Senators Restore Abstinence Education Funding

Just how stupid are these Senators? It's been proven that abstinence-only education doesn't work. So would someone tell me why two Democrats and all ten Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee voted to restore funding under the guise of "health care reform?"

A Senate committee voted Tuesday night to restore $50 million a year in federal funding for abstinence-only education that President Barack Obama has pushed to eliminate.

The 12-11 vote by the Senate Finance Committee came over objections from its chairman, Democratic Sen. Max Baucus of Montana.

Two Democrats - Kent Conrad of North Dakota and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas - joined all 10 committee Republicans in voting "yes" on the measure by Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah.

The measure would still have to pass the full House and Senate. Hatch said abstinence education had been shown to work, though Baucus disagreed. Obama had proposed in his 2010 budget to direct money spent on abstinence-only education to broader teen pregnancy-reduction programs.

An alternate measure offered by Baucus also passed. Baucus' measure, which passed 14-9, would make money available for education on contraception and sexually transmitted diseases, among other things, in addition to abstinence. Lawmakers will have to reconcile the two measures, both approved during debate on a sweeping health overhaul bill, as the legislation moves forward.

Geezz ... when will these idiots get it?

Republican Heath Care Plan: "Don't Get Sick"

I think Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) may be on to something here. He has certainly pegged Republicans for what they are -- greedy, heartless bastards.

Marie Osmond: So What if my Daughter's Gay?

Good for you Marie! And BTW ... you look fabulous!

Sen. Jon Kyl: Men Who Make Me Crazy

Kyl: I Don't Need Maternity Care In My Health Insurance.
Stabenow: Your Mom Probably Did!

Thank you Sen. Stabenow!

Sunday Funnies

Justice Ginsburg at Washington Hospital Center

The Washington Post reports:

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was admitted to the Washington Hospital Center Thursday after falling ill at the Supreme Court. Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg said Ginsburg fell ill after receiving an intravenous iron therapy. Arberg said Ginsburg felt better after being attended by a physician at the court, but was taken to the hospital as a precaution.

Ginsburg's health has been a concern since the 76-year-old justice was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer earlier this year. In February, doctors removed her spleen and a tiny tumor on her pancreas. Ginsburg said the operation was a complete success, and that she was cancer-free. She underwent what she called a precautionary round of chemotherapy in the spring, but never missed a day of the court's public sessions.

She has kept up a rigorous schedule of speaking engagements and work on the court and has said she does not plan to leave the court for years.

A statement from the court follows:

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was taken to the Washington Hospital Center this evening after feeling ill in her Chambers earlier in the day. The Justice felt ill at 4:50 p.m., about an hour after an iron sucrose infusion to treat an iron deficiency anemia that was administered at the Office of the Attending Physician.

The Justice underwent a comprehensive assessment of health in July 2009. This involved medical evaluation, imaging scans, and comprehensive blood tests. The result of this evaluation was that she was in completely normal health with the exception of a low red blood cell count caused by deficiency of iron. Intravenous iron therapy was administered in a standard fashion.

One hour following the completion of this infusion, she felt faint, developed light headedness and fatigue. Medical assistance was summoned from the Office of the Attending Physician and medical evaluation disclosed a slightly low blood pressure which can occur following this treatment. She was monitored at the Court, blood tests were performed and she was found to be in stable health. Fluids were administered and her symptoms improved, but she was taken as a precaution for evaluation at the Washington Hospital Center at approximately 7:45 p.m.

I don't need to tell any progressive how important it is to have Justice Ginsburg on the bench. President Obama recently nominated Sonia Sotomayor to the Court, and she was confirmed by the Senate. Justice Sotomayor is a solid moderate, but that's not what we need to counter Chief Justice Roberts, and Justices Scalia, Thomas and Alito. Justice Ginsburg is the only liberal on the Court.

Please join me in sending best wishes for a speedy recovery to Justice Ginsburg.

Sunday Funnies

In Memoriam - Mary Travers

Mary Travers has died. It's hard to say "Mary" without including "Peter, Paul and ..." The trio was a fixture on the folk music scene in the early 1960s, and probably best known for their thought provoking music. Mary Travers died today after battling leukemia for several years. She was 72.

