Maybe This Time*

Willkommen! Bienvenue! Welcome! Meine Damen und Herren-Mes dames et Messieurs- Ladies and Gentlemen, Guten Abend! Bon Soir! Good Evening! Wie geht's? Comment sa va? Do you feel good? Ich bin eur confrencier! Je suis votre compre,
I am you host!

Oh Boy, what an act to follow! For this man of great limitations should know better.
This is the time of year I miss living in Germany the most. Where for three years, every day was a new adventure full of awe and wonder. From the majestic mountains in the south to the great bustling Hamburg by the sea, The center of Hamburg day and nightlife is the St. Pauli and Reeperbahn district, known to locals as the “Kiez”. More than just its famous red light quarter, St. Pauli offers plenty of top-shelf (and bargain) restaurants and a endless supply of watering holes to keep your gang going until the early morning, and I mean like, hello Mr.Sun. But I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now. There is in Germany, so much history to experience, and castles, castles everywhere a castle. Then back again to how much I enjoyed Berlin, and it's fabulous nightlife! Not to mention my great love affair with Frankfurt, and Fulda. I went through Germany like a true American politician. I wanted to hit every Gasthaus, shake every hand, kiss every fraulein, and help make every baby.

Ahhhhh Sarah, City Girls Are Easy.

Willkommen! Meine Dammen und Herren, Ladies and Gentlemen!

I'm sure just to keep up with this fair beauties ravenous intelligence, many men would feel intimidated, and fewer still would have the patience. The fact that she just given me the longest salute in the history of my blog, only means the game is not over. For Sarah to invest that much of her time is in no way a mere act of love for "Sex And The City". This woman's mind goes much deeper than you could ever imagine. it hungers constantly for stimulation, knowledge, and so much more. A less able mind like myself has a need to be able to filter out and ignore some stimuli. There are few people who can perform at her level. A less intelligent person with a low level of latent inhibition for filtering out familiar stimuli may well sink into mental illness as a result, and be like me, crazy as a June Bug. But with her smarter mind she can handle the effects of taking note of a larger number of stimuli and even find interesting and useful patterns by continually processing a larger quantity of familiar information. That is why Sarah can have a finger in every pie, and still have the time to jerk the slack out of my chain. So now this behemoth of higher thought, has again thrown down the gauntlet to me. I better give up before it's too late. Joy Apollo 100 ultragroovy!

Unity

Willkommen! Si vis pacem, para bellum.

"The peaceful Hobbits had been overrun by evil men. Having fought along side with Middle Earth's finest warriors and generals, Frodo et al are easily able to mobilize the hobbits in a way that swiftly dispatches of the ruffians." Sounds very much like a social worker's wet dream. Thanks Dave.
Unity: In this day and age we can ill afford to be without it. Yet how often do we make the effort to fully embrace our fellowships, or take the time to strengthen common bonds?
I'm afraid, the handwriting is on the wall, and the time will soon come, when every man will be for himself. A few of us may learn to be good Hobbits, and survive the coming upheaval. Until then let's keep on dancing.

ALLEGIANCE:

noun

Faithfulness or devotion to a person, a cause, obligations, or duties: constancy, faithfulness, fealty, fidelity, loyalty, steadfastness. See obligation



A Haiku
by: Bumble

Through wind and through rain,
Walter the oosik stands firm.
No pun intended.

Not what I was looking for

A LITTLE WARNING!
IT'S BEEN A LONGTIME SINCE I POSTED A SONG THAT MADE ME CRY LIKE A BABY. UNLESS YOU HAVE A STRONG HEART; I WOULD ADVISE YOU PLEASE DO NOT TO PLAY THE NEXT SONG. IT WILL SPOIL YOUR DAY.
As a young soldier I was at the top of my class, and learned how to kill most proficiently. Oh my, how things have changed. All I was looking for was a song from my youth, not a bloody reminder that war is really Hell. I wish I could make it all go away, and pretend I never saw it, but because of my love for all life. I feel so very obligated to make a stand. My fear is that only a revolution can save and restore this country.

Not my WAR!

Iraq conspiracy

The Iraq War: Legal or Illegal?

Get Together by The Youngbloods.

John Lennon - IMAGINE Acoustic Live Video

The Beatles - Revolution

The American Indian Genocide Museum

Blacl Elk

Music is better than Politics

The Commodores - Sail On

Leonard Cohen - Democracy [OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO]

The Who - Won't Get Fooled Again - Synchronized

VIETNAM CHAPTER 33

Elvis Presley Live!

