Archive for funding

Supreme Court allows stem-cell research to proceed over objections of abortion-rights opponents

stem cell research cartoon via myspew dot com

Via myspew.com

 Via

Thank you for this one, Supremes. My mother died from Alzheimer’s, as did my grandmother and great grandmother, so this one hits home. Aside from a promising compound that restores memory loss and reverses symptoms of Alzheimer’s in mice, we still need to explore every option and avenue available to us.

Via The Hill:

The Supreme Court will not review a challenge to federal funding of human embryonic stem-cell research, allowing the controversial studies to proceed.

The justices on Monday rejected an appeal from two scientists who said stem-cell research violates federal law banning the creation and destruction of human embryos for scientific purposes.

The decision is a boon to supporters of stem-cell research, who believe it will yield treatments and cures for diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. [...]

In their ruling, appellate judges acknowledged ambiguity in laws governing stem-cell research, but ultimately deferred to the National Institutes of Health, which supports the studies.

Of course, the same people who equate stem cell research with murder are also the same people who are against legal abortions that save the lives of women whose suffer from life-threatening pregnancy complications. Those who equate blastocysts (cell clusters) and zygotes (single cells) with the already-born, living, and breathing might want to review this:

abortion rights choice

They also might want to remember that the in vitro fertilization process helps couples struggling with fertility to conceive. Unused embryos are eventually discarded, which, of course, they oppose. What would they propose doing with them? Isn’t providing the opportunity to bring a life into the world their whole raison d’etre?

And how ironic that their candidate, Willard Mitt Romney, invested in a company that disposed of aborted fetuses from family planning clinics. But I digress.

Stem cells will be used to save, improve, and prolong lives. When will the so-called “pro lifers” finally figure out that stem cell research is one of the most pro-life endeavors there is?

VIDEO: Hope for an “AIDS-free generation”

Today is World AIDS Day:

World AIDS Day is celebrated on December 1 each year around the world. It has become one of the most recognised international health days and a key opportunity to raise awareness, commemorate those who have passed on, and celebrate victories such as increased access to treatment and prevention services.

The Obama administration on Saturday marked World AIDS Day with optimism the fight against the disease can be won.

And John Boehner sees naked people… or so nude AIDS activists hoped when they, erm, exhibited their displeasure with possible Fiscal Cliff, er, Bluff budget cuts that could severely affect HIV/AIDS funding.

Despite the struggles, both past and present– physical, financial, and emotional– things are looking up. Think Progress lists five important advancements we’ve made over the past year. Please link over for details:

  1. Increased access to HIV testing.
  2. Improved coverage under Obamacare.
  3. Better, simpler treatments for the virus.
  4. Breakthroughs in HIV research.
  5. Raised life expectancy for HIV-positive individuals.

And those are five wonderful reasons to declare this an official…

This post is dedicated to Tom Villard, with whom I had the pleasure to work and laugh:

Thomas Louis Villard grew up in Spencerport, New York. He has two brothers and one sister. After high school, Tom attended Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania for two years. After college, he moved to New York City. There he attended the Lee Strasberg Acting Studio and The American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Tom moved to Los Angeles in 1980. During Tom’s film career, he landed roles in numerous films and television shows. Tom passed away on November 14, 1994, from AIDS related pneumonia.

VIDEO: John Boehner sees naked people… or so nude AIDS activists hoped.

Boehner sees naked people… at least that’s what protesters were hoping when they made their way into the office of the Speaker of the House. Let’s dispense with all “The Boehner” jokes right from the get-go. I know it’s asking a lot, but still…

Anyway, AIDS activists put on their birthday suits to make their voices heard and their bodies visible to show their displeasure with possible Fiscal Cliff, er, Bluff budget cuts that could severely affect HIV/AIDS funding.

Per Chris Geidner at BuzzFeed, three people were arrested for indecent exposure while other protesters apparently “barely” made it out of there unscathed, if you will. If there were any justice, it would have been Republicans who were arrested for being indecent, but that’s another post for another time. Protester Jennifer Flynn:

“We grabbed attention by illustrating the naked truth and by showing how people with AIDS have had, literally, all of the clothes off of their backs taken away by these guys in Congress… The reality is that these draconian budget cuts will actually result in the conservative loss of 600,000 people with AIDS’ lives around the world… We’re talking about killing 600,000 people around the world if we let these budget cuts go into effect. And that’s just one year.”

The chants included, “Boehner, Boehner, don’t be a dick. Budget cuts will make us sick.” As we say on Twitter when we want to show support, +1.

The activists also held a rally in front of the Democratic National Committee. 

Chris has more here.

Video- President Obama To Romney: We Have Fewer Horses And Bayonets In Our Military Too

In what is seriously a boring debate, this made me chuckle. Via TPM.

Cartoons of the Day- Big Bird In Peril

Via.

Senate panel votes to reinstate funding for family-planning programs abroad

Politicizing women’s health instead of protecting it is getting really, really old… nearly as old as some of the GOP dinosaurs in Congress who still believe that personal decisions about women’s bodies should be made by men.

Men who don’t even know them.

Men who claim that government is too big as they use it to blatantly intrude into private and difficult choices that should be made only by women and their doctors.

The Hill:

Senate appropriators voted 18-12 on Thursday to reinstate funding for family-planning programs abroad, setting up a clash with the House.

The amendment to the $52.1 billion foreign aid and operations bill was introduced by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.). It permanently repeals the so-called “global gag rule,” which bars federal funding for nonprofit groups that promote or provide abortions.

Good for them. Too bad the House will blow it to smithereens.

Video- Mitt Romney: “Planned Parenthood, we’re going to get rid of that.”

What a gem. Via KSDK & Think Progress-

“The test is pretty simple. Is the program so critical, it’s worth borrowing money from china to pay for it? And on that basis of course you get rid of Obamacare, that’s the easy one. Planned Parenthood, we’re going to get rid of that. The subsidy for Amtrack, I’d eliminate that. The National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities,” he said.