March is Women’s History Month
Deborah Shlian
Support Veterans with ALS
My novel Silent Survivor is a work of fiction but the issue of the link between the neurodegenerative disease known as ALS and military service which is one of the plot points is based on reality. The search for a cure remains elusive with only a few medications that slow the disease progression.
In terms of cause, a small number of patients show a hereditary link, but the majority don’t.
What is known is that people who served in the military are as much as twice as likely as the general population to die of ALS. Moreover, this increased risk occurs regardless of military branch and whether a veteran served during war or peacetime. The association holds true for other countries including Canada.
One of the possible culprits may be a drug developed by the Army to prevent malaria. There is evidence that this indeed might be a factor. In Silent Survivor I explored this possibility using a fictional drug created by a rogue PsyOps group.
Although for many years the government refused to accept any of the evidence that their drug might be a culprit, in 2008 there was finally official recognition that ALS is a service-connected illness. As a result, the US Department of Veteran Affairs now cover 100% of treatment for veterans with ALS who served 90 days or more.
15 years later, there is still widespread lack of awareness about the relationship between serving in the military and ALS. And even with care covered there is a need for expanding access to VA home and community services. To that end, this past July the Elizabeth Dole Home Care Act was passed.
The biggest need is caregivers as most people with ALS ultimately become ventilator-dependent. According to the ALS Association, caregivers whether family members or professionals spend more than 30 hours a week providing care and at least half feel unprepared as the disease progresses.
In my state of Florida there are no community nursing homes at all for ventilator- dependent veterans which is a huge problem.
Bottom line: ALS is among the only specific diseases that occurs at a higher rate in all veterans, regardless of their era of service. So, today while we thank all veterans for their service, for those with ALS appreciate the need for improvement in nursing home care and urge Congress to support the heroes by funding more research to determine the exact cause with the goal of better treatment and prevention .
My 3 Favorite Books of 2023
I was asked to name my 3 favorite books of 2023.
Since I have been busy with the promotion of Lessons Learned: Stories from Women Leaders in STEM, I chose 3 books that will help readers learn more about some of the amazing women scientists who need to be known: one is a fictional character – Elizabeth Zott- but the other two highlight real life Elizabeth Zotts who have managed to become leaders in their fields despite the obstacles they have had to face: the 16 women of MIT who challenged the system and Cecilia Aragon who is not only a computer scientist but a World Aerobatic Champion!.
I know you’ll enjoy all 3 books. Click here for the discussion.
I was on the radio!
Last week I was interviewed by Frankie Boyer who has a national radio show. We talked about the need for more women in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) careers. Take a listen: https://www.spreaker.com/user/biztalk/fb-05-24-2023-dr-deborah-shlian-lessons-
Who says women over 50 aren’t amazing?
I wrote’Lessons Learned: Stories from Women Leaders in STEM’to showcase the incredible achievements of women who have made their mark in STEM fields. I hope these stories inspire and empower the next generation of women in STEM.
That said, let me briefly showcase a woman who is a super star in STEM going strong well past age 50:Marcia McNutt, PhD. Born as far away from the ocean as one can get, Marcia ended up a world class, award winningmarine geophysicist. Today she is the22nd president of theNational Academy of Sciences, having also served as editor-in-chief ofthe journalScience. Her leadership as Director of the U.S. Geological Survey earned her the U.S. Coast Guard’s Meritorious Service Medal for helping to contain the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. There is much more to her unique story including the fact that she was one of the 16 women who helped to change the way women scientists are treated todayat MIT. Not only wife and mother, Marcia is an accomplished horsewoman who does barrel racing!
To learn more about this wonderful role model, you can order Lessons Learned: Stories from Women Leaders in STEM from the publisher (American Association for Physician Leadership by calling 800-562-8088 and ask for a 15% discount with code SHLIAN15) or from Amazon (https://lnkd.in/exqTjvhw)
“Deep Waters” WINS 2 MEDALS!
FAPA PRESIDENT’S AWARDS
“Deep Waters“, the third in the Sammy Greene series won 2 Silver Medals for the Florida Authors and Publishers Association’s President Award – one for Mystery/Suspense and one for Thriller.
Each year the Florida Authors and Publishers Association (FAPA) sponsors the FAPA President’s Book Awards, which recognizes book publishing excellence and creativity in design, content, and production for authors and publishers. This year we have opened the competition from North America only to the English-speaking world. We hope to encourage entries from all who share our complex and wonderful language.
Finalists are chosen by publishing professionals and librarians from both within and outside of Florida and are announced at the President’s Book Awards Banquet the last weekend of July.”
Rabbit in the Moon featured!!
Exciting news: my historical thriller, Rabbit in the Moon, has been selected as one among best books on modern China’s myths, religions, politics, and culture. Check out the site. The novel is available in print, eBook and Audiobook.
32 Years After Tiananmen
My historical thriller, Rabbit in the Moon, was published almost two decades after the Tiananmen massacre on June 4, 1989. I waited to write the story of the short-lived Student Democracy Movement, hoping that with the passage of time the Chinese government might be more open to the truth of what happened there.
That was not to be. The massacre was renamed the “June 4th incident”, my book was banned on the Mainland, and as I traveled to China over the years, it became clear that the government was more determined than ever to ban any discussion of the deadly crackdown- in schools, on the street, even from the Internet.
