Politics

Image by Joits via Flickr I’ve made a point of having a conversation on health care at least once a day with someone who disagrees with the need for health care reform. Below is an email I sent to someone after our conversation ended prematurely. The person this is directed at is in his early 60′s, is very much a member of the Conservative Christian Right, and very eager to tell others that they are wrong without providing proof to back it up. This is a long email. I did a lot of research and put a lot of thought into it, so I hope that you will read it and give it some thought. This is my work, my understanding, and my conclusions, based upon hard data — not some TV personality’s opinions vomited up for your consumption. You said: “The US has Best Health Care in the World”…

Read more »

Image via Wikipedia August First was my grandmother’s birthday. She would have been 84, but she died in 1995, of lung cancer. I buried her husband this past January. He also died of lung cancer. And its has been three years since one of my sisters got her initial diagnosis of — yep, lung cancer. She’s been through surgery, radiation, chemo and remission, followed by systemic metastasis that resulted in a terminal “you’ve got weeks to live” diagnosis. But she’s still here. Been through another round of full round of chemo, just had a chest X-ray. There is a shadow. If her cancer is on the grow again, well, that’s it. She’s had the maximum dosage of radiation and chemo. Her bones are so brittle she’s broken a half dozen ribs since the first of the year. Her digestive system can’t tolerate meat or glutens anymore. But she keeps going.…

Read more »