"The Blueprint" by Ken Blackwell

I didn't know Ken Blackwell had a new book out about the Obama Administration. I hope this doesn't make him a racist since he's a black Republican.

HughHewitt.com Blog : Hugh Hewitt : "The Blueprint" by Ken Blackwell

Chicago Carbon Exchange--the Players

"Here are the players and their roles:

Joyce Foundation – A group founded in 1948 that took a sharp turn to the left after its founder, Beatrice Joyce Kean died in 1972.

Barack Obama – President of the United States and one time Board member of the Joyce Foundation. Largely responsible for creating the Chicago Climate Exchange by funneling money to it from the Joyce Foundation.

Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) – An exchange dealing exclusively with Cap and Trade passes, techonology, etc. It was formed largely due to Obama's role as Board member on Joyce Foundation. Obama oversaw the funneling of money from that foundation to the CCX as well as to an entity headed by Bill Ayers' brother.

Valerie Jarrett – Senior advisor to Barack Obama and current Board member on the Joyce Foundation.

Al Gore – Founder of London-based Generation Investment Management (GIM). London also happens to be in the same country where climategate broke. GIM owns 10% of the CCX.

Goldman Sachs – Banking giant that, like Gore, owns 10% of the CCX. Also worthy of note is that at least six former Goldman Sachs executives work inside the Obama administration while Congress puts on a dog and pony show, publicly chastising other Goldman execs about their supposed complicity in the financial crisis.

Franklin Raines – Former head of Fannie Mae. While there, Raines used taxpayer dollars from Fannie Mae to purchase cap and trade technology."

Whether or not you like Glenn Beck, you might ask your favorite news source reporters why he is doing investigative reporting and they aren't. I think the charade going on about "punishing" Goldman Sachs is pretty clever since they're all on the same team. But it also serves a dual role of demonizing Jews, and indirectly by association, Israel, because "Wall Street fat cats" and "greedy CEOs" are just code words for Jews. Just check back into the anti-semitism of the 1930s.

CONSPIRACY REALITY: CONNECTIONS BETWEEN WHITE HOUSE, CHICAGO CLIMATE EXCHANGE AND GOLDMAN SACHS TOO BIG TO IGNORE - TheCypressTimes

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

I was really bogged down in the beginning pages of May's book club selection, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society until Adrienne passionately reviewed it for me yesterday at coffee, so I've persevered and have gotten into the story--entirely written in letters (1946) about the occupation in 1940 by the German Nazis in WWII of Guernsey, a small British island. The literary society of the title began life as a pig roast when a local woman managed to hide a pig from the German soldiers and invited her nearly starving neighbors to share. My political antennae were up as I read this section on what marvelous record keepers, regulators and law makers the German occupiers were. They recorded each piglet born, gave it a birth certificate, and then the death needed to be reported too, and the Germans would issue a death certificate for the deceased animals. The Islanders saw their hard work and agricultural crops stolen from them by the occupiers, so they devised a plan, and circulated the same dead piglet amongst themselves, hiding one of the healthy one so that the count came out right when the Germans came.

And here's where I got to thinking about our own government regulations, becoming over the years ever more oppressive and anti-free market. Right now we're being treated to the dog and pony show of government employees (Congress) scolding Goldman Sach employees. One made the regulations so they could take a big cut, the other got around the regulations by risk taking and cleverness so they could keep their cut. The only difference between this and the circulating dead pig story is that Goldman Sachs employees float in and out of the government and help make the regulations so it will all work to their advantage. The Islanders of the novel didn't move back and forth among the ranks of the Germans.

Goldman Sachs is heavily into the 10 trillion valued cap and trade scheme owning, like Al Gore, a chunk of the thin as air exchange houses, such as the Chicago Carbon Exchange (CCX), in which Obama was involved (board member of the Joyce Foundation) before he came President.

Our wealth (through higher taxes) is being distributed through smoke and mirrors exchanges like the dead pig on Guernsey Island. Soon it will be no more. The patent to facilitate the new carbon exchange industry has been purchased by Franklin Raines, our illustrious attorney general, accounting fraudster and former CEO of Fannie Mae deeply involved in our housing collapse. Scott Lesmes formerly of Fannie Mae bundling mortgages to resell to investors is now in charge of the same system for carbon exchanges.

Is this analogy weak? You betcha, but it just shows you things aren't always as they seem and regulations can sometimes smell like a dead pig.

Sordid, tacky, publicity hound--and that's just the mistress!

John Edwards. Wow. I'm so glad he didn't go any further in his quest for the White House. I'm not thrilled with the current occupant, but he's head and shoulders above this mess of dandruff.

'Johnny' to testify in Hunter trial | Washington Examiner

A carefully crafted immigration law in Arizona

"Has anyone actually read the law? Contrary to the talk, it is a reasonable, limited, carefully-crafted measure designed to help law enforcement deal with a serious problem in Arizona. Its authors anticipated criticism and went to great lengths to make sure it is constitutional and will hold up in court. It is the criticism of the law that is over the top, not the law itself.

The law requires police to check with federal authorities on a person's immigration status, if officers have stopped that person for some legitimate reason and come to suspect that he or she might be in the U.S. illegally. The heart of the law is this provision: "For any lawful contact made by a law enforcement official or a law enforcement agency…where reasonable suspicion exists that the person is an alien who is unlawfully present in the United States, a reasonable attempt shall be made, when practicable, to determine the immigration status of the person…" "

Byron York, A carefully crafted immigration law in Arizona | Washington Examiner

About that last 10 pounds

It's apparently good for you, ladies. But not more than that. Combine that with the 60 minutes a day exercise, and all the sunscreen you can slather on, and we're good to go! Today's WSJ in the side bar:

How a Little Fat Can Help
Some new research shows that being a little overweight doesn't increase health risks. And there may be some benefits. Recent findings include


1. Overweight people are no more likely than those of normal weight to die from cancer or cardiovascular disease.
2. During a 10-year time span, there was a reduced risk of dying for people in their 70s who were overweight compared to those of normal weight.
3. Doctors who study osteoporosis say a little extra weight may help strengthen bones.
4. As they age, women who are overweight often look younger than other women.
Why Carrying an Extra 10 Pounds Might Not Hurt - WSJ.com

There was also an article about sunscreen, something I rarely use. I think my last suntan was in 1985 in Hawaii, and my last burn was in college. I just hate to sit in the sun and sweat. I do like Oil of Olay sunscreen however--it's a great moisturizer, too.

Young ladies. Listen up and lighten up. Great-grandma was right! Protect your skin while in the garden, yard or at the beach. Otherwise you end up with wrinkled, blotchy brown leather. Take a Vitamin D supplement.

