The Hits Just Keep On Coming

Sometimes I wonder how professional boxers do it: just stand there and get hit day after day. Punching, taking a punch, moving, dodging, weaving, and back again for another hit. That kind of cumulative beating has got to take a toll.

I suppose it's a matter of conditioning. You kinda just get used to it. Maybe you just don't notice anymore. Is that what tough is? Somehow I think that's just what numb is.

That's where I find myself today: cumulatively worn down. Physically and emotionally -- just too tired to react. For four weeks I've been both mother and father to the Nodlings while Mrs. Nod recovers from her surgery (only 8 more weeks to go!).

Then my youngest brother, Shoe, lands in the hospital with an apparent stroke. Sudden and unexplained: right-side paralysis, loss of speech, migraine headaches. The family has been up all night providing physical, emotional, and logistical support to his wife and baby and taking turns at Shoe's bedside.  The MRI and brain scans came back clean, so no evidence of an aneurism, arterial dissection, or blot clots in the brain.

Now 24-hours later, he has regained movement and speech, but is still pretty groggy. Doctors still can't tell what's wrong with him, but they are doing a blizzard of tests to find out: seizure? meningitis? West Nile virus? leg blood clots?  It's going to be a few days before we know anything.

Next, I went to the pharmacy to pick up a new prescription for Mrs. Nod, but they didn't receive it. Sorry, Charlie, no meds for you. On my way back, I noticed there was smoke coming out of my car hood. I pulled into a gas station only to find that I lost all my antifreeze (if the explosion of green, sweet-smelling liquid all over my engine block is any indication). Now my car is overheating and the thermostat is pegging in the red. I left it with the garage and hitched a ride home in order to relieve our babysitter for the night. Did I mention I already dropped a boatload of cash to get the van fixed up last week? No? I was doing much better at keeping my whining and moaning to myself last week.

I'm just ready for this week to end. I'm looking forward to a day where nothing much happens. Each day I close my eyes with the hope that tomorrow will be that day.

Sigh.

Breathe Deep: Incense Anti-depressant

I like it. Incense may be an anti-depressant. I know I'm happy when I'm breathing deeply of incense -- usually that's because I'm in the Presence of God.

h/t Mystagogy

Incense Found To Be Psychoactive

21 May 2008
by Kate Melville
Science A Go Go

Biologists from Johns Hopkins University and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem have discovered that burning frankincense (resin from the Boswellia plant) activates poorly understood ion channels in the brain that alleviate anxiety and depression, suggesting that an entirely new class of medicinal drugs might be right under our noses.

Reporting their findings in The FASEB Journal, the researchers said that the active compound - incensole acetate - significantly affected areas in the brain known to be involved in emotions as well as in nerve circuits that are affected by currently prescribed anxiety and depression drugs.

"In spite of information stemming from ancient texts, constituents of Boswellia had not been investigated for psychoactivity," said researcher Raphael Mechoulam. "We found that incensole acetate, a Boswellia resin constituent, when tested in mice lowers anxiety and causes antidepressive-like behavior. Apparently, most present day worshipers assume that incense burning has only a symbolic meaning."

 

Continue reading >>

Senomyx Redux

Looks like Semonyx is back in the news regarding their testing of artificial flavors on cells from aborted fetuses.

I wrote about Senomyx three weeks ago: the world yawned; Children of God for Life wrote about it, and something happened: Campbell Soup has ended its relationship with Senomyx.

Within hours of our press release, Children of God for Life received notice from Campbell Soup that they have severed their ties with Senomyx.

Stated Juli Mandel Sloves, Senior Manager of Nutrition & Wellness Communications at Campbell Soup Company, "We are no longer in partnership with Senomyx. This fact was discussed during the Senomyx conference call with its investors earlier this month." 

“Every effort is made to use the finest ingredients and develop the greatest selection of products, all at a great value. With this in mind, it must be said that the trust we have cultivated and developed over the years with our consumers is not worth compromising to cut costs or increase profit margins."

From the CGL press release:

“What they do not tell the public is that [Senomyx] are using HEK 293 – human embryonic kidney cells taken from an electively aborted baby to produce those [taste] receptors,” stated Debi Vinnedge, Executive Director for CGL, the watch dog group that has been monitoring the use of aborted fetal material in medical products and cosmetics for years.

