It was one of those awkward conversations that I wish I would have handled differently. The subject of birth control came up, and I actually asked the girl I was dating at the time, "We are using birth control, aren't we?"
Yeah, I know.
She chucked and patted my hand. "Don't worry, sweetie," she said, "I've got it taken care of."
That long-ago conversation, which took place at a time when condoms weren't sitting out on the shelves in the Personal Care section of your local Wal-Mart, came roaring back to my consciousness when the nation's media recently started talking about contraception. A lot.
The excuse for the eruption of contraception conversation was a rule created under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act--yes, Obamacare--requiring religious organizations to cover birth control pills without copay for employees. Oh, that's for employees of such entities as hospitals and universities that receive federal money and employee people who are not members of the religion. It's a rule that's a matter of law in several states, and it's something many Catholic hospitals and universities just follow as policy.
But America's Catholic bishops were geared up and waiting for the announcement of the rule and executed a well-organized campaign against it, including personal statements and suggestions that parishioners lobby their Congressmen and Senators. According to the bishops, this was an unprecedented attack on religious freedom.
Republicans became Catholics in a heartbeat, including the Southern Baptists, because nothing gets a Republican's heart racing like an attack on religious freedom. Just ask the Muslims who wanted to build that community center in Manhattan.Even better, getting the nation talking about contraception, especially birth control pills, gets into an area that some Republicans have been quietly pushing for a while now.
By "quietly pushing," I mean they don't talk about it on Fox and Friends.
That doesn't mean they're not serious about it. Republicans in some states are trying to amend state constitutions to say that life begins at conception. Since the birth control pill works by preventing a fertilized egg from implanting in the wall of the uterus, these Republicans say the birth control pill is essentially a form of abortion, which they want to outlaw in all cases.
In case that's too subtle, let me spell it out: Some Republicans want to outlaw birth control pills. Period.
American bishops have their own reason for deciding to pick this particular fight on contraception and, really, they still have to answer for decades of child sexual abuse by parish priests before I will give their moral outrage any merit. And polls suggest that most parishioners choose their own path on contraception.
But the Republicans are serious, and they're in this for the long game. They want to abolish contraception. If they get their way, that conversation I had so long ago will never be repeated by anyone. For all the wrong reasons.
Friday, February 10, 2012
Friday, February 3, 2012
Race for the Flip-Flop
Today the Susan G. Komen Foundation pulled a 180 on its decision to defund Planned Parenthood. The Komen organization was no doubt swayed by the scathing blog post I wrote just the other day.
Although SGK regrets the furor that was kicked up by its original decision to disqualify groups under any type of investigation, the group might not actually restore funding to Planned Parenthood. You can read the official SDK statement here and make up your own mind. The key phrase has to do with the criteria for locking funding; under the newly revised policy, "disqualifying investigations must be criminal and conclusive in nature and not political."
That's a pretty obvious admission that the "investigation" into Planned Parenthood is a political move and nothing more.
No word about the status of SGK money going to Penn State University, which is currently under criminal investigation. Oh well.
Hopefully this whole mess has taught SGK that basing its policies on political pressure leads nowhere good. And maybe, just maybe, they learned that a lot of us hate mixing politics with cancer research policy. See, cancer don't care if you're right wing, left wing, or independent.
Cancer health care dollars shouldn't care either.
Although SGK regrets the furor that was kicked up by its original decision to disqualify groups under any type of investigation, the group might not actually restore funding to Planned Parenthood. You can read the official SDK statement here and make up your own mind. The key phrase has to do with the criteria for locking funding; under the newly revised policy, "disqualifying investigations must be criminal and conclusive in nature and not political."
That's a pretty obvious admission that the "investigation" into Planned Parenthood is a political move and nothing more.
No word about the status of SGK money going to Penn State University, which is currently under criminal investigation. Oh well.
Hopefully this whole mess has taught SGK that basing its policies on political pressure leads nowhere good. And maybe, just maybe, they learned that a lot of us hate mixing politics with cancer research policy. See, cancer don't care if you're right wing, left wing, or independent.
