http://www.estatevaults.com/bol/ Marriage, birth, divorce, transitions, widowed, career, retirement, transitions, death, moving, rules of life, aging, caregiving, life events, life changes http://www.estatevaults.com/images/bol_banner_thumb.jpg http://www.estatevaults.com/bol/ 92 40 en-us jillfallon@gmail.com Jill Fallon Copyright 2009 Jill Fallon 2009-11-20T11:35:32-05:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 http://www.estatevaults.com/bol/archives/2009/11/20/irresponsible_u.html Jill Fallon Culture and Society 2009-11-20T11:35:32-05:00 I really try not to write about politics on this blog, but the Attorney General's decision to give Khalid Sheik Mohammed and his fellow terrorists a civilian trial in New York City just blocks from Ground Zero has had... http://www.estatevaults.com/bol/archives/2009/11/20/irresponsible_u.html I really try not to write about politics on this blog, but the Attorney General's decision to give Khalid Sheik Mohammed and his fellow terrorists a civilian trial in New York City just blocks from Ground Zero has had me infuriated for days.  Charles Krauthammer on the Travesty in New York For late-19th-century anarchists, terrorism was the "propaganda of the deed." And the most successful propaganda-by-deed in history was 9/11 -- not just the most destructive, but the most spectacular and telegenic. And now its self-proclaimed architect, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, has been given by the Obama administration a civilian trial in New York. Just as the memory fades, 9/11 has been granted a second life -- and KSM, a second act: "9/11, The Director's Cut," narration by KSM. September 11, 2001 had to speak for itself. A decade later, the deed will be given voice. KSM has gratuitously been presented with the greatest propaganda platform imaginable -- a civilian trial in the media capital of the world -- from which to proclaim the glory of jihad and the criminality of infidel America. -- By what logic? In his congressional testimony Wednesday, Holder was utterly incoherent in trying to explain. In his Nov. 13 news conference, he seemed to be saying that if you attack a civilian target, as in 9/11, you get a civilian trial; a military target like the Cole, and you get a military tribunal. -- Moreover, the incentive offered any jihadi is as irresistible as it is perverse: Kill as many civilians as possible on American soil and Holder will give you Miranda rights, a lawyer, a propaganda platform -- everything but your own blog. I was shocked to see that Attorney General Holder never seemed to have considered precedent which is the first thing any law school student learns.  Lindsey Graham asks "If Bin Laden were captured today would we have to read him his Miranda rights at the moment of capture?"  Andrew McCarthy is the go-to guy to read when it comes to criminal trials for terrorists.  He is the former Assistant United States Attorney who in 1995 prosecuted Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman and 11 others for the 1993 bombing of World Trade Center bombing and this is what he has to say The decision to bring Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other top al-Qaeda terrorists to New York City for a civilian trial is one of the most irresponsible ever made by a presidential administration. That it is motivated by politics could not be more obvious. That it spells unprecedented danger for our security will soon become obvious. -- Pres. Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder, experienced litigators, fully realize that in civilian court, the Qaeda quintet can and will demand discovery of mountains of government intelligence. They will demand disclosures about investigative tactics; the methods and sources by which intelligence has been obtained; the witnesses from the intelligence community, the military, and law enforcement who interrogated witnesses, conducted searches, secretly intercepted enemy communications, and employed other investigative techniques. They will attempt to compel testimony from officials who formulated U.S. counterterrorism strategy, in addition to U.S. and foreign intelligence officers. As civilian “defendants,” these war criminals will put Bush-era counterterrorism tactics under the brightest public spotlight in American legal history. This is Justice Delayed by "Holder's friends in the al-Qaeda bar that caused the trial delays he now criticizes." It is mind-boggling that the delay in completing commission trials would be derided by Eric Holder, a lawyer whose firm is among those responsible for the litigation-driven delay that became a lawfare triumph for al-Qaeda. Holder and his comrades did everything they could do to undermine the commission system, both in legal motions and in public appearances accusing the Bush administration of torture, war crimes, and disregard for the legal rights of terrorists. And exactly when would Holder have had Khalid Sheikh Mohammed be tried? We did not gain custody of him until his capture by the Pakstanis in 2003. After that, years were taken to break him in our attempt to extract the full breadth of his knowledge of al-Qaeda’s players and plans, and to exploit that intelligence to save lives. KSM was submitted to a military commission in 2006 — shortly after Holder’s colleagues in the al-Qaeda bar got the commission system invalidated in Hamdan. Yet, within two years (i.e., in less time than most civilian terrorism cases), KSM and four fellow war criminals stood ready to plead guilty and proceed to execution. But then the Obama administration blew into Washington. Want to talk about delay? Obama shut down the commission despite the jihadists’ efforts to conclude it by pleading guilty. Obama’s team permitted no movement on the case for eleven months and now has torpedoed a perfectly valid commission case — despite keeping the commission system for other cases — so that we can instead endure an incredibly expensive and burdensome civilian trial that will take years to complete. The KSM were "ready to plead guilty and proceed to execution".    