Out of the Mouth of Babes

Said my 4-year-old son, Jared, doing some playacting while a Star Wars movie played in the background: "I'll be Darth Bush. He has the worstest light saber ever—it's black."



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Mending the State of Disunion

Here's a memo to Bush from the Fellowship of Reconciliation that I wish I'd written:

Urgent memo
To: George W. Bush
From: Fellowship of Reconciliation
Subject: State of the Union

Dear Mr. President,

Thank you for asking the Fellowship of Reconciliation to prepare State of the Union talking points for you. We share your deep concern for the state of this nation and the world, and are pleased to help you shape a forward-thinking vision at this critical time.

Mr. President, now is the time to address the conditions of decay, distrust, and deception that will otherwise become the legacy of this administration and Congress. Our nation needs to be able to trust its elected leaders again. As a person of faith, you surely recognize that for the American people to move forward to a spirit of forgiveness and reconciliation, the way to begin this process is to speak the truth.

This will be painful. You will have to acknowledge the lies and mismanagement that have been a hallmark of the past four years. You must take responsibility for the manipulated evidence that led to the war in Iraq and the terribly inadequate response to Hurricane Katrina; forswear the policies and practices of torture and illegal surveillance; and take concrete steps to distance yourself from the corruption and scandal that is implicating members of your administration and old business associates.

You must announce an exit strategy from Iraq and Afghanistan. This should encompass the withdrawal of our soldiers by the end of 2006, leaving the region clean of U.S. military bases. The growth of bases in the two countries is a key reason why Iran has
increased its militant rhetoric.

A moral presidency demands a firm commitment to the peoples of the world that their lives will be free of foreign aggression and occupation. Let us seize the momentum from the recent democratic elections in Iraq to show the Middle East and the world that the United States is not an occupying empire or a bullying superpower.

On the domestic front, the nation’s economic health should be a top priority. The gap between rich and poor Americans has grown to historic levels, with the richest five percent making almost 1,500% more than the poorest 20 percent, and CEOs making 431 times more than the average worker. Couple this with the skyrocketing cost of energy—the price of oil is now approaching $70 a barrel—and you will understand why many people are getting desperate.

What can you do? Start by doubling the national minimum wage from $5.15 to $10.30, which will at least approach a living wage. Then acknowledge that your tax cut policies don’t help anyone except the wealthy. Last year, two million jobs were created, but this was less than 40% of what your Council of Economic Advisors had predicted, and only half what a normal job growth figure would have been without the tax cuts. Specifically, you should call for a reinstatement of the Estate Tax, which even many rich Americans (like Bill Gates) have acknowledged was a fair tax on their wealth.

We know that health care is a major concern for you. Seize the moment! Now is the time to call for a universal health care policy for the United States. There is no good reason why we, the wealthiest nation in the world, are also the only industrialized democracy that doesn't have health coverage for all its citizens. We are very concerned by reports that you seek to further privatize the system, rather than creating more governmental support for the least of us—those who cannot afford what is currently offered.

Are you worried about the budget implications? This recommitment to health care, the reconstruction of the region around New Orleans, a strong environmental program, and a balanced education policy (like a fully funded No Child Left Behind Act) are all eminently possible. Once you steer the nation away from wars of aggression abroad, some of our bloated, $400 billion–plus military budget can be reallocated towards education, renewable energy, and economic development. Creating a strong social safety net and a healthy population must be a top priority, since we cannot afford to be "Left Behind" in the the competitive global skills market.

Mr. President, as a man of faith, you are certainly aware of the words of the prophet Micah, “What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God?” This nation and the world could use some justice, mercy and humility right now. We look forward to your State of the Union address tomorrow as an opportunity to help our country respond to Micah’s challenge and regain our spiritual compass.

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Rough Time

So many things to do, so little time.

The Bush administration's doing the usual outrageous things, yet I have no time to comment on them. I'm doing on a rush project and trying to finish another (nonrush) project, both for the same client, so I've been working 7 days a week lately. On top of that, I'm not so happy with my Presbyterian church because I've gradually come to see that many of its members are a lot more conservative and reluctant to take action (talk the talk, but don't walk the walk) than I'd thought. It's so hard being one of the very few progressive voices there.

Rough time.


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Big Brother George

Keep the hell out of my job and my personal life, George Bush.

As an editor, I'm on Google constantly to verify tidbits of information my clients' authors put into their manuscripts.

As a self-employed woman trying to provide financial security for her family, I'm on Google day and night in a fruitless search for affordable health care insurance (part 1 and part 2).

As a supporter of gay rights, I'm on Google every single day to keep abreast of news affecting GLBT people everywhere.

As an active Presbyterian and progressive Christian, I'm often on Google to research ways to counteract the cultural insanity perpetrated by conservative religious zealots of every stripe.

As a parent and wife, I'm frequently on Google to research education and medical issues affecting my children and husband.

