Carriage Horse Drivers are not Required to Report Accidents

The trade also likes to claim that "only 3 horses have died in traffic accidents in 30 years."  This is deceitful and a lie of omission   because it does not include all the many horses who have died from  dropping dead on the street like Charlie; spooking and running into a tree like Smoothie; or Clancy who died in the stable from unknown causes.  We can account for 23 carriage horse deaths in 33 years - and those are just the ones we know

All About Clouds - A Very Informative website from the National Weather Service

This website is a great learning resource, brought to all of us courtesy of the National Weather Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/srh/jetstream/clouds/cloudwise/learn.html#how

Restore the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act

From 1971 until 2004, wild horses and burros were protected from slaughter. In 2004, they lost that protection and we want their protection restored.
On December 15, 1971, Congress enacted 16 USC Ch. 30, popularly known as the "Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act" (WHBA) and declared "that wild free-roaming horses and burros shall be protected from capture, branding, harassment, or death; and to accomplish this they are to be considered in the area where presently found, as an integral part of the natural system of the public lands. 

. . .

Thousands of our wild horses have been sold and slaughtered as a result of this amendment. Any wild horse or burro more than 10 years old OR not adopted after being offered three (3) times can be sold without limitation, INCLUDING weanlings, pregnant mares and elderly band stallions that have lived their entire life on the the range. THIS IS WRONG!!

Please click this link to sign the Petition to Congress.

Ruby from Colorado wrote:

PAY ATTENTION TO OUR WILD HORSES AND BURROS! THEY DO NOT HARM THE LAND LIKE DAMN CATTLE! 
DO NOT ALLOW SLAUGHTER, PLEASE! tHESE ANIMALS MEAN SO MUCH TO US OUT HERE IN THE WEST.


Catherine from Chicago writes:

How was an amendment approved that directly contradicts and violates the WHBA? What is wrong with our government that this I allowed to happen. As a taxpayer who has no say in how my hard-earned dollars are wasted, I DEMAND that Congress REPEAL 803(a) of Public Law 104333, as well as 142(a)(1) and 142(a)(2) of Public Law 108447. This is MY money funding these abhorrent bills and I want these bill repealed! Work for your citizens, not against them!

Please go to this website to read more comments, and to sign the petition.

St. Paul University Catholic Center: Who We Are

This video on You Tube is about a Roman Catholic parish on the campus of the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

Here is the link to the website for this parish.

I'll Smoke Tomorrow -- with apologies to Susan Hayward (as Lillian Roth) and Vivien Leigh (as Scarlett O'Hara)

Smoke Screen

I started smoking in 1958, when I was ten. It was an experiment. I wanted to pretend to be beautiful and glamorous, like my mom.

(I don't know. Maybe she was also pretending?)

Also, like those guests on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.

I used to buy cigarettes for her at the grocery store, back when they cost a dime. That was 1953. I was five. I had to reach up above my head to place the dime on the counter.

Sometimes the shopkeeper couldn't see me until I put the dime there, because my head didn't clear the counter top.

By the time I was twelve, smoking was a full-fledged addiction for me --- a pack or two each day.

I never smoked in front of my stepdad, but he knew I smoked and never said anything about it. That restraint probably helped my health a little.

It was by the grace of God --- and some diligent pestering by my kids, especially led by the oldest (I'll call him Freddie) ---- that I had my last cigarette in the summer of 1982.

Never had a craving.

Never had another cigarette.

Never really felt better, or worse, or any different at all.

Just glad to be rid of the expense and annoyance. Glad to be alive and breathing.

How that Did Happen?

I will save the details for another post. 

Or perhaps an entire book? It's a long story.

Or, perhaps not? The essence of it all is this:

I had an entire full pack of Pall Malls --- my mom's, and my, favorite --- sitting there on a bookshelf.

There were nineteen cigarettes left in the pack because I had taken one drag off one cigarette the day before. At the time, I just thought maybe I'll finish this later, or tomorrow.

So, I saved the very long butt, just in case.

The next day that long butt was still sitting there on that shelf, beside that nearly-full pack.

I lighted it. I took a drag. I was looking forward to finishing that cigarette, as I had not had a smoke for 24 hours.

But, then, another part of me thought, "Wow, that is so disgusting."

I had an epiphany. I got in touch with my "inner non-smoker." I guess that is the only way I can describe it.

Back, then, a pack of cigarettes had not yet broken the "$1-a-pack barrier," which lots of smokers and non-smokers were talking about.

''We're about to break the $1-a-pack barrier,'' said Roy D. Burry, vice president and analyst at Kidder Peabody. That milestone will probably come in mid-1983 . . ."

