Family News

The typhoon has passed, and the sun is out, although the streets still have large puddles.

The conference is still going on. Chano rings the bell for meals (reminds me of church) and they blow a shofar at the start of each session (reminds me of a synagogue).

Tomorrow is the day we celebrate the dead. Usually this means going to visit the graves, and ligthing candles, putting flowers on them, and cleaning up debris. In Manila, vendors are forbidden to keep the streets clear, but here you can buy ice cream or snacks in the cemetary, and the kids of course are running around playing.

Since it is very crowded and hard to drive to the gravesite, lolo went today. When we visited Ito's and his father's grave Helen and her daughter were there. Helen has lost weight and looks pale, but she is smiling again. Then we went to Fred's mother's grave.

Ito's grave is newer, so it has four pillars and a roof over the gravesite. Fred's mother's grave is in the open, but has an area to sit in the front. We took orchids from the garden and placed them there, lit candles and said a prayer. Then we went to church for a short prayer and home.

Catholics in the US have always celebrated Nov 1 (all saints day) and Nov 2 (all soul's day) by going to mass and visiting graves, but now that there are so many Mexicans, in some areas it is becoming a fiesta.

Alas, with political correctness,in the USA children are no longer learing about All Hallow's Eve being the preparation for the next day, when we celebrate our extended family in heaven.

Here however the dead are still part of the family, but now they live with Mama Mary, God the Father and Kuya (older brother) Jesus...

First they came for the guns, then they came for the knives, and now...

THEY ARE COMING FOR SILLY STRING....

Dustbury writes:

Just a reminder that Silly String is banned in the following locations:

• Hollywood, California, midnight tonight through noon Wednesday.
• Southington, Connecticut, presumably until hell freezes over.

(Hollywood sign — no, not the Hollywood sign — poached from Defamer.)

The Attack of the seven foot Plaid Squid

How to carve a pumpkin

Virtual pumpkin carving...and you don' t have all that mess.

Your timewaster of the day from Col. Updraft.

It's a bird...it's a plane...it's a

BANANAPHONE

headsup from cuteoverload

Scary Haloween Photo number three

Transfat is the new "smoking"...the evil food that the food police want to eliminate.
Use it and you can go to jail in Denmark.

Ah, but EuroDisney is going even furthur...

Micky, how could you?

Scary Haloween photo number two

BIG BIRD

Tech update

First photo is from one of Col. Updraft's emails...he's a computer techhie.

The rest of my mail from techie news (aside from complaints about the new IE and firefox browsers) the tech news is full of scary stuff.

HERE are insturctions to make your very own Cylon o lantern. (is original link).

And HERE is a link to a zip of a Haloween book with stuff to do. Yes, you need a free registration, but that's why bugmenot was invented (Link at left).

And the REALLY scary tech news: The UN wants your internet. IT's not just that the UN is not competent to do it but that the "push" is by countries like China, Iran and Tunesia...

And finally, what would Cthulhu's license plate look like? LINK HERE.

Beware the troll

Your Monster Profile

Twisted Troll You Feast On: Grass You Lurk Around In: Las Vegas You Especially Like to Torment: Lawyers

What's Your Monster Name?

Cholesterol alert!

Fried coke?

(headsup from Faustablog

*Earthmother E.D. has the recipe...

To make dough batter:
Take Bisquick mix -- BUT instead of using water or milk as the liquid, you use coke.
- Then you form small dough balls and marinade them in coke.
- Next you fry these dough balls, and let drain.

Serve Fried Coke in a cup in this order:

- Splash of Coke in bottom of cup
- Add dough balls
- Top off with whip cream, a dash of cinnamon, and powdered sugar.
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* Gee, I remember watching her as Edye Tarbox... a couple husbands, kids, and names ago.

Surrealism

Bluetea blog has a link to several sites with surrealistic paintings.

One of his links is to LittlePeople blog which you should enjoy.

Attention aging Rock Stars

Need to adopt a baby of a politically correct race, but can't afford the cost of bribing local officials?

Well, do I have an offer for you.

Adopt your very own Alien Baby...
"...Found wandering alone outside Area 51, Alien Baby Puppet has seen one too many adventures in its short life. It's inconsolable as it cries to be rescued by its own kind. Press the hidden button and a pitiful, otherworldly sobbing begins..."

