Back to Basics

“Don’t let the bedbugs bite” is no longer a fashionable good-night wish for Big Apple kids, even in the city’s high-rent districts and posh hotels. Growing infestations of the ravenous bloodsuckers have New Yorkers annoyed, anguished, angry about officialdom’s inadequate responses, and “itching” for answers.

Instead, their Bedbug Advisory Board recommends a bedbug team and educational website. Residents, it advises, should monitor and report infestations. Use blowdryers to flush out (maybe 5% of) the bugs, then sweep them into a plastic bag and dispose properly. Throw away (thousands of dollars worth of) infested clothing, bedding, carpeting and furniture.

Hire (expensive) professionals who (may) have insecticides that (may) eradicate the pests – and hope you don’t get scammed. Don’t use “risky” pesticides yourself. Follow guideline for donating potentially infested furnishings, and be wary of bedbug risks from donated furniture and mattresses.

New Yorkers want real solutions, including affordable insecticides that work. Fear and loathing, from decades of chemophobic indoctrination, are slowly giving way to a healthy renewed recognition that the risk of not using chemicals can be greater than the risk of using them (carefully). Eco-myths are being replaced with more informed discussions about alleged effects of DDT and other pesticides on humans and wildlife.

Thankfully, bedbugs have not been linked to disease – except sometimes severe emotional distress associated with obstinate infestations, incessant itching, and pathetic “proactive” advice, rules and “solutions” right out of Saturday Night Live.

It is hellish for people who must live with bedbugs, and can’t afford professional eradication like what Hilton Hotels or Mayor Bloomberg might hire. But imagine what it’s like for two billion people who live 24/7/365 with insects that definitely are responsible for disease: malarial mosquitoes.

Malaria infects over 300 million people annually. For weeks or months on end, it renders them unable to work, attend school or care for their families – and far more susceptible to death from tuberculosis, dysentery, HIV/AIDS, malnutrition and other diseases that still stalk their impoverished lands.

Most every child has sought to fulfill their entrepreneurial spirit by opening a sidewalk lemonade stand. It’s as American as hotdogs, apple pie and… lemonade.

And as 7-year-old Julie Murphy of Oregon made plans do the same thing millions of kids have done before her—during an art fair held the last Thursday of each month on the streets of Northeast Portland and conveniently called Last Thursday—she never dreamed she’d be violating a government regulation.

Well, little Julie has now had her first experience with our boot-on-the-throat authorities. The local food police shut her down.

Julie and her mom toted gallons of bottled water, packets of Kool-Aid, bags of ice and some plastic gloves to a spot on the sidewalk July 29 and Julie set about selling lemonade to the hot and sweaty patrons and vendors. Then a “woman with a clipboard” walked up and asked to see her $120 temporary restaurant license.

“What? No license?,” asked the lady in the clipboard, who turned out to be county health inspector. “Well pack up or we’ll fine you $500.”

Well Oregonians tend to be prickly lot, and as Julie and her mom began packing, up nearby vendors and patrons suggested they stay, telling them the regulation-happy clipboard lady had no right to run them off. They suggested Julie offer her lemonade for free and accept donations. And business picked up.

But it wasn’t long until clipboard lady came back with help. Julie started crying, and patrons and vendors confronted the government thugs, creating quite a scene, as Julie’s mom told the local paper.

This commentary was posted as a comment on this site, but is too important to be hidden among the comments. So here it is. Thanks for sharing and I hope everyone takes note.

WHO AM I?

I was born in one country, raised in another.
My father was born in another country.
I was not his only child.
He fathered several children with numerous women.

I became very close to my mother, as my father showed no interest in me.
My mother died at an early age from cancer.

Although my father deserted me and my mother raised me,
I later wrote a book idolizing my father not my mother.

Later in life, questions arose over my real name.
My birth records were sketchy. No one was able to produce a legitimate, reliable birth certificate.

I grew up practicing one faith but converted to Christianity, as it was widely accepted in my new country, but I practiced non-traditional beliefs and didn’t follow Christianity, except in the public eye under scrutiny.

The question was answered on June 16 by the Committee to Protect Journalists‘ Executive Director, Joel Simon. The setting was a hearing on “Press Freedom in the Americas,” held by the U.S. House of Representatives’ Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere. And quite interestingly, none of that very “press” in the “Americas” has seen fit to report this item. Hummmm?

So let’s ask the multiple-Peabody and Emmy award-winning American journalist Dan Rather if he knows who jails and tortures the most journalists on earth.

Fidel Castro is Cuba’s Elvis!

Nope. Seems that Dan’s no help.

Okay, now let’s ask the same question to Goldsmith Career Award for Excellence in Journalism-winner Andrea Mitchell:

Fidel Castro is old-fashioned, courtly — even paternal, a thoroughly fascinating figure!

Nope. Seems that Ms. Mitchell is also in the dark.

Okay, let’s go over to multiple-Emmy-winning journalist Barbara Walters.

Castro has brought very high literacy and great health-care to his country. His personal magnetism is powerful, his presence is commanding.

Oops, looks like we draw another blank.

