THE democrat CONVENTION

Monday
Linden watched a bit of the convention on PBS. Saw some but more than was needed of Jimmy Carter and Ted Kennedy. The most interesting thing was when an announcer said that Kennedy being there was a surprise: There were enough “Kennedy” signs in the audience to render this statement suspect. Talk radio called it boring and the Michelle Obama speech as a joke.
Tuesday
Linden watched even less of the PBS presentation. Some serious looking guys were engaged in an uninteresting conversation. A health care worker read that Senator Obama joined her in her work one day last year. Linden wondered if the Senate was in session at the time.
Wednesday
Linden heard Evan Bayh say, “We can not afford another four years of Washington as usual.” That would mean turning him out: Not a bad idea. Does he not know that the democrat House has now been on vacation for three weeks with the oil crisis not yet addressed, the appropriation bills unfinished (maybe not started) and the bank and housing problems being traceable to mistakes made by Congress? The Bill Clinton speech was well presented: Contained inaccuracies.
Thursday
Talk radio focus on lies. Linden occasionally switched from a football game to the convention but saw little of interest or that was impressive. Did not stay up for the finale.
Summary
Pretty weak! Our country may well be headed for trouble of the kind that most citizens have never experienced.
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LINDEN'S COMPOSITIONS:
Linden’s first CD “Songs A Poor Old Police Department Retiree Might Write While Waiting For His Meager Pension Check” is now ready for purchase as are the six books he has written and/or published. Plainfield area sales at Secondhand Stories in the strip mall at Raceway & Rockville roads. Online, go to addresses below and inquire on “Linden Swift”.

http://stores.ebay.com/secondhand-stories
www.alibris.com/bookstore/secondha

DONATIONS to support postings, are appreciated but not necessary, may be made to Linden Swift, Box 203, Plainfield, IN 46168

COMMENTS: Only those sent to LWDcomment@aol.com are received.
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MID WEAK POLITICS

Not by any stretch of the imagination can it be considered a strong day for Linden’s political commentary. It is very weak today. But, in all fairness, when you get to be Linden’s age, if you do, there will be days (daze) when things just do not fall together perfectly. The few things that did attract his attention on Wednesday are already scheduled for a more in depth look at a later date. Maybe tomorrow will bring a great posting.
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LINDEN’S LIFE:
Monday: My friend, Sam, and I, met for lunch in a near downtown Indianapolis restaurant as we do several times a year. We first met in 1977, the year we each started working for the Indiana Dept. of Public Welfare. Sam had just retired as an Army officer and I had transferred there from the Indiana State Police.
Tuesday: Had my best nine holes of golf yet this year. Still not great! Otherwise, routine day.
Wednesday: Met three former work related associates for lunch in downtown Indianapolis: Dan, I first met in 1977 as I was transferring to Welfare; Thuc, who I have previously mentioned, I first met in 1989 after I had, two years earlier, transferred to the Dept. of Correction; and Rick was one of those I hired in 1994 to assist with the effort I was leading. Good lunch and visit.
On the way home I stopped at a bakery operation within Saint Athanasius Catholic Church. I read about it about two weeks ago. It is operated by volunteers and is open only on Wednesday afternoons.
About seven years ago I had an eye operation that required me to stay completely face down for eight days and eight nights. A most miserable experience that I have no idea how I would have managed without my wonderful Rubye. I purchased some necessary equipment and had some other constructed to help me manage the task. I loaned this, maybe two years ago, to a friend who was scheduled for the same type of operation. I picked it up today and loaned it to another friend. With Rubye gone, I surely hope I will never again have use for it.
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LINDEN'S COMPOSITIONS:
Linden’s first CD “Songs A Poor Old Police Department Retiree Might Write While Waiting For His Meager Pension Check” is now ready for purchase as are the six books he has written and/or published. Plainfield area sales at Secondhand Stories in the strip mall at Raceway & Rockville roads. Online, go to addresses below and inquire on “Linden Swift”.

http://stores.ebay.com/secondhand-stories
www.alibris.com/bookstore/secondha

DONATIONS to support postings, are appreciated but not necessary, may be made to Linden Swift, Box 203, Plainfield, IN 46168

COMMENTS: Only those sent to LWDcomment@aol.com are received.
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REPUBLICAN HOUSE REVOLT

There has been so little media attention given to the Republican House members continuing their protest of Nancy Pelosi and the democrats going on a five week paid vacation rather than addressing the oil drilling question, that Linden was concerned that the Republicans had abandoned their effort. Not so!

On August 25, Connie Hair had a column entitled “’Drill Now” Revolt Continues” in Human Events. One must assume that the MSM joined in this five week paid vacation.

Within her well-written column, Ms. Hair mentioned that not one of the twelve annual appropriation bills has been sent to the President. Must be a pretty important vacation!

