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The Evоlutiоn Оf Сhiсаgо Trаvel Blоg

April 14, 2021

Best knоwn аs the “Windy Сity” beсаuse the роlitiсiаns blоw hоt аir, Сhiсаgо is оne оf my fаvоrite сities in...

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Transforming Waste: The Role of Briquettes in Reducing Household Waste

Transforming Waste: The Role of Briquettes in Reducing Household Waste

Innovative solutions are imperative in a world grappling with the escalating issue of waste management. One such solution gaining traction …

What you need to consider while buying a Baby Crib

What you need to consider while buying a Baby Crib

 You are planning to purchase bedding for your baby? In that case, you need to be absolutely sure that you …

What You Can Do Inside When It's Raining Outside

What You Can Do Inside When It’s Raining Outside

It’s coming down, it’s pouring, your day feels truly exhausting—and you’re thinking hard about what to do on a rainy …

How to Find Cheap Apartments and Housing in Philadelphia

How to Find Cheap Apartments and Housing in Philadelphia

The first thing a prospective renter should do to find cheap apartments and housing in Philadelphia is to actually set …

Letting Their Voice Be Heard: Pushing The Convict’s Rights To Vote

May 22, 2019

In any and every election, it is essential that every...

Walter Reed

January 19, 2019

This all started in Powell’s Bookstore in Portland, OR, last...

Diamond liquidation in India

Diamond liquidation in India

December 26, 2018

LATEST POSTS

How To Make Plumbing Task Easier – 3 Things To Discuss

There are many conditions in which we need plumbing services for our home and buildings. There are many places in which you may get problems in the pipe system and water supply. The water supply issues are common, and you can take help of the professionals to get services and get the perfect solution for your home or building. Some people do their DIY plumbing task without any help of professionals, and they are saving their money by understanding the plumbing tricks and tips. With the help of tricks and tips, you can know about plumbing basics and take the solutions of the pipe system and control the water supply according to the situations.

Some people want to take more information about plumbing tasks so they can go with https://www.myhamiltonplumber.ca and take benefits with the information to control the DIY works. There are some difficult areas of the home in which you need to take plumbing services and get the solutions for water management with the drains and pipes.

Things to discuss: –

Use the new supply

Using the new supply line is also an important process to know when doing plumbing task without any help of professionals. Individuals need to choose new lines to solve the issues permanently. If you want to get permanent solutions for the pipeline, then it is the best step to perform.

Thread Tape

  1. Do you want to know about thread tape? There are many people those are asking about the tape, and they want to know about the uses of these options to the home tasks. Well, there are various home tasks related to the water leakage from the pipes in which the individuals can apply the tape. With the help of the tape, you can see the benefits in the plumbing tasks.
  2. The leaking pipe problems are common these days, and you need to take the help of professionals to remove the issues. The professionals have complete tools to solve the issues, and they will protect your home by saving the water supply with the pipe of floor and wall.
  • There are many conditions in which people are taking the help of professional plumbers, and they are getting solutions for their home. Some people want to solve pipe leakage problems with their hands so they should keep some tools with them. The tools are used for various situations and in the situation of pipe leakage the individuals need to take the help of thread tape.
  • These kinds of tapes are most commonly used in the home. There are many people those are using these kinds of tapes in their home, and they are keeping other important tools with the tape to complete their DIY plumbing tasks easily. Some people use these pipes for replacing the pipes, and they are controlling the water flow by applying the tools and using the tapes.

Fixing with the clogged drain

  • Many of the people are getting the issues of clogged drains in their home or commercial place, so they need to take help of professional DIY workers those are helping to solve these issues. The individuals need to take tricks and tips to make a better decision to solve various DIY plumbing tasks. If you want to get more skills and information, then it is best option to take the help of search engine and take more information about the plumbing tasks.
  • There you can learn the tips and tricks easily.
  • Now, let’s talk about clogged drains. Well, these kinds of problems are also common, and you need to have some tools for example drain snake that can remove the clogged issues. There are many people those are removing these issues by their hand without any help of professionals. These problems demand two kinds of equipment that can solve the drain issues.

