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Violence, War, Hate Crimes, Terrorism, Fear-a world and our nation in crisis

This world seems to have gone mad. Everywhere we turn someone is causing harm, from senseless killings, war, hate mongering, shootings at schools, colleges, churches, malls... it feels as if we are not safe anywhere. People, if we truly thought about it, we would fear going anywhere. What had caused such a tirade of hateful, mean, demented, lawless, with no emotions or feelings type of people??? Is it lack of morals, lack of parents raising kids right, lack of self control, greed, corruption, hate, blood and guts in kids video games, guns allowed everywhere in this country, the horrible, mad, insanity of some lyrics in our youth's music.... it gives me chills when I stop and think about it. What makes it worse is that it continues to get worse. People not even giving a blink to committing suicide in the name of "Jihad" so they can kill innocent people! The entire world seems to have gone mad... with only a few of us left with any morality, compassion, and feelings about others. I shudder to think what things will be like when my grandson's grow up and then their kids. Will we be just another country like so many with tanks filling our streets, combat right in our towns, uniformed Navy, Army, Marines, and Air Force people being present everywhere we turn? Will our streets be filled with the Cartel's... where it seems no one has any control, like Mexico? They walk up and kill people just to do it? Are drugs going to flow in our communities like water in our rivers? Will we see piles of trash and debris setting around our neighborhoods, like I have seen in places such as India? Orphaned children from losing their parents to these horrible people, living in the streets, arming themselves with guns, and banding together in more gangs? When you really stop, and look around, reading the news, seeing the things on line, reading newspapers... we should all be very concerned. I know I would be very hesitant if I were my daughter right now about even remotely thinking of bringing more children into this world of hate in so many places. I realize maybe that is the wrong way to look at it, but I feel I was put here in 1960, and had my kids pretty early in life, because I would fear raising any the way things are going now. Here we have been in war for over 10 years since 9/11, and rather than win this war, with all of the spectacular weaponry, the incredible logistics equipment, radar, sonar, our intelligence, with the internet... planes, drones, and the list of high tech equipment and soldiers so extremely well trained, yet we seem to not be able to stop the drug Cartel in Mexico, that is spilling over into our own streets at the borders and beyond, we cannot stop the Taliban, Osama Bin Laden, home grown terrorists, right in our own back yards, and it seems we are so fearful in these times, that those people who "see" or "hear" that some neighbor or person they run into are not of "right mind" or are talking about targeting a certain group, or certain person, that they turn their heads, put their heads in the sand, cover their eyes, zip their mouths shut, and then when something like the attacks on college campuses, school campuses, places of employment or some person is killed, or we have another one of the plague of murder-suicides going on, they wonder why it happened? Well, when you see with your own eyes, or witness hearing a person say something that you view as certainly threatening, rather than be in fear, need to report it to the proper authorities right away. Ask them to keep your name out of it, and your privacy be intact. I know our fears continue to mount each day, especially when it seems there is more news that is horrifying, rather than something that is good in this world. But, in order to stop some of the violence, abuse, and torture we see, whether it is a now young woman, held hostage for 18 years!, or someone making a threatening remark about a group of people, or even when we feel a family member, neighbor or close friend seems thoroughly deeply depressed, and his or her actions and mannerisms have changed, their has been loss of a job, a threatened foreclosure, trouble with children, money issues, possibly seeing someone you know consuming more alcohol, illegal drugs, staying cooped up in their home, when they used to be outgoing, or any number of reactions and actions that definitely send out signals something is really wrong with the picture... we can possibly change someone's life for the better, or maybe even safe lives by reporting things that seem awry. Okay enough of my soapbox mini novel here .... just thoughts that reading this really hit home with me in so many ways....

Insurance Greed leads to Domestic Violence being Pre-existing!

Insurance Companies Consider Domestic Violence Pre-Existing!!??