Have the American people ever been so poorly served by the House and the Senate? Have you noticed how much gas has dropped in price since President Bush announced his support of drilling? Could it be that a similar reduction would occur if the House would get off its duff?
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LINDEN'S COMPOSITIONS:
Linden’s first CD “Songs A Poor Old Police Department Retiree Might Write While Waiting For His Meager Pension Check” is now ready for purchase as are the six books he has written and/or published. Plainfield area sales at Secondhand Stories in the strip mall at Raceway & Rockville roads. Online, go to addresses below and inquire on “Linden Swift”.

http://stores.ebay.com/secondhand-stories
www.alibris.com/bookstore/secondha

DONATIONS to support postings, are appreciated but not necessary, may be made to Linden Swift, Box 203, Plainfield, IN 46168

COMMENTS: Only those sent to LWDcomment@aol.com are received.
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CONSERVATIVE v. LIBERAL

A great piece by Bruce Walker, entitled “The Biggest Missing Story in Politics, appeared August 25 in American Thinker. The subject was the findings of The Battleground Poll. This poll reports that 60% of the respondents consider themselves to be conservative and 36% consider themselves to be liberal.

Since recent presidential elections have shown the electorate to be nearly evenly divided, it causes one to wonder how this could be. Since the Republicans are most closely identified as conservative and the democrats liberal, the Republicans should win in a landslide.

Linden feels that the reason that the election results do not mirror the poll results is because so many people identify themselves by party, for a number of often-faulty reasons, rather than correlating their voting with their basic beliefs.

In an effort to provide you with guidance, Linden has constructed this belief checklist. It is probably not perfect and may be changed. The “C” category should be thought of as Republican and, of course, the “L” is democrat.

Abortion C: A states rights issue. L: A fundamental right.
Bank bail out C: Undesirable. L: Desirable.
Constitution C: Provides guidance. L: A scrap of paper.
Earmarks C: Undesirable. L: Desirable.
Federal employees C: Too Many. L: Unimportant.
Immigration C: Follow the law. L: Unimportant
Israel C: Strongly support. L: Unimportant.
Law C: Follow the constitution. L: No standard.
National defense C: Keep strong. L: Make weak.
Religion C: Freedom of choice. L: Anti Christian.
Social Security C: Fix. L: No problem.
Spending C: Reduce. L: Increase.
Taxes C: Cut. L: Increase.
Term Limits C: Desirable. L: Unimportant.
United Nations C: Get out. L: Stay in.
War on terror C: Continue. L: Stop.

Not all conservatives will agree with all 16 of Linden’s thinking. But, if you agree with him 9 times or more and you consider yourself to be a democrat, you may wish to adjust your voting.

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LINDEN'S COMPOSITIONS:
Linden’s first CD “Songs A Poor Old Police Department Retiree Might Write While Waiting For His Meager Pension Check” is now ready for purchase as are the six books he has written and/or published. Plainfield area sales at Secondhand Stories in the strip mall at Raceway & Rockville roads. Online, go to addresses below and inquire on “Linden Swift”.

http://stores.ebay.com/secondhand-stories
www.alibris.com/bookstore/secondha

DONATIONS to support postings, are appreciated but not necessary, may be made to Linden Swift, Box 203, Plainfield, IN 46168

COMMENTS: Only those sent to LWDcomment@aol.com are received.
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LINDEN'S LIFE

Normally, on Monday and Thursday, I do a Linden’s Life segment following the addressing of the subject of the day. Today, it will be a stand-alone segment.

Thursday: Had the usual enjoyable breakfast meeting with Bill, Chuck, Jack and Paul. I love Indiana tomatoes and Paul gave me some from his garden. Julie is in Indiana for a few work related days. Alison, Brian’s 12 year old daughter, is in town for a few days: The three of us went to Grays in Mooresville in the evening: One of my favorite places to eat. I had sent a query to a publisher who I hoped would accept a compilation of my works for publication: Received the disappointing notice today that three of the five subject areas in the book are unacceptable to them. Guess I’ll do another self-publishing effort.

Friday: Men’s Prayer Breakfast at 6:00. Not a very productive day. Brian made the 5+ hour drive from his Ohio home to pick up Alison: He wanted to immediately go back home so, the two of them came to see me for just a few enjoyable minutes. Later, Julie brought four- month- old Jade by and we visited for a few also enjoyable hours. She returns to her home near Chicago tomorrow. Any day that I see both of my kids just has to be a good day.

Saturday: Did just a little outside work and was non-productive most of the rest of the day. Did send a couple of my sonnets to the leader of our Avon Writers Group for possible inclusion in our next Derivatives of Finn production.

Sunday: Church, Sunday school, brunch with friends, slept poorly last night so took a nap. In the evening, the Church had a pitch-in dinner and music program in the shady grove on the property where I live. I took a purchased pie. Kyle Matthews was the singer-song writer who provided the very good music. He sang one song that reminded me of when Rubye and I went to the Northwest about 8 years ago: I sang a similar song with some black street musician gospel singers while there. My voice does not compare to that of Kyle, but I had fun. Also, he talked about one of his very, very successful songs and the chain of events leading to the resultant success. I wondered how I would feel if some real talent picked up one of my songs. I suspect I will never know and I guess I really do not much care.
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LINDEN'S COMPOSITIONS:
Linden’s first CD “Songs A Poor Old Police Department Retiree Might Write While Waiting For His Meager Pension Check” is now ready for purchase as are the six books he has written and/or published. Plainfield area sales at Secondhand Stories in the strip mall at Raceway & Rockville roads. Online, go to addresses below and inquire on “Linden Swift”.

http://stores.ebay.com/secondhand-stories
www.alibris.com/bookstore/secondha

DONATIONS to support postings, are appreciated but not necessary, may be made to Linden Swift, Box 203, Plainfield, IN 46168

COMMENTS: Only those sent to LWDcomment@aol.com are received.
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POLLS AND ASSUMPTIONS

Linden is not a strong believer in the accuracy of most polls and he knows from bitter experience that many assumptions are not based on solid rock.

