June 30, 2009
ATTN Barack Obama: AIDS is DC’s Katrina
Barack Obama apparently doesn’t quite grasp the severity of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in his own backyard:
In addition, my administration is committed to rescinding the discriminatory ban on entry to the United States based on HIV status. (Applause.) The Office of Management and Budget just concluded a review of a proposal to repeal this entry ban, which is a first and very big step towards ending this policy. And we all know that HIV/AIDS continues to be a public health threat in many communities, including right here in the District of Columbia. And that’s why this past Saturday, on National HIV Testing Day, I was proud once again to encourage all Americans to know their status and get tested the way Michelle and I know our status and got tested. (Applause.)
What happened to his highly publicized concern about the spread of HIV/AIDS? Two days after promoting the importance of getting tested for HIV/AIDS, while living in Washington, DC–which boasts the highest HIV/AIDS rate in the country–he openly admitted he’s working on lifting a “discriminatory ban on entry into the United States based on HIV status.”
Maybe he’s missed the ad campaign all over DC about the AIDS epidemic being DC’s Katrina, but I haven’t. I actually work, live, and ride the metro with the very people responsible for his election into the highest office of the land thinking he was going to look out for their best interests because the color of his skin happened to be the same color as theirs. Perhaps he wants to lift the ban because it will buy him a couple of votes from the gay community, but what about that other community that this ban will inevitably hurt? That community that considers him to be their brother and Savior?
According to an article published on Adovcate.com in November 2007:
Washington, D.C., health officials report that the rate of HIV infection is the highest of any city in the country. Infants, older adults, women, and heterosexual men are becoming infected at epidemic pace.
The New York Times reports that more than 12,400 people in the District of Columbia, about 1 in 50, are living with AIDS or HIV. Black residents are hardest hit, accounting for 81% of new reports of HIV infection and 86% of people with AIDS, though the city’s population is only 57% African-American.
The D.C. report also notes that from 2001 to 2006 56 children aged 13 or younger became either HIV-positive or were suffering from AIDS. Nearly all of them were infected at birth, accounting for 6% of all mother-to-child HIV infections in the nation in the last five years. City officials are alarmed by these numbers, as routine HIV testing during pregnancy, quick-result oral swabs during labor, and antiretroviral drugs can prevent transmission during delivery.
In more than 37% of the cases detected from 2001 to 2006, the disease was spread through heterosexual contact, 25% were through homosexual contact, and 13% via IV drug use.
So, as you pander to gain street cred with the gay community you are sentencing the black community to death. Here’s the statistic that should hit you the most, since this same community overwhelmingly voted you into the office and house in which you presently reside, “Black residents are hardest hit, accounting for 81% of new reports of HIV infection and 86% of people with AIDS, though the city’s population is only 57% African-American.” The AIDS Healthcare Foundation has launched an ad campaign around DC arguing that AIDS is DC’s Katrina. What’s next, are you going to end the “discriminatory” ban on donating blood based on an HIV/AIDS status. I mean, this is so obviously discrimination against gays and not a legitimate health concern.
At a time when the HIV/AIDS in DC has been called an epidemic and it has been noted that the HIV/AIDS rate in DC is higher than in West Africa, our president has decided that a ban on persons entering the United States with a positive HIV/AIDS status is nothing more than arbitrary discrimination against gays. I thought “the days of science taking a back seat to ideology were over?” It would appear to me that your pro-homosexual rights ideology has placed the science of HIV/AIDS in the back seat.
Comments (2)June 26, 2009
Michael Jackson Drops Dead
Last night was a rough night for me. First, news breaks yesterday morning that Farrah Fawcet died of cancer. Then, at the baseball game cell phones start blowing up with news that Michael Jackson dropped dead of a heart attack. And, to top it off, the Red Sox got beat by the Nationals. The Nationals! Tough times.
Anyway, people can say and think what they want. We do live in America, though, where a person is supposed to be presumed innocent until proven guilty. I don’t know if MJ inappropriately touched little boys, or if he just thought he was a little boy. Either way, his talent cannot be denied.
This is the man who brought us Thriller, Billie Jean, and Smooth Criminal. Whatever craziness he did in his personal life (hanging his baby off of a balcony comes to mind), his musical contributions must be recognized. Whether we like it or not, he is an American icon. Rest in peace, Michael.
Comments (3)June 25, 2009
Making the health care debate personal
The health care debate gets personal:
At a health care forum in Connecticut, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) describes her battle with ovarian cancer. On Mother’s Day, Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) recalls his mother’s death from breast cancer. And in an interview with POLITICO, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) says her recent skiing injury has given her a window into the medical world.
When it comes to the debate over health care reform, the personal medical narrative has become something like a key card: You can’t get in without one.
Advocates on both sides of the health care debate are stockpiling real-life stories from average citizens. But in the world wrought by talk-show confessionals and reality TV — and in a political environment where an admission of economic pain and suffering may score some points — members can be counted on to invoke their own medical sagas as well.
I’m not sure how I feel about this. It amounts to emotional manipulation for political gain. It’s effective, though, and we’re not going to win this argument on our terms. If the Dems want to make it personal, then we’ll just have to beat them at their own game.
Let me introduce the world to Gunner Hawkins. Born on January 30, 2009, less than two months later, on March 17, 2009, he was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis.
Gunner’s mother, a former colleague of mine, is the Executive Director of Students for Life of America. They have a whole website dedicated to how government rationed run health care will ruin their lives and shorten his.
Kristin Hawkins explains on the site, “While the financial costs of taking care of a CF child are high and dealing with the complexities and bureaucracy of the insurance industry is time consuming, it is worth it. We happily pay these costs to keep Gunner healthy, and we know that there are existing programs out there, public and private, that will help us when costs increase.”
