endoftheamericandream.com
On some level, we all knew that this was going to happen. Health insurance companies across the United States are announcing that health insurance premiums are going to go up substantially. Why? Well, many of these health insurance companies are openly admitting that they are raising rates because of the mandates contained in Barack Obama's new health care reform law. Of course when the health care reform bill was being debated, Barack Obama swore up and down that this would never happen. At the time, Obama promised that the average American family would save $2,500 in yearly health care premiums under the new law. But did any of us actually believe that load of nonsense? The instant Obama made his pledge we all should have started reaching for our wallets. Of course this insane "health care reform" law was going to raise health insurance rates. The only question to be answered was by how much.
Already, Americans spend far more for health care than anyone else in the world. According to a recent report, Americans spend approximately twice as much as residents of other developed countries on health care. In return, Americans get surprisingly low quality and far less efficiency than other nations are able to achieve.
But soon Americans will be paying even more for health insurance.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the following are just some of the health insurance companies that have announced rate hikes that are at least partially attributed to Obamacare....
*Aetna says that the extra benefits that the new health care reform law is forcing it to cover are behind rate increases for new individual plans of 5.4% to 7.4% in California and 5.5% to 6.8% in Nevada.
*Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon claims that the cost of providing additional benefits under Obamacare will account for 3.4% of a 17.1% premium rise for small employers.
*Celtic Insurance claims that half of a whopping 18% health insurance premium increase it is seeking comes from complying with mandates in the new health care law.
All over America, health care insurance premiums are absolutely soaring. Whether it is as a result of Obamacare or not, health insurers have decided that this is the seasons to raise rates. Just consider the following excerpt from a recent article on Fox News....
Here is the terse reason CareFirst/Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Washington gave its subscribers for raising a monthly premium from $333 to $512 on a middle aged man who is healthy, is not a smoker and is not obese: "Your new rate reflects the overall rise in health care costs and we regret having to pass these additional costs on to you."
512 dollars a month for health insurance for one person?
The American people cannot possibly afford this nonsense.
But thanks to Obama, we are all now going to be forced to buy health insurance. Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and the rest of the Democrats have created a national health care nightmare and every single one of us is going to pay dearly.
And the health insurance companies don't even need the money. In fact, they are making record profits already. The truth is that America's health insurance companies increased their profits by 56 percent in 2009.
Yes, you read the correctly.
56 percent.
And now they are about to make even more money as they raise rates on you and I and the rest of the American people.
You see, the reality is that the large health insurance companies don't just make millions of dollars in profits.
They make billions.
According to a report by Health Care for America Now, America's five biggest for-profit health insurance companies ended 2009 with a combined profit of $12.2 billion.
That is the real reason why health insurance companies like to raise rates so much.
They have got to keep the record breaking profits rolling in.
For example, did you know that the top executives at the five largest for-profit health insurance companies in the United States received nearly $200 million in total compensation in 2009?
I would like to get a little slice of that.
Wouldn't you?
Life is good if you are a health insurance executive these days.
They seem to particularly like to stick it to small businesses.
According to an article on the Mother Jones website, health insurance premiums for small employers in the U.S. increased 180% between 1999 and 2009.
Things have gotten completely and totally out of control.
As I have written about previously on our sister site, the entire U.S. health care industry has become all about making as much money as possible. It has become an industry that is far more about greed than it is about actually taking care of people.
Meanwhile, the American people are getting drained in multiple ways.
We are all going to have to pay much higher health insurance rates and we are all going to have to pay higher taxes to pay for all of the new bureaucracy in the new health care law.
The reality is that there is no way that we can afford this new health care law. At this point, 61% of all American voters believe that the health care law will increase the federal deficit.
Without a doubt, Obamacare has quickly become one of the most unpopular laws in U.S. history. In fact, the political winds have shifted so much that now even many Democrats are openly campaigning against the health care reform law as the midterm elections approach.
So let us hope that at some point Obamacare gets repealed.
But for now, health insurance companies will continue to use Obamacare to continue to stick us with huge rate increases.
Isn't our system great?
