As the president of a nonprofit organization, I should be attuned to asking people for help. After all, Families in Recovery relies on donors for funding and on volunteers for our board. But I’ve realized recently that there are still many areas where I am uncomfortable asking for help. So today I did something about... »
Archive for March, 2010
The upside to Cancer
Sunday, March 21st, 2010
The pollster in me wants to conduct a little survey amongst cancer survivors. The primary questions I want to ask are the following. 1. What are the upsides to surviving Cancer? 2. What are the downsides to surviving Cancer? 3. Does your cancer…? a. Haunt you like an unwelcome ghost b. Hunt you like a pack of starving... »
…just ignore all the dying people. My take on healthcare reform
Friday, March 19th, 2010
To anyone who thinks we do not need healthcare reform, consider the following: 1. 36 countries have lower infant mortality rates than us. We are behind Cuba. http://www.geographyiq.com/ranking/ranking_Infant_Mortality_Rate_aall.htm 2. 171 countries have a longer life expectancy rate than us. http://www.geographyiq.com/ranking/ranking_Life_expectancy_at_birth_aall.htm 3. 13 countries have fewer preventable deaths than us. France is almost half. http://www.allcountries.org/ranks/preventable_deaths_country_ranks_1997-1998_2002-2003_2008.html 4. We do lead in one metric.... »
A Near Brush with Alcoholism
Sunday, March 14th, 2010
Earlier this winter, Ella came into my room and startled me out of my sleep. In my half-awake state, I yelled at her for scaring me. My anger lasted only a moment before I came fully awake and apologized (partial lucidity is not my best state). It turns out the poor girl was... »