Frank Woodruff Buckles at age 16 and 107

Today November 11, 2010 is Veterans Day. Please hand your flag to show honor to these brave men and women. Don’t forget your flag etiquette.

What is Veterans Day? For most people it’s a paid day off from work and the the kids stay home from school. There are sales at the mall, parades and other festivities. But do you know why?

Veterans Day is an annual American holiday honoring the 24.5 million military veterans in the United States, 1.7 million of whom are women and 9.5 million of whom are 65 and older. Our oldest living veteran is Frank Woodruff Buckles, WWI veteran, age 109.

Veterans Day is both a federal and state holiday in all states and is usually observed on November 11. It is also celebrated as Armistice Day or Remembrance Day in other parts of the world. November 11 is the anniversary of the signing of the Armistice that ended World War I. Major hostilities of World War I were formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 with the German signing of the Armistice.

Armistice Day was celebrated starting November 1919 until 1954 where is was official changed to Veterans Day and was to include all Veterans of all wars.

Be sure to thank a Veteran for fighting for and protecting your Constitutional Rights. Most important to me are our First and Second Amendment Rights:

• Freedom of Speech
• Freedom of Religion
• Freedom of the Press
• Freedom of Assembly
• Right to Keep and Bear Arms

China, North Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Yemen don’t have that. Many many countries don’t have that. We have our issues, but I have traveled all over the and there is no better country in the world than the United States of America.

There are veteran and war memorials all over the US. Here are four National War Memorials from Washington DC.

World War I Memorial; Washington DC
4,734,991 US Troops deployed; 320,518 killed and wounded; 1917-1918

World War II Memorial; Washington DC
16,112,566 deployed worldwide; 1,077,245 killed and wounded; 1941-1945

Korean War Memorial; Washington DC
5,720,000 deployed worldwide; 157,530 killed and wounded; 1950-1953

Vietnam War Memorial; Washington DC
8,744,000 deployed worldwide; 243,512 killed and wounded; 1964-1975

There are many Iraq and Afghanistan Veteran and War Memorials being built in the US. There is a National Memorial in planning for Washington DC, but I think there are some design issues.

Desert Shield/Desert Storm Memorial; Evansville, IN
694,550 Deployed to the Gulf; 849 killed and wounded; 1990-1991

Operation Enduring Freedom Afghanistan 2001-Present
**Deployed, *1378 killed, *7266Wounded

Operation Iraq Freedom 2003-Present
**Deployed, *4745 Deaths, *31,902 Wounded

Note* – Number totals are based in statistics from icasualties.org

Note** – I could not find a current “Total Number Deployed” If you have a link to that info please send.

AMERICAS WARS-FACTS/STATISTICS

Icasualties -Fatalities and wounded stats

Please…do something special for a Veteran today.

Christine Dobbyn – HOUSTON (KTRK) — A Houston woman is telling her story of survival for the first time on camera. She is a former KBR contractor who began working in Iraq in November of 2008.

Anna Mayo says what happened to her one morning in her sleeping quarters changed her life forever. While we don’t normally identify rape victims, the young woman says she wants her story heard.

In the fall of 2008, Anna Mayo left Austin to work as a KBR contractor in Iraq. Within a month, she was promoted to an operations specialist with project management.

“I loved it,” Mayo said. “I moved up really fast; I got a lot of responsibility.”

And then Mayo was moved to the night shift, so that meant sleeping during the day.

“I had a sign on my room that said daysleeper, please come back after 14:00,” she said.

On a November morning in 2009, there was a knock on her sleeping container door. She opened it to find a man she says was not an American.

“He told me that he needed to come in and check something in my bathroom,” Mayo said.

But he didn’t stay long.

“Ten seconds, it seemed like  it was in and out; and then he just walked out; it was just the weirdest thing,” Mayo said.

Mayo then called to report the strange incident but was referred to someone in maintenance.

“I blew it off; I mean they blew it off; they said that’s as far as it went and I said OK well, I guess he was checking something,” Mayo said.

But three days later as she slept, there was no knock this time, and when she opened her eyes that same man was in her room.

“It was just this fear, where I’m in danger,” Mayo said. ” I immediately knew that I was in danger.”

He attacked grabbing her hair and she fought back.

“He took his hands and dug them into my eyeballs as hard as he could, and it hurt so bad, and then I got weaker and then he put a rope around my neck,” Mayo said.

But Mayo could only fight for so long. She was face down, being raped.

“It was almost a relief because it didn’t hurt as bad as when he was ripping my face off,” Mayo said.

