A Landmark, Steps Forward and Back

Today the nurses at the Red Cross told me that I had passed the two gallon mark! Those sixteen pints of blood have gone to help forty-eight people, which is in itself its own reward.

Of course, the spiffy two-gallon gold pin doesn't hurt.

Seriously though, if you can, consider giving blood. I saw the difference that it made in my mom's life when she was fighting leukemia -- like night and day. I suppose it's harder to see in those who recover from surgery. The fact that the nation's supply of blood can run low in the holiday season makes it that much more important to give if you can! (And to all those savvy world-travelers and others otherwise on deferral lists, I can end my preaching now. No offense intended. :) )

In other events, it's been interesting to be a resident of Wisconsin these past few weeks. The Democratic attorney general has recently asked, and today received, permission of the Democratic governor to sue the federal government regarding the FDA's refusal to certify Plan B emergency contraception for sale over-the-counter, despite independent scientific analysis proving it safe and effective, as well as internal review boards approving the move. The lawsuit purportedly will claim that political pressure is the reason behind the foot-dragging. (I am one among many who have also talked about that angle.) It will be a landmark suit that will, with luck, enable much greater access to a medication whose effectiveness critically depends on the time with which it is taken following unprotected sex.

At the same time, the Republican controlled Legislature have been busy pushing their agenda, including an attempt to place a ban on gay marriage into the state constitution (which recently passed the Senate the second year in a row) and dramatically expanding conceal-and-carry laws for handguns.

Sometimes it's just hard to know how to feel about the state government. I had almost forgotten how it felt good to know that people in power were not only looking out for the average American, but were doing the right things because they were the right things to be done. At the same time, seeing people deliberately writing discrimination into other state constitutions (and even trying to write it into the US Constitution!) seems to fundamentally against what the US has traditionally stood for that it's scary to see their success.