As a liberal American, I'm on Google constantly to keep abreast of all the ways you seek to curtail my freedom, destroy my country, and foment hatred among nations.

I'm a very open person, George, but I won't stand for your fascist invasions of my privacy. Back the hell off, or sooner than you can rationalize invading Iran, you'll be impeached.


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Angels in the Morning

6:40 am: Time to wake Neil, 11. This takes some doing because he always has trouble getting to sleep in the first place. A gentle shake, shake. Nothing. "Neil! School day. Time to get up," said sotto voce, because he shares a bedroom with Jared, 4. Jared's allowed to sleep until he's ready to get up, which is usually between 8 and 8:30, because he's always home with me unless it's time for preschool, which runs 12 to 2:30 pm Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

6:50 am: A lot more of the shaking and whispering later, Neil stumbles into the kitchen and sits down. He stuffs his vitamin gummies into his mouth, his eyes still closed. He swallows, and his eyelids drag themselves open long enough for him to look at me with liquid-blue puppy eyes while he says, "Mommy, can I have a snuggle?" He drapes his long, bony body across my lap and tucks his face against my neck, so soft and warm and trusting. I tell him how, of my three children, he was the one at whose birth I felt the physical sensation of the world tilting on its axis, and how I now take that to mean that he will change the world, maybe by inventing something amazing, maybe by being kind and gentle.

7:20 am: Finally having finished his breakfast, Neil stumbles off to dress for school, while I read my e-mail.

7:40 am: His backpack waiting near the steps down to the front door, Neil comes over for one last snuggle, fortification for a day at school. A few minutes later, a clock seems to sound an alarm in his head, and he straightens, says, "Have a good day, Mommy," and heads for the landing to watch out the front-door window for his school bus.

8:15 am: I hear fast footfalls as Jared, after awakening, runs from the bedroom and straight to me at the computer. Neil's bus has come and gone. Jared throws his solid little body at me, tucking his head and his arms into my embrace. He nuzzles me as I kiss the soft, sweet-smelling back of his neck. A few moments later, he lifts his head to kiss my cheek and throw his arms around my neck. Then, all preschooler urgency, Jared breaks off our hug and trots to the living room, picking up the blanket Neil left behind. He throws himself into an overstuffed chair and buries himself in the blanket. "Mommy, can I see cartoons?" I agree, after rubbing his soft baby belly. Weekdays, he gets a little TV while he eats breakfast; he'll play later.

I know that several times during the day, Jared will suddenly stop what he's doing and run up to say something like "Mommy, I love you," and hug and kiss me. And I will track him down several other times to return the favor.

I know that when Neil comes home from school, he'll zoom in for a quick hug and a recital of the days' events before he heads off for the computer/Game Boy/PlayStation time he's allowed before homework.

And I know that I will happily do it all again tomorrow, especially for the chance to hold soft boy bodies and soft boy hearts. I cannot resist hugs from my children. Their skin is so smooth and warm and their enjoyment of affection is so visceral.


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The Joys of Freelancing

Geez! It's days like today that really make me glad to be a freelancer. Here on Long Island, the rain's coming down sideways and the wind's gusting up to 60 miles per hour. I didn't have to get dressed for an audience of officemates and go outside to drive to work, only to be immediately soaked. I'm sitting here at my computer in a T-shirt, casual pants, and clogs, dry and happy.


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Laugh or Cry?

If I weren't so damned depressed over this whole health insurance crap, I'd laugh hysterically at the fact that the particular Google ads that have taken up residence on this blog lately are from companies that hunt down health insurance quotes for people.

Fact is, though, I've actually followed the URLs from those ads (being careful to write them down and go to the sites without clicking on my own Google ads, which Google forbids). Lots of 'em have given me outrageous quotes or told me that some of the companies they represent don't even write policies in New York State, which is where I am. Talk about the cruelty of putting a glass of water just out of reach of a parched desert traveler ...


insurance, part 1 insurance, part 2


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Health Insurance Update

Well, folks, I think I've searched all corners of the country to dig up insurance companies offering affordable health insurance, and I can't find anything. (See earlier posts in this saga here and here.) I'm stressed and worn out from my hunt. If any miracle drops down from the sky, I'll let you know.



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Health Care: My Financial Choices and Lessons Learned

My readers having no insights for me, I've been doing intense research for the last couple of days on ways to avoid going without health insurance. I've found that there aren't affordable insurance plans in the state of New York for sole proprietors like me (see why I'm in this fix).

Other possible financial solutions for my family would include

1. Moving to another U.S. state: Now that our oldest son's individualized education plan and medications for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) are as stabilized as they can be and he's blossoming academically (presidential scholar!), we won't move till he's out of high school—and he's in sixth grade now. Our school district is, unlike us, wealthy, so there are plenty of tax dollars for what our son needs. He and society deserve his getting the best academic and life foundation that we can get for him.

