I’m Pro-American

Recently, I established that I am Pro-Life. Now, in the face of Minnesota Congresswoman Michelle Bachman’s call for an investigation into Congress to see who is Anti-American, I thought it wise to establish my apple pie standards right away.

I love my country so much that I believe in my right to dissent. Like Thomas Jefferson, I believe that religion was a very personal matter, one which the government had no business getting involved in. His beliefs led to the the First Amendment (also known as the Establishment Clause) which states

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Unlike Governor Sarah Palin (R-Alaska), I have never associated with a group that wants to secede from the United States.

In my vision of America, we are are not color-blind when it comes to matters of race. Instead, we have a full-palette, seeing all people. We don’t separate because of race, we don’t discriminate because of race. We celebrate and learn from our differences.

In my vision of America, we have three separate but equal branches of government to establish a system of checks and balances, so that no one branch seizes too much power.

But instead, we have a first term Republican Congresswoman demanding a witch hunt on Hardball. We have a previously unknown Governor from Alaska claiming that Senator Obama pals around with terrorists. We have an increasingly hate-filled, fear-mongering campaign from the Far Right, designed to paralyze intelligent thought. Why the Republicans need to demonize their opponents rather than discuss issues continues to astound me.

Still, if you need proof, I have a fantastic recipe for Apple Pie: I use nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves. Lots of butter. Brown sugar. Yum.

Graphic is Gordon Parks American Gothic

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Make Poverty History Blog Action Day

The dream is to end poverty globally by 2015. That’s seven years from now. Seven years. I wonder about the reality of this on a global scale, until I remember that we can think globally but act locally.

A few days ago, I read an article in the LA Times which described how a homeless man, called John, was burned to death by an unknown assailant. John had been a fixture in the Beverly Wilshire District of Los Angeles for about 20 years. People fed him, took him once a week to get a shower, gave him cigarettes. They were kind to him. He was harmless, he was homeless, he was a face of poverty. Some punks decided to burn him up for whatever reason - anger? Hatred? Some bizarre gang initiation? Whatever it was, murdering John does nothing to eradicate poverty.

I had originally thought to write something else, but this climate of hatred, anger, fear and destruction is the root cause of poverty. Fear breeds a poverty of spirit; fear breeds a poverty of hatred; fear breeds the poverty of “otherness” that keeps us separate from one another. Fear causes us to lie, to hoard, to steal, to cheat, all in the name of getting ahead. Remember that bumper sticker that said “He who has the most toys wins”? The more stuff, the more money, marbles and chalk you have, theoretically, the better you were. Not true.

I’m not claiming that this murdered homeless man was a saint - he was homeless, he was apparently mentally ill. Yet he did not deserve to meet this horrific end. Nor do the people who have worked hard but are losing their homes deserve to be cast out on the street. People who have saved, only to see their savings wiped out by the banking crisis and Wall Street crash. Nobody deserves to have pain or tragedy come into their life - at the same time, everybody has an obligation to try and end this growing poverty.

Actions we can take are as simple as supporting local farms by going to local farmers markets; driving less, and walking more for short trips; recycling; using CFS bulbs; conserving water. We can also help by creating jobs - something along the lines of what FDR did when he created The New Deal, which created jobs for the unemployed, and regulated business and banking.

We have to act. We have to think of us as connected - not just in the USA, but to all people, in all nations. Let’s make poverty history. Yes, we can.

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Andrew Berends Needs Our Help

 

My friend Karolyn sent me an email about a New York-based freelance filmmaker and journalist who was working on a film about the oil-producing Delta region in Nigeria. Andrew was Karolyn’s daughter Katherine’s high school class. His mother, Polly, is the author of Whole Parent, Whole Child and is a dear friend of Karolyn’s. Andrew was arrested on Sunday and accused of spying. His passportand filmmaking equipment have been confiscated. “They didn’t let me sleep or eat or drink water for the first 36 hours,” he said Tuesday night. Polly has asked for help - if you can contact any political heavyweight to intervene on Andy’s behalf, please do.

