From Ellie Finlay
Oh, no, no, no.
I just this minute got the word that Izzy (my big dog) has bone cancer. Her leg could break at any moment. I'm going to need to have her put down in a couple of days. I just asked her vet to give me time to process this and say good-bye.
Obviously, I'm in shock right now. It hasn't really sunk in.
Oh dear! How sad. And so soon after Ellie's scare about her own health. Please pray for Ellie and Izzy.
UPDATE:
From Ellie:
I've decided to have her put down this afternoon. I'm actually on my way now. A dear friend and dog lover is meeting me at the animal hospital.
Please keep saying prayers. I love this dog like my life - I'm sure you understand.
Love,
Ellie
Friday, January 30, 2009
Now Is The Time For Universal Health Care
Paul Krugman in the New York Times:
The whole world is in recession. But the United States is the only wealthy country in which the economic catastrophe will also be a health care catastrophe — in which millions of people will lose their health insurance along with their jobs, and therefore lose access to essential care.
Which raises a question: Why has the Obama administration been silent, at least so far, about one of President Obama’s key promises during last year’s campaign — the promise of guaranteed health care for all Americans?
Good question. I've been wondering about that myself. When my son lost his job a couple of years ago, he tried to start a small business. The COBRA premiums on the health insurance from his former employer were too expensive, so he bought private health insurance. That was during the year after his divorce, and his blood pressure went up, no doubt due to the twin catastrophes, and the private plan doubled his premiums. He was forced to abandon the idea of a small business and take a job with health-care benefits. I wonder how many small businesses do not succeed or are never started due to health insurance issues. It seems to me that our country, where capitalism is valued next to God (or even higher than God!), entrepreneurship is too often stifled because of the pathetic state of our country's health care.
If you're wealthy, or elderly with Medicare coverage, of if you're well-covered by your employer's health care plan, you do all right. But if that's not the case, then you're in a pretty bad way.
Krugman lists several reasons why Obama's advisers may be cautioning him against moving forward on universal health care, which you can read if you click the link. Of the final possible reason, Krugman says:
Finally — and this is, I suspect, the real reason for the administration’s health care silence — there’s the political argument that this is a bad time to be pushing fundamental health care reform, because the nation’s attention is focused on the economic crisis. But if history is any guide, this argument is precisely wrong.
Don’t take my word for it. Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff, has declared that “you never want a serious crisis to go to waste.” Indeed. F.D.R. was able to enact Social Security in part because the Great Depression highlighted the need for a stronger social safety net. And the current crisis presents a real opportunity to fix the gaping holes that remain in that safety net, especially with regard to health care.
I believe that Krugman is correct in his analysis.
The whole world is in recession. But the United States is the only wealthy country in which the economic catastrophe will also be a health care catastrophe — in which millions of people will lose their health insurance along with their jobs, and therefore lose access to essential care.
Which raises a question: Why has the Obama administration been silent, at least so far, about one of President Obama’s key promises during last year’s campaign — the promise of guaranteed health care for all Americans?
Good question. I've been wondering about that myself. When my son lost his job a couple of years ago, he tried to start a small business. The COBRA premiums on the health insurance from his former employer were too expensive, so he bought private health insurance. That was during the year after his divorce, and his blood pressure went up, no doubt due to the twin catastrophes, and the private plan doubled his premiums. He was forced to abandon the idea of a small business and take a job with health-care benefits. I wonder how many small businesses do not succeed or are never started due to health insurance issues. It seems to me that our country, where capitalism is valued next to God (or even higher than God!), entrepreneurship is too often stifled because of the pathetic state of our country's health care.
If you're wealthy, or elderly with Medicare coverage, of if you're well-covered by your employer's health care plan, you do all right. But if that's not the case, then you're in a pretty bad way.
