Ask Maxy

Dear  Maxy , 
One of our granddaughters started  pulling  her eyelids  at around  9 . We expressed  our  concern to our  son . Shortly after, we were told  that our granddaughter  was seeing  a counselor  to address this behavior . We were so relieved  when she stopped . But  about  a year later  she started  again . Now her  9-year-old brother is pulling hair  out of his head . He has  a bald spot  about two inches  in diameter .
I recently brought  up the counseling  to my son, but he said, "We've tried that.". He indicated  the kids will stop on their  own 
Is stress causing this? How involved  should  we get ? Right now, we feel  like it's  the elephant  in the  room .
Grandparents
Dear  Grandparents ,
Trichotillomania  is a disorder  that results  in compulsive  hair  pulling . It is  currently  considered  to be a "Body-focused repetitive  behavior ." There  also may be  a genetic  predisposition, which would explain  why  both  of  your grandchildren suffer  from it . Sometimes  stress, anxiety or  fatigue  can trigger  the hair  pulling, but not always .
Doctors  do not know  the underlying  cause  but believe it may develop  due to a  combination of genetic, hormonal , emotional  and environmental  factors . Appropriate  treatment  involves  cognitive  behavorioral  therapy , sometimes  in combinatoin  with  medication , hypnosis and relaxation  techniques . Your son and his wife  may already  be taking  the necessary  steps , but either way , you can get more information  through  the Trichotillomania  Learning  Center  at  trich.org.
Maxy

Dear  Maxy ,
I have  been feeling  lethargic  lately . I know part of it  is because  I have had very little work , which is  depressing . I try  so hard, but I work freelance  and hardly anybody is hiring . I have had  to negotiate payment plans  with everybody  in my life, it seems . I'm afraid  to pick  up the phone  for fear of another bill collector  calling . I find  myself  sleeping  less and  waking  up late . Soetimes  I feel like  I'm walking  around  like  a zombie  with no energy  at all .
Depressed 
Dear  Depressed ,
It is possible to become  depressed  when you are  short on money  and can't  figure  out  how  to climb  out of a hole . It  could  also be true  that you have  underlying health concerns  that are making  you feel  fatigued .
The best thing  you can do  for yourself  right  now  is to go to the doctor  and get a checkup . If you do not have  insurance, find a free clinic  in your city . Describe  your  physical  and emotional  symptoms  to  a doctor  and ask  for a complete  physical . Diseases such as  high blood  pressure  and diabetes  can cause  fatigue, as  can depression . Find out  if you are  suffering  from an  illness . If  so, get the help you need .
Maxy

Dear Maxy ,
I have a brother  who lives 3,000 miles away  from the family . He has lived  there  for more than 20 years . Though he stays  in close touch  with my mom, he  hardly  ever  comes  home . We invite  him to  all the holiday meals  and special  events, but  he hasn't  come for  years . We miss  him and love him  and want to see him . We were  thinking  about  suggesting  that  we go out  to visit  him  for the  kids break, but  I'm worried  that he may get upset  if he thinks  we are crowding  his space . How  can I appeoach  the idea  of  visiting  him  as a big  family group  so that he might  consider  it ? 
Missing my Brother 
You didn't  say  how often or if ever  you ar  your family  members  visit  your brother, so I don't  know  what the precedent  is  currently  . I do know that family members  who live far away  from the core of the family unit  often feel isolated . Call your  brother . Tell him  that you  and the  family miss him  and that  you want to visit ... soon . Ask him if all of you can  come to visit  during  spring break . Given that yours  is a group of a number of  people, you should stay in a hotel  so that  you don't invade  his space without  his invitation .
There's  a good chance  he will  say yes  . If not,  you can tell him that  you will love to visit  whenever  he was available .
Maxy

Niagara Falls Today

Niagara Falls Canadian side

Niagara Falls Canadian side

The ice has built up as high as the top of the falls

It's hard to recognize the falls

 The last time Niagara froze to this extreme was around 1910

It Ain't Over...Canada

Canada...Don't put your toques and mittens away yet and keep that old snow shovel handy. The Weather Network's spring outlook — which forecasts general trends for March, April and May — is warning residents across the country that winter is expected to hang on in many communities for a few weeks yet.
"March at least, is going to be a tough month," chief meteorologist Chris Scott told The Canadian Press.
"We don't really get into the more consistently nice spring weather until the middle of April. The good news is we're close, we're not far away."
Scott said much of Canada has experienced "a brutal winter" and warned that cold and occasionally snowy weather is likely to persist, although it's expected to be tempered by "some shots of warmer weather."
The Maritimes and Newfoundland can expect "near normal" temperatures in spring, although New Brunswick and much of P.E.I. are being warned to prepare for above normal precipitation.
Further west, the first half of March is expected to bring "below normal" temperatures from Saskatchewan through to Quebec.
"The same areas that have been seeing the worst of the winter weather will see what I would call a lingering headache," Scott said. "The third and fourth week of March will see more signs of warmer weather, albeit fleeting."
This is not the news I wanted to hear. I don't know about the rest of you tough old Canucks, but I am fed up with all this snow.  If it doesn't end very soon , I am heading south for a while just to look at something green.

