Thursday, October 13, 2011

Always here to help!

James,

Here's the latest info on stomach cancer. Rexin-G is worth looking into by calling Dr. Erlinda Gordon at Epeius Pharmaceuticals in San Marino, CA. I have spoken to her on several occasions and she can give you an insight into this remarkable concept. Theoretically it is very sound, but like all new ideas, the time it takes to make its way to general acceptance can seem like forever. I gave you a link to her thesis on the drug which is worth the read. Then give her a call. Be sure to ask about the "self-help kit" I just found and included down the page.

I hope this helps.

Yours in service,
 
Ed Mattson PHF (Cell: 630-440-7912)

Cancer help

Hi Ed,

You came to our club a couple years back and I paid and signed up to be part of your cancer cause.
I got your book and also corresponded with you a couple times.
I did not know I would end up with multiple cancer issues within the family but I did.
I spoke to you in the past about my mother and her diagnosed multiple myaloma cancer.
You sent me several things on this disease that were very helpful.
We have just recently been dealing with my father in law who was diagnosed with Stomach cancer.
He just had a major surgery to remove his entire stomach, spleen and part of his pancreas.

Not sure where we go from here with him, but I thought I would reach out to you once again since I think I am suppose to be a lifetime member of your program I signed up for and donated to.
I know you said any time we need any info on cancer related stuff we could reach out to you.

Well here I am again.

Do you have any info on stomach cancer that could help me and my family with my father in law?

On a side note, where and how do I get old pills and meds to the right people to ship overseas?

James

James Frawley, ChFC,CFS
Partner and Co Founder
Independent Financial Advisor

Monday, September 19, 2011

Daytona Veterans 2-day event benefits 9/11 1st Responders
 
 
Hello All,
 
Our Central Florida chapter of Veterans For Peace worked together with the Orlando chapter of WeAreChange to put on a wonderful 2-day event in Daytona Beach this past weekend in marking the 10th anniversary of the September 11th attacks.
 
CFVFP veteran member Chris Cerullo of Kissimmee, FL, who serves as the coordinator and lead organizer for the Orlando chapter of WeAreChange did a fantastic job in organizing the event and getting people from all parts of Central and North Florida to participate in the event.  Thank you Chris.
 
CFVFP veteran member Harold Saive of Gainesville, FL did a marvelous job in coordinating the 2-night screening of the new film from Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth entitled "9/11: Explosive Evidence - Experts Speak Out" as well as doing all the videography, editing and production of the 29-minute YouTube video chronicling our event featured in the article "Active Military Look for 9/11 Truth at Veterans For Peace Rally in Daytona Beach".  Thank you Harold.
 
CFVFP veteran member Charlie Williams of Daytona Beach, FL once again delivered for us big-time in coordinating with Steve's Famous Diner in getting his projector, movie screen, and other equipment to show the film set up and in good working order so that we could put on the film screening.  Thank you Charlie.
 
Thank you also to the many volunteers from WeAreChange Florida who came from as far as Melbourne, Jacksonville, Polk County, and the regular die-hards from the greater Daytona-Orlando are who once again suited up and showed up.  We also want to thank Kathy Bracewell and Annie Hansen from the East Central Florida chapter of CODEPINK Women for Peace for their huge help in so many ways.  Thank you everybody.
 
Even with zero media coverage or publicity, we were still able to raise $319.20 from many small donations to send off to the FealGood Foundation ... http://www.fealgoodfoundation.com ... to help the sick and dying 9/11 first responders.  Thank you also to the good people of the Daytona Beach area who donated.

Friday, July 29, 2011

Veterans benefits vs. entitlements others feel due


My latest column appearing July 29, 2011...
It seems as the debate goes on between the warring political factions. I find myself spending an inordinate amount of time responding to e-mail on all sides of the many issues that are brought up.

It is almost impossible to discuss any issue today that isn’t somehow linked to the budget deficit battle going on in Washington DC and state capitals around the country. Our legislators at all levels have been running around like a reckless housewife on a shopping spree with a no-limit credit card for decades, and it’s all coming home to roost. Programs of importance to everyone are under scrutiny, knowing we have to reign-in spending or we will soon be relegated to a much reduced living standard.

