Video – Deadly Sinus Infection (caused by a common fungi ) Almost Destroys Woman’s Face

Posted on September 13, 2009 by Sharon Kramer

From a post on ToxLaw.com on this subject –

So, let us see, … we have been saying for a very long time that the pool of people with compromised immune systems is MUCH larger than superficial reading would have one believe. It is amazing that more cases like this poor woman’s have not been occurring, or have they just not gotten coverage?

Steroids, antibiotics, pesticides, herbicides, infections, radiation, etc…all suppress immune function.

toxlaw.com 

Deadly Infection Almost Destroys Woman’s Face

By Ashley Neglia

If treated early, a routine sinus infection may cause uncomfortable pressure, nasal congestion and often makes a patient feel generally miserable. For the most part, however, sinus infections don’t leave people near-death, unless, of course, you happen to be Sue Carlisle.

It was October 2006, and Carlisle was suffering from the symptoms of a sinus infection. The 49-year-old had experienced similar infections in the past and assumed that the steroids she had been previously prescribed would be enough to get her back on her feet. However, when she went to the doctor, the diagnosis was more dire than she ever imagined. Carlisle’s face was infected with mucormycosis, a rare and deadly infection that can affect the sinuses, brain or lungs, reports ABC News.

Mucormycosis primarily occurs in people with immune disorders, such as AIDS or cancer patients, and is caused by common fungi found in soil, decaying vegetation and moldy bread, according to the National Institute of Health. Most people are exposed to this kind of fungi on a daily basis, but those with weakened immune systems are more susceptible to infection.

In Carlisle’s case, the repeated use of steroids to treat prior sinus infections had weakened her immune system to such a degree that she could not fight off the fungus, which resulted in mucormycosis. In most patients, it takes two to three days for mucormycosis to travel through the bloodstream and to the brain, which causes a patient’s mortality rate to rise to 80 percent. However, in Carlisle’s case, the infection stayed in her face, causing it to become so swollen and infected that her cheek eventually burst, leaving a crater, according to ABC News.

Because early surgical intervention and the removal of all dead and infected tissue can dramatically improve a patient’s chances for survival, doctors wanted to completely remove Carlisle’s cheek up to her eyelid. However, she refused to undergo the invasive surgery, forcing doctors to take a more conservative approach. For the next two months, doctors performed nearly 30 surgeries to remove small amounts of infected tissue, reports ABC News.

After the surgeries and approximately 60 visits to a hyperbaric chamber to kill off the rest of the infection, Carlisle began to grow healthy facial tissue. Her face was still intact, but she now faced the possibility of losing her upper jaw because the infection had destroyed most of her jawbone and palate. She couldn’t open her mouth, let alone speak or eat.

Doctors initially gave Carlisle a temporary false palate. However, because she had to hold it in place with her tongue, she still could not open her mouth. It wasn’t until 20 months later, when a team of medical experts developed an entirely new implant for Carlisle that could stay in place with magnets, that she regained enough functionality to speak and chew small pieces of soft food.

While the infection is long gone and Carlisle is now healthy, lasting complications, such as the inability to chew anything that isn’t soft, a limited sense of taste and no sense of smell, remain.

Click below to watch an interview with Sue Carlisle.
Video courtesy of ABC News.

Posted in Environmental Health Threats, Health - Medical - Science, Toxic Mold | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Blog of New Orleans- Ex-FEMA chief – BROWNIE: Michael Brown gets new job – vice-president of disaster recovery practice for Colorado-based company Cold Creek Solutions

Posted on September 11, 2009 by Sharon Kramer

HECKUVA NEW JOB, BROWNIE: Michael Brown gets a new job as vice-president of disaster recovery practice for Colorado-based company Cold Creek Solutions:

“I’ve seen thousands of disasters, some where things work according to plan, and some where absolutely nothing works,” Brown said in a statement. “What better person can a company talk to about those two extremes? Through these seminars and through my work with Cold Creek, I hope to impart a fresh perspective for businesses and their continuity plans.”