Sunday, September 26, 2010
The Coming Persecution
"He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches" - Revelation 2:29
Wordview Times
Dr. David M. Berman
Now this is an article that should get your attention. Sadly, many refuse to be willing to consider the possibility of persecution against Christians in America. "It can't happen here." What a naive people we have become. Do we really believe that we are immune to what history so clearly teaches? History is full of examples of tyrannical governments persecuting Christians. We seem to think that if we just do our own thing while our country falls into the depths of anti-Christ paganism, they will leave us alone. What a blind people we American Christian have become. Blind as we go about our daily lives, so concerned with temporal things that we refuse to see the spiritual battle at hand.
The power of the mind to pretend that all is well is really quite amazing. All around us we see the increase in anti-Christian behavior. The only group of people that it is found acceptable to speak against are Christians. The spirit of anti-Christ is growing in America while at the same time there is a call for "understanding" when it comes to Islam. Although it is true that not every Muslim will go out and kill Christians, every study shows that a majority of Muslims are at least sympathetic to the terrorist cause. The ideology of Islamic fascism has declared war on us, killed nearly 3000 lives on 9/11, and yet the leftists treat them better than American Christians who have shown love and care for so many here in America and around the world. Why would there be more compassion and concern for Muslims than there is for Christians amongst the liberals? The answer is clear. The liberals are deceived by Satan who has blinded them. Liberals have a disdain for the bible and the preachers who dare to stand up and preach it with authority. When speaking of the hatred non Christians will have for true believers Jesus said;
"If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you" - John 15:19
American Christians have been drawn into a false sense of security because America has been the best, most free nation in the world. Most people believe in personal religious freedom. The problem is that the cultural elite who control academia, the media, and political establishments are mostly anti-Christ. The liberal elite, along with their minions of anti-Christ socialist mal contents are wielding great influence in our culture as to affect a change over time in attitudes about Christians. There was a day when Christians were seen as good people (though certainly imperfect humans) who cared about their neighbors and lifted up good moral values. After a constant barrage of anti-Christian teaching in the public school system, academia, and media/entertainment establishments, Christians are now seen as narrow minded fools. Those who fancy themselves to be "open-minded" are in fact the most closed minded people of all. They use vile language to attack Christians personally and dismiss every statistical fact of the breakdown of the family. They want a sort of spirituality that from a practical sense makes them their own god. Atheists worship their own minds, and liberal so called "Christians" worship their own feelings and thinking above the Word of God. While loving to quote scripture that makes them feel good, they seem to have a disdain for any passage that brings conviction of sin.
There is an increased call now for "hate speech" legislation. This legislation is a precursor to fully outlawed Christian speech. There is coming a day when preachers like me will be arrested for preaching against homosexuality. The day is coming when the law will not allow Christians to stand against sin publicly without a penalty. There will be an increase of the following;
1) We will be called the worst vile names.
2) We will be marginalized and seen as holding back "progressive ideas."
3) Persecuted physically for our stand.
4) The government will try to increase its authority over our children.
5) Parents who stand for their faith and inculcate it to their children will be accused of child abuse.
6) Increased employment discrimination.
7) Tax exempt status will be threatened based on a church preaching so called "hate speech" (as defined by the liberals).
8) Government Regulation of churches and Christian schools.
9) Confiscation of church property with bogus eminent domain claims.
10) Selective application of law without due process.
Even many in the "Evangelical churches" have fallen into sinful secularization of points concerning biblical doctrine. So called "Seeker sensitive" pluralistic movements are growing in Evangelical churches. Seeker sensitive churches are more concerned with not offending someone then they are with true conversion and discipleship. We also see the movement of pluralism embracing all kinds of heretical theology in the name of "unity of the Spirit."
Evangelical is a term that was used to combat the rise of social liberalism and the diminishment of biblical truth in "main line churches" in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Since then the main line churches have continued to preach a false gospel and accept all manner of sin as "God given." The problem now is that Evangelical churches are now going the same direction that the main line has gone. This will further erode the influence of truth in those churches and in one or two generations all truth will be lost.
