(07.31.07) Recommends:

Game On!

Sweet, I finally get to use a Wayne's World quote as a title to this blog! Even sweeter, the latest NY Times article on the Children's Health Insurance Program marks the story's official ascendancy to an issue that will shape the '08 Election. Check out some of these quotes:

Senator Mel Martinez of Florida, chairman of the Republican National Committee, acknowledged Tuesday that a vote against the bill would be portrayed as a vote against health care for children.

“If we allow that to be the end of the conversation, then we will probably have a very bad election cycle,” Mr. Martinez said. “A number of us on the Republican side really do believe that we need to insure every American, and the way to do that is to provide the tax credits necessary to allow people to obtain individual private health insurance policies.”

And,

Before seeing details of the bills, Mr. Bush denounced them, saying they “take incremental steps down the path to government-run health care for every American.” He said the bills would cover children from middle-income families and “crowd out” private insurance.

Republicans despair of trying to make such arguments to a public vexed by soaring health costs and the erosion of employer-sponsored coverage. But they are trying. Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, said, “The Senate bill would incrementally federalize health care.”

Senator Gordon H. Smith, Republican of Oregon, rejected that. The child health program, like Medicare’s prescription drug benefit, is “a highly successful melding of government and private sector care,” Mr. Smith said.

Dr. Mark B. McClellan, former administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said, “The Children’s Health Insurance Program today is delivered mostly by private insurance plans, using public money.”

And,

In an interview, Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, a Republican who is chairman of the National Governors Association, said he did not understand how the debate had become so polarized that Mr. Bush was threatening a veto.

At a meeting of the association last week in Traverse City, Mich., Mr. Pawlenty said, “There was unanimous support for a reasonable expansion of the program.” The group has not endorsed a specific sum.

The federal government spends $5 billion a year on the program. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, a Republican, said it was “absolutely essential” that Congress increase spending on children’s coverage by $50 billion over the next five years. That is 10 times the increase sought by Mr. Bush.

This story gives me confidence in the future. In about a week's time this issue has gone from something that was completely foreign to me to something that will help define Election '08 and beyond. It's paving the way to universal health insurance; just listen to what those Republic politicians are saying above. The tide is turning. The people really do run this country, and the people are ready for a change. What they say is true: when the people start to lead the leaders will start to follow.

Teacher Workshops Begin

<== Some of the teachers attending

We have two teacher workshops going on this week.

One is being led by John Meany and it is a teacher/coach workshop for those who want to learn how or improve their ability to lead a competitive debate program. The program will cover organization, recruiting, training, judging, tournament preparation as well as covering the major debate formats that the teachers are interested in. The program is five-days long and goes from 9 AM until 5 PM.

The other program is being led by Bojana Skrt with help from Alfred Snider and it is called "Deliberation Across the Curriculum." This is similar to last year's workshop at WDI as ell as other similar workshops that have been held in Singapore, Slovenia, Montenegro and other locations. Attending are teachers who want to use debate in the classroom to teach their current subjects. The class utilizes MANY SIDES: DEBATE ACROSS THE CURRICULUM, a book written by Maxwell Schnurer and Snider, now in its second edition. The reason it has been changed from just "debate" to "deliberation" is that many of the techniques (round table discussion, mock trial, legislative assembly) are not really debates but are still quite beneficial.

(07.29.07) Recommends:

Meiko's CD Release Show, Hotel Cafe, Hollywood, Calif. July 26, 2007.

Since I was stuck in a Costco-like structure in San Mateo all of last Thursday, it was impossible for me to make it down for this show. Luckily, however, reader Alexa was in attendance and dutifully reported back! Check it:

Oh man, what a show! there had to be like 300 people there -- hot, sweaty, and wonderful! Meiko is adorable and her band is amazing -- she plays with a trumpet player, mandolin, standup bass, and on some songs piano and drums...the stories Meiko tells between songs are hysterical -- I hope she's always this down to earth -- there's no doubt this girl's gonna be famous...at the end of her set, after people begged for an encore, she played a song called "You Gotta Fuckin Tip" -- she wrote it after some guy didn't tip her (I guess she also is a bartender at the Hotel Cafe) -- SUCH a funny song and a great way to end a fabulous set. I bought her CD immediately following the show. She might have it for sale online soon, but she also mentioned that she's doing a residency at the Hotel Cafe all August long. I've got a new favorite singer and her name is Meiko!!

Sounds awesome! So awesome, in fact, that it's been decided: I must get to one of these shows. She's playing the Hotel Cafe Aug. 8, 15, 22, 29. So, heads up those of you in LA: let's meet up at a Meiko show.

July 30, 2007 - Speak Up!

There was a fine article in yesterday’s New York Times: "Cancer Patients, Lost in a Maze of Uneven Care," by Denise Grady. It highlights the sad fact that, for all the technological wonders we have available to us in this country for treating cancer, the actual delivery of those treatments often leaves much to be desired.

