News: HRT ‘Not Recommended’. EcoFlight. Yellow Dot & I.C.E. Willie Nelson. Tech Forums. Coolidge Tribal Member. RIP Bobbiecat.

News, Some New, Some Old:

Hormone therapy 'not recommended'

Hot flashes are a symptom of menopause for which some women may seek treatment with hormone replacement therapy.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• “Task force: Menopausal women should not use hormone therapy to prevent chronic disease
• Recommendation doesn't apply to women under 50 managing menopausal symptoms
• Don't undergo therapy if you don't have symptoms of menopause, task force says

“The task force that sparked controversy with its breast cancer screening recommendations a few years ago -- and PSA prostate-cancer screening pronouncements last week -- is weighing in on hormone replacement therapy. But this time the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendations are remarkable for their lack of controversy.

The group says menopausal women should not use hormone therapy -- estrogen either alone or combined with progestin -- primarily to prevent chronic disease.

"In the face of pretty good evidence, the balance of potential benefits and potential harms leads us not to recommend the use of these therapies," said Dr. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, a task force member.

The proposed recommendations do not apply to women younger than 50 who have undergone surgical menopause or who are taking hormone therapy to manage menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes, according to the panel.

"No shock there," said Dr. Carolyn Crandall, a professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. "I don't think the recommendations are surprising at all." From": http://edition.cnn.com/2012/05/29/health/conditions/hormone-replacement-therapy/index.html?eref=rss_health&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_health+%28RSS%3A+Health%29

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Friends in High Places

EcoFlight offers an aerial view of the national parks, and the threats looming within and beyond their boundaries.

“EcoFlight has also hosted tours over the Four Corners, where oil and gas development threaten the region’s parks; Glacier, Montana, where glaciers are melting at shocking rates; Rocky Mountain, Colorado, where pine beetles are killing trees by the masses; and the Grand Tetons in Wyoming, where flights helped the Park Service envision a bike trail to cut down on traffic.

“These issues exist in vast areas that can be really hard to access on the ground,” Gordon says. “You really get the big picture up in the air.”
EcoFlight passengers are as diverse as the parks themselves—conservationists, reporters, politicians, tribal members, faith-based leaders, Young Republicans, ranchers, hunters. “We try to put diverse members of the community on each flight,” Gordon says, “and by that I mean people who are not traditional conservationists or even aligned with the environmental movement. That’s how we make sure we’re not just preaching to the choir.”

Because here’s the thing: Something magical happens when you squeeze people into a tiny space and take them 10,000 feet up in the air. “It’s very intimate,” says Jane Pargiter, EcoFlight’s vice president. “Everyone is close together—they’re touching elbows, touching knees. And you might have people with very different opinions sitting next to each other, but because they’re all a little nervous and a little excited, and they’re in this space together, it’s a great place to find out what else they have in common.”

The transformations can be amazing. Gordon recalls loggers who were horrified at the vast amount of forest they had cut down, and conservative ranchers who paid little mind to oil and gas development until they saw it from the air, creeping perilously close to their land. Pargiter recalls private land owners in Colorado who opposed a nearby wilderness designation, until they saw the proposed area from the air and realized it would actually protect their property. Once they hit the ground, passengers like these have gone on to become some of the most outspoken environmental advocates.

 
“I think the American public and the politicians take the natural parks for granted,” Pargiter says. “It’s something they grew up with—they figure the parks are there, and they’re going to be there forever. I don’t think enough people understand how special these places are, and that they might not be here tomorrow if they’re not taken care of today.” More at: http://www.npca.org/news/magazine/all-issues/2012/spring/friends-in-high-places.html

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Yellow Dot Program Protects Drivers of All Ages

“The Yellow Dot tells emergency workers to look for vital medical information

“The innovative Yellow Dot program, which gives first responders vital health information about automobile crash victims, is already saving lives in several states and is soon expected to improve accident survival rates coast-to-coast for automobile drivers and passengers.

How Does the Yellow Dot Program Work?
When people sign up for the free Yellow Dot program, they are given a large Yellow Dot decal to place on the rear window of their vehicle, which alerts police officers, emergency medical technicians or other first responders to look for a Yellow Dot folder in the glove compartment. That folder contains detailed information about the occupants' medical conditions, prescriptions, drug allergies, surgeries and other vital information that could affect emergency treatment, as well as an identifying photograph to ensure rescue workers match the information to the right person.

The Yellow Dot program is simple, effective, and critically important.

What Makes the Yellow Dot Program So Valuable?
Rescue workers know that proper treatment during the "golden hour," the first 60 minutes after a serious automobile accident, often makes the difference between life and death for critically injured crash victims. If a driver or passenger is unconscious, disoriented or in so much pain after an accident that they can't communicate effectively at the crash scene or in the emergency room, their Yellow Dot folder can provide all the information that emergency medical teams need to provide life-saving treatment.”  More at: http://seniorliving.about.com/od/improvepersonalsafety/a/Yellow-Dot-Emergency-Alert-Program-Protects-Drivers-Of-All-Ages.htm

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This Goes Hand in Hand with the I.C.E Program:

In Case of Emergency Program

“To its owner, the cell phone can be an indispensable lifeline in times of a crisis, re-uniting loved ones separated by unforeseen events at the touch of a button. But for members of Emergency Services making life-and-death decisions, the cell phone can pose a conundrum.

