Sunday 7th December 2014…hiking day!!

The same weather as all week lovely and sunny and I went to the gas station in town for 8am where the hiking group meets I knew Pierre would not be there so I joined the other group on a more leisurely hike and today we went here to the big tree.

The drive out to the village was about 20 minutes and we parked and then crossed the river

into the small town….all the villagers were very friendly and we talk and say hello to everyone especially the children.

The small church in the square

From here it is only a short walk to the massive tree

the roots are amazing

I took this shot of one of the hikers to get a perspective of how big the trunk is!!!!!

From here we went upwards into the hills and the views were lovely

One of the local kids, Fernando, came a ways with us!!!

The farmers from the village have formed a cooperative and planted many napal trees and built irrigation ditches

Some even sleep out here..we were very respectful when we passed by!!!

A local cowboy!!!

It was a good but short hike and we were back at the gas station by noon.

I came home and did chores, my Spanish homework, worked on two class activities this week including the party for the students on Wednesday and also a big tennis event next Sunday that I am organizing…more on that later in the week.

After getting cleaned up and eating now watching a live soccer game from LA at a stadium where I attended a game two years ago…..and a hockey game coming up later in the evening.

 

I think we all remember the following!!!!!

Sunday, December 7th, 1941--Admiral Chester Nimitz was attending a concert in Washington D.C. He was paged and told there was a phone call for him. When he answered the phone, it was President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on the phone. He told Admiral Nimitz that he (Nimitz) would now be the Commander of the Pacific Fleet.
Admiral Nimitz flew to Hawaii to assume command of the Pacific Fleet. He landed at Pearl Harbor on Christmas Eve, 1941. There was such a spirit of despair, dejection and defeat--you would have thought the Japanese had already won the war.On Christmas Day, 1941, Adm. Nimitz was given a boat tour of the destruction wrought on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese. Big sunken battleships and navy vessels cluttered the waters every where you looked.
As the tour boat returned to dock, the young helmsman of the boat asked, "Well Admiral, what do you think after seeing all this destruction?" Admiral Nimitz's reply shocked everyone within the sound of his voice.
Admiral Nimitz said, "The Japanese made three of the biggest mistakes an attack force could ever make, or God was taking care of America. Which do you think it was?"
Shocked and surprised, the young helmsman asked, "What do mean by saying the Japanese made the three biggest mistakes an attack force ever made?" Nimitz explained:

Mistake number one:
The Japanese attacked on Sunday morning. Nine out of every ten crewmen of those ships were ashore on leave.
If those same ships had been lured to sea and been sunk--we would have lost 38,000 men instead of 3,800.

Mistake number two:
When the Japanese saw all those battleships lined in a row, they got so carried away sinking those battleships, they never once bombed our dry docks opposite those ships. If they had destroyed our dry docks, we would have had to tow every one of those ships to America to be repaired. As it is now, the ships are in shallow water and can be raised. One tug can pull them over to the dry docks, and we can have them repaired and at sea by the time we could have towed them to America . And I already have crews ashore anxious to man those ships.
Mistake number three:
Every drop of fuel in the Pacific theater of war is in top of the ground storage tanks five miles away over that hill. One attack plane could have strafed those tanks and destroyed our fuel supply. That's why I say the Japanese made three of the biggest mistakes an attack force could make or God was taking care of America.

-Admiral Nimitz was able to see a silver lining in a situation and circumstance where everyone else saw only despair and defeatism.

President Roosevelt had chosen the right man for the right job. We desperately needed a leader that could see silver linings in the midst of the clouds of dejection, despair and defeat.
There is a reason that our national motto is, IN GOD WE TRUST

 

Yashi Kochi!!!!!

Saturday 6th December 2014……just like Fridays my Saturdays seem the same!!!!

Up at 7am and watched a live soccer game from England before heading to the courts for 9am…the weather the same all week lovely sunny and warm and the tennis as always was wonderful I am lucky and feel so blessed to be able to start three of my mornings a week on the courts….after tennis went to the Organic market and bought some bakery items and a quiche for dinner and then home and took the rest of the day off and went in the back yard and finished my book…had some lunch..and I do believe I had a snooze…..then did some chores and then a long soak in the tub, the quiche was lovely and now watching the Canucks hockey game

 

and after that another soccer game from England.

