In order for me to vote, I have to believe. I live in California, a state that recalled its governor so it could put the Terminator in his place with even less of the populace voting for him than voted to keep Gray Davis. Our economy is worse off than before the recall, is headed into the dump at a faster rate than before and most of the safety nets have been eliminated by the Governator. Did I vote for Arnold? No. Did I vote to keep Gray Davis? Yes. Did my vote count? No, neither time. When I think that my vote will be worth something, I'll vote. Until then, forget it.
Earlier this week I was reading an RSS feed from JurassicPork's blog. His parenthetical statement wasn't included and so when I read about the death of the mother of the writer, I assumed that it was JP's and jumped over to comment and express my condolences. He ripped me a new one both on the blog and in a private email. I should have known it wasn't his writing, there wasn't enough anger but he certainly made up for it in the comments. Even when a few people tried to support me it didn't stop him. I don't need that in my life. I'll read what he writes but I will never comment there again. I can go to Freeper sites for that kind of treatment.
I have enough problems with my life as it is and living in a constant state of anger and being attacked by people in anger is just not my idea of a good time. My asthma has been out of control all week, grief, anger and a cold I can't seem to kick do that to me. Every day I have the frustration of dealing with my mom who is slowly dying. She coughs and chokes and lights up another cigarette. She sits out in the cold and wind, staring at nothing. I have to redo everything she does because our versions of clean are so different and I can remember when it was the other way around. I have two brothers who offer nothing but excuses. No money, no help, they barely visit her. She's dying of a broken heart and I can't help her.
To cap it all off, yesterday I received a letter and I have to tell my boss that he is going to San Quentin for a minimum of 30 days and a maximum of 90. This is going to destroy his business, completely total whatever is left of my finances and put several other people (with families) out of work. Today I have to tell him and it isn't going to be easy. Needless to say, my patience with petty bullshit like the election is nil. The only difference between the candidates is who is pulling the strings and that really isn't a choice for me.
I will continue to voice my opinion about some things but the election most likely won't be one of them. It isn't an election, it's a popularity contest and ideas and ethics just get in the way so they dispensed with those and reduced it to a gender, religious or race issue. I'm sorry if anyone is disappointed in me, trust me you aren't the first and probably won't be the last.
Big Brass Blog
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Well I'm Done
Edwards has dropped out, there are no viable candidates and once again living in the state of California has been worse than nothing. What is the point in living in such a populous state if my choices are restricted to the two worst candidates before I even get to the polls. My vote never means anything and I'm done voting. Period. I don't care about who gets elected, I don't care about the stupid propositions, what I do care about is getting the hell out of this country. Land of the free, home of the brave. My ass.
I don't care if a woman wins, I certainly don't care if some half black wannabe wins, I don't care if an old geezer wins, (we've been through that before), I don't care if martial law is declared. I wash my hands of this country, I will not defend it's reputation, as poor as it is, I won't even defend its so called right to exist.
If I see something about to happen, I will turn my back and let the chips, or body parts, fall where they may. I am sorry that in my youth I thought this country was worth defending. It isn't.
You guys are going to get what you deserve. Slavery. They won't call it that, it will probably go by the name that this county was built on. Indentured servitude.
I will probably continue blogging but it won't have anything to do with the elections or the stupid people who pontificate or the corporately paid jackasses that are presented to us as electable candidates. My absentee ballot is being shredded as soon as I get to the office and I will never register to vote again. They can do what they want with the voter ID law, they can, and will, have all the retroactive immunity for all the political criminals they want. Oh yeah, and that Iraq thing, you can expect it to be a way of life for one country after another until we run out of either guns or people. Or the people who really own this country puts a stop to us.
Thanks John, you've let the bad guys run the asylum.
And I'm wiping Google Reader of all political feeds. I'm going to live like the rest of the country. Stupid and ignorant. They seem to be happy living that way, why not me?
3Bs
I don't care if a woman wins, I certainly don't care if some half black wannabe wins, I don't care if an old geezer wins, (we've been through that before), I don't care if martial law is declared. I wash my hands of this country, I will not defend it's reputation, as poor as it is, I won't even defend its so called right to exist.
If I see something about to happen, I will turn my back and let the chips, or body parts, fall where they may. I am sorry that in my youth I thought this country was worth defending. It isn't.
You guys are going to get what you deserve. Slavery. They won't call it that, it will probably go by the name that this county was built on. Indentured servitude.
I will probably continue blogging but it won't have anything to do with the elections or the stupid people who pontificate or the corporately paid jackasses that are presented to us as electable candidates. My absentee ballot is being shredded as soon as I get to the office and I will never register to vote again. They can do what they want with the voter ID law, they can, and will, have all the retroactive immunity for all the political criminals they want. Oh yeah, and that Iraq thing, you can expect it to be a way of life for one country after another until we run out of either guns or people. Or the people who really own this country puts a stop to us.
Thanks John, you've let the bad guys run the asylum.
And I'm wiping Google Reader of all political feeds. I'm going to live like the rest of the country. Stupid and ignorant. They seem to be happy living that way, why not me?
3Bs
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Cartoon Of The Day
I was up most of the night with an asthma attack, this is the best I can do until I feel better. Sorry.
John Cole
John Cole
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Fun Times At Costco
I made the weekly trek to Costco, mom was out of both beer and cigarettes, plus we needed eggs and Kleenex. On the way in I noticed some of those little kids with the roller skating shoes that the Dark Wraith loves so much and was tempted to try and roll over one of them but there were too many witnesses.
One of the things that has made shopping tolerable is my iPod. They call me Happy Feet at Cosentino's because I am always rocking out to something. So, I'm dodging the lookieloos and the grazers and get mom's Becks first. They have it stacked so high that it's ergonomically incorrect to try and get the beer down. Fortunately for me there was a case that I could reach without feeling like I wasn't playing Jenga. I put the case safely in the cart and rolled over to check out the brandy and cognac prices. I cook with both of them and wanted to see what kind of deal I could get. I turned around and my cart was gone. Nowhere to be found. Somebody else must have decided that it was too dangerous to take Becks from the stack. Grrr!
I go get another cart and this time have to take the case from the top of the stack. Fortunately, I didn't hurt either my back or my neck. I tried out the Habanero Chicken Burgers (not spicy to me but mom wouldn't like them), grabbed the spinach and mushrooms for dinner (Salisbury Steak, mashed potatoes and creamed without flour spinach), got the eggs, half and half, Kleenex and organic tomatoes, made a beeline for the cigarettes and then looked at the lines. They were all seven to eight people deep but one on the far end had a guy who was pre-scanning. I worked my way over there and about two minutes later he starts scanning my stuff. He gets to the beer and says "may I see your ID please?" I pulled off one of my earphones and said "what?" He repeated his request and since he wasn't kidding, I whipped out the drivers license, the one that says I was born in 1956 and cheerfully, and I mean very cheerfully, waved it in front of his face. I'm fifty one and I got carded. I had a smile on my face for the rest of the day.
Now I'm going to get my AARP card so I can enjoy that experience, in reverse, for several more years to come.
3Bs
One of the things that has made shopping tolerable is my iPod. They call me Happy Feet at Cosentino's because I am always rocking out to something. So, I'm dodging the lookieloos and the grazers and get mom's Becks first. They have it stacked so high that it's ergonomically incorrect to try and get the beer down. Fortunately for me there was a case that I could reach without feeling like I wasn't playing Jenga. I put the case safely in the cart and rolled over to check out the brandy and cognac prices. I cook with both of them and wanted to see what kind of deal I could get. I turned around and my cart was gone. Nowhere to be found. Somebody else must have decided that it was too dangerous to take Becks from the stack. Grrr!
I go get another cart and this time have to take the case from the top of the stack. Fortunately, I didn't hurt either my back or my neck. I tried out the Habanero Chicken Burgers (not spicy to me but mom wouldn't like them), grabbed the spinach and mushrooms for dinner (Salisbury Steak, mashed potatoes and creamed without flour spinach), got the eggs, half and half, Kleenex and organic tomatoes, made a beeline for the cigarettes and then looked at the lines. They were all seven to eight people deep but one on the far end had a guy who was pre-scanning. I worked my way over there and about two minutes later he starts scanning my stuff. He gets to the beer and says "may I see your ID please?" I pulled off one of my earphones and said "what?" He repeated his request and since he wasn't kidding, I whipped out the drivers license, the one that says I was born in 1956 and cheerfully, and I mean very cheerfully, waved it in front of his face. I'm fifty one and I got carded. I had a smile on my face for the rest of the day.
Now I'm going to get my AARP card so I can enjoy that experience, in reverse, for several more years to come.
3Bs
Sunday Morning Mutterings
No wonder there is a war on drugs, the crew without a clue doesn't want to share. The idea that businesses are going to spend $50 billion on new equipment is probably correct, the problem is that since their factories are no longer in the United States, that is another $50 billion that won't trickle down to the US consumer. Same old, same old. Bushit.
Those wacky Brits. The responses to "Don't treat the old and unhealthy" are quite interesting. And informative. They just don't seem to have as many judgmental people in England as we have in the States. On the whole, most responders are aghast at the notion that those who have paid into the system the longest, that would be the elderly, should not receive medical care. There was the Soylent Green comment from one, how did my brother get to England?, but the majority feel that the doctors are overpaid and underworked, that the government has mismanaged funds and that there are way too many paper and pencil pushers in the system. And one or two who believe that if they privatized the system that costs would go down and care would go up. The American model shows that isn't the case.
Once again, the elections are going to suck. Obama wins in South Carolina. What is it with these inbred states? Edwards gets short shrift from the media and the unwitting (in more ways than one) populace follows the corporate bouncing ball. While the Republicans worry about voter id cards, we all should be thinking that there should be a minimum IQ requirement. Nobody under 115 should be allowed to vote. Or run. Of course that would leave out the current prez, which would definitely have been a good thing. And Caroline, don't make me puke. Obama is nothing like your father, he engenders not one whit of hope in me. Your father served his country with honor, both in the military and as President. This guy just talks. A lot. With nothing to offer except empty rhetoric. Gaak! Even the Chronicle has drunk the kool-aid.