And unlike genuine imitation babies adopted by other aging rock stars, this one won't grow up to be an inconvenient teenager in ten or twelve years.

(oh yes, I know, shame on me for being snotty...but you know, as an adoptive mother the whole episode smacks of being merely another narcissitic publicity stunt. You do NOT go to adopt taking your press agent. )

Hello Kitty! the costume

and don't forget to wear your "hello kitty" costume for Haloween

Hello Kitty! Pumpkin

If you don't want a gorey pumpkin to decorate your home, Make Blog has a link to this HelloKitty pumpkin.

Pumpkins

Yuky pumpkins at link







(Heads up from The Anchoress, who also has a long thoughtful essay on the Christian response editorials that distort and ridicule Christian beliefs
LINK
"....pray for the kid…because it sounds like he could use prayers, and maybe he and the rest of the world could use the example of Christians who love instead of Christians who wander around with metaphorical knives between their teeth, attuned to every insult....")

Headlines and propaganda

My Name is Corrie...the new Horst Wessel?

Are we seeing Tet redux?
Amir Taheri points out that the Iranian backed Ramadan offensive in Iraq has been a failure, but the press hasn't noticed....and, Ralph Peters notes:" The left may get its wish: Iraq may fail. Well, congratulations. The men to whom you yearn to give Iraq will make Pol Pot look like Mr. Rogers."

How dare John Bolton suggest the UN reform. Didn't he know that the "milleneum conference" to eradicate poverty was more important than ridding the UN of corruption?

HERE is an example of towns meeting the UN Milleneum goals of eradicating poverty...

What's missing from the list?
Jobs.
To get jobs, you need Business investment, and to attract business, you need local government to do it's job in providing basic services, like clean water, sewers and garbage disposal, electricity, paved roads, and safety. ..

Family news: Wind and rain but okay

Another "supertyphoon" in Luzon. So we didn't go to the farm.

This one is north of here, so we are at the edge. It's rainy and gusty but not bad. The main danger here is mudslides in the nearby hills that have been denuded by illegal logging. And for farmers, it may ruin the crops. Some of the earlier rice is harvested but may not dry due to the rain, and some, like our main fields, has not been harvested yet. The winds and rain may ruin some of the fields. Sigh. And, of course, you can't harvest in the rain.

So we are staying here despite the conference. We have twenty people sleeping in our conference center, and thirty more coming for the meeting...AYYYYYYYYYAYAYAY...the conference continues to the first...hymn singing, praying, and smiling faces.

It's enough to make one an athiest...

We're hoping that there will be no "blackouts" (we have a generator for backup of course) and we are hoping our water pump doesn't decide to die on us. We will probably drill a second borehole in the future, a shallow one for washing and showers, and keep the deep borehole for drinking and cooking. Yes, there is city water, but the pressure is usually too low to pump to the second floor, and it is expensive.

And, of course, here the big holiday is coming: Nov 1st, All Saints day, when we remember the dead.

Another day, another typhoon

Winds will be north of here, but probably lots of rain...dang, and it's harvest season.
We're still deciding whether to go to the farm, since it's easy to get stuck in the mud on the dirt roads.

Haloween joke eight

Haloween joke seven

Family news

There is another conference here.
So it is chaos.
We might go to the farm for a few days. All we have to worry about there is the NPA (Just joking), but not food poisoning or going nuts from all the noise and praying.

haloween joke sixc

Press manipulation

Americans are supposed to pick our own presidents.

But you know, back in the late 1980's I heard the this guy Clinton, who I never heard of, was going to be president. And later I heard the same thing about a clumsy governor of Texas.

And now, it's OBama...

I first read of him in a HNN article by a professor who said we should vote for him for president to cure our wound of racism. I wrote back sarcastically that that was a lousy reason to vote for anyone.

And now a lot of puff pieces on this guy...and now MSN's website has a huge banner saying according to Slate the 2008 race has changed...

Well, eat my grits.

Hate to tell them, but the people's choice is actually Hillary vs Guilliani.

Hillary because, despite the press pushing her since 1990, she actually has a done a good job as senator.
And Guilliani, because no matter how much dirt is pushed on him, because people know in a fight he will stand up and lead.

Just my opinion.