Now, with roughly ten weeks to go until election day, the polls show that the presidential race is a virtual toss up. Linden's assumption is that McCain will win handily.

Polls report that President Bush has an approval rating of around 30%. Linden's assumption is that history will cast him in a much more favorable light.

The congressional approval rating, as a body, is reported to be around 9%. Linden's assumption is that this figure is inflated.

We really need to consider Congress as consisting of three parts: The ineffective Senate: Assumed approval rating 8%; the Nancy Pelosi faction of the House (currently vacationing): Assumed approval rating 5% - slightly higher if they will vacation on a permanent basis; and the Republican faction which is protesting the Nancy group going on vacation without addressing the oil drilling issue: Assumed approval rating 75%. End of lesson.
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LINDEN'S COMPOSITIONS:
Linden’s first CD “Songs A Poor Old Police Department Retiree Might Write While Waiting For His Meager Pension Check” is now ready for purchase as are the six books he has written and/or published. Plainfield area sales at Secondhand Stories in the strip mall at Raceway & Rockville roads. Online, go to addresses below and inquire on “Linden Swift”.

http://stores.ebay.com/secondhand-stories
www.alibris.com/bookstore/secondha

DONATIONS to support postings, are appreciated but not necessary, may be made to Linden Swift, Box 203, Plainfield, IN 46168

COMMENTS: Only those sent to LWDcomment@aol.com are received.
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CATCHING UP

The days must be getting shorter: The problems associated with blog posting and the demands of everyday living seem to make the postings less and less fully developed. Today's posting will be a thumbnail sketch touching upon some of the things heard during brief periods of listening to the radio Wednesday.

Laura Ingraham mentioned that the House Republicans continue to protest the fact that Nancy Pelosi and her democrat cohorts are taking a five week vacation while they should be busily addressing the oil drilling issue. Linden was particularly pleased to get this update since the MSM appears to not consider this subject newsworthy.

Rush Limbaugh referred to Obama's half-brother who is reported to be living in a very small hut in Africa while subsisting on 12 dollars PER YEAR. It would seem that a well off relative could and should match that pittance.

Sean Hannity addressed the association between Obama and William Ayers: He has been identified as a former (possibly only former) terrorist. Apparently the University of Illinois at Chicago refuses to release the extensive records they have regarding these two stalwarts. How does a person who is reputed to be very anti-American manage to be selected for such a good job? Linden is about to puke!
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LINDEN'S LIFE:
Monday: 12 year old granddaughter, Alison, and I lunched on Chinese food then returned to my place for a game of volleyball, within which I did poorly and a game of Cornhole, a game where you toss a small sandbag toward a board with a hole in it. I won that one. After taking her back to her grandmother’s place, I really banged my head against the corner of a low ceiling: Removed some skin!

Tuesday: 9 holes of golf poorly played just about wore this old man out! The nap that followed the game was great. Paul Gunning returned my hedge clippers, which he had repaired. I will try not to hit any more wire or cut the electric cord in two in the future.

Wednesday: Did some grocery shopping then Alison and I had lunch at a hamburger place. Back at my place she did some dusting and gave some housekeeping instructions. We played another game of Cornhole.
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LINDEN'S COMPOSITIONS:
Linden’s first CD “Songs A Poor Old Police Department Retiree Might Write While Waiting For His Meager Pension Check” is now ready for purchase as are the six books he has written and/or published. Plainfield area sales at Secondhand Stories in the strip mall at Raceway & Rockville roads. Online, go to addresses below and inquire on “Linden Swift”.

http://stores.ebay.com/secondhand-stories
www.alibris.com/bookstore/secondha

DONATIONS to support postings, are appreciated but not necessary, may be made to Linden Swift, Box 203, Plainfield, IN 46168

COMMENTS: Only those sent to LWDcomment@aol.com are received.
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METICULOUS ACCOUNTING

For a time, a blurb entitled "Bayh Watch" has been appearing on page 2 of the Indianapolis Star. It is probably safe to assume that the rumor that Senator Evan is being considered as a possible second fiddle to Obama may well be what triggers the publishing of this item.

Tuesday, the focus was on Bayh's most recent financial disclosure report. It reported that family assets were between 3.7 and 13.9 million dollars. Can you imagine a teacher at any grade level telling the students that any answer within a range of 10 million is close enough? This is such a bad reporting effort that it just had to originate in Congress. It does appear that they are pretty well paid.

The same report mentioned that a beach house in Delaware is worth 1 to 5 million dollars: Drunken appraiser? Regardless, it does appear that they are paid pretty well.