 

Several other foreign journalists and filmmakers have been detained while working in the region in recent years. In April, four members of a Seattle-based film crew were arrested in the Delta and held for six days on spying charges. Apparently, Nigeria doesn’t want the world to notice the economic and ecological disaster that is taking place in the Niger Delta.

Despite its oil riches, the Niger Delta is a desperately poor and increasingly lawless part of the country, where wealth is siphoned away by corrupt officials. Militants demand a greater share of the area’s oil resources and claim to be fighting on behalf of the impoverished residents, but also appear to be engaging in many criminal and opportunistic acts of violence. Hundreds of foreign workers and wealthy Nigerians have been kidnapped for ransom, and oil theft is rampant.

The Committee to Protect Journalists has demanded his immediate release, but we need to bring more pressure on Nigeria to stop this wanton censureship of filmmakers and journalists. If you can, please call your Congressional Representative and your Senators.

Thanks!

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The Vet forgot to Vett

She’s under legislative ethics investigation in Alaska over whether she abused her power when she dismissed the state’s public safety commissioner.  She was a member of the Alaskan Independence Party which puts Alaska first.  Or, to quote Joe Vogler, “I’m an Alaskan, not an American. I’ve got no use for America or her damned institutions.”

Ms. Palin supports increased oil and gas drilling in sensitive lands and waterways, opposed federal action to list the polar bear as a species threatened with extinction and supports a controversial program to allow aerial shooting of wolves and bears as a means of predator control Oh, and did I mention?  Her husband, Todd Palin, works as a field operator for BP, one of the main operators on the North Slope of Alaska.

McCain was in a hurry, though. He’d rejected both Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty as running-mates, deeming those choices too predictable.  He wanted either Tom Ridge or Joe Lieberman, both of whom support abortion rights - which made the conservative base of the Republican party furious.  So.  What’s the Vet to do?

He turned to Ms. Palin. He had his first face-to-face interview with her on Thursday and offered her the job moments later.  Advisers to Mr. Pawlenty and another of the finalists on Mr. McCain’s list described an intensive vetting process for those candidates that lasted one to two months.

Ooops.

Let me be clear:  I will not discuss her children, because god knows I made my share of mistakes raising mine.  I WILL focus on the facts, though.  The facts about Sarah Palin prove that she has NOTHING that qualifies her to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency.  When you consider that John McCain is one mole away from being dead, it terrifies me that he would select her as his running-mate.  Because, children, he could be elected.

Sarah Palin is anti-abortion, anti-gay rights, pro-oil drilling and advocate of teaching of creationism in schools. Some say she’s an exciting choice because she’s a woman.  Samantha Bee said she would vote for Palin because she has “a vagina … and boobies.”  I guess that’s all that matters, right?

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Hillary Clinton Was Awesome Last Night

My daughter and I watched Hillary’s speech last night at the Democratic National Convention - day 2 - and we were awestruck by the power of her passion. She was never this compelling during this campaign - but her message last night struck a chord I needed to hear: we cannot afford four more years of Republicans in the White House. We cannot.

When she asked her supporters if they were in it for her, or for the single mother with cancer, or for the Marine in the hospital, or for the uninsured Americans, I got chills. Because her message was clear: put away your grudges, and unify to defeat John McCain. She said to her supporters, and to other undecided Democrats that this is NOT the time to sit on the sidelines - this is the time to focus on issues and those issues are clear: Read more

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The Lion in Winter

“For me this is season of hope, of new hope . . . This is the cause of my life, that we will break the old gridlock and guarantee that every American will have decent health care, not as a privilege but as a right.

“We can meet these challenges with Barack Obama. Yes, we can and finally yes we will.  This November, the torch with be passed again to a new generation of Americans.”

My daughter and I watched first Senator Ted Kennedy’s inspiring speech, and then Michelle Obama’s equally inspiring speech.  I wept openly as I listened to Kennedy speak from the heart, focusing on those things I grew up believing in:  from his late brother’s Inaugural Address, when newly-elected John Fitzgerald Kennedy said “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country,” I have believed that we have a patriotic duty to heal the rifts brought on by fear.

Kennedy spoke to that fear, and to that call to action.