Krugman lists several reasons why Obama's advisers may be cautioning him against moving forward on universal health care, which you can read if you click the link. Of the final possible reason, Krugman says:
Finally — and this is, I suspect, the real reason for the administration’s health care silence — there’s the political argument that this is a bad time to be pushing fundamental health care reform, because the nation’s attention is focused on the economic crisis. But if history is any guide, this argument is precisely wrong.
Don’t take my word for it. Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff, has declared that “you never want a serious crisis to go to waste.” Indeed. F.D.R. was able to enact Social Security in part because the Great Depression highlighted the need for a stronger social safety net. And the current crisis presents a real opportunity to fix the gaping holes that remain in that safety net, especially with regard to health care.
I believe that Krugman is correct in his analysis.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Please Pray For JohnieB
From Jane R. at Acts of Hope:
Dear all,
I've wanted to post this for a while but did not want to do so without JohnieB's permission, which I just received along with a nice catch-up letter.
JohnieB, friend to many of us in this corner of the blogosphere, is, as you know, a Vietnam War veteran who lives with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). He also gets depressed in the winter, which happens to many of us (SAD, Seasonal Affective Disorder) and happens even more to people who already suffer from depression.
...Continued at Jane's blog.
Perhaps it would be best to leave comments at Jane's blog or at JohnieB's blog, Here Still Running, so he won't miss them. His energy level is low, so don't be offended if he does not respond.
Heavenly Father, giver of life and health: Comfort and relieve your sick servant Johnie, and give your power of healing to those who minister to his needs, that he may be strengthened in his weakness and have confidence in your loving care; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
(Book of Common Prayer, p. 459)
Dear all,
I've wanted to post this for a while but did not want to do so without JohnieB's permission, which I just received along with a nice catch-up letter.
JohnieB, friend to many of us in this corner of the blogosphere, is, as you know, a Vietnam War veteran who lives with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). He also gets depressed in the winter, which happens to many of us (SAD, Seasonal Affective Disorder) and happens even more to people who already suffer from depression.
...Continued at Jane's blog.
Perhaps it would be best to leave comments at Jane's blog or at JohnieB's blog, Here Still Running, so he won't miss them. His energy level is low, so don't be offended if he does not respond.
Heavenly Father, giver of life and health: Comfort and relieve your sick servant Johnie, and give your power of healing to those who minister to his needs, that he may be strengthened in his weakness and have confidence in your loving care; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
(Book of Common Prayer, p. 459)
Let's Call The Whole Thing Off?
From Ruth Gledhill in the Times of London:
The Archbishops of the Anglican church worldwide are to debate the damaging effects of the row over homosexuality at a meeting in Egypt next week.
If that were truly the substance of the meeting, then my suggestion would be, "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off!". However, that first sentence may simply be Ruth's hook to attract readership. And I see that the "Anglican church" rears its head again. There is no worldwide "Anglican church". Last I heard, it was called the Anglican Communion.
He [the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams] was upset that several conservative provinces, including Nigeria, Uganda and Rwanda, boycotted last summer’s Lambeth Conference. But it was regarded as a triumph of his archepiscopacy that he survived the three-week conference without presiding over a split. It is a further sign of the success of his strategy that no Primates are boycotting next week’s meeting, although one source said there will be no formal joint eucharist at the meeting, to avoid Primates the public embarrassment of former meetings where conservatives have refused to go to the communion table with liberals.
Why would a primate boycott the Eucharist? I don't get it. Is there a risk of contamination? It's the Lord's table, after all, not the personal possession of any one or group of Anglican primates. Can the members of a group be "in communion", if they can't share Holy Communion?
In an attempt to move the church on from homosexuality, the Primates will focus instead on how well their provinces are fulfilling the Communion’s official “five marks of mission”: evangelisation, catechisation, service, social and environmental action.
If the primates intend to focus on the "five marks of mission", rather than homosexuality, why the first sentence in the article? A focus on mission would surely fall into the category of A GOOD THING.
The Anglican Covenant, the rows over gays, defections, depositions, moratoria, blah, blah, blah. The meeting is a gathering of the primates of autonomous provinces in the Anglican Communion (not the "Anglican church"). Why not leave each province to administer its own affairs and focus on common mission, even if you can't share Holy Communion?
