Decisions about disclosure

The opening paragraph of an essay titled, "Disclosure" by Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky of Boston in the May 5, 2010 issue of JAMA was stunning in the author's lack of understanding her role in protecting the general public and specific individuals from serious disease. Others I'd give a break, but she had an MD and MPH after her name! The paragraph really wasn't essential to the thrust of her topic, which was about being a woman (pregnancy, motherhood) in academic medicine. Here's what she wrote:

"Early in my career, one of my patients with HIV infection, Robin, a recovering heroin addict, had re-enrolled in school and was newly engaged. Her fiance was unaware that she was HIV infected and she would not discuss using condoms, let alone her HIV infection, with him. I encouraged her to confide her infection to her fiance--for the integrity of their relationship and for the value of his health--at each of our clinical encounters. Finally, she did so. He left her. She stopped taking her antiretroviral medications and restarted using heroin. Although the fiance may have reduced his risk of infection, the consequences of my intervention were tragic for my patient. Robin's case reinforced that disclosure is a risky business because the truth can trigger an unexpected, sometimes devastating chain of reactions."

No, it wasn't unfortunate that the fiance left her; it probably saved his life, assuming he wasn't already infected. No, Rochelle Walensky's intervention as a doctor and public health official wasn't tragic--it was probably a requirement of her job! No, Robin didn't start using heroin again because her fiance left her--she was an addict and no one, not even the love of a good man could change her if she wasn't up to the tough behavior needed to kick it. No, stopping the antiretroviral meds wasn't a tragedy because she would just become reinfected as the heroin addiction took over her mind. Part of getting well is a behavior change, chastity and monogamy, something she can't do on drugs. And finally, it's just entirely possible that the fiance left her because he realized she valued his life so little, that he would never again be able to trust her.

You go girls!

When Jean Mellman, 86, Shirley Boster, 87, Harriet Korn, 93, Naomi Schottenstein, 81, Fannie Shkolnik, 92, and Shirley Yaffe, 85, were young, bat mitzvah ceremonies - the female equivalent of a boy's bar mitzvah, typically at 13 - didn't exist. Today, Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist Jews offer bat mitzvahs for girls; Orthodox synagogues do, too, but the girls don't read from the Torah. In recent years, rabbis across the country have offered ceremonies to elderly women to make up for what they didn't have available when they were young. Rabbi Cary Kozberg has modified the typical Torah reading requirement of a bat mitzvah. Each woman will read a Hebrew blessing before the rabbi reads a portion of the Torah and explain the meaning in their life. And of course, the perspective will be very different than that of a 12 year old.

'Girls' to finally have bat mizvahs | The Columbus Dispatch

The Wealth Gap, Research and Policy Brief May 2010

THE RACIAL WEALTH GAP INCREASES FOUR FOLD shouts the headline of the liberal think tank at Brandeis, the Institute on Assets and Social Policy ( IASP), May 2010 report. I looked around for a definition of a "household" but couldn't find one for this wealth gap study. Nor could I find a contact to ask. Also, I haven't seen any mention in the news reports I've seen that the gap between wealthy white households and middle income white households is much bigger than between middle income whites and blacks. Someone needs to look at marriage. Even in middle class white households, children before marriage is becoming socially acceptable--but it's still financially a bad, bad idea, especially for the children. The women's movement just hates to tell women this, but "marrying up" is the best way to go for women. Postponing marriage until you're 35 and moving up the career track doesn't necessarily "create wealth." And savings rates--couldn't find anything in the summary. Also, someone needs to ask one of these think tanks on the left if all the social programs put in place since Johnson's War on Poverty have been working against minorities or have they just been buying votes.

http://iasp.brandeis.edu/pdfs/Racial-Wealth-Gap-Brief.pdf

Repurposing an old car lot

We purchased and serviced at least two Fords--maybe three--at the old Graham Ford facility at 707 West Broad just west of downtown. It closed in November 2008 and now there are plans to return it to its original "holy" purpose--servicing the poor and needy, and providing museum space for Columbus Catholics.

