Thursday Thirteen—13 magazines in need of reading

I have an odd hobby—since the 1960s I’ve been collecting first issues of magazines (aka journals, periodicals, serials).  I have given it up because of storage problems, and I rarely ever subscribed to one I bought for my hobby.  The fun was in the hunt.  But we do have a lot of magazines around the house, which I periodically (joke) take to the library book sale.  Here are a few in the house as of November 2012, but by no means all.

1.  Edible Columbus.

I found out about this magazine  (and I do have the first issue) by accidentally meeting the editor—she lives in our former home of 34 years in Upper Arlington.  This magazine is available for a number of cities and focuses on healthy, locally grown foods.

2. Lake Erie Living.

We own a summer home in Lakeside, Ohio, a Chautauqua community, so we’re very interested in what is happening on our lake, and the other Great Lakes.  And you should be, too.  There are eleven states and provinces that touch at least one of the Great Lakes, and they are the largest source of fresh water in the world.

I also have the first issue of Lake Erie Living.

3.  Bird Watcher’s Digest

I remember when my mother subscribed to this when she had a retreat center.  I don’t know much about birds, but several years ago I met Bill Thompson III at Lakeside when he was there to give a program, and I went on several bird walks. The next Midwest Birding Symposium (Sept. 2013) will be at Lakeside.

4.  JAMA; The Journal of the American Medical Association

When I was Head of the Veterinary Medicine Library at Ohio State University, I got hooked on medical journals, and about 1/3 of our journals were human medical.  A mammal is a mammal, after all.  I don’t subscribe to JAMA because I have a source that gives me her copies, but I rarely miss an issue.  Some of the research articles are too difficult for me, but it also has essays, editorials, poetry, politics (left of center), patient information, and brief summaries. Until recently, all the covers were paintings, both ancient and modern, which I loved, but recently the editors have added medical art intended to instruct, like the Nov. 7 issue on cardiovascular disease showing some of the innovations available today.

5. Architectural Digest.

Off and on, we’ve subscribed for years—you see how the 1% lives.  It’s very heavy on celebrities and the homes of decorators. We allowed the subscription to lapse for several years, and picked it up again in 2012 after a really good offer.  My favorite issue is always the Hollywood issue, where the editors dig through the archives and old b & w photos for the famous movie stars, Gable, Astaire, Monroe, Crosby, etc., directors and producers you now only see on TNT film series.

6.  Watercolor Artist

Both my husband and I paint.  This cover has a huge surprise. When you unfold it there is a naked woman with the couple observing the scenery.

7.  American Artist.

Sadly, American Artist and Watercolor magazine ceased publication after November, 2012. But we still have shelves full so we won’t lack for resource material or advice.

8.  Timeline, a publication of the Ohio Historical Society.

We are members of Conestoga, a Friends group that takes trips together to historical sites and raises money for the Ohio Historical Society.  It has an excellent magazine that comes with our membership, as well as a nice newsletter called Echoes.

On this cover is the Lustron, a prefab home made in Columbus after WWII.  My grandparents owned one in Mt. Morris, Illinois.

9. Biblio

I’m a few issues shy of a complete set, and it died a number of years ago, but every issue is a treasure. I have complete volumes (12 issues) of Vol. 2 and Vol. 3, plus 4 issues of Vol. 4 (discontinued at vol.4 no.4) of Biblio magazine, probably the sweetest magazine about books, manuscripts, ephemera, collectors and publishers that ever was published (issn 1087-5581). Top quality paper and printing, too. 10.

10. Preservation

This is a wonderful magazine for learning about our culture, the magazine of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.  When we were in California in 2006 we visited some Greene & Greene homes featured in this issue.

11. Fine Homebuilding

Home magazines became more popular in our home when my husband left a larger firm where he was a partner doing primarily commercial buildings and became a sole practitioner designing and remodeling homes. They are fun to look at, although I’m no longer interested in doing most of the things suggested.

12.  Tri-Village Magazine

This magazine carries news and business opportunities specifically for Grandview Heights, Marble Cliff and Upper Arlington, northwest suburbs of Columbus, Ohio.

13.  Architectural Record

This is my husband’s magazine, but I also read it. “Green” and “sustainable” are big topics for architects, and they can’t survive without government work, so they tend to chase political trends. Poor people can’t afford architects, and rich people have been demonized, so that only leaves the government and non-profits.

Join the fun at Thursday Thirteen!

