How I Lost 12.5 Pounds & Regained My Soul

My new blog address for now...

2007-09-23T01:54:00.000-07:00

Hello my loyal little minks~

I have a new blogging home at Gather.com, and my moniker there is:

clarkcountydiva.gather.com

Please come and read my new posts! Yes, I am using my real name and my real life, so watch out!

I'll check back in here if the heat gets too much over there. It has been fun to have a larger audience and get feedback from other writers and see what resonates with people and what doesn't.

The main site is Gather.com and is wonderful for writers, photographers, political activists and people who just want to connect in a lively way on line. Some people also get hired and get paid for writing... so you can understand my interest.:)

Hope to hear your comments there!

Your one and only,

Clark County Diva

Why I no longer want Plastic Surgery...

2007-09-16T20:42:00.001-07:00

Good evening, my delicate little crumpets~

Here's a good one for you:

A woman named Shirley was from Beverly Hills. One day, she had a heart attack and was taken to Cedars Sinai hospital.

While on the operating table, she had a near-death experience. She saw God and asked, "Is this it?"

God said, "No, you have another 30 to 40 years to live."

Upon her recovery, she decided to stay in the hospital and have collagen shots, cheek implants, a face lift, liposuction and breast augmentation. She even had someone dye her hair. She figured since she had another 30 to 40 years, she might as well make the most of it.

She walked out of Cedars Sinai lobby after the last operation and was killed by an ambulance speeding up to the hospital.

She arrived in front of God and said, "I thought you said I had another 30 to 40 years?"

God replied, "You're Shirley? I didn't recognize you!"
Source: http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977119248

Clark County Diva

Plays well with others...

2007-09-15T21:54:00.000-07:00

Good evening, my dangerous little dandelions~

Who would have imagined that our four-year-old granddaughter would ask, "Can I have this, Grandma?". She'd discovered it hidden for safe-keeping in the Moroccan box on my bureau. It also held the little rocks I had gathered by the family shrine in Spain feeling too silly to tell the kids I'd collected them.

Why 23 years later almost to the day when our son is again starting a new life in San Francisco? It just seemed to be too much of a 'reassuring message from the universe' sort of thing.

But there it was, the little note pad I had carefully saved. Of course, as an adolescent he'd retrieved and promptly lost it, but it resurfaced when I'd converted his old bedroom to an art studio.

To properly set the stage, the year was 1984. We had just moved back from a three-year stint in Mexico City, where he was born, and I was terribly conflicted about going back to work.

Monday, September 17th: His first day at school went very well. Adjusted to the routine quickly and without a fuss... So amiable and even-tempered! Missed mommy, but was reassured by teacher and this seemed to satisfy him...

Really seemed to enjoy the other children's company!

Ate a good lunch. Toileting was not a problem. Took his nap w/out any tears! He was so enthusiastic about the art activity that he did two circle pictures.....

Tuesday, September 18th: The second day is sometimes a bit more difficult than the first - he knew from experience that mommy would be "gone"... "a long time".....

He handled it very well. Did not like the hot weather outside. But seemed happy enough while playing inside. Was a little sad at naptime, but slept well. (Teacher rubbed his back.) Plays with the others EXTREMELY WELL FOR A 2-year-old... and the others appreciate this.

Sure loved those strawberries in his lunch. Just giggled and giggled as he ate them.

Wednesday, September 19th: A very nice and busy day! He was a bit sad when Mommy was leaving, but she closed the door and he was fine! No problems at all today. Ate well (shared his peach w/ Mario).

We sang songs w/puppets and he loved it! (So receptive and aware!) "Do you know the Muffin Man?"

Played with clay. He made a "snake poisonous" and was very proud of it...

Went potty alone! Fell asleep immediately - with ne'er a whimper...

Thursday, September 20th: A good day. He was fine after saying goodbye to Mommy...

Played well w/the others. Quite an individual! Really enjoyed the storytime...

Also enjoys playing the drums! We made "ooeey-gooey" finger puppets - to play at home with and Mommy to bring back again to school for music.

Played w/Rachel and teacher heard him say to her, "Are you my friend?" She answered, "Yes", then he asked, "So, I'm your friend too, right?"

Friday, September 21st: A good morning. He gets along with the other children so well! (This is redundant by now...). He and Mario played the drums while we danced to music this morning.

A nice trip to the park this afternoon. He seemed to really enjoy himself. The children feel so free in the middle of all of that green grass! Wasn't it funny when David caught that bug with his fingers?

These were the comments of my son's preschool teacher, who was certainly a peace-and-love, well-educated hippy who wore the beliefs of her people like a religion.

Organic whole foods, earth day, love, art, creativity, unilateral demilitarization - all practiced in a beautiful, decaying craftsman with her husband and toddler, Mario, who never met a kid he didn't bite. Robin also took pity on the mothers who left their imperfect children in her care. She would attempt to stimulate, educate or even civilize them while their moms earned doubled her own income.

Each school day, she wrote in little notebooks while her charges took naps. These notebooks went into lunch boxes which returned each morning. When I asked him, "So what did you do at school today?" and he answered, "Nothing"? I could put aside my Hair Shirt (which the Irish invented by the way), and forgive myself for being the awful, working mother who forced her child to endure four hours of purgatory aka daycare.

Ironically my heart is filled today with that same joyful/awful feeling which I can best describe as a gloriously happy sadness. Just as then, I must rise against my desire to hold this amazing person too close. He is still that boy to me, of course. A darling person, so good and kind that his personality oozes the wonder, joy and enthusiasm present from birth. Exactly as she described him.

As I release his shirttails with love and wish him a beautiful life every day in his new abode, I will comfort myself knowing that no matter how things may have changed? He hasn't. He will always play well with others.

Clark County Diva

She loved the sound of her own voice...

2007-09-15T21:52:00.000-07:00

Good evening, my pretty little tulips~

The sign language interpreter was a green-eyed, freckled redhead whose name seemed at first to misrepresent her short stature and stout physique. Perhaps it was because her elegance didn't appear until she began to translate our mass for the hearing impaired. I might mention that there were no hearing impaired in our enire parish, but that didn't stop her.

Do you know how some people can seem so plain until they smile and then this whole beautiful presence appears from what was non-descript flesh seconds before? Well, she was like that.

The priest would deliver his homily or read the gospel in his drone of a voice, feigning sincerity so poorly that within minutes all eyes would be on her. Of course, we had an advantage. We could understand what she was doing as we could all hear what the priest was saying. How she brought his words to life!

Her arms would make sweeping motions, her fingers would twist and contort in a chorus line sort of ballet but it was her face that expressed the spirit of his words. Exaggerated smiles, eye raisings, fear, wonder, guilt, emphatic stares toward heaven... these were a small part of her enormous repertoire.

The priest had left his career as a bureaucrat to pursue life in the seminary. His plans changed when he met his wife and ultimately decided that good schools for the two children she bore were more plentiful in the northwest.

The on-going conflict during his tenure centered on his minimal office hours and unauthorized reach into the church treasury for computer products that always found their way to his home office. Of course, the short funds meant Isabella translated as a volunteer. The children were mesmerized during mass and none of the usual chatter was heard once she began. It was impossible not to stare at this amazing woman jumping and leaping and generally providing eye candy to us all.

When we met her, Isabella was living with a couple whose children were launched into adulthood. Candidly, I never thought to question why she cleaned their house and cooked their meals. She seemed like a person who would have done those kinds of things anywhere she lived merely out of the goodness of her heart. One evening her host family invited ours for dinner and I got to see her in action.

Homemade pita bread, so scrumptious it melted on your tongue along with the roasted garlic hummus she served with it; baby lettuces with glazed walnuts and homemade salad dressing, carrots in horseradish sauce, crepes filled with chicken delicately encased in some sort of tarragon-infused creme sauce, desserts dripping with chocolate so dark and rich the palate froze in delight.

No caterer in the world would have served the items in that meal together, yet everything seemed to be exactly what we wanted and her presentation was festive and visually stunning.

One day she and I were talking after mass and the subject of her family came up. She had learned sign language as both her parents and 3 of her 5 siblings were deaf. The entire family communicated through sign, but Isabella insisted on speaking too. She attempted to get her non-hearing siblings to work harder at their speech. Her goal was to help them assimilate more easily into general society, but as almost all their friends were deaf, they had little incentive. (Many in the deaf community don't feel they are disabled, but rather speak a different language and have a particularly prized culture.)

Isabella's mother once told another deaf person who was distracted by Isabella's verbalizations, "Oh, don't worry about her. She just loves the sound of her own voice." It sounded like something my mother would have said about me, so, of course, we bonded. Isabella told the story as humor, but I thought there was an edge to it, over-sensitive type I was then.

When I got to know her better, she confided that she was in hiding. Her real name had been forever deleted from the records and her identity remained hidden. She lived several states away from her family. They communicated only through third parties. She never went anywhere alone and she never allowed her picture to be published on any public document or in the media. Before she entered a building, a parking lot, a courtroom or a bathroom, she scanned where the exits were. "Always have an escape route", she'd told me, and "always see what you could use as a weapon to defend yourself. If you stay alert you may live." Who could question her authority on the issue?

Her pelvis, neck, both arms, both legs and six ribs had been broken by her husband during a beating he administered that included several flights of stairs. She later discovered he was a schizophrenic with psychotic episodes.

His family was so frightened of him they later claimed they were afraid to warn her when they announced their engagement. Sadly they thought he 'seemed' normal enough. What was later determined to be a psychotic break aggravated when he went off his medications, (poor compliance is a common problem with schizophrenics and other mentally ill people), landed him in a mental institution for treatment and observation.

The episode was nearly fatal to her but their 8.5 month old fetus did miscarry and died while the emergency room doctors were saving her life. Her husband was put into an institution, but she knew once back on medication the doctors would pronounce him as sane as she had and they would be unable to keep him incarcerated.

(I should mention here that most schizophrenics are not dangerous to others, and with proper treatment and/or medication can live relatively productive and meaningful lives.)

Somehow my friend Isabella never became bitter. She honored her lost child by loving those of others and sharing their joy whenever she could. My children adored her, as did many others. Few people knew what had happend to her, but her goodness was so obvious she became a beloved member of the congregation. Her heart went out every Sunday morning to all of us in her beaming, glorious translations.

We wondered if her family would ever visit her, as she couldn't chance going to the family home. I used to imagine that seven of them would show up at church one day, clomping feet on the tile floors announcing their presence, but they never did.

I lost touch with Isabella when the new church for which she translated burned to the ground. The police said it was arson but when they gave a description of the suspected arsonist, she left town quickly. I don't even know if Isabella is her name anymore.

Clark County Diva

Bottled or tap water?

2007-09-14T17:05:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon, my little red tomatoes~

It seems that no matter how we try to do things that are good for us, there is always that 'other' side. Take water, for instance. We know our kidneys, brains and other organs don't do well when we are not properly hydrated., it's not fattening and it even seems to make us look and feel younger.

Some of us have decided to drink it anywhere and everywhere to the delight of plastics manufacturers and their crude oil suppliers. Plastic bottles are certainly convenient and if you refill that Evian bottle over and over and over again, you can look trendy on the cheap.

Unfortunately, 10 millions barrels of crude oil are used each year to make plastic water bottles. Here are some statistics about consumption according to the Earth Policy Institute:

The global consumption of bottled water reached 154 billion liters (41 billion gallons) in 2004, up 57 percent from the 98 billion liters consumed five years earlier. Even in areas where tap water is safe to drink, demand for bottled water is increasing—producing unnecessary garbage and consuming vast quantities of energy. Although in the industrial world bottled water is often no healthier than tap water, it can cost up to 10,000 times more. At as much as $2.50 per liter ($10 per gallon), bottled water costs more than gasoline.

The United States is the world’s leading consumer of bottled water, with Americans drinking 26 billion liters in 2004, or approximately one 8-ounce glass per person every day. Mexico has the second highest consumption, at 18 billion liters. China and Brazil follow, at close to 12 billion liters each. Ranking fifth and sixth in consumption are Italy and Germany, using just over 10 billion liters of bottled water each. (See data.)

Italians drink the most bottled water per person, at nearly 184 liters in 2004—more than two glasses a day. Mexico and the United Arab Emirates consume 169 and 164 liters per person. Belgium and France follow close behind, with per capita consumption near 145 liters annually. Spain ranks sixth, at 137 liters each year.

Source: http://www.earth-policy.org

Now when we were in Southern Spain last summer it was hot as blazes there, so I can understand the 137 liters per capita per year. When I lived in Mexico City I also drank a whole lot of bottled water, but that was because one felt there were certain standards with the bottled water and the municipal supply wasn't always dependably delivered.

In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates all public water supplies. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is in charge of regulating and overseeing bottled water, but their standards are much more lax. It is estimated that 40% of bottled water starts at the tap anyway.

Scientists estimate that tons of carbon dioxide are released into the atmosphere merely in the transportation of bottled water to its many destinations. Add in the manufacturing by-products that contribute to the pollution of the environment, overflowing landfills, and you're making global warming happen even faster.

So what about re-using your plastic water bottle? That sounds like a pretty good idea at first, but like all things left at room temperature, eventually bacteria will begin to flourish and your water bottle is no different. Washing it out with soap and water and then refilling it is probably the best idea, and once it is open? Drink it or refrigerate it, just like you would with any other foodstuff.

There are also all the claims of 'chemicals' leaching into your body from the plastic. There are also rumors that dioxins will be released if you heat or freeze your water bottle. Well, my darlings, there are no dioxins in plastic. Bisphenol A (BPA) is another story altogether. Thirty-eight scientific experts on BPA recently called for additional study on the subject as an American company, The Environment California Research & Policy Center, recently announced their analysis of 130 studies that claimed even at low doses, BPA does cause 'adverse health effects'. Low does of the BPA have been connected with chromosonal disruption, miscarriages, birth defects and even obesity.

