Orphan Boys…and I?

No. I’m too old. I’m too poor. I’m too overwhelmed.

But this still tugs:

Most orphans are adopted into a family as infants. But what becomes of the orphans who are not so fortunate to be adopted? What happens to those who begin to fall through the cracks of the system?

It’s no secret that Russian orphans who do not have a forever family almost always struggle in adulthood. According to Buckner International, kids who go through the entire system and leave the orphanage at age 17 often end up involved in drugs, prostitution, and crime right away. Estimates show that almost 10 percent of these orphans commit suicide within the first three years after leaving an orphanage.

[…]

Older orphan boys from Russia are the most desperate for homes right now. For whatever reason, boys are less likely to be adopted in general than girls, and this is especially the case as they get older. But it is no less imperative for these boys to find homes than it is for girls.

Source: Adoption crisis: Russian boys need homes

Fishy: Zucchini-on-Bear

What a great story!

The abused, misunderstood, underappreciated zucchini gets its day (or night, rather) in the spotlight.

Too bad we weren’t able to have a garden this year. Just think for much I could be selling zucchinis on eBay or even down at the local farmers’ market.

Oh well. 🙁

But wait. I haven’t even let you read the story yet.

Police say a Montana woman fended off a bear attack with an unlikely weapon — a zucchini.

Missoula County Sheriff’s Lt. Rich Maricelli says a 200-pound black bear attacked one of the woman’s dogs just after midnight Wednesday on the back porch of her home about 15 miles west of Missoula.

When the woman, whom police did not name, tried to separate the animals, the bear bit her in the leg.

Maricelli says the woman reached for the nearest object at hand on the porch’s railing — a large zucchini that she had harvested from her garden.

The woman flung the vegetable at the bear, striking it and forcing it to flee.

Maricelli says the woman did not need medical attention. Wildlife officials were trying to locate the bear on Thursday.

Source: Mont. woman fends off bear attack with zucchini

Yup. That’s the story. Exactly as it reads at the above link. Or at least read as of 2:25 pm Pacific on September 23, 2010.

I thought it was a great story. And funny, too! I still do, in fact.

But that next-to-the-last sentence set off my Fish Alert Bells.

The woman was bit by a bear…and didn’t require medical attention?! Please!

🙄

Either that bear is a wimp — and being chased off by a vegetable may verify that — or that woman is mighty tough.

Or something is fishy about the story.

So I read it again.

Go wading into a dog-bear fight and try to separate the animals?

Maybe.

Be close enough to a bear to be bit and close enough to the porch railing to merely reach out for the Attack Vegetable…and then fling said weapon at the bear?

Maybe it’s all just a matter of semantics, but when you’re close enough to a bear for hand-to-paw and leg-to-tooth combat, you don’t fling, you clobber.

Fling, my friends, is for out-of-reach combat.

No sale.

I like zucchini. But not fishy zucchini.

Now, go ahead, tell me how you believe the story. 😯

That Sword in Your Head

Or is it a Swiss Army knife?

The writer of Proverbs describes an unwise person as “one who speaks like the piercings of a sword” (12:18). Our tongues can be like a multi-bladed Swiss Army knife when it comes to the variety of ways that we cut and destroy each other.

Unhealthy attitudes of anger, irritation, frustration, and impatience — even disappointment, stress, guilt, and insecurity — all contribute to our damaging speech. And as we cut with our words, we wound and divide friendships and relationships. It’s no wonder that the infamous list of seven things that are an abomination to the Lord includes anyone who “sows discord among brethren” (Prov. 6:16-19).

How do we stay off that list?

Since I didn’t write this, I shouldn’t just quote the whole thing, should I?

Here’s the rest: Cutting Remarks. Please read it.

Alzheimer’s: Your Teeth, Your Brain

I know the quote below starts by referencing a here-unidentified attitude….

Dr. Henry Chiang, a Newport Beach, Calif., dentist who has launched a 2010 Oral Health Campaign for Seniors, wants to reverse that attitude.