Who better indeed to know about being up Cold Creek without a paddle? In any case, it’s worth noting that his bio on the Cold Creek Web site doesn’t mention Katrina, making only passing reference to “the unprecedented 2004-2005 hurricane seasons.”

blogofneworleans.com

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Embattled Judge Joan Benge appears before Louisiana State Supreme Court in discipline case

Posted on September 11, 2009 by Sharon Kramer

The 24th Judicial District jurist is accused of deciding for a plaintiff in a personal injury lawsuit in her court eight years ago based on reasons other than the evidence.

It has been our experience with the Louisiana Court System that decisions ARE made “BASED ON REASONS OTHER THAN THE EVIDENCE” so why is this case different?  Especially helpful was our unethical attorney J Arthur Smith III blatantly not correcting subpoenas after the wrong information is sent and not bothering to subpoena evidence that could have been useful.  This was also helpful for the Judge in granting the defendant’s motion for summary judgement because even with the evidence that was presented (which was clearly enough to show this is a valid case), the decision was “BASED ON REASONS OTHER THAN EVIDENCE”!  katy

See –

court transcript riverstone residentials motion for summary judgment judge timothy kelly 19th judicial court baton rouge la 

a worthless corrupt decision on appeal corrupt riverstone residential unethical attorney j arthur smith iii a judge with a conflict of interest the corrupt state of louisiana 

attorney malpractice 

riverstone residential litigation   

photos of mold in apt 

mold inspection reports  

Embattled Judge Joan Benge appears before state Supreme Court in discipline case

by Paul Purpura, The Times-Picayune
Friday September 11, 2009

Surrounded by supporters and walking arm-in-arm with one of her attorneys, Judge Joan Benge left the state Supreme Court seemingly emotionally drained Thursday, after her lawyers presented the seven justices with arguments they hope will save her judicial career.

The 24th Judicial District jurist is accused of deciding for a plaintiff in a personal injury lawsuit in her court eight years ago based on reasons other than the evidence. The state Judiciary Commission, a panel that oversees judicial misconduct and investigated Benge, wants her removed from the bench.

A former prosecutor elected to the bench in 2001, Benge, 53, who lives in Kenner, denies wrongdoing. If the high court finds she did anything wrong, her behavior at most rates censure, her attorneys said.

The high court, which heard about an hour of argument and makes the final decision, is not expected to issue a ruling for eight to 12 weeks.

David Grunfeld/The Times-PicayuneJudge Joan Benge said she was grateful for her supporters, who packed the Supreme Court, and for her legal team.

Benge declined to comment as she emerged from court. But she expressed gratitude to her supporters who packed the Supreme Court, and to her legal team. Outside the court, she was backed by family, friends and attorneys Pauline Hardin and Franz Zibilich.

“We feel like we did our best,” Zibilich said.

At issue is Benge’s Dec. 7, 2001 decision in a personal injury lawsuit filed by Phil Demma, then a reserve Jefferson Parish deputy. He sued a motorist and an insurance company claiming he cracked a tooth in a 1998 wreck in Metairie. Benge had to decide whether the wreck caused the injury and, if so, the award amount. Demma wanted $20,000.

The FBI, in the early stages of its investigation of corruption at the Jefferson Parish Courthouse, secretly recorded the Nov. 29, 2001, conversation, in which Benge told then-Judge Ronald Bodenheimer — a Demma ally — three times that were it not for Demma’s attorney John Venezia, she would have “zeroed” the case, or awarded Demma nothing.

The FBI also recorded several conversations between Demma and Bodenheimer, in which Demma urges Bodenheimer to speak to Benge on his behalf. Bodenheimer agrees to in some conversations, and in others, he tells Demma he spoke with Benge.

The Judiciary Commission opened a file on the Demma ruling in April 2003, after reading two newspaper stories about Demma pleading guilty to federal charges, including conspiracy to fix his case in Benge’s court. The commission charged her earlier this year.

Asked by Associate Justice John Weimer about the delay, Interim Special Council Michael Bewers, who is prosecuting Benge, said the FBI and U.S. Attorneys did not provide the recording of Benge’s phone conversation until after their investigation was complete.

“Without a taped conversation, we didn’t have a case,” Bewers said. “We couldn’t base an investigation on a newspaper report.”

In the conversation, Bewers said Benge gave Bodenheimer 17 reasons “why the case was worthless,” but out of apparent want of Venezia’s political support, she awarded Demma $4,275.

