Saturday, March 30, 2013

Verne Strickland talks faith, healing, and God's blessings. It is Easter.































By Verne Strickland / March 30, 2013

The enormity of what is happening to me is not in my conscious mind often enough. It should be.

I was introduced to a new rheumatologist a couple of weeks ago. A routine check-up -- though when you're 76, no physical problem seems routine.

"You have polymyalgia rheumatica."

"I did have."

"It is chronic and incurable."

"I was healed."

"Okay. I accept that. And you have spinal stenosis. What happened there?"

"I prayed my way through it. I was scheduled for surgery. When I came back for an evaluation, the doctor told me the problem had somehow cleared up.

"Healed?"

"Yes."

"Your bone cancer? Healed?"

 "I don't know. But I am in remission. My oncologist called my progress remarkable. I no longer need radiation. Or chemo. I see him once a month for check-ups. Maybe it's a miracle. He doesn't flatly deny that."

What has happened to me? What has transpired in my life? My family is delighted, of course. Relieved. They've seen me endure pain and suffering. But never despair. Not even serious doubt.

How? Why? I know how and why. I've been blessed beyond measure. Through prayer and faith. God put His hand on me and brought me through.

Many would call me an old man. I don't feel it. I'm told I don't look it. I have energy and physical well-being and optimism that don't belie my age.

One thing I haven't mentioned -- my diagnosed Alzheimer's. That troubles me. It has taken a lot from me. Despite taking two powerful prescribed medicines for the disease, I struggle with my memory. Am confused many times by simple problems. Sometimes get lost. It's frustrating.

But I am able to write with gusto and confidence. I kept that. I say this is why God put me here. It is His plan for me. I write about politics, government, the exceptionalism of America, abortion, global tensions, family, and the honesty and responsibility -- or lack it it -- that our leaders show us.

And God. A lot about God. My blog and Facebook page often deal with Christianity, prayer, faith, and "competing" religions. I share the Good News of redemption and the incomparable love of Jesus Christ. I think what I write is important to some people. They seem buoyed by the encouraging words, interested in how God has affected me in my personal, family and professional life. It's an "open book" discussion.

I am not boastful of any of this. I have no need to be. I only bring myself to the table. Just As I Am. God takes it from there. I talk about it -- personal experiences, doubts, concerns, and that sort of thing. Some comment that they receive inspiration from this. I am flattered and humbled.

A reporter at heart, I asked my new rheumatologist what attracted him to this particular field of medicine. What he said was unexpected. 

"I deal with despondency and discouragement, as well as the courage and strength of my patients. Progress is slow and there are many failures. But I'm always looking for that golden nugget -- somebody who has gone through it all and is still standing. Your case is the reward. I see how all of the research, treatment, financial sacrifice, and dedication of professionals in this field can come together for a real victory. It is very heartening."

Dang. I could not have expected that. But it reminds me anew of how God works in our lives. And how we must be doubly grateful for the good things he shares with us.

I look back over my time in chemotherapy, hooked up with a IV feed, receiving the cancer-fighting fluids that keep us alive and functioning. There is much time for reflection during those hours. I spend my time reading, thinking, and talking with other patients, many of whom shoulder a bigger burden than I -- breast cancer, brain cancer, lung cancer, pancreatic cancer. While others deal with bone cancer, as I do.

They are dear people for whom I feel great compassion. And they are courageous, uncomplaining, brave, stoic, and so special.  I talk with them frankly about their plight. I'm accepted. I am a member of the club. I share cancer's presence and threat with them. I pray for them and with them. Many I have not seen since.

"All things work together for good to those who are in Christ, who are called according to His purposes." Such promise. Sweet verses such as this sustain me. I share them with my wonderful fellow travelers. They receive them quietly -- some with a nod, others with a gentle smile.

I have gained much from this journey, with which I am not done yet. I look forward to a deeper relationship with my Savior Jesus Christ, who has been so generous with me. His most precious gift has been forgiveness. Salvation.

This is what we thank Him for this Easter in the Year of Our Lord 2013.