Cancer is a complex disease. Almost always, successful treatment requires not just one doctor, but a team. It also requires patients to become well-informed about their condition, and to participate, along with their physicians, in making treatment decisions. It’s not that the patients know more about medicine than the doctors (we don’t). It’s that, in many cases, there is no clear-cut treatment protocol. Like the scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz – who, when Dorothy asked him which way to the Emerald City, replied by saying, “Some folks go this way, some folks go that way, but other folks go both ways” – sometimes doctors actually say to patients, “I have several different treatments I could recommend, all of which show some track record of success – which one would you prefer?” When we hear such a question from our oncologist, we’ve got to be able to supply an answer. That’s why it’s so important to educate ourselves about the disease.

For patients to be active participants in treatment decisions is sometimes more than a matter of personal preference. It can make the difference between life and death. The Times article tells the story of Karen Pasqualetto of Seattle, who – in her thirties – developed colon cancer. By the time it was diagnosed, her disease had progressed to stage 4, and had spread to her liver.

Karen’s first doctor said her liver cancer was inoperable. There was nothing he could do for her, other than palliative chemotherapy treatments. He told her she had six months to live. Not taking no for an answer, Karen found a new oncologist, who was willing to give her aggressive chemotherapy. It helped. But this doctor, too, considered her a poor risk for surgery. Still refusing to take no for an answer, Karen located a physician at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore who was an expert on risky liver surgeries. She went to him, and learned that – while he agreed she was not a good candidate for surgery – he thought she was good enough. (Karen had stacked the deck a bit, by – in a blatant bid for sympathy – holding her infant daughter on her lap as she spoke with the surgeon.) After a very involved operation, she was able to return home and live – at least for now – a relatively normal life. Her cancer will likely recur, but already she’s outlived the original life-expectancy predictions.

Karen’s original medical insurance company was only willing to pay for the palliative chemo. If her husband had not moved to a new job – as a mid-level executive with Starbucks – that offered better medical coverage, Karen’s surgery would not have been covered. In that scenario, unless she would have been able to tap friends and family to pay for her care, she would be dead today.

Karen’s care, the Times article says, cost over $400,000. Her original insurer refused to pay it. Because her husband moved to a new job, and because his employer’s medical insurance didn’t exclude Karen’s case as a pre-existing condition, she was able to survive.

Reflecting on the members of a cancer support group she attends, Karen said, “It was amazing to me the different experiences people were having based on what they could afford or who their provider was. I was able to say, ‘If the provider won’t pay, my family will. I don’t care, I’m going for a second opinion.’ ” But, she also knew that not every patient could make such a statement.

Is it worth $400,000 to give a young mother a few more months, even a few more years, to help raise her child? It’s an agonizing question. How can one even put a price cap on something like that? The sad truth is, insurance companies do it every day. It’s all part of the game. In countries with universal health care, it can still be problematic. In those places, it’s the government making the call, not private companies – although, in those systems, at least the playing field is more level, from one patient to another. It’s less of a maze (to use the Times writer’s metaphor).

For us patients, speaking up for ourselves is part of the game too. The proverb’s right: the squeaky wheel gets the oil. Sometimes, something else is also true: it’s the squeaky wheel that survives.

My first DA* 16-50 shots

A few random photos taken this weekend. Shot with K10D in RAW at ISO 200. Images processed by Photo Lab. No adjustments made to images, except setting the white point on a few of the photos taken under the shade of our patio umbrella, and minor cropping of some shots. By no "adjustments" I mean no sharpening of the image, or change to contrast or saturation during or after my RAW conversion process. Also, for those that have commented that these images are too small, please note that if you click on the small photo you should be able to view a much larger 2.8 to 3MB jpeg file.

War Effort to Recruit Women

Television Programs Now Available

All three of the 30-minute television discussions staged by the Pakistani students in the International Student Leaders program at WDI are now available online.

Right click to download, click to watch right away, best viewd through iTunes:

Stereotypes of Muslims and Americans
http://flashpointtv.blogspot.com/2007/07/346-stereotypes-of-muslims-and.html

The Future of the UN
http://flashpointtv.blogspot.com/2007/07/346-future-of-un.html

Justifications for Intervention
http://flashpointtv.blogspot.com/2007/07/348-justifications-for-intervention.html

College Policy Debate Workshop Begins

College policy senior faculty from left to right: Jackie Massey of Oklahoma, Sarah Green of Kansas State, David Register of Vermont and Kevin Kuswa of Richmond.

One program departs and another one arrives as WDI's busy summer continues. Now we have a group of college debaters who are preparing to debate the national policy debate topic next academic year.

