Poles and Polls

Just up the street from our hotel in Paris, is the site of the Bastille. The famous prison is long gone, and in it's place stands the Colonne de Juillet (July Column), commemorating the overthrow of Charles X in July 1830.

At the Place du la Concorde, on the site where a public guillotine once executed 1,600, is the 75 foot high Obelisk of Luxor, a pink granite monolith that was given to the French in 1829 by the viceroy of Egypt, Mehemet Ali. It once marked the entrance to the Amon temple at Luxor, is more than 3,300 years old and is decorated with hieroglyphics portraying the reigns of the pharaohs Ramses II and Ramses III.



A big poll of another kind
President George W. Bush's approval rating hasn't exactly been stellar. Now a recent poll of 109 professional historians conducted over a three-week period through the History News Network shows: 98.2 percent assessed the presidency of Mr. Bush to be a failure while 1.8 percent classified it as a success.

Asked to rank the presidency of George W. Bush in comparison to those of the other 41 American presidents, more than 61 percent of the historians concluded that the current presidency is the worst in the nation’s history.


Another 35 percent of the historians surveyed rated the Bush presidency in the 31st to 41st category, while only four of the 109 respondents ranked the current presidency as even among the top two-thirds of American administrations.

At least two of those who ranked the current president in the 31-41 ranking made it clear that they placed him next-to-last, with only James Buchanan, in their view, being worse.

First Blooms of Spring

The Flower Market at Quai de la Corse along the River Senne in Paris inspired us to bring some color to our own drab LipsYard...

...so we picked up some Pansies (Viola wittrockiana) at Hawks and Charmaine planted them in the flower box by the front door.

Voila! Instant blooms and color.

Popping up almost as brilliantly these days are protests against the Olympic Torch Run in support of the people of Tibet. This is a shot of a man carrying the Tibetan Flag being 'helped' off the streets in London.

Activists climbed the Eiffel tower and unfurled a flag with the five Olympic rings depicted as handcuffs.

And today in San Fransisco, this banner was hung on the Golden Gate Bridge.

Of course our fine President isn't paying any attention to that, he's going to Bejing just for the 'Sport.'

In Line For Art

La Louvre in Paris, perhaps the most famous museum in the world.

Thousands of people in the lobby under the glass pyramid, those on the right standing in line for over an hour to get in, to look at art. Art!

And the huge halls (and every nook and cranny) are packed with works by the most famous artists in history.

The piece that draws the most people is the Mona Lisa by DaVinci. Check out the crowd! You'ld think Favre was signing autographs.

Because of a recent attack, she's now behind ropes, keeping the crowds back 15 feet. The protective glass takes a bit of the focus away.

Later in our trip, we saw a teacher with her class of 4 and 5 year olds checking out the works of Monet. Too bad our teachers get such a bad rap, especially from right wing talk radio. At least once a week they break out the teacher pinata for a few wacks. "Those greedy teacher salaries are driving up taxes, and they only work 9 months a year! They're just babysitters."

You can get babysitters for less than minimum wage. Let's give them $3 and hour, and only the hours they work, none of that silly planning time. That's $19.50 a day (7AM to 3:30PM with 25 minutes for lunch.)

Now, how many do they teach in a class, 30? $19.50 x 30 = $585 a day. They only work 180 days, so $585 x 180 = $105,300 per year.

What about those special teachers (Art, Music, Phys-Ed) and the ones with master's degrees? We could pay them minimum wage, say $7 and hour x 6 1/2 hours x 30 kids x 180 days = $245,700 per year.

Back to reality, average teacher salary is $50,000, which comes out to $1.42 an hour per student. What a deal! Plus they'll even try to EDUCATE the kids, and they won't raid your fridge for pizza.

Green Thursday: Calculate Your Carbon Footprint

While in Paris, Charmaine and I used 28 Metro tickets to get around the city, instead of taking a cab. (We also walked our butts off. No wonder the French are soooo thin!) Mass transit in the City of Lights was always well-used, very clean, and we always felt safe. This got me thinking about our 'carbon footprint' on the planet, and I discovered that Al Gore has a calculater on his "Inconvenient Truth" website.

Click HERE to calculate your personal carbon footprint

If you're like me, we've got a lot of work to do! Don't be discouraged by those who tell you that "individuals don't matter." Anything you can do to sustain good ol' Mom Earth is a step in the right direction.

Every Green Thursday we post information vital to the planet.

An Artist's Touch

On our trip to Paris, we climbed the 130 meter high hill called Montmartre. It has always been an active artists community, home to Salvador Dalí, Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso and Vincent van Gogh.