Current mood: annoyed
Category: Life

This is one of the most insane things I have ever read! The insurance companies in several states now have come up with the claim that victims of Domestic Violence injuries are "pre-existing" conditions??! Please take a look at this URL and voice your opinion! This greed, corruption, and total asinine claims from these people that sit around like a bunch of fat cats getting rich off of our hard earned money we pay in for health care have got to be knocked off their high horses. Just yesterday I watched a video where one of the corporate big shots at Cigna owns not one, but several million dollar homes. His bonus checks alone are billions! Yet, they want to refuse claims from hard working citizens????

We have got to stand up and tell them we refuse to take this kind of behavior anymore.

Please sign this and send it on to your friends also.

Please help in this desperate plea to help fight Lupus and the other autoimmune illnesses.

PLease take a look at the Lupus Research site. We need all of the help we can get to give hope to the millions of people, and numbers growing each day of those with these life-alerting illnesses that still not much are known about them. The research institute along with researchers, doctors, nurses, patients and caretakers need Grant money, more projects, more advanced blood tests, genetically testing, and more to try and get to the bottom of these almost mystery diseases. You, your family, your friends, or someone you live around or know, probably suffers from the hundreds of autoimmune illnesses of which so little is known about. Fibromyalgia, Lupus, Multiple Sclerosis, Sjogren's, Raynauds, RA, just to name a few of these diseases, that have no cure at this time, and there is also little to offer as far as treatments, medications, awareness and education about them. Please help to give those like myself, new hope for research, medications, more knowledge for doctors, nurses and patients, plus so much more.

Please if you can take a moment to also send an email to your Representatives and/or Senators about this, along with your concerns about health care reform. This not only affects those like myself, with Lupus, and the other autoimmune diseases, but every citizen in the United States. Please see the link below:

http://www.lupusresearchinstitute.org/news/lupusnews/09/09/14/body-count-home

Here are the links where you can find the email addresses of your Congress men and women:

http://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

http://www.doubleknot.com/openrosters/ShowPage.asp?36383139307L363331383339

or post the information on your myspace.com site, facebook, twitter or other blogs you may have.

Anywhere you can help to get this important news out will be deeply appreciated. My story, like the millions of others is a nightmare. From Chronic Clinical Fatigue, the mylar rash on the face, the organs these illnesses, diseases, and syndromes can affect, like the heart, lungs, liver and brain, to severe pain in the joints and other connective tissues, to the Lupus and Fibromyalgia fog, the horrible, worse than migraines, Lupus headaches, to ulcerated places in the mouth, throat, cracked and bleeding fingers, toes, and places on the skin, not being able to sleep, the anxiety, and depression, and emotional stigma these cause, to dealing with medications that have potential terrible side effects, and limited treatments due to just not being able to get enough research done to find how to treat these diseases... the list goes on and on.

Just like many others, I have been from one doctor to the next, one test after another test, blood work involving 20 or more tubes of blood in one setting, not able to go outside and enjoy the sun, due to it possibly leading to flares of these illnesses, and the other dozens of ways these illnesses have a dramatic negative impact on our lives.

Here is a portion of the email I received from the Lupus Research Foundation:

The Patients' Voice for Lupus Research



Dear Rhiannon,

As you read this with your morning coffee, dozens of advocates from the LRI National Coalition are spreading out across Capitol Hill to tell their representatives that more 1.5 million Americans have lupus—and it’s not only scary and unpredictable, but often devastatingly costly to treat.

We invite you to step right in to the Congressional offices with these advocates and add your “virtual” voice RIGHT NOW!

On Health Reform

Make coverage available to all, regardless of pre-existing conditions.

Eliminate lifetime caps on health benefits.

Include development of a regulatory pathway for the FDA to approve follow-on biologic drugs, keeping in mind patient safety and the physician-patient relationship.

Integrate educational provisions on prevention, wellness, and management of chronic diseases.

Build in ways to lessen the racial disparities in access to care of chronic diseases, such as lupus, which disproportionately affects minorities.

On NIH Research Funding

Sustain the nation’s medical research enterprise and support the House funding level of $31.2 billion for NIH in the Fiscal Year 2010 Labor-HHS Conference Appropriations Bill.