The topic is:
Resolved: that the United States Federal Government should increase its constructive engagement with the government of one or more of: Afghanistan, Iran, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, and Syria, and it should include offering them a security guarantee(s) and/or a substantial increase in foreign assistance.

There are four senior faculty members in the program.
Kevin Kuswa is a professor at the University of Richmond and the director of debate. One of the most respected debate coaches in America, he was the top speaker in debate at high school nationals in his senior year and as a college debater he won the national championship by winning the National Debate Tournament for Georgetown University.
Sarah Green (recently changed from Snider) is a debate coach at Kansas State University. She has previously coached at Vermont and at Rochester. While at Rochester her teams won the NDT national sweepstakes title. For three years she was the director of the District of Columbia Urban Debate League. She reached the elimination rounds at CEDA Nationals and the NDT as a debater for Vermont.
David Register and reigning national champion coach Jackie Massey are here after teaching in the high school policy debate workshop.

K10D Newspaper Ad

We're going to run a K10D newspaper ad in the US starting next Friday, August 3 which will run through Labor Day week (September 9th). The ad will run in the following newspapers (markets): New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, Dallas Morning News, Orange County Register, Philadelphia Inquirer - Daily News, Portland Oregonian, Seattle Times - Post Intelligencer and New Jersey Star Ledger. The jpeg below is what we call a generic template. Ads in each market will list the specific dealers in that area carrying the K10D in the red band at the bottom. I thought some of you might like to see the ad before it breaks. We're also launching a series of new magazine ads that I will share with you shortly.

(07.27.07) Recommends:

The song "Hey There Delilah" by the Plain White T's.

I'm late on this one, I know. Did this song come out in 2006? Where has it been hiding all this time? I actually heard it for the first time today on some MTV channel. MTVU? Is that a channel? I think that's what the screen said. Obviously I don't watch TV much.

Anyway.

This is the first time I've heard a song on MTV that has made me stop, sit down to listen, and wait until the end so I could see the name of the band. The last time that happened? The Strokes' video for Last Night. Back in the day, right?

There is something fishy about this band: on their current tour they are playing mostly Six Flags amusement parks. I don't know what that means. However, there was also something fishy about the Strokes. They sold out the Granada in Lawrence less than a month after the release of "Is This It." There were people who drove in from Iowa trying to scalp tickets.

Here's the video, enjoy:

July 27, 2007 - Harry Potter and the Christian Faith

Yesterday, I went for my PET scan and accompanying CT scans. I've written previously of what these tests are like, and these were no different – so, I see no need to repeat myself. I'll be eagerly awaiting the radiologist's report interpreting these images, which will suggest whether or not the cancer has advanced further since my last scans, just over three months ago. There's not much more to say than that: once again, it's a waiting game. I'm getting quite used to that, by now.

What I'd prefer to write about, instead, is the book I've just finished reading, in the wee hours of this morning. Along with millions of other people, I've been reading J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the seventh and final volume in this series that has been such a publishing phenomenon. (Don't worry, if you haven't read it yet: I have no intention of communicating "spoiler" plot details.)

I've always been impressed by this series of children's books, that adults have read just as eagerly. The first volumes attracted some undeserved flak from Christian fundamentalists, who feared that the magical premise of the stories – all the talk about wizards and spells and flying around on brooms – could somehow be spiritually dangerous to young readers. It's the same sort of misguided thinking that leads some Christian conservatives to forbid their children from trick-or-treating on Halloween (or, at least, to steer them away from wearing ghostly bedsheets or pointy witches' hats). There are some people who seem to believe more strongly in the devil's power than in the very Lord whose victory, scripture tells us, results in Satan being chained and cast into a bottomless pit (Revelation 20:1-3).

Fortunately, most of the malicious whisperings about the Harry Potter books being un-Christian have died down – because anyone who actually reads them quickly realizes there's a deep morality at their very core: one that's certainly compatible with Christian faith, even if it may not speak explicitly in Christian terms).

I was pleased to no end to realize, upon reading this seventh and final volume, that it's a departure from the others. What's different is that the Christian symbolism of the earlier books – which had been, at best, extremely subtle – now becomes very obvious indeed. I can't say too much more than that without giving away plot details, but I will predict that the Harry Potter books will henceforth be considered to be as much classics of Christian literature as C.S. Lewis' Narnia books now are.

In most of her press interviews, J.K. Rowling has adroitly dodged the topic of her personal religious beliefs. In at least one interview, however, she's admitted to being a member of the Church of Scotland. That means she's not only a Christian, but – are you ready for this? – a Presbyterian! This latest volume contains two Bible verses, both of them found on tombstones of important members of the wizarding community who have died in years past: "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" and "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." These are, of course, Matthew 6:21 and 1 Corinthians 15:26. Rowling doesn't cite chapter and verse, nor does she identify these words as coming from the Bible, but their placement in the story line is about as unmistakable as a neon sign.

