Time to end 'temporary' Hyde Amendment

Did you know that the 1977 Hyde Amendment, which prohibits federal funding of abortions, is not permanent legislation? It's simply a rider to the annual Medicaid funding bill which has to be re-submitted every year to remain in place. It forces poor women to visit the back alley, go broke or suffer diminished mental and physical health at the behest of religious fanatics, the same religious fanatics who decry government intervention in the rest of their lives.

I love abortion, just as I love any medical procedure that advances the health of human beings, whether it be the woman undergoing the procedure or her family members who benefit from a conscious choice for reasons they alone must weigh. Every woman's choice on that issue is none of my damn business, whether the procedure is to save her life, avoid birthing her own brother, or simply represents Plan B. I'm horrified anyone is so self righteous they deny fellow citizens that Constitution given privacy right. That is the essence of privacy and personal freedom in a country that sadly, often strays from that ideal by misguided legislators trolling for votes from an intolerant base. I would no more strive to prevent a woman from obtaining an abortion than I would allow one who strived to prevent me from removing a cancerous growth on the basis it was not their (imaginary) God's will. It is as simple as that.

The Hyde Amendment, initiated by my former congressman Henry Hyde (IL-6) is pure evil. It targets poor women who have little or no access to safe abortion services readily available to women of means. Congressman Hyde not only knew that; he trumpeted it during the 1977 debate: "I certainly would like to prevent, if I could legally, anybody having an abortion, a rich woman, a middle-class woman, or a poor woman. Unfortunately, the only vehicle available is the…Medicaid bill." Hyde's sad legacy after 38 years is millions of poor women whose lives have been diminished, even ended, because of his heartlessness.

The current debate over defunding Planned Parenthood, used by nearly 3 million Americans every year to improve reproductive health, should contain a healthy discussion of ending the pernicious Hyde Amendment. It is time to speak out.

Kane's en(able)r

Along with Patrick Kane, Hawks bigwigs John McDonough and Stan Bowman were the saddest looking folks on Chicago news yesterday, spinning away the Patrick Kane sex assault scandal.

What they won't acknowledge is their complicity in Kane's years long problematic relationship with alcohol. After the second, if not the first public incident of such conduct, Kane should have been offered a choice: go to alcohol counseling or go on suspension. They didn't do that and now they're fending off valid criticism of their negligence, which has put not only Kane's career, but his very life in jeopardy. One in ten of all adult deaths are alcohol related, the majority of which end the person's life far sooner than normal.

I suspect Kane is already privately and secretly getting alcohol abuse counseling. He wouldn't comment on that topic citing the legal implications involved. Kane alone is worth the hefty price of admission to watch his magic on ice. If he doesn't straighten out Kane himself with wind up on ice.

Big boy breasts no big deal for J & J

Never heard of Risperdal till today but the name of this drug should enter the Horrible Drug Hall of Shame. According to a Huffington Post expose, J & J developed Risperdal in 1994 to become a profitable replacement for its standard antipsychotic drug that lost obscene profits due to generics. But J & J got greedy and expanded the 'cures' Risperdal could alleviate, including childhood conditions. Doctors grabbed the 'incentives' and turne...d Risperdal into a $3 billion a year bonanza. Unfortunately, one of its many side effects was that over 5% of boy customers developed breasts, some of them rivaling Dolly Parton's. J & J slapped a restrictive corporate bra on the unfortunate data till investigators unhooked the cover up. Eventually J & J pleaded guilty to criminal charges and paid over $6 billion in fines and big boy breast settlements. Not to worry as Risperdal made $18 billion in profits, winning the CEO job for chief Risperdal marketer, Alex Gorsky. Oh yes, Gorsky made $25 mil last year.

Come to think of it, if they do vote Risperdal into the Horrible Drug Hall of Shame, they should change its name to 46DD. That's the biggest breast size an unfortunate young male victim developed.

US policy in Yemen a CLUSTER----

108 countries have signed on to the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) the 2008 international treaty that prohibits the use, transfer and stockpile of cluster bombs, an explosive that scatters submunitions (bomblets) over a wide area. They are dastardly ordinance, spreading terror and death of civilians, often children, long after the initial explosion. Signatories must never (a) Use cluster munitions; (b) Develop, produce, otherwise acqu...ire, stockpile, retain or transfer to anyone, directly or indirectly, cluster munitions; (c) Assist, encourage or induce anyone to engage in any activity prohibited to a State Party under this Convention.

One would think the US would have been the leader in initiating and signing the treaty. Truth is we haven't signed on, along with best friends Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, and Israel. Truth is we spend billions each year manufacturing them. In August of 2013, we sold $640 million worth to Saudi Arabia, who is now using them to kill thousands of civilians in Yemen because they don't appreciate the political unrest there. Just to make sure the Saudis drop them properly, the US is supplying technical and logistical support. While most of the civilized world is revulsed, Uncle Sam simply considers that good customer service. JD Powers just gave Uncle a perfect ten in enabling war crimes.
 
Haven't heard about the American-Saudi assault on the pitiful citizens of Yemen using cluster bombs from network news? The handsome, slick talking heads wouldn't dare utter a word about them for fear of losing their multi million dollars gigs faster than Brian Williams for embellishing his bravery on David Letterman.

The real obscenity about our proxy war against Iran using Saudi Arabia to main and kill with impunity in Yemen is CLUSTERBOMB. As far as CLUSTER----, it's certainly that too.

Rauner to PTSD sufferers: No medical pot for you!

There appears to be no end to Gov. Bruce Rauner's insensitivity to the plight of the needy. Against the recommendation of the Illinois Medical Cannabis Advisory Board, Rauner quashed adding 11 medical conditions, including PTSD, to the list of illnesses that can be treated in Illinois with medical marijuana. Along with PTSD, Rauner also ruled out medical pot for anorexia nervosa, chronic post-operative pain, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, migraine, Neuro-Behcet's autoimmune disease, neuropathy, osteoarthritis, polycystic kidney disease, and superior canal dehiscence syndrome. Separately, Rauner vetoed a bill which would have added PTSD via the legislative route. In rejecting the 11 conditions, Rauner dismissed the studied evaluation by doctors, nurses, patients, pharmacists and a medical ethicist. His reason? It would "prematurely expand" use of medical marijuana before the state (Rauner) can properly evaluate it.

Maybe Rauner is concerned about his wealthy drug industry friends fretting over profits if medical pot replaces their plethora of costly and dangerous manufactured drugs. Maybe Rauner pushed back because expanding medical pot is a progressive value with which he simply cannot connect. Possibly, Rauner's wealth and privilege blind him to the plight of the "little" people who inhabit an alternate universe from the billionaire with seven mansions. Regardless, If Rauner developed a condition requiring medical pot, he'd hire a private jet to whisk him to Colorado to imbibe on the tourist trade faster than you can say, "Pass the munchies."