Happy Birthday, Valia!

Wishing my cousin Val a very, very happy birthday. A photo of the two of us in younger days:

Do the Math

I read an article recently about Harvard's admissions policy, and how it has changed over the years. The most interesting part was the discussion of Harvard's perceived value--i.e. the common belief that Harvard graduates earned more over their lifetimes than graduates of "lesser" schools. Many studies had shown such a result over the years. But they were comparing apples to oranges. Someone finally did a more thoughtful study, and compared Harvard grads to grads who had been accepted at Harvard, but chose to go to other schools, i.e. apples to apples.

Result? Same lifetime earnings.

A study in today's New York Times does the same thing. It compares how students of similar ability and similar socioeconomic status do in different learning environments. And, surprisingly to some (but not me), students in private schools don't have an advantage in math compared to similar students in public schools. They may even have a disadvantage!

The study found that while the raw scores of fourth graders in Roman Catholic schools, for example, were 14.3 points higher than those in public schools, when adjustments were made for student backgrounds, those in Catholic schools scored 3.4 points lower than those in public schools....

The study also found that charter schools, privately operated and publicly financed, did significantly worse than public schools in the fourth grade, once student populations were taken into account...

"Over all," it said, "demographic differences between students in public and private schools more than account for the relatively high raw scores of private schools. Indeed, after controlling for these differences, the presumably advantageous private school effect disappears, and even reverses in most cases."

My Dad always said that it wasn't what school you attended that mattered, it was how hard you studied. I guess he was right.

And so much for the righty push for vouchers. I guess it really is about diverting funds to religious schools and private enterprise after all. This shows that what we really need to do is go after the causes of these inequities, which is much harder than giving a wad of money to some Bible school (and won't get you the votes of the zealots.......)

And, because you can never have enough cute:

Lay-Offs

Ford has announced major cutbacks, laying off 30,000 employees. They're closing a huge plant in my neighborhood (Wixom), and many more around the country. DItto Chrysler, which is cutting 6,000 jobs.

The situation at GM is not any better. Faced with massive losses last year, they, too are cutting jobs. Probably another 30,000.

American manufacturers have trouble competing in this global marketplace with American built products. Why? For a start, $1500 dollars of the price of every car built in America goes to providing health care. Manufacturers in countries with government run health systems (i.e. the rest of the Western world) don't bear that cost. Ford and the others compete profitably in Europe. But not here.

Then there is the small issue of Asian govenment sanctioned currency manipulation, which keeps the value of the yen and yuan artificially low.

Bush has already announced that the automotive industry can't expect any sort of help form the government. (Apparently, unlike the airlines, Big Oil and Big PHARMA, they haven't given enough to the Republicans.....) But that's OK, as Bush's booming economy has created thousands of new service sector jobs! (Click on image to enlarge)

Alma Mater

This is a link to an article about Athens High School, my alma mater. (I was valedictorian of the first graduating class, no less!) I suppose it pales in comparison to the LSD trial, though (my former high school english teacher had a student drop acid in his coffee). Still, If I were judge, I would have thrown them into jail for crimes against nature––riding in a stretch Hummer!

Meanwhile, more successes of democracy in the Middle East––first, a Shiite theocracy in Iraq, and now terrorists in Palestine! I'm sure feeling....errrr, safer?

State of the Nation

For those of you actually brave (or masochistic) enough to listen, print out this handy-dandy Bush dictionary:

Me, I plan to watch a good DVD and read about the speech on Wednesday. Why? Bush's voice=nails on a chalkboard.

Letter

I've finished part one of my annual Christmas/Solstice/Winter letter, and have posted it here (you'll have to download it to read it). I've included a few photos this year. It only comes to 7+ printed pages (in 10 font with narrow margins); then again, it is only part one.

This first installment includes an update from the front lines of the War on Xmas, family news, a bit about the garden, and my India trip. Future installments will include my trips to the UP, Ukraine, and Idaho.

As always, you can view my travel pictures here.

And, to help explain labor statistics:

Who's spying on you?

The Bush administration recently demanded that Google hand over records about the behavior of millions of people who use its search engine. Specifically, the Justice Department wants data about every internet search during a one-week period.

Google refused.

Unfortunately, other search engine companies have not been as concerned with internet privacy. Microsoft (MSN), AOL and Yahoo complied with the request. In fact, Yahoo and Microsoft have been helping China control the web use of its citizens, going as far as to turn in dissidents.

