My spouse was home, pregnant. I was at work at the local hospital, deep among the mountains and lakes of the far northern reaches of New York where we lived in 1998.
The high-voltage power line towers, which looked to me like great frozen robot men playing impossibly slow jump-rope, crumpled into low piles under the weight of the ice. They folded like boxers knocked down for the count. And the count was us.
At the hospital the lights went out momentarily but came back on again as the back-up generator kicked in. Television news described the wide swathes of of areas without electricity, along with pictures of the trees bent over in half and the power lines down everywhere. Everything was icy white. Travel was life-threatening, more so than usual.
Then it seemed like a humming sound, which we previously didn't notice much, wound down and faded away, gaining our attention as it did so. The lights went out again, and stayed out. The generator had failed, and the hospital was without power. It was quiet then.
No computers. No patient call lights. No IV pumps beeping. No televisions. Just voices.
The phones had failed too, but there was one pay phone in the Emergency Room lobby that still worked for some odd reason, and the doctors solicited quarters from all the staff so they could make the calls necessary to arrange transfers of the ventilated patients.
At that time there were no cell towers in the mountains. No cell phones. Not that these would have worked, anyways.
Some of us left the hospital and went home. I did. It was a mile drive only. Sanders were out.
My spouse was warm by the woodstove which we routinely used to heat our beautiful little home. She made grilled cheese sandwiches on it. I quickly gathered flashlights and slid my car down off French Hill back to work.
We switched patients off their drips. The kitchen staff made a fireman's line to pass food trays up the stairwells, as the elevators were useless. We wondered how long it would last. The patients slept well that night, and it did not get very cold in the hospital. Must not have been electric heat.
The next day another generator arrived which had been donated by a local business. And the power returned to the hill neighborhood where we lived, but many sections right in town remained dark. Some of my coworkers had no electricity for two more weeks.
Nurses will complain about things. That is understandable, because the work is very stressful and difficult. Marathon running is comparatively easier. I know.
But sometimes when I am now at work and I overhear people complaining about patients, assignments, lack of supplies, management, or whatever, I catch myself thinking "well, at least we have electricity."
Friday, July 15, 2005
Thursday, July 14, 2005
Al Qaeda Po
This is how not to support the troops, and I am glad to see "kathika" over at Daily Kos address it. Randi Rhodes has focused on this quite a bit, too. Every time I've tuned in lately she's given it a mention.
Food that expired a year ago. Food left to thaw because they didn't bother to refuel the trucks to maintain refridgeration. Food blown up in attacks but served anyway. Overcharges. Double-billing. Truth, justice, and the American way.
You wouldn't feed shrapnel to your dog. And in all fairness, Halliburton subsidiaries see to it that shrapnel is not fed to our troops, either. They pick it all out before serving.
Vice-President Cheney, who was the CEO of Halliburton before taking on his job as chief White House string-puller, still gets deferred compensation from his old company. That bothers me. He shouldn't be making money from a company that is abusing our troops like this.
Yes, it is abuse. If you did this to your own children, they would be removed from you, for their own safety. Yet we allow the likes of KB&R to do so.
Who would be proud of this? Who would fight to defend companies that do this? Who would fight to defend a country that does this? Eventually, nobody.
Who will have won, then?
You don't really support the troops much by cutting VA programs, either.
Food that expired a year ago. Food left to thaw because they didn't bother to refuel the trucks to maintain refridgeration. Food blown up in attacks but served anyway. Overcharges. Double-billing. Truth, justice, and the American way.
You wouldn't feed shrapnel to your dog. And in all fairness, Halliburton subsidiaries see to it that shrapnel is not fed to our troops, either. They pick it all out before serving.
Vice-President Cheney, who was the CEO of Halliburton before taking on his job as chief White House string-puller, still gets deferred compensation from his old company. That bothers me. He shouldn't be making money from a company that is abusing our troops like this.
Yes, it is abuse. If you did this to your own children, they would be removed from you, for their own safety. Yet we allow the likes of KB&R to do so.
Who would be proud of this? Who would fight to defend companies that do this? Who would fight to defend a country that does this? Eventually, nobody.
Who will have won, then?
You don't really support the troops much by cutting VA programs, either.
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
Sagging Shelves
I am never going to move again. I will live in this house until the bitter end, or until I must be wheeled out to spend my final days picking at my Attends in some elderly care center or other.
There have been many major moves in my life, and at each of those junctions came losses, accidental and planned. The old army bugle that somehow disappeared during the childhood move from Woodstock to West Hurley via a summer in Hopewell Junction was one item that I am fairly sure was deliberately forsaken, as my musical talents did not lie with that instrument, nor horns in general. My parents tossed it, likely, to their great relief.
Later in life is was mostly books and records that accumulated between moves, only to be shed at the next round. I am still waiting for Hat Hut to re-release all those way-cool Steve Lacy records from the 1980's. I only disposed of them in the hope that these could be easily replaced in digital format. I long to hear Stamps again.
Hundreds, no, thousands, of books left behind. Unraptured.
Alain Robbe-Grillet novels like "Topography of a Phantom City." Tolkein in hardcover, from the first time around, when we read him to escape from Kurt Vonnegut.
Now we just don't have the space for every book we want, as the shelves are full enough. But there is one more (there is always one more) that I want to have, then pass along.
Over at AZ Place, Naum has a July 11th review of Dying to Win by University of Chicago Associate Professor Robert Pape. It's an exhaustive study (oooh, I like those!) of terrorist suicide bombings world round. Sounds like a "gotta read." Maybe you would like it when I'm done.
