Change Is Here
Posted by Michelle Moquin on November 5th, 2008
I woke up yesterday morning feeling an excitement in my gut, like it was Christmas. And I went to bed last night feeling like I was given the best present one could hope for in this day. And without sounding too melodramatic, because I could easily go there, that present was the gift of hope for our future and the future of this planet.
In spite of the issues at the polls from malfunctioning machines, to running out of ballots, voter suppression, and all of the corruption in between, the American people came together in unprecedented numbers and spoke loudly. I am so grateful that we finally woke up and took serious actions in deciding how we wanted our future to be.
And thanks to Madaline, our words were heard and our check-marks, slashes, and punches marking Obama as the desired president were seen and correctly counted. And thanks to Madaline we all went to bed last night with victorious smiles spread across our faces…Change is Here.
Maddie: I have no idea how you pulled it all off; I look forward to reading the AAR’s someday soon. But words can not express how grateful I am that you did. Through your exemplary efforts we got a huge landslide and coattails. As I said I had no doubt in you whatsoever or in your abilities. And I couldn’t be more delighted over the results.
As much as I loved your quote from the other day, I wanted to post it again with a slight change:
‘Take heart that the day has not yet come when a man can defeat the determined will of a GirlZ.’
I too say it with the firm belief that a GirlZ always gets the job done. Thank you.
Anonz: I can not leave you out of this equation. As I mentioned the other day, I don’t believe in coincidences; I believe that things happen for a reason. Just as I believe that you stumbled onto my blog for a reason. And that your profound experience with Nia has transformed you in ways that only you are aware of, leading you to do and say things that you most likely would not have done or said before. I am grateful to that little girl.
And although you may not have believed in Madaline’s abilities, the information that you confessed only fueled the fire inside of me, and without it…well let’s just say, ‘knowledge is powerful.’ And in this case, ‘more powerful than any amount of money.’ Thank you. And, I will heed your suggestion.
Hi Guam: Thanks for the stats – I could not find the info yesterday morning. It looks like Guam was once again right on!
Mary, Connie and Carl: Thanks for posting your issues at the polls – I am sure your experiences were just a few of many.
Dori, Mindy Shawn, and Lori: Thank you for the congrats – It has been a long and rewarding road to victory.
Doug and Zen Lill: Wow. Trippy huh? Thanks for your love and kind words. So…What’s next? :)
Hello Readers: Thank you for going out there and voting! – I know most of you are so thrilled over the results. It is a time of celebration but it is also a time to continue to work hard. President Obama ( I just love saying that!) has his work cut out for him, but so do we. This is just the beginning and I so look forward to the changes knowing that we have stepped up and are a force to be reckoned with.
Okay..I just have to add…being the fashion maven that I am…Didn’t ya just love how the Obama’s looked all dressed up in black and red? Yep, they wore red and took the red states! And Michelle looked stunning – so not the typical ‘first lady’ dress!
Comments? I’d love to hear about your celebratory evening – blog me.
Peace out…
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: Your Bad Ass Bitch Editor
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November 5th, 2008 at 10:26 am
Michelle
Sir
As soon as we can guarantee the integrity of our communication’s medium I will give you my After Action Report on how I accomplished your orders for the landslide and the coat tails victory.
I would like to propose a solution to the conflict in Iraq. If you wish, when Obama takes office, you can communicate to him that if he will remove all American personnel from Iraq, I will pass over the total territorial outline of Iraq and kill every living thing except the females. I will beam them up to my craft.
The country will be barren except for the bodies of the subhumans who preyed upon the their female population. I will secure the borders of Itraq and kill any thing living that crosses them until Obama sends in whomever he wishes to occupy the area.
If you wish I can beam up the Turks and give them notice that they will be returned to their areas of Iraq with a warning to the men that if they oppress their women in any way I will return and do to them what I have done to the Iraqi men.
The entire process from the time you give the order to its completion can be accomplished in 19 hours. I await your orders.
