Obama’s Keystone Evasion

Sometimes, Obama is the most transparent of any president we've ever had. Like his campaign tricks. He doesn't even try to hide what he's doing. Put in a plug for the veterans, who he hates, while postponing a real job creator.

President Obama’s announcement that he will delay a decision on approval of the Keystone Pipeline until after the 2012 election typifies his feckless presidency. Torn between the need to create jobs, reduce the cost of energy and get our economy going on one hand, and the emotional biases of his environmentalist base on the other, Obama punted. I assume that if and when the time comes–post-election–Obama will do what he has wanted to do all along, and kill the pipeline.

Obama’s Keystone Evasion | Power Line

The pipeline wouldn't have been a "stimulus jr." or an FDR WPA temp job project. According to this author, "the pipeline would moderate the price of oil and create between 250,000 and 553,000 permanent American jobs."

Americans' Ability to Afford Food Nears Three-Year Low

The percentage of Americans reporting that they had enough money to buy the food they or their families needed continued to decline in October, nearing the record low seen in November 2008. The percentage who did not lack money for food in 2011 fell to 79.8% from 80.1% in September, continuing a decline that began in April.

I'd love to be able to dig a little deeper into these questions. The food questions, for instance. This question asks about anytime in the last 12 months, and I assume the same people who were called in October, weren't called in September. Also, how do you have over 90% saying they have no problem obtaining fresh fruits and vegetables, when 79.8 say they didn't have enough money to buy the food their family needed? I think the word "need" is key here. There are American families (I know this will shock you) who think soft drinks and pizza are a "need." I stand next to them in the check out lines. Also, a lot of people think everything they buy at the supermarket is "food" when in fact about 20-30% of the bill are health and beauty, or as we say in Ohio, taxables (we don't tax food here).

There is no question included in the survey about whether the interviewee knows how to cook, or does she/he just open a package or turn on the microwave. You can feed a lot of people with $5.00 of potatoes, a gallon of milk, and a pound of cheese, but not if you buy potatoes in a box with chives and dried cream sauce. There is no question included about where they shop. Last week at Marc's (deep discount and remainder store) a manager told me they did $20,000 more in October 2011 than October 2010. That says something that when squeezed, shoppers will change from the fancy, beautifully appointed, and widely displayed varieties of Giant Eagle at the Market, to the crowded, sort of rumpled, down at the heels Marc's where the staff never smiles or rushes up to help you.

One thing the charts in this survey show--during Obama's reign, basic needs have gotten worse in shelter, food, insurance, even the perception of safety (walking at night).
Americans' Ability to Afford Food Nears Three-Year Low

Don't ask me to "go green"

Going "green?" Newsletters, reports, directories, etc. suggest "going green" and saving the organization money. Pinecrest in Mt. Morris, IL was the most recent to suggest it. No thanks. A church or organization directory on line is useless as far as I'm concerned. Where will I write their cell phone # or the date I sent a card? I like to take the Pinecrest newsletter or the Ohio Historical Society newsletter or the TIAA-CREF newsletter to the coffee shop or the coffee table and take a closer look. I still think UALC made a HUGE mistake by discontinuing mailing its newsletter, even if it is available on-line. It's amazing what I see that I don't if it comes up on a screen for 20 seconds as I go through e-mail. Besides, my husband doesn't do e-mail. I know, some day it will probably not even be an option, but until then, I want to support the Post Office.

And if you're planning to e-mail your Christmas letter this year, go ahead, but it probably won't be read.

I know just the guy for this position

"The Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology (EEOB) in the College of Arts and Sciences at The Ohio State University invites applications for a tenure-track position at the Assistant Professor Rank in Evolutionary or Ecological Genomics. We seek outstanding individuals who address fundamental questions in evolution and/or ecology either through the generation of large-scale sequence or gene expression data or by using either computational/statistical approaches for the analysis of genomic data."

Paul's letter to the church at Colossae explains creation and beginnings.

Colossians 1:15-23
15 Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, 16 for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see—such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. 17 He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together.

18 Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything. 19 For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, 20 and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.

