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Rolla Peace News January 11, 2022 |
Dear Friends:Editor's notes:In this newsletter is: 1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: THURSDAY, JANUARY 13, 2022 2. HOLLY JERNIGAN NEEDS A KIDNEY DONATION 3. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) a) From Our Readers: “Ban This Book” b) Extreme Weather: Ring Out the Old Year; Ring In the New c) Stand-Up Comedy at Its Best: Five Nuclear Weapon States Respond to Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons 1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: THURSDAY, JANUARY 13, 2022 We vigil for peace in front of the Rolla Post Office, THIS THURSDAY, JANUARY 13, FROM NOON TO 1:00 PM (and most subsequent Thursdays until Peace is established). Please join us this Thursday in saying NO MORE WARS — LET PEACE PREVAIL. The temperature is predicted to be around 50. If you do not feel comfortable joining us in front of the Post Office, please consider driving by and showing your support for our message by honking your horn and flashing a peace sign. Note 1: Since there are so few of us, generally 2 or 3, no need to cancel; but let's maintain social distancing. Note 2: In case of inclement weather, vigils may be canceled or terminated early. 2. HOLLY JERNIGAN NEEDS A KIDNEY DONATION 
Holly was born with only one kidney due to having Williams Syndrome, a genetic condition that brings with it a host of medical issues. For years, her kidney function has been declining, and her kidney is now only 10 percent functional. To stay alive, Holly needs a kidney transplant. Her only other option is dialysis, which could possibly keep her alive another 5 years. Dialysis would be 3 times a week, for 4 hours at a time, and she would remain on her already strict diet (some vegetables, some fruits and white rice.) A transplant would offer her a more “normal” diet and the ability to live a longer, healthier life. In November 2020, her family went to the Mayo Clinic to explore a possible transplant. Holly had to be approved by a team of doctors at their Transplant Center. The Transplant Team met just after Christmas 2020, and found her to be an eligible candidate. That decision added her to the National Transplant waiting list for a kidney from a deceased donor, with 100,000+ other people, and an average wait time of 3 to 5 years. Holly has blood work done every 4 to 6 weeks and hopes that her diet and lifestyle keep her kidney function steady to avoid dialysis. A living donor improves her chances for long-term success with the new kidney, as it typically lasts longer and has better function. The transplant could happen sooner, before her kidney fails completely. Her chances of a successful transplant increase dramatically without being on dialysis. “We understand a donor will face fears about the surgery and have questions about what living with one kidney will mean,” said the family. Here’s what the National Kidney Foundation says: • The typical donor age is 18-70. Each transplant center sets its own range. • You only need one kidney to live a healthy, long life. • Statistically, kidney donors tend to live longer and healthier lives. • Donor surgery is done laparoscopically, through tiny incisions. • A typical recuperation period is 2 weeks, with a hospital stay of 1-2 days. • Medical expenses are covered by the recipients’ insurance. • The donor has a separate team of healthcare professionals to help the donor understand the risks and benefits while putting the donor first. You don’t have to be an exact match to help Holly get a kidney. For those considering donation, Mayo has a program called Paired Donation. If someone is willing to give Holly a kidney and it doesn't match, the doctors will find another donor who does match Holly, and give her donor's kidney to someone else who matches them. You can initiate the process and get more answers by contacting Mayo Clinic's living donor coordinators via www.mayoclinic.org/livingdonor and click the link to the Health History Questionnaire, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn., or call 866-227-1569. 3. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) a) From Our Readers: “Ban This Book” b) Extreme Weather: Ring Out the Old Year; Ring In the New c) Stand-Up Comedy at Its Best: Five Nuclear Weapon States Respond to Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons From Our Readers: “Ban This Book” A reader writes in to say that she liked the paragraph from Ban This Book that I quoted last week. She has read all ten of the top challenged books from 2020, and hopes others will read them too. My response: I'm way behind. The only book on the list I've read is John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men; but since I played Lennie in a college theatre production 60 years ago, maybe that ought to count as two reads. Here's the list again. I still can't figure out why anyone would want to ban Of Mice and Men. 
Fanned by hurricane force winds, we rang out the old year with a devastating December wildfire in drought-stricken Colorado. We ring in the new year with an unprecedented snow and ice storm in Virginia which left motorists stranded in their cars on the Interstate for over 24 hours. The last few years have been terrible years for climate-change-enhanced extreme weather events. Maybe, it's time to park our cars for good and go back to riding horses. Stand-Up Comedy at Its Best: Five Nuclear Weapon States Respond to Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons This would make hilarious satire, if it didn't put the lives of almost 8 billion people at risk. The world's first five nuclear-weapon states, China, France, Russia, United Kingdom and United States got together and issued a Joint Statement on Preventing Nuclear War. Meanwhile, they continue to modernize and expand their nuclear arsenals and arm themselves to the teeth with nuclear weapons. They say, “[We] consider the avoidance of War between Nuclear-Weapon States and the reduction of strategic risks as our foremost responsibilities.” But they say nothing about war between nuclear-weapon states and other states, which tells us that the **REAL** purpose of nuclear weapons is not to fight an omnicidal war between nuclear-weapon states, but to bully states which have no nuclear weapons. To this end they opine that “further spread of such weapons must be prevented.” They go on to say: The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty entered into force in 1970. 50 years later the “early date” is yet to arrive. (These folks seem to march to geologic time. Maybe they will get around to it by the end of the Anthropocene.)“We remain committed to our Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) obligations, including our Article VI obligation ‘to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament, and on a treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control.’” Indeed, Time appears to have left these five dinosaurs behind. You wouldn't know from reading their statement that they are no longer “the Five Nuclear-Weapon States,” but merely five of the nine known nuclear-weapon states. Nor would you know from their statement that 59 states have joined the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons by which “Each State Party undertakes never under any circumstances to ... Develop, test, produce, manufacture, otherwise acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.” Three states: Guinea-Bissau, Mongolia and Peru just joined last month. In fact, you wouldn't even know from their statement that this Treaty, which none of the nuclear-weapon states have expressed the least interest in joining, even exists. And meanwhile, the nuclear-armed Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) has successfully tested a hypersonic missile which may prove very difficult to defend against. North Korea is a nuclear-weapon state. How come North Korea, along with nuclear-weapon states: India, Israel and Pakistan weren't invited to the party? Rolla Peace News is distributed by email once a week on Tuesdays (except on rare occasions) and is posted on the web at http://tomsager.org (click on Rollaites for Peace: near the top of rightmost column).Wage peace, Tom yushasager (at) yahoo.com |