March 12, 2015

DUing while impaired

Have you ever done something while impaired you regret later? It happened to me this afternoon here in GD. It will happen again if I stay as a regular.

Perhaps I should change my name to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Try to remember I'm not who I was when I joined a little over ten years ago. OS doesn't really exist anymore.

I wear plastic casts on my thumbs for arthritis in the daytime. Even simple copy and paste takes awhile. It took a couple hours to put this all together.

I wear braces on my hands at night until I have surgery in a month or two for carpal tunnel syndrome. Just one hand at a time.

I've been on a CPAP since 2001. It was very hard to kick lunesta a few years ago. There was a missed warning there.

Both shoulders and both sides of my neck have damage from 2 at work accidents, and a car accident back on Christmas Day a couple years ago on my way home from work.

By now I'm sure you know pain killers are part of my life. Mood swings and periods of lack of judgement are right out of the medical books for me with everything going on. Think of what Marta has to put up with.

A couple dozen DUers know what is slowly killing me. I thank every single one of them for keeping my secret. I'll write that tell all post when it is time to leave for good.

I'm going to try to be a real life volunteer for newly diagnosed terminal patients. I'm going downhill, so I have no idea how long it will last. Because of the nature of what I'll be doing is confidential, I really can't share much. My first venture is next week.

I'll be attending the state boys basketball tournament for I hope the next three days if my team keeps winning, so I won't be on the DU as much as I have been since I retired.

I love the DU. When the time comes to leave I will lose a huge extended & caring family. Sometime after that it will be the theme from M*A*S*H.

I do want to stay on the DU. Please let me know when Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde have overstayed their welcome, because I won't know it myself.

BTW, those cowards living in a cave don't bother me in anymore. They haven't for a long time!

Much love,

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde A.K.A. OS

February 14, 2015

This Big Cat Sighting Was Rare, Even for Seasoned Environmentalists!

http://blog.therainforestsite.com/black-jaguar-sighting/

After an enormous rainstorm, President and CEO of the World Wildlife Fund of the United States Carter Roberts was traveling the Tapajós River at the edge of the Southern Amazon Mosaic with a group of fellow conservationists when someone spotted something swimming in the water.

After a brief “it’s a bird, it’s a plane” situation, the crew’s guide, Bret Whitney, finally identified the creature as a rare melanistic jaguar. With only about 600 individual black jaguars that exist in the wild, this floating feline was certainly an unusual sight.

Thankfully, someone was able to film the black big cat in all of its water-logged glory.

PROTECT SKY ISLAND JAGUARS: https://therainforestsite.greatergood.com/store/trs/item/53699/?origin=CONTENT_TRS_SKYISLAND_GTGM_I-53699&utm_source=content&utm_medium=trs-blog&utm_content=article-button




Published on Jan 27, 2015
Jaguars are strong swimmers and climbers and require large areas of tropical rain forest and stretches of riverbank to survive. A model for conservation, the Amazon Region Protected Areas ensures 150 million acres—three times the size of all US parks combined—of the Amazon are protected in perpetuity.

Learn more about WWF’s work to protect the Amazon: http://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/...

Credits:
Video - Bret Whitney
Photo - © David Lawson / WWF-UK
Music - "Solitary-"Lacy & Gledden/AudioNetwork

February 9, 2015

Bear sent to sanctuary after years as ice cream shop draw

Source: AP

HALLAM, Pa. (AP) — A female bear is on the way to a Colorado wildlife sanctuary after nearly two decades as a caged attraction at a Pennsylvania ice cream shop.

The Animal Legal Defense Fund announced Little Ricki's release Monday, ending a legal and animal rights battle that drew worldwide attention.

The organization and four residents sued for the bear's release in December.

They argued Ricki's concrete enclosure at Jim Mack's Ice Cream shop near York was inadequate, causing a decline in her mental and physical health.

FULL story at link.



Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/bb8674131f0e47eeaf076b51cd783642/bear-sent-sanctuary-after-years-ice-cream-shop-draw

---

Thank you to ALL that signed the E petition last month: Free Bear Caged at Ice Cream Parlor in York, PA for 18 Years E action! (link fixed!): http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026041606



http://www.thepetitionsite.com/285/609/007/free-bear-caged-at-ice-cream-parlor-for-18-years/





Ricky, an 18-year-old black bear, has spent her entire life caged in a concrete enclosure outside Jim Mack's Ice Cream parlor in York, Pa. The Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) observed and took footage of Ricky with matted hair, eating dog food with only green-looking water available.

The bear lives alone on hard concrete 100% of the time, and is forced to endure cold Pennsylvania winters. She eats an unnatural, boring diet of dog food and corn.

Pennsylvania state regulations require wild animals to receive humane care and treatment, which Ricky does not. Please sign the petition to urge the York County Common Pleas Court to free Ricky so she can live the rest of her life on a sanctuary with other bears and space to roam free.

