Marcus Simon

PRESS RELEASE  
For Immediate Release: 
December 26, 2005   

National Autism Association Says Senate Gift to Drug Companies Is Unconstitutional
Liability protection allows injuries from pharmaceutical products without penalty to manufacturers as Senate Majority Leader heralds “Fristmas”

Washington, DC – After procedural maneuverings last week to lessen concerns over back-room deals that became unrelated additions to the Defense appropriations bill, the Senate allowed the bill to pass, leaving intact a provision granting immunity to drug companies from liability for injuries caused by their products. Children’s advocacy and consumer watchdog organizations are calling this provision an affront to democracy and civil rights.

The plan to grant sweeping liability protection to drug makers has been years in the making, spearheaded by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. Previous attempts include the notorious 2002 “Eli Lilly rider” covertly slipped into the Homeland Security Act under the cover of darkness.

“Such drastic changes to public health and our judicial system should have been open for public debate, not slipped in surreptitiously to unrelated, must-pass legislation. These behind-the-scenes tactics were necessary because of the unconstitutional provision to rob injured citizens of their rights,” said Wendy Fournier, National Autism Association (NAA) president.

The implications of liability protection for drug companies to families of vaccine-injured children and first responders who suffer future injuries are gaining increasing public attention. After Congress established the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program in 1986, manufacturers had less incentive to ensure the safety of vaccines. In 1991, when warned that the mercury used as a preservative in many childhood vaccines exceeded safety guidelines, industry ignored the information, allowing an entire generation of children to be overexposed to one of the most dangerous toxins known to man.

According to NAA board chair Laura Bono, “Families of vaccine-injured children have witnessed the emotional, physical, and financial devastation caused by the pharmaceutical industry’s reckless disregard for safety standards. Now, the misplaced priorities of Senate leadership have sacrificed public health and basic civil rights to the greed of an industry willing to overlook safety concerns for the sake of profit.”

If enacted, such legislation will allow for no acceptable legal remedy for those injured by vaccines, including first responders required to receive vaccines when mandated by government.

In comments following last week’s vote, Senator Frist referred to the upcoming holiday season as “Fristmas”. Ms. Bono observed, “Evidently, ‘Fristmas’ means the pharmaceutical industry gets a four billion dollar gift and complete liability protection for their products from our politicians. No other industry has enjoyed the marriage between government and private business to the extent of today’s pharmaceutical companies. I am afraid for American citizens who could be one shot away from a lifelong disability far worse than the disease it was meant to prevent and be left with no legal recourse for pursuing compensation for their injuries. We should all be very concerned about the future of public health and civil rights now that the rules have changed so drastically.”

For more information, go to www.nationalautism.org

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http://www.demopolistimes.com/articles/2005/12/23/news/news01.txt

Accidental shooting kills child

By Rick Couch / News editor

An accidental shooting Monday night left a Sumter County family's Christmas season in ruins.

Anfernee Jamal Carter, 4, of Meridian was killed Monday night on Jarman Road in the Kinterbish community when he and his 5-year-old cousin stumbled upon a loaded .410 shotgun. Sumter County Sheriff Johnny Hatter said the two were watching TV before discovering the gun in a nearby closet.

"Two young cousins were in

Three-year-old dies in accidental shooting

12/22/2005, 8:26 a.m. CT The Associated Press  

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — A three-year-old Birmingham boy who accidentally shot himself has died.

Authorities say Marquis Detoma apparently had wandered into a neighbor's apartment where he found a loaded gun.

It happened yesterday morning at about 9 a.m. in the Woodlawn area

Anyone else experiencing lots of missing pics and random weirdness?

Usually Marc gives us a status report on the Buzzblog. I guess he's busy this week.

Brother, 13, killed in gun accident

Boy, sister found pistol at home, cops say

By Brendan McCarthy and David Heinzmann
Tribune staff reporters
Published December 18, 2005

With their mother gone from the house for about half an hour, a 13-year-old boy and his 9-year-old sister made what turned out to be a fatal discovery Friday night in their Riverdale home.

Atop their parents' bedroom headboard sat a loaded semiautomatic handgun, police said. The children began playing with it. At 6:30 p.m., with the gun in the hand of the 4th-grade girl, a bullet tore into the chest of her older brother, police said.

Ejazz Cates, an 8th-grader at Patton School, was rushed to Advocate Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead a short time later, police said.
 

Yesterday we had Zachary's Bris at our home in McLean.  This is ritual circumsion rite that dates back thousands of years.  You can do a Google Search on Bris or Bris Milah for a detailed explanation of what the Bris is. 

Below are the readings we chose to explain how Zachary was named and pictures of the service.

Giving of the Name

Although the Bible does not provide instructions on how one should name a Jewish child, it is customary to name them in honor of relatives. Since it is only a custom, it varies greatly in the specifics. For instance, while Serphardic Jews name their children after living relations Ashkenazi Jews only name their children for family members that have already passed away. Most modern American Jews often don’t use the entire name, but the first letter or initial sound of the name of the relative they intend to honor, which is the practice we have followed in our own family. The E in Emily’s name, for instance, honors her Great Grandmothers, Eva Weissman and Esther Goldstein. The F in Faith honors the memory of her Great-Grandmother Frieda Aufman Simon.

In addition to honoring a beloved relative, we considered three additional criteria in picking a name.

We wanted to pick a name that

a) we liked the sound of b) was a Jewish name, but c) was one that he could live with as he makes his way through public schools.