Haloween joke five

Headlines below the fold

On November 4 (1956), the Red Army attacked Budapest. Nagy addressed the nation in the early dark of that morning, remaining defiant. The radio played the Hungarian anthem and pleaded for help from the United Nations and Western democracies. None came.
Dr. Szego remembers...ah, but do you?...WSJ editorial HERE

Gary Loftus, says he also has Parkinson's disease, and points out that there are many levels of research being done to treat and cure that terrible disease...
The embryonic stem-cell debate is not about allowing stem-cell research, because that is taking place unimpeded. The debate really is about legalizing the commerce in human embryos. Fertility clinics have an inventory of surplus embryos, and they want the right to sell them. Like everything else in politics, just follow the dollars.

The Australians are still up in arms about the shiek defending rapists.LINK is his defense of his speech. The actual speech is HERE.
Summary: All non believers will go to hell, and if a woman is raped, it's 90 percent her fault for not staying in her room and wearing a full robe that covers everything but her eyes.
..I hope they deport the bastard.

The internet blogosphere is publicizing the AlQaeda report on speading their propaganda via western news sources. Austin Bay has his opinion...
The NY Times exposed a legal, productive intelligence program in the midst of a war. That exposure damaged our ability to monitor terrorist finances. Finances fuel terrorist operations. The Times’ exposure increased the vulnerability of the United States. Why did they do it? I’ll hazard a guess. The NY Times is engaged in a political war with the Bush Administration...

MyPetJawaBlog contrasts the sanitized Videos seen on BBC/CNN/msnbc with the real thing. Not for the faint at heart...

My take on the "gay marriage" decision in NJ?
That easy divorce, public acceptance of living together and a welfare system that makes single parenthood a viable option has diminished marriage as a legal entity.
The REALLY dangerous court decision is This one stating "the State [has a] substantial interest in fostering equality between the sexes" ...in that case, the Catholic church was ordered to pay for contraceptives for their employees...THAT court case got little publicity but will have wider implications as "gay marriage" laws expand...

And finally, when Boston College proposed to fight racism by stopping the teaching of dead white men and replace it with the "history of marginalized people", one student wag wrote THIS:

I think I agree with the proposal: We indeed should be teaching the history of marginalized people. ... So I offer a provisional list of topics and questions to be included in such a course.

1. History of Christians during the time of Diocletian and Nero;
2. History of Monasteries during the dark ages;
3. History of Muslims in the Middle East during the Crusades;
4. History of Christians and Jews living under Muslim rule, both in the past and today;
5. History of Catholics under Elizabeth I;
6. History of Huguenots in France; ...
(list goes on and on)
....And, closer to home, such a course would definitely need to include:... 30. A survey of BC professors who are admirers of Pope Benedict.

Yup....WAC hippies may own BC, but the JP2 generation has wit.

Birthday party photos

birthday party 2006

Don't believe anything unless a double blind study proves it works

Parachute use to prevent death and major trauma related to gravitational challenge: systematic review of randomised controlled trials

Conclusions As with many interventions intended to prevent ill health, the effectiveness of parachutes has not been subjected to rigorous evaluation by using randomised controlled trials. Advocates of evidence based medicine have criticised the adoption of interventions evaluated by using only observational data. We think that everyone might benefit if the most radical protagonists of evidence based medicine organised and participated in a double blind, randomised, placebo controlled, crossover trial of the parachute.

(Heads up from Medpundit)

Family news:

Well, the first conference of pastors is over, more coming tomorrow.

We have had to keep the watch dogs chained up during the day, but they still are loose at night. Alas, they "patrol" upstairs and leave gifts to greet early morning risers.

<-we need a sign like this...

This evening, birthday party (GLUG)

This weekend: Another conference.

In the meanwhile, instead of Hercules C 140's flying over, we have jets and helicopters...the joint exercize continues until the 31st...LINK
I keep trying to see if the jets flying over are Harriers, but they are too fast to identify.

Don't just sit there

Download your hoopsandyoyo screen saver...drive your officemates crazy.
LINK

Duh

Haloween joke four

Kumbaya watch

LGF points out that Georgetown was just given 20 million dollars by a Saudi Shiek to help fund their Islamic center, that fosters understanding of Islam among Catholics....however the center's main function seems to be bashing US support of Israel...