I am called every nasty name under the sun for standing for the bible. Lied about, and swore at enough to make anyone weary. Having said that, I take comfort in the following scripture passage that tells me I will be hated by the world system and its promoters;
"Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake" - Matthew 5:11
The real sad thing to me is that so many Christians are being led astray by the social gospel and its central message of so called "tolerance." The problem with tolerance is that the very people who call for it are the most intolerant of all! There is a continued intolerance of Christian speech and even in "churches" people are offended by preachers who do not compromise biblical truth. Can you imagine the names that the Apostle Paul would be called today? He would not be invited to speak in many churches in our land since he would definitely offend someone. Today the Church wants non offensive leaders like Joel Osteen, Rick Warren, and Bill Hybels. The desire is for Leaders who have a pluralistic mind-set who are unwilling to take a biblical stand. Christians now want leaders that use enticing words of Man's wisdom rather than the plain biblical truth as preached by the Apostle Paul.
The day is coming my friends when you and I who hold the Word of God dear will have to choose as to whom we serve publicly. The day is coming when this culture will not tolerate true Christians at all. The time will come when preachers will be arrested and imprisoned for preaching the Word of God. In that day it will take more than having a cute Christian bumper sticker on your car, and a T-shirt with a Christian slogan on it to be considered a witness for Christ. In that day it may cost you friendships, money, jobs, property, and quite possibly your very life. Wake up America, for unless we as a nation have a revival through repentance, the day will come. I end with the following passages of scripture for those who will react as they always do when I confront these issues;
"Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?" - Galatians 4:16
It used to be in America that preachers were considered friends because they spoke the Word of God. Now preachers are held in contempt and considered enemies by the liberal establishments. As a minister of the gospel, a preacher of the Word of God, have I and other bible preachers now become your enemy because we tell you the truth?
"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils" - 1 Timothy 4:1
"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fable" - 2 Timothy 4:3-4
Wake up and smell the truth Church. Rise up and declare the name of your God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The God of the Apostles….Jesus Christ the Lord! God grant us grace and mercy that we may once again renew our relationship with you as the Church and nation. That our hearts be turned back to faith in your Holy Word, in Jesus' name. AMEN
Dr. David M. Berman
Senior Pastor, Author, Convention Speaker
211 Whitcomb Road
P.O. Box 10357
Swanzey, NH. 03446
Phone 603 352 9471
View Original Article HERE
Wordview Times
Dr. David M. Berman
Now this is an article that should get your attention. Sadly, many refuse to be willing to consider the possibility of persecution against Christians in America. "It can't happen here." What a naive people we have become. Do we really believe that we are immune to what history so clearly teaches? History is full of examples of tyrannical governments persecuting Christians. We seem to think that if we just do our own thing while our country falls into the depths of anti-Christ paganism, they will leave us alone. What a blind people we American Christian have become. Blind as we go about our daily lives, so concerned with temporal things that we refuse to see the spiritual battle at hand.
The power of the mind to pretend that all is well is really quite amazing. All around us we see the increase in anti-Christian behavior. The only group of people that it is found acceptable to speak against are Christians. The spirit of anti-Christ is growing in America while at the same time there is a call for "understanding" when it comes to Islam. Although it is true that not every Muslim will go out and kill Christians, every study shows that a majority of Muslims are at least sympathetic to the terrorist cause. The ideology of Islamic fascism has declared war on us, killed nearly 3000 lives on 9/11, and yet the leftists treat them better than American Christians who have shown love and care for so many here in America and around the world. Why would there be more compassion and concern for Muslims than there is for Christians amongst the liberals? The answer is clear. The liberals are deceived by Satan who has blinded them. Liberals have a disdain for the bible and the preachers who dare to stand up and preach it with authority. When speaking of the hatred non Christians will have for true believers Jesus said;
"If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you" - John 15:19
American Christians have been drawn into a false sense of security because America has been the best, most free nation in the world. Most people believe in personal religious freedom. The problem is that the cultural elite who control academia, the media, and political establishments are mostly anti-Christ. The liberal elite, along with their minions of anti-Christ socialist mal contents are wielding great influence in our culture as to affect a change over time in attitudes about Christians. There was a day when Christians were seen as good people (though certainly imperfect humans) who cared about their neighbors and lifted up good moral values. After a constant barrage of anti-Christian teaching in the public school system, academia, and media/entertainment establishments, Christians are now seen as narrow minded fools. Those who fancy themselves to be "open-minded" are in fact the most closed minded people of all. They use vile language to attack Christians personally and dismiss every statistical fact of the breakdown of the family. They want a sort of spirituality that from a practical sense makes them their own god. Atheists worship their own minds, and liberal so called "Christians" worship their own feelings and thinking above the Word of God. While loving to quote scripture that makes them feel good, they seem to have a disdain for any passage that brings conviction of sin.