Do you Yahoo? You shouldn't!

Happy Birthday Andy!

Wishing a very happy birthday to my cousin Andy, who's aged a bit since this photo was taken in 1971:

Still a man of action, though!

Martin and the War

I meant to post a link to MLK's Viet Nam speech on Monday, and compare the situation he describes to that currently in Iraq, but didn't get to it. This expresses it so much better than I could (click on the picture to make it bigger):

Also, you might be interested in this 1995 article about the last year of MLK's life, which is pretty much ignored by the media. Martin continued to work, not just for civil rights, but against the war and for social justice. This part of his life is mostly ignored––wouldn't want to bring up issues that would make the ruling class unhappy.

Fear

The man who was elected president in 2000 had this to say today:

Fear drives out reason. Fear suppresses the politics of discourse and opens the door to the politics of destruction. Justice Brandeis once wrote: "Men feared witches and burnt women."

The founders of our country faced dire threats. If they failed in their endeavors, they would have been hung as traitors. The very existence of our country was at risk.

Yet, in the teeth of those dangers, they insisted on establishing the Bill of Rights.

Is our Congress today in more danger than were their predecessors when the British army was marching on the Capitol? Is the world more dangerous than when we faced an ideological enemy with tens of thousands of missiles poised to be launched against us and annihilate our country at a moment's notice? Is America in more danger now than when we faced worldwide fascism on the march-–when our fathers fought and won two World Wars?

It is simply an insult to those who came before us and sacrificed so much on our behalf to imply that we have more to be fearful of than they. Yet they faithfully protected our freedoms and now it is up to us to do the same.

If only the man who was inaugurated cared for our country's freedoms, rather than his power and his cronies, nearly as much.

Those who are in power are a fearful bunch, and are willing to sacrifice their––and our––freedoms for some dubious measure of security. It's not worth it. Never was. Never will be.

Blood and Sand

A very good post from blogger Cervantes updates us on the public health situation in Iraq:

It is now more than a year later, and the only up-to-date information available is anecdotal. The intrepid Dahr Jamail reports that in the region of most active combat, particularly al-Anbar province, U.S. forces continue to raid, disrupt and damage hospitals in pursuit of insurgents. Even without the attacks, hospitals are barely functioning due to lack of electricity, non-functioning equipment, shortages of drugs and supplies, and curfews which force personnel to go home and services to stop after 5:00 pm.

Jamail also reports that unemployment is approximately 70%, most Iraqis cannot afford to feed themselves adequately, and hospitals in general are barely functional.

Nearly three years after the invasion, the U.S. can no longer legitimately blame Saddam Hussein for conditions in the country. Yet the administration has announced that it does not intend to spend any additional funds on the reconstruction of the country. Trends since September 2004 have undoubtedly been negative, so it is reasonable to suppose that excess deaths since the invasion are now at least somewhere close to 200,000 and probably mroe. But the future burden of a malnourished, chronically infected, psychologically traumatized population without access to medical care will continue to devastate the country for decades, regardless of how soon stability can be established and economic and social conditions improve.

Read the whole thing here.

You can also read about the devastation we have wrought here. And of course, there is the brilliant Rivebend, who writes of daily life in Iraq.

Not all war criminals are on trial.

Pretty!

Found while surfing the web. For a better view, click on the photo, or click here.

The Pleiades Star Cluster : Perhaps the most famous star cluster on the sky, the Pleiades can be seen without binoculars from even the depths of a light-polluted city. Also known as the Seven Sisters and M45, the Pleiades is one of the brightest and closest open clusters. The Pleiades contains over 3000 stars, is about 400 light years away, and only 13 light years across. Quite evident in the above photograph are the blue reflection nebulae that surround the brighter cluster stars. Low mass, faint, brown dwarfs have also been found in the Pleiades. The prominent diffraction spikes are caused by the telescope itself and may be either distracting or provide aesthetic enhancement, depending on your point of view.

Welcome NSA!

The NSA is intercepting phone calls made by Americans abroad, our mail is being opened, and Quakers and peace activists are being spied upon. It's the Nixon years redux! I would feel almost insulted not to be a "person of interest"!

And it seems that patriotism has changed much over the years. I find I prefer v1.0!

WPE

Because it can't be said often enough!

Cold, Cold, Cold......

Michigan weather is nothing if not schizoid. Yesterday it was 50 and raining. This morning I have a fresh coat of snow on the ground, and it's 26 degrees with very strong winds. I refilled the bird feeder earlier in the day wearing just a sweater (the juncos are quite happy), but now it's too cold to spend more than a minute or two outside. Brrrr!

