That's my opinion, and it's very true.
#25 ©July, 2001 ••••••• Don Harthcock, Editor
That's my opinion, and it's very true.
#25 ©July, 2001 ••••••• Don Harthcock, Editor
OpinionSoup may contain language and topics unsuitable for children.
"Life is what happens while you're making other plans." ~John Lennon
MARIJUANA REFUGEE - Personal from Donny
FEVERFEW - At 10¢ a pop, Donny says "It's worth a try."
GARLIC - Like turnip greens, it's "good for what ails you."
KUMQUAT - "Eat the rind, you say?"
NEW AGE - What's "new" about it?
PISTACHIO - Fruits, not nuts
POEM - Someone Stole My Poems
REFLEXOLOGY - A treat for your feet
TOMATILLO - The AUTHENTIC "Cherry Tomato"
WICCA - "Good Witches are very beautiful." ~Glynda, to Dorothy
The Food and Drug Administration has not evaluated any of the statements made in this publication, nor is that likely ever to happen. This publication is not meant to be used to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Since this publication is not intended to be diagnostic or prescriptive, the authors assume no responsibility for any adverse reactions resulting from the use of any information contained in it.
MARIJUANA REFUGEE
reprinted from http://www.NORML.org
U.S. Drug War Refugee Seeks Support From Fellow Americans
Canadian justices will rule in the coming year whether to return Renee Boje to America to face a mandatory 10-year prison sentence for being present at a medical marijuana growing operation, or whether to grant her political asylum in response to the severity of America's cannabis laws. She fled the U.S. in 1998, at the advice of her lawyer. Renee Boje is asking her fellow American citizens to urge Canada to grant her petition for refugee status.
Actor Woody Harrelson recently wrote to the Canadian courts about Boje: "Please, please, show some compassion for Renee, and don't allow her to become another statistic in a money making hypocritical war against good citizens". He went on to call her a "wonderful lady, who has never been violent or hurt anyone, (and) who simply believed what was going on in that house in Bel Air was legal."
Boje was a hired professional freelance artist in 1997 when she met Todd McCormick, who has suffered bone cancer and radiation treatments since he was a child. McCormick had hired Boje to do artwork for a book on medical marijuana he was writing with his publisher, the late author Peter McWilliams ("Life 101", "Ain't Nobody's Business If I Do").
McWilliams, also a patient, was suffering from full-blown AIDS and cancer. He and McCormick had converted a mansion into a cannabis research lab. They claimed they were doing clinical research testing strains of pot for effectiveness in treating the symptoms of diseases including AIDS, cancer, and chronic pain. They assumed they were protected by California's Proposition 215, which was approved by California voters in 1996, and allows medical marijuana patients to cultivate marijuana for medical use. But a federal judge ruled out any mention of medical necessity in the case, so jurors couldn't be told that McWilliams and McCormick were seriously ill.
Boje is charged with watering and moving some plants. She admits she had knowledge of the operation, but denies assisting in it, and like McCormick and McWilliams, thought it was protected by Prop. 215. However, U.S. federal authorities that snagged her leaving the residence as they were starting a raid on the home claim she made a statement admitting guilt. She says that just isn't true. She is facing a staggering 10-year mandatory sentence in federal prison.
Amnesty International decries violence that women are subjected to endure in her would-be prison, as the worst in America.
McWilliams was denied his use of marijuana as an herbal appetite stimulant by U.S. District Judge George King, and died before his sentencing while choking on his own vomit in his bathroom. But not before Boje made a courageous offer to turn herself in if the charges were dropped against the dying McWilliams.
Bone cancer and chronic pain patient McCormick is serving a mandatory five-year prison sentence at aptly named Terminal Island Federal Correctional Institute.
Now Boje is a refugee from her country and has been branded a dangerous criminal by U.S. authorities. Time is running out for her. Canadian appeals lawyer John Conroy <http://www.johnconroy.com> says that support from fellow Americans, and more importantly, the American media, is what Boje will need if she is to persuade Canadian authorities to deliver her a victory in this precedent setting case. Boje, who has given over 300 print, radio and television interviews in Canada, is now asking the American media and public to participate in her call for justice.