You need to use some pickup tools. There is a tool that is known as shaft pick up a tool that can help you in some conditions of the clogged drains. On the other hand, you need to have vacuum tools to remove the garbage from the drain easily. So, fixing of the clogged drain is not a difficult task, and you can know some tips and tricks from online sources to get the solutions for DIY plumbing issues.

Home Improvement Shows – Real Or Not Real?

There is something aesthetically pleasing in watching a home improvement show. You see the homeowners discussing what they want for their new home. You watch as the remodelers try to redesign it according to their clients’ needs. You witness the marvelous transition and even be amazed at what they can do with a simple looking bathroom. You then stay awed at the final look and the teary eyed home owners as they are welcomed inside their new, fully furnished home.

It makes the viewer feel good at having to witness such a change. This is the reason why home improvement shows are popular. People like watching a house getting a make-over. They wish it was their house too and the idea will linger in their minds and get them hooked at signing up for their own renovation.

But are these home improvement shows on TV real? We breakdown a few facts in what they don’t tell you in these shows. Before you think of renovating your own home to the likes of those shows, below are something you should think about before making that big decision.

Budget

Remodeling a home takes a lot of money. What shows don’t tell you is that there should be a realistic budget just to do a makeover for your house. Manufacturers and suppliers hop on the chance to get free advertising for these shows. So most of the time, the supplies used might be at a lower cost or even free. But in actuality, it costs a lot.

The same thing goes with remodelers and workers. Their labor fee might also be expensive. So it’s best to budget your needs and get your pricing across clearly so there wouldn’t be any misunderstanding and excess payments.

Timeline

A home remodeling show usually lasts for 45 minutes to an hour. It shows the whole process, from discussing plans to the final outlook. By the end of it, you’re quite sure a house can be finished in just 30 days or even less.

What one should know that if you want a stable house, it takes more than 30 days to build and renovate one. You need a certain amount of time for everything to be rebuilt or to settle. TV shows exaggerate the number of days it takes to remodel houses. So before you set your expectations, you should talk to a certified remodeler so you can anticipate when your own home will be finished.

Solutions

A home improvement show is first and foremost an entertainment show so you’re bound to get hooked on all its drama. You might find the remodelers stuck with a problem. But there’s a solution for every problem they’ll ever encounter. They might even show the solution in a snap as if it’s that easy to find one.

In reality, problems will arise in remodeling houses. Solutions won’t come very easily. It’ll take days for remodelers to solve such solutions or even change course of actions to a better and more realistic one. Remember that TV shows make drama. In reality, you’d rather dread it.

But still, it couldn’t be helped that we’d all like to watch these shows. Just keep in mind that they’re not as realistic as what you’d thought they would be. To watch them, you can head over to Project Free TV. Many have wondered what happened to Project Free TV but your favorite home remodeling show might still be there. So check them out now.

5 Reasons Why A Leo Makes A Great Partner

With the sun as its ruler, you can already tell why dating a Leo makes them a great partner. A Leo (July 23 – August 22) is known to be brave, fierce and loyal among many things. These are the traits that make them likeable, romantic and desirable. The lion is the symbol for Leo and they’re known for being a king of the jungle. As a Leo, they too exude royalty.

The most important thing is being in a healthy relationship. Here are 5 reasons why a Leo makes a great partner in life:

Protective

There is something very attractive when your partner is protective. Not the annoying obsessive kind but the kind that does everything to keep you safe and sound. It may get a little overwhelming when you witness a Leo being protective at first. But that’s only because they’re concerned for your well being.

If you date a Leo, you know your life is in good hands. So don’t be afraid to take on risks with them. They’ll surely look out for you.

Brave

A Leo is brave and fearless, something that’s very admirable about them. They’ll stop at nothing to get what they want. Like a hunter, they’re so focused on their prey that you can be sure they’re going to get whatever it is they want. Failing isn’t in their vocabulary nor is it even an option. They’re headstrong over things they’ve already set their mind to and it would be difficult to convince them otherwise

With a brave Leo beside you, a strong future will definitely follow the both of you wherever you go. So do not be afraid to date one as they’ll definitely hold your hand and face whatever obstacle your relationship goes thru.