But Benge’s attorneys argue that she ruled based on the evidence and facts of the case. They said Thursday that a hearing officer who heard testimony in December as part of the Judiciary Commission’s investigation apparently disregarded the Demma trial transcripts and speculated that Benge threw the case. They urged justices to review the transcripts.

“The case was properly decided,” Hardin argued.

Bewers said Benge’s attorneys are using the trial transcript as “a smoke screen.”

“It’s a story, and it’s a pretty good story,” Bewers said. “But it’s not true. The reason we know it’s not true is, we have the tape” of the conversation with Bodenheimer.

Zibilich attacked the recording, saying the Judiciary Commission speculated as to what Benge meant when she told Bodenheimer that she would have “zeroed” the case.

The commission alleges Benge was driven to retain Venezia’s political support. Benge’s attorneys said she meant that Venezia effectively handled the Demma case.

Benge did not know that Demma and Bodenheimer conspired to fix the case, her attorneys said. She realized something was amiss during the Nov. 29, 2001, telephone conversation, when Bodenheimer urged Benge to rule in favor of Demma because he “will be there for you.”

Benge’s reaction to Bodenheimer’s comment was “Huh?”

“For a first time, there’s a realization he has crossed the line,” Zibilich argued.

“Bingo, it registers,” Zibilich said. “End of conversation. There’s no more conversations with him.”

He added, “You know what she’s guilty of? She should have reported him to the Judiciary Commission.”

Bodenheimer pleaded guilty to federal charges unrelated to Benge and served 46 months in federal prison as a result of the Wrinkled Robe investigation. In May, he admitted in an affidavit that he tried to sway Benge’s ruling in Demma’s case, and that he lied to Demma about his attempts to do so.

Bodenheimer, who owned a marina in Venetian Isles at the time, wanted Demma’s help in landing a lucrative seafood vendor contract from restaurateur Al Copeland. Bodenheimer, who at the time presided over Copeland’s custody dispute, said his attempts to sway Benge were unsuccessful.

Bodenheimer did not testify in the Judiciary Commission proceedings, and it’s unclear whether the Supreme Court will consider his affidavit in reaching its decision.

nola.com

Posted in Environmental Health Threats, Louisiana Housing Finance Agency, Mold and Politics, Mold Litigation, Riverstone Residential, Toxic Mold | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Housing Authority of New Orleans office is a shelter for bad guys

Posted on September 10, 2009 by Sharon Kramer

Posted by Jarvis DeBerry, Columnist, The Times-Picayune September 05, 2009

Sherry Baker showed a lot of initiative when she mailed in a Section 8 application to the Housing Authority of New Orleans soon after she saw it.

And if there’s one thing we can all agree on, it’s that people trying to free themselves of poverty have to have initiative.

Baker, though, was going to be punished for her get-up-and-go. When she sent in her application, it was the official policy of HANO that Section 8 applications arriving before Sept. 6 would not be placed in the lottery for the coveted vouchers.

Wednesday morning the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center expressed “grave concerns” about HANO’s plans to ignore early applications. Wednesday afternoon, HANO said all the applications would be treated equally, that is, that officials there would not ignore those they received early.

There’s such a clamor for the housing help partly because it’s been eight years since HANO has offered new people a chance to get vouchers. The Section 8 program aims to help undo what the government did decades before when it warehoused poor people in large apartment complexes. With vouchers, those who might otherwise be surrounded on all sides by other poor people can, in theory at least, rent a place less beset with problems.

Housing advocates in New Orleans say they expect at least 20,000 applications for the 3,500 vouchers HANO will offer. Last week, a HANO attorney said the agency had received 3,600 applications. Had HANO insisted on enforcing its no-early-application policy, it would have ignored those 3,600 and sent the unmistakable message that when trying to move out of poverty in New Orleans, it’s better to foot drag than hop to it.

Working at HANO, which doesn’t appear to be all that different from foot dragging, also helps. At least it appears to have helped Dwayne Muhammad who ran the voucher program until he left HANO last month.

As reported by WWL-TV, Muhammad had a $100,000 annual salary but was using a $1,400 monthly voucher for rent on a Gentilly house.