Then again, 'fresh' water isn't doing much better. Here is a piece from the Environment California website:

* The State of California lists more than 500 lakes, rivers, bays and other water bodies as seriously polluted;

* Studies conducted by the University of California detected 57 toxic pesticides in tributaries to the San Joaquin River, a source of drinking water to 16 million Californians. Perchlorate – the major ingredient in rocket fuel – also pollutes more than 400 drinking water sources across the state;

* A recent study conducted by researchers at the University of California, Irvine, found that exposure to polluted waters off the coast of Orange County is linked to 74,000 incidents of stomach illness, respiratory disease and eye, ear and skin infections each year.

* In 2002, low volumes of water released through dams on the Klamath River for agricultural irrigation purposes caused one of the most massive fish kills - tens of thousands of fish – in the state’s history.

Source: http://www.environmentcalifornia.org/center/protecting-our-water2

When you look at how polluted water is becoming, even in our beautiful United States, that tap water sounds pretty delicious, doesn't it? I'm not sure carrying around your glass water container works quite as well, but I'm sure somebody will think of a solution. It can't be as simple as plastic and proper hygiene, can it?

A friend sent the suggestion that we use a regular coffee thermos. I think that's pure genius.

Clark County Diva

The burning bush...

2007-09-14T11:39:00.000-07:00

Food, shelter, drink and humor!

2007-09-14T11:33:00.000-07:00

Good morning, my pretty little azaleas~

Today it occurred to me just how much I love humor. For instance, I post on another site which gets a whole lot of feedback from the other posters, and I can also post images that I think are cool.

It gets sort of competitive, but in a good way, as people rate your pictures and occasionally make comments. My favorite 'special effects' shot was one I took of my son in which a fire is burning and his image seems to be superimposed inside the flames. He thought the shot was pretty cool too, and uses it for some of his blogs.

Well I posted it on Gather.com with the caption, "Do we only see what we want to see?" The first comment I got was: "I suppose that is your ex-husband?".

You don't often get a belly laugh out of me with a one-liner, but I still think that's pretty funny, even this morning.:)

Clark County Diva

Before the squash forms...

2007-09-14T11:31:00.000-07:00

Bottle gourd flower

2007-09-14T11:18:00.000-07:00

Bottle gourds and fertilizer...

2007-09-14T11:15:00.000-07:00

Good morning, my happy little green beans~

This is a bottle gourd blossom that started out looking like a morning glory but morphed into this lovely orchid-like bloom before it became a squash.

If you are wondering if these squash are edible, they are used often in Indian dishes, particularly the ones with a creamy tomato sauce and cashews. However, I couldn't find these squash in farmers' markets or conventional ones, which was my motivation for trying to grow them last year. I managed to get one bottle gourd out of the one plant that survived, so this year I planted a bunch of seeds. It was a pretty successful attempt as I mixed a third manure, a third potting soil and a third regular garden dirt into the planting hill.

My plants are climbing on everything and seem delighted with their new soil environment, and now I have enough little squash to make the Indian dish I love.

Last year I let the gourd survivor get large. Then I dried it upside down inside my house. Don't ask me why I did that, but I noticed with flowers and herbs, hanging them upside down is the method, so I tried it. Later I carved a design on it in a primitive way so it would match two similars gourds I had from Africa. Once the gourds are bigger they become too hard to eat anyway.

Oh, these are also called Birdhouse gourds if you are one of those people who is already planning your garden for next year.

Clark County Diva

Know the symptoms for Inflammatory Breast Disease (there are no lumps)...

2007-09-10T11:58:00.000-07:00

Good morning, my fancy little cherubs~

Today I read again about Inflammatory Breast Disease and decided it was important for all women - and some men - to be reminded that ANY CHANGE IN BREAST TISSUE MUST BE EVALUATED!

If you thought there was only one kind of breast cancer, think again. Cancer is one of a hundred diseases, and the various types of cancer that affect the breast tissue are different. The symptoms of inflammatory breast cancer are very different:

"The interesting thing is most women have never heard about IBC and most physicians heard about it in med school but never have seen a case," says Dr. Gralow.

Nancy and Marilyn's doctors told them they had bug bites on their breasts and prescribed antibiotics. By the time Marilyn was diagnosed, she was stage 4 and the cancer was everywhere.

"I never dealt with stages of cancer, I didn't know there wasn't a stage 5," says a dumfounded Bradfield.

Know The Symptoms

Andi was just 16 when she died from IBC. She was too embarrassed to tell her mother her breast looked funny. It was slightly enlarged and her nipple was inverted -classic IBC symptoms.

Other symptoms include: rapid increase in breast size, redness, skin hot to the touch, persistent itching, an orange peel texture to the breast and thickening of breast tissue.

"It's important to understand your breast, no one knows your breasts better than you," advices Dr. Gralow.

"It doesn't happen very often so there isn't as much awareness about it," says Lynn Hagerman, Executive Director of the Susan G. Komen Foundation's Puget Sound Affiliate. IBC accounts for about 6% of all invasive breast cancer cases.

Lynn Hagerman runs the local chapter of the Susan G. Komen Foundation. With their pink ribbons and messaging heard nationwide, they are the undisputed leader in breast cancer awareness.

Source: http://www.komotv.com/ibc/

Please check your own body, but also pass this around. IBC can affect even teenage women, so mothers need to tell their daughters about it. Of course, it is rare, but if even one young woman is diagnosed early, there is hope for her.

Clark County Diva

City of Tango... Portland, Oregon?

2007-09-07T12:24:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon, my particular little mantises~

Didn't realize that hipster Portland is also home to one of the largest Tango communities outside of Florida? Obviously you never heard of the Portland Tango Fest. It is one of the largest Tango festivals in North America - over six hundred people attended the festival in 2006. To register for the XI festival scheduled for October 18 to 21, 2007, email Clay's Dance Studio at tango@claysdancestudio.com or go to their web site: http://claysdancestudio.com/portland_tangofest/index.shtml

Never tried Tango? Oh my, you are losing out on one of the most incredible experiences on the planet. How can one explain the sensuality of the dance, the rhythmic elegance of the form or something so... ethereal? Men relish the easy submission of a woman (often dancing backwards) to their power and direction and women? Those of us who love dance are simply enthralled. You know that soft, kitten look in a woman's eyes that men find so divine? Once the dancing begins and the mood siezes, her look will resemble that of a smoldering tiger.:)

Yes, I confess. Participating in a 'milonga' is possibly one of the most incredible experiences I have ever had. Okay, for you nubies, a milonga is: (1) dance, mother of tango, (2) an 'event' where you dance tango (let's go to the milonga tonight) or even (3) the dancing hall where tango is danced.

If Tango music doesn't make you homo sapiens feel passionate about something, don't bother to pay your mortgage or car payment as you are surely dead. One of these days my husband is going to ask me what I want for my birthday or Valentine's Day and I am going to tell him, "To Tango the night away, my love."

Okay, so some of us marry people less inclined to love dance than others, but there is always hope. Just one abrazo (embrace or dance hold) can often convert an unwilling male into a lifelong fan. Or it might take a llevada (a movement in which the leader or male uses the upper thigh to 'carry' the follower's leg to the next step) to incite a little interest, or even a taste of the mordida (literally a sandwich, but in this step the foot of the partner is trapped between the two feet of the other partner).

Of course, the dance can be performed without the backbends and quebrada (a position where the woman stands on one foot, the other hanging relaxed behind, while she leans all her weight against the man), so that one could even dance a Tango with Mom. Although, seriously, why take out all the fun?

Oh, my, I long for that incredible wailing music with the beat of the tamboril eliciting something so primitive I cannot properly describe how it moves me. A dance that makes me almost want to swoon as I find it so exotic, I am also fascinated by the 'language' of the dance as I also speak Spanish. A 'salida', for example, is actually the beginning steps of dancing tango, although it literally translates as 'exit or go out', perhaps as in 'let's go out to the dance floor'.

The 'Tango Liso', the most basic forms without any leaping or acrobatics, can be danced by anyone without a walker. It is easy on the joints - gliding gracefully around a room in something very similar to ice skating in its aerobic benefit and generally danced on wooden floors - and it is invigorating to the soul.

But be a little careful if you are designated by others as a Milonguero (man who has mastered the tango or lives around the dance and philosophy of the same) and wish to flatter a lady with the feminine title, Milonguera. The latter can be the feminine of the definition above but also slang for 'prostitute', showing the few latent edges of the original disdain held towards the tango as a naughty, naughty dance found only in cabarets, nightclubs and lady-for-hire-dance halls.

Oh! And no matter your age, you will find suitable people willing to dance with you. A milonga is not a meat market, however, and those who dance the Tango take it very seriously indeed. Yes, you might meet someone at a class with similar interests, but don't go for that reason. Go for your soul. The real definition of the music and rhythm of Tango is simply 'la pasion'.

Clark County Diva

Kate McCann... new suspect in her daughter's disappearance?

2007-09-07T09:54:00.000-07:00

Good morning, my cherished little enchiladas~

The news reports continue of the little British four-year-old who was allegedly abducted from her hotel room in Portugal while her mother and father were eating dinner at a nearby restaurant. Today the New York Times reported that the mother has been extensively questioned after some additional forensic evidence has been discovered. http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Portugal-Missing-Girl.html?hp

Why two parents who are physicians - which implies sufficient income to pay for a sitter - would have left a three-year-old and her two-year-old twin siblings alone in a hotel room confounds me. Of course, no one wants to say this, as we don't want to further burden those poor parents, right?

My take is the poor little children. Any mom whose attachment to her kids is so light that she thinks 'frequently checking on them' is adequate when she is far enough away that she can't hear them has been working away from home much too much.

Why don't I blame the father? I would and I do, but he doesn't have the hormones we do, does he? Besides many men see little value in the role of early childhood caretaking, as they are not usually the ones performing it. Yes, I know, there are exceptions thankfully, but look at the salaries of daycare workers and teachers if you don't believe me. Pitiful.

Besides, women from across the planet will tell you how uncomfortable they are leaving their children with someone else, but leaving them alone? Of course, in light of the tragic disappearance of their daughter, none of us want to shake our heads with a tisk-tisk, but perhaps we should.

We can't help little Madeleine McCann, but there are a lot of other children out there being neglected. Beyond kidnappers and pedophiles, there are natural threats like fires, earthquakes, accidents and even kiddie curiosity.

Every new mother is warned that the infant who lies flat for months will unexpectedly turn itself over and roll off the changing table if not strapped down. These attempts at new feats of physicality certainly continue as they grow up, becoming more and more daring. Was Madeleine the caretaker for her little siblings or did their parents really believe their children would sleep while they were gone?

I have no answer, and maybe at this point they don't either. I sincerely hope that if Madeleine is dead and her mother or father are somehow involved, accidentally or intentionally, that they confess and let us all off the hook emotionally. If the police are just so desperate for suspects that they've included the parents, let's hope they are not further torturing the McCanns.

And wherever little Madeleine is, let's hope for the best.

Clark County Diva

Teenagers driving you crazy?

2007-09-05T11:29:00.000-07:00

Good morning, my burly little bears~

Two of my friends still have children living at home, and they are exhausted by the experience. I guess looking back it seems easier to be able to tolerate teenage angst, arrogance and archives of rudeness, as I am not living with it anymore.

Not every kid is obnoxious, of course, just like not every did isn't a genius, but the numbers are slim. Oh, come on. I'm not picking on adolescents, it is just that they are so very different from us. Our skulls have closed and our brains are fully formed. They are still dealing with an underdeveloped frontal lobe. Really. That's why they can point out all your flaws and not notice any of theirs.

Nature is grand, isn't it? One day not only do we die - fulfilling every teenager's wish list eventually - but one day they also grow up. I promise.

Clark County Diva

Forgetful lately? Maybe it's those antacids you take...

2007-09-04T21:08:00.000-07:00

Good evening, my fragrant little apple blossoms~

With all the over-the-counter and prescription antacids we consume in America, it is no wonder many of us are becoming forgetful. Vitamin B-12, an important nutrient needed for memory functions of the brain, requires stomach acid to be properly absorbed into the body. Cut down on the acid and you inadvertently cut down on Vitamin B-12 absorption.

This is just one of many nutrient and medication conflicts and issues. Unfortunately, most of us don't have time to outline all the supplements and over-the-counter meds we take for our doctors, but even if we did? They are not pharmacists, whom doctors rely on to check contra-indications between drugs.

Notification of some very common conflicts is now being distributed via our prescription labels, but even that is not a foolproof system. For instance, people who take Lipitor (a statin for cholesterol reduction) should not eat grapefruit or drink grapefruit juice, but that is fairly new information. If someone has been on Lipitor for 15 years, why would they read the label? Unfortunately, the grapefruit causes the drug to concentrate in the blood stream and may cause serious damage to the body. Without obvious symptoms, imagine how long it might take to diagnose the problem. I mean, no one other than my allergist has ever asked me what I eat. How about you?

There are lots of over-the-counter drugs that shouldn't be taken lightly. Those who take an aspirin or two a day should not take gingko biloba, as both thin the blood and the combination could thin it too much. Thyroid hormone replacement should be taken on an empty stomach and not with iron supplements, as they cancel out the thyroid hormone benefit.

Megavitamins are not the answer either. A few years ago the American Cancer Society began warning patients undergoing chemotherapy not to take megadoses of Vitamin C. Why? It actually protected the cancer cells!

