Ohio Politics

Ohio House Bill 136 would increase the giving of vouchers for students to attend private  schools. I believe this is counter productive, and discriminatory. We should be putting any extra dollars for education into the public schools. What a shame it is that we no longer have the best education system in the world. Could the interference of the legislators have made this happen? Don't our kids deserve at least as good an education as we were fortunate enough to receive? Granted, I wouldn't want to attend school today - too much "new" history, technology, science, and everything else has come about since I graduated. But our generation enabled all these new developments to happen, and the majority of us went to public schools. Let's put public money back to work.

Contact your state senator and/or representative and urge them to vote against this bill as a start.

Family Day

Yesterday was nisu baking day! For those of you who don't know what nisu is, it is a traditional Finnish sweet biscuit that takes a long time and a lot of muscle to make. I started baking this delicious biscuit when I was about 16 years old. My aunt gave me a copy of my mumma's (grandmother to those non-Finns out there) recipe. My mother, a non-Finn herself, had never made this traditional biscuit, but encouraged me to try, because my father, and the rest of my family, loved it. And so a tradition was born.

I know there are people out there who bake nisu (also called pulla) on a regular basis, maybe even as much as once a week; but that is not in my nature. For one thing, it is hard to make; and if I made it all the time, it wouldn't seem as special. Besides, I can go to the Finnish Heritage Museum on any Saturday and get a cup of coffee and a slice of nisu for $2. Or buy a biscuit at the Finnish Treasures gift shop, also in Fairport Harbor. But back to yesterday.

My daughter-in-law and granddaughter came over yesterday morning (not too early; they know my habits), and we started right in. Someone had to watch my two great-grandsons, so I just gave directions and played with the boys while Beth and Heather did all the work. How special is that? While the dough was rising near the wood burner, the girls even decorated the Christmas tree that Den had put up the night before, and got out all the Christmas objects, articles, artifacts, or whatever you want to call them, and decorated the house.

Just as the first hot biscuits were coming out of the oven, my son, grandson, and grandson's girlfriend showed up at the door for coffee and nisu. So now you can see how special yesterday was. I hope you all have a day like that in your Christmas season.

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to anyone who may read this post. I hope your day was wonderful, filled with friends and family and good food.

We spent the day at my nephew's house; he and his wife put on quite a dinner. Turkey, ham (Dan's secret recipe), stuffing, mashed potatoes, candied sweet potatoes, corn, rolls, and appetizers, too. Then came coffee and dessert for those who could still manage a bite or two. But the best part was spending the day with people we don't get to see as often as we would like. It's a time to catch up, to talk about our kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids; to find out what's new in their world.

After clearing off the table, the younger, more energetic family members spread out several newspapers on the smooth surface and plan their attack on Black Friday. We older family members, just shake our heads, get another piece of pie, and continue our catching up. We are much too worldly-wise to go out to the stores on Black Friday. Or maybe we're just getting too old.

Politics as Usual

Too many people are passing on emails that have very misleading and downright untrue contents. We are all upset with what is going on politically in this country, and everyone thinks they have the answer, including me. But when false, or even semi-false, emails make the rounds, it hurts everyone and only contributes to the hatred one group may have for another.

The American people have been criticizing our government from the day it was formally established. Before that, there were arguments as to what kind of government we should have. I, for one, think the founding fathers did a heck of a good job; after all, we are still one nation 200+ years later. Just think of all the advancements, inventions, changes in the world that have happened since we first became the United States of America until now. What foresight those men had. Of course, if women had been involved 230 years ago, it would probably have been an even better place to live. But that's not the point of this blog. All the current, untrue, or semi-true emails that are making the rounds are.

Too many people think they know what is true because they saw it on the internet. And if you dig deep enough, the truth is probably out there. The problem is, not many people care about the truth. This country, and the rest of the world, are in a deep economic hurt, and we want to blame someone. Because some right wingers now have the loudest voices, we overlook what has happened in the past and listen to the rhetoric of hatred. I am very disheartened by what I hear and see going on all around me; I just want to step back and close my eyes and ears to what is going on.