Which of the numbers stored in its electronic address book should they call to reach a casualty's next of kin?

Paramedics, police, and firefighters often waste valuable time trying to figure out which name in a cell phone to call when disaster strikes. Many people identify their spouse by name in their cell, making them indistinguishable from other entries. Also, sometimes dialing the number for 'Mom' or 'Dad' might not be appropriate, particularly if they are elderly, or suffer from ill health, etc. By utilizing the "ICE" initiative, precious time would be saved by allowing Rescue Workers to reach the appropriate person in a few seconds.

That is why we are asking cell phone users to put the acronym ICE - "In Case Of Emergency" - before the names of the people they want to designate as next of kin in their cell phone address book, creating entries such as "ICE - Dad" or "ICE – Alison". Also, you can use a numerical designator, such as "ICE - 2 Matt", or "ICE - 3 Chris", etc. to depict an order of those who should be called.”

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It's hard to believe that WILLIE NELSON (1965) ever looked this way – Before Booze, Drugs & Tax Evasion! http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=W1bXdXWEKaE

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Computer Tech Forums

Posted by MrsGeek

“Everyone is welcome to view the Forums.  Only paid members can post.  You can certainly join right now if you want!

Watch this video to learn how to post a question.

Please ask your questions in the forum (not in email) – we promise to respond.

If you lead a computer club, or teach others on computers, let us know.  We'll add you to a special "Teachers Lounge" forum.”

From: http://geeksontour.tv/forum/

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On This Day:

Newspaper reveals Coolidge will be adopted into Sioux tribe, Jun 23, 1927:

“The Sioux County Pioneer newspaper of North Dakota reports on this day in 1927 that President Calvin Coolidge will be "adopted" into a Sioux tribe at Fort Yates on the south-central border of North Dakota.

In anticipation of the president's upcoming visit to the Black Hills region of North Dakota, the Sioux County Pioneer reported that a Sioux elder named Chauncey Yellow Robe, a descendant of Sitting Bull and an Indian school administrator, suggested that Coolidge be inducted into the tribe. The article stated that Yellow Robe graciously offered the president a "most sincere and hearty welcome" and hoped that Coolidge and his wife would enjoy "rest, peace, quiet and friendship among us."

Coolidge's public policy toward Indians included the Indian Citizen Act of 1924, which granted automatic U.S. citizenship to all American tribes. On personal moral grounds, Coolidge sincerely regretted the state of poverty to which many Indian tribes had sunk after decades of legal persecution and forced assimilation. Throughout his two terms in office, Coolidge presented at least a public image as a strong proponent of tribal rights. However, U.S. government policies of forced assimilation remained in full swing during his administration. At this time, all Indian children were placed in federally funded boarding schools in an effort to familiarize them with white culture and train them in marketable skills. In the meantime, however, they were separated from their families and stripped of their native language and culture.

At the Sioux ceremony in 1927, photographers captured Coolidge, in suit and tie, as he was given a grand ceremonial feathered headdress by Sioux Chief Henry Standing Bear and officially declared an honorary tribal member.”

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Yesterday:

Quite out of character for me, when I woke up, I didn’t want to get up.  Usually I am ready to get the day started, and every day is a good day.  I had this weird feeling of foreboding that it wasn’t going to be a good day.  Then I found out why. It was obvious that 17 year old Bobcat’s time was up.  She was hiding in my closet, and now seemed to be in pain. This wasn’t something that could wait over the weekend. It was time to do something drastic.

I knew that I needed to be prepared for the worst, so I started to dig a hole next to her buddy, my late little dog Levi.  Ray was in the next town at the doctor’s, and Jay has been pie-eyed for the last week, so that’s why I started to dig it myself.  It was in the blazing sun, and the ground was hard, even after the rain we have had.  I grabbed the wrecking bar, and loosened some of the dirt, but I wasn’t getting very far.  I called Jim, the mechanic down the street, to see if he knew of a lad who would like to earn some money digging it for me.  Jim came here and finished digging the hole while I held a big golf umbrella over him for shade.  I felt very guilty about Jim doing this for me at his age, even though he must be 10-15 years younger than I am, but he said he needed the exercise.

When the hole was done, I put a Styrofoam cooler with a big bag of dry ice, and a sturdy plastic bag, in the van.  I gently put Bobbie in her carrier on her favorite blankie, and drove her to the vet.   They confirmed my worst fears, so she was taken to another room to be put to sleep.  I tried to hold myself together, but I couldn’t hold back the tears while I waited for her.  I couldn’t believe that this was happening, we have been through so much together. 

Then they came back with her in her carrier, and it was while I was transferring her to the ice chest that I discovered that they hadn’t wrapped her in her favorite blankie.   They just stuck it in the plastic bag with her, not using it as a shroud.  On the way home, I sure wished that I had some moral support for all of this.  Once at the gravesite, I wrapped her precious little body in her blankie, petted her, told her that we have had a good 16½ years together, put her back in the bag, and covered it up with the dirt.  Bobbiecat is at peace, but it was a horrible day.