“They could have easily chosen COS (monkey) cells, Chinese Hamster Ovary cells, insect cells or other morally obtained human cells expressing the G protein for taste receptors,” Vinnedge added.

After three letters, Nestlé finally admitted the truth about their relationship with Senomyx, noting the cell line was “well established in scientific research”.

Pepsico wrote: “We hope you are reassured to learn that our collaboration with Senomyx is strictly limited to creating lower-calorie, great-tasting beverages for consumers. This will help us achieve our commitment to reduce added sugar per serving by 25% in key brands in key markets over the next decade and ultimately help people live healthier lives.”

“If enough people voice their outrage and intent to boycott these consumer products, it can be highly effective in convincing Senomyx to change their methods”, Vinnedge noted. “Otherwise, we will be buying Coca-Cola, Lipton soups and Hershey products!”

So you see that we CAN change the way these Big Pharma and Biotechs operate if we speak our consciences.

Pound Of Cure

The saying goes: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. But what happens when the cure isn't much better than the ailment?

Mrs. Nod, Nub, and I got a green cold that was particularly unpleasant. The girl Nodlings: Blynken, Nod-girl, and Nib are down with the flu. Poor Nib has pink eye to boot -- nasty stuff that. We're trying desperately hard to keep them all away from the baby, Dab.

The doctor offered us Tamiflu for the flu bug, but the side effects are supposedly pretty nasty, including nausea, dizziness, vomiting, and confusion/suicidal tendencies (mostly in Asians, don't ask me why). If the disease makes you feel sick, but the medicine makes you feel cruddy or worse -- is there a benefit here?

The doctor also said that Elderberry juice has been shown to have both anti-bacterial and anti-viral properties. That's available relatively inexpensively at Whole Foods with no known side effects.

The bookworm, Wynken, is currently unscathed by any of these maladies because he keeps away from the girls and doesn't have to wipe snotty toddler noses.

I'm thinking of just continuing to bunker down the Nod-ettes in the isolation ward with a bottle of Elderberry juice and a stack of movies as long as your arm until the plague passes.

Real World Obamacare

The new year is only 26 days old and we're already seeing fallout from the not-yet-completely-implemented Obamacare.

Mrs. Nod is in her 35th week of pregnancy. Historically she delivers big babies even though she is a small woman. Even Nub, who was 5 weeks premature, weighed in at 8 pounds. The OB told her this week that due to hospital rule changes from Obamacare, they are not allowed to induce her before 39 weeks.

If that happens, we may be looking for all the pieces of Humpty-Dumpty to put her back together again. Mrs. Nod would be "dead on the prairie" if not for modern medicine, early inducement, and really big needles and thread.  We will be appealing.

Next, our family doctor provider (whom we were allowed to keep if we liked them) has regretfully informed us that due to the budget cut tricks in Obamacare (21% cut in payments to doctors) they will not be able to take any more Medicare/Medicaid patients and they will try their hardest to keep the ones they currently have.

Fortunately, we don't use Medicare/Medicaid, but if we had, we'd be hurting about now. I know our doctor is.

Another wrinkle is that the pre-tax amount I was allowed to put away in a medical FSA was slashed by about $1000. So much for saving money and managing my own costs.

These are but a few (small) examples of the ripples that "well intentioned" changes make. I fear for those with a larger stake.

Stem Shell Game

I can't decide whether this reporting is purposefully negligent or simply sloppy. Inquirer.net is carrying a story about a Japanese team that used "stem cells" to partially treat a spinal cord injury in a monkey.

TOKYO - Japanese researchers said Wednesday they had used stem cells [which kind? some are moral to use, others not] to restore partial mobility in a small monkey that had been paralysed from the neck down by a spinal injury.

"It is the world's first case in which a small-size primate recovered from a spinal injury using stem cells," professor Hideyuki Okano of Tokyo's Keio University told AFP. [Another reference to generic "stem cells". Designed to confuse?]

Okano's research team, which earlier helped a mouse recover its mobility in a similar treatment, injected so-called induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells into a paralysed marmoset, he said. [So-called? That's what they're called: iPS. Differences matter.]

The team planted four types of genes into human skin cells to create the iPS cells, according to Kyodo News. [Injecting genes into skin cells is licit (iPS), putting baby in the blender (embryonic stem cells (ESC)) is not.]

