To those concerned,

I certainly did not intend to deny the fact that many men and women may have one or more of the symptoms used to describe RLS. The problem is that none of these symptoms when grouped can be narrowly enough defined so as to rule out any one of a hundred other conditions. I consulted casually with 3 MD's, and an MD can not diagnose RLS, because there is no specific group of symptoms that can be isolated or grouped together to produce the syndrome marketed as RLS.. Yes, the Syndrome is being marketed too! Let's face it, RLS is a syndrome in name only, and created exclusively for marketing purposes.. The drug companies know that the only person they need to convince of the syndrome is YOU! Not your doctor! Net Net, you ask for the meds, and if it doesn't conflict with other meds, your doctor will probably let you have it..knowing that mental health is as important as physical health.

The drug may in fact relieve some of the symptoms, but so may aspirin, and possibly exercise. It's no coincidence that the drug Re.... is the ONLY recommended solution!

Yesterday evening I posted a response to a question directed at me within the post. ? What did I do wrong this time?

Thanks Dick Paoliello

Don't you think it's sad when you can't refer to someone as being clean with out the race card being played!

Thanks for the story on RLS. I suffer from it. Here is a solution: put a bar of unscented soap in yor bed at night. I know it sounds weird, and don't ask me how it works, but I promise you it does! It also works for leg cramps. Thanks for the report on Iran and the U.S.A. Keep up the good work!
p.s. I too think you should have longer air time

Brian...Unlike some we did not care one way or the other in regard to Sen Biden's comment about Sen. Obama. Perhaps he should not have said it, but did. I always taught my children to think before they spoke and if they didn't then they would have suffer the consequences. I think the fact is that anything and everything a potential candidate says is news. If my US History has not left me President Truman was in office from 1945-1953. That even makes me too young to remember anything he said unless it was written word. Thanks you for presenting all the news good, bad, or indifferent.

the real reason all the officials are mad over the Aqua Teen Force lights is that they look like real idiots for A) not noticing these lights blinking all around the city for two weeks...B) it's for a TV show.. that has been on for at least a year and no one made the connection...
C) losing credibility with the public...D) the media come off like a bunch of hysterical idiots who got caught with their pants down.

If these "experts" can't tell the difference between a real bomb and what is essentially a toy, then they come off looking like dunces. That should make everybody sleep really well. And on a larger note, what the government wants is a nation of sheep that constantly lives in fear and ignores common sense and blindly gives up it's freedoms, one by one.

I agree with Richard. It's not like Biden tried to block Obama from joining the Congressional White Caucus because he's black.

Brian, I also was appalled that you would lead off the nightly news with the Joe Biden gaffe. As far as I'm concerned, this was was too much emphasis on a comment even the African American targets dismissed. It was a cheap shot by the media on a slow news day. Joe Biden has way too much history of good will to be tripped up by something like this. Are you too young to remember some of Harry Truman's live comments?

Regarding controversial remarks by politicians and other public officials, often they can politely be described as "baloney" or are just plain stupid (like some made by Sen. Joe Biden). But I have occasionally encountered the sort of controversial remark for which I've come up with the expression, an "Emperor Has No Clothes" statement, because it gives voice to an uncomfortable truth most to whom it might occur would refrain from bringing up.

A recent opinion expressed by Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu is an excellent example. She said something to the effect that Louisiana might have been "better off" had it been terrorists who'd attacked New Orleans' levees because of the attention and sympathy which would have resulted. Per "The Dead Pelican," Louisiana's answer to "The Drudge Report", Landrieu's comment ruffled a few feathers.

However, her comment has a grain of truth. Look at all the attention still being paid to 9/11 even though it's close to 5 1/2 years since it happened. For example, President Bush even mentioned 9/11 last week in his State of Denial address. While Hurricane Katrina, per Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco, is "yesterday's news" in Washington and did not merit even one word in the State of Denial address.

Also, Congress set up a "9/11 Commission" to look into how the attack happened--however, so far, in spite of an optimistic report prior to the new Congress' taking office that such would be the case, nobody has seen fit to put together an "8/29 Commission." In fact, Sen. Joe Lieberman, in the moral equivalent of Holocaust denial, says Bush Administration response to Katrina is not important enough to look into.

Last but not least, how about the way 9/11 survivors have been treated? If they're people who lost family members in 9/11, there's still a lot of public sympathy for them, which is well-deserved.