In controversial shift, Medicare would pay for sex-change operations


Verne Strickland USA DOT COM
March 29, 2013


















 Paul Bedard   The Washington Examiner March 29, 2013 


Acting on a new request, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said it is starting a new analysis that could lift the spending ban for sex-change operations with a goal of making a decision two days after Christmas and on the eve of Obamacare kicking in Jan. 1.
A 30-day public comment period just opened on the proposed "National Coverage Determination."
"Surgical Treatment for Gender Identity Disorder, formerly referred to as transsexual surgery in 140.3, is currently noncovered under the Medicare Part A and Part B programs. The existing policy, which became effective in 1981, states that transsexual surgery is considered experimental," said the notice just posted on the CMS.gov site.
"Please note that we are making an administrative change to the NCD title under this reconsideration to reflect current medical terminology. The new title for Section 140.3 will be Surgical Treatment for Gender Identity Disorder," it adds.
The National Center for Transgender Equality is among those pushing for the changes.
In supporting letters to CMS, one of the proponents claims that the experimental status of sex-change operations has long passed and that studies confirm it works. "These medical procedures and treatment protocols are not experimental: decades of both clinical experience and medical research show they are essential to achieving well-being for the transsexual patient," said the letter.
A second letter called the federal policy discriminatory, and added that failure to get the operation by those who needed can cause death. "The net effect is a failure to treat a treatable disorder which in many cases leads to death. The discrimination (is) clearly un-American," added the letter.

LifeNews: HHS mandate draws more opposition than any Obama administration policy


 

 

 

 

 

Verne Strickland USA DOT COM  March 30, 2013

 

by Steven Ertelt | Washington, DC | LifeNews.com | 3/26/13 1:41 PM

A new report indicates the controversial pro-abortion HHS mandate has drawn more opposition than any other federal government regulation.
A report in The Hill indicates the Obama administration’s rule requiring businesses and organizations to pay for birth control and drugs that may cause abortions has received input from more than 147,000 people — with most of them opposing the mandate.
The group attributed the flood of comments to the Catholic Church, which has urged parishioners to express their opposition to the mandate as an attack on religious freedom. Some women’s groups have also encouraged their members to support the policy as it moves through the regulatory process.
The watchdog group reported that the next-most-commented rules are those governing the federal pre-existing condition insurance plan.
Those regulations drew 4,600 responses, about 30 times fewer comments than birth control rules received. The disparity shows “just how motivated foes and champions of the contraceptive provision are,” the foundation wrote.
The Sunlight Foundation, which released the report, provided additional information about it:
CLICK LIKE IF YOU’RE PRO-LIFE!

It is the rule rather than the exception that most federal regulations get little attention from the general public. Instead, dockets tend to be dominated by industry groups representing companies affected by the regulations. In an analysis of regulations receiving comments in 2012, Sunlight found that 89 percent of the regulations that drew at least one comment received 100 or fewer.

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Brazilian "doctor" charged with murdering seven patients "to free up hospital beds" -- may have been 300 more!

In this Feb. 19, 2013 photo, Virginia Soares de Souza, center, is escorted by police officers to a temporary prison in Curitiba, Parana state, Brazil. 
 In this Feb. 19, 2013 photo, Virginia Soares de Souza, center, is escorted by police officers to a temporary prison in Curitiba, Parana state, Brazil.   (AP Photo/Henry Milleo, Gazeta do Povo,
 
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff


Posted Mar 28, 2013 4:52 AM CDT
  • STORY
  • Verne Strickland Blogmaster / March 38, 2013

       
 
(Newser) – A Brazilian intensive care unit doctor has been charged in the murders of seven patients as a means to free up hospital beds—and now, investigators say she may have been involved in up to 300 deaths. 

Dr. Virginia Soares de Souza has so far been charged with seven counts of aggravated first degree murder; seven members of her team also face murder charges, Reuters reports. According to prosecutors, the health workers used muscle relaxants on patients before cutting their oxygen to asphyxiate them. 


Investigators are currently reviewing some 1,700 medical records belonging to patients who've died in the past seven years. 

"We already have more than 20 cases established, and there are nearly 300 more that we are looking into," says the chief investigator. 

That figure would put de Souza among the deadliest known serial killers. The prosecutors point to wiretaps of de Souza's phone as evidence of her motive. 

