Song in my head: Everybody was Kung Fu fighting.........Carl Douglas


MAD COW

Via FSNet by subscription:

USDA: Govt.'s Iowa lab not secure for BSE work
March 29, 2004
Reuters
Randy Fabi
WASHINGTON - USDA'S Office of Inspector General, which conducts independent audits and investigations of USDA programs, was cited as saying Monday that the U.S. government's main laboratory for testing mad cow disease, located in an Iowa strip mall, is not secure enough to store dangerous pathogens like the brain-wasting disease, writing, "The building housing the strip mall is close to other commercial businesses and has limited security at the entry and exit points."
The story says that the facility in Ames, Iowa -- run by USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency -- discovered the first U.S. case of mad cow disease in December after testing brain tissue samples from an infected cow in Washington state.
Despite previous recommendations to not store pathogens of any dangerous diseases, like bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), the laboratory was found to have kept brain tissue samples from the infected cow, the report said.


ALTER-ABLED NEWS

Bruce Mirken of the Marijuana Policy Project reports some interesting polling data from Vermont and Rhode Island: As usual, large majorities (71 percent and 69 percent, respectively) said patients whose doctors think they would benefit from marijuana should be able to obtain it legally, but only a minority of respondents in each state (38 percent and 27 percent, respectively) realized the majority felt this way. Mirken suggests this divergence helps explain why politicians are reluctant to back medical marijuana despite strong popular support for that position. "People support medical marijuana by a whopping margin, but think they're in the minority," he says. "It's a safe bet that legislators and their campaign staffs are under the same misapprehension." |link|

Many disabled alter-abled people receive federal housing assistance. Once again this administration wants to threaten our security.

Bush Budget Plan Could Affect Low Income Housing in Oregon

Nearly 2,200 low-income families in Portland and thousands of others around Oregon could lose their federal housing assistance in the next five years under cuts proposed by the Bush Administration, according to new data released today by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) in Washington, D.C. |link|

Song in my head: Neither one's a phony....So let's get rid of Francesconi................Jack Bog



MAD COW

From No More Mr. Nice Blog:

If you have any interest in mad cow disease and any suspicion that maybe we're not being told the whole truth about it, you need to read "The Case of the Cherry Hill Cluster," from this week's New York Times Magazine. Max writes about Janet Skarbek, who's discovered that there were eight victims of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) among people who ate food served at Garden State Race Track in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, between 1988 and 1992 -- far, far more cases than would be expected based on CJD's prevalence in the population at large. (Mad cow disease is one form of CJD.) |link|

I linked to this story back on March 18 and thought it very unusual to have so many CJD cases concentrated from one location.

Via FSNet by subscription:

Mad cow
March 27, 2004
The Associated Press
Ira Dreyfuss
WASHINGTON -- The United States has, according to this story, formally notified its trading partners that U.S. beef is safe to eat, a principal step toward negotiations to lift bans they imposed because of mad cow disease.
The story says that letters to his counterparts abroad from the Agriculture Department's chief veterinarian, Ron DeHaven, were accompanied by summaries of what the United States has done to protect beef safety and search for other cases of mad cow. About 50 countries banned U.S. beef or cattle since bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, was identified in December in a cow in Washington state.
DeHaven was quoted as saying in a statement Friday that, "This information demonstrates that any remaining trade restrictions against U.S. beef and beef products can be lifted without compromising safety. The department said U.S. responses to its case of BSE fully comply with international standards. It urged the countries that banned the import of U.S. beef or cattle to "modify any remaining trade restrictions."


ALTER-ABLED NEWS


Myths About Medical Marijuana

By Dr. Joycelyn Elders, U.S. surgeon general, 1993-94, and Distinguished Professor of Public Health at the University of Arkansas School of Medicine

Canada's lower prescription drug costs

We applaud The Oregonian's March 15 editorial "Fighting the wrong drug war" for recognizing the impact of high drug costs on the lives of Oregonians. However, re-importation of prescription drugs from Canada is a Band-Aid for what is a deeper problem. Drug manufacturers continue to market drugs at costs far greater than inflation, while they discourage fair marketplace practices to make costs transparent to consumers.| link|


Trying on wheelchairs for size

As they play, Sherwood Middle School students learn a lesson in empathy |link|

Song in my head: I'm Outkasted and claimin true....Aimin two at your muthafuckin spine...OutKast

Song in my head: Ding Dong the witch is dead.