2. My becoming an employee of a publishing house again so that I could obtain employer-subsidized health care insurance: But with the monthly railroad commuter ticket now costing $315 and annual child care costs for only one of my two sons being in excess of $15,000, we'd be in vastly worse financial shape. For most of my 11 years of self-employment, we haven't used child care and thus have saved loads of money. I'm a multitasker; I parent and edit.

3. Creating a partnership with other freelancers so that we all qualify for group insurance: This is the hardest option for me to wrap my mind around; I went solo for freedom from bureaucracy, and I don't think I'd deal well with having to supervise others or to do mountains of nonediting paperwork.

4. Moving to Canada: Once our son with AD/HD is out of the public school system, we will look more closely into this if nothing has changed regarding health care in the United States.

5. Hiring my mother-in-law, who lives with us, as an employee, so that my company qualifies as a group with two employees, her and me: But she is 70 and retired and uses Medicare, so she wouldn't use any health insurance whose premiums my company were to pay, and the insurer would require that if I pay the premiums, all employees use the insurance.

I have learned several lessons from this hunt:

1. If you live in the United States and must carry your own health insurance, do not live in New York State. Though state law requires that insurance companies offer insurance to all comers, they can charge premiums as high as they wish, thus making insurance unaffordable to most individuals and sole proprietors.



2. Do not develop any chronic health conditions, even if their genesis has roots in your genes.



3. Do not be self-employed; owe your life to an employer so as to have health insurance.



4. Do not have children.

These lessons impoverish me and the rest of the country. George "Rich Boy" W. Bush, get your butt over here and trade places with me for six months. Bet you'd encourage Congress to revamp our health care system faster than your "let them eat cake" mama can count the pearls on her necklace.

April 1 update: We now have insurance.

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Reader Consultation on U.S. Health Care Insurance

Dear readers:

If you live in the United States, are self-employed, have children, and aren't married to someone whose employer subsidizes health care insurance premiums, do you have health care coverage? If so, please answer the following questions, in the order presented, in your comments to this post:

1. What state do you live in?



2. How many people, including you, are in your family?



3. How much are your monthly premiums?



4. What is your copay for a visit to a health care provider?



5. What is your copay for medications?



6. What is the name of your health care insurer, and what is its web site URL?



7. If you are without health care, do you put aside money toward future health care costs? If so, how much each month?

I have done quite a bit of research, over the 11 years I've been self-employed, to find the best and most affordable health care insurance. Insurers are dropping the self-employed—not overtly but covertly, by discontinuing the existing coverage and offering new, much more costly coverage—at an alarming rate. I don't want to be fiscally irresponsible, but I may have no choice but to go without insurance; it's coming down to choosing between having a home and having health care coverage. Maybe some of you have found solutions that I'm missing.


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Open Letter to My Senators and Representative: Fix U.S. Health Care!

Dear Senators Hilary Clinton and Chuck Schumer and Representative Tim Bishop:

If I didn't have sinus congestion from a cold already, I'd stand out in my front yard and scream an ear-piercing scream of frustration for about 10 minutes. Instead, I'm writing to you.

I am an editor who's been self-employed for 11 years and have, for that period, paid full premiums for health insurance coverage for my family. Today—the day before New Year's Eve—I got a notice that GHI, the health insurance provider through which I have a policy, is discontinuing the insurance plan I have for my family, as of April. Yeah, yeah, it's "nice" of them to give me more than the required 90 days' notice. The new plan that they'll be offering would cost my family $1,400/month, up from the $930/month we now pay.

Looks like Monday morning, my husband will tell his employer, a very small cabinetmaking firm, that we want to switch to the company's Blue Cross plan. But it's such a small company that the employer can't afford to shoulder any of the insurance premium costs; employees pay it all themselves. So we'll be paying about $1,000 a month.

January 5 update: We won't be signing on for insurance through my husband's employer; it's up to $1,258 a month now, which is out of our financial league. Unless we win the lottery, we'll be uninsured as of April 1.

But that's our limit. Once those premiums increase—and you know they will—we'll be among the uninsured. Maybe that's 6 months down the road; maybe it's a year. I have hypothyroidism, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, depression, and a family history of diabetes, so diabetes is likely in my future. Yes, I exercise and attempt to eat a decent diet. My husband and one of our sons have attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and that son also has depression. All of these conditions require medications and some require therapy, and without health insurance, we'll be spending a huge chunk of our income—not that $930/month isn't already a huge chunk.

The cost of health insurance in New York State stinks big time. The cost of it in the U.S. stinks big time. Meanwhile, most members of Congress pay premiums that are ridiculously low [rate info provided by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, the human resources department for the federal government] when compared with their salaries.

Somebody beam me and my family to Canada, please! Or better yet, please introduce legislation immediately that will set up a health care provision system similar to Canada's.

Your very unhappy constituent,
Katharine O'Moore-Klopf

P.S. Please read this piece from the San Francisco Chronicle for an idea about where to start the process of change.

