There are hundreds of aspects of the design of the human body that are awe-inspiring and that cause me to express daily gratitude to my Creator, but perhaps the one design characteristic that is most indicative of God's mercy is in the functioning of memory. The complicated memory processes of the human brain could be discussed at length by those who are much more knowledgeable than I. I only wish to note that God's mercy is particularly evident to me when it comes to the way in which I am able to deal with painful memories. I find that I am able to compartmentalize painful memories so that, with the healing passage of time, an event in my life that caused great anguish when it occurred, will eventually cause just a short period of internal sadness when brought to mind.

Of course, this merciful compartmentalization only works if I do not begin to intentionally recall the details of the painful event. Once I begin the process of recalling details, the anguish, the sadness, and sometimes even the anger will return. I am certain that psychologists have a name for the memory functions and the emotional turbulence that I am describing, but regardless of the scientific description, I am going to recall today the details of a painful memory of mine and share those details in this article. This is not something that I want to do. Hell, I have tears coming to my eyes right now even though I have only just begun to contemplate the event that I will describe. But I believe that what I have to say here may possibly save a life in the future, and I can endure the pains of my past memories if by doing so I can assist someone with realizing the joys of their future hopes.

Today is an anniversary for me, but it is not one that I celebrate nor one that I care to remember. It was on this date six years ago that my mother passed away.

PART 2 IN A FOUR-PART POST 

I stopped by the friendly, neighborhood Borders bookstore this morning in order to enjoy a cup of coffee and to count books. I was specifically interested in the books that were written by medical doctors and that had as their primary subject matter the prevention and/or reversal of heart disease. This particular Borders store had forty-nine different books that met the criteria.

After counting the books, I then went to the index of each book, located the pages associated with the use of cholesterol-lowering statin drugs such as Lipitor, and then I read what each of those physician-written books had to say about the use of those drugs. It was a highly enjoyable way to spend a morning, and the morning would have been perfect had it not been for an anal-retentive bookseller hovering around me and fussing over the books being placed back on the shelves in correct order. He ignored my assurances of my understanding of the term “alphabetical by author.” Maybe he just had too much time on his hands.

If a physician has been successful in publishing a book about heart disease and that book is being marketed at Borders, then I think that it is safe for us to assume that the physician-author is something of an expert on the subject of heart disease. So it may interest you to know that not one of the forty-nine expert physicians that I consulted this morning would recommend the use of Lipitor or any other cholesterol-lowering statin drug in treating or preventing heart disease. One of the physicians did admit that she prescribes Lipitor occasionally, but only after the patient has demonstrated no ability to maintain their own health.

And so the presumed experts in heart healthcare do not recommend the use of Lipitor and yet it is the most prescribed drug in the U.S. and it continues to grow in popularity. What is wrong with this picture?

PRODUCT REVIEW: DUPONT'S MODEL WF-FM350 FAUCET MOUNT WATER FILTER

Back in 1988 while I was living in St. Louis, a Shell Oil pipeline broke near Vienna, Missouri and spilled 20,554 barrels of crude oil into the Gasconade River.  That crude oil flowed from Vienna to Gasconade, Missouri where it dumped into the Missouri River.  Once the crude oil reached the Missouri River, there was no chance of preventing it from mixing with the Mississippi River a short time later.  For the geographically challenged, I will mention here that the Missouri River empties into the Mississippi River north of St. Louis, Missouri.  So a few days after the spill took place in Vienna, the 863,268 gallons of crude oil reached St. Louis.  Can you guess the source of all the drinking water for the city of St. Louis?  That's right.  The metropolitan water district of St. Louis was now challenged with making sure that the crude oil was removed from the city's drinking water.

Shortly after the crude oil reached the St. Louis area, the City of St. Louis Water Division began testing samples of their treated water and pronounced that the crude oil had no adverse effect on the city's drinking water.  They proclaimed the water safe to drink.  But the City of St. Louis Water Division's largest customer disagreed.

At the time of this crude oil spill, it was reported that the Anheuser-Busch brewery in St. Louis used over one million gallons of water each day in the brewing of their beer, and all of this water was supplied by the city of St. Louis.  Anheuser-Busch tested the crude-oil-tainted water and proclaimed it unfit for their beer and shut down brewing operations for two weeks.  It then became clear to me that I should not just glibly accept the tap water in my house as being clean.   If it was not good enough for the brewing of beer, then I doubted that it was good enough to drink.   I began to consume bottled water and I began to filter the tap water that I drank.

UPDATE:  ON FEBRUARY 25TH, PFIZER ANNOUNCED THAT THEY HAVE CANCELLED THEIR LIPITOR AD CAMPAIGN FEATURING ROBERT JARVIK.  WHILE WE APPRECIATE THEIR PROMPT RESPONSE TO OUR EXPOSE', WE WILL BE INTERESTED TO SEE WHETHER PFIZER WILL ATTEMPT FURTHER DECEPTION IN THE FUTURE LIPITOR AD CAMPAIGN ON WHICH THEY ARE ALREADY WORKING.

 THE MARKETING AND DANGERS OF PFIZER'S LIPITOR; A FOUR PART SERIES

PART ONE:  ROBERT JARVIK, PFIZER'S PIMP WITH A PUMP

He was able to rent a store-front office in the area for just $600 per month. He spent just a few thousand dollars more to renovate the office so that it appeared to be that of a physician. There was a patient waiting area, a receptionist's desk, and three examination rooms. Then he added the finishing touches: lots of very old magazines in the waiting area and fancy diplomas and certificates framed and hanging on the walls. He hired a receptionist, and was very fortunate to find a Registered Nurse who was willing to work for $25 per hour. He purchased several new, crisp, white lab coats to wear while he was examining and counseling his “patients.”