And then Michelle Obama got up there and talked about walking away from her great job in a big Chicago law firm to do just that - to work out in the community to heal the rifts brought on by fear.  She talked openly about how we are all connected - something I believe as well.  We are all connected, no matter our race, no matter our choice of faith or not, we are connected be we straight, gay, or bi-; we are connected whether we live in the United States, or in Iraq, or in Korea.  And my daughter, a single mom with a 3-year-old, wept openly while Michelle Obama spoke from the heart.

She spoke to that fear, and to that call to action as well.

You may not love Obama.  But if you line up the issues, and call yourself a Liberal, or a Progressive, or a Democrat, you cannot support John McCain.  John McCain will not support a health care program for all Americans.  John McCain will not find a way to end this mistake of a war in Iraq.  John McCain will not help people get to work, nor will he search for alternative energy resources.  John McCain will continue the politics of fear that the current administration has played for the last eight years.  So, if you are a Liberal, a Progressive, a Democrat, and you may not love Obama, please dig deep before you cast your vote in November.  It is a choice between the politics of fear, or the politics of hope, and while the candidate may not be perfect, he is a far cry better than what the Republicans offer.

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Three Little Words

On Friday, August 1st, 31 retired military leaders sent letters to both the DNC and RNC. These Generals and Admirals are

calling on the Democratic and Republican Platform Committees to include platform planks unequivocally rejecting the use of torture and other official cruelty in the treatment of prisoners.

Rejecting and ending torture should not be a partisan issue, and so the group has appealed to both parties to actually do the right thing. So far, only the DNC has moved forward. Over the weekend, the Democratic Platform Drafting Committee met and included the following three words in the draft of the Democratic Platform: We Reject Torture.

Three little words. They almost sound like “I love you.”

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The Postville Legacy: Do You Want Lies With That Hot Dog?

My dear blog friend Border Explorer has been diligent and passionate in her series about the Postville Raid. Called “the biggest immigration raid in American history,” this raid has also opened the largest meat packing scandal since Upton Sinclair wrote The Jungle, about the corruption in the meat packing industry in the early part of the 20th Century.

And here we have history repeating itself. Sinclair wrote about horrific working conditions, the exploitation of children and women, about workers falling into rendering tanks and being ground along with animal parts into beef lard. Sinclair wrote about a system that was supposed to bring progress to our nation; instead, the increased industrialization bred chaos, amorality, greed and a kind of individuality that has no regard for human dignity - forget about animal rights.

Agriprocessers, in Postville, hired illegal immigrants, mostly from Guatamala. The employees were coerced, threatened, beaten, kept in what they describe as a “slave-like” environment. The raid was conducted not as an immigration raid, but instead as a criminal raid with the main thrust being about “identity theft.” Workers had been given “cooked” social security numbers. The immigrants, mostly unable to speak or read English, had no idea what they were being given. Opps. Their bad.

Much has been made over the fact that Agriprocessers is also the largest Kosher Meat and Poultry producer in the USA. Believe me, this has nothing to do with Orthodox Jewry. Nothing. This is about the over-industiralization of our economy.

The Meatrix is a small website I found after watching Fast Food Nation. This film shows the dark side of the fast food industry, from the ground up. The exploitation of illegal immigrants is a huge part of this chain of greed. Franchise America builds itself on cheap labor (subtext: illegal immigrants), sloppy production, and lies. Hey, Neocons? You want to stop illegal immigration? Shut down McDonalds.

At the Eat Well website, I put in my zip code: I am within 20 miles of 22 farmers markets, 2 restaurants, and 13 stores. There are actually more organic restaurants that they don’t have on the list - but the telling piece is the 22 farmers markets. I go, weekly. They are local California farmers, with either Certified Organic or one step below Certified produce. I save money, I eat better, and I support the local economy. Give this a try.

Another site, Sustainable Table, gives all kinds of tips for building community, healthy eating, and defying the conglomerates. It is a way to connect us to our land, our food, and with each other.

The tactics used in the Postville Raid bespeak a totalitarian society. We know what we’ve become over the last eight years of the Bush Administration. But I contend this has been going on for far longer than Bush has even walked this earth. Greed is not new, nor is the exploitation of the poor and disenfranchised. But we can speak out, we can do more. We really can.