With a $100,000 salary, Muhammad would have to be raising something like 37 school-age children to qualify for a housing voucher. But if he had a brood that large, he’d be starring on a reality show that would pay for at least a three-bedroom. And thus he’d be relieved of his apparent temptation to steal from poor people.

The day after the television report, the agency released a statement saying that Muhammad is “no longer an employee of HANO.”

Does that mean there are now 3,501 Section 8 vouchers available?

It must amuse Section 8 applicants that their attempts to find better housing are so often opposed by people who associate them with crime when the HANO office itself seems overrun with thieves.

Not only has Muhammad’s apparently fraudulent Section 8 usage been brought to light, but last week the U.S. attorney’s office filed charges against a Florida contractor who, according to prosecutors, stole $900,000 from HANO over three years. That contractor, Elias Castellanos, was serving as HANO’s chief financial officer.

HANO was placed under federal receivership in 2002 because of chronic mismanagement.

While “doing work” for HANO, prosecutors said, Castellanos bought himself a Lamborghini Gallardo worth more than $200,000, a Ferrari, a Porsche and two Mercedes-Benzes.

Meanwhile, rents in New Orleans continued to rise and people like Sherry Baker, who cleans hotel rooms, were waiting on HANO to open up its Section 8 application process.

She sent in her application early, and now, thanks to the policy change, she won’t be punished for it. Baker may actually be one of the thousands who wins a voucher through the lottery.

If she does, let us hope that nobody at HANO rips her off.

blog.nola.com

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Veterans-For-Change – HR 2254 Agent Orange Equity Act of 2009-S 535 Repeal the SBP/DIC “Widows Tax” Offset & Linda May Fraud

Posted on September 10, 2009 by Sharon Kramer

Dear Friend,

Tonight I bring some good news, and hopefully gain your support on some very important veterans issues.

The Good News:

Over the past month several people have done a great deal of investigation on a woman by the name of Linda K. May of Pontiac Illinois.

She had injected herself in many “toxic mold” issues in public schools causing mass panic and hysteria.

She has been trying to sell a “mold test kit” to parents for $49.95, and a laboratory fee of $300.

With a bold claim her patented urine test approved and granted authorization by the DoD and the VA that it could test for Agent Orange Dioxin and prove beyond a doubt you were contaminated and she would even testify on your behalf to win your benefits claims and had done so in many other claims.

Even claiming T2 Mold was used in the making of Agent Orange.

That she was accredited and certified by OSHA and the EPA and also had helped write many OSHA/EPA policies and had been licensed in numerous states as a Registered Nurse.

She was interviewed on Stardust Radio with veterans and the Mayor of Pontiac all in support of her claims, however, after three weeks of investigation on the efforts of Veterans-For-Change, Operation Firing For Effect, and Veterans for Veteran Connection it has been proven beyond any doubt her claims of being an International Mold and Toxin Expert to be lies.

It’s also been proven beyond any doubt that there is no such thing as accreditation or certification by either OSHA or the EPA.

Her claims of a patented urine test, test kit, also have been proven beyond any doubt these too were lies.

She’s been attempting to prey on the fears and concerns of school children parents, then the elderly, and most recently veterans.

When questioned about her licensing, DoD contract, laboratory location, her pat answer is either it’s confidential or top secret, neither would apply in this case.

When questioned about any FDA approval or certification, again the same answers either it’s confidential or top secret. 

She’d even gone to the point of telling one reported if she told she’d have to kill him.

Veterans-For-Change, OFFE and VFVC wanted to make certain our veterans weren’t sucked into her scam and wasted their hard earned money.

She’d already scammed a woman in California and another in Michigan of $1,500.00 each for which we have possession of both canceled checks as evidence.

So please be advised if anyone tells you they can test your urine for dioxin, help prove your contamination, and help win your VA benefits claim, walk away!

The only way you can be tested for dioxin contamination is via blood tests which are extremely expensive (about $1,800.00) only to say yes but not when, where, or how. And certainly not worth the price tag.