It is said, these are actual court statements, recorded in a book.

Disorder in the Courts

ATTORNEY: Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for blood pressure?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for breathing?
WITNESS: No..
ATTORNEY: So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: How can you be so sure, Doctor?
WITNESS: Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar.
ATTORNEY: I see, but could the patient have still been alive, nevertheless?
WITNESS: Yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and practicing law.

------------------------------------

ATTORNEY: She had three children , right?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: How many were boys?
WITNESS: None.
ATTORNEY: Were there any girls?
WITNESS: Your Honor, I think I need a different attorney. Can I get a new attorney?

-------------------------------------

ATTORNEY: Can you describe the individual?
WITNESS: He was about medium height and had a beard
ATTORNEY: Was this a male or a female?
WITNESS: Unless the Circus was in town I'm going with male.

The Balkanization of America

From today’s Wall Street Journal

It may be over four decades since the passage of the Voting Rights Act, but whenever America votes today, the exit polls can't move fast enough to divide voters by the color of their skin. Mere moments after the 2012 exit polls were released, a conventional wisdom congealed across the media that the Republican Party was "too white." . . .  No one can beat the Democrats at the politics of social division. Instead, the GOP should tell prospective voters that no matter what their country of origin or happenstance of birth, their success in the U.S. will depend less on celebrating their assigned category than on supporting political policies that expand economic opportunity. A Republican Party that fails to tell that story in a way anyone can grasp is a party that will never escape the box the other side dropped it into on Nov. 7.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324205404578147360260072602.html?mod=djemEditorialPage_t

I have nothing against the rich, but our President does

Susan Rice, a leading candidate to replace Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, was worth an average $33.5 million in 2009. Hillary was worth about $31 million.  Rice’s portfolio would have sent Democrats into a media rage if she’d been a Bush appointee. I wonder how she got so rich? John Kerry who is next in line if Rice doesn’t make it is worth about $232 million.

“Some of the American and Canadian energy companies and banks that Rice holds stock in have had poor environmental track records as of late. As of 2009, Rice had between $50,000 and $100,000 in BP stock; the company was responsible for the largest marine oil spill in history in 2010 and recently was sanctioned by the EPA for its conduct. She also has as much as $1.5 million invested in Enbridge, which spilled more than a million gallons of crude oil into the Kalamazoo River in Michigan not long after the Gulf spill.

Rice has millions tied up in banks, including up to $6 million in TD Bank Financial, about $6.2 million in Royal Trust Corporation of Canada and up to $2 million in Royal Bank of Canada, which was named the nation's most environmentally irresponsible company. According to the Rainforest Action Network, Royal Bank of Canada is the top financier for companies drilling in tar sands, one of the dirtiest forms of oil, in Alberta, Canada, and has earned more than $80 million from those loans.”

http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2012/11/possible-secretary-of-state-candidate.html

As Obama pushes granny over the fiscal cliff. . .

“Costco, the giant wholesale-club operator, announced Wednesday that it will pay a special dividend of $7 a share before the end of the year. That's about $3 billion the company will return to shareholders that the feds will only tax at 15% rather than the 39.6% rate scheduled to kick in when the Bush-era tax rates expire next year. For households earning more than $250,000 in 2013, you can add another 3.8 percentage points in tax thanks to the ObamaCare surcharge. Costco's shareholders approved, sending its stock up about 6%. . . . Other are moving up their regular quarterly dividend to be payable in December rather than in January. . .  When the capital gains rate last rose, to 28% from 20% as part of the 1986 tax reform, investors also cashed in before the higher rate took effect. ”

It's the oldest lesson in tax policy: Tax something and you get less of it and that’s why we know this isn’t about revenue, but about ruining the economy. The “transformation” he promised us in 2008.

Review and Outlook

Guest blogger Michael Levin on Zig Ziglar

The next-to-last time I saw Zig Ziglar, I was one of 17,000 in attendance at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, where he was speaking as part of a program of superstars, including Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, and Joe Montana. He was onstage accompanied by his daughter, Julie Ziglar Norman, because Zig had suffered a fall a couple of years before that and nobody wanted him to fall again, especially onstage, and especially in front of 17,000 people.

On April 15, 2011, I saw Zig again, this time for lunch, with his daughter Julie and his son Tom. From 17,000 down to four. If you love Zig Ziglar as I do, you can readily understand it was one of the greatest thrills of my life.