My suggestion: Why not insist that the Islamic University of Medhina allow a Christian/Jewish Islamic Center in return? Maybe Mel Gibson could fund it as a way of repenting his antisemetic remarks...

You wouldn't ask a cat not to eat dead meat put in front of him, so why ask men not to attack a woman without a veil? TimBlair has the story...
Hmmm...maybe the "soft spoken" cleric can give that talk at Georgetown to foster Islamic understanding... BBC PUFF PIECE HERE

Rick Santorum and Victor Davis Hanson argue that we can't ignore that a war of civilizations is starting, and we should know our enemy.

There are many who see all religions as equally dangerous and fanatical. This is, of course, nonsense. The truth is that most believers live quiet lives loving God and caring for their neighbors. But even in SE Asia, the easy going Islam here is being radicalized byAlQaeda funding of local insurgents and in the Saudi funded mosques. . That is why Malaysia, Indonesia and other SE Asian countries are meeting about the dangers of terrorism...
-------------
But some good news. Israel in the past brought back their people from Ethiopia. Well, now they are starting to bring back those who fled to India. LINK. Of course, if you are in an apocolyptical mood, the return of the lost tribes points to end times...

Haloween joke number three

Puppies!

Christina and puppy. Today they opened their eyes for the fist time.
The other female is huge and should deliver in a week.
The training center is full of pastors at a conference.
I'm hiding out in my room.
Lolo is outside where the men are finishing furniture and lamps for the trade fair.
Harvest is next week

Things that make you go ....Hmmmmm...

Dilbert got his voice back. He had something called spastic dysphonia. (I've treated one patient with it...she was a telphone operator and had to go on disability).
-----------------------------------
Attention drug police: TOAD SUCKING DOG ALERT.

(both links are from Boingboing.)
------------------------
Listen to the music of the falling rain and watch your raincoat flicker
------------------------------------------------------------
.What's the difference between "we are church" types and the new John Paul II generation in the Catholic church?
The WAC types hold power in the church bureaucracy, but the JP2 type have YouTube
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And: What would you think if you caught THIS fish?
Dr. Dani Golany,... said it is a common guitarfish who is common to the eastern Mediterranean.

Craft item of the day

Make A DALEK O'Lantern.

(via boingboing)

Haloween joke number two

News beneath the fold

Depressing news today....and I don't just mean the stupidity of politics.

Was this California mother killed because she was wearing a headscarf? Shame.

And the BBC has an article on staging plays to educate people about the harm to girls caused by a certain treatment to cure Aids...Many times this "treatment" is advised by "traditional healers"....

And the ever helpful BBC is telling the Taliban's side of the story....but then there is this:"There is one other factor that increases Taleban morale. "Few have any education beyond years spent in the madrassas, the fundamentalist religious schools in Pakistan that have produced an endless supply of Taleban for more than a decade. .."

But a little good news can be found in our local e-newspaper :

Before the start of the "Talon Vision" joint military exercises, US Marines and sailors from the Marine Wing Support Squadron 172 (MWSS-172) of Marine Wing Support Group 17 joined soldiers from the Philippine Army's 7th Infantry Division (7th ID) and the local government of Peñaranda in giving free medical and dental care to town residents.

More than 700 patients were treated by a joint team of doctors, dentists, nurses and corpsmen in the town auditorium. While residents waited to be treated, the Marine squadron's chaplain and volunteers distributed clothing and toys to the town's children. The goods were donated by families of US servicemen based in Okinawa, Japan.

Haloween Joke one

Save the Vegemite!

Sign the petition HERE

We want to have Vegemite in the U.S. BECAUSE:

We love our Vegemite,
We all adore our Vegemite,
It puts a rose in every cheek!

Heads up from Kaylen who put a comment in earlier post
------------------------------------------------------
NEWS story HERE

Medical explanation HERE

Family news

We just got back from Dr. Angie's birthday party....stuffed with tons of Pinoy food...
WHoops. there goes my diet.
No photos (my palmpocket doesn't take photos after dark) but if Bennie's camera works, he'll send me some to post for family

Friday is Ruby's and my birthday parties. She's six....I'm 29 and holding....

You know that you live in New England if....

Forget Rednecks .....here is what Jeff Foxworthy has to say about New
Englanders...

