Chris Kelly on Laura Bush's Memoir

I have not read Laura Bush's memoir (probably never will), nor can I resist reposting Chris Kelly's summary in the Huffington Post:

"Laura Bush publishes her memoirs; attributes killing schoolmate with car to undersized stop sign; blames Iraq war on Saddam Hussein, Gerhard Schroder; repeats theory that no one understands how much she and George have suffered."

Meghan McCain on Arizona's "Alien" Law

In the Daily Beast, Meghan McCain voiced her opinion of Arizona's new immigration law. (Notice the law refers to undocumented immigrants as "aliens.")

"Let me say upfront that I do not support the bill that was signed by Governor Jan Brewer. I believe it gives the state police a license to discriminate, and also, in many ways, violates the civil rights of Arizona residents. Simply put, I think it is a bad law that is missing the bigger picture of what is really going on with illegal immigration. The concept that a law-enforcement official can stop an individual when “reasonable suspicion exists that a person is an alien, who is unlawfully present in the United States” is essentially a license to pull someone over for being Hispanic."

Legalizing Racial Discrimination

My grandson, a U.S. citizen, was born in Guatemala and has darker skin than the rest of us, his European relatives. If Arizona's new law, SB 1070, takes effect, and he is traveling in Arizona, police would be required to stop and interrogate him simply because he is brown-skinned or speaks Spanish.

In a way, I am pleased that my father is no longer with us, because he would be devastated to observe what has become of this great country that he loved and sacrificed for.

Members of our family are planning a trip out West this July, but as of this legislation, we will definitely skip Arizona.

Kathryn Wall's new book, CANAAN'S GATE comes out today (4/27/2010).

The following is an email describing the latest Bay Tanner mystery:

"Divided loyalties can be agonizing—and sometimes fatal . . .

April on Hilton Head Island brings the azaleas, the Heritage Golf
Tournament, and the newest installment in the Bay Tanner mystery
series.

In CANAAN'S GATE, Bay has settled into her new life as both an orphan
and a newly-married woman. Her husband and former brother-in-law, Red
Tanner, has left his job with the sheriff's office to join his wife at
the inquiry agency, a move that has created more problems than it's
solved.

Enter Cecelia Dobbs, a mousy bank employee, who suspects that one of
her co-workers may be involved in a scam that has cost the wealthy
Castlemains of Wexford Plantation close to a million dollars. No
sooner do Bay and her partner, Erik Whiteside, embark on the
investigation than one of the elderly couple dies under questionable
circumstances. Then Cecelia disappears,and Bay finds herself embroiled
in a nightmare chase where no one is who they seem to be and where one
wrong move could prove disastrous. . .

As always, I appreciate the support and encouragement I've received
from readers all over the world. Please check out my appearances on
the Web site and stop by to say hey if you're in the vicinity of any
of them. I hope to see you somewhere down the road . . .

Warm regards,
Kathy"

Me and My Toro Personal Pace Lawn Mower

Six years ago, I became the proud owner of a Toro Personal Pace Lawn Mower. For you Toro neophytes, "Personal Pace" is Toro's nomenclature for what the rest of refer to as "self-propelled." Being in my late 60's, I thought this was my last lawn mower. My theory was I would treat this baby with bi-monthly oil changes, air filter changes, and annual blade sharpening so that it would last a long time--thus postponing the point at which I would have to admit that I needed a lawn service.

Well, in 2007, I noticed that the "personal pace" technology had disappeared and I now had a regular "push mower." Being an optimistic idiot, I decided that this was a "good thing," going so far as to conclude that this was a message from the "Big Guy Upstairs" telling me that I needed the exercise required to push this damn thing.

But this spring, my body rebelled. I finally determined that all of this energy I was expending on my Toro could be used to play tennis or golf. It was an EPIPHANY! This damn mower should be moving itself and here I am pushing it. After examining the mower. I determined that the drive belt and the engaging mechanism were in good shape and that the problem must be the transmission.

Having convinced myself that I should bite the bullet and have it repaired, I went to my local Toro repair shop, Janney's, on north Secor. When I finally was attended to, I told the lady: " I have this Toro Personal Pace Lawn Mower, but unfortunately it has lost its pace, and now it's just personal--that being me." I thought I was being funny ( and the young man next to her smiled), but she just glared at me. I concluded that either she had no sense of humor or that she had heard this same line a hundred times and was sick of it. She informed me that it would be a month or more before they they could look at it to determine the problem. I asked, "Will Toro send someone out to mow my lawn in the meantime?" Her response was: " We are very busy; is there anything else I can do for you?" I left sensing that we did not share the same sense of humor.

Since I was confident that the problem was the transmission that transferred power to the rear wheels, I went home and began taking it apart. I soon learned that one had to disassemble most of the mower to remove the transmission. Being a Toro novice, that required two hours. Having checked the internet, I learned that a transmission was $39, but since I wanted it immediately, I decided to buy it locally. The problem was that the nearest place that stocked it was my humorless friend at Janney's. Having decided to forget humor, I returned the next day to purchase said transmission. On that day Miss or Mrs. Humorless was quite accommodating. Although I was tempted to surmise why she was in a good mood today, I decided to behave myself, get the damn transmission and get out. Of course, instead of $39, it cost me closer to $70, but I chalked that difference up to convenience.

At home, with the help of my wife, it took another four and a half hours to install and reassemble the mower. Nevertheless, I was feeling quite proud of myself, but unfortunately, I soon learned that the pace of the "Personal Pace" mower, when it was operating correctly, was considerably faster than MY personal pace.

DeToquiville Foresaw the Future

In his study of American politics, historian Alexis de Tocqueville praised the openness of our democratic system, but warned that "There will come a time when the rich and powerful try to kick the door closed." (DFA)

Women's "Equal Pay Day"

April 20 th.

"This is the day designated each year to mark how far into the year the average woman must work to earn what the average man made the previous year. Women working full-time and year-round currently earn about 77 cents for every dollar earned by men, so today marks the day using 2009 figures that an average woman would finally earn what an average man made in 2009. In Ohio, this pay deficiency ($33,628 per year compared to $45,214) for women and their families in real terms means they could buy food for another two years or pay mortgage and utility payments for nine more months." from Jennifer Brunner's email 4/20/2010

The Crazy World of ePublishing

Why would anyone pay more for an eBook than a hardcover? Why would anyone sell an eBook for more than a hardcover?

"Earlier today, Barnes & Noble's eBook Twitter feed proudly proclaimed that Stephanie Meyer's forthcoming novella, The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, is now available for pre-order.

The odd thing, as you can see in the screen shot above, is that the eBook from B&N ($9.99) costs more than the hardcover edition ($8.55). The same holds true in the Kindle store, except that Amazon is discounting the hardcover even further, selling it for $7.69

This is especially silly given the fact that Stephanie Meyer is giving a digital version of the book away for FREE, as we reported." (eBookNewser)

Since an eBook eliminates the cost of printing and physical distribution, one would think publishers would be pleased to sell the eBook for considerably less. Also, since most eBook versions are read only once or twice, publishers are likely to sell more versions compared to hardbacks which are passed from person to person over a period of years.

Why are they doing this? The answer seems to be the same old answer: "because they can" and "because they can increase the profit margin."

Quote from Seneca

Seneca

"Expecting is the greatest impediment to living. In anticipation of tomorrow, it loses today." ~ Seneca

My Taxes vs. Exxon Mobil's Taxes

Yesterday, April 15, 2010, I paid more federal taxes than Exxon Mobil (the corporation paid zero); but, on the other hand, I did not spend $27 million lobbying Congress for loop holes.