tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55775051205382728582024-03-05T01:08:13.138-08:00mousiemarcI love God, love the original intent that our founders set in motion for the U.S.A... Much of which has been dilapidated by our current run of politicians. Like all christians I want a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ, and I am not afraid to express my christian beliefs. God bless you,
Mousie Marcmousiemarchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10946780831209471709noreply@blogger.comBlogger76125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577505120538272858.post-65183803282194589912013-08-14T15:28:00.000-07:002013-08-14T15:28:22.584-07:00facial recognition software
Today on MSN I read that pay pal is perfecting software so that shoppers don't need a wallet. No Physical ID. Just their smart phone, and their face. At limited (for now) retailers they can check out getting their face scanned. The ease and convenience of this for some is obvious. However, the potential for abuse is daunting to think about. Even if you believe that government and business entities will only use this for good (I DON'T HAVE SUCH FAITH) the risk one is exposed to from genius criminals is unprecedented. If they could manipulate the system to steal your facial records, make their face your face in databases, exc. The results of such malicious behavior is limited only by the mind of those willing to commit such acts. Pay Pal expects this to be the method of payment for many by 2016.
Read article here http://news.msn.com/rumors/rumor-facial-recognition-can-verify-paypal-payment mousiemarchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10946780831209471709noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577505120538272858.post-83230232943432922142013-05-07T14:06:00.001-07:002013-05-07T14:06:14.712-07:00Dr. Kermit Gosnell, abortion, and what?
As released by the AP, "PHILADELPHIA - A jury weighing murder charges against a Philadelphia abortion provider will re-hear several hours of testimony before resuming deliberations.
Dr. Kermit Gosnell is charged with killing a patient and four babies allegedly born alive. Prosecutors say the 72-year-old Gosnell routinely killed babies born alive.
The jury is set to spend much of Wednesday reviewing the testimony of medical assistant Lynda Williams.
One of the infant deaths Gosnell is charged with relates to Williams. She has testified that she cut the child in the back of the neck after it was alive for about 20 minutes.
Gosnell is charged with first-degree murder for allegedly conspiring with Williams to kill that baby. Williams has pleaded guilty to third-degree murder.
The jury has been deliberating for a week
Read more: http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/national/dr-kermit-gosnell-abortion-trial-a-week-in-jury-weighs-pennsylvania-abortion-clinic-deaths#ixzz2Sds9TfIJ
Mousie Marc Says, " Hey why haven't the media put this front page and put it on the mainstream news?"
Well the following link really sheds the details pretty well.
http://www.policymic.com/articles/34339/dr-kermit-gosnell-s-abortion-trial-why-isn-t-the-media-covering-it
Lets quote from this article at depth
"Among the relatively few cases that could be specifically documented, one was Baby Boy A. His 17-year-old mother was almost 30 weeks pregnant – seven and a half months – when labor was induced. An employee estimated his birth weight as approaching six pounds. He was breathing and moving when Dr. Gosnell severed his spine and put the body in a plastic shoebox for disposal."
As was his wont, Dr. Kermit B. Gosnell would try to lighten the mood with a bit joking. Boy A was, he said, "big enough to walk around with me or walk me to the bus stop."
But Boy A will never have that chance. The good doctor saw to that.
Dr. Gosnell was the operator of an abortion mill – this was no clinic – located in West Philadelphia called the "Women's Medical Society" and set up in 1972. He was a product of the local neighborhood, and he had spent almost four decades running his establishment – "giving back" to the community he grew up in.
Of course, he had a peculiar form of charity: "Infant beheadings. Severed baby feet in jars. A child screaming after it was delivered alive during an abortion procedure." Gosnell's mill was known for its willingness to carry out late-term abortions – the illegal practice (in Pennsylvania) of killing a child after the initial 24 weeks of pregnancy. Indeed, as word spread about the doctor's services, women would come from all around to enjoy the benefit of his service.'
Mousie Marc Says, "'Oh ha ha ha. That child could have walked me to the bus stop before I snipped this breathing childs spinal cord and watched it die.' Oh that Dr. Gosnell, he's a real humanitarian, and funny to boot.
The article continues, ""There was blood on the floor," witnesses reported. "A stench of urine filled the air. A flea-infested cat was wandering through the facility, and there were cat feces on the stairs. Semi-conscious women scheduled for abortions were moaning in the waiting room or the recovery room, where they sat on dirty recliners covered with blood-stained blankets."
Mousie Marc Says, "Oh and here comes the most game changing part of the article. When asked why this practice was allowed to continue for DECADES. The article makes this conclusion."
In short, "the reason no one acted is because the women in question were poor and of color, because the victims were infants without identities, and because the subject was the political football of abortion."
Mousie Marc Says, "So back to my original question. Why is this not being covered? This is just the tip of the ice berg of what this guy has done. I've heard so much more. Following through on abortions even when the women changed her mind by quickly sedating her being just one of them. our society wouldn't be protecting it's sacred cow would it?"
mousiemarchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10946780831209471709noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577505120538272858.post-55592890235036865722013-04-19T22:34:00.001-07:002013-04-19T22:34:05.169-07:00Boston, marshal law
I am going to make this blog bit nice, sweet, and to the point. I just watched the alphabet channels clearly display marshal law. Granted, one can point to the fact they were chasing two terrorist suspects who bombed the Boston marathon. For the sake of argument I'm going to give you that one (even though I personally believe there is a lot more behind this story, and the words "false flag" come to mind). Still, the entire city of Boston and surrounding areas for the most part was shut down and militarized. This basicly happened overnight. I have no doubt it will quickly disperse and some form of normalcy will ensue shortly after. However, the fact that our government can militarize a city that large in such a short period of time should give you pause. What else can they do? How quickly? I learned a thing or two today. 1. Our country could potentially be under marshal law in a weeks time if they so desire it to be. 2. Even after 9/11 people will still spew sport team like slogans while not engaging their brains, and thinking about what is really going on. Many people think that the whole story is over. They catch two guys and think, "that's it." How could two guys pull this off? How could two guys just set up multiple bombs around a highly visible marathon guarded by police? What about the reports that there were training exercises that that a bomb went off the day before? Is it true that someone was screaming it's just a drill while the bombs were going off? Good questions. mousiemarchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10946780831209471709noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577505120538272858.post-37108828411484929622013-01-02T14:47:00.001-08:002013-01-02T14:47:27.291-08:00Nikki Sixx, The Heroin Diaries
First, I have never tried heroin. I was offered it once as a teenager and turned it down flat. I come from a family who has many members who have succumbed to various alcohol and drug addictions. I have lost family members to alcohol, cocaine, heroin, and others. I personally chose not to go down this road. I read this book attempting to possibly gain more insight into my loved ones who did use IV drugs. I got a bit of a better idea. More on me later most of you want a book review.
The Heroin Diaries on one hand are very telling stories about drug addiction. Telling us about being strung out and vomiting and having diarrhea at the same time should not come across as glamorous to anyone. On the other hand I would have liked to have seen him really spell out his unique situation a little more. Yes, he actually died and was brought back to life twice. Yes, he did have multiple relapses and talks about how he had to deal with his personal emotional demons before he could STAY Straight. But one of the things he mentions (but not in as much detail as I would like to have seen) is how his rock stardom, and subsequent million dollar finances allowed him to do this. Nikki didn't have to physically steal from his family and friends to get his drugs. He burned through a million dollars in drugs (mostly heroin and cocaine) in one year. I would have loved one entry that stated, "If I wasn't an international rock star I would have lived on the street and stolen from everyone around me. I probably would have ended up dead long before my two failed attempts. I had so many people looking after me I didn't have to be responsible at all. They enabled me, and I had the money to do it. If you think this is glamorous, just think, instead of having the ability to spend a million dollars on drugs in one year, you'll burn every friend and family member you ever once loved. They will never trust you until your clean, and you will end up on the streets soaked in your own urine shooting drugs without anyone at your side dying and wishing you were dead." He did do a little of this with his stories concerning Ratt guitarist Robin Crosby. Robin lost his battle with heroin. Robin got AIDS from sharing needles with vagabond street junkies, and died homeless and broke. From being a millionaire with platinum records to dying homeless without shoes on the streets of Los Angelas. Those are the stories I would have love a little more of. Not all together Nikki's fault. He found a way through the heroin death trap. Many do not. My adopted father lost his brother to heroin that way. I got to watch my dad cry like a baby. I give Nikki a lot of credit for putting this in print to begin with. However, because some of the drug stories are in turn associated with the band "Motley Crue" I feel drug use was occasionally glamorized in the "rock Star" persona. I do feel he did a good job of showing the lonely aspect of drugs, the lying, the nights by yourself, the paranoia. All in all he did a good job.
Last but not least I want to tell you about those who don't use drugs, alcohol, or have other addictions but are hurt by them. The little girl who's mother had an addiction and kept getting them evicted from every home they ever had. The anger that stems from that is great, and that little girl grew up to be a nurse but had to work to overcome her childhood. The little boy who watched his mother falling asleep drunk in a bowl of cheerios everyday when he came home from school. He saw the needle fall out of his uncles pocket with a spoon, and didn't understand why his brother had all those "cigarette burns" on his arms that were irregularly shaped (you know track marks). That little boy also grew up, became a nurse, and married the the little girl above. They both chose to go on a different path than the examples they saw growing up. But what they didn't quite understand, and that which would take them years to understand is the impact it had on them. One became angry and had to deal with those issues for years because of her childhood. The other learned to ignore everything as if it didn't exist. Imagine being a nurse a year out of school and getting your first heroin addict. Charge nurse tells you, "Typical infected abscess from injecting." You go in and introduce yourself, and you leave the room like, "What, typical what, that guy is just a normal dude." My coworkers looked at me like I was out of my mind. I had completely shut off seeing addiction in any form as a defense mechanism. Drug addicts around the home were normal when I was growing up. My uncles friend was a chiropractor before he lost his license and family to cocaine addiction. Last I heard, he lost his two new children (because his first wife divorced him and took his first child) he had with his new girlfriend (a heroin addict) because the kids came out addicted. Though he (the former chiropractor) is working at a pawn shop for minimum wage, living in a slum, and trying to avoid the dealers he owed money to. How glamorous is that?
Unless your a rock star with a million dollars to spend on smack and blow you'll end up dead and it won't be glamorous. mousiemarchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10946780831209471709noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577505120538272858.post-92129842838313753562012-08-20T22:19:00.002-07:002012-08-20T22:22:42.150-07:00Snapperheads, Broken Angel<a href="http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NThifyvH-is&feature=share"></a><a href="http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NThifyvH-is&feature=share"></a>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NThifyvH-is&feature=sharemousiemarchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10946780831209471709noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577505120538272858.post-47165194427830185792012-07-16T21:30:00.003-07:002012-07-16T21:30:31.055-07:00Mcdonald's and me.I'm like a McDonald's cheese burger. No matter how many people throw me in the trash, I can come out years later like new. Marcmousiemarchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10946780831209471709noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577505120538272858.post-5519614603629865982012-05-04T19:04:00.001-07:002012-05-04T19:04:05.005-07:00The country we live in.I have a few questions.
