View From a New Vrindaban Ridge

(recorded by Ethel Waters in 1921)

They say don’t change the old for the new
But I found out that this will never do
When you grow old, you don’t last long
You’re just here my honey, then you’re gone

I loved a man for many years gone by
I thought his love for me would never die
He made a change and said I would not do
For now I’m gonna make some changes too

Why there’s a change in the weather, there’s a change in the sea
So from now on there’ll be a change in me
My walk will be different, my talk and my name
Nothing about me’s goin’ be the same
I’m gonna change my long tall one for a little short fat
I’m gonna change my number where I’m livin’ at
Because nobody wants you when you’re old and gray
There’ll be some changes made today
There’ll be some changes made

Why there’s a change in the weather, there’s a change in the sea
So from now on there’ll be a change in me
Why my walk will be different, my talk and my name
Nothing about me gonna be the same
I’m gonna change my way of living, and that ain’t no bluff
Why I’m thinkin’ about changing the way I’m gonna strut my stuff
Because nobody wants you when you’re old and gray
There’ll be some changes made today
There’ll be some changes made

After being  around people during 8 days of traveling to North Dakota, the day after returning was basically lying on the couch all day.  Part of it was physically being tired as I missed my afternoon nap a lot of days so was pushing myself to keep going. I pushed because a lot of interesting things (for me) were going on and I was seeing a lot of people I wanted to see but when I push the fatigue pushes back and a day on the couch was worth it but part of the price of the trip.

Another part of it is that I usually spend about 60-80% of my awake hours alone and am used to that so being around people all day everyday for 8 days was exhilarating but draining due to having mild Asperger’s Syndrome (a form of high functioning autism) so I just needed some solitude.

The second day home we drove a couple of hours up north to where the Shakerwoods festival is held that Vidya does for three weekends in August. We own a permanent booth for that show as it is held on private property.

This has the advantage of being able to leave display racks and tables there and set them up well before the show.  The disadvantage is it has to be maintained and the show staff had informed us that a branch had fallen on it and it was damaged.

It wasn’t that bad but because of it Vidya dragged me along and it took a little while to repair and reinforce. It was in a storage area in the back so wasn’t too crucial to the operation but needed repair regardless. Fortunately it turned out to be less serious than I had feared.

The way back home passed by Rogers Flea Market so we planned the trip on a Friday so we could stop there when it was open. They claim 1600 vendors and I wouldn’t dispute it. We got some good buys.

We got back home and the lower part of the garden I had been whining about not being able to cultivate because it had remained unseasonably wet before I left on the trip was ready to go and rain was in the forecast the next day so I tilled it up.

Which meant I had had another long day, so after Ratha Yatra the next morning, I was slammed to the couch for the rest of the afternoon.

After the Ratha Yatra, which was the biggest one in New Vrindaban in recent memory, I was talking to Sanat and Chai who were sitting on the low iron fence around the grassy quadrants in  front of the temple.  Sanat asked if I was going to blog about the Ratha Yatra and I said no but if I did I would say I was talking to two bird turds on top of a fence which he took as the joke it was intended to be. If I was a little sensitive I wouldn’t write that, would I now?

Sunday there was a panel discussion I was part of so that pretty much shot the morning, though there was some pretty interesting people and now it appears I am going to get involved a little bit with some East Wheeling (read: bad part of town) community gardens. We will see how that develops.

After the feast which is held at 2 PM in New Vrindaban, I laid around on the grass in front of the temple with Soma and Haribhakta until 7 in the evening, something I would never have done if I had any energy but it was sort of fun, shooting the breeze and visiting with various devotees as they passed by.

So today, Monday, I am finally back into the saddle of my regular schedule and many weeds are going to perish in the garden amongst other things.

All of the above basically being an excuse why I haven’t been blogging or written more about my trip which if I hadn’t been so busy constructing this elaborate excuse, I just could have written about the trip instead.  Whatever.

JC Police add ‘pedal patrol’ to parks, neighborhoods
Officers on bicycles enhance community policing

Officers Madhusudana Meberg and J.T. Ware in Newtown Park.

JOHNS CREEK, GA—The new Johns Creek Police Bicycle Patrol pedals into service today in parks, shopping centers and residential neighborhoods throughout the City.

Many U.S. cities have taken this informal approach to law enforcement for a number of years, finding that it brings a number of community policing advantages, beginning with the removal of the communications barrier of a patrol car.

“It’s much easier for most people to approach us on bicycles,” says Johns Creek Officer Madhusudana Meberg. “People tend to say ‘hi’ and talk to you when you’re not in a patrol car.”

“From a law enforcement perspective, a bicycle allows an officer access to areas that a car cannot go, such as trails, side yards and alleys. The department’s overall patrol abilities will be enhanced with the Bicycle Patrol,” says Johns Creek Police Chief Ed Densmore.