Confident

Confidence is an obvious trait a Leo has. They’re already brave and protective so you know they’re confident in getting things done. Just like a lion, they’re proud of being who they are. They know their own capabilities. This kind of confidence can be charming when it comes to being in a relationship with them.

It’s also attractive to see a man or woman exuding confidence. Date a Leo so you’ll find out just how true this trait is.

Generous

There’s also a sweet side to a Leo. Their generosity is commendable. They’ll always share their time with you and spend their days hanging out with you. This is because they are generous to a fault. It’s something you’ll be thankful once you realize that having company readily available whenever you need it is satisfied by a Leo.

Loyal

As ShallonOnline says, many relationships stress over whether or not their relationships can withstand the test of time. With a Leo, you’re assured to have them for life. Their best trait is how loyal they are to their partners. They’ll be focused on you and your relationship with them that rarely do they ever leave.

A Leo can be a great partner if you let them into your life. So don’t be afraid to date a lion and bask in the warmth of the sun.

Things To Keep In Mind When Going For A Haircut

Getting a haircut can be something really scary for many people. And one of the reasons is the lack of communication between the customer and the barber. This is why people end up with a bad haircut which they never wanted and neither can fix it anymore. There are certain things that one needs to keep in mind before going to a barber for getting a haircut of their choice.

Things to consider

  • Learn about the hairdresser:

one should always research about the salon or the hairdresser they want to visit, also it does not have a fixed hairdresser in their mind they can use the internet to find different salons and compare them on the basis of services, prices and customer reviews given by various customers on different forums.

  • Ask for professional opinion:

barbers and the hairdresser know better about different hairstyles and haircuts so one can take their opinions also if confused about ones desired haircut. Consulting the hairdresser does not mean you need to rely on them completely but few ideas will never hurt.

  • Be honest:

it is important to let the hairdresser know about what works and what does not. One should not lie if they do not like any kind of product or technique used on their hair. One should not shy away from telling them to choose the best blow-drying technique or to tell them for using the best cordless hair clippers.

  • Be specific:

if possible bring a picture to the hair salon to let the barber know of the exact length, cut and style one wants. One should also keep checking the hair during the cut and tell the hairdresser about small adjustments if needed regarding the cut and length.

  • Let the hair settle:

usually, a dramatic haircut can take a person by surprise and it may seem difficult to deal with especially if the cut is not something one had pictured in their mind. It is advisable to always give a freshly cut hair some time, few washes and few different ways of styling and one might end up loving it.

  • Communicate:

it is important to tell the hairdresser if one does not as their hair cut and if something goes gravely wrong with it. A good hairdresser will always tell their customer to visit again and get any help needed and a snarky one will dismiss the customer off, this will tell if there is a need to change one’s barber right away.

Components of a good haircut

Trying to make a hairdresser understand what one wants can be very tricky if one doesn’t know about different words and terminology to men’s haircut. So here is a list of certain terminologies that one need to keep in mind.

  • Haircut styles
  • Buzzcut
  • Ivy league cut
  • Crew cut
  • Peaked cut
  • The Fade
  • Ceaser cut
  • High and tight cut
  • Undercut
  • Square cut
  • Fauxhawk
  • Neckline styles
  • Blocked
  • Rounded
  • Tapered
  • Faded
  • Texture
  • Razored
  • Layered
  • Choppy
  • Thinned

Getting a haircut is no small deal as one needs to spend time and money to get ‘that’ look. One should always be aware of the kind of products used like hair gel, hair cream, hair serum. Also one needs to pay attention to the appliance the hairdresser uses like best cordless hair clippers, best blow dryer, and hair iron. A perfect hair cut is not something entirely depends on the hair and the hairdresser, but it also demands attention and focuses from the one who is getting the haircut.

Best Digital Marketing Services To Improve Your Business Online

Issuing pamphlets, making advertisements for television and radio, hoardings across the city and so on for making people aware of the services by a business firm have become traditional means of promotions. The latest technology is through a digital medium like on websites and social networking sites as people tend to spend their time most at. The internet has become a huge market for a decade as most people tend to spend their jobs in front of computers, for entertainment, for education, and for any source of information. Internet marketing is the latest technological way of promoting business online and reaching out to international audiences.

