March 31, 2012

The Strange Fruit of the Trayvon Martin Case

It seems with the sad story of Trayvon Martin, we have turned yet another corner in our country and headed toward the past. The hatred is palpable, the discontent sits bubbling on the surface, ready to spill over. All the fears are embodied in this one case - and in the dead body of this one young man. Has it always been like this? Did things ever change for the better? Coming up on the anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., are we that country still?

I don't know if, as I suspect, this rise in white-on-black crime is related to the sheer hatred of the right wing toward our sitting President. I can't prove that, I have no numbers or data. But I know from a personal perspective, it wasn't long after the 2008 election I began hearing co-workers talk about conspiracies to put people in camps, armed militias, stocking up on guns and bullets, and preparing for "the coming war" headed by this 'dangerous' President we had elected, who would destroy our country if not stopped. It looks to me, as if the 'war' they were predicting is coming to fruition.

I feel fear, terror, shame and sorrow in my heart for this road we are traveling down, yet again.

A poster at Daily Kos feels this war began long ago and includes chilling video and horrific statistics:

We are truly at a tipping point. Just based on the despicable comments I've seen from people I grew up with, people I've worked with, people I know, it seems we're back in 1955. One wonders if we really ever left it. Only the mechanism of killing has changed. The smearing of Trayvon Martin has risen to a fevered pitch and shows no signs of letting up. The people doing the smearing hold fast to their beliefs that an unarmed child, much like our president, is one of "the others".

Guns are the new ropes. And gun laws, passed in states from coast-to-coast, are the new hanging trees. This time the strange fruit lies on the ground.

Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck
for the rain to gather
for the wind to suck
for the sun to rot
for the tree to drop
Here is a strange and bitter crop - Strange Fruit, Lewis Allen

March 31, 2012

Diapers and Spoon-Feeding. Really, Robert?

I know this is old news by now. But I can't get over what Zimmerman's brother said. So I have to get this off my chest.

This is to you, Robert Zimmerman, Jr. You said, among other things:

"George was out of breath, he was barely conscious, his last thing he remembers doing was moving his head from the concrete to the grass so that if he was banged one more time he wouldn't be wearing diapers for the rest of his life and being spoon-fed by his brother," Zimmerman Jr. said. "There would have been George dead had he not acted decisively and instantaneously in that moment when he was being disarmed by his assailant."
http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/Brother-George-Zimmerman-Was-in-Life-or-Death-STruggle-With-Trayvon-Martin-145132835.html

Diapers, really? Spoon-fed? This is what George was thinking in that "life and death struggle" that got his adrenalin surging enough to miraculously recover and shoot the guy who was beating his head against the concrete?



Barely conscious, seriously? You mean.. this guy??



So, the kid trying to get home with candy "snuck up on him"? Snuck up on a guy who was so paranoid he called 911, chased a kid because he was wearing a hoodie, called him an ""F-ing Coon" and said, "these assholes always get away". That guy turned his back and let the dangerous thug sneak up on him? Really?

"The Mythology that George chased a person is false." OK. So, he got all the way behind Trayvon's apartment, how?

The other thing I'm wondering, Robert, is it true you hadn't spoken to the brother, whose dying thought was that you were going to spoon-feed him and change his diapers, in two years? Because your brother's own attorney said you hadn't spoken in two years. Why would he say that, I wonder?

One thing you said was true, however: "The Tide has Turned." Indeed it has, for Trayvon Martin and his family.


(pic is symbolic)

As Jack Nicholson's character said in 'As Good as It Gets': "Go sell crazy somewhere else. We're all stocked up here."

One last thing: We'll stop trying this in the court of public opinion when your brother is tried in front of a Jury. Not one minute sooner.

March 29, 2012

Ann Coulter Spews Hate and Gins up the Base Against Trayvon

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=50511

Apart from that, pretty much all that is known with certainty is that Zimmerman called the police to report a suspicious character in his neighborhood, and shortly thereafter he shot and killed Martin.

On the basis of little else, the media conjured a Hollywood script: A "white" man was "stalking" a little black kid -- who could be Obama's son! -- confronted him, beat him senseless as the small black child screamed for help, and finally shot the kid dead, "just because he was black."

Two weeks of nonstop hysteria later, it turns out that every part of that gripping plot is based on nothing that could be called a reasonable assumption, much less a fact.