When you're lost, you should always go back to the beginning. While it may have worked for Inigo Montoya, it's probably too late for the US. Inconceivable!
Big Brass Blog
Moreover, even if you do somehow manage to increase spending, that doesn't mean you'll put Americans to work. More likely, you'll put Asians to work producing goods for the U.S. marketBig Brother and some other not so trustworthy people are watching you. More and more. The privacy of your own home is rapidly becoming a fiction, as technology continues to provide myriad ways for you to be tracked. Hopefully once the sensors realize I'm broke, they'll stop sending targeted data. Sheesh, I might as well believe in Santa Claus if I think that's likely to happen. What's more likely is that you will be prevented from entering stores and restaurants you technically can't afford.
Those wacky Brits. The responses to "Don't treat the old and unhealthy" are quite interesting. And informative. They just don't seem to have as many judgmental people in England as we have in the States. On the whole, most responders are aghast at the notion that those who have paid into the system the longest, that would be the elderly, should not receive medical care. There was the Soylent Green comment from one, how did my brother get to England?, but the majority feel that the doctors are overpaid and underworked, that the government has mismanaged funds and that there are way too many paper and pencil pushers in the system. And one or two who believe that if they privatized the system that costs would go down and care would go up. The American model shows that isn't the case.
Once again, the elections are going to suck. Obama wins in South Carolina. What is it with these inbred states? Edwards gets short shrift from the media and the unwitting (in more ways than one) populace follows the corporate bouncing ball. While the Republicans worry about voter id cards, we all should be thinking that there should be a minimum IQ requirement. Nobody under 115 should be allowed to vote. Or run. Of course that would leave out the current prez, which would definitely have been a good thing. And Caroline, don't make me puke. Obama is nothing like your father, he engenders not one whit of hope in me. Your father served his country with honor, both in the military and as President. This guy just talks. A lot. With nothing to offer except empty rhetoric. Gaak! Even the Chronicle has drunk the kool-aid.
When you're lost, you should always go back to the beginning. While it may have worked for Inigo Montoya, it's probably too late for the US. Inconceivable!
Big Brass Blog
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Trampled Underfoot
For goodness sake, when is this country going to grow up? Once again, the ugly streak of puritanism raises its head. The FCC in all its wisdom has decided to fine ABC $1.43 million for showing the naked side and backside of a woman getting into the shower in a 2003 episode of NYPD Blue. Ooh, ooh, the people in the Mountain time zone who don't believe in Daylight Savings Time saw the episode at 9:00 instead of 10:00 pm. Since parents don't seem to control their kids bedtimes and viewing habits, the government must do it for them.
Of course the technicians are never dorks. We all know to power down and restart before we call. Whenever I have to call tech support I always get someone who doesn't understand and has me repeat all of the things I've already done before they tell me that they can't help me and they finally kick me upstairs. Now that I have my iMac and don't use Comcast, that particular irritation never occurs anymore.
I'm an isolationist, I admit it. I believe that America should take care of America first and worry about the rest of the world after we have solved the problems at home. I do not believe in withholding medical care, food or jobs from those who are already here and contributing to our society, in whatever menial capacity that may be. That some states would enact such draconian laws in an effort to stem the flow of illegal immigration is stupid and shortsighted. And for a supposedly Christian nation, it's not very Christ like. Why do we hate people who are different from us? Do you think that if aliens (the space kind) came to this world that they would see a difference between us? No, they would think we were all equally barbaric.
It's nice to know that some people are still willing to help others out. Most people (especially those in Oklahoma) would have kept the camera and not made the effort that these people did to return it to its rightful owner. Finder's keepers, losers weepers is how most people act nowadays.
And I end where I started, with more puritanical hypocrisy.
3Bs
Indeed, FCC commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate suggested in a prepared statement released with the proposed fine that the commission would have assessed a higher fine, if possible. "Our action today should serve as a reminder to all broadcasters that Congress and American families continue to be concerned about protecting children from harmful material and that the FCC will enforce the laws of the land vigilantly," Ms. Tate said.I am so tired of this crap. There is nothing wrong with the human body, dressed or undressed but we keep trying to make it dirty and disgraceful. And why is it that it's always referred to as Janet Jackson baring her breast when it was Justin Timberlake singing about having her naked by the end of the song and it was his hand that did the removing? That has always bugged me. His career didn't suffer but hers did.
Of course the technicians are never dorks. We all know to power down and restart before we call. Whenever I have to call tech support I always get someone who doesn't understand and has me repeat all of the things I've already done before they tell me that they can't help me and they finally kick me upstairs. Now that I have my iMac and don't use Comcast, that particular irritation never occurs anymore.
I'm an isolationist, I admit it. I believe that America should take care of America first and worry about the rest of the world after we have solved the problems at home. I do not believe in withholding medical care, food or jobs from those who are already here and contributing to our society, in whatever menial capacity that may be. That some states would enact such draconian laws in an effort to stem the flow of illegal immigration is stupid and shortsighted. And for a supposedly Christian nation, it's not very Christ like. Why do we hate people who are different from us? Do you think that if aliens (the space kind) came to this world that they would see a difference between us? No, they would think we were all equally barbaric.
It's nice to know that some people are still willing to help others out. Most people (especially those in Oklahoma) would have kept the camera and not made the effort that these people did to return it to its rightful owner. Finder's keepers, losers weepers is how most people act nowadays.
And I end where I started, with more puritanical hypocrisy.
So the game world has been ablaze with indignation since the Fox News program “The Live Desk With Martha MacCallum” said on Monday that Mass Effect, one of the most critically praised games of 2007, contains frontal nudity and explicit depictions of sexual activity. The assertions of virtual lasciviousness first appeared earlier this month among conservative bloggers incensed by brief YouTube clips excerpted from the 30- to 40-hour game.And 24 isn't one of the most violent television shows ever aired. Like the old MPAA joke goes: kiss a nipple and it's X rated, cut it off and it becomes an R. We are one messed up and repressed society.
Mass Effect, a science fiction game, includes a complicated romantic subplot that is no more risqué in its plot or graphic in its depiction than evening network television.
3Bs
Friday, January 25, 2008
What Were They Thinking?
Oh yeah, that $600 dollar rebate is really going to help the economy. Not. What kind of idiot do you have to be to believe that $600 is going to help people who have lost their homes, their children are living with friends who still have a home and the parents are living in separate shelters? That would be Bush and his enablers, the Dumocrats. If he made a sharp left turn, most of them would break their neck since it's so far up his ass.
The only person this so called economic stimulus package is going to help is big business. As if the oil companies need any help. Welcome to corporate America where business profits are more important than the people. What do you want to bet that they take their business incentives and spend them outside the country? And why does anybody consider getting a check in May to be quick? Four months from now the checks will arrive at homes that are empty or checking accounts that have been closed because of a lack of funds. Or maybe they've been deported. Yes, we seem to send native born Americans to countries they've never seen.
Every once in a while you run into a story that makes you deeply ashamed to belong to a country that abuses children. Why they took these kids to an orphanage and didn't tell the guards in charge that they hadn't done anything wrong, isn't just wrong, it's criminal. Strip searched, forced to shower in front of security staff and put under surveillance for over 24 hours because their mother was admitted to the hospital for pneumonia. Their mom had to leave the hospital in her pajamas to get them out. And now the mother is being investigated for being ill. Way to go New York.
Have uniform, will use power badly. Whatever you do, don't get in the way of a cop and his dinner order.
The only bright spot to this story, is that it didn't take place in America. Suing the parents of a boy you ran over and killed so you can repair your luxury vehicle is the height of arrogance and inconsideration. I wonder how long before someone tries that here.
I'm not surprised. Not surprised at all. Anybody who thinks that Bush and his cronies are going to pay for their crimes, is not in touch with reality. Heck, they can't even be investigated.
Big Brass Blog
The only person this so called economic stimulus package is going to help is big business. As if the oil companies need any help. Welcome to corporate America where business profits are more important than the people. What do you want to bet that they take their business incentives and spend them outside the country? And why does anybody consider getting a check in May to be quick? Four months from now the checks will arrive at homes that are empty or checking accounts that have been closed because of a lack of funds. Or maybe they've been deported. Yes, we seem to send native born Americans to countries they've never seen.
Every once in a while you run into a story that makes you deeply ashamed to belong to a country that abuses children. Why they took these kids to an orphanage and didn't tell the guards in charge that they hadn't done anything wrong, isn't just wrong, it's criminal. Strip searched, forced to shower in front of security staff and put under surveillance for over 24 hours because their mother was admitted to the hospital for pneumonia. Their mom had to leave the hospital in her pajamas to get them out. And now the mother is being investigated for being ill. Way to go New York.
Have uniform, will use power badly. Whatever you do, don't get in the way of a cop and his dinner order.
The only bright spot to this story, is that it didn't take place in America. Suing the parents of a boy you ran over and killed so you can repair your luxury vehicle is the height of arrogance and inconsideration. I wonder how long before someone tries that here.
I'm not surprised. Not surprised at all. Anybody who thinks that Bush and his cronies are going to pay for their crimes, is not in touch with reality. Heck, they can't even be investigated.
Big Brass Blog
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Hump Day Musings
Let the good times roll is a song by B.B.King (You'd better go out and spend some cash, how apt), not the way to run personal, business or national finances. Moderation? Who are these people trying to kid? People have been saying for years that the housing bubble couldn't be maintained and were blown off as being worryworts or Debbie Downers.
Good grief, I hope not. I was glad when he left, his character sucked and was one of the main reasons I stopped watching.