Petition: overview

Ricky, an 18-year-old black bear, has spent her entire life caged in a concrete enclosure outside Jim Mack's Ice Cream parlor in York, Pa. The Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) observed and took footage of Ricky with matted hair, eating dog food with only green-looking water available.

The bear lives alone on hard concrete 100% of the time, and is forced to endure cold Pennsylvania winters. She eats an unnatural, boring diet of dog food and corn.

Pennsylvania state regulations require wild animals to receive humane care and treatment, which Ricky does not. Please sign the petition to urge the York County Common Pleas Court to free Ricky so she can live the rest of her life on a sanctuary with other bears and space to roam free.

February 3, 2015

S&P paying $1.38B to settle charges over crisis-era ratings

Source: AP-Excite

By MARCY GORDON and ERIC TUCKER

WASHINGTON (AP) — Standard & Poor's is paying about $1.38 billion to settle government allegations that it knowingly inflated its ratings of risky mortgage investments that helped trigger the financial crisis, the Justice Department announced Tuesday.

The settlement with the U.S. government, 19 states and the District of Columbia covers ratings issued from 2004 through 2007 by the McGraw-Hill subsidiary. It resolves a court fight that began with a government lawsuit two years ago and involved dozens of depositions and hundreds of millions of documents.

Under the agreement, S&P admitted that it issued and confirmed positive ratings despite knowing that those assessments were unjustified and in many cases based on packages of mortgages that it knew were likely to default.

"On more than one occasion, the company's leadership ignored senior analysts who warned that the company had given top ratings to financial products that were failing to perform as advertised," Attorney General Eric Holder said at a news conference Tuesday.

FULL story at link.


FILE - This Oct. 9, 2011, file photo shows 55 Water Street, home of Standard & Poor's, in New York. S&P is paying approximately $1.38 billion to settle government allegations that it knowingly inflated its ratings of risky mortgage investments which helped trigger the financial crisis. (AP Photo/Henny Ray Abrams, File)


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20150203/us-standard--poors-settlement-9cb61c22ff.html

January 25, 2015

Rescued as lil more than a pup, they did everything they could, just like that he is gone

You may remember these posts from last year: http://sync.democraticunderground.com/10025061661 & http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025021807

They (edit: our sons family) took Indy in late last night for a series of non-stop seizures. His brain was swelling. It got to the point the vet recommended putting him to sleep.

For the short time they had him, he got the best of medical care and unconditional LOVE. A better adoption home would be very hard to find.

Many of you understand our animals are family members. His extended family will morn him and try to remember the good times.

OS

In his private pool he loved.


Indy and our granddaughter

January 10, 2015

This Doctor Moved Her Clinic To The Middle Of The Ocean To Help Women Get Safe Abortions

Dr. Rebecca Gomperts on her ship
CREDIT: VESSEL


http://thinkprogress.org/health/2015/01/08/3608164/rebecca-gomperts-vessel/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=tptop3&utm_campaign=tptop3


BY TARA CULP-RESSLER POSTED ON JANUARY 8, 2015 AT 12:41 PM UPDATED: JANUARY 9, 2015 AT 2:18 PM

“How could we create a space in which the only permission a woman needs is her own?”

That’s the question Dr. Rebecca Gomperts poses at the beginning of Vessel, a new documentary that follows her work sailing around the world to teach women how to safely use abortion-inducing drugs. Nearly 15 years ago, Gomperts took to the sea in search of that space for the women who lack reproductive health options.

Gomperts, a physician and former Greenpeace activist, made international headlines after launching the organization Women on Waves, which relies on the use of offshore spaces to advance abortion access. She and her colleagues traveled to countries like Ireland, Poland, Portugal, and Morocco to help women use abortion-inducing pills called misoprostol — also referred to simply as “miso” — to safely end an early pregnancy. They administered miso in a clinic aboard their ship, which was registered in the Netherlands. There, under the jurisdiction of Dutch law, they were able to bring safe abortion to countries where the procedure is otherwise illegal.

Miso is used around the world for multiple medical purposes, like inducing labor, treating post-partum hemorrhages, and preventing ulcers. In many countries, it’s stocked on pharmacy shelves primarily for those purposes. But women desperate to end a pregnancy don’t always realize that the right dosage of miso — 12 pills over the course of 12 hours, according to the World Health Organization — can also be used to induce a miscarriage.

FULL story at link.

January 9, 2015

Millionaire Spends Stunning Amount of Money to Save 1,400 Monkeys From Medical Experimentation

Philanthropist Ady Gil is now raising money for the animals’ long-term care in Israel.


