jardinero

I missed this one - - sorry! Happy belated birthday wishes, George. Hope you had fun with that little buddy of yours! J.

HAP, HAP, HAP, HAP, HAP, HAP, HAP, HAP, HAP, HAP, HAP, HAP, HAP, HAP, HAP, HAP, HAP, HAP, HAP, HAP,HAP, HAP, HAP, HAP, HAP, HAP, HAP, HAP, HAP, HAP,HAP, HAP, HAP, HAP, HAP, HAP, HAP, HAP, HAP, HAP,HAP, HAP, HAP, HAP, HAP, HAP, HAP, HAP, HAP, HAP,HAP, HAP, HAP, HAP, HAP, HAP, HAP, HAP, HAP, HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, my dear friend! Hope it's a wonderful one! J.

Well, they're talking baseball on CNN....Jose, Sammy, Mark and more... CNN is covering opening statements right now before the House Committee regarding steriod use. Count on Jose and Mark to be pleading the 5th a lot.... Developing.... J.

LHFAO! :D--> J.

Some of my best friends are Spankers... J. ;)-->

Abi: Here's the Web M.D. article I was telling you about: Vitamin D May Ease Depression Vitamin D May Ease Depression Low Blood Levels of Vitamin D May Be Linked to Cause of Depression By Sid Kirchheimer WebMD Medical News Reviewed By Brunilda Nazario, MD on Tuesday, August 03, 2004 Aug. 2, 2004 -- Vitamin D supplementation, shown in recent studies to help lower risk of certain cancers, multiple sclerosis, arthritis, and other conditions, may also relieve depression, according to new research. Canadian researchers say the benefit of supplementation may come in creating stores of this vital vitamin in the bloodstream to carry people through the dreary months of winter, when a lack of sunlight may lead to or worsen mood disorders -- most notably seasonal affective disorder, the aptly acronymed SAD that affects some 11 million Americans. Patients with this so-called "winter depression" are advised to treat the condition with a special "light box" that mimics the effects of sunlight during winter months. Problem From Low Blood Levels? For this study, published in the July issue of Nutrition Journal, the researchers first identified 130 patients whose blood levels of vitamin D in the summer were considered normal -- about 24 ng/mL. However, some researchers believe that many Americans are vitamin D-deficient and that their blood level may be too low. "If a patient measures at 24 ng/mL or less in the summer, it will likely drop to 16 ng/mL in the winter because the value you have in the summer is greater than what you'll have in February," says lead researcher Reinhold Vieth, PhD, a vitamin D researcher at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Toronto. He then gave those patients a questionnaire to gauge their likelihood of depression. Those whose answers suggested a strong possibility of depression were then given supplements containing a daily dose of either 600 or 4,000 international units (IUs) of Vitamin D. They started taking the supplements in summer and continued through the winter. The patients were re-evaluated a year later. With both doses, patients suffering from depression improved as their vitamin D levels increased to at least 40 ng/mL, what some vitamin D researchers recommend as a normal blood level. "If I were to provide advice, I would say that anyone in North America should be able to walk into any drug store and buy 1,000 IU vitamin D supplements. And if you consume those supplements every day, you should feel better," Vieth tells WebMD. "It appeared that instead of feeling worse in the winter, they actually felt better with the supplements." How Much Is Enough? The Institute of Medicine recommends 200 IU a day up to the age of 50, 400 IU from 51 to 70, and 600 IU over age 70. About 100 IU are found in an 8 ounce glass of fortified milk. Other nutritional sources of Vitamin D include: • Canned pink salmon: 3 ounces contain about 530 IU of Vitamin D • Canned sardines: 3 ounces contain about 231 IU of Vitamin D • Fortified orange juice: 8 ounces contain about 100 IU of vitamin D • Fortified cereal: 1 serving (about 1 cup) contains about 40-50 IU of vitamin D In his study, Vieth found benefit from both dosages, although those taking 4,000 IU -- 10 times higher than what it found in most multivitamin supplements -- showed the most benefit. "If you were to take 600 IUs forever, you'd be doing fine," he says. "But if you haven't taken supplements, taking the 4,000 dose over one winter is better." These findings come as no surprise to John Cannell, MD, who heads the Vitamin D Council, a group of doctors and researchers who study the effects of this nutrient. He is staff psychiatrist at Atascadero State Hospital, a California psychiatric hospital. "Basically, what vitamin D does is increase levels of the [chemical] serotonin in the brain," he tells WebMD. Many antidepressant medications work the same way. "About 90% of patients in my hospital are vitamin D deficient, and I put them on a vitamin D regimen, and it does improve their mood disorders," says Cannell. "It also raises their vitamin D blood levels to above what is considered normal, to about the 40 ng/mL levels." Don't Stop Other Medication His advice: First get a simple blood test to measure blood levels of vitamin D. If it falls under 40 ng/mL, he recommends taking daily supplements of at least 600 IU and up to 10,000 IU a day. However, if you are currently taking antidepressants, don't stop taking those drugs if you begin taking the vitamin supplements. "What this study suggests that is vitamin D deficiency may be an explanation for depression, and that boosting vitamin D levels may help prevent or ease symptoms," Cannell tells WebMD. "But how much vitamin D you need depends on several factors, such as the environment you live in, what time of year it is, your skin type, and sun exposure. "Taking 4,000 IUs may sound like a lot, but there has never been a single reported case of toxicity at levels up to 20,000 IUs a day," he says. "Your body takes in about that much from sunlight by spending 20 minutes outdoors ... during the summer months. The problem is what happens in winter, when sunlight -- and vitamin D -- is in shorter supply." SOURCES: Vieth, R. Nutrition Journal, July 2004; vol 3. Reinhold Vieth, PhD, director, Osteoporosis Research Center Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Mt. Sinai Hospital, Toronto. John Cannell, MD, staff psychiatrist, Atascadero State Hospital, Atascadero, Calif.; president, The Vitamin D Council. © 2004 WebM

Onion: Happy, happy birthday! Hope the cake and ice cream are yummy! J. :)-->

I have to agree. Seems like about every other time or so that I log in, it takes forever to appear and navigation is quite slow. Then the next time it's fine. Dunno if that helps :)--> J.