So I’d like to say thank you to Aletta and Tanya from Veterans-For-Change, Gene Simes and Jere Berry from OFFE/VFVC, Dr. Thrasher and Dr. Hooper, Ms. Foster of Michigan (Victim) and Mrs. Trend of California (Victim) all for their contributions at bringing a fraud to light and helping secure enough evidence to be turned over to the Attorney Generals’ in California, Michigan, Illinois and the US Attorney General in DC.  Veterans Bills upport Needed:

The following bills need your support and the support of your family, fellow vets and friends:

HR 2254
Agent Orange Equity Act of 2009

S 535
Repeal the SBP/DIC “Widows Tax” Offset

Although there are well over 300 veterans bills pending and each need your support, these two are of the greatest value at this moment.

HR 2254 will help many Blue Water Navy veterans receive benefits they desperately need and are long over due.

S 535 will help the widows of our fallen vets by restoring their pay.  Currently SBP which is a PAID insurance by the vet is offset dollar for dollar on DIC a death benefit which was paid for by the death of the vet.  Both earned, both paid for, the offset must stop!

What I strongly recommend everyone do is bookmark capwiz.com/usdr/home and visit this site every two weeks. Send out the pre-written E-Mails (all of them) to your members of Congress.  Even if you sent the E-Mail two weeks prior please, do it again and again until they no longer exist on the list. Keep in mind not to ask for changes or additions, this will only cause the bill to surely die in committee and we can’t wait one or two more years for an amended bill to be presented.

Be sure to forward this information on to everyone on your private mailing lists and ask they do the same.

We need to get all these bills out of committee in tact as written, put on the floor for a vote and passed and eventually signed into law for them to take effect and help countless thousands of vets.

Please, your support is desperately needed by all veterans, spouses, their children, and widows! 

Support Needed for Special Bill:

In the past I’ve come to you on many occasions trying to gain veteran support via a written, hard copy petition.

We failed to gain the attention of Congressman Hinchey of New York, however, we’ve not given up the battle yet.

We have approached 4 Senators and 4 Congressmen and will be approaching many more this week and next until we find one to sign and present the bill with the assistance of OFFE and several leading toxicologists.

The bill is the TCE/PCE Reduction Act of 2009 which was originally the TCE Reduction Act of 2008 and died in committee.

As you may or may not know TCE is a chemical degreaser which was used in the motor pool, aircraft wings and on board ships to clean mechanical parts.

PCE is a dry cleaning chemical used on most bases in the dry cleaning shops all were discarded into the ground which contaminated the drinking water and all residents, military and civilian personnel were exposed and contaminated.

Both these chemicals are just as bad if not worse than Agent Orange and causing all kinds of cancers, birth defects and a host of other illnesses which the VA doesn’t recognize.

The signing, introduction and passage of this bill will help countless thousands of active duty personnel, veterans, their spouses and children to all receive benefits and the medical care needed.

I’ve attached the petition and ask that each who has not done so already, please, sign the petition, and get 14 more signatures then mail the completed petition to the Veterans-For-Change office as soon as possible so we have more power to get a signature on the bill.

Every signature is critical, and helps your fellow veteran, if not yourself and your family, think of the countless thousands of others.

And who knows they too may in turn sign a petition to get another bill passed which you might be in need of!

There is power in numbers and we can win!  We can’t let the VA and Congress continually beat us down we have to prove we have the power to over come all issues!

Please take the time and support the bills and request your members of congress support the bills on the Capwiz system link noted above, and by signing all petitions sent to you for veterans bills and rights!

Thank you for having taken the time to read this rather long E-Mail, your time is greatly appreciated! 

Jim Davis

President – Veterans-For-Change

Jim Davis
Garden Grove, CA 92840
jdavis92840@sbcglobal.net

VETERANS-FOR CHANGE

VETERANS WILLING TO GET INVOLVED IN THE FIGHT AGAINST THE VA

ALL Veterans complain about one thing or another when it comes to the VA, benefits, etc. and for the most part they’re right, however, NOT many will stand up to the VA nor our goverment.

DO YOU HAVE THE GUTS TO STEP FORWARD AND SAY YOU WON’T TAKE IT ANY MORE AND HELP IN THE FIGHT?

Then join us today because tomorrow NEVER comes!

Group Name: Veterans-For-Change
Group Home Page: groups.yahoo.com/group/VETERANS-FOR-CHANGE

Posted in Environmental Health Threats, Health - Medical - Science, Politics, Veterans | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments