Current Cites: July 2010--20th anniversary

Although the editor makes a bit of fun with this, I always enjoy keeping up with the library stuff with "Current Cites." Just one of the many excellent publications that appear in my mailbox regularly--others include home extension from Nebraska, book reviews from Christianity Today, a genealogy newsletter, Glenn Beck's newsletter, American Spectator, WSJ snippets, Heritage Foundation, American Chemical Society, Nature magazine, Thyroid newsletter, and something on computer technology.

". . . unrestrained, unmuzzled, and unrepentant. Shield your inbox, throw up a filter, and otherwise gird your computer to resist our continuing assault, as we fully intend to sow the seeds of "current awareness" -- or more accurately our very much mistaken interpretation of such -- far and wide for many a decade more." Roy Tennant

Current Cites: July 2010

Made in the USA?

What if the environmentalists, greenies, sustainable eaters and tree-huggers got serious about "made in the USA" while they are saving the world?  These examples are for a very small town.  Here at Lakeside we have an active, but growing group called LESS, Lakeside Environmental Stewardship Society which sponsors programs on improving the community's impact on the environment and makes recommendations.  Some of their ideas are good, some not so good. Our Chautauqua seminars have a strong environmental component.

Today I paid $80.00 for three books about Ohio birds and wildlife.  They are wonderful books, I like the author (who lives near me), and they are a terrific asset to my collection, but all were printed in China.  We have a terrific farmer's market in Lakeside--the Association sells green canvass type shopping bags with its logo, made in China, of course.  There is a big push on here to change to CFL electric bulbs--to use less electricity.  However, most brands are made in China and we still have no really safe way to dispose of them.

 The not so good are the required huge bright blue recyclable containers which sit in the street sometimes for 48 hours, and even when put away are an eyesore. Because many of the cottages are rented, and these containers are only picked up on Friday, someone leaving on Sunday or Monday will roll them to the street to wait several days for pick up, and then there's no one around to put them away.  Sometimes on my Sunday morning walk I may roll 5 or 6 of these containers back to the house or drive-way. Because of our tiny lots, there really is no way to hide them.

HIV/AIDS JAMA special issue

JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) periodically has a topic specific issue, and July 21, Vol. 304, no.3, was on HIV/AIDS. Not everyone reads medical literature, but if you happen to pick up this title which is held by many public libraries, turn to p. 364, "JAMA Patient Page" first. HIV is a virus that causes a disease, AIDS, and it is primarily but not exclusively, a disease of gay men and IV drug users. Women get it from their male gay spouses and gay boyfriends (don't play games with terms like bi-sexual). Women can then pass it on to other men who are not gay, and to their children during pregnancy and nursing. And even then, that's a very small percentage; most transmission is through gay men. So that's where prevention should start, but that's not the emphasis in this journal because it is not culturally sensitive to expect people to change destructive behavior, unless it is smoking, drinking, overeating, not exercising, not recycling or wife beating. Even though gay sex has caused a world wide epidemic, after a push in the 1980s for closing of bath houses and spreading condoms and mouth dams around, the main stream medical people are too feaful to say, "Stop it."

The patient page clearly says, "Women with HIV infection can transmit the virus to their babies during pregnancy or delivery or through their breast milk."  It says nothing  "clear" about gay sex and the transmission of disease, and instead tip toes through "bodily fluids, including semen, " using condoms, and not having sexual contact with infected persons, including oral, anal or vaginal.

Call it anything you want, but it's still a tax increase

We got this from AIA today--just one of the many sneaky increases all businesses and private individuals will be getting in 2011 and 2012. This administration is a disaster, folks. Now I ask you, what business doesn't spend more than $600 to purchase goods and services? Obama says he wants to help small business, but he does everything he can to thwart them because he knows they are the backbone of a market, entrepreneurial economy. Even Apple and Microsoft were once small. No one goes into business to fail.

Effective 2012, architecture firms and other small businesses may be hit with a dramatic and unnecessary increase in paperwork and tax forms. If the current law takes effect, any company that makes payments of $600 or more to purchase goods or services from any vendor will be required to file a 1099 MISC tax form to report the transaction. In short, your business will need to complete this form for virtually every service or piece of equipment it purchases. Many firms, especially small businesses, will suffer disproportionately under these rules. But now we have a chance to stop this law from taking effect. Sen. Mike Johanns (R-NE) has offered an amendment to a small business bill, which is currently being debated in the Senate, that would repeal this requirement. The amendment could be subject to a vote as early as today, July 28. We urge you to contact your Senators and tell them to repeal the 1099 paperwork requirement.

Schedel Arboretum and Gardens, Elmore, Ohio

If you are visiting northwestern Ohio (or Lakeside) and would like to take a side trip, don't miss Schedel Arboretum and Gardens in Elmore, "America's hometown." Our Wednesday Herb Class from Lakeside went this morning, toured the gardens, had lunch and visited the gift shop, and everyone was ecstatic with the beauty and variety, and many were making plans to visit again.

A tornado ripped through the gardens in 1992, but they made lemonade from lemons, and used the open spaces created by the downed trees to plant flower gardens, whereas before it had been primarily trees, shrubs and bushes. They also lost 10 acres when the state took it for the interstate, but were able to obtain certain concessions which created the lakes. Even so, the noise from the freeway is ever present.

Schedel Arboretum and Gardens--the sculptures

There are many sculptures in the Schedel gardens that are part of the permanent collection, but many others by various artists are for sale. They really enhance the natural beauty.

Marblehead, Ohio Rock of Ages--Historic Inn

If you need a BIG place for a reunion or a church group, this would be the place. Today at lunch I sat with the owner. I was so impressed with her personality and love for her Inn, I decided to take a peek on the internet, although I was pretty sure I knew which house in Marblehead it was. They have done a fabulous job (based on the photos) with the upgrades. She says they book year around--in the fall and winter it is usually local church and hobby groups, and in the summer, family events. If you want to be by the water, and be close enough to Lakeside to take in all the cultural advantages of a Chautauqua season, this would be for you.

Marblehead, Ohio vacation rental by owner: 13 bedroom House rental that sleeps 36. Rock of Ages, Historic, Lakefront--Great for Reunions!

Every night the same conversation

At our summer home on Lake Erie in Lakeside, Ohio, we wash and dry the dishes together. At home we have a dishwasher. This is such a pleasant, companionable task we often say we'll do it in Columbus, but we never do. And as he washes, and I dry, my husband says the same thing every evening, "How can two people create all these dirty dishes and silverware?" So I go through it piece by piece--this fork was used for cat food, this spoon was for the Cool Whip, this spoon served the main dish, this one the vegetables. It's like talking to a toddler who asks "why," you explain, and he then says, "but why?"

Tomorrow the herb class is going on a field trip to Schedel Arboretum and Gardens in Elmore, Ohio. We'll have a guided tour and a box lunch. Our hostess is Carolyn Swanger. We met Gene and Carolyn Swanger a number of years ago when they bought a cottage at Lakeside and then needed an architect to make it fit their family's needs. He's faculty emeritus at Wittenburg, just some of the many wonderful people we've met here.

Each Wednesday there's a picnic in the park, but so far we haven't attended. There always seems to be something else, and tomorrow will be no different. After a box lunch I don't think I need hot dogs for dinner.

Nomad reviewed at Books and Culture

Ayaan Hirsi Ali is not a Christian, but in her new book about adjusting to life in America, Nomad, she writes:

Christian leaders now wasting precious time and resources on a futile exercise of interfaith dialogue with … self-appointed leaders of Islam should redirect their efforts to converting as many Muslims as possible to Christianity, introducing them to a God who rejects Holy War and who has sent his son to die for all sinners out of love for mankind.

Unfortunately, many Christian churches have been on a passionate hunt for social justice, or environmental justice, or economic justice, and have completely forgotten about the great commission, which will lead people to God's justice. If she's looking to "moderate" Christians, those she says don't accept the Bible as God's written word for us in these days, she's in for a disappointment.