What did Governor Strickland Know About Eric McFadden

So what ever happened to Eric McFadden, Governor Strickland's $75,000 a year head of "Faith based and Community Initiatives?" He was arrested and charged with 7 felonies involving prostitution in January 2009. The 46-year-old Dublin resident began serving a one-year prison sentence last August 25 at the Madison Correctional Institution for posting photos of a 17 year old girl on the internet and offering her for sex. He is slated to be freed August 8, 2010 according to the state department of corrections. Seems like an awfully light sentence, but then he does have good friends among the Democrats. In fact, not much was written about this so will anyone notice when he gets out and registers as a sex offender? Or will his Democrat cronies take care of him again? Looks like the Guv didn't do a very good background check.

As I was searching for information on the outcome, I came across a pro-life blogger, Carol McKinley, who says she had a lot of trouble with him and reported him to the Catholic group who employed him.

"For instance, starting somewhere in 2005, I endured an 18 month round. I employed various strategies on my own trying to get McFadden to stop. Somewhere in late 2006, McFadden started sending his kooky messages signing his name as "Eamon". Then, McFadden put up a blog named "Eamon". In my ignorance of who and what "Eamon" was, I did a google search using the name "Eamon". Eamon is a musician who speaks about women in sexually charged, violent vulgar and degrading lyrics - including, you guessed it, pimping women. I'll post a link to his lyrics with the caveat you read them at your own risk as the vulgarity and sexual nature is grotesque. [see her site for link] Since the lyrics were similar to McFadden's meme in leaving comments and sending emails, I naturally connected the dots and thought to myself, I best be escalating protecting myself and my family.

I subsequently called Alexia Kelley and Chris Korzen, who were at the time employing and empowering McFadden and notified them in writing of specific McFadden's activities and asking them to intercede. . . Alexia Kelley, Chris Korzen and their attorney responded by threatening me with a lawsuit. So much for Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good." McKinley's Blog

This was before Strickland was elected, and obviously Kelley and Korzen didn't mention those charges if they recommended him and he became one of the governor's appointees. Kelley co-founded Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good (CACG) in 2005 and co-authored with Chris Korzen, "A Nation for All: How the Catholic Vision of the Common Good Can Save America from the Politics of Division." She's been rewarded for her staunch support of Obama with a plum job in Washington. McFadden had been very active in Central Ohio Catholic Democrat party efforts like Catholics for Kerry and Catholics for Clinton in addition to the "Common Good" group. Seems we need to look a bit further than just peeking under the priests' robes for perverts. McKinley is continuing to look for the paper trail that led from McFadden's employers to Strickland's office.

Digital Preservation: An Unsolved Problem

Recently I purchased three paperback books. "A Patriot's History of the United States" by Larry Schweikart and Michael Allen ($25); "The reason for God" by Timothy Keller ($16); and "The Lutherans in North America" (2d ed., used $10). It takes my breath away to pay that much for a pb, but I think these books will last longer than anything on my computer, or access to their scanned versions on some future computer. They still don't know how to save a book on bits.

"For digital preservationists, a prime concern is that data might be kept perfectly secure and complete, but still be unreadable by machines and programs in the future. A New Yorker cover depicting an alien, come to post-apocalyptic Earth, sitting amid the detritus of modern civilization—discarded CDs, tapes, and computers—illustrates the point: the alien is reading a book, the only thing that still “works.” "

And to think some agency is trying to archive Twitter and Facebook! Who will do the upgrade that will be able to read all those expletives and English reduced to text message skrinkage 4 U. K?

Digital Preservation: An Unsolved Problem | Harvard Magazine May-Jun 2010

Double standard for protests

Where are the media and White House representatives like Gibbsy and Rahm decrying the violence and out of control crowds protesting Arizona's governor? What could be more racist than calling your organization "The Race" (La Raza) the group urging disobedience? And smearing refried beans in protest? Imagine if Tea Party people, whom the head of ACORN Bertha Lewis had called a "bowel movement" to young socialists had smeared something!

Arizona has an estimated 460,000 illegal immigrants and is the state with the most illegal border crossings, with the harsh, remote desert serving as the gateway for thousands of Mexicans and Central Americans. The law toughens restrictions on hiring illegal immigrants for day labor and knowingly transporting them.

Since it is illegal to enter the country this way, why is Obama fomenting trouble by condemning Arizona for passing a law that supports U.S. laws? Why doesn't he want help in stopping the illegal transportation of illegals, many underage women?

It's about voters! Democrats are in trouble. Obama will play the race card--he's losing every day. But he didn't win with the race vote, he won with the independents and moderates of both parties wanting to flee from their guilty past. I think they've wised up by now to look at his poll numbers.

Getting by with too much help from their friends

When the whole IT and computer thing really kicked in with 20-somethings making money in start ups I thought young women were well positioned to go right to the top. They'd had special math and science boosts since the beginning of the 70s, workshops, summer camps, special tutoring, all manner of "leadership training" from supervisors and teachers and professors. The government went after them with Title 9 (1972). But thud. What a dud. It hasn't happened according to this article. Back in the 90s when I was still reading Wired regularly (dropped my subscription went it became mostly about hi-tech bikes and apps on phony baloney stuff) I'd look over the photos of the geekdom, or the lists of names, and really didn't see many women even though they could work from anywhere and any hours they wanted and you didn't need to worry about the good-old boys network and playing golf or tennis. Nope. Didn't happen. So now--more of the same.

"Women comprise a mere 30 percent of the information technology workforce, hold fewer than 7 percent of all IT patents and underperform in just about every measure of entrepreneurial activity in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines."

If being "risk averse" is a problem, maybe part of success is struggle--figuring out what to do on your own when it's your passion? Maybe the women who would have gone to the top have been stuck in two-fer jobs to make the masthead look good to suit all the laws and regulations? You know, vice-president for IT, just like blacks got shoehorned into vice-president for human resources.

Getting by with a little help from their friends : Ohio State onCampus

Don't look at me. I never liked math and science, and no amount of luring me into summer camp would have changed that. I sat in high school algebra II for two weeks and transferred. I'm just telling you what I observed in the last 40 years (women's movement aka modern feminism). I loved my career, lowest of the low paid (library science). And my advice to women starting out is: "You can have it all, you just can't have it all at the same time."

A note in today's e-mail from Bill

Remember when Ronald Reagan was president, we also had Bob Hope and Johnny Cash still with us...

Now we have Obama ... and NO Hope ... and NO Cash !

Do astronomers buy into AGW?

Why would they when they can look at and understand (I don't) the information at the Hubble site? Our earth is part of the Milky Way Galaxy which has over 100 billion stars, our sun being just one. But there are over 100 billion galaxies in the visible universe--imagine what isn't visible. However, those deeply interested in space, technology and distant galaxies should be very worried. Look at this photo that appeared at Space Desk (Wired Science). . . it's a screen shot using a photo from Hubble, but the accoutrements of modern life are the reality of the sender's life. Cap and Trade, the hoax encapsulating a hoax, will change all that.



