Full Text: Obama Stem Cell Research Executive Order

(Source: White House Press Office)

REMOVING BARRIERS TO RESPONSIBLE SCIENTIFIC
RESEARCH INVOLVING HUMAN STEM CELLS

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1.  Policy.  Research involving human embryonic stem cells and human non-embryonic stem cells has the potential to lead to better understanding and treatment of many disabling diseases and conditions.  Advances over the past decade in this promising scientific field have been encouraging, leading to broad agreement in the scientific community that the research should be supported by Federal funds. Read more

Full Text: President Obama Speech on Stem Cell Policy Change

(Source: White House Press Office)

Today, with the Executive Order I am about to sign, we will bring the change that so many scientists and researchers; doctors and innovators; patients and loved ones have hoped for, and fought for, these past eight years: we will lift the ban on federal funding for promising embryonic stem cell research. We will vigorously support scientists who pursue this research. And we will aim for America to lead the world in the discoveries it one day may yield.

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Ohio Sunday Papers – Ill winds beginning to blow on Cap Square

• Governor’s doubters grow – Columbus Dispatch
• Foreclosure crisis everywhere in Cleveland – The Plain Dealer
• 1933 eviction riots in Cleveland bear similarities to today – The Plain Dealer
• Plummeting stock prices rock four venerable Toledo firms – The Toledo Blade
• Op-Ed, Joe Hallett: Brunner v. Fisher could be Dem nightmare – Columbus Dispatch
• Op-Ed, Dennis Willard: Ohio legislators divided and evasive – Akron Beacon Journal
• Op-Ed, Aaron Marshall: Ohio House Republicans ready to fight – The Plain Dealer
• Op-Ed, Jonathan Riskind: Voinovich far from being lame duck – Columbus Dispatch
• Editorial: Ohio Auditor has waited long enough for data – The Plain Dealer
• Editorial: Stimulus should focus on fixing what’s broken – Columbus Dispatch
• Editorial: Passenger rail – waiting at the station – Akron Beacon Journal
• Some Lucas County agency heads get raises – The Toledo Blade
• Use of furloughs for workers on the rise – The Plain Dealer
• Personal bailouts sought on Ohio site – Akron Beacon Journal
• Where will the local stimulus dollars go? – Akron Beacon Journal
• Ohio stimulus proposals point out crumbling infrastructure – The Plain Dealer
• Fragile mental health safety net – Columbus Dispatch
• Ohio mental health facts – Columbus Dispatch
• Traficant could be back in Ohio soon – Youngstown Vindicator
• Dettelbach rises to top of U.S. Atty list – The Plain Dealer

Video: President Obama Weekly Address – Keeping Promises – The Budget – February 28

Full Text: President Obama Weekly Address – Keeping Promises – The Budget – February 28

(Source: White House Press Office)

Remarks of President Barack Obama – Weekly Address

Saturday, February 28th, 2009

Washington, DC

Two years ago, we set out on a journey to change the way that Washington works.

We sought a government that served not the interests of powerful lobbyists or the wealthiest few, but the middle-class Americans I met every day in every community along the campaign trail – responsible men and women who are working harder than ever, worrying about their jobs, and struggling to raise their families.  In so many town halls and backyards, they spoke of their hopes for a government that finally confronts the challenges that their families face every day; a government that treats their tax dollars as responsibly as they treat their own hard-earned paychecks.

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Obama: A Cure For Cancer In Our Time

President Barack Obama made it crystal clear Tuesday night that health care reform will take center stage ASAP.

“So let there be no doubt: health care reform cannot wait, it must not wait, and it will not wait another year,” Obama said during an address to a joint session of Congress.

But here’s the line that perked me up – “It (stimulus package) will launch a new effort to conquer a disease that has touched the life of nearly every American by seeking a cure for cancer in our time.”

Was that a “We’re going to the moon in ten years?”  I hope so.

