Does anyone remember the Hong Kong flu which I think was in the 1960’s. The world is one big place now and always has been. Flu’s and other illnesses like HIV , for example, travel around the world. Blame the airplane and world travel if you like.

But even before the plane the diseases travelled by boat or bird or fish or people everywhere.

Washing your hands frequently is one good answer. Touching your hair with your hands is something to think about. Hair is a good retainer of dust and particles from the air.  Who knows if that is another way diseases travel.

Staying away from crowds is good but almost impossible.  Just limit your chances. Everyone should go on with their lives and not worry because there is no way to predict who will get sick and who won’t.

People with compromised systems naturally should take all the above options seriously.   

This should be a non issue. The more publicity the longer the debate lasts. People should be free to marry who they want. Prejean should be able to take the consequences of her speech.

Perez Hilton has no business calling any woman the "B" word or the "C". word.  No one can defend him for sinking to that level. 

Right or Left in politics the human conditions are universal and life ends too soon for us to worry about how we spend our lives, in marriage or out of marriage. In the end we all have to answer for our own choices. And I don’t mean in the afterlife.  Our children and descendants are affected by our choices today. 

Alcohol dependency is a world wide problem as everyone knows.  Mel Gibson is no exception in the movie world which advocates alcohol in so many movies that are made.  This goes back to the 1920’s and ‘30’s and continues.

Fundamental religionists often turn to alcohol because their beliefs are so radical and isolated in their own groups.

Mel should have married into the same religion he so strongly believes in now.  But I do not believe it is the religion that turns believers to alcohol. It is the basic instability of the people who become so obssessed with their own importance and status in the world.

It is still a private matter between Mel and his wife and perhaps she is lucky to get out of the situation. 

The scary part of the swine flu is not that it is another probably pandemic flu outbreak at all;

The scary part is that apparently all bacteria and viruses etc are able to evolve and change and become resistant to treatment.  Doctors now worry about what will be the next deadly virus that has grown immune to treatment by the present useful meds.

This world has been going through pandemic epidemics of all kinds of illnesses including the plague that wiped out millions of Europeans.

Death is just one of the consequences and most survive through their own resistance to the bacteria or viruses.

Again. Wash your hands as often as feasible especially after using the bathroom and before eating.

Teach your family and even visiting relatives to wash their hands.  I know they might be insulted but do it anyway.

Don’t worry about death because most people will survive the flu.  They do not usually survive being hit crossing the street or in severe accidents.

Oh my there are so many things to worry about. Might as well not worry but behave sensibly in all things. 

Since the tax refund is not the governments’ money to begin with because the taxpayer overpaid during the year it is probably needed to pay everyday living expenses.

It is not a gift. You are just getting back your own money which you loaned free to the government for a year.  Nothing wrong with that and I know a lot of people use their possible tax refunds as a saving method. Just remember you get no interest on it for being a lender.

I am not a tax expert just a retired citizen but I think I am right about this. 

Trump was not surprised!  He was being sarcastic which he obviously isn’t very good at!  Jesse James is just another man. Why does anyone else need to have an opinion on his marriage? It was not an innocent comment.

Patronizing is the word for Mr. Trump 

Money Money Money.  If The Donald did not have so much he would be struggling to get any woman. His comments about J.J. are so low and unkind.

J.J. is not full of personality on TV but he apparently is a good human being and he takes the high road in not answering trump.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and J.J. has charm and innate intelligence.

Trump has business skills and is clever but he is not a charming person.

Some years ago in the middle of the night my husband had very mild symptoms of "dizziness" and his left arm and hand was weak and he could speak but very slowly.  I knew it was a mild stroke and we took him to emergency at once.  A young Emergency physician checked him quickly but by that time the symptoms were almost gone.  He decided it was not a stroke. We disagreed and I asked him to check him further.  Eventually they gave him the med he needed and he did recover. He did not pass away of a stroke eventually but a heart attack.

My point is that when you recognise the symptoms in yourself or a family member be prepared to stick to your guns and insist that the doctors listen to you. At the point of the stroke my husband was being very passive and in denial and did not want to think he had a mild stroke.

The diagnosis was confirmed that night but most important you need an advocate such as a good friend or spouse to go with the victim and be able to assist the doctors in understanding just exactly what happened. 

We are just lucky that medicine has come so far but it still has a long way to go. 

Long before TV or the Internet people all over the world were aware of the huge tragedies . As a child I was told to eat all my food because think of the "Starving Armenians".  This was long after that problem had occurred. 

We were not Armenian and did not know any but my Grandmother was still concerned about their tragedy.  So as a child I worried too.

I think the "WE" of the world need to be connected to tragedy and to triumphs.  The news just comes faster these days.  These horror stories like Darfur etc. shape our minds and thinking.  I think we are a caring people although not always effective or right.

This latest information that we are not prepared to accept outside help in this country is interesting.  Makes me think of No. Korea or China. We have to learn to receive as well as give.  Margo I like what you write even if it is not advice.  

Michelle Obama should not feel that she must be an advocate for women or mothers or fashion now or ever.  All she needs to be is herself and do whatever projects or reach any goals that she sets for herself.

Being a mother is always difficult but the truth is that raising the children with good values and moral instincts are the most important now.

The President has a great support system and Michelle is part of that but she needs to be her own person too.

I don’t think that the general public needs to hear all about the children and what they do or don’t do in their private lives. But of course there is the fascination we all have in other peoples business.

Senators driving drunk are embarrassments. Dancing in pools with strippers in the middle of DC is an embarrassment. We need to care about those things because we need responsible leaders not drunks. 

So Michelle will do her job and who knows what she will become. I just hope she doesn’t sit and look adoringly at her husband when he speaks. It was fun when Nancy did it. It is not Mrs Obamas’ style.

I think Marjorie that you clarified what I was trying to say in my round-about-way. O’Reilly is entertaining. And don’t we need some entertaining with all the serious stuff going on in this world today?

My chihuahua agrees and he is always right! 

The days are gone when the Doctor drove to your home in his horse and carriage.  Oh those were the days.  It was nice but a lot of people didnt make it staying at home.  The tests now are too complicated.  It takes a village of medical people to interpret them correctly.

It was nice when the doctor did make house calls and delivered babies at home .  I was born in an old Victorian house built in the `1880s. Small town, we knew the doctor all his life.

But there is a serious side to this hospital business.  the secret to getting better quickly from an illness or surgery is going home from the hospital as soon as safely possible.  There are too many infectious bacteria and viruses running amok inside most hospitals if not all.

They do all they can and things are getting better but they are running out of effective meds while the bugs are constantly changing and becoming resistant to the illnesses.

Hospitals are absolutely necessary but don’t stay too long. Perhaps if you are a billionaire you can get the same treatment at home and buy all the necessary machines. I dont know too many of them.

O’Reilly is at least interesting to watch and listen to occasionally.  He chooses his positions as the wind blows. He is not father Coughlin like Rush. Instead he apparently just likes to have fun and get people all charged up.

He has serious ideas no doubt but listen to him for a short time and you will see him trying to provoke whomever he can get to listen.

Might as well listen to both sides. Keep your enemies close and entertain as you go.   

I saw Doris Day when I was about 13 at the Paramount in NYC, She was with a big band.  Also saw Helen O’Connell with a big band and she was beautiful too with a great voice.  She never became a big movie star like Doris .  My husband adored both of them as he was from NY and saw them too.  Yes, I was one of those New Jersey Teen-agers who went to NYC with friends to see whoever we could see.

Doris apparently did not have an easy life according to her but she never lost her shining personality in the movies.