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Have you ever listened to an advertisement listing the possible side-effects of a drug and then felt queasy? Reading about those effects can make you feel ill, as well.
Dr. Lissa Rankin's recently published New York Times bestseller, Mind over Medicine, in part, examines this disturbing phenomenon.
Reading Rankin's thought provoking book reminded me of Fiona Macrae's 2009 Health post The health alerts that make you ill: Negative thoughts 'can induce sickness'.
Macrae wrote for the Daily Mail:
A series of studies from around the world has shown that if you believe something could make you ill, it might well do just that.
Simply reading the side-effects on a bottle of tablets raises your risk of experiencing them.
And, taken to its extreme, patients who believe they will not survive surgery, are more likely to die on the operating table.
It's now evident that if you're taking medication, you could have concerns. While it's important to use medicinal products wisely, studying their labels can cause you more problems. It seems you're in trouble no matter what you do.
Doesn't this dilemma tell you something? Doesn't it show that your health is mental in nature? And if what you think causes what you experience, shouldn't exploring a new way of thinking be considered?
In her 1875 guidebook on spiritual healing, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy relates:
A man was made to believe that he occupied a bed where a cholera patient had died. Immediately the symptoms of this disease appeared, and the man died. The fact was, that he had not caught the cholera by material contact, because no cholera patient had been in that bed.
Eddy described the incident to educate her readers to the mental nature of health. But she didn't just stop there, for she had found there was no healthier way to think than with a spiritual mindset.
While health alerts and a diseased-centered focus can make you sick, pondering spiritual things, — a divine power and presence, enables you to experience improved and more consistent health.
The inspired prophet, the apostle Paul, understood this, and counseled:
Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8)
Again, it's important to use medicinal products wisely. But, perhaps, more importantly, if you want to be healthy and stay that way, watch what you read, consider, and ponder.
If you ask me, there should be health alerts that remind you to maintain a consistent spiritual mindset.
Instead of scaring and causing you even more suffering, these alerts, if adhered to, could make positive differences in your physical well-being.
– Keith Wommack is a Syndicated Columnist, Christian Science practitioner and teacher, husband, and step-dad. He has been described as a spiritual spur (since every horse needs a little nudge now and then). Keith's columns originate at: KeithWommack.com
Twitter: @KeithWommack
Do's and don'ts to regain the joy of life.
1) Stop being critical. Criticism closes your eyes to the good that has always been yours. Critical states of thought lead to critical mistakes, as well as cause critical states of the body.
2) Stop keeping score. It is not what others do but how much divine goodness you express that will ultimately satisfy you.
3) Stop trying to prove you are right. Instead of telling others you are right and they are wrong, live what is right and your life will begin to sparkle.
4) Start forgiving. Forgiveness means starting over with love. It wipes the slate clean. Forgive yourself and others. Forgiving others is about your peace of mind, not about absolving someone else's responsibility for wrongdoing.
5) Be grateful. Be grateful for everything good in your relationships and in your home. Gratitude completes the circuit in healing. It awakens you to the magnitude of your divine life. Pain and gratitude are incompatible.
6) Be honest. Honesty allows you to be at peace, even in the middle of unrest. It keeps you strong. "Honesty is spiritual power. Dishonesty is human weakness, which forfeits divine help." (Mary Baker Eddy - Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures)
– Keith Wommack is a Syndicated Columnist, Christian Science practitioner and teacher, husband, and step-dad. He has been described as a spiritual spur (since every horse needs a little nudge now and then). Keith's columns originate at: KeithWommack.com
The jubilation from Louisville's victory over Duke's basketball team was overshadowed by Kevin Ware's on-court injury on Easter Sunday. Ware a 6-foot-2-sophomore guard broke his leg in two places.
It was a disturbing picture. Players and fans immediately started praying. Across social media, people spontaneously began sending Ware messages of support. Professional athletes joined the chorus.
Michael Jordan tweeted, "Prayers go out to Kevin Ware. No athlete wants that to happen to anybody."
Robert Griffin III tweeted, "Prayers up for Kevin Ware, his teammates, & family."
When accidents and tragedies happen, the use of the word "prayer" multiplies. This begs the question, "Does prayer help or is it just a kind word we utilize in times of suffering?"
It's been reported that forty-nine percent of Americans say they pray when it comes to health issues. Thirty-six percent say they've witnessed the healing of an injury or illness because of prayer.
Since there seems to be a correlation between prayer and physical betterment, hopefully, when "prayer" is mentioned, people will follow through by actually praying.
This brings us to the next logical question, "What is prayer?"
"There are four basic prayers," Rabbi Marc Gellman once said, "Gimme! Thanks! Oops! and Wow!" Wow is a prayer of praise and wonder at the creation. Oops is asking for forgiveness. Gimme is a request or a petition. Thanks is expressing gratitude.
In order for prayer to improve health; it seems logical that prayer be tied to something wiser and superior than our own minds. Some find it helpful to consider that prayer is the utilization of the love in which God loves us.
My friend Cory and his family certainly do.
Cory, a sophomore pitcher from The University of Texas Longhorn varsity baseball squad was a student in my Christian Science Sunday School class. I had the opportunity to watch Cory pitch several times. One day, during a game, a ball was hit directly at him. Cory caught the line drive with his bare hand.
The next day a coach noticed that his hand was swollen and he couldn't grip the ball. An x-ray revealed a fracture. Cory was scheduled to pitch again in four days. He wanted to be healed, and knew from experience that a prayerful, spiritual approach could enable him to quickly recover. His family prayed for him. He prayed too.
Cory had planned to take a seven-hour trip to his girlfriend's cottage. Despite the injury, Cory followed through with his plans. While he travelled, he prayed, and as he did, he was convinced that changes were taking place. When he arrived, he knew the healing was complete. He went swimming and fishing, and wrestled with his girlfriend's brothers.
To satisfy his coach, he went back to the doctor who had x-rayed the hand. The doctor said he'd never seen anything like it. The hand was totally healed. When he pitched a few days later, he struck out seven of the eight batters he faced.
Cory and his family have confidence in spiritual power to be able to care for bodily needs. People of many faiths take solace in Biblical promises. The book of Jeremiah assures, "I will restore health to you, and your wounds I will heal, says the Lord."
When others are in need of help, if you move beyond merely social pleasantries, regardless of the kind of prayer you utilize, it appears as if you have the opportunity to watch God's love at work. You have an opportunity to really pray.
– Keith Wommack is a Syndicated Columnist, Christian Science practitioner and teacher, husband, and step-dad. He has been described as a spiritual spur (since every horse needs a little nudge now and then). Keith's columns originate at: KeithWommack.com
Know anyone who doesn't feel bad about something they've said or done? Guilt tortures the best of us. Unfortunately, the discomfort is not limited to mental agony alone. Intense regret can bring physical torment, as well.
Sometimes, the pain is self-inflicted.
Studies show that people occasionally attempt to free themselves from guilt through pain. And they are not always aware that they're harming themselves.
Since the human mind is where guilt begins, to get at the source of the problem, the medicine must be mental. In other words, in order to heal a body affected by guilt, a mind must change.
An example:
In 2005, I delivered a lecture titled Spiritual Solutions to Crime and Violence in Dearborn, Michigan. Before the lecture, I was speaking with the woman who was to introduce the talk. She asked if I remembered her. I told her, "No."
She explained that she'd been at another of my lectures in Trenton, Michigan, three years earlier. She'd been in a wheelchair at the front of the auditorium. After she related this, I remembered her.
She described why she'd been in the wheelchair.
Believing that a traffic light had turned green, she'd accelerated her car through an intersection causing a collision with another vehicle. A young woman in the other car was killed. She, herself, was badly hurt. No one expected her to live, either.
She did pull through, however. And she told me that she believed it was the spiritual treatment she'd received that enabled her to leave the hospital, albeit in the wheelchair. She was grateful for the progress; yet, she was still experiencing mental and physical pain as she was wheeled into the Trenton lecture.
She'd always tried to be as conscientious and loving as possible. Therefore, the thought that she was responsible for a young woman's death was crushing her.
My lecture in Trenton was titled Regaining Our Joy. In this lecture, I quoted from a book that describes how a spiritually changed thought helps us physically.
The author, Mary Baker Eddy, states in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, "We are all sculptors, working at various forms, moulding and chiseling thought. What is the model before mortal mind? Is it imperfection, joy, sorrow, sin, suffering? Have you accepted the mortal model? Are you reproducing it? Then you are haunted in your work by vicious sculptors and hideous forms. …The result is that you are liable to follow those lower patterns, limit your life-work, and adopt into your experience the angular outline and deformity of matter models."
The statement continues, "To remedy this, we must …form perfect models in thought and look at them continually, or we shall never carve them out in grand and noble lives."
During the lecture, I asked everyone in the audience to stand up. I had them shake their heads and stomp their feet. I wanted the audience to consider how they, with divine help, could express mental force, spiritual dominion. Possibly, they could shake off fear, guilt, or whatever plagued them.
With her son's help, my introducer made it to her feet. She shook her head and gingerly stomped her feet.
After the lecture, she went home and examined her thought. She saw there an aggressive suggestion that claimed she was ignorant. Ignorant for assuming the light had turned green. This suggestion had been haunting her. She told me that instead of "continuing with the pity party," she began to affirm that she was not stupid. She took her stand. She began to think of herself and the young woman who passed away as she thought God would be lovingly considering them. She was convinced that God knew each of them as being spiritually innocent, divinely alive.