"I want to clear the intensive care unit. It's making me itch," she says in a recording. "Unfortunately, our mission is to be go-betweens on the springboard to the next life." Her lawyer says she's not guilty and that investigators are confused about how the ICU functions.








Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Wilmington blogger Verne Strickland beats Huffpost by two years on how Tucson mass murderer should have been stopped.

Wilmington blogger Verne Strickland wrote this on USA DOT COM on Monday, December 12, 2011 

 

Jared Loughner

Jared Loughner 
Jared Loughner -- a "textbook" case paranoid schizophrenic -- and why that really matters.

Verne Strickland: A personal story about family and the toll of paranoid schizophrenia:

Paranoid schizophrenia has visited my close relatives at least twice. It attacked my mother's lovely younger sister Anne during her early twenties in Baltimore. She spent the rest of her life in mental wards, and she died there, a broken, lonely woman old beyond her years.

It attacked my younger brother Bruce -- also in his twenties, which is typical -- and drove him mad. He lost his wife, a promising career in art, and his bright, lively mind. He spent the rest of his ruined life fighting away the taunting voices that wouldn't stop. He died in a rest home at 52. All of our family suffered with him.

So I have known schizophrenia up close and personal. It's ugly and incurable and is a wrecker of lives. It seems to be genetically linked. Any of your loved ones who are targeted may be be reduced to an emotional shell. Violence might be lurking in their future -- especially if prescribed medicines are missed.

Paranoid schizophrenia makes monsters of people like Jared Lee Loughner. It is sheer cruelty and a miscarriage of justice to prop his mind up with chemicals so he can be imprisoned or killed. He is not responsible for his acts, as reprehensible as they may be. He should be deemed not guilty by reason of insanity.

The article I am presenting here is one of the most lucid treatments of the ravages of this disease that I have read in recent years. People like Loughner, to most, have no redeeming virtues, garner no sympathy, and will likely be given no cogent defense.

They are hard to understand, and harder to love. But they do not belong in a courtroom being tried for murder.



On March 27, 2013 -- two years later -- HUFFPOST CRIME wrote the same thing. But Big Media want to ignore the truth. Mental illness, not guns, is often the real killer in murder cases. USA DOT COM is finally getting at the truth.

PHOENIX — Almost everyone who crossed paths with Jared Loughner in the year before he shot former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords described a man who was becoming more unhinged and delusional by the day.
He got fired from a clothing store and thrown out of college, shaved his head and got tattoos of bullets on his shoulder. He showed up at the apartment of a friend with a Glock 9 mm pistol, saying he needed it for "home protection." He made dark comments about the government, and, according to one acquaintance, appeared suicidal.
Loughner's spiral into madness hit bottom on Jan. 8, 2011. He broke down in tears when a wildlife agent pulled him over for a traffic stop. He went to a gas station and asked the clerk to call a cab as he paced nervously around the store. Gazing up at the clock, he said, "Nine twenty-five. I still got time."
About 45 minutes later, Giffords lay bleeding on a Tucson sidewalk along with 11 others who were wounded. Six people were dead.
The information about Loughner's mental state – and the fact that no one did much to get him help – emerged as a key theme in roughly 2,700 pages of investigative papers released Wednesday. Still, there was nothing to indicate exactly why he targeted Giffords.
The files also provided the first glimpse into Loughner's family and a look at parents dealing with a son who had grown nearly impossible to communicate with.
"I tried to talk to him. But you can't," his father, Randy Loughner, told police. "Lost, lost and just didn't want to communicate with me no more."
His mother, Amy Loughner, recalled hearing her son alone in his room "having conversations" as if someone else were there.
Despite recommendations from Pima Community College that Loughner undergo a mental evaluation after the school expelled him, his parents never followed up.
In a statement released by the gun control advocacy group she started with her husband, Giffords said that "no one piece of legislation" would have prevented the shooting.
"However, I hope that commonsense policies like universal background checks become part of our history, just like the Tucson shootings are – our communities will be safer because of it."

IT WAS PARANOID SCHIZOPHRENIA -- SERIOUS MENTAL ILLNESS -- NOT AUTOMATIC WEAPONS -- THAT DOOMED GABRIELLE GIFFORDS AND OTHERS. FEDS WERE ON THE WRONG TRAIL ALL  ALONG!