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Banality in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction

Two of the greatest philosophers of the 20th Century were born today: Jacques Derrida and Walter Benjamin. Derrida’s work on the Philosophy and Theory of Deconstruction, upends the Western metaphysical tradition.

Deconstruction is not synonymous with “destruction”, however. It is in fact much closer to the original meaning of the word ‘analysis’ itself, which etymologically means “to undo” — a virtual synonym for “to de-construct.” … If anything is destroyed in a deconstructive reading, it is not the text, but the claim to unequivocal domination of one mode of signifying over another. A deconstructive reading is a reading which analyses the specificity of a text’s critical difference from itself.
The Critical Difference (1981), Barbara Johnson

Benjamin was a Marxist, and critic. His long essay, The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, was extremely important to me when I was in art school - as was Derrida in general. Benjamin’s piece was an effort to define a theory of art that would be “useful for the formulation of revolutionary demands in the politics of art”. Benjamin talked about the “aura” of a work of art which, to him, meant traditional association with primitive, feudal, or bourgeois structures of power and its further association with magic and (religious or secular) ritual. In the age of mechanical reproduction (print, film, photography) where there is no actual “original”, the experience of art would be freed from specific place and ritual and made available to the masses. He wrote: “For the first time in world history, mechanical reproduction emancipates the work of art from its parasitical dependence on ritual.”

Ah, but we live in the age of “Low Information Voters.” We live in an age where a philosophy that requires critical thought has been made banal by the age of mechanical reproduction - deconstruction meets mass media. Deconstruction no longer resides in philosophy, but “launches” fashion products, bathroom items, sports equipment, political attitudes. We have an irony deficit as the world becomes more and more banal.

Why does this matter? The New Yorker Cover that depicts Obama as a Muslim, fist bumping his wife who is clad as an afro-wearing, machine-gun toting militant in the oval office, portrait of Osama Bin Laden on the wall, while the American Flag burns in the fireplace, is why it matters. The New Yorker said the cover was illustrating an article called “The Politics of Fear”, a satirical look at the scare tactics being used to derail Obama’s campaign.

“The burning flag, the nationalist-radical and Islamic outfits, the fist-bump, the portrait on the wall? All of them echo one attack or another. Satire is part of what we do, and it is meant to bring things out into the open, to hold up a mirror to prejudice, the hateful, and the absurd. And that’s the spirit of this cover,” a New Yorker spokesman said in a written statement.

I get it, I really understand what they think they’ve done and what they intended. But if you deconstruct the contradictions, you find that it did not work. The majority of people will not read the article, and will focus on the image. Mechanically reproduced images are fast, and say a lot. And the cover treads on very thin ice. It is offensive. It plays into the politics of fear. But it is charicature and it is satire and it is getting people talking.

More important: it was not censured.

I don’t care for the cover at all. In my opinion, it fails in its intent because so few people actually will go to the deeper meaning. Each of the “symbols” present in the drawing refer to various attacks by the far right against Obama, and the cover’s intent is a commentary on that type of politics of fear. But it plays too close to the actual fear - perhaps by not being absurd enough, perhaps because we’ve lived in a climate of fear for too many years now, perhaps because as a nation we have lost our soul. We certainly have lost our ability to think, to exercise critical thought and discourse.

But I would not cancel my subscription to the New Yorker. Nor would I demand they remove the cover nor would I demand an apology. I’ve thought this through, and I am now at a point where I applaud them for their big brass ones for risking so much ire. Yes, it is offensive. Maybe I am glad that somebody somewhere has decided to not be politically correct. Maybe we need to be offended more often. What do you think?

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Sir! No, Sir! - a film review

Sir! No, Sir! is a film by David Zeiger, telling the government-suppressed story of the GI movement to end the war in Vietnam. The film is a collection of memories and commentary by Vietnam Veterans, many of whom were on a career path in the military.