Who didn't see this one coming? They lied to start a war with a country that had done nothing to us. But will it be enough for impeachment? I doubt it, because lying about sex is more detrimental to the country than telling lies so our troops could die. Or so the people on the right believe. But what can you expect from a nation founded by religious fanatics and criminals.
Cannon fodder. 29% of Army recruits don't have high school diplomas and the poor are overrepresented in the Army, but the powers that be are still trying to maintain the fiction that unqualified soldiers aren't sent into combat. No wonder they're using video games for training.
I'm really sorry about Heath Ledger, what a shame. The only movie I ever saw of his was A Knight's Tale but I was, and still am, really looking forward to his role as the Joker in the new Bat flick. My heart goes out to his family and friends. Rest in peace, you will be missed. I guess this settles the issue about whether or not to prepare young people's obits. I thought Amy Winehouse would be a good candidate, especially after her crack video.
Lewis Black cracks me up. He's funny, to the point and not afraid to share his opinion. Thank goodness. Because if it wasn't for the comedians, nobody would ever hear the truth.
Big Brass Blog
Good grief, I hope not. I was glad when he left, his character sucked and was one of the main reasons I stopped watching.
Who didn't see this one coming? They lied to start a war with a country that had done nothing to us. But will it be enough for impeachment? I doubt it, because lying about sex is more detrimental to the country than telling lies so our troops could die. Or so the people on the right believe. But what can you expect from a nation founded by religious fanatics and criminals.
Cannon fodder. 29% of Army recruits don't have high school diplomas and the poor are overrepresented in the Army, but the powers that be are still trying to maintain the fiction that unqualified soldiers aren't sent into combat. No wonder they're using video games for training.
I'm really sorry about Heath Ledger, what a shame. The only movie I ever saw of his was A Knight's Tale but I was, and still am, really looking forward to his role as the Joker in the new Bat flick. My heart goes out to his family and friends. Rest in peace, you will be missed. I guess this settles the issue about whether or not to prepare young people's obits. I thought Amy Winehouse would be a good candidate, especially after her crack video.
Lewis Black cracks me up. He's funny, to the point and not afraid to share his opinion. Thank goodness. Because if it wasn't for the comedians, nobody would ever hear the truth.
Big Brass Blog
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
New Words For 2008
Time for some humor, courtesy of Reader Rick and those wacky Brits. A few have been seen before, but there are a couple that will make you snicker. I'm fond of Salmon Day, Percussive Maintenance and the Beer Compass.
* SALAD DODGER.
An excellent phrase for an overweight person.
* SWAMP-DONKEY
A deeply unattractive person.
* TESTICULATING.
Waving your arms around and talking bollocks.
* BLAMESTORMING.
Sitting round in a group, discussing why a deadline was missed or a project failed, and who was responsible.
* SEAGULL MANAGER.
A manager who flies in, makes a lot of noise, craps on everything, and Then leaves.
* ASSMOSIS.
The process by which people seem to absorb success and advancement by sucking up to the boss rather than working hard.
* SALMON DAY.
The experience of spending an entire day swimming upstream only to get screwed and die.
* CUBE FARM.
An office filled with cubicles.
* PRAIRIE DOGGING.
When someone yells or drops something loudly in a cube farm, and people's heads pop up over the walls to see what's going on. (This also applies to applause for a promotion because there may be cake.)
* SITCOMs.
Single Income, Two Children, Oppressive Mortgage. What yuppies turn into when they have children and one of them stops working to stay home with the kids or start a "home business".
* SINBAD.
Single working girls. Single income, no boyfriend and desperate.
* AEROPLANE BLONDE.
One who has bleached/dyed her hair but still has a 'black box'.
* PERCUSSIVE MAINTENANCE.
The fine art of whacking the crap out of an electronic device to get it to work again..
* ADMINISPHERE.
The rarefied organisational layers beginning just above the rank and file. Decisions that fall from the "adminisphere" are often profoundly inappropriate or irrelevant to the problems they were designed to solve. This is often affiliated with the dreaded "administrivia" - needless paperwork and processes.
* GOING FOR A McSHIT.
Entering a fast food restaurant with no intention of buying food, you're just going to the bog. If challenged by a pimply staff member, your declaration to them that you'll buy their food afterwards is known as a McShit with Lies.
* 404.
Someone who's clueless. From the World Wide Web error message "404 Not Found" meaning that the requested document could not be located.
* AUSSIE KISS.
Similar to a French Kiss, but given down under.
* OH - NO SECOND.
That minuscule fraction of time in which you realize that you've just Made a BIG mistake (e.g. you've hit 'reply all').
* GREYHOUND.
A very short skirt, only an inch from the hare.
* JOHNNY-NO-STARS.
A young man of substandard intelligence, the typical adolescent who works in a burger restaurant. The 'no-stars' comes from the badges displaying stars that staff at fast-food restaurants often wear to show their level of training.
* MILLENNIUM DOMES.
The contents of a Wonderbra, i.e. extremely impressive when viewed from The outside, but there's actually naught in there worth seeing.
* MONKEY BATH .
A bath so hot, that when lowering yourself in, you go: "Oo! Oo! Oo! Aa! Aa! Aa!".
* MYSTERY BUS.
The bus that arrives at the pub on Friday night while you're in the toilet after your 10th pint, and whisks away all the unattractive people so the pub is suddenly packed with stunners when you come back in.
* MYSTERY TAXI.
The taxi that arrives at your place on Saturday morning before you wake up, whisks away the stunner you slept with, and leaves a 10 Pinter in your bed instead.
* BEER COAT.
The invisible but warm coat worn when walking home after a booze cruise At 3:00am .
* BEER COMPASS.
The invisible device that ensures your safe arrival home after booze cruise, even though you're too drunk to remember where you live, how you got here, and where you've come from.
* BREAKING THE SEAL.
Your first pee in the pub, usually after 2 hours of drinking. After breaking the seal of your bladder, repeat visits to the toilet will be required every 10 or 15 minutes for the rest of the night.
* TART FUEL.
Bottled premixed spirits, regularly consumed by young women.
* PICASSO BUM.
A woman whose knickers are too small for her, so she looks like she's Got 4 buttocks.
* SALAD DODGER.
An excellent phrase for an overweight person.
* SWAMP-DONKEY
A deeply unattractive person.
* TESTICULATING.
Waving your arms around and talking bollocks.
* BLAMESTORMING.
Sitting round in a group, discussing why a deadline was missed or a project failed, and who was responsible.
* SEAGULL MANAGER.
A manager who flies in, makes a lot of noise, craps on everything, and Then leaves.
* ASSMOSIS.
The process by which people seem to absorb success and advancement by sucking up to the boss rather than working hard.
* SALMON DAY.
The experience of spending an entire day swimming upstream only to get screwed and die.
* CUBE FARM.
An office filled with cubicles.
* PRAIRIE DOGGING.
When someone yells or drops something loudly in a cube farm, and people's heads pop up over the walls to see what's going on. (This also applies to applause for a promotion because there may be cake.)
* SITCOMs.
Single Income, Two Children, Oppressive Mortgage. What yuppies turn into when they have children and one of them stops working to stay home with the kids or start a "home business".
* SINBAD.
Single working girls. Single income, no boyfriend and desperate.
* AEROPLANE BLONDE.
One who has bleached/dyed her hair but still has a 'black box'.
* PERCUSSIVE MAINTENANCE.
The fine art of whacking the crap out of an electronic device to get it to work again..
* ADMINISPHERE.
The rarefied organisational layers beginning just above the rank and file. Decisions that fall from the "adminisphere" are often profoundly inappropriate or irrelevant to the problems they were designed to solve. This is often affiliated with the dreaded "administrivia" - needless paperwork and processes.
* GOING FOR A McSHIT.
Entering a fast food restaurant with no intention of buying food, you're just going to the bog. If challenged by a pimply staff member, your declaration to them that you'll buy their food afterwards is known as a McShit with Lies.
* 404.
Someone who's clueless. From the World Wide Web error message "404 Not Found" meaning that the requested document could not be located.
* AUSSIE KISS.
Similar to a French Kiss, but given down under.
* OH - NO SECOND.
That minuscule fraction of time in which you realize that you've just Made a BIG mistake (e.g. you've hit 'reply all').
* GREYHOUND.
A very short skirt, only an inch from the hare.
* JOHNNY-NO-STARS.
A young man of substandard intelligence, the typical adolescent who works in a burger restaurant. The 'no-stars' comes from the badges displaying stars that staff at fast-food restaurants often wear to show their level of training.
* MILLENNIUM DOMES.
The contents of a Wonderbra, i.e. extremely impressive when viewed from The outside, but there's actually naught in there worth seeing.
* MONKEY BATH .
A bath so hot, that when lowering yourself in, you go: "Oo! Oo! Oo! Aa! Aa! Aa!".
* MYSTERY BUS.
The bus that arrives at the pub on Friday night while you're in the toilet after your 10th pint, and whisks away all the unattractive people so the pub is suddenly packed with stunners when you come back in.
* MYSTERY TAXI.
The taxi that arrives at your place on Saturday morning before you wake up, whisks away the stunner you slept with, and leaves a 10 Pinter in your bed instead.
* BEER COAT.
The invisible but warm coat worn when walking home after a booze cruise At 3:00am .
* BEER COMPASS.
The invisible device that ensures your safe arrival home after booze cruise, even though you're too drunk to remember where you live, how you got here, and where you've come from.
* BREAKING THE SEAL.
Your first pee in the pub, usually after 2 hours of drinking. After breaking the seal of your bladder, repeat visits to the toilet will be required every 10 or 15 minutes for the rest of the night.
* TART FUEL.
Bottled premixed spirits, regularly consumed by young women.
* PICASSO BUM.
A woman whose knickers are too small for her, so she looks like she's Got 4 buttocks.