He had tied her arms behind her back and tried to smother her. She passed out again, and when she came to she could only crawl.

“I looked in the mirror and I saw a monster,” Mayo said. “I couldn’t recognize me.”

Her hair was falling out; her eyes hemorrhaging. It took all the strength she had left to get help.

“I screamed help and turned around, and I fainted again,” Mayo said.

Mayo was transferred to a military hospital in Germany.

“The military hospital was fantastic,” she said. “They treated me amazing, like one of their own troops, but the company I worked for, they had nothing to do with me; it was immediately like I was cut off.”

Now the former contractor is suing KBR, claiming there is a culture of sexual misconduct within the company.

“I want them to take responsibility or at least show some kind of accountability,” Mayo said.

KBR disputes parts of Mayo’s story and said in a statement, “Sexual misconduct is not tolerated. Ms Mayo’s allegations to the contrary are not correct.”

They go on to say Mayo did not follow up after her initial report of that strange maintenance check, adding, “Ms. Mayo made no further inquiries or report that she felt threatened by the incident.”

Mayo has recovered from most of the physical injuries.

“Sometimes when I get really hot or I take a shower, you can see a rug burn on my neck,” she said.

It’s the emotional ones that still haunt her.

A district court just ruled that Mayo’s case will not move forward until there is a decision in another pending case against a military contractor, though it involves truck drivers injured on the job.

Mayo’s lawsuit is the latest in a series against U.S. companies working military contracts in Iraq. On Wednesday, find out how Mayo is joining other women with similar claims. (Click HERE for original article)

You can find other articles on this horrific crime at this links below on MsSparky.com.

1. KBR employee brutally raped at Joint Base Balad in Iraq(Updated) (December 4, 2009)
2. KBR Employee (Anna Mayo) Says She Was Raped and Beaten By Fellow KBR Employee in Iraq (June 4, 2010)
3. Did KBR knowingly allow a rapist to go free in Iraq? (July 12, 2010)

The Petit Family (L to R) Hayley, Michaela, Jennifer and William Petit

By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN, Associated Press – November 8, 2010

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – A Connecticut man was condemned to death Monday for a night of terror inside a suburban home in which a woman was strangled and her two daughters tied to their beds, doused in gasoline and left to die in a fire.

Jurors in New Haven Superior Court voted unanimously to send Steven Hayes to death row after deliberating over the span of four days. Judge Jon Blue will impose the sentence on Dec. 2.

“You have been exposed to images of depravity and horror that no human being should have to see,” Blue said in thanking the jurors for their service.

Dr. William Petit, the husband and father of the victims, said the verdict was not about revenge.

“Vengeance belongs to the Lord,” Petit said. “This is about justice. We need to have some rules in a civilized society.”

He also said it wouldn’t bring closure, saying whoever came up with the concept was “an imbecile.”

“It’s a hole with jagged edges,” he said. “Over time the edges may smooth out a little bit, but the hole in your heart, the hole in your soul is always there.”

Hayes’ attorneys had tried to persuade jurors to spare him the death penalty by portraying him as a clumsy, drug-addicted thief who never committed violence until the 2007 home invasion with a fellow paroled burglar. They called the co-defendant, Joshua Komisarjevsky, the mastermind and said he escalated the violence. They also said Hayes was remorseful and actually wanted a death sentence.

But prosecutors said both men were equally responsible and that the crime cried out for the death penalty, saying the family was tormented for seven hours before they were killed.

Defense attorney Tom Ullmann said Hayes, who had attempted suicide while incarcerated, smiled at the verdict.

“He is thrilled with the verdict. That’s what he wanted all along,” Ullmann said.

Hayes will join nine other men on Connecticut’s death row. The state has only executed one man since 1960, so Hayes will likely spend years, if not decades, in prison.

Komisarjevsky will be tried next year.

Authorities said Hayes and Komisarjevsky broke into the house, beat William Petit, and forced his wife, Jennifer Hawke-Petit, to withdraw money from a bank while the rest of her family remained under hostage at home. Hayes then sexually assaulted and strangled her, authorities said. Komisarjevsky, who will be tried next year, is charged with sexually assaulting their 11-year-old daughter, Michaela.

Michaela and her 17-year-old sister, Hayley, were tied to their beds and doused in gasoline before the men set the house on fire, according to testimony. The girls died of smoke inhalation.

The crime was so unsettling that it became a key issue in the death penalty debate in the governor’s race and led to tougher Connecticut laws for repeat offenders and home invasions. Gov. M. Jodi Rell cited the case when she vetoed a bill that would have abolished the death penalty.

