Flap Your Lips Friday
Posted by Michelle Moquin on April 12th, 2013
Good morning!
I feel like more needs to be said about foreclosures, and the independent review process that has been such a hot topic in the news lately. It’s hot on my mind as well. Here’s a video from All In with Chris Hayes of MSNBC. This is a must see. People who have done nothing wrong, who have made their mortgage payments, have been having their homes taken from them…literally stolen from them. And what the victims are getting back in compensation compared to what the “independent” reviewers got for conducting this review process, is just ludicrous.
If you’re confused about the criminal acts that have been happening in this mortgage crisis, this should clear it up for you.
All In | April 09, 2013
Foreclosure settlement: a nationwide crime scene
Banks are foreclosing on military members, on people who had been approved for a loan modification, and even on people who were never behind in their payments–all part of an astounding settlement that shortchanged millions of homeowners and left hundreds of thousands wrongfully ejected from their homes. Former Governor Elliot Spitzer; Alexis Goldstein, former Vice President at Merrill Lynch and Deutsche Bank, now an Occupy Wall Street activist ; and Faith Bautista, who was the victim of wrongful home foreclosure in 2009, join Chris Hayes and paint a stark picture of what happened, who is responsible and why there isn’t more justice from the government.
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
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Readers: Infuriating right? The OCC who is supposed to protect home owners has sided with the banks. Surprising? I wish I could say yes,. Comments? Blog me.
Happy Friday Everyone – Have a beautiful day!
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
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April 12th, 2013 at 11:45 am
Can’t Catch Your Breath? The Problem May Have Nothing to Do With Your Lungs…
Perhaps climbing a flight or two of stairs has never really affected your breathing—until now. Or maybe you notice that it’s harder to breathe even when you’re simply watching television. What’s going on?
You might wonder whether you are developing a common lung problem such as asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)—especially if you’re over age 40…you have a history of allergies…are a current or former smoker…or have been exposed for long periods to secondhand smoke, heavy dust or chemical fumes.
But don’t be too quick to make assumptions. There’s a chance that your lungs have nothing to do with your shortness of breath.
WHEN BREATHING IS A STRUGGLE
Breathing allows us to bring oxygen into the body and expel carbon dioxide. When your body doesn’t have enough oxygen or has too much carbon dioxide, you automatically breathe faster. You’ll perceive this as breathlessness, a condition known as dyspnea.
What you may not realize: Dyspnea can be caused by dozens of different problems. Among the most common…*
Anemia. It occurs when you do not have enough red blood cells or hemoglobin, a substance in blood that transports oxygen to tissues throughout the body. Various forms of anemia—such as iron-deficiency anemia or pernicious (low levels of vitamin B-12) anemia—can cause breathlessness.
Anemia may be accompanied by: Fatigue, rapid heartbeat, leg cramps or difficulty concentrating.
Next steps: Anemia can readily be detected by blood tests, such as a complete blood count (CBC) and blood analyses to examine the size/shape of red blood cells.
Treatment: Your breathing will improve once the underlying cause of the anemia is identified and treated—with supplemental iron or vitamin B-12, for example, or with antibiotics for an ulcer (internal bleeding from an ulcer is a common cause of anemia). Iron-deficiency anemia also can occur with some cases of colon cancer due to a slow loss of blood from the colon.
Anxiety.
It is a common cause of breathlessness. When you are stressed or anxious, you tend to take short, shallow and rapid breaths. This breathing pattern, known as hyperventilation, is inefficient and causes changes in the normal balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide.
Anxiety may be accompanied by: A rapid heartbeat, numbness or tingling in the hands or feet and sometimes a feeling of faintness.
Next steps:
Your doctor will first check for possible physical causes of breathlessness, such as asthma or a lung infection. You might be given a chest X-ray and spirometry, a test that’s administered in your doctor’s office and involves blowing into a device to measure lung capacity.
Treatment:
If tests show that you are physically healthy, your doctor may refer you to a psychiatrist or other anxiety-treatment specialist. You might benefit from counseling or an antianxiety medication, such as lorazepam (Ativan) or clonazepam (Klonopin).
Also helpful:
Abdominal breathing, which involves inhaling deeply through the nose for about 10 seconds, then slowly exhaling for about 10 seconds. But don’t make the mistake of performing this technique only when you’re feeling anxious.
If you do it for about five minutes a few times a day, you’ll slowly begin to naturally breathe more deeply all the time, including during times of stress. If you feel light-headed while practicing abdominal breathing, stop for 20 seconds, then start again.
Side effect of beta-blockers.
These drugs are prescribed for high blood pressure, angina, heart failure and mild anxiety. Drugs in this class often cause shortness of breath because they affect beta-adrenergic receptors in the lungs as well as in the heart and arteries.
Use of beta-blockers may be accompanied by: Wheezing, changes in heartbeat or dizziness.