"April 22, 2010: NASA's best-recognized, longest-lived, and most prolific space observatory zooms past a threshold of 20 years of operation this month. On April 24, 1990, the space shuttle and crew of STS-31 were launched to deploy the Hubble Space Telescope into a low Earth orbit. What followed was one of the most remarkable sagas of the space age. Hubble's unprecedented capabilities made it one of the most powerful science instruments ever conceived by humans, and certainly the one most embraced by the public. Hubble discoveries revolutionized nearly all areas of current astronomical research, from planetary science to cosmology. And, its pictures were unmistakably out of this world. This brand new Hubble photo is of a small portion of one of the largest seen star-birth regions in the galaxy, the Carina Nebula. Towers of cool hydrogen laced with dust rise from the wall of the nebula. The scene is reminiscent of Hubble's classic "Pillars of Creation" photo from 1995, but is even more striking in appearance. The image captures the top of a three-light-year-tall pillar of gas and dust that is being eaten away by the brilliant light from nearby bright stars. The pillar is also being pushed apart from within, as infant stars buried inside it fire off jets of gas that can be seen streaming from towering peaks like arrows sailing through the air." Link to celebrate 20 years"

No need to explain the styrofoam, glass, vinyl, plastic, acrylic, cardboard, fan, book, coffee cup, or even the paint on the wall of the built enviroment. It's all going to cost you much, much more. That you can understand.

There are some things that I believe the government does better than private industry. And it's not salt in my food, or my light bulbs in my home. It's not my relationship with my doctor. Space exploration and security of the nation, for instance, the government does bestter. They are linked. Obama's plans for NASA are just one more way for him to down play the importance of our nation.

Paul Ryan leading us away from the welfare state

They missed the budget deadline (April 15)--you try missing that one! The budget the president sent Congress has $2 trillion in higher taxes, doubles the debt in five years, triples the debt in 10 years. He’s accelerating the tipping point, says Congressman Ryan, the guy who would get my vote for President were he running now. He says he’s not running, but we could sure use him--he believes it’s not too late for our country. http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid14599856001?bctid=79427084001


Paul Ryan: Obama Leading America on ‘Dangerous Path’ to Welfare State

Friday Family Photo--the 80s

Beautiful, but I wouldn't go back for all the money in the world! Christmas 1985. Big hair, big shoulders, big teen-agers.

Morphing Agnew into Obama

Since 1960 when I became voting age (21 then) I've heard and seen a lot of politicians. I've been trying to remember what president has been as condescending, whiny, hostile, insincere, two-faced, arrogant, flippant, contemptuous of other viewpoints, and such a bald faced liar about transparency as our current White House resident during this period in our history. And I think I’ve found him at Old Hickory’s Weblog description and remembrance of good old Spiro Agnew, President Nixon's first vice president who resigned in disgrace.

Thanks, Old Hickory, for the stern finger pointing photo and this phrase: "bullying, faux-populist tone" because I've been trying to come up with a phrase to describe his chastising, eye-flashing, finger wagging mannerisms, and after reading through your Agnew piece, I’ve found just the right essay. And with just a few strike throughs, you have other phrases I can use.

"throws out a standard article of Party doctrine"

"today's bipartisanship means that some Democrats Republicans do what the Republicans Democrats all want"

"he used that race as his segway for talking about race that"

"This is the Vice President talking about the government his Party heads as though it were some alien force that the Republican President was struggling to control"


"Then he takes his audience into the heart of darkness in their worldview, to the evil doings of The Liberals capitalists"

"The first thing that strikes a former Mississippian liberal like me is the astonishing amount of projection of unpleasant and antisocial traits onto The Liberals The Conservatives. These descriptions applied to the everyday behavior and attitudes of the segregationists wealthy of the day today."

That last sentence is enigmatic. He's accusing the Evil Ones of wanting to excuse crimes committed by the disadvantages Wall Street, again without actually naming any of these risible liberals conservatives who supposedly think that.

Agnew's Obama's speeches are significant because they show what came to be the dominant authoritarian sentiment of today's Republican Democratic Party at a time when "the Sixties" were are still happening. Agnew Obama was is the darling of the conservative leftist culture warriors in of 1969. [Bill Ayers, Days of rage, etc.]

The untouchable Keith Olbermann

I'm in the same boat with those of you who refuse to watch Glenn Beck talk about the Founding Fathers or listen to Rush Limbaugh's theories of crony capitalism, but have never actually seen or heard a program. You only know you don't like them because some media filter tells you what to think. That's pretty much my story about Keith Olbermann. I don't watch MSNBC except on rare occasions, and guessing from its ratings neither do a lot of other people. I've only seen him on YouTube, usually making a fool of himself. But Donny Deutsch has learned that he dare not mention him in a story about the angry media, not even briefly. It seems it's OK for Olbermann to make himself look like an idiot, but his own colleagues are not supposed to notice. "Fair and Balanced" is a Fox motto, not MSNBC.

"Four people briefed on the matter said the cancellation of Mr. Deutsch’s weeklong show, called “America the Angry,” was the result of an unflattering mention of MSNBC’s No. 1 anchor, Keith Olbermann, on Tuesday.

On that day, in what was supposed to be the second day of a weeklong series, Mr. Deutsch included a segment about the role that the media plays in fomenting the public’s anger. Mr. Olbermann was mentioned briefly and shown in a series of clips of media figures."

MSNBC Pulls the Plug on Donny Deutsch’s Show - NYTimes.com

Comprehensive List of Obamacare's Tax Hikes

At the party at Gloria Estafan's Florida home Obama really yukked it up ridiculing concerned tax payers. Why, we all got refunds--can't imagine what this is all about! Doh! Take a look at what we will be paying just in the health care bill, and he hasn't even started on immigration reform, or cap and trade yet.

Eye Opening: a Comprehensive List of Obamacare's Tax Hikes | Red County

Individual Mandate Excise Tax (Page 324/Sec. 1501/Jan 2014)

Employer Mandate Tax (Page 348/Sec. 1513/Jan 2014)

Excise Tax on Comprehensive Health Insurance Plans (Page 1979/Sec. 9001/$149.1 bil/Jan 2013)

Hike in Medicare Payroll Tax (Page 2040/Sec. 9015/$86.8 bil/Jan 2013

Medicine Cabinet Tax (Page 1997/Sec. 9003/$5 bil/Jan 2011)

HSA Withdrawal Tax Hike (Page 1998/Sec. 9004/$1.3 bil/Jan 2011)

Flexible Spending Account Cap – aka “Special Needs Kids Tax” (Page 1999/Sec. 9005/$14 bil/Jan 2011)

Tax on Medical Device Manufacturers (Page 2020/Sec. 9009/$19.2 bil/Jan 2010)

Raise "Haircut" for Medical Itemized Deduction from 7.5% to 10% of AGI (Page 2034/Sec. 9013/$15.2 bil/Jan 2013)

Tax on Indoor Tanning Services (Page 373 of Manager’s amendment/$2.7 billion/July 1, 2010)

and many, many more.

