In the Race

This Is For The Working Women - Sort Of

Janet Evans — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 12:17:52 GMT

Bosses Day is just around the corner.

Studies are saying that women who work for women are more stressed out. They suffer more illnesses. It’s just too hard to handle. That we were meant to work for men and that’s just the way it works.

Well, I know plenty of men who would also agree that it is much easier to work for men.

Perhaps when women first entered the workforce in top management jobs they were out to prove they could handle the jobs – and of course they could. But what’s the story now? That was a long time ago.

FEMALE boss or bossy female? According to a recent survey women can’t handle the stress of working for a queen bee. Research showed that women with a female supervisor suffered far more than those with a male boss, reporting more psychological distress and physical problems. They found women suffer more from depression, headaches and insomnia if they take their orders from a member of the same sex.

Continue the article HERE

H2O Means Life In Australia

Janet Evans — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 02:21:00 GMT

Farmer John Magill in southeastern Australia inspects a dried up dam on his farm. Over half of
Australia's farmland is in drought. The drought has also seen a rise is farmer suicides in rural Australia,
with the suicide rate among farm workers being double that of the regular population.
(Photo by Ian Waldie/Getty Images)10/06

Australian farmers are drowning---in drought. Their land has been drying up year after year, to the point that they actually trade water. Have you ever heard of that before? Trading water is a national market in Australia.

As always with supply and demand, there is money to be concerned about. So we have farmers, with land, the driest continent on the planet, no water, high prices, high stress…

For farmer Malcolm Holm, water now is just like a new shovel or tractor — he has to buy it.The amount of water he is allowed to take from nearby Murrumbidgee River has dwindled to nothing for the past three years because of Australia's crippling drought. And so, except for rain he can catch and store himself, he needs to buy water for his 1,000 acres at Finley in New South Wales state, where he grows crops to feed his 600 dairy cows."It's no different to buying a ton of grain or a ton of fertilizer," Holm said. "It's just another commodity."

[...]

"In essence, what the water trade does is make irrigators really focus on the economic value of their water and using it more efficiently," Holm said. "If you can't produce a good crop for the cost of the water, you're better off selling it to someone who can. If the figures add up, you buy it."Holm is anxious. The price right now is too high for him and he is watching his pastures die while he waits for a turn in the market or a drop of rain.

Read the complete article on MSNBC HERE

Also, Farmers Suicide Rates Double National Average

Supporting Your Kids - For You or Them?

Janet Evans — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 16:40:00 GMT

What if your child's "dream" was not quite mainstream? Would you support it?

Check out a video on my Righty Blog about doing just that

HERE

Mexico City-A Dismal Place For Children

Janet Evans — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 13:30:00 GMT

Dismal, mainly because a study is reporting children are being harmed.

Mexico City has such high pollution levels that children are suffering from neurological problems...swollen tissues, cognitive disorders.

"Brain scans of many Mexico City youngsters revealed alterations that can impair the prefrontal cortex, a neural region heavily involved in memory and thinking skills, say environmental pathologist Lilian Calderón-Garcidueñas of the University of Montana in Missoula and her colleagues.
Similar brain alterations, as well as evidence of neural inflammation, appeared in 1- to 2-year-old dogs that had grown up in Mexico City, the investigation finds.

Widespread declines in intelligence of the type and magnitude observed in the new report would have a huge impact on a country’s economic productivity, says psychologist and study coauthor Randall Engle of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. “Saving money by failing to curb pollution truly is a matter of ‘pay me now or pay me later,’” Engle says."

Read the article from Science News HERE

About That Road To E-Government

Janet Evans — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 03:33:00 GMT

from Wikipedia

So, it took Bob Hope and Bing Crosby 22 years to complete the “Road to Singapore" (1940,) “Road to Zanzibar " (1941,) “Road to Morocco" (1942,) “Road to Utopia" (1945,) “Road to Rio” (1947,) “Road to Bali” (1952,), and “Road to Hong Kong” (1962).

That “Road to E-Government?”

Well, the September 19, 2008 Technology Commission Video/Audio Sub-Committee meeting may give you some insight as to how long that road will be until it will be completed; or maybe not. You’ll have to decide for yourself.

Here is the Agenda for the meeting.

My podcast is broken into six parts and begins as discussion started in Item III on the agenda. Also, I left the meeting at approximately 7:00 p.m., at the end of Item IV. I was informed the meeting lasted until 7:10 p.m.

You can listen to the podcasts on my Righty Blog   HERE

and...