My colleague Alexandra (a pseudonym, to protect her privacy), who has worked in and around health policy and insurance for 24 years, has this to say:

Read [the Chronicle piece] and decide for yourself which country has the more humane health care "system."

Research has shown that Americans and Canadians pay comparable amounts out of pocket for their health coverage. Americans pay it in premiums, out-of-pocket cost sharing, and surcharges (cost shifting) for uncompensated care; Canadians pay it in taxes. I'd rather pay more taxes and know that my family will have access to at least some level of service even if I decide to change jobs, my employer decides to drop its health coverage or raise its price beyond what I can pay, or some other employment change happens. Why on earth health insurance has to be tied to employment is beyond me. It is, and until we muster the courage or political will or good sense to change it, it always will be.

Down here, "getting some help [for health care costs]" (if you're talking about Medicaid) usually means months of waiting; demeaning, privacy-probing questions; and constant requalifying, with paperwork burdens designed to keep people from even bothering—not to mention the stigma of going onto a public assistance program. That's if you live in a state where you even qualify for anything. If you are a single nondisabled nonelderly adult with no kids, best of luck to you. If you seek care at a safety-net institution, you face hours and hours of waiting for often substandard care delivered by harried, underpaid, overworked staffers. Then you can't pay for the drugs that are prescribed (sometimes you can get samples, but not forever), unless you again spend time and energy trying to qualify for a pharmaceutical assistance program, again with endless requalifying. If you're lucky, you live in a town where someone cares enough to set up a clinic for the uninsured and doesn't charge you through the nose for care. If you're not, well, you're not. Some solution that is.

I know that each system looks different from the other side of the border, but you'll have to try very hard to convince me that the U.S. one is superior.

April 1 update: We now have insurance.

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A Child Is Born

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What School Is Like for the Student with AD/HD*

Alexis Norin^† could have been writing about my middle child, Neil, in the December 2005 issue of Attention! (the bimonthly magazine of CHADD [Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder])^‡:

Imagine sitting in a typical classroom. The teacher is talking up front, or a student is asking a question. Students fill the rows of chairs, doing student things. The heater kicks on, the lights hum, and other classroom noises get your attention.

Focus back on the teacher. She's beginning to review what's on tomorrow's test. Now imagine someone is tapping a pencil on the desk. The steady tempo fills your ears, and your head starts pounding in rhythm. Someone walks in the door. Your eyes follow the late student to his desk, taking in his torn jeans, Hawaiian shirt and dirty black backpack. Outside the mowers start, and you wonder why they're even mowing in December. The pencil beats on. The teacher is now writing on the board. The late student gets up to grab a handout off the teacher's desk while she's not looking. The light above you blinks out. The pencil continues to beat. A conversation two rows in front of you catches your ear. Two girls are making faces at each other. The pencil stops, but a foot takes up the rhythm.

Lights hum. Teacher talks. Students write. Mower mows. Heater blows. Foot taps. Class is over.

The student with AD/HD ... just missed class.

If your child sounds like the student Norin describes, please know that your child isn't stupid or lazy. Your child needs you to advocate for him or her. Don't be afraid. If I can survive the the House of AD/HD, you can too. The first step is learning everything you can about AD/HD. And then ... take each day one day at a time.


____________________________
*Here, I am following the style of the American Psychiatric Association, which uses the slash to indicate that the hyperactivity part of AD/HD does not occur in all cases. There are several subtypes of AD/HD, according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision: (1) attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, combined type; (2) attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, predominantly inattentive type; (3) attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, predominantly hyperactive-impulsive type. Neil and my father-in-law have type 1, and my husband, Ed, has type 2.

^†Norin received the CHADD Volunteer of the Year Award at the 2005 annual CHADD conference in Dallas, Texas. She recently graduated cum laude from the University of Arkansas Fort Smith with a degree in rhetoric. She was accepted into law school with a scholarship but deferred her studies for a year and is currently working for American Airlines.

^‡The article is copyright © 2005 by CHADD and is reprinted here with the permission of CHADD and Norin. For more information, write to CHADD at 8181 Professional Place, suite 150, Landover, MD 20875, or visit the CHADD Web site.

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The Year in Review, Bush Style

Beth Quinn of the Times Herald-Record, a small paper from the Hudson Valley–Catskills area of New York State, has an eerily plausible take on what goes on in Bush's mind:

The year 2005 was bright and shiny on Earth II, where George Bush lives.

And why not? News of reality from Earth I never makes it to the president's desk.

On Earth II, Brownie did a heck of a job, and poverty was wiped out in America when all the poor people were sent to live like cattle in an arena.

No child was left behind, freedom was still on the march, and a brain-dead woman in Florida trumped a heartsick mother in Texas in getting the president's attention.

Creationism was renamed Intelligent Design in a stunning public relations move.

"Plan for Victory" won the 2005 White House Slogan of the Year, belatedly, but finally replacing "Mission Accomplished" as the definitive Earth II commentary on the Iraq war.

