Panoramic Photos

Panoramic on the waterfront in downtown Portland Oregon

Panoramic shot Of the Willamette R. in Portland Oregon

When I Whine
~~~~~~~
Today, upon a bus, I saw a girl with golden hair
I looked at her and sighed and wished I was as fair.
When suddenly she rose to leave,
I saw her hobble down the aisle.
She had one leg and used a crutch
But as she passed, she passed a smile.
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine
I have 2 legs, the world is mine.

~~
I stopped to buy some candy
The lad who sold it had such charm
I talked with him a while, he seemed so very glad
If I were late, it'd do no harm.
And as I left, he said to me,
"I thank you, you've been so kind.
It's nice to talk with folks like you.
You see," he said, "I'm blind."
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine.
I have 2 eyes, the world is mine.

Later while walking down the street,
I saw a child with eyes of blue
He stood and watched the others play
He did not know what to do.
I stopped a moment and then I said,
"Why don't you join the others, dear?"
He looked ahead without a word.
And then I knew, he couldn't hear.
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine.
I have 2 ears, the world is mine.

With feet to take me where I'd go.
With eyes to see the sunset's glow.
With ears to hear what I would know.
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine.
I've been blessed indeed, The world is mine.

By Anonymous

ABC Compilation

Amphetamine addicted alligators are aging
Big brown bears bite brawling beavers
Catching crabs can cause carnage
Dirty dingo's dive daringly down drains
Eager elephants eat emerald entrees
Free father for fat feminine farmer
Good gigolo got grandma giddy
Heated hammerhead hit horny heather
Illegal immigrants imitated Irish
Jesus joined jolly Jews jumping
Kicking kind kids kept kangaroos killing
Laminated lyrics left lawyers lost
Marinated mangos made monkeys mad
Nineteen ninjas neutering naughty natives
Officers often ordered ongoing obituaries
Perfect pickles probing purple pillows
Quick queens quietly quoted quirky quacks
Rich rockers riding rainbow railways
Shady sisters share some sweet sugar
Training turkeys try tulip tasting
Urgent underwear under uncle's umbrella
Vigorously venting vendors vote very vastly
Watching whales when wet warms warrens wang
X-raying Xmas xylophones (hard)
Young yellow Yankees yell yuck
Zipping zebras zone zany zoologists


By Dennis Jackson

The Hope to Eliminate Smoking

“To stop smoking is not the easiest of things to accomplish that is a known fact. Quitting can be done. The best chance to stop and stay free of smoking is to know what the risks are and options that are available to help someone who is struggling with the addiction to cigarettes. Mark twain made the quote popular, “Quitting is easy I’ve done it a thousand times.” Why is quitting smoking so hard for many people to quit? The answer is Nicotine, it is really a devil in sheep’s clothing if you ask me. Can it help with stress and calm you down at points? Of course it can, although in the long run it’s only a long or short road to the eternal grave.
When cigarette smoke is inhaled nicotine is allowed to be brought deep into the lungs, where it is quickly absorbed into the bloodstream. Then it travels throughout the body affecting many important organs and internal body processes. Nicotine can stay in the body of a normal every day smoker for up to 3-4 days after the person has quit. Not to mention the affects it has on a smoking pregnant woman where the nicotine can cross the placenta and has been found in the amniotic fluid and umbilical cords of new born infants. Smoking and nicotine is just like any other drug in that your body will build up a tolerance for it, which enables the body to need more of the addicting drug. This is a downward spiral for your body you need more stuff to get the feeling you are pursuing and by doing this you are bringing in more and more harmful chemicals. Chain reaction if I have ever seen one. There is a light at the end of this road though. If someone decides to quit smoking their body starts to naturally begin to heal itself in a matter of 2-3 days. There are some mental and physical symptoms to stopping and a few are: Dizziness, Depression, Feeling of anxiety, Irritability, Restlessness and boredom, headaches, increased weight gain and constipation and gas. There are a lot more but you get the idea.
The banning of cigarette smoking can add years and years to a smoker’s life if they were to stop. There was data collected in 1990 by the U.S. centers for disease control and prevention (CDC), that estimated that adult male smokers lost an average of 13.2 years of life and females 14.5. With this and all the diseases it causes WTF, World? Can the population not see the devastation that smoking is causing in our planet? Between the cancer causing chemicals that are pushed into our society, and the second hand smoke that is killing animals and causing children to become sick, you would think that the big governments could all get together and really change something for the good of humanity by stopping the growing, cropping and manufacturing of tobacco products all over the world. Will this actually happen? I really hope so but the truth is that these enforcing governments have a lot of money coming in to the economy by tobacco selling at 5-7 dollars a pack. If that was to happen the black market would probably take over that part of the financial situation. Everyone knows that marijuana is a huge black market paycheck for many countries already and is big brother going to let that happen to the tobacco industry? Who knows, it is a possibility though for sure.

So I end my paper now with a lot more knowledge on the effects of smoking cigarettes and I’m more for the abolishment of cigarettes and nicotine. They go hand in hand. Nicotine is the addicting drug and it is not only in cigarettes. In my opinion the population would benefit greatly if we did not have smoking legal. There is so much good that can come out of quitting and not having smoke in our air. Not only saving lives but our environment as well. It’s a huge topic and I’m sure I haven’t covered every aspect but I believe that there is a very big role that non smokers need to be taking in the ending of smoking in all public areas and cities. It has begun so there is hope.”