Friday, February 28, 2014

Seth Rogen Opening Statement (C-SPAN) hearing on Alzheimer's

This Exchange Between Famous Actor and a Democrat Isn’t Exactly What You Expect to See at a Senate Hearing.

TheBlaze: Actor Seth Rogen delivered a prepared statement during a U.S. Senate hearing on Alzheimer’s disease Wednesday — and it’s safe to say it was unlike most Capitol Hill testimonies.

“Thank you for the opportunity to testify today and for the opportunity to be called an expert in something, because that’s cool,” Rogen jokingly began. “I don’t know if you know who I am, chairman. I know you never saw ‘Knocked Up,’ which is a little insulting.”

Actor Seth Rogen testified on Capitol Hill Wednesday about how Alzheimer's has personally affects his family. (Image source: Screen grab via MSNBC)

Actor Seth Rogen testified on Capitol Hill Wednesday about how Alzheimer’s has personally affects his family. (Image source: Screen grab)

Sen Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) responded, ”I want the record to note that this is the first time, I will wager, this is the first time in any congressional hearing in history that the words ‘knocked up’ have ever been spoken.”

“…the first time in any congressional hearing in history that the words ‘knocked up’ have ever been spoken.”

Rogen then delivered a heartfelt testimony about his mother-in-law’s struggle with Alzheimer’s, peppering it with jokes poking fun of himself.

 

 Video:  Seth Rogen Opening Statement (C-SPAN) hearing on Alzheimer's

Feb 26, 2014:  Actor Seth Rogen gives his opening statement before a Senate hearing on Alzheimer's Research.

The self-described “man-child” concluded, explaining why he felt that he had to be present at the testimony Wednesday.

“I came here today for a few reasons,” he told the subcommittee. “One, I’m a House of Cards fan. Had to be here….Two, is to say people need more help.

Related: 

1 in 3 Seniors Dies with Alzheimer's or Other Dementia

Diagnosis & Treatment of Mild to Moderate Alzheimer's Disease

Part One: Researchers race to beat scourge of aging

Part Three: Burden of illness often heaviest for caregivers

UCLA on Alzheimer's Disease - young or old should read

Alzheimer’s Disease - Caregiver Tips

Final Stages of Alzheimer’s

Advances for Alzheimer's, Outside the Lab

Warning Signs: A New Test to Predict Alzheimer's

Super Spice Secrets: Can This Miracle Spice Stop Cancer, Alzheimer's and Arthritis?

Drinking Coffee Slashes Risk of Alzheimer’s

Stop Using 'Natural' Deodorants Until You Read This

Alzheimer’s Disease and Inappropriate Sexual Behavior

Pet Therapy

Animals Helping the Ailing, the Elderly, and the Young

Pets are way better than Therapy!

Low-Carb Diet May Slow Alzheimer’s Disease

Final Stages of Alzheimer’s

Activities for Alzheimer’s Patients

7 Alzheimer's Triggers by Dr. Blaylock – definitely worth listening to!!

Find Dementia Care

Games for Alzheimer's

Alzheimer's Homes

Buttered Popcorn Flavoring Linked to Alzheimer’s

Stop Using 'Natural' Deodorants Until You Read This

Warning Signs: A New Test to Predict Alzheimer's

Super Spice Secrets: Can This Miracle Spice Stop Cancer, Alzheimer's and Arthritis?

The Secret; Care Givers are the ‘Silent’ Boss

The Hoax at the Bottom of Autism and Alzheimer’s

Remember 'The Girls' - Views by Ann Hood

Alzheimer's: Tips to make holidays more enjoyable

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

The Fascists of Massachusetts… Can what is happening to the Pelletier family happen to you?

Big Brother is Here… What Will It Take for America to Stand-Up?

By Elise Ronan – Liberty’s Spirit - Cross-Posted at Raising Asperger’s Kids and AskMarion

One of the greatest unspoken fears that any parent of a special needs child lives with is that the State decides that they know better how to care for your child then you do. That when you disagree with doctors or hospitals, they in turn will call in the child welfare authorities and rip your child out of your arms. This scenario is playing itself out in Massachusetts with the Pelletier family.

Their 15-year-old daughter, Justine, like her older adult siblings, has been diagnosed with mitochondrial disease. She, like her siblings, was being treated for that rare illness. Her disease was diagnosed by Tufts Medical Center doctors. One of the top hospitals in the nation. On a trip to Massachusetts, from their home in Connecticut, she became sick and was taken to Children’s Hospital in Boston. Where upon a neurologist decided that her diagnosis was all in her head and refused to treat her for mitochondrial disease. The parents hearing this insisted on a second opinion, whereby the doctor and hospital called in child welfare services when the parents went to take their then 14-year-old home. The hospital immediately went to court and had the girl committed to their lockdown mental institution where she has been for over a year.

Her parents were only allowed minimal contact, once a week visits, and two monitored phone calls. In fact the Girl had to devise a way to tell her parents what was going on in the institution in secret, because when she told them about events with nurses listening, she said she would be punished by staff after her parents left. The father has been on television, radio and in the newspaper trying to garner support for their position. The hospital actually went  to court and demanded a gag order on the proceedings, which the father violated. He said, its his daughter and he will talk about her case if he wants, despite any court sanction. Apparently  in this brave new world, if the state can take away your child, they can deny your freedom of speech to talk about your child and your legal proceedings as well. Of course the Massachusetts judge who ordered the gag has brought criminal charges against the father.