Americans, especially New Yorkers, deserve more than this irresponsible, unnecessary, reckless and political show trial proposed by this Administration. http://www.estatevaults.com/bol/archives/2009/11/20/irresponsible_u.html#comments http://www.estatevaults.com/bol/archives/2009/11/20/unlikely_and_in.html Jill Fallon Parenting 2009-11-20T10:36:15-05:00 IN 1975 Hung Ba Lee was only 5 when he fled Vietnam in a fishing boat piloted by his father,  a commander in the South Vietnamese Navy and the rest of his family and 400 other refugess.  They were... http://www.estatevaults.com/bol/archives/2009/11/20/unlikely_and_in.html IN 1975 Hung Ba Lee was only 5 when he fled Vietnam in a fishing boat piloted by his father,  a commander in the South Vietnamese Navy and the rest of his family and 400 other refugess.  They were rescued at sea by the US navy, taken to a U.S. base in the Philippines, then a refugee camp in California and finally to Virginia where the family rebuilt their lives. Last week, Le returned to Vietnam as commander of a Navy warship. Unique homecoming to Vietnam for US commander. Le returned on the Lassen, an $800 million, 509-foot destroyer equipped with Tomahawk missiles and a crew of 300. The ship and the USS Blue Ridge, the command vessel for the U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet, are making the latest in a series of goodwill visits to Vietnam, which began in 2003 when the USS Vandergriff paid a port call to Ho Chi Minh City, the former Saigon. "I thought that one day I would return but I really didn't expect to be returning as the commander of a Navy warship," Le said after stepping ashore Saturday. "It's an incredible personal honor." "I'm proud to be an American, but I'm also very proud of my Vietnamese heritage," said Le, who spoke a few halting words in Vietnamese. -- Le has few memories of his three-day journey on the fishing trawler, which ended just as they were running out of food, water and fuel. But he has vivid memories of the example set by his father, Thong Ba Le, who is now 69 and has never returned to Vietnam. After the family settled in northern Virginia, he took a job in a supermarket, where he worked his way up from bag boy to manager. "I always wanted to be like my dad," Le said. "He persevered and overcame many challenges." http://www.estatevaults.com/bol/archives/2009/11/20/unlikely_and_in.html#comments http://www.estatevaults.com/bol/archives/2009/11/18/when_unemployme.html Jill Fallon Economy 2009-11-18T10:43:51-05:00 A terrific multimedia timeline graphic on the rise of unemployment across the country from 2007-2009. "The worst is yet to come" writes Nouriel Roubini, one economist who saw the trouble coming and about whom Fortune magazine said In 2005,... http://www.estatevaults.com/bol/archives/2009/11/18/when_unemployme.html A terrific multimedia timeline graphic on the rise of unemployment across the country from 2007-2009. "The worst is yet to come" writes Nouriel Roubini, one economist who saw the trouble coming and about whom Fortune magazine said In 2005, Roubini said home prices were riding a speculative wave that would soon sink the economy. Back then the professor was called a Cassandra. Now he's a sage. Unemployed Americans should hunker dow for more job losses. This is very bad news but we must face facts. Many of the lost jobs are gone forever, including construction jobs, finance jobs and manufacturing jobs. Recent studies suggest that a quarter of U.S. jobs are fully out-sourceable over time to other countries. -- Based on my best judgment, it is most likely that the unemployment rate will peak close to 11% and will remain at a very high level for two years or more. The weakness in labor markets and the sharp fall in labor income ensure a weak recovery of private consumption and an anemic recovery of the economy, and increases the risk of a double dip recession. Ben Bernake is more circumspect In remarks to the Economic Club of New York, Bernanke predicted the economy should continue to grow next year, but he warned of "important headwinds," including a weak job market and tight credit for small businesses and households. Those forces "likely will prevent the expansion from being as robust as we would hope," he said. So what's an average person to do? Megan McArdle who blogs on economics for the Atlantic has had her own share of economic travails.  