On the subject of cancer treatment - and there are a lot of young people who also get cancer - please pass this tidbit on to your friends. Do not smoke marijuana while you are undergoing chemotheraphy or radiation as your immune system, in order to kill the cancer cells, is being heavily suppressed. The doctor will be happy to give you a prescripton for the 'pot pills' if you need them for nausea or loss of appetite.

Spores and dangerous chemicals are often found in street marijuana, either of which could cause an infection. With an impaired immune system, something that would have no effect on a normal person might end up being fatal for a sick person.

Don't mean to be Debbie Downer, but thought the information might be useful.

Clark County Diva

"The Language of God"... by Francis Collins

2007-09-04T19:57:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon, my special little robins~

This book by Francis Collins entitled 'The Language of God' is a rather fascinating and uplifting one. If like me you are longing for a connection with the Sacred in life but find your old spiritual concepts are in conflict with your knowledge of scientific principles, read it.

There are some summarized scientific explanations interspersed with some spiritual ones. In case the author's name sounds familiar, Francis Collins was the head of the Human Genome Project, the team that cracked the human DNA codes. There is no doubt their work will make it possible for the prevention or cure of many genetically based diseases or inherited ones.

Collins' heavy scientific background would seem in conflict with a spiritual faith in a supernatural being, i.e., God, but his book attempts to bring the reader through his personal journey from atheism to believer. One has to want to believe, of course, for his arguments to be taken seriously, but they are very good ones.

I find it fascinating to be relieved of that knee-jerk reaction by many science-based people against belief in a higher being, particularly as Collins is considered to be a scientific genius. Oh, I know, if somebody said, "Hey, let's jump off that cliff!", would I just jump? Of course not, but it is interesting to confront our own religious and spiritual prejudices and see how Collins attempts to counter each one.

Remembering back to those embarrassing moments you would like to forget? I once asked a physicist who sang in the choir with me how a man of high science was able to come to church and believe in God. (It was a Roman Catholic church no less.) Obviously I was having my own doubts, which I have now discovered are a part of faith, but that's another post.

Anyway, after considering my rude question he said, "The more I learn about the universe, the easier it is to believe in God."

What I find amazing about Francis Collins' book, however, is that he seems to believe in the way a Theist does - that God is a supernatural being able to still care about the concerns and woes of individual people and that he wants a relationship with humanity.

I guess that's the way it is with family. Even though your loved ones are often a disappointment, you are loyal and love them just the same. It's a comforting thought, isn't it? Anyway, read the book. It's in paperback now and well worth it.

You can find it on-line at these sites: http://www.bordersstores.com/search/search.jsp
http://www.amazon.com/books-used-books-textbooks/b?ie=UTF8&node=283155

Clark County Diva

How much do you love your daughters?

2007-09-04T12:58:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon, my fine hairy beasts~

This post isn't just for women. There are lots of dads and husbands and fathers and brothers who care about our girls. I posted this on a pretty fun site, www.gather.com, and thought I might as well post it on my blog as well.

How much do you love your daughters?
September 04, 2007 03:52 PM EDT

Everybody knows you would do anything for your children, so I have to ask. Why have so few of you taken one simple precaution? The Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine has been available for over a year, and yet it is seriously under-utilized. I understand most parents don't want to think about their darling pre-pubescent child having sex with some hairy beast, but let's get real.

Experimentation in our highly sexualized culture is happening quite early for some children even if we don't count 'playing doctor' or all the hours children are home alone and unsupervised. Add in the statistics on rape and the incest we both know about and suspect, and the vaccination becomes even more relevant.

In my opinion there is absolutely no down side to this vaccine. The medical community has known for years that cervical cancer is caused by a small number of high-risk types of HPV that cause abnormal growth and cell change. In some people this is as far as it goes, but in other women the cells become precancerous and, if not treated, cancer. (Virgin nuns were the first indication that this disease was sexually transmitted, as they never contracted cervical cancer.)

Once precancer or cancer develop, the treatments vary depending on the severity of the cell change, but may have the heart-breaking result of leaving a woman unable to carry pregnancies to term. With many women post-poning their child-bearing until their middle and late thirties, when they will start to be diagnosed with cervical changes and cancer, this can be a catastrophic outcome on many levels.

Human Papillomavirus is a very common virus category and does affect both men and women and is often symptomless. Thirty of these hundred or so viruses are called 'genital HPV' since they affect the genital area, with a handful of them considered high risk with regard to the development of cancer. The majority produce things like skin tags or other minor cell changes that are benign, and the majority of people who have been sexually active are hosting some HPVs. Unfortunately, as most people are unaware they are contagious, or were treated but have had a recurrence, these viruses spread like wildfire.

It is relatively simple to diagnose which kinds of HPV you might have, but once contracted there is no cure. Two of the most dangerous types, HPV 16 and 18, cause 70% of the cervical cancer cases while HPV 6 and 11 cause 90% of the genital wart cases. Gardasil, the vaccine now available to protect against all four of these HPVs, is recommended for girls from the ages of nine to eleven. It will not, however, present all cervical cancers as there are other HPVs that are not yet available as a developed vaccine.

Why so young, my Puritanical little readers? Because nine to eleven presumes to be before sexual activity begins, although in some communities that may even be too late.

So what is the real risk? How contagious are genital warts? Two out of three people who have sexual contact (does not need to be intercourse, by the way) with an infected person will also get the warts. Treatment options for genital warts are only effective 75% of the time, so 25% of patients will experience a return within three months if HPV is still present.
Of the six million new cases of genital HPV in the United States each year, 74% of those females will be between the ages of 15 and 24. Half of all women diagnosed with cervical cancer are between 35 and 55, with the majority of them exposed during their teens and early twenties.

Although it is hoped that vaccinating the girls will prevent 70% to 90% of the cases, a Pap test is still recommended for all sexually active women annually. The first cellular symptom of HPV, known as cervical dysplasia, can be diagnosed with this test in which cervical cells are removed and sent to the lab for study. If the cells have some level of abnormality this is a warning sign that it is more likely cancer will develop in the future. Although it generally takes years, there are a rarer number of cases where the cell dysplasia can develop into cancer within a year.

Unfortunately, as there are no actual symptoms of cervical cancer without the Pap screening, by the time the cancer is palpable it has usually metasticized. For this reason, even with the vaccine, the Pap screening remains a critical tool against cervical cancer for women who have already been exposed to the high-risk HPVs. The vaccine is useless once HPV is contracted as it is a preventative not a treatment for HPV infection.

And once your daughter is thirty, encourage her to get an HPV test (a computerized molecular test on a sample of cervical cells) along with her Pap test. If she's clear, she can wait three years before she gets another HPV test, although annual pelvic and breast exams are still recommended.

So, my next question is, how much do you love yourself? You may not benefit from the HPV vaccine, but perhaps it is time to get those two tests and find out where you stand.

For further information, go to these websites:

www.thehpvtest.com
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/types/womenscancers
http://www.asccp.org/patient_edu.shtml

To your good health,
Clark County Diva

Baked (tastes fried) chicken recipe...

2007-09-02T21:11:00.000-07:00

Good evening, my little painted ponies~

Here is a recipe I created tonight that we both thought was delicious, in spite of the fact that the chicken was skinless.:)

Baked ‘Fried’ (Flourless) Chicken

Ingredients:

6 pieces skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 - 12 oz. can unsweetened, evaporated milk
2 eggs, beaten
1 Tbsp. Hungarian paprika
½ tsp. garlic salt
4 Tbsp. Butter
2 Tbsp. Olive oil
3 cups Kellogg’s cornflake crumbs
¼ cup Parmesan cheese

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Pour 1 Tablespoon of the olive oil into a glass baking dish, tipping pan to spread the oil evenly. Reserve the other tablespoon. Wash and dry chicken breasts and, if needed, pound them slightly with a meat hammer to a consistent thickness. Set aside. Using a gallon size plastic bag, mix the cornflakes, garlic salt and paprika. Set aside. In a separate bowl, beat the two eggs before beating in the milk.

Dip each piece of chicken into the milk/egg mixture, drop it into the cornflakes mixture and shake until all sides are covered. Carefully place each piece in the roasting pan as flatly as you can (it will round up as it cooks), adding more covering on top if needed. Melt the butter in a microwave on high for 30 to 60 seconds, then mix with the other tablespoon of olive oil. Drizzle the butter/olive oil mixture over the top of the chicken.

Bake the chicken, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 50 minutes, then sprinkle the Parmesan cheese on top of the crust. Cook another 10 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink and the juices run clear. (Thicker pieces may take longer.) As the chicken actually tastes similar to the original seasoning on Kentucky Fried Chicken, I feel like I may have stumbled upon some proprietary secret recipe. Olive oil could probably be substituted for the butter without any serious change in taste. Also, people who don’t eat wheat can eat this ‘crust’. Serves 6.

Serve with a nice, light salad.

Clark County Diva

When Ancestry.com becomes an addiction...

2007-09-02T17:07:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon, my spunky little cow boys and girls~

Have you ever wanted to know where you came from? I mean the truth about where your ancestors came from and where they went? Well, we have satisfied our curiosity on the former, and my family was pretty boring on their way out of Africa about 60,000 years ago. As a matter of fact, my father's DNA line 30,000 years ago was related to 100% of all non-African men, and by 20,000 years ago was still related to 95% of all non-African men. In other words, I am a pretty standard Eurasian like all other immigrants from Northern Europe.

My family members have always been breeders if Ancestry.com's data base can be trusted, so it was reassuring to know that all my fears about becoming pregnant in my forties were not paranoia. Going back through the census records I found children my female ancestors gave birth to in their late forties!

Now I know that fertility is not an issue in my particular lines, but the press lately about all the infertile career women (like Alexis Stewart, Martha Stewart's daughter), is of concern for my descendants. Before the advent of the birth control pill women were pretty much doomed to have children as long as they had sexual relations. Yes, we've all heard those jokes about sexless marriages, but we were having all those kids. You guys were just supporting them. Anyway, that's another long post.

It has been interesting since I joined Ancestry.com and the National Geographic Genographic study (www.nationalgeographic.com) to realize that breeding is about the most important thing some of us can do during our lifetimes. At least in the opinion of our descendants.

Just my take.

Clark County Diva

Mannatech glyconutrients and hip boots...

2007-09-01T12:52:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon, my friendly little goslings~

I am releasing today on some of that uncomfortable 'I really wish it was true, but since it isn't, I'll have to tell my friend' stuff. Oh, I didn't do anything, but she is one of those multi-level sales people who is gung-ho on her products, which are multi-vitamin and mineral supplements. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118775074805504989.html Of course, the fancy name is 'glyconutrients', but in a word, they are nothing but food supplements.

Just from the title of this blog you can imagine that I am not in need of further supplementation, but it was kind of her to try to help cure me of all my body's ailments. In spite of appearances, I am quite healthy at the moment, but I do take a few medications to keep me that way. On the other hand, so do most people my age, but they are just a little more discreet about it.

Anyway, I knew - for my own good, of course, - she was going to try to sell me on these supplements as the cure-all of cure-alls, so I tried to keep an open mind. After all, if nobody had listened to Cheney, Rumsfeld or Bush II, where would we be? Okay, so I was a bit facetious with that last sentence, but these products also rely on multi-level marketing through very religious and/or fanatical people.

When somebody is trying to sell me vitamins, I like the idea that they are God's gift to man and woman, but I don't like to be conned based on my spiritual beliefs. Not that Jesus didn't perform a few miracles from all accounts, but nature performs a few on its own too. I admit that glucosamine, calcium, magnesium and zinc have made a tremendous difference in the quality of my life, but so has Ben & Jerry's.

So I researched the company name and just a little Googling brought up some credible articles (one from the Wall Street Journal) and one about multi-level marketing scams and the one perpetrated by the very company she works for: Mannatech. Not good, right?

Okay, so the conflict I had was, 1) Should I tell her that I don't want the supplements and risk her negative reaction? Or, 2) Should I tell her that I don't want the supplements because I think the company she sells for is crooked?

Obviously neither option was particularly appealing, so I opted for sending her the research via email. That way she can make up her own mind and I can only hope I didn't subject myself to further 'proof' and testimonials that these supplements work. Unfortunately, the pitch she gave me was exactly what the Texas Attorney General's office (and perhaps other legal departments) can put her in jail for doing. Telling me how she and her daughter are cured and how I can be cured of my ailments too.

Now if she wants to tell me that a Prayer after I take the supplement will cure me, that's probably legal. But if she tells me that a vitamin supplement or nutrient pack will do even part of the job? That's a crime.

I'm sure it never would occur to her that her helpful encouragement of someone like me could be prosecutable, but then, she takes the glyconutrients herself and has sold them to her daughter and probably all her friends. Which is exactly how multi-level marketing works and why that company had sales of $410,000 million in 2004. (I didn't bother to look for updated figures.)

Clark County Diva

The tunic is back!

2007-09-01T12:49:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon, my affectionate little hipsters~

Yes, the beloved Tunic is back! I for one knew it would return eventually, but it took a while. All those low-rider pants, b*tt lint and flab have finally sickened enough of us (on ourselves) that we have welcomed the longer blouse back.

Tunics can cover up a lot more than those items listed above, which makes their return utterly invigorating.:)

Clark County Diva

When you marry an Arab Prince...

2007-09-01T12:48:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon, my sensitive little bluebirds~

Okay, this one is for you: http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2161696,00.html

As the Guardian's catchy headline caught my eye, "How a Minsk waitress landed an Arab Prince", of course I read the article. It appears that Sheikh Sayyid bin Maktoum al-Maktoum arrived in Belarus and rather than winning a clay pidgeon competition, a 19-year-old waitress who had been working there for two months caught his eye. Or shall we say, she's the one who got caught?