Bush decreed there's no such thing as global warming, thereby solving that problem once and for all.

Plus, word definitions were agreeably changed. "Deficit reduction plan" on Earth II, for example, actually means "deficit growth plan" here on Earth I.

Prisoners (called "detainees" on Earth II) can be tortured there, and so can the English language. Oddly, Bush is entirely coherent in his alternate universe.

Thus, we present highlights of 2005 on Earth II—in George Bush's own words.

• Much to the relief of God, Bush began the year with a surprise, albeit tortured, announcement that he is not God:

"We are in no way, shape or form should a human being play God." (Jan. 14)

• In February, we learned that Social Security was the top crisis on Earth II. Who knew? And Bush had a plan to save it:

"Because the—all which is on the table begins to address the big cost drivers. For example, how benefits are calculate, for example, is on the table; whether or not benefits rise based upon wage increases or price increases. There's a series of parts of the formula that are being considered. And when you couple that, those different cost drivers, affecting those—changing with personal accounts, the idea is to get what has been promised more likely to be—or closer delivered to what has been promised." (Feb. 4)

• Bush also clarified his position on Iran in February:

"This notion that the United States is getting ready to attack Iran is simply ridiculous. And having said that, all options are on the table." (Feb. 22)

• In March, the nation breathed a sigh of relief when Bush made it clear that not only does he not play God, he also doesn't talk to pictures of dead people:

"In this job you've got a lot on your plate on a regular basis. You don't have much time to sit around and wander, lonely in the Oval Office, kind of asking different portraits, " 'How do you think my standing will be?' " (March 16) ...

• Bush also explained his Social Security plan for those who die before they die:

"If they pre-decease or die early, there's an asset base to be able to pass on to a loved one." (March 30)

• In April, Bush announced that the coal supply was plentiful and that it was good for the environment on Earth II:

"We have enough coal to last for 250 years, yet coal also prevents an environmental challenge." (April 20)

• April was also a big month for progress in the war in Iraq, as Bush explained again and again. Among his announcements was the noble decree that terrorists should be kept safe:

"It's in our country's interests to find those who would do harm to us and get them out of harm's way." (April 28)

• In May, the Social Security crisis made a comeback as Bush appealed to young folks by either making or breaking promises to them, hard to tell which:

"I think younger workers—first of all, younger workers have been promised benefits the government—promises that have been promised, benefits that we can't keep. That's just the way it is." (May 4)

• Despite the fact that nothing he said about Social Security made any sense on Earth I, he also promised to keep saying it:

"See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda." (May 24)

• In June, Bush explained that, happily, Earth II's coal supply had grown:

"Do you realize we've got 250 million years of coal?" (June 8)

• In July, Bush suspended all formal rules of grammar in his fight against an increasingly unruly press. Not only was freedom on the march, so was his syntax:

"The best place for the facts to be done is by somebody who's spending time investigating it." (July 18)

• During August, Bush got a peek at reality when he flew over Earth I in his flying saucer to see the hurricane damage:

"It's totally wiped out. It's devastating. It's got to be doubly devastating from the ground." (Aug. 31)

• In September, he finally responded to the hurricane crisis by rolling up his sleeves for a photo op. Also, he cautioned Earth I-lings to quit hoarding gasoline:

"Don't buy gas if you don't need it." (Sept. 1)

• Also in September, we learned that the five senses are different on Earth II:

"We look forward to hearing your vision, so we can more better do our job." (Sept. 20)

• With the October nomination of Harriet Miers, Bush illustrated that, on Earth II, inexperience is the very BEST qualification for a Supreme Court judge:

"It's important to bring somebody from outside the judicial system, somebody that hasn't been on the bench and, therefore, there's not a lot of opinions for people to look at." (Oct. 4)

• In November, Bush visited the southern hemisphere on Earth I and learned a little geography about our planet:

"Wow! Brazil is big." (Nov. 6)

• Finally, in December, Bush admitted that maybe the war in Iraq didn't need to happen. Except, on Earth II, it did need to happen:

"Whether or not it needed to happen, I'm still convinced it needed to happen." (Dec. 13)

And so, Bush parties on in his Earth II White House, blissfully unaware that the jig is up on Earth I, where New Orleans is still in sorry shape; where the war in Iraq grinds on to no purpose; where the rich get richer; where the uninsured get sicker; where the former presidential nickname Bubba has been supplanted by Bubble Boy.

It's been a heck of a year, Bubble Boy. And always believe your Imagineers when they tell you:

Fairy tales can come true,
It can happen to you,
If you're on Earth II.

Only 1,127 days till Inauguration 2009!

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Draining the Lifeblood from America

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The U.S. as Terrorist: Spying and Torturing

Ever notice how the Chimp in Chief smirks whenever he's caught in a lie or in doing something he's not supposed to be doing?

He's always saying that the U.S. doesn't torture prisoners of war, and we all know that's a lie.