The Rev. Kevin Lutz, pastor of Holy Family Catholic Church, envisions "an elegant makeover. They say the church could create a Catholic cultural center to house its Jubilee Museum, have plenty of room for events and provide a new home for the Holy Family soup kitchen. "There's a lot of beauty surrounding that spot," Lutz said, recalling the work of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, who were there from about 1865 until 1965."

There will be a fund raiser on June 19--they need to raise $4 million to purchase the property. The current location of the Holy Family soup kitchen doesn't have handicap access.

Holy intentions for an old car lot The Columbus Dispatch

Google this

The search strategy "Calderone the hypocrite" brings up 67,000 matches. I'm just saying. . .

Tuesday Update: Now it's up to about 77,000--sample of some of the titles, some from blogs, but most from news agencies.

Calderon Is a Welfare-Pimping Hypocrite and Congress Out of Touch

Oblahblah and Calderone diss our Border

Althouse: Did Obama's speechwriters write Calderon's speech?

EDITORIAL: Go back to Mexico - Washington Times

Obama and Calderon: Insulting Americans together - Monday, May 24

Calderon The Hypocrite

Mexican president, Calderon: Hypocrite. - CNN iReport

Calderon's rebuke is that of a hypocrite » Opinion » Leader Call

Lavish state dinner for Mexican hypocrite

I don't know the cost of Wagyu steak, but a hamburger is $40.00 for half a pound. It's over the top that President Obama so lavishly entertains a "neighbor" who is so critical of us, when Calderone's own immigration policy is much more harsh, "anti-brown" and racist than ours.

State Dinner Menu for Mexican President Calderon: Oregon Wagyu Beef in Oaxacan Black Mole. Briefing Memo - Lynn Sweet

For example:

An immigrant who becomes a naturalized Mexican citizen can be stripped of his Mexican citizenship if he lives again in the country of his origin for more than five years, under Article 37. Mexican-born citizens risk no such loss.

Foreign-born, naturalized Mexican citizens may not become federal lawmakers (Article 55), cabinet secretaries (Article 91) or supreme court justices (Article 95).

The president of Mexico, like the president of the United States, constitutionally must be a citizen by birth, but Article 82 of the Mexican constitution mandates that the president’s parents also be Mexican-born citizens, thus according secondary status to Mexican-born citizens born of immigrants.

The Mexican constitution forbids immigrants and naturalized citizens to become members of the clergy. Article 130 says, “To practice the ministry of any denomination in the United Mexican States it is necessary to be a Mexican by birth.”

The Mexican constitution singles out “undesirable aliens.” Article 11 guarantees federal protection against “undesirable aliens resident in the country.”

The Mexican constitution provides the right of private individuals to make citizen’s arrests. Article 16 states, “in cases of flagrante delicto, any person may arrest the offender and his accomplices, turning them over without delay to the nearest authorities.” Therefore, the Mexican constitution appears to grant Mexican citizens the right to arrest illegal aliens and hand them over to police for prosecution.

The Mexican constitution states that foreigners may be expelled for any reason and without due process. According to Article 33, “the Federal Executive shall have the exclusive power to compel any foreigner whose remaining he may deem inexpedient to abandon the national territory immediately and without the necessity of previous legal action.”

http://www.c4ads.org/files/waller_csp_apr2006_mexico.pdf

Senate Judiciary Committee requests Kagan documents

Here's a shocker. The Clinton library thinks it will be too difficult to find and submit for review the Kagan documents.

Terri Garner, director of the William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum, said in an interview Wednesday that it would be "very difficult" for her facility to meet the deadline. She said the records request is overly broad and "too general in scope" and that, under the Presidential Records Act, attorneys for both Clinton and President Obama have the right to read and review each document before it is released to the committee.

What is it with this administration and documents? Illegal aliens shouldn't have to have any, because that might mean there was proof they are illegal. President Obama hasn't released a single document about his past, the way other presidents and candidates have done--not medical, not educational--no wonder there are so many conspiracy theories. What's he hiding? And now Kagan? Her paper trail has got to be very thin, all the more reason to have the Clinton records. When I was a librarian, if the Dean needed something, we stayed until we found it.

