1723 Fourteen entries

now in my new blog called, Memory Patterns. You're invited to take a look, although it is probably only of interest to my family. I'm using sewing patterns and photographs to reconstruct some memories. It is completely politics free, although still somewhat eclectic, because that's just how my mind works. I've come up with some memories that were pretty well buried, like buying an art print with green stamps, and who got the garter at my daughter's wedding. Don't throw anything away. You never know when you might need it!

1722 Omidyars of e-Bay finance an old idea

Now they are calling it "microfinance," but when I first went to work in the Agriculture Library in 1978 and worked with the Agricultural Credit and Technology files, I think we just called them small loans. We had hundreds and hundreds of papers in that file on third world rural development and what could be done with small loans. Sometimes it was several sewing machines, or a well, or a fish farm.

I think I'd say the same thing today I said in the 70s. Roads. Build them. Then do your miracles with microfinance or small loans. Without them, the farmers and the small business people have no market. With no markets, they move to the city slums. Without roads, aid rots in the ports.

1721 Writes like a girl--Dana Milbank

Well, it could be a girl's name, I guess.

"The Senate is witnessing a real-life revenge of the nerd. Alito, bespectacled, hair askew, suit rumpled and ill-fitting, walked into Sen. Tim Johnson's office this week to pay a courtesy call. . .Alito forgot to unbutton his suit jacket, causing his tie to stick out and his jacket to bunch up. The judge's pant leg hiked up as he sat, revealing an untied shoelace. . . What better place for a supreme square than the Supreme Court?. . . Compared with Roberts, Alito looks as if he were in town for a "Star Trek" convention. . . Alito caught his foot in carpeting and briefly stumbled while getting in the elevator. . .his buttoned suit jacket bunching up, his fingers gripping his knees, his toes pointed inward." WaPo

What passes these days for journalism! More catty than a next of kittens. But it's probably a good sign that the MSM is totally without words.

1720 Victoria Toensig’s article in the WSJ “Investigate the CIA”

As excerpted in Powerline. Read this and then tell me again why they are wasting my tax money investigating Scooter Libby when they need to be investigating Joe Wilson, Valerie Plame and whoever at the CIA is trying to undo the Bush presidency. Seven questions the reporters haven't been asking. They need a blogfire.

• First: The CIA sent her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, to Niger on a sensitive mission regarding WMD. He was to determine whether Iraq had attempted to purchase yellowcake, an essential ingredient for nonconventional weapons. However, it was Ms. Plame, not Mr. Wilson, who was the WMD expert. Moreover, Mr. Wilson had no intelligence background, was never a senior person in Niger when he was in the State Department, and was opposed to the administration's Iraq policy. The assignment was given, according to the Senate Intelligence Committee, at Ms. Plame's suggestion.

[My question 1-a: Is Ms. Plame involved in the misinformation about WMD that lead up to the war? 1-b: Did she need to cover her tracks, throw off the scent? 1-c Does Ms. Plame have more power in the CIA that we have been told? After all, she's making assignments related to WMD.]

• Second: Mr. Wilson was not required to sign a confidentiality agreement, a mandatory act for the rest of us who either carry out any similar CIA assignment or who represent CIA clients.

[My question: 2-a: Does this mean Mr. Wilson was not a CIA employee, but just an ordinary citizen since he didn't sign any agreement normal for an employee? 2-b Was the reason his wife wasn't sent was that she had already botched the WMD investigation?]

• Third: When he returned from Niger, Mr. Wilson was not required to write a report, but rather merely to provide an oral briefing. That information was not sent to the White House. If this mission to Niger were so important, wouldn't a competent intelligence agency want a thoughtful written assessment from the "missionary," if for no other reason than to establish a record to refute any subsequent misrepresentation of that assessment? Because it was the vice president who initially inquired about Niger and the yellowcake (although he had nothing to do with Mr. Wilson being sent), it is curious that neither his office nor the president's were privy to the fruits of Mr. Wilson's oral report.

[My question: 3-a: Does this mean Mr. Wilson was a common tourist to Niger? 3-b: Why did the CIA put so little weight on v.p. Cheney's request. 3-c: Were they already aware of their misinformation about WMD and didn't want to raise the issue?]

• Fourth: Although Mr. Wilson did not have to write even one word for the agency that sent him on the mission at taxpayer's expense, over a year later he was permitted to tell all about this sensitive assignment in the New York Times. For the rest of us, writing about such an assignment would mean we'd have to bring our proposed op-ed before the CIA's Prepublication Review Board and spend countless hours arguing over every word to be published. Congressional oversight committees should want to know who at the CIA permitted the publication of the article, which, it has been reported, did not jibe with the thrust of Mr. Wilson's oral briefing. For starters, if the piece had been properly vetted at the CIA, someone should have known that the agency never briefed the vice president on the trip, as claimed by Mr. Wilson in his op-ed.

[My question: 4-a: Who does Ms. Plame know on that Review Board who would pass on this? Or is she much higher up than we've been led to believe and can just go over their heads? 4-b: Why didn't NYT ask about the CIA clearance? 4-c: Was Wilson so naive that he didn't know he needed permission, and the CIA did act because then their ineptness in sending him would have to come out?]

• Fifth: More important than the inaccuracies is the fact that, if the CIA truly, truly, truly had wanted Ms. Plame's identity to be secret, it never would have permitted her spouse to write the op-ed. Did no one at Langley think that her identity could be compromised if her spouse wrote a piece discussing a foreign mission about a volatile political issue that focused on her expertise? The obvious question a sophisticated journalist such as Mr. Novak asked after "Why did the CIA send Wilson?" was "Who is Wilson?" After being told by a still-unnamed administration source that Mr. Wilson's "wife" suggested him for the assignment, Mr. Novak went to Who's Who, which reveals "Valerie Plame" as Mr. Wilson's spouse.

[My question 5-a: Was Ms. Plame's career and reputation (because of WMD misinformation) in the toilet so they didn't care how she was outed? 5-b: Is Wilson as hungry for publicity as Cindy Sheehan?]