Putin: Deploying military force is last resort

                                                                               

Russia will not go to war with the people of Ukraine, but will use its troops to protect citizens, if radicals with clout in Kiev now try to use violence against Ukrainian civilians, particularly ethnic Russians, Putin told the media.
Putin, who was given a mandate by the Russian senate to use military force to protect civilians in Ukraine, said there is no need for such an action yet.
Putin cited the actions of radical activists in Ukraine, including the chaining of a governor to a stage as public humiliation and the killing of a technician during an opposition siege of the Party of Regions HQ, as justification for Russia to be concerned for the lives and well-being of people in eastern and southern Ukraine.
Incidents like those are why Russia reserves the option of troop deployment on the table.
“If we see this lawlessness starting in eastern regions, if the people ask us for help – in addition to a plea from a legitimate president, which we already have – then we reserve the right to use all the means we possess to protect those citizens. And we consider it quite legitimate,” he said.
Russia is not planning to go to war with the Ukrainian people, Putin stressed, when a journalist asked if he was afraid of war. But Russian troops would prevent any attempts to target Ukrainian civilians, should they be deployed.
“We are not going to a war against the Ukrainian people,” he said. “I want you to understand it unambiguously. If we do take a decision, it would only be to protect Ukrainian citizens. Let anybody in the military dare, and they’d be shooting their own people, who would stand up in front of us. Shoot at women and children. I’d like to see anyone try and order such a thing in Ukraine.”
Putin dismissed the notion that the uniformed armed people without insignia who are currently present in Crimea are Russian soldiers. He said they are members of the Crimean self-defense forces and that they are no better equipped and trained than some radical fighters who took part in the ousting of Yanukovich.
He assured that the surprise military drills in Russia’s west which ended on Tuesday had nothing to do with the Ukrainian situation.

An attack of marines supported by combat vehicles during an exercise held by the Baltic Fleet coastal defense troops at the Pavenkovo training ground in the Kaliningrad region

Sanction threats are counterproductive

Asked about criticism of Russia over its stance on Ukraine, Putin dismissed the accusations that Russia is acting illegitimately. He stated that even if Russia does use force in Ukraine, it would not violate international law.

At the same time he accused the United States and its allies of having no regard to legitimacy when they use military force in pursuit of their own national interests.
“When I ask them ‘Do you believe you do everything legitimately,’ they say ‘Yes.’ And I have to remind them about the US actions in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya, where they acted either without any UN Security Council mandate or through perverting a mandate, as was the case in Libya,” Putin said.
“Our partners, especially in the United States, always clearly formulate for themselves their geopolitical and national interests, pursue them relentlessly and then drag the rest of the world in, using the principle ‘You are either with us or against us.' And harass those who refuse to be dragged in,” he added.
As for the sanctions Russia faces over Ukraine, Putin said those threatening them should think of the consequences to themselves if they follow that path. In an interconnected world a country may hurt another country if it wishes, but it would be damaged too.
Threats are counterproductive in this situation, Putin warned. He added that if G8 members choose not to go to Sochi for a planned G8 summit, that would be up to them.

Putin sympathies with Maidan protesters, rejects coup

Putin stressed that the Ukrainian people had a legitimate reason to protest against Yanukovich’s power, considering the overwhelming corruption and other faults of his presidency.
But he objected to the illegitimate way his ouster took place, because it undermined the political stability in the country.
“I strictly object to this form [of transition of power] in Ukraine, and anywhere in the post-Soviet space. This does not help nurturing a culture of law. If someone is allowed to act this way, then everyone is allowed to. And this means chaos. That’s the worst thing that can happen to a country with an unstable economy and an unestablished political system,” Putin explained.

He said that while he personally was not fond of months-long streets protests as a means to pressure the government, he sympathized with the Maidan demonstration members, who were genuinely outraged with the situation in Ukraine.
But at the same time he warned that what happens in Ukraine now may be a replacement of one group of crooks with another, citing the appointments of certain wealthy businessmen with questionable reputations.
Asked about the presence of snipers during the violent confrontation in Kiev last month, Putin said he was not aware of any order from the Yanukovich government to use firearms against the protesters. He alleged that the shooters could have been provocateurs from one of the opposition forces. He added that what he was sure of is the fact that police officers were shot at with lethal arms during the confrontation.
Yanukovich is certainly powerless in Ukraine, but legally speaking he is the legitimate president of the country, Putin said. The way the new authorities in Kiev replaced him did not enhance their credibility.

