Tom Faranda's Folly

The Pope and the Patriarch of Constantinople

Here's a good posting on the weblog of a Catholic journalist about the "Fraternal Encounter" of Pope Benedict and the Ecumenical Patriarch of  Constantinople, Bartholomew I. The photos alone are worth a look.

Whispers in the Loggia: Fratres in Unum

From their joint declaration:

This fraternal encounter which brings us together, Pope Benedict XVI of Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, is God’s work, and in a certain sense his gift. We give thanks to the Author of all that is good, who allows us once again, in prayer and in dialogue, to express the joy we feel as brothers and to renew our commitment to move towards full communion.

An Irish wedding in the Bronx

This past weekend a friend of mine, Patricia Lent (Tish or Tisha) got married to Owen O'Sullivan, in the Bronx.

I hadn't seen Tisha in months, since I met up with her and a couple of other friends in lower Manhattan for lunch. Tom Faranda's Folly: Lunch with three ne'er do wells, or the 4 T's luncheon

We all either worked or had office space with my marketing group at 1114 Ave of the Americas (the old Grace Building). Tish was an administrative type on staff there, about eleven years ago. A very personable woman and quite the comedienne!

I haven't been to many weddings lately (must be my age) and this one was great! I didn't know Tisha's now-husband, but all of her friends had given me good reports on Owen, and Tish was in fine form.

We got to the Church late (right before the consecration) and it was filled with all sorts of Irish-looking people. And the priest had an amusing comment at the end as he said "I perform a lot of weddings here, and it's not very often that we have a church full of people who go to communion and know the responses." The Wedding was at St. Benedict's and the reception at the Marina Del Rey.

Here's a few pix:

After the formal on the steps photos, Brigid got this one, as Tish shows her true colors -

This is Denise Thacke, one of Tish's very close friends -

This is Ryan and Michael  Thacke, Denise's nephews -

And their Mom, Rosanna!

Steve and Brigette Apostolakos. Brigette is a friend of Tish's and was a model before she became a Mom!

Being Irish and in the Bronx, there are plenty of policemen in the extended family. Kevin Thacke is a detective in the NYPD and he's here with Sandy -

The Lents are big on pointing - the second picture is of two of Tish's four sisters, Michelle with the microphone (she is also in the NYPD) and Judy. Michelle had some nice things to say about her sister and new brother-in-law, and then Judy sang them a song - quite beautifully. 

But Tish's nephew Richard couldn't keep up the pace -

Good luck Tish and Owen!

Some heavy (but excellent) theology

One of the few print publications I still subscribe to is First Things, a monthly interfaith journal with a strong Catholic and Evangelical bent. It's edited by Fr. John Neuhaus (The only other religious publication I get is America, the weekly U.S. Jesuit magazine).

December's issue arrived a couple of days ago, and it has a very fascinating "exchange" between a new theologian (just got her doctorate) named Alyssa Pitstick, and Edward Oakes SJ, a theology professor. The title is Balthasar, Hell and Heresy, and has to do with the interpretation of the Catholic theologian Hans Urs von Balthatsar of the expression "He descended into Hell", which is part of most Christian creeds (Having to do with Jesus' descending to Hell after his crucifixion).

I know, I know, what kind of nut cares about this stuff? Well, I find it very fascinating. And I love the Swiss theologian, von Balthasar (he died in 1987).

As fate, (or luck, or whatever) would have it, the article is available for free on the First Things website right here FT December 2006: Article

It's a little heavy going but quite interesting - you definitely have to print it out and read it carefully.

Here's a taste of it, from Pitstick's initial part of the exchange:

It is a question asked reluctantly; however, the doctrine in question is by no means marginal to Christian faith: The mystery of Holy Saturday stands with Good Friday and Easter Sunday at the center of Christ’s redemptive work. What one believes of Christ’s descent into hell necessarily affects what one believes about Christ and salvation through him. The contrast between Balthasar’s theology of Holy Saturday and the traditional Catholic doctrine confronts us with the grave but necessary question whether the work of a theologian so reputably Catholic is in fact compatible with the Catholic faith.

Traditionally, Christ’s descent has been seen as the beginning of the manifestation of his triumph over death and the first application of the fruits of redemption. Gloriously descending to the souls of the holy men and women who had died before him, Christ bestowed on them the glory of heaven and the fullness of freedom. He did not suffer in hell; rather, in virtue of his redemptive death on the cross, he opened to the holy souls the gates of heaven that had been closed due to sin. Notable for its ancient origin and the unusual consistency of its profession, this doctrine of a triumphal descent is part of the heritage of all Christians. It was held universally in both Christian East and West until the Protestant Reformation; the Catholic Church and the Orthodox have continued to profess it without interruption.

---

Balthasar argues, however, that this doctrine does not do justice to the depths to which Christ went for man’s redemption or, consequently, to his love. Rather, Christ must have suffered after death the full force of what would have awaited sinful mankind without a redeemer: complete rejection by the Father without hope of mercy or reconciliation. By descending into this utter abandonment, Christ bore the punishment humanity deserved, thereby manifesting the extreme extent of God’s love. Balthasar agrees that Christ’s descent should be called glorious, but in the sense that Christ’s crucifixion, rather than his resurrection, is said to be his glory. Balthasar thus retains the form of the profession of faith but with a content other than the traditional one of his ecclesial community. Like the Catholic Church, Balthasar professes Christ descended into hell, but he means something radically different.

Here's an interesting book ...

Dawn Eden is a popular blogger with an interesting background (She is single, about 37, writes headlines for the Daily News).

Here's her weblog - The Dawn Patrol

And she has a book out entitled The Thrill of the Chaste: How to Have Fun while Keeping Your Clothes On.     Thrill of the Chaste

I haven't read it (and it's pretty far down on my reading list!)  but I enjoy her weblog, which I visit once or twice a week.

Can money buy happiness?

A business associate of mine used to say, "money can't buy happiness, but it can make the misery more palatable."

Here are a group of studies that say the answer is complex -Money-Happiness Link Is Complex, Study Says - AOL News

There is still another twist to the money-happiness story. Even though people who make $150,000 are considerably happier than those who make $40,000, it's not clear why, says psychologist Richard E. Lucas of Michigan State University.

Does money make you happier? Or does being happier in the first place allow you to earn more money later, maybe by way of greater creativity or energy? Or does some other factor produce both money and happiness? There's evidence for all three interpretations, Lucas says.

In any case, researchers say any effect of money on happiness is smaller than most daydreamers assume.

"People exaggerate how much happiness is bought by an extra few thousand," Oswald said. "The quality of relationships has a far bigger effect than quite large rises in salary.... It's much better advice, if you're looking for happiness in life, to try to find the right husband or wife rather than trying to double your salary."

"Escape from New Jersey"

What do the turkeys know that we don't know? Is it like rats getting off a sinking ship?

Wild Turkeys Try to Hop Train Out of N.J. - AOL News

Two op eds from the Wall Street Journal

Here are two fine op eds from the WSJ deputy editor, Dan Henninger. He writes a column every Friday.

The first is on Reaganomics and the second on the so-called Bush Doctrine.

Optimism Pays Off OpinionJournal - Wonder Land

... 25 years later and with the post-Reagan Republican Party in tatters over a confused political agenda, Mr. Laffer stood beaming at the Heritage podium to inform its audience that "illegal immigrants are the lifeblood of our society." This produced a boo-burst from a distant corner, which Mr. Laffer seemed not to notice. When so informed over a nightcap at the Willard Hotel, he said with the famous smile, "What do I care? I've been booed at all my life."

