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Pain Pumps
There has been a lot in the news lately about complications from the use of various types of pain medication delivery systems. You've probably heard about the recall of Fentanyl pain patches. (Many of the patches had cuts, exposing patients to direct contact with the gel and magnifying the risk of overdose.)
Have you heard about the issues surrounding the use of a
pain pump, common following shoulder surgery? Me, either.
Apparently, following arthroscopic shoulder surgery, a pain pump is routinely used to deliver controlled amount of local pain relievers, which are generally safer and offer fewer side-effects than narcotic anesthetics. The excessive release of medication by the pump is now being blamed for deterioration of the tissues in the shoulder joint, causing permanent pain and mobility loss.
I am forced to question why, after so many years of safe use, we're hearing about a 63% rate of over-medication and joint damage.
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Jules
You Want Me to What?!
Okay, you've just gotta love this:
Polar bear mating doomed by gender mix-up!
Zoo handlers in Northern Japan brought in a 'friend' to mate with their female polar bear. The two animals got along well, but the zookeepers started to notice some odd similarities.
After two DNA tests and a physical exam . . . oops! Apparently, although determined to be a male from the age of three months, Tsuyoshi just wasn't going to be
that-kind-of-friend, after all.
Note to zookeepers: might wanna check these things out - early?!
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Jules
We're (Sorta) Baaaack!
True to their word, our wireless provider got my phone back up within 24 hours. I was pleasantly surprised - for about 20 minutes. Then, I got angry.
For years, we have had unlimited access (through what they call T-Zones) to online information. If our phones could support the set-up, we could get to it. Once I cancelled and reinstated my phone, we could no longer get thtis access.
Don't believe the T-Mobile commercials! Ever since Deutsche Telecom came in - value went out the window.
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Jules
Phone Change
Just a quick note to let everyone know that we're making some changes to the phone service, so I'll be down for about 24 hours.
Trying to consolidate the service and get rid of the 2 lines that the boys were using. Unfortunately, everything takes time.
Feel free to email if you have a question. Or use one of the forms on the website. They all still work just fine.
Talk to you soon.
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Jules
Palin for Senate?
I've made no secret of the fact that I thought Sarah Palin was a poor choice and, as we watched, proved that she couldn't function well under pressure; that she had limited knowledge of the structure of our government; and just really doesn't get it. 'It' covers a lot of ground.
What bothers me most is Sarah Palin's minimal acquaintance with veracity. Take the issue of the clothes - I find it impossible to believe that she wasn't involved in the selection and purchase of all of this clothing. The items that she (and possibly her family) were wearing after a certain point required fitting. This means that Palin, at least, was present when the clothing was purchased so that she could try on the outfits.
Sizes are not the same from one clothing line to another. Trust me! What I could wear in a size 8 from one designer might be a 10 in another. (And if you believe I've worn a size 8 in the last 35 years, then I have a great career in politics!) At the very least, clothing was taken from stores on consignment, Palin tried them on, and the ones that didn't fit were returned.
This is a minor matter about which to be untruthful. What, heaven help us, is to come if she is
allowed out of Alaska?
There are a number of sites which have devoted themselves to exploring what Sarah Palin says, versus the truth. Google "Sarah Palin Truths" and read on.
You'll be amazed. Or - as I was - frightened.
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Jules
Curb Chocolate Cravings
I saw this headline:
Brisk Walk Can Curb Chocolate Cravings today and my first thought was "Heaven Forbid!" A brisk walk - yuck!
Honestly, I don't eat chocolate (or any sweets) on a regular basis. It's a habit I developed years ago when I was having serious problems with my blood sugar levels. My pancreas works a bit too well and overcompensates for sugary foods. But brisk walks? Maybe for nicotine cravings, although . . .
First, I'd have to take a shower, which generally involves a 3 hour wait for hot water and a mad scramble to finish before the warm water does. This exercise in frustration is followed by 40 minutes detangling my hair, 30 minutes lotioning 6 feet of arms and legs, and . . .
aw hell! I just lit a cigarette!
Then, I have to dig through the closet to find something to wear - something that's clean (eliminate 50% of the closet), that fits (there goes another 40%), that suits the weather (kiss 8% goodbye). Now . . .
aw hell! I just lit a cigarette!
See? Brisk walks are just a bad idea! And I haven't even found my shoes, yet.
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Jules
How Do You Spell Relief?
I don't know if you've been reading the election follow-up stories. There are a lot of them; from both sides.