Nomad | Books and Culture

E.J. Dionne certainly got this one wrong

The Obama crowd wasn't cowering before anyone--certainly not Fox News which didn't break the story. Certainly not Glenn Beck who defended Sherrod for the shabby way she was fired. The home team bench is so light (i.e. white) in the Obama White House they didn't even recognize the Sherrod name, didn't realize until after she was fired that she was married to a Civil Rights "hero." Nor did they even bother to give the woman a fair inquiry or check out the story that was going around the internet. Sorry Mr. Dionne, you're calling the wrong people wrong. Obama didn't act hastily because of right-wing propaganda--Shirley Sherrod really did give a full speech that insulted many of us--you can go on-line and read it--but she was fired because that's just what leftists do. Sometime they eat their own. You could be next.

Let's face it, Mr. Dionne. Fox is cleaning your bosses' clocks and you're worried. They have better coverage, more diversity, more topics, and better looking female talking heads. So what to do, what to do. Oh--let's call them names. That works!

E.J. Dionne Jr. - Enough right-wing propaganda

New notebook time!

The one on the left is the new one--designed by Legacy Publishing Group, Carol Rowan artist. The used up one is called Pattern Play, designed by Jaqueline Savage McFee for Carolina Pad and Paper.  Both, of course, made in China, but "created" and sold by U.S. companies.  Pattern Play has a nice feature of dividers with envelopes--I have another one in a slightly different pattern, but thought I'd switch to a floral theme.

People at the coffee shop think I'm journaling, and I am, sort of, but it usually ends up on one of my 12 blogs.

The Plain Dealer forms partnership with PolitiFact Ohio to help readers separate political fact from fiction

That's going to be hard to do--separate fact from fiction--because the editor of PolitiFact is an editor for the Cleveland Plain Dealer which owns Cleveland.com. It's all in selection of the facts to be analyzed. Does the conservative say something that seems soft on porn and the liberal forget a minor rule in registering something. Hardly the same story impact. I can say it's a fact that Jesus rose from the dead, and you can say it's a fact that it's recorded that way by his followers who wanted to see what they thought they saw. Totally different take--same "fact." Recently, a reader rejected the abortion statistics (50 million since legalization) cited by the National Right to Life because she is a liberal. NRL used statistics from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) of the federal government. It also reported that abortions are way down compared to the 1970s. So are those stats biased too, or is the reader by refusing a source because of its pro-life stance? I know the Cleveland PD has a political slant, both in its news stories, its editorial pages, and the letters from readers selected for publication. It's a private company and has a right to do that. But I have the right to be skeptical.

The Plain Dealer forms partnership with PolitiFact Ohio to help readers separate political fact from fiction | cleveland.com

Throwing Others Under the Bus Over Race

Apparently, looking at the Sherrod speech in its entirety, she called pretty much everyone who doesn't agree with Obama a racist. Those of us who don't like socialism/marxism are lumped with the people who enslaved African Americans (but if you go way back that would be other Africans and Arabs who rounded them up and sold them to Europeans). So who is the name caller? I still think the villain in this is the President who without checking the facts (a bad habit of his) had her fired, then had to blame others in his apologies. Does this man ever accept blame for his own mistakes?

She said: "So that's when they made black people servants for life. That's when they put laws in place forbidding them (i.e., blacks and whites) to marry each other. That's when they created the racism that we know of today. They did it to keep us divided. And ... it started working so well they said, 'Gosh, looks like we've come upon something here that could last generations.' And here we are, over 400 years later, and it's still working." McCarthy goes on to quote Sherrod apparently addressing the motives of some of Obamacare's opponents. She said: "I haven't seen such a mean-spirited people as I've seen lately over this issue of health care. Some of the racism we thought was buried. Didn't it surface? Now, we endured eight years of the Bushes, and we didn't do the stuff these Republicans are doing because you have a black president."

Has anyone told her it was a Democratic president who set up the Jim Crow laws, that the KKK helped Robert Byrd get elected, and that Democratic administrations are keeping blacks in poverty through block grants and food stamps in every major city of the U.S.?

Throwing Others Under the Bus Over Race - HUMAN EVENTS

Ms. Sherrod's Speech Was Most Certainly Not About Transcending Racism - Andy McCarthy - The Corner on National Review Online

And you can go to the NAACP site and read her entire speech and be hit up for money.

Video on lack of leadership

The hasty firing of Shirley Sherrod shows the WH can move quickly when it wants to.

Changes, changes

Blogger has changed its design template and Cutest Blog on the Block has apparently discontinued the skin that I loved. Sigh. Then nothing would work without upgrading my Internet Explorer. With a lot of blogs, that's a lot of changes for this old lady.

Yard sales at Lakeside

On Sunday I got some wonderful deals at a yard sale one street over:  a first issue (v. 1, n.1) of National Geographic Traveler (1984), a nice apron that looked like it had never been used, a kitchen towel with the knitted top so you can attach it to a drawer handle, lovely artificial hydrangea blooms in blue, and another magazine.  It was all marked down--to free.

Now I need to find a blender.  I could swear I had one here at the cottage and I have potato chunks, onions, and broccoli perking away on the stove for broccoli soup, and I can't find the blender!  I've looked everywhere--even in the basement.  No blender. Second choice would be a hand potato masher, but it's gone too!

Our wonderful five senses

One of the things that Jill Taylor suggests in her book "My stroke of insight" is that we pause and become more aware of and enjoy our senses. This morning during my 6 a.m. walk along the lakefront in Lakeside, Ohio, I did just that. We're in the middle of a heat wave in July, and had a wonderfully refreshing storm last night. The path is asphalt, close to the water and to the cottages.

1. TOUCH -- Skin is our largest organ. I could feel the wind on my face, arms and hair--and my sweaty clothes.

2. SMELL -- The wet grasses, flowers, rocks with moss, from last night's storm. It's a fresh, but somewhat moldy smell due to the hot weather we've been experiencing.

3. SOUND -- Waves splashing, birds chirping and calling, the chain on the flag clainging against the pole, a jet overhead, a distant motor boat, a teen-ager bouncing a basketball in the park, a car door slamming, a runner's footfall as he runs past, insects humming.

4. SIGHT -- The electric lights in the dimness on Put-in-Bay, Kelley's Island, Marblehead, the oar boat, the lakefront street lights, reflections on Lake Erie, a woman walking the lakefront with a red shirt and white pants, drooping wet flowers, robins, gulls, the tents closed up for the craft show to return.

5. TASTE -- This is a bit harder. But I had brushed my teeth after my morning coffee, so I could taste the toothpaste.

The strange case of Shirley Sherrod and a big government settlement

Nothing's ever simple or as it seems, is it? There's apparently a lot more about Shirley Sherrod and the USDA that we didn't know. She and her husband, a big Civil Rights leader, were involved in a lawsuit against the federal government and received a big payout. Also Breitbart didn't edit the film--showed it as it was given to him. Was someone setting up Breitbart or the Sherrods? Who was the source? Why were Obama and NAACP so quick to throw her under the bus? They certainly haven't acted that way about other charges of black racism in government. What were the circumstances of her hiring that she could be let go so unceremoniously and from all appearances, illegally? Aren't there rules about that? Maybe this isn't going to go away after all.

American Thinker Blog: Forty Acres & a Mule -- Sherrod Style?

And here's the left-handed view of this, although no mention that in the settlement, 4 times more black farmers showed up for the money than the USDA census recorded.

Julie Zickefoose

It has been a delight to have Bill Thompson III (Bird Watcher's Digest) and wife Julie Zickefoose, artist, writer and naturalist, here this week. I went to his lecture on Tuesday and the early morning bird watch with him on Wednesday. Today I went to her slide show and lecture and heard excerpts from her forthcoming book about rescuing injured birds and nestlings. The rescued baby chimney swifts (5) story was just the best. It was wonderful and I think will be a terrific Christmas book for any of you who love a good story, great art, and animals.