1. Why are there reports that homeland security has ordered 450 million hollow point rounds? http://www.topix.com/forum/city/terre-haute-in/TSOAOR36CMV61DRUQ
2. Why is homeland security moving their "deadliest Animal disease lab to K- State?" It was on a Island in New York but now it's going to be in the midwest, right in the middle of our country. I would like to know the real reason, not the story their telling all of us. http://www.kshb.com/dpp/news/local_news/investigations/A-government-research-lab-will-study-deadliest-animal-diseases-at-K-State,-raising-safety-concerns
3. Why do people still believe they have our best interest at heart?mousiemarchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10946780831209471709noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577505120538272858.post-86840985479282840642012-03-07T10:43:00.002-08:002012-03-07T11:01:23.003-08:00Super Tuesday, or Super depressingWell looks like Mitt Romney is pulling away ever so slightly in the Republican presidential nomination. My wife keeps pestering me about calling this guy or that guy to get x, y and z done around the house. All I can think about is that The Ron Paul ship looks sunk. Heck I opted not to go to my sons last soccer event (thus making him miss it as well) just so I could go to the washington state caucus since my state opted not to have a primary. We only had a two hour window to be there, and my county is about 70% Ron Paul supporters. We went just to learn that even though Paul was kicking huge booty in my county he still might not get the majority of my county's delegates. See we have an automatic delegates that are assigned by precinct. Ours was a Santorum supporter even though santorum represented less than 10% of the caucus members in my area. Santorum automatically gets one of our areas delegates. Paul killed in our straw poll. Yet it doesn't look like he will get the delegates. Heck even John Stewart likes Paul. Everyone knows Paul has the best chance of beating Obama (even among Romeny and santorum supporters). <br /><br /> I was at a table at my local caucus with 7 other Paul supporters, 4 Romney and one santorum (though the Santorum supporter was an automatic delegate out of 4 total). So here I am amongst Paul supporters all saying they didn't think he would get the nomination (I don't either). Then, the mother statement came from one of them, "We have to support whoever gets the nomination to get Obama out of there." RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRT (envision braking suddenly going at 100 plus MPH). I looked at them all and stated, "I can't do that. Not one of these other candidates holds the principals that Dr. Paul does." They really all are Obama light. Romney passed Romney care. Oh ya, that guy is not going to get rid of Obama's healthcare bill. Gingrich and Santorum are front men for the fed pure and simple. Paul is the only one who would cut the size of the federal government. He is the only candidate who can restore constitutional values. The rest of them are like switching from non filtered cigarettes to filtered cigarettes. Your still going to die from cancer. The only difference is that by voting for Romney you get to FEEL better about yourself. Truth, your voting for Obama light.mousiemarchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10946780831209471709noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577505120538272858.post-80763160513519887382012-02-01T07:49:00.000-08:002012-02-01T07:50:10.405-08:00interesting article on garden beds and pressure treated wood.Your Garden?Here’s the information to help you decide<br />by Ruth Lively<br /> <br /> <br />Lumber absorbs CCA compounds in large pressurized tanks. A couple of decades ago, lumber impregnated with chromated copper arsenate (known as CCA) was considered the answer to a gardener’s prayer. It boasted longer life than rot-resistant species like redwood, you could buy it almost anywhere, and manufacturers said the treatment chemicals, though toxic, safely stayed put in the wood. The main plus for gardeners was that the chemicals didn’t harm plants, unlike creosote and pentachlorophenol, two previously popular wood preservatives.<br /><br />But then word started seeping out that those CCA chemicals weren’t so perfectly bound up after all, that some of them, in fact, migrated from the wood into the surrounding soil. And that’s when pressure-treated wood moved into the hot seat.<br /><br /> <br />Further Reading <br />Are Pressure Treated Woods Safe in Garden Beds? <br />Is Pressure-Treated Lumber Safe to Use for Raised Beds? <br />Coating Pressure-Treated Wood to Make it Safer <br />What’s bad about pressure-treated wood?<br /> <br />Random core samples are extracted to monitor quality. In the pressure-treating process, lumber is sealed in a tank, and air is extracted, creating a vacuum. Then a solution containing chromium, copper, and arsenic is added. Because of the vacuum, the chemicals are carried deep into the wood. Chromium is a bactericide, copper a fungicide, and arsenic an insecticide, and all arrest decay of some kind. All three are toxic, but chromium and copper don’t raise many concerns. If we don’t inhale it, chromium is not particularly harmful to us, and copper isn’t very toxic to mammals, although it is to aquatic life and fungi. It’s arsenic that is worrisome.<br /><br />Arsenic is everywhere. If this gray, metal-like element is combined with oxygen, chlorine, and sulfur, it’s considered inorganic arsenic. If carbon is part of the combination, then the arsenic is organic. It’s the inorganic forms that worry people. The arsenate used in wood treatment is inorganic. Compared to organic arsenic, inorganic arsenic is much more likely to accumulate in living tissues, where it interacts with cell enzymes and impairs metabolism. Organic forms of arsenic don’t appear to do this, and are largely excreted before they can do us harm.<br /><br />We’re exposed to arsenic—mostly organic forms—every day because very small amounts are present in all soil, water, and food. We typically eat 25 to 50 micrograms (a microgram is a millionth of a gram) of mostly organic arsenic a day. Low levels of arsenic are in everything we eat. The biggest source is shellfish.<br /><br />Inorganic arsenic also may be present in foods due to residues in the soil from the days when arsenic was an approved pesticide. One reason root crops tend to accumulate arsenic is that minute particles of soil stick to the root’s skin, even after a brisk scrubbing. Peeling root vegetables before eating them gets rid of that arsenic. Still, there’s no need to worry about normal levels of arsenic in foods. The amount is so small it’s not harmful.<br /><br />Soils contain both organic and inorganic arsenic. Background levels of arsenic in soil (amounts due to geological weathering, not to human contamination) typically range from 0.1 to upwards of 10 parts per million (ppm), and up to 40 ppm is considered tolerable, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Above that level, detectable amounts start showing up in children’s urine, because kids ingest dirt.<br /><br />Water contains background arsenic too, but there might also be arsenic from contamination. The current EPA limit for arsenic in drinking water is 50 parts per billion.<br />In large doses, inorganic arsenic is strong poison. Ingesting 1 to 3 milligrams per kilogram of body weight can be fatal. Lesser amounts can cause nausea and diarrhea, lower production of both red and white blood cells, and give you a pins-and-needles sensation in your arms and legs. Inorganic arsenic is also carcinogenic, increasing the risk of lung, skin, and other cancers.<br /><br />But as USDA heavy metals expert Rufus Chaney points out, what constitutes an acute toxic dose isn’t really relevant to gardeners. What we want to avoid are chronic toxic doses, which can lead to disease. Chronic exposure means every day for a lifetime. According to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Diseases Registry (ATSDR) in Atlanta, we can ingest up to 0.3 micrograms of inorganic arsenic per kilogram of body weight per day and not be harmed. The average American woman, who weighs 132 lb. or 60 kg., would have to eat more than 18 micrograms daily all her life to see any ill effects. Before you get alarmed, remember this is inorganic arsenic we’re talking about, not the organic types predominant in our diet. And, an ATSDR spokesperson points out, 0.3 microgram is a low estimate for the maximum tolerable dose.<br /><br />Testing for arsenic leaching and migration<br /> I sent soil samples from a 3-year-old CCA-framed bed to a lab for testing. I took three samples at various distances from the wood—immediately adjacent, several inches away, and in the middle of the bed. For a control, I sent soil from a bed that’s never been in contact with pressure-treated wood. Only the soil very close to the treated wood shows a higher-than-background level of arsenic.<br />The data on leaching<br />So how much arsenic leaches into the soil from CCA lumber? More to the point, how much gets taken up by vegetables? And how much winds up in the mouths of children? There have been a lot of studies looking at the first two issues, but in trying to organize the facts into meaningful information, I discovered definitive answers can be elusive. I can’t tell you whether or not you should use pressure-treated wood. What I can do is explain the results of pertinent studies and give you the information you need to decide for yourself.<br /><br />CCA-treated wood does have good resistance to leaching, but there is some loss of chemicals. In a study of utility poles of varying ages, wood scientist Paul Cooper of the University of New Brunswick in Canada found uniformly high CCA retention, clearly indicating that large amounts of preservative had not leached out of the wood. There appears to be an initial surge of leaching during the first rainy season, and then the wood settles down to a slow release of small amounts, decreasing slightly over time.<br /><br />All three CCA elements are more liable to leach at a pH of 3 or below, far too acidic for growing vegetables. At levels of 4 and up, pH has no effect.<br /><br />Cooper has also studied compost bins made of CCA wood, and found that organic acids formed during the composting process cause more leaching. This not only brings more contaminants into the soil or compost, but also compromises the integrity of the lumber. Neither result is desirable, so Cooper does not consider pressure-treated wood suitable for making compost bins, although he doesn’t object to using it in gardens. Finished compost has a near-neutral pH, so adding compost to CCA-framed beds isn’t a problem.<br /><br />Once arsenic is in the ground, it doesn’t migrate much. Where there is leaching, arsenic levels drop quickly with distance from the wood, usually reaching background levels within a few inches in raised beds.<br /><br />Some people have voiced fears that leached arsenic will find its way into groundwater, but Cooper’s utility pole study found no evidence to support such concerns. Groundwater samples taken from close to the poles had very low levels of CCA components. According to Stan Lebow, a wood scientist at the USDA’s Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin, “The potential for any CCA chemicals getting into groundwater from garden use is pretty much zero. They just don’t move that far.”<br /><br />If you use CCA lumber...<br /> The chemicals in pressure-treated lumber are pesticides, so you should handle the wood with the same precautions as befit any potentially hazardous material.<br /><br />Protect yourself while working with CCA wood. Always wear gloves, eye protection, and most important, a dust mask. Long sleeves are a good idea, too. Wash yourself and your clothes afterward. Finally, clean up every speck of sawdust you can (a shop vac does the best job). Drilling and sawing over a paved surface makes dust retrieval easier. Bag up sawdust and wood scraps and send them to the landfill. Don’t consider these steps optional.<br /><br />Never, ever, burn CCA-treated wood. Burning sends some of the arsenic up in smoke, which can be inhaled. The ash, too, contains high concentrations of arsenic.<br /><br />There are things you can do to CCA-treated wood to minimize leaching or migration. Scrubbing the wood with detergent or power washing it will remove surface residue. If possible, let the boards weather for several months after they’ve been cut and drilled before assembling. Studies show the greatest amount of leaching occurs the first rainy season. Always predrill holes for screws, which will prevent cracks in the wood. Cracks are places where preservative can leach. Lining the inside of the bed with heavy-duty plastic before filling it will create a physical barrier to any CCA compounds moving into your soil. Painting exposed wood surfaces with water-repellent finish, paint, or stain will protect your skin if you lean or kneel on the sides. And if you have small children, it will also prevent CCA compounds moving from little hands to little mouths.<br /><br />Finally, you can take advantage of arsenic’s tendency to not travel far in the soil. To keep the arsenic in place, refrain from mixing soil along the perimeter few inches of the bed with soil farther in. Avoid growing spinach and root crops, particularly carrots and radishes, close to CCA-treated wood. Consider planting a band of compact flowers along the edge of the bed.<br /><br />The story on arsenic and vegetables<br />There have been three major studies of vegetables grown in arsenic-enhanced soils, one by E.A. Woolson (United States, 1973), one by C. Grant and A.J. Dobbs (Britain, 1977), and one headed by T.W. Speir (New Zealand, 1992). All measured arsenic’s effect on plant growth and arsenic content of the harvest.<br /><br />At certain levels of concentration, arsenic interferes with plant growth, but it’s impossible to generalize about amounts. Availability to plants varies from soil to soil, and sensitivity varies from crop to crop. Beans are fairly sensitive, while carrots and tomatoes tolerate arsenic well. Very small additions of arsenic can actually increase yields. Also, there’s no correlation between a crop’s sensitivity to arsenic and the ability to absorb and translocate it to edible plant parts.<br /><br />Available arsenic—meaning arsenic in a form plants can absorb—is a much more important measure than total arsenic. Typically, background arsenic is either pretty much insoluble or is tied up in a complex relationship with minerals and organic matter. For example, in the Grant and Dobbs study, soil with 24 ppm total arsenic had 7 ppm available arsenic. At 14 ppm total arsenic, available arsenic was undetectable.<br /><br />Arsenic accumulates in very small amounts in vegetables, but generally in parts we don’t eat. Grant and Dobbs grew green beans, carrots, and tomatoes for their test. Crops grown in soil with 24 ppm total arsenic had the following arsenic levels in the edible parts: green beans, 0.29 ppm; carrots, 0.11 ppm; and tomatoes, 0.14 ppm. These, too, are total arsenic levels, and as Rufus Chaney pointed out, much of it would be organic. Carrots, for example, grown in soil with no added arsenic contained 0.05 ppm arsenic.<br /><br />Woolson tested green and lima beans, spinach, cabbage, tomatoes, and radishes. Radishes and spinach took up the most arsenic, but even in soil with enough arsenic to reduce growth by 50%, the spinach had only about 1 ppm arsenic and the radishes about 8 ppm. After the experiment, Woolson found available arsenic in the soil had been reduced in “barely significant” amounts, indicating the plants had removed very, very small portions.<br /><br />In general, plants tend to hold what arsenic they accumulate in their roots, typically in the fibrous roots. Uptake into plant tops and fruits is very small. (As always, there are exceptions. Carrots, radishes, and spinach all tend to store arsenic in their edible portions.)<br /><br />For example, beets are good arsenic accumulators, but most stays in the tail-like root, not the bulbous part you eat. In Speir’s experiment, beets grown on soil with 66 ppm arsenic contained less than 10 ppm arsenic after being completely dried. To put this in perspective, at fresh weight—the way vegetables are actually eaten—that concentration would be only about 2.5 ppm. And if you remove the skin, you also remove much of that arsenic. An interesting footnote: In the Speir study, crops were grown in soil containing CCA-treated sawdust. Because sawdust has a huge proportion of surface area, it leaches chemicals at a very high rate, so in effect this is a worst-case experiment.<br /><br />I went to several scientists to get their take on the data in the various reports.<br /><br />Les Bourquin, a food safety specialist at Michigan State University, says, “Consumers as a whole would like to have zero risk. The classic example is, you’re safer in an airplane than you are in a car. But most people are more comfortable driving a car because that’s where they’re in control. There are some things we do in our lives that put us at much greater risk” than eating foods grown in CCA-framed beds. Bourquin feels that from a food safety standpoint, microbial contamination like E. coli 0157:H7 is of much greater concern. “Compared to microbial risks, arsenic exposure doesn’t seem a big problem.”