Meanwhile, for the past year Justine has received no medical treatment for her mitochondrial disease. Instead she is being treated with psychiatric medication and behavioral intervention therapy.  She is without a doubt medically fragile according to her parents and their advocates.

Yesterday in a court proceeding, where the parents thought they were going to get their daughter back, the judge instead deemed them unfit parents and moved their daughter permanently into foster care. She is to be moved from the mental institution within 48 hours to an unknown foster care location on Boston’s North Shore. So this Massachusetts judge has ordered the severing of ties between this Connecticut citizen (someone with no ties whatsoever to the state other than she was on a vacation trip at the time of her illness) and her parents. Her mother had to be hospitalized after the proceedings.

Meanwhile, I wonder what the State of  Connecticut is doing to protect the rights of its citizens in this case? Anybody? Anybody?  Has someone ever spoken to the Connecticut Attorney General about this situation? Afterall, this family sought treatment for this child at home and obviously sent her to school in Connecticut. What does the school district have to say about what happened? I am hard pressed to believe that Justine did not receive some kind of accommodation for her education considering the nature of her disease. Are those persons in Connecticut that are attached to this girl, either as educators or doctors, now accepting the fact that according to Massachusetts they are accessories to child endangerment and abuse? Are they accepting the fact that they are now liable under law and can possibly be brought up on criminal charges, never mind losing their professional licenses?

This is not China, the Soviet Union or a totalitarian nation. This case is happening right here in the United States in the State of Massachusetts. A state that has one of the most liberal-progressive governments in the country. A state that is held up as a symbol of proper government and true humanitarian reality. But for the Pelletiers nothing could be farther from the truth. The Pelletiers are living through a true dystopian nightmare with the health of their daughter caught between the egos of doctors, hospitals and self-righteous judges.

Here is an article from Boston.

****

When MrGS was very little, we had had a huge disagreement with his diagnosing psychiatrist about a medication. He had prescribed risperdal for him.  After two days of taking the drug Mr. GS, as a 9 year old, said he felt like he was going crazy. We immediately threw the medicine in the garbage.  At the time one rare side effect of this drug was psychosis, which it actually seemed had effected MrGS.  (Recent lawsuits have proven that there are other harmful side effects to this medication that can occur.) The doctor was rather incensed that we stopped the risperdal without his permission. (He would have insisted we keep him on the med to see if the side-effect passed.) In fact, he kept trying to get me to put Mr.GS back on that medication. I flatly refused. Then after some other unpleasant incidents, where I called him on not following through on promised supports and therapies for MrGS,  this psychiatrist told me to go to another doctor, which I gladly did. But what would have happened if he had called the child welfare authorities because of our disagreement, saying I was abusing my child because I wouldn’t listen to his diagnosis, follow his medical advice and wanted to talk to another doctor? What would have happened if someone in his office had done the same? At the time it had never occurred to us that anyone would threaten our parental rights in any way when it came to medical decisions for our children. It truly seems that times have changed.

Read the rest HERE 

The Blaze: Justina is NOT getting medical care:

‘A National Outrage’: Father of 15-Year-Old at Center of Boston Children’s Controversy Says ‘We’re Fighting Evil’;

His wife and oldest daughter were able to briefly see Justina last Friday, Lou told Glenn Beck Tuesday, and “what they saw appalled them.”;

“She has a port into her colon. There were severe red lines, no doubt poisoned sepsis creeping into the system,” he said slowly. “The DCF people were laughing at it. So we had to raise a red flag. We talked to one of the top surgeons … who goes, ‘that could be deadly! What are they doing? That needs to be checked immediately!’ … We had to beg to get a doctor to come in and look at it.”;

Lou Pelletier says his family is a “wreck” after a judge ruled Monday that his daughter, 15-year-old Justina Pelletier, will be placed into foster care for the time being.

“We’re fighting corruption. We’re fighting evil,” he told TheBlaze’s Lis Klimas, adding that the case is a “national outrage.”

Lou and his family have been engaged in a legal battle for over a year in an attempt to regain custody of Justina. It began when physicians at Boston Children’s Hospital concluded that Justina has somataform disorder, a physiological condition, not mitochondrial disease. After Lou and his wife, Linda, objected, citing Justina’s diagnosis and extensive treatment for mitochondrial disease by doctors at Tufts Medical Center, the Department of Children and Families was brought in and they lost custody of their daughter.

Justina Pelletier with her parents, Linda and Lou.  Justina has been in the custody of the state of Massachusetts since last year. (Image source: Facebook)

Justina Pelletier with her parents, Linda and Lou. Justina has been in the custody of the state of Massachusetts since last year. (Image source: Facebook)

Though Justina was ice skating before being taken to Boston Children’s a year ago, Lou says she is now in a wheelchair and her condition is rapidly worsening, since she is not receiving the medical treatment she needs.

His wife and oldest daughter were able to briefly see Justina last Friday, Lou told Glenn Beck Tuesday, and “what they saw appalled them.”

“She has a port into her colon. There were severe red lines, no doubt poisoned sepsis creeping into the system,” he said slowly. “The DCF people were laughing at it. So we had to raise a red flag. We talked to one of the top surgeons … who goes, ‘that could be deadly! What are they doing? That needs to be checked immediately!’ … We had to beg to get a doctor to come in and look at it.”

Every American needs to hear this case,” Beck told his audience, “and every American needs to stand up and help this family get their daughter back before, quite honestly, she dies. It could be your daughter. It could be your son. It could be mine next. The state is emboldened … they are not afraid anymore.”