H/T to Mark Harris.
But I Was Never Allowed To Chew Bubblegum!
Because you have nothing else to do.
Everyone over 50 should have a pretty easy time at this exam. If you are under 50 you can claim a handicap.
This is a History Exam for those who don't mind seeing how much they really remember about what went on in their life. [Remember! Googling is cheating!]
Get paper & pencil & number from 1 to 20. Write the letter of each answer & score at the end.
Then before you pass this test on, put your score in the subject line. Send to friends so everyone can HAVE FUN!!!! Also send it back to me.
1. In the 1940s, where were automobile headlight dimmer switches located?
> a. On the floor shift knob.
> b. On the floor board, to the left of the clutch.
> c. Next to the horn.
2. The bottle top of a Royal Crown Cola bottle had holes in it. For what was it used?
> a. Capture lightning bugs.
> b. To sprinkle clothes before ironing.
> c. Large salt shaker.
3. Why was having milk delivered a problem in northern winters?
> a. Cows got cold and wouldn't produce milk.
> b. Ice on highways forced delivery by dog sled.
> c. Milkmen left deliveries outside of front doors and milk would freeze, expanding and pushing up the cardboard bottle top.
4. What was the popular chewing gum named for a game of
> chance?
> a. Blackjack
> b. Gin
> c. Craps
5. What method did women use to look as if they were wearing stockings when none were available due to rationing during WW II.
> a. Suntan
> b. Leg painting
> c. Wearing slacks
6. What postwar car turned automotive design on its ear when you couldn't tell whether it was coming or going?
> a. Studebaker
> b. Nash Metro
> c. Tucker
7. Which was a popular candy when you were a kid?
> a . Strips of dried peanut butter.
> b. Chocolate licorice bars.
> c. Wax coke-shaped bottles with colored sugar water inside.
8. How was Butch wax used?
> a. To stiffen a flat-top haircut so it stood up.
> b. To make floors shiny and prevent scuffing.
> c. On the wheels of roller skates to prevent rust.
9. Before inline skates, how did you keep your roller skates attached to your shoes?
> a. With clamps, tightened by a skate key.
> b. Woven straps that crossed the foot.
> c. Long pieces of twine.
10. As a kid, what was considered the best way to reach a decision?
> a. Consider all the facts.
> b. Ask Mom.
> c. Eeny-meeny-miney-MO.
11. What was the most dreaded disease in the 1940s and 1950s?
> a. Smallpox
> b. AIDS
> c. Polio
12. 'I'll be down to get you in a ________, Honey'
> a. SUV
> b. Taxi
> c. Streetcar
13. What was the name of Caroline Kennedy's pony?
> a. Old Blue
> b. Paint
> c. Macaroni
14. What was a Duck-and-Cover Drill?
> a. Part of the game of hide and seek.
> b. What you did when your Mom called you in to do chores.
> c. Hiding under your desk, and covering your head with your arms in an A-bomb drill.
15. What was the name of the Indian Princess on the Howdy Doody show?
> a. Princess Summerfallwinterspring
> b. Princess Sacajawea
> c. Princess Moonshadow
16. What did all the really savvy students do when mimeographed tests were handed out in school?
> a. Immediately sniffed the purple ink, as this was believed to get you high.
> b. Made paper airplanes to see who could sail theirs out the window.
> c. Wrote another pupil's name on the top, to avoid their failure.
17. Why did your Mom shop in stores that gave Green Stamps with purchases?
> a. To keep you out of mischief by licking the backs, which tasted like bubble gum.
> b. They could be put in special books and redeemed for various household items.
> c. They were given to the kids to be used as stick-on tattoos.