Zig Ziglar is one of the greatest motivators, authors, sales trainers, and inspiring figures the world has known. Millions have read his books and listened to his recordings, and they became, as a result, better salespeople, better spouses, better parents, better people. His mellifluous baritone echoes through the mind of anyone who has listened to him speak. His values harken back to a better world, where integrity was the watchword, where faith mattered, and where sales was a profession in search of a champion.

Zig was their champion. He grew up one of twelve children during the Depression, on a farm in Yazoo City, Mississippi, and his father passed away when he was five years old. By age six, Zig was earning his own money, and selling, mowing lawns. He used that money to buy his first suit, which he wore to church. By the time I met Zig face to face, he had been selling—lawn mowing services, pots and pans, sales training, personal development, and the ideas of his Holy Bible, for 79 years. “You must be married,” Zig said, as we were introduced. “I can tell by how nicely you’re dressed. Only a married man could dress that nicely.”

At lunch, Zig leaned over to me and said, quite seriously, “Never say anything negative about yourself.” It sounds so obvious, but we all do it all the time. If we don’t see ourselves as wondrously made, as Zig likes to quote from the Bible, who will?

I asked Zig what caused him to make the transition from sales training to motivational speaking. His son Tom explained that Zig studied the success of his students, and he realized that only 20 percent of it was due to technique. The other 80 percent was due to reputation and character. So that’s when Zig began to focus on those issues and not just talk about selling.

But don’t estimate old Zig on sales. He’s forgotten more about sales than most of us will ever know. One of his most enduring stories involves his son Tom, who at the time was contemplating a career as a professional golfer. Zig and Tom were playing a competitive round of golf and Tom needed a long putt to drop in order to win the hole. He made the putt, and then he asked his father, “Dad, were you rooting for me?”

As only Zig can say, in that honeyed Southern drawl, “Son, I’m always rooting for you.”

As massive as Zig’s audience was, the publishing industry didn’t think him worth a shot when he wrote the book I found many years later in that furniture store, See You At The Top. By then, Zig had been providing sales training to the Mary Kay Company. Mary Kay Ash was such a devotee of his, Tom told me at lunch, that she told Zig that if he were to self-publish the book, she would buy the first 10,000 copies. Those initial 10,000 sales mushroomed into millions upon millions of books, since Zig has now authored 26 books in all.

I had the extraordinary privilege of editing Zig’s last book Born To Win. I’ve edited or coached hundreds of writers, and it was an uncanny, almost out-of-body experience instead of quoting Zig to people, talking directly to Zig, and making suggestions—how dare I?—to improve his manuscript.

It means the world to me that I was able to meet him face to face at lunch with just him, his two grown children who work with him, and me, and tell him that he made me a better salesperson, a better husband, a better father, a better believer, and a better man.

As I headed out to drive to the airport, Zig took me by the hand and cautioned me to drive carefully.

“After all, most people are caused by accidents,” he warned, with mock solemnity.

New York Times best selling author and Shark Tank survivor Michael Levin runs www.BusinessGhost.com, and is a nationally acknowledged thought leader on the future of book publishing.

In 70 years will there be anyone left to admire Fluke?

The Hero and the Fluke.

Only Fox News gives all sides

That doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a bias.  Bias is first  created by the stories that are selected, just as librarians first ban books by what they buy.  For instance, the misbehavior of a Democrat might be featured, but would never appear on broadcast or CNN, therefore leading Democrats to assume the worst about Fox.

"A Public Policy Polling nationwide survey of 1,151 registered voters Jan. 18-19, 2010, found that 49 percent of Americans trusted Fox News, 10 percentage points more than any other network. Thirty-seven percent said they didn’t trust Fox, also the lowest level of distrust that any of the networks recorded.” http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/32039.html#ixzz0e0VC5VeX

Last night on Glenn Beck (who now owns his own media company and is no longer on Fox) the artist who has caused quite a stir by depicting Obama hanging on a cross with a halo, crown and torn veil tried to explain his reasons—he thinks the media isn’t fair to Obama.  Surely he isn’t thinking of the main stream media which never report anything negative unless it is a HUGE story.

But he also showed some of his other pieces—like the angry face of his brother-in-law.  He said this man had been quite reasonable until he started watching Fox News, now he can’t have a political conversation with him.  That may mean the BIL doesn’t agree with the artist all the time and now has more information.  Glenn asked a few perceptive, probing questions, and they shook hands and agreed to disagree.