Newly engaged, she was surprised to find herself converted by financial guru David Ramsey whose message is simple Lead Us Not Into Debt. Nonetheless, Ramsey has made a convert out of a secular journalist with one of the pricey M.B.A.s he likes to poke fun at. I have never felt as serenely in control of my finances as I have during these months of knowing that every single dollar is where it is supposed to be: either in the bank, or on a well-chaperoned date with our envelope organizer. The process has been surprisingly painless but, even more surprisingly, pleasant. http://www.estatevaults.com/bol/archives/2009/11/18/when_unemployme.html#comments http://www.estatevaults.com/bol/archives/2009/11/18/30_second_cure.html Jill Fallon Organizing and Practical Tips 2009-11-18T08:08:16-05:00 Alone at home last night, I came down with hiccups that wouldn't stop.  I googled and found this 30 second cure for hiccups that I pass on because it worked right away.  The key is in the swallowing.... http://www.estatevaults.com/bol/archives/2009/11/18/30_second_cure.html Alone at home last night, I came down with hiccups that wouldn't stop.  I googled and found this 30 second cure for hiccups that I pass on because it worked right away.  The key is in the swallowing. http://www.estatevaults.com/bol/archives/2009/11/18/30_second_cure.html#comments http://www.estatevaults.com/bol/archives/2009/11/16/the_economic_ef.html Jill Fallon Culture and Society 2009-11-16T22:54:43-05:00 Michael Fitzgerald writes a terrific article on the curious economic effects of religion in the Boston Globe Satan, the great motivator A pair of Harvard researchers recently examined 40 years of data from dozens of countries, trying to sort... http://www.estatevaults.com/bol/archives/2009/11/16/the_economic_ef.html Michael Fitzgerald writes a terrific article on the curious economic effects of religion in the Boston Globe Satan, the great motivator A pair of Harvard researchers recently examined 40 years of data from dozens of countries, trying to sort out the economic impact of religious beliefs or practices. They found that religion has a measurable effect on developing economies - and the most powerful influence relates to how strongly people believe in hell. -- It stands as one of the more intriguing findings in a growing body of recent research exploring how religion might influence the wealth and prosperity of societies. In recent years, Italian economists have presented findings that religion can boost GDP by increasing trust within a society; researchers in the United States showed that religion reduces corruption and increases respect for law in ways that boost overall economic growth. A number of researchers have documented how merchants used religious backgrounds to establish one another’s reliabity -- On a larger scale, religious denominations affect economics by creating bonds of trust and shared commitment among small groups, both necessary qualities for lending and trade. In the Middle Ages, studies show, monk-run estates outperformed those that used serfs, thanks to religiously inspired cooperation and frugality. The Quakers of 18th-century Britain, renowned for their scrupulous honesty, came to dominate British finance. Ultra-orthodox Jews similarly dominate New York’s diamond trade because of levels of trust based on religion. Modern religious kibbutzim on average outperform their secular rivals, in part because of trust built through engaging in communal religious rituals. Back in 1985 German-born Cardinal Ratzinger who was to become  Pope Benedict XVI  presented a paper entitled ``Market Economy and Ethics'' at a Rome event dedicated to the Church and the economy in which he predicted that  a decline in ethics ``can actually cause the laws of the market to collapse.'' It is becoming an increasingly obvious fact of economic history that the development of economic systems which concentrate on the common good depends on a determinate ethical system, which in turn can be born and sustained only by strong religious convictions. Conversely, it has also become obvious that the decline of such discipline can actually cause the laws of the market to collapse. An economic policy that is ordered not only to the good of the group — indeed, not only to the common good of a determinate state — but to the common good of the family of man demands a maximum of ethical discipline and thus a maximum of religious strength. The political formation of a will that employs the inherent economic laws towards this goal appears, in spite of all humanitarian protestations, almost impossible today. It can only be realized if new ethical powers are completely set free. On his visit to the White House, Pope Benedict quoted his predecessor Pope John Paul II he reminded us that history shows, time and again, that "in a world without truth, freedom loses its foundation", and a democracy without values can lose its very soul ...Those prophetic words in some sense echo the conviction of President Washington, expressed in his Farewell Address, that religion and morality represent "indispensable supports" of political prosperity. But there's more to it.  Arab societies are strongly religious in their profession of Islam.  Yet Arab societies, apart from oil money, have not developed economically as they should have.  