As, indeed, has Reaganomics over its 25-year life. On this night Mr. Laffer, famous in part for cutting down economists' pretenses to ideas anyone can understand, had an answer for the boo-birds of Reaganomics: Almost alone, the United States since those tax cuts has managed to remain both a growth country and a developed nation.

Economic growth was always the sine qua non of supply-side tax theory, the belief that lower marginal rates would incentivize people to work, save and invest. Bob Bartley, the late editor of The Wall Street Journal editorial page, wanted nothing more than to focus this debate back then on the particulars of achieving growth in the economy. But for many garden-variety politicians and professional economists, the economy is an abstraction. Yes, they know something is going on out there in the workaday world, but it's all a second-order effect of their policies and theories. So at its creation the supply-side idea instantly bogged down into an argument, alive to this day, over whether the tax cuts would "pay for themselves." You know, the deficit, the budget, the "nonpartisan" economic models at the Congressional Budget Office, blah, blah, blah. ...

... During Ronald Reagan's presidency, the top marginal rate on personal incomes dropped to 28% from 70%. In 1993 Bill Clinton raised the top tax rate to 39.6%. In 2001 George Bush pushed the top rate back down to 35% and cut the rate on capital gains and dividends to 15%. Last week former Clinton Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin exhorted the Democrats to raise taxes "to solve the nation's fiscal problems."

The Rubin Solution may not be easy. Even a Democratic Congress might realize that raising taxes today is swimming against the global tides. In reversing the Clinton tax increases, passed in another age 13 years ago, and spreading tax cuts to the financial sector, George Bush has driven the roots of the Reagan tax philosophy deeper. If he resists a grand compromise on entitlements that raises taxes, it may prove to be his most enduring legacy.

A Doctrine Worth Saving OpinionJournal - Wonder Land

... we might want to think some before we toss out the infant Bush Doctrine with the Iraqi bathwater.

As stated, the doctrine's strategy is "to help make the world not just safer but better." Some conservatives have denounced the "better world" part as utopian overstretch. Beyond that, the document lists as its goals the aspirations of human dignity, strengthening alliances to "defeat" terrorism, working with others to defuse regional conflicts, promoting global growth through free markets and trade and "opening societies and building the infrastructure of democracy."

It is mainly the latter--the notion of the U.S. building the "infrastructure of democracy" that now, because of the "failure" in Iraq, attracts opposition across the political spectrum--from John Kerry to George Will and on out to neoconservatives confessing loss of faith in the Bush team to the unforgiving ear of Vanity Fair.

No doubt each of these has declared unfealty to the Bush effort for more or less honorable reasons. But someone ought to step back and consider the cumulative political effect of what of late has turned into an unrestrained gang-stomping of the sort normally seen at Miami-Florida football games. We are ensuring that no future president, of either party, will project military power anytime soon short of retaliation for a nuclear attack. Every potential presidential candidate, including John McCain, has to be looking at the Bush administration's experience and concluding there is simply no political upside in doing so. We are backing the country's political mind into the long-term parking lot of isolationism, something fervently wished for at opposite ends of the U.S. political spectrum. ...

Like the Europeans, we may talk ourselves into a weariness with the world and its various, unremitting violences. No genocide will occur on American soil, but the same information tide that bathes us in Baghdad's horrors ensure that Darfur's genocide will come too near not to notice. Too bad for them, or any aspiring democrats under the thumb of Russia, China, Nigeria, Venezuela or Islam's highly mobile anti-democrats. We've got ours. Let them get theirs.

Does this overstate the buildup of anti-Bush, anti-Iraq sentiment? Will U.S. policy, in the hands of ideologically frictionless bureaucracies, slide forward? Maybe. But even the realists and cynics might concede there has been some benefit, perhaps going back as far as Plymouth Rock, in having one nation standing for the conceit, or even the ideal, that men elsewhere with democratic aspirations could at least count on us for active support. This is the core idea in the Bush Doctrine. If its critics don't start making some distinctions, they may discover that profligacy of opinion in our time carries a very steep price.

Health update - my visit Wednesday to Dr. Zelenetz

As per my previous posts, I went to Manhattan to see the lymphoma guru Dr. Zelenetz two days ago. He had all the results of the bone marrow biopsy done four weeks ago.

The results are that I have some bone marrow abnormalities - specifically a hypocellular condition. Evidently about 25% of bone marrow should be devoted to producing new blood cells, but in my case only about 10% is working. The cells that are producing platelets are somewhat abnormal (but my platalet count is fine) and my hemaglobin is slightly low. But the big thing is my continuing low white blood cell count. I was at 1.8 on Wednesday, with the component they are most interested in (the "GR") at 0.9. 

On the other hand, the cyto-genetic studies evidently indicated no chromosomal abnormalities.

What's it mean? Among other things, it means I am at heightened risk of developing something called Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS). Dr. Zelenetz stated that I am at "intermediate" risk of contracting MDS. The disease has a variety of manifestations revolving around the fact that your bone marrow stops producing healthy blood cells, and instead you end up with abnormal cells. MDS comes in a variety of forms, ranging from indolent to aggressive.

According to the Sloan Kettering website, between 10 and 20 per cent of cases of MDS arise as a result of prior chemotherapy.

Dr. Zelenetz is arranging for me to see a hematologist at Sloan Kettering for an evaluation. I'll be seeing her sometime in the next month. It's not an emergency sitation by any means, but it makes sense to have a review done, now that the possibility of getting the disease is out there.

So, not great news, but it is something we will deal with.

Thanksgiving 2006

Here are a few pictures. Last year we were with my brother Phil and his family (wife, three kids, two dogs and Grandma) but today had a quiet day with just the four of us and Grandma.

Brigid did all of the cooking and carving!

Post main course horsing around

Tim took these at the table - not exactly the family at their best, but what the heck!

Evidently Grandma thought the grub was good -

Thanksgiving

Ellen Mullin sent me these ---

 

Quick health update

Tomorrow afternoon I have an appointment in New York with the lymphoma Guru, Dr. Zelenetz. All the results are in from my bone marrow biopsy, so perhaps they'll be an answer to why my white blood cell count has been so stubbornly low.

I'd also like to know about my seemingly chronic cough, which got better when I went on the acid reflux medicine protonix last month, but which is still with me.

We will see.

The four stages of life

This from my friend Thea MaGinnis:

Charles Rangel on the draft

Charlie Rangel is a long-serving member of the House of Representatives - his district is in Harlem. He will be chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee (dealing with finances). He is a major league blowhard. Rangel was on Face the Nation this weekend, where he resurrected his idea to re-establish the draft.

Here's Michelle Malkin's take:

Michelle Malkin: Draft-mongering Dems

It's a fitting symbol of what Democrat rule in Congress will be the next two years: A worthless, cynical expenditure of time and energy that accomplishes absolutely nothing.

Latest Read: "Murder 101"

All right. I have to admit that I haven't read any murder mysteries in a few decades. I think I read a few Agatha Christie's quite a while ago, and enjoyed them, but that's about it.

So why would I read a murder mystery by a new author? Well duh, because I know the author!

Maggie Barbieri lives in my town and goes to my Church, and we commiserate with each other about some mutual issues, so naturally, I had to read her book.