It's a bit better inside. I warmed myself earlier with talk of India--two women from Ann Arbor came over, and we talked of Vellore. They're going for the first time later this month, and were given my name by a mutual acquaintance. I'm planning to go in mid-February, so I will just miss them over there. Blue skies and shimmering heat--I can almost feel it. I was inspired to post a few more of my India photos here. More to come in the next month, as I hope to get them all up before I leave and take even more.

Now I'm drinking tea and wearing woolly slippers--the house never gets quite warm when it is this cold out, and with natural gas prices being what they are, it's not really worth trying to heat it. I can lock myself up in the library upstairs, and put on the space heater to get cozy, once I finish today's appointed tasks.

The tea is also good for my persistent cold and cough, a gift from my youngest niece. Thanks, Fuzz!

Happy Birthday Bill!

...or Billy, as my cousin Val still calls him. This is his official newborn photo from many, many years ago:

Happy Birthday Nick!

May all your wishes come true!

Abramhoff

The Republicans and the press are trying to paint the most recent Congressional corruption scandal as a bipartisan one. But it's not. Abramoff and his cohorts went out of their way to cut the Democrats out of the flow of dirty K Street dolars.

This was an exchange between Howard Dean and Wolf Blitzer yesterday:

BLITZER: Should Democrats who took money from Jack Abramoff, who's now pleaded guilty to bribery charges among other charges, a Republican lobbyist in Washington — should the Democrats who took money from him give that money to charity or give it back?

DEAN: There are no Democrats who took money from Jack Abramoff. Not one. Not one single Democrat. Every person named in this scandal is a Republican, every person under investigation is a Republican, every person indicted is a Republican. This is a Republican finance scandal. There is no evidence that Jack Abramoff ever gave any Democrat any money, and we've looked through all those FEC reports to make sure that's true.

BLITZER: [Stammering] But through various Abramoff-related organizations, and outfits, a bunch of Democrats did take money that presumably originated with Jack Abramoff.

DEAN: That's not true either. There's no evidence for that either, there's no evidence...

BLITZER: What about Senator, what about, what about, what about Senator Byron Dorgan?

DEAN: Senator Byron Dorgan and some others took money from Indian tribes. They're not agents of Jack Abramoff. There's no evidence that I've seen that Jack Abramoff directed any contributions to Democrats. I know the Republican National Committee would like to get the Democrats involved in this. They're scared. They should be scared. They haven't told the truth, and they have misled the American people, and now it appears they're stealing from Indian tribes. The Democrats are not involved in this.

BLITZER: [Long pause, apparently getting direction in his earpiece] [Sigh] Unfortunately, we, uh, Mr. Chairman, we've got to leave it right there.

Note how Blitzer says that money donated by Indian tribes "presumably originated with Jack Abramoff," with absolutely no evidence or basis in fact. Objective journalism at its finest. Mary Beth Williams of Wampum makes an analogy:

In the interest of full-disclosure, Eric and I purchased gas from the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe last summer in Michigan. The Saginaw-Chippewa were clients of Jack Abramoff’s lobbying firm. Thus, we here at Wampum have been tainted by the receipt of an Abramoff-linked commodity. Hence, the Koufax Awards must also be tainted, as are all the recipients of Awards from the past four years. And if FEC blog-linking rules go into effect, we’ve poisoned everyone on our sidebar as well. Isn’t that how it works, according to new GOP “they did it too” rules?

I guess I'm guilty, too, as I always fill up my tank in Baraga at the Indian-run gas station there.

A sight I look forward to seeing soon:

Bushspeak: Freedom

This was originally published in 2003. Not much has changed, except for the worst.

The Cost of War

The human cost is the worst. The Iraqi dead, whom no one officially counts, number in the many thousands. The military dead were 30,00 or more; to us they may be the enemy, but they were conscripts protecting their land from invaders. The civilian dead are at least 30,000 (Bush's number), and possibly greater than 100,000 (based on research published in the Lancet). And they keep dying, in tens and twenties, every day.

Then there are our war dead. Eleven dead on Thursday. Seventeen more since I went to bed last night--five by bombs, twelve in a helicopter crash. They now number 2200+ And, according to an article that came out January 6th, 80% of these deaths were unnecessary. UNNECESSARY!