Song in my head: That's why they call me....Bad company....And I can't deny......Bad Company


Mad Cow Update

Organic beef shortage? U.S. organic beef processors are finding it difficult to fill orders following the discovery of a cow infected with BSE.

American consumers are having difficulty finding certified organic beef in retail stores -- and on even on the Internet ? according to Organic Monitor. Certified organic beef, meeting USDA Organic Standards of cows fed only certified organic feed, and meeting documentation procedures for organic production. (link via FSNet by subscription)


This administration's obvious disregard for a clean healthy environment is taking its toll in the Northwest.....

~ New Bush Rollbacks Endanger Northwest Salmon Industry, Forests |LINK|


And it's not only fish and forests that are at risk; our children are being exposed to lead and mercury in a variety of ways....Hell, even Arianna Huffington is mercuric, yet still explains how Bushco is industry-friendly.

~ Tuna on white -- hold the mercury!
Bush White House serves up toxic tuna surprise |LINK|



ALTER-ABLED NEWS

Marc Quinn?s 15ft statue of a pregnant Alison Lapper, an artist affected by the drug Thalidomide, has been chosen to stand on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square from next spring until 2006. |LINK|

Here is a link to the statue.

The artist writes.."I'm not physically disabled myself but from working with disabled sitters I realised how hidden different bodies are in public life and media. Her pregnancy also makes this a monument to the possibilities of the future."

Song in my head: The glove compartment isn't accurately named and everybody knows it....Death Cab for Cutie


ALTER-ABLED NEWS

Bobby Online Free Portal

This free service will allow you to test web pages and help expose and repair barriers to accessibility and encourage compliance with existing accessibility guidelines, such as Section 508 and the W3C's WCAG.

Well, I have a ton of improvements to make this site more accesible to alter-abled people. Why bother? Bobby says...

Is your online business accessible to all individuals, including those with disabilities? There are many reasons to make your site accessible and protect your online brand:

Demonstrate good corporate citizenship by not discriminating against people with disabilities.
Reduce the risk of litigation, costly settlements, unfavorable publicity, and potential loss of business.
Capitalize on large market opportunity: over 10% of the online population is disabled (750 million people worldwide, 55 million Americans). According to iCAN, people with disabilities have a discretionary income of more than $188 billion dollars.
Comply with federally regulated guidelines and best practices. Governments worldwide have enacted laws and regulations that require websites be accessible.
Provide access to wireless devices.
Accommodate an ageing population. As the population gets older, they experience similar issues to those with disabilities.

A Reading of
VOICES FROM THE EDGE
Narratives About the Americans With Disabilities Act |link|

Song in my head: You can check out anytime you want, but you can never leave.............The Eagles


ALTER-ABLED NEWS

* Medical marijuana use could be used as defense, federal judge rules. |link|

* The Bloviator covers all of the latest Medicare investigations. |link|

* Oregonians for Health Security- Care that once seemed secure is slipping away from thousands of hard working Oregonians. In Oregon we're doing something about it. |link|

Song in my head: Love doesn't come in a minute, sometimes it doesn't come at all....Paul McCartney


Aint it Cool News reviews two Zombie movies. |link|


ALTER-ABLED NEWS

Via CNN:

Canada project to put marijuana into pharmacies

Greta news for my friends in British Columbia, Canada who have Nail Patella syndrome, what I was born with. Here's some general information on NPS from the same website..

Nail Patella Syndrome (NPS) is a genetic disorder which affects approximately 1 in 50,000 people. The symptoms vary significantly between individuals, however it is often characterised by nail and skeletal deformities (of the arms and legs) and renal problems. Most people affected by NPS have family also affected, although some cases, known as sporadic mutations, can occur without family history.