Joseph Loconte strongly suggests that  economic prosperity requires religious liberty in Economic Prosperity: A Step of Faith Christian reformers of the seventeenth century, in fact, were among the first to grasp the importance of freedom of conscience to the stability and economic well-being of the state. -- Henry Robinson (1605-1664), a merchant and son of a wealthy London tradesman, traveled widely on the Continent...Robinson regarded the right of private judgment in matters of faith as essential to human flourishing, akin to the right to private property or private enterprise. These rights were connected, and the repression of religious freedom produced blowback in the economic realm. -- These facts still seem to be lost on many Muslim intellectuals. They complain about the “deprivation of human capability” in the Arab world, but exonerate regimes that deprive people of their inalienable rights. They link economic growth to new forms of “social cohesion,” but tolerate political arrangements that guarantee social strife. They even call for a “fundamental rethinking” of how Arab states should approach cultural and religious diversity—yet refuse to rethink their assumptions about the nature of religious belief or the moral demands of human dignity. It requires no leap of faith—just, perhaps, a little historical memory—to realize this is not the road to economic development. It is the long and fractious and familiar detour to permanent stagnation. http://www.estatevaults.com/bol/archives/2009/11/16/the_economic_ef.html#comments http://www.estatevaults.com/bol/archives/2009/11/16/marketbased_hea.html Jill Fallon Economy 2009-11-16T21:01:13-05:00 Seven market-based health care solutions that have lowered health care costs and improved both access and quality of service  have gone unnoticed.  Congress to Healthcare Market: Drop Dead 1. Retail clinics 2. Retail clinic-hospital partnerships 3. On-site workplace healthcare... http://www.estatevaults.com/bol/archives/2009/11/16/marketbased_hea.html Seven market-based health care solutions that have lowered health care costs and improved both access and quality of service  have gone unnoticed.  Congress to Healthcare Market: Drop Dead 1. Retail clinics 2. Retail clinic-hospital partnerships 3. On-site workplace healthcare clinics 4. Affordable $4 generic drugs that have already saved consumers $1 billion since Walmart introduced them in 2008. 5. Prepaid medical plans 6. Concierge medicine 7. High-deductible health insurance plans along with individually owned and managed health savings accounts. Just for the record, the CBO released its cost analysis of the Republican health care plan and found it would reduce health care premiums and the deficit by $68 billion over 10 years. How were the Republicans able to reduce costs? • by creating high-risk insurance pools • allowing people to purchase health insurance policies across state lines • instituting medical malpractice reforms Today, small businesses  - the ones who create the majority of jobs - have difficulties finding affordable health plans for their employees because they lack the negotiating leverage a large business has.  Under the Republican plan, rates would drop 7-10% for  small business plans, 5-8% for the individual market and only 0-3% for large corporations. http://www.estatevaults.com/bol/archives/2009/11/16/marketbased_hea.html#comments http://www.estatevaults.com/bol/archives/2009/11/16/health_roundup_2.html Jill Fallon Economy 2009-11-16T16:55:45-05:00 Here are some miscellaneous health care stories from the past several days that seem worthy of notice. I never knew that breast-feeding your baby helps you shed extra weight you gain during the pregnancy. Breast-Feed the Baby, Love the... http://www.estatevaults.com/bol/archives/2009/11/16/health_roundup_2.html Here are some miscellaneous health care stories from the past several days that seem worthy of notice. I never knew that breast-feeding your baby helps you shed extra weight you gain during the pregnancy. Breast-Feed the Baby, Love the Calorie Burn Dr Miriam Grossman, a psychiatrist who spent 20 years counseling college students is on a tear to challenge the "sex ed oligarchy"  What's missing in sex education.  She specifically wants to smash the ideas that "sex trumps everything" in life, and "promiscuity, experimentation and fringe behaviors" are healthy. In Britain with recent changes to assisted suicide rules,  a group of leading lawyers, peers and former judges warn Elderly and disabled could be forced to commit suicide under changes to rules “The current law acts as a powerful deterrent against abuse and exploitation of vulnerable people and has been firmly upheld by Parliament.  Removing these safeguards could lead to increase in vulnerable and disabled people being pressured into ending their lives.” Elder medical care is not one of the six core areas that are the focus of medical school training.  The American Geriatric Society calls out to all medical schools to prepare all medical students to treat the elderly.  There are just not enough geriatricians to go around (only 1 geriatrician for 2546 elderly today and in 20 years only 1 for 5000 elderly) There are drugs that work to prevent prostate cancer and breast cancer.  So why aren't people at risk taking them? Gina Kolata tries to figure out why Medicines to Deter Some Cancers Are Not Taken Much of what Americans do in the name of warding off cancer has not been shown to matter, and some things are actually harmful. Yet the few medicines proved to deter cancer are widely ignored. "Rumbles through the medical community" as a third study questions the effectiveness of the popular cholesterol drugs Zetia and Vytorin.  