Thursday, July 28, 2005

Stem Cell Antics @ Wisconsin Legislature

What can I do?





WI Gov. Doyle and Isabel Kastner
Gard rips drop-off of used needles
Doyle aide's delivery backed stem-cell study
By STACY FORSTER
sforster@journalsentinel.com

Posted: July 27, 2005

Photo/Governor's Office Gov. Jim Doyle poses with Isabel Kastner of Fish Creek in a photo provided by the governor's office.

Madison - An aide to Gov. Jim Doyle delivered a brown paper bag filled with used medical needles to the office of Assembly Speaker John Gard (R-Peshtigo) to help a Door County woman make a statement about the important of stem-cell research.

But Gard called the decision to deliver medical waste to his Capitol office an irresponsible political stunt that endangered the health of anyone who encountered it.

The bag with 1,400 capped needles and syringes was dropped off by Doyle aide Patrick Guarasci on July 19. The needles were given to a Doyle aide during a visit to Baileys Harbor on July 14 by a woman whose daughter suffers from juvenile diabetes.

Used needles are considered dangerous because they could transmit diseases such as HIV or Hepatitis B. According to the state Department of Natural Resources Web site, needles are supposed to be disposed of in puncture-resistant containers with secure caps.

Elizabeth Kastner of Fish Creek was unapologetic about sending the used needles to Gard through the governor's office. She also wrote and sent a letter.

The needles were collected between July 4, 2004, and July 4, 2005, and were used to administer insulin shots four times a day to her 12-year-old daughter, Isabel. Kastner said she wanted to educate Gard about the importance of stem-cell research, which she thinks could unlock a cure for diabetes.

"I'll do anything I can to bring attention to this issue," said Kastner, who is a member of the Democratic Party. "I wanted him to be startled by the reality of my child's disease."
Gard's displeasure with the delivery was first reported Wednesday by the Green Bay Press-Gazette.

Gard supported a bill that would ban all forms of human cloning in the state, but which supporters of stem-cell research said might hold back research into therapeutic cloning that they think could hold cures for many chronic diseases. The bill passed the Assembly and awaits action by the Senate, although Doyle has said he's likely to veto it.

Gard said: "Stem-cell research is alive and well in Wisconsin." The two-year state budget Doyle signed Monday includes initial funding for a multimillion-dollar stem-cell research institute.
Delivery defended

Doyle spokesman Dan Leistikow said the decision to deliver the needles was made by Susan Goodwin, Doyle's chief of staff. Doyle was busy working on the budget last week and didn't know about the delivery, Leistikow said.

He added that Doyle was on the road in western Wisconsin on Wednesday and wasn't available for comment.

Leistikow said Kastner has the right to have her opinions be heard. She couldn't make the trip to Madison, he said, and "we thought it wouldn't be the right thing to turn her down."
"She knew the needles weren't a pretty thing because she deals with them in daily life," Leistikow said. "She wanted (Gard) to know what she goes through."

Gard blasted Doyle for putting not only legislative staff at risk, but also Capitol cleaning crews and Doyle's aides. Building maintenance staff refused to dispose of the needles, so Capitol police were called and took the needles to the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics for disposal, Gard said.

"In 2005, medical waste isn't something people should take lightly," Gard said. "Is there no standard of conduct left? . . . I feel deeply for her child and her situation, but you can't deliver 1,400 used needles and act like it's delivering a pizza."

A Capitol police officer called Kastner, who offered to turn herself in. No charges are expected to be filed.

Barb Bickford, medical waste coordinator for the DNR, said Kastner and Doyle's staff might have violated state laws regarding the disposal and transportation of used needles. But she added that enforcement typically starts with educating people about how to properly dispose of needles.
"It's up to (Kastner) to manage the waste, but once they received it, I hope the governor's staff and the legislators handled it safely," Bickford said.