During the next few days the pain disappeared. She got up out of the wheelchair. It was no longer needed. God's love was the medicine that changed her mind and healed her physically.
The introduction this woman gave to the audience at Dearborn was special. She spoke with profound grace and joy. The spirit behind her words set the tone for the day. I believe it helped the audience recognize that spiritual solutions could help their city.
If guilt tortures you or your loved ones, something should be done. If possible, utilize what can free heart and soul, both mind and body.
– Keith Wommack is a Syndicated Columnist, Christian Science practitioner and teacher, husband, and step-dad. He has been described as a spiritual spur (since every horse needs a little nudge now and then). Keith's columns originate at: KeithWommack.com
Today, some health care providers are realizing there is more to medicine than, well, medicine.
For example, there is Mehmet Oz, best known as Dr. Oz. Oprah crowned him America's doctor in 2004. He is a heart surgeon and the host of the weekday hit TV program, "The Dr. Oz Show."
Oz entered medical school believing that traditional medicine had all the answers and he just needed to discover them. But the limits to this approach began to dawn on him while in medical school and as he began to talk with patients.
Michael Specter in a recent The New Yorker exposé on Dr. Oz, quotes Oz as stating, "Ultimately, if we want to fix American medicine we will need skeptical and smart patients to dominate. They will need to ask the hard questions, because much of medicine is just plain old logic. So I am out there trying to persuade people to be those patients. And that often means telling them what the establishment doesn't want them to hear: that their answers are not the only answers, and their medicine is not the only medicine."
Oz is bringing a much broader perspective on health to his viewers.
Yet, Dr. Oz and just about every practitioner trying to change perceptions have critics. Specter writes, "Much of the advice Oz offers is sensible, and is rooted solidly in scientific literature. …Oz is an experienced surgeon, yet almost daily he employs words that serious scientists shun, like 'startling,' 'breakthrough,' 'radical,' 'revolutionary,' and 'miracle.'"
Oz tried to explain, "Medicine is a very religious experience. I have my religion and you have yours. It becomes difficult for us to agree on what we think works, since so much of it is in the eye of the beholder. Data is rarely clean. …You find the arguments that support your data, and it's my fact versus your fact."
Some critics say that those who suggest alternatives to traditional medicine are detached from reality. But, perhaps, those suggesting alternatives are gaining a connection to what is mostly unknown, therefore, unconsidered.
My day in a dental office might offer an insight into how a nontraditional method can have an effect.
My wife is a dental hygienist. Several years ago, she asked if I could do her and her employer, Dr. Steve, a favor. She explained that their receptionist, Annette, was sick and they needed someone to man the front desk the next day.
At first, I thought she was kidding. But, she wasn't. They couldn't find anyone else. I was their last resort.
I didn't know how it was going to work, but I was willing to try. So, I agreed to help, but told them I'd need to be able to answer my own practice calls too.
Besides being a syndicated columnist, I am a Christian Science practitioner. I help people with mental and physical problems with prayerful, spiritual treatments. Most of my patients ask for treatment by phone and email.
Joanne assured me I'd run the front desk and be able to use back office for speaking to my patients.
My job at the dental office was to have scheduled patients sign in, answer the phone and get the name and number of patients waiting to schedule an appointment, and gather information on emergency patients that called or walked in. I didn't have to answer any questions.
I arrived for work at 8 AM. I sat dutifully at the front desk. Scheduled patients arrived and waited for their appointments. Joanne or the assistant ushered patients to operatories to be treated. The patients received care and then left.
I took my calls and prayerfully treated my patients. But a funny thing happened. Or, I should say, didn't happen. Dr. Steve's office phones never rang. No new patients called. There were no emergency calls. Nobody called to schedule an appointment. Nothing. This had never happened before.
I'd discussed the mental and spiritual nature of healing physical troubles with Dr. Steve many times. He was always respectful of my work and I of his. Both of us wanted to alleviate and prevent the suffering of patients. Our approaches were just different.
Dr. Steve treated each problem as a physical one needing material adjustments. I approached each problem as having a mental/moral cause and a spiritual solution.
In my mental treatment, I attempted to see the present spiritual strength and health inherent in each patient. I connected them with the divine. This allowed what was spiritually true of them to remove what was offensive. I'd learned that seeing people in this Christly way made them feel physically better.
My spiritual approach was good for my healing practice, but, apparently, not so good for business at the dental office. Did my expectation of health keep prospective patients from needing the doctor's care?
Dr. Steve recognized the effect on his balance sheet at the end of the day. He looked at me and, with a twinkle in his eye, asked, "Could you go stand in Annette's front yard?"
The evidence or data was clear. No new appointments and no income from emergencies that normally walk in the door.
This type of data may never be peer reviewed by "serious scientists." It will be considered anecdotal. Funny, the "anecdotes "have a way of consistently appearing. Some experiences and cures through what are called alternative methods may even be deemed "startling," "radical," "revolutionary," a "miracle." Though, I believe they are quite natural, even scientific.
Perhaps, both Dr. Oz and Dr. Steve realize there is more to medicine than, well, medicine.
– Keith Wommack is a Syndicated Columnist, Christian Science practitioner and teacher, husband, and step-dad. He has been described as a spiritual spur (since every horse needs a little nudge now and then). Keith's columns originate at: KeithWommack.com
If you're a wise consumer, you shop around to find what you need. Today, there's a product for every taste and helpful advice for just about every inquiry.
For example: If you don't want to be noticed, Japanese professors have created glasses they say will prevent you from being identified by facial recognition software.
Questions about car buying? Even Oprah has a few answers for you on her website.
But then there's health.
When it comes to health care, being an intelligent consumer requires even greater diligent examination.
Since February is National Wise Health Consumer Month, you may have noticed various published tips to guide you.
Most of these recommendations focus entirely on the utilization of conventional medicine. But, if you have ever been curious about spiritual options for healing and health, below are a few word-to-the-wise ideas for those contemplating the use of spiritual/thought-based care.
This being February and National Wise Health Consumer Month, this month and every month, take care of yourself and your family. Be a wise health consumer. Learn how spirituality can be a key to maintaining and improving your health.
– Keith Wommack is a Syndicated Columnist, Christian Science practitioner and teacher, husband, and step-dad. He has been described as a spiritual spur (since every horse needs a little nudge now and then). Keith's columns originate at: KeithWommack.com
Marine Lance Corporal Carlos Lozano drops from a helicopter during a simulated raid, confronts mock Afghan villagers, and is rocked by loud explosions. Then, obeying orders, he sits silently and stares at his boots.
The Marine isn't happy about stopping to meditate. But it just might be for his and the entire Marine Corps' good.
The Associated Press spoke with Lozano about his training exercise:
"Lozano said he and fellow Marines were skeptical at first. Some wondered why their rigorous combat training was being interrupted by a class asking the warfighters to sit in silence and stare at their combat boots, becoming aware of how their feet touched the classroom floor."
Jeffery Bearor, the executive deputy of the Marine Corps training and education command in Quantico, Virginia, told the AP, "This is not tied to any religious practice. This is about mental preparation to better handle stress."
Marines are taught to quiet the mind in order to reach an inner calm.
Many are finding the mind to be the door to improved mental and physical health. Those utilizing mindfulness, meditation, or prayer-moments, to control and calm thought, claim these methods reduce stress and increase productivity.
4 years ago, Time reported that the Army intended to train its "1.1 million soldiers in the art of mental toughness." The Defense Department hoped that "giving soldiers tools to fend off mental stress would toughen its troops at war and at home."
Years ago, I had the opportunity to unofficially introduce prayerful reasoning to a member of a very selective federal law enforcement agency.
In 2001, I was flying in a prop-plane from Dallas to Waco, Texas. I asked the man sitting next to me about his business, and he mumbled his answer. I thought, perhaps, the noise of the propellers made it difficult to hear. "What?" I asked again. He repeated softly, "Secret Service."
Turns out this man guarded the President of the United States. President George W. Bush was about to travel to Italy to attend the 27th G8 summit, to meet with Pope John Paul II, and to meet with President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi. A majority of the passengers onboard the plane were also agents on their way to Bush's ranch near Waco.
I asked the agent if he knew that people prayed daily for the safety of the President and for those guarding him. He told me, "I can feel their prayers and they are greatly appreciated."
I asked him, "What is the biggest challenge of your job?" He told me, "Fear. Fear would paralyze me and keep me from making immediate and correct decisions."
I didn't think it was a good idea to pry too much, but I did share with him what has helped me. "I give talks on the connection between health, thought, and spirituality," I said. "Even when I'm confident about talking in front of an audience, fear will start to sneak in. But if I quickly recognize that the fear is not really mine -- it has nothing to do with me -- then it actually lessens or even disappears and things go better."
The agent was still with me although not saying much, so I continued.
"Now, of course, standing in front of an audience is quite different from keeping the President from harm. But, there is a principle governing both of our thoughts and actions. And, I'm learning that this wise and operative principle is the Supreme Being."
He turned to face me, listening openly to what I was sharing. I explained that this principle constantly maintained his wellbeing and intelligently ordered his daily movements. Just as the principle of mathematics keeps the rules and outcomes always consistent, this divine Principle was ever at work governing his life, enabling him to protect the President.
To remind him that he wasn't working alone, I suggested that before each activity, he prayerfully cherish the divine guidance he inherently possesses. Finally, I told him I was confident that his intelligent decisions and quick, fearless responses while guarding the President were, and would be, evidence of this spiritual Principle at work.
