Archive for February, 2010

1) Coca-Cola: Did you know that its original color was green?

2) Mohammed: Did you know that this is the most used name in the entire world?

3) Geographical Letters: Did you know that the name of each of the continents begins and concludes with the exact same alphabet? Do not believe that? Look up Asia, Europe, Africa, America, Antarctica and the rest.

4) Muscle Strength: Did you know that the strongest muscle in the entire body is that one which we use to lick a Popsicle? Your tongue.

5) Credit Cards: In the United States, were you aware that each and every person has at least two credit cards?

6) An Antique Machine: The word for an old machine that was once used for writing letters and other documents is the largest word that one can make if they click only on a single row of their computer’s keyboard: typewriter!

7) Blink: Men wink at women, but research has found out that the average woman blinks nearly two times more than the average man.

Suicide: Even though you might have wondered if it was possible, studies have discovered that it is impossible to kill oneself by simply holding in your breath.

9) Licking: However much you may try, you will never be able to lick your elbows.

10) Sneeze: Try sneezing. People will automatically answer you with a bless you greeting. Have you ever imagined why? Some say that this happens because a sneeze stops the functioning of the heart for a very tiny second.

11) The Blue Sky: Did you know that a pig, no matter how much they try, cannot look up into the sky?

12) Twisting Your Tongue: We have all dabbled with different tongue-twisters in our day. But do you know which is the toughest? Sixth sick sheiks sixth sheeps sick.

13) Ribs: Did you know that you should try not to sneeze too strongly. Why? A very powerful sneeze has the ability to cause a fracture in your ribcage. But, then again, if you try and withhold one, you stand the chance of breaking one of the many blood vessels in your neck or head. This could cause death.

14) Cards: Did you think that the Kings are all just random cards referring to random figures? No. Each one signifies a different king: Diamonds for Julius Caesar, Clubs for Alexander the Great, Spades for David and Hearts for Charlemagne.

15) And finally: Most everyone reading this (Caught You!) is trying to lick their elbows at this exact moment!

1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay ‘them.’

2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.

3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever, even ham radio. Never let the brain idle. ‘An idle mind is the devil’s workshop.’ And the devil’s name is Alzheimer’s.

4. Enjoy the simple things.

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.

6… The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.

7. Surround yourself with what you love, whether it’s family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, and hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.

8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

9. Don’t take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.

10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away..

For people who would like to do more gardening but live in a short growing season area, a hobby greenhouse is the answer. A hobby greenhouse is not large enough to produce vegetables or flowers on a commercial basis. It will, however, give you a place for a tomato plant or two and some fresh greens even if you live in the northern regions. Greenhouse enthusiasts even have their own association, called the Hobby Greenhouse Association, which publishes a quarterly magazine. The organization also sponsors events and helps individuals connect to get help with the aspect of gardening that they are interested in, whether it’s growing cacti or saving seeds.

If you are in the market for a hobby greenhouse, there are several types on the market. The smallest type is not large enough to walk into and must be accessed from the outside. It resembles an old-fashioned phone booth made all of glass and outfitted with shelves. This type is designed to fit as many plants as possible in as small a place as possible. The shelves are made of glass to allow as much light as possible to reach plants on the lower shelves. Another inexpensive version of this sort of hobby greenhouse is shelving covered with a zippered tent of clear plastic. This sort of arrangement is great for the small-scale hobby gardener wanting a place to keep her flowers or houseplant starts.

There are a variety of designs of hobby greenhouse that are large enough to walk into but made entirely of clear glass or plastic. They are often about the same size as a small storage building. Some independent builders have started making these to sell locally. Among national brands, one of the nicest is called the “Solar Prism.” It is called this because of its unique construction. This hobby greenhouse is made of a single piece of durable clear plastic which is designed to work like tiny prisms side by side. They trap the rays of the sun and shoot them back into the greenhouse at all angles. For this reason, these little greenhouses are said to glow when the weather is cloudy.