There is an increased call now for "hate speech" legislation. This legislation is a precursor to fully outlawed Christian speech. There is coming a day when preachers like me will be arrested for preaching against homosexuality. The day is coming when the law will not allow Christians to stand against sin publicly without a penalty. There will be an increase of the following;
1) We will be called the worst vile names.
2) We will be marginalized and seen as holding back "progressive ideas."
3) Persecuted physically for our stand.
4) The government will try to increase its authority over our children.
5) Parents who stand for their faith and inculcate it to their children will be accused of child abuse.
6) Increased employment discrimination.
7) Tax exempt status will be threatened based on a church preaching so called "hate speech" (as defined by the liberals).
8) Government Regulation of churches and Christian schools.
9) Confiscation of church property with bogus eminent domain claims.
10) Selective application of law without due process.
Even many in the "Evangelical churches" have fallen into sinful secularization of points concerning biblical doctrine. So called "Seeker sensitive" pluralistic movements are growing in Evangelical churches. Seeker sensitive churches are more concerned with not offending someone then they are with true conversion and discipleship. We also see the movement of pluralism embracing all kinds of heretical theology in the name of "unity of the Spirit."
Evangelical is a term that was used to combat the rise of social liberalism and the diminishment of biblical truth in "main line churches" in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Since then the main line churches have continued to preach a false gospel and accept all manner of sin as "God given." The problem now is that Evangelical churches are now going the same direction that the main line has gone. This will further erode the influence of truth in those churches and in one or two generations all truth will be lost.
I am called every nasty name under the sun for standing for the bible. Lied about, and swore at enough to make anyone weary. Having said that, I take comfort in the following scripture passage that tells me I will be hated by the world system and its promoters;
"Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake" - Matthew 5:11
The real sad thing to me is that so many Christians are being led astray by the social gospel and its central message of so called "tolerance." The problem with tolerance is that the very people who call for it are the most intolerant of all! There is a continued intolerance of Christian speech and even in "churches" people are offended by preachers who do not compromise biblical truth. Can you imagine the names that the Apostle Paul would be called today? He would not be invited to speak in many churches in our land since he would definitely offend someone. Today the Church wants non offensive leaders like Joel Osteen, Rick Warren, and Bill Hybels. The desire is for Leaders who have a pluralistic mind-set who are unwilling to take a biblical stand. Christians now want leaders that use enticing words of Man's wisdom rather than the plain biblical truth as preached by the Apostle Paul.
The day is coming my friends when you and I who hold the Word of God dear will have to choose as to whom we serve publicly. The day is coming when this culture will not tolerate true Christians at all. The time will come when preachers will be arrested and imprisoned for preaching the Word of God. In that day it will take more than having a cute Christian bumper sticker on your car, and a T-shirt with a Christian slogan on it to be considered a witness for Christ. In that day it may cost you friendships, money, jobs, property, and quite possibly your very life. Wake up America, for unless we as a nation have a revival through repentance, the day will come. I end with the following passages of scripture for those who will react as they always do when I confront these issues;
"Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?" - Galatians 4:16
It used to be in America that preachers were considered friends because they spoke the Word of God. Now preachers are held in contempt and considered enemies by the liberal establishments. As a minister of the gospel, a preacher of the Word of God, have I and other bible preachers now become your enemy because we tell you the truth?
