Sunday, April 18, 2010

Sonoma County CA separates elderly gay couple and sells all of their worldly possessions

Disgusting!!

I sure hope this man wins his suit!!!

THIS is an example of why we need to legalize gay marriage NATIONALLY!

Clay and his partner of 20 years, Harold, lived in California. Clay and Harold made diligent efforts to protect their legal rights, and had their legal paperwork in place--wills, powers of attorney, and medical directives, all naming each other. Harold was 88 years old and in frail medical condition, but still living at home with Clay, 77, who was in good health.

One evening, Harold fell down the front steps of their home and was taken to the hospital. Based on their medical directives alone, Clay should have been consulted in Harold's care from the first moment. Tragically, county and health care workers instead refused to allow Clay to see elderly_man.jpgHarold in the hospital. The county then ultimately went one step further by isolating the couple from each other, placing the men in separate nursing homes.

Ignoring Clay's significant role in Harold's life, the county continued to treat Harold like he had no family and went to court seeking the power to make financial decisions on his behalf. Outrageously, the county represented to the judge that Clay was merely Harold's "roommate." The court denied their efforts, but did grant the county limited access to one of Harold's bank accounts to pay for his care.

What happened next is even more chilling.

Without authority, without determining the value of Clay and Harold's possessions accumulated over the course of their 20 years together or making any effort to determine which items belonged to whom, the county took everything Harold and Clay owned and auctioned off all of their belongings. Adding further insult to grave injury, the county removed Clay from his home and confined him to a nursing home against his will. The county workers then terminated Clay and Harold's lease and surrendered the home they had shared for many years to the landlord.

Three months after he was hospitalized, Harold died in the nursing home. Because of the county's actions, Clay missed the final months he should have had with his partner of 20 years. Compounding this tragedy, Clay has literally nothing left of the home he had shared with Harold or the life he was living up until the day that Harold fell, because he has been unable to recover any of his property. The only memento Clay has is a photo album that Harold painstakingly put together for Clay during the last three months of his life.

With the help of a dedicated and persistent court-appointed attorney, Anne Dennis of Santa Rosa, Clay was finally released from the nursing home. Ms. Dennis, along with Stephen O'Neill and Margaret Flynn of Tarkington, O'Neill, Barrack & Chong, now represent Clay in a lawsuit against the county, the auction company, and the nursing home, with technical assistance from NCLR. A trial date has been set for July 16, 2010 in the Superior Court for the County of Sonoma.

Read more about NCLR's Elder Law Project.


Are you disturbed by the story of how Clay Greene was treated by the County? Please blog about this, pass it on over Facebook or Twitter, just do whatever you can to help raise the visibility of what happened to Clay. Send a letter to the local paper, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat at letters@pressdemocrat.com. Send them this link to NCLR's page.

Want to stay up to date on this case? Follow NCLR and Bilerico Project on Twitter.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Conservadems? That's not what I voted for!!!

Kay Hagan! Do what you were elected to do!!

I watch MSBNC almost every night....and several hours of the day when I'm home. I've been listening to Rachel Maddow talking about the "Conservadems" and I am really ticked off.

In case you don't know....this is a term to represent a group of Democrats who are attempting to undermine President Obama's agenda. At least in my case, and I think in most others, these people were elected because we wanted a change.....and they promised to help pass President Obama's agenda....an agenda he was quite clear of during the campaign. They cannot possibly say they were not aware of what Mr Obama wanted to accomplish!

Right now I am really upset. I voted for Kay Hagan in North Carolina because I wanted to elect someone that was in agreement with what was supposed to be a change for America. If I wanted business as usual, I would have voted to retain Mrs Dole. If I wanted to continue the Republican agenda of cutting taxes and then slashing public programs I would have voted for Dole.....but I wanted someone who believed as I did. I wanted someone that would work to change the way our country is run!

Kay Hagan ran as a Democrat. She repeatedly stated that she represented change. She repeatedly told us that she would follow the President's agenda. She did not run as a conservative, fiscal or religious!

There is an online petition to call for these so-called Conservadems to change their ways.....find it here: CONSERVADEMS You Should Be Replaced! and please pass it on!

Oh yea....here's a list of the Conservadems. If you voted for one and are angry, sign the petition and give them a call:
TOM CARPER (DE)
BLANCH LINCOLN (AR)
MICHAEL BENNET (CO)
MARK BEGICH (AK)
KAY HAGAN (NC) (CALL: 202-224-6342
HERB KOHL (WI)
MARY LANDRIEU (LA)
JOE LIEBERMAN (CT)
CLAIRE MCCASKILL (MO)
BEN NELSON (NE)
BILL NELSON (FL)
JEANNE SHAHEEN (NH)
MARK WARNER (VA)
MARK UDALL (CO)
EVAN BAYH (IN)
For others, you can look up your representatives' contact information here.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Jim Cramer Interview by Jon Stewart

For those that haven't heard yet......check out the 3 part interview Jon Stewart did with Jim Cramer.