Over to Peabody Award-winner Dianne Sawyer now — but on the way, we trip over this item:

Diane Sawyer was so overcome in Fidel Castro’s presence [during a dinner party at Mort Zuckerman's Manhattan pad] that she rushed up, broke into that toothy smile of hers, wrapped her arms around Castro and smooched him warmly on the cheek.

So lets’ skip her and try eminent Newsweek and Los Angeles Times journalist Eleanor Clift.

To be a poor child in Cuba might be better than being a poor child in Miami.

Dang! Another bum steer with Ms. Clift, it appears.

Moving down a few notches, let’s try CNN’s former Havana Bureau chief Lucia Newman (nowadays with Al  Jazeera):

In Cuba we will be given total freedom to do what we want and to work without any censorship” [italics mine] … No dubious campaign spending here [in Cuba]. No mud slinging — a system President [italics mine] Castro boasts is the most democratic and cleanest in the world!

Ms. Newman, it seems, is no help. But perhaps CNN’s higher-ups can help. Heck, let’s go straight to the top: CNN’s very founder, Ted Turner: “Fidel Castro is one helluva guy! You people [Harvard Law School audience] would love him!”

Michelle Obama’s unwaivering committment to ensuring that our kids don’t get too fat to join the military rolls on unabated.

The Let’s Move program has been going on for some time, but now it’s being extended to include summer vacation. The motivation to move forward came as a result of one of the kids asking with great concern, “Mommy, have you plugged their pieholes yet?”:

CHICAGO — School is out for much of the country, and kids everywhere are looking forward to a few months off.

But nutrition and education experts warn that for too many kids, summer break is also a time when they backslide educationally and fall into bad eating habits.

On Tuesday, first lady Michelle Obama helped launch another component to her campaign to tackle childhood obesity, this time targeting summer vacation.

She joined several members of the Obama Cabinet in announcing the administration’s new “Let’s Read. Let’s Move.” campaign, aimed at promoting exercise, healthy eating, and reading among kids on break from school.

The campaign will be coordinated by the Corporation for National and Community Service, an independent federal government agency that supports such programs as AmeriCorps and Senior Corps.

Well, if the First Family knows about anything, it’s what to do while on vacation.

From the Let’s Read, Let’s Move website:

A real case of government healthcare…

One of my daughters became pregnant and found to everyone’s surprise she was going to have identical twins.  The news came with mixed emotions as well as difficult decisions.  This was not her first child and she, like many in the family, believes in natural childbirth without medication.  Only her first child was born in a hospital while all the others were born at home with a midwife.

She initially started seeing her midwife for prenatal visits, but when they discovered she was expecting twins the reality of government interference took hold.  The state of Arizona does not allow midwives to knowingly delivery twins, so they had to find a doctor.  They are on the state insurance, which poses it’s own challenges.  However, trying to find a doctor that not only would accept the state insurance but would also deliver twins and accept a patient at 10 weeks became almost an impossible task.  It took her a month to even obtain the booklet of doctors she requested from the state to start her search.  She went through the book and was more often turned down because the doctors no longer accepted the state insurance.  With the help of her midwife and fortunately a state employee willing to help, she was able to obtain the services of a high-risk OB team.

Through the ultrasounds they discovered the babies were identical twins, had separate bags of water but shared one placenta.  This put her in a higher risk category.  At one point during the pregnancy they determined she was experiencing twin-to-twin transfer and was then referred to a specialist.  Because of this the doctors wanted to see her 3 times a week and she underwent regular ultrasounds and non-stress tests.  During her third trimester an ultrasound indicated she actually had two placentas; that there was a division in the placenta that had not previously been noticed; the twins may not be identical.  At that time it was also revealed that she had not actual experienced twin-to-twin transfer, it was only borderline.  With only 4 weeks remaining until her due date the doctor told her she needed to find another doctor because she was now no longer considered high risk!

She took childbirth classes at the hospital she was to deliver at.  She is also a childbirth instructor so these classes were quite unnecessary from a childbirth aspect, but with this unusual pregnancy she wanted to be informed about the hospital, their procedures, as well as the special considerations in delivering twins.

During her regular doctor visits they discussed the expectations of delivery.  This resulted in a difference of opinion from the doctors and expectant parents.  The doctors believed in a medicated birth with a likely outcome of an induced labor as well as a cesarean delivery.  The parents believed in an unmedicated birth, as natural as possible, and only in an emergency to save the mother and/or babies did they want a cesarean.  They created their birth plan and the doctors made their modifications.  They were able to “negotiate” delaying an induction until 38 weeks.

She went in to labor naturally and the first baby came quickly.  They never made it to the hospital.  Labor never stopped and what seemed like a very short time later the second baby was delivered; he was a breech delivery.  Both babies were well and of good size, especially for twins (7 lbs. 14 oz. and 6 lbs. 9 oz.) with the mother and father cooperating during delivery; no one else was present.  This was a Sunday and at this point they did not want to go to the hospital because there was no need.  So they contacted one of their midwifes who came over to make sure mother and babies were okay – everyone was fine.  It also turns out the twins are identical, sharing only one placenta – the latest ultrasounds were wrong!