18. Praise the Lord, & pass the _________?
> a. Meatballs
> b. Dames
> c. Ammunition
19. What was the name of the singing group that made the song 'Cabdriver' a hit?
> a. The Ink Spots
> b. The Supremes
> c. The Esquires
20. Who left his heart in San Francisco ?
> a. Tony Bennett
> b. Xavier Cugat
> c. George Gershwin
------------------------------------------------------------
ANSWERS:
1. (b) On the floor, to the left of the clutch. Hand controls, popular in Europe, took till the late '60's to catch on.
2. (b) To sprinkle clothes before ironing. Who had a steam iron?
3. (c) Cold weather caused the milk to freeze and expand, popping the bottle top.
4. (a) Blackjack Gum.
5. (b) Special makeup was applied, followed by drawing a seam down the back of the leg with eyebrow pencil.
6. (a) 1946 Studebaker.
7. (c) Wax coke bottles containing super-sweet colored water.
8 (a) Wax for your flat top (butch) haircut.
9. (a) With clamps , tightened by a skate key, which you wore on a shoestring around your
neck.
10. (c) Eeny-meeny-miney-mo.
11. (c) Polio. In beginning of August, swimming pools were closed, movies and other public gathering places were closed to try to prevent spread of the disease.
12. (b) Taxi Better be ready by half-past eight!
13. (c) Macaroni.
14. (c) Hiding under your desk, and covering your head with your arms in an A-bomb drill.
15. (a) Princess Summerfallwinterspring. She was another puppet.
16. (a) Immediately sniffed the purple ink to get a high.
17. (b) Put in a special stamp book, they could be traded for household items at the Green Stamp store.
18. (c) Ammunition, and we'll all be free.
19. (a) The widely famous 50's group: The Inkspots.
20. (a) Tony Bennett, and he sounds just as good today.
SCORING:
17- 20 correct: You are older than dirt, and obviously gifted with mental abilities Now if you could only find your glasses. Definitely someone who should share your wisdom!
12 -16 correct: Not quite dirt yet, but you're getting there.
0 -11 correct: You are not old enough to share the wisdom of your experiences.
Then before you pass this test on, put your score in the subject line. Send to friends so everyone can HAVE FUN!!!!
Or POST IT ON YOUR BLOG!!!
Surprise, surprise! I scored a perfect 20.
From a friend in Texas, who gave me the title for the post.
Everyone over 50 should have a pretty easy time at this exam. If you are under 50 you can claim a handicap.
This is a History Exam for those who don't mind seeing how much they really remember about what went on in their life. [Remember! Googling is cheating!]
Get paper & pencil & number from 1 to 20. Write the letter of each answer & score at the end.
1. In the 1940s, where were automobile headlight dimmer switches located?
> a. On the floor shift knob.
> b. On the floor board, to the left of the clutch.
> c. Next to the horn.
2. The bottle top of a Royal Crown Cola bottle had holes in it. For what was it used?
> a. Capture lightning bugs.
> b. To sprinkle clothes before ironing.
> c. Large salt shaker.
3. Why was having milk delivered a problem in northern winters?
> a. Cows got cold and wouldn't produce milk.
> b. Ice on highways forced delivery by dog sled.
> c. Milkmen left deliveries outside of front doors and milk would freeze, expanding and pushing up the cardboard bottle top.
4. What was the popular chewing gum named for a game of
> chance?
> a. Blackjack
> b. Gin
> c. Craps
5. What method did women use to look as if they were wearing stockings when none were available due to rationing during WW II.
> a. Suntan
> b. Leg painting
> c. Wearing slacks
6. What postwar car turned automotive design on its ear when you couldn't tell whether it was coming or going?
> a. Studebaker
> b. Nash Metro
> c. Tucker
7. Which was a popular candy when you were a kid?
> a . Strips of dried peanut butter.
> b. Chocolate licorice bars.
> c. Wax coke-shaped bottles with colored sugar water inside.
8. How was Butch wax used?
> a. To stiffen a flat-top haircut so it stood up.
> b. To make floors shiny and prevent scuffing.
> c. On the wheels of roller skates to prevent rust.