Cancer health care dollars shouldn't care either.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
For the Political Agenda, not the Cure
The Susan G. Komen for the Cure organization has stepped in a big pile of PR trouble. Trouble of its own making. Officially, the organization has ended grant support for Planned Parenthood because that organization is currently under investigation by Congress.
SGK recently changed its policy on handing out grants; no group under investigation by any level of government gets money now.
PP is under investigation simply because Republicans in Congress are convinced that PP uses federal money to pay for abortions. The perfect example of their belief came last April when Senator Jon Kyl, Republican of Arizona, declared on the Senate floor that performing abortions is 90 percent of the organization's work.
His direct quote? "If you want an abortion, you go to Planned Parenthood, and that's well over 90 percent of what Planned Parenthood does."
When people living in the real world pointed out that abortions account for about THREE percent of PP's activities, Kyl's office issued the political spin of the decade. The office issued a statement saying Kyl's "remark was not intended to be a factual statement, but rather to illustrate that Planned Parenthood, a organization that receives millions of dollars in taxpayer funding, does subsidize abortions."
Not intended to be a factual statement. Okay.
What does that have to do with the SGK folks? They recently hired former Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel, a well-known abortion foe, as their Vice President for Public Policy. It may be a coincidence that the biggest policy decision SGK made after hiring Handel was shutting off the money flow to a target of right-wing ire. But I doubt it.
The sad part of this episode is that it fits in with SGK's tendency to put effort into things that have no relationship to the fight against cancer. Or finding the cure. SGK is the organization that has trademarked the phrase "for the cure" and has sued anyone who innocently tried to use it. I'm sure women dealing with breast cancer were gratified to know that dollars donated to SGK were being spent on that kind of legal action.
I haven't given money to SGK for years now. I give to the American Cancer Society. Through my participation in Relay for Life, I've come to know people in the local ACS office, and I know this: They care about cancer patients. Period. Political and legal crap is just that -- crap. You got cancer? ACS has programs to help. They're funded through donations.
Want to donate to a group focused on battling cancer and helping cancer patients without other agendas? Click the button in the top right corner. Let Karen Handel and Susan G. Komen find donations somewhere else.
SGK recently changed its policy on handing out grants; no group under investigation by any level of government gets money now.
PP is under investigation simply because Republicans in Congress are convinced that PP uses federal money to pay for abortions. The perfect example of their belief came last April when Senator Jon Kyl, Republican of Arizona, declared on the Senate floor that performing abortions is 90 percent of the organization's work.
His direct quote? "If you want an abortion, you go to Planned Parenthood, and that's well over 90 percent of what Planned Parenthood does."
When people living in the real world pointed out that abortions account for about THREE percent of PP's activities, Kyl's office issued the political spin of the decade. The office issued a statement saying Kyl's "remark was not intended to be a factual statement, but rather to illustrate that Planned Parenthood, a organization that receives millions of dollars in taxpayer funding, does subsidize abortions."
Not intended to be a factual statement. Okay.
What does that have to do with the SGK folks? They recently hired former Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel, a well-known abortion foe, as their Vice President for Public Policy. It may be a coincidence that the biggest policy decision SGK made after hiring Handel was shutting off the money flow to a target of right-wing ire. But I doubt it.
The sad part of this episode is that it fits in with SGK's tendency to put effort into things that have no relationship to the fight against cancer. Or finding the cure. SGK is the organization that has trademarked the phrase "for the cure" and has sued anyone who innocently tried to use it. I'm sure women dealing with breast cancer were gratified to know that dollars donated to SGK were being spent on that kind of legal action.
I haven't given money to SGK for years now. I give to the American Cancer Society. Through my participation in Relay for Life, I've come to know people in the local ACS office, and I know this: They care about cancer patients. Period. Political and legal crap is just that -- crap. You got cancer? ACS has programs to help. They're funded through donations.
