From LOL news and politics

Borg queen behind me?

Community Supported Agriculture

A local organic farm Planet Organic CSA has opened their farm to be a CSA. The definition from Wiki;

“Community-supported agriculture (CSA) is a relatively new socio-economic model of food production, sales, and distribution aimed at both increasing the quality of food and the quality of care given the land, plants and animals – while substantially reducing potential food losses and financial risks for the producers. It is also a method for small-scale commercial farmers and gardeners to have a successful, small-scale closed market. CSA’s focus is usually on a system of weekly delivery or pick-up of vegetables, sometimes also flowers, fruits, herbs and even milk or meat products in some cases. A variety of similar production and economic sub-systems are in use worldwide”

   I’ve been to the Farm and it’s beautiful. I can’t wait until I can go gather eggs and help with the crops(We have a four hour a month work expectation). I’ve always wanted to see what it was like on a real farm with fresh,organic produce and this looks like my chance to find out.

Chickens,pigs at White Rabbit CSA

Joe, American” Challenges the Presidential Candidates

I’d like the candidates to actually address these issues instead of the futile partisan bickering they’re doing now.

Come on McCain and Obama,WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY TO THIS?

Some ways to help the Troops

The first one;

16-Year-Old Creates Nonprofit to Provide Free Music to Soldiers.

 
” an enterprising teen, 16-year-old Kaylee Marie Radzyminski, came up with a way to help the soldiers get their much-needed dose of music. After attending a Q-and-A session to listen to a group of returning soldiers and learning that, after their families, one of the things they missed most from home was entertainment, she went home and gathered up her own CD collection to ship it off to soldiers overseas.

Soon, her personal project turned into a larger movement: She created a national nonprofit group, Tunes 4 the Troops. In the three years since starting the organization, Radzyminski and her fellow volunteers have delivered more than 200,000 CDs and DVDs to soldiers around the world.

“It first started with my collection, then my friends chipped in with their music and movies, and it just spread and spread through my community — and now, nationwide,” she told CNN.

“My mission is not about supporting or opposing the war, it’s about supporting the troops,” she said. “They sacrifice so much for us, why can’t I do a little bit to give back to them?”

Another is Adopt a Platoon.You can support an individual,which means to write to them weekly with a monthly care package. Or bigger groups can adopt a platoon,which can consist of 15 to 40 individuals where one bigger package would be sent monthly along with letters and the platoon would divide what is sent among them. This is a great chance for schools,work places to help those who are fighting overseas for us.Sometimes the employer will cover shipping and the employee will supply the goodies.

Also you can be a penpal where;

“An individual, married person or family pen pal support measure pledges to send one cheerful card or letter weekly to an assigned soldier “

Here’s the link;

http://www.adoptaplatoon.org/new/mission.html

So lets help the troops out here,it doesn’t take much,just some time and organization to send packages and a cheerful letter or two. And it means so much.

 

Image by;

Public Domain: Soldier with Refugee Children by Cecilio M. Ricardo Jr. USAF, April 2007 (DOD 070408-F-3961R-900)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Floral heritage

This is my favorite hibiscus,it’s an older species Hawaian called Fifth Diminsion. My Grandmother had it in her yard in South Miami,My family had it in our yard in Hialeah and now we have it again where we are.My Mom is delighted with it as am I.It adds a sense of continuity to where we live,it adds a sense of comfort.

My Grandmothers would always show us around their yards when we visited,showing us new plants or their favorite plants that were blooming.My Mother’s Mom had an especially green thumb.She used those “zone” guidelines as mere suggestions and pretty much anything would grow in her yard to fruition even if it was very much out of it’s zone. I’m not ashamed to say that she threatened a few plants with imminent uprooting if they didn’t show a rapid increase in growth or squeeze out a flower. It worked for her,not so much when I use it though.I guess the plants know that I’m not as serious. When I went to Fairchild Tropical Gardens,as beautiful as it is,I was kind of disappointed as my Grandma had many of the shrubs,flowers,exotics and trees already in her yard. Going there did give me a greater respect for my Grandma’s plant growing abilities.

Gosh I miss my Grandmas.

