The U.S. Senate is expected to vote today on a Medicare package that includes a two-year extension on the Special Diabetes Programs.

According to the American Diabetes Association, these programs at the National Institutes of Heath and the Indian Health Service represent a major portion of the government's commitment to find a cure for diabetes. Earlier this week, the House voted 355-59 in support of the bill.

Despite the resounding support, now is not the time to let up on pressure to pass this legislation. Now is the time, however, to let your Senator know prevention of and finding a cure for diabetes should be a financial priority with the federal government for the sake of human health, as well as our ailing economy. Treatment and a cure will cost money, but denying crucial funding would be penny wise and pound foolish. That's my two cents for today.

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The American Diabetes Association has put a shout out on the advocacy front and I'm passing it on. According to the announcement, the U.S. House of Representatives is about to consider one of the most important pieces of civil rights legislation for people with diabetes.

A vote on the ADA Amendments Act (formerly called the ADA Restoration Act) could happen as early as today.

This bill makes it clear that when Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990, they intended the coverage to protect anyone who faces unfair discrimination because of a disability. The bill confirms for the courts that people should not lose their civil rights protections because they may have a disease that may be manageable with mediation.

It's not too late to send your letter of support to your representative. Please take a moment to do so on behalf of all people with diabetes.

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Since the United States does not have federal smoking control legislation and each individual state must determine legislative bans, only about half of Americans are covered by a smoke free ordinance of some degree. Efforts to ban smoking have been developing since the early 1990s when research showed that secondhand smoke not only was an annoyance to nonsmokers, but actually was contributing to their death from lung cancer.

So I know some of you feel this subject is beat up but I have to speak out as a cancer survivor and also someone who is presently battling cancer and I am not a smoker. This is my two minutes. Moving back home to Virginia was nice to be around family members and old friends, but it has put a damper on how many times I will actually go out to eat or even go enjoy bowling or other social events. Because it means breathing second hand smoke. Going to a bar or even to a coffee shop to listen to live music is even a health risk and I just won't do it. As a songwriter and performer if I want to get paid shows in this state I have to breathe the smoke that comes with the places I would perform like restaurants, bars, or coffee shops. Could it be the fact that the largest manufacturer of cigarettes, Phillip Morris, is located in the state capital of Virginia in Richmond?

And coincidence or not, to even go south of me 15 minutes into North Carolina is not any relief either because North Carolina is the home of R.J. Reynolds tobacco company located in Winston Salem and legislation to ban smoking in public places has not passed in that state either.

When people talk about freedoms and being able to smoke in public, I think somebody else's freedom ends when it enters my lungs and causes serious health risks and forces me to give up the freedoms of going to places that I enjoy or need to work in to survive. Looking at research it seems for people to escape smoking in public places they have to move to northern states or to the west coast. The R.J Reynolds website states "Adults who smoke should avoid exposing minors to secondhand smoke." Well what about adults? See a map of the states with smoking bans by clicking here.

It makes no sense, but it seems that as health care becomes a bigger and bigger issue in this country some of the people who should care about it the most, the doctors, are voting less and less. A study coming out of Johns Hopkins Medical School looked at different professions and much they participated in voting in presidential elections and found that although not at the very bottom of the list (laborers came in last) doctors are shockingly uninvolved in the political process. 1 in 4 doctors haven't bothered to vote in the last 3 presidential elections.

And guess who came in first, with the best turnout of all? Lawyers, of course.

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Bangor, a city in Maine, has now made it illegal to smoke in your car when there are children present. It's not the first to do it either, following in the footsteps of the states of Louisiana and Arkansas -- and many other states are considering similar measures.

Bangor's City Counselor, who is a smoker herself, commented that people smoking in vehicles with children around are as good as trying to kill them intentionally. That's a really harsh way to put it, but I have to say I agree.

Smoking in the car with anyone who's under 18 present will be a primary offense (meaning you can get pulled over for that reason alone) when the law goes into effect next week, and will cost you up to $50 in fines.

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