Rumblings and Ramblings

Some notes and thoughts for a Friday:

• First, read an excellent book for free.

A few weeks ago author Neil Gaiman had a vote on his website about which of his books should be put on the web for free. The winner was his best book (so far), American Gods. It has won: * Hugo Award for Best SF/Fantasy Novel * Bram Stoker Award for Best Horror Novel * Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel * Nebula Award for Best Novel. It went live yesterday. Here's the link to the book. It will be up for a month. Here's the link to Neil's website. By the way, Neil, a native of England is now a Minnesotan. Which reminds me - I forgot to mention that the Oscars liked Minnesota this year. The Coen Brothers are native and Diablo Cody is an adopted native like Gaiman and me.

• Church Calendar Colliding with St. Patrick's Day Celebrations

Yes, March 17 happens to fall on the Monday of Holy Week this year. Holy Week in Catholic tradition is certainly not a time of revelry. (Or in any other Christian denomination that pays attention to those things.) So, how do you celebrate a Catholic Saint's Holy Day. It could be a tough choice. Some have suggested moving the celebration. (Of St. Pat's Day, not Holy Week.) No chance of that. This is clearly another example of the secularization of a spiritually-based holiday. Good luck o' the Irish on this one.

• NFL to Allow Church Super Bowl Parties

For several years now the NFL has been clear that any "public" showing of the Super Bowl in churches is against the law and breaks copyright. Bars were exceptions, by the way. As if they haven't caused enough problem with taking over Sundays and turning them into another religious ritual. Well, they have given in. Churches will no longer be breaking the law. One of the articles I saw said "In essence, this provides churches the same right as sports bars." Thank goodness we in the church are now equal to the bars.

• Aetna Postpones Sedation Policy Change

What sedation, you ask? Well they were going to stop paying for sedation for colonoscopies. Actually, they are proposing to stop paying for anesthesiologists. Now I am one who gets regular colonoscopies since my mother died of colon cancer at 49 and I am now well past that. I have never had the kind of sedation that takes an anesthesiologist. It has never been really bad with the light sedation used. But I would sure hate to see someone who should get one not do so because of the fear of pain, discomfort, etc. The AP article concluded with this great paragraph:

Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States and regular screening could eliminate as many as 60 percent of deaths each year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

That seems like a really good reason for Aetna to hold off on its policy change.

BTW: Columnist/humorist extraordinaire Dave Barry had a great article about this. And yes, colonoscopies can make you laugh. Link.

• Here is one way to win. Stab the opposition.
  

From the AP:

NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) -- Montgomery County authorities say a man stabbed his brother-in-law during an argument over who should get the Democratic nomination for president. What's more, Jose Ortiz, 28, who's charged with felony assault, is a registered Republican.

Uh, that's all folks!