I am a sporadic mutation. Being the fourth of five children, I was the one that came out different. Crooked elbows, the lack of thumbnails, petite and small in stature, dislocated knees, curvurtare in my back, and only one good eye; I am the mutant. The funny part is when you look at me initially I have no obvious outward signs of this condition. Appearances aren't everything though. Underneath my skin are joints malformed, knee caps dislocated and shifted to the outsides of my legs, ready to pop out of its groove because of the misplacement of tendons and ligaments. A couple curvatures in my spine have created degenerative disk disease in a woman of only 40. My pelvis and hip pop in and out of their sockets often. Hip spurs prevent my hip joints form moving smoothly. I also have TMJ, which is a dislocating jaw. It clicks constantly and so I don't even eat popcorn anymore. I don't know if my jaw problems are related to NPS, but the other symptoms are. I also have osteopenia, the precursor to osteoperosis. For some reason it is a symptom of nail patella syndrome too along with glaucoma and irritable bowel syndrome. It is interesting how this syndrome affects certain organ systems. It is interesting how it can just pop up in a family, like it did to me as a sporadic mutant. So, if you see someone with weird thumbnails, bent elbows, and a widow's peak they could be one of us.

It is also worth mentioning that I had a 50/50 chance to pass this syndrome to my kids. Both of my boys do not have it. The first time I met another person with NPS was in 2002 at a medical conference/research study sponsored by John Hopkins and University of Pennsylvania Medical Center. What a truly amazing experience to see that I was not alone.

Singing: I get high with a little help from my friends.......The Beatles

And to quote Billmon again:

Well, if tonight's 60 Minutes doesn't shake our fellow Americans out of their illusions about George W. Bush, nothing will.

I just finished listening to the Clarke/Stahl interview on CBS' 60 Minutes. What a telling and damning interview. pResident Bush is blamed, but more appropriately our National Security Advisor, Condoleeza Rice.

If the media runs with this golden opportunty, Bushco's campaign will be devastated.


Bumpersticker Sitings

~ Your'e On Indian Land
~ Be Patriotic- Vote Bush Out


ALTER-ABLED NEWS

State will kick 50,000 off Oregon Health Plan

This is about the OHP "Standard" program for low-income adults who wouldn't normally qualify under federal rules. It is an expansion of Medicaid and the heart of OHP. Without that, OHP basically reverts to just plain Medicaid. And people will die. -- Lynn Porter |link|

What a travesty. What the hell are supposed to do if they can't afford a doctor's visit? Well, we know the answer to that, they end up in emergency rooms, or die. I thought we were supposed to be a superpower. I guess it depends on your definition of superpower.

Furthermore, the Union is placed at a ‘superior position’ in relation to the USA in another field as well: on its values and its normative behaviour. The European Union is aptly described as a “normative power”. The values that are promoted are, amongst others, respect of fundamental human rights, emphasis on international law and the international multilateral institutions (especially the UN/Security Council) for the peaceful settlement of differences and resolution of conflicts, cooperation for sustainable economic and social development, promotion of an international system based on stronger multilateral cooperation and good global governance . With these values and the model of cooperation/integration that it embodies, the European Union appears to be the example for imitation and reproduction by other countries in the wider international system.

Song in my head: When Irish eyes aren't smiling.......................Suburban Guerrilla

Song in my head: I'm the slime oozing out from your TV Set........Frank Zappa

Mad Cow 2004

Bio-Rad receives USDA permit for BSE test: Company's automated TeSeE(R) test available for national surveillance program

HERCULES, Calif. -- California-based Bio- Rad Laboratories, Inc. (Amex: BIO and BIOb), announced today that its rapid TeSeE(R) test used for the detection of BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy, also known as mad cow disease) has been licensed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for use in the National Veterinary Service Laboratories (NVSL) in Ames, Iowa and all the NVSL network laboratories as part of the USDA's newly enhanced BSE testing program. It is estimated that this new program will test approximately 400,000 animals over the next 12-18 months.
"We are pleased that our test has met the stringent requirements of the USDA qualification process," said Brad Crutchfield, Bio-Rad's Vice President of Life Science. "Bio-Rad has extensive experience working with more than 500 labs in 25 countries around the world that screen for BSE. We are well prepared to provide the USDA with the same high level of support that our other customers receive."
Bio-Rad is the leading provider of tests used for detecting TSEs (Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies). To date, the company has provided more than 22 million BSE tests to laboratories throughout Europe and Japan. Independent field studies have shown the Bio-Rad BSE test to have the highest level of sensitivity and specificity of any rapid screening test available. The test detects the presence of the resistant form of prion protein, or PrPres, linked to BSE and can identify these prions at extremely low levels. This capability to detect very low levels of prions helps assure that BSE infected animals do not go undetected. The Bio-Rad test is also the easiest testing method to adapt to mass screening programs and can produce results in just four hours.
"The test's speed, ease-of-use, high degree of sensitivity and accuracy have placed it in the highest scientific regard and will aid in the USDA's efforts to conduct a reliable and highly effective surveillance program," added Crutchfield.
Bio-Rad also supplies tests for other TSEs, including its Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) test which is the only test approved by the USDA for use on all three species affected with CWD (white tailed deer, mule deer and elk).
"In Colorado we have tested nearly 47,000 deer and elk in the last 18 months using Bio-Rad's CWD test," said Dr. Barbara Powers, Director of Colorado State University's Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, who worked closely with the Colorado Division of Wildlife on the 2002 field validation studies of Bio-Rad's CWD test. "The test has proven to be extremely accurate, fast, very easy to perform and it is also efficient and cost effective, added Powers."
"In cooperation with the University of Nebraska Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission has utilized the Bio-Rad ELISA test for the past two years, testing over 8,000 mule and white tailed deer," added Bruce Morrison, Nebraska's CWD Coordinator. "The results from the test are fast and accurate, which is efficient for both the agency and the hunters that are waiting for results. The product support from the company is excellent and we have saved thousands of dollars in our budget using this test."
(link via FSnet by subscription)

