[	Tags	|	politicos corruptos	]
[	mood	|	pensive	]
[	music	|	Stiff Little Fingers - Suspect Device	]

Require disclosure of financial
relationships between health
entities, including physicians,
hospitals, pharmacists, and other
providers, and manufacturers
and distributors of covered drugs,
devices, biologicals, and medical
supplies.

Energy and Commerce Committee Ammendment:
Conduct a national public
education campaign to raise
awareness about the importance
of planning for care near the end
of life.

Revocation of Medicare coverage
for expenses pertaining to avoidable
conditions. (e.g.) Alcoholism, drug-
use and Adult-Onset Diabetes

Requirement of a Standardized
Medical Billing format that
includes the requirement that
all initial bills from a
hospital include an itemization
of all expenses, even if they are paid
by the insurance provider.

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mood

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sad

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When Even The Devil Deserts You
by ed cooper

I have a thousand faces,
And I am found in all races.
Sometimes rich,
Sometimes poor,
Sometimes young,
Sometimes old.
I am a person with the disabling pain,
of a broken brain.
You have names for my pain,
like schizophrenia,
bipolar disorder,
and major depression.
Some of you refer to me as crazy or insane.
The real fact is most of you don't refer to me at all.
You want me locked away out of sight,
But my only crime is my shattered mind.
I understand why you don't want to look into a darkened soul,
Because I cry when I am forced to make the journey.
Do you know the hurt I feel,
When I look into my family's faces and see their fear?
Fear of me and what I have become.
I try to tell them I will not hurt them
And to explain it is not their fault.
I try to reach out to them to ease their sorrow,
But I fail to be a comfort,
Because I cannot hide the agony of my soul.
I fight the demons of depression and despair.
I search for a solace for my soul.
I want my mind mended,
But you must understand that a broken brain,
Is more than mere mechanical failure.
It has many causes I am told.
It may be hereitary,
Biological,
Or environmental.
I don't know for sure what causes it,
But I know what it causes.
It causes the total destruction of your inner self.
It fragments you.
It makes you seek an end even if that means death.
You seek the end because you see not only what it has done to you,
But what it is doing to the ones you love.
The fear of death fades,
Because to a large degree you already feel dead.
You are not able to interact with others,
Nor are people willing to interact with you as they once did.
In fact,
It feels like you have fallen so low
Even the devil has deserted you.
I ask you,
Where do you turn When Even the Devil Deserts You?
To therapy?
It helps but only touches part of me.
To medications?
They too help but only partly.
Is there a path to a place,
That will touch all of me,
And not just mend my broken brain,
But touch the untouchable.
I once heard of such a path.
It was written about,
But my mind wanders so much I find it hard to read.
It has been spoken of,
But I hear so many voices I don't know which to follow.
If you know the path,
Would you please find me?
I may be in a hospital.
I may be on the streets.
I may be at home.
Please find me and take me into your arms.
Hold me there until we find the path,
That leads into the arms of the One,
Not afraid to touch the untouchable.
Please find my family too,
For their pain is as great as mine.
I may not be able to understand the written word,
Or even the words spoken to me.
I may not seem to know where I am,
But I will know the warmth I feel,
When you gently put your arms around me.
I will once again know I am loved.

[

mood

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excited

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You Are Cordially Invited to Join Team Rurik!

Team Rurik is a Yahoo Group established to promote the awareness, appreciation, study and exploration of the probable tomb of the founder of the Rurikid dynasty.

Rurik and his descendents were the princes who founded & ruled Russia’s many medieval towns. They maintained a river based trade network between the Baltic and Black Seas. In other words, they linked Northern Europe with Greek, Arabic and Persian civilizations and founded the earliest Russian state.

To maintain the profitable flow of trade goods, Rurik’s kin brought together an amazingly diverse collection of ethnic groups inhabiting incompatible climates zones running from the Arctic tundra to the deserts of Central Asia. Swedes, Slavs, Balts, Finns, Bulgars, Khazars, Poles, Danes, Magyars, Pechenegs, Permians, Greeks, Georgians, Lapps, Crimean Goths, Huns, Alans and a difficult to define people called the Rus, were all brought into the Rurikid sphere of influence.

Much scholarly debate has raged about the nature of Rurik’s role in Russian socio-political history. In 862AD, according the “The Primary Chronicle,” Russia’s oldest historical document, a war chief named Rurik was summoned by the merchant council of Staraya Ladoga to rule over them. Rurik came from the land of the Rus. He built a citadel at Holmgardr, on the Volkhov River, near Lake Ladoga, and may have also founded the famous merchant town Novgorod nearby.

Taking the title of Khagan (or Khan), Rurik reestablished order among the bickering political factions of northern Russia’s poly-ethnic trade centers. He soon sent relatives to do the same for town already established as tribal centers along each of Russia’s many rivers. With peace came safer trade routes and general prosperity. War was waged to secure trade concessions from the mighty Byzantine Empire.

The nomadic peoples of the steppe were either recruited as trade partners, guides and mercenaries, or fought against by the combined arms of the many settled peoples under Rurikid leadership. Exploratory raids opened new trade routes through the Caucasus Mountains to the Arab world and across the Caspian Sea into Persia. The vast hordes of Islamic silver coins that are still being found throughout Russia and Scandinavia testify to the prosperity secured by the Rurikids for their people.

It was the genius of the Rurikid princes, and their use of foreign Varangian mercenaries, that brought all the peoples between the Baltic and Black Seas into a mutually supportive confederation. Some decades later, when the Prince of Kiev came to outshine the Prince of Novgorod, he claimed the title of High Prince of All the Russes. Under the High Prince’s guidance, the confederation of disparate tribes and scattered merchant centers coalesced into a nation know to history as the Kievan Rus. Over the centuries, it developed into the modern states of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Moldova and Romania.

It was a hero named Rurik who started all this. Today, the location of his earthen mound tomb is known to the local people as Shum-Gora, the noisy mountain. They say they can sometimes hear the voices of Rurik and his bodyguard howling about the tomb at night. High tech Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) scans have been made of the tomb and a local Russian has become a self appointed caretaker of the mound. Plans for scientific excavation and the creation of a living history museum are in the works.

As a member of Team Rurik, you will join a growing international community of people dedicated to the preservation of Rurik’s tomb and memory. Although Team Rurik hopes to build world wide support for the professional excavation of Rurik’s tomb, we are foremost concerned with protecting the site from amateur archaeology digs, destructive economic land development or even possible grave robbers. The proper authorities in Russia are aware of the site, but Team Rurik will provide them with international support for the preservation and exploration of the site.

Specifically, it is Team Rurik’s hope that a proper excavation will reveal vital new information concerning the role of Rurik and his people in world history. Ideally, the sterile recovery of Rurik’s bones will lead to an accurate sampling of Rurik’s DNA and a scientific determination of his ethnic origin. Since Rurik’s family spread widely and ruled for many centuries, there are many Rurikids still among us. Perhaps you are one yourself. Rurik’s DNA could answer many questions currently being explored by geneticists via the DNA of his known descendents.

If you are curious about the historic role of Rurik and his Varangian Rus, or just want to show respect for your ancestors by helping to protect and explore the tomb of one of them, please set up a yahoo account for yourself, them go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TeamRurik
and hit the “Join” button.

You do not have to be a professional archaeologist, skilled Russian paleo-linguist, credentialed historian nor direct descendent of Rurik to join up (although we sure would like to meet more of such folks). Anyone with a sincere interest in Rurik and his accomplishments is encouraged to join our Yahoo Group to share information, discuss related topics and promote the preservation and respectful excavation of Prince Rurik’s probable resting place.