Better hobby greenhouses are equipped with automatic sensors that open vents which allow ventilation and keep the interior temperatures from getting too high. These are a great labor saver, but can get expensive. Another benefit sometimes found in nicer greenhouses is a built in irrigation or misting system. Members of the Hobby Greenhouse Association, or HGA, have invented many interesting designs of greenhouses.

If gardening is your hobby, greenhouse growing will interest you. With a greenhouse, you can have the earliest tomatoes and salad greens all year. You can also start seedlings for the main garden early in the spring when outdoor temperatures would kill them. A hobby greenhouse can be a good investment.

World leaders are the ones who decide world orientation and who are supposed to lead all human being’s needs; but nowadays they are grouped by the same interest and practice the ”politics of their interests”. They have better to do than fighting for energy and oil; while the global warming is seriously menacing and instead of encouraging scientists for researches they find some ways to invest more in nuclear program and to develop thesis about wars: it is about the ones who provoke the wars and the ones who reply.
It is understandable when these things happen (this is life: good and bad) but when it comes to people who develop a serious investment in these wars, it becomes a delay. It is not admissible to fight while your people are hungry or invest millions and millions of dollars affecting your economy or your people well-being. There is no sense at all to this, except being ‘’selfish”. It is probably about becoming rich while disregarding the feelings of others. Nowadays, the personal interests (for these individuals or for only their people) are more considered than the all human well-being. We understand a leader is representing a nation or a country, but when it comes to save the all planet it shouldn’t be a problem at all: otherwise it shouldn’t be necessary to have United Nations or other organizations. Leaders do need to get focus on the all planet problems sometimes than purchasing their own interest.

SUGAR GLIDERS ARE ALL THE RAVE! CUTE AND CUDLEY! HOWEVER THEY REQUIRE A LOT OF WORK AND TENDER LOVING CARE!
SUGAR GLIDERS REQUIRE DAILY CAGE CLEANING AND FRESH WATER AND FRESH FOOD DAILY! SUGAR GLIDERS ARE RELATED TO THE RAT, BAT AND SQUIRREL . THESE CUT PETS ARE FROM MAIN LAND AUSTRALIA AND NEW GUNIA. ITS BEST TO RAISE THEM IN PAIRS. AND THEY MUST BECOME A MEMBER OF YOUR FAMILEY. LONG HOURS OF TRAINING IS REQURIED JUST TO TRAIN YOUR PET TO STAY ON YOUR BODY,WITH OUT FLYING AWAY! AND YOU MUST TRAIN IN SIDE AN END CLOSED TENT. UNTILL YOUR PET WILL REMAIND ON YOUR BODY WITH OUT FLYING AWAY. FRESH SWEET FRUITS ARE A FAVORITE FOOD!
YOUR GLIDER WILL LIVE A SHORTER LIFE SPAN IF THEY ARE CAGED. FOUR TO SIX YEARS ARE THE LIFE SPAN OF A CAGED SUGAR GLIDER.A HEATHLY GLIDER WILL HAVE A HEATHLY COAT AND BRIGHT SHINNEY EYES.

Last week I watched Oprah Winfrey and Dr. Oz discussing the serious impact of diabetes in black people. It is alarming. A church and its black members were featured. It seemed to me that some of those people were oblivious of their diabetic condition. Others seemed to be thinking that being a borderline diabetic was not serious. Then there was one lady who said that she does have diabetes, but she did not check her blood sugar at all. They were such a happy looking bunch of people – they worshiped together, they dined together on greasy fried chicken and fries, but were seemingly not at all concerned about having diabetes and the consequences thereof. I can tell you why I was bothered and did something about myself when I was diagnosed with border line diabetes. It is a family condition. My diabetic grandmother lost a leg before she passed on. My mother had to endure insulin injections for the greater part of her life. She hated pricking her fingers to get a sample of blood for testing her blood sugar and, at this moment, another family member is on dialysis because her kidney failed as a consequence of having diabetes. Now, I don’t want any of this suffering. So far, I have lost some weight, I watch the food I eat, and have been no more border line. It is my intention to be diabetic free for the rest of my life.