To determine Hayes’ punishment, the jury weighed so-called aggravating factors cited by prosecutors, including the heinous and cruel nature of the deaths, against mitigating factors argued by Hayes’ attorneys.

The jurors were individually polled after the verdict Monday. One woman was crying and confirmed her verdict in a hoarse voice while a male juror said “yes” loudly and with conviction when asked to confirm his. Hayes was alternately looking straight ahead and to the opposite side of the courtroom from jury. His attorney, Tom Ullmann, sat somewhat slumped in his chair.

Petit said he cried at the verdict, “thinking of the tremendous loss.”

“Michaela was an 11-year-old little girl tortured and killed in her own bedroom, surrounded by stuffed animals,” he said, his voice cracking. He said his older daughter, Hayley, had a great future, and his wife, a nurse, had helped many children at the hospitals where she worked.

Ullmann had suggested prison would be more harsh than death for Hayes. Hayes told a psychiatrist he had repeatedly tried to kill himself after the crime because he felt guilty and remorseful and feared isolation in prison the rest of his life.

Hayes’ attorneys focused heavily on Komisarjevsky, even calling a witness who said his “completely dead eyes” made him look like the devil. They cited his writings in which he described how his “dark shadow was let loose” as he beat the doctor and the pleasure he got from terrorizing the man’s wife and two daughters.

Komisarjevsky’s writings, however, also blamed Hayes for escalating the violence by strangling Hawke-Petit.

Prosecutors said it was Hayes who initiated the crime, citing his confession to police in which he said he called Komisarjevsky shortly before the crime because he was financially desperate. They also noted that Hayes took Hawke-Petit to the bank to withdraw money, raped and strangled her, bought the gasoline and poured it in the house.

During the trial, jurors heard eight days of gruesome testimony, saw photos of the victims, charred beds, rope, ripped clothing and ransacked rooms.

Johanna Petit Chapman, William Petit’s sister, said the family sympathized with the jurors for the emotional pain the case inflicted on them as they viewed pictures of the crime scene and heard details of the deaths.

“I was crying on the inside knowing what they were looking at,” she said. “I can’t say enough how badly I feel for them that they got thrust into this because of two people’s decision to go in and just destroy life like that.”

Dolores Carter, one of the jurors, told The Associated Press on Monday that she was tired and mentally exhausted.

“It was a very hard decision. It’s not easy to put someone’s life on the line,” Carter said.

Hayes was convicted of six capital felony charges, three murder counts and two charges of sexually assaulting Hawke-Petit. The capital offenses were for killing two or more people, the killing of a person under 16, murder in the course of a sexual assault and three counts of intentionally causing a death during a kidnapping. He was sentenced to death for all six.

Ullmann and co-counsel Patrick Culligan said the case was treated differently because the victims were white and from the suburbs, and that crimes just as horrific involving minorities haven’t garnered the same media and public attention.

“To my way of thinking, that’s all that these verdicts prove today, that is just how arbitrary and capricious the death penalty is — it varies from case to case and person to person and jury to jury,” Culligan said. (click HERE for the original article)

Washington

Poll Closes: 11:00 pm ET

= Projected Winners   * = Incumbent

State Election Results

Senate

MURRAY* 3746 of 6000 Precincts Reporting County Results | Exit Poll 50% 50% ROSSI
Party	Candidate	V%	Votes
D	Patty Murray*	50%	722,396
R	Dino Rossi	50%	708,391

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House 1	County Results | 406 of 695 Precincts Reporting

Party	Candidate	V%	Votes
D	Jay Inslee*	56%	84,243
R	James Watkins	44%	66,804

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House 2	County Results | 451 of 709 Precincts Reporting

Party	Candidate	V%	Votes
R	John Koster	50%	87,687
D	Rick Larsen*	50%	86,258

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House 3	County Results | 543 of 707 Precincts Reporting

Party	Candidate	V%	Votes
R	Jaime Herrera	53%	108,847
D	Denny Heck	47%	96,828

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House 4	County Results | 336 of 569 Precincts Reporting

Party	Candidate	V%	Votes
R	Doc Hastings*	68%	98,533
D	Jay Clough	32%	45,721

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House 5	County Results | 318 of 661 Precincts Reporting

Party	Candidate	V%	Votes
R	Cathy McMorris Rodgers*	65%	88,161
D	Daryl Romeyn	35%	48,506

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House 6	County Results | 454 of 632 Precincts Reporting

Party	Candidate	V%	Votes
D	Norm Dicks*	57%	96,890
R	Doug Cloud	43%	72,728

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House 7	County Results | 343 of 697 Precincts Reporting

Party	Candidate	V%	Votes
D	Jim McDermott*	81%	104,451
ND	Bob Jeffers-Schroder	19%	24,591

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House 8	County Results | 460 of 743 Precincts Reporting

Party	Candidate	V%	Votes
R	Dave Reichert*	55%	91,797
D	Suzan Delbene	45%	76,319

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House 9	County Results | 391 of 586 Precincts Reporting

Party	Candidate	V%	Votes
D	Adam Smith*	53%	74,266
R	Dick Muri	47%	64,756

Check up to the minute results and other states HERE.

