Story Of The Day - Soul Mate

How can you be sure it has a soul? she
said. You can't, I said, unless you've got
one yourself.

Dedicated to Jon and Max.


From StoryPeople.

In Thanksgiving For Myron - Please Pray

Morning all,

There is some encouraging news concerning Myron this morning. He gave one of the doctors a thumbs up yesterday when a he was asked to do so, and blinked at Stephanie when she asked him if he could hear her to blink.

A MRI should finally be done today to see what type of breaks are in his back. I've been a bit anxious that that be done for the over all picture of all the fractures. BTW he fractured ALL of his ribs..

He also may extubated, meaning the tube would be removed from his throat, and a trach put in place.

I didn't go to the hospital yesterday as I needed a break from the family dynamic, and Bill expressed concern that I might get an infection from being there. I hadn't thought of that at all. Silly me.

So I'll head to Christiana Care this morning and hopefully come away with more information.

Sue

Thanks be to God, the medical staff, and all who care for Myron. Pray for Myron's full restoration to health and for the family - including Sue.

Bishop Charles Jenkins Signs Anaheim Statetment

From The Living Church:

The Anaheim Statement endorsed by 34 bishops at the close of the 76th General Convention in Anaheim, Calif., has added two more bishops to its list of supporters.

The Rt. Rev. Charles E. Jenkins, III, Bishop of Louisiana, and the Rt. Rev. Harry W. Shipps, retired Bishop of Georgia, have endorsed the letter affirming their loyalty to the Anglican Communion in the wake of the adoption of resolutions C056 and D025 ending the moratoria forbidding the consecration of partnered gay clergy as bishops and the authorization of rites for the blessing of same-sex unions.

However, Bishop Jenkins also was one of the bishops who voted against D025 but in favor of C056. He later said he voted for C056 because his colleagues had responded well to his plea for graciousness. “I felt I was honor-bound to vote for it because these bishops had done what I had asked them to do," he said. " I felt that the process was a ray of hope for The Episcopal Church.”

I was pleased that Bishop Jenkins was not included in the original list of those who signed the Anaheim Statement, and I'm sorry to see his name added to the list, although I know that he still supports the moritoria.

Mark Harris says of Bishop Jenkins, "I for one am sorry that Bishop Jenkins s retiring, although I believe he is right to do so. He is an amazing man and a fine Christian."

I second Mark's words wholeheartedly. Bishop Jenkins retires at the end of the year. I shall be sorry to see him go, although I believe he will remain in the neighborhood. I hope so.

Another name added to the list is The Rt. Rev. Harry W. Shipps, retired Georgia.

H/T to Mark Harris at Preludium.

What's Wrong With This Picture?

Tom Daschle with the president-elect in Chicago in December.

From the New York Times:

Six months have passed since the morning when Tom Daschle, the former Senate Democratic leader, under fire for not paying certain taxes, called President Obama in his study off the Oval Office to withdraw his nomination as health secretary and reform czar.

But these days it often seems as if Mr. Daschle never left the picture. With unrivaled ties on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, he talks constantly with top White House advisers, many of whom previously worked for him.

He still speaks frequently to the president, who met with him as recently as Friday morning in the Oval Office. And he remains a highly paid policy adviser to hospital, drug, pharmaceutical and other health care industry clients of Alston & Bird, the law and lobbying firm.

And, of course, the fact that Daschle is "highly paid" by the lobbying group does not influence his thinking one iota. You look doubtful? Well now, it COULD be.

Now the White House and Senate Democratic leaders appear to be moving toward a blueprint for overhauling the health system, centered on nonprofit insurance cooperatives, that Mr. Daschle began promoting two months ago as a politically feasible alternative to a more muscular government-run insurance plan.

It is an idea that happens to dovetail with the interests of many Alston & Bird clients, like the insurance giant UnitedHealth and the Tennessee Hospital Association. And it is drawing angry cries of accommodation from more liberal House Democrats bent on including a public insurance plan.

Friends and associates of Mr. Daschle say the interests of Alston & Bird’s clients have no influence on his views. They say he sees no conflict in advising private clients on the one hand and advising the White House on the other, because he offers the same assessment to everyone: Though he has often said that he favors a government-run insurance option, the Senate will not pass it.

