The Hoi Polloi

Deepak Chopra on Michael Jackson's Abuse and Enabling Doctors

Quite honestly, I have been avoiding writing about the passing of Michael Jackson.  Despite not having any relation to him or even listening to his music actively in the last few years, I find his death painful.  Thus, I had chosen to focus on other things, not even watching the endless news coverage.  However, this interview with Deepak Chopra was so inciteful, I had to post.  Mr. Chopra speaks honestly and with great emotion about Michael Jackson's addiction to prescription drugs and to plastic surgery, the origins of those addictions and the doctors who enabled Mr. Jackson's drug abuse, which may have led to his death.

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Update: Mark Sanford Affair

Some sources are revealing the name of the third party involved in Republican Governor Mark Sanford's extramarital affair.  According to those sources, the name of Sanford's Latina lover is Maria Belén Shapur. She is a 43-year-old mother of two teenaged sons who works for a multinational argribusiness and trading corporation in Buenos Aires.  McClatchy has published photos of the apartment building where Ms. Shapur lives in a tony neighborhood in the Argentine capital.

Awaiting photos of the lady in question.

WATCHING THE GOP GO RED GIANT

Watching the red giant that is the Republican party is painful, even for Democrats and progessives who should be chuckling with glee at what looks like the imminent implosion of a political movement.  If the GOP's ailments were notable solely for events such as the ridiculous "racist-racialist" verbiage of Newt Gingrich in reference to Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor or, perhaps, for the continuing stream of gaffes made by RNC Chair Michael Steele, being a spectator would be a lot more entertaining.  However, witnessing the demise of the party based on sexual scandals and marital infidelities as is the case with Senator David Vitter (R-LA), Senator Larry Craig (R-ID), Senator John Ensign (R-NV) and, now, Governor Mark Sanford (R-SC) is excruciating because we must also witness the suffering of innocent victims - the wives and children of these philandering politicos.

Nothing could have been so bizarre as listening to Governor Sanford's televised confession yesterday upon his return from a less-than-clandestine rendezvous with his Argentine mistress.

Now, a salient question remains to be answered.  We are, of course, focused like a laser on the effect to Sanford's political career.  Obviously, a run for president in 2012 is out, and we're wondering when - that's right, when - he will resign from his governorship. But, more importantly, who is she?  Who is the "dear friend" of whom Sanford spoke?  We'll be monitoring the U.S. and Argentine press for more details.

Barack Obama Envy

If you could marry any celebrity, who would you marry?  I would totally and utterly marry Barack Obama, smelly morning breath, stinky socks and all.  Michelle knows that many women who are much younger and more attractive than me have had this thought and I'm sure she keeps a sharp eye on her handsome, intelligent, high-achieving man.  I envy their beautiful, down-to-earth partnership.

Submitted by StyleMePretty.

Autism Dilemma ... Update

It's been a while since I've posted.  I have so many excuses, but I think that my failure to maintain this blog property comes down to a critical character flaw that I'm trying to remedy ... laziness.  After 37 years ... strike that ... 38 years, I've come to realize that I'm lazy in so many ways.  Will I ever be able to beat lethargy?

At any rate, my husband and I recently decided to move back to his native country of Ecuador.  Being concerned about the lack of access to health care for many people there and the lack of hygiene, we made the difficult decision of immunizing little Zander against measles, mumps and rubella.  We (meaning: me) had been putting the decision off, and trying to find a way to have the shots administered separately.  However, BIG PHARMA doesn't sell the shots separately, so we had no choice but to go the route of the triple shot.

About nine days ago, our family doctor - who has been pushing vaccines anyway - gave Zander the MMR vaccine and we expect to have the varicela administered within the next week or so.

Similar to the ironic twist in my last autism-related post, Zander was supposed to receive his varicela vaccination today.  However, he developed a high fever yesterday, which continued today.  Low and behold, when we took him to the doctor, we found that the fever is possibly related to his MMR shot.  I'm trying to remain positive rather than fearful.

Other this alarming development, I haven't noticed any changes in Zander.  He seems to be his normally energetic, quirky self.  Let's hope that he remains this way and develops as he should.

Vaccines, Autism and ... a Dilemma

God seems to be beating me up with the irony stick.  Today - of all days - The Times of London published an article reporting that Dr. Andrew Wakefield's study linking autism and the MMR vaccine was based on falsified data.  According to the Sunday Times investigation, the research published in an article in the February 1998 edition of the medical journal Lancet was based on twelve cases, and Dr. Wakefield even lied about the ailments of the few children who were part of his study.

Fast forward to approximately one hour after having read the article.  My husband called to tell me that our son's daycare had sent him home with a note threatening expulsion if we didn't prove that all of our son's shots were up to date.  My husband and I, like many parents, have been hesitant about giving our son the MMR.  He doesn't have this vaccination, and I had also balked at getting him the PCV (pneumonia) and flu shots which the state of New Jersey requires.  And, despite the investigative report by The Sunday Times, I remain skeptical.

