Swine Flu - Keep Informed, Stay Well

As Operations Director at Taipei American School during the SARS outbreak in 2003 I was instrumental in developing a SARS Protocol for keeping our students, faculty, and staff safe and well during this period. I acted as laision between the school and the CDC office as well as local government health agencies. I was under quarantine for 10 days during this outbreak. You can read about my work to maintain a safe environment at the school at this website: http://www.cleanlink.com/hs/article/Overseas-SARS-%E2%80%98Journal%E2%80%99--829

Based on this experience I have decided to gather relevant information from the WHO and U. S. CDC websites and present it here so you can understand what is happening and act in a calm responsible manner rather than one of fear and panic. I will update this material regularly.

Today, Wednesday, April 29, The World Health Organization (WHO) raised its pandemic alert to 5, its second-highest level, indicating the outbreak of swine flu that originated in Mexico is nearing widespread human infection. The U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports additional confirmed human infections, hospitalizations and the nation’s first fatality from this outbreak. The more recent illnesses and the reported death suggest that a pattern of more severe illness associated with this virus may be emerging in the U.S. Most people will not have immunity to this new virus and, as it continues to spread, more cases, more hospitalizations and more deaths can be expected in the coming days and weeks.

What You Can Do to Stay Healthy

There are everyday actions people can take to stay healthy.

• Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
• Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze or are out in a public place.
• Alcohol-based hands cleaners are also effective. A spray bottle of 75% alcohol works as well as commercial hand cleaners.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread that way.
• Try to avoid close contact with sick people.
• Practice good health habits including adequate sleep, eating nutritious food, and keeping physically active.
• Influenza is thought to spread mainly person-to-person through coughing or sneezing of infected people.
• If you get sick, it’s recommended that you stay home from work or school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.
• In areas where transmission of swine influenza virus has been confirmed, rather than relying on the use of facemasks or respirators, close contact with people who might be ill and being in crowded settings should be avoided.
• Facemasks should be considered for use by individuals who enter crowded settings, both to protect their nose and mouth from other people's coughs and to reduce the wearers' likelihood of coughing on others; the time spent in crowded settings should be as short as possible.

Keep informed, stay well.

Homeless - but not Hopeless

We live in Washington County, Oregon. Washington County and the Portland metropolitan area are nationally recognized as one of the most livable areas in the country. The population is ethnically diverse with approximately 500,600 citizens. Washington County is 727 square miles and includes a portion of the City of Portland and eleven incorporated cities including Hillsboro, Beaverton, Tigard and Tualatin.

Intel, IBM and Tektronix, and world headquarters for both Nike and Columbia Sportswear are located here. Intel’s investment in Washington County exceeds that of any Intel site worldwide. Outside the Urban Growth Boundary, the county transitions to nurseries, wineries and other farm and forest enterprises. Washington County ranks first in manufacturing and third in agriculture production in Oregon. However, nearly one-in-ten residents, live below the Federal Poverty Level, and 122,267 Washington County residents are low-income. In Washington County more than 34% of our neighbors are one catastrophic illness or lost job away from becoming homeless. An estimated 1200 people are homeless in Washington County at any one time; approximately one-third of these are children and 67% of those are in families. The Oregon State Department of Education recently published statistics for Washington County showing last year there were 1,422 homeless children in Grades K-12 based upon one full year of data gathering.

According to a recent Associated Press report Oregon has recorded the steepest year-over-year rise in unemployment rates among the states and now its jobless rate ranks second among them. The Oregon unemployment rate jumped to 12.1 percent in March, putting the state second to Michigan; the national rate is 8.5 percent. Many people are a paycheck or two away from being homeless. In reality, you or I probably have a caring supportive community of family and friends who would not let us be homeless. But most of the families facing homelessness are young adults who have not yet cultivated a community that stands by them in hard times.

Families often avoid calling a shelter because they are afraid of being discriminated against, judged by people who have not experienced poverty and hopelessness on such a deep personal level. No one wants to be homeless. People in desperate situations need a supportive community. It is important to bring families into shelter programs where they receive more than charity. Often we hear the homeless family tell about how ashamed, how embarrassed, and how desperate they are because they are homeless. They think people don’t care.

