A day of what?

Not much. I love how the task fits the time allotted. Today, since I had very little on the agenda, I made doing very little fit all day. I had a hair appointment (I wish someone would come blow dry my hair for me every day), and I did some laundry. And since I had some time, I watched The Mirror Had Two Faces. I put it on my Netflix Queue after I read an interesting bio of Barbra last summer; it's a good movie to watch when Gary's not around. We get three movies at a time with Netflix, so I get one for the kids, one for me and Gary (a grownup movie), and one for just me - a classic, or something Gary won't like.

Next up: Marty. 1955 Oscar winner with Ernest Borgnine. (And, for you trivia buffs, the answer to the question Herb Stempel had to throw in the Quiz Show scandal of the 1950s.)

In Lafayette today, a two-hour delay for schools, due to the cold weather. It is 70 here today. I hesitate to point this out, for fear of upsetting friends in Lafayette. But I'm just saying how it is; can't help it. Don't worry, we'll get ours this summer when it's near 100 and humid.

Gary is out of town, at a meeting in Peoria. It is very cold there; he had to dig around and find some gloves and a scarf. Me, I haven't worn gloves since we moved here.

Our governor, Ranger Rick Perry, has signed an executive order requiring girls entering sixth grade to get the HPV immunization. He's getting flack from the right wing, who say it will encourage early sexual activity. I am so tired of abstinence-only folks, who want to use scare tactics to discourage kids from having sex. The problem with this attitude is that kids will one day become sexually active; it is normal and, in the right circumstances, healthy. Thus I think education is the better tool.

But my concern with the HPV vaccination is about the motivation. Why are people not looking closer at the ties of Perry's aides to big pharmaceuticals? Merck & Co. is bankrolling efforts to pass these laws, requiring girls to get their vaccine; it costs $120 a shot and takes a three-shot regimen.

And Merck has hired a lobbyist: none other than Mike Toomey, who once served as Republican Perry's chief of staff. Any conflcit of interest here?

Merck stands to make millions. There's no doubt that protecting girls from cervical cancer is a good thing. But I don't think the motives here are entirely altruistic. Plus, this vaccine is relatively new, and I'm not sure enough time has elapsed to expose so many young girls, when we don't know for certain what the future implications are. In the late 50s and early 60s thousands of women took the sedative thalidomide to combat morning sickness; nearly 10,000 children were born with severe malformities. Perhaps an ounce of discretion might be in order.