(Source: Facebook)

Justina Pelletier has been in the custody of the state for over a year. (Source: Facebook)

Mat Staver, the founder and Chairman of the Liberty Counsel, told Beck that in his 27 years of practicing law, he has “never seen anything like this.”

First, he said, he’s never seen a case where a family following the expert medical advice of one group of physicians over another can lose their daughter for 13 months. He’s also never seen anything like the gag order placed on the family. And he’s never seen a situation where the media and additional legal counsel have been so thoroughly blocked from the case.

Essentially, he said, the state wants to keep the case “quiet” and “kick the can down the road,” so to speak.

Staver added that when Linda Pelletier was able to visit her daughter Friday for her monitored, hour-long weekly visit, she wasn’t even allowed to bring her cell phone “to photograph her own daughter’s condition.”

Lou, whose birthday is Tuesday, said “biggest present” he could receive is just to have his daughter returned home.

Video: Lou Pelletier on The Kelly File 02.25.14

Pelletier Family Devastated After Court Hearing On Daughter’s Custody

Lou Pelletier, Father of Justina Pelletier on Glenn Beck Program and the Kelly File

Department of Veterans Affairs employees destroyed veterans’ medical records to cancel backlogged exam requests

Daily Caller: Employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) destroyed veterans’ medical files in a systematic attempt to eliminate backlogged veteran medical exam requests, a former VA employee told The Daily Caller.

Audio of an internal VA meeting obtained by TheDC confirms that VA officials in Los Angeles intentionally canceled backlogged patient exam requests.

“The committee was called System Redesign and the purpose of the meeting was to figure out ways to correct the department’s efficiency. And one of the issues at the time was the backlog,” Oliver Mitchell, a Marine veteran and former patient services assistant in the VA Greater Los Angeles Medical Center, told TheDC.

“We just didn’t have the resources to conduct all of those exams. Basically we would get about 3,000 requests a month for [medical] exams, but in a 30-day period we only had the resources to do about 800. That rolls over to the next month and creates a backlog,” Mitchell said. ”It’s a numbers thing. The waiting list counts against the hospitals efficiency. The longer the veteran waits for an exam that counts against the hospital as far as productivity is concerned.”

By 2008, some patients were “waiting six to nine months for an exam” and VA “didn’t know how to address the issue,” Mitchell said.

VA Greater Los Angeles Radiology department chief Dr. Suzie El-Saden initiated an “ongoing discussion in the department” to cancel exam requests and destroy veterans’ medical files so that no record of the exam requests would exist, thus reducing the backlog, Mitchell said.

Audio from a November 2008 meeting obtained by TheDC depicts VA Greater Los Angeles officials plotting to cancel backlogged exam requests.

“I’m still canceling orders from 2001,” said a male official in the meeting.

“Anything over a year old should be canceled,” replied a female official.

“Canceled or scheduled?” asked the male official.

“Canceled. … Your backlog should start at April ’07,” the female official replied, later adding, ”a lot of those patients either had their studies somewhere else, had their surgery … died, don’t live in the state. … It’s ridiculous.”

Listen:

 

El-Saden, according to Mitchell, was “the person who said destroy the records.” And her plan was actually carried out during the Obama administration’s management of VA.

“That actually happened,” Mitchell said. “We had that discussion in November 2008 and then in March 2009 they started to delete the exams. Once you cancel or delete an order it automatically cancels out that record” so that no record of the exam requests remained.

Mitchell tried to blow the whistle on the scheme and ended up being transferred out of his department and eventually losing his job.

“I actually filed a complaint with the VA [Inspector General] IG and the office of special counsel. The IG requested if I had any documentation. They wanted names. I gave them [about] a thousand names,” Mitchell said. ”The list I turned into the IG went all the way back to 1997.”

“I filed the initial complaint with the IG. … The IG instead of doing their own investigation just gave it to the facility and made them aware of my complaint.”

 

Video: Veteran's Medical Records Destroyed To Eliminate Backlog Requests - The Kelly File

Stephen Blackwood: ObamaCare and My Mother's Cancer Medicine

The news was dumbfounding. She used to have a policy that covered the drug that kept her alive. Now she's on her own.

WSJ: When my mother was diagnosed with carcinoid cancer in 2005, when she was 49, it came as a lightning shock. Her mother, at 76, had yet to go gray, and her mother's mother, at 95, was still playing bingo in her nursing home. My mother had always been, despite her diminutive frame, a titanic and irrepressible force of vitality and love. She had given birth to me and my nine younger siblings, and juggled kids, home and my father's medical practice with humor and grace for three decades. She swam three times a week in the early mornings, ate healthily and never smoked.

And now, cancer? Anyone who's been there knows that a cancer diagnosis is terrifying. A lot goes through your mind and heart: the deep pang of possible loss (what would my father and all of us do without her?), and the anguish and anger at what feels like injustice (after decades of mothering and managing dad's practice, she was just then going back to school).

We, as a family, were scared and angry, but from the beginning we knew we would do all we could to fight this disease. We became involved with fundraising for research, through the Caring for Carcinoid Foundation in Boston; we blogged; we did triathlons (my mother's idea) and cherished our time together as never before.

Carcinoid, a form of neuroendocrine cancer, is a terminal disease but generally responds well to treatment by Sandostatin, a drug that slows tumor growth and reduces (but does not eliminate) the symptoms of fatigue, nausea and gastrointestinal dysfunction. My mother received a painful shot twice a month and often couldn't sit comfortably for days afterward.

