Graduate from High School Without Setting Foot on Campus

Myrna wrote: You can graduate and never go to the campus. One girl moved to Texas and is flying back this spring to graduate.‏

Juab School District Online Courses
Welcome to the Wasp Online Home Page! 

Please review the Wasp Online Course catalog below to determine which online courses you are interested in taking.  Once you have identified a course, please meet with your school counselor to discuss your interest in taking the course and how it will fit into your Student Education and Occupation Plan (SEOP).  Once you have the approval of your high school counselor, contact Melinda Clark, the Juab High School Wasp Online Coordinator, by telephone at (435) 623-1288, or by email at melinda.clark@juab.k12.ut.us. 


AnnMarie wrote: Looks like Provo might offer more classes than the state school board does.  I'm not sure.  Here is the link for electronic high school http://www.schools.utah.gov/ehs/.  Alyssa is taking a class through EHS and receiving THS credit.

Babysit

Would you guys be up/available for flying here to stay with the kids next month?  Jared has a conference in San Diego and he'd like me to go with him.  He leaves the 15th and is back on Saturday or Sunday (18th/19th).  We'd take Natalie with us, of course.  No pressure if you can't; there's a girl in our ward who can and needs the cash for her wedding, but I thought I'd check with you first.

Love

Kirsten

Flowers for Merlene

Kirsten wrote:Did anyone want to do a plant or something from our family?

Myrna wrote: Dad decided to call the florist at home tonight. We spent $90. That makes it $10 each. We had your names each listed. I am also making a cake from me, at the request of the Relief Society. Love, M

I'm sorry that I did not think about calling the florist last night when we got home. I don't know what my problem is. I guess I am just nuts.

AnnMarie Howard wrote: Yes, I want to be included.  I wish we could include apricot blossoms, but, alas, we are in the wrong season.

Kirsten wrote: I'm not sure everyone wanted to go in.  I had only heard positives on my email from Todd and  Ams.  We can do more than $10, if that is the case.  I was planning on $15-$20.

Myrna wrote: Julie and David told me in person. Shawn called and is thinking of coming to the funeral and he will go in. Eric is the only one I haven't heard from. Did you send it to Amy? His email is down. He does get text messages but I'll be hanged if I can figure out how to do those on my "new" phone (it is not actually new anymore but I still can't figure it out).

Kirsten wrote: Just talked to mom and dad.  They are ordering some from Nephi Floral in the morning and having it come from all of us; if any of you want to add to the pot, let mom and dad know.  I know we will sure miss her!  

Kirsten wrote: Did not send to Amy.  I will send you the moola.  Thanks for ordering on behalf of us all.  Wish I could be there to pay my respects.

Myrna wrote: We have debated back and forth about whether we should do money in a card or give flowers. Flowers look beautiful at the funeral and on the grave but it is cold here and they are sure to freeze in a day or two. I think the family is all well enough off that money is not an issue. I have, from time to time, paid for the meat for a funeral so the family did not have to. We have missed the one viewing because we cannot order flowers here on Sunday and it was this evening. However, we could have flowers there for the viewing and the funeral in the morning.



Kirsten wrote: I still think flowers are the way to go.


Myrna wrote: So does Dad. Flowers it is.

Shawn: Count me in. 

Cahoots

Gordon Smith wrote: I have been in many places, but I've never been in Cahoots. Apparently, you can't go alone. You have to be in Cahoots with someone.   I've also never been in Cognito. I hear no one recognizes you there.   I have, however, been in Sane. They don't have an airport; you have to be driven there. I have made several trips there, thanks to my friends, family and work.   I would like to go to Conclusions, but you have to jump, and I'm not too much on physical activity anymore.   I have also been in Doubt. That is a sad place to go, and I try not to visit there too often.   I've been in Flexible, but only when it was very important to stand firm.   Sometimes I'm in Capable, and I go there more often as I'm getting older.   One of my favorite places to be is in Suspense! It really gets the adrenalin flowing and pumps up the old heart! At my age I need all the stimuli I can get!   I may have been in Continent, and I don't remember what country I was in. It's an age thing.

PLEASE DO YOUR PART!
Today is one of the many National Mental Health Days throughout the year. You can do your bit by remembering to send an e-mail to at least one unstable person. My job is done!   Life is too short for negative drama & petty things. So laugh insanely, love truly and forgive quickly! From one unstable person to another...

I hope everyone is happy in your head - we're all doing pretty good in mine!

I Just Got the Message

Myrna wrote: Sorry. I am just reading this. It is too late to call (12:25 a.m.) and the kids are in bed and asleep. Bree is home from the hospital as of today. It was a surprise to us because David had thought that they were going to keep her for a couple of weeks. He said the doctors thought it was going to take that long to get the meds adjusted. It must not have done. I barely talked to him because I was helping Caydin and so I handed the phone to Erin and she handed it to Donovin who handed it to LHT. We are taking the kids back tomorrow afternoon after church. I will tell him that you are trying to call. Did you try to text David? Sometimes, even though the phone is off, he will get the message when he turns it back on again. We play phone tag a lot as I do with all my kids. (I call and leave a message and then they call and leave a message and then I call and leave a message. . .) Donovin built this great ferris wheel out of her magnetic connect toy. She helped Erin learn her fractions which had been so confusing for her. We ate supper there, then we came home and got everyone in bed and then I looked at my email on the computer.