Now, I would never read anything this hate-monger writes, had it not been for a posting I found on my FB page this morning which left me absolutely dumbfounded. The poster had read Coulter's rant and posted the following:

I am over Tyrone in Florida. All this is to much. Where were all these people when 2 innocent white kid got tortured and killed in Knoxville and now the parents have to sit thru another trial. TYRONE FAMILY GET OVER IT. WHAT WAS HE DOING IN THAT NEIGHBORHOOD ANYWAY....

Needless to say, the ranting poster got Trayvon's name wrong; and after that, told the parents to "get over it" and wondered what "he was doing in that neighborhood anyway".

This is the kind of hate and ignorance we are dealing with. This is the racial divide that is getting worse by the day. This is what the right wing is counting on. I don't think I am alone in my fear for this country. The racism is bubbling to the surface and is only going to get worse as Election Time draws near. Because their worst fear is four more years of a black President.

They're not even bothering to hide it anymore.

March 25, 2012

Cheney Followed the UNOS Rules. Stop the Insanity Please.

I have been totally flabbergasted at the number of horrible, hateful, reactionary posts here that assert things that simply are not true.

We have good discussions here. DU has been out front on SO many issues and people come here to "check the pulse" of the Democratic Party. Do you REALLY want them seeing threads wishing DEATH upon anyone; wishing the withholding of medical care when we are supposed to be the party wanting Medical Care For ALL? Do you really want them to see the hate bubble over into the kind of insanity that we associate with the Tea Party?

I am not a Cheney fan. I don't like serial killers either. But when either one comes to my ER, or ends up as my patient in an ICU, I am obligated to care for them to the best of my ability. In this one instance, the man followed the rules. Yes, he had a good insurance policy. Most former politicians and rich people do. But he waited his turn. There are a HUGE number of factors that depend on when one gets to the top of the UNOS list. Cheney waited 20 months. During that time, his heart ran on a mechanical pump. He could have died at any time.

He did not leapfrog. He did not buy anything. He did not pull strings. Look at it this way: Maybe he'll live long enough to visit the Hague.

In 2010 he received an implanted device called a left ventricular assist device (LVAD). LVADs were originally intended as a “bridge” to heart transplant while someone waits for an available heart. However, in recent years the technology has improved to the point that people are living for many years with this device, which helps pump blood through the heart. In a previous interview after receiving his LVAD, Cheney had said that he was not sure if he wanted a heart transplant, but he had apparently been on the heart waiting list for 20 months.

LVADs have helped increase the amount of time people can wait for a heart. About 75% of people live for at least five years after a heart transplant, with 56% surviving at least 10 years, according to the National Institutes of Health.

The question is: how does someone in his 70s fare after such major surgery? Quite well, actually, and the latest research suggests that people over 70 do just as well as younger people after a heart transplant.
Cheney will likely spend one to two weeks in the hospital and then his doctors will watch him very closely over the next three months while his body continues to recover from surgery. If all goes well, Cheney should be able to return to his normal level of activity. In fact, with a brand new heart, the hope would be that he’ll be even better than before.

At any given time there are about 3,000 people in the U.S. on the waiting list for a heart transplant. But only 2,000 donor hearts are available each year. Do the math. There are many people in the waiting list that never receive a new heart and they die waiting for one. For those who are lucky enough to get a new heart, waiting times vary from days (for emergency situations) to many months, as in the case of Cheney.

One issue is finding a heart that is a match, meaning the genetic profile of the donor is a close enough match to decrease the likelihood that the heart will be rejected. Assuming the need is similar between two patients, the one who has been on the waiting list longer will typically receive a newly available heart.http://blogs.webmd.com/breaking-news/2012/03/dick-cheney-heart-transplant-whats-ahead.html

Here are the OPTN and UNOS Guidelines, which all hospitals follow: http://www.organtransplants.org/understanding/unos/

Patients on the waiting list are in end-stage organ failure and have been evaluated by a transplant physician at hospitals in the U.S. where organ transplants are performed. Policies that dictate organ allocation are created and revised through a consensus-building process that involves UNOS committees and a board of directors, all composed of transplant physicians, government officials, specialists in immunology and experts in organ donation, as well as donor families, transplant recipients and members of the general public. Any proposed changes to the organ allocation rules are openly debated and published for public comment before being implemented.

Specifics of waiting list rules, which can be seen at OPTN website, vary by organ. General principles, such as a patient's medical urgency, blood, tissue and size match with the donor, time on the waiting list and proximity to the donor, guide the distribution of organs. Under certain circumstance, special allowances are made for children. For example, children under age 11 who need kidneys are automatically assigned additional points. Factors such as a patient's income, celebrity status, and race or ethnic background play no role in determining allocation of organs.

