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It's a good thing the health care debate has moved on to the Senate, because House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has completely lost her voice. Her vocal cords have shut down, her husband, Paul, told me when I ran into him at Ron Cowan's holiday party at Teatro ZinZanni the other night. Pelosi has been getting advice from everyone on how to fix it. President Obama told her, "hot water and lemon," at the recent Kennedy Center Honors gala.

A libertarian conservative has declared his plans to "take out Nancy Pelosi" in the 2010 election to stop her from devastating the nation. John Dennis, a businessman and real-estate investor in California's 8th congressional district, told WND, "I've decided to run because the statist Pelosi agenda will destroy America." Rep. Pelosi's district covers most of San Francisco, and Democrats have held the seat since 1949. Since first winning the House seat in a 1987 special election, Pelosi, 69, has breezed to re-election 10 times. President Obama received 85 percent of the vote there in 2008.

A few weeks ago, on a Thursday around noon, Nancy Pelosi whirls through the second floor of the Capitol in a sea-foam pantsuit with lots of gold jangling on her arms. The Speaker of the House, the highest-ranking woman in government and third in line to the president, is about to walk the pink-painted halls of her private chambers to another series of closed-door meetings with the Democratic caucus about the health-care bill. Today, she’s set up a powwow of progressives in one of her conference rooms, and another for the Blue Dogs down the hall, but first she has...

A communique from the conscience of our nation, who was so troubled by Joe Wilson’s outburst that she not only made sure he was censured — after he apologized to Obama — but then proceeded to tear up publicly over the state of political discourse in America, just to let you know how much she cares. How much ? This much: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) says there’s no reason for Rep. Alan Grayson to apologize for his “Die quickly” remark, since Republicans have made statements just as outrageous as his. “If anybody’s going apologize, everybody should apologize,” Pelosi told...

In a rare display of public emotion, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) choked up Thursday morning recalling the anti-gay rhetoric in the late 1970s in San Francisco, which culminated in the assassinations of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay S.F. Board of Supervisors member, and Mayor George Moscone. Pelosi, responding to a question about whether anti-government rhetoric posed a threat of domestic violence, said that protesters on all sides had the right to voice their opposition to legislative proposals in a heated fashion. But then Pelosi -- whose weekly press conferences are legendary for their highly scripted nature and her...

“I have concerns about some of the language that is being used because I saw … I saw this myself in the late '70s in San Francisco,” Pelosi said, choking up and with tears forming in her eyes. “This kind of rhetoric is just, is really frightening and it created a climate in which we, violence took place and … I wish that we would all, again, curb our enthusiasm in some of the statements that are made.”

California's U.S. senators tend to fall into two categories – headline-grabbers and dependable workhorses for the state's interests. For the past 17 years, the state's two senators have been Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer. Both elected during the much-heralded "year of the woman," they have followed the state's time-honored pattern. Boxer draws media attention with her quixotic political forays, often involving some left-of-center cause having nothing to do with California, while Feinstein is the go-to person for the state's economic and political interests. It explains why voter polls consistently find that Feinstein is among the state's highest-rated political figures while...

Nancy Pelosi says townhall protestors carry swastikas. ...

Say what you like about Barack Obama, but the man has some brilliant ideas. To help fund his $1 trillion overhaul of the US healthcare system, for example, he wants to tax vanity. Obama's allies have proposed a 10 per cent levy on every plastic surgery procedure (if not medically necessary) ....... This is one piece of social engineering that can harm no one; and if it saves just one American from looking like a Siamese cat in a wind tunnel, Obama will not have ruled in vain.

Nose jobs, breast enhancements, tummy tucks and liposuction could be hit with a ten per cent tax to help foot the bill of Barack Obama's $1 trillion overhaul of the health care system. Max Baucus, the chairman of the senate finance committee which is drawing up one of several versions of a health care reform bill, described the proposed cosmetic surgery tax as "interesting", "creative" and "kind of fun". Americans last year spent $10.3 billion (£6.3 billion) on 12.1 million operations or procedures to improve their looks or replace the hair on their heads. Five million doses of wrinkle-reducing Botox...