Sir
Madaline
November 5th, 2008 at 10:29 am
DANGERS AT THE SUPERMARKET
Last year, in quick succession, serious health concerns arose with assorted Chinese imports including dog and cat foods, diethylene glycol-laced toothpaste, filthy or pesticide-drenched mushrooms and old, decomposed fish packed in carbon monoxide-infused packaging to make it appear fresh. In recent years, we’ve also suffered outbreaks of food-borne illness from Latin American produce.
We haven’t been immune to food safety problems here in the US, either, but maybe the “eat local” folks are onto something. Really, there is no way to make the food supply perfectly safe. But most of us who shop at the neighborhood supermarket believe we can depend on the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to be aggressive in monitoring the safety of our food supply, whether it is domestic or imported. The problem is they don’t have the resources. A report recently issued by the FDA Science Board concluded that the nation’s food supply is at risk and poses danger to consumers in large part because the FDA is desperately short of money and poorly organized. The report noted that in the past 20 years the agency’s public health responsibilities have vastly increased — while the staff and budget have not. It’s an unfair situation and a frightening one, too.
For further insight into problems with the FDA and food safety, I spoke with Michael Doyle, PhD, director of the University of Georgia (UGA) Center for Food Safety and a renowned expert on E. coli bacteria and other food-borne pathogens. He assured me that the US food supply is still among the safest in the world. He is, however, extremely concerned about the dangers inherent in our increasing reliance on imported foods. We now import more foods than we export and within 20 years Dr. Doyle says we will likely be importing more food than we produce here in the US. This creates quality control problems of enormous magnitude.
THE PROBLEMS WITH IMPORTED FOOD
Right now, about 15% of the food we eat is imported from other countries — including 84% of seafood and 43% of non-citrus fresh fruits. Of course, it’s not all bad — food coming from countries with rigorous sanitary standards like those we have here in the US are generally safe, says Dr. Doyle. These include Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the countries of Western Europe. In countries within Central and South America, safe food production and handling practices vary. In some locations, hygienic practices for growing and harvesting foods are similar to or better than here in the US while in other areas they are grossly substandard. Mistakes can happen anywhere — witness last winter’s outbreak of E. coli linked to bagged spinach from California — but the likelihood that food-borne illnesses such as E. coli and Salmonella will arise is far higher in foods produced under unsanitary conditions.
Unfortunately, many imported foods come from countries that use dangerously polluted water for growing and processing. When Dr. Doyle described some of the farming techniques used in China, Vietnam and Thailand, I felt sick to my stomach. For example, he said it is a centuries-old practice there to use human excrement as fertilizer on fields. Outhouses are often erected over ponds where fish are farmed and chickens are raised in huge pens directly over them as well, as excrement is considered fertilizer for the fish… yet it’s no surprise that if not properly cleaned and processed, it’s also a source of contamination with potentially deadly Salmonella.
And then there is the problem of pesticides. Not only do many countries use carcinogenic pesticides now illegal in the US, they use them in excessive levels, Dr. Doyle warns. China and other countries use pesticides like DDT, which has been banned in the US since 1972. And Mexico has also had many problems with pesticide residues on produce.
WHAT CAN BE DONE TO ENSURE FOOD SAFETY?
It’s an issue of very serious concern, says Dr. Doyle. He predicts the number and frequency of food-borne illnesses will escalate as the percentage of imported foods rises. He believes the FDA needs to reinvent itself in order to ensure the safety of our food supply. The FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition has lost 30% of its operating resources since 2003 and about 8% to 14% of its staff since 2003. This funding and staff needs to be reinstated, at the very least. The FDA also needs an extreme technological makeover. Many of the current testing methods are decades old, and better sampling and testing protocols must be developed to verify that foods — especially those that are imported, since laws on sanitation vary — are safe.