Ah yes, it is a romantic tale she tells of her one-month courtship. She is a Muslim woman who says she married her prince for love. We were all 19 once, and love hits that group pretty quickly and hard, doesn't it? I'm sure his first wife married for love also, and she and their five children must be overjoyed to have extended the family so effortlessly.

Of course after reading the book, Three Cups of Tea, I have a slightly greater understanding of the Muslim acceptance of polygamy based on ability to support wives and additional children. A Prince certainly should be among those expected to have more than one wife. Heck, after bearing five children for the 30-year-old prince, the first wife may have even requested a relief catcher.

And there are always times when spouses of both sexes could easily relate to the old comedian Rodney Dangerfield's opening line, "Take my wife... please!". The first part delivered as if he was going to say something factual about her. It always got a snicker from the men, but we're completely capable of substituting the word 'husband'.

I guess my point is that romance still lives.:)

Clark County Diva

Merrill Markoe is one funny lady... so is her book, Walking Around in Circles Before Lying Down...

2007-08-31T16:53:00.001-07:00

Good afternoon, my tasty little dairy queens~

The title of this book is weird, isn't it? If you have never owned dogs, you probably won't enjoy the book all that much, as the most entertaining main characters after the set up are the protagonist's dogs.

Of course, in the interest of full disclosure, I must admit that we are dog people. I am unusual, though, as I also relate quite well to people. I confess I have friends, loving children and grandchildren and a 30 year marriage. Okay, full disclosure again, the dogs do sleep on the bed and once in a while on a Three-Dog Night they might even try to climb under the covers with us, but never on my side. At least not while I'm still awake.:)

So this book, which ends up being very cutesy, is a quickie two night read. It isn't the kind of writing, though, that makes you laugh out loud. You are busy smirking and being a know-it-all through the greatest part, though. And Markoe certainly is good at sarcastically describing her characters so that we can all feel quite superior the entire time we are reading about their ridiculous predicaments and poor choices.

After all, isn't that what we all really want? To know that we are certainly much, much smarter than fictional characters in a book and their dogs. Again, the title is, Walking around in circles before lying down.

She is the creator of the "stupid pet tricks" segment on David Letterman (and was their head writer) and has won several Emmies during her TV career.

Clark County Diva

Marian Keyes can write a light read...

2007-08-31T16:38:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon, my fancy schmancy pants!

Okay, so the blog still has a hold over me and I cannot help sharing that I'm reading again.:) Okay, so I love to read - it is an addiction that I indulge daily - but I particularly used to love novels and have been trying to lighten up by reading them again. After all, how dark can you get when the title is, Sushi for Beginners (by Marian Keyes)?

It was called a 'pleasure to read' by the Boston Globe, and they were right. Happy endings (except for the b*tch who cheated on her husband with her best friend's boyfriend) abounded for several twenty and thirty-somethings and although there were a few sexy passages, they were more or less a yawn. On the other hand, as it was set in Dublin, Ireland, with references to England, I got to learn some brand new U.K. slang.

Anyway, if you need some lightening up, Keyes has written quite a few novels, but don't pay retail. You can probably find one or two in a used book store that ladies frequent to trade in their romance novels.

Clark County Diva

Halleluia... Gonzo is Gone...!

2007-08-29T16:09:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon, my tuxedoed little darlings~

Hark! There is obviously a God. Our prayers have been answered and wow is he pissed at Alberto Gonzalez. We now thank the LORD seventeen times, as Gonzo is finally gone-so from our lives.

Of course, he served his purpose well and stonewalled any meaningful oversight or investigation by the Senate or the House into all the illegal things Bush's administration has been doing, but at least we don't have to look at his ugly, smirking face.

Please dear Lord of Washington, do not replace him with someone like Lieberman. Know also that anyone who is not ethical and/or going to stand up to the Bush machine and tell them what the law not only says but means, will go down too. Our government may be screwed up, but eventually the American psyche gets fed up and we demand change.

Of course, our votes are supposed to implement change, which hasn't been working too well for us lately, but we are pretty close to the end of our tolerance and patience. This is the first sign. Time to work up that impeachment list and move forward.

Clark County Diva

Clark County Diva

Why Brian Baird? What the hell are you smokin'?

2007-08-29T15:24:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon, my reticent rhinoceri~

Et tu, Brian?

Yes I am talking about my representative, naughty, misguided, obviously-on-meth-or-crack, Brian Baird, (D) Washington State.

The man I voted for the last several elections. The man I promoted off and on with my many, voting friends, even though I had some inside information that he was a pr*ck to work for I never once told anyone. Yes, the man I spoke to for at least a half hour the first time he ran. Why I once even considered donning a t-shirt and walking in downtown Ridgefield as a 'Brian Baird' supporter, as he claimed to care about children, education, social programs and civil rights.

Now he has stepped so deeply into it that the Republican administration is wetting their pants with joy, and we must turn on our own. Brian, Brian, Brian! You were elected to represent your constituents, whom as you seem not to have noticed, are in a majority against the war in Iraq. We don't want a bloodbath on the way out, but we want our soldiers out as soon as possible.

Obviously you were very impressed by General Petraeus. Was it because he has a Princeton PhD, and your PhD is from some Podunk school? Did he schmooze you so well that you lost consciousness? Or maybe they have something really, really nasty on you.

'Fess up, Brian, and maybe we'll forgive you.

We forgave Bill Clinton, didn't we? We don't want to think you were cheating on the wife with those little twins but unless you are tired of running for office every two years and they promised something really big after you leave? None of it makes sense.

Well, my disappointing little man, I am sure you heard today that moveon.org is after your derriere now as well. You think it's only the people of Vancouver, Washington, who are going to be crawling up your behind? Think again, my friend. For the first time in a million years, I may have to vote against a Democrat in 2008. Of course, by then maybe you'll have switched parties anyway.

Sigh.

Clark County Diva

No right way to do the wrong thing...

2007-08-21T16:46:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon, my accidental readers~

I am checking in to share one thought. There is no right way to do the wrong thing, and The Columbian Newspaper did the absolutely wrong thing with this picture of our friend whose son was killed and their insensitive coverage. http://www.columbian.com/news/localNews/08202007news185908.cfm

Anyone who thinks this sort of dramatic picture is something that a family needs taken and published when the worst thing in life has just occurred? S/he and her/his community needs to be blackballed.

Therefore, I am posting this article on my website with the link so that anyone who is as disgusted as I am can write to The Columbian and ask them to sell the paper to Murdoch. At least he's not pretending to be anyone's friend while he exploits their family tragedy.

Our society has forgotten how to care about those who are suffering. May this family eventually find acceptance and peace, and may The Columbian newspaper go down in flames.

Clark County Diva

Blogging's fun but... I want to finish my screen play

2007-08-13T19:39:00.000-07:00

Good evening, my loyal and lovely readers~

I am going to take a bit of a sabbatical for a while. Why? Well, I am always complaining that I don't have enough free time to finish my creative efforts, so over the last month I analyzed how I spend my time. It has been really fun to blog and it became at times an obsession of sorts, a confessional, a memoir, and a personal diary, but I need to take a break.

If I don't actually put the blog on hold - after all I start feeling obligated to post as I don't want my loyal readers to be disappointed - I won't finish any of my screenplays.

Okay, so one of them is probably too 'Angela's Ashes' to interest most of you, but I have another one that I believe is a really good story, and that is what I want to tell with the true challenge of using dialogue.

Obviously I torment myself quite a bit with what I 'ought', 'should' and 'must' do, so I think it is time for me to do what I 'want' to do. I want to finish that screen play, edit it, market it and sell it. Then I can go back to blogging whenever I feel like it.

I'll be back, but as long as our regular business is in a sorry state and I have some free time, I decided to thank the Universe and take advantage of this opening. Then if the screenplay doesn't work out well for me, and I've ended up having to hit my credit cards to survive? It will at least be for an artistic venture and not just another downturn in my personal fortunes based on chaos theory of some sort.

So, adieu for a while, or shall I just say, hasta la vista.

Clark County Diva

Keep looking...

2007-08-13T01:58:00.000-07:00

Good morning, again, my darling pretties~

Same sunset, same beauty.

Clark County Diva

Beauty is all around us...

2007-08-13T01:54:00.000-07:00

Good morning, my innocent little grasshoppers~

Beauty is everywhere, we just need to remember to look for it.

Clark County Diva

Another argument for Universal Health Insurance...

2007-08-12T17:57:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon, my sensitive little pears~

This is just something to consider with regard to my belief in Universal Health Insurance:

HMO Regs Treat Symptoms, Not Disease
Congressional proposals to regulate managed-care companies won't solve the real problem with the healthcare system, according to a new report from The Heritage Foundation. The real problem is the tax code that forces Americans to get their health coverage from employers whose primary concern is cost control, not quality health care.

Under the current tax code, workers pay no taxes on the value of their health coverage as long as their employer pays for it. If they purchase coverage themselves, they must do so with after-tax dollars. For example, a family of four earning $30,000 saves $680 in taxes on a $3,000 health plan, but only if the employer buys the plan. If that same family purchased coverage on its own, it would get no tax break. "Unfortunately for frustrated Americans, the patient-protection proposals put forward by lawmakers miss the point," says healthcare expert, Carrie Gavora commenting on The Heritage Foundation report.

"The central problem today is that working Americans and their families do not own their plans and thus do not have the final say in healthcare decisions. Their employers do." As a result, families feel powerless to force managed-care plans to respond to their needs. And that's why slapping HMO's with more mandates and regulation will do nothing to enable families to leave health plans they don't like.

The real solution, says Gavora, is to fix the tax code so workers who want to buy their health insurance on their own can do so without a tax penalty. Such a solution would be easy to achieve, says Gavora. Lawmakers could simply end the current "tax exclusion" on employer-provided health benefits and replace it with a tax credit available to individuals who purchase health coverage.

Under such an approach, Americans would enjoy the same range of health care options currently available to the nearly 9 million federal employees enrolled in the Federal Health Benefits Program (FEHBP). The FEHBP allows federal employees, including members of Congress, to choose from among 350 health plans nationwide. Competition among health plans keeps costs low and customer satisfaction high, says the Heritage report, even in the case of HMOs.

Source: http://demko.com/m980727.htm#six

I'm not the only one who thinks our present system is very flawed.

Clark County Diva

Want a long life? Eat right, exercise and make friends...

2007-08-12T17:47:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon, my little Sunday sloths~

We all know the rules about consequences by the time we are middle-aged, but some people seem to think that money will buy happiness. I am here to tell them that money, like good looks, is nothing more than a lubricant, not a panacea. So, in support of my belief that my relationships with people are what keep me happy, vibrant and alive? Here is a pretty nice piece on the subject and the link:

As Baby Boomers age, they should pay as much attention to their social lives as their financial portfolios. A University of Michigan study suggests when it comes to retirement happiness, friends count more than money. The study, conducted by U-M graduate student Alicia Tarnowski and psychologist Toni Antonucci, a senior researcher at the U-M Institute for Social Research (ISR), found that the size of a recently retired person's social support network, not the size of that person's wallet or state of physical health, is the strongest influence on whether life satisfaction changes for better or worse.

"Retirement is a major life transition," says Tarnowski, noting that while some studies have found psychological well-being increases after retirement, others have found that it drops. In addition to investigating the effect of retirement on life satisfaction, the researchers wanted to learn why some people feel better about their lives after they retire while others feel worse. The researchers analyzed how physical health, income, the number of negative life events, including divorce and death of a spouse, experienced in the last four years, and demographic variables, including age and gender, influenced the changes in life satisfaction reported by recent retirees.

The most powerful predictor of life satisfaction right after retirement, they found, was the size of a person's social support network. Those who were more satisfied with life had networks of about 16 people, on average, while those less satisfied with life had networks of fewer than 10 people. "Our findings suggest that new retirees may need more emotional support than they did when they were working," says Tarnowski. "Just having a number of people who provide emotional support, listen to your concerns, and let you know that you're still valued right after you retire seems to make a big difference. It fits with other research showing that social support buffers stress, and even positive life changes like retirement can be sources of considerable stress."

In support of the University of Michigan study, a search of AgeVenture archives found that in the early 80's, the National Institute on Mental Health predicted the life-expectancy of a white-collar male at age 65 to be 36-40 months. Of course, that life-expectancy increased after the worker adjusted to the dramatic changes brought on by the new retirement lifestyle. Nevertheless, the American Medical Association, as early as the 1980's, was suggesting that retirement was a health hazard for many adults who were ill-equipped for the social and psychological challenges of retirement.

Finally, it's worth noting that friendships, especially the availability of a confidant, can contribute nearly two extra years to one's life-expectancy because of the friendships ability to buffer stress. At any rate, studies such as these should help rewrite the book on retirement planning. Friendship must be cultivated as meticulously as finances, at least so you'll live long enough to enjoy the fruits of your financial planning. Funding for the University of Michigan study was provided by the National Institute on Aging, and the National Cancer Institute.

Source: http://demko.com/m980727.htm

Now you can't say you didn't know.

Clark County Diva

An average Saturday night... except for the detour

2007-08-12T00:05:00.000-07:00

Good morning, my slender little whooping cranes~

It may be dangerous to walk in the woods in hunting season wearing fur mittens in a semi-rural area, but it certainly is easy to forget the dangers of going into the city. Tonight we were on our way to a party in Southwest Portland near the Japanese gardens and the Hoyt Arboretum, when my husband noticed a freeway sign warning that Highway 26 Westbound was temporarily closed.

Of course in the summer we assumed it was road repairs or something essentially benign.