Our church participates in a program called Family Bridge which assists young homeless families. Their goal is to give them back their dignity and heal their pain – the loneliness they suffer because they are in need of community. This is not a religious organization and they place no religious restrictions on families seeking shelter. A central shelter screens homeless families with children for eligibility. They provide them with shelter for a six week period. They must pass drug screening and actively partake in plans to assist in securing income and housing. Children must be enrolled in and attend public school or Head Start during their stay. They have a family-style evening meal at participating churches and spend the night in church-provided rooms. Church members prepare the meals and eat with the families to provide a cordial and caring atmosphere. A church member also stays at the church overnight to provide any assistance needed. We have prepared meals and shared them with these families several times at our church.

The first time we volunteered to prepare a meal and eat with the "homeless people" I was a bit apprehensive. I didn't know a lot about the program or what to expect. I was all prepared to find a bunch of bag ladies and old men pushing grocery carts filled with all their worldly possessions. We were intrduced to three families, all with children. They were just like the "folks next door" except they had fallen on hard times and were homeless. One husband had lost his job then their house and finally packed the car and drove to Oregon looking for work and were introduced to the shelter. Another family had a catastrophic illness that wiped out their finances and the wage earner was no longer able to work. They were asking the shelter for temporary housing and assistance in finding employment. Last year the program assisted 34 families secure housing and employment. The following is one story taken from the Family Bridge Newsletter.

It was midsummer, 5 pm Sunday, I arrived at the church to unlock the doors. Two families arrived and we all settled in for our week together. Monday morning the director of Family Bridge phoned to say I was to expect another family that evening. This family would include a father and mother, a first grade boy and a third grade girl.

No additional people arrived Monday evening, or Tuesday evening. Wednesday morning I phoned the director and found him puzzled. He didn’t know why they hadn’t arrived. Wednesday at 5 pm I arrived at the church to unlock the door. A van was parked in the church parking lot and the family introduced themselves and apologized for not being there Monday and Tuesday. The children were delightful, full of conversation as we settled in and shared dinner. After dinner the mother came to me and said “We drove into the parking lot each night, but I just couldn’t get out of the van. As long as we were sleeping in the van, I could call it an adventure, but if we came into the church I would have to accept that we are homeless.”

So what can you do? Drop some coins in the hat sitting in front of the guitar player on the sidewalk downtown? Put a bill in the bag held by the woman standing by the side of the freeway on-ramp? Or something more personal and more lasting? Why not seek out an organization or group in your area that is trying to help the homeless get back on their own feet, not just giving them a hot meal and a clean bed for the night? Get personal with them and let them know you recognize them as a person of worth. Invest some of your time and energy, it won't be wasted and you will feel a lot better for it; believe me, I've tried it.

Cherry Blossoms - Another Look

Yesterday we walked along the riverbank in the Old Town area of Portland to view the beautiful cherry trees that were almost at their peak blooming. While there I remembered the times we spent in Kyoto, Japan viewing cherry blossoms.
However, I soon realized that these trees weren’t planted for sitting under to enjoy singing and drinking sake; they have a much deeper meaning. It is deeply rooted in the history of the Japanese settlers who came to the Pacific Northwest. This is their story.

In the late 17th Century, Japanese farmers began to come to the Pacific Northwest hoping to make their fortunes and return home wealthy. These first Japanese were known as the Issei, or first generation immigrants. By 1891, more than 1,000 Japanese men had made their way to Oregon. Discrimination against them grew until in 1907, further emigration of laborers from Japan was prohibited although those already here could be joined by women and family members.

In spite of misunderstandings and prejudice a thriving Japanese community developed in what is now known as Old Town in downtown Portland. However, their relatively tranquil life ended abruptly on December 7, 1941 when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. The FBI immediately began rounding up prominent Japanese businessmen and putting them in jail.

On January 30, 1942, Portland City Council revoked the business licenses of all Japanese. This was followed quickly by the issuance of Executive Order 9066 by U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on February 19, 1942, using his authority as Commander-in-Chief to exercise war powers to send ethnic groups to internment camps. All persons with Japanese ancestry were removed from the West Coast.

