Tom Faranda's Folly

Nice short essay: "For 2011: more adoptions"

Here's a very lovely column, sent to me by my friend Nancy. The author is the writer, Brett Battles, who has a number of adopted children, as well as siblings who were adopted.

There are a lot of adopted children, in my town of Croton.

My Wish for 2011: More Adoptions

To me, whether you're born directly into a family or find some other way there, such as adoption, it doesn't matter. You are family, no less and no more than anyone else. My brother and sister (twins, because my parents didn't want to separate them when it turned out the birth mother had two instead of one) came into our house when I was 4 and they were only 6 days old. Were they less my brother and sister because they were adopted? Absolutely not. I can guarantee you, they were just as annoying growing up as if we'd shared the same DNA.

Women and strength training

A short video on CNN.

Unfortunately CNN does not allow their videos to be embedded.

CNN: Women and Strength training

or --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDny-39BOUc

Who moved on in 2010

A nice little video. I never heard of some of these people.

 

Government-run healthcare, Swedish style

Whew. This is right up there with this - Boston hospital - three spinal operations in last two months, where the wrong vertebrae were operated on ... which I posted a few days ago.

Man's penis amputated following misdiagnosis

It remains unclear if the man would have been able to keep his penis had the cancer been detected sooner.

Conception plans at Farandaville

That's right.

Here's the plan - Chili the chinchilla moved in yesterday evening for a temporary stay. Not my idea or Tim's idea, but Brigid and Joe are smitten with the thought of baby chinchillas. They are hoping for motherhood from either Dusty or Gloria, our two chinchillas. Hence, borrowing Chili for an indeterminate time, to do some stud work.

Evidently, when it come to copulation, chinchillas are pickier about their partner(s) then other rodents. So we'll have to see what happens. Chili will be staying in his own cage for a day or two, so they all get used to each other(?).

Here's the boyo eating a raisin -

And again -

one more - a fine specimen of masculine chinchillahood - note the fine tail

and here are the potentially lucky ladies

Dusty

and Gloria

Now, here's what a large section of our former back dining room looks like. Note that poor Trinity the guinea pig is the odd rodent out, in the cage on the floor. Chili is in the middle, on the top level.

 Joe and Brigid are really quite looking forward to this, so let's hope it works out.

 

Catholicvote.org: Top Ten Reasons for Hope - 2010

I second all ten ... And this will irritate some.

 

Christmas Day bike ride with Tim

Since the gym was closed, Tim and I decided to do a Christmas bike ride, out to the RV area on Croton Point. Tim took this picture with his new blackberry.

When Tim turned 14 on December 9th, he signed up at my gym, the New York Sports Club (NYSC) in Croton. The rate for students is only $20 a month and Tim is very keen to hit the weights.

Like most teens, he's not too keen on having his picture taken, which is why this is just a picture of me. It was REALLY cold for a bike ride. Took us a couple off hours to warm up when we got home.

 
 

 

Knights of Columbus donating prostheses to Haitian children who lost limbs in the earthquake.

2,000 children.

Here's the website How to donate to Hope. And here's the PSA:

I am a K of C member.

Precious metals interview

Note - this guy markets gold, so he has an axe to grind. Nevertheless, worth a listen. I certainly don't agree with everything he says.

Viewership of ABC's Sunday morning news show has dropped 46% since Christiane Amanpour became the host.

I never watch any of these, especially since the death of Tim Russert.

When Amanpour was with CNN I always found her to be a mediocre and somewhat annoying correspondent. I think she just got by with her outrageous accent. That must have impressed some people.

... the bigger story is the loss of viewers of ABC’s #3 “This Week with Christiane Amanpour.” A year ago (Dec. 20, 2009) as the show was preparing for a host change, “This Week” drew 2.79M Total Viewers. Last Sunday it drew 1.91M — down -46% in one year. NBC and CBS were up year-over-year. “FOX News Sunday with Chris Wallace“, was down slightly year-over year.

Come to think of it, I think Don Imus is a better interviewer then any of the Sunday morning hosts.

Deep-frozen third sister arrives after record gap

This is interesting. What about the other 11 embryos?

the commoditization of human life ...

Conceived together, born 11 years apart: Deep-frozen third sister arrives after record gap

Baby Emma truckin' along

I posted twice on my college rommmate Mike's new (and first) granddaughter. You can go here A new - and tiny - baby and here News on new baby Emma to see them.