The injection was given on the ninth day after the injury, considered the most effective timing, and the monkey started to move its limbs again within two to three weeks, Okano said.

"After six weeks, the animal had recovered to the level where it was jumping around," he told AFP. "It was very close to the normal level." [Apparently not a cure-all.]

"Its gripping strength on the forefeet also recovered to up to 80 percent."

Okano called the research project a major stride to pave the way for a similar medical technique to be used on humans. [Always they want to experiment on humans.]

Scientists say the use of human embryonic stem cells as a treatment for cancer and other diseases holds great promise, but the process has drawn fire from religious conservatives and others who oppose it. [Irrelevant reference to ESC, when Okano's research used iPS. Uncalled-for attack on "religious conservatives and others" who are opposing the "great promise" of the ends-justifies-the-means.]

Embryonic stem cell research is controversial because human embryos are destroyed in order to obtain the cells capable of developing into almost every tissue of the body. [Right. ESC are capable of developing into the whole tissue of the body, because they come from babies!]

Oy! For a more complete treatment about the different kinds of stem cells and their permitted moral use in medicine see Father Tad Pacholczyk, Director of Education at the NCBC (National Catholic Bioethics Center), is the author of a column called Making Sense out of Bioethics that appears in various diocesan newspapers across the country.

Dental Dilemmas

I survived another trip to the dentist.

They said what I wanted to hear: "Nice teeth, no problems, see you next time." So I paid my money and left. Just like that.

There are some people who say I'm afraid of the dentist. It isn't true. I have a complete phobia regarding the dentist. That's different.

And actually, the dentist is kinda nice, so it isn't the dentist I have a problem with -- it's drills.

Drills make holes. Holes in teeth are bad. Ergo, drills and teeth together are bad. It's my life's goal to die with all the teeth in my mouth. It really doesn't matter if the dentist is trying to help me with that - the irrational part of me is having none of it. That's why it's called irrational.

Let's examine:

1. I don't like high vibrations anywhere near me, especially near the head; drills do that
   
2. As a child, I read the book Superfudge in which the kid gets his front teeth knocked out; that made an impression on me
   
3. As a child, I got hit in the teeth on two separate occasions: once by a door, once by a baseball, that slightly loosened my teeth
   
4. My father warned me that if I didn't take care of my teeth they would fall out of my head; bad imagery
   
5. Dental pics and aggressive flossing hurt when they are applied carelessly and poke tender gums; hey, can you buy a guy a drink before you go all the way with that?
6. Dental X-rays hurt because the film edges poke me in all the wrong places in my mouth
7. I don't react well to sedatives and similar medications; I don't deal well with not being able to control my body
   
8. I have a very vivid imagination which assails me when the dentist is trying to fill cavities because I know too much
9. The polish the hygienist uses always leaves sand in my mouth which takes multiple rinses to get out
10. Dental insurance programs are universally crappy
    
11. Dentists are just a little too happy to find "interesting" things in your mouth -- and it'll cost you.
    

So, sure I love the dentist -- just keep your medieval torture implements, syringes of happy juice, and leering grin to yourself.

Hospital Magnet

We just can't get away from those guys in white lab coats.

Sibling #3 got hit by a car while riding his bicycle on the snow covered streets. His brakes failed and he slid into the intersection and got nailed. One helicopter ride and three broken ribs later, he ended up in the hospital. Fortunately, there don't seem to be any worse injuries. He should be released tomorrow. Prayers appreciated.

The main thing to look out for with broken ribs is complications. Broken ribs usually mean shallow breathing due to pain. If the lungs don't expand all the way it can lead to a collapsed lung, pneumonia, or other upper respiratory infection.

Strangely enough, you should sleep on the side with the broken rib, so the other side can expand all the way.

Nib Endoscopy 2

Nib is my smart, cute, funny little two year old girl. She's also a pint sized munchkin.

Her growth chart is abysmal, with height and weight starting to fall off the bottom of the curve. So she's headed in to the specialist for an endoscopy to see if there are any upper-GI or digestive issues.


Update: Nib had her endoscopy, which means they stuck a fiber-optic camera down her throat, had a look around, and took a biopsy while they were in her stomach.