On April 28, 1942 Japanese Americans living in Portland area were ordered to report to Portland Assembly Center. An April 29, 1942 headline in The Oregonian newspaper proclaimed that Portland would be the first U.S. city to rid itself of Japanese Americans. Portland’s Livestock Exposition Pavilion, used for cattle, horses, and hogs, was converted into a detention center for almost 4,000 people. In August and September 1942, Japanese Americans were transferred by rail to concentration camps in Idaho, Wyoming and California. They spent as long as three years in tarpaper shelters. Soldiers guarding them were ordered to shoot anyone who stepped beyond the barbed wire boundaries.

In 1945, Order 9066 was lifted and people were allowed to return to their homes. However, while they were gone, almost everything they owned — homes, businesses and farms had been confiscated either by the government or simply taken by someone. They had no means to secure funds to re-establish their businesses, find housing, or rebuild the previous Japanese community. They were faced with the choice of returning to communities where they were clearly unwanted, or moving into areas unknown to them. Further complicating their lives, the Oregon Legislature passed an Alien Land Law in 1945, prohibiting Japanese Americans from living or working on farmland. In 1949, however, the Alien Land Law was overturned as it was determined it violated the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

In 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, authorizing an official apology to persons of Japanese ancestry for their incarceration during World War II. The official apology was seen as a affirmation that the Constitution works for all Americans.

On August 3, 1990, the Japanese American Historical Plaza was dedicated in Portland, Oregon. This memorial commemorates those Japanese Americans deported to internment camps during World War II. Sculptures and carvings throughout the park tell the story of the Japanese people in the Northwest - of immigration, elderly immigrants, native-born Japanese Americans, soldiers who fought in US military services during the war, and the business people who worked hard and had hope for the children of the future.

The river bank is lined with cherry trees. A large stone in the center is inscribed with the names of the internment camps. Two columns flank the entrance; one depicting the arrival of the first Japanese to the area and a second showing a mother and child in an internment camp. 13 stone markers are engraved with short poems.

Mighty Willamette!

Beautiful friend,

I am learning,

I am practicing

To say your name.

Sure, I go to school

Same as you.

I'm an American

Rounded up In the sweltering yard.

Unable to endure any longer

Standing in line

Some collapse

Who? What? Where?

When? Why?

Black smoke rolls

Across the blue sky.

Winter chills our bones.

This is Minidoka.

Our young men and women

Joined the army too.

They're proud to be American.

Going home,

Feeling cheated.

Gripping my daughter's hand.

I tell her we're leaving

Without emotion.

Through the car window

A glimpse of pines.

Oregon mountains.

My heart beats faster.

Going home.

Glancing up at red-tinged mountains

My heart is softened.

A day in deep autumn

War and change,

My native land.

Once so hard to leave

Is behind me now forever.

Just over there

Was our old community.

Echoes! Echoes! Echoes!

With new hope,
We build new lives.
Why complain when it rains?
This is what it means to be free.

Can't Miss Business Opportunity

Looking for that "just right" idea for a new business to make some money during the current "turn-down"?

Minimum investment, no franchise fees, flexible hours, be your own boss, expanding market; sound too good to be true? We're in Taipei right now for a short visit. When we went out for a walk this evening we passed a unique shop near Sandra's brother's apartment. It was a newly opened shoe washing shop.
Most kids here, from lower school on up, wear athletic shoes to school. And, they get dirty and soiled. Who wants to wear a pair of dirty shoes to school? AND who wants to wash a pair of dirty tennis shoes? Certainly not the kid that got them dirty; or their mom. So an enterprising individual came up with the idea of a shoe washing service. Drop your shoes off in the afternoon and they'll be ready for you to pick up the next morning, bright and clean. The service only costs about $5 per pair. And they are washed so clean that its hard to tell them from a pair just out of the box. They even have new laces for sale if you want to go an extra step.

So, the kid has a clean pair of shoes to wear (no social embarrassment), the parent doesn't have to wash the shoes (clean hands and minimum cost), and the enterprising individual has gainful employment and contributes to the local economy.

So, what are you waiting for? Get some soap powder, a brush, a sign for the window, and prepare the washer and dryer because they'll be beating on your door as soon as they know you're open for business.

Jam and Jelly Making - "G" Rated

We have always enjoyed fruit jam and jelly but in Taiwan found it to be both expensive and tasteless. One plus of living in the Pacific Northwest is the abundance of fruit. We have visited U-Pick berry and peach farms and found an abundant supply of blackberries along the fences surrounding the house. First you must harvest the berries. Blueberries are easy, in fact some of the bushes are so tall you don't even have to stoop over to pick.
Blackberries are another story. They grow in thickets and are covered with thorns and barbs . Long sleeves are a must and not always enough; I usually look like I was in a battle with a wet cat after I have picked blackberries.

