Better than Oprah

Before Oprah: Ruth Lyons, the Woman Who Created Talk TV by Michael Banks

My review

Until I was fifteen years old on weekdays at noon, tv sets were turned to watch the 50-50 Club and if you did not want to sit quietly and watch, you were sent outside. Ruth Lyons was a major influence on every woman I knew during my childhood. Ruth's endorsements meant we slept on Serta Mattresses, shopped at Shillito's when we were in Cincinnati, washed our clothes in Fels Naptha, ate Roman Meal bread with Nu-Maid margarine. Women could converse about topics from her shows, knowing any other woman in this tri-state area had seen the show. Sympathy was extended to those who had to miss a show.

Two of my brothers and my own daughter received gifts from the Ruth Lyons Christmas Club during their hospitalization. This occurred over a time span of 30 years and 25 years after her show stopped broadcasting.

People who remember her show and her influence on Cincinnati, northern Kentucky, Dayton, Columbus, and Indianapolis will probably enjoy this book more than others who did not know of her.






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Lords of Finance

Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World by Liaquat Ahamed

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I listened to a Blackstone audio version during commutes. I never would have finished it if I had been reading as a book for too many characters were introduced and never heard from again. That's a problem with nonfiction, you can't make a composite character for the sake of the narrative.

I learned a lot and recommend it (that's why I give it 4 stars.) I recommend the last section (disc 19 for me) where the author compares certain similarities between the advice and strategies of economic advisors and the stance of politicians with historical events.


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Review of Game Over by Stephen Leeb, Ph.D

Game Over: How the Collapsing Economy Will Sink Your Wealth by 50% or More -- Unless You Know What to Do by Stephen Leeb

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
It is time to get our heads out of the Canadian Tar Sands and read this book to promote discussion and cooperation. "Even today, Americans still cling by and large to the optimism born in the postwar period. Yet, while we bask in a false sense of security, the rug is being pulled out from under us."

I read this book at a slow pace, a chapter a day, to give myself time to truly hear the challenges to seven comforting but false assumptions. "These assumptions are:

1. The world contains virtually limitless oil and mineral deposits. If the supply gets tight, we can always find more.

2. Governments and central banks know how to keep inflation under control.

3. Economic growth, perhaps with some occasional small interruptions, is on a perpetual upward track that will bring greater prosperity to all the world's inhabitants.

4. America's wealth is based on enduring advantages--including free enterprise and Yankee ingenuity--that will ensure we will always have the top spot in the global pecking order.

5. The national debt is no problem because economic growth will be so strong that we can pay it off...someday.

6. Technology can solve all our long-term problems. It's just a matter of putting more money into research.

7. Meanwhile, we can easily cope with any short-term emergencies. If we need new infrastructure, we'll build it. When it becomes urgent to switch to alternative energies, we'll turn our attention to it and get the job done. Ditto for reversing the trade deficit, funding government entitlement programs, or anything else. Therefore, too much planning ahead isn't necessary."


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The Land We Call Ohio

THE LAND WE CALL OHIO: 88 COUNTIES...88 PAINTINGS...88 HISTORIES by DEBORAH BRADFORD LINVILLE

My review

I won this as a door prize from Preble County Historical Society at 2008 Consumer Expo.

This book may inspire my next vacation to visit and photograph all 88 counties, or at least the ones I have not been to before now.


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My Review of Invest with Success

Invest With Success-Big Profits for Small Investors by Charles B. Schaap

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book clearly describes the screening process needed to create a watchlist of stocks suited for Dr. Schaap's 50-50 Strategy, clearly describes entry and exit signals, and clearly describes risk and trade management. He suggests the reader paper trade this strategy for six months and this suggestion will help you gain confidence in yourself and the strategy.


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My First Attempt at Digital Scrapbooking

This is my completed assignment for my free online class at HP website called "Getting Started in Digital Scrapbooking." I use Photoshop Elements 6.0

Two Great-Grand Aunts Identified

I wondered if I would be able to connect these pictures to our current family.
Some ancestor was kind enough to write names on the back of these photos, but I had not come into possession of these pictures until after the death of my husband's aunt.
"How are you related to these people," I questioned my husband and my father-in-law. It is a question I often ask at family reunions and gatherings. Even the living I don't know well enough to remember when I see them infrequently. The caption on the back of the picture on the left was Aunt Kate and Uncle Phil Henn and the caption on the picture on the right was Aunt Minnie Gregg. My father-in-law did not remember how he might be related to any Henn or Gregg.
With the help of Legacy Family Tree software, I found the connection. I searched my the name Kate and the name Minnie. I eliminated the Kates/Catherines and Minnies from my ancestral lines and husband's maternal lines, and I found a Kate married to Philip Henn and a Minnie married to Edgar Gregg.
Kate was the sister of my father-in-law's grandfather. She died when my father-in-law was only four years old and that is why he would not have recognized her.
Minnie is another sister of the grandfather of my father-in-law.She died more than fifty years ago.