He had a sign made for the front window which read “Free Health Screenings. No Appointment Necessary.” He fired up his LaserJet printer and printed handbills announcing the opening of the new free clinic and he paid a couple of high school kids to wander through the neighborhood and place the handbills on windshields and screen doors. In a matter of just a few days, there was a steady stream of patients walking through the front door.

It was twenty years ago, but since it happened during the birth of my son, I remember it as though it were yesterday. “What is that smell?” asked my wife. “It smells like someone pooped.”

I looked at the nurse and she returned a dubious look which seemed to indicate that she wanted me to explain the source of the smell. I decided to ignore the question and the nurse's look. I was twenty-seven years old, and nothing in my limited experience had given me the skill set to deal with this awkward situation. I remember thinking that surely somewhere in nursing school the nurse must have learned how to deal with patients with involuntary defecations.

My wife became more persistent. “What is that awful smell?” Finally, the nurse had no choice but to explain the situation. My wife had received an epidural to eliminate the intense labor pains. The epidural had eliminated all feeling in the pelvic area, and in the process of attempting to push the baby out, she had unknowingly pushed out a rather healthy-sized stool. The nurse explained that she was just going to wait a few more minutes to verify that the bowels were completely evacuated, and then she would clean things up and rid the room of the smell. The patient's extreme embarrassment was not in the least allayed by the nurse's assurances of such bowel movements being a common occurrence in these situations.

I was reminded of this story when I listened to Michelle Obama's speech given on the UCLA campus on February 5^th. In her speech she made the following statement: “Don't get sick in this country. Not here. Americans are in debt not because they live frivolously, but because someone got sick. And even with insurance, the deductibles and premiums are so high that people are still putting medication treatments on credit cards and they cannot get out from under.” Mrs. Obama has lifted her delicate nose to the air, sniffed, and has proclaimed a stench in our healthcare system. Mrs. Obama, much like my wife stating that “it smells like someone pooped,” has stated the obvious. We all know that our healthcare in this country is too expensive.  Similarly, much as my wife did not realize that she was herself the source of the smell, Mrs. Obama either does not realize or refuses to admit that she and people like her are major contributors to the over-priced stench in our health care system.

One of the trace minerals deficient in the modern Western diet is selenium, so I supplement my daily diet with a selenium tablet. I am always searching for products that might provide supplements in a more efficient manner, that is, will provide those supplements in a manner that closely resembles food. And so, based on the information that I could glean from the product label, I purchased the Megafood Dailyfoods E & Selenium product. I was a little hesitant about the purchase, because the product label was confusing, but I was on convinced by sale price of 30% off.

The Appeal

The Appeal, Copyright 2008 by John Grisham. Published by Doubleday.

The International Herald Tribune recently published an article with the headline “ John Grisham, Out With His 21^st Book, Sees Himself as Entertainer and not Literary Giant.” We can certainly all agree that Mr. Grisham is not a literary giant, but his latest book seems to indicate that he is a little confused about the definition of “entertainer.” He seems to think that the definition of “entertainer” is something along the lines of “fiction writer who gratuitously and invasively inserts political opinions throughout his work of fiction.” Mr. Grisham's latest work is about as entertaining as a poke in the eye. Actually, we are being too generous in referring to The Appeal as a “work of fiction.” The only “work” that Mr. Grisham did in preparing this book was to write down catchy little phrases as they were spewed from the mouth of his hero, Hillary Clinton, and then place said phrases throughout the book. If a litany of ill-conceived stereotypes sprinkled here and there with editorials can be considered a “work of fiction,” then I suppose that The Appeal is a work of fiction.

Prior to discussing the political commentary in the book, we should discuss the actual fictional work. The plot is as follows: A big, mean chemical company located in Mississippi dumped chemicals which made their way into the water supply killing and disabling hundreds of people. Now enters our heroes, a couple of tort lawyers, who sell off their fancy cars and houses and borrow $400,000 so that they can focus all of their time on the case against the evil chemical company. When our heroic couple is nearly out of money, they finally win a multi-million dollar settlement from the chemical company. But the case is appealed to the Mississippi Supreme Court, and the evil chemical company does dastardly things in order to manipulate which judges will hear the case when the appeal comes before that court. The supreme court indeed reverses the judgment, the poor inhabitants of Cancer County, Mississippi get nothing but continued suffering and death, and the majority shareholder of the evil chemical company rides off into the sunset on his brand new yacht enjoying his $3 billion net worth but wondering how he will make his next $3 billion.

The stereotyping is appallingly predictable and comical. The evil billionaire, Trudeau, is hard-drinking, is married to his third wife, and despises his children. His trophy wife is blond, narcissistic, anorexic, and has fake breasts. The pastor who is tolerant of homosexual behavior is full of wisdom and kindness, but the pastor who believes homosexual behavior is a sin is portrayed as an ignorant, redneck blowhard. All of the liberal judges are portrayed as individuals who really love the constitution and are looking out for the little guy, while all of the conservative judges are mere tools of corporate interests.

We had posted a concern that illegal immigrants might receive a tax rebate from the Economic Stimulus Package that has been signed into law.  The IRS will begin mailing these rebate checks in May, and we had voiced a concern that illegal aliens who filed their income tax returns using an ITIN (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number) might receive a rebate check.  We now have a clarification on the IRS web site which reads as follows:  "To be eligible for a stimulus payment, taxpayers must have valid Social Security numbers. Anyone who does not have a valid Social Security number, including those who file using an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN), an Adoption Taxpayer Identification Number (ATIN) or any other identification number issued by the IRS is not eligible for this payment."  So we are happy to post that the rebate checks should only go to legal workers.  If you care to see any more information about the rebate checks, here is the link to the IRS web page that answers most questions:

http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=179095,00.html