An easy, light-hearted read, and it was really good - very amusing!

Now I may be biased - in fact I am. But the #1 reviewer on amazon.com, Harriet Klausner, an aquisitions librarian who has posted 12,743 (and counting) reviews on amazon Amazon.com: Profile for Harriet Klausner, gave the book five out of five stars on November 17th. So we both must have good taste.

The heroine of the book is Alison Bergeron, an English professor at a small Catholic college located north of Manhattan on the Hudson river (Sounds suspiciously like Mount St. Vincent's, a school my mother is an alumnus of). If you can imagine Lucille Ball, Carol Burnett, and Zena the Warrior Princess, all rolled into one, that's Alison.

So a week after Alison's divorce is finalized, her car is stolen, and when it turns up, it's got the body of one of her students stashed in the trunk.

Whodunit?

There's some character development of friends, enemies, and ex's, a romantic interest with one of the investigating detectives, lots of glib humor and one liners, and a clever ending.

All good fun. A breezy read and a great gift for Christmas.

I'm looking forward to the second installment of Alison's adventures!

For more, go here:Amazon.com: Murder 101: Books: Maggie Barbieri

A little on Milton Friedman

Unless you are interested in economics, you probably never heard of Milton Friedman, who died a few days ago at the age of 94.

He was a guy who combined genius with common sense. If not the most influential American economist of the last half of the 20th century, certainly in the top two or three. I read a couple of his books 25 years ago - they were excellent.

The Wall Street Journal posted some excerpts from past op ed columns of Friedman, and they can be accessed on their free opinionjournal website. Friedman's Sampler OpinionJournal - Extra

Here are a couple of excerpts, one "on the free market" and "on health care":

On the Free Market

What most people really object to when they object to a free market is that it is so hard for them to shape it to their own will. The market gives people what the people want instead of what other people think they ought to want. At the bottom of many criticisms of the market economy is really lack of belief in freedom itself.

The essence of political freedom is the absence of coercion of one man by his fellow men. The fundamental danger to political freedom is the concentration of power. The existence of a large measure of power in the hands of a relatively few individuals enables them to use it to coerce their fellow men. Preservation of freedom requires either the elimination of power where that is possible, or its dispersal where it cannot be eliminated.

It essentially requires a system of checks and balances, like that explicitly incorporated in our Constitution. . . .

The person who buys bread doesn't know whether the wheat from which it was made was grown by a pleader of the Fifth Amendment or a McCarthyite, by person whose skin is black or whose skin is white. The market is an impersonal mechanism that separates economic activities of individual from their personal characteristics. It enables people to cooperate in the economic realm regardless of any differences of opinion or views or attitudes they may have in other areas.

--from "The New Liberal's Creed: Individual Freedom, Preserving Dissent Are Ultimate Goals," May 18, 1961

On Health Care

The best way to restore freedom of choice to both patient and physician and to control costs would be to eliminate the tax exemption of employer-provided medical care. However, that is clearly not feasible politically. The best alternative available is to extend the tax exemption to all expenditures on medical care, whether made by the patient directly or by employers, to establish a level playing field, in terms of the currently popular cliche.

Many individuals would then find it attractive to negotiate with their employer for a higher cash wage in place of employer-financed medical care. With part or all of the higher cash wage, they could purchase an insurance policy with a very high deductible, i.e., a policy for medical catastrophes, which would be decidedly cheaper than the low-deductible policy their employer had been providing to them, and deposit all or part of the difference in a special "medical savings account" that could be drawn on only for medical purposes. Any amounts unused in a particular year could be allowed to accumulate without being subject to tax, or could be withdrawn with a tax penalty or for special purposes, as with current Individual Retirement Accounts--in effect, a medical IRA. Many employers would find it attractive to offer such an arrangement to their employees as an option.

--from "A Way Out of Soviet-Style Health Care," April 17, 1996

As far as health care goes, the current medical savings account programs (msa's) are based on the idea of a high deductible health insurance policy, combined with a tax favored savings account, exactly as described by Friedman above.

Latest read: "Simple and Direct

A couple of months ago I saw a reference to a book entitled Simple and Direct, sub-titled "A Rhetoric for Writers". The book aimed to improve one's writing style.

After reading a couple of reviews, and seeing that it had gone through four editions since first being published in 1975, I sprang for it (second hand on Amazon, of course.)

There are six chapters (Diction, Linking, Tone and Tune, Meaning, Composition and Revision).  Each chapter has discussions and exercises (basically correcting errors in sentences and paragraphs), as well as examples of good writing. The book can work as a kind of textbook in a beginning or intermediate writing class; or as a supplement. However for a casual reader such as myself, looking for hints, clues and ideas, it was too much. I only did about 10% of the exercises.

I would only recommend this book for someone who was going to seriously engage it, with all the exercises.

The author, Jacques Barzun (a well-known academic; here's the lead line in  Jacques Barzun - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia  "a leading American historian of ideas and culture. He has also eloquently defended tradition in the practice of higher education and scholarship.") wouldn't have been too impressed with the cliche I used in the second paragraph above "I sprang for it".

Exercise for your brain

Here's a Wall Street Journal article that AOL is featuring, so you don't have to be an online suscriber to the Journal to access it.

Interested in slowing down your loss of brain function as you age? The evidence is piling up that you do it through physical exercise (mainly aerobic) rather than mental gymnastics.

How to Keep Your Aging Brain Fit: Aerobics - AOL News

As brains age, normal wear and tear starting in middle age causes them to process information more slowly, which means it takes longer to make judgments and grasp complex information. Older brains also take longer to switch from one task to another and are less adept at "multitasking" (such as driving while simultaneously tuning the radio and checking the tailgater).

The search for ways to slow down mental decline and detrimental brain changes that come with age has taken an unexpected turn lately. Popular wisdom, as well as some scientists, had long held that the way to stay mentally sharp was to do mental gymnastics. Crossword puzzles, reading, taking up a musical instrument and generally challenging the mind were supposed to stave off the mental ravages of old age.

That has been hard to prove. But support for the brain benefits of physical exercise has become stronger. A number of earlier studies showed that elderly people who take up aerobic exercise show improved cognitive function after a few months, says Arthur Kramer of the University of Illinois, Urbana: Their working memory is better, they are nimbler at switching between mental tasks, and they can screen out distractions better than people who did not get exercise training.

Now he and colleagues have discovered what may be the basis for these improvements. As little as three hours a week of aerobic exercise increased the brain's volume of gray matter (actual neurons) and white matter (connections between neurons), they report in the November issue of the Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences. "After only three months," says Prof. Kramer, "the people who exercised had the brain volumes of people three years younger."

Until 1998, neuro-dogma held that old brains do not grow new neurons. A study on patients in Sweden overturned that assumption. But researchers did not know whether people could do anything to boost this "neurogenesis," or even whether doing so would have cognitive benefits. The Illinois study is therefore the first to discover that older brains can indeed rev up their production of new neurons (no one has studied whether younger brains can), and it is apparently enough to make a real-world difference. Studies in both people and animals have linked increases in brain volume (which occur with some drugs) to improvements in thinking, remembering, cognitive flexibility (thinking outside the box) and perseveration (not getting stuck on one thought).

Heart disease and angioplasty treatment

Angioplasty is of course a common procedure for people who've had heart attacks or are at risk of one.

