Idaho senator Larry Craig is back in the headlines again. I guess he thinks that people are stupid, but that is probably how most in Washington view Flyover Land. To refresh all concerned's memories, Larry Craig was dancing in a bathroom stall in the Minneapolis Airport. He got caught, "panicked" and plead guilty to some sort of solicitation/lewd conduct charge. Then he announced he was resigning. Then he changed his mind about both his resignation and his guilty plea. I don't really care what he was or was not doing in that bathroom. If he's gay or not gay, who cares. I don't, other than the fact that he is quite the hypocrite. He apparently made a career out of bashing gays (according to this month's Cosmo, that could be a warning sign your guy is gay), and I think it would be sweet sweet irony that he in fact is gay.
What concerns me about this case is the fact that this man is an elected official. He is in charge of making laws that affect all Americans. This is his job, his career, his vocation. What he decides affects all of us, even if we don't live in Idaho. The fact that he is now reconsidering how he participated in the judicial system (and if you watch enough Law & Order reruns, you have a clue how it works) and has withdrawn his guilty plea. Since he is a Senator, it is as if he wants preferential treatment.
Do you think that the average American would be able to withdraw a guilty plea the same way? It is another example of how power and influence can corrupt out justice system. Don't get me wrong-I really am not a bleeding heart liberal-but I think that justice should be blind. It shouldn't matter how much money or power or prestige you have. No one put a gun to Sen. Craig's head and told him to plead guilty.
What really disturbs me the most about this foray into bathroom etiquette is the impact that this will have on the younger members of our society. Its bad enough that they are exposed to sex and violence on regular tv and the 6 o'clock news, but now they can start asking questions about what it means to be gay and how to get out of a pleading. I want my son to grow up in an environment where the justice system means something. I want him to have respect for lawmakers. And most of all, I want him to be able to stand by his word. With role models like Senator Craig, its just another sign of the coming apocolypse.

We Americans have always prided ourselves as a nation in promoting our children as our future. We push for educational reform (through plans like No Child Left Behind), and do what we can to make sure our children will be competitive in the future marketplaces. The biggest failure we have for our future is the current health care crisis facing America. S-CHIP, the state based Children's Health Insurance Program  will expire at the end of the month. Currently, there is a stand off between Congress and President Bush. The biggest conflict is in regards to funding the program. Currently the plan is administered at the state level with federal funding supplementing the program at approximately $5 billion annually. The current Senate plan involves doubling the federal commitment, which is causing the stalemate.
S-CHIP is an important building block in a wall to provide health insurance to all Americans. This program fills the gap for children whose parents make too much to qualify for Medicaid, but will not be otherwise insured. It is reprehensible to think that millions of children may lose their medical coverage due to a standoff based more on partisan politics than what is right for our future. By scaling down or eliminating this program all together, children will be uninsured and this will cause our already strapped health care system to go into crisis overload.  Many families are currently just getting by and the cost of private health insurance is so prohibitive, most will go uninsured and pray that they (and their families) do not get sick.
Let's extrapolate this further. If parents do not have group health insurance through their employers, they have limited choices to get their children insured. They can purchase a private plan for either the whole family or just the child. This will run anywhere from $300-500/month for basic coverage. For most families in this situation, this is money that they do not have. If it is a choice between becoming homeless and starving vs. paying for health insurance, the best choice would be a roof over their heads and food in their bellies. Families who qualify for S-CHIP are working families. In order to qualify for Medicaid, the families would be forced to liquidate assets and no longer work. This would be disasterous for our economy.
If children do not receive adequate medical care from birth (preferably pre-natal care would be provided as well), there are so many other issues that come into play. If a child is not immunized, multiply by the number of children that will be dropped from the rolls, there is a very real risk that childhood diseases we thought were eradicated will make a comeback. If a child is not followed closely by a pediatrician, developmental delays may be missed, leading to being treated later-and possibly at a point where permenant damage may ensue. By having a primary care doctor, children won't get lost in the system, and problems can be identified early. Having that contact a doctor can see if a child is gaining too much weight (or not enough). Many problems that plague children-asthma, obesity-can be easily treated and managed. Studies have shown that children who do not manage their asthma miss more days of school, therefore fall behind academically and are at a higher risk of dropping out of school.
By denying children the health insurance coverage they need, it will impact this nation longer than this presidency or this congress. We can feel effects for an entire generation if we choose to forget these kids.