Timothy Geithner and Bill Gates: A New Initiative to Feed the World

Tax Cheat Geithner wants to feed the world. Excuse me, if I'm not impressed.

"Today, the United States, Canada, Spain, South Korea and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are making a commitment to fight the threat of global food insecurity. Together we are launching the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program, a new fund to help the world's poorest farmers grow more food and earn more than they do now so they can lift themselves out of hunger and poverty."

Timothy Geithner and Bill Gates: A New Initiative to Feed the World - WSJ.com

In one of my other lives I worked in the agricultural credit field on a US AID grant. Fascinating work. One of the most important things I learned was that there was no shortage of food, no shortage of calories. Even using outdated and non-scientific methods (although the push for the green revolution was huge in the 70s). No. It was corrupt governments and bad infrastructure that caused hunger and starvation. Crops rotting in the fields due to civil wars, or no roads, or no trucks to bring them to market or ports. Or pirates when the food stuffs did get there. And in the 70s, malaria was under control--all that has been made worse by environmentalists removing DDT from their tool box.

So if this aid is going to farmers we aren't going to see much change. In fact, there's very good evidence that foreign aid, particularly from former guilt-ridden colonial European countries has actually hurt many third world countries by ruining their markets for their own products or creating dependency on government aid.

Errands

After the mail run for church today I stopped at my doctor's office and made an appointment for a check up--seems I missed 2009; then on to the vet's to see about getting that prescription refilled because the cat has started sneezing serially again; then on to the optometrist to make an appointment. My last "new" glasses are from a 2007 exam, but I exchanged them 5 times. This time I decided to browse the frames display so as not to make another mistake. I overheard the man behind me tell the manager, "Thems look like ol' lady glasses ta me." His belly took up his chair plus part of the table, he hadn't taken off his baseball cap in a month of Sundays, and he was wearing muddy work boots. Ah, youth.

The one mile of sidewalk being built with ARRA funds on our street (banner and sign announces this) is just about finished. A little grass seed and it will look great. I'll soon be able to walk to the coffee shop. Of course, it looks like they were drunk when they laid it out--goes around sewer covers and utility boxes. Thank you, America. I'm sure we in Upper Arlington wouldn't have been able to swing this on our own tax money.

The story of Jack and John

Jack Booket knows a get-rich scheme when he sees one, and he holds no grudge against John Paulson, the hedge-fund manager who made bets on his ability to pay his mortgage. Jack lost; John won. The story is in today's Wall Street Journal. Paulson did nothing to affect Booket's choices. Booket chose to refinance his mortgage in 2006 and a few months later was hit by a car on his motorcycle returning home from a "late-night party." It wasn't his first accident. The writers discreetly don't say alcohol was involved, but it usually is in the a.m. hours of vehicle accidents regardless of who is at fault. Two years later he stopped making payments on his $300,000+ refinanced mortgage. Jack Booket gambled and lost.

John Paulson also gambled, but with a little help. Those mortgages he bet on weren't drawn from a hat. They were matched with court records, foreclosure listings, title records and loan servicing reports. In other words, there was a pretty good chance even before his 2006 motorcycle accident that Jack was overstepping his reach. Paulson gambled that Jack would continue his prior behavior, and he won.

Let's move off the "evil" hedge fund manager who gambled and won, and instead look at the gamble our own government is making on housing, despite knowing what happened in 2007 with non-credit worthy home buyers, and speculators ready to pounce. Through the USDA rural home loans you can still get 100% financing, have a poor credit rating, pay no mortgage insurance, and get tax credits to help you pay the mortgage. I'm not sure you even need to be green, but you could probably qualify for more credits if you replaced a few appliances or windows. And it isn't just for single family homes--you could work up something really sweet with old uncle Sam, walk away if it doesn't work, and leave me with the bill! The only requirement I saw was that you have at least Internet Explorer 5 to fill out the application.

Joe Klein--"Anonymous" author of Primary Colors

Excuse me, Joe Klein, if your observations sound a bit trite--like perhaps you haven't actually covered a tea party rally as closely as you did the Clinton campaign. "I did a little bit of research just before this show - it's on this little napkin here." And he's decided, not in favor of the First Amendment which guarantees freedom of speech and the right of assembly, and the right for a redress of grievances. Oh no, now it's sedition when Tea Parties disagree with the President's take-overs of car companies and health care industry. Remember, Joe, that pesky First Amendment is also what gives the press its freedom. Take away ours with your careless snide charges scribbled boldly on napkins, and you just might lose yours too.

This has a familiar ring--Marxism

My job in graduate school nearly 50 years ago was to translate Soviet (Russian) newspapers for a Professor of Sociology. I must say, this passage today from “Bolivia Rising" (a blog) certainly has the language down. Those Marxists need to get a new thesaurus.

"The World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth, Apr. 19-22, convened by Bolivia's President Evo Morales, has brought together some 12,000 people from 130 countries, including international personalities, representatives from citizen groups and government officials.

The bulk of the debate will be led by civil society, which tends to oppose the market-based mechanisms proposed by most of the governments to fight climate change, and this is fuelling doubts about just how much impact the Bolivian forum will have on the official climate talks taking place within the United Nations."

Not only is Morales a left wing kook but he’s also certifiably a homophobe--he thinks bad diets cause baldness and homosexuality! I kid you not. Look it up. Trying to control the climate, it seems, isn’t his only problem.

“The chicken that we eat is full of female hormones. Because of this the men who eat this chicken have deviations in their being as men,” he said at the opening of a conference on climate change in Bolivia on Tuesday.

He also blamed widespread baldness in Europe, which he labelled a “sickness”, on the diet of Europeans. “They are almost all bald and this is because of the things they eat, while among the indigenous peoples there are no bald people because we eat other things,” said the president, a lustrously haired Aymara Indian. IrishTimes.com

So we can assume he's not only hairy but virile? No chicken hormones for the prez.

Petty Jon on his low ratings

Comedian Jon Stewart Tuesday responded to Bernie Goldberg's criticism of "The Daily Show" host [Stewart started it by criticizing Bernie and Fox] by performing a Gospel tune with the lyrics "Go f--k yourselves." As a little background, Stewart last week went after Fox News and Goldberg ending the segment, "I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Go f--k yourselves." (Breitbart TV). Potty mouth aside, I think the reason Jon Stewart loves the F-word so much and would be lost without it is because his audience is smaller than his penis. He can get them to giggle if he throws out a few F-bombs. Makes him feel edgy and hip. How juvenile. Bernie should ignore him. It's boring when news commentators and comedians use spats to hike their ratings.