"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils" - 1 Timothy 4:1
"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fable" - 2 Timothy 4:3-4
Wake up and smell the truth Church. Rise up and declare the name of your God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The God of the Apostles….Jesus Christ the Lord! God grant us grace and mercy that we may once again renew our relationship with you as the Church and nation. That our hearts be turned back to faith in your Holy Word, in Jesus' name. AMEN
Dr. David M. Berman
Senior Pastor, Author, Convention Speaker
211 Whitcomb Road
P.O. Box 10357
Swanzey, NH. 03446
Phone 603 352 9471
View Original Article HERE
Bio-Remediation or Bio Hazard? Dispersants, Bacteria and Illness In The Gulf
Huffington Post
Riki Ott
Ocean Springs, MS -- A grandmother made me rethink all the bio-remediation hype. The "naturally-occurring oil-eating bacteria" have been newsworthy of late as they are supposedly going to come to the rescue of President Obama and BP and make good on their very premature statement that "the oil is gone."
We were talking about subsurface oil in the Gulf when she said matter-of-factly, "The bacteria are running amok with the dispersants." What? "Those oil-eating bacteria -- I think they're running amok and causing skin rashes." My mind reeled. Could we all have missed something so simple?
The idea was crazy but, in the context of the Gulf situation -- an outbreak of mysterious persistent rashes from southern Louisiana across to just north of Tampa, Florida, coincident with BP's oil and chemical release, it seemed suddenly worthy of investigating.
I first heard about the rash from Sheri Allen in Mobile, Alabama. Allen wrote of red welts and blisters on her legs after "splashing and wading on the shoreline" of Mobile Bay with her two dogs on May 8. She reported that "hundreds of dead fish" washed up on the same beach over the following two days. This was much too early for the summer sun to have warmed the water to the point of oxygen depletion, but not too early for dispersants and dispersed oil to be mixed into the Gulf's water mass. By early July, Allen's rash had healed, leaving black bruises and scarring.
Other people -- both residents and visitors to the Gulf Coast -- wrote of similar rashes or other skin problems like peeling palms. The rashes have been diagnosed as scabies and staph infections, including MRSA, the potentially lethal Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteria. Most cases lingered for months, as the rash did not respond well to antibiotics, steroid creams, or steroid shots.
That should have been a clue that maybe the primary cause was not biological, but chemical. A secondary biological infection might clear up with antibiotic treatment, but then keep reoccurring because the primary chemical illness had not been treated.
Retired Registered Nurse Allison Schmidt agrees. Referring to Allen's case, she said, "I can say without hesitation that these skin rashes have nothing to do with scabies. Scabies is a parasite, which causes a skin infection and is extremely contagious. It spreads from person to person by direct skin contact or by wearing an article of clothing worn by an infected person." Schmidt said, "If this were scabies you would see entire families infected and NOT just a single family member."
Another clue to the real cause of the mystery rash is its prevalence across the entire oil-impacted Gulf. Something in the water or air, or both, could explain this. While public officials and BP claim that dispersant use was halted in May for Corexit 9527A and on July 19 for Corexit 9500A, evidence collected by Gulf residents has shown that dispersants are being used in nearshore and inland waters, close to highly populated areas across the Gulf. Further, oil and the Corexit marker have been found in air and inland water.
I have heard from Gulf residents and visitors who developed a rash or peeling palms from contact with Gulf water, including such activities as swimming or wading, getting splashed, handling oiled material or dead animals without gloves, and shucking crabs from the recently opened Gulf fisheries. I have also heard from people who developed the same symptoms after contact with Gulf air by wiping an oily film off their airplane's leading edges after flying over the Gulf (absorbent pad tested positive for oil) or swimming in outdoor pools, or splashing in puddles, after it rained.
Outraged by the unprecedented release of oil and toxic chemicals in the Gulf, Nurse Schmidt and Mike McDowell developed a project to test Gulf rainwater for harmful chemicals. Schmidt said, "We are convinced the chemicals used in the Gulf to help disperse oil have evaporated and will eventually come down mixed with the rain."
Another clue, more like a condemnation, is that NOAA and EPA decided to use dispersants in the Gulf without considering what harm the chemicals and dispersed oil might do to people, specifically, the general public. Dr. Sylvia Earle, former chief scientist of NOAA, and other scientists, criticized the agencies' decision, in part, based on concern about harm to human health. Other scientists have also criticized the agencies' decision. Citing the National Academy of Sciences, a Texas Tech University professor testified in Congress that the chemicals break down cell walls, making organisms (including people) more susceptible to oil. The professor called the Gulf an "eco-toxicological experiment," which is inexcusable, because OSHA has known about harm from solvent exposure since at least 1987. Don't these federal agencies talk amongst themselves -- or with others?