How to choose the best marketing companies in New Jersey?

There are many digital marketing companies that are emerging and well-established ones that help you to promote your businesses. However, there are certain factors that should be considered before choosing a marketing firm.

  • New technologies:

There are many technologies and software that helps to make your website everywhere on the internet. One such thing is Search Engine Optimization which is commonly called as SEO. There are many New Jersey SEO, web design, & internet marketing companies that help to attach these keywords that bring more online traffic to your website.

  • Cost:

The cost is the main factor for any business that should be talked clearly before making deals. There are many companies that might provide low-quality websites and digital marketing at a low cost. But the quality of their work is important and hence the companies must be chosen depending on their result.

  • Reputation:

Choosing the best web designing and digital marketing company can be a difficult task. But with proper research on the web, it could be easy to find the best-reputed companies for promoting your business online.

  • Business strategies:

The digital marketing firm you choose must give helping ideas and strategies to improve your business. The digital theme can be an extremely new idea to you and they should help to understand various new business strategies that can be added.

  • Customer testimonials:

Almost every website of a digital marketing company owns their website. You can check them to find if they are a trusted company by reading out the customer testimonials. Most companies have a separate category called client review or customer testimonials that help to make a wise decision.

  • Test-deal:

You can also work with the digital marketing firms for a small project and then decide to work with them further. It helps to choose the best of the other web design companies as well. If their work does not help you or if they did not satisfy your requirements, you can find some other company. This also helps you to invest only a small amount of money.

These are the few factors that should be considered in an internet marketing firm. In today’s heavier competitive world of business, it is important to choose the best firm that helps your business to grow online and reach the public with various marketing strategies.

Diet and Sleep

In addition to the effects of caffeine, sugar, and chemicals on the body, many other things in the food you eat can affect your sleep. Large amounts of processed foods are especially bad.

Eliminating fat, sugar, and preservatives from your diet will not only help you fall asleep easier at night it will also improve your overall health. The best diet is a well-balanced one with the daily recommended food allowances.

You may have food allergies that you are not aware of. Common foods that are known to be allergens for many people and that may contribute to insomnia are corn, dairy products, wheat, and chocolate.

Your last meal of the day should be at least four hours before bed. Eat a healthy, well-balanced meal. Eat enough so you don’t find yourself hungry later but try to avoid overeating as this may make you drowsy soon after eating.

If you must snack, avoid food that is high in protein, fat, and sugar or food that is heavy or spicy. Try not to snack within an hour or so of bedtime.

Cereal or low-fat yogurt is a good choice for a snack. You want to hunger pangs but not overindulge.

While drinking around 8 glasses of water a day is recommended and healthy, if you frequently wake up needing to urinate, you should limit the amount of water or other liquids you drink in the late evening.

Your goal is to be able to fall asleep naturally and sleep deeply through the night. The healthier your diet is the more emotionally and physically balanced you will feel.

Is Colic Caused by the Food in a Mother’s Diet?

What is the cause of colic? What food to avoid when breastfeeding? Do the foods a mother eats while breastfeeding effect her baby? These are questions breastfeeding mothers all over the world ask. When I began breastfeeding I was desperate to find the answer but all I got were answers that were vague or contradictory. So I decided to answer that questions myself and share with you what I found. The conclusion that I came to is that a mother’s diet does affect her baby.

The first week of my son’s life I decided to go with the “eat everything in moderation but avoid spicy foods” advice. This seemed to be working okay for a couple of days but then I began noticing mucus in my son’s stool. On top of that, he began to get really fussy in the evenings.

It was not until he cried for hours before bed for three days in a row that I decided to pay closer attention to what I was eating. Here are some things I found that every mother needs to consider when breastfeeding:

Do:

Be careful with dairy. Research proves that some newborns are allergic to the proteins found in cows milk. A new mother should be careful about the amount of dairy she eats and watches her baby’s reaction carefully. Sometimes eliminating dairy will not have an immediate effect because the dairy could stay in the mother’s and baby’s system for up to three weeks.

Avoid gassy foods: This would include your greens like cabbage, broccoli, and pea. Use common sense, if it gives you gas imagine what it will do to your poor little baby.