Planes will start flying again; stupidy will linger

The same people who were hysterical over the cost of "Bush's Wars" are oddly silent on the cost of "Obama's Wars," both the ones in the middle east and the one on our economy. These are often the same people who believe passionately in anthropogenic global warming (AGW), even though they've just had a brilliant display of how little we control and how commerce and climate can both cool with just a few burps of a volcano through a glacier. For some reason they are willing to spend mega-trillions attempting to control the climate at some unknown future date by a degree or two, when a few hundred million could insure every African would have safe water and control malaria in this decade.

Do people actually fall for these e-mail scams?

Yes, they do. I must get 10 or so a week through my university account and if no one answered the door, they'd stop sending them. Road Runner (my other account) seems to have a better screening device. Something for nothing must be the name of the game on the receiver's end. Here's one of today's which goes on to request all my personal identifying information so large sums can be credited to my bank account.

"Your contact / Your Payment File was given to this office in respect of your total inherited/10.5M British Pounds (TEN Million, Five Hundred Thousand British Pounds Sterling owed to you which you have Failed to claim because of either non-compliance of official processes or Because of your not believing reality of your genuine payment.

We wish to bring to you the solution to this problem. Right now we have arranged your payment through our Swift Card Payment Centers, That is the latest instruction from Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS)."

Usually I delete without opening. Today I looked at it and wondered who are the "something for nothing" wannabees that fall for this?

American independents and moderates are probably too well educated and savvy to fall for THIS scheme, but they sure bought into "hope and change" without any investigation of the current president's qualifications, background or communist cronies. If every registered Democrat and African-American of either party had voted for Obama, that still wouldn't have put him in the White House. No, it took all those people who put their investigative powers on the shelf, who were angry with Bush because of wars on two fronts, ridiculous spending on domestic programs, or because they thought he talked funny--those are the people who opened the alluring package and thought, here's a chance for something different. What they now have are Obama's wars on two fronts, double the ridiculous spending in one year that Bush ran up in eight, and a President that talks funny when not on the teleprompter.

Gee guys, thanks a bunch.

Coffee Frappe

I don't care for cold coffee, and rarely make coffee at home, but this one I might try. It's from my new Desperate Housewives Cookbook, p. 200.

If you have left over coffee, pour it into ice cube trays and freeze. Transfer the frozen cubes to a sealable bag and keep in the freezer.

3 coffee ice cubes
1/2 cup milk (or soy milk or skim milk)
1/4 cup reduced-fat evaporated milk
1 packet artificial sweetener or 1 tablespoon superfine sugar

Combine all the ingredients in a blender and run at high speed until smooth. Pour into a tall chilled glass.

The story in the book is that Lynette seems to have a caffeine addiction.

Items too short for a blog

Today I replaced my 50 year old glass measuring cups and 2 qt. casserole. I couldn't read the marks on the cups, and the lid broke about 40 years ago for the casserole. Unless they break, these will probably last the rest of my life.

My husband thinks my smocked, loose t-shirt looks like a maternity top, but pregnant women these days wear tight form fitting body shirts. Besides, at 70, I doubt that I'm confusing anyone.

The cat is coughing, snorting, gagging and sneezing less--down to about once a day--so should I risk not getting a refill of the antibiotic?

Can I finish reading Dearest Friend; a life of Abigail Adams in time to recommend it for the 2010-2011 reading cycle? It's a rule--we can't recommend a book unless we've read it.

It really irritates me that I can't find Palmolive hand soap anywhere. It's probably still made, but I haven't seen it in years. It's far superior to all the other green bar soaps. Meijer's used to have a knock off, but can't even get that.

A friend of mine has written a book about our home town, and I'm really learning a lot. I've bought 2 more copies to give my siblings.

I don't like this month's book selection, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. I suppose I shouldn't read it in the evening. I think I have Sundowner's.

Good news about vitamin supplements, especially calcium, decreasing the breast cancer risk. And only 4 years after they warned us they might increase the risk of cancer. I love research, don't you?

There's a guy on death row here in Ohio fighting execution because he says he has allergies to the injection material. So. . . what's the worst that could happen? He might die?

It appears I've sold my one little piece of Teco for $500. I had a blog entry about it. I went online and looked at another piece at Treadway in Cincinnati, about twice the size and a bit more complex. It was $74,000. We plan to use the money for Haiti.

Abigail's Tea Room at Lakeside was auctioned Saturday. Cold, windy day. We loved going there the last 30 years or so (until 2008). Very sad day for all of us. The Association didn't get it.

I've volunteered to help with English conversation class at our church, but orientation has been cancelled for the third week. Maybe I'll start in the fall. Hardly seems worth it for the spring since we're gone in the summer.

Got a wonderful new notebook for blogging. More expensive than I usually pay, but more pages. "Ebony and Ivory" by Drew Strouble.

The seven syllable volcano

A new burst of ash yesterday has halted the return to service of some European airports according to the NYT. Nasty stuff. Millions lost in commerce and leisure industries. Thousands of people stranded or inconvenienced. Ash and lava and poisonous gases in the air people breathe. Britain is sending ships to rescue its 150,000 citizens stranded abroad. Just imagine what volcanic ash clouds perhaps from a Pacific Island would do in the long run to wind turbines in the prairies, or solar panels on desert rooftops, and the nuclear plants sprinkled around the midwest--those energy sources so touted by the environmentalists as superior to fossil fuel. Talk all you want about "locally grown" or "sustainable," but block the sun for a growing season with an ash cloud in California and you'd find out quickly just what "food insecurity" really means. True, that nasty stuff in the clouds can shut down airports because jet fuel engines don't like it either, and there's no way to safely circulate the air, but other forms of heating and cooling that stored the sun's energy eons ago through rotting vegetation and animal matter aren't as affected. It's almost as if God is sending a reminder that he is still in charge and the cult of AGW better hang up its robes.

Job 38
4 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.
5 Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
6 On what were its bases sunk,
or who laid its cornerstone,
7 when the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

8 “Or who shut in the sea with doors
when it burst out from the womb,
9 when I made clouds its garment
and thick darkness its swaddling band,
10 and prescribed limits for it
and set bars and doors,
11 and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther,
and here shall your proud waves be stayed’?

Why Men's Friendships Are Different

"Studies show that in their late 20s and 30s, women have a harder time staying in touch with old friends. Those are the years when they're busy starting careers and raising children, so they don't have time to gather for reunions. Money is tighter, too. But around age 40, women start reconnecting. Before the 1990s, researchers assumed this was because they had more time for friendship in their 40s, as their children became self-sufficient. But now researchers consider this middle-aged focus on friendship to be a life stage; as women plan the next chapter of their lives, they turn to friends for guidance and empathy.

Men, meanwhile, tend to build friendships until about age 30, but there's often a falloff after that. Among the reasons: Their friendships are more apt to be hurt by geographical moves and differences in career trajectories. Recent studies, however, are now finding that men in their late 40s are turning to what Dr. Grief calls "rusted" friends—longtime pals they knew when they were younger. The Internet is making it easier for them to make contact with one another."