Last night as I heard a New York representative flat-out state the US does not have a budget deficit problem…say what? He is under the belief that all are problems are to be blamed on unemployment. Right…and how did that occur?  Reckless government programs, promises made to special interest groups to garner votes, inadequate oversight from government committees assigned the task of protecting us from abuse, and an ambivalent block of voters trying to “get their fair share” of the bureaucrat pie. Such naivety is the insanity that legislators get from too long in office. They don’t even recognize the  havoc their policies do to the citizens.

To my way of thinking, the word “entitlement” has come to represent a thought that because one claims a right, the right being claimed is automatically justified.  I don’t consider veterans in this category as our so called “entitlement” is actually a contractual arrangement, whether explicit or inferred, when we signed on the dotted line and raised our hand to protect and defend this country from all enemies foreign AND DOMESTIC. I kind of feel like we did the first part of that and are now in Phase II, defending ourselves from domestic foes. While many citizens should and need help, the issue of helping those in need  versus those who feel entitled to unending support has gotten out of hand.



Let’s take a look at the educational system in the US. We spends considerably more per student than any country on earth, from about $18,000 per year in New York to $9000 in many states with an average across the board of $12,000. Detroit spends $13,000 per year on its students and is typical of what we see. Half of the population of Detroit is functionally illiterate.  Of the 47% of Detroit residents who can‘t read, half of them hold Detroit City School System diplomas.  All of them made it past the elementary school  years, where basic reading is taught.  Can anyone justify these results? So let’s agree the education is an “entitlement”, but where does the money go? Why do we have tenure (built-in job security regardless of the competency of the teacher)?  Of the salaries paid to teachers, about $1100/year ends up in the union bank accounts which help perpetuate this obvious problem. Where ever you sit politically, how can we condone this inefficiency?

Welfare and other “entitlement” programs are handout programs. Some folks honestly cannot take care of themselves and need assistance, but to many it has become a gravy-train promoted by politicians trying to ingratiate themselves with benevolent voters. The very poor in our country would be living quite well by other country’s standards, yet they want more.  It is your or my fault that we have our next round of welfare families already in the making because near 50% drop-out in high school, join gangs, do drugs and commit crime, or that we have parents that won’t marry and take responsibility for supporting their families because we’ve made it too easy for mom to stay at home, continue to have more kids, and collect benefits, while dad works for cash under-the-table? Come-on.

I didn’t want to go into the support of illegal immigrants and the benefit package we throw to them as they shouldn’t be here in the first place, and what a slap in the face it is those who have gone through the legal process to become card-carrying residents of the US.  The fraud, waste, and abuse in these programs defies justification on any account

Of all the groups trying to maintain the status quo, only a few come to mind that are truly worthy a seat at the table. We need to expand our horizons to look at other views, not just views that make ourselves feel warm and fuzzy.

We have all paid into the government endorsed Ponzi schemes named Social Security and Medicare. Like veterans benefits, these are contractual obligations folks love to call entitlements to diminish the importance of the programs if they are not currently participating. Social Security was never meant to be one’s only retirement stash, but it should be enough to keep people out of the gutter.  Means-testing, reducing payments to those with taxable income over $50,000 could be a ways to deal with the shortage of funds for those who are receiving a monthly check, because what was paid-in and what is being paid-out simply don’t equate. In 1935 our average life span was about 65-70. Today it is nearly eighty for many. Increasing the age to collect benefits for those aged 20-45 by 2-3 years may well improve the solvency of the system. The government improperly invested the so-called trust funds by loaning it back to the government. It’s not the fault of the citizen, but it is the reality we have to deal with. Medicare oversight to prevent fraud and dismantling the recent prescription program in light of all the new $4.00 pharmacy programs could save billions.

We have unemployment insurance, another contractual obligation, not an entitlement. Money is paid in to insure some semblance of family solvency during a period of unemployment. The government runs out of program money because it is not treated as insurance, but unemployment really is insurance, not a handout. Maybe the government shouldn’t have anything to do with or be a part of these kinds of programs. When a real insurance company faces a disaster and has to pay claims, they have built in protection though a series of re-insurance partners, and in most cases remain solvent. Not our government…no back-up plans, just jobs for more bureaucrats, and a slush fund to spend the money until needed.

