Do All Ducks Want to Be the Aflac Ducks?

Before leaving Chincoteague Island my husband had to stop by the local insurance company.

This duck was at the front door. Being Chincoteague I just thought it was a decoy. Right?

As it turns out it is a real duck nesting there!

I wonder who she is insured with?

Ponies Return to Assateague

The Chincoteague ponies returned to Assateague Island this morning without the hoopla and massive crowds that pony penning day brings. The remaining ponies grazed under the trees at the carnival grounds while the younger ones that had been sold at the aution waited on the other side for their new families to take them home.

The "buy back" ponies were quite cordial today and I assumed they were ready to return home. They have done this before. Many of them have made the trip many times

.

The herd returning today was smaller than the original herd that swam over. Ponies that live on the northern end of Assateague Island return home in horse trailers.

Around 11:00 this morning the ponies headed home led by the Saltwater Cowboys. Because the herd was small enough the Saltwater Cowboys lined the outsides of the ponies and slowly walked them back to Memorial Park. We had ridden to the park earlier and very early this morning horse lovers were already waiting.

They walked past us at a steady pace and before you knew it they had passed by, turned left and continued on. I have never seen this before in all the years I have lived so close to Chincoteague and Assateague. I wish now I had taken my children to witness alot of this. This is a tradition that has remained for 84 years. It is a tradition that these people do so well at keeping. I also found myself wishing I had taken my younger brother years ago on the Wednesday of the penning instead of our usual trek to the beach and Mr. Whippy's. Hope he hasn't held it against me all these many years.

And a hint for next year if you go: watch the movie Misty of Chincoteague and then go ask any older person you can find on Chincoteague about pony penning. They'll be more than glad to tell you all about it!

Chincoteague Ponies Return to Assateague

The remaining Chincoteague ponies returned to Assateague Island today without the hoopla and massive crowds that penning day brings. Alot of the ponies had already been driven back to the north end of Assateague in trailers.

No free Lunch at The White House

White House Invites CEOs to Lunch, Makes Them Pay for the Meal

If you're a corporate CEO, and you are invited to the White House for lunch, you'd better bring your credit card along. Yes, the days of the free lunch are over at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Case in point: A recent Oval Office powwow between President Obama and the heads of Xerox, Coca-Cola, AT&T, and Honeywell, where the executives were asked by White House staffers to provide their credit card information so that they could be billed for the cost of the meal. Via


The White House defended the unusual move as a way to avoid conflicts of interest. But the Bush administration didn't charge presidential guests for meals, one former official said, and at least one etiquette expert found the whole thing unseemly -- suggesting it was a serious breach of protocol.


The president regularly hosts meetings with the nation's top business leaders to listen to their grievances and suggestions, and making them pick up the tab for their meals is intended to show that the relationship is free of ethical complications.No word on what each CEO ordered, and whether the White House price structure seemed fair, wildly exorbitant, or like a bargain.


VIA

84th Chincoteague Pony Penning and Carnival

After a morning of excitement and and anticipation among thousands of viewers this is all that was left at Memorial Park yesterday evening.

Then on towards the carnival grounds to see those ponies. This is kinda like their very own Oscar week. Just as we got there I found this pony being led to the coral. The ooh and aahs began and I was captured myself. At first the litle guy wanted no part in the hoopla but soon settled down and the petting began. I felt sorry for the little guy because he wanted nothing more but to find his mom and get something to eat.

To be continued.....................

jmmb

Pony Penning contd.

We seem to have gotten to the carnival groungs at "happy hour" for the ponies. Instead of the usual "show" the ponies put on with the frolicking and snorting they seemed to be more interested in eating. The chatter from the crowd and finger pointing didn't seem to amuse them.

Lots of hearts will be broken this week because someone couldn't take a pony home with them. But along with that sadness will be many happy tales to tell and I am sure everyone will take home a "special" pony in their heart.

And at the end of the day when the carnivals' Tilt-a-Whirl stops tilting and whirling and the Ferris Wheel stops going round and around, when all the screams of enjoyment have ceased, and the smell of cooking food has faded into the night the descendants of Misty will settle down. It's been a long day for them.

