You know how during commercial breaks the anchor person for the local news will say "crash on the interstate causes 2 deaths - story at 11" or "suicide bomber walks into church and blows himself up - story at 11." 

Well, all night I heard about a school teacher who committed a "violent act" against 3 students and "story at 11" so I made the point of keeping the local news on at - you guessed it - 11.

Here's the big headline.  At a Collier County middle school, 3 boys were misbehaving during band class so the teacher ordered them to do pushups.  One student became so disruptive that the teacher told him to hold the pushup position for 5 minutes (or was it 10? this is under investigation)

  "An Immokalee Middle School teacher violated Collier County School District discipline policy when the teacher ordered a student to hold in a pushup position for 5 to 10 minutes for misbehaving in band class, a district administrator said today."

I don't believe in beating kids, but what's wrong with giving them some exercises to do to get them in line?  Give this teacher the Golden Apple award for heaven's sake!   

FYI:  Less than 25% of Immokalee residents have a high diploma.  Close to 40% live under the poverty level.  If this happened in a wealthy town and the students were snotty prep boys, I'd feel the same way about discipline, but if these kids start behaving in class they might actually learn something, go to high school, graduate and possibly get college scholarships.  On the other hand, I just tried doing a pushup and for me that is a form of torture!

Seriously, I think we should be more concerned about the teacher in Indiana who showed up drunk yesterday or the teacher in New York who had sex with his students. 

I was just looking at the directions for a vitamin B-12 complex spray (B-12, B6, Folic Acid)

It reads: 

I just watched a short video online of the very first time a toilet seat was shown on TV.  It was on the show "Leave it to Beaver" when Beaver & Wally bought a pet baby alligator and needed a place to keep it. They were allowed to show only the top of the toilet (not the seat) with the tank cover removed.  I always knew that couples weren't allowed to sleep in the same bed, but I never realized that bathroom scenes were taboo.

Well times certainly have changed, haven't they?  I turned on my set just a few days ago and there was someone sitting on a toilet doing his business.  Since NYPD Blue we've seen quite a number of bare bottoms too (and a lot more!) 

So do you think going from "no scenes with a toilet in sight" to "sexually explicit scenes & language" means that television has progressed?  I never supported censorship, but what values are we teaching our children and how as a society do we begin to act toward others when our heroes are scheming & ruthless.  Can someone be a little overly ambitious? What some call "Reality" shows are often, at least to me, a sad depiction of society and what it takes to win.  I think a program will do just about anything to increase its viewing audience, so what's next?  How far would you go to win $1 million...or what if the prize was $10 million? 

Here in sunny Florida...

A county garbage operations employee found a plastic bag on the road stuffed with $65,000 Thursday and immediately turned it in to authorities.  Good for her! 

Read the whole story if you want:

http://www.wesh.com/news/14275054/detail.html

I just hope she doesn't go home and serve her family some Chunky soup tonight. 

"In an analysis of salmon toxicants published 9 January 2004 in Science, a team led by environmental affairs professor Ronald Hites of Indiana University showed that farmed salmon contain significantly higher concentrations of 14 organochlorine contaminants such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dioxins than their counterparts caught in the wild. As a result, the investigators contend, farmed salmon may pose health risks to consumers, who should limit their intake of these fish and opt for the wild variety whenever possible."

Years ago when I began experiencing symptoms of the change of life cycle (when do I change back?) I was told to eat salmon twice a week.  The fish oils have been proven in many studies to prevent certain cancers, like breast cancer.  It's also supposed to be good for your heart.

I guess I've been eating a "significantly higher concentration of contaminants" for my health.

So I did a little more research.  Did you know that the flesh of farmed salmon is naturally a grayish color?  The salmon get that bright pink pigment from eating certain small crustaceans like krill in the wild. There was a lawsuit against some supermarket chains in 2003 including Albertson's, Safeway and Kroger.

A law firm is suing the country's three largest grocery chains, contending they should tell shoppers that the farm-raised salmon they sell has been dyed pink. The three lawsuits, proposed as class actions, were filed Wednesday against the Kroger Co., Safeway Inc. and Albertsons Inc., said lawyer Paul Kampmeier of Smith & Lowney of Seattle. "Pink sells salmon," he said. "To artificially color salmon without giving that information to consumers, we believe that's unfair and deceptive."