Bon Jovi - Till We Ain't Strangers Anymore.

Los 70s/en vivo 2004/ K C, and The Sunshine Band-Get Down Tonight
Harry Wayne Casey, is starting to look like a Billiard ball, compared to his hairy 1975 debut.

Herman's Hermits - Mrs. Brown

Lou Reed - Perfect Day

They Thought They Were Free

The Germans, 1933-45

Excerpt from pages 166-73 of "They Thought They Were Free" First published in 1955

By Milton Mayer

But Then It Was Too Late

"What no one seemed to notice," said a colleague of mine, a philologist, "was the ever widening gap, after 1933, between the government and the people. Just think how very wide this gap was to begin with, here in Germany. And it became always wider. You know, it doesn’t make people close to their government to be told that this is a people’s government, a true democracy, or to be enrolled in civilian defense, or even to vote. All this has little, really nothing, to do with knowing one is governing.

"What happened here was the gradual habituation of the people, little by little, to being governed by surprise; to receiving decisions deliberated in secret; to believing that the situation was so complicated that the government had to act on information which the people could not understand, or so dangerous that, even if the people could understand it, it could not be released because of national security. And their sense of identification with Hitler, their trust in him, made it easier to widen this gap and reassured those who would otherwise have worried about it.

I hope you have the time to read the full excerpt, as can be attested by the Reichsmarschall. Sometimes the dead can speak more clearly than the living.

Why, of course the people don't want war ... but, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament or a communist dictatorship ... voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger.

- Hermann Goering
~

April 8, 2003
It Can't Happen Here
by Richard L. Clinton in The Oregonian

Two old friends of mine -- a Jewish couple in their 80s, both retired university professors who fled Nazi Germany in the late 1930s and eventually became U.S. citizens -- made a stunning remark to me a few months ago: "You know, all our lives we have blamed our parents and our parents' generation for allowing Hitler to gain control. Now we're beginning to see how powerless they must have felt to stop what was happening all around them."

Read Full Article on Common Dreams

===========================

But of course, that was then and this is now, right? Indeed...


ALERT FROM JEWS FOR THE PRESERVATION OF FIREARMS OWNERSHIP
America's Aggressive Civil Rights Organization


JPFO ALERT: WHY DO GOOD MEN DO NOTHING?


It is said that all that is necessary for evil to succeed
is that good men do nothing. This begs the question of WHY
good men do nothing in the face of evil.


Find out with our latest article, "Why Do Good Men Do
Nothing?", available at http://www.wendymcelroy.com/print.php?news.1524 . In it,
noted author Wendy McElroy dissects the psychology and
motivation of those people who simply accept increasingly
oppressive infringements in their daily life rather than
fighting against them.


After reading "Why Good Men Do Nothing", please take a
moment to read about our newest project, "The Gang" at
http://www.jpfo.org/ . This faceless, brutal,
unaccountable agency exemplifies the evil that many of us
have accepted for far too long. And it's time we stopped
doing "nothing" about it.


- The Liberty Crew




United Native America

THE UNDERGROUND

Summer's Song

Spring is in the air, but you can already hear the anthems heralding the approaching deflowering coronation of Aestas; the nubile Goddess of Summer. Although her life is often torrid, it is also a mercifully short one, enabling most of us to still love her, even after she hits middle age, and her days begin to become extremely hot and sultry.
There would be no life without Summer, as all of nature greedily feeds from her ample breast. Indeed we all partake of her life giving passion, or perish. A little heat is good for the soul, the world will sorely miss her warm caress in the upcoming Ice Age.

Let's see how many Summer related songs we can come up with.
Here a just a few to start us out with. I will keep adding more as we head toward our rendezvous with the ardent lady we know so well.

Caren, here is your boy, Bon Jovi - Summer Time

These next few have been Summer standards for almost as long as I can remember.
Hot Fun In The Summertime.

Eric Burdon & War - Spill The Wine

IN THE SUMMER TIME/MUNGO JERRY.

And I love this one! Warm San Francisco Night by The Animals

First Class ~ Beach Baby

Brian Hyland - Sealed with a kiss 1962

The Who - Summertime Blues

Jamies - Summertime Summertime!

"Summer In the City" - Lovin' Spoonful

Summer Wine - Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood

Jaded said...
Don Henley - The Boys of Summer.
"One of my favorites".