Supremely Irritated
A few posts back I said that as a woman I was discriminated against more for being female than for being black. Some did not agree. So I have two instances to support my point of view. The first one comes courtesy of The Guardian. 72% of Americans are ready to elect a black president while less than 66% are ready to elect a woman. Go figure.
Meanwhile, back in my nightmare of a world... My living circumstances are not the most elegant. I live in a nice home but it is in a trailer park. Yes, we have those in California. Since I can't leave mom alone for an eight hour workday without her having difficulties, I currently do private computer and paperwork for a contractor. I'm also the assistant assistant manager of the park. For that title they give me a discount of $200 on my rent.
The assistant manager (Jose) has been having difficulties with several people in the park and a discrimination claim was lodged against him along with several letters of complaint. On Sunday he told me that the owner had decided to reverse our positions. Yesterday I called the owner to confirm and was told that it was just temporary until the brouhaha had quieted down and that my job is to evict the people who had filed the discrimination claim with as little fuss as possible since I had demonstrated the ability to get difficult people to compromise. I am to assume the title and the duties but there will be no monetary compensation. Everything is to stay the same. He gets three months off at full pay and my workload triples for no extra pay. How nice.
Did I mention that Jose is the only man that works for the owner in any type of administration position? I like Jose and he pays me very well for the work I do for his business, but he has been so busy that he hasn't done any of the duties of an assistant manager, I do them. He has no affinity for paperwork and has a tendency to let his temper get the best of him when people don't do what he wants, ergo; the complaint. The best part of all is that Jose is happy not to have these responsibilities right now and he took off for a few days to see his family in Mexico.
Nobody asked me if this arrangement is acceptable. It isn't. What I find interesting is that everyone assumes that I'm going to go along with the deal. I'm not. When someone pays me a certain amount for a job, that is all the work they are entitled to. I am way too old to be giving away my work for free. I'm irritated enough to tell them to keep their lousy $200 and find some other schmuck to do the dirty work. The guy who sweeps up the garbage is compensated more than I am and that just isn't right.
3Bs
Meanwhile, back in my nightmare of a world... My living circumstances are not the most elegant. I live in a nice home but it is in a trailer park. Yes, we have those in California. Since I can't leave mom alone for an eight hour workday without her having difficulties, I currently do private computer and paperwork for a contractor. I'm also the assistant assistant manager of the park. For that title they give me a discount of $200 on my rent.
The assistant manager (Jose) has been having difficulties with several people in the park and a discrimination claim was lodged against him along with several letters of complaint. On Sunday he told me that the owner had decided to reverse our positions. Yesterday I called the owner to confirm and was told that it was just temporary until the brouhaha had quieted down and that my job is to evict the people who had filed the discrimination claim with as little fuss as possible since I had demonstrated the ability to get difficult people to compromise. I am to assume the title and the duties but there will be no monetary compensation. Everything is to stay the same. He gets three months off at full pay and my workload triples for no extra pay. How nice.
Did I mention that Jose is the only man that works for the owner in any type of administration position? I like Jose and he pays me very well for the work I do for his business, but he has been so busy that he hasn't done any of the duties of an assistant manager, I do them. He has no affinity for paperwork and has a tendency to let his temper get the best of him when people don't do what he wants, ergo; the complaint. The best part of all is that Jose is happy not to have these responsibilities right now and he took off for a few days to see his family in Mexico.
Nobody asked me if this arrangement is acceptable. It isn't. What I find interesting is that everyone assumes that I'm going to go along with the deal. I'm not. When someone pays me a certain amount for a job, that is all the work they are entitled to. I am way too old to be giving away my work for free. I'm irritated enough to tell them to keep their lousy $200 and find some other schmuck to do the dirty work. The guy who sweeps up the garbage is compensated more than I am and that just isn't right.
3Bs
Monday, January 21, 2008
Monday Morning Observations
Obama needs to man up and STFU. If he becomes the nominee, I'm not voting. Period. I don't see the difference between him and most of the Republicans, except for he isn't as crazy and that isn't reason enough to vote for him. There is something about him that just doesn't ring true for me. The truth of the matter is that he's jealous.
Honestly, this election is worse than grade school. Edwards can't speak at a church because the other candidates weren't asked? How many times have Clinton and Obama spoken at churches and Edwards was ignored? The hypocrisy and childishness is mind boggling.
If he really wanted to honor the memory of Martin Luther King, he and Cheney would resign and let people who care about the US and not the corporations who donated the most to their campaign run the country. But we all know that isn't going to happen.
Wow! How progressive of them.
No anxiety and I certainly don't suffer from guilt. It's hard to believe that in this day and age Americans are still so sexually repressed. I can't believe that we still believe that sex is for selling cars and making babies and not a normal bodily function.
Big Brass Blog
Honestly, this election is worse than grade school. Edwards can't speak at a church because the other candidates weren't asked? How many times have Clinton and Obama spoken at churches and Edwards was ignored? The hypocrisy and childishness is mind boggling.
If he really wanted to honor the memory of Martin Luther King, he and Cheney would resign and let people who care about the US and not the corporations who donated the most to their campaign run the country. But we all know that isn't going to happen.
Wow! How progressive of them.
No anxiety and I certainly don't suffer from guilt. It's hard to believe that in this day and age Americans are still so sexually repressed. I can't believe that we still believe that sex is for selling cars and making babies and not a normal bodily function.
Big Brass Blog
Saturday, January 19, 2008
This 'N That
Poor O'Lielly, he thinks Edwards is out of touch with reality, methinks it's a case of the pot calling the kettle black. A new generation of homeless veterans, now who could have foreseen that? Anybody but the crew without a clue and there clueless supporters.
Now that the United States has justified preemptive strikes, everybody's doing it. Are we going to have duck and cover videos to go along with sealing our windows with duct tape? Reagan must be spinning in his grave so fast that he could be a whole new source of energy. Non-nuclear of course.
The United States of Everybody but Americans is coming right up. Bought and sold to the highest bidder. While Lou Dobbs worries about a border fence to keep illegals from taking American jobs, the companies themselves are being bought by non Americans. At this rate we are going to be illegal workers in our own country.
The plot of the latest Die Hard movie is looking more plausible (minus the explosions and gun battles) every day.
Oops.
Now that the United States has justified preemptive strikes, everybody's doing it. Are we going to have duck and cover videos to go along with sealing our windows with duct tape? Reagan must be spinning in his grave so fast that he could be a whole new source of energy. Non-nuclear of course.
The United States of Everybody but Americans is coming right up. Bought and sold to the highest bidder. While Lou Dobbs worries about a border fence to keep illegals from taking American jobs, the companies themselves are being bought by non Americans. At this rate we are going to be illegal workers in our own country.
The plot of the latest Die Hard movie is looking more plausible (minus the explosions and gun battles) every day.
Oops.
Friday, January 18, 2008
An $800 dollar tax rebate isn't going to help me, gas and food costs will take care of that in less than a month. Besides I still owe the government money, I'll never see it. For a variety of reasons, I don't care whether my taxes are paid or not. The worst that could happen is that I get free room and board. Maybe if my taxes were used a little bit more intelligently or at the very least, not to kill people.
Colberto Reporto Giagante! What a hoot! Esteban interviews Lou Dobbs en Espanol. Lou sounds reasonable, other than that border fence thing. Most people have forgotten that they are people and not units of labor.
Hmm, caption this. Each one looks dorkier than the other. And they certainly don't look like they have our best interests at heart, more like they missed their Metamucil this morning.
Doug Mills/ The New York Times
Colberto Reporto Giagante! What a hoot! Esteban interviews Lou Dobbs en Espanol. Lou sounds reasonable, other than that border fence thing. Most people have forgotten that they are people and not units of labor.
Hmm, caption this. Each one looks dorkier than the other. And they certainly don't look like they have our best interests at heart, more like they missed their Metamucil this morning.
Doug Mills/ The New York Times
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Just Can't Get Away From It
I've recently taken some flak over my position on fibromyalgia and depression. From being told that I don't understand what depression is like to not being compassionate to those who are suffering. I do and I am. For some reason it really bothers me when people think I don't care.
Then along comes the Wall Street Journal reprinting data from the New England Journal of Medicine. Someone has been futzing with the efficacy numbers. Gee, now why would someone want to do that? As an acupuncturist who whose profession is constantly being questioned by the "evidence based medicine" proponents, my question is this: Is it about the money that can be made or is it about the patient's health?
3Bs
Then along comes the Wall Street Journal reprinting data from the New England Journal of Medicine. Someone has been futzing with the efficacy numbers. Gee, now why would someone want to do that? As an acupuncturist who whose profession is constantly being questioned by the "evidence based medicine" proponents, my question is this: Is it about the money that can be made or is it about the patient's health?
For example, Pfizer submitted five trials on its drug Zoloft to the FDA, the study says. The drug seemed to work better than the placebo in two of them. In three other trials, the placebo did just as well at reducing indications of depression. Only the two favorable trials were published, researchers found, and Pfizer discusses only the positive results in Zoloft's literature for doctors.Mehinks it's about the money. The geek in me wonders why if antidepressants are to balance brain chemistry, shouldn't there be tests that determine what the levels of serotonin are before playing chemical ping pong with people's brains? It would be good for the patient and the truly suffering would be able to get the right antidepressant the first time, not just being prescribed whichever was the focus of the last pharmaceutical representative's visit.
One way of turning the study results upside down is to ignore a negative finding for the "primary outcome" -- the main question the study was designed to answer -- and highlight a positive secondary outcome. In nine of the negative studies that were published, the authors simply omitted any mention of the primary outcome, the researchers said.
The resulting publication bias threatens to skew the medical professional's understanding of how effective a drug is for a particular condition, the researchers say. This is particularly significant as the growing movement toward "evidence-based medicine" depends on analysis of published studies to make treatment decisions.
snip
"There is a view that these drugs are effective all the time," he said. "I would say they only work 40% to 50% of the time," based on his reviews of the research at the FDA, "and they would say, 'What are you talking about? I have never seen a negative study.'" Dr. Turner, said he knew from his time with the agency that there were negative studies that hadn't been published.
