Posted 12:33 PM by Bonnie

Moses to God :-)

"Excuse me, Sir."

"Is that you again, Moses?"

"I'm afraid it is, Sir."

"What is it this time, Moses; more computer problems?"

"How did you guess?"

"I don't have to guess, Moses. Remember ?"

"Oh, yes; I forgot."

"Tell me what you want, Moses."

"But you already know, Sir. Remember?"

"Moses!"

"Sorry, Sir."

"Well, go ahead, Moses; spit it out."

"Well, I have a question, Sir.
You know those ten 'things' you sent me via e-mail?"

"You mean the Ten Commandments, Moses?"

"That's it. I was wondering if they are important."

"What do you mean 'if they are important,' Moses?
Of course, they are important.
Otherwise, I would not have sent them to you."

"Well, sorry, Sir, but I lost them. I could say the dog ate them; but, of course, you would see right through that."

"What do you mean you 'lost them'?
Are you trying to tell me you didn't save them, Moses?"

"No, Sir; I forgot."

"You should always save, Moses."

"Yes, I know. You told me that before. I was going to save them, but I forgot.
I did forward them to some people before I lost them though."

"And did you hear back from any of them?"

"You already know I did. There was the one guy who said he never uses 'shalt not.' May he change the words a little bit?"

"Yes, Moses, as long as he does not change the meaning."

"And what about the guy who thought your stance was a little harsh, and recommended calling them the 'Ten Suggestions,' or letting people pick one or two to try for a while?"

"Moses, I will act as if I did not hear that."

"I think that means 'no.'
Well, what about the guy who said I was scamming him?"

"I think the term is 'spamming,' Moses."

"Oh, yes. I. E-mailed him back and told him I don't even eat that stuff, and I have no idea how you can send it to someone through a computer."

"And what did he say?"

"You know what he said. He used Your name in vain.
You don't think he might have sent me one of those -- err -- plagues, and that's the reason I lost those ten 'things', do you?"

"They are not plagues; they are called 'viruses,' Moses."

"Whatever! This computer stuff is just too much for me.
Can we go back to those stone tablets?
It was hard on my back taking them out and reading them each day, but at least I never lost them."

"We will do it the new way, Moses; using computers!!"

"I was afraid you would say that, Sir."

"Moses, what did I tell you to do if you messed up?"

"You told me to hold up this rat and point it toward the computer."

"It's a mouse, Moses, not a rat. Mouse! Mouse!
And did you do that?"

"No, I decided to try calling technical support first. After all, who knows more about this stuff than you? And I really like your hours.
By the way, Sir, did Noah have two of these mice on the ark?"

"No, Moses."

"One other thing.
Why did you not name them 'frogs' instead of 'mice,' because did you not tell me the thing they sit on is a pad?"

"I did not name them, Moses. Man did,
and you can call yours a frog if you want to."

"Oh, that explains it.
I bet some woman told Adam to call it a mouse.
After all, was it not a woman who named one of the computers 'Apple?'"

"Say good night, Moses."

"Wait a minute, Sir.
I am pointing the mouse, and it seems to be working.
Yes, a couple of the ten 'things' have come back."

"Which ones are they, Moses?"

"Let me see.
'Thou shalt not steal from any grave an image' and
'Thou shalt not uncover Thy neighbor's wife.'"

"Turn the computer off, Moses.
I'm sending you another set of stone tablets."

Posted 12:18 PM by Bonnie

OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK! I am sure you have all heard this before, but maybe we need to keep it in the forefront and ask the hard questions at election time.

SOCIAL SECURITY:

(This is worth reading. It is short and to the point.)

Perhaps we are asking the wrong questions during election years.

Our Senators and Congresswomen do not pay into Social Security and, of course, they do not collect from it.

You see, Social Security benefits were not suitable for persons of their rare elevation in society. They felt they should have a special plan for themselves. So, many years ago they voted in their own benefit plan.

In more recent years, no congressperson has felt the need to change it. After all, it is a great plan.

For all practical purposes their plan works like this:

When they retire, they continue to draw the same pay until they die.

Except it may increase from time to time for cost of living adjustments.

For example, former Senator Byrd and Congressman White and their wives may expect to draw $7,800,000.00 (that's Seven Million, Eight-Hundred Thousand Dollars), with their wives drawing $275,000.00 during the last years of their lives.

This is calculated on an average life span for each of those two Dignitaries.