<br /><br />Rufus Chaney at the USDA agrees with Bourquin about food safety. “There’s no evidence that food safety is impaired by growing vegetables around CCA-treated wood.” According to Chaney, high levels of inorganic arsenic in soil will kill a plant before there’s enough arsenic in the plant itself for you to consider not eating it. Far more important is the risk of potential transfer of arsenic to skin and mouths, particularly for children, whose small bodies don’t tolerate arsenic as well as ours do. Chaney points out that persistent leaching, however small, means that arsenic is continually coming to the surface of the wood, where it can easily be transferred to us or our children when we touch the wood. “There’s just no way around it,” Chaney says. “For me, this is the overriding reason not to use CCA.”<br /><br />ACQ, a New Alternative<br />Public concern over potential hazards of CCA has led the industry to look for safer, less controversial preservatives. A few years ago, one of the producers of CCA came out with a preservative touted as environmentally sound. ACQ®, which stands for alkaline copper quat, is a mix of copper and a quaternary ammonium compound, nicknamed quat. Small amounts of copper and quat do leach, but nothing in ACQ is considered hazardous by the EPA, and no ingredient is a known or suspected carcinogen. The maker, Chemical Specialties, Inc. (CSI), uses only recycled copper in ACQ. The wood is expected to last as long as CCA-treated lumber.<br /><br />I first heard about ACQ four years ago, but had never found a place to buy it. Why, I wondered, was it so unavailable if it had so much to recommend it? The first version to go on the market contained no water repellent and had to be treated by the buyer to minimize cracks and warping. In late 1997, CSI came out with a version, ACQ Type D, which has a built-in water repellent. The company hopes the new formulation will be more attractive to lumber retailers and consumers. ACQ-treated wood is about 10% more expensive than CCA because it contains more copper.<br /><br />All photos: Scott Phillips<br />From Kitchen Gardener 15, pp. 55-59mousiemarchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10946780831209471709noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577505120538272858.post-11883038377865733062011-11-27T16:59:00.000-08:002011-11-27T17:03:05.289-08:00RFID, another reason to hate it.Howdy folks,<br /> Well anyone who knows me and my faith in Jesus Christ knows I'm not a fan of RFID technology. Sure in the right hands it could be useful and beneficial to some, but I FIRMLY believe the risks it carries to our freedom out weighs any benefits it might have. I'm specifically thinking about Rev. 13:6 but this video also shows other issues. <br /><br /> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUz6oe6AlFsmousiemarchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10946780831209471709noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577505120538272858.post-39136861349336897622011-11-01T07:57:00.000-07:002011-11-01T21:33:32.035-07:00Beneficial foraging booksThe opening paragraphs are designed to assist others avoid some of the pit falls I made in purchasing wild food literature. You can skip this and go directly to the individual book reviews if you choose. Please note that this review is of multiple wild food books. I prefer authors that work with the plants they are writing about, and don't just repeat things they read from another book (yes some wild food authors actually do that). I also prefer books with good descriptions, lots of photos of each plant to make identification easier, and to cover the plant from identification to the plate. That's my bias, here is my review. <br /><br /> I'm just a guy who likes to forage and enjoys the learning and nutritional aspect of wild foods. My main purpose for writing this review of multiple wild food books on one review is to assist others coming to wild foods for the first time (like I was three years ago), and to hopefully help them avoid some of the easily avoided pit falls I made in the literature I chose. At first I wanted books with the most plants in it for my money. It made sense to me at the time but ended up being a grave mistake. Books that devote one picture and a brief explanation to a plethera of plants helped me identify some plants in one stage of growth, but did next to nothing that would have allowed me to use them as food. Example, most books will show you one picture of the adult plant. Many times that's not when you want to harvest it. No one would eat a bannana that was over ripe and pure black and call banana's in general inedible due to that experience. Yet many who have sampled a dandelion have done exactly that. As I've learned from John Kallas, one has to have the right part of the plant (this includes proper identification of the plant), the plant has to be at the right stage of growth, and it has to be prepared properly. If you can't do those three things you shouldn't be sticking the plant in your mouth. Now on to the individual books. <br /><br />Wild Edible Plants By John Kallas: 6 stars because it deserves more than 5<br /><br /> Instead of having hundreds of plants with one picture and one paragraph of information Kallas gives you less plants in far more detail and unmatched photography. If I could give this book to everyone in the United States I would as it is the best book I have found on the market. His descriptions of the plants are spot on and easy to read, his multiple full color pictures of each plant covered are the best I've seen in wild food literature, and he covers each plant from seedling to the dinner plate in stunning detail. If I could only own one book on wild edible foods this would be the one. No book can give you everything you need as a forager. That being said John does a superb job of plant selection in that most people in north america will be able to find all these plants within a mile of their home. For a guy taking care of two children under 3 years of age this book allowed me to forage while staying close to home. Consider this a must own. John also runs wild food adventures in Portland Oregon which offers wild food instruction in that area. <br /><br /> Nature's Garden By Samuel Thayer: 5.2 stars the second must own, and it too deserves more than 5 stars. <br /> <br /> If I could only own two wild food books this would be the second one on my shelf next to John Kallas book. The section on Oaks and acorns are worth the price of the book by it self let alone the numerous other plants in it. Mr. Thayer uses color photographs at various stages of growth just like Kallas does. After you own Kallas book you will be hooked and Nature's Garden is the next logical progression in your journey. Other reviewers have covered Sam's brilliant rebutal to Jon Krakauer's propagandist poison plant fable of how Chris McCandless died. Chris died of starvation not a poisonous plant. Sam actually has this section of the book posted on his website for viewing (go to foragersharvest dot com), and is worth reading even if you don't buy the book. I really benefited from Sam's sections on the different wild lettuces, elderberries, thistles, and many others. On top of that Sam has the most engaging writing style of all the wild food authors I've encountered. Not only are his pictures only second to those of Kallas, his descriptions are spot on, and reading his books are like reading one of your favorite novels. <br /><br /> Foragers Harvest By Samuel Thayer 5 stars <br /><br /> I prefer Thayer's Nature's Garden over this book for my area. That being said I can't really say anything bad about this book. Good descriptions, excellent pictures at various stages of growth, good selection of plants, and done with accuracy. This book was to my knowledge the first of it's kind back when it was released back in the mid 2000's. To my knowledge it was the best book on the market then, and has only been surpassed by his follow up book Nature's Garden and Kallas Wild Edible Plants. Being the first book in this motif it (unjustly I might add) received numerous attacks by a few disgruntled souls on amazons book review section. One must remember Thayer was revolutionary in this field when he released this book, and people had a hard time adjusting. As my friend Stephen T. McCarthy once posted, "All truth passes through three stages: First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident. Well anyone who has used Sams books should understand the advantage of covering less plants in more detail than covering many plants with little to no detail like the over-hyped gimmick books that litter the wild food market do. I few things I really liked about this book include (but are not limited to): descriptions and photographs on cat tail, wapato, service berry, stinging and wood nettle. The canning section is solid for the beginning forager like I am. This in my opinion still fits the must own catagory. <br /><br /> Euell Gibbons, Stalking the Wild Asparagus 4.5 stars<br /><br /> Line drawings that are OK. Descriptions of the plants are excellent. Recipes are added by the author, plus his enthusiasm and good nature jump out at you through the page. I mostly use this book in conjunction with other books, and I never use it for it's photographs or line drawings. Not that their bad. Just not enough for a total novice in my opinion. Now his descriptions are excellent and should not be ignored.<br /><br /> Nancy J. Turner, "Food Plants Of Coastal First Peoples" and "Food Plants of Interior First Peoples" I'll give it 5 stars for ethnobotany and 4 stars as a foraging book. <br /><br /> If you live in the pacific northwest these books are MUST HAVES. A thorough grouping of the plants used by native americans for food in the pacific northwest. Why I only give it 4 stars is that it is essentially put in a field guide format which is very limiting when trying to use a plant for food. Plus while Turner is the queen of plants and uses in the pacific northwest, you'll only get a tenth of what she knows on any given plant. Kallas and Thayer go into much more detail, have numerous pictures, and lead their readers toward success. With Turner you'll get one good picture in one stage of growth. Through experience I've found that just isn't good enough. She does have more plants in her books than Kallas and Thayer but when you cover them in less detail that is to be expected. To be fair to Nancy I don't get the impression that these were designed specifically for foragers. All this being said I own them and wouldn't give them back if you paid me double what I paid for them. <br /><br /> Linda Runyan, The Essential Wild Food Survival Guide 3.8 stars, a good book.<br /><br /> Well first I do have some issues with this book: I'm not fond of the line drawings or black and white photos, she does edibility tests on wild foods and discovered many of them that way (which I'm not a fan of), and some of her descriptions are lacking in my opinion. All that being said she cans her wild foods, dries them for winter use, and lives off of wild edibles all year long successfully. She shares a lot of this knowledge with the reader in this book, and being a nurse myself I'm also able to relate to her thinking in a lot of ways. Plus her stories of using cat tail fluff as stuffing for a couch only to find out that it was infested with insect eggs was hilarious. She tells you all the mistakes she made so you don't have to repeat them. She will tell you to use two other good field guides along with hers. I would plan on not using hers at all for the pictures. I have issues with her lack of oversight on the pictures. I'm sure some will disagree but when Linda tells you in her video (by the same name) that her chickweed picture isn't very good it does bring to mind credibility questions.<br /><br /> Edible Wild Plants a North American Field Guide, by Elias and Dykemann. 3.5 stars<br /><br /> At one point in my very early stages I thought this book was the bomb. However, I would identify a plant, find it at times accidentally for the most part, and go "now what?" And that is the weakness of the field guide format in wild food literature (Thayer and Kallas do so much more for you). This book is almost the opposite of Linda Runyans in some ways. She doesn't give you good pictures but gives you some good details on what to do with the plant after you find it. This book gives you some good pitures, a brief description, and then says "your on your own kid." In Samuel Thayers "Foragers Harvest" he gives great descriptions between wood nettle and stinging nettle (both are edible when properly prepared). Thayer also happened to point out that this book actually has a picture of wood nettle and call it stinging nettle. I checked up on this, and lo and behold he was right. They have two pictures and one is wood nettle and one is stinging nettle. They are both listed as stinging nettle in the book. This tells me that the authors might not know all the plants as well as they should. Don't get me wrong I still like the book. But it does prove that wild food authors don't always use or know the plants their writing about. <br /><br /> Honorable mention goes to "Abundantly Wild" By Teresa Marrone. It is a wild food cook book. The pictures in the book are not great (though oddly beat many of the photos in supposed field guides) but I have read a few of the recipes and they look promising. I'll write a review about a year from now once I've put the book to the test. Until then I'll let you read the reviews on this book and make up your own mind.mousiemarchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10946780831209471709noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577505120538272858.post-31672301674568659162011-06-05T22:03:00.000-07:002011-06-05T22:13:17.584-07:00Arrested for feeding the homeless??????Below is an article I found about police in Florida arresting those who want to feed the homeless. That's right folks. They got arrested for feeding the homeless. Not robbing a bank, not rape, not murder, not assault. No, just feeding homeless people. I'll comment further after you read the article which was found at this site: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/crime/os-homeless-feedings-arrests-20110601,0,7226362.story<br /><br /><em>By Susan Jacobson, Orlando Sentinel<br /> <br />1:33 p.m. EDT, June 2, 2011<br />Members of Orlando Food Not Bombs were arrested Wednesday when police said they violated a city ordinance by feeding the homeless in Lake Eola Park.<br /><br />Jessica Cross, 24, Benjamin Markeson, 49, and Jonathan "Keith" McHenry, 54, were arrested at 6:10 p.m. on a charge of violating the ordinance restricting group feedings in public parks. McHenry is a co-founder of the international Food Not Bombs movement, which began in the early 1980s.<br /><br />The group lost a court battle in April, clearing the way for the city to enforce the ordinance. It requires groups to obtain a permit and limits each group to two permits per year for each park within a 2-mile radius of City Hall.<br /><br />Arrest papers state that Cross, Markeson and McHenry helped feed 40 people Wednesday night. The ordinance applies to feedings of more than 25 people.<br /><br />"They intentionally violated the statute," said Lt. Barbara Jones, an Orlando police spokeswoman.<br /><br />Police waited until everyone was served to make the arrests, said Douglas Coleman, speaking for Orlando Food Not Bombs.<br /><br />"They basically carted them off to jail for feeding hungry people," said Coleman, who was not present. "For them to regulate a time and place for free speech and to share food, that is unacceptable."<br /><br />Orlando Food Not Bombs has been feeding the homeless breakfast on Mondays for several years and dinner on Wednesdays for five years.<br /><br />Police had not enforced the ordinance while the court battle continued. The U.S. District Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta ruled that city rules regulating how often large groups of people can be fed in a park do not violate the Constitution.<br /><br />The penalty for violating Orlando's ordinance is 60 days in jail, a $500 fine or both.<br /><br />Arrest documents state that Orlando Food Not Bombs received permits and fed more than 25 homeless people at Lake Eola Park on May 18 and 23. Coleman said the group rejected the permits.<br /><br />On May 25, Orlando Food Not Bombs illegally fed a large group of homeless people, the police report states. The group on its website called for members to show up that day and defy the city ordinance, according to the report.<br /><br />Officers said they found a press release on Markeson when they arrested him stating that group members planned to defy the ordinance Wednesday.<br /><br />Bail was set at $250 for each person arrested. Cross and Markeson were released from jail early<br /><br />Thursday. McHenry wants to stay in jail and let the legal process take its course, Coleman said.