Here's a surprising study that is a bit counter-intuitive.

Study Says Late Angioplasty Seems Futile - washingtonpost.com

New research has overturned one of the most fundamental beliefs among doctors treating heart attacks: that opening a blocked artery is always a good idea, even days or weeks later.

Instead, the study revealed that doing this too late may not help, and there were disturbing hints that it might even be harmful. People who had balloon angioplasty to open an artery three to 28 days after their heart attacks fared no better than those given standard medicines to prevent a second attack.

The results don't apply to most Americans suffering a heart attack, but suggest that 100,000 of them a year might be able to skip the expense and risk of angioplasty and take medications instead, doctors said.

"These findings were really a surprise," said Dr. Elizabeth Nabel, director of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, which funded the large international study. "For a long time we thought that opening up the artery any time after a heart attack was better than leaving it closed. My guess is you may see some guideline recommendations" on what to do in such situations, she said...

... the findings suggest that once a blocked vessel had caused a heart attack, opening it was no better than taking standard medications for preventing future problems.

"There is a reason to rethink angioplasty" in such situations, said Dr. Timothy Gardner, a cardiologist at Christiana Care Health Services in Wilmington, Del., and chairman of the Heart Association program committee that reviewed the research.

Here's the NY Times report:Study Questions Angioplasty Use in Some Patients - New York Times

Some great rugby

The "fall internationals" are in full swing in Europe, as national teams from outside take on the teams of England, France, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland.

This past weekend there were two outstanding games as Ireland played South Africa, and the two top-ranked countries squared off - New Zealand v. France. The visiting New Zealand All Blacks were in devastating form. Highlights of both matches can be found here - about ten minutes from each game:

RugbyHeaven - rugbyheaven.smh.com.au

Even if you have no idea at all about rugby football, the highlights are great stuff! If you watch the beginning of the France- New Zealand match, the strange-looking dance the New Zealand players are doing before the kick-off is the Haka - an indigenous Maori ritual.

Global Warming Update #4

A week ago I linked to part 1 of a two part series in the U.K. Telegraph Tom Faranda's Folly: Global Warming update #3 which eviscerated some of the standard studies on Global Warming.

Here is the part 2 of the series:

Telegraph | News | Wrong problem, wrong solution

In the climate change debate, one figure is real. The Sunday Telegraph's website registered more than 127,000 hits in response to last week's article revealing that the UN had minimised the sun's role in changing past and present climate, persisted in proven errors and used unsound data, questionable graphs and meretricious maths to exaggerate future warming threefold.

The views of 200 readers who emailed me are in the link above. About a third are scientists, including well-known climatologists and a physicist who confirmed my calculations. Some advise governments.

Nearly all condemn the "consensus". Most feel that instead of apologising, the UN has misled them, especially by using the defective "hockey-stick" temperature graph.

If, like me, you are a Global Warming agnostic, you should definitely read the Telegraph series.

Free Hugs Campaign

This was sent to me from England by my sister-in-law Libby. I don't want to be the only person to not post this youtube offering (it's been viewed over 6 million times), so here it is.

Doesn't the guy look a bit like John Lennon?

YouTube - Free Hugs Campaign. Inspiring Story! (music by sick puppies)

Joe's Confirmation today

Joseph Edward Faranda became Joseph Edward Eudoxius Faranda today. He was confirmed at St. Augustine's Church with the rest of his eighth grade class, by Archbishop Celestino Migliore, who is the top Vatican official at the UN. The Mass and Confirmation began at 12 o'clock.

The Pastor of St. Augustine's, Monsignor Hilary Franco, spent many years working in Rome and evidently has the personal contacts - this was Archbishop Migliore's third year in a row where he came to St. Augustine's to administer the sacrament of confirmation. The Archbishop is officially the "Apostolic Nuncio, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations."

The story behind why Joe chose the confirmation name Eudoxius (he was a Roman magistrate who became a Christian and was martyred in Armenia around the year 311, during the persecutions of the Roman Emperor Diocletian) is a bit interesting. After all, it's not exactly a common name - not Francis or Paul, etc. In my very first weblog posting on September 8th, 2005, Tom Faranda's Folly: First Post I mentioned that Joe was thinking of taking this name.

The Mass and Confirmation service was lovely; the choir sung beautifully and the Archbishop gave a very fine, appropriate (and short) homily.

Here's Joe outside the Church with his sponsor, my youngest brother Phil

Here's a halfway decent long shot of the Archbishop - who gave a fine homily and seems a very amiable fellow!

Phil, Archbishop Migliore, and Joe after Confirmation

Following the ceremony it was off to Murphy's in Yorktown for a late lunch - the four of us plus Phiil and Grandma

Here Phil is showing Brigid that he also has pictures of food he's eaten while out; as he defends my photographing the Guinness shown above!

Desperate to get Joe to smile - tough when you're thirteen

Tim took this shot after we got home - Joe looks tired of the whole thing at this point

And here's Joe with my mother Jeanne, this evening.

I snapped this picture outside the Church and have to post it; that's our friend Denise Ellis, whose son FJ was also confirmed today, taking a picture of two of her daughters. I just like the fact that I caught the moment... Denise may have some Limbo dance talent!

Author's evening in Croton

Two writers had an evening yesterday. It was held at my Church, HNM.

The authors are a friend of mine, Maggie Barbieri, and a lady I don't know very well, Cecilia Kochanowski.

Maggie's book is the first of a projected series of entitled Murder 101. It's published by St. Martin's and just came out. I am going to read and review it shortly.

Cecilia's book was self-published, and is titled Plumbersutra: the art of living in the suburbs.

About 70 people attended and I had a great time - good wine, good food, lots of good gab eminating from me.

Here's Maggie doing her reading

The crowd loves it!

Here's Cecilia up at bat

Maggie appreciates Cecilia's humor

Lisa Gallagher and Kelly Thomann (my optometrist and a big runner - as well as a Fairfield alumnus) have a chat between readings

Justin and Tim - building in the basement

Thursday Justin (one of Tim's buddies) went on a building spree in our basement. Actually Justin did most of the building while Tim and Joe spectated.

Here's some pix:

The Tower falls!

A little more complex

Justin took this picture of his handicraft

A couple of profiles of Joe and Tim

AIDS and life expectancy - the latest study

Wow. Here's really interesting study, reported on by AP. The average American with AIDS has about a 24 year life expectancy. A big advance in the past two decades

http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a/average-american-with-hiv-lives-24-years/n20061110163909990011

An American diagnosed with the AIDS virus can expect to live for about 24 years on average, and the cost of health care over those two-plus decades is more than $600,000, new research indicates.

Both life expectancy and the cost of care have risen from earlier estimates, mainly because of expensive and effective drug therapies, said Bruce Schackman, the study's lead author.

The research found that the average annual monthly cost of care is about $25,200 - nearly 40 percent higher than a commonly cited estimate from the late 1990s.

The new research also updates other studies from the 1990s, when life expectancy for HIV-infected people was closer to 10 years.

The study could influence how much state and federal governments appropriate for HIV and AIDS care and prevention in the future, some HIV policy experts said.

Commentary on the election - NY Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal

Here's the NY Times editorial yesterday: The Democratic House - New York Times

There was only one explanation for the crazy-quilt combination of victories around the country that gave the Democrats control of the House of Representatives last night: an angry shout of repudiation of the Bush White House and the abysmal way the Republican majority has run Congress.

