This Video should Dispel any Doubts About the Mercury Toxins in Your Amalgam Fillings

According to this video,( on the website of the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology, IAOMT for short), aptly titled, "The Smoking Teeth Video" the IAOMT strongly urges that you should have all mercury fillings removed as soon as possible (unless pregnant or lactating).

This is because silver amalgam fillings contain 50% mercury and are constantly emitting mercury vapor--even at room temperature. The effects of this toxic vapor in the mouth, although not proven, can, over a period of time cause damage to nerve cells and their tissues.

Mercury, which is colorless, odorless and tasteless is readily absorbed into the bloodstream and transported all over the body-causing potential damage to all organs, the heart, the liver, the kidneys, the brain, the stomach--to name a few.

Acting In conjunction with other toxic metals such as lead and cadmium, the harmful synergistic effects of Mercury blood poisening to body organs can be mutliplied, perhaps 100 times.

Watch this video and decide for yourself!

Jeff Bezos Founder of Amazon Delivers a Powerful Message at this Year's Princeton Graduation

His words are memorable! "I took the less safe path to follow my passion and I am proud of that choice."

Just eight years out of Princeton at age 30, Jeff and his wife, took the leap into the unknown.

Leaving secure jobs at a Wall Street Law firm, Jeff and his wife decided to follow his passion to realize his BIG DREAM of building the world's largest online bookstore.

In 15 years. his bookstore of 'limitless proportions' has exceeded all expectations. In 2009, his firm generated $24.5 Billion in sales.

Of 452 goals his company has set for this year, 360 involve directly affecting the customer experience. The word revenue is only mentioned 8 times!

His portable Kindle reader had access to 460, 000 books in 2009 and his goal is to have every book ever printed in any langauge all available in less than 60 seconds.

The video above ( made available by the School of Engineering and Applied Science at Princeton) is introduced by Universtiy President Shirley M. Tilgman.

Jeff urges his audience to temper their cleverness with making conscious choices to be kind to others.

In this commencement address, Jeff asks some key questions to his audience of some of the young and brightest minds in our country:

"Will inertia be your guide, or will you follow your passion?"

"Will you follow dogma, or will you be original?"

"Will you be clever at the expense of others or will you be kind?"

Enjoy this most inspirational speech.

Inspiration Art from Stamford CT

Click on this Image to Zoom into the scene

Stamford, CT is no ordinary town.

Its many residents like to collect art.

It only gets better when they exhibit their art on their lawns.

Such is the case here. Every time I head up Fifth Street, I am treated to some lawn art


In this case, it's a scene of an oldtime photographer, tall, elegant, mustached, dressed black and white to the hilt --the kind who would hold up a pan with ignition powder.

The early box camera was set on a tripod. The photographer would first pose his subject in front of the camera by looking into the lens and opening up the shutter. He would then hold up a 'flash' pan filled with magnesium powder and then mixed it with potassium chlorate which would ignite spontaneously emitting light to illuminate the subject.

For you history buffs, I quote from Robert Leggat's article which was inspired by Arthur Gill, FRPS, a prominent member of the Royal Photographic Society's Historical Group: He reports that in the late 1880's flash powder (described above) was introduced. "It would be spread on a metal dish, the metal powder would be set by percussion-sparks from a flint wheel, electrical fuse or just by applying a taper. However the explosive flashpowder could be quite dangerous if misused. This was not really superseded until the invention of the flashbulb in the late 1920's."

Leggat continues: "Early flash photography was not synchronized. This meant that one had to put a camera on a tripod, open the shutter, trigger the flash, and close the shutter again- a technique known as open flash."

And further: "Certainly early flash photography could be a hazardous business. It is said, for example, that Riis [Jacob Riis, the New York City social crusader] working during this period, twice managed to set the places he was photographing on fire!"

So much for early flash photography.

By the way, notice the speckled white dog that accompanies this outdoor image.

It's reigning dogs and cats all over Stamford!

It's Reigning Cats and Dogs in Stamford, Connecticut

One morning early in May, I chanced by the Landmark Tower in Downtown Stamford and noticed that the ground floor was filled with artists and their cats and dogs.

So,I pulled out my trusty camera and prepared a slide show.

And now two and a half months later, as one wanders the downtown area, one can behold a profusion of cats and dogs--all over from Atlantic Ave and Broad Ave. North on Bedford and over to Summer Street then down to Tresser Blvd.

Our downtown is now dressed up by these magnificent canines and felines.

So, come on downtown and enjoy the show!