The three kids spent the day playing with Julie and family. They went sledding, played in the snow, made homemade potato chips, and did lots of other fun kid things. They even ended up filling a honey order for a woman who unexpectedly came to buy some.

Barbara wrote: Myrna: thank you so much for writing this.  I so enjoyed hearing about the kids and what they are doing.  It sounds wonderful.  I had the wrong number for David.  I finally got ahold of both of them yesterday.  Thank you again.

 

Insurance won't pay, so they kicked her out.  I hate our system.  Good ole bottom line.  How much is enough?  Oh well, I am working on getting there as quickly as possible, and I can help with Caydin.  I know he is a handful, but I also really believe that some of his behavior problems are because of her depression and anger.  He is feeling her emotional "offness."  

 

I am sitting here working, and keeping busy between calls.  I really like what I am doing, but ATT took a big hit when that merger fell thru, and they are really getting strange about their call centers.  I know I will have a job with Convergys, maybe not with ATT.  

 

Cant wait to get to St. George.  Have a great day.  

Barbara

Erin, Donovin and Caydin

Myrna wrote: We have had calls from some of you about this. Bree is doing better and is now home from the hospital. We are taking the three kids back tomorrow (Sunday) after church. I think that she has the medication she is taking adjusted so that she should be fine. She has a six-month cycle and was diagnosed as Bipolar 1. They have adjusted her medications and told her that one she was taking only worked when it was taken with food. David said that the only problem with that was that no one, doctor or pharmacist, had ever told them that. Now they know. David has appreciated your texts and your concern. He has told you that himself, I am sure, but he told Dad and I that and we are passing it along.

Barbara  is moving to be with them. She has missed the grandkids a lot, I am certain. I know from experience that it is not so fun to be far away from any of them.

June Benson, Another Nephi Friend Dies

Manning-Wheatley Funeral Chapel

---

June Leland Benson 
(December 24, 1918 - January 24, 2012)

Nephi, Utah - After a long, fulfilling life, June Leland Benson returned home to his Heavenly Father, Tuesday, January 24, 2012, where many of his loved ones awaited his arrival.

He was born on Dec. 24, 1918, in Lava Hot Springs, Idaho, the son of James and Alta Benson. After graduating from high school, he set aside his dream of becoming an aviator to join his father on the farm. Together they built a successful farming enterprise. Many would go on to say they grew the best seed potatoes in Idaho.


He married Virginia Green in 1940 and they were later sealed in the Salt Lake Temple. They were blessed with three children, Randy, Kirk, and Dyan.


In 1946, during World War II, June was called to serve in the US Navy. He was trained as a Radar Technician aboard the USS Fargo and honorably served his country.


June and Virginia worked side by side on the farm until 1969 when they moved to Blackfoot, Idaho, where he became a foreman at American Potato Company. He cared for and cherished his beloved wife, Virginia, until her death in 1981. After retiring, he moved to Utah to be close to his children.


In 1986, he met and married Wendy Briggs Vorhies in the Manti, Utah Temple. They have made their home in Nephi, Utah, where they have had a wonderful, happy life together. June has always loved Wendy's children, Robert, Angelica and Jason as his own.


June was a faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He served in many different callings. One of his greatest joys was serving in the Idaho Falls and Manti Temples.


His passion for growing things never ended. "You can take the farmer off the farm but not the farm out of the farmer". He continued to produce amazing vegetable gardens throughout his life.


His greatest love was that of family. Every child, grandchild, and great grandchild was precious to him. (26 grandchildren, 54 great grandchildren) Thank you, Dad, for leaving a legacy of integrity, hard work, kindness and faith.


The family would like to express sincere gratitude for all of the wonderful health care professionals at the Nephi Medical Center who gave our Dad such special care.
Funeral services will be held Saturday, January 28, 2012 at 11:00 a.m. at the Nephi, Utah L.D.S. 8th Ward Chapel (corner of 1st E. & 4th S.) with Bishop Brett Ludlow, officiating. Interment will be in the Lava Hot Springs Cemetery on Saturday, January 28, 2012 at approximately 4:00 p.m. with military graveside rites provided by the Lava Hot Springs American Legion Post 88. The family will receive friends on Friday evening January 27, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Nephi L.D.S. 8th Ward Chapel and on Saturday, from 10:00 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. also at the church. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Manning-Wheatley Funeral Chapel, 510 N. 12th Ave. Pocatello, Idaho.

Some family at Julie's

Myrna wrote: Taken via cell phone. I know it is blurry. Sometimes blurry is better than nothing. Someday there may be the tech to clear it up.

