Notoriety by the stroke of a Pelikan pen

Comment: Interesting in many ways: fraud, Civil War, National Archives, etc.

Stroke of Pen Altered Date, and a Tale of Lincoln, Too

Excerpt:

Just hours before Abraham Lincoln “put on his hat and headed for Ford’s Theater,” on April 14, 1865, the president is said to have spared a mentally incompetent Army private the death penalty for desertion.

Comment: While Lincoln did pardon the Army private ... it was not on the day of his death. The record was altered to sell a book!

National Archives Discovers Date Change on Lincoln Record

Excerpt (click through the above link for photos!):

Archivist of the United States David S. Ferriero announced today that Thomas Lowry, a long-time Lincoln researcher from Woodbridge, VA, confessed on January 12, 2011, to altering an Abraham Lincoln Presidential pardon that is part of the permanent records of the U.S. National Archives. The pardon was for Patrick Murphy, a Civil War soldier in the Union Army who was court-martialed for desertion.

Lowry admitted to changing the date of Murphy’s pardon, written in Lincoln’s hand, from April 14, 1864, to April 14, 1865, the day John Wilkes Booth assassinated Lincoln at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, DC. Having changed the year from 1864 to 1865, Lowry was then able to claim that this pardon was of significant historical relevance because it could be considered one of, if not the final official act by President Lincoln before his assassination.

Lowry's book: Don't Shoot That Boy! Abraham Lincoln and Military Justice

HT: Don Johnson: an unfortunate example of depravity

I wasn't sure what a Pelikan pen is. If interested click here.

Next for Favre?

Comment: Nice "photo-shop"

Ford - quite a rebound

Ford to show biggest annual profit in a decade

Excerpt:

On Friday, Ford is expected to report an annual profit of about $8 billion, before a previously announced onetime charge of $960 million. That charge stems from the elimination of about $1.9 billion in debt in November and is viewed as a positive move by investors and analysts.

Ford has already earned $6.4 billion through September. For the final three months of the year, analysts surveyed by Thomson One Analytics, on average, expect Ford to earn 48 cents per share, or $1.7 billion before onetime charges.

Rebecca Lindland, director of strategic review for IHS Global Insight, said Ford's profits are remarkable, especially for a company that lost $30 billion from 2006 to 2008.

"It shows what a company that is well-managed and has been able to really reinvent itself can do," Lindland said.

Comment: We've got some shares that we bought for under $ 7. Now trading at nearly $ 18. It would be great to see Ford "pop" and be able to take some gains. I expect to hold on Ford for all of 2011

How Welfare destroyed Black families

The State Against Blacks

Excerpts:

Mr. Williams, an economist at George Mason University, is contrasting being black and poor in the 1940s and '50s with today's experience. It's a theme that permeates his short, bracing volume of reminiscence, and it's where we began our conversation on a recent morning at his home in suburban Philadelphia.

"We lived in the Richard Allen housing projects" in Philadelphia, says Mr. Williams. "My father deserted us when I was three and my sister was two. But we were the only kids who didn't have a mother and father in the house. These were poor black people and a few whites living in a housing project, and it was unusual not to have a mother and father in the house. Today, in the same projects, it would be rare to have a mother and father in the house."

Even in the antebellum era, when slaves often weren't permitted to wed, most black children lived with a biological mother and father. During Reconstruction and up until the 1940s, 75% to 85% of black children lived in two-parent families. Today, more than 70% of black children are born to single women. "The welfare state has done to black Americans what slavery couldn't do, what Jim Crow couldn't do, what the harshest racism couldn't do," Mr. Williams says. "And that is to destroy the black family."

...

Mr. Williams distinguished himself in the mid-1970s through his research on the effects of the Davis-Bacon Act of 1931—which got the government involved in setting wage levels—and on the impact of minimum-wage law on youth and minority unemployment. He concluded that minimum wages caused high rates of teenage unemployment, particularly among minority teenagers. His research also showed that Davis-Bacon, which requires high prevailing (read: union) wages on federally financed or assisted construction projects, was the product of lawmakers with explicitly racist motivations.

One of Congress's goals at the time was to stop black laborers from displacing whites by working for less money. Missouri Rep. John Cochran said that he had "received numerous complaints in recent months about Southern contractors employing low-paid colored mechanics." And Alabama Rep. Clayton Allgood fretted about contractors with "cheap colored labor . . . of the sort that is in competition with white labor throughout the country."