Here is sketch artist, Lazaro, attempting to capture my likeness on paper.

Knowing the vanity of us Americans, he made me look 20 years younger! Earlier in the day, he gave an artist's rendering of the three hopeful presidential candidates.
"Not so fast, wise guy! Nyuck, nyuck, nyuck."

April Fool Again

We've done some updating at the LipsYard estate! April Fools. It's the Versailles Palace outside Paris, built by Louis the XIV, XV, and XVI to show how great a leader they are.

This is the throneroom, where they held court.

What world monarch couldn't use a big ol' palace to ramble around in, showing how important he is?

City of Lights

Bonjour from Paris. Charmaine and I took a little jaunt to France for the Easter holiday. Here we are on top of the Arc d'Triomphe on the main boulevard, the Champs Elysées.

The Arch was put up by Napoleon to honor all his conquests in battle, and is home to the tomb of the unknown, which is marked by an eternal flame.

I'm guessing Dick Cheney has plans for one of these Arc thingy's, too. All the Bush administration needs now is a victory. At anything. Good luck with that.

Green Thursday: Spring has hatched!

Here's some little baby chicks we watched out at The Elegant Farmer in Mukwonago. It's the first official day of Spring. It doesn't get any 'greener' than that. (Too bad they're predicting 6 inches of snow tomorrow! An underlying warming trend is likely to reassert itself after the end of a La Nina cooling of the Pacific in the coming months. There were similar conditions in 1998 and 2005, the hottest so far. The U.N. blames the warming trend on human use of fossil fuels.)

LipsYard is taking a Spring Break and will return Monday, March 31, 2008. Happy Easter!

Every Green Thursday we post information vital to the health of the planet.

Happy 5th Anniversary

On the fifth anniversary of our invasion of Iraq, the United States has finally secured victory in the War on Terror. President George W. Bush declared today in a speech at the Pentagon (yet another friendly audience.)

"The surge has done more than turn the situation in Iraq around — it has opened the door to a major strategic victory in the broader war on terror."

Four years and three months after His fly-in "Mission Accomplished" speech, our Commander in Chief remarked;

"In Iraq, we are witnessing the first large-scale Arab uprising against Osama Bin Laden. And the significance of this development cannot be overstated."

Halfway around the planet, the guy really in charge, Vice President Dick Cheney, was cutting secret deals with leaders in the Iraqi government that will last well beyond the influence of the Neo-con administration.

Meanwhile in Iraq, a female suicide bomber killed six people at a bus station in Balad Ruz in Diyala province, according to Iraqi police. And near the northern city of Kirkuk, US troops shot dead three Iraqi policemen by mistake, an incident officials described as "a tragic accident, which was sincerely regretted."

Happy Anniversary!

A Dash of Color

A gray day needs a splash of color, and that's just what we found at The Elegant Farmer. These Pansies (Viola tricolor hortensis) are ready for the garden, but is the garden ready for the pansies. With snow in the forecast for the weekend, these little bundles of technicolor joy will just have to stay in the hothouse a little while longer. Is it just me, or do they look like they have little faces?




Or is it the face of a terrified American looking at their 401k balance? Today, the Fed's lowering of a key lending rate by 3/4 of a point brought a little color back to the faces of investors, as the stock market rebounded with a 3.5 - 4% gain on the major indecies. I'm sure the Bush Admistration is hoping that Ben Bernanke and friends can keep the US economy propped up until W is out of office, leaving yet another mess for the next President. It's a long road to that time, and we're almost out of interest basis points to cut.

First Robin of 2008

I think we've really turned the corner on Spring. Here's the first Robin (Turdus migratorius) sighting. Here they are pokin' around for stuff by the snow.

And they're frisky! Hopping around all over each other. Click HERE to listen to the 6 different calls that Robins make, and why.

The snow is melting almost as fast as Investment Bank Bear Stearn's stock price. Last summer, they were 'livin' the dream at $158 a share, now they've been sold to J.P.Morgan for $2 a share. They're just the latest example in the Bush administration's failed economic policy: tax cuts for the rich, ballooning public debt, and an unsustainable trade deficit. Before it's all over, the taxpayer pricetag for the financial markets bailout will top $3 trillion, the same price now attached to the Iraq war (celebrating it's 5th anniversary this week.)

The Big Meltdown

Temperatures in the low 50s the last couple of days have made short work of our massive piles of snow. I think there's even a little green in the lawn! Perfect for the St. Patrick's Day weekend.