Does Senator Evan Bayh actually live in Indiana?
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LINDEN'S COMPOSITIONS:
Linden’s first CD “Songs A Poor Old Police Department Retiree Might Write While Waiting For His Meager Pension Check” is now ready for purchase as are the six books he has written and/or published. Plainfield area sales at Secondhand Stories in the strip mall at Raceway & Rockville roads. Online, go to addresses below and inquire on “Linden Swift”.

http://stores.ebay.com/secondhand-stories
www.alibris.com/bookstore/secondha

DONATIONS to support postings, are appreciated but not necessary, may be made to Linden Swift, Box 203, Plainfield, IN 46168

COMMENTS: Only those sent to LWDcomment@aol.com are received.
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LIMITED ACCESS

Monday was a day that provided limited access for Linden to the various news sources such as print, television, radio and the internet and has resulted in this posting not being as well thought out as he would prefer.

A great portion of the news of the coverage which is of interest to Linden, and surely you, centers on the discussions Rick Warren had with McCain and Obama. Several expressed the belief that this interview was one of the most meaningful ones of the current race.

McCain appeared to present himself quite well and Obama stuttered his way to a poor showing. How did this guy ever develop the reputation of being a good speaker? He may be a good reader but he certainly is not very good as expressing himself when called to think on his feet!

Two areas of Obama’s failure registered with Linden. Surely there would have been more had he (Linden) had more research time. (1.) Saying that deciding when life begins is “above his pay grade” causes one to believe that his current pay grade may well be too high and (2.) saying that he would not have nominated Clarence Thomas or Antonin Scalia and possibly not John Roberts to the Supreme Court indicates that he has little regard for our constitution.

At one time, Linden firmly believed that the democrats could not find a less distinguished candidate than Jesse Jackson. Then, they found Al Sharpton. Now, the have a candidate in Obama that makes those two look pretty good. God save America!
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LINDEN'S COMPOSITIONS:
Linden’s first CD “Songs A Poor Old Police Department Retiree Might Write While Waiting For His Meager Pension Check” is now ready for purchase as are the six books he has written and/or published. Plainfield area sales at Secondhand Stories in the strip mall at Raceway & Rockville roads. Online, go to addresses below and inquire on “Linden Swift”.

http://stores.ebay.com/secondhand-stories
www.alibris.com/bookstore/secondha

DONATIONS to support postings, are appreciated but not necessary, may be made to Linden Swift, Box 203, Plainfield, IN 46168

COMMENTS: Only those sent to LWDcomment@aol.com are received.
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THIRD AUGUST WEEKEND

Thursday: Had the usual Thursday morning breakfast meeting with Bill, Chuck, Jack and Paul - always enjoyable. I, for a change, did not eat a full breakfast so that I could "pig out" at the "Golden Glows" lunch: It was a pitch-in and I took a cake. We had great food and equally good book reports by Barbara Furman, Dick Apple, Larry Vandeventer and Peggy Hileman. Later, I did two loads of wash: I included a ball point pen and some writings with the second load but noticed no resultant stains.

Friday: Men's Prayer Breakfast at 6:00. Since I had slept very poorly the previous night, I was no great force all day. Helen Burlison had a great birthday party for Jack - there were probably 12 couples plus me in attendance.

Saturday: Had a prayer breakfast at Kingsway church at 7:00 and an Avon Writers Group meeting from 10:00 to 12:00. Read a great deal in the rest of the day. For some unknown reason, I've stopped writing.

Sunday: Attended church and Sunday school but, since I was expecting Brian, came home and waited for his call. He, Sheri and I went out for a very good lunch and then they returned to their home in Ohio. They had brought 12 year old Alison over to stay with her grandmother for a few days: I expect to see her a few times.
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LINDEN'S COMPOSITIONS:
Linden’s first CD “Songs A Poor Old Police Department Retiree Might Write While Waiting For His Meager Pension Check” is now ready for purchase as are the six books he has written and/or published. Plainfield area sales at Secondhand Stories in the strip mall at Raceway & Rockville roads. Online, go to addresses below and inquire on “Linden Swift”.

http://stores.ebay.com/secondhand-stories
www.alibris.com/bookstore/secondha

DONATIONS to support postings, are appreciated but not necessary, may be made to Linden Swift, Box 203, Plainfield, IN 46168

COMMENTS: Only those sent to LWDcomment@aol.com are received.
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THE COMING ICE AGE

Of course Linden knows that there are several items, such as Russia invading Georgia, probable upcoming voter fraud by the democrats in Ohio, candidate selection, Nancy Pelosi enjoying her long vacation, etc & etc, that warrant more immediate attention than the subject of this posting. But, it is August and Linden is freezing!

Only recently he heard that 2008 is the coldest year since 1930. Cold years are not necessarily bad, after all, that is the year Linden was born. But, it should not be occasionally desirable for Linden to wear a light jacket at times when he is outside in August.

Of course we all know that there has been large investments made to foster belief that global warming is reaching the emergency stage and this belief is pervasive enough to have had major economic effects. The global warming craze started because the "scientific community" decided it was a concern shortly after the "scientific community" had decided that global cooling was in the cards about 30 years ago.

