You know what reminds me of Adolf Hitler? Lord Voldemort. JK Rowling has stated on numerous occasions that Voldemort reminds her of Hitler.

You know what does not rem ind me of Hitler? Most things. Mid-afternoon movies. Equality. Holding hands in the rain. None of these things remind me of Hitler. You know what else doesn’t remind me of Hitler? A person who quits their job from an abusive boss and still has access to a doctor. A person who pays for health insurance every month, is diagnosed with cancer and has no greed-driven company telling them they can’t be treated for their cancer because their cancer is a a pre-existing condition. Health care reform does not remind me of Hitler, Voldemort, Nazis, or Death Eaters. On the contrary it reminds me of goodness and love and freedom.

But that’s not stopping the folks at the fear fuled Daily Profit called Fox News from encouraging uninformed Americans who don’t even have good health care that health equality is similar to Nazis and Hitler. Recently a clearly confunded citizen asked openly gay and Jewish Congressperson Barney Frank why he supported health reform that is basically a Nazi plan. Representative Frank spoke up for both the victims of the Holocaust that Fox News continues to exploit as well as the victims of a bad health care system that Fox News continues to exploit and said the following:

“When you ask me that question, I’m going to revert to my ethnic heritage and ask you a question: On what planet do you spend most of your time?” He added, “It is a tribute to the First Amendment that this kind of vile, contemptible nonsense is so freely propagated…. Trying to have a conversation with you would be like trying to argue with a dining room table. I have no interest in doing it.”

I just read an article in the NY Times that made me feel the following:

The United States of America is finally having an important debate where:

1- the strained debate on global warming, 2- the too often ignored debate on civilian protection, genocide, and poverty, AND 3- the often sensationalist debate around national security threats for the United States are suddenly interconnected:
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Those who have health insurance are paying way too much for our coverage to companies that generally bet against us. Unlike our doctors, these companies are not being run by people who are experts on health. They are run by people who are experts on how to make money. Well last time I checked, my body and your body is not for sale. But the insurance companies seem to be under a different impression. They are interested in being middle men that block our abiity to have a healthy relationship with our doctors. Further, by having a stranglehold on the health care system there are a tremendous amount of Americans stuck in jobs they hate but dare not leave because doing so will take away their and their families’ health insurance.
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Living with depression is not easy. Whether you or someone you love suffers from it, depression can be a difficult thing to live with. But it’s not the end of the world either. Believe me, I should know.

It’s a bit of a long and personal blog, but my main intention is to help others understand that there are many people that suffer from depression, and they are not alone. And even though it can be a hard thing to deal with, it’s not impossible. It isn’t  something to be embarrassed about either.

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When I read yesterday that we’re getting closer to a vaccine for malaria, I thought “that’s pretty cool.” But then I thought about it: I don’t think there are words to describe how incredible a vaccine for malaria would be. Malaria is the fourth leading cause in the death of children under five. A vaccine that’s 50-65% effective would over the course of just a couple of years save the lives of millions of children. It would also allow poverty stricken nations vast money and resources that could go toward protecting and empowering their citizens and infrastructure in thousands of other ways.

It’s not there yet, but it’s close. I really don’t think there’s any way to say how exciting this is except that sometimes scientists and doctors are our modern day Wizards and we can all be so grateful for their magic.

Christina Applegate, an actress that I grew up watching, just made a very difficult decision to have a double mastectomy. Breast cancer awareness is an issue that we should all take very seriously. As important as regular mammograms are, for some women like Christina Applegate whose mother died of breast cancer, it was important that she have an MRI and get a genetic test to see if she had the gene for breast cancer. While this is an issue that should not cause you panic, it is still an issue to be aware of, to read up on, and to consult with a medical professional about.