Keep the House’s funding level for the NIH, which amounts to a 3 percent increase above last year, and is $400 million higher than the Senate’s proposal. This increase is needed to return to robust, sustainable and predictable budget growth for NIH.

Biomedical research conducted at the NIH, including basic investigations, translational studies and clinical trials, will help lead to new desperately needed treatments options and a better of understanding of lupus.

On Funding for the National Lupus Education Program

ASK your representative to please send a letter of support to:

Labor-HHS Appropriations Chairman David Obey and Ranking Member Todd Tiahrt in the House

Labor-HHS Appropriations Chairman Tom Harkin and Ranking Member Thad Cochran in the Senate
to include $1 million in the final Conference Report for Fiscal Year 2010 Labor-HHS Appropriations Bill for the Office of Minority Health to continue lupus education efforts for health providers.

Many lupus patients often visit multiple doctors and go years before receiving a correct diagnosis. There is a profound need for improved professional awareness and education on lupus—a substantive effort to engage our nation’s health professionals in finding ways to improve lupus diagnosis and treatment.


Millions of Americans with lupus, and their families and friends, thank you for your effort!

From your desk chair…add your voice!
Email your elected officials in the House
Email your elected officials in the Senate
Update your status on Facebook
Tell your followers on Twitter
Post a video to YouTube
Write a bulletin on MySpace
Keep updating
your profiles throughout
the day.
Encourage your friends and followers to add their voices to our effort!
About the LRI - Pioneering Discovery to Prevent, Treat, and Cure Lupus
The Lupus Research Institute (LRI)—the world’s leading private supporter of innovative research in lupus—champions innovation, encourages scientific creativity and risks exploring uncharted territory to bring new scientific solutions to the complex and dangerous autoimmune disease of lupus. Founded by families and shaped by scientists, the Institute mandates sound science and rigorous peer review to uncover and support only the highest ranked novel research. Its bold and proven research strategy places the LRI at the forefront of lupus science as the Institute consistently achieves the breakthrough discoveries, novel insights and solid results that are changing the course of lupus research and bringing new hope to people with lupus nationwide. To learn more about lupus and the Lupus Research Institute, visit www.LupusResearchInstitute.org.

Support the LRI: http://www.lupusresearchinstitute.org/help

Connect with the LRI: Facebook Twitter MySpace YouTube



Lupus Research Institute
330 Seventh Avenue, Suite 1701, New York, NY 10001
T: 212.812.9881 F: 212.545.1843
e-mail: Lupus@LupusNY.org

My Rambling Thoughts, Opinions, and mind set about the Health Care Reform issues etc.

http://www.joebageant.com/joe/2009/09/americans-have-become-weak-and-fearful-things.html

Americans have become weak and fearful things

Joe,

Today, a friend forwarded to me a news article with this headline: "Fines proposed for going without health insurance." Here are some things I don't get:

1) If folks can't afford to reroof the Old Manse or buy groceries or put retreads on the Jimmy, how (and why) are they going to get insurance, and

2) If they can't afford insurance, how are they going to afford the alleged fine, and

3) Who is the Insurance Police, who's going to rat me out, and

4) Why did The Bastards wait until the whole country is unemployed to pull this shit, and

5) Who elected these boobs -- wait, I have a long-standing soft spot for boobs; make that "idiots" -- anyway, and supposedly to act in our interests? Not me.

My elected representatives so far stand mute on these salient and vexing points.

I tell ya, I'm glad I'm old and won't have to watch much more of this nonsense go by. Although, my Ma's 85 and going strong, still tearing up trees and throwing rocks, I seriously don't think I can take it. I'll blow the beans out of my pressure cooker one of these days.

And you? Well?

Jim

------

Jim,

It's like this ole buddy. Mandatory insurance can be made to sound worse than it is. Especially given that the word mandatory scares the hell out of Americans, even though we already have mandatory drivers license and drivers insurance, income tax, building permits, school attendance, vehicle registration, home insurance for mortgages, personal identification, security scanning at airports, income tax filing, dog licensing, sales taxes, etc. (Looking at this short partial list, I can hear the libertarians locking and loading as we speak).