Emma was almost 17 weeks (!) early. There were some worries the past month, but now, 71 days after she was born, Emma is continuing to grow and progress. She now weighs 3 pounds 5 ounces, up from her birth weight of 1 pound 2 ounces.

You can go here to see the latest posting on her mother's blog Merry Christmas!!!!!! and it's worth scrolling down to see some of the past postings and pictures.

Great - amazing!

Boston hospital - three spinal operations in last two months, where the wrong vertebrae were operated on ...

YIKES!

In all three cases, the surgeons apparently miscounted the patient’s vertebrae and operated on a vertebra directly above or below the diseased segment, said Dr. Kenneth Sands, senior vice president of health care quality at the Boston hospital.

The AARP gets paid off by the Administration for their support for Obamacare

The AARP makes a LOT of money putting their name behind sponsored medicare supplement plans. And now, they are going to get an edge.  The Administration's excuse is that the AARP is not itself, per se, a health insurer.

A short feature on Fort Sumter: "The Night Escape"

I'd forgotten this little incident from the beginnings of the Civil War. Of course, actually before the shooting began.

Hit the link - essay is only 19 paragraphs long.

In the second of the three longboats crouched Capt. Abner Doubleday, scanning the moonlit harbor around him. Ahead, in the lead boat, he could make out an unmistakable figure, hawk-like with its beaked nose and enshrouding cloak, clutching something tightly under one arm. This was the garrison’s commander, Maj. Robert Anderson. For weeks, as hostile secessionists drew an ever-tighter cordon around their tiny Union force, Doubleday had speculated endlessly about his close-lipped superior’s intentions. Did Anderson plan to stay put in their pathetically indefensible little citadel at Fort Moultrie, docilely awaiting orders from Washington, until the enemy overwhelmed him?

Facebook and your "150 friends"

An interesting column on social networking. I am on Facebook and my weblog musings go to my Facebook friends, but I really don't go on Facebook myself more then three or four times a week.

Indeed, no matter what Facebook allows us to do, I have found that most of us can maintain only around 150 meaningful relationships, online and off — what has become known as Dunbar’s number. Yes, you can “friend” 500, 1,000, even 5,000 people with your Facebook page, but all save the core 150 are mere voyeurs looking into your daily life — a fact incorporated into the new social networking site Path, which limits the number of friends you can have to 50.

A well-known analyst says fears of municipal bond defaults are way overblown

I've been posting stuff about the problem state and local municipalities are facing, with their fall-off in tax revenues, and future liabilities (like pensions). Like here - State and local municipal finances as next big disaster?

Here's a guy who disagrees (the truth may turn out to be somewhere in between).

OK. Here's a couple of counters to the video. State Taking Steps to Control Nassau’s Finances And this. Especially the last paragraph. Could Facebook Save California?

"The Placebo Effect" helps, even when the patient knows it's a placebo

Beats chemotherapy.

 

"In Hoc Anno Domini" - from WSJ - The late Vermont Royster's classic 1949 Christmas editorial.

The Wall Street Journal has run this at Christmas every year since 1949.

When Saul of Tarsus set out on his journey to Damascus the whole of the known world lay in bondage. There was one state, and it was Rome. There was one master for it all, and he was Tiberius Caesar.

Do Christians overemphasize Christmas? Is Easter more important?

Here's a very short op ed in the WSJ, which says "No" to the above.

Easter is implicit in Christmas, and Christmas is implicit in Easter. When we celebrate the one, we celebrate the other, looking forward to the restoration of all things.

The Digital Nativity - how it would be done today.

Sent to me by contributor Karen.

Cute. I like the ending.

 

The New Republic on the collapse of Democratic Party outreach to religious voters

The New Republic is the liberal version of National Review magazine.

Go here - http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/80162/democrats-faith-based-outreach

or here

To defend his record and contend with the right-wing grassroots, Obama would do well to articulate the moral-religious values that permeate his policies and initially energized his supporters. And, if the Democrats want to avoid the impression that such values messaging is merely a presidential-election-year tactic, they should probably begin reinvigorating their faith outreach efforts sooner rather than later. “Ninety percent of people believe in some sort of God,” Sager points out. “It’s mind-boggling why you would cede those voters to the Republican Party.”

Mud invasion

In California. Amazing no one was killed. You may have trouble seeing this if you are using AOL.