Here's a study from the EWG (Environmental Working Group)

http://www.ewg.org/node/8522

Last year the FTC filed suit against a company for misleading ads promoting farmed salmon to pregnant women.

The six-page ad, paid for by the trade association Salmon of the Americas (SOTA), made extensive claims about the health benefits of farmed salmon for pregnant women and their unborn babies. The ad proclaims "Ocean-Farmed Salmon — just what the doctor ordered" under a picture of a pregnant woman.

"Nothing could be further from the truth," said Dr. David Carpenter, Director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at the University at Albany's School of Public Health and co-author of the largest and most comprehensive study of toxins in farm-raised salmon. "Farm-raised salmon has been proven to contain high levels of PCB's and other chemicals that are harmful to developing fetuses and increase the risk of cancer to the mother. Farmed salmon is definitely not what the doctor — at least this doctor — would ever order for expectant mothers."

Perhaps I should stick to tuna.  That said, high levels of mercury have been reported in tuna over the past decade. Not long ago the EPA advised that approximately 300,000 newborns every year are exposed to elevated levels of mercury contamination from maternal fish consumption.

I probably need to move to Norway or Alaska and learn to fish.

I've mentioned this before, but I want to ask a question plain & simple. 

    If boys are kicking a soccer ball around in the street, can it possibly damage an automobile?  I mean, will a hard kick into a windshield or tail light possible cause a crack or break?

This isn't anything new. For the 10th time I told my neighbor next door that I (a) like being friendly and (b) she knows how patient I've been and that I'm very nice to all her children.  But today I'm very stressed, since yesterday they were kicking the ball around and it got very close to my car.  Once it bounced on it, but I don't see any damage, except for the sand & road dirt.  If I'm present, they'll say "sorry" but when it finally cracks something like my window or my rear lights, sorry won't be enough.  My other neighbors sometimes chase them away or yell at them, so they always end up playing in front of my car, since one kid lives next door and the other lives directly across the street.  They both have big backyards, but apparently they enjoy playing on the pavement.  Even when they're not playing in the street, they use the paved walk between our 2 houses and often hit my window, my porch screen, and a few times, it's landed on the roof! One screen is now very loose and another is torn, although I can't prove they're responsible.  I'll be inside reading and all of a sudden I jump when the ball crashes into the side of the house.  One time I ran outside and saw it rolling off my roof and caught it before it bounced on the hood of my car.  The 11 year old sister, who is a very sweet girl, apologized.  I had a chat with her, but her parents either don't understand what I'm saying or don't take me seriously. 

Tell me the truth.  Am I overreacting?  I think it's good for children to play and these are basically good kids who do well in school and just need an outlet for all that energy.  I just don't understand why, with 3 big yards, they have to play where they can hit my property. 

Okay - so I started out saying "plain & simple" but brevity is not my strength. 

Yesterday someone started a thread about toxic apple juice in the lottery discussion, so I'd like to make a comment on this matter.  I am unaware of this problem, so I'm curious where that story originated.

I was in the food packaging business for over 20 years and visited several large juice manufacturers. So to briefly give you my "Reader's Digest" version of juice processing..

First Mother Nature grows her apples on our lovely trees and the grower delivers them to the juice producer.  The apples go through an inspection process and are then washed by industrial strength washers. (In other words, you wouldn't want to shower in one of them!)  Then they are mashed and mashed by a hammer mill.  The mash is sent to an hydraulic press where the juice extraction takes place.  It is then filtered and pasteurized.  The juice is heated to very high temperatures just below boiling point and then cooled.  During the bottling process the bottles are washed & sterilized and a vacuum is created as the cap is applied to the bottle.

Okay, I hope this makes everyone feel just a little better. So, in other words - by the time you get bottled juice into your fridge, it probably has no toxins in it whatsoever, but it also has little nutritional value unless supplements were added to the juice.

Bacteria can come from a picker who doesn't wash his hands after using the bathroom. Whether it's here or in some foreign country isn't the issue.  It's how careful are we to insure that the American consumer gets clean, safe food?  If juice has been converted into concentrate, then it's likely it came from China, since it has cornered the market on juice concentrates. However, even the companies that buy these concentrates follow the same careful processing method to destroy bacteria that might be in the fruit. Still, with so much of our produce coming from China and South America, I don't see how we can regulate the safety of our food. Why not simply give this job back to the American grower?