For example, Spain, which is now considered to have the best overall health system in the world, has mandatory health insurance. So do many other countries, though they do not think of it in those terms, and though they are often technically purchasing it from the government at very low costs, which they perceive (and rightfully so) as a tax. This helps offset the government cost of insuring retired, poor, unemployed and others who cannot afford insurance. The government covers these people anyway, but must recover the cost. (What a novel idea for running a government! Knowing how you are going to pay for things.)

A U.S. "public option" (we are not even allowed to utter the term socialized healthcare, or even universal healthcare, because anything universal,which is to say fair to all, is a goddamned commie plot -- the cold war lives on in our capitalist state indoctrination) could cover everyone unable to afford afford insurance by providing it at such extremely low cost. So low that even people below the poverty level, and thus qualify for supplemental income tax rebates, would have insurance. It would simply be deducted from their $500 tax rebates or whatever. So they would never even see it being paid for.

The insurance companies love the mandatory part, which would deliver millions of new customers into their hands and let them set the price. But they hate any so-called public option, which would give those poor customers an alternative. So they've done a pretty good job of torpedoing the public option. Good enough to scare Obama off it for a while, even though any such public measure of his would always have been a half measure and still depended upon the insurance corporations to exist. Now it's back, but who knows what it looks like now, or will look like when the fight is over.

And insurance companies especially fear the possibility of a national health card, which inevitably comes with any sort of government sponsored public healthcare. It's just too damned efficient. For instance, in France, doctors have no files, just a card reader and an Internet connection that links to the patient's permanent files and scan images. But it also tracks costs, fees and billings. And in France (or Germany, I forget) if the doctor is not paid within 72 hours, the insurance company is fined. Health insurance companies in Germany are totally non-profit, but sell other insurance -- auto and home -- for profit. They see providing efficient health coverage as a good leader item and a chance to show off their performance to customers. A public option is the first step toward such a system, or something similar. But I suspect we will never see a national health card. These thugs in America would never stand for it. They like to count their money unseen.

Elected officials, the strong liberal ones at least, are mute on this because to say anything resembling the above is political death. The brownshirts who worked them over at town hall meetings at the behest of the healthcare industry would not be so easy on them next time, given what's at stake for the capitalist overclass. Which is to say the healthcare industry's corporate criminal cartel.

And besides, they own the joint. Our government is now a corporate criminal enterprise extorting the wealth productivity of the people. The people are so used to it and so conditioned they no longer know how to ask questions or extrapolate outcomes. They just react in fear of any new public proposal that would change the status quo.

As for the mandatory part and the fines, that is a red herring if ever there was one. People who have a hard time paying for healthcare (and who doesn't?) get scared out of their britches by such threats. That's why the Republicans put it in there. To scare people away. First you take a good and reasonable thing like universal healthcare, and turn it into a scary authoritarian mandatory thing with grave punishments. Put some stink all over it, something obvious and odious. Make it a burden AND a threat.

That is one of the poison pills for the bill. There will be others to come. After the death panel thing, and the way the people swallowed it, we already know the outcome. Hell, one of the anti-healthcare lies being circulated around here right now is that Obama wants to have mandatory abortions of anyone born with low IQ or is otherwise substandard. Which is OK with me because it would spell the end of the Republican Party.

But whatever they do, there will be no rounding up and fining of the underemployed, unemployed or broke. That's 50 million people these days. Any effort would be mostly a paperwork exercise, at this point. And besides, they do not want your body. They want your money. Thug's work the neighborhoods where the money is, not where it ain't. We live in an extortion based criminal enterprise masquerading as a government, so one shudders to think of the paperwork liens that could be placed on homes, etc. They are paperwork too, but have the strength of law behind them. The commissariat judges who provide the legal muscle for the cartels.

All of which is moot as long as medical and pharma costs in this country are astronomical and still rising, making doctors, executives and major shareholders in the crime syndicate richer than ever. And as long as drone missiles, 400 military bases and two ongoing wars keep draining an already looted public treasury that is forced to run international indebtedness anyway.

