The bottom’s been smashed against, again, and again. We must shed the Federal Reserve, it’s not a federal agency! Read Paul Craig Roberts articles, and realize nothing’s been done to help home-owners to date, and 1,000,000 are going to lose their homes within a month. People cannot buy a home if they’re self-employed, and have a pot of cash in the bank, the dollar’s worthess actually. Betting on future values is foolhardy. Nonthing will help us when we cannot buy anything with our $$. Wal-Mart will seem like Neiman Marcus’ salons if this keeps up - in prices. The national debt is us! This was not a mistake, nor was it caused by Iraq. It has been in the works for decades. Look at the signers of the PNAC.

Oh, please, let’s get real here. That is the poorest excuse for a “poll” I’ve ever seen.

There’s simly nothing like beloved friends. I’ve lost most of my friends the past 10 years, and they weren’t old enough to die! My heart still breaks when I think of them, one by one; nothing or no one can come close to replacing one of them. The greatest heartache in all of these years, has been an acute awareness that friends are not always welcomed into the grieving family—so have to fend for themselves, or grieve with mutual friends. After this happened to me the first time, which also shocked my children who flew in for my friend’s funeral, I asked them if they knew what I would like for my friends when I pass on. They knew instantly; I hope they remember. Many of my friends’ services were 180 degrees from their personalities, and what they would have chosen, and shared with me, over the years. Georgia O’Keefe said it best…friends must be tended to like the flowers…Ken Ju, write, call, and be ever-present with your friend. Never give up.

Mona, we did that in Dallas several years ago, and the group is still functioning there — corporations donated the hardware to us, and volunteers from area corporations restored them, even the software maintence specialists pitched in. We had training centers throughout east, west, and south Dallas, in churches, and community centers, to teach anyone who came in how to use the computer. Many of the most questionably “sincere” students rose to the top to threatned all of our abilities, and found a new sense of pride. Contact the Dallas Chamber of Commerce, or the Dallas Hispanic Chamber, or one of the many computer companies in Dallas.

When I can’t breathe, the suffering is agonizing, and terrifying. Contact me, and I’ll tell you how to experience what it is like—family members cannot imagine such rapid turn-around in their loved one’s health, and no drugs help us, at all—asthma medications treat the lungs. Never in my life have I experienced such agony as the weeks when I was not able to breathe—I’ve had cancer twice, but the pain from the inability to breathe is the worse one can imagine. The breathing condition I have is related to my first determination to be a survivor—I had Polio as a child. My diaphragm is tired trying to function with less than ½ it’s motor neurons—and my remaining motor neurons try hard to keep me moving—and all I need is air, rest to protect those neurons I have left—but no stress chemicals that block the motor neurons from protein nourishment—you see, I know what I need to live on Mother Earth. I am college-educated, had 5 children, and cared for others professionally, or raised the money for them, most of my life. Few physicians know about neuro-muscular breathing disorders, and the importance of avoiding oxygen supplementation unless we’re at 94 or less, or the critical need for air by volume with back-up settings to breathe for us when our brain doesn’t respond in time due to earlier damage from either illness, trauma, or too much oxygen supplementation. Sleep Studies cannot diagnose neuromuscular breathing problems—but a respiratory therapist can, within 10 inexpensive minutes, in our home when we lie down—but my physician, and I had no idea this was the cause of my nightmarish symptoms for over 4 years—most doctors do not listen to the world expert in Polio-related breathing disorders, or MD’s kids. Yesterday, as they did 2 weeks ago, The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services again announced more cuts in critical services to (then children, elders, the disabled), and yesterday “an average 26% cut in Medicare reimbursement for 10 classes of durable medical equipment, which also includes prosthetics, orthotics and other supplies…” not limited to apnea sleep disorder products, oxygen, ventilators, Diabetic test strips and much, much more. The actions by CMS flies in the face of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1999 Decision, The Olmstead Act. Equally serious is CMS’s lack of professional recognition for the registered, licensed respiratory therapists – when breathing disorders are now the 4th leading cause of death in the world, and will become 2nd very soon in the US, unless we get ahead of this oncoming train, or many of us die from lack of adequate, simple care. Why is CMS (Medicare), and the insurance companies, trying to kill us? We are now a throw-away society. “health care reimbursement structures in this country have created a paradoxical situation, dictating its own guidelines, often inconsistent with the principles of health management. As a result, most health care settings operate like factories. Acute care get gets reimbursement, while chronic care is often ignored or minimized (Dr. Reji Mathews, NYU http://www.post-polio.org/edu/pphnews/PPH23-4p8-10.pdf ).” The day I was able to sleep 3-1/2 hours without gasping, in a local hospital, I was discharged, only to go home and fall into respiratory distress, again. I begged and pleaded for help, without any response—unless I went to an ER, and I knew oxygen would kill me. I fled out of my region for care—with national expert physicians, polio survivors, and RRTs helping me from miles away. What is so difficult to understand? Diabetics need insulin, and they get it; if I have insulin, it’ll kill me. Some people have seizures, and need anti-seizure drugs, those drugs might kill me. Others need a hip transplant and get one, those of us who need a brace may get leg muscle atrophy OR fall down and break a hip; for some of us, oxygen may destroy our lives, for others with COPD, etc., it’s critically important, and helping us cough. Please! All I need is air by volume, and my registered respiratory therapists (RRT) to over-see my condition at home (far less expensive). RRTs know more than 99% of the MDs/DOs sought refuge from in 2005-7, and they act in compliance with the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1999 ADA decision, The Olmstead Act, to keep us out of institutional care – because many die within 2 years of entering “nursing homes,” and other institutional care, or suffer neglect, and abuse—its documented—thus the Supreme Court acted—and Texas leads the nation in compliance, but …? “Us” is those who are blind, deaf, or have ALS, MS, MG, CFS, MD, epilepsy, TBI, and other conditions, that with appropriate care we are viable (able to live). You see us around your neighborhoods, in the stores, libraries, mall, churches (where are the churches, now?), buses, planes, and trains, at the beach, the doctors offices, we are everywhere—with or without leg braces, wheelchairs, walkers, ventilators, and/or oxygen. We may be your elders—God have mercy on CMS. This triple standard must be stopped by Congress or the voters must be highly present and act, now. We only need air or oxygen…or a leg brace to protect us from falling—we must be treated equally! We are society’s firebreak! CMS’s actions are criminally irresponsible. They are killing us—and it’s now proven to be deliberate. The voters must act, now! Basta!

