“Our findings illustrate that what you eat affects how you think,” said Fernando Gomez-Pinilla, a professor of neurosurgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and a professor of integrative biology and physiology in the UCLA College of Letters and Science. “Eating a high-fructose diet over the long term alters your brain’s ability to learn and remember information. But adding omega-3 fatty acids to your meals can help minimize the damage.”

While earlier research has revealed how fructose harms the body through its role in diabetes, obesity and fatty liver, this study is the first to uncover how the sweetener influences the brain.

High-Fructose Corn Syrup

The UCLA team zeroed in on high-fructose corn syrup, an inexpensive liquid six times sweeter than cane sugar, that is commonly added to processed foods, including soft drinks, condiments, applesauce and baby food. The average American consumes more than 40 pounds of high-fructose corn syrup per year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“We’re not talking about naturally occurring fructose in fruits, which also contain important antioxidants,” explained Gomez-Pinilla, who is also a member of UCLA’s Brain Research Institute and Brain Injury Research Center. “We’re concerned about high-fructose corn syrup that is added to manufactured food products as a sweetener and preservative.”

Gomez-Pinilla and study co-author Rahul Agrawal, a UCLA visiting postdoctoral fellow from India, studied two groups of rats that each consumed a fructose solution as drinking water for six weeks. The second group also received omega-3 fatty acids in the form of flaxseed oil and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), which protects against damage to the synapses — the chemical connections between brain cells that enable memory and learning.

“DHA is essential for synaptic function — brain cells’ ability to transmit signals to one another,” Gomez-Pinilla said. “This is the mechanism that makes learning and memory possible. Our bodies can’t produce enough DHA, so it must be supplemented through our diet.”

The Testing;

The animals were fed standard rat chow and trained on a maze twice daily for five days before starting the experimental diet. The UCLA team tested how well the rats were able to navigate the maze, which contained numerous holes but only one exit. The scientists placed visual landmarks in the maze to help the rats learn and remember the way.

Six weeks later, the researchers tested the rats’ ability to recall the route and escape the maze. What they saw surprised them.

“The second group of rats navigated the maze much faster than the rats that did not receive omega-3 fatty acids,” Gomez-Pinilla said. “The DHA-deprived animals were slower, and their brains showed a decline in synaptic activity. Their brain cells had trouble signaling each other, disrupting the rats’ ability to think clearly and recall the route they’d learned six weeks earlier.”

Average Lab Rat

The DHA-deprived rats also developed signs of resistance to insulin, a hormone that controls blood sugar and regulates synaptic function in the brain. A closer look at the rats’ brain tissue suggested that insulin had lost much of its power to influence the brain cells.

“Because insulin can penetrate the blood–brain barrier, the hormone may signal neurons to trigger reactions that disrupt learning and cause memory loss,” Gomez-Pinilla said.

He suspects that fructose is the culprit behind the DHA-deficient rats’ brain dysfunction. Eating too much fructose could block insulin’s ability to regulate how cells use and store sugar for the energy required for processing thoughts and emotions.

“Insulin is important in the body for controlling blood sugar, but it may play a different role in the brain, where insulin appears to disturb memory and learning,” he said. “Our study shows that a high-fructose diet harms the brain as well as the body. This is something new.”

Fudge Sundaes...Yum

Still planning to throw caution to the wind and indulge in a hot-fudge sundae? Then also eat foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids, like salmon, walnuts and flaxseeds, or take a daily DHA capsule. Gomez-Pinilla recommends one gram of DHA per day.

“Our findings suggest that consuming DHA regularly protects the brain against fructose’s harmful effects,” said Gomez-Pinilla. “It’s like saving money in the bank. You want to build a reserve for your brain to tap when it requires extra fuel to fight off future diseases.”

Related articles

• Sugar Makes You Stupid: Study Shows High Fructose Diet Sabotages Learning and Memory (neurosciencenews.com)
• US scientists discover sugar erodes mental prowess (thehimalayantimes.com)
• High-Fructose Corn Syrup Can Make You Dumb, U.S. Scientists Warn (cryptogon.com)

High fashion rainbow hairstyle

Our culture leads people to believe that hair style is a matter of personal preference, that hair style is a matter of fashion and/or convenience, and that how people wear their hair is simply a cosmetic issue. (I happen to wear my hair up in a messy bun because its long, but its also curly so it gets in my way. I’ve considered cutting it short for convenience, but something inside me says not to. It may be my Indian heritage telling me not to.)

Back in the Vietnam War an entirely different picture emerged, one that has been carefully covered up and hidden from public view.

In the early nineties, there was a woman that was married to a licensed psychologist who worked at a VA Medical hospital. He worked with combat veterans with PTSD, post traumatic stress disorder. Most of them had served in Vietnam.

The woman has said, “I remember clearly an evening when my husband came back to our apartment on Doctor’s Circle carrying a thick official looking folder in his hands. Inside were hundreds of pages of certain studies commissioned by the government. He was in shock from the contents. What he read in those documents completely changed his life. From that moment on my conservative middle of the road husband grew his hair and beard and never cut them again. What is more, the VA Medical center let him do it, and other very conservative men in the staff followed his example.”

Indian Tracker painting

As she read the documents, she learned why.

It seems that during the Vietnam War special forces in the war department had sent undercover experts to comb American Indian Reservations looking for talented scouts, for tough young men trained to move stealthily through rough terrain. They were especially looking for men with outstanding, almost supernatural, tracking abilities. Before being approached, these carefully selected men were extensively documented as experts in tracking and survival. They were scouting for super soldiers.

With the usual enticements, the well proven smooth phrases used to enroll new recruits, some of these Indian trackers were then enlisted. Once enlisted, an amazing thing happened. Whatever talents and skills they had possessed on the reservation seemed to mysteriously disappear, as recruit after recruit failed to perform as expected in the field.

Serious causalities and failures of performance led the government to contract expensive testing of these recruits, and this is what was found.

When questioned about their failure to perform as expected, the older recruits replied consistently that when they received their required military haircuts, they could no longer ‘sense’ the enemy, they could no longer access a ‘sixth sense’, their ‘intuition’ no longer was reliable, they couldn’t ‘read’ subtle signs as well or access subtle extrasensory information.

So the testing institute recruited more Indian trackers, let them keep their long hair, and tested them in multiple areas. Then they would pair two men together who had received the same scores on all the tests. They would let one man in the pair keep his hair long, and gave the other man a military haircut. Then the two men retook the tests.

Time after time the man with long hair kept making high scores. Time after time, the man with the short hair failed the tests in which he had previously scored high scores.

Native American soldier

Here is a typical test: The recruit is sleeping out in the woods. An armed ‘enemy’ approaches the sleeping man. The long haired man is awakened out of his sleep by a strong sense of danger and gets away long before the enemy is close, long before any sounds from the approaching enemy are audible.

In another version of this test the long haired man senses an approach and somehow intuits that the enemy will perform a physical attack. He follows his ‘sixth sense’ and stays still, pretending to be sleeping, but quickly grabs the attacker and ‘kills’ him as the attacker reaches down to strangle him.

This same man, after having passed these and other tests, then received a military haircut and consistently failed these tests, and many other tests that he had previously passed.

So the document recommended that all Indian trackers be exempt from military haircuts. In fact, it required that trackers keep their hair long.”

The mammalian body has evolved over millions of years. Survival skills of human and animal at times seem almost supernatural. Science is constantly coming up with more discoveries about the amazing abilities of man and animal to survive. Each part of the body has highly sensitive work to perform for the survival and well being of the body as a whole. The body has a reason for every part of itself.

Hair is an extension of the nervous system, it can be correctly seen as exteriorized nerves, a type of highly evolved ‘feelers’ or ‘antennae’ that transmit vast amounts of important information to the brain stem, the limbic system, and the neocortex.

Kirlian photography

Not only does hair in people, including facial hair in men, provide an information highway reaching the brain, hair also emits energy, the electromagnetic energy emitted by the brain into the outer environment. This has been seen in Kirlian photography when a person is photographed with long hair and then rephotographed after the hair is cut.

When hair is cut, receiving and sending transmissions to and from the environment are greatly hampered. This results in numbing of the abilities/powers of the individual . Cutting of hair is a contributing factor to unawareness of environmental distress in local ecosystems. It is also a contributing factor to insensitivity in relationships of all kinds. It contributes to sexual frustration.

In searching for solutions for the distress in our world, it may be time for us to consider that many of our most basic assumptions about reality are in error. It may be that a major part of the solution is looking at us in the face each morning when we see ourselves in the mirror.

For me personally, I won’t be cutting my hair again anytime soon and I think it will be a good long time before my son gets his first haircut. Wouldn’t want to lobotomize him. ;D

Related articles

• Post-Haircut Regret Stars in a Cute Comic (bellasugar.com)
• What’s the Longest You’ve Gone Without Getting a Haircut? (bellasugar.com)
• Would You Visit a Long Hair Specialty Salon? (bellasugar.com)

Mica Craig (right) and Maria Geffre

On Saturday, 47-year-old licensed medical marijuana grower Mica Craig thought he was brushing away a stick by the mulch in one of the aisles in the outdoor gardening department at the Wal*Mart in Clarkston, Washington. Turned out it was a rattlesnake that didn’t appreciate being disturbed.

The snake latched onto his hand, biting deep before being shaken off by a screaming Craig. In true Western form, Craig then stomped it to death. Having run out into the parking lot, Craig stopped, unsure what to do next.

Luckily, bystander Maria Geffre saw the bite and acted fast. “She grabbed me and threw me in my car and headed me to urgent care, which was right across the street, but they don’t take snake bite victims.”

The ordeal continued after getting diverted to the emergency room. His hand hadn’t swelled because they had iced the bite wound, so doctors told him not to worry about it and sent him home. Soon after, his hand swelled up “the size of a grapefruit.”

After returning to the hospital, he was rushed to treatment, where doctors administered six bags of anti-venom and cut open his hand to relieve the swelling.

Craig says he has been told his hand may be permanently disfigured. With limited to no feeling or movement in both his pinkie and his ring finger, he’s just hoping his hand works after it heals. He is expected to be released today.

Wal-Mart

Wal*Mart has apologized for the incident, and is having the garden center swept by a local pest company for other snakes who may have come in on a shipment or wandered in from an adjoining field.

Related articles

• VIDEO: Rattlesnake bites man in Wal-Mart (bbc.co.uk)
• Shopper bitten by rattlesnake in Walmart (usnews.msnbc.msn.com)
• Snake bites customer in Wal-Mart store (africanleader.net)

Plus size Wedding Gown (under $300)

Okay, I understand wanting to look your best on your wedding day. I do NOT, however, understand putting a feeding tube down your nose for ten days to lose that last 10-20 pounds so the dress will fit. Ever heard of having it fitted to the body you have, not the body you expect to have? After all, your partner theoretically fell in love with you as you are, not some cocked-up ideal.

Queen Latifah

I happen to think Queen Latifah is absolutely gorgeous, and has done more for the self-image of Rubenesque women than all the psychoanalysts in the world. Even the fashion world has finally acknowledged that too-skinny models are a bad thing, and now have minimum body-fat rules.

So what’s the latest “medical” import from Europe? The K-E diet involves dieters putting a feeding tube up their nose down to their stomachs for up to ten days. That’s 24 hours a day for ten days. They’re fed a constant slow drip of protein, fats and water, totaling 800 calories a day with zero carbs.

According to Dr. Oliver DiPietro of Bay Harbor Islands, FL (who makes a cool $1,500 per 10-day diet), this is a hunger-free effective way to lose weight fast. Because of the constant drip, the patient isn’t hungry for the duration (although it is critical for the patient to drink plenty of no-sugar, no carb liquids), and the composition of the drip causes body fat to burn off, leaving muscle alone. Oh, and you’re not in a hospital, you get to carry your food around in a bag. Can you imagine taking the trash to the curb or going to work with a tube up your nose?

Diet Patient

There are people who should avoid this like the plague; anyone with kidney issues, any recent illness resulting in dehydration, heart conditions or really any kind of ill health. Plus there is the danger attendant to any rapid weight loss: it’s not going to stay off, and yo-yo body weight is more of a strain on the body’s systems than slight stable overweight.

So who are the majority of the patients flocking to this idiocy? Brides-to-be. Those ladies who think they need to drop 10-20 pounds to look perfect on their wedding day. This isn’t about those ladies who are clinically or morbidly obese; they need love and support to drop the dozens of pounds they need to lose to be healthy. No, this is about “perfection”.

Nobody’s perfect, and it is horrific that women will put their health at such a risk to lose a few pounds just so a dress fits “perfectly”. Not to mention the $1,500 price tag.

Related articles

• Latest Extreme Diet Trend: The Epigastric Tube (shoppingblog.com)
• Now Brides Are Going On ‘Feeding Tube Diets’ – Is Body-Hate A Wedding Rite? (blisstree.com)
• Losing Weight in Time for the Wedding – New York Times (drugstoresource.wordpress.com)

Since 2006, Arsenault has sired fifteen children including a set of twins. Some of the pregnancies have ended in miscarriages as well. Arsenault has all of this information on his website including pictures of his life in chronological order. He also makes it clear that he is free of sexual transmitted diseases and includes the recent test results on the site.

Arsenault informed ABC News that he considers himself a ‘donorsexual’. He has made a total of 328 semen donations to a total of fifty women, many of whom are lesbians in the San Francisco area. He does not do this anonymously and is willing to have the children reach him in the future.

As the news report states:

He is part of a do-it-yourself fertility movement that caters to couples and single women who say they cannot afford the high cost of sperm banks. They also want their children to know their biological father.

Three Google sites, at least six Yahoo Groups and a dozen more fee-based websites cater to those looking for free sperm donors, according to a recent article in Newsweek. Most are in the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia.

Arsenault is strict about how often he is willing to donate- and that is once every twenty-four hours. According to the report “Fifteen minutes before the “hand-over,” he gets a text message from the prospective mother and downs a vitamin-rich slushy made of blueberries, kiwis and flax seed. Then he ejaculates into a sterile cup, one of 200 a year he buys for $50 online from Amazon. Women typically do the artificial insemination right afterwards, filling a latex cup with the fresh semen and placing it on their cervix.

Keri and Amber Pigott-Robertson have a one year old daughter because of this arrangement, and the couple arranged for Arsenault to meet their daughter. Amber stated “When he saw her for the first time, his face just lit up. He was a perfect match. He gave us what we had been longing for, what we felt would complete us. So there’s no expressing how much gratitude I have for him . People like Trent come once in a lifetime.”

Arsenault does not expect to have a family of his own, but has said that “It’s just a service I provide. My involvement is limited because I work so much, up to 60 or 70 hours a week.

According to the Food and Drug Administration, Arsenault’s services are not a private affair. Last fall, agents informed him that he had to stop manufacturing sperm, which is rather strange given that men produce them all the time. The government thinks of him as a firm, though, and feel that he is not providing adequate protections against any communicable diseases. He is appealing the order to stop manufacturing sperm, but could face up to $100,000 in fines and a year in prison. He has argued that this is a form of sex and not subject to government control.

A study published in this week in the Journal of Clinical Oncology is saying that as many as 72 percent of throat tumors in men may be linked to the human papillomavirus, commonly known as HPV.

According to that report, researchers speculate that the virus spreads predominately via oral sex, and that it may already account for more cases of throat cancer than smoking.

Researchers examined 271 throat-tumor samples collected over 20 years ending in 2004 and found that the percentage of oral cancer linked to the human papillomavirus, or HPV, surged to 72 percent from about 16 percent, according to a report released yesterday in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. By 2020, the virus-linked throat tumors — which mostly affected men — will become more common than HPV-caused cervical cancer, the report found.