Why Men's Friendships Are Different - WSJ.com

The front fell off

Abortionist Loses License for Killing the Wrong Twin

Didn't Obama warn us, when trumpeting his health care take over, that evil doctors make mistakes, and perform unnecessary procedures? Lookee here. The guy aborted the wrong baby! He left the one that had Down Syndrome. Obama was right!

Abortionist Loses License for Killing the Wrong Twin » First Thoughts | A First Things Blog

Clinton blames peaceful protesters not his actions at Waco for Oklahoma City

It's the anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombings when Timothy McVeigh, a wacko enraged by the Waco incident two years before, decided to kill the way the government under Janet Reno had killed at Waco. Now Clinton chooses the anniversary of the Murrah Building bombing to absolve himself of any blame and to caution today's peaceful protestors. It's either convoluted thinking, or just thinking like a Democrat.

With the 15th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing approaching, former President Bill Clinton on Thursday drew parallels between the antigovernment tone that preceded that devastating attack and the political tumult of today, saying government critics must be mindful that angry words can stir violent actions.

Recalling ’95 Bombing, Clinton Sees Parallels - NYTimes.com

The Clintons and our current President all participated in not-so-peaceful protests; in fact, Obama's friend Bill Ayers who helped launch his career in Chicago is a domestic terrorist who bombed buildings in the 60s, and his UCC Chicago pastor preached inflamatory, racist, and anti-semitic sermons, but he stayed in the church year after year. So why can one group listen to all this anti-government language, but others can not? What are they afraid of? That it might work? A conservative takeover? Why wasn't Clinton chastising the SEIU protestors who actually got arrested in their protests on Tax Day?

Cleaning up the cat hair

On the one hand, we have more time these days, and on the other, I seem to be less interested in cleaning. But we were going out Friday night with relatively new friends--my husband knows her through their artsy groupsy stuff and their common interest in Haiti. So we went out to eat at our favorite spot, with plans to come back here for dessert and to watch a DVD my husband had made of his last trip to Haiti. Having company is the best reason I know to clean--sometimes I'll invite someone just for that incentive. The plant we got for Valentine's Day had died (I forgot to water it), so that was probably my last big event. And we have a small cat--she's under 7 lbs, but loses about 10 lbs. of hair a week. So I really went over the furniture with my wide 2" painter's tape so they wouldn't go home covered with hair.

As I said, we really didn't know these people well. I had no idea they had seven dogs--six Goldens and one Lab. All house pets. I guess I needn't have worried about a little cat hair.

A fun cookbook--Desperate Housewives

Yesterday at Marc's I found this cookbook for $2.00. I glanced through it wondering why in the world I needed yet another cookbook I probably wouldn't use, and then saw two pudding recipes! That's all it took.

I think I've only seen this show once, but I think I got a hint of the story line by following the different chapters with the characters and their recipes in this 2007 title.

Bree: Basil Purée Soup, Braised Duck, and Chicken Cutlets Saltimbocca. Lynette: French Toast for Breakfast (or Dinner) with Blueberry Syrup; Warm Turkey, Muenster, and Coleslaw Wraps; and Potato Casserole. Susan: a Salad of Roasted Peppers, Fresh Mozzarella, and Arugula; Foolproof Macaroni and Cheese; Chocolate Butterscotch Bars; and Garlic Mashed Potatoes. Gabrielle: Shrimp with Chorizo and Red Pepper, Guacamole with Warm Chips, and Pineapple-Peach Smoothies. Edie: Oysters Poached in Champagne and Cream, Sausage Puttanesca, and Ambrosia.

Then there's also recipes by the neighbors like Mike, Felicia and Mrs. Huber. The formatting is elegant, the text delightful, and the recipes look devine. The recipes are by Christopher Styler and the text by Scott S. Tobis. The final section tells how food is presented on TV by April Falzone Garen, a food stylist, and Melody Miller-Melton, the property master. And for the character (Susan) who is a bad cook, they actually have to simulate poorly prepared or burned food!

For those of you who live in towns that don't have a Marc's, well, too bad. It's such a fun store.

How to raise taxes on everyone--

particularly those making less than $250,000 a year--one of the many, many campaign promises Obama intends to break. The first tax on the poor he imposed was the cigarette tax. The European style value-added-tax is really an oxymoron, of course, because it doesn't add a thing--it just hides it. It's not the same as a flat tax, or a fair tax that conservatives and libertarians are suggesting as a replacement for the income tax, the death tax, or the capital gains tax. We get to keep all those and add more with a VAT. It just takes your money and creates another fund for government to waste. It's a tax at every stage of the production process.

And of course, it's all George W. Bush's fault. If it hadn't been for his tax cuts pulling us out of the last recession, there wouldn't have been huge sums of tax money funnelled into the government coffers creating a lust for more programs from both parties. . . Well, whatever the reason we need this, it certainly couldn't be Obama doubling the deficit or his hasty, ill-thought out health care take-over.

Did you hear him ridiculing the peaceful Tea Party gatherings on Tax Day? (But not the SEIU protesters who actually got arrested?) He can't imagine why they aren't grateful to have the future of their children and grandchildren stolen. Such ingrates!! Sixty-two percent of Americans call themselves conservatives. Some of them helped elect him. No more. Let the liberals act like the long abused wife who is afraid to stand up and say NO. I think conservatives have learned a lesson.

Obama insiders buzz over possible Value-Added Tax

How important are small businesses?

Today my husband attended an all day continuing education program to keep up his architectural license--got 4 credits and lunch. He saw a lot of guys he knew when he was a partner in a small firm (Feinknopf, Macioce, Schappa). They were all out of work. A "small business" is one with fewer than 500 employees. Architectural firms usually run about 15-20 if they are "big." The big firms are scrambling and eating up the smaller jobs they used to ignore just to keep their staff. Most small businesses are unincorporated, so business income is treated as personal income. This means Obama's plan to tax the high income earners (the top 1% pay 71% of the taxes) hit small businesses the hardest. So while 47% of Americans are paying nothing or getting big tax credits once a year on government payday, they are are helping to kill small businesses which are what usually lead the way out of recession.

How important are small businesses to the U.S. economy?

Small firms:
• Represent 99.7% of all employer firms.
• Employ just over half of all private sector employees.
• Pay 44% of total U.S. private payroll.
• Have generated 64% of net new jobs over the past 15 years.
• Create more than half of the nonfarm private gross domestic
product (GDP).
• Hire 40% of high tech workers (such as scientists, engineers, and computer programmers).
• Are 52% home-based and 2% franchises.
• Made up 97.3% of all identified exporters and produced 30.2% of the known export value in FY 2007.
• Produce 13 times more patents per employee than large patenting firms; these patents are twice as likely as large firm patents to be among the one percent most cited.