Again, I can't reveal plot details, but the whole story is a cosmic struggle between good and evil, in which selfless love is shown to be capable of vanquishing the most soul-chilling and vicious hatred. Death, and life beyond death, are discussed at greater length than in the previous books, as is the immortality of the soul. We have already seen how, in earlier volumes, it was the selfless, sacrificial death of Harry's mother, Lily, that rendered Harry uniquely resistant to the killing curses of Voldemort, the Dark Lord. As one Christian reviewer has put it, in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows "Rowling begins to reveal that, like Narnia, her world has a ‘deeper magic.' Love, expressed as substitutionary sacrifice – choosing to lay down your life for your friends – has a power that Lord Voldemort, like the White Witch before him, is blind to." (Bob Smietana, "The Gospel According to J.K. Rowling," on the Christianity Today website, July 23, 2007).

Being told you have incurable cancer – even a treatable variety, such as I have – does send your thoughts winging, more frequently than others', to subjects such as death, love, courage and life eternal. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is as reliable a vehicle for raising up those weighty questions as any other novel I can think of. As more and more people read it – and as we can speak freely, no longer having to worry about avoiding “spoiler” surprises – I predict this book will become a potent tool for discussing the greatest questions of this human life of ours.

High School Policy Camp Comes to a Close

The High School Policy Debate Workshop has ended. The tournament was completed and the students left this morning. I have to say that they were a truly outstanding group. Not only was there research work excellent, but they also debated with zest and always tried to do their best. It was a very impressive group. For example, of the many hundreds of books checked out on the topic, ALL of them were returned by day two of the tournament.

The faculty also did an amazing job, always cheerful and willing to do more when they needed so, they certainly made my work directing the program easier.

Here are the results from the tournament.

TEAM RESULTS

1. TEAM 12 STORMEE MASSEY & ALIM MOHAMMED 3-1 225.5
2. TEAM 1 JANE CAVALIER & LEANNE CONWAY 3-1 219.5
3. TEAM 7 KAYLA ANDREWS & LASHONDA TAYLOR 3-1 219-110
4. TEAM 3 JOSE RIVERA & JOSE RIVERA 3-1 219-109
5. TEAM 4 MAKIERA BUCHANAN & RYAN MOORE 3-1 218.5
6. TEAM 6 GREGORIO LIVINGSTON & MARQUIS GUZMAN 3-1 213.5

SPEAKER RESULTS

1. STORMEE MASSEY 115-4
2. RYAN MOORE 111-6
3. JANE CAVALIER 110.5-6
4. JOSE RIVERA 110.5-8
5. BERTHONY DUVERGLAS 110.5-9
6. ALIM MOHAMMED 110.5-11
7. LASHONDA TAYLOR 110-8


The most important awards we give out are the "hats." Hats go to those students who have done the most to improve the intellectual environment of the workshop. Our winners were: Brittany Brown, Michelle Likhtshteyn, Stormee Massey and Tyler Schwind. Congratulations to these students for making the experience better for everyone else.


It was sad for people to be saying goodbye, but that is the nature of the WDI experience. It comes, it happens in a storm of activity that changes lives and then it is gone and those who have experienced it are back in their normal lives, but in some ways always changed.

Pakistani Students Discuss Stereotypes of Muslims and Americans

This is a group of Pakistani students who attended the International Student Leaders Program held in cooperation with the World Debate Institute this summer at the University of Vermont. Students designed, rehearsed and then filmed a round table discussion on this issue. For more information go to: https://sharepoint.uvm.edu/sites/ce/global/isi/Academic%20Program/Forms/AllItems.aspx .

Right click to download, click to watch right away, best viewed through iTunes:
http://www.uvm.edu/~debate/watch/0346stereotypes.m4v

See the whole video library with the newest additions on top at:
http://www.uvm.edu/~debate/watch/?M=D

Pakistani Students Featured in Local Newspaper

From http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200770726001

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Kanza Agha, 22 (from left), works with Sultan Baber Mirza, 20; Ayesha Imran, 21; John Meany, director of forensics at Claremont McKenna College in California; David Paul, 20; and Sidra Saeed, 22, as they prepare Tuesday at the University of Vermont for a roundtable discussions that will air on cable television.



Pakistanis visit to build bridges

Published: Thursday, July 26, 2007
By Tim Johnson
Free Press Staff Writer

The overseas visitors were talking about how they keep up with world events when they're in their home country, and several mentioned Fox News.

Was Fox News their main news source in Pakistan? They smiled.

"We watch it for fun," said Mustafa Haroon, as others nodded. Some said they like CNN. Samir Anwar said he preferred the BBC.

"British media are more unbiased than American media," he said.