Which all brings me back to the grandmother. After talking with her, I've been reading about bacteria, and I now think the Great Gulf Experiment is going very badly for humans. One can only wonder about the rest of the ecosystem.
There are two distinct types of bacteria based on the structure of their cell walls. Gram-positive bacteria have a single-membrane cell wall, while Gram-negative bacteria have a double-membrane cell wall. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteria are "Gram-positive," while the oil-eating bacteria are Gram-negative.
But! A component of the double-membrane cell wall structure of Gram-negative bacteria can irritate human skin, causing inflammation and activating the immune system. In other words, oil-eating bacteria, just because they are Gram-negative, can cause skin rashes. In the case of Alcanivorax borkumensis, the reaction can erupt on the skin like MRSA infections.
To make things a little scarier, some of the oil-eating bacteria have been genetically modified, or otherwise bioengineered, to better eat the oil -- including Alcanivorax borkumensis and some of the Pseudomonas. Oil-eating bacteria produce bio-films. According to Nurse Schmidt, studies have found that bio-films are rapidly colonized (p. 97) by other Gram-negative bacteria -- including those known to infect humans.
Scientists anticipated early on that the Gulf leak would cause populations of oil-eating bacteria to soar. Still, infections are not likely in healthy people. However, exposure to oil weakens a person's immune system function, as does the mental stress of dealing with disaster trauma. And then there are people who are more at risk than others to bacterial infections, especially when first challenged with oil and solvent exposure. This includes children, people with cystic fibrosis or asthma, and African Americans (who are prone to blood disorders), to name a few.
Is this the perfect storm -- an exploding population of opportunistic Gram-negative bacteria (some natural, some not), millions of gallons of food (oil) for the bacteria, and a susceptible population of stressed-out people?
Perhaps. If the outbreak of skin rashes across the Gulf is any indication, the health care providers, media, and Congress ought to be taking a hard look at this question. Further, people ought to be connecting the dots to illnesses that surfaced in Exxon Valdez spill responders and to the illnesses occurring now in Michigan residents coping with the Enbridge oil pipeline spill.
In the Gulf, Nurse Schmidt believes:
This is like a major bacterial storm. It could be the reason we are seeing a variance of symptoms in different individuals. In some people, we see respiratory complications, while in others we see skin or GI symptoms. I think it is due to a multitude of colonized bacteria -- which may have been triggered by BP's disaster.
The nurse and I think the grandmother is onto something.
View Article With Links and Pics HERE
View Related Article HERE
Riki Ott
Ocean Springs, MS -- A grandmother made me rethink all the bio-remediation hype. The "naturally-occurring oil-eating bacteria" have been newsworthy of late as they are supposedly going to come to the rescue of President Obama and BP and make good on their very premature statement that "the oil is gone."
We were talking about subsurface oil in the Gulf when she said matter-of-factly, "The bacteria are running amok with the dispersants." What? "Those oil-eating bacteria -- I think they're running amok and causing skin rashes." My mind reeled. Could we all have missed something so simple?
The idea was crazy but, in the context of the Gulf situation -- an outbreak of mysterious persistent rashes from southern Louisiana across to just north of Tampa, Florida, coincident with BP's oil and chemical release, it seemed suddenly worthy of investigating.
I first heard about the rash from Sheri Allen in Mobile, Alabama. Allen wrote of red welts and blisters on her legs after "splashing and wading on the shoreline" of Mobile Bay with her two dogs on May 8. She reported that "hundreds of dead fish" washed up on the same beach over the following two days. This was much too early for the summer sun to have warmed the water to the point of oxygen depletion, but not too early for dispersants and dispersed oil to be mixed into the Gulf's water mass. By early July, Allen's rash had healed, leaving black bruises and scarring.
