Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Summer Reading Program

Our local library has a summer reading program. Here are some pics of the summer readers....






When Dancer Girl reads books, she is very, very quiet. When Little One reads, she reads to herself, to pink ponies, and to whoever will listen. I am glad my girls love books. Dancer Girl likes to sit in the special chair her Grammy got her to read, and Little One likes to lay across the top of the couch. We are having a fun and busy summer and this is just one of the things we are doing.

Friday, June 23, 2006

Quote of the Day


Little One, age 2, at lunch...

"Jesus, Help the food feel all better. Amen"















picture from http://www.freespiritart.com/lords-blessing.php

Saturday, June 17, 2006

I am so in love with this man....








This is Dancer Girl in a Mommy and Daddy sandwich about 4 mos, same shirt

This is Little One about 6 mos old with just Daddy














He is such a good daddy! Happy Father's Day, Sweetie!

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Cute Girls Ready for Travel


I found two more pictures to go with yesterday's busy, busy travelling all the time post. Both of my girls travel relatively well, and they especially like going to Grandma and Grandpa's house.




They both wanted me to post this pic of Grandma's pool. This is Motherkitty, Tomas, and Dancer Girl last summer.















The pool is just as beautiful and refreshing this year. I think Motherkitty only gets out to eat and use the potty (just teasing, mom)

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Things have been so busy lately, because it seems like we have been going, going, going for weeks. Since my mom's knee surgery and our AC lightning strike incident, we have spent sooo much time away from home. All of our visits have been wonderful. We have been to Grandma and Grandpa's house,
and Grandma and Grandpa's again, and then to Grammy and Papaw's. And then we went to visit Nana and her son, Grand-Dad Mike, and then back to Grammy's house. And in between all that Dancer Girl has attended 2 Bible Schools, and started a summer reading program at the public library. Somehow, today has been a day to mostly catch up on things at home, and lounge around. All you industrious people out there will just have to forgive us, we watched TV all morning, ate frozen pizza for lunch, then ice cream. Treading water, I call it. Just keeping up with the basics. It didn't help that all of us woke up with some level of congestion or soreness in our bodies. My husband's is caused by allergies. Whatever the cause, it causes me to have a slow start to the day, and feel sleepy. It also didn't help that I had dreams about finding lots of new baby kittens in my house overnight, totalling 18. And in the dream, the mama kitty was nowhere to be found.

Our Duchess has 5 beautiful kittens, ready to go to new homes. They were born the week after mom's knee surgery, and will be 2 months old on Saturday. One little white one has already gone to a new home. So, she is going around the house, meowing and meowing, looking for that little one. There are 4 little scritchy scratchy fuzzy cutie grey tabbies left.

Monday, June 12, 2006

Birth Control Patch Death/Injury Settlements

The scariest part about this is that the manufacturer of this product AND the FDA saw problems and approved it anyway. How many women could have avoided blood clots, strokes, or death if the drug manufacturer and the FDA had really done its job? It makes you wonder what they really care about. Do drug companies really care about you as a woman or a man? According the articles below, after it was approved deaths were reported in 2004, 2005, and 2006. The drug company did not do anything about it right away. Hmmmm...

"Documents have surfaced in litigation that show Ortho-McNeil has been analyzing the FDA's death and injury reports on women using the Ortho Evra birth-control patch, and has charts that show a higher rate of blood clots and deaths in women on the patch when compared to women who take birth-control pills.In addition, according to a November 11, 2005, article by the Associated Press, an internal company memo shows that in 2003, the company refused to fund a study comparing the Ortho patch to the company's Ortho-Cyclen pill because there was "too high a chance that study may not produce a positive result for Evra" and a "risk that Ortho Evra may be the same or worse than Ortho-Cyclen."

http://www.lawyersandsettlements.com/articles/orthoevra.html
"It is alleged that the FDA and the drug maker saw warning signs of problems with the Ortho-Evra patch before it was approved for the general market. Both entities maintain that the medication is as safe as any other pill-form birth control. However, a study with 800,000 women in 2004 showed that using the birth control patch increased the risk of dying or suffering a blood clot three times more than regular birth control pills. Unaware of the risks, doctors prescribe medications with little thought. It?s an unfortunate reality that many doctors are incentivized to prescribe brand name medications; they are legally paid what is essentially the equivalent of sales commissions or receive other incentives such as lunches, parties, clip boards, note pads, and more. These financial incentives bring up a plethora of ethical and liability issues. "
http://www.lawyersandsettlements.com/case/ortho_evra?ref=article
"If you have or a loved on has suffered from blood clots, heart attack or stroke, while using Ortho Evra, you may qualify for damages or remedies that may be awarded in an Ortho Evra class action or lawsuit."