A secret Pentagon study has found that as many as 80 percent of the marines who have been killed in Iraq from wounds to the upper body could have survived if they had had extra body armor. Such armor has been available since 2003, but until recently the Pentagon has largely declined to supply it to troops despite calls from the field for additional protection, according to military officials.

1600+ fewer dead, 1600+ fewer grieving families, 2000+ fewer children losing a parent.

There is a special place reserved in hell for Donald Rumsfeld, and all those who are responsible for this. May they burn for all eternity.

Then there are the injured. Hundreds of thousands of maimed Iraqis and maimed Americans. Amputees, depleted uranium, and brain injuries. Not to mention PTSD. And our government trying to deny benefits to the returning veterans.

The financial cost is another matter. This war, which was to have paid for itself, is not being paid for by us. No, the cost is being passed on to future generations of workers (because, in George Bush's America, only wages will be taxed. Capital gains, dividends, inheritances, trust funds and other non-labor related income will be tax-free. Joe Sixpack pays through the nose, while Paris Hilton never pays a dime.)

The real cost to America of the Iraq war is likely to be between $1 trillion and $2 trillion, up to 10 times more than previously thought, according to a report written by a Nobel prize-winning economist and a Harvard budget expert. The study, which expands on traditional estimates by including such costs as lifetime disability and healthcare for troops injured in the conflict as well as the impact on the American economy, concludes that the U.S. Government is continuing to grossly underestimate the cost of the war.

And Kerry was laughed at when he said the war would cost 200 billion dollars!

And to paraphrase Kerry, "How do you ask a man to be the last man to die in Iraq? How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?"

It's time to leave Iraq--for their sake, and for ours. The hell with Bush and the Neocon's grand vision for their new world order, a "New American Century". We must end the madness!

Merry Christmas! Веселих Свят!

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which never got around to switching over to that newfangled Gregorian calendar, is celebrating Christmas today. Last night, after Christmas Eve service, my family and I had Sviat Vechir (Holy Night) at my mother's house, with the traditional twelve course Lenten meal. Here they are, posing, not entirely voluntarily, during a commercial break:

Today we go to church (again),and get together with family (again). No gifts (those are given on Saint Nicholas Day, December 19th) or commercial exploitation, just a nice old fashioned holiday. Perhaps some caroling, and getting to see old friends. Religious. Traditional. Like the one those whiners at Faux news go on and on about, but don't seem to practice.

Anyway, I found this old photo of my very first Christmas; here I am posing with my Tato:

For more about Ukrianian Christmas traditions, look here.

2005 Year in Review

I could try and write a year in review, but it would never even begin to compare with Dave Barry's. So read it instead.

Meanwhile, the Bush Education policy:

Inauspicious Start

My New Year has had a bit of an inauspicious start; I'm hoping this means I am getting all my bad luck out of the way immediately, rather than a sign of things to come. I spent New Year's Eve miserable with a cold, but had perked up enough by the next day to go to a lovely dinner party. Paul, a good friend of mine, had studied at the Cordon Bleu in Paris several years ago. A classmate of his was visiting from California for the holidays, and they decided to cook. It was a heck of a mean--French onion soup, veal with apples, a roast suckling pig, lots of lovely salads and sides, and a mountain of cream puffs for dessert. Heavenly. We sat and talked and had a nice evening.

Then, later, at home alone, I slipped on the top stair and fell down the entire flight. Visions of death from a broken neck, and other painful forms of dismemberment flashed before my eyes. I was surprised, then, to discover myself at the bottom of the stairs largely intact, if quite sore. I did take out a couple of small lower branches on the Christmas tree, but otherwise there seemed to be no serious damage. The sad part is that I was completely sober at the time. No excuse, but I will no longer go about in socked feet--only bare feet or slippers from now on.

Today I note some strange bruising on my toes, and a very sore right knee (it is my bad knee, having been seriously injured on top of a mountain in Nicaragua several years ago). It is not the sort of pain that Vicodin relieves, unfortunately; it is a stabbing pain that occurs when I turn the wrong way. I managed to scrub three C-sections today, and see a bunch of patients, but only by limping and gritting my teeth.

Ukraine is not having a good start to the new year, either. Putin has decided to try and impose Russian hegemony over Ukraine by cutting off its natural gas supply. They don't say that--their reason is Ukraine's refusal to pay "market rates" for the gas, even though Ukraine has a contract through 2009 for the lower price. Right now they're paying $50 per unit; Putin wants to raise it to $230. This would destroy the Ukrainian economy. Yushchenko has offered to have a phased-in rise in rates, but Pooty-Poot refuses.