• Sixth: CIA incompetence did not end there. When Mr. Novak called the agency to verify Ms. Plame's employment, it not only did so, but failed to go beyond the perfunctory request not to publish. Every experienced Washington journalist knows that when the CIA really does not want something public, there are serious requests from the top, usually the director. Only the press office talked to Mr. Novak.

[My question 6-a: so is Novak off the hook? 6-b: Did he have no obligation to ask just in case he was talking to a lunch time substitute.]

• Seventh: Although high-ranking Justice Department officials are prohibited from political activity, the CIA had no problem permitting its deep cover or classified employee from making political contributions under the name "Wilson, Valerie E.," information publicly available at the FEC.

[My question 7-a: Why hasn't Plame been fired for this if it's against the rules? 7-b: Has she been fired and no one told us? 7-c: Did she know she was violating the rules?]

1719 9th Circuit Court are sure a scary bunch

A Calfornia blogger, e-Claire, asks what is going on with sex education in California?

Read this Unanimous Decision by the Court: FIELDS v. PALMDALE SCHOOL DIST.

"We… hold that there is no fundamental right of parents to be the exclusive provider of information regarding sexual matters to their children, either independent of their right to direct the upbringing and education of their children or encompassed by it. We also hold that parents have no due process or privacy right to override the determinations of public schools as to the information to which their children will be exposed while enrolled as students. Finally, we hold that the defendants’ actions were rationally related to a legitimate state purpose."

So I guess if the schools want to teach your kid that masturbation causes insanity, or that babies come from the cabbage patch you can't contradict them. . . "parents have no due process or privacy right. . ."

Is this the "mainstream" that the Dems keep talking about for our Supreme Court?

1718 I must have lied somewhere along the way

Or maybe I guessed. This really doesn't sound like the way I cook. I like that funny gal with dark hair who's been on Oprah and the one who starts with all the convenience food and comes up with something terrific. I've never even seen this guy. Tonight we're having pizza from that shop up the street.


Which Food Network chef are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

I saw this at Jenna's blog.

1717 Escaping prison in a garbage truck

When an Ohio Penitentiary resident escaped back in the 70s, we got a phone call from the warden. We were on his visitation list--in fact, he was a few weeks from being paroled and had planned to live with us. But cupid struck, and he escaped with the lady from the casket company in the O.P.'s garbage truck.

So as I was watching the news accounts of Jimmy Causey and Johnny Brewer escaping a South Carolina prison today in the garbage truck, I thought about our experience. Our guy was on the lam a bit longer than those two, who apparently were caught when they got hungry and ordered a pizza. The delivery person recognized them and called the police. Our guy (and his lady friend) drove to central Indiana and he got a job in a bar. He was such a good employee and so trusted by the owner, that he made the night bank deposits (he was doing time for breaking and entering, in the night season, with a gun). I think he wasn't caught for nearly a year, and only because he came back to Ohio to visit his mother, and someone recognized him.

Stolen angel

Sometime after 1986, thieves entered this cemetery in Elwood, Indiana, and stole the family angel. A couple of generations of Bruces are buried near by. If you see a marble angel in someone's garden, be suspicious, very suspicious. We're looking for it.



Casselman Bruce family home, Elwood, Indiana

1715 The Bill Gates Malaria Gift

It was sad to see on ABC News two nights ago the news of the Bill and Melinda Gates gift to develop drugs to fight malaria. Yes, thousands of Africans die of malaria every day, but those deaths are unnecessary. Until Americans were duped by Rachel Carson's misinformation, good progress was being made against this terrible disease. Since 1972 when the EPA banned its use, millions have died needlessly. This "do-gooder" impulse we Americans have has killed more Africans than the infamous slave trade of the 17th and 18th centuries. Even if this experimental vaccine works, it won't be ready for another five years, which means many more years of death for Africans. ABC never even mentioned there is another option. Malaria was well under control from the 1940s-1970s. And now without the spraying of homes, it has emerged again in the last 30 years as a killer. It was completely unnecessary.

DDT for malaria control

1714 Men drivers--what babies!

The white pick up came from behind and roared around me this morning as I turned right on red, after making sure I had a clear distance--it was dark and foggy. I always immediately get in the left lane, because if I don't, it is impossible to turn left at the next light which actually has two left turn lanes, but a lot of traffic. I've seen many accidents at that intersection. So he was passing me on the right. I looked over (you can always tell a mad driver by their juvenile attention-getting tire-screeching and loud rhumphhh rhumphh) and he gave me the finger. So I figured when I got up to the light, I'd pull right up next to him (knowing we'd get there at the same time) and give him one of my best poached egg looks--I'm good at that--although smiling and waving can be good too. The idiot. He was mad because I was in HIS LANE from which he wanted to make an illegal U-turn. So when he did that, he gave me the finger AGAIN, like I was to blame because he was late for work. Even with a time change and gaining an hour's sleep, he can't get it together. Such a baby.

1713 Do you really mean this?

Today I noticed a letter where the writer was describing the wonderful attributes of Janice Rogers Brown, the black judge many of us would have preferred to Alito:

“When you read her speeches, it becomes crystal clear that she is worth fighting for, to go to the mattresses for, to the very end.”

I think he meant “go to the mat” not mattress.

But upon checking, I learned this mangled cliche is not that uncommon.

1712 Where did the WMD Intel come from?

The Anchoress knows.

“In 1998, the US was certain that Saddam Hussein was acquiring and developing WMD, and that he posed a credible threat. The president said it. His party said it. The opposition party agreed. The press said it. England said it. Israel said it. France said it. China and Russia said it. EVERYONE said it. EVERYONE accepted it. These were the intelligence reports, and everyone found them believable.

No one acted on them, but no one declared they were false, either. While some cynics suggested that the American President’s focus on the WMD was some “dog wagging” to distract attention from an uncomfortable scandal, no one seriously entertained a notion that Saddam Hussein did NOT have WMD. Everyone believed it to be true. Or at least said they believed it. Read her entire rundown of the run up to the war and what the Democrats said before Bush became President and acted on their recommendations and beliefs.”