Merlene Died at 96

Merlene Collard 

  |   Visit Guest Book

1916 ~ 2012
Merlene Collard, age 96, passed away January 25, 2012 at her home in Nephi, Utah.
She was born January 17, 1916 in Levan, Utah to James Andreas and Nicoline Christine Nielsen Christensen. She married Victor LeGrande Collard December 13, 1936 in Nephi, Utah. He died August 17, 1994.She was an active member of the LDS church and served in many callings for her ward. She believed in serving others and was always happy to do so. She was a wonderful mother and grandmother, sacrificing her needs for others. She loved Nephi and her friends and neighbors.
She is survived by her children, Dean (Katie) Collard of Monticello, UT; Kathleen (Dave) Johnson of Midvale, UT; Ina Jean Crisman of Springfield, Missouri; Marsha (George) Shupe, Montrose, Colorado; 13 grandchildren, 48 great grandchildren, and 20 great great grandchildren. Preceded in death by her husband, Victor; daughter, Nancy L. Kirkpatrick; and 15 brothers and sisters.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, January 30, 2012 in the Nephi 2nd Ward, 222 South 100 East. Family and friends may call Sunday evening from 6-8 p.m. at the Anderson Funeral Home, 94 West 300 North and one hour prior to the services at the church. Interment will be in the Nephi Vine Bluff Cemetery.

Published in Deseret News on January 29, 2012

Natalie Video

Brigitta wrote: I found an old picture of grandpa and I couldn't help drawing it‏

Brigitta wrote: It's just a rough sketch. Hope you like it.


Myrna wrote: We love it! Thanks so much, Sweetheart. Gramps and I think you have great talent.

Are you going to make him the star of a cartoon? I have some good lines for you. ;-)

Erin would like a copy. Her cell phone number is: 970-417-0568. She and her siblings are here because their mom is in the hospital.


Brigitta wrote: I'd love some lines.

I'm sorry to hear it. I'll send it to her. Hope things are going better, tell her hi for me.

Barbara

Barbara wrote: Myrna:  Have you heard from David.  His phone is turned off.  I havent heard in two days.  I'd really like to know how Bree is doing and what the inevitable plan is.  If he calls tonight for the kids, please ask him to call me.  Thank you.
Love ya, Barbara

Barbara About Bree

Barbara wrote: Myrna, 
 
How are the kids doing?
 
I am moving the 23rd of next month.  That is in 3 weeks.  I am bringing my job with me.  I love it.  I will get my own place as quickly as possible, but I will be there to help with the kids.  I have missed them so much.   
 
I had hoped that Bree was improving.  I hurt very much for her.  I think maybe that her ability to handle stress is almost nil.  Part of her psychosis.  I hope the Drs. in St. George can help.  I know they won't be moving again, I do believe they are "home."  So, she can plan long term to get the help she needs.    
 
I have given a lot of thought about David "living in the bed he made."  I know Bree was feeling that here, that he was doing just that.  I had hoped that moving would bring them closer together.  I know this is unbelievably hard on David.  He works very hard and deserves more.  And Bree just wants to be loved.  
 
Let me know about the kids.  You are a good friend and a great grandmother.  I hope you are doing well.  
 
Barbara

Myrna wrote: They are great and we enjoy them. I hope that when you move we will still be called on to help. We like doing that. I have hated being too far away to help.

Myrna wrote: I don't know why Bree feels that way about David. He couldn't love her more. No matter what happens he still loves her. Maybe she thinks that she is unloveable but it is not true. She just has an illness that she needs help with. I have NEVER heard anyone say that David had "made his bed." I know that we all grieved that her father was at death's door and then were happy to find out that it was not true.

No one is casting stones. We know how wonderful it has been to have Eric receive the right treatment and to be doing so well. We are happy about that and we will be happy when that happens for Bree. Consistent care is necessary.

Going Nuts About Coconut Oil!

By Audrey Kunin, MD

I love to cook. Yet much of my domestic culinary life has been shadowed by my obsession to remove unhealthy saturated fats from my family's diet. After all, isn't it a given that fat is bad for you? And haven't I struggled with my weight, my heart health and my love of a good French fry?

As a dermatologist, I've taken comfort in the knowledge that many of those good-for-us unsaturated fats also have healthy skin benefits. The omega-3s from sources like fish, walnuts and olive and canola oils work to keep skin less eczema-prone, and reduces dryness and sensitivity. Hair looks lustrous and becomes less brittle while nails get stronger.

Yet I have avoided one of my favorite food sources due to my concern that it was high in "bad" fat. Warned about the high levels of saturated fat found in coconut oils, I sadly said goodbye to coconut milk-based sauces, macaroons, piña  coladas and Mounds bars. My palate protested the unfairness of a plant saturated with saturated fat!

To my delight, I’ve since learned that sometimes a "bad" fat (at least in modest portions), can be a skin-healthy choice. Initially, I discovered that my general health concerns about using either coconut or coconut oil in my recipes was unfounded. Coconut oil is composed of an unusual medium chain fatty acid. These fats don't wreak the havoc on the cardiovascular system that its saturated-fat cousins cause.

Virgin coconut oil has an amazing ability to fight free-radical damage, presumably because it is rich in ferulic and p-coumaric acid. Consumed, this means these powerful antioxidants can fight free-radical damage and is now yet another tool in my wrinkle-busting arsenal. Applied topically, it has been shown to be useful in wound healing.