<br /><br />sjacobson@tribune.com or 407-540-5981</em><br /><br /> So I just have to leave a parting comment. First Susan Jacobson wrote a nice story. I don't know the political views of these groups who fed these people but I do know they shouldn't be arrested for doing it. I read an article in the new american one time concerning a women in what I believe was 1950's Russia. She harvested her last onion. Her husband just died of starvation and her children were soon to follow. The government arrested her for not turning the onion over to the state. Oh you read that right. Granted the people in Orlando might not have been anywhere close to dying at this time, but they very well could be in the future if were arresting people for giving food to their fellow man. Regardless, this article should give everyone pause.mousiemarchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10946780831209471709noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577505120538272858.post-5225172782391152752011-03-07T11:51:00.000-08:002011-03-07T11:55:03.161-08:00American education or Americoned educationHaving young children trying to find a real educational system for my children is of dire importance. This article went a long way to assisting me along my journey. <br /><br />The below article was found at this link: http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/opinion/sam-blumenfeld/5403-how-the-progressives-changed-the-way-reading-is-taught-in-our-schools <br /><br /><br />Written by Sam Blumenfeld <br />Monday, 06 December 2010 12:13 <br /><br /><br />Many parents wonder why American primary schools don’t teach children to read in the proper phonetic manner. The answer is that high literacy is not part of the system’s social or academic agenda. Neither is good cursive handwriting and basic arithmetic. Have you noticed the decline in handwriting? I recently gave a birthday gift to a 13-year-old boy, and got back a thank-you note written in chicken scratches. He had attended the public schools of an affluent suburban community.<br /><br />Now, of course, if you ask any primary public-school teacher whether or not he or she teaches phonics, they will all say they do. But the kind of phonics they teach is not the intensive, systematic kind that produces a fluent, independent phonetic reader. What they teach are phonetic clues to be used in the context of a Whole Language program that teaches children to read by the sight method.<br /><br />Ask that same teacher if he or she teaches a sight-vocabulary. If the answer is yes, then you know that they are not teaching phonics in the proper way. In fact, they are teaching the child to look at our alphabetic words as Chinese characters, or little mind-pictures. Once that mode of looking at words becomes automatic, the child becomes dyslexic, that is, unable to see the phonetic structure of our printed words.<br /><br />Now where did this atrocious methodology come from? It didn’t come from outer space, nor was it the result of accident. It came from an agenda developed back at the turn of the last century by some of the most intelligent men in America.<br /><br />It started in the 1890s, when the Progressives began working on a new socialist agenda for the public schools that would promote collectivism through a new curriculum programmed to turn children away from individualism.<br /><br />Who were the Progressives? They were members of the Protestant academic elite who no longer believed in the religion of their fathers. They now put their faith in science, evolution and psychology. Science explained the material world. Evolution explained the origin of living matter, and psychology provided a new scientific way of understanding and controlling human behavior.<br /><br />But what about the problems of evil and sin? As socialists they rejected the biblical explanation and instead believed that evil was caused by ignorance, poverty, and social injustice. Socialism, they were convinced, would eliminate all three causes of evil.<br /><br />And so they embarked on a Progressive education crusade that would prove they were right and Bible believers were wrong. Education would eliminate ignorance, which would then eliminate poverty, which in turn would do away with social injustice.<br /><br />The first step in their crusade was to change the way children were being taught in the primary schools. The emphasis on teaching reading had to be replaced with an emphasis on collectivist socialization. John Dewey, the philosophical leader of the Progressives, explained it all quite openly in an article he authored in 1898 entitled “The Primary School Fetich.” He wrote:<br /><br />The plea for the predominance of learning to read in early school life because of the great importance attaching to literature seems to me a perversion.<br /><br />A perversion, mind you. To get rid of this so-called perversion he advocated using a new way of teaching reading that would turn children into little collectivists. That new method turned out to be the sight or look-say method that teaches children to read English as if it were an ideographic writing system like Chinese. To him the emphasis on learning to read phonetically in the primary grades was a perversion. And because Dewey knew that this view would be considered dangerously radical by parents and traditional teachers, he wrote:<br /><br />Change must come gradually. To force it unduly would compromise its final success by favoring a violent reaction. What is needed in the first place, is that there should be a full and frank statement of conviction with regard to the matter from physiologists and psychologists and from those school administrators who are conscious of the evils of the present regime.<br /><br />In other words, deceiving parents became a necessary part of the plan if the socialists were to succeed in its implementation. And psychologists, of whom Dewey was one, would be used to carry out this elaborate conspiracy of deception. Dewey then wrote:<br /><br />There are already in existence a considerable number of educational “experiment stations,” which represent the outposts of educational progress. If these schools can be adequately supported for a number of years they will perform a great vicarious service.<br /><br />Indeed, Dewey himself conducted such an experimental school at the University of Chicago, and the book he wrote about that experiment, The School and Society, became the bible of Progressive Education and the basis of early 20th century school reform.<br /><br />And so, the major work of reform would not be done just by educators, but by psychologists, who found in education a lucrative source of support for their profession.<br /><br />The new behavioral psychology was born in the laboratories of Professor Wilhelm Wundt at the University of Leipzig. His two American students, G. Stanley Hall (1844-1924) and James McKeen Cattell (1860-1944), came back to America anxious to apply scientific psychology to American education. Hall became a professor of psychology at Johns Hopkins University where he taught the new psychology to his student John Dewey. He later founded Clark University. Cattell introduced mental testing in education as part of the new scientific racism called Eugenics. He later founded the Psychological Corporation.<br /><br />But it was Edward L. Thorndike (1874-1949) who, after studying psychology under William James at Harvard, went on to become the chief implementer of behavioral psychology in American education. At Harvard he had studied the learning behavior of chickens by using the reinforcement technique, which he later decided should be used to teach children.<br /><br />After his book, Animal Intelligence, was published in 1898, he became a leading light at Teacher’s College, Columbia University. His much celebrated stimulus-response (SR) technique of teaching children, based on animal training, now dominates American education. He wrote in 1928:<br /><br />Our experiments on learning in the lower animals have probably contributed more to knowledge of education per hour or per unit of intellect spent, than experiments on children…. The best way with children may often be, in the pompous words of an animal trainer, “to arrange everything in connection with the trick so that the animal will be compelled by the laws of his own nature to perform it.”<br /><br />In short, American children were to be taught in the public schools as if they were little animals. Of course, there is a great difference between humans and animals. Animals can be trained but they can’t be educated. Humans, on the other hand, can be both trained and educated because they are born with brains that are far superior to anything animals are born with. But to Thorndike and his behaviorist colleagues, man’s brain is just a bit more evolved than the brains of the apes. And if you don’t believe that God made man in His own image, that is, with the ability to speak language and use his intellect, then you will believe Thorndike and treat children like animals.<br /><br /> <br /><br />Dr. Samuel L. Blumenfeld is the author of nine books on education including NEA: Trojan Horse in American Education, The Whole Language/OBE Fraud, and The Victims of Dick & Jane and Other Essays. Of NEA: Trojan Horse in American Education, former U.S. Senator Steve Symms of Idaho said: “Every so often a book is written that can change the thinking of a nation. This book is one of them.” Mr. Blumenfeld’s columns have appeared in such diverse publications as Reason, The New American, The Chalcedon Report, Insight, Education Digest, Vital Speeches, WorldNetDaily, and othersmousiemarchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10946780831209471709noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577505120538272858.post-59914666168546000562011-03-02T09:14:00.000-08:002011-03-02T09:36:40.112-08:00SV40. Polio, and cancer.Wikipedia has been very helpful from time to time. Here is what it says about SV40 virus found in monkeys. Important to know since this virus was mistakenly transmitted to humans through the polio vaccines of the 1950's and 1960's. Here is what Wikipedia reports. <br /><br /> "The virus was first identified in 1960 in cultures of rhesus monkey kidney cells that were being used to produce polio vaccine. It was named for the effect it produced on infected green monkey cells, which developed an unusual number of vacuoles. The complete viral genome was sequenced by Walter Fiers and his team at the University of Ghent (Belgium) in 1978.[2] The virus is dormant and is asymptomatic in Rhesus monkeys. The virus has been found in many macaque populations in the wild, where it rarely causes disease. However, in monkeys that are immunodeficient—due to, for example, infection with Simian immunodeficiency virus—SV40 acts much like the human JC and BK polyomaviruses, producing kidney disease and sometimes a demyelinating disease similar to PML. In other species, particularly hamsters, SV40 causes a variety of tumors, generally sarcomas. In rats, the oncogenic SV40 Large T-antigen was used to establish a brain tumor model for PNETs and medulloblastomas.[3]<br /><br />The molecular mechanisms by which the virus reproduces and alters cell function were previously unknown, and research into SV40 vastly increased biologists' understanding of gene expression and the regulation of cell growth."<br /><br />Wikipedia goes on,<br /><br />"Soon after its discovery, SV40 was identified in the injected form of the polio vaccine produced between 1955 and 1961. This is believed to be due to kidney cells from infected monkeys being used to amplify the vaccine virus during production. Both the Sabin vaccine (oral, live virus) and the Salk vaccine (injectable, killed virus) were affected; the technique used to inactivate the polio virus in the Salk vaccine, by means of formaldehyde, did not reliably kill SV40.<br /><br />It was difficult to detect small quantities of virus until the advent of PCR; since then, stored samples of vaccine made after 1962 have tested negative for SV40, but no samples prior to 1962 could be found. Thus, although over 10 million people received the potentially contaminated batches of vaccine, there is no way to know whether they were exposed to the virus, and if so, whether it was in a quantity and by a route that would cause infection. It is also unknown how widespread the virus was among humans before the 1950s, though one study found that 12% of a sample of German medical students in 1952 had SV40 antibodies. Although horizontal transmission between people has been proposed, is not clear if this actually happens and if it does, how frequently it occurs.[14]<br /><br />An analysis presented at the Vaccine Cell Substrate Conference in 2004[15] suggested that vaccines used in the former Soviet bloc countries, China, Japan, and Africa, could have been contaminated up to 1980, meaning that hundreds of millions more could have been exposed to the virus unknowingly."<br /><br /> Having read books on this subject I can tell you that the SV40 virus can pass from generation to generation. Meaning, if the father got it from the vaccine he could give the virus to his children. SV40 virus infected the polio vaccine due to the fact they used to breed the virus in monkey kidneys. Lets turn back to wikipedia. <br /><br />"Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common and most aggressive type of primary brain tumor in humans, involving glial cells and accounting for 52% of all parenchymal brain tumor cases and 20% of all intracranial tumors. Despite being the most prevalent form of primary brain tumor, GBMs occur in only 2–3 cases per 100,000 people in Europe and North America. According to the WHO classification of the tumors of the central nervous system, the standard name for this brain tumor is "glioblastoma"; it presents two variants: giant cell glioblastoma and gliosarcoma. Glioblastomas are also an important brain tumor of the canine, and research is ongoing to use this as a model for developing treatments in humans.[1] Treatment can involve chemotherapy, radiation, radiosurgery, corticosteroids, antiangiogenic therapy, and surgery.[2]<br /><br />Excepting the brainstem gliomas, glioblastoma has the worst prognosis of any CNS malignancy. Despite multimodality treatment consisting of open craniotomy with surgical resection of as much of the tumor as possible, followed by concurrent or sequential chemoradiotherapy, antiangiogenic therapy with bevacizumab, gamma knife radiosurgery, and symptomatic care with corticosteroids, median survival is about 14 months.[3]"<br /><br />So what does this have to do with the polio virus and SV40? Lets keep reading wikipedia. <br /><br />"GBM is more common in males, although the reason for this is not clear.[4] Most glioblastoma tumors appear to be sporadic, without any genetic predisposition. No links have been found between glioblastoma and smoking,[5] diet,[6] cellular phones,[7] or electromagnetic fields.[8] Recently, evidence for a viral cause has been discovered, possibly SV40[9] or cytomegalovirus.[10] There also appears to be a small link between ionizing radiation and glioblastoma.[11] Some also believe that there may be a link between polyvinyl chloride (which is commonly used in construction) and glioblastoma.[12] A recent link cited in the Lancet medical journal links brain cancer to lead exposure in the work place.[13] There is an association of brain tumor incidence and malaria, suggesting that the anopheles mosquito, the carrier of malaria, might transmit a virus or other agent that could cause glioblastoma.[14]"<br /><br /> Did you catch the middle section there? "Recently, evidence for a viral cause has been discovered, possibly SV40 or cytomegalovirus." Hmmmm. Well, we don't know for sure if the SV40 causes glioblastoma, but it could. What I can tell you is that I know that the sv40 virus does cause cancer. Dr. Eisenstein has covered this in his books, and even the vaccine manufacturers themselves have admitted it (albeit in a back handed way). <br /><br /> Most who will read this know that I am a nurse and have a healthy (albeit not one size fits all) perspective on vaccines. However, this is the first time in my life where a vaccine could have (not saying it did) harmed a loved one of mine. My cousin (who will remain nameless as I don't feel giving that information is appropriate) just got diagnosed with a glioblastoma in his early 40's. A God fearing man, one who loves his family and takes care of them. He has children, and is a jem of a person. Is it too much to ask that we find out if this vaccine had anything to do with this? Am I going to say any of this to my cousin? Probably not. At least not now. But i would love to get some answers. And if this vaccine could have caused this i would love to have a little accountability. Again, not saying the vaccine is responsible (an important point). We don't know enough. But one does question.mousiemarchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10946780831209471709noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577505120538272858.post-78052850154347893342010-07-13T23:00:00.000-07:002010-07-13T23:03:36.872-07:00Revenge Of The SithYes Revenge of the Sith has its flaws as do all the Star Wars films. First, unlike some I think the acting is subpar in this film, the dialogue is anything but perfect, and at times it seems forced. Why do I give it four stars? Because what it does well makes everything else easily forgiven. <br /><br /> First, the evil Darth Sidius is the best part of this movie. He clearly is the villan that has started the clone war, is manipulating the war from both sides, and (at least for me) perfectly portrays a politician who is hungry for power. Anakin Skywalkers transformation into Vader for some is unbelievable, and I can see why one might have issues with it. However, it is how Darth Sidius manipulates Anakin into believing that he can save his love if he joins the dark side. Further, it is how Sidius manipulates Anakin into believing that he truly is the benevolent one that is probably the most compelling performance of the film. <br /><br /> I found things in this film that can reflect real life which is probably why I enjoyed it so much. First, you have a crooked politician who started the war and is running/leading it from both sides. Second, This same politician (darth sidius) easily manipulates the populace and in the end has them cheering for their own enslavement. Plus I found Darth Sidius very compelling when he stated, "Execute order 66" to have the republic army (who the Jedi were working for) murder the Jedi. He than had Darth Vader kill the Viceroy who were helping Sidius run the droid army on the other side. Just like crule dictators like Stalin or Hitler, Sidius murders those that helped him rise to power. The scene where the lead viceroy of the droid army looks at vader and says, "but Darth Sidius promised us peace" only to have Vader slice him in half with his light saber immediately after makes one think. One has to wonder if Lucus took history as a blue print for this film.