In a recent political ad, Catholics Called to Witness (CC2W) tells Catholics to look at all of the issues facing America this November (including energy, jobs and the economy). Among these issues are gay marriage, abortion, and religious freedom/the contraceptive mandate. Near the end, the ad ( which has gone viral in the nearly three months it’s been out) says votes related to these three issues “will affect the future–and be recorded in eternity.” Personally, I thought the ad was right on point–abortion and the contraceptive/sterilization/abortifacient mandate are, in my opinion, two critical political issues this fall for any Catholic in good standing with the Church, and every Catholic should oppose gay marriage. However, this ad naturally drew controversy. One person who opposed the ad’s message was Frank Cocozelli, a New York City lawyer who writes for the liberal blog Daily Kos. Unfortunately, Cocozelli makes a couple of significant errors in his post, and is misleading at other points. First, Cocozelli says Catholics Called to Witness claims some issues (life, marriage and religious freedom) are “non-negotiable,” and indicates they are prioritizing the issues as an independent organization. This is technically inaccurate. While the group does say this in the ad, CC2W is merely repeating the Catholic Church’s official position on the matters. While the Church’s moral positions on issues that do not concern grave or intrinsic evils (such as those relating to immigration, health care and social justice) are to be heeded, the Church acknowledges that the complexity of the issue is such that the respective moral concerns may be addressed by a number of acceptable proposals. Thus, the Church defers to the “prudential judgment” of statesmen and policy professionals, without regard to partisanship. This deferential treatment is not given to gay marriage, abortion or contraceptives. Second, Cocozelli disputes claims that President Obama is anti-Catholic. While I think it is debatable as to whether or not the contraceptive mandate was specifically meant to target the Church, it is not debatable that the Church will likely be compelled to shut down its hospitals (about one-sixth of all hospital beds in the nation are Catholic), schools and other religiously-affiliated organizations across the nation should the contraceptive mandate be in place come August 2013. It is also fairly clear that the Administration misled Archbishop Dolan regarding the mandate in November 2011. Third, Cocozelli says “…there may be more going on here than using Catholic damnation anxiety as a tool to roll back marriage equality and reproductive rights. The video may also be part of a wider effort to eradicate public education.” Eradicate public education? To back this rather sensational accusation, Cocozelli cites associations the video’s creators have with several groups like the Home School Legal Defense Association (HLDSA). However, Jeremiah Lorrig, Director of Media Relations for HSLDA, told me the organization’s mission is to “promote parental rights so they can decide on the best educational choices for their children … public or private.” Michael Ramey, Director of Communications & Research for ParentalRights.org – another group targeted by Cocozelli – e-mailed me the following: “Millions of parents all over the country rely on public schools as the means by which they exercise their right to direct their child’s education. They will continue to do so under [our proposals]. Any charge to the contrary is ridiculous.” Fourth, the author writes that CC2W’s prioritization of ““the right of parents to educate their children… is a curious cause for a group of Catholic orthodox types to champion. There is nothing in Church teachings that make this a priority on par with any other social justice teaching.” This statement by Cocozelli seems at odd with the Church’s Canon Law, which among other things says “Parents must possess a true freedom in choosing schools; therefore, the Christian faithful must be concerned that civil society recognizes this freedom for parents and even supports it with subsidies; distributive justice is to be observed.” The statement also ignores this Catholic University of America speech by Pope Benedict XVI in 2008 in which he specifically highlighted the importance of education in and to the Church. Finally, Cocozelli says the ad explicitly implies damnation to hell if one votes for a candidate (i.e., President Obama) who supports the three “non-negotiables.” However, my viewing of the ad is merely that a voter who will support candidates in opposition to the Church on these moral and faith teachings will have to own that support–as they will have to own every act in their lives–when facing Christ at the gates of heaven. Before writing this post I managed to track down Cocozelli’s law office in New York to ask him about his knowledge related to the Church being correct on all matters of faith and morals. He explained that he was indeed raised Catholic, and indicated he felt social justice issues were paramount, as opposed to the non-negotiables described in the ad. I left my conversation with Cocozelli on cordial terms, and I think his intent in going after the ad was well-intentioned (as opposed to, say, this Daily Kos poster, who apparently believe the video’s message was organized by the Church’s hierarchy). Unfortunately, though, it seems his political viewpoints got in the way of the facts on a number of occasions, most importantly in ways that could mislead the reader as to how Catholics ought to make decisions on political decisions related to faith and morals. http://tinyurl.com/7l3hsbn
