Archive for May, 2011
Free Kids’ Building Clinics
Friday, May 27th, 2011[ May 7, 2011; 10:00 am to 11:00 am. May 28, 2011; 10:00 am to 11:00 am. ] Lowes Build and Grow clinics are free workshops to teach kids about building and safety. The recommended ages for these clinics are grades 1-5th. These clinics are limited to the first 50 kids registered and at the store at 10 a.m. All supplies are included, along with a free apron and goggles. Biplane: Saturday 05/28/2011…
Click on the post for more details!
Curcumin Against Mesothelioma
Thursday, May 26th, 2011For decades researchers have been trying potential chemopreventives on members of the Tyler Asbestos Workers cohort; so far without success. Nether beta-carotene, diet nor vitamins have held off the ravages of cancer inflicted by these men’s work at the Unibestos facility in Tyler, TX where amosite insulation for nuclear reactors aboard submarines and aircraft carriers was made in the 1960s.
The idea has been to find something with antioxidant properties that might protect workers from the slowly dissolving amphibole fibers in their lungs that are thought to continuously produce free radicals. So far, no luck. But here’s a new study from Michigan suggesting that a potent anti-cancer supplement, curcumin, may in fact restart the body’s defense mechanisms against malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM): "Curcumin Suppresses Growth of Mesothelioma Cells In Vitro and In Vivo, in Part, by Stimulating Apoptosis".
Curcumin, like rapamycin, is a very big deal these days. Drop either word into the search window at www.pubmed.gov and you’ll see what I mean. After so many false dawns in the war against cancer it’s hard not to assume that this isn’t another one. Yet somehow, for these two antibiotics, the evidence has piled up to a point where many are starting to think they see some light on the horizon.
Facebook…
Wednesday, May 25th, 2011Today’s Nablopomo prompt is…
What was the last really great book you read?
Sadly I have not read a book in years… well except the book I have read for years. I sometimes have to go back and restart ‘The Fountainhead’ because it has been so long. I am on page 186 in Ayn Rand’s ‘The Fountainhead.’ Maybe I should find something else to read to see if I can still read a book. I was once a big reader.
I’m on Facebook …
It’s not the same is it.
Nablopomo is National Blog Posting Month, the idea is to publish a post every day….
Related posts:
Kasich On Senate Bill 5: ‘I Am Very Optimistic’
Wednesday, May 25th, 2011One day after thousands of Senate Bill 5 opponents crammed the Statehouse to voice their anger with lawmakers pushing collective bargaining reform, Governor John Kasich said he is optimistic the legislation will pass with the changes he wants to see enacted.
www2.nbc4i.com – Govt_politics
Open thread for night owls: Why manufacturing is central to the economy
Wednesday, May 25th, 2011
We’ve said it repeatedly around here in the past few years. Bob Borosage and our other friends at the Campaign for America’s Future have said it repeatedly. Union leaders Richard Trumka and Leo Gerard have said it repeatedly. Advocates of wind power and solar power and geothermal power have said repeatedly. In short, a strong domestic manufacturing sector is crucial to our well-being.
The idea that most manufacturing is no longer a worthy (or economically viable) endeavor for the United States destroys the hopes and dreams of Americans. Our country needs a far-sighted industrial plan, the same as all the developed countries and several of the more powerful developing countries have. Germany, China, Brazil all have such plans. And while each plan has flaws, particularly in the environmetnal arena, each is also building prosperity for its citizens.
Jon Rynn is the author of the book Manufacturing Green Prosperity: The power to rebuild the American middle class. He posts at Daily Kos as JonRynn, and you can read a recent, controversial two-part essay of his here and here. At New Deal 2.0, he writes Six Reasons Manufacturing is Central to the Economy:
Jon Rynn
Without a robust revival in the manufacturing sector, we can kiss our status as a great economic power goodbye.
Paul Krugman recently argued that “manufacturing is one of the bright spots of a generally disappointing recovery, and there are signs — preliminary, but hopeful, nonetheless — that a sustained comeback may be under way.” He points out that the gap between what we sell and what we buy has been improving. This must be set against a background of a manufacturing decline in the United States of historic dimensions; even without adjusting for inflation, the trade deficit in goods for the United States between 2000 and 2010 was 7 trillion dollars. A turnaround in the attention of more perceptive economists and a turnaround in manufacturing may be in the works. But before that, the crucial question is: Why is manufacturing so important?
1. Manufacturing has been the path to development …
2. Manufacturing is the foundation of global “Great Power” …
3. Manufacturing is the most important cause of economic growth …
4. Global trade is based on goods, not services …
5. Services are dependent on manufactured goods …
6. Manufacturing creates jobs
Most jobs, directly or indirectly, depend on manufacturing — and reviving the sector could provide tens of millions of new jobs, eradicating the Great Recession. In 2005, the Japanese manufacturing sector was 20.2% of its economy, in Germany it was 23.2%, and in the US manufacturing accounted for 13.4%, according to the the OECD. Using 2005 figures, if the US had the same percentage as Japan, we would have 7 million more high-quality, long-term, well paying jobs. If we were equal with Germany, we would have 10 million more. And according to the Economic Policy Institute, each manufacturing job supports almost three other jobs in the economy. That makes sense, considering the other five reasons that manufacturing is central to the economy.