I have a busy week coming along so nice to have a relaxing day…

Here is another review of my travels for 2015!!!!!

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 children, 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. They tell me it is very wet and damp there.

Wish all my readers a happy, safe and healthy weekend…

Yashi Kochi!!!!

Friday 5th December 2014……yes….. Pearson day!!!

A true Pearson day coming up saw no one, spoke to no one, no appointments and no riding my vehicles!!!!!!

Had a leisurely breakfast and then packed up and decided to do a long hike through town and my old neighborhood and into the Botanical gardens……

It was lovely and sunny and a great day for a hike….the Christmas tree is up in the main square…

I then went down to my old stomping grounds and I need to get up to the towers on the right!!

The only hikers I saw all day…

The level of the lake has gone down since I was last here about a month ago…

when it was like a waterfall over the dam….

almost dry now

The canyons are wonderful here..

My lunch time views!!!

I came back into town and some nice shots

I love this photo this lady just sitting on the sidewalk embroidering…check out her layers of clothes and her beautiful face!!!

Treated myself to a Christmas resent from this hole in the wall shop….

 

 

WARNING!!!!!

This shot contains partial nudity only mature women allowed to look!!!!!!

 

 

It was a good hike I did 9 miles and felt no after effects from that little hiccup last Sunday….

Do you think my buddy is well looked after for a stray!!!!

So I enjoyed my day did lots of thinking and planning…

This is the last test for police dogs….patience!!!!!

 

Mexico missing students fury rocks President Pena Nieto

By Will Grant BBC News, Mexico City

The case of the missing students has sparked widespread outrage

 

As Enrique Pena Nieto reached his second year in office, he might well have reflected on how quickly the narrative of a presidency can change.

In February, his airbrushed photograph graced the front cover of Time magazine with the much derided headline "Saving Mexico" emblazoned underneath.

Mr Pena Nieto had "passed the most ambitious package of social, political and economic reforms in memory", the publication said, adding that "alarms are being replaced with applause" in the country.

Now any applause for Mr Pena Nieto by the political and business elite has been drowned out by the near-constant calls for him to step down.

His anniversary, on 1 December, was marked by Molotov cocktails, broken windows and protesters clashing with the police in Mexico City.

The chain of events that sparked the crisis began on the night of 26 September.

Amid a protest in the town of Iguala, police fired on unarmed student teachers, killing six people.

The officers then rounded up and abducted 43 students, who are now feared murdered.

The brutality with which the attorney general's office says they were killed by drug cartel members was ruthless, even by Mexican standards.

They had been trussed up, thrown on to police trucks and taken to the nearby town of Cocula, the attorney general said.

About 15 had died from asphyxiation en route.

And, once in Cocula, the students had been handed over by the police to members of the Guerreros Unidos cartel, who had shot the remaining youths in the head before burning their bodies in a vast funeral pyre and dumping the charred remains in a river.

Search continues

The motivation for the killings, the attorney general's office says, was that the students' protest in the town was disrupting plans the mayor's wife had for a political rally the following morning.

It is a version of events the families of the missing young people refuse to accept.

"We're going to keep looking for them," Clemente Rodriguez, father of 19-year-old Christian, told the crowd at the protest earlier this week.

Enrique Pena Nieto faces calls to stand down

"We're going to find them because it's been more than two months and we don't know anything about our children."

Clemente's wife, Maria Telumbre, is also unconvinced by the government's grisly tale of how their sons were slaughtered and disposed of.

"How is it possible that in 15 hours they burned so many boys, put them in a bag and threw them into the river?" she asked the AP news agency.

"This is impossible. As parents, we don't believe it's them."

The fragments of bone and tooth that were recovered from the site have been sent to Austria for DNA testing, but the attorney general has already said some are too badly damaged to ever be identified.

Meanwhile, in Iguala itself groups of desperate parents and local vigilantes are taking matters into their own hands.