After the 1968 Tet Offensive which the US Military was unprepared for, morale among troops was at an all-time low. The war was considered unwinable, and a protest movement grew amoung active duty troops, including underground GI newspapers and coffee houses that sprung up around military bases. These coffee houses were places for GIs to “rap” (in the vernacular of the day) about what was really  happening - returning soldiers telling soldiers about to be shipped out what they could really expect. Eventually, the coffee houses were declared off-limits. There was also a modern equivalent to the Civil War’s Underground Railway, helping soldiers to desert and get to Canada. The Pentagon documents 1,500,000 instances of AWOL and desertion during the war. Official estimates of the actual number of service members who went AWOL or deserted run between 500,000 (Pentagon) and 550,000 (officials in the Ford Administration).

The film is narrated by Troy Garity, son of Jane Fonda and Tom Hayden. His spoken word is quiet, almost like a subconscious thought telling us about a period that has been essentially wiped from our collective memories. The GI anti-war movement has been erased from common knowledge, replaced with myths of hippies spitting on returning Vets - a myth made popular by Rambo: First Blood Part 2, which is also 1985’s Golden Razzie Award Winner as worst picture. In his book, The Spitting Image, sociologist Jerry Lembcke argues that the image of anti-war protesters spitting on returning Nam vets is an urban legend designed to discredit the anti-war movement. He also suggests that George H. W. Bush used this image to help sell the first Gulf War to the American people.

Interspersed with the commentary of the Vietnam Veterans, there is commentary from Jane Fonda. Now, who was in the audience for their “FTA Concert?” No, it was not anti-war hippies, commies, and draft-dodgers. The majority were active-duty military, in uniform.

The film does not mention John Kerry, nor does it draw comparisons to Iraq, although such comparisons are inevitable. Instead, it asks us to scour our memories, and to dig deep. It tells of soldiers who were forced to ask themselves the difference between right and wrong; to examine what we were actually doing in Vietnam - a military campaign with no clear objective, nothing other than hubris driving us forward.

There is a new film being developed about the immoral and illegal nature of the occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq, as told by eyewitness accounts of active duty soldiers and veterans who were there. That is the film that will address the issues of today. First, see Sir! No, Sir!

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Obama has a plan

Obama has a plan for Iraq, which I read this morning. He begins by saying:

The call by Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki for a timetable for the removal of American troops from Iraq presents an enormous opportunity. We should seize this moment to begin the phased redeployment of combat troops that I have long advocated, and that is needed for long-term success in Iraq and the security interests of the United States.

The term “phased redeployment” is, for me, troublesome but I think I understand his logic. He talks about needing to protect our troops during the withdrawal, and he talks about a plan that would being the moment he takes office, a 16-month withdrawal that would have all US troops out of Iraq by summer, 2010.

Summer, 2010. More than seven years since the war began. Seven years, more than $1 Trillion wasted, too many deaths, too many wounded, and our nation at home in financial crisis. I’m torn by Obama’s plan. Part of me says “Not soon enough!” and part of me realizes that what he proposes is a realistic plan to get us out of this horrific morass that Bush created.

A few days ago, I watched the DVD, Sir! No Sir!, a powerful film about the government-suppressed story about the GI movement to end the war in Viet Nam. I urge you all to rent or purchase the DVD, and to take a stand with Iraq Veterans Against The War. We MUST keep Obama accountable.

Crossposted at Journeys with Jood.

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Errores en Espanol

McCain’s new radio ad, in Spanish, aims to show Florida would benefit from the Colombia Free Trade Agreement, which he supports. Narrated by Tony Villamil, the state’s ex-director of tourism, commerce and economic affairs, the ad uses statistics to argue that the pending trade agreement is crucial to Florida’s economy.

Tony Villamil: This is Tony Villamil speaking, ex-director of Tourism, Commerce and Economic Affairs of Florida.

When it comes to a strong economy for our state, commercial trade with Latin America is crucial. Three-quarters of Florida’s exports are with Latin America, and the Colombian Free Trade Agreement would create even more opportunity.

In this election, there are some that talk about revising the Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada and oppose the Agreement with Colombia. This would hurt our economic future.

Last year Florida’s exports to Latin America reached almost $45 billion dollars. Colombia is Florida’s third most important export market and this trade agreement would create almost 5,000 new jobs.

