The Value. . .

. . . of a life . . .

Patients infected with Hepatitis C suffer and  anticipate an early death.  Until recently, no 'cure' was possible.  Now, there IS hope.  What is stopping the treatment of these patients?  What is standing between life and death for sufferers of Hepatitis C? . . . you guessed it. . .

(from http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/05/12/307747798/boomers-need-pricey-hep-c-drugs-but-medicare-wont-always-pay)

". . .These new drugs are curing more than 90 percent of patients – virtually 100 percent in some . Just a few years ago, cure rates were 50 percent or less.

But there's a big problem: The cost.  Timothy Webb and other advocates protest the cost of HIV drugs manufactured by the pharmaceutical company Gilead outside an AIDS conference in Atlanta in March. Gilead is making a new hepatitis C drug, Sovaldi. . . " which costs $1,000 per pill.

". . . Sovaldi combined with another new drug called (Olysio) is highly effective in patients like (Walter) Bianco.  And the new drugs are easy to take. Bianco says the older drugs caused horrible side effects. "Just terrible itching, terrible headaches, nausea," he says.

But Medicare won't pay for the drugs that Vargas says Bianco needs.  Medicare officials wouldn't comment on coverage of new hep C drugs. A spokesman says the federal program turns such decisions over to private insurers that administer .

One of those private insurers has twice rejected Vargas's prescription because the Food and Drug Administration hasn't approved use of the two drugs in combination. (Last week Olysio's maker, the FDA for approval of the regimen.). . . "

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 The idea of keeping a journal appeals greatly to me, but I feel like 99% of what I enter is mundane, boring, trite and petty.  No Emerson or Thoreau am I.



(from wikipedia.com)
In appearance he was homely, with a nose that he called "my most prominent feature." Of his face, Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote: "[Thoreau] is as ugly as sin, long-nosed, queer-mouthed, and with uncouth and rustic, though courteous manners, corresponding very well with such an exterior. But his ugliness is of an honest and agreeable fashion, and becomes him much better than beauty." Thoreau also wore a neckbeard for many years, which he insisted many women found attractive. However, Louisa May Alcott mentioned to Ralph Waldo Emerson that Thoreau's facial hair "will most assuredly deflect amorous advances and preserve the man's virtue in perpetuity."

Thoreau contracted tuberculosis in 1835 and suffered from it sporadically afterwards. In 1859, following a late night excursion to count the rings of tree stumps during a rain storm, he became ill with bronchitis. His health declined over three years with brief periods of remission, until he eventually became bedridden. Recognizing the terminal nature of his disease, Thoreau spent his last years revising and editing his unpublished works, particularly The Maine Woods and Excursions, and petitioning publishers to print revised editions of A Week and Walden. He also wrote letters and journal entries until he became too weak to continue. His friends were alarmed at his diminished appearance and were fascinated by his tranquil acceptance of death. When his aunt Louisa asked him in his last weeks if he had made his peace with God, Thoreau responded: "I did not know we had ever quarreled.

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OHO's "Ocean City Ditty," the CD single is now available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oho4 
(and, if you're in town, at Trax On Wax on Frederick Rd. in Catonsville, MD). 


http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oho4 (and, if you're in town, at Trax On Wax on Frederick Rd. in Catonsville, MD). 

My latest solo release, Black & White Then Back,
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Unresolved, in fact . . .

Conclusions by both the FBI and NTSB are suspicious, at best, with regard to what really happened.
Some convincing evidence does exist but to date, no one has been held accountable for what appears to be an assassination.

 (from American Assassination; The Strange Death of Senator Paul Wellstone by Four Arrows and Jim Fetzer)
 ". . . Once again, Wellstone seems to have been a nemesis for big business.  However, Wellstone posed an even more significant and costly threat to corporate profit-making interests. He tried to enable the 2002 defense appropriations bill to bar corporate tax dodgers from being eligible for defense department contracts.  Additionally, he successfully amended the Homeland Security bill to bar those companies from getting contracts with the new "Department of Homeland Security." Both amendments passed on the Senate floor by voice votes.