A journalist working for The Washington Post said she let a preacher die from a rattlesnake bite because the pastor had “decided to stand by what he understood to be the word of God, no matter the consequences. Lauren Pond wrote in The Washington Post that she chose to let Randall "Mack” Wolford “die as a man true to his faith,” rather than call for medical help. Wolford, 44, followed his father into the practice of handling snakes to prove faith in God, died last weekend after being bitten by a timber rattler on the thigh during an outdoor service involving the reptiles at Panther State Forest in West Virginia. A family member called paramedics only after Wolford allowed it, but by then it was too late. Pond, a freelance photojournalist from Washington, D.C., was among 25 people at the service and took photographs during the preacher’s last minutes. She had taken pictures of Wolford for the Washington Post Magazine last year. Wolford was pastor at Apostolic House of the Lord Jesus in Matoaka, W.Va. Unlike most snake-handling preachers, he embraced publicity, welcoming journalists and photographers, and even taking some on snake hunts as he tried to revive interest in his practice. “This is what I saw through my camera lens: Pastor Randy “Mack” Wolford, tossing and turning on the couch in his mother-in-law’s West Virginia trailer, suffering from the pain of a rattlesnake bite he had received earlier in the day,” Pond wrote in the Post. “Parishioners surrounding him in prayer in the stifling heat. His mother stroking his feet, her expression a mixture of concern, sorrow and, eventually, acceptance: This is how her eldest son — a legend in the local Pentecostal serpent-handling community — would die.” Pond said, “Camera in hand, I watched as the man I’d photographed and gotten to know over the past year writhed, turned pale and slipped away, a victim of his unwavering faith, but also a testament to it.” She said the preacher’s family “accepted his death as something that he knew was coming and something that was ultimately God’s will. The pastor believed every word of the Bible and laid down his life for his conviction, they said.” “Mack’s family wanted me to know that he was more concerned with helping people attain salvation than getting them to handle snakes,” Pond wrote. “In my mind, Mack’s situation was different from that of a starving child or a civilian wounded in war. He was a competent adult who decided to stand by what he understood to be the word of God, no matter the consequences. And so I’ve started to come to peace with the fact that everyone in the crowded trailer, including myself, let Mack die as a man true to his faith,” she wrote. “Perhaps Mack wanted me to be at that oppressively hot and humid park site to document the bite and its lethal aftermath. Perhaps he wanted me to witness his incredible display of conviction, so that I could share with the world a side of his faith that few have gotten to see.” http://tinyurl.com/6pgce5x
Can your risk of having a heart attack be lowered by eating dark chocolate? A study (May 31) by an Australian panel of experts said the antioxidant benefits of eating cocoa (or cacao) products show promise in decreasing stroke and cardiac events, while being more cost-effective. A team of experts looked at 2013 people with "metabolic syndrome" (high risk factor markers for heart disease and stroke). After following male and female participants over a decade, they discovered a positive statistical impact of eating dark cocoa. Using the data collected, the group said that for every 10,000 people, who ate dark chocolate products for 10 years, 70 non-fatal and 15 fatal heart attacks were prevented. The Australian team believes flavonoids have a role in decreasing the risk of cardiovascular disease. However, up to this point, the cost of treatment per person runs into the thousands. However, a 3.5 ounce block of dark cocoa costs about $42 per year. Over a person's lifetime, that translates into about $50,000 saved in out-of-pocket expenses. The cardiac-dark chocolate study was published in the British Medical Journal. It was funded by the Australian Research Council and popular drug-maker Sanofi-Aventis Australia. http://tinyurl.com/76oj2yj
With just one month until they expire, House Speaker John Boehner proposed a new plan to cover the cost of the $6 billion bill that would keep student loan interest rates from doubling from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent, to the White House. But nobody is ready to give him the super-hero cape at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
At a press gaggle Friday, Deputy White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest wouldn't acknowledge whether or not President Barack Obama was onboard with either of the new plans.
"What I can tell is that our policy folks are evaluating proposals that the Republicans have offered, and so we'll evaluate what they've offered and we'll take a look at it," Earnest said.
The White House even took a swing at Boehner, chastising him for sending "mixed signals" on the student loan issue.
Thursday, Boehner reportedly told his GOP colleagues that the student loan debate was phony and then hours later sent a letter to the White House outlining two new ways to maintain Stafford loan interest rates at 3.4 percent.
Earnest expressed admonishment for Boehner's choice of words among Republican lawmakers.