Source: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census and International Trade Admin.; Advocacy-funded research by Kathryn Kobe, 2007 (www.sba.gov/advo/research/rs299tot.pdf) and CHI Research, 2003 (www.sba.gov/advo/research/rs225tot.pdf); U.S. Dept. of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Did you ever ask yourself in 2008 just what Obama wanted to transform this country into?

Thank you, Uihlein family

At lunch today I read through the most interesting catalog (I am usually reading something)--Uline Spring/Summer 2010 [interactive]. If you ever need to ship, store, wrap, tape, strap, preserve, label, mail or secure something, this is the company for you! Somewhere I noticed that "Uline" is the phonetic spelling of the family name, "Uihlein" and that there are real people standing behind and in the warehouses of these products.

Liz Uihlein addresses the "made in China" problem:

". . . About 20% of what we sell today comes from Asia. This has never bothered me in the past. We all know that many products are not made in the U.S. anymore. What bothers me enormously is American jobs. During most of Uline's history we have scrambled to hire enough people. We learned how to do job fairs. We spent a ton of money on Monster and other career sites. But that was then and this is now.

And so, in this catalog, we've worked hard with some American firms to get a product that's made here versus being made in China. . . [costs more]

It would be nice if the Commerce Department or some government agency would put out some positive news on what can be made right here in the U.S. If we all think and talk about it, maybe we can do better. Also, the playing field is not level; a tennis court is. Personally, I am an American first. I care about American jobs."

Well, Liz, I'm not from the government, but here's 3 cheers for your excellent catalog, products, and your desire to keep Americans employed. The variety is breathtaking, the layout is outstanding, and the indexing excellent.

Also, all that packaging stuff sold at the U.S. postal branches? Where are those made? Just asking.

Icelandic volcano is shutting down air travel

Yes, I can see why the airline industry is concerned about the Iceland volcano affecting air quality and vision. But what about the long term affects? Remember the little ice age? Millions of Europeans froze or starved to death when the climate changed--it got colder because of the amount of ash in the air. And here we've been shutting down or over regulating the very industries that could help us if this were to happen again. Ah, the wisdom of Big Brother.

Icelandic volcano is shutting down European airspace : The Airline Zone

My caballo is prettier

Their "caballo" (art horse)


My caballo (horse art)

From Dick Blick web catalog

"Made of oak and handcrafted in the USA, the Caballo is a bench and an easel in one. It folds easily for travel or storage — its attached wheels and poly straps make it easy to move anywhere.

When you're ready to paint, just unfold the Caballo, and you've got an instant studio space complete with a place to sit, a supply drawer, a storage compartment, and a sturdy easel for sketching or painting.

Perfect for working on location, it's also a great space saving solution for anyone who has to share "studio space" with the rest of the family."

Why bother?

When I find an important library, depository, repository or archive website (almost always academic) with broken or inaccurate links, I often look for the "contact us" link and notify them. Often, that link is broken. Silly me, I keep looking--click, click, sigh, click. (I don't swear.) When someone gets back to me I'm asked, where is this link, I can't find it. I e-mail back. They (usually he) reply that it's not their fault, they are underfunded, or they just have too much to do to add dates to research or clean up broken links, yada, yada.

Now we know why the college kids that invented Google and Facebook are billionaires, and librarians are among the lowest paid civil servants.

Sugar free desserts

Jello-sugar free pudding snacks are creamy, low calorie, low fat and very tasty. There’s almost no down side--until you read the ingredients and can’t pronounce some of them. Definitely better living through chemistry. Also, I don’t think coconut and palm oils are good for your body, swallowed or spread on your skin.

INGREDIENTS:
Water, xylitol, modified food starch, cocoa processed with alkali, milk protein concentrate, contains less than 1% of hydrogenated vegetable oil (coconut and palm kernel oils), salt, sodium stearoyl lactylate (for smooth texture), sodium alginate, sucralose and acesulfame potassium (sweeteners), natural and artificial flavor, artificial color.

My husband eats one or two puddings a day, so I’ve been experimenting with homemade pudding--again. I used to always serve home cooked puddings, but got out of the habit as the processed products improved in texture and taste. Here’s what I tried recently, called interestingly enough, “Homemade Vanilla Pudding.” Pretty simple list of ingredients. 2 cups milk, ½ cup white sugar, 3 tablespoons cornstarch, ¼ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and 1 tablespoon butter. (See allrecipes.com)

But of course, I changed it. The first time I added two eggs, changed the sugar to Splenda, added lemon juice and used 2% milk and only a dash of salt. Then to make it fluffy, I added sugar free Cool Whip. So by the time I was finished and it was in a pie shell, all I had done was reduce the cost, not the strange ingredients.

Yesterday I made it pretty much as the recipe card said, but still used Splenda instead of sugar (sorry, Gayle). It looked a little wimpy and pale, so I added a few tablespoons of sugar free strawberry jelly. It has a nice texture, color and taste, and if I’d had fresh strawberries I would have used that instead.

I’ll keep trying. Besides, for some reason I have 3 boxes of corn starch in the cupboard.

Hank Johnson fears Guam might tip over

No wonder Congress has fallen so far in the polls, even lower than the President. This man was certainly wasting everyone's time. I'm surprised Admiral Robert Willard, who commands the Navy's Pacific Fleet, didn't laugh out loud.

A fortune to elect Obama--Andy Stern

Yes, it was expensive, but [Andy] "Stern’s access to President Obama has already paid huge dividends including: an $862 billion stimulus that prevented states from having to cut-back government union jobs or wages; $2.5 trillion in new government health care spending, much of which will go to unionized health care providers; and the appointment of SEIU associate general counsel Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board. The NYT describes the SEIU under Stern’s tenure as “the nation’s most politically active union, with 1.9 million members.” The marriage of politics to union organizing has been great for SEIU membership, making it the fastest-growing union in America.

But what has been great for SEIU’s membership rolls has not been good for the SEIU’s bottom line. Growing union membership through politics is expensive. The Wall Street Journal reports that as recently as 2002, total SEIU liabilities were about $8 million. But by 2008, the union owed more than $156 million, a 30% increase over the $120 million it owed in 2007. And make no mistake, lobbying government is where Stern believes the future of SEIU is. After President Obama’s election, SEIU fired 75 national field staff and organizers so that the SEIU could “reallocate resources … to lobbying and communications in Washington.”

Morning Bell: Andy Stern’s America

Unions kill private sector jobs, have a history of corruption, and their pensions are underfunded. Where else to go but to the people for bailouts? Stern might be retiring, but he's not going away. Maybe a Czar? Supreme Court?

And of course, you've heard about racism in the rank and file, haven't you? Nasty stuff.

Government calls it an overhaul

Business owners call it overwhelming. That's a great full page, b & w drawing in today's WSJ. Sometimes a drawing is worth its weight in text and photographs. It is sharp, snappy and succinct. Beginning on the left there's a pile of documents--Common law, case law, local laws and state laws. As you move over to the right (although it's really left--it's just that we read from left to right--for now), that pile gets added to incrementally, until the last column is huge with 38 acronyms representing laws and regulations piled on top of the first group. Things like ARRA, HIPPA, COBRA, FICA, MHPA, HIRE, HEART, and so forth, until you get to the biggest, baddest law of them all, PPACA, "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act."