So, I've decided to ... Well, apparently, the state of New Jersey like many states also has medical and religious exemptions to the vaccine requirement.  I've decided to draft a religious exemption and submit it to the school.  I'm a member of a fairly ... very liberal religious denomination.  I could probably cite a few of its tenets to support the notion that our religious beliefs don't permit vaccination of our son.  Even so, I feel a tad guilty.  But, I have to protect my son.  Right??

Not So Proud to be an American

CNN reports that a Muslim-American family was removed from an AirTran Airway flight on Wednesday after passengers became alarmed hearing members of that family discuss the 'safest' seating locations on the airplane.  Even after having been cleared by the FBI, AirTran refused to rebook the family on another flight and has prohibited them from traveling with the airline again. 

These are the moments when, as an American, one feels shame.  This is not the way to treat our fellow citizens or, for that matter, visitors to our country.  According to a statement by one of the eight traveling family members, "[They] were (discussing whether it was safest to sit near) the wing, or the engine or the back or the front, ..."  This is not such an unusual conversation among literate people, even while traveling aboard an airplane.  Popular Mechanics cites a statistic showing that people sitting at the back of a plane have a forty percent greater survival rate in an airplane crash as compared to their fellow passengers.  I've had similar discussions with friends and family members regarding airplane seating locations.

This family - and a Muslim friend incidentally traveling on that same flight and who had been seen speaking with family members - had their travel plans interrupted, were questioned by the FBI and barred from flying AirTran for ... having a discussion about statistics?  These were sane, rational people having a possibly warranted conversation.  However, the paranoid, non-Muslim people surrounding them saw terrorists.

This is a sad and shameful day.

 

Racial Politicking at Its Best: Blago and the Burris Appointment

When it comes to politics, Chicago is like the gift that keeps on giving.  On the one hand, we have Chicago politics at its finest, having given the nation a great senator and President-elect Barack Obama.  On the other hand, we have Governor Rod Blagojevich and his arrest on charges of soliciting bribes for appointments to the president-elect's senate seat.  If anyone thought that Blago was going to go quietly, they sure have got another thought coming.

Despite calls for his resignation or impeachment and resistance to any Blagojevich senate appointments, Governor Blagoevich showed himself to be a master of racial politics by selecting Roland Burris to fill the senate seat formerly held by the president-elect.  Similar to calls for New York Governor David Paterson to appoint a woman to replace Senator Hillary Clinton in the event of her confirmation as Secretary of State, there had been calls - although in, perhaps, slightly more hushed tones - for the appointment of an African American to replace the President-elect.  While Roland Burris from all accounts is eminently qualified to hold the office, this move by Blagoevich appears to be nothing but a crude attempt to divert attention away from himself.  Unfortunately, Mr. Burris will enter the Senate under quite a cloud.

Madoff Scandal: As with most scams, greed a prime factor

Granted, no one who was defrauded by Bernard Madoff's ponzi scheme deserved to be victims of his criminal acts.  However, the saying goes 'anything that's too good to be true, usually isn't'.  This was an investment promising consistent returns - and consistently high returns - in good times and in bad.  Anyone thinking beyond trying to make an extra buck could have seen that something was amiss.  Ben Stein has a great column here discussing the greed and stupidity of Madoff investors.

Memorable Political Moments of 2008: BUSTED IN ALASKA: Senator Ted Stevens Found Guilty

Almost immediately prior to the November 4 elections, news on the CNN Political Ticker - Stevens verdict likely to inch Dems closer to 'magic 60' - brought to mind that great classic blues tune "What a Difference a Day Makes".  I could clearly hear Dinah Washington's smooth, dulcet sounds - "Twenty-four little hours, Brought the sun and the flowers".  We all had a sense of where the presidential election might be going since the economic crisis and Governor Sarah Palin's woeful ignorance made evident that Senator John McCain didn't know much about finance or economics and wasn't great at making decisions under pressure.  However, no one could be sure of the electorate making the correct decision, especially with all the 'Joe the plumber'-'spread the wealth'-'marxist' sturmundrang. 

The conviction of the senior senator from Alaska - and former political ally of Governor Palin - put another nail in the McCain/Palin coffin.  For so long during the presidential campaign, the GOP had been playing a nasty game of guilty by association - see Bill Ayers.  And, karma came right back and bit Governor Palin in the tukhas when Senator Stevens was convicted of concealing more than a quarter of a million dollars in house renovations and gifts from an oil services and construction company.  Granted, Democrats didn't make it to the 'magic 60', but at the time this news was beautiful music indeed.

Note: What's particularly great about the following clip is the little known actor-turned-president introducing Ms. Washington.