Remembering the fallen

Memorial Day is  a somber holiday  to remember our war dead,soldiers who died on foreign soil so that we can be free.

My Dad is a WW2 vet who due to a back injury wasn’t deployed overseas but was a MP at Camp Shelby,Mississippi who guarded German POWs. He said they were really well behaved,that their own officers made sure they followed the rules and didn’t misbehave.

     My Uncle T was in the newly minted Army Air Corps and trained as a pilot but ended up as a bombadeer in a B24 over in the Phillipines. One day he got ill and was in the infirmary when his plane flew out never to be seen again. My uncle was wracked with guilt for the rest of his life.

   Another Uncle was in the See Bees but was younger and joined so late that he really didn’t see any action as the war ended,he was lucky. Such was the mindset back then that he was disappointed that he didn’t get to serve.

   My other Uncle was in the Navy and he drove one of those landing crafts that ferried soldiers to the beach on D Day. It was chaotic that day to say the least as he brought soldiers to the beach while being strafed with incoming fire.Soldiers were jumping out of the ship and landing in water that was too deep and drowning because the weight of their gear kept them from being able to swim to the surface. He spoke of his guilt and horrific helplessness as his superiors would not let him or anyone else try to rescue those who were drowning as it would jeopardize the deployment of the troops on this very important day. He also was on the deck of a ship as they were testing the atomic bomb in the pacific Islands and the wind shifted and dropped the fallout all over their heads. Their Captain told them that they would probably all be dead within 10 years. Understandably he came back extremely depressed and had a drinking problem. He lived up into his 70s but he told his son NOT to go in the Military and I can’t blame him.

They do so much so that we can be free.

THANK YOU!

 

Image:I’ll Miss You Dad by Cecilio M. Ricardo Jr.jpg

They are still doing lobotomies!

They just call it something else; a combined capsulotomy and cingulotomy . Two medical centers  that are performing this experiemental and unethical surgery are Harvard University and Brown. I can’t believe in this day and age that they still want to damage the brain to end human suffering.

    I read about this travesty in  Psychiatric Drug Facts   by
 Peter Breggin, M.D.

  here is a link,it’s interesting reading and infuriating if you know of any “victims” of these kind of treatments.

http://www.breggin.com/lobotomy.htm

The ER,um…..rocks!

As much as I hate to go to the ER without an absolute emergency i.e avulsed lung,sucking chest wound,etc this continued pain and weakness with no diagnosis was worrying me. I went to my primary and she agreed that I looked ill and that she was concerned but couldn’t quite get a handle on what was going on. So over I went,expecting to have to wait,and wait as the more seriously ill were seen,as it should be.

    I walked in,signed the board,was triaged and taken back to my room immediately. My nurse was waiting outside my room already prepared with what labs to be drawn and to start an IV. While she was there the Doc popped his head in for a quick summary and a few questions,told me what they were going to do and they did it. I got some fluid,some Zofran,refused pain meds because I didn’t have anyone to drive me home,it wasn’t that bad anyway. They did a CT scan and the diagnosis is 4 kidney stones,most of which have already passed into my bladder but that explains perfectly the migrating flank pain from side to side,bladder symptoms and all that. I was so relieved to get a diagnosis. I was beginning to wonder if I was losing my mind.

  Well,I don’t need to go often but I’m so glad ER’s are there when you need them. People who work in ER’s have my absolute admiration.Oh,and all of that was in under 3 hours.

Sick

In reference to where I was wondering if something was wrong with me physically I guess I waited a bit too long to go to the doctor.Seems I have acute pyelonephritis and it sucks big time. I hate for anything to slow me down,I HATE being sick.Argh! Flank pain and chills,the losing weight because I can’t eat is alright I guess,I need to lose a few.

    Oh well,I’m on Cipro and I can tell it’s working the pain isn’t so acute but it’s taking a while.And did I mention that I hate to be sick?

   Wow,not even one month past my 50th birthday and I find I’m not invincible,how humbling.

Over a barrel

Oil was $32 a barrel when GWBush took office and 2001 now it’s $118 a barrel and rising. George has been good to his actual base. Need I say more?