Getty Images

As with most cancers, one thing led to another. There have been several more surgeries, metastases, bone deterioration, a terrible bout of thyroiditis (an inflammation of the thyroid gland), and much more. But my mother has kept fighting, determined to make the most of life, no matter what it brings. She has an indomitable will and is by far the toughest person I've ever met. But she wouldn't still be here without that semimonthly Sandostatin shot that slows the onslaught of her disease.

And then in November, along with millions of other Americans, she lost her health insurance. She'd had a Blue Cross/Blue Shield plan for nearly 20 years. It was expensive, but given that it covered her very expensive treatment, it was a terrific plan. It gave her access to any specialist or surgeon, and to the Sandostatin and other medications that were keeping her alive.

And then, because our lawmakers and president thought they could do better, she had nothing. Her old plan, now considered illegal under the new health law, had been canceled.

Because the exchange website in her state (Virginia) was not working, she went directly to insurers' websites and telephoned them, one by one, over dozens of hours. As a medical-office manager, she had decades of experience navigating the enormous problems of even our pre-ObamaCare system. But nothing could have prepared her for the bureaucratic morass she now had to traverse.

The repeated and prolonged phone waits were Sisyphean, the competence and customer service abysmal. When finally she found a plan that looked like it would cover her Sandostatin and other cancer treatments, she called the insurer, Humana, HUM -2.81% to confirm that it would do so. The enrollment agent said that after she met her deductible, all treatments and medications—including those for her cancer—would be covered at 100%. Because, however, the enrollment agents did not—unbelievable though this may seem—have access to the "coverage formularies" for the plans they were selling, they said the only way to find out in detail what was in the plan was to buy the plan. (Does that remind you of anyone?)

With no other options, she bought the plan and was approved on Nov. 22. Because by January the plan was still not showing up on her online Humana account, however, she repeatedly called to confirm that it was active. The agents told her not to worry, she was definitely covered.

Then on Feb. 12, just before going into (yet another) surgery, she was informed by Humana that it would not, in fact, cover her Sandostatin, or other cancer-related medications. The cost of the Sandostatin alone, since Jan. 1, was $14,000, and the company was refusing to pay.

The news was dumbfounding. This is a woman who had an affordable health plan that covered her condition. Our lawmakers weren't happy with that because . . . they wanted plans that were affordable and covered her condition. So they gave her a new one. It doesn't cover her condition and it's completely unaffordable.

Though I'm no expert on ObamaCare (at 10,000 pages, who could be?), I understand that the intention—or at least the rhetorical justification—of this legislation was to provide coverage for those who didn't have it. But there is something deeply and incontestably perverse about a law that so distorts and undermines the free activity of individuals that they can no longer buy and sell the goods and services that keep them alive. ObamaCare made my mother's old plan illegal, and it forced her to buy a new plan that would accelerate her disease and death. She awaits an appeal with her insurer.

Will this injustice be remedied, for her and for millions of others? Or is my mother to die because she can no longer afford the treatment that keeps her alive?

Like every American, I want affordable health care, and I'm open to innovative solutions of all kinds—individual, corporate, for-profit, nonprofit and public. It will take all of these, and all the intelligence, creativity and self-discipline we have, as well as everything we can offer one another as families, neighbors, friends and citizens—and it still won't be perfect. But it is precisely because health care for 300 million people is so complicated that it cannot be centrally managed.

The "Affordable" Care Act is a brutal, Procrustean disaster. In principle, it violates the irreducible particularity of human life, and in practice it will cause many individuals to suffer and die. We can do better, and we must.

Mr. Blackwood is the president of Ralston College, a planned liberal-arts institution in Savannah, Ga., and is on the board of the Caring for Carcinoid Foundation. His mother, Catherine, manages the Family Medicine Center in Virginia Beach, Va.

Monday, February 24, 2014

Inclusion for those with disabilities requires educating society

Israel Times -. Ops & Blogs ->  Elise Ronan:  Last week in Tel Aviv someone fired shots into a house that is the residence for people with intellectual disabilities. The government is investigating and every politician emitted the proper soundbite. But no one actually talked about the underlying cause of the incident… lack of education, a refusal to understand how inclusion works and an accepted pervasive ignorance about persons with disabilities.

Society, all societies, not just Israel, can talk about inclusion and acceptance of those with disabilities, but until you learn to educate the general population with the truth about those who are different, incidents like what happened in Tel Aviv are going to continue everywhere. Whether those who thought nothing of endangering these vulnerable people actually understand what an intellectual disability means or how those with disabilities function in society is not immediately important, of course. They committed a crime. They should and must be punished.

Yet it would behoove society to try to learn and rethink how it views those with disabilities. I am reminded of what actually happened when they brought my oldest son back in district in our little hamlet in the USA. He had previously been assigned to an autism only program. It truly was a good situation for him and helped him get over some debilitating hurdles. In the meantime he had progressed and grew as an individual and that placement was no longer appropriate for him. It was time for him to be included in a regular classroom.

Now here in the USA there are many different manifestations of classroom organization when dealing with students with disabilities. Our school district devised a collaborative teaching program with one-to-one support for him and several other autistic children. This means that at any given time in a class of 20 students there were at least 3 adults in the room; the main teacher, a certified special education teacher and one paraprofessional (there could be upwards of 3 paraprofessionals if needed). Meanwhile there could never be more than 5 students with disabilities in that classroom, so everyone received the needed attention, and those students without educational issues would receive the education that they were also entitled to receive. You might assume that a thinking parent would be overjoyed with the added adult support in the class. Well you would assume wrong.

