This may be the first time in Webnerhouse history that Richard, UJ and I have agreed on something political, but I also think that everyone — especially the public — benefited from the civil, respectful, yet candid conversation between the President and the House Republicans last week. The first step to engagement is discussion. We [...]
Archive for January, 2010
Make It Unanimous
Posted in America, Politics, tagged America, Politics, President Obama, Republicans on January 31, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Keep on Trying to Reach Across the Aisle Mr. President
Posted in Politics, tagged President Obama, Question and Answer with GOP on January 31, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
I’ve not had a chance to view in full the Question and Answer session that the President had with the Republican caucus this week, but I don’t recall in my lifetime a time where a sitting President was willing to take unscripted questions from the opposing party and answer and address them. Once I’ve had a chance to view [...]
Russell’s artwork is going to be featured, along with that of three other Vassar students, in the “4 x 4″ exhibition at the James W. Palmer III Gallery at Vassar College. The news release is here; scroll down to see the information on Russell’s exhibition. The exhibition runs from February 24 to March 4. Stop [...]
Redefining The CEO
Posted in America, The Economy, tagged America, business, CEO, Corporations, economy, PepsiCo on January 31, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
The Marketplace radio program recently carried an interesting interview with the CEO of PepsiCo, Indra Nooyi, about redefining the role of the CEO. She believes that a “maniacal focus on the shareholders” led to the financial crisis, and that now CEOs should focus on the “stakeholder” rather than the shareholder. The “stakeholder” concept is a [...]
Audition Tape
Posted in Family, TV, tagged Family, Glee, TV on January 31, 2010 | 1 Comment »
My niece, Brittany, loves the TV show Glee and prepared her own audition tape for the show, which is posted on Youtube. In the past, she has said that the Webnerhouse blog is boring, so maybe posting her audition video is a way to jazz it up. Good luck, Brittany! Let’s hope you hear from [...]
Priorities, Priorities
Posted in America, Politics, sports, tagged America, BCS, Bowl Championship Series, college football, Obama Administration, Politics, sports, Unemployment on January 30, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Sports Illustrated is reporting that the Justice Department is considering whether to take some kind of action to determine if the Bowl Championship Series violates federal antitrust laws. I don’t know whether the BCS violates antitrust laws, and frankly I don’t care. Whether the college football national champion should be determined by a playoff as [...]
The Sad Decline Of Office Coffee Consumption
Posted in America, Work, tagged America, Coffee, Health, modern culture, Office Coffee, Starbucks, Work on January 30, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Yesterday at the office I went to get a cup of coffee at about 9 a.m. and saw, to my slight surprise, that the pot I had made an hour or so earlier had remained untouched by any other person on the floor. It brought home the fact that fewer and fewer people, at our [...]
What the Heck Are you Up to Mr. President ?
Posted in Books, Politics, tagged crisis of confidence speech, jimmy carter on January 29, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
A few weeks ago I was checking out the newly published books at the Upper Arlington library and I came across one with the title mentioned above written by Kevin Mattson. To my surprise someone had written a book on Jimmy Carter, America’s Malaise and His Speech That Should Have Changed the Country. I knew Bob had written [...]
The Single Digits
Posted in Columbus, weather, tagged Columbus, Morning Walks, New Albany, weather, Winter on January 29, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
After a brief warming spell where we flirted with the 50s, the weather in the Columbus area has turned very cold again. Today, when I took my morning walk, the temperature was 8 degrees. Temperature is all relative, but when the thermometer dips to the single digits it feels like a change in kind and [...]
Respect For The Tribunal
Posted in America, Politics, tagged America, President Obama, State Of The Union, Supreme Court, U.S. Constitution on January 28, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
I must candidly admit that I fell asleep during President Obama’s SOTU speech last night, so I didn’t witness, in real time, the President calling out the Supreme Court on its recent campaign finance ruling. However, I’ve seen tapes of the President’s remarks (and Justice Alito’s reaction ) and I think the President acted improperly. [...]
A Heartfelt SOTU Wish
Posted in Politics, tagged Politics, State Of The Union on January 27, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
I really dislike the State of the Union speech. Has there ever been a truly memorable State of the Union speech? In my adult lifetime, at least, they have uniformly been dull, much too long, and a grab-bag of turgid policy proposals tossed in to please various special interest groups and then quickly forgotten. Who [...]
Bertha Webner
Posted in Family, Growing Up, tagged Akron, Family, Growing Up, Uhrichsville, Webner on January 26, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
January 20 was the birthday of Bertha Webner, my paternal grandmother. She lived well into her 90s and, when she finally went to join her sisters in the Great Beyond, left some indelible memories for me and her other friends and relatives. Gramma Webner was one of those people who exemplified the complexities, and contradictions, [...]
Global Warming And Congressional Spending
Posted in America, Politics, The Economy, tagged America, Congress, Congressional Junkets, Copenhagen Climate Summit, economy, Politics, recession, Speaker Nancy Pelosi on January 26, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
CBS News has posted an interesting report on how much American taxpayers spent to send certain members of Congress, their family members, and assorted staffers to the recent “Copenhagen Climate Summit” that produced lots of hot air but no meaningful agreement. According to the congressional spending reports cited in the CBS piece, at last 106 [...]
Premature Polling
Posted in Ohio, Politics, tagged 2010 Ohio Election, 2010 Ohio Governor's Race, John Kasich, Ohio, Politics, Ted Strickland on January 25, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
On Sunday, the Columbus Dispatch and other Ohio newspapers reported on the Ohio Newspaper Poll results for the likely 2010 Ohio governor’s race, between incumbent Democrat Ted Strickland and Republican challenger John Kasich. The poll indicates that Kasich leads Strickland, 51 to 45 percent. The Akron Beacon Journal story on the poll is here. I [...]