So why are they so huffy and trying to make the Libby case into something? Why are they acting like they've speeded up the Phase 2 report? It was due already.

1711 Please don't feed the birds

Scotts Miracle Gro is expanding into the bird seed business. This is bad for the small niche pet food companies, but it's even worse for the birds. Now, if you Google the topic, backyard feeder + disease you'll find a lot of fence sitting, about the importance of keeping the feeders clean, the water fresh, not trying to treat sick birds. But let's use a little common sense. Feeders attract birds of all species who normally wouldn't get together and spread their viruses or parasites. Feeders discourage birds from eating insects, seeds and berries, their natural diet that helps our environment. They attrack skunks and raccoons and squirrels, just so you can sit in your kitchen and watch them squabble over some feed.

If the avian flu does comes around, I'm betting you'll see a change in the advice columns. People are already discouraged from feeding ducks around here. The Canada geese now never go home. Honk. Honk. Why fly south when Columbusites make it so comfortable to stay, or north in the summer. Signs are posted along the river and ponds instructing people not to do this, but many still do. Generations of mallards and geese have forgotten how to forage, plus they leave their feces everywhere in the park you might want to walk.

Be kind; don't feed the birds.

1710 What to do with your rotting pumpkins

Susie Sunshine is blogging at the Underpaid Kept Woman, and wow, did she have a bunch of pumpkins and some great ideas for composting them to get back at a nasty neighbor.

1709 Peter Eisenmen is back

in town to inspect the renovation of the disaster he designed (opened 1989) a little over 15 years ago. The Wexner Center didn't work from the get-go and the $15.8 million upgrade (on our dime) should be laid at the feet of the review committee that selected this design from a competition that would have served our campus better with a far more practical and beautiful building suited for our climate and geography.

The Wexner Center leaked like a sieve from the beginning; art objects had to be protected from the sharply angled glass that let in way too much sunlight; and the wall and halls could induce nausea in the casual visitor causing disorientation from the angles and slopes and dangerous missteps from oddly spaced stair risers.




Eisenmen says he takes full responsibility for its short comings (but not its ugliness). But sir, you left me the bill for your manic phase.

The article in today's Columbus Dispatch doesn't mention that Eiseman also designed our Convention Center on the site of the glorious Union Station. It resembles a bunch of box cars in a train accident.

1708 Worst economy in 70 years

Remember that slogan from October 2004? I think it was the Kerry Kampaign. And here it keeps improving despite the hurricanes and high oil prices (gasoline is about $2.20 here in Columbus).

"U.S. economic growth sped up in the third quarter despite the impact of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, with consumer spending remaining strong as inflation pressures appeared to gather some steam.

The Commerce Department said Friday that gross domestic product grew at a seasonally adjusted 3.8% annual rate in July through September. The increase was driven by consumer spending and inventory changes and offset by slower growth in exports, housing investments and local government spending, the report said. GDP grew at a rate of 3.3% in the second quarter." WSJ Oct. 28

The economy will really improve when the current administration starts reining in some spending.

1707 Norma's new blog

It's been awhile since I started a blog. Today I created a new blog called Memory Patterns. I sort of got the idea from looking at scanned sewing patterns on other sites. I decided to try to match the patterns with old photos with old memories floating through my head and see what I came up with. Should be fun. Actually, I think I sold a lot of my patterns at garage sales or traded them, or gave them away. Gosh, wish I hadn't, 'cause this could be fun.

Here's an idea. Match the sewing pattern of a dress I made for my daughter to her school photo. Then tell the story of the fabric which was also used for a king size bedspread I made and my husband's ugly tie contest at the office (I also made the tie). From there I could go into other frugal ideas I had in the 70s. What do you think?


I would have used the fabric requirements for view B size 7, the jeans top, although I made the dress, so would have used 7/8 instead of 3/4 of a yard. Suggested fabrics were lightweight cotton, muslin, seersucker, polished cotton, gingham, challis, surah, and cotton knits. The dress had a back zipper with puffed sleeves with eleastic casings and a front yoke with vent. I think I made several of these, but the bedspread print seems to be the only one that will live in our memories, and albums.

The copyright date on this pattern is 1973, which means I probably made it when my daughter was in second grade. She's probably smiling like that because some teeth are missing.

1706 SCOTUS Blog roundup

SCOTUS blog has a roundup of the blogging going on about Alito. I won't repeat it here. Just go read it.

1705 The world is different now

it's harder. Nonsense! That was a line in a WSJ story today (Nov.1) about the economic woes of a recent college grad who landed his dream job. But he's taken a second job at $9 an hour at the Best Buy so he can save up for a better apartment, pay off some college loans, and add to his DVD collection. I give him credit for paying off loans, and not hitting Dad up for some extra cash, but really, is this the best hard knocks story they can come up with? Try cutting back on your desires and living on your income. That's good advice for the federal government too. The Bush administration has never seen a program it didn't like. They can cut our taxes all they want, and I appreciate that, but the government needs to tighten its belt and stop throwing money at problems the citizens should be solving.

And btw, that $9 an hour job at Best Buy might be someone else's dream job, and if Mr. 60-Hours-a-Week-College-Grad has scarfed it up, he's hurting someone else.

1704 Tiny transactions for your credit card

On my way to the coffee shop this morning I heard an ad by American Express for using its credit card--saline solution (one cheery voice), pack of gum (another voice), groceries (yet another voice). I was shocked. Couldn't imagine asking people to make such poor credit choices. Then I read in today's Wall Street Journal that credit card companies are in fact going after our loose change. Even parking meters and juke boxes will now accept credit cards. I've never paid a credit card fee--never have had a balance to carry over.