While Mainland citizens were subject to the ban for decades, Chinese living in Hong Kong and Macau were allowed to hold yearly candlelight vigils to commemorate the anniversary. That is until last year.
Today marks 32 years since Chinese soldiers killed hundreds if not thousands of pro-democracy protesters at Tiananmen Square.
Authorities in Macau and Hong Kong have banned the vigil for the second year in a row saying it would violate local criminal laws and citing corona virus issues.
Despite last year’s ban, tens of thousands of people defied the police, knocking down barricades that had been erected around Victoria Park where citizens had been gathering each June 4th for 30 years to mark the anniversary.This year, however, police closed offVictoria Park entirely. Thousands of officers have been placed on standby to stop any attempt to hold the event.
Several pro-democracy activists have been arrested including Chow Hang Tung who is the vice chairwoman of the Hong Kong Alliance which has been organizing the annual vigils.Arrested for promoting unauthorized assembly, she continued to call on residents to commemorate the anniversary in their own ways.
“Turn on the lights wherever you are – whether on your phone, candles or electronic candles,” she posted on Facebook a day before her arrest.
This year’s anniversary is the first since a new controversial security law was approved for Hong Kong, aimed at ending the city’s pro-democracy movement and criminalizing dissent. At least 100 people have been arrested since the law was enacted in June.
Already brave students from Hong Kong University have been photographed washing a statue titled the Pillar of Shame.
What the government’s response will be remains to be seen.
Deep Waters gave MacGyver a plot idea two decades later
Imagine my big surprise when I caught up with MacGyver this weekend!
It seems as if Rogue CIA Agent Albert Miller from our award-winning novel Devil Wind, published in 2011 and set in the anxious era of Y2K managed to spread the word about his lethal weapon “The Resonator” to the villains of the global terror group Codex fighting the Phoenix Foundation “good guys”.
Yes, the very machine that uses the earthquake damage prevention system that includes base isolation to dampen earthquake waves for tall buildings/skyscrapers; made its debut on the CBS show today. Just like Agent Miller had done to LA University’s gleaming new hospital, the Codex villains manipulated the system to magnify the waves, making the building weave and shake more and more, and endangering the young heroes for 44 minutes.
Nice to know that Sammy, Gus, and their friends raced to keep hundreds of people in LA safe; and kept the resonator out of the hands of dramatic malefactors and LA TV scriptwriters for 20 years!
-by Linda Reid, co-author of the award-winning thriller Devil Wind
With Jewish Holidays near, learn about the Romaniote who hail from Greece
Deep Waters, the third in the Sammy Greene series, was set in Greece. In researching the setting, Linda Reid (my co-author) and I learned about the Romaniote Jews who are among the oldest (dating back 2000 years) and least-known of all the Jewish communities of the diaspora. Then in my travels, I met someone- now a good friend- who is a descendent of this group.
According to oral tradition, following the destruction of the 2ndtemple in 70 AD, the Jews of Palestine were sent on a slave ship to Rome. Instead, a storm forced them to land in Greece where they developed unique ethnic and religious customs.
Neither Sephardim (from Spain) or Ashkenazim (from Eastern Europe), this group traces its roots back to the Roman Empire. They are considered “Hellenizied” or Greek Jews, Their distinct language was actually Judaeo-Greek, a Greek dialect which contained Hebrew along with some Aramaic and Turkish words known as Yevanic.
Historians believe that those Romaniotes who were able to remain intact for so many centuries did so because the people adopted the language and customs of the Greek civilization as their own while maintaining their distinct Jewish identity, i.e. acculturating, but not assimilating.
That was especially true of Ioannia (Janina), a small city in NW Greece. Many other Romaniotes in Greece were absorbed into the much larger Sephardic community, adopting its Ladino language.
The Jews of Janina made their living as merchants, tradesmen and craftsmen. Theirs was a patriarchal society of arranged marriages, large families and strict Jewish orthodoxy.
While strict in their faith, the Romaniote were not isolated from the larger community. For example, during the High Holidays Christian townspeople of Janina often used to attend celebrations of Jewish New Year. Sometimes local officials also came to watch and share the joy of their Jewish fellow citizens.
On March 25, 1944 1860 men, women and children were rounded up, loaded into trucks and deported to Auschwitz. Only 200 survived.
Pre- World Qard II, large Romaniote communities were located in Thessaloniki, Janinia, Arta, Preveza, Volos, Chalkis, Thebes, Corinth, Patras and the islands of Corfu, Zakynthos, Lesbos, Chios, Samos, Rhodes, Cyprus among others. Eight-five percent of all Greek Jews perished and the historic Romaniote communities in Greece were largely destroyed during the Holocaust.
After the war, a majority of the survivors emigrated to Israel, the US, and Western Europe. Today there are still functioning Romaniote synagogues in Chalkis, a town on the Greek island of Eubie, Janina, Athens, NewYork and Israel.
Interesting, second and third generation Romaniote immigrants in New York city have good knowledge of Greek. In the beginning of the 21st century 90% asserted that they understand Greek while 40% could speak Greek comfortably. Over a third could read Greek fairly well.
The Kehila Kedosha Janina synagogue in Manhattan has struggled to maintain its millennium-old traditions. Designated a historic landmark by the city of New York in 2004, it still operates in its original form.
Today between 4500 and 6000 Jews remain in Greece, only a small percentage are Romaniotes who live mainly in Thessaloniki, Chalkis, Janina and Athens.