Avoid spicy foods: My son’s pediatrician used to work on a ranch and he told me this story: The cows got to lose once and ate a bunch of wild onions. As a result, everyone who drank their milk that night got sick to their stomach to the point that they threw up. Onion, garlic, and other spicy foods can make your milk taste bad and make your baby’s tummy hurt.

Be careful with foods considered allergens: peanuts, citrus, honey, chocolate…

Avoid an overload of raw fruit and vegetables: This could give your baby diarrhea.

Avoid too much caffeine: Keep in mind that coffee is not the only thing that contains caffeine.

Drink a lot of water: your body needs more water to make breast milk. Just drink whenever you feel thirsty.

Take your postnatal vitamins: Because you’re going to be avoiding certain foods your body is going to need to get supplements of certain vitamins and minerals.

And the obvious: don’t drink alcohol, smoke, and do drugs.

Remember that every baby is different. So use trial and error and see how each type of food affects your little one. Try one food at a time so that you know exactly what it is if your baby responds negatively. Although it is very hard, remember that you are doing this for your little one.

Also, mothers please share your experiences with us! No amount of research in this world can replace the personal experience of a mother. Please don’t keep it to yourself. Millions of new mothers need your wisdom. So leave a comment below on your experience with breastfeeding.

Walter Reed

This all started in Powell’s Bookstore in Portland, OR, last Sunday. I saw a book on a sale rack, called “The Good Soldiers” by David Finkel. It was about the Iraq war. I like reading books on war; partially because I’m a guy, and partially because my birth cohort was never asked or expected to fight in one, and I’ve always wondered how I would do. (Answer: really, really, badly.)

Two days later, I put the book down, amazed, moved and devastated, and called up NPR to see if they could get me into Walter Reed Hospital to pay a visit to the service members there.

I swear to you: I didn’t intend to write or talk about this in public. I didn’t want to be one of those guys who starts talking about the Wounded Warriors with the subtext of how wonderful I am for going to see them. But as will be evident, talking and writing about what I saw became very quickly both important for them and necessary for my own mental health. I’ll explain more after the jump.

While “The Good Soldiers” is a superb work of reporting and non-fiction writing, what really struck me – more than the heartbreaking stories of soldiers working, suffering and dying, and then those who survived adjusting to life afterward – was the dates. The regiment that Finkel followed to Iraq was sent there as part of the “surge,” and stayed there from April 2007 to July 2008. I don’t know about you, but I remember those years really well. I published my first book, I traveled all over the country with my show, including to New York City to accept a Peabody Award, I attended a lot of fun parties, I shared a lot of good times with my wife and kids. I had a grand time. And all during that period, I can’t say I spared more than a passing thought for the men sent into the meat grinder of the Iraq War. As Finkel notes, we were told the surge worked. We were told violence was down. And it was. Fewer Americans died during those months than in the terrible days of 2003 and 2004. (For a gripping account of the early days of the war, see Martha Raddatz’ “The Long Road Home.”) But some did die, and more were gravely wounded, and I wasn’t paying attention. Reading Finkel’s book, I felt some shame about that, and some regret, and conceived a wild notion to take advantage of an upcoming trip to DC to try to rectify that error.

I asked my colleagues at NPR to see if Walter Reed would like me to visit the soldiers, hopefully, in the company of the genuine celebrities, NPR was hosting for this year’s White House Correspondents Association Dinner. (I thought the troops would be happier to see me if I was standing next to, say, John Legend.) But this was all just last Wednesday, it was all too sudden to sign up anyone else by Saturday, and so I found myself sitting by myself in the lobby of Building 10, Walter Reed Bethesda, at 10 AM Saturday morning, nervous as hell.

I was greeted by a Sergeant, an Army medic who had served in Basra, Iraq but now was attached to the hospital working with the Wish Well visitor program. (I will not mention any names in this account, both as I did a terrible job of keeping track of them, and because I don’t know, and didn’t ask if the service members I spoke to would want their names publicized.) The Sergeant was a matter of fact, and pleasant without being overly friendly. He told me that my name had been circulated around the ward and that ten soldiers had elected to have me visit. He didn’t know if any of them knew who I was; he said most of their visitors were Congressional or Military, which resulted in a particular kind of visit, and that he expected they would just be grateful to visit with someone not there out of either a sense of self-importance or duty. He told me I would be spending about 10 minutes with each patient, for a total of about two hours. We got into an elevator and rose upwards.

