mmmmmmm Plantains - not the banana kind

We were at the Columbus dog park yesterday and for some reason DJ see's a weed and comments about it being an "old time" weed that as a kid she played with.  I said I played with them also and was wondering what the name was.

For some odd reason we remembered the conversation and looked it up.   OMG

It's called a Plantain and is a Super Plant with AMAZING healing powers that has been used for thousands of years.

The Native Americans used it to heal wounds, cure fever, and to draw out toxins from stings and bites.  It coagulates blood, is antimicrobial, soothes insect bites and superficial wounds and prevents infections along with accelerating healing.   It clears acne and boils, is great with sore throats and will clear up dandruff  poison ivy and sumac?  It will improve liver and kidney function and is great with cold, flu, and respiratory infections.

It's a pretty amazing weed.

16 Amazing Benefits and Uses of Plantain

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Just to answer a question "when did you first start to write" - I think the first time I ever wrote seriously,  like a blog, was after my first GRABAAWR experience, a 500 mile bike ride through Wisconsin.   It was my 2nd long distance ride after doing RAGBRAI which is a ridiculous ride with 13,000 of you closest friends.

peloton

THAT, is an experience.  100% honest here.  They first day of RAGBRAI you are so packed in it literally looks like a 10 mile peloton.

I still have vivid memories that first morning.  I was having a small issue and I could not get off the road for 5 miles and once I did it took 5 minutes to find a space to get back on the road.

There was a yell of "biker down" and it was 2 miles ahead of us as we were cruising along at about 17mph and I could literally touch the person next to me.  A LITTLE scary to say the least.

Later in the week on a windy day I hooked up with a group of about 25 fast riders and we all took turns leading. I think I lasted for MAYBE 30 seconds leading. 

That was also the day many of us made the ill fated decision to do the 110 mile option not knowing that we would have a 30 mph headwind the final 70 miles.  It was like a disaster party with 13,000 all suffering together.

ANYWAY - the next year I did GRABAAWR and a year later I was the official photographer for the ride but it sort of took away the fun.  I wrote a daily account of my journey.

Since I have some dyslexia I never really wrote that much until spelling checkers were invented.

Then I started a real blog about online poker which got me a job writing for FullTilt Magazine about how to win at online poker (I was really good - island vacations, trips across the country and yada yada) and then I wrote a weekly column in the new Columbus Newspaper and so it goes. 

That is my writing story. 

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A salvage team discovered a Russian war ship sunk off the coast of South Korea with $130 BILLION in gold.

Which brings me to The Magnitsky Act.  Just remember that name as I think we will be hearing it again.  Magnitsky was a Russian tax accountant who discovered a $230 million fraud among Russian officials.   He was arrested and never heard from again it seems.

49 Russian Oligarchs, all friends of Putin AND Trump were targeted by the Magnitsky Act.  It seems Russian officials steal money from small businesses and can transfer all they wealth to other countries . . or used to. Only in America can Russians hide stolen money as other countries have recently stopped this.

What did Trump and Putin talk about?   Let's see if in the coming weeks or months "Magnitsky".

Remember that really weird house deal Trump had a few years ago. It came out a few months before he was elected.  He buys a house for $10 million.  Never ever goes there, it's empty for 2 years and then Trump sells it to a Russian oligarch for over $100 million. All legal of course. The Russian oligarch has yet to visit his $100 million home.

Seems weird right?   Magnitsky - remember it.
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IT'S BOMBER WEEKEND IN MADISON

B17

F35

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I hope Parks and Red pick up all of their signage for soccer.  I saw 5 just driving around yesterday.  They ain't going to just vaporize by themselves.

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I have a list of 19 economic predictions from Nov 11 2016.

3. There will be no Muslim ban.   WRONG

7. But there will be no "trade war." Nobody, including the United States, can afford one, and money always supersedes ideology on the international stage.

13. A furious Trump, worried that Fed tightening will tip the country into recession and ruin the economy for the self-proclaimed "King of Debt,"will not reappoint Janet Yellen when her term expires in early 2018.

17. Election year recession in 2020.

18. To fight the recession, Congress will pass more stimulus and the Fed will roll out QE4.  NOPE - did that already - there will be NO WAY to fight a recession now. 

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49 years ago today Americans landed on the moon.  

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Weather - expect off and on again rain and thunderstorms today - slowing tomorrow (Lake Mills Art Fair) and finally getting out of here slowly Sunday Lots of sun coming with highs for the next week or so hovering around 80