McCain supporters are desperately searching for a scapegoat, without actually looking too closely at the Republican party and eight years of bad choices. It's easy to blame Bush, but members of the GOP didn't question or challenge him at the time. So, suck it up people. You had your chance.
What has actually amazed me, in what I've been reading, is the common theme; one word repeated over and over again.
Relief!
I first heard the word from my daughter, shortly after we listened to the concession and victory speeches. We both cried that night. I'm not sure why I was moved to tears; it started with McCain's speech and just grew through Obama's. Looking back, it makes sense.
We have been living on the edge of a precipice - financial struggles, two unwinnable wars, and a two-year high-pressure presidential campaign. Inundated with speeches, media hype, lies and half-truths was nothing compared to the fear that McCain/Palin would be given 4 years to complete the destruction of our country. I, like millions of Americans, was terrified by the possibilities.
Seeing the numbers come in, slowly and steadily putting Obama in the White House, one could hardly feel anything but relief.
God Bless America and God Help Obama. He's gonna need it.
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Jules
It Appears to Be Over
It appears that the West Coast just put Obama into the White House.
MSNBC projects Obama 284 / McCain 146 - at 9:00pm AST (GMT -7:00)
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Jules
Housing Market Has to Mend?
Okay - this is a real 'Duh!?' moment. I was reading the AP article about how, for the bailout to work, the housing market has to
mend. Maybe I don't get it. (Wouldn't be the first time.)
There's $700 billion (big
B) designated to pull Wall Street's head out of its
ahem and it may be next year - or later - before the bucks start to flow?
Wrong Answer people! Let's get that money where it needs to be - and do it now!
Now, at the risk of shining a light on my lack of understanding, this is what I see: We know which lenders and financial institutions habitually took advantage of consumers, right? These consumers were talked into more house or more mortgage than they could afford, right? Well, isn't that where we start?
You see, that is what I have never understood - through this entire housing crisis. When a mortgagee has trouble making payments, few banks will work with them - even in the face of artificially inflated property values. Instead they foreclose, evict a family, and -
find any logic here, I dare you - auction off the home for a fraction of the mortgage value, writing off the difference!!
Take some of that pretty bailout money - and rewrite those mortgages. (Someone somewhere is holding the paper from these lenders.) Home values have consistently dropped for months now - so adjust the value of the mortgage to reflect the value of the home. Apply a realistic finance rate - and keep these families in their homes!
Of course, for speculators and 'flippers' this refi does not apply.
You tried to make money in an inflated market - if you lost your shirt, you'll just have to play for the skins.
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Jules
Our Son - The Chef
We've had some great news from our oldest, which is nice since he's had a lot of bad news lately. After studying culinary arts in high school down here, there weren't any programs during his final year up north. So, I wasn't too sure what would happen to his career plans.
This week we found out that he's in the process of going to work for one of the casinos in his area - as a prep cook! There's still paperwork to complete, but it sounds like a solid job offer.
Not only that, but he'll have benefits in 6 months (very important for a young man with a bad leg) and - if he's interested - can move up to line cook in just 9 months. Pretty Great!!
Cross your fingers for him - that nothing goes wrong between now and his first day? Thanks!
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Parenting 101 - the Palin Way
I read Op/Ed articles quite a bit. With the exception of one slightly cuckoo columnist, I find that even when I disagree with the writer, I still enjoy their perspective. One of my favorite reads is Ted Rall's column. He pulls no punches.
This
latest column, exploring the Palin Parenting Program, is spot-on.
Not only is it highly improbable that Bristol and her boyfriend made the choice to marry and raise the baby, it's highly probable that 'Mom' brooks no disagreement once she's determined a course of action. An unusual segment of the teen population notwithstanding, getting pregnant at 17 and without benefit of marriage is not a teen's personal choice - whether male or female. It's an accident, rarely remedied by interfering overbearing parents. The whole situation is just going to destroy those three young lives.
There is absolutely no benefit in compounding one mistake with another and another.
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Commuters Torch Train
When I first read this headline -
Angry Argentine commuters torch train in rush hour - it struck me as rather counterproductive. I mean think about it - you're angry that your commute is delayed so you destroy the train that's supposed to get you to work? Then, I read the story.
We're pretty spoiled, here in Phoenix. Our public transportation is reasonably reliable and fairly inexpensive. I can't imagine living in a city or country where you don't know if you're going to get where you need to be.
Although, I'm not certain that destroying the train is a practical solution. You know?