The American Cancer Society didn’t have a statement tonight on their website, but the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Advocacy Alliance had a response to the president ready, in part:

“We were grateful Congress and the Administration took the first step in addressing the growing health care crisis in the states with the recent economic stimulus legislation. These funds give states the opportunity to avoid cuts to potentially life-saving breast cancer education, screening and treatment services for underserved women.

“Yet there is so much more to do.  As the non-partisan voice for over 2.5 million breast cancer survivors and the people who love them, we look forward to working with President Obama to establish a health system that ensures access to affordable, high-quality health care for all – including underserved populations and people with chronic or pre-existing conditions like cancer.

“We must ensure that everyone has access to breast cancer screening and treatment.  For breast cancer, as is the case for many diseases, early detection is the closest thing we have to prevention.  Detecting cancer early not only increases a patient’s chance of survival, but also considerably reduces the cost of their treatment.

“We were also thankful for the considerable investment in health research contained in the stimulus legislation.  We urge the Administration to intensify this commitment to discovering the cures, as funding has remained essentially flat since 2003.  We must signal that discovering and delivering the cures for cancer is a top national priority.”

Graphic of the Day: Medicaid Cost, Enrollments Rising During Recession

Check out this article from Stateline.org.  As the Senate continues considering the economic stimulus bill, Washington needs to keep in mind that Medicaid expenses are a huge part of state budgets.  In Ohio and most other states, budgets must be balanced.  Unfortunately, without federal stimulus dollars targeted directly toward state budget relief or Medicaid in particular, states will have to make cuts in health care services for the most vulnerable.  One more reason for the dire need for the stimulus to pass.

Fighting Back: The 17 Pounds of Spackle Lining My Colon Walls

You wouldn’t believe how many pills I just took.

It all started on a very long, very snowy Christmas-time drive to northern Michigan.  It seems that Sirrius-XM Radio’s only current advertiser is a very serious sounding gentlemen whose sole purpose in life is to scare you silly about your probably toxic digestive track.

You know him.  He’s the EverCleanse guy.  Just when you start to tune him out, he makes a bold statement: There’s like 17 pounds of waste stuck on the walls of your colon – like spackle.

I don’t know about you, but that freaks me the fuck right out.

I haven’t been able to get it out of my mind.  I’ve been to their website, I’ve asked everyone at work whether or not their colon-concerned and I’ve done a lot of worrying.  I’m a guy who really didn’t consider his colon before the EverCleanse commercial, now I think about it once or twice a day.  When I do, I picture an open 5 gallon pail of drywall compound.

So, back to the pills.  Tonight my wife and I were at Whole Foods.  Lo and behold, there’s an endcap display of a product called Whole Body Cleanse.  The gal who works in that area patiently listened to my concerns brought on by the EverCleanse guy.  She assured me that from my description of my diet (pizza at least four times per week) and my pasty skin tone, I was a definitely a candidate for a detox.  I pointed out to her that she was talking a lot about liver health – when I’m looking for, I said, is some benefit for my “digestive tract.” (I was too shy to discuss my colon too much)  She said that’s what the laxative and fiber are for.  I smiled.

A Whole Body Cleanse treatment is $30 and contains three bottles of pills.  Tonight, I took my first handful:

• 4 fiber UltraCaps
• 3 laxatives
• 1 Super Milk Thistle

It’s only been 15 minutes, so nothing has happened yet physically.  I do feel a sense of empowerment, however.  Tonight, January 31, I began driving the EverCleanse guy’s voice from consciousness.

I’m going to read my little booklet about toxins and whatnot.  I will post later regarding whether or not this ends up being a game changer.  All I can tell you is that tonight, I’m full of hope.

Full Text: Gov. Ted Strickland, Ohio State of the State, January 28, 2009 | Ohio’s Economic Future & A New Plan for Education

(Source: Office of the Governor)

Governor Strickland’s 2009 State of the State address

I’d like to first recognize that one of Ohio’s great leaders, Senate President Bill Harris, was not able to be with us today. I know that he is in all of our thoughts and prayers, and we wish him a very speedy recovery.