9. Before inline skates, how did you keep your roller skates attached to your shoes?
> a. With clamps, tightened by a skate key.
> b. Woven straps that crossed the foot.
> c. Long pieces of twine.
10. As a kid, what was considered the best way to reach a decision?
> a. Consider all the facts.
> b. Ask Mom.
> c. Eeny-meeny-miney-MO.
11. What was the most dreaded disease in the 1940s and 1950s?
> a. Smallpox
> b. AIDS
> c. Polio
12. 'I'll be down to get you in a ________, Honey'
> a. SUV
> b. Taxi
> c. Streetcar
13. What was the name of Caroline Kennedy's pony?
> a. Old Blue
> b. Paint
> c. Macaroni
14. What was a Duck-and-Cover Drill?
> a. Part of the game of hide and seek.
> b. What you did when your Mom called you in to do chores.
> c. Hiding under your desk, and covering your head with your arms in an A-bomb drill.
15. What was the name of the Indian Princess on the Howdy Doody show?
> a. Princess Summerfallwinterspring
> b. Princess Sacajawea
> c. Princess Moonshadow
16. What did all the really savvy students do when mimeographed tests were handed out in school?
> a. Immediately sniffed the purple ink, as this was believed to get you high.
> b. Made paper airplanes to see who could sail theirs out the window.
> c. Wrote another pupil's name on the top, to avoid their failure.
17. Why did your Mom shop in stores that gave Green Stamps with purchases?
> a. To keep you out of mischief by licking the backs, which tasted like bubble gum.
> b. They could be put in special books and redeemed for various household items.
> c. They were given to the kids to be used as stick-on tattoos.
18. Praise the Lord, & pass the _________?
> a. Meatballs
> b. Dames
> c. Ammunition
19. What was the name of the singing group that made the song 'Cabdriver' a hit?
> a. The Ink Spots
> b. The Supremes
> c. The Esquires
20. Who left his heart in San Francisco ?
> a. Tony Bennett
> b. Xavier Cugat
> c. George Gershwin
------------------------------------------------------------
ANSWERS:
1. (b) On the floor, to the left of the clutch. Hand controls, popular in Europe, took till the late '60's to catch on.
2. (b) To sprinkle clothes before ironing. Who had a steam iron?
3. (c) Cold weather caused the milk to freeze and expand, popping the bottle top.
4. (a) Blackjack Gum.
5. (b) Special makeup was applied, followed by drawing a seam down the back of the leg with eyebrow pencil.
6. (a) 1946 Studebaker.
7. (c) Wax coke bottles containing super-sweet colored water.
8 (a) Wax for your flat top (butch) haircut.
9. (a) With clamps , tightened by a skate key, which you wore on a shoestring around your
neck.
10. (c) Eeny-meeny-miney-mo.
11. (c) Polio. In beginning of August, swimming pools were closed, movies and other public gathering places were closed to try to prevent spread of the disease.
12. (b) Taxi Better be ready by half-past eight!
13. (c) Macaroni.
14. (c) Hiding under your desk, and covering your head with your arms in an A-bomb drill.
15. (a) Princess Summerfallwinterspring. She was another puppet.
16. (a) Immediately sniffed the purple ink to get a high.
17. (b) Put in a special stamp book, they could be traded for household items at the Green Stamp store.
18. (c) Ammunition, and we'll all be free.
19. (a) The widely famous 50's group: The Inkspots.
20. (a) Tony Bennett, and he sounds just as good today.
SCORING:
17- 20 correct: You are older than dirt, and obviously gifted with mental abilities Now if you could only find your glasses. Definitely someone who should share your wisdom!
12 -16 correct: Not quite dirt yet, but you're getting there.
0 -11 correct: You are not old enough to share the wisdom of your experiences.
Then before you pass this test on, put your score in the subject line. Send to friends so everyone can HAVE FUN!!!!
Or POST IT ON YOUR BLOG!!!
Surprise, surprise! I scored a perfect 20.