When the plane landed, all the agents exited first, walked down the ramp to the tarmac, and started getting into limousines. When I reached the bottom of the stairs, the agent I had spoken with left the others, walked up to me, stuck out his hand, and shook mine with a strong clasp. Looking me in the eye, he said in a heartfelt tone, "Thank you very much."
Today, the mental and physical toll that stress causes is immense, and fear is a major stress factor. However, meditation and prayer, humbling our mind to the divine, may be solutions that can help the military, security agents, and the rest of us.
– Keith Wommack is a Syndicated Columnist, Christian Science practitioner and teacher, husband, and step-dad. He has been described as a spiritual spur (since every horse needs a little nudge now and then). Keith's columns originate at: KeithWommack.com
They can't ignore it. It's there. Doctors, patients, and pharmaceutical companies can't escape it. You can't either. What is it?
The placebo effect.
The placebo effect is the health response patients experience when they believe they're receiving a drug or surgery but are actually being given dummy drugs or simulated treatments.
Dr. Lissa Rankin writes, "The placebo effect is real, it works about 18-80% of the time, and it's not just in your head – it actually dilates bronchi, heals ulcers, makes warts disappear, drops your blood pressure, and even makes bald men who think they're getting Rogaine grow hair!"
Yet, there's more.
Since there are two sides to every pancake, let's also look at the nocebo effect:
Rankin states, "The same mind-body power that can heal you can also harm you. …If you tell a patient treated with a placebo he might experience nausea, he's likely to feel nauseous. If you suggest that he might get a headache, he may. Patients given nothing but saline who thought it was chemotherapy actually threw up and lost their hair!"
How does this happen?
A recent editorial for Global Advances in the Health and Medicine by William Scott included a conversation with Dr. Alex Cahane, an internationally recognized anesthesiologist and pain specialist who leads the Division of Pain Medicine at the University of Washington.
Scott quotes Cahane as saying, "The biomedical model is unlikely to adequately provide an answer to the placebo question: How is it that the patient's belief affects the body? It remains one of the 'elephants in the room' that exists in all fields of medicine."
A pioneer in the mind/health connection in the late 1800s, Mary Baker Eddy, confronted this very question. She experimented with differing healing methods, including homeopathy and the use of placebos.
During her research, Eddy discovered that as medications were diluted by attenuation, patients' improvements increased. She eventually came to the startling conclusion that drugs and surgeries had no intrinsic abilities to heal on their own. The human mind empowered them both.
And, simply stated, a patient's beliefs, along with others' thoughts, affected his or her body because life was ultimately mind or consciousness-based.
This revelation led to more questions. Such as:
If expecting health leads you to good health and expecting illness turns you away from good health, is there a rudder that can keep expectations on a straight course, pointed "due" health?
Attempting to answer this question, Eddy's research went further. The human mind could do marvelous things. However, she learned it was also the cause of most pain and disease.
She eventually concluded, through trial and error, that the needed rudder was the spirit or mind of God (Christ). Her experiments with healing showed her that both the human mind and body are, in the long run, subordinate to the divine.
Since, Eddy's early research, the acknowledgement of a place for spirituality in health care has been expanding. In 2001, a survey showed that "of the curricula in the 144 medical/osteopathic schools in the United States," 101 were found to have "courses, classes, and topics (required and elective) in spirituality and health."
Today, people across the globe are learning about, teaching, and utilizing spiritual methods for healing.
For example:
A doctor's diagnosis of an internal kidney deformity closed the door on a friend of mine ever having children. It was explained to Kaye that it would be a threat to her life if she tried to carry a child for nine months.
However, Kaye's husband, Jim, had a calm way of handling the news. Throughout his life, he had experienced the benefits of relying on the divine for healing.
Motivated by his confidence, Kaye began to read the Scriptures and pray daily. Significant changes took place in her thought. She felt freer of the belief that she was bound by the original diagnosis.
Then during their second year of marriage, Kaye became pregnant. A gynecologist confirmed the sense of freedom she had been feeling. He found no evidence of the deformities previously diagnosed.
Kaye now has two healthy, grown boys. She is quite convinced that spirituality changed her thought, body, and life for the better.
The placebo and nocebo questions (elephants) are still in the room. They can't be ignored. However, many health care professionals are becoming aware that a thought-rudder can steer patients away from harmful beliefs and in a healthier direction.
– Keith Wommack is a Syndicated Columnist, Christian Science practitioner and teacher, husband, and step-dad. He has been described as a spiritual spur (since every horse needs a little nudge now and then). Keith's columns originate at: KeithWommack.com
Stephen looked puzzled. What he saw didn't make sense. Our neighbors' ten-year-old son was peering at us through the glass of our backyard French door.
Slowly, he opened the door, stepped in, and continued to stare. Finally, he asked, "What are ya'll doing?"
It wasn't as though he couldn't tell we were eating dinner. He'd walked in while we were at the table many times. And, usually, we'd grab another plate and fork and Stephen would take his place next to our own ten and eight year-old sons, Jarrod and Jordan.
However, this time it was different. What confused Stephen were the flickering candles. Still befuddled, he asked, "Somebody's birthday?"
Joanne, already setting a place at the table for Stephen, said, "No, sometimes it's fun to make a normal meal special by having candlelight."
Sadly, Stephen and many other children, for one reason or another, grow-up without the opportunity to receive the rich benefits of consistent family mealtimes. For Joanne and I, these precious evenings were often when we learned what our kids were doing, who they were "hanging out" with, and what really mattered to them.
These undistracted mealtime-moments let them know that we cared about everything in their lives. Since they are now in their twenties, they have a better understanding of why we always ate together.
There are multiple benefits to family mealtimes:
Why are family mealtimes so beneficial?
It could be that some children behave better when they believe they are constantly supervised.
Author, Polly Campbell, suggests another possible reason: "Mealtimes are an ideal place to practice mindfulness, [the] art of paying attention. Mindfulness is about noticing, experiencing, seeing what is all around you. …When we are mindful we connect to our inner self, the spiritual center, the place where love and appreciation and compassion and gratitude bubble up. Mindfulness …often leads to the bigger thing."
Joanne and I have seen how connecting with the sacred helps in making mealtimes nutritional on all levels. We've learned that the spiritual, what we understand to be "the bigger thing," enables us to take care of all the little things, -- our family's and other's needs.
Perhaps, we can give others attention, appreciation, and affection because we are spiritual beings animated by the divine. Could we be part of the divine's strategy for nourishing another's mind, body, and spiritual sense?
As our meal surprised Stephen, your meals can surprise your family and friends. Let them eat by candlelight. Shower them with attention, appreciation, and affection. If you do, they will have the opportunity to experience the benefits of a shared meal.
No matter how small or large your family is, a daily effort should be made to bring its members together.
Undistracted mealtime-moments will let your family and friends know that you care; that you care about everything in their lives.
– Keith Wommack is a Syndicated Columnist, Christian Science practitioner and teacher, husband, and step-dad. He has been described as a spiritual spur (since every horse needs a little nudge now and then). Keith's columns originate at: KeithWommack.com
Last Thursday, children from the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, began attending classes at a repurposed school in the neighboring town of Monroe.
Heart-wrenching tragedies stir our desire to aid in the healing process and to prevent further harmful acts from taking place.
As the gun control debate continues, another factor is being discussed as a possible connection between this latest and other recent violent acts. This link is mental illness.
After a disturbing event, the warning signs of a troubled gunman are often recognized. But even though a certain number of the mentally ill do commit crimes, studies suggest that the mentally ill are not generally predisposed to perpetrating violent acts. More often than not, they are victims of violence, not the ones usually responsible for criminal acts.
Although the number of crimes committed by the mentally ill may be lower than the rest of the population, every violent episode should be stopped, if at all possible. And high on the list of steps to be taken to improve the mental health that can keep our families safer should be the education of everyone about elementary principles, standards as simple as caring for others.
This is why, one theme at the September 2011 Wave III Baylor Religion Survey news briefing I attended in Durham, North Carolina, grabbed my attention. And why the loss of life in Newtown, Connecticut, motivated me to reexamine it: Mental health can be improved through greater spiritual awareness.
Before the briefing, I had an opportunity to talk with Dr. Paul Froese, associate professor of sociology at Baylor University. Froese was part of the research team that studied the connection between mental health and spirituality. He was also one of the participants who shared the survey's findings.
Froese explained that respondents in the study on mental health, who have strong beliefs about their relationship with God, "have significantly better mental health." He said the survey discovered, as well, that those who attend religious services regularly have the lowest reported number of mental health issues.
This study mirrored what I have been witnessing in my healing practice for the past 29 years, and why I strongly feel it is imperative that spiritual reasoning, prayer, and religious attendance be recognized for the healing impacts they have on our and our children's wellbeing.
Spiritual awareness and practices cultivate a concern for others and the greater good. They encourage outward thinking and selfless acts. Because of this, they facilitate improvement in mental health. They are the reverse of the disturbing and destructive inward, materialistic, self-centered state of thought that lends itself to acting in ways that are foreign to mankind's natural inclinations.
Many individuals suffer needlessly from obsessive-compulsive disorders, social anxiety, stress, and panic attacks. According to a study, more American adults are reporting being disabled by the symptoms of anxiety, depression, or emotional difficulties.