We made a very extended detour through downtown Portland, winding on the city streets, until we arrived a bit late at our destination. It wasn't until we got back and watched the news we had TiVo'd that we realized there had been a road rage shooting incident an hour before we had tried to use the highway.

Two men in a Jeep SUV shot a man in the tunnel over some sort of driving interaction. The victim survived and is being treated in a hospital, but the police are looking for the perpetrators. One has to wonder why people let themselves get this riled up and why they think it is okay to lose control.

I have never understood this kind of behavior, which is no longer just restricted to men, although they are probably the majority of over-reactors on the road. Several years ago I was driving our old station wagon with my kids in the car. There was a guy in a truck tail-gaiting me, trying to intimidate me into moving over into the middle lane, but I knew part of the freeway was in disrepair so I ignored him.

After all, that was my right, although many drivers on the freeway think they are the only ones with rights or the right-of-way.

This jerk drove up to within two feet of my bumper, but I still didn't move so he started honking his horn. The lane next to me was completely open, but he obviously preferred me to move over so he could barrel on by.

I still didn't move, which isn't my normal style, but I didn't want to be on that bad strip of road. Hitting some bad paving at 70 miles per hour isn't particularly bright, as you know. As we got past the piece I put on my blinker to signal that I was moving into the next lane. He saw it and then the jerk decided to pass me on the right so that he could scare me. He jerked his wheel within inches of my passenger door to make it look like he was going to run me off the road. Then he gleefuly sped up and drove off so I wouldn't be able to see and write down his license plate number.

Had I not kept my cool we might have ended up in the middle of the opposing lanes or worse. My kids were terrorized and crying in the back seat, and I hoped that he'd do that to some big guy with a gun. I really did. I always feel guilty when I have those vengeful notions, however, so it gave me no pleasure.:)

It would be too much to expect the cops to find that guy and arrest him, but of course people like that don't do those things in front of cops. I imagined that guy beat his wife and kids, if he had any, and probably was a crap-head to his mother as well.

But I also imagined that guy lived a miserable existence. There are just some people out there who actually feel better when they inflict pain on others. They are the domestic abusers, the mass murderers, the serial killers and worse. Why else would anyone try to scare a mother and her two kids and potentially drive them off the road?

There sure are some pathetic creeps out there.

Clark County Diva

This is why we need national health care... too much favoritism

2007-08-11T16:44:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon, my classy little earthworms~

Nobody really believes life is fair, but our Medicare system should be at least. Not so, my friends, as reimbursements rates across the country for both medical services and hospitals are based on a very cryptic set of criteria.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/12/washington/12health.html?hp=&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1186875534-HsWSNzkjPe6BwB9TWpFldw

I guess it infuriates me because I know that a doctor in New York will make a lot more money if he stays there than if he comes here. One of our local hospitals uses 'aids' to do all the things nurses should be doing, and nurses to do what doctors should be doing, and technologists to do what ... well who knows what they are doing.

Supposedly we have two senators for each state so that this kind of pork barrel politics is contained. Unfortunately, in an effort to add more children to the Medicare train - which is only humane until we straighten out our health care delivery system - there are all kinds of backyard 'deals' going on with the democrats too.

I guess if I thought my state, Washington, would be the recipient of some of this additional cash flow I wouldn't b*tch, but Washington is noted for delivery health care much cheaper to Medicare than other states and so we are forever penalized for it. All this 'behind the scenes' stuff is ridiculous and unprofessional and certainly unbecoming gentlemen and ladies.

All of us are getting disappointed in the democrats we elected whose excuses are as lame as the republicans were the previous 12 years. What a disappointment politicians have turned out to be. I wish I weren't so naive sometimes. I actually thought they were as sick of this crap as I am. Sigh.

Clark County Diva

Is fossil fuel mining worth the price?

2007-08-11T10:10:00.000-07:00

Good morning, my sassy little charmers~

Industrial disasters are about as sad an event as any I can think of this morning, with the Utah mine collapse that imprisoned six miners currently at the top of my list. http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/08/11/utah.mine/index.html

I've never been to Huntington, Utah, but I would imagine it is a hard place to make a living and people there don't have a lot of options if they want a good paying job.

But then there is that S.O.B., Bob Murray, who owns the mine. I learned everything I need to know about that guy from watching a newscast of him being rude to Senator Barbara Boxer in a Senate hearing on mine safety during the past year. We've all known men like him. Selfish, mean, abrasive and downright uncaring.

Oh, what was he spewing about when he was yelling at the Senator? Why he was 'passionately' talking about how he cares about his employees. If anyone believed that, well, there's some swamp land right here in Northern Clark County that I'll buy and resell to them for ten times more than I paid.

Men who try to rule by intimidation have generally been successful using that technique, and I am sure Murray, with his 65 employees, never did hear what those men told their families. As reported today in the linked CNN article, Sanchez told his family that the mine had been 'buckling' while they were working 1800 feet down and that his supervisors knew about the miners' concerns.

Other family members of the missing men also expressed similar sentiments, but ole 'Bob Murray' blustered up and again, with his booming, I'd-rather-punch-you-in-the-face delivery, roared that he'd never heard of any concerns.

Surprise. Surprise. One has to imagine that the last person on earth could be Bob Murray, and if you needed a tourniquet on your leg you'd prefer to ask a vulture for assistance.

Perhaps one consolation in life is that men and women like Murray only have money. One could assume that his descendants can't wait for his demise, if he has a wife, she grimaces when he comes home, and the only person who might love him is his mother, if she isn't tragically disappointed in the horrible man he has become.

Of course, just because Bob Murray is a rather repugnant human being doesn't mean he is at fault in the mine disaster. I'll wait for the evidence along with the investigators. My condolences go out to all the families and friends of those poor men.

Clark County Diva

The fertile... fig

2007-08-11T01:07:00.000-07:00

Good morning, my sweet little mockingbirds~

Business is slow with all the financial markets in an upheaval, so rather than worry myself to death over it, I decided to take a more creative approach. I started painting again to calm my nerves. Okay, so I do a lot of things to try to keep my high strung personality under wraps, but when I don't have time to devote to sculpting or I want to do something less messy than cook Mexican food, I write or paint.

With this painting, 'The fertile... fig', I wanted to highlight the country women around the world who seem so natural, nurturing and maternal. Like women everywhere, they are generous with their time and their cuisine, but there is nothing so sublime as a bowl filled with fresh figs.

Clark County Diva

East Coast/West Coast $culture$ shock...

2007-08-11T00:07:00.000-07:00

Good morning, my frizzy little high wires~

Remember that expression 'everything is relative'? Well today I was reading this article http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/08/12/travel/12Choice.html?hp, which is a travel piece on dining on Cape Cod in Massachusetts. The restaurant critic is obviously from Manhattan as he described one place as follows:

So though I found little uncommon or adventuresome — none of the shark, monkfish or other above-mentioned fish, all plentiful in the waters there, were on any menus I saw — what I did find in a tour of Outer Cape restaurants was more attention paid to common local seafood (like cod, clams and oysters) and other local ingredients than 10 years ago, and an effort to offer the kind of quality cooking that nowadays everyone can find in their hometowns.

Abba is a good example, a big-town restaurant in a little house just outside the heart of Orleans (Old Colony Way and West Road, Orleans; 508-255-8144). Along with the Wicked Oyster, which I'll discuss next, it's the most promising development in food on the Cape since they began selling scallops with roe at Hatch's Fish Market (310 Main Street, Wellfleet, for those of you cooking). The house is an old wooden Cape, with wide-board floors and a semi-formal, modern look. It feels geared toward an older, moneyed crowd, but it isn't overpriced: an average meal for two, with tip and a $40 bottle of wine (the wine list is appealing), runs about $150. For the quality of the food, and especially the efficient service, this isn't bad. (Because Abba is open year-round, everything seems more professional than in places that rely on seasonal help.)

I don't think I get out enough. To me spending $150 on two people for an average meal they could get at home seemed on the high end of things. Then again, we usually don't get dessert or after dinner drinks, so perhaps those were included.

Okay, so the West Coast does include some fine dining places, and I am more of a lunch person anyway, which means the prices are generally lower. And if the food were delicious (I have complained about the restaurants in this area for over fifteen years since I moved here), it could seem like a bargain.

Then again, it just seems like our area is in some kind of income-warp-zone. People here work their tails off for so much less money (I am appalled at starting salaries for professionals, particularly women), and now that our real estate is just as expensive as anybody else's in a nice area, eating out seems less and less affordable.

Being from New England and having spent part of my youth in the 'other' cape, Cape Ann (farther north), I had some sticker shock thinking about fish being so expensive. I did find it entertaining that the author would suggest that a tourist (or local) would pay $55 to each skate or monkfish. Hey, fried claims from Essex, Massachusetts, Sure. But skate? Nope. I can get some chewy salmon jerky right here in the northwest for about $5 a person.

Then again, what most of us don't realize about real New Yorkers is that they have a highly developed appreciation for all kinds of fine things. Think symphony, opera, musicals, museums.

As a group New Yorkers are the most educationally motivated sub-set in the United States. If admissions to colleges and universities were actually based on only SAT or ACT scores and the difficulty and breadth of course material, all the schools would be filled with Asians and New Yorkers. Hey, I am not being bigoted or racist. Statistically in the US, these two groups are predominantly the highest achievers in the area of education.

So what makes New Yorkers so different? Well, many of them live in New York City or the surrounding areas where they only use public transportation. A thirty-year-old without a driver's license in the Northwest is weird, but in New York City? Some people never ever learn to drive. Ergo, they don't buy cars, because it is incredibly expensive to operate and park them. Think about how your two family cars with maintenance, insurance, repairs, bank payments and gasoline probably are almost equivalent to your housing expense.

Although the national average of home ownership is around 68% currently, that is nowhere near an accurate statistic in New York City. It is often dramatically cheaper for many families (with rent control) to live in the same apartment for generations. Rent might seem expensive to us at $2000 a month, but the apartment might have a sales value of two million.

Now living in New York is not my idea of Nirvana, but obviously it suits the millions who do live there. And if you are not buying a home or a couple of cars, perhaps you would develop a taste for fine art and cuisine as you'd have some disposable income left over every month. In the meantime? I'll quit complaining about how expensive it is to eat out and how little we do it while I remind myself that we made the choice of owning a little piece of woods instead. Hell, I'm a pretty good cook when I make the effort, and I can make a mean razor clam dish that melts in your mouth.:)

Clark County Diva

Clark County Fair...

2007-08-10T10:50:00.000-07:00

Good morning, my happy little revelers~

Well Sunday is the last day of the Clark County Fair. With all the bad publicity about amusement park accidents (like that young adolescent whose feet were cut off during a malfunctioning ride), I find it incredible that so many people still enjoy these traveling carnival rides.

My mother refused to go on rides with us when we were kids - she got motion sickness - so it was always our dad who accompanied us or at least sat behind us on the rides. Of course, my mother was a risk taker with regard to addictive substances, but after she and my father were stuck at the top of the ferris wheel during their courtship? She never again set foot on anything higher than a stepstool. She also could never learn to drive, and until she died at 81, we all chauffered her around.

Did you ever notice that someone who is never the driver has some peculiar attitudes? First of all, they don't understand the value of gasoline or the expense of car maintenance. Secondly, they don't find it particularly rude to keep you waiting while they finish getting ready for fifteen minutes. Thirdly, they seem to have the attitude that you were going 'someplace' anyway, and so taking them with you isn't any trouble. Ha!

Humanity can be pretty amusing in its narcissism.

But I suppose I will always find it rather cute when little kids are afraid to go on rides, overcome this fear and then enjoy themselves. That said, with the lack of proper maintenance, cheap steel being imported from China and that 'profit' motive so dominant, I wonder if it is prudent to encourage our kids to be thrillseekers.:) The sky may not yet be falling, but the bridges and roadways are. Why would we have more confidence in a contraption that is assembled and disassembled every two weeks or so?

Just my take.

Clark County Diva

The US Economy seems to be a bit off kilter

2007-08-10T10:20:00.000-07:00

Good morning, my fiery little orators~

Uncertainty is the one thing in life that tweaks my last nerve, so truthfully? The US Economy reacting to the idiocy of the sub-prime mortgage lending practices of the past several years feels better than wondering why it hadn't. Of course, the global economy is a reality, my friends, and if a leaf falls here it really may be felt where you live.

Unfortunately, the world's money managers have become arrogant. They are used to saying 'this is so' and having the rest of us believe them. Over the last six and a half years we have become accustomed to deceit, manipulation and overt fraud, so why would one segment of the mortgage market create such hysteria?

Because this time it is not just the little guy with his money in that local Savings & Loan who is getting burned. This time it is international investors as well as domestic ones and the fallout is being felt by the cabinet-makers up to the rail lines.

The housing market was the only thing keeping our economy on track, and now that it is virtually shut down, consumers are waiting to see if we have deflation of housing prices. Unfortunately, most of us used our inflated housing prices to pay our bills, so as equity in a home decreases, there will be many more foreclosures. It is one thing to struggle and pay your mortgage when you have a few hundred thousand value beyond your mortgage. It is another when your house is worth less than you owe.

And the cause? Financial collapse of any kind can almost always be predicted unless there is some natural catastrophe, and even then, we have enough data to predict that too. The fuel for the housing train was the fuel for most investments that turn sour.

Unadulterated greed. After the rates initially dropped and there were a couple of high-flying banner years in our mortgage industry, we all got used to it. Housing prices escalated as with an interest rate of 5% or 6% instead of 8% or 9%, we could spend more. When volume died down, the investors who financed the mortgage companies responded with 'creative' products, which anyone with a slice of brain matter would have recognized were high risk.