Next steps:
Suspect that the -beta-blocker may be to blame if your symptoms began within two weeks of starting the drug. When you see your doctor, bring a list of all the medications that you take. Breathlessness also can be caused by an allergic reaction to a medication, such as an antibiotic.
Treatment:
If the breathlessness is too uncomfortable, ask your doctor about switching to a different class of blood pressure medication. Or he/she might prescribe one of the newer selective beta-blockers, such as metoprolol (Lopressor) or acebutolol (Sectral), which are somewhat less likely to affect the lungs than older beta-blockers.
Heart failure.
It often causes shortness of breath because the heart can’t supply the body with adequate amounts of oxygen. What usually happens is that the heart’s pumping chambers, or ventricles, don’t fill with enough blood, so less blood is circulated with each heartbeat. Or the chambers don’t generate enough force to circulate blood efficiently.
Heart failure may be accompanied by: Fatigue, a persistent cough or swelling of the feet, ankles and legs.
Next steps:
Among other tests, your doctor will probably order an EKG, a chest X-ray to determine whether the heart is enlarged or there’s fluid in the lungs, and a blood test for the hormone BNP (levels increase in patients with heart failure).
Treatment:
You’ll probably be given medications that lower blood pressure and reduce the heart’s workload. You also might need surgically implanted electrodes to correct heartbeat irregularities (arrhythmias) or increase the force of the heartbeat.
Important:
Shortness of breath also is a classic sign of a heart -attack. If you’re suddenly breathless and it’s a new symptom, get to an emergency room right away or call 911.
Pulmonary embolism.
You should suspect that you have this condition, which occurs when a blood clot enters a lung, if you have sudden shortness of breath. What usually happens is that a blood clot from a leg vein travels to an artery in a lung and blocks circulation. About 30% of patients with a pulmonary embolism will die if they don’t get emergency treatment.
Pulmonary embolism may be accompanied by: Chest pain and/or coughing (with or without blood). Some patients will notice pain, swelling or discoloration on part of one leg—a sign that blood clots have formed.
Next steps: Call 911. An ultrasound or CT scan will be used to detect clots. Your doctor might order a lung ventilation/perfusion scan to show how well blood is flowing through the lungs.
Treatment:
You will be hospitalized if you have (or are suspected of having) a pulmonary embolism. You’ll probably be given intravenous heparin, a fast-acting blood thinner, along with oral warfarin (Coumadin) to prevent additional clots from forming. Most patients will continue anticoagulant therapy for at least six months.
IS IT PNEUMONIA?
Even a slight cold or the flu can take your breath away, but don’t assume that a cold or the flu is all you have.
Many people who think they have a cold actually have pneumonia, a lung infection that kills about 50,000 Americans every year.
Walking pneumonia, the term for mild cases, usually clears up on its own within a week to 10 days.
More serious cases of pneumonia, however, often require hospitalization and treatment with antibiotics. Serious cases of pneumonia usually are caused by bacteria rather than viruses.
Red flags: Fever, cough, discolored or bloody mucus, chest pain and chills—especially when accompanied by shortness of breath—warrant a visit to your doctor right away.
Also important:
Get vaccinated for pneumonia if you’re age 65 or older…or if you have pneumonia risk factors such as smoking or a history of heart/lung disease, diabetes or liver disease.
Acute bronchitis, inflammation of the main air passages to the lungs, is less serious than pneumonia but also can cause shortness of breath. Check with your doctor.
*If you experience a degree and/or frequency of breathlessness that is new to you, see your doctor.
Source: Len Horovitz, MD, an internist and pulmonary specialist at Lenox Hill Hospital and director of Carnegie Medical PC, a private practice, both in New York City. New York Magazine has included him among “The Best Doctors in New York” for both pulmonary and internal medicine.
He is a contributor to the medical anthology The Singer’s Guide to Complete Health (Oxford University).
April 12th, 2013 at 12:07 pm
this is why the republican won’t want regulation in this case consumer reg.it would stop the roll over of citizens that are caught in the right wing wood chipper.
April 12th, 2013 at 12:09 pm
Senate Extremists Try to Block Gun Violence Prevention Bill
In the fight against gun violence, there’s good news this week and some bad news this week. We’ll start with the good news:
As of yesterday, at least 12 Republican senators agreed that the Senate should take up a gun violence prevention bill and vote on various proposals, including expanded background checks, a ban on high-capacity magazines, and an assault weapons ban. This almost guarantees that there will be enough votes for the Senate to take up the bill when they vote on it first thing tomorrow morning.
Today, Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV), Pat Toomey (R-PA), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Mark Kirk (R-IL) announced a bipartisan compromise on background checks. Their plan is not as extensive as the original Democratic proposal, but it will make significant progress in preventing guns from getting into the hands of criminals, the dangerously mentally ill, and others who should not have them. As Sen. Toomey said today, “I don’t consider criminal background checks to be gun control. It’s just common sense.”
