Blood Donation - proof I'm not just talking crap!

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Monday, September 12, 2005

1:05 PM - 

Current mood:  accomplished

Hey everybody,

I wanted to share this with you. I have removed the contact info of the person who sent this to me, as I want to protect them from any unwelcome solicitations.

The first part of this is a message I sent to a certain organization.

The next is their reply.

It makes me feel a little better.

Thanks.

Love, as always,

Josh

-----Original Message-----

Hi-

I agree with the importance of giving blood, and were I eligible, I

would do it regularly. I think somehow, you guys need to research new

elegibility options.

I am a married, monogamous, disease-free, non-intravenous-drug-using

bisexual male. My blood is clean. By denying conscientious folks like me

the ability to give blood, you are achieving two negative things:

1) You are perpetuating stereotypes about people like me, and others who

fall into certain minority groups.

2) You are perpetuating blood shortages that effect millions of people

throughout this country and the world.

It seems to me that a person who is disease-free, and who has the desire

to help out, should be allowed to. By discriminating against us, you not

only make us feel like substandard citizens, but you effectively deny

people in need the blood that can save their life. In effect, you are

killing the people you are supposedly trying to help.

I have sat on this for years, without talking directly to you, because I

didn't feel like there was anything I could do. Recent circumstances in

our country have led me to wish to be more vocal on the injustices

around me. Your ad about ...[removed to protect sender]... made me very upset and drove home the fact that I need to do something.

Thank you for listening.

I hope you will at the very least respond to this message. I would

really like to know your justification.

Sincerely,

Josh Hostetler

--------------

Josh,

I, along with several of my associates and medical professionals across

the US, agree with you. To clarify, this is an FDA mandate, not a

regulation imposed by individual blood banks. Blood banks across the US

are required to follow all FDA mandates and regulations and they are not

left open to interpretation. I understand your frustration especially

when we don't have enough blood on the shelves.

Another mandate to look at is a person who visited the UK fro 1980-1996

and spent more than 3 months there cumulatively cannot donate because of

the risk of mad cow disease. If the person was a vegetarian who never

ate beef and didn't come in contact with bovine products, they still

cannot donate blood.

Or the airline pilot who flies into an airport of a country that has

malaria endemic areas, but never leaves the cockpit of the plane-he/she

cannot donate either.

Or the homosexual male who hasn't had sex for the past 15 years-cannot

donate blood.

I could go on...

I'm sure this doesn't make you feel any better, but just wanted you to

know that (...we are...) definitely not "perpetuating stereotypes" or "blood

shortages." We're doing the best we can with the mandates and

guidelines we've been given to follow. It's not perfect by any means,

but it's the best we've got right now. Thanks for caring enough to send

your thoughts!

[SIGNATURE REMOVED FOR SENDER'S PROTECTION]

Currently listening :

Mer de Noms

By A Perfect Circle

Release date: By 23 May, 2000

Blood Donation - proof I'm not just talking crap!

Current mood:  accomplished

Hey everybody,

I wanted to share this with you. I have removed the contact info of the person who sent this to me, as I want to protect them from any unwelcome solicitations.

The first part of this is a message I sent to a certain organization.The next is their reply. 

It makes me feel a little better. Thanks. 

Love, as always,

Josh

-----Original Message-----

Hi- 

I agree with the importance of giving blood, and were I eligible, I would do it regularly. I think somehow, you guys need to research new eligibility options.

I am a married, monogamous, disease-free, non-intravenous-drug-using bisexual male. My blood is clean. By denying conscientious folks like me the ability to give blood, you are achieving two negative things:

1) You are perpetuating stereotypes about people like me, and others who fall into certain minority groups.

2) You are perpetuating blood shortages that effect millions of people throughout this country and the world. 

It seems to me that a person who is disease-free, and who has the desire to help out, should be allowed to. By discriminating against us, you not only make us feel like substandard citizens, but you effectively deny people in need the blood that can save their life. In effect, you are killing the people you are supposedly trying to help. 

I have sat on this for years, without talking directly to you, because I didn't feel like there was anything I could do. Recent circumstances in our country have led me to wish to be more vocal on the injustices around me. Your ad about ...[removed to protect sender]... made me very upset and drove home the fact that I need to do something. 

Thank you for listening.

I hope you will at the very least respond to this message. I would really like to know your justification.

Sincerely,

Josh Hostetler

--------------

Josh,

I, along with several of my associates and medical professionals across the US, agree with you. To clarify, this is an FDA mandate, not a regulation imposed by individual blood banks. Blood banks across the US are required to follow all FDA mandates and regulations and they are not left open to interpretation. I understand your frustration especially when we don't have enough blood on the shelves.

Another mandate to look at is a person who visited the UK fro 1980-1996 and spent more than 3 months there cumulatively cannot donate because of the risk of mad cow disease. If the person was a vegetarian who never ate beef and didn't come in contact with bovine products, they still cannot donate blood.

Or the airline pilot who flies into an airport of a country that has malaria endemic areas, but never leaves the cockpit of the plane-he/she cannot donate either.