Ohio Magazine article on Julie Zickefoose

Some apologies just aren't--Spitz and Vilsack

Sara Spitz's apology about wishing to watch Rush Limbaugh die with his eyes bugging out wasn't an apology at all. She's sorry she was found out, and that's not an apology.

"As a publicist, I realize more than anyone that is no excuse for irresponsible behavior. I apologize to anyone I may have offended and I regret these comments greatly; they do not reflect the values by which I conduct my life."

Vilsack, the head of USDA, however, now that was an apology, even if the White House forced him, one that could be emulated by journalists, NPR hacks, and government officials.

Now then, when will Obama apologize to the Cambridge police for his hasty words last summer?

What Recovery?

Ben Bernanke was a huge fan of FDR who kept us in a Depression for over a decade. The Obama tactics are working out the same way. There is no recovery, and will be none, until he gets his boot off the neck of American business. And I just don't think that will happen, given his political philosophy.

Fed chief open to new steps to keep recovery going - Road Runner

The Jamestown Foundation

Browsing the Jamestown Foundation reports on terrorists groups in Algeria, Yemen, Somalia, Russia, Trinidad, Iran, Sudan, etc., I've got to wonder why the evening news programs wastes our time reporting on Lindsay Lohan and Mel Gibson.

Africa - The Jamestown Foundation

Shirley Sherrod, USDA, says White House forced her resignation

What is this flap about? Whether it is conservative bloggers, or Fox News, or the President of the U.S., it happened in 1984! No one has done more in recent years to enflame race relations than the President himself, whether it was calling cops foolish in the Gates incident last summer because they tried to stop a break-in, or ignoring Muslim terrorists in our midsts, or letting the DoJ decide blacks can't intimidate whites at the polling place. Come on, let's stick to the real problems, and they aren't Shirley's.


Shirley Sherrod: White House Forced My Resignation - Political Hotsheet - CBS News

Stroke of Insight by Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor

This week I'm reading "Stroke of Insight," by Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, a Harvard trained neuroanatomist and advocate for the mentally ill who had a massive stroke in her left hemisphere when she was 37. In her book, she explains how the brain works, and tells of the hours and days immediately following her stroke, and her years of working through to complete recovery.

As a Christian I don't accept her spiritual, "oneness with the universe," insight (right brain) that she discovered during her "wound" to the brain which shut down her left brain, however, there are many helpful insights on brain function and recovery that are worth reading. Like this one, which applies for any illness or grief:

"Recovery was a decision I had to make a million times a day."

And for her, even moreso, because in her right brain she had found a peaceful tranquility and bliss with no cognitive function.

You can see an 18 minute presentation by Dr. Taylor on TED.

Black and female: Tea Party Candidate battles Illinois Democrats to Get on Ballot

Wow! Talk about jumping the fence of the plantation and going after the "massa" with his own whip! Cedra Crenshaw, an African American Republican with Tea Party support is taking on the Illinois Democrat machine. Democrats get real testy, even with their own black members (as Alvin Greene in South Carolina), when they see an African American is on to their tricks.

Tea Party Candidate Cedra Crenshaw Fights Illinois Democrats to Get on Ballot in Will County

Crenshaw, a 37-year old mother of three who studied accounting at North Carolina A&T, submitted hundreds more signatures on her nominating petitions than required. But Will County officials knocked her off the November ballot, saying one of the sentences in her filing should have used slightly different wording. "I am angry," said Crenshaw, an African-American who rejects complaints that the Tea Party movement is racist. "And a lot of the voters are very angry, as well. Right here in the State of Illinois, the vote is being denied to the voters of the 43rd State Senate District by a frivolous challenge." Sen. Wilhelmi told me the rules are the rules.

Wilhelmi is the one who filed the complaint--he is uncontested, also not unusual in heavily Democratic precincts in Illinois. Both Republicans and Democrats are threatened by the Tea Party candidates--because it isn't a party they can influence or control--it's an idea, it's young, it's fresh.

Obama is lying again

Ratcheting up the partisanship, Obama is lying again about Republicans. They aren't "blocking" extending unemployment benefits from 99 weeks to 126 (retroactive), they are asking that the President use one of his private slush funds, like TARP or ARRA, which aren't being used to create "shovel ready" jobs. Or cut some other government wasteful program--put a government employee in the "out of work" line. Wouldn't real jobs be better than government checks? Well, no, not to Democrats who know from the FDR years, this is how you build loyalty across the generations. You buy it. But even FDR used it to put people to work instead of leaving them standing on the street corners or hanging out in bars.

Christian Teacher Wants to Pray on High Court Steps

Let me make a wild guess. If these students had spread yoga mats, or stuck pins in black robed dolls, or danced in Native American attire, or knelt down and faced East, the police wouldn't have bothered them. But quietly standing together and praying after a lesson on civics, they were told it wasn't allowed. This isn't true, of course. I suspect now other groups will try it to see what happens.

Christian Teacher Wants to Pray on High Court Steps | Christianpost.com

Longest hop-scotch

The Lakeside association blacktopped all the streets this spring, creating a wonderful "blackboard" for the kids with boxes of fat, colored chalk. On our street I saw a hop-scotch grid that went for two blocks. I think they were so tired by the time they drew all the boxes, they didn't do the toss and jump part.

Then on Walnut (business district) there are large murals drawn by the children. With parents standing around texting and talking on cell phones. Well, at least the kids "get it" (what Lakeside is about).

I was walking the Lakefront this morning about 30 minutes before sunrise, but it was light enough to see Put-in-Bay, Kelley's Island, all the lakefront cottages, the Hotel, the Pavilion, and an ore boat docked at Marblehead. Think of the generations who lived without electricity. It was gorgeous!

PPACA aka Obamacare

or as I like to call it, Pee-pee and Ca-Ca (Spanish and French for poop). Liberals like to claim it will reduce the deficit by $143 billion the first decade, and $1.2 Trillion the second. Tell me the truth. Have you ever seen a government program, under any president or congress, actually shrink anything? Until Obama, a Democrat, the biggest spender on social programs was George W. Bush, a Republican. Obama has taken us to new heights of government control and new depths of hostility toward the market system which grew this country.

No one really believes these deficit reduction figures, not even the Democrats, Socialists and Obamacons who preach them. We know there won't be more consumer choice and that there will be millions still uninsured (the purpose of all this, we were told when Obama was in campaign mode). We know private practices will close due to increased taxes; that there will be death panels, regardless of whether you call them that. And why not, when we've elected a man who believes in late term abortion--why not early on eternal rest? The only way to cut costs is to cut services. Growing government has never saved a dime. Bailing out unions or insurance companies or automobile companies is not the government's job, and it's a given that eventually the "public option" will be the only option for Pee-Pee and Ca-Ca.

Plein air painters and wooden boat show

The lawn in front of the Hotel Lakeside was a busy place today. The wooden boat show and the Ohio Plein Air show were sharing space and viewers. Each year the show gets better and better. My husband is teaching at the Rhein Center this week, so after registration from 1-3 p.m. he changed clothes and went down to the lake to take kids out for a free sail boat ride. The water was perfect and about 100 kids participated. The temperature was in the upper 80s, but there was a cool breeze. Our friends Duke and Kinga from Indiana are here; we went to church together and had breakfast and dinner together before they returned to their camp at East Harbor State Park.

Sunrise and an unusual dog

I was standing on the dock this morning watching the sun pop over the horizon about 6:12 a.m. and then continued on to the Lakefront watching the sun reflect on the windows and fences like a raging dawn fire.  I passed a man maybe 80 walking with an unusual dog.  It had the head, ears and blue eyes of a Husky, but a Heinz 57 body with bushy gold colored hair, sort of like a Chow.  Although it didn't appear unfriendly, I know enough about dog breeds not to assume this kind of mix would welcome my advances.  I asked the man about his dog, and he said it had been thrown into a culvert as a tiny fuzzy pup and a woman found him who couldn't keep him and brought the pup to his farm. "This is the best watch dog I've ever had; it can see, smell or hear anything."  I suspect there's a bit of gratitude in this pet's loyalty, too.