Other people -- both residents and visitors to the Gulf Coast -- wrote of similar rashes or other skin problems like peeling palms. The rashes have been diagnosed as scabies and staph infections, including MRSA, the potentially lethal Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteria. Most cases lingered for months, as the rash did not respond well to antibiotics, steroid creams, or steroid shots.
That should have been a clue that maybe the primary cause was not biological, but chemical. A secondary biological infection might clear up with antibiotic treatment, but then keep reoccurring because the primary chemical illness had not been treated.
Retired Registered Nurse Allison Schmidt agrees. Referring to Allen's case, she said, "I can say without hesitation that these skin rashes have nothing to do with scabies. Scabies is a parasite, which causes a skin infection and is extremely contagious. It spreads from person to person by direct skin contact or by wearing an article of clothing worn by an infected person." Schmidt said, "If this were scabies you would see entire families infected and NOT just a single family member."
Another clue to the real cause of the mystery rash is its prevalence across the entire oil-impacted Gulf. Something in the water or air, or both, could explain this. While public officials and BP claim that dispersant use was halted in May for Corexit 9527A and on July 19 for Corexit 9500A, evidence collected by Gulf residents has shown that dispersants are being used in nearshore and inland waters, close to highly populated areas across the Gulf. Further, oil and the Corexit marker have been found in air and inland water.
I have heard from Gulf residents and visitors who developed a rash or peeling palms from contact with Gulf water, including such activities as swimming or wading, getting splashed, handling oiled material or dead animals without gloves, and shucking crabs from the recently opened Gulf fisheries. I have also heard from people who developed the same symptoms after contact with Gulf air by wiping an oily film off their airplane's leading edges after flying over the Gulf (absorbent pad tested positive for oil) or swimming in outdoor pools, or splashing in puddles, after it rained.
Outraged by the unprecedented release of oil and toxic chemicals in the Gulf, Nurse Schmidt and Mike McDowell developed a project to test Gulf rainwater for harmful chemicals. Schmidt said, "We are convinced the chemicals used in the Gulf to help disperse oil have evaporated and will eventually come down mixed with the rain."
Another clue, more like a condemnation, is that NOAA and EPA decided to use dispersants in the Gulf without considering what harm the chemicals and dispersed oil might do to people, specifically, the general public. Dr. Sylvia Earle, former chief scientist of NOAA, and other scientists, criticized the agencies' decision, in part, based on concern about harm to human health. Other scientists have also criticized the agencies' decision. Citing the National Academy of Sciences, a Texas Tech University professor testified in Congress that the chemicals break down cell walls, making organisms (including people) more susceptible to oil. The professor called the Gulf an "eco-toxicological experiment," which is inexcusable, because OSHA has known about harm from solvent exposure since at least 1987. Don't these federal agencies talk amongst themselves -- or with others?
Which all brings me back to the grandmother. After talking with her, I've been reading about bacteria, and I now think the Great Gulf Experiment is going very badly for humans. One can only wonder about the rest of the ecosystem.
There are two distinct types of bacteria based on the structure of their cell walls. Gram-positive bacteria have a single-membrane cell wall, while Gram-negative bacteria have a double-membrane cell wall. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteria are "Gram-positive," while the oil-eating bacteria are Gram-negative.
But! A component of the double-membrane cell wall structure of Gram-negative bacteria can irritate human skin, causing inflammation and activating the immune system. In other words, oil-eating bacteria, just because they are Gram-negative, can cause skin rashes. In the case of Alcanivorax borkumensis, the reaction can erupt on the skin like MRSA infections.
To make things a little scarier, some of the oil-eating bacteria have been genetically modified, or otherwise bioengineered, to better eat the oil -- including Alcanivorax borkumensis and some of the Pseudomonas. Oil-eating bacteria produce bio-films. According to Nurse Schmidt, studies have found that bio-films are rapidly colonized (p. 97) by other Gram-negative bacteria -- including those known to infect humans.
Scientists anticipated early on that the Gulf leak would cause populations of oil-eating bacteria to soar. Still, infections are not likely in healthy people. However, exposure to oil weakens a person's immune system function, as does the mental stress of dealing with disaster trauma. And then there are people who are more at risk than others to bacterial infections, especially when first challenged with oil and solvent exposure. This includes children, people with cystic fibrosis or asthma, and African Americans (who are prone to blood disorders), to name a few.
