Haters gonna hate

You might think that this time of year, when people usually think about peace and family and Coke-drinking polar bears and all things squee and squishy, we’d get a little break from the hate. You might think that, but you’d be wrong.

Oh, the majority are definitely not hatin’, but it seems like it’s the exceptions that always stand out. I really started noticing it the other day when one of our local TV stations posted the Obama family’s Christmas picture on their Facebook page. It’s really a nice picture, with everyone smiling and holding hands, and the girls look so sweet and they’re getting so big. However, knowing my community and having seen some of the comments that have been posted on the station’s page on other topics, I had a feeling that it was going to get nasty. I tried a preemptive strike with this comment: “It's a great picture of a lovely family. It would be nice if people could focus on that during this holiday season.” Of course, it did no good, with attitudes ranging from apathy to rage; a couple of people took the opportunity to disparage the President for his upcoming family vacation in Hawaii; one person called him ‘evil.’ There were a handful of comments similar to mine there, and I took some heart from that.

Then Christopher Hitchens died. The atheist community is in mourning; whether or not you liked the man, he had an incredible intellect, and his writings will be greatly missed. He was also a son, a brother, a husband, and a father, as well as a good friend to many. The response from some on the Christian right was not unexpected, but I was still taken aback by the sheer ferocity of the hatred. The horrid Bryan Fischer predictably said that Hitchens is in Hell, then went on to say that it was because “God loves him.” Whatever. Apparently irony is beyond the guy’s limited grasp. One of Hitchens’ books is titled God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, so some folks on Twitter started the hashtag GodIsNotGreat. That didn’t go over well with some, and whoever started the hashtag was told to commit suicide and threatened with death. That seems to be a bit of an overreaction to me, especially when you’re proclaiming God’s awesomeness while simultaneously writing that you’re going to beat the shit out of the person who dares to disagree, or shoot them in the face.

Today, I read an article on a Catholic website stating that the atheists who had the audacity to file a lawsuit over a government-declared Day of Prayer in Arizona were whining, pathetic cowards. It included this memorable quote from author Mary Kochan: “Yes, you are outsiders. Go start your own damn country. This one was started by Christians, you puerile dimwits.” Gosh, I’m just overwhelmed by the sheer outpouring of Christian love! The broader issue here, that of the constitutionality of any government promoting religion, is beside the point. I was rather stunned at the rage emanating from this woman because someone dared to challenge the easy assumption of the Arizona government that everyone embraces Christianity and is perfectly fine with the government promoting prayer. Her level of anger seems a little out of proportion for a matter of people simply exercising their right to challenge such a declaration. I don’t know about you, but it doesn’t exactly make me think, “Wow, I’m going to get out of bed tomorrow morning and get to church bright and early, so I can meet people just like Mary Kochan!”

I’m pretty mellow this time of year. I can still get fired up about things, and often do. (Ol’ Mary might still get a comment from me on her article...I’ll be respectful, though. Kind of. In my own special way. Heh.) But I tend to let things slide a little more, I do my best to not take offense at statements that would normally start my chainsaw roaring, and I try to spread a little good cheer and good will. Sometimes it’s a matter of getting someone a gift that I think they’ll really like, and other times it’s as simple as smiling at someone who seems to be having a hard day. (At the grocery store the other day, I exchanged a smile and a few kind words with a woman whose little kid was screaming his fool head off. Wasn’t that better than making her feel bad by giving her a dirty look? I think so.) Tolerance is maybe one of the best gifts we can give, not just this time of year, but year round.

So I guess if you want to go after me for something I’ve written or done, now would be the time to do it. Just remember that I may be a little more mellow and tolerant at the moment...but in a couple of weeks, it will be a brand new year. And then all bets are off. [big grin]

Motivation: I haz none

Where the heck did the day go?