 

Funny: SNL skit - Democratic dreams for 2011headlines

For Christmas: Nollaig Shona Duit

Which means, Happy Christmas to You! With thanks to the Irish online publication Lifezine -

Botticelli This was his only signed painting, done around 1501. Go here to learn a bit about The Mystic Nativity

Hitler finds out there is no Santa

Madness!

 

A Democratic Party reform group?

I don't know - maybe this is the Tea Party version of the Dems ... I'm sympathetic.

Democrats Seeking Reform Within the Democratic Party

or - http://www.democraticreformparty.com/

 Our Democratic Party has abandoned many of its older principles and ideals, and we as democrats are extremely dissatisfied with the 'Change We Can Believe In' politicians and their obsession with making our Nation more like the Europe our founding fathers had left behind.

A great story about a stem cell donor and the man who received the transplant.

My stem cell transplant was NOT of this type. I received back my own stem cells. Here's that story for anyone interested (And I'm coming up on the five year anniversary!). Here - Two eventful days at Sloan Kettering and here - Transplant Went Well

The transplant from a donor is much more dangerous for the recipient, but thankfully it worked out.

In November 2009, Sallach received a blood stem cell transplant to treat non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in San Antonio. He has since learned that the anonymous donor was Hoffman, who gave up the final football game of his junior season to undergo the donation procedure in Philadelphia.

 

An interesting quote by a growth fund investment manager

This is from Jim Rothenberg, the chief investment counselor to the Growth Fund of America, which if it isn't the biggest growth-style mutual fund, it's certainly up there.

I look at the United States, and I listen to the politicians say we’re going to bring jobs back. That’s not going to happen that way. The way the United States is going to grow is by offering products and services to the world that the world wants. That, to me, means innovation.

 

Stocks? Bonds? Gold? Here's an excellent short debate

Well worth watching. From Donald Luskin's website on one of his frequent appearances on Kudlow's CNBC show.

Does the King of Saudi Arabia want to move the "Ground Zero" mosque to Greenwich Village?

Interesting. Hit the link for the whole article in the NY Post

Saudi king may want to move Ground Zero mosque to St. Vincent's site

Attorney Dudley Gaffin is claiming King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia might want to buy shuttered St. Vincent's Medical Center and transfer the mosque to a new Islamic cultural center he would build on a plot at the site, say sources who have heard Gaffin's pitch.

The king, worth more than $20 billion, would also save the hospital, reopening most of the units that closed when St. Vincent's filed for bankruptcy on April 14, the sources said.

 

Global Warming Update: LA Times says interspecies cross-breeding caused by global warming, and is grave threat.

What drivel. The kind of thing you'd expect from "The Onion."

As the world heats up and polar ice melts, different types of bears, whales and seals could meet and mate — but these unions may be far from happy, researchers said Wednesday. In fact, interspecies sex brought on by the melting Arctic ice could lead to the extinction of many endangered Arctic animals, the scientists said ...

 

The aorta condition that killed diplomat Richard Holbrooke

A good explanation of a very serious, but rare condition. This is also what killed the actor John ritter at the age of 54. There's a good iagram and a video.

“This torn aorta was really a catastrophic event,” Crandall said. “It’s rarely seen. It involves a tear or a rip in the aorta as the aorta leaves the heart. This tear causes what is called a dissection in the aorta that spirals around the aorta and in fact, with Mr. Holbrooke, it appears that this dissection or tear went all the way through the aorta into the lower limbs of the body.”

He said the symptoms of such an event include a stabbing, unrelenting pain. The factors most commonly associated with the condition are elevated blood pressure, elevated levels of cholesterol, smoking, and stress, a condition well-known to Holbrooke.

My recollection is that Ritter was lifting weight (!!) when he devleoped the tear.

JibJab is back! "So Long to Ya, 2010"

They're back!

 

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

"Rev. Al" Sharpton has come a long way

Yeah he's cleand up his act since Tawana Brawley days...

Thankfully, Rev. Al Sharpton No Longer Addresses His Detractors As "Punk Faggot"

A little story/meditation on the Saint whose feast day is also Tim's birthday

As I mentioned here on December 12th Tim and Brigid's birthdays , the two of them share an interesting coincidence. Tim's birthday is December ninth, the Feast of the recently canonized St. Juan Diego, and Brigid's birthday is December 12th, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. If you're not familiar with the relationship, go here. Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Here's a brief (five paragraph) and thoughtful meditation on Juan Diego.

I loved it.

