February finds

march family circle: quotations to think about

How wonderful is it that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world. (Anne Frank)
I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. (Maya Angelou)
Beauty comes from a life well lived. If you've lived well, your smile lines are in the right places, and your frown lines aren't too bad. What more do you need? (Jennifer Garner)
Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world. (Harriet Tubman)
The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. (Eleanor Roosevelt)

Book to buy: Week-by-Week Vegetable Gardener's Handbook

cool looking carrots--purple, orange and white

Site to visit: www.NestWatch.org and www.michaelbluejay.com


Gardening to look forward to soon:
1 start plants in toilet paper rolls--just keep out of beagle's reach
2 try the string/twine in a funnel idea or even cut milk carton
3 old shower curtain in vehicle for plant purchases and other dirty tasks
4 take photos of plants, put on envelope for seeds at season's end; this is an easy way to see
what the seed should look like when planted (maybe more than 1 photo necessary)
5 stake tomatoes with 2" pvc pipe. idea from dec 2009 garden gate: hammer down 5' pipe so
4 feet above ground (use board on top) then water can go down the pipe. cap. later plant can
be tied to the pipe
6 put spring clothespin on roses to hold stem when pruning
7 1 ft sections of clay drainage tile on end, filled with soil, for decor around flower beds. can act
as hose guards
8 mark rake or shovel handles with ruler markings--maybe 4 or 6 in increments
9 photos now of trees for pruning later helps you see what needs to be trimmed
10 deer deterrent: 3 eggs blended in 1 qt water, let sit for 24-48 hrs and then spray on plants.
supposedly keeps deer away. how about raccoons?
11 use milky spore powder in soil to help destroy japanese beetles



michigan farmland values 2010 = 1 acre tiled = 3,348 untiled = 2,782
rental 111 84

soybeans est 09/10 = 44 bu/acre
price 9.59/bu

Michigan Farm News feb 15, 2011 p. 2 guest opinion by state senator john moolenaar 26th distrtict: end forced union contracts. this fits nicely with what's happening in wisconsin and the attempt to pass a bill on the fed level to get rid of the national labor relations act. let's hope that some of the crazies to the right realize that what they have is a direct result of labor working to get rights in the 40's and 50's. of course negative results in some areas and bulky benefits did result but a 40 hr week, no unfair dismissals, break time, better working conditions, some health benefits, a growth in the middle class who had money to spend, etc did result. take away minimum salaries, benefits, etc and who is going to buy products? is the right expecting foreign growth to carry sales? is that why factories are gone? cheap goods are great, as long as someone has money. of course the rich will be able to carry the corporations? or is that why the mortgage mess and resulting foreclosures and bankruptcies were allowed to happen--so the rich can take over everything? perhaps the growing ownership of guns should have been prevented long ago. the right supports the right to own arms; will they regret that in the future? will enough people finally get mad enough? or will they be so busy trying to get work, buy food, find somewhere to live, get health care, etc to ignore who is ultimately responsible. the saying that it's your fault you don't have a job or you lost your home no longer applies for many who did do the right things and still got fucked. (let some of the stories about no water breaks in the shops, eat dry oatmeal to quench your thirst, forced overtime, digging under train tracks, digging and striking electrical lines, etc be shared)
"A current problem facing both Michigan taxpayers and businesses are anti-competitive, government-mandated project labor agreements, commonly known as PLAs. These project labor agreements end open, fair, and competitive bidding on construction projects by all qualified contractors. Most commonly, in the case of 'union only' project labor agreements, competition is limited by exclusively awarding construction work to contractors who are signatories to collective bargaining agreements with labor unions for the duration of a project. . . . We can't afford to have 8 out of 10 of our workers sitting on the sidelines, not helping in our economic recovery. . . . . in February, i will introduce 'fair and open competition legislation in the Senate to explicitly protect every contractor regardless of union or non-union affiliation".

michigan farmers--against labor but for subsidies how hypocritical but not surprising

new words: zoonotic, zoonoses = infection transmissible from certebrate animals to humans
arboviruses


medical record sites: health.google.com or healthvault.com/related healthmanager.mayoclinic.com

ben just had me listen to this song:

SkyBladeXD | July 30, 2008 | 3,286 likes, 110 dislikes

If you feel so empty
So used up, so let down
If you feel so angry
So ripped off so stepped on
You're not the only one
Refusing to back down
You're not the only one
So get up

Let's start a riot, a riot
Let's start a riot
Let's start a riot, a riot
Let's start a riot

If you feel so filthy
So dirty so fucked up
If you feel so walked on
So painful so pissed off
You're not the only one
Refusing to go down
You're not the only one
So get up

Let's start a riot, a riot
Let's start a riot
Let's start a riot, a riot
Let's start a riot

If you feel so empty
So used up, so let down
If you feel so angry
Just get up

Let's start a riot, a riot
Let's start a riot
Let's start a riot, a riot
Let's start a riot

february crap

To Our Conservative Friends,

The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution states that "all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and the state wherein they reside."