I was in Iguala's main plaza last month as they gathered with shovels and pickup trucks to embark on another hot and harrowing operation into the thick vegetation around the town.

Acting on rumours and tip-offs from members of the local community, they search the hills and countryside, often entering dangerous drug cartel-controlled regions to dig for bodies.

"We've found 26 grave sites, which we have officially reported," said Cristofo Garcia, a member of the local self-defence force, which is helping the families in their search.

"We've found skeletal remains, bones, parts of human bodies which we've established don't pertain to the students. They're from older events, years ago."

Huge problem

It's a chilling thought. The mountains of Guerrero are seemingly dotted with mass graves.

Now though, with every day that passes, scores of families are breaking their silences over their disappeared children.

Demonstrators burn an effigy of the president during a protest in support of the 43 missing trainee teachers

If nothing else, Iguala has blown the lid off the huge problem of disappeared people in Mexico.

At least 26,000 people are unaccounted for over the past seven years. Such levels of disappearances are on a par with crimes committed during the South American military dictatorships of the 1970s.

Judging from the placards and chants on the streets - not just in Mexico City but across the country - it is the apparent involvement of the state in the young people's abductions, and possible murders, that has most angered ordinary Mexicans.

The federal government and President Pena Nieto have tried to place the blame firmly at a local level, characterising the issue as the result of weak municipal institutions that are too easily bribed and coerced by the drug cartels.

The president's response has been to propose the dissolution of all of the country's 1,800 municipal police forces.

They would be replaced with 32 state-level forces, which his office described as "trustworthy, professional and efficient".

But unpicking the tangled ties between local government and the drug cartels has been proposed before and no administration to date can point to any significant success in that endeavour.

Heroin trade

It is worth bearing in mind that the illegal drug trade in Mexico is worth anywhere between $30bn to $40bn a year to the cartels, generated by huge quantities of heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and marihuana heading north to the United States.

Mexico is now the world's second biggest producer of heroin, and the mountains of Guerrero, where the disappearances took place, provide the ideal conditions for opium poppy production.

Protestors have mobilised across the country

With that kind of money and firepower at their disposal, the cartels have long been able to simply pay for political and institutional support or take it at gunpoint.

I am nearing the end of my posting in Mexico but an oft-repeated phrase on social media about Iguala - "#fueelestado" meaning "it was the state" - reminds me of a woman I met near the start of my time in the country.

We had travelled to the drug-war-ravaged state of Tamaulipas, where we interviewed then-presidential candidate, Enrique Pena Nieto, with days to go before the votes were cast.

Once he left, we travelled deeper into the state to meet a contact. After several furtive phone calls and changes of time and location, we eventually met "Susana" in a darkened hotel room.

For many years, she had been the girlfriend of a member of the feared Los Zetas cartel.

After showing us a series of gruesome videos of Zetas-led massacres, too violent to broadcast, I asked her just how close the relationship between the cartel and the security forces was in Tamaulipas.

"The relationship isn't just close", she explained - surprised that something so basic about the Mexican drug trade wasn't glaringly obvious.

"It's the very same people."

 

Yashi Kochi!!!!

Thursday 4th December 2014…not so busy!!!!

Another nice sunny morning and off I went to the tennis courts I am so lucky to be able to start my day with 2 hours of tennis…on the way home I stopped at the nursery…..many of you know that the Christmas holidays is not a great time for me and I am glad when January 2nd rolls around but I did buy these beautiful plants…

 

Incredible it was 45 pesos for them both not even 4 dollars!!!!

After lunch I treated myself to two hours of relaxing on the lounger on the back patio with my book and I then came inside and cooked my dinner with fresh potatoes, Brussel sprouts that I bought at the veggie market and topped it with turkey slices and some wonderful stuffing!!!!!

At 5.30m I went to Marysol’s apartment for my Spanish lesson this was re scheduled from yesterday when she had to cancel as she had a family emergency…..again we worked on my pronunciation and also conjugating verbs something I have never been able to get the hang of……she is such an amazing teacher I love my lessons!!!!

Came home and had dinner and a bath and now relaxing with the hockey game.