Sometimes it's even difficult to get a pony to smile


~~ This is dedicated to my daughter who is currently busy touring the United States.

I know she will see this. I miss her.~~

jmmb

In God We Trust

Should the motto "In God We Trust" be removed from U.S. currency? Vote HERE

Mall Boots Out Anti-Obama Kiosk

(July 29) -- Politics Daily's Mary C. Curtis calls it The Battle of Concord ... Mall.
Free Market Warrior, which sells conservative-themed products, is losing its lease and must leave North Carolina's Concord Mills mall at the end of the week.

Loren Spivak, who owns the kiosk, says the decision is purely political, noting that other stores in the mall sold lots of pro-Obama merchandise for months after the inauguration. A statement from the mall near Charlotte says it won't renew the lease because Spivak refuses to remove three bumper stickers and a T-shirt that suggest a link between the president and terrorism.

Although the future of Spivak's business is in doubt, he says the uproar has given his kiosk's sales a boost during its final days in the mall.

Chincoteague Salt Water Cowboys Pony Penning (Today)

Since the Chincoteague Pony Penning is this week and all the hustle has been about the ponies and their swim onto Chincoteague I find it only fair to give credit to the Chincoteague Salt Water Cowboys. In fact, if you know anyone that lives on Chincoteague they very well may be a "Saltwater Cowboy". jmmb Chincoteague's Salt Water Cowboys - Legends of the Wild East

by Sam Serio

Just as the Chincoteague ponies are horses uniquely adapted to their environment, the Chincoteague Salt Water Cowboys are a breed of cowboy uniquely adapted to their job. What, exactly, is their job?

While the majority of them serve as volunteer fire fighters for the Chincoteague Island Fire department, that's not the job that has earned them the title of Salt Water Cowboys. Their cowboying job consists of, among other things, spending some wet and wild hours at the end of each July herding the Chincoteague ponies from their year-round home on Assateague Island across a football-field-long stretch of water to Chincoteague Island for the annual Pony Penning and Auction.

While that might not sound like high-paying work (and the Salt Water Cowboys don’t earn a nickel for their efforts) it is vital to the survival of the Fire Department, which owns the Chincoteague Island pony herd and supports itself with the proceeds of the annual Pony Auction. The Pony Auction, due in large part to the efforts of the Salt Water Cowboys, is now the biggest event in the Chincoteague Island calendar, drawing more fifty thousand visitors from around the globe each year.

The Salt Water Cowboys have earned celebrity status among their fellow Chincoteague residents, but their pony collecting duties extend far beyond what the public sees on Pony Penning day. The money earned for the sale of Chincoteague Island ponies each year is used not only for the Fire Department, but to support the pony herd itself.

Although they spend their lives in the wild, the ponies are rounded up each spring and fall for inoculations, worming, and hoof trims, and checked for any other injuries. They are also provided with extra feed when necessary.

During the spring and autumn roundups, which happen around during foaling time in April and before the cold weather sets in October; the Salt Water Cowboys are called on again.

They're asked to collect all the ponies, which run in two separate herds in the Chincoteague Island National Wildlife Refuge on Assateague Island. The southern herd is taken first to a holding pen by the Woodland Trail before being guided to a larger corral on Beach Road where they are fed, watered, and rested for the night before getting their veterinary treatments.

While the southern herd is being treated, the Salt Water Cowboys have the much larger job of gathering the ponies on the northern range, a process which begins at 7:00 AM and continues until all the stragglers have been brought in. The Salt Water Cowboys are required to be expert riders, because trying to manage their own horses while plowing through marshes, under branches, and along sandy beaches in pursuit of balky ponies is no job for an amateur horseman.

The northern herd is about double the size of the southern one, and the Salt Water Cowboys guide them to an isolated holding pen accessible only to the cowboys on horseback or to the attending veterinarian by vehicle. Tourists can reach it on foot, but only with a great deal of determination.