The artist (forgotten his name) said he never thought Beck would be so reasonable, or that they would have so many ideas in common (Beck is a libertarian who strongly believes in freedom of speech).  When asked if he’d ever watched Beck’s show, (when it was on Fox) he admitted he’d only seen snippets filtered through leftist sites. Although he doesn’t sell his originals, he does sell products made from his images, so Beck gave him a lot of free publicity.

And after January 9, then what Mr. President?

Obama’s tax hikes on the wealthy will cover about 8 days of his spending.

Why didn’t Obama nationalize restaurants?

The percentage of our income that goes for food at restaurants and alcohol is 6.6.  The percentage for health care is 6.4.  But he nationalized health care? And my goodness just look at the housing expenses, rent mortgage, 31.5, utilities 5.4, furniture and household items 4.1.  HUGE.  But he nationalized health care.  That’s because it’s about a 6th of the economy, and restaurants aren’t. . . but look out, they could be on the horizon for Mr. Transformational

And you think divorces get messy?

“She [Halle Berry] told him early on she wanted a child and that was her focus for a good deal of their early relationship,” said a friend of [Gabriel] Aubry’s. “He didn’t see the problems that would lead to if they ever split.”

Happy days for the couple would end shortly after Nahla’s birth and soon a custody battle began, with court filings filled with accusations of abuse and the use of the “N” word directed toward Berry. She fought for primary custody but was denied, and earlier this year she was ordered to pay Aubry $20,000 a month in child-care payments. Berry and Aubry now share 50/50 custody of Nahla.”

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/11/29/halle-berry-s-custody-fight-gets-physical.html

Berry was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio—daughter of a white mother and black father who are divorced.  Her name comes from the department store Halle’s, which is big, or was, in Ohio.  I don’t often ride the bus, but last year I went down town to a pro-life event and rode the bus home.  I got an earful listening to two people discuss her with the bus driver.  Apparently one of them had gone to high school with her and thought she was stuck up even before she became Miss Ohio USA (1986).

Black infant death rate in Ohio—Columbus Dispatch

It’s high.  Infant mortality applies to age up to one year.  If they counted pre-born black infants who are killed in abortion, the figure would be much, much higher.

I hope someone at the Dispatch digs a little deeper and looks at something beside race in today's story about high infant mortality among blacks in Ohio. For instance, adjust for marriage, education, employment, age, entitlement programs, etc. Instead, someone will ask for more government money.

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/11/29/black-infant-deaths-worst-of-bad-news.html

And much of the solution, they said, will come from officials who don’t work in the fields of maternal and child health, but rather in local, state and federal government; housing; education and early-childhood education; and those focused on family well-being who haven’t traditionally focused on birth outcomes.

For example, Mario Drummonds, executive director and CEO of the Northern Manhattan Perinatal Partnership in New York, cited new housing as making a positive difference in infant mortality by providing a better environment in which to raise infants who suffer from asthma.

Which taxes are involved? All of them.

“. . . let's be clear about exactly what the threat is, though we have explained it here before. Going into effect on January 1 are increases in the tax rates for virtually every major federal tax. That is primarily because the tax increases of Obamacare go into effect, and the Bush tax cuts expire, which President Obama refuses to renew for the nation's job creators, investors, and successful small businesses (the English translation of "the rich").

As a result, the top two federal income tax rates will jump by nearly 20%, the capital gains tax rate will soar by nearly 60%, the income tax rate on dividends will nearly triple, the Medicare payroll tax rate will explode by 62% for these disfavored taxpayers, and the death tax will rise from the grave with a 50% rate increase.

That is all on top of the corporate income tax, now featuring a top marginal rate of nearly 40% on average, counting state income taxes. That is now the highest in the world under President Obama, except for the socialist one party state of Cameroon. Even Communist China and Vladimir Putin's Russia have lower marginal corporate income tax rates, as do the social welfare states of the European Union, mostly at 25% or less.”

And there’s more. . .

Elections have consequences, and so does postponing tough decisions while leading from behind.

Tax cuts for the rich?

“. . . under both Republican President Calvin Coolidge and Democratic President John F. Kennedy, high-income people paid more tax revenues into the federal treasury after tax rates went down than they did before.

There is nothing mysterious about this. At high tax rates, vast sums of money disappear into tax shelters at home or is shipped overseas. At lower tax rates, that money comes out of hiding and goes into the American economy, creating jobs, rising output and rising incomes. Under these conditions, higher tax revenues can be collected by the government, even though tax rates are lower. Indeed, high income people not only end up paying more taxes, but a higher share of all taxes, under these conditions.

