“Pollyannas” only........
6 years ago
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Comments (10)Hi all; I would like to introduce myself, too, although I'm afraid my story is more of a lab notebook entry than a fairy tale. I am a newbie in this forum, although I have been growing African violets for a few years. I have always liked the green and yellow ones, but most of my collection did not survive moving across the country 4 years ago. After that, I was content with my three survivors (Blue Dragon, Blueberry Splash, and a trailer that I grew from a Park seed packet). I enjoyed them, but didn't really feel like getting any more. Then I read this interesting book called "The Botany of Desire." The main premise is that just as plants and insects co-evolve, shaping each other's characteristics, we have a powerful effect on plants, and they have an effect on us. Offering something that people want, like fruit, flowers, or bioactive natural products, is a good evolutionary strategy for a plant. However, the downside of this comes when everybody wants the same thing - the huge genetic diversity of the ancestral apple tree is ignored because everyone buys red delicious apples. This made me think about my African violets, and how a lot of them have been selected to make a flat, symmetric rosette for showing, and I started wondering what other interesting things lurk in the African violet genome. And then I discovered the David Senk plants. I'm a huge fan. So far, I have a plantlet of Say What, and two leaves of Merlot. I can't wait for Merlot to produce plantlets. It's so weird! Longfolia, bustles, a little bit of variegation, what could be better? I also thought it would be nice to check out some of the older varieties, so I picked up Blue Tail Fly and Celery. Hooray for eBay! Anyway, it's nice to (virtually) meet you all -seems like a good crowd. Rachel...See MoreHealthcare expenses
Comments (4)Unfortunately, leaving it up to the states is not a good idea in the US. It is one of the reasons the Feds established minimum welfare levels, for instance, because some states cut funding levels to ridiculous lows and tightened requirements so that hardly anyone qualified. The result was that poor people flooded into states with better benefits. For that same reason, there is a huge debate about Section 5 of the Voting Act. For decades some local voting laws were shaped to deliberately exclude rural black voters. Not until Section 5 was passed, was the Justice Dept. given the "teeth" to enforce fair voting rights across the country, regardless of state or local attempts to block such. Expecting every municipality in the US to treat everyone fairly is a nice pipe dream that reality has shown does not happen without some sort of enforceable federal mandate making it possible. Many national health services are moving to a two-tier approach. It's inevitable if you are in a capitalist system. You either nationalize all the drug companies everywhere, or accept that some drugs/treatments are going to cost a whopping amount because they're (a) new or (b) useful for only a small percentage of people able to pay for it. This means several changes to how the US approaches healthcare. The insurance lobby is a lot stronger than the AMA. So basic healthcare, especially for underage children, is going to pass quickly and be expanded. This is a good thing that has a fair amount of bipartisan support. The second is to decouple healthcare from one's job. This is a lot trickier and because of the failing financial health of our Medicare system, soemthing that will be eased in over time. Again, the emphasis will be on basic care. Even today you can buy catastrophic health insurance at a reasonable cost, albeit with limited total caps on benefits. People who can afford better healthcare, will pay for supplemental insurance that covers more. IOW, similar to how Medicare Part D is handled. The basic change needed for Medicare is for Congress to allow it to demand price competition. Medicare is legally barred from doing so. Where states can offer use is to encourage programs that tie together existing resources in a manner that works best locally, such as San Francisco's innovative PACE/On Lok program, which is so successful it was recognized by Congress as authorized Medicare providers (providing better care at lower cost, yet with higher satisfaction ratings). The fastest growing area of healthcare is home health services. This is a critical area where cost savings elsewhere could be utilized to help ill/disabled people stay in their homes longer and thus ease the need for institutional care. There will always be waste, but if we could even reduce 30% of that waste and redirect that money into areas that are truly needed, it would be worth the effort....See MoreHelp! Holiday Swap Instructions Needed - Original Thread is Gone!
Comments (13)I know those rules sound crazy but they've been refined over the years of playing this game. I call it the Greed Game because the object of the game is, well, to be greedy! You're supposed to steal. I've played versions of this game many many times and I've found two immutable facts: 1. People LOVE to open a new wrapped gift. The thrill of finding out the unknown is hard to resist. 2. This game is no fun if there is no stealing. 2.a. The corollary to this is that if a few people get to steal while everyone else sits (usually with an "unpopular" gift in their lap) and watches the others having all the fun, it's REALLY not fun. So, my crazy rules solve both of the above. Everyone gets to open a new gift (yay!) and everyone gets a chance to steal (double yay!). Inevitably, if there are some gifts that NO one wants, SOMEONE will still end up with them. BUT at least the playing of the game will be fun! Thanks Sweeby for posting the rules (again!). It's actually nice to have them written up and I'm going to save them for the next time someone asks me for them, as they often do. Work in Progress - have fun!...See MoreRe: Estranged from Adult child & Parents lulusue
Comments (10)WOW- what to hear what the "other side" says about us on this side? It's amazing how someone who states we should welcome their advice (even though they are not and have never) been in our shoes speaks about our posts... Over in the "singles" section is a place where adult children estranged from their parents has someone who posts here and there actively making fun of our heart felt emotions. I was amazed. One person said "they say they (us) didn't do anything wrong unless they loved to much" and goes on -how ridiculous we are to "think that." I really do not understand how people post deliberate painful words-taken out of context and then expect people to listen to their "words of advice." Or to take our post once again out of context and subject them to ridicule... This is not high school for me-a competition- or certainly a way to expose something so precious to me-to anyone's hateful remarks. Many of us are women who are hurting and personally I just can't imagine someone would posts our remarks in such a way to inflict more pain upon us...Wow- I guess I'm through- That is just too much for me. I'm hope you all have a good Christmas-take care everyone and Thank you for all the support you have so freely given. I really appreciate your kind words, and believe me I've hung on to them all. stray...See More- 6 years ago
- 6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoeld6161 thanked morz8 - Washington Coast
- 6 years ago
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