Linden is cold because he, not even a scientist, knows it is cold for August in Indiana.
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LINDEN'S COMPOSITIONS:
Linden’s first CD “Songs A Poor Old Police Department Retiree Might Write While Waiting For His Meager Pension Check” is now ready for purchase as are the six books he has written and/or published. Plainfield area sales at Secondhand Stories in the strip mall at Raceway & Rockville roads. Online, go to addresses below and inquire on “Linden Swift”.

http://stores.ebay.com/secondhand-stories
www.alibris.com/bookstore/secondha

DONATIONS to support postings, are appreciated but not necessary, may be made to Linden Swift, Box 203, Plainfield, IN 46168

COMMENTS: Only those sent to LWDcomment@aol.com are received.
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100 LABORERS, 5 LOONIES

The 100 mentioned in the title of this posting refers to the estimated number of Republicans who have been active on the House floor, pleading for Nancy Pelosi to return from vacation and do something positive.

Linden does not have the words in his vocabulary to adequately express his appreciation for Mike Pence (R-IN) and those other Republicans who are valiantly trying to get the oil drilling question addressed. Nor is Linden able to express his low regard for Pelosi and the group of democrats she leads.

Has it occurred to the democrats that their long term inaction may very well be part of the reason that Russia invaded Georgia? Are they partially responsible for the loss of life there? Do they not know (or do they not care) that oil needs are the driving force in all international commerce?

Running a close second for the “Most Ineffective Group” award is the lackluster U.S. Senate under Harry Reid (D-NV.) It would take a certified optimist to expect positive results from the democrat majority that exercises control over the Senate.

Sadly, 5 Republican Senators (Loonies) have joined with 5 democrat members of this far from distinguished group mentioned above. This “bi-partisan” group has cobbled together a plan that will, in Linden’s estimation, do nothing other than further delay any desirable action in regard to the oil crisis.

Perhaps, except for the 100 or so Republicans, Congress is at its best when on vacation!
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LINDEN'S LIFE
Monday: Walked about a mile at Church while I was waiting to have a short meeting. Worked outside a little. Took John & Ruth Chestnut, their children, Nathan, Lydia and Hannah plus a native Kosovar, Skender Zeqiri, to dinner at Goody’s. Dinner probably lasted a couple of hours and was really pleasant.

Tuesday: GOP Roundtable breakfast meeting at 7:00 followed by 9 holes of golf. Probably my best 9 of the year: Parred two holes. It looks like I may have a high speed internet connection soon: They started the preliminary work in the evening.

Wednesday: Took picture copies of our dinner meeting to Ruth Chestnut and we visited a while. Later, John and Nathan brought the key to me and they left for Ohio. Julie called for a long visit. I took my Vietnamese friend, Thuc, to Gray’s for his belated birthday dinner. We had a nice visit. Somebody made a mistake today and cut down my sickly looking butterfly bush: I hope I can save it.
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LINDEN'S COMPOSITIONS:
Linden’s first CD “Songs A Poor Old Police Department Retiree Might Write While Waiting For His Meager Pension Check” is now ready for purchase as are the six books he has written and/or published. Plainfield area sales at Secondhand Stories in the strip mall at Raceway & Rockville roads. Online, go to addresses below and inquire on “Linden Swift”.

http://stores.ebay.com/secondhand-stories
www.alibris.com/bookstore/secondha

DONATIONS to support postings, are appreciated but not necessary, may be made to Linden Swift, Box 203, Plainfield, IN 46168

COMMENTS: Only those sent to LWDcomment@aol.com are received.
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WHAT IS AND OLD MAN TO DO?

Last Saturday, an Associated Press article in the Indianapolis Star reported that the FDA had issued a warning to those who take certain cholesterol reducing drugs in conjunction with heart medications. Linden would appear to fall within that group.

The following Tuesday, another Star article reported that these cholesterol reducing statins appear to reduce the likelihood of developing dementia. Of course the test that was referred to took place in California and, since it seems that Linden’s thought processes do not resemble those of many within that State, perhaps he is safe.

Linden’s children, Brian and Julie, have, at times, appeared to be overly protective. So, should he discuss this potential problem with them, continue taking the medication, or just quit taking the medication? This is driving him nuts!
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LINDEN'S COMPOSITIONS:
Linden’s first CD “Songs A Poor Old Police Department Retiree Might Write While Waiting For His Meager Pension Check” is now ready for purchase as are the six books he has written and/or published. Plainfield area sales at Secondhand Stories in the strip mall at Raceway & Rockville roads. Online, go to addresses below and inquire on “Linden Swift”.

http://stores.ebay.com/secondhand-stories
www.alibris.com/bookstore/secondha

DONATIONS to support postings, are appreciated but not necessary, may be made to Linden Swift, Box 203, Plainfield, IN 46168

COMMENTS: Only those sent to LWDcomment@aol.com are received.
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IF

IF your are a regular reader of Linden’s postings, you know that he tends to be slightly politically conservative and also tends to believe the democrats are the source of most of the problems which have, and do, face society. In this regard, he has, on more than one occasion, mentioned disagreement with some of the editorial page writers whose works appears in the Indianapolis Star.