Just in case the embed doesn't work, here are the links:
Jim Cramer Pt. 1
Jim Cramer Pt. 2
Jim Cramer Pt. 3

Thursday, January 08, 2009

Sanjay Gupta? For Surgeon General?

CNN and others are reporting:

Obama asks CNN's Sanjay Gupta to be next surgeon general

The popular television personality, a practicing neurosurgeon, reportedly would be provided a broader portfolio to make wellness, fitness and healthcare reform a top priority.

Reporting from Washington and New York -- President-elect Barack Obama has asked Dr. Sanjay Gupta to be the next U.S. surgeon general, looking to a popular television personality to help provide a public face for his healthcare agenda.

Best known as a health and medicine correspondent for CNN and CBS, Gupta, 39, is a practicing neurosurgeon in Atlanta and a member of the faculty at the Emory University School of Medicine.

The surgeon general oversees some 6,000 officers in the commissioned corps of the Public Health Service. Officers work as physicians, nurses, dentists and other health professionals in various federal agencies -- including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Coast Guard and the Bureau of Prisons.

Past surgeons general have wielded the most influence, however, by using the bully pulpit to focus attention on major health issues. And Gupta would come to the post with an unparalleled public profile and background as a communicator.



Sanjay Gupta? Oh, please Mr Obama, no! Great smile.....popular on-air personality.....but not Surgeon General!

A little about me. I am a RN (class of '76) and have been an avid reader of medical topics for several years. Over the past few years, because of my own increasing age as well as some of the articles and research I've looked at, I have become a proponent of many non-conventional treatments and practices. The areas I am especially interested in are diet and nutrition, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes and other diseases of carbohydrate metabolism. I am a low carb advocate even tho I still struggle with weight and other health issues. I am also an advocate of an interactive doctor patient relationship. I believe all should investigate any disease, condition, prescription etc on their own and doctors should encourage this rather than look at it as questioning their authority. I believe strongly that we are pushing medications to excess, often without even attempting other means of treatment. I believe that many of the non-conventional treatments are viewed as a threat to doctors, nutritionists, and others and are attacked rather than looked into with an open mind.

So.....regarding Dr Gupta......I guess it all depends on what you want for a Surgeon General. If you are looking for a person that will be little more than a spokesperson for the AMA, AHA, ADA et all....if you are looking for someone to try to block real health care reform.....if you are looking for a puppet that doesn't do his (or her) own research, but instead depends on talking points provided by pharmaceutical companies....OK, he's the perfect choice.

But, if you want a Surgeon General is someone that will oversee not only the Public Health Service, but also promote truly healthy lifestyle changes...not what is being promoted today, but changes that really will make a difference....well, I'd say keep looking.

There are so many things that are pushed onto the public that have little or no scientific background. Much of the research that is done is poorly done and many times the results are misinterpreted. I would like to see a Surgeon General that looks at all the the policies and practices and study each issue and check out the research himself. Not just read the summaries, but look at the data and make his own interpretations. Of course I'd want this person to do this with an open mind, not just looking to verify his/her beliefs.

Currently much of the "current wisdom" in the medical industry is based on faulty or non-existent research. You cannot conclude anything from observational (or co-hort) studies, you can only form a hypothesis. You cannot promote a practice based on tradition....or beliefs that have since been proven wrong. You cannot continue to push policy and practices on people where the data just isn't there.

The American Heart Association (AHA) has sold out to Big Pharma and various food manufacturers. Allowing the AHA seal of approval on foods that do nothing to promote heath. Allowing Big Pharma to repeatedly conduct "education" seminars that are little more than sales pitches. Ignoring evidence that many of their practices are at least useless and in some cases dangerous. The American Medical Association too.....either they are complicit with manufacturers and drug companies or they just do their own research.....but they are continuously promoting practices and policies that are not based in science.

And the American Diabetic Association? Well they promote a diet based on the very thing that diabetics have trouble handling! Despite studies done to show more effective treatment, treatment that minimizes complications as well as the need for medications, they continue to promote the same treatments that they have for decades. They repeatedly cite "research". Poorly done, misinterpreted research maybe...but not well designed, well executed studies that show results they don't want to see.

The whole medical establishment repeatedly promotes a diet that is based on processed food!! Think of it.....the largest part of the food pyramid is grains. With few exceptions, grains must be processed in order for them to be edible for humans. So....we base our diet on a processed food? And! At the same time, we should limit protein and fat to very small portions. Even tho we likely evolved on large quantities of fats and proteins with minimal (and mostly seasonal) fruits and vegetables and virtually no grains, the diet that is promoted today pushes limiting naturally occurring fats and protein and encourages processed foods.