Thus, there are six solid reasons that we need to rebuild the manufacturing sector of the United States. It’s time for the United States to wake up before it’s too late and rebuild the foundation of a strong, prosperous, middle class economy.
• • • • •
At Daily Kos on this date in 2010:
On the eve of California’s first-ever Harvey Milk Day this past Saturday, Speaker Pelosi promised an assembled audience of advocates at an event for Equality California that she would see the discriminatory policy of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repealed by the end of the year. And in so doing, she took a strong stand against an Administration that had substantially backed off of promises to end DADT–at least until the close of a politically difficult midterm campaign.
But now, it looks like the Obama Administration has seen on the wall the handwriting created by pressure both from activists and from a House leadership team that seems more interested in doing what is right than what is politically expedient–and now a deal is in the works.
• • • • •
See High Impact Diaries here. See Top Comments here.
Friday’s Five After Five
Tuesday, May 24th, 2011Fridays are a reason to celebrate and every Friday at Whole Foods in Dublin and on Lane Ave., you’ll enjoy Five After Five from 5-7 p.m. For just , you can wander through the store, stopping at 5 stations to enjoy a pour wine and a coordinating tasty bite – plus you’ll take home your [...] [...]
Click on the post for more details!
ColumbusBestBlog.com’s Anniversaries
Tuesday, May 24th, 2011Today’s Nablopomo prompt is about anniversaries…
The Nablopomo (National Blog posting month… the point is to post a blog post everday….) prompt for today is…
“What is your favourite anniversary to celebrate?”
I could do my personal anniversaries… but I am not. My blog’s anniversaries are my favorite to celebrate. ColumbusBestBlog.com has two anniversaries, the one here was December 31, 2006 or maybe the first post was January 1, 2007 so that’s the anniversary. While the original Columbus Best Blog had an August 2005 anniversary… during Hurricane Katerina. Or has. It’s still up.
The nice thing about celebrating on December 31 and January 1 is everyone else is celebrating.
Related posts:
NY-26: Hochul leads Corwin by 6 in final PPP poll
Monday, May 23rd, 2011
Public Policy Polling (5/20-21, likely voters, 5/5-8 in parens):
Kathy Hochul (D): 42 (35)
Jane Corwin (R): 36 (31)
Jack Davis (T): 13 (24)
Ian Murphy (G): 3 (2)
Undecided: 5 (8)
(MoE: ±2.9%)
Hot on the heels of Siena College’s poll, PPP is on the scene with a set of very similar findings — including Republican-turned-Democrat-turned-Teabagger Jack Davis’ dramatic implosion and Kathy Hochul’s consequent climb into the low-40s. Here’s more, from Tom Jensen:
It appears that Hochul has done a good job of staying above the fray as the campaign has taken on an increasingly negative tenor in its final days. Hochul’s favorability is a +14 spread at 51/37, up 8 points from the previous poll when it was +6 at 46/40. Corwin meanwhile has seen a 15 decline in her net favorability. She was already unpopular at -3 (39/42) on our previous poll but that is now much worse at -18 (34/52). Davis has seen the biggest decline in his image though. Voters were evenly split 43/43 in their assessments of him two weeks ago. Now his favorability spread is a horrid -39 with only 23% of voters rating him positively and 62% with a negative opinion.
Davis’ presence in the race is certainly a key reason Hochul finds herself in such a strong position. He is winning 16% of the Republican vote while getting only 8% of Democrats. Still it would be unfair to Hochul to say Davis is the only reason she might pull the upset — she is showing a good amount of crossover support, getting 16% of Republicans to Corwin’s 11% of Democrats. And she’s also up 36-34 with independents. There were not very many House races in 2010 where the Democratic candidate won 16% of Republican voters and the independents.
Indeed — you have to give Kathy Hochul some credit here; she has masterfully played Jane Corwin’s support of the Paul Ryan budget into a district-wide referendum on the fate of Medicare. James Hohmann of the Politico is out with a new piece on the not-so-rapid Republican response to Hochul’s broadsides on Medicare; if you like to watch Republicans desperately flop around on an issue like dying fish, I’d strongly recommend giving it a read. For example:
[Corwin] calls Ryan’s plan “a terrific first step” but makes clear that she will never support controversial vouchers for Medicare.
“It’s starting a conversation that we absolutely have to have, but I’m not married to it,” she said. “I certainly would entertain any proposals that would improve any of these programs. … I’ve been saying the same thing since Day One.”