Now to us veterans who have earned our benefits…Thank God we have dedicated supporters that recognize our situation and organizations which are supporting our position. This past week I received a great e-mail from Julio Martinez thanking me for sticking up for veteran’s rights, but the thanks should really be directed to all veterans group. I will discuss his comments on Monday but to paraphrase his thanks for supporting veterans…

“We have made great strides in meeting the needs of veterans of today, while keeping our promise to yesterday’s veterans. We must not be lured into turf battles, but instead rise above the political fray to fight for America’s well-being. Out of control spending is crippling our country, and we need to slow the growth of government and take responsibility for our bills. As we do this, our veterans deserve better than to be used as shields in political warfare. Instead, we have an obligation to work in a bipartisan manner to better serve veterans and their families. No one should disagree this is the least we owe these men and women”. 

An AMEN would be appropriate. In coming articles I will discuss suggested solutions posed by readers of my column, and try to do justice to those ideas.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Kicking off new campaign in Liberia


Wayne State University is a campus up in Michigan, and home to a Rotary Rotaract Club youth group. For those who do not know Rotary and Rotaract, in a short sentence, they are service organizations like Kiwanis, Lions, etc, that do a lot of great humanitarian service projects for their communities and internationally. Victor Helb is a young man from Liberia who was attending school at Wayne State when we met. He told me about a vision to help the people of his country learn to read and write, because more than 90% of the citizens were either illiterate, or well below elementary school reading ability. He wanted to change all that. One man wanting to change an entire country...what a concept!

Well, after we kicked some ideas around I left Michigan but reconnected with Victor on a few occasions over the next couple of years when he would call for advice. This year things are moving into action. Victor's aunt is the President of Liberia, and now, following years of civil unrest, Liberia has come under the wing of US help; doors are now open for programs like Victor's Liberian Book Project (see: http://www.liberianliteracyfoundation.org/news.html). Just having doors open would not be enough as such projects to provide millions of books, schools supplies, computers, teachers, and even electricity (most of the country is without a large enough electrical grid that the majority of the people do without). Also such grandiose projects require volunteers (lots of them), and much money.
Link
Victor is now back with a request to put everything into motion, but has made the road smoother with years of working US college campus Rotaract Clubs to gain support. Most of what is needed now is to raising money and find a way to ship goods to Liberia on the cheap. As the volunteer Development Director working with the National Guard State Partnership Program, it is ironic that Michigan is the state partner of Liberia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Partnership_Program), home of this project, and perhaps we can use that mechanism to provide transportation when the time comes. As to fundraising, we just opened our new consultancy to assist non-profit service organizations develop fundraising programs. Victor's timing couldn't have been better to seek help. With their sights set on 2000 US college campuses the project is sure to gain momentum.

If others would like to help give us a call at (630) 440-7912 or simply click on to the Liberian Book Project website above. All are welcome

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

57 years after the fact Pfc. Johnson recognized for bravery


The battle for Outpost Harry is but a paragraph in the annals of military history. Those who were there have never forgotten the heroic efforts that many displayed throughout the eight-day battle, and Donald Dingee would not let the military forget the efforts of Pfc. Johnson. It took 57 years before Brigadier General Jeffrey Phillips, 3rd Infantry Division deputy commanding general-rear, presented Pfc. Charlie Johnson, posthumously, with the Silver Star, the nation's third-highest medal for valor in combat. The Silver Star is awarded for gallantry in action against an enemy of the United States. See the full story: http://www.veteranstoday.com/2011/05/18/105199/

“Private First Class Charlie Johnson, a Browning automatic rifleman with the 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, was killed in action June 12, 1953, after an eight-day battle at Outpost Harry, in the Choran Valley during the Korean War. During the battle, Pfc. Johnson placed himself between his comrades and the enemy, creating the conditions for their successful rescue”. God bless Pfc. Johnson.

Friday, April 15, 2011

Mission Accomplished
















A combined effort of the Partnership for the Americas and the National Guard Bureau of International Affairs State Partnership was finally completed with the issuing of a donation check from Best Buy. Best Buy was one of many corporate and community sponsors of The Big Leagues Camp held last July in Stevens Point, WI (see: www.thebigleaguescamp.org), to raise money to transport two donated fire trucks to the Mayport Navel Facility to be shipped to Nicaraugua aboard the HSV 2 Swift.

In coordinating the effort, Ed Mattson stated, "Despite the month-long rain, the program went off with the city's help. They provided the local indoor hockey rink where kids learned the basics of "the Game" from some of baseballs greatest stars. Programs like this can be arranged for other projects. All folks have to do is ask".