His efforts to make seniors more aware of gum disease and denture care comes at the same time that New York University dental researchers have found the first long-term evidence that periodontal (gum) disease could increase the risk of cognitive dysfunction associated with Alzheimer’s disease in healthy individuals as well as those already impaired.

The NYU study offers fresh evidence that gum inflammation might contribute to brain inflammation, neurodegeneration and Alzheimer’s.

Dr. Chiang adds dry mouth conditions can exacerbate the problem. “For patients who suffer from dry mouth, contaminated dentures pose potential health risks. Dentures are porous and can harbor a huge number of harmful bacteria.

“In addition, the likelihood of dry mouth increases with the number of medications a person takes. Since people over 65 use an average of three prescriptions and two over-the-counter medications per day, they stand a good chance of suffering dry mouth. Denture wearers with reduced salivary flow should be particularly concerned about the cleanliness of their dentures and serious health risks associated with contaminated dentures.”

For the rest: Neglecting your teeth may lead to Alzheimer’s

Slavery USA?

I’ll admit it. That this goes on in the USA boggles my mind.

What do you think of when you hear the phrase “sex trafficking?” Brothels in Cambodia? Abducted women in South Africa? The 2008 film “Taken”? Whatever your thoughts may be, they are likely focused in impoverished countries filled with women who have no other options.

Yet, this heinous crime and organized trade goes daily unnoticed when it occurs in the United States. That is: unnoticed or unrecognized for what it is.

[…]

The United States is no virgin when it comes to the exploitation of its own children. Modern-day abolitionist York Moore with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship says, “We’re all seeing the evolution here in the United States. Ten years ago, when we talked about human trafficking, we were primarily talking about a phenomena that existed outside of the United States. Back in 2001, there was an estimated only 45,000 – 50,000 slaves in the United States.”

As shocking as those numbers were ten years ago, they are not nearly as disturbing as the rate at which the crime has grown. Pat McCalla of a ministry to sexually enslaved minors known as “Streetlight” in Phoenix, Arizona says the problem in the U.S. has grown to “anywhere from 100,000 to 300,000 underage women being trafficked every year.”

Human trafficking is now the second-largest criminal industry in the world after drug trafficking, and it has become the fastest-growing criminal movement. The United States is no exception.

Not only is the degradation climbing higher in sheer numbers, but the ages of victims seem to be getting lower by the year. “We’re definitely seeing an evolution in the United States not only in terms of the raw numbers, but also in terms of the appetite for young flesh,” says Moore. “It’s very disturbing.”

[…]

Whether minors are used by family members, abducted by clever traffickers, taken from their suburban beds on a nightly basis, or blackmailed into a life of unending agony, the problem exists all over. “In the last three years, I’ve visited Boston, New York, Chicago, Seattle, Minneapolis, St. Paul, San Diego, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Denver. Every one of those cities has a problem,” explains McCalla.

Source: The U.S. sex trade flourishes: number of enslaved minors increasing

Advice Needed: Cable Phone Service

Where we’re moving to allows us to finally get broadband access.

I can go with Qwest DSL and phone service.

Or I can go with cable for both internet and phone service.

WavePhone is delivered through your existing telephone wiring and the fiber-optic network already in your neighborhood. You can even keep using your regular home phone handsets. If you want to make a call, simply pick up the receiver and dial.

WavePhone uses digitally delivered packet cable technology to deliver carrier-grade IP telephony over a private network. That ensures a higher quality of service QoS with consistent and significantly better audio because WavePhone doesn’t suffer performance issues that might result from dropped packets. For you, that means crystal clear sound, and no annoying echoes or sound delays.

Source: Wave Broadband

I’m so old-fashioned, the idea of not using a phone company for phone service seems mighty strange and suspect.

So…what are the upsides and the downsides to using cable phone service?

Heeeeelp!!!!

Above all, love God!

since November 9, 2005