One thing which makes the job of the Salt Water Cowboys just a bit easier is that, after participating in a few roundups, some the older Chincoteague ponies seem to learn the drill, and start moving to their collection points as soon as they see the Cowboys, bullwhips cracking, headed their way. But there are always plenty of independent pony spirits to keep the Salt Water Cowboys on their game!

Submitted By jmmb...

Thank you

Need A Laugh?

Police chief gives taser to citizen

Wilson Glenn used to live here in Pocomoke,in-fact he was my neighbor, anyone remember him? I do.

HALLWOOD, Va. - A father waves a taser at a cell phone camera then points it at his son's back. The teen falls to the ground and out of the picture. Then he jumps up joining in the laughter of the other men.

The father then hands the taser back to its owner, a grinning Hallwood Chief of Police Wilson Glenn.

The town is home to nearly 300 residents. It sits about 2 hours away from Hampton Roads in Accomack County on the Eastern Shore.

WAVY.com caught up with Glenn outside his home in June. He wouldn't talk to us on camera about the incident but admitted he handed over his police weapon, claiming the video was just a joke. Glenn said he knew the whole thing was being videotaped.
Beyond that, he would only tell us the incident is being investigated. Whose investigating? WAVY.com learned it's the town council, who hired Chief Glenn in April 2006. No one from the council would comment. There's also no mention of the incident in council minutes for the past two months.
Mayor Timothy Raynor told WAVY.com over the phone, the incident "wasn't a big deal."

Glenn claims he is taser certified however, we checked and found no record.
As the video clearly shows, the X-26 taser is not being used as intended. So, WAVY.com sent the video to company representatives. Steve Tuttle, Vice President of Communications sent us the following statement:

While TASER International stands behind the safety of its life-saving technology, it is paramount that a successful TASER program requires clear use of force polices, stringent oversight and recurrent certified training.
WAVY.com discovered Hallwood does not have a policy which dictates how and when any weapon, including a taser, should be used.

Glenn ultimately blames someone trying to seek vengeance for leaking the video.

"We got a couple people in town trying to tear police department apart," he said.

WAVY.com told the Accomack County Commonwealth's Attorney Gary Agar about the video. He asked the state police to investigate. The investigation is currently ongoing.

from: www.wavy.com

Contributed by; jmmb

ELEPHANTS MIGRATION TRAIL

ELEPHANTS MIGRATION TRAIL
Elephants march through hotel lobby after it was built on their migration trail! The Mfuwe Lodge in Zambia happens to have been built next to a mango grove that one family of elephants have always visited when the fruit ripens. When they returned one year and found the luxury accommodation in the way, they simply walked through the lobby to reach their beloved grove of trees.

The animals come in two-by-two. Hotel staff and visitors have gotten used to the elephants' impromptu strolls through the lobby. Now the family group, headed by matriarch Wonky Tusk, return every November and stay for four to six weeks to gorge on mangos - up to four times a day. Andy Hogg, 44, the lodge director, has lived in South Luangwa National Park since 1982. But in all his years of dealing with wild animals he has never seen such intimate interaction between humans and wild animals. "This is the only place in the world where elephants freely get so close to humans," says Andy. "The elephants start coming through base camp in late November each year to eat the ripe mangos from our trees."

Living in the 5,000 square mile national park, the ten-strong elephant herd is led to the lodge each day by Wonky Tusk. The hotel was built directly in the path of the elephants' route to one of their favorite foods ....Mangos

"The most interesting thing about these wild animals," explains Andy, "is that this is the only herd that comes through, and they come and go as they please."
Mfuwe Lodge consists of seven camps and the base camp where the elephants walk through. Employing 150 staff, the management of the lodge report that there have been no incidents involving the wild elephants to date. "The elephants get reasonably close to the staff, as you can see in the pictures of the elephants near the reception area," Andy explains.. "But we do not allow the guests to get that close."

"Guests can stand in the lounge but only as long as there is a barrier between the elephants and the guests," he added.
"The elephants are not aggressive but you wouldn't want to tempt them. It is the elephant's choice to be here and they have been coming here for the last ten years. There are other wild mango trees around, but they prefer ours. The lodge was unwittingly built upon their path," Andy says, "so we had no idea they would do this. It wasn't a design error, we just didn't know. The lodge was built and the elephants started walking through afterward."