<br /><br /> In the end even if you don't like these films you should watch this one. No, the acting is not great, no the dialogue is not fantastic, and the acting is subpar. However, if you understand history this film will make you ask yourself some questions.mousiemarchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10946780831209471709noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577505120538272858.post-64752146979359097582010-05-14T22:16:00.000-07:002010-05-14T22:33:23.272-07:00Desert Island Play List.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhddADRzOv1bD_A1YVe3EDrA2C9G_L_0sKtzCBZb2LtvUpGM3AoaJub0zYnyDRKgVYkWMGfdZWDGEyh2-RxsK9dkZev8Jxt89IJ0E-vFWDMsy4kD-uJ4mJqS6nr347HEVb5zgyIrHpUnQE/s1600/weather+report+2.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhddADRzOv1bD_A1YVe3EDrA2C9G_L_0sKtzCBZb2LtvUpGM3AoaJub0zYnyDRKgVYkWMGfdZWDGEyh2-RxsK9dkZev8Jxt89IJ0E-vFWDMsy4kD-uJ4mJqS6nr347HEVb5zgyIrHpUnQE/s320/weather+report+2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471362988467370450" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4qZ2Y-Pehz7rA7xd3bUSal7qJoW8lbWGwdTFJieoL4KP-_ywsJyNH-VIW76pT1IQLRzKh5m05sdh4TWrHxMfNp9nDB_WoSB8ZkPRNnCrO7oMAX7vuoduFBB6gQQKtZ6JrSwn4t-bL1N4/s1600/sinatra.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4qZ2Y-Pehz7rA7xd3bUSal7qJoW8lbWGwdTFJieoL4KP-_ywsJyNH-VIW76pT1IQLRzKh5m05sdh4TWrHxMfNp9nDB_WoSB8ZkPRNnCrO7oMAX7vuoduFBB6gQQKtZ6JrSwn4t-bL1N4/s320/sinatra.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471362839406884658" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbmoRVLX6VgP6drrXTUr7cSH6aiL_fXf8p8xFP3-jIhoWUJPaQWmXVMwf3-btpupABMAbRRR3jiX9b9UX1TJph7ONkkeOboFRmdZZeBb1d8maox_7xbnj40Wl2Tz809MOy8Uc5T0Duydw/s1600/miles+davis.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbmoRVLX6VgP6drrXTUr7cSH6aiL_fXf8p8xFP3-jIhoWUJPaQWmXVMwf3-btpupABMAbRRR3jiX9b9UX1TJph7ONkkeOboFRmdZZeBb1d8maox_7xbnj40Wl2Tz809MOy8Uc5T0Duydw/s320/miles+davis.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471362662278153618" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9lrGg6Lm6vPHLuDsoJQm0Xivv4Zz6mqKquAMsNSCzVmQ4uUyc68BELChPSu1MtfxYyqBsoy_SdQSsgnF98KJ8CaVUTH7euOfNDhhDFhQw5mxNN2Bu1-w1Auq1XqxJ2FsH8UklGenfkbA/s1600/sam+cooke.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9lrGg6Lm6vPHLuDsoJQm0Xivv4Zz6mqKquAMsNSCzVmQ4uUyc68BELChPSu1MtfxYyqBsoy_SdQSsgnF98KJ8CaVUTH7euOfNDhhDFhQw5mxNN2Bu1-w1Auq1XqxJ2FsH8UklGenfkbA/s320/sam+cooke.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471362552983385058" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXT3NT3FTeE823IU9RfX2PyTJBENO12rQtaWzgz5QuFyL7dcOIcR6NB0Izsgfy7SKywp_9L1zhf3TEFN5hTg4vSLJGsiBRgeFQCxGBJ_YsAdEg_q9v0PexNCnlK1n3iS3371ZknBy8wNI/s1600/journey.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXT3NT3FTeE823IU9RfX2PyTJBENO12rQtaWzgz5QuFyL7dcOIcR6NB0Izsgfy7SKywp_9L1zhf3TEFN5hTg4vSLJGsiBRgeFQCxGBJ_YsAdEg_q9v0PexNCnlK1n3iS3371ZknBy8wNI/s320/journey.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471362374212114962" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR5bAhQrPBq58iHNbCEuMVv1ZJw-qBWKRUuSIF3uYSoyibSoaqg0MR4C60TXQzI5zoNnh3s7GV6QWXAGvQW6EfR3EgFOBRNP7iJfldoTHlLXNIC3Guibs6FzT0tw918p-V6kbqaGcPU40/s1600/copeland.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR5bAhQrPBq58iHNbCEuMVv1ZJw-qBWKRUuSIF3uYSoyibSoaqg0MR4C60TXQzI5zoNnh3s7GV6QWXAGvQW6EfR3EgFOBRNP7iJfldoTHlLXNIC3Guibs6FzT0tw918p-V6kbqaGcPU40/s320/copeland.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471362230887791442" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ2OLa7q_E-CgV2BJDfNgej8lHq04pXoMONntKBsytIfwJeL57Wq4PX1kH-rJRG7t3fDe__M-LQQbF82f7YmRSWNRywZVV-JexoktG_0UOxZ6u8GNDzhad_OJVcw5WhYeZcfo-b76Yxu4/s1600/Johnny+Cash.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ2OLa7q_E-CgV2BJDfNgej8lHq04pXoMONntKBsytIfwJeL57Wq4PX1kH-rJRG7t3fDe__M-LQQbF82f7YmRSWNRywZVV-JexoktG_0UOxZ6u8GNDzhad_OJVcw5WhYeZcfo-b76Yxu4/s320/Johnny+Cash.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471362090103863090" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9CIPyb_htycigi_ELKdEAF1VZDJm4IlqrVufX5n8kolq_DoT_qSDVXS3EwlauEyHmsdh5MmGoKEQdVlJPyD8qJBdoPOQCUkBrqE9CTlLSUBO5P0i5Kisy1a8fVAsYFSbn9sb05LgBHHE/s1600/howlin+wolf.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9CIPyb_htycigi_ELKdEAF1VZDJm4IlqrVufX5n8kolq_DoT_qSDVXS3EwlauEyHmsdh5MmGoKEQdVlJPyD8qJBdoPOQCUkBrqE9CTlLSUBO5P0i5Kisy1a8fVAsYFSbn9sb05LgBHHE/s320/howlin+wolf.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471361902325656466" /></a><br /><br /> Now if I were stuck on a desert island I would also want my Waylon Jennings Greatest with me, and I would have to add in Blues Traveler four. There is of course a CPE Bach string quartet that I picked up some years back that is so beautiful it almost makes you wonder why his dad is more popular. The Johnny Cash album is riveting and full of love and emotion for God, and it often takes my thoughts to biblical passages. Journey is a fav of mine always, Sam Cookes music just speaks to me. Miles Davis album is just classic, and the aaron copeland pieces are pure entertainment. Plus Copelands fanfare for the common man is whats being played as I kiss this world goodbye. After all it is a desert Island.mousiemarchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10946780831209471709noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577505120538272858.post-66006098282769283622010-03-22T16:28:00.000-07:002010-03-22T16:32:38.152-07:00Heath-care given to us by the kind IRS.This is what what a friends dad (Dave Edinger) posted on my facebook page when I put a video from the tides foundation titled, "The real goal of the public plan option-squeezing out private and employer based health insurance." This is what crazy Dave (as his son calls him) wrote. <br /><br />Dave: NO Marcx - the goal is to remove greed and profit motive from a common resource: human health - we are in it together - like our water supply and our garbage collection - it is far more efficient and wise to remove Wallstreet from my street. Half the crap I buy on todays market it shoddy. I have to take my car back to Les Schwab three times - the ... See Moretires leak - My microwave in our new house is garbage - you can not program it, start it or shut it off - it is way over engineered to SELL you crap you dont need buddy -corporate crap from corporate greed - I have to re-engineer half the JUNK I buy - you gonna let MARKETERS look into the best way to heal a inflammed leg from diabetes? You are going to get a $10,000 amputation my friend - when many home remedies are wonder medicines - keep the greed out of GOOD reasoning - or your $2000 Toyota will quickly sky rocket to over $20,000 and you will beg to get the damn thing - all the on board computers and run away brake switches - you are being SOLD my friend, don't be what we call a LAY DOWN. Marketers are poor engineers and scientists. Come on over, I will cook for you - see if you can run this Preheat, defrost, pizza, bake potato, popcorn, two lighted,option accessorized, vented to nowhere Whirlpool box of crap - that you can not turn on and off simply - see if you want that company doing research on the best way to save your leg from a diabetes outbreak - A CONFEDERACY DUNCES, just may be out to SELL ya some crap. American landfills are brimming with garbage from these ego-maniacs and jesters. Lets get together, line them all up, throw them in the pit Mark. I propose the american full Guarantee a total farce. IF my product is a piece of crap I don't want my money back - that is no bargain - I WANT 5 times my money back for my waste of time, and your obvious attempt to defraud and flood the market with landfill material - things would change quickly Mark - Give me a REAL Guarantee America - money back is an absolute insult - we should have a LANDFILL probabilty code - the chance of this product being in a landfill in one year is 100 ! Or 50 - My new sports jacket I recently bought at JC Penny had the buttons fall off within a week. I sewed them back on. With real thread. A month later I reached across my car to open a door - the pocket ripped clean off - the code for the JC CRAP JACKET is 100 - I GUARANTEE this quality of CRAP will be in our landfills within one year. Therefore the code it should show would be a big 100 - pure crap - my 30 dollar belt - thirty bucks ! lasted 2 months- TWO damn MONTHS -and they offer me another one? Hell no - another product carrying the new AMERICAN NATIONAL LABLE of 100. 100% crap - see how many your mark up this next year MARC. Then tell me those grease balls are going to do my health research and foods ingredient trials -please buddy - shoddy in the country has been around since Lincoln and the Civil War - WE have lost Marc - I no longer wear belts. GUARANTEED !<br /><br />OK his silly pun Marcx was noted. However, instead of getting sucked into absurd insults I decided to use facts instead. <br /><br />This is what I replied:<br /><br />Problem is that this bill benefits wall street. See it's going to be implemented through the IRS. The IRS is nothing more than an instrument to collect payments on the national debt for the private bank known as the Federal Reserve. Not one dime of our tax dollars goes for goods or services. This bill adds thousands (I believe 10,000) IRS agents. ... See MoreThe current system doesn't work I'll give you that. However, the current system is partially broken because of medicare and medicaid (government health care). Any hospital administrator can tell you hospitalized medicare patients are a big money hole. WHo pays the price for this shortage? Private insurance. It will bankrupt many private health care agencies. Plus even Walgreen phamacies are going to stop taking medicaid patients because they lose money. I don't care how benevolent one is, if it costs 3 million to stay in business and the govt charges you 4 million you close your doors. Once private insurance takes it in the shorts all your left with is the govt, and that's when the rationing will start. This will take years to unfold but it will happen. Social Security is a forced govt program and look how well it's doing. It's supposed to go bankrupt in like less than 30 years. Someone has to pay for this new health care. Nothing in this world iis free. I don't want the govt telling me what to do. To me, this is watching the orwellian noose being tightened around our neck with a Marxist cherry on top. I wonder if I can ask Obamas masters for a half slice of slavery. I'll try to find a good article I read on this over a year ago and post it here. <br /><br />The article was By Jane Orient in the January 2009 edition of The New American. Below is that article in it's entirety. I gave Crazy Dave the link to the below article. I doubt he will even look at it. <br /><br /><em>If they had been designing a health system from scratch, the change agents assuming power in January would have done things differently. Barack Obama and Ted Kennedy would have given us a Single Payer for medical care, as in Canada and Britain (and Cuba and North Korea) and (according to national healthcare promoters) "the rest of the industrialized world."<br /><br />Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.), on the other hand, doesn't feel he needs to go so far back in time, but he'd make similar changes nonetheless. In his Call to Action: Health Reform 2009, he speaks of failed efforts to enact "national health insurance" or "socialized medicine," starting around the turn of the last century, in 1900. It's finally time to just get it done, they say.<br /><br />The motive behind their efforts, they also say, has to do with about 46 million uninsured Americans. But the politicians' plans are not just about insurance, which is only a method of payment for medical services. The real agenda is to use "coverage for all" as a lever to make fundamental changes in the way patients are treated — and in the economy and society as a whole. This is evident to anyone who listens carefully. Obama, Kennedy, and Baucus are talking about universal health reform, or what Baucus calls "serious and comprehensive reform of the health system in crisis."<br /><br />This is also evident if one analyzes the "insurance" model they have in mind to follow — Massachusetts' healthcare plan, which boasts of achieving universal coverage, or almost, by forcing most people to buy insurance or face a tax penalty, or, if eligible, to enroll in a government-subsidized plan. "Progressives" like the plan for several reasons. In particular, young and healthy patients would be forced to pay more to subsidize older, sicker patients. (It plays off the Obama "wealth redistribution" idea.) Instead of pricing premiums according to risk, insurers would have to accept all comers, and charge them all the same. This changes the nature of the product from insurance, which is about the accurate pricing of risk, and turns it into a collectivized prepayment system. Welfare, in other words. Premiums become a type of privatized taxation — a neat way of sidestepping protests about tax increases.<br /><br />What We're Promised<br /><br />Obama has promised to allow people to keep the insurance plans they have if they like them. Their plans, however, might no longer exist because they might not measure up (likely won't measure up). The plans won't pass muster if they allow a person to benefit from good health and a prudent lifestyle, and not "contribute" enough to the collective pool. But if your plan can no longer be offered, don't worry; a proposed insurance exchange, like the Massachusetts Connector, would match people up with a "high-quality, affordable, comprehensive, nondiscriminatory Health Plan." Insurers may go along with the scheme in exchange for a guaranteed market: 46 million new customers overnight! And individuals would have to buy a product they might otherwise reject as being unnecessary or too expensive. Obama promised to delay forcing the plan on Americans until insurance becomes "affordable" — by the government's definition, not necessarily the customer's — but he may well accept the demands for mandates.<br /><br />Obama and friends also promise that they will ensure that providers deliver quality care — better care than we have now. The reformers claim that at the present time the United States spends much more than other countries but still has worse health outcomes. They claim to know this because rankings made by the World Health Organization place U.S. medical care below most other developed countries — far below most socialist countries. In the WHO ranking, France has the best medical care, Italy came in 2nd, the United Kingdom was in the 18th spot, Saudi Arabia 26th, and Canada 30th. The United States came in 37th, just above Cuba (in 39th place). The politicians don't state (or don't know) that the WHO rankings are designed to place a much higher value on "equitable" access and less value on satisfying consumers' desires. In fact, if everyone in a country received poorer medical care than people in the United States, but care was "universal," it could rank higher than the United States. (See "Bad Economics & Medicine" in our January 5, 2009 issue for a more detailed explanation of the WHO rankings.)<br /><br />And finally, we're also promised savings through nationwide investment in an electronic office management system for doctors' offices. A critical feature of reformed healthcare will be interoperable electronic health records. This "modernization" of the system is supposed to save tens of billions of dollars, at some point, after a hefty initial investment. But its main purpose is to monitor and enforce standards for quality, "medical necessity," reduction of "disparities," and proper billing and coding.<br /><br />Wrong Diagnosis and Prognosis<br /><br />The new blueprint will fail for the same reason that the system is already failing: it is really the same old blueprint that violates the basic laws of economics. When the apparent price of something, including medical care, goes down, as because of subsidies, demand goes up. If one is not charged for medical care based on one's level of health and one's number and length of visits to a doctor, one will be more inclined to visit the doctor more often. Collective prepayment drives demand even more, as people who are forced to pay for excessive insurance try to get their money's worth. This causes increased waits for medical appointments and spotlights the biggest problem. As in Canada, there are not enough physicians or facilities to meet the burgeoning demand for "free" services. To get into the "system," you need a primary care physician. In Massachusetts, the first available appointment may be a year away, if you can find a doctor in your area who is accepting new patients.