Help Support the National Suicide Prevention Hotline

This was on both Found Cameras and Orphan Pictures and PostSecret this morning.



Please visit http://www.hopeline.com/ to find out more information on how you can help save the Hopeline. Hit the donation button and help some one you don't know.

Timely

There was a great post regarding marriage, yesterday, over at Oh, The Joys. I hope you take the time to read it. Part of the post included this poem by Martin Niemöller. This poems moves me whenever I read it.

First They Came

When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent; I was not a communist.
When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent; I was not a social democrat.
When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out; I was not a trade unionist.
When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent; I wasn't a Jew.
When they came for me, there was no one left to speak out.

Martin Niemöller (1892–1984)

Because May is Melanoma and Skin Cancer Awareness Month, Karen at Simply Amusing Blog has been asked by a group of local oncologists to write about prevention; they're using a Q & A format, and she's asking readers for questions for the physicians to answer. Summer's almost upon us, the sun will be blazing guns in no time, so her goal is to get readers to think about better choices before any damage is done.

Robin alerted me to this, check it out.

The Pill

Today is an important one for women. On this day in 1960, the Food and Drug Administration approved the use of a birth control pill. Margaret Sanger had campaigned for more than 40 years for a contraceptive that would be inexpensive and widely available. She raised $3 million from her friend Katherine McCormick to fund the research of doctors John Rock and Gregory Pincus, who began working together on the project in 1952.

The first oral contraceptive pill was called Enovid-10 and was a 10-mg combination of synthetic hormones norethynodrel and mestranol. It was approved first in 1957 for treating menstrual disorders. Then, on this day, the FDA announced that it would approve the pill for the use of birth control. The pill prevents pregnancy because its synthetic hormones block the ovaries from releasing eggs that can be fertilized.

It wasn't until Griswold v. Connecticut in 1965, however, that the pill became available in all states to married women. With Eisenstadt v. Baird in 1972, the pill became available as well to unmarried women in all states. In 2000, more than 16 million American women were taking the pill.

When the pill was first introduced, it was very strong, and a woman could only take it for a relatively short time; with time this also improved.

Tree Cups of Tea

I did a review about Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin, on my book blog. Since I love the book so much, I thought I'd post a quote from the book, and maybe encourage someone else to read it. It's one of those books that stayed with me, I know I'll re-read it, and that's rare for me.

"If you educate a boy, you educate an individual. But if you educate a girl, you educate a community."

- An African proverb quoted by Greg Mortensen

This is a quote about the book from Tom Brokaw:

"Three Cups of Tea is one of the most remarkable adventure stories of our time. Greg Mortenson's dangerous and difficult quest to build schools in the wildest parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan is not only a thrilling read, it's proof that one ordinary person, with the right combination of character and determination, really can change the world."

Terry Pratchett

This is from deb at Booking Through Thursday:

"Here’s a slightly off-topic announcement for you. I know how much you all love to read, and that many of you love sci-fi and fantasy books as well. Well, Terry Pratchett (author of the Discworld books) recently came forward with the announcement that he has Alzheimer’s. He’s donated approximately a million dollars to Alzheimer’s research and his fans are trying to match that. They’ve only been collecting for something like four days and are up to about $70,00 (35,000 British pounds) … So!
I have a special hatred of Alzheimer’s, since it’s what (finally) killed my grandfather back in 1967, before they really knew what Alzheimer’s was. My grandmother took care of him until the end–and she luckily had great neighbors and relatives who helped out–but it was enormously difficult. On the rare occasions Dad mentions it, he’ll say that my grandfather almost took her with him, it was so incredibly hard. So, yes, I’m definitely supporting this one, for the grandfather I never got a chance to know.
You can donate to the Match it for Pratchett site or to the Alzheimer’s Research Trust directly. Oh, and there are t-shirts, too. Whether you ever read the man’s books or not, it’s a good cause, folks. Or even just promote it on your own blog to spread the word. Do you know that they’re predicting that 18% of all baby boomers will develop this disease? That’s one in five people out of an entire generation. Talk about scary. Match it for Pratchett!"

Not One More...

This from Flutterby , today. Take the time to watch this, especially if you have teenagers.

Shame on Berkley

You may have heard about Berkley banning the Marines. It made me angry, and I thought, "Well that's stupid Berkley, again." Check out what some others had to say to the Berley City Council.

Karma

Last month, I posted about knitting or crocheting a scarf for a stranger. It is a project by Ellen, a cool kid in San Francisco. I got started, and decided to ask the women I work with at Barnes and Noble if they wanted to participate. Three others decided to join me, and today I have a total of 5 scarves to mail to San Francisco. I really do work with some great people. I work for Barnes and Noble for the books, but after 7 years, I work there for the great people, too.

Tuesday Quotes - Roe v. Wade

Today is the 35th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade. The bastards are still trying to undo it. Shameful.

In honor of this anniversary, here are some feminist quotes:

I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is: I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a door mat or a prostitute. ~Rebecca West, "Mr Chesterton in Hysterics: A Study in Prejudice," The Clarion, 14 Nov 1913, reprinted in The Young Rebecca, 1982

Women have been taught that, for us, the earth is flat, and that if we venture out, we will fall off the edge. ~Author Unknown

The emotional, sexual, and psychological stereotyping of females begins when the doctor says, "It's a girl." ~Shirley Chisholm

I wish someone would have told me that, just because I'm a girl, I don't have to get married. ~Marlo Thomas

I love the last one. That is the way I raised my daughters. - "All men are assholes." - "Be prepared to always support yourself." I raised them to be strong and independent, and they are. Whenever anything went awry, Bob would say - "It's all your fault." And I would agree. They married because they wanted to, not because they had to, for any reason.