It was a satisfying expression of the basic democratic principle of accountability. A government that performs badly is supposed to be punished by the electorate. And this government has performed badly on so many counts.

The Washington Post The Voters' Message - washingtonpost.com

Less clear is that Democrats deserved to win -- or that they would have done so absent Republican missteps. The Democrats won the House, and, as of this writing, at least narrowed the GOP majority in the Senate, but not because voters necessarily agreed with their program. How many voters, we wonder, could name even one of the Democrats' vaunted "Six for '06" legislative proposals? As they prepare to wield power, Democrats don't have capital from voters; at most, they enjoy a line of credit.

The right way to draw on that will be to resist the partisan temptation to act as the other side did, highhandedly and unilaterally. Instead, Democrats need to reach out to congressional Republicans as well as to Mr. Bush; the increased presence of conservatives in the Democratic ranks ought to help presumptive-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) forge bipartisan majorities. The Democrats should swiftly enact promised ethics and lobbying reforms that Republicans slighted. They should conduct vigorous oversight but not incessant, backward-looking investigations; subpoena power should be used sparingly. It was easy for Democrats to offer campaign promises of fiscal discipline; it will be harder -- given the raft of new spending they have proposed -- to live up to promises of pay-as-you-go budget constraints.

And the Wall Street Journal this morning - an editorial: Speaker Pelosi OpinionJournal - Featured Article

Tuesday's Democratic election victory was by any measure decisive, yet in the perspective of history also unsurprising. In the sixth year of a two-term Presidency, Americans rebuked Republicans on Capitol Hill who had forgotten their principles and a President who hasn't won the Iraq war he started. While a thumping defeat for the GOP, the vote was about competence, not ideological change.

This is not to minimize the Democrats' victory, which they deserve to savor after several frustrating election nights. Credit in particular goes to Rahm Emanuel and Chuck Schumer, who led the House and Senate efforts to pick candidates who could win in GOP-leaning states. Their leaders, notably Speaker-in-waiting Nancy Pelosi, also kept in check their ideological ambitions to make Tuesday a referendum on Republican governance. It was a shrewd strategy.

All the more so because the GOP gave them so much ammunition. By our count, at least eight GOP House seats fell largely due to scandal; campaign-finance ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff probably cost Conrad Burns his Senate seat in Montana. These columns have spent several years warning Republicans that their overspending, corrupt "earmarks" and policy drift would undermine their claim as the party of reform. On Tuesday they did.

And an excellent op ed by Dick Armey on what the Republicans need to do to get back in the game: End of the Revolution OpinionJournal - Extra

All enterprises have a life-cycle. The Republican takeover in 1994 was the culmination of years of agitation by a relatively small group of political entrepreneurs in the House. Before we could beat the Democrats and their "culture of corruption," we had to beat the old bulls of our own party. They too were driven by a parochial vision, and had grown complacent with the crumbs offered them by the majority. It is often said that Newt Gingrich and I "nationalized" the election in 1994, but what the Contract with America really did was establish a national (as opposed to a parochial) vision for the Republican Party. When we took control, that positive Reagan vision of limited government and individual responsibility provided a great deal of discipline and allowed us to govern accordingly. Our primary question in those early years was: How do we reform government and return money and power back to the American people?

Eventually, the policy innovators and the "Spirit of '94" were largely replaced by political bureaucrats driven by a narrow vision. Their question became: How do we hold onto political power? The aberrant behavior and scandals that ended up defining the Republican majority in 2006 were a direct consequence of this shift in choice criteria from policy to political power. ...

We need to remember Ronald Reagan's legacy and again stand for positive, big ideas that get power and money out of politics and government bureaucracy and back into the hands of individuals. We also need again to demonstrate an ability to be good stewards of the taxpayers' hard-earned money. If Republicans do these things, they will also restore the public's faith in our standards of personal conduct. Personal responsibility in public life follows naturally if your goal is good public policy.

Besides the obvious impact on the House and Senate, Tuesday's elections will no doubt redefine the Republican field going into early presidential primary states like Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. It will be up to grassroots activists in those battlegrounds to establish a constituency of expectations that anyone aspiring to be the next president of the United States must satisfy. To voters I say: Demand substance and you will get it. To Republican candidates for office I say: Offer good policy and you will create a winning constituency for lower taxes, less government and more freedom.

Bush and Pelosi meeting - is the Prez worried about something?

It looks to me like the President is a little concerned that Ms. Pelosi might kick him in the nuts crotch.

Brief Health Update

As previously mentioned Tom Faranda's Folly: Health update, I had a bone marrow biopsy done (two weeks ago today). I finally spoke with Dr. Zelenetz about the results yesterday (he's a difficult guy to catch up with).

The results aren't all in, but what is available is inconclusive. I'm a little bit low on platelet producing cells, but my platelet count is normal anyway. As far as the main issue of my low white blood cell counts, we'll have to wait about another ten days before those results come in. I am due to see Dr. Z on November 22nd.

As mentioned previously, I may have another stem cell transplant if they determine that the problem is that the original graft didn't "take". This is not a big deal - would be done as an out-patient. But whether I need it or not is still to be determined. Stay tuned.

Post election wash-up

As the Prez said, "a thumping". More than anyone had predicted.

But if you check out this post  Tom Faranda's Folly: the election and financial markets you'll see that it did keep with history in that the House and Senate both changed party hands. In fact last night, watching the boob tube around 11pm, Harry Reid (head Democrat Senator) clearly did not expect his party to take the Senate. But they won all the tight Senate races (except Tennessee).

If my prior posting is correct, we are in for two years of gridlock. Nothing substantial on the domestic scene will get done. Of course the Republicans were in the driver's seat for the past two years and nothing got done domestically, which is a big part of the reason they are out.

Politics ebbs and flows - the Republicans won most of the 50-50 races in the last three election cycles, and now it's the Dems turn.

Simply put, the party controlling the White House nearly always loses House seats in midterm elections — especially in the sixth year.

In Franklin D. Roosevelt's sixth year in 1938, Democrats lost 71 seats in the House and six in the Senate.

In Dwight Eisenhower's sixth year in 1958, Republicans lost 47 House seats, 13 in the Senate.

In John F. Kennedy/Lyndon Johnson's sixth year, Democrats lost 47 seats in the House and three in the Senate.

In Richard Nixon/Gerald Ford's sixth year in office in 1974, Republicans lost 43 House seats and three Senate seats.

Even  Ronald Reagan, lost five House seats and eight Senate seats in his sixth year in office.

But in the middle of what the media tell us is a massively unpopular war, the Democrats picked up about 30 House seats and five to six Senate seats in a sixth-year election.

The above from a right wing online source who predicted the results. (Ann Coulter).

As mentioned yesterday Tom Faranda's Folly: How I voted I actually voted for a major party candidate (other then Bush) for the first time in at least eight years. My guy, John Spencer, got 1,328,423 votes. Unfortunately his opponent, Hillary, got 2,816,714. So the percents were 31-67 against John. I was hoping he'd break 40%. Not even close.

My congressional race was between a whacko leftist song writer named John Hall (had some sort of hit in the 60's or 70's) and incumbent "moderate" Republican Sue Kelly. The district has more registered Republicans then Dems, but Kelly managed to loss by 3,400 votes. The percents were 51-49 to Hall. Evidently Hall was able to raise some real money from Hollywood connections.