The single best piece of advice I got in preparing for this visit came from, of all things, a profile of Garry Trudeau by my friend Gene Weingarten in the Washington Post. Trudeau has been deeply involved in writing about, advocating, and supporting wounded troops, and he told Weingarten:

“In these soldiers’ minds, their whole identity, who they are right now, is what happened to them. They want to tell the story, they want to be asked about it, and you’re honoring them by listening. The more they revisit it, the less power it has over them.”

My wife also gave me similar advice. “Don’t try to be amusing,” she said, knowing me well. “Let them talk.”

The first soldier was in bed, surrounded by six members of his family, including his fiance, who was slumped over asleep. His left foot was missing, and he was in obvious pain, and also obviously in a fog of painkilling drugs. I chatted with his family and heard about his injury – an IED in Afghanistan. My memory of this first visit was foggy because I was slowly realizing something that for the life of me I had not anticipated: the men I would be meeting was not in rehab, or in recovery. These were not the guys I had read about in magazine features, gamely learning to walk on prostheses or deal with TBI, months after their injury. These were guys who had just been gravely hurt, weeks or in some cases days before. They were sitting with family members who – also just weeks or days before – had gotten a call from the Army or Marines saying, “Your son has been wounded in battle,” and had with hearts pounding and tears streaming thrown things into a bag and gotten on a plane for Germany or Washington. These wounds were fresh and raw, in every sense.

I will not, or can’t give you details of every visit I made that morning, even a day after. I sat by bedsides and, as Trudeau advised, asked them what happened, and heard their stories. As I listened, I tried to focus, and control my own feelings of horror and dismay, and my growing urge to walk out of the room and tell the Sergeant, patiently waiting outside, that I could take no more and needed to leave now. (The sergeant told me later that this does happen.)

But these are the things I remember most vividly, from the six men I spoke to yesterday:

– The Green Beret, still with his downrange beard (and yet still looking terrifically young) who told me that at the end of a ten hour firefight, he and his team saw a figure jump out of the building they were engaged with; how they saw that the person was an 11-year-old boy and how they lowered their weapons; how that boy then pulled out an AK-47 and started spraying bullets at them. How one of those bullets passed through his hip and groin. How another caught one of his friends in the upper chest and killed him. How he would never have children, and yet that his wife was two months pregnant; which he considered a “miracle.” How the bullet was still in his right hip.

How he felt and knew that his friend who died was a good man and that he, the Green Beret would be able to accept and understand his death.

– An Army Sergeant, a tough as nails Army lifer from Northern California, who sat pulling at the bandages over the stumps of his above the knee amputations as his Spanish speaking mother offered me water from their trays of food and drink. He told me about how his patrol had found one IED, then another, and then a third; how he was escorting the bomb disposal guy toward one of those IED’s when the undiscovered fourth IED exploded. How he found himself on the ground, being tended to by one of his soldiers, and kept asking “How bad is it?” and the soldier said, “You’ll be fine, Sarge,” and he kept demanding to know, “HOW BAD IS IT?” and finally shouted, “YOU MOTHERFUCKER I WOULD TELL YOU IS IT ONE LEG OR TWO” and the soldier said, “It’s two, sergeant,” and he said to himself, Okay, fine, I’m a double amputee.

How his two sons already were coming to understand his injuries; how he would threaten to “whip their butts” and his 3 years old said, “How you gonna catch me when you got no legs,” and he said, “I guess you got me there.”

How this had happened on Easter Sunday, three weeks before. (I thought about watching my kids run around and find the candy we had hidden for them, as I watched from a chair.)

– The young Marine, his voice hoarse from having a breathing tube inserted down his throat during his most recent surgery, telling me in precise, almost desperate detail how exactly his team had entered a house in Afghanistan, how they had seen the pressure plates for the rigged IEDs in the main doorway and avoided it, how they had checked this door and that door, how other Marines were on the roof firing at the enemy, how his lieutenant had gone into the courtyard, how he had stepped through a doorway that he somehow did not clear, and how the explosion lifted him up so high he could see the soldiers on the roof, level with him. His legs were shattered and severely wounded but he still had them both and hoped to walk again.

