I had actually heard of Kony before yesterday. I'm not trying to be cool, it's just a thing I knew. That video still upset me though. I'm glad this thing has hit the mainstream.

Most of the kids I know have purchased (or had their parents purchase) the action kit and plan on plastering stuff all over the place during April. (20th I think).

It's going viral in early March. I don't know if it will wait until April!

Kony is a BAD person. He is not the only one, but if we can rustle up some action against him, it will either put the others on notice or create a mechanism for dealing with others.

I've had to cancel my trip down to Sundae's this weekend :(

Partly because I didn;'t get my act together and organise the details last week, and now can't get ahold of her :p

But mostly, because my skin has gone mental over the last few days. Carrot has something called 'walking dandruff'. It's a type of mite and is apparently very common in puppies. vet said most pups have it at some point. In fact, she says, whenever she deals with a puppy, she almost always ends up with a mad rash from it.

Most people don't get anything worse than a little bite, but if you're sensitive to them, it can make for a really bad allergic reaction.

Which on the one hand is bloody inconvenient and making my skin crawl just at the thought of it...but on the other hand is something of a relief as it explains why my skin has gone so bad, so fast. A mild flare I always expect from a pup, but this is rapid and nasty.

It's also a relief because the biting at his back legs has turned out to be a nice, treatable, normal puppy thing and not the horrible bone or joint problems that my slightly overactive imagination was suspecting :p

Pissed I didn't get down to Sundae's though. I was really looking forward to seeing her. But I'd had a bath and applied various creams and ointments and was just so uncomfortable, I realised there was no way I was doing a 5 hour train journey.

I wonder where she is...hasn't been around here in a few days or so?

Your description of how your skin feels reminds me of that scene from that movie that came out a long time ago.

You know the one I mean.

It reminds me of my angioedema which seems to have taken a turn for the worse and is especially bad on my right ankle and both arms. :(

Those scratches in the picture I showed earlier scarred. Like they're whiter than the rest of my arm. But surrounded by new scratches and scabs. Attractive.

Yeah, Infi, that sounds like a bucketful of fun and no mistake.

NSFW!!
 

This is the one. Don't watch this it you're sensitive to gore!



Didn't I warn you? But you had to watch it anyway, didn't you. I bet you wish you hadn't.

Oh. Oh, that's just one of the most awesome horror flicks.

Though, I admit, I've never actually watched that scene through. That's one i tend to look away from :P

How business thwarts the intent of a law...

Oregonians got sick and tired of motorists (Californians :rolleyes:) throwing
beer cans and bottles out onto the roadsides, into the rivers, and elsewhere.
So in 1971, Oregon's first "bottle bill" was passed that required a deposit on aluminum and glass containers.
The law was credited with reducing litter and increasing container recycling,
with returns amounting to about 90% of those sold.

Stores selling beer and soda were required to collect a deposit
on each container (5 and 2 cents for cans and bottles, respectively).
They were also required to accept the returns of these containers
and refund the full amount of the deposits.

Stores soon lobbied for amendments to restrict refunds to only those
brands and sizes that the store actually sold.
For the unique brands, it meant customers had to return to the same store for refunds.
The stores were allowed to keep all deposits on those that were not returned

Next came the technical development of machines that would receive the glass containers,
keep a running tally of which bottles were good in that store for refunds and
reject those that were not eligible, then break the bottles into small bits in a bin.
A printed receipt allowed the customer to get their $ refund from the store.

Now, the beverage industry has lobbied the legislature for another amendment
to allow stores to close their bottle-return operations,
and instead require customers to deliver the bottles to a "central location"
for their returns and deposits.
These centers are more than a mile from some of the affected stores

How long will it be before the roadsides are again littered with bottles and cans
from people who do not have the motivation or resources to travel
to these centers to complete the recycling cycle. :mad2:


Salem Statesman Journal
3/9/12

New Salem BottleDrop center opens doors for sneak peak

Lamp, you might be extrapolating a bit.

You're assuming that fewer bottles and cans will be returned under the new arrangement. If the bottle return centers take all returnable bottles, and not just specific types and sizes, it could actually increase the rate of returns.

I thought only South Australia had a deposit scheme like that. Oregon, I salute you!

Here, there are a few dozen recycling depots - the retail shops don't have to take the empties. The problem of people not bothering is solved by the presence of homeless people (yes, even in our hippy-fascist social utopia ;) ) who scratch together a trickle of income by collecting and returning empty bottles and cans.

Pretty much as soon as you cross the border into another state, the roadsides are littered with enough drink containers that it would be economically viable to collect them if only they had deposits.