After the November election - and after Paul Wellstone's tragic death - the final version of the homeland security bill gutted the Wellstone amendment. His bills were obliterated by enough waivers to assure that corporate lobby groups would indeed land the billion-dollar defense contracts we have now seen, especially in Iraq.  Similarly, a mental health reform Wellstone had championed, which would have required insurance companies to provide mental health coverage on a par with physical health coverage if their policies cover both, has been successfully blocked, one more indication that the loss of "the conscience of the Senate" continues to make a difference. . ."

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Life . . .

 . . after death. . .

Sun Ra LIVES!!!
Thanks to Marshall Allen and all these wonderful musicians.

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Things . . .

. . . we've ALL forgotten. . .

. . . conveniently. . .


The Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories have never been convincingly refuted.

Ted Kennedy's episode with Mary Jo Kopechne was never satisfactorily explained.

People actually praised Richard Nixon upon his death in spite of his suspicions, grudges, lies, deceit, vulgarity, mean-spiritedness and paranoia.

Mother Theresa is internationally revered even though her positions were ultra-reactionary and fundamentalist even in orthodox Catholic terms.

Ronald Reagan is viewed as a hero even though he single-handedly sought to destroy the credibility of the United Nations, spat in the face of international law, and brought misery and suffering to the oppressed working class across the world.

George H. W. Bush is deemed an innocent incompetent notwithstanding his incomplete triumph in the first Gulf War or the broken promise ("read my lips: no new taxes") which came to embody his Republican Party's unwavering commitment to perpetual tax cuts and staggering debt.  Instead, Poppy's legacy can be summed up in three words he introduced to enable Republicans and their conservative amen corner to brush off charges of their own corruption and law-breaking: "criminalization of politics."  From Iran-Contra, Plamegate and Tom Delay to the U.S. attorneys purge and his son's regime of detainee torture, 41's criminalizing politics defense  has been part of the GOP scandal playbook ever since.

The events of 9-11-2001 have never been fully investigated to the point that the 9-11 Commission's conclusions appear to be a coverup.

Barack Obama ran for president of the U.S. on the premise of change but has, in reality, changed very little of what the prior administration hath wrought.

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In Between. . .

Sometimes (especially at my age) life seems like a series of coping with bad things.  These things involve either a physical (although sometimes psychological) issue of my own or of others close to me, or sometimes death itself.  Not trying to be Debbie-Downer or anything here.  It's just how I feel sometimes.  

But in the meantime, I have to live my life to the fullest in between those times.  I must take advantage of all the good things and people in my life.  Living this way should and will strengthen me to cope better when the bad things do roll around. 

And I really don't want to be a pessimist because, as a good friend of mine often says, the glass is half empty AND half full at the same time.

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Sick. . .

. . . and tired. . .

. . . of Obama bashing, well, simply because he is Obama.  I’m not sure if it’s a subjective thing like, his face, his ears, his smirk or maybe even, (yes Virginia, I’m afraid it’s true) his color.   I’m just sick and tired of it.  I don’t want to hear about his birth certificate (if that’s a REAL issue which his haters were able to uncover but the election officials were not before the election to his first term, then the haters should be pursuing the election officials), his salary cut, his dogs or even, although they are beautiful, his kids.

Let me be clear.  I am not an Obama fan.  But none of the reasons above have anything to do with why I am not an Obama fan.  The reasons below however, do. . .

    •    20,000 Airstrikes (First Term) Cause Death and Destruction From Iraq to Somalia.
    •    Signed the NDAA into law - making it legal to assassinate Americans w/o charge or trial.
    •    Escalated the CIA drone war in Pakistan.
    •    Maintained a presence in Iraq even after "ending" the war.
    •    Sharply escalated the war in Afghanistan.
    •    Secretly deployed US special forces to 75 countries.
    •    Sold $30 billion of weapons to the dictatorship in Saudi Arabia.
    •    Opened up deepwater oil drilling, even after the BP disaster.
    •    Did a TV commercial promoting "clean coal".
    •    Signed the Patriot Act extension into law.
    •    Continued Bush's rendition program.
    •    Signed the Monsanto Protection Act into law.