The good news is that they didn't find any obstruction, her bloodwork came back negative for celiac disease, crones disease, allergies, and vitamin D deficiency.

The bad news is they didn't find anything at all, so we don't know anything more than when we started. We are now going with the high-calorie food-o-lympics complete with record book.

Never a dull moment around here.

Wynken Post-Op Post

Just a short update on Wynken's surgery that we scheduled back in January that took place last Friday.

He had his adenoids (think: nose tonsils) removed successfully but it was a little trying on Mrs. Nod. Wynken's surgery was scheduled for a 1:00 PM start time, but he had to fast from midnight onward the night before. By the time he was done, his blood sugar was at rock bottom: ugliness ensued.

The combination of low blood sugar, anxiety, and anesthesia disorientation led to a post-op screaming fit -- pushing and kicking the nurses, trying to rip out the IV, and general hysteria. Apparently, this is not that uncommon with middle-schoolers post-op (according to the nurses). By contrast, my 4 year old, Nub, only cried for 5 minutes after his hernia surgery.

After he came home and was pumped fresh with Tylenol + Codeine, he chilled and passed out. Sympathetic reactions from the surgery gave him a sore throat and some of the darkest rings around the eyes that I have seen this side of a knuckle sandwich.

Wynken is now recovering well; in fact, he'll be going back to school tomorrow but is prohibited from doing any sports for 2 weeks. Whew!

Life In The Fast Lane

Ask any parent of a big family and they'll tell you that having a big family is like living in the fast lane.

There probably are the same amount of happenings as in any family, but there is just more of it to go around because, well, there are just more people. Hey, it's never dull.

Wynken is going to have his adenoids removed. In the x-ray work done for beginning his orthodontia, the orthodontist noted that his adenoids looked large. She was concerned about his breathing capacity and highly encouraged me to have him seen by an ENT (whose specialty this falls under). We saw the doctor.

Wynken was a real trooper; the doctor stuck a camera up his nose to look around. His adenoids are blocking 90% of his nose breathing capacity/airway. No wonder the kid sleeps with his mouth open; chews food with his mouth open; and is such a mouth-breather. And, it could be causing sleep apnea.

Ain't it grand?

Maybe It's Broken, Maybe It's Insurance

Everyone talks about how the U.S. health care system is broken.

Or that's what they'd have you believe anyway. The filibuster-proof Congress is busy trying to ramrod yet another entitlement program down our throats in the form of "universal health coverage".

These poor people can't afford insurance, so let's insure everyone at taxpayer expense and squeeze out the private market -- that's the end game; what's going through Congress now is the opening chess move.

So, the system is broken, right? Maybe parts of it are, but maybe not the part you thought. Everyone is focused on getting insured. Extending insurance. Providing a single payer insurance system.

What if we just chucked the insurance part and hooked up the doctors and patients directly. That's what a group in Seattle is experimenting with: flat-rate, no limit primary care.

[Reuters] Qliance says it is a private alternative to the failures of insurance, which have made health care President Obama's top legislative priority in Congress, with a price tag of $1 trillion or more.

Qliance customers pay $99 to join, then a flat monthly rate of $39 to $119, depending on age and level of service. Patients can quit without notice and no one is rejected for pre-existing conditions.

Patients must go to outside brokers and qualify medically to buy catastrophic care. One broker said a 30-year-old could expect to pay $133 per month for such care, and a 60-year-old nearly $400, plus substantial deductibles.

Qliance patients get unrestricted round-the-clock primary care access and 30-minute appointments.

"Why would a doctor not want to see sick people? That doesn't make sense, unless you're an insurance company," Bliss said.

He rejected the idea that unrestricted access causes overuse, calling that "nonsense promoted by insurance companies .... There's nobody I've ever met who gets their pleasure by seeing doctors."

Bliss said dumping rigid, convoluted insurance requirements and paperwork saves large amounts of money.

I know with the turmoil of the Y2K scare, the Dot Com bust, the housing bubble break, and the financial meltdown and recession, I have toyed with the idea of reverting to barter for services. Hey, Doc, have a look at my sick kid, while I secure your IT infrastructure. I've never done it, but I have thought about it. The tax implications have shied me away from it.

But the overall concept remains: challenge the assumptions. If you think X service is too broken, too unethical, too intrusive, maybe we should start an alternative that we can all get behind.

Hmm.

