Protect the consumer? Hah

I'm cross-posting this from lynnsrants - for those who do not read that blog....and may need to know of more recalls....

A few more "bad stuff" postings:

If you wear contacts and use AMO solution - please read...this is not being loudly announced - I saw it online and went OOPS - this is what I have been using!!!!

AMO Announces Voluntary Recall of Complete(R) MoisturePlus(TM) Multipurpose Solution

SANTA ANA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 25, 2007--In response to information received today from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) regarding eye infections from Acanthamoeba, a naturally occurring water-borne organism which can contribute to serious corneal infections, Advanced Medical Optics (AMO) (NYSE:EYE) is immediately and voluntarily recalling its Complete(R) MoisturePlus(TM) contact lens solutions. CDC data was made available to AMO today showing that it had completed interviews with 46 patients who had developed Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK) since January 2005. A total of 39 of these patients were soft contact lens wearers, 21 of whom reported using Complete(R) MoisturePlus(TM) products. The CDC estimates a risk of at least seven times greater for those who used Complete(R) MoisturePLUS(TM) solution versus those who did not.

Full article HERE

And more bad "food" from China - people food this time.

Imported Monkfish May Actually be Poisonous Puffer Fish: FDA

Americans should not buy or eat imported fish labeled as monkfish that may actually be puffer fish containing a dangerous and potentially deadly toxin called tetrodotoxin, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Thursday.

The agency said that 282 22-pound boxes of the fish were imported from China and distributed by Hong Chang Corp., of Santa Fe Springs, Calif. to wholesalers in Illinois, California and Hawaii beginning in September 2006.

Two people in Chicago became ill after they ate soup made with the fish and one of them had to be hospitalized. Initial symptoms of tetrodotoxin poisoning include tingling of lips, tongue, face and extremities. Subsequent symptoms may include headache, balance problems, excessive salvation, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain. Anyone with these symptoms should seek immediate medical care, the FDA said.

Severe cases of tetrodotoxin poisoning can cause muscle paralysis and death due to respiratory muscle paralysis.

Full article HERE

So more "stuff" from China is mislabeled - after harming pets the new batch is harming people - will we learn from this?
Not as long as moneyshrub is king and money politiks is the bottom line here in the USA.

and so we go blind...they don't care...as long as the big corporations make tons of money....
that's the criteria for most consumer decisions it seems

Sailing again - after all these years

I had not been on a sailboat since the mid-60's - but as I live on a river and love water - figured it was about time to go sailing.

All it took was a few friends suggesting that it was time for me to join OWSA [Oregon Women's Sailing Assn.] - and so I joined.

Last night I went out on my 1st Wednesday nite fun cruise - and it was fun - just like advertised. There was the captain and 4 crew. We all got a chance to do all aspects of crewing.....There was a nice wind which picked up when the cold front moved through. Of course the cold front also brought cold pounding rain with it....and we got wet....especially me as I had been determined it would NOT rain so had left my rain jacket home and took a sweatshirt....but after the front moved off it was not so cold but the wind died and we motored back to the moorage..

I had kayaked across the river to Hayden Island to the boat so had to kayak against the current to get back home - which I did very rapidly as it was nearing dusk and I did not feel like digging out my light from where I stashed it in my bag....made it!

Next week - new crew - different boat...I can't wait....

How many times can one say "here we go again?"

I guess the answer is: as long as the big pharmas push for their bottom line and not anyones health !

The most recent "news:"

WASHINGTON: Another study has found that diabetes drugs intended to help patients live longer, healthier lives may in fact increase the chances they will die — this time of heart attacks and other causes.

The news, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, set off a clamour by consumer groups, heart experts and Congress — some of whom question the safety of all drugs in this class after a number of studies that have shown liver, heart and bone side effects.

Full article HERE

I really feel badly for anyone who has to take serious medication for life threatening illnesses...but while the pharmaceutical companies rake in obscene profits - they are producing products that hurt the very people they say they are helping.

And what got me more angry - was that an article I first read about this issue - went on to lament that the drug company's stock prices fell..

Really lets you know what is the most important aspect of this issue - doesn't it?

A computer desk with a view

I work better when I have a nice view...a room of one's own with a view is a combo of titles that works for me.

I am in the process of re-arranging my office so I can see the river when I work and see a wall with nice photos when I look up from the desk...

Now I see my neighbor's house out the window and my not-so-neat sink washing machine area when I look up and scan the room.

I was going to await the help of son and his significant other as they both have superb spatial orientation skills [a function I am totally lacking] but they won't be out here for a while and I want my room to have the view that works for moi..

I am one of those people who literally has to move the furniture around to see if it fits and works - I can not plan it out mentally....but I do have a physical plan on how to do this with a bit of ease - it requires taking a piece of my L- shaped desk out and leaving it out as it creates a space problem...

Over the years I have noticed that this lack of spatial orientation is found more in females....it leads to my having problems with maps, directions, and knowing my right hand from my left - but I have adapted to it over a lifetime - it just means taking "alternative routes" and moving a lot of furniture.