If you are in a “mail in ballot” only state, you have time to get those ballots dropped off. If you are in a state that requires you to physically go in an vote start making those arrangements if you haven’t already.

Don’t think for one minute that your vote doesn’t matter…it does.

My grandson singing cards for soldiers

It’s that time of the year again!! And this is the third year I’ve been involved helping to promote the Holiday Mail For Heroes program sponsored by The American Red Cross and Pitney Bowes. Every year I sit down with my grandson (now 7) and write notes and sign Holiday cards for our soldiers who are deployed or recovering in hospitals like Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

What could be more heartfelt than to receive a hand written heartfelt card from someone who really appreciates what you do. Let’s thank those soldiers!

The program started September 3rd and all cards must be postmarked buy December 10, 2010 so we need to get on this! Do it today!

The 2010 Holiday Mail for Heroes P.O. Box is now open! Please send cards to the address below. Remember they must be postmarked by December 10, 2010.

Holiday Mail for Heroes
PO Box 5456
Capitol Heights, MD
20791-5456

The American Red Cross and Pitney Bowes needs your help to make this year’s program the best yet. As you start your card-making activities, don’t forget to follow these important tips!

Do…

Include your heartfelt sentiments and sign all cards
Entitle cards with generic terms such as “Dear Service Member, Family or Veteran”
Limit cards to 15 per person or 50 for school class or business group
Bundle groups of cards in single, large envelopes

Don’t…

Send letters, care packages or monetary gifts
Include personal information such as home or email addresses
Use glitter – excessive amounts can aggravate health issues of wounded recipients
Include inserts of any kind as they must be removed in the screening process

Amy Grant’s holiday card design

This year, we are thrilled to welcome back celebrity cabinet member Amy Grant. Amy will once again be joining us for our special kick-off and card signing event on November 11th, Veteran’s Day.

Amy and several other celebrity cabinet members also collaborated with us this year to create custom holiday cards that you can purchase (a $25 donation to our Service to the Armed Forces) and send to the Holiday Mail mailbox as well as to your friends and family. Check out designs from Dr. Phil, Miley Cyrus, and Jane Seymour!

You can also contribute more than just cards. Our holiday gift catalog lists several different contributions you can make to provide much-needed items for service members, such as phone cards and “comfort kits”.

You can get more information at The American Red Cross Blog

Let’s get this done!!

I have always been interested in how things evolve. That includes why are certain holiday traditions observed and coveted. Halloween is no exception. Halloween has become one the the the most popular Holidays in the United States. It is celebrated by children and adults alike and is second only to Christmas in popularity. The current Halloween holiday is a far cry from it’s odd beginnings. Halloween is the result of the combination of several ancient holidays and traditions. I’m sure the candy manufacturers have had a huge hand in current traditions as well!

Halloween, is one of the world’s oldest holidays and is still celebrated in several countries around the globe. The autumn rite is commemorated in the United Kingdom, although with a surprising and distinctive British twist such as the Lighting of the Witches. In Mexico, Latin America, and Spain, All Souls’ Day, the third day of the three-day Hallowmas observance, is the most important part of the celebration for many people. In Ireland and Canada, Halloween, which was once a frightening and superstitious time of year, is celebrated much as it is in the United States, with trick-or-treating, costume parties, and fun for all ages.

The word itself, “Halloween,” actually has its origins in the Catholic Church. It comes from a contracted corruption of All Hallows Eve. November 1, “All Hollows Day” (or “All Saints Day”), is a Catholic day of observance in honor of saints. But, in the 5th century BC, in Celtic Ireland, summer officially ended on October 31. The holiday was a harvest festival called Samhain (pronounced sow-in), which means “end of summer” or the last day of the Celtic calender.

Trick for Treat

The custom of trick or treating probably has several origins. During Samhain, the Druids believed the dead would play tricks on mankind and cause panic and destruction. They had to be appeased, so country folk would give the Druids food as they visited their homes.