Now that the National Security Agency's been accused of spying on U.S. citizens without having warrants to do so, he's silent ... and smirking. That should tell you all you need to know on the issue.

The terrorists have won: Our leaders and military have adopted their methods. And too many Americans either approve or sit back and say nothing. This isn't the country I know, and it both frightens me and breaks my heart. America has lost its soul.


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U.S: Preach Abstinence, or No AIDS Research $$

The Bush administration will cause thousands more AIDS victims to die just so that it can preach sexual abstinence. As a recent Baltimore Sun article (free registration required for access) reported:

In a decision that has alarmed many public health researchers and AIDS advocates, the Bush administration is increasing the amount of HIV money that must be used to promote abstinence, while at the same time limiting funds for condoms. Opponents see the move as the latest attempt by the White House and religious conservatives to expand what they view as an unscientific and ineffective HIV prevention strategy. Critics say the approach could cost lives in the developing world.

"It's outrageous and stupid," said Duff Gillespie, a professor at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. "From a public health point of view, it's irresponsible." Until 2002, Gillespie was in charge of AIDS programs at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which distributes most federal money targeting the disease. ...

The directive, which took effect Oct. 1, applies to only international HIV prevention. In fiscal year 2005, the U.S. spent $295 million on such programs. The budget is likely to increase in 2006.

The guideline decrees that two-thirds of funding devoted to preventing sexual transmission of AIDS must be spent on programs that encourage abstinence and fidelity.

It is described in a document from the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator, which oversees the administration's AIDS effort. Under the heading "Key Policy Changes for Fiscal Year '06 Country Operational Plans," the document reads in part: "66 percent of resources dedicated to prevention of HIV from sexual transmission must be used for activities that promote abstinence before marriage and fidelity."

A copy of the document was given to the Sun by a federal AIDS official who was concerned that the policy would weaken the U.S. international HIV prevention effort. Fearing retribution, he asked to remain anonymous. ...

This is not the first time the Bush administration has been accused of making AIDS policy on ideological grounds. In February, USAID awarded $9 million to the Children's AIDS Fund to promote abstinence in Uganda, even though the group had been deemed "not suitable for funding" by the agency's expert committee.

This summer, the agency withdrew funding from an approved prevention program for Central American sex workers after conservative lawmakers complained that the project encouraged prostitution.

This year, the White House decreed that U.S. AIDS groups receiving government funding must sign a pledge opposing prostitution. More than 200 groups protested, saying the vow infringes on free speech and makes it harder to work with prostitutes, who are viewed as a key constituency in stopping the spread of AIDS.

Gillespie, of Hopkins, sees the moves as part of a pattern. "None of this thinking is encumbered by facts. We're talking ideology," he said. "There's a fundamental hostility toward the idea of policies that are driven by evidence."

A 30-year veteran of the agency, he says the current White House takes a far more ideological stance toward public health than did the Reagan or first Bush administrations.

What's wrong with increasing the size of the AIDS epidemic if it lets Bush's "Christian" crew spread its brand of disinformation, eh?


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Two Cups of Tea a Day May Keep Ovarian Cancer Away

A study reported in the December 12–26 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine has shown that in women who drink at least 2 cups of green or black tea each day, the risk of ovarian cancer drops by an astounding 46%, dropping by 18% more with each extra cup consumed. Here's the scoop, as told on WebMD:

Researchers found the more tea women drank, the lower their risk of ovarian cancer. Women who drank at least 2 cups of tea per day had a 46% lower risk of ovarian cancer compared with non–tea-drinkers; each additional cup of tea was associated with an 18% lower risk of ovarian cancer.

Several studies have suggested that both green and black tea may protect against various cancers. But researchers say this is the first study to look specifically at the relationship between drinking tea and the risk of ovarian cancer.

Drinking Tea May Prevent Ovarian Cancer
In the study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers compared tea consumption and the risk of ovarian cancer in more than 60,000 women aged 40 to 76 in Sweden.

The women filled out questionnaires on food and beverages they consumed regularly; the participants were followed for about 15 years. About two-thirds of the women said they drank tea at least once a month.
During the follow-up period, 301 women were diagnosed with ovarian cancer, and researchers found tea drinking was associated with lowered ovarian cancer risk.

Women who drank at least 2 cups of tea per day were half as likely to develop ovarian cancer as nondrinkers; those who drank at least 1 cup of tea a day had a 24% lower risk.

Researchers say each additional cup of tea over 2 cups per day was associated with an additional 18% reduction in ovarian cancer risk.
They say the ovarian cancer prevention benefits also extended to women who drank coffee in addition to tea.

Although animal studies have suggested black and green tea contain potent anticancer compounds, researchers say more studies are needed to confirm the relationship between tea and cancer.

