Jeremy Herndon

The Washington Redskins are having a rough time in these recent pre-season games. Last night’s game went downhill and quickly. They certainly have a lot that they have to work out before the real games start this up and coming season. They haven’t had a decent season in years. I’d like to see them impress their fans this year.

It seems that the big news last night is that we have successfully pulled out all of our American troops out of Iraq as of late last night. They are saying that the war is over, guess we will see how that all plays out. It was pretty cool watching the last convoy leaving Iraq, good news coverage.

If you asked me ten years ago with Mesothelioma was I wouldn’t have been able to give you even a clue.  I remember a co worker talking about her uncle dealing with Mesothelioma Cancer, about ten years ago and she clued me into a good amount about this ever increasing cancer that we are seeing so much about on TV these days. There are several local attorneys that are specializing in Mesothelioma and are advertising heavily these past couple of years on the local channels on cable and satellite alike.

I’ve even seen a few daytime talk show that have discussed this as well as Surviving Mesothelioma and I always remember that particular co worker whose family was morning heavily back then and it makes me wonder what ever happened to her and/or her uncle. All I know is that he had served in the Navy and somehow was exposed to this cancer in the sub that he spend a good amount of time in. I understand that a good amount of men that served on those submarines are now suffering from this same type of Mesothelioma Cancer. That really sucks, serving your country and then dying slowly from it for years and decades long after your service time is up.

I have really enjoyed the new show on The Animal Planet called Whale Wars. It is amazing what these people will do in order to save these creatures that are disappearing due to the hunters that are killing them in the name of science. These folks are totally 100% committed to doing all that they can to save the whales, they have all of my respect.

More and more people are losing their jobs and homes and the news is full of horrible stories about many of these poor folks that are being forced to leave their homes and are abandoning their pets. That is just wrong. It is just as bad as leaving a pet in a hot car during these hot summer months. Wake up folks!

Although I don’t condone the actions of the Senator, it seems to me that when the Senator asked the students who they are, the students should have told him their names and what they were doing. This does not bode well for the politician!

As I observe all of the events surrounding the big oil spill in the Gulf, I have to wonder if “we” will learn anything from this. Will we ever be able to stop the leak? Can the oil that is gushing out into the ocean be contained and used? How much damage to the fishing industry, and the wildlife will happen? What’s going to happen to the people who depend on the tourism trade and fishing trade? This is such a disaster on so many levels! I hope that until this is resolved that no new drilling permits are issued!  I think making fuel from algae is sounding better and better every day!

I have to say that I’m apalled at what is going on with the big oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico!  This so-called state of the art oil platform filled with fail-safe measured blew up.  Millions of gallons of oil leaking into the Gulf.  The environmental damage that is going to result is mind-boggling!  Although I’ve been too busy to follow all the news carefully, I am aware that this is a big disaster, and I have to wonder just how much damage is actually going to happen.  Notwithstanding the environmental damage, I have to wonder exactly how much money this is going to cost the taxpayers and the consumers in the end.   Although the environment seems to be recovering, this could be a major setback to the recovery.  And all most of us can do is sit and wait, watch and hope.

Some times our Federal Government does something that actually makes sense and is a good thing for all involved. It seems weird to be saying that, but I’m glad that I am honestly able to say it this time around. I’m speaking of the newest extension of the “Home Buyers Tax Credit” There is a good video on Coldwell Bankers web site that I took the time to embed here.

The more knowledge that someone is armed with, the better consumer they will end up becoming. Having something like a $6,500 tax credit available is something worth checking into, wouldn’t you say? This tax credit has made a major impact on the recovery efforts of our whacked out and extremely screwed up economy. And there are still plenty of homes on the market at “way cheap” prices that so many people could end up getting some really decent deals.

I know several people that have recently become first time home owners because of this bill and they couldn’t be happier about the tax credit. Now that it has been extended even more folks might be able to live the American Dream. It’s all about the money, always has been, always will be, sigh…….

One of the things that concerns me about the world is how many things are “out there” being used that are really dangerous for us that we don’t know about!  I keep seeing commercials on television about how asbestos can cause Malignant Mesothelioma.  These commercials are usually encouraging the viewer to hire a particular Mesothelioma Lawyer to help them with medical expenses and get some form of restitution.

I think that it is a sad commentary on today’s society that an individual would have to hire a Mesothelioma Attorney to try to get some justice.  Why isn’t the AMA or Uncle Sam taking some large action to stop the production and sale of asbestos and providing free legal help to these people, so that they don’t have to go through the heartache and overwhelming work of the legal process themselves?  Seems to me that there should be an easier way to help these victims out!