Congress Overhauls Your Portfolio

I find it stunning that anyone of either party could trust a team like Barney Frank and Chris Dodd, both proven crooks and shysters, to do anything in the financial world. The small investor, the pensioner, and those wanting to build wealth for the future of their children have been scammed big time. This at a time when the boomers will begin drawing on their investments. "All the better to make you government dependent, my dearie," the witches cackled over their cauldron. The Democrats will deny any culpability, and probably blame the three Republicans who caved and voted for it.

Congress Overhauls Your Portfolio - WSJ.com

Dearborn Mayor lies about Christians arrested for proselytizing - Jihad Watch

You can get arrested in Dearborn, Michigan for praying . . . with a Muslim . . . if you are a Christian. Apparently, the first amendment doesn't apply at local Arab festivals, even though many Arabs are Christians.

Dearborn Mayor lies about Christians arrested for proselytizing - Jihad Watch

Calories do count!

This morning at Wal-Mart I stopped in the bakery section and looked at the cookies. We really don't need them, but, my goodness they looked wonderful. So I picked up oatmeal-raisin and oatmeal-raisin sugar free, which was twice as much, and compared the ingredients. Both had palm oil, which I don't think is good for us, but in small quantities, it's probably not a killer. But look at that fat and calories count! The sugar-free cookie was much higher in calories, and it would be my guess that you'd probably eat more of them too, because they don't have the same flavor and texture. The reverse is true with fat-free--usually a lot more sugar.

Americans are getting really picky about chemicals in food, sustainable and organic crops, and natural this and that. But they continue to get fatter. I think we were much better off with sugar and lard and fewer snacks and desserts than with chemically modified foods that don't satisfy, but are always at hand, so we eat more. If you really want low fat or low sugar, either add water or eat less.

Drug cartels in all states now

Senator John Cornyn of Texas says, "The time to act is now. These cartels already have a known presence in 48 states and the District of Columbia. Until Washington restores its credibility on border security more states will be forced to act much like Arizona did. Washington needs a sense of urgency, or many American families will lose their sense of security.

Border security isn’t just a border state problem, it’s a United States problem."

Today at the coffee shop I chatted with a woman from a beautiful ocean/lake/river area of Florida. She's lived there about 30 years, but originally came from this area of Ohio. In the last five years, she said, there's been a huge influx of crime from the Mexican drug cartels. She's very sympathetic with the Arizonans and believes there will be more laws like this if the federal government doesn't step up and do its job. Another customer chimed in about his area--Atlanta. It's not just Arizona's problem, folks, and we should thank Governor Brewer for bringing it to our attention.

Read more at the Washington Examiner.

No human embryo had to die for this experiment!

Remember how the left vilified Bush for not approving the expansion of the embryonic stem cell lines on the federal dollar? (It never was illegal and there was no ban--private money was OK to do so and it has never produced a single successful treatment.) Meanwhile adult stem cell research surged ahead. When Obama stepped up in 2009 he kept one of his first promises--expanding embryonic stem cell research. But it was too late even for that purely political move. It isn't needed. A hollow promise from a morally hollow man.

"Transplantation of human endometrial–derived stem cells (HEDSC) [HEDSC ARE ADULT STEM CELLS FROM THE ENDOMETRIUM] into mice with a Parkinson disease-like disorder boosted the animals’ dopamine production, according to a study funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The findings provide preliminary evidence that such transplantation may have therapeutic benefits in Parkinson disease. . .

"The authors noted that HEDSC can be easily obtained through a routine office procedure, and that women with Parkinson disease might be transplanted with their own cells." JAMA June 23/30, 2010, v. 303 n.24, p. 2464

Now admit it, NOW. Isn't that better than womb farming women for embryos?

Leftist comedians attacking daughters of Republican politicians again

They are such great feminists, aren't they? Let's go after the kids--it will get a good laugh. Oh, Letterman and Griffin--you are just sooooo funny. Where is Child Protective Services and NOW when lefty funny folk go after young women?

"On her Bravo TV show Tuesday night, left-wing comedian Kathy Griffin referred to Sen. Scott Brown's two daughters as "prostitutes," and a CNN reporter apparently thought it hysterical." Dana Bush and Griffin yukked it up--Bush's husband had the decency to grimace. Sexism and child abuse are OK if done by women, right?

Read more

NAACP and the New Racism

The new racism is charging others with being "racist" because racism is the new N-word. NAACP is the latest example charging that a group which the NAACP can't buy or extort for money is anti-black/minority at its base. Tea Party is an idea, a philosophy and a political direction, not a group, and its very young and has no national leadership to speak on its behalf. NAACP, which is a membership exclusionary group, rather elderly as organizations go with lots of infighting among its leaders, smears a lot of people.

"Expel the bigots and racists in your ranks or take the responsibility for them and their actions. We will no longer allow you to hide like cowards."

Meanwhile, not a word from NAACP about a fringe of a fringe black group calling itself New Black Panthers and recommending that blacks kill white babies, and stop having relationships with white women. Not a word about expelling the socialists and communists from the rank and file of the NAACP, or even acknowledging they are there. No, everyone else has to be pure, even those groups that aren't even a membership group from which to expell anyone!

Sure sounds like race based hate to me, and a group that says it promotes the advancement of colored people, ought to be speaking up about the New Black Panthers and the philosophies of some of its own members that Tea Party people don't approve of. Wouldn't that at least be fair?

Longest "failure to report" I've seen

When people report their research in JAMA, they are required to include any compensation or financial gain they might have received that could conceivably influence the outcomes. There was an article on obesity published in February on gastric banding in adolescents vs lifestyle intervention by Dr.Paul E. O'Brien of Australia. It seems the gastric banding group won. But in the June 16 issue, there is the "correction" for the financial disclosure agreement, he having said he had no conflicts of interest. I'd say it was a big one.

1. He received compensation as the Natioal medical director of the American Institute of Gastric Banding.
2. He's written a patient information book on the topic from which he derives financial benefits.
3. In another study on obesity he had grants from an obesity research center, of which he is the director.
4. He "inaccurately reported" (i.e., lied) about compensation received as a speaker.
5. He regrets any lack of transparency that his failure may have created.

I think this guy has a future in politics. Also, it shows JAMA really doesn't check much on this stuff.

More Mel Tapes Coming

If I ever heard of a couple who seem to deserve each other, it's Oksana and Mel. She's a slutty gold digger, he's reinventing Catholicism, cheated on his wife, and beats up his bimbo babe. Yes, they seem to have found a special hell on earth to inhabit together.

More Mel Tapes Coming - Road Runner

At the Rhein Center this week

My husband has been teaching an "Architecture and small house design" at the Rhein Center this week, and says they kids (all teenagers) are a very talented group. They've learned basic design principles, built a model, visited a cottage, and are working in teams to design their own plan.

He also did a presentation on Haiti Monday night and had an excellent turn out, and won the Laura Werden prize in the Lakeside Art Show for best Lakeside scene.

I've been taking a watercolor class with John Behling. Today I used an old photo of the children from the late 1970s at Marblehead, and it's better than the others I did on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Harry says Republicans Want Economy To Tank So Democrats Will Be Battered In Midterms

Good old "we've lost the war" Harry, still tries to blame the Republicans for the Democrats' across-the-board failures, from slowly killing the Gulf clean-up to the ARRA funding doing diddly squat for the unemployed, to Obamacare fears that are causing doctors to flee, and cap and trade plans that are killing investment and recovery.

Where are Republicans in all this, Harry? They've been helpless as you've helped destroy a free market economy. You guys took over Congress in 2006 and have been blaming Republicans ever since. Well, it was FDR who extended the Great Depression over a decade; it was Democrat Wilson who instituted the Jim Crow laws and segregated the military; it was your beloved Byrd who got to Congress with the help of the KKK; it's Democrat mayors of the major U.S. cities that have been oppressing minorities for generations while taking block grants and urban renewal money from the federal government; it was your man Clinton who came up with "don't ask don't tell;" it's your guy Obama who thinks it's OK to dismember viable near-term babies that are inconvenient; it's Democrat controlled unions that are sending our businesses fleeing to other countries. Come on, Harry. Man up for once and accept your prize failures.