Washington State NORML Director Vivian McPeak calls her case, "a bellwether poster-child example of the cruelty of America's war on cannabis."
Boje will be spending this holiday season with her new friends and family in Canada. Supporters pledge to keep her out of an American prison when next year's holiday season comes. They are urging her fellow U.S. citizens to write, e-mail, and fax the Canadian government in support of her bid for political asylum.
She considers the cannabis plant "a healing herb", and can't understand how her own government can incarcerate sick and dying people in its jails and prisons because of it. Her goal is to stay in Canada, where she wants to open a holistic healing center. She sells her art in cards and certificates to help raise money for her defense. For the meantime she will live in exile, uncertain of what the future may bring.
For more information on Renee Boje's story, visit her web site at http://www.reneeboje.com, or call NORML Executive Director Keith Stroup at (202) 483-5500. Boje can be reached for interviews at: (604) 740-7894, or by e-mail at renee@reneeboje.com. Financial contributions and letters to the Canadian government in her support can be sent to the Renee Boje Legal Defense Fund, P.O. Box 1557, Gibsons B.C. Canada V0N 1V0.
Additional reference info: http://www.toddmccormick.com; http://www.petertrial.com.
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OpinionSoup supports NORML. You can support NORML's efforts to change marijuana policy and educate the public to alternatives to marijuana prohibition by joining or donating online at: https://banqa.uaqa.com/norml/join/
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- Very Effective for Migraines
An aromatic, perennial Eurasian plant (Tanacetum parthenium) of the Chrysanthemum Family, Feverfew has been used medicinally since the 1st Century CE to quell arthritis pain, fevers, and headaches. Dioscorides recommended Feverfew for "hot swellings" (arthritis?), but Western medical interest is fairly recent.
Agents of this herb seem to inhibit the prostaglandins that are key to pain and inflammation. Its marker compound and basis of standardization is Parthenolide. As with other products in the Herb Business World, you can buy Feverfew that is worthless. You should buy Feverfew that is standardized to 0.2% Parthenolide. 50 to 125 mg or two fresh leaves per day have been effective in preventing or limiting migraines for many people.
Easily grown even in poor soil, this is a pretty member of your herb garden. VERY EFFECTIVE FOR MIGRAINE SUFFERERS, for the pain of arthritis and for respiratory problems, the effect of Feverfew is CUMULATIVE, so a couple of the little leaves should be chewed daily (they are very bitter, and too many can irritate your mouth). The leaves retain their potency when frozen, so you can pick some (preferably early in the year) and freeze them for later use. Daily cups of Feverfew Tea (infusion of the dried leaves), tablets, liquid extracts, concentrated drops or capsules are alternative methods of ingestion.
There were two separate (and unheralded) clinical trials with this herb in England during the 80's, showing that Feverfew "significantly reduced" both the frequency and the severity of migraine attacks. No serious side effects have been reported, even with long-term use.
Dr. Daniel Tucker, a West Palm Beach FL internist, immunologist and allergist, had this to say: "I have virtually wiped out the need to treat migraines in my patient population by telling them to try Feverfew."
At your health-food store you can get Feverfew capsules for about 10¢ each. I say it's worth a try if you have migraines.
Anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic Feverfew is approved as an over-the-counter drug in Canada and the United Kingdom.
Feverfew is a blood-thinner, promoting menstrual flow. Do not use it if you are currently taking a prescription anti-coagulant, especially Coumadin.
CAUTION: DO NOT USE FEVERFEW IF YOU ARE PREGNANT OR NURSING. IF YOU ARE ALLERGIC TO RAGWEED, YOU MAY ALSO BE ALLERGIC TO FEVERFEW.
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- The ancient "Stinking Rose"
Of course you know what Garlic IS, but do you know all the wonderful things it can do for your body, besides making you smell vaguely foreign? It is not only one of the most popular culinary herbs, but also it is a powerful and versatile Healing Herb. Perennial Garlic, Allium sativum, has been used medicinally for thousands of years.
