Independent Bookstores - How Much Fun Can They Be

There's a new independent bookstore in town - it's called "The Rabbit Hole".

Since I love books, ergo love bookstores, I've been keeping my eye on this place. And besides getting myself some great books (as they have new and used books) to read over the long winter months, I've gone to some really fun author book signings.

Big chains bookstores like Barnes and Noble or Boarders are just toooooo biggggg ! ! ! I feel like an ant crawling around someone elses ant mound - lost. But there's a definite comfortable quality and feeling to the smaller independent stores. For one thing, I've gotten to know the people who work there and call them by their first names. They'll always ask how I'm doing and that makes it much more enjoyable ..... to go into a store where you are recognized and valued as a customer.

Since it's not too far off before baseball's spring training to begin (I know, I know, football is still going strong) and I'm a lover of the game, it was a nice surprise to see The Rabbit Hole having an upcoming author book signing with three baseball authors ! ! ! These guys are locals to the area and I've not read their books, but I'm gonna go out and rub elbows with some ball fans in a couple weeks. Then, I truly will believe Spring is on it's way.

So, if you're in the area - Fitchburg - come and talk baseball and enjoy the company of other sports fans. The authors are Rip Pallotta (One Day In Mudville), Jack Walsh (Baseball's Good Guys) and Rich Letarte (That One Glorious Season).

I'm giggling, I know that it's silly to be this excited. But I am. Praying for a no-snow-weekend on the 24th.

~ The Mediator

Life and Liberty: A Coming Thing of the Past ??? ???

Here are some articles you might want to review - just a heads up on what's ahead for the u.s.of corp. and it's citizens.

Thousands of Troops Are Deployed on U.S. Streets Ready to Carry
Out "Crowd Control"

by: Naomi Wolf

date: October 8, 2008

Members of Congress were told they could face martial law if they didn't pass the bailout bill. This will not be the last time.

Background: the First Brigade of the Third Infantry Division, three to four thousand soldiers, has been deployed in the United States as of October 1. Their stated mission is the form of crowd control they practiced in Iraq, subduing "unruly individuals," and the management of a national emergency.

I am in Seattle and heard from the brother of one of the soldiers that they are engaged in exercises now. Amy Goodman reported that an Army spokesperson confirmed that they will have access to lethal and non lethal crowd control technologies and tanks.

George Bush struck down Posse Comitatus, thus making it legal for military to patrol the U.S. He has also legally established that in the "War on Terror," the U.S. is at war around the globe and thus the whole world is a battlefield. Thus the U.S. is also a battlefield.

You can read the rest of the article here:

http://www.alternet.org/rights/101958/thousands_of_troops_are_deployed_on_u.s._streets_ready_to_carry_out_%22crowd_control%22/



And then we have this:
Naomi Wolf - Give Me Liberty and The US Coup of October 1, 2008

Naomi Wolf

Give Me Liberty

Mon, 06 Oct 2008

Naomi Wolf is experiencing the Cassandra Syndrome - which is a term applied in situations in which valid warnings or concerns are generally dismissed or disbelieved. Societal sleep is a mighty foe.

Societal transformation into a 'controlled society' or fascist dictatorship does not happen without precedent, nor does it happen 'by accident'. There are very clear steps that signal such an environment and Wolf has consistently documented them. The following video interview is a continuance of that...

The Video and the rest of the article can be read here:

http://www.sott.net/articles/show/166972-Naomi-Wolf-Give-Me-Liberty-and-The-US-Coup-of-October-1-2008

or here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XgkeTanCGI

~ The Mediator

FORECLOSURES: Sheriff Refuses to Evict

Found this article today and just wanted to say that this actually gave me a reason to smile for about 30 seconds. There are honorable human beings left in this in-human world we now live in. But will the government allow this to go on - I think not. Sadly, we are all in for a very rough winter and beyond. Our lives, our children's lives will NEVER be normal (you know, get a job, get an education, buy a home, have a family and live happily-ever-after) again.


By Mark Konkol
Sun-Times News Group
By suspending some foreclosure evictions, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart is throwing down a challenge to judges who order evictions and banks that want to clear out foreclosed homes and put them back on the market.

Dart said he's willing to face contempt-of-court charges for not following eviction orders, but Circuit Court Judge Dorothy Kirie Kinnaird said she won't take that step yet.

"It seems he has communicated more to (the media) than he has to the court," Kinnaird said. "I want to find out what issues they (the sheriff's department) are having."
Dart told reporters at a news conference Wednesday that about one-third of foreclosure evictions in the county affect renters who say they had no idea about the residence being in foreclosure.