Or the homosexual male who hasn't had sex for the past 15 years-cannot donate blood.

I could go on...

I'm sure this doesn't make you feel any better, but just wanted you to know that (...we are...) definitely not "perpetuating stereotypes" or "blood shortages." We're doing the best we can with the mandates and guidelines we've been given to follow. It's not perfect by any means, but it's the best we've got right now. Thanks for caring enough to send your thoughts!

[SIGNATURE REMOVED FOR SENDER'S PROTECTION]

Currently listening :

Mer de Noms

By A Perfect Circle

Release date: By 23 May, 2000

  

Some Random Comedy

Current mood:  silly

Hi folks.

This is going to seem out of character for this blog because I mostly have used Myspace for serious purposes and not for random silliness.

As those of you who know me know, this is not an accurate projection of my personality into Myspace. In fact, I like to be silly.

So. Here goes nothing:

Porncupine

Porn on the Cob

Creamed Porn

Orville Reddenbacher's Gourmet Microwaveable Popping Porn

Candy Porn

Pornbread

Porn Pudding

Pornish Game Hens

Porned Beef Hash

Pornucopia

Porningware

Caramel Porn

Dr. Scholl's Porn Remover Pads

Porn Fritters

Porndog

Pornhusker's Lotion

Shucking Porn

Pornsilk

Porn-cob Pipe

Porn Chips

Porn meal

Pornstarch

Porn Syrup

Porn Chex

And on the other hand:

Corn Star

I will leave it at that. Perhaps things will seem more balanced now.

Love,

Josh

Currently listening :

God Fodder

By Ned's Atomic Dustbin

Release date: By 02 July, 1991

P.O.D. is so deep! (Addendum)

Current mood:  sleepy

I was just thinking about how my last blog post spoke to a very specific audience. What I'm trying to say is that I've dated myself, and therefore potentially alienated those of different generations.

Even though the music list in the paragraph that starts with "so, I urge you to..." is diverse, I think there may be people out there who are confused by the whole Ricky Martin, Kanye West thing. I'm talking about the people who don't know the difference between Britney Spears and Alanis Morissette. You know, older people...

I don't mean like convalescents or anything, just people who might not have been aware of what was going on in the music world after, say, 1990.

Now - I know some of you are going to say that I did include something from the present, the nineties, the eighties, and the seventies. And you are right.

But, in order to make myself perfectly clear, I am hereby listing several 'bursts,' if you will, of musicians/bands/artists for different types of people.

Here's what you do: Find your burst, it's the one that is most familiar to you - open a new browser window - in the new window, open my blog entry entitled 'P.O.D. is so deep!' - read it - BUT - and this is the important part - when you start seeing band names (starting with Creed), replace each band name with the corresponding one on your burst. This way, you get to understand the meaning of the post, without having to refer to the Wikipedia, or the Dictionary of Cultural Literacy.

Here goes:

Burst 1)

Poison, Richard Marx, Roxette, Ace of Base, MC Hammer, Nelson, Guns 'n Roses, Tone Loc, Michael Damien, Extreme, Bon Jovi, C&C Music Factory, Technotronic, Gloria Estefan, Robert Plant's solo stuff (think Long Cool One), Whitesnake, Ugly Kid Joe, Firehouse

Burst 2)

Tiffany, Air Supply, Olivia Newton-John, Huey Lewis and the News, Belinda Carlisle, Peter Cetera, Anne Murray, Steve Winwood, Mike the Mechanics, Phil Collins, Timbuk3, Haircut One Hundred, EBN-OZN, The Jets, Menudo, ABBA, Hall and Oates, Toni Basil

Burst 3)

Shaun Cassidy, Climax, Barry Manilow, Debby Boone, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Captain and Tennille, Linda Ronstadt, Michael McDonald, Steve Earle, Christopher Cross, Jefferson Starship (as opposed to Jefferson Airplane, who kicked ass!), The Doobie Brothers, Neil Sedaka, Don Ho, Donny and Marie, Leif Garrett, Bob Seger, J. Geils Band, Bette Midler

Burst 4) (sorry for the fast forward, I just realized I was leaving out gen-X...)

Cowboy Mouth, Deep Blue Something, Backstreet Boys, Nerf Herder, Limp Bizkit, Barenaked Ladies, Puff Daddy, Blues Traveler, Bush, Silverchair, Hootie and the Blowfish, N*Sync, Everlast, Kid Rock, Blink 182 (Sorry Travis, the Aquabats rock!), Master P, Third Eye Blind, Sparklehorse, Mase

I suppose I should leave it at that. I haven't thought back as far back as the sixties yet, so maybe that will be another addendum, I don't know. It would probably be Leslie Gore, the Beach Boys, Jan and Dean, etc. I'll have to think that one through.

Anyway, I hope this helped you to figure out what I was talking about. Of course, this post is of the utmost importance, which is why I've been working on it for about an hour and a half (believe it or not... it's really hard to think of nineteen horrible bands from specific eras... try it!).

OK

I will let you go be yourself now.

Have a great day.

-Josh

Currently listening :

Quebec, By Ween

Release date: By 05 August, 2003