Health "Care"

"Just nine people accounted for nearly 2,700 of the emergency room visits in the Austin area during the past six years at a cost of $3 million to taxpayers and others, according to a report. The patients went to hospital emergency rooms 2,678 times from 2003 through 2008, said the report from the nonprofit Integrated Care Collaboration, a group of health care providers who care for low-income and uninsured patients."

Wickywoo

Same-sex couples are legally marrying in California.

I haven't seen any summer movies yet. No Indy, no Sex & the City, no Ironman. I know. I know.

FDA still isn't sure about who/what/where in the recent salmonella outbreak on tomatoes.

Who will replace beloved Tim Russert at NBC?

It's been one week since you looked at me...

My bicycle accident wounds are healing nicely. The one on my wrist is still a bit of a pain, but it's improved greatly over the past seven days. My chin is no longer discolored but it is still tender to the touch. Now I feel more like a teenager with an unfortunate blemish, not a biker bar brawl victim.

Baby G, on the other hand, is still recovering from her bike accident on Monday night. (Yes, we do everything together, even fall off bicycles. Muskrat love...not!) She was a bit more hardcore than me, her wounds required 11 stitches. She'll be okay, though!

Seriously?

Bubonic Plague (aka, The Black Death, The Plague, etc) is apparently on the rise again.

Put that slice down!

No, not you. You, with the frozen pizza! It may have been contaminated with e. coli.

Friday wrapup

LadyBird Johnson is heading home after a hospital stay. Glad you're feeling better, Bird!

The Supreme Court took yet another giant leap backward, ruling that race cannot be considered in school integration policies.

Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that iPhone is here. A bunch of tards lined up in the rain to be the first to get their hands on one. When they go home, they'll never need to leave the house again.

Baby G and I are taking a loooong weekend, as in we're off until next Thursday. Schweet. Enjoy your 4th of July festivities.

Oh, and Chief Justice Roberts is WAYYYY more conservative than anyone was led to believe. I didn't like him before, but now I really don't like him.

Gattaca is closer than you think

Radar just published this article about genetic testing, how some parents are choosing particular traits for their offspring pre-conception. Creepy.

I find it intellectually interesting that one could potentially screen out children that would suffer from colon cancer, but at the same time I am petrified that the world really could become overrun with identical towheaded model-types.

[shudder.]

I can only imagine that in the next 20+ years, the 'regular' babies born today will be pumping out genetically 'perfect' babies of their choosing. Hell, they'll probably just grow babies in a big field and harvest them like corn cobs. It's one thing to research DNA to figure out how to regrow someone's arm or cure cancer, but screening out "imperfections" like brown skin, gayness, short stature, or freckles is really just an exercise in eugenics.

More on the HPV immunization hooplah

NYT reports that 20 states are "racing" to make immunizing young girls against the potentially-cervix cancer-causing virus, HVP, mandatory. While I think making this particular vaccine "mandatory" is premature, that's not my real problem with the issue. My problem? Read on:

"In Texas, Gov. Rick Perry recently issued an order that girls be vaccinated. But some legislators are trying to overturn the order, with some opponents complaining because the governor’s former chief of staff is now a lobbyist for Merck. State lawmakers are scheduled to hold a hearing Monday on a bill to rescind that order."

Will someone please tell Perry to get out of bed with anyone who waves money in his face? It's getting embarrassing.
Well, more embarrassing.

Vote for me! I'm an idiot!

Senator Joe Biden recently described rival presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama as "The first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy...I mean, that's a storybook, man." Oy. Surely there was a better way to say what you meant, Sen. Biden? Not like Biden had any chance of scoring the nomination anyway...

In other news:

• JK Rowling says HP7 will be released on July 21st! Get out yer robes and wands and prepare to dork out! Woot!

• Some Texas Legislators & Gov. Perry want all Texas girls vaccinated against HPV. I find it odd that a legislature that passively supports abstinence-only sex education in schools wants to make it mandatory for girls to be vaccinated. Drug maker Merck apparently has its icky hands in this pot... hmmm, I wonder why? The shot is not cheap (around $130 a shot) and there are 30 different kinds of HPV. It's good that legistlators want to protect girls; however, there are many more practical things they could be focusing on than this.

• A big ol' "DUH" to the UN panel that concluded humans "most likely" are the cause of global warming. Sheesh. And the sky is blue. Tell me something I don't know!

My Goals in 2006 (in no particular order)

1. Learn new skills such as paper arts, cake decorating, screenprinting, how to use Photoshop, and writing for publication, etc.
2. Learn how to successfully confront those that need confronting when necessary to resolve personal conflict. Stewing about things doesn't do me any good nor does it fix the problem. (Dell, you'll be getting a call from me very soon, you bitches.)
3. Get out of the house more (i.e., go for a walk, play badminton, etc).
4. Eat a vegetable (or two) every day. I had sugar-snap peas last night...yum!
5. Drink more water and much less alcohol. I don't want to look like I'm in my 50s. Not until I'm actually in my fifties, that is. (Or in my 70s...that'd be even better.)
6. Open a savings account. I'm a fucking grown up for crying out loud! (At least that's what my driver's license says.) I should take personal responsibility for my financial well-being.
7. Get some actual honest work done on my (& Baby G's) comic. We've been talking about it for like seven years. We finally got one good story idea fleshed out and things halted again. Yo, Guanaco, we've got a date at the drawing board.
8. Don't take it personally when friends flake out. Things happen, life gets in the way. There will be other occasions and other friends. I should also be more pro-active in my appreciation for non-flaky pals. Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving --- Mame.
9. Learn to meditate. A mind is a wonderful thing to space.
10. Develop a closer relationship with my siblings. You hear that, kids? You're on my list! (Well, you were always on my list but now it's public.)

You'll notice these are not resolutions. I hate resolutions. These are goals. Attainable goals. Climbing Mt. Everest can go on the list once I get #3 nailed down.

I'd also like to give a shout-out to Booklahver: Glad you're back! I've missed you so!

UPDATE: Gentle Readers, don't worry about #8 of this list. I wasn't trying to be sly or passive-agressive here...I simply wanted to state that I'm not going to be taking things so damned seriously in the people dept this year. Like I said above, things happen, life gets in the way. It's my way of saying I'm going to stop being so uptight in general. Good times!