Paralysis

We Americans are a generous people. However, we have made a practice of overextending that generosity through ever-increasing federal borrowing, while passing on unfathomable financial burdens to our children and to generations yet to be born. The official debt of the U.S. government is now reaching the $9 trillion mark. However, David M. Walker, comptroller general of the United States, says that the way in which the federal government measures its liabilities grossly understates the nation's obligations and has created a dilemma that, in his words, could bankrupt the nation.

Only a horror writer like Edgar Allan Poe or Stephen King could describe the anguish of a person suffering total paralysis -- aware, thinking, feeling, but unable to speak, move a muscle or even blink an eye.Now, however, researchers are developing systems that let helpless victims of accident or disease break out of their isolation and communicate by thought alone.They are harnessing the brain's faint electrical signals to move a cursor -- a bright spot or an arrow -- on a computer screen.

What John Unitas represents to football and America deserves more than this -- a lame right hand that is almost useless, the direct result of an injury sustained in a game the Baltimore Colts played more than 30 years ago.Ironically, the legendary "Golden Arm" of Unitas, who passed for more than 40,000 yards in a glittering Hall of Fame career, was so severely damaged as a result of being hurt against the Dallas Cowboys in an exhibition on Sept. 7, 1968, that he can hardly comb his hair, pick up a newspaper or lift a coffee cup -- no exaggeration.

WASHINGTON -- Wednesday night, helpers wheeled Christopher Reeve up a long ramp in a hotel meeting room and then turned him deliberately and dramatically toward a throng of philanthropists. He squinted through the low-slung chandeliers, seemingly impassive, while the crowd rose to shower him with sustained applause.Mr. Reeve, once a dashing star, now is a dashing head. This may sound horrible, but it's true. Nothing below the neck moves of its own accord. Attendants must strap his body to a tall, stiff chair.

Tennessee Williams always objected to the original Broadway production of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," in which director Elia Kazan injected a note of hope into the third act.In his 1955 published script, the playwright explained that he felt the "moral paralysis" of Brick, the male lead, "was a root thing in his tragedy," unlikely to undergo a sudden change of heart.With that in mind, one of the most impressive aspects of the powerful production at Everyman Theatre is that director Vincent Lancisi has managed to have it both ways.

Can Bell's palsy cause blurred vision?Bell's Palsy, a weakness or paralysis of the muscles on one side of the face, affects one in 60 to 70 people. The cause is unknown but is thought to involve an inflammation of the facial nerve. Although some people experience warning symptoms of pain behind the ear for one or two days preceding the weakness, the onset is usually abrupt with symptoms peaking within 48 hours.Weakness and drooping muscles create an expressionless appearance to the affected side of the face, along with a loss of taste on one side of the tongue.

FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT was the greatest president of this century. His greatness lay in his ability to give the nation hope in the midst of crushing Depression and to lead it to victory in World War II. But what was the wellspring of his vitality, of his joy in political battle, of his ability to identify so closely with millions of Americans whose lives differed so completely from his?Was it his intelligence, his intuitive sense about where destiny was leading, his ability to articulate and manipulate?

From The Sun Jan. 7-13, 1846Jan. 8: The Savings Bank of Baltimore -- The numerous depositors in this valuable and well conducted institution will find its annual report in our columns to-day.Jan. 12: On Saturday a man named George Taylor was arrested and brought before Justice Schaefer, on charges of stealing a cow and selling it to a citizen for four dollars.Jan. 13: A meeting of slave-holders was held in Centreville, on Tuesday last, for the purpose of taking some action in reference to the frequent loss of their slaves.

PARIS HAS COME TO A HALT and France to paralysis in a brutal confrontation between the 1990s and the 1960s, the new right and old left, the future and the past. In the interest of European monetary union, a strong French economy and a healthy Europe, President Jacques Chirac should prevail in this struggle. He may not.The French people, having elected Mr. Chirac in May, don't much like him. He campaigned promising lower taxes and more jobs only to see the priority, once in office, for higher taxes, reduced health benefits and cutbacks of cushy perquisites for public sector workers.

TEHRAN, Iran -- There is only limited evidence to support President Clinton's depiction of Iran as a country bent on terrorism and rushing to acquire nuclear arms, according to diplomats closely studying developments here.Iran might hope to develop nuclear weapons in a decade, the diplomats say, and does give rhetorical and some financial support to outlaw groups.But the diplomats and other analysts in the region suggest that the threat from Iran is exaggerated by the United States, and that the U.S. plan to isolate Iran may only increase the regime's radicalism.