An old Irish peasant practice called for going door to door to collect money, breadcake, cheese, eggs, butter, apples, etc., in preparation for the festival of St. Columb Kill.

Also a ninth-century European custom called souling. On November 2, All Souls Day, early Christians would walk from village to village begging for “soul cakes” made out of square pieces of bread with currants. The more soul cakes the beggars would receive, the more prayers they would promise to say on behalf of the dead relatives of the donors. At the time, it was believed that the dead remained in limbo for a time after death, and that prayer, even by strangers, could expedite a soul’s passage to heaven.

A traditional food eaten on Halloween is barnbrack, a kind of fruitcake that can be bought in stores or baked at home. A muslin-wrapped treat is baked inside the cake that, it is said, can foretell the eater’s future. If a ring is found, it means that the person will soon be wed; a piece of straw means that a prosperous year is on its way.

The TRICK part of “Trick or Treat” has be attributed to Mischief Night. Mischief night or Gate night or Cabbage Night (also known as Devil’s Night, Cabbage Night and Mizzy Night in some areas) is an annual tradition in parts of England, Canada, and the United States; a night when the custom is for people (primarily teenagers and preteens) to take a degree of license to play pranks and do mischief to their neighbors. The most common date for mischief night is November 4th however October 30, the day before Halloween is becoming more popular.

Halloween Masquerade Mask

Dogs are easy to dress up. I want to know how many stitches these people got trying to defile the dignity of these cats!

Modern day Halloween costumes range from the cute and scary for kids to the silly, scary and vampy for adults. We even subjects our pets to to costumes and make them beg for the coveted chocolate bars! From earliest times people wore masks when droughts or other disasters struck. They believed that the demons who had brought their misfortune upon them would become frightened off by the hideous masks. Even after the festival of Samhain had merged with Halloween, Europeans felt uneasy at this time of the year. Food was stored in preparation for the winter and the house was snug and warm. The cold, envious ghosts were outside, and people who went out after dark often wore masks to keep from being recognized.

Jack O’Lanterns

Irish children used to carve out potatoes or turnips and light them for their Halloween gatherings. They commemorated Jack, a shifty Irish villain so wicked that neither God nor the Devil wanted him. Rejected by both the sacred and profane, he wandered the world endlessly looking for a place to rest.People in Ireland, Scotland and England began to carve scary faces into turnips, potatoes and beets. They would place them in windows and doorways to frighten away the roaming ghost of Stingy Jack and other wandering spirits.

When immigrants from these countries came to America, they brought the Jack O’Lantern tradition with them. Here they quickly discovered what you already know; pumpkins make perfect Jack O’Lanterns! You can read more about about Jack HERE.

The Irish Potato Famine (1845-50) prompted over 700,000 people to immigrate to the Americas. These immigrants brought they brought the Jack O’Lantern tradition with them, but turnips were not as readily available as back home. They found the American pumpkin to be a more than an adequate replacement. Today, the carved pumpkin is perhaps the most famous icon of the holiday.

Pumpkin Facts

• In 1584, after French explorer Jacques Cartier explored the St. Lawrence region of North America, he reported finding “gros melons.” The name was translated into English as “pompions,” which has since evolved into the modern “pumpkin.”
• Pumpkins have been grown in North America for five thousand years. They are indigenous to the western hemisphere.
• Pumpkins are fruits. A pumpkin is a type of squash and is a member of the gourd family (Cucurbitacae), which include squash, cucumbers, gherkins, and melons.
• Pumpkin seeds should be planted between the last week of May and the middle of June. They take between 90 and 120 days to grow and are picked in October when they are bright orange in color. Their seeds can be saved to grow new pumpkins the next year.
• 2010 brings a new World Record! In what has become an annual event, the world record has fallen once more. The largest pumpkin ever grown stands at 1,810.5 pounds. It was grown by Chris Stevens of New Richmond, Wisconsin. It was weighed at the Stillwater Harvest fest in Stillwater, Minnesota, on October 9, 2010.

Bobbing for Apples

When the Celts were absorbed by the Roman Empire, many rituals of Roman origin began. Among them was the worship of Pomona, goddess of the harvest, often portrayed sitting on a basket of fruits and flowers. Apples were the sacred fruit of the goddess, and many games of divination involving them entered the Samhain customs.

The Witch’s Broomstick

The witch is a central symbol of Halloween. The name comes from the Saxon wica, meaning wise one. When setting out for a Sabbath, witches rubbed a sacred ointment onto their skin. This gave them a feeling of flying, and if they had been fasting they felt even giddier. Some witches rode on horseback, but poor witches went on foot and carried a broom or a pole to aid in vaulting over streams. In England when new witches were initiated they were often blindfolded, smeared with flying ointment and placed on a broomstick. The ointment would confuse the mind, speed up the pulse and numb the feet. When they were told “You are flying over land and sea,” the witch took their word for it.