Watching my new instructor on TV giving her class instructions, and telling her students to be good while she was away, reminded me of my D-Day experience in eighth grade. I had heard about D-Day by a teacher was not good news for the students. To understand why, you have to understand what D-Day stands for. To be exact, it means “Detention Day.” D-Days were days you just wanted to get over with. Three D-Days in a semester spelled EXPULSION.
To this day, my sister and I do not know why this history teacher had it in for us. He gave both of us bad marks for personality which no other teacher from kindergarten on up had ever done.
It all started when my history class went into the library to work on an assignment. A classmate, named Sharon, and I quite often exchanged jokes and that day was not going to be an exception. Consequently, I absolutely had to share a funny picture of a man that was half cartoon who had horns. I was so sure Sharon would fall madly in love with him, get married, and I would be the maid of honor at her wedding.
So, I took this gorgeous hunk of man over to her and told her, “Here is your future husband.”
We giggled and our history teacher was on us like a swarm of bees. He violated the school rules of no talking in the library when he yelled clear across the room, “Gail and Sharon, you are both going to experience D-Day today after school.”
If this wasn‘t the pits!! Am I missing something here? We let out a giggle, and he yells clear across the library, and we have to experience D-Day?
I tried to get Sharon off the hook by saying I initiated the whole thing but to no avail. She was branded a troublemaker because of me. However, since Sharon lived in the country and had to ride the school bus, it was a school policy to let those students suffer through D-Day the following day.
School was finally over and I slowly meandered down to the detention center, not knowing what to expect. I was told I would get torpedoed and bombed by some other students, but surely I would be shown a little mercy since this was my first experience. A vain hope, however, because the students who had experienced D-Day told me that it was a school policy to “nip it in the bud before it sprouts” type rule.
I entered the room and my history teacher pointed to a desk and told me to “sit there!” I said to myself, “okay okay, all you had to do was tell me.” So I sat down gingerly and waited for something to happen; I was expecting a firecracker at least. But, there was silence. Then came more silence. The longer the silence, the more apprehensive I became. “Is this all there is to D-Day?” I wondered. Apparently it was, so I decided to sit here and see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil, and do not evil.
The next surprise came when my history teacher walked out of the room and left four other boys and me just sitting there looking at the wall. Am I missing something again? Did he really think he could leave a bunch of junior high kids alone, unsupervised in the detention center, and expect us to just sit there?
Finally, one of the boys broke the silence and asked me why I was experiencing D-Day. So, I related the story. I then asked him why he was here and he told me he put on a superman suit and with arms extended out, ran down the hall on his lunch hour. He thought it was okay because it was not during class–but no such luck, at least not as long as there is a teacher named Houshogen prowling around the halls like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.
Soon we were all talking and having fun. Then I was asked by one of the boys if I knew how to properly and professionally spit a genuine spit ball into the wastebasket. I said I didn’t, so he taught me how. We also played with a super ball that one of the boys dug out of his pocket.
My best friend Melinda was waiting for me outside the room and I asked her if she would mind watching at the top of the stairs for any signs of the “roaring lion” creeping up the stairs. She said she would, and she did. After all, we all wanted to be at our desk looking at the wall when Houshogen entered like the good little children we were.
When my history teacher entered the room, he just stood there and gawked at us, especially me. He asked us if we were tired of sitting and if we wanted to go home. We said yes to both questions. My history teacher told us we could leave but he said “it didn’t sound like we did too much sitting, judging from what he heard from the office intercom.”
What a dirty rotten good-for-nothing, low-down scoundrel thing to do. What kind of an example was that–eavesdropping!! He wouldn’t! He would and he did. I guess I should have known. What a D-Day!!

