Satire and Ice

On Israel and Palestine

2011-09-23T17:13:00.001-04:00

On Christian Persecution

2011-07-31T00:35:00.000-04:00

The Future Is Here

2011-07-16T22:24:00.001-04:00

The Monty Python Moving Company Robot

2011-05-18T22:02:00.001-04:00

Amazing.

Too Rambling to Podcast (World Peace)

2011-04-09T10:16:00.000-04:00

--I wrote this over the course of a dozen underslept moments throughout the week and it was too spastic and disjointed to salvage in a podcast, so I'm posting my notes here for anyone interested. Thanks for not judging me too harshly. -- (Jon)

So I'm reading a book called "Love Wins" followed by the sarcastically avantguard, "A Book About Heaven, Hell and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived."

Let me back up.

Kate and I spent some time at the ashram of Amma, the Mother Theresa of Hindus, a woman whose spiritual moniker, "Amma," litterally means "Mother." It is a big place, a pink place, and a new world of spiritual dichotomy for Kate and I.

It was interesting seeing faithfulness played out in a different cultural setting. We would read a short maxim about selflessness outside the juice bar, only to have an Indian nun, dressed in white, push to the front of the line and - quite literally - put her needs before the needs of others.

As a former religious zealot, I remember how one personality can drastically alter an outsider's perspective of the faith she represents, so I try to withhold judgment. But, when it happens again, and I find myself muttering what we always do when someone breaks the unwritten code of the 'Q' or cuts us off in traffic, "Don't worry, she's obviously very important."

And then, the voice of a top-hatted and monicled cricket whispered into my ear,

"You're damn right she is!"

That drunk and belligerent hexaped is right. I thought to myself, and I remembered something in my wedding vows about "seeing the spark of divinity in all people."

Fast forward to today, I'm at the freaking Great Escape for grown ups. If you weren't privy to the evangelical Jr. High summer camp that is the Great Escape, you really are missing out. PFR Youth Ministries rents out college campuses around the country and holds week long "camps" where 6th-7th and 8th graders live in dorms, have the run of the college and generally wreak havoc. For scale, I've been to the Great Escape 6 times and loved every minute of it, even on either end when I wasn't really a crazy evangelical.

What was I talking about?

Oh, right: The Sivananda ashram. All of that was to say, this place is a Hindi-Yoga summer camp complete with lessons from holy books, a lot of exercise, not much sleep, food you eat with your hands, and singing and chanting that no one understands. To be fair the food here is more along the lines of water-rice and curry - making it all the more impressive - and the songs are in Sanskrit.

Oh, and if your curious what "water-rice" is, just say it out loud once or twice; whatever picture starts sloshing around in your head is probably accurate.

Ok, what's the point?

(I pause for a moment to scroll back to the top of the page and see where I was going with all this. If you're wondering too, it starts, " So I'm reading a book called "Love Wins" followed by the sarcastically avantguard, "A Book About Heaven, Hell and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived."

Hmm, I also meant to look up the correct spelling of "avantguard," but as this is a podcast, "Good News!" (More on that later.)

Man, with no ritalin these days and alcohol and tobacco forbidden by ashram decree, I feel more distractible than usual.

And with all this background, I can't remember the point.

(I look back at the what I last saved this as before my last session of shoulder stands and chest expansion.)

Oh right, World Peace.

I entitled this world peace, because all this---- (The bell just rang for more chanting. Back in two hours -- almost done; promise!)

--

Oh. Dear. Gosh.

Oh. My. Shanti.

Had I known, had I even suspected what would happen just moments after I left, I would have brought a videocamera.

I've seen a lot o crazy shit since coming to India, but nothing compared to watching the lights slowly flash on, one bye one after about 30 minutes of meditation and chanting, only to realize the next half hour would be

wait for it

a fucking talent show!

We are at summer camp!!!

It was like every talent show you've ever seen, a lot of musical numbers, some not quite inspiring modern art and a group performance of what appeared to be Indias version of the macarena.
Mew let me give you two-bits of advice if you yourself are thinking about getting yourself into a multiethnic talent show.
1. Don't tell stories. You'll spend all your time giving background information. All-of-a-sudden that Great Escape turd of a story becomes 6 times as long and we still can't understand your accent.
2. Do not under any circumstances do comedy. Never. Nope. I've never seen a talent show commedian who didn't make everyone in the audience feel awkward - now imagine that x 15 countries, dozens more cultures, an age range just shy of half a decade and english was a second language for more than half the crowd tonight. Oh, and did I mention that English was both (can you believe two idiots tried this?!) performers' not second but 3rd languages?! Not understanding cultural cu---

Ok, time out. Summer camp.

You got that.

Agree to conjure that feeling of awkward embarrassment at your last date with amateur standup glory, squirm around in it for a while and I'll stop writing.

I'll have to get back to "Love Wins" and where it, Amma, and this week at summer camp are what my own spiritual journey seems to be doing with them. I tried to link them all in a short, trite and mildly auspicious bundle, but the universe would not have it.

For now, though, you can know there is hope in India.

There is the best yoga of my life.

And there is the Napoleon Dynamite Dance performed tonight by a mustachioed and windbreaker clad Indian student, dancing on the alter to Krishna.

90 Second Counterstrain

2011-03-24T01:26:00.003-04:00

We're traveling again - this time in India - and posting podcasts on 90secondcounterstrain.blogspot.com .

Thanks for listening!

2010-12-31T12:57:00.002-05:00

Back to the Haiti!

We head out to the D.R. January 3 and cross over to Haiti soon thereafter on our way to the Partner's in Development clinic in Cite Soliel in Port-au-Prince. We're looking forward to leaving the safe reliability of the northeast and reuniting with our friends and patients in warmer lands. With any luck we'll even have internet and send out a few podcasts while we're there.

Thanks for waiting.

Ken Robinson: Changing education paradigms | Video on TED.com

2010-12-21T14:38:00.000-05:00

Ken Robinson: Changing education paradigms | Video on TED.com

The Mercury-Poisoned Hatter

2010-11-15T22:13:00.001-05:00

Written and performed from the discomfort of my sick bed in Concepcion, Guatemala.

Engage with Grace

2010-11-02T14:48:00.005-04:00

My former boss, Alex Drane, recently spoke at TedMed about the need for better conservations about end of life care and communicating with loved ones about the way, when the time comes, you would like to die.

I don't have access to the video yet, but here's what she said:

"So when I heard that I was going to be speaking with all of you about end of life, I was a little sad at first…even though end of life is an obsession of mine….because TedMed is such a sexy event, and speaking here is such an honor. I wanted to talk with you about something like vitality - feeling alive, being empowered, taking life into your own hands…but then it hit me… that’s what end of life actually is – that’s what it can be when it’s done well.

But … It’s not usually. 70% of people want to die at home, only 30% do.

Here’s another stat you might not have thought about recently – You only die once. Think about that for one second – You only die once. Not my words - Atul Gawande’s in his incredible essay on end of life – ‘Letting Go’- which I am now declaring as mandatory reading for each and every person attending TedMed.

End of life in the US has somehow failed to become personal. It’s like this thing we put on a shelf and ignore. And getting what you want at end of life has become synonymous with filling out forms and getting waivers and going to some lawyers office where you pay a lot of money and get excited when you get to keep the pen.

But that’s not what it’s about. Not at all. Let me tell you a story.

Once upon a time there was this extraordinary woman named Za – short for Rosaria. Za was first generation Italian, breathtaking to look at, driven to become a pharmacist – the first in her family to go to college – and of course she was also human…She loved to enjoy…spending money she didn’t always have, generous to a fault. She was madly in love with her husband John and her two year old daughter Alessia, the apple of her eye. Deep within Za welled this enormous sense of joy – a deep gratitude for the life she had. As it turned out, deep within her also lived cancer – and not just any cancer – but the terrible and unforgiving brain cancer Glioblastoma – described by one of her surgeons as whip cream in a sponge – virtually impossible to eradicate. The seven month battle Za waged against her illness was a mighty one – she endured two massive brain surgeries, radiation, chemotherapy, all the related humiliations – but the cancer didn’t really care.

Can you imagine being 32, being in love, being a new mum, loving your job, looking forward to standing up for your brother as he got married on New Years Eve – and instead of putting on your favorite sexy dress and highest heels, being ambulanced from one hospital to another because they had found a mass in your head? Can you imagine waking in a hospital bed surrounded by the very family that had flown in for this wedding – many all the way from Sicily - and hearing from them that you had a tumor in your brain? Can you imagine - after six exhausting weeks of radiation –sitting on this cot covered with a crinkly piece of paper, freezing in your johny, hoping your two year old wasn’t wreaking too much havoc in the waiting room where she waited with your mum – can you imagine hearing that the radiation hadn’t worked? That the cancer had actually grown? Can you imagine knowing you were dying? At 32?

I don’t know for sure that she did know that she was dying. Even though we were there with her almost every night over those seven months, I don’t know because we never talked about it. Death just wasn’t something you talked about in the family. And all those doctors that took care of her? In this hospital that was number one for this very type of cancer? They never talked to her about it either.

They did ask us what we wanted to do when the end was near, however. We didn’t know for sure, we hadn’t discussed it with her. Our gut was she would want to go home - So that’s what we told them. ‘We want to take her home.’

They said, ‘You can’t. Her case is too complicated. She needs to stay here in the hospital.’ Now I work in the healthcare space, and I am not a shy and retiring wallflower - But when the head oncologist looked down on us and said, ‘You can’t’ – I froze. Just caved. And Antonio – her brother, my man, who had spent most of those seven months embarrassed by how frequently I questioned her care team - he stood up, thank god, and said, ‘No. We are taking her home. We are absolutely unquestionably 100% taking her home.’

And so we did. And that night - after two months in the hospital, two months of her daughter feeling afraid to lie next to, or talk to, or even touch this mum she had stopped being able to recognize – on the very first night we had Za settled at home –– and safely surrounded by the comforts, the familiarities, the smells of those sacred four walls - Alessia crawled up next to her in the bed, and for the first time in eight weeks, gave her mum her medicine. For the first time since Za’s 2nd surgery, she tucked her head into the crook of her mum’s neck. And Za – who had not spoken or opened her eyes in at least a week, woke up fully, and looked her daughter square in the eyes, and loved her in the way that only a mum can. And the next night she died, peacefully, at home.

I wonder sometimes, who got the greatest gift that night? Was it Za? Who may finally have felt some peace, at home, finally able to connect with her daughter? Or was it really Alessia – who is now 7, and who to this day crawls into my lap to hear stories of her mum, and how she was the very last thing her mum saw – how her mums face had softened in unbelievable peace on that last night? Or was it really the rest of us – honored to witness that incredible moment – knowing we almost missed it?

Reinventing the way we deal with end of life is a gift for everyone – for each and every person alive today. And it’s something we have to do. Unquestionably, 100%, we have to do this better.

So we came up with this idea…a way to help get the conversation about end of life started – a way to Engage in this topic with Grace. Just five simple questions about our end of life preferences that we could all commit to being able to answer – for ourselves, for our loved ones.

The thought was this – if we could answer the questions for ourselves, if we could answer just these five questions for our loved ones, then we could focus on making sure the intent they represented was honored - No matter what. Take a quick look – do you know how you would answer? Could you answer for your loved ones? Let’s take number two - If you were in this state – would you want to be at home, or in the hospital? There is no wrong answer. It’s only wrong if no one knows your answer, and no one is willing to advocate for you.

Since we launched over two years ago, we’ve seen that once this conversation does get started, once we share these thoughts with each other, the lawyers, the affidavits, the system that intervenes to bowl over our intent– it stops being intimidating – we become empowered. You only die once – die the way you want. Make sure your loved ones get that same gift.

Our time together has mostly been about furthering health and wellness. I would argue that that’s what better managing end of life is all about – vitality. Za didn’t plan to get brain cancer – and none of us are planning for anything less than living forever – so until one of us here is smart enough to make that happen – let’s at least commit to this: we live our life with intent – we can end our life with that same honor. And we can make sure our loved ones have that luxury as well.