Mayors Against Illegal Guns put lawmakers on notice that, just like the NRA, they’ll be keeping score and grading lawmakers on their gun violence prevention records. They also put out a strong new ad slamming Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) for opposing universal background checks (more on him in minute).
Lots of good news, right? Well, here’s the bad news:
A group of 14 Republican senators lead by extremists like Sens. Rubio, Rand Paul (R-KY) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) signed a letter promising to filibuster any gun violence prevention bill.
Even Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) signed on to this offensive effort to prevent the Senate from even debating a gun violence bill, much less vote on the important provisions that will save lives. That’s bad for the country and an insult to families from Newtown, Aurora, and every other community across America that has been touched by gun violence.
Thankfully, it looks like these extreme Republicans won’t be able stop the Senate from voting on a gun violence prevention bill. But we’re not out of the woods yet, we’ll still need 60 votes to pass a bill that includes important provisions like expanded background checks.
Are you one of the 90 percent of Americans who thinks criminals, suspected terrorists, rapists, and stalkers shouldn’t be able to have guns? Call your senators today and tell them to pass a strong gun violence prevention bill with a strong background check provision: (202) 224-3121. The Senate won’t vote until tomorrow morning, so there’s still time to call.
BOTTOM LINE: The victims of senseless gun violence and their families deserve a vote — in both the Senate and the House.
April 12th, 2013 at 12:12 pm
There is no plan to help the bottom 80% of US society…and none in the pipeline. Screaming for more redistribution is not a plan (and will not work). At some point, some leader has to look at the American citizenry and tell them that their behavior, and expectations have to change. Some examples:
1. Live obese, and you’re screwed.
2. Fail to study hard in K-12, and you’re screwed.
3. Have a kid before you have significant savings, or a real career…and you’re screwed.
4. Get impregnated by a deadbeat, and you’re screwed.
5. Expecting a middle class life with a high school degree is just dumb.
6. The rich aren’t at fault here…the entire globe is changing, and there’s more competition than ever.
7. Marry someone wealthier/more educated than you. Dating deadbeats is a recipe for poverty.
8. The safest way to live is to not have children.
9. Entertainment culture has made most of you dumb…you better start reading.
10. Health insurance isn’t going to just show up, despite any regulation or policy. All of you have to manage your own health, exercise, live and eat healthy, and save up money for rainy days.
April 12th, 2013 at 12:19 pm
Hey ladies, if you’re having sex only occasionally and the pills are disappearing much faster than that, and you find two tucked away in the car ashtray, that should be a clue too.
I still wonder what he told the doctor when he got the prescription. Somehow I doubt it was “I need to be able to do my girlfriend on the way home from work and still have something left for my wife so she won’t suspect anything.” The pills weren’t the cause of either the affair or the divorce, but they allowed the charades to go on longer than otherwise.
April 12th, 2013 at 10:29 pm
My beautiful lady, I miss you so much. Let’s make a date soon to be together.
April 12th, 2013 at 11:59 pm
I miss you too. I am available my love if only for a brief respite. I am here. Call me.
April 13th, 2013 at 6:03 am
Hafa Adai. Maybe the gods do protect Guam, at least in the tourist department. Guam – As the Guam Visitors Bureau (GVB) celebrates its 50th anniversary, it also is celebrating the news that preliminary visitor arrivals for the month of March broke all records in the history of tourism.
Preliminary data shows 136,278 visitors came to Guam in March 2013, breaking August 1995′s previous 18 year record of 135,710 visitors.
Of course it could just be all this talk about Korea, has made the presence of Guam better known. Especially that it is an equal part of the USA except for being able to vote in its presidential elections.
I will say that the arrogance of some of the whites from the mainland is still very apparent. They don’t seem sensitive to guamanians feelings when they openly say “what’s all the fuss about a place so small?” when the topic comes up about the threat from North Korea.
It is not loss on us they mean a small place chiefly occupied by OTW americans. I doubt if they would feel that way about a city in Rhode Island or any other place chiefly occupied by white americans being targeted by a foreign nation.
I agree with Robert,RT and Alycedale. A third of white americans are full blown homicidal racists, a third are apologist for that group and perhaps there are a full third that are like the rest of humanity.
When I over hear some white visitor to Guam talking to each other aloud without a care for the feelings of those of us that live here on Guam, I am reminded why Castro threw the racist bastards off Cuba. Imagine going to the home of another and placing a sign on your establishment in Cuba saying “No dogs or cubans allowed.”
For those types it bothers them to come to Guam and voice, why spend so much money to protect a part of America (occupied by mostly OTWs) when it is so small.
Can’t wait to hear that second third of the race come on and argue I am playing the “race card.” It will be interesting to see how they ignore the racial element while claiming “size” does matter. As if any part of the USA occupied my mainly whites would be acceptable for the government to allow it to be attacked by a foreign power because it was so very small.
If I were Castro, I’d throw the bastards off my island too.