Watch Out For That Common Moorhen!

While trying to relax with a book as a means of escaping the horrible, upsetting, sad news about the children being pulled away from their parents along the southern border, I became distracted by lots of screeching outside my patio, right in front of me.

The Common Moorhen, one of Florida’s popular and very aggressive, territorial  birds, was chasing away a White Ibis.  The Ibis apparently believed his life was on the line.

White Ibis

Common Moorhen

It didn’t matter that the Ibis was 3 times the size of the Moorhen, and its beak was at least 10 times longer!

In the past, I’ve seen these Moorhens chasing away Great White Egrets and Great Blue Herons!

The littoral system that has grown over the years in size from its original builder-planted corner of the lake, to way past my property and past my neighbor’s as well, is the favorite nesting place of the Moorhens.

The pair of Moorhens have had their babies, and they have all disappeared weeks ago.  It was surprising that this one appeared late in the season.

 

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Florida Is Recognizing Disabilities Are Not Only Physical

Florida CRC (Constitutional Revision Commission) will be voting on the proposal for state rights for any disability, not only physical. The word “physical” is struck through.

Click on this link to see the whole proposal (1 page):

Proposal 0030 (2017)

DECLARATION OF RIGHTS, Basic rights; Section 2 of Article I of the State Constitution to provide that a person may not be deprived of any right because of any disability.

FLCRC.GOV

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Florida’s CRC (Constitutional Revision Commission) – Rights of Privacy

The following has been copied from an email I received from Florida ACLU.  So glad I received it.  It’s important to be aware of what our states are doing regarding our guaranteed rights.  It could be they are not “guaranteed” anymore.

Let us be aware!!

Our privacy rights are at stake.

On Thurs., Feb. 1, the Judicial Committee of the Constitution Revision Commission (CRC) is expected to vote on Proposal 22, a dangerous proposal that will eliminate important privacy protections from Florida’s Constitution.

What is the CRC?
Every 20 years, a commission is appointed to examine the Florida Constitution, hold public hearings, and recommend changes to the Florida Constitution that will appear on the ballot. Based on many of the proposals that are being considered, there are several that would be devastating to our existing constitutional protections.

Tell the CRC to reject Proposal 22.

What is Proposal 22?
This proposal abolishes Florida’s constitutional privacy protections, except for those relating to informational privacy. Florida’s Constitution provides greater protections against government overreach than the federal Constitution. It protects us from government surveillance, and government intrusion in personal areas such as marriage, intimate sexual relations, reproductive and personal medical decisions, parenting decisions, such as the right to home school or provide alternative forms of education to children, and more. If proposal 22 is adopted, these protections will disappear.

If we can stop the Judicial Committee from passing Proposal 22, this threat to our right to privacy won’t be put on the ballot.

Tell the CRC to protect our privacy and reject proposal 22!

Pediatricians Say Florida Hurt Sick Kids To Help Big GOP Donors

CNN has done a great investigative job on this.  Here it is in short:

Now we find out Florida is a state that puts politics and money ahead of proper care for suffering, disabled children, according to this excellent investigative report. It’s because of extremely disproportionate donations to the Florida state GOP coffers by the medical insurance companies, as compared to their donations into other states’ GOP coffers.

A professionally-designed, approved questionnaire was used as a screening tool inappropriately to “filter out” children from the special Medicaid program which catered to those children.

Despite protestations from pediatricians,

“In the spring and summer of 2015, the state switched more than 13,000 children out of a highly respected program called Children’s Medical Services, or CMS, a part of Florida Medicaid. Children on this plan have serious health problems including birth defects, heart disease, diabetes and blindness.”

“Nearly half of all children in Florida, are on Medicaid, which has several types of insurance plans. The state switched more than 13,000 children into new plans, many of which did not have the same participating providers that treated these special kids.”

And so, too many of these kids did not get the special medical and surgical treatment they required, due to doctors in the new plans not having the needed additional education and/or experience or were not listed as providers.

“But some Florida pediatricians worry about children with special health care needs who, two years later, are still off the program.  The doctors aren’t just worried; they’re angry.”