Now, what can make us sick?  I hate to say this, since I believe in eating natural foods, but that fresh, organic juice is where you're going to find most of your toxins.  I mean, if you ate raw meat, there would be a much higher risk of getting something like E. coli, right?  So that's why we need to cook all meat products thoroughly.  It's much less common in fruit because of its high acid content.  However, when you buy unpasteurized products in the refrigerated section, you no longer know where the apples came from and if they contained some little microorganism that's going to give you a tummy ache.  Actually, the good news is that if you get diarrhea, your body washes out the poison. The bad news is that some of these toxins are deadly.

So my advice to you is, if you are going to buy juice from concentrate in the refrigerated section, make sure the fruit is grown in the United States or at least that's where the concentrate is from.  in other words, start drinking filtered water!  LOL  Soon home grown juice will be sold on the Black Market. Anyway, this won't guarantee the absence of any unwanted contaminants, but at least you hope one of the factory workers didn't piss into the concentrate because he hates Americans.  

I started to write a short paragraph and now this is turning into a novel.  I just want to mention that the FDA doesn't tell us the truth. It is not our friend.  Years ago when I was in the biz, almost everything was packaged in glass.  Glass breaks and is heavy to ship, so plastic helps to keep the price lower and is easier to handle.  The problem is (no matter what baloney they try to tell you) plastic breaks down over time and small particles will migrate into the food and juice. We knew this 25 years ago, but there was too much money in plastics and nobody was going to stop progress, even if it meant affecting the health of the consumer. The reason I mentioned the FDA is that they are still allowing DuPont to make cookware with Teflon, even though it's been proven beyond doubt to contain carcinogens that break down when heated. Duh?  So when they tell you it's okay to cook everything in plastic, they're full of manure, because that only speeds up the transfer of the chemicals into your food.  If you buy something in a plastic container, scoop it out and cook it in a glass or ceramic dish. I guess I shouldn't have used "manure" because at least that's natural and there's nothing natural about using the same product on the pots and pans in which we cook our children's food as they do on carpet to prevent stains. For years tests have shown that the gases emitted by Teflon-type products cause death in birds. So get out your cast iron pans and learn to scrub!

I'll stop here, because I might never stop if I start writing about styrofoam. You should see what a hot cup of coffee or a bowl of chili in styrofoam looks like under a microcope after 20 minutes.  But the FDA says the people who post warnings about these things are "alarmists."  Hypocrite yes, alarmist no.  I am only writing about what I know to be true, not necessarily what I practice.  After all, I'll never give up my non-stick skillets and my microwave oven because I'm much too lazy.

If you watched the Emmy awards tonight, you had to notice the people getting "bleeped" but Fox went a bit further and pointed the camera away from the stage when Sally Field used a few questionable words.  Was it a political move or were they simply censoring her profanity?   

Well, as much as I agree with Ms Field that war is horrible, I turn on my TV to watch entertainment, not hear the political rants of rich celebrities.  Sally Field is a very talented actress and I've watched Cybil, Places in The Heart and Norma Rae many times.  However, if Hollywood stars want to campaign, then maybe they should appear on Larry King Live or even that awful show The View where women with considerably less talent spurt out their personal views.  Anyway, Ms Fields obviously doesn't know her history.  History shows that women rulers have been merciless when it comes to war.  "Bloody Mary" isn't just the name of a mixed drink, ya know.  Okay, Mary I wasn't a mother, but Isabella of Spain had 5 children and she started something called the Inquisition.   

On the other hand, the people at Fox are demonstrating their hypocrisy.  They own FX don't they?  There is more banging, screwing and blowing on that network than on HGTV and the Weather Channel combined.   Between Nip/Tuck, The Shield and Rescue Me, I've seen more panting and naked butts than when Animal Planet airs the AKC championship. 

Okay, maybe Fox needs to be a little more cautious when broadcasting a live show on network television during the family viewing time.  However, when the Parents Television Counsel did a study on "objectionable" viewing material, Fox had more instances of violence, profanity and sexual content than any of the other major networks.  In fact, these studies by concerned parents show that violence on Fox has increased over 400% in the past few years.  Although it was canceled earlier this year, The War at Home, a Fox sitcom, was rated the worst offender by these media watchdogs.  The animated series American Dad, also on Fox, was rated as "filthy and alarming."

Now don't get me wrong folks.  I believe in Freedom of Speech and I also believe that parents need to spend quality time with their children and determine what is proper for them to view.  However, Fox is always preaching about family values when they are making most of their money airing shows that even make an old child of the '60s like yours truly blush. 