The report, published September 2011 in the American Journal of Public Health, found that people who said they could not accomplish daily tasks or engage in social and leisure activities because of a mental illness jumped from 2 percent in 1999 to 2.7 percent in 2009. The increase amounts to almost 2 million more people disabled by mental challenges in the past decade.
It has long been believed that the brain is the cause of consciousness, and as such is what rules mental health. Yet, physicians and researchers are beginning to join those in the spiritual healing practices in accepting that things are not always what they appear to be.
During a meeting about spirituality's role in mental health, Dr. Thomas Curry, a licensed psychotherapist in Texas, told me that research is now showing that the brain changes according to one's thought.
Curry explained, "This phenomena is called neuroplasticity. What makes this interesting is that if the brain directs consciousness, one would think that as the brain changes, consciousness changes. Yet, we know for a fact that consciousness can change first, and then the brain follows suit by re-connecting, or circumventing certain neural pathways. This implies that the brain is an object of thought, and not the thinker."
This certainly coincides with what I am learning.
I find that prayer impacts wellbeing because, as radical as it sounds, thought is the engine that essentially forms and drives the brain, as well as the entire body. This is why a significant change of thought leads to adjustments and changes in mental and physical health. And prayer, with the power of God behind it, changes thought as nothing else can.
The suffering of so many is disheartening. Yet, there are those who have found that a divine awareness has replaced fear and panic with a deep-rooted peace. It causes increased caring for others and a healthier outward look on life. Isn't this what we want expressed by our children and those who are near them?
Alertness to signs that may indicate the planning of an unthinkable act is wise. However, an intelligent answer to violent acts will not include the pigeonholing of another as the next maniacal assassin just because they appear aloof or different. If paranoia drives us to accuse the innocent and commit unjust violations of personal freedom, perhaps we are expressing a little mental imbalance ourselves.
Most importantly, the mentally ill need our help, not our suspicions. They need attention, treatment, and guidance. They need something that will effectively help and heal them.
To improve our families' safety, we must improve mental health by learning to control and stop self-destructive materialistic thinking. Apparently, spiritual awareness and practices can help.
– Keith Wommack is a Syndicated Columnist, Christian Science practitioner and teacher, husband, and step-dad. He has been described as a spiritual spur (since every horse needs a little nudge now and then). Keith's columns originate at: KeithWommack.com


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In 1976, M&M candies discontinued their "Red M" amidst concerns over the potentially fatal risk of red food coloring that contained amaranth (in FD&C Red #2), suspected as being cancer-causing. Though M&M did not use this dye in the product pulled from store shelves, fears about red-dyed foods were so heightened, the red-colored candy did not return for more than a decade.
Read More:Banned in Europe, Food Coloring Linked to Behavior Problems© 2010 OrganicAuthority, LLC

subset: commoncrawl


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County Truck Loses Axle, Stalls Traffic
Rear axle of Department of Public Works vehicle loses hydraulic fluid at intersection of Grove and West Bradford avenues Thursday afternoon, ties up traffic on major thoroughfare.
The axle on an Essex County Public Works truck broke off at the intersection of Grove and West Bradford avenues in Cedar Grove Thursday afternoon, causing traffic delays in the area.
Cedar Grove Police Chief Richard Vanderstreet said no injuries were reported and no other cars were involved when the truck's rear axle broke off the vehicle at around 12:35 p.m.
The truck began leaking hydraulic fluid onto the roadway and the Cedar Grove Fire Department was called to put down Speedy Dry, an absorbent used for removing chemical spills, Vanderstreet said.
"They were able to get it under control very quickly," he said, adding the fire department was successful in keeping it out of the storm drains as well.
The damaged eight-year-old truck was towed from the scene.
Grove Avenue was shutdown from Bloomfield Avenue while police directed traffic and set up orange detour cones around the scene.
Vanderstreet said the hydraulic fluid spill was cleaned up around 2 p.m. and the roadways were back open by 2:30 p.m.
robert tomaiko
11:39 am on Friday, October 12, 2012
i heard it was the drivers quick thinking that kept the oil from geting into the storm drain


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SBLC: Review of Playing Possum by Charlaine Harris (for An Apple for the Creature)
Saturday, September 8th, 2012Playing Possum
Short Story by: Charlaine Harris – Part of An Apple for Creature Anthology
Published on: September 4, 2012
Published by: Ace Hardcover
Reviewed by: Maria G.
Publisher's Blurb: What could be scarier than the first day of school? How about a crash course in the paranormal from Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner, editors of Home Improvement: Undead Edition? Your worst school nightmares—taking that math test you never studied for, finding yourself naked in school assembly, not knowing which door to enter—will pale in comparison to these thirteen original stories that take academic anxiety to whole new realms.
In #1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris's story, "Playing Possum," Sookie Stackhouse brings enough birthday cupcakes for her nephew's entire class but finds she's one short when the angry ex-boyfriend of the school secretary shows up.
My Review:
As this site started off as a site dedicated to Sookie Stackhouse, I will be reviewing Playing Possum, but I will mention two more tales from the anthology later on in this review.
If you are only interested in seeing who Sookie beds or who she chooses, this is not the short story for you. But, if you are interested in seeing Sookie continue her path to becoming a resilient and self-reliant heroine, than this is the story for you. I have to admit that watching Sookie make choices that make her life more and more down to earth, such as having a stake in Merlotte's and trying to have those ordinary relationships like the one she has with her "nephew" make her more and more interesting to me. It's in these ordinary moments that you see Sookie as she has always wanted to be… normal.
As the blurb explains, we see Sookie do what every Aunt has done for her nephew or niece and that is bake some cupcakes for a school party. She does this happily, even though she suspects this is a test of sorts and all seems to go well as she follows through with her nephew's wish. Yet, as it always happens with Sookie, the simplest of tasks can become a harrowing experience.
Taking a page from the headlines…
With the help of a local witch named Sabrina Yarnell and Officer Sherry Javitts, Sookie attempts to do the unthinkable. She tries to take down a disgruntled ex-love of the school secretary who is hell bent on not only killing the secretary, but taking down the entire school with his uncontrollable rage. At stake are the innocent lives of hundreds of kindergarteners and the school staff.
What I loved in this story was the interaction between Sookie and Hunter. Yes, they are related and they are both telepaths, but the moments described in this story solidify their relationship and it may be the most stable relationship that Sookie has ever had. When she catches him in an embrace and he is so happy that she has appeared with the cupcakes in tow, that moment is one of the top 10 moments in the series for me.
Knowing that there is only one book left in the series and between the last book and this short story, all I can do is feel sad that in a matter of months we will have to read Sookie ride off into the sunset.
With that stated, should you buy this anthology?
Well, I know that everyone likes specific authors. So, if you like any of the other authors in the anthology, such as Ilona Andrews, Marjorie Liu, Toni L.P. Kelner, etc… than this book is the book for you.
I actually really liked Ilona's tale (Magic Tests) that revolved around Julie from the Kate Daniels series. Julie, along with Brook (straight A student), Barka (class clown) and telekinetic Lisa, contend with a Yu Fong, whom everyone believes is in the mafia. Julie and Yu's relationship is quite interesting and you can see that he will be someone she will have to deal with from this point on.
I have to admit that this tale screams that Julie deserves her own spin-off and let's cross our fingers that Ilona makes this happen.
One of the stronger tales in the anthology was Sympathy for the Bones by Marjorie Liu, in it we find a girl who is torn between her loyalty to her mentor in magic and the fact that being able to use magic is like a double-edged sword and what is at stake is her soul.
All in all, I think picking this anthology up is a wise idea. It is something perfect for those of you who love paranormal/sci-fi tales, but have the attention span of a gnat.
I give this anthology 4.5 out of stars.


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Peru Tours
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Day 1: Cusco City and Surrounding Ruins Met on arrival and transfer to your hotel. Af
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The INTI RAYMI is the "Festival of the Sun" celebrated in the winter solstice of Andes, in
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Day 1: Cusco - Andenes We leave Cusco at 04.00 am in a private transport and start a scen
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Who gets to Cuzco cannot stop visiting Machu Picchu: a spectacle for the senses, an Inca
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League Keeps Fighting to Restore Clean Water Protections
May 15, 2013 Posted by Dawn Merritt Login and commentBy Scott Kovarovics.
The League continues the fight to restore Clean Water Act protections to streams, wetlands, and other important waters nationwide. This morning, I pressed the issue with more than a dozen U.S. Senators who met with sportsmen group leaders to discuss our priorities across conservation, outdoor recreation, public land management, and other issues.
Our groups reinforced that hunting, angling, recreational shooting, and wildlife watching aren't simply discretionary pastimes. These activities inject hundreds of billions of dollars into the U.S. economy and support millions of jobs. I underscored the fact that these drivers of economic success – including duck hunting, boating, and fishing – depend on clean water and healthy wetlands.
And Clean Water Act protections for these resources are increasingly at risk. Last month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported that 55 percent of streams and rivers across America are in poor condition. The most recent wetlands assessment from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service found the rate of wetland losses jumped 140 percent between 2004 and 2009. A perfect storm of high commodity prices, counter-productive federal farm policy, and weakened Clean Water Act protections is putting wetlands at greater risk than at any time in recent memory.