They were talking over lunch in the dining hall of Harris-Millis, a dorm at the University of Vermont. For these 17 Pakistani university students, spending a month at UVM courtesy of the U.S. State Department, lunch these days consists of pasta, nachos, French fries, brownies -- not exactly the spicy fare they're used to. No meat for most of them, either. Not that they're vegetarians, but halal meat -- slaughtered according to Muslim law -- isn't available. They eat a lot of cheese pizza. Eating pizza is nothing new -- Pizza Huts can be found in Pakistan -- but eating it every day is.

The students are no strangers to American culture, but this is their first visit to the United States. Part of what they find striking has to do not with American culture, but with Vermont.

They're surprised to find so few supporters of President Bush. They knew Vermont was a "blue state," having followed CNN's election coverage, but this blue?

For a little variety, one of their UVM coordinators is planning to take them on a field trip to New Hampshire next week. Among the stops: Mitt Romney's campaign headquarters.

They're surprised that government officials are so accessible. They spent 40 minutes with the governor. They interviewed Burlington Mayor Bob Kiss.

Some of that accessibility is inherent to Vermont, or Burlington, where it's not unusual for pedestrians on Church Street to cross paths with the mayor or a U.S. senator. It's also true that doors have been opened for these visitors as guests of the U.S. government. Selected students from Pakistan and about 10 other countries, including China, Nigeria and Ecuador, are staying at universities around the country and will convene in Washington, D.C., for a few days at the end to compare notes and make presentations. Another Pakistani delegation is in Carbondale, Ill., at Southern Illinois University.

The State Department's stated rationale is to build bridges to other countries by exposing future leaders to American culture. The 36 Pakistani students spending a month in Vermont and Illinois are Fulbright scholars who were selected from about 1,200 applicants. Not surprisingly, the members of the UVM delegation come across as articulate, self-assured and with a kind of worldly sophistication.

"The idea is to increase mutual understanding between Pakistan and the U.S.," said Jennifer Phillips, program officer with the State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, who visited Burlington last week to check on the program. "From a foreign policy perspective, we think it will improve relations and break down barriers and misconceptions. I really think they are having a life-changing experience."

Life-changing or not, some of their experience will be unforgettable -- beginning with their arrival at U.S. airports. Anwar flew in to Newark, where immigration officials detained him for five hours without explanation, without food and without even bothering to interview him, he said. He missed his connecting flight and spent his first night in the United States sleeping in the airport.

Others arrived at O'Hare, in Chicago. The male students were detained for four hours by immigration officials. Haya Fatima, one of the female students, recalled overhearing one official calling out to another: "Hey, should the Pakistani females be included?" The answer was no, and the women weren't detained, but they waited nevertheless for the men to be released. They all missed their connecting flight to Burlington.

They tell these stories with some amusement and without apparent bitterness. Once they got through immigration, they say, virtually everyone has been friendly and welcoming.

They have maintained a full schedule at UVM, with seminars on history and culture, religious diversity and politics, interspersed with field trips (including a visit to Bread and Puppet Theater in Glover) and sessions with various government officials. In keeping with one of UVM's favorite themes, they attended daily classes for a week on facets of sustainability.

For poor people in Pakistan, Hira Sarfraz acknowledged, the notion of sustainability is largely irrelevant -- after all, people struggling to survive care less about the environment. For these students, however, the idea makes some sense: relying on local resources and thinking ahead about the relationship between community and environment, as Haroon put it.

This week, their regimen has included morning workshops on public speaking led by two experts on forensics, UVM's Alfred "Tuna" Snider and John Meany, of Claremont McKenna College in California. On Tuesday morning, they each delivered a four-minute speech on topics that ranged from cultural diversity to U.S.-Pakistani relations. They spoke fluently, with humor. They've used English throughout their school careers (it's a common medium of instruction in Pakistan), along with Urdu, the other language they share. At home with their families, they're more likely to speak a regional language.

Their forensics mentors offered some tips on how to improve their performances -- in advance of their "live on tape" appearance on "Flashpoint," a weekly TV show on Channel 15; and their upcoming presentations in Washington.

Meany was impressed. Speakers whose first language isn't English typically lack polish or confidence, he said -- but not these students.

"This is my fifth international exchange this year," he said. "The real difference with this group is how consistently excellent they are with their English language skills. They're persuasive, sophisticated, and they're so confident in expressing themselves on these issues."

"They're fantastic," he said.

Contact Tim Johnson at 660-1808 or tjohnson@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com.

July 25, 2007 - Again, with the Bone-Marrow Biopsy

Yeah, today it’s time to go through this lovely ritual again (see my December 15, 2005 entry for my first experience with this test). I arrive at Dr. Lerner’s office about 2:00 p.m., feeling a good bit more composed about this than I did last time. I’m a veteran, now, I say to myself. I even have the presence of mind to dress in drawstring gym shorts and a t-shirt, knowing this will make things go a little more smoothly.

