Freedom of Health vs Freedom of Religion

You may have recently heard or seen the news regarding the case of Daniel Hauser, a 13 year old, who has been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Hodgkin’s lymphoma is one of the most curable types of cancer, however Daniel and his parents are denying further standard treatments saying the treatments would violate their religious beliefs. The family are members of Nemenhah, a American Indian organization that prefers natural healing methods.

Back in February, Daniel underwent one round of chemotherapy, yet when he became ill, his parents refused to send him in for a second treatment. For the past several months, they have ignored the advice of cancer specialists and turned to natural therapies, such as herbs and vitamins.

A judge ruled the parents have medically neglected Daniel and ordered Daniel to have updated chest x-rays as well as see an oncologists for re-evaluation. After the x-ray showed the tumor in Daniel’s chest had grown, the mother and son left town. At the time of this writing, both Daniel and his mother have returned, but are still refusing to comply with any court orders that would require Daniel to undergo chemotherapy.

Cases like Daniel’s are often presented as issues of “health freedom”, parental rights, or the right of a minor to control his or her body. The court seems to have only three options: to try and convince Daniel’s parents to allow Daniel to have the treatment, to force Daniel to undergo treatment by taking physical custody of him, or to let Daniel pursue his own course of action and possibly die.

My question to you this week is, “What do you think the court should decide? Should it be the court or the parents decision?” Answers are due by Monday, June 1st, 2009.

Celebrating a 3 day weekend? Thank a veteran!

I have been looking forward to the three-day weekend coming up for a long time. We always get together as a family and have a big cook-out. The pools re-open, I get a free day off of work and more importantly, summer begins!

It dawned on me as I sat down to write this post, that the true meaning of Memorial day is often lost. Most people know that Memorial Day is to honor soldiers who have died in combat, but did you know that a national moment of remembrance, in the form of a moment of silence, takes place at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time? Another tradition is to fly the flag at half-staff from dawn until noon local time. Many people observe the holiday by visiting graves and cemeteries to honor family members who have died. Hundreds of volunteers place American flags on veteran grave sites across the country.

Both of my grandpa's are WWII veterans. I remember how seriously my grandma took Memorial Day and her responsibilities to honor my grandpa, the flag and our country. I realize that those duties have been lost on my generation, in lieu of BBQ, beer and the Indy 500. It made me realize that it is time to step up to the plate. So, this weekend, I pledge to do something to honor my grandpa's and others who have died in service of this country. My question to you this week is "How do you celebrate Memorial Day? Do you do anything to honor it's true meaning?" Answers are due no later than Sunday, May 24th, 2009. Have a happy and safe holiday weekend!

It pays to have friends in high places...

Last week in class, we discussed campaign finance reform. This past Presidential election was the most expensive race in history, with candidates literally raising millions of dollars to finance their campaigns.

During the primary contest, then candidate Obama pledged not to accept campaign contributions from lobbyists. In fact, Obama returned thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from registered federal lobbyists during the course of his campaign. However, Obama did take money from individuals who while not registered lobbyists, were still employed at lobbyist firms. This activity, along with Obama's past contributions from lobbyists in previous races drew criticism and charges of hypocrisy.

The top spenders in the 2008 Presidential election, ranked in order from highest to lowest, were as follows: US Chamber of Commerce, Exxon Mobil, AARP, PG&E, Northrop Group, American Medical Association, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, American Hospital Association, General Electric and Verizon Communications. It is no coincidence that one can see two of our countries' biggest domestic issues reflected in this list; health care and energy.

For more information on who gave what to whom, check out the Center for Responsive Politics at: http://www.opensecrets.org/. This website will give you the full details on campaign finance and show you who has supported your politicians in the past.

My question to you this week is, "Do you think it is okay for candidates to take money from lobbyists? If it were up to you, how would you reform our campaign finance laws?" Answers are due no late than Sunday, May 17th, 2009.

Obama's Presidential News Conference

This week's blog will be a short post. As you all know, President Obama held a prime time news conference last Wednesday. Hopefully, some of you caught it live, but if not, you can access a full transcript of the address at the following link:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2009/04/barack-obama-news-conference-text.html

My questions to you this week are, "What do you think President Obama answered best? What did you think he could have done a better job on? Was there an issue that wasn't addressed that you wish would've been?"

Answers are due by Sunday, May 10th, 2009.