Stem-cell research is one of the most polarizing - and emotional - issues in the Capitol.
Many backers of stem-cell research are concerned that the Legislature will chip away at its potential by enacting measures such as the cloning ban, said Ed Fallone, president of Wisconsin Stem Cell Now, a Shorewood-based non-profit group that promotes the research pioneered at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

"The science is so compelling, and the argument to us is so plain, but in calmly making the argument, we haven't demonstrated to lawmakers this is something we care passionately about," Fallone said, adding he and his son are diabetic.

But Susan Armacost, legislative director of Wisconsin Right to Life, which supported the bill that would ban human cloning, said adult stem-cell research has shown the most potential and that's where research should be concentrated.

"Nobody wants to hold up good research," Armacost said. But with cloning, "this is creating human life for the express purpose of destroying it."

Kastner said she is planning other such gestures to make people aware about the need for supporting stem-cell research but declined to give examples.

"(Gard) can anticipate I will do more and more . . . everything in my power I can conceive of to elicit further education," Kastner said.

Everyone:


Gard and the opponents of stem cell research are vocally protesting this stunt as if it somehow put Gard's life in danger. This is, of course, intended to do nothing more than divert attention from the real issue which is the unpopular and misguided anti-cloning bill that passed the State Assembly and is pending in the State Senate.

Nonetheless, Gard's insincere protestations are an insult to everyone living with a chronic medical condition.


Call and write John Gard immediately and tell him to focus on curing disease, and not on fearmongering.

Forward this email to your friends and loved ones and urge them to do the same. And remember, support for untested and theortetical research using adult stem cells is NOT the same thing as support for finding cures.

State Representative John Gard
rep.gard@legis.state.wi.us
telephone: (608) 266-3387
fax: (608) 282-3689

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

The Stem Cell Divide

Photograph by Yorgos Nikas, M.D.

A mere speck nestled in the eye of a needle, a five-day-old embryo (photographed using an electron microscope) contains controversial stem cells.

There is an entire article in the July 2005 Issue of National Geographics Magazine. www.nationalgeographic.com

Interesting enough I was searching www.wpr.org online archives for a recent interview with Peter Isely and came across this:

10:00 AM
Catherine Brand in for Kathleen Dunn - 07/18E
Listen
Many researchers believe that stem cell research will eventually be used to treat everything from Alzheimer’s to spinal cord injuries. After ten, Catherine Brand's guest says it’s imperative to resolve the political issues surrounding stem cell research before the science can be fully realized. Guest: Rick Weiss, science writer for the Washington Post. Athor of a piece in the July 2005 issue of National Geographic Magazine. www.nationalgeographic.org

This is the URL for the actual article. One must actual buy the magazine to get the print copy - but hey, that's what public libraries are for.
http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0507/feature1/index.html

Some more Dog Cartoons from Funny Pet Pictures




Monday, July 25, 2005

This Week in the US Senate

What you need to do:

1. Call your Senators and ask them to support S.471:
“I urge you to show your support for human embryonic stem cell research by signing onto S.471 which is the Senate Version of H.R. 810. The numerous alternative bills that Senator Frist and others are proposing-adult stem cells, umbilical cord stem cells, and altered nuclear transfer- should be researched IN ADDITION TO and NOT INSTEAD OF embryonic stem Cells.”

Bill Summary & Status for the 109th Congress



This is the Senate Version of the House Bill H.R. 810. Don't let it get watered down by the idea concepts being pushed. This legislation will permit federal financing for research on stem cell colonies, or lines, derived from embryos that are in frozen storage at fertility clinics. Currently, federal financing is limited to studies of those embryonic stem cell lines already in existence on Aug. 9, 2001, when Mr. Bush issued an executive order allowing




S.471

Title: A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for human embryonic stem cell research.

Sponsor: Sen Specter, Arlen [PA] (introduced 2/28/2005) Cosponsors (40)




Related Bills: H.R.810

Latest Major Action: 2/28/2005
Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.