John McCain supports the Colombian Agreement, knows about our alliances with our hemisphere and understands our economy grows thanks to trade.
Remember who stands for prosperity in Florida, our country and our hemisphere. His name is John McCain.

John McCain: I’m John McCain and I approve this message.

Announcer: Paid for by John McCain 2008.

Problem is, the numbers in the ad are wrong, except one, and that one is rounded up so generously that it is effectively wrong as well. Among the miscalculations, the ad states that Colombia is Florida’s third most important export market. Actually, according to both The US Census Bureau Website and Senator McCain himself, Columbia ranks fifth for Florida exports:

McCain, Latin Business Chronicle, May 20, 2008: Colombia today stands as Florida’s fifth largest export market – Florida exported $2.1 billion worth of goods there last year – and now the Colombians are offering to drop their barriers to American goods.

John McCain’s flexible memory for facts continues to astound me. Voters should be wary of McCain’s fanciful use of figures. Talk about fuzzy math.

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The Operation Was A Success, But The Patient Died

Four million people were admitted to California hospitals last year. That’s a lot of people. And of those 4M, 1,002 cases of serious medical harm were disclosed by California hospitals between July 2007 and May of this year.

Officially, these cases are called Adverse Events. They are also referred to as “never events,” because they should never happen. In California, patients are being seriously injured at a rate of 100 per month.

Examples range from technicians placing a CT scan of one patient into the electronic file of another; The result: physicians removed the wrong person’s appendix; to nurses giving incorrect medications (unprescribed medications) causing death. The father of one of my co-workers went to have a fairly simple operation; during surgery, his kidney was perferated causing infection. The original operation was a success, but the patient died.

In California, Insurance Companies are considering not paying Hospitals for these accidents. Yet Hospitals are for-profit businesses; I wonder if we will be forced to pay extra for these non-services? Pay in advance and take it up with our insurance companies later (if we survive at all?)

Did the woman who died from the wrong medications have to pay a co-pay on those medications? Who covers her bill? On the wrong appendix, did he have to pay out of pocket for a surgery he didn’t need? Because his insurance probably didn’t cover him for this bit of cutting and sewing - it hadn’t been pre-approved.

Our system is broken on so many levels, not the least of which is patient care, that I cannot begin to cover it all. I am mad as hell. Beyond angry, I am appalled at rising costs and sinking care.

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Why Los Angeles Makes People Sick. Literally.Cost

Why does basic health care cost so much? This question plagues me, and countless others in the USA. Over the last three years, the cost of medication and tests that I have undergone has put me on the edge of bankruptcy. So, yes, I have fibromyalgia - and there is fuck-all I can do about it - but it’s all the rest of what I’ve undergone that is wiping me out. And that’s when I read this tidbit: in 2007 the total U.S. health care bill came to $2.3 trillion—more than we spent last year on food.

And what do we get for all this money? Not much. Despite claims that we have the best health care in the world, when we shine the light of reality on that claim we find this simply is not true.

By every conceivable measure, the health of Americans lags behind the health of citizens in other developed countries. Our life expectancy is shorter than that of citizens in Canada, Japan, and all but one Western European country. We rank 43rd in the world in infant-mortality rates, behind Cuba, the Czech Republic, and the United Kingdom. We are no less disabled by disease than citizens of most developed nations, and our medical care is, with few exceptions, no better at helping us survive specific diseases. For instance, the mortality rate from prostate cancer in the United Kingdom is virtually the same as it is in the United States, despite the fact that the disease is treated far less aggressively in the U.K.

But a huge factor in the rising costs is that we in the USA spend far too much on unnecessary tests. Of our total $2.3 trillion health care bill last year, a whopping $500 billion to $700 billion was spent on treatments, tests, and hospitalizations that did nothing to improve our health. And I have fallen into this trap.

And actually, that trap has a lot to do with the geography of health care. I live in Los Angeles, where everything does cost a bit more - we pay higher prices at the pump, we pay more for restaurants, we pay more for all kinds of things, including health care. Why? Because doctors and hospitals in Los Angeles tend to give their patients more tests, procedures, and surgeries, and their patients tend to spend more days in the hospital.