Whenever we see something like the mandatory health insurance covered in the media, it is there for effect, not to inform us. It is there to cloud the issue and scare the piss out of people toward the ends of the corporate state. To make them fearfully ask the wrong questions and miss the real issue.

The real question is this: When are we going to rise up against our government and the criminal cartel that owns it?

And with each passing day I am more convinced that the answer is -- never. That takes true inner convictions and ideals, not to mention courage. The real thing, not political rhetoric and ideology. Convictions are measured by actions. And true convictions are arrived at through the clear-eyed self-examination and deep questioning and personal sacrifice of individuals. And defining one's self as something necessarily other than the state. We failed to do so too long ago. We are now state property. A mass of people rallying and surging back and forth in response to state manufactured pseudo events and faux choices. If I still loved this country I would weep for it. But I've watched us too willingly acquiesce to this fate for too long. I don't think we have the reservoir of cultural, moral, spiritual and political strength to turn things around. Or even conceive of what can be, other than what we've seen. Instead, we are issued empty terms as convictions, such as democracy and diversity.

Surely though, the noisy pseudo drama of pseudo choices will go on in a pseudo democracy. If I were a younger man, it might possibly be instructive, in a chilling way. But a guy gets tired of learning the same old lesson year after year, decade after decade. The lesson being that Americans have become weak and fearful things. Ignorant of any sort of real self agency in shaping their country's government.They embrace the notion of "working within the system." Then too, the consequences for doing otherwise are dire. Our corpo-government crime syndicate makes that very clear. In a mob neighborhood, everyone is afraid.

In closing let me say, by all means go ahead and blow the beans out of your pressure cooker. I did. And I found that it left me with a clearer head (or maybe a less cluttered delusion of my own, who is to say? But either way, now the decor inside the old cranium allows me to sleep better at nights). People will call you nuts, say you've gone over the brink. But I find that there is plenty of fine company down here at the bottom of the cliff.

In art and labor,

Joe

PS: I hear on the BBC this morning that the US is still number two (behind Switzerland) in economic output. The difference between the quality and security of our lives and that of the Swiss can be seen as a measure of what is siphoned off by the cartel. Evidently there is quite a bit of wealth being produced by the people left to steal, leaving public amenities and the people to run on pure debt. Thus, don't expect our criminal overlords to let up on us any time soon.

As I pondered the feelings of that fateful morning in New York, it is like it was just yesterday. I vividly remember hearing on the radio about the first plane. I jumped up and turned the television on, and I saw the 2nd plane hit, as news continued to come in about another hitting the Pentagon and another crashing. Like many here in our nation and around the globe, it was almost in slow motion and unbelievable.. leaving some of us to consider this was another "Orson type Wells" stunt from many years ago. But as the minutes ticked by, it became apparent. We had been officially attacked on our own soil by terrorists! The actions that took place that day, reshaped just about everything in our country in one way or the other. Things will never be quite the same, as they were the hours, days, weeks, and decades before.

We tend to be more cautious, from walking into a crowded mall, walking alone on a dark parking lot, watching out for some people that might have an appearance like the horrible men that caused this worst tragedy in American History, and we probably in some ways, are not as trustful of buildings we go in, co-workers, neighbors that may be very quiet, and many other things that we would do or not do before that fateful 9/11/2001.

My prayers go out to the so many people that lost spouses, kids, Mom's, Dad's, siblings, friends and more. I applaud all of the brave men and women who fought tirelessly to help those who survived.

It could be called another "Day of Infamy" and those terrible hours that unfolded as our entire nation stopped at once, and dropped all they were doing to watch these unspeakable acts take place. The New York skyline has been forever changed.

Again, my thoughts and prayers remain with all that lost those they love, and for the bravery of our firefighters, police, and all of the volunteers that helped in any way they could to get those out that were still alive.

The reflection of these horrific events are fresh in my mind, in the very early morning.

