Cherokee Sage Woman

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Texas Observer Managing Editor David Pasztor says syndicated newspaper columnist Molly Ivins has died.
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She made me laugh, cry & muse at her dry wit & exceptional wisdom.
Rest in peace, dear friend. The Texas legislature will never forget the puns & 'outings'.
You did good girl. And you left big shoes to fill.

God speed, & Give 'em Hell!

http://www.alternet.org/stories/47484/

More.. http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/47496/
some great 'Molly' quotes..

http://womenshistory.about.com/od/quotes/a/molly_ivins.htm

This one shocked me, coming froma right-wing mag..
Molly crossed all lines & barriers, bless her.


Breaking from NewsMax.com
Breast Cancer Steals Molly IvinsBy Susan Estrich

Molly Ivins was a gem. In a world where women's voices are still rare, hers could not be ignored. She wasn't good at what she did, she was great. I didn't always agree with her, on Hillary for instance, but I always read her. She had a unique way of seeing the world and putting it into words that made a Molly Ivins column totally recognizable and often unforgettable. She was passionate and inspirational, and now that passion and inspiration is gone. Stolen by breast cancer. Another one lost. When will this end? According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), things are getting better. Death rates from cancer in this country (as opposed to the rest of the world) are down, albeit barely. In 2007, NCI predicts 178,480 women and 2,030 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer; 40,460 women and 450 men will die of it. Molly Ivins was one of the 41,000 we will lose.It may be better, but it is hardly good enough. It still feels like an epidemic, a war in which all you can do is try to duck the bullets. One of my closest friends had her double mastectomy last week. The first reports from the pathologist are not good. Don't worry, I tell her, I'm good at going to chemo. I've been taking good friends for years. I make jokes, tell stories, befriend nurses. I am not afraid. I am terrified. Thirty-five years ago, 75 percent of all women diagnosed with breast cancer survived for five years; today, nearly 90 percent do. That's because of both earlier detection and improved treatment. But the number of women who are having regular mammograms is actually going down, not up. According to the latest data from the American Cancer Society, the percentage of women 40 and older who reported having a mammogram in the past two years was 76.4 percent in 2000, but had dropped to 74.6 percent by 2005. "Although a 1.8 percent decline in mammography screening from 2000 to 2005 may not seem like much, it means that in 2005 about 1.5 million fewer women took advantage of getting this proven lifesaving test," says Len Lichtenfeld, MD, deputy chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society. That means thousands of women with cancer don't know it and aren't being treated. I click every day for free mammograms: http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/CTDSites. I go every year for my own and hold my breath. If only that were enough. My friend had mammograms religiously every 12 months. But her cancer is stage III. How can that be? It is. Five-year survival rates have improved, but five years isn't enough when you're in your 50s or 60s, let alone your 30s and 40s, when breast cancer tends to be most aggressive. The five-year survival rate for stage III breast cancer ranges from 54-67 percent. The overall 15-year survival rate for all breast cancer is only 57 percent. As of August 2005, the American Cancer Society was funding 188 research projects related to breast cancer, totaling more than $103.8 million. Most of these projects, they say, extend over several years. That is supposed to sound like a lot. To me, it doesn't. The war in Iraq has cost us $350 billion so far. The total budget for all National Cancer Institute research for this year is under 2 percent of that. The NCI's annual budget for breast cancer research is barely $600 million. We talk about a war on cancer, but the truth is we're not really fighting one. The war we're fighting is a losing one in Iraq, not a winning one against cancer. How wrong can we be? The loss of 3,000 Americans over the course of the war in Iraq is unacceptable, but losing 41,000 every year to breast cancer is beyond intolerable. President Bush, whom Molly memorably called "Shrub," was gracious about her death. But I can't help but believe he could have prevented it, that we could have, if only we got our priorities straight. How long will it take, how many more will we lose before we do? Enough is enough. Just a few weeks ago, writing in the face of death, Molly urged every American to do their part to stop the war in Iraq. "We are the people who run this country. We are the deciders. And every single day, every single one of us needs to step outside and take some action to help stop this war. We need people in the streets, banging pots and pans and demanding, 'Stop it, now!'" We also need to start a new war, against the cancers that take our best from us. And this one, we need to win.