As I think back on it, I realize that I got quite a bit done. I got some final Christmas gifts, did the grocery shopping, did my workout like a good girl, got some dishes washed, did a load of laundry, and no, I didn’t sit on the couch and flip channels while drinking beer...but it seems like there’s still so much I need to do. I’m a little bit lost in Electronica, because I’m almost halfway through Book #51, and we also got ourselves some smartphones, so I’ve been messing around with that.

I think what is weighing on me is that now that we have the tree up (Yes, it’s artificial, yes, it’s a CHRISTmas tree but we don’t go to church...so sue me! Ha!) I know it’s time to start wrapping. I had intended to start that today, but despite the other things I got done, I procrastinated about that particular task. I’ve written before about how I don’t enjoy wrapping. I’ve tried fun Christmas music (I’m partial to the Rat Pack, and the Brian Setzer Orchestra), I’ve tried beer, but nothing makes it especially enjoyable for me. Part of it is because once I start, I don’t really want to stop until I’m done with it. So I spend an entire afternoon doing nothing but wrapping.

It’s enough to drive anyone stark raving mad.

So maybe I’ll change it up a little bit this year. I’ve got a couple of weeks before Christmas, so no one but me is dictating how much time per day I spend on it. Why not do a couple of hours, and then be done for the day? That will make my psyche AND my back happy. And maybe I’ll sip on Greyhounds as I wrap, so that I get some Vitamin C while I ease the pain. And instead of listening to Christmas music, maybe I’ll pop in a movie that I really enjoy or a guilty pleasure movie, like “Psycho” or “Road House.” (Although I just watched both of those recently, so I should find something else. “Footloose” is a definitely possibility.)

As far as I know, there isn’t some sort of Christmas Rule Book that dictates what constitutes a proper Christmas. My family hasn’t done the traditional little cottage Christmas in the little village for some time now; for several years, we did Christmas Bingo, where we all contributed fun little prizes and Mom and Dad contributed envelopes of money (anywhere from $1 to the rare $50 prize), but we all finally agreed that we just had too much “stuff” (miss you, George Carlin!) and stopped doing that. Last year, we all gave to the charities of our choice. Our family Christmas dinner is usually lasagna, but this year there is talk of a taco party. Ken and I have mimosas while opening presents. I think we’ll stick with that particular tradition, because it’s a delicious one.

I’m all for whatever works for you and your family. If you’re into the whole traditional Christmas thingy, knock yourself out. I think I’ll just make my own kinda music, sing my own special song, which might be something by the Stones rather than Bing Crosby...and I think that we’ll manage to have a good time no matter what. Life is funny—and fun!—that way.

Infection Connection: Double Shot!

This isn’t about any particular bacteria, virus, or other wee beastie. This is a review of two books concerning infectious disease, one fiction and one non-fiction. (By the way, I’m up to 50 books read this year. My goal is within sight!)

First is one I’ve been wanting to read for some time, The Panic Virus: A True Story of Medicine, Science, and Fear, by Seth Mnookin. Of all the articles and a few books I’ve read about the anti-vaccine movement, this reigns supreme. Mnookin does an incredible job of discussing the devastation of infectious disease, the development of inoculation/vaccination, and how the anti-vaccine movement began and took hold.

He also masterfully skewers the arguments put forth by the anti-vax crowd, although I would agree with him that they aren’t just anti-vax; they are anti-science. It is inexcusable for anyone to simply ignore the facts of the high rate of efficacy and low rate of complications of vaccines, not when children’s health and public health are at stake. One of the rationales for some is that there is so little exposure to these infections that they aren’t worried about their child getting it. Do you know why there is so little exposure? Because vaccines have been so successful! It is simply not acceptable to say, “I know, because I have mommy-instincts.” Science simply does not work that way. My great-uncle Sid died in his early twenties of diphtheria. People have forgotten that these infections can and do kill people.