1703 Looking for boomer-bloggers

As you can see from my links, I haven't been terribly successful in linking to the over 50 crowd. I know they are out there--after all, the oldest baby boomer is now 60 and there's a whole bunch more coming up that want to look good for their grandchildren. Some of my over-50 are in other linkages, like Homespun Bloggers, and usually I don't link twice. Some, like Murray, are shy, quiet and soft spoken and rarely post (joke alert). Others, like Eric, are just so busy enjoying retirement/consulting that they only occasionally post. Mr. Cloud, a retired Canadian school teacher, stays very busy and his blog is a popular meeting ground to chat and look at photos, and Bonita always has carefully researched things to offer. Now I've added Randy Kirk, who bless him, has three blogs. He's also a writer and an entrepreneur and a Christian, so he fits well in my links.

1702 Do you buy a book to look good?

Me either. Never do that. I buy so many books I never read, but my intentions are good. The books you see me with in public are the ones I'm actually reading. When I was reading "The purpose driven life" I met many new people. Now, we didn't become fast friends--just conversed awhile in the coffee shop. And when I was reading "Amazing Grace, 366 inspiring hymn stories," people did stop and chat about that one too. When I see people reading books in public I sometimes stand on my head trying to read the spine title.

This is only part of the problem

On the left is religion, theology and Bibles; in the center is family, genealogy, yearbooks, and cookbooks too tall for the kitchen, plus magazines up at the top I want to keep guarded by a little figurine I painted when I was 10 years old; on the right are books about books, about magazines, poetry, literature, reference works and finances. Current fiction is all in another room since I don't read in my office. My antique books (parents' and grandparents' and great grandparents' books) are in the upstairs hall shelves, and my don't-fit anywhere books are in my husband's office because a previous owner built humungous shelves in that room. And then behind those cabinet doors below the shelving are paper supplies and file boxes of old stuff I'll probably never read again but can't give up. I've been writing almost all my life, so you can imagine what came before six blogs.

1701 Ohio's heroine, Erma Bombeck

In case you were hoping to attend the Erma Bombeck Humor Workshop in Dayton next year, sorry, it was sold out after 12 days. In addition to Dave Barry and W. Bruce Cameron, instructors include columnists Mary McCarty of the Dayton (Ohio) Daily News, Susan Reinhardt of The Asheville (N.C.) Citizen-Times, Craig Wilson of USA Today, Dave Lieber of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and self-syndicators Gordon Kirkland and Jodie Lynn, among others. Tim Bete, a humor columnist, is the director of the workshop.

"The 2006 Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop sold out in 12 days. Three hundred writers from 43 states and Canadian provinces plan to attend. An additional 60 writers are already on the waiting list. We're investigating the possibility of recording some of the workshop sessions and will let you know if we move ahead with it." Newsletter

I wonder if Jinky signed up. For a dog, he's pretty funny.

1700 The debate about blogs

On Fox News this morning (before 6 a.m. so it may have been from yesterday) they are having a debate about Forbes article on blogs.

Here's the funniest line in the article: " "It's not like journalism, where your reputation is ruined if you get something wrong. In the blogosphere people just move on. It's scurrilous," Grantham says." How often does that happen?

I'm guessing we'll see a full court press from the regular media sources about the pitfalls of reading and writing blogs. Especially if blogs pressure them to be honest and report sources, something that should be learned in journalism school. And especially if they start cutting into profits.

1699 Funnel cakes get fatter as you move westward

Sal took her child to Busch Gardens for the final week-end to ride the roller coasters and on the way out they stopped for funnel cake. Her photo was yummy, so I decided to look it up--just to see how bad fair food can be.

The first site I found said, 250 calories, then the next said 320, then 380, and so forth. Finally, I got to the Iowa State Fair and got this bad news--out there it is 800 calories and 40 grams of fat:

“The numbers were astronomical, high enough to turn the stomach of even the most committed fair diner. Everybody’s traditional Iowa State Fair favorite, the “corn dog” – that delectable treat of a hotdog wrapped in cornbread batter and then deep fat fried and eaten on a stick – 700 calories and 40 grams of fat!

The funnel cake, 800 calories and 70 grams of fat. Candy bar on a stick, 800 calories and 40 grams of fat. Nachos with cheese, 900 calories and 35 grams of fat. And, lest anyone be so foolish as to think he could slide by with a turkey drumstick, oh no! That drumstick was reported to have an entire day’s worth of calories at 1,400, not to mention its 60 grams of fat.” Offenburger.com

1698 Columbus blogger calls for Harry Reid to resign

That would be me. The man is unbalanced. I'm demanding Harry Reid stop making the Democrats look silly, and that he step down. The American people---Democrats, Republicans and Libertarians---need someone else to watchdog the Congress.

"The leader of the Senate Democrats today called for White House chief political strategist Karl Rove to resign, saying it's time for President Bush to "come clean" with the American people about the administration's role in the disclosure of a CIA operative's name."

Reid and everyone else in DC knew who Valerie Plame was, so how do we know he didn't tell reporters? I want the investigation expanded to powerful Democrats. This pronouncement is a CYA move because of his war resolution in October 2002. Either that or Harry's memory is so short about how he believed the intelligence reports and supported the war, he might just need nursing care because here's what he signed:

""Whereas members of al Qaida, an organization bearing responsibility for attacks on the United States, its citizens and interests, including the attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, are known to be in Iraq:

"Whereas Iraq continues to aid and harbor other international terroist organizations, including organizations that threaten the lives and safety of United States citizens;

"Whereas the attacks on the United States of September 11, 2001, underscored the gravity of the threat posed by the acquisition of weapons of mass destruction by international terrorist organizations ..."

I'll bet Harry is very, very frightened that this power-house blog has seen through his little plan.

1697 Happy Halloween

For many years after he left home, our son would come back to pass out candy to the neighborhood kids. Where we live now, no one stops by, and there are no children living in our complex. It's a NORC for DINKS.

So in keeping with the season, here's a photo from about 25 years ago of our beautiful children. Would you look at that wallpaper--it was very healthy and educational--full of fruits and vegetables and words. That table is now in my son's house. From the skill and artisanship, I'm guessing their dad, not me, helped with these beauties.

1696 Dr. Sanity and self-esteem in children

She's on the couch for Sigmund, Carl and Alfred, and has this to say about the dumbing down of students, a problem that Bill Gates addresses rather bluntly.