<br /><br />Exacerbating the shortage of doctors is the fact that when the price of something goes down, there is no incentive to increase the supply (lower payments mean fewer people become doctors). If the price doesn't cover costs and allow some profit, supply dries up completely. Under such a scenario, lines form at gas pumps; grocery shelves empty overnight; and doctors become scarce.<br /><br />Doctors' Medicare fees have been restricted since the 1980s — and most managed-care arrangements are linked to Medicare. There still are some nice cars in the doctors' parking lot. Some specialist fees are still very high. Many physicians made out very well in earlier years. But contrary to the rhetoric from Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.) and other politicians, many physicians are already struggling to make ends meet. Especially in primary care. This is already reducing the number of people entering the medical field, and the planned new restrictions on medical care will make the situation worse. In the past decade, the number of U.S. medical graduates entering family medicine and internal medicine has fallen by half. And it's not just the money. Time pressures and increased demands for administrative work contribute to burnout: "I felt like I was becoming a guideline-following automaton and a documentation drone," said general internist Christine Sinsky, quoted in a November 27, 2008 article in the New England Journal of Medicine.<br /><br />Incentives work, but letting patient demand set prices is not in the reformers' toolbox. They just want to redistribute the pain. As Baucus admits, his plan would revise Medicare's payment formula so as to redistribute resources from "high-growth, potentially overpaid aspects of health care to underutilized, potentially more valuable services, such as primary care and prevention." This means that "some specialists might take bit of a nick." It's part of a pattern: more healthcare, less sickness care.<br /><br />And increased demand for "free" services means increased spending — unless rationing is instituted. Some cost data are available. In Massachusetts, the cost of "universal" care was immensely more than anticipated and annual state spending could top $1 billion by the end of this year, but then Massachusetts knew it was not addressing the cost issue. To try to avoid rationing care, one answer has been put forth: the group appointment, like those offered by Harvard Vantage Medical Associates (HVMA). Patients can get in to see a doctor much sooner if they are willing to share their appointment time with about eight other patients. They all sit in the same room for about 90 minutes while a doctor goes from patient to patient examining them. About 80 percent of patients say they are satisfied with the arrangement; some seem to value being in the same room with the doctor for 90 minutes, even if he is not attending to their individual needs during most of that time. The doctors like it too; they get paid for nine individual visits, instead of the four to six they would otherwise be able to wedge into 90 minutes.<br /><br />A video of a group appointment, posted on the Boston Globe website, is a vision of the new system. Dozens of comments about the video and its accompanying article show the deep divide between those who favor the radical "change" and those who are appalled by it. As one person commented to the Boston Globe, "I think that as a nation we need to move away from rampant individualism toward a system that embraces shared responsibility in a community. You are more likely to follow those pesky lifestyle recommendations if you feel like you'll not only be letting down yourself and your doctor, but also your community."<br /><br />"It's a third-world standard of care," wrote another disparagingly.<br /><br />The group appointment is about the health of society, the collective. The patients in the Globe video all look pretty healthy. Examination of fully clothed people sitting up on folding chairs in a noisy room is not likely to reveal any signs of illness that are not flagrant. The main activity is not the doctor listening to hearts and lungs, but patients listening to the doctor's canned speech about smoking, diet, exercise, and taking all the prescribed drugs. This is not sickness care, which the reformers deplore and that doctors go to medical school to learn how to do. It is not about understanding the individual patient and his illness. It is not about making a complex diagnosis. It is not about personalizing and optimizing therapy in accordance with the patient's needs and priorities. The group visit is for standardized patients with a standardized diagnosis. It's about "education," peer group pressure, and compliance with a cookie-cutter protocol handed down by an expert committee.<br /><br />It's what reformers mean when they aim to change our priorities to wellness and prevention. The sick are a burden; providing them too much attention could come to be seen as antisocial. "Universal care" might move the United States up in the WHO ranking system, which places a very high value on "equity," and a much lower one on individual patient satisfaction. It would stimulate certain areas of the economy: the provision of information technology to monitor wellness, the expansion of wellness clinics, and perhaps the birth of a whole new industry like the already existing one in Canada to manage ever-growing waiting lists for sickness care. But it wouldn't mean taking better care of people with health ailments.<br /><br />Enduring Myths<br /><br />In its entirety, the new plan not only flaunts basic economic principles, it defies observable evidence. Each major premise behind the plan's design is based on fallacious statistics or idealistic desires that show little likelihood of being obtainable.<br /><br />Prevention:: The reformers imply that the sickness-care system will simply wither away when we are all healthy. Baucus enthusiastically quotes Robert Beaglehole, the World Health Organization's director of chronic diseases and health promotion, in claiming that an estimated 80 percent of heart disease, stroke, and type II diabetes, and 40 percent of cancers, could be prevented if Americans stopped smoking, adopted healthy diets, and became more physically active.<br /><br />However, there has never been a real-life program anywhere that induced a population of previously smoking, sedentary, fat patients to reform and demonstrated such an enormous drop in disease. Leaving aside public-health engineering projects such as sanitation systems, preventive health measures, though valuable, usually do not save more than they cost. The British were long ago promised that once socialized medicine had met all the pent-up demands, and all the prevention programs were in place, costs would go down, and there would be much less sickness. More than 60 years later, people still get sick in the UK and wait years for treatment. The National Health Service never has enough money. And no one learns from the experience.<br /><br />The uninsured: Then there's the promise that costs will go down if we can just insure everybody and thereby keep people out of expensive emergency rooms. In Massachusetts this hasn't worked because to get in to see the correct doctor to cure their ailments, patients first need to see a primary doctor, and they can't get an appointment. So newly insured patients still go to the emergency room for every medical need, including regular prescriptions.<br /><br />The constantly repeated assertions about ER abuse, in any event, turned out to be wrong when subjected to scrutiny. An analysis published in the October 22/29, 2008 issue of JAMA (The Journal of the American Medical Association), which looked at 127 studies, showed that six commonly held beliefs about the uninsured and emergency room use were either unsupported by evidence, or equally true of both insured and uninsured patients. The uninsured were actually under-represented among patients using the ER for primary care — probably because they were concerned about the cost. And the claim that huge cost savings could be achieved merely by keeping more primary clinics open during off-hours — reducing ER visits — isn't true either. ERs do charge more - but the actual marginal cost per patient is likely to be no higher than that of keeping a primary-care clinic open after hours.<br /><br />The uninsured have become scapegoats. Costs are so high, the argument goes, because "we all" are paying to take care of the selfish freeloaders who don't buy insurance. We pay through taxes (such as for Medicaid) and higher insurance premiums (because providers shift unpaid costs). That's true to an extent. Large amounts of cost-shifting happen when people abandon private insurance for Medicaid (public insurance). But those people who are truly uninsured (no private or public insurance) often do pay taxes (except for a substantial proportion of illegal aliens and those people deemed by the government to be "poor" — who usually shift to public insurance) but arguably not their fair share.<br /><br />About 40 percent of people in the United States either pay no federal tax at all or they actually get money from the government as an Earned Income Tax Credit. Some of them use medical care (less care than insured people use), and some of them don't pay their bills. There is some cost shifting from people who don't pay for insurance to people who do, just as honest shoppers pay for shoplifters, but not much. The amount: 2.7 percent in 2004, according to the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured. Of the uninsured with incomes at least twice the poverty level, 8 percent received some pro bono care during a year, and 50 percent received care for which they were charged. Of the latter, 80 percent paid in full, and another 10 percent were paying in installments, according to William Snyder in a November 21, 2008 article in the Wall Street Journal. The real problem with these folks, as reformers might view it, is not that they don't pay for what they use (they usually do), but that they don't help to pay for what other people use — except through taxes and the higher prices they are often charged.<br /><br />Unmentioned by the reformers is the fact that government causes far more cost shifting than do the uninsured because of underpayment to doctors and hospitals by the price-controlled government systems, Medicare and Medicaid. Medicare and Medicaid often only pay cents on the dollar toward the actual cost of care given to patients, forcing many doctors to make this money back by charging more to patients who have private insurance — and to the uninsured who pay their own bills. This fact raises the obvious question of what health institutions would do if there were no private sector to shift costs to.<br /><br />The Obama/Kennedy/Baucus solution to the "uninsured problem" appears to be this: for the uninsured who can't pay big bills, require them to sign up for Medicaid — or for a subsidized "private" prepayment mechanism — so we all pay for them constantly, and not just when they become sick. For the uninsured who can pay, force them to prepay — for care they might or might not use — through insurance premiums.<br /><br />Information technology: The reformers' favorite panacea is health information technology. Obama promises to "make sure that every doctor's office and hospital in this country is using cutting edge technology and electronic medical records so that we can cut red tape, prevent medical mistakes, and help save billions of dollars each year."<br /><br />The savings, however, are all hypothetical, long-term savings, and they are mostly destined for the insurance companies and government entities that are paying the bills. Converting a medical office to electronic records is extremely costly and disruptive. The cost in terms of diminished productivity continues for years, and is possibly permanent. Anything that slows patient flow is, of course, an advantage to payers (fewer patients, fewer payments). Arguably, electronic medical records introduce more new errors than they prevent — and errors may be impossible to expunge.<br /><br />It may seem counterintuitive to say that improved technology will cause more medical errors, but it's true because computer program designs, the programming, or the inputting of data can all cause errors. The December 11 Sentinel Event Alert released by the Joint Commission on Healthcare (operating experience and lessons-learned information from the U.S. Joint Committee on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations) includes statements such as: "Technology-related adverse events in health care can involve, but are not limited to, computerized provider order entry (CPOE), automated dispensing cabinets (ADCs), electronic medical records (EMRs), clinical decision support (CDS), bar coding or RFID (radio frequency identification), virus threats to information security, CT (computed axial tomography) scanning technology, and the loss of patient data." Patient privacy, of course, is inevitably sacrificed. The real effect of electronic records is to enable intrusive monitoring of every aspect of the patient-physician interaction.<br /><br />We have much more experience with computer disasters than successes in medicine. Rollout of the £12 billion flagship centralized Cerner IT system of the British National Health Service was halted because it was "hugely expensive," "desperately behind schedule," and a "shambles from the start." Suppliers were "deserting in droves." Frontline professionals were "voting with their feet." Before investing billions, why not learn from experience — preferably other people's experience.<br /><br />Medical errors: Medicine would be both cheaper and better, of course, if doctors always did the right thing for their patients, both in the way of treating them and in giving illness-prevention advice. Toward this end, the reformers plan to save money by making doctors follow strict guidelines for care. But "proven" disease-management systems exist only if we accept authoritative opinion in lieu of actual evidence.<br /><br />In a system that permits research and innovation, opinion changes about every five years concerning best practices to care for patients. By following government guidelines, we can be sure that patients will be given outdated care regimens. Even a simple government direction, such as making sure a certain test is done, and recording the results, can prove problematic. If we measure certain processes, like obtaining recommended tests, we may show an increase in the number of patients getting those, but even such a seemingly innocuous mandate would change the allocation of resources and affect some medical function that is not being tested. On the items that we don't measure, such as the activities from which effort is shifted to meet the new goals, we won't know the effect, because we won't measure it. Perversely, unimportant things are generally much easier to measure than important things.<br /><br />What Should Be Done?<br /><br />Reformers claim that whatever the cost of implementing the new plan, it can't be higher than the cost of not doing anything. Baucus warns that "we" will soon be spending $4 trillion on healthcare if we don't do something. The answer to those who say we can't afford to do it? We can't afford not to!<br /><br />Progressives always have a plan and, when they are told their plan won't work, demand that opponents have a plan that's better and more inclusive than the progressive plan. So this is the plan: as Hippocrates would say, "First, do no harm." Not jumping off a cliff is always a good first step, whether that cliff be real or metaphoric, as in government control of medical care. Recognize that health reformers like Obama, Kennedy, and Baucus are not just making empty promises. They can indeed deliver universal "health coverage." But it will be at the expense of sickness care. We've all heard of the military's excuse that they had to destroy the village in order to save it. The Obama/Kennedy/Baucus ploy is to pretend to save the system in order to wreck it, to put additional money and power into the hands of politicians. (Those politicians who are for the new plan, but who don't see it for the ploy it is, really need to brush up on their research skills or get into another line of work.)<br /><br />Second, realize that America needs to undo much of what the government has already done - to go back to the free market. A free-market solution is never one, universal solution. It is the sum of millions of individual decisions. Allowed freedom, individual decision makers would unleash creative destruction on much of the current system. To allow a solution that is likely to exceed all expectations, and to reduce costs dramatically, it is only necessary to remove the barriers. Some suggestions, for starters:<br /><br />• Stop all tax discrimination against individually owned sickness insurance. The present system gives tax breaks to companies that provide insurance to employees, but workers who pay for their own insurance get no such deduction. This causes insurance companies to be unresponsive to providing inexpensive insurance for individuals, and it means insurance is tied to a job instead of being portable between jobs.