Recalling Alexander Rummler, Norwalk, Connecticut Artist Who Spent the Last 18 Years of His Life in Stamford

Rummler Self Portrait

The above painting was a result of many request by visitors to Mr. Rummler's studio in South Norwalk, CT. They kept asking him to paint himself in a portrait when he is working on one of his works. So, he accommodated them and the above work is the result. It hangs in the atrium of Norwalk City Hall. "Mopping for Starfish" is in the background and hangs on the third floor .

Born in Dubuque, Iowa, Alexander Rummler (July 25, 1867-1959), studied at the Art Students League of New York. He then continued his studies at the Academie Julian in Paris.

He achieved fame when his painting of the signing of the World War I armistice was displayed on billboards across the county.

In 1907, he moved to South Norwalk. Then in 1926, he was chosen as the artist to represent Connecticut at The Sesquicentennial Exposition held in Philadelphia of the same year. His paintings won first place.

In 1936, under a Works Public Administration commission, he painted murals at Norwalk High School which was then being built. He painted 16 murals and eight smaller works illustrating Norwalk life-such as the oyster factories, fishing ,etc.

Rummler moved to Stamford in 1941 where he died in 1959; he lived to age 92.

Image Source (1)

Aerobatics over Portland, Oregon or How I lost all fear of flying.

Here is a Stearman bi-plane similar to the one in which Alan and I  flew aerobatics over Portland Oregon back in the summer of 1981. (click on the image/arrow above to experience some of the maneuvers we executed) 

It's July of 1981, I'm living in Eugene, Oregon and have just completed my long cross county 'under the hood' towards my IFR (Instrument Flight Rules)  certification. This was a non-stop flight from Eugene's Mahlon Sweet Airport to Bellingham International Airport (in close proximity to British Columbia, Canada); total time each way was 3 hours and 10 minutes.

Preflight of 29er Hotel prior to my long cross country IFR flight

My instructor Al Stockstead at Mahlon Sweet Airport. 

Al is a retired United Airlines Pilot with over 6,000 hours of flight time 

The weather, I remember was calm and our flight took us past the recently erupted Mt. St. Helens. Al Stockstead, my instructor, sat next to me in the co-pilots seat and did the New York Times crossword on the way up. I flew the plan entirely by instruments which means I did not once have visual contact of airspace around me or the terrain below. (except, that is of Mt. St. Helens, with permission of Al) We flew at 9500 feet, filed a flight plan with Portland Center before taking off,  and my plane, Cherokee 1029H, was being tracked by radar via our transponder which was set to squawk on a determined frequency.

Mount Saint Helens located in Skamania County, Washington

Shown here on May 19,  1982. It erupted on May 18, 1980 and 

was the "deadliest and most economically destructive volcano event 

in the history of the United States."  Photo and quote courtesy of Wikipedia 

Seated in the back seat was Alan Kline another of Al's students who I was 'ferrying' up to Bellingham, Washington  to take care of some private business. He, it turned out, was most appreciative of my favor.

 Little did I realize what a surprise was in store for me....

A few days later, I got a phone call from my instructor. The conversation went like this: Hey, Richard, I'd like you to go up in Alan's Stearman. He's going to show you some aerobatics that he's been practicing. Nothing to worry about--I've been training him for sometime and he's got certification in his bi-plane and is qualified. Are you game?

Well, it took me no more than 5 seconds to respond: this was a great opportunity. Sure thing, I quickly answered. Al then said, call Alan and set up a time.

Three days, Alan and I meet at Mahlon Sweet Airport. It's a clear summer day. He has warned me not to have anything to eat for breakfast as the maneuvers might 'upset' my stomach. After the visible walk around 'pre-flight', Alan seats me behind him in the open cockpit, bi-wing aerobatic. He instructs me to buckle up and put on the headset.

Alan revs up the engine checks the instruments and is granted permission to taxi to the active runway and hold. We watch the graceful landing of a Cessna Citation. Next a Mooney single engine takes off and then we are cleared for takeoff. As soon as we are airborne and out of the airport air space, we head north to Corvallis.

It's a heady feeling flying in an open cockpit plane with the airstream rushing by. Alan immediately communicates to me that all is a go and I sense some surprises in store. The first is a blast of loud rock stereo music from a Portland, Oregon radio station in my headset. Alan's voice is heard over the din: Richard, the music is a distraction so you can better enjoy the experience.

I'm cool. Somehow I get the feeling that Alan knows what he's doing. (Al is great teacher!)

In five minutes we are 6500 feet ASL. Alan, calls out: Are you ready? Sure, I scream back over the blasting music. Before long we are slowing and Alan stalls the plane and we are a spin and in a few seconds (which seems like an eternity) we are out of the spin.

Next, we climb back to 6500 feet and we level off. Suddenly, Alan pulls back on the yoke and we are ascending straight up and I notice we are beginning to stall somewhere at 8,000 feet. He then begins to execute what he later terms hammerheads--meaning he performed a number of them to show off his proficiency.