“It’s very effective when we’re pursuing a suspect on foot, for example,” Densmore notes. “It’s also less obtrusive than a patrol car, so in certain situations, a bicycle officer can provide a necessary low-key response.”

An additional advantage is the fact that children love bicycles, so they end up asking a lot of questions, giving an officer the opportunity for an informal chat about bike safety.

The JCPD Bicycle Patrol rides specially equipped Trek police bikes and work in teams of two, making regular patrols in the City’s Newtown, Ocee and Shakerag parks.

Enhancing the JCPD’s commitment to community policing, the new bicycle patrol is part of the PACT (Police and Community Together) program and officers will participate in neighborhood meetings, city events and bike safety rodeos.

My bags are packed sitting by Bhakta Ed’s door. After he finishes his daily yoga we will be heading to the airport and I will be home this evening. Not as quick as clicking my heels together and chanting “There’s no place like home” a few times but faster than the month it might take me to walk it if I was healthy enough to consider trying that.

It was fun to chant all my rounds this morning with Bhakta Ed because we have been friends since the 60s and used to chant together before I moved to New Vrindaban and joined ISKCON.

He says he can remember standing outside in the snow 30 some years ago and me teaching him the Govindam prayers, and that us chanting a full set of rounds together was like closing a circle for him.

Monday night my sister drove us up to Elbow Lake, Minnesota and we spent the evening visiting with two cousins and my aunt and uncle who although aged still have sharp minds and a sense of humor. My 80 something uncle still has an iron grip when shaking hands.

He has been remembering songs and looking the lyrics up on the internet, printing them out then putting them in a binder called “Paul’s Songs.” I read through them and it was a unique perspective into his life. Lots of hymns.

He sold cars all his life and noted that now he finds himself still selling cars in his dreams. He said he wishes he could quit.

My aunt is 82 and still exercising regularly. She ran 10K races well into her 70s.

I was envious of my cousin because deer aren’t an issue for him and he has a great collection of hostas.

The trip was great and fascinating for me, I don’t know how interesting it might be to others but I should write a few more observations about it later.

The following are actual church bulletin board bloopers found in churches across the United States.

11. “Next Sunday Mrs. Vinson will be soloist for the morning service. The pastor will then speak on ‘It’s a Terrible Experience’.”

12. “Due to the Rector’s illness, Wednesday’s healing services will be discontinued until further notice.”

13. “Weight Watchers will meet at 7 PM. Please use large double door at the side entrance.”

14. “Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our church and community.”

15. “The eighth graders will be presenting Shakespeare’s Hamlet in the church basement on Friday at 7 PM. The congregation is invited to attend this tragedy.”

16. “A song fest was hell at the Methodist church Wednesday.”

17. “Today’s Sermon: ‘How Much Can a Man Drink?’ with hymns from a full choir.”

18. On a church bulletin during the minister’s illness: “God is good – Dr. Hargreaves is better.”

19. “Potluck supper: prayer and medication to follow.”

20. “The outreach committee has enlisted 25 visitors to make calls on people who are not afflicted with any church.”

21. “Eight new choir robes are currently needed, due to the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older ones.”

22. “The choir invites any member of the congregation who enjoys sinning to join the choir.”

23. A new loudspeaker system has been installed in the church. It was given by one of our members in honor of his wife.

24. Please join us as we show our suport for Amy and Alan in preparing for the girth of their first child.

Potential health disaster linked to chemicals in the environment

Source

Some of the first eerie signs of a potential health catastrophe came as bizarre deformities in water animals, often in their sexual organs.

Frogs, salamanders and other amphibians began to sprout extra legs. In heavily polluted Lake Apopka, one of the largest lakes in Florida, male alligators developed stunted genitals.

In the Potomac watershed near Washington, male smallmouth bass have rapidly transformed into “intersex fish” that display female characteristics. This was discovered only in 2003, but the latest survey found that more than 80 percent of the male smallmouth bass in the Potomac are producing eggs.

Now scientists are connecting the dots with evidence of increasing abnormalities among humans, particularly large increases in numbers of genital deformities among newborn boys.

For example, up to 7 percent of boys are now born with undescended testicles, although this often self-corrects over time. And up to 1 percent of boys in the United States are now born with hypospadias, in which the urethra exits the penis improperly, such as at the base rather than the tip.

Apprehension is growing among many scientists that the cause of all this may be a class of chemicals called endocrine disruptors. They are very widely used in agriculture, industry and consumer products. Some also enter the water supply when estrogens in human urine — compounded when a woman is on the pill — pass through sewage systems and then through water treatment plants.

These endocrine disruptors have complex effects on the human body, particularly during fetal development of males.

