Faster, better…

Archive for February, 2010

(RareDiseaseDay.us) “Alone we are Rare, Together we are Strong”

From the Rare Disease website: “Each year, World Rare Disease Day will be observed on the last day of February (Feb. 29 in leap years and Feb. 28 in other years). Our goal is to draw attention to rare diseases as an important public health issue that cannot be ignored.

In the U.S., a rare disease is one that affects fewer than 200,000 people. This definition comes from the Orphan Drug Act of 1983 and is slightly different from the definition used in Europe. There are nearly 7,000 rare diseases affecting nearly 30 million Americans. In other words, as many as one in ten Americans are suffering from a rare disease.”

Join me and my fellow Dystonians and celebrate rare disease day. Help anyone you know with a rare disease by increasing awareness. Please visit the Rare Disease Day Website.

How many times have you had to apply for the Homestead Tax Credit? How many times have you forgotten to send the form back in a tax year? How much have you over paid in state property tax to the benefit of our spendthrift legislature?

I am furious that I have to keep filing this status while I am STILL in the home and paying property taxes for it. We almost missed our application deadline. It was in one of those envelopes that got over looked during the time of my serious illness last year. It occurred to me that the spendthrifts are HOPING that many homeowners FORGET to apply for this credit and thus LOSE the exemption. You think?

Incredulity is the word for finding that the online application did not work for me at the state website. A match between my property tax account number and access number does not work as of February 11th. The letter says I have sixty days.

Warning to all Maryland property tax payers. SEND IN YOUR HOMESTEAD TAX CREDIT APPLICATION. The state is banking on you that you don’t. Pun intended.

Please note that a family member also living in Maryland sent an ONLINE and a MAILED application and NO HOMESTEAD CREDIT was applied! My relative paid the state an extra $1000 in state property taxes. We applied last year and the year before that. Both times online. As taxpayers we should NOT tolerate this kind of incompetence. My relative FINALLY made a personal visit to a state tax office and offered a prayer to the Almighty.

This musician with dystonia taught himself to play the violin with his good arm. He also has focal dystonia but in his arm and not is neck or face.

Old Line Elephant: 2010 GOP Hopefuls: Carmen Amedori. Let’s give Carmen our support this election year and boot Mikulski out of office.

Gateway Pundit.

According to this Gallup Poll story at gateway Pundit most Democrats like socialism and perhaps hence the support for Obamacare, out of control spending, and a pathological need to redistribute wealth.

What caused this to happen? Socialism has failed miserable everywhere yet people don’t understand why?

Gateway Pundit.

In case you missed in last night’s news broadcasts, take a look at the mocking Gibbs gave Sarah Palin and the Tea Party Movement. I remain completely flabbergasted that someone in his position would act with such a lack of maturity and reason.

Thank you Tammy Bruce for alerting the Twitterverse to this great video.

Scouting. Today is the 100th anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America. I remember when I was Cub Scout so many years ago. The scouts are active in Calvert County.  Congratulations to our Scouts on their wonderful century long achievement.

Michelle Malkin wrote: in her lead story for 2/5/10 an excellent analysis and expose on our current administration paying 2.5 million tax-payer dollars to advertise about the census during the Super Bowl.  That’s it I have had enough. I am going to read a good book instead. Michelle’s article is excellent. I encourage everyone to read it.

Today my spouse and I had the pleasure of moving one heck of a lot of snow in the driveway so we could get at least one car out.

The road crews that plowed the main street into our subdivision blocked every driveway with a two to three foot wall of ice. When I got to the street working from the front door forward I realized the snow drift the plow left was solid ice.

Just as I was ready to put down my plastic snow shovel and get a pick and metal shovel the Good Samaritan drove by. I don’t know his name.

The man was driving a black pick up truck with a snow plow attached at the front. He motioned for me to get out of the way. Next thing I knew he had shortened my task by a good hour or more by moving the wall of ice out of my way. Hooorah! He looked out his passenger window and asked me, “Did that help?” I said, “Yes sir,” and he drove off into the sunrise.

Thank the Lord for the random act of kindness and thank you Good Samaritan in the black pick up truck whoever you are.

My thanks also to the snow crews that kept our streets plowed even in the dead of night. Despite being eight miles from civilization our neighborhood was clear for emergency vehicles.

Annapolis Storm Video #1 | Eye On Annapolis.

My fav Annapolis blog has some snow video!

The Twitter snowstorm | Storm Blog | Blogs (www.HometownAnnapolis.com – The Capital).

Clever snow related story at Hometown Annapolis

NeuroLogica Blog » Desiree Jennings – The Plot Thickens.  This article at the NeuroLogica Blog, by Steven Novella, MD, is an exceptional inside look at the so-called Dystonia Girl story that so many on the Internet have for some reason passed around as humorous.

Dystonia is not fun, it isn’t funny. It is a painful movement disorder with life-changing consequences. It is not fully understood other than it is a unique physical neurological condition. The two-hundred-fifty-thousand of us that have the third most common movement disorder in the US just below Parkinsons, did not appreciate all the bad press. At least I didn’t. We like awareness to avoid discrimination and to help  gain understanding and acceptance as any handicapped individual would like but not poorly researched news hysteria.

I applaud Dr. Novella for his candor.

Gateway Pundit. Visit the Gateway Pundit blog for the latest progressive move on health care. Also seen on the Glenn Beck program today, February 4, 2010.