I don’t know how or why I didn’t hear about the recall on Rolaids! Yesterday my wife went grocery shopping, and I had put Rolaids on the shopping list. I use a lot of Rolaids, and we buy them in the 100 count bottle. The fruit flavor is our favorite. Well when my wife came back from grocery shopping I saw that she didn’t buy a bottle of Rolaids! She had bought a small box that had three rolls in it.

She told me that she had looked for the bottles, but the shelves for the bottles were empty, so she bought what she could find. I didn’t believe her that they would be empty! She told me that there had been a recall on them! Well, I went online and googled “Rolaids recall” and sure enough, there IS a big recall out on the Rolaids! I wonder why I hadn’t heard about it – the recall was announced last month! It MUST have been covered in the news, right? Did any of you out there know about the recall?

I heard that they are now saying that over 200 thousand people have lost their lives due to the earthquake in Haiti. That is an amazingly high number of lives lost due to Mother Nature being pissed of! It is good to hear of all of the money that is being raised to help the victims, people pulling together is always a good thing. We need more of that in our daily lives, we’d all be better off.

What a terrible event

I was so surprised and saddened to hear about the earthquake that hit Haiti!  So many people killed or injured.  So many buildings ruined!  I cannot even begin to imagine the horror that those people are experiencing.  I hope that the humanitarian efforts are successful.  I was talking to my nephew just the other day about how he might want to volunteer to join the Red Cross and become part of a disaster relief team.  I wonder now if this tragedy will motivate him at all to look further into it.

I have to say that I’m very disappointed about how much weight the passing of one entertainer has in the presentation of the news. There are a lot of things going on in this world that is newsworthy, but the news is focused mainly on the passing of Michael Jackson. Yes he WAS a great entertainer, and I’m sorry that he has died but he really should not be the biggest story we are hearing about! I will be glad when the news media finds something else to report on!

I just read that Sarah Palin is resigning as governor of Alaska!  She had two years left to serve in her term.  She’s being very vague about the reason she is resigning, saying she can better serve America outside a government role.  I wonder what that means!  I can’t imagine that doing this will improve her odds of ever winning the Presidency!  What a shocker!

Lately I’ve been reading in the local newspapers and hearing on the television news shows about how crime is on the rise.  More homes are being broken into, more purse snatching going on in the local stores.  Unemployment is on the rise and that naturally causes crime to rise.  It’s a sad fact of life, but there it is.  Not much one can do about it but try to keep yourself, you family, and your home as safe and secure as possible.  The business of installing home security alarm systems is on the rise!  A very competitive market right now, with bargains to be had.

I was just watching a video that I found on the BBC website about the attempt to recapture a chimpanzee that escaped his cage through an unlocked door. It was rather amusing; the chimpanzee was on a rooftop and two zookeepers were trying to recapture him. They were trying to shoot him with what I have to guess were tranquilizer darts, but the chimpanzee saw them and rushed them. The zookeepers tried to escape the rushing chimpanzee, but the chimpanzee actually grabbed one of the dart guns from one of the zookeepers! Fortunately the chimpanzee just tossed the gun aside – can you imagine an armed chimpanzee? They finally got the chimpanzee to come off of the roof using bananas as bait, but the video did NOT show the actual recapture scene. I hope they treated him humanely.

I think that the exploration of Mars is so cool, it would really be something if the scientists discovered that there is/was/could be life on Mars. I love science fiction books/movies/television shows, and anything that has to do with exploring other planets, looking for signs of some kind of life really excite me! I read that the space explorer Phoenix has landed on ice; the scientists concluded that photos taken of the “white stuff” show that the “white stuff” is shrinking, which means that it is ice. That is supporting evidence that there really COULD be some kind of “life on Mars.” Very cool!

I’ve heard that the Zimmer company has manufactured some defective Durom hip replacement cups that are causing some of the recipients of the cup troubles.  Because of these issues on zimmer durom cup, the Zimmer legal department is contacting recipients of the cup and asking the patients to sign a release of liability agreement.  There are many durom lawsuits going on right now over the defective cup, and the durom lawyers are advising anyone who receives such a request from Zimmer to NOT sign the release.

They say that signing the release would prevent you from having any recourse should the cup fail in the future.  You might also be opening yourself up to being sued by Medicare or your health insurance.  So, folks out there in the audience who might be reading this should take note of this – if you have one of these cups, do NOT sign the release!