Senate Judiciary Committee requests documents on Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan - latimes.com

Tea Parties vs. Unions as protrayed in the press

Nina Easton of Fortune magazine reported on an incident in her Washington, D.C., neighborhood in which 500 screaming, placard-waving SEIU members and allies surrounded the home of Greg Baer, deputy general counsel at Bank of America, to protest bank foreclosures. Can you imagine how the press would have treated even one tea party protestor at the home of an SEIU member? Obama or Pelosi would have been on TV that night wagging fingers or weeping for the shame of it. The only reason it was reported at all is that Easton lived in the neighborhood and reported what she saw--the police when called by Baer, whose 14 year old was home alone hiding in a locked bathroom, refused to come. Are police members of unions? .

"Last Sunday, on a peaceful, sun-crisp afternoon, our toddler finally napping upstairs, my front yard exploded with 500 screaming, placard-waving strangers on a mission to intimidate my neighbor, Greg Baer. Baer is deputy general counsel for corporate law at Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500), a senior executive based in Washington, D.C. And that -- in the minds of the organizers at the politically influential Service Employees International Union and a Chicago outfit called National Political Action -- makes his family fair game." Link

The liberals are turning our freedoms inside out and upside down, and those of you who claim to be "moderate Democrats" ought to see that your party has been stolen from you by near anarchists and scum bums. People are not safe in their homes when these busloads of terrorists are turned loose by the union leaders.
John Fund: Tea Parties vs. Unions in November - WSJ.com

Update on police protection--the buses had a D.C. police escort!: "According to Corporal Dan Friz, an MCPD spokesperson in Rockville, Maryland, the department received a disturbance call from one of Baer’s neighbors at 4:10 pm last Sunday. Four MCPD units arrived at Baer’s Greenville Rd. address at 4:15 pm. At least two Metropolitan Police Department units from the nearby District of Columbia were already at the scene when they arrived.

Why? Because police cars attached to the Washington MPD’s Civil Disturbance Unit had escorted the SEIU protesters’ buses to Baer’s home. Such cross-jurisdictional escort activity is not uncommon for both departments according to Friz and Metro Police Department spokesperson Officer Eric Frost. Still, the District police did not inform their colleagues of what was about to happen in one of their Maryland neighborhoods."

A hospitalist looks at socialized medicine

Erik DeLue, a hospitalist who blogs, recently had a paid 4 day visit to St. Petersburg, Russia with his wife, an art historian. Since Obamacare had recently been passed, he decided to take a quick look at state sponsored health care.

"As if vodka were a truth serum, I got an earful of reality about Russian health care. If you need basic care, and by that I do mean very basic care, everyone has access. If your health care needs are more complicated, be prepared to wait a long time or be willing to pay much more money out of pocket than most can afford.

The other option is to find healthcare in another country—again, an option available to only a select few. But Russia is an extreme example of socialized medicine gone bad, and the demise of its health care system has more to do with the country’s political history than it does with the basic tenets and structures of socialized care.

As this was an international conference, I had a chance to speak to people from many different countries, including Germany, France and England. Most of these Western Europeans were generally happy with their health care system, but all complained of longer wait times and difficulties with getting subspecialty care, at least when compared to how our current American system works. They also noted that those with money were able to move ahead in the line, hardly a surprise no matter which the nation or particular political system."

For the rest of the story, see it here.

DeLue seems to believe we are moving to the idea that health care is a right, and if that is so, we need to determine how to ration it.  Did anyone hear that during the months of debate?

Most Europeans and even most Americans don't realize that all Americans have health care, they don't all necessarily have health insurance. In fact, if they don't have insurance, they may actually get to spend more time in the hospital healing and not be sent home according to a pay formula, as I learned when my friend's son who was unemployed had an appendectomy.

 I'm really puzzled when I read that if people only had insurance they wouldn't be struggling with obesity. As if there were no fat, middle-class, well-employed white people. It's peer pressure, not insurance, that keeps people trim, exercising and eating right.

NPR's Nina Totenberg gushes over Kagan after saying federal courts could threaten Obama legacy

It's no secret that Nina Totenberg of NPR is a liberal--she doesn't attempt to disguise it. Recently she has all but gushed over Elena Kagan, Obama's pick for the Supreme Court. The only naysayers she could find to quote were people even further left than she is. Can you imagine if she were writing about a Roberts or Alito only mentioning conservative sources. I looked back to 2006 and then she was remarking (not exactly complaining) about the unanimity in the decisions of a Roberts led court. In this source, she's ginning up some fear that her precious Obamaic legacy could be thwarted.