Some up dates for you…first the tennis racquet….as I mention Rita’s daughter received the racquet from the Sports Authority website and she was going to bring it down next Friday when she comes to visit her Mum but I heard from Rita tonight that Ali, who is a nurse, may be going to the Philippines tomorrow to help with flood victims….so that will mean my racquet will not be coming so will have to figure something out.

My toe…..you know or maybe you don’t that I have the ugliest feet ever with my left foot  causing me lots of problems because my toes overlap and rub and cause me to have a huge callus in between my toes and for the last two years I make regular trips to the chiropodist to file away the callus well before I left England in July I went to a doctor there and he cut away quite a large part of it and every day I file it a bit myself and since then I have had no problems whatsoever so happy about that.

So where will you be on 18th September 2015……you don’t know……..want to know  where I will be…..I am going to tell you anyway….I shall be on the little ship!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Discover a relaxed, rejuvenating retreat at sea onboard Golden Princess, a brilliant ray of sunshine in any destination! Enjoy a calming massage or mud bath at the Lotus Spa®, wander through the Italian-inspired Piazza, or choose from a variety of dining options including Sabatini's and Crown Grill specialty restaurants, Vines, and the poolside pizzeria. Complete your unforgettable cruise experience with exciting onboard entertainment including street performances, theatrical productions, and Movies Under the Stars.

 

 

 

 

Golden Princess, a vessel measuring 109,000 tons with a double-occupancy capacity of 2,590 passengers, offers a boatload of possibilities. While Golden Princess' design was created more than a decade ago, its indoor public spaces feel modern -- specifically Princess' famous Piazza. Golden Princess also has the Sanctuary and the Crown Grill, made popular in the line's newer Crown Princess series of ships.
Golden Princess is in line to get another refurb in early 2014, when cosmetic work will be done to fix spots that are showing some wear. The most noteworthy change will come in the ship's Horizon Court, its buffet area, which will be expanded to improve the flow.
Our favorite onboard spaces include the following:
The Piazza is the perfect onboard hub, surrounded by the International Cafe for coffee and anytime snacks. (The aroma of baking cookies and cafe lattes is heavenly.) Vines Wine Bar is also nearby for tapas, sushi and drinks. Clusters of cozy chairs make it the best place to enjoy the street theater-type entertainment, meet with friends or just people-watch.
The two specialty restaurants, Crown Grill and Sabatini's, take onboard dining up a notch. At Sabatini's, you'll eat your way through Italian favorites like antipasto, pasta and tiramisu desserts. The New York-themed Crown Grill expands the typical steakhouse menu to include all sorts of seafood while still offering a wide assortment of premium-grade beef. Both are well worth the extra fee.
The Sanctuary is an oasis of calm for adults, with snooze-inducing cushy lounge chairs, a soothing atmosphere with touches of greenery and the ultimate in pampering -- alfresco massages.
Movies are always better on the big screen, and Princess' pioneering Movies Under the Stars has made its way to Golden Princess' Calypso Reef Pool. Enjoy a concert or sporting event as you splash around during the day, or curl up next to your sweetie under a blanket with some popcorn to take in a feature film at night.
The teens-only sun deck provides this hard-to-please group with an outdoor place to mingle, and the splash pool area, although small, offers parents a tot-friendly place for water play with their preschoolers.
Four pools ease the swim crunch. The outdoor Calypso Reef draws kids, teens and adults, while the covered Neptune Reef provides a climate-controlled space so water enthusiasts can get wet even in inclement weather. The spa's outdoor current pool, targeted for swimmers 16 and older, is peacefully located off the ship's Lotus Spa, while the heated Terrace Pool provides great views at the aft of the ship.
Three show lounges -- the Princess Theater, Vista Lounge and Explorers Lounge -- allow you to find entertainment, no matter what time you finish dinner. Production shows and performances by headline entertainers are repeated three times over two nights, so everyone has a chance to enjoy them.
With supervised activities in the Fun Zone (a children's area for ages 3 to 7 and 8 to 12) and Remix (the daytime teen room), Golden Princess works well for families, especially on the ship's seven-day summer Alaska sailings. In the winter, when the ship focuses on longer cruises to South America and Mexico, the ship caters to an older clientele.