Accident prevention is a target behavior because it is one of the major causes of preventable death. There are three factors that are attributed to child safety–safety restraints, the mass media, and education. Safety restraints come in all different shapes and sizes for the home and vehicle. The mass media gets the message out to the masses, and of course, education is what instructs us how to keep children safe.

Cancer prevention is a target behavior. Breast cancer strikes one out of eleven, and the age of onset is decreasing. 90% is detectable through self-examination, and it needs to be done once a month, 10 days into the menstrual cycle, standing and laying down. Only 35% of women do BSE regularly.

Testicular cancer is the most common cancer in men between the ages of 15 adn 35. It is one of the leading causes of death between the ages of 15-35. It is a totally curable disease in its early stages. The symptoms are a small, usually painful lump, feelings of heaviness in the testes, a dragging sensation in the groin, and the accumulation of fluid or blood in the scrotal sac.

Becoming informed about health target behaviors is the first step in keeping your family healthy and safe. It is my sincerest prayer, that my blogs on health psychology will do just that. Remember–keeping your family safe is your responsibility.

Who are the Amish? Almost everybody in this country has heard of the Amish and their culture, but how many of us really know the Amish, their history, and their struggle to survive? The purpose of this research paper is to answer these questions and to help the reader have a greater appreciation of the Amish and what a tremendous asset they have become to our National Heritage.
To understand the Amish, we need to go back 300 years to their beginning roots. The Amish faith came out of the Anabaptist movement in 16th century Switzerland. The Anabaptists were a Christian group that started in 1525 when a group of men defied the established state church rules and published their own beliefs which included separation of church and state and adult baptism. (Zielinski, 1993 P17) The State church was quick to ban this new faith and a long and bloody battle of repression, persecution, and annihilation incurred. The so-called Anabaptists group called themselves The Brethren, later the Swiss Brethren, and finally the Mennonites–after Menno Simons one of the early leaders.