Of course, banks like Wells Fargo (with 17% of their mortgage loans in sub-prime mortgages) made money hand over fist on paper. Many of those loans allowed the lender to consider 'accrued interest' as income, even though taxes weren't due on it per their accountants until the loans were paid off. The rest of us scratched our heads and wondered why seasoned bankers, who'd seen this stuff before, had become so... stupid.

Our company never put our clients into even one of those loans. Why? Because we knew it was good for the lender, but horribly, horribly bad for the borrower and we both have a conscience. Ah well, we'll suffer the same blowback everybody else in our industry does, even though we weren't bad. And your job may get wobbly too, as the Big Boys don't like to lose money. They'll find a way to cut back on employee benefits, screw pensioners and generally 'cut the fat' from their payrolls.

Sigh. It is so predictable, but we still act like it is all so mysterious.

Clark County Diva

Hey, those are MY plums!

2007-08-10T10:02:00.000-07:00

Good morning, my fancy little churros~

Human nature, as you may have guessed, still fascinates me on a daily basis. Last night my neighbor came over with a quart of hand-picked blueberries and some frozen razor clams that she and her husband had dug themselves earlier this year. I find these generous gifts to be the loveliest sort.

I have another friend who makes the most beautiful hand-crafted cards and for my birthday she gives them to me. I reciprocate by giving her hand-made tree ornaments, which she and her family collect as a tradition.

What I find intriguing, though, is the attitude of people who notice hanging fruit.:)

Now you may think that hobby orchardists like my husband and I wouldn't notice, and most of the time you would be correct. Unless you picked a fig. That is where I draw the line, my friends, as I only get ten or twenty off my little trees a year, and I don't like to share.

Okay, so last night I parted with two of them, as when one's neighbor is bringing you gifts, one must reciprocate. It did prompt a funny story her, though. In her old house she had a very productive fig tree which hung over her picket fence. During fig season her neighbor, a rather stoic German immigrant, would wait for my neighbor to finish her morning gardening and then walk by every day and quickly pick a couple of figs.

As she never asked my neighbor if this was okay, on first look it would seem rude. She never thanked my neighbor either, but I do believe this is an ancient impulse that feels more like a god-given right.:)

We experienced the same thing at our wedding celebration with the children who attended. They all went blueberry picking and when they had stuffed themselves sufficiently, they began picking plums. Even a ravenous child rarely wants more than three or four juicy plums, though, so the kids ended up bringing them to the tables. It was cute.

Lately the Greenies have realized, however, that many children are no longer comfortable with the outdoors. This is a bit of a crisis, really, as it seems children are not inclined to camp or enjoy nature. Many of the summer camps and scheduled trail hikes for kids have been shut down, as there are so few children (and parents) interested in the hard work involved.

We experienced this ourselves when we first moved to the northwest. My husband and I were not campers, and therefore having five acres of land was more than enough nature for us. We had never taken our kids camping - hotel vacations of course - and so it was their friends who introduced them to the grandness of the forest. I worried, of course, as young people/booze/sex/rock'n'roll seemed to be on the agenda, but they were just enjoying the freedom and beauty of nature.

Years later some of their friends came here to get away from the city lights while they watched the Perseid meteor showers which are amazing in the month of August. When they left to go to a higher, darker elevation, I realized my kids had become true northwesterners and weren't afraid of bears in the woods.

From every bit of cave-dwelling behavior we encourage, there is fall-out, as who in the future will be interested in saving the environment if these kids don't bond with the land? We need to reactivate that hunter/gatherer mentality if we want to preserve the land for future generations. Just food for thought.

Clark County Diva

Deborah Tannen's book, "You Just Don't Understand!"

2007-08-10T00:35:00.000-07:00

Good morning, my crispy little oyster crackers~

Every once in a while I listen to National Public Radio and laugh. Usually the humor is more high brow and often clever, but today they were having a little fun when they interviewed the author of "You Just Don't Understand!"

This book has been on the New York Times Bestseller List for years but I am just now hearing about it. The sub-title is 'Women and Men in Conversation'. Here is the blurb on Harper Collins site:

You Just Don't Understand
Women and Men in Conversation
By Deborah Tannen

Women and men live in different worlds...made of different words.

Spending nearly four years on the New York Times bestseller list, including eight months at number one, You Just Don't Understand is a true cultural and intellectual phenomenon.

This is the book that brought gender differences in ways of speaking to the forefront of public awareness. With a rare combination of scientific insight and delightful, humorous writing, Tannen shows why women and men can walk away from the same conversation with completely different impressions of what was said.

Studded with lively and entertaining examples of real conversations, this book gives you the tools to understand what went wrong -- and to find a common language in which to strengthen relationships at work and at home. A classic in the field of interpersonal relations, this book will change forever the way you approach conversations.

Source: http://www.harpercollins.com/book/index.aspx?isbn=9780060959623

Here is the part of the interview that cracked me up. The author recounted an email she had received from a reader. The content was essentially this, "When they find a way to increase circulation to a man's ears, they will have discovered the female viagra."

Okay, admit it. If you are woman, you think it's hilarious.:)

Other cultures don't B.S. themselves. The Japanese never did think men and women used the same words to communicate, as their social divisions were explicit with regard to the sexes. When my uncle was in the US military in Japan after World War II he was single and dated several Japanese women. One day the Japanese prisoners were stifling laughter after he had addressed them in their native tongue. This was how he learned that he was speaking Japanese like a woman. He had a great sense of humor too, so he claimed to have continued speaking that way as a goodwill gesture. Yes, my family is odd.

Anyway, I imagine the words were things like 'tinkle' as opposed to 'piss' and 'privates' as opposed to ... well you know all the technical words, right? We have always been more refined than the guys, and we have always had different cues, but our attempts to create unisex, one-size-fits-all conversation doesn't always work.

But I guess this book isn't just about talking, but about listening too. Therapists have been trying for decades to teach 'focused listening' to couples and yet we still have very different ways of hearing each other. Anyway, if I get the book, I'll give you my report on it later.

Clark County Diva

Hillary Clinton is often subjected to abuse only because she's a she...

2007-08-09T18:16:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon, my jostling little jelly beans~

Let's face it, life is still not fair.

Hillary is described as 'bossy' when she exhibits her strength, while a man would be called a charismatic leader. Hillary is called 'harsh' while a man would be referred to as 'tough and powerful'. And if Hillary tries to consider everybody's point of view, she will be called 'conciliatory'. A man would be a 'consensus builder'.

These are fragments of gender discrimination in our society that trouble not only Hillary but any powerful woman in business or a position of leadership or authority.

So is it any wonder that when Hillary screws up we hear about it? Well, here is something she needs to expound on a little more fully, or she should apologize to Barack Obama.

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, who has criticized Senator Barack Obama for saying he would rule out using nuclear weapons to root out terrorists in Afghanistan or Pakistan, made a similar comment regarding Iran last year, before she became a presidential candidate.

“I would certainly take nuclear weapons off the table,” Mrs. Clinton told Bloomberg Television in an interview in April 2006, responding to a question about how the Bush administration would try to prevent Iran from building up its nuclear program.

Last week, Mr. Obama said it would be a “profound mistake” for the United States to use nuclear weapons to fight terrorism in Afghanistan or Pakistan. Asked to reply, Mrs. Clinton said: “I think that presidents should be very careful at all times in discussing the use or non-use of nuclear weapons.”

For weeks, Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama have tangled over their foreign policy views, judgment and experience in their quest to win the Democratic presidential nomination. Mrs. Clinton has challenged Mr. Obama — at one point, calling his foreign policy stands “irresponsible and frankly naïve” — while he has sought to portray his positioning as an example of how he would change Washington.

But during the television interview more than a year ago, the comments of which were reprised today by The Associated Press, Mrs. Clinton also discussed the role of nuclear weapons.

“I have said publicly no option should be off the table, but I would certainly take nuclear weapons off the table,” Mrs. Clintons said. “This administration has been very willing to talk about using nuclear weapons in a way we haven’t seen since the dawn of a nuclear age. I think that’s a terrible mistake.”

Phil Singer, a spokeswoman for Mrs. Clinton, said she was responding to a specific news report at the time that the Bush administration was considering nuclear strikes on Iran. The context, he said, was different than the scenario raised last week by Mr. Obama.

“Senator Clinton was not talking about a broad hypothetical nor was she speaking as a presidential candidate,” Mr. Singer said. “Given the saber-rattling that was coming from the Bush White House at the time, it was totally appropriate and necessary to respond to that report and call it the wrong policy.”

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/09/us/politics/10cnd-clinton.html?hp

Now I have made my support for Barack (at this point) very clear. I like what he has to say and I am willing (so far) to take him at his word. Yes, I know Hillary would be a fine president - and I do still love Bill Clinton, even if he is a slut - but I want an anti-war president and I want someone whom I can believe will listen to the people and not 'know better than us' what should happen in the world. The American public has been worked over and manipulated, but we are back to our roots.

AT THIS POINT WE DON'T BELIEVE ONE F***ING WORD THE POLITICIANS SAY.

My fear is that Hillary has risen high enough within her own mind to do what she thinks. As a matter of fact, those who gave her money might want to ask for a refund after the comments she's made recently about not being influenced by lobbyists. Of course, she first said those lobbyists represented regular Americans like nurses, and teachers, etc. She's right. My industry has a lobbyist we pay dearly for so that we can protect ourselves from being obliterated by the big banks who would love us to go out of business so they can go back to gouging the consumer again.

Ah, well. Enough hyperbole from me for the evening.

Clark County Diva

Is Bush joking or just the real Joker?

2007-08-09T17:08:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon, my silly little corndogs~

I was having a beautiful day today. First of all, my artist son-in-law (not knowing I had painted the I hate my hat painting), noticed it when my daughter had it on her computer screen. He turned it temporarily into their screen splash page. Honestly? A fine arts major thought it was a cool enough picture to look at every day for a while? That was big to me.

Yes, I know art is in the eye of the beholder, but it certainly is an upper when the beholder is your family and they think your work rates a little notice.:)

Okay, so I was shocked but enormously pleased. I was still glowing from the comments my husband had made last night about my Poverty painting, possibly to be re-named, The Blues. Sometimes I feel like such a little girl, in spite of my 'independent' personality. It takes so little to make me feel wonderful for a couple of days. Heck, one nice comment like, "Gee your hair looks pretty", or "That painting reminds me of the impressionistic era. You know Picasso had a blue period."

I mean, my husband talking about my painting and Picasso in the same paragraph? The man knows how to turn me on.

My day was so lovely I decided with our 80 degree weather and business under control for twelve minutes that I could go on a spontaneous trail walk. Sweating and exhausted a few hours later, but definitely feeling superior to you French-fry consumers, I went back to work with a vengeance.

Okay, so I had a rather light day left, but it was intense and therefore I didn't read the morning paper until just now. Staying informed has become a bad habit, I'm afraid, as there is always something like this in the headlines:

WASHINGTON, Aug. 9—President Bush spoke out today against an increase in the gasoline tax, an idea that is being discussed as a potential part of a new Congressional plan to shore up the nation’s bridges after last week’s deadly collapse in Minneapolis.

In his last major news conference before his summer vacation, Mr. Bush also lashed out at Democrats in Congress more generally, questioning their priorities and motives on everything from economic policy to their accusations of perjury against Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/09/washington/09cnd-bush.html?hp=&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1186704456-Qnng6F1+v7Rg2qdRz81DrQ

Anyway, imagine what it takes for Bush to have the gigantic b***s to say something like that without a 'just kidding' caption in bold?

Grrrrrrrrhhhh. The man who doesn't want to raise taxes on the rich, has the freakin' gall to say the DEMOCRATS are tax & spend, after his administration will p*ss away over a trillion dollars on that evil war and obligate America for eternity in that area?

The sickening thing is that all of this hyperbole was unnecessary. He, as usual, has been instructed by Karl Rove to pull out those sad old red flags: taxes and terrorists. Why not just tell us he has no intention of solving problems for anyone but his rich buddies and friends? I think I would respect him more if he were upfront instead of always trying to manipulate us.

Well the oil industry, the porn industry and the tobacco industry keep adding to our miserable existence with the latter screeching and up in arms. The latest on their criminal behavior is how they are now enticing children to smoke.

All those non-smoking ads they so gracefully agreed to do and promote showing how terrible smoking is for your health? Those ads actually appeal to teens' sense of rebellion. Studies have now shown that those tobacco companies knew exactly what they were doing. Show smoking as 'bad' and 'non-conformist' and what are teens going to do? Exactly what all teens do. Try it.

Once they do, the nicotine will force them to return again and again for that same sense of peace and calm, and by the time they are old enough to have made an intelligent choice? They are hooked, baby. If you don't start smoking until you are twenty-five, you won't get addicted. Those are the facts.

Well, this information has inspired the current Governor of Oregon to propose a cigarette tax increase to fund health care for the children in Oregon. Luckily the majority of people in this area do not smoke, so when that cigarette tax comes up for the public vote, it may actually pass.

But I digress. The engineers have discovered a design flaw in many of the bridges in this country, but Bush doesn't want to 'waste money' to pay to repair those bridges or raise taxes to raise those funds? I guess if you fly around on Air Force One and take helicopters every place else, and your friends and family do the same, you don't need to use the highways or bridges.

Of course, this shouldn't surprise us, should it? I have to suspend disbelief to accept that after two years, all that stands between New Orleans and the next hurricane is a hurriedly constructed flood wall that won't withstand anything more than a heavy-duty, power-washer.

That Bush is one heartless bastard.

Clark County Diva

Attitude can make a difference...