Bandmate Peter Yarrow said that in her final months, Travers handled her declining health with bravery and generosity, showing her love to friends and family "with great dignity and without restraint."

"It was, as Mary always was, honest and completely authentic," he said. "That's the way she sang, too; honestly and with complete authenticity."

Noel "Paul" Stookey, the trio's other member, praised Travers for her inspiring activism, "especially in her defense of the defenseless."

"I am deadened and heartsick beyond words to consider a life without Mary Travers and honored beyond my wildest dreams to have shared her spirit and her career," he said.

Mary Allin Travers was born on Nov. 9, 1936 in Louisville, Ky., the daughter of journalists who moved the family to Manhattan's bohemian Greenwich Village. She quickly became enamored with folk performers like the Weavers, and was soon performing with Pete Seeger, a founding member of the Weavers who lived in the same building as the Travers family.

With a group called the Song Swappers, Travers backed Seeger on one album and two shows at Carnegie Hall. She also appeared (as one of a group of folk singers) in a short-lived 1958 Broadway show called "The Next President," starring comedian Mort Sahl.

It wasn't until she met up with Yarrow and Stookey that Travers would taste success on her own. Yarrow was managed by Albert B. Grossman, who later worked in the same capacity for Bob Dylan.

In the book "Positively 4th Street" by David Hajdu, Travers recalled that Grossman's strategy was to "find a nobody that he could nurture and make famous."

The budding trio, boosted by the arrangements of Milt Okun, spent seven months rehearsing in her Greenwich Village apartment before their 1961 public debut at the Bitter End.

Their beatnik look - a tall blonde flanked by a pair of goateed guitarists - was a part of their initial appeal. As The New York Times critic Robert Shelton put it not long afterward, "Sex appeal as a keystone for a folk-song group was the idea of the group's manager ... who searched for months for `the girl' until he decided on Miss Travers."

The trio mingled their music with liberal politics, both onstage and off. Their version of "If I Had a Hammer" became an anthem for racial equality. Other hits included "Lemon Tree," "Leaving on a Jet Plane" and "Puff (The Magic Dragon.)"

They were early champions of Dylan and performed his "Blowin' in the Wind" at the August 1963 March on Washington.

And they were vehement in their opposition to the Vietnam War, managing to stay true to their liberal beliefs while creating music that resonated in the American mainstream.

The group collected five Grammy Awards for their three-part harmony on enduring songs like "Leaving on a Jet Plane," "Puff (The Magic Dragon)" and "Blowin' in the Wind."

At one point in 1963, three of their albums were in the top six Billboard best-selling LPs as they became the biggest stars of the folk revival movement. [...]

Over the years they enjoyed several reunions, including a performance at a 1978 anti-nuclear benefit organized by Yarrow and a 35th anniversary album, "Lifelines," with fellow folkies Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Dave Van Ronk and Seeger. A boxed set of their music was released in 2004.

They remained politically active as well, performing at the 1995 anniversary of the Kent State shootings and performing for California strawberry pickers.

Travers had undergone a successful bone marrow transplant to treat her leukemia and was able to return to performing after that.

"It was like a miracle," Travers told The Associated Press in 2006. "I'm just feeling fabulous. What's incredible is someone has given your life back. I'm out in the garden today. This time last year I was looking out a window at a hospital." She also said she told the marrow donor "how incredibly grateful I was."

Travers is survived by her husband and two daughters. Condolences to her family and friends. Rest in PEACE Mary Travers.

In Memoriam - Henry Gibson

From Laugh-In to Boston Legal, Who didn't love the many faces of Henry Gibson? I know I did. Sadly, Gibson died Monday at his home in Malibu after a brief battle with cancer. He was 73.

There it is again ... cancer ... I hate cancer.

Gibson's breakthrough came in 1968 when he was cast as a member of the original ensemble of NBC's top-rated "Laugh-In," on which he performed for three seasons. Each week, a giant flower in his hand, he recited a signature poem, introducing them with the catchphrase that became his signature: "A Poem, by Henry Gibson."

The poems proved so popular that they led to the release of two comedy albums, "The Alligator" and "The Grass Menagerie," as well as a book, "A Flower Child's Garden of Verses."