Why do they do that? I want to know. But does President Bush, really? Would he care about what they think? Or is he just too busy seeing to it that the Rove/Plame cover-up proceeds with all haste?
Or maybe he is busy helping Karl with his packing.
There have been many major moves in my life, and at each of those junctions came losses, accidental and planned. The old army bugle that somehow disappeared during the childhood move from Woodstock to West Hurley via a summer in Hopewell Junction was one item that I am fairly sure was deliberately forsaken, as my musical talents did not lie with that instrument, nor horns in general. My parents tossed it, likely, to their great relief.
Later in life is was mostly books and records that accumulated between moves, only to be shed at the next round. I am still waiting for Hat Hut to re-release all those way-cool Steve Lacy records from the 1980's. I only disposed of them in the hope that these could be easily replaced in digital format. I long to hear Stamps again.
Hundreds, no, thousands, of books left behind. Unraptured.
Alain Robbe-Grillet novels like "Topography of a Phantom City." Tolkein in hardcover, from the first time around, when we read him to escape from Kurt Vonnegut.
Now we just don't have the space for every book we want, as the shelves are full enough. But there is one more (there is always one more) that I want to have, then pass along.
Over at AZ Place, Naum has a July 11th review of Dying to Win by University of Chicago Associate Professor Robert Pape. It's an exhaustive study (oooh, I like those!) of terrorist suicide bombings world round. Sounds like a "gotta read." Maybe you would like it when I'm done.
Why do they do that? I want to know. But does President Bush, really? Would he care about what they think? Or is he just too busy seeing to it that the Rove/Plame cover-up proceeds with all haste?
Or maybe he is busy helping Karl with his packing.
Monday, July 11, 2005
Blow Into This End
There is an old story about some English orchestral conductor, maybe it was Sir Adrian Boult, who was notorious for his short rehearsals. He had the orchestra start up the first few measures of Brahms' Third Symphony, then stopped the players and said, "Well that sounds pretty good. I'll see you all tonight at the performance."
The story continues with one of the French horn players, a new hire to the orchestra, protesting, "But Maestro, aren't we going to rehearse the whole thing? Why, I've never even played in it before!"
To which the maestro replied "Oh, well it's a great symphony. You'll really like it."
I would thusly amend the story: suppose one of the horn players got sick, and the conductor asked the new violinist just to take over on the French horn part. The violinist would protest that not only was he not entirely familiar with the Brahms Third, but would add that he himself did not even play horn.
Nurses do this all the time. It's called "floating," and it is generally accepted that a nurse will not be asked to go work on another specialty unit about which they have no expertise. For example, a male geriatric psych nurse would not be expected to float to an OB-GYN unit.
Well, probably not.
Recently I had the pleasure of finding that it was my turn to float, and that I was going to spend the day on the Spine unit. Alrighty then. I had never worked on one before. I hoped it would not be as difficult as learning to play the French horn.
Just the thought of floating, anywhere, gave me a little PTSD, because the last time I did was Christmas and one of my patients went to CAT-scan, where he pulled out his foley catheter, went over the bedrails, fell, and was found a bloody mess. I punched out at 9 p.m. that day. Merry Christmas to me.
Though unfamiliar with the Spine unit itself, the patients were basically no clinical challenge. I sent one home, two others were "walkie-talkies" who only needed the occasional pain medication and TLSO brace application.
I took a post-op who was only sent to Spine because he needed to wear an Aspen collar until morning. His neck and head CAT's were OK. His legs were all banged up from a motor vehicle head-on. I kept him all liquored up on morphine and zofran and consoled his parents, explaining everything I could. People like explanations, and I like explaining things.
The real fun began when I got report to take a patient from one of the surgical ICU floors. Among other things, the patient had a cervical corpectomy at C-3 through C-6.
"Whatever that is," I said to myself as I took report over the phone. He also had a Halo on, and I sort-of knew that that was one of those things where they put screws in your head and fixate them to a ring brace so your neck is immobile. Cool.
On tube feedings and Yankauer suctioning (which he even did himself,) and pretty stable, he sounded a lot more complicated on paper than he did when I finally got to working with him. It helped that he was a very sweet and simple person who said "thank you" and was very cooperative in his care. He tried, instead of wimping out like some people do, and for that I have great respect. He was blessed by a good attitude and general innocence.
The other nurse was very competent, low-key, and easy-going. Helpful to the maximum.
Interestingly, at one time I walked by the nurse's station to see him and one of the orthopedic nurse practitioners looking at the website I linked above, because he himself was not entirely familiar with the term "corpectomy." (Great website, by the way. Groovy animation.)
The day ended undramatically. The oncoming nurses were a hoot, and told a couple jokes during our report off. Listening to myself, I even sounded a little like I knew what I was talking about. I at least still knew what the day had taught me, it being so fresh in my mind.
And it taught me well.
While going home, I realized that I had never before cared for a patient with that kind of Halo.
The story continues with one of the French horn players, a new hire to the orchestra, protesting, "But Maestro, aren't we going to rehearse the whole thing? Why, I've never even played in it before!"
To which the maestro replied "Oh, well it's a great symphony. You'll really like it."
I would thusly amend the story: suppose one of the horn players got sick, and the conductor asked the new violinist just to take over on the French horn part. The violinist would protest that not only was he not entirely familiar with the Brahms Third, but would add that he himself did not even play horn.
Nurses do this all the time. It's called "floating," and it is generally accepted that a nurse will not be asked to go work on another specialty unit about which they have no expertise. For example, a male geriatric psych nurse would not be expected to float to an OB-GYN unit.
Well, probably not.