Did FDR End the Depression?

No, but that's the myth that we were taught for generations in school. And he extended it far longer than it needed to be if he hadn't pushed his socialist agenda. I think finally his own party realized it, but the textbook editors never caught on.

"Let's start with the New Deal. Its various alphabet-soup agencies—the WPA, AAA, NRA and even the TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority)—failed to create sustainable jobs. In May 1939, U.S. unemployment still exceeded 20%. European countries, according to a League of Nations survey, averaged only about 12% in 1938. The New Deal, by forcing taxes up and discouraging entrepreneurs from investing, probably did more harm than good.

What about World War II? We need to understand that the near-full employment during the conflict was temporary. Ten million to 12 million soldiers overseas and another 10 million to 15 million people making tanks, bullets and war materiel do not a lasting recovery make. The country essentially traded temporary jobs for a skyrocketing national debt. Many of those jobs had little or no value after the war."

And now Obama is fulfilling FDR's incompleted dreams and dragging down the economy.

Burt Folsom: Did FDR End the Depression? - WSJ.com

Therapeutic Clinical Tools for Social Workers

This is a workshop taught at Ohio State University. Can you imagine the outrage if the observances, aims, and good works advocated in Christianity were taught as a clinical tool by a state university? Even something as universal as the 10 commandments, the basis for our entire legal system, would get thrown out. If you read through the announcement, you'll see what many Christians refuse to see--that Yoga isn't just about breathing, flexibility and positive thinking. It is offering yourself to another god.

"YOGA AS A THERAPEUTIC CLINICAL TOOL FOR SOCIAL WORKERS

Yoga philosophy is healing and therapeutic. It is an excellent tool kit for motivating clients to live in the moment and cultivate change in a positive way. This beginner, intermediate or advanced training, depending on your level of enthusiasm and flexibility, will explore the Yamas (ethical codes), the Niyamas (observances or restraints) and the four aims of life, the Purushartas. These three practices will channel human fulfillment, lead you to success and balance, and provide you with a guide for awareness in our actions, thoughts and deeds. This training will provide you the clinician, a different perspective to instill to your clients."

For a further explanation of the Purushartas, check out the Hinduism web page.

Yoga as a Therapeutic Clinical Tool for Social Workers :: College of Social Work

Our scary President

"The Democrats mock Sarah Palin's credentials for venturing into anything more serious than moose hunting, but their man's lengthening record in dealing with the rest of the world gets scarier and scarier. . .

"We've avoided World War III so far largely because the United States has been the ultimate guarantor of the security of most of the Free World. This guarantee worked for 70 years because the Free World believed that the United States meant what it said. Now Mr. Obama would eliminate that trust and dismantle the guarantee. It's more of his vision of a Little America, neutered and pacific, like the neutered and pacific little nations of Europe. Some thrill."

PRUDEN: No nukes not good news - Washington Times

Nuclear Posture Review

Ancient human remains found in South Africa

They can't fool me.

Only eleven weeks until Lakeside (summer)

Yesterday I bought a Family Circle--the cover said it had a walking plan/program that would get me in shape by summer. Promises, promises. But it does sell magazines. I remember when Family Circle's cover price went from 7 cents to 10 cents--I think the cover story was about the first lady, Jackie Kennedy. This issue was $1.99 and quite fat with advertising. Magazines in the past 2 years have become very skinny--so a return of advertising means someone at the top of the food chain believes it is safe to invest again. Everyone benefits from advertising, so even though I rip out a lot of pages, I know it keeps the printers, paper producers, ink makers, ad writers, free lance writers, editors, secretaries, magazine fulfillment agencies, library check-in clerks, etc. in a job. Even the news stand seller and the guy who drives that little beat up van, tossing them on the sidewalk benefit. Then they take what's left of their paycheck after the government takes its "share," and spread it around your community, they may even go out and buy some of the products advertised (although a lot of it seemed to be either medical products or pet products I'd never use).

Back to the summer deadline. I saw a recipe for a rich, dense chocolate cake that would be just perfect for next Sunday's church brunch, and it's sugar free. Served with raspberries, I think it will be wonderful. That combined with all the walking (the walking program was only 4 weeks, so I guess once you get up to speed you just repeat), and we're good to go.

When Less is More

Government regulations and higher taxes often result in less income for the government, not more. The current administration's "redistribution scheme" is not really about "fairness" but power and control. The wealthiest people in the U.S. already pay the bulk of our taxes, but lower rates than many middle class workers (increasingly many low income people pay no federal taxes at all). This happens to state governments too. This is from a very handy website for truckers, Weigh Station and Truck Safety, but if you're going to be travelling, check out your state by clicking on the map.

"Ohio used to have a split speed limit for most of the state's freeways- 65 for cars and 55 for trucks. Many truckers thought this would never change but now most of Ohio's roadways have just one speed limit for both cars and trucks.

The split speed limit ended first up the Ohio turnpike when the turnpike authority changed it to 65 for cars and for trucks. Toll rates increased dramatically between 1982 and 1999. Many truckers refused to pay the high rates. Governor Taft and the Ohio Turnpike commission decided to lower the tolls and increase the speed limits to draw the trucks back onto the turnpike from the side roads. Part of the plan to get truckers to use the Ohio turnpike more was increasing the enforcement of weight laws on the side roads."

Not every state's rates have been updated within the last 2 years, but if you want to see which states are in the biggest tax trouble, just take a look at their fuel taxes--the more they charge, the deeper in debt! California and Illinois are broke--in fact, they're busted flat and stole from their state pensions! The new health care mandates will put even more pressure on state governments, so I don't know who's left to steal from--the neighbors--Indiana? Nevada?

The California fuel tax rate is $0.476 per gallon of diesel. This rate includes a 6% state sales tax and a 1.25% county tax.

The Illinois fuel tax rate is $0.413 per gallon of diesel fuel. This includes a 6.25% sales tax. Local governments can levy additional taxes. The city of Chicago levies an additional $0.1275 tax. [Note: and the roads are crappy!]

The Ohio fuel tax rate is $0.28 per gallon of diesel fuel. The fuel tax is supposed to increase $0.03 per gallon every 2 years according to legislation passed in 2003.

The Kansas fuel tax rate is $0.27 per gallon of diesel fuel. This rate includes a 1 penny per gallon environmental fee.

The Texas fuel tax rate is $0.20 per gallon of diesel.

The Maine fuel tax rate is $0.295 per gallon of diesel. This fuel tax rate includes $0.07 per gallon of diesel for the Coastal and Inland Water Fund and $0.06 per gallon of diesel for the Groundwater Fund.