Thanks Jade, that is a good one!

"Night Moves"- Bob Segar

I'm posting a lot of these songs from a very limited industrial computer, here in the security office; it makes no sound at all. So no doubt from time to time, there will be a few duds for me to fix whenever I get home.
I hope this next Summer song is a good one.
The Boppers - Under the boardwalk (live)

HEY HEY HEY! Ding A Ling Dave, you sounded really good on that bell.
I call New York the schizophrenic city, with its many rival boroughs divided into antagonistic elements. It's a tribal identity thing.
I must be getting old, things have changed so much, I saw this blog today, and it reminded me of how I was as a young 20 year old soldier, full of shit and vinegar. It was 1973, and dead or alive, most of my rock music heroes were all legends. Then along comes scruffy looking Bruce, and his motley looking gang that looked like a bunch of junkies, rummies and bums. I said to myself, these guys are at the end of their road they'll never make it to the top. Danny Federici was so clean he looked out of place. Funny, he seemed so clean cut, he looked like he was kidnapped from playing at some one's bar mitzvaha party. Hell what did I know? Back then we were still praying that the Beatles would come back together It was not until I got out of the army, that I began to really appreciate the Boss, and his crew.

What Am I ?

Until a wonderful Forrest sprite came along and shook me out of the tree; that I have been lodged so comfortably oh these many years. I was content to keep most of my spiritual thoughts on my other blog. There was a good reason for keeping this blog more secular. Few people have the interest, or the courage to discuss anything of a spiritual nature, and as I already have one dead blog, why make two? Ah, but your G-d takes second place to no one! I will have to figure out a way to give Him a front row seat, and not frighten away all my friends at the same time. I am not religious, and like my hero Abraham I believe in G-d, and view all the major religions of the world at least in part, as pagan. Yet because G-d is sovereign , and even though He is known worldwide by many names; He has no need of our dogma or religion. Adonai our G-d is free to deal with the hearts of all His children, He understands and accommodates our primitive needs, no matter what kind of costume we try to put on Him. We should "instead of being subject to the limits of the Western mindset which dichotomizes things, values, etc, take advantage and assurance that seeming disparities are not disparities, but part of a larger synthesis of thought. Faith & works are part of a renewal of the heart. Torah is about renewing our hearts – all the promises rely on our hearts being renewed. Hence, Torah is not so much a religion, but a change of state, a change of being. The good deeds are not so much works, they are also faith, as they are part of emunah – Hebrew for “faith” which denotes that we “support G-d” and have “firm actions.” Faith is not so much a hope, but a certainty and way of living – what I can do to support the will of G-d."

The Tibetan Uprising Continues

The Rape of Tibet:
A shattered historical identity, a culture being savagely destroyed

In 1959 Tibet lost its freedom: outnumbered and poorly armed, the Tibetan army was crushed after a few days of an unsuccessful uprising. Thousands were killed. Everything was destroyed. Monks were crucified and many were buried, or burned alive, children forced to kill their own parents The famine forced the people to escape. This was the method used by the communist despots: make them go hungry, weaken them and divide them. Secretly and silently the Tibetans were eliminated. Chinese propaganda discredited the peaceful monks then as it does today.

In 2008, Tibetans around the world commemorated the 1959 uprising against Chinese rule.


THE NEW YORK TIMES
Wednesday, April 2, 2008

"Tibet, the high-altitude Himalayan plateau associated in popular memory with meditation and Buddhist serenity, has been the scene of periodic strife ever since it was seized militarily by China in 1951. The country's former ruler, the Dalai Lama, has led a government in exile whose bitter relations with China's Communist Party has boiled over from time to time in protests or fighting.

Sporadic talks between China and the Dalai Lama’s representatives have produced no results, and Beijing continues to condemn him as a “splittist” determined to severe the region’s ties to China. In the past, the Dalai Lama has said that he accepts Chinese rule, but that Tibetans need greater autonomy to practice their religion.

A new round of disturbances broke out beginning on March 10, 2008, the anniversary of a failed Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule in 1959. The protests turned violent, and were described as the largest since 1989. Those ended in a bloody clash with Chinese security forces and the imposition of martial law."