Harry Reid: Republicans Want Economy To Tank So Democrats Will Be Battered In Midterms

MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan froths and insults

I know they called Bush lots of names, including Hitler, Stalin, dumb, wimp, etc., but I don't recall the left wing media calling him "little boy." And that bend over stuff? Is that a reference to his sexuality?

MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan Froths: Wall Street Frightens 'Little Boy' Obama, Makes Him 'Bend Over' | NewsBusters.org

Rush Limbaugh's "cracker" remark

A black group (New Black Panthers) threatens to kill "crackers" and "cracker babies" (cracker is a term for native Floridians which came to be used as a pejorative for all whites, just as did "redneck" which originally meant southern tenant farmer with a sunburn), and the threat is ignored by the media, the Department of Justice and the NAACP. Rush uses it to draw attention to the deliberate oversight and the irony and they are all over it. The media are sooooo slow.

I link to a Floridian librarian who calls her blog Florida Cracker--these are people proud of the name. That's the problem with pejoratives, isn't it? It used to be unacceptable to use the word black when referring to Negroes, or gay or queer in referring to homosexuals. Now black is preferred over Negro, and everyone uses gay--the word when embraced by the group, becomes acceptable. Cracker is a pejorative when the NBP uses it, but not when a Floridian refers to a Floridian.

Rush Limbaugh calls Steinbrenner a "cracker" | HardballTalk

Obama, Bush and Hitler images

Do you remember all this outrage about Hitler images and the President when George W. Bush was president? I saw it on the blogs that tracked the BDS sites, but not at AP or MSM. Here's an example of one of the Hitler-Bush pro-communist links I found from 2003:

"a paranoid fanatic intoxicated by messianic passions and dimmer than a slug. A man drunk with power, as he was drunk with alcohol before—and legally condemned for it on 4 September 1976, for driving drunk at full speed. Admonished, too, by none other than the evangelist Billy Graham who told him, "Who are you, to think yourself God?". A militant for the Christian Right, the Texan, Southern Christian right that is. A racist in love with the death sentence, especially when it comes to African-Americans. All in all, the worst US president for over a century, the man who will unleash the greatest tragedies on his own people. The opposite of Homo Sapiens, the incarnation of Homo Demens."

As other Tea Party groups have noted, this is counter-productive for their movement. But since NAZI means National Socialism, whereby the government controls but does not own (as in Communism) private industry for its own purposes, you can see the connection to the Obama Administration.

And wasn't it Newsweek that proclaimed "We are all Socialists" now? Communist/socialist governments have killed far more of their own citizens than any other form of government in all of history. And who can forget that 2008 image of Obama speaking before the throngs in Germany during his U.S. campaign for the Presidency? Is there anything similar to cause such anger at Bush which was rampant, raging and irrational?

Trick Questions--we all know the answers

1. Why is Governor Blagojevich threatened with 415 years for a deal for Obama's Illinois seat when the Democratic aides in the White House who were manipulating the choices don't get a Congressional hand slap or even a dirty look from Katie Couric?

2. Why do U.S. liberals, particularly Christians, only care about Palestinian Arabs if they live in Gaza or Israel? Millions are in camps in Arab countries where they live in deplorable conditions and have zero civil rights.

3. Why do celebrities, like Rosie O'Donnell, who are examples of entrepreneurship and capitalism based on their own persona and image, recommend that the United States seize the assets of a private company, even one based in another country? Do they understand National Socialism (NAZI) concepts?

4. Why criticize BP for advertising on TV and other media, spending millions to justify its actions, what it is doing to correct its mistakes in the Gulf? Are you criticizing the President spending millions, maybe billions to advertise and justify what he's been doing through trips all over the country, ads, sending the minions out to talk to the press, websites, and arbitrarily changing laws to change what he says were Bush's mistakes and not his own?

5. Why do liberals and progressives in America flunk Econ 101--Daniel B. Klein. Do you think it might have something to do with why FDR extended the Great Depression to over a decade and Obama is extending the Recession with similar spending?

6. When everyone, including me, knows there are three reasons for obesity--nutrition, exercise and genes--why did I have 2 pieces of Key Lime Cheesecake and only one serving of fresh fruit at last night's pot luck?

7. Why do people who support "green" issues, cap and trade, and farmers' markets, insist on volcano mulching around young trees?

8. Do Happy Meals really make kids fat or do the parents who buy them deserve the blame?

9. Why are the U.S. boundaries with Mexico treated differently than the boundaries with Canada, which are much larger? (Or is the question really, why is anyone even asking such a dumb question? but I saw it in the "Fences" exhibit.)

10. Going all the way back to 13th century England liberty meant freedom from governmental oppression. Why have 21st century Americans bought into the idea that freedom means not to experience need or even choices and are willing to submit to more and more government at every level from local zoning to Homeland Security?

11. As more and more information is released about Kyron's stepmom, why was his father so stupid and ignorant about her behavior during all the time leading up to his disappearance?  Maybe those two deserved each other?  Like Mel Gibson and his slutty girlfriend?

12. Amy Bishop has finally been charged with the murder of her brother in 1986. How long before the law suits start by the survivors and families of those she murdered in 2010 against those authorities at the university and in her own family who knew she was off her rocker for years?

13. Why does Headline News (CNN) advertise on Fox--is it because Fox is fair and balanced, or because CNN knows they have more viewers?

14. Why are the people who gnash their teeth and weep over the lack of bipartisanship and talk show criticism on Obama's watch the same ones who criticized Bush so violently? No Child Left Behind, The middle East war, the Medicare drug plan, the Patriot Act, efforts to reform Social Security, and his amnesty plan all had support from Democrats, i.e. bi-partisan support, and some lost him support from Republicans. Liberals weren't happy then with bi-partisanship were they?

Northwest Ordinance--Happy Anniversary

July 13, 1787 is probably as important as July 4, 1776, and the adoption of the Constitution on September 17, 1787, and the later addition of the Bill of Rights (which appear in part in the NW Ordinance).  The Northwest Ordinance passed the Continental Congress on July 13, 1787 and with the Constitution which was ratified in 1788 was critical to the infant United States' form of government. By 1783, the colonies had achieved independence, but Continental Congress was broke and couldn't pay the soldiers--and it had no power to levy taxes. Land west of Pennsylvania had been promised to soldiers. Several ordinances and plans were floated and private investors (like the Ohio company) formed companies to buy and sell the land and bailed out the new federal government.

Interestingly, the Northwest Ordinance which was passed, contains much of what later became our Bill of Rights, and guaranteed the individual freedom of religion, right to a trial by jury, no cruel punishment, and claimed religion was necessary for good government and that slavery was not be a part of the territory or states to be formed.

Article 3: Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.

Article 6: There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said territory, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted. . .

Five states were formed by the Ordinance--Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin. Ohio's entry into the Union was a bit bumpy, but after that things went pretty smoothly, and most states that followed used the same procedures outlined in this important document.

Both liberals and conservatives can take pot shots at the NW Ordinance--it shows the federal government has a role in local education and also in providing land and homesteads for its citizens. They also argue over the separation of church and state and what the religion article meant. And for that, you can argue forever.

Ahhhh. . . That feels better!

When I noticed my legs were waking me up at night before the cat did, I knew the problem this time--my shoes. Fortunately, I had purchased an extra pair of Nike Women's Steady VI cross trainers earlier this year, so my husband brought them with him after his last trip to Columbus. Almost instant relief. This is my fourth pair since March 2009, and for someone who isn't very athletic, that doesn't sound like a lot of wear and tear. However, I turned my old ones over and looked at the tread and compared them with the new ones. I definitely roll my feet to the outside, and the tread there was worn down which would cause my body to be out of alignment, just like a car with worn tires.