Photo: Facebook)
January 08, 2015 By John R. Platt

John R. Platt covers the environment, technology, philanthropy, and more for Scientific American, Conservation, Lion, and other publications.


http://www.takepart.com/article/2015/01/08/millionaire-saves-1400-monkeys-medical-experimentation?cmpid=tpdaily-eml-2015-01-08

More than 1,400 macaque monkeys have been saved from a lifetime of potentially cruel and painful medical experiments after businessman and animal rights activist Ady Gil paid $2 million to purchase them. The move ends nearly 20 years of active protests against an Israeli breeding facility that until recently supplied the monkeys to laboratories around the world.

Gil, who lives in Los Angeles and made his fortune providing video technology services to Hollywood, first heard about Mazor Farm during his biennial visits to Israel. He said the protests against the facility have been in the headlines there for years.

“If you’re in the animal movement in Israel, you know about it,” said Gil, who has been a financial supporter of environmental group Sea Shepherd’s efforts to stop Japanese whalers.

Mazor Farm, located half an hour from Tel Aviv, was close to shutting down because of to a ban on the export of wild animals from Israel that goes into effect this month. Gil’s purchase of the animals derailed a last-minute plan to ship most of them to breeding facilities and medical labs in the United States.

FULL story at link.

January 8, 2015

There Were Too Many Deer In The Forest So They Unleashed The Wolves Without Any Idea What Would...

There Were Too Many Deer In The Forest. So They Unleashed The Wolves Without Any Idea What Would Happen.

http://www.upworthy.com/there-were-too-many-deer-in-the-forest-so-they-unleashed-the-wolves-without-any-idea-what-would-happen?c=upw1

Curator: Matt Orr

When the deer killed off the forest, they decided to let the wolves loose to fix it. We had no idea what exactly we had done.

One of the most exciting scientific findings of the last 50 years is called a trophic cascade.

A trophic cascade starts at the top of the food chain and tumbles to the bottom. One of the best examples of this happened in Yellowstone National Park in 1995 when wolves were reintroduced.



Wolves are really good at eating deer. But as it turns out, because of their deer diet, they also help lots of other animals survive.

Basically, wolves see deer/elk like this:



Humans killed all the wolves in Yellowstone National Park 70 years ago. And the deer population exploded.

Humans, being the controlling type in our relationship with Earth, tried to control the deer population. But deer are super-good at showing each other lots of love ... so the population grew and grew. In 1995, we reintroduced wolves to the park, and they immediately started killing the deer. But that's the least remarkable part. The wolves actually started changing the behavior of the deer.




EDIT to add the video I left out by accident:

Check out "How Wolves Change Rivers" on Vimeo http://vimeo.com/86466357


FULL story at link.

January 5, 2015

Free Bear Caged at Ice Cream Parlor in York, PA for 18 Years E action! (link fixed!)

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/285/609/007/free-bear-caged-at-ice-cream-parlor-for-18-years/





Ricky, an 18-year-old black bear, has spent her entire life caged in a concrete enclosure outside Jim Mack's Ice Cream parlor in York, Pa. The Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) observed and took footage of Ricky with matted hair, eating dog food with only green-looking water available.

The bear lives alone on hard concrete 100% of the time, and is forced to endure cold Pennsylvania winters. She eats an unnatural, boring diet of dog food and corn.

Pennsylvania state regulations require wild animals to receive humane care and treatment, which Ricky does not. Please sign the petition to urge the York County Common Pleas Court to free Ricky so she can live the rest of her life on a sanctuary with other bears and space to roam free.

Petition: overview

Ricky, an 18-year-old black bear, has spent her entire life caged in a concrete enclosure outside Jim Mack's Ice Cream parlor in York, Pa. The Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) observed and took footage of Ricky with matted hair, eating dog food with only green-looking water available.

The bear lives alone on hard concrete 100% of the time, and is forced to endure cold Pennsylvania winters. She eats an unnatural, boring diet of dog food and corn.

Pennsylvania state regulations require wild animals to receive humane care and treatment, which Ricky does not. Please sign the petition to urge the York County Common Pleas Court to free Ricky so she can live the rest of her life on a sanctuary with other bears and space to roam free.

December 28, 2014

Marta and I might write a kids book about our Christmas visitors

You might remember this post: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021953835

We stopped seeing any possums in the Spring.

As our family was gathering in the dinning room Christmas Eve. A lone female deer showed up to eat corn, bread, etc we had left out for the critters that stop by on the other side of the fence. The city dwellers really enjoyed it.

I went out before dinner Christmas day to feed the critters. Marta was cooking and I sat down to start the laptop. I told Marta something small and furry was coming up the hill to eat. At first I thought it was a groundhog. To my surprise nature sent us a possum to enjoy watching. Then another one started up the hill. Seeing the smiling white faces enjoying their dinner is special to us. Then the two of them started playing. It looked like the way otters play. What a way to enjoy dinner.

We haven't seen them since. But everything we put out before dusk is gone in the morning.

OS