"We will no longer be a party to something that's so unjust," a visibly angry Dart said. "We have to be sure that when we are doing this - and we are destroying some people's lives - we better be darned sure we're talking about the right people." .......................................


You can read the rest of the story here:
http://www.southtownstar.com/news/1211345,100908evict.article

~ The Mediator

Anger and Fear Are Sweaping Over Us All

Boy, am I upset. No, upset is to neutral a word. Furious would be better (and I hope not too extreme.......). What's going on in politics, in the financial world, events taking place behind the scenes with our leaders - it's plain immoral, unethical, pathological.

Actually, words fail me. There's no way I can voice how absolutely unamerican the behavior of our leaders of OUR country are moving us towards a national breakdown (which at this point is inevitable). I also can't help but wonder what is going on with our congressional leaders - are they being blackmailed or something??? No wonder they're calling troops back from iraq and it isn't to protect us American's but to finally bring us to our knees.

Here is an article that should be read by everyone. This one is not about the financial crisis aflicting each and every one of us - but a different kind of take-over of our country (I know, you are asking how many kinds of take-over can there be). But this one has been in the planning stages for quite a long time. If you do read the article, you may find that what happened in Germany during World War II was only a trial run.........this one is the big kahuna.

http://www.sott.net/articles/show/165994-The-Dominionism-Apostasy-The-Despoiling-of-America-by-Christianity-turned-Evil

Or you can just google 'dominionism' and see what comes up and where one of our vp candidates fits into the whole creepy scenario.

Check out the Yurica Report for more articles.

http://www.yuricareport.com/

~ The Mediator

Dissociation: It's Not What You Think (Part 1)

Lately I've been fascinated with and reading alot about what is termed dissociation. It's that part of you that dis-connects with reality when you do such simple things as read a book, go to the movies, go shopping even experience trauma.

You know, like for me, when I go shopping (something I don't do too often) and you are in the store wandering around looking at all the stuff on the shelves, the sales items, new products. Suddenly, two hours have passed and you don't remember - cannot believe - that it's been two hours since you first entered the store. Seems more like 15 minutes, really. That's what will happen to me and is presented as just one example.

Interest in this dissociated state all began because I cannot remember my childhood. Not one part of it. Zip, gone, like it never happened TO ME. How can someone NOT remember their past. I was there. I was younger.

I grew up in a seemingly normal household with 4 sisters and one brother and a mom and dad. My siblings remember my childhood. But NOT ME. I actually thought that it was normal not to remember your past.......so I went through most of my life thinking that my memory just wasn't as good as everyone elses. Ha,ha, just a big joke! No memory! There was no reason to believe otherwise. Here I am, a grown woman, two children, divorced, and at 60 years old feeling quite happy with my life - until one day I pick up this book called "The Myth of Sanity" written by Martha Stout, Ph.D. I actually bought the book at a yard sale along with a few other books and brought them home, thinking I'd have some new reading material available when I was in the mood.

It was on page 29 of the book. As I was reading this part of the book, I actually thought it was me that she (Martha) was talking to and that it was me (The Mediator) answering her. From the book:

(Martha)

What does this feel like, not being able to

remember whole chapters of one's own

life? I have asked many people this

question, Julia among them. As usual,

her answer was obvious and starteling

at the same time.

(Julia)

"It doesn't feel like anything," she answered.

"I never really thought about it. I guess

I just assumed, sort of tacitly assumed, that

everyone's memory was like mine, that is to

say, kind of blank before the age of twenty

or so. I mean, you can't see into someone

else's mind, right?"

What a can of worm I opened up when I began reading this book. . . . . . . . .

~ The Mediator

Food Shortages.....What's Happening ???

In my last blog I was commenting about insurance and how there are those that have and those that just don't make the cut - useless eaters - is the term I've heard bantered about, apparently a description of those that are wanting.

Also, I've come across a couple of articles (and actually there are thousands of 'hits' on google about food shortages, riots, etc) with regard to something going on, whether manufactured information OR actual knowledge about what each and every human should be concerned about: the coming food shortages or food rations or food riots...........take your pick, my friend.

Somewhere in the last six weeks, the terms 'food shortages' have been in the news. First, just a small comment about rice shortages, riots in Haiti over food, wheat rust, limiting the amounts of bulk food you can purchase, etc.