Given your experience in a university setting, in your opinion, do lowered academic standards impact campus life and social development?

What worries me more than the low college academic standards is the “dumbing down” of the K-12 curriculum Having a daughter in school has made me all too aware of the extent to which the “self-esteem” gurus and the priests of multiculturalism and political correctness have infiltrated even the hallowed halls of kindergarten! Students are propagandized from age 5 on these days (OK, so I’m exaggerating a little bit) and this is the place where the primary aspects of social –and intellectual—development should begin to flourish. By the time these kids get to college, they have learned that their self-esteem is everyone else’s concern; that their feelings are primary; and that thinking is for suckers. Such an outlook on life is bound to have an impact on campus life and any further social development. Sadly, for most college students, lowered academic standards are what they feel entitled to, and most university professors aren’t highly motivated to take on the consequences of challenging the system. Besides, many of them like the system; particularly since they can have much more of an influence on students who have been properly discouraged from independent thinking."

Unfortunately, this goes back quite a ways. I remember going to an awards banquet over 20 years ago when my daughter was in junior high. I sat through interminable presentations and realized that my daughter wasn't really being honored--every kid got something, not for excellence or skill, but for effort and showing up. She was already pretty and smart, but I guess they wanted her to be an athlete too.

1695 Escutcheon plate blues

When Mr. Miracle (his real name) installed the handsome replacement faucets and drain in the bath off my office last spring, I noticed that there was always a little pool of water sitting on the drain. Rather than ruin the finish or corrode the marble, I'd mop it up after each use. Finally, I said to architect-husband, "That sink drain is installed incorrectly because there's always about a teaspoon of water that just sits there." That's when I heard about escutcheon plates. That's the trim piece you see around faucets and drains. Actually, he wasn't positive they are called that when trimming out the drain, but that's what he calls them, and he's been supporting us as an architect for all these years and has spec'd many a bathroom. "They've been standardized and now instead of sloping inward, they are raised slightly higher than the drain hole." Another case of early obsolescence I think, because water will eventually discolor or erode the pretty finish on my new escutcheon plate. I Googled this problem (discovering I didn't know how to spell it and neither did about 12 other people), but only found one diagram of an escutcheon plate for a drain, and sure enough, it appeared to be raised. We are overbathroomed in this house, and have three other bathroom sinks, all with escutcheon plates that slope down, but all have lost their finish and are sort of ugly, being rather old. Not that old is ugly, necessarily, but old escutcheon plates, although designed correctly, do show their age.



This photo, which barely shows the escutcheon plate (are we clear now on how to spell this word?) does show another disaster. A few days ago I was blogging away and I heard glass break. I had no glass on my desk, so I got up and looked in the bathroom. I had some hand lotion and cologne bottles sitting on a small glass plate so they didn't get damp from the counter top. If you look closely, you can see the plate split in two, all by itself. I was so upset. This plate is actually a relish dish given to my parents as a wedding gift in 1934. It's probably the only memento I have of that day so important in my family's life. I have a few glass and china objects that were my mother's, but because they married during the Depression years, they really had very few gifts. It always graced the table on holidays, even though it was very small, and Mom gave it to me about 10 years before she died. I didn't cause it to break (seems to have had a weak spot along the line of the etched celery), but I feel I've not been a good steward for something that had a useful life for 70 years.

1694 Why the Federal Government should not usurp the role of the states in disasters

Governor Rick Perry of Texas says the federal government does not need to step in and be a first responder, but it does need to look at its role in relocating the refugees. He reported that almost two months after Katrina, Texas is still looking after 400,000 refugees from Louisiana “left in hotels, shelters, and other places of last resort and 6,000 evacuees with special needs in hospitals and nursing homes with no federal plan in place to help determine what happens to them next.” He believes housing vouchers would be a better plan than spending hundreds of millions of our tax dollars for the government to be a landlord/social worker. I’m guessing that the word “voucher” which brings up the thought that people can make decisions independent of the government, will defeat this idea.

In the same presentation, he points out another area of Homeland Security that the federal government really needs to attend to in order to prevent a disaster, that shouldn’t be left to the states, and that is border security. I had no idea that so many non-Mexicans (OTMs) were entering this country through our border.

“Perry said that an indication of how the federal government will respond to future disasters is how it is currently responding to the ongoing threat of disaster posed by a porous border with Mexico. In the first seven months of this year, the U.S. Border Patrol apprehended 119,000 illegal immigrants who did not originate from Mexico, or "Other Than Mexicans" (OTMs) as they are sometimes called. As a result, federal officials are taking desperate measures, including busing OTMs to inland towns, dropping them off and asking them to return for a detention hearing on their honor.

"Federal officials must significantly re-examine this nonsensical deportation system that depends on the honesty of those who have already broken our laws," Perry said. "Unless the federal government changes course and adequately addresses our border problem, it's only a matter of time until the federal 'catch and release' policy leads to another terrorist attack on our nation."

How would you like to live in one of those inland towns where illegals are being dropped off “on their honor“ to be good?

First Response

1693 Designer Dogs

Ann Viera, the veterinary medicine librarian at University of Tennessee has designed a very nice pet page to answer your animal health care questions at Pet Health. Ann and I used to hang out together at conferences, so I was browsing this nice site and came across an article on designer dogs. I’d heard of cockapoos and yorkipoos, but never Labradoodles. They are sort of cute--maybe cuter than either breed, pure bred. Supposedly the mix combines the intelligence, aloof nature, the delicate frame, and the low-allergy, and non-shedding traits of the poodle with the boisterous exuberance, lovability, and loyalty of a lab. Sometimes hybrids can create health disasters, but this one seems to be working. It takes a long time for a hybrid to become a standard breed, and the Labradoodle isn’t there yet, and is also very pricey--$2,500, if you can find a breeder. And remember, don't buy a dog at a pet store. Put those back yard breeders out of business.

1692 Plame as an undercover book agent

This one was dug up from the archives of Beautiful Atrocities.

