Blog moved to PaxRyan.blogspot.com

i currently believe there will be no more new posts to this site, this blog has been moved instead to PaxRyan.blogspot.com, come follow me there:-)

 

 

The Zadroga Bill is tragically denying 9/11 First Responders cancer treatment.

Our government is saving money by not treating 9/11 First Responders for cancer. The Zadroga Bill, meant to bring health care to those First Responders, excludes treatment for one of the major sicknesses contracted by those First Responders: cancer!! To me, this is one of the saddest developments caused by the 9/11 tragedy – America is showing that they value their money more than the health of the Good Samaritans that selflessly help other Americans.

10years on, this is what i am most sad to think about, having to do with 9/11. This is a voluntary tragedy that IS costing thousands of Americans their lives still today, all because we don’t care.

In this 3minute segment from The Daily Show, Jon Stewart gives the facts and background of the case succinctly and powerfully. i completely agree with his portrayal.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-july-28-2011/i-thought-we-already-took-care-of-this-s–t?xrs=share_copy

As for the supposed question of whether there is a link between cancer and work at Ground Zero (similar to me to the question of whether sun exposure causes sunburn), Dr. Sanjay Gupta has made a documentary special about just how the destruction at that site would cause cancer. i believe the special is running again in America tomorrow, the evening of 9/10. i don’t know if the special is available on the internet yet, but he talks about here in this other Daily Show clip:

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-september-7-2011/sanjay-gupta?xrs=share_copy

(i would use a clip from some other source that is speaking out in support of the First Responders getting cancer treatment…if i knew of any. If you do know of any, please share, i would be glad and comforted to see that they exist.)

But really, why worry? As Stewart sagely says, ”The worst case scenario here is that we accidentally treated a 9/11 First Responder’s cancer even if their cancer was not proven to have its genesis on 9/11.” The fear of accidentally treating the wrong cancer patient will keep us from treating any of these cancer patients??? Is this how America sees itself??

The First Responders that went running towards danger should probably be rewarded for that, but beyond question all of us Americans should be jumping at the chance to to pay for the health care to address the health problems they contracted in the hours, days, weeks, and months following 9/11. Our allowing the government to save money by screwing the First Responders out of care for cancer indicates that we may be the sick, depraved society that terrorists accuse us of being. i do not think this is true, i think we are better than this, but i do wish we would show it.

In Italian language, nothing is “helpful”

In 1981, attorney Anita Hill accused aspiring United States Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas of something called “sexual harassment.” It was not the very first time the phrase had ever been used, and it was certainly not the first example of the phenomenon in America. But it coined the phrase for popular usage in America. This being an obviously negative concept, it brought progress towards reducing the problem in America’s work places, or at least i think this is how the story is commonly told.

There is one very helpful concept that has no word with which to be expressed in the Italian language. It is not something that is completely non existent in Italy, but is a positive concept that everyone on the Italian peninsula would benefit from its development and proliferation. What is this word that Italian language is missing?

The United States of America is one of the oldest governments in the world

Growing up in the USA, i remember being taught (or at least believing) that America is a teenaged country, compared to the adult-aged countries in Europe. The opposite fact emerges if we look at modern countries’ actual present form of government.

LOVE and YOU: Two weaknesses in the English language

The incredible value of being a mother-tongue English speaker is very clear to me. i live in an international neighborhood and community in Rome, Italy where not just Italians, but also other international groups (Bangladeshis, Poles, Romanians, Turks, Arabs and Senegalesi) all make a point of speaking to me, an American expat, in English rather than the local Italian language (and most individuals of those groups with more success than the Italians!!) For these people it is deeply in their cultural, social and especially economic interests to learn to speak English fluently. Which is great, for both us and them i guess!

Over the last 6years living in Italy i have put a lot of effort into learning to speak Italian well. Today i speak Italian comfortably in most situations, though i am still shy of the term “fluent” being applied to myself. Usually i’m good to go. But i will quickly get lost in any discussion that strays from my short list of familiar subjects in that language: history, politics, art, haggling, pillow talk and combatative argument.

i have become increasingly frustrated, however, with the English language’s limited ability to adequately express two key concepts, one of which is an slight inconvenience and the other is a potentially painful flaw that is dulling and weakening our society. The poorly expressed concepts are that of “you” and that of “love.”

Getting in your head

   i struggle with small talk. Discussing this with a like-minded friend once they said to me of conversation, “For me, it’s the meaning of life or nothing.” i can very much relate to that. i spend a lot of time sitting around like The Thinker (literally and figuratively), thinking about the nature of things and ideas, how they relate to other things, and about my place in it all.

   (i was going to put an actual picture of me sitting nude thinking here but the last time i did something like that it took me weeks go through the flood of resulting emails of strangers and friends that suddenly wanted to meet with me that i thought it better this time to let you settle for one of Rodin’s more famous renditions;-)

   When i was in college i came across a quote saying, “Once you read a book, neither you nor it will ever be the same again.” For a long time i was convinced that it came from Alice Walker, but, though i have tried for years now, i have never been able to find this quote again. Maybe i made it up myself. Which would be an indication of my genius! Because i think it is both important and true, and not just of books. i fully believe that once you are exposed to a thing, idea or feeling, you are changed forever. And, because i believe we are all connected on a very literal level, neither will that thing (nor anything or anyone else) be the same ever again.

   This is why i have started this blog, and this is why i have chosen this title, Musings and Om.

   Musings, according to dictionary.com, are contemplations or reflections, with which i overflow, for better or for worse.

   Also, muses are ancient female deities that inspire art, music, and creation.

   (Clearly some are more effective than others – i see these statues of ancient Roman muses nearly every day while guiding tours in The Vatican Museums and they’ve never inspired much of anything in me. …until this blog post!!;-)

   Though i might have to take credit for making up the word in this sense, i think that “musings” can also be the works of the muses, the inspired acts. Now, i am obviously no more a deity or more ancient than the rest of us, and i feel lucky to not be female (because i’ve always been afraid that if i were i’d spend all my time naked at home looking at myself in the mirror! i don’t know how you girls get anything done!), but i do like the idea of having an attemptedly positive influence on the world through sharing my musings.

   That’s also why “om.” (Sometimes, especially when used for meditation, it is spelled “aum.” It is the same word, the two spellings are due to disagreement about how to translate these words from its original languages, which are character based, into our alphabet.)

   It has many many translations as well. Though basically: om is everything. Om is God. (Redundant pair of sentences, i know!) It is because i believe that everything is one, that we are all parts of the same whole, that everything is connected through a universal divinity or consciousness, that i can believe in the inspirational effects of everything on everything else.

   Though i have some ideas, i do not know yet exactly i will be writing about in future blog posts. i intend to use this space as a personal outlet, as exercise to develop thought and writing skill, and to share. i invite you though to click around, share your thoughts in the comments sections, share what you like with your friends. As Saint Augustine wisely and comprehensively instructed us, “Love and do what you will.”

   Hari om!:-)