Heartless Couple Of Down Syndrome Baby Sue Doctor

Oregon is a strange place; being the home of assisted suicide, it's not a far stretch to see how they got here.

[W]ithin days of the birth of their daughter, Deborah and Ariel Levy learned the baby did have Down syndrome. Had they known, they say, they would have terminated the pregnancy. Now they're suing in Multnomah County Circuit Court, seeking more than $14 million to cover the costs of raising her and providing education, medical care, and speech and physical therapy for their daughter, who turned 2 this month. The suit also seeks money to cover her life-long living expenses.

The Levys declined to be interviewed. Their attorney, David K. Miller, said the toddler is as dear to them as their two older children but they fear being perceived as "heartless."

News flash -- you are heartless. Anyone who can say: "we love our little darling, but we'd have killed her if we'd known" is by definition a selfish, heartless person.

If you'd like a little heartless, how about considering that a) no medical test is ever 100% reliable and you have no expectation of such; you could have gotten a second opinion -- later tests indicated positive; and b) the genetic defect that resulted in your daughter's condition came from you -- maybe you should be sued for causing it.

I'd like to sue you for impersonating people with consciences.

Now for the record: my son (Nub) has Down Syndrome; my other four children don't. I never, never, ever, for one moment blamed anyone else for that happening. Not once. Maybe a little "why me?", but no blame of God, me, her -- or the doctor for crying out loud!

Doctors aren't omniscient. Tests are not always conclusive. Life. Just. Isn't. Fair. Get used to it, and quit looking for a handout.

Whose Kids Are They?

Here is a strange case of a 13 year old teenager, Daniel Hauser, from Minnesota who has been diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma. His parents have opted not to treat him with chemotherapy, but rather with "alternative" medicines and nutritional supplements. Child protection workers accused Daniel's parents of medical neglect and a judge in Minnesota has ruled that the parents MUST seek conventional treatment for their ailing son.

The story ought to stop here, if only to protest the intrusive nature of this government action. Since when does the government have the right to direct parents of children to take a particular course of medical action? Especially if it's expensive, painful, and with serious side effects? What if that course is morally objectionable? Are children wards of the State and parents only incidental caretakers, whose wishes, conscience, or religion may be discarded at the State's whim?

[Washington Times] "I feel it's a blow to families," [the lawyer] said. "It marginalizes the decisions that parents face every day in regard to their children's medical care. It really affirms the role that big government is better at making our decisions for us."

Now, the story ought to stop here, but it doesn't -- and it only gets weirder. So what about the parents' rights to raise their children as they see fit? What about religious rights -- aren't these worth protecting as well?

Daniel's parents have been supporting what they say is their son's decision to treat the disease with nutritional supplements and other alternative treatments favored by the Nemenhah Band, a Missouri-based religious group that believes in natural healing methods advocated by some American Indians. She also testified that Daniel is a medicine man and elder in the Nemenhah Band.

I don't agree with his parents' decision to seek to cure lymphoma this way, but I do support their right to be wrong. Morally, I think this is disastrous; somebody who is not the State needs to smack some sense into them. Legally, I think they are within their rights.

Now here is the fly in the ointment and the point where I get off the train:

The Hausers have eight children. Mrs. Hauser told the New Ulm Journal newspaper that the family's Catholicism and adherence to the Nemenhah Band are not in conflict, and that she has used natural remedies to treat illnesses.

Ok, in one fell swoop the Hausers just made Catholics, people with large families, and seekers of natural remedies look like crazy whack jobs all lumped together. Oh, and the part where Mrs. Hauser said her son is not in any medical danger -- yeah, that part does make you crazy.

Seeking natural remedies to treat illnesses isn't a bad thing by itself. Even using traditional American Indian remedies isn't a bad thing by itself. Endangering your children IS a bad thing at all times. Saying that belonging to another religion, say, by being a medicine man and elder in the Nemenhah Band is, in fact, in conflict with the Catholic religion. The Nemenhah Band is "an Educational Auxiliary of The Oklevueha Native American Church of Sanpete" and membership is by spiritual adoption only.

"Membership is only by Spiritual Adoption. It is also the only way the Nemenhah Seminary can accept you into the program and designate you a Medicine Man or Medicine Woman."