Needlesstosay, all hell broke loose among our very liberal-progressive neighbors. The “not in my backyard syndrome” reared its ignorant and ugly head. Meetings with the school district were called. Lawsuits were threatened. My highly educated neighbors called my son names you don’t call an adversary, never mind a disabled child. Luckily here in the USA there are education and civil rights laws to protect children like my son. The district was in their right to include him in a regular class setting. So my son’s right to an education was protected. But the people that live in the district never forgave him for having the nerve to stay here to be educated. Parents made sure to exclude him from every aspect of childhood and did their best to alienate our family. (We stayed because the school district itself was doing right by our children.)

Meanwhile I did what I could to help the general student. I volunteered through our Parent’s Association. My goal was to show that I was there to work with all students and to help all families. It was my way of saying thank you to the school district at large. I wanted to show my neighbors that I understood that everything wasn’t always just about my child, but that every student was important.

Yet, to my neighbors my son’s existence was still seen as a drain on their children’s education. In fact a rather interesting recurring theme continues to this day that having “children with special needs” in classes prevents their “normal” offspring from getting into an Ivy League College. Other parents told me that they resented having to pay for my son’s education since he would not go to college. (Little did they know that my son would graduate with honors from college, and would also attend graduate school.) I have been asked why do we spend money on “Cadillac” programs for those with disabilities instead of being more realistic and spend the money are the more worthwhile students. (Seriously, you can’t make this stuff up.) These people seem to forget that in the USA a child doesn’t have to be destined for post-secondary education, or have an above average IQ, to be entitled to a public k-12 education.

On the other hand, three years later the situation was extremely different for my younger son. His classmates not only accepted him, but these students took it upon themselves to make sure he was included and welcomed into the school. They took it upon themselves to make certain that he had a good time and enjoyed his time in school. They took it upon themselves to make certain that no one and nothing upset him or hurt him. They became his barrier to the world and his support. In fact, these students prided themselves on how happy and functional he was in school.

The difference? Education? Understanding? Yet most likely, better parenting and a better upbringing. I remember talking to a parent in my younger sons class who was thrilled that their typical child was in a collaborative program. “Three adults to 20 children…how great was that!” I remember she said to me that she was trying to figure out how to get her daughter included in these classes throughout her education. These parents understood that persons with disabilities were not only a part of life, but they also added a unique and necessary dimension to their children’s education. They saw the positives of the collaborative program for all children involved.

Sadly however, I have been informed that my youngest’s experience in school was the exception and students with disabilities are still alienated and resented in our community. I honestly have no real answer for this. You can’t even say that it’s because we do not live in a Jewish world. Half of my community either lives in a Jewish household or has one Jewish parent. You can then ask, is it the lack of Jewish education and an understanding of Jewish values? How successful then is Jewish Disability Awareness month? What exactly are the rabbis teaching? What do those mitzvah projects really mean in the long run? Is it a loss of the idea of community and have we forgotten what it really means to care for one another? But somehow I also don’t think its just a Jewish issue either. I doubt that dehumanizing those with disabilities is something that is taught in the New Testament. Believe me there are as many who go to church every week in our community as attend Shabbat services. Perhaps the reality is that no matter where you live and no matter how much book learning you have, there is no guarantee that the house you grow up in will be filled with a concept of humanity, charity and acceptance.

So arrest the horrible people in Tel Aviv who think they can frighten those who are born different through no fault of their own. Arrest those who think that terrorizing the weakest members of society is a positive endeavor. Arrest those that think committing a crime against the disabled is not a crime. But in the end, it is society itself that needs to be educated about intellectual disabilities. It is important to dispel the myths and ignorance that surround all disabilities, but especially those with developmental and intellectual disabilities. The disabilities that you do not see are the ones that garner the most myth and libel.

Education is a societal endeavor. Just telling people to stop being ignorant does no good if you don’t use your bully pulpit to inform and remind society just what it means to be a civilized nation. Sadly no matter where you live, it appears that we all have a long way to go to reach our own notion of humanity.

About the Author: Elise is the parent of two young men on the autism spectrum. She has been a volunteer special education advocate in her town for over a decade. Elise specializes in the practical aspects of raising special needs children. Elise is also a member of the Blogging Group: The Watcher’s Council.

Sunday, February 23, 2014

Fourth Georgia hospital closes due to Obamacare payment cuts

President Barack Obama meets with newly-elected mayors about job creation in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington, Dec. 13, 2013. (REUTERS/Jason Reed)

DailyCaller: The fourth Georgia hospital in two years is closing its doors due to severe financial difficulties caused by Obamacare’s payment cuts for emergency services.

The Lower Oconee Community Hospital is, for now, a critical access hospital in southeastern Georgia that holds 25 beds. The hospital is suffering from serious cash-flow problems, largely due to the area’s 23 percent uninsured population, and hopes to reopen as “some kind of urgent care center,” CEO Karen O’Neal said.

Many hospitals in the 25 states that rejected the Medicaid expansion are facing similar financial problems. Liberal administration ally Think Progress has already faulted Georgia for not expanding Medicaid as Obamacare envisioned.

But the reality is more complicated. The federal government has historically made payments to hospitals to cover the cost of uninsured patients seeking free medical care in emergency rooms, as federal law mandates that hospitals must care for all patients regardless of their ability to pay.

Because the Affordable Care Act’s authors believed they’d forced all states to implement the Medicaid expansion, Obamacare vastly cut hospital payments, the Associated Press reports.

The Supreme Court ruled that states could reject the Medicaid expansion in 2012, as part of the decision that upheld Obamacare generally. Since that decision, the Obama administration has so far instituted 28 unilateral delays and changes to the health care law’s implementation without congressional approval, Fox Business reports.

From verifying eligibility for subsidies to enforcing employer requirements, the Obama administration has already taken a hacksaw to the health care reform law, but it has made no changes to the provision raising problems for half the nation’s hospitals.

While the feds wait for financial pressure to force states to act, several state governments have been taking things into their own hands. Some have criticized these moves as “hospital bailouts.”

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More Black Babies Aborted Than Born in NYC

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT

RUSH/EIB: If I may get solemn and serious, as this requires, there is shocking news out of New York. I don't know how shocking it is, but it's really bad, and it's Cybercast news service, but the actual source of this is the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.  So this is a city source: "In 2012, there were more black babies killed by abortion (31,328) in New York City than were born there (24,758)..."

So out of a possible 56,000 black babies in New York City in 2012, 31,000 were aborted and 25,000 were killed, "and the black children killed comprised 42.4% of the total number of abortions in" New York City. This is shocking.  Let me run these numbers by you again, because I know they're tough to follow on radio and I screwed up the addition.  So there were, give or take, 56,000 black pregnancies in New York City 2012.

And 31,000 of the 56,000 were aborted and 25,000 were born.  The 31,000 aborted was almost 50% of the total number of abortions, but the African-American population is only, what, 11 to 13%.  These are striking numbers, and this is... Dare I go there?  Yes, I do.  This is exactly what Margaret Sanger had in mind when she came up with the whole notion of Planned Parenthood and eugenics. 

I've always been amazed that the white, liberal elite champion Margaret Sanger, when it wouldn't take anything for Jesse Jacksons and Al Sharptons to go back and figure out who she is what she really wanted. How in the world there's any support for whatever Margaret Sanger attached her name to is beyond my ability to comprehend.  Well, no it's not, because I know the left. Abortion is the sacrament to them.  But this is just...

These people that are relying on the Democrat Party to protect them to take care of them, to guard them against whatever extremism might be coming their way from conservative Republicans, are wiping themselves out -- with the support of and the recommendation of the Democrat Party -- which puts abortion in top two of the most important issues going.  It's just amazing here, and when you look at the reality of this and then you understand who it is they blame for their lot in life and their plight?

"The report is entitled, Summary of Vital Statistics 2012 The City of New York, Pregnancy Outcomes, and was prepared by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Office of Vital Statistics." Now, you'd have to say this is shocking news, and you've got Democrat Party advocacy behind it.  You've got Democrat Party identity behind it -- and if you'd add all the other abortions that Democrats are having, you may have a little bit better understanding of why they're so eager for amnesty, and you might understand why the US birth rate is now dipping below replacement levels, which has all kinds of bad connotations to it, not the least of which are economic. 

END TRANSCRIPT

CNSNews: NYC: More Black Babies Killed by Abortion Than Born

Abortion, Margaret Sanger and Eugenics

Friday, February 21, 2014

Girl Scout pot club: Innovative Girl Scout sets up shop by Pot Dispensary

By Heather Levia: McDonald - Examiner – Originally Posted February 21, 2014 

Girl Scouts and pot? An odd pairing. But marijuana and munchies? No doubt a natural twosome. Even for a thirteen year old, the potential marketing goldmine of Girl Scout cookie sales paired with pot sales is hard to ignore.

According to the Huffington Post on Thursday, teenager Danielle Lei put on her brown Girl Scout vest, opened the legs of her card table, and set up shop Monday, directly outside of The Green Cross – a medical marijuana dispensary located on Mission Street in San Francisco.

How did Lei do? As you might imagine, it was a retail rager. The young Scout blew through her boxes – selling a whopping 117 boxes in two hours. The entrepreneurial Lei set a new standard of sales, thinking "outside the cookie box" by capitalizing on the ideal location and selling an average of one box per minute.

Proceeds from the sales benefited local charitable organizations.

Lei’s mother Carol said both Danielle and her sister have been selling cookies outside medical marijuana clinics before, and indicated that they always ask permission.

The Green Cross was completely on board; even employees at the pot shop came out to buy up their fave cookies.

"It's no secret that cannabis is a powerful appetite stimulant, so we knew this would be a very beneficial endeavor for the girls," Green Cross employee Holli Bert said. "It's all about location, and what better place to sell Girl Scout cookies than outside a medical cannabis collective?"

Critics however question the fact that the teen girls are partnering, as it were, with a commercial business that many condemn as somewhere between questionable and outright amoral.

Carol feels otherwise, and says this is a way for her children to learn about the difference between using the drug as a medicine compared to recreational use, which they do not agree with.

“You put it in terms that they may understand,” Carol Lei said. “I'm not condoning it. I'm not saying go out in the streets and take marijuana.”

Not all Girl Scout localities are supportive of the Lei’s business model.

Girls Scouts of Colorado recently denounced a photo of three girls selling cookies outside a marijuana clinic as nothing more than a Photoshop hoax.