Speaker Budish, Senate President Pro Tem Niehaus, Leader Batchelder and Leader Cafaro, Lt. Governor Fisher, statewide elected officials, members of the Cabinet, members of the General Assembly and the Supreme Court, distinguished guests, First Lady Frances Strickland, and my fellow Ohioans…

There was a time when Ohio State University played its football games on a dusty field surrounded by a humble collection of wooden bleachers.

Back then, OSU played teams from universities and small private colleges. They even scheduled a game against the soldiers from an army camp in Chillicothe.

Just after World War I came to an end there was a painful combination of high inflation and high unemployment that produced economic misery in Ohio and across the nation.

It was a truly frightening moment – hardly the time for a bold new idea.

Read more

Ohio Sunday Papers, January 25, 2009: Strickland, Battelle, Ohio Opinions, State Workers, Term Limits, Medicaid, State Budget, Ohio Economy

• Editorial: Term Limits: Harm at the Statehouse – Akron Beacon Journal
• Can Gov. Strickland right the ship? - Columbus Dispatch
• Governor boxed in by budget - Cincinnati Enquirer
• Ohio’s Medicaid costs high – Cincinnati Enquirer
• Editorial: State workers should share in sacrifice – Columbus Dispatch
• Editorial: OSCEA gets warning – The Plain Dealer
• Op-Ed, Joe Hallett: Dewine, Obama, Strickland appear up to the challenge – Columbus Dispatch
• Plain Dealer Annual Economic Poll – The Plain Dealer
• Poll Graphic – The Plain Dealer
• GOP looks to Portman – Cincinnati Enquirer
• Op-Ed, Thomas Suddes: How will state legislators act? – The Plain Dealer
• Op-Ed, Bill Hershey: New Agenda wants woment in U.S. Senate race – Dayton Daily News
• Battelle’s World - Columbus Dispatch
• Battelle manages national labs – Columbus Dispatch
• Why Hagan’s sudden rush on Medical Mart siting? - The Plain Dealer
• Editorial: Now what are commissioners up to? – The Plain Dealer
• NCR-Dayton ties uravel – Dayton Daily News
• NCR: ‘Dayton is our HQ’ – Dayton Daily News
• Teen sex slavery here too – Columbus Dispatch
• Can green jobs bring prosperity? – Columbus Dispatch
• Editorial: School Calamity Days – Columbus Dispatch
• State jobless rate up to 7.8% – Columbus Dispatch
• Kazcala details decision not to take Noe money – Toledo Blade
• Op-Ed, Joe Rugola: Does Labor need card check? – Toledo Blade

Ohio Newsbreak – January 14 – Winter Weather Ohio-Style, Pimp Daddy, Gamboling to Gambling, Traficant

• Governor softens a bit on gambling – Columbus Dispatch
• Speaker: Gambling may have its place – Columbus Dispatch
• Will Republicans Rebuild in 2009? – The Plain Dealer
• Portman wants U.S. Senate seat – Dayton Daily News
• Voinovich on Geithner – Pay your taxes – The Plain Dealer
• Dayton officials going to Washington with tin cup – Dayton Daily News
• Toll hike for truckers modest: Pike Chief – Toledo Blade
• House votes to expand SCHIP – The Plain Dealer
• Thousands added to Toledo Census count – Toledo Blade
• Traficant to skip early release – Columbus Dispatch
• Icy temps, snow grip Ohio – Columbus Dispatch
• How do they decide how to close school – Columbus Dispatch
• Battelle to add 200 jobs – Columbus Dispatch
• Capital Notes – Columbus Dispatch
• Brown staffer headed to White House – The Plain Dealer
• McFadden allegedly pimpin’ on Craig’s List – Dayton Daily News

Sanjay Gupta Would Be Another Inspired Pick

How about a U.S. Surgeon General who still practices neurosurgery from time to time, donates his time to worthy health-related causes around the world and has the media chops to liven up the staid post?  How about Dr. Sanjay Gupta?