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Obama and Born-Alive Infant Protection Act
I realize that I'm a little late to the party, but a friend sent a link to a very disturbing YouTube video today
Kill and Destroy. (Although there are no graphic images, I've chosen to offer a link, rather than embed the video.) This is, in my humble opinion, important viewing.
After watching
Kill and Destroy, I started researching the information it put forth. I am - without question -
not an Obama supporter -
never have been, but I prefer to have my facts straight before I blithely post something. Let me tell you - it was not difficult to find information on this topic!
A quick
Google search turned up thousands of related pages and sites. Some of the most compelling, though I'm not sure I agree with her politics, come from Illinois nurse, Jill Stanek.
Top 10 Reasons Obama Voted Against Illinois' Born Alive Infant Protection Act
And from the Oregonian, just last week:
Barack Obama's abortion crime and cover-up
I have never trusted Obama or virtually anything that comes out of his mouth. It is my opinion that we couldn't do worse for this country than putting this man in the White House.
Heaven help us all, if he wins.
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Jules
News Knowledge
You know, the variety of information and 'fun stuff' that is out there on the Internet never ceases to amaze and thrill me. (Guess that's why I spend so much time wandering the WWW, huh?) I am an unconfirmed news-junkie.
Today I found a blog, which I've added to my 'Friends and Fellow Bloggers' list, that satisfies my never-ending need for current events and interesting reading material. With a twist.
News Knowledge takes the headlines and, as the tagline says, spouts personal
wisdom acquired by reading the headlines.
Please check it out - I think you'll like what you read.
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God Bless!
Jules
Bush/Cheney Move to Gut Endangered Species Act
I received this wildlife alert today. Please help us stop this attack on the Endangered Species Act by the current administration.
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Dear Jg,
With less than 160 days left in power, the Bush/Cheney Administration has launched an unprecedented backdoor assault on America’s endangered species!
Don’t let them get away with it. Urge your Representative and Senators to do everything in their power to stop the Bush/Cheney Administration’s eleventh-hour assault on America’s wildlife.
For more than 30 years, the Endangered Species Act has protected wildlife at risk of extinction. Now the Bush/Cheney Administration wants to eliminate vital checks and balances that are crucial to protect our polar bears, wolves and other imperiled wildlife.
Please help protect endangered animals from the Bush/Cheney Administration’s attack. Take action now.
Announced earlier this week, the Bush/Cheney proposal would severely limit scientific review by the Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service of projects that could harm imperiled wildlife. And it would explicitly limit the ability of these expert agencies to consider how greenhouse gas emissions from such projects could impact polar bears, wolverines and other wildlife that may go extinct due to global warming.
Instead, agencies proposing projects such as highways, dams, mines, oil or gas drilling and virtually any other activity would be allowed to decide for themselves whether a project is likely to impact any of the nearly 1,400 species currently protected by the Endangered Species Act -- without the crucial independent review now provided by scientific experts at the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service.
Many of these agencies do not even have biologists or other qualified staff to make such a determination.
Even worse, the new regulations would impose a brief 60-day review period, making it even less likely that anyone involved in the process will have the time or expertise to fully evaluate the potential harmful effects of a given project on sensitive wildlife or the habitat it needs to survive.
Help stop the Bush/Cheney Administrations assault on protections for our endangered species. Please take action now.
There are less than 160 days left in the Bush/Cheney Administration -- and even less time for your Members of Congress to act. Please take action now to help stop the Bush/Cheney Administration’s last-minute attempt to eliminate effective protections for the wildlife that you and I love.
Sincerely,
 Rodger Schlickeisen President Defenders of Wildlife |
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P.S. Two years ago, Defenders led the fight that stopped Congressional legislation that would have gutted the Endangered Species Act. Now we need your help to stop the Bush Administration from trying to do the same thing. Please take action now!
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© Copyright 2008 Defenders of Wildlife.
Defenders of Wildlife is a national, nonprofit membership organization dedicated to the protection of all native wild animals and plants in their natural communities.
Defenders of Wildlife can be contacted at:
1130 17th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036 |
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God Bless!
Jules
From 'MSNBC Breaking News' Newest Spam Emails
Well, it appears that the powers-that-be have shut down the "CNN Alerts" and "CNN Daily Top 10" spammers. I've stopped getting those junk emails. Unfortunately, a new group has shown up today.
These are from
MSNBC Breaking News with the message title "msnbc.com - BREAKING NEWS:" followed by some purported headline. I noticed that they are using servers all over the place - Canada, Italy, Japan, and South Africa to name a few. (A couple of odd
Weekly NEWS-type spam messages showed up from Germany and South Africa servers.)
