Has it been a whole week since my last post?!? I meant to do some posting earlier, but it was a good, productive work week and I put in over two hours of paid overtime. That is always a nice perk. Let's see ... on to some news:

Back on Sunday, April 6th, I did volunteer work for the 18th annual MS Walk. This is my 10th year in either participating in the walk or doing volunteer work. Sunday dawned a cool, windy, but sunny day. I dressed in layers, put on gloves and my sneakers, then headed to Cadman Plaza in Brooklyn. Got there, via two subways, at exactly 12 noon to find the tables had already been set up by other volunteers. So I helped with putting the rest of the free goodies on the tables for when the walkers come thru. Cadman Plaza, in Brooklyn Heights, marks the second rest stop along the 12 mile route and there are a total of three. Some of the volunteers I'd worked with in past years and their a fun bunch. Some of the free goodies we handed out to the walkers were oranges, bottled water & fruit juices, cookies, chips, raisins and sports bars. After the last walker came thru we proceeded to pack everything up in the waiting van while noshing on free Subway sandwiches. Us volunteers also received free MS Walk t-shirts and whatever leftover goodies we could carry home with us. I had a little satchel of oranges, cookies, sports bars and bottled water. Yeah! Overall it was a good day.

Today I went up to Yonkers Ferret Shelter to do my usual volunteer work. Which I always enjoy ... love those furkids. It was good seeing Joanne again and when I came in she was in the process of feeding baby squirrels. [four weeks old] They are soooo cute. While there two of new, young female shelter ferrets tried to bite me. I'm like ... what the hell did I do wrong. Joanne assured me I didn't do anything wrong, its just that those two came into shelter as known "biters". Tho, she says, they are getting better over time and with socializing. One of the older furkids I had to give a bath, as he was abit stinky. Joanne also informed me that dear Bouncy Bear may be adopted this coming week. I'll miss the little critter with his playful, perky personality. [The weather was delightful today. After all that cool, windy rainy crap we got a warm, sunny, blue sky day. Lovely!]

As you know, I've been talking about war and politics for last month or so. Well, this is still a free country and I'll continue to sprout my views on these topics. The latest are not my thoughts, but by others and I wanted to share some tidbits with you all. In the April 4th edition of THE RECORD-REVIEW the Reverend Doctor Bill Weisenbach [First Presbyterian Church of Katonah] wrote an article in the "guest column" of this newspaper. The title of the article was "Let Us Not Disparage Those Who Disagree". Here is one of his comments:

"Protest is healthy, not scary. Remember, our nation is the result of protest. And where do you think the word 'Protestant' comes from! In the last month we have heard commentators argue that protest against the war is wrong, during the war and even after the war. Not so ... Protest is our heritage and a mark of freedom."

Amen reverend amen!!

Recently, I received an email from a friend [merci beaucoup Josee] of mine in Ottawa, Canada. It was an article from the "Ottawa Express" [independent newspaper] by James Sinclair called "Winning the War of Words". I wanted to share some tidbits from it with you all.

"With another war in Iraq comes a new campaign to win our hearts and minds. And as in any propaganda campaign, semantics are crucial. Decoding and understanding the terminology used by the military and the media can be a daunting task. To assist you, FRONTLINE spoke to some propaganda experts to define the new war lexicon. COALITION FORCES ... The good guys, right? This term, 'creates consensus where one does not exist,' says Jonathan Rose, a professor of political science at Queen's University. Many of the 40 or so countries that form the supposed coalition were brought onside by the expectation of U.S. aid, adds Randal Marlin [Carleton University]. Buying legitimacy must be the next best thing to going through the legalities of the UN. 'Coalition' sounds better than 'unilateral'. OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM ... Straight-up doublespeak. Along the same lines as 'Operation Just Cause,' these phrases are used as slogans by the media to promote the war, says Rose. This particular phrase implies that the US war is to liberate Iraq, same as the last Gulf War was all about liberating Kuwait. Whats not said, however, is that Iraqis will not be liberated from a US-imposed future, says Marlin. 'Its a matter of trading slavery for domination by the US,' he says. That's of course for Iraqis who survive the war."

Okay ... enough politics from this lady for one day. As I've said in the past ... if you wish to read my thoughts and/or comments on Gulf War ... great ... if not ... thats okay too. I won't be offended. One has the right to freedom of speech, thought and action.