I never voted for Sue Kelly. She got her congressional seat in 1994, in a very interesting manner. Hamilton Fish was an 11 term Republican congressman and he retired. There was a Republican primary involving seven candidates, and Kelly was the only avowedly "pro-choice" candidate. So she was heavily backed by the very powerful Westchester County abortion lobby. She got about 26% of the primary vote, but the rest was split six ways, so she won!

Because the district was skewed Republican, she never had a tough race - until this year. She also incurred the wrath of the abortion lobby by voting to ban partial birth abortion in the late nineties (she is for abortion but evidently drew the line at infanticide). They have been looking to knock her out since then, and this year got a candidate who could do it.

I was in the car at noon today (driving in the rain to New Jersey) and caught the beginning of Rush Limbaugh's show. He was good - here's the opening monologue. Hit the link for the whole thing or just read the excerpt: America's Anchorman: Republicans Lost, But Conservatism Did Not

Oftentimes on this program when discussing the problems that Democrats have had over the last 12 years, electoral problems, one of my observations has always been: until they start examining what's wrong with themselves, they're never going to fix their problem -- and as such, that's exactly what we're going to do today. When things go wrong, you must first look inward. You must ask, "What did we do wrong? What could we have done better? What mistakes did we make?" It would be foolish at this stage to start assigning blame either to the media or to liberals or Democrats or the voters or the American people. I'm not going to fall into the trap that the liberals and Democrats fall into every time they lose an election and start blaming everybody else. Republicans lost last night but conservatism did not, and that is, to me, one of the fundamental elements of last night's results. Conservatism did not lose; Republicans lost last night. In fact, Republicanism, being a political party first rather than an ideological movement, is what lost. The Democrats beat something last night with nothing. They advanced no agenda other than their usual anti-war position. They have no contract. They really did not get specific. Their message was one of "Vote for us. The other guys have been in power too long," or what have you. There was no dominating conservative theory, nationally -- and these were nationalized elections. There was no dominating conservative message that came from the top and filtered down throughout in this campaign. It was nowhere to be found. Oh, I take that back! There was conservatism yesterday in the election, and it was to be found on the Democratic side of the aisle. There were conservative Democrats running for office in the House of Representatives and a couple conservative Senate races won by Democrats yesterday -- Jim Webb being one.

Heath Shuler, of course, is one of many. Harold Ford ran as a conservative, although he came up a little bit short. But conservatism won when it was tried yesterday. Conservatism won fairly big when it was tried, and I've heard people say, "Well, this is going to present problems for Ms. Pelosi because she's gone out there and she recruited candidates." By the way, she's being credited with this strategery, by the way, and that's why there's no question that she will be the speaker. She's been credited with putting together the strategery of recruiting moderate and conservative candidates and then getting the leadership of the House and the Democrats out of the way, no Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi to muck it up. Let these guys run in the South and the Midwest as conservatives, and let them win.

How I voted

Voted in mid-afternoon. I have no party loyalty, having always been a registered independent. However I do have loyalty to my principles.

For the first time in at least eight years, I voted for a major party candidate for an office other then President. I voted for John Spencer for Senator. Of course he's got very long odds, with Hillary likely to crush him. It will be a symbolic victory if he gets 40-42% of the vote. I made my first financial political contribution in 14 years to his campaign (the maximum amount allowed by law) and had two lawn signs up for him, and put about ten up around town. Nine of them were ripped down, no doubt by fair and balanced Hillary-supporters. I live in a very democratic party town.

For Governor I wrote in John Broderick. John is an attorney who had agreed to run as a third party candidate on the right to life party line, except they didn't get enough petition signatures to actually have him on the ballot. So I wrote him in. For decades John has done loads of pro bono legal work for pro-lifers and women with crisis pregnancies. I know John pretty well, and he's a great person with a wonderful sense of humor. He has nine children.

And then I did a few other write-ins. No major party candidates.

In New York, it's likely to be a complete democratic party sweep, with Spitzer swamping John Faso for Governor and Cuomo's son winning the Attorney General's race against Jeanine Pirro (a plague on both their houses!). I even think Alan Hevesi, the democratic incumbent State Controller will win, even though he'll probably be indicted for mis-use of his office after the election.

The problem for the Republicans, is that in NY State they long ago sold out on their principles. I refuse to vote on their line - I voted for Spencer on the Conservative party line.

So there you have it. The conventional wisdom is that the dems will re-take the House but not the Senate. I hope that's correct. I would hate to see Bush's possible Supreme Court nominations in the next two years dead on arrival in the Senate Judiciary committee, which is what will happen if the dems win the Senate. Patrick Leahy would be head of the Judiciary Committee. The thought gives me nausea.

This is funny - as world t-shirt wearing record is set

Hope this link works. It's pretty amusing.

Beats watching election commentary.

YouTube - Guiness World Record for most T-Shirts worn at one time.

Politics as usual

This about the new Democratic Party Super-Star, Barak Obama:

"Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois today urged hundreds of blacks not to vote along racial lines next week in Maryland's Senate race. Obama, the only black U.S. senator, came to the state to rally support for Democratic Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin, who is white. Cardin's Republican opponent, Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele, is the first black candidate ever elected statewide and has been courting black Democrats."--Associated Press, Nov. 3

"The nation's only black senator, Barack Obama, D-Ill., asked voters at two black churches and at a Nashville rally to elect [Harold] Ford, a Democrat who is trying to become the first black senator from the South in more than 100 years. 'I know that all of you are going to work the next couple of days to make sure it happens, because I'm feeling lonely in Washington,' Obama said at the Mt. Zion Baptist Church. 'I need my dear friend to join me.' "--Associated Press, Nov. 5

Global Warming update #3

The U.K. Telegraph has an excellent article on global warming. It's fairly long with some technical terms, but well worth reading if you're interested in the subject. I had never heard of the author, but he was a policy advisor to Margaet Thatcher. Here's a brief bio: Christopher Monckton, 3rd Viscount Monckton of Brenchley - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

If you're a global warming fundamentalist, remember, the mind is like a parachute, it doesn't work if it's not open.

Telegraph | News | Climate chaos? Don't believe it

Sir Nicholas Stern's report on the economics of climate change, which was published last week, says that the debate is over. It isn't. There are more greenhouse gases in the air than there were, so the world should warm a bit, but that's as far as the "consensus" goes. After the recent hysteria, you may not find the truth easy to believe. So you can find all my references and detailed calculations here.

The Royal Society says there's a worldwide scientific consensus. It brands Apocalypse-deniers as paid lackeys of coal and oil corporations. I declare my interest: I once took the taxpayer's shilling and advised Margaret Thatcher, FRS, on scientific scams and scares. Alas, not a red cent from Exxon.

In 1988, James Hansen, a climatologist, told the US Congress that temperature would rise 0.3C by the end of the century (it rose 0.1C), and that sea level would rise several feet (no, one inch). The UN set up a transnational bureaucracy, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The UK taxpayer unwittingly meets the entire cost of its scientific team, which, in 2001, produced the Third Assessment Report, a Bible-length document presenting apocalyptic conclusions well beyond previous reports.

This week, I'll show how the UN undervalued the sun's effects on historical and contemporary climate, slashed the natural greenhouse effect, overstated the past century's temperature increase, repealed a fundamental law of physics and tripled the man-made greenhouse effect.