A recent journal article put omega-3-rich fish oils head to head with omega-6-rich coconut oil. Guess what they found? A diet rich in omega-3 fish oil alone led to a significant decrease in the body's ability to fight free-radical damage, presumably due to a noticeable drop in blood levels of vitamins E and A.

End result, while fish oils decreased plasma blood fats, they created a challenge to the antioxidant defense system. Not good news for banishing wrinkles. The best way to handle this for maximum skin health is to incorporate both omega-3 and omega-6 fats into your diet, both in moderation, of course.

Another plus, coconut oil contains lauric acid which boosts immunity and fights infection. The only other major source is mother's milk. Presumably for one prone to skin concerns that leave broken skin exposed to possible bacterial infection (such as eczema), having adequate levels of lauric acid could prove useful in reducing the risk of a secondary bacterial infection.

And finally, it has been suggested that individuals consuming virgin coconut oil instead of soybean, olive or corn oils may see a boost in metabolism and an edge in their attempts to lose weight. Now isn't that worth cooking for?

Coconut Oil

Gordon Smith wrote: Myrna, what do you think? Gordon

 

Coconut oil Please take the time to watch this video....it could be life changing   There is a short video add before the coconut oil video starts. Coconut oil — watch to the end - A Real Eye Opener!

http://www.cbn.com/media/player/index.aspx?s=/mp4/LJO190v1_WS

Myrna wrote: I'm going to get some as soon as possible. I always worry about not knowing who I am at some point. I actually saw another report by Dr. Oz that also recommended pure coconut oil. 

www.doctoroz.com/videos/coconut-oil-super-powers-pt-1

nutiva.com/articles/dr-oz-on-the-superpowers-of-coconut-oil/

Barbara wrote: Yep, getting the coconut oil, you know, it might help Bree.  I know it will help me.  Thanks for the info.  And I am still glad Alan is not dying.  (To be honest, I just didn't really believe, at any time, that he was.)  I guess that is why I finally called him.  LOL, and LOL.  We are glad.  I kept texting Bree that I knew she wasn't telling me "everything."  

Between Two Moms

You told me that David told Leonard, in Gunnison when they went hunting, that he had "made his bed."  Maybe it wasn't as negative as I took it.  I hope not.  Any way, I just want what is best for both of them.  I admire David so much for just sticking with her, I just want it to be for the right reason, because he loves her, and not because he has to fullfull some "obligation."  
 
That is all beside the point, they are adults and need to figure it out if they want to be happy.  Right now all I really care about is that the kids are OK.  I know both David and Bree want the kids to spend as much time with you and Leonard as you both can stand.  It is good for them and it is the only way they can really know their grandparents.  
 
I will still be working.  She needs help with Caydin more than anything.  I want to be able to help her with him.  And I want to watch the kids grow up.  I miss them so much.  
 
Not coming to take over, but to just help out and to be near them.  I don't want you to think I mean that in a negative way.  I do have a tendency to take over.  Not any more.  But, I also believe that until Bree gets better it will be good for the kids to have me close, a little bit of security when she goes bonkers.  
 
I am doing so well it scares me.  I needed to be away from the two big kids.  It will be different now.  
 
Love you lots.  I do consider you my friend, so you can say anything to me.     
 
Barbara 

Myrna wrote: Good grief! I do not remember that at all. Maybe I should start taking coconut oil to improve my memory. I only know that David tells me that he loves Bree. I think, from seeing them together, that it is quite true that he does. He is devoted. I do think that his love for her is apparent. I can't even imagine him saying anything like that. When they were living in St. George and she was in need of treatment, he did not say that. He was just interested in getting her the help and care that she needed to get better.

Leonard does not remember David ever saying anything negative about his life with Bree. He only remembers him saying that they had many good times together and that he enjoyed being a family man.

That comment could certainly sound negative. I am certain that it was not meant that way. Oh, dear. I just have no recollection of it at all. I want to be remembered as always supporting the pair of them and their wonderful children. 

Maybe I was talking about the dog. Hehehe. Leonard did bring him back to live in Nephi, remember? We actually enjoyed the creature. I am not much of a pet person because their fur causes me so much trouble. But we did enjoy having their dog stay here for awhile.


Barbara wrote: I had to laugh out loud, I just reread your first message, about being glad Alan isn't dying.  Yea, arent' we all.  And now the coconut oil.  LOL LOL ROTFL; my daughter just has such a way of so totally messing with her own life.  Maybe she is the one that needs the coconut oil.  LOL again.  Maybe I do.  LOL  We can all partake.  Im going to read the article now.  Will let you know what I think.

Eva and open house for Kansas City Temple

Eva Dixon 1/25/12 

Hi, Thanks for the recipe, I will have to try them; they sound good.  Did you see the announcement of the open house of the Temple  in Kansas City Missouri  on April 7-21?   it is actually built in Liberty which is a suburb across the street to Kansas City.   My friend wanted me to come back for it and Edna wrote from Virginia, Wouldn't it be good it she could meet me there and we could go together.  She walks with a walker but I told her I would have to have a wheel chair and someone to push it,.  I could not ask my friend, she is 85, even though she does really well but getting chair in & out of a car then pushing it would be rough on her.   If wishes were fishes, we would all have a fry.  David and Eulale will be there.  He has to go for an inspection on the Stake Center again and they will be there for Eulale's birthday on the 18th.  It is so neat the Edna and her  son Dale are interested in going. I do not think I would be able to do it again; it took me two weeks to recuperate from last time  and it was only two days.  Too much sitting and walking ; my back does not like either one. 