I have been hearing so much lately about autism. It seems everywhere I turn, someone is talking about the prevelance, what can be done to help, etc. It could be I am more sensitized since our son has been diagnosed as high functioning autistic. Not even five minutes ago I heard a public service announcement on the radio about autism, stating that 1 in 166 children will be diagnosed as autistic. This is a greater number than children diagnosed with any other life altering disease or disorder.
The bare bones reality is, more children than ever are being diagnosed as autistic. What is the cause of the spike in diagnosis? Is it due to better diagnostic tools? Or is there some more nefarious going on here? It is a poorly kept secret that school districts receive additional monies based on the number of special education students. Additionally, resource (what special ed teachers are now called) teachers tend to make 1 1/2 times more than a regular teacher over the course of their careers, (it might be due to having to teach a broader spectrum of students, or requiring additional education/training or it might be combat pay) at least in New York City and the greater New York metropolitan area. The pediatric specialty of developmental pediatrics is relatively new and their main focus seems to be on autism (since it is the fastest growing developmental delay). Careers seem to be built around the disabilty. Ten years ago, the rate of children being diagnosed as ADD or ADHD was skyrocketing out of control. Today, it seems that autism is the diagnosis du jour. Additionally, this seems to be an American problem. Other countries are not reporting the same increases in developmental delays that we are. Are only American children autistic? What is the correlation between nationality and diagnosis? In some cases, a child is diagnosed based solely on a questionnaire that the parents fill out. If you score a certain way on this form (and these are very subjective questions) then your child is autistic. I think that if you have an axe to grind with your child (for whatever reason) then you can answer these questions a certain way, and thereby influence a diagnosis. In some cases, its an excuse for bad parenting. My child simply can not behave properly because they are autistic. Its a free pass.
I am not denying that there are many autistic children out there, and that there needs to be research into the causes of autism. Additionally, there needs to be a broader treatment plan that is standardized for these kids. It seems depending on what doctor you go to, you can get a wildly different treatment plan. It should be like for any other childhood disease-develop a standard protocol so that parents who may need to move to a new area won't panic. If a child had cancer, there are certain standard treatments for that cancer. You could go to New York, Sioux Falls or Los Angeles and you would receive the same standard of care and relatively the same types of treatment. With autism, it varies from place to place and doctor to doctor. The very overwhelming fact is, if currently 1 in 166 children are autistic, one day they will grow up. What is going to happen when they reach adulthood?  Are we as a society going to have to put safeguards in place. How are we going to deal with an entire generation that has profound developmental issues? Most autistic children are unable to cope with deviation from a schedule/routine. How are we going to teach these children-when they become adults-to deal with change? Change is part of everyday life, and if they are unable to cope with it, how are they going to cope with society at large? Another big part of autism is behavioral issues. Many autistic children have meltdowns or massive temper tantrums to deal with the stresses of their lives. While in school they have a chill out area to prevent problems. Whats going to happen when they get to the real world? Are companies going to be mandated to use certain construction materials because they prevent sensitivities? Be required to have chill out rooms, or not use cubicles because they are limiting? Will restaurants be required to have noise free zones so as to avoid sensory overload? Will all restaurants, etc. be forced to provide specialized menus to meet the dietary needs for this generation of autism?
These are very real questions that need to be addressed. We keep diagnosing these kids, but we don't look forward to the future. How are we as a society going to provide for this generation? Will social security be overloaded in the future because of requests for disability? What about Medicaid? Our mental health system? Where do we go from here?

This past week has felt like 1994 all over again. The opposition (not very loyal) is in control of Congress, threatening stalemate. Hilary Clinton is talking health care. And most least, OJ is back in the news. There seems to be no end to this story, and is very disheartening to hear both talk radio hosts as well as cable news channels hyperfocused on OJ all over again.
It started with a media blitz last week by the Goldman family. I am truly sorry that they lost their son in such a horrible, brutal, public way. However, they might not realize that they are not the only people who have lost a child to violence. Ask the families of the 403 murder victims in Philadelphia who are suffering from the same unimaginable grief that both the Goldman and Brown families have been experiencing. It is always tragic when someone you love dies, and even more so when it is a senseless death. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, there will be many more families joining this unfortunate brotherhood of misery. The fact that the Goldman's have been attempting to profit (and I am sorry, but in my opinion receiving the blood money from the civil judgement is attempting to profit from death) and have published this book proves that the want to extend their 15 minutes of fame even more.

There are numerous stages of grief that you have to go through to heal. The Goldman family seems stuck in wanting to exact some sort of revenge on the person who murdered their son. I  could not imagine how difficult it must have been to go through the murder, and then the miscarriage of justice the public spectacle trial was-and waiting for justice. I can not put myself in their position, but it seems greedy to publish a book that several months ago you were publicly bashing (not to mention the fact, quite hypocritical). The 17 cents that they are making per book sold really isn't the issue, its the fact that this book is out there in the first place.
By the end of last week, we were treated to another OJ perp walk. Apparently, this is another person who just doesn't know how to go away. He needs to crawl under a rock somewhere and just disappear. He isn't relevant anymore. Michael Vick would be wise to pay attention to OJ. This is what happens when you overstay your welcome in the spotlight. OJ went from being a celebrity to being notorious. Notorious is not a good thing.