 

  Yes I set sail for 28 days to New Zealand!!!!!

 

  The ship actually goes to Sydney but I shall dis embark in Auckland where I plan to send at least three months touring around the two islands..tentative plans are for my brother and Janet to come over the first part of January for a couple of weeks and then I shall knock another item off my bucket list by flying to Melbourne and taking in a couple of days at the Australian open tennis………anyone jealous or better still anyone want to come on the cruise I am paying single supplement so no extra charge!!!!!

 

 

 

  Of course this follows on…

 

 

Tennis: Australian Open changes 2015 heat policy

Some matches were halted during the 2014 Australian Open after three consecutive days of temperatures over 40C

Organisers of the Australian Open have changed their extreme heat policy ahead of the 2015 tennis tournament.

Director Craig Tiley said a roof had been added to a third court, and the heat policy had been updated to "ensure conditions are fair for all players".

Temperatures soared above 40C during the 2014 tournament, causing players to faint or suffer from heatstroke.

Organisers were criticised for not suspending matches, with some players describing conditions as "dangerous".

The extreme heat policy is implemented at the referee's discretion. Once the policy is introduced, play can be suspended at the end of the current set in each match.

Analysis: Wendy Frew, BBC Australia Editor

Thanks to climate change, much of Australia will be subjected to longer, hotter and more regular spells of extremely hot weather, say climate scientists.

To cope, Australian industry needs to start "heat-proofing" its operations and sporting authorities need to rethink when and for how long competitions are played outside, says Elizabeth Hanna, president of health sector organisation, the Climate and Heath Alliance, and a researcher at the Australian National University.

It also raises questions about the kinds of houses Australians live in, says Ms Hanna, who is in the midst of a four-year project funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council that is measuring how high temperatures can rise before workers and productivity are affected.

 

In a statement on the Australian Open website, Mr Tiley said: "The decision on implementing the heat policy will take into account the forecast once the ambient temperature exceeds 40C, and the Wet Bulb Global Temperature (WBGT) reading exceeds 32.5.

"When conditions exceed these levels the referee is taking into account the forecast and state of play when making his discretionary call."

The WBGT reading takes into account humidity and wind direction as well as heat.

"The other major difference from previous years is that matches currently in progress will continue until the end of an even number games in that set or completion of tie break," the statement added.

"At the completion of the even number of games in that set or completion of tie break, play will be suspended."

Under previous guidelines, there was no set temperature to trigger the extreme heat policy, with the decision left entirely to referee's discretion.

This led to criticism during the January 2014 tournament that the policy was not implemented transparently, with players complaining of "inhumane" conditions.

Australia has just experienced its hottest month and hottest spring on record.

 

Yashi Kochi!!!!

Wednesday 3rd December 2014……. busy day again!!!!

Well it started with yoga at 9.30am and another good time stretching this old body and from there I went to the apartment of my Spanish teacher but Marysol did not answer so I waited 10 minutes and then left and went to the Jardin where I read my Spanish notes until it was time to go play poker and I did really well another 195 pesos win.

Back home to shower and change and go back to town for my English class which like always was wonderful it is so rewarding to see how they have changed and grown in confidence since the start of the semester I am so proud of everyone of them…..

I then went and joined Sara and Lorraine at a local restaurant…Lorraine is leaving early Friday morning so we had a nice dinner and I said my goodbyes…

Now home taking a breath…all good though!!!!

Another article I hope you find interesting!!! 

post Traumatic stress!!!!!

Why the assumption that everyone is prone to developing the condition after witnessing a traumatic event isn’t the only myth that exists about it.

 

 

 

 

 

What can trigger it, how it is detected, and how to treat it.

Whatever form it takes, an appalling ordeal like a car crash or a natural disaster can have a significant and long-lasting impact on the human condition. One common assumption is that everyone is prone to developing post- traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, and in the 1990s this led to attempts to get people to participate in a single counselling session or psychological debriefing.

This approach has not been shown to be effective. One comprehensive review on the subject concluded that compulsory counselling after an incident should be discontinued, and some have gone as far as to argue that a “disaster industry” has promoted such interventions uncritically. When you look at the evidence, it is not true that most people develop PTSD. And this isn’t the only myth about the condition.