FREEDOM FIRST
by Major Geneal (Retd) Eustace D'Souza:


That the Chinese are most sensitive to any criticism of their hold on Tibet, their human rights record and other illegal activities as, for instance, using it as a dumping ground for nuclear waste, is too well known to deserve recall. When such issues were raised with a nine member high powered Chinese delegation at a seminar held recently in the University town of Manipal in Karnataka, the reaction of the delegation, when issues relating to Tibet was raised, invariably drew violent reactions of protest. The rape of Tibet, its age-old culture and its people continue, judging from the number of ethnic Tibetans who escape to India. Their stories record vividly the grossest violation of human rights and Chinese sensitivity to any such references drawing strong protests.

When our Mumbai Tibetans held a silent and non-violent hunger strike during the visit of Zhu Rongji, the Mumbai police were explicit in prohibiting any demonstrations in areas being visited by the Chinese Premier. However they were permitted to hold a hunger strike on Azad Maidan where about 200 Tibetan protestors and their Indian friends participated. In his brief address to the protestors, this writer stressed the need never to give up hope. He drew attention to the Tibetan flag with the rising sun as a sign of hope: the sun was not setting but rising. Decrying the fact that the free west chose to keep silent on the rape of Tibet, this writer suggested that the only way to stimulate the involvement of the West in their freedom struggle was to discover oil in Tibet!

Singin' In The Rain

What I will soon be doing, or may be doing as you are reading this.
I got my rubbers, and I'm ready to go!

For you Dave:
And in those days, there were giants!

My Good Right Arm

Time to replug another friend.

I have known no other on this Internet longer, or found anyone more trustworthy than the delightfully gifted writer, and humorist,
Caren (Cowie) Lissner. With a kind heart, and a remarkable mind so in synchronous, that at times she mirrors my very thoughts.
There have been times she has spoken my very thoughts before I could post them, I can depend on Caren to reach out and touch the lives of those who are so far away from me here in the bush. It has been a remarkable comradeship for she also performed many more other acts of love and kindness, before I could ask her to do so. It gives me a good feeling to know someones mind can be on the same track as myself, and like me she is almost smart.
Caren is the editor for a chain of weekly newspapers in Hudson County, N.J., just across the Hudson River from Manhattan. A prolific writer, and author of several excellent books. Her essays have been published in the New York Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, and Weatherwise Magazine, and a host of other popular rags. She is a friend to all who know her, and even to those who do not. I often marveled how despite her heavy work load, how quickly she responds to all her e-mails, assuming she gives equal time to everyone. The worst thing I can say about her, is that in all the years that I have known her, never once has she ask me for advice! And everyone knows that I'm always full of it. One day I will tell you a funny story about Caren, Carrie Pilby, and Amazon.com.

Ooops! Where are my D J manners? I almost forgot to dedicate a song to the Addled Writer. Now she is a married woman folks, so I have to keep it kind of tame. No surprises here.
And to that cool girl who once thought she liked me. This song is for you babe.

I've been making lots of snowballs today, and have not seen, a single kid, or mailman to clobber! boo hoo

Tell Everyone About Yourself

Time started:: I should never have started this.

Basic About you:

Name:: Walter David Smith (SHARKY)

Gender:: male

Height:: 6′0

Weight:: 167

Eye color:: green

Hair Color:: majestic

Age:: 55

Birthday:: July 26

Military service:: U.S. Army 1971-1974

Lefty/righty/ambidextrous:: right

Piercings::no

Tattoos:: no

Zodiac Sign:: Leo

Ring Size:: honestly, I don’t remember

More about you:

Social organizations:: Disabled American Veterans. Life member

Are you named after anyone?: Yes, my grandfather and King David.

Do you live in the moment?: I try to–sometimes it is hard to forget the past and let go of worry for the future–but I am learning.

Do you consider yourself tolerant to others?: Yes but I don’t always succeed, especially when I am very stressed out, or over-exhausted and my patience is gone

Do you have any secrets?: Honestly, we all do to some extent. I usually am upfront about my life, but I am learning to keep some things back and not be so blissfully naive as I usually am.

Do you hate yourself?: No

Do you like your handwriting?: Actually, it depends on what I use to write with.

Do you have any bad habits?: “procrastination, talking too much.

If you were another person, would you be friends with you?: I like to think so.

Any regrets?: Too many regrets–not close enough to friends, and family, having too much, or too little faith in others.

Do you think life has been good so far?: What hasn't been good in my life was used to make me the stronger person that I am today, so even the bad stuff must have had a purpose. Following that, I know my life has been good so far, because the person I am today is the product!