But if we wanted, we could do more than that. Since Engage with Grace went viral – it has made a difference, but it’s not enough. Make no mistake about it - The power in this very room right now could single handedly change the way we as a nation deal with end of life. You could get this conversation started in a real way – in a game changing way. You are an amazing group of individuals – and most of you do a lot of talking, a lot of influencing… what if you added this one slide to the end of your talks? What if you became an ambassador for getting this conversation going? This room’s currency is the social networks we all have – if everyone here shared this with their own circle of influence, by January we could probably have touched the entire US. Commit to being able to answer the five questions for yourself, for your loved ones. Commit to advocating for each other. Then commit to spreading the word – take this on as a mission. Just one slide – just five questions – just two minutes to spread the word. Think of the enormous difference we could make together.

Help us Engage with Grace."

Check out more at: Engage with Grace

Awkward Family Photos

2010-10-02T13:11:00.004-04:00

Hall of Fame

"My Balls Itch!"

2010-08-28T21:51:00.004-04:00

San Pedro and the whole Atitlan watershed is a polar combination of indigenous Mayan culture and ubiquitous Western influence. All the women and a few of the older men wear bright traditional, hand-woven garb. Many sell handi-crafts and traditional food on the streets.

Side by side with these are teenagers in blue-jeans, backward baseball caps and sneakers. In gringo havens like San Pedro, even many of the stores are owned by Europeans and a few Americans. (At our favorite ex-pat haunt, the drunk Irish owner literally paid me (5 Quetzales) to add a Colombian, anise-tinted, clear moonshine to my tonic water.)

Despite all the English we hear here, some of the slogan-laden English language T-shirts we find people wearing are truly epic.

Por ejemplo:

"My other body is a temple."

"I Don't Recycle."

"I'm from the land of misfit toys."

"Magic Isn't Real."

"I see your lips moving, but all I hear is 'blah blah blah."

"BOOBS"

And my personal favorite: scrawled across the chest of a well-to-do 55-year-old, stony faced and, I'd like to think, proud man:

"My Balls Itch!"

I thought about telling him, but quickly realized my Spanish wasn't nearly proficient enough to translate such a nuanced cultural statement.

So we let him go on his way, reasonably convinced that no one whose respect he cares about can speak English either.

Guatemalan Footpaths and Writing Repentance

2010-08-19T12:21:00.003-04:00

Sitting at a breakfast table in San Pedro, Guatemala, I am taken aback by how little I've written lately. With the inception off out podcast (90secondcounterstrain.blogspot.com), travel, learning Spanish and general scheming, I've been a bit short on literary excellence and corporate processing.

So, to update:

July was Haiti, and just as hot, horrifying and fulfilling as you might expect. Most of our earlier podcasts revolve around our time in Puert-au-Prince

August started out by living vicariously through two Australians we met in Mexico who traveled to the country it looks like the US is pissing on.

Last weekish we took a series of night buses through Belize and onto Flores, Guatemala, where we checked out the ruins at Tikal before jumping on another "bus" to Antigua.

In Antigua, we began treatment for Typhoid (Kate and I eat far more street-meat than can be considered healthy or safe.) and rekindled our love-affair with internet-television.

30Rock consumed the next few days of high fever and rebellious digestive tracts. It was awesome.

Yesterday we took a harrowing van ride to San Pedro, a gorgeous part of Guatemala sitting on lake Atitlan, where we'll do language school for a few weeks.

If you're still reading the most boring blog entry I've written in recent memory (ok, the only blog entry I've written in recent memory), good for you. I'm sure your stamina and attention span has been rewarded in the corporate world. We appreciate your future sponsorship of our international endeavors.

Tomorrow, I promise, I'll bring you fart-jokes.

Buyer's Remorse

2010-07-05T21:55:00.003-04:00

Have you ever thought,

"If I just lie down on this incinerator full of medical waste, I bet I can pick up that goat by it's head?"

Until tonight, I hadn't either.

On our way back to the tent tonight, Kate heard a faint bleating. "Awe, poor lost goat," she said, making her way toward our destination after an exhausting day in the clinic.

"Uh, we should probably go visit," I said, grinning. I am more nighttime than Kate and at the equator it gets dark early.

After a bit of looking, we localized the sound to an underground concrete cistern used to incinerate the clinic's medical waste. It was half full of absorbent (absorbed) blue pads, used needles and one lost baby goat.

Only in Haiti.

Glimpses of Star Wars characters trapped in the trash compactor spring to mind.

We open the 4 foot diameter cover, and I say to myself,

"If I just lie down on this incinerator full of medical waste, I bet I can pick up that goat by it's head."

Kate went for some fresh blue absorbent pads to lie down on while I waited with the bleating goat.

She had brought the flashlight with her, and in the dark I realized just how clean the medical waste incinerator really looked. I went for it.

---

Toes gripping the edge of the cement rim and bare chest scraping against the concrete, I feel as though I may have acted hastily.

Still, I was in it now, literally, and that goat was mine. I just needed to earn his trust...

After some coaxing, patting and a little bleating of my own, I palm the little can-eater's head like a basket ball and pull him to safety (Safety is a relative term in Haiti, but I'd at least call it an improvement.).

Kate returned with the flashlight soon there after, and I used it to examine my belly. I was covered with a thick layer of black - we'll call it soot -and a thousand tiny scratches.

My skin still burns from the alcohol bath I took to disinfect my body from EVERYTHING. While I was still soaking in what I like to think of as a micro-abrasion locator, though, I thought, "How appropriate."

Writing this, I can't think of how exactly it was appropriate, but I'm sure it will come to me.

And now I sleep.

Bon swa.

90 Second Counterstrain

2010-07-04T20:04:00.005-04:00

Kate an I are in Haiti and already disastering with the best of em!

Today, I got to teach a young Haitian translator (named Showty - a self-made moniker named after "shorty," the prominently featured rap name for lil' ladies in the songs through which he learned English. I don't have the heart to tell him what his new name means...) to fix the PVC pipe he shattered, spilling our precious shower water on the barren land.

We made a jump-kit for travel to the "village" (6,000 person tent city - up from 3,000 when we were here in march), and introduced the medical records and treatment protocols Kate worked so hard on - both were met with much rejoicing.

We also published our first podcasts on 90secondcounterstrain.blogspot.com!!!

90 Second Counterstrain is "a record of our lives recoiled" in minute-n-a-half segments by Kate, me and a few other players to be named later we find along the way. Showty already has his eye on an episode.

We'll be in Haiti for a month and the world for the next 11 months. Our year off officially began 2 days ago, and thus far it has been a dream.

We'll keep you posted.

One Take

2010-06-15T12:39:00.001-04:00

(More on TED)

The Revolution Will Be Televised

2010-06-09T14:27:00.000-04:00

Optical Illusion

2010-05-07T16:10:00.001-04:00

1. Turn your sound on.
2. Follow the directions.
3. Prepare to be amazed.
4. Be amazed.

HardTime :: Illusion from ze frank on Vimeo.

Jaustralian Busker

2010-05-07T11:13:00.002-04:00

ze's page :: zefrank.com: busker :: dubfx :: 'MADE'

I like this guy.

Movement Revisited

2010-05-06T15:53:00.003-04:00

I've been taking myself rather seriously lately. I don't like that. In reading old blog entries, I came across this one from last summer. When I wrote it, I felt a little like I do now - or in the words of Johnny Depp's Hatter, like I'd "lost my muchness."

I think I'll be muchier this time around - much muchier.

Or at least, as my yogi tells me, to acknowledge my inner muchness and step into it.

This seems like as good a place as any to start.

Re-enjoy:

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

I've been tinkering off and on this whole summer trying to find a glint of something writable. From old plot lines to recent dreams, I've sketched out the beginnings of a few too many rabbit trails to flesh out in the short time between now and August first. Allthesame (one word) with nothing to show for my efforts except missing out on a few cold and rainy summer days, I'm calling it quits on writing anything of significance this summer.

It's less like giving up than giving in. I just want to play these few days I have left of the Anti-School and enjoy the company of those I've missed this last year in my whirlwind of medical education. I'm still going to write - I'll probably blog more often - but as for the great unamerican novel I've been working on, I'm gonna leave that to someone with more time and fewer pressing ambitions.

The picture to the right is one I stole from my friend, Matt's website (shhh don't tell him). I think more than anything else, shots like this encourage me to stick with my own personal brand of playful uncommitted writing and leave the rest to the pros.

Lemmi splain:

For years I've considered myself a photographer, an artist let's say, with an eye and a talent for great candid shots. I've never bought a little digital point-and-shooter because I've felt like that would undermine my ability and be somehow beneath me. I took (stole) this photo from one of Matt's many albums - this one being 400 shots deep. I could never take (capture) this shot the way Matt has here (and in every one of his other 399 photos in the album). I'm just not that good. Matt has a talent and a commitment to photography and puts his lens to good use at every opportunity. I on the other hand never take pictures because my old Cannon SLR is awkward, bulky and costs a fortune to develop. What I should do - what I'm going to do - is put the ol' girl out to pasture and invest in a pocket sized, teeny bopper, fast action, digital Swiss Army Knife. Maybe then I won't be so stressed about the art and I'll just take pictures.

For me, writing has always been good for a short burst of self-importance and escapism. It helps me focus my thoughts, create something tangible and disseminate ideas screaming to get out of my brain. It's play, pure and simple. At Gordon, a psych professor told me the definition of play is "movement for the sake of movement."

I like that.

This summer, writing became movement for the sake of something far more tangible than just movement and thus more stifling and confining - more like work than play. I found that in my attempts to take myself seriously I lost the playful edginess that makes my writing worth reading.

--//Strike that//--

I found that in my attempts to take myself seriously I lost the playful edginess that makes my writing worth writing. And therein lies the tragedy.

I started this post with just the photo of the bike on the wire, thinking it would be the makings of a great story. I even titled the page "The Makings of a Story." In the end we didn't go there. We didn't have to. It's this freedom that makes writing worth writing for me - this writing for writing's sake.

While I have enjoyed reading some of my newer, serious projects more than old blogger entries, I enjoyed writing those point-and-shoot snapshots of life much much more. I do hope one day to pen the great unamerican novel. I hope to dazzle the world with hitherto unimagined literary grace, but

I can wait.

Today, today is more important.

Nuclear Schmooklier

2010-04-15T10:13:00.003-04:00

Whelp - I posted in some time, but rest assured I have been busy.

Between a trip to Haiti and protocol writing for the clinic we worked with AND planning the kick-assiest "Condoms for Haiti" Party (stay tuned for more on that), I haven't come up for air in a while.

I did, however, catch the interview between Jon Stewart and the Ambassador in charge of world nuclear disarmament. I like that guy. So, if you've got the time, check out the link below and click ahead to about 2/3s of the way in. There's good stuff there and a bit of history that helps give perspective to the current politicking.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/270574/wed-april-14-2010-richard-burt

Paul Farmer Keynote on Haitin Post Earthquake (LIVE)

2010-03-05T20:59:00.001-05:00

Watch live streaming video from global_health_equity at livestream.com

Wii Curling

2010-03-05T12:28:00.000-05:00

Apologies to anyone watching at work...

Hawaii Universal Health Care

2010-02-15T09:58:00.000-05:00

Obama Q&A with Senate Republicans

2010-02-02T17:34:00.001-05:00

"And here, friends, is where we remove the 4th wall..."

Supreme Court, You Suck! (well, 5/4ths of you anyway)

2010-01-22T11:34:00.003-05:00

This week the Supreme Court voted 5 to 4 (Rep. Nominated v. Dem Nominated) to abolish a long tradition of capping corporate bribing of political candidates. I mean corporate funding of political campaigns. No, I guess i did mean bribing...
(Read the whole story here.)

The Majority Opinion:

But Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the majority in a 57-page opinion, said the effort to divide corporate political spending into legal and illegal forms chilled political speech.

"When government seeks to use its full power, including the criminal law, to command where a person may get his or her information or what distrusted source he or she may not hear, it uses censorship to control thought," he wrote.

Justice Kennedy wrote that, taken to its extreme, the restriction on corporate spending could silence media organizations or even allow banning such political-themed movies as "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington."

He rejected the view that government had an interest in preventing corporations or unions from "distorting" political debate by funding ads. To the contrary, "corporations may possess valuable expertise, leaving them the best equipped to point out errors of fallacies in speech of all sorts," he wrote.

The Minority Opinion:

In dissent, Justice John Paul Stevens—part of the majority in the two previous opinions that were overruled—called the majority opinion "a rejection of the common sense of the American people, who have…fought against the distinctive corrupting potential of corporate electioneering since the days of Theodore Roosevelt." To underscore his distress, Justice Stevens took the unusual step of reading much of his 90-page dissent from the bench.

Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor joined the dissent, which accused the majority of seizing on a minor case dealing with the application of McCain-Feingold to upend a long history of statutes and judicial opinions.

The majority's rationale "comes down to nothing more than its disagreement" with precedent, Justice Stevens wrote, and its opinion "is essentially an amalgamation of resuscitated dissents" from those cases.

And you thought only Democrats could legislate from the bench... Actually, with new and improved political funding you'll probably continue to think that for a long long time.

(Majority and Minority Opinions were quoted from The Wall Street Journal Online.)

Asshole...

2010-01-15T11:49:00.002-05:00

FWD:FWD:FWD

2010-01-09T21:56:00.004-05:00

I've been frustrated lately ((the only way to start a blog entry)) at the amount of right-wing, racist, bigoted forwards I've been finding in my inbox. Yes, there's the underlying loathing of ignorant, emailed, self-righteousness and the irksome reminder of my not to distant righty-tighty past -- but that's not it. It's not even the confusion at what folks were thinking when they FWD:FWD:FWDed the piece of drivel to me in the first place thinking I'd enjoy it.

What's really been eating at me is that I've had no place to vent my angsty frustration. No fellow frustatees. No commiserators.

And then I remembered you, my friend and faithful Reader, and this place we come to share and meet and feel together for a while.

And bitch about stuff.

Thanks, Reader, for being there even when all I can bring myself to write is a half-hearted title to an embedded Hulu clip.

Thanks for sticking it out.

I can't promise much for the next few months. School and all that is MS2 is not creative or life-giving or fun. It's less like fodder for writing and more like felled oak that needs to be split and seasoned before burning.

But if you'll last the winter with me - distant and unreliable - good things will come.

This summer everything will change.

I'm taking a year off.

.

Like Harry Potter

2009-12-19T09:17:00.001-05:00

Fela on Colbert

2009-12-18T23:50:00.000-05:00

2009-12-16T10:17:00.002-05:00

(Click Image to Watch the Interview.)

Howard Dean: Health Care Bill 'Bigger Bailout for the Insurance Industry Than AIG'
Top Democrat Urges Lawmakers to Kill the Bill and Start Over
By HUMA KHAN and JONATHAN KARL
WASHINGTON, Dec. 16, 2009

President Obama said he likes the Senate health care compromise and wants it passed by Christmas, but he faces a revolt from some liberals who say the health care bill has been gutted to appease insurance companies.
Share
Gov. Howard Dean responds to the latest push on the health care debate.

"This is a bigger bailout for the insurance industry than AIG," former Democratic National Committee chairman and medical doctor Howard Dean told "Good Morning America's" George Stephanopoulos today. "A very small number of people are going to get any insurance at all, until 2014, if the bill works.

"This is an insurance company's dream, this bill," Dean continued. "This is the Washington scramble, and I think it's ill-advised."

Dean sent shockwaves when he said Tuesday in an interview with Vermont Public Radio that the removal of the Medicare buy-in means Democrats should just kill the health care bill and start over.

"This is essentially the collapse of health care reform in the United States Senate," Dean said. "Honestly, the best thing to do right now is kill the Senate bill, go back to the House, start the reconciliation process, where you only need 51 votes and it would be a much simpler bill."
Related
WATCH: Health Care: Will There Be a Deal?
WATCH: Teabaggers Protest on Capitol Hill
WATCH: Obama 'Cautiously Optimistic' on Health Bill

The former Democratic presidential candidate argues that in the rush to pass a health care bill, lawmakers have essentially stripped it of true reforms -- mainly the choices it would give to people -- and given too much to special interest groups and insurance companies, the chief executives of which, Dean says, would get 27 percent of the money Americans contribute.

"We've gotten to this stage ... in Washington where passing any bill is a victory, and that's the problem," Dean said. "Decisions are being about the long-term future of this country for short-term political reasons, and that's never a good sign."

He said he also doesn't see cost-control measures but, rather "a whole bunch of bureaucracies and a lot of promises."

There are some good elements in the current health care bill, Dean said, but "at this point, the bill does more harm than good."

The former Vermont governor said he would suggest using money allocated for community health centers and wellness and prevention programs to help people buy insurance and that less power be transferred into the hands of the private insurance companies.

Dean, who said he believes the bill will pass the Senate, initially supported health care legislation.

"I've been involved in this all along. I put up with a lot of stuff I didn't like because I thought at the end of the day what was good about the bill outweighed what's bad about the bill," Dean said. "I don't believe that anymore."

Democratic leaders in the Senate argue that even without the option of expanding Medicare or providing government-run insurance to compete with the private sector, the bill will still cover millions of uninsured Americans and is worth passing.

"I disagree with Howard Dean," Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said Tuesday in an interview with ABC News. "Howard Dean is a medical doctor. He has to know what it will mean when 30 million Americans are finally going to have health insurance, that peace of mind and protection for the first time in their lives. For many of them, that is a dramatic step forward."

A Hundred?!

2009-12-09T10:54:00.002-05:00

A Brief History of US Involvement in the Afghanistan War

2009-12-08T12:39:00.001-05:00

Rules: A Least Common Denominator for Morality.

2009-12-04T15:28:00.004-05:00

Rules are like mini political talking points: they don't say much but give us a standard around which to form teams.

Rules, as it turns out, are best when they are (and in) black and white. This saves us from thinking to hard about the cloudy areas they overlook.

Rules give us simple answers to complex issues; they form meaning from the gray.

Best of all: they define boundaries over which we can wage our ethical wars.

---

Human beings are complex moral fruit flies, and unless you cut off our arms and legs we don't fit well into boxes.

When we don't have rules determining the rallying cries of our ethical discussions we must continually provide backup information to clarify what we are saying. Even with this information, we will check back regularly - "Do you see where I'm coming from?" - to make sure our fellow conversees are keeping up. When there is a rule attached to the discussion, we do a lot less checking-in. We use short definite phrases like: "It's against the law," "It's a woman's right," "I was first in line!" We don't feel the need to check-in because there is an understanding that whatever we're talking about has exactly two familiar sides. All we're doing then is verbalizing where we stand relative to the standard.

No matter how cumbersome and unrepresentative they may be, we evoke rules, laws and social codes to lend weight to the most basic of our opinions. Despite being a cheap substitute for thought, there is a more dangerous issue at play when you argue from these rigid, codified perspectives. The rules you cite are not specific to your situation and carry their own weight, prejudice and subtext with them wherever they go. Statutory rape, for instance, means something quite different when referring to an incestuous uncle than it does when you're talking about an 18 year old senior in high school dating a 17 year old senior in high school. Rules touch on the theme but in no way get to the heart of the issue.

Please, don't misunderstand me: I'm not a rebel who hates authority and thinks rules are made to be broken. On the contrary, they should be neither obeyed nor disobeyed.

Rules should be politely ignored and substituted with our own morality.

Only then will we be able to have honest discussions about real issues. Only then will see our own hypocrisy reflected in the judgment we have passed on others. Only then will we be forced to evaluate ethical decisions for ourselves instead of turning blind eyes to injustice while falling back on whatever scaffolding was there when we arrived.

It might keep us from confusing ethical laziness with moral virtue.

It might help us see the gray

for gray.

Google Launches Music Search Engine: Awesome.

2009-11-19T10:11:00.001-05:00

(Google Launches Music Search Engine: Awesome.)

On Werewolves

2009-11-05T11:41:00.008-05:00

While talking on the phone with my dad last night I heard a funny kind of howl. It was like the coyote song I've been enjoying every night since I moved to The Farm, but this time it was different - closer and more pained. One would call from deep within the woods and another would answer from just outside the old observatory 60 feet from my bedroom window. I walked outside, squinting into the darkness and wondering how close I could get without-

And it howled again, an agonized plea to a full moon too busy pushing a ring of clouds out of its wake to notice. I imagined the shallow pet cemetery in front of the observatory that had been dug up just a few nights previous, revealing the mangled carcass of a long-dead golden retriever. The new caretakers picked up the pieces and reburied what they could, but maybe, maybe those gasping, yelping howls were from that poor old dog just trying to claw its way back to the surface.

What about werewolves? I thought, staring up at the full moon. A werewolf would make the most sense...

And then I realized I hadn't slept in quite some time. So, I backtracked to my porch, found my bed and curled up in a nest of thick sheets. Soon I was elsewhere making my way through world after dreamy world as a great dark wolf with matted hair and yellowed eyes. And everywhere I went, I pleaded in whimpered yelps with the peasants I met along the way that I was not in fact the monster they saw before them but just an old retriever looking for a warm place to sleep.

When I awoke this morning, I remembered I hadn't written anything in quite some time and that it's good to let the crazy out every now and then if only to keep from bursting.

Sleep Tight.

Save the Gay Pot-Smokers!

2009-11-02T11:18:00.002-05:00

Maine Voters!

Protect the rights of socially minded, earth friendly, gay, pot smokers who don't want their adopted children's education dollars being spent on unnecessary bureaucracy! VOTE: No on 1, Yes on 2, No on 3, No on 4, Yes on 5, Yes on 6, Yes on 7.

Vote early today or tomorrow or head to your poling place for the madness on Wednesday! For a better summary of the Ballot / Issues check out:
http://www.maine.gov/sos/cec/elec/upcoming.html
or
http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/Maine_2009_ballot_measures
(The latter of the two breaks down the measures and lists supporters and opponents on some of the bigger measures.)
... Read More
Happy Voting!

What, more dildo inspired hilarity?

2009-10-28T23:03:00.003-04:00

That's right friends, I got such positive and/or awkward feedback from my last post on sex-shop closings and the dildos that suffer that I had to share this bit-o-hilarity from the Daily Show. Enjoy.

The Fun Theory of Health.

2009-10-22T10:46:00.001-04:00

Piano Stairs - Rolighetsteorin.se - The Fun Theory -

Ah The News...

2009-10-15T23:16:00.001-04:00

RapeNuts

2009-10-15T12:16:00.000-04:00

Another proud moment for the Republican Party...

Sorry To Hear About Your Dildo

2009-10-11T15:24:00.006-04:00

Nice to see the South is still living up to our stereotypical expectations...

This week the Supreme Court voted to uphold Alabama's ban on the sale of sex toys to it's citizens. One woman - outraged by the decision - responded,

"They are going to have to pry this vibrator from my cold, dead hand!"

Like "medicinal marijuana," there are certain medical conditions which require the use of devices such as a self-lubricating double-headed vibrating dildo or a tiny semi-translucent french maid outfit. Sex shop patrons presenting with one of the worthy conditions may still purchase items by entering their names and medical conditions on a list at the register - you know the kind of database we use to keep track of controlled substances that could be used to brew meth...

And that's not the worst of it! (Ok, for the lonely postmenopausal widow, that's the worst of it.) Shop owners who push limits of medical necessity - like selling edible underwear along with the prescribed vibrator - can receive a $10,000 fine and up to a year in jail for a first offense!

Other than reaffirming my belief that the Religious Right cares more about their own twisted, repressive social views than the personal freedom they claim to value above all else, what does it all mean? Call me crazy, but men the whole world over fear and systematically repress female sexuality*. This can be through the genital mutilation termed "female circumcision" or by preventing women from purchasing sexually stimulating devices. If anyone thinks I'm over reacting - thinks this legal ruling affects both males and females equally - do a quick Google search with me.

1. Open Google and type in: Alabama Strip Clubs
2. Click on ANY LINK YOU SEE

Or, try buying pornography in Alabama. That is A-OK as well. It seems the only sexual merchandise sold exclusively in the "Sex Shop" are vibrators and dildos - devices used almost exclusively for female and homosexual male stimulation. And I know, I know, there are the inflatable girlfriends and the prosthetic asses that we all can enjoy, but do you see my point?

I think that for the most part the discrimination against women is unconscious (the discrimination against people who like sex is obviously very conscious), but that doesn't get us off the path of systematically and progressively legislating ourselves into a conservative theocracy. We don't protest little violations of our personal freedom because, let's face it, they're little. We've got better things to do with our time than fighting a war over dildos. I mean if someone was fighting a war with dildos we might join in - hell, I'd definitely take a few pictures - but these little slights? Not a chance.

I wonder what Doctor Ruth thinks...

*By female sexuality, I mean a female sexuality. You know, where the female is the subject of the sexual experience. A woman shaking her ass in music video would not qualify as female sexuality in the definition I'm using. I'm not saying that isn't sexual - it's just not how I'm using the term.