3Bs
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Pop A Pill
As I knew it would be when I wrote it, my opinion on fibromyalgia sufferers and their new drug, wasn't received very well. Americans have become so used to popping a pill for whatever ails them, that when you tell them that it won't work, personal attacks will surely follow.
It isn't that I have a lack of compassion, it's just that in the long run I don't see a successful outcome. What I do see is a lot of people making money off of other people's suffering. Instead of lifestyle and behavioral changes, pop a pill. Instead of putting yourself in another person's shoes, pop a pill. Instead of living your life, pop a pill.
Three years ago I was suffering through a bout of depression and was considering taking an antidepressant. Life didn't look like it was going to get better (and it hasn't) so I thought maybe if I just don't let it bother me so much, maybe it will go away. I wallowed in that for a few weeks and then one morning I turned on the computer and there was this story about a tsunami in the Indian Ocean.
I spent most of the morning looking at maps, calculating distances and reading every piece of news on the disaster. Tsunamis have always been one of my biggest fears so I knew how devastating it was likely to be. With each hour the news got worse.
I called a former friend but she said she didn't feel like getting up yet (it was after 1pm by then) and that she didn't think it was that big a deal. Hey, it was only 283,000 people, no biggie. I remember looking at the phone and thinking, wow!
What I couldn't remember, was what I was depressed about. It just wasn't that important. No matter how much my life sucks (and it does), it doesn't suck as bad as the majority of the people in the world. At least not yet and hopefully it never will. Not all depression is that easy to ignore.
The drug companies won't miss me because they have so many other willing customers. Never mind that the side effects are sometimes as bad as the original problem (Alli, I'd rather be fat than poop my pants) or that it could be fatal (Vioxx), cause heart defects (Fen-phen) or birth defects (Thalidomide, yes it's back and it's being used for leprosy).
PZ Myers likes to bag on woowoo medicine (chiropractic, acupuncture, etc, sometimes I agree with him, sometimes I don't but I read him every day) but so called traditional medicine has its own problems. Like any other profession you have good diagnosticians and bad ones. Doctors, plumbers, electricians, acupuncturists, mechanics or computer technicians, if you can't diagnose the problem correctly, it can't be fixed. By way of example, how many episodes has House tried out more than one diagnosis before he gets it right? Always makes you glad you weren't the patient, doesn't it?
People are more than charts and statistics and western medicine likes to disregard that. Chinese medicine, properly practiced, is supposed to take the whole person into account. This includes their living arrangements, eating, sleeping and sexual habits, as well as their perception of themselves. So when I see people buying into the Lyrica propaganda, my BS meter goes off.
FMS in Chinese Medicine is usually considered to be a wind damp problem and most have some heat involvement. Wind is used to describe the migrating pain and damp (like a swamp) for the headaches, dizziness, numbness and tingling. What makes it so difficult to treat is the heat. If you clear heat too fast, the dampness becomes more predominant and exacerbates their pain symptoms and if you drain the damp too fast, the heat flares higher and sleep becomes nonexistent which makes their emotions even more unstable.
The side effects from Lyrica mimic some of the symptoms of fibromyalgia and that can't possibly be good. The weight gain will definitely exacerbate the symptoms that are related to dampness, so those FMS sufferers will not see the improvement they hope and may feel that their situation is worse than before.
Regulating the sleep cycle and not by using pills, increasing exposure to sunlight and changing certain habits are likely to have a more beneficial effect than popping a pill, but that requires active participation and let's face it, popping a pill is much easier.
And if that one doesn't work, there are bound to be others. Excuse me while I go put on my flak jacket.
3Bs
It isn't that I have a lack of compassion, it's just that in the long run I don't see a successful outcome. What I do see is a lot of people making money off of other people's suffering. Instead of lifestyle and behavioral changes, pop a pill. Instead of putting yourself in another person's shoes, pop a pill. Instead of living your life, pop a pill.
Three years ago I was suffering through a bout of depression and was considering taking an antidepressant. Life didn't look like it was going to get better (and it hasn't) so I thought maybe if I just don't let it bother me so much, maybe it will go away. I wallowed in that for a few weeks and then one morning I turned on the computer and there was this story about a tsunami in the Indian Ocean.
I spent most of the morning looking at maps, calculating distances and reading every piece of news on the disaster. Tsunamis have always been one of my biggest fears so I knew how devastating it was likely to be. With each hour the news got worse.
I called a former friend but she said she didn't feel like getting up yet (it was after 1pm by then) and that she didn't think it was that big a deal. Hey, it was only 283,000 people, no biggie. I remember looking at the phone and thinking, wow!
What I couldn't remember, was what I was depressed about. It just wasn't that important. No matter how much my life sucks (and it does), it doesn't suck as bad as the majority of the people in the world. At least not yet and hopefully it never will. Not all depression is that easy to ignore.
The drug companies won't miss me because they have so many other willing customers. Never mind that the side effects are sometimes as bad as the original problem (Alli, I'd rather be fat than poop my pants) or that it could be fatal (Vioxx), cause heart defects (Fen-phen) or birth defects (Thalidomide, yes it's back and it's being used for leprosy).
PZ Myers likes to bag on woowoo medicine (chiropractic, acupuncture, etc, sometimes I agree with him, sometimes I don't but I read him every day) but so called traditional medicine has its own problems. Like any other profession you have good diagnosticians and bad ones. Doctors, plumbers, electricians, acupuncturists, mechanics or computer technicians, if you can't diagnose the problem correctly, it can't be fixed. By way of example, how many episodes has House tried out more than one diagnosis before he gets it right? Always makes you glad you weren't the patient, doesn't it?
People are more than charts and statistics and western medicine likes to disregard that. Chinese medicine, properly practiced, is supposed to take the whole person into account. This includes their living arrangements, eating, sleeping and sexual habits, as well as their perception of themselves. So when I see people buying into the Lyrica propaganda, my BS meter goes off.
FMS in Chinese Medicine is usually considered to be a wind damp problem and most have some heat involvement. Wind is used to describe the migrating pain and damp (like a swamp) for the headaches, dizziness, numbness and tingling. What makes it so difficult to treat is the heat. If you clear heat too fast, the dampness becomes more predominant and exacerbates their pain symptoms and if you drain the damp too fast, the heat flares higher and sleep becomes nonexistent which makes their emotions even more unstable.
The side effects from Lyrica mimic some of the symptoms of fibromyalgia and that can't possibly be good. The weight gain will definitely exacerbate the symptoms that are related to dampness, so those FMS sufferers will not see the improvement they hope and may feel that their situation is worse than before.
Regulating the sleep cycle and not by using pills, increasing exposure to sunlight and changing certain habits are likely to have a more beneficial effect than popping a pill, but that requires active participation and let's face it, popping a pill is much easier.
And if that one doesn't work, there are bound to be others. Excuse me while I go put on my flak jacket.
3Bs
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Umm, No Kidding
Sorry for the light posting, this cold has made breathing (and by definition, everything else) a pain in the freakin' buns. It's been two weeks, which means I should be better tomorrow.
Two weeks to recover from a cold if you go to the doctor, fourteen days if you don't. Sigh.
Meanwhile, Jon Stewart's guest babbles coherently for a few moments.
Somebody needs to get a grip on something. Like reality, not a kneejerk induced fantasy. When my puppy has a wide stance it means she has to go the bathroom, not paw the shoe on the left. I can be pretty liberal but this is one stance where there just aren't enough drugs.
Two weeks to recover from a cold if you go to the doctor, fourteen days if you don't. Sigh.
Meanwhile, Jon Stewart's guest babbles coherently for a few moments.
Ultimately democratic societies tend not to have the problems than non democratic societies have. John BoltonYa think?
Somebody needs to get a grip on something. Like reality, not a kneejerk induced fantasy. When my puppy has a wide stance it means she has to go the bathroom, not paw the shoe on the left. I can be pretty liberal but this is one stance where there just aren't enough drugs.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Random Flickr Blogging Returns!
And The Moon Is Made Of Cheese
I know I'm going to get into trouble and offend people with this post but fibromyalgia or FMS as it's now called, happens to be a pet peeve of mine. When women in Africa, the Amazon or some other poor nation start to suffer from this disease, maybe I'll believe in it.
While there are people who legitimately suffer from widespread chronic pain, fortunately they are few (not as few as there could be) and far between. Unfortunately, they are rarely treated for the amount of pain that they actually suffer and live under the threat of having themselves or their doctor arrested on some type of drug charge.
While they don't get the treatment they need, there are a whole group of people who complain about pain who get way too much attention. And now they get to have a drug for this "condition".
My first experience with "FMS" was in the late eighties when mom was having some kind of procedure on base (back when they still treated dependents) and her nurse (an officer) was telling us that she was being discharged from the military because she couldn't perform her duties due to these pains that the doctors couldn't figure out. I remember watching and listening and my impression then was, how convenient.
When I was in practice I treated many "sufferers" and I hated it. At the same time I was treating them for their migrating pain (wind), their depression and sluggishness (damp), I was also treating them for their mental state (shen), which was disturbed. There is a saying in Chinese Medicine that states "when in pain, treat the heart" and it applies very well to fibromyalgia patients.
These women are almost always the first born girl and have some type of family problems where they were ignored unless they were ill. The majority of my patients had had mononucleosis or some type of flu like disease between 14 and 18 and it was the only time that they got consideration within their family. Since they are fequently of above average intelligence (have you ever noticed how well they research their disease?), they quickly learned how to manipulate people into feeling sorry for their problems.
The world is supposed to revolve around them and if you make any progress with them, they stop taking the herbs, they stop showing up for their appointments until they are in pain again and they absolutely refuse to change their sleeping habits. They always have some excuse for not being able to follow through or to complete a course of treatment. Then they go find another practitioner so they can start the process all over again and maintain their belief that nothing helps them. Wouldn't want to lose that control over their loved ones.
