Holiday 2009

near Lake Calhoun, late afternoon.

Open Letter to Representative Bart Stupak, of Michigan

So, apparently you think that women shouldn't have the right to self-determination: I guess you take our Constitution kind of literally, don't you? Equal rights for men, I mean. Gee, as a woman, I think it might be kind of nice to enjoy the same rights as a man. But then, as a lesbian I think it might be nice to enjoy the same rights as heterosexuals. And as a non-politician, I think it would be nice to enjoy the same health insurance options as Congressional Representatives. But then, I don't matter as much as you big, important people in Washington who are working so hard to ensure that some Americans (the ones you personally approve of) have rights. Oh well, I guess I can't complain, can I? No one has herded me up and stuck me into an interment camp. Yet.

Compassion grows

Compassion grows out of a willingness to share the human condition, not just the pursuit of happiness. -Marc Ian Barasch

Wendell Potter, ex-CIGNA Health Insurance executive, talking to Bill Moyers

[W]hen you're in the executive offices, when you're getting prepared for a call with an analyst, in the financial medium, what you think about are the numbers. You don't think about individual people. You think about the numbers, and whether or not you're going to meet Wall Street's expectations. That's what you think about, at that level. And it helps to think that way. That's why you-- that enables you to stay there, if you don't really think that you're talking about and dealing with real human beings.

Grief Soup

(A Miasma in Three Parts)

Part 1
I am born.

Part 2
I live.

Part 3
I die.

Is there a significant difference in meaning between these two aphorisms, "A mind is a terrible thing to waste" and "What a waste it is to lose one’s mind”? Think carefully: your answer will determine whether you are a Democrat or a Republican.