The blog posting that overfilled the glass

With the new work schedule these past two months, I don't have all day every day to read news articles, blogs, etc., and react.  On the one hand, I have a job! (things could be a lot worse).  On the other, I'm having to sift through a lot of information during the week to decide what is "blog worthy".  I've now picked up the habit of waiting for three "blog worthy" stories before posting except, of course, when I don't.

Moving on, here's what "overfilled the glass" and got me to posting today:

Having a big family history of cancer, I was overjoyed to see this posting on one of my favorite sites.  I'm a big-time spiritual guy, but for heaven's sake, if something is wrong with the body, you fix the body -- meds, surgery, a long soak in a hot bathtub.  The notion that cancer is a healthy response to stress -- ugh!  The people in my life who have battled cancer also battled overdoses of stress.  Then again, a diagnosis as terrifying and life-altering as cancer comes with its own big barrel full of stress.  If stress = cancer, there'd be no day-traders, no soldiers and every last President (well, except the vacation champ) would have their own cancer-treatment clinic at Bethesda.

That said, there is something to be said for battling the spiritual component of any major illness. Certainly, letting the inevitable depression go untreated makes no sense -- people are less likely to go through with the meds, surgery, etc., if they "just don't feel like doing it".

So, treat the spiritual component, the physical side of illness gets a lot easier to treat.  Ignore one, you lose to the other.

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Continuing with science, there was an article earlier this week (and the History Channel has a special about it premiering Monday) about a unique set of remains.  So unique, apparently, that it fills in one of the "missing links" of evolution between humans today and animals from millions of years ago.  I was surprised by the word "lemur" appearing in all of this; however, I'm a fan of science and definitely not a scientist (the patch of something growing in the fridge which I keep meaning to clean up does not count as a science experiment).

The entirely irrational side of me still believes there's some mystical link between all of this science and God.  The Hubble telescope, exploring the ocean depths and anti-viral medication are all just tiny glimpses into what we call God.  Maybe I should consider a career as a minister or a full-time psych patient.

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As I finished the above section, I somehow got onto a soapbox and whined my poor partner's ears off about the non-passage of five CA state ballot initiatives.

The latest chatter is the only way to close the state government's budget deficit is to eliminate programs that assist the state's poor.  Not only those who appear to be taking advantage of welfare (a really small percentage, I'm sure) but everyone else who is working full time hours, trying to raise children, pay for rent/mortgage, food, etc.  All of these programs -- gone.  And, somehow magically, all the problems will disappear.

I'm just going to stew a bit more.  I know I'm not sharp enough to know what programs to cut which help the least number of people and/or who help those who are already wealthy.  Should be interesting to see if CA's legislature can turn down the panicked rhetoric and make tough budget decision for everyone, not just for every poor person in the state.