IF you have no imagination, you will be unable to grasp the following.

IF Linden were really, really rich and, IF newspapers were to mirror baseball teams, then, Linden would buy the Star. Recent issues of this paper have contained the works of at least 26 different editorial page writers. Linden will consider these 26 to be the pitching corps of his purchased team.

To this 26, Linden will immediately add Kyle-Anne Shiver: Her work has appeared in American Thinker and Pajamas Media; Cassandra Kane: Her work has appeared in Human Events; and, Sharon Herbitter a brainy blogger who is developing her first book: Having been exposed to some of it, Linden looks forward to it being published.

Personnel changes are common in baseball. So, Linden will immediately release Ken Bode, Connie Schultz, Dan Carpenter, Lee Hamilton and Sheila Kennedy.

Linden will trade Froma Harrop, Eugene Robinson, Ruben Navarette, Leonard Pitts, Marie Cocco, E.J. Dionne and cash to American Thinker and Pajamas Media for Shiver. He will then trade Roland Martin, Ellen Goodman and cash to Human Events for Kane. Sherbitter will come aboard as a free agent.
Now, with the pitching staff trimmed down to 16, the initial starting rotation will be Shiver, Charles Krauthammer, Jonah Goldberg, Cal Thomas and Kathryn Lopez.

Kane, Herbitter, George Will, Kathleen Parker, Michael Barone, Debra Saunders, Gary Varvel, Andrea Neal, Deroy Murdock, David Ignatius and David Broder will initially be assigned to the bullpen.

Naturally, there will be further changes if any of the above become ineffective or if Thomas Sowell, Ann Coulter, Michelle Malkin, Walter E. Williams or Mona Charen become available.

Linden will name this entire effort, ”Return To The Glory Days.”
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LINDEN'S COMPOSITIONS:
Linden’s first CD “Songs A Poor Old Police Department Retiree Might Write While Waiting For His Meager Pension Check” is now ready for purchase as are the six books he has written and/or published. Plainfield area sales at Secondhand Stories in the strip mall at Raceway & Rockville roads. Online, go to addresses below and inquire on “Linden Swift”.

http://stores.ebay.com/secondhand-stories
www.alibris.com/bookstore/secondha

DONATIONS to support postings, are appreciated but not necessary, may be made to Linden Swift, Box 203, Plainfield, IN 46168

COMMENTS: Only those sent to LWDcomment@aol.com are received.
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SECOND AUGUST WEEKEND

H/T Katia.

Last Friday in his posting entitled “Bed Bugs” Linden said this:
“Of course Linden knows that it is quite a stretch to associate bed bugs with the political matters which are the normal focus of his postings: Quite a stretch but not beyond the realm of possibility.”

Before hearing of the Edwards affair, this was Katia’s response:
“Bed bugs are not such a big stretch with political matters. You just need to substitute political matters with political mattress. I know it’s cynical, but some politicians are like prostitutes, they don’t care in whose bed they end up.”

Friday: Men’s Prayer Breakfast at 6:00. Again today, Linden did a bit of outside work – including using the recently repaired hedge trimmer. Actually, it wasn’t the trimmer that was repaired. It was the electric cord which Linden had cut in two. When he moved here two years ago, he transplanted two butterfly bushes from the bush that Rubye had planted at the other place. One is making slow progress but it was thought that the other one was buried when some excavation work was done here. This bush showed up today, all dried out in an overgrown area. So, it was put in the goldfish pond to soak up some water.

Saturday: Linden borrowed a shovel at Church to dig a hole for the butterfly bush. There is probably little hope for it springing back to life. Then, used the hedge trimmer until it encountered a wire sticking up from the ground: Now it doesn’t cut at all – but, it does hum rather nicely. Visited a bit with the missionary family that is staying in the Mission House. They are very nice. We plan on going out to eat before they depart Wednesday.

Sunday: Church services, Sunday school, brunch with friends, paper reading and not much else worth mentioning.
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LINDEN'S COMPOSITIONS:
Linden’s first CD “Songs A Poor Old Police Department Retiree Might Write While Waiting For His Meager Pension Check” is now ready for purchase as are the six books he has written and/or published. Plainfield area sales at Secondhand Stories in the strip mall at Raceway & Rockville roads. Online, go to addresses below and inquire on “Linden Swift”.

http://stores.ebay.com/secondhand-stories
www.alibris.com/bookstore/secondha

DONATIONS to support postings, are appreciated but not necessary, may be made to Linden Swift, Box 203, Plainfield, IN 46168

COMMENTS: Only those sent to LWDcomment@aol.com are received.
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BED BUGS

Of course Linden knows that it is quite a stretch to associate bed bugs with the political matters which are the normal focus of his postings: Quite a stretch but not beyond the realm of possibility.

On three different fairly recent occasions the subject of bed bug infestations has been brought to his attention: Once in the print media, once by a radio reference and once in a personal discussion. Unfortunately, he can not cite these reference sources so can give no credit.

