Desert Messenger

September 21, 2011

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Page 22 Strange but True by Samantha Weaver It was Hungarian psychiatrist Thomas Stephen Szasz who made the following sage observation: "If you talk to God, you are praying. If God talks to you, you have schizophrenia." The world's most popular fruit is the banana. In the United States, people consume more bananas than apples and oranges put together. Thomas Jefferson was an inventor as well as a statesman, but he refused to take out patents on any of his ideas. He believed that inventions should benefit all of humanity, not just himself. According to those who study such things, the average American believes the ideal age -- that is, the best year of his or her life -- is 32. And when 30- somethings are asked when old age begins, the majority of men say it's in the late 60s, while more women be- lieve old age begins in the 70s. That iconic symbol of the Old West, the Pony Express, was based on the www.DesertMessenger.com mail system used throughout the Mongol Empire in the 13th century. However, the Mongol riders often cov- ered 125 miles in a single day, which was faster than the best record held by a Pony Express rider. In Nazi Germany, it was illegal to name a horse "Adolph." Unless you're from Central Florida, you've probably never heard of the small town of Ocoee. So you might be surprised to learn that during World War II, Ocoee earned the distinction of sending more men, per capita, to serve in the military than any other town in the United States. Thought for the Day: "It ought to be plain how little you gain by getting excited and vexed. You'll always be late for the previous train, and always in time for the next." -- Piet Hein (c) 2011 King Features Synd., Inc. Veterans Postby Freddy Groves Finding Agent Orange/ Kidney Cancer Link Researchers at the Overton Brooks Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Shreveport, La., have been taking a close look at the correlation between Agent Orange exposure and kidney cancer. They pulled the records of nearly 300 patients who'd been diagnosed with kidney cancer, and of those, 13 had been exposed to Agent Orange. There was exposure documentation on 10 of them. They're calling the research "prelimi- nary" as it hasn't had a peer review, but at this point, other VA medical centers will be pooling their data as well. This is how the process begins to have an illness declared a presumptive con- nection to Agent Orange exposure. It will be a long haul and will include much more research, reviews and fi- nally (one can hope) a positive outcome with claims resulting in benefits. If you have kidney cancer and were October 5, 2011 exposed to Agent Orange in any of the locations where it was used or stored, make sure your paperwork is in order with the VA medical folks. File your claim. Then, down the road, you won't have to rush to file. To see the long list of locations where Agent Orange was used in Vietnam, go to www.publichealth.va.gov, and then click on Agent Orange-Related Diseases. Then click on "exposure to Agent Orange or other herbicides. If your exposure was elsewhere, there's a link down near the bottom titled "Herbicide Tests and Storage Outside Vietnam." Yes, this chart is buried on the site. If you want your free Agent Orange Registry Health Exam, call your clos- est VA hospital and ask for the VA En- vironmental Health Coordinator. This is not the same as a disability com- pensation exam, and you don't have to be enrolled in the VA's health-care system. Write to Freddy Groves in care of King Features Weekly Service, P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475, or send e-mail to columnreply@gmail. com. (c) 2011 King Features Synd., Inc. CAN‛T FIND "THE MESSENGER"? JOIN THE THOUSANDS READING IT ONLINE! Sign up for FREE VIP alerts when the next E-edition of the DESERT MESSENGER is available @ www.DesertMessenger.com From June 29-July 28, 2011 there was 23,028 page views! PUZZLE PAGE (page 20) ANSWERS

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