Child molesters: They're coming to America. (See NC story below)


Verne Strickland Blogmaster / March 27, 2013

Illegal aliens raping their way through NC's children.

On Monday, Border Patrol agents working in East San Diego County witnessed a man illegally cross the border into the United States and quickly apprehended the suspect.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reported:
A routine records check showed that Isais Peralta Reyes, 37, had been deported after being convicted in Washington for child molestation and witness tampering. He was arrested to face a federal charge of re-entry after deportation, the Border Patrol said.
Reyes is currently in the custody of the Department of Homeland Security and is expected to be charged with illegal re-entry after deportation.
A few days earlier...
On Monday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced that Border Patrol agents working out of the Eagle Pass South station in Texas encountered Mexican national Antonio Monjaras-Negrete, 57, who had just crossed the border illegally.
While processing the illegal alien, agents discovered that Monjaras-Negrete had been convicted of indecent liberties with a child in Arlington, Texas, and was deported in 2012.
According to CBP, agents have discovered eight convicted sex offenders re-entering the country, in Texas' Del Rio Sector alone, during Fiscal Year 2013.
Of course, these two arrests are only the latest examples of the danger to which American children are being subjected through illegal immigration.
See further evidence of this 'war on children:'
Previously deported illegal alien charged with child molestation
Previously deported illegal alien charged with statutory rape
Twice deported illegal alien wanted for sexual assault
Previously deported illegal alien charged with fatal rape of an infant

Monday, March 25, 2013

Verne Strickland Facebook and USA DOT COM launch the great American freedom Hootenanny. Wish you'd joined us.

 
  Verne Strickland | Facebook
  March 26, 2013
Verne: Freedom of expression is alive and well in America.
This just happened tonight. I wanted to see this idiot's photo. I had heard about him. I'm not surprised. Not disappointed.  In fact, I feel justified. Somehow, he's exactly what I had envisioned. What a total train wreck. Poor man. He has claimed his place in hell.
With this inauspicious beginning, a great thing happened. Everybody jumped in and had their say. It was a great spontaneous outpouring of American fervor and a chance to set the record straight.
Here's the play-by-play, and how it all got started:

Under pressure, Florida Atlantic University has now apologized for the "Jesus Stomping" exercise in its Communications class.  You have to wonder what would've happened if the class exercise had been a "Muhammad Stomping".

http://cbs12.com/news/top-stories/stories/fau-offers-apology-over-jesus-stomping-class-exercise-6090.shtml?wap=0 
 