COSPONSORS(40), ALPHABETICAL:





Sen Akaka, Daniel K. [HI]
- 5/18/2005
Sen Baucus, Max [MT]
- 4/25/2005
Sen Bayh, Evan [IN]
- 4/25/2005
Sen Bingaman, Jeff [NM]
- 5/25/2005
Sen Boxer, Barbara [CA]
- 3/7/2005
Sen Cantwell, Maria [WA]
- 3/9/2005
Sen Carper, Thomas R. [DE]
- 4/11/2005
Sen Chafee, Lincoln [RI]
- 3/4/2005
Sen Hillary Rodham [NY]
- 4/11/2005
Sen Collins, Susan M. [ME]
- 3/11/2005
Sen Corzine, Jon S. [NJ]
- 3/7/2005
Sen Dayton, Mark [MN]
- 5/18/2005
Sen Dodd, Christopher J.[CT]
- 4/5/2005
Sen Dorgan, Byron L. [ND]
- 5/18/2005
Sen Durbin, Richard [IL]
- 3/11/2005
Sen Feingold, Russell D. [WI]
- 5/18/2005
Sen Feinstein, Dianne [CA]
- 2/28/2005
Sen Harkin, Tom [IA]
- 2/28/2005
Sen Hatch, Orrin G. [UT]
- 2/28/2005
Sen Inouye, Daniel K. [HI]
- 3/11/2005
Sen Jeffords, James M. [VT]
- 3/11/2005
Sen Johnson, Tim [SD]
- 4/5/2005
Sen Kennedy, Edward M. [MA]
- 2/28/2005
Sen Kerry, John F. [MA]
- 4/11/2005
Sen Kohl, Herb [WI]
- 5/9/2005
Sen Landrieu, Mary L. [LA]
- 5/25/2005
Sen Lautenberg, Frank R. [NJ[NJ]
- 3/7/2005
Sen Leahy, Patrick J. [VT]
- 6/14/2005
Sen Levin, Carl [MI]
- 5/25/2005
Joseph I. [CT]
- 5/12/2005
Sen Lincoln, Blanche L. [AR]
- 5/12/2005
Sen Mikulski, Barbara A. [MD]
- 5/12/2005
Sen Murray, Patty [WA]
- 3/7/2005
Sen Obama, Barack [IL]
- 4/11/2005
Sen Reed, Jack [RI]
- 6/9/2005
Sen Reid, Harry [NV]
- 6/15/2005
Sen Schumer, Charles E. [NY]
- 5/9/2005
Sen Smith, Gordon H. [OR]
- 2/28/2005
Sen Snowe, Olympia J. [ME]
- 5/25/2005
Sen Stabenow, Debbie [MI]
- 6/8/2005





Great Weather over the Weekend


We had terrific weather over the weekend - very, very hot. I love it. Close to, if not over 100 degrees F. The furry kids were not quite so happy - but since we have the AC on loan from Ceil, Dale, and Dawn-Marie - the bedrooms were very cold....polar cold. Beau's glasses fogged up when she emerged periodically from her polar room. Today, M starts his new job. Wish him luck! Found this photo on cnn - PBs from the Bronx zoo.
From the Milwaukee Journal:

Officially, Milwaukee saw a high of 97 degrees Sunday with a heat index - how it felt given the heat and humidity - of 105 degrees, according to the National Weather Service near Sullivan. But at least one local thermometer, at the U.S. Bank Championship at Brown Deer Park, registered 100.

Check out the Bronx Zoo, too. Hey I'm a poet!

This photo is from the Bronx Zoo Animal Gallery - not the most flattery photo of a Polar Bear...but neat non-the-less.

Saturday, July 23, 2005

NIEHS Alert - People contact US Congress



H.R.2231 Breast Cancer & Environmental Research Act

Looks like we really have to push again this year. Call your representatives and tell them to sign on to this bill. Please ask your friends, relatives, and co-workers to do so, too.

Please do ASAP: Call the following representatives and ask them to sign onto H.R. 2231.

Title: A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to make grants for the development and operation of research centers regarding environmental factors that may be related to the etiology of breast cancer.

Who needs to be called?