Recently, the FDA announced new voluntary fresh-cut produce standards in response to the intense focus on the dangers of food contaminants. Large domestic produce processors are calling for more stringent regulation for all, themselves included — mandatory, not voluntary. We need to level the playing field for domestic and international producers, Dr. Doyle explains. When all food producers are required by law to follow the same level of sanitation guidelines, we will all be healthier — consumers and industry alike.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
In the meantime, what steps can you and I take to be sure the foods we buy are clean and safe? I’ve written before about the safe handling of food (see Daily Health News, but in many cases this isn’t enough. Types of contamination include microbiological (such as bacteria) and chemical (pesticides or antibiotics). Proper cooking takes care of most, though not all, microbiological contamination. However with some pesticides, the application of heat does little to address contamination and even vigilant rinsing and washing doesn’t offer complete protection.
In the long run, we will all make our own decisions about foods, based on individual health and budget considerations. But in Dr. Doyle’s view, the only way to stay completely safe from potentially contaminated imported foods — that is, foods from countries with insufficient safety standards — is not to buy them. In my neighborhood, farmers markets are now open nearly half the year, spring through fall. This is of no help in the winter months, but at least during the local growing season I can purchase regionally grown produce with confidence not only in its origins but also that I’m helping to support the local economy — that’s a double win, in my view.
Source(s): ??Michael Doyle, PhD, Regents Professor of Food Microbiology, Director, Center for Food Safety, Department of Food Science & Technology, University of Georgia, Griffin.
November 5th, 2008 at 10:35 am
Michelle
Sir
In the above suggestion. I meant Kurds not turks. I will await you answer via our normal channels.
Sir
Madaline
November 5th, 2008 at 11:00 am
Zen Licious
I have looked and looked. Where exactly is the full body shot? Do not tease a man who is heading back to Dafur in two days.
Michelle
Thank you for your kind words. I want to get back to feeling the needs of a man who has been granted a second opportunity to rediscover his heart. But before I can begin to enjoy the remainder of my time on this planet, I owe Nia at least an attempt to fulfill my promise to her.
So in two days I will return to Dafur to do just that. I would like to ask that you remove any protection you and Madaline have provided me. I will not feel that I am fulfilling my promise to Nia if I go back removed from the dangers she was forced to experience every day of her short life.
I must do this, or I will not be able to live with myself. She is a constant memory. I must say that she is a very pleasant one. Her big sad eyes would become a beacon of joy when she smiled. My heart never fails to weep when I think of what she was forced to endure to occupy her small place on this planet.
I know that I owe you and Madaline my ability to have a body to return to Darfur with, if not my life itself. I owe Zen Lill for the joy she has brought to me. Her joie de vie and her joie etre has brought to me and countless other readers a new reason to arise in the morn.
ZL, I look forward to returning and getting my face presentable. I will email you a full body display as soon as the swelling goes down. One day after I return, I will get that facial. I have already selected my operation team.
Anonz
November 5th, 2008 at 11:37 am
If I were an American, I would be so proud. Hell, I’ m proud to be an illegal alien here
Krishna
November 5th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Sweet pea, click on the calendar on my site, 9/21, it’ll put you on the correct entry.
I’d try to talk you out of the removal of the protection fr Mischa and Maddie but I know you won’t listen. I am concerned about your safety there but you do what you must.
I cannot say more, I was in mid-celebration today and now I’m not…
I wish you the best.
Luv, Zen Lill
November 5th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
My Sweet Zen
You are the last person I would ever want to bring grief to. But because you are who you are, I know that you understand my need to do this. I have no death wish. You have given me reason to believe in life again.
Thank you for understanding.
Anonz
November 5th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
I was talking with some friends last night, during the celebration of our new President elect Obama, that I thought that it would not be him that makes the change necessary for this country, but the country itself that will make the change. This is also what he alluded to within his acceptance speech and other stump speeches throughout the campaign trail. As one person was saying that she thought we should all be very careful and not make Obama into some kind of Christ like figure, as if he can cure all of the nations ills. What I thought his new position and expertly run campaign exemplified was that he showed everyone that he had the power to hold this country’s new desire and vision to make the changes that he talked about daily on his campaign trail. He simply ignited what this world wants this country to bring forward. He was able to put feeling and words to what the country as a whole was looking for after these past 8 years of failed politics, policies and dreams. He has ignited what this country was yearning for, was asking for, and what the country voted for. His position is to simply hold that vision in order for the country and its people to maintain the reserve, capability and desire in order to manifest the massive changes that are necessary to move this country forward.