Why can't we see that we have to be generous and kind to all people, not just the ones who think like us? Why do we spew the rhetoric of hate? And who do we hate? Evidently not the Wall Street fat cats and bankers, but the little guy trying to make a living, even if he has to step over a line in the sand to do it. We all need to take a step back and look at our priorities, look at our emotions and see if they are getting in the way of what is right. We need to start caring about people, and not about the almighty dollar. Maybe the OWS movement shows that we are slowly starting to care again.

"There's not a single example on our planet, not one, where an anti-government strategy has produced a vibrant economy with strong and broad-based growth and prosperity." - Bill Clinton

"What is objectionable, what is dangerous about extremists is not that they are extreme but that they are intolerant. The evil is not what they say about their cause, but what they say about their opponents." -Robert F. Kennedy

Winter Clothes

It's that time of year again, when I reluctantly put my summer clothes away for the winter and bring out the turtlenecks and long underwear. Every year, I know I am going to get rid of a whole stack of clothes that I haven't worn for months, or even years. And every year, I don't. I know all the magazines say that if you haven't worn something in a year, you should pitch it. So why can't I do that? I haven't the foggiest. Maybe because I was raised a dark Lutheran? Maybe because my parents lived during the Great Depression? Because I didn't have a lot of money growing up?

Whatever the reason, I started out with high hopes this year. I actually got rid of a pair of sandals when I went through my shoes. Oh, this was going to be a good year! Then, I added a pair of jeans to the "pile!" Can you believe it? And I hadn't even started on the dresser or the closet.

Well, I've gone through them now, and all I managed to add was a top that I bought five years ago. At one point, I had chosen two dresses to give to the Salvation Army, but then had second thoughts and put them back in the closet. No matter that I hadn't worn them since I retired (six years ago); I might need them someday.

I think I will let my "pile" of rejects sit in plain sight for a day or two. Who knows—I may just decide to add more, maybe even a dress or two.

Depressing Day

This is one of those days that are depressing and heavy. Please don't ask me why, I couldn't give you an answer. I thought I just wanted to go back to bed and sleep, but even that is too hard right now. Instead, I swept the floors, did some laundry, cleaned out the kitchen sink, did dishes, and now I am going to iron.

Yes, you saw that right—I am going to iron. I know several women who do not even own an iron, much less use one. But I iron. I iron shirts, slacks, shorts, blouses, tablecloths, napkins, and anything else that could possibly need to be ironed. My usual time to iron is Monday evening, after dinner, while listening to WCSB (a college radio station) play the blues. There is no way you can remain down in the dumps while listening to the blues. Most of the music has such an upbeat tempo that you just want to move your feet, and your body. Think John Hammond or John Lee Hooker. But that's neither here nor there right now.

Right now I am just going to iron and feel sorry for myself. I know the weather here (cold, rainy, gray, windy) has a lot to do with the mood I'm in, but it doesn't matter. I can't talk myself up, so I may just as well iron. At least I'll accomplish something.

The Race (?) to the Presidency

And the Presidential race is on! How stupid is it that the potential Presidential candidates are already holding televised debates, challenging each other, and hoping to make the other candidates look stupid. I think they all look stupid, for a couple of reasons.

First, there are several current officeholders in the race - governors, congressmen, etc. If they have to campaign nonstop for the next 14 months, who is doing their job? They can't possibly do justice to what they were elected to do—govern. I think campaigning has become a full time, year-round job. Who cares about passing laws, or governing the country, all they have to do is campaign from the time they are first elected until they finally die. Job description—no governing needed.

Second, with today's technology, a candidate could announce his or her candidacy a month before the election and still become well known enough to get elected. In fact, that might not be a bad idea. By that time, all the candidates who started campaigning early would be nothing but noise. We would have heard their ideas, or lack of ideas, a million times, and have gotten so bored with their rhetoric that most of the electorate would have shut their ears and eyes to them. Someone who comes in just before election day would get noticed a lot, especially if they had at least one new idea.