The fact that Daschle is pushing a plan that dovetails with the interests of the people who pay him big money smells, and not of perfume. I've heard before that Daschle is quite knowledgeable about health care, and, of course, about passing legislation, but I must wonder where his true loyalty lies.

Critics, though, say his ex officio role gives Alston & Bird’s health care clients privileged insights into the policy process. They say Mr. Daschle’s multiple advisory roles illustrate the kind of coziness with the lobbying world that Mr. Obama vowed to end. If he had been confirmed as health secretary, Mr. Daschle would have been subject to strict transparency and ethics rules.

His position, some liberals say, raises at least an appearance of a conflict of interest. “I hope the president can make a decision based on what the country wants, not what a handful of Daschle’s clients want,” said Representative Lynn Woolsey of California, a leader of the progressive caucus.

No sh*t! You bet your sweet bippy that it is "at least an appearance of a conflict of interest". It seems to me that Daschle would need to be super-human to resist the pressure to lean in favor of the health care industry. Why does Obama do this sort of thing?

If the industry wants the co-ops, then they can't be good for us, right? In the end, the co-ops must benefit the industry's bottom line. They are making record profits now, and it's hard for me to believe that they will push a policy that will reduce their profits.

He [Daschle] both recommends and predicts an incremental approach.

“We are not going to see this happen overnight,” Mr. Daschle told a biotechnology trade group in May. “It can’t. It is too big a shift in the economy.” If the legislation can begin to “ramp up” coverage for all, health information technology and some cost controls, he said, “we will have succeeded.”

We will NOT have succeeded in passing real health reform. Incremental means that some will be left out in the cold. This is not my idea of reform. The progressives have already compromised by giving up on a single payer plan. Are we now to give up the public option for co-ops, whatever they are?

And then there's this from TPM:

Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) has a proposition: If the government is going to mandate that Americans buy health insurance from private companies, they should know how much of that money actually goes to paying health insurance costs. And insurers aren't happy about it.

On Friday, Rockefeller sent letters to executives at the 15 largest health insurance companies in the country, asking them to compile data on this question for the Senate Commerce Committee by September 8.

And why not? Why shouldn't we know how much of the mandated premiums go into actual health care and how much into the pockets of the CEOs and the stockholders - and into lobbying and advertising to kill real health care reform?

"It's another page out of the same playbook," says Robert Zirkelbach, spokesman for America's Health Insurance Plans. "There's an effort to shift the focus to the health insurance industry rather than on the bills in Congress."

Damn right we need to shift the focus to the greedy.

(My emphases throughout the post)

Sign The Petition

From Sojourners:

A Christian Creed on Health-Care Reform

As one of God's children, I believe that protecting the health of each human being is a profoundly important personal and communal responsibility for people of faith.

I believe God created each person in the divine image to be spiritually and physically healthy. I feel the pain of sickness and disease in our broken world (Genesis 1:27, Romans 8:22).

I believe life and healing are core tenets of the Christian life. Christ's ministry included physical healing, and we are called to participate in God's new creation as instruments of healing and redemption (Matthew 4:23, Luke 9:1-6; Mark 7:32-35, Acts 10:38). Our nation should strive to ensure all people have access to life-giving treatments and care.

I believe, as taught by the Hebrew prophets and Jesus, that the measure of a society is seen in how it treats the most vulnerable. The current discussion about health-care reform is important for the United States to move toward a more just system of providing care to all people (Isaiah 1:16-17, Jeremiah 7:5-7, Matthew 25:31-45).

I believe that all people have a moral obligation to tell the truth. To serve the common good of our entire nation, all parties debating reform should tell the truth and refrain from distorting facts or using fear-based messaging (Leviticus 19:11; Ephesians 4:14-15, 25; Proverbs 6:16-19).

I believe that Christians should seek to bring health and well-being (shalom) to the society into which God has placed us, for a healthy society benefits all members (Jeremiah 29:7).

I believe in a time when all will live long and healthy lives, from infancy to old age (Isaiah 65:20), and "mourning and crying and pain will be no more" (Revelation 21:4). My heart breaks for my brothers and sisters who watch their loved ones suffer, or who suffer themselves, because they cannot afford a trip to the doctor. I stand with them in their suffering.