The effort to blend Catholicism and the Nemenhah Band is called syncretism and it is a type of heresy.

The effort to unite different doctrines and practices, especially in religion. Syncretism is also applied to [...] the attempts made of combining the best elements of different theological schools.

It's syncretism when Tony Blair does it, it's syncretism when Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo does it, and it's syncretism when Colleen Hauser does it along with her impressionable 13 year old son Daniel.

Stick With Plan A

We've been talking a lot about threats to conscience and health care recently, so it's appropriate to share some news of a little bit of movement towards the side of sanity -- from Illinois (of all places!), that land of proverbial corruption.

The AP reports that Sangamon County Circuit Judge John Belz has issued a temporary restraining order against the State that prevents it from forcing pharmacists from issuing the emergency contraceptive/abortifacient Plan B, the so-called "morning after pill", if they object on religious grounds.

Two pharmacists in Illinois took their case all the way to the Illinois Supreme Court who ruled in December that their case must be heard. The case stems from a rule by then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich in 2005 ordering all pharmacies to dispense the pill without exception.

The main antagonists in the case are Barr Labs, who makes Plan B (of course, since they stand to make a lot of money by its unfettered sale), and (who else) Planned Barrenhood.

[FoxNews] Since 1997, lawmakers in 28 states have introduced bills to protect a pharmacist's right to say no, and four states now permit pharmacists to refuse to fill prescriptions based on their personal beliefs. Seven states and Canada allow pharmacists to dispense Plan B without a prescription.

Previously, the Food and Drug Administration has ruled that Plan B can be made available over the counter to women over 18 years, but by prescription only for minors. The Obama administration has reversed that through their surrogates in the FDA, making Plan B available to minors without a prescription.

Critics within the FDA called delays on the previous policy "politically motivated" -- completely and hypocritically missing the point that the Obama administration's abrupt policy reversal in pushing the drug to minors was also politically motivated, just in the opposite direction.

Oh -- but your kids still can't get an aspirin at school.

Four Things About A Good Death

The LA Times published an article in Mid-March on the relationship between the level of medical treatment received and faith in God. The author of the article tries to be balanced in her presentation, but the larger question of how doctors and other health care workers deal with issues of faith and medical care remains open.

The article makes four main points.

• Faith in a higher power can often lead to more aggressive treatment than is medically warranted, research is beginning to show.
• But the more aggressive care you get, the worse your quality of life in that last week.
• To very religious patients, avoiding pain and suffering may not be the priority.
• Some healthcare providers are now reconsidering what it means to have a "good death."

Given the fact that religious patients aren't going to become a scarce resource any time soon, this article highlights the need for doctors, health care workers, and patients ALL to retain the right of conscience in medical and ethical matters.

The healing arts should be about caring for a person, not just treating a body or disease. Catholics in particular have a long tradition of praying for a good death.

Nub's Tubes And Wires

"The Internets" are not the only thing with tubes and wires. Now that Nub's filling has been taken care of, we can move on to ears.

The rash of back-to-back "green" colds had convinced us that Nub's ear tubes had fallen out -- it was about the time for them to do so anyway. A trip to the doctor's confirmed that was the case and so a new appointment was scheduled to put them back in for the 3rd time.

Tomorrow's that day. For the second time in two weeks the kid is getting knocked out so they can do a procedure on him. Poor Nub! He's only 3 years old. (Sigh.)

It has a scary name called a myringotomy, but they just put a tiny incision in the ear drum and insert a tiny tube held in place by two wires to let the fluid that has built up behind the ear drum drain.

It's an outpatient procedure, and he usually comes through like a champ -- without whining and crying like all those big kids I see in the recovery room. The surgery time is later than the previous two times which means that the poor kid can't eat or drink until after noon tomorrow. Staving him off in the morning may be a challenge.

The other item for concern is that the awesome doctor who got the tubes into his impossibly crooked ear canals has suddenly retired, so there's no guarantee the new doctor will be as successful in getting both sides "in".

Pray for my boy, Nub. Mater misericordiae, ora pro nobis.

Targeting Conscience

I opened up my Arlington Catholic Herald today, since it always comes in the mail on Thursday, to see what's going on in the Diocese, and I see this headline on page 2: Pro-life pharmacy targeted by proposed law.