Please Mr Obama, look into some others for this position. Look
for someone that is more free-thinking. Someone who does his/her own
research and looks at the data and design of studies before forming an
opinion. Someone that is willing, if necessary, to take on the "big
guys" (ADA, AHA, AMA, Big Pharma, etc) and question or correct policies
and procedures that are ineffective or even dangerous.

For further reading, I highly recommend:
Good Calories Bad Calories by Gary Taubes (or any article written by Mr Taubes)
Blood Sugar 101 by Jenny Ruhl
Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution by Dr Richard K bernstein
Weston A Price Foundation: Know Your Fats
The Great Cholesterol Con: The Truth About What Really Causes Heart Disease and How to Avoid It by Dr. Malcolm Kendrick

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Phone Call from God

Oh how I wish I could take credit for this.....but Loren Adams gets it all! I found it on TPJmagazine.

Bush
Receives a Call from the Almighty

by Loren Adams - December 10, 2008

GOD:
Gabriel, do me a favor. Would you
dial up George W. Bush for me, please sir?

GABRIEL:
Your Excellency, do you mean Bush? George Walker Bush, the 43rd U.S. President, the one who stole
elections, lied his country to war, and set the world
on course to depression?

GOD:
Yeah, that one. I believe his
number at the White House is 202-666-WARS.

[Phone
rings at the White House; George picks up.]

GW:
Howdy!

GOD:
This is God speaking, George. You
know, "Jehovah, Yahweh, Allah, Alpha & Omega, the Beginning and the
End, the Everlasting Father, the Almighty...."

GW:
Yeah, yeah, I know. I talk to ya every day, hold
Presidential Prayer Breakfasts all the time, attend Bible studies, and pray
lots. I got my instructions to bomb Baghdad from you, remember?

GOD:
Well, no, son. I never gave you authority to commit a million souls to eternity
in My Name. That's your acquaintance Lucifer's department. Mine is to bring
life and purpose for existence. Have you ever heard of the commandment,
"Thou shalt not kill"?

GW:
Why, shucks! I thought you was talkin' - orderin' me to make
war. Does that mean I got it wrong
'bout you wanting me to be president?

GOD:
Yes, you got that wrong too. Really wrong! Why, no, I never meant for
you to be
president. That's why Albert Gore got the most votes the first time
around and
John Kerry won more votes that weren't counted. I prefer democracy.
And, no, I never ordered you or anyone else to make war in my name.
That's sacrilegious, son. You hear? Blasphemy.

GW:
But Daddy & Mommy taught me it was all right to make war -- just so long if
it profits corporations that make people rich and powerful.

GOD:
No, that was Lucifer talking to you, your friends and relatives, not me. You know the guy -- Beelzebub, Angel of
the Morning, the Prince of Darkness, the Author of Confusion, the Accuser of
the Brethren, the Great Divider & Deceiver, Scratch, Satan, or commonly
known as the Devil? Yeah, that
guy. He's the one who likes wars,
death and destruction. Not me.

GW:
Oh. (Long pause) But what about
your son Jesus turning over the tables of the money changers?

GOD:
You mean you want to compare turning over a few tables in the temple to
mounting wars and murdering millions of people?

GW:
Well, I gotta problem. I thought for sure you had ordered me
to bomb Afghanistan. Then
Iraq. Then go after Iran if I get
'nuff time. They had weapons of mass destruction that weren't accounted for and we
didn't know how to find out if they had `em....

GOD:
So, why didn't you ask me? If they
had them, I'd be the one to know. Inspectors can't see under rocks. I can. I'm your
"source," right? You
claim to have had divine instructions to go to war, yet you didn't have the
same divine intelligence whether or not those weapons were there, right? What it boils down to, you were so
gun-ho about using my name to legitimize war, you didn't ask Me if they had WMD in the first place.

GW: Oh.... (Long pause) Well, I never thought of that.... I just knew that Daddy sold them to Saddam back 25 years ago, so I assumed....

GOD:
You did what? "Assume"? That's
a 6-letter word — when broken down, the term makes an ASS out of U &
ME. I never "ASSUME"
anything, son. I know. 'Omniscient' -- they describe me.

GW:
What about "faith"? I
had "faith" that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction and was ready
to use them on us. Shouldn't we
act on "faith"?

GOD:
Now, you're getting your terms mixed up, son. "Faith" is the substance of things HOPED FOR, the
evidence of things not seen, for sure. Did you HOPE for war, or were you just HOPPING to war? "Faith" is referring to
ME! Not some
rusty old weapons out in the middle of the desert that any smart Boy Scout
could verify weren't working for 15 years.
Naw, I believe you were just wanting to play war and see others die because you
never had to face consequences yourself.