In today's meeting, I highlighted solutions to this problem: Clean water guidance from the Army Corps of Engineers and EPA followed by a formal rulemaking by both agencies. Although groups on both sides of this issue don't agree about much, there is widespread agreement that agency rulemaking – a rigorous public process in which science and facts inform policy – is an appropriate path toward a solution. Rulemaking won't restore all that's been lost, but a good, science-based process would move us in the right direction.
This fight hasn't been easy and it's far from over. But the League isn't throwing in the towel – we're keeping the issue in front of our country's leaders and urging them to focus on solutions.
– Scott Kovarovics is Executive Director of the Izaak Walton League of America
You can read more about threats to America's water resources on our Protecting Clean Water page.
The Value of Chaos in Environmental Education
May 6, 2013 Posted by Dawn Merritt Login and commentBy Leah Miller, IWLA Clean Water Program Director. Have you ever planned with great care an environmental education activity for youth, only to have the lesson devolve into chaos? If so, you're not alone. Our first reaction to the chaos of children joking around or playing in a way that doesn't seem related to the lesson may be disappointment, defeat, or even the desire to wallow in our "failure." However, children learn through play and often absorb our lessons best when they are having the kind of chaotic fun that can push the buttons of even the most seasoned environmental educator. One of my first experiences with environmental education was as a guest teacher at a summer camp for middle-school students from Washington, DC. The topic of the day was wetland conservation, and I was one of several instructors leading outdoor activities such as a scavenger hunt through a saltwater marsh and identification of marsh critters. I led a running game based on Project ...continue reading -
EPA Stream Survey Shows Poor Results – and the Need for More Monitoring
Mar 27, 2013 Posted by Dawn Merritt Login and commentOn March 26th, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the results of its first nationwide survey of stream and river health. The conclusion: 55 percent of streams are in "poor" condition – meaning they have trouble supporting biological life – and phosphorus, nitrogen, and sediment are causing widespread water problems. Although this new survey adds to the information we have about water quality, it does not come close to fully cataloging our nation's water woes. More than 3.5 million miles of rivers and streams flow through the United States. EPA sampled fewer than 2,000 sites. Where's the data on the rest of our waters? Every state is required by law to report on the health of its streams to Congress every two years. However, due to limited resources, states are monitoring less than 20 percent of streams nationwide, and tests are often conducted only once every five years. Americans have a right to know whether it's safe for children ...continue reading -
League Presses White House To Issue Clean Water Protections (1/14/13)
I met Friday afternoon with senior staff from the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and pressed the administration – yet again – to issue policy that begins restoring Clean Water Act protections for small streams and wetlands across the country. For more than two years, the League has been building and maintaining support for this policy – for science-based, balanced, common-sense policy that will help put the Clean Water Act back together again. Hunting, angling, conservation, and environmental groups have been working together on this issue because habitat for fish and wildlife, high-quality hunting and fishing, and drinking water for 117 million Americans are at risk. I wish I could report that CEQ staff said "the policy will be issued next week." I really didn't expect to hear that, but hope springs eternal. Staff listened while I joined others in doing most of the talking. But they heard us – they known how important this is to Americans ...continue reading -
Missouri River Restrictions Concern Mississippi River States
Dec 4, 2012 Posted by Dawn Merritt Login and commentAfter this year's drought crippled much of the Midwest, priority use of the water in the Missouri River has turned into a hotly contested issue. By Paul Lepisto, Regional Conservation Coordinator, IWLA Missouri River Initiative The Missouri River basin spans 10 states – from Montana to Missouri – and encompasses one-sixth of the country. More than 12 million people live, work, and recreate in this area, and many of them depend on the river for drinking water, crop irrigation, recreation, and other uses. The river also provides critical habitat for fish and wildlife. However, demands for hydropower, flood control, and navigation have led to major alterations to the river. Today, one-third of the river has been channelized and another one-third impounded behind giant reservoirs. The Corps of Engineers is responsible for flood protection, hydropower, navigation, recreational opportunities, and water supply in the Missouri River basin. On November 23, the ...continue reading -
The Clean Water Act at 40
By Scott Kovarovics, Acting Executive Director, Izaak Walton League In a year of anniversaries (like the Izaak Walton League's 90th), today we mark another very important milestone. Forty years ago, spurred on by burning rivers, dead lakes, and fouled streams – and decades of piecemeal state efforts to deal with water pollution – Congress approved the Clean Water Act. They did it with overwhelming bi-partisan support and enough votes to override a presidential veto. The seeds of this landmark legislation were planted by League in the 1930s. As we look back today, we can celebrate the progress we've made in improving our nation's waters. Industrial pollution that flowed directly into our streams and rivers has been cut dramatically by national standards and a permit system. Millions of Americans fish, swim, and recreate in waters that were a major public health threat 40 years ago. And the Clean Water Act has played a crucial role in slowing wetland drainage, ...continue reading -
Ikes Explore Exelon Plant and Fish Repopulation Work
Oct 1, 2012 Posted by Dawn Merritt Login and commentBy Olivia Dorothy, IWLA Regional Conservation Coordinator, Upper Mississippi River Exelon, a generous supporter of the Izaak Walton League's conservation work, invited a group of Ikes to visit the Quad Cities nuclear power plant September 25th. League members from Illinois and Iowa gathered at the Exelon plant in Colona, Illiniois, where we met Bill Stoermer, Exelon Generation Communications Manager and our very knowledgeable guide, and Jeremiah Haas, lead biologist at the Exelon fish hatchery. Bill led us through security check points that put airport security to shame. Once inside the plant, we visited the reactor, which is really just a big wall that contains the fission process. From the heat of the reaction, water boils to create steam that turns turbines to generate power. The turbines were totally encased, but we could hear the rumbling – even through our earplugs. At the top of the reactor, we were allowed to peer into big pools of water that contained spent fuel ...continue reading -
Hunter, Angler Numbers Up Nationwide
Aug 15, 2012 Posted by Dawn Merritt Login and commentBy Scott Kovarovics, Acting Executive Director, IWLA We have some very good nationwide news about hunting and angling. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reported today that the number of hunters grew 9 percent between 2006 and 2011 and the number of anglers jumped 11 percent over the same five-year period. The increase in hunter numbers is especially encouraging because there had been a persistent downward trend in participation over many years. This isn't only good news for our sports and conservation, it's good news for our economy as well. The Fish and Wildlife Service found that Americans who hunt, fish, and watch wildlife injected $145 billion into our economy in 2011. This spending benefits companies large and small and communities across the nation. And the growth in hunting and fishing only reinforces how important it is to conserve the land, water, and other natural resources that support abundant wildlife and high ...continue reading -
House and Senate Mount Unprecedented Attacks on Clean Water Policy (8/3/12)
Aug 3, 2012 Posted by Dawn Merritt Login and commentBy Scott Kovarovics, IWLA Conservation Director Throughout June and July, members of Congress in both chambers proposed and voted on bills and amendments that would derail efforts to restore Clean Water Act protections for streams, wetlands, and other waters. Amendments blocking Corps of Engineers and EPA Clean Water Act guidance were added in the House to the annual budget bills for both agencies, while other members of Congress tried to add similar prohibitions to the 2012 Farm Bill. A House committee approved a separate bill in June to permanently block Clean Water Act guidance or any future rulemaking designed to better protect our streams, wetlands, and drinking water. Then, this week, that same House committee approved another bill that would make it easier to drain or fill a wetland or alter a stream without a permit from the Corps of Engineers. Since 1977, the Clean Water Act exempted a wide range of common agricultural, forestry, construction, and energy ...continue reading -
Congress Votes to RESTORE the Gulf Coast (6/28/12)
By Scott Kovarovics, IWLA Conservation Director Great news for America's anglers and waterfowl hunters as well as the residents of our Gulf Coast! The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives reached an agreement today on a transportation bill that includes the RESTORE Act. The RESTORE Act dedicates 80 percent of Clean Water Act fines from BP and other parties responsible for the 2010 Gulf oil disaster to restoring the Gulf Coast environment and economy. It's something the Izaak Walton League has been fighting for since the disaster happened. Without Congressional action, the fines for the oil spill would be deposited into the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund (to be used for future cleanups) and the federal Treasury rather than directed toward restoration efforts that are urgently needed now – and the Gulf Coast would continue to deteriorate. More than 10 million migratory waterfowl winter or stopover on the Mississippi River Delta – that's roughly 70 percent of ...continue reading -
League Scores a Win with Senate Farm Bill (6/21/12)
Jun 21, 2012 Posted by Dawn Merritt Login and commentBy Scott Kovarovics, IWLA Conservation Director It's been a busy and somewhat chaotic week on Capitol Hill as the U.S. Senate debated and passed a 2012 Farm Bill. The League has been working for more than a year to lay the groundwork a new Farm Bill that invests in conservation and ensures taxpayers receive some basic conservation benefits for the support they provide farmers. It's great to report we achieved a major victory with today's Farm Bill vote. The full Senate voted to restore the connection between conservation compliance and crop insurance premium subsidies – a simple move that will in fact help conserve fish and wildlife, protect drinking water supplies, and provide flood protection across the country. As the week began, it was unclear whether the Senate would actually debate the Farm Bill. Amendments, many having nothing at all to do with agriculture (including one amendment attempting to slash Clean Water Act protections for streams and wetlands), ...continue reading -
Paddling the Upper Mississippi and Giant Geese
Jun 13, 2012 Posted by Dawn Merritt Login and commentBy Olivia Dorothy, IWLA Upper Mississippi River Coordinator Last week, I had the pleasure of visiting with Izaak Walton League members from the Quad Cities area and the League's Executive Director, David Hoskins. On Wednesday, we toured the Giant Goose Conservation Education Workshop near Atkinson, Illinois, which is owned by the Illinois Division of the Izaak Walton League and operated by three local chapters: Kewanee, Blackhawk, and Geneseo. Giant Goose has a lot to offer kids and Ike. The site, a reclaimed strip mine, offers RV camping, fishing, and hiking. The trails are beautiful and well maintained, providing hikers with several miles of forest, marshes, and prairie to visit. School groups that visit also get a geology lesson about the history of the site, which is rich in fossils trapped in iron concretions (round, compact masses) that are exposed throughout the conservation area. But what I found most intriguing was the name, Giant Goose. It made me laugh when I ...continue reading -