Here are some Halloween safety trips to consider

NEVER DRINK AND DRIVE. DRIVE SLOWLY AND CAREFULLY!!

Halloween Costume Safety Tips

• Wear flame retardant costumes.
• Make sure your Halloween costume is colorfast so the color doesn’t run onto your other clothes if it rains.
• Try on costumes before Halloween to allow time for altering.
• Hem your costumes so you don’t trip and fall.
• Apply reflective tape to your Halloween costumes.
• Avoid cumbersome masks. Use make-up instead.
• Use only hypoallergenic and non-toxic makeup.
• Wear comfortable, practical shoes.
• Double tie your shoelaces so you don’t trip.
• Keep your costume and wig away from candles.
• Don’t carry fake swords, guns, knives or similar accessories that look authentic. Make sure they’re flexible and cannot harm anyone.

Trick-or-Treating Tips

• Plan your route ahead of time.
• Trick or treat in familiar neighborhoods.
• Carry a flashlight with fresh batteries after dark.
• Take along money for a phone call.
• Wear identification that’s easy to read.
• Always trick or treat in groups, accompanied by an adult.
• Follow a curfew and take a watch with a backlight.
• Stay on the sidewalks and out of the streets. Cross only at intersections and designated crosswalks.
• Walk. No running.
• Don’t trample through flower beds and gardens.
• Watch out for open flames in jack-o-Lanterns.
• Walk with your head up and be aware of your surroundings.
• Only visit well lit houses. Don’t stop at dark houses.
• Don’t enter any houses unless you know the people.
• Carry a spare Halloween bag, in case yours breaks or you fill your original one.
• Don’t approach unfamiliar pets and animals.
• Don’t cut across yards and stay out of backyards.
• Follow traffic signals and don’t jaywalk.
• Always watch for cars backing up or turning.
• Review the “stop, drop and roll” procedure in case your costume catches on fire.
• Never accept rides from strangers.
• Respect other people and their property.
• Be polite and say “thank you.”
• Don’t eat any candy until it’s inspected for tampering under bright lights.
• Avoid candy that has loose wrappings, is unwrapped, has puncture holes, or is homemade.
• Small children should not be allowed hard candy they may choke on.
• Report any suspicious or criminal activity to an adult or the police.
• Consider having a party instead of Trick or Treating.

NEVER DRINK AND DRIVE. DRIVE SLOWLY AND CAREFULLY!!

March 18, 2010 by Denise Nichols – Veterans Today

Gulf War Veterans need to be made aware of the following articles.  Alert for all female veterans you know the drill!  Self Breast Checks often and Mammograms.  VA does provide this, so make use of that service!
Male Veterans yes you too can get breast cancer.  Again our females will have to teach you the principles of breast self exams.  Basically you work in a clockwise pattern and outward and inner in direction from the clock face.  If you palpate any lumps or bumps under the skin GET IN TO A DOCTOR for further Assessment!

Also checks should also extend to lymph nodes in the arm pits.

I already know quite a few female gulf war veterans that have had breast cancers.  I would also recommend that all print this out and provide to health care providers, fellow veterans, etc.  Also I would recommend sharing on facebook pages personal and veteran groups facebook pages and specific gulf war veteran unit facebook pages.  I would also reccommend we use all social networks ie Twitter information.

We need mass communications.  Also try to get your local media and newspapers to cover the issues.  Email media contacts in your area.  I also recommend you get in touch with your US Representatives and Senators and get their staffer’s email and keep them in the flow of information.  VSO’s should also get this information for their post newsletters and magazines.  Each Veteran can do their part!  Each citizen should be helping!

Here are the stories about Breast Cancer in Iraq from the American Association for Cancer Research

Breast cancer continues to rise in Iraq, and scientists have established the Iraqi National Cancer Research Program to better understand the underlying molecular and environmental causes in an effort to curb the incidence of cancer.

“Breast cancer is the most common type of malignancy recorded in the cancer registries of almost all countries within the Eastern Mediterranean Region. In Iraq, the continuous rise in the incidence rate is associated with an obvious trend to affect pre-menopausal women,” said Nada A.S. Alwan, M.D., Ph.D., director of the National Breast Cancer Research Unit at Baghdad University Medical College and the executive director of the newly established Iraqi National Cancer Research Program.