Years ago, if any of you remember the TV show 'Johnny Carson', the late night talk show that I used to watch back in the 60's and 70's, (actually, Jay Lenno took Johnny's place) there was a comment made by Johnny one night that there was a toilet paper shortage. Sure 'nuf, during the next week, you couldn't find any toilet paper anywhere. People were buying up and hoarding toilet paper.

Turns out, it was just a joke. There was no shortage. But, people react to whatever they hear - especially if it is spoken on the (got one in every room) 'boob-tube'. But today, I'm really wondering what is the truth. Is there a coming shortage, is it a hype? Time will tell, but y'all might want to keep an eye on your supermarket shelves and make a mental note if you see that there are gaping holes where food/supplies should be stocked. It might be a good indication that something's a-foot. Time to put away some extra munchies for the fam.

There is a great article here with lots of links called "Connecting the Dots - Shortage of Food and Signs of War; the Future is Now".

~ The Mediator

Life Expectancy In The US ... Diminishing

Holy toledo Batman, this article stopped me in my tracks. And here's a quote from the article:

“It’s very troubling that there are parts of the wealthiest country in the world, with the highest health spending in the world, where health is getting worse,"

I always thought that any one of us would be able to access the best in health care that this country (USA) has to offer it's citizens. Not until recently, being one of those 'older individuals' who happened to lose her health care insurance because of a job loss, and now relies on state funded insurance, did I find out exactly what my options are.

Now, I am classified as one of those individuals who, because of income, because of the type of insurance I am enrolled in, has very few options available to me when it comes to getting 'the best health care available'. Guess I shouldn't be so surprised, with all that's going on in the world and at home. But I was surprised. Just when you need something the most, that's when the PTB seem to make it disappear. It's just beyond your grasp. What a game.

What's next.......food??
To read more go here.

And, keep yourselves healthy.

~ The Mediator

DRUG for HEALTH: We live in a Backwards World

Yes, I have to admit it, I'm all for living a life free of drugs - both recreational and medicinal. My grandmother, a French Canadian woman, lived to the wonderful age of 89 and never saw the inside of a hospital until she suffered a stroke and died three days later 'in hospital' was never on any medication(s) her whole life.

It still brings tears to my eyes, remember the morning that my son, who was three years old at the time, who also was born with Down's Syndrome .... and had snuck away from me to go downstairs to see Meme (he loved his great-grandmother and we, fortunately, lived with her. My family lived upstairs and she, alone, downstairs in her two family home that her father and husband built). I went downstairs looking for Josh only to find him sitting holding Meme's hand and she, calling out his name over-and-over - Joshua, Joshua.........

She didn't know me, but the ambulance was quick and my Aunt was even quicker. Meme was not in any pain, her heart just slowed down and finally stopped, leaving her - or rather she, leaving us, quietly one day. She died the exact moment I had to put down my favorite dog (and her's also), but that's another story for another day.

At her funeral I cried for my dog Buddy. I knew my grandmother had live the life she was dealt with much wisdom, grace, pride and love of family. She taught me so much of how I live my life today and how I deal with illness, disease and middle age. She was more of a mother to me than my actual mom. I miss her even today and it's been almost 20 years that she's been gone. But, to the point of my writing today:

Drug Companies - can you trust them? Do you want to bet your life, your health, your mind, your future on what they tell you is their truth?


Fosamax Linked to Serious Abnormal Bone Fractures
by Byron J. Richards
March 20, 2008

The New England Journal of Medicine published a physician group report of 15 women taking Fosamax who experienced "atypical low-energy fractures," which means their bones broke doing almost nothing – a serious kind of injury typically seen in very elderly individuals in declining health. The fact that the NEJM is reporting this is a major wake up call to anyone who hasn't figured out that Fosamax is dangerous to your health.

You can read the entire article here:
http://www.naturalnews.com/z022895.html

And the reason I include this article is because if you are taking Fosamax (like the elderly lady I am caring for) and you have any type of dental work done, watch out ........ your jaw bone just might become a dead, decaying piece of bone matter, like poor Sophie (name change) has had happen to her. Unfortunately, at the age of 95, there's not much they can do for her. She's in almost constant "jaw" pain and has been told by the Oral Surgeon, only after she had a tooth extracted, that "Oops, you should have told us you were taking Fosamax."