I believe health-care reform must rest on a foundation of values that affirm each and every life as a sacred gift from the Creator (Genesis 2:7).

Amen.
Signed by:
[Your name]
[Your address]

Sign the petition here. It's the least you can do.

Sunday, as we were eating lunch at a Mexican restaurant nearby, a pentecostal preacher of our acquaintance stopped by our table to greet us and asked us if we were for Obamacare. I knew where he was coming from, so I quickly said, "Yes, I am." (with my fingers crossed, because I want much more than Obama seems willing to give us) Then, he said, "I'm going on Medicare next month." I asked, "Are you aware that Medicare is a federal program?" (one can't be sure these days) He said he was. The dissonance! The dissonance!

Anyone want to bet that the preacher is not actually preaching against Obamacare?

After the preacher left us, Grandpère wanted to know what Obamacare was. He doesn't know the code words and was mystified by the question, so I had to explain. Before we left the restaurant, we went over to the preacher's table, which included a rather large party of his wife, his son and daughter-in-law, and his assistant minister and his family, and I asked him, "Where is your sangría?" Take that!

H/T to Fr. Jake.

Fr. Roy Bourgeois - "I Will Not Be Silenced"

From the Boston Globe:

WESTON - A prominent priest whose support for women’s ordination has him in trouble with the Catholic Church ratcheted up his confrontation with the hierarchy yesterday, calling the church’s refusal to ordain women a “scandal’’ and “spiritual violence.’’

“I will not be silenced on this issue,’’ said the priest, the Rev. Roy Bourgeois, to about 100 people in Weston at an event hosted by the congregation of Jean Marchant, a former staffer for the Archdiocese of Boston who claims she was ordained as a priest in an unsanctioned ceremony four years ago.

The Catholic Church views Marchant and Bourgeois as having been automatically excommunicated for participating in unsanctioned ordination ceremonies.
....

“If they choose to kick me out of the church because I believe that men and women are equal, so be it,’’ Bourgeois said. “I will never be at peace being in any organization that would exclude others.

“What’s going on in our church today is spiritual assassination, it’s spiritual violence being done that’s inexcusable. That is a scandal,’’ he said.
....

And in 1994, Pope John Paul II declared that “the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women,’’ citing both tradition and the fact that Jesus’ apostles were male.

That's nonsense, and the pope knows it. He should be ashamed to make such a statement. Jesus' apostles were Jewish, too. He and the cardinals and bishops could huddle and make the change, if they so chose. Or Pope Benedict could simply declare an end to the discrimination by fiat.

In an interview yesterday, Bourgeois, 70, a Louisiana native, said he has stopped wearing a clerical collar and celebrating the Eucharist and other sacraments out of respect for the church’s view that he has been excommunicated.

But, he also said at one point, simply, “I am a priest."

He said he is confident his position on women priests is the correct one.

“If anyone should be excommunicated, it is the patriarchy involved in this discrimination," he said. “But I don’t believe in excommunication - no one has a monopoly on the truth."

Fr. Roy is a priest, a mensch, and a man of courage. He comes of good Cajun stock in Lutcher, Louisiana, across the river, not far from where I live. In fact, we could be cousins, as the Bourgeois name is in the genealogy of the Cajun branch of my family.

He should wear his excommunication proudly, like a badge of honor, except that he does not believe in it, and neither do I.

Oh my goodness! I nearly forgot. H/T to MadPriest for the link. He would never have forgiven me had I not given him his due.

Louisiana News Briefs

From the Advocate:

Bloggers and the Louisiana Republican Party are beating up on U.S. Rep. Charlie Melancon, D-Napoleonville, for not holding a “Town Hall Meeting” concerning a proposed overhaul of health care.

Melancon, who attended a rally last week at which about 500 fishermen protested the price they are being paid for their shrimp, said he is meeting with smaller groups to discuss proposals to expand health care coverage.

The reason is because opponents in Louisiana and across the country have been disrupting the meetings of Democratic elected officials and keeping others “from asking honest questions,” Melancon said.