Recently I had the pleasure of finding that it was my turn to float, and that I was going to spend the day on the Spine unit. Alrighty then. I had never worked on one before. I hoped it would not be as difficult as learning to play the French horn.
Just the thought of floating, anywhere, gave me a little PTSD, because the last time I did was Christmas and one of my patients went to CAT-scan, where he pulled out his foley catheter, went over the bedrails, fell, and was found a bloody mess. I punched out at 9 p.m. that day. Merry Christmas to me.
Though unfamiliar with the Spine unit itself, the patients were basically no clinical challenge. I sent one home, two others were "walkie-talkies" who only needed the occasional pain medication and TLSO brace application.
I took a post-op who was only sent to Spine because he needed to wear an Aspen collar until morning. His neck and head CAT's were OK. His legs were all banged up from a motor vehicle head-on. I kept him all liquored up on morphine and zofran and consoled his parents, explaining everything I could. People like explanations, and I like explaining things.
The real fun began when I got report to take a patient from one of the surgical ICU floors. Among other things, the patient had a cervical corpectomy at C-3 through C-6.
"Whatever that is," I said to myself as I took report over the phone. He also had a Halo on, and I sort-of knew that that was one of those things where they put screws in your head and fixate them to a ring brace so your neck is immobile. Cool.
On tube feedings and Yankauer suctioning (which he even did himself,) and pretty stable, he sounded a lot more complicated on paper than he did when I finally got to working with him. It helped that he was a very sweet and simple person who said "thank you" and was very cooperative in his care. He tried, instead of wimping out like some people do, and for that I have great respect. He was blessed by a good attitude and general innocence.
The other nurse was very competent, low-key, and easy-going. Helpful to the maximum.
Interestingly, at one time I walked by the nurse's station to see him and one of the orthopedic nurse practitioners looking at the website I linked above, because he himself was not entirely familiar with the term "corpectomy." (Great website, by the way. Groovy animation.)
The day ended undramatically. The oncoming nurses were a hoot, and told a couple jokes during our report off. Listening to myself, I even sounded a little like I knew what I was talking about. I at least still knew what the day had taught me, it being so fresh in my mind.
And it taught me well.
While going home, I realized that I had never before cared for a patient with that kind of Halo.
Saturday, July 09, 2005
Thanks, jimmymac and Photodump
Click and scroll down a little, and see Einstein explain the Judith Miller problem. It's that simple, really.
The spin regarding L'Affaire Judy amazes me. Otherwise half-way sensible newspaper editorialists everywhere in the U.S. are twisting this story like a Moebius strip to make it sound like Miller is doing the honorable thing by protecting some source. I do not think that is it at all. And neither does Einstein.
The press, along with Miller, seems bent on protecting the person who outed Plame, instead of skewering Bush with a few simple questions concerning his apparent disinterest in finding out who, in his White House, committed the crime.
Crime in the White House. Bush ignores it, or covers it up. The press abides. America loses another battle for a bit of its own soul.
The spin regarding L'Affaire Judy amazes me. Otherwise half-way sensible newspaper editorialists everywhere in the U.S. are twisting this story like a Moebius strip to make it sound like Miller is doing the honorable thing by protecting some source. I do not think that is it at all. And neither does Einstein.
The press, along with Miller, seems bent on protecting the person who outed Plame, instead of skewering Bush with a few simple questions concerning his apparent disinterest in finding out who, in his White House, committed the crime.
Crime in the White House. Bush ignores it, or covers it up. The press abides. America loses another battle for a bit of its own soul.
Friday, July 08, 2005
$3214 Cash. Deal?
According to tha CIA (if you can believe anything they say,) the current population of Afghanistan is about 29,929,000 people, and the current population of Iraq is about 26,075,000. I've rounded things off a little.
Anyways, the combined populations add up to about 56 million survivors.
Though rising by over $1000 per second, as I write this the cost of the war is about $179,343,500,000. So, if you divide the cost of the war in dollars by the number of people in Afghanistan and Iraq you come up with roughly $3,214 on the increase.
Of course we've killed any number of civilians and fighters in these wars, so my little theory is going to be off by that much, but my point is this: we could have just paid every man, woman, and child in both Iraq and Afghanistan each about $3214 to just go away and not bother us, and it would still have been cheaper than going to war against them.
Hey. That's more money than Bush gave you when he cut taxes a couple years ago. A lot more. Sheesh.
Way back in 1979 when the oil was flowing, Iraqi per capita national income was only about the equal of 2313 U.S. dollars, and for 2004 that figure has dropped somewhat, to a scant $144.
It's about $200 for Afghanistan, but I think that does not take into account the recently increased heroin trade.
In either country, $3214 would be a considerable enticement for any one person to develop a warm and loving attitude towards the people of the United States. This could certainly have favorably affected the behavior of many insurgents and would-be suicide attackers, perhaps even persuading them away from violence.
Of course, if we had simply bribed the familes of all Iraq and Afghanistan into not harming us, then Halliburton wouldn't be raking in the millions they have become accustomed to in this war based on lies.
And that, really, is the whole point of this, isn't it?
Anyways, the combined populations add up to about 56 million survivors.
Though rising by over $1000 per second, as I write this the cost of the war is about $179,343,500,000. So, if you divide the cost of the war in dollars by the number of people in Afghanistan and Iraq you come up with roughly $3,214 on the increase.
Of course we've killed any number of civilians and fighters in these wars, so my little theory is going to be off by that much, but my point is this: we could have just paid every man, woman, and child in both Iraq and Afghanistan each about $3214 to just go away and not bother us, and it would still have been cheaper than going to war against them.