I edited the photo from photo hound's photos. Thanks.

"What the hell should I do with all this money?"

Henning Mankell is one of my favorite authors and a real hero. His Chronicler of the Winds, has stayed with me a long time after reading it. It is a deeply affecting novel. When I read his quote, "What the hell should I do with all this money?", I knew he was my kind of "rich guy" - a giver. This is a quote from an interview posted on his web-site:

What drives Henning Mankell as an author? – "The fundamental driving force for me is to, with poor ability; create a changing of the world we live in. It becomes worse and worse on every level. It is about exploitation, plundering and degrading. I have a small possibility to participate in the resistance. Most of the things that I do are part of a resistance, a form of solidarity work. I wish that I could do more of value and that the world changes to a place of decency."

I don't think the translation from Swedish is the best, but you get the idea that this is a guy with a social conscience.

So, you may wonder, what did he do with "all this money"? He built an African village in Ghana! He donated 15 million kronor ($2.3 million) for the construction of homes for orphaned children in Mozambique. He's a terrific guy, as well as a great author.

Tricia L Jameson

After reading about The Mother's Day project, I decided this was something I wanted to do. It was simple to get involved thanks to Anne at ThreadingWater - knitting and politics, together at last, blog. The soldier assigned to me is Tricia L. Jameson.

Staff Sgt. Tricia L. Jameson, 34, was killed near Trebil, Iraq, when a roadside bomb exploded near her Hum-Vee ambulance. She is survived by her mother, Patricia Marsh of Omaha.

Tricia was a member of the 313th Medical Company (Ground Ambulance) of Lincoln, Neb. She was a 1989 graduate of Millard South High School and attended Central Community College at Columbus from 1990-91.

She was mobilized to duty approximately a month ago. Prior to her deployment, Tricia was employed full-time by the Nebraska National Guard as a health care specialist at the Nebraska National Guard air base clinic in Lincoln.

According to unit officials, Jameson was the vehicle commander of an M997 Ambulance that was supporting a convoy mission from Camp Korean Village to the Treybul Border Crossing on the Iraqi – Jordan border. During the mission, they encountered a separate convoy of U.S. Marines that had been attacked with an Improvised Explosive Device leaving several wounded.
Jameson and her Ambulance driver were called forward to aid the wounded Marines. As Jameson’s Ambulance approached, a secondary Improvised Explosive Device detonated, killing Jameson, severely wounding the driver, and destroying the ambulance.

"Staff Sgt. Jameson’s mission was to save lives," said Maj. Gen. Roger Lempke . "Unfortunately, we’re up against an enemy that doesn’t distinguish between humanitarian support and combatants."

This is a posting from one of her cousins:

April 28, 2006

- Tricia, I miss you dearly and more every day. I think about you all the time and there is never ever a moment you are not on my mind. I love you, Imiss you and so does all our family. We miss you Trish, Keri

This is what one of her fellow soldiers said about her:

November 15, 2007


- To one hell of a soldier and person. Always caring about others more than herself. She set the example for others to follow and gave 100% in all she did. She was always dependable and there for you when you needed her, just a great person to work with. When our youngest son was born, she was the only person that showed up at the hospital from our section. She brought a stuffed animal along for our oldest boy who was four at the time so he didn't feel left out. Thats the kind of person she was. We miss her dearly! SFC Richard Wortman, USA-RET

I got my swatch in the mail Thursday afternoon, I felt a sense of urgency, and worked on it on Friday and Saturday. I'll get it in the mail to Anne on today. This is a close-up of my embroidery.

Karma

Do you knit or crochet? Are you interested in racking up some karma? Will you make a scarf for a stranger and donate it? That would be great! A really cool kid, Ellen, contacted West Coast Crafty about her project. This is her first charity project. Help if you can.

Mail or bring your finished scarf to:

Imagiknit 3897 18th St (at Sanchez)

Greenwich Yarn 2073 Greenwich St (at Webster)

Atelier Yarns 1945 Divisadero St (between Pine and California)

Mendels/Far-Out Fabrics 1556 Haight St (between Clayton and Ashbury)

The Gables 5636 Geary Blvd (at 21st Ave)(415) 751-8152

Wishbone 601 Irving St (at 7th Ave)

The Gratitude Campaign

Carrie steered me to this. This is important.

Bumper Sticker

I am for Women's Rights. I am not a vegetarian or a vegan. I really believe that women, and men, should be able to make the choices they need to, when they need to. I am old enough to remember why we marched in the rain for Women's Rights, many years ago. Here in Murrieta, it's like living in the Bible-belt. Lots of anti-abortion protest. I saw this bumper sticker, yesterday, in a parking lot. The next time I encounter these protesters, I think I'll do a survey, to see if their right-wing butts are eating beings with eyes.

Conservation

When Bob and I started traveling, I started paying as many utility bills as possible with EasyPay. Just sign-up, and every month the statement is paid automatically. One less thing to think about, where ever we are in the world.

After a while, I noticed one utility, our water company, sent an envelope each month; even though it would not be used. I wrote them, and they called and said thank you, this would be changed and they would save some money and trees.

It worked, until this month. I got another return envelope in our water bill. So, I wrote them, today. We'll see what happens.