References:
Seattle Times
Blog AL.com
Dildo Fight

Happy Birthday, Someone!

2009-10-07T18:11:00.002-04:00

Diplomacy.

2009-10-04T11:11:00.003-04:00

Neuro is over (I hope) and I'm working my way back into a writing spirit. After this 6 week fast I've got all kinds of fodder, my favorite being a dream I had about aliens taking over my mind! It was a keeper.

My second favorite is a conversation I had with UNE students about parking. Everyone was complaining about looking 20 minutes for a spot every time they drove to campus only to find themselves at the opposite end of wherever they wanted to be. One student suggested commuters each get a designated spot so they always have a reasonably close place to park and never have to search for a spot. Just as quickly another student said that was ridiculous because she wanted to be able to park near the gym some days and the classroom other days and the health center still other days. She would never give up this great freedom of possibilities for the certainty of a good spot every single day. I couldn't help but find an American health care metaphor schmeared all over that discussion.

But...

As I'm not in the writing mood just yet, those stories will have to wait. Today, you get some thoughts on diplomacy.

Enjoy.

16 Seconds of Community

2009-09-26T21:44:00.001-04:00

My Next Sub-par Hulu Addiction:

Ze was reading my blog and....

2009-09-25T18:19:00.001-04:00

Well, he thought he'd like to chime in on the protest debate. Debate protest?

Sorry Jon, your reign could last only so long.

2009-09-24T23:25:00.000-04:00

To: Jon Howland; With: Humor

2009-09-24T23:02:00.019-04:00

All health care aside, this is some funny shit:

Death Pannels 2/2

2009-09-23T09:16:00.000-04:00

Death Panel Advisors - watch more funny videos

Save the Insurance Companies

2009-09-22T22:30:00.000-04:00

Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell

Free Speech for All, Even Douche Bags

2009-09-21T13:26:00.008-04:00

Elevating the debate, one sign at a time:

Bill Clinton on Health Care

2009-09-19T22:09:00.002-04:00

Finally, someone is letting out the dirty little secret that America isn't getting what we're paying for. We spend more money on health care than any other country in the world and have worse health outcomes than nearly every developed nation on Earth.

It's only two minutes; have a listen:

Respect (Ze)

2009-09-18T01:19:00.002-04:00

And I've always been such a fan of disrespect...

Assuming it's not all bullshit, I kinda like this guy:

2009-09-17T22:25:00.006-04:00

"
Office of the Dean

Biddeford Campus
11 Hills Beach Road
Biddeford, ME 04005
(207) 602-2340 T
(207) 602-5977 F

September 17, 2009

Dear Students, Staff and Faculty of the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine;

I am pleased to have joined the University of New England team and to be a part of the College of Osteopathic Medicine. Maine’s medical school has been critical for addressing the primary care and rural health needs of the state, the region and the country. Whether our students choose a primary care or ‘specialty’ care career option, they are assured that their excellent education will give them a solid foundation for professional success.

Throughout the years, our students’ success has been based upon a superb and committed faculty body that has served as both educators and mentors. I am proud to be your dean, and I am proud to be at UNECOM. As with any complex organization…and a university with a medical school is just that…there will always be challenges. I
recognize that fact! And I also recognize that it will take all of our efforts to assure continued success within the University of New England and the College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Although my comments are meant to be general in nature, I am actively engaged at this point with the recent issues surrounding University Health Care (UHC). UHC has been an important part of our community, serving the patients in this region, training the next generation of osteopathic physicians and employing some of the finest
and most committed faculty and staff in the state. I am committed to explore all options available for assuring the success of UHC and protecting the complex multi-faceted missions of the College of Osteopathic Medicine and the University of New England. Over the next several weeks, I will work with President Ripich, Dr. Pezzullo, Nancy Kiernan, MBA, Larry Turner, Dr. Bates and other internal and external leaders within the health care community to develop an appropriate solution. My goal is to identify a solution that assures: 1. Quality services
and continuity for our patients; 2. Excellence in medical education (including those uniquely Osteopathic Principles); and 3. Ongoing commitment to our loyal faculty and staff. But I will need everyone’s assistance
(faculty, staff and student alike) in maintaining the same high level of patient centric care, medical and health related student education and staff morale as we work to develop a model for the future.

These are challenging times for health care in this country. However, the University of New England, with its renowned College of Osteopathic Medicine; its rapidly growing College of Health Professions and the new College of Pharmacy is well positioned to impact the health and health care for the state of Maine, New England and the nation. In my other role as Senior Vice President for Health Affairs, I will work closely with Dean Ward, Dean Kay, Provost Carter and President Ripich to advance the university’s health mission in all arenas, both public and private. Thank you again for your commitment to the University of New England and our College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Yours Truly,

Marc B. Hahn, DO
Senior Vice President for Health Affairs and
Dean, College of Osteopathic Medicine
University of New England
"

Just a Stall...

2009-09-17T13:11:00.001-04:00

Ok, A Few Shots...

2009-09-13T00:55:00.020-04:00

.

.

.

.

Nerdy Space Photography

2009-09-13T00:44:00.003-04:00

Too sleepy and neuro-y to upload shots from the rally. In lieu of those images, check these out:

The kid in me likes the colors and the wonder!

The adult in me wonders if the colors represent atomic wavelengths or the Doppler effect!

(A few more Hubble masterpieces here.)

We Can't Afford to Wait

2009-09-11T13:16:00.000-04:00

We Can't Afford to Wait -

UNECOM Rally -- Medical Students and Osteopathic Physicians

2009-09-09T22:45:00.004-04:00

.
Hey! I hacked onto this laptop I found in the library and saw this satire and ice thing opened up! The owner was writing something about respect for authority and the dangers of communism, but I said, "To hell with that!" I'm going to post something that totally goes against what this guys stands for and that he would never condone. Ha! I bet he'll be mad when he finds out, because he never approved this message!

from,

Theiving Library Computer Guy Who Happens To Be a White Female and Not A Teenager

Dear UNECOM Students:
For those of you that are concerned about the current state of the University and the College of Osteopathic Medicine, a group of D.O.'s and myself have been organizing a gathering (so-called "rally") to be held AT 2PM THIS SATURDAY THE 12TH OF SEPTEMBER at Monument Square in Portland (Downtown District). We already have a very large number of practicing D.O.'s showing up, many of whom are your preceptors, professors and health care providers! We were discussing the importance of student involvement in showing support for osteopathic medicine and it was decided that students are wanted (and are needed!) to come to the demonstration to stand side-by-side practicing D.O.'s and be very frank about the goings-on in UNECOM recently. This event will be covered by the media and is sure to make quite the impact.

I will be the student contact person - please email me at my NON-UNE email address (for obvious reasons): RMSmith8@gmail.com. If interested in making posters and materials for the rally, let me know, and I will put you in contact with the D.O. that is leading this up (who all of you guys know). Do note that I am on a rotation now with long hours, and will most likely only respond in the evening.

Again, the rally will be at 2PM, this weekend-Saturday, Monument Square, Portland. If you need a ride, let me know, and perhaps myself or a volunteer can form a so-called "caravan" to get you to Portland. A physical outpouring of support is essential - so please consider attending. The Board is meeting on MONDAY the 14th now - so time is of the essence!

If you will be in attendance -- please send me an email at the ABOVE GMAIL address -- as we need roughly accurate counts.

I am meeting with this group of D.O.'s tomorrow early AM - so will have more to pass on about this at that time.

Any questions, please give me an email -- RMSMith8@gmail.com.

All the best,

Ryan M Smith, OMS-IV
Past Student Trustee, UNE Board of Trustees

Socialism

2009-09-09T21:02:00.002-04:00

Yeah yeah, it's not his finest work, but at least it distracts you long enough to keep you from scrolling down. Enjoy.

---
Jonathan Story has no official opinion about health care, reformed or otherwise. As a Republican he has never been sick himself or known anyone who was sick.

The Official Song of Healthcare Reform

2009-09-09T20:11:00.006-04:00

Please note: The Official Song of Healthcare Reform was written as a satirical commentary on the national health care debate and not about the 20,000 patients who will lose their health care with the closure of UHC this November.

Don't Leave Us Behind (The Official Song of Healthcare Reform... - Click here for more home videos

PS.

I know satire is largely unprofessional, but come on: At least you're glad I'm not this guy, right?
Now there's a way to embarrass an institution and ruin a gunner's chance at a competitive orthopedics residency, right?! :-P*

*Now that's how you emoticon! See, my smiley came with a wry grin and a tongue deviating left on protrusion. Even if - after the multiple links to the placebo journal, the use of hyperbole and the dueling punctuation at the end of the statement - you were still wondering about my intent, little Sarcastic Sammy was there to set you straight.

Happy Typing!

---

Jonathan Story has no official opinion about health care, reformed or otherwise. As a Republican he has never been sick himself or known anyone who was sick.

University of New England Closes Health Clinics

2009-09-09T19:53:00.004-04:00

Still Just Quoting...

University of New England closing health clinics

Posted: Tuesday, September 1, 2009 6:00 pm

By Dan Bustard | 0 comments

Patients using six community health clinics run by the University of New England appear to have been left out of the loop, and in the lurch, on the impending closure of University Health Care services.

University officials have remained mostly silent on the reasons to close the clinics in Biddeford, Saco and Portland on Nov. 2. The university reached a memorandum of understanding on Aug. 14 with Southern Maine Medical Center in Biddeford that may lead to the continuation of some services provided by the clinic. But where this leaves patients is unknown at this point.

While staff learned in August about the closures, patients are only learning about the situation through media reports. Rose St. Onge of Saco saw her doctor Monday and was told nothing.

"I was there last night," St. Onge said. "They said zip. I'm ticked off. I finally found a doctor I like. I finally found a doctor my son likes. Some notice, other than in a newspaper story, would have been appreciated. You do want to be on a good rapport with your customers."

St. Onge and her 14-year-old son have been using University Health Care for the past three or four years. She would like to continue seeing her doctor in the future but is unsure if that will be possible.

"This is above and beyond. I have to shop for a new doctor now. My attitude is I want to wait and see. But I can't," she said.

University Health Care is a community service of the university and its College of Osteopathic Medicine, offering health care for patients of all ages in the six clinics and two student health centers. The university's statement indicates the student health centers on the Portland and Biddeford campuses will remain open but it is uncertain who will operate the student health centers.

The clinics are located on Beach Road in Biddeford, Forest Avenue in Portland and Main Street in Saco.

Calls to University Health Care clinics were referred to Director of Marketing and Communications Kathleen Taggersell, who did not answer questions after releasing the statement Tuesday afternoon. Medical Director Christopher Pezzullo was not in his office Tuesday and could not be reached for comment.

The only potential indication St. Onge noticed was when her doctor had reduced her office hours to two days a week recently but did not give a reason.

"Over the past few years, it has become clear that it is not feasible for UNE to continue to operate UHC in its current form," read a press statement released on Tuesday. Senior university officials were at a conference in Boothbay and could not be reached for comment on whether the decision was financially based.

"Our decision to cease operation of UHC in its current form did not come easily, and we certainly appreciate the impact of this announcement on UHC's 82 employees and the community we serve," the statement reads.

The talks between the university and Southern Maine Medical Center have centered on providing services once the clinics close and enhancing the existing relationship between the two entities.

"We have had a long relationship with UNE," Southern Maine Medical Center Vice President of Community Relations and Development Sue Hadiaris said. "We are both working as quickly as we can. We realize they have established a time constraint of Nov. 2. If we had a longer period of time, we could look at alternatives for providing each of their services."

Hadiaris said the review of University Health Care services has just begun. Hospital officials are reviewing each service to see if they fit within the hospital's mission and, more importantly, its resources.

"We do understand the uncertainties that are out there," she said. "We are mindful of the situation patients, physicians and other professional providers are in."

"While no decisions have been made, we are hopeful that some or many of the services will be offered under SMMC after Nov. 2," the statement reads. "It is early in the process and active discussions with SMMC are under way."

Hospital trustees are expected to decide Oct. 5 whether the center can take on some of the services being provided by the clinics.