Mnookin gives plenty of space to Andrew Wakefield, the unethical, sorry excuse for both a doctor and human being who started this whole ridiculous mess with his flawed and unscientific paper published in the British medical journal Lancet. The paper has since been withdrawn, and Wakefield lost his license to practice medicine in England. His studies were horrible, including contamination from control strains of the measles virus, and not including positive and negative controls in each experiment. Anyone with even a rudimentary understanding of laboratory tests knows that in order to confirm your results, you must have known positives and negatives included to show that your assay is working properly.

Mnookin also provides much criticism to the media, who gave this story legs despite all evidence to the contrary. It’s a good thing for journalism to be fair and balanced, but sometimes, the other side of the argument does not bear up under proper examination; such false and harmful misinformation should not deserve equal treatment. There are two sides to every story, and sometimes one side is simply wrong.

A fantastic book, and one of my new favorites. Anyone who is sitting on the fence or has doubts about immunizations should read this. Anyone (like me) who believes that vaccines save lives should also read it, in order to bolster your arguments if you’re ever in the situation where you want to debate the subject with someone who really doesn’t get it.

Next is Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague by Geraldine Brooks. Although a fictional book, it is based on the real village of Eyam in Derbyshire, which voluntarily quarantined itself during the Black Plague of 1665-66. Brooks puts a human face on sterile statistics; it’s one thing to know that Europe possibly lost one-half to two-thirds of its population, or that bubonic plague has a 40-90% mortality rate if untreated. It’s quite another to read about Anna Frith, a housemaid who must face the death of loved ones and see her rural village felled by the Plague.

Anna is a likable character, compelled to learn, and she is strengthened by her trials. The same can’t be said for many of her fellow villagers, who at times descend into irrational fear and murderous ways. The sadness that Anna had to deal with brought tears to my eyes several times throughout the book. The horrors of the deaths and losses, her triumphs and the failures of others, shows how devastating such a pandemic would be upon even our modern-day world. Although our medical knowledge and support is substantially greater now, the stress placed upon our infrastructure and society would still be devastating. People haven’t changed so much in four hundred years or so to think that there wouldn’t be blame to be laid upon others, certain ethnic groups or religious sects forced to be the scapegoat.

This book reminded me very much of Katherine Anne Porter’s Pale Horse, Pale Rider. Although Porter’s novella dealt with the 1918 influenza pandemic, the psychological and social strain of such a devastating and lethal pandemic is the same. The horrors of such widespread disease and panic is brought to life in both books.

Those who would condemn vaccinations would be wise to read both of these books and learn more about just how bad infectious disease can be.

Operation Retro Furniture: Complete!

I’ve posted a few pictures on Bookface of the furniture we’ve been putting in the basement. A little background....

My Uncle Burt passed away some months ago. His son, my Cousin Doug, and Doug’s wife Suzanne had been living at Uncle Burt’s house in order to care for him. Now it’s a matter of doing some remodeling on their own house prior to moving back there, and starting to go through things at Uncle Burt’s house in order to sell it. Anyone who has been through this knows how difficult it is, and they really have their work cut out for them!

I remembered some of the furniture that Uncle Burt had in the basement, and asked if they would be okay with me having it. They had no problem with that at all, and after a couple of trips, it is all in place. This is original ‘60s furniture and it is in incredible shape. Doug doesn’t remember exactly what year it is from, but he’s sure it is at least 50 years old, making it a genuine antique. I remember it from when I was a kid, and I’m pushing 50...so I guess that makes me almost an antique! He remembers it being in the office of the body shop that his Dad started in the ‘50s, I believe, and that Doug runs now.

The fabric is intact on the sectional sofa—who knew they made sectional sofas in the ‘60s?—and the pieces are very solid. Even the cushions are heavy, and I believe they actually put springs in such furniture cushions, rather than today’s flimsy foam. I am delighted to have it, and I think it pleased Doug to know that someone in the family has it and loves it.

I think most of you know that I love all things retro, and the chance to have such beautiful, original, and funky furniture for our basement “rec room” is just wonderful for me. It will also be a great reminder of all the good times our families had together, just getting together here in Indiana, or vacationing together in Minnesota.