Contrary to popular belief, waiting on the list for a transplant is not like taking a number at the deli counter and waiting for your turn to order. In some respects, even the word "list" is misleading; the list is really a giant pool of patients. There is no ranking or patient order until there is a donor, because each donor's blood type, size and genetic characteristics are different. Therefore, when a donor is entered into the national computer system, the patients that match that donor, and therefore the "list," is different each time.

The other major guiding principal in organ allocation is: local patients first. The country is divided into 11 geographic regions, each served by a federally-designated organ procurement organization (OPO), which is responsible for coordinating all organ donations. With the exception of perfectly matched kidneys and the most urgent liver patients, first priority goes to patients at transplant hospitals located in the region served by the OPO. Next in priority are patients in areas served by nearby OPOs; and finally, only if no patients in these communities can use the organ, it is offered to patients elsewhere in the U.S.

Can we educate ourselves and stop the hate.. please?

Let's not be THOSE people. We're better than this.

P.S. To those who think I don't believe Bush and Cheney should be held accountable for War Crimes, please see a very old Journal I posted here called "Let Them Atone": http://journals.democraticunderground.com/K%20Gardner/57

UPDATE: Just posted here in another thread as copied from a RW Blog: "The "debate," such as it is, can be seen in full force over at Democratic Underground. It is truly amazing how those enlightened, peaceful people would settle for little less than seeing Cheney crucified, drawn, quartered and burned at the stake - after a suitable three or four years of torture, that is."

UPDATE: Excellent ABC News Article on Cheney's age and medical condition and eligibility for transplant:
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/dick-cheney-heart-transplant/story?id=15998479

March 22, 2012

"If Trayvon Had Only Answered In an Appropriate Manner There Would have Been No Problem"

On Anderson Cooper 360 yesterday, I heard an interview that I had to search for on the internet and listen to several times to believe what I was hearing.

VIDEO: http://www.examiner.com/unsolved-cases-in-national/anderson-cooper-interviews-friend-of-trayvon-martin-s-killer-video

Cooper asked Taaffe to describe Zimmerman. He said, “George Zimmerman was a very congenial, amiable admirable person. He was very very kind to everyone in our community and I really appreciated and so did the rest of our residents that he stepped up and took over the position as neighborhood watch captain to ensure the safety of all the residents in our community.”

When asked if he was aware Zimmerman was armed with a gun, Taaffe said, “I was extremely shocked to the fact that he was carrying a gun, yes.”

Asked what shocked him most, Taaffe said, “The lethal weapon, it wasn’t George. As I said, he was a very congenial, amiable man. The use of a lethal weapon, a deadly lethal weapon, as the 9 millimeter that he used was very shocking to me. It didn’t fit the person.”

Cooper asked Taaffe to describe his neighborhood and to discuss if there had been burglaries. Taaffe said, “I have lived at Twin Lakes since 2006, July 2006. In the last 15 months, we have experienced 8 burglaries. One, which was perpetrated during the daylight hours. Most, the majority of the perpetrators, were young, black males.”

When asked to reflect on what’s happened, Taaffe said, “This was a perfect storm. You had a neighborhood that was experiencing extremely high tension and anxiety and with the burglaries we, pardon my phrase, we were a Defcon-5." Cooper brought up the topic of race because so many people have said they consider Zimmerman a racist and that Martin was shot because he was black.

When asked if he believes race played a factor in Trayvon’s death Taaffe said, “Absolutely not.” When asked why he felt so strongly he said, “George is not a racist. He was just performing his duties as watch captain. Whether it be African American, Latino, Asian, or white, he would’ve done the same thing. He would have approached the person and asked him 'What’s your business here?' and if he had just answered him in an appropriate manner, 'I’m just here visiting. My mother’s house is around the corner,' and be upfront and truthful, there wouldn’t be any problem.”

This is, without a doubt, the most shocking and reprehensible thing I have heard said to date about this case. Why Anderson did NOT followup on these outrageous statements, I cannot imagine. But this man CLEARLY is putting the blame on this murderered young man for his own death.

I wonder how many more in that community feel the same way. Evidently, the police there feel the same.

Absolutely outrageous.

Taafe was also quoted in an article as saying that after the housing crisis they had been forced to "rent to low-lifes and gangsters."

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/03/17/v-fullstory/2700249/shooter-of-trayvon-martin-a-habitual.html

Latest Taafe comment to MSNBC:

Taafe: "George was no Rambo. He was a caring person. It is really sad he has already been convincted by the public media and already sentenced to the gas chamber."