It's been a long time since we've seen any sign of these plants in the front bed.

There's also been a meltdown going on in the Central Command leadership in the Middle East. Adm. William J. Fallon, the top American commander in the Middle East whose views on Iran and other issues have seemed to put him at odds with the Bush administration, is retiring early.
The admiral’s premature departure stemmed from policy differences with the administration, and with Gen. David H. Petraeus, the American commander in Iraq. Admiral Fallon had rankled senior officials of the Bush administration with outspoken comments on such issues as dealing with Iran and on setting the pace of troop reductions from Iraq.

In an article in Esquire magazine by Thomas P.M. Barnett, a respected military analyst, profiled Admiral Fallon under the headline, “The Man Between War and Peace.” The article highlighted comments made fall, in which he said that a “constant drumbeat of conflict” from Washington that was directed at Iran and Iraq was “not helpful and not useful." With him out of the way, can the march to Tehran be far away?

Green Thursday: Regulations Shmegulations

The latest trend for corporations is to show their "Green-ness." The strategy is clear: To market their eco-friendliness, and to quickly and effectively communicate how socially responsible they are. Too bad our government can't lead the charge on setting standards, or (gasp) heaven forbid, mandate them. Heck, we can't even decide if cigarette smoke is bad.

Without any governmental leadership on how best to disclose the chemical, carbon-neutral, or other characteristics that communicate earth-friendliness, these companies are choosing to do it themselves.

Something is better than nothing, but unfortunately, lacking any guidelines, its the Wild, Wild West in the world of packaging labels.

One industry has taken this task upon itself. The first organic standard for the U.S. beauty and personal care market has been launched with the support of 30 founding members including Aveda, Estee Lauder, L’Oreal, and Origins. According to the Organic And Sustainable Industry Standards, or "OASIS."

Every Green Thursday, we post items that are in the best interest of the planet.

Golden opportunity

50 years on the planet! To celebrate, Charmaine sent me this beautiful "Golden" arrangement.

Sunflowers (Helianthus annuus,) mums (Dendranthema X grandiflorum,) lillies(Lilium columbianum,) daisies (Gaillardia aristata Pursh) all add a welcome splash of color to our grey winter hangover landscape.

My birthday present to the right: No ranting today.

Jet Lag without the trip

Welcome to Daylight Saving Time. Originally created to save electricity because of the added evening daylight hours, new studies now show that those savings are more than offset by higher heating and cooling costs. Oops! Here's a video that explains it.

For the past two years, we've been in an "extended" DST pattern, because the Republican congress thought it would save more money. Wrong! Now it's going to take another act of Congress to either change it back to the way it was, or eliminate it altogether, because there's no 'Sunset' provision in the law.

There's also the effects on our inner clocks. I know I'll feel jet-lagged for a week or so, and I didn't even get to go anywhere. That lost hour also impacts on our driving. Police statistics confirm that the Mondays after the springtime change are worse than usual for traffic crashes.

What it also does, for the next month or so, is keep sending kids out in the dark to wait for the school bus, make them less alert for the first hour of class and, as evening daylight keeps getting longer, less inclined to come inside to do homework or study.

And what about the cows? It takes them a week or so to adjust to the new milking schedule, too.

There was supposed to be an economic boost to Daylight Saving. Because more people are out doing more things, and spending money when daylight lasts longer into the evening. The law of unintended consequences: A plan to save energy and money does neither, but could be good for the economy. It probably helps coffee sales.

A Crowning Achievement

7 weeks ago the filling in my back molor (the #2 molor because they count from the front, which makes your wisdom teeth #3,) cracked, and a part of the tooth actually chipped off. That's the tooth chip between dental instruments.

My dentist for 25 years, Dr. Barry Baumann, temporarily fixed the problem with a small bit of amalgam (usually used for fillings,) and we scheduled an appointment for a month later for the fitting of a crown.

In a nutshell, a crown IS a nutshell that fits over a damaged tooth. Normally made out of porcelain enamel, or metal, or a combination of both, a crown becomes the tooth's new outer surface.

After the grinding down of the outer surface of the tooth, impressions are made of the stump, and a dental technician crafts the crown.

If you really want to know more, go HERE.

Two weeks later, and voila! A new molor.

In the Bush Administration, new Attorney General, Michael Mukasey, is a 'crown' for the broken policy of civil rights, from the imprisonment of enemy combatants and torture, to the refusal to release documents, or persue contempt charges agains staffers ordered not to testify under cover of Executive Priveledge.