"We keep people at a safe distance, but allow them close enough to see what is going on. These are still wild and dangerous animals, so there must be enough time for people to get away."
The hotel is set in an idyllic national parkland. Naturally, the lodge becomes busier for both elephants and guests during November. "We find that we get more people visiting us during the elephant migration because of the unique experience of being so close to wild animals in an unusual environment," says Andy. "But as I said this is a totally natural phenomenon, as the elephants come here of their own accord. It is certainly a rare but magnificent sight."

Video For Today

The news has been slow and the healthcare crap is worn out.
How about a couple videos to perk ya up.

crank it up..........

More on the Pain medication contract

In a previous post I tried to explain why I would not sign a contract for pain medication. We had a nice debate about the contract and some folks even suggested I must be a druggie for not signing the contract.

Well it would be quite the opposite if one has any commonsense at all because a druggie will do anything to get their Buzz!

I have not had ANY form of pain medication now for quite some time, yeah I'm stubborn and in pain now, and have been threw the withdrawals of these harsh opiates all because I WILL NOT and I never will sign a contract that the Doctor/Government can invade my private life at their will, and at any time they want.

I found a copy of the standard contract that the Doctors can/will require you to sign, so I ask...... Would YOU sign it, or would you give-up your freedom of private life for a bottle of pills?

The quotes in red is what I object too.


Medication Contract

I, , _____________have agreed to use the following medications as
part of my treatment for chronic pain.

I understand that these medications may not eliminate
my pain but may reduce it and improve what I am able to do each day.

MEDICATION DOSE DIRECTIONS QUANTITY PER MONTH

I understand the following guidelines for continuing pain treatment under the care of

1. I understand that I have the following responsibilities:

•I will take medications at the dose and frequency prescribed.

•I will not increase or change how I take my medications without the approval of this
health care provider.

•I will arrange for refills at the prescribed interval ONLY during regular office hours. I
will not ask for refills earlier than agreed, after-hours, on holidays or on weekends.

•I will obtain all refills for these medications only at pharmacy
(phone number: ), with full consent for my provider and pharmacist
to exchange information in writing or verbally.

•I will not request any pain medications or controlled substances from other providers
and will inform this provider of all other medications I am taking.

•I will inform my other health care providers that I am taking these pain medications
and of the existence of this contract. In event of an emergency, I will provide this same
information to emergency department providers.

•I will protect my prescriptions and medications. I understand that lost or misplaced
prescriptions will not be replaced.

•I will keep medications only for my own use and will not share them others. I will keep
all medications away from children.

•I agree to participate in any medical, psychological or psychiatric assessments recommended
by my provider.

•I will actively participate in any program designed to improve function, including social,
physical, psychological and daily or work activities.


2. I will not use illegal or street drugs or another person’s prescription. If I have an addiction
problem with drugs or alcohol and my provider asks me to enter a program to address this
issue, I agree to follow through. Such programs may include:

•12-step program and securing a sponsor

•Individual counseling

•Inpatient or outpatient treatment

•Other:_____________________

If in treatment, I will request that a copy of the program’s initial evaluation and treatment
recommendations be sent to this provider and will not expect refills until that is received. I
will also request written monthly updates be sent to verify my continuing treatment.

3. I will consent to random drug screening to assure I am only taking prescribed drugs. I
understand that a drug screen is a laboratory test in which a sample of my urine or blood is
checked to see what drugs I have been taking.

4. I will keep all my scheduled appointments. If I need to cancel my appointment, I will do so
a minimum of 24 hours before it is scheduled.

5. I understand that this provider may stop prescribing the medications listed if:

•I do not show any improvement in pain or my activity has not improved.

•I develop rapid tolerance or loss of improvement from the treatment.

•I develop significant side effects from the medication.

•My behavior is inconsistent with the responsibilities outlined above, which may also
result in being prevented from receiving further care from this clinic.

Signed: Date:________________

Provider: Date:_________________

Click this link to the actual contract
http://www.ohsu.edu/ahec/pain/med_contractlf.pdf