Where has common sense gone? And what is wrong with the American people that we put up with such idiocy?

Public Education

We can all lament how public education isn't what it used to be—it isn't. We can say that the parents need to be more involved with the schools; that the teachers need to use more discipline; and that the schools need more money to keep up with the latest technology. But no matter how many times, or how many ways, we say it, it isn't going to happen.

A lot of parents who care about their children's education are using vouchers to send their kids to private schools. This takes dollars away from the public schools, leaving poor schools for poor kids. A lot of kids, and not just the poorer ones, come from families who don't care whether or not their children get qualified instruction, and this is not going to change just because they are told they must take a greater interest in the child's education.

The United States no longer ranks first, or even second or third, in the quality of the education provided to its students. China is ranked tops in reading, math, and science; and Finland, South Korea, Canada, Japan, Switzerland, and New Zealand all rank better than the U.S. I don't know the answer to make our system better, and I certainly can't suggest how to make it the best in the world.

I do know that we need to look at innovative ideas for keeping kids in school, for keeping them interested in learning, so that we may once more become a country who emphasizes education. I believe that the answer does not involve throwing more money at the problem, or reducing Thomas Jefferson's contribution to the founding of this nation to a footnote. We need to look at how teachers are trained, how effective they are in teaching (and not just in "teaching to a test"),  the hours students spend in school, maybe even year-round classes. Making our schools better will not be an easy sell to people in the U.S., but not making our schools better will have an even worse outcome. Jobs will continue to move overseas as companies want to hire the best and brightest; and we will have increasing numbers of people on welfare roles as these jobs are lost. What should we do? I don't know. But I think a good start would be to vow to make our public school system once more the best in the world, and to look for people who can help do this.

Respect or Disrespect?

How can you not return the call of the President of the United States? Evidently, if you are the Speaker of the House, you are allowed to snub the President in this manner. Does John Boehner think he is above the President? The last I looked, the President holds the highest elective office in the country; the Speaker is, well, the Speaker of the House of Representatives. As a friend of mine would say, this is just rude. That last word should be heard in as scathing a tone as you can imagine. The President is owed respect by virtue of the office he holds, not by the party he belongs to or the color of his skin.

I believe that a lot of the problem has been created by the newest elected representatives, who feel they have been given a mandate to do whatever they want. Look where that has gotten us. We need people in Congress who can work with the President and with members of the other political party, or parties. We need people who know the meaning of the word compromise. We need people who know history and what has happened in the past.  We need people who will make the best decisions for the country, the citizens, not the best decisions for bankers and big business.

Another Book Review

Too many people out of work; the people who do have jobs have to work overtime to make ends meet. Meanwhile, the insurance companies, oil companies, and financial institutions are making record profits and paying their executives huge bonuses on top of prodigious salaries. Does all this sound familiar? It should; it's what's happening in our country today.

I just finished reading Invisible Hands; The Making of the Conservative Movement from the New Deal to Reagan by Kim Phillips-Fein. As the name of the book implies, the author follows the big companies, the big power brokers and the top company executives as they made, and continue to make, the decisions on how this country should be run.

These relatively few people have somehow convinced the rest of us, including the people who represent us in our government, that they know what is best for the U.S., and should be allowed to do as they please. I think our government representatives have fallen for this line of thinking because they have been dazzled by being chosen to have lunch with, or play golf with, or fly on private jets with, these very wealthy narcissists. These so-called captains of industry are the ideological descendants of the long-ago bosses who opposed doing away with the child labor laws, who opposed limiting the work week to 40 hours, who thought they had a right to pollute the air and water and earth because they could make a few extra dollars doing it. Today, they oppose health care for everyone (only those who can afford it should have it), social security as an entitlement (which it is not; we have all paid for it through our payroll deductions), and any type of a safety net for a person who has had his or her job pulled out from under him or her, among other things.