  • Paul Ryan (R-1) Ph: 202-225-3031, FAX: 202-225-3393
  • David Obey (R-7) Ph: 202-225-3365, FAX: 202-225-3250
  • Mark Green (R-8) Ph: 202-225-5665, FAX: 202-225-5729
  • F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-05) Ph: (202) 225-5101, Toll-Free1-800-242-1119

Photo Info: A snapshot from a photo booth from a drug store when we were kids - ha! little did we know what was in store for us and breast cancer. Nancy my late sister is on the left, I am on the right. The next photo is from:

http://www-medlib.med.utah.edu/WebPath/TUTORIAL/BREAST/BRCA024.html and is described as:

This is positive immunoperoxidase staining for C-erb B-2 (HER2-neu) in a breast carcinoma. Note the membranous staining of the neoplastic cells. There is a correlation between HER2 positivity and high nuclear grade and aneuploidy.

Friday, July 22, 2005

Teasim and Good Friends in DC



When I went to NBCC Training for Project Lead in Washington DC in November of 2004 - immediately after being "impacted" from my position an SAID Company - remaining nameless - I was lucky enough to meet 2 neat people. Jenn (aka TUG) and Jamie. We stumbled upon a tea shoppe - called Teasim...looks like it is only in D.C. Jamie took this photo of TUG and me at the Teasim Portal. (Photo by Jamie Lang)

Check out their web site, they have neat info on tea. Beau remember that tea shoppe we went to near Columbia U in NYC - don't know why it didn't last long.

Anyway, here are some tips from teaism on Iced Tea:

"Iced TeaFor iced tea, we recommend using double the amount of tea you would use for hot tea. To a gallon of boiling water, add 1/2 cup of loose tea and steep 10 minutes. We like to sweeten slightly with about 4 tablespoons of sugar. Keep at room temperature and serve over ice. To keep overnight, store in the refrigerator. If your tea gets cloudy, add just a bit of boiling water."

Check out Jamie @

http://burntintomemory.my-expressions.com/
http://jamieq.blogspot.com/

Thursday, July 21, 2005

US Senate Stem Cell Alert



This is from http://www.blogger.com/www.stemcellaction.org.


Linda - Please pass on to friends, relatives, and/or other interested people. Thanks!

Thursday, July 21, 2005

This is the week that we expected there to be a debate and vote on H.R.
810 the bill to expand federal funding beyond the restrictions
established by President Bush in August 2001. This bill passed the
House and has bi-partisan support in the Senate. The danger was a
threatened veto by the president. Instead we have delaying tactics and
confusion by the offering "alternative" methods of deriving embryonic
stem cells: methods that are untested, unproven and merely
hypothetical.


What does delay mean? For the past four years we have seen the energy
for developing cures through embryonic stem cell research continue
abroad, and be sent to state legislatures for funding. California, New
Jersey, Connecticut, Illinois have all stepped up to the plate. This is
wonderful, but inefficient and time-consuming. The National Institutes
of Health is where the big bucks are for medical research. Until those
coffers are opened wide, the research will take longer to bear fruit.

This is the time to call your Senators and remind them that you don?t
have the luxury of losing more time.

(Copy this address into your browser for Senators? contact info:
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm)

Thank you,

Is the Moon made out of Green Cheese?

Zoom (+) all the way in. 'Gotta' love those people at google.

If the site is down or you are too lazy to hit the URL - take a look at this:

Wednesday, July 20, 2005

Manogram


Won't this be nice!
Thanks for the cartoon Galina!
One of my greatest fears is fainting and as I fall to the ground, my boob is ripped off.

Dog Cartoons






Some of my favorites for today:

Swedish Wedding 2005






he he he

Wednesday, July 06, 2005

Cameron Clapp - WOW

I read about this in the www.nytimes.com this a.m.

Here's a teaser - read the entire article. The kid also has his own web page. He mentions Hanger Orthotics - I wonder if that is the same Hanger Orthotics that Michael goes to for his leg brace....