I originally purchased these because they weren't as fat, ugly and pretentious as most athletic shoes. They have a bit of fabric trim and grosgrain ribbon for shoe laces. But once I wore them and got relief from hip and shin pain, I'll keep buying them, looks or no.

Dow Kokam Receives $161 Million U.S. Department of Energy Grant

Why does this story smell, even though it's not "news?" First, I was checking out the Michigan GM plant that was outsourced, not to a foreign country, but to Delaware, Biden's home state. Second, while doing that I kept finding stories about South Korea and green technology (with all the hoopla for the last 40 years about green this and that, we don't have any of our own?) and various small plants in Michigan, all receiving the nod from the Veep.

Then I came across this one about Dow Kokam receiving $161 million in ARRA funds to "create" jobs in Midland, MI. That's an odd name--didn't really sound "American" to my ear. So I did a few Googles and found out this is Dow Chemical (yes, that Dow), Townsend Capital (a venture capitalist LLC) and Kokam, a South Korean battery company with an American subsidiary.

Now, I'm not so naive as to believe our own fossil fuel companies--petroleum, coal and natural gas--haven't been heavily snogging the federal government for many administrations, Republican and Democrat, nor as government gifts go is this a huge amount. But I do get a bit perturbed that the current Obama administration tries to paint their lovers as loose when in fact BOAd is their pimps and uses its own duplicity and lies to destroy America's belief in capitalism. This is called, "crony capitalism," whereby only the biggest bully gets the free money. What home-grown American green company could go up against a giant like Dow with a South Korean partner?

Dow Kokam Receives $161 Million U.S. Department of Energy Grant

The ‘Twilight’ Phenomenon: The Kids Are All Right

The Vampire craze has a thing or two to teach young Americans.

"From Disney Channel tarts to YouTube to MTV to their public school health education classes, young girls in this country are bombarded and constantly out-flanked with the toxic message that if they want to be ”in” and ”liberated” and “strong” they must become the useful and willing objects of sexual gratification manipulative men have always wanted them to be. Trust me, no one’s benefited more from left-wing feminism than than shallow, sexist men who use, abuse, objectify and discard women like empty beer cans.

In our world of popular culture, the romance between Bella and Edward is unlike anything these young girls have ever been subjected to outside of Turner Classic Movies. Edward cherishes Bella, and he protects her, not only from physical harm but from his own appetites and desires that would strip away her dignity. His love for her is what love is supposed to be: completely selfless and understanding.

As weak as these films have been in the storytelling department, they’ve become money machines because a majority of young girls don’t want to be Lady Gaga, they don’t want to monologue about their vagina with Jane Fonda, and they simply don’t understand why the very same adults charged with protecting them use classroom time to roll Trojans on cucumbers."

Big Hollywood » Blog Archive » The ‘Twilight’ Phenomenon: The Kids Are All Right

The Truth About Illegals--The Russian spies

A former spy, Ion Mihai Pacepa, the highest Soviet bloc official ever to have defected, tells how it's done:

"The term "illegal" has nothing to do with the idea of law breaking. . . An illegal assumes a non-Russian identity and appears abroad as someone who has no connection whatsoever with Russia. In any Western country, an illegal looks and acts just like your next-door neighbor. . . IT IS VERY DIFFICULT to identify an illegal living in the West under a new biography. I approved many such biographical legends. All were supported by Western birth certificates, school diplomas, pictures of alleged relatives, and even fake graves. In some important cases, we also created ersatz living relatives in the West by using ideologically motivated people, who received life-long secret annuities from us. No wonder the FBI needed ten years to document the real roots of the Russian illegals recently arrested.

The American Spectator : The Truth About Illegals

Failure to register as foreign agents

Who knew? Maybe Arizona could use that as a speedy excuse to send the illegals home. This Russian spy swap is really odd. These are not clowns or the Keystone Cops. These are spies and they are going home with their American kids who probably don't speak a word of Russian. Remember those? The ones the sanctuary cities weep over and say that's why we can't send their Mexican mamas and grandmamas home? This had been going on for 11 years, that's 3 administrations that have watched them. Apparently all in agreement. Their names and documents were all false.

As far as the New York Times is concerned, it's over. Once again we'll probably have to depend on bloggers and talk radio to find out what really happened. You sure can't expect the press to do any original investigation. And the Russians? They aren't too concerned.

Andrei Fedyashin of RIA Novosti writes: "Today's spy scandals seem far too prosaic to get a novelist's creative juices flowing. But the latest U.S.-Russian spy standoff has led to some interesting fiction in the U.S. media, at least. Republicans have taken to the Internet to denounce Obama as the "12th Russian spy," and right-wing radio show host, Rush Limbaugh, said: "Why do [the Russians] have to spy on us? Obama will tell them anything they want to know."

Remember, the MSM said there was nothing to the John Edwards baby rumor and nothing to look for in the Gore divorce. If philanderers can put up a smoke screen of lies, imagine what trained spies can do.

Sarepta Henry, evangelist, writer, poet

At one time, Mrs. Henry lived in Mt. Morris, IL as a student at Rock River Seminary. There she came under the influence of John Heyl Vincent, a real dynamo in the Sunday School movement, who later moved on to Chautauqua, NY and Lakeside, OH. She was the daughter of a Methodist minister, but is known as a 7th Day Adventist teacher and evangelist, and a licensed minister, having converted in the last years of her life (1839-1900), and a powerhouse in the WTCU, one of the most influential women's organization in United States history.

I came across her name for the first time today while searching JH Vincent in Google. Now, if you google Sarepta Henry, you'll find a fascinating book called "Unanswered Prayer; A mother's treasury of wisdom." It was first published by SDA in 1910, and was still printed and available by Review and Herald Publishing Association in 2002. If you have a teen or adult child being destroyed by alcohol or drugs despite your Christian home and time on your knees in prayer, this might be the book Mrs. Henry wrote for you.

I've never really done much research on what was known 100 years ago about prenatal affects of nicotine and alcohol on the fetus, but Mrs. Henry knew. Maybe it was anecdotal at that time, but we now know the child is strongly influenced prenatally by what the mother eats, drinks, smokes, injects, breathes and does. Whether you call that nature or nurture, it's a done deal when the kid pops out. Whatever the cause of a child being led astray by others or voluntarily bending the elbow, Mrs. Henry states at the beginning, it definitely isn't God's fault.

High School Students Selected for 6th Annual Grammy Camp

A local (Perrysburg) teen is packing for grammy camp. I wonder. Did any of the mentors or teachers at this camp get to the top this way?

High School Students Selected for 6th Annual Grammy Camp | Kidult

Federal Reserve weighs steps to offset slowdown in economic recovery

Slowdown? What recovery? Do we really need the Fed? And just what is it, anyway? Does anyone know? Do you think the "recovery" is slowing down, or do you think there really hasn't been a recovery? Bernanke thinks FDR didn't do enough! 14 years he diddled and fiddled. Bernanke loved the guy. No wonder. . .

Federal Reserve weighs steps to offset slowdown in economic recovery

Does Obama really need a "kill switch" for the Internet?

After the way Obama has handled the Gulf coast crisis (by shutting down the livelihoods of thousands, arriving late to the clean up party, plus threatening our energy sources), do you really trust this "kill switch" idea, regardless of the name they give it?

"Senator Joe Lieberman and other bill sponsors have refuted the charges that the Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act gives the president an Internet "kill switch." Instead, the bill puts limits on the powers the president already has to cause "the closing of any facility or stations for wire communication" in a time of war, as described in the Communications Act of 1934, they said in a breakdown of the bill published on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee website."

China, Iran, North Korea and other statist governments have a kill switch, why not ours? Just what are you ready to give up for "cybersecurity?"

Techworld "Obama Kill Switch Plan

Capt. Pete Hegseth on Elena Kagan

Elena Kagan is intellectually dishonest on many fronts says this veteran of the Iraq War, Pete Hegseth--she zeroed in on military recruiters, treated them as 2nd class citizens, blocking equal access to the best and brightest during time of war, encouraged war protestors on campus, and then went to work for the crafter of "don't ask don't tell."