"UNE and SMMC will keep current UHC providers and staff informed as soon as decisions are made," the statement reads. "We are hopeful that many of the service lines and employees will benefit from these discussions and that our educational programs will be enhanced, as well. As discussions proceed in the coming weeks, it is UNE's hope that we will be able to announce a continuation of some or all of the UHC services, through another model. UNE students will continue to gain valuable professional experiences at numerous outstanding clinical campuses and affiliates throughout the Northeast with whom we have partnered for many years."

---

Article quoted from keepmecurrent.com:

(http://www.keepmecurrent.com/news/local/article_f7c0278e-9742-11de-ad7a-001cc4c03286.html)

---

Jonathan Story has no official opinion about health care, reformed or otherwise. As a Republican he has never been sick himself or known anyone who was sick.

Samoans Swinging Southpaw

2009-09-08T00:38:00.003-04:00

Samoa becomes the first country in almost 40 years to pull a Rocky I this late in the game.

Let's watch!

Worst Labeled Neuro Image Ever

2009-09-07T18:01:00.004-04:00

Beavers Think They're So Fucking Clever...

2009-09-04T17:40:00.002-04:00

Yeah, so I'm taking a breather on the whole UHC thing. Maybe after Neuro I'll write more and more creatively, but until then their just ain't enough of my brain to go around. Sorry.

If anything pertinent comes up I'll let you know. Until then I'm afraid it's just more silly videos and the occasional snow penis.

Happy Laboring.

Nothing Controversial Here...

2009-09-03T16:39:00.004-04:00

To any new readers who stumbled across this site in a Google Search for UNECOM, you're in the wrong place. I don't even know what a UNECOM is!

Mostly, I just post short videos of kittens and write about my allergies. Among them are: pine nuts, shell fish and- Wait, I can't let the cat out of the bag just yet! You'll have to check back later to learn about the rest of them and how they affect my eating habits.

Well, enjoy!

Oh, and just as a matter of housekeeping, I've come across a number of these on campus recently:

If you know why they're turning up now or have any idea how to get rid of them, please speak up. I think they're scaring all the little pussy cats on campus and keeping them from coming out to play!

Quick! Look over there!!!

2009-09-02T18:26:00.007-04:00

Hey Everyone!

Look at that shiny object down there.

No, don't scroll too far!

It's just here. Right here. No need to look any further. I bet there's not even anything down there. Probably just an add for an overpriced libido-reducer. You wouldn't be interested. Nope, just the three minutes to watch this really shiny video is probably all the time you have. You are a very important person, after all, and I have nothing but the utmost respect for you and your opinions.

Long live The Man!

(Ze Frank Tries to Understand Health Care Reform)

UNECOM: The Beginning of the End

2009-09-01T17:51:00.003-04:00

I was going to use a different title for this post, but after my last comments concerning the financial goings-on at UNECOM and the alleged failures of judgment of our dominatrix overlord, UNE, I opted for a graver though more subdued introduction. As it happens, I just used up my last tiny shred of clout on that opening sentence, so instead of writing I'll let a few UNE notables share their words (You know: from folk's whose names are engraved in the buildings on campus.).

If you're not a UNECOMer the closing of University Health Care won't mean much, so don't look for a punch line or a deeper message here. If you are part of the flock, check out http://sites.google.com/site/unecomconcern/home for more information.

If you've got an opinion, please use the contact information below to let the board of trustees know where you stand.

---

Timeline of Events - Prepared by Dr. Christopher Pezzullo

Time Line

6/1/08 Dr. Cawley starts as VPCA, John Gimpel starts as Dean, Dr. Pezzullo starts as Medical Director
6/10/08 Dr Cawley forces resignation of Drs. Stockwell and Garrett, Finance Director of UHC Becky Behme is fired
9/1/08 Dr. Cawley gives her notice, will be a VP at Maine Health
10/1/08 UHC Transition Team (Cawley, Allcorn, Gimpel, Pezzullo, Ward) starts 2x/mo meetings
10/15/08 DCO (Nancy Kiernan) starts, and joins transition team
10/31/08 Dr. Cawley’s last day
Transition Team headed by Seth Allcorn, VP Finance meets to excitedly plan for a new UHC that is interprofessional, intercollegiate and financially secure
2/15/09 Seth tells us that the President wants to shut UHC down. We re-double efforts to create a salvageable UHC
3/17/09 Dr. Pezzullo proposes to Board of Trustees Finance Committee a $20/hour teaching allocation, banked in arrears—they endorse a $400,00 allocation using this model
Seth no longer engaged as Transition Team leader states that there’s no way to “make it work”
6/16/09 3 Proposals offered to President for UHC: Stand-alone Corp., MSO, shrunk-down COM-centric model
7/2/09 President rejects all proposals, says she’s shutting UHC down
7/15/09 June figures show that UHC makes its first 1-month profit in almost a decade!
8/4/09 90-day notice letter of termination sent to all 100 UHC employees
Closure of UHC will result in nearly $2 million in costs, near-abandonment of >20k patients, continued costs to train medical students outside of UNE and the loss of all medical clinics at COM/UNE

---

Second Letter from Dr. Owen Pickus to BOT

Dear Members of the Board,

I am sure this ongoing debate over UHC is growing somewhat tiresome for many of you. Unfortunately, I must continue the dialogue. The update below by Dr. Ripich, once again fails to respond to the most important fundamental question. Since SMMC and Maine Health have made no promises regarding any ultimate committeement to UHC, what happens in the alternative? Moreover, Dr. Bates assures me that Dr. Ripich was given three viable alternates to salvage UHC, she choose none of them. Instead, she unilateraly elected to close UHC. Only after that decision was made did Dr. Bates offer to contact SMMC for their interest. He asked Dr. Ripich for 120 days to negotiate and achieve the best terms possible if a deal could be struck. Rather than accept his advice, she offered 30 days to make a deal and simulatneously announced the UHC closure. By going "public" with this position, she placed the University and Dr. Bates in the unenviable task of arranging a deal with Maine Health with their awareness that we had little left on the table to offer. Any good business person knows that you go into a posture to strike a deal with another party without displaying your weaknesses. Clearly this did not happen here and now Maine Health can pick and choose the best parts of UHC and dismiss the rest. According to Dr. Bates and Dr. Pezzullo, this has left us at the mercy of Maine Health to dictate our future. Finally, as comments flow from the community regarding the UHC closure, we cannot with any assurance make statements of how we will support our students, the Health Center or our existing patients at UHC. Understand this is not about Dr. Ripich but about the community perception of how UNE does it's business. So far, the feedback from outside UNE and also from within has been less than supportive. Please reconsider the need to have a sub-committee formed now to deal with this difficult situation.

Thank you all for you continued interest,
Owen Pickus

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Letter from Dr Geraldine Ollila to BOT

Dear Friends, Colleagues, and Members of the BOT:

Over the past ten years, UNE/COM has seen rapid growth and an equivalent rise in its national prestige. Alumni support has been instrumental in contributing to this success. Remarkably, our Osteopathic physician graduates have been a cornerstone of healthcare in Maine participating in student education and fund raising for COM. Recent change and instability at UNECOM (as outlined below) has raised serious concerns from our valued alumni and Osteopathic physician graduates that must be critically evaluated and challenged.

* Potential closure of UHC, 100+ jobs at risk, loss of student education sites, 20,000 plus patients displaced. Potential acquisition by Maine Health resulting in an uncertain future for UHC.
* COM Dean turnover, local and nationally respected Dr. Boyd Buser passed over for Dean. Dr. Jackie Cawley appointed interim Dean with significant local controversy over ties to Maine Health. Dr. John Gimpel appointed and resigned within one year. Dr. Cawley reappointed as Dean, accepted position, withdrew within 48 hours. COM Dean position remains unfilled contributing to further uncertainty.
* Loss of longstanding Osteopathic residency, displacing desperately needed local Osteopathic physicians.
* Unprecedented number of UNE/COM senior staff/management turnover (Dean of COM, VP Financial Affairs, Dean of Students, and other VP’s of the University).
* Pursuit of a Dental school in uncertain financial times with excessive expenditures in the exploration process with no success to date.
* Turmoil at COM has resulted in a significant drop off of student applicants of 2.8% (the largest decline in the country) while nationally the application rate to other Osteopathic medical schools has risen by 8.9%.

I implore you as Board members to independently evaluate these events raised by our valued alumni and osteopathic physician graduates. These decisions may have permanent impact on UNE/COM.

Thank you for your time and consideration at these critical times.

Sincerely,

Geraldine Ollila D.O., P.T., UNE’ 88, COM 93

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Letter from Dr. John Peterson to the BOT

Dear Chairman Morel and members of the UNE Board of Trustees:

John M. Peterson, D.O. here. I was a member of the founding class at UNECOM and I have been the Executive Director of the Vermont State Association of Osteopathic Physicians & Surgeons, Inc. for over 25 years. I recently received a copy of Dr. Pickus' letter regarding the situation with UHC from one of my association members and have also discussed the situation with our president John Johansson, D.O./UNECOM '82.

I am writing to express our extremely serious concerns with this matter as well as our ongoing concerns about the direction that UNE appears to have taken under the leadership of Dr. Ripich.

As a member of the founding class, I can recall very well that St. Francis College was on the verge of becoming an afterthought in the world of educational institutions, when I arrived on the campus. It is my strong belief that without the reorganization of St. Francis College and with the addition of the COM as UNE that the institution would have joined the ranks of extinct educational facilities. With the start of the COM and the graduation of the inaugural class, UNE began to flourish and has now become a world class institution of learning in many fields.

The university and the COM has benefited greatly from the donations of numerous generous individuals including Mr. Alfond, Dr. Pickus, Dr. Morgane and the Lowney family as well as many osteopathic physicians and their patients who all firmly believe in Osteopathy and what it has to offer patients in New England as well as wherever our graduates come to practice.

Several years ago, as I assume you all recall, there was a great deal of consternation over the selection process for the new dean of the COM under Dr. Ripich's leadership. It remains my opinion that we lost an excellent candidate in Dr. Buser, who subsequently was selected to be the dean at the school in Pikeville, KY. That was their gain and our great loss. I can't think of anyone more dedicated to Osteopathy in general and to New England in particular than Dr. Buser, who is also one of the trustees of the AOA.

At that time there was a great deal of anger in the New England osteopathic community both from graduates of the COM as well as from practicing physicians about how Dr. Ripich handled the situation as well as the lack of communication with the alumni and with the practicing D.O.s in New England. I wrote to Dr. Ripich and to the board recommending more and better communication about any events that would vitally impact our profession in this region. I recall receiving assurances that there would be better communication in the future, but clearly that has never happened.

We are distressed that the elimination of the UHC was apparently a unilateral decision by Dr. Ripich without the consultation or the advice of the Board of Trustees. The impact of this decision has major potential adverse effects on the healthcare in the communities involved, on the faculty and on the education of our students.

We are also very concerned about the selection process for the new dean of the COM, about which we remain very much in the dark. We need a strong dean who will look after the COM as well as furthering the advancement of Osteopathy in the region, but we are concerned that someone will be chosen who will only rubberstamp the decisions of Dr. Ripich, instead of standing up for and representing the COM as well as the profession in our region.

As it now stands, we are forced to offer a vote of no confidence for Dr. Ripich in terms of leading the university and, most importantly, in respecting and carrying forward the vision of the founders of the COM and the university.

Respectfully submitted,

John M. Peterson, D.O.

UNECOM 1982

Executive Director, Vermont State Association of Osteopathic Physicians & Surgeons, Inc.

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Student Concerns

Please Read and Comment

Students would like to maintain a uniquely Osteopathic Education and have a place to practice while they are doing so. With the proposition of a buyout, the fact that SMMC is not an Osteopathic hospital must be understood. It is unlikely this institution will foster the climate of Osteopathy that we, as students, are interested in maintaining.

Accreditation is up for review in January 2010. With this much of a decrease in clinical faculty, Dr. Bates has stated we will not be able to pass. The inability to pass this review is due to the significant reduction in student to faculty ratio and the reduced amount of time students are able to spend with clinicians.

Recently, Dr. Ripich made a decision to close down UHC and terminate the entire clinical faculty including the OMM faculty keeping only the heads of the departments.

1. The quality of our education will undoubtedly suffer. SMMC has already said they will not allow physicians working for them to have more than 30% of their time purchased by UNECOM. This said, we currently have 8 OMT-only faculty, allocating 40-60% of their time to UNECOM activities. There is no guarantee from SMMC stating the physicians currently on staff will be rehired.