E-net! - NPR's Nina Totenberg says federal courts could threaten Obama legacy

Well, not to fear. She's got Superwoman Kagan to the rescue. But then, it isn't called NPR (National Progressive Radio) for nothing.

Weiner Matters--He's hired new staff

I finally got Weiner Facts to work--it's such a popular website, it's hard to get in.

"Check this one out! In the past, Weiner would have to go online to Media Matters to read about what he was supposed to say that day. But now, Weiner has changed all that. He just hired someone from Media Matters to work as his press secretary!"

Weiner Facts » Blog Archive » Weiner Matters

I hope Mr. Weinger is grateful--before Glenn Beck, no one had heard of him, and in politics, name recognition is everything. Media Matters is the anti-Bush, anti-conservative, anti-American site that filters the news for liberals. It's funded, I've heard, by George Soros, the Hungarian Communist who has had great luck with capitalism.

Just 1% of Seattle Marathon money goes to charity

Maybe you should ask before you volunteer, race, walk, or make a contribution, "What percentage of the take do the charity race organizers get?" You may just be paying $30 for a $5 t-shirt and a button saying, "I did my part to defeat (disease of choice)." I checked out Premier Sports of Columbus, OH which is handling the "39th Annual Memorial Day Run." You pay an entry fee ranging from $15 to $30, depending on what and when you enter. You sign away your right to sue if Premier Sports or the sponsor are negligant (although I don't think that stands up in court) and assume all risks if you are injured. This event doesn't claim to be charity. I think Premier Sports gets everything with a token going to the Upper Arlington Civic Association. However, many events do claim to support a charity--or research for a disease--cancer, heart disease, kidney, etc. Check it out first. This marathon in Seattle contributed only about $12,000 for an event that took in over $1,000,000.

Local News | Just 1% of Seattle Marathon money goes to charity | Seattle Times Newspaper

Gershwin's Concerto in F by Oscar Levant

Speaking of George Gershwin, when I was a young teenager--maybe 13 or 14--my sister and I went to Rockford to hear Oscar Levant play. It's possible my mom drove us--I don't remember how we got there. But it seems like we were sitting about 5 ft. from him. . . maybe I was just mesmerized. He was a fabulous pianist and appeared in American in Paris (1951). I was so fortunate to grow up in a home with an accomplished musician--God knows, He moved on after he gave that talent to her.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wePBkW6WMM8

Musical bargain from the Discovery Shop

Yesterday I bought a great George Gershwin CD at the Discovery Shop (Cancer resale) for $1.00. The pianist was Eugen Cicero [Ciceu]. The first 7 items are from Porgy & Bess, [orchestral] and then that is followed by 8 piano medleys performed by Circero. I'd never heard of him, so I Googled. A Romanian genius in his adopted Germany, according to this writer, who spent too much time "in his cups" and died before his time. Here's a great article. ... I do love a bargain.

Nothing can beat my Urbie Green CD I found for a dollar, though. I've seen prices as high as $200 on the internet.

FTC to Look Into Copy Machine Privacy

The problem is leased copiers--who knew they were data storage devices? Well, the bad guys probably knew--if they didn't they do now.

"During its investigation, CBS [April 19 report] found a machine used by a police sex crimes division in Buffalo, N.Y., with information on criminal suspects and domestic violence complaints. It also found pay stubs with Social Security numbers and medical records from insurer Affinity Health Plan, including names and physician diagnoses."

I guess since most businesses don't know how to overwrite the data, maybe the criminals don't either?

Technology News: Privacy: FTC to Look Into Copy Machine Privacy Breakdown

Glenn Beck launches WeinerFacts.com

The Whitehouse dot gov link to immigration issues doesn't work (404 message), but the link to Weinerfacts.com has probably been hacked, or overrun by too many people trying to read it. Glenn Beck bought the domain name and is using the web site to fight a member of Congress using McCarthy type tactics to destroy a private citizen and his business. I had to go to 5-6 urls before I could get one to link. This one worked.