Alwan presented early data at the second AACR Dead Sea International Conference on Advances in Cancer Research: From the Laboratory to the Clinic, held March 7-10, 2010.

The Iraqi National Cancer Research Program was organized by the Iraqi minister of higher education and scientific research in 2009 in collaboration with the common secretariat for the Council of Ministers and the Iraqi Parliament.

“This project includes within its objectives comprehensive epidemiologic studies on risk factors of the main encountered cancers in Iraq, with a focus on the characteristics and behaviors of cancer in patients inhabiting different geographic areas,” said Alwan.

The current study focused on 721 of 5,044 women who complained of breast lumps later diagnosed as cancer. Approximately one-third of the diagnosed patients were between 40 and 49 years old; 71.9 percent came from urban areas and 75 percent were married.

History of lactation was reported in 63.1 percent of the women and 29 percent had taken hormone therapy. A family history of breast cancer was reported in 16.2 percent of cases.

Although 90.6 percent of women detected a lump on self-examination, only 32 percent sought medical advice within the first month. Because of this, 47 percent of them presented with advanced stage breast cancer, either stage III or IV cancer. The main histological type was invasive ductal carcinoma of grade 2 in 56.6 percent and grade 3 in 39.9 percent. Estrogen-receptor positive tumors were noted in 65.1 percent of the cases and progesterone-receptor positive tumors were noted in 45.1 percent of the cases.

“We are currently planning to use this information to compare the demographic characteristics, clinicopathological presentations and management outcomes of breast cancer patients within selected countries in the Middle East,” said Alwan. (click HERE for the original article)

For more information about Breast Cancer and Self Breast Exams (SBE) go to BreastCancer.org and the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Go to this link for more information on Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC).

I just can’t harp enough that all women should be performing SBE’s every month and should have a mammogram at least every year after age 50 for sure and after age 30 if your insurance will pay for it. It takes five minutes and yes it is a little uncomfortable but not nearly as uncomfortable as a mastectomy and chemotherapy.

JUST DO IT!!

This article is also posted HERE.

The beta agonist ractopamine, a repartitioning agent that increases protein synthesis, was recruited for livestock use when researchers found the drug, used in asthma, made mice more muscular.

Ractopamine is started as the animal nears slaughter.

How does a drug marked, “Not for use in humans. Individuals with cardiovascular disease should exercise special caution to avoid exposure. Use protective clothing, impervious gloves, protective eye wear, and a NIOSH-approved dust mask” become “safe” in human food? With no washout period?

The drug is banned in Europe, Taiwan and China, and more than 1,700 people have been “poisoned” from eating pigs fed the drug since 1998, but ractopamine is used in 45 percent of U.S. pigs and 30 percent of ration-fed cattle.

Dr. Mercola’s Comments:

Ractopamine, aka Paylean and Optaflexx, is banned in 160 countries, including Europe, Taiwan and China. If imported meat is found to contain traces of the drug, it is turned away, while fines and imprisonment result for its use in banned countries.

Yet, in the United States 45 percent of pigs, 30 percent of ration-fed cattle, and an unknown percentage of turkeys are pumped full of this drug in the days leading up to slaughter.

Why?

This drug, manufactured by Elanco Animal Health, increases protein synthesis. In other words, it makes animals more muscular … and this increases food growers’ bottom line.

Adding insult to injury, up to 20 percent of ractopamine remains in the meat you buy from the supermarket, according to veterinarian Michael W. Fox. Yet this drug is marked “Not for use in humans,” and is known to increase death and disability in livestock.

Why is Ractopamine Allowed in U.S. Meat?

While other drugs require a clearance period of around two weeks to help ensure the compounds are flushed from the meat prior to slaughter (and therefore reduce residues leftover for human consumption), there is no clearance period for ractopamine.

In fact, food growers intentionally use the drug in the last days before slaughter in order to increase its effectiveness.

“How does a drug marked, “Not for use in humans. Individuals with cardiovascular disease should exercise special caution to avoid exposure. Use protective clothing, impervious gloves, protective eye wear, and a NIOSH-approved dust mask” become “safe” in human food? With no washout period?” asks columnist Martha Rosenberg.

She answers:

“The same way Elanco’s other two blockbusters, Stilbosol (diethylstilbestrol or DES), now withdrawn, and Posilac or bovine growth hormone (rBST), bought from Monsanto in 2008, became part of the nation’s food supply: shameless corporate lobbying.

A third of meetings on the Food Safety and Inspection Service’s public calendar in January 2009 were with Elanco, a division of Eli Lilly — or about ractopamine.”