Hippocrates used Garlic to treat infections and cancer. Slaves who built the Egyptian pyramids ate Garlic and Onions "for strength." Eating Garlic was credited with saving the lives of certain people who did NOT contract The Plague, when it was killing almost everyone else. In China, Garlic has been a high blood pressure medicine for centuries. It was Louis Pasteur, no less, who first authenticated Garlic's certain ability to kill bacteria.
As we ease into the 21st Century, Garlic's reputation continues to increase. Garlic protects against heart disease by preventing excessive clotting and regulating fats in the blood. We all know that it contains the antioxidant Vitamins A and C, as well as Quercetin and Selenium. Garlic has been found to have high therapeutic value and remarkable effects on the immune and circulatory systems.
Natural Garlic is a powerful, wide-spectrum antibiotic; its Allicin and Diallyl Sulfide constituents even have action against E. coli. It has been used to treat infections since the days of ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome. In both WWI and WWII, Garlic was used to treat dysentery, typhus and wounds. In some parts of Europe and Asia, Garlic is still known as "Russian Penicillin," because the Russians actually did use Garlic when the penicillin ran out. Garlic is effective against the fungus Candida albicans, the fungal infectiion Cryptococcal meningitis, and against the bacteria Staphylococcus and Streptococcus.
Garlic has great nutritional value, containing Vitamins A, B and C, Germanium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Quercetin, Selenium, and at least seventeen Amino Acids. It is a very safe medicinal food and a useful and effective remedy in chronic circulatory problems and infections. Take it for burns, colds, diabetes, earaches, fungus infections of the nails, lung problems, sexually-transmitted diseases, skin infections, toothaches, and tumors.
Drugs such as penicillin, Keflex, and other, increasingly more powerful "-cillins" have been promoted to First Chair in the Antibiotic Orchestra, but Garlic and other botanicals still play a very important Second Fiddle. Remember that penicilin is not BETTER than Garlic; it is merely quicker and much stronger (or USED to be; who knows how strong these constantly-mutating, antibiotic-resistant microbes will get to be by the time this book comes out).
To a Natural kind of guy like me, that's the problem. By being stronger, antibiotics kill everything in their path, including all your "good" bacteria. Garlic is more selective.
By being quicker, antibiotics have spoiled us. We have become indoctrinated to prefer medicines which are FAST and STRONG. Dilute, natural, herbal medicines that take longer to act, just don't fit our schedules. Better you should alter your schedule.
Olive Oil that has had Garlic steeped in it for two or three days (Garlic bits then discarded) will cure athlete's foot, ringworm and jock itch, and will dramatically alter the smell of your sneakers. Wet rubber, toes, and Garlic. Wow.
Garlic lowers cholesterol significantly. Studies show that Garlic eaten with a fatty meal will greatly reduce the resulting level of cholesterol and fats in the blood. Heart-friendly Garlic is used to treat both high and low blood pressure (but how do it know?).
I hate to see an entry of this length go online without a slam at the AMA, so chew on this: during the summer of 1998, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published the results of a German study that seemed to contradict the benefits of Garlic, accepted by herbalists for centuries. The "study" tested Garlic on people with high cholesterol. Conclusions were that Garlic did NOT lower LDL or total cholesterol.
Now, here's the REST of the story: the researchers used Garlic PILLS
instead of fresh Garlic (fresh, whole Garlic is recommended by herbalists world-wide, a well-known fact), and the test was conducted on only 25 people! Yet JAMA published this report as more conclusive evidence of the quackery of herbal medicine!
Conclusions of this import should not be made from a summer study involving only 25 people who are taking Garlic pills, which do not contain all of Garlic's health-promoting, synergistic constituents. This is the kind of "information" one has come to expect from the AMA these days. Donny tells you once again: the AMA spends far too much time sleeping with pharmaceutical manufacturers and the FDA. It is a three-way conspiracy of the highest magnitude, meant to bilk the American Public out of Billions and Billions of dollars, by lying.
Instead of paying doctors to do nothing (or worse) when your child has an ear infection, Donny recommends Garlic Oil over antibiotics. Listen to me: ANTIBIOTICS SHOULD NOT BE USED FOR YOUR CHILD'S EAR INFECTIONS. Antibiotics will only make the infection come back, again and again. To use Garlic Oil, warm a bit of it in a metal spoon over a candle flame. Comfortably warm, I said, NOT HOT (test it on the back of your hand). Put two drops into your child's ear, and put cotton in behind it. Do this once an hour, until the pain is gone.