If it wasn't obvious that these messages are spam, possibly dangerous spam, the volume and 'headlines' were a dead giveaway. Eighteen in one day from a variety of sources - none of them MSNBC - kinda ruined the believability. Then, we had the headlnes.
My favorites were about Spongebob Squarepants - one reported that there was video of him having 'questionable relations'. Another claimed that he hadn't fathered Shrek!
There was one about our illustrious president that was quite amusing:
"Existence Of Poor People A Surprise, says Bush". Hmmm? Maybe that's not a fake headline.
Any way you look at it - you have to keep an eye on those spam messages and any news feeds to which you subscribe. The bad guys are everywhere.
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God Bless!
Jules
Great New Business Idea
Over the last few months, we've been doing our smoking in the bathroom. Keeps it out of the rest of the apartment and keeps it from bothering our soon-to-be daughter-in-law. Kinda reminds me of the bathrooms in high school - which led me to a
great idea for a business.
Everyone's heard of the
Fluff and Fold concept. Right? Well, I have a similar concept in mind. It involves multiple functions, just not laundry - which we all hate.
Since smoking is not acceptable these days - in keeping with the high school bathroom concept - I propose . . . are you ready? Have you thought of it already?
PUFF AND PEE
Toidies where you can light up. Looks and smells just like your old high school bathroom!
Come on - you know you love it!
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God Bless!
Jules
"CNN Daily Top 10" - Email Spam/Phishing/Trojan Download
I've been getting this "CNN Daily Top 10" crap in my mail (Yahoo puts it in my Spam folder) for a while now. Since I subscribe to a number of online information sources, I know exactly what I should - and should not - be getting in my mailbox. This was definitely a "should-not" see.
Just out of curiosity, whenever I see something that doesn't seem quite right, I hover my cursor over the name in the sender column. This shows me the email address used to send the message. (It works in Yahoo, anyway.) When
joeschmo@scams-r-us.crp sends me
CNN Daily Top 10, above and beyond knowing that I didn't subscribe to a CNN feed, I know that
scams-r-us.crp is unlikely to be an affiliate of CNN.
Google Search Results for "CNN Daily Top 10"
If you happened to open one of these messages and/or links, which will download and install rogue software on your computer - there is a site offering
help with removal and great information about how this trojan operates.
While it sounds harsh, it is best to presume ill-intent when you get a message that you weren't expecting.
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God Bless!
Jules
Balance Transfer Credit Card
Financially, things are tough all over. And they have been for a while - unless you really are a Rockefeller. We have watched the price of everything go up - everything we used to be able to afford. It's not just frustrating; it's frightening.
If we had credit card debt to deal with, on top of soaring fuel and food prices, we would be in serious trouble. Luckily, we don't use or own credit cards. But there is an option, for those who do have such issues in their financial lives. A
balance transfer credit card may be just what they need.
Moving credit card balances from high interest cards to low interest (or even
no interest for an introductory period) can give borrowers a chance to stop a downward spiral. There are a number of balance transfer card programs out there. Some offer 0% APR on transferred balances, for a specific time frame Others offer no-fee balance transfers or a fixed-rate APR on transfers.
The perfect choice depends on the amount being transferred and the time it will
(realistically) take to pay it off. For example: if you owe $3,600.00 and can pay $300.00 per month, then a 0% APR for 12 months is perfect.
Before things get worse, investigate some of the options available to you. Nothing feels quite as good as paying off a debt.
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God Bless!
Jules
Surgical Treatment for Lazy Eye
This is an amazing breakthrough for kids:
Lens Implant Offers Chance At Beating Lazy Eye
If you're not familiar with lazy eye, also called amblyopia, it's a condition where one eye is so much weaker than the other that the brain learns to ignore that eye. Occurring at a young age, amblyopia causes the neural connections to not form and makes the weaker eye useless, unless treated early.
We have a son with this condition which, until I read this article, I didn't realize was a serious problem. Oddly enough, the last time he was here he mentioned the vision difference between his eyes. While not as severe as the little girl in the above story, his left eye has 20/60 vision. Very impaired.
Several years ago, we tried glasses on him. He stopped wearing them, because the right lens altered the vision in that eye and made it more difficult for him to see. I don't know if that meant the glasses were having a positive affect on the left eye, blurring his overall vision, or not, since he mentioned it for the first time last month.
Unfortunately, I don't think that he has any type of vision benefits, now that he's 19 and out of school.
This just shows how critical eye exams are - from a very early age.
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Jules