Cyberbodies
Robo-Legs

By MICHEL MARRIOTT
Published: June 20, 2005
BLOND and buff, Cameron Clapp is a teenage star.

Dressed fashionably in a faded T-shirt, baggy shorts and sneakers, he recently strolled the crowded sidewalks of Times Square. He walked confidently, flashing the megawatt smile that brightens his Web site and various photographs in newspapers and magazines that have chronicled his story as he travels the country.

...

Mr. Clapp lost both his legs above the knee and his right arm just short of his shoulder after falling onto train tracks almost five years ago near his home in Grover Beach, Calif. After years of rehabilitation and trying a series of prosthetics, each more technologically sophisticated than the last, he finally found his legs.

The above is from the New York Times - go read it.

Friday, July 01, 2005


Dog Cartoon

Dog Cartoon

Dog Cartoon

Dog Cartoon

Dog Cartoon

Dog Cartoon

Dog Cartoon

Dog Cartoon

Dog Cartoon

Dog Cartoons!

Dog Idioms

See below, these idioms are from:
http://doghause.com/
I love it! I am not the only Dog-Obssesive!
  • a barking dog never bites
    Someone who makes threats all the time, seldom carries out the threats.
    Source: Bertram, Anne (Bowl of Cherries)
  • bark up the wrong tree
    Pursue an erroneous course of action.
    Source: Bertram, Anne (Bowl of Cherries)
  • his bark is worse than his bite
    Someone comes across as being very mean and nasty, but doesn't necessarily act on their threats
    Source: Lewis, Stacey
  • why keep a dog and bark yourself
    You should not do something you hired some one else to do.
    Source: Bertram, Anne (Bowl of Cherries)

Dog Superstitions

I found this neat web site @ http://doghause.com/
It has all sorts of funny and odd info:

Here is a teaser of Dog Supersittions:

Dogs Greeks thought dogs could foresee evil.

"If you have your new-born baby licked by a dog, your baby will be a quick healer. "

Howling dogs mean the wind god has summoned death, and the spirits of the dead will be taken.

A dog eating grass - rain Source: oldsuperstitions.com

A howling dog at night means bad luck or somebody close to you will be very sick or worse.

According to Matt Groening, a dog with seven toes can see ghosts.

Dogs have always been credited with the power of sensing supernatural influences, and seeing ghosts, spirits, faeries or deities which are invisible to human eyes. In Wales only dogs could see the death-bringing hounds of Annwn; in ancient Greece the dogs were aware when Hecate was at a crossroads foretelling a death. Dogs are believed to be aware of the presence of ghosts, and their barking, whimpering or howling is often the first warning of supernatural occurrances. Source: Vanessa's Pagan Place Folklore Page

There are many instances of black dog ghosts which are said to haunt lanes, bridges, crossroads, footpaths and gates, particularly in Suffolk, Norfolk and the Isle of Man. Some black dogs are said to be unquiet ghosts of wicked souls, but others are friendly guides and protectors to travellers; the Barguest of northern England could also appear as a pig or a goat, but was most commonly a huge black dog with large eyes and feet which left no prints. Packs of ghostly hounds have also been recorded all over Britain, often heard howling as they pass by on stormy nights rather than actually seen; these hounds generally foretell death, or at least disaster, if they are seen and the proper action is to drop face-down onto the ground to avoid spotting them. Source: Vanessa's Pagan Place Folklore Page

When a dog howls in an otherwise silent night, it is said to be an omen of death, or at least of misfortune. A howling dog outside the house of a sick person was once thought to be an omen that they would die, especially if the dog was driven away and returned to howl again. A dog which gives a single howl, or three howls, and then falls silent is said to be marking a death that has just occurred nearby. Source: Vanessa's Pagan Place Folklore Page

Dogs were feared as possible carriers of rabies; sometimes even a healthy dog was killed if it had bitten someone, because of the belief that if the dog later developed rabies, even many years afterwards, the bitten person would also be afflicted. Remedies for the bite of a mad dog often included the patient being forced to eat a part of the dog in question, such as its hairs or a piece of its cooked liver. Dogs were also used to cure other illnesses; one old charm which was often used for childrens' illnesses was to take some of the patient's hairs and feed them to a dog inbetween slices of bread and butter; the ailment was believed to transfer to the animal, healing the patient. Source: Vanessa's Pagan Place Folklore Page