Naw - - it's the first sign of old age - - repeating yourself.... repeating yourself...hey - -did I just say that???? ha ha -- killing myself here! J. ;)-->

Cool. Hope he sticks around to chat some more. Thanks, DM. Interesting that he would misspell his own name, though --> J.

Happy, happy birthday, Abi! (and please keep your family away from skates for this birthday celebration!) :P--> Hope you have a wonderful day! J.

There was a lurker in chat Thursday night with the nickname "Jim Dopp" (see spelling), but he only came, saw and left. Not sure if that's what you were referring to, Excie, but most probably was not Doop. J.

Welcome to GSC, Mario: Just wanted to chime in here with a comment. I think you'll find as many interpretations of offshoot "doctrine" and practice as you will the people who lead those groups in their respective local areas. My experience with a few were involved in organizations who run Chr*s G*er's classes on "Walking in God's Power". Some of those local leaders were die-hard worshippers of VPW, others of Chris himself. Some had rejected some of the man worship and were students of the bible, others were worshippers of the written Word. Some who were wonderful lovers of God's people while in TWI, still were many years later. Others who were jerks, legalistic and lords over God's people, still were the same many years later. Some worked secular jobs. Some who were on the TWI-boob for most of their adult lives, were still sitting in their ivory towers mooching off of God's people. I know you asked about doctrinal comparisons, but I think at least for those who run Ge*er's classes, none of them are even in agreement about what they teach, so it would be hard for someone to speak as the authoritative source, as technically, Chris Ge*r doesn't lead any of their local groups. So just as you'll hear folks here at GSC describe a variety of TWI experiences and understanding of what was "the Word" doctrinally, you'll probably find the same to be true in many of the offshoots (with the exception of a couple that are very centrally controlled). J.

Waterbuffalo: Please check your PTs. J. :)-->

Hi guys: Thanks WW, John and Tzaia. Yes, every piece of email gets scanned. Yes, I keep the immunize function on. I was able to get it all cleaned up and I am virus free. Thanks for the info on the firewarll, Tzaia. Sorry it took me so long to respond. Been running this week. J. J.

Hammie dear, Have you been hitting the double espressos again??????? J. ;)-->

And thank you Mikey, Oeno (neither have I reached my plateau of maturity yet :)-->), AHAT (nice to see ya, girl!) and Krys! ....and Radar, dear - - you're on! I am so ready for a Bay Area trip! Maybe this summer! xoxoxox J.

Well, as many of you know, this was the big 5-0. I had a wonderful weekend of celebration with friends and my son and received many calls from my military brat nieces and families (even as far away as from Korea!). But the big birthday present was truly a gift. Some of you knew I had been looking for another management job for about 18 mos. now and it had been a long, long search for the right job. Well, I was just offered and accepted a GREAT job with a major healthcare network here in Indy -- - great people, fabulous money, utilizes my marketing background well, wonderful people. I had really wanted to land this job by my birthday, and God was truly faithful to my prayer. So it was really a time of double celebration. Thank you all very much for the greetings and remembering me: Shell, Dave, Dove, (((Tonto))), Sudo (I'm in chat, fellow weenie, come in and say hi), T Cat, ala (the music is "Jean", silly), dear Onion, Andy, Belle and AZ "Z".... Y a mi hermanitos y amigos, Tomas y Oaksie, gracias! Love to you all, J.

Happy Birthday, Psalmie! Hope you get to PIG out on cake and ice cream to your heart's content! Love, J.

Good morning, Excie. I know you have a lot on your plate and just camein to give you a hug. (((((((((((Excie))))))))))) Hope the little goalie's wrist is o.k. and you're able to do what you need to do in the other situation without too much turmoil. Love you, girl! J.

O.K. now what????????????? I have been running the following: Spybot Search & Destroy; Avast! Antivirus; No Adware; Grisoft AVG; I've installed XP's SP2. AND NOW I'M INFECTED WITH A TROJAN VIRUS!!! What the hell is going on here? I only have used three websites: gsc, drudgereport and yahoo for my mail; What gives? I ran No Adware and it found 119 infections which it removed. Right after that my virus alarm went off and is telling me I have more that it cannot remove. Any idea what is going on? J.

Big surprise... J. -->

I didn't read this entire thread as the opening post made me gag and think of a thread on an ex-Catholic website possibly opening something like this: "I have recently been notified that during this month there are ten masses being said by Paul Shanley... Hoorah!!! Isn't that great?" Now wouldn't that just "bless" the socks right off of you if you knew the details of Paul Shanley's "ministry"? Still gagging, J.

Gladtobeout: That is pretty unbelievable. Ychhhhhhhh! I think it was you who told me once that on your Corps application you were asked a lot of inappropriate sexual information or were asked for provative pics or something like that. If that was you, would you add that to the thread "When Did You First Know About the Sexual Abuse?" - - (if you want). I'm hoping that other women will corroborate your story since you went in before things went REALLLLY downhill. Thanks. J.

Mikey: CONGRATULATIONS!!!! That is fabulous news! I know well all the hard work you put into getting this thing on the map and am so thrilled to hear of its success. Great job! Wonderful that there is growing interst in the area. See what one passionate, visionary, crazy guy can effect in a community????? So happy for you, dear friend. J.