It is very hard for me to believe that we have been boondoggled by these high-flying thugs for so long, when they are only interested in what makes them money. Why not hire more people at decent wages so each one doesn't have to work 60 hours a week? Families would have more time to spend together. Isn't this what we want? Or do we just want to lament the demise of the American family? Why not support the unions who are fighting for decent wages for all workers? These are just a few of the questions we should be asking.

 Isn't it time we woke up? This is our country, and our world; shouldn't we take it back?  And by this, I don't mean getting rid of President Obama; he's doing better under the circumstances than expected. I do mean getting rid of, or at least taking a hard look at the senators and congressmen (all right—I mean mostly Republicans) who spout business theories handed to them by big business, and actually believe those things work, or at least pretend to believe. Our country—and our world—is too populous for us to revert back to the good ol' days of the early twentieth century. We need to think about conserving our natural resources so that future generations will be able to live at least as well as we have.  We need to consider legislation that would give support to all citizens, no matter their circumstances. We are, or at least were, a very wealthy country, and some of that wealth should be returned as services to the ordinary citizens, in the form of government services, well-kept infrastructure, health care, and especially education. We should not be dictated to by the vandals and villains who seem to own Congress.

My Son's Birthday/

You do not know how much love your heart can hold until you have a child.

Today is my son's birthday; he is 44 years old. The time has gone by so quickly; and time has proven what I have known all along. Adam is a very special person.

Oh, sure, he has broken my heart a few times. The first time I can remember was when he was five years old and refused to sing in the Cherub Choir at church. That was when I realized he was his own person, and would not always want to do what I wanted him to do. Another time, when he told me he wasn't going to a traditional college, I cried for two days. It took me that long to realize that I couldn't plan his life and make it perfect according to mom. He had his own thoughts and dreams, and he would live his life the way he wanted to live it, not how I thought was best.

But I could not have asked for anyone better than the man he has turned out to be—loving, compassionate, sympathetic, hard working, and a wonderful son, husband, father, and now grandfather.

Happy birthday, Adam! I hope all your dreams for the future come true. You have fulfilled my life more than you will ever know.

Kobo Reader

For Mother's Day, my kids and grandkids bought me a kobo reader. Most people have heard of Kindles, Amazon.com's reader, or Barnes and Noble's Nook reader. I have not yet downloaded anything to my reader, but I am using it. It came with 100 or so books already loaded in it, and since I have never read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, I thought I would start there, just to see how convenient it was to use. And it is convenient. It is lighter than a book (except for maybe a small paperback), and I can adjust the size of the font so it's in larger print (getting old happens). Then I started thinking, which is always a dangerous thing.

At first, I thought that something like this would never work for children's picture books. How could they reproduce the colorful pictures that make the story for the child? But of course, it will soon come out in color. And the pictures may eventually evolve into 3D, so the child can really see what something looks like. And could these readers become interactive? Not sure how that would help a child's reading skills, though, and a computer can already do that. Also, how would you fit both the picture and the words to be read on one of these small screens?

We have so many technological advances in the past few years, I have no doubt that these kinds of questions will all be answered, and soon. If they haven't been already.

Good Quote

This quote was taken from The Week magazine of March 11, 2011. It says a lot.

"How about starting today, Republicans and conservatives accept the following two propositions: Barack Obama was born in the United States and he's a Christian. He may be wrong on a vast array of public policy issues, as I believe he is. But he is not an alien, nor is he a muslim, nor can his views be explained by Kenyan anti-colonialism. To argue otherwise, or even to hint otherwise, is irresponsible. The reason is obvious: Our nation depends on its citizens accepting the legitimacy of democratic outcomes, including ones that don't go our way. If we get to the point where we assume that our political differences can be explained only by some deeper, hidden evil in our opponents, then self-government itself is in trouble."   Peter Wehner in CommentaryMagazine.com


You probably can't get much more conservative than Peter Wehner, who served in both the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations, yet I find myself agreeing with the main premise of the quote.