How is AnneMarie?  and Todd?  I put both if their names on the prayer roll  today and Melanie and Mckala too.  When Will they get to Texas?      Have a good week,   love,  Eva

Top 10 Chocolate Treats (100 calories or less!)
1. 4 Hershey’s Kisses (100 calories)
2. 1 cup diet hot cocoa and 1 chocolate graham cracker (80 calories)
3. 1 JELL-O fat-free chocolate pudding snack (100 calories)
4. 1 Quaker Chocolate Crunch popcorn cake (60 calories)
5. 1 cup strawberries drizzled with1 Tbsp. fat-free hot fudge (100 calories)
6. 1/2 cup fat-free chocolate frozen yogurt (100 calories)
7. 20 chocolate-covered raisins (80 calories)
8. 1/2 cup General Mills Cocoa Puffs cereal (60 calories)
9. 2 Snackwell’s Devil’s Food Cookie Cakes (100 calories)
10. 2 bite-size York Peppermint Patties (100 calories)

Chocolate Truffles
(Grandmother Smith used to make these. They are yummy!)
1 (8-oz.) package fat-free cream cheese, at room temperature
4 cups confectioners’ sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp. vanilla
Cocoa powder (optional)
Combine cream cheese, sugar, cocoa powder and vanilla extract in a bowl; freeze mixture 30-60 minutes. Remove from freezer and form into 1" balls; roll in cocoa powder, if desired. Freeze 30 minutes or until firm. Makes 40 truffles. Nutritional value per truffle: 60 calories and 1 gram fat.

Bree

Myrna wrote: Bree is in the hospital in St. George because, in her bipolar state, she is so depressed. David is naturally worried about her. He does not care if you all know and I think that it is important that you do know so that you can all rally around. I am certain that he thinks that none of his siblings are interested in what he calls his "crazy and drama-filled" life. This may be another cycle of Bree's as we know that bipolar folks do cycle until their medications are finally stabilized. I do not want any of  you to  just think, "Oh, well." In fact, to me, David sounds depressed himself. I understand that he would be. There is no question but that he loves Bree dearly and is committed to her and to the children. Incidentally, his father-in-law is not really dying anytime soon. That was just Bree trying to get a chance to go see him. He has been sick with another bout with his Hepatitis C but it is being handled by medications. He is not in critical condition. David said it was just a signal, that he missed, that Bree was cycling downward. It is a relief to know that the family will not have to suffer so great a loss anytime soon.

AnnMarie wrote: Are you or Dad going to go there?  Who has Cayden?

Myrna wrote: We offered to go there but David was concerned about the storm. He wants us to meet him and take Caydin again for a few days. He was taking a couple of days off and then would decide when and where. Last time, we picked Caydin up at Cove Fort. Dad says he thinks Beaver may be the spot. David says the kids have a lot going at school right now or he would take them out of school and bring them up for the week. Bree is usually in the hospital for a couple of weeks. I suppose it depends on how well and how quickly she responds to treatment. 

Kirsten wrote: I knew his father-in-law wasn't dying soon because he's only stage 2... takes a lot more than that, unfortunately, poor guy.  I said something to David about it only being stage 2, but he was understandably very concerned.  I'll text him; he seems to respond better that way.  Kirsten

Re: Blank Post

Todd wrote: You know.... I was thinking the same thing, but you put it so eloquently. :)

Myrna wrote: I thought so as well. When your mind is a blank, that is what comes out. Nothing.

Seminary Broadcast--Alyssa

Just found the link for those of you who are too far away to go to the Broadcast. (This is for you, Melanie, who is driving through Tennessee.)  The seminary website said it will be live streamed at 6:00 p.m. MST.

 

http://seminary.lds.org/history/centennial/eng/


Only me and the two teens.  She only got 3 tickets.

On Sat, Jan 21, 2012 at 8:49 PM, Myrna Trauntvein wrote:

Are you Howards going up to the broadcast? 

---

Date: Sat, 21 Jan 2012 10:29:17 -0700

Subject: Seminary Broadcast - Alyssa

From: annmariethoward@gmail.com

For those of you who will be attending the broadcast for the 100th Anniversary of Seminary tomorrow from Temple Square, Alyssa is in the seminary choir.  She has a deep purple shirt and her trademark long blond hair.  She is up there now for the camera and sound checks.

Ams

Todd Doesn't Think He is Going to Hold His Breath

Myrna wrote:
After 20 years, do you really think this will happen?

Ender's Game hitting big screen with big names
By Travis Poppleton
For the Deseret News

Published: Sunday, Jan. 22 2012 11:54 a.m. MST
Sci-fi fans are finally feeling optimistic about a project they've waited more than 20 years to see.