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There were a few things I wanted to add to it, and I got the zebra print rug, the zebra throw for the circle chair (that was the only piece that had some damage...some of the upholstery had come off), the pillows, and the lamps. We still need to hang some curtains at the sliding glass door, and please pardon some of the mess—I still need to work on some things. The triangular end tables are unique in that they can be combined into a square, or used separately, as I have done. I had to get a little lava lamp to set on the larger end table! I will look for a few other retro items to put on the tables, but I don’t want to clutter them too much. In the meantime, I put a few of my Route 66 things on the one table, my fabulous Las Vegas sign (it lights up!), and one of my all-time favorite fun things, my Cowboy Cactus.

I’m pleased with how it has come together, and it makes me want to don a ‘50s-style dress and sip a martini. Don Draper, come on over! I think it makes for a fun basement rec room, and our first test will be when our niece Jen and Shane and Matt come over after the New Year. Jen has already called dibs on the circle chair! We’ll have Rock Band upstairs, and pool and ping pong downstairs. As Devo says, “Something for everybody!”

What do you think? Would you hang out in a basement like this? We’ll show you a good time!

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Literary Ipecac

I believe I’ve mentioned that my goal is to read 52 books this year. I’m up to 48, after finishing this one, Blind Allegiance to Sarah Palin: A Memoir of our Tumultuous Years, by Frank Bailey. Bailey jumped on the Palin train early on, working as her go-to guy for scheduling and other daily duties. Some of those duties included pressuring various people to fire Mike Wooten (infamously known as Troopergate), taking the fall for it, and covering up what Palin knew about it. Of course, he’s deeply regretful for the part he played in such underhandedness. He is now, anyway. But hey, I’m sure his god forgave him for it.

Bailey invokes his godliness early and often, and he was one of those who believed that God had chosen Palin to run. He writes plenty about the unethical practices and questionable statements that occurred often in Palin’s Alaska governorship, and how he knew it was wrong at the time, but went along with it all because he believed in Palin and thought she was exactly what Alaska needed.

He also writes often about how beautiful Palin is (I believe he even once used the word ‘sexy’), including this when he first started working for her campaign:

“A radiant smile, framed by chocolate colored eyes that would later charm hardened members of the media like Bill Kristol and Sean Hannity, lit up the room.”

[gag] He mentions the fawning adoration of Hannity, as well as the team that interviewed Palin when McCain was considering her for his running mate, not realizing that he comes across every bit as pussywhipped. It’s a wonder his marriage survived his working for Palin, because it seemed obvious to me that he had a major boner for her. (As a man devoted to his family and God, I’m sure he’d deny that. Comes across loud and clear in his writing, though, in my opinion.) Bailey was also Todd Palin’s sycophantic sidekick, doing his bidding concerning the Wooten matter to curry favor with the Palins. He was immediately convinced that Wooten was a “loose cannon” and should be fired, just because the Palins said so. He reminded me of the fat kid who lets the popular kids pick on him and pretends to be in on the joke, and loses every shred of self-respect in the process.

In fact, by the time I finished this book, I wasn’t sure who I disliked more—Palin or Bailey. I already knew that Palin is a moody, conniving, vindictive, bullying, power-hungry, unstable grifter, so Bailey didn’t tell me anything new there. However, he did tell me that he’s a pathetic, easily manipulated loser whose adulation of such a woman deluded him into believing that she was capable of being Governor, and that it was okay to bend the ethics rules if it helped her. I wanted to grab him by his pudgy shoulders and shake the stuffing out of him and say, “Wake up, you idiot!” (A smack across the face would probably have been in order, too.) He did start figuring things out—finally!—and wrote this about her vindictiveness and ability to hold a grudge, as he was watching the election returns:

“Experiencing emotional difficulty managing a state with fewer than a million people, what would President Palin do if a rogue nation like North Korea went nuclear? Would she be preoccupied with typing messages on the Anchorage Daily News blog? Would she use the FBI to monitor Dan Fagan’s radio show or dig up dirt on Katie Couric? The IRS, would it suddenly run audits of former political opponents, bloggers, or editorial critics? Would she fire dissenting voices and find out too late they were right and she was wrong—as she’d done with the entire Board of Agriculture and Conservation over the Matanuska Maid Dairy debacle in 2007? Did we want Sarah and her thin skin anywhere near that red button after that 3:00 a.m. phone call, as Hillary Clinton had warned of Barack Obama during their hotly contested primary races?”