Are you confident?: yes, I will win the race.

How long does it take you to shower?: It depends on how much time I have to get ready, and if the hot water runs out before I do.

What color is your room?: Violet.


Do you…?

Smoke?: Only the best.

Do drugs?: I am a medicine man, and like my mother; always mixing up and experimenting with something new. I collect, and grow herbs, Ginkgo trees, all the things that God gave us, to make amd keep us well. Indeed, nature's drugstore is all around us, if you are sick come and see me.

Drink?: yes, a little is good medicine.

Go to church?: I am not a pagan.

Sleep with stuffed animals?: I suppose I should say “no” because of my age, but yes, I do sleep with a big stuffed Teddy.

Take walks in the rain?: I take walks in the rain on a fairly regular basis just to get to and from work, yes! I like to jump in the puddles, and sing as I am doing it.

Talk to people even if you hate them?: I never want to hate anyone ever again.

Drive?: Like Thunder Road.

Believe in premarital sex?: It happens–considering the divorce rate, I don’t hold the new marital standards too highly–as long as people care about each other, I try not to judge.

Want to get married?: They say I may live a happier life if I do.

Want to have children?: I like kids! Making them would be a lot of fun.

Sing in the shower?: That is where I find my best voice.

Got to quit, this is silly and taking too long. Who thinks up these questions?

For Wolves and Sky

GREAT SPIRIT open their hearts that they may abide in your endless wisdom, and always fallow the true path.

"Wolves have been long regarded by
Native Americans as teachers or pathfinders.
Wolves are fiercely loyal to their mates,
and have a strong sense of family while maintaining individualism.

"In the stars, Wolf is represented by the Dog, Sirius,
thought by many aboriginal tribes to be the home of the "Ancients."
It seems to be through this connection
that Wolf has come to be associated with ancient teachings.
Wolves are probably the most misunderstood of the wild animals."

Tales of cold bloodedness abound,
in spite of the their friendly, social and intelligent traits.

"They are truly free spirits even though their packs are highly organized.
They seem to go out of their way to avoid a fight.
One is rarely necessary when a shift in posture, a growl,
or a glance gets the point across quite readily."

"Traditionally, someone with Wolf Medicine has a strong sense of self,
and communicates well through subtle changes
in voice inflection and body movements.
They often find new solutions to problems while
providing stability and support
that one normally associates with a family structure".
*Unknown*


Today, "the wolf represents the symbol of our wilderness, a world which man has long since forgotten. We are just now making the attempt to protect and preserve the wolf as an endangered species. The future survival of the wolf depends on whether this mystical creature can been seen at last, for what it really is - an exceptionally interesting part of our wildlife heritage and an outstanding representative of that wilderness, which we are belatedly trying to preserve."

"One must understand the wolf in the wild to truly appreciate his inherit right to exist. In their own world, wolves can maybe teach us to see their species in a new light. Have we waited until it is too late to learn to understand this mysterious yet highly controversial animal and give them the acceptance they deserve? Do we dare take a new look at the wolf, to see what is really behind that mask of the myths formed from our own fear of the wilderness, a world yet untamed?"


Debra McCann.

SacredWolfDreams:


To love one another, is all that makes life worth living.
Like myself; my friend Sky has been very sick this Winter. As this most gracious and noble child of the Most High recovers, I hope you will all continue to send her your best prayers and thoughts.

My Wolf Maidens Greeting
I have an undying love affair and romance with the greatest show on earth...LIFE! Namaste' to all fellow earth aliens :0) I hope you feel most welcome here and come back to visit from time to time, perhaps leave your own thoughts and mark to remember you by. I LOVE to meet people and hear their own story. I do feel with my every being, that every morning the sun rises to refresh our souls, and every sunset is honored as a gift, for we are not granted a tomorrow. I have the now to share, and hope you catch the same wild disease
A wolf's best friend is Skylar; she is so nice. I wish I were a wolf!

Wolf song (Shamanic version)

KENTUCKY FRIED BLUES

I got the cabin fever bad! Honey get out your dancing shoes, my itchy feet need to hit the road! NAZARETH-KENTUCKY FRIED BLUES Live 1977! I got to Roll on maybe I will find my Connie Francis-Where The Boys Are!
Oh hell yes, a little creepy but Honey put on that party dress!

Sweet City Woman

Just The Way You Are, my Sweet City Woman.