Rain, Rain Go Away

Is anyone else as sick and tired of this rain as I am? It seems as if it has rained every day but two for the whole month of April. So dark and dreary, it is hard to get out of bed in the morning; hard to go out of the house. And, according to the meteorologists, there is no relief in sight until Friday (today's Monday, by the way).

And it's cold. I don't know what the temperature for the end of April is supposed to be, but it can't be the 30's, or even 40's, like some days have been.

The grass needs cutting, the weeds need pulling, and the garden seeds need planting; but nothing can be done because of this awful weather.

I just hope the house doesn't slide into the lake.

Budget Disagreements

The Democrats and the Republicans can't seem to agree on a budget, so the Federal Government could shut down at midnight tonight. What's the hang-up?

The Dems say it's women's health issues. My first question is: what does that have to do with the budget? Shouldn't the budget have a set amount for health care, be it women's health, Medicaid, Medicare, children's health, or men's health? Why separate out women's health? (As if I didn't know the answer to that one.)

The GOP says the hang up is over the size of the spending reduction. Is this another way of saying "we won't fund women's health issues;" i.e. abortions? Who are these idiots?

From my point of view, it looks like each representative, from whatever party, is more concerned with grandstanding and showing the voters how great he/she is individually, rather than finding common ground to make this country work. Have they never heard the word compromise?

Crisis

In the midst of a crisis, it is harder to be a non-believer than a believer. When the crisis is over, it is much easier to decide which you are. It depends on the outcome of the crisis.

More Fighting

Are we trying to kill Moammar Gadhafi? Or are we trying to liberate the Libyan people? I don't know. I do know that I think it is completely senseless to be bombing Libya. We are already involved in two wars which are unwinnable; do we really need a third one?  We cannot fix our roads, we are short of police and firemen, our education system  is falling short, our healthcare costs are spiraling out of control; but we can spend billions, or trillions, on fighting wars that we have no chance of winning. How stupid is that?

We should, of course, help the people of other countries that are worse off than we are, but war is not the definition of help. We could teach them to farm or make things or use their natural resources. We could help set up schools, purify the water, and raise their standards of living. We should not think that bombing their buildings, or trying to oust their leaders by force will help the individual person in any one of these countries. There has to be a better way.

New TV Shows

Has anyone else noticed that at least two of the newer TV programs seem to be pandering to the religious right? Blue Bloods centers on an Irish Catholic family, who are very committed to their religion. The other show is a brand new one, Criminal Minds: Suspect Behvior.

 I have watched every episode of Blue Bloods, even though I noticed the religious overtones at about the second episode (slow learner that I am). Tom Selleck is in it, after all, so it has to be a must watch program, right? And I admit that I like the idea of a close-knit family working together to rid the NYC of crime, and still remaining a close-knit family. My question is, do they need religion to do this?

There have only been two episodes of Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior, and I watched both of them.  I will probably not watch another episode. Forest Whittaker is too dramatic for me, and the subject matter of the program, while more than likely realistic, is too graphic for my taste. Also, this program seems to be forcing us to acknowledge that the good guys are good only because they are so religious, and that they could not get through a case without that backing. This is not necessarily a bad thing. We all have to have something or someone to rely on to help us through the bad times. But I get the feeling that whoever is producing or writing this show, has put religion in there just to pacify the conservative Tea Partyiers. It seems to have been added as an afterthought, and has nothing to do with the story being told.

Again, this is just my take on these two programs, one of which I will continue to watch and one that I won't.

The weather here today is not good—snowing, blowing, and cold.  The wind is from the northeast and we have about 8 or 10 inches of new snow on the ground.

Another Book Review

The Writing Class by Jincy Willett was a much better book than her The Winner of the National Book Award, which was written five years earlier.  The Writing Class is about an older woman who had once been a successful writer.  Having been married twice, Amy Gallup now lives by herself, except for the Bassett hound who barely tolerates her, and teaches one writing class a semester.  She teaches only because she needs the money to live; not because she enjoys it.  At least, that is what she tells herself.  Nothing of hers has been published for years.  Maybe she no longer writes, except vicariously through her students.