<br /><br />• Allow individuals to purchase sickness insurance across state borders, to avoid costly mandates by states. State governments create lists of services that insurance companies must cover, including non-illness-related things such as in vitro fertilization. The Washington Times wrote: "A health policy for a single Pennsylvanian costs roughly $1,500 annually. Cross the Delaware into New Jersey ... and a similar health plan costs about $4,000, thanks to state regulations."<br /><br />• Expand health savings accounts by removing regulatory barriers so that Americans can pay for medical bills with before-tax money.<br /><br />• End Medicare price controls. Allow patients and physicians to contract for mutually agreeable fees. Medicare can compute its reimbursement by any mechanism it chooses, but that should not determine the fee. This would also have the effect of drastically reducing physician overhead by removing the costs required primarily to justify Medicare's price-controlled, coded fee.<br /><br />• Repeal the McCarran-Ferguson exemption that permits insurance companies to engage in behavior prohibited to other industries by antitrust law. (Insurance companies can form giant conglomerates that fix prices and make it impossible for competitors to enter the marketplace.)<br /><br />Much more could be added. But the one-sentence answer is to put patients back in control of their medical dollars and their medical decisions. In a free-market system, prices would be much lower, and patients would have much broader choices. If they had more money in their own pockets - having given less to their insurer - more people would opt for less expensive, less toxic, possibly more effective treatments that insurers have historically refused to cover. Self-insurance for all but the most catastrophic expenses would be very common. There will always be a role for charity and social safety-net programs, but the neediest will be better served by programs targeted to their needs rather than demolishing the ship and giving everyone no choice but to cling to the wreckage.<br /><br />Jane Orient, M.D., is an internist in solo practice in Tucson, Arizona. She is also executive director of the Association of American Physicians and </em>Surgeonsmousiemarchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10946780831209471709noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577505120538272858.post-71522365067058820802010-03-17T12:49:00.000-07:002010-03-17T13:06:07.223-07:00The global empire, Big government and war sucksOver the past year and a half I have listened closely to two nursing colleagues I have. Both came immigrated legally from Bosnia during their civil war. I have heard stories of economic collapse, wheel barrels full of money to buy food, getting drinking water from a polluted stream, and many more. <br /><br /> This blog will be short and I will only high light some of the things I've heard from my two bosnian friends. I will not reveal their names but will only list quotes they've said that found a place in my mind over the past year and a half. <br /><br /> "This is what happened to us a few years before everyone lost everything. I want to sell my house and have nothing so they can't take anything from me." November Prior to McCain/Obama election. She was speaking of the housing crash and the declining dollar. <br /><br /> "Oh no their not stupid. Once the money does down far enough they just start putting a one on it again." When I thought out loud and on how our government was going to print 1 billion on our bills. In Bosnia a bill would be 1 billion of their version of a dollar. Ya know when their version of one actual dollar a few years prior actually had some value. <br /><br /> "They used to cut the womens babies from their stomach, and throw the infant into the river. They would than cut the womens breasts off and leave her to die." When discussing the war in Bosnia. <br /><br /> Both of these individuals came to the United States seeking safety, and economic stability. What happens when we fall? Where will people run to? If the communist/fascist systems of the world worked so well in the past, why are people still running here? Even in our dilapidated state we are still the only place in the world people turn to for help. We still have in our history the pillars of freedom. The pillars of Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. <br /><br /> Maybe those who think socialism and big government are the way should go visit those families in Bosnia. Maybe they should listen to some of the stories I've heard. <br /><br />It has taken me over three years just to get what I have written here. Talking about this is not easy for those who have witnessed it. I pray that none of this happens on our soil. However, it is us the citizens of the U.S.A who have to make sure of that. <br /><br />As many line up at their ballot boxes voting for slavery. I wonder if they truly understand what they are doing? My guess is no.mousiemarchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10946780831209471709noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577505120538272858.post-74140529284691016122010-03-08T12:41:00.000-08:002010-03-08T13:19:01.862-08:00Phillip Dru, The road to global enslavement.Phillip Dru is a poor excuse of a novel, and as such I give it negative one star out of a possibility of 5 stars. Having said that I would encourage every American to read this trash. Why? Because the man who wrote it is Edward Mandell House chief of staff under President Woodrow Wilson and a major political advisor to FDR. This book originally writen in 1911 outlines many of the events that transpired in the Wilson administration and FDR's "New Deal." What might be even more frightening is that House actually reveals how he manipulated the entire system. As the back cover of my copy states, "It has been said that House 'copyrighted fascism' before Mussolini took power in Italy. House was not adverse to the allegation, writing in 1935 that he had 'anticipated Mussolini by several years.'" <br /><br /> In this book House writes of a supposed "benevolent dictator" in Phillip Dru. As Dru over throws the American Government he implements a graduated income tax (The IRS), forms a "League of Nations" (which Wilson attempted a few years after Dru was written but wasn't accepted until it was renamed the United Nations years after Wilson was out of office. Again the book is written in 1911.), sets up a system very much like social security, and eventually conquers Mexico and brings all the Latino countries together into one government (almost like what were seeing with all the NAFTA's, Gatt's, and North American Union talk). After completing House's painful attempt at fiction one can't help but to conclude that for the most part he's been successful. House has slowly tricked the American People into believing that fascism is capitalism. House also established (created) a group called the Council on Foreign Relations. How is this significant? Well this small group has its members in all the important places in government and media (You know like all the top media are members, and yes FOX news big wig Rupert Murdock is a CFR member). Lastly, don't forget that the end game of House's desires is world goverment. Now, I ask you how important is this book? <br /><br />Don't believe me? Here are some quotes I and a friend of mine have taken from the book. <br /><br /> Chapter VI<br /><br />" This feeling will grow, it is growing, and when it comes to full frution, the world will find but little difficulty in attaining a certain measure of altruism. I agree with you that this much to be desired state of society cannot be altogether reached by laws, however drastic. Socialism as dreamed of by Karl Marx cannot be entirely brought about by a comprehensive system of state ownership and by the leveling of wealth. If that were done without a spiritual leavening, the result would be largely as you suggest." <br /> <br />I must thank Stephen T. McCarthy for quoting the following text in his blog allowing me to copy and paste (thus saving me a lot of time). http://xtremelyun-pcandunrepentant.blogspot.com/2010/02/x-y-z-mechanix-of-amerycan-politicz-or.html, is where you can find the quoted text in the context he displayed it. <br /> <br />Chapter XII – “Selwyn Seeks A Candidate”<br />Selwyn then began carefully scrutinizing such public men in the States known as presidential cradles, as seemed to him eligible. By a process of elimination he centered upon two that appeared desirable.<br /><br />One was James R. Rockland, recently elected Governor of a State of the Middle West. The man had many of the earmarks of a demagogue, which Selwyn readily recognized, and he therefore concluded to try him first.<br />. . .<br />Selwyn settled back in his chair, nodding his approval and telling himself that he would not need to seek further for his candidate.<br /><br />At Rockland’s earnest solicitation he remained over another day. The Governor gave him copies of his speeches and messages, so that he could assure himself that there was no serious flaw in his public record.<br /><br />Selwyn cautioned him about changing his attitude too suddenly. “Go on, Rockland, as you have done in the past. It will not do to see the light too quickly. You have the progressives with you now, keep them and I will let the conservatives know that you think straight and may be trusted.<br /><br />“We must consult frequently together,” he continued, “but cautiously. There is no need for anyone to know that we are working together harmoniously. I may even get some of the conservative papers to attack you judiciously. It will not harm you. But, above all, do nothing of importance without consulting me.<br /><br />“I am committing the party and the Nation to you, and my responsibility is a heavy one, and I owe it to them that no mistakes are made.”<br /><br />“You may trust me, Senator,” said Rockland. “I understand perfectly.”<br /><br />Chapter XIV – “The Making Of A President”<br />Selwyn now devoted himself to the making of enough conservative senators to control comfortably that body. The task was not difficult to a man of his sagacity with all the money he could spend.<br />. . .<br />It was a fascinating game to Selwyn. It appealed to his intellectual side far more than it did to his avarice. He wanted to govern the Nation with an absolute hand, and yet not be known as the directing power.<br />. . .<br />In the meantime his senators were being elected, the Rockland sentiment was steadily growing and his nomination was finally brought about by the progressives fighting vigorously for him and the conservatives yielding a reluctant consent. It was done so adroitly that Rockland would have been fooled himself, had not Selwyn informed him in advance of each move as it was made.mousiemarchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10946780831209471709noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577505120538272858.post-14146041839890739692010-02-15T22:18:00.000-08:002010-02-15T22:30:19.910-08:00Are you kidding me.I got the following from congress.org... <br /><br />{If you're a U.S. citizen over the age of 18, you have the right to vote.<br /><br />If you're convicted of a felony, you could have that right taken away — but it all depends on where you live.<br /><br />In Kentucky, you'll lose the right to vote forever. In Wisconsin, you'll only get it back after you've finished probation and parole. In Vermont, you can mail your ballot from prison.<br /><br />Civil-rights groups are pushing back against some of the tighter restrictions with lawsuits, most recently with a successful case in Washington state.}<br /><br /> Are you kidding me??? Why shouldn't we let convicted felons Vote??? After all we elect them to congress, and the guys in prison know these guys intimately. Plus I trust the convict down the street more than I trust my congressman. We here in the good state of Oregon let illegal aliens vote. Heck we even print the ballots in multiple languages for you in case you can't read english. All you need in Oregon is a drivers license, and lucky lucky we have almost NO requirements for getting a drivers license. <br /><br /> So ya why not... Lets let every serial killer and rapist vote. After all these same individuals are going to be running for congress next election anyway.mousiemarchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10946780831209471709noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577505120538272858.post-10764161201087172002010-01-17T22:59:00.000-08:002010-01-17T23:02:33.465-08:00If history will tell you anything it will tell you how quickly man becomes corrupted. Please read the Obituary below and then I will continue my story.<br /><br />Ezra Dana Rodgers married Mary Hellen Sumner. The grandfather of Verne Coons.<br />Ezra Dana Rodgers Obituary:<br />Friday, May 29, 1908:<br />Another G.A.R. Member has been called home.<br />Ezra D. Rogers passed away last Friday.<br />Deceased was one of the oldest residents of Nemaha County and a Veteran of the Civil War- was beloved by all.<br />Ezra D. Rogers, an old and highly respected citizen of Nemaha county passed away last Friday, May 22, at about 9:30 o'clock, at his home on West Second avenue, at the advanced age of 76 years. He had been a sufferer for a number of years from an affliction which was pronounced incurable, but his condition was not thought serious until a couple of weeks ago, when he took considerably worse and failed rapidly until the end.<br />Ezra D. Rogers was born in Indiana April 7, 1832. His family moved to Illinois while he was yet a youth and later came to Hardin county, Iowa. At the beginning of the Civil War he enlisted in the 32nd Iowa Infantry. Eighteen months later he was honorably discharged on account of disability. He was married to May H. Sumner March 27, 1855. Eleven years later the family came to Nemaha county, which has since been their home. They have tasted the joys and sorrows of frontier life. With arduous toil and privations they have done their part towards conquering the wilderness that it might come down to us as a heritage of culture and beauty.<br />Mr. Rogers confessed his faith in Christ at Eureka, Ill., when about twenty-one years of age, and has been a consistent member of the Christian church ever since, being intensely loyal to the principles which it advocates. For years he was a faithful elder in the church at Nemaha. About ten years ago he moved to Auburn where he and his good wife have since made their home.<br />Eight children have been born to them: Mrs. Laura Coons, Mrs. Rosetta L. Shubert and William L. Rogers, living in Idaho; Mrs. Mary H. Rimel and Alva R. Rogers, living at Auburn; Leroy D. Rogers and Mrs Effie A. Deerfeldt, living on farms near Nemaha. One girl, Addie, died when a child. These seven children with the widowed mother, who has been a faithful helpmate for fifty-three years, remain to mourn his loss.<br />The funeral services were conducted last Sunday morning at 8 o'clock at the Christian church in this city by the Rev. Hugh Lomax, pastor, after which the remains were taken to the Prairie Union cemtery near Stella and laid to rest. The Carley Post, G.A.R., attended the funeral service in a body, the deceased having been a loyal member of that organization, and having served in the war gaining an honorable record. The many friends of the sorrowing relatives extend to them their sincerest sympathies in their hour of sadness.<br /><br />I will continue this post at a later date.mousiemarchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10946780831209471709noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577505120538272858.post-89084347316971684792010-01-11T23:06:00.001-08:002010-01-11T23:06:48.509-08:00Bergmann story, cool readCentury farm contains family memories<br />By Herman J. Lensing<br /><a name="0.1_graphic02"></a>Ken and Marilyn Bergmann don't farm, but they still own the 122 acres of farmland, north of St. Rosa, which has played a big role in his family's history.<br />"My father and mother had a family of 14 children," said Ken."Thirteen of them reached adulthood."<br />Bergmann bought the farm from his father, John. His father had acquired it from Ken's grandfather, August, who had obtained the land from John Hoeschen more than a century ago.<br />"The farm has an interesting history," said Ken."Originally there were two parts that were homestead, but when August purchased it in 1893, there was just one farm."<br />August, like a number of early settlers of land north of Melrose, was a native of Germany. "He was born in Allenstein, East Prussia," said Dave Bergmann. "He was born on a farm about 40 miles west of the border with Russia."<br />August's mother died when he was about 18-months-old. His father remarried and his stepmother raised August.<br />INHERITANCE<br />"At that time in Germany the oldest son had the right of inheritance," said Dave. "After August left the German Army, in 1884, he decided to move to the United States. It wasn't until 1893 that they sent his personal belongings over."