Then I see this article:

Ketek: One Drug, Many Tragedies
by Alex Jetter
Readers Digest, 3/17/08

The well-dressed woman in the waiting room was yellow, recalls John Hanson, MD -- a clear sign of jaundice. That was puzzling: One month earlier, in March 2005, Vivienne Wardley (not her real name), 51, had been in excellent shape except for a cold. A health-conscious woman, Wardley avoided prescription drugs and drank moderately. But tests showed that she needed an emergency liver transplant. And when Dr. Hanson, a gastroenterologist in Charlotte, North Carolina, examined her liver, he was startled. It was only a third of its normal size and showed massive tissue death.

What could have attacked Wardley's liver so quickly? The doctor remembered another patient his partner had treated in February. Usually healthy, Ramiro Pulquero, 26, walked into the Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte jaundiced, feverish and vomiting blood. He died three days later. The autopsy showed that his liver, like Wardley's, had suffered tissue death.

The rest can be read here:
http://www.sott.net/articles/show/152168-Ketek-One-Drug-Many-Tragedies

Ketek is a new antibiotic. Don't know anything more than what I've read in the above Readers Digest article. I don't want to say much of anything else other than maybe you should be careful WHO tells you that this DRUG or that DRUG will be good for you. It seems to me that we live in a backwards universe. Reverse the meaning and there's the truth of the matter.

Well, just some ramblings of a middle-aged woman. Be careful. Stay well.
~ The Mediator

Where Is The World Headed (and there's no getting off this ride either)

Really great article (as usual) from Lesvisible. Can be found at his blog's website:

http://smokingmirrors.blogspot.com/2008/03/like-it-had-eyes-and-fangs-and-claws.html

Read part of the article here:

Like it had Eyes... and Fangs... and Claws
Friday, March 21, 2008
Lesvisible

Well, I hate to tear you away from the screen. I know you are all focused hard, except for those who are hardly focused, on Slutz-Girl Vodka’s new butt girl “It goes down like smooooth reptile ooooooze.” It’s the American way to go from a whore to a princess of the marketplace over night. Where would we be if we didn’t have things like this to pay attention to? Maybe paying attention to something important, whatever that is.

You knew it was coming. You just didn’t know when. Or maybe you didn’t know it was coming because things like Slutz-Girl Vodka had your attention. For some of us it’s a no brainer that our terror impresarios; the Bush players, neo-cons and assorted n’er do wells were going to blow something up this year. We knew that the usual suspects were going to go into the prop room and pull out a false flag for the benefit of our brothers and sisters in Tehran, or Lebanon, or Syria or… all of them.

We swallowed a load in 2001 and we’re seeing signs and wonders and signs and wonders all over the place now. We are seeing a collection of related events that are all indicating that ‘the future is now’ or just around the corner. Ominous evidence of three dimensional chess pressures are pushing circumstance …and daring it to do something stupid. Food shortages; high fuel costs, housing foreclosures, bank failures, the falling dollar and assorted saber rattling all seem to indicate that ‘the boys in the backroom’ are getting all sub rosa before they go nova.

It becomes especially clear when The Scarlet Pimpernel, Bin Laden, starts doing his Baron Samedi impressions and popping up out of the grave and on to your dinner table. Most of the readers of this blog are regular visitors to http://www.uruknet.info/ http://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/ http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/ and the venerable http://www.sott.net/ so you have all probably seen the links I’ve placed above and you know that there are many more that all relate to the same mass of confusion that defines the present moment. You know about Russia and Kosovo; The Palestinian Genocide, Israel and her neighbors near and far. You know about Afghanistan and Iraq and Iran. You’re familiar with what happens when anonymous spokesmen for government agencies start talking about looming terror threats. You know Easter is coming and you know what a bonanza it would be were Christians to have a bad hair day at a holy site but… other days are coming and it could be any day and any scenario as long as it points to Iran. Still, it’s interesting what Bin Laden had to say about the pope and Europe, even if it wasn’t- and it wasn’t- Bin Laden.

Bushco is looking into Switzerland’s deal with Iran because it might violate some gratuitous sanctions that somebody put on paper and supposedly means something but probably doesn’t.
Yes, we know about that joint military exercise in Tel Aviv which, like the war games that were taking place on 9/11, that were simulating the very thing that took place and like the terror drill that was taking place in London at the same time as the 7/7 attacks… we know that terror drills and war games are often a cover and a distraction from the real thing. Sure this one is over now but… ah the mind wanders and speculates. The mind wonders how tragic it would be if something were to happen to someone somewhere. Israel killed a high ranking Hezbollah leader and they’ve spared no press in letting the world know that surely Hezbollah has a retribution planned................................

And for more and other fascinating, up-to-date world reports, go to
http://www.sott.net/ for your daily dose of REALITY.

~ The Mediator