When "Ender's Game" hit bookshelves back in 1985, fans of the eventual series started asking themselves, "When are they going to make this into a movie?" Rumors of a film adaptation have circulated since then, and multiple attempts to get the project off the ground have collapsed, many of which included the book's author, Orson Scott Card, as screenwriter.

Recently, several sources, including an article from "Variety," have confirmed that not only is the film officially slated for 2013, but that "Indiana Jones" star Harrison Ford, "Little Miss Sunshine" Abigail Breslin, "True Grit" sensation Hailee Steinfeld, and Academy Award winner Ben Kingsley are just a few of the big names attached to the project.


Todd wrote: Amy and I are going to the mid-night showing. We'll have to take Tyler and Emily later. Tyler wants to go to the midnight show as well, but we aren't willing to pull him out of school for that.

About Penicillin‏

AnnMarie wrote: It was a shot in the dark anyway.  I'm not sad that I am not taking it.  I have already taken two different types of antibiotics and it is not getting me anywhere.

Myrna wrote: AnnMarie, I do not think that you are really allergic to penicillin. I think, that if I were you, I would have them give me a test and make sure I really was. Can you take amoxicillin?

Because of your father's allergy to penicillin, one of the Nephi doctors thought none of you should have it. He also thought that I should not have it because my grandmother was allergic to it. Both Grandma Smith and Dad had serious reactions where their breathing was affected and where they had a lot of swelling. Both required epinephrine shots to get over it. However, when my grandmother broke her leg they gave her penicillin injections with something to prevent an allergic reaction and she got along fine. Our doctors in Provo told me that I most likely was not allergic to it because I can take amoxicillin and ampicillin. Dr. Riley Clark also said that it was common to get a small lump where the needle went in when shots were given. I think a couple of you did get those small lumps. That was really not an allergic reaction where your breathing was affected (which is) or where you had hives or generalized swelling. I was always concerned because of your dad and my grandmother. However, I have always been able to take oral penicillin. I did have a reaction to a shot early on. As it turns out, some injected penicillin was suspended in beeswax and peanut oil and we know that, over the years, I have developed a worse and worse allergy to beeswax. Dr. Clark was the one who first told me about that as he made a connection between the beeswax suppository (that caused me all sorts of grief) that I had been prescribed and the shot.

"One of the main disadvantages of penicillin as a chemotherapeutic agent is that the kidney is able to eliminate it from the blood in a relatively short time, making it necessary that injections be repeated fairly frequently in order to maintain a therapeutic blood level for a long period. This is, of course, most undesirable from the patient's point of view and many workers have attempted to find means whereby the number of injections per twenty-four hours could be lessened. The most promising method so far developed to this end is that introduced by Romansky and Rittman (1944), who incorporated the penicillin in a mixture of peanut oil (arachis oil) and beeswax. This mixture had the property, when injected into the body, of giving a slow release of penicillin, with consequent prolongation of detectable blood levels and therefore a reduction of the number of injections required." (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/.../pdf/brjvendis00175-0021.pdf)

The History of the Peanut Allergy Epidemic by Heather Fraser - 2010

Michelle Berriedale-Johnson reviews Heather Fraser's shocking new book which suggests that the peanut allergy epidemic, which has seen a thousand-fold increase in the incidence of peanut allergy in children over the last 12 years, was a disaster waiting to happen, which could have been foreseen by anyone studying the medical literature on injection, vaccination and allergy.

What constitutes an epidemic? If a thousand-fold increase in the incidence of an illness (from 416,000 to 4,500,000 in the space of 12 years) does not, what does?

These are the figures for the incidence of peanut allergy in children in the USA in 1997 and 2009 and they must surely suggest that this is no ordinary allergy.

This is the core argument of Heather Fraser’s gripping new book, The History of the Peanut Allergy Epidemic. The peanut phenomenon is something separate from the generally acknowledged rise in allergy/atopy and, if only one cares to look, its genesis and its progress are there for all to see. But no one – scientists, medical researchers, biochemists, doctors, legislators and, especially, pharmaceutical companies – has cared to look.

The overview below gives the bones of Heather Fraser’s thesis but for anyone with more than just a passing interest in peanut allergy her immensely detailed, carefully referenced book is both essential reading – and essential ammunition for those battling to come to terms with and to manage this horrendous condition.

The book can be had as a soft back book, or as an E-book. At C$19.99 plus shipping for the printed book and at a mere £7.63 as an E-book it is excellent value. Check in at Heather’s website – www.peanutallergyepidemic.com to buy the book and for more information about both Heather and the book’s genesis.

Heather’s tale relates very specifically to the United States of America and Canada, but the pattern is repeated throughout the Western World and wherever WHO guidelines are followed.

The story has several strands…

Anaphylaxis

Although not known by that name, anaphylaxis has been known from ancient times – an illustration in an Egyptian tomb from around 3,000 BC shows a man suffering from an anaphylactic reaction to a bee sting.

In the early years of the 20th century, Charles Richet showed that although it was very difficult to create an anaphylactic reaction to a food that was eaten, and was therefore modified and neutralised by powerful stomach acids and the process of digestion, it was very easy to sensitise an animal to a specific protein by injecting that protein. A second, smaller dose would then cause a serious, even fatal, allergic/anaphylactic reaction.