<br />August left Germany to avoid bitterness, which might have resulted had he insisted on his getting the family farm, according to the Bergmann family history. At that time a number of people from Germany were coming to the United States, and August had friends who had settled here. He also had one other reason for deciding to immigrate to the United States.<br />"We have his discharge papers from the German army," said Dave. "In those papers it states that he was discharged, but he was subject to recall if he immigrated to any country around the Black Sea. If he came to the United States and established a family, he was not subject to recall."<br />August Bergmann did come to the United States. He married Gertrude Bormes, of Freeport, and they had a family of 12 children."<br />"We have always said that he came here because he wanted to move someplace where the weather was as miserable as where he grew up," said Ken. "The land here is like the area where he grew up. There are hills and lakes, and cold weather. But he knew some people who had settled in this area."<br />Prior to moving to the farm near St. Rosa, August had lived for a short time in Meire Grove. He left his mark on the site he had purchased.<br />"August built the barn and the present house," recalled Dave. "Before that they had lived in a log house south of the present house. There was also an older log cabin, a one room building, that was here before he was. We used that as an icehouse. We used to have ice in the summer time."<br />The farm, located between a lake and a swamp, always had water, even in the dry years in the 1930s, Ken and Dave recalled. The present house on the farm was built in 1908 by August.<br />"August and Gertrude moved their family in here, but she only lived in the house about six months. She died because of complications from childbirth," said Dave.<br />August and Gretrude's son, and Ken and Dave's father, John, purchased the farm after John was discharged from the U.S. Army.<br />"It was sort of funny," Ken said. "Grandpa had been drafted into the German Army and dad was later drafted into the U.S. Army.<br />FATHER<br />Their father served in the U.S. Army during World War I, and took over the farm in 1919. In 1921 he married Hilda Bruns and they started their family. Their 14 children were: Irene, David, Norma, Melvin, Duane, LaVerne, Eugene, Loren, Joan, Ken, Audrey, Janet, Ellen and Darlene. The farm provided a variety of growing experiences for the family. Ken and Dave recall hunting ducks and pheasants on the land, the various crops they grew and the work they did.<br />"Did you ever have to ride the horse, or hold the cultivator?" asked Dave of his younger brother Ken. "Cultivating was one of the first things we did after school was out."<br />Ken never had held the cultivator, but he did have to ride the horse as they cultivated corn rows.<br />"They usually had the little kids ride the horse when cultivating," said Ken. "That way the person holding the cultivator didn't have to steer the horse."<br />The cultivator had to be guided between rows of corn. If the lay of the land was hilly, the person on the horse had to steer the horse to help keep the cultivator straight to the rows.<br />"If you didn't, you could get hit with clumps of dirt," said Ken.<br />Fun as riding horse sounds, Ken noted at the time he felt he was working.<br />"I would ride the horse all morning. Dad would let us have a little nap after we had cultivated in the morning and when I got up I would be so stiff I didn't want to move," he recalled.<br />The horses were used on the farm until the 1950s, according to the brothers.<br />"Dad liked them," Ken said. "They didn't leave tracks in the fields like tractors did."<br />But as the horses got older, and tractors became common, they did have a tractor on the farm.<br />"The only tractor we had was a Ford 2N," said Ken. "It is still in a shed here. We would hire others with tractors to do work, but the only tractor bought for the farm was that Ford."<br />Corn wasn't the only crop raised. Oats, alfalfa and meadow grass were also harvested for farm use. Flax and clover were grown for cash crops.<br />"The clover was popular because you could take a cutting for hay, and then later harvest it for seed," said Ken. "All I really remember of the flax is that they told us to not play in the flax bin in the granary. Apparently you would just keep sinking in the flax."<br />POND<br />Dave and Ken both recalled that at one time there had been a pond to the east of the buildings on the farm, but it has shrunk in size. The pond was home to ducks and turtles during the year. Ken thinks that it may well be that draining some of the farm's meadows to the south of the building affected the pond size.<br />In recent years, he has seen an increase in the number of deer and coyotes in the area. The deer increase is interesting because one of the stories his father (John) told was how excited August would get when he saw a deer track.<br />The Bergmann farm helped to produce crops and families, and it also helped preserve part of the family heritage segment of the family, which stayed in Germany, according to David.<br />David has an interest in the family history and for a number of years had searched on maps for Allenstein. He could not find it.<br />"I thought it was a small town, like St. Rosa, which might be too small to put on a map," he said.<br />One day while talking with a friend, who had escaped from eastern Germany just ahead of the Russian Army during World War II, he asked if she had ever come across Allenstein. It turned out that she had been raised in the town, and knew Bergmanns from that community.<br />She helped them locate Bergmanns who had since settled in (then) West Germany after World War II. The Bergmanns were able to get in touch with the German side of the family, and even provide photographs of mutual ancestors.<br />"What they were really interested in was the discharge papers (of August)," recalled Dave, who along with Ken had attended a family reunion in the 1990s in Germany.<br />While none of John's sons farm the land (it is rented), Ken and Marilyn have kept the farm and use the ancestral home.<br />"Some people wonder why I keep it," he said. "It is in the family."<br />The farm, land, buildings and family farm stories associated with them helped to complete a cycle of family memories.<br />It may be because of those memories, that Ken holds the farm. In their family, the farm provides a link in the family history and culture. It has been the site of reunions and get-togethers for the family.mousiemarchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10946780831209471709noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577505120538272858.post-70203844123982176412009-12-21T22:00:00.000-08:002009-12-21T22:31:12.326-08:00Ludwig FriendleyWell as some of you know I haven't been coming around these parts lately. See, I've been side tracked I must confess to where even my reading has taken a hit. I have been putting together my sons family tree. A hefty challenge since much of my wifes family are unfamiliar to us. To quote my grandfather, "Well if at first you fail get back on that bike before I kick your f***ing ass." Well he didn't say that but if you knew him you would know it sounds just like him.<br /><br /> Upon researching my wifes geneology I found interesting things. On her fathers side it starts with Ludwig Friendley born in 1725 in Pennsylvania. Her grandmothers side are mostly from England and planted themselves in Utah, and many of them were mormon. Her grandfathers side was full of farmers, tanners, and such from Kansas. There was however a Viola C Berry who is my wifes great great great grandmother. Her father was Ludwig Friendley and one record shows Ludwig Friendley as being George Washingtons bodyguard (so to speak) for six years during the revolutionary war. I have to do some searching to double confirm this claim, but given what I've been able to confirm up to this point has been factual. We shall see, and we may never truly know. I would love to be able to tell my son that his distant relatives job was to help general Washington though. I know God calls all men but it can't hurt knowing you have men of courage and integrity in your geneology. It's a confidence thing.<br /><br /> Some of my sons relatives (Ludwigs children and grandchildren) look like they set up a church as well. Now I have to tell you I almost totally abandoned this project based on what I was learning from my side of the family. Lots of drunks and scam artists. My great uncle Odean pushed his sister Elaina out a two story window just because he wanted to. She developed seizures from it and later died at the age of 35 from having a seizure in bed. Her head got caught in the bars and she broke her neck. My great uncle Odean also helped my great aunt Opal hang herself in a cemetary bathroom. She had cancer from what I hear and wanted to end it. Odean was promised money if he helped her. My great uncle Norman was said to have robed a couple of banks. My great aunt Alys was a Jehovah Witness at one point but also a Quaker. She charmed snakes in some of her religious practices. During world war 2 Alys was in Europe and went blind. She was in Greece and told my mother that she saw something so horrible that she developed hysterical blindness and never saw again.<br /><br /> Getting back to Odean!!! This guy was a true scam artist. He used to pretend to preach the word of God I was told to rob people of their money. A couple of his sons were murdered early in life as well. My mothers cousin Patricia told me, "You could see the devil in his eyes. He was pure evil." My great grandmother Hannah called my aunt mary (her grandaughter) to take her to the hospital after Odean did something to her when she wouldn't give him money. My great uncle Robert (whom they called mud turtle) once got so mad he picked up a shot gun and started firing through the floor when he knew the family was below. He was called mud turtle because if you visited the bars in Sterns Minnesota you would eventually find a drunk named mud turtle. My grandfather was the sane one and he beat his children with crow bars. My family for the most part are a long line of trailor trash straight out of Norway. Things look more promising from my grandmothers side. I'm traveling down that road next but from what I have so far is great. Real God fearing and great people.mousiemarchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10946780831209471709noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577505120538272858.post-7414739893497058192009-12-16T22:22:00.000-08:002009-12-16T22:40:03.939-08:00Greg OdenNow I usually stay away from blogging about sports figures and such. There are way too many people doing it, and most of them can do it better than I can. However, I have to say I feel for this kid Greg Oden. He is a seven foot center drafted number one by the Portland Trailblazers in June 2007. His rookie season ended with an ACL injury after he fell off the couch (or so I heard). His second season was spent mostly learning the NBA game and getting his form back. His third season started with great promise and then.........<br /><br /> He went up to block a shot by Aaron Brooks and broke with patella (thats the knee folks). He is now out for yet another season. That means three years in the league with one season played. I feel bad for this young over payed athlete. Why? Because he actually seems like a nice kid, and he genuinely wants to represent the city of Portland Oregon well. He's not all about himself. When he was initially injured in 2007 he lamented to the Trailblazer staff and the fans about how sorry he was. He wanted to live up to the expectations set before him as the number one pick. Sadly, I don't know if that is going to happen. When someone gets multiple injuries as he has it can mean they are prone to them. For his sake I hope thats not the case. To be honest I'm more concerned about the kids spiritual journey through life than I am his NBA game. Even as a basketball fan I put people over sports as any sane person should.<br /><br />I'm going to say a prayer for Greg Oden tonight. Not for his NBA career but for his spiritual relationship with God. If he doesn't have one I can't think of a better time than the present for him to connect with God. Either way if this kid is going to have a lot of negative media, and having a solid relationship with God would be a good place for him to start (if he hasnt' already).<br /><br />We should all say a prayer for others we know lost in this world. Everyone needs God.mousiemarchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10946780831209471709noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577505120538272858.post-2779890276328492172009-11-11T07:28:00.000-08:002009-11-11T07:59:01.594-08:00Interesting weekI want my free propaganda health care<br /><br /> I was watching the propaganda box the other day (also known as the television set). Very interesting conversation came up on health care. They were discussing the current health care bill and how it would demand that: A) Everyone gets health care, and B) No one can be denied insurance based on <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">preexisting</span> conditions. So in other words insurance companies have to cover everything regardless who, what or why. Sounds nice right?<br /><br /> Does anyone remember the housing bubble? Ya know when they forced the banks to give loans to people who couldn't pay the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">mortgage</span>. Oh except this time the bubble will be much bigger and will bankrupt all the health care providers. Of course next comes the bailouts which is just a fancy word for government ceasing control of them. Am I the only one who sees this?<br /><br /> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Hmmmm</span> gotta get that swine flu vaccine <br /><br /> A dear friend of mine was set to get married this next year. His fiancee not wanting to get sick due to underlying conditions got the flu mist for H1N1 swine flu. According to my friend she told the health care provider about her condition and they opted to give her the live virus due to vaccine shortages. Well two days later she ended up in the Emergency Room on a ventilator. She died the same day. Reports showed that she had a bacterial infection that had weakened her immune system prior to getting the live attenuated (weakened) swine flu virus. Her body couldn't handle it and it killed her. According to my friend this is from the report. He also stated that the health care worker was informed of her condition but chose to give the live virus anyway. A recent article reported elderly people especially were making trips to the Emergency Room after getting the swine flu mist. This can't be the only example out there. But how many will we hear about?<br /><br /> $50 Dollar Washer<br /><br /> My wife being the frugal soul that she is found a fifty dollar washer on <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Craigs</span> list. Now let me start by saying I HATE <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">CRAIGS</span> LIST. I have for a long long time and unlike her I'm not fond of it at all. My wife set up a time for a washer to be dropped off. OK, first off I don't like strangers coming to my house from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">CRAIGS</span> LIST, and who sells a washer for fifty dollars. Not wanting to argue with my wife I <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">acquiesced</span> and figure I'll test it first. They showed up, dropped it off, the phone rings (my wife set up another appointment to pick up our <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">tred</span> mill she wanted rid of). I went in got the phone cut it short said, "Ya get her by." Came back out and dudes were gone. Along with my old washer (which was broken and I said they could have as long as the new one worked). Well they were gone and the new washer works worse than the old one. I spent the next two hours cleaning water off the floor from the washer tsunami that followed. Now you might be thinking, "It's your own fault." And yes to a degree you would be right. I allowed my wife to do this over my best judgement. I allowed her to set up two appointments at once which ended up screwing me in the end, and I allowed these guys to take our old washer trying to save myself from listening to my wife bitch about getting rid of it. You don't get something for nothing and I knew better. However, what these guys did is not right and I can only hope that they will change or be properly punished at a later date. By the way I was so pissed I slept on the couch. I hate being had and I do a pretty good job of not getting myself into those situations. Now I just need to get my wife to do the same. At the end of the day I'm the man of the house so its my fault.<br /><br /> Gold<br /><br /> Gold is reporting to be worth $1100 an ounce right now. I could have gotten it for $250 an ounce seven years ago when I was looking at it. We were going to nursing school so it wasn't a good time. I did purchase some for $750 an ounce a little over a year ago. Gold is expected to raise even more in the future. Why am I still not allowed to buy it?<br /><br /> This ends my week. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Ahhhhhh</span>mousiemarchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10946780831209471709noreply@blogger.com3