Next week, I'll demonstrate the atrocious economic, political and environmental cost of the high-tax, zero-freedom, bureaucratic centralism implicit in Stern's report; I'll compare the global-warming scare with previous sci-fi alarums; and I'll show how the environmentalists' "precautionary principle" (get the state to interfere now, just in case) is killing people.

So to the scare. First, the UN implies that carbon dioxide ended the last four ice ages. It displays two 450,000-year graphs: a sawtooth curve of temperature and a sawtooth of airborne CO2 that's scaled to look similar. Usually, similar curves are superimposed for comparison. The UN didn't do that. If it had, the truth would have shown: the changes in temperature preceded the changes in CO2 levels.

Next, the UN abolished the medieval warm period (the global warming at the end of the First Millennium AD). In 1995, David Deming, a geoscientist at the University of Oklahoma, had written an article reconstructing 150 years of North American temperatures from borehole data. He later wrote: "With the publication of the article in Science, I gained significant credibility in the community of scientists working on climate change. They thought I was one of them, someone who would pervert science in the service of social and political causes. One of them let his guard down. A major person working in the area of climate change and global warming sent me an astonishing email that said: 'We have to get rid of the Medieval Warm Period.' "

Tim's last football game

Tim had his last game of the season Saturday, playing for the 3rd and 4th grade Ossining Little League football team, and they finally got a win. They beat Hastings, 12-7. The Ossining program is very good, with two 3rd and 4th grade teams (most river towns only have one side) so the talent is spread a little thin. Hence the losing record.

However Tim had an excellent season, playing offensive tackle and on the defensive line. He was also one of the co-captains.

I got to Saturday's game a little late and the game was already underway. Tim was lined up against an opponent who was bigger then him (taller anyway) and I was thinking "uh oh could be a tough day." Then on the first play from scrimmage Tim knocked the boy back three yards and pancaked him (knocked him on his backside, for the uninitiated).

Here he is against #53, who was the victim of the pancaking on an earlier play!

On the defensive line. #69 is Sean, his buddy and the other co-captain, who plays linebacker.

Tim catches the Hastings running back for a loss

Tim, as the coach talks after the game. Brigid in the background

Tim and Sean

Global Warming Update 2

On October 29th I posted this Tom Faranda's Folly: Global Warming Update Update which is mostly a series of articles from the British press about the "Stern Report" - an apocalyptic view of the coming meltdown.

The Wall Street Journal had a sensible editorial Climate Non-conformity  OpinionJournal - Featured Article with a link to one of their op eds de-bunking the Stern Report. Note the last paragraph in this excerpt from the editorial:

Unlike the Stern report and its patrons, those of us who take a skeptical approach to these doomsday climate scenarios aren't trying to end the discussion. The Earth is warmer now than it was in the recent past, and this may be partly attributable to human behavior. But everything else--from how much warmer, to the extent of mankind's contribution, to the cost of doing something about it--remains very much in dispute.

Some of the Stern review's recommendations, such as carbon trading rights, are also worth debating. But most of its proposals are merely openings for government to expand its role in allocating investment, raising taxes and otherwise controlling economic decisions. Socialism was supposed to have died with the Soviet Union, but it is making a comeback under the guise of coping with global warming.

Meanwhile, there are far more urgent, and far less speculative, problems that we know how to solve with the right policies. That message may not get scary headlines, but it would improve the lives of more human beings around the world.

Here's the link to the op ed, written by economist Bjorn Lomborg:

Stern Review: The dodgy numbers behindthe latest global warming scare OpinionJournal - Extra

Media coverage of this year's elections

If you're a normal person, you probably figure that the big issues in the pending elections on Tuesday are things like Iraq, the war on terrorism, the economy, stuff like that.

But you'd be wrong - at least according to what the major media outlets emphasize. The really, really important issue for America is ....  Mark Foley! Based on the number of stories about Foley, he's as important as Iraq and the war on terrorism.

USA Today published a short article yesterday on a media study - Heavy Coverage at midterm favors Democrats, study says USATODAY.com

An analysis by the Center for Media and Public Affairs of midterm election stories aired on the ABC, CBS and NBC evening newscasts Sept. 5-Oct. 22 found that 2006's coverage has been almost five times as heavy as in the 2002 midterm elections: 167 stories, compared with 35 four years ago.

The study found that three out of four evaluations of Democratic candidates' chances of winning — such as sound bites — were positive, compared with one out of eight for Republicans. Coverage has been dominated by two major themes: the effects of the Foley scandal, and the impact the Bush presidency is having on the party's congressional candidates.

The Foley scandal produced 59 stories alone, compared with 33 on Iraq and 31 on terrorism/national security issues. “What's hurting Republican candidates is the media's focus on two non-candidates: Mark Foley and George W. Bush,” says center director Robert Lichter.

the election and financial markets

Right now it appears that the congressional elections will break with history, as the House switches party control(to the Dems), while the Senate does not (stays Republican).

Why is that a break with history? Because since 1913 (the first election where Senators were directly elected by popular vote) the House has never changed party hands without the Senate also doing so. Why do I think the Dems will get the House (Speaker Pelosi!) but the GOP hold the Senate? Because Tradesports says so - the betting odds right now give the Republicans only a 25% chance of holding the House, but a 69% chance of keeping the Senate.

What is Tradesports? Go here to find out: Political horse Races OpinionJournal - Taste

Here's the short version - it's an online betting parlor run out of Dublin that allows betting on all sorts of sports, political events, and other happenings (like the odds on capturing Osama Bin Laden by the end of the year). And as far as political races go, it is extremely accurate. After all, people are putting their money where their mouths are.

What does this mean for the financial markets?

In my opinion, not a lot. If anything it may be a little bullish. This is because the markets basically don't like economic or social change. In fact, they like gridlock. And with Dems in control of the House and the Republicans having the Senate and the Presidency, there's not likely to be much in the way of new policies or programs. Bush couldn't do much the last two years controlling both Houses of Congress (probably why the GOP will lose ground in this election) and any tax increases or real social programs offered by the House Democrats won't get through the Senate, or they'll be vetoed by the Prez. There may be some cosmetic legislation, like a rise in the minimum wage, (which effects very few people but sounds good), but the kind of essential reform we need in areas like medicare and the social security program - forget about it. And even if the Dems do win the Senate, this still won't bother the markets, since they'll only have a thin, not a workable majority.

For the financial markets it's much easier to make predictions and projections if they don't have to worry about a cost/benefits analysis of new government  programs, changes in tax laws, etc. So the financial markets are happy with gridlock. Here's a quote from Kenneth Fisher, an investment manager and columnist with Forbes, who I think gets it exactly right: "Markets do not care which political party is in power, but the abhor major policy changes, especially in areas that effect property rights and wealth redistribution."

This is the nature of "markets". Thousands of little decisions, with thousands of little decision-makers, create the market, as people look out for their own secular, value-free, self-interest. We may not like it, but that's reality.

If you want to have a look at Tradesports, here's the link:Betting Exchange - TradeSports - Trading Exchange

The troops ask Kerry for help, part 3

Here is an op ed from the Wall Street Journal this morning, written by a man whose son was killed in Iraq. It's astonishing that after he lost his son, the author received hate mail ...