St. Juan Diego: The paradox of humility

 
 
 

For techies: A preview/review of the new Google laptop

Here'sthe report, which was TMI for me. I did excerpt the conclusion below the link.

Google Cr-48 Chrome laptop preview (update: in-depth impressions!)

This is a tough one to sum up. It's not a "real" product, in the sense that you can't buy it. Still, it represents the infancy of a series of products that will be very real and probably pretty well priced. We can already see some reasons why particularly browser-bound folks might consider this over a netbook, but for most people we'd say Google has a long ways to go to create a true netbook or laptop alternative -- besides, how many secondary and tertiary devices does one person really need? While the OS is pretty much all that matters here right now, and the internals are nothing special, our favorite part of the Cr-48 probably happens to be the one true inessential element: the design. We wish more computer manufacturers would take a note out of this understated book.

 

Rugby: England vs. New Zealand in South Africa tournament 7's title match

Another of the IRB 7's World Series tournaments. For the uninitiated, rugby is played with 15 in each team, but rugby 7's is seven on a team with the same-sized field. Very fast and wild action, and usually played in a tournament format with only 14 minute games (two seven minute halves). The exception is the final, where the halves are ten minutes.

 

One of the reasons the City of Detroit is collapsing - the now-jailed former mayor

Wednesday I posted this remarkable article from the Wall Street Journal City of Detroit planning on literally abandoning services in two of the nine city wards .

Then yesterday's NY Times had this -

DETROIT — The city’s imprisoned former mayor, Kwame M. Kilpatrick, and two top aides rigged contracts, collected millions of dollars in bribes and defrauded taxpayers, the federal government said on Wednesday in a 38-count indictment that characterizes Mr. Kilpatrick’s inner circle as a long-running criminal organization.

“The defendants used the power and authority of Kwame Kilpatrick’s public offices to unjustly enrich not only themselves but their families and their associates at the expense of taxpayers and donors,” Ms. McQuade said.

If convicted, the defendants could be sentenced to up to 30 years in prison, Ms. McQuade said. The charges include bribery, extortion, fraud and racketeering. The five were indicted under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, which is used to fight organized crime and allows the government to seek stiffer penalties.

The article is ten paragraphs long and outlines an unbelievable level of corruption and sleaze. Has to be read to be believed.

interestingly enough, there's no mention of which political party Kilpatrck belonged to (so we can be sure which party it was ...).

As a matter of fact, Detroit has the highest level of poverty in the United States, of any city with a population of more than 250,000.  It has been ruled by Democrat mayors since 1961. Just a coincidence...

OK. This had to hurt.

A father decides he doesn't want his 17 year old daughter having a relationship with a 57 year old man.

So he takes matters into his own hands. With a bread knife.

German man castrates teenage daughter's 57-year-old boyfriend

Bob Feller

UPDATE: The Washington Post also has a fine tribute to Feller, with additional insights into his life. In the decades since, baseball aficionados have speculated that Mr. Feller might have won 350 games and set the career strikeout record if he had not lost several of his prime baseball years to the military. But Mr. Feller never regretted his choice and regarded his years in the Navy as his most important contribution.

One of the all-time great pitchers. Died at age of 92. I didn't know he'd served in WW 2 for four years on a battleship.

Great article about him in the sports section of the NY Times.

Bob Feller, who came off an Iowa farm with a dazzling fastball that made him a national celebrity at 17 and propelled him to the Hall of Fame as one of baseball’s greatest pitchers, died Wednesday at a hospice. He was 92.

 

Rove on the Administration: "From Post-Partisan to Most Partisan"

President Obama has energized his opponents by demonizing them

But a scorched-earth policy doesn't make sense for the Obama White House. Independents voted Republican last month by a 59% to 38% margin not because they thought Mr. Obama too civil, his course too centrist, and his bipartisanship too energetic. In fact, they were sick of the administration's direction and tone. The increased number of Republicans in Congress next year will stop Mr. Obama's leftward policy march, whether he likes it or not. But only he can change his manner of speaking.

In his first two White House years, Mr. Obama has seemed incapable of constructing a positive narrative. Instead, he has appeared hard-wired to justify his policy choices by blaming savage evildoers for monstrous wrongs.

Mr. Obama fell into this habit early. He kicked off his drive to pass a stimulus on Jan. 8, 2009 by attacking the "profound irresponsibility that stretched from corporate boardrooms to . . . Washington." In December of that year, during a "60 Minutes" interview, he lashed out at bankers making multimillion-dollar bonuses, saying "I did not run for office to be helping out a bunch of fat-cat bankers on Wall Street."