Asked if he felt for Yanukovich, Putin said “Oh, no. I have absolutely different feelings.” But he declined to publicly explain what those were. He also refrained from commenting on what mistakes he saw in Yanukovich’s actions, explaining that it would not be proper for him to do so.
At the same time Putin does not see any political future for Yanukovich, which he told the ousted Ukrainian president himself. He added that Russia allowed him to come to its territory for humanitarian reasons, because if he remained in Ukraine he could have been summarily executed.

Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych arrives for his press-conference in southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, on February 28, 2014.

Equal participation in Ukraine's future for all Ukrainians

The Russian government is currently engaging with the self-proclaimed govern of Ukraine with the goal of preserving economic ties between the two countries. However, any normal relations would only be possible after Ukraine has fully legitimate branches of government, Putin said. He considers that he has no counterpart in Kiev now, so he personally has no partner to communicate with.
The Russian president stressed that Russia wants to see equal participation of all citizens of Ukraine in defining the future of the country. The resistance to the authorities in Kiev, which is evident currently in the eastern and southern Ukraine, shows clearly that currently Kiev does not have a nationwide mandate to govern the country.
“Frankly, they should adopt a new constitution through a referendum so that all citizens of Ukraine feel engagement in that process, have an input on the formation of the new principles of how their nation should function,” Putin suggested. “That’s certainly not for us, but for the Ukrainians and the Ukrainian authorities to decide this way or another. I believe after legitimate government is formed, after a new president elected, after a new parliament is elected, they should return to this.”
Russia will be watching the planned presidential election in Ukraine, Putin said. If it is conducted in an atmosphere of terror, Russia will consider it unfair and will not recognize its results, he warned.
Putin commented on the issue of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, which Russia committed to preserve. He said that Western powers reject Russia’s assessment of the events in Ukraine as a coup and insist on calling it a revolution.
Some Russian experts, Putin warned that if Ukraine had undergone a revolution, then the nation that came out of it is not the same that it was before, similarly to how Russia transformed after the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917.
If this is the case, Moscow may consider itself no longer bound by any treaties it has with Ukraine, Putin warned.
Key Points

• Russia's President Vladimir Putin says there is no need to send Russian troops to Ukraine, but the use of force remains "a last resort"
• Mr Putin says Russia reserves the right to intervene if there is "lawlessness" in Russian-speaking areas of eastern Ukraine
• US Secretary of State John Kerry has condemned what he describes as "Russia's act of aggression in Ukraine"
• US President Barack Obama said Mr Putin was "not fooling anyone" and that Russia had no right to intervene in Crimea
• Ukraine's interim government says 16,000 Russian troops are now deployed across Crimea
• Moscow has agreed to attend an extraordinary meeting of Nato members on Wednesday.

Digging up Bill's Old Dirt....Effect on Hillary's Election Chances



Bill Clinton's sexual indiscretions have suddenly resurfaced as a discussion topic, as American politics experiences a Rip Van Winkle moment — one that will likely recur over the next few years.