If Fox is going to completely censor someone for telling the world she doesn't like war and happens to use g**damn while saying it, why not look at all the violence it feeds our kids?   Now that I've written this I'm wondering if this had anything at all to do with the use of profanity.  Maybe it was censorship after all. 

If you have an empty ink cartridge you might want to head on over to your local Walgreen's because on Wednesday only they are filling inkjet cartridges for free, either black or color.  The woman in back of me came in to fill hers and I gave her the coupon I printed, since I had an extra copy. She thanked me for saving her $15, although I think the clerk would have told her anyway.   Then I noticed there is an ad in their weekly circular.  I just happened to have an empty #21 HP cartridge sitting on my desk and I have an HP Officejet that uses that size. 

I've never used this service before.  I always buy my cartridges new from Office Depot or online.  Has anyone ever gotten a cartridge refill?  I know you can't refill Canon ink cartridges because of the patented nozzle (I have a Canon Pixma and you should never try to refill the ink)

Anyway, just thought I would share this with my friends at LP.  You have until midnight.  I think they have a list of the cartridges they accept.  Of course this is only for 1 refill.  If you need more than one, just take a buddy along! 

For those of you who get bombarded with "pre-screened" or "pre-approved" credit card offers or piles of marketing material, you will probably want to join me in my rant to stop this mailbox invasion. I estimate that the amount of trees that it took to print all this junk in only a month would build homes for an entire community.

What many people don't realize is that the majority of these offers are generated by information furnished by the 3 credit reporting bureaus, not your bank or credit card company. (Obviously they have no idea how broke I am!) 

Today I got "only" 4 of them.  About 2 months ago, I sent letters to each of the 3 reporting bureaus (Trans Union, Experian, Equifax) These addresses are usually listed on the back of the offers where it says "if you no longer wish to receive these offers."  No longer?  I don't remember asking for them in the first place.

Oh, if anyone is going to suggest I call the toll free opt-out number, I already tried that option.  Their automated system recognizes your home phone number and states your address.  First "she" started speaking to me in Spanish.  Maybe I pressed 2 instead of 1 or 1 instead of 2.  When I called back, "she" had my address all wrong. I can't understand it, because all the offers are arriving in my mailbox.  Now I realize this isn't a human, but after a few tries to correct it, I began yelling like a fool "No, that's not right" and then she asked me to state my correct address into the phone slowly.  "Okay, so you live at 1234 Sunny Lane. Is that correct?"  No! No!  "Okay, let's try it again," she repeats.  Then we moved onto "Let's try something else. What is your social security number?"  Maybe this sounds weird, but I felt uncomfortable telling an electronic voice I don't know or even had a drink with my date of birth and social security number.

I guess what triggered this blog entry today is that Capital One mailed me some checks.  The offer says "Nancy, just write yourself a check!"  So what happens if Suzy or Mary get a hold of these checks?  I've never heard a store clerk say to anyone "Ya know, this license photo doesn't look anything like you."  Have you?  Sure they ask you some "secrets" when you call, but considering all the people who have worked for banks, mortgage brokers, credit card companies, Verizon, AT&T, etc., I am sure there are thousands of people who know my mother's maiden name. They really need to come up with something better like "where did you first lose your virginity?" By the way, these are some other ways companies get your name, address and telephone number.

http://optout.com/

Well, none of these efforts has made much of a dent in the pile of junk I receive.  Maybe I'm becoming inpatient, since it's supposed to take at least 8 weeks for the mailings to stop.  However, when I first learned how my personal business was being shared with the world, I got angry and felt this whole process violates my privacy.  So let's start a class action lawsuit against these 3 credit bureaus!  The problem is, I know exactly what will happen then.  Mysteriously our credit scores will drop 250 points! 

I am not Black and I was not raised in the South, but if I were either I'd be very insulted by Whoopi Goldberg's explanation of why Michael Vick was involved in dog fighting, which she expressed today on The View. 

I understand that she's just trying to stir up some controversy, but I never realized that hanging dogs, beating and electrocuting them while running an illegal dog-fighting ring was part of the Black culture.  If a White television personality said that, Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson would be on the news right now demanding a formal apology and his resignation.