CAUTION: DO NOT USE GARLIC OIL FOR "SWIMMER'S EAR" OR IF YOU SUSPECT A PUNCTURED EARDRUM.
"Elephant Garlic" (rocambole, also called wild onion), grows wild all over Mississippi, and in my back yard. Very Tasty! Slice a clove and rub it around your salad bowl to improve flavors. Plant Garlic under your fruit trees to keep pests away, and near your roses to potentiate their fragrance.
As food medicine, remember that Garlic is more effective raw and fresh. It loses some zip when it is cooked or processed. To avoid strong breath, you can buy and use Garlic capsules...sold everywhere...but you are advised that Parsley will tone down your Garlic breath. An ancient name for Garlic is "The Stinking Rose," but I personally like the smell of Garlic, especially the smell of a house where Garlic is used often in cooking.
Garlic is currently being researched further, for its efficacy in combating heart disease, cancer and AIDS. Garlic contains Allyl Sulfides, which limit the production by the liver of certain enzymes which actually assist in the development of carcinogens. Therefore, it may prove to be a potent weapon against cancer.
Garlic is an effective detoxifier, protecting the liver.
Said to be a better antioxidant than Vitamin E, Garlic is recognized as an over-the-counter drug by the governments of Canada, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, but of course NOT by our own United States FDA (a bedfellow of pharmaceutical companies).
You are advised that Garlic's ancient reputation for keeping vampires away doesn't seem to work for Democrats.
NOTE: IF YOU REGULARLY USE GARLIC MEDICINALLY, NOTIFY YOUR HEALTHCARE PROVIDER OF THIS FACT, IF YOU ARE SCHEDULED FOR ANY SURGERY. IF HE OR SHE SAYS, "SO?" FIND ANOTHER DOCTOR IMMEDIATELY! DON'T DOUBT FOR AN INSTANT THAT DOCTORS CAN BE IGNORANT AND OBTUSE!
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- a delicious, sweet-tart, cross-species philanderer
Several small trees or shrubs of the Fortunella genus produce Kumquats. These small, Orange-like fruits are eaten rind and all...the rind is actually sweeter than the pulp. Originating in China, the fruit also gets its name, Kam Kwat (Golden Orange), from China.
I had several Kumquat bushes at one of my former Miami residences, but for my friends and myself these fruits were more conversation pieces and oddities than serious food.
I really loved living on this East Kendall estate, which was owned by the parents of friends of mine from South America. A spacious and enclosed corner property of many lots, the grounds featured several of every kind of Citrus tree, as well as Avocados, Kumquats, Loquats and Mangos.
For more than two years this was my home, enclosed swimming pool and all. However, to keep me in my place as Caretaker and to keep me from thinking of myself as Owner, I was ordered never to use the huge master bedroom or its dressing rooms, bathroom and sunning deck. South Americans of European extraction (these German-Basque Venezuelans in particular) are extremely class-conscious.
Cross-pollinating freely with Citrus blossoms (although they are not a true Citrus themselves), Kumquat "trees" also produce Limequats and Lemonquats.
Commercially-available Kumquats come from Florida, California and Brazil. Antiphlegmatic and high in Vitamins A and C, they relieve coughs and colds.
- "New Age" really just means "we are not hippies."
image from The Roots of the New Age
"New Age" stuff is various spiritual and consciousness-raising movements of the 1980's, dating to and inspired by the American counter-cultures of the 1960's and 1970's; that is, Old Hippies, and extending into the present time.
The New Age umbrella covers spiritualism, reincarnation, holistic approaches to health and ecology, and New Age Music, which is free-form and spacy (check out Echoes, Sunday nights on Public Radio International, with John DiLiberto).
A major difference between New Agers and Old Hippies is this (in my opinion): N/A people are even more pretentious and reclusive. You may fairly refer to OpinionSoup as New Age rather than secular humanist, but such categorization is meaningless.