Hey. That's more money than Bush gave you when he cut taxes a couple years ago. A lot more. Sheesh.
Way back in 1979 when the oil was flowing, Iraqi per capita national income was only about the equal of 2313 U.S. dollars, and for 2004 that figure has dropped somewhat, to a scant $144.
It's about $200 for Afghanistan, but I think that does not take into account the recently increased heroin trade.
In either country, $3214 would be a considerable enticement for any one person to develop a warm and loving attitude towards the people of the United States. This could certainly have favorably affected the behavior of many insurgents and would-be suicide attackers, perhaps even persuading them away from violence.
Of course, if we had simply bribed the familes of all Iraq and Afghanistan into not harming us, then Halliburton wouldn't be raking in the millions they have become accustomed to in this war based on lies.
And that, really, is the whole point of this, isn't it?
Thursday, July 07, 2005
Lost Favorite Nurse Cartoon: Your Patient
I've been looking all over the web for a link to a two-panel nurse cartoon that I saw tacked up on the bulletin board of the break room in an ICU I used to do a little work in a few years ago, but I haven't found it again yet.
The first panel showed a hospital patient climbing over the siderails, IV's coming loose, foley catheter stretched to its submolecular physical limits, bodily fluids spraying... the caption underneath the frame read: "Your patient."
Don't you hate it when that happens?
In the second frame, the same patient was depicted sitting up in a chair, lines intact, linens neatly arranged, smiling peacefully and holding a balloon on a string. The caption under that read: "Your Patient On Drugs."
I just love that.
It's something of a motto for me.
Of course, there's a lot more to the profession of nursing than just the medical model. You know, a problem is identified, and a medication or procedure is applied. Rather mechanical. Doesn't really treat the whole person. Whatever. Right. Okay then.
Morphine is cheap, and there's a ton of it in the Pyxis.
The first panel showed a hospital patient climbing over the siderails, IV's coming loose, foley catheter stretched to its submolecular physical limits, bodily fluids spraying... the caption underneath the frame read: "Your patient."
Don't you hate it when that happens?
In the second frame, the same patient was depicted sitting up in a chair, lines intact, linens neatly arranged, smiling peacefully and holding a balloon on a string. The caption under that read: "Your Patient On Drugs."
I just love that.
It's something of a motto for me.
Of course, there's a lot more to the profession of nursing than just the medical model. You know, a problem is identified, and a medication or procedure is applied. Rather mechanical. Doesn't really treat the whole person. Whatever. Right. Okay then.
Morphine is cheap, and there's a ton of it in the Pyxis.
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
Simple Division Complicated by Tax Law That Favors Pals of You-Know-Who
If you take the current amount of public debt and then divide this number by the the current U.S. U.S. population then what you get is the birth tax.
This is the average amount of the national debt that each of us, as Americans, owes the various holders of our Treasury debt instruments; that is to say, cash owed to the governmants of Japan, China, Saudi Arabia, and the like. Of course your families' share may be higher, due to fancy-schmancy tax loopholes for the very rich, who simply do not pay their fair share, shifting the burden onto you and yours.
Think about what you could buy with that money. A year of college at a famous European university, for your brilliant daughter, let's say. Or a pretty nice car. Or a pair of these with appropriate amplification.
Or a down-payment on a stupid, miserable, decades-long war.
Bush's exit plan: when the oil runs out, the troops stop dying. That's it, folks. What? That's not it? What a laugh. And yes, you are correct. It's NOT FUNNY.
This is the average amount of the national debt that each of us, as Americans, owes the various holders of our Treasury debt instruments; that is to say, cash owed to the governmants of Japan, China, Saudi Arabia, and the like. Of course your families' share may be higher, due to fancy-schmancy tax loopholes for the very rich, who simply do not pay their fair share, shifting the burden onto you and yours.
Think about what you could buy with that money. A year of college at a famous European university, for your brilliant daughter, let's say. Or a pretty nice car. Or a pair of these with appropriate amplification.
Or a down-payment on a stupid, miserable, decades-long war.
Bush's exit plan: when the oil runs out, the troops stop dying. That's it, folks. What? That's not it? What a laugh. And yes, you are correct. It's NOT FUNNY.
The Young Salome-Lover's Favorite Cat Video
Don't let this happen to you.
It's a modern-day metaphor, really. Superb film-making, and I rate it right up there with Citizen Kane and The Great Dictator.
The fan symbolizes the Bush administration, and the cat is us.
It's a modern-day metaphor, really. Superb film-making, and I rate it right up there with Citizen Kane and The Great Dictator.
The fan symbolizes the Bush administration, and the cat is us.
Sunday, July 03, 2005
Stars and Citizens
One of my old music teachers from way back in my Crane School of Music days used to say this about wrong notes: "Once they're out there you can't suck 'em back."
He was originally a trumpet player before he became a sado-masochistic music theory and history instructor. We used to call him "DelBlasto." I loved the guy. He was one of the best teachers I've ever had, and I've had many to be thankful for.
But a musical performance is not a Letter-To-The-Editor, for even if you fire off some semi-intoxicated piece of bile-ridden nonsense you can always go back later and straighten out what you said, which you cannot do after a musical recital, obviously.
Apparently that's what happened here, when some dude shot off a LTTE that did more damage to his own shoe-crowded mouth than it did to the community. At first it seemed that the printing of the LTTE posed a substantial terrorizing threat to the Muslim communities here in The Great Southwest, and to me; yes, it did.
He later clarified this by saying that he was only referring to our military in the field. He was still wrong, of course, in suggesting that our military randomly blast people in their houses of worship. But the 1st Amendment assures his right to be wrong.
