The words are on everyone's lips. Nobody really seems to know how serious it is. Folks in Texas, California and now New York are understandably cautious and concerned but up here in the NW corner?
In 2003, police in
In an act of kindness, the police took the dog, which was a Greyhound female, to the nearby Nuneaton Warwickshire Wildlife Sanctuary, run by a man named Geoff Grewcock and known as a willing haven for Animals abandoned, orphaned or otherwise in need. Geoffand the other sanctuary staff went to work with two aims to restore the dog to full health, and to win her trust.. It took several weeks, but eventually both goals were achieved...
They named her Jasmine, and they started to think about finding her an adoptive home.
But Jasmine had other ideas. No-one remembers now how it began, but she started welcoming all animal arrivals at the sanctuary. It wouldn't matter if it was a puppy, a fox cub, a rabbit or any other lost or hurting animal. Jasmine would peer into the box or cage and, where possible, deliver a welcoming lick.
Geoff relates one of the early incidents. "We had two puppies that had been abandoned by a nearby railway line. One was a Lakeland Terrier cross and another was a Jack Russell Doberman cross. They 
were tiny when they arrived at the centre and Jasmine approached them and grabbed one by the scruff of the neck in her mouth and put him on the settee. Then she fetched the other one and sat down with them, cuddling them."
"But she is like that with all of our animals, even the rabbits. She takes all the stress out of them and it helps them to not only feel close to her but to settle into their new surroundings.
"She has done the same with the fox and badger cubs; she licks the rabbits and guinea pigs and even lets the birds perch on the bridge of her nose."
Jasmine, the timid, abused, deserted waif, became the animal sanctuary's resident surrogate mother, a role for which she might have been born. The list of orphaned and abandoned youngsters she has cared for comprises five fox cubs, four badger cubs, 15 chicks, eight guinea pigs, two stray puppies and 15 rabbits.
And one roe deer fawn. Tiny Bramble, 11 weeks old, was found semi-conscious in a field. Upon arrival at the sanctuary, Jasmine cuddled up to her to keep her warm and then went into the fu
ll foster-mom role. Jasmine the greyhound showers Bramble the Roe deer with affection and makes sure nothing is matted.
"They are inseparable," says Geoff. "Bramble walks between her legs and they keep kissing each other.. They walk together round the sanctuary. It's a real treat to see them."
Jasmine will continue to care for Bramble until she is old enough to be returned to woodland life.
When that happens, Jasmine will not be lonely. She will be too busy showering love and affection on the next orphan or victim of abuse.
When Eric Ensey traveled to India this year, he shook the hand of a man who was freed from bonded labor by the money his teenage students had raised in Sammamish.
"If you hadn't helped us," the Indian millworker told the American middle-school teacher, "we would have died in the rice mill."
Fundraisers for charity are a staple of school life, but Ensey and his students have taken that work in an unusual direction by raising tens of thousands of dollars to help free enslaved people, many living half a world away.
The teens in this well-to-do suburban area have learned about families working in brick kilns in India and brothels in Cambodia where children their own age — and even younger — are sold into slavery.
"I count my blessings, because they're in such a bad place," said eighth-grader Nellie Hoehl, one of Ensey's students at Pine Lake Middle School.
Last year, three Issaquah district schools — Pine Lake, Issaquah High and Pacific Cascade Freshman Campus — together raised $50,000 for the International Justice Mission (IJM), a Washington, D.C., charity that seeks justice for the poor in developing countries. It's the largest donation the IJM has received from a public-school district, and was used to free about 120 enslaved people.
Caught the new Dream Works animation, Monsters & Aliens, over the weekend with the kids.
Do you hear the celestial choir singing? No? Well, that is probably because you haven't tried Kinnikinnick Foods Gluten Free, Wheat free, Dairy free, Soy free Donuts yet?