Under pressure, Florida Atlantic University has now apologized for the "Jesus Stomping" exercise in its Communications class. You have to wonder what would've happened if the "shoe had been on the other foot." Well, take a look at how average Americans see it all.
  • Benjamin P. Chatham Nothing the Lib Dims do surprises me any more.
  • Scott Denison Thanks for putting a face to stupid.
  • Verne Strickland Nor me, my good friend. Where is this man's mind? Where is his heart? Hell, where is his pancreas?
  • Tammy Jobin Covil So much I would LOVE to say about this man. But, being the lady that I am, I'll let you use your imagination as to what I'm thinking.
  • Benjamin P. Chatham The fact that a university would condone the actions of this man is an indictment of college level education in this Country.
  • Verne Strickland Tammy -- let it go, girl! We only live once. Whatever you thought about saying (but didn't) you'd be on the side of God -- who is not mocked. That's comforting to me.
  • Scott Denison No student should be forced to do anything they find morally or intellectually wrong. The suspention is unconscionable.
  • Benjamin P. Chatham Unfortunately this cretin is not alone in his profession. There are many more teaching the young who are just like him/
  • Verne Strickland Ben, be reasonable. No one at Florida Atlantic "University" has a clue what "condone" means. My guess is they would think you were saying "condom". You know who's paying their bills? You and me, baby. We have lost control of the purse strings totally. It's damn criminal, isn't it?
  • Bob Florio they can apologize all they want! Just like entertainers...they only say I'm sorry because they got caught.
  • Benjamin P. Chatham My grandson is finishing his third year of college at one of the best engineering schools ihn the Country, RPI, courtesy of a US Navy scholarship. But, due to sequester, next year he will have no scholarship so he, his parents, and I will have to make...See More
  • Tammy Jobin Covil @ Benjamin - you are correct. The teaching "profession" is crawling with vile, despicable people who are corrupting our innocent children with their propaganda. Would love to be a fly on the wall when this demon spawn tries to explain his actions on judgement day. Vengeance is mine, saith The Lord.
  • Benjamin P. Chatham They are not sorry. Any grown man who is supposedly highly educated would have never forced a student to do anything like that. In training people in the military, we called upon
  • Scott Denison When you consider that the percentage of people working in the area of their degree always fluxuates between 2 and 5 these collegiate ponces should not hold such sway in our society.
  • Benjamin P. Chatham people to do some unreasonable things, but nothing that despicable.
  • Jennifer Jackson It is everywhere. The single largest tactical mistake that conservatives made was abdicating education to the progressives and radicals. http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=lmDTbWkt9ks&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DlmDTbWkt9ks
  • Benjamin P. Chatham Amen, schools ran much better before the systems started taking money from the Federal Government which, like all monetary gifts from Uncle Sam, come with mandates attradhed which always ruin what is being helped.
  • Verne Strickland Ben: (on sequester and RPI). Man that's deplorable. So darned sorry. Yes, elements we don't like or trust are pushing deserving people like you and your family around. The didn't earn the right to do this, and don't deserve the power to do it. Stow this in your magazine, keep the powder dry, and fire it back at them when you can. I'll be a spotter for you. The sorry SOBs. I mean it.
  • Edwin S Benton I would say that his education has outgrown his intelligence.
  • Verne Strickland Benjamin: Jesse warned us -- back in the 60s when LBJ was gearing up his destructive Great Society and War on Poverty. He said it in so many words -- once you let this genie out of the bottle you'll never get it back in. Of course, he was right. I learned so much from him, and he left me with his indelible conservative philosophy which has served me well ever since.
  • Benjamin P. Chatham What is really disgusting is there are people right here in Wilmington who are emp;oyed and they getr student loans to obtain training so they can get a job, then they take the money and live on it like welfare and don't get any training. How;s that for stupid>
  • Verne Strickland I'd say it pretty damn smart -- but despicable -- for a lazy lout with no morals or principles. But, no -- not to be admired or forgiven. They game the system. They ruin it. They mock its intent. I wish we could punish them suitably for the error of their ways.
  • Benjamin P. Chatham I got my indelible conservative philosophy from living in a very conservative area of Upstate NY (unfortunately it is not anymore) and from my parents who worked long and hard to support and educate five sons to achieve much more than they ever could. I won't ever forget their lessons.
  • Dm Carpenter Had he ordered a student to stomp on 'Allah', 'Koran', or perhaps even 'Gaia', the professor would be the one on the outside.
  • Verne Strickland Of course not. I'm sure the two of us had the same sort of family setting, were taught honesty, hard work, Christian principles, and generosity. But Ben, we are not being "generous" when we support shiftless individuals who do nothing for their keep, and cause us to work even harder to pay for their obligations. The whole thing is rotten. It will stop when the system is broken. I don't think that is too far off.
  • Verne Strickland Dm: I expect he'd be dead, don't you? Muslim radicals play hard ball. Cut off hands, and other ghoulish stuff. That's why their society is so sick. It's based on hatred, intolerance, cruelty and all out war on Christ and Christians. I should forgive, I know. But there's something in me that wants payback.
  • Dm Carpenter Mr. Strickland: If not dead, he would be fleeing that Fatwa.
  • Verne Strickland That's a given. Thanks, Dm. 
    Well, friends, this has been one of the hottest threads I have ever launched. It shows how Americans, Christians, Jews, conservatives, patriots, and all who value family, the Lord, and America really feel -- and how pent-up emotions, beliefs, and deep-seated sentiments have gathered in each of us. It has to come out. Only in America can this happen, though. This gives me confidence and faith in who we are and what is right. This has been wonderful. Let's have another great freedom hootenanny real soon, okay -- one where we can let it all hang out like we did tonight. Are you for that? God bless you each and every one! Your pal and fan, Verne.