All too often, illegal immigrants and their liberal supporters are leaving out the "subject to the jurisdiction thereof," qualifier in order to gain citizenship by having a child in this country.

It is imperative that we make a distinction in our Constitution, so that we can begin to tackle our illegal immigration problem. Please take a moment to read this message and learn how you can help stop "anchor babies."

Sincerely,

Alan Gottlieb
Chairman, AmeriPAC


this, above, is from the ameripac group which should be in someone's crosshairs and below another group to watch. other ultra right groups are declaration alliance and patriotupdate. all try to use patriot themes to get readers to join in destroying what many others believe are right, equalizing, real christian values (not the distorted sexist and racist versions against women's rights, justice, equality, civil rights, etc)

URGENT UPDATE:

ObamaCare Death Panels Now In Effect

Kathleen Sebelius, head of the Department of Health & Human Services, has ruled that effective January 1, 2011 – all Medicare & Medicaid doctors will be paid to provide “end of life” counseling to the elderly and/or those younger and poorer patients deemed “infirm” – to help them decide if life is still worth living. All this will be provided yearly, as part of Obama’s new annual, creepily-euphemistically entitled “wellness” checkup.

FAX CONGRESS NOW
END THE DEATH PANELS – SELECT HERE

And Sebelius’ supporters are trying to keep the implementation a secret! Rep. Earl Blumenauer, (D-OR), recently sent supporters of the new rule an e-mail warning them "not to broadcast this accomplishment out to any of your lists, even if they are 'supporters' -- e-mails can too easily be forwarded."

Ms. Sebelius has apparently declared herself dictator and overthrown not only the will of the people, but also that of Congress… issuing secret, death-dealing orders behind closed doors. The ObamaCare bill originally contained provisions for the much derided "Death Panels" designed to persuade, pressure and coerce the elderly and infirm into making life or death decisions only every five years. Yet America overwhelmingly rejected such a provision, and Congress stripped it from the bill before passage. But it seems the eugenics-friendly Ms. Sebelius views her role as encompassing that of the United Nations-sanctioned “population police” who believe the world is overcrowded with what the Nazis notoriously labeled "useless eaters" – or perhaps she just knows there isn’t enough money for the federal government to pay for everyone’s heath care and social security, so she might as well start thinning the human herd now. Either way, Sebelius’ actions are contrary to everything in our first principles of liberty and human equality that this nation stands for, and are in direct violation of the philosophical, ethical and natural law foundations upon which rest our form of responsible self-government.

listened monday to a round table discussion from um flint about the middle east, mostly tunisia and egypt. very interesting to get semi expert facts and opinions about what is and has happened.

thursday meeting--judge spoke for black history month but included info on her background, how she became a judge, politics and the michigan supreme court. she is an excellent speaker.

FEB 13, the unison prayer at church included these relevant lines:

"merciful god, we confess that holiness is far easier to say than it is to do. our words are pious
but mask attitudes of intolerance and judgment. our concern for others is shallow, swallowed
up by our own self-interest. we resort to platitudes of compassion ad care rather than modify
our behavior in order to embrace those who are different or unlovely. this is not holiness...."

i believe this is what certain groups, even church groups, don't believe. they are not doers of
any words that don't profit them, put down others. they flaunt self righteousness in the face
of their blatant hypocrisy. their concern is for themselves, their interests, their businesses,
their biases and prejudices; their souls are hardened pustules of self centered vileness.
let's hope they reap the effects of their sown words.


progressive Feb 15:

a really interesting movie about the children's march in 1963. one of the members was there with her brother who was 1 of the kids jumping out of the school windows although he couldn't easily identify himself--was 15 at that time. the family had moved from georgia to alabama to get good jobs. the dad in industry and the mom to teach but the city charged $100 to accept her teaching certificate from GA which was too much. the city was described as "evil" for blacks and for many poor whites. good old bull connor was the anti hero of course; kennedy clips were "good reminders" of that time

at the same meeting dave davenport from the city council put in a raucous negative appearance saying he was there to get help and was sorry he came, blah blah, as if he had been told to come for some other reason. also a man from the chamber of council who had been invited and also had a different agenda. both could have been served at a later meeting, but davenport fortunately left. a good example of not knowing how to win people over.






progressive meeting on Feb 16:

looks like if it's been done before and didn't work, it never will. trying to build coalitions among groups but trying to get a list of possible speakers for a round table was extremely aggravating. asking people for sponsor donations: well don't ask him because, i don't want him . . . the whole experience was like the poem line "somebody said it couldn't be done..." obviously it never worked and never can but we want unity. hey: "somebody said it couldn't be done but he with a chuckle replied that maybe it couldn't but he would be one who wouldn't say so til he tried" (memory poem from 5th grade, wish i knew it all)