Today just 17% of construction workers are unionized, but Democratic politicians, in deference to the AFL-CIO, have kept Davis-Bacon in place to protect them. Because most black construction workers aren't union members, however, the law has the effect of freezing them out of jobs. It also serves to significantly increase the costs of government projects, since there are fewer contractors to bid on them than there would be without Davis-Bacon.

Analysis of this issue launched Mr. Williams's career as a public intellectual, and in 1982 he published his first book, "The State Against Blacks," arguing that laws regulating economic activity are far larger impediments to black progress than racial bigotry and discrimination. Nearly 30 years later, he stands by that premise.

"Racial discrimination is not the problem of black people that it used to be" in his youth, says Mr. Williams. "Today I doubt you could find any significant problem that blacks face that is caused by racial discrimination. The 70% illegitimacy rate is a devastating problem, but it doesn't have a damn thing to do with racism. The fact that in some areas black people are huddled in their homes at night, sometimes serving meals on the floor so they don't get hit by a stray bullet—that's not because the Klan is riding through the neighborhood."

Comment: A very good read.

Where a doctor’s visit costs less than a stamp!

How Moving to a Third-World Country Improved Our Financial Situation

Excerpts:

People spend a lot more money when their neighbors spend a lot more money. If the neighbor’s kid has an iPod, laptop, backpack, new running shoes, and a shiny bike, then we want our children to have enough stuff to “fit in”. Maybe you don’t feel a temptation to keep up with the Joneses, but you probably don’t want to be so far behind that everyone notices.

Living in a third world country has dramatically diminished my desire to own Stuff. It’s diminished because our neighbors don’t have Stuff. There isn’t a pressure to keep up with the Joneses, but instead the pressure is towards lifestyle de-flation. To live with less. To live more simply. To be more generous.

It’s not unusual to see kids with worn-down sandals, wearing only one sandal, or no footwear at all. The first thing we feel tempted to do when we get a new pair of shoes is get them dirty so they don’t look so new.

In our hometown, Alotau, you couldn’t even find much worth buying if you tried. T-shirts at the stores are about as thick as a piece of Kleenex, and second-hand clothing stores tend to buy bulk used clothing at the cheapest price possible. This often means all the clothes are between XL and XXXL. Which, by the way, is very unfortunate because most of the local residents are very short and thin.

...

While our family still pays an exorbitant amount for international health insurance, you can’t beat the prices when you need to make a trip to the local hospital. A visit to the hospital costs about seventy cents. Interestingly, it cost me $2 to buy a stamp to mail my claim to our insurance company. Isn’t that crazy? A doctor’s visit costs less than a stamp! There are no local private doctors, but if you want to get to see a doctor immediately, you can pay around $7 USD and get to see a doctor right away instead of waiting in line for a couple of hours.

Several years ago, some co-workers had a baby here in town. The total hospital bill came to $7 USD. If you’ve had a baby in the U.S., you know you’re talking a four-digit bill — not a single-digit bill.

Comment: About the author. Tobin .. thought this would interest you.

75% of the people who subscribe to AOL's dial-up service don't need it

60% of AOL's Profits Come From Misinformed Customers

Excerpt:

The company still gets eighty percent of its profits from subscribers, many of whom are older people who have cable or DSL service but don't realize that they need not pay an additional twenty-five dollars a month to get online and check their e-mail. "The dirty little secret," a former AOL executive says, "is that seventy-five percent of the people who subscribe to AOL's dial-up service don't need it."

Comment: Two of my relatives still have AOL. It's a bad business model to not put the customer first. Personally I have never found AOL worthy of my business. Best way "out": Get a Gmail account. Export your contacts from AOL to Gmail (there may be an intermediate step to comma delimited). Close your AOL account.

What did I accomplish last year?

It's that time of the year again - annual performance reviews. Once again I have to document my accomplishments. Since I have been doing the annual accomplishments list for a number of years, one would think that I would be better organized. I've often thought that I should set aside half an hour every week to document my weekly accomplishments and then I could easily cull through that material to list my annual accomplishments. Well I haven't done that yet. If I make it a couple of more years I will be retired (I prefer the term "redirected") and won't have to worry about this annual exercise of vanity. My wife never asks me about my accomplishments. She just loves me for the way I am (amazing grace!).

I did manage to list 10 items. Here's the truth - it's all vain.

“ Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher; “ Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” (Ecclesiastes 1:2)

Jay Adams blogged on this verse today:

Ecclesiastes

There is a key word and a key phrase that explain what Ecclesiastes is all about.

The key word is translated “vanity” in the KJV. Recent study of the language indicates that the term is richer than that. It points to something vain (”empty”), it is true, but also carries with it the idea that what makes it useless is that what is done will not last. If we would coin a term to translate it, we would have to say that “All is impermanence.” Throughout the book evidence of every kind is adduced to prove this fact. For instance, a man slaves throughout his life, but what it gains him, only those who follow can enjoy. He dies before he can benefit from it.

The key term is “under the sun.” This phrase refers to the world as it is presently constituted–a world of sin and its consequences. And, in particular it refers to the life of those who live only for this world. It is a world under the sun rather than a world under His Son.

Pessimism? Is that the theme of the book? Yes and no. Is there a pessimistic attitude on the part of the writer? Yes, for those who live their lives merely “under the sun,” where all is impermanent. No, for those who see the hand of God even in the midst of the useless lives of those who don’t recognize His goodness. Throughout the book, God is said to give good things (with an emphasis on the blessings of food and marriage) to those who love him, in order to sustain such persons in the midst of a world where all goes to pot (see my blog on that subject).

And the factor that changes all is God’s warning that this world is not the end—He will bring our thoughts and deeds into judgment. He advises youth to make the most of the body they possess while they can because in this world, under the sun (the curse of sin), it will soon fall apart.

So, Ecclesiastes (in its essence) is a tract for the times, calling men to repentance and faith.

Outside of Christ, all the work that I do is completely vain. As the old saying goes:

Only one life - T'will soon be past. Only what's done for Christ….. will last!

Sobering Fiscal Realities

Running the government on 8 cents

Excerpt:

Today, the United States spends roughly 76 cents of every federal tax dollar on just four things: Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and interest on the $14 trillion debt. That leaves 24 cents of revenue to pay for everything else the federal government does.

That's not a lot. But it's a mint compared to what could be left over by 2020, according to a simulation made by the Government Accountability Office.

Barring serious efforts to curb the growth in the country's debt, by 2020 Washington could be spending 92 cents of every tax dollar on Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and interest alone. That would leave just 8 cents to pay for everything else.

How much of "everything else" can 8 cents buy? Not a lot, especially relative to what Americans are accustomed to their government providing.

Comment: At the tipping point?

Fun with Spam: from SylvieButteris

Hi dear! I am for a decent man.

As for me, I am a young Russian girl
Do you like Russian women?

They are not just beautiful and smart, but very tolerant too.
Russian women value family and try to be with their husbands as much as possible.

It's time to get to know each other!
See you on marriage agency. Cheerio!

Comment: I love Russian women! (I told my wife about this ... she said "go for it!")

Poo Transplants

Scientists fight bugs with poo

Excerpt:

It's a distasteful cure for a problem that's increasingly widespread: the Clostridium difficile bug, typically caught by patients in hospitals and nursing homes, can be hard to treat with antibiotics. But Borody is one of a group of scientists who believe the answer is a faecal transplant.

Some jokily call it a "transpoosion." Others have more sciencey names like "bacteriotherapy" or "stool infusion therapy." But the process involves, frankly, replacing a person's poo with someone else's, and in the process, giving them back the "good" bugs they desperately need.

Borody's grateful patient, Coralie Muddell, suffered months of chronic diarrhoea so bad she would often embarrass herself in public, and had even stopped eating to try to halt the flow.

The technique that cured her has had a success rate of around 90 percent in the experimental cases where it has been used so far. Now scientists are taking it to the next level, with randomized controlled trials to establish if it can really be a viable option when antibiotics have failed.

With rates of hospital-acquired C.difficile infection rising in the United States, Europe and other parts of the world, that could save lives as well as reducing expensive days of extra care. "There's rising recognition of how effective this is," Borody, a Sydney-based gastroenterologist, told Reuters.

There's little doubt this treatment has an image problem. Feces, including important bowel flora, is transferred from a volunteer donor -- screened to limit possible other infections -- into the colon of the infected patient. The treatment can be administered by a colonoscope or an enema, or by the mouth or the nose.

"I used to be frowned upon and called 'the doctor who makes people eat sh*t'," says Borody, whose scientific papers have included such titles as "Flora Power" and "Toying with Human Motions." But he is also deadly serious. One of his published studies reported that in patients with recurrent C.difficile infection, 60 out of 67 -- 90 percent -- of those who received faecal transplants were cured.