“A lot of these compounds act as weak estrogen, so that’s why developing males — whether smallmouth bass or humans — tend to be more sensitive,” said Robert Lawrence, a professor of environmental health sciences at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “It’s scary, very scary.”

The scientific case is still far from proven, as chemical companies emphasize, and the uncertainties for humans are vast. But there is accumulating evidence that male sperm count is dropping and that genital abnormalities in newborn boys are increasing. Some studies show correlations between these abnormalities and mothers who have greater exposure to these chemicals during pregnancy, through everything from hair spray to the water they drink.

Endocrine disruptors also affect females. It is now well established that DES, a synthetic estrogen given to many pregnant women from the 1930s to the 1970s to prevent miscarriages, caused abnormalities in the children. They seemed fine at birth, but girls born to those women have been more likely to develop misshaped sexual organs and cancer.

There is also some evidence from both humans and monkeys that endometriosis, a gynecological disorder, is linked to exposure to endocrine disruptors. Researchers also suspect that the disruptors can cause early puberty in girls.

A rush of new research has also tied endocrine disruptors to obesity, insulin resistance and diabetes, in both animals and humans. For example, mice exposed in utero even to low doses of endocrine disruptors appear normal at first but develop excess abdominal body fat as adults.

Among some scientists, there is real apprehension at the new findings — nothing is more terrifying than reading The Journal of Pediatric Urology — but there hasn’t been much public notice or government action.

This month, the Endocrine Society, an organization of scientists specializing in this field, issued a landmark 50-page statement. It should be a wake-up call.

“We present the evidence that endocrine disruptors have effects on male and female reproduction, breast development and cancer, prostate cancer, neuroendocrinology, thyroid, metabolism and obesity, and cardiovascular endocrinology,” the society declared.

“The rise in the incidence in obesity,” it added, “matches the rise in the use and distribution of industrial chemicals that may be playing a role in generation of obesity.”

The Environmental Protection Agency is moving toward screening endocrine disrupting chemicals, but at a glacial pace. For now, these chemicals continue to be widely used in agricultural pesticides and industrial compounds. Everybody is exposed.

“We should be concerned,” said Dr. Ted Schettler of the Science and Environmental Health Network. “This can influence brain development, sperm counts or susceptibility to cancer, even where the animal at birth seems perfectly normal.”

The most notorious example of water pollution occurred in 1969, when the Cuyahoga River in Ohio caught fire and helped shock America into adopting the Clean Water Act. Since then, complacency has taken hold.

Those deformed frogs and intersex fish — not to mention the growing number of deformities in newborn boys — should jolt us once again.

Nicholas D. Kristof is a syndicated columnist for The New York Times.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09181/980674-109.stm#ixzz0KFzsUVJv&D

Bhakta Ed drove me up to Fargo, North Dakota and I spent the night with my sister Laura and got to catch up with my 2 nephews and my niece.

While we were talking Laura got a phone call and had to take the phone in the other room. When she came back she apologized for taking the call but said there had been a death so some crying was involved.

My sister is a fired up Christian who has been putting a lot of hours networking and promoting an event coming up at the Fargo Dome with a powerful wonan preacher named Beth Moore.

One of the women who she met through this was going to host something for promoting the event but she called to say she wouldn’t be able to because her brother had just died in a motorcycle accident and she wasn’t emotionally stable yet to keep her committement.

It turns out we had a family connection as one of my cousins I will be seeing on this trip had been on a group ride with him when the accident happened. My cousin rides with an American Legion group and they were riding with a Christian biker group at the time.

My cousin was lead rider and they hit an unmarked pothole. He was able to retain control but several bikers wiped out and the one left his body.

Apparently he was a well liked guy because 900 people showed up at his funeral, the largest funeral in the history of the town of 1,400.

He had been a wild biker type in his youth but later became a Christian minister. It is a pretty touching story.

“His pastor, the Rev. Bradley Schmidt, gave a long, impassioned sermon, opening with a request for the hundreds packed into the gym to remember that common sight of Ready seen so often: “Roger with his arms around two bikers’ shoulders, praying with them.” The mourners did the same, draping arms over the shoulders of someone next to them during Schmidt’s opening prayer.

“Schmidt, pastor of the Church of the Nazarene and wearing the black leather vest he received from Ready, ended the sermon the way he said Ready would want: with a strolling, hard-sell appeal for everyone in the crowd “to get right with God…”

“Local vets gave Ready a color-guard send-off, including a gun salute. The 200 bikers traipsed out of the service into the bright light, straddled their machines and revved up a motorcycle salute that ripped the air of Ready’s town…”

Read the whole story here:

900 attend funeral for Larimore, N.D., biker who died after motorcycle crash