I know I sound judgmental and I am. As a former massage therapist I can tell you that everyone, and I mean everyone, has trigger points. Very few people have correct posture, get regular exercise, stretch and eat right. The ones that do, don't complain about body aches. Heaven forbid that these sufferers actively participate in their own course of treatment, it's much easier to come up with a convenient excuse and now they get to take a pill. Two years from now a pill won't be enough, they'll be demanding some type of surgery.
I wonder how many of the women who survived the tsunami sit around poking themselves and complaining about mysterious pains.
Big Brass Blog
While there are people who legitimately suffer from widespread chronic pain, fortunately they are few (not as few as there could be) and far between. Unfortunately, they are rarely treated for the amount of pain that they actually suffer and live under the threat of having themselves or their doctor arrested on some type of drug charge.
While they don't get the treatment they need, there are a whole group of people who complain about pain who get way too much attention. And now they get to have a drug for this "condition".
“What’s going to happen with fibromyalgia is going to be the exact thing that happened to depression with Prozac,” Dr. Clauw said. “These are legitimate problems that need treatments.”Only by people who refuse to deal in reality or those who like to profit from their difficulties. Take a pill, it's easier than dealing with the fact that your life sucks, it isn't working out the you want it to and your family only does what you want because they feel sorry for you or they just want you to quit whining.
My first experience with "FMS" was in the late eighties when mom was having some kind of procedure on base (back when they still treated dependents) and her nurse (an officer) was telling us that she was being discharged from the military because she couldn't perform her duties due to these pains that the doctors couldn't figure out. I remember watching and listening and my impression then was, how convenient.
When I was in practice I treated many "sufferers" and I hated it. At the same time I was treating them for their migrating pain (wind), their depression and sluggishness (damp), I was also treating them for their mental state (shen), which was disturbed. There is a saying in Chinese Medicine that states "when in pain, treat the heart" and it applies very well to fibromyalgia patients.
These women are almost always the first born girl and have some type of family problems where they were ignored unless they were ill. The majority of my patients had had mononucleosis or some type of flu like disease between 14 and 18 and it was the only time that they got consideration within their family. Since they are fequently of above average intelligence (have you ever noticed how well they research their disease?), they quickly learned how to manipulate people into feeling sorry for their problems.
The world is supposed to revolve around them and if you make any progress with them, they stop taking the herbs, they stop showing up for their appointments until they are in pain again and they absolutely refuse to change their sleeping habits. They always have some excuse for not being able to follow through or to complete a course of treatment. Then they go find another practitioner so they can start the process all over again and maintain their belief that nothing helps them. Wouldn't want to lose that control over their loved ones.
I know I sound judgmental and I am. As a former massage therapist I can tell you that everyone, and I mean everyone, has trigger points. Very few people have correct posture, get regular exercise, stretch and eat right. The ones that do, don't complain about body aches. Heaven forbid that these sufferers actively participate in their own course of treatment, it's much easier to come up with a convenient excuse and now they get to take a pill. Two years from now a pill won't be enough, they'll be demanding some type of surgery.
I wonder how many of the women who survived the tsunami sit around poking themselves and complaining about mysterious pains.
Big Brass Blog
Friday, January 11, 2008
Que Paso?
Once again the commenters at the ABC site show their true colors. Genarlow Wilson has been offered a scholarship to Morehouse University and some commenters believe that it sets a bad precedent and that it should be reserved for kids that work hard, don't use drugs, etc. All of which was a perfect description of him until he spent three years of his youth in prison for receiving a blow job (funny how people find this so offensive, unless they're getting one themselves) from an underage girl. Someone named AndreaB31 spews more hatred and ignorance in a square inch than some of the so called conservative sites. She says she's a Dem, but I don't believe her when stuff like this flows from her keyboard.racism hypocrisy behind the conviction, and quite elegantly I might add.
I watched Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and like all pilots, it wasn't as good as it could have been but it was decent enough to want to see the rest of the season. Tim Goodman aka Crankypants doesn't see it the same way, but critics can be wrong. Summer Glau rocked and there is no way that this could be as bad as Bionic Woman. It's still not Firefly though.
And he deserves this WHY????? He will be back in jail within 6 months....more than likely on a very serious charge. Now he feels entitled to everything. Thats all we need is one more thug running around with an entitlement chip on his shoulder.Fortunately, Eleigh59 points out the
AndreaB31 Who in the world elected you to judge this young man a thug and what did he do to deserve that tag? As a Black 17yo teen, a sexual act was performed on him by a willing 15yo and he gets 10years in prison, Yet a 16yo White female on TV gets knocked up by her 19yo boyfriend and she gets a magazine cover and he gets a good ole boy pat on the back for a job well done. And here you label him a thug. By WHAT reasoning??????Insurance companies overcharge and underpay. What a surprise that isn't.
I watched Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and like all pilots, it wasn't as good as it could have been but it was decent enough to want to see the rest of the season. Tim Goodman aka Crankypants doesn't see it the same way, but critics can be wrong. Summer Glau rocked and there is no way that this could be as bad as Bionic Woman. It's still not Firefly though.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Sent To The Governator
This is a copy of an email I just sent to our illustrious governor in regards to his new budget proposal.
Dear Sir,
Your budge proposal is a travesty. Once again you are determined to balance the budget on the backs of the poor, the elderly, the ill and the infirm. As our economy fails and the rest of the world moves into the future, our children will have neither the knowledge or the training to compete in a global economy.
In your haste to compensate those who already have more than they need, you will take from those who have no recourse to improving their lives. As we fall further and further behind, you are making it difficult to catch up and impossible to move ahead. Whether you like it or not, taxes need to be raised, not cut, and our services definitely have taken all the surgery they can tolerate.
Perhaps you could spend a little more time thinking about what is best for the state as a whole and not just what is good for your campaign donors. I realize that this will be read by eyes that are blinded by a desire to hold onto a mythical past and not by eyes that are wide open and determined to make the future better for everyone, not worse for those who have no influence.
Thank you so much for ignoring the little people and making it crystal clear to everyone that California is the state where we throw the babies out with the bathwater and bring in champagne for the elite to bathe in.
Dear Sir,
Your budge proposal is a travesty. Once again you are determined to balance the budget on the backs of the poor, the elderly, the ill and the infirm. As our economy fails and the rest of the world moves into the future, our children will have neither the knowledge or the training to compete in a global economy.
In your haste to compensate those who already have more than they need, you will take from those who have no recourse to improving their lives. As we fall further and further behind, you are making it difficult to catch up and impossible to move ahead. Whether you like it or not, taxes need to be raised, not cut, and our services definitely have taken all the surgery they can tolerate.
Perhaps you could spend a little more time thinking about what is best for the state as a whole and not just what is good for your campaign donors. I realize that this will be read by eyes that are blinded by a desire to hold onto a mythical past and not by eyes that are wide open and determined to make the future better for everyone, not worse for those who have no influence.
Thank you so much for ignoring the little people and making it crystal clear to everyone that California is the state where we throw the babies out with the bathwater and bring in champagne for the elite to bathe in.
Rainy Thursday Thoughts
This is such a tragic story and it will never have a happy ending. Online bullying by a mob mentality is not a good thing. When I first started blogging, I left a comment on what I thought was a pretty reasonable conservative site. Within in minutes, I was called everything but human, realized that since the commenters had devolved into name calling and I never went back. Unfortunately, 13 year olds don't have the maturity to realize that when someone resorts to personal attacks, it means that they can't refute the original argument and that they aren't nice people. A 47 year old woman should be ashamed to have participated in, much less instigated, online bullying. Other than the death penalty, no penalty is too harsh for the adult who lead the pack.
John Kerry is a wimp, always has been and always will be. Now he's decided to back Obama. If the 2004 elections had been Edwards/Kerry instead of the other way around, this country wouldn't be in the mess that it is. His opinion means less than nothing to me and it shouldn't mean anything to anyone else. What a backstabbing tool. Not presidential at all, unless you are following in the footsteps of the Bush administration.
Blackwater. Hated the song and definitely not fond of the company. One of the things you are forced to endure in basic training is the tear gas room. It's supposedly to help you appreciate your gas mask but I think the drill instructors really enjoy watching the recruits suffer. There was this blond woman in our unit who was almost an albino. When we went through the exercise, she was incapacitated and if it hadn't started raining and washed off the tear gas, she would have had to go the hospital. She couldn't see, could hardly breathe and mucous was everywhere. That Blackwater could gas our troops at a checkpoint in the middle of a war zone is criminal behavior, not an accident. Methinks that there is more to this story.
I've made no secret of the fact that I'm a John Edwards fan. That being said, if I'm forced to choose between Obama and Hillary, gender will definitely top race for me. For many years I've said that people discriminate more against women than they do against blacks and women know this. This isn't a shocker, it's just the way the United States operates.
I have a cold and my voice is very husky, cracks and disappears every once in a while. That, combined with a little bit of rain, is making me want to disappear under the covers and check my eyelids for holes. I really hate being sick.
3Bs
John Kerry is a wimp, always has been and always will be. Now he's decided to back Obama. If the 2004 elections had been Edwards/Kerry instead of the other way around, this country wouldn't be in the mess that it is. His opinion means less than nothing to me and it shouldn't mean anything to anyone else. What a backstabbing tool. Not presidential at all, unless you are following in the footsteps of the Bush administration.
Blackwater. Hated the song and definitely not fond of the company. One of the things you are forced to endure in basic training is the tear gas room. It's supposedly to help you appreciate your gas mask but I think the drill instructors really enjoy watching the recruits suffer. There was this blond woman in our unit who was almost an albino. When we went through the exercise, she was incapacitated and if it hadn't started raining and washed off the tear gas, she would have had to go the hospital. She couldn't see, could hardly breathe and mucous was everywhere. That Blackwater could gas our troops at a checkpoint in the middle of a war zone is criminal behavior, not an accident. Methinks that there is more to this story.