Besides cows, they use this test on deer and elk. This reaffirms my opinion that BSE lingers. If I'm wrong I'll eat an elk hamburger.


Green Beret first U.S. patient to receive trial drug for CJD

A Bronze Star-decorated Special Forces soldier who served in Afghanistan and Iraq is reportedly the first person in the nation to receive a new drug treatment for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
The Nashville Tennesean reported that Staff Sgt. James Alford, 25, a soldier stationed at Fort Campbell, Ky., is resting at his parents' home in Karnack, Texas, after the first round of treatments.
Doctors hope the new treatment will stall or perhaps reverse effects of the brain-wasting disease. If so, it would be the first treatment to give hope to CJD victims, who usually die within a year of diagnosis.
Last spring, before Alford lost his ability to speak, he told his family he had eaten a sheep brain while assigned to Oman in 2001. However, there is no evidence to link the direct transmittal of the disease from a sheep to a human, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The new treatment includes pentosan polysulfate. Although the drug is commonly used in pill form in the United States for relief of pain due to chronic bladder inflammation and as an anti-coagulant, the drug in liquid form has not been approved for use in this country. (link via Fsnet by subscription)

CJD and mad cow are variants of a similar disease. Here's a description:

Both diseases are caused by an unusual disease agent known as a prion, which can apparently lie dormant for a decade or more before rapidly growing in pockets and turning the brain into a spongelike mass. |link|

The first paragraph is startling enough:

Although U.S. health officials say no one has gotten mad cow disease from American beef, a Cinnaminson woman says seven people died of a closely related disease after eating at the Garden State Race Track in Cherry Hill. |link|

Song in my head: Moria, I'm lost in a mine named Moria.......Crooked Timber


ALTER-ABLED NEWS

From The 19th Floor, a sad stupid death.....

I've always joked with my nurses that I'd die a "stupid" death. Something like my ventilator getting accidentally turned off and no one noticing. It's hard to joke about that now. This was a stupid death in every sense of the word. It's a stupid, meaningless, preventable death where nobody and everybody is to blame.

Compare that to Attorney General Asscroft.......

If Ashcroft Were Uninsured... |link|

Since I have osteoarthritis I found these two articles interesting:

* Cod Liver Oil May Slow, Reverse Osteoarthritis |link|

* Fish Oil Supplements May Contain Flame Retardants |link|

I think I will stick to Evening Primrose Oil for omega 3's.

Song in my head: I believe the children are our future.......Whitney Houston

Have you sanitized your keyboard recently?

Lifting the lid on computer filth |link|

Work stations contain nearly 400 times as many microbes than lavatories, it is claimed.

Office equipment should be regularly disinfected to prevent the spread of viruses and bacteria responsible for disease

Song in my head: Scattered pictures of the smiles we left behind........Barbra Streisand

In season: clematis


USDA to greatly increase mad cow testing

March 15/04
Reuters/AP
WASHINGTON - USDA Chief Veterinarian Ron DeHaven was cited as telling reporters today that the United States plans to significantly boost its testing for mad cow disease to see whether the brain-wasting disease has taken hold in the U.S. cattle population, and that the department wanted to test as many "high risk" cattle as possible in one year as recommended by an international panel of scientists.

