Like an Oliver Stone Movie Only More Horrid

Randy was a friend of the family. He knew my parents and all my uncles and all their friends, was always at cook outs and family parties, he was also a hemophiliac. He passed away in the 80s from AIDS. I was too young to learn much of the details of his situation and he’s the only person I’ve ever known who had AIDS or hemophilia. Today, in light of this article in today’s NYT I realize he joins the ranks of people I know who may have been directly harmed by the pharmaceutical/medical industry. I am aghast at the lack of scruples companies display in an attempt to turn a profit.

"The Bayer unit, Cutter Biological, introduced its safer medicine in late February 1984 as evidence mounted that the earlier version was infecting hemophiliacs with H.I.V. Yet for over a year, the company continued to sell the old medicine overseas, prompting a United States regulator to accuse Cutter of breaking its promise to stop selling the product.

By continuing to sell the old version of the life-saving medicine, the records show, Cutter officials were trying to avoid being stuck with large stores of a product that was proving increasingly unmarketable in the United States and Europe."

How can this company still be in business? I mean really... HOW?!

Thanks to IBTP for directing my attention to the NYT and this story today.

Wise Words from a Four Year Old

Me: What are you learning by watching TV today?

Ella: I learned that if you know special magical words everything can go your way. That's what I learned on Noggin.

Me: Really?! I sure wish I knew some special magical words that made everything go my way.

Ella: I'll tell them to you they're easy.

Me: Ok.

Ella: "I love you", "Please", "Thank you", "Hi", "I'll teach you this toy", "Your the best" and Let's play"

The Infinite Possibilities are Making My Head Hurt

I looked at the whole internet today and was bored. I thought about blogging my whole existance, I tried to paint the universe, I surfed 1500 cable channels, I looked at a library full of paper, I stared into space.

I have no idea what to write... Feminism, Momming, Roller Derby, Art, Liberal Politics... Blah Blah Blah.

The Big Talk

No, I don’t mean that talk, that one’s easy, I mean GOD. So let me set this up for you, my parents were raised Catholic and somewhere in the 70s went spiritualists, Dan family was raised Baptists and Episcopalian and somewhere in the 70s went bowling resulting in nobody under our entire roof currently being baptized or indoctrinated. I believe in guardian angels that keep you from making it to the intersection at the wrong time and Dan believes in Angels with titles, jobs and command posts like Gabriel and Michael and if you happen to meet an Angel it’s because he’s about to warn you that your city will experience some light brimstone showers followed by heavy fire and pestilence and perhaps you should have more than an umbrella with you.

So we’ve discussed what we would tell Ella but not in much detail and we’re pretty sure we agree, but not quite sure what it is exactly we agree on. Aunt Nola this Christmas, just like last, gave Ella a Veggie Tales movie. For the most part they are cute, void of any nailings or famine and pretty funny. I mean who can argue with Lord of the Beans’ basic message that everyone has an important job to do. So yesterday when Ella was telling me about the new Veggie Tales movie she informed me that God is pretend, he’s that character in the movies, I knew I had to say something profound, it started poorly:

Me: Oh honey God is for real

Ella: No he’s not he’s pretend like Bob and Larry*.
*Veggie Tales Characters

Me: Sweetie, God is very famous and so sometimes people pretend to be God in the movies, but God is really real.

Ella: MooooOOoom! God is pretend.

Me: No he’s not

Ella: Yes, he is

Me: No he’s not

Ella: Yes, he IS!

Somehow I managed to elevate the conversation back up to a very detailed story telling about heaven and souls and God and then I answered some heaven questions involving cotton candy, multi-colored kittens and Great Grandma and Great Grandpa and jumpy castles. This meandered around to some biology, concluding my very squirmy conversation with Ella.

Ella: Your soul is in your bones next to your marrow right?

Me: Your soul is everywhere in your body

Ella: Yes, it’s in your belly, and your eyes and it’s in your bones and your blood.

Me: Yes, and when you die you leave all of your body here and just take your soul with you.

Ella: Ok, can we play Hungry Hippo?

Me: Yes.

***

12 films in which supreme actors take on the Supreme Being.