Capt. Pete Hegseth on Elena Kagan. | RedState

HT Dave

Have they considered WMD?

Remember how the left poo-pooed WMD--like biological and virus warfare--after it was Bush's problem? They were all worried when Clinton was in office--even had the intelligence to show the dangers.

Iraq is a long way from [here], but what happens there matters a great deal here. For the risks that the leaders of a rogue state will use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons against us or our allies is the greatest security threat we face." — Madeline Albright, Feb 18, 1998

Now physicians and scientists are struggling to understand the causes of persistent health problems reported by veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan. The Department of Defense can't seem to find out what this particulate matter is.

“The U.S. Army asked the National Research Council to evaluate the Enhanced Particulate Matter Surveillance Program. The committee of experts it convened concluded that, despite the limited data collected, the Program's results clearly document that military personnel deployed in the current Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts are exposed to high particulate concentrations. The committee strongly endorses the Department of Defense's effort and recommends continuing and expanding the research.”

Report

A tax on pale (white) Americans

I have little sympathy for people who go to tanning salons to ruin their skin for a later date (on my dime), but I do feel badly for the salon owners who were doing nothing illegal and will have to pay this additional (no new taxes except for the uber rich--B.O.). Although like any business, they will pass this cost along to the customer. If customers decide to give up this unhealthy practice, the owner will need to find a new business.

People--just look at the splotches, brown spots, wrinkles and scars from surgery that your grandparents have. Whether they were addicted to indoor tanning, the beach or the garden, sun is only good for you in little doses and moderation.

Speaking of addictions, Archives of Dermatology (2010; 146(4):412-417) has reported on addiction to indoor tanning among college students. They found that those addicted to tanning also have a greater problem with alcohol, marijuana and anxiety, but were not necessarily more depressed. Bad news, good news, I guess. Maybe the anxiety stems from comparing tan lines or bikini waxing.

Federal tax on tanning salons takes effect today - Healthy Living : The Orange County Register

Less than half the stimulus spent--but more dribbles on the way as election nears

Press release

"The Ohio Middle Mile Consortium announced today that Com Net, Inc., a founding member, has been awarded federal stimulus funding that will add almost 700 new miles of broadband fiber to rural and underserved communities throughout western Ohio.

“This is a great day for Ohio. Comprehensive broadband services for the state are vital to enhancing education, retraining our displaced workforce and preparing our future workforce to drive Ohio economic development,” said Ohio Board of Regents Chancellor Eric D. Fingerhut, who had called on the Ohio Academic Resources Network (OARnet), the technology operations arm of the University System of Ohio, to coordinate a unified approach for federal stimulus broadband applications.

OMMC partners Com Net, Inc., Horizon Telcom, OneCommunity and OARnet formed a public-private partnership to create a comprehensive statewide plan to expand broadband infrastructure to the underserved and unserved areas of the state. This plan will focus on community anchor institutions such as schools, hospitals, public safety and local governments to ensure the development of an affordable and sustainable broadband program.

In March 2010, the OMMC members submitted applications to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) for the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) to develop a Comprehensive Community Infrastructure (CCI). BTOP funding was established as part of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA), better known as the federal stimulus package.

As part of its first wave of announcements, the NTIA awarded $30 million in federal stimulus funding . . "

The ARRA stimulus, AKA Obama slush fund. . . not to be confused with the BP Obama slush fund, which is too small to even register.

Obama's not stupid, so is he incompetent or are we paranoid?

In writing about the Gulf oil spill at Hot Air, Steven De Beste ponders two possibilities:“The sane answer: they’re blithering incompetents. The paranoid answer: they’re doing it on purpose.” The comments coming in say the readers are going for the paranoid answer, because no one anywhere is as incompetent as Barack Obama. Here’s a good response and I think I agree with her, having noted a number of these things in the last 70 days or so, but with less salty language.

Steven, I have always respected you and admired you ever since I discovered your blog but I have to disagree with you concerning the Gulf Oil Disaster.

Ask yourself just how stupid, clueless and incompetent one has to be to refuse permission for the governors to build sand berms to block the oil getting ashore because those berms “might damage the environment”.

Ask yourself just how stupid, clueless and incompetent one has to halt skimmers from going out because the Coast Guard has to make sure everyone has a life vest and there are fire extinguishers on board. We aren’t talking about people in a Bass boat going out for a day’s fishing, we are talking commercial vessels and those are things that the CG inspects all commercial craft for every freaking year.

Ask yourself just how stupid, clueless and incompetent one has to allow BP to use Corexit as a dispersant. Why not just use Agent Orange or Plutonium as a dispersant fercrissakes! And where is all the “concern about the effect on the environment” that the Obama regime is showing by blocking the sand berms. Corexit is one hell of alot more damaging to the environment then a freaking sand berm.

Ask yourself just how stupid, clueless and incompetent one has to do what we have seen the Obama regime pull over the last week which is basically shut down all non government reporting and observing of this disaster and threatening those who do not comply with felony charges. Hell, even that Obamafellating jerk Anderson Cooper can figure out that something is really wrong with that.

Sorry, hun, but if it walks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck it is a freaking duck-not a hampster. The actions, words and deeds of the Obama regime concerning GOD are not the acts of stupid, clueless and incompetent people. There is an agenda behind it, then just haven’t let it slip out to someone who might leak it like they did concerning the border and the Arizona immigration law. They blatantly admitted that they will not enforce federal law and will try to destroy Arizona and other states immigration laws because they want to push their amnesty agenda. If I were to venture a guess they want to use this to ram through crap ‘n tax, shake down BP for money for their slush fund because they won’t get another “stimulus” package out of the legislative branch and they want to nationalize the oil companies. All one has to do to see that one working is to take a look at what they are doing to the refineries in Texas-so far the government has taken over 3 of them IIRC and more takeovers are on the way. 1/3 of the petroleum refining capacity is in Texas-do you really want those refineries controlled by Maxine Waters and the Obama regime. If you do I hope you enjoy paying 3 to 4 times more for everything that you buy/use because that is what is coming (just take a look around at everything you own that is made out of plastic and then triple the cost to manufacture it). BTW-we don’t have transporter technology yet so just about everything you use comes in via truck and $10/gal for gasoline will put a bit of a crimp in your “lifestyle”.  Nahanni on July 6, 2010

Did you fall in love in 1957?

Then you might like the movie Letters to Juliet, starring Amanda Seyfried, Vanessa Redgrave, Christopher Egan, Gael García Bernal. And if you're my age, the only name on that list you recognized is Vanessa Redgrave--but you may not recognize her. When you see her, you'll realize just how old we are!

Actually, I can't tell you much about the movie which came out in mid-May which we saw on a Sunday night at the Lakeside Orchestra Hall (movie theater). Between the British accents and Italian, and then the distractions of the extremely noisy ceiling fans and the two giggling 20-somethings sitting behind us, we really might as well have worn ear plugs.

But the general idea is that Amanda's character (Sophie) and Bernal's character (Victor) are engaged, but both are busy doing other things--he's a chef and she's a researcher and they are on a "pre-honeymoon" in Tuscany region of Italy (which is why I wanted to see it). She finds a group of "secretaries" who answer letters from the love-challenged. She comes across a hidden letter written in 1957 about Lorenzo, from a Brit named Claire--they had fallen in love as teenagers and she had to go home. Well, if I got the story over all the noise, the rest is a comedy as Charlie (Claire's grandson), Sophie and Claire scour the countryside looking for Lorenzo. Finally, Claire spots a young teenager working in the fields and declares that's him--and it was Lorenzo's grandson. The guy who plays Lorenzo is Redgrave's real life husband. Happily ever after ending, unless you liked Victor, who loses out, but he really cared more about food and his restaurant, so he didn't really lose.

I hadn't met my husband yet in 1957, but I did fall in love that summer. His name was Tim. No, wait . . . Jim. No . . . Jerry, or was it Terry? Anyway, it was a great time to be in love and write letters.