– the Marine Captain, in his mid-30s the oldest man I spoke to, a fan of my show. After two tours in Iraq he had been sent to advanced academic training at the Naval War College in Monterey, and had become immersed in academic studies, he told me only half joking, as a kind of therapy for his PTSD. He learned Farsi, and international studies, and went to Afghanistan as an intelligence officer, talking to Afghans and troops on the ground to understand better what was going on there, how the networks of interrelationships on the ground were steering the course of the war. How he had been wounded by a suicide bomber – a 12-year-old kid – who happened to detonate his explosive while the Captain’s back was turned, and thus the Captain’s life was saved by his gear on his back, which absorbed most of the shrapnel. Still, he took serious wounds to his buttocks and legs, and despite his deep and fierce interest in the underlying process of the war, he thought this injury might end his interest in overseas deployment. How his tray table was covered with notebooks and academic books on the war. How I recommended a recent novel I had read about Marines in combat and how he laughed and said, he thought he knew enough about that.

– and the last patient I visited, a cheerful young Navy Corpsman who had been serving his first months of duty with a Marine platoon, when an IED exploded and injured his legs, both of which he was still grateful to have. This bomb went off last Sunday. The same day I picked up the book in Powells. In the course of the same week in which I read about the war and, decided to visit, he had fought the war, been badly injured, evacuated from Afghanistan, transported, and treated, to meet me there.

Again: the dates. All of these wounds, all of these firefights, all of these injuries, all of these deaths (the Green Beret’s friend, the boy who shot him, the suicide bomber) had happened in the past month. The war, as I write this, as you read this, grinds on, and next week there will be more young men in the wards of Walter Reed and other hospitals. If they are like the men I met, they will be cheerful, determined, soldiers and sailors and Marines through and through, who are proud of what they have done and are determined to heal and live without a trace of regret or self-pity.

And, I think, they will want their stories told. One thing that they all told me was that they don’t think that anyone in the US knows or understands what’s going on in Afghanistan; that the media tells little of what’s happening, and when it tries, gets it wrong. This has nothing to do with politics; many of these men had done multiple tours, serving initially under President Bush, and they were injured after being sent into battle by President Obama. Whether or not they are fighting for Freedom or Democracy or Security or Empire or Oil is irrelevant to the fact that they are fighting, and getting gravely hurt, because we as a country asked them to.

The very least we can do is pay attention, and listen to their stories, and I am deeply glad that I had the chance to do so.

I went that night to the White House Correspondents Dinner, and it was a lot of fun; I’m not going to say I didn’t enjoy hanging with my friends and colleagues and meeting the glittery celebs and hearing the President make his jokes and Jimmy Kimmel make his. But I kept thinking (and talking) about the men I had met earlier in the day, and thinking how the true stories that must be told, and the real focus of our nation’s attention, should not be on the glowing ballroom, but on the quieter, smaller rooms at Walter Reed.

What Vapor Steam Cleaning Can Do?

Vapor steam cleaners are versatile cleaning machines that can do a lot of hard cleaning jobs efficiently and efficiently like no other cleaning agents can. These steam machines make our everyday cleaning job light and easy.

With the vapor steam cleaning method, it can:

* Kills dust mites, fleas, and eggs in bedding, upholstery, carpets, and clothing with no the use of any chemicals. It helps kill germs and viruses too. Performing the vapor steam cleaning regularly keeps dust mites at bay.

* Kills molds and mildew in bathrooms, basements, window encasement and other damp locations where mold spores proliferate. 1 wonderful benefit of vapor steam cleaning is that even the deeply rooted molds and mildew in grout can be eliminated. Clean and sanitized bathrooms completely in no time at all.

* Removes dirt and wax on floors such as vinyl tile, marble tile, and smooth concrete quarry tile. Extremely efficient for grout cleaning. On the walls, wallpaper stripping made easy with vapor steam cleaning.

