Friday, March 28, 2008

Wasting away

I've spent the last few days cooped up in the house, playing Wii with my little cousin. I feel ok, but I don't think that I have ever had absolutely nothing to do. I feel like I should be outside, exploring, etc etc, but the fact that I can't ride a motorcycle and can't walk quickly puts that option out of the picture. So, I'm literally wasting away (seriously - somehow in the last 2 weeks, I have managed to lose 6cm from my waist... maybe playing the Wii really is exercise?!) and probably going to die of Vitamin D deficiency.

So, I'll comment on a few things in the news recently, as that's all I'm able to do is read the New York Times about 400 times a day.

  • Public Health Risk Seen as Parents Reject Vaccines - So, I'm a big fan of public health (oh dear, that's an understatement) and vaccines are routinely referred to as the ultimate public health success. Without vaccines, we wouldn't have eradicated polio nor dramatically reduced the incidence of numerous other childhood, and adult, diseases. So, how do I feel when I see parents reject vaccines because they feel like it? I feel as though these parents are selfish. They are putting their children and other children at risk of easily preventable infections because of one study, widely discounted by scientific circles, that suggested vaccines cause autism. Now, autism is a serious matter and the hooplah over vaccines as the cause just distracts from the search for the true causes of autism. So, get your children vaccinated! (And curiously, it's always the upper middle class suburbs that end up with measles outbreaks. Why don't we quarantine them? Oh, right, that's not politically correct.)
  • A Case of the Blues - This is a long read, but worth it for anyone watching Congressional elections this year. Basically, it explains the uphill battle the Republicans have in the upcoming election and a profile of Tom Cole (R, OK). All in all, it made me hopeful that the Democrats would get more seats in the House and Senate. However, like the Presidential election, I will not be overly optimistic because anything can happen. What do I think the Democrats need to do? Campaign in this election like any other - campaign hard, campaign lots, and get voters to turn out. Democrats can't win simply because they think they'll win.
I feel like there were more articles, but I can't think right now. Apparently, my brain has atrophied as well.

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