Gas prices and the effect that the environmentalist lobby has had on them has been a recent news focus – more so the price than the reason(s) for the price. The use of DDT to control bed bugs and mosquito populations received the same kind of attention roughly 35 years ago.

The horror stories regarding bed bugs, primarily in units housing the poor, and the malaria deaths, primarily in Africa, caused Linden to wonder if a mistake was made in banning DDT usage. Sometimes those involved with making laws and issuing regulations do make mistakes. Linden does not know. See www.junkscience.com for interesting reference material.
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LINDEN'S COMPOSITIONS:
Linden’s first CD “Songs A Poor Old Police Department Retiree Might Write While Waiting For His Meager Pension Check” is now ready for purchase as are the six books he has written and/or published. Plainfield area sales at Secondhand Stories in the strip mall at Raceway & Rockville roads. Online, go to addresses below and inquire on “Linden Swift”.

http://stores.ebay.com/secondhand-stories
www.alibris.com/bookstore/secondha

DONATIONS to support postings, are appreciated but not necessary, may be made to Linden Swift, Box 203, Plainfield, IN 46168

COMMENTS: Only those sent to LWDcomment@aol.com are received.
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TWO OUT OF THREE

Considering the increasingly liberal bent of the main stream media, Linden believes that approval of two and not caring much for one of the editorial page columns in the August 6 issue of The Indianapolis Star could have been much worse.

Cal Thomas (as usual) had a great column that addressed the need for more substance in the dialogue between McCain and Obama. Of course, Linden would be pleased because he thinks that Obama came out the worst in the comparison.

Jonah Goldberg (also as usual) had a great column that addressed both the evils of communism and the number of liberals within our own country who have not and do not see this evil. The column also gets extra points for mentioning some of the Obama shortcomings.

Froma Harrop was the third columnist considered.
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LINDEN'S LIFE
Monday brought a nice lunch with old friend and former Indiana Poet Laureate, Joyce Brinkman. Good food and lots of talk, mostly about poetry: She has some really good new works. Later, had my picture taken for our church directory.
Tuesday it rained out my morning coffee meeting and golf game. Visiting missionaries arrived at the Mission House. Kent & Donna came by in the evening for a short visit.
Wednesday I made a visit to Secondhand Stories and visited with Diana, the owner, for a while. I enjoy that. Otherwise, inactive.
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LINDEN'S COMPOSITIONS
Linden’s first CD “Songs A Poor Old Police Department Retiree Might Write While Waiting For His Meager Pension Check” is now ready for purchase as are the six books he has written and/or published. Plainfield area sales at Secondhand Stories in the strip mall at Raceway & Rockville roads. Online, go to addresses below and inquire on “Linden Swift”.

http://stores.ebay.com/secondhand-stories
www.alibris.com/bookstore/secondha

DONATIONS to support postings, are appreciated but not necessary, may be made to Linden Swift, Box 203, Plainfield, IN 46168

COMMENTS: Only those sent to LWDcomment@aol.com are received.
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NETWORK NEWS

Because Linden absolutely failed to prepare for this posting in the manner in which he had planned, he is forced to go for subject matter to what is, at best, the second team. It has been months, maybe years, since Linden has watched any of the network news shows. They, at least to him, had become not news purveyors but political opinion showcases and their opinion rarely coincided with that of Linden.

So, in order to satisfy the readers, Linden watched most of the Katy Couric presentation. It was not as bad as he expected, possibly because there was little political talk. It was not good enough to warrant a second look anytime soon.

Linden was fully prepared to discuss the shortcomings of the presented political matters and to list the advertisers he would never again frequent. It was not bad enough to justify that approach. So, maybe he will be better prepared tomorrow and will then present a topic dearer to his heart.
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LINDEN'S COMPOSITIONS:
Linden’s first CD “Songs A Poor Old Police Department Retiree Might Write While Waiting For His Meager Pension Check” is now ready for purchase as are the six books he has written and/or published. Plainfield area sales at Secondhand Stories in the strip mall at Raceway & Rockville roads. Online, go to addresses below and inquire on “Linden Swift”.

http://stores.ebay.com/secondhand-stories
www.alibris.com/bookstore/secondha

DONATIONS to support postings, are appreciated but not necessary, may be made to Linden Swift, Box 203, Plainfield, IN 46168

COMMENTS: Only those sent to LWDcomment@aol.com are received.
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HOPE & CHANGE DEFINED

Early in this presidential election cycle, Barack Obama latched on to the words “hope” and “change” without ever identifying exactly what he meant other than higher taxes. He may still be using these words often but, since he is becoming a flip-flop master, they still lack meaning.

Hope is what Linden has for the immediate future of the Republican Party! Now that Indiana’s own Mike Pence (We could do worse for a Vice President nominee) and some of the other Republican stalwarts have resoundingly called attention to the failure of Nancy Pelosi and the other congressional democrats, perhaps you can join Linden in hoping for major losses for the democrats in the November election.