“If you are wondering, we don't allow our Girl Scouts to sell cookies in front of marijuana shops or liquor stores/bars,” Girls Scouts of Colorado tweeted. 

But, it is happening… See Video Here

*And the big question here is… what are these parents teaching their children?  Making the sale is all important?  Not to mention the possible psychological impact on the kids…

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Lou Pelletier, Father of Justina Pelletier on Glenn Beck Program and the Kelly File

This is what happens when the government makes decisions for you and your children’s healthcare… just wait until ObamaCare is in full force…

Glenn talks to the father of 15-year-old Justina Pelletier who has been held against her parents' will for over a year.

Video: Lou Pelletier, father of Justina Pelletier | Glenn Beck Program

Megyn Kelly interview Lou Pelletier, father of Justina pelletier. Lou Pelletier talks about losing custody of his daughter Justina Pelletier over medical issues. The Kelly File

Video: Lou Pelletier The Kelly File Interview On Losing Custody Of Daughter Justina Over Medical Issues

Video: Boston Children's Hospital Takes Sick Child From Parents (11.27.13)

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Mark Brunell: NFL needs to crack down on marijuana

Cannabis Science

Former NFL QB Says Mark Brunell: Weed Ruins Lives

Buffalo Bills v New York Jets

Getty Images

Posted by Michael David Smith on February 7, 2014, 8:01 PM EST at NBC Sports

As American attitudes toward marijuana change, the NFL is no different: Players have come out recently to say it’s time for the league to stop testing them for pot, and although NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell isn’t ready to go that far, Goodell did open the door to the possibility of players using marijuana for medicinal reasons.

But not everyone in and around the NFL is on board with relaxing rules against reefer. Former NFL quarterback Mark Brunell, now a commentator for ESPN, said on SportsCenter today that far from allowing players to smoke pot, the NFL needs to be cracking down on them.

“I believe it’s harmful,” Brunell said. “I believe it has a negative effect on not only NFL players but anybody that does it. . . . Testing should be increased.”

With some NFL players saying it’s easy to beat marijuana testing, Brunell said that proves the NFL has to make that testing more stringent.

“I think if you’re going to test for marijuana, it needs to be random, it needs to be often,” Brunell said. “It has to be stricter, just like the performance-enhancing drug testing is going to be strict.”

Most of the players who have spoken about marijuana testing have taken the opposite view. But Brunell’s view may be the majority view among NFL owners. Which means the players have an uphill battle if they want to see the rules of drug testing change.

Marijuana as medicine has become such a hot topic for the NFL that even ESPN is talking about it these days. In the wake of current defensive backs Antonio Cromartie’s and Ryan Clark’s comments that weed shouldn’t be tested for and can help players cope with pain/stress, ESPN asked former NFL QB and current analyst Mark Brunell for his take on the dank.

Brunell, who works for ESPN after losing $50 million in bad investments, made comments, maintaining that the NFL should increase its testing of cannabis (randomly and all the time) because the plant is a threat to society.

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Dr. Ben Carson, family and friends target of IRS harassment for criticizing Obama

We knew this was coming…

Dr. Ben Carson says he's been targeted by IRS for criticizing Obama

Examiner.com: February 11, 2014

On Monday, Dr. Benjamin Carson, the former director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital, said he and his family were targeted by the IRS in retribution for comments critical of Barack Obama, Newsmax reported.

According to Carson, audits and other harassment began in May or June of 2013, just a few months after his speech at the National Prayer Breakfast. Gradually, he added, the harassment expanded to include family members, associates, and his charitable endeavors.

"I’ve been quite -- I would say astonished at the level of hostility that I have encountered," he told Newsmax TV's John Bachman.

"The IRS has investigated me. They said, ‘I want to look at your real estate holdings.’ There was nothing there. ‘Well, let’s expand to an entire [year], everything.’ There was nothing there. ‘Let’s do another year.’ Finally, after a few months, they went away. But they’ve come after my family, they’ve come after my friends, they’ve come after associates," he added.

Until now, Newsmax said, Dr. Carson has shied away from tying the IRS actions to his criticism of Obama, but now he says Americans live "in a Gestapo age" even though they may not realize it.

He also said Congress has to step up to the plate and do its job.

"The reason we have divided government is if one branch of the government gets out of control, starts thinking they’re too big for their britches, you need to be able to have control," he said.

Unfortunately, Congress as a whole has shown little interest in keeping the administration in check, but a handful of conservative Republicans have spoken out.

Carson told Newsmax this is the first time he's ever been audited by the IRS.

He also said the agency has targeted his children, but didn't go into much detail, expressing concern the agency would expand their probe even further.

Newsmax added:

He also said a charitable organization that aids inmates’ children was informed last year, for the first time in recent years, that they would no longer be receiving a $1 million annual grant from the Justice Department.

"This is solely because you were involved?" Bachman asked.

"Correct," Carson said.

He also told Newsmax these acts of retribution take place because Americans refuse to take action.

"We sit there and we say, ‘Oh this is horrible.’ But we don’t do anything. And see, that’s what I’m trying to get our congressional people, our lawmakers – they’ve got to get courage," he said. "Because why would anybody who has an agenda to fundamentally change this nation, why would they stop if no one is opposing them?"

Carson also believes the retribution will continue, but promises he will not be forced into silence.

"The only reason that I haven’t shut up is because in Romans 8 it says ‘If God be for you, who can be against you?’ And I believe in that protection that God gives you," he added.