I can only hope that us as a nation, as the "United" States, as adults, as governmental bodies, can work together, coming to an agreement quickly on a dramatic change in health care... and the antics and lies are put to rest, so the health care reform gets through the House and Senate, so the President can sign it, and quickly implement all of these things that will help the majority of us that fight tooth and nail on healthcare issues or those that have none.

Total Crude, Disrespectful Behavior of the Republicans during an Integral Presidential Speech to the Joint Congress and the United States!

I could not believe my ears or eyes, when I watched almost the entire Republican party sit on their butts, and not once stand up and applaud the President of the United States! Then to make matters worse, against all protocol, their were several heckling the President during his speech. To top it off, Joe Wilson, the Republican Representative from South Carolina, showed just how disrespectful the majority of the GOP are by screaming out to the President of the United States, "You lie!" during an integral part of the speech. This was the most outrageous, ridiculous, insane, lude and crude movement anyone representing our Congress could make! This guy need to be put out to pasture! Not only did he show his lack of ability to be civil, he showed everyone in the US, and the entire world, that the Republicans are vicious, hate mongering, and lack the respect needed to be in our governmental body! I am still appauled at his actions, and the actions of the rest of the Republicans, including my own Representative Joe Barton, for SITTING on his butt, and not standing when the time was appropriate. What does these actions show to our children, our nation and the entire world? We should all be mad as hell, even if we do not totally agree with the President! This is NO Way anyone holding a political office should act. It was like a bunch of kindergartener's pouting because they did not get their way!

The story is in the link! I would hope everyone that saw the distasteful acts of the Republican body are mad as hell, and are writing their Senators and Representatives to tell them just how rude and despectful they were! Plus what about our allies and enemies throughout this world? It also shows we cannot stand together for our country, and is a total embarrassment for the American People, plus gives potential terrorists legs to stand on, in these actions showing we are not truly the "United" States!

Apple's release of Snow Leapord Helps the endangered species

Apple's release of its new operating system, dubbed "Snow Leopard", is helping raise awareness of the plight of one of the world's most endangered big cats, reports the Snow Leopard Trust, a group working to protect the real-life snow leopard in its mountainous habitat across Central Asia.

This is truly incredible! Rhia

Another New Diagnosis to add to my list

Well, the doctor I went to does seem to know his stuff. His list of honors, schools, books he as written and co-authored, 1000's of papers and publications, on the board everywhere from the Arthritis Foundation, to head of several studies in research for all types of Rheumatilogical disorders, of which I am now one in a study. He is developing a specific "gene" testing, heading the research for it to be a definitive way to diagnose Lupus.

Anyway, after three hours in his office, between his nurse practioner, and him, then the blood work, I left there with the diagnosis of Fibromyagia added to my list. I had been told years back by a specialist that did some occiptal nerve injections in my neck to try to help the migraines, that he felt I had fibromyalgia. At that time, is was of course not truly recognized by most doctors as even a true syndrome or illness. They felt it was more of a "hysterical women's" thing, and that we are just hypocondriacs. But, in the past 10 years or so, Fibromyalgia has become a true medical issue, and it does definitely cause horrific amounts of pain. It in many ways is extremely close to Lupus as far as symptoms. The one thing that differs is that the Fibromyalgia effects muscles, and not joints. Whereas Lupus can effect joints. Thus due to my situation with all of my joints, I have a couple of diagnosis with them. Lupus of course, but also degenerative joint disease. I went to my orthopedic surgeon on Thursday. He told me my shoulder is completely worn out, thus the clicking, popping and rubbing that comes from it is because I have bone on bone and no type of connective tissue left like cartilage in it. The only thing that would take it away is a complete shoulder replacement. But, he and I both agree, unless it gets too painful, or hangs up, etc... until they perfect the shoulder replacement as far as range of motion, we really don't want to go there yet. But, if I begin to have severe pain issues, locking up etc. I may not have a choice but to have it replaced.

About the bruising etc. This new Rheumatologist, who you can look up in Google! He has written two books himself, and uses them in the office, plus co-authored many also. His name is Dr. John Cush. You will see he was even named Best Doctor in the US, along with his many other accolades.