My Olympus Digital Voice Recorder $76.91
Radio Shack Microphone                   $12.95 (optional)
Nero digital media software               $79.99

My podcasts, which help in keeping local government transparent...priceless

Signed,

Citizen Janet Evans

Oh, and to save some time, I may as well put this here…

City of Franklin Volunteer Fact Sheet

If The Government Wronged These Nuns They Should Make It Right, But...

Janet Evans — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 22:54:00 GMT

Sister Ardeth Platte (left) and Sister Carol Gilbert
Washington Times photo

Sister Carol and Sister Ardeth have been labeled terrorists, wrongfully, in the federal database.

I, once again not being Catholic, would like to know what in the world kind of nuns these represent?

Is the work they do the work of God?

These nuns have been in prison:

Sister Carol and Sister Ardeth make no apologies for their actions and demonstrations in the past. In 2002, the two, along with another nun, broke into a nuclear missile site in Colorado and used their own blood to paint crosses on a silo. Sister Ardeth was sentenced to 41 months and Sister Carol was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison.

Read the entire article HERE

Is what these nuns do fitting in with the vows they have taken as nuns?

Poverty The vow of poverty leads a nun to imitate Jesus who for our sake became poor, although he was rich. It helps her to be poor in spirit as well as in fact, and to live a life of labor and moderation. By the vow of poverty , she gives up the right to control or benefit from personal property and commits herself to live interdependently within a community, according to its constitutions. The purpose of this vow is to free her from being fascinated by material things so that she may be free to serve others.

Chastity The vow of chastity leads a nun to imitate Jesus who was chaste. This vow frees her from the demands of an exclusive human relationship so that she can give all her love to God, and through God to all people. By the vow she promises not to marry or to engage in romantic behavior or sexual acts.

Obedience The vow of obedience leads the nun to imitate the obedience of Jesus Christ. By seeking God's will for her and obeying her lawful superiors according to the constitutions of her particular group. As a member of her religious community, she searches for the will of God, not in arbitrary commands, but in prayerful reflection and dialogue with others.

Even looking into what a reflecting upon a Dominican Nun in the United States, I do not see how the activites of these two nuns fites in to their service.

Definitely not singing nuns, that’s for sure, although, while in prison, perhaps they sang like caged birds.

Up, Up and Away Tragedy

Janet Evans — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 12:35:00 GMT

Terri Bordelon, AP

One man died and another one was critically injured Friday after their hot air balloon hit power lines, burst into flames and crashed during the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta in New Mexico.Stephen Lachendro of Butler, Pa., was killed and Keith Sproul of North Brunswick, N.J., was critically injured.

A hot air balloon crashed into power lines and burst into flames Friday,
killing one of two men thrown from the basket and critically injuring the
other during Albuquerque's annual balloon fiesta. ...

Three Balloon Incidents Reported Friday, Including Fatal Accident

THIS School Board Needs A Reality Check

Janet Evans — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 23:45:28 GMT

When it comes to attracting new residents to a city, when it comes to schools, what is it that parents and their children are looking for?

As a parent of successful children academically who are now out in the “real world,” and of a child who was successful in sports in high school, I have my own opinion. But I’m sure opinions will vary among different residents. For me, if I was moving into a new community, I would look for quality academics with dedicated teachers, an extracurricular program supported by the district and the community, and a Board and Administrators who are in touch with the community. It’s students and academics first.

So, if I was considering moving to Muskego, why in the world would I give any thought about what sign was hanging at the Administration Building? Why would that, of all things, lure me to that district? If my child was allowed to give input into what city we should move to, based on the schools, let’s say because of the athletic program, why would my child really care about a “cool” Nike-looking school logo attached to the building or inside the school board offices? Would my child really believe that that logo is going to make that a better place to go to school?

It seems some members of the Muskego School Board are in that mind set. They believe spending $5,000 on two signs for the District offices, one for the outside of the building and one for inside the building, will attract students to the district. Is that skewed thinking or what?

Read the article HERE .

After that, maybe you might be able to figure out where the priorities of the Muskego-Norway School Board are. Whatever happened to students coming first in a school district?

I guess they haven’t heard about Clayton County, Georgia.

It’s almost as if the concept of “Boomgaard” is a disease that is spreading.

National Depression Screening Day

Janet Evans — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:38:51 GMT

A friend of mine is a school psychologist, and she passed this on to me, and I would like to pass to on to you:

National Depression Screening Day is today, Friday, October 10th. As part of Mental Health Awareness Week, Wisconsin School Psychology Association (WSPA) is proud to join with Lt. Governor Lawton and Mental Health America of Wisconsin to promote a free, anonymous online depression screening on National Depression Screening Day.

Depression is a common, real, and treatable illness. Nearly one million individuals in Wisconsin struggle with depression - about one in six.