"The President certainly believes the prospect of increasing — of doubling the interest rate on middle-class students and their families is not a phony issue," Earnest said. " We're talking about adding $1,000 to the debt load of the average college student if we see these interest rates double a month from today. That's not phony. I understand that the Speaker of the House may have actually used even more colorful words to describe this issue, which is unfortunate. Hopefully, the Speaker, in the form of that letter, was indicating a genuine willingness to work with the President to solve this problem."
Sen. Mitch McConnell, who along with House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Senate Republican Whip Jon Kyl signed the letter Boehner sent, is optimistic Obama will support the new plans.
McConnell Spokesman Don Stewart says the White House should be jumping up and down considering the Republican leadership took a page right out of the president's own budget to finance the student loan bill.
"We took it straight from the president's budget, so I don't see why he would object," Stewart says. "The only people working on this bill that is supposed to be such a high priority are Republicans."
One of the plans Boehner outlined would require employees who pay into the Civil Service Retirement System or the Federal Employee Retirement system to contribute .4 percent more of their paychecks each year over a three-year period.
The other proposal revises Medicaid taxes, seeks to reign in social security overpayments and shortens the amount of time students have before interest starts accumulating on their student loans. Right now students don't begin accumulating interest on loans until they graduate. Under this program, students would only get 150 percent of their program's estimated completion time to finish their degree before interest starts to set in.
Matthew Chingos, a fellow at the Brown Center on Education Policy says, in other words, if you are in a four year bachelor's program, you would only have six years of subsidized loans. After that, interest will start accruing even if a student is still in school.
However, despite all of the controversy over how to pay for the bill, both proposals still only freeze interest rates for one year.
"All this does is set us up to have this stupid argument again in a year," Chingos says. "The cost of college is the real problem. They are capitalizing on popular sentiment on that." http://tinyurl.com/7dxtzxb
The National Spelling Bee of 2023 started out like any other, but controversy enveloped the contest when Suzy Hamilton, an 8-year-old from Tulsa, emerged as the new champion. Contestants had been getting younger for years; that was nothing new. But midway through the event it was discovered that Suzy was—in the words of one commentator—"amped." At the age of 4, suffering from seizures and severe attention and behavioral problems, Suzy had received an experimental new treatment: a neural implant that prevented her seizures and helped her to focus. As it turned out, the device also appeared to make her a prodigy at memorization, as her parents and teachers soon discovered.
Was this youngest-ever winner fully human or was she part machine? Was it fair for her to be in a competition with peers made of mere flesh and blood? The lawsuits soon hit the courts. A new battle over civil rights—over the very definition of the word "human"—had begun.
Sounds far-fetched? It isn't. Over the next decade, new implantable technologies will fundamentally alter the social landscape. We are fast approaching a milestone in the eons-long relationship between human beings and their technology. Families once gathered around the radio like it was a warm fireplace. Then boom boxes leapt onto our shoulders. The Sony Walkman climbed into our pockets and sank its black foam tentacles into our ears. The newest tools are creeping still closer: They will soon come inside and make themselves at home under our skin—some already have.
These tools aren't sinister. They're being created to solve real problems. Simply put, prosthetic limbs help people move, and neural implants help people think. But these days the technology can solve our problems and then some. Solutions may not only erase physical or mental deficits but leave patients better off than "able-bodied" folks. The person who has a disability today may have a superability tomorrow.
In my new novel "Amped," these implants create a class of superabled people whose capacities destabilize society at large, sparking a full-on civil rights movement. The book was inspired by watching super-enabling technologies creep into society through those who need them most, such as amputees and those who suffer from blindness, deafness or serious brain injuries. But such enhancements will almost inevitably become elective, and then we will face some tough decisions. Should we have an unlimited sovereign right to upgrade our own bodies? Or should such decisions be heavily regulated?
The conversation may be jump-started as early as this summer, on the glaring international stage of the Olympics. The poster boy for our superabled future is Oscar Pistorius, an increasingly famous South African sprinter who happens to have had both of his legs amputated below the knee. Using upside down question mark-shaped carbon fiber sprinting prosthetics, called Cheetah blades, Mr. Pistorius can challenge the fastest sprinters in the world. He is currently just one race away from representing South Africa in London.
Whether or not to allow Mr. Pistorius to compete is no longer the issue. In 2008, he was barred from competition by the International Association of Athletics Federations. He responded by putting together an all-star team of scientists who successfully lobbied to have the decision reversed. If Mr. Pistorius can qualify (he is currently the only South African to have beaten the Olympic qualifying time of 45.30 seconds for the 400-meter), he will become the first amputee runner to compete in the Games.