Immediately after a traumatic event people understandably feel shocked, anxious and afraid. Events loom large in their minds, and they might find themselves plagued for some days or weeks by flashbacks, nightmares and a constant anxiety that they are not safe. None of this is pleasant, but these are all very normal reactions to any event whether your own life threatened or you saw other people injured or dying in front of you.

PTSD symptoms are very real and very distressing, but why some people experience them and others don't is still a mystery (Getty Images)

Flashbacks can become so intrusive that thinking is disrupted. Feelings of guilt might lead a person to go over and over events in their mind, for instance, questioning whether they could have done more to save other people. They might go to great lengths to avoid any places or activity that remind them of the event or become numb to everything in an attempt not to feel anything at all. A constant sense of high alert can mean that someone simply walking past them in the street can set their heart racing and bring back feelings of terror.

Remarkable resilience

The symptoms of PTSD are very real and very distressing. It’s important that anyone who experiences them can get the help they need. But one of the keys to a diagnosis of PTSD is that these symptoms persist for at least a month after the event, and that they affect a person’s work or social life, or stop them getting on with the things they want to do.

The remarkable thing is that for most people these symptoms gradually subside, and as a result PTSD is not as common as you might expect. Even in extreme situations like war most people are not affected. Only 4% of British soldiers developed PTSD after serving in Iraq, for example, rising to 6.9% for those in combat roles. Among reservists rates were a little higher, averaging at 6%. Researchers think this might be because they return to their old civilian lives where they have to cope on their own, while regular members of the armed forces remain with colleagues who have a better understanding of what war is like.

Soldiers taking part in military action are particularly prone to PTSD (Getty Images)

Likewise after attacks on civilians, most people are not affected. A study of more than 10,000 people including police and construction workers, who came to aid of staff at World Trade Center on 11 September 2001, found that three-quarters did not have long-lasting difficulties. It is true that sometimes symptoms can be delayed. Some 8.5% of the responders at the World Trade Center experienced difficulties much later on. There were even cases of soldiers who fought in World War II, returned home seemingly fine, worked for the rest of their careers, and then on retirement found that the nightmares and flashbacks suddenly returned.

Norwegian experience

I travelled to Norway to meet survivors of the shootings on Utoya Island in 2011, where 69 teenagers died and many others witnessed the killings. Some survived by hiding in the toilets for three hours, knowing that the killer was still nearby, hunting for them.  Immediately after the event, Atle Dyregrov, Director of the Center for Crisis Psychology in Bergen estimated that between 30-50% would suffer long-term mental health difficulties including PTSD. Even though the numbers have ended up at the high end of the estimate, that still leaves half who witnessed their friends being murdered and fled for their lives, yet have somehow recovered.

Around half the survivors of the shootings on Utoya Island in 2011 suffered long-term mental health difficulties including PTSD (Getty Images)

The shootings took place in the summer holidays and most of the teenagers involved were starting at new schools in the autumn, which made it harder for them. But the country already had a plan for how to deal with something like this, whether a natural disaster or a crime, and provided a ground-breaking level of support. Every school involved was given advice on what to do, the strict attendance rules were relaxed for survivors and students were given the choice about when and how to talk to their new classmates about what had happened. Some even decided to avoid questions by standing up and telling the whole class about it when they were ready. The bereaved and the survivors were given an opportunity to revisit the island at different times, since it was learned from previous disasters that they come at it from such different perspectives. This kind of support did seem to make a difference and other countries are now looking to the Norwegian experience.

Exposure levels

Another myth about PTSD is that only people who are weak will experience the condition. Why, even after the most horrendous experiences, some people develop PTSD and others don’t, is still a mystery. The psychiatrists’ bible in the US, DSM until recently included a person’s responses to the initial event. Intense fear, helplessness or horror were thought to result in more PTSD, but those indicators have been removed from the newest version of the manual, because it’s been found that they don’t predict who will and won’t suffer.