They take me back to the phlebotomy room for a blood draw (absolutely routine for me, now, as many times as I’ve had this done), then into the little room they use for bone-marrow biopsies. It’s the first time I’ve been in here since my last one. There’s an examining-table in the center of the room. Laid out on a counter, off to one side, are some glass microscope slides, ready to receive the red goo the doctor will soon suck out of my pelvic bone. They don’t have the actual instruments laid out yet, though. That’s probably a good thing.

After taking my blood pressure and temperature, the nurse instructs me to pull my pants halfway down my buttocks, and lay on my left side on the examining-table, looking away from the counter with the slides laid out on it. (Forget about dignity with this procedure.) She covers me with some surgical paper coverings. Dr. Lerner, who had stuck his head in to greet me a few minutes earlier, comes in now, and says it’s time to get started.

The first order of business is to numb the area up, with some injections of novocaine (or something similar). These injections are the most acutely painful part of the experience (ironic that the pain-killer causes so much pain – but, then, I wouldn’t want to imagine what this would feel like without the local anesthetic). It’s a sharp, burning pain, repeated each time he sticks me with the needle. Waiting a few moments, he does it again – though I don’t feel much this time, because the first dose has started to take effect.

From my last experience, I remember what I felt during the actual harvesting of the marrow could better be described as pressure than actual pain. This time, it’s not quite so benign. When he’s ready to go in, Dr. Lerner suggests I may want to take some deep breaths: in through my nose, out through my mouth. (Let me tell you, whenever a doctor tells you to breathe like this, what’s coming your way is not good.)

I fix my eyes on a nearby, random object – the adjustment knob on the back of a desk chair – and try my best to zone out, going someplace far away. I do feel actual pain, this time – a sharp sort of pain that seems to be coming from my tailbone, rather than from the hip (where the doctor is actually working). This happens as Dr. Lerner inserts a syringe into my bone, to “draw out some fluid.”

Next, it’s time for the actual biopsy. Thanks to the local anesthetic, I don’t feel anything when the instrument goes through the skin, but I do feel him twisting something rapidly behind me – rather like the motion you’d use to turn a corkscrew – and then I feel a sort of pop. This, I’d imagine, is the biopsy instrument punching its small hole in the pelvic bone. Next, Dr. Lerner says I may feel a sort of pulling, as he removes the sample. I don’t actually experience that, though I do feel the same sharp pain in my tailbone I felt when he stuck the needle in.

Moments later, it's all over. “We got a nice, big piece,” he informs me, with a tone of satisfaction. (“We didn’t get it, you did,” I think to myself, “but thanks, anyway, for including me as a partner in the project.”) While he works on setting up the microscope sides, the nurse cleans me up and puts a dressing on the wound. She then instructs me to turn over and lay on my back.

This I remember from the last time. I have a few minutes, looking up at the ceiling while Dr. Lerner is filling out some paperwork, to bring him up to speed on the latest appointments – the delay of my PET/CT scan till tomorrow, and the fact that I’m now scheduled to visit Dr. Portlock at Memorial Sloan-Kettering on August 7. He suggests I make my next appointment with him for August 8, the very next day, so we can discuss treatment options.

Dr. Lerner says goodbye, then, and turns to leave the room. “Thank you for everything you’re doing to help me,” I blurt out, before he goes (it just occurred to me that maybe I haven’t said “thank you” often enough). That may sound like a strange thing to say to someone who’s just poked a hole in your bone, but I really mean it. As uncomfortable as the procedure was, it certainly wasn’t terrible. I’ve heard enough stories from fellow cancer patients about absolutely agonizing bone-marrow biopsies – and enough good things, from the nurses, about Dr. Lerner’s skill at the procedure – to know he’s kept my pain to a minimum.

A few more minutes of looking up at the ceiling, and the nurse tells me I can sit up and dangle my legs off the table. She brings me a small can of orange juice (rather like being a blood donor, I think to myself). Then, after asking me a couple times if I feel dizzy (I don’t – well, not much, anyway), she says I can go home.

I take it easy the rest of the day – sitting on the couch and reading the new Harry Potter book. Every time I get up, I feel a dull pain in my right hip, like a pulled muscle. This, too, shall pass.

Dr. Lerner told me the lab-test results will be available around the middle of next week. If I don’t hear from someone in his office by Friday, he suggested, I should give them a call.

Pakistan Students at World Debate Institute

On a grant from the US Department of State seventeen young Pakistani students are at the University of Vermont for four weeks attending the Study of the United States-Institutes for Student Leaders. After a rigorous selection process these students were brought to the USA and are at the University of Vermont while other groups at at eight other colleges and universities. Find more information at https://sharepoint.uvm.edu/sites/ce/global/isi/_layouts/viewlsts.aspx

This week they are attending a special World Debate Institute session held just for them. The goal is to sharpen communication skills as well as familiarizing them with some of the discourse habits of Vermont, including small group discussion and larger town meeting simulations. The instructors are Alfred Snider, director of WDI, and John Meany, director of forensics at the Claremont Colleges in California.