The Future of the Illinois River
Apr 16, 2012 Posted by Dawn Merritt Login and comment"Whiskey is for drinking, water is worth fighting over." This quote, from an unknown author, speaks the truth of efforts underway to restore the Illinois River, the floodplains, and the backwaters. By Olivia Dorothy, IWLA Upper Mississippi River Coordinator Since the glaciers retreated 9,000 years ago, people have called this river home. Native people relied on the river's seasonal pulses to provide an abundance of resources: fish, birds, water, animals, stone, wood, and the means to travel from Illinois to Canada, from the Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of Mexico, via the vast network of Mississippi River tributaries. European explorers first arrived in the valley in the 1500s, and then the French explored the Illinois and Mississippi River extensively in the 1600s. They mapped the region, using the river as a highway, and established trading posts along the Great Rivers with the Native Americans. The explorers gained notoriety and wealth from the rivers' rich ...continue reading -
Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Clean Water Act
Mar 20, 2012 Posted by Dawn Merritt Login and comment2012 is filled with major milestones in conservation. In addition to the League's 90th anniversary, this year marks the 40th anniversary of passage of the Clean Water Act. By Scott Kovarovics, IWLA Conservation Director Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is kicking off a campaign to celebrate how far the nation has come in tackling water pollution and look ahead to the challenges that remain. Forty years ago, the country was plagued with burning rivers, dead lakes, and industrial pollution that choked waterways large and small. Americans demanded action, and Congress responded with the Clean Water Act. Water quality has improved significantly since then. We've made major strides in reducing point source pollution – pollution that comes from a pipe or specific industrial source. Many rivers, lakes, and other waters that were devoid of fish and wildlife or too fouled for boating now support world-class outdoor recreation. And the devastating pace ...continue reading -
Bringing Down Roadblocks to Clean Water Protection
By Scott Kovarovics, IWLA Conservation Director As the year comes to a close, we have another reason to celebrate. Through a concerted effort by sportsmen and environmental groups – including League members and leaders – we brought down Congressional roadblocks to restoring Clean Water Act protections. Over the course of the year, members of Congress introduced various "riders" that would have blocked the Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers from taking any steps to clarify and restore Clean Water Act protections for streams, wetlands, and other waters. But when the House and Senate voted late last week on a final budget package for 2012, that package did NOT include these riders. This is a significant victory in and of itself and absolutely essential to moving forward next year. The League has been a leader on this issue in the sportsmen community since the first damaging Supreme Court decision in 2001. We built on that leadership over ...continue reading -
Favorable Review of Renewable Energy Standards
Are renewable energy standards increasing the cost of electricity? Recent reports in Minnesota offer a positive message for the rest of the country. By Izaak Walton League Energy Program Director Nancy Lange and Energy Associate Drew Bennett Twenty-four states have passed renewable energy standards (RES) that require a certain percent of a state's electricity to be generated by clean energy. From Texas and Montana to California and New York, state legislatures have passed these standards for a wide range of reasons: To develop local economies, reduce energy imports from out-of-state or out-of-country, reduce pollution, and reduce the environmental impact of digging up fossil fuels. These are state-wide benefits that keep money in the state economy and pollution out of citizens' lives. Their value is obvious. But what about costs? Some policymakers are concerned that utility customers' bills will rise to achieve these benefits. Are renewable energy standards ...continue reading -
Stand Up for the Clean Air Act
By Nancy Lange, IWLA Energy Program Director More than two decades and a few careers ago, I was working with the American Lung Association of Minnesota to strengthen the Clean Air Act. This landmark law, passed with bipartisan support in 1970, is the first line of defense to protect Americans from air pollution that damages our health and costs lives. In 1990, we worked closely with Senator Dave Durenberger, a Republican from Minnesota, who had crafted bipartisan legislation to update and modernize air pollution standards. This amendment to the Clean Air Act was passed with support from 89 senators and signed into law by President George H.W. Bush. This spring, Senator Durenberger reflected back on that important victory, calling the Clean Air Act "one of the greatest public-health achievements of American history." The law prevents deaths and illness from heart and respiratory diseases, so much so that while implementing the requirements of the Clean Air Act will ...continue reading -
Will Dilg Chapter highlights need for a grassroots campaign to restore the Upper Mississippi River
By Olivia Dorothy, IWLA Upper Mississippi River Regional Conservation Coordinator After just one week on staff at the Izaak Walton League, I had the pleasure of visiting the League's Will Dilg Chapter in Winona, Minnesota, on Wednesday. We started the day with a trip to the Will Dilg memorial on the banks of the Upper Mississippi. There we met chapter member (and 2011 convention speaker) Barry Drazkowski. Barry showed us his geospatial work on environmental monitoring and took us on a tour of the picturesque Upper Mississippi River Refuge. The Upper Mississippi National Wildlife and Fish Refuge was established in 1924 – largely through the leadership of the Izaak Walton League and its first national president, Will Dilg – and runs 261 miles from Wabasha, Minnesota, to my home in the Quad Cities. At the refuge, Jeff Janvrin (Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources) and Sharonne Baylor (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) spoke with us about the Spring Lake Islands ...continue reading -
State Laws Not a Substitute for the Clean Water Act
Sep 16, 2011 Posted by Dawn Merritt Login and commentNew Report Finds Many Waters at Risk By Scott Kovarovics, IWLA Conservation Director In an August 2011 report (PDF link) that was just publicly released, the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) finds that 25 states do not have laws in place to protect streams, wetlands, and other waters if the federal Clean Water Act does not apply to those waters. This finding, based on extensive review of thousands of specific local examples, demonstrates if the Clean Water Act does not protect critical waters, those waters are by no means guaranteed protection under state law. Opponents of restoring Clean Water Act protections to streams and wetlands frequently argue there's no need to because – they contend – states provide a parallel level of protection. Although this may be the case in a handful of states (the ELI report identifies eight states that provide very comprehensive protection for freshwater wetlands), comparable state-level protections are the ...continue reading -
Conservation in the Budget Bullseye
Sep 8, 2011 Posted by Dawn Merritt Login and commentBy Scott Kovarovics, IWLA Conservation Director Fall signals the start of school and opening day of hunting seasons across the country. It also means crunch time for the federal budget in Washington. And investments that conserve farmland and fish and wildlife habitat and directly benefit hunting, angling, and outdoor recreation are likely to get squeezed. Bob Marshall highlights what's at risk in his column in the September 2011 issue of Field & Stream . In "What We Could Lose," Marshall describes how Congress made deep cuts this spring in essential conservation programs – programs ranging from the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and North American Wetlands Conservation Act to farm conservation and national wildlife refuges. These cuts total hundreds of millions of dollars and, as Marshall points out, affect programs that "directly benefit land, water, and wildlife." What Marshall describes was round one. This summer, Congress – or, more ...continue reading -
EPA Working to Preserve Our Waters
Jun 23, 2011 Posted by Dawn Merritt Login and commentBy Karl Brooks, Regional Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency Over the past decade, interpretations of court rulings have caused confusion about which waters are protected from pollution and development. As a result, many important waters now lack clear protection under the law, and businesses and regulators face uncertainty and delay. On April 27, 2011, proposed guidance by EPA and the Army Corps was released that clarifies where the Clean Water Act applies nationwide. This guidance will help restore protection of critical waters and provide clearer, less burdensome guidelines for determining which water bodies we can keep safe from pollution. EPA believes that protection of Midwest wetlands and streams is more important than ever as we experience more pronounced effects from flooding, climate change, and habitat loss. We are fortunate to have a vast network of wetlands and streams in the Midwest that support the great Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. ...continue reading -
Déjà Vu for Clean Water Act Protections
Jun 3, 2011 Posted by Dawn Merritt Login and commentBy Scott Kovarovics, IWLA Conservation Director Yogi Berra has to be one of the most widely quoted people of all time. If Yogi was working with the Izaak Walton League right now, he'd be saying, "It's déjà vu all over again." That sense of déjà vu comes from congressional efforts to derail restoration of Clean Water Act protections for small streams, wetlands, and other critical waters. Yesterday, a subcommittee in the U.S. House of Representatives approved a budget bill for the Army Corps of Engineers that would bar the Corps from finalizing new clean water guidance or revising its clean water regulations. This past February, the House of Representatives approved a budget bill with similar restrictions. However, strong opposition from the Izaak Walton League as well as other national hunting and angling groups, many Senators, and the Obama administration prevented that bill from becoming law. This latest blocking maneuver is just as misguided. Why do we oppose ...continue reading -
Forest Service Protects BWCAW in Chain of Lakes Decision
Apr 29, 2011 Posted by Dawn Merritt Login and commentby Kevin Proescholdt, IWLA Wilderness and Public Lands Program Director On April 18, Superior National Forest Supervisor Jim Sanders announced a decision that protects the wilderness character of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) in Minnesota from proposed increases in motorboat traffic on the so-called Chain of Lakes. His decision brings to a close a lengthy series of efforts made by the League and other wilderness conservationists since 1993. The decision shows both the tenacity of the wilderness advocates and, finally, a good pro-wilderness decision by the agency to end the dispute. The 1.1 million-acre BWCAW, the largest Wilderness east of the Rockies and north of the Everglades, remains the nation's most heavily-visited Wilderness. Its 1,000+ lakes have attracted anglers for decades, and its protected habitat provides home to a wide range of northern wildlife species, such as moose, black bear, and eastern timber wolf. Although the vast majority of ...continue reading -
Clean Water Guidance: An Important First Step