MSNBC: "Do you think he had anger issues?"

Taafe: "I think he had "Fed Up Issues. I think he was Mad as Hell and he wasn't going to take it anymore."

UPDATE: 4/3/2012: "You plant corn, you get corn." Taaffe back on TV, grilled by Soledad O'Brien: http://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2012/04/03/zimmerman-neighbor-fmr-neighborhood-watch-captain-prior-burglaries-were-by-young-black-males-if-you-plant-corn-you-get-corn/


(Also posted at Daily Kos)

March 21, 2012

Physician Speaks out About Forced T.V.U.S. and Civil Disobedience

This physician wrote anonymously and eloquently, and was hosted on John Scalzi's blog. The message needs to be spread far and wide, in hopes of encouraging other physicians to do the same.

http://whatever.scalzi.com/2012/03/20/guest-post-a-doctor-on-transvaginal-ultrasounds/

In all of the discussion and all of the outrage and all of the Doonesbury comics, I find it interesting that we physicians are relatively silent. After all, it’s our hands that will supposedly be used to insert medical equipment (tools of HEALING, for the sake of all that is good and holy) into the vaginas of coerced women.

Fellow physicians, once again we are being used as tools to screw people over. This time, it’s the politicians who want to use us to implement their morally reprehensible legislation. They want to use our ultrasound machines to invade women’s bodies, and they want our hands to be at the controls. Coerced and invaded women, you have a problem with that? Blame us evil doctors. We are such deliciously silent scapegoats.

It is our responsibility, as always, to protect our patients from things that would harm them. Therefore, as physicians, it is our duty to refuse to perform a medical procedure that is not medically indicated. Any medical procedure. Whatever the pseudo-justification.

It’s time for a little old-fashioned civil disobedience.

The physician goes on to list ways of legal noncompliance with the new forced transvaginal ultrasound laws. The post has sparked what John says has been his "busiest day since 2008" and has required him to evidently sit guard with an iron fist on the comments section, and turn off comments in order to be able to sleep. The comments and stories elicited there are amazing and heartfelt.

It sounds like a country united.

March 20, 2012

"We're Just Making it Less Comfortable for Women to Kill their Babies"

