Carmon

Television gardener Monty Don has spent much of his life taking from the soil, now he is using it to put something back. Surprisingly, his latest project sees him tackling one of the British countrysides most prevalent social problems, drug addiction.

Gardening may at first seem a bizarre way in which to help an addict quit, however Monty believes the earth has the power to heal: if we, as individuals and as a society, respect and care for the ground that we stand upon and everything that grows in it, then we shall all be happier as a result. On a smallholding near Leominster Monty is using the power of the earth to bring some happiness to the lives of drug addicts in the hope of helping them quit.

Drug addiction has historically been seen as an urban problem, however it is becoming an increasing blight in rural life. Here, the youth population feel disenchanted and out of touch with the community in which they live. Depression and disillusionment are the roads that lead to drug abuse and drug dealers are targeting areas where this is rife. People take dugs to make them feel better and to escape the real world. They do for a bit but then the effects wear off, you feel worse than before, so you take more. In order to help an addict become clean you must break the cycle. Monty believes the principles involved in ploughing the fields, planting the seeds and feeding the animals can help to do this.

In his book Growing Out of Trouble Monty says: the garden never lies, if theres a problem you have to deal with it yourself, it cant be ignored. This means you have to be honest to the people around you and to yourself. It teaches you responsibility, and gives you a sense of achievement, youre part of a team and no longer feel isolated. All of these factors go a long way to helping someone break an addiction. By learning to respect the land, the plants and the animals around them they can learn to respect themselves and each other.

In the past year, 27 people have worked at the smallholding. They were all on a Drug Treatment and Testing Order and they all realy wanted to quit. Three are now totally off the drugs and have found fulltime employment, two more have part time work. One has sadly died and three are back to prison. When compared to other drug treatment programmes this is astonishingly successful.

By eating the food they produced the addicts are becoming physically and mentally healthier. Some of them had never cooked a meal before in their mf.. lives. In September they gathered together the produce they hadnt used themselves and setup a stall at the famous food and drink festival in Ludlow, they made around 1500.

In part of the book Monty lists the success stories so far. Chris Davies has totally quit, both heroin and methadone, he has job and a fiance. Chubby is working part time and is having driving lessons. Paul Mellor and Adam Harrison are in work and have stopped taking heroin. Andres Pope has been out of prison for longer than he has been since he was 14. Kate has cut her methadone use by more than 50%.

The success of this project in its first year has resulted in the creation of a new charity, The Monty Project. It aims to use the site as a blueprint that others can follow. In the longer term it aims to educate and train addicts so that they can find employment.

At first the project wasnt well received in the area but it is local people who will benefit. By helping addicts quit crime will fall. As Monty says in his book: we are not brining in dangerous criminals but providing an opportunity for people who would anyway be legitimately out and about in the community.

A spokesperson for the charity said the project is now going from strength to strength: Most of the group are still carrying out there court orders which won't finish until one years time, and there are more new people attending the site each week. The response has been positive locally and nationally, recently Monty met with the prisons minister who was very supportive of the project.

A documentary is scheduled for BBC2 on the 7th December, which will show the work that has taken place on the site over the past few years. More information about the charity is available on their website, themontyproject.com. It may only be making a small difference but its a step in the right direction that others can follow.

Trout fishing has long been considered some sort of "art form" mostly because of the individuals that enjoy waving a long bamboo stick back and forth with some manifestation of a flea attached to it. Well, that, and a movie that was made back in the early nineties titled A River Runs Through It. The movie probably had more to due with this phenomenon than anything. Before the movie (which is a very good movie by the way) flea flicking wasn't truly considered any more of an "art" form than any other type of fishing, I would imagine.

My point to this little diatribe is that "fly fishing" shouldn't be considered the art form as much as trout fishing should. I have been in love with the "trout" for many years, and have enjoyed fishing for them for most of my fishing career. I'm primarily an ultra light fisherman, and love fishing for trout in the flowing waters of both rivers and streams while using ultra light gear, four pound test monofilament, and live worms as bait. That's right. Live worms as bait. I know this makes snobby flea flickers turn up their collective noses, but that's what I've always loved. I enjoy the art of trout fishing.