Seems quaintly old-fashioned now, right?

Rest in Peace, Dear Mummy

Today is July 4, 2015.

My dear mom would be looking forward to celebrating her eighty-eighth birthday this November. She was born in 1927.

She died of lung cancer in March of 2012.

She was not even 85 yet. 

Links

Here are some links answering to the call, "Smoking Cessation:"

I especially like this one. It's very short, helpful and authoritative.

Wikipedia page entitled, "Smoking Cessation," is worth a look-see. You never know when you might get a new idea you had never thought of before.

This page from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is mostly filled with information you already know. But, a reminder can't hurt. And, just might hit you right between the eyes for a reason you don't even understand.

(Smoking is primal and subliminal. For some Native American folks, tobacco has always been a sacred crop. Even now, we cannot help but realize its power.)

This page is an advertisement from Glaxo-Smith-Kline, the makers of Nicorette and NicoDerm CQ, so take it with a grain of salt. But, take what you can out of it. I don't think anything is wrong with trying their products, really. But, there are many other ways to go and things to try.

Don't be intimidated.

Just sayin' :-)

FDA Capulet & Big Pharma Montague Continue Torrid Love Affair, Despite Disapproval from Family, Neighbors, Friends -- and Nurse

This picture is not a link
because there seems to be uncertainty
regarding which DVD by which
company is better or best?


Here is an article about the 
making of Pride of the Yankees.

Today I received an email request on an online petition site, regarding a potentially life-saving medication for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease.

The FDA is delaying approval for a potentially life-saving treatment. Some activists are quite familiar with this story. Many of us feel that the FDA is simply lined up with Big Pharma. We are not surprised.

Others might ask how or why Big Pharma would benefit from FDA's delay.

ALS is terminal, painful and causes the person with ALS ("PALS") to suffer greatly. The only end to that suffering is a horrible death by asphyxiation.

The FDA would, could and might be able to approve  ---- eventually? --- a drug called Genervon GM604, which might turn out to be effective in reversing or slowing ALS.

Two years ago, the FDA held a public hearing regarding ALS. The following excerpt from the petition itself will explain more about this meeting, and why everyone must and should sign the petition asking or insisting on much faster action from the FDA on drug trials, especially for those who are in pain and have a terminal illness.

On 23 February 2013, The FDA held its first public hearing to address the urgency and disparities faced by the ALS Community. The meeting was standing room only and was also attended by the ALS Association (ALSA) and the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA). Following the meeting, these two advocacy organizations sent a joint statement detailing action items that were expected to change the design of future clinical trials and make treatments more readily available to people with ALS (PALS). http://mda.org/alsn/mda-and-alsa-urge-fda-take-action-groundbreaking-als-hearing.

It has been over two years since that joint statement was offered to the FDA and still the ALS Community finds there has been absolutely no change with regards to preclinical development or clinical trial design. Neither has the consideration of benefit-risk assessment been implemented in getting new treatments to patients suffering a horrible death.

Additionally, it is hard to ignore that the 2012 Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act (FDASIA) is quite clear in its intent and that FDA is strongly encouraged by Congress to grant Accelerated Approval (AA) to treatments that benefit all serious and life threatening diseases. We see that the FDA has done very little to [move] itself further in this regard. As Congress is crafting the 21st Century Cures Act, you now have an opportunity to show them that you are on board. GM604 is a perfect fit for the AA Program.

Please approve Genervon’s GM604 so all PALS can have access to this promising new treatment and hope for a future.

A few weeks ago, I wrote a little bit about the Works of Mercy on one of my other blogs.

I think that anyone who knows about the suffering of an ALS patient (PALS) is obligated to do whatever possible to alleviate that suffering, no matter what ideology or religion we are.

We are all human beings, and we have an innate desire to alleviate suffering of our fellow humans whenever possible. Please note the words "whenever possible." Sometimes it is not possible, so this is a rare opportunity.

That might be why the story of The Good Samaritan is so popular?

Links to Petitions about ALS and Genervon GM604

Here is a link to the petition.

Here is a petition regarding the same FDA trial, on the White House petition site, We the People.

Here is the Facebook page for Rally in DC, May 11, 2015.

Link to More Information

This article is a blog post for one PALS who has been able to gain "Compassionate Use" status for Genervon GM.

(The article contains other links also. Just keep following links. You  will get lots more information.)

NYC carriage horses working in brutal storm.

Click here to read Elizabeth Forel's excellent article in The Dodo.

I love the picture of Monty, Rocco and Teddy romping in the snow, with their adorable blankets. They are so cute, happy and handsome! Scroll down a little to see some pictures of them.