21+ Ways to a Happy New Year

One or two of these may work for you:

Most are verygood advice.

ONE. "Give your best effort in all regards, and do so cheerfully.

TWO. "Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.

THREE. "Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.

FOUR. "When you say, "I love you," mean it.

FIVE. "When you say, "I'm sorry," look the person in the eye.

SIX.. "Be engaged at least six months before you get married.

SEVEN. "Believe in love at first sight.

EIGHT. "Never laugh at anyone's dream. People who don't have dreams don't have much.

NINE. "Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the only way to live life completely.

TEN. "In disagreements, fight fairly. ! No name calling.

ELEVEN. "Don't judge people by their relatives.

TWELVE. "Talk slowly but think quickly.

THIRTEEN. "When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, "Why do you want to know?"

FOURTEEN. "Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

FIFTEEN. "Always over tip for good service.

SIXTEEN. "When you lose, don't lose the lesson .

SEVENTEEN. "Remember the three R's: Respect for self; Respect for others; and Responsibility for all your actions.

EIGHTEEN. "Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.

NINETEEN. "When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

TWENTY. "Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.

TWENTY-ONE. "Spend some time alone." But not too much.


"Say "Gesundheit" when you hear someone sneeze."

"A true friend is someone who reaches for your hand and touches your heart."


Thanks, Kenna.

It's Got to Get Better Than This.

The great euphoria for Global Orgasm seems now to have all petered out.
The lascivious event, timed with the Winter solstice came and went, without much note.
I was home alone, but I've yet to find out what my girlfriend was doing.
Where are my people? I hope you are all enjoying yourselves.

Sound, Lights, Action! I love it.
These are so cool, Christmas Lights Gone Wild
Wow! These Xmas Lights Dance - literally
A 5th of Beethoven!

Down yonder, the folks have something to be proud of; HillBilly Christmas lights!
Just imagine, I'm expected to give up all the marvelous, and quaint things like this, for a new life in the big city. Indeed, life is not fair!
Too much moonshine, and you'll screw up your lights! Charmz Hillbilly Xmas Lights. With the Soggy Bottom Boys.

I should make that mean woman strip, and do the Can Can, for me first.

The Hairy Ainus of Japan

Out of the bowels of Mount Tokachi, in the centre of Hokkaido, northernmost of the main islands of the island empire of Japan, abides the last retreat of the Hairy Ainus. "The Hairy Ainus who live in caves, hunt and fish with primitive weapons. They are a race seemingly unconnected with the surrounding Mongolian peoples, thought to have migrated to the northern islands of Japan from Manchuria, a remnant of Neolithic stock. They are taller than the Japanese, heavier-built; their hairiness has been exaggerated from the fact that the men never shave and the women, admiring hirsute embellishment, daub themselves with mustache designs in pot-smut. They are bear-worshipers, non-agricultural."

"Meanwhile, in Japan, many Jewish researchers were convinced that the long-haired Ainu people of Hokkaido were a lost tribe of Israelites, on the evidence that the Ainu are not Japanese, and therefore must be Jewish. A Jewish colony had existed in Kaifeng in China for many years, and China is, after all, *nearly* Japan."

haa, haa, you think that's funny? more likely thay were just a bunch of Boston Boobs, who got lost on their way to Coney Island. And I'm pretty sure TAB has no kinfolks in Hokkaido.

Today in Japan, a person of Ainu race is addressed as "Ainu no hito" (pl. "Ainu no hitobito") as opposed to the now deprecated address of "Ainujin," in the name of political correctness. A survey in 1999 countedd 23,767 Ainus in Japan, mostly in Hokkaido. During the Meiji era, the Ainus endured oppression from the Japanese government, which was intent on colonizing the northern territories and Okinawa islands. The discrimination that the Ainus faced included the loss of land rights and criminalization of hunting, which used to be the Ainu way of life. As a step in modernization, the Meiji government imposed Japanese education on the Ainus who did not have their own writing system. Much of this has resulted in most Ainus losing their native culture. Today, equal rights is emphasised and racism is condemned. Yet the Ainus in average still live a life less wealthy than the average Japanese.

Apraxia

What is apraxia? I will keep adding to this untill I get it right.

Neurological Causes
The theory outlined by Gerald Edelman in 1992 suggests that the condition is caused by the failure of the neurones in the brain to develop correctly. This failure of the neurones to form adequate connections means that the brain takes longer to process information and there is a greater likelihood of the brain losing the suggestion and the child therefore failing to respond to requests given to him.

