Why and what for you may ask, is happening on August 11 at The Fargo Dome? None other than THE FARGO STROLL FOR EPILEPSY and it is all happening INSIDE for the first time in the history of the Epilepsy Stroll. No more sweating due to the heat, no more snarky mosquitoes buzzing your head!!

This year, walking teams can stroll along in comfort and ease while enjoying fun foods, the silent auction, live music and watching your favorite child play games and meet new friends.

The Epilepsy Foundation of Minnesota isnt just for Minnesotans. Thats just a name and where it all began for people living in our neck of the woods, so to speak. EFM is expanding its regions, and along with having a well-established support system in place within the F/M area, EFM has also expanded into the Grand Forks and surrounding areas. EFM programs and services cover all of Minnesota and the eastern side of North Dakota. The yearly STROLL FOR EPILEPSY fundraiser provides money for the on-going challenges of finding a cure and helping over 60,000 people in Minnesota and North Dakota with epilepsy meet the challenges seizures create in simply facing life day to day. It funds programs and services for education, support groups, and helping families regain normalcy after a member of their clan is found to have a seizure disorder.

There is still much to be learned about the causes, the medications, and how to deal with life for anyone who has epilepsy. In many ways it is the elephant in the room disease that few understand, including the experts and neurologists who treat patients. Seizures can be life altering in many ways few might ever expect. But ever so slowly, progress is being made and the hope for an eventual cure is ever present.

This years STROLL FOR EPILEPSY will begin at 5:30 p.m. beginning with registration and some yummy munchies to give a little boost for those who are walking. If you havent signed a team up, not to worry, just give a call to: 1-800-779-0777 and youll be hooked up in no time at all. So come one come all to enjoy the camaraderie of friends and family who already know epilepsy can strike anyone, at any time for a variety of reasons. It strikes one in every 10 people gathered together—think about that the next time you are attending a family reunion or a party. One in every 10.

OBAMA CREATES ONE MORE AGENCY

President Barack Obama nominated Richard Cordray as the person to head the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Monday. Gee, just what this country needsanother maze of bureaucratic red tape to jump through. Simply swell.

Im all for consumer protection, but how many government agencies do we need to set the tone for decency and common sense in this country? Whats more, how many more people will this government agency, paid by taxpayers across the country, employ? Is there a reason the government couldnt contract this out with a privately owned company? One that doesnt have ties to Congressional members. One that will be neutral and (hopefully) unbiased in determining whether a financial institution has ripped off a consumer. Granted the premise seems worthy. But why does it have to be housed within the government? I mean, seriously—efficient is not exactly anything any branch of government would be described as. Furthermore, we seem to be having difficulty paying for the never- ending maze of governmental agencies we already have, dont we? Sowhat budget is this coming from? Ohright. The they just picked your pocket again with one more added public program.

Good Grief! Please save us from all the Ivy League intellectuals who want to make life perfect! And heres a perfect example. Last week three little girls in a tiny berg in the state of Georgia decided to make some extra cash to spend on a day outing to the local water park. They set up a lemonade stand.

HOLY HANNAH! Not long after setting up their stand the local police came along and wanted to know if they had a BUSINESS LICENSE to operate? No. They didnt know they needed one. Whats the cost for a permit to sell lemonade from your front lawn in Midway, Georgia? $50 per day or $180 per year. Well, if the girls had $50 they wouldnt have had a need to set up the lemonade stand in the first place!

But, if the law says they must have a permit or shut it down, then deciding to shut it down wasnt a tough decision to make. And thats exactly what the three girls selling lemonade from the front lawn of one of their homes did.

I just hope Councilman Lemke doesnt get wind of this story. When one has the power to persuade seven others to pass an ordinance that takes away every individual dog owners ability to determine whether their dog should ride in the back of a pickup, Lord only knows how he might react to free standing, non-permitted juveniles selling lemonade from their front lawns!

Another bizarre example of overthinking a problem with the belief the government should solve all Americas problems is the cocky-a-mamie notion that obese children should be separated from their parents! What?? Sure. Just because foster homes cannot be found due to the immense lack of credible caring foster homes willing to take in children who are being sexually abused or beaten within an inch of their lives — why would placing possibly a quarter or so of this countrys overweight children —who live in homes with parents who love and care for them — be a problem? I dont know who proposed this bit of brainless legislation, but that person is in dire need of a reality check. Yes, we definitely have an overweight problem in the United States. Not only among children, but in every segment of our population. Maybe the first step to solving this particular issue would be to teach NUTRITION in the public schools. Gee, ya think? The next step would be to stop allowing your children to sit in front of the T.V. or computer screen after school and make them drag their largess keesters outside to run, jump, skate, swim or just walk. And while they are doing that, try making a gallon of Kool Aid instead of allowing pop to quench their thirst when your children return from outdoors. Our children drank Kool Aid the entire time they were pre-teens and even into their early teens. Pop was a special treat, but certainly not a daily one. It will not only cut down on the calories they intake, but will probably save parents money on the family dentist having to fill cavities. Pop, even diet pop of any kind, is one of the worst enemies of tooth enamel. Theres a whole lot of enamel-corroding acid in every kind of pop made.

The point is the people in the United States do NOT need a local ordinance or state or federal law enacted to solve problems that once upon a time basic common sense was applied to. We all need to STOP jumping on the politically correct train and get back to thinking and behaving as though were above average intelligence and USE IT. Because if we do not, one day well all wake up at the same time, go to the bathroom at the same time, go to bed at the same time, watch the very same T.V. programs, ride in our automated carsall geared to go the exact same speedetc., etc., There will be no individual rights. There will be no individual anything.

Personally, Id rather live in an igloo on the North Pole surrounded by seals and polar bears. How about you?

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