I call myself a Pacific NW native even though I was born in Billings, MT. My parents moved us, my brother and I, when we were just babies. So, technically I am not but feel like I am.
Deplorable! Hard to even know what to say about this. It is so disgusting.
Today is the Math is Cool competition.
As he approaches the 100-day mark of his presidency, Barack Obama’s job approval ratings are higher than those of his most recent predecessors. However, the 44th president is even more distinguished by his strong personal popularity. Fully 73% of Americans – including as many as 46% of Republicans – hold a favorable view of Obama as a person. Fewer people held favorable impressions of George W. Bush (61%) and Bill Clinton (60%) early in their first years.
I was contacted and asked to share information about this worthy cause The Fresh Air Fund.
Well, it is official.
You can see the pollen actually floating in the air. It settles like dust on everything.
Busy, busy day. Frosted cupcakes this morning. It turned into a sticky, delicious, messy art project. I tried not to think about people actually eating them after all the handling.
Did you lick the bowl when you were a kid? Mmmm, cake batter.
Under pressure, Shea mentioned to one of his teachers that he was scared about "falling into" the big potty.
Shea is clearly making up for lost meals. While sick, he literally ate nothing. I had to force juice down him every hour or so just so he wouldn't get dehydrated.
I sure wish I was joking but I am not. See for yourself. It doesn't happen often but I am just speechless.
Coffeeland could be anywhere these days. Can you remember before Starbucks took over the world?
Did you hear about this? Tofu may raise risk of dementia. And, here I thought it was a good thing to have it every day in my smoothie!Eating high levels of some soy products - including tofu - may raise the risk of memory loss, research suggests.
The study focused on 719 elderly Indonesians living in urban and rural regions of Java.
The researchers found high tofu consumption - at least once a day - was associated with worse memory, particularly among the over-68s.
The Loughborough University-led study features in the journal Dementias and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders.
Soy products are a major alternative protein source to meat for many people in the developing world.
But soy consumption is also on the increase in the west, where it is often promoted as a "superfood".
Soy products are rich in micronutrients called phytoestrogens, which mimic the impact of the female sex hormone oestrogen.
There is some evidence that they may protect the brains of younger and middle-aged people from damage - but their effect on the ageing brain is less clear.
I am no flora photographer but I have to document this plant. This is by fair my favorite NW native shrub. It is a great landscape plant as it is deer resistant. But, it also makes great habitat for birds during the summer and provides fruit for wildlife in the fall and winter.Ribes sanguineum (Flowering Currant or Red-flowering Currant) is a species of currant native to western coastal North America from central British Columbia south to central California.
You know you're really loosing it when you fall in love with a tractor. But, I have. Jake has too. We both are in love with this tractor.
time flew and he is coming back in a few days.
I always find this humorous.
Bullying is one of my hot buttons. This is such a tragic story and frightening that this kind of bullying could happen in front of teachers without them doing anything about it.My heart goes out to this family.
From ABC News:
Eric Mohat, 17, was harassed so mercilessly in high school that when one bully said publicly in class, "Why don't you go home and shoot yourself, no one will miss you," he did.
Now his parents, William and Janis Mohat of Mentor, Ohio, have filed a lawsuit in federal court, saying that their son endured name-calling, teasing, constant pushing and shoving and hitting in front of school officials who should have protected him.
The lawsuit -- filed March 27, alleges that the quiet but likable boy, who was involved in theater and music, was called "gay," "fag," "queer" and "homo" and often in front of his teachers. Most of the harassment took place in math class and the teacher -- an athletic coach -- was accused of failing to protect the boy.
"When you lose a child like this it destroys you in ways you can't even describe," Eric Mohat's father told ABCNews.com.
The parents aren't seeking any compensation; rather, they are asking that Mentor High School recognize their son's death as a "bullicide" and put in place what they believe is a badly needed anti-bullying program.
Must be a popular time of the year to born! Birthdays, birthdays, everywhere birthdays these days.
