Archive for June 6th, 2007
Some Days Are Just Better Than Others
June 6th, 2007
Ever since the early days of my very first blog, Oh How I Love Jesus, and then on to my tenure at the second blog, which is political, I have enjoyed the friendship I have developed with reader David.
He is a very special person and I even ask how his wife and his “freeloaders” are. His freeloaders are his dogs and cats.
Until today I hadn’t seen him on this blog commenting and I want to tell you and him what a thrill it was to see his comments. I feel as though I’ve found a long-lost friend, even though we have kept up with each other by email.
David switched party registration to Republican last year, but he’s not going to vote a straight ticket any more than I am on local issues, at least.
He is not far right or far left. I would call him a moderate with a voice of reason when he does speak.
David is an attorney and knows some well-known people, but is just as down to earth as anyone could get. He works for his county and has a lot to do with various Indian tribes in his state. He especially helps oversee elections for the Native American tribes.
He has a very deep concern for victims of abuse, whether they be women raped or abused by their spouse or boyfriend, or children who suffer from abuse by anyone.
His parents were killed in an automobile accident when he was 16 years old and he lived alone with his brothers overseeing him.
He has wonderful memories of his parents, who sound like they were saints, and has overseen the raising of at least one niece after his brother passed away.
I cannot sing his praises enough and I can honestly tell you if I am not fortunate enough to meet him in this life I look forward to meeting him in Heaven. He’s that great a guy!
One more thing I know about David, and just found out recently by accident. He has an AKC champion Corgi.
David, please keep visiting us and keep us all straight. 
You made my day today! >
< :x
Posted in 
Some Hopeful Medical News
June 6th, 2007
As a person with Type 2 diabetes, a mother in law to someone with Crohn’s Disease, a wife of a man whose family is prone to coronary disease, and finding out recently Big Mo’s youngest son has been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, I was extremely interested in reading this report on some research being done in Great Britain.
Scientists have found 10 genes that link to seven very common diseases.
No cures have been found yet, but this study gives the basis for finding out the paths of these genes and how to intervene to prevent or control the diseases.
This is very hopeful and good news for people with these conditions, and gives a lot of hope to people that they may be able to control or get rid of their disease completely if a cure or treatment is discovered.
Bipolar disorder: A whole collection of genes were found to be associated with this mental illness, also known as manic depression, which is marked by extreme mood swings. Each on its own makes a small contribution to risk, but together they can have a significant effect. Several of the genes identified play a key role in the way nerve cells in the brain talk to each other. Bipolar disorder affects about 100 million people worldwide.
Coronary heart disease: The study found several new genetic regions that increased the risk of heart disease. Most notable was a site on chromosome 9, one of the paired bundles of DNA in which the genetic code is written, which increased the risk by 50% in people carrying one version of the risk variant. For those carrying both copies of the variant, the risk was almost doubled. Coronary heart disease is Britain’s biggest killer, claiming 105,000 lives each year.
Crohn’s Disease: Three new genes were found to increase a person’s susceptibility to this illness, which affects between 30,000 and 60,000 people in the UK. One, PTPN2, which is involved in the regulation of the immune system, was also found to be shared with type 1 diabetes. It is the first genetic link between the two diseases to be identified.
Hypertension (high blood pressure): A number of genetic signals were found pointing to a higher risk for hypertension. The results suggest that high blood pressure arises because of a wide range of interacting factors, including a large number of genes. More work is needed, but the research takes scientists closer to understanding the mechanisms behind this incredibly common disorder which affects more than 16 million Britons and a billion people worldwide.
Rheumatoid Arthritis: (RA). Several genes were found for the first time to have a possible role in RA. Further work will have to be undertaken to validate the findings and understand how the genes might influence the development and course of the auto-immune disease suffered by 387,000 people in the UK. Scientists hope the research will lead to new cures.
Type 1 Diabetes: The study highlighted four new chromosome regions that increase the risk of type 1 diabetes, another auto-immune disease in which the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas are destroyed. The newly discovered link with Crohn’s may provide clues on how to treat type 1 diabetes in the future. The disease affects around 350,000 people, in the UK, including 20,000 children.
Type 2 Diabetes: Research from the consortium has helped identify clear genetic links between obesity and type 1 diabetes. One of these, the gene FTO, influences the risk of diabetes through an effect on weight gain. The work illustrates the fact that type 2 diabetes is not just the result of lifestyle factors, such as poor diet and lack of exercise, but is also gene-driven. An estimated 1.9 million people in the UK have type 2 diabetes.
Forget the Parties! Do What’s Right for the Country!
June 6th, 2007
I am so fed up with the antics of Congress as a whole, and not just one party, I feel as though I just want to pull out my hair and scream.
They don’t seem to do anything anymore for the sake of the country, but only for the sake of their precious parties, and neither party is pure in anything.
They stay in campaign mode from the day of one election to the day of the next. Look at how long they have made the presidential contest this time. For what? Do we need two years of harping about the same old same old before we finally get them to shut up for a day so we can vote and then the next day someone new can start running ads for the next election?
Congressman William Jefferson is indicted on 16 charges and the House of Representatives can’t resist pointing fingers at each other as though either side is clean on issues of corruption.
Monday’s indictment of Rep. William J. Jefferson (D-La.) touched off an ethics battle in the House yesterday, with leaders from both parties moving quickly against Jefferson even as they accused each other of having no real interest in tighter ethics rules.
In short order, the House last night approved a Democratic motion that would make an ethics investigation automatic upon the indictment of any House member and then approved a Republican motion that could lead to Jefferson’s expulsion.
… Rep. Stephanie Tubb Jones(D-Ohio), chairman of the ethics committee, announced that her panel will reconvene an investigative subcommittee assembled last year to probe allegations against Jefferson. That panel disbanded with the end of the last Congress. But she bristled at Boehner’s resolution as an encroachment into her jurisdiction.
“As a Committee, we will fulfill our responsibility to the House of Representatives. I refuse to allow these proceedings to be politicized by House Republican Leadership,” Tubbs Jones said in a statement.
… For Republicans, Jefferson’s indictment on 16 counts of corruption, racketeering and bribery marked an opportunity to shift attention from their own ethics issues, which have nearly half a dozen GOP lawmakers under federal investigation and forced three members to resign. But their moves also leave them exposed to countercharges of hypocrisy.
GOP leaders made no moves to expel Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) and Robert W. Ney (R-Ohio) from the House after their indictments last year, going out of their way to try to preserve a path for DeLay’s return to the leadership and saying Ney would have to decide whether to resign.
… “After Tom DeLay, Duke Cunningham and Bob Ney, I’m very proud my colleagues from the other side of the aisle have finally found their moral voice,” said Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel (Ill.).
They all seem to have forgotten that when you point a finger you have three more pointing back at you.