Now, it states that the bill was introduced into the Virginia House of Delegates as a "general bill" (Virginia House Bill 2373) by delegate David Englin from Virginia’s 45^th district requiring "pro-life" pharmacies to put a sign in the window proclaiming that they don't sell contraceptives or abortifacients. But a quick search will reveal that DMC Pharmacy is the only one in Virginia. That means they were specifically targeted as an individual business -- which is illegal (I think) or ought to be.

Nation-wide there are only 7 publicly confirmed "pro-life" pharmacies, but the radical foaming-at-the-mouth types would have you believe it's an epidemic where you won't be able to get an aspirin if your doctor doesn't believe in it.

Other than the obvious religious bigotry, I have a personal reason for being incensed: I shop there. I know the pharmacist, Robert and Pam Semler, personally. (Nicer people you will not meet.) My family and friends go there precisely because they are pro-life. As Robert Semler said,

"We're not threatening anybody. We're just trying to serve a niche market of like-minded individuals."

And believe me, this is a tiny store; there are several other national pharmacies within two hundred yards of this one, including a KMart and a CVS. I don't sue Giant if they don't carry Pistachio ice cream (they don't, I looked); I don't draft legislation against Target because they have one check out line without candy in it -- some parents prefer that line. It's the same thing here: people will patronize businesses that have (or explicitly lack) things they want. Others go somewhere else. It's that simple.

Unfortunately, this is a small dose of a growing threat to personal conscience and values. Opponents worry they won't be able to kill the right people if doctors and health care providers are allowed to exercise their own freedom of religion (aka conscience).

The price of freedom: eternal vigilance.

Mischmasch and Snarge

Mischmasch: n. a hodge-podge; a mixture of dissimilar ingredients; a jumble.


Everyone has probably heard the latest on the Vatican embracing technology and that it now has its own YouTube channel. The channel has been live for about 5 days now and it already has about 20 videos. All of them are very short (maybe due to our attention spans?), ranging from 30 seconds to 2.5 minutes.

The always interesting Language Log has an entry on this interesting new(?) word: snarge. (I can't find a pronounciation guide -- is it hard "g" or soft "g"? It looks like it ought to be soft, but I would prefer the hard "g".)

Apparently it means "the residue of birds that have struck an airplane" as used by the people at the National Museum of Natural History. This, of course, was inspired by the amazing story of the pilot who successfully crash landed his plane on the Hudson with all 150 people aboard surviving.

Another use of the word snarge appeared in the 1925 book Soldier and Sailor Words and Phrases meaning "any ugly or unpleasant person", which could be applied to the attitude displayed by Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, who defends contraceptives being added to the economic stimulus bill. She was interviewed by George Stephanopoulos as saying, "contraception, will reduce costs to the states and to the federal government." And that from a "devout practicing Catholic". Ha!

On the other extreme, the LeFebrite SPX bishops narrowly avoided excommunication when Pope Benedict XVI lifted the ban in favor of dialog with the schismatic traditionalist group in the hopes of affecting a reconciliation. Remember guys: excommunication is not a punishment but a remedy for the wayward soul.

And finally, the FDA approved human embryonic stem cell trials on humans to see whether the cells are safe to use in spinal injury patients. "But it will happen soon, and it would have happened sooner if it weren't for the ridiculous Bush policies", said a ridiculous Dr. Okarma who stands to make a lot of money from the associated patents.

Let's see: human embryonic (baby humans) ... trials on humans. Hello! It's Soylent Green!

Flex Spending Spree

Today is the last day of my old job. We bid it a hasty farewell on this cold, cold January day.

Coincident with this last day of work is the last day I can incur costs for my medial flex spending account. That's right: the tax-deferred dollars that are paid out of my own paycheck for medical expenses expire right now as opposed to the end of the year.

I find it fascinating that my money can expire; what is this, some kind of Government budget? And who exactly gets the money? The company? The plan administrator? That was real money when it went into the account, it sure as shootin' doesn't evaporate like the dew on the morning grass.

I also find the situation somewhat irritating. Since the money that was left in the account was not inconsiderable ($$$$), I decided to do something about it. I spent it.

All of it.

I went to my local (pro-life) pharmacy and said: I'll take one of everything. I now have the largest supply of band-aids, ointments, pain relievers, and first-aid kits you have ever seen.

Everybody who visits my house gets a free sample.