After picking and a light wash (no pollution in this area, just dust) the berries are ready for processing. The jam must be placed in sterilized jars to prevent bacterial growth. The jars are washed in the dishwasher and put in the oven to dry and heat so the thermal shock of filling with boiling liquid won't crack them.

Blueberries ready to be made into jam.

Fruit pectin is added to assist in the jelling process. It is a natural product derived from apples.

Fresh lemon juice is added for tartness, to raise the acidity and help preservation, and to preserve the color of the fruit.

The fruit is crushed and brought to a boil, then the pectin is added. After returning to a boil sugar is added, the amount depends on the tartness of the fruit. The mixture is boiled for about 10 minutes.

While the fruit mixture is boiling the jar lids are put into boiling water to sterilize them and to soften the rubber sealing surface so a tight seal will be formed.

Everything is laid out so the filling and sealing can be done quickly.

The boiling fruit mixture is ladled into the jar, the lid placed on top, and a sealing band screwed on as quickly as possible.

The filled jars are placed in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes for further sterilizing.

After removal as the jars cool you will hear a "ping" as the lid flexes and seals the jar under a vacuum. The cooled jars can be kept unrefrigerated up to a year without significnt flavor loss; although we have never had any last that long.

So far we have made peach, apricot, blueberry, blackberry, raspberry, and strawberry jam as well as pear salsa and canned peach halves. Can't wait to see what next season brings.

Chinese Birthday Celebration Customs

We had the privilege this past weekend to be invited to celebrate the first birthday of the daughter of some friends from Taiwan who are living here while the husband is in flight school. For the traditional Chinese, only three birthdays are celebrated until the age of 60, then birthdays are celebrated every ten years.

The first birthday celebration is when the child is 30 days old. You need to know that when a child is born they are considered one year old and another year will be added to their age on Chinese New Year. So, a three-month-old infant could actually be two years old by Chinese calculations. When the baby is 30 days old the parents send gifts to all the family and friends, always including a red dyed egg to announce the arrival of the child. Some of the gifts are returned the child's parents to help to support and raise the child.

The birthday celebration we attended came at the end of the child's first year of life. The parents performed a ritual that they believe will tell them what the future holds for their child. Various objects including coins (wealth), a CD (musician), a ruler (architect), a book (studious) , a calculator (accountant or banker), a pen (author), a camera (journalist/artist), a green onion (intelligent), a head of garlic (shrewd), a thermometer (medical), a scale (judicial), and a golf bag (sports) were placed on the floor; twelve in all.The child was placed on the floor nearby and observed by the parents and the guests gathered around.
Whichever object the child picks up is supposed to represent their future. If the child picks up the coins they will be wealthy, the pen they will be an author, and so on.

Our friends were encouraging their daughter, Dou-dou, to go for the coins - meaning that she would be wealthy and could take care of them in later life. But her first choice was a calculator, indicating a possible career in banking or another occupation where she would be handling large sums of money.

Her second choice was a pen, indicating an aptitude for writing or literature.
And then, what mama was waiting for... THE MONEY.

She was smart enough to immediately hand it over to her mother for managing.

After the money was chosen, anything else was just for fun, like the digital camera which might lead to a career in journalism or the arts and the green onion (tsung) which has the same sound in Chinese as intelligent.


After a shared meal and the ritual, we all gave gifts of clothes, or toys then enjoyed a birthday cake which is a Western custom; although we did sing "Happy Birthday" in Chinese.

When the child is six, they will invite family and friends to their home to eat long noodles and red dyed eggs. The traditional gifts of money in red envelopes are given.

The fourth birthday celebration for Chinese comes at the age of 60, this is the first and probably only time in the persons life that their animal sign and element are together exactly as they were on the day they were born.

The grown children give the celebration for their parents, out of respect, love and appreciation. The celebration begins by the mother or father eating a bowl of long noodles and red dyed eggs for breakfast prepared by their children. Later in the day family and friends are invited to the celebration where they will eat long noodles (representing longevity) and a warm pastry with a sweet mixture that looks like a peach (therefore called a peach) is eaten. Everyone at the celebration must eat both foods, it is considered rude and disrespectful not to. This type of celebration continues every ten years for the rest of the person's life with more family members, being added to the grand celebration each year.