The scientists convincingly argued that the advantages of Mr. Pistorius using his Cheetah blades were offset by the disadvantages of being a double amputee. But prosthetic technology is quickly improving to a point where the balance could tilt the other way. The prosthetic of tomorrow, made of advanced materials like carbon fiber and titanium and controlled by brain implants that could provide intuitive neural control, may well be a living, breathing limb, complete with a sense of touch and the ability to react intelligently to a changing environment. In the highest echelons of sports, merely "able-bodied" athletes may no longer be able to compete effectively.
Such scenarios are likely to play out in a range of fields. Some people will consider the superabled to be cheaters, using technology to break the rules. Others will see them as tenacious contenders with the audacity to overcome grave obstacles. Regardless, the world will soon bear witness to an epic realignment of the relationship between "disabled" and "abled."
The issue is especially relevant to the thousands of military families now dealing with an influx of amputees returning from Afghanistan and Iraq. In many cases, young and physically active veterans are looking beyond fitting in, considering instead how to wring the maximum amount of performance from an array of prosthetic tools designed for tasks ranging from sprinting to ice climbing. http://tinyurl.com/7bj8fb7
Medical science efforts to harness the power of the immune system against cancer are beginning to bear fruit after decades of frustration, opening up a hopeful new front in the long battle against the disease. In studies being presented Saturday, researchers said two experimental drugs by Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY) significantly shrank tumors in some patients with advanced skin, lung and kidney cancers.
Especially promising was that the drugs worked against several types of cancer, researchers said of the early findings. Most of the patients whose tumors responded significantly to the treatment saw long-term results.
The new drugs empower the immune system to recognize cancer cells as an enemy and attack them, although the treatments can have serious side effects.
The immune system's ability to fight off the body's invaders has long been recognized against infectious disease. But cancer has largely escaped its reach and for decades fended off researchers' efforts to find a weakness. It turns out cancer shields itself by essentially putting the brakes on the human immune system.
Recent discoveries have led to advances in how to unleash the immune system, though one challenge has been to jump-start the body's defenses without injury to healthy, normal cells.
Researchers say the latest advances are beginning to trigger this process, and a host of other companies, including Roche Holding SA's Genentech unit, Merck, & Co. and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) PLC, are also pursuing the so-called immunotherapies.
In the studies released Saturday, only a minority of the more than 500 patients treated in the two studies benefited. But researchers considered the findings remarkable because the patients were in advanced stages of the disease, a time when sustained benefits are normally hard to come by.
Bristol-Myers's Yervoy for advanced melanoma was approved last year. That drug, which also employs the immune system, astonished researchers with its ability in more than 20% of patients to provide long-term survival in a disease that typically is fatal within months. Taken together, the findings are provoking excitement among researchers and the drug industry that immunotherapy has finally arrived as a viable cancer-fighting strategy.
"Those of us in the field really see this as a breakthrough moment," said Suzanne Topalian, a researcher at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and lead author of one of the studies. Both are being presented by Hopkins researchers at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology and published online by the New England Journal of Medicine.
Other advances in recent years include so-called targeted treatments that take aim at the underlying genetic mutations that fuel tumor growth—drugs like Roche Holding AG's Zelboraf for melanoma.
Encouraging data are also expected this weekend for an approach in which potent doses of chemotherapy are linked to antibody drug such as Roche's Herceptin to deliver chemo more directly to the tumor like a guided missile, to reduce the toxic side effects of chemo. http://tinyurl.com/6ngwvnb
The number of employment discrimination lawsuits under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has nearly doubled in the past five years and seen a sharp increase in recent months, federal court records show, as the definition of “disability” has expanded and what many believe are baseless lawsuits are filed.
The increase follows changes to the law in 2008, when Congress said that courts had interpreted the definition of “disability” more narrowly than it desired.
In the last fiscal year, disability-related complaints lodged with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) also rose to their highest level, at 26,000, and payouts to complainants through that process nearly doubled to $103 million compared with the figure from 2007. That does not include money paid out to those who took their complaints to court.
The flood includes more frivolous claims than ever: Despite the broadened law, the EEOC saw the highest percentage yet deemed “no reasonable cause” last year.
The rise also comes as federal agencies have added more stringent requirements for disability accommodation and offered expanded interpretations of what it means to be disabled.
In December, the EEOC drafted a letter warning that some employers could be violating the ADA by requiring a high school diploma, explaining that in some cases the requirement “‘screens out’ a person who is unable to graduate because of a learning disability.”