No shit, Sherlock! I guess I can give him a little credit for finally wising up, but it should never have taken that long. I was left with a thorough feeling of disgust at the end of this book. To borrow a couple of Palinisms, what a “flippin crap cluster.”

Infection Connection: We Are Living in a Bacterial World

And I am a bacterial girl. (Go ahead...sing it! You know you want to!)

This week, I finished the book Good Germs, Bad Germs: Health and Survival in a Bacterial World by Jessica Snyder Sachs. Whether you’re on the job or just have a passing interest, this is a truly fascinating book.

Sachs writes about our long, strange trip with bacteria and other microorganisms. Some might think that it’s a simple matter to realize that bacteria are bad, and the proliferation of antibacterial soaps and hand sanitizers makes it obvious that such a message has caught on. It’s much more complicated than that. Sachs mentions what Nobel prize-winning molecular biologist Joshua Lederberg calls the “microbiome.” Lederberg says, “It would broaden our horizons if we started thinking of a human as more than a single organism. It is a superorganism that includes much more than our human cells.”

Essentially, each of us is a walking, talking ecosystem, carting around millions of bacteria that most often protect us, but sometimes harm us. From the moment we are born, we begin developing our occupying microflora, including Staph epidermidis and coryneform bacteria on our skin, Strep salivarius on our teeth, E coli in our gut, and Lactobacillus in our vagina (if you happen to have one, that is). These organisms create protective biofilms that aid in digestion, keep harmful bacteria from getting a toehold, secrete acids that keep the “bad” bacteria at bay, and even send out chemical signals that help regulate our immune system. I find it an incredibly elegant and fascinating system, and I both adore and fear it.

I adore it because it’s obvious that we have co-evolved over millions of years; our microflora coexist peacefully with us in a mutually beneficial relationship. I fear it because it seems to be such a delicate balance, and changing one small part of it can trigger an unpleasant infection, or even a life-threatening one. (Any woman who has taken antibiotics for an infection knows how easily that balance can be upset; it’s a common occurrence to have the antibiotics wipe out our usual genital flora like Lactobacillus and have yeast set up camp. Usually not life-threatening, but definitely not pleasant.)

I find the connection between our microbiome and our immune system especially fascinating. (If I hadn’t concentrated on Microbiology, I would have gone into Immunology. I find both very interesting, and they are closely connected.) You’ve probably read about the recent explosion in asthma and food allergies in kids; many researchers are looking into whether or not kids’ immune systems are not being challenged the way they used to. I don’t think anyone (not any rational, thinking person, anyway) would dispute that vaccines for life-threatening infectious diseases are a must; but our world has definitely become a little more sanitized these days, and it is not necessarily for our protection.

It might seem to be a paradox, but an unchallenged immune system can go into hyperdrive all too easily. When we’ve been exposed to minimal allergens, the presence of an unexpected one can wreak havoc as the immune system summons the troops and engages in a campaign of shock and awe against all invaders. A veritable monsoon of cytokines, interleukins, and other immune-boosting or immune-suppressing chemicals are loosed upon unsuspecting cells; if the immune system mistakenly attacks our own healthy cells or tissues, auto-immune disorders like rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma, and Sjögren’s syndrome can result.