After one day of instruction in public speaking and argumentation on Monday, students delivered critiqued speeches on Tuesday morning and then after lunch formed small group discussion pods and began working on their presentation for the next day. On Wednesday morning the entire crew was at Vermont Community Access Media http://www.vermontcam.org/ . They were there to tape three episodes of the local television program "Flashpoint," offered by the University of Vermont debate program, the Lawrence Debate Union.

The students staged three 28-minute discussions on three topics: Stereotypes of Muslims and Americans, Modern role of the United Nations and finally Justifications for intervention. The program tapings went very well and they will soon be available at the Flashpoint website http://flashpointtv.blogspot.com/ .

Tomorrow the students will have their town meeting simulation, but the topic of it will be an international one and they will have some assigned roles.

High School Topic Lectures Online Now!

A happy team at WDI

The lectures providing background as well as debate ground for the 2007-2008 national high school debate topic about public assistance to sub-Saharan Africa are now available online.

Go to http://www.uvm.edu/~debate/watch/?M=D and look for files like

http://www.uvm.edu/~debate/watch/wdi07hspoltopic1.m4v
http://www.uvm.edu/~debate/watch/wdi07hstopic2.m4v
http://www.uvm.edu/~debate/watch/wdi07hstopic3.m4v

You will find three-part lectures about the topic by Gordie Miller and Jackie Massey.

World Schools Lectures Online

Watch them all. Check back here for more links.

This is a lecture by Bojana Skrt of Slovenia. It was the opening lecture of the World Schools Debate Workshop at the World Debate Institute. Others will follow. The World Schools format is rapidly becoming more and more popular for competition outside of the championship itself.

There are two sizes, one fairly small (36.9 MB) , and the other fairly large (podcast 399 MB).

Right click to download, click to watch while downloading, best viewed with QuickTime or iTunes.
Small file: http://www.uvm.edu/~debate/watch/wdi07wsdc1format.mov
Large file: http://www.uvm.edu/~debate/watch/wdi07wsdc1format.m4v

July 24, 2007 - Providence

Yesterday, I was supposed to have a PET/CT fusion scan and an accompany- ing CT scan. That didn’t happen, because the PET/CT fusion scanner broke down. Atlantic Medical Imaging called yesterday morning to tell me not to bother to come in. Of course, I’d already drunk half a bottle of the chalky contrast fluid the night before, as instructed.

Oh, well. I’ll just have to repeat the procedure on Wednesday night, for my rescheduled Thursday scan. Through a fortunate error, they gave me an extra bottle of the lovely stuff, so at least I don’t have to make an extra trip to their facility to pick up another.

I wonder what medical-imaging companies do when their high-tech machinery breaks down? Call the repair service, I guess. Does the dispatcher tell them, “Make sure somebody’s there tomorrow, sometime between 8 am and 4 pm?” I have visions of some guy showing up in a panel truck, wearing a toolbelt over his greasy, low-riding jeans, saying, “OK, show me where ya got dis here PET scanner...”

Today, I’ve been reading an excellent article, “Security Check,” from the July 10 issue of The Christian Century. It was recommended to me by Carol, a friend and ministry colleague. It’s an excerpt from an upcoming book by Scott Bader-Saye of the Unversity of Scranton, Following Jesus in a Culture of Fear (Brazos Press).

Bader-Saye tells the story of an acquaintance of his, a cancer patient named Steve, who received a letter from a well-meaning, but theologically clueless friend. This woman knew – she just knew – God would heal Steve, if he would only believe.

The letter didn’t bring a whole lot of comfort, because Steve was astute enough to realize the implication: if he did not receive a gift of miraculous healing, it would be his fault, because he did not have enough faith.

Steve was offended enough by the letter to venture a reply, even though – because of his weakened condition – he had to call on his brother to write down his words:

“I share your faith in the almighty power of God to heal and sustain us. There may be times, though, when God's greatest miracle is not the miracle of physical healing, but the miracle of giving us strength in the face of suffering. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 12 that he prayed God would remove a thorn in the flesh, but God answered simply, "My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness . . . for when I am weak, then am I strong." Also, Jesus prayed in the garden that he might not suffer, but it was God's will, and he faced that suffering with a perfect faith.

As I read the Bible, God's promise is to remove all our suffering in the next life, though not necessarily in this one. In this world, we will sometimes weep, suffer and die. But in the New Jerusalem, ‘God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away’ (Revelation 2:14).

I sincerely hope that if my cancer continues to grow, no one will see it as a failure of my faith in God, but that perhaps people can see me as faithful even if I die while I am still young. I do not claim to understand God's will, but I do know that I am in God's hands, whether in life or in death.”