As Conor Finch lay on the field Monday evening, convulsing, I kept asking myself when the sport of lacrosse is going to do something about the growing number of concussions. Ask any player these days, from the youth leagues to the professional teams, and everybody seems to have had one. They are as common as tattoos, almost as synonymous with lacrosse as faceoffs and body checks. It's getting scary. Worse yet, most of the sport's governing bodies appear to be ignoring the issue. It will continue that way until the inevitable happens, when a player suffers paralysis or, worse yet, death.

We Americans are a generous people. However, we have made a practice of overextending that generosity through ever-increasing federal borrowing, while passing on unfathomable financial burdens to our children and to generations yet to be born. The official debt of the U.S. government is now reaching the $9 trillion mark. However, David M. Walker, comptroller general of the United States, says that the way in which the federal government measures its liabilities grossly understates the nation's obligations and has created a dilemma that, in his words, could bankrupt the nation.

"Moral paralysis" is a term that has been used to describe the inaction of France, England and other European democracies in the 1930s, as they watched Adolf Hitler build up the military forces that he later used to attack them. It is a term that may be painfully relevant to our own times. Back in the 1930s, the governments of the democratic countries knew what Hitler was doing - and they knew that they had enough military superiority at that point to stop his military buildup in its tracks.

An outbreak of polio in recent weeks in the southern African nation of Namibia, which had been free of the disease for a decade, is highly unusual because the disease is striking and killing adults, according to the World Health Organization. The fast-moving outbreak has killed seven Namibians and paralyzed 33 more, and panicked citizens have deluged hospitals seeking immunization against polio. But there was very little vaccine in the country - only enough for routine vaccination of infants - so supplies quickly ran out and people were turned away.

IT'S SAID that Christopher Reeve, then big and strapping, performed his own stunts in his Superman movies. You know, the faster-than-a-speeding-bullet stuff. But his greatest achievement - the one likely to have the most enduring impact - came more than five years after he broke his neck in a riding accident. Rather than leaping a tall building in a single bound, that historic step only involved being able to tell the difference between a pin prick and a cotton swab. Yet it gave new hope to the half-million people living with paralysis from spinal cord injuries.

On September 12, 2004, JAMESCARLETON SMITH; beloved husband of Marsha Smith (nee Phillips); devoted father of Emily and Patrick Smith; loving son of Douglas C. and the late Nancy Smith; dear brother of Holly Murray. A Memorial Service will be held at the Chestnut Grove Presbyterian Church, Thursday, at 11 AM. Interment private. The family suggest memorial contributions in his name to: The Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation, 500 Morris Ave., Springfield, NJ 07081. Arrangements by the family owned Ruck Towson Funeral Home, Inc.

On September 3, 2004, H. PAGECHESSER; beloved husband of Elizabeth A. Chesser (nee Mester); devoted father of Michael J., Noel P. and Matthew R. Chesser; dear brother of Jerry A. Chesser; loving grandfather of Michael, Amy, Jamie, Jesse, Amanda, Timothy and Anna Chesser. A Memorial Service will be held at the Oak Crest Village Chapel, on Thursday, September 9, at 10 A.M. Contributions may be made in Page's memory to the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation, 500 Morris Avenue, Springfield, NJ 07081.

In the four years since she first heard of West Nile virus, Cecilia Warren never imagined that it could trigger a paralyzing illness similar to polio. That was before she watched her father, a vigorous Crofton retiree who went to sleep four weeks ago feeling vaguely ill, lose the ability to move his arms and legs or even breathe on his own. "Talk about a completely random act," she said near Gerald Warren's room at Johns Hopkins Hospital, reflecting on how a single mosquito, buzzing around an average neighborhood, could do this to anyone - much less to a man who was never bothered by anything worse than a hernia.

CLEVELAND - All that Ravens fans want from their new quarterback, Elvis Grbac, is a jazzed-up passing attack and a bit more excitement on offense. Oh, and another Super Bowl championship. Anything short of an NFL title might be considered a failure, with Grbac taking the blame. Hearing that, Grbac laughs while sitting on the sofa in the family room of his Victorian-style house in Chagrin Falls, an area of lakes and waterfalls in a southeastern suburb outside Cleveland. "I haven't spent a lot of time in Baltimore, but it's a place that is pretty hungry," he said.

IT'S BEEN THREE years since I have danced. Three years since I have broken a sweat at the gym. Three years since I have run and jumped with my kids. Fact is, it's been three years since I have walked. On Feb. 12, 1997, I awakened in the early morning with strange shooting sensations in my legs. I had had the flu for about week but had no idea that this seemingly ordinary bug would put me in a wheelchair, possibly for the rest of my life. Six hours later, knife-like bolts of pain shot their way up my legs to my waist, permanently relaxing my muscles as the paralysis stopped short of the need for a ventilator.