I've made no secret of the fact that I'm a John Edwards fan. That being said, if I'm forced to choose between Obama and Hillary, gender will definitely top race for me. For many years I've said that people discriminate more against women than they do against blacks and women know this. This isn't a shocker, it's just the way the United States operates.
I have a cold and my voice is very husky, cracks and disappears every once in a while. That, combined with a little bit of rain, is making me want to disappear under the covers and check my eyelids for holes. I really hate being sick.
3Bs
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Wednesday Morning Wonderings
Under the guise of bipartisan gun legislation, Bush has managed to add another level of spying on citizens to his already really long list. It has nothing to do with preventing another shooting and everything to do with making a list and checking it twice.
Good grief! The crew without a clue can't even bury the soldiers correctly. What kind of sick world is this where a parent has to bury the same kid twice?
Ah, but Mr. Craig, you tried to end it. My parents would have made me eat soap if I tried to blame my misbehaviors on someone by saying they started it. Or I would have heard something like this. "If all your friends jump off a bridge, are you going to jump too? Someone needs to grow up and take their punishment like a man. Even one with a wide stance.
Support those troops! And when they get home, don't let them know about any veteran's benefits they might be entitled to, just let them wander around homeless with mental scars that won't heal.
Big Brass Blog
Much of the money, to be spent over five years, would be used to increase state feeds to a national system used to run background checks on gun purchases.What kind of word is unchurched? And yes, they do get on my last nerve. Hypocrisy doesn't begin to cover the behavior of today's so called Christian. I attended Sunday School and church for most of my youth and the intolerance and demagoguery that spews forth now, the constant whining about perceived persecutions and the false premise that this is a Christian country, may have their basis in the Old Testament but not in the New Testament. Supposedly Christ died for our sins and wanted us to love our brother like ourself. Not that you see much of that nowadays.
Good grief! The crew without a clue can't even bury the soldiers correctly. What kind of sick world is this where a parent has to bury the same kid twice?
Ah, but Mr. Craig, you tried to end it. My parents would have made me eat soap if I tried to blame my misbehaviors on someone by saying they started it. Or I would have heard something like this. "If all your friends jump off a bridge, are you going to jump too? Someone needs to grow up and take their punishment like a man. Even one with a wide stance.
Support those troops! And when they get home, don't let them know about any veteran's benefits they might be entitled to, just let them wander around homeless with mental scars that won't heal.
Big Brass Blog
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Myth America
Let's start with the fiction that Americans are pro-life. They aren't. Pro-birth, certainly. But once you're born all bets are off. From a third world infant mortality rate to trying to use the death penalty against juveniles and the mentally impaired, to showing up last on the list for preventable deaths among nations that have health care, quality of life issues are reserved for the haves and the have mores. The have nots can work until they die and they should be grateful that their betters let them contribute.
Our economy is robust and healthy. That's a good one.
That Fox News is fair and balanced. As long as you stick with the party line of neoconservatism, otherwise you will be disappeared.
That the crew without a clue care for the world and its denizens more than they care for money and profit.
That Bush and Israel aren't trying to start World War III. Again. The only thing that Bush has read carefully was My Pet Goat and we all know how well that turned out.
That global warming doesn't exist and that all our weather patterns are normal.
That freedom of speech still exists in this country and that business owners can determine appropriate behavior on their own property.
That drugs are designed to help you prevent the natural consequences of aging and that the side effects are worth it since walking, weight training and a good diet aren't enough. Or even more helpful, eliminating the drinking of sodas in childhood. For all kinds of reasons.
The usual place.
Our economy is robust and healthy. That's a good one.
That Fox News is fair and balanced. As long as you stick with the party line of neoconservatism, otherwise you will be disappeared.
That the crew without a clue care for the world and its denizens more than they care for money and profit.
That Bush and Israel aren't trying to start World War III. Again. The only thing that Bush has read carefully was My Pet Goat and we all know how well that turned out.
That global warming doesn't exist and that all our weather patterns are normal.
That freedom of speech still exists in this country and that business owners can determine appropriate behavior on their own property.
That drugs are designed to help you prevent the natural consequences of aging and that the side effects are worth it since walking, weight training and a good diet aren't enough. Or even more helpful, eliminating the drinking of sodas in childhood. For all kinds of reasons.
The usual place.
Monday, January 07, 2008
Sunday, January 06, 2008
Sunday Morning Quickie
Well, isn't this something? Seven years into the worst presidency in our history with supposedly a year to go and now impeachment is on the lips of people who should have spoken up before the country drank the kool-aid? From reading the comments it is obvious that the 23% are determined to hold on to their fantasy and are more than willing to ignore facts. Just because in the very near future they won't have a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of is no reason to look at the damage perpetrated on this country by draft dodging war mongers. They actually don't care about the troops who are dead or wounded, they definitely don't care about the Iraqis who were supposed to be helped by the overthrow of Saddam and it's painfully obvious that they don't care about the Constitution. There isn't much left of America except the name.
As if the United States would be that lucky. It's probably the only thing that the crew without a clue has anticipated. Hmm, a former American making threats on behalf of al-Qaeda. It's almost funny.
Currently it costs me about $60 to fill up the gas tank, so I drive as little as possible. Each week I try to buy extra of things that can be stored, like toilet paper, kleenex, and other staples because I know those prices will go up and the less I have to buy in a few months, the more likely I will still be able to put gas in the vehicle.
As if the United States would be that lucky. It's probably the only thing that the crew without a clue has anticipated. Hmm, a former American making threats on behalf of al-Qaeda. It's almost funny.
Currently it costs me about $60 to fill up the gas tank, so I drive as little as possible. Each week I try to buy extra of things that can be stored, like toilet paper, kleenex, and other staples because I know those prices will go up and the less I have to buy in a few months, the more likely I will still be able to put gas in the vehicle.
Friday, January 04, 2008
Avoidance Activities
While I wait for the sneak preview of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles on Yahoo!, I'm wasting time playing the Find 815 game. I haven't watched Lost for the last two seasons but I found all the clues so far and have to wait another two hours for the story to continue.
Anything besides listen to people pontificate about the latest from the Idiots Out Wandering Aimlessly and their stupid caucus that determines who the rest of the country gets a chance to vote for. Honestly, could they have picked any two worse candidates? Huckabee is a political bible thumper who doesn't believe in evolution and Obama believes in anything that is attached to the almighty dollar. Change. Riiight. And my check is in the mail, the police are here to help me and this will only hurt a little bit.
I was sitting at a stop light in downtown San Jose and a huge tree fell over. It missed my car by inches, it was so close I could smell the tree sap. Trees and branches are everywhere. Mother Nature is magnificent, isn't she?
3Bs
Anything besides listen to people pontificate about the latest from the Idiots Out Wandering Aimlessly and their stupid caucus that determines who the rest of the country gets a chance to vote for. Honestly, could they have picked any two worse candidates? Huckabee is a political bible thumper who doesn't believe in evolution and Obama believes in anything that is attached to the almighty dollar. Change. Riiight. And my check is in the mail, the police are here to help me and this will only hurt a little bit.
I was sitting at a stop light in downtown San Jose and a huge tree fell over. It missed my car by inches, it was so close I could smell the tree sap. Trees and branches are everywhere. Mother Nature is magnificent, isn't she?
3Bs
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Thursday Morning Ramblings
One of the things that people hate most about government is its lack of common sense. Driven by lawyers who glorify the small print over logic, many programs whose sole intent was to help people or prevent injury have been terminated or eliminated. Orac at Respectful Insolence (a site I have more respect for than he does for my profession) has today's blood pressure raising article. It seems that the Office for Human Research Protection closed down an experimental program for preventing infection in intensive care units in hospitals because it involved a checklist that reminded doctors to wash their hands and wear gloves and that by tracking the checklist without informed consent of the patients was scientifically unethical. I guess dying of a preventable infection is better.
California's children aren't doing so well. Health care is the major issue and the increased incidences of morbidly obese children isn't helped by the fact that 7% of kids have no health insurance. But they do have high blood pressure, diabetes, breathing issues and knee and back pain, which used to be the province of the middle aged and elderly. Kids always want to grow up so quickly but I'm pretty sure this isn't what they really meant.
You're no good, or at least your dollars aren't if you want to visit the Taj Mahal. The dollar has dropped so far in relation to the rupee that it isn't worth the hassle to take more than one currency at India's tourist sites. How bad is the drop? Well, instead of $5 per person, it is now $20 per person. Yup, our economy is going gangbusters. Into the toilet.
Texas never really got over being replaced as the largest state in the Union so it decided to be number one in different categories. Unfortunately that would be exonerations of innocent citizens in wrongful conviction cases and the leader in executions. The odds are that there is some overlap. And yes, I do consider the death penalty to be torture.
California's children aren't doing so well. Health care is the major issue and the increased incidences of morbidly obese children isn't helped by the fact that 7% of kids have no health insurance. But they do have high blood pressure, diabetes, breathing issues and knee and back pain, which used to be the province of the middle aged and elderly. Kids always want to grow up so quickly but I'm pretty sure this isn't what they really meant.
You're no good, or at least your dollars aren't if you want to visit the Taj Mahal. The dollar has dropped so far in relation to the rupee that it isn't worth the hassle to take more than one currency at India's tourist sites. How bad is the drop? Well, instead of $5 per person, it is now $20 per person. Yup, our economy is going gangbusters. Into the toilet.
Texas never really got over being replaced as the largest state in the Union so it decided to be number one in different categories. Unfortunately that would be exonerations of innocent citizens in wrongful conviction cases and the leader in executions. The odds are that there is some overlap. And yes, I do consider the death penalty to be torture.