This is not just a theory. It is what hard evidence shows happened under both Democratic and Republican administrations, from the days of Calvin Coolidge to John F. Kennedy to Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush.”

So, it’s not about revenue, but about Obama’s idea of “fairness,” i.e., that rich people should have their money taken away from them and given to the government, not the low income.

http://townhall.com/columnists/thomassowell/2012/11/28/an_overdue_book

It’s a whole lot more than $16 trillion

“The full extent of the problem has remained hidden from policy makers and the public because of less than transparent government financial statements. How else could responsible officials claim that Medicare and Social Security have the resources they need to fulfill their commitments for years to come?

As Washington wrestles with the roughly $600 billion "fiscal cliff" and the 2013 budget, the far greater fiscal challenge of the U.S. government's unfunded pension and health-care liabilities remains offstage. The truly important figures would appear on the federal balance sheet—if the government prepared an accurate one. . .

The actual liabilities of the federal government—including Social Security, Medicare, and federal employees' future retirement benefits—already exceed $86.8 trillion, or 550% of GDP. ”

Cox and Archer

A terrific Christmas tree

Why not take 100% of households over $250,000

They probably stole it. Taxing them will only get about a week, so why not just take all of it?

A: Number of US households: 116,000,000
B: Average US household income: $68,000 (median = $52,000)
C: Total US household income (A * B): $7.89 trillion
D: Percent of households above $250k income: 1.93%
E: Number of households above $250k income (A*D): 2,238,800
F: Percent of national income earned by households making $250k or more = 25%
G: Total income of households making $250k or more (C*F): $1.97 trillion
H: Total income of households in excess of $250k (G - E*$250,000) = $1.412 trillion

Alright! Take that, fat cats! Our $1.412 trillion windfall has us covered for the next 141 days. . .

Iowahawk

Note: if you give him money for a few more days he’ll just ask for more

Obama is leading from behind again, because it's been so successful. He wants his people to pressure Congress to raise taxes so we can go further in debt and run the government for another week.

Obama is to travel to Hatfield, Pa., Friday to visit toymaker K'nex Brands, "a business that depends on middle-class consumers during the holiday season, and could be impacted if taxes go up on 98 percent of Americans at the end of the year," the White House said.

The tax increase refers to George W. Bush-era tax cuts set to expire Jan. 1. Obama wants to preserve the Bush-era tax rates for incomes up to $250,000 but increase the marginal rate on taxable income above that threshold.

Obama was to play host Wednesday to middle-class Americans the White House said would be affected by the tax increases if Congress does not act to avoid the fiscal cliff's more than $500 billion in annual automatic tax hikes and spending cuts set to kick in after New Year's Day.

Obama also was to meet with 14 chief executives from big businesses, the White House said.

The president's campaign-like push comes as top Democratic and Republican leaders were at a standoff on the issue.

http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/2012/11/28/obama_begins_campaignlike_fiscal_cliff_effort.htm

Not mentioned during the campaign . . .

"On December 23, 2011, President Obama signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012 (Public Law 112-74). This new federal law states that the amount of Federal Pell Grant funds a student may receive over his or her LIFETIME will be reduced to the duration of a student's eligibility from 18 semesters (or its equivalent) to 12 semesters (or its equivalent). This new law applies to ALL Federal Pell Grant eligible students effective with the 2012-2013 award year beginning July 1, 2012. (DCL-GEN-12-01)"

The cut in grant eligibility has serious ramifications for non-traditional students. Part-time students who do not receive a full semester grant may lose out on funds if they do not earn an undergraduate degree within 12 semesters. Adults who go back to school, including retraining for a new career, will also have limited access to grants.

The amount of the grant varies based on family income (with a current yearly maximum grant of $5,550). If a student gets a grant less than a maximum, and a year later finds their income level has been reduced, they will not be able to recoup the difference in the lower amounts earned in a previous year. The cut in eligible semesters makes it difficult for students to make up that gap in later years.

http://www.examiner.com/article/college-students-learn-of-obama-s-secret-pell-grant-cuts

The money for the Dream Act (DACA) has to come from some place, so why not from native born students?

Too many Republicans and Christians don’t vote

No free stuff, no bus rides to the polls, no deceptive ads.  How do they expect to win?