The 2 links for articles above contain additional links, for more info. The second article has a news timeline, with links to news articles from the LA Times, the New York Post, CNN, Washington Times, Boston Globe, etc. etc. Go see for yourself

If I were a young woman I would question every drug prescribed to me and research it thoroughly. Don't just accept what your family physician tells you. What if they don't know all the negative side effects or risks? You have to take care of yourself. Why gamble on increased risk of blood clots, stroke, death, or decreased fertility just for convenience. Even taking these kinds of contraceptives for prescribed medical condtions such as acne or painful periods could be not worth the risk. There could be nutritional deficiencies involved or other causes.

Articles like these prove to me that drug manufacturers have to be greatly concerned about their profit margin. Why else push a drug on the market with known serious risks?

*steps down off soap box and quietly walks away*

Thursday, June 08, 2006

Motherkitty's Meme

7's Meme
Seven things to do before I die:
1. Make sure that all my family knows I love them
2. Own my own power drill, and know how to use it
3. Live totally debt free, including no mortgage.
4. Tear down the brown, gold, and avacado wallpaper in the hallway
5. Learn to play chopsticks on the piano
6. Own a piano
7. Learn to play the guitar
Seven things I cannot do:
1. Pretend to be someone I am not
2. Eat raw or slimy eggs
3. Eat any shellfish that is a cousin of an arachnid.
4. Parallel park an 18 wheeler
5. Wallpaper anything by myself
6. Lie about my age.
7. A back handspring
Seven things that attract me to my husband:
1. His smile
2. His long hair
3. His intelligence
4. His love for God
5. His love for our daughters
6. His ability to have mercy on anyone, and find a way to help
7. His silly jokes
Seven books I love:
1. My Antonia
2. The Good Earth
3. The Holy Bible
4. Fahrenheit 451
5. A Man Called Peter
6. The Autobiograpy of George Muller
7. The Tawny Scrawny Lion
Seven movies I'd watch over and over again:
1. The Three Lives of Thomasina
2. The Inn of the Sixth Happiness
3. Joe Versus the Volcano
4. The Secret Garden
5. The Sound of Music
6. While You Were Sleeping
7. So Dear to My Heart
Seven people I'd like to tag:
1.4 Bears in the Woods , cousins
2. My Dad
3. My Aunt, Dad's sister
4. Doubleknot
5. My friend, the Author, Trish Writes
6. Lisa-Anne, friend from college
7. Puffstitch

Decide for Yourself

Here is another article from May 2006 about Iran and the color coded badges for people other that Muslims....
http://www.wpherald.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20060519-035758-8752r
As for the dispute saying this is totally untrue, read this article that supposedly debunks the idea. The only thing that hits me about this article is that this is technically not a "law" yet in Iran. However, it has been discussed by the parliament, and added only as a "secondary motion" to a proposed law, that has not been signed into law. There was a law about Muslim dress code passed 2 years ago, and the article says that maybe the subject came up then. But just the fact that the Iranian parliament has had discussions about "what to do with religious minorities" to distinguish them from Muslims should be a huge blinking red light. Yeah, it may not technically be a law yet. Yeah, they are categorically denying it, but why should they even be discussing it? Why should Jewish shop owners who sell food have to be mandated to identify themselves as non-Muslim?

Original story:http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=6626a0fa-99de-4f1e-aebe-bb91af82abb3
Saturday » May 20 » 2006