If your local Dairy Queen is closed from September through May, you live in New England .

If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they don't work there, you live in New England .

If you've worn shorts and a parka at the same time, you live in New England .

If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed a wrong number, you live in New England ..

If "Vacation" means going anywhere south of New York Cit y for the weekend, you live in New England .

If you measure distance in hours, you live in New England .

If you know several people who have hit a deer more than once, you live in New England .

If you have switched from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day and back again, you live in New England .

If you can drive 75 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching, you live in New England .

If you install security lights on your house and garage, but leave both unlocked, you live in New England .

If you carry jumpers in your car and your wife knows how to use them, you live in New England .

If you design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit, you live in New England .

If driving is better in the winter because the potholes are fille d with snow, you live in New England .

If you know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter and road construction, you live in New England .

If you have more miles on your snow blower than your car, you live in New England .

If you find 10 degrees "a little chilly", you live in New England .

If you actually understand these jokes, and forward them to all your New England friends & others, you live in New England .

---Your email of the day from Col. Updraft. (who lives in New England)

Hollywood news

Andy Serkis is one of the players in Robert Zemeckis' 2007 film Beowulf...
The bad news is that the film is being done in the style of the Polar Express...
The good news? Grendel's mother is played by Angela Jolie...QUINT has details
" The stills they showed me had her naked with this T-1000 like liquid gold covering parts of her body...."
Well, that should boost ratings...

In sadder news, Spocks mother died...older people know Jane Wyatt as the mom in Father Knows Best.

And the great Anna Russell died.

Most Americans don't know Anna, but her explanation of Wagner's ring cycle of opera is classic...and now on Google video.

LINK HERE and try not to drop your coffee on the computer.

Why Dogs Hate Haloween

Oh, the humility...on the other hand, they don't have to wear THIS costume...

Headsup from Dave Barry Blog

Craft item of the day

Make your very own phaser...out of all those discarded microwave ovens in your garage...
LINK

The history behind the headlines

Ah, the week before an American election, and surfing the headlines shows lots of hot air and garbage. But the internet has a series of essays about the background on the headlines..

Michale Barone sees the election about an American public who had a vacation from history in the 1990's, and wishes to return to it, since the alternatives are too horrific to think about...but Barone ends with the quotation that we can ignore history, but that history might not ignore us.

Professor Phares discusses the idea of the Caliphate, and criticizes Newsweek for ridiculing Bush's use of the term while ignoring it's historical implications when used by jihadists.

Bill O'Reilly points out Bush's problem with Iraq is actually due to Iranian interference with that country, and that Bush is enough of a monomaniac to continue the course against an enemy who remembers history and figures they can outlast a weak USA.

Spengler sees Iran winning right now with it's thumbs in both Iraq's Shiite militia and Hezbollah, but notes that country is not one ethnic group and may be overextending their hand. He sees Iranian expansionism as echoing not the Caliphate but the Persian empire's expansion.

To the average American, these groups are all "ragheads", to use the deroggatory term, but the long history of the area, and the ethnic complexities of countries carved out of the Ottoman empire by the Versaille treaty are important issues behind the simplistic solutions and floating quotes/stories without context that I see on CNN Int...

Indeed, TerryMattingly who covers the press when they don't "Get Religion", again complains that the MSM fails to cover what the Sunni Shiite divide means...and that without the background of tribal and religious divides, quotations and stories fail to convey the whole story.

And in all this talk of war, David Warren notes that the press largely ignored the implications that 30 of the highest intellectual leaders of Islam accepted the Pope's apology and are stressing their agreement with a lot of what he said. And this timid dialogue of similarities shows the way to peace between religions: that God is love, and that reason is compatible with the divine.

In a hardheaded world, the joke is to paraphrase Stalin who asked how many (army) divisians did the pope have and ask how many suicide bombers does Benedict XVI have...
Ah, but the comment ignores that the fall of communism was due to a vision of hope, not due to armies....so I guess I'll have to get my rosary out and start praying for peace again...what the hell, it worked with the communists...LINK

Religion news

We're having a meeting of some pastors here tomorrow (some arriving tonite), so I'll have to hide to keep from being asked if I have been saved.

I brought the statue of Mama Mary back from where we hid it in the farm and put it back outside our room, so we should be safe in our bedroom.