Paterno Firing Sparks Riots--Glenn Beck unhinged

I turned off the Glenn Beck radio show today--he went bonkers over the rioting at Penn State. Compared to the rioters of the Occupy variety, these made some sense, but Glenn threw them into the same bag. Paterno may have not done all he was morally required to do, but he did what is legally required--he went through the chain of command and assumed (mistakenly) that someone else was investigating and taking care of their responsibilities. I don't think college coaches get annual lectures from County Child Services on what to report the way public school teachers do.

Also, we live in a sex saturated society--our reality TV has unwed pregnant teens on reality shows; politicians actually defend the rights of people to watch whatever on the internet, knowing that many of these "stars" male and female are underage; whenever religious groups object to girls and women being sexualized by the entertainment media, they've considered ridiculously old fashioned (unless they are Muslims, and then it's OK); late night "comedians" made jokes about assaulting Palin's daughter without being fired; and what straight teen could ever go to his school administration after being assaulted by a gay teen in the rest room because the protected groups are the only victims recognized? This is the sexpocrisy the college kids have experienced all their lives.

So college kids riot when they see adults pointing fingers and passing the buck before there's even a trial of the guy who actually did the deed? I'm with 'em on this one. They have a lot more on their side than people trying to bring down the financial system.

Paterno Firing Sparks Riots | Road Runner Image Gallery - Road Runner#rr%2F55278605%2F55272965%2F

The hypocrisy over the Penn State sex scandal

Am I the only one who recognizes the hypocrisy going on with the cya at Penn State? There is a national organization, "North American Man Boy Love," Nambla or some such name, which grooms young boys to be lovers of gay men. They have their own news bulletin and wiki. They are all over the internet and no one shuts them down or arrests them that I've heard of. These gay men influence legislation to lower the age of consent and to have their lifestyle accepted with other gay rights issues which involve consenting adults. I have come across a corresponding radical lesbian organization that sponsors camps for underage teen-age girls to help them "discover" their sexuality, but I think that's less common. Nambla doesn't consider sex with a teen-ager as pedophilia. Some advocates don't think sex with non-teen boys is abuse. You can google it, but it's a good way to pick up a virus, a hacker, or nasty e-mails. By even suggesting that they are perverts, I'll have nasty comments I'll have to monitor and remove.

Also, today I was reading a summary of a research article in JAMA that used 600 boys/young men ages 12-24 in 8 cities and their STDs and drug use with older gay men. Not a word about reporting the perps, and this was governmentt sponsored research. Are abused boys OK if it's for research?

African American Voices at Ohio State University

This sounds like a wonderful program, but I am wondering if Choirs of Scandinavian Heritage or Hungarian Lutherans would be allowed to perform their Christian songs while excluding black and brown ethnicities.

"Ohio State Gospel and Spiritual Choir will feature traditional Sunday Morning gospel songs typical of the worship service experience and music style of the traditional black church. The African American Voices student choir will also be featured on Thursday (11/10) at 8 p.m. in Weigel Hall Auditorium."

The only website I could find for "African American Voices" at OSU, was dead, so I can't tell if it is an OSU group or a visiting group. The Spiritual Choir seems to have a variety of faces since "gospel choir" isn't limited to ethnicity or style.

Photo from Lantern, 2007, 16th anniversary performance

Illinois in deep doo-doo--Ohio will follow

Sad news from "home" (haven't lived there since 1957, but old habits. . . ) The state is in even worse shape financially than what is generally known. And now Ohio can get in line since Issue 2 failed. "Nursing homes like Pinecrest [which I support with donations] will not be vouchered for July Medicaid billings until December--payment will follow some time after that." As the federal government heaps mandates on the states which are required to balance their budgets, we'll see more of this. The town lost its schools forcing a merger some time in the 90s--teachers unions were useless to stop it. A union strike in the 70s killed the town's main industry. Government and the unions, arm and arm, into the sunset.

You could tax every wealthy person out of existence, take every penny they had, and you wouldn't be able to solve America's addiction to debt. You know in your own life you have to cut spending and not put more on the charge card. Why is it so difficult for men and women who have achieved the pinnacle of success, fame and wealth, to figure this out?

