TB or not TB?
News that an Atlanta man has been globetrotting with an infectious disease and is now in quarantine sounds like really old news, and had us asking a million questions in our morning meeting... questions best answered by a doctor, a laywer, and an ethicist (sounds like the setup for a walk-into-a-bar joke). What do you want to know about the case?
Sarah Handel
2:00 PM ET
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05-30-2007
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Nothing's Quiet on the DC Front
Congress is home this week for the Memorial Day break (I only get a day off, why do they get a week!) and things are quiet in Washington. Except for the arguments over Iraq. Oh, and immigration. And Fred Thompson's announcement (that he'll announce). Yeah, and that 2008 election. OK, maybe not so quiet. Just because Congress is home, doesn't mean the country stops... and neither does Ken Rudin. Our political junkie takes on everything from Iraq to Iowa, and we find out why liberal anti-war groups are warning some of the Democrats they helped elect. Questions for Ken? Click that comment link...
Scott Cameron
1:20 PM ET
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05-30-2007
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You WILL Remember
It's no secret that the American population ain't getting any younger, and the older we get, the more important it becomes to think about the things we'll leave behind. There are the tangible items to consider (I'm leaving my music and cameras to my sister), and of course the monetary (yeah, not much for me to worry about on that front yet), but you might also want to consider the more ephemeral parts of your life. Turns out there's something called an ethical will, a document separate from the traditional will that expresses your beliefs and values, preserving them and passing them on to the family you leave behind. I'm still not entirely clear on what that means, or the value of the document... I guess it's hard for me to imagine anyone being interested in just how much I care about spaying and neutering pets, or being nice to people, but when I turn it around and think about if someone left me an ethical will, it gets a little more interesting. For example, I'd love to have a record of my grandma's beliefs and values to hold onto when I can't talk to her anymore (she's the one who taught me that it's ok to not finish a book -- no matter how wrong it feels to not see it through to the end, she says,"throw it against a wall -- life's too short!"). Are you writing an ethical will? How are you making sure your values are carried from generation to generation? If only one lesson, value, or belief stands that ultimate test of time, which one do you want it to be?
Sarah Handel
1:17 PM ET
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05-30-2007
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Digital Distraction
You know the billboards that flip to another side every minute or so? Those make me a little ill; there's one on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, and I find it super distracting. Turns out that's kid stuff; huge digital billboards are starting to go up all over the country. A lot of this is due to the fact that it's actually really easy to avoid advertisements these days (thank you, DVR), so companies are trying to find new ways to get your attention. The problem is, the signs are so big and flashy, they might be distracting drivers. What do you think about them? I've never seen any, but honestly, the huge billboards in Times Square make me dizzy.
Barrie Hardymon
1:04 PM ET
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05-30-2007
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From Faint to Saint
Today we've got a Q&A about the tuberculosis scare (TBQ&A), which got me thinking... while this is a rather terrifying disease, it's also been tapped by countless authors as the best way to kill off a tragic heroine. It's the most romantic (not to mention the least feminist) of all diseases -- in literature it's more of a social disease. From opera to film, there's nothing like a poor, frail, woman sanctified by tuberculosis. The French are really best at this (I'm open to argument on that, though); think Fantine in Les Miserables. You know the drill; first, the gal must be a courtesan, not at heart, you understand, but by circumstance. Poor sainted Fantine works her tail off in the factory, until she loses her job and is forced into the oldest profession. Poverty and disease strike next, and the next thing you know she's achieved ultimate morality -- by ultimate mortality. It's odd, but TB really seems to occupy a unique place in nineteenth and twentieth century novels. Anyway, here, in no particular order, are my favorite fictional victims. I'm sure I'm missing some, so apologies to any coughing beauties I've missed.
Best Fallen Woman: Fantine, in Victor Hugo's Les Miserables (by the way, what a great book. It literally reads like a romance novel.)
Most Terrifying Death: Helen, in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre (remember how Jane wakes up next to the deceased Helen? BTW, can you really get TB from a mean schoolmaster?)
Best Introductory Aria: Mimi, most famous in Puccini's La Boheme, but not surprisingly based on a French story (Henry Murgers Scenes de la Vie de Boheme)
Best Pre-Death Aria: Violetta in Verdi's La Traviata
Best Portrayal on Film: Marguerite Gautier (GARBO!!) in Camille (literally, this was like the 11th production of this story which La Traviata was also based on. The story? You guessed it-- French: La Dame Aux Camelias by Dumas.)
Most Shocking TB Death For Children: Beth, in Louisa May Alcott's Little Women (Let me tell you, as an impressionable nine year old reading this book, this was a SHOCK, akin to finding Mary suddenly blind in the Little House books.)
Most Sainted (if that's possible): Little Eva in Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin
Honorable Mention for Consumptive Male: Young Paul Dombey in Dickens' Dombey and Son
Author TB Shout-out: Emily Bronte, who not only created characters whom you really expected to die of TB, but sadly, died of TB herself at a very young age.
Barrie Hardymon
10:09 AM ET
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05-30-2007
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