Unfortunately for Putin, most of Russia's gas lines to Western Europe (a major customer for their gas) run through Ukraine. , and they can't shut off the spigot to Ukraine without affecting the EU. And the EU is pissed. The Ukrainian people, who were supposed to be upset with their government, are pissed off at the Russians, too.

It seems that Putin is as good at winning hearts and minds as his soul mate, W.

New Year in Ukraine

My godson's father in Kyiv sent me this, reflecting how the Ukrainians seem to feel about the gas cut-off.

Champagne is an integral part of any Ukrainian celebration. This bottle of Ukrainian champagne is "Gas Free", and the note on the side proclaims "may the damned Russians choke on their own gas."

And here Danziger shows Putin for what he is--just another Russian despot.

Simple Arithmetic

Molly Ivins always says it much better than I can.

Happy New Year!

Let's hope it is a better one than 2005, or we are all so screwed!!!

I've been nursing a cold since yesterday, with soup and wine (the bottle was open, and you just can't let a 19 year old Mendoza cabernet sauvignon go to waste!) I'm a bit too groggy to write much, so have been nestled at home editing photos (check out the South Dakota pics on my .Mac site).

I've been watching the birds at the feeder. They came all day yesterday, despite the wet snow. The house sparrows have finally found the feeder, and have been coming en mass (as they seem to do everything). If the blue jays are feeding when they arrive, they will sit quietly on the spruce, in their little group, waiting their turn. No one messes with the jays--I even saw them dive-bomb a squirrel once.

Too lazy to write, I am stealing this list from Steve Gilliard. I found it interesting. Hope you do, too.

1 January: The first day of the year in the Gregorian calendar used by most developed countries.

Rosh Hashanah (Hebrew for 'head of the year') is a celebration that occurs 163 days following Pesach (Passover) (See Hebrew Calendar). In the Gregorian calendar at present, Rosh Hashanah cannot occur before 5 September, when it occurred in 1899 and will occur again in 2013. After the year 2089, the differences between the Hebrew Calendar and the Gregorian Calendar will force Rosh Hashanah to be not earlier than 6 September. Rosh Hashanah cannot occur later than 5 October, when it occurred in 1967 and will again occur in 2043.

In the Eastern Orthodox Church, New Years is on 14 January (1 January in the Julian Calendar). Many in the countries where Eastern Orthodoxy predominates celebrate both the Gregorian and Julian New Years.

The Chinese New Year occurs every year at a new moon during the winter. The exact date can fall anytime between 21 January and 21 February inclusive, on the Gregorian Calendar. Because the Chinese calendar is astronomically defined, unlike the Gregorian Calendar, the drift of the seasons will change the range. Each year is symbolized by one of 12 animals and one of five elements, with the combinations of animals and elements (or stems) cycling every 60 years. It is perhaps the most important Chinese holiday. The Chinese New Year is generally celebrated with firecrackers, and in some places with a parade.

The Vietnamese New Year is the Tet Nguyen Dan. It is celebrated on the same day as Chinese New Year.

The Tibetan New Year is Losar and falls from January through March.

In the Bahá'í calendar, the new year occurs on the vernal equinox on 21 March, and is called Naw-Rúz.

The Telugu New Year generally falls in the months of March or April. The people of Andhra Pradesh, India celebrate the advent of Lunar year this day.

The Thai New Year is celebrated from 13 April to 15 April by throwing water.

The Cambodian New Year is celebrated from 13 April to 15 April.

The Bengali New Year Poila Baisakh is celebrated on 14 April or 15 April in a festive manner in both Bangladesh and West Bengal.

The Ethiopian New Year, Enkutatash, is celebrated on 11 September. It is currently 1998 on the Ethiopian calendar.

Some neo-pagans celebrate Samhain (a festival of the ancient Celts, held around November 1) as a new year's day representing the new cycle of the Wheel of the Year, although they do not use a different calendar that starts on this day.

The Hindu New Year is celebrated usually two days after the festival of Diwali (held in mid-November).

The Islamic New Year is celebrated on 1 Muharram. Since the Muslim calendar is based on 12 lunar months amounting to about 354 days, the Gregorian date of this is earlier each year. 2008 will see two Muslim New Years.

The Iranian New Year, called Norouz, is celebrated at the exact moment of the vernal equinox, commencing the start of the spring season.