I've been drinking green tea for years, because of both its good taste and what was then its unproven ability to stop cancer. I also savor white tea, which is less processed than green tea (which in turn is less processed than black tea). It has a very delicate flavor and very likely has even higher concentrations of beneficial compounds such as EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate). This article by researchers from the Linus Pauling Institute (named a Center of Excellence for Research On Complementary and Alternative Medicine by the National Institutes of Health and the National Center for Alternative and Complementary Medicine) of Oregon State University explains.

And for those of you who are medicine geeks like me, here's more of the science behind the study, as reported by Medscape (free subscription required for access):

During an average follow-up of 15.1 years, there were 301 incident cases of invasive epithelial ovarian cancer. After controlling for potential confounders, tea consumption was inversely associated with ovarian cancer risk (P for trend, .03). Compared with women who never drank tea or drank it less than monthly, those who consumed less than 1 cup per day, 1 cup per day, and 2 or more cups per day had multivariate hazard ratios (HRs) of 0.82 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.62–1.08), 0.76 (95% CI, 0.56–1.04), and 0.54 (95% CI, 0.31–0.91), respectively. Each additional cup of tea consumed per day was associated with an 18% reduction in risk for ovarian cancer (multivariate HR, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.68–0.99).

"These results suggest that tea consumption is associated with a reduced risk of epithelial ovarian cancer in a dose-response manner," the [study's] authors write. "This association does not depend on lower coffee consumption among women with high tea consumption; coffee is not associated with ovarian cancer risk in this cohort." ...

Green and black tea polyphenols (such as catechins, theaflavins, and flavanols) have been studied as chemopreventive agents for cancer and in animal models have been shown to inhibit carcinogenesis of several organ sites, according to the authors. Tea polyphenols may protect against cancer because of their strong antioxidant activity or inhibition of cell growth, angiogenesis, and apoptosis. According to the authors, case-control and populations studies have yielded inconsistent results with respect to the protective effect on ovarian cancer. This is a prospective, observational, longitudinal, population-based study to examine the association between tea drinking and incident ovarian cancer in women for an average of 15 years of follow-up. The study was part of the Swedish Mammography Cohort study established between 1987 and 1990.

The best teas are from whole tea leaves, not from tea bags. I like to get mine from SpecialTeas. (Sometime after I wrote this post, that company was bought out by Teavana, a company I don't patronize. I now get most of my teas from Adagio Teas and TeaSource.)

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Spying on War Protesters

I've long thought that under the Bush administration, the government keeps a close watch on war protesters. Now NBC News has accessed a Pentagon database that proves it:

A year ago, at a Quaker Meeting House in Lake Worth, Fla., a small group of activists met to plan a protest of military recruiting at local high schools. What they didn't know was that their meeting had come to the attention of the U.S. military.

A secret 400-page Defense Department document obtained by NBC News lists the Lake Worth meeting as a “threat” and one of more than 1,500 “suspicious incidents” across the country over a recent 10-month period.

“This peaceful, educationally oriented group being a threat is incredible,” says Evy Grachow, a member of the Florida group called The Truth Project. ...

The Defense Department document is the first inside look at how the U.S. military has stepped up intelligence collection inside this country since 9/11, which now includes the monitoring of peaceful anti-war and counter-military recruitment groups.

“I think Americans should be concerned that the military, in fact, has reached too far,” says NBC News military analyst Bill Arkin.


Four dozen anti-war meetings
The DOD database obtained by NBC News includes nearly four dozen anti-war meetings or protests, including some that have taken place far from any military installation, post or recruitment center. One “incident” included in the database is a large anti-war protest at Hollywood and Vine in Los Angeles last March that included effigies of President Bush and anti-war protest banners. Another incident mentions a planned protest against military recruiters last December in Boston and a planned protest last April at McDonald’s National Salute to America’s Heroes—a military air and sea show in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

The Fort Lauderdale protest was deemed not to be a credible threat and a column in the database concludes: “US group exercising constitutional rights.” Two-hundred and forty-three other incidents in the database were discounted because they had no connection to the Department of Defense—yet they all remained in the database.

The DOD has strict guidelines (.PDF link), adopted in December 1982, that limit the extent to which they can collect and retain information on U.S. citizens.

Still, the DOD database includes at least 20 references to U.S. citizens or U.S. persons. Other documents obtained by NBC News show that the Defense Department is clearly increasing its domestic monitoring activities. One DOD briefing document stamped “secret” concludes: “[W]e have noted increased communication and encouragement between protest groups using the [I]nternet,” but no “significant connection” between incidents, such as “reoccurring instigators at protests” or “vehicle descriptions.”

The increased monitoring disturbs some military observers.

“It means that they’re actually collecting information about who’s at those protests, the descriptions of vehicles at those protests,” says Arkin. “On the domestic level, this is unprecedented,” he says. “I think it's the beginning of enormous problems and enormous mischief for the military.”

Some former senior DOD intelligence officials share his concern. George Lotz, a 30-year career DOD official and former U.S. Air Force colonel, held the post of Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Oversight from 1998 until his retirement last May. Lotz, who recently began a consulting business to help train and educate intelligence agencies and improve oversight of their collection process, believes some of the information the DOD has been collecting is not justified.


