Saturday, May 10, 2013

So Long & Thanks for all the Fish

Ahhhh, yes, Douglas Adams wrote the perfect ending to his Guide. Sometimes I feel like I’m a hitchhiker myself, wandering through this place we like to call Earth.  And my wanderings have carried me and my loved one to many places, and we have observed much, some good, some not-so-good.

Mainly now, I seem to be seeing too much not-so-good.  Between Muslims blowing up themselves and innocents in order to secure their 71 virgins in their make-believe afterlife, or Republicans in this country demonstrating that they don’t really care about anything but themselves and their rich owners, I have this sinking feeling that our wonderful world is slowing sinking into an abyss of chaos, where only the well-armed rich can survive in their moated castles .

As a result, I have apparently become simply too much the “cranky old man”.  My Blog was fun, despite the fact that I never achieved more than a handful of actual readers—I observe with great envy Helen Philpot of Margaret and Helen, that blog of the million plus followers. Way to go Helen.

At any rate, I think that the world does not really need another cranky old man, so I would like to say to my tiny loyal fan club

“So Long and Thanks for all the Fish.”

For a real, and highly entertaining blog, I recommend that you check out Margaret and Helen at:

http://margaretandhelen.com/about/.  Helen hasn’t written in a while, but I remain hopeful that, despite her 80+ years, she will resume her delightful Blog.

Carol: An Update

Carol: An Update

My wonderful wife Carol has been battered a bit lately by the whimsical nature of our bodies and by modern medical science.

As you may know, she and I had been working out regularly at the Y, five days a week. She did water aerobics three times per week and swam 20+ laps in the pool the other two days. Then, suddenly, she couldn’t make one lap. Her breathing became difficult very quickly.

So, she began undergoing a series of tests—an EKG, a CAT scan, then an exam by a pulmonologist. Finally, she had a bronchoscopy, where they took some tissue for a biopsy and some fluids to examine in the lab.  Meanwhile, back at the ranch, she needed oxygen, so they delivered tanks to use both at night, while sleeping and to use at home and when we went out.

Finally, the lab tests came back.  It’s complicated they say. Nice!

They tell us that she has moderate, stage two COPD, which she probably has had for some time, and that clearly isn’t the central problem. Mainly, her breathing difficulties stem from inflamed lungs, and the inflamed lungs are a toxic reaction to Methotrexate, which she has been taking for some time to manage her giant cell arteritis.

So, they have stopped the Methotrexate, which seems to be the central culprit in all this.  But how to reduce the inflammation? Normally, they would administer a steroid—say prednisone. But the last several times she was administered prednisone, she wound up in the hospital with pancreatitis.  So, it remains unclear. One might say, well just stay off the Methotrexate and the lungs will return to normal. Well, maybe, but without the Methotrexate, the giant cell arteritis might return, further damaging her arteries.  So, as I say, it’s complicated.

We may get some better answers next week.  In the meantime, she will continue monitoring her oxygen level and continue taking oxygen as needed.  She will also likely receive some pulmonary rehab, prior to hopefully resuming some regular exercise.

Aging is not for sissies . . .

Right Wing Tyranny

When I heard on NPR a statement from the NRA gang that this “war” is not just about guns; it’s a culture war, I thought, “hmmm, that sounds correct.”  And then the guy said that it’s a war between THE RIGHT—righteous people standing up against tyranny—and THE LEFT—decadent people of dubious moral character—I thought , “hmmm . . . tyranny . . . that sounds right too . . . except that THE RIGHT represents the TYRANTS. We the People need protection from the Right Wing Gunners of our land. Despite all the killing, Sarah Palin still speaks of “reloading?”  Sarah, you’re one sick puppy.

While I know that the NRA folks mostly need to be on serious anti-psychotic medication, they ain’t gonna get some anytime soon. And it’s true, I guess. People whose mental senses have departed don’t really know it. They imagine (delusional to the core) that they are righteous.