The nature of the event itself can of course make a difference. Rates of PTSD amongst US troops are almost triple those in the UK, partly because there is a higher proportion of reservists, but also because their average tour of duty is a year, compared with six months for UK service people. A review of the many different studies following up staff at World Trade Center found that those who were injured, worked on the higher floors, witnessed others falling or jumping from the buildings or whose employers were killed, were more likely to develop PTSD. But so were women, younger people, the less well-paid and those who had experienced other setbacks in the preceding years. So it’s a complex picture.

There is still a lot to learn about what triggers PTSD in people who experience traumatic events (Getty Images)

It is also a myth that when children go through something traumatic they just bounce back. They too can suffer from PTSD. A review of dozens of studies of displaced children has tried to pin down the main factors leading to PTSD. Not surprisingly exposure to violence makes a difference, but it’s still hard to guess who will be affected, when even the number of traumatic events they’ve experienced doesn’t predict whether they will develop PTSD or not.

As well as the factors putting people at risk, there are also those which contribute to resilience and protect against developing PTSD. Supportive family and colleagues can definitely make a difference. But again these factors still don’t tell us exactly who will and won’t be affected. Until we know more about the condition, the key is to make psychological help available if and when people do need it.

 

Yashi Kochi!!!!

Tuesday 2nd December 2014…..a lovely sunny day!!!!

Just a really nice warm morning and it seems my morning chores are the same each day….first I feed the cat you would think after all this time of feeding her or him  ….the cat would be more friendly but still stays away from me.  Next I fill up the water on the top stand of the brick fountain out front and fill the second tier with bird food and then I have my tea on the couch and watch the bird show 

The hummingbirds come, the doves come and then the yellow breasted bird that hangs upside down and drinks from the feeder…this is fun to watch all the activity and it is a good job that the bird seed is only 20 pesos for 2 kg…a nice calm start for the morning.

Then I was off to the tennis courts for two great hours of fun unfortunately there was a problem with my tennis racquet arriving in time for Josh to bring it down so now his sister Ali is coming down on the 12th so I hope to get it to her so she can bring it down for me in the meantime I am renting the same kind of racquet I have ordered from the club and I really like it.

I went to the bank after tennis and then the bakery and then off to Rita’s house for our regular cards and chat and eating of the best banana bread ever…..our other friend Roger has gone to Australia till January so it is just Rita and I …she is so lovely, so smart and she is going to help me with my Spanish reading…..

Home now and I have had dinner, one of the ones I fixed yesterday and now settled down watching soccer from England and I think for a change tonight I shall watch a hockey game!!!!!

This shot is from yesterday on Heather's birthday here she is with Alex who just arrived home from Australia!!!

 

Times are changing in Mexico another interesting article from the BBC!!

Mexico missing students: Thousands march in protest

 

Protesters in Mexico clashed with police following a largely peaceful rally in support of 43 students who went missing in September.

The demonstrators expressed their anger over the handling of the case by President Enrique Pena Nieto.

The president's popularity rating has dropped to its lowest point since he took office two years ago.

The students disappeared after clashing with police in the town of Iguala on 26 September.

The case has shocked Mexicans as allegations of police collusion with drug gangs surfaced during the investigation into their disappearance.

In October, Mexico's attorney general ordered the arrest of Iguala Mayor Jose Luis Abarca.

Anger and frustration

Many of the protesters carried placards calling for the president to step down, says the BBC's Will Grant in Mexico City.

In Guerrero state, where the students disappeared, they set cars on fire and smashed windows, our correspondent adds.

Demonstrators in Tijuana burned an effigy of the president and held placards calling for his resignation

President Pena Nieto is faced with his lowest ratings since taking office

Members of a drugs gang have told investigators that the students were handed to them by the police

On Monday, President Pena Nieto submitted a package of ten reforms aimed at tackling the crisis to Congress for debate.

Some of the more controversial proposals include replacing all 1,800 municipal police forces with state-level units.

The president also wants extra powers to shut down local governments considered to have been "infiltrated" by drug cartels.

Mr Pena Nieto has announced he will travel to Iguala later this week. He has not visited the town since the students went missing.