. . . Until recently, head and neck cancer mainly occurred in older patients and was associated with tobacco and alcohol use. The HPV-linked head and neck cancers, usually of the tonsils, palate or tongue, hit men their 30s, 40s, and 50s, Gillison said. It is unclear why women are affected much less often than men, she said.

. . . In a 2007 epidemiology study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Gillison and her colleagues found that having a high number of oral or vaginal sex partners are risk factors for HPV-associated throat cancer.

The HPV virus is best known for causing cervical cancer, but the new study also showed the HPV virus is fueling a 28 percent raise in orpharyngeal cancer cases since 1988 – an additional 10,000 cases per year. If that trend continues, this type of upper throat cancer will surpass cervical cancer as the nation’s main HPV-related cancer within 10 years.

“The burden of cancer caused by HPV is going to shift from women to men in this decade,” said Maura Gillison, an oncologist at Ohio State University and lead author of the study. “What we believe is happening is that the number of sexual partners and exposure to HPV has risen over that same time period.”

Both of the vaccines currently approved for preventing cervical cancers (Gardasil and Cervarix, marketed by Merck and GlaxoSmithKline, respectively) do target the HPV strain linked to oral cancer, but whether these latest findings will put pressure on the companies to conduct trials to examine their vaccines’ abilities to ward off HPV throat infections remains to be seen. Neither company says they have any plans to do any clinical trials at this time.

Related articles

• Is Oral Sex the Leading Cause of Mouth and Throat Cancer? (inquisitr.com)

Doctor Garth H. Rauscher, associate professor of epidemiology at the School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago, along with he colleagues, have released a new study that shows that psychological stress could play a major role in the development of aggressive breast cancer, especially among minority populations.

He recently stated “We found that after diagnosis, black and Hispanic breast cancer patients reported higher levels of stress than whites, and that stress was associated with tumor aggressiveness.” His team studied patient-reports of their perceptions of fear, anxiety and isolation that they felt. These are known as psychosocial stresses. They then correlated it with the aggressiveness of the patient’s breast cancer.

According to PsychCentral

Researchers studied nearly 1,000 recently diagnosed breast cancer patients; of those, 411 were non-Hispanic black, 397 were non-Hispanic white, and 181 were Hispanic.

Researchers discovered psychosocial stress scores were higher for both black and Hispanic patients compared to white patients.

Rauscher stated:

“Those who reported higher levels of stress tended to have more aggressive tumors. However, what we don’t know is if we had asked them the same question a year or five years before diagnosis, would we have seen the same association between stress and breast cancer aggressiveness?

“It’s not clear what’s driving this association. It may be that the level of stress in these patients’ lives influenced tumor aggressiveness.

“It may be that being diagnosed with a more aggressive tumor, with a more worrisome diagnosis and more stressful treatments, influenced reports of stress. It may be that both of these are playing a role in the association.

“We don’t know the answer to that question.”

The research will be presented at the foruth American Association for Cancer Research Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities. This study joins a long list of studies that seem to show a strong link between the psychological health of cancer patients and the aggressiveness of their cancer, as well as the likelihood that it will go into remission or that they will suffer a relapse.

John Nash by Peter Badge, Life Made Into The Movie "A Beautiful Mind"

Researchers in Taiwan have apparently discovered a link between schiophrenia and epilepsy. Writing in Epilepsia, the researchers say that this link could be due to genetic, neurobiological or environmental factors, but they are not entirely certain why. They followed around 16,000 patients with epilepsy and schizophrenia between 1999 and 2008 in order to gather this data. At least one epilepsy expert has gone on record as saying that it is an interesting and convincing study.

According to the BBC, “The study used data from the Taiwan National Health Insurance database and was led by researchers from the China Medical University Hospital in Taichung. They identified 5,195 patients with schizophrenia and 11,527 patients with epilepsy who were diagnosed during the nine years period. These groups of patients were compared to groups of the same sex and age who did not have either epilepsy or schizophrenia.”

What the researchers discovered is that the incidents of epilepsy in the schizophrenia patient group was almost seven times higher than that of the non-schizophrenia group. Specifically, 6.99 per thousand person-years in the schizophrenia group and 1.19 per 1,000 in the non-schizophrenia group. The incidence of schizophrenia was 3.53 per 1,000 person-years for patients with epilepsy compared to 0.46 for the non-epilepsy group.

Dr. Manny Bagary stated “This is the first convincing study to suggest that people with schizophrenia could also be at risk of developing epilepsy.”

Previously, studies have suggested a prevalence of psychosis among patients with epilepsy. Researchers did find that schizophrenia levels were slightly higher with men with epilepsy than with women who had epilepsy.

Associate professor at China Medical University in Taichung, Taiwan Dr. I-Ching Chou stated “Our research results show a strong bidirectional relation between schizophrenia and epilepsy. “This relationship may be due to common pathogenesis in these diseases such as genetic susceptibility and environmental factors, but further investigation of the pathological mechanisms are needed.”

Dr. Bagary, a neurpsychiatrist in Birmingham, called the study very interesting and said:

“We have been aware that epilepsy sufferers seem to be have an increased risk of psychosis but this is the first convincing study to suggest that people with schizophrenia could also be at risk of developing epilepsy, suggesting a bidirectional relationship has been found between depression and epilepsy”.

“The association may be due to a common environmental factors such as traumatic brain injury or brain haemorrhage in utero. Alternatively, a genetic association may be relevant such as LGI1 or CNTNAP2 genes which have been associated with seizures and psychosis.”

“However, there may be some questions to ask about the reliability of the schizophrenia and epilepsy diagnoses in the study because it is a retrospective health register study and both conditions can be difficult to diagnose.

“Nevertheless, this study will serve to guide further research into the relationship between epilepsy and psychosis.”

The study probably raises more questions than it answers, but it will bear keeping an eye on going forward.

Same-sex couples and other couples in domestic partnerships gained more control over what happens to their mates in the hospital, under new guidelines issued this week by the US Department of Health and Human Services.

On Wednesday, HHS provided new guidance on the enforcement of regulations to protect the visitation rights of same-sex domestic partners in a hospital setting. This is the final step in the process of implementing the regulation which the Obama administration issued last November and went into effect in January.

Under the new regulations, hospitals are being told they should not bar domestic partners from visiting their mates unless there’s a medical reason, and those partners should not be required to produce documents to prove their relationship.

Also, if patients are incapacitated, hospitals should not deny domestic partners from being decision-makers, although they may have to prove they are health-care surrogates.

The new guidelines as well, tell 6,150 U.S. hospitals that receive Medicare funding that they could lose the right to treat Medicare patients if they discriminate against same-sex and unmarried couples.

In statement announcing the new enforcement provisions HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said:

Couples take a vow to be with each other in sickness and in health and it is unacceptable that, in the past, some same-sex partners were denied the right to visit their loved ones in times of need.”

President Barack Obama ordered the expanded rights last year in response to the case of a cruise tourist who was blocked from seeing her lesbian partner for more than eight hours at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami in 2007. The woman had a power of attorney faxed to the hospital but still was denied access

Related articles

• Brewer Spokesman Attacks Court Over Domestic Partner Ruling (lezgetreal.com)

A recently released study of North American medical schools says that they are not giving thier students enough training on issues particular to the LGBT community.

While experts have called for medical schools to cover LGBT issues, the study says the actual content and amount of such training hasn’t been known. It also noted medical schools set aside an average of only seven hours for topics related to the health care needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) patients.

The survey of deans of 150 American and Canadian medical schools as well found wide variation in the amount, content and quality of instruction on LGBT health.

The researchers discovered that the average reported combined hours assigned to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender content was five hours. The corresponding median value was seven hours. During clinical years, 44 medical schools (33.3%) reported 0 hours of LGBT content, 9 schools (6.8%) reported 0 hours during preclinical years, and five medical schools (3.8%) reported 0 combined hours. Compared to U.S. allopathic schools whose reported median clinical hours were 2 hours, U.S. osteopathic schools had considerably less median with 0 clinical hours.

97% of those who responded to the questionnaire, reported that their school educates medical students to ask patients if they have sex with men, women, or both when obtaining a sexual history. 72% of the institutions reported teaching students the difference between behavior and identity (e.g., men might have sex with men and identify as straight), while 21.2% were not sure if this difference was taught.

62.9% of the institutions reported teaching half of 16 topics related to LGBT in their required or elective curricular, while 8% reported teaching all 16 of the topics.

Study author Dr Mitchell R Lunn of Harvard University added  in a statement: “Every time a patient comes to a new doctor, that individual effectively has to ‘come out’ again.

“There is a lot of fear about how that is going to go. The fear of discrimination has pushed some people away from the doctor and some never return.”

The findings appeared Sept. 7 in a medical education theme issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Related articles

• Medical schools spend small amount of time teaching content related to health of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender patients, survey finds (thesexreport.org)
• Medical schools teaching little about gay health (miamiherald.typepad.com)
• Education For Medical Students Relating To The Health Of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual And Trans-Gender Patients Is Only Five Hours On Average (medicalnewstoday.com)
• Medical schools teaching little about gay health (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Medical schools failing to cover LGBT health issues: Study (canada.com)
• LGBT health issues not being taught at medical schools, Stanford study finds (eurekalert.org)
• Docs in Training Learn Little About Gay Health (abcnews.go.com)

An Indian Man went to the hospital complaining of severe stomach pains only to discover, in addition to having  a hernia, he also had a full female reproductive system in his body.

According to The Daily Telegraph the man, identified only as Ryalu, checked into a hospital near Bhopal with severe stomach pain, where doctors initially diagnosed the 35-year-old farmer and father of two with a hernia. However, when they performed exploratory surgery they found a uterus, ovaries, fallopian tubes, and vaginal tissue.

The Doctors then performed a hysterectomy, in addition to repairing the the hernia, and a “stunned” Ryalu is now recovering.

Though most people are born with defined sexual organs, one out of 100 births differs from a standard male or female, according to the Intersex Society of North America.

According to Dr. Shrivastava, “Usually the contents of the hernia sac are abdomen organs like large intestines and small intestines but when we operated on the patient we were surprised to find female reproductive organs.”

Shrivastava also said that although Ryalu is medically considered intersex,  his hormones and sexuality are male.

“The external reproductive organs of the patient were masculine and he has no problems whatsoever with his sexuality. He had functional male genitals and there was no formation of breasts in the patient. It’s an embryological accident at the time of embryonic formation,” Shrivastava concluded.

Related articles

• Indian man has hysterectomy after doctors find uterus (telegraph.co.uk)
• Man Leaves Hospital After Hysterectomy! (now100fm.radio.com)
• Man Enters Hospital with Stomach Pains and Leaves with a Hysterectomy [Science] (gizmodo.com)

Image via Wikipedia

8/4/11 by LGR Health and Wellness News Staff

In a move that is sure to have far reaching ramifications, the American Psychological Association (APA), the world’s largest and most respected organization of psychologists has unanimously approved a resolution in support of full marriage equity for gay and lesbian couples.

According to USA Today, the policy making body of the American Psychological Association (APA) unanimously approved the resolution 157-0 on the eve of the group’s annual convention, which opens in Washington DC today.

The group, with more than 154,000 members, has long supported full equal rights for gays, based on social science research on sexual orientation. Now the nation’s psychologists — citing an increasing body of research about same-sex marriage, as well as increased discussion at the state and federal levels — took the support to a new level.

“Now as the country has really begun to have experience with gay marriage, our position is much clearer and more straightforward — that marriage equity is the policy that the country should be moving toward,” says Clinton Anderson, director of APA’s Office on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Concerns.

The resolution points to numerous recent studies, including findings that “many gay men and lesbians, like their heterosexual counterparts, desire to form stable, long-lasting and committed intimate relationships and are successful in doing so.”

It adds that “emerging evidence suggests that statewide campaigns to deny same-sex couples legal access to civil marriage are a significant source of stress to the lesbian, gay and bisexual residents of those states and may have negative effects on their psychological well-being.”

Six states , Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont and the District of Columbia currently allow same-sex marriage.

The last APA resolution on sexual orientation and marriage was approved in 2004.

Related articles

• The Case for Same-Sex Marriage (psychologytoday.com)
• Plurality Of Americans Support Same-Sex Marriage (lezgetreal.com)

Alex Fox

I started with your typical sports. Tee-ball when I was old enough, moving into softball, dance (tap, ballet, jazz), eventually basketball, then when I was in eighth grade, out of nowhere, I turned to my stepmom and said:

“I want to play soccer.”
“What? Why? That’s too manly of a sport.”
“I want to play soccer.”
“No.”

Ok. There went that dream.

For the time being.

Without her approval or signature on the little slip, I decided to change the conversation:

“I want to play volleyball.”
“Oh how fun! That’ll be so much fun for you..!”

So there it was. I was a volleyball player.

NO OFFENSE! I love standing around and hitting balls, but coooome oooon! I wanted to run! I wanted to run and kick balls! But… No. It wasn’t “feminine” enough.

Two years later, I tried again.

“I want to play soccer.”
“No.”
“I’m going to play soccer.”

And so I did. And I LOVED it. Excuse me. LOVE it.

It is something they have been searching for…

Individual sports for women have always had greater success and longevity than team sports. One of the oldest professional sports for women in the United States is golf. Established in 1950, it only took two decades for it to become an international organization. Even women’s professional bowling was established before the 1960s. Women’s tennis in the 1970s. All still going strong.

It is something they have fought for…

Something they have earned…

On the opposite side, we have women’s professional team sports, which have always had a difficult time surviving and stabilizing. Why? Well, some people argue that it is the masculine image of team sports that has inhibited some women from participating. The aggression. The sweat. The contact. The competitiveness… All these “unladylike” attributes… And yet men don’t think women sports are intense or aggressive ENOUGH, so there goes that fan-base…

It is something they are slowly receiving…

Respect.

Not only as women, but as female athletes.

The professional female athletic organizations and systems are finally gaining acceptance as offering respectable and entertaining sports that are worthy of public and national attention. Now it is up to the management of these organizations to attract more spectators in order for them to be considered successful and for women’s athletics to permeate society as a whole.

Considering the lack of acknowledgement soccer has received in the United States, it doesn’t exactly surprise me that rumored gay-thletes are hesitant to come out and embrace their assumed sexuality/relationships (cough-cough Abby Wambach and Megan Rapinoe). The seductive looks… The matching hair… the on- and off-field chemistry… It’s all there. We see it.

And we LOVE it.

While some of us may agree that it would be extremely liberating and show immense support for the gay community, I personally don’t think it’s solely their decision to keep their relationship and sexual preferences a secret. Their “agents” more than likely view homosexuality as a “threat” to their “brand.” Even some college coaches threaten their players about announcing and admitting to their tendencies while some coaches won’t even allow gay-thletes on their team. I mean even going from the long-haired, ponytail, feminine brunette to a hair cut that just screams LESBIAN!, Wambach took a huge step forward; she now looks the “part” to fit the rumors.

And with the recent, undeniable success of the U.S.A. National Women’s soccer team? The last thing the owners/coaches/players/agents/organizations want is a reason to deter any of their potential fans.

Yet, what they neglect to consider is the number of fans they would ATTRACT by openly admitting to who they are. Showing that they have personalities outside of the soccer facade. A new [and dare-I-say and improved] role model for younger female athletes. Although some may ridicule, others would relentlessly support. Those who may have never been interested in soccer before, now would be.

BASICALLY, all I’m saying…

Abby. Megan. When you read this, just know:

1. Your sexuality is acknowledged.
2. You should embrace it.
3. You have more support than you know.
4. You would make one HOT couple.