After I heard that generalization, I thought of one of my favorite actors, James Earl Jones, and wondered if he runs a dog fighting operation.  After all, he's Black and grew up in Mississippi.  Then I pictured the late Honorable Thurgood Marshall, whose grandfather was a slave, finding pleasure in the torture of man's best friend. Somehow I couldn't quite picture him betting on dog fights while he served on the Supreme Court.  Hmm..I believe Atlanta is in the Deep South, at least it was when I was in school. Isn't that where the great Martin Luther King Jr. grew up?  I could go on, but you catch my drift.

In my humble opinion, Whoopi's remarks are tantamount to Racism.  I don't care if you're Black, White, Chinese, male or female, rich or poor.  Anyone who can cause pain and suffering to helpless creatures who would otherwise be loving pets is sadistic.  It's also illegal in 50 states.  So when Whoopi said

"I just thought it was interesting, because it seemed like a light went off in his head when he realized this was something that the entire country didn't appreciate"

did she mean Mr. Vick was unaware that he was committing a crime?  Or did she mean that, since he is a football star, he felt the Law didn't apply to him. 

When Bill Clinton honored Barbara Jordan (Black from Texas..which is where?) with the Presidential Medal of Honor, I remember thinking "I hope someday she's elected President."  She was named "Role Model of The Century."  Would you want Michael Vick to be a role model for your children?

I don't know Michael Vick personally.  In fact, because I'm not a big football fan, I never heard of him before this year, but I am sure he didn't commit the felony of running an interstate gambling operation because he is Black or because he was born in Virginia.  By expressing the opinion "aw, he didn't know any better. It's just the way he was raised because he's Black" she sure sounds like a Racist to me.

I can't believe what I just read in the Sun Sentinel today.  An employer wants to put ID chips in workers?  This is the same technology used to identify lost pets! I don't have time to write a long blog entry, but I wanted to share this with you.  I worked at a company last summer where I signed in with my fingerprints.  They said that time slips were outdated since they can be altered or punched by other employees.  At first I thought "This is cool" but then I felt my privacy was being violated, but you do what you have to do!

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/features/health/la-me-scan31aug31,0,2887189.story

A few minutes ago I was reading an article on bizjournals.com and the headline is

More troubles for Countrywide, Capitol One

Sad comment #1:  In July there were a record number of foreclosures (over 1,000) in my county. Empty homes and "For Sale" signs line the streets all over Lee County, Florida.  Is our country headed for another Great Depression? 

Sad comment #2:  A writer for a business journal doesn't know how to spell Capital One.

I've been doing a lot of driving over the past few weeks, so I decided to get an oil change today and purchase new windshield wipers.  Since the manager of the local Tire Kingdom was very nice to me last time I was there, I decided to go there instead of the dealership.  Actually, the Toyota dealership is also very helpful, but they're more expensive and I don't need my tires rotated or any of the extras this time that might justify charging $34.95 plus shop fees & tax for an oil change. 

When I got home I noticed Tire Kingdom used 6 quarts of 10W30 and I know the dealer uses 5W30.  I realize that the 5W30 is thinner and is recommended for colder climates and that 10W30 is pretty standard.  But I've also read online that using the high viscosity oil could result in "sludge" building in the engine.  I've been on sites like Cars.com and others have asked the same question about which oil to use.  Most answers said to use 10W30 in a mild climate. 

I've learned the hard way that, when in doubt, read the Owner's Manual which specifically says to use 5W30 in all climates and says that 10W30 will result in poorer gas mileage.  It also says that if it's necessary to use 10W30 because 5W30 is not available, to change to 5W30 next time the oil is changed.  Mobil1 is what the dealer used.

This really concerns me.  Isn't Mobil1 synthetic?  Will this change to the other oil void the warrantee?  Would you go back to Tire Kingdom?  I guess using it only this once shouldn't have any damaging effects, but I'm wondering if they used the 10W30 because it was cheaper.  The receipt says "bulk oil" and I'm not sure what that means exactly, except they buy an awful lot of it! 

Okay - just read more information on the recommended oil (which is still 5W30) but there are several people who say that in very hot weather 10W30 is actually better because it won't break down and provides better lubrication.  Except for Death Valley and Phoenix, I doubt if there could be many places hotter than Southwest Florida!

I just took a quick stroll around the block.  Two of my neighbors were walking their dogs and chatting, so I joined them.  One of them said something humorous so I turned my head and said "LOL!"

I think it's time to get back to the real world.