Donny considers many of the New Age web sites Very Far-Out. Like intellectual little butterflies, New Agers have flitted from the Flower Children to the shiny elusiveness of gazing globes, Power Places and crystals. Some of the gaudier sites merely skim the surface of subjects that deserve years of study before writing about them and declaring oneself to be an adherent. Some of this stuff is just kids playing with their new coloring books, you gotta know that.
This evolution is not in my opinion an advancement, as we hippies philosophically were headed East; and, for the most part, the hippies knew what they were about. Today's Not Hippies have turned to the Long Ago and re-named it New.
Mired in neo-magic and superstition, New Agers believe themselves to be a part of something heraldic and wonderful. Donny believes and states that many of them are dilettantes and pretenders. It might cost me a reader or two, saying that, but what the hell. A true iconoclast does not play favorites.
See New Age Spirituality.
- War is Hell on Fruits and Nuts.
click on the pic to order from Hickory Farms
Pistacia vera is an Asian native of the far, antediluvian past, with edible, greenish, nut-like fruits in light-brown shells that are often dyed red. I'm guessing they were first imported to America for sale during the Christmas season, hence the red dye.
"Americans will buy anything during Christmas if it's red and green," I can just hear them saying.
I'll be so embarrassed if that's wrong, but I'll still be smart and good-looking.
Pistachios are botanically related to Mangos and Cashews, say botanists. Donny says, "Right; and I'm similarly related to Donald Trump - do you think he'll be over for dinner?"
Very healthful, pistachios contain Calcium, Iron, Potassium, Protein and Vitamin A. They will help un-cork you if you are constipated, and they are good for your Kidneys and Liver.
Pistachios are an important crop of the Middle East, and we have California pistachios, as well. Most of the world's crop of pistachios is consumed in the United States.
Although Turkish pistachios are smaller and more flavorful than those grown in California, they will have been fumigated before entry into this country. Afghan and Iranian pistachios, whose shells are naturally slightly pinkish, are currently unavailable, having been caught up in the politics of Middle Eastern Nuts.
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- Poetry is the Art Form of saying something.
SOMEONE STOLE MY POEMS
Someone stole my poems
One night in ChicagoThey were in a briefcase
In a car parked on Wells Street
Right under an apartment
Where we played poker all night
And smoked reefer all night
While just below us
Someone was stealing my poemsThey're lost to my memory
Those verses and curses
And sometimes I fancy their fate
A high joke
For the thieves stole a briefcase
Its contents unknown
A guitar (a fast pawn)
And my clothesAnd I wonder if wonder or anger
Was shown on their faces
When
Opened
My briefcase held poemsLATER REFLECTION ON MY LOST POEMS
It was garbage what I wrote those many years ago
Just garbageThey got a name for it
JuvenaliaAnd yet
I'm still angry about itSelf-portrait-in-a-poem is what it was
You seeThat rare and radiant youth
Who then used my nameIn those lines a precious photograph
Forever Lost
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- A New Age name for Hand & Foot Massage
All forms of massage are wonderful, as far as Donny is concerned, but Reflexology CLAIMS go right up to the border of Hocus-Pocus Land. No alternative healing method is made more acceptable by absurd, wide-ranging claims or flirtation with religiosity, but they all seem to do it.
Reflexology is a therapeutic form of foot massage. If you can't locate a Reflexologist or if you can't stand to have your feet touched, get yourself a foot roller, which is not quite as good.
A Reflexology session is helpful for backaches, fatigue, headaches, menstrual problems and poor circulation. After the session, apply some lotion to those puppies and take an eight-hour nap.
Reflexology is not likely to be covered by your insurance carrier, as most doctors and insurance companies scoff at the idea that a professional is needed for foot massage. To tell you the truth, I'm not convinced that a professional is needed for foot massage, either. But who you gonna call?
NOTE: Reflexology also includes massage of the hands, ears, and maybe some other appendages I haven't heard about.
- a major ingredient of Salsa Verde
Physalis ixocarpa is also known as Husk Tomato; it is enclosed in a papery calyx. Although given the American Spanish name "Tomatillo," a diminutive of "Tomate" (Tomato), to which it is related, Tomatillo is, in fact, a Ground Cherry. When ripe, they are yellow.