Face-lifts, tummy tucks and hair transplants could be hit with a new tax to help finance the trillion-dollar healthcare overhaul plan, according to sources familiar with the Senate talks. The Senate Finance Committee has discussed imposing a 10 percent excise tax on cosmetic surgery deemed unnecessary for medical purposes. The idea was broached in a meeting with OMB Director Orszag in mid-July, after which Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus told reporters he had heard some "interesting," "creative," and "kind of fun" ideas. The tax, which has not been officially scored, would plug some of the revenue gap senators are seeking...

DON'T GO THERE: DEMS EYE 10% TAX ON BOTOX, COSMETIC SURGERY Mon Jul 27 2009 17:18:00 ET Face-lifts, tummy tucks and hair transplants could be hit with a new tax to help finance the trillion-dollar healthcare overhaul plan, CONGRESS DAILY reports. The Senate Finance Committee has discussed imposing a 10% excise tax on cosmetic surgery deemed unnecessary for medical purposes. DAILY's Peter Cohn reveals: The idea was broached in a meeting with OMB Director Orszag in mid-July, after which Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus told reporters he had heard some "interesting," "creative," and "kind of fun" ideas. MORE Developing...

Pelosi promises health-care reform will pass in HouseShailagh Murray,Paul Kane, Washington Post Sunday, July 26, 2009 Defying skeptics in her party, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, vowed today to overcome lingering obstacles and pass health-care reform in the House, restoring momentum to President Obama's top domestic priority and order to her own unruly Democratic caucus. **SNIP** A health-care victory in the House this week would be a stirring moment for Obama and allow more breathing room for the Senate, where finance negotiators are trying to write a bipartisan bill that must be melded with a separate health committee version....

Dr Simon Ourian, a cosmetic surgeon based in Beverly Hills, California, claimed that he stumbled upon its unexpected powers by accident while treating his mother who was suffering from migraines after having chemotherapy which had made her hair fall out. Familiar with Botox's use as a headache treatment, he injected the chemical – the medical name for a form of Botulinum toxin – into her scalp but was surprised to find that it also appeared to help her hair to grow back. He said that he tested his discovery on volunteers for three years, adding a mixture of vitamins to...

Job hunting in a recession is a tough assignment - with almost one in ten people out of work in the US, it takes more than a spruced-up CV, a tidy haircut or a smart new suit to stand out from the crowd these days. But doctors in the US have found a new way to give the unemployed a leg-up with a "Botox bailout", offering thousands of dollars worth of free Botox injections, liposuctions and other cosmetic procedures to ensure they look their very best - and perhaps a little more youthful - at interviews. "If people feel good...

A stroke victim who has been paralysed for more than two decades can walk again after being injected with Botox. Russell McPhee was a healthy meat worker who played football, cricket and basketball when, at the age of 26, he collapsed suddenly at work. When he woke in hospital he was told he had suffered a stroke and would never walk again. “I felt my life had ended,” he said. “I lost my job, my wife left me, I ended up with nothing.” Today, Mr McPhee, 49, of Gippsland in Victoria, can walk almost unaided for up to 20 metres...

Does anyone really believe that Queen Nancy is telling the truth? Even many Democrats are distancing themselves from her. Pelosi should have taken a few lessons from Bill Clinton on the art of lying. She isn't doing too well on her own. Imagine, this woman is third in line to become President of the United States. Scary thought. (Although Joe Biden, as second-in-command is even more frightening.) If Nancy Pelosi were a Republican, she would have been forced to step down as Speaker of the House by now. As we all know, Republicans are held to a much higher standard...

With her integrity increasingly in doubt, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi should step down for the good of the country. It is clear as the story unfolds that she knew as much about waterboarding as anyone in the Bush administration, and thus, her only motive for hiding what she knew is for partisan political purposes. This is hypocrisy at its worst.

Nancy Pelosi insisted today that she did not know waterboarding was happening. Via Politico: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is pushing back on GOP charges that she knew about waterboarding for years and did nothing. Pelosi says she was briefed by Bush administration officials on the legal justification for using waterboarding — but that they never followed through on promises to inform her when they actually began using "enhanced" interrogation techniques "In that or any other briefing…we were not, and I repeat, we're not told that waterboarding or any of these other enhanced interrogation techniques were used. What they did tell...