If gutting Medicare and swapping it for vouchers is a concept unworthy of her support, why describe Ryan’s plan as “terrific”? Hochul’s message is a lot more simple (and, therefore, coherent):
Hochul, the Erie County clerk, relishes the fight because it’s happening on her terms. Hochul said she has ignored Corwin’s charges that the Democrat is distorting her Medicare position. “I don’t engage. I’m on message.”
Hochul suggested that Corwin is the one not being forthright about her position.
“She supports the Ryan budget 100 percent,” she said. “Everybody else, in the media and the world, knows that it includes a voucher program. So I’m not sure how you distance yourself. I can see why she wants to. She just can’t do it. You can run, but you can’t hide from that position that she took a month ago.”
No matter the result on Tuesday, it’s clear that Democrats have regained some swagger by turning the Ryan budget into a waking nightmare for Republicans. Jensen has a note of caution before assuming this one is in the bag, though:
There’s still reason though to think Corwin could pull this race out. By a 41-39 margin voters in the district would like their new member of Congress to caucus with the Republicans rather than the Democrats in the House. Those planning to vote for Davis hold that sentiment by an even wider margin at 48-20. Davis’ support has been plummeting and if that trend continues and conservatives who don’t really like Corwin hold their nose and end up voting for her anyway she still has a chance to win a narrow victory.
Additionally, this poll’s sample, remarkably, voted for Barack Obama over John McCain by a 47-42 margin. The Obama percentage is not far off from 2008 (when he won 46% here), but that’s a big drop off from the 52% that McCain actually scored in this district. Either we’re seeing a stunning reversal in the “enthusiasm gap” that has dogged Democrats since Obama won the White House, or this sample may be a tad optimistic.
This diary is brought to you by Daily Kos Elections, an official Daily Kos sub-site. Please read our Mission Statement. Our focus is on electoral politics rather than policy. Welcome aboard!
Central Ohio homes for sale…
Monday, May 23rd, 2011Central Ohio homes for sale… homes for sale is “inventory.” The official word “Inventory dropped.” List prices are up…. that is the Good News! The Voice for Real Estate in Central Ohio, the Columbus Board of REALTORS announced April 2011 sales results on Thursday. To members. To the media… directly to the public.* They, the Columbus Board of REALTORS ® have trademarked the words “The Voice for Real Estate in Central Ohio”? It says TM after “The Voice for Real Estate in Central Ohio” on the trade organizations site.
I always think it is “The Voice of Real Estate in Central Ohio” … rather than “The Voice for Real Estate in Central Ohio” but Google helps me out…. This is an image of the Google results so of course the link, cache, etc. are not available. 
They (the Columbus Board of REALTORS®) announced the Good News to members via email:
Columbus Board of REALTORS announces April 2011 sales results to members
Below was originally written for DiscoverColumbusOH.com (you see the posts from that real estate site on the sidebar of ColumbusBestBlog.com as “Columbus real estate”) and I probably will post it there too at some point.
Central Ohio homes for sale by school district
Single family inventory (homes for sale) for Central Ohio school districts for Appril 2011:
Columbus – 9.1 months of inventory
- Homes for sale – 2658
- Homes sold – 291
Dublin – 8 months of inventory
- Homes for sale – 398
- Homes sold – 50
Olentangy - 7.8 months of inventory,
- Homes for sale – 559
- Homes sold - 72
Westerville - 8.9 months of inventory
- Homes for sale – 489
- Homes sold- 55
Worthington - 5.5 months of inventory
- Homes for sale – 249
- Home sold – 45
Homes sold are April 2011 home sales.
Central Ohio school districts… I pay attention to these school districts mainly. They are close to where I live and work. Well actually the Columbus City School District is huge… and all over Central Ohio. I always worry my efforts to see how the market did the previous month will not match the “official” word when it comes out from the Columbus Board of REALTORS MLS.
* The Columbus Board of REALTORS site has information about the real estate market available to the public about the real estate market… you can find it if you need it… They have a lot more detail available too… The Columbus Dispatch covered the story… Business First Columbus covered the story. Real estate information is everywhere… today.
This site is doing Nablopomo… in May 2011. A post a day. This has been tough. The weekends are tough… tomorrow back to the week day prompts. Maybe.
Related posts:
- Columbus Ohio 43235 homes for sale
- Worthington homes for sale. A buyers market?
- Columbus Ohio home sales “more of the same”
Get some friends (ok gather some friends) draw and converse
Sunday, May 22nd, 2011|
Experience CMA in a new way and see art from a different perspective. Explore the basic elements of drawing while also developing observational skills and an appreciation for the artistic process. It is really seeing art with you hands first–no great artistic skill needed! You will learn as much about seeing as about drawing. Ages 13 or older. Great for team building (it is during work hours) or perhaps take the day off….hmmm! Contact the museum for addtional dates and times.
Drawing in the Gallery
Dates: May 19, 2011
Location: Columbus Museum of Art Hours: Thursday 2 p.m. Admission: Address: 480 E. Broad St., Columbus, 43125 Phone: 614-221-4848, 614-221-6801 Web: www.columbusmuseum.org  |
|
 |
|