Breaking into a hotel room (whether or not you were conducting a "sting operation" or not) when you are known for the involvement in the greatest media debacle of the last half century is never a good idea. Was he afraid that the LAPD were going to "plant evidence" of his involvement in this? Did he not think that he was going to get recognized? Did he not think that the people in the hotel room were not going to call the police? Hello??!! Are you that stupid? Or is it because he is an ex-athlete he thinks he can get a free pass?
Well, its 1994 all over again. The major media outlets seem to be all OJ, all the time. There is so much more going on in the world, and here we are listening to this drivel. Yes, I do remember where I was during the white bronco chase. I was sitting in my living room, watching the Knicks in the playoffs. It was looking like a sweet victory and then bam! we cut to OJ and the long slow chase. It was surreal, and even all these years later, my blood is boiling being reminded I was denied the privilige of watching the end of this game and subjected to that slow speed chase. At least if it were like most of the other chases on California freeways, it would have been interesting.
I think that the resurgence of OJ serves as an important reminder of the disintegration of our culture. We are being fed bread and circuses by the mass media. If we focus on OJ, we are going to ignore some of the other things that should be news-the continued disgrace that is New Orleans, the fact that there are millions of people in this the richest country in the world who are without adequate food, shelter and clothing, not to mention the health care crisis that is facing our country. If we focus on these trivial matters-like OJ-then we don't see what is really going on. Our economy is a precipitous place right now, and it can disintegrate at any moment, but we are being spoon fed news about a murderous, obviously very angry ex-athlete who doesn't understand that he is no longer relevant.

Yep, its deja vu all over again.

 

As a life long member of Gang Green, I do have more than a high level of suspicion regarding Bill Bellichek. Coach for a day, not even. The lack of civility towards the Manginious during their first meeting last season. Now this disgrace. I think it points more to a lack of morality in pro-sports in general, rather than just this particular incident. We have players, coaches, and other hangers on being indicted for possession of steroids, drugs and weapons. Players are being shot at and doing the shooting. And don't even get me started on dog-fighting. There used to be a time where our sports figures were heroes and legends. They appeared in public to live a life beyond reproach. Despite it being well known in baseball circles about Mickey Mantle being an alcoholic, no one publicly discussed it because it would let the kids down. Today, it would be all over the blogosphere. I think its a sad sign of the lack of morality and personal respect that these incidents go unchecked. Back to the topic at hand, I think the NFL should have taken even stronger measures to penalize the Patriots. It calls into question the accomplishments of a team over the last several seasons-how long have they been cheating? Did this cheating allow them to win several Super Bowls? Who was in on it? Did the players really know? Should all the accomplishments of say, Tom Brady, be wiped away because of his coach? The coach is the leader of the team-the general on the field. If he is corrupt, that is eventually going to filter down through the ranks. People will be questioning the water boy-is it really Gatorade in that jug? While the Patriots have played amazing football for the better part of this decade, it will be tainted now. Just as though Barry Bonds has never been formally charged with doping, there will always be that question surrounding him. And so it goes for the Patriots. What saddened me the most was the lack of apology and contrition from Bellicheck. It seemed during his press conference this week he was annoyed that he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. That sends a distinct message to the team, the fans, the league and the nation in general. Its OK to cheat, and if you get caught, its more so what than bending over and taking the beating

I have to admit that I was rooting for Team Britney. It all goes back about 7 or 8 years, when my sister was a fan in her tween years. That was sweet but sexy Britney, the one who wrote a book with her mom about being best friends. In the days before she became hoochie Britney (the infamous striptease on the MTV Awards way back when). She was on her way to become the next Madonna-not that great a singer, but very savvy with her image. She, like Madonna, knew that sex sells. Madonna even symbolically passed the torch to her with that kiss.Fast forward a few years...she gets married, gets divorced, breaks up a relationship and marries that guy, has a few kids (we won't get into her child raising skills), hillbillies herself out, chomps gum for Matt Lauer, divorces that guy, forgets her underwear, shaves her head, flips out, goes to rehab, comes out of rehab...and then this. What a capper to the last 2 years Britney Jean!In her defense, it was a good song. This is something that is getting a bit overlooked (much like saying that Big Ben is a nice clock). Too bad she didn't bother to learn the words to lip synch to. Or the dance steps. It would have been a better performance if the bikini outfit had a wardrobe malfunction. At least no one would be discussing her deer in the headlights facial expression. I think she needs to hire Joe Simpson as her manager (after all, she was wearing Jessica's weave). He has creative excuses why his proteges fail. Acid reflux? Check. Exhaustion? Check. All double dees and no talent? Check.
Poor Britney. She had no idea that her packaging was past its prime. Her music (or what passes for music) is very 1999. Like most child stars, no one really wanted to see her grow up-they lose that cuteness, what she sold us-I'm Not a Girl, Not yet a Woman. I'm sorry but 2 kids later, it no longer works. It was the hint of sexuality that made her famous, but after seeing all of the naughty Brits bits on TMZ, no one really cares anymore. We're onto the next trainwreck-next stop Amy Winehouse!-and Britney is ready for VH1's Where are they Now? compilation CD. Too bad she didn't know how to bow out gracefully.