Native to Mexico and also very popular in Guatemala, Tomatillos are widely naturalized in the United States; they are most often used in sauces and salsa. Once cultivated by the Aztecs, Tomatillos are a major ingredient of salsa verde.
Very high in Vitamin C, Tomatillo is a Nightshade plant; hence, the foliage is poisonous.
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Wiccan image and quotes courtesy of religioustolerance.org. Notice that the pentacle is not inverted, and there is no Baphomet. CLICK HERE to read more.
"We are not evil. We don't harm or seduce people. We are not dangerous. We are ordinary people like you. We have families, jobs, hopes, and dreams. We are not a cult. This religion is not a joke. We are not what you think we are from looking at T.V. We are real. We laugh, we cry. We are serious. We have a sense of humor. You don't have to be afraid of us. We don't want to convert you. And please don't try to convert us. Just give us the same right we give you--to live in peace. We are much more similar to you than you think." ~Margot Adler
"I don't think witchcraft is a religion. I would hope the military officials would take a second look at the decision they made." ~President George W. Bush (R), as Governor of Texas, interviewed on ABC's Good Morning America, 06/24/1999 by Peggy Wehmeyer. The comment relates to Wiccan soldiers having the same religious rights as others in the military.
Donny Says: "Dubya should have stopped at 'I don't think...'."
Wicca, resurrected from The Old Religion, Wisecraft, or Craft of the Wise, inherited the name "Witchcraft" from medieval Christians, who were thoroughly indoctrinated by the Roman Church. In fact, Wicca derives from an ancient, pre-Christian, Western-European nature religion.
The many battles with "witches and Druids" were not really about religion; they were about land-grabbing. Millions of women were murdered in witch hunts during the early Church's power struggles with conquered peoples. These same murderous methods were used by the Spanish in Central America and Mexico, and, of course, in the theft of what would become the United States of America, from its indigenous peoples (who had no concept of ownership of property). I am not indicting anyone; this cruel barbarism is ancient, and it still goes on, to this very day. See Religious War.
The methodical murder of local religious leaders and intellectuals by invaders, then branding them "witches" or "insurrectionists" or whatever, in order to gain approval from the folks back home, is as old as the human race. It's something we have always done, especially with the blessings of The Church or The State, which have often been one and the same.
Spaniards and Holy Mother Church, you will recall, did not see Mexico as a culturally-rich ally; they saw it as a cattle farm, and a source of gold and cheap labor. Roman generals and church leaders did not see Britain for what it was; they saw a strategic western fortress and seaports for their empire. Any local objection was simply wiped out.
Christian propaganda against the indigenous Celtic people and their religions, has never been repudiated by The Church. It grew and became more fervent as the centuries passed. In fact, the objections of modern Christian fundamentalists to Wicca, are based on 15th Century lies that have never died.
Wicca, or Wisecraft, has never had anything to do with Satanism or Devil-Worship (especially the absurd, ridiculously ignorant, modern variety), as Satan is purely a Christian invention. "Witches" or "Hags" who were persecuted by The Church never understood why they were being accused of consorting with The Devil, as they had devils of their own that they were trying deperately to avoid. Under torture, however, they "admitted" anything that their Unholy Inquisitors wanted to hear.
The many modern versions of Wicca are a far cry from the original. You can find Wiccan and Pagan sites all over the www. Some of these people know what they're talking about, and many more of them do not. The ones who talk the most, know the least. Vocal neo-pagan hoi-polloi are invariably young, disenchanted, uneducated, ignorant, and quite intolerant, themselves.
Adherents of The Old Religion made extensive use of herbs, nine of which were sacred: Chamomile, Chervil, Crabapple, Fennel, Mugwort, Nettle, Plantain, Sainfoin and Watercress.
Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner
Living Wicca: A Further Guide for the Solitary Practitioner
OpinionSoup is published by Don Harthcock. OS#25 ©July 2001, 2006 Don Harthcock, OpinionSoup.com. Portions of OpinionSoup may be reproduced on your site with proper credit and a link. This instruction supercedes all previous prohibitions. Taping RP to refrigerators, posting on bulletin boards & emailing to friends is waycool, highly-recommended, and much appreciated.
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