Thursday, January 29, 2004
So I'm sure at this point I've alienated all my readers. So lets change the subject a bit, shall we? Hmmm?
I have forgotten what it is like to be hot. No, no you sickos not hot as in Hot but hot as in 90 degrees in the shade, sweat on the back of the knee hot. And I miss it.
Now understand that I was born and raised in the hot, humid South. "90 days of 90 degrees", they used to say. Some probably still do. And while I'd never say I love the heat, it is like an old familiar acquaintance. I know how to handle it, I've been around it all my life, but it doesn't really bother me. Also, I have enough smarts to make air conditioning a priority. But more on that later.
So, I realized the other day that I have forgotten that sensation. And you know why?
Because I live on the fucking North Pole.
New York City. The frozen apple. The city that never stops shivering. If you can freeze it her you can freeze it ...well you get the idea. I live in NYC and it is cold here. Has been, for months.
Two nights ago we got another foot of snow. No biggie. Just frozen water falling from the sky. And in NYC, you get a special bonus: black snow. Or brown. Or (gulp!) yellow.
Basically, when the snow first falls New York is beautiful and pristine. Poetic and romantic. But then about ten minutes into the snowfall, the city exudes its personality. The snow first turns the color of sewage and then freezes into a block of ice. Storekeepers spread salt everywhere so the sewer ice melts. Then it's sewer slush. When you get to wherever you are going, your shoes are covered in salt, snow and god-knows-what-else.
And here's the kicker: anywhere else in the world (save Canada, Vermont and Wisconsin) a foot or two of snow means everyone stays inside. Drink some hot chocolate, watch some Regis and some Oprah, don't risk it. But in New York, we have subways! Yay! They aren't affected by the snow at all! Even if there is ten feet on the ground, you get to still go to work. And (as a special bonus), you get to walk through all that shitsnow! Yay!
But the natives just look at me and snicker. Actually there is no snickering, just blatant mocking. But I get my revenge in the summer (if that truly does still exist).
See, in the summer, the New Yorkers are on my turf.
Summer in the city. Back of my neck so dirty and gritty.
And here is what blows my mind about it all:
There is a real aversion by some New Yorkers to buy an air conditioner. Now, granted, you only really need one here for a few months, but still, these people are stupid! The reason always given is the cost. But the average New Yorker spends $200 a month on lunch! Air conditioning is nothing!
But I digress. It's cold, and I thought going on a 'summer' rant would warm me up. But now it's so cold my blood won't even boil. I guess I'll have to watch my tape of the State of the Union. (ha! got one jab in!)
It's days like this that I miss Texas.
I have forgotten what it is like to be hot. No, no you sickos not hot as in Hot but hot as in 90 degrees in the shade, sweat on the back of the knee hot. And I miss it.
Now understand that I was born and raised in the hot, humid South. "90 days of 90 degrees", they used to say. Some probably still do. And while I'd never say I love the heat, it is like an old familiar acquaintance. I know how to handle it, I've been around it all my life, but it doesn't really bother me. Also, I have enough smarts to make air conditioning a priority. But more on that later.
So, I realized the other day that I have forgotten that sensation. And you know why?
Because I live on the fucking North Pole.
New York City. The frozen apple. The city that never stops shivering. If you can freeze it her you can freeze it ...well you get the idea. I live in NYC and it is cold here. Has been, for months.
Two nights ago we got another foot of snow. No biggie. Just frozen water falling from the sky. And in NYC, you get a special bonus: black snow. Or brown. Or (gulp!) yellow.
Basically, when the snow first falls New York is beautiful and pristine. Poetic and romantic. But then about ten minutes into the snowfall, the city exudes its personality. The snow first turns the color of sewage and then freezes into a block of ice. Storekeepers spread salt everywhere so the sewer ice melts. Then it's sewer slush. When you get to wherever you are going, your shoes are covered in salt, snow and god-knows-what-else.
And here's the kicker: anywhere else in the world (save Canada, Vermont and Wisconsin) a foot or two of snow means everyone stays inside. Drink some hot chocolate, watch some Regis and some Oprah, don't risk it. But in New York, we have subways! Yay! They aren't affected by the snow at all! Even if there is ten feet on the ground, you get to still go to work. And (as a special bonus), you get to walk through all that shitsnow! Yay!
But the natives just look at me and snicker. Actually there is no snickering, just blatant mocking. But I get my revenge in the summer (if that truly does still exist).
See, in the summer, the New Yorkers are on my turf.
Summer in the city. Back of my neck so dirty and gritty.
And here is what blows my mind about it all:
There is a real aversion by some New Yorkers to buy an air conditioner. Now, granted, you only really need one here for a few months, but still, these people are stupid! The reason always given is the cost. But the average New Yorker spends $200 a month on lunch! Air conditioning is nothing!
But I digress. It's cold, and I thought going on a 'summer' rant would warm me up. But now it's so cold my blood won't even boil. I guess I'll have to watch my tape of the State of the Union. (ha! got one jab in!)
It's days like this that I miss Texas.
Wednesday, January 28, 2004
This just in...
Rep. W.J. "Billy" Tauzin, R-Louisiana, was just asked by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturing Association (PhRMA), one of the DC's most powerful lobbies, to head up the organization. The job would pay him more than $1 million a year.
Rep. W.J. "Billy" Tauzin, R-Louisiana is also chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Tauzin oversees the Food and Drug Administration and the pharmaceutical industry. He was one of a handful of lawmakers who hammered out an agreement on the contentious Medicare legislation which benefits pharmaceutical industry greatly- at the expense of Seniors.
What the hell is going on here people???
Rep. W.J. "Billy" Tauzin, R-Louisiana, was just asked by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturing Association (PhRMA), one of the DC's most powerful lobbies, to head up the organization. The job would pay him more than $1 million a year.