Apraxia can be severe, and it's not limited to speech. Apraxia is a neurologically based motor planning and sequencing disability. Anything that requires a plan and a sequence for muscle response, like jumping ,hopping, riding a bike, writing with a pencil etc., is affected. It most profoundly affects speech because so many muscles are utilized at one time. There are 17 muscles in the tongue alone!
.
There are various kinds of apraxia that affect different types of movement, including:

Ideomotor apraxia. Inability to mimic or perform a movement (e.g. hammer a nail, brush hair, blow out a match, cough) in response to a verbal command.

Ideational apraxia. Inability to correctly perform a series of movements to accomplish certain tasks (e.g., writing, bathing, dressing, eating or brushing teeth). Patients also may not know how to appropriately use certain tools or objects. For instance, a pen may be used in the manner of a comb.

Verbal apraxia. Inability to coordinate lip, mouth and tongue movements in order to speak. People with verbal apraxia may be unable to say a word correctly and consistently (they can say a word correctly one moment but not the next).

Buccofacial apraxia. Inability to perform movements of the face and mouth (without typically affecting a patient’s ability to speak). Patients with verbal apraxia may not be able to lick their lips, blow, cough or wink upon verbal command.
Additional types of apraxia that some experts believe should not be considered true forms of apraxia include constructional apraxia, limb-kinetic apraxia and oculomotor apraxia.

Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS, also known as DVD -- developmental verbal dyspraxia, and DAS -- developmental apraxia of speech) is a disorder that is more easily defined by what it is not. It is not a muscle disorder. It is not a cognitive disorder (although it may have some impact on language as well as speech). The problem occurs when the brain tries to tell the muscles what to do -- somehow that message gets scrambled. It's like trying to watch cable t.v. stations without the right descrambler. There is nothing wrong with the t.v. station, and nothing wrong with your set. It's just that your set can't read the signal that the station is sending out. The child's language-learning task is to figure out how to somehow unscramble the mixed message her/his brain is sending to her/his muscles. The

CAS has much more effect on volitional (voluntary, creative) speech than on automatic speech. This means that the more your child wants to communicate a particular message, the harder it will be! So, if you happen to hear her/him say something once when there is no pressure, and you say, "Say it again!", you are guaranteeing that she/he won't be able to. It is vital to put a minimum of communication pressure on the child. (NOTE: Your child's speech- language pathologist will need to put communication pressure on the child.) Low-pressure verbal activities are the most important thing a parent can do to help. These include: songs (especially repetitive songs, like Old MacDonald and finger-plays), poems, verbal routines (pat-a-cake, Willoughby Walloby Woo, etc.), repetitive books (such as some of the Mercer-Mayer books, Little Bear, etc.) and daily routines (prayers, social greetings, salute to the flag, etc.). You can make other activities into verbal routines: make up little sayings or poems that you say every time you do the same thing, label instead of counting objects in counting books ("Three dogs: dog, dog, dog"), verbalize repetitive activities (e.g., setting the table: "Plate, plate, plate, plate; fork, fork, fork, fork.."), and so on. Don't make a big fuss about whether or not your child is talking or singing along; just provide a supportive environment for her/him to do so. Don't ever say "You can't have it unless you say it first" -- that's sheer torture for a child with CAS. If your child is unable to communicate effectively right now, the use of sign language or a communication board to supplement speech temporarily not only decreases the frustration but also even seems to help with speech development. Don't be afraid to try it! Dyspraxia may affect other motor functions (e.g., fine motor control, gross motor planning) and other language functions (e.g., learning grammatical function words like "the, "is", "or", etc.; learning more complex grammatical forms like passive; spelling; putting words together into a sentence or sentences together into a paragraph, etc.). Occupational therapy, physical therapy, and learning disabilities assistance are often helpful for children who have these difficulties. CAS can be a very frustrating disorder at times. It is common for children to make progress in "fits and starts" -- good progress for a little while, then none, then more, etc. Don't get discouraged! The therapy is helping, even if you don't see the effects immediately.

The cause or causes of DAS are not yet known. There are scientists who believe that DAS is a disorder related to a child's overall language development. Others believe it is a neurological disorder that affects the brain's ability to send the proper signals to move the muscles involved in speech. Some findings suggest that heavy metals may play a role in the disorder.