Want to donate to a group focused on battling cancer and helping cancer patients without other agendas? Click the button in the top right corner. Let Karen Handel and Susan G. Komen find donations somewhere else.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Relay Time
It's time for me to promote Relay for Life again.
Relay is an annual event that has two goals--raise money for the American Cancer Society and honor cancer survivors. I was involved with Relay for Life of Sangamon County for several years because of the family members I've lost to cancer, including my mother.
Then, in November 2008, I heard those words: It's cancer.
In my case, though, the followup was, "But it's the good kind of cancer!" What the doctor quickly explained was that my form of testicular cancer was curable. And he was right--I'm currently in complete remission and feeling fine.
Others aren't so lucky, including a college classmate who passed away near the end of 2011. It was the reminder I didn't need that the fight against cancer unfortunately hasn't ended yet.
If you would like to join the fight, just click on the Relay icon in the upper right corner. That will take you to my online donation page, where you can give to your heart's content.
Thank you for reading, and thanks for any donation you might give. Every dollar makes a difference.
Relay is an annual event that has two goals--raise money for the American Cancer Society and honor cancer survivors. I was involved with Relay for Life of Sangamon County for several years because of the family members I've lost to cancer, including my mother.
Then, in November 2008, I heard those words: It's cancer.
In my case, though, the followup was, "But it's the good kind of cancer!" What the doctor quickly explained was that my form of testicular cancer was curable. And he was right--I'm currently in complete remission and feeling fine.
Others aren't so lucky, including a college classmate who passed away near the end of 2011. It was the reminder I didn't need that the fight against cancer unfortunately hasn't ended yet.
If you would like to join the fight, just click on the Relay icon in the upper right corner. That will take you to my online donation page, where you can give to your heart's content.
Thank you for reading, and thanks for any donation you might give. Every dollar makes a difference.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Leave Paula Alone?
Paula Deen has her detractors, but she has at least one fan.
A Springfield, Illinois woman wants us all to leave Paula alone. Well, good luck with that.
In case you've never heard of her, Paula Deen is a Southern cook who has written some cookbooks and had her own show--several shows, actually--on the Food Network. Nearly all of her recipes involve butter, butter, and more butter. Some of them involve meat or flour and sugar.
Fat, carbs and calories are the running themes in her recipes.
Someone pushing that type of cuisine would naturally stir up some detractors, but Paula Deen has now given the naysayers even more reason to criticize her. She recently announced that she's a Type 2 diabetic and has been for, oh, three years.
She also announced that Novo Nordisk has hired her to endorse a new diabetes management drug. I'm sure it's all a coincidence.
Now, I've never made any secret of the fact that I'm also a Type 2 diabetic (see The Diabetic and the Dilly Bar). But I control my blood sugar with diet and exercise. Nobody has called to ask for an endorsement, although I walk and run in New Balance shoes and drink GeniSoy soy protein shakes (soy protein helps prevent kidney problems) and use Nautilus exercise machines. That's okay, because I really don't want to be the guy who pushes people to exercise or eat a certain way.
That's Paula's job. She's always very entertaining, even when she's answering those detractors I mentioned earlier. When she's been criticized in the past for the dishes she pushes on her show, she has used the following dodge: "I'm your cook. I'm not your doctor."
Soon, however, she will be appearing in TV commercials promoting a diabetes drug. I hope the people who see those commercials will remember that Paula is a cook instead of a doctor. I hope they'll realize there are other ways to manage diabetes than to get the Paula Deen drug.
Leave Paula alone? Probably not, but I will continue leaving her recipes alone.
A Springfield, Illinois woman wants us all to leave Paula alone. Well, good luck with that.
In case you've never heard of her, Paula Deen is a Southern cook who has written some cookbooks and had her own show--several shows, actually--on the Food Network. Nearly all of her recipes involve butter, butter, and more butter. Some of them involve meat or flour and sugar.
Fat, carbs and calories are the running themes in her recipes.
Someone pushing that type of cuisine would naturally stir up some detractors, but Paula Deen has now given the naysayers even more reason to criticize her. She recently announced that she's a Type 2 diabetic and has been for, oh, three years.