I am always getting caught defending loads of bullcrap. Porn, treasonous speech, foul statements about the abilities of Arizona Cardinals football players, Ice-T songs, and the like are all examples of speech I stand ready to defend, as should be the case for anybody who carries a copy of the Constitution around in their Palm Pilot.
So, I agree with the Court's decision. But what if...
But what if the LTTE recommended that after the next attack on American fighters, somebody should go into the nearest Christian church and blast away the first five white people seen?
I bet they'd not have printed that.
While I support the rights that allow the Tucson Citizen to print such crap, I stand in bold criticism of the stupidity of its editors in so doing. In my opinion, they showed themselves to be hypocritical, terrorizing, violent bastards for publishing that letter in the first place.
What? They didn't know?!
Long live the Arizona Star. Let this suggest changes in some of the shopping habits of Tucsonians, as regards those who choose to advertise in the Citizen. I don't even live there, but I know I'll be examining some of my purchases.
He was originally a trumpet player before he became a sado-masochistic music theory and history instructor. We used to call him "DelBlasto." I loved the guy. He was one of the best teachers I've ever had, and I've had many to be thankful for.
But a musical performance is not a Letter-To-The-Editor, for even if you fire off some semi-intoxicated piece of bile-ridden nonsense you can always go back later and straighten out what you said, which you cannot do after a musical recital, obviously.
Apparently that's what happened here, when some dude shot off a LTTE that did more damage to his own shoe-crowded mouth than it did to the community. At first it seemed that the printing of the LTTE posed a substantial terrorizing threat to the Muslim communities here in The Great Southwest, and to me; yes, it did.
He later clarified this by saying that he was only referring to our military in the field. He was still wrong, of course, in suggesting that our military randomly blast people in their houses of worship. But the 1st Amendment assures his right to be wrong.
I am always getting caught defending loads of bullcrap. Porn, treasonous speech, foul statements about the abilities of Arizona Cardinals football players, Ice-T songs, and the like are all examples of speech I stand ready to defend, as should be the case for anybody who carries a copy of the Constitution around in their Palm Pilot.
So, I agree with the Court's decision. But what if...
But what if the LTTE recommended that after the next attack on American fighters, somebody should go into the nearest Christian church and blast away the first five white people seen?
I bet they'd not have printed that.
While I support the rights that allow the Tucson Citizen to print such crap, I stand in bold criticism of the stupidity of its editors in so doing. In my opinion, they showed themselves to be hypocritical, terrorizing, violent bastards for publishing that letter in the first place.
What? They didn't know?!
Long live the Arizona Star. Let this suggest changes in some of the shopping habits of Tucsonians, as regards those who choose to advertise in the Citizen. I don't even live there, but I know I'll be examining some of my purchases.
Saturday, July 02, 2005
The Cold War
Reagan had nothing to do with it. When he called upon Gorbachev to "tear down this wall" he was making mockery; a comic equivalent of Falstaff imploring "Let the sky rain potatos, let it thunder to the tune of Greensleeves."
Glasnost and Perestroika were the doings, yes, of Gorbachev, but the beginning of the end of the U.S.S.R and the cold war occurred in 1972, when Fischer routed Spassky for the world chess championship. Though without violence, Fischer did to the Russians what the 9/11 attackers did to the United States after Bush's summer vacation in 2001. Let's hope that our shock will not be as everlasting as the one Fischer gave to the Soviets.
He began by skipping the opening ceremonies and losing the first game; this, of course, after his last-minute demands about more prize money. Then came the notorious complaints regarding the cameras, for the joust was televised. Though these were completely silent and immobile, they "bothered" Fischer, and the venue was changed to accomodate his totally irrational demand.
Because those cameras were not yet removed, Fischer didn't even bother to show up for the second game, which he forfeited. A few games later he startled the Soviets by playing opening moves he had never previously used in the 700 or so previous tournament games of his career, thus catching his opponent unprepared.
Even off the board he was playing the Soviets.
After the tournament Fischer refused all challengers to his title as World Champion, throwing the chess world into disarray which still persists.
By ending Russian domination of chess, Fischer cracked the walls of Soviet empire. That lost empire fizzles yet.
Fischer became an outlaw later, when he played a rematch with Spassky, during a time when "trade" with Yugoslavia (where the match played out,) was banned by U.N. and Treasury Department sanctions. International warrants led to his arrest and subsequent release in Japan. Iceland has now claimed him as one of theirs. And so it goes.
Fischer is a genius. Bush and his accomplices are not.
Too bad. We might have simply bought off all the world's terrorists for less than the price we have so far paid for Bush's wars.
Glasnost and Perestroika were the doings, yes, of Gorbachev, but the beginning of the end of the U.S.S.R and the cold war occurred in 1972, when Fischer routed Spassky for the world chess championship. Though without violence, Fischer did to the Russians what the 9/11 attackers did to the United States after Bush's summer vacation in 2001. Let's hope that our shock will not be as everlasting as the one Fischer gave to the Soviets.
He began by skipping the opening ceremonies and losing the first game; this, of course, after his last-minute demands about more prize money. Then came the notorious complaints regarding the cameras, for the joust was televised. Though these were completely silent and immobile, they "bothered" Fischer, and the venue was changed to accomodate his totally irrational demand.
Because those cameras were not yet removed, Fischer didn't even bother to show up for the second game, which he forfeited. A few games later he startled the Soviets by playing opening moves he had never previously used in the 700 or so previous tournament games of his career, thus catching his opponent unprepared.
Even off the board he was playing the Soviets.