GO U.S.A.!

Want more information on this or other gay-thletes? Contact me, Alex Fox, at theunluckyfox@gmail.com.

To some, British comedienne and writer Dawn French is the Fat Lady in the portrait who opens the door to Gryffindor Tower, to others, the star of The Vicar of Dibley. For thirty years, she has been partnered with Jennifer Saunders of Absolutely Fabulous fame in a team that formed part of the center of a generation of British comedians and actors whose one-degree-of-separation includes Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry, Emma Thompson and just about everyone in British television and movies who’s around 50 years old. People tend to forget that Laurie, of House, and Fry, of Bones, started as a comedy duo within an overlapping group of skit comedy shows.

To women of a certain size, though, Dawn French was an earth goddess who celebrated her “19 stones” weight (265 pounds) on a five-foot tall body and posed nude for some absolutely fabulous artistic portraits during her “Big Is Beautiful” campaign aimed at improving British women’s self-image problems. She carried that weight with far more dignity than Kirstie Alley, but could make fun of it constantly in Dibley with candy-bar binges and jokes about growing up nurturing dreams of being a super model, but never getting tall enough. Geraldine Granger’s romantic encounters were both glorious hosannas to huge boobs and poignant reminders of the manner in which society equates boney rib cages with sex appeal. I was disappointed when she was cast as the Fat Lady in the Gryffindor portrait. I wanted her to play Madame Maxime, the headmistress of Beauxbatons. The Vicar of Dibley was both slapstick comedy and social commentary, touching on such issues as hunger in the third world and the quiet coming-out of an older gay man.

Dawn French, now

At this week’s Glamour Magazine awards in London, French revealed her new body, nearly 25% slimmer than her former self, having shed “four-and-a-half stones” (63 lbs.). Still favoring the tent-like tunic-and-pants look of the past (where are Trini and Suzanne when someone needs to learn What Not To Wear?) Dawn’s new figure became the headline, instead of her award-winning first novel A Tiny Bit Marvellous. She had previously written Dear Fatty, which was not addressed to herself, but was a collection of fictionalized letters to her jokingly-nicknamed, skinnier partner Jennifer Saunders.

The novel was the result of her British-cliche separation and divorce from fellow comedian Lennie Henry, best known to American PBS audiences as the title character in the series Chef!  They continued to share their Cornwall home for nearly a year after separating, just as Prince Andrew and Fergie have continued to share homes. A Tiny Bit Marvellous draws on the people in French’s life for the story of a family in meltdown. French retreated to a few rooms in her home and began writing as a coping mechanism. She continued performing primarily as a guest, but French and Saunders were on a hiatus from their joint work as writers, directors, producers and performers in a broad range of projects while Saunders successfully battled breast cancer.

French explained the weight loss as something that just evolved. She reached the age of 50 and accepted what professionals had been saying about her weight for years in their condemnation of her “Big Is Beautiful” campaign – being overweight is unhealthy. For the sake of her daughter Billie, (now 19) French changed her “life priorities” from “my daughter, writing, chocolate and kissing” to her daughter, writing, walking and kissing, though she’s not revealing who she’s kissing these days. In the course of her career, she’s kissed Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp, George Clooney, chef Gordon Ramsay and Hugh Grant – and that doesn’t even include her co-stars. French’s “diet” consisted of making healthy food choices and doing a lot of walking. Though nowhere near the size 0 that is the current standard of beauty on both sides of the ocean, French is poised to become the next role model in the mold of Queen Latifah – a woman who can publicly express the benefits of a healthy lifestyle and strong body while still being voluptuous. We don’t have to trade in our grapefruits for Keira Knightly’s grapes. We can exalt in our natural cleavage instead of relying on Victoria’s Secret trickery.

Now fully recovered from both breast cancer and the debilitating effects of chemo, Saunders is apparently moving ahead with a reunion show for AbFab with Joanna Lumley, and hopefully to more joint projects with French. As individuals, they are extraordinary performers, as a partnership, they have always been greater than the sum of their parts, no matter how zaftig those parts were.

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Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America

According to the conservatives, America has the “greatest health care system in the world.” The fact that we’re only ranked 37^th by all measures of health care delivery never breaks they unflinching faith in our medical system.

Maybe this will……

In 2005, we had critical shortages of 70 widely used drugs. By the end of last year, that number had grown to 211. Though some shortages have been resolved, another 89 drugs were added to the shortage list in the first three months of 2011. Dr. Eric Lavonas of the American College of Emergency Physicians said that “It’s just a matter of time now before we call for a drug that we need to save a patient’s life and we find out there isn’t any.” The drugs that are in short supply range from treatments for cancer to cystic fibrosis to cardiac arrest.

Most of the shortages are in injectable medications used in hospitals. The shortages can last from weeks to many months, placing patients in jeopardy. A shortage of cytarabine caused delays in treatments for luekemia. Shortages can be caused by recalls for contaminated vials, trouble importing ingredients, increases in demand or factories shut down for quality upgrades. Factories can also be shut down because they have been manufacturing improperly prepared drugs and the FDA has had to step in, which was the cause of a 2009 shortage of generic metaprolol, a medication that regulates heart rhythm.

Among the drugs in short supply are a sedative used on death row, Thiotepa which is used for bone marrow transplants, Norepiniephrine injections for septic shock, Acetylcysteine for cystic fibrosis, a range of electrolytes needed for premature infants and tube feedings for the critically ill, some leuprolide hormone injections used in fertility treatments, some drugs for ADHD and injections used for cardiac arrest in ERs.

There have been no records kept of patient impact, but the Institute for Safe Medication Practices reported two incidents of patient deaths from the wrong dose of a substitute for morphine.

The FDA has asked that foreign companies ship forms of the short drugs that are not usually used in America. That has helped ease the shortage of Thoitepa and Propofol, an anesthesia. Some American companies are increasing production, but other aspects of the shortage are not easily dealt with, like stockpiling by companies and shutdowns for misproduction.

Congress is getting involved as well. Sen. Herb Kohl, Democrat of Wisconsin, is asking the Federal Trade Commission to consider possible shortages when reviewing drug company mergers. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Democrat of Minnesota, has introduced a bill that would require drug manufacturers to notify the FDA if there is a potential for a shortage. While the FDA cannot force a company to manufacture a drug, they can use other methods to prevent a shortage, such as notifying competing companies so that they can increase supplies or speeding up approval of changes in the manufacturing methods. Sen. Klobuchar said, “No patient’s life should have to be at risk when there is a drug somewhere,” that could fill the gap.

Pharmaceutical companies have been under attack for some time in America for creating new drugs by making small tweaks in old ones to hold on to their patents, creating combination drugs that are nothing more than two existing drugs that together cost less than the combo, advertising so effectively that doctors have complained about people demanding drugs they don’t need, and charging far more for medications than their costs in other countries. Allowing critical shortages in almost 300 vitally important drugs isn’t going to do anything for big Pharmas image.

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Mass. Sen. Scott Brown

RomneyCare, the very successful inspiration for ObamaCare isn’t just coming back to haunt “possible” Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney, it’s finally bitten Massachusetts’ Republican Senator Scott Brown.

Scott Brown did not endear himself to Massachusetts voters who love their health care insurance system when he bartered the ObamaCare public option into oblivion for his vote. Those people know how good their own health care insurance system is, just the way the people of Hawaii know and the people of Vermont know. Now, Brown has aligned himself with Maine’s two Republican senators in cutting themselves loose from Paul Ryan’s budget plan which would privatize Medicare. They call it a voucher system, promising it will “save Medicare” by handing out vouchers worth $6,000 a year for seniors to purchase private health insurance. In Brown’s own words, in an opinion piece for Politico, it’s not acceptable. “The cost of private plans will outgrow premium support – and the elderly will be forced to pay ever higher deductibles and co-pays.” Those deductibles and co-pays frequently make the difference between whether or not a person seeks medical care. The tendency is to avoid doctors until absolutely necessary, which is counterproductive because “when absolutely necessary” probably means it’s going to cost more than it would have in the early stages.

Brown has criticized President Obama for not offering an alternative to Ryan’s plan, which is disingenuous actually since the President’s plan calls for getting more revenue by making our tax system more fair and balanced, and also concentrates on finding and eliminating the waste and fraud that have plagued both the Medicare and Medicaid systems. He also praised Ryan for being the man who “finally jumpstarted the debate.” Yup – he sure did that. We all saw how well jumpstarted it has been watching those angry town hall meetings the Republicans endured during the Easter recess.

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U. S. Dept. of Health & Human Services

Nine months before my mother died, she underwent vascular surgery to repair a graft in her groin that had been part of a previous surgery involving a stent and an aortic aneurysm. She spent 48 hours in the hospital. There were no stitches over the surgical site, just a “wet to dry” dressing. Her discharge orders literally said “daughters are teachable.” We took her home in the back seat of a Ford Escort. The next morning, a nurse from the Visiting Nurse service arrived to teach us how to remove her dressing, lay gauze in the open gaping wound, pour in sterile water and lay in more gauze before taping the whole thing down with a special covering that wouldn’t tear her fragile skin. In a major screw-up, her follow-up appointment was not scheduled in a timely manner and she was off her Plavix long enough because of the surgery to cause a mini-stroke 32 days later.

Her doctor’s explanation for sending her home was that this was the procedure decided upon by the cost containment division of her hospital. I’ll spare them. Let’s just say it is one of the most prestigious hospitals in New England. I seriously adore this hospital. The doctors are incredible, the services are exceptional, the whole place usually operates with a precision I have rarely seen in medical facilities. Still….48 hours after major surgery on a woman in her eighties? Yeah, we were teachable. We should be. Mom was a highly-respected nurse and trained us very well. We’re both intelligent and responsible women. But how many families could have coped with such a situation?

Which leads us to the objections being raised to the draft regulations coming out of the Department of Health and Human Services for the new Health Care law’s “accountable care organizations” – those networks of doctors and hospitals which would collaborate on keeping Medicare patients healthier and save money for taxpayers. The law envisions setting up these networks to improve health care delivery. The aspect that is currently being put together in my home town involves computerizing all doctors’ offices and pharmacies, all nursing care facilities of every kind so that records are shared instantly. It’s driving my doctor’s staff nuts, but as an employee in an assisted living facility, I’d love for our staff to be computer literate enough to put our files and prescription orders into this system.

The American Medical Group Association, which represents almost 400 large medical groups and provide care for 1 of every 3 Americans, has raised objections to the proposed regulations. Among their members are the Cleveland Clinic, Intermountain Healthcare in Utah and Geisinger Health Systems in Pennsylvania. The claim the rules are so unacceptable, it would be impossible for them to work.

The AMGA, whose motto is “The Best Medicine In America, The Best Medicine For America”, has published a compensation and finanical survey for the past 22 years. It presents detailed date on what everyone is charging for their services. Such surveys can be used to set fees that are identical to each other and restrict competition.

AMGA President Donald Fisher said “It’s not just a simple tweak, it’s a significant change that needs to be made,” to the regulations. According to the group, there would be no flexibility for patients who need more expensive treatments or closer follow-up. So? How is that any different from the rules imposed by insurance companies?

The administration is gathering input from many sources to help them put the regulations together. Nothing is going to be easy with the implementation of this law. Everyone who has a stake in maintaining the status quo in medical care will fight to keep their system going. Let’s all make sure we are moving full speed ahead to standing still.

The resistence to making changes to cut costs is predictable. Every industry resists changes. It is easier to go with the momentum than to stop and assess what can be better done.

Our medical system is a mess. The hospitals that serve the poor are in deep debt and facing attempts to close them by state legislatures. We have a desperate shortage of general practitioners. We have an overabundance of specialists. Nurses have been driven from patient care to administration, while we increase the amount of responsibility that can be assigned to less-trained personnel. Doctors refuse to accept Medicare and Medicaid patients. An estimated 30 million of us have no health insurance and that number is going to rise as fewer and fewer of us can find full time jobs with benefits. We are falling further and further behind health care delivery in other countries while our costs go higher and higher. We have the most technologically advanced health care system in the world, and are rapidly reaching the point where only a small percentage of us will be able to afford the most basic health care.

The Affordable Health Care Act wasn’t perfect. It lacked the public option so many of us wanted. Most of us either approve of the law or think it didn’t go far enough. The Republicans have used those “not far enough” poll results to claim that the majority of Americans are opposed to the law. The majority of us want better health care at lower costs and accessibility for everyone. The last thing we need is the government being pushed by the profit-driven aspects of the system to limit the reforms.

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The Detroit that's not in the commercial.

While you read this, bear in mind that House Speaker John Boehner has just said that there must be “trillions of dollars” of cuts from the 2012 budget before the House Republicans will vote to raise the debt ceiling. If we do not raise the ceiling, if we default on our debts by so much as 24 hours, we will literally crash the world’s economy. The Republicans are insisting that all of the cuts come from the 12% of our budget that is “discretionary spending” – that means all our social safety net programs, and from Medicare and Social Security. None must come from defense (where we spend almost half the money spent in the world on defense) and there must be no changes to our tax code or increase in taxes. This is blackmail. In any other scenario, threatening an action that would cause devastating consequences unless a payment is received would be a criminal act.

I can’t really say that the Forbes list of the 400 wealthiest Americans ever interested me too much. That changed when I read that there are almost 500 billionaires in America. Billionaires? Whatever happened to millionaires? When did we hit the point where there were more billionaires than the 400? Just to put these 400 in perspective, they hold as much wealth as the bottom 155,000,000 Americans. Allegedly, if we stripped them of all their wealth, it still wouldn’t amount to the national debt. No one is suggesting they be stripped.

The 400 is an interesting list. Let’s get the good guys out of the way first. Forty-three of the 400 have taken the Buffett-Gates giving pledge. Four of them are in the top ten – Gates, Buffett, Larry Ellison and Michael Bloomberg.

The other six in the top ten are Kochs and Waltons. The exemplify almost all of the people who have a company or industry behind their names. These are the owners of companies that, because they are privately held are classified in the tax codes as “small businesses.” HCA Health, which owns hospitals, has 190,000 employees. Cargill has 130,500. The Kochs have 70,000. The Waltons are the largest employers in the world. These business owners qualify for every tax break that is sold to the public as helping “small businesses.” They also have the ability to keep their personal taxable incomes very low. It’s a little complicated. A company owner can draw only as much money as he or she actually needs for personal expenses. With a really, really good accountant and tax lawyers, H. Ross Perot paid less in personal income taxes in 1991 than a family of four with a median income. Twenty of these 400 made their money in the oil and gas industries, which have their own sets of tax breaks and incentives on top of those available to small businesses.

So, what would these small business owners want from our elected officials? The answer is in a simple phrase “tax expenditures.” Those are the hundreds, maybe thousands of tiny little tax breaks, incentives, deductions, exclusions, whatevers that are available to these companies and their owners. “Tax expenditures” is a true government oxymoron. There is nothing expended by the government. These are the things that prevent the government collecting taxes. Calling them “tax barriers” would be more accurate. Even publicly traded companies – companies that issue stock that can theoretically be purchased by anyone – have their own set of “tax expenditures.” Those are the breaks that not only made it possible for General Electric to pay no taxes, but got them over $3 billion from the U. S. Treasury in tax returns – on the taxes they didn’t pay.