This statement gets to the point of why so many Americans are opting for the government take over of health care: they are lazy. They don’t feel like dealing with the complexities and bureaucracy of the insurance industry, they want the government to do it for them. Apparently, they haven’t thought about how time consuming it’s going to be when the public has to deal with the complexities and bureaucracy of the federal government.
The federal government can’t even handle health care for the military (think Walter Reed headlines a couple of years back). Poll after poll shows that Americans distrust government and politicians, yet it is that same government, made up with those same politicians, that they want to entrust with our lives.
Health care might be broken and it may need to be fixed, but I don’t think we should be depending on the people who created the system that broke it, through their laws and regulations, to be the ones to fix it. Our Founding Father’s got this, Ronald Reagan got this, and the Republican Party used to get this: “Government is not a solution to our problem; Government is the problem.”
Comments (1)June 24, 2009
Sanford admits to affair
And, another one bites the dust:
At a news conference in Columbia, S.C., Gov. Mark Sanford has now admitted that he had an extramarital affair with someone in Argentina, as he attempted to explain his mysterious disappearance from the state last week.
He said he had developed a relationship with someone in Argentina during the past year. Mr. Sanford returned from Buenos Aires this morning, after leaving the state capital last Thursday. His whereabouts had become a source of nearly national speculation, with aides first saying they didn’t know where he was, then saying he was hiking on the Appalachian Trail but unreachable.
I don’t even know how to react to this. Come on, now! Forget shaking my faith in the Republican Party, after a while it just starts to shake your faith in men. I mean, are all men incapable of remaining faithful?
I’ve been following this story with fingers crossed, “Please, don’t be another Republican having an affair!” I guess that was too much to ask for. What a chump. It just leaves me shaking my head with a look of disgust across my face. It’s just so disappointing.
What is it with politicians (of both parties) and affairs? It’s so idiotic. There’s so much to lose, and for what? Is it ever worth it? Especially for Republicans. Democrats can survive a sex scandal, and most other scandals for that matter. There’s a double-standard in politics. Republican affairs have a tendency to be a career-ender. Is that ever really worth it?
(I apologize to all of the great men out there who aren’t cheaters. I don’t mean to categorize all men as cheaters or potential cheaters. If you are angry with such generalizations, be sure to direct that anger toward the appropriate people: those men who cheat.)
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Crisis in DC just another opportunity to spend, spend, spend
I didn’t realize the Metro crash on Monday was going to be warped into another crisis that the Democrats aren’t going to waste:
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Wednesday that he plans to seek $3 billion for Metro transit capital improvements, just days after a crash between two trains killed nine people.
A large part of the investigation into Monday’s crash is focusing on the outdated train of six cars that slammed into a stationary train in front of it. All the fatalities were on that train, Metro transit spokeswoman Angela Gates said Wednesday.
Debris from the crash was removed Wednesday.
The front car of the rear train was severely damaged, leaving minimal space for survivability, said Debbie Hersman, the lead investigator from the National Transportation Board. The driver of that train died.
According to one report, 50 feet of the 75 feet in that lead car were lost to the accident, leaving only one-third of the space after the impact.
“The safety of our citizens is our highest priority, and we must take every precaution that this loss of life does not occur again,” Hoyer, of Maryland, said Wednesday.
“In the very near future, I will be joining with my colleagues from my region in introducing the final measure required to authorize $3 billion in dedicated federal and local funding for Metro,” Hoyer said.
What happened Monday night is sad. I believe the latest count is that nine people died as a result of the crash. And, my thoughts and prayers go out to the families and friends of the people who perished.
For those who might have been concerned because of my extended silence over the last couple of days, I guess this is your confirmation that I am still alive. Life has just been busy. The Red Sox are in town!
Now, can we take a breath before we start throwing money away? Maybe what they are proposing to spend the $3 billion on is necessary. Perhaps if this money was spent earlier it would have prevented this crash. Admittedly, I don’t know the answer to that question. The even scarier part is, neither do any of the people trying to justify why we’re going to throw $3 billion at it.
I love the Metro rail system in DC. From what I hear, it is one of the best (and, definitely one of the cleanest) in the country. I’ve only been on New York City’s and Boston’s for my limited basis of comparison. D.C.’s is my personal favorite (although, Boston’s does bring me to Red Sox games, which adds some extra points, but this week Metro has them beat bringing me to Red Sox games right here in DC!).
What is the problem with politicians these days? This might have been the worst crash in Metro’s history, and I’m not arguing we shouldn’t find out the cause of it and address the issue, but why the quick rush to throw out $3 billion?
It is undeniable, at this point, that Metro prices have to go up or they need to find a way to cost cuts elsewhere. I’m not comfortable with my fellow Americans subsidizing my next metro ride, especially if they’ve never even had the honor to experience riding the metro. Cut costs and raise prices in order to make metro sustainable. If that can’t be done, then the metro system should be done away with. If it can’t be made profitable or sustainable without burdening the millions of Americans who get no use from it then it should be closed.
I realize this argument goes against my own personal self interest (when viewed on the surface), but it actually doesn’t. If all Americans would take this view about whatever is happening in their state (for the record, I know that DC is not a state), America would be a better place. If we would stop allowing our politicians to buy our votes by subsidizing our daily commutes with money stolen out of the paychecks of our faceless fellow Americans from other states, then America would be the country that I believe it was founded to be.
I should be responsible for bridges and libraries and guardrails in states that I have never even been to and you shouldn’t be responsible for a train system that you have never been on. The number of people who died on Monday does not change that simple fact.
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