And when we went downtown to jog, I found a big banner that a "Jesus Miracle Crusade" is coming....

So in their honor, I am posting a not politically correct Callahan Cartoon

His web page is HERE
-------------
I discovered Callahan was on line via GrouchyOldCripple.

This week, he is posting Blond jokes...R rated warning...and photos like this one:

And how is YOUR day?

Craft of the day

Papercraft jack o lanterns

Everyday heroes

ZAMBOANGA -- (2ND UPDATE) The US Navy rescued four Filipino fishermen found clinging to the wreckage of their vessel after four days at sea, officials and survivors said Friday.

The four -- Raymundo Digracia, 16, Andrew Sumandal 25, Jimmy Digracia, 41, and Johnny Digracia 28 -- pale and close to death, were taken for treatment to a military hospital Friday in the southern port city of Zamboanga...He said they set sail from southwestern Puyo town on Palawan island on Monday but strong waves battered their fishing boat, causing it to break in half.

In a statement, the US Navy said a US Navy SH-60B Seahawk helicopter was conducting routine training flights when it noticed the men Thursday aboard a submerged craft and waving a white banner.The helicopter radioed the nearby HSV Swift, a US naval logistics vessel, which sent a smaller boat out to rescue the men.

Two sets of heroes: The fishermen who risk their lives to support their families, and the US Navy who diverted to save the men...you see, sadly, several other vessels passed the men by...

And the HSV Swift is the catamaran that I posted about awhile back...

Quote of the day

.... in the past, children were valued as gifts from God, and now they are viewed by many people as instruments of self-gratification. The old principle was, "Be fruitful and multiply." The new one is, "Have as many children as enhance your lifestyle."

Hi Marines (US and Pinoy)

We are far from anywhere, so usually the only aircraft we see or hear are commercial aircraft quite high up and a rare helicopter transporting a VIP.
But for the last few days, there has been lots of low flying aircraft...one that I had never seen before.
Took me awhile to find a photo. It's a C 130 Hercules...
And, being a turboprop it's NOISY...


When I asked the driver why all the flights, he said it was the US Marines, who were here for a joint exercize with the Philippine Armed services.

I knew they were at Clark and Subic, but didn't realize they were at Ft Magaysay which is near here....

They are doing "Marine" type things like jumping out of airplanes up at the base and learning about Jungle survival...

including how to catch, kill, and barbecue...SNAKE

YUM...Roast Snake

Science research: Your tax dollars at work

Hup,two,three,four,five,six,seven, eight....

Life imitates StarTrek

Photos at Techrepublic...

Everything from communicators (satellite cell phones) to phasers to air hypodemics for shots.

Meet "Fred the Thread"

The world's thinnest caterpiller.

Or how about the world's smallest fish?
.

.
.
.
.

Vegemite vs Marmite

To the culturally deprived, Vegemite is the Australian version of Marmite, a fact that displeases those who insist on the real thing:

12. What are Vegemite, Promite, Bovril and Yeast Extract?

Answer: They are not Marmite in any way or form.
Vegemite is an Australian product, manufactured by Kraft Foods Ltd, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, and is generally described by Marmite fans as a weaker version spread than British-produced Marmite—I can personally back this statement up. Vegemite fans have claimed that it is stronger than some non British-produced Marmite, but that doesn't say much for that "Marmite".
Its ingredients are:

* Yeast Extract
* Salt
* Caramel
* Malt Extract
* Natural Flavor

First they banned the knitting needles, then they banned the hair gel

OH NO!

NOT MY VEGEMITE

Censoring Iraq

Michale Yon says it's not the MSM's fault but the fault of an inept PR section of the military.
There is a real problem with getting credentialling to accompany troops as embedded reporters.

On the other hand, he's managed to send out the story, so why not others? There is plenty of blame to go around...

Gift idea number twelve

a genuine, imitation beating heart.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
(batteries not included)

Orange tree, verry prettie

your timewaster of the day

No quakes here

A quake south of here last night...didn't feel or hear anything. So we're fine.