My relationship with microorganisms has always been a love/hate one. I loved my job, and I loved the “detective work” aspect of it, but I hated the devastation and mortality I saw. I am fascinated by their mechanisms of resistance (one of them is called an efflux pump, in which the bacteria take in an antibiotic within its cell walls and immediately pump it right back out...I picture a sailor frantically bailing out a leaky boat), but worry about how that resistance is resulting in literally untreatable infections. Sachs quotes Rockefeller University researcher Vincent Fischetti concerning bacterial antibiotic resistance: “Don’t ever underestimate bacteria.” I recognize the relationship for what it is, but each of you also has a love-hate relationship with your own microflora, whether you realize it or not.

When it comes to the “war on bacteria,” it seems that we would benefit the most from an uneasy détente. When it comes to preventing what can be devastating infectious diseases like measles, bacterial meningitis, diphtheria, and so many others, vaccines are good things. But it is pointless—and perhaps even dangerous—to believe that a sterile world is beneficial or even possible. The vast majority of bacteria that we encounter in our daily lives is not going to go after us (except for those who are immunocompromised...that is a very dangerous state to be in), as long as we keep ourselves fairly healthy, with our microbiome in general balance. Maybe it’s wise to not mobilize weapons of mass destruction against the critters we encounter every day; a little soap and water is usually going to be enough to keep our own private ecosystem in balance.

Good luck, and hey...let’s be careful out there.

♪ ♫ Bugs may come and bugs may go, and that’s all right, you see. Experience has made me rich, and now they’re after me...’cause we are living in a bacterial world....♪ ♫

A reminder of idealism

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We spent the afternoon at my sister Sue’s house, and it was a very pleasant time, with enough food for probably twice as many people. There were some loved ones who were missing, and we all feel sad about that, but we also recognize that we are very fortunate and we were happy to be able to spend time together.

Sometimes my Mom likes to read stuff. She makes us all quiet down, and then she reads what she wants to read. She read something today about being grateful...like being grateful for paying taxes, because it means you have a job, or being grateful for your heating bills because it means you have a home. It was kind of nice, because that cuts through any party-line argument that anyone might have and just makes you think about how fortunate you are. (There was also little to no political talk today. It really is better that way.)

Then Mom read this:

Youth Disagrees With Column

In reply to Anthony Harrigan's column "On Moral Issues," which ran on Aug. 5, 1982:

Mr. Harrigan, I am less than a month away from my 20th birthday. As a member of the generation which will assume responsibilities for our country in a few years, I must say that I wholeheartedly agree with Rev. Jenkins' remarks concerning Communism and nuclear war.

My generation is one of peace. Your generation is one of fear and distrust. I do not want to see my relatives and friends destroyed in a nuclear holocaust brought about by your generation's mistakes. I resent the fact that such people are making decisions that will in all likelihood adversely affect my future.

If we are to see results in arms reduction talks, we must first trust the Russians to honor a limitation or freeze agreement. The Russian government was generous enough to take the first step, however small, in halting this ridiculous, out-of-control arms race. Unfortunately, our government was not quite so generous.

When I am ready to assume responsibilities in the adult world (and I think I will have something to offer), I want something left. Perhaps if there are more people willing to speak out like Reverend Jenkins, a world of peace will remain for myself and my peers.

Beth Anne Feece
Clarkesville, GA

That was an almost 20-year-old me writing a letter to the editor of our paper in small-town Georgia. I don’t recall the opinion that prompted me to write this, but it was interesting to see how passionate I was about this. At that time, we were still in the midst of the Cold War, and Reagan was President. The threat of nuclear war was still hanging over our heads and was a very real threat. (I also find it touching that my Mom and Dad saved that clipping from the newspaper all these years. They even put tape on it to preserve it.)

Almost thirty years later, I find that I still feel pretty much the same way. I went through my own personal Dark Ages in which I put financial interests above humanitarian interests, but I seem to have regained my idealistic nature. I like to think that I have added a good dose of realism, but in general, I find that what I clumsily expressed in 1982 still holds true for me today: I want a world of peace.

I really don’t think that’s idealistic. I think it’s the only sane way to live in this world.