As a matter of fact 20 years ago, I had the pleasure of knowing the best trout angler that I've ever come across, and he taught me to fish for trout in this manner. He was adamantly against flea flicking, simply because the flea flickers acted so holier than though, that it drove him nuts. So he developed techniques for fishing with live worms that were truly revolutionary, and amazingly effective. I've been using the tips and techniques that this "trout master" taught me with incredible success for more than 20 years.

He taught me that the trout (as well as all fish) should be respected, and that worm anglers were every bit the "artist" that any flea flicker had ever been proclaimed to be, as long as they "worm fished" in the proper manner. This meant not trying to "thread" a worm onto a hook like a six year old. It meant presenting your worm as bait in a respectable manner, naturally, the way God intended. It also meant being as efficient as possible, so employing equipment like retractors to carry your lightweight, heavily used fishing gear and a bait bag for carrying your live worms.

The bottom line is that trout fishing itself can be considered an art, whether you're using bait or waving a fly back and forth. The "art" comes through techniques and practice, rather than through the manner in which a person fishes. The trout is a beautiful and wonderful fish that I feel privileged to have the opportunity to try to catch. Is what any of us does to catch a trout truly an "art form"? Who knows, and at the end of the day, who cares? What's important, in my mind, is that I get the opportunity to stand in the flowing water of my favorite river or stream, and attempt to catch a trout or two. Other than that, it's all just details.

Trevor Kugler is co-founder of http://www.JRWfishing.com and an avid angler. He has more than 20 years experience fishing for all types of fish, and 15 years of business and internet experience. He currently raises his three year old daughter in the heart of trout fishing country..Montana!

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Of course we do! Lets start by asking this question. What is gambling? Let's continue by evaluating our main goal when we gamble. Can you please tell me which is our main goal in gambling? Is it to have fun playing cards or sitting hours in front of the slots machines? Of course not, our goal in gambling is to MAKE MONEY. And how do we do that? We do it by learning a gambling system!

But, do gambling systems work? Can I make more money gambling with a gambling system? Are there 100% trusted gambling systems? These are only a few questions that always arise when dealing with gambling systems.

To understand what a gambling system is we have to learn first what is a system. So first of all, lets begin by defining a system. What is a system? A system, the dictionary definition, is an assemblage of inter-related elements comprising a unified whole. Wow, what a definition. I BET I can impress my mother in law with a sentence like that.

Ok, now could you please explain the word system in easy to understand common day language? Sure, what this means is that a system is a group of related things, objects or events grouped together for a specific purpose. For example, everything in life is a system. We live in a solar system, this solar system has planets, moons and a sun. They are all related and they all have a purpose.

When we step into a casino, poker room or online gambling site, the very first thing we do is make a gambling decision. Here are some of the gambling decisions and questions we make: Where do I sit? How much do I wager? Which type of slot machine do I choose? What are the odds of winning in this game? All of these decisions are related. They are all related in our purpose to make money and all of these decisions are the elements of our gambling system.

When you play poker, every decision is an element of a gambling system. Believe it or not you already have a current gambling system, the way you play, your strategy, your bluffing, your folding, everything you do is your personal gambling system. The best part is that you can educate yourself in other systems and upgrade yours. There is a saying that says, no matter what you already know, you can always learn something from others.

There are gambling systems for all type of games. Roulette systems, blackjack systems, craps systems, slot machine systems, poker systems, lottery systems, sports systems and horse racing systems. You can check out all these and other gambling systems at Gambling Systems.

Why should I invest in a gambling system? Well for starters, they are not so expensive. If you can loose a couple of hundred bucks a day, every day you go visit a casino, that would come up to thousands. Then investing $50 to $100 bucks in a gambling system should not hurt that much.

Remember that information is power. You want to be real informed on your odds and other great professional gambling advice. My parents always use to say, investing in education is the best investment. Education is something nobody can take away from you.

Good luck in your gambling education. After all, isnt that what we gamble for? To make money, If not, I propose changing the word gambling to losing.

Fernando Trevino is an online gambling reviewer. Gambling Systems.com