Lisa, its important to have a medical evaluation for any sleep problems whatsoever; they can lead to serious other conditions like affecting the heart. At the same time, be sure anyone with a sleep disorder, or interrupted sleep patterns (sweating, waking up often, fear of returning to sleep, bed-wetting, et al), they find out if they’ve had a neuro-muscular disorder, or Polio - even another entero-virus … the approach to neuro-muscular breathing conditions is not the same as “sleep disorders,” per se - and oxygen isn’t the treatment, in most cases, nor air pressure; air via volume, is.

“Tunnel Vision?” Oh, please, remember when Bahaullah was supposed to have written those words! Check out the population figures, too - “every Sunday?” Add up the churches, and figure … “attending church” doesn’t sync with the space figures. Segregation in Starbuck’s, Central Park, Galleria, La Madeline, other parks, newstands, sidewalks, malls, etc. ???? No religion, please. This is a kind request, this time.

Opps - off I went — Canada’s Celtic shores … Nova Scotia - lovely trips.

If possible, charter! The U.S. is slipping rapidly into its entropic spiral while we are the ones fiddling. Money still reigns, but where is it! The GDP is fine? Get real, it’s all on credit cards. That is not fine. I know one institutional bonds exec. who can adivse wisely; he’s been warning about ‘now’ since Katrina was — (yes, it did happen). Can this thing be fixed?

Greacious, will we ever get away from personal comments about women? Does anyone point out male genatalia, much less approach to touch them? Please, this must cease, and it has to be done from the top down. In fact, many at the ‘bottom’ have more common sense than many ‘at the top.’ Equally important, altering breasts may have dire consequences - women, please think ‘down the road.’ Always find out if there is any technology to view the chest wall thoroughly, and easily. Breastcancer is 100 cancers - and it doesn’t go away (read TIME: Rethinking Breast Cancer - 1991, and Self’s coverage same time). Breasts are the most utilitarian part of a woman’s body - please, let us be.

Love it!

Susan, you’re welcome in my retreat — mi casa, su casa … lovely time of year, and you’re free; on your own. No strings. I’m considering building a pocket neighborhood for women who are retired, and/or dis-ABLED…married or not. Retreats, in my experience facilitating workshops are “Progressives.”

Again, I do believe if we’re going to be a primary resource for marketing, we should be paid. I refuse to wear anything that promotes a company, designer, et al unless I am paid - period. Women deserve to be paid.

This query doesn’t seem to have grabbed the interests of this “population group” - but the tangential threads are amazing. Perhaps we might examine them more closely. IOW, I think we all like to learn about successful women, encourage, and praise others, but there is a limit, IMHO, with all due respect.

Not-Happy-Day anything, Viagra - you mask the impetus to grow, not facilitate it. Get off TV, too—please. I now record all programs, and then whiz by the ads.