2007-08-09T10:44:00.000-07:00

Good morning, my prehensile little kinkajous~

This morning a lovely friend sent this to share, so here it is:

Attitude:

There once was a woman who woke up one morning,
looked in the mirror,
and noticed she had only three hairs on her head.

Well," she said, "I think I'll braid my hair today?"
So she did
and
she
had
a
wonderful
day.

The next day she woke up,
looked in the mirror
and saw that she had only two hairs on her head.

"H-M-M," she said,
"I think I'll part my hair down the middle today?"
So she did
and
she
had
a
grand
day.

The next day she woke up,
looked in the mirror and noticed that she had only one hair on
her head.

"Well," she said,
"today I'm going to wear my hair i n a pony tail."
So she did
and
she
had
a
fun,
fun
day.

The next day she woke up,
looked in the mirror and noticed that there wasn't a single hair
on her head.

"YEA!" she exclaimed,
"I don't have to fix my hair today!"

Attitude is everything.

As a cancer survivor this touched me, but I must admit the 'attitude' during treatment is really more about making it a bit more bearable for your caretakers.:) So go ahead and curse under your breath if you're undergoing treatment and worry about your attitude when it's all over.

Clark County Diva

"Poverty" is timeless

2007-08-09T01:29:00.000-07:00

Good morning, my sweet bleeding hearts~

Several years ago I saw a photograph taken of a woman and her children during the Dust Bowl era and it moved me so much, I started this painting from memory a few days later. Funny how those things go. I couldn't seem to finish it, and I couldn't find the original photograph again.

Tonight I finished the painting I titled 'Poverty', as perhaps I was in a more compassionate mood than usual after a chance meeting with a very, very poor old man. Old people in poverty do have government services that will help them, and many other organizations cater to elderly, indigent seniors but life for many is a challenge.

However, with all the need out there, I do not find anything as forlorn as a woman who has lost hope in her ability to care for her children. Extreme poverty robs a person of everything, including one's dignity, but a parent who must anticipate a child's hunger or untreated pain? That is a hell no one wants to visit.

Our society has to begin again to provide for those in need. It is not enough to depend on charities to manage all the poverty out there. Nothing is more human than to offer a helping hand, especially when those in need have been so demoralized they no longer think to ask for help. I find it hard to believe that my fellow Americans would not gladly provide a safety net for our most vulnerable citizens and residents out of our tax dollars. I find it even more difficult to accept that our current president just doesn't give a damn about anybody else.

Just my take.

Clark County Diva

Old age and new times... not always compatible

2007-08-09T01:26:00.000-07:00

Good morning, my bubbly little ballerinas~

Yesterday afternoon and this morning I spent familiarizing myself with the latest underwriting rules and conditions for mortgages for veterans of the US Military services. Then I met with a Korean War vet who was referred to me by a realtor who hoped he would qualify to buy his listing.

Truthfully the man I saw broke my heart. He had a barber shop, which has yet to show a profit, and he lived either in the one-room shop or perhaps alternated with a shelter. He was 75 years old and on service-related disability, and there was a framed certification on the wall which stated that he had taken a 3.5 hour class on handling a handgun from the Multnomah Sheriff's Department.

He had a few old porno magazines in his literature pile for customers, and his vintage shirt and levis were covered by a slightly torn barber's coat. A second coat hung on a peg on the wall, which seemed to be in better shape and I assumed was reserved for his customers.

Unfortunately, without a sizeable down payment he won't qualify to buy anything in Portland. The price inflation in real estate occurred when he wasn't watching. I could see the darkness in his watery eyes, and surely those cataracts were severe enough to make the estimate I gave him unreadable.

When I told him his payments would be over $1700 a month, he began to look at the listing sheet in his hand as he said, "I truly do favor a fireplace. Did you notice this house doesn't have one? I went and looked at it again, just to make sure."

In that moment I realized that no matter how difficult I think my life is at times, I am a fortunate person. There are options for me as I am still young enough to be considered viable by society. I am accepted into the mainstream of the community and I could certainly obtain gainful employment if I needed to do so. There are so many options for me.

This man was in the twilight of his life, yet he talked about looking forward to retiring in five years at 80. His interest in buying now was inspired by a newly diagnosed service-related disability, which had resulted in an additional $900 a month in income. Unfortunately, even with new income, he is priced completely out of the entire county.

There is obviously a time in every person's life, if they live long enough, when that person has to accept his or her fate. Living with someone else, living without autonomy and living a lesser existence. My hope is when that time comes for me I will be as graceful as this old man.

Clark County Diva

Dog medicine man...

2007-08-08T12:44:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon, my sage little warblers~

Ever felt like a disloyal criminal because your human loyalty has been trumped by your loyalty to your pet? Well our adorable little Puggle has been developing weird absess like balls inside her throat. The first vet - who graduated from Penn, so you know she's smart - thought it was a bacterial infection, but she couldn't find anything jammed in there.

Puggles are part beagle, you see, so ours drags her nose along the ground smelling anything and everything with gusto. The diagnosis seemed logical and after surgery and then a drain in her chin for ten days along with an antibiotic series, we were very disappointed to see the lump return.

This time it was two inches lower, leading one to believe that it would be unrealistic for a bit of debris to internally travel that far in a month. Of course, I immediately think 'lymphoma' or Hodgkins' disease, although I don't know if dogs get those same versions of cancer we do.

So, we decided to go to a different, surgically inclined, vet. His theory was that the developing lump was caused by a blocked salivary gland that then caused body debris to accumulate and form those two ball-like masses.

Of course, he is a thorough intellectual guy who approached the lump like a detective. Granted he was ahead of the first vet, having had the knowledge that it had recurred inches away from the original primary lump, but his explanation also made sense and he thinks he re-routed the pathway so it won't happen again.

Okay, so my struggle was that I felt disloyal to our original vet, who has some physical disability issues, and I felt like I was kicking her when she was down. And then it hit me that this little puppy is my puppy. Okay, so she's not a kid, but in the few months we've had her, she's become more important to me than a relationship with the first vet.

Besides, I get angry when doctors don't know what's wrong. I can usually guess as well as they can, so why don't they know? I mean, I thought I had cancer and I did, but my original doctor kept pooh-poohing my symptoms and condescendingly said, "How many second opinions do you need for a hemorrhoid?"

Her mis-diagnosis for eighteen months almost cost me my life. I got that second opinion on my own, humiliated though I felt to do so. And then it turned out that by then the cancer had progressed to a Stage 3A out of 1A to 4B. I was incredibly, incredibly lucky. I want those I love, humans or pets, to be lucky too. It takes some work, lots of guts and following my instincts to try to accomplish that goal.

Clark County Diva

There's a moment in life ... when we become 'old'...

2007-08-08T12:12:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon, my tangoing little minks~

As almost a reflex I vary between blessed and cursed with an ability to imagine how I will both feel and be perceived at differing moments in the future. For instance, I am a daughter, although my parents are both now deceased. I am a sister, and all my siblings are still living and seemingly well. I am a mother, and recently a grandmother, but I am also quite a few young adults old 'auntie'.

We don't live near my biological family roots or that original extended family, so I rarely have an opportunity to be anybody other than the person I perceive myself to be.

On the other hand, our nieces and nephews are beginning to travel across the rest of the country and it appears the West Coast is on their immediate agenda. A sister I have who lives in Southern California is the favored vacation spot, of course, as she has four adult children who all live next door to each other. That makes it a family 'compound' to which the travelers are very accustomed.

When this sister's sons invited their cousin to visit this time, he accepted and so did his girlfriend. Let's face it. If you don't think you fit in, or you are young and haven't found your niche just yet, you are more likely to be a bit adventurous about where you may want to live.

Imagining this is a 'lookie-lue' trip - there are such amazing fallacies about the Southern California lifestyle, hyped by shows like 'lives of the rich and famous' - and my nephew is almost sure to be disappointed unless one thing happens. He decides the music business in Southern California will afford him more opportunity than the one in Boston.

This is the kid at five whose parents indulged him with a white glove when he imitated Michael Jackson's Thriller moves. Their coupling is that of a blues singer and a classical violinist, so what objection could they have had? Anyway, the last time I saw the kid he was over six foot and handsome as could be, dripping with a smoldering young Marlon Brando kind of look and charisma.

I did what all obnoxious people do. I suggested my sister get him acting lessons and a manager. I'm telling you I know talent. Long before anybody but the critics liked Seinfeld, I loved it. I thought Tracy Ullman was amazing - although nobody ever seemed to be able to put that chameleon into the right spot.

Anyway, my nephew's got something special about him that's feels both tragic and exhilaratingly fascinating. He'll never be happy with a grunt job and a bunch of kids. He's got that performer instinct and the desire to be somebody more than a small town musician who scrapes by each month.

Okay, okay. So maybe I had some dreams of stardom when I moved to California and only got my 7.5 minutes of fame, but I realized that was all I wanted. You know how you climb a mountain, get to the top, and the realize you'll never expend that much energy or suffering on something so stupid again? I'm kidding! The view was pretty nice from the stage with that full orchestra behind me, but I'm not a performer. I'm a storyteller.

So back to my original point. There is that moment in time when although you feel exactly the same as you did forty or fifty years ago, when your nephew comes to visit there are a couple of components involved. First, he needs to connect with his cousins, and secondly, he promised his mother he would make a point of saying hello for her.

If you want to take him out or make him a nice dinner and invite the cousins, great, but if you're expecting to need to entertain him? Remember you've become his 'aged' aunt and after he sees you lean forward with a rocking motion to propel yourself off the couch, you'd better forget any ideas you harbored of painting the town red with him or his girlfriend.:)

Just my take.

Clark County Diva

The honor of living life as a mom...

2007-08-08T10:29:00.000-07:00

Good morning, my feverish little longhorns~

Ultimately I am probably one of the stubbornest people on the planet when something matters to me. Take mothering, for instance. I feel like it was without a doubt the most important thing I have ever done, and I feel honored that I was able to be a mother.

Oh, life loses its ease for most of us when we have children. It is pretty clear that men often become unhappier the minute those little bundles of joy enter the world, and therefore marriages feel the strain, but will we fervent mothers stop having children? Not on your life!

There is something that happens to a woman both physically and spiritually that changes her forever once she has a child. If she is unfortunate enough to lose that child for some reason, her life has less meaning but she cannot go back to who she was before, no matter how hard she tries.

It will please me if during my lifetime there will be more than a Sunday in May to acknowledge the real sacrifices Moms make. Oh, don't worry that I'm singling Moms out and ignoring all you Dads out there. You get plenty of play. I just think that the specialness of that unconditional love, that untiring spirit backing a child up, and that nurturing is an unworldly way of being that deserves to be honored.

Just my take.

Clark County Diva

I have nothing against money... really...

2007-08-08T01:06:00.001-07:00

Good morning, my dancing little doggies~

Sometimes when I write about the 'rich' I make gross generalizations, so let me say here and now that I know and have known many rich people who are great human beings and use their wealth in humanitarian and progressive ways. When I get upset with the rich, it is because of the condition of the common man or woman. Life is often so hard on those who are not rich so I have to throw the blame at somebody.

I have also known some of the world's biggest tightwads. The one who interests me currently is Senator Grassley from Iowa.

Chuck Grassley is a republican who likes to watch over the bucks in government. He is the one who has shaken up Wall Street and the private-equity partners who have wrangled from the tax system an enjoyable 15% income tax rate while the rest of us enjoy a 35% one. When these private-equity partners go public, however, Chuckie wants them to pay the 35% tax like the rest of us.

Oh, you can imagine the kicking, screaming and squealing that is going on. You might even hear soon how if this happens the whole damn economy will go under overnight!

Okay, so I should tell you that Chuck has some money, but he is known for his personal frugality. He keeps his air conditioning at 80% and for many years when he reached the top ramp of the Senate garage, he would turn off his engine and coast down to his space to save gas. These kinds of stories, of course, are amusing to most of us, but a little part of my brain says, "Wow. Wish I thought of that."

So why hasn't the federal income tax created some equalization in our society? Well, it came into being after the 'Gilded Age' in the late 19th Century. It was passed to attempt to try to tap into some of the incredible fortunes that were made during that time. The inheritance tax, which has now been challenged, also attempted to redistribute some of this accumulated wealth and create some equalization.

Truthfully, if taxes have been paid once, perhaps the inheritance tax seems unfair. Then again, if the wealthy people who died had everything tax-sheltered throughout their lives, perhaps it is only fair to ask them to pay up after their demise. I certainly want my children and grandchildren to inherit whatever we have, minuscule though it will be by comparison, but if I ever do sell that screenplay?

I can pretty much guarantee I'll give it away long before I go, just so I can enjoy how they squander it.:) Okay, so lots of it would go to my kids and grandkids and things like preventing global warming, producing politically charged documentaries, publishing a few family novels, providing a foundation that helped struggling families with their expenses, and I would build a pond with a waterfall in the backyard. Oh, and a guest house too, so family could come here anytime they wanted.

Yeah, I know, I'm selfish. There are a few things more I want out of life and I make no apologies.:)

Clark County Diva

The best ten years to be Super Rich....

2007-08-08T00:39:00.000-07:00

Good morning, my fragrant little peonies~

Most Americans don't fully comprehend what is meant by the weathy top 1%, so let's throw out a few figures (Source: Newsweeks' July 23, 2007 issue):

In 1994 the average rich 1% of households had a median income of slightly over $400,000. That same year the average household income in USAmerica was about $58,700.

Well, what a difference a decade can make right? The top 1% of incomes - many Bush's friends and supporters by the way - now has an average income of $810,700. While the average annual income in USAmerica is still a grand $58,700. Unbelievable.