Another Black Conservative: Glenn Beck launches WeinerFacts.com

Today I also listened to a YouTube audio of Michael Savage taking a call from a Florida woman named Jo. I think it is a put-on. No one, especially a woman, could be that dumb. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMK9zxb5HyE&NR=1 I think her use of the word "stash" gives it away.

Let's elect Bill Davis

"There is no such thing as improved, enhanced, more efficient or streamlined government. We have one option: more government or less government. There are no natural predators of government." Letter to the editor, Wall St. Journal, May 21, 2010.

Deepwater Horizon record was exemplary--MMS

Out of 2,896 days of operation, Deep Water Horizon received 6 citations, and none of those were very serious according to Minerals Management Service (MMS). The Deepwater Horizon's record was so exemplary, according to MMS officials, that the rig was never on inspectors' informal "watch list" for problem rigs. But now there are charges and counter charges, and Associated Press who probably doesn't have anyone on staff who knows anything about these rigs, is asking a lot of questions and posing lots of possibilities. But whereever it goes, it always comes back to the responsibility of MMS and the Coast Guard, i.e., the federal government, and the fact that almost nothing was done by this administration for 9 days. The World Socialist Website see it all as BP and Transocean's fault, because how could it blame the Obama government when it doesn't believe there should even be a private oil industry? Unless it was the government of George W. Bush and a hurricane, and then the federal, not the state and local governments, are completely to blame. That too is the socialist way. . .

MMS declined to send a witness to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee’s hearing Monday on the federal response to the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill, Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) said. I don't understand how the government can force automobile company CEOs and bank managers to show up to be grilled, and their own guys get to duck out!

Federal Inspections on Deepwater Horizon Not as Claimed - AOL News

On Oil, Mining and Banking Media Favor Regulation, Barely Notice Failures of Regulators | NewsBusters.org

Museums Get University Bailouts

Another segment of our society who thought the bubble would never burst--private art museums. In today's WSJ we find that Magnes Museum is giving away its entire collection of prized Jewish art. Judah Magnes, for whom it is named, was a former Oakland, California resident who became a renowned rabbi, lecturer, political activist, and co-founder of Israel's Hebrew University. It was started in 1960 by the Fromer family. There is an interesting timeline (leaving out the bubble and the endowment problems) can be found at the website.



"Many museums took on debt to finance these activities (expansions)—only to have the floor fall out from under their endowments in 2008 when the market crashed. Last year, the Gulf Coast Museum of Art in Largo, Fla., shut its doors and gave its 435-piece collection of contemporary Florida art to St. Petersburg College, after seeing its $8 million endowment shrivel to $500,000." You've got to have some pretty risky investments to have your endowment shrivel that much. So there's probably a lot more to be told about the investment advisors these museums are using.
The Magnes Museum in Berkeley, Calif., and the Museum of Contemporary Craft in Portland, Ore., Get University Bailouts - WSJ.com

Resurrgence of McCarthyism as Weiner targets Glenn Beck

Yes, I'm old enough to remember McCarthyism. I wouldn't recommend the methods, but he did ferret out a lot of active Communists. So we know from history it works. Now we see it's being used against a popular TV performer instead of movie stars and screen writers--Glenn Beck. McCarthyism is when the government tries to destroy the opposition by going after private citizens and their income. You can't accuse Rush or Glenn of McCarthyism (some confused liberals do) because they aren't members of the government. Obama has quite a stable now going after Beck--Van Jones, Jim Wallis, and Andy Stern, all advisors of the President (Jones has moved to a leftist think tank, but he's near by). Having all the broadcast news and most cable news in his pocket isn't enough. Maybe Congress could start having hearings for entertainers and talk show hosts and we could have a rerun of the 1950s. Its poll numbers could go even lower.

Disclaimer: I watch Glenn Beck, but I don't buy gold, or most of the products I see hawked on TV from beer to golf balls to Sleep Number beds. So obviously, this is motivated by politics, not by concern for the consumer, or we'd have Congress looking into a lot of advertisers.

Rep. Anthony Weiner targets Glenn Beck and Goldline International - Kenneth P. Vogel - POLITICO.com