From a friend in Texas, who gave me the title for the post.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
John Updike On the Resurrection
Whether John Updike was a great writer, a great American writer, a great writer who was a mysogynist, a great short story writer, or something else, and I've read all of those categorizations online on various blogs, I can't say. I did my own tribute, which was not much, as it was mostly a cut and paste affair.
What I can say is that I love the poem below. His beautifully expressed view of the Resurrection is quite close to my own.
SEVEN STANZAS AT EASTER
Make no mistake: if He rose at all
it was as His body;
if the cells’ dissolution did not reverse, the molecules
reknit, the amino acids rekindle,
the Church will fall.
It was not as the flowers,
each soft Spring recurrent;
it was not as His Spirit in the mouths and fuddled
eyes of the eleven apostles;
it was as His flesh: ours.
The same hinged thumbs and toes,
the same valved heart
that–pierced–died, withered, paused, and then
regathered out of enduring Might
new strength to enclose.
Let us not mock God with metaphor,
analogy, sidestepping transcendence;
making of the event a parable, a sign painted in the
faded credulity of earlier ages:
let us walk through the door.
The stone is rolled back, not papier-mâché,
not a stone in a story,
but the vast rock of materiality that in the slow
grinding of time will eclipse for each of us
the wide light of day.
And if we will have an angel at the tomb,
make it a real angel,
weighty with Max Planck’s quanta, vivid with hair,
opaque in the dawn light, robed in real linen
spun on a definite loom.
Let us not seek to make it less monstrous,
for our own convenience, our own sense of beauty,
lest, awakened in one unthinkable hour, we are
embarrassed by the miracle,
and crushed by remonstrance.
Thanks to Bishop Alan and to Ann for the reminders of the poem.
Other blog posts on Updike that I've enjoyed are below:
Jane at Acts of Hope
Rmj at Adventus
What I can say is that I love the poem below. His beautifully expressed view of the Resurrection is quite close to my own.
SEVEN STANZAS AT EASTER
Make no mistake: if He rose at all
it was as His body;
if the cells’ dissolution did not reverse, the molecules
reknit, the amino acids rekindle,
the Church will fall.
It was not as the flowers,
each soft Spring recurrent;
it was not as His Spirit in the mouths and fuddled
eyes of the eleven apostles;
it was as His flesh: ours.
The same hinged thumbs and toes,
the same valved heart
that–pierced–died, withered, paused, and then
regathered out of enduring Might
new strength to enclose.
Let us not mock God with metaphor,
analogy, sidestepping transcendence;
making of the event a parable, a sign painted in the
faded credulity of earlier ages:
let us walk through the door.
The stone is rolled back, not papier-mâché,
not a stone in a story,
but the vast rock of materiality that in the slow
grinding of time will eclipse for each of us
the wide light of day.
And if we will have an angel at the tomb,
make it a real angel,
weighty with Max Planck’s quanta, vivid with hair,
opaque in the dawn light, robed in real linen
spun on a definite loom.
Let us not seek to make it less monstrous,
for our own convenience, our own sense of beauty,
lest, awakened in one unthinkable hour, we are
embarrassed by the miracle,
and crushed by remonstrance.
Thanks to Bishop Alan and to Ann for the reminders of the poem.
Other blog posts on Updike that I've enjoyed are below:
Jane at Acts of Hope
Rmj at Adventus
They Make Me Crazy
From the Baton Rouge Advocate:
Louisiana legislators debated Tuesday whether insurance companies should be forced to cover the cost of vaccinating teens and pre-teens to prevent a cancer-causing virus.
At issue is the fact that the virus — human papillomavirus or HPV — is sexually transmitted.
State Sen. Gerald Long, R-Natchitoches, spoke for many opponents who feared a state-mandated coverage of the vaccinations would lead to increased sexual activity among teenagers.
“It would seem to me,” Long said, “… that we almost tell our young people, ‘It’s OK. It’s OK to practice sex.’ ”
State Rep. Juan LaFonta, D-New Orleans, said the virus can lead to cervical cancer.