In Scotland, a strange dog coming to the house means a new friendship; in England, to meet a spotted or black and white dog on your way to a business appointment is lucky. Three white dogs seen together are considered lucky in some areas; black dogs are generally considered unlucky, especially if they cross a traveller's path or follow someone and refuse to be driven away. Fishermen traditionally regard dogs as unlucky and will not take one out in a boat, or mention the word 'dog' whilst at sea. Source: Vanessa's Pagan Place Folklore Page

"Just thought I would add to your animal superstitions with one I learned from a elder South Dakota Lakota Sioux Indian was that if a member of the tribe would get sick they would lay with a dog and the sickness would transfer from the tribal member into the dog. On some of the reservations, among the elders, this practice is still taking place."

Lassie and Dave Barry and then Groucho Marx

"Lassie looked brilliant, in part because the farm family she lived with was made up of idiots. Remember? One of them was always getting pinned under the tractor, and Lassie was always rushing back to the farmhouse to alert the other ones. She'd whimper and tug at their sleeves, and they'd always waste precious minutes saying things: "Do you think something's wrong? Do you think she wants us to follow her? What is it, girl?", etc., as if this had never happened before, instead of every week. What with all the time these people spent pinned under the tractor, I don't see how they managed to grow any crops whatsoever. They probably got by on federal crop supports, which Lassie filed the applications for." -- Dave Barry

"Outside of a dog, a book is probably man's best friend, and inside of a dog, it's too dark to read." -- Groucho Marx.

Legally blind musher gets a new guide

A teaser:

IDITAROD RACE: Rachael Scdoris to enlist aid of veteran musher Tim Osmar in 2006.
The Associated Press
Published: June 25th, 2005 Last Modified: June 25th, 2005 at 05:40 AM
KENAI -- Musher Tim Osmar of Ninilchik will serve as Rachael Scdoris' "visual interpreter" for next year's Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
The 20-year-old woman from Bend, Ore., who is legally blind, will be embarking on her second attempt to get to Nome. She got to Eagle Island in the 2005 Iditarod -- a distance of 731 miles -- before calling it quits because her dogs were sick.


Check out the article @

http://www.adn.com/outdoors/story/6643798p-6530194c.html

The Swedish Wedding


Some Dog Sense:

"If you are a dog and your owner suggests that you wear a sweater. . . suggest that he wear a tail." -- Fran Lebowitz

"You can say any fool thing to a dog, and the dog will give you this look that says, `My God, you're RIGHT! I NEVER would've thought of that!'" -- Dave Barry


Of all the things I miss from veterinary practice, puppy breath is one of the most fond memories!" -- Dr. Tom Cat

"The dog is man's best friend.
He has a tail on one end.
Up in front he has teeth.
And four legs underneath." -- Ogden Nash 'An Introduction to Dogs'

"I wonder if other dogs think poodles are members of a weird religious cult." -- Rita Rudner
"When old dogs bark, it's time to watch out."
"When old dogs bark, it's time to watch out."


"It's not easy being green." -- Kermit the Frog

"There is an Indian legend which says when a human dies there is a bridge they must cross to enter into heaven. At the head of that bridge waits every animal that human encountered during their lifetime. The animals, based upon what they know of this person, decide which humans may cross the bridge.... and which are turned away..." -- Unknown

"When a shepherd goes to kill a wolf, and takes his dog along to see the sport, he should take care to avoid mistakes. The dog has certain relationships to the wolf the shepherd may have forgotten." -- Robert Pirsig, "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance"

Melinda Ruth and Julia at Swedish Wedding
Swedish Fish - Yummy!


Melinda is on the east of the picture - with the dark hair.....


Linda M Roberts
Linda M Roberts