The American Dream

is not a house, or a nicer car, a dream job, the perfect family or a college degree. The phrase comes from this--and it isn't all that old:

James Truslow Adams, a one time investmen banker who lived on his wealth to become a writer, wrote in his 1931 book Epic of America “but there has been also the American dream, that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for every man, with opportunity for each according to his ability or achievement.”

We've definitely moved away from the idea "according to his ability or achievement, And that was true in 1931 also, as we moved deeper into FDR's socialism and on to "according to his demands and visions of entitlement." Wikipedia says Adams was heavily influenced by Marxism, so maybe it's come full circle.

Five women

I like Hermann Cain, but I think his candidacy is toast. There's just no way Conservatives can jump all over Bill Clinton and his bimbo eruptions, defending the women who accused him of assault and rape, and then claim it doesn't matter with Cain and that the women are plants or unreliable. Both Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh today sounded absolutely stupid on this issue and I think they were offensive to all women. Both have been all over the rape and assault stories emerging from the various Occupy sites. Sauce. Goose. Gander.

Yes, Ted Kennedy had more accusations, and one woman ended up dead; and Bill Clinton couldn't keep his pants zipped, and John Edwards would have gotten away with it if it hadn't been for a yellow rag--it certainly wasn't the regular media pursuing the story. But they were Democrats. 'Nough said?

It's Brussels Sprouts week--bleh!

That's what my World's Healthy foods newsletter said. I don't like Brussels sprouts--but I do like their cousins, other cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, kale, cauliflower and cabbage. Eating more vegetables--all types and colors--can help with weight control.

A recent issue of Lancet says:

"In this report, we used a simulation model to project the probable health and economic consequences in the next two decades from a continued rise in obesity in two ageing populations—the USA and the UK. These trends project 65 million more obese adults in the USA and 11 million more obese adults in the UK by 2030, consequently accruing an additional 6—8·5 million cases of diabetes, 5·7—7·3 million cases of heart disease and stroke, 492 000—669 000 additional cases of cancer, and 26—55 million quality-adjusted life years forgone for USA and UK combined. The combined medical costs associated with treatment of these preventable diseases are estimated to increase by $48—66 billion/year in the USA and by £1·9—2 billion/year in the UK by 2030."

Health and economic burden of the projected obesity trends in the USA and the UK : The Lancet

Two books, two adoption stories

Today our book club will be discussing "In a heartbeat," the story of the Tuohy family and their adoption of Michael Oher, a black teen-ager. The very successful movie, "The blind side," told the story of how they came to meet Michael and fold him into their loving family, assisting him to become a high school and college graduate and a successful NFL player.

It is an inspiring story--although I disagree with some of the basic points--like "how little it takes to help fill the desperate wants" of the poor and unfortunate, or the subtext that Michael would not have succeeded in life without them and the boost they provided.

At the same time I was reading "Prairie Tale" by Melissa Gilbert, of Little House TV fame. She was adopted when less than a day old and grew up in a family of glitz, glitter and glam, passionately loved, treasured by parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, managers, co-stars, and given every opportunity our culture could bestow on a child. She was no Laura Ingalls Wilder! At a very young age she had multiple "families" from the various TV and movie crews in which she lived an alternate fantasy. Unlike Michael Oher, she became extremely promiscuous, an alcoholic, obsessing about her origins, resentful of her parents and fame, and a woman without any moral compass or spiritual/religious guidelines. Even after multiple affairs, body and facial surgery to look more glamorous, and a life of fame and enormous wealth, she needed a therapist to help her feel "whole," and considering that this year she is getting a divorce from her second husband whom she acknowledges as the love of her life in the book, she's still on a journey.

'Glee' has a harmful and inaccurate adoption story line

Unfortunately, some teens believe what they see on TV--actually, many adults do too. You don't get a "do-over" with an adoption. There might be problems with laws, lawyers, and birth parents or adoptive parents changing their minds later, but you don't get to yank the baby back from the "real parents," the ones who have legally adopted her.