He said he knows a 19-year-old woman who had to have a hysterectomy because of the virus.
“Why aren’t people talking about this?” he said. “It’s really a woman’s health issue.”
Folks like Sen. Gerald Long make me crazy. As though the young people need a license to "practice" sex. They just do it. Of course, the state run sex education programs in Louisiana are pathetic, leaving such gaps that the young people might believe that the vaccine protects them from all STDs, or even from pregnancy. The short version of sex education for teen-agers in Louisiana is, "Don't do it until you're married."
As Sen. LaFonta says, it's a woman's health issue. It's not about teen-agers having sex.
UPDATE FROM THE COMMENTS:
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "They Make Me Crazy":
This of course ignores the fact that some young girls get HPV because they are sexually abused by an infected man. That's what happened to me, but I'm remaining anonymous at the moment because it's just to personal (however, y'all do know me). It is something I have to live with for the rest of my life, and be vigilant about testing. I've already had one cancer scare because of it (thankfully, was not cancer). No one ever talks about children who get STDs from rape and sexual abuse, and have to live with that legacy the rest of their lives -- something they did not ask for and wholly do not deserve. It often causes problems forming relationships later in life, as potential spouses often don't care how you got it, the stigma remains. No one wants to date someone with a known STD, you know? I was lucky and found a spouse who understood, but dated some that did not. I'd love to hear the politicians discuss this issue in those terms. They'd be lining their daughters up to get the vaccine.
Anon1
Louisiana legislators debated Tuesday whether insurance companies should be forced to cover the cost of vaccinating teens and pre-teens to prevent a cancer-causing virus.
At issue is the fact that the virus — human papillomavirus or HPV — is sexually transmitted.
State Sen. Gerald Long, R-Natchitoches, spoke for many opponents who feared a state-mandated coverage of the vaccinations would lead to increased sexual activity among teenagers.
“It would seem to me,” Long said, “… that we almost tell our young people, ‘It’s OK. It’s OK to practice sex.’ ”
State Rep. Juan LaFonta, D-New Orleans, said the virus can lead to cervical cancer.
He said he knows a 19-year-old woman who had to have a hysterectomy because of the virus.
“Why aren’t people talking about this?” he said. “It’s really a woman’s health issue.”
Folks like Sen. Gerald Long make me crazy. As though the young people need a license to "practice" sex. They just do it. Of course, the state run sex education programs in Louisiana are pathetic, leaving such gaps that the young people might believe that the vaccine protects them from all STDs, or even from pregnancy. The short version of sex education for teen-agers in Louisiana is, "Don't do it until you're married."
As Sen. LaFonta says, it's a woman's health issue. It's not about teen-agers having sex.
UPDATE FROM THE COMMENTS:
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "They Make Me Crazy":
This of course ignores the fact that some young girls get HPV because they are sexually abused by an infected man. That's what happened to me, but I'm remaining anonymous at the moment because it's just to personal (however, y'all do know me). It is something I have to live with for the rest of my life, and be vigilant about testing. I've already had one cancer scare because of it (thankfully, was not cancer). No one ever talks about children who get STDs from rape and sexual abuse, and have to live with that legacy the rest of their lives -- something they did not ask for and wholly do not deserve. It often causes problems forming relationships later in life, as potential spouses often don't care how you got it, the stigma remains. No one wants to date someone with a known STD, you know? I was lucky and found a spouse who understood, but dated some that did not. I'd love to hear the politicians discuss this issue in those terms. They'd be lining their daughters up to get the vaccine.
Anon1
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Good News From Ellie!
Blogger Ellie Finlay said...
Dearest friends,
I'm seem to be okay. I haven't had a heart attack but the medical people said I did the right thing in calling the paramedics. I'm in the hospital overnight for tests. They're not sure why I had the symptoms - jaw and neck pain, some nausea (symptoms that women tend to have when they sometimes don't have chest pain). I have several risk factors: both parents died from heart disease, I'm well past menopause and I have high cholesterol (despite my vegetarianism!) Also, they've found a couple of spots on my chest X-ray that weren't there in 2007 (and I'm an old TB patient) so they wanted to check that out.