Growing up, my father had a special relationship with his Aunt Gussie. Gussie was often asked what her "real name" was, and she always replied "Gussie", that is my real name. Although she eventually married, Gussie never had any children or grandchildren to be named for her. After months of tossing around potential "G" names we couldn’t find one that seemed to fit. How else could we honor Aunt Gussie’s memory? Finally it came to us. Gussie was from the Zelvin side of the family. With a Z we could use Zachary, a name we’d always liked. As this is a slight break with the family tradition, and because there are other Zelvins he might have been named for, we chose to make his Hebrew first name Gavriel, rather than Zacharia, so there would be no mistaking that he was named for his Great Great Aunt Gussie.

We’ve probably settled on five different middle names for Zachary in the last 12 weeks. In preparing for the Bris service, though, we came across my old Bris Milah certifcate which was signed by godmother, Bessie Kauffman. Bessie passed away earlier this year at the age of 90something. Although Bessie and her husband Julius, my godfather, were not related to us by blood or marriage, they were the best friends of my mother’s father, Joseph, and I always felt they were part of our extended family in Houston. While they had no children of their own, they took a paternalistic interest in my mom and dad. One of my favorite stories about them involved Julius pulling out his money clip and peeling of some extra cash for my dad, to make sure the newlyweds had enough money to make their trip cross county, pulling a u-haul behind a convertible. Zachary’s middle names are Jacob in English, in honor of best friends Joseph and Julius, my Grandfather and Godfather, and Benyamin in Hebrew, in honor of my godmother Bessie.

Readings

Grandpa Sam:

As your eyes are filled with wonder when you gaze at the world, so too may you be filled with the wonders at the everyday miracles of life.

As you startle to the world around you, so may you remain ever open both to the happiness and to the pain of those you encounter in the world.

As you cry for food and comfort now, so may you one day cry out to correct the injustices of the world, to help cloth the naked and feed the hungry.

As your hand tightly grasps a parent’s finger, so may you grasp hold of learning and grow in the knowledge and wisdom.

Each of us has something special to give this child, a unique part of ourselves, a gift to illumine his path. May we guide you in your journeys and help protect both your physical and spiritual well being.

 

Parents Prayer:

May you live to see your world fulfilled,
May your destiny be for worlds still to come,
And may you trust in generations past and yet to be.
May your heart be filled with intuition
and your words be filled with insight.
May songs of praise ever be upon your tongue
and your vision be on a straight path before you.
May your eyes shine with the light of holy words
and your face reflect the brightness of the heavens.
May your lips speak wisdom
and your fulfillment be in righteousness
even as you ever yearn to hear the words
of the Holy Ancient One of Old.

Bercot 17a

Grandmothers blessing:

We echo the prayers of our children. May the happiness which emanantes from them today forever fill their home and their family. May we help them to care for and nurture this child and continue to shower upon them the love and affection we first felt for them when they entered this world. We thank you, O God, for the miracle of life and for the length of our days and for enabling us to reach this day.

Emily came to visit her baby brother Zachary for the first time last night.  She saw a cute little baybeeee, he's so leeetle, she said.  The Baby was introduced to her has Baby Brother Zach.  She just called him Baby Zach.  Then Baby Zach started crying.  Baby Zach cyring, daddy-- Baby Zach crying.  So I picked up baby Zach and told him every widdle ting was gonnna be ok cuz daddy wuz here.

Emily just stared at me.

I looked at her and said, I am Baby Zach's daddy too.

Then Emily told Mommy that Baby Zach wanna go home.  Baby Zach wanna go home.  Gramma, she said, Baby Zach wanna go home see mommy and daddy. 

Emily, we all said, Mommy and Daddy are right here.  Baby Zach is going to stay right here for a few more days.  You are going for another sleep over at Gramma and Grampas.

No Mommy, no Daddy.  Baby Zach wanna go home.  Baby Zach crying. Baby Zach wanna see his mommy and daddy.

Then Emily noticed her cousin Leah was there to, and wanted nothing to do with anyone else.

It wasn't until later that I figured out what Emily was trying to say.  She was trying to tell us that Baby Zach was sad and crying because he wanted to go home and see HIS mommy and daddy.  He needed to go to HIS house to see his Mom and Dad. 

She is in a state of denial.  she can't conceive of the fact that we could possibly be someone elses parents too.

Oh well, she'll learn.

Zachary Jacob Simon was born at 10:36 am today, December 6, 2005.  He weighed 6 pounds 11 ounces and was 19 inches long.  His head is 13.5 inches around.  He had apgar scores of 8 & 9 indicating good general health.  He was released from the Nursery aver about and hour and 15 minutes. He's nursing well, and already had his first poo and first pee pee . . . naturally, he waited until his diaper was off to make his first pee pee.

Thanks to all for your well wishes. 

From time to time I'll post links to stories like this. I have a google news alert that sends them to me.

Take it any way you want. 

http://www.syracuse.com/news/updates/index.ssf?/mtlogs/syr_poststandard/archives/2005_12.html

Ten-year-old accidentally shot by his 13-year-old brother
A 13-year-old accidentally shot his 10-year-old brother in the head Wednesday night while the two were alone at their Skaneateles home.

Timothy Karlik, of 1341 Heifer Road, was taken to University Hospital, where he went into surgery to remove bullet fragments from his skull. He is listed in serious but stable condition.

The children were playing with their father's loaded .38-caliber revolver when the accident happened about 8:30 p.m. Their father, Kenneth Karlik, said he had no idea the boys knew where he had hidden the gun.

Tyler Karlik, the 13-year-old, immediately called their father, who came home and took Timothy to Auburn Memorial Hospital. From there, he was transferred to University Hospital, troopers said.

An investigation into the accidental shooting is continuing.

Read more about this story in Friday's Post-Standard.