State laws vary, but most don't allow a birth mother to change her mind after she has signed adoption papers, according to a 2006 study by the non-profit Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute. States with a revocation period often limit it to 30 days or fewer.

"For adopted children, the show raises the fear that they may be taken away from their adopted families," says Austin's petition, posted on Change.org, a website promoting petitions and social action. "And for young women facing unplanned pregnancies, many of whom are in Glee's target demographic, the show gives the inaccurate impression that adoption is a temporary solution, not a permanent one."

Fox's 'Glee' has 'harmful' adoption story, petition says - USATODAY.com
There's already enough misinformation out there about babies and single moms. Young mothers of the Glee demographic need to know that the baby will be an adult many years longer than the cutsy first two years.

The comments in this article are telling. The range from "grow up--it's a TV show" to disbelieving that anyone could take the show seriously. Boy, are they clueless!

Obama bundler pays no taxes

George Kaiser is one of the richest men in the world--maybe $9 billion. If Obama took all his wealth, he still couldn't pull off the jobs bill. But Kaiser hasn't paid taxes in years--as in zip, nada, zilch-- and he was one of Obama's "bundlers" during the last campaign. Probably donating heavily for the next one too. He's a huge donor to philanthropic causes, keep in mind. I suspect his efforts go much further than the same amount sent to Washington. He was also an investor in Solyndra, which may have been payback for his campaign efforts. His tax offsets to income are completely legal--set up for the wealthiest by our bi-partisan Congresses over the years. But keep in mind, his wealth is in oil and gas, and he's still backing the gov't investments in "green" energy. The government (aka our tax money) doesn't need to be involved in any way--there are plenty of deep pockets like Kaiser to fund the research and development.

Solyndra | George Kaiser | Obama's Solyndra case follows Blago's pattern | The Daily Caller

George Kaiser's $10 Billion Bet - Forbes

Obama's failed jobs plan is being blamed on Republicans

President Barack Obama likes to claim Republicans are holding up his "jobs plan" (aka campaign for a 2nd term, or Stimulus, Jr.), but the Democrat controlled Senate is holding up the House jobs plan, a common-sense, bipartisan jobs bill known as "Plan for America’s Job Creators."

Government doesn't create jobs--businesses do. Americans do. This plan was unveiled over 6 months ago, and the President has ignored it, and the Senate won't pass it. Instead, they've launched more class warfare (fits well with how they are doing in other countries) by claiming if we just taxed the richest 1% more, we could put people back to work. This Job Creators plan involves fixing the tax code and reducing regulatory burdens. It suggests new trade agreements and new markets for American products. It promotes domestic production of energy and paying down our debt. What does the president offer? More campaigning, more blaming and more spending. The President continues to campaign, knowing his plan won't pass (not even his own party likes it) and can't work, just so he can blame Republicans. For bi-partisan efforts to restore the economy, look to the plans put out by the Republicans, not a failed President and Senate.

Great trip to Greensburg PA, 35 miles east of Pittsburgh to the Westmoreland Museum of American Art to see this wonderful show, The Tides of Provincetown. Next it will be in Wichita, KS, then back to the east coast. It is worth a drive to see it. This art colony was started in 1899 and the show is examples through the years.

I'd never heard of Greensburg (about 3.5 hours from Columbus), and on the map it looked like small town, but it isn't--at least not for people like me who grew up in towns under 3,000. About 16,000 says the 2000 census (when will new figures start appearing? They had all that stimulus money.) There's a nice video on the town website--click and you can see many of the sights of Main Street where we walked to find a place to have lunch. Many huge, lovely churches, and it's the county seat, and that building is quite grand, too. We saw lots of reviving businesses in the downtown area.

What's in your frig today?

Food prices are going up and up, but food is still a good buy. You don't need a farmer's market to eat well, although that's wonderful in the summer.

What's in your refrigerator today in fresh fruits and vegetables? Here's my list.

Sweet potatoes, 2 varieties white and orange (yams)
onion white (cut and wrapped for storage),
broccoli
cauliflower
3 kinds of sweet bell peppers, red, yellow, green
carrots
baby spinach
turnip greens
head lettuce
celery

apples
cranberries
Tomatoes
orange juice
tomato juice
apple cider
dried prunes

In the freezer I have corn, beans and peas.