After "Laugh-In," he played the evil Dr. Verringer in "The Long Goodbye" (1973), the first of four films in which he appeared for director Robert Altman. Their second collaboration came in "Nashville" (1975), in which Gibson earned a Golden Globe nomination and a National Society of Film Critics supporting-actor award for his performance as unctuous country singer Haven Hamilton. He also wrote his character's songs.

In television, Gibson's recent work included a five-season stint as cantankerous Judge Clarence Brown on ABC's "Boston Legal" and providing the voice for sardonic, eye-patched newspaperman Bob Jenkins on Fox's animated series "King of the Hill."

Born James Bateman in Germantown, Pa., on Sept. 21, 1935, Gibson began acting professionally at age 8. After graduating from Catholic University, he served in France from 1957-60 as an intelligence officer with the Air Force, then studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London.

Back in New York, the actor developed the comic persona of "Henry Gibson" (a pun on the name of playwright Henrik Ibsen), a humble, wide-eyed poet laureate from Fairhope, Ala. Appearances on "The Tonight Show" and "The Joey Bishop Show" led to him being flown out to Hollywood by Jerry Lewis to be cast in "The Nutty Professor" (1963).

Also that year, Gibson appeared in his Broadway debut opposite Walter Matthau and Ruth Gordon in Lillian Hellman's "My Mother, My Father and Me."

Other memorable film roles for Gibson included a turn as the voice of Wilbur the Pig in the animated "Charlotte's Web" (1973); as an Illinois Nazi pursuing John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd in "The Blues Brothers" (1980); as a menacing neighbor opposite Tom Hanks in "The 'Burbs" (1989); as flamboyant barfly Thurston Howell in Paul Thomas Anderson's "Magnolia" (1999); and as a befuddled priest in "Wedding Crashers" (2005).

Gibson is survived by his three sons and two grandchildren, who are all in our thoughts. Rest in peace Henry Gibson.

Passages

It's heart breaking when a Patrick Swayze dies -- someone far too young, who should have had many years ahead of them. And it's sad to lose people you've grown up with. I'll be posting more about Mary Travers and Henry Gibson in a moment, but I wanted to acknowledge the passing of Paul Burke. The "Naked City" star died today. He was 83.

Paul Burke, who played the upright, soul-searching detective Adam Flint on the acclaimed television drama “Naked City,” but whose career was halted decades later after he was tried and acquitted on federal racketeering charges, died on Sunday at his home in Palm Springs, Calif. He was 83.

The cause was leukemia and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, said his daughter Dina Burke Shawkat.

Inspired by the 1948 film “The Naked City,” the television series was broadcast on ABC from 1958 to 1963. Noirish and brooding, it was filmed on location in New York and anticipated “Kojak” and “Law & Order” in its gritty yet warm portrayal of the city and its people. [...]

The show is also widely remembered for its closing voiceover, delivered by the actor Lawrence Dobkin: “There are eight million stories in the naked city. This has been one of them.”

I remember Paul Burke as this incredibly great looking guy. It wasn't a romantic attraction. I didn't want to date Paul Burke, I wanted to BE Paul Burke ... but that's another story!

Having lost track of him a long time ago I wasn't aware of his legal problems, which he credits with ending his career. He was cleared of all charges, but that sometimes doesn't matter in Hollywood.

Condolences to his family, and rest in peace Paul Burke.

In Memoriam - Patrick Swayze

I hate cancer ... it took my mother, my father, my good friend Jan and others. And now it's taken Patrick Swayze. The 57 year old actor died tonight, two years after we learned he was battling pancreatic cancer -- a relentless form of the disease.

Patrick Swayze, 57, an actor who enjoyed success in Hollywood as the snake-hipped charmer of "Dirty Dancing" and a romantic lead from beyond the grave in "Ghost," died Sept. 14, his publicist reported from Los Angeles. He had pancreatic cancer.

A former ballet and Broadway dancer, Mr. Swayze rarely received more than tepid reviews for his onscreen emotional range. But he found enduring mass approval for a handful of movie roles that took advantage of his muscular build, tousled hair and charismatic swagger.

Rita Kempley, a former Washington Post film critic, once described Mr. Swayze's appeal as "a cross of Brando and Balanchine. From the neck up, he looks like a guy who could fix your carburetor; from the neck down he has the body of an Olympian."