After the tournament Fischer refused all challengers to his title as World Champion, throwing the chess world into disarray which still persists.
By ending Russian domination of chess, Fischer cracked the walls of Soviet empire. That lost empire fizzles yet.
Fischer became an outlaw later, when he played a rematch with Spassky, during a time when "trade" with Yugoslavia (where the match played out,) was banned by U.N. and Treasury Department sanctions. International warrants led to his arrest and subsequent release in Japan. Iceland has now claimed him as one of theirs. And so it goes.
Fischer is a genius. Bush and his accomplices are not.
Too bad. We might have simply bought off all the world's terrorists for less than the price we have so far paid for Bush's wars.
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Nuclear Nickels
I have been making informal wagers with my numerous aquaintances regarding the price of gasoline. My five-cent bet is that it will hit $5 per gallon, somewhere in the good ol' USA, before this Bush term is up.
It seems like I may have to add a side wager concerning The Big One: Bush is, after all, a "war president," and could he be thinking that his historical posture would be even further enhanced (ahem,) if he ordered the use of nuclear weapons?
What else could he do, after running our conventional armed forces into the ground? Well, he might just do what a lot of sick and dysfunctional untreated alcoholics do: Escalate.
"The Bush NPR (Nuclear Posture Review,) calls for the development of new, more "useable" nuclear weapons; for the pre-emptive use of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapon states; and for reducing the time required for the United States to resume nuclear weapons testing."
I am glad that people such as those in the Union of Concerned Scientists are looking into this, so that after Bush blows up half the world, I can go around saying "I told you so" and "you owe me a nickel" to those people on the losing end of my wager.
Bush has spent his entire life making things go from bad to worse. From failed businesses to failed governorship to a failing war. He is ill, and he will not recover health without treatment (which in his utter denial I'm sure he feels is completely unnecessary,) so we can expect worse.
We should expect the worst, until he is gone, or in a 12-Step program back in Texas.
Safer now? NO. Not safer now.
It seems like I may have to add a side wager concerning The Big One: Bush is, after all, a "war president," and could he be thinking that his historical posture would be even further enhanced (ahem,) if he ordered the use of nuclear weapons?
What else could he do, after running our conventional armed forces into the ground? Well, he might just do what a lot of sick and dysfunctional untreated alcoholics do: Escalate.
"The Bush NPR (Nuclear Posture Review,) calls for the development of new, more "useable" nuclear weapons; for the pre-emptive use of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapon states; and for reducing the time required for the United States to resume nuclear weapons testing."
I am glad that people such as those in the Union of Concerned Scientists are looking into this, so that after Bush blows up half the world, I can go around saying "I told you so" and "you owe me a nickel" to those people on the losing end of my wager.
Bush has spent his entire life making things go from bad to worse. From failed businesses to failed governorship to a failing war. He is ill, and he will not recover health without treatment (which in his utter denial I'm sure he feels is completely unnecessary,) so we can expect worse.
We should expect the worst, until he is gone, or in a 12-Step program back in Texas.
Safer now? NO. Not safer now.
Sunday, June 26, 2005
Karl Knows Knives
Way to go supporting the troops, Karl Rove. Sheesh. Not only are our troops fighting Iraqi insurgents, now they have to fight White House puppeteers, too.
To hear a man like Karl insinuate that only conservatives are really patriotic is a knife in the back to every man and woman in Iraq who serves here. At least a third of us voted against Bush and his pals. The number increases every day that we stay here, forced to make bricks without straw for months on end.
Inspiring words for college Republicans everywhere. No wonder they are beating down the doors of military recruiters all across the land. No. Not really.
We really should try to get these insane people, like Rove and Bush, out of positions of leadership in this country, and bring the sane ones back from Iraq. We obviously need them here.
To hear a man like Karl insinuate that only conservatives are really patriotic is a knife in the back to every man and woman in Iraq who serves here. At least a third of us voted against Bush and his pals. The number increases every day that we stay here, forced to make bricks without straw for months on end.
Inspiring words for college Republicans everywhere. No wonder they are beating down the doors of military recruiters all across the land. No. Not really.
We really should try to get these insane people, like Rove and Bush, out of positions of leadership in this country, and bring the sane ones back from Iraq. We obviously need them here.
Saturday, June 25, 2005
Support Our Next Senator
This Arizona National Guardsman is particularly deserving of our support, as are all those who presently find themselves struggling to survive to get home from the Idiocy in Iraq.
I thank "pandora" over at the bartcop Forum for helping to get this out there. This is the first I've heard about Leonard Clark, unfortunately, but it is never too late.
I want this guy to come home and take Kyl's job. Wouldn't it be nice to have a Senator we could be proud of? It sure would make things easier for McCain to have a person like Leonard Clark in the chambers with him.
I thank "pandora" over at the bartcop Forum for helping to get this out there. This is the first I've heard about Leonard Clark, unfortunately, but it is never too late.
I want this guy to come home and take Kyl's job. Wouldn't it be nice to have a Senator we could be proud of? It sure would make things easier for McCain to have a person like Leonard Clark in the chambers with him.
Destroy All Mesa Brake Shops, But Be Fair
The recent Supreme Court ruling regarding eminent domain would seem to have put an end to silly notions about private property. My understanding is that the ruling allows municipalities to take private property and render it to other private entities for whatever development, private or public, may be intended. This might be a signal for you to go out and buy as many city council members as you can afford. Others will certainly be doing so.
If the law says they can do it, then so be it. But municipalities must be fair in such dealings.