Younger Dignitaries who retire at an early age, will receive much more during the rest of their lives.

Their cost for this excellent plan is $0.00. NADA....ZILCH....

This little perk they voted for themselves is free to them. You and I pick up the tab for this plan. The funds for this fine retirement plan come directly from the General Funds;

"OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK"!

From our own Social Security Plan, which you and I pay (or have paid) into, -every payday until we retire (which amount is matched by our employer)- we can expect to get an average of $1,000 per month after retirement.

Or, in other words, we would have to collect our average of $1,000 monthly benefits for 68 years and one (1) month to equal Senator Bill Bradley's benefits!

Social Security could be very good if only one small change were made.

That change would be to jerk the Golden Fleece Retirement Plan from under the Senators and Congressmen. Put them into the Social Security plan with the rest of us ... then sit back and watch how fast they would fix it.

Posted 1:15 PM by Bonnie

My ex-husband, Ralph, sent this to me and I thought it was important enough to post here. Hopefully this will give some women hope when it comes to breast cancer research.

From URL: http://www.comcast.net/News/HEALTHWELLNESS//XML/1500_Health__medical/22284ad2-8200-4087-8e21-2094245d7ebd.html

Study: Drug Cuts Breast Cancer Recurrence 09 October 2003
By TOM COHEN, Associated Press Writer

TORONTO - Researchers were so encouraged by early results from a study on preventing breast cancer recurrence that they halted their work so more women can benefit from the findings.

The study, published online Thursday by the New England Journal of Medicine, showed breast cancer patients who follow up five years of tamoxifen treatment with letrozole, an estrogen suppressor, cut the risk of recurrence by nearly half.

Doctors involved in the study said the findings could benefit hundreds of thousands of women uncertain about what to do after taking tamoxifen, which loses much of its effectiveness after five years. The drug is the top hormonal treatment for estrogen-fueled tumors.

"The result has provided women with hope," said Kathy Anderson, a breast cancer survivor who took part in the study.

The study involved more than 5,000 women in North America and Europe with the most common form of breast cancer who had completed the recommended five years of tamoxifen treatment. They were given either letrozole or a dummy pill, and results showed that within an average of 2.4 years, 207 had a cancer recurrence _ 75 of those on letrozole and 132 of those taking the placebo.

Because of those results, the research was halted so those participants getting the placebo could begin taking letrozole. Publication of the results, which will appear in the journal's Nov. 6 issue, was moved up because of the importance of the findings.

Letrozole is made by Novartis Pharmaceuticals. It paid more than half the cost of the $15 million study and supplied all the letrozole and placebo pills used, officials said.

Doctors who ran the study told a news conference Thursday that the opportunity to help so many women prevailed over the desire for more substantive long-term findings.

"This is available and can provide potentially meaningful reduction in risk of recurrence," said Dr. James Ingle, of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

A journal editorial published alongside the study supported the decision.

"At a minimum, suitable patients must be apprised of these important observations and must be given the opportunity to receive letrozole, with an understanding of the limitations of the data," said the editorial by Dr. Norman Wolmark of Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh.

Estrogen fuels the growth of about half of all breast cancers, especially those in older women. Tamoxifen is given to almost all such U.S. patients after surgery to help prevent breast tumors from returning.

Tamoxifen, the top treatment to stall tumor growth, prevents estrogen from linking up to a receptor on the surface of cancer cells.

However, tamoxifen's effectiveness ends after five years, apparently because the body develops a resistance to it, said Dr. Paul Goss of Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto. He headed the study by 18 doctors from Canadian, U.S. and European hospitals, universities and cancer centers.

Estrogen pushes dormant tumors to grow, he said, so the study looked at what happened if patients took an estrogen inhibitor such as letrozole. Goss and Ingle said further study was required on the effects of prolonged letrozole use. Side effects include increased risk of osteoporosis, hot flashes, night sweats, and pain in the bones, joints or back. Letrozole costs about $6 per pill and is taken daily, Ingle said.

Goss said the findings help him go to work "with a lighter step" because he can tell patients that "yes, something is happening."

Anderson, a 50-year-old elementary school administrator diagnosed with breast cancer more than eight years ago, said she had no idea during the study if she was taking letrozole or the placebo. She said she was relieved to hear earlier this week it was letrozole.

"There is anxiety about recurrence. It fluctuates day-to-day," she said. "My recurrence rate has just been cut in half."