103 of the 400 made their billions in hedge funds, money management, investments, leveraged buyouts, equity trading, and venture capitol. While my friend was watching her 401k lose over $60,000 in one day, these people were moving into the billionaire classification. They have one big tax advantage – the capital gains tax rate. Let’s just take one man – hedge fund manager John Paulson. One one deal, the one Goldman Sachs admitted was a shitty one, he turned over a $3 billion profit for his clients. He was gambling that our mortgages would be foreclosed because the people holding our adjustable rate mortgages decided it was better to foreclose than to keep the rates affordable. As the manager of the hedge fund, he only paid the 15% capital gains tax rate on his commission, instead of the 35% income tax rate. That’s a 20% savings. It isn’t just the investors who only pay a 15% tax on the profit they make when they sell stocks, it’s the people who arrange those sales who also benefit from those tax rates. One quarter of these people are on this list because of the deregulation of the financial industry. The capital gains tax was instituted to encourage people to invest in businesses, not to push their brokers into the Forbes 400.

So, what would these 103 want from our elected officials? Repeal of the financial reform law passed last year that didn’t really go far enough to protect us from another stock market dive.

In the #5 and #6 slots on the 400 are the Koch brothers. They are the most blatant and open about their contributions to political causes. They have funded some of the most “respected” conservative think tanks – The Heritage Foundation, The Cato Institute and others, most with very patriotic names. These groups direct conservative public policy. The also funded Americans for Prosperity, the big name in the Tea Party movement. Rupert Murdoch is at #38. He has a whole television and newspaper empire to help protect his $6.2 billion by twisting the news to make people vote for politicians who will then shaft them to help out the top 2%.

There are people on this list who are not doing everything possible to elect Republicans who will protect their “tax expenditures” and repeal financial services reform. George Soros is at #14. Buffett, Gates, the other 41 believe that they should give back in some way. Soros’ MoveOn.org isn’t enough. It isn’t any of these people who are funding organizations that are in the top ten groups funding elections. Only the three largest unions are funding Democrats and are in the top ten. Those unions are being attacked by the people on this list who don’t want to pay decent wages or give decent benefits.

They are also, amazingly, the people who are most resistant to the idea of nationalized health. For decades, other businessmen have said that a nationalized health system is what this country needs to compete in the global marketplace. Thirty years ago, Lee Iacocca said that health insurance added over $1,000 to the price of every American-made car. No one even talks about that anymore. We pay almost twice as much per person for health care as the next most expensive country and don’t crack the top ten for health care delivery. The difference in our costs is in the for-profit nature of our health care industry and the insurance industry, not in superior health care.

To give these people and their companies even more tax breaks, Florida Governor Rick Scott wants to cut $1.6+ billion from education and public services. Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin wants to cut $1 billion. These aren’t cuts that will balance their state budgets. They are just ways to give more money to that top 2% of Americans.

To achieve this, they have convinced a large part of the electorate that the goal is to cut taxes for the 98% of us, to cut off welfare to illegal immigrants who can’t get welfare, to cut off unemployement benefits because those subsistence payments make people lazy. To increase the Waltons’ share of those billions, they spread the doctrine that part-time jobs with no benefits is the new definition of employment. To protect the billions made by those owning retail chains, they are pushing the idea that unions are bad, so that the nascient movement to unionize their own stores will die. It’s been remarkably successful – persuading people that we should strip union workers of their pay and benefits to bring them down to the lower level all of us are supposed to accept. To fulfill the Kochs’ John Birch Society vision, they convince people that immigration is wrong and everyone who isn’t “like us” must be driven out – Jews, Muslims, Hispanics, Asians, everyone who isn’t white and protestant. And when all else fails, they hitch themselves to religious issues like abortion and gay rights to win votes, covering up what they will really do with a smoke screen of piety. They have focused in on two small aspects of the Bible to ignore the overwhelming messages of charity and rejecting wealth. When you’ve got Murdoch’s media network to spread the narrative, and the internet to spread the outright lies and conspiracy theories, it gets really easy to control what people think.

The consequences of allowing the Republican agenda to succeed are in our past – the past we don’t teach anymore because we have allowed history to be downgraded. Before unions, we worked in sweatshops where we died from unsafe conditions – fibers in the air crippling our lungs, locked doors that trapped us during fires, mines that collapsed. Before food stamps, our seniors ate cat food and poor children suffered developmental problems because of poor nuitrition. Before Medicaid and Medicare people died because they couldn’t afford simple medical care. Before Roe v. Wade, thousands of women were permanently maimed and died of illegal abortions. Before the Civil Rights movement, not only blacks, but Hispanics, Asians, Jews, anyone considered “different” suffered killings, physical abuse and denial of basic rights. Millions died of influenza in over-crowded tenements. There are real reasons these programs came into being. There are real reasons unions were founded. There are real reasons we took the promise of equality into new laws and new protections. In the world before World War I, that Pollyanna world that is evoked when Tea Party candidates talk about taking our country back, a few people became fabulously rich, a small number became comfortably rich, and the majority lived just one step ahead of starvation, disability, disease, and early deaths. Only one heir of those fabulously rich is still on the 400.

There are 303 million of us who are getting screwed by this agenda. The challenge is to make half of us see the facts and understand just what they are getting if they take back our country – to the 19^th century.

.

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Vermont's gold-plated State House

How do you know you live in the weirdest state in the Union? Your legislature passes the preliminary bills for creating single-payer health care and you don’t think it’s newsworthy.

I really do live in the “No Drama” state. We had more emotion over the proposal to raise cigarette taxes by a dollar a pack since New Hampshire is moving to eliminate their cig taxes.

This isn’t the first time for Vermonters to consider a single-payer plan. Former Governor Howard Dean tried to make it happen back in the early oughts. While he did manage to create some outstanding health care plans, his failure to cover all Vermonters resulted in some pretty bad approval ratings towards the end of his final term.

So, here we are at round two. We have had seven years to assess the impact of several health systems, and the general impression that Vermonters have of those programs is making this new effort possible.

The present plan would be transitional. It is in many ways modeled on the Federal Employee Health Benefit Plan and meets some of the processes outlined in the Federal Health Care plan. It sets up insurance exchanges – single places to shop for a variety of health insurance plans. The standard Republican response was expressed by Rep. Heidi Scheuermann, of Stowe, who said. “It is the first step in taking away health care as they know it.” Yup – it takes away the process of going through dozens of sites, writing notes to be able to compare coverages, all the usual time wasting processes. The best analogy for an insurance exchange is Travelocity for health insurance.

The real “historic” stuff will take three to five years to work out. Vermont has a comprehensive health insuranc program for low-income children. It also has a program that lower-income adults can join and for which they pay an income-determined premium. A friend of mine gets all the same coverage I have on Federal Retiree Blue Cross-Blue Shield, plus basic dental, for $60 a month. My share of our insurance is $225 a month. When my husband goes on Medicare, a year before me, I can go on Catamount. Between us, the savings will be over $300 a month.

Then, there’s the ultimate in Vermont health insurance: VHAP. It is for unemployed adults, the least served people in America. It controls costs by denying certain more expensive options where older, less expensive options are available, in tests, therapies and drugs. Most health care professionals in Vermont love VHAP. VHAP is one of the reasons Vermont ranks as one of the healthiest states in the Union.

My downtown - yes, those are mountains

Given the co-pays and deductibles on my health insurance, I’d cut off a limb for VHAP. Like many people in my age group, I put off medical care because of the out-of-pocket. I keep saying, three more years to Medicare. This is why Medicare costs are so high. After 55, the tendency is to push medical care aside until that magic day when Medicare kicks in. The premiums for Part B are less than what we’re paying now and the coverage is better.

The vote in Vermont’s legislature isn’t as historic as some people want to make it out to be. All we have really done is set ourselves up as fulfilling a portion of the Federal Health Care law. What we do in the next three to five years, that will be historic. We have the opportunity to create a real single-payer system. We have the chance to bring VHAP to all Vermonters. What we need is time to help people understand what VHAP is and how it has changed lives.

Analysts and businessmen have been telling America for decades that the single thing that makes this nation less competitive in the global market is our health insurance system. We pay twice as much per person for health care as the next most expensive country and our health care delivery doesn’t crack the international top ten. Keeping the insurance industry alive is choking off all other industries. Retail chains and restaurants refuse to hire full-time so they don’t have to provide health insurance. Manufactured goods are more expensive than they would be with a nationalized health system. Lee Iacocca told us twenty years ago that health insurance added over $1,000 to the cost of every car. That figure has doubled by now.

Vermont isn’t the socialist hippie haven people like to say we are. We actually have a population that is a reflection of the entire country. We have our staunch conservatives in our rural areas. We have our flaming liberals living off the grid in the mountains. If we are able to make anything happen, then the entire nation can make it happen. The key is the way we do it – slowly and deliberately, not in a ideology-driven panic.

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If you are an athlete, you have undoubtedly sustained some type of injury, yet the extent can obviously vary. Some roll an ankle, sit out a week, and then they are back. Others pull a muscle or tear ligaments, forcing them to remain inactive for months on end. Then there are the career-ending injuries that we never see coming. We cannot predict, and unfortunately, we cannot prevent. Yet, no matter the degree of the injury, we are affected. Not only do sports provide us with mental stimulation, camaraderie, and competition, for many, it is our only release. Our outlet. Our source of sanity.

On April 16, I endured a second-degree sprain in my left ankle, and being persistent, went back into the game. With five minutes remaining, I was tackled, after the play was finished, in the endzone, completely unprepared, completely tearing my right ACL, needing to be carried off the field.

The following days were hell. I was unable to walk without pain, yet I had to. I had to walk. My left side did not have time to be sore. It did not have the time to feel, experience, or analyze its own pain because it had to be strong for my right. The shooting pain, the needles, the constant ache, and undesired pressure were forcibly ignored because there was something much more traumatic occurring on the other side. One of the two had to be strong. Hold its own. Literally stand up in the face of adversity and fight for the other. One had to brave the pain to sustain the other.

I had surpassed pride. I was unwillingly forced to ask for help.

And not only ask for it, but accept it.

To overcome an injury, we not only need physical strength and healing, but we need to become stronger mentally. We need to know –and believe– that we can and we will overcome the setback. We will come back stronger and more determined and ambitious than we were prior to the life-altering incident.

So, where do you find this mental strength? The most obvious answer is within yourself. With your own knowledge, desire, dedication, and passion for the game. Yet, I get it. With countless setbacks and discouraging news time and time again, it is difficult not to lose sight of your goal and your initial hunger for the end result. To get back to the game. Back to our friends. Back to doing what makes you, you.

And although the endless encouragement and support from family and friends are acknowledged and appreciated, they usually cannot relate to the grave mental stress serious injuries evoke. We need something more.

Teammates. The ones who know you as the competitive athlete you are. The ones who know and have seen the extent to which you have involved your heart, your mind, your body, your soul, only to have it all taken away from you in the matter of seconds.

And for some, more than once. Making it more difficult and more discouraging every time.

Let them in. Let them help you. Let them be there for you because when you start losing sight of your ultimate goal, the end result, what you are fighting for… You will have numerous people there to remind you.

You are fighting a worthwhile battle.

And so are they. Remember, not only do you have to allow them to be there for you, but you have to be there for them. Support them. Be who you would want them to be if you were in their place. Be their number one fan. Support. Guide. Teach. Believe.

And after reviewing this article, I feel as though I have cheated you, as there have been no gay references.

So I shall conclude with this…

The majority of gay-thletes desire to have the demeanor of a badass. But, lez get real, we’re a bunch of pussies. When we are sick and/or hurt, we want to be waited on, hand and foot; we desire every ounce of your attention. So, Ladies, wait on your injured woman. Baby her. You never know when you will need her to return the favor.

Questions? Comments? Have a topic you want me to write on? Email me at theunluckyfox@gmail.com.

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AJ Allen  30 Apr 11  -  The number of new cases of HIV is rising among gay men in Portugal, reports The Portuguese News. This places Portugal third on a list of European countries with the highest incidences of such cases.

Check Point LX, located near Principe Real, is a new centre that carries out free HIV tests. Psychological support is also provided at the centre. Men who test positive for the disease will be directed to the National Health Service.

Ana Jorge, Health Minister, said at the centre’s inauguration: ‘ This is a space that is the responsibility of a non-government organisation involving people who are either carriers of HIV or are men who have sex with other men (HSH). In other words, the cases are overseen by people with whom patients identify and with the support of health professionals.’

Congratulating the creators of the concept, the Health Minister said that, in her opinion: ‘ This is a huge step forward because it shows society is able to organise itself and find the support it needs to offer a more solid answer.’

Luis Mendao, president of the Portugal Activists’ Group for HIV/AIDS Treatments (GAT), which was responsible for the creation of the centre, explained: ‘ In 2000 the number of cases of HIV among men who have HSH started to rise. ‘

At present Portugal in the third country, out of twenty seven, in Europe with the highest number of new cases being diagnosed among those who have HSH. He stressed that: ‘ If the infection is diagnosed early and the person treated, HIV transmission can be greatly reduced.’

National coordinator for HIV/AIDS, Henrique Barros, reinforced the importance of Check Point LX’s role in society, explaining how, until recently, the HSH population in Portugal lived in a ‘hidden and occult’ fashion.

Oscar Winner, Catherine Zeta-Jones has been admitted into a mental facility for a brief stay to treat her Bipolar II disorder.

“After dealing with the stress of the past year, Catherine made the decision to check in to a mental health facility for a

Cover of Catherine Zeta-Jones

brief stay to treat her Bipolar II Disorder,” her rep confirmed, adding, “She’s feeling great and looking forward to starting work this week on her two upcoming films.”

This comes after her husband; Michael Douglas is finally on the mend from throat cancer.

Sources reported to Popeater that the actress has had a rough year between Michael’s illness, her stepson’s drug charges (and prison sentencing) to Michaels first wife suing for a portion of his film “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.”

“Catherine had a lot of trouble coping [with Douglas' cancer]. She was chain smoking and drinking.”

Her rep has not confirmed whether her stay is related to any type of substance abuse.

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Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood

President Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker John Boehner met until 3 a.m. Friday morning to come up with a bill to fund the government through September 30 and prevent a government shut down tonight at midnight. It didn’t happen.

The barricade to the budget is Mike Pence and the rest of the extremists in the government who think that Planned Parenthood is an abortion factory and want it defunded. They don’t give a shit about cancer screenings, pap smears, family planning or any of the vital health care services that Planned Parenthood provides under Title 10. They just want to shut it down because Planned Parenthood helps women arrange abortions that are not paid for by Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood provides services under Title 10 because it is cheaper than having the government run clinics for the same services. Planned Parenthood, because it receives other funding, because it has the facilities in place, is the most cost effective way to meet the obligations of Title 10. There are laws, several of them, that prevent Federal money from paying for abortions.

Rep. Mike Pence, leader of the anti-abotionists

These fanatics will not stop until they have criminalized abortions again. They refuse to believe that abortions existed before Roe v. Wade. My great-aunt died of peritonitis caused by an illegal abortion almost forty years before Roe v. Wade. They are blind stupid if they think that criminalizing abortions is going to stop them. It never has and it never will. Irish women used to get on a ferry and go to England for abortions. American women did the same before Roe v. Wade and they would do so even more today – off to Canada or Mexico for the procedures. One of the flash points that led up to Roe v. Wade was an epidemic of seriously damaged fetuses because of a drug called thalidomide. One women, a teacher with a local television show, went to Europe for an abortion and all hell broke loose when it was made public. We are already at the point where there are small efforts to assist women in getting to some place where they can get the procedures. We would, undoubtedly, end up with a new underground railroad, a network of women helping other women cross the border. That would be the impact of ending abortion in this country. These jackasses could put it out of sight so they can believe it doesn’t exist. Criminalization does not stop abortions. That is the absolute truth. And these self-righteous jerks will just keep smirking along guaranteed that their Neanderthal constituents will keep them in their $174,000 a year jobs as long as they keep up this social war.

We are facing 20 months of this kind of crap – our government, our economic recovery, our ability to create jobs being held hostage to a social agenda that favors the establishment of a state religion by passage of laws based in nothing but their fundamentalist Christian theocracy. We are facing 20 months of the Christian Taliban denying the rest of us our rights under our Constitution.

They represent less than 25% of the American electorate. In their own party only 56% favor not compromising on this issue. Fourteen percent of America’s eligible voters is not a mandate. It’s a f*cking dictatorship.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

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(San Francisco, CA, March 31, 2011)— A groundbreaking report released today by the Institute of Medicine urges medical researchers to include the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities in health studies to gain a better understanding of their lives and unique health care needs at different stages of life.

Authored by leading experts on LGBT health, “The Health of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People: Building a Foundation for Understanding” concludes that the lack of sufficient health care data about LGBT people has resulted in an incomplete picture of the community’s overall health needs. The report is the first to comprehensively analyze the LGBT community’s health needs, providing a thorough compilation of existing data, and providing researchers with guidance about how to effectively continue to collect LGBT health data to fill in critical gaps.

One of the report authors, Family Acceptance Project Director Dr. Caitlin Ryan, a leading researcher on LGBT youth, has worked closely over the years with the National Center for Lesbian Rights and Equality California. She is a member of Equality California Institute’s LGBT Health and Human Services Network, and has been a vital part of the Network’s statewide efforts.

In discussing the report, Dr. Ryan said: “This report provides a roadmap for addressing the unmet health needs of LGBT people from childhood through later years. It legitimizes LGBT health research for the scientific community and academic institutions, and will change the way that LGBT health issues are talked about, taught about, studied and addressed in practice. It’s the key to open institutional closet doors to reduce serious health disparities and to promote the well-being of LGBT people.”

Said National Center for Lesbian Rights Executive Director Kate Kendell: “This groundbreaking report documents the urgent need for researchers to include LGBT people in all aspects of health care research. Without this data, our community will continue to face obstacles accessing health care and will continue to be under-served.”

In California, Senator Christine Kehoe (D-San Diego) has introduced the Survey Data Inclusion Act (SB 416), sponsored by Equality California, which would require the state to add questions about sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, domestic partnership status and the gender of a spouse as part of the voluntary demographics sections in California’s government surveys. Such data is already collected for other groups.

“We call on the California Health and Human Services Department to strengthen its efforts to eliminate health disparities for LGBT communities, and we applaud Senator Kehoe and the Institute of Medicine for their leadership in recognizing that investment in LGBT health is a crucial part of ensuring that LGBT people and families can contribute fully to our state’s future,” said Equality California Interim Executive Director Jim Carroll. “In a time of highly limited resources it is paramount that decision makers have relevant data to allocate those resources to achieve the greatest good. The lack of data about LGBT people and families continues to have a detrimental impact on the health of millions of people, particularly our most vulnerable community members whose unique health needs are invisible and literally uncounted in the state systems of care.”

Equality California Institute has launched a variety of initiatives to address LGBT community health needs, including the LGBT Health and Human Services Network, which focuses on LGBT inclusive health data and the Reducing Disparities Project, to assess the mental wellness needs of LGBT communities across the state.

Read the report.

The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) is a national legal organization committed to advancing the human and civil rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community through litigation, public policy advocacy, and public education. www.NCLRights.org

Equality California (EQCA) is the largest statewide lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights advocacy organization in California. Over the past decade, Equality California has strategically moved California from a state with extremely limited legal protections for LGBT individuals to a state with some of the most comprehensive civil rights protections in the nation. Equality California has passed more than 70 pieces of legislation and continues to advance equality through legislative advocacy, electoral work, public education and community empowerment. www.EQCA.org

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3/30/2011 – by Cynthia S. Wright

Proverbs 23:2 ESV

And put a knife to your throat if you are given to appetite.

Recently a portly female preacher felt the weight of God’s burden so greatly, she had no choice but to deliver her testimony from a chair in the pulpit. This preacher had a bone to pick (and no, not the ones on her plate – this time), stemming from her issues with the practice of masturbation and of course, homosexuality

Enraged, supposedly by the Holy Spirit, she lashes out (as much as she could muster – which wasn’t much) against those who practice the art of self love by letting them know that they are “partaking in what God made righteous and perverting it”.  She then banishes them to go get their sex toys and play with themselves as she moves onto her next object of contempt: male semen!

With all the anger that she displays during her talk of this male produced bodily fluid; one would ponder if she is angry about the actual fluid itself, or perhaps angry that no human being capable producing that “diseased” substance has come near her in quite some time.

That doesn’t concern her though because she soon turns her fury onto the gays – most importantly men on the down-low.  “You just keep watching your little husband (I’m sure she knows all about little husbands or does she call them Twinkies for Jesus?) and in a year or so, you will see him come in with his hand swinging. In a year or so you will see him with a switch in his hips.”  Why does that have to mean that he is gay, maybe he just enjoys dancing or is praising God that he can move freely without his mobility being confined to a chair? Whose to say?

Even still, it does sound like her concern (or anger) comes from a personal place, maybe she needs to contact Terry McMillan – I smell a book deal in the works and besides, they can bond over their hatred of their down-low brethren. After all isn’t the down-low all the craze in the black community these days anyway? Instead of acknowledging that maybe your husband was always gay, that he just didn’t want to lie anymore and the best thing he could do was to finally come clean.

After all, isn’t that what you bible-thumpers want or is lying no longer sinful? Also, why is the focus only on black men? Gay women are out there too but she probably left that out on purpose, since she probably believes down-low black men are the ONLY ones that can singlehandedly ruin the black church! Never mind, the talk of preachers sleeping with members of their congregation and breaking up marital homes, that must be a myth.

Now, portly preacher lady has a right to express her opinion. In her clouded, homophobic, one-sided view all the things, she so eloquently expressed might be relevant somewhere.

Yet, as she preaches her hatred from her “saintly chair”, wobbling back and forth, unable to lift herself up to deliver her sermon – no one questions that they are receiving the word of God from someone who is unable to stand long enough to give it.

My question is, when did gluttony get omitted from the Bible? How is that one fact being overlooked, unlike being gay or loving masturbating, which is often not known to the public – how can someone condemn others for living their life when it’s plausible that she might not be able to control her own.

That is often the problem when it comes to the black churches, so quick to cast the first stone (if she could even manage to do that) but at the same time don’t want to atone for their own sins. Gluttony the last time I checked is considered a major sin, a certifiable health risk and in most cases, a choice.

The FDA is proposing new warning labels for cigarettes. They are claiming a “world-wide consensus” that cigarette warning labels should include pictures of dead people as labels do in such progressive countries as the Cook Islands, Djibouti, Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Latvia, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mongolia, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, and Romania. One of the ideas floated by President Obama in his State of the Union Address was the proposal that federal regulations should be trimmed down and made more rational and compatible with business. The FDA didn’t get the memo.

Smoking has dropped in America by over 50% in the past few decades. Less than 25% of all Americans still smoke. Cigarette companies can’t advertise on television, restrictions on sales are Gordian, we are bombarded nightly with little Benjy’s countdown on his Mommy’s Chantrix and states that don’t raise tobacco have figured out that the fastest way to raise taxes without protest is to raise them on cigarettes. My state isn’t even the worst, and a pack of cigarettes costs twice as much here as in Georgia. States have also made it impossible to buy directly from Native American tribes across state lines by internet or mail and track credit card purchases if you cross state lines and buy a carton. Smokers know that what they are doing is damaging their health. We’re the ones with the coughs. They also know it’s damned expensive and harms their bank accounts. It doesn’t do much for the decor either. Cigarette smoke clings to everything, leaving a brown greasy film on walls, computer screens, you name it. My husband hates driving my car because of the blue haze on the windshield. Fine by me, I hate readjusting everything after he’s driven it anyway.

We know. Okay? Pictures of dead bodies aren’t going to change anything. The only thing that happened when our local deli owner put up pictures of cancerous lungs after her husband died was customers finding other places to buy their grinders and pizzas. Between the health warnings and the prices, just about everyone who can quit already has. Smoking isn’t epidemic in teenagers either. Less than 20% of teens smoke, a lower percentage than the general population. Smoking teens usually come from smoking parents, by the way.

Which raises the issue the FDA should be looking at. Why can’t some people quit?

I haven’t tried to Chantix. I had a bleeding ulcer years ago and the digestive track warnings make it too dangerous for me. But I have done gum (made me nauseous), patches (allergic to the adhesive), cold-turkey (my husband went out and bought me a pack), and finally, electronic cigarettes. Now, electronic cigarettes don’t have the same problems that gum and patches do. There are no other factors which can cause problems. They even “smoke” just like the real thing. It’s a pure, natural nicotine vapor that’s delivered through a cigarette shaped system. Two e-cigs, six filters and a small bottle of organic, local nicotine fluid cost me just under $60, the same price as a carton of my brand. As long as I was using the e-cigs in combination with real cigarettes, it went well. When I tried to quit the real ones, it all went pear-shaped. My withdrawal was horrific – migraine headache, mental confusion, violent mood swings, tremors, heart palpitations, the works. And I was still getting the same amount of nicotine as I had with cigarettes.

I’ve discussed this with other smokers who have failed with e-cigs. We’re calling it the “Rappaccini’s Daughter” effect, after a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne. In the story, a young man falls in love with a beautiful girl whose garden is filled with poisonous plants. When he removes her from her garden, she dies. She had lived with the poisons, ingested the poisons all her life. She was totally dependent on those chemicals that would kill other people. There are dozens of chemicals in cigarette smoke. No one has ever studied – apart from the “tar coats you lungs” studies – the effects of those chemicals on the human body. We know that certain people are chemical sensitive – me+perfume=sneezing fits – and that some allergies produce a dependency, particularly food allergies like alcohol and wheat. What if those people who cannot quit smoking are addicted or allergy-addicted to one or more of the chemicals in cigarette smoke? My mother smoked while pregnant with me and my siblings. We have all smoked at some point in our lives. Two of us were able to quit, the other two can’t. What if we were addicted to those other chemicals, not just the nicotine, in the womb? That changes the whole picture of what we are dealing with.

If the FDA really wants to end the scourge of cigarettes, they should put the money into doing the research needed to find out what else in cigarettes is addictive, not just the nicotine. They don’t need to put pictures of dead bodies on cigarette packs. That will not help. Proper research would. They might also want to do something about agricultural subsidies to tobacco growers, but that’s way to hot a political potato for anyone to try. All but one tobacco growing state are in deep Republican territory. Fat chance of ending those chunks of pork.

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Stigma, Social Context, and Mental Health: Lesbian and Gay Couples Across The Transition to Adoptive Parenthood, groundbreaking new research about gay adoptive parents by Dr. Abbie E. Goldberg, has been published in the Journal of Counseling Psychology by the American Psychological Association in February, 2011.

Dr. Goldberg’s new work, co-authored with JuliAnna Z. Smith at The Center for Research on Families at The University of Massachusetts/Amherst, is the first study to examine changes in depression and anxiety across the first year of adoptive parenthood in same-sex couples. Ninety same-sex couples (52 lesbian couples and 38 gay male couples) were studied and profiled at three separate times during their first year of adoptive parenthood.

. . .

Dr. Goldberg’s landmark 2010 book Lesbian and Gay Parents and Their Children: Research on the Family Life Cycle, also published by the American Psychological Association, was the first full-length analysis of the research on gay parenting, summarizing research data on the subject from the 1970’s to the present . That research was consistent in suggesting that the outcomes and well-being of children raised by gay and lesbian parents were no different than those of children raised by heterosexual parents.

. . .

Abbie E. Goldberg, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Clark University in Worcester, MA. She received her B.A. in Psychology from Wesleyan University (Connecticut); her Ph.D. in clinical psychology and her M.S. in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Dr. Goldberg also completed a clinical psychology internship at Yale Medical School. Her research has examined the transition to parenthood in diverse families, including lesbian-parent families and adoptive-parent families. In particular, her work has focused on how families’ relationships and identities change across the transition to parenthood, and how gender and sexual orientation figure into individuals’ adjustment and experience of parenthood. In addition, she has also studied the experiences of adults raised by lesbian, gay, and bisexual parents. She has received funding from the American Psychological Association, the National Institutes of Health, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Williams Institute, and the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues.

The full study can be read at Clark University.

Those places that are supportive of the LGBT Community typically have the healthier LGBT populations. This is something that has been known for some time. Many of the social, mental and physical ills that the anti-LGBT people hold up as proof of how bad the LGBT Community is tend to ignore that social stigma causes major health problems and that these fold back into the Community as a whole.

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“Dutch women grow up thinking home birth is good for you, and that it’s part of mother nature. But I didn’t consider it at all. I think it’s too risky. If something is wrong, it’s better to be in hospital,” said a recently new Dutch mother. The Dutch government is worried by the fact that the rate of death among newborn babies is higher than in the Netherlands than other European countries.

The health minister said recently that obstetric care needed to improve, and there was sometimes “insufficient communication” between professionals.  Some doctors say women are choosing hospital birth because they want a full range of pain relief and quicker deliveries.

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One unique feature of the Dutch system is a network of maternity nurses called Kraamhulp, who assist midwives during the birth, help new mothers begin breastfeeding and provide vital back-up during the crucial first week with maternity care and even housework.

Last year in the Netherlands, there were around 1,700 stillbirths and deaths among newborn babies. Everyone agrees that figure is too high, and that Dutch midwives and doctors should work more closely together.  But are home births being unfairly blamed?

Some believe that home births are safe and even if totally abolished, wouldn’t make a small dent in the mortality statistics. “It’s very short-sighted. I think it would be really sad if choice disappears – and there’s a real risk of this happening in the Netherlands.”

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Posted by Melanie Nathan – CBS News has confirmed that the Edwards family, including husband John Edwards, former Democratic Presidential candidate, are now  gathered with Elizabeth Edwards at the family home in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Elizabeth Edwards, 61, posted to her personal Facebook page a message to friends reading in part, “The days of our lives, for all of us, are numbered. We know that.”

“You all know that I have been sustained throughout my life by three saving graces – my family, my friends, and a faith in the power of resilience and hope,” Edwards wrote in the Facebook post. “These graces have carried me through difficult times and they have brought more joy to the good times than I ever could have imagined.”

“…there are certainly times when we aren’t able to muster as much strength and patience as we would like,” she added. “It’s called being human. But I have found that in the simple act of living with hope, and in the daily effort to have a positive impact in the world, the days I do have are made all the more meaningful and precious. And for that I am grateful. It isn’t possible to put into words the love and gratitude I feel to everyone who has and continues to support and inspire me every day. To you I simply say: you know.”

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Posted by Melanie Nathan- Dec 01-2010  World AIDS Day 2010 is all about raising awareness to tackle HIV prejudice and help stop the spread of HIV.

11/16/2010- by Natasia Langfelder

Lesbian icon Rosie O’Donnell has blogged about finding a lump in her breast and getting it biopsied. Let’s hope everything is ok with Rosie! Read the beautiful poem below:

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10/15/2010- by Cindy Zelman

People like to get high. Say the word “marijuana” and their eyes glaze with the memory of their last toke, and dopey, distant smiles light their faces with the promise of their next smoke-filled euphoria. I am perplexed by the reaction. I am afraid of drugs. Terrified.

When I was fifteen, to please my best friend, I agreed to smoke marijuana. The first time I smoked it, nothing happened. The second time I smoked it, I tornado-ed into a full-fledged panic attack. I lost time. I lost space. I blacked out. I found myself standing at Point B. I didn’t remember getting up from Point A. Terror invaded every muscle and bone in my body. I was hallucinating.

Maybe I experienced my narcotics trip differently than others do, because I can’t comprehend anyone enjoying such a disjointed and altered state of consciousness. I found nothing to giggle about. I did not get the munchies. I did not assume that glazed look in my eyes, or a dopey, happy smile.

I prayed to God to save my life.

It may have been the first time I prayed.

The truth: Getting high was the trigger event that set off my lifelong battle with panic disorder. I read a research note in a book when I was in my thirties stating that narcotics experiences are not an uncommon trigger for people with panic disorder. We can’t handle the drugs. At various times since age fifteen my panic attacks have been so severe as to disable me and render me housebound into a state of all-encompassing agoraphobia.

More than thirty years later, on Tuesday, September 28^th, 2010, I had a colonoscopy because of symptoms I’d experienced in August. My in-charge nurse, Barbara, was a kind and loving woman in her sixties, quiet-spoken and calm. She talked to me for twenty minutes about the procedure, the drugs, with great sensitivity to my fears. She sat next to my gurney and held my hand as the IV nurse at the hospital took my vital signs and tried to hook me up to an intravenous line for a hydration pouch.

No offense to the homeless, but this IV nurse (whose name I can’t recall) looked more like a bag lady than a medical professional. I could imagine her on the streets of Boston with a shopping cart and a green garbage bag collecting cans and sleeping in a subway. Her hair was shoulder length, brown and gray, scattered as if she’d forgotten to brush it. Her eyes gleamed. Her wild smiling expression seemed just shy of a mental breakdown – the laughing hyena kind of breakdown of someone eternally mesmerized in the mirror. Hi there, the crazy person says, pointing and talking at the mirror, thrilled to have made a new friend. That kind of crazy. This is the woman who was trying to set me up with an IV and who was about to shove drugs into my body.

I was terrified.

As she attempted to hook up my left arm for the preliminary hydration, she said, “Consider this just the first engine, the freight cars will come booming in soon when the drugs arrive!”

Oh the smile of glee on her face!

My feet started to shake at the end of the bed.

“That’s part of the problem,” I said. I don’t think she heard as she continued with her freight car metaphor and how those drugs would send me somewhere to an unknown world down the tracks.

“You won’t even know what’s happening!”

I repeated, “That’s the problem.”

I know a lot of people would be thinking, “Bring it on!” when it comes to the drugs you get when having such a procedure at the hospital. My brother had a colonoscopy last week (never mind his joke about requesting a family discount) and he asked his nurse: Can I take the rest of those drugs home with me? Apparently, they hadn’t used the entire bag and he loved the altered state. He figured he’d paid for the entire bag of drugs, well, his insurance had, so….

I digress.

It turns out that Nurse Mental-Case-Waiting-to-Happen couldn’t get the IV to thread in my veins, despite repeated stabs at it. She left me with bruises on my left arm where it bends and dread as I imagined freight cars of drugs soon to be injected into my body booming toward my brain to mottle my consciousness. Just like when I was fifteen.

As Nurse MC failed to get the intravenous line in correctly, Nurse Barbara looked up at her and down at me. She could see my fear rising, as my legs began to shake along with my feet. Barbara rescued me.

“I’ll have Roberta do the IV. Roberta’s been an IV nurse for twenty-five years.”

“Well, she must have tensed up on me,” said Nurse MC, “so I couldn’t get the line to thread.” Of course, her incompetence must be my fault.

Just wheel me away from her, my eyes pleaded with Barbara.

Barbara wheeled me to the exam room and Roberta had the IV in my arm and threaded correctly in two seconds. Barbara and I gave one another a knowing look, like, what was with that other chick? Not one bruise on the arm Roberta used, and although Roberta said nothing of freight cars, I still knew they were coming. Thank you Nurse MC.

The drugs in the intravenous consisted of Versed, a benzodiazepine that I tolerate well. It’s the same medicine used for Xanax or Klonopin, which I take for panic disorder, just quicker acting and used intravenously for sedation. Mixed with that was Fentanyl, a narcotic (most feared), and Benadryl, the same stuff we use for allergies.  Barbara said the Benadryl would help the other two medications work better. Barbara told me she would slowly release the drug mixture into my body, going more heavy on the Versed to help me with the Fentanyl reaction (panic.)  As expected, I experienced absolute panic as the drugs began entering my being. I was consciously aware of my changing consciousness. Such a state is one of my deepest fears.  I am phobic about altered states of consciousness. I fear it more than pain.

I recall body spasms as I clutched to the gurney railing with both hands. I thought my body was rising and falling with spasms of fear every few seconds. I tried to control the spasms so the doctor could do the procedure, but I could not control them — small drugged out fits of panic. But I didn’t hear anyone say, “Stop moving around so we can do this procedure.” So did I really spasm every few seconds? I don’t know.

I felt the doctor’s scope. Sometimes I felt pain. I heard voices. Barbara took my glasses which I had taken off my face. She said, “Let me take those for you.”  I said, “Barbara, are you there?” and I heard nothing. I was surprised she did not answer back. It seemed everyone had left the room: doctor, nurse, technician.

Pain seared my body as the doctor continued the exam and (I would learn) removed something unwanted from my colon. I felt myself ball up and away from the pain. I swore I moved two feet. But there was nowhere to move. Again I didn’t hear anyone say, “You need to keep still so I can do this procedure.” So did I ball up?

Where did everyone go? I tried to open my eyes, but I couldn’t keep them open. When I tried to open them, the world around me was not accessible. How do I put it? I could see and had awareness that I was in the room having a colonoscopy, but I couldn’t comprehend what I was seeing in the murky haze or where I was. These contradictory states of consciousness co-existed, like a divorced couple still co-habiting. I was dizzy and I wasn’t dizzy. I was unable to open my eyes and stare at the altered reality. I opened my eyes several times, but the lids kept dropping. I tried to open them, for control, but I could not keep them open, and I could not bear to see what I was seeing – and not really seeing. I heard nothing. Where had everyone gone?

JABS OF PAIN! I screamed, “OOOWWWWWWW!!!!!” I thought loudly. I thought I jumped. But now I don’t know if I said anything because I heard no reaction. I don’t know if I moved because there I was, still lying on my side.

(And the memory of the pain does not bother me, it would not stop me form having this procedure again. For those of you afraid of the pain of this procedure, please keep in mind that most people fall completely asleep and don’t even know they are having a colonoscopy. Barbara had explained to me earlier that because I am on benzodiazopene drugs daily, I would probably not be completely asleep, as I have a certain tolerance level most others don’t have. So, have a colonoscopy and don’t worry about pain.)

I thought I heard Barbara say, “You’re doing great,” but then I heard nothing. I opened my eyes to look at her, but they closed again. I could not locate her.  I began to spasm again. I thought I had spasms again. My hands continued to clutch the gurney railing. I think I made myself breathe deeply a few times to relax my muscles. Yet my body and memory fought with all its strength to reject the narcotic in my body.

My body and brain remembered more than thirty years ago when pot smoking in the woods changed my life forever. So Tuesday I fought against the drugs. I fought and I fought. I put up the good fight. But in the end, I lost it, I gave in, I closed my eyes. I let go, I let “God,” as some like to say. I may have fallen asleep. I don’t remember.

“You’re almost done,” Barbara said. Moments later, “You’re done. The procedure is over.”

It seemed as though only five minutes had passed, but I know the procedure takes longer than that.

“Can I have my glasses?” I said, not fully back to reality but halfway there. The IV was still in my arm but the drugs were no longer pumping in, just the hydration.

“Your glasses are right next to you,” Barbara said. I reached and there they were. Hadn’t she take them away from me, across the room? When did she put them back? Did she ever take them away?

Barbara wheeled me to Recovery, in a room of post-colonoscopy patients. I could take you through my steps back to consciousness in Recovery, perhaps the most humorous moment was my waving to Nurse Barbara as she wheeled in a drugged out old man who waved back to me. By now you get the picture, in terms of my struggle with mind altering drugs. I came out of them in Recovery, phase by phase, both aware and unaware as I began to find reality again. When I sat upright and ate cookies and drank cranberry juice, I was so happy. It would be twenty four hours before I had my full conscious awareness, but I had survived the colonoscopy, and for me, more important, I’d survived the drug experience.

A friend asked: Were you out or were you awake during the procedure?

My answer: I have no idea.

So it’s onto October and the euphoric high of being alive.

Want more Cindy Zelman? Go to http://cindyzelman.wordpress.com/ for all Cindy all the time

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After examining some four million match searches on their site, they found that 0.6% of gay men and 0.1% of lesbians have searched for straight matches on the site, and found that 0.13% of straights searched for profiles matching searched for gay men or lesbians. They also found that neither gay men nor lesbians primarily searched for straight people.

They also found that heterosexuals and homosexuals were pretty much even when it came to the median number of sexual partners- which is six for both. They fond that 45% of lesbians and gays had five or fewer partners in their lives and that number is virtually identical to the 44% of straights. Ninety-eight percent of lesbians and gays had twenty or fewer sexual partners while 99% of straights had twenty or fewer. This flies in the face of stereotypes that lesbians and gays are promiscuous.

OKCupid also discovered that almost a quarter of the straight people that they asked have had sexual encounters with someone of the same sex. One third of women asked admitted to hooking up with another woman while thirteen percent of straight men said that they have had sex with another man in their life with another five percent admitting that they would like to at some point.

Source

LGR is not affiliated with this study, and not affiliated with Indiana University. As such, we cannot guarantee any participant’s privacy if they so choose to participate in or interact with this study. LGR is simply passing along the word in hopes that this will help advance understanding about lesbianism in the US.

This is the message from Drs. Schick and Debby Herbenick:

The Center for Sexual Health Promotion at Indiana University is conducting the Global Women’s Sex Study to learn more about the sexual lives, pleasures and experiences of women who have sex with other women.

The data will be used to help us understand the sex lives of women in the bedroom (and beyond) in order to promote better and safer sex between women. Current knowledge of sexual pleasure and risk between women is largely based on either heterosexual models of sex or relatively small groups of women which may not represent the thoughts/feelings/behaviors of you or your community.

The information learned in this study will be used by sexual educators who want to promote pleasure and medical professionals who can help women identify ways to protect themselves from any risks— hopefully leading to safer and happier sex.

Click on the link below to learn more about the survey and to participate.

http://www.womenshealth.iu.edu

Thank you for your time.

Debby Herbenick, PhD, MPH
Vanessa Schick, PhD
The Center for Sexual Health Promotion
Indiana University
cshp@indiana.edu

The AFA has created a comprehensive fact sheet complete with an informational video on transitioning from In vitro Fertilization to donor egg IVF cycle. The fact sheet is suppose to help lessen the burden on patients by providing medical, psychological support and legal information on the aspects that come with choosing an egg donor.

Susan Bloom, Director of Donor Recruitment for The Fertility SOURCE Companies, “The educational information included in this video and fact sheet is invaluable to our intended parents transitioning from a traditional IVF cycle to an egg donor. The best ammunition we can give our intended parents is knowledge and education about the process they are about to undertake, along with the resources to have all their medical and legal questions answered. At Fertility SOURCE Companies, we pride ourselves in the guidance we give our intended parents every step of the way, from matching them with a donor to their IVF transfer.”

Ken Mosesian, Executive Director for the AFA “Because of the generous support of Fertility SOURCE Companies, The AFA is able to continue to provide first-rate education for infertility patients. The family-building journey has many inherent challenges, and our goal is to provide educational support to intended parents so they can make informed decisions with confidence.”

The AFA continually provides updates its educational material and has outreach events on infertility prevention, reproductive health, and family building. Their website has an extensive library of newsletters, webinars, and a toll-free help line.

Source

Melanie Nathan; 8-18-10

Almost 50 at the time, back in In 2007 tennis great Martina Navratilova signed with the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) as the group’s Health & Fitness ambassador.  Navratilova continues in this capacity, where she makes appearances at AARP events and offers online tips for AARP members on things like diet and fitness for the senior (that word?) crowd.

Navratilova, has won 59 grand slam tennis titles (the last one six weeks shy of her 50th birthday). Martina has been named “Tour Player of the Year” by the Women’s Tennis Association, “Female Athlete of the Year” by the Associated Press, and one of the “Top 40 Athletes of All Time” by Sports Illustrated.

“Because I’m in my 50s, I’m very concerned about flexibility. I know how much it helps me recover from tough matches or workouts and prepare for exercise the next day. And there are other benefits, too. Staying flexible can help you prevent injury, as well as avoid muscle knots and tightness brought on by daily activities. It improves your posture, reduces stress, and generally keeps your body feeling youthful and agile.” asserts Martina on site in one of many articles available to non members as well.

Here is a Video from the AARP website showcasing an example of the health and fitness advice offered
by the now over fifty ambassador.

http://www.aarp.org/health/fitness/info-08-2010/martina_stretching.html

Navratilova will be at the AARP Orlando@50+ in Orlando, FL: September 30 – October 2, which thousands of AARP members and their friends are expected to attend

By Melanie Nathan
nathan@privatecourts.com

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By Melanie Nathan,   8-09-10

The Long awaited Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act 2010 (SB 3307) has passed the Senate, after a push by the ADA membership and other advocates, urging Senators to get the job done!  The Act, which passed the Senate unanimously now moves to the House where it is expected to pass.

This now makes a strong investment in our children’s future. It will provide local school districts with resources to improve the quality and nutritional value of meals served to students; require the USDA to strengthen nutrition standards for foods sold in vending machines, a la carte lines and school stores; and require the USDA to implement standards based on current nutrition science.

“If current trends continue, one in three children born since the year 2000 will develop diabetes at some point in their lives. In order to curb this epidemic, we need to promote healthy lifestyles at school, where our children spend a large part of their day. The passage of the Act has indeed put us that much closer to putting a stop to this dangerous epidemic. “  www.diabeteshealth.com

The Full Text of the Act can be found here:- http://ag.senate.gov/site/legislation.html and http://ag.senate.gov/site/ComLeg/s3307.pdf

By Melanie Nathan
nathan@privatecourts.com

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One Tree Hill star and Chad Michael Murry ex Sophia Bush is boycotting Urban Outfitters. Bush is upset over a shirt the company is selling that says “Eat Less,” the actress is outraged that they would promote anorexia so blatantly. Bush wrote an open letter to the store to raise awareness of the problem.

“I have been a supporter of your store for many years, but now I’m through.”

“I am fortunate enough to star on a wonderful TV show called One Tree Hill. I play a fashion designer named Brooke Davis, who started a campaign on the show called “Zero Is Not A Size” and the outpouring of love and gratitude that came my way from girls and women ALL OVER THE WORLD (sic) who have body image issues brought me to tears.”

“To promote starvation? To promote anorexia, which leads to heart disease, bone density loss, and a slew of other health problems, not least of all psychological issues that NEVER go away? Shame on you. I will no longer be shopping at your stores. And I will encourage the tens of thousands of female supporters I have to do the same. I have fought to boycott BP. I never imagined I would also be boycotting affordable fashion.”

“You should issue a public apology, and make a hefty donation to a women’s organisation that supports those stricken with eating disorders. I am sickened that anyone, on any board, in your gigantic company would have voted ‘yes’ on such a thing, let alone enough of you to manufacture an item with such a hurtful message. It’s like handing a suicidal person a loaded gun. You should know better.”

“I sincerely hope that next time you decide that making fun of serious issues is comedic, or ‘snarky in a cool way’, that you re-think your decision.”

[Source]

Due to the controversy, Urban Outfitters has removed the shirt from their website and hopefully, from their stores. This is not the first time Bush has shown her socially responsible side, she recently visited the Gulf Coast to survey the damage done by the BP Oil Spill and help raise awareness and donations to the clean up efforts. How awesome is she? I’m totally down to boycott Urban Outfitters. I had no plans to wear a lace bra top or tee shirts with ironic sentiments on it this summer anyway

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He made the statement at the FDA’s Blood Products Advisory Committee hearing. The current policy bars men from donating blood if they have had sex with another man since 1977; however, the same policy allows heterosexual men and women from donating blood if they have had sexual contact with an HIV-positive partner after one year.

Not only has there been an advancement in the ability to understand what sexual behaviors are risky, but it is also become easier to detect the disease. John Kerry was the 2004 Democratic nominee for President. He is the senior Senator from Massachusetts.

Source

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Image via Wikipedia

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Diabetes Mobile- iPod iTouch iPhone Applications

Nadia Al- Samarrie - Publisher of Diabetes Health

Jay Hewitt has traveled miles and miles and more miles in a nineteen year period, racing Ironman triathlons in Australia, Europe, the Carribean and all over North America, climbing and camping at the top of 14,000 foot Mt. Whitney, and of course dozens of family vacations and business trips.

Packing equipment and supplies for an Ironman triathlon and 3 weeks in Australia requires a bit of planning and preparation, but when you have diabetes you feel like you do that for just a weekend out of town.  Meters, strips, insulin, syringes, infusion sets, pump supplies, snacks . . . a simple weekend trip becomes a lunar expedition.

Who could be more qualified than Jay to provide traveling tips such as these and if you want to read more then I highly recommend DIABETES HEALTH Magazine where this article was first published and reprinted here with permission of King’s Publishing Inc.

“Here are JAY’s  top five tips for traveling with diabetes.

1. Bring Extra of Everything. Adopt the NASA triple redundancy system.  If one thing breaks or is lost, you have a back up, and another back up.  If I will be out of town two nights and will need to change my insulin pump infusion set once, I bring one set plus 3 extras.  I bring syringes for a day just in case the pump malfunctions or is damaged.
2. Keep Your Diabetes Critical Pouch Packed. My diabetes travel kit stays packed in my home with insulin pump infusion sets, syringes, alcohol swabs and other miscellaneous supplies.  I call this my diabetes “critical pouch.”  I periodically use and replace each item.  Life is too busy to remember to pack each thing every time you leave the house for a night.  I just grab that little pack and check the inventory and go.  I keep it in a quart size clear plastic freezer bag perfect for airport security and for me to see the contents, and keep it in my carry on bag.  I also bring several glucose meters as well.
3. Prescriptions at a National Pharmacy. Keep prescriptions for insulin, strips, syringes and any other supplies updated and on file with national pharmacies such as Walgreen’s, CVS, or other chain, even if you get your every day supplies from a local pharmacy or mail order.  When you live in Maryland and lose your insulin in Florida, those national chains can refill you there.
4. Pack Supplies in Separate Luggage. My diabetes critical pouch stays with me in my carry on bag on a plane and in the car.  This pouch contains my insulin so that it is not exposed to heat when my suitcase is left outside or in a car.  Packed in my suitcase with my clothes I keep extra supplies such as an extra meter and strips, pump supplies or syringes.  Now you are prepared if you get there, but your luggage does not.
5. Pack Travel Snacks. My briefcase or backpack always has at least 2 sport bars or other snack to munch on the plane or in the car when my blood sugar gets low.  I have extra sport bars packed in my suitcase, and even my glove box.  I like sport bars such as Clif Bar because they are packaged and sealed and travel easily in my bags.  I also keep a non perishable high carbohydrate drink in a plastic bottle in my car to sip when needed.

When flying across the country or internationally be sure to adjust the time on your insulin pump for your basal rate or injection of long acting insulin to correspond to that new time zone.  I make sure I have a bottle of juice or other carb drink in my hotel room.  Nothing is worse than waking in the middle of the night with low blood sugar and having to dress and roam the hotel halls for a vending machine.   When I travel alone I prefer to err a bit on the high side of normal blood sugar when sleeping because no one is in my hotel room to help if I have a severe low.

Traveling usually means eating different foods, and often at different times, so I tend to test more frequently on the road.  A little exercise on the road is always a great way to stabilize blood sugar and refresh your body and mind, especially on a business trip.  You knew I would recommend exercise, didn’t you!  I always pack my running shoes and clothes on a business trip with a packed schedule just so I can feel better, and enjoy a nice dinner.  I love to have dinner within walking distance of my hotel in major cities like Washington or New York so I can walk back and enjoy the conversation and post meal exercise.

A little planning will make for a good trip.  Have fun!  ( © Diabeteshealth.com 2010)”

Traveling with the  recently launch by Diabetes Health Apple Applications, by the California based King’s Publishing Inc. :- This could be a travel savior for those with Diabetes – Imagine being able to take  a compendium of Diabetes Related issues and TV broadcasts on your travels.  read more  at ……..   http://www.diabeteshealth.com/read/2010/06/29/6740/diabetes-health-is-the-first-diabetes-magazine-to-launch-iphone-and-ipod-touch-applications-dh-mobil/?isComment=1

Please let us know if you are interested in more health related articles here on LGR that specifically relate to lesbian interest ….In 1999, lesbians were identified as an underserved minority by the Institute of Medicine. Some health issues for lesbians are different from those of heterosexual women, and clinicians need to be aware of these differences in order to provide culturally-appropriate care, since at least 5% of their female patients are lesbian.

Articles of interest:
Abstract   Objective: This New Zealand study set out to measure the self-assessed health status of a snowball sample of lesbians in New Zealand, focusing on how lesbians use health services and perceived barriers to accessing health care.  In New Zealand-laws forbidding discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation have been in place since 1993, yet 5 years later this study suggests lesbians may have poorer health, and their delaying consultation requires further study. Conclusion: This study supports overseas research showing that lesbians delay seeking health care and find barriers to health care that are different from a random sample of women.  http://www.springerlink.com/content/g8501u5750t752lu/ Percentages were calculated on the general questions and a standardized set of questions and calculated scoring was used to measure the self-assessed health of respondents.

******

http://www.diabeteshealth.com/read/2009/07/21/6285/gay-men-and-women-with-diabetes-find-a-voice-through-the-diabetes-and-gay-dang-foundation/

Posted by Melanie Nathan
nathan@privatecourts.com

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According to the study, up to two-thirds of lesbians use to be straight and changed their sexual orientation sometime in their thirties. Unfortunately, according to Christan Moran, a researcher at Southern Connecticut State University, women who begin to identify as lesbian later in life are less willing to come out because of the problems that they face more social problems than they do remaining in the closet. Moran interviewed 200 married lesbians and she found that there was a “great potential for heterosexual women to experience a first same-sex attraction well into adulthood.” Additionally, if the woman is married to a man and has children, the problems may be compounded. Moran also stated “To leave a heterosexual marriage in favour of lesbian identity is to abdicate enormous and undeniable privilege.”

While the researchers who are studying this are talking about it being more about nurture than nature, their conclusions may not be accurate. It is possible that most women are genetically programmed to switch sexual orientations as they get older and past the prime age for bearing children. The older a woman is when she bears a child, the more genetic faults can creep in. Women who are older tend to also have fewer resources to give a child physically than those who are younger.

A study out of Utah University by Professor Lisa Diamond found that women’s sexualities were more fluid. She is a professor of psychology and gender studies. She followed 100 women over a decade and discovered that how they identified changed over time with some bisexual women identifying as lesbian later in life, some lesbians identifying as straight, etc.

Both studies are not large enough to give concrete conclusions since they are such small numbers, but they do offer some additional layers when it comes to female sexuality.

The L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center’s Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center and veteran stage, television and film actor David Youse are joining forces with Oscar® and Tony Award-winner Joel Grey to present the historic, 25th anniversary staged reading of Larry Kramer’s classic drama, The Normal Heart. This extraordinary celebrity reading, featuring some of the finest actors working today, will take place at Westwood’s Geffen Playhouse at 8 p.m. on Monday, May 17.

Proceeds from the one-night-only event will benefit the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center’s Jeffrey Goodman Special Care Clinic, which provides quality, free or low-cost medical care for people living with HIV/AIDS (this event does not benefit the Geffen Playhouse). Tickets may be purchased at: www.lagaycenter.org/thenormalheart.

The cast features Emmy® Award-winner Lisa Kudrow, in the key role of Dr. Emma Brookner, Clark Gregg (The New Adventures of Old Christine) as Ben and David Eigenberg (Sex in the City) as Mickey. Additions to the cast will be announced in the coming days.

Among the countless highlights of Joel Grey’s nearly sixty-year career is his starring role in the original production of The Normal Heart, in which he played the central role of Ned, based semi-autobiographically on Mr. Kramer himself. This experience accords Mr. Grey an incomparable insight into the play, as well as a passionate commitment to the piece and to the issue it revolutionized: the AIDS epidemic.

The Normal Heart focuses on the terrifying early years of the AIDS epidemic in New York and the criminal silence of official America in dealing with it. First produced by Joseph Papp and directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg for New York’s Public Theater, the play was a critical sensation and ran for 294 performances.   READ MORE …..

WHAT: THE NORMAL HEART
25th Anniversary staged reading

Written by Larry Kramer
Directed by Joel Grey

WHERE: The Geffen Playhouse
10886 Le Conte Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90024-3021

WHEN: Monday, May 17 at 8 p.m.
Pre-performance reception at 6 p.m.
$50 (General admission)

Available on-line at www.lagaycenter.org/thenormalheart.

4-20-10- Melanie Nathan; The Women’s Conference® community is a global network of women who gather every year at the nation’s premier forum for women, hosted by California First Lady Maria Shriver and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. For two full days, more than 100 internationally-acclaimed leaders, visionaries, authors, journalists and artists come together with more than 25,000 women from all walks of life to be educated, inspired and empowered to be Architects of Change in their own lives, within their communities and around the world.

Beyond the annual event, The Women’s Conference community gathers daily online at www.WomensConference.org and throughout the year at events that serve, support and strengthen the larger community. The mission of The Women’s Conference is to create Architects of Change – people who see a problem and seek to create the solution, be it in their homes, their communities, their states or the world.

The Women’s Conference has become a “must attend” transformational event and full day passes sell out in record-breaking time each year. In 2009, tickets sold out in less than two hours. In response to this surging popularity and demand, The Conference expanded the event to two full days with the addition of A Day of Transformation and Night at The Village.

May 14-16:      I Can Do It! San Diego Conference

The Mind, Body & Soul Retreat featuring dozens of your favorite speakers including Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, Marianne Williamson, Cheryl Richardson, Joan Z. Borysenko, Ph.D., Louise L. Hay, and many more workshops ranging from health to spirituality.

• San Diego Convention Center

For more information visit www.icandoit.net or call 800-654-5126

June 9:     The Women’s Conference Press Announcement

Two weeks prior to registration, The Women’s Conference 2010 announces conference events, speakers & ticket information. Information will be available at www.womensconference.org.

June 23:    The Women’s Conference 2010 Online Ticket Registration

(Please note: Date is subject to change.)

To learn more about The Women’s Conference 2010, click HERE.

**Check out The Great Giveaway for a chance to win 2 free Special Guest Passes to The Women’s Conference 2010.

September 10-12:    Best Buddies Challenge

JOIN TEAM MARIA on a cycling adventure along the Pacific Coast Highway from Carmel to the Hearst Castle in San Simeon, which also includes an optional 5K & 3K walk. For more information, click HERE.

October 10:     Pier del Sol

JOIN US at a family festival & fundraiser for Special Olympics, Southern California

• Santa Monica Pier & Pacific Park
• 10am – 2pm

October 25-26:     The Women’s Conference 2010

The Nation’s Premier Forum for Women

• A Day of Health, Wellness & Transformation and Night at The Village – Oct. 25
• A Day of Empowerment & The Minerva Awards – Oct. 26
• Long Beach Convention Center
• To learn more about The Women’s Conference 2010, click HERE.

**Check out The Great Giveaway for a chance to win 2 free Special Guest Passes to The Women’s Conference 2010.

December 7:    Season of Giving Event – Sacramento

The Women’s Conference supports a statewide holiday food drive and tree lighting event.

• California State Capitol, Sacramento

December 14:    California Hall of Fame Event – Sacramento

To honor legendary people who embody California’s innovative spirit.

• The California Museum, Sacramento
• Visit www.californiamuseum.org

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

The Women’s Conference 2010

October 25 & 26

Posted by Melanie Nathan

from Site of Womens Conference

“Like a virus, no one is immune from ignorance – no matter what their profession or even educational background might be.“

4-13-2010m; Posted by Melanie Nathan

Rambam Medical Center in Haifa on Tuesday will launch the first invitro fertilization unit in Israel for HIV carriers with fertility difficulties who are rejected from treatment by other hospitals.

Although Israel boasts one of the highest availabilities of fertility treatment in the world, it never before had the facilities to carry out IVF treatment for HIV carriers.

Today, an HIV carrier who receives treatment has almost the same life expectancy as the rest of the population, and certain medical treatment enables carrier to conceive and give birth to healthy children.

Following the Supreme Court appeal by the task force and six women, in 2006 the Health Ministry set up a committee to look into fertility treatments among carriers of HIV and Hepatitis B and C.

The committee recommended setting up a separate infrastructure for fertility treatment for such patients, despite the fact that in many Western countries carriers receive the treatment in ordinary clinics.  The multiple postponements of the opening led to the Health Ministry being sharply rebuked by the Knesset Labor, Welfare and Health Committee.

The unit,  located in a remote, discreet area of the hospital, to afford for maximum privacy for the patients, will also serve carriers of other viruses, and it already has a waiting list with several women waiting for treatment.

The Rambam unit opens just two days after the launch of a sperm washing institute at Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem, allowing men who carry the HIV virus to conceive healthy children together with non-carrier spouses.

The opening of the new unit at Rambam, which includes a number of labs and sub-clinics, has been postponed at least four times.

Yonatan Karni, director of the Israel AIDS Task Force, said Monday “I’m thrilled to cut the ribbon for the unit, but what will truly convince me this is really happening will be to cut the umbilical chord for the first child born as a result of the process.   To get to this day we had to go through the Supreme Court and four years of public battles. To my surprise the greatest obstacle was the obstinacy of the healthcare system. I found that just like with the virus, no one is immune to ignorance – no matter what their profession or even educational background might be.”

Original Source:- 4-13-2010 Ha’aretz

New hospital unit allows HIV carriers to conceive through IVF

By Fadi Eyadat

Melanie Nathan – nathan@privatecourts.com

“A Great Unfinished Business, Until Today”; Now let us move on to CIR, Repeal of DOMA and DADT:

Melanie Nathan, 3-21-10 , 10.50 EST. Today an historic vote in the US House of Representatives will lead to Passage of  landmark Health Care reform.  When the votes hit 216, the House erupted and Speaker Pelosi walked elegantly into the history books, not only is she the first woman speaker, but THE speaker who got Health Care reform through vote and victory.

Today while  it seems as if the Immigration Reform March failed through little or no, albeit much deserved  TV coverage; there is a deep irony in such failure and that is what caused it to fail may hail its success – YES the day was usurped by visuals of the Congress hedging its bets on historic passage of Health Care Reform, and the fact that such was passed in the House and likely to pass in the Senate, yields a victory so enormous for President Obama, that he WILL now win Immigration Reform.  When The President’s message resounded through screens on the Mall, the people knew that they would be next. Today’s victory places capital and power sturdily in the hands of this US President.

