the teacher couldn't figure out the problems and asked him for help. It was his last year to volunteer--it was like watch child cruelty. Then a few weeks ago I was in the middle of a discussion (I was just listening) of a mom, a teen-ager, and a software writer who were discussing something called "spiraling" and "Chicago Math" aka "Everyday math." The 10th grader was obviously a bright young lady, but she had decided to avoid all routes to what might have been a promising career in science, which she loved, because of the way math was taught. She never could get that "a-ha" feeling of accomplishment and feel comfortable moving to the next concept. She was planning on a career in literature, she told me. So I looked it up--Chicago Math (University of Chicago) or EM, Everyday Math. As one who was never really strong in math, but have found it useful to know the multiplication tables, how to divide, know what a percentage means and calculate my grocery bill as things pass through the clerks hands, I think this sounds absolutely awful. Sort of like those awful story problems in third grade--if a train is going 15 mph, and a donkey runs along side, how long before it gets to Chicago. Sounds like some egg heads have hijacked our math classes so the Japanese, Chinese and Indians can get hired on emergency visas 10 years from now.

Confused, bothered and befuddled — Joanne Jacobs

If you've never heard of EM or Chicago Math, view this YouTube, and you be. . . stunned.

Dietary Guidelines Call for More Exercise, Less Food

Just to look at me, you probably wouldn't notice I've lost 80 lbs. Yes, 20 lbs. in 1960, 20 lbs in 1983, 20 lbs in 1993 and 20 lbs in 2006. Same 20 lbs each time. And by the miracle of the fashion industry I weigh 10 lbs more in 2011 but am 2 dress sizes smaller. Who knew?

The new guidelines don't look all that different than the 2005 guidelines. Maybe they are pushing more exercise? Anyone can lose weight. All diets work. It's keeping it off that's the problem. But I will admit that the weight I lost in 1983 stayed off the longest, because it was through aerobics, and not by dieting. Whatever crosses the lips and tongue eventually has to be atoned for in energy use. The 20 lbs I lost in 2006, which was by eating healthier--more fruits and vegetables, and saying no to desserts, French fries, pizza, and salty snacks--began creeping back in the fall of 2007 when we went to Ireland, and were eating lots of wonderful food 3 times a day on a Illini Alumni Tour. Then the Italy Tour in 2008 pretty much restored everything I'd lost in 2006. My goodness that Italian food is good.

Some people say they just don't know why they gain weight. I know exactly why. Today, instead of 5 vegetables which I would have eaten 4 years ago for lunch when I was losing weight while eating healthier, I had a sandwich with meat and cheese, some chips, and a few pieces of dark chocolate.

Dietary Guidelines Call for More Exercise, Less Food - WSJ.com

The Oct. 27, 2010 JAMA featured several articles on obesity and testing interventions on class II and class III obesity. This study included commercial weight loss programs. It seems to be a rather successful weight loss with follow up after 2 years. Unfortunately, there was no significant effect on cardiopulmonary fitness, cholesterol levels, physical or mental quality of life, or depression. There was a reduction in C-reactive protein levels and improvement in leptin levels.

The greatest obesity problem in the U.S. is among African American women, of whom about 28% are obese, much higher than black men or white women of Hispanics. And would you believe they are pondering whether there is a biological factor?

"The degree of adiposity associated with a given level of BMI varies by age, sex, and racial and ethnic group.​ Relative to white men and women at the same BMI level, black men and women tend to have higher lean mass and lower fat mass.​ The relative, although not absolute, health risks associated with a given BMI level may be lower for blacks than for whites. Asian populations tend to have higher body fat percentages at a given BMI level and possible higher risks; however, this theory has been disputed.​ Considerable discussion has addressed the public health and policy issues of using different BMI cutoff points for different ethnic groups that have different relationships with BMI, body fat, and health risks." Katherine M. Flegal, Prevalence and Trends in Obesity Among US Adults, 1999-2008. JAMA. 2010;303(3):235-241.

Why the privileged left the "Workers' Paradise"

"In January 2010, my father went to hear a talk by Boris Gulko, a Russian Jewish chess grandmaster who had won the USSR championship in 1977 and later emigrated to the United States, eventually winning the US championship as well. Knowing my interest in chess history, my father asked whether I had any questions I wanted him to pose to Gulko. One of my proposed questions was why Gulko had decided to leave the Soviet Union. My father said that this was a stupid question. The answer was too obvious.

Nonetheless, I persisted in urging him to ask it. After all, Gulko had been a privileged member of the Soviet elite who had every reason not to risk those privileges.

Gulko’s answer to my question was a telling one. He said that he did not want to be a “slave” anymore. Despite his relatively privileged status, he could no longer tolerate life under the control of a totalitarian state that, among other things, could take away all his privileges at any time.

Like most Soviet Jews, Gulko had experienced plenty of anti-Semitism. But it was not so much the special oppression of the Jews that led him to emigrate, but the generalized oppression he endured along with all the other citizens of Lenin’s Workers’ Paradise. My parents’ motives for leaving were in many ways similar to Gulko’s. They too were fleeing communism as much or more so than anti-Semitism. Only their decision was easier than his, since they didn’t have as much to lose."
Ilya Somin Memoirs

Somin's story of his family's coming to the USA when he was 5 knowing no English is very interesting. You can hear him debate the constitutionality of Obamacare here.