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Seven Reasons Not To Mess With A Child
A little girl was talking to her teacher about whales. The teacher said it was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because even though it was a very large mammal its throat was very small.
The little girl stated that Jonah was swallowed by a whale. Irritated, the teacher reiterated that a whale could not swallow ahuman; it was physically impossible.
The little girl said, "When I get to heaven I will ask Jonah". The teacher asked, " What if Jonah went to hell?" The little girl replied, "Then you ask him".
******************
A Kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they were drawing. She would occasionally walk around to see each child's work. As she got to one little girl who was working diligently, she asked what the drawing was.
The girl replied, "I'm drawing God." The teacher paused and said, "But no one knows what God looks like." Without missing a beat, or looking up from her drawing, the girl replied, "They will in a minute.
*****************
A Sunday school teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her five and six year olds. After explaining the commandment to "honor" thy Father
and thy Mother, she asked, "Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?" Without missing a beat one little boy (the oldest of a family) answered, "Thou shall not kill."
***************
One day a little girl was sitting and watching her mother do the dishes at the kitchen sink. She suddenly noticed that her mother had several strands of white hair sticking out in contrast on her brunette head.
She looked at her mother and inquisitively asked, "Why are some of your hairs white, Mom?"
Her mother replied, "Well, every time that you do something wrong and make me cry or unhappy, one of my hairs turns white."
The little girl thought about this revelation for a while and then said, "Momma, how come ALL of grandma's hairs are white?"
***************
The children had all been photographed, and the teacher was trying to persuade them each to buy a copy of the group picture.
"Just think how nice it will be to look at it when you are all grown up and say, 'There's Jennifer, she's a lawyer,' or 'That's Michael, He's a doctor.'
A small voice at the back of the room rang out,"And there's the teacher, She's dead."
***************
A teacher was giving a lesson on the circulation of the blood. Trying to make the matter clearer, she said, "Now, class, if I stood on my head, the blood, as you know, would run into it, and I would turn red in the face..";
"Yes," the class said.
"Then why is it that while I am standing upright in the ordinary position the blood doesn't run into my feet?"
A little fellow shouted, "Cause your feet ain't empty."
***************
The children were lined up in the cafeteria of a Catholic elementary school for lunch. At the head of the table was a large pile of apples.
The nun made a note, and posted on the apple tray: "Take only ONE. God is watching."
Moving further along the lunch line, at the other end of the table was a
large pile of chocolate chip cookies. A child had written a note, "Take
all you want God is watching the apples.
The little girl stated that Jonah was swallowed by a whale. Irritated, the teacher reiterated that a whale could not swallow ahuman; it was physically impossible.
The little girl said, "When I get to heaven I will ask Jonah". The teacher asked, " What if Jonah went to hell?" The little girl replied, "Then you ask him".
******************
A Kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they were drawing. She would occasionally walk around to see each child's work. As she got to one little girl who was working diligently, she asked what the drawing was.
The girl replied, "I'm drawing God." The teacher paused and said, "But no one knows what God looks like." Without missing a beat, or looking up from her drawing, the girl replied, "They will in a minute.
*****************
A Sunday school teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her five and six year olds. After explaining the commandment to "honor" thy Father
and thy Mother, she asked, "Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?" Without missing a beat one little boy (the oldest of a family) answered, "Thou shall not kill."
***************
One day a little girl was sitting and watching her mother do the dishes at the kitchen sink. She suddenly noticed that her mother had several strands of white hair sticking out in contrast on her brunette head.
She looked at her mother and inquisitively asked, "Why are some of your hairs white, Mom?"
Her mother replied, "Well, every time that you do something wrong and make me cry or unhappy, one of my hairs turns white."
The little girl thought about this revelation for a while and then said, "Momma, how come ALL of grandma's hairs are white?"
***************
The children had all been photographed, and the teacher was trying to persuade them each to buy a copy of the group picture.
"Just think how nice it will be to look at it when you are all grown up and say, 'There's Jennifer, she's a lawyer,' or 'That's Michael, He's a doctor.'
A small voice at the back of the room rang out,"And there's the teacher, She's dead."
***************
A teacher was giving a lesson on the circulation of the blood. Trying to make the matter clearer, she said, "Now, class, if I stood on my head, the blood, as you know, would run into it, and I would turn red in the face..";
"Yes," the class said.
"Then why is it that while I am standing upright in the ordinary position the blood doesn't run into my feet?"
A little fellow shouted, "Cause your feet ain't empty."
***************
The children were lined up in the cafeteria of a Catholic elementary school for lunch. At the head of the table was a large pile of apples.
The nun made a note, and posted on the apple tray: "Take only ONE. God is watching."
Moving further along the lunch line, at the other end of the table was a
large pile of chocolate chip cookies. A child had written a note, "Take
all you want God is watching the apples.
Wednesday Morning Quickie
Isn't it nice to know that women are still considered property of their fathers, even after being married to a man for over three years? It is utterly fascinating to me that anyone would think that murdering a person in their sleep was going to make the situation better. Oh well, you can take the man out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the man.
It takes women longer to pay off their student loans than it does men. Duh! If women's starting wages are less than men with the same educational background, of course it will take them longer, but sixteen years versus eleven is a bit much. What good does it do a woman to excel in school if the guys who scored lower than her, makes more money? Oh yeah, she will at least be able to get a job, but not necessarily the one she really wants or one that pays as well. Still has to pay for that high priced education though.
Ooh, discrimination in medicine. Now there's a surprise. I had an episode with kidney stones and the nurse put me at the bottom of the pile, I spent fourteen hours in the waiting in the emergency room. The doctors took one look at me and shot me up with Toradol (a really strong NSAID) and not the Demerol they had given me with the first episode. Fortunately it worked and then I went to the Business Office and filed a formal complaint about the nurse. By the end of the week,, she was out of a job.
If someone wants to steal my identity, they are welcome to it. I'm so close to debtors prison that the only thing that they could do to my creidt, is to clean it up for them to use. Unfortunately for the criminals, as the ability to perpetrate identity theft increases, the people with good credit will be declaring bankruptcy due to medical bills and home foreclosures.
45 things you can learn online for free. My favorite is #25, I thought all you had to do was push the button or pull the lever.
It takes women longer to pay off their student loans than it does men. Duh! If women's starting wages are less than men with the same educational background, of course it will take them longer, but sixteen years versus eleven is a bit much. What good does it do a woman to excel in school if the guys who scored lower than her, makes more money? Oh yeah, she will at least be able to get a job, but not necessarily the one she really wants or one that pays as well. Still has to pay for that high priced education though.
Ooh, discrimination in medicine. Now there's a surprise. I had an episode with kidney stones and the nurse put me at the bottom of the pile, I spent fourteen hours in the waiting in the emergency room. The doctors took one look at me and shot me up with Toradol (a really strong NSAID) and not the Demerol they had given me with the first episode. Fortunately it worked and then I went to the Business Office and filed a formal complaint about the nurse. By the end of the week,, she was out of a job.
If someone wants to steal my identity, they are welcome to it. I'm so close to debtors prison that the only thing that they could do to my creidt, is to clean it up for them to use. Unfortunately for the criminals, as the ability to perpetrate identity theft increases, the people with good credit will be declaring bankruptcy due to medical bills and home foreclosures.
45 things you can learn online for free. My favorite is #25, I thought all you had to do was push the button or pull the lever.
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
New Year? Just Like The Old Year
One of the drawbacks to public transportation is that you usually have no control over who sits next to you. I've sat next to people who were desperately in need of a bath...the week before. People have drank, thrown up or wanked off (it was eight in the morning!) on the bus. They have wailed, cried, argued or talked to people who weren't there. It can get annoying which is why I wear headphones and listen to music. If I had been on the bus with this woman, I would have asked her to shut up. Not be quiet, but shut up. The bus driver is an unsung hero for asking her to leave the bus, not a discriminator. Some of these "religious" fanatics would harangue a monk who had observed a vow of silence for twenty years just to prove how religious they are.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. We need a national primary followed thirty days later by the national election. Enough is enough and we were past that eight months ago. I seriously doubt that less people would vote and more people might be informed. At least it would give all the citizens a chance to vote on all the candidates, not just those with money leftover. The system is broken and it needs to be fixed. As this poll points out, all Americans should have an equal say.
Don't make me laugh. Who really believes this? You know darn well that there was a signing statement attached. Honestly, the crap that they think we'll believe.
It really doesn't matter what George Orwell would think now, the truth of the matter is that he wrote a book many years ago that is accurately reflecting the current deteriorating state of privacy in America. One doesn't actually have to live through tyranny to recognize it or write about it in all its forms. Interesting how the Bible isn't held to the same scrutiny. You just have to take it on faith.
While Ron Paul has some ideas I agree with, most of them I don't. He is well known enough that he should be allowed to participate in the debates because he does raise points that need to be discussed out in the open. But this is Fox, what the heck was I thinking?
3Bs
I've said it before and I'll say it again. We need a national primary followed thirty days later by the national election. Enough is enough and we were past that eight months ago. I seriously doubt that less people would vote and more people might be informed. At least it would give all the citizens a chance to vote on all the candidates, not just those with money leftover. The system is broken and it needs to be fixed. As this poll points out, all Americans should have an equal say.
Don't make me laugh. Who really believes this? You know darn well that there was a signing statement attached. Honestly, the crap that they think we'll believe.
It really doesn't matter what George Orwell would think now, the truth of the matter is that he wrote a book many years ago that is accurately reflecting the current deteriorating state of privacy in America. One doesn't actually have to live through tyranny to recognize it or write about it in all its forms. Interesting how the Bible isn't held to the same scrutiny. You just have to take it on faith.
While Ron Paul has some ideas I agree with, most of them I don't. He is well known enough that he should be allowed to participate in the debates because he does raise points that need to be discussed out in the open. But this is Fox, what the heck was I thinking?
3Bs
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