Comment: What I am still taking antibiotics for. My dear Brother - always the funny one! - Suggested a "poo transplant"

Wells Fargo matches earnings estimates

Wells Fargo Fourth-Quarter Rises 21%

Excerpt:

The bank reported on Wednesday that it earned $3.4 billion, or 61 cents a share, in the fourth quarter, up 21 percent, from $2.8 billion, or 8 cents a share, in the quarter a year earlier, matching analysts’ forecasts. For the year the San Francisco-based bank reported profit of $12.36 billion in 2010, compared with $12.28 billion in 2009.

The bank’s revenue fell, however, stemming in part from new federal regulations that restrict the size of overdraft fees banks can charge on checking accounts.

In the fourth quarter, revenue fell slightly to $21.5 billion from $22.7 billion. Wells reported a $97 million decline in service charges during this three-month span. Full-year revenue fell to $85 billion, from $88.7 billion in 2009.

Comment: Now trading at $ 32. Too bad I sold a bunch of it at $ 24 5 months ago.

Federal Tax Code: KJV x 5

Tax System: Too Complex To Be Constitutional?

Excerpt:

Douglas Shulman says he uses a hired tax preparer because the U.S. tax code is so complex. That's a bad sign. He's the I.R.S. commissioner.

The tax system has clearly gotten too complicated. The code itself holds about 3.8 million words, nearly five times as many as the King James Bible. There's also a much larger body of regulations, which carry the weight of law, written by the Internal Revenue Service, along with court precedents going back at least a century. Add to that the IRS's published opinions on its regulations.

Even if someone could read all of it, the rules would be obsolete by the time he finished. There have been more than 4,400 changes to the tax code over the past decade, or more than one a day.

Comment: Where's Steve Forbes (a fairer flatter tax!) when we need him!

The FastMac U-Socket

U-Socket

Excerpt:

U-Socket is a duplex AC receptacle with built-in USB ports that can power any device that is capable of being charged via a 5V power adapter, but without the need for the power adapter! When a U-Socket replaces a traditional 3-prong AC wall socket, you can eliminate the clutter of AC Adapters that stick out & take up space in your home or office. Everything stays neat & organized. In addition, U-Socket's energy efficient design only outputs power through the USB port if something is connected to it. This can save you up to $25 per year in reduced energy costs.

Comment: I ordered 3! 4-6 week wait. I'm thinking: 1 in the den, 1 in the kitchen, and 1 in the LR

How Wilson manufactures NFL game footballs

How Wilson manufactures NFL game footballs

Comment: Sent to me by my brother-in-law. Interesting

Violence: Why Conservatives are blamed first

The charlatans' response to the Tucson tragedy

Excerpt:

A characteristic of many contemporary minds is susceptibility to the superstition that all behavior can be traced to some diagnosable frame of mind that is a product of promptings from the social environment. From which flows a political doctrine: Given clever social engineering, society and people can be perfected. This supposedly is the path to progress. It actually is the crux of progressivism. And it is why there is a reflex to blame conservatives first.

Comment: Worthwhile read from George Will.

Update on my health: Another day off work. Symptoms continue. Might be subsiding. I had a full meal tonight of: bowl of applesauce, 2 pieces of toast, a bowl of rice, a banana, and a glass of Gatorade. If there is improvement overnight and tomorrow, I would like to have pasta for dinner.

"In sickness and in health ..."

Not sure if my readers have viewed my wedding text from my son's marriage ceremony on 1/1. I used a blog post from Dan Phillips for a basis to one of the three points: I give thee my troth. Since I haven't been a Pastor for 16 years, it's been that long since I've officiated at a marriage ceremony.

I used Christmas week at work (it was a very quiet week) to write the ceremony and compose the message. I had a lot of time to think about the vows taken.

We always start the year (or typically anyway) with carrying ahead 5 PTO (paid time off) days. And we typically use those days for a couple of long weekend get-a-ways.

I never expect to start the year sick. We took off Monday January 3rd to recover from the wedding weekend. So Tuesday the 4th was my first day of work this year. Well Tuesday I got sick at work - very sick - and Kathee brought me home at noon. I took Wednesday off. Thursday I felt sick but drove in early and picked up my laptop and brought it home to work remotely. Kathee told me (as only wives can do) to be sure to call the Dr. (she actually did this on Wednesday). I did not call the Dr Wednesday ... promised her Thursday. Did not call the Dr on Thursday and oh was Kathee angry at my stubbornness. I finally called the Dr on Friday and saw him at 11:00 a.m.