I am all for the new medical and nursing schools to be developed in downtown Phoenix. We need these, and the chosen area is precisely where these should be placed. It will do good things for the city. Like maybe it will encourage an actual nightlife to come to fruition downtown, as this is less than negligible now.
Once we were driving through downtown near the Arizona Center on a Saturday night and I saw just one person walking around, and I thought "gee, the movies must have just let out." It is truly creepy downtown after business hours. Where do all the people go?
Away. Far away.
Hopefully the campuses will provide impetus for the flowering little arts districts near the site. Imagine that: a city of millions of people that actually has medical schools, active arts districts, and a nightlife!? It could happen here. Oh yes it could.
But it would not be worth it if the city steals value from he current owners of the condemned properties in question. Lets be fair. After all, this is The Great Southwest. Let's act as if we are all that.
Yes, I will be contacting my city councilman to let him know how I feel this should go. These people would surely like to hear from concerned citizens like you, too.
If the law says they can do it, then so be it. But municipalities must be fair in such dealings.
I am all for the new medical and nursing schools to be developed in downtown Phoenix. We need these, and the chosen area is precisely where these should be placed. It will do good things for the city. Like maybe it will encourage an actual nightlife to come to fruition downtown, as this is less than negligible now.
Once we were driving through downtown near the Arizona Center on a Saturday night and I saw just one person walking around, and I thought "gee, the movies must have just let out." It is truly creepy downtown after business hours. Where do all the people go?
Away. Far away.
Hopefully the campuses will provide impetus for the flowering little arts districts near the site. Imagine that: a city of millions of people that actually has medical schools, active arts districts, and a nightlife!? It could happen here. Oh yes it could.
But it would not be worth it if the city steals value from he current owners of the condemned properties in question. Lets be fair. After all, this is The Great Southwest. Let's act as if we are all that.
Yes, I will be contacting my city councilman to let him know how I feel this should go. These people would surely like to hear from concerned citizens like you, too.
Friday, June 24, 2005
A Taxi Driver NOT in Gitmo
A rash of graffiti has spread across the area: "We will be back." One taxi driver, a Shia who loathes the mostly Sunni Arab resistance, shrugged. "Yes. They will."
Because I work 12-hour shifts at the Great Muffin Factory Institute, some days I have little time for blogging. So, there will be many occasions when I am posting items a day or so behind the better bloggers. But when one is waiting for history to again repeat itself, timely blogging is not essential.
So it is with the Iraq version of the Tet Offensive from the Vietnam War days. Taken from The Guardian UK, the above quote is found in the center of a discussion about a recent attack by insurgents, referred to tellingly as "resistance," who perpetrated an act of violence so large and painstakingly planned that it brought the Tet incident to the mind of at least one military person there.
But the Iraq Tet has not yet happened.
Any idiot can see that this war is a laboratory for guerrilla fighters. Unfortunately, even lesser idiots, such as the people who got us into this war in the first place, will continue to deny that the worst is yet to come. History repeats. Our foolish leaders are bound to make it so.
Consider the dreadfulness of this, and note that Bush has refused to develop a timetable for withdrawal.
Because I work 12-hour shifts at the Great Muffin Factory Institute, some days I have little time for blogging. So, there will be many occasions when I am posting items a day or so behind the better bloggers. But when one is waiting for history to again repeat itself, timely blogging is not essential.
So it is with the Iraq version of the Tet Offensive from the Vietnam War days. Taken from The Guardian UK, the above quote is found in the center of a discussion about a recent attack by insurgents, referred to tellingly as "resistance," who perpetrated an act of violence so large and painstakingly planned that it brought the Tet incident to the mind of at least one military person there.
But the Iraq Tet has not yet happened.
Any idiot can see that this war is a laboratory for guerrilla fighters. Unfortunately, even lesser idiots, such as the people who got us into this war in the first place, will continue to deny that the worst is yet to come. History repeats. Our foolish leaders are bound to make it so.
Consider the dreadfulness of this, and note that Bush has refused to develop a timetable for withdrawal.
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Short Shift Report
He was young and had a congenital heart defect that had required the implantation of an internal defibrillator many years before. But he had never had it checked over the years, about maybe a decade.
There was a reunion of one of the bands he played in, and he went to the nightclub with heavy clown-face make-up on so that people would not immediately recognize him, and for fun. He was playing on stage when his heart tripped out, and he collapsed. At first, people were confused, so a few critical moments passed before those around him realized he lay dying.
Unconscious and not breathing. In the emergency room he was intubated, and the respiratory therapist had difficulty taping the breathing tube in place due to the greasy thick make-up. Eventually they scrubbed enough of it off.
Severe brain damage. He had been down a long time. He recovered the ability to breath on his own, and his family agreed to make his status "do not resuscitate." After extubation, he was transferred to the telemetry unit.
Oddly, we were going through a period of low census, and we were closing the telemetry floor and moving the remaining patients, with some of the monitoring equipment, to another floor. This happened occasionally, and when business picked up a shift or two later, we again moved equipment and patients, reopening the unit. But by briefly closing it, the hospital saved a little money as they did not have to pay for ancillary staff during the closed shifts.
A few hours after I got the patient from intensive care, he died. I was with him, turning him and performing mouth care, when he let out a sigh and expired.
He was the only "patient" left on the unit when the night shift nurses started to come in. We informed them that they were to float to the other unit, but one nurse was to stay with this one patient for awhile (until the funeral home came to pick him up.)
"Mary" (not her real name,) was chosen to stay. We sat down together and she asked me for a report on the patient.
"Two words," I said. She was of course a little puzzled, and said "Huh?"
"He's dead," I said, pausing to let it sink in. Then I gave her the whole story.