Carson's experience is "not that different from what many others are experiencing," said GOP lawyer Cleta Mitchell. "It’s quite, quite troublesome and disturbing."

"I have heard this same story over and over and over throughout the last year," she said. "I cannot tell you how many donors to conservative organizations, people who have become active, have said ‘I was never audited until I started giving money to X conservative candidate or cause.’"

Acording to Mitchell, the targeting includes donors to candidates like Mitt Romney and Rick Perry and donors to conservative issue groups.

The IRS has not just limited itself to targeting conservative donors, Tea Party groups or well-known conservatives.

As we reported last November, a cancer patient critical of Obamacare was targeted by the IRS.

Lawmakers have also threatened to unleash the IRS on the NFL over the Washington Redskins team name and Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., suggested President Obama use the IRS to silence the Tea Party.

Mitchell said the situation is "pretty scary because the people who are supposed to be the neutral arbiter and law enforcement officials appear to me to be completely in the bag for the administration."

Related:

Saturday, February 8, 2014

Dr. Ben Carson Becomes Chairman of Save Our Healthcare

Save Our Healthcare: Stand with Dr. Ben Carson

Dear Friend,

I’ve got some exciting news to share with you.

My friends at American Legacy PAC are launching an important new project called Save our Healthcare - and I will be serving as Chairman.

Let me tell you a bit more about what we’ll be doing, and how you can help.

When I spoke just feet away from President Obama about the dangers of political correctness at last year’s National Prayer Breakfast, many were surprised.

After all, my background is medicine, not politics.

But it doesn’t take a brain surgeon like me to see that America is facing serious problems. And right now, the number one problem is Obamacare. 

Dropped coverage, failing websites, skyrocketing premiums - the list goes on and on.

I wish I could snap my fingers and make Obamacare disappear tomorrow, but we both know that won’t happen.

That’s why we’re launching Save our Healthcare - a national citizens’ effort to hold Washington accountable, re-center the healthcare debate around doctors and patients, and begin to answer the question of “What’s next?” - because real reform is absolutely vital.

Please join me, and sign our petition at SaveOurHealthcare.org.

It is our goal to recruit every American that believes we can do better than Obamacare, and make sure that our message is received loud and clear by every elected official and candidate in 2014.

Please sign up to support this project, and ask your friends and family to do the same.

Sincerely,

Dr. Ben Carson

Chairman, Save Our Healthcare

American Legacy PAC

 

Video: Dr. Ben Carson:  Let’s Save Our Healthcare 

And for anyone who missed this speech:

Video: Dr. Benjamin Carson's Speech at the National Prayer Breakfast.

Published on Feb 15, 2013:  A politically incorrect speech by Dr. Benjamin Carson; criticizing government policies at the National Prayer Breakfast, attended by President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.

Books:

America the Beautiful: Rediscovering What Made This Nation Great (Kindle)

Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story (Kindle)

Friday, February 7, 2014

Emilie’s Story: ObamaCare is hurting people like me

Video: Emilie’s Story: ObamaCare is hurting people like me

Here is comment I received from a gal, a reader of mine named Emmie over at AskMarion.  Neither of these women are alone or exceptions… their situations are repeated hundreds of times daily…

I wanted to contact you privately but cannot find an email address for you anywhere. So I will write here and hope you see it.

I was all for healthcare reform because I found it unacceptable that so many Americans were unable to get it. This sounded like a good thing. So I tried to allay the fears of people like you whenever I heard concerns being raised. Boy, was I ever played!

I am currently between jobs. Cobra will run me about $500 a month – more than half of my mortgage. Not an option. Okay, I’ll go through healthcare.gov and see what they have to say. Well, that will run me more than $300 a month. Unemployment won’t garner me enough money to consider this and I’m not poor enough to qualify for any tax credits. Forget what my situation is – they don’t care that a bad economy, a major illness and two job losses, one of which resulted in gross underemployment, has led to a growing pile of bills. They don’t ask those kinds of questions. They don’t care. So I click on one of the two options remaining in IL, and I call Assurant. Sure, they can get me something for under $200 a month, but it won’t cover any pre-existing conditions. Wait, wha??? I thought that was part of the reform!?! Only if you go with the ACA plans! This fixed coverage won’t pay for much, certainly not major med if something happens, and since it’s not one of ACA plans, I’ll have to pay a penalty for using it. WHAT?! Oh, yes! There is a penalty, I was told by the nice lady at Assurant. Is this something you’ve read about anywhere? I’ve read that people will face a penalty if they have NO insurance, but I can’t seem to find anything about a penalty if they opt to go with a cheap plan outside of the ACA plans.

Now, how in God’s name are we supposed to pay for a government insurance policy that costs so much money we cannot afford it, yet if we don’t go that route we’ll be penalized anyway? If I was once considered middle class, and I’m struggling, how the heck will those who couldn’t afford healthcare before suddenly be able to afford it now?

I know it says there are exceptions and that people who face financial hardships will be excluded from penalties, but guess what? My hardships are never hard enough, apparently. I never qualify for any kind of aid or assistance or help of any kind. I guess it’s time I start considering filing bankruptcy since I’m losing faith. I long ago lost the hope Obama had the audacity to pedal.

AskMarion~

Related: 

Attention Main Stream Media. Regarding Obamacare… I Told You So! 

GOP Senators’ Obamacare Replacement Beneficial to Young People says Senator Colborn as He Loses His Own Cancer Doctor in the Midst of His Cancer Fight 

Pray For Jim Hoft Over At Gateway Pundit