Mr. Swayze's best-remembered movies -- "Dirty Dancing" (1987) with Jennifer Grey and "Ghost" (1990) with Demi Moore -- were unexpected hits that relied more on terrific soundtracks and appealing performances than dramatic plausibility.

"Dirty Dancing" featured Mr. Swayze as a dangerously hunky Catskills dance teacher named Johnny Castle who teams with a guest's shy daughter for a dance performance at a neighboring hotel. They also fall in love.

Mr. Swayze co-wrote and sang a hit song from the film, "She's Like the Wind," which reached No. 3 on the pop charts.

Film critic Vincent Canby, writing in the New York Times, said Mr. Swayze was "at his best -- as is the movie -- when he's dancing."

"Dirty Dancing" made a fortune at the box office, a fact largely attributed to female ticket-buyers wowed by Mr. Swayze. Eleanor Bergstein, the film's writer and co-producer, told Parade magazine, "I wanted a hooded quality in the eyes -- someone a father would never want for his daughter."

When she saw Mr. Swayze, Bergstein said, "I told him I couldn't imagine doing the movie without him."

Swayze will be remembered for his roles in "Dirty Dancing" and "Ghosts" ... but I enjoyed his portrayal of drag queen Vida Boheme in "To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar." It takes a man comfortable with his sexuality to don a flaming red wig and dress!

Swayze continued to work following his diagnosis.

While undergoing chemotherapy for his cancer, which was diagnosed last year, he received good reviews for his gritty portrayal of an undercover FBI agent in "The Beast" (2009), a drama series for the A&E cable network.

Mr. Swayze missed only one day of work while filming the series. "One thing I'm not going to do is chase staying alive," he told interviewer Barbara Walters at the time. "You spend so much time chasing staying alive, you won't live."

Condolences to his wife Lisa Niemi and to the rest of his family. Rest in peace Patrick Swayze.

Quality Affordable Healthcare NOW

Sunday Funnies

In Memoriam - Larry Gelbart

Larry Gelbart creator of "M*A*S*H", "Tootsie", and "Oh, God!", died on Friday of cancer. I loved M*A*S*H, and don't think I missed an episode during it's eleven year run.

"I said once that the only way before 'M*A*S*H' you would get any feeling out of your television set is if you touched it while you were wet," Gelbart said.

He added: "We gave the audience permission to feel bad. Because America was feeling pretty rotten then, we were at war in Vietnam. And once the war stopped we didn't start feeling really terrific right away, if we ever will again about that situation."

The Los Angeles Times looks back on Gelbart's amazing career.

Larry Gelbart, the award-winning comedy writer best known for developing the landmark TV series "MASH," co-writing the book for the hit Broadway musical "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" and co-writing the classic movie comedy "Tootsie," died Friday morning. He was 81.

Gelbart, who was diagnosed with cancer in June, died at his home in Beverly Hills, said his wife, Pat.

Jack Lemmon once described the genial, quick-witted Gelbart as "one of the greatest writers of comedy to have graced the arts in this century."

"Larry Gelbart was among the very best comedy writers ever produced in America," said Mel Brooks, whose friendship with Gelbart dated to when they both wrote for Sid Caesar's comedy-variety show "Caesar's Hour" in the 1950s. Gelbart "had class, he had wit, he had style and grace. He was a marvelous writer who could do more with words than anybody I ever met," Brooks said.

Condolences to his family.

Craig Ferguson on Rep. Joe Wilson

In Memoriam - Nancy Minson

I never had the pleasure of meeting Nancy Minson, and it's my loss. A Facebook friend recently posted that Nancy had died. Who knows why, but I felt compelled to find out more about her and what she had done during her 63 years. What I discovered was pretty amazing!

Nancy Minson was given six months to live - and took 21 years instead.

Bucking convention came naturally to Ms. Minson, who died of pancreatic cancer at age 63 on Tuesday at Hospice of Cincinnati in Blue Ash.

A feminist and tireless advocate of liberal causes, Ms. Minson, of East Walnut Hills, survived a battle with aggressive stage 3 ovarian cancer that was diagnosed in 1988. It was then that she was given that most dire prediction: she would soon die.