A qualitative impairment in communication (APA, 1994), and such impairment is a primary feature of mercury poisoning.
Mercury-exposed children especially show a marked difficulty with speech (Pierce et al, 1972; Snyder, 1972; Kark et al, 1971). Even children exposed prenatally to “safe” levels of methylmercury performed less well on standardized language tests than did unexposed controls (Grandjean et al, 1998). Iraqi babies exposed prenatally either failed to develop language or presented with severe language deficits in childhood. They exhibited “exaggerated reaction” to sudden noise and some had reduced hearing (Amin-Zaki, 1974 and 1979). Iraqi children who were postnatally poisoned from bread containing either methyl or ethylmercury developed articulation problems, from slow, slurred word production to the inability to generate meaningful speech. Most had impaired hearing and a few became deaf (Amin-Zaki, 1978). In acrodynia, symptoms of sufferers (vs. controls) include noise sensitivity and hearing problems (Farnsworth, 1997).

Could there be a link with the pharmaceutical companies who made vaccines with mercury? The doctors who gave the vaccines, insisted they were safe; and likewise we have the scientists who said they could not find a link between autism and mercury. If there's no ``evidence of harm, then why did government officials begin removing thimerosal from the vaccines in 1999? With families struggling to find the answers and help for their children's neurological symptoms. Like U.S. Representative Dan Burton, who believes his two grandchildren suffered from thimerosal exposure in vaccines. I was not so sure there isn't a link. But then Jaded said... "I also wanted to mention that all of the newest research indicates that mercury plays no part in autism rates either in the US or internationally. Any of the studies done that indicate it does were either anecdotal or flawed". The MMR-Autism theory came to the forefront in 1998 when British Gastroenterologist Andrew Wakefield and his colleagues reviewed reports of 12 children with bowel disease and regressive developmental disorders, mostly autism, and that seemed to arise shortly after having a vaccine. The parents of nine of these children - or their pediatricians - suggested that MMR vaccinations led to the intestinal abnormalities. The study has several limitations: there were too few cases to make generalizations about the causes of autism, the cases were referred to the researchers, rather than chosen at random, and thus may not be a representative sample of cases of autism, and finally, there were no healthy control group children for comparison. In at least four of the cases, behavioral problems had begun before the symptoms of bowel disease, meaning it is unlikely that bowel disease or the MMR vaccine caused the autism. In 2004, 10 of the 13 authors of the study retracted the paper’s interpretation, saying that the data was insufficient to establish a causal link between the MMR vaccine and autism.
And a study by scientists at the University of Rochester Medical Center is the latest in a series of updates on children who have been studied since their birth in 1989 and 1990 in the Republic of the Seychelles, an island nation in the Indian Ocean. The children have been evaluated five times since their birth, and no harmful effects from the low levels of mercury obtained by eating seafood have been detected.
CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts, August 26, 2003 (ENS) -
Autism may be a form of mercury poisoning brought on by exposure to the mercury based preservative thimerosal in vaccines, according to new research published in the current issue of "International Journal of Toxicology," the official journal of the American College of Toxicology.

The study provides the strongest clinical evidence to date supporting the theory that mercury exposure is tied to autism, a finding that is not a surprise to coauthor by Mark Blaxill, a director of Safe Minds, (Sensible Action For Ending Mercury-Induced Neurological Disorders). This nonprofit parents' organization was founded to investigate the continuing risks to infants and children of exposure to mercury from medical products, including thimerosal in vaccines.

Methylmercury has always been found naturally in fish and in our bodies, but the trace levels of human exposure haven't increased in centuries; in fact, they're dropping. And research that has followed thousands of pregnant women and their children for nearly 15 years has found no evidence that the amounts of methylmercury in our fish put children or newborn babies at risk. Even among populations eating ten or more times the amounts of fish consumed by Americans, scientists have found no credible evidence of neurotoxicity, let alone brain damage, developmental delays, retardation, or learning disabilities.

The sky-is-falling crowd of activists and government officials remains unconvinced. They persist in warning women that there is real risk in exceeding EPA-established thresholds of methylmercury exposure that were set arbitrarily and with overly conservative safety margins. To determine acceptable levels of methylmercury, the EPA began with an amount at which there was no observed effect at all in the most sensitive of the population with a lifetime of exposure — a level nearly ten times that found in American women — and then added another tenfold safety cushion to that.
In the end, it seems that no one knows who or what to blame.




The Childhood Apraxia of Speech Association of North America (CASANA)