The Republicans in the House called it ‘the arrogance of Washington’ and suggested  the Democrats  used trickery, speaking only about money and cost; the Democrats say this reform is imperative and spoke to the impact from an humanity standpoint.

My Congresswoman, Lynn Woolsey, California, spoke tonight, in the House,  with her  perfunctory  message, “ Being a woman IS a preexisting condition!” ( reiterated by Speaker Pelosi) That is going to change with this health care reform.  She reminded us that pregnancy could be a preexisting condition, that even injuries from domestic violence could be considered preexisting conditions.

What the Republicans seem to resent is the fact that the will of the people was to elect the democrats on the ticket that included health care reform. How could anyone in their right mind suggest voting no on the basis of “not good enough,” especially those that prompted the water down.

Those of you who voted NO will be held responsible when you are reminded in years henceforth of the positive impact of the changes, when lives are saved, and the preexisting amongst us survive and live longer to tell this tale.

Now enough – let us move on to more business – and let us realize that we MUST be partisan.  We must fight a partisan fight from day one on Immigration reform, on repeal of DOMA, DADT, and  enactment of ENDA. Bi-partisanship must now come from the Republican side. We should not chase them to get them on board. This is the only way they will hopefully come up with suggestions to forward legislation, rather than attacks to thwart it.

Recipe for success of future legislation:

Ingredients:

2 cup of –  Learn from mistakes

3 cups of  - forget the ideal of bipartisanship

1 cup of  - clarity through public outreach and education

3 cups of  - early explanation to American people

2 cups of – early talking points and Public Service Announcements

Instructions:

Obama, and Democrats mix all of the above from day one of the endeavor;

Push at the start and until the end; remain strong and resolute

Change the fairness doctrine in media broadcasting and revoke licenses of cable channels which term ‘news’ for talking point commentary, speculation and non sourced lies.

The Lesson: From the lesson of Health Care Reform, we have learnt that Bi-partisanship, in a climate of hate and greed is an oxymoron.
Republicans have the audacity to complain that this is not bipartisan legislation.   Lest we forget that there would be no legislation at ALL if it were to be bi-partisan.

Thanks to Partisanship no one is no longer un-insurable!
Thanks to Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her extraordinary leadership
and To President Obama

Acknowledging Great Leadership of late Senator Ted Kennedy
“A Great Unfinished Business, Until Today”
Victoria Kennedy plans to issue a Statement tonight

Written to supporters – I am sure I am not the only one who received this letter at 2.00 am Eastern today.

Melanie — 3-22-10

For the first time in our nation’s history, Congress has passed comprehensive health care reform. America waited a hundred years and fought for decades to reach this moment. Tonight, thanks to you, we are finally here.

Consider the staggering scope of what you have just accomplished:

Because of you, every American will finally be guaranteed high quality, affordable health care coverage.

Every American will be covered under the toughest patient protections in history. Arbitrary premium hikes, insurance cancellations, and discrimination against pre-existing conditions will now be gone forever.

And we’ll finally start reducing the cost of care — creating millions of jobs, preventing families and businesses from plunging into bankruptcy, and removing over a trillion dollars of debt from the backs of our children.

But the victory that matters most tonight goes beyond the laws and far past the numbers.

It is the peace of mind enjoyed by every American, no longer one injury or illness away from catastrophe.

It is the workers and entrepreneurs who are now freed to pursue their slice of the American dream without fear of losing coverage or facing a crippling bill.

And it is the immeasurable joy of families in every part of this great nation, living happier, healthier lives together because they can finally receive the vital care they need.

This is what change looks like.

My gratitude tonight is profound. I am thankful for those in past generations whose heroic efforts brought this great goal within reach for our times. I am thankful for the members of Congress whose months of effort and brave votes made it possible to take this final step. But most of all, I am thankful for you.

This day is not the end of this journey. Much hard work remains, and we have a solemn responsibility to do it right. But we can face that work together with the confidence of those who have moved mountains.

Our journey began three years ago, driven by a shared belief that fundamental change is indeed still possible. We have worked hard together every day since to deliver on that belief.

We have shared moments of tremendous hope, and we’ve faced setbacks and doubt. We have all been forced to ask if our politics had simply become too polarized and too short-sighted to meet the pressing challenges of our time. This struggle became a test of whether the American people could still rally together when the cause was right — and actually create the change we believe in.

Tonight, thanks to your mighty efforts, the answer is indisputable: Yes we can.

Thank you,

President Barack Obama

by Melanie Nathan
Private Courts™
nathan@privatecourts.com
http://visualcv.com/melnathan

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SHMIRSHKY: THINK INSIDE THE BOX- A SMALL BOOK WITH A BIG STORY Reaching out is IN. Suffering in silence is Out.

Got a vagina? Know someone who does? Chances are you have a wife, girlfriend, mother, grandmother, mother-in-law, sister, daughter, friend, mentor, coworker, or boss who has one. Whether you’re a forty-five-year-old woman in perimenopause or an eighteen-year-old guy who thinks his mom is in need of an exorcism, Shmirshky is for you.

Shmirshky is the first menopause book of its kind. Unlike other books that are dry and mired in confusing medical terms, Shmirshky is an intimate, humorous read—smart, fact-filled, and full of love. With the knowledge and compassion of a trusted girlfriend, author E serves up a soulful account of persevering through the difficult stages of perimenopause and menopause. Publication date: March 1, 2010. Hardcover, $25. For books and further information, visit shmirshky.com.

“Shmirshky” is a term you won’t find in any other menopause book. It comes from E’s unique, often hilarious vernacular: she calls the vagina (and anyone who has one) a shmirshky (pronounced shmersh-key). “Vagina is such an awkward medical term,” she says. “All the women I know have a pet name for it. My BFF Marcia called it shmirshky. I am a shmirshky, a shmirshky who has struggled with PM&M [perimenopause and menopause].”

Shmirshky is not your mother’s menopause book. “In fact, chances are she never had one. If you think menopause is a shitty experience, then Shmirshky is your pooper-scooper.”

Shmirshky is open and honest at a time when many women want to keep their feelings hidden. For some, the PM&M experience can be overwhelming and frightening. “You may feel like an alien swooped down, took over your body, and jumbled up your mind and personality—not to mention your hips, your boobs, and your waist,” E says.

Shmirshky had its beginnings as a simple journal. E’s initial writings were intended as a gift to her daughter. That journal morphed into a small book with a big story. Edited by her twenty-seven-year-old son (who now knows more about PM&M than he ever imagined!), Shmirshky affords readers an honest, personal connection that further squashes the stigma of PM&M.

Don’t hide your shmirshky under a bush! Shmirshky empowers women to take charge. E helps her readers learn how to interpret the symptoms of PM&M, research and interview doctors, understand the necessary tests, and reach out to loved ones for support. Treating the symptoms of PM&M is not a one-size-fits-all situation. As E says, “Too bad they can’t administer hormone therapy through a pair of heels.”

“Every woman needs to read this book,” says Dr. Joseph F. Kennedy. “With great humor, some of which had me howling with laughter, E concisely and intelligently illustrates some of the diverse experiences women may have during the perimenopausal and menopausal years.”

At Your Cervix! You can visit us at shmirshky.com for a sneak peek before the site goes live on March 1, 2010. Shmirshky.com readers can connect, comment, and share their own unique experiences as well as stay in touch with the shmirshky movement.

E is for everyone. E is not a doctor, scientist, or celebrity. “After all the women I’ve talked to and all the research I’ve done, I realized that this isn’t just my story, we all share pieces of the same story.” She says, “I hope this book brings women a little bit of the three L’s: love, laughter, and learning.”

Publication date: March 1, 2010, Hardcover with book jacket; 150 pages, Published by Shmirshky Universal / www.shmirshkyuniversal.com  Library of Congress Control Number: 2009908410 ISBN: 978-0-615-29455-1

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: ELLEN SARVER DOLGEN

Ellen Sarver Dolgen is active in promoting health and wellness in America. She currently serves on the Community Advisory Board of Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla. She was a founding member of Fresh Start Women’s Foundation, on the founding board of Angel Charity for Children, and on the board for San Diego Hospice. Ellen has served on boards, committees, and chaired numerous events for Brandeis University, the Heart Ball, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the Weizmann Institute of Science, Brewster Auxiliary, and the Handmaker Home for the Aging. Ellen’s lifelong commitment to philanthropy through board representation, fundraising, and event organization continues with her founding of Shmirshky Universal and her goal to help women all over the world.

Ellen’s background includes public relations, fundraising for national political campaigns, legislative lobbying, investment advising, hotel operations, not-for-profit fundraising, and cultural and community leadership. In her prior professional life she was the National Deputy Treasurer of the 1980 Carter-Mondale reelection campaign; was a member of Berman and Associates, a Washington, D.C., consulting firm; served as National Finance Coordinator for U.S. Senator Henry M. Jackson’s 1976 bid for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination; and worked for the national United Jewish Appeal in New York City. Ellen served on the National Finance Committee of Obama for America (2008 presidential campaign) and currently serves on the National Finance Committee for the Democratic National Committee. During her college years she worked as director of public relations for Interstate Motel Corporation in Tucson, Arizona, while attending the University of Arizona. She was subsequently a founding chairperson of the University of Arizona’s Office of Cultural Affairs Advisory Board and served on the Arizona State Workmen’s Compensation Fund Investment Committee.

Ellen is currently founder and president of Shmirshky Universal and is a principal of Dolgen Ventures along with her husband, David. Ellen lives in Coronado, California, and has two children, Sarah and Jack.

Shmirshky Competition: 

See You Tube:  Meet the author http://www.youtube.com/shmirshky

Write a no holds barred  250-500 word review of the Book “ Shmirshky” by E.

Submissions by 4/1/10  Results by 4/10/10 (Subject to extension depending on amount of entries.

PRIZES:
First: Amazon Kindle, Value $250.00
Second:Table Book Prize, Value $80.00

The first 4 to enter competition and commit to a review, receive a free Book.

Books can be purchased at http://www.shmirshky.com/

and use of code word  LEZGETREAL  will generate a 20% discount,

Judges shall be Announced at Time of competition result -announcement

Competition closed to Editors of LGR, Employees, friends and family of Published by Shmirshky Universal / www.shmirshkyuniversal.com and PR Professionals and Agents associated therewith.

Cut and Paste the following and then e-mail to Nathan@privatecourts.com:

“I the undersigned hereby commit to a 250-500 word review of the book “ Shmirshky”   If I am one of the first 4 entrants, I shall receive a free Book , Shmirshky by E, to review.

If I am not one of first four, then I shall decide whether or not to purchase a copy of the book whereupon I may or may not review the book Shmirshky.

Books can be purchased for a discount at AMAZON and using code word “lezgetreal “ will prompt discounted price.

Winning entry will be published and on Lez-Get-Real web site and may be used for oromotional purposes by Author of S or Publisher.  Copyright of review shall be owned by Lezgetreal.  The Author and Publisher shall also have the right to the use of quotations therefrom, upon agreement of Lez-Get-Real.  Participant hereby grants exclusive copyright ownership and full and unconditional right to print and publish competition entry to Lez-Get-Real, its agents and assigns, on line at www.lezgetreal.com and at any venue in the sole discretion of Lez-Get-Real.

I declare I am over 21 years of age.

Name: ________________________________________________
Address : _____________________________________________
E-mail __________________________________________________
Telephone: ______________________________________________

I am over 18 years of age : ______________
I agree to rules of Competition:__________________

I hereby Agree that the copyright to the review a  submitted  shall belong exclusively to Lezgetreal, and its assignees.”

Competition ends and last entry shall be post marked or e-mails  dated by April, 01, 2010, midnight.    Competition results shall be announced and winner reviews published on April 10, 2010. On site Lezgetreal.

All results shall be final.
Lez-Get-Real reserves the right t extend competition date/s’

Questions – email nathan@privatecourts.com

Vermont has already started negotiations on setting up a single payer system in the coming years. Doing so would likely reduce the amount of money that Vermont has to pay for health insurance for its residents. It may even attract businesses who would be happier to pay taxes to the state rather than hand over more and more money to the health insurance companies. It may entice people to move to the state in order to get health insurance. The debate has yet to begin and the public records on the pros and cons of the single payer system are scarce and hard to say with any accuracy. More Vermonters support single payer than do any other system.

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders introduced an amendment which would have created a single payer Medicare For All system in the United States. Rather than let it come up for a vote, Senator Tom Coburn forced a read of the whole amendment in an attempt to slow the debate down to a crawl. Senator Sanders was, ultimately, forced to withdraw the amendment. Of course, Senator Coburn was not there when Senator Sanders went on to deliver a sternly worded and heated denouncement of the Republican’s decision to throw a fit over the way in which democracy works. The Republicans have done everything they can to undermine democracy by stalling legislation, demanding full readings, and refusing to negotiate no matter what.

Jane Hamshir at Fire Dog Lake has posted a compilation of why it is time to kill the Senate Health Care Reform Bill.

1. Forces you to pay up to 8% of your income to private insurance corporations — whether you want to or not.
2. If you refuse to buy the insurance, you’ll have to pay penalties of up to 2% of your annual income to the IRS.
3. Many will be forced to buy poor-quality insurance they can’t afford to use, with $11,900 in annual out-of-pocket expenses over and above their annual premiums.
4. Massive restriction on a woman’s right to choose, designed to trigger a challenge to Roe v. Wade in the Supreme Court.
5. Paid for by taxes on the middle class insurance plan you have right now through your employer, causing them to cut back benefits and increase co-pays.
6. Many of the taxes to pay for the bill start now, but most Americans won’t see any benefits — like an end to discrimination against those with preexisting conditions — until 2014 when the program begins.
7. Allows insurance companies to charge people who are older 300% more than others.
8. Grants monopolies to drug companies that will keep generic versions of expensive biotech drugs from ever coming to market.
9. No re-importation of prescription drugs, which would save consumers $100 billion over 10 years.
10. The cost of medical care will continue to rise, and insurance premiums for a family of four will rise an average of $1,000 a year — meaning in 10 years, your family’s insurance premium will be $10,000 more annually than it is right now.

Senator Leahy and Melanie Nathan 6/3/09

By Melanie Nathan:- When I met Senator Leahy, I was touched by his compassion, his sensitivity and his veracity. Most of all he is a champion for equality and as a supporter of UAFA, and has done much for our LGBT binational immigration.   I would like to support Senator Leahy in his endeavors, first and foremost because he has my trust and faith.

On Tuesday Senator Leahy took to the Senate floor and formally filed an amendment to repeal the antitrust exemption for health insurance companies and it has already 18 co-sponsors signed on.

In the senator’s words, “I look forward to debating this critical measure during our deliberations on the broader health care reform bill. After all, to bring insurance costs down, we’ve got to introduce more competition in the marketplace — and my amendment will do just that.”

More Senators ought to join to get this critical amendment passed. 

Click here to forward an email to your Senators now — and urge them to support our amendment to repeal the antitrust exemption for health insurance companies!

I have not read the amendment but the Senator assures that amendment will introduce antitrust oversight to the health insurance industry, ruling out of bounds egregious anti-competitive conduct like the currently activated and detrimental price fixing loophole which  raises our health costs.  

There will be no real Health Care reform until, inter alia, the health insurance industry is forced to compete on a level playing field just like every other business in America, large and small. In all fairness, consumers must know that the price they’re being quoted is a concomitant of a free and fair marketplace.

The senator in a letter to his on-line community implored our support “That’s why this amendment repealing the health insurance industry’s antitrust exemption is so important — but I need your help, right now, to get it passed.” Call your representatives and Senators to ensure they support the Bill and this critical principle.