But she didn't, traveling to Santa Cruz, Calif. for experimental treatment that she credited with prolonging her life.

"I've never seen somebody that loved life so totally," said her close friend Marianna Brown Bettman, whom Ms. Minson helped elect to the First District Court of Appeals in 1992. [...]

Born Nov. 25, 1945 to Louis and Frieda Minson, she grew up in Paddock Hills and attended Walnut Hills High School. She enrolled at Ohio State University, graduating in 1969.

Ms. Minson then launched a 40-year career speaking out for government reform, progressive and Jewish causes and Jewish and gay rights.

Her work took her to Washington, D.C. as a congressional staffer; to Israel; to Belgium, where she was a journalist for a community newspaper; back to Cincinnati; to Santa Cruz, where she worked as a medical case management supervisor, primarily with older adult and HIV-infected patients; and finally to Cincinnati again.

In 2004, Ms. Minson helped overturn a 1993 amendment to Cincinnati's charter that prohibited the city from extending protections to homosexuals.

She was named one of The Enquirer's Women of the Year in 2002.

"She was tough, she was a fighter and yet she was one of those people who could make her strongly-held position clear with a good deal of passion yet do it with a great deal of grace so that people were open to her message," said Tim Burke, chairman of the Hamilton County Democratic Party.

She was grateful for life to the end.

"Knowing I'm going to die is terrifying but in some ways it's a gift," Ms. Minson said in a recent hospital bed conversation. "It's incredible to hear people say how much they love you."

The Enquirer has a comments section, and I was particularly taken by this one:

JaAli wrote:
Since I am of the conviction that the human essence is of a spiritual nature I will speak to the spirit of this lovely woman and great human being. Ms. Minson was the apex of givers, so that others could receive the fruits, the flowers, the rewards and the sacred offerings that come in being an American.

She lived a life that was committed and predicated on sharing, caring, loving and adding to and not taking away from human beings, irrespective of race, faith, class, color, sex or sexual orientation. She told me the last time I talked with her about a battle against a injustice that I was going to wage at city hall, she said, "Good, because if you don't do what you believe is right this will be a wasted day for you and you will not be increased as a man of principles and convictions."

Thank You, Nancy Minson, for my "increase." Heaven will be 'increased' when you get there also. God Bless You!

The Cincinnati Enquirer interviewed Minson in 2002, following her Women of the Year award.

Often, you are described as an "outspoken social activist." How do you feel about that?

I'm proud of it. I am progressive. I'm not afraid of being called a liberal. I'm passionate about human rights. So I think that's a wonderful compliment. [...]

You are an advocate for all kinds of people. Where did this mission come from?

I think my mother and my whole cultural heritage. There's a quote from Rabbi Hillel I learned as a kid: "If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And if I'm only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?"

Your mother was a big influence. Did everything she told you turn out to be true?

My mother taught me two things in life that were wrong, that I spent the rest of my life unlearning. One is, "right overcomes wrong." The other is, "life is just." Although they are good goals, they're not true.

So, if you go through life bemoaning things aren't right and they aren't just, you get caught up with that and you don't deal with the situation as it is. I'm pretty pragmatic about that. But it took me a long time to learn it. [...]

You are straight, but because you're single and active in gay rights, you know many people think you're a lesbian. Does that bother you?

Not at all. Although I have a cousin, who's like a brother to me, who tells me I should make sure I say I'm straight every time I do an interview. You'll never get a date! he says.

Because many people assumed I was a lesbian, I got a look at the gay community I never would have gotten otherwise. It was also interesting to see how people treated me differently.

You have been involved in many political campaigns. Will you run for public office?

I don't think so. First, I don't think I could take the rejection. I also don't think I could raise the money it takes to win. One of my causes is campaign finance reform.

I'd rather work on campaigns than be the candidate. ... But I love politics. I think politics is the most efficient means to social change.

Another piece of advice someone gave me once: The world is run by those who show up. It's true. Our elections are decided by a minority of an electorate. I want to make sure my voice is heard. So I show up a lot.

I never met Nancy Minson, but I certainly wish I had. Rest in peace Nancy ... and thanks for being such an inspiration!