Yeah, all recycling of bottles and cans happens at centralised locations over here. As far back as I can remember, that's how it's been.

We still have litter, but overall I think australia is pretty good in comparison to some countries.

Zen, you can still collect cans for deposits in Qld.

I think you're exaggerating the issue of litter on the road sides a bit. At least, that's from my perspective of the roads I travel.

Yes, you may be right...but here is some more extrapolation from this cynic.

At the next legislative session, we will see crowds of people parading at the Capital Building,
complaining about traffic around these centers and the riff raff that congregate there,
and smells and garbage that litter the area around these centers.

An the beverage industry will suddenly find that these centers do not make a profit,
and so staffing will deteriorate and eventually the lobbyists will convince the Legislature
that the public really does not want all this hassle and the law will be repealed.

Bah, humbug poo on the beverage industry... they've been fighting this law since 1970.

Ali, is that for deposits or scrap recycling value?

Here, all cans and bottles have 10 cent deposit, including aluminium, glass and plastic. Is that what you have, or is it mostly aluminium for the scrap value?

There are roads in Victoria and New South Wales that have a good thirty year accumulation of rubbish along them.

Nah, scrap recycling.

Maybe we're just tidier in Qld. ;) (although I do travel roads in northern NSW and they usually seem pretty good to me)

Maybe all the retirees up there haven't got the coordination to drive and lob litter out the window at the same time. :)

Michigan is 10c per bottle or can. many states have a deposit scheme. Only a few are 10c, though. A great fundraiser for youth groups etc. And the homeless.....

Maybe her internet connection went down and she doesn't know how to fix it with her parents out of town. Did anyone speak to her on the phone recently?

Dana said she can't get ahold of her...so I figured that was by phone.

Hmmmm.

Her mobile just goes straght to message. I thought I had her landline as well, but it's the one from where she used to live before she went bac to Aylesbury.

Hmmmmmm indeed.

Here I am!

Everything is falling down around my ears at home.
A power cut on Monday morning knocked out the modem. Before I've always just called TalkTalk and they've reset it. This time it didn't work. The support staff was amazed when I read out the serial number - it is no longer under warranty. Quel surprise, we got it in 2007. So I contacted Mum (for permission) and my bro (for advice) and they signed us up for another year and are sending us another "router". Which will arrive in 5-10 working days.

As well as that my phone battery died. Mum and I share a charger, after I managed to hoover mine up. Our shared charger is therefore in Lanzarote.

So I couldn't access Dana's mobile number from my mobile. I couldn't access anyone else's number from my Contact Details folder on the Cellar. And I couldn't let any other Dwellars know via email either!!! I have addresses saved in a Word document, but that's it.

I can't access from work as it is an educational environment. Hotmail, the Cellar, eBay etc are barred.

And now the boiler has packed up too.
So no heating and no hot water. Grrrr. It's more an inconvenience than a real problem, but it's the one I can't solve and the one that will stress the 'rents out most when they get home.

I'm at my bro's at the moment. Wonder of wonders he has an old charger I can use, so my phone is on charge as I type.
And I've requisitioned his PC for at least a couple hours.

Hello!

Yey! You're ok :)

Sounds like it would have been the worst possible time to come down after all :p


[eta] Once I'd got over the disappointment of realising I was too ill to come down anyway and making that decision, I started to pull out the positives. Not having to bugger about with Carrot's bedtime routine in the first month is no bad thing really.

Like I said before, I didn't think you would want to leave Carrot.
And I mean that in a totally practical way.
You are establishing rules and routines, trust and a sense of family.

I felt bad enough when I got my boys on a Friday night and then left to go to work Saturday 09.00-17.00. But at least they had a chance to explore the flat together and I was home for the evening and night. Diz had a hard time adjusting, but he had Dylan to make him brave and to snuggle up with. And he was already a year old.

Really sorry to hear about your flare up.
That sounds horrible chick.
Please take good care of yourself.

The ability to rationalize: what separates us from the lower animals.

Got put off for a couple more weeks... again.
Fukkinfukk

Oh GAWD that suxxx!

yeah. agreed. my poor attitude is upsetting me today, and news like yours ain't helpin.

I have some freaky bumps on my eyelid. I looked this up online and concluded that it's one of two conditions, neither of which is serious. As it happens I have a doctor's appointment next week for another thing (I sound real healthy right now, lol) so I'll get him to take a look. These bumps come and go though, so knowing my luck they will be in hiding when I see the doc. :P
Usually I don't check symptoms online because I always conclude I have either cancer, brain tumour or lupus, and even though that's now what happened today, these bump things are still really vexing me. I want to know a way to get rid of them and I want it right now.