Potatoes, dried things that don't need refrigeration like raisins, are in the cupboard, not the frig, and bananas are on the counter top.

But I read every label. I try to buy only from the USA or Canada. I like to keep white grapes on hand, but haven't found the right label lately. Occasionally Philippines and Costa Rica, which I'm hoping come under some sort of scrutiny through their political relationship with the USA. Yesterday, the peppers sign said "Canadian grown" but at least one batch had Mexico labels.

What's up with HIV testing?

The gains in our life expectancy in the United States have primarily been in the area of public health, not miracle technology, end of life nursing care, pharmaceuticals or screening for disease. Malaria and polio and small pox didn't become footnotes in our history books because people were given choices. When my sister Carol got polio in 1949, the poster quarantining us and warning the whole town went up immediately--even in a rural community.

So I'm wondering why men entering the prison system, who've had most of their rights taken away, have the right to say NO to being tested for HIV. Male to male/men having sex with men (MSM) is still the #1 method of transmission of HIV/AIDS followed by IV drug use. Although MSM represent 2% of the population, they account for 64% of all new infections (including 3% among MSM who are injection drug users [IDUs]). In prison, sex is how you get and return favors. Even men who aren't gay have sex with men in prison, plus rape and sexual assault makes the younger, weaker and disabled men very vulnerable. There is actually a law passed during the Bush years that addresses the seriousness of rape and assault in prisons. However, counting noses for sexual assault will not provide treatment for a disease that can now be controlled with anti-retroviral drugs.

Today I was reading about a program for HIV screening of male inmates in the state of Washington, 2006-2010. When the program was opt-in (inmates offered the test during incoming medical evaluation and they needed to agree to it), there were fewer diagnoses of HIV than when prisoners were offered opt-out (during evaluation they were told the testing was standard but they could refuse it). Opting out brought in about double the new diagnoses. The numbers of new diagnoses using either opt-in or opt-out was not huge--but what baffles me is why they were given a choice, since in other STDs, testing seems to be a part of the screening without prisoner choice. Also, these are NEW diagnoses--some carriers were already know to the health authorities since they were not new to the system.

Since a higher proporation of prison inmates are minorities, and a higher proportion of minority men have HIV/AIDS, this option to be tested has a greater impact on the minority population in general, since most of the incarcerated will evenually leave prison and go home to their families--untreated and undiagnosed, and probably not reporting they were assaulted in prison.

Of those diagnosed with new cases (not the total group), 42% who had newly diagnosed HIV identified themselves as heterosexual and 21% reported sex with men, and 32% reported IV drug use. Many young people today do not remember the severity of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s before the new drug treatments--and combine that with the generally lack of foresight among the young, and I believe you have a toxic brew that could be made less dangerous if the prison systems required HIV testing with no opt-in, opt-out, or crying about violation of rights by some do-gooders who can't look beyond next year to see what will happen down the road.

Raj Nair is from Columbus

Glenn Beck and Raj Nair (not sure of his title on the show) were discussing Glenn's recent visit to Ohio and last year's visit to Wilmington, and Raj mentioned he is from Columbus and likes Schmidt's Restaurant. We do too! It was our "date night" location for many years.

You can ask Raj questions at Raj@gbtv.com



Here is Raj with hair and also here. And jumping into Mirror Lake before the Michigan game in 2008.

Standards--for dems and dose

Sex scandals or even wiffs of them, don't bring down Democrats--Bill Clinton a serial woman abuser and skirt chaser, Barney Frank's lover who learned some government secrets before dumping him, Jesse Jackson's love child, John Edward's affair that his staff and wife knew about while he was campaigning. But they do cause a problem for Republicans--mainly because they don't have the protection of the media. Let a gay representative text a page, or a woman staffer feel threatened in the presence of a black man, and Oh My. You might as well erase the name from the ballot and send the staff home.

Which I suppose will bump Newt to the top--everyone knows his scandals, plus he's had his other marriages annulled and is a "good Catholic" now instead of a bad Baptist.