Word out tonight is that the Obama team has approached the CNN star who was also a health care adviser to Hillary Clinton when she was First Lady.

I’ll be honest with you, I have no idea who currently holds the surgeon general’s post.  I’m not even going to expend the energy to look because whoever it is won’t be there in a month or two.

I remember Jocelyn Elders – I think she advocated something that the right wingers got all bent out of shape about.  I also remember C. Everett Koop, he was the guy who stood up to the cigarette industry.  I also remember that if you held a picture of Koop upside-down, it looked like Koop right-side up.

Read more

Ohio Newsbreak – January 7, 2009: Budish, Jimmy Crum Dies, Blackwell’s Quest, Dannettes Reject Offer, Ohio Economy, Fingerhut warns on tuition

• 
• Ohio’s college tuition freeze in jeapoardy – Dayton Daily News
• Lobbyists prepare for another power shift – Columbus Business First
• Somebody wants to hit Blackwell without leaving fingerprints – National Review Online
• With big dreams, Budish takes over as Speaker – Columbus Dispatch
• Budish plans to work hard for cities – The Plain Dealer
• New Ohio House Speaker sworn in – Dayton Daily News
• Dems run House again – Toledo Blade
• Jimmy Crum passes – Columbus Dispatch
• Local credit scores sliding – Cincinnati Enquirer
• Editorial: Cuyahoga Sheriff likes nepotism – The Plain Dealer
• Blackwell talks about guns and Facebook – Dayton Daily News
• Blackwell states his case – The Plain Dealer
• Blackwell continues campaign for RNC – Columbus Dispatch
• Dann Women Reject Settlement – Columbus Dispatch
• Medical Mart realty co. asks for Federal bailout – The Plain Dealer
• Capital Notes – Columbus Dispatch
• Kids’ health insurance touted – Columbus Dispatch
• Editorial: Ohio Courts’ Secrecy – Columbus Dispatch
• OU Prof will be Obama’s photog – The Plain Dealer
• Climbing prices for rock salt - Toledo Blade

Avian Flu Resurfaces in Hong Kong

Check out this story today from the L.A. Times.  The Avian Flu virus (H5N1) is still out there and health officials believe there is still a chance of a pandemic.  Hong Kong, which had been free of the virus in its poultry population for years had had to recently cull thousands of birds after an outbreak.

The map below came out in December from the World Health Organization.  It shows human cases of Avian Flu for the last half of 2008.  I hope that the worldwide recession won’t harm the good work being done to contain H5N1 and monitor its whereabouts.

Click Map for Full Size View

Can We Spend a Few Million on Kids’ Health?

Families USA has a new study out which shows Ohio has 214,000 children without health coverage – the 11th most of all 50 states.  Key findings of the study:

• Nationwide, 8.6 million children are uninsured.  That’s one in nine of all our children.
• Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) pick up some of the slack. Between 2006-07, child enrollment in these two programs increased by over 900,000. President George W. Bush vetoed an expansion of SCHIP this year.
• 88% of the uninsured children come from families where at least one parent works.
• 59% of uninsured children come from two-parent households.

I think it’s interesting that Families USA included the final two statistics above in the summary of their report.  It says something about the political arguments that occur over funding healthcare or any other assistance for the needy.  The facts that most kids without health coverage come from working and two-parent families shows that this is a problem affecting the upper lower and lower middle classes.  Personally, I could care less whether or not those kids’ parents work or are married.  The salient fact is that kids don’t have control over their economic well-being or their ability to pay for health care.  Every child should have affordable access to health insurance on a sliding scale or for free. Period.

We can spend nearly a trillion dollars in Iraq and the talk is that we’ll spend several trillion on getting the economy moving again through more corporate bailouts and economic stimulus programs.  I would think that the next Congress and President Obama could find a few million dollars for the health of America’s kids.  Expanding SCHIP would be a good start.

• Cincinnati Enquirer story on the study
• Families USA Study: Left Behind – America’s Uninsured Children