More Botox Uses 'Spell Bright Prospects for Manufacturer' For the last decade or so, Botox has been the most popular anti-wrinkle treatment. But more research has revealed other uses as well, the New York Times reported Sunday. In addition to treating four problems approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) -- eye muscle disorders, neck muscle disorders, excessive sweating and eyebrow furrows -- a number of medical journals reported that Botox also alleviates hair loss, drooling, chewing and swallowing problems, and pelvic muscle spasm. The paper quoted Mitchell Brin, a chief scientific officer for Botox at Allergan, the...

After her stroke, Francine V. Corso, a software engineer who worked on NASA’s lunar lander, was housebound from 1992 to 2001. Her left arm was twisted up near her neck, making it difficult to pull on a blouse, and her fingers curled so rigidly that her nails buried themselves in her palm. When she finally learned to rise from her wheelchair, her contorted left leg had the so-called horse gait of many brain-injury victims — she stepped toe-downward, and then fought to keep her foot from rolling over. Now, with injections of botulinum toxin every three months, she says, “I’m...

LONDON: Botox injections can lead to depression, a new study has warned. The jabs help you get rid of wrinkles by partially freezing muscles but scientists have found that they also stop people from being able to express their feelings visually. That leads to them keeping emotions bottled up inside and perceiving the world in a negative way. "Suppressing negative emotions is something we do every day to be polite," the Sun quoted Dr Judith Grub, who led the research in Holland, as saying. "However, my research shows that paralysing muscles that help you to express emotion leads to internalising...

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To heck with Champagne, break out the Botox. It's inauguration party time. "We have been absolutely swamped since the election with people desiring rejuvenation procedures for the upcoming inauguration," says Washington, D.C., cosmetic dermatologist Tina Alster. "My normal load for cosmetic procedures has doubled, except for hyaluronic acid fillers — Perlane and Restylane — which have almost tripled," reports cosmetic and laser surgeon Hema Sundaram, who runs two offices in the Washington, D.C., area.

"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) (C) holds aloft the $700 billion financial bailout bill after she signed it, in an attempt to provide relief for the current financial and banking crisis, at the US Capitol in Washington, October 3, 2008. Also pictured are: Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) (Back row, L-R), Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC), Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) and Rep. John Larson (D-CT)."

Senator Joe Biden's performance at last week's vice-presidential debate has come under renewed scrutiny after a plastic surgeon said he would bet his "next paycheck" that he had resorted to cosmetic procedures. The claim by Dr Oleh Slupchynskyj of New York's Aesthetic Institute was strenuously denied by David Wade, a spokesman for Mr Biden. "I don't know how to say no firmly enough. Absolutely not. That's not a misdiagnosis, that's called malpractice," he said. But the comments fuelled speculation that in his contest with the self-styled "pitbull in lipstick" Sarah Palin, Mr Biden may have been a senator with Botox....

Economic times being what they are, folks in Tinseltown are “naturally” concerned about the supply of botox needed at the ready. Goddess forbid there would ever be a shortage. It could happen, though, if pols like Joe Biden continue to hog the stuff just to put on their best debate faces. At the recent veep debate, Joe’s frozen eyebrows and ironed forehead made him look as though he had gotten confused and thought he was going for a part in “High School Musical.” It seems as though handlers gave Joe the wrong juice because what the Delaware senator really could...

DID YOU SEE IT ? From hair plugs to this. Now I know what those two beige streaks were on the side of his temples ! He used cosmetic tape to give himself an eye lift and it almost closed them shut. Both socialist/democrats suffering from severe Narcissistic Personality Disorder. I have a screen capture but no matter how I try it comes out as a red x

The claim was reportedly contained in court papers obtained by a celebrity website following Ms Stone's unsuccessful custody battle with her former husband Phil Bronstein. The document portrayed the 50-year-old star of the Basic Instinct films as an alarmist parent who had become convinced that Roan, whom the couple adopted, suffered from a spinal condition despite there being "no evidence" to back up her belief. Judge Anne-Christine Massullo of San Francisco Superior Court also reportedly suggested that Ms Stone's acting commitments meant that she was often an absent parent who passed on many of her responsibilities to third parties because...

Months after US authorities sounded the alarm, European officials are warning of dangerous possible side effects from the wrinkle-smoothing injection Botox, according to a German news report. The London-based European Medicines Agency had by August 2007 recorded more than 600 cases of negative effects potentially linked to the popular cosmetic treatment, Focus news weekly reported in its issue to be released Monday. In 28 cases Botox users died.