Apr 27, 2011 Posted by Dawn Merritt Login and commentBy Scott Kovarovics, IWLA Conservation Programs Director Today, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Army Corps of Engineers took a critical first step to begin restoring Clean Water Act protections for streams, wetlands, and other waters. They issued a draft of what will be new instructions – known as "guidance" – to their staff in the field about how to implement the Clean Water Act. Although this might sound like a mundane bureaucratic exercise, it is anything but that – and can make a real difference in protecting waters that are essential to every American. Why is this guidance important? Over the past decade, the U.S. Supreme Court has been chipping away at the Clean Water Act, slowly but surely reducing the types of waters that are protected by this landmark law. Streams that may not flow all year, prairie potholes, and other small wetlands are most at risk. While the Supreme Court decisions are damaging, guidance issued by the last ...continue reading -
Listen to citizens worried about sulfide mining
Apr 1, 2011 Posted by Dawn Merritt Login and commentBy Kevin Proescholdt and Greg Seitz The push for a new type of mining in Minnesota – sulfide or non-ferrous mining – has become stronger and stronger recently. While new sulfide mines proposed in northeastern Minnesota may produce a few hundred jobs, they would also threaten our lakes, rivers, and streams with centuries of toxic pollution. Recent actions at the Capitol reduce the chance that this mining will be done right in our state. Last winter, PolyMet Mining's draft environmental review predicted water contamination from the mine's waste could last for up to 2,000 years, putting at risk the St. Louis River and rivers that flow into it. Similar mine proposals also threaten such iconic Minnesota treasures as the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and Lake Superior. And in an area only a couple of miles from the BWCAW where a powerful foreign mining company (Antofagasta PLC) is proposing to develop a new mine, the Friends of the Boundary Waters ...continue reading -
League Victory To Protect Americans from Hazardous Emissions
Mar 21, 2011 Posted by Dawn Merritt Login and commentBy Nancy Lange, IWLA Acting Energy Program Director Last Wednesday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the most important actions to clean up air pollution from dirty coal-burning power plants since the Clean Air Act was last updated in 1990. For more than a decade, it has been a goal of Izaak Walton League members and staff to reduce the most toxic air pollutants that are emitted from our nation's coal-fired power plants. EPA's proposed mercury and air toxics standards for power plants that burn coal and oil are projected to Save as many as 17,000 American lives every year by 2015 Prevent up to 120,000 cases of childhood asthma symptoms every year Prevents 11,000 cases of acute bronchitis among children every year Prevent 12,000 emergency room and hospital visits every year Save 850,000 lost work days every year The proposed standards should reduce mercury emissions from power plants burning coal and oil by 91 ...continue reading -
Conservation Programs at a Crossroads
Feb 25, 2011 Posted by Dawn Merritt Login and commentThe release of a new federal report and a House-passed budget bill present stark choices. By David Hoskins, IWLA Executive Director On February 19th, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to cut tens of billions from the federal budget this fiscal year. Although many of us might agree that significant reductions in the United States budget are necessary to begin to come to terms with a ballooning federal deficit, the Continuing Resolution would sharply reduce or even zero out funding for key environmental programs. It would also prevent the Obama administration from taking actions to implement and enforce some of our most important environmental laws. These federal laws and programs play a vital role in the conservation of our nation's natural resources – including fish and wildlife – and in protecting the water we drink and the air we breathe. In addition, many of these initiatives were enacted and sustained thanks, in part, to the hard work and support of ...continue reading -
Choosing Clean Water
Jan 14, 2011 Posted by Dawn Merritt Login and commentBy Leah Miller. The Choose Clean Water Coalition advocates for Chesapeake Bay restoration, and the League has been an active member of coalition since it was formed in 2009. I represented the League at the second annual Choose Clean Water Chesapeake Bay Restoration Conference in Washington, DC, January 10-12. The conference was fabulous – excellent speakers, a lot of passion about cleaning up the Bay and the streams that feed into it, and great networking opportunities. A major theme of the conference was the need to talk about Bay restoration in economic terms. People are concerned with jobs and the economy right now, and we need to let people know that saving the Bay also saves and creates jobs. For example, Diane Cameron of the Audubon Naturalist Society determined that $1.25 billion in investments to treat rain runoff in the Anacostia watershed would help boost employment by 13,600 job years – full time jobs that last one year. Fracking Marcellus Shale: ...continue reading -
Conservation in 2011
Jan 5, 2011 Posted by Dawn Merritt Login and commentBy Scott Kovarovics. While most people began the new year with resolutions and college bowl games, many in Washington, DC, started by following the new Congress and preparing their game plans for the coming year. Politics, after all, is the number one sport in the nation's capital. And there's much to watch and plan for. When the Congress convened this week, more than 100 new Representatives and Senators – 96 new members in the House of Representatives alone – were sworn in. Control of the House flipped from Democratic to Republican and the Democratic majority in the Senate is significantly smaller than it was over the past two years. There are new committee chairs in the House and hundreds of new staff in Washington and offices across the country. How will these changes affect natural resource, conservation, and outdoor recreation issues important to the League? It's hard to say less than a week into 2011, but a few things come to mind. The influx of new ...continue reading -
Hoorah, our Earth may yet win
Sep 28, 2010 Posted by Dawn Merritt Login and commentEnvironmental literacy for our children just took one giant step forward! By Roger C. Sears, Chairman, Izaak Walton League Executive Board. With any luck, the future looks bright for this old Earth. Thanks to state Superintendent of Education Nancy S. Grasmick, the Maryland Board of Education has just passed a comprehensive environmental education program that will begin in pre-kindergarten and continue until the student graduates high school. This means all Maryland public school students will have environmental literacy woven into their current curriculums. No special class will be set aside on the environment and students will not be required to take a standardized test for graduation -- the study of ecosystems, natural resources, and health will be woven into their learning experiences. Students will also create and implement a local project that "protects, sustains, or enhances the natural environment." How committed the ...continue reading -
League Testifies at EPA Coal Ash Hearing
Aug 31, 2010 Posted by Dawn Merritt Login and commentFrom Scott Kovarovics, IWLA Conservation Director On August 30, 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) held the first of seven public hearings on proposed rules to regulate the storage and disposal of coal ash. I testified on behalf of the League in support of strong, effective, and uniform federal standards to replace spotty-to-nonexistent state rules. We burn a lot of coal every year in this country to generate electricity, and that leaves a mountain of ash – more than 130 million tons of coal ash per year, according to EPA estimates. This ash is composed of a host of toxic chemicals and heavy metals, including chromium, arsenic, cadmium, and selenium, that are hazardous to people, fish, and wildlife. Yet in many cases, coal ash is stored in unlined ponds and on the surface at power plants nationwide. Metals and chemicals can leach from these ponds into the groundwater or nearby streams and rivers and pollute drinking water, kill fish, and damage outdoor ...continue reading -
The Bats and the Bees
Aug 10, 2010 Posted by Dawn Merritt Login and commentAt the end of our July convention, Ikes enjoyed workshops that offered an in-depth look at two species that play an integral role in ecosystems across the country: Bats and honey bees. These speakers were dynamic, informed, and clearly framed the issues that put these pollinators – and us – in peril. To Bee or Not To Bee "Honey bee populations are dramatically declining," says Jeremy Barnes, president of the York County Bee Keepers Association. "Over the past 50 years, the number of hives in the United States has declined by 55 percent. In the most dramatic losses, labeled Colony Collapse Disorder, almost all of the bees in a colony disappear overnight, as if they were called or pushed out of the hive and could not find their way back home." Beekeepers see a direct correlation between what's happening in the hives and what's happening with pesticides on crops. "The wax that bees create to store honey and raise bee larvae acts as a filter, ...continue reading -
America's Great Outdoors
Jun 28, 2010 Posted by Dawn Merritt Login and commentFrom Scott Kovarovics, IWLA Conservation Director Last Friday, I joined hundreds of people from across the Chesapeake Bay region in Annapolis, Maryland, an America's Great Outdoors listening session. President Obama launched the initiative in April to spur a nationwide dialogue about the future of conservation in America. Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar kicked off the session by explaining that he sees America's Great Outdoors as part of a broader movement – "march for conservation," in his words. He ticked off some of the priority goals for the initiative, which include identifying key corridors connecting wildlife habitat, developing the next generation of urban parks, and creating a new agenda for conserving America's rivers and waterways. The audience enthusiastically applauded when the Secretary said that "we cannot protect and restore lands if we don't have the resources to get it done," which was a direct reference to fully funding the Land and ...continue reading -
Communities Win When Kids Connect With Nature
Jun 4, 2010 Posted by Dawn Merritt Login and commentThis week the Izaak Walton League helped launch the Outdoors Alliance for Kids (OAK) , a national strategic partnership of organizations with a common interest in expanding opportunities for children, youth, and families to connect with the outdoors. The members of OAK share the belief that the well-being of our children, the health of our communities, and the future of our economy all depend on personal, life-long relationships with nature and the outdoors. Izaak Walton League chapters offer many opportunities to build those relationships, and the League is working this year to provide additional resources to our chapters to expand our youth programming. Looking for ways to connect families in your community with the great outdoors this summer? Read " 10 Ways To Attract Youth To Your Chapter " and download a few of the League's "How To" articles to kick things off. Dawn Merritt IWLA Director of Communications ...continue reading -
League Response to Gulf Oil Spill
May 28, 2010 Posted by Dawn Merritt Login and commentThe oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico and onto our coastlines has created an an epic – and unprecedented – environmental crisis. Some of our nation's most productive wetlands are in peril, as are critical fisheries and the livelihoods of thousands of Americans. This week the Izaak Walton League joined a group of national conservation organizations in asking President Obama to improve future oversight of offshore drilling, reduce our country's dependence on oil, and enact comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation. The League is also calling on Congress to provide increased funding for federal and state fish and wildlife agencies to respond to the oil spill. As this story continues to unfold, we'll keep Izaak Walton League members up to date on the impacts on fish and wildlife, water quality, and outdoor America. Dawn Merritt IWLA Director of Communications ...continue reading


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Our GANT crest cap is detailed with a GANT crest patch, raised GANT embroidered logo, and adjustable leather strap. Perfect for a day out in the sun – be it at the park, beach or around town, it looks great with swimwear, a polo top and shorts, or jeans and tee.
