"Immersion in the life of the world, a willingness to be inhabited by and to speak for others, including those beyond the realm of the human, these are the practices not just of the bodhisattva but of the writer." --Jane Hirshfield

Monday, February 26, 2007

To Blog or Not To Blog?

There are so many news items that I could scream volumes about, from forcing little girls to have poorly tested vaccines (thankfully abandoned for now), to theme parks that feature the illegal immigration experience. They're not writing related, so I try to limit myself to the occasional shocked mention with a minimum of ranting.

Otherwise, where would the screaming end?

Missile Shield Threatens Russia.
Fake Fur is real dog.
PBDEs in Breast Milk, Walter Reed hospital neglecting Iraq veterans, the Army denying them disability payments, claiming prior health issues. The list grows longer.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I hope they get the logistics of distribution worked out. IMO, it should be given out freely to all pre-teen girls. Those who oppose the distribution of this preventative series of shots have very typically been the type of right-wing, xian, pro-life folks I tend to strongly disagree with. Like passing out condoms in schools and sex education are not bad things, imo, preventing a series of clearly preventable HPV virsuses is a good thing. The rate of teenage girls presently infected w/HPV is ridiculous and this isn't just a problem w/potential cervical cancer, taking care of girls w/HPV can potentially lead to infertility. It's a huge issue for anyone with a daughter of this age. I hope the drug becomes available under any and all insurance plans and when it's not, that the government will foot the bill. Imagine having a course of treatment that could potentially keep you from getting a type of cancer? Everyone would sign up for it. Hands down.

Zen of Writing said...

That's supposing the vaccine really works, a big leap of faith, and that preventing HPV actually prevents cancer, another big leap. Studies find that HPV "is associated with" cervical cancer. That's as vague as saying that head colds are associated with small children. There's no causal relationship established. We're talking about a pharmaceutical company that wants to make money. I am glad the lobbying effort came to nothing.