A widely prescribed and expensive cholesterol drug is not as effective as niacin, a cheap vitamin, in helping to unclog coronary arteries in people already taking statins, the standard medicines used to lower cholesterol, according to a new study. http://www.estatevaults.com/bol/archives/2009/11/16/health_roundup_2.html#comments http://www.estatevaults.com/bol/archives/2009/11/14/holy_crap_thats.html Jill Fallon Science/ wonders 2009-11-14T10:08:16-05:00 Surfer dude stuns physicists with theory of everything An impoverished surfer has drawn up a new theory of the universe, seen by some as the Holy Grail of physics, which has received rave reviews from scientists. Garrett Lisi, 39,... http://www.estatevaults.com/bol/archives/2009/11/14/holy_crap_thats.html Surfer dude stuns physicists with theory of everything An impoverished surfer has drawn up a new theory of the universe, seen by some as the Holy Grail of physics, which has received rave reviews from scientists. Garrett Lisi, 39, has a doctorate but no university affiliation and spends most of the year surfing in Hawaii, where he has also been a hiking guide and bridge builder (when he slept in a jungle yurt). Lee Smolin at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, describes Lisi's work as "fabulous". "It is one of the most compelling unification models I've seen in many, many years," he says. -- Lisi's inspiration lies in the most elegant and intricate shape known to mathematics, called E8 - a complex, eight-dimensional mathematical pattern with 248 points first found in 1887, but only fully understood by mathematicians this year after workings, that, if written out in tiny print, would cover an area the size of Manhattan. E8 encapsulates the symmetries of a geometric object that is 57-dimensional and is itself is 248-dimensional. Lisi says "I think our universe is this beautiful shape." -- Lisi's breakthrough came when he noticed that some of the equations describing E8's structure matched his own. "My brain exploded with the implications and the beauty of the thing," he tells New Scientist. "I thought: 'Holy crap, that's it!'" The above linked article by Roger Highfield appeared in 2007 and since has been viewed over a million times as Highfield follows up in the Surfer dude's theory of everything: the magic of Garrett Lisi There is no way I can grasp what he is doing but the video that purports to explain it is stunningly beautiful and ordered, so I conclude he's on to something. http://www.estatevaults.com/bol/archives/2009/11/14/holy_crap_thats.html#comments http://www.estatevaults.com/bol/archives/2009/11/13/the_center_of_o.html Jill Fallon Science/ wonders 2009-11-13T16:52:00-05:00 The dazzling image combining reds, yellows, blues and purples, was created by layering stunningly detailed pictures from the Hubble Space Telescope, the Spitzer Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory on top of each other. The Milky Way is at... http://www.estatevaults.com/bol/archives/2009/11/13/the_center_of_o.html The dazzling image combining reds, yellows, blues and purples, was created by layering stunningly detailed pictures from the Hubble Space Telescope, the Spitzer Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory on top of each other. The Milky Way is at the centre of our own galaxy and this image shows its core. The image was created to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first demonstration of his telescope. Each telescope's contribution has been presented in a different colour. Yellow represents the near-infrared observations of Hubble, which is better known for its astonishing visible-light pictures.These infrared observations outline the most active regions where stars are being born and reveal hundreds of thousands of stars. Red represents the infrared observations of Spitzer. The radiation and winds from stars create glowing dust clouds that form complex structures from compact spheres to long, stringy filaments. Blue and violet represent the X-ray observations of Chandra. X-rays are emitted by gas heated to millions of degrees by stellar explosions and outflows from the super-massive black hole in the galaxy's centre. The bright blue blob on the left side is an emission from a double star system containing either a neutron star or a black hole. A supermassive black hole - some four million times more massive than the Sun - resides within the bright region in the lower right. When these views are brought together, the composite image provides one of the most detailed views ever of our galaxy's mysterious core. http://www.estatevaults.com/bol/archives/2009/11/13/the_center_of_o.html#comments http://www.estatevaults.com/bol/archives/2009/11/11/at_the_eleventh.html Jill Fallon Art 2009-11-11T09:54:35-05:00 The Armistice between the Allies and Germany calling for the cessation of hostilities and ending WWI  took effect.  Twenty million died. In Flanders Fields John McCrae In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That... http://www.estatevaults.com/bol/archives/2009/11/11/at_the_eleventh.html The Armistice between the Allies and Germany calling for the cessation of hostilities and ending WWI  took effect.  Twenty million died. In Flanders Fields John McCrae In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved, and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders Fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders Fields. http://www.estatevaults.com/bol/archives/2009/11/11/at_the_eleventh.html#comments