And in retrospect, perhaps the scariest indicator that John McCain was incapable of running the country, was his choice of Sarah Bimbo Palin.  He was known, I think as a reckless, fairly incompetent flyer, while in the Navy. I guess his reckless incompetence showed brightly for all to see with his selection of Sarah. For, whatever you think of Dick Cheney as a scary VEEP, Sarah would have redefined that territory, and redefined it in very dangerous ways.

The question, though, since we continue to have relatively complete rights of free expression, it is not possible to muzzle the more aggressive Gunners in our land. The NRA is probably the most irresponsible lobby in the country, but lobbying isn’t yet illegal. That they can still buy Congresspersons is clear. And it seems clear that we have but one solution to this horrible problem—vote the rascals out of office to the point that there is no one left for the NRA to buy.

And given the way republican lawmakers, especially at the state level, have gerrymandered the voting districts, and continue to move their agenda forward to prevent democrats from voting, we may have difficulty in that regard.

But, folks, if we wish to remain free of the tyranny of the right wing gunners, vote them out we must.

So, pay attention. It’s getting serious out there. Start speaking out and, when there's a vote coming up, show up, and vote!

Home-Grown Terrorists

A recent article by Leonard Pitts of the Miami Herald spoke to the existence of home-grown terrorism. He had been writing about how we need to stand together with Bostonians.

“We stand together,” he had written. “We stand defiant. And we stand with Boston.”

A letter-writer to Mr. Pitts disagreed.

“Your wrong pal we do not STAND TOGETHER.OH MY GOD we need a CIVIL WAR. The American people against the LIBERAL DEMACRAT SCUM that we have let allow SCUMBAGS like those that would BLOW UP people in BROAD DAYLIGHT to be here … WE NEED A CIVIL WAR. Those demacrats that happen to still be breathing after that CIVIL WAR will have a choice. BECOME NORMAL or you are LEAVING with the 11 million illegals that ARE GOING HOME … THIS IS SO CLOSE TO HAPPENING THAT EVERY LIBERAL IN THIS COUNTRY SHOULD START LOSING SLEEP … THERE IS A CLEAR REASON WHY WE ARE ARMED TO THE TEETH ...”

This letter is indicative of the existence of an increasingly radicalized group of US citizens, who are likely armed and dangerous. They need to be on an FBI terrorist watch list. But are they??

Mr. Pitts’ article today was, frankly, both scary and "suspicions confirmed". I have long believed, reading and listening to the hyper-partisan rhetoric flowing from the right wing, that we were in the beginning stages of a civil war. When I read about all the efforts now going into determining where/how the brothers who bombed Boston received their radicalization and training, I am drawn now to wondering where/when Mr. Pitts’ letter writer received his radicalization and training. We seem always driven to looking for clues when the terrorist is a Muslim. Do we imagine that the letter writer is a Muslim? Hmmm . . . probably not. But he has been radicalized, and now represents a potential terrorist threat to the United States, and should be on an FBI terrorist watch list. Now, he may simply be crazy and in need of medical treatment and probably hospitalization. But perhaps the same could be said of all terrorists. Don't you have to be crazy to do these things??

What troubles me is that I don't see any equivalent effort being expended by the police and FBI to look for the crazies represented by Mr. Pitts’ letter-writer. I am being drawn inexorably into a state of depression about our nation's future. I have grandchildren and even great grandchildren. I fear for their future. It once seemed bright, but the future now seems dim and potentially catastrophic. And the threat isn't even foreign. It's all home-grown, with the right wing megaphones--read the Faux News Network, Sarah Palin, Ric Santorum, Hannity, et al, urging them on. And they feel no shame.

Weapons of Mass Destruction

Weapons of Mass Destruction

So the Boston bomber is being charged with using a “weapon of mass destruction” to carry out an attack with the intent of murdering many people. I gather that the weapons of mass destruction charge carries a stiffer penalty than just any old weapon.  So, with that WMD, the bomber(s) managed to kill 3 people and maim near a couple of hundred folks who happened to be watching the marathon at its ending stage.  He may also be termed a “terrorist”. So, he will be a terrorist who employed a WMD to carry out an act of terror within the United States.  The good republican folk, always trying to be helpful, are also trying to have him declared an “enemy combatant”, the better to keep him incarcerated like those evil guys down in Gitmo, As an enemy combatant, I guess we can keep him in a cell for a really long time without all that inconvenience about his rights to a lawyer. The fact that he’s actually a US citizen seems less important to the republican folk than the fact that he hails from Chechnya and used a WMD.