2. The cost of our education is one of the highest in the country. Closing the student clinic will decrease opportunities for preceptorships and decrease the overall quality of our education without a concurrent reduction in our tuition.

3. The further dilution of Osteopathic culture which will occur with the closure of UHC fundamentally alters the character the students expect and demand from this institution. Students matriculated to a school with a strong foundation in Osteopathy and community service, but the closure of UHC is radically opposed to these ideals.

4. The NMM residency operated jointly by the University and UHC is being put into jeopardy at a time when GME is calling for the expansion of residency positions.

5. Because of the need to buy out contracts and the cost to shut down UHC, there will be an incredible financial burden placed on the students who will in turn see no dividends. Closure of UHC will have an immediate financial impact to the University potentially in excess of two million dollars. President Ripich argues that the clinic’s budget should not be subsidized with student tuition. The use of tuition money for the closing of UHC is by far more inappropriate than using the money toward UHC and our education. The expense of University Health Care is one of the factors that contributes to the cost of our education and should not be viewed as a burden.
***Dr. Pezzullo states that UHC had a profit in July of over 200k which is the first profit in over ten years. This shows that his hard work was turning the financial situation around and may have led to future profits. It clearly will cost far more to close it down. The most appropriate financial decision is to rescind the closing of UHC and keep it with UNECOM.

*** It is less expensive to have the faculty hired by UNE than to hire them as adjunct.

6. The potential loss of accreditation would dramatically affect all students' careers, but would have particular significance to those students who are participating in military HPSP scholarships. These students would no longer be allowed to study at UNECOM, as participants in the HPSP program are required to attend accredited medical schools. However, military student physicians are still under contract to the United States Army/Navy/Air Force. These students would have two choices; one would be to transfer to another Osteopathic medical school. The other would be to immediately repay the United States Government over $80,000 in tuition, fees, expenses, and stipends (approximation of total disbursement to current second year students).
**This fact was obtained through direct communication with the United States Army HPSP Office of Student Management.

7. The decision to close UHC and terminate the associated faculty was made unilaterally and without regard to the input of students or faculty. The full COM Board of Trustees was not apprised of the situation before action was taken. This further highlights the lack of transparency with financial matters and institutional planning. (emphasis added)

8. This should all be viewed in light of the fact that plans are in progress to nearly double class size. Doubling of class size with dramatic reductions in OMM faculty will seriously dilute the Osteopathic character of our school, a fact which many students find simply unpalatable.

Until these concerns are sufficiently addressed, the students of UNECOM will not settle for what they are given, they will fight for what they expect and deserve from this great institution.

The best decision for students educationally is to keep UHC with UNECOM.

The best financial decision is to rescind the termination of clinical faculty as well as OMM faculty and keep our faculty intact.

UHC is an educational expense, as are the faculty. They have always been a part of the tuition.

---

Contact info for BOT

Ann Butterworth ’77 ’81, Secretary, Treasurer
Michael Campinell, Student Trustee
Daniel D’Entremont
Brian Dallaire, Pharm.D.
Mark Doiron, Vice Chair
Jenna Fucetola, Student Trustee
Alfred H. Fuchs, Ph.D.
Vincent E. Furey, Jr.
Sandi Goolden
Karin A. Gregory
Keith R. Jacques, J.D.
Joseph F. Karpinski, D.D.S.
Charles J. Kean, III, C.P.A.
Robert Leonard, D.O. ’86
Michael A. Morel, Chair
James Norwood, Jr. ’66
Diane M. Nugent, D.O. ’92
Eugene A. Oliveri, D.O.
Gary Palman, D.O.
Owen Pickus D.O.
Hugo Ricci ’66
Danielle Ripich, Ph.D., President (ex-officio)
Alice Savage, M.D., Ph.D. ’55
Terrance J. Sheehan, M.D.
Normand E. Simard
Kenneth G. Simone, D.O. `87
Melinda Small, Ph.D.
Gerald Talbot
John E. Thron
Tonia Hanson Tibbetts
Harold E. Woodsum, Jr., L.L.B.

Ann.Butterworth@libertymutual.com
mcampinell@mail.une.edu
mdoiron@hannaford.com
ddentremont@maine.rr.com
bdallaire@usa.net
afuchs@bowdoin.edu
jfucetola@mail.une.edu
vfurey@maine.rr.com
sgoolden@maine.rr.com
kjacques@sesg.com
jfkarpy@webtv.net
cjk@macpage.com
hairdr@pol.net
mmorel2@maine.rr.com
Jim@newbalanceva.com
dmn ugent@maine.rr.com
picooliveri@aol.com
palmag@spectrummg.com
opickus@maine.rr.com
hukathy@msn.com
dripich@une.edu
sav1121age@fairpoint.net
tsheehan@medicalmutual.com
norm7077@aol.com
ksimone@sunburypc.com
mysmall@suscom-maine.net
gtalbot@maine.rr.com
JohnEThron@aol.com
tibmar@pivot.net
hwoodsum@maine.rr.com

---

In these turbulent times, I'm sure members of the board would welcome any and all input.

(If you skipped to the end hoping for a bit of humor, sorry to let you down. If you scroll down a little further, there's a bit of bog-snorkeling I think you might like.)

World Bog Snorkeling Championship

2009-08-31T09:49:00.005-04:00

Tired of all this talk about health care?

Me too.

Here's something a bit more palatable:

Death Pannels

2009-08-24T22:43:00.003-04:00

Ever wonder what jackass started the "Death Panels" rumor that's currently dominating the debate over health care reform? Well here she is in all her glory. In Jon Stewart's words, "Watch it with hot cocoa and a friend who normally helps you through bad trips."

When you're done, there's an email forward below that's been making the rounds in Evangelical circles. If you're not too nauseated from watching the video, check it out.

Wasn't that fun?

I was going to comment on this next email - point out the various discrepancies, inaccuracies and absurdities held within it - but then I realized it's so ridiculous it needs no explanation. I was also going to post a video of the author, Rick Joyner, and his organization, MorningStar Ministries. That would just be sad... (But check out Rick Joyner and his "Church of Altered States" on YouTube if you're curious!)

So, here it is with no edits or alteration - no bells and whistles it doesn't deserve - yet another reason why so many believe a half-black/half-white lawyer from Hawaii is a Nazi:

SPECIAL BULLETIN

NATIONAL HEALTH SCARE

By Rick Joyner

When I read the brief on what was contained in the National Health Care bill that is now being presented before Congress, I could not believe I was reading something that was actually being considered in the United States of America. This is not about money or government mismanagement—this is about something far more diabolical than that. As incomprehensible as it may seem, this is about euthanasia, the power to determine who lives or dies in America. Hitler and Stalin would have loved to have had a means such as this for dispatching the millions they killed—it would have made their job much easier, and probably given them the ability to kill many more than they did. THIS BILL IS THAT SINISTER. This is not a joke—this is actually the nature of what is being proposed in the National Health Care legislation, and it is the obvious reason why the Obama Administration wants to ram it through Congress before anyone gets a chance to read it.

I have resolved to always be as generous as I can toward people with opposing views of my own. I do this because I believe it is the mandate of I Corinthians 13 to always believe the best about people, rather than the worst. I know this opens me up to be misled by some, but I consider that a small price to pay to not become cynical. I also do it because I think it is wise to always try and understand the position of my opponents—to be open to consider their positions and not be too rigid or inflexible to change because we all “see in part,” and “know in part.” Because of this, I have been chided for being too generous by giving those I do challenge grace by believing that they had not thought through the consequences of their proposals, or had other good intentioned reasons for doing what they were doing. However, after reading the brief on this health care bill, I don’t see how anyone could not see that there is profound evil and evil intent at work here. I just do not see any way to be any more generous with those who proposed this bill than that. It is that bad.

This bill is obviously designed to put the authority to determine who lives and dies in America into the hands of government bureaucrats. As outrageous as that seems, it is true—you can read it yourself. It even gives the government access to all of your accounts, and the authority to make withdrawals. I know this is hard to believe, but you can read it yourself.

Do you want a government bureaucrat to determine if your mother or father can receive treatment, even in life and death cases? Would you want a government bureaucrat to determine if your child, or you, could receive treatment, even when it means life or death? Think of the best experience that you ever had working with a government bureaucrat, and then think about them having the power to make a potentially life or death choice for your child, your parents, or for you. This is actually what is being proposed.

Add to that chilling thought the fact that this bureaucrat does not have to know one thing about medicine to be in that position. In fact, this bill proposes letting the government define what quality health care is and impose that definition on health care workers. Nowhere does it even specify what training, expertise, or qualifications this all-powerful government bureaucrat has to have to be placed in the position to make such ultimate decisions for the health, well-being, and even the lives of Americans.

Am I being too hard on bureaucrats, or the Obama Administration’s intentions? Certainly there are many bureaucrats who are sincere and true public servants. I agree that such are deserving of our appreciation and respect. The modern world could not exist without them. Think of the most noble and conscientious there are. What kind of position would we be putting them in to have to go to work every day and decide who is going to get treatment, who is going to have to go on a waiting list and for how long, and who are they going to have to just let die?

Who could live with such a job? There are many who could, who would just see it as paperwork, and those are the ones who would be in that position because the truly noble ones could not endure it. Hitler found many who could dispatch thousands each day, and then go home and enjoy their own families at night. There are people with that kind of moral disconnect. These jobs will be filled and by the very ones we would never want in such positions.

It is beyond anything I thought I would ever see in my lifetime that such a bill could ever be seriously considered in the U.S. Congress. This bill has the potential for totalitarian control to be imposed on America to a degree that Hitler and Stalin could not have even imagined. With the technology available now, totalitarian control can very quickly be imposed to a degree far beyond what was attained by either the Nazis or the Communists, and this bill has provisions in it for just that. It mandates the sharing of all of your personal information, from just about every conceivable source, with the new health care bureaucracy being set up to implement this national health care system. The penalties for trying to escape this web are serious. This would actually make America into a national concentration camp, and we can be sure that ultimately it will be a national death camp. You do not have to take my word for it—read it for yourself. Below I will include a brief on this bill so that you can look it up, chapter and verse.

I am a pastor and a watchman, and I therefore have a mandate to watch out for the people, and to sound the alarm when I see a threat. I have never seen one like this before. Even so, I have prayed for restraint and calm as I address this, and do not want to exaggerate anything. In spite of this terrible evil that is manifesting itself through the Obama Administration, I am resolved to pray for our government leaders, and I try to pray for the President every day. My sincere hope is for a spiritual awakening for him and for those in every government position, and for the Lord to give them wisdom and help for the most difficult task they have. However, with all due respect (and I mean this), what is coming out of the Obama Administration is evil, more evil than anything I thought I would ever see in America. It is time to call it what it is.

In the early 1990s, myself and a few other prophetic friends were all shown separately, but at the same general time, that the same evil that gained access to Germany in the 1930s was going to seek access to America. I have shared this often since then, and have made many trips to Germany to seek to understand what happened there. Col. Eugene Bird became one of my dearest friends, and I spent many days with him listening to what he had learned about this, which was considerable. Col. Bird was the U.S. Commandant of the Spandau Prison that held the Nazi war criminals, and ultimately became the one many considered to be the foremost authority on Nazi Germany. Bird’s insight into how evil can gain entry into the human soul and into governments was remarkable, but I always had trouble seeing a connection that would allow what happened there to actually happen in America. Bird often chastised me for this, warning that it could easily happen in America (Col. Bird lived most of his life in Germany, where he became loved and esteemed by that nation, but he remained a patriotic American to the end). Bird often explained how the evil spirit of death that took over Germany gained entry through its health care system. Now it is easy to see what he was talking about in what is being proposed by the Obama Administration.

In Germany, the National Socialists (Nazis) gradually desensitized the nation to death beginning with abortion. Then they quietly, seemingly with the most noble intentions, rounded up the retarded and insane, claiming that the state could take much better care of them, but no one ever saw or heard from them again. Then they did the same with the elderly. As word slipped out that they were being euthanized, it was explained that war made it necessary to eliminate all of the “useless eaters” so that the troops could be fed, as well as those who worked for the war machine. By that time, the grip of control was too strong for anyone to protest or they would also be sent to the camps. Life became cheaper and cheaper, people became more and more depraved, and millions were slaughtered in the death camps.

America is following a parallel course. If Hitler had a tool such as the health care bill that is being proposed by Congress, along with the technology of control now available, it would have made his task much easier and more effective, and probably resulted in many millions more having been easily murdered.