Botilinum can travel along nerves and degrade proteins in the brain stem. Researchers have seen how the nerve-blocking botilinum toxin, made famous by wrinkle-banishing Botox, can be carried from a site of injection in rats into the brain. Once there, the toxin can degrade proteins and act on nerves. This previously unknown ability of botilinum to affect the brain “is certainly of concern”, says Matteo Caleo of the Italian National Research Council’s Institute of Neuroscience in Pisa, who reports the work. Thus far, the study has been done only in rodents, which had no noticable behavioural reaction to the migration...

With frizzy red hair, milky white skin and a dusting of freckles, Nicole Kidman was never considered a conventional Hollywood beauty. But she is now. And as well as a smooth golden hairstyle and perfect skin she has a freeze-frame face, free of even the faintest expression lines. Not that cosmetic surgeons are lining up to take the credit. One claimed her unfortunate "bat face" look was putting other women off cosmetic treatments. The 40-year-old Academy Award winner is so "over-Botoxed" she is giving the industry a bad name, Dr Martin Braun told a conference of medical experts. Miss Kidman...

Feb. 8, 2008 -- The FDA today announced that it's investigating rare reports of serious adverse events linked with Botox, Botox Cosmetic, and Myobloc. The most serious cases, in which patients died or were hospitalized, occurred in children with cerebral palsy who got botulinum toxin for severe arm and leg muscle spasms associated with their cerebral palsy. That's an unapproved use of the drugs.No adult deaths have been linked to the drugs, but some adults have been hospitalized, including at least one person who used Botox for cosmetic uses. It's not clear if that case was due to Botox use. Adults'...

The popular anti-wrinkle drug Botox and a competitor Myobloc have been linked to some deaths and other severe side effects suggestive of botulism, the government warned doctors Friday. The drugs use botulinum toxin, which blocks nerve impulses to muscles, causing them to relax. But in rare cases, the toxin may have spread beyond the injection site to other parts of the body, resulting in such problems as paralysis of respiratory muscles and difficulty swallowing, the Food and Drug Administration said. The FDA said the deaths were all among child patients, mostly those with cerebral palsy treated for limb spasms, a...

Does Hillary do botox?. ..... . Did that yellow jacket with the black detail that she wore in South Carolina suit her? Yes, with a woman in the running for the White House, the claws are out and looks and fashion are prime topics of conversation - not just for the usual observers of frocks and 'tox, but also for television presenters and erudite analysts. A photo showing all the wrinkles on an exhausted Hillary Clinton, 60, and a video in which she loses her voice have been the subjects of long, studied commentaries in the media. The unflattering images...

Botox and a similar injected drug have been associated with 16 deaths, four of them in children, and scores of serious injuries that occurred after the drug spread to vital organs, a health advocacy group says. The drug, a neurotoxin that is used to relax muscles, should come with a far stronger warning label and patients should be given a letter detailing its risks, the group, Public Citizen, said in a petition filed Thursday with the Food and Drug Administration.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi today defended the Architect of the Capitol's refusal to permit use of the word "God" on official certificates enclosed with flags flown over the U.S. Capitol. Dayton-area GOP Rep. Michael Turner and more than 100 of his Republican colleagues sent a letter to Pelosi last week after an Eagle Scout in his district asked that a flag flown over the U.S. Capitol be sent to his grandfather with a certificate inscribed with the message: "In honor of my grandfather Marcel Larochelle, and his dedication and love of God, country, and family." The boy and his father...

Has anyone seen or heard Barbara Boxer whining recently? Her absence was discussed last weekend at two social functions.

Doesn't Hillary look great these days? Fresh-faced, beaming, nary a frown line. No evidence of her famously pursed lips. And those scowl lines, earned by a lifetime of looking down on others with barely concealed contempt, have vanished. Magic. She almost looks normal. While no one (with the exception of, say, Eleanor Clift) would ever call her a 'babe,' Hillary's visage no longer brings forth an involuntary flinch. This 'transformation' was immediately apparent at the recent Democrat debate. Hill's camp vehemently denies any 'artifice.'

couldn't possibly mask who she really is!