She only had to stay there for a little while. A short time later they picked up the patient, and she floated to another unit.
There was a reunion of one of the bands he played in, and he went to the nightclub with heavy clown-face make-up on so that people would not immediately recognize him, and for fun. He was playing on stage when his heart tripped out, and he collapsed. At first, people were confused, so a few critical moments passed before those around him realized he lay dying.
Unconscious and not breathing. In the emergency room he was intubated, and the respiratory therapist had difficulty taping the breathing tube in place due to the greasy thick make-up. Eventually they scrubbed enough of it off.
Severe brain damage. He had been down a long time. He recovered the ability to breath on his own, and his family agreed to make his status "do not resuscitate." After extubation, he was transferred to the telemetry unit.
Oddly, we were going through a period of low census, and we were closing the telemetry floor and moving the remaining patients, with some of the monitoring equipment, to another floor. This happened occasionally, and when business picked up a shift or two later, we again moved equipment and patients, reopening the unit. But by briefly closing it, the hospital saved a little money as they did not have to pay for ancillary staff during the closed shifts.
A few hours after I got the patient from intensive care, he died. I was with him, turning him and performing mouth care, when he let out a sigh and expired.
He was the only "patient" left on the unit when the night shift nurses started to come in. We informed them that they were to float to the other unit, but one nurse was to stay with this one patient for awhile (until the funeral home came to pick him up.)
"Mary" (not her real name,) was chosen to stay. We sat down together and she asked me for a report on the patient.
"Two words," I said. She was of course a little puzzled, and said "Huh?"
"He's dead," I said, pausing to let it sink in. Then I gave her the whole story.
She only had to stay there for a little while. A short time later they picked up the patient, and she floated to another unit.
Monday, June 20, 2005
Dog Central
Once in a great while somebody does something the right way, even in a place like Phoenix. Though beaten down by politicians and their puppet-masters, the developers, there remain in this vast tile-roofed Beavis-and-Butthead wasteland a few spots that serve to remind us just why this city was built to begin with.
The Murphy Bridle Path is one such place. Here, the sidewalk gives way from concrete to dirt. There is shade. It's comfortable. The bustle of Central Avenue narrows to four lanes as it runs north through an older neighborhood. This passes for "quietude" in this cacaphonic city of endless suburbs. There are even examples, yes really, of decent-looking home architecture along the way.
At any given time of day you will see people there, unlike say, downtown Phoenix on a weeknight when there isn't a ball game. In fact, if ever you come to Phoenix, skip the ball game and take a walk along this stretch of history. I'll see you there. So will my dog.
The Murphy Bridle Path is one such place. Here, the sidewalk gives way from concrete to dirt. There is shade. It's comfortable. The bustle of Central Avenue narrows to four lanes as it runs north through an older neighborhood. This passes for "quietude" in this cacaphonic city of endless suburbs. There are even examples, yes really, of decent-looking home architecture along the way.
At any given time of day you will see people there, unlike say, downtown Phoenix on a weeknight when there isn't a ball game. In fact, if ever you come to Phoenix, skip the ball game and take a walk along this stretch of history. I'll see you there. So will my dog.
Smell Something?
As you all probably already know, the "9,000 dead" story is bogus. Here's the link to the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count, which is probably the most sincere effort likely to be found on the web, regarding this issue.
Still, I wish we could see the returning coffins on the television news each night, along with some discussion of the financial cost of the war.
The 9/11 attacks probably cost bin Laden about a million bucks. We've spent maybe a couple hundred billion trying to fight him (if you believe that is the motive for the Iraq war.) The math says we are losing. Money, that is. So, who is gaining money?
Still, I wish we could see the returning coffins on the television news each night, along with some discussion of the financial cost of the war.
The 9/11 attacks probably cost bin Laden about a million bucks. We've spent maybe a couple hundred billion trying to fight him (if you believe that is the motive for the Iraq war.) The math says we are losing. Money, that is. So, who is gaining money?
Saturday, June 18, 2005
What Jack Said in That Movie
"Right wingers and their sycophants despise being confronted with the truth, which is understandable given that it reflects so negatively upon them."
David Podvin has more about this and about how Howard Dean's aggressive posture and language are a good thing, which you and I knew anyways.
I've always liked Dean. When I lived in "upstate" we saw him on the news all the time, because the cable carried Vermont stations, and as their governor I found him to be both fiscally sane and compassionate toward the people of his state.
Actually, he's rather "conservative" about money and this often put him at odds with the more progressive political elements in Vermont. (Dean himself has said this.)
I put conservative in quotes because Bush, inspired by Saint Ronnie, no doubt, has completely changed the meaning of the word. It used to imply fiscal soundness and only now it has come to mean complete and total fiscal derangement. But isn't that an example of the kind of petit truth that right wingers find so difficult to accept these days, the days of Bush?
Well duh.
David Podvin has more about this and about how Howard Dean's aggressive posture and language are a good thing, which you and I knew anyways.
I've always liked Dean. When I lived in "upstate" we saw him on the news all the time, because the cable carried Vermont stations, and as their governor I found him to be both fiscally sane and compassionate toward the people of his state.
Actually, he's rather "conservative" about money and this often put him at odds with the more progressive political elements in Vermont. (Dean himself has said this.)
I put conservative in quotes because Bush, inspired by Saint Ronnie, no doubt, has completely changed the meaning of the word. It used to imply fiscal soundness and only now it has come to mean complete and total fiscal derangement. But isn't that an example of the kind of petit truth that right wingers find so difficult to accept these days, the days of Bush?
Well duh.
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