Commenting on the woman’s letter, Bader-Saye speaks of the theological doctrine of providence, which many people take to be synonymous with a promise of protection. It’s not:

“She mistook God's promise to provide for a guarantee to protect, and once she had done that, she could only lay the blame for Steve's cancer at his own feet. Once she had ruled out the possibility that the cancer could result from chance or misfortune (and her understanding of providence left no room for contingency), she assumed that someone had to be blamed for the illness. This perverse theological form of adding insult to injury results from misunderstanding the connection between providence and security. Providence does not guarantee protection; rather, it assures us of God's provision (making a way for us to go on) and redemption (restoring what is lost along the way).”

I like that. I’ve never taken providence to mean protection, myself, but Bader-Saye reminds me anew that God promises to provision us for the journey, however difficult it may be. As the most beloved of Psalms reassures us:

“Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
I fear no evil;
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff –
they comfort me.” (Psalm 23:4)

God doesn’t spare us the arduous journey – but God does hand us a rucksack, filled with provisions for it (if only we are willing to accept the gift). And, at journey’s end, we are welcomed with a feast that redeems the suffering:

“You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.” (23:5)

The only thing my cup’s overflowing with, these days, is radioactive contrast fluid, but no matter. There will be other cups, and more meaningful libations.

SDM Lenses Shipping

A quick update to let folks know that production units of the 16-50 and 50-135 lenses have started to ship. My understanding is that first units will arrive in all markets in early August. While I can't comment on the actual number of units being shipped, based on our "current" back order status here in the US, it looks like we will not fill all back-orders until the end of September. Please note that this estimate is not 100% accurate, as I have no way of knowing if the "current" orders from dealers reflects the true demand for these lenses. In any case, this is good news. I told my friends in Japan that if we didn't start shipping the lenses soon, we'd have to change the definition of SDM to "Some Day Maybe" (smile).

World Schools Workshop Debates Challenging Topics

Senior faculty members: Peejay Garcia, Korea National Coach, James Probert, Head of the Center for Speech and Debate at the English Speaking Union in London and Bojana Skrt, workshop director and Slovenia National Coach

As you may or may not know the World Schools Debate format uses a mixture of prepared topics and impromptu topics. Half of the topics are announced in advanced and it is assumed that the students will do substantial research and brainstorming in building their cases. For the impromptu topics they get a dictionary, one almanac and one hour to, among the team, decide what to argue and which strategies to employ.

The topics for this session are listed below, and they are picked day by day, and not all of them will be used.

IMPROMPTU
This house would ban the serving of junk food in the schools.
This house would lower the voting age to 16.
This house would introduce 21 years as minimum drinking age.
This house would ban elective cosmetic surgeries.
This house believes that current media portrayal of women does more harm than good.
TH would broadcast executions.
This house would have harsher sentences for celebrity criminals.
TH would ban religious symbols in state schools.
TH believes cultural artifacts should be returned to the countries of origin.
TH believes marriage is an outdated concept.

PREPARED
This house would negotiate with terrorists.
This house would apologize for colonialism.
This house would make reparations for slavery.
This house should abandon civilian use of nuclear power.
This house believes hate speech should become a crime.
This house believes that civil liberties must be restricted in the interests of security.
This house believes free trade harms more than helps developing countries
This house would substantially decrease agriculture subsidies.
This house would tie world bank aid to women's rights.
This house believes Jerusalem should become an independent city.
This house should send armed forces to stop Darfur crisis.
This house should support a Kurdish state.

(07.23.07) Recommends:

Another Article on the Children's Health Insurance Program.

House Democrats are now packaging the Children's Health Insurance Program with major changes in Medicare. Last time I wrote on this subject, I talked about people with no political voice. Of course, old people are about the only people who read newspapers and vote consistently, so there's now a good shot that this story is here to stay.

Here's Bush's tired position:

President Bush has threatened to veto what he sees as a huge expansion of the children’s health care program, which he describes as a step “down the path to government-run health care for every American.”

Like I've said before, I think the average reasonable person doesn't care about "socialized medicine," whatever that phrase means. People want socialized insurance. Just like we have with police departments, fire departments, schools, etc. I realize that seething blog rants that say "are side is better!" are not a productive way to convince opponents that a government insurance program is the better option.

So here is my attempt to engage and convince President Bush. Mr. Bush, if children from the lower middle class are not provided with insurance through our tax dollars, and therefore do not stay/remain/become healthy, then who will be left to fight this [stupid, delusional] war? Kids from the middle class and upper class are going to college or getting jobs. They have no interest in going to war. Why are you shitting on your biggest recruiting group? You don't want them to have insurance when they're young, and you want them to compete with rats for health care when they come home from war?

Forget it. There may be no use trying to be reasonable with the President on this one.

San Clemente Ocean Festival