12 Reasons for Visiting a Farmers' Market

I've subscribed to the University of Nebraska at Lincoln Food Reflections for about 15 years, and always enjoy Alice Hennemen's articles. You can subscribe. Since I just visited the Farmers' Market at Lakeside this morning before I went to my Chaucer class, I thought this was timely--"12 reasons for visiting a farmers' market." Ours is pretty small, so some of these points don't apply--it's not festive, although I do often stop and chat with neighbors. Several of the tents do have wonderful flowers, too. Today I bought blueberries, fresh green beans, a tomato, one ear of corn (they always look at me with disbelief, but my husband hates corn), and a bunch (quart?) of freestone peaches, very sweet. Last week I bought rhubarb (which I froze for future pies), beets with tops, a head of cabbage, a huge green pepper, zucchini, and a quart of raspberries.

Yes, fresh produce tastes wonderful--and today there was a booth with home made pastries, which really didn't look like they would be good for you--they might have been free of preservatives, and locally baked, but they were just loaded with calories.

I only have to walk 2 blocks. "Locally grown" doesn't mean it's healthier or better for you, especially if you put it in the refrigerator for several days. I had some of the beans for lunch, grilled with onions, and they weren't cold, so they weren't tough. I'll probably prepare the rest for supper. Also fixed the corn on the cob in the microwave--cut off the stem, run it under water and cook on high for about 2 minutes. Strip off the husks and silks easily. Spread on the butter and salt--delicious.

12 Reasons for Visiting a Farmers' Market

Bio-medical research

Remember how Obama was applauded for his promises to pour more money into biomedical research? Well, it happened--sort of. JAMA reports when the 2011 budget is adjusted for inflation, there is no increase, and there is actually LESS because the ARRA stimulus infusion of $10.4 billion comes to an end.

In the coffee shop I saw a woman with a 30 year old face and the body of a 12 year old. Maybe she has EDNOS? That means she hasn't been diagnosed with anorexia (self starvation) or bulimia (binging and purging), but an "eating disorder not otherwise specified." EDNOS actually has a higher mortality than anorexia or bulimia, but seems to be in a limbo of medical indecision on how to classify it.

In another issue of JAMA I saw an article about race and aggressive treatment at the end of life and survival in long term acute care facilities. It seems that black patients at the end of life prefer a more aggressive treatment. They are less likely to have do-not-resuscitate orders in place at the time of hospitalization and are less likely to favor withdrawal of life sustaining measures in the ICU. Such a dilemma for a progressive, liberal publication. Is this liberal or conservative? Cultural? Religious? Racial? Moral?

The end result is African-American patients are sicker when they transfer to a long term facility and are less likely to survive--the whites who were the sickest with the poorest prognosis died in the acute care hospital! So blacks are more likely to die while ventilator dependent. But then the writers (social workers and PhD types) have to face the fact that this unplanned, unforeseen racial/cultural disparity opens up financial incentives for physician owned specialty hospitals, and home health services. Capitalism! Oh the horror! Better the government panel step in and decide their fate, right?

Eulogizing Robert Byrd--is that a white sheet over that casket?

Hearing Barack Obama and Bill Clinton lauding a former official of the Ku Klux Klan was certainly bizarre. They didn't just eulogize him, they noted with some puffery and pride found only among Democrats that he had rejected that nastiness in his past. God knows, I'm all for redemption, and so thankful that God doesn't grade on a curve, but did Byrd really change all that much? Was his (or any liberal's) objection to Justice Thomas and Secretary Rice really about their qualifications and not their race? There's a lot to overlook in this good old boy

"In a March 2005 fundraising appeal to the radical group MoveOn.org, Obama said, “Senator Robert Byrd was one of the first senators I met with when I came to the Senate three months ago. Senator Byrd understands the history, the importance, and the role the Senate plays in our government...”

Reeling off a long list of charges against the Bush Administration and Senate Republicans, all of which were either untrue or totally misleading, Obama concluded by saying, “Above all, Robert Byrd understands just how sacred the Constitution of our country truly is and fights every day to protect it.”

This is the same Robert Byrd who wrote in a 1944 letter to a Mississippi senator, “I shall never fight in the armed forces with a Negro by my side.”

This is the same Robert Byrd who wrote in a 1945 letter to that same Mississippi senator, “Rather I should die a thousand times, and see Old Glory trampled in the dirt, never to rise again, than to see this beloved land of ours become degraded by race mongrels, a throwback to the blackest specimen from the wilds.”

This is the same Robert Byrd who wrote in a 1948 letter to the Grand Wizard of the West Virginia Klan, at a time when Klan membership was in steep decline, “The Klan is needed today as never before and I am anxious to see its rebirth here in West Virginia and in every state in the Union.”

This is the same Robert Byrd who holds the distinction of being the only man to use the “n-word” on the floor of the U.S. Senate during the last half century, or more.

Obama’s fundraising appeal for his KKK colleague was a successful one. Within 48 hours, nearly $823,000 poured into the Byrd campaign coffers. And when Obama traveled to West Virginia to campaign for Byrd, the Charleston Daily Mail opined, “If the African-American trailblazer has any qualms about endorsing the man who filibustered the 1964 Civil Rights Act and who disdainfully referred to blacks as ‘the darkest specimens of the wilds,’ he’s keeping them to himself.” Paul Hollrah

Stuff I like--Lakeside businesses

We have a new laundromat in Lakeside, and I've used it. I took in a huge pile of bedding and was in and out in 45 minutes for $5.00. I have an apartment size washer and dryer in my tiny basement, just big enough for underwear and t-shirts, but I don't do bedding. It's newly remodeled and owned by Tom and Marcy Winkel who purchased a cottage here in 2001. We chatted a bit. Tom grew up in Upper Arlington and attended Watterson and Marcy used to work at the Worthington Public Library and the College of Medicine at OSU.

Joyce Christman and Erin Rosson have moved Artists 'N Cahoots, the art store, to the former Cokesbury location. You should see the wonderful window display of red, white and blue for this week! Jewelry, Christmas tree ornaments, hand sewn bags, stained glass trimmed mirrors, decorated pots and paintings. If you go inside you can see my husband's paintings and prints. For the most part, they represent the teachers at the Rhein Center.

On Saturday I stopped in at Marilyn's Too on 2nd Street. Always fun to browse through her lake themed gifts, cards, clothing, and furniture. Great Lakeside Cat's Meow stuff. Marilyn is a great cheerleader for all the teen campers at Lakeside. She just loves kids.

July 5 clean up

On my morning walk today--about 6 a.m.--the sun was barely visible. A thick haze. I saw about 20 Canada geese newly arrived and honking. And although the lakefront didn't look like the Washington Mall after the Obama inauguration, it was pretty sad. I don't think most Lakesiders litter like this, but there were hundreds of guests and many, many children spreading blankets, setting up chairs, and bringing along food and drink for the long, long wait of an hour or so. [sarcasm]

I know the groundskeepers will be out to do the clean up soon, but I picked up things as I went along: plastic cups with lids, spoons, forks; plastic water bottles--some never opened; empty boxes of sparklers and exploding rocks; soft drink cans; napkins and tissues; paper coffee cups; blankets, towels, folding camp chairs; dog leash; broken fixture for in-ground watering system; battery operated something with a strap; pair of white socks. But I didn't disturb the biker in a sleeping bad at the east end or the plastic bag of dog poop at the west end.

What may be the most time consuming for the grounds staff and which is the fault of Lakesiders are the hundreds of softball size+ rocks that people bring from the lakefront to anchor their blankets in case it gets windy. Each one of these will have to be picked up by hand and thrown back into the rip-rap in order not to damage the mowing equipment. Bad, bad on the people who don't pick up and remove their rocks when they take their blankets back to the cottage.

Lakeside provides at least 4 styles of trash cans, which may be part of the problem. Some people don't know whether the container is for certain plastics, or just cans, or for paper trash, so they just leave the mess on the park benches.

The above photo is actually from July 2008--haze is haze on any days.