Rep. W.J. "Billy" Tauzin, R-Louisiana is also chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Tauzin oversees the Food and Drug Administration and the pharmaceutical industry. He was one of a handful of lawmakers who hammered out an agreement on the contentious Medicare legislation which benefits pharmaceutical industry greatly- at the expense of Seniors.
What the hell is going on here people???
This election year is going to kick my ass.
Recently, as is the modus operandi of our current administration, our President quietly announced his plan to select Dr. W. David Hager to head
up the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Reproductive Health Drugs
Advisory Committee. The committee has not met for more than two years,
during which time its charter lapsed. As a result, the Bush Administration is tasked with filling all eleven positions with new members. And guess what? This position does not require Congressional approval.
The FDA's Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee makes crucial
decisions on matters relating to drugs used in the practice of obstetrics, gynecology and related specialties, including hormone therapy, contraception, treatment for infertility, and medical alternatives to surgical procedures for sterilization and pregnancy termination.
Dr. Hager's views of reproductive health care are far outside the mainstream for reproductive technology. Dr. Hager is a practicing OB/GYN who describes himself as "pro-life" and refuses to prescribe contraceptives to unmarried
women.
In the book Dr. Hager wrote with his wife, entitled "Stress and the Woman's Body," he suggests that women who suffer from premenstrual syndrome should seek help from reading the bible and praying. As an editor and contributing author of "The Reproduction Revolution: A Christian Appraisal of Sexuality Reproductive Technologies and the Family," Dr. Hager appears to have endorsed the medically inaccurate assertion that the common birth control pill is an abortifacient (an agent which causes abortion).
He has an ardent interest in revoking approval for mifepristone (formerly known as RU-486) as a safe and early form of medical abortion. Hagar recently assisted the Christian Medical Association in a "citizen's petition" which calls upon the FDA to revoke its approval of mifepristone in the name of women's health.
Hager's desire to overturn mifepristone's approval on religious grounds rather than scientific merit would halt the development of mifepristone as a treatment for numerous medical conditions disproportionately affecting women, including breast cancer, uterine cancer, uterine fibroid tumors, psychotic depression, bipolar depression and Cushing's syndrome.
Women rely on the FDA to ensure their access to safe and effective drugs for reproductive health care including products that prevent pregnancy. For some women, such as those with certain types of diabetes and those undergoing treatment for cancer, pregnancy can be a life-threatening condition. We are concerned that Dr. Hager's strong religious beliefs may color his assessment of technologies that are necessary to protect women's lives or to preserve and promote women's health.
Hager's track record of using religious beliefs to guide his medical decision-making makes him a dangerous and inappropriate candidate to serve as chair of this committee. Critical drug public policy and research must not be held hostage by antiabortion politics. Members of this important panel should be appointed on the basis of science and medicine, rather than politics and religion. American women deserve no less.
This is the type of activity which will lead us further down the road towards backwards puritanism. Please email President Bush at president@whitehouse.gov right away and tell him your opinion.
I promise, more funny stuff tomorrow.
Recently, as is the modus operandi of our current administration, our President quietly announced his plan to select Dr. W. David Hager to head
up the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Reproductive Health Drugs
Advisory Committee. The committee has not met for more than two years,
during which time its charter lapsed. As a result, the Bush Administration is tasked with filling all eleven positions with new members. And guess what? This position does not require Congressional approval.
The FDA's Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee makes crucial
decisions on matters relating to drugs used in the practice of obstetrics, gynecology and related specialties, including hormone therapy, contraception, treatment for infertility, and medical alternatives to surgical procedures for sterilization and pregnancy termination.
Dr. Hager's views of reproductive health care are far outside the mainstream for reproductive technology. Dr. Hager is a practicing OB/GYN who describes himself as "pro-life" and refuses to prescribe contraceptives to unmarried
women.
In the book Dr. Hager wrote with his wife, entitled "Stress and the Woman's Body," he suggests that women who suffer from premenstrual syndrome should seek help from reading the bible and praying. As an editor and contributing author of "The Reproduction Revolution: A Christian Appraisal of Sexuality Reproductive Technologies and the Family," Dr. Hager appears to have endorsed the medically inaccurate assertion that the common birth control pill is an abortifacient (an agent which causes abortion).
He has an ardent interest in revoking approval for mifepristone (formerly known as RU-486) as a safe and early form of medical abortion. Hagar recently assisted the Christian Medical Association in a "citizen's petition" which calls upon the FDA to revoke its approval of mifepristone in the name of women's health.
Hager's desire to overturn mifepristone's approval on religious grounds rather than scientific merit would halt the development of mifepristone as a treatment for numerous medical conditions disproportionately affecting women, including breast cancer, uterine cancer, uterine fibroid tumors, psychotic depression, bipolar depression and Cushing's syndrome.
Women rely on the FDA to ensure their access to safe and effective drugs for reproductive health care including products that prevent pregnancy. For some women, such as those with certain types of diabetes and those undergoing treatment for cancer, pregnancy can be a life-threatening condition. We are concerned that Dr. Hager's strong religious beliefs may color his assessment of technologies that are necessary to protect women's lives or to preserve and promote women's health.
Hager's track record of using religious beliefs to guide his medical decision-making makes him a dangerous and inappropriate candidate to serve as chair of this committee. Critical drug public policy and research must not be held hostage by antiabortion politics. Members of this important panel should be appointed on the basis of science and medicine, rather than politics and religion. American women deserve no less.
This is the type of activity which will lead us further down the road towards backwards puritanism. Please email President Bush at president@whitehouse.gov right away and tell him your opinion.
I promise, more funny stuff tomorrow.