Change is defined by this different (and most welcome) approach now being adopted by some Republicans. Change will continue if there is a movement to cause signs, which will put the blame on the democrats for these high gas prices to start to appear near gas stations. Further change will occur when media advertisers start being held accountable for the poor performance of the “news” providers. We are back to hope again! How about hope that this will be the last five week vacation the democrats take at taxpayer expense?
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LINDEN'S COMPOSITIONS:
Linden’s first CD “Songs A Poor Old Police Department Retiree Might Write While Waiting For His Meager Pension Check” is now ready for purchase as are the six books he has written and/or published. Plainfield area sales at Secondhand Stories in the strip mall at Raceway & Rockville roads. Online, go to addresses below and inquire on “Linden Swift”.

http://stores.ebay.com/secondhand-stories
www.alibris.com/bookstore/secondha

DONATIONS to support postings, are appreciated but not necessary, may be made to Linden Swift, Box 203, Plainfield, IN 46168

COMMENTS: Only those sent to LWDcomment@aol.com are received.
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FIRST AUGUST WEEKEND

Friday: Men’s Prayer Breakfast at 6:00. Spent much of the day going through the Rubye memory papers that had been toppled by the blind falling yesterday and looking for a couple of poems that my sister, Edna, had given me over 10 years ago. For different reasons, there was much emotion involved in these efforts. Finally found the poems!

Saturday: Men’s Prayer Breakfast at Kingsway Christian Church: Lindsay, our normal leader, had started a new job and was unable to attend the meeting: Missed him. I picked up sales merchandise at The Uncommon Corner bookstore: They, regretfully, are closing. In the evening, Julie brought Jade by. We went out to eat then came back to my place for a long and pleasant visit. Julie had brought Jade to Plainfield a few days ago so she could go on to Kansas City for a meeting. Jade is a good and a beautiful baby, now three months old. She never cries.

Sunday: Church, Sunday school, brunch and a very good gospel – bluegrass concert at Church in the afternoon. Accomplished nothing after the concert. Gotta call this a good weekend!
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LINDEN'S COMPOSITIONS:
Linden’s first CD “Songs A Poor Old Police Department Retiree Might Write While Waiting For His Meager Pension Check” is now ready for purchase as are the six books he has written and/or published. Plainfield area sales at Secondhand Stories in the strip mall at Raceway & Rockville roads. Online, go to addresses below and inquire on “Linden Swift”.

http://stores.ebay.com/secondhand-stories
www.alibris.com/bookstore/secondha

DONATIONS to support postings, are appreciated but not necessary, may be made to Linden Swift, Box 203, Plainfield, IN 46168

COMMENTS: Only those sent to LWDcomment@aol.com are received.
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OUR TO DO LIST

We are all familiar with to do lists – those things which have been identified as needing to be done but, as yet, may have not been addressed at all. The reason this posting calls it “our” list is because there are some things Linden will be unable to do.

It was probably Thursday when Linden heard a smattering of the Greg Garrison radio show that had to do with media bias. Linden can not be absolutely sure of what all was covered or when it was broadcast because he was so heavily involved in household tasks that he enjoys so much.

It seems to Linden that he heard that the main stream media, particularly the network “news,” were, on a continuing basis, devoting from 9 to 20 times the amount of coverage to Obama than they were to McCain. Linden suspects that is true.

Since Linden refuses to watch or listen to network “news,” it falls to you to address this matter. If it appears to be true, you do not need to report back to Linden and thereby run the risk of his questioning your judgment. You do need to complain to the advertisers who are supporting this reporting bias.

Perhaps Linden may be of some assistance in these three other items that are on the current to do list: (1.) Call attention to those Congressional Districts that do not field a Republican candidate; (2.) Attempt to place blame for this shameful situation; and, (3.) By means of email, blog postings and holding signs call attention to the fact that Congressional democrats support high gas prices. We will address who supports higher taxes later. Thank you in advance for all your to do list efforts.
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LINDEN'S LIFE
Monday was uneventful. Tuesday, had early coffee with friends, played 9 holes of golf, received a call from a man I had hired before I retired over 12 years ago: Hadn’t talked to him since. He reminded me that he had bought one of Julie’s cars and was pleased with it.
Had an early breakfast Wednesday with the lady who was President of our credit union during the time I was on the Board of Directors. Thursday was the usual breakfast with Bill, Chuck, Jack and Paul. Later in the day, re-hung a Venetian blind that had fallen: This may be the first thing I’ve ever actually successfully repaired. By falling, it made me aware of what a mess was on the table it crashed into. Worked on that a bit and spent quite a bit of time looking for some papers that have seemingly disappeared.
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LINDEN'S COMPOSITIONS
Linden’s first CD “Songs A Poor Old Police Department Retiree Might Write While Waiting For His Meager Pension Check” is now ready for purchase as are the six books he has written and/or published. Plainfield area sales at The Uncommon Corner bookstore in downtown Plainfield or at Secondhand Stories in the strip mall at Raceway & Rockville roads. Online, go to addresses below and inquire on “Linden Swift”.

http://stores.ebay.com/secondhand-stories
www.alibris.com/bookstore/secondha

DONATIONS to support postings, are appreciated but not necessary, may be made to Linden Swift, Box 203, Plainfield, IN 46168

COMMENTS: Only those sent to LWDcomment@aol.com are received.
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