So, he feels this so called brusing, is more of a hyperpigmentation. I thought he was nuts, but I came home, looked it up and some of the pictures, match my arms and legs completely, or very close. But, he is sending me to a Dermatologist, who will probably do what we have already thought they should.. which is a biospy of the skin, or blood vessels, which would give them an absolute diagnosis.

So, Dr. Cush did a couple of things... he is treating the fibromyalgia a couple of ways... first of all since I have griped and whined for months about not being able to sleep, he put me on Ambien CR, which I had already mentioned to my PCP, but I guess he did not really get how much sleep I really am losing... on the average, I don't sleep but about 4 hours a night. The pain is just too horrible, thus I either get up and get on the computer, or I sit up on the sofa and try to sleep. We all know lack of sleep contributes to everything from horrible pain, to weight gain. He also wants me to do more stretching exercises, rather than the weights for my wrists and ankles or my exercise bike. He said something like Tai Chi or Pilates (and I already have the DVD's for Jim and I) or in a pool is much better for Fibromyalgia patients. So, I can continue my others as long as I don't overdo the muscles, but the stretching he really drilled about and said I had better NOT come back in a month, and tell him I just walked, used the weights, and did NOT do Yoga, Tai Chi, swimming or Pilates! I can say a couple of things about him. He is one hell of a doctor, he does not really have a terrific bedside manner...he is very matter of factly, and kind of gives you the impression he is there to help his patients but they have to DO AS HE SAYS to the tee, or he feels both are wasting their time. Which when you see all he does, including lots of traveling and doing speeches, lectures etc... plus the research, plus writing books and papers and so forth... and a private practice, he does not have time to screw with people who do not want to try and get better. So, he is not just really harsh, but he just tells it exactly as it is, and does not beat around the bush. He is very straight forward and forth right with his beliefs.

So, at this time, I still am diagnosed with Lupus, Sjogren's, Raynaud's, DJD, osteoarthritis, migraines, as well as Lupus Migraines, Mixed Connective Tissue Disorder, and others... and Fibromyalgia is the latest.

Lots to comprehend, still don't know about the bruising, but I feel we are finally on the right track. I feel between Dr. Cush and a dermatologist, if they cannot find out why it is happening I don't think anyone anywhere will be able to. Do I like this new doctor? As a doctor that knows what the hell he is doing, Yes! Not thrilled on his demeanor, well I am not thrilled but at least I do understand why he is not all roses and smiles. LOL, Jim and I had to laugh when he was talking about the exercising. He is a tad plump!, thus it appears he has little time to exercise, and lots of junk food, or food itself!

Do I feel somewhat relieved?mmmmmm kind of, but not a great deal, not until we do have an absolute this is what you have! and this is how we can treat it. Then I will be feeling much better about it all. I am not thrilled with yet another diagnosis, but I already know all too well, people with Lupus, usually more than not have several overlapping diseases, illnesses or syndromes with it. The book I just read about Lupus, discusses all of them including the Fibromyalgia.

More incredible news for Lupus patients!

From the Salk Institute for Biological Studies:

The 'S' stands for surprise

Anticoagulant plays unexpected role in maintaining circulatory integrity

IMAGE:In the top image an inert red dye injected into the circulation of normal mice remains confined within blood vessels (green) of the brain. Whereas in the bottom image... Click here for more information.

LA JOLLA, CA—Protein S, a well-known anticoagulant protein, keeps the blood flowing in more than one way, discovered researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. The protein contributes to the formation and function of healthy blood vessels.

The researchers found that mice lacking protein S suffered massive blood clots, but also had defective blood vessels that allow blood cells to leak into the surrounding tissue.

"We had anticipated finding clotting problems, but the prominent role of protein S in the development and maintenance of blood vessels was completely unexpected," says first author Tal Burstyn-Cohen, Ph.D., a former post-doc in the Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory and now at the Department of Ophthalmology, Hadassah Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel.