But why does the opposite, in contrast, often seem to be true regarding Katrina survivors? About those from New Orleans, ever since the storm, I've often seen callous, mean-spirited remarks saying they shouldn't have been living below sea level, by those who feel that New Orleans shouldn't even exist. Also, New Orleanians have been unfairly stereotyped by some as people used to being on welfare, sitting around waiting for government checks. I won't even get into the implied racism in such remarks in detail--I'll just say it makes my blood boil. When nothing could be further from the truth than those remarks--New Orleanians are doing the best they can and working as hard as they can, with their limited funds, to slowly rebuild. And calls for federal help from New Orleans' officials are due to the fact that they recognize the fact that rebuilding the buildings, infrastructure, schools, hospitals, etc. of a large city, 80% of which was flooded, is a monumental, expensive task.

And regarding those from Mississippi's Gulf Coast people have said they shouldn't have been living on the coast because of the threat of hurricanes. This would be like saying those who died on 9/11 shouldn't have been working in tall buildings because of the threat of terrorist attack.

The contrast between how 9/11 and its survivors, as opposed to how Katrina and its survivors are being treated is sad. Those are the two biggest, and worst, tragedies to hit this country since the beginning of this century, and should be deemed equally worthy of attention and their survivors deemed equally worthy of sympathy and help.

I must join the chorus questioning the RLS story. I thought it would be interesting to hear more about this medical condition (I know people who suffer from it, and suffer is indeed the word). I was truly shocked by what was just a lengthy commercial - for one of your biggest advertisers no less. This is not what we have come to expect from Brian Williams and NBC News.

There's a George Carlin joke that goes something like this: This just in..doctors have just discovered a cure for which there is no disease!

Brian, there's some seriously bad reporting going on around the Boston incident. These ads were not closed packages that had to be opened-- they were exposed circuit boards with LEDs and batteries, nothing more. There is no way that anyone trained to recognize a bomb should have thought that these ads might be bombs, as they simply had no bulk that might be explosive. The ads didn't shut Boston down, Boston shut itself down with an absurd overreaction to some flat, illuminated signs.

Now a guy is sitting in jail for scattering a few Lite Brites with cartoon characters on them around the city, and the politicians are beating their chests about a "hoax" that never existed and the "excellent response" that took two weeks in the first place. This was a massive *failure* of the homeland security apparatus, in two ways: 1) it took two weeks for anyone to notice the "suspicious devices" that were *lit up*, and 2) when someone did notice they completely abandoned common sense.

Someone needs to call the authorities and the politicians out on this one.

(note: I'm in Atlanta, but I have no affiliation whatsoever with Turner.)

"I know first hand" - wow. No - you don't. You have no idea what it is like to suffer with RLS for over 15 years, long before it even had a name attached to it. You've no clue what it is like to have doctor upon doctor tell you it's all in your head, and how bad the suffering can be with RLS. Requip has saved my sanity and possibly my life. There were nights I literally wanted to cut off my legs, and one night I almost lost them to frostbite after sitting in snow in 28 degree weather to stop the pain, heat, jumping, crawly, horrible feelings. Sleep deprivation over years can drive you insane. I, for one, am happy that I finally have relief, and had a doctor who listened to me and gave me a chance at keeping my legs and my sanity. You may be right about other drug companies and other drugs, but you are way off base about Requip.

You know its bad when the news folk spend two to three days on joke that should not have to be explained or a comment that was more praise then anything else.

Brian -
It is truly amazing that so many politicians don't think before they speak - Senator Biden is only one example. No one will take him seriously after a gaffe like this. Not only did he disrespect the electorate, but also the other candidates.
Is this the shortest campaign in history?

I was just wondering how much GlaxoSmithKline paid NBC for what amounted to a two minute and twenty second commercial for Requip that appeared on your 1/31 broadcast. And will NBC be offering ad space masquerading as news to all their sponsors, or just a select few?

Dick Paoliello, I understand, admire, and encourage your skepticism regarding Restless Leg Syndrome and drug companies, however, I myself really do have a very serious problem that most surely would qualify. For 20 years, the very moment I start to fall asleep, my legs begin to feel twinges. Not a pain, not a cramp, just annoying and rather strong twinges. It can be quite severe depending on how tired I am. My yoga teacher believed it was a sign of Autism because autistic people have an overly sensitive nervous system. To cope with it, they actually try to wedge themselves under mattresses or they try to find any other way imaginable to apply pressure to their body. It’s the only thing that comforts them. I’m not diagnosed as being autistic but I do have many of the peripheral symptoms (over 20 at least as described in a book by an autistic person). To cope with my sleepy leg syndrome or whatever it is, I too apply heavy pressure to my legs at night. I wear five pares of heavy winter socks with tight-fitting neoprene ankle and knee support on top of that - plus other such measure. I even sleep under a large beanbag-type cushion. I don’t take drugs for it. Just apply a heck of a lot of pressure. It must surely sound really unusual, but it’s extremely comforting to me and I honestly would be able to sleep a second any other way. I’m told older people have similar things but I’ve never known anyone else with what I have.