1691 It's hard for liberals

to say anything nice about big American corporations like Wal-Mart and McDonald's--easily two of the most successful business giants who started from nothing and have been leaders and innovators in many areas of good business practices. JoHo the blog gives McDonald's the nod for serving Newman's fair traded coffee, but jabs them for cutting down trees for packaging. Then over at The Well-dressed Librarian Wal-Mart is slammed for selling too many books, and influencing the NYT best seller list (can't find a way to link to the specifics, but it is Oct. 28). Go figure!

As I told Matthew, who really is a fashion plate and will gladly tell you how beautiful he is, in his comments:

"Wal-Mart provides millions with the opportunities you don't give a second thought to--clothing, household items, books, fabric, crafts, plumbling dohinkies, etc. in [their] price range.

I can go anywhere I want, and afford what I want, but if there is a Wal-Mart near by, they definitely get my business. Mom-Pop stores have been going under since before the 20th century. The business district in my home town was already gone when Sam Walton was still managing a Ben Franklin store. It was good highways and suburban malls that closed the stores in small towns, not the Waltons.

I would also suggest you take a trip to NW Arkansas and then step over the line into Missouri. Wal-Mart has created a booming economy there (in Arkansas) that has had under a 2% unemployment rate for nearly 20 years. And you should see their libraries. To die for."

Tomeboy, another librarian, has looked into some of the do-gooder consumerism. Take a look.

1690 Library blogs

There are a lot of library blogs out there, as you can see from my links. I'm not really one them--I've been retired 5 years as of Oct. 1, but I really enjoy some of the fresh perspectives, even naivete, and of course, all the tech stuff that I regularly read in their blogs. Even if Walt thinks I'm the only "right-winger," I know I'm not. There are a few conservatives on my list, and others who have to hide out or lose their jobs and promotions. Today I found a new one. I always go to the first entry to find out why people blog.

"There are a lot of library blogs out there. I hope mine isn’t like any of them. It isn’t that I don’t value them; I’m grateful they are out there covering library news, all the sexy new technology and next gen, tattooed, gay, belly dancing librarians perspectives. I am enriched by all this information and all these peoples’ points of view. But honestly, the best part of my job is working at the desk, with the public - all that other stuff is just extra to me."

This librarian is a real softy, and some of her stories about her people are really moving. I haven't read them all, but check her out. I particularly enjoyed this one about Alex Haley.

1689 Fiction with an agenda--Boxer's novel

Barbara Boxer is the sort of pol you love to hate. Whenever she's on TV, I just say a prayer for California. She's come out with "her" first novel, "A time to run." All the Republicans are bad, and all the Democrats are good. I think the fiction part was contributed by her co-author, Mary-Rose Hayes, and the agenda part by Boxer. When is a novel, not a novel? When it is a political poster.

Phrases used in the reviews:
"dull plot"
"political twaddle"
"tedious crawl"
"sex scenes--horses with nostrils flaring"
"a cross between a bad romance novel and a soap opera script"
"Ah, to be a liberal Democrat. The world is so simple. One's soul is so caring. One's mind is so enlightened."

So how do two people collaborate on a novel, one a writer and one a politician. Here's what Beautiful Atrocities said in December.

"Barbara Boxer is soon to be a best-selling 'author'. Her 'literary' agent hooked her up with SF novelist Mary Rose Hayes to 'collaborate' on a novel: "Boxer's provided characters, details & descriptions; the novelist has combined those elements into a story." In other words, Babs' contribution is - her name."

1688 Minnesota Gophers and Ohio State Buckeyes

That's the talk around here as the Buckeyes play in Minnesota today. I'm wondering what these guys talk about when they get together? Like Thanksgiving dinner, maybe. The Buckeye Head Coach, Jim Tressel, has his brother, Dick Tressel as the OSU running backs coach, and he in turn is the father of Minnesota's receivers coach, Luke Tressel. Think of the secrets these guys have to keep. Makes Scooter Libby's job look easy, doesn't it.

There are 17 native Ohioans on Minnesota's roster, and 10 are from central Ohio. OSU only has 11 from central Ohio. Sounds like someone is falling down on the recruiting job. These kids probably used to play on the same high school teams. And it's much colder in Minnesota.

1687 Frankie Coleman's DUI

Our Columbus mayor's wife hit a parked truck one night last week in Bexley (suburb) and was apparently too drunk to know she should refuse a BAC, and tested at .271! According to an article I read, that could mean 10-15 drinks. A sloppy drunk might be .16-.19, a .2 BAC can cause blackouts, gagging and choking to death on vomit, and a .25 BAC means all mental, physical and sensory functions are impaired--the function that tells you your lawyer would not want you to take that test.

It's been distressing to hear her misfortune bandied around the news, especially on the Glenn Beck national show. (He and Mayor Coleman have a "thing.") Beck is a recovering alcoholic and should have a bit more compassion. Mayor Coleman has announced his candidacy for governor. If Mrs. Coleman was even able to walk out of the bar and get behind the wheel with that much alcohol in her system she has built up a resistence over a period of time. Her alcoholism was no secret to people who knew her. What a shame her family and friends haven't had an intervention. Being embarrassed in the press is not nearly as serious as wiping out a carload of people or killing herself, as she could have done. She was way past due for someone to step in and save her. Three days in jail and a week-end in rehab, which is the sentence if she's found guilty, will not be enough to turn this around, but it could be a start to saving her life and the lives of others who share the road with her.

1686 Do you like quilts?

Woof Nanny has posted some photos of the quilt show she attended in September at the San Diego Convention Center. Really spectacular. Interesting architecture too to reflect the city's history near the water.

1685 Last night we discussed the possibility

over dinner that Harriet was a decoy. That Dubya really wanted someone else. I see I wasn’t the only one thinking this way. I thought maybe I was just perverse. I missed this when it was posted on October 3.