He has shown this quality of being the Commander in Chief through his ability to take the pot shots that the McCain campaign threw at him. He was able to see beyond, and help others see beyond the old politics as usual processes that his opponent was using for their campaign.
Obama has shown the country and the world the power of forward thinking and brought together a new mass of young, internet savvy people into politics. By creating a large group of new registered voters that have become excited about the process of politics has not happened in a very long time. He has shown that the process of campaign or policy information distribution has changed through the transforming power of the internet and viral marketing efforts that his staff understands.
Change happens, always. Most people are uncomfortable with change, as it is the unknown. But what has transpired now is that we have a new leader that is able to hold the vision of change for the country to take it on.
November 5th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
What a country!
November 6th, 2008 at 4:33 am
PROMISING NEW SOLUTION FOR SLEEP APNEA
Do you snore loud enough to keep your neighbors awake — not to mention your bed partner? Though it is the subject of many jokes, snoring isn’t something to take lightly. Loud snoring is one of the main symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea, where the airway is repeatedly blocked during sleep. Breathing becomes shallow or even stops during the brief moments of silence between the snorer’s gasps and gurgles. Apnea means cessation of breathing and sufferers can have as many as 250 episodes a night. In addition to disrupting sleep and leading to exhaustion for the snorer and everyone else in hearing distance, sleep apnea can ultimately increase the likelihood of problems such as high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke and heart attack. In fact, complications of sleep apnea are thought to have played a role in the 2004 death of Reggie White, one of the greatest defensive players in NFL history.
Mild cases of sleep apnea may be helped by behavioral changes such as losing weight or turning over to sleep on your side. However, when sleep apnea is moderate to severe, patients are often advised to wear a device called a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) mask. It looks like something out of a Star Trek movie, with a clear mask that fits over the nose, connected via tubes to a machine that blows air through the mask and into the nostrils. This forceful air keeps open the soft palate between the back of the nose and mouth and is an effective treatment for apnea problems. But the mask is awkward and can be uncomfortable enough that many people who need it simply won’t use it.
DREAMING OF AN EASIER SOLUTION?
Those dreaming of a better way will be interested to learn of a new study, published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, that reports on an easier-to-tolerate alternative. Coauthored by Hartmut Schneider, MD, PhD, an assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins Asthma and Allergy Center in Baltimore, MD, the study demonstrated that a simple device called a nasal cannula — a small, flexible plastic tube with two short prongs placed in the nostrils through which a steady flow of warm, humidified air is delivered — can bring relief to patients with obstructive sleep apnea.
The nasal cannula is less cumbersome, costs far less and delivers a gentler stream of air than the CPAP mask, says Dr. Schneider. That makes the treatment more comfortable but also means it may not be forceful enough to solve the problem for patients with more severe apnea. According to Dr. Schneider, the nasal cannula would work as effectively as a CPAP mask for about a third of people with sleep apnea.
FIND A STUDY NEAR YOU
Not yet FDA approved, treatment with this device is still in its early stages. Dr. Schneider anticipates fewer adverse effects than CPAP, especially in children.
But if you’re concerned about your snoring — or you suffer from sleep apnea but have been unable to tolerate a CPAP mask — consider speaking to your doctor about this study. If it is appropriate for you, he/she can refer you to a sleep clinic where you can enroll in a trial of the treatment. For more information, and to find a sleep center near you, visit.
Source(s): ??Hartmut Schneider, MD, PhD, Johns Hopkins Asthma and Allergy Center, Baltimore, Maryland.