The dormant, two-decade-old conversation was stirred back to life over the last month in what could become a common phenomenon if Hillary Clinton runs in 2016.
Old documents were recently released that chronicled her feelings while the sex scandals unfolded. Meanwhile, the 1998 impeachment proceedings were re-broadcast on public-access TV.
But nothing whipped up the wave of anti-nostalgia like comments from a potential 2016 rival.
Republican Sen. Rand Paul used the ex-president's cheating ways as an argument against returning him to the White House in the role of first spouse. He said the 1990s scandals should be fair game if Hillary Clinton enters the 2016 race.
"The media seems to have given President Clinton a pass on this. He took advantage of a girl that was 20 years old and an intern in his office," Paul told NBC.
"That is predatory behaviour, and it should be something we shouldn't want to associate with people who would take advantage of a young girl in his office.
"This isn't having an affair. I mean, this isn't me saying, 'Oh, he's had an affair, we shouldn't talk to him.' Someone who takes advantage of a young girl in their office? I mean, really. And then they have the gall to stand up and say, 'Republicans are having a war on women?' So, yes, I think it's a factor."
But is it fair to punish Hillary for her husband's cheating? "I'm not saying that," Paul said before adding: "This is with regard to the Clintons, and sometimes it's hard to separate one from the other."
Paul's comments were repudiated by other Republicans.
At the same time, about 25,000 pages of documents are being released by the Clinton Library over the coming weeks. They likely include confidential communications within the White House.
Even more personal notes from the 1990s have just come to light.
The private papers of a close Clinton friend were first reported last month by the conservative website Washington Free Beacon.
They were compiled as a personal project by Diane Blair, a political science professor whom Hillary eulogized in 2000 and whose papers were left to the University of Arkansas.
Even before her own career in elected politics, Hillary Clinton appeared to pride herself on her political toughness.
According to different media accounts of the documents, Blair wrote that:
— She scoffed at Washington politicians' thin skins: "Clinton said that 'most people in this town have no pain threshold.'"
— After Congress moved toward impeachment "she sounded very up, almost jolly. ... (She) told me how she and Bill and Chelsea had been to church, to a Chinese restaurant, to a Shakespeare play, greeted everywhere with wild applause and cheers."
Clinton said "this ... is what drives their adversaries totally nut(s), that they don't bend, do not appear to be suffering."
— She defended her husband and seemed to blame Monica Lewinsky: "It was a lapse, but she says to (Bill's) credit he tried to break it off, tried to pull away, tried to manage someone who was clearly a 'narcissistic loony toon'; but it was beyond control."
— She even blamed his political opponents, saying their hateful behaviour had taken a toll on the president.
— In 1993, while she was leading the administration's doomed effort at health reform, she expressed a position different from the one she publicly held and one that's at odds with the current Obamacare reforms.
In fact, according to the documents, she sounded like a Canadian politician: she called "managed competition (in the health system) a crock, single payer necessary; maybe add to Medicare."
One analysis suggests the current Clinton-bashing is more about 2014 than 2016. It suggests the goal is to keep Bill sidelined during this year's congressional races, not damage Hillary in 2016.
An NBC blog cites Democratic strategists saying Bill Clinton has 60 per cent support in all the states with Senate races in 2014. It suggests the Lewinsky talk is about harming his standing with female swing voters in those states, should he be tempted to campaign. In any case, he appeared undeterred. As former Clinton aide Paul Begala was quoted saying this week: "Getting Bill Clinton on the campaign trail is like force-feeding sugar to an ant. You don't have to ask him twice."
So there he was this week, campaigning in Kentucky, on behalf of the candidate hoping to take out top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell. The appearance prompted a fresh round of attacks from Rand Paul. Kentucky also happens to be Paul's state.

Rob Ford Mardis Gras Float

 A Mardi Gras parade float spoofs Rob Ford.

NEW ORLEANS - A larger-than-life replica of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford smoking a crack pipe was featured front and centre in a Mardi Gras parade float sending up headline-grabbing Canadian celebrities.

The "Canadian Club" float ribbed Ford for his admitted drug use, and sported mockup Toronto Star newspaper headlines blaring "Mayor Ford: 'So I smoked a little crack'" and "I was in a drunken stupor."
A brief video posted online shows smoke billowing out from the Ford float's crack pipe as it rolled down a New Orleans street Friday night.
Painted on the side of the float were caricatures of Justin Bieber — who faces drug use allegations in Florida — clutching a smoky bong .

First Lady to Appear in Sit-com

The pair appeared together at an event tackling obesity issues earlier this month

US First Lady Michelle Obama is set to appear on cult television comedy Parks and Recreation.

Her White House office confirmed Mrs Obama will guest star in the NBC show's season six finale.

Mrs Obama's cameo, in an episode titled Moving Up, will centre on her campaign against child obesity.

"Time to get real about Pawnee's obesity… @FLOTUS is coming to town for our #ParksandRec season finale Thursday, April 24!," the show tweeted.

FLOTUS is an acronym for First Lady Of The United States and Pawnee, Indiana is the fictional town where the show takes place - home to public servant Leslie Knope. The show's star, Amy Poehler - who plays Knope - joined Mrs Obama's campaign earlier this month when she appeared at a Let's Move event in Miami.

Mrs Obama is not the first US politician to appear on the show - US Vice President Joe Biden made a cameo on the show in 2012.  Three further senators, including presidential runner John McCain, have also guest starred in the show, which is currently in its sixth season. Executive producer Michael Schur told the Hollywood Reporter last month that he was still hoping to persuade Hillary Clinton to make an appearance on the show.

"I always imagined the perfect ending to the series - and I hope it's not for a while - would be a casual piece of B-roll where Leslie is walking through a building in Washington, DC, and passes Hillary Clinton, and Hillary Clinton says, 'Leslie.' Leslie says, 'Secretary Clinton,' and keeps walking."

"That might still be five seasons away, but that's the trajectory I would like Leslie to enjoy."