Thank you so much for all your prayers. I know this community is a POWERFUL prayer force so, of course, I had to email Mad Priest before getting in that ambulance. (Then fortunately, some friends brought me my laptop after I was admitted.) No doubt all the prayer power had something to do with the (so far) positive outcome. (DON'T ask me how that works. I'm in no condition to do heavy-duty theology tonight.)
David, I'm so, so sorry about the job loss. I will definitely give that situation prayer time (I do have my rosary with me) and Jim, may your surgery go well. I promise to pray.
Again, thank you all so much. I love you dearly - each and every one of you.
Ellie
Thanks be to God, dear Ellie! Now we'll pray about the spots on your lung.
And remember JimB, who will have his gallbladder removed tomorrow.
Dearest friends,
I'm seem to be okay. I haven't had a heart attack but the medical people said I did the right thing in calling the paramedics. I'm in the hospital overnight for tests. They're not sure why I had the symptoms - jaw and neck pain, some nausea (symptoms that women tend to have when they sometimes don't have chest pain). I have several risk factors: both parents died from heart disease, I'm well past menopause and I have high cholesterol (despite my vegetarianism!) Also, they've found a couple of spots on my chest X-ray that weren't there in 2007 (and I'm an old TB patient) so they wanted to check that out.
Thank you so much for all your prayers. I know this community is a POWERFUL prayer force so, of course, I had to email Mad Priest before getting in that ambulance. (Then fortunately, some friends brought me my laptop after I was admitted.) No doubt all the prayer power had something to do with the (so far) positive outcome. (DON'T ask me how that works. I'm in no condition to do heavy-duty theology tonight.)
David, I'm so, so sorry about the job loss. I will definitely give that situation prayer time (I do have my rosary with me) and Jim, may your surgery go well. I promise to pray.
Again, thank you all so much. I love you dearly - each and every one of you.
Ellie
Thanks be to God, dear Ellie! Now we'll pray about the spots on your lung.
And remember JimB, who will have his gallbladder removed tomorrow.
Urgent Prayer Requests
From ELLIE FINLAY (40 minutes ago):
Hi, Jonathan.
Please get people praying. I'm going to the hospital with heart attack symptoms.
The medics are here.
Bye.
Ellie
Also further to this prayer request:
DAVID writes:
I'd appreciate the continued prayers, as I was part of a large layoff at work today...
Also, please don't forget JimB, laid off from work and laid up in hospital.
Posted by MadPriest at 9:34 PM
What a load of bad news in one night. Prayers for all.
UPDATE from the comments at OCICBW:
Jim said...
Prayers ascending for Elle and David. Latest news on my own case is that the pathologists say the gallblader must come out. We will schedule surgery in the morning. (It is the evening of the 27th here as I type this.
MP, you have forged an amazing community here. You and the Spirit do good work together.
FWIW
jimB
Prayers that all goes well with JimB's gallbladder surgery.
Hi, Jonathan.
Please get people praying. I'm going to the hospital with heart attack symptoms.
The medics are here.
Bye.
Ellie
Also further to this prayer request:
DAVID writes:
I'd appreciate the continued prayers, as I was part of a large layoff at work today...
Also, please don't forget JimB, laid off from work and laid up in hospital.
Posted by MadPriest at 9:34 PM
What a load of bad news in one night. Prayers for all.
UPDATE from the comments at OCICBW:
Jim said...
Prayers ascending for Elle and David. Latest news on my own case is that the pathologists say the gallblader must come out. We will schedule surgery in the morning. (It is the evening of the 27th here as I type this.
MP, you have forged an amazing community here. You and the Spirit do good work together.
FWIW
jimB
Prayers that all goes well with JimB's gallbladder surgery.
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