The stories say that USDA's announcement goes far beyond the government's original plan to test 40,000 of the 35 million cattle slaughtered this year.

I wonder why they are testing so many more animals.

Song in my head: Money... it's a hit...Don't give me that do goody good bullshit.....Pink Floyd

In season: daphne


Bumpersticker Siting

~I Brake for Birds~


From an email I received today:

This is a short poem made up entirely of actual
quotations from George W. Bush. These have been
arranged, only for aesthetic purposes, by Washington
Post writer, Richard Thompson. A wonderful
Haiku poem like this is too good not to share.


MAKE THE PIE HIGHER

I think we all agree, the past is over.
This is still a dangerous world.
It's a world of madmen and uncertainty
And potential mental losses.

Rarely is the question asked
Is our children learning?
Will the highways of the Internet
Become more few?

How many hands have I shaked?
They misunderestimate me.
I am a pitbull on the pantleg of opportunity.

I know that the human being
And the fish can coexist.
Families is where our nation finds hope,
Where our wings take dream.

Put food on your family!
Knock down the tollbooth!
Vulcanize society!
Make the pie higher!
Make the pie higher!

(Pass this on. Help cure mad Cowboy disease in
the next election!)

Speaking of mad cowboy diseases.......

Mad cow scare delays disposal of dead cattle

The fear of deadly prions has caused carcasses to pile up and rendering charges to increase.
A single case of mad cow disease has cast a shadow of toxic uncertainty over cattle carcasses, creating ground pollution concerns and increasing disposal costs.

The December discovery of an infected Washington state Holstein eliminated export markets for beef and caused a pile-up of cattle byproducts made by renderers. That has decreased renderers' demand and left dairy farmers looking for new places -- such as landfills and compost piles -- to send carcasses. |link|

[...]

The health consequences are unknown. No one understands the potential risks of ground water or crop compost contamination from decomposing cattle -- and possibly mad cow's brain-destroying proteins.

Perhaps they can take the cow carcasses to Hanford.

(The centrally located site [Hanford] is the most grossly contaminated area in North America and possible the world. This area was used for chemical separation of plutonium from fuel rods irradiated in the nine production reactors). |link|

Song in my head: and she's buying a stairway to Gilligan........Litttle Roger and the Goosbumps

In season: robot porn (safe for work)


Yesterday was my one year blogiversary!! I wanted to celebrate with a post but was feeling so exhausted, I'm a day late. A day late is really not too bad, considering all the medical conditions that interfere with my ability to read, comprehend, and retain bloggable items.

When I started this blog I wanted a format that was positive, funny, yet simple so I could succeed at doing this for one year. The problem was the chronic fatigue and pain that interfere with me, physiologically. It has been (and still is) easier for me to focus on music and what's "in season" by reading lots of blogs. Creative references to music abound if one takes the time to notice. Music is such a unifier which compliments an activist blogging community.

Thank you readers.. and especially bloggers.. for all your musical references. I appreciate you.


ALTER-ABLED NEWS


There's a single solution to problems in health system


LAURA BILLINGS: There’s a single solution to problems in health system

A column last week about the health care costs that have been the sticking point in negotiations with striking Metro Transit bus drivers seems to have struck a chord with readers. Several dozen wrote in with their own concerns about the crisis in health care, which I thought I’d answer here, while we wait for our rides … |link|

Song in my head: Oh can't you see..... you belong to me.....Sting

In season: hate, Kerry/McCain


ALTER-ABLED NEWS

Prescription discount cards will come in May

The head of the federal Medicare program said Tuesday that senior citizens would be able to choose in May from an array of discount cards that should lower their prescription-drug costs by 10 percent to 15 percent |link
|

Singing: Happy Birthday...Happy Birthday baby...Oh!!....I love you so....Sixteen candles.......Luther Dixon and Allyson Khent

In season: forsythia, Tatoo'd clothing


Food Safety

Japan confirms 11th mad cow case

The Japanese Agriculture Ministry was cited as saying Tuesday that experts had concluded that a 94-month-old Holstein cow in the northern main island of Hokkaido had bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), the 11th case in Japan since Sept. 2001. (link from Food Safety Network listserv)