“My own prediction: She may not make it to the Supreme Court. Bush may not even intend for her to get there. She may be, rather than the “misdirection,” many expected, an out-and-out decoy, floated to allow both the liberals and the conservatives to blast her out of the water so that Bush can then put up another candidate that both left and right - after having behaved very badly over Miers - will not dare to behave badly over, again.” The Anchoress

Now I certainly can’t claim I knew he’d select her (which Anchoress said), because I’d never heard of her before the nomination, but I know Bush loves to outsmart both his enemies and his friends.

1684 Why you just may need a librarian to help you with that search

Spelling. Yup. Even researchers and doctors can't agree on how to spell the little buggers. I used to be a whiz at bovine viral diarrhea virus because I knew all the British and American spelling and name variations. I've forgotten all that now since I retired 5 years ago, but I know it could make a difference of finding 75 articles or 175. So pay attention.

"Historic change in the spelling of these names is the primary reason they are published and cited in PubMed with different spellings. However, even disregarding historic taxonomic variants, ≈14.8% of Tropheryma whipplei, 14.3% of Acinetobacter baumannii, 12.3% of Coxiella burnetii, and 1.9% of Coccidioides citations are spelled incorrectly in PubMed. These relatively large percentages may mean that relevant literature is overlooked in searches."
Spelling of emerging pathogens, Emerging infectious diseases, Volume 11, Number 11—November 2005. This is the journal (free, on-line) to check about avian flu, if you are so inclined to need new things to worry about in the middle of the night.

1683 The Blizzard of O5

This one is going around the internet. I first saw it in Gekko's comments on Doyle's site, but it is also on a lot of blogs, and I believe refers to the early blizzard they had in the plains in October:

"Up here in the Northern Plains we just recovered from a Historic --- may I even say a "Weather Event" of "Biblical Proportions" with a historic blizzard of up to 24" inches of snow and winds to 60 MPH that broke trees in half, stranded hundreds of motorist in lethal snow banks, closed all roads, isolated scores of communities and cut power to 10's of thousands.

George Bush did not come....
FEMA staged nothing....
no one howled for the government...
no one even uttered an expletive on TV...
nobody demanded $2,000 debit cards.....
no one asked for a FEMA Trailer House....
no news anchors moved in.

We just melted snow for water, sent out caravans to pluck people out of snow engulfed cars, fired up wood stoves, broke out coal oil lanterns or Aladdin lamps and put on an extra layer of clothes. Even though a Category "5" blizzard of this scale has never fallen this early...we know it can happen and how to deal with it ourselves.

Gravity Always Wins!"
RunRyder, Bismarck, ND

1682 Naked Republican Lawyer

Although I was pretty sure I'd written about this when it happened, I can't find it in my blog search. Anyway, Stephen P. Linnen is trying to save his private law practice from the shambles he created when he was sent to prison for 18 months for jumping out from behind buildings and bushes and photographing his surprised victims' stunned expression. He did this naked. He has served some time in the Franklin County Jail, and will do the rest at home. He says, although he may have pinched a few, he didn't assault anyone. The judge didn't want him labeled a sex offender, but I sure don't want him in my neighborhood, Republican or not.

He says it was an addiction--he did it for the jolt. Next time, fella, just go to Starbucks.

November 2003 story

1681 All Hallows' Eve

November 1 is All Saints' Day on the Christian calendar, and the day before is All Hallows' Eve, or Halloween. However, it didn't start out as a Christian holy day. The early Christian missionaries who spread through Europe didn't try to eradicate the local religions, but rather just folded them into their own. All major Christian holidays have pagan roots, or Christianized roots, if you prefer. Christmas and Easter with all the strange symbols like trees, yule logs, bunnies and colored eggs are pagan in their symbols, but not in the current meaning. So when Christians complain about consumerism and the "real meaning" they should understand that way, way back, it was about worshiping something other than the one, true God. When secularists try to take a Christmas tree out of the public square, I wonder if they have any concept that they are kicking out their own!

Nevertheless, there is a lovely tale about Halloween and its beginnings among the Celts who used to be all over Europe at this well written site by Jack Santino.

"Halloween had its beginnings in an ancient, pre-Christian Celtic festival of the dead. The Celtic peoples, who were once found all over Europe, divided the year by four major holidays. According to their calendar, the year began on a day corresponding to November 1st on our present calendar. The date marked the beginning of winter. Since they were pastoral people, it was a time when cattle and sheep had to be moved to closer pastures and all livestock had to be secured for the winter months. Crops were harvested and stored. The date marked both an ending and a beginning in an eternal cycle."

1680 Bill Gates advice

I think I had a pop-up today that told me it is Bill Gates' 50th birthday. Then at Bonita's site I saw his 2004 address at a high school commencement, where he makes mincemeat of some of the things kids learn in school. It can be found on a holistic site, or at Bonita's.

Here's a few of my favorites.

Rule 7. Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8. Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9. Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.

1679 This is not the way to honor Rosa Parks

A Californian complains about 100,000 stalled and stuck motorists who were forced to pay tribute to Rosa Parks on Tuesday:

". . .the westbound Santa Monica Freeway (a.k.a. Interstate 10), was partially closed for roughly 20 minutes in the middle of rush hour so that a memorial service could be held to honor Rosa Parks. KFI news announcer Terri-Rae Elmer and traffic reporter Mike Nolan indicated that the two right-most lanes of the freeway were closed for about a mile, along with several on-ramps. This small portion of the freeway is named for the recently deceased Rosa Parks."

When visiting my husband's family, I've always thought LA area traffic was horrendous--I'm not sure I could tell their snarls from their crawls.

1678 Blogger has good advice on page design

The host of my blog, blogger.com, which is owned by Google, has a good advice page on Weblog Usability: The Top Ten Design Mistakes. I thought #9 was particularly important, and I always pass this along to anyone I help who is setting up a blog. I also frequently remind the younger folks at LISNews that they need to be very careful about what they say about their co-workers and boss. Afterall, information is the librarian's business, and they are expert snoops and have long memories.

"9. Forgetting That You Write for Your Future Boss
Whenever you post anything to the Internet -- whether on a weblog, in a discussion group, or even in an email -- think about how it will look to a hiring manager in ten years. Once stuff's out, it's archived, cached, and indexed in many services that you might never be aware of.