Around the same time, Nicholas Arthus and Richard Otto showed that it was possible to produce an anaphylactic reaction to virtually any protein – meat, milk, egg, peanut, diptheria – by injecting it.

Remember this…

Early vaccination

The mass population movements from the country to the city which occurred in the late 18th and early 19th century created dense overcrowding which, combined with poor hygiene, was the ideal breeding ground for animal pathogens and the spread of deadly diseases such as smallpox for which there were no cures.

However, in the late 18th century it was discovered that allowing the pus from an infected cow to seep in through a scratch on the skin, appeared to deliver some degree of immunity. Vaccination (‘pertaining to a vacca’ or cow) was born.

Over the course of the 19th century several significant developments took place:

• The invention of the hyperdemic needle allowed the vaccine to be delivered more hygienically, safely and effectively by injection rather than by infecting the skin.

• Extra ingredients (all patented) were added to the vaccines to extend their shelf life and made them more effective:

mercury based antifungals
oil-based adjuvants*
carrier gels from boiled animals etc

*Adjuvants – ingredients which prime the body so that it is more sensitive to the vaccine, thereby reducing the amount of the active substance needed, although it has never been entirely clear how this process happens.

Peanut is an excellent adjuvant as it is potentially highly allergenic and therefore very good at priming the immune system – although its use must also risk not just priming the immune system but sensitising it.

Serum sickness

It was recognised from very early on that up to 10% of vaccinations (up to 50% in children) would cause what was known as ‘serum sickness’ – a little understood set of symptoms that included fevers, rash, diarrhoea, falling blood pressure, joint pain and breathing difficulties. These could last for days, for weeks or for ever and, occasionally, proved fatal.

However, so great was the fear of diseases such as smallpox and diptheria that most people were prepared to take that risk.

Work by Clemens von Piquet and Bela Schick in 1906 showed that the symptoms of serum sickness were almost identical to a hypersensitivity (allergic) reaction to food proteins, bee stings etc.  They noted that the adverse reaction appeared 10–30 days after the second injection, depending on the person vaccinated.

By the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries vaccine manufacture was big business.

Track back to anaphylaxis…

Despite Richet’s work in the early 20th century, the possibility that the injection which delivered the vaccination could also induce anaphylaxis was never considered.

The incidence of egg allergy from the 1930s onwards within the vaccinated population was never connected with use of egg in the manufacture of vaccines, also introduced in the 1930s.

A mysterious outbreak of cotton seed allergy in the US which started in the 1930s, peaked in the 1940s and died out in the 1950s was never connected with the use made, during that period only, of cottonseed oil as an excipient in the manufacture of vaccines.

Penicillin

The discovery and subsequent wide use of penicillin during World War II had revolutionised medical treatment but the miracle drug had a major drawback in that doses only lasted for a couple of hours.

In 1945 it was found that, by mixing penicillin with beeswax and peanut oil, its release into the body could be slowed and dose intervals could be lengthened to 24 hours. In 1948, sticky beeswax was replaced with aluminium monostereate suspended in peanut oil to create PAM, a hugely popular drug which had been injected into around 37 million Americans by 1957.

Logged, but not noted, was the fact that around 2.5% of the children injected with the original beeswax/peanut oil combination developed an allergy to penicillin and that by 1957, up to 10% of the US population were allergic to the penicillin injection.

In the 1960s, new vaccines were developed which extended shelf life even further. One of the most successful was the Merck Adjuvant 65-4, licensed for use in the UK in 1974 and is still in use today, which included up to 65% of peanut oil.

Oil excipient/adjuvant – why peanut?

Peanut oil was not the only oil which could have been, or was, used in vaccine manufacture but it did have significant advantages:

• It was home grown so was cheap and its use was popular with the peanut farmers.

• It was an excellent adjuvant – see above.

• Theoretically, since the oil used was refined, it did not carry any risk of allergenicity but, research did not always support the claim that refining removed all protein residues from the oil, nor was the quality of the oil used very reliable.

Risk analysis / risk protection

Although it was little publicised, the medical profession had always been aware that vaccination by injection carried the risk of inducing allergy but, as in the early days of cow pus vaccination and serum sickness, the risk was felt to be outweighed by the benefits.

However, by the early 1980s, the incidence of vaccine damage had grown significantly; by 1985 no less than 231 lawsuits were pending again vaccine companies.

The risk of being sued was starting to outweigh the benefit of profitable manufacture and pharmaceutical companies were pulling out of vaccine making so fast that the US was facing a serious vaccine shortage. To tempt them back into the field, in 1988 the Vaccine Injury Compensation Programme was introduced by which prospective litigants first had to prove their case in a federal court before they could sue a pharmaceutical company for damages, thereby effectively protecting the latter from 95% of vaccine litigation.

However, in this attempt to shore up the vaccine system, what no one seriously contemplated was the possibility that using a substance as potentially allergenic as peanut in injections which were not only to become universal over the next 20 years but were to dramatically increase in number and be administered at an ever younger age, could create an epidemic of allergy which could rival the original diseases in their power to harm.