I have this basically philosophy that most things resolve themselves. Colds get better. Flues go away. Pains diminish. Etc.

Well what I had (or have), did not subside. I got worse and worse to the point I could not eat at all. My only meal on Friday was dinner and I lost that overnight. Saturday and Sunday I ate nothing and really did not feel like eating either. I only drank Gatorade. 

Today at 5:30 the Dr called to give me the lab results. I have something called Clostridium difficile. It's serious and yet it's not. I could destroy one's colon and for those with weakened immune systems could even kill! - but there's an antibiotic. Kathee's at Walgreens picking it up right now. In 7 days I should be ok. But for my readers, I do appreciate your prayers.

Marriage is not all "for the better". It is not always (and for some never!) "for richer". And for probably most marriages there are times of sickness.

I met Kate's Grandmother and Grandfather at the wedding. They've been married 64 years ... almost 65. The Grandmother said that they will soon be married 65 "if he makes it" (he is apparently not well.

Our house has been a house of sickness for 8 days. My dear wife, has faithfully cared for me and it's been a lot of care and cleanup.

I thank the Lord for my dear wife. I thank the Lord for marriage which is for the benefit of mankind!

Meanwhile, I just started the first of my Metronidazole pills. Today I ate today for the first time since Friday. I had three bowls of white rice. Now I am having a banana and a bowl of applesauce. They call this the BRAT diet. Tomorrow I hope to add the toast!

Eschewing "life in Leisureville"

For the Sake of the Kingdom: Redefining Retirement

Excerpts:

The contemporary ideal of retirement was a life of travel, leisure, golf, and time with grandchildren. In states like Florida, California, and Arizona, entire communities of retirees emerged. “Leisurevilles” advertised a concept of the good life that was free from employment and largely, if not exclusively, devoted to withdrawal from the world of all work.

....

The Bible dignifies both labor and age, but the modern American ideal of retirement is nowhere to be found in the Scriptures. Instead, lives of useful service to the Kingdom of Christ are the expectation, all the way to the grave.

...

The economic crisis of recent years has forced many Americans to rethink and redefine retirement as a matter of necessity. For Christians, this represents an important opportunity. The ideal for Christians should be redeployment, even after employment. There is so much Kingdom work to be done, and older believers are desperately needed in this great task. There are missionaries to be assisted, ministries to be energized, young couples to be counseled, boys without fathers to be mentored, and wisdom and experience to be shared. The possibilities for Christian redeployment are endless.

There is room in the Christian life for leisure, but not for a life devoted to leisure. As long as we have the strength and ability to serve, we are workers needed in Christ’s Kingdom. Given the needs and priorities all around us, who would settle for life in Leisureville?

Comments:

Good article by Albert Mohler. Previous posts on the Christian worldview of retirement: Boomers, Retirement, and the Lord and Retirement Math

A new boat?

Comment:

We live just a couple of blocks from a very nice lake. Here's the Google Map of Medicine Lake. We've rented boats a couple of times - nice pontoons from a local marina. I'm thinking that perhaps it is time to get my own! Take the plunge and buy one for myself. Something that is trailerable behind my S-10. Something not too ostentatious! What do you think? A new boat?

Wedding Photos

Roger and Kate

Chris and Melissa (nephew and his wife)


Roger and I prayed together just before the ceremony





My wife (Kathee) and my oldest son Nathan


My sister Nancy and her d-i-l Melissa


Kathee and me


Roger and Kathee


My brother Roger and his wife Kathy


My sister, Nancy with my Mother


Kate with her Mom and Dad (Jan and Jim)

Roger and Nathan

Rachel (my daughter), Carole (sister in law), Kathee and my niece Katrina

More photos (Facebook)

Comments:

• We had the wedding rehearsal and dinner at The Towers in downtown Minneapolis (Thursday night). Buca di Beppo provided the food.
  
• The wedding was yesterday at the Bayview
  
• Today all relatives on the way home and the house is quiet
  
• My sister in law, Kathy, took these photos
  

Wedding Ceremony: Roger and Kate Peet

Wedding Kate Roger

Comment: Wedding Ceremony - January 1st, 2011