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Archive for May, 2009

pink_dayThere’ a new bill that would require a 48-hour stay for breast cancer patients who have just had a mastectomy.  Before my mother died from breast cancer, she had to have this procedure.  I might have to have it at some point, and a shitload of other women will have to have it, so yeah…sign the thing and pass it on.

Proposed Mastectomy Law Change (written by a surgeon),  I’ll never forget the look in my patients eyes when I had to tell them they had to go home with the drains, new exercises and no breast. I remember begging the doctors to keep these women in the hospital longer, only to hear that they would, but their hands were tied by the insurance companies.

So there I sat with my patient giving them the instructions they needed to take care of themselves, knowing full well they didn’t grasp half of what I was saying, because the glazed, hopeless, frightened look spoke louder than the quiet ‘Thank you’ they muttered.

A mastectomy is when a woman’s breast is removed in order to remove cancerous breast cells/tissue. If you know anyone who has had a mastectomy, you may know that there is a lot of discomfort and pain afterwards. Insurance companies are trying to make mastectomies an outpatient procedure. Let’s give women the chance to recover properly in the hospital for 2 days after surgery.

This Mastectomy Bill is in Congress now. It takes 2 seconds to do this and is very important. Please take the time and do it really quick! The Breast Cancer Hospitalization Bill is important legislation for all women.

Please send this to everyone in your address book. If there was ever a time when our voices and choices should be heard, this is one of those times. If you’re receiving this, it’s because I think you will take the 30 seconds to go to vote on this issue and send it on to others you know who will do the same.

There’s a bill called the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act which will require insurance companies to cover a minimum 48-hour hospital stay for patients undergoing a mastectomy. It’s about eliminating the ‘drive-through mastectomy’ where women are forced to go home just a few hours after surgery, against the wishes of their doctor, still groggy from anesthesia and sometimes with drainage tubes still attached.

Lifetime Television has put this bill on their web page with a petition drive to show your support.. Last year over half the House signed on. PLEASE! Sign the petition by clicking on the web site below. You need not give more than your name and zip code number. http://www.mylifetime.com/community/my-lifetime-commitment/breast-cancer/petition/breast-cancer-petition

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Just found this archive of historical documents from the W.L.M.:

http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/wlm/

Thought it might interest people besides me. If it doesn’t, sorry for this unnecessary post. But guess what! They have songs!

http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/wlm/fighton/fighton-p04-72.jpeg

See what it says above the first line there?–“With spirit”. Hell yes with spirit.

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by middle I was hooked and I ended up thinking it was really interesting.  I haven’t read the actual study he’s talking about yet, so I’m skeptical about measuring happiness.  I think there’s a link to the original findings in the article for anyone who’s interested:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/26/opinion/26douthat.html?_r=1

~Lucie

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i haven’t really formed my thoughts on this yet, but what do YOU think? women bullying women

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education

do we think that the american college education system is skewed in favor of men? im in the middle of finals at my all-women’s college, and the question just occurs to me. i think i read about it somewhere at some time in the very distant past. ideas?

edit: i found this boring article if anyone wants to read it

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Because sex workers rights are workers rights

And because Workers Rights are Women’s Rights

Ok so kind of unrelated stuff but stuff to see all the same. Friction is a cool blog a member of my gender and social space shared with our class. The blog is articulate, well put together, and engaging. Peridot Ash is self aware and brings up a lot of issues as she attempts to detangle the messy world of the sex industry, with all of it’s contradictions.

And the second is an article about the rallies going down at Vassar. Awesome stuff, Über props to all involved! Everyone I’ve spoken with is in agreement, the energy was intense, and I know I’m not the only one pumped to see what’s next for the May Day Working Group. It’s time to activate!

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Sarah showed me this: Click on meeeee

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Kristoff wrote a column this Thursday that addressed a very serious issue. It’s a NYT column about how rape kits often don’t get tested. I was glad he pointed out things, and this issue that is rarely addressed.

That said it weirded me out when he ended the piece with:

It’s what we might expect in Afghanistan, not in the United States.

WTF is that? Not that I don’t expect these sorts of xenophobic, warhawking, Orientalist comments. Because I do– I just expect them to be more subtle. And no one seems to call Kristoff out on this racist bullshit. So Kristoff, I’m calling you out:

That quip was unneccessary. It was racist. It was Orientalist. It is totally part of a larger project to re-demonize Afghanistan. And it shouldn’t have been at the end of your column. The beginning of your column. Or the middle of your column. Thanks for being an ass.

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