Before the Sausage - What They Don't Show in the Supermarket (Rated PG-13)

Last week I wrote about making sausage and smoking it. Well, we cheated, we bought the pork at a local supermarket. To make REAL sausage you have to start a little closer to the pig's home, like here. A neighbor of our daughter was going to slaughter a pig and we were going to be lucky enough to get all those "inside" things that nobody else wanted. Sandra didn't want to view the actual "slaughter" so she stayed back at the house until the pig was good and dead then she would make her appearance and gather the goodies. The neighbor lives about 1/4 mile from our daughter and keeps the pigs in a pen near their house. This is not the pig that we have been raising but an "extra" pig that was getting too large to keep and eating too much. We trekked through the snow to the pen and began to plan our attack.
The pig greeted us with curiosity, completely innocent of what was coming.

What was coming was a rifle loaded with a copper-jacketed bullet.

One well-aimed shot right between the eyes and the pig dropped without even a squeal.

As we struggled to lift the pig over the edge of the pen, the other pig went about eating as if nothing had happened. A discussion developed about how to get the pig out of the pen (remember none of these are professional pig slayers) - who would get in the pen, who would grab which foot, should we grab it by the ears? Finally they just muscled it over the edge onto the ground.

A short drag to the truck then up onto the tailgate.

Where a strategically placed knife blade would begin the letting of blood necessary to drain the body.

Since we were getting everything nobody else wanted we collected the blood in a clean bucket.

After a short ride we unloaded the pig onto a tarp to drag it to the barn where we could proceed further. Sandra now made her appearance, but because of her twisted ankle (from an earlier fall on ice) she couldn't make the trek up the hill so she remained in the car and received periodic progress reports. We offered to carry her up the hill but she declined; I later learned that she was afraid we would think she was as heavy as the pig!

In case you hadn't noticed, the pig had been wallowing in the mud. So the next step was to use a pressure washer to clean it up. There is a lot of elk and deer hunting done in our area in addition to the slaughtering of pigs, goats, and sheep. The clean-up of the animal is always a problem. Recently a local car wash discovered an unidentifiable "body part" in the machine area while they were cleaning up. No one could explain what it was or how it got there. They called the local sheriff's office who investigated and finally took it to a local hospital for identification. They determined it was a pig's heart. Seems like the hunters and farmers like to load the animal into a pick-up truck then run the truck through the car wash.

After a good hosing off the next task was to hang the pig, estimated at 250 pounds. A rope over the rafters in the barn gave us a good working area.

You might ask where am I; well, I'm on the end of the rope out of sight tying it off to the garage door track after it is lifted sufficiently high off the floor.

OK, take a break while we decide what comes next.

Well, we'll start by cutting around the "exit point" including the tail; that way everything inside will stay together and it can be removed without loosing anything held in the intestines.Next the belly is opened to allow access to all those goodies inside that nobody wanted.

This was a castrated male pig, no one wanted this part.

The more the belly was opened up the more goodies became available.

After removing the heart, lungs, liver, spleen, kidneys, stomach, small AND large intestines, and a lot of net fat there wasn't anything left inside. Just one more look inside to be sure nothing was missed.

Now for a cup of coffee and a hand wash in the snow while we prepare for the next step.

The carcass needs to cool as quickly as possible. It's colder in the barn than in the refrigerated locker so we decided to leave the carcass hanging in the barn for two days to finish the bleed and let it get fully chilled. To speed up the cooling, we used a water hose to wash out the body cavity and wash down the pig one more time. We took the large intestines outside to flush them and hoped to use them for sausage casings. We determined that this pig had been supplementing his diet with table scraps, including artichokes. After a few attempts at cleaning the intestines we gave up; it was so cold we couldn't feel our fingers and kept perforating them. We buried them along with what washed out of them so they wouldn't attract coyotes that might try to get into the barn and ravage the pig carcass. So it will be store-bought casings for the next batch of sausage.

We did make it home with some goodies. Sandra has already had liver soup and kidney noodles. We delivered the heart to a friend this morning. I'm remaining silent about how much of these things I actually ate.

Now, tomorrow the feet and head arrive; but that's another story.