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Easy. . .

. . . to verify. . .

After so much talk about guns, school shootings, deaths, children, the constitution, 2nd amendment, rights, militia, concealed carry, assault guns, automatic and semi-automatic, I've come to a conclusion.

Anyone who takes either side of the debate, but refuses to engage in meaningful discussion about, is clearly part of the problem.  They are part of the problem because they do not even want to begin to think about a solution.  (And if they do not think a problem exists. . . well, that's an entirely different story.)

This rant is honestly inspired by the existence of too many cutesy, Fox-news-y, tough-guy, on-line posts on social media regarding the issue.

Personally, I find gratification in facts.  Granted, one must always bear in mind the accuracy of the 'facts' they have received (in this on-line age this is all-too-easy) and verify same before actually BELIEVING them, let alone try to force them on all their social-networks 'friends.'

Want facts?  They're everywhere. . .
Hepburn, Lisa M. and David Hemenway. “Firearm availability and homicide: A review of the literature.” Aggression and Violent Behavior. Vol. 9, 2004: 417-440.
National Research Council of the National Academies, Committee on Law and Justice. “Firearms and Violence: A Critical Review.” The National Academies Press: Washington, D.C., 2004.
Average civilian ownership data for 178 countries: Small Arms Survey 2007, Chapter 2, Annexe 4.
UNODC Homicide Statistics. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. accessed 20 Dec 2012.
Annual Firearms Manufacturers And Export Report. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Report years 1998-2011.
Total NCIS Background Checks, Nov. 30, 1998 to Nov. 30, 2012. Federal Bureau of Investigations. accessed 20 Dec 2012.
Hemenway, David. Director of the Harvard Injury Control Research Center. Phone interview with FactCheck.org. 18 Dec 2012.
Wellford, Charles F. Professor, University of Maryland Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice. Phone interview with FactCheck.org. 18 Dec 2012.
Wintemute, Garen. Director of the Violence Prevention Research Program, University of California-Davis. Phone interview with FactCheck.org. 18 Dec 2012.
Robertson, Lori. “Violent Crimes and Handgun Ownership.” FactCheck.org. 6 Mar 2008.
Face the Nation. Transcript. CBS News. 16 Dec 2012.
“Facts: Gun Violence.” Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. Undated, accessed 20 Dec 2012.
Fatal Injury Reports, 1999-2010. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Undated accessed 20 Dec 2012.
Injury Mortality Reports, 1981-1998. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Undated accessed 20 Dec 2012.
Murder Victim, by Weapon. 2011 Uniform Crime Report. FBI. Undated, accessed 20 Dec 2012.
Definitions for WISQARS Fatal. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Undated accessed 20 Dec 2012.
Murder Victim, by Weapon. 2006 Uniform Crime Report. FBI. Undated, accessed 20 Dec 2012.
Table 15. Crime Trends: Additional Information About Selected Offenses. 2007 Uniform Crime Report. FBI. Undated, accessed 20 Dec 2012.
Table 15. Crime Trends: Additional Information About Selected Offenses. 2009 Uniform Crime Report. FBI. Undated, accessed 20 Dec 2012.
Table 15. Crime Trends: Additional Information About Selected Offenses. 2011 Uniform Crime Report. FBI. Undated, accessed 20 Dec 2012.
Nonfatal Injury Reports, 1999-2011. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Undated accessed 20 Dec 2012.
Nonfatal firearm-related violent crimes, 1993-2009. Bureau of Justice Statistics. Department of Justice. Undated, accessed 20 Dec 2012.
This Week with George Stephanopoulos. Transcript. ABC News. 16 Dec 2012.
“Major School Shootings in the United States Since 1997.” Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. Undated, accessed 20 Dec 2012.

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