Earlier this year, the Justice Department ruled that all swimming pools open to the public had to have elevators, lifts or ramps to accommodate wheelchair users. With a March 15 deadline to comply, the Justice Department issued a 60-day stay for hundreds of thousands of public pools that had been required to install the ramps and lifts or face lawsuits, then retreated further, promising that it would be “flexible” in enforcing the rules, in most cases going after only new pools.
The ADA Amendments Act of 2008 undid a court precedent requiring judges to take into account “mitigating measures” that treat disabilities, effectively saying that hearing-impaired people are not disabled if they wear hearing aids that restore hearing. Attorneys for employees say those measures don’t entirely undo a person’s disability. http://tinyurl.com/6oorjph
The global incidence of cancer may rise more than 75 percent by 2030, led by developing countries, according to research published today in the Lancet journal. The number of people with cancer in 2030 may rise to 22.2 million, or 0.3 percent of the global population, from 12.7 million in 2008, according to research led by Freddie Bray of the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France. The projection is based on the United Nations’ population forecast, the IARC’s database tracking cancer incidence in 184 countries and expected increases in the rates of colorectal, female breast, prostate and, in high-income countries, lung cancer in women. While improving living standards in lower-income countries may lead to a decrease in infection-related cancers such as cervical and stomach cancer, that may be offset by a surge in the types of cancer associated with smoking, obesity and diet which currently affect mainly richer countries. Poor countries, as measured by the UN’s Human Development Index, may see a doubling in the incidence of cancer to 490,000 in 2030 from 2008, according to the study. “This study underscores the diversity of cancer as a worldwide occurrence and the extent to which the disease patterns differ from country to country,” the authors said in the article. Targeted interventions are needed to “effectively control the prevalence of lifestyle factors including tobacco avoidance and cessation of smoking, a reduction in alcohol consumption and obesity, and the promotion of increased levels of physical activity.” The richest countries currently bear much of the cancer burden, with almost 40 percent of the global incidence occurring in these countries, while having only 15 percent of the world’s population. The most commonly diagnosed cancers in these areas are colorectal, lung, female breast, prostate and stomach. http://tinyurl.com/6u2ucp5
House Republicans will look to pass legislation next week that they say will help lower healthcare costs, something the GOP says the 2010 healthcare law has failed to do so far. Republicans plan to bring up the Health Care Cost Reduction Act, H.R. 436, which combines three bills Republicans have proposed over the last year. First, the bill includes language proposed by Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-Minn.) that would repeal the medical device excise tax that was established in the healthcare law. On the House floor Friday, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said this language is important for jobs and innovation in the medical device industry. Paulsen's bill is the vehicle for the other, additional elements. One of these is language from Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-Kan.) that would allow over-the-counter drugs to be expensed under health savings accounts. And finally, the bill includes a proposal from Rep. Charles Boustany Jr. (R-La.) that allows people to access unused medical savings account balances. Boustany has said the "use it or lose it" aspect of these accounts has made many hesitant to establish them. http://tinyurl.com/7dsg8zk
The leader of one of the country’s most politically powerful unions said Thursday that national Democrats could have done more in the Wisconsin recall race. Gerry McEntee, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), said more could and should have been done in the effort to remove Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) from office by the national party. Recalling Walker is of huge importance to labor, who became a conservative hero last year after facing off with unions over public workers’ collective bargaining rights. “We think that there could have been more responsibility, more work on behalf of the national Democratic Party. I think the Democratic Party in Wisconsin did basically everything that they could and can,” McEntee said. “We think they could and should have done more.”McEntee said there was still an opportunity to help with the recall effort against Walker. “I think it's only logical to say that if you think they could have done more then that it has hurt a bit. If they did more, it would have helped some more. I think that did hurt a little bit,” McEntee said. AFSCME, along with many in labor, has put serious resources into the race in which Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett (D) is challenging Walker. McEntee said the public sector union made a bigger financial commitment just last week to boost its political program in the state. “Matter of fact, we put a million dollars more in there last week in Wisconsin to try to fill up our budgetary hole that was necessary to complete our program in Wisconsin. And we did, and we did it well,” McEntee said. There has been friction between unions and Democrats over how much support the party has put into the recall effort against Walker. Melanie Roussell, a spokeswoman for the Democratic National Committee (DNC), said the DNC and Obama for America’s (OFA) support for Barrett is “substantial,” saying the party’s investment in political infrastructure for Wisconsin this election cycle is nearly $1.5 million. Roussell also noted that Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), the DNC Chairwoman, hosted a fundraiser for Barrett and has campaigned in Wisconsin. Former President Bill Clinton will also be campaigning with Barrett. http://tinyurl.com/874gz6r
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