Unfortunately, thousands of these individuals battle depression alone and remain untreated. Indeed, untreated depression has far-reaching implications for all of us. Medical costs of those afflicted by depression average twice those who are non-depressed, and those suffering from depression (an estimated 16% of all Americans) are seven times more likely to be unemployed or underemployed. A recent National Institute of Health study found that depression costs the U.S. tens of billions of dollars annually, primarily from increased health care costs and from lost work productivity.

Together we can change those statistics. The good news: with early screening, depression is easily diagnosed and treated, minimizing its devastating effects.

Just follow this link

and then click on the link leading to the simple, anonymous depression screening.

H/T Kelley

Huh? Computer Genius

Janet Evans — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 12:05:37 GMT

I guess I didn’t know I needed to carry a GPS when I brought my laptop somewhere with me.

This is comical.

Perhaps it isn’t the software, Geode, by Mozilla; perhaps it is the article.

Maybe it's both.

“Where am I? The Firefox location tool that helps know where your computer is."

“In the future Geode will be able to tell you if you are at home or at work”

'You’ve arrived in a new city, a new continent, a new coffee shop. You don’t really know where you are, and are looking for a good place to eat,' reads the Mozilla Labs blog.
'You pull out your laptop, fire up Firefox, and go to your favorite review site. It automatically deduces your location, and serves up some delicious suggestions a couple blocks away and plots directions there.'

Wait, it’s those crazy Brits again.

from the Daily Mail HERE

How about I purchase my airline ticket, take my long flight, take a taxi, walk down a boulevard (with my laptop), need some caffeine, find a café, order some espresso and a pastry and ask “By the way, this is Paris, correct, mademoiselle?”

And, voilà! (Did I spell that correctly? Okay, then it must be France) I didn’t even find my Wi Fi connection yet, but I think I didn't need my computer to know where I was.

Franklin Common Council Meeting 10/07/08 #2

Janet Evans — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 00:59:25 GMT

Part Two of the Common Council Meeting will not be an analogy on my part, and I assume all readers were able to interpret my analogy of yesterday with Item G1 since no one commented regarding it. So, good for you!! We are all on the same page.

The podcasts I have for you today, from the brief meeting are Agenda Items:

G3. Resolution supporting continued cooperation with City of Oak Creek on development of the South 27^th Street Corridor and supporting development of an overall cost sharing agreement for projects impacting the entire corridor, including the Drexel Avenue Interchange.

and in the same podcast Item G4. a reading by the City Clerk of a letter regarding the Donation to the Franklin Fire Department from Mrs. Darcy McKendry in the amount of $500 for the Fire Education Fund.

Lastly, is a two-part podcast of Item G5. Request by St. James Congregation for a certified survey map for their property located at 7219 S. 27^th Street to be provided by the City of Franklin.

Podcasts may be found on my Righty Blog HERE

~~~~~~~~~~~

Related reading:

Franklin Today

Missing Digits

Janet Evans — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 16:56:00 GMT

Yes, that 21^st Century technology is a witch (I guess I have to say witch since the filter wouldn't let me say what I wanted, but you get my point).

Seems the National Debt Clock in New York City ran itself out of digits….

As we are running ourselves into more debt.

Well, I guess the wizards thought it would never, ever happen….not in a million years….

"NEW YORK - In a sign of the times, the National Debt Clock in New York City has run out of digits to record the growing figure.

As a short-term fix, the digital dollar sign on the billboard-style clock near Times Square has been switched to a figure — the "1" in $10 trillion. It's marking the federal government's current debt at about $10.2 trillion."

Continued

And Bloomberg wants to run for another term...you would think he would have noticed, since he's so worried about the financial crisis and all.

Neologism

Janet Evans — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 11:40:00 GMT

Calling all 40-somethings or older. Do you remember comedian Rich Hall? Back in The 80s he was on a Saturday Night Live-type show called Not Necessarily The News. There, he did a bit where he created words called “Sniglets.” Do you remember those?

Yesterday this came to my mind while I was eating some cheese puffs : ) (Yeah, I like those). Well, you sometimes get an orange residue on your fingertips, same as with cheese popcorn. This, in Sniglet terms, would be known as “Cheedle.”

Another one? Someone who has trouble entering and maneuvering through a revolving door…is a “Revolvingdork.”

Yes, those are Rich Hall’s Sniglets, or neologisms (any word that doesn't appear in the dictionary, but should). People couldn’t wait to hear Hall’s next Sniglet. He even made numerous books of his collections.

Here are a few more:

Foodgitives: The food on one side of a TV dinner tray that escapes to the other side. (Hall 1985a: 31)
Furnidents: The indentations left in carpet after moving heavy furniture (Hall 1983)
Glackett: The ball inside a can of spray paint (or other aerosol can) for stirring the contents inside the can. (Hall 1984: 38) (This object is known as a "pea" in the paint industry.)
P-spot :The area directly above the urinal in public restrooms that men stare at, knowing a glance in any other direction would arouse suspicion
Pediddel: A car with only one working headlight (Hall 1984: 59)

Premblememblemation: Whenever you drop a letter in the mailbox, you always re-check to make sure it's gone down. (Hall 1984: 66)
Pyramonster: That thing with one big eye on the back of a dollar bill. (Hall 1986: 67) (The pyramid on the Great seal)
Sniffleridge: The groove running between the nose and the mouth (Hall 1984: 92). (The real name for this structure is the philtrum.)
Snackmosphere: The empty but explosive layer of air at the top of a potato chip bag
Spirtle: The fine stream from a grapefruit that always lands right in your eye

Timefoolery: Setting the alarm clock ahead of the real time in order to fool yourself into thinking you are not getting up so early.

Yardribbons :The unmowed patches of grass discovered after one has put away the mower
Zipcuffed : To be trapped in one's trousers by a faulty zipper

So, do you have any Sniglets?

Franklin Common Council Meeting 10/07/08 #1

Janet Evans — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 00:22:00 GMT

They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?