I posted this over at Kos, but wanted to publish it over here as well. Facebook is just a goldmine of GOP Idiocy these days. Always good to know what the "other side" is thinking ! I know there has been a post in Gen Discussion about this newest of Tennessee Idiocy, but this one is being voted on TODAY.

~~~~~~~~


This is the comment I just received on my FB page after I posted a link to the Pending Tennessee Bill that would publish doctor's names/addresses and identifying information about women undergoing legal abortion procedures.

This is the mentality of the WOMEN of the Republican Party who are falling in line with all the backward-trending laws being proposed in state legislatures all across the country. I just want to give a little glimpse into the mind of a Republican Evangelical Woman.

Here is the excange:

GOP Woman:"I think they are just trying to make it less comfortable for women to kill their babies. Thinking perhaps they might be more careful to use birth control? The goal is to prevent deaths, not to embarrass anyone. The woman has the RIGHT TO CHOOSE which way to go."

?ME: "Less comfortable for women to kill their babies"? You seriously said that. You seriously believe that it is "comfortable" for any woman to make that choice? As far as birth control, how are women supposed to use it when the Party you are obviously aligned with wants to take access to contraception away from women? Unbelievable.

GOP Woman: "Don't fall for the media's distortions. The ONLY women affected by the contraception discussion are those who choose to get their insurance through Catholic institutions. Baptists, Jews, or Athiests are not affected at all. The Catholic institutions NEVER DID offer contraception (because they believe it is a sin), so NO ONE had their contraception taken away, not one person. Only an idiot (useful idiot for the campaign strategists) would submit to such an institution, and then complain about their practices. Are you going to go to a Kosher deli and then complain because you cannot get a ham sandwich? Same thing. Please look into it. (BTW, condoms are free without making Catholics pay for them.)

GOP Woman Continues: Do you seriously think that this woman who chose to get insurance through a Catholic institution had her contraception taken away when they have ALWAYS thought it was wrong? Think it through. Look it up. You are being played for the sake of election year politics. Your own party is deceiving you and using you. (And you want more of them?) I would give you a link, but you might not trust the source, so look it up on your own. She NEVER had contraception through them (no one did), so NO ONE had it taken away. Ad hominem attacks are common when a person cannot argue from the facts.

GOP Woman Starts to Unhinge:"BTW, the constitution does not allow the government to force its religious beliefs (contraception) on others. I also think the publishing of personal info is probably an invasion of privacy, but they seem to be doing everything they can to try to discourage women from using abortion as birth control. It is telling how you jumped from the abortion issue straight to contraception. How about killing newborns? How about partial birth abortion? How about killing old people? Where do you draw the line? Does the line move? What ever happened to Thou shalt not murder? You can join 50 Catholic organizations, but if you believe killing babies is okay, you are no Catholic, and you deceive yourself."

It seems to me that all these barbaric bills, introduced from sea to shining sea, have been timed to explode like IEDs all around the country. Pundits and pollsters have seemed flummoxed that GOP Women are voting for Santorum and seemingly in favor of these medievil policies. Well, that's because they ARE voting for it, because they believe in it.

Never think we don't have a battle on our hands. We do.

I'm fairly sure this issue has been covered here, and this has been featured on MSNBC all day, but if you are wondering WTF is happening in Tennessee, read more below:

----------------

A Bill being voted upon today in the Tennessee State Legislature would require the publication of the names of doctors who perform abortions to a website. It would also require the following information about the woman receiving abortion to be published to a website: age, marital status, prior births, prior abortions, etc.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-tennessee-abortion-bill-20120319,0,3304370.story

"Although the bill states that patients will not be identified in the reports, it says the documents must include the woman's county, age, race, marital status, plus her number of prior pregnancies, number of prior abortions, the gestational age of the fetus, and her preexisting medical conditions. That, critics say, could make it easy to guess identities, particularly in sparsely populated rural areas."

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20120319/NEWS0201/303190022/TN-bill-mandates-publication-abortion-data

"The Life Defense Act contains two parts. The first would require doctors to have admitting privileges at a hospital near where they perform abortions, while the second would require the Department of Health to release more information on abortions, including the name of the doctor who performed the procedure and demographics about the women who receive them."

March 18, 2012

Why is the Fake Kenyan Birth Certificate Viral on FB and Free Republic?

Don't these freaking morons know BOTH the 2008 and 2009 versions were thoroughly debunked three years ago?

Or is there a brand new generation of Birther Racist Morons that have hatched from a pod somewhere?

Look at the comments under this picture, which has had nearly four dozen "shares"

http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=2815292417514&set=a.1071736829714.2011302.1114931070&type=1&theater

"OmGz! Why aren't the news outlets on this?!"

"Everyone should post this on their Pages..and get it out there! Seriously...we have his foot print now!

"I don't think this could possibly be real,,aren't they just "born in the jungle" over there???"

"ok, I not only hit share J.d. but I put the you tube video of them breaking the other one down on the computer. the poop is going to hit the fan on my page lmao"

"Well wherever he came from, he is definitely not born in the US. And I was just informed yesterday that his wife was to be disbarred?"

"the majoe news outlets are too liberal and most are NOT allowed to report this..."

"To even slightly think the kenyan muslim is doing a good job, is what's "stupid" And it was the "stupid" vote that got him elected in the first place. And it's "stupid" people who automatically jump to the "racism" arguement the minute anyone comes out against him. If hating muslims or muslim apologist and supporters is racist, then I am so, PROUDLY!!! Regardless of where he was born, he is still the worst president we have ever had,,, including Jimmy Carter!!"



Here is the thread on Free Republic where they are salivating over the 3-year-old certificate:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2857914/posts

"That is not the footprint of a human infant."

"I read an eye opening article on of all places, Pravda (it was linked on Drudge) that pointed to the reason why Hawaii is so key, and made me think the whole Kenya thing is a red herring. I think he was born in WA state, which would still make him ineligible for office."

"Perhaps this will make the political elite a little more careful in vetting future presidential candidates."

"Furthermore, that Obama was born in Hawaii does not make him a citizen. Obama is, arguably, not eligible for the Presidency because he is not a natural born citizen to parents who were citizens. More importantly, he is acting with hostility to U.S. interests domestically and abroad. But about half the American public still likes him, and will vote for the next socialist who comes along even if they toss him out for Romney this time around."



And here is the thorough debunking that took place in Feb of 2009:

http://www.calldrmatt.com/Myth_Busting_106-Barack_Obama_Birth_Kenya_Hawaii.htm#New_and_Improved

I'm hitting every FB post I can find with links to the debunking. I know this seems laughable to us right now, but we seriously can't let this crap go unanswered again. Agree? Or is it a waste of time?