Not sure if it's gotten better or worse as I aged .. never really kept track of the problems I have had with directionality ..it never seemed important - it was just "me."

Skin Care - week 4

Okay

Here are photos from:
before skin care treatment,
2 weeks into this and
today - which is week 4

I see a healthier skin tone as do friends - not sure it shows up in the photos

The dark circles under my eyes are much lighter and the wrinkles around my mouth are going away - but as I had so many - that may take another month....

I no longer need to use the products day and night ... so I do two products in the AM only do the "full" course in the evening and
I no longer have to use the "recommended" amount as my skin is that much more hydrated since I started.


PRE skin care
















week 2 - [week 3 looked the same to me]














week 4

Mother's Day 2007

A repeat posting [from Mother's Day 2006 on my politikal blog] - with a few minor edits
[cross-posted there today as well]




How did we get away from the original intent of Howe's mother's day proclamation to a now corporate event of sell sell sell and buy buy buy? Oh and do not forget to make those intercepted phone calls....

I cry for those mommy's who have lost their children in the mad shrub's so-called war....

Let's take back mother's day - we started to take back our country from mad king george last Fall - let's continue to do so....peaceably

Mother's Day Proclamation - 1870
by Julia Ward Howe

Arise then...women of this day!
Arise, all women who have hearts!
Whether your baptism be of water or of tears!
Say firmly:
"We will not have questions answered by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage,
For caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.
We, the women of one country,
Will be too tender of those of another country
To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs."

From the voice of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with
Our own. It says: "Disarm! Disarm!
The sword of murder is not the balance of justice."
Blood does not wipe our dishonor,
Nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil
At the summons of war,
Let women now leave all that may be left of home
For a great and earnest day of counsel.
Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
Whereby the great human family can live in peace...
Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar,
But of God -
In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask
That a general congress of women without limit of nationality,
May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient
And the earliest period consistent with its objects,
To promote the alliance of the different nationalities,
The amicable settlement of international questions,
The great and general interests of peace.

Peace

More heart than leg : - )

One would think that after a lifetime of being active I'd know what my body can do - or not do?
Not quite : - 0

Went skiing last Sunday and not only was it my first ski day of the season - it was warm out there.... lots and lots of leg muscle needed to make it through the wet heavy snow.... I went with friends who have skied all season and they too quit when I did...it was that kind of day....

Went to my cycling class Monday morning and that's when I found that my heart was in better shape then my legs! I could not keep my heart rate at it's normal workout number....[ in fact it was way lower than my usual workout rate] Whoda thought?

Glad I have the heart rate monitor or I would not have seen this and learned that my legs were more worn out than my heart.....Yes I knew my legs were worn out- knew that while skiing....but I never paid attention to the fact that the next day they were still very worn out and it was the legs that were not working as opposed to my body being tired....

So here's to healthy hearts and new knowledge - we can all learn more about our bodies all the time...

And - the for skin care - it's week 3 and no differences that I see except that I got some sun while skiing and it's now warm enough that I don't have a sweat shirt on - but the face looks the same...

Next week is week 4 - the magic 28 days of bettering my skin cells - so we will wait and see what I look like next week.

A friend finds a new career

If you are in the Southern Vermont area - a friend of mine has started a new career. She does pottery and has opened a paint-it-yourself pottery shop in Brattleboro.

Location:

SouthMowing Studio
668 Putney Road
(behind Unique Auto Wholesalers and D'Angelo's)

Hours:

Sun & Tues 9:00 A.M.-6:00 P.M.
Mon&Thurs 10:00 A.M.-10:00 P.M.
Fri 9:00 A.M.-5:00 P.M.
*Sat 10:00 A.M.-5:00 P.M.

*When we can get someone to watch the store for the day. Which usually we can.

Medications

If you have been a regular reader you know that I am not a great believer in most medications. [FYI - I take a synthetic thyroid pill as I had my thyroid nuked in the late 80's but that is it for meds ]

Why do I not like meds? Probably because I see the big pharmas pushing them at everyone all day/every day. The TV shows I watch seem to have nothing but medication ads.....or so it seems : - 0

Maybe because I understand that most medications are getting their final round of testing on us - the public - and that many aimed at children are never tested on children....

Maybe it's because there is a almost regular study showing that "oops- there is a problem" or "uh-oh - don't take XYZ anymore!"

The latest "oops" is about a drug type aimed at preventing bone loss or osteoporosis. Seems the drug class [biphosphonates] increases the risk of serious heart rhythm abnormalities.

The researchers say the overall risk is small...but if it were me - I'd find out if I were in that risk pool....

Skin Care - week 2

Here I am - week 2 ... got the hair cut and I see differences in the skin - not sure all else can but -
[you can scroll down to see the before and week 1 photos]

the thing I notice the most is that I need less of each product now as my skin is so well hydrated.
Also the "bags" under my eyes are going away as are the deeper wrinkles around my mouth.

AHHHHHH -