She also announced that Novo Nordisk has hired her to endorse a new diabetes management drug. I'm sure it's all a coincidence.
Now, I've never made any secret of the fact that I'm also a Type 2 diabetic (see The Diabetic and the Dilly Bar). But I control my blood sugar with diet and exercise. Nobody has called to ask for an endorsement, although I walk and run in New Balance shoes and drink GeniSoy soy protein shakes (soy protein helps prevent kidney problems) and use Nautilus exercise machines. That's okay, because I really don't want to be the guy who pushes people to exercise or eat a certain way.
That's Paula's job. She's always very entertaining, even when she's answering those detractors I mentioned earlier. When she's been criticized in the past for the dishes she pushes on her show, she has used the following dodge: "I'm your cook. I'm not your doctor."
Soon, however, she will be appearing in TV commercials promoting a diabetes drug. I hope the people who see those commercials will remember that Paula is a cook instead of a doctor. I hope they'll realize there are other ways to manage diabetes than to get the Paula Deen drug.
Leave Paula alone? Probably not, but I will continue leaving her recipes alone.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Slow Death of a Newspaper
My hometown newspaper is dying a slow death, and it’s pretty painful to watch.
The State Journal-Register will be losing 10 copy editors soon. The paper’s corporate owner, GateHouse Media, plans to consolidate copy editing for some papers at an office in Downers Grove, a suburb of Chicago.
I’m looking forward to copy editors in Downers Grove trying to grasp that the arts center in Springfield, Illinois is spelled Hoogland or trying to understand a local address like 801 North Grand Avenue West.
The copy editing idiocy was announced about the same time that rumors circulated of new layoffs on the editorial side of the paper. The upshot is that fewer people will be writing local news, and the local news stories will be edited a couple hundred miles away.
Unbelievable.
I realize that the situation facing The State Journal-Register is the same one facing papers across the country. But that realization doesn’t make it easier to watch this paper slowly die.
The newspaper industry is scrambling to figure out how to continue making a profit as its former audience moves away from buying physical newspapers every day. One day somebody is going to figure out how to turn a profit by gathering and distributing news in the online age.
Until that day breaks, people in cities all over America will experience what I’m seeing now, the slow and painful death of their local daily newspaper.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Insanely Great
Tonight cancer has taken someone who has already been hailed many times as a genius and a visionary. Tonight Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Computer, lost the battle with pancreatic cancer.
Whatever opinion you hold about Jobs, and I've held nearly every possible opinion over the years, his impact on American life can't be questioned. This is the man who assembled a secret development team within his own company to design and build the "insanely great" Macintosh, the computer that changed everything (according to the subtitle of Steven Levy's book).
This is the man who recruited John Sculley away from Pepsi to be the CEO of Apple by asking, "Do you really want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life?" Of course Sculley was the man who forced Jobs out of his own company.
But Steve Jobs is also the man who founded Pixar Studios, regained control of Apple, and pushed development of the iPod, iPhone and iPad. i-i-i-i-i-i ... I've written before about the Cult of Apple and criticized it. One thing is certain, though: Few people have had the same impact on American life over the last 50 as Steve Jobs has.
He was insanely great. Cancer once again diminishes us all.
Whatever opinion you hold about Jobs, and I've held nearly every possible opinion over the years, his impact on American life can't be questioned. This is the man who assembled a secret development team within his own company to design and build the "insanely great" Macintosh, the computer that changed everything (according to the subtitle of Steven Levy's book).
This is the man who recruited John Sculley away from Pepsi to be the CEO of Apple by asking, "Do you really want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life?" Of course Sculley was the man who forced Jobs out of his own company.
But Steve Jobs is also the man who founded Pixar Studios, regained control of Apple, and pushed development of the iPod, iPhone and iPad. i-i-i-i-i-i ... I've written before about the Cult of Apple and criticized it. One thing is certain, though: Few people have had the same impact on American life over the last 50 as Steve Jobs has.
He was insanely great. Cancer once again diminishes us all.
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