I'm still feeling ok!

He does lazy eights and barrelheads and others. I'm enjoying each and every stall, rollover and spin. More, more, more.

The Portland music is is blasting Peter Frampton and the Stones as Alan continues to 'rev her up' and stall again and again.

Our hour together seemed way too short.

It is great reliving this experience with you, aviation enthusiasts.

Hey, Alan, do you need another ferry to Bellingham?

My Passion for Flying Updated

Yours truly, Tell It Like It Is Blogger with Cherokee 387Charlie

Chico, California, circa 1979

Dear Aviation Enthusiast:

Here is a letter, composed earlier today to a fellow pilot who inspired me to share with him and you the following electronic missive. And I quote:

"Mark, I love your passion for what you are doing, your timely and informative articles and all the positive comments that attest to your success. So, with your permission, I am taking precious time out to write about some enlightening SIMILAR- experiences.

Flying has been such an integral part of the my last 30 years that I am constantly blogging about outstanding historic aviation personalities such as Jimmy Doolittle, Chuck Yeager, Robert 'Rosie' Rosenthal, John Gillespie Mcgee, Jr., Jackie Cochran, Harold I. June, Johnny Moore and too many others to enumerate. So, please read on.

Likewise, I discovered flying while living in the most beautiful areas of California, Chico/Paradise. What turned me on was the positive energy and excitement about aviation from my wife,  herself a pilot, and her family who were involved in aviation insurance in the Portland, Oregon market.

Before long I earned my wings from Sugarpine Aviators, up in the Sierras at Quincy Airport in Plumas County. My instructors were Johnny Moore, a crop duster and ATP rated (author of I Must Fly and Breaking into Agricultural Aviation) and Tom Rahn-- who both still run the school some 30 years later. They introduced me to the love of flying that includes a respect for mountain flying since Quincy and its airport are situated in a natural bowl, surrounded by mountains at about 3,000 MSL ; the airport is beautiful in winter creating a natural snow bowl and is  a 40 minute flight to Lake Tahoe. See by blog on this subject: http://tinyurl.com/296jtqd. My website is www.richardjschwartz.com

That's me shortly after accepting delivery of Cherokee 1029H

Oroville Municipal Airport, Oroville, California, May, 1981

I purchased a slightly used Archer II (this is 1981 and the plane cost me less than $30,000, equipped) from my neighbors in Paradise, CA (who ran Horizon Aviation in Auburn) and went on to fly my Archer II, fully equipped with dual Navs and Coms and DME.. She was hangared first at Oroville Airport in the Sacramento Valley (where I took further instruction with Orville and his assistant David) and then at Mahlon Sweet Airport in Eugene, Oregon where I was fortunate to do lots of instrument flying and DF steers in the morning fog with 6,000 hour airline pilot Al Stockstead, and lots of under- the- hood training up and down Washington/Oregon coast.

My best memories are of: getting up at 4 AM in Paradise, driving down to the Valley and doing lots of touch'n go's and night flying in the Sacramento Valley-- which is awesome flying in the calm under the stars before morning sunrise.

A few month later I did a long cross country from Eugene, Ore. to Charles Lindbergh Airport in San Diego landing 29'erHotel just as the fog cleared. The flight over the Tehachapi Mountain from Bakersfield south in early morning is magnificent; Route 5 below is a ribbon of slow moving traffic winding its way across the mountains towards Los Angeles.

I particularly enjoyed doing lots of touch and go's at Kneeland Airport, with its 2250 foot long runway. It's an unattended mountain airport at 2700 feet above sea level, 10 miles southeast of Eureka, California, along the coastal range. http://tinyurl.com/38n3ypj. Eureka is fogged in so much of the time, local pilots must land at Kneeland.

Finally, nothing can match flying, with clearance, in Glacier National Park, (located in Montana and Canada) in the winter with lots of mountain photographs of the awesome experience. Look for a forthcoming blog with a special slideshow from my experience in Kalispel, Montana.

One of the saddest days of my life was selling back 29H to the original owners 300 hours and two years later. It was like losing a long lasting friend.

Flying has been such a positive experience for me that I have maintained my AOPA (Airline Owners and Pilot's Association) affiliation all these 30 years; I have flown from Glacier Park International Airport (GPI) and from Danbury Airport (DXR) here in Southern Connecticut and blog constantly about aviation. 

I would love to fly up in New Hampshire--especially from the small airports near Bennington, NH in Hillsborough County. I look forward each summer to spend vacations in the Francestown area with awesome views of the Monadnocks.

Have an inspired day, all!

Keep your safe flying articles flowing."