Now you don't have to wonder why you are struggling to keep those bills paid, send kids to college, fund your retirement and pay your medical insurance premiums. All those things have inflated along with the top 1% incomes, but with their $810,700 annual incomes they don't have a problem with $2000 medical insurance premiums or even paying for their care and support out of pocket.

And we thought it was just the CEOs getting richer. No my friends, it is the rich getting richer. Whose backs are these people stepping on and over to create so much income/wealth in such a short time? The common worker, the international worker, the poor and working poor who no longer receive social services. These are the people who must lose in order for that top 1% to win. It is pretty disgraceful.

This country is fast becoming a social disaster with its very rich elite class, a drastically shrinking middle class and a huge socio-economic lower class. Family values? Don't make me laugh. Nobody struggling to put food on the table has time for grand philosophical questioning or worries about social progress.

Hasn't keeping the lower classes busy struggling to survive suppressed any kind of meaningful protest or revolt throughout history? Give the people just a little more than dire necessities, and they will even lose the desire to seek a better life for their children.

Average Americans are completely demoralized. The political system has failed us, Bush has declared himself Emperor, and no matter what we want or who we vote for, the result is the same. Warring bastards with no regard for human life - American or otherwise.

Men and women across America are feeling like failures, because no matter how hard and long they work, they can barely stay on top of their mortgages and car payments. There has to be an equalization policy and the cream at the top has to help create a system in which the dignity of each person is respected.

A mother or father should not have to make a choice between keeping their own teeth and feeding their kids or aged parents. It is just not right in such a resource rich country to deprive our citizens of the most rudimentary medical care, respect and decent pay for their work and just the slightest bit of security in life.

Just my take.

Clark County Diva

Do you wear cotton clothes thinking your body is happier?

2007-08-08T00:38:00.000-07:00

Good morning, my cheery little Cheshire kitties~

Most of the time natural makes sense, doesn't it? Well, I've just learned that 25% of the world's insecticide use is because of the lovely cotton plant. Unfortunately, there hasn't been a way to know if the cotton clothes you are wearing were organically produced. At least not until recently.

Organic cotton, hemp and soybean materials are the eco-friendly alternatives to regular cotton, and the first group we should probably start with is kidlets.

So here are some sources for organics for children, so they can be 'green' too: www.positivelyorganic.com for onesies and T-shirts; www.happygreenbee.com for bright colors in organic clothing; for hemp skirts from 2T up, soul-flower.com.; www.jomamaco.com hemp products include ponchos and sandals and babysoyusa.com has two-toned kimono tops and T-shirts for your little one.

Aren't you glad you asked? Just think of all those chemicals that have been touching not only your own but your little ones' bodies!

Clark County Diva

Hillary & Barack or Barack & Hillary?

2007-08-08T00:34:00.000-07:00

Good morning, my talented little tenors~

Okay, so I cannot visualize Hillary and Barack Obama on the same team, but there are many who are looking at compromise and think it would be a winning team. Certainly it would be a historic one, but I don't think Barack would be on board for that one.

Hillary could handle another charismatic personality (she is used to Bill, after all) and Barack is used to living with a strong woman (Michelle Obama), so I suppose it could work if we wanted it to work. It is just that I am still a purist. Although I think Hillary would make a good president as presidents go, I would rather have Barack and his sure-to-be-made mistakes.

Hillary probably wouldn't make mistakes in that same sense, although surely she is not my people. She is one of the rich now and she is more likely to see economics trumping social policy. Every since Hillary discarded her headband after defending her husband's infidelity (the first time), I have wondered where she really lives.

Oh, I know she lives in a beautiful neighborhood with Bill, when he's there, but I mean, who is she really? She seems to be one of those people who probably is a nice person when you are friends with her. I imagine she is incredibly loyal, if her marriage is any indication of that. Yet, I don't really connect with her. Oh, her smiling up at Bill is touching, as he seems to be tender with her these days too. Perhaps it was the heart surgery and his realization that one can't take viagra when one has heart disease. (Oh, I am just being facetious.)

Ah, well, enough suppositions for now.

Clark County Diva

The taco mission... where are the really good ones?

2007-08-08T00:33:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon, my little dancing bears~

There is one thing I really miss about California. The authentic Mexican flavor of the catering-truck tacos! Dios mio, they were delicioso!

So after we stopped 'doing time' in California and made the trek up the Interstate and across the mountains into Oregon cruising until we settled on the Washington side of the Willamette Valley, we realized what we'd left. We had taken the availability of great Mexican food for granted. Ay Yay Yaaaayyyy, as they say.

Since then we have been on a quest to find the best northwest version of the Mexican taco. Porque No, on Mississippi in Portland, has the official title at present, but I've just learned there is another taco place on the corner of North Denver Avenue and Portland Boulevard.

We'll see if our sources really know what they're talking about.

Clark County Diva

How about three Iraqs?

2007-08-08T00:32:00.000-07:00

Good morning, my fancy little geographers~

It seems that Europeans, and now USAmericans, cannot leave well enough alone. The previous empire-builders created Iraq from three separate ethnic groups and that has not worked well for anyone except the most dominant group.

Now our 'coalition' has forced the Iraqis to attempt to negotiate a three-pronged governing body, which is not working. Perhaps if Iraq were divided up into three separate states - Sunni, Shiite and Kurd - the insurgency would be quelled and the oil revenues and power could be shared as well.

Nothing else seems to be a viable solution without our or some other military force.

Just my take.

Clark County Diva

Developing a compassionate mind...

2007-08-07T09:41:00.000-07:00

Good morning, my able-bodied little monkeys~

This week seems to have been emotionally tough for lots of people with that bridge collapse. Terrorist threats are one thing. Earthquakes, floods, and other 'acts of God' another, but when infrastructure begins to fail because our government hasn't taken care of things? That creates a severe distrust of all things and a very different kind of stress.

So when the people you put your faith in let you down, what are the options?

The infrastructure problem in the United States is too large for us to even imagine. Engineers in this country have been warning us for years, but they've been stifled and they are not paid to crusade anyway. The New Orleans disaster after Katrina was not a surprise to anyone in the local or state government. It was even less of a surprise to the federal government.

The surprise was to the American people, who never in a million years could accept that America is fast becoming a second rate country. Being a super power isn't a divine right, and we have not only abused our power, but we continue to neglect and abuse our citizens.

No other country in the developed world begrudges medical treatment as one example. Although other countries admire our seeming ability to spend more money than we make, no one with a solid medical delivery system would ever want to have to pay for medical care here. No citizen in a developed country is ever forced into bankruptcy because of medical bills. Medical services debt is the number one reason in this country our citizens must file bankruptcy.

Oh, we would like to think that it is only the poorest of the poor who end up bankrupt, and the government takes care of them, right? The truth is, even insured people - or people who think they are adequately covered with some form of health insurance - reach their 'lifetime' maximums of coverage or their needed medical services are not covered and their insurance company tells them so.

We've got so many things to worry about that most people don't worry about being stopped under a freeway overpass or crossing over a bridge in rush hour, and I admire those people. I would bet that some of them don't worry about smoking cigarettes or drinking too much either, and we used to think it was great to be able to buy cheap consumer goods 'made in China'. Now we read every label and soon all the food we eat, not just the fish, will be required to show where it originated.

Personally, if a consumer good or product does not say 'Made in USA', or a country of origin where I believe the government is on top of things? I've decided I don't need it. My daughter just threw away many toys that were part of the million plus recall of Chinese produced children's products with excessive lead in the paint. We have all decided we can make her things or have them made. Right here. I am sure we are not alone.

Perhaps that is what separates the homo sapien from the rest of the beasts. We have the capacity to worry and therefore some of us do. Once the issues of financial survival are managed, we humans can look out beyond ourselves and see what else needs to be done. Yes, it's difficult to care about others when the chips are down, but what about the long-term view?

Our main problem in American society is that we have failed to develop a collective compassionate mindset. We 'blame' the homeless for their predicament or mental illness. We think the poor are 'shiftless and lazy'. We see poor women, abandoned with small children, as having 'brought this upon themselves'. Old people abandoned in nursing homes must be bad people, or otherwise their families would care for them. Oh, we are a judgmental sort.

Our beautiful independence becomes something much less attractive when it morphs into 'enlightened self interest'. When we refuse to sacrifice our own material wealth or goals for the greater good, we become selfish and cruel. The infrastructure failings are just one example of this expectation that somebody else should pay for retro-fittings and replacement.

Although life was much more appealing financially during Clinton's administration, and lots of people had discretionary income, we never really addressed many of these social issues. Bridges built forty and fifty years ago, however, do not meet anyone's idea of seismic safety or maximum total loads, and it has been more than just a few administrations since these flaws became evident.

Once Bush was elected, the country went to hell in a bigger hand basket, as all federal monies have gone to the Middle East and an exhausting military proliferation.

Now we have a 'troop surge' that we were told would be twenty thousand something troops and he's sent in ninety thousand. There will be a lot more structural and social disasters in this country before we leave Iraq, which we eventually will. The American taxpayer is already suffering enough from this diversion of our resources, but as more improperly maintained bridges and roadways give way? Our compassion is light, but our patience is even lighter.

Just my take.

Clark County Diva

The Hello Kitty armband of Shame?

2007-08-07T09:30:00.000-07:00

Good morning, my slinky little English Muffins~

If you ever wondered if military men were the same around the world, here's a little piece on the new 'shame band' in the Thai police force:

BANGKOK, Aug. 7 — It is the pink armband of shame for wayward police officers, as cute as can be with a Hello Kitty face and a pair of linked hearts.

No matter how many ribbons for valor a Thai officer may wear, if he parks in the wrong place, or shows up late for work, or is seen dropping a bit of litter on the sidewalk, he can be ordered to wear the insignia.

“Simple warnings no longer work,” said Pongpat Chayaphan, acting chief of the Crime Suppression Division in Bangkok, who instituted the new humiliation this week.

“This new twist is expected to make them feel guilt and shame and prevent them from repeating the offense, no matter how minor,” he said. “Kitty is a cute icon for young girls. It’s not something macho police officers want covering their biceps.”

Ten of the armbands have been prepared, but so far none have actually been issued, according to an officer who declined to give his name while discussing this sensitive topic.

“After this policy came out, the police are scared,” the officer said. “It will be very embarrassing to walk around with Hello Kitty on your arm.” It is a step down from the Crime Suppression Division’s official motto: “When you have no one to turn to, come to us.”

Mr. Pongpat, who has trained with the American Secret Service and the Canadian police, was promoted to head the division three months ago and says he wants to modernize his force, “even though we lack the highest technology, equipment and mind-set.”

An aide, Maj. Weeraprach Wonrat, said the chief was a believer in behavioral science and in the “broken window theory,” which holds that small changes can have large effects.

Pink armbands for misdemeanors are a start. Stronger measures could be next for corruption and extrajudicial killings.

An early experiment using armbands was not encouraging. Mr. Pongpat first tried using plaid ones. But instead of feeling shame, Major Weeraprach said, the officers took them home as souvenirs. The force still has only one of the ten it originally issued.

After that misfire, police commanders met again to consider strategy, he said, and agreed that Hello Kitty might work where tartan had failed.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/07/world/asia/07cnd-thai.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

Certainly little girls in Thailand will find 'naughty' policemen much more approachable. Okay, so it makes me smirk too, but I wonder if shame and punishment are the right motivation for anyone.

Clark County Diva

A few more tips on how to survive a fire...

2007-08-06T16:41:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon, my dynamic little hummingbirds~

Okay, so I am in some weird frame of mind. Perhaps I've been reading and watching the news a little too much the last few days and so I am focused on disasters. I have one great big beef about low-income housing, and here it is. Manufactured homes.

They are the biggest fire traps in the world, and I personally think that kind of shabby construction should be banned. Ask any fire department that is located near manufactured homes - whether they are in a park or on a permanent foundation - and they will tell you how unsafe they are. Particularly as they get older and the cheesy wiring in them starts to fail, they become death traps.

So, in the interest of saving lives, here is another tip on escaping a fire when the exit is blocked with flames or fumes. Lie down on your back so that the fumes don't get you first and kick out the walls!

No kidding, these structures are so cheap that you can kick them out - just like stucco - and make your own escape route. Obviously if they were built with extra doors and windows that one could escape through, they wouldn't be such hazardous buildings.

Yes, I know, if only I were Queen.

Oh! And if you have a basement that doesn't have two exits or a window big enough for someone to climb out in addition to the door? Please don't let your children or someone else sleep down there. Bad things do happen, but we don't need to make it easy for them, do we?

Clark County Diva

How to survive a car wreck that ends up in water...

2007-08-06T16:23:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon, my luscious little lollypops~

I should still be working this afternoon, but I think I've had enough intellectual stimulation today.:) Hence, I am thinking about that horrible bridge disaster and trying to find ways to cope with the anxiety it produces for those of us who drive over deficient bridges daily.

There's a book about how to survive all kinds of things - like being attacked by a tiger - but this is just about getting out of a vehicle once it hits water. That's the key, my friends.

As soon as your vehicle hits the water you will have between 30 seconds and 4 minutes to get yourself out of the car. The most important thing is to stay calm. As soon as you land, open the windows - if your power windows still work. If they don't work, find something with which to smash the window, even if it is your body part.

There is no point trying to open a door as it will be impossible with the water pressure. Smash the window, unbuckle your seat belt and get out as soon as you can.

The Police refer to this as SOS GO!

S Stay calm.
O Open the window somehow.
S Seatbelt unbuckle
Go! Get the hell out of there!

If you are with other people, obviously one of you can unbuckle kids, etc., while you get the windows open.

I know this stuff is super creepy and frightening, but things happen. Drive safely in the meantime, okay?

Clark County Diva