GW:
What about Saddam? Didn't I do the
right thing catching and having him executed?

GOD:
You caught him?

GW:
I mean, the Kurds caught him a few days before and told our guys where to pick
him up. Then an Iraqi kangaroo court had him hung.

GOD:
That's better.... No, Saddam was scheduled to depart earth in three years
anyway, according to St. Peter's calendar. So capturing him was just a show for your right-wing
base. I don't mean to jerk the
applause button from under your "accomplishment," but there was no
need. I had it covered.

GW:
I thought you told me to strike Saddam....

GOD:
No, like I said before, that was Satan. Obviously you get voices mixed up. Lucifer disguises his to sound like Mine -- the
peacemaker, when all the time he's out to start wars and kill people. Adolf Hitler claimed to hear from me
all the time he attacked one nation after another, sending 50 million souls to
eternity prematurely. You've
obviously fallen into the same old trap that Adolf did. You get confused by
listening to guys from CARLYLE and PROJECT FOR A NEW AMERICAN CENTURY
. You, know, the guys who wanted to make
a new Roman Empire out of America? The guys that planned the war before 9/11? The war profiteers? Out to make a buck on somebody else's
blood?

GW: Oh.... (Long pause) Hey, I'm your "faith-based" guy on earth! My pals are uh Ted Haggard and uh Pat
Robertson and uh James Robinson and uh....

GOD:
Forgive me, but I don't know any of them. Who'd you say they were?

GW:
Well, uh, uh, I ASSUMED they were with you! You know, the fundamentalists....

GOD:
There you go again.... ASSUMING... Fundamentalists think they have a
monopoly on Me; think they have all the answers and
therefore don't have to ask anything these days. For instance, I created the world and universe the
equivalent of billions of earth years, yet the time-span was only days in
My-time. They assume I established
the universe in 24-hour earth-day increments to coincide with their narrow
views. Such stupidity! I confess,
fundamentalists evolved from monkeys.

Now, go tell that to your
political base and see what kind of reaction you get. Makes me almost
want to repent I ever created them. They don't speak for me. I speak
for me. And by the way, I don't
like you serving plastic turkeys on Thanksgiving to my troops. Who's
stupid idea was that?

GW:
Karl and Dick do all my planning. Karl told me photo-ops are most important in keeping power. And I, uh,
and I take no responsibility.

GOD:
Now, how do you propose getting out of this war?

GW:
Well, I ... and uh... I don't know, God. Think I'll leave it for the next guy....

GOD:
Now, that's the smartest thing I've heard you say all day! The next president will be in charge of
cleaning up all your messes. You've stirred up the hornets’ nest but don't have
a clue how to keep the hornets from stinging your people. If you would have studied Proverbs instead of right-wing rags you
wouldn't be crying about a tarnished legacy.

GW:
May I ask one last thing, God?

GOD:
Sure, what is it?

GW:
Did I cause the end of the world? Armageddon?


GOD:
No. I decide the end of the world,
not you. Especially not you! You're not bright enough. Now, get to packing so the next
president can come in and start trying to repair the damage you've made! And remember: I never order anyone to
make war and murder. The thief
comes not but to steal, kill, deceive, and destroy, but I have come to bring
life more abundantly. He that
loves not, does not know me, for I am the source of
all love. Have you not read the Bible I gave you?

Original article is here.

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

30-mile pile a symbol of FEMA delays

This is disgusting!
30-mile pile a symbol of FEMA delays

SMITH POINT, Texas - A 30-mile scar of debris
along the Texas coast stands as a festering testament to what state and
local officials say is FEMA's sluggish response to the 2008 hurricane
season.

Two and a
half months after Hurricane Ike blasted the shoreline, alligators and
snakes crawl over vast piles of shattered building materials, lawn
furniture, trees, boats, tanks of butane and other hazardous
substances, thousands of animal carcasses, perhaps even the corpses of
people killed by the storm.

State
and local officials complain that the removal of the filth has gone
almost nowhere because FEMA red tape has held up both the cleanup work
and the release of the millions of dollars that Chambers County says it
needs to pay for the project.

FEMA says they are working as fast as they can, given the red tape and regulations. Apparently they have to figure out who's land it is before they can clean it up!

The federal government is responsible for public lands or hazardous
waste, while private landowners must handle their own cleanup but can
apply for assistance. Much of the debris has been left to rot while
crews determine whose land the junk is on and what's in it.

What?? After a storm like Ike? Shouldn't this be a case where the government goes in, does what needs to be done. It's not just a matter of debris, there are also chemicals and animal remains in this mess!

Mold is a danger after disasters like this. We all remember pictures of New Orleans after Katrina. This is also an area where mold can take off overnight, and this debris is wet from the storms, and the area is still warm enough to promote the growth of mold.

This is disgusting! Will January 20 ever get here?

Link to full article