In regard to Iran, does anyone remember this rather infamous Nostradamus prediction?

“In the year - 1999 and seven months, the Great King of Terror shall come from The Sky. He will bring to life the King of the Mongols. Before and after, Mars rules happily (Nostradamus: C10 Q72)”

If we cross out the date, doesn't this prediction apply neatly to 9/11? Just look at the facts. Bin Ladin (aka the 'king of terror' himself) came from the sky and awakened an administration that is acting, in essence, like a 21st-century Gangues Khan: eager to use America’s vast military to conquer territories that were all once part of the Mongolian Empire. Gangues Khan was the leader of the most powerful and feared army on Earth. So is George Bush! The Mongolian Empire spanned from Syria to North Korea and included countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, and Pakistan: all areas that were either branded as the "Axis-of-Evil" or which Bush has been threatening and stationing troops in. He has even visited Mongolia on a recent trip, one of a very few presidents to do so. China and Russia were also a part of the Mongol empire, but George W. Bush hasn’t included them on that list… yet! Our relations with these latter countries have rapidly deteriorated under the current administration.

If Nostradamus did foresee 9/11 and dated his prediction as such, it would likely not have happened that day because of how famous his predictions have become. Basically, everyone would have known from having watched one of a half dozen TLC programs about this very prediction. Thus, by dating his prediction two years early, he may have deliberately set into place a warning. 9/11 itself may not have been avoidable, but a vengeful leader’s over reaction and excuse to use it for virtual world domination may be.

I’m not sure what to make of the reference to Mars. To a person in Nostradamus’s time, Mars was the God-of-War (The neocons?). Today, Mars is a place that most people really want to explore and inhabit! It may be just an odd coincidence, but there is an unprecedented number of five (5) NASA/ESA landers and spacecraft on or around Mars right now! It certainly seems to me that the time of ‘Mars’ (our understanding of it and our growing interest in sending people to it) has arrived! In the summer of 2003 Mars was also the closest it had been to the earth in 60,000 years.

Note: although this prediction did not come true in 7/99, September 11th was 799 full days after July 4th, 1999… Do you see the 799 connection? The seventh month in Nostradamus' time is also September in today's terms...

Given that GlaxoSmithKline is a major sponsor of NBC news, I think the fluff story on Restless Leg Syndrome is a tad to close to NBC's revenue stream. News journalist and ad execs need to keep a clear separation of what is sold and what is written about. I think this story's premise blurred the line between news and dollars.

Brian, I was disappointed in the segment on RLS. I was expecting some medical details or an explanation of this "syndrome". Instead the segment was about creating a market for a drug. As an economics major and retired business executive/lawyer I know about creating markets. I wanted to know about RLS!!

Judith

P.S. Yes, yes, yes to your comment about messages with no capitalization, or all capitals, incorrect grammar and even no punctuation! My elementary school teachers would be appalled at the state of written communication today!

It worries me how some people of certain character like Virgil Goode and Joseph Biden can attain seats in the most prestigious offices of government even after their discriminatory statements do not reflect what they are elected to uphold and serve. It shows that our country is still young and we have come far but still have ways to go. It's great to see you Brian doing activities to support minorities like speaking at the SAJA meeting (a great speech might I add). I have a great respect for you, keep up the good work.

I wonder why Africa-American (AA) can find a real representative of his own race and not label somebody as AA just because his/her genes has a tiny amount of them. Example: Tiger Woods 25% black, 25% indian 50% asian, more, Alicia Keys, Obama, 50/50 and more of the pseudo black people, just because it is "cool" to be AA. Kudos to Tiger to requested to be classified multi-racial.

Proudly Hispanic (not a race)

Dear Brian,

As a daughter of a woman from Framingham, I have to say you are totally on the mark when it comes to Hollywood and their sad attempt at recreating the Boston accent.

I have to say I really enjoy your blog and the NBC Nightly News is wicked awesome.

Brian williams I never miss your news cast even if I have to tape it. But darn , do you have to take so many breaks. when I bink an eye you are saying and after this break-----------

One thing you missed in your report is that the drug used to treat "Restless Leg Syndrome" is supected of causing heart valve problems.. not good.. the spot or the drug..