Of course, Obama received 50% more money from Wall Street then McCain did in the 2008 Presidential race.

His push for health-care reform was marked by frequent attacks on insurance companies. He depicted them as gluttonous profit-seekers intent on sticking it to their customers. He went after them with loaded words: They "discriminated," "rationed care . . . denied coverage" and were "bureaucrats getting between you and your doctor."

 

After his bill passed, the president kept it up. "This is no secret," Mr. Obama said in March. Health insurers are "telling their investors this: We are in the money; we are going to keep on making big profits even though a lot of folks are going to be put under hardship." Even physicians found themselves in Mr. Obama's crosshairs for ordering needless but costly tests just to enrich themselves.

******

In his first inaugural address, Abraham Lincoln spoke of his desire to appeal to "the better angels of our nature." It's a goal Mr. Obama should emulate. The likelihood of him again enjoying the support of independents and winning bipartisan support in Congress may depend upon his ability to do so.

Yes, well to quote the Prez's former pastor "The chickens are comin' home to roost." Hit thelink above for the whole article.

Gallup: Congress' Job Approval rating worst in Gallup history

83% disapproval, 13% approval.

 

 

 

CNN coverage of the man who shot up the Florida School Board meeting

Gripping. Hit the link - CNN does not allow embedding.

CNN: Man opens fire ...

Rugby; England win Dubai seven's

This is a part of the IRB World Series 7's circuit. After losing their first match to Portugal (!), they came back and beat all the Big Dogs.

 

City of Detroit planning on literally abandoning services in two of the nine city wards

Astounding. Under the plan, it seems as if parts of Detroit will be joining the Third World. (Mr. Bing, mentioned below, is the mayor.) Detroit has the highest pecentage of poor of any city in the Country  (32.5% as of 2006) with a population over 250,000.

Hit the link for the complete article, in the WSJ.

More than 20% of Detroit's 139 square miles could go without key municipal services under a new plan being developed for the city, with as few as seven neighborhoods seen as meriting the city's full resources.

Mr. Bing's staff wants to concentrate Detroit's remaining population—expected to be less than 900,000 after this year's Census count—and limited local, state and federal dollars in the most viable swaths of the city, while other sectors could go without such services as garbage pickup, police patrols, road repair and street lights.

******

The final plan, though, may need local and state approval, as well as an influx of funds to rehabilitate vacant homes in neighborhoods deemed worthy of saving and to move residents wishing to leave areas with reduced services.

So who will run these areas? Drug Lords? People live there, they are entitled to services, they are citizens.

General Petraeus on the death of American diplomat Richard Holbrooke

A good, short tribute (hit the link) from the man in charge of the military in Afghanistan.

Those of us engaged in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region feel Amb. Richard Holbrooke's loss very deeply. Richard was a central figure in the overall effort, and his sudden death is a significant blow to it; however, his vision, tirelessness and determination will inspire all of us in the months ahead.

Virginia Attorney General Cuccinelli speaks to the Federal Court decision finding portions of Obamacare unconstitutional

Cucinelli had filed suit in the court claiming the legislation overstepped constitutional boundaries in mandating that people purchase health insurance.

Michelle Malkin had a pretty in-depth look at the decision - Judge to Obamacare architects: Ahem. Meet the Constitution, power-grabbers.

A timely quote by everyone's favorite radio talk show host

"Now that Obama and Co-President Clinton have confessed that they were dead wrong on the Bush tax rates, it would be a good time for them to admit they were dead wrong about Obamacare bending the cost curve down and saving Americans $2500 on their premiums.  It'd be a good time to admit their stimulus bill was a slush fund, a good time to admit that Bush and Cheney were right about Gitmo." -Rush

indeed! Suddenly the Dems are supply side econimists. Of course (as Rush has pointed out since the tax deal was put forth), maintaining tax rates is not a stimulus.

Tim and Brigid's birthdays

In the last few days Farandaville celebrated two birthdays - Tim on December 9th and Brigid today, December 12th.

Here they are this evening -

Of course, anyone having their picture taken with Tim, always appears in need of uhhh, a bit of sun. !

We find it cool that Tim is born on the feast of St. Juan Diego, and Brigid on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. For why this is interesting go here - Our Lady of Guadalupe

Ohh, and note Tim's t-shirt. Isn't that Bob Marley?