And by the time anyone did, not only had the vested interests in vaccination become so massive that even contemplating such a possibility had become unthinkable but there were no unvaccinated populations left to use as controls in any meaningful assessments of risk.

Treating allergy – a commercial bonanza

Vaccines had proved to be very profitable for the pharmaceutical companies in the early years of the 20th century and, once they had been protected from litigation by those who believed they or their children had been damaged by vaccination by the Vaccine Injury Compensation Programme, the pharmaceutical companies ‘went back into’ vaccine manufacture with a will.

But this time there was an added bonus.

Although the connection between the two was never made, the increase in allergy across the board during the 1970s and 80s, including potentially fatal anaphylaxis, offered a whole new market to pharmaceutical companies and, indeed to the food industry.

The development of the Epipen in the 1980s, delivering the only known antidote to an anaphylactic attack, proved to be a commercial goldmine while managing allergy presented endless opportunities for new drugs and new treatments.

Meanwhile, the ‘freefrom’ food industry (now, in 2010, worth billions of dollars world wide) was born – creating foods which would be free of peanuts, nuts, dairy, wheat and any of the any food products which were thought to cause allergy.

Ramping up the vaccination programme

In the late ‘80s  only 55-65% of pre-school children in the US were vaccinated. Research suggested that the Hib vaccine against meningitis was very successful and seemed to have reduced the incidence of the disease significantly, so the first Bush government introduced a programme to raise pre-school vaccination levels to 90% by 2000. The programme was intensified by the Clinton administration and promulgated throughout the western world by the WHO.

To achieve this:

• A whole series of new vaccines, most bound to toxic carrier proteins to ensure that infant systems reacted appropriately, flooded onto the market.

• The age at which the children were vaccinated was gradually reduced from two years to two months. (In Japan, be it noted, no vaccinations are given before the age of two.)

• The number of vaccines give to an infant in the first 18 months of life increased from 10 to 29, the first dose being administered only hours after birth.

• For the convenience of families (thereby ensuring greater compliance) and to reduce the pain for the infants, up to five vaccines were combined  into a single shot, although the medical profession admitted that they had little idea what unexpected side effects might be created by combining different vaccines. There had been no longitudinal studies looking at possible long-term effects of combination vaccines.

Explosion of peanut allergy and peanut allergy awareness

In the early 1990s there was a dramatic rise in the number of peanut allergic infants who had reached school age, catapulting peanut allergy awareness into the headlines as schools struggled to find ways to safely accommodate peanut-allergic children within a peanut-eating class.

This sudden acceleration of peanut allergy around 1990 coincided with those paediatric vaccination schedule changes, including the rolling of the novel conjugate Hib B along with another four vaccines into one needle, all without benefit of long-term study.

The changes had been made simultaneously in the countries that coincidentally had a spike in peanut allergy, just in children.  The Isle of Wight cohort studies showed a shocking doubling of the allergy by the mid-1990s from 0.5% of preschoolers to 1.1%.  Emergency hospital admissions also reflect the sudden rise.  And, although given little attention, the eye-witness accounts of kindergarten teachers in the early 1990s suddenly faced with a flood of food allergic children, all point to this time as the beginning of the epidemic.

And along with the increasing awareness of the problem came the endless – and fruitless – speculation about causes: why only children?  Why only in Western societies?  What if the peanuts were boiled rather than roasted? Was it as a result of TH cell imbalance? Was the hygiene hypothesis relevant? How about the parasite/helminth theory? Was it hereditary? Was the increase in Caesarean births and the effect on intestinal flora relevant? Why more boys than girls?

And still the numbers continue to grow.

In 1997 0.6% of the US population of children under five had peanut allergy; by 2002 this had doubled to 1.2%; by 2009 over 2% of children under 18 living in the US, the UK, Canada and Australia were peanut allergic and there was a one in 50 chance  that a child, especially a male, living in a westernised country, would develop peanut allergy.

And, until now, no one has made the connection – or if they have, they certainly have not done so publicly…

As Heather Fraser says:

Medical literature has illustrated that the only means by which mass allergy has ever been created was by injection. With the pairing of the hypodermic needles and vaccines at the close of the 19th century, allergy and anaphylaxis made their explosive entry into the western world. Serum sickness from this new procedure was the first mass allergic phenomenon in history. Epidemic allergy to penicillin reminiscent of the ‘days of serum sickness’ emerged with its mass application following WWII. And with it came peanut allergy. Penicillin was administered using POB, the Romansky peanut oil formula. The continued use of refined peanut oil in drugs and vaccine adjuvants resulted in the slow growth of the allergy primarily in children until the late 1980s when its prevalence exploded. Extensive and sudden changes to childhood vaccination precipitated the new mass allergy to peanut.

So buy the book – read it – tell your friends about it – tell your doctor about it – write to your MP about it – write to the newspapers about it!!  This could be the first step to a new awareness and, maybe, a breakthrough in this ever growing tragedy.

The History of the Peanut Allergy Epidemic by Heather Fraser - C$19.99 plus shipping for the printed book and at a mere £7.63 as an E-book from  www.peanutallergyepidemic.com