The size guide
Body measurements (cm) SizeChestWaistNeckSleeveInseamXS4284-8671-743379-8181S44-4689-9176-793681-8482M4894-9781-843884-8683L50-5299-10486-894186-8984XL54107-10994-974389-91852-XL56-58112-11799-1044489-91863-XL60119-122107-1094694-97874-XL62-64124-127112-1174897-9988How to measure
Pull the tape around you from your shoulder blades to the broadest part of your chest. Keep your elbows to your sides.Waist
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Bend your elbow in 90 degrees into the side of your body. Hold the tape at the center back of your neck. Measure in 3 points from the center back neck to the shoulder and down to the wrist.Inseam
Wearing pants that fit well, measure from the crotch seam to the bottom of the leg.


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Welcome to San Marcos Area Recovery Team!
The San Marcos Area Recovery Team (SMART) is a public safety dive team specializing in underwater investigation and recovery. Based out of San Marcos, we serve communities all over the Central Texas area, and have traveled out of state and internationally. We are a division of the South Hays Fire Department, and our members consist of Firefighters, Police Officers, and EMS personnel from various departments.
The San Marcos Area Recovery Team is looking for volunteers!
To be eligible, you must:
Be at least 18 years of age.
Be an American Citizen or lawful Permanent Resident.
Submit to a Criminal History, Background Check, and Driving History;
Have No pending, differed, or conviction on any felonies or class A misdemeanors. Class B and C misdemeanors; arrests, charges, and convictions will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. All arrests, charges and dispositions must be fully disclosed.
Be able to pass a drug test and consent to random testing.
Be certified as an EMT, Paramedic, Firefighter, or Police Officer, in good standing, and hold not less than two years of experience in public safety.
Be a certified SCUBA Diver, willing to train and advance your certifications.
Topside Support Personnel are not required to be certified divers.
Be able to obtain a Class B (exempt) drivers license and Texas Boater Card.
Understand that this is a volunteer position that requires regular training and can expose volunteers to certain hazards associated with public safety diving.
SMART is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that relies on tax deductible donations and sponsorships.
Send your donation to:
c/o South Hays Fire Department
1401 West San Antonio Street
San Marcos, Texas 78666
Donate through our PayPal Link


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In the Malnad (hilly region) region of Karnataka (South of India) that Avie belongs to, jaggery is a very important ingredient in every dish – no matter sweet or savory (check out this banana bread recipe I shared earlier). The form of jaggery that's used here is not solid but viscous, quite like black strap molasses In fact, if you were to have a look at it (or taste it for that matter), you'd most likely think of it as Black Strap Mollases rather than jaggery. Even during the making process only one step separates the black, lustrous Mollases from the thick, dark, viscous jaggery that I'm talking about.
As much as we love the semi-liquid, humble jaggery (called 'Bella' in Kannada) for its finger-licking taste and nutritional value (it's packed with iron, calcium, copper, manganese, magnesium, and many trace minerals), it's the process of making it that's fascinating beyond doubt.
Each time we visit Sagara (this is where my in-laws live), if it's February or early March, a visit to the Ale Mane (sugar cane house) is a must-do.
In this 4th story of the Learning Every Moment series, I want to share about our experience of seeing where our food comes from and how it's made. In cities, this is one big and important link that we and our children miss. We go to super stores, purchase our food in packets without ever getting a glimpse into the stage where the food (raw) is grown or processed into its edible form.
Knowing what goes into the making of food in the hands of the farmer will probably lead our children to appreciate its value much more than they may otherwise do. I know that's happened for Pari. She always loved eating bella, as a dip, with her dose or idli or utttapam, but ever since she's she's seen how the bella is made – with so much labour of love, it's become precious for her. (She'd seen a few times in the past few years but this time around, due to the age she's at – 7 yrs – her understanding and appreciation of it has been stark.
So, why don't I share the whole process with you. I think, you'll love seeing the pictures and reading about the steps involved in the making of jaggery or black strap molasses.
Get the full dose of curiosity!
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Situated on nearly 2,000 acres in New York's mid-Hudson Valley, the Cary Institute offers visitors a range of recreational and learning experiences.
For years, I lived in a densely wooded neighborhood in suburban North Carolina. Anyone who wanted to grow vegetables needed to plant them in the front yard, where there was much more sunlight. Fortunately, the neighbors were very tolerant of street-side gardens.
Monitoring the quality of our streams, lakes, and rivers.
Illuminating how environmental conditions shape disease risk.
Innovating practices that balance human needs with ecosystem health.
Understanding how invasive species impact our forest and freshwater resources.
Preparing for the future, from extreme weather to species shifts.
Educating decision makers, teachers, students, and the general public.
Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies | Millbrook, New York 12545 | Tel (845) 677-5343
Privacy Policy | Copyright © 2013


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Local historians are geared up for Journey Stories at the Three Valley Museum this month. During the month of January historians will be telling the stories of Durant's past.
The event is being held every Tuesday and Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at the Three Valley Museum. There is no cost. "It's only 30 to 40 minutes long," said Museum Curator Nancy Ferris.
Ferris said the presentations are short enough that residents on their way out of work can stop in and grab a cup of coffee and listen to a story.
"There's just so much history," said Ferris. "We just want to share the stories from our part of the country."
Ferris said that last year the museum had about 60 guests each night of Journey Stories. She said that it seems there has been a renewed interest in listening to live story telling that has shown itself on many college campuses.
Ferris said people are hungry to drop the electronics for a while and hear a real person talk. Ferris said that there is something for everybody.
"We have some interesting presenters this year," said Ferris. The event is family oriented and covers subjects that range from women in the business world to code talkers of WWI to the story of Eaker Airport.
On Jan. 8, Donnis Potter presented the story of Marie Morrow, owner of Marie's Dress Shop in Durant. Her store just celebrated 35 years in business. Marie was at the event to listen to the presentation.
On Jan. 10 Lana Sleeper told the story of the Choctaw code talkers in World War I. These code talkers proved to be a valuable tool for American forces during the war.
Stories will continue on Jan. 15, with John Boyer's story of the "Hobo Jungles" in America, followed on Jan. 17 by Diane Kreger presenting the story of family heirlooms.
Bryan Hallmark will present the story of Ira Eaker on Jan. 22 and special guest John Teel will tell stories of his own childhood in Blue and the people who made an impact on him throughout his life.
The last week of Journey stories will conclude with a presentation from the Chickasaw Nation and Farrell Hatch speaking about when Durant was "the" place to get married.
Ferris said that all presentations are free and open to the public and to listeners of all ages. "I would love for more students to come," said Ferris.


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THIS IS A MANUFACTURER DIRECT ITEM. THIS ITEM SHIPS ON OR BEFORE Monday, June 3 rd
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Commemorate the 2009 Daytona 500® Champion, Matt Kenseth, with this limited edition collectible. This piece contains three 8" x 10" photos of Matt Kenseth, an autographed card, a piece of green flag and a piece of race-winning tire. This product is officially licensed by NASCAR® and comes with an individually numbered, tamper-evident hologram from Mounted Memories® that can be reviewed online to ensure authenticity.
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Not good that they are using wotif.com to fill three rooms. They are no way near a 4star hotel. Rooms are basic motel style and the car park is a night mare. Hope no one else falls for there so called 4star rating in wotif.com
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6:39 am
Sun November 11, 2012
'A Royal Affair' That Grew A Danish Revolution
By editor
Originally published on Sun November 11, 2012 12:36 pm
Host Rachel Martin talks with director Nikolaj Arcel about his new film, A Royal Affair. The movie focuses on an affair between the 18th-century queen of Denmark and her German physician, which led to a revolution. Arcel also wrote the screenplay of the Danish film adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.