Rich Dansereau

If you click on the image you will go to the post that explains it. I have found this to be a wonderful venue to meet lots of people. Perhaps there is a venue like this in your town or city.

I am so anxious for this year's garden that when we had two exceptionally nice days this week, I had to make my move. With last weekend seeing the signs of spring approach thanks to warming temperatures, I searched for someone to till my garden. Last year, one of my neighbors used his full size tractor to plow the new garden space. This year however, the garden had to be tilled using a small tiller as I had built a permanent structure, including the chicken pen and wildflower garden after that initial plowing.

Happily I found Stephen Hicks from his Craig's List advertisement. To the right is Stephen tilling the garden. If you are in the Knoxville area, I would definitely recommend him. He not only tilled the garden but also delivered a pick-up truck load of his organic compost all for a very reasonable price. Tuesday being a record setting 79 degrees Fahrenheit and Wednesday being 71 it was the perfect time to have the garden tilled. Stephen arrived on the Wednesday near the agreed upon time and had the job completed very quickly. Before he tilled the garden, I removed the strawberry plants that had overwintered, with no protection, in the center of the garden. Then while he tilled the garden, I planted the strawberries in hanging basket and other pots.

It is still a bit early to plant anything but early season veggies. This week I hope to lay down the landscaping cloth and set the broccoli, cauliflower, and asparagus from my local co-op. The chickens, now numbering 10, I found one dead for now apparent reason about a month or two ago, are in their plastic wrapped pen where they spent all winter. The plastic is the same that is used on greenhouses and was perfect for absorbing the sun's warmth during the cold days. I also supplemented this warmth with a single heat lamp, the same one they used to keep warm when they were chicks. Within the next month, their plastic wrapping will be removed and their shade tarp put back on. This type of chickens, Buff Orpingtons, can stand temperatures as low as 17 degrees Fahrenheit so there are no worries there. Did I mention they are producing enough eggs to supply my family and neighbors and still have excess. I get about 50-60 organic eggs per week!

As the garden moves forward, I will keep you updated! Remember last year's garden...

The use of video in our business and personal lives has exploded in the past decade. From videotaping the children's recital to video blogging cameras seem to be everywhere. Many cities have even taken to placing cameras on streets, in police cars, and in holding cells. These are ostensibly to reduce crime, protect law enforcement officials, and suspects. There are the cries of big brother and the loss of privacy but apparently the benefit have outweighed this objections. I would hasten to guess that the video released late Friday afternoon will further protect law enforcement and suspects.

Here is the video. *BE WARNED THIS VIDEO IS GRAPHIC* After the video, I will give the explanation of the circumstances and the incident as related in statements from the police involved and the suspect.

The suspect who is in custody is a 15 year old female who was apprehended in a stolen car with another minor female. There have been no indications that the teenager resisted arrest at the scene nor at the Sea Tac City Hall (Seattle). There have been no accusations that the suspect was under the influence of any drugs.

The King's County Sheriff's deputy that assaulted the suspect is a 31 year old, eight year veteran of law enforcement. He has plead not guilty of a fourth degree assault for kicking her, slamming her to the floor, striking her, and pulling her hair in violence. Deputy Paul Schene could face a maximum of 1 year in jail if he is found guilty.

Unfortunately these types of videos are becoming much more commonplace on YouTube and other video sites. Aside from the violence being disturbing, the fact that a person in a position of control and authority can so loose control and abuse the authority entrusted to them is unsettling. I understand that law enforcement work in one of the most stressful professions one could possibly have. The added stress would be much too difficult for most ordinary people to cope with but law officers have training to deal with this stress. If the training is insufficient then that too must be addressed. Law enforcement officials are also aware of the stress that such a position holds before they choose to pursue that career. All of these reasons that can be given must pale in comparison to the overall negative impact such uncontrolled behavior, as that in the video, has upon law enforcement across the board.

And what of this 15 year old girl? We have civil rights, we have habeous corpus. Her guilt of the crime is irrelevant; she had not been found guilty and had not even seen a lawyer. Again, she was 15 years old and had been taken to Sea Tac City Hall to be booked.

In addition to the University of Tennessee, the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, and the Ijams Nature Center, Knoxville is home to several animal rescue organizations. In this post, I want to highlight the good work that the volunteers do at the Wolf Creek Weimaraner Rescue, Inc. This organization is a 501(c)(3) so all donations, which are the majority of the groups operating budget, are tax deductible.

This dynamic organization found it roots in the heart of two people who were dedicated to rescuing dogs. In the eight years since its inception, the Wolf Creek Weimaraner Rescue, Inc. has grown to a dedicated group of 45 volunteers. During that time this organization has saved an estimated 250 animals from abuse and possible destruction. This organization and its volunteers and foster families have come to know and understand this breed whose popularity has been spreading in recent years. The popularity of the breed is a double edged sword. On the one hand it is good that more people are wanting this type of dog. At the same time, many irresponsible back yard breeders and puppy farms are cranking these puppies out with little regard for the breeding mother's health, the genetics of the offspring, and overpopulation in general.

The goal of this organization is not to end breed specific breeding. In fact this organization explicitly supports the ethical breeding of Weimaraners from genetically sound animals. They do emphasize that ethical breeding includes the education of potential pet owners about the breed and a commitment to honor all health guarantees.

If you are interested in donating money or your time to this worthwhile organization, click HERE.

See the picture to the left, that is Emmy. She is currently with her foster family but is just waiting to be placed with her loving forever family. If you want to read about her specifically, just click her photo. If you would like to see and read about all the Weimaraners that are currently looking for their forever families, click HERE. If you think that being a parent for one of these loving and beautiful creatures is something you might like to become, you can e-mail the rescue group at info@wcweimrescue.org and you can learn about the adoption process by clicking HERE.

Today is the second time I will be participating in Bloggers Unite. Bloggers Unite is an online movement that unites the voices of diverse bloggers from all corners of the blogosphere. This is not an intrusive movement, the one reminder that I received about the action was today via e-mail notification from Blog Catalog. Bloggers Unite: Blogging for Hope is a simple way for me to give back; all it takes is my voice being raised with thousands of others for those who don't have a voice. They have a once monthly action day that you can choose to participate in or not. There is no solicitation for money, only your voice and words.

This month's cause is the plight of refugees. The ultimate goal of this cause is to help families reconnect through the use of secure, anonymous, and free online databases that can be accessed at many refugee camps. This is basically a high tech version of putting up missing persons posters after a horrendous event; though in this case entire extended families may be torn apart.

While the uniting of families is the immediate goal, the raising of awareness of the plight of refugees around the world is the longterm objective. Recognition of any issue is the first step towards correcting it. The United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) estimates there are currently 32.9 million refugees around the world. This number is staggeringly huge but it cannot be allowed to paralyze one to inaction. Bloggers Unite estimates that 10,000 voices will be raised today to combat this blight. The UNHCR works with 649 NGO's from all over the world to meet the immediate safety and health needs of the millions of displaced refugees. The mission statement of the UNHCR states in part that "UNHCR is an impartial organization, offering protection and assistance to refugees and other on the basis of their needs and irrespective of their race, religion, political opinion, or gender."

If you would like to participate in this action, please click the Refugees United banner above. If you want to check out Bloggers Unite, click their logo below.