Now, when I don’t feel well, and the doctor starts recommending and scheduling a variety of tests, I tend to become very blond and say, “uh-huh,” and go along like a good girl. And then the bills start coming in. And coming in. And then I wake up and go, whoa, wait a minute. Did I really need to get tested for Vitamin D deficiency? Did I really need to get tested for a rare liver disorder that I may or may not actually have? Do I need to take those pills for this liver disorder that the expensive testing could not confirm or rule out?

Patients undergo back surgery for pain in the absence of evidence that the surgery works. They contract lethal infections while in the hospital for elective procedures. They suffer strokes when they undergo a surgery that, ironically, is intended to prevent stroke. And each year they undergo millions of tests—MRIs, CT scans, blood tests—that do little to help doctors diagnose disease.

Doctors put the blame on patients, of course, saying we demand every little pill we’ve seen advertised on television - and I think that is part of the issue. But in my own case, I’d been taking a lot of Tylenol for pain - this is before I was diagnosed with Fibro - and my gynecologist decided to do a ton of blood tests. She didn’t ask, she just said I needed to have them all, including liver functions. No symptoms, just she decided. My liver functions were sort of whacked - she said I had numbers normally seen in a drinking alcoholic. I haven’t had a drink since July 17th, 1988, so that was weird. So she started to do all kinds of research, and decided I had PBC, a rare, hereditary liver disorder and sent me to my Gastro doctor to have more tests. A liver biopsy (the 30 seconds of drug induced high were great) and the biopsy was inconclusive. And the horse pills, which are not covered by my insurance and were $100 a month.

Now, the simple answer: stop taking Tylenol, it messes up your liver.

The reality is that we have a badly broken system. This is pressing issue that will not be fixed overnight - and if McCain is elected, won’t be fixed at all. But there are things we can do as individuals, and here is a checklist provided by AARP:

1. Find a doctor who communicates Most of us need a primary care doctor who can clearly explain what ails us and the possible ways to treat it. If you have a physician who does this, stick with him or her. If your current doctor tends to rush you or doesn’t explain things well, tell him or her you need more time.

2. Coordinate your own care Talk to your primary care doctor about making sure he or she sees copies of your medical records from all your various doctors. Somebody besides you needs to know what all your physicians are doing—including all procedures, tests, and drugs they’ve prescribed. This is especially important if you are on multiple drugs or have a chronic condition, such as diabetes or an autoimmune disorder, that requires visits to multiple specialists.

3. Get the right specialist If you or a loved one is facing a serious illness, find yourself a palliative-care doctor. Physicians trained in this specialty have a particular expertise in the control of pain. They are also trained to coordinate the care among your various doctors.

4. Find out what difference a test or procedure makes Ask your doctor what he or she expects to learn from the test and whether the results will make a difference in your treatment.

5. Weigh the benefits and risks If a physician recommends a surgical procedure, ask what will happen if you decide not to do it—or if there is a less-invasive treatment option.

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The Cost of War in Iraq

I thought I would take a look at the local cost of the War in Iraq.  The National Priorities Project has a page where you can get the costs as it pertains to your locality. Taxpayers in California’s Congressional District 36 (Harman) will pay $1.3 billion for total Iraq war spending approved to date. For the same amount of money, the following services could have been provided:

• 550,963 People with Health Care for One Year OR
• 2,385,106 Homes with Renewable Electricity for One Year OR
• 23,915 Public Safety Officers for One year OR
• 18,911 Music and Arts Teachers for One Year OR
• 201,177 Scholarships for University Students for One Year OR
• 4,007 Affordable Housing Units OR
• 500,391 Children with Health Care for One Year OR
• 160,123 Head Start Places for Children for One Year OR
• 19,226 Elementary School Teachers for One Year OR
• 16,907 Port Container Inspectors for One year

I am rendered speechless. We need to bring all our resources home:  our soldiers, who don’t deserve the horrors they’ve been handed; and our tax dollars so we can repair the soul of our nation by providing the services we lose daily  due to Bush’s arrogance.

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