Experts say report of badges for Jews in Iran is untrue

Chris Wattie
National Post
Friday, May 19, 2006
A yellow badge worn by Jews in Nazi Germany during the 1940s.(MICHAEL KAPPELER/AFP/Getty Images)Several experts are casting doubt on reports that Iran had passed a law requiring the country?s Jews and other religious minorities to wear coloured badges identifying them as non-Muslims.
The Iranian embassy in Otttawa also denied the Iranian government had passed such a law.
A news story and column by Iranian-born analyst Amir Taheri in yesterday?s National Post reported that the Iranian parliament had passed a sweeping new law this week outlining proper dress for Iran?s majority Muslims, including an order for Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians to wear special strips of cloth.
According to the reports, Jews were to wear yellow cloth strips, called zonnar, while Christians were to wear red and Zoroastrians blue.
The Simon Wiesenthal Centre and Iranian expatriates living in Canada had confirmed that the order had been passed, although it still had to be approved by Iran?s ?Supreme Guide? Ali Khamenehi before being put into effect.
Hormoz Ghahremani, a spokesman for the Iranian Embassy in Ottawa, said in an e-mail to the Post yesterday that, ?We wish to categorically reject the news item.
?These kinds of slanderous accusations are part of a smear campaign against Iran by vested interests, which needs to be denounced at every step.?
Sam Kermanian, of the U.S.-based Iranian-American Jewish Federation, said in an interview from Los Angeles that he had contacted members of the Jewish community in Iran ? including the lone Jewish member of the Iranian parliament ? and they denied any such measure was in place.
Mr. Kermanian said the subject of ?what to do with religious minorities? came up during debates leading up to the passing of the dress code law.
?It is possible that some ideas might have been thrown around,? he said. ?But to the best of my knowledge the final version of the law does not demand any identifying marks by the religious minority groups.?
Ali Reza Nourizadeh, an Iranian commentator on political affairs in London, suggested that the requirements for badges or insignia for religious minorities was part of a ?secondary motion? introduced in parliament, addressing the changes specific to the attire of people of various religious backgrounds.
Mr. Nourizadeh said that motion was very minor and was far from being passed into law.
That account could not be confirmed.
Meir Javdanfar, an Israeli expert on Iran and the Middle East who was born and raised in Tehran, said yesterday that he was unable to find any evidence that such a law had been passed.
?None of my sources in Iran have heard of this,? he said. ?I don?t know where this comes from.?
Mr. Javdanfar said that not all clauses of the law had been passed through the parliament and said the requirement that Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians wear special insignia might be part of an older version of the Islamic dress law, which was first written two years ago.
?In any case, there is no way that they could have forced Iranian Jews to wear this,? he added. ?The Iranian people would never stand for it.?
However, Mr. Kermanian added that Jews in Iran still face widespread, systematic discrimination. ?For example if they sell food they have to identify themselves and their shops as non-Muslim,? he said.
Rabbi Marvin Hier, the dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre in Los Angeles, acknowledged that he did not have independent confirmation of the requirement for Jews to wear badges, but said he still believes it was passed.
?We know that the national uniform law was passed and that certain colours were selected for Jews and other minorities,? he said. ?[But] if the Iranian government is going to pass such a law then they are not likely to be forthcoming about what they are doing.?
Stephen Harper, the Prime Minister, said yesterday that Iran is ?very capable? of enacting such a law but could not confirm reports that members of religious minorities must wear identifiable markers on their clothing.
?Unfortunately we?ve seen enough already from the Iranian regime to suggest that it is very capable of this kind of action,? Mr. Harper said. ?It boggles the mind that any regime on the face of the earth would want to do anything that would remind people of Nazi Germany.?
National Post, with files from Allan Woods, CanWest News Service
© National Post 2006http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=6626a0fa-99de-4f1e-aebe-bb91af82abb3Crossposted with commentary atNeocon agitprop press backtracks on Iranian 'badges'

links for the National Post article found here through a Google seatch...http://mparent7777.livejournal.com/8711741.html

also could find nothing on Snopes, one way or another

Monday, June 05, 2006

Thanks, Mom & Dad

Without you guys, I wouldn't be here. Happy Birthday to me! I am happy to be who I am and have the parents and family that I have. Like Esther, I feel I must be on the earth right here, right now for a specific purpose. God help me see, hear, and be all that I am supposed to be.

Thursday, June 01, 2006

What does this remind you of?

Iran may force badges on Jews, Christians
TEHRAN, May 19 (UPI) -- Iran's parliament passed a new law this week that would force the country's Jews, Christians and other religious minorities to wear color-coded ID badges.
Iranian expatriates confirmed reports the Iranian parliament, or majlis, has approved a law that would require non-Muslims to adhere to a dress code which mandates they wear "standard Islamic garments," according to Canada's National Post.
The roughly 25,000 Jews living in the Islamic Republic would have to attach a yellow strip of cloth to their clothing, Christians would wear red badges and Zoroastrians would wear blue ones.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader and highest authority, must approve the law for it to take effect.
"This is reminiscent of the Holocaust," said Rabbi Marvin Hier, head of the Simon Weisenthal Center in Los Angeles. "Iran is moving closer and closer to the ideology of the Nazis."
The Weisenthal Center has written to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to call on the international community to pressure Iran into abandoning the measure.
"There's no reason to believe they won't pass this," Hier told the Post. "It will certainly pass unless there's some sort of international outcry over this."
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejan has publicly called for Israel to be "wiped off the map." The West believes Tehran is secretly and illegally using its nuclear energy program to develop a weapon, a claim Iran denies.
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Armbands no matter how many times I tried to add a picture of an armband it would not work out...click to see one
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