Is this the perfect storm -- an exploding population of opportunistic Gram-negative bacteria (some natural, some not), millions of gallons of food (oil) for the bacteria, and a susceptible population of stressed-out people?
Perhaps. If the outbreak of skin rashes across the Gulf is any indication, the health care providers, media, and Congress ought to be taking a hard look at this question. Further, people ought to be connecting the dots to illnesses that surfaced in Exxon Valdez spill responders and to the illnesses occurring now in Michigan residents coping with the Enbridge oil pipeline spill.
In the Gulf, Nurse Schmidt believes:
This is like a major bacterial storm. It could be the reason we are seeing a variance of symptoms in different individuals. In some people, we see respiratory complications, while in others we see skin or GI symptoms. I think it is due to a multitude of colonized bacteria -- which may have been triggered by BP's disaster.
The nurse and I think the grandmother is onto something.
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Is NC Preparing For NWO/Martial Law Takeover Soon?
American Holocaust
Pamela Schuffert reporting from Western NC
I was recently informed by a retired military source, that NC legislation had just been passed stating that, IN A DECLARED "STATE OF EMERGENCY" CAUSING FORCED EVACUATION, NC CITIZENS WOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO TAKE THEIR ARMS WITH THEM WHEN FLEEING THEIR HOMES AND EVACUATING THE AREA AFFECTED.
What a brilliant piece of NWO agenda "anti-gun" legislation!
You must understand: the NWO elements of our nation and cooperating elements from foreign nations, have been meeting continually to try to come up with a successful ploy to remove the arms from the American people, as a major part of the NWO agenda for our nation.
They know that the American people will fight to maintain their freedoms and rights guaranteed not ONLY under the US Constitution, but at any other time as well... including defending themselves and their freedoms during the time that the NWO minions from hell plan to rescind the US Constitution and march us to the death camps in prisoner boxcars and shackles, to remove patriotic Americans from their beloved homeland and turn this nation into one more prisoner nation under world globalist COMMUNISM, or the NWO.
Unfortunately for the NWO, they will someday find this piece of anti-American legislation to be largely unenforceable when their planned time of forced evacuation finally comes to NC. Far too many Americans are now much better educated on the hidden NWO/world globalist agendas for our nation and her citizens, and as they have told me across America in words similar to the following, "We will never surrender our freedoms and our lives to the NWO, we will never be taken alive to the camps, and we prefer to fight and die IN freedom, FOR FREEDOM!"
View Original Article HERE
Pamela Schuffert reporting from Western NC
I was recently informed by a retired military source, that NC legislation had just been passed stating that, IN A DECLARED "STATE OF EMERGENCY" CAUSING FORCED EVACUATION, NC CITIZENS WOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO TAKE THEIR ARMS WITH THEM WHEN FLEEING THEIR HOMES AND EVACUATING THE AREA AFFECTED.
What a brilliant piece of NWO agenda "anti-gun" legislation!
You must understand: the NWO elements of our nation and cooperating elements from foreign nations, have been meeting continually to try to come up with a successful ploy to remove the arms from the American people, as a major part of the NWO agenda for our nation.
They know that the American people will fight to maintain their freedoms and rights guaranteed not ONLY under the US Constitution, but at any other time as well... including defending themselves and their freedoms during the time that the NWO minions from hell plan to rescind the US Constitution and march us to the death camps in prisoner boxcars and shackles, to remove patriotic Americans from their beloved homeland and turn this nation into one more prisoner nation under world globalist COMMUNISM, or the NWO.
Unfortunately for the NWO, they will someday find this piece of anti-American legislation to be largely unenforceable when their planned time of forced evacuation finally comes to NC. Far too many Americans are now much better educated on the hidden NWO/world globalist agendas for our nation and her citizens, and as they have told me across America in words similar to the following, "We will never surrender our freedoms and our lives to the NWO, we will never be taken alive to the camps, and we prefer to fight and die IN freedom, FOR FREEDOM!"
View Original Article HERE
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