Everyday Heroes

During his day off from work, Tech. Sgt. Ronald Stokes assists medical technician Senior Airman Brynn Delano in the care of a patient as a volunteer in the Air Force Theatre Hospital at Balad Air Base, Iraq. Sergeant Stokes is an F-16 Fighting Falcon crew chief deployed from the 138th Fighter Wing in Tulsa, Okla

On any given month at the hospital here, more than 200 deployed men and women, mostly from the Air Force and Army, volunteer an average of 2,500 hours of free time and days off to help the hospital staff and patients in any way possible.

(headsup from InfromtheColdBlog

Good news in the news

Every battle with street thugs in Iraq is reported breathlessly on CNN... but some news stories are too hoo hum ZZZZ to be reported.

Gateway Pundit notes a million Iraqi Pilgrims prayed in peace...and that in September that 4 million made the pilgrimage without incident. And some pilgrims are from Iran...

Bollywood dancing... the latest teen fad...in Helsinki Finnland....it must be those 22 hour nights getting to them...

You probably heard about the uproar in the UK about doctors and teachers wearing full face veil interferes with patient communications...well, in Asia, wearing a mask is common in flu season...so the Saudi women will be right in style....>

Yes, we have No Bananas...as wild varieties go extinct, the overcultivation of one genotype; and this lack of diversity makes crops prone to decimation by viruses or fungi...

And the hero of the day award goes to (TA-Dah):

the KnickerVicar

Going banana

Never, put your banana in the refrigerator!!! This is interesting. After reading this, you'll never look at a banana in the same way again. Bananas contain three natural sugars - sucrose, fructose and glucose combined with fiber. A banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy.

Research has proven that just two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout. No wonder the banana is the number one fruit with the world's leading athletes. But energy isn't the only way a banana can help us keep fit. It can also help overcome or prevent a substantial number of illnesses and conditions, making it a must to add to our daily diet.

Depression: According to a recent survey undertaken by MIND amongst people suffering from depression, many felt much better after eating a banana. This is because bananas contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier. PMS: Forget the pills - eat a banana. The vitamin B6 it contains regulates blood glucose levels, which can affect your mood.

Anemia: High in iron, bananas can stimulate the production of hemoglobin in the blood and so helps in cases of anemia.

Blood Pressure: This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt, making it perfect to beat blood pressure. So much so, the US Food and Drug Administration has just allowed the banana industry to make official claims for the fruit's ability to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke.

Brain Power: 200 students at a Twickenham (Middlesex) school were helped through their exams this year by eating bananas at breakfast, break, and lunch in a bid to boost their brain power. Research has shown that the potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils more alert.

Constipation: High in fiber, including bananas in the diet can help restore normal bowel action, helping to overcome the problem without resorting to laxatives. Hangovers: One of the quickest ways of curing a hangover is to make a banana milkshake, sweetened with honey. The banana calms the stomach and, with the help of the honey, builds up depleted blood sugar levels, while the milk soothes and re-hydrates your system. Heartburn: Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heartburn, try eating a banana for soothing relief.

Ulcers: The banana is used as the dietary food against intestinal disorders because of its soft texture and smoothness. It is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in over-chronicler cases. It also neutralizes over-acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomac.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD): Bananas can help SAD sufferers because they contain the natural mood enhancer tryptophan. Smoking &Tobacco Use: Bananas can also help people trying to give up smoking. The B6, B12 they contain, as well as the potassium and magnesium found in them, help the body recover from the effects of nicotine withdrawal. Stress: Potassium is a vital mineral, which helps normalize the heartbeat, sends oxygen to the brain and regulates your body's water balance When we are stressed, our metabolic rate rises, thereby reducing our potassium levels. These can be rebalanced with the help of a high-potassium banana snack.

Strokes: According to research in The New England Journal of Medicine, eating bananas as part of a regular diet can cut the risk of death by strokes by as much as 40%!

Warts: Those keen on natural alternatives swear that if you want to kill off a wart, take a piece of banana skin and place it on the wart, with the yellow side out. Carefully hold the skin in place with a plaster or surgical tape!

So, a banana really is a natural remedy for many ills. When you compare it to an apple, it has four times the protein, twice the carbohydrate, three times the phosphorus, five times the vitamin A and iron, and twice the other vitamins and minerals. It is also rich in potassium and is one of the best value foods around So maybe its time to change that well-known phrase so that we say, "A banana a day keeps the doctor away!"


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