• The data analysis the state used to justify switching the children is “inaccurate” and “bizarre,” according to the researcher who wrote the software used in that analysis.
• The screening tool the state used to select which children would be kicked off the program has been called “completely invalid” and “a perversion of science” by top experts in children with special health care needs.
• In fall 2015, a state administrative law judge ruled that the Department of Health should stop using the screening tool because it was unlawful. However, even after the judge issued his decision, the department didn’t automatically re-enroll the children or even reach out to the families directly to let them know that re-enrollment was a possibility.

“These are the sickest and most vulnerable kids, and (changing their insurance) can mean life or death for them,” said Joan Alker, executive director of the Center for Children and Families at Georgetown University. “This is really very troubling.”

Six pediatricians from across Florida gathered to tell CNN their concerns about children losing CMS coverage. They accuse the state of hurting sick kids to help big GOP donors.

Dr. Rishi Agrawal, an associate professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, agreed, adding that Florida should have more carefully considered how the insurance switch would affect the children’s health care.  “The process in Florida was particularly abrupt and poorly executed,” he said.

“It was a scam job,” added Dr. Nancy Wright, a pediatric endocrinologist in Tallahassee who said that dozens of her patients with diabetes were removed from the program.”

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Florida Medical Marijuana Update

SOUTH FLORIDA WILL HAVE LOTS OF CERTIFIED DOCTORS WHO WILL BE ABLE TO PRESCRIBE MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Taken from Sun-Sentinel:

Hundreds of doctors in Florida are now certified since June 16th, who are able to  recommend medical marijuana for patients, and one of the biggest concentrations is in South Florida.

The state is moving forward to implement a constitutional amendment approved by voters; however, patients in some parts of the state have no access and insurance does not cover marijuana, so poorer patients could be priced out of the market.

• State lawmakers eliminated the original 90 day waiting period to get medical marijuana;
• There are now 957 doctors in Florida qualified to recommend medical marijuana, with 357 of them in South Florida;
• Monroe county has the most certified doctors, with one for every 8,208 residents in the county;
• Of Florida’s 30 largest cities, Boca Raton has the state’s highest per capita number of certified doctors;
• Doctors “recommend” marijuana rather than “prescribe” it, because it is a federally-controlled substance.

HOW CAN I GET IT?

Patients must have a qualifying ailment.  Those include cancer, epilepsy, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, PTSD, ALS, Crohn’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease, multiple sclerosis (MS), or “other debilitating medical conditions of the same kind or class,” per the amendment’s language.

To find a local doctor, go to http://SunSentinel.com/marijuanadoctors

You can also go to Floridahealth.gov, or call the Florida Department of Health’s Office of Medical Marijuana Use at 850-245-4657.

Patients can receive a 70-day supply at a time.  When that is exhausted, they must get another recommendation, which can be phoned in.  After 30 weeks, patients must once again see their doctor in person.

A typical in-person visit costs about $250.  Patients must also pay a $75 fee for their medical marijuana card; then, there’s the cost of the marijuana which ranges from about $100 to $200 for a 70-day supply.

At his Boca Raton clinic, one doctor treats about 50 patients.  He has used the law’s “other debilitating medical conditions” provission to prescribe (recommend) marijuana for auto-immune diseases similar to Crohn’s, severe arthritis and chronic pain from nervous system damage.

A photo ID is required on the card in order to be placed on the state registry, and there has been a steady increase in the volume of applications since Amendment 2 went into effect.

There are now 12 growers and there will be 5 more added in October.  They agree they have enough capacity to supply patient demand.

 

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I Was A Homeless Person

…for three days in 1990!

Today (September 28th, 2016) is the 26th anniversary of my official residency as a Floridian.  Three days before, on September 25th, 1990, I gave up my citizenship as a legal resident of the State of New York, as I signed on the dotted line to sell my house.