Oregon Governor accuses USDA of poor cooperation during mad cow case

In a letter sent to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman late last week, Oregon governor Ted Kulongoski was cited as accusing the U.S. Department of Agriculture of repeatedly failing to provide state officials with information about BSE, crucial to maintaining consumer confidence.
Kulongoski was cited as writing that 80 per cent of the recalled meat linked to an infected Holstein in Washington state was distributed through two Oregon-based processors,
Wrote, yet, the USDA "made no effort to coordinate with state agriculture officials responsible for the safety of food processed and distributed in Oregon." (link via Food safety network listserv)


Agency increases mad cow testing

The USDA will test more cattle and use a faster method.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is expected to announce as early as this week that it probably will triple the number of cattle that it plans to test this year for mad cow disease.

The agency also plans to license rapid turnaround tests for the deadly disease.

Since the first U.S. case of mad cow was discovered in December in Washington, the USDA has been criticized sharply by consumer advocates and lawmakers for not testing more extensively.


[...]

Screening tests used in Europe and Japan take four to six hours, compared with the two-week turnaround of U.S. testing. The USDA has been accepting applications from testing companies for the past six weeks.

People can contract a version of the brain-wasting disease by eating central nervous system tissue from infected cattle.|link|

A fourteen day turnaround time for a lab sample is a long time compared to a 4 to 6 hour ELISA assay. It doesn't appear that the USDA is up to par with Europe and Japan regarding monitoring our beef supply. Stll eating your McBSE's?

Song in my head: 8 candles shine for the Maccabees..........Malvina Reynolds

In season: Zcoil shoes, daffodils


ALTER-ABLED POETRY

Lost childhood from father's time
horsebound carriage will forever climb.
Princess plunge through tunnel of light,
with son and son to see her plight

Deformed hands still sow the earth,
unmeant words might forever hurt
but new days and precious time
adjust our thoughts, relearn what's mine.

Ann, 1996

Song in my head: I read the news today, Oh boy......................Beatles

In season: pansies, primroses, Drawing Resistance


ALTER-ABLED NEWS


State expected to close low-cost drug business

A small company that provides medicine from Canada probably will be ordered to shut down.
The first business in Oregon to provide seniors and others with lower-cost prescription drugs from Canada will be shut down later this month under an agreement expected to be approved today by the state Board of Pharmacy. |link|

[...]

The savings to customers, according to those who have used the service, range from 50 percent to 80 percent what they pay for prescription drugs from U.S. pharmacies

My prescriptions are currently costing me $225 a month at the minimum. A savings of 50 to 80% would lower my drug costs to $112.50 to $45. Significant savings are offered us in the free market. I really need to find one of these companies, so I can afford to eat good wholesome food with an assortment of vitamins and herbs. If I ever needed doctor care right now it would be rough on me financially. Even a common infection like staph is getting harder to treat.

Methicillin resistant staph will soon be the only staph that we see. Routine antibiotics just will not work against many minor abscesses anymore. |link|

Song in my head: One of these things is not like the other......Sesame Street

In season: wild violets, pussy willows, 'e ko logic

Singing: Down in the shadow of the penitentiary...Out by the gas fires of the refinery...I'm ten years burning down the road.....Nowhere to run ain't got nowhere to go. Born in the U.S.A. I was born in the USA ............................................Bruce Springsteen

In season: two cows


Traumas of My Childhood, part 3

Way back, in the early 60's, my Dad and I were driving together somewhere on Long Island, NY. I wa too little to remember details of the location however, we passed a knife fight in progress, and as my dad was a Suffolk County cop he had to intervene. I was ordered to stay in the car, and dad left quickly. I watched amazed and horrified at the victim's slashed, bloody face. It felt like I wasn't supposed to see this at such a young age, yet I was drawn to the scene, innocently. Human rage expressed in a brutal way that a childs eyes can't understand. The next thing I remember is being driven home by a colleague of my dads, feeling a bit safer, being away from a bloody knife fight.

So, when I saw some of these advertisements for Mel Gibson's new movie The Passion of Christ, these memories of this knife fight appear. The violence I witnessed many years ago cept back up and I thought, "I dont want to see this movie."

This morbid fascination with reliving Jesus' death in graphic cinematic form is beyond what I can tolerate to watch, emotionally. Besides, the idea of another person pushing their view of what happened during the crucificion seems obscene to me. However, more obscene is what Hollywood did to what is sacred and cheapen it into a money maker.