~~~~~~~~

Related reading :

Technology Commission Report 10/06/08

Sprawled Out

Franklin Today

A Honeymoon or Vacation That's Dirt Cheap Anyone?

Janet Evans — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 16:44:33 GMT

Okay, we still aren’t officially in that “recession,” correct?

But I suppose if you are planning a wedding for next year you may be a little worried about honeymoon plans.

It’s bad enough worrying about the actual wedding expenses.

Well, why not take a tip from a couple from Hampshire, England (yes, my theme today is (those crazy Brits)?

They didn't mess around when it came to making money and got up to their elbows in trash to take a honeymoon to the USA.

John and Ann Till demonstrate how they spent the last three months trawling
the streets of Hampshire for rubbish

from the Daily Mail...

"For most couples, planning the perfect honeymoon is a labour of love. But John and Ann Till, it would seem, have worked harder than most.
The couple spent three months collecting an incredible 60,000 pieces of rubbish to gain 36,000 air miles in a supermarket recycling incentive scheme. "

Continued

Another Crazy Brit

Janet Evans — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 12:02:35 GMT

A naked Brit swims in the moat of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo

Picture this…

The home of the Imperial Family of Japan.

Just minding their own business in their Palace.

A palace that rarely has visitors.

And a large, naked British tourist decides to skinny dip and rock climb in the moat that surrounds the palace.

Just a typical day in Tokyo, right?

Well, no…

Now I know you're interested.

Visit the Daily Mail for more photos and some more information on thi s bizarre story

HERE

Looks Like Some Parts Of The Country Had A Good Year

Janet Evans — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 23:15:00 GMT

I don’t know…we appear somewhat frugal around here in the Midwest/Milwaukee area. It seems that in the New England/Boston area they didn’t suffer too much this past year with a slow economy.…

12 signs of conspicuous spending in New England

We’ll just have to wait and see what the next year brings.

Thirty-Eight Years

Janet Evans — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 17:03:00 GMT

Pomegranate fruit, opened

I have been enjoying pomegranates for over thirty-eight years. I bet for most of you reading this, the pomegranate seems to be a newer fruit...as new as the pomegranate martini. But this healthy fruit has been around for what seems like forever.

Maybe it was just another regular fruit of the day for me because I lived in the south…but this red fruit from Iran, India, and the Mediterranean, was always in our home, eaten just as shown in the picture above..nothing special done with it while I was growing up. Of course...martinis weren't flavored back then.

"As yellow leaves spiral down from the maple tree outside my office window, I find myself thinking about Persephone, who, according to Greek myth, will soon be heading back to the underworld. A few pomegranate seeds – a few luscious, scarlet pearls that burst, tart and sweet, on her tongue – and she had to return to the underworld for a season every year.

As the grass fades to pale brown and the foliage peaks in reds and oranges, I can imagine a pitched cry from Demeter, who loses her daughter again each year. Then, while Persephone pays penance in the underworld, we experience the silent mourning of winter. "

From Christian Science Monitor Continued

Pomegranate Fruit Facts

Pomegranate Martini

6 fluid ounces (3/4 cup) chilled gin
1 lemon, juiced
1 orange, juiced
1/4 cup pomegranate syrup
Pomegranate seeds, for garnish

In a medium pitcher or bowl, stir the gin, fruit juices, and syrup together.

Divide among 4 martini glasses

4 servings