An initial impression of the Amish might lead one to believe they are quite introverted with no electricity, modern machinery, or insurance among other things. A closer look, however, would reveal that they are a happy, friendly and humorous people full of curiosity about other cultures. Their livelihood is farming and their dedication is to God and their religious culture. Their life of self-sufficiency developed because of the European persecution that they had to deal with. If asked about the Great Depression, you might hear them ask, what depression?
What I found most unique concerning the Amish is their religious heritage and beliefs, which have remained the same over the 300 years of their existence. There have been minor changes of course, but basically they still endorse the plain, solitary life of self-sufficiency. The pioneer life you and I only read about in history books is still alive and thriving amidst the Amish.
It is noteworthy to mention that technology is quite often used. However, it is based on their religious beliefs and how well it will blend into their egalitarian lifestyle. When a new piece of equipment becomes available, someone tries it out and then the community has a meeting and decides whether the piece of equipment would be detrimental to the community. Tractors, for example, were rejected because:
1. they were too expensive
2. they robbed family members of work
3. to offset cost, more land would have to be bought
4. more land would make a farmer unequal with the others
5. greater debt would be incurred for attachments needed to farm
6. if the tractor is accepted, the car would be okay too, thus taking people away from the community.
Another interesting thing I learned from Sam Nissley of Littleton, IA, is that the Amish are bilingual. From the day they are born, Amish speak German to the little children. When they are five, they start attending school and learn to read and write English.
Their way of life is not particularly strict as much as it is simple. The main tenet of the Amish belief is that all things must be utilitarian–clothing for covering not adornment, shades or simple window coverings, not curtains. They do adorn their yards with beautiful flowers, however, because they consider nature a gift from God and they have always worked with nature. (83) The structure of the Amish culture is that everyone has his place, his duties, and his time for fun which includes singing; taffy pulls, quilting bees, summer picnics, and winter ice cutting. They are totally egalitarian. Everybody pitches in. If one family has a shortage of fruit for example, they will help another farmer harvest his fruit, and take their payment in fruit. Forty to fifty Amish men all working together can have a barn built in a day. The same barn would cost us 30-100,000 dollars to build.
The worship services are the standard old order of Amish rituals. They still hold services in the homes and the barns. This practice was developed because of the severe persecution in Europe. Their services are three hours long and women sit on the opposite side of men. Their dialect for the services is the High German–the regular language of the Amish is a German dialect mixed with English words.
Growing old in the Amish culture is done with great dignity. A Grandpa house is built on the main house and the elder members of the family move in and let the children take over the farm. The elderly still have a role to play in the Amish culture, however. They help with the growing family as much as possible. They do chores; work vegetable gardens, canning, etc.
So far, I have painted a pretty rosy picture of the Amish life since they came to America. The reality of the situation, however, is that they still suffer persecution as other Christians do, just in a different way. They are still struggling to survive. All they want is to be left alone to practice their Christian beliefs, and to preserve their cultural roots. The government, however, sees things differently. It would appear the government is unable to comprehend their way of life and they grossly underestimate how deeply the roots of the Amish beliefs go, how deeply the convictions of these people are, and what stubborn fighters they have become. They have been willing to go to jail for their convictions and indeed have gone to jail.
Many times there have been several different new areas of persecution the Amish have endured in America. First, they are conscientious objectors. They are totally nonviolent and they have been taught to resist things that conflict with their beliefs. They have gone to jail for taking their nonviolent stand many times.
The only disheartening thing I feel exists is their nonviolent stand extends even to self defense. According to Mr. Phillip Yoder, Amish men would stand by and watch their family, including their wife and children be brutally raped or murdered and they would not intervene because they feel every situation good or bad that passes their way is God’s will.
Second, they refuse to put their children in public schools. Their culture demands they teach their own children so the children will be properly taught regarding reading, writing, and arithmetic and learn of their religious heritage. Many artists have drawn accurate pictures of Amish children fleeing into Iowa cornfields when a local school board and county attorney attempted to force compulsory public education on the Amish. Again, they were thrown into jail for their convictions. In 1972, the Supreme Court gave them the right to educate their own children.
Another serious problem that the Amish face is harassment of their children by the children of our society. They often wonder why the rest of the people can’t leave them alone. Violence from the outside threatens their existence with drugs and the kidnapping of their children. In many places, the children are not allowed to walk alone along the road.
In conclusion, I must ask the question, can the Amish survive in a growing hostile world? In my opinion, the answer is a resounding yes. Why not? They have withstood the test of time and they are not a passing religious fad. They have a rich history.
They will survive as they always have because they honor God and what He has given them–eternal life through Jesus Christ. They will survive because they take their walk with God seriously, and God honors all who honor His Son. Paul wrote in Romans 8 of the Holy Bible,” if God is for me who dare stand against me?” Therefore, if God stands by the side of the Amish, who can remain standing if they stand against the Amish?

Trying to get your disability is a long and frustrating process which it shouldn’t be. I’ve been trying to get it for about a year and a half. I was in a real bad car wreck about 4 to 5 years ago broke my neck in two places shattered all the tips off my spine and was pronounced dead at the scene. It took me about a year to heal from that but my neck didn’t heal right but I still worked in pain every day of my life and was going to the chiropractor almost every day. Then my work let me go so I had to find a different job. I got back into construction and in less than a month, hurt my back and neck again. So I ended up going to my doctors and they told me that I’ve shouldn’t of been going to the chiropractors’ because of my injuries, I guess that was one of the reasons it wasn’t helping me at all so now I’m going to be on medication the rest of my life.
The doctors even said that they don’t think that I’ll be able to work a regular job so I don’t know what I’m supposed to do tired of waiting for my disability thank god for my parents helping me out or else would probably be living in the streets. I finally went out and bought a computer really didn’t want anything to do with them but didn’t know what I was going to do about income because been denied on my disability so had to do something. Well having a computer isn’t as bad as I thought that it would be there’s a whole other world out there I found out I’m learning allot more on the computer than I did in school I even have my own website now didn’t think that would happen in a million years.