Make sure they are not just going crazy
“Somebody needs to be monitoring to make sure they are just not going crazy and reporting things on U.S. citizens without any kind of reasoning or rationale,” says Lotz. “I demonstrated with Martin Luther King in 1963 in Washington,” he says, “and I certainly didn’t want anybody putting my name on any kind of list. I wasn’t any threat to the government,” he adds.

The military’s penchant for collecting domestic intelligence is disturbing—but familiar—to Christopher Pyle, a former Army intelligence officer.

“Some people never learn,” he says. During the Vietnam War, Pyle blew the whistle on the Defense Department for monitoring and infiltrating anti-war and civil rights protests when he published an article in the Washington Monthly in January 1970.

The public was outraged and a lengthy congressional investigation followed that revealed that the military had conducted investigations on at least 100,000 American citizens. Pyle got more than 100 military agents to testify that they had been ordered to spy on U.S. citizens—many of them anti-war protestors and civil rights advocates. In the wake of the investigations, Pyle helped Congress write a law placing new limits on military spying inside the U.S.

But Pyle, now a professor at Mt. Holyoke College in Massachusetts, says some of the information in the database suggests the military may be dangerously close to repeating its past mistakes. “The documents tell me that military intelligence is back conducting investigations and maintaining records on civilian political activity. The military made promises that it would not do this again,” he says.


Too much data?
Some Pentagon observers worry that in the effort to thwart the next 9/11, the U.S. military is now collecting too much data, both undermining its own analysis efforts by forcing analysts to wade through a mountain of rubble in order to obtain potentially key
nuggets of intelligence and entangling U.S. citizens in the U.S. military’s expanding and quiet collection of domestic threat data.

Two years ago, the Defense Department directed a little known agency, Counterintelligence Field Activity, or CIFA, to establish and “maintain a domestic law enforcement database that includes information related to potential terrorist threats directed against the Department of Defense.” Then-Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz also established a new reporting mechanism known as a TALON or Threat and Local Observation Notice report. TALONs now provide “non-validated domestic threat information” from military units throughout the United States that are collected and retained in a CIFA database. The reports include details on potential surveillance of military bases, stolen vehicles, bomb threats and planned anti-war protests. In the program’s first year, the agency received more than 5,000 TALON reports. The database obtained by NBC News is generated by Counterintelligence Field Activity.

CIFA is becoming the superpower of data mining within the U.S. national security community. Its “operational and analytical records” include “reports of investigation, collection reports, statements of individuals, affidavits, correspondence, and other documentation pertaining to investigative or analytical efforts” by the DOD and other U.S. government agencies to identify terrorist and other threats. Since March 2004, CIFA has awarded at least $33 million in contracts to corporate giants Lockheed Martin, Unisys Corporation, Computer Sciences Corporation and Northrop Grumman to develop databases that comb through classified and unclassified government data, commercial information and Internet chatter to help sniff out terrorists, saboteurs and spies.

One of the CIFA-funded database projects being developed by Northrop Grumman and dubbed “Person Search,” is designed “to provide comprehensive information about people of interest.” It will include the ability to search government as well as commercial databases. Another project, “The Insider Threat Initiative,” intends to “develop systems able to detect, mitigate and investigate insider threats,” as well as the ability to “identify and document normal and abnormal activities and ‘behaviors,’ ” according to the Computer Sciences Corp. contract. A separate CIFA contract with a small Virginia-based defense contractor seeks to develop methods “to track and monitor activities of suspect individuals.”

“The military has the right to protect its installations, and to protect its recruiting services,” says Pyle. “It does not have the right to maintain extensive files on lawful protests of their recruiting activities, or of their base activities,” he argues.

Lotz agrees.

“The harm in my view is that these people ought to be allowed to demonstrate, to hold a banner, to peacefully assemble whether they agree or disagree with the government’s policies,” the former DOD intelligence official says.


'Slippery slope'
Bert Tussing, director of Homeland Defense and Security Issues at the U.S. Army War College and a former Marine, says “there is very little that could justify the collection of domestic intelligence by the Unites States military. If we start going down this slippery slope it would be too easy to go back to a place we never want to see again,” he says.

Some of the targets of the U.S. military’s recent collection efforts say they have already gone too far.

“It's absolute paranoia—at the highest levels of our government,” says Hersh of The Truth Project.

“I mean, we're based here at the Quaker Meeting House,” says Truth Project member Marie Zwicker, “and several of us are Quakers.”

The Defense Department refused to comment on how it obtained information on the Lake Worth meeting or why it considers a dozen or so anti-war activists a “threat.”

Don't bet that antiwar bloggers aren't in another Pentagon database.


Updated 1:35 PM, December 15, 2005: Now that it's been exposed, the Pentagon says it's going to review the database to make sure that the information in it is there legally and is used legally. Yeah, right.


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