This writing class is different.  Oh, sure, all the same types of students are in it, the jock, the jokester, the one person who really knows how to write, etc.  But one of the "usual" students is a killer; and Amy must find out who before she herself becomes a victim.

This is a good book, easy to read, but one that will make you look twice at the people around you in your writing class.

Cross Country Skiing Again

Lake Erie from my front yard.

Today is another beautiful winter day.  The temperature is right around 20 degrees, the sun is shining, and the snow is glistening.  This morning (yes you read right -- morning) Den and I went to the south entrance of the Girdled Road Reservation of Lake Metroparks.  It was the third time we have been skiing in the park in the last week, and it was perfect again.  The woods are very quiet, just a few birds chirping and trees creaking in the breeze, unless you count the swish and crunch of the skis as they slip over the snow.  Den is encouraged to go on ahead of me, but usually says he doesn't mind staying back and skiing at my pace.  I try to make him work to keep up, but that only lasts a few minutes before my breath gives out and I have to slow down.

Someone at the park does an excellent job of grooming the trails and setting the track, and for that I thank them.  Most of the track follows fairly level ground, with only a few slight downs and ups, not enough to do much snowplowing, but just enough to keep me in practice.  But there is one fairly large hill, at least large for me.  The down part gives me plenty of snowplowing experience, and sometimes I even manage to stay upright on the skis. The track runs down the hill, turning left then right to go across a bridge over the creek.  Once down at the bottom, you have to ski up the other side.  That is the really hard part.  You also have to watch to make sure no one is coming down the hill from that side.  If they are, you somehow have to move to the side of the trail and let the downhill skier go by.  Supposedly, it's easier for the person climbing up the hill to move over than it is for the person going down.  That is the really hard part for me.  When I am climbing up a steep slope with long skinny skis on my feet, I tend to put my head down and try to keep a steady pace.  It's a good thing Den is usually up above me to warn me if someone is coming down.

Anyway, no matter how tough it sounds, or how cold, or slippery, nothing can compare with cross country skiing in the woods on a fairly level track and a beautiful, sunny winter day.  Every time we go out, I silently thank Ginny that she was persistent enough to make me go skiing, and to teach me how.


By the way, the picture accompanying this blog is the view from our front yard just at sunset last night.  If we looked to the west, there was really no sun as it was cloudy.  But right out front was this streak of pink between the gray clouds over the partially frozen Lake Erie.  Beautiful.

Book Reviews

In the last few weeks, I have read several noteworthy books.  The latest was The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by the Swedish writer Stieg Larsson.  It was a very good story, and not hard to read.  I understand there are two more books in the series, but I am in no hurry to read them.  I want to spread them out a little. Maybe this is because Mr. Larsson died after he finished writing the three novels, or maybe because the writing was somewhat intense and I need a break before I can continue with my vicarious look into the lives of these characters who live so much more intensely than I do, or even want to.  Whichever it is, it will be a while before I read the next book in the series.

Another book I read recently was The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins.  Mr. Dawkins makes a very compelling case for there not being a god, even in the introduction to the book where he points out that there would have been no Crusades, no Spanish Inquisition, no 9/11, and a whole bunch of other wars, attacks, killings, and imprisonments if there were no belief in a god by anyone.  Science would also have seen more discoveries and been able to answer more questions if religious beliefs hadn't gotten in the way.   A very disturbing and enlightening book, but very commonsensical.

Before that, I read a novel called Still Missing by Chevy Stevens.  The main character's story of abduction was told through her sessions with her psychoanalyst, each chapter being a new session.  Even though we know at the beginning of the book that the main character was saved, there is still a surprise ending.  Very good entertainment.

The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham by Selina Hastings shows us the richness of the author's life and his unquenchable thirst for writing, whether it be books, stories, or screenplays. In spite or, or maybe because of, his bisexuality, his zest for travel, and his friendship with world leaders (think Winston Churchill), Maugham was a prolific writer who never failed to write for three hours every day after breakfast.  This book was very well written and really good.