Cut your eyelids off.

Blueflame, you'll have to learn to be more specific. ;)

I really miss Pilau right now. I adore my little Carrot cake he's a gorgeous little chap, but I miss my old boy. I wish he was here right now, I could use one of his beardie hugs.

Oh Dana! Of course you do! I'd give you a big ol' beardie hug if I could right now!

[loses fight to keep mind out of gutter]

I had a lengthy phone conversation with my dad, only realizing after the fact that I think he was drunk (at 4:00 in the afternoon.)

During this time, he ranted angrily about my no-good brother and his pushover mother (nothing new there); informed me that I was a sweetheart and he loved me but let's face it, my brother is photogenic and I'm not; and discussed at length his lifelong struggles with alcohol, including how he used to pick me up from preschool while drunk off his ass.

He's alone, he's stubborn, and I'm just waiting for the day when I have to go find him dead in his house, and probably a couple of weeks gone at that, because no one else would think to look for him.

:( sorry Clod.

Oh, that is rough Clod.

I'm sorry Clod.

Wait. Has your dad MET you? You're cuter than cute in every picture I've seen (and your live video.) Your brother is better in pictures? Wuddever. Pffffft on him.

:comfort:

Gun alert on ElderSon's campus. Shelter in place the alerts say. But no more. Fuuuuuuck.

Some folks at a proprietary school in Columbus got stabbed Wednesday. Samaritans wrestled a knife from the freak of nature and he produced a couple more. Schools are a dangerous place to be. :(

Hope all is well, V.

All clear now.

Reports say it was a student carrying an umbrella "with a samurai sword handle". That's why the original report said "rifle". I *guess so*.

Better safe than sorry. Funny note (NOW it's funny, before it was frustrating). No answer at first from ElderSon, not text, not email, not f*book, etc. Why? Cause he was asleep. We all woke him up. Extra funny points, he's three time zones earlier than me.

Last night at the church communication team meeting, we got a new member. The Pastor's son-in-law, he is only 21 or so and a christian for almost a year. I asked him to be an usher 4 weeks ago and he has served twice. He tells our Pastor that he wants to be a preacher, and is taking seminary classes on-line. That does not qualify him to be a deacon in any church I have ever been any part of. I am on the verge of turning in my key and quitting the church.

There was a lot of silence from the other team members during the meeting, so I doubt I am not the only one that feels this way. I have been born again for over 30 years and it is only just now I have become a deacon (I should explain that the communication team is what would be the equivalent of deacons in another church). This kid is not even a declared member of the church. I have been a member of the church (which has been in existence for 4 years) for 2 years, and I am Lead Usher.

Thanks for letting me vent.

I know a woman, an old boss, who became some sort of clergy online. She married a young couple, and I went to that wedding. The whole thing was odd to me. Well, they were all pretty odd in their own rights.

I'm not religious, but I see what you mean, fargon.

Duh. Everyone knows rifles are carried in guitar cases.

Whu? A gunman on campus? Da-a-ad, you woke me up for that? :zzz:

:lol:

I knew a woman,
Lovely in her bones.
When small birds sighed
She would sigh back at them.

Isn't that bigamy? Or bigaher? Or something?

She officiated the wedding. I might have been less uncomfortable had it been a freaky deaky three way wedding! :lol:

Where's that Kathleen Madigan bit about attending a wedding where the woman is marrying a goat?

My 17 yo neice is 4 months pregnant.
With twins.
She's keeping them.

I'm not directly affected, but the family is in mourning.
They'll all come round of course, but it's wailing and gnashing of teeth today.
I think she's ill-prepared and foolish, but once they're born she'll have babies she couldn't imagine living without.

I'm trying to be the voice of reason, but it's not going down well (I don't understand apparently, because I don't have children). So I've come up to log on as my bro has fixed the router. Forgive me if I immediately log off again and just go hibernate.

Dang, Sundae, that sucks, but like you say, not really anything you can do but make the best of it. Is the dad gonna stay around, or is he gone already?

Is the dad that older bloke she was with?

uhhhh. sorry for all involved - especially the kids.

Sometimes young Mums make fantastic Mums, even if they don't seem like they would be.

With a bit of support from her family and lots of love, she will prevail. So will the kids. She's chosen a hard road for herself, but she must feel that she can do it, so the best thing for the family to do is get on with the job of helping her as much as they can.

Give her this pamphlet:

http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ln...2fioo1_500.jpg

Agreeing here. Important not to sell her short. Often people rise (or sink) to our expectations of them. Point her in the right direction, surround her with good role models for how to mother, and the instinct should kick in.