“They’re picking up the talking points of the fear mongers,” he said. “They don’t want to discuss the issues, they want to control the meeting.”

Melancon is considered a possible candidate to run against U.S. Sen. David Vitter.

I wonder how one gets to meet with Charlie in a small group.

Howevah! If Charlie runs against David Vitter for the Senate seat, he'll have my vote.


Again from the Advocate:

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie may have a new property in mind for their ever growing brood: The Louisiana Governor’s Mansion.

Pitt joked to HBO talk show host Bill Maher last week that statewide office interests him more than running for New Orleans mayor, the job for which some are half-facetiously recruiting him to run.

“What I ought to do is run for governor of the great state of Louisiana (against) Bobby Jindal,” he said.

“I’ve never met Bobby. It’s not fair to say,” Pitt added.

Pitt’s campaign platform: He’s pro gay marriage, pro legalized marijuana and anti religion.

Pitt and Jolie purchased a home in the French Quarter two years ago, making his eligibility to run in 2011 iffy.

The Louisiana Constitution requires a gubernatorial candidate to have lived in the state for at least the preceding five years.

Now wouldn't that be a contest? Jindal is incompetent. Could Pitt, the actor, be more incompetent? I think not. Brad's not just a pretty face. He has done more for New Orleans than either Jindal or Mayor Ray Nagin.

Story Of The Day - Best Of Times

I'd like to leave you with something
valuable, she said. You probably already
have, I said, but we take most of our
lives to remember that, even in the best
of times

From StoryPeople.

I love "Story of the Day". I post the little stories probably only for Ann and me, and Ann gets them by email, too, so I suppose they're just for me. Anyway....

700,000 Bankruptcies Per Year Because Of Medical Bills

From T. R. Reid in the Washington Post:

This fragmentation [in US health care] is another reason that we spend more than anybody else and still leave millions without coverage. All the other developed countries have settled on one model for health-care delivery and finance; we've blended them all into a costly, confusing bureaucratic mess.

Which, in turn, punctures the most persistent myth of all: that America has "the finest health care" in the world. We don't. In terms of results, almost all advanced countries have better national health statistics than the United States does. In terms of finance, we force 700,000 Americans into bankruptcy each year because of medical bills. In France, the number of medical bankruptcies is zero. Britain: zero. Japan: zero. Germany: zero.

Given our remarkable medical assets -- the best-educated doctors and nurses, the most advanced hospitals, world-class research -- the United States could be, and should be, the best in the world. To get there, though, we have to be willing to learn some lessons about health-care administration from the other industrialized democracies.

Imagine! 700,000 bankruptcies per year due to medical bills. How can we, the richest country in the world, call ourselves a civilized country? Do the numbers of bankruptcies shock you Mary Landrieu, David Vitter, and Charlie Melancon? They shock me. Must we study health care models for a longer period of time while folks get sick, die, and go bankrupt because they can't pay medical bills for the lack of a decent health care plan?

You're well-covered by a government-run health plan. Why can't your constituents have what you have? We pay your salaries. You work for us. Give the citizens of the US the help they need with health care. Isn't it time that we cease to be a disgrace and embarrassment around the world?

The entire article is worth a read. It's long, but it has a lot of interesting information about health care in the US as it compares to health care around the world.

H/T again to Paul the BB. I'm stealing all his stuff today. What are blog friends for if not for stealing their material? Really.

UPDATE: The 700,000 bankrupt because of medical bills are real people, not just numbers. Hedwyg tells her story at her blog. Please read her post.

For Shame, Mary Landrieu!

Shame on you, Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA), for blocking real health care reform. Is it the money that the health care industries give to your campaign fund? Why do you insist that the public option be excluded? Why not do something for your constituents, instead of favors for the health care industries? Why not do the right thing, Senator Landrieu?

Senator Mary Landrieu [OpenSecrets]
Insurance: $397,231
Health Professionals: $598,866
Pharmaceuticals: $224,196
Hospitals/Nursing Homes: $268,145
Health Services/HMOs: $165,505

TOTAL: $1,653,943

From Bold Progressives.

H/T to Paul, the BB, for the link, although I see that I may have to get on a plane to ABQ and wash his mouth out with soap and water.