Hillary Clinton's enemies have long criticised her political -makeover, from the liberal firebrand First Lady to the moderate senator and White House candidate that she is today. Now, the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination is the subject of a whispering campaign suggesting that she has also undergone a physical makeover - with Botox injections to enhance her appearance. Before and after? Hillary Clinton in 2006 and at last week's debate Sen Clinton's fresh-faced demeanour at last weekend's New Hampshire presidential debate has unleashed a flurry of speculation, among newspaper columnists and on the internet, that she has used artificial...

So I’m in New Hampshire for the Democrats’ debate Sunday, watching on two huge screens. The instant Hillary appears, the woman behind me whispers, “Oh look at Hillary. She’s had work done!” I put the question to WBZ’s political guru Jon Keller: Notice anything about Hillary? “Botox,” he replied, not missing a beat. “But it’s time for Botox to win one.” He was referring to John Kerry and Botox. And elaborate dental work. And chin reduction. Google our senator, before and after. Hillary’s new glow was all the talk on “The View.” This was when we needed Rosie O’Donnell to...

Five years ago, Sharon Schafer Bennett suffered from migraines so severe that the headaches disrupted her life, kept her from seeking a job and interfered with participation in her children's daily activities. Now, thanks to an innovative surgical technique performed by a UT Southwestern Medical Center plastic surgeon who helped pioneer the procedure, the frequency and intensity of Mrs. Bennett's migraines have diminished dramatically -- from two to three per week to an occasional one every few months. The technique -- performed by a handful of plastic surgeons in the U.S. -- includes using the anti-wrinkle drug Botox to pinpoint...

Botox isn't just for helping get rid of wrinkles. There is a new use for it. Dr. Jay Adlersberg has more. If Botox can paralyze the muscles that cause wrinkles, how about using it for tight muscles in other places? That's what some doctors are doing to help patients with cerebral palsy and strokes. Botox is helping children and adults alike. Nine-year-old Andrew Carter is not afraid to fall. And he refuses to let cerebral palsy get the best of him. When Andrew would try to move, his muscles would fight him, jerking him around. It's a condition called spasticity....

Chalk up another novel use for Botox. The toxin best known for erasing wrinkles may also help ease the pain of writer's cramp. A small, new study shows injections of Botox improved symptoms of writer's cramp in 70% of those who received the treatment. Writer's cramp is a painful condition that affects about three to seven out of every 100,000 people. Symptoms include involuntary, spasmodic muscle contractions of the fingers, hand, or arm during writing or other manual tasks. People with writer's cramp may simply learn to write with the other hand, but in one in four cases, the condition...

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 02, 2006 CONTACT: Brendan Daly/Jennifer Crider 202-226-7616 Pelosi Statement on Speaker’s Comments Regarding Foley Matter Washington, D.C. –House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement on Speaker Hastert's press conference on the Republican cover up of the inappropriate e-mails Mark Foley sent to an underage former House Page: “Speaker Hastert again failed to answer the question that every mother and father in America is asking: how could Republican Leaders choose partisan politics over protecting children? “Republican Leaders admitted to knowing about Mr. Foley’s abhorrent behavior for six months to a year and failed to protect...

You beauty! City pioneers use Botox to fix bladder problems JENNIFER VEITCH PIONEERING surgeons are using the beauty treatment Botox to cure bladder problems in multiple sclerosis sufferers. Until now the procedure, which involves injecting botulinum toxin, has been used to reduce lines and wrinkles. However, at Edinburgh's Western General Hospital, it has dramatically reduced incontinence among MS patients, and it could now be trialed on other people who suffer from bladder complaints. Doctors have been injecting tiny quantities of Dysport, a brand of botulinum toxin, directly into the bladder wall. The procedure has cured the bladder problems in 90...

Fear over the 'lunchtime facelift' as experts say Botox is addictive By Beezy Marsh, Health Correspondent (Filed: 17/09/2006) Botox has been dubbed the "lunchtime facelift", loved by women – and a growing number of men – for its miraculous ability to erase wrinkles and restore youthful good looks. But the concern is that once you start keeping the unwanted effects of ageing at bay, you will not be able to stop, according to research to be presented at a conference this week. Botox is the No1 non-surgical cosmetic treatment The first study of its kind, carried out by a...

There are growing concerns about the health and appearance of John Kerry, one of the Democratic Party’s premier politruks and the former Presidential standard bearer. It was recently reported on Free Republic by `pabianice' that "he looked terrible" in a recent appearance on Fox News, with fears that he was "suffering from some illness that has been kept secret."