It was a big, new adventure; one which held an unknown future for my then husband, Dan, myself and his Mom.  That’s what I called it, as we drove into Delaware on US I-95.  “A new adventure,” I announced to Mom.  I felt excited and positive.  Little did I know, as we settled into our first motel stay and I got my first mosquito bites which were of major proportions, what was in store for our future.

We were a caravan of two cars and were “attached” by a CB system that Dan rigged up.  It was very basic, but served the purpose in notifying when we intended to stop at a service area.  Dan led the way in his car.

I followed, with Mom in my back seat.  She was 86, full of trepidation; full of trepidation, because we couldn’t leave her in Long Beach.  She had no one there on whom she could depend if she needed help.  Friends had moved away to be near their kids, or died.  Nothing was left there for her.  She really didn’t want to leave, but there was no other choice.

Mom was very comfortable what with pillows and blanket to insure her comfort. She was of small stature and she fit right in on the bench seat of my 1986 Ford Granada – turbo engine, of course.  Ha ha.

We were making very good time.  I had arranged for motel stops and the next one was located in Georgia.  When we got there, it was only  3:00pm, and we decided that it was too early and had the manager call ahead to another one in St. Augustine, Florida.

We lost all the time we made before that motel stop in Georgia.  We got caught up in the Jacksonville rush hour traffic.  What a bummer!

Mom was very tired after the two days’ travel, so she just wanted to rest when we arrived in St. Augustine.  We decided that we would bring her back some food, which we did after enjoying our supper in a casual restaurant.

We had visited that city previously, some years before, and found ourselves wandering about, and visited some of our favorite places.  It is such a quaint, old city, and it was a pleasure to stretch our legs and feet over cobble stones!

After an exhausted sleep in St. Augustine, and after five more hours of driving, we finally arrived at our first destination at Forest Trace in Broward county.  It had opened only a year before; it was beautiful (we had visited it a couple of months earlier).  Mom was settled in at her apartment:  she was warmly welcomed by the staff, and made to feel at ease.  Her rented furniture was in place, so she was able to rest after the long trip.

At the same time we had made arrangements for Mom’s apartment, we made arrangements for an apartment in a nearby apartment complex for ourselves.  Our rented furniture had been delivered in our apartment, overseen by the complex office manager.

All our furniture and Mom’s were sold in New York.  This was really a new start for us all!

It was an odd feeling I had, knowing I didn’t have a place where I could call “home.”  I had a destination, but those three days had me feeling “displaced.”  And, in another way, it was a free feeling because during those days, I had no responsibilities.  No tethers.  It was peculiar, but, yes, exciting.

Everything went smoothly.  That was a good feeling.  The next day, we went to the court house, and signed a “Declaration of Domicile.”  We were no longer HOMELESS!

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A Group of White Ibises Had a Meeting…

 

…in my backyard.

Ibises are considered endangered, so it is a real treat to see them on occasion.  Sometimes, I see them gathered in the middle of the street, clacking away to each other while making a decision as to where they want to fly to next.  As I drive down the street, I stop and wait for them to make up their minds.

If you would like to see great photos of other kinds of Ibises (there are many subspecies of various colors), click on this link.

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Meet Mr. Great Blue Heron

 

The most beautiful of all the large tropical birds makes his appearance occasionally along the edge of the lake behind my house.  I was so excited to be able to take these latest photos through my bedroom window yesterday morning.

They are poetry in motion.  They are very graceful, given their size, and they walk with a regal gait.  You can’t help to take notice when these birds appear.

 

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A Florida Poll On Medical Marijuana

According to a poll, reported on Johnny Green’s blog, “The Weed Blog,” there is enough Florida voters (with wiggle room), that will make our quest a reality.

This is exciting news, and let’s hope the figures don’t lie, and we will finally see all the hard work come to fruition!

Please read:

Latest Poll Shows 65% Support For 2016 Florida Medical Marijuana Initiative

 

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Patches Loves To Sunbathe

This gallery contains 5 photos.

Originally posted on Pussy Cats 3:
The patio is very sunny, since it faces south.  Patches is the only one of the three who likes to sunbathe, and the patio is perfect. She’s feeling good right now, “soaking up” those UV…