I have had Presidents, candidates, senators, and congressmen and congresswomen from both parties tell me they have read and appreciated my writings. I have maintained for many years that an eagle needs both a left wing and a right wing to fly, and believe that there are excellent men and women of true conviction in both parties. I realize that by writing with this tenor, I risk being considered an extremist, and maybe risk many relationships, but I cannot be concerned about that. With such an extreme evil threatening our country, I would have a difficult time standing before the Lord on that great judgment day if I did not speak up as boldly, as clearly, and as loudly as I can. Call me an alarmist and I will agree with you—I am going to do my best to sound the alarm against evil in every way that I can, and I don’t think I have ever seen anything with the potential for evil like this national health care bill.

I pray that senators and congressmen from both parties who have courage and conviction will stand up against this terrible impending holocaust and stop this bill. I expect that it will be hard for many who read and understand what this Democratic Administration has proposed not to refer to the Democratic Party as the Death Party from now on, but let’s wait and see how the Democrats in Congress respond to this before condemning them, too. This bill is criminal—it opens the door for a crime against humanity on a level that could easily surpass what happened in the last century. We must hold accountable all who have written, proposed, and sided with this bill—and determine that with all the resources we are given, they will never be elected again for anything.

I pray that every Christian will wake up and rise up to take their stand against what is happening in our country now. If we do, we can stop this. If we don’t, we will have to stand before the Judge having let this happen on our watch. We can expect persecution and even death for standing against such a bold and obvious attack of the spirit of death, but no Christian should fear death, and no Christian will want to live in the world that is now taking shape if we do not become the salt and light we are called to be.

We are in need of the courage and resolve of Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings, who stood before the huge and terrible Balrog demon and declared—“YOU SHALL NOT PASS!” The demon was stopped, and even though it was able to grab and drag Gandalf down with it, Gandalf returned with a new level of authority. It does not matter what the consequences are for standing for truth, as Christians we must stand because it is our basic duty. As the first apostles demonstrated, to be persecuted and to suffer shame for our God and His truth is one of the greatest honors. However, we must do it for more than honor—we must also do it for our children and their children.

Last night on Fox News, a former Clinton Administration council to the President stated courageously that this bill was not just about money, it was about euthanasia. The money part does not make any sense at all, but now that the real evil that is driving this can be clearly seen, we can understand that the Administration really does not care about saving money or providing health care for everyone; rather it is about control. There is already talk about this being about saving money by being able to euthanize the baby boomers so they will not have to be paid social security, or weigh down the health care system with their needs. I’m not ready to go that far, but that is obviously why the Florida congressman declared that this bill was a death sentence for the elderly. That is true.

The only commandment with a promise that it will go well with us, and that we may live long, is the commandment to honor our fathers and mothers. This commandment is found in both the Old and New Testaments (see Ephesians 6:2-3). Killing them when they can no longer be productive, as Hitler and Stalin resolved to do, is the most dishonorable thing we could ever do, and we can be sure will bring the opposite to the blessing promised. As you read the bill, and see how excessively long they stay on the point of being able to determine what and if any care is given to the elderly, you will see it really is chilling. It is obvious this is a primary purpose of those who wrote this bill. I know this sounds far-fetched, and I would not have believed it myself a few days ago, but just read it for yourself.

The following is a brief outline of this bill put together by Mat Staver of the Freedom Foundation and Liberty Counsel (contact info is at the end). The comments by the brief are Mat’s, except where I have noted my own by putting them in italics. The bold is also mine.

After reading, please do not wait to contact your representatives to protest this. If you don’t get through, keep calling, send emails, but do not stop until you know your voice has been heard.

Obama Health Care Plan Details

HR 3200 currently under consideration in the House of Representatives

Pg 22 of the HC Bill MANDATES the Govt will audit the books of ALL EMPLOYERS that self insure!!

Pg 30 Sec 123 of HC bill - THERE WILL BE A GOVT COMMITTEE that decides what treatments/benefits you get

Pg 29 lines 4-16 in the HC bill - YOUR HEALTHCARE IS RATIONED!!!

Pg 42 of HC Bill - The Health Choices Commissioner will choose your benefits for you. You have no choice!

Pg 50 Section 152 in HC bill - HC will be provided to ALL non US citizens, illegal or otherwise

Pg 58HC Bill – Gov’t will have real-time access to individual’s finances & a National ID Health care card will be issued!

Pg 59 HC Bill lines 21-24 Govt will have direct access to your banks accts for electronic funds transfer.

Pg 65 Sec 164 is a payoff subsidized plan for retirees and their families in Unions & community orgs (ACORN).

Pg 72 Lines 8-14 Govt is creating an HC Exchange to bring priv HC plans under Govt control.

Pg 84 Sec 203 HC bill - Govt mandates ALL benefit packages for private Health Care plans in the Exchange

Pg 85 Line 7 HC Bill - Specs for of Benefit Levels for Plans = The Govt will ration your Healthcare!

Pg 91 Lines 4-7 HC Bill - Govt mandates linguistic appropriate services.

Example - Translation for illegal aliens.

Pg 95 HC Bill Lines 8-18 The Govt will use groups i.e., ACORN & Americorps to sign up individuals for Govt HC plan

Pg 85 Line 7 HC Bill - Specs of Ben Levels 4 Plans. #AARP members - Your Health Care WILL be rationed

Pg 102 Lines 12-18 HC Bill - Medicaid Eligible Individual will be automat.enrolled in Medicaid. No choice.

Pg 124 lines 24-25 HC No company can sue Govt on price fixing. No “judicial review” against Govt Monopoly.

Pg 127 Lines 1-16 HC Bill - Doctors/ #AMA - The Govt will tell YOU what you can make.

Pg 145 Line 15-17 An Employer MUST auto enroll employees into public opt plan. NO CHOICE

Pg 126 Lines 22-25 Employers MUST pay for HC for part time employees AND their families.

Pg 149 Lines 16-24 ANY Employer w/ payroll 400k & above who does not prov. pub opt. pays 8% tax on all payroll

Pg 150 Lines 9-13 Biz w payroll btw 251k & 400k who doesnt provide public opt pays 2-6% tax on all payroll Pg 167 Lines 18-23 ANY individual who doesnt have acceptable HC according to Govt will be taxed 2.5% of income.

Pg 170 Lines 1-3 Any NONRESIDENT Alien is exempt from individual taxes. (Americans will pay).

Pg 195 Officers & employees of HC Admin (GOVT) will have access to ALL Americans financial and personal records.

Pg 203 Line 14-15 HC - “The tax imposed under this section shall not be treated as tax” Yes, it says that. Pg 239 Line 14-24 HC Bill Govt will reduce physician services for Medicaid. Seniors, low income, poor affected.

Pg 241 Line 6-8 HC Bill - Doctors, it does not matter what specialty you have, you’ll all be paid the same.

Pg 253 Line 10-18 Govt sets value of Dr’s time, prof judg, etc. Literally value of humans.

Pg 265 Sec 1131Govt mandates & controls productivity for private HC industries.

Pg 268 Sec 1141 Fed Govt regulates rental & purchase of power driven wheelchairs.

Pg 272 SEC. 1145. Treatment of certain cancer hospitals – Cancer patients - welcome to rationing!

Page 280 Sec 1151 The Govt will penalize hospitals for what Govt deems preventable readmissions. (Incentives for hospital to not treat and release.)

Pg 298 Lines 9-11 Drs, treat a patient during initial admission that results in a readmission-Govt will penalize you.

Pg 317 L 13-20 PROHIBITION on ownership/investment. Govt tells Drs. what/how much they can own.

Pg 317-318 lines 21-25,1-3 PROHIBITION on expansion- Govt is mandating hospitals cannot expand.

pg 321 2-13 Hospitals have opportunity to apply for exception BUT community input required. Can you say ACORN?!!

Pg335 L 16-25 Pg 336-339 - Govt mandates established of outcome based measures. HC the way they want. Rationing.

Pg 341 Lines 3-9 Govt has authority to disqualify Medicare Advantage Plans (Part B), HMOs, etc. Forcing people into Govt plan.

Pg 354 Sec 1177 - Govt will RESTRICT enrollment of Special needs people!

Pg 379 Sec 1191 Govt creates more bureaucracy - Telehealth Advisory Committee. HC by phone/Internet?

Pg 425 Lines 4-12 Govt mandates Advance [Death] Care Planning Consult. Think Senior Citizens end of life.

Pg 425 Lines 17-19 Govt will instruct & consult regarding living wills, durable powers of atty. Mandatory!

Pg 425 Lines 22-25, 426 Lines 1-3 Gov’t provides approved list of end of life resources, guiding you in death.

Pg 427 Lines 15-24 Govt mandates program for orders for end of life. The Gov’t has a say in how your life ends.

Pg 429 Lines 1-9 An “adv. care planning consult” will be used frequently as patients health deteriorates.

Pg 429 Lines 10-12 “adv. care consultation” may incl an ORDER for end of life plans. AN ORDER from GOV

Pg 429 Lines 13-25 - The govt will specify which Doctors can write an end of life order.

PG 430 Lines 11-15 The Govt will decide what level of treatment you will have at end of life

(NOTE FROM RJ: The above really does give the government the authority to determine who lives and dies, and when. A government bureaucrat really will be making this decision for you and your loved ones.)

Pg 469 - Community Based Home Medical Services=Non profit orgs. Hello, ACORN Medical Svcs here!!?

Pg 472 Lines 14-17 PAYMENT TO COMMUNITY-BASED ORG. 1 monthly payment to a community-based org. Like ACORN?

Pg 489 Sec 1308 The Govt will cover Marriage & Family therapy. They will insert Government into your marriage. Pg 494-498 Govt will cover Mental Health Svcs including defining, creating, rationing those svcs

PG 502 Sec 1181 Center for Comparative Effectiveness Research Established. – Hello Big Brother – Literally.

Pg 503 Lines 13-19 Gov’t will build registries and data networks from YOUR electronic med records.

Pg 503 lines 21-25 Gov’t may secure data directly from any depart or agency of the US including your data.

Pg 504 Lines 6-10 The “Center” will collect data both published & unpublished (that means public & your private info)

PG 506 Lines 19-21 The Center will recommend policies that would allow for public access of data.

PG 518 Lines 21-25 The Commission will have input from HC consumer reps – Can you say unions & ACORN?

PG 524 18-22 Comparative Effectiveness Research Trust Fund set up. More taxes for ALL.

PG 621 Lines 20-25 Gov’t will define what Quality means in HC. Since when does Gov’t know about quality?

Pg 622 Lines 2-9 To pay for the Quality Standards, Govt will transfer $$ from to other Govt Trust Funds. More Taxes.

PG 624 “Quality” measures shall be designed to assess outcomes & functional status of patients.

PG 624 “Quality” measures shall be designed to profile you including race, age, gender, place of residence, etc

Pg 628 Sec 1443 Gov’t will give “Multi-Stake Holders” Pre-Rule Making input into Selection of “Quality” Measures.

Pg 630 9-24/631 1-9 Those Multi-stake holder groups incl. Unions & groups like ACORN deciding HC quality.

Pg 632 Lines 14-25 The Gov’t may implement any “Quality measure” of HC Services as they see fit.

PG 633 14-25/ 634 1-9 The Secretary may issue non-endorsed “Quality Measures” for Physician Services & Dialysis Services.

Pg 635 to 653 Physicians Payments Sunshine Provision – Gov’t wants to shine sunlight on Docs but not Govt.

Pg 654-659 Public Reporting on Health Care-Associated Infections – Looks okay.

PG 660-671 Doctors in Residency – Gov’t will tell you where your residency will be, thus where you’ll live.

Pg 676-686 Gov’t will regulate hospitals in EVERY aspect of residency programs, incl. teaching hospitals.

Pg 686-700 Increased Funding to Fight Waste, Fraud, and Abuse. You mean like the Gov’t with an $18 million website?

PGs 701-704 Sec 1619 If your part of HC plan isn’t in Gov’t HC Exchange but you qualify for Fed aid, no payment.

PG 705-709 SEC. 1128 If Secr gets complaints (ACORN) on HC provider or supplier, Gov’t can do background check.

PG 711 Lines 8-14 The Secretary has broad powers to deny HC providers/ suppliers admittance into HC Exchange. Your doctor could be thrown out of business.