So all this republican logic train started me thinking. This guy, the mad bomber terrorist dude actually succeeded in killing three people.  Meanwhile, the dude who used his automatic guns equipped with large capacity magazines in Newton, CT managed to off over twenty little kids in an elementary school.  And that dude who used his automatic rifles in that theatre in Aurora also killed  more innocents than our Chechnyan-Bostonian  terrorist. So what then makes a WMD? It seems to me logical that any weapon capable of causing the deaths of large numbers of people in a short period of time could logically be classified as a WMD. Certainly an IED with a large enough dynamite capacity would qualify, but so might an AR-15 rifle equipped with a high capacity magazine.  Nicht Wahr??

So, if we can all agree that our Chechnyan-Bostonian terrorist can be charged as a terrorist using a WMD, then why not the dudes who shot up Aurora and Newtown?  They were, after all, way more effective at killing a large number of people in a very short time period than our terrorist in Boston, n’est-ce pas??

If so, then it follows that any automatic or semi-automatic gun, equipped with a large capacity magazine, is by definition a WMD. And one might imagine that, say, background checks might be useful before granting permission to buy a WMD.  So, now perhaps we can move logically to some slightly more serious control over such weapons. Surely, even republicans currently in the loving arms of the NRA money-bags would agree to such a proposition.

It also makes me wonder, just hypothetically of course, whether under-regulation of dangerous industries, might also be the equivalent to a WMD. That explosion in West Texas seems to have been caused by really crappy management oversight of the plant and little to no federal or state regulation/oversight.  Makes me wonder . . .

And in other news, it is reported that on exoplanet Dickhead, the Cock brothers now wish to emulate their mentor Sir Rupert of Murdoch by buying their very own newspaper. They are simply trying, they claim, to provide an outlet for conservative viewpoints, otherwise missing in these here United States.  I suppose technically they have a point since all of Rupert’s outlets, The Faux News Network, the False Street Journal and others no longer qualify as actual news outlets.

Global Interfaith Accord

Global Interfaith Accord

So, three guys walk into a bar, a Muslim, a Christian, and a Jew. They order beers. Just as the barman begins to pour the beers, the Muslim guy detonates his dynamite vest. But before the dust has settled on the interior wreckage, a missile from a nearby hovering drone, strikes the bar, demolishing the place and killing everyone within.

Global interfaith accord in the 21^st century . . .

North Carolina Religion

It’s getting harder and harder to admit to folks that you live in North Carolina, such a national joke have we become.  I’m awaiting the date and time when Mississippians first begin uttering those fateful words—“Thank God for North Carolina.” Yep, the race to the bottom has begun in earnest.  There must be something in the water in Raleigh. Maybe it’s the Kool-Aid they’ve been drinking.  

But really, a state religion? And maybe even, with the joke legislation they tried to foist off on the state, a county, or even a townie religion. And which one would that be??? How about Wiccan? Yeah, that would be cool.  The Cabarrus County Wiccan Church, and we could begin all official meetings with a Wiccan prayer:

“Ladies and genemums, we wish to give thanks to all the wicked witches of both East and West, for bringing us all those good blessings in our lives . . . especially hot is those drone-brooms that we are able to use to clean house in our Charter School system—ya know, the one we use to replace all those go’ment schools.  So, thanks to all you Wiccan goddesses out there. You done good.”

And then, we could fly the Wiccan flag above all official buildings in the county.

Yeah, we really are on to something. Some might call it stupidity, but that’s just all those jealous folks who live in Mississippi and South Carolina.  See, they thought they had a lock on the National Stupidity thing. They didn’t reckon on North Carolina republicans. Way to go republicans!!