Whooping Cough is Baaaaack (says the Christian Broadcast Network)

With a vengeance too. I had it when I was a kid, less than 10 years old based on the house we were in at the time. Stayed in bed for days and whooped and whooped like crazy. My mother rigged a steam tent over the head end of the bed and I breathed moist air with Vicks VapoRub and had Antiphlogistine from a heated tube plastered on my little chest and covered with a warm wet towel. Did they work? Well, here I am so something worked. Probably just a robust immune system.
A couple of years ago I got it again (from some twit on an airplane). Coughed and whooped a little, just enough to identify it to my own satisfaction and in a few days it abated. Immune system kicking in and getting a booster case.
So now, according to the Christian Broadcast Network (1), the bacteria that causes it (Bordetella pertussis) has evolved into a more resistant type that is evading the immunization shots. EVOLVED!! From the CBN. Finally a public admission that Evolution actually is a real phenomenon. I am impressed. Well done CBN.
You should get the shots for pertussis (whooping cough) anyway though. The current vaccine either is or soon will be using the evolved strains and should help to curb the deadly epidemic that is underway. One problem is morons who believe immunizations are some sort of conspiracy or that they cause autism or some other such nonsense. Did I call them morons? Sorry, I should have simply called them parents of dying children. That make you feel better?

1. http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/healthscience/2012/July/Whooping-Cough-Makes-Deadly-Comeback-in-US/

Image: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDTgv_wKxpYC8h24mNwe7MD4TYvFL-DsgqR0H3mB8qOCF6waX2psrNsxnCzrJDQualJOGF9N6AXR2Ix_UBsWU6VYR6Sp41SG0inXRDaFCSso56q5ytWRviVMJSx3niyxyjmGITMHNhzkI/s1600/288464d1310524424-some-doctors-saying-vaccinate-your-child-go-elsewhere-treatment-n-whooping-cough-tubes.jpg

“On My Honor - - “

I made it to Second Class. I liked being in the Scouts and especially the Jamboree in 1953 at the Irvine Ranch in California. Then I got interested in blowing up stuff and being a tough guy. These are not values normally associated with being a boy scout. So I dropped out and never looked back. There have been incidents over the years since the beginning of Scouting that indicated a definite anti-gay (lumping GLBTQ into “gay” for the moment) bias. That bias has become more and more public as the acceptance of gays has grown, and as the legal protection for gays has finally begun to accumulate.
The quote below is directly from the BSA website and no matter how hard I try, I cannot find anything here that justifies an anti-gay stance:

“Being morally straight means to live your life with honesty, to be clean in your speech and actions, and to be a person of strong character.” (1)

Therefore I conclude that the official policy of the people that run the BSA is Homophobic for personal reasons. Good enough for me to give my Second Class patch and card back if I could find them. And since I am at the very least an agnostic if not an outright atheist, I wouldn’t be allowed in anyway.

There are other problems with Scouting and their own code. One of them has to do with obeying the laws of the land. The quote below (my italics and bold) is from their website:

“By being a good family member and a good citizen, by working for your country's good and obeying its laws, you do your duty to your country.” (1)

The laws of this country in both State and Federal statute protect the rights of all. Gays included. By discriminating against anyone, BSA and boy scouts individually clearly break the code. They hide behind the “private organization” shield to keep their discrimination alive. Personally I think it’s time for the BSA to read their own pledge and try to follow it. And as an aside, Google Boy Scout Leaders, select images and look at the percentage of fat bastards. Healthy huh? Try this revised pledge:

On my honor, I will do my best
To do my duty to my God (and no one else’s), my country and to obey the Scout Law (even if it conflicts with Federal or State law);
To help other people at all times (except people from the GLBTQ community);
To keep myself physically strong (but fat is OK), mentally awake and morally straight (whatever that means).

Image ;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF_2PxtIsYOX0U791GQX8RiYPb_-QCHU3ROHOctAdOBPzoqNHY6-3WCD1QlzIEbUNgkmvkyK76k5FIh_5u8EVgcSHeq5EmfhixTw5slaT-DoMnCLJHlKsBQJmOQQ9QiQzkBf50uqFxAmqR/s1600/Flag+salute+171712.jpg

1. http://usscouts.org/advance/boyscout/bsoathlaw.asp

“Reach for the Stars.”

This simple line is the way Sally Ride ended her numerous lectures, presentations and talks.

Some of you will remember her famous “First Women in Space” launch with the “ride sally ride” music pounding in your ears. Some will not even know her name. And some of you will hate her because she was a lesbian. She was also a wife and mother. An engineer. A pioneer. An educator and author. A loving companion. In other words a wonderful person. A very private person despite her world-class presence.

I don’t normally have difficulty finding the right words to express myself, but here I have run into a roadblock. A combination of sadness, shock, loss and anger are hard to explain. So I won’t try. Instead I recommend that you read the article (1)  linked below. I think you will find what you need there to come to some sort of closure. Especially important is the statement from Sally’s sister, Bear. Here is an excerpt:

"Sally lived her life to the fullest with boundless energy, curiosity, intelligence, passion, joy, and love. Her integrity was absolute; her spirit was immeasurable; her approach to life was fearless. Sally died the same way she lived: without fear. Sally's signature statement was 'Reach for the Stars.' Surely she did this, and she blazed a trail for all the rest of us.

What more could anyone ask?

1. http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/24/12933519-why-sally-ride-waited-until-her-death-to-tell-the-world-she-was-gay?lite
Image: http://www.eonline.com/eol_images/Entire_Site/2012623/reg_1024.sally.cm.72312_copy.jpg