There are more than 200 known human mutations and polymorphisms in the gene coding for protein S, which was arbitrarily named after Seattle, the city of its discovery. The resulting deficiencies predispose carriers to deep venous thrombosis, strokes at an early age, recurrent miscarriages, and pre-eclampsia, and are associated with several autoimmune diseases, most prominently systemic lupus erythematosus.

"Protein S is a really interesting molecule," says Greg Lemke, Ph.D., a professor in the Salk's Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory, who led the study, which appears in the Sept. 1, 2009, issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation. "During the course of evolution, it was co-opted from the coagulation cascade for the regulation of inflammation in the immune system."

The moment a blood vessel is breached, the coagulation cascade activates a series of enzymes in domino-like fashion, which allows the rapid formation of a plug at the site of injury. As part of a carefully calibrated system of checks and balances, Protein S aids with the inactivation of clotting factors Va and VIIIa, preventing excessive clotting.

In patients who are born with two abnormal copies of the protein S gene, a severe form of thrombosis called purpura fulminans can result. This life-threatening condition involves severe clotting throughout much of the body, ultimately causing death to the tissues.

But Protein S also binds to and activates a trio of receptors, Tyro3, Axl, and Mer, which are collectively known as TAMs. Apart from being involved in a host of cellular processes, the TAMs most famously act as a molecular "trip switch" that prevents the immune system from spiraling out of control and turning against one's own body.

Though protein S's dual role in coagulation and inflammation is one that scientists have known about for years, its exact function has remained a mystery. Lemke and Burstyn-Cohen, wanting to understand the molecular details, created knockout mice missing the ProS1 gene, which encodes protein S.

"It was the last gene encoding a critical component of the blood coagulation cascade to be inactivated in mice," says Burstyn-Cohen, "and the resulting phenotype is probably the most severe of them all." Mice without functional protein S die in utero with massive consumptive blood clots, which soak up all available clotting factors, causing severe hemorrhaging elsewhere.

In addition to blood clots, these mice also had problems with vascular integrity and the functioning of these blood vessels. "TAM receptors are important for maintaining the physiological integrity of the smooth muscles that line blood vessels," explains Burstyn-Cohen. "Without protein S the muscle layer is disordered, and the vessels become leaky."

Like other components of the clotting cascade, most of the circulating protein S is produced by hepatocytes in the liver, or so it was thought. When Burstyn-Cohen shut down the production of protein S in hepatocytes, however, levels of protein S only dropped by half. A closer look revealed that the endothelial cells lining blood vessels themselves provided most of the remaining protein.

"Blood clotting disorders are a good target for gene therapy since the absence of a single factor can sabotage the body's ability to stanch bleeding or stop the coagulation process," says Lemke. "Our findings suggest that in addition to hepatocytes, endothelial cells, which are easily accessible via the circulatory system, may be a particularly good target for gene therapy to correct genetic or acquired defects in ProS or other regulators of blood coagulation."

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For information about the commercialization of this technology, please contact Dave Odelson at 858.453.4100, x 1223 (dodelson@salk.edu) in the Salk Office of Technology Management and Development.

This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health, grants from the Lupus Research Institute, the Stein Endowment Fund, and the Hoffman Foundation.

Mary Jo Heeb, Ph.D., in the Department of Molecular and Experimental Medicine at The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, also contributed to this work.

About the Salk Institute for Biological Studies

The Salk Institute for Biological Studies is one of the world's preeminent basic research institutions, where internationally renowned faculty probe fundamental life science questions in a unique, collaborative, and creative environment. Focused both on discovery and on mentoring future generations of researchers, Salk scientists make groundbreaking contributions to our understanding of cancer, aging, Alzheimer's, diabetes, and cardiovascular disorders by studying neuroscience, genetics, cell and plant biology, and related disciplines.

Faculty achievements have been recognized with numerous honors, including Nobel Prizes and memberships in the National Academy of Sciences. Founded in 1960 by polio vaccine pioneer Jonas Salk, M.D., the Institute is an independent nonprofit organization and architectural landmark.

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