'Missing'

The students had travelled from a teacher training college in Ayotzinapa to the town of Iguala in Guerrero state to protest against what they say are discriminatory hiring practices for teachers which favour urban students over rural ones.

Police opened fire on the students, who were in buses travelling back from Iguala to their college. Three of them were killed and three more people in nearby vehicles also died.

A busload of the students attempted to flee but were chased by municipal officers who then took them to the local police station.

Some of the officers, who have since been arrested, told investigators they then handed the students over to a local drug gang called Guerreros Unidos (United Warriors).

The leader of the gang, who has also been detained, said that he had been told by one of his men that the 43 were members of a rival gang.

He then reportedly ordered that they be "made to disappear".

Members of the gang have told investigators they killed the students and burned their bodies at a rubbish dump.

Remains found at the site have been sent for testing to a laboratory in Austria.

Timeline: Iguala disappearance

26 Sept: Students from a teacher training college in Ayotzinapa travel to Iguala to protest and raise funds

Night of 26 Sept: Police stop the students, 6 people are shot dead, 43 students disappear

30 Sept: Iguala mayor Jose Luis Abarca asks for leave from his post, which is granted

4 Oct: Mass graves are found near Iguala containing 28 bodies

19 Oct: Federal police are deployed to Iguala and replace the municipal force

22 Oct: Mexico's prosecutor general says an arrest warrant has been issued for Mr Abarca, his wife and the town's police chief

23 Oct: Guerrero state governor Angel Aguirre resigns

29 Oct: President Enrique Pena Nieto meets the relatives of the missing students and promises a "renewed search plan"

4 Nov: Mr Abarca and his wife are arrested in Mexico City

7 Nov: Three gang members confess to killing students and burning their bodies, according to Mexico's attorney general

11 Nov: International forensic teams says test carried out so far suggest bodies found in mass graves are not those of missing students

12 Nov: Remains found at rubbish dump sent to laboratory in Austria for analysis

27 Nov: President Pena Nieto announces plans for police reform

 

Yashi Kochi!!

Monday 1st December 2014…….Rabbits, rabbits, rabbits and a special Birthday!!!

For new readers wondering what that heading means let me explain…..my Mum taught me from being a kid to say rabbits, rabbits, rabbits, the first thing in the morning  of a new month and it will bring you good luck…so like a good son I have been doing it for years and now you can too.

About 10 years ago I met a wonderful family in Nanaimo and we became very close friends more like a second family to me and Heather and her husband Kirby have been so kind to me all these years and I have been privileged to see their three boys Ben, Alex and Zack grow from young teens to great young men all pursuing their goals….when ever I go back to Nanaimo I have “my” bedroom in their beautiful home and they are truly all such special friends of mine.

Today is Heather’s birthday and I just wanted to wish her a very happy and wonderful day and it is made extra special for her because her middle son Alex is coming back to Nanaimo today after studying in Australia for 6 months…..have a wonderful day you deserve it!!!!!

A bit of a busy day starting off with going back to my yoga class the teacher has been away the last two weeks so it was good to get back there…..from there I went to Marisol’s apartment for my Spanish lesson…this was a hard lesson for me because my pronunciation is quite dreadful, she is very very patient with me and had me reading for nearly all of the lesson..it is going to take lots of practice for me but I am determined…she gives me homework which I enjoy and she is a great teacher!!!!

The  next stop was at the home of Robin and Ken…I have not seen them for a few weeks and it was so nice to sit and chat and catch up on all the news…great to see you both again.

I then went to the market and bought some veggies and chicken and came home and spent some time cooking and I now have 4 dinners prepared.

Just had time to get changed and then off to my English class…as always the students are eager and they get involved for their homework from last week they each in turn had to come to the front of the class and be teacher for 5 minutes…they amaze me the thoughts they have and the activities they do they are very smart and creative….we only have 3 more classes before we break for the holidays.

It was cool again tonight coming home on the scooter so I had a nice long soak in the tub and now going to relax with tea, a piece of lemon cake and watch some TV.

Hard to believe that December is here already this year really has gone by fast…still no news on Paola I tried to find her Mum’s boyfriend again tonight but with no luck!!!!!

Yashi Kochi!!!!