Shame on Him OpinionJournal - Extra

I missed the joke. You must forgive me, for there just is not a lot of room in my life for even good jokes--and there is absolutely no room for "botched jokes"--when the subject of the joke is my son who was killed in Iraq. I know exactly what came out of Sen. John Kerry's mouth, and in those words there is no interpretation required. His attempt to convince us--and, I believe, to convince himself that that there was really a botched joke buried deep within his insult is in fact a reaffirmation of his ever-present condescending nature. He actually believes that we are stupid enough to agree with him and start laughing simply because he said it was a joke. Mr. Kerry said exactly what he meant and meant exactly what he said. In those words Mr. Kerry did in fact wash completely away the facade of his support of our magnificent troops and revealed for all to see his true colors.

All one had to do is look into the face of Mr. Kerry as the last word came out of his mouth, and it was painfully obvious that he knew that he had just disparaged the entire military. As the firestorm grew, the calls for an apology filled me with unease. It is not up to him to determine if an apology is in order. That decision most certainly rests with the millions of individuals he offended, and then they would decide if they were going to accept one or not.

As Sen. Kerry began his soon-to-be-reversed "I apologize to no one" rebuttal to a call for an apology, I was driving by the memorial built in honor of Kyle, my son, and the other fallen heroes from my town. As I listened, I tried unsuccessfully to make sense of the meteor shower of thoughts that were streaking through my mind. Then came one remembrance that brought all those other thoughts to an instantaneous halt. Last year I had written an editorial and I received a number of written replies. Among those was one postmarked from San Diego addressed simply to "the father of a hero" and my town of Emerson, N.J.

It started off friendly enough then quickly became argumentative and before the first paragraph was completed this individual had written, "I am glad that your son got killed for he probably was an idiot just like you". My first reaction, and really the only reaction I have ever had, was sadness for an individual who is so consumed with anger that he felt it necessary to lash out at me for my beliefs.

First place winners in the International Pun Contest

Sent to me by Jeanne Marie Gagnon who deserves all the credit and blame for this one. She thought #6 was best; I liked #'s 5 and 8:

1. A vulture boards an airplane, carrying two dead raccoons. The stewardess
looks at him and says, "I'm sorry, sir, only one carrion allowed per
passenger."

2. Two fish swim into a concrete wall. The one turns to the other and says,
"Dam!"

3. Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly, so they lit a fire in the
craft. Unsurprisingly the vessel caught fire and sank, proving once again that
you can't have your kayak and heat it too.

4. Two hydrogen atoms meet. One says, "I've lost my electron." The other
says, "Are you sure?" The first replies, "Yes, I'm positive."

5. Did you hear about the Buddhist who refused Novocaine during a root canal?
His goal was: transcend dental medication.

6. A group of chess enthusiasts checked into a hotel and were standing in
the lobby discussing their recent tournament victories. After about an hour,
the manager came out of the office and asked them to disperse. "But why?"
they asked, as they moved off. "Because," he said, "I can't stand chess-nuts
boasting in an open foyer."

7. A woman has identical twins and gives them up for adoption. One of them
goes to a family in Egypt and is named "Ahmal." The other goes to a family in
Spain; they name him "Juan." Years later, Juan sends a picture of himself
to his birth mother. Upon receiving the picture, she tells her husband that
she wishes she also had a picture of Ahmal. Her husband responds, "They're
twins! If you've seen Juan, you've seen Ahmal."

8. These friars were behind on their belfry payments, so they opened up a
small florist shop to raise funds. Since everyone liked to buy flowers from the
men of God, a rival florist across town thought the competition was unfair.
He asked the good fathers to close down, but they would not. He went back and
begged the friars to close. They ignored him. So, the rival florist hired
Hugh MacTaggart, the roughest and most vicious thug in town to "persuade" >them
to close. Hugh beat up the friars and trashed their store, saying he'd be
back if they didn't close up shop. Terrified, they did so, thereby proving that
only Hugh can prevent florist friars.

9. Mahatma Gandhi, as you know, walked barefoot most of the time, which
produced an impressive set of calluses on his feet. He also ate very little,
which made him rather frail. And with his odd diet, he suffered from bad breath.
This made him ... A super calloused fragile mystic hexed by halitosis.

10. And finally, there was the guy who sent ten different puns to his
friends, with the hope that at least one of the puns would make them laugh. No pun
in ten did.

GE to start dredging Hudson to remove PCB's

This has been delayed for years. GE originally held that dredging would stir up the PCB's, doing more harm then good.

Judge signs off on GE Hudson dredging work

The troops ask Senator Kerry for Help, Part 2

Here's information on the unit whose photo went worldwide after Kerry's absurd unfortunate remark - and his failure to give a timely apology.

GIS DROP SMART BOMB ON KERRY By TODD VENEZIA in N.Y. and IAN BISHOP in Washington - New York Post Online Edition: Seven

The picture was first revealed yesterday on the blog Web site of Milwaukee talk radio host Charlie Sykes, who said he got it from a listener who had a buddy in the unit.

The picture soon raced around the Internet, and it got much of the nation chuckling when it went up on Drudge Report later in the day.

Staff Sgt. Erik Holtan, a member of the Minnesota National Guard, says he saw the picture and recognized the insignia as that of his fellow Minnesota guardsmen - and he immediately put it up on his own blog site.

"It's awesome," he told The Post. "The troops over there have to be livid because of what [Kerry] said. I don't know why he would say that."

Holtan, who works at Guard headquarters, said he believes the troops behind the Kerry sign are in Iraq, since all the members of the unit in the shot - the 1/34 Brigade Troops Battalion - have been deployed.

He said he can see a unit insignia on one of the vehicles in the background and those vehicles have also gone to Iraq.

Here's the picture again:

And here's a great posting from Law Prof Ann Althouse, who has a popular weblog:

Althouse: Is Kerry obsolete yet?

Lowry's bottom line is a warning that the attitude Kerry "seemed to be" expressing really does represent the mainstream of the Democratic Party and that voters shouldn't fall for the moderate Democratic candidates because they are a device to leverage that Party into the majority. But what if you would like to see the Democratic Party renewed? I'd like to see a more moderate Democratic Party that is committed to national security. The only way for that to happen is if these attractive, new candidates win. They may have been put forward as a device to gain majority power, but once there, are they going to let themselves be treated as mere devices? Won't they hold great power from the center? Why wouldn't that work out quite well and hasten the obsolescence of guys like Kerry?

I think that as far as Democratic politics is concerned, Senator Kerry's "use by" date has expired.

Halloween 2006

For the first time, our two boys did not go trick or treating for candy, they just went tricking. Brigid helped them out by (against my advice) supplying them with cans of shaving cream. So they took off, each with a friend, to Beekman Ave, where the cool kids hang out.

Here's Tim, with his friend Chase, after they returned from the hunt:

Here's Joe and his friend Ryan (doing their Mutt and Jeff routine). they arrived back at the house with two young woman (eighth graders) who introduced themselves, used the bathroom, and then walked home. When I asked Joe who the girls were, he said "I don't know. We just met them tonight." Huh? These things never happened to me when I was in the eighth grade. In fact they never happened to me, ever.

Foot in Mouth Disease, part 2, the troops ask Senator Kerry for help

off Freerepublic.com

Foot in mouth disease, continued

Here's the in-the-news comment by the former Democratic prez nominee - only 10 seconds:

YouTube - Kerry Belittles U.S. Troops

Here's a guy suggesting the only credible excuse for the comment - only 23 seconds:

YouTube - Re: Kerry Belittles U.S. Troops