Years from now, someone might consider hiring you for a plum job and take the precaution of 'nooping you first. (Just taking a stab at what's next after Google. Rest assured: there will be some super-snooper service that'll dredge up anything about you that's ever been bitified.) What will they find in terms of naïvely puerile "analysis" or offendingly nasty flames published under your name?

Think twice before posting. If you don't want your future boss to read it, don't post."

I regularly violate #8 which reminds bloggers to have a focus in order to develop regular readers. When it comes to information, I'm an omnivore, which is why I've split off to specialty blogs for some topics, but this one goes from personal to politics to pets to page design.

1677 Mississippi will come back

My son-in-law will be sent to Florida by his insurance company. Like many of the other people who go into devastated areas, insurance adjusters provide an important service in times of need--and have a unique viewpoint. Angle of Repose, an insurance adjuster from California, stopped by and left a comment on my previous post, so I took a look and found this message of hope and many photos that are worth a thousand posts:

"If this deputy represents the citizens of the devastated Mississippi Gulf Coast, I predict that southern Mississippi will emerge from this disaster stronger than ever. This man was polite, generous, happy, confident -- not a bit of whining or complaining about him. He didn't know if he was going to rebuild his house or sell his property. He mentioned that big money developers are moving in. I posted earlier on how this could change the area, not necessarily for the better. But whether homes or large hotel/casinos are built in this area, Mississippi will come back strong."

Unfortunately, things don't look as good for Louisiana where he says there is much griping and moaning.

1676 Architects join forces to sketch a new Mississippi

Miami-based architect Andres Duany says Mississippi had been destroyed by urban sprawl long before Katrina, and now he has a vision to rebuild it without strip malls, office parks, and housing subdivisions. So he's gathered some of like mind and they're dreaming: Chicago Trib story reprinted in Archi-Tect.

"For Biloxi, the designers advocated tearing down an elevated highway and replacing it with a ground-level boulevard that would feed traffic into the depressed downtown business district, instead of bypassing it. They also would return two-way traffic to the downtown's forlorn pedestrian mall and encourage casinos, the engine of the city's economy, to have shops that faced outward toward the street rather than turning inward, as suburban malls do."

No one really expects Mississippi will be rebuilt on the dreams of outsiders, but some fresh ideas couldn't hurt. Afterall, who but architects have designed the mess we have now inside and outside our cities?

1675 Norma’s short list for Supreme Court

Thanks to WaPo for the bios. So if you detect some affirmative action on my list, blame it on my Democrat years.

—PRISCILLA OWEN, 50: Owen was confirmed in May for a seat on the 5th Circuit after a drawn-out Senate battle. Democrats argued that Owen let her political beliefs to color her rulings. They were particularly critical of her decisions in abortion cases involving teenagers.

—EDITH BROWN CLEMENT, 57: On the 5th Circuit since 2001, Clement is known as a no-nonsense judge with a reputation for being tough on crime and meting out stiff sentences. Her 99-0 Senate confirmation vote to the circuit court in November 2001 suggests she has broad appeal. She was touted as a top possibility for the vacancy to which Roberts was nominated.

—JANICE ROGERS BROWN, 56: Newly confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit after a bitter Senate battle and filibuster, Brown is an outspoken black Christian conservative who supports limits on abortion rights and corporate liability.

—ALICE BATCHELDER, 61: A judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, Batchelder has been a reliable conservative vote on abortion, affirmative action and gun control. Bush’s father appointed the former high school English teacher to the court with jurisdiction over Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee.

—KAREN WILLIAMS, 54: A former trial lawyer, Williams is known as one of the most conservative judges on the nation’s most conservative federal appeals court, the Richmond-based 4th Circuit. In 1999, Williams wrote the 4th Circuit opinion that would have paved the way for overturning the landmark 1966 decision in Miranda that outlines the rights read to criminal suspects. The Supreme Court voted 7-2 to let it stand.

—MAURA CORRIGAN, 57: The Michigan Supreme Court justice is a walking billboard for the conservative mantra of judicial restraint — the notion that judges should stick to interpreting the law and not making it. Her resume includes a number of firsts, among them: first woman to serve as chief assistant U.S. attorney in Detroit, first woman to serve as chief judge of the Michigan Court of Appeals.

—MAUREEN MAHONEY, 50: Often described as the female version of Chief Justice John Roberts, Mahoney, a lawyer in private practice, clerked for the late Justice William Rehnquist, served as deputy solicitor general under Kenneth Starr and has argued cases before the Supreme Court. Mahoney might upset conservatives with one of her major court wins, the landmark University of Michigan Law School case defending affirmative action.

1674 Democrats demand a moderate

Now that Hurricane Harriet has passed out to sea, Democrats are regrouping and saying they hope Bush selects a moderate. Like Ruth Bader Ginsberg perhaps? Did they demand that Clinton nominate a moderate? George Bush really isn't much of a conservative except on abortion, and if he thinks he can save a few babies in the next 30 years by successfully nominating a pro-life judge, I say, it's worth a try. I doubt that the laws will ever be turned back, but some of those babies just might grow up to be president some day, or help pay your Medicare bill and Social Security.

Update: Now about all that caving in to the extreme right wing: Jeff Goldstein writes--"Question: how many “bases” does the President have, exactly? I mean, for years we’ve been hearing from Democrats and the legacy media how James Dobson, Hugh Hewitt, the evangelicals, et al, are Bush’s “right wing” conservative base—but these are the very people who, in addition to GOP party pragmatists, by and large were most supportive of the Miers nomination.

And yet today, all I’m hearing is that Bush caved to his “extremist” “right wing base.” "
HT Sister Told Jah

I wondered about that, too. So are there right-wing-secularist like Ann Coulter and George Will who were having hissy fits about Harriet, and right-wing-religious like Dobson and Hewitt? Or are the Democrats just mad because now they'll have to have a real debate about issues involving the court.