Massive Industry Lobbying Gets Agribusiness What it Wants … at Your Expense

Industrial agriculture lobbyists wield incredible power in Congress, and the fact that ractopamine is in U.S. meat is a shining testimony to this.

Time magazine put it quite well when they described current farm policy as “a welfare program for the megafarms that use the most fuel, water and pesticides; emit the most greenhouse gases; grow the most fattening crops; hire the most illegals; and depopulate rural America.”

There are too many conflicts of interest to name, but, for example, you may be surprised to learn that former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack is now the Secretary of Agriculture, an appointment that took place despite massive public outcry.

What was needed for an effective Secretary of Agriculture was someone who would develop and implement a plan that promotes family-scale farming and a safe and nutritious food system with a sustainable and organic vision.

What we got was yet another politician who’s already made room in his bed for the industry lobby. Overall, Vilsack’s record is one of aiding and abetting Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) or factory farms (the ones that use chemicals like ractopamine) and promoting animal cloning.

Cozy Connections Allowed rbGH Hormones in Your Dairy Products, Too

Michael Taylor, a former vice president of public policy and chief lobbyist at Monsanto Company, is now the senior advisor for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Who is Michael Taylor?

He is the person who not only “oversaw the creation of GMO policy,” according to Jeffrey Smith, the leading spokesperson on the dangers of GM foods, but also oversaw the policy regarding Monsanto’s genetically engineered bovine growth hormone (rbGH/rbST).

This growth hormone, which has been banned in Canada, Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand because of cancer risks and other health concerns, was approved in the United States while Taylor was in charge at the FDA. Smith writes:

“Taylor also determined that milk from injected cows did not require any special labeling. And as a gift to his future employer Monsanto, he wrote a white paper suggesting that if companies ever had the audacity to label their products as not using rbGH, they should also include a disclaimer stating that according to the FDA, there is no difference between milk from treated and untreated cows.”

Taylor’s white paper, which again was untrue as even FDA scientists acknowledged differences in the rbGH milk, allowed Monsanto to sue dairies that labeled their products rbGH-free!

In a similar vain, the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine’s Office of Surveillance and Compliance sent a 14-page warning letter to Elanco regarding ractopamine three years after its approval for use in pigs. They accused the company of withholding information about “safety and effectiveness” and “adverse animal drug experiences.”

Nonetheless, the next year the FDA decided to approved ractopamine for use in cattle, too, and later for turkeys as well.

What Should You do if You Don’t Want Drugs and Chemicals in Your Food?

As the U.S. agriculture industry now stands, antibiotics, pesticides, GM ingredients, hormones and countless other drugs are fair game in your food. So if you purchase your food from a typical supermarket, you are taking your chances that your food is teeming with chemicals and drugs — even those that have been banned in other countries.

So please do your health a favor and support the small family farms in your area. You’ll receive nutritious food from a source that you can trust, and you’ll be supporting the honest work of a real family farm.

It all boils down to this: if you want to optimize your health, you must return to the basics of healthy food choices. Put your focus on WHOLE foods — foods that have not been processed or altered from their original state — food that has been grown or raised as nature intended, without the use of chemical additives, drugs, hormones, pesticides and fertilizers.

It’s as simple as that!

It is not nearly as daunting a task as it may seem to find a local farmer that can supply your family with healthy, humanely raised animal products and produce. At LocalHarvest.org, for instance, you can enter your zip code and find farmers’ markets, family farms, and other sources of sustainably grown food in your area, all with the click of a button.

Once you make the switch from supermarket to local farmer, the choice will seem natural, and you can have peace of mind that the food you’re feeding your family is safe. (click HERE for original article)

Mrs. Gentry, Mr. Mason and Keelen and his new 9th gup belt

It’s been a while since I have posted here. Yes…I have been remiss! MsSparky.com has been keeping me busy for hours a day but I am happy to say we are making progress. Click HERE to read that.  Keelen is keeping me hopping. He just turned 7 and is now a 9th gup in TaeKwonDo. He is clearly not one of the those easy “push button” kids. He tests and tests and tests and tests. But I am happy to say he is sweet and compassionate and not a mean person. He can be ornery, but he is not mean.

Tiffany is in her last two years. Woo Hoo. She may be able to get some taken off her sentence if they change the sentencing guidelines for Measure 11 crimes. Measure 11 has all but bankrupted the State of Oregon. I am not banking on an early release so as of now her release date is Dec 8, 2011.

I will try to do better about posting updates. I urge you to head over to MsSparky.com and see what’s going on in the corrupt world of Defense contracting.