* For Carpets. 1st vacuum and pre-spot with natural solvents that are very beneficial on stains and heavy soiling of carpets. This will aid get rid of carpet stains simply. Right after using the vapor steam cleaner, vacuum once again to completely get rid of all dirt that has been loosened up during the vapor steam cleaning procedure.

* On kitchens, baked on grime and grease of stove-tops oven hoods and interiors grimy bottoms of pots and pans barbecue grills will be cleaned thoroughly without scrubbing and scrapping too much just like what traditional way of cleaning do. It can defrost fridge and freezers and make them like new once more. Vapor steam cleaning offers total sanitation on kitchen utensils and equipment and its surfaces as nicely.

* For veterinarians pet breeders and owners, vapor steam cleaning offers instant deep cleaning and sanitation with no making use of chemicals that can harm animals. It can disinfect and clean pet litter box and odor laden locations.

* On detailing auto, vapor steam cleaning is an ideal vehicle detailing approach. It speeds up cleaning interiors and exteriors without wasting too a lot of water. It is a no mess way of detailing and cleaning vehicle. Vapor steam cleaning can decrease the automobile engine and tools without toxic fumes.

Vapor steam cleaner comes with a wide variety of tools and attachments which are extremely beneficial in cleaning and sanitizing the several surfaces including furniture and fixtures in our houses and offices healthcare facilities hospitality, sports and leisure bars and restaurants and all other facilities.

San Francisco to ban plastic grocery bags

Will, it looks like San Francisco finally got something right. I say that because I’m not a big fan of all their attempts at legalizing gay marriage and the general liberal sentiments there, but there are things that I can agree on that come out of that city. One of those was announced yesterday, namely their legislation that just passed banning the use of plastic grocery bags.

Popular news is already covering this legislation because this is the first US city to implement such a ban. I have to hand it to San Francisco, the city and part of the state that likes to regulate everything; they tend to be on the leading edge of suggesting things to control. I don’t think that necessarily has to be a law, but at times this is the only way we can implement changes in society.

Remember the old days of the big debate between paper and plastic? Typically you still have the option these days but more often than not you get plastic unless you specifically request paper. In the end, both options have their pros and cons, but from what I’ve seen that almost everyone gets plastic these days. Plastic bags are small, lightweight, and easy to dispose of; and all of their attributes are the reason that they are a problem as well. We are a throwaway society, no doubt about it. We like our convenience and we are slow to adopt programs that involve recycling or anything that requires a little extra effort.

I come from a biology/environmental science background in college which contributes to my “green” attitude towards a lot of things, but admittedly I’m as guilty as anyone when it comes to being lazy on something. That said, whenever I have lived in an area that has offered to recycle, even had an extra cost, have taken advantage of it. It still amazes me that where I live now there are no recycling programs whatsoever. Even if we can’t recycle, though, we can do all we can to limit our waste and overuse of natural resources.

Plastic bags are one of those little conveniences that we all take advantage of simply because it’s there, and we don’t even think about alternatives. This is one area that my wife has excelled, having grown up in a family that thinks Green and living in an area in Northern California that focused on it. One little thing that she does (usually) is to take with her reusable cloth bags when she goes grocery shopping. The funny thing is her mother did this all the time and it was a regular thing in the store she shopped at. In fact, some of the stores offer them as their only option. Where we live my wife gets strange looks often from other customers seeing her groceries bagged into these cloth alternatives. The store she regularly shops at now has employees that recognize her and periodically she receives a positive comment or two.

Admittedly there are times when we request that you plastic bags though because it’s a convenient (cheap) way to get plastic bags that we use when we really need something disposable. Even then, I think we often use a plastic bag when it is unnecessary simply because again it is an easy and convenient option. This is one convenience though that I’m willing to give up, and largely my family already has.

Take a moment to look at the statistics of how much oil is used each year simply to provide plastic bags for grocery stores in San Francisco alone. Along with the use of oil, there are the tons of debris generated as these are thrown away from their one-time use. So today I propose everyone reading this site do your small part even before it is regulated to contribute to this change. Start using cloth bags that you can reuse each time you go to the store. Do your part to reduce, reuse recycle. Unnecessary plastics bags at the store simply gotta go.