Thursday, May 17, 2007

3841

This 'n That

Are you happy yet, Algore? Food prices are soaring--hurting the poor. Putting corn in the gas tank to please the global warming fundamentalists is raising gas prices, raising the cost of corn that is used in a lot of products, taking some products out of production as farmers switch to the high demand for bio-fuels.
    Best quote in the Republican debate was the one from Tancredo on conversions on the road to DesMoines. Fox questions are definitely better than the softball lobs the other media mavens throw.
The Lexus LS 600hL ($104,715) owner's manual has 1,097 pages, according to WSJ story. Gone with the Wind has only 960 in paperback. But it has been edited, so it could've been larger. It won't fit into the glovebox, so needs a special place in the trunk (who reads books in the trunk?). There is a supplement of 74 p. for a quick reference.
    The growing middle class of China and India might have a thing or two to say to folks who think they'll turn around global warming by reducing the life style of Americans.
Jonathon Clements of WSJ advises new college grads to aim at accumulating a savings goal of 2x their projected income. He suggests funding your employers 401(k) plan and your own Roth IRA. I suggest you first look for the sound investment of a good marriage. The new financial divide isn't racial, it's marital. Nothing like the support of 2 sets of parents for a good safety net.
    Washington DC ranks second (New Hampshire is first) in per capital alcohol consumption in the U.S., falling to 4 gallons/person in 2004 from 6.6 gallons in 1970. (Politico, May 14)
I overheard a woman from Bulgaria telling her co-worker that she was surprised that the planners of her high school reunion in Bulgaria were able to track her down in another country with another name (married now) to invite her to the reunion. Maybe our government could learn something about tracking immigrants from the Bulgarians?
    The federal government is taking over the private Richard Nixon library which had been managed by a private foundation. Nixon's papers, 44 million pages of records and 3,000 hours of audio tapes are "secure" in the National Archives. NARA security was no problem for Sandy Berger who barely got a slap on the wrist for stealing 9/11 documents. Timothy Naftoli will be the librarian. Of course, he's not a librarian, he's a historian, more evidence of how weak and disrespected the American Library Association is. Maybe they should try being less political and more librarian?
I was listening to Catholic radio talk show today. A grandmother who has custody of her grand daughter called with concerns about what was being taught at her parochial school. They were designing mandalas in art class and being taught yoga in gym class. For this Catholics are paying money?
    There's a Relay for Life in our suburb May 18-19. We're about 99.5% white; due to international adoptions and some university folk, the population mix of the schools might be 98% white. The poster must come from "headquarters," which this year has decided on a diversity push. So the poster shows 8 happy, smiling young people participating--1 Hispanic, 2 African American, 4 Asian, and 1 middle-eastern.
For Mother's Day I got the DVD of Dreamgirls.
    Between 1962 and 2004 the marriage rate for black women has steadily declined from 62 to 36%; among whites, from 84% to 64%. At mid-20th century, the least educated were the most likely to be in an interracial marriage, but by the end of the century, the most educated were most likely to intermarry.
It was no surprise that Upper Arlington's library levy passed. They've raised our taxes another $800,000 even though they have more money than they know what to do with. That's $61 per $100,000 of assessed home value.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I made dreidles in 2nd grade. We had a lay teacher, Mrs. Potash.

I don't think anybody converted, but we did learn that there were other religions who believed in the same God as we did, albeit a little differently.

About 50-50 nuns was my early parochial school. The nuns ran the place though.



People think the government can find them. If your employer has an intranet, or email, or anything similar (well if it is a big employer) your employer knows more about you than the government could ever dream. HR has your CV and SSN, IT may has all your mail backed up, your instant messages are probably archived, your web history, travel reservations, charges on the corporate AMEX, telephone call logs -employer pay for your mobile -those logs too.

I just came back from the Enterprise Search Summit and I talked to someone who consulted for the government. They wish they had as much information as your employer did. Your employer can do whatever it wishes in most cases as it is their computer system, you work for them, and your work is their property.

You librarians who think you are in the clear because your library does not archive mail, or web histories or the like...remember HR and their affiliates such as the insurance companies, payroll services, and the like know more about you than the CIA, NSA or even your OB/GYN.

The information is there, it is just a matter of someone really wanting it. If I want it bad enough I can get it. Bulgaria has nothing on any employer with a network.

Norma said...

Mandalas are not about art, and yoga is not about exercise. They are critical connections to other faiths. John Wesley's mother and Martin Luther's wife were extremely dynamic important women in the Protestant tradition, but if they were the only two women chosen to be studied in a Catholic school, which would have thousands of relgious to choose from, I'd sure wonder if something else was going on, and if the tuition dollar was getting to talk.