Pg 719-720 Sec 1637 ANY Doctor who orders durable med equip or home med services MUST be enrolled in Medicare.

PG 722 Sec 1639 Gov’t MANDATES Doctors must have face to face with patient to certify patient for Home Health Svcs.

PG 724 23-25 PG 725 1-5 The same Gov’t certifications will apply to Medicaid & CHIP (your kids)

PG 724 Lines 16-22 Gov’t reserves rt to apply face to face certification for patient to ANY other HC service.

Pg 735 lines 16-25 For law enforce. proposes the Secretary-HHS will give Atty General access to ALL data.

PG 740-757 Gov’t sets guidelines for subsidizing the uninsured (Thats your tax dollars people)

Pg 757-762 Fed gov’t will shift burden of payments to Disproportionate Share Hospitals (DSH) to States. (Taxes)

Pg 763 1-8 No DS/EA hospitals will be paid unless they provide services without regard to national origin

Pg 765 Sec 1711 Gov’t will require Preventative Services including vaccines. (Choice?)

Pg 768 Sec 1713 Gov’t – Nurse Home Visitation Svcs (Hello union paybacks)

Pg 769 11-14 Nurse Home Visit Svcs include-economic self-sufficiency, employ adv, school-readiness.

Pg 769 3-5 Nurse Home Visit Services - “increasing birth intervals between pregnancies.” Govt ABORTIONS anyone

Pg 770 SEC 1714 Fed Gov’t mandates eligibility for State Family Planning Services. Abortion & State Sovereign.

Pg 789-797 Gov’t will set, mandate drug prices, controlling which drugs brought to market. Bye innovation.

Pgs 797-800 SEC. 1744 PAYMENTS for graduate medical education. The government will now control Drs’ education.

PG 801 Sec 1751 The Govt will decide which Health care conditions will be paid. Say RATION!

Pg 810 SEC. 1759. Billing Agents, clearinghouses, etc req. to register. Gov’t takes over private payment sys.

Pg 820-824 Sec 1801 Govt will identify individ. ineligible for subsidies. Will access all personal financial information.

Pg 824-829 SEC. 1802. Govt Sets up Comparative Effectiveness Research Trust Fund. Another tax black hole.

PG 829-833 Gov’t will impose a fee on ALL private health ins. plans incl. self insured to pay for Trust Fund!

PG 835 11-13 fees imposed by Gov’t for Trust Fund shall be treated as if they were taxes.

Pg 838-840 Gov’t will design & implement Home Visitation Program for families with young kids & families expect kids.

PG 844-845 This Home Visitation Prog. includes Gov’t coming into your house & telling you how to parent!!!

Pg 859 Gov’t will establish a Public Health Fund at a cost of $88,800,000,000. Yes that’s Billion.

Pg 865 The Gov’t will MANDATE the establishment of a National Health Service Corps.

PG 865 to 876 The NHS Corps is a program where Drs. perform mandatory HC for 2yrs for part loan repayment.

PG 876-892 The govt takes over the education of our Med students and Drs.

PG 898 The Govt will establish a Public Health Workforce Corps to ensure supply of public health prof.

PG 898 The Public health workforce corps shall consist of civilian employees of the U.S. as Secretary deems.

PG 898 The Public health workforce corps shall consist of officers of Regular & Reserve Corps of Service.

PG 900 The Public Health Workforce Corps includes veterinarians.

PG 901 The Public Health Workforce Corps WILL include commissioned Regular & Reserve Officers. HC Draft?

PG 910 The Govt will develop, build & run Public Health Training Centers.

PG 913-914 Govt starts a HC affirmative action program thru guise of diversity scholarships.

PG 915 SEC. 2251. Govt MANDDATES Cultural & linguistic competency training for HC professionals.

Pg 932 The Govt will estab Preventative & Wellness Trust fund- initial cost of $30,800,000,000-Billion.

PG 935 21-22 Govt will identify specific goals & objectives for prevention & wellness activities. Control YOU!!

PG 936 Govt will develop “Healthy People & National Public Health Perform. Standards” Tell me what to eat?

PG 942 Lines 22-25 More Gov’t? Offices of Surgeon General -Public Health Svc, Minority Health, Women’s Health

PG 950- 980 BIG GOV’T core pub health infrastructure including workforce capacity, lab systems; health info sys, etc

PG 993 Gov’t will establish school based health clinics. Your kids won’t have a chance.

PG 994 School Based Health Clinic will be integrated into the school environment. Say GOVT Brainwash!

PG 1001 The Govt will establish a National Medical Device Registry. Will you be tracked?

Mathew D. Staver*
Founder and Chairman Dean and Professor of Law
Liberty Counsel Liberty University School of Law
Offices in Florida, Virginia and the District of Columbia, Lynchburg, Virginia
(800) 671-1776 - Telephone (434) 592-5300 - Telephone
www.LC.org
www.law.liberty.edu

*Licensed in Florida and the District of Columbia

Now do you understand why we have to stand up today against this bill and declare with all of the courageous souls who are sounding the alarm and let us say to the bill—

“YOU SHALL NOT PASS.”

Jon Stewart on Fox News

2009-08-24T17:15:00.001-04:00

Jon Stewart on Fox News. It's 12 minutes long, but worth every hypocritical second.

Enjoy.

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat

2009-08-19T11:49:00.001-04:00

Oliver Sacks - The man who mistook his wife for a hat

We Love Physics

2009-08-15T03:56:00.000-04:00

See more funny videos and TBT Videos at Today's Big Thing.

Health Statistics

2009-08-14T12:21:00.003-04:00

If you are curious about why we need health care reform, click the link below and do some research. Is Canada really that scary?

http://apps.who.int/whosis/data/Search.jsp

Here's a snapshot:

Adult Mortality Rate
(Probability of dying between age 15-60 yo per 1000)
Canada: 72
US 109

Infant Mortallity Rate
(per 1000 live births)
Canada: 5
US 7

That's right, friends, they'll be standing in line for rationed care long after we're all dead.

Ah Healthcare...

2009-08-14T11:46:00.002-04:00

As though thrown from a speeding train-car, we medical hobos have hit the ground tumbling. While I attend to my wounds, here's another 3 minutes on partisan hypocrisy and the sad state of "News" in America. Enjoy. Or not.

Brooke Saving the World

2009-08-09T10:02:00.002-04:00

Brooke Baxter in Lwala - .

Kitten Mittens

2009-08-04T00:19:00.000-04:00

Expectations

2009-08-02T10:34:00.006-04:00

Bobby McFerrin presenting at the World Science Festival:

Amazing.

Bobby McFerrin Hacks Your Brain with the Pentatonic Scale - The most amazing bloopers are here

Fair and Balanced

2009-08-01T00:19:00.001-04:00

2009-07-30T12:00:00.002-04:00

"To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends, to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better... to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded!" --- Ralph W. Emerson via Brooke Baxter.

UNECOM: An Institution of Higher Earning

2009-07-23T08:38:00.013-04:00

$200,380
(Average indebtedness for 2007 UNECOM graduates who incurred medical school debt)

It's official: The University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine has set its students up to be #1 in debt for any medical school in the country.

More than twice as much debt as our friends at Hopkins and nearly three times that of those at Stanford, we, the indebted, must really be getting a bang-up education. We must all be gunners, all selling ourselves to the research giants or schmoozing our way into highly paid specialties.

Oh, here's the COM's mission statement:

The University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine transforms students into health care leaders who advance patient-centered, high quality osteopathic primary care and community health for the people of New England and the nation.

Well, that doesn't seem right. How are these future primary carers going to pay off this mountain of promissory notes with their meager community health salaries? Maybe the mission statement is all just PR bullshit and students are really just here to make money. Maybe they can pay back the debt...

70% of its graduates practice in primary care disciplines (Family Medicine, General Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, and Obstetrics & Gynecology).

State of Maine: 9% of practicing physicians are UNECOM graduates, comprising 15% of Maine’s primary care physician workforce.

24% of UNECOM graduates practicing in Maine serve in rural areas.

New England: 17% of UNECOM graduates are practicing in medically underserved areas."

http://www.une.edu/com/

Guess not...

---// Feel Free to skip the Numbers and jump to the end. //---

At the 8.65% APR most of us are getting on our loans, the average student is paying $17,332 per year in INTEREST ALONE. Since most students won't be able pull that scratch together during their residencies while their making less than a first year high school teacher, we might as well bring that average debt number up to 250K.

Now where do these numbers come from? Heating oil is the cheapest it's been in years; the building is relatively new and doesn't need repairs; the university owns the land it's sitting on, and it's Biddeford - is the cost of living really that high? What betterment in our education - what necessity - prompted this stark increase in an already steep price tag? It must have been serious, because after reporting 2009-2010 tuition and fees to the federal government (to set the price for federal student loans) UNECOM raised tuition again. Now, students must take out GRAD-Plus and private loans to simply pay the baseline tuition.

---// Ok, no more numbers: Start reading again. //---

Is the school hedging its bets against a bad economy? Is the tuition hike meant to pay for the soon-to-be money tree of pharmaceutical research that is the Pickus building? Is the larger UNE family just squeezing the COM's teet a little harder than usual? That sounds right, but no one knows. As a private institution, UNE reserves the right to keep its books secret from its students. With a policy of financial opacity we can only guess.

My guess is the administration wants it both ways.

They want to bring in the cash to bolster the institution all the while believing they are setting up their students to practice in underserved areas. They've probably talked themselves into believing that National Health Scholarships are freely available and that military service is an easy 4-year option with no strings attached. With all this magical thinking and willful ignorance, though, they neglect the greater truth: Students should not have to sell their souls or become indentured servants to get an education that's meant to serve the poor.

I fear this whole thing is like that Cat Stevens song where a father is shocked to see his son repeating all his own mistakes after giving him a lifetime of bad examples. The administrators at UNECOM probably think their moral and financial compromises are serving to aid the medical students and their future patients. The day will come, though, when they realize a profit centered medical education has created profit centered physicians and all those good intentions will be for naught.

With irony, sarcasm, and no hint of professionalism whatsoever, I dedicate this song to UNECOM. Lucky us...

The Trickle-Never Theory of the Economy

2009-07-21T10:17:00.003-04:00

It's a Z-Link (under three minutes) - Go!

2009-07-12T22:34:00.007-04:00

We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time
-T.S. Eliot

Movement for the Sake of Movement

2009-07-08T11:38:00.012-04:00

US and Russia Agree to dismantel 1/3 of Their Nuclear Weapons

2009-07-06T13:10:00.003-04:00

It's a step in the right direction. Let's hope it catches on.

Is an Ugly Baby Harder to Love?

2009-07-06T10:59:00.003-04:00

Ze's back. It's not as good as The Show but not as sellouttie as you'd think from corporate media.

Congrats on the new job, Ze.

A Love Song for Zeppelins

2009-07-02T13:54:00.005-04:00

July 2, 2009

One hundred and nine years ago today, the first zeppelin took flight over Lake Constance just outside of Friedrichshafen, Germany.*

In honor of this lighter than air moment, I think a love song is in order.

Enjoy.

Bright Eyes - "First Day of My Life" -

*(Thanks Dr. Wiki!)

He's Barak Obama

2009-06-22T09:12:00.001-04:00

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

The Botany of Desire

2009-06-19T11:23:00.014-04:00

The small irony in my intentional summer writing these past few weeks has been the absence of my usual writing. I'm afraid that in my search for Story, I have been neglecting my own story and musings on its behalf. I've devoted so much time to trolling* my own imagination that I don't have much to reflect on here regarding my own life, learning and experience. I've mostly been parked in front of a computer screen (and lately a movie screen), looking for a spark that might precede a good idea.

The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan is my all time favorite book. I've never read it, but I've listened to it on mp3 a half dozen times - the first when I was spending countless hours splicing and terminating cable ends years ago in a noisy data center, and the most recent when I downloaded it to my laptop in my girlfriend's kitchen this morning. It is a fantastic recording - on par with the Jim Dale's reading of the Harry Potter series - and I always find comfort and inspiration from hearing Pollan's take on the natural world. The Botany of Desire is a well spun tale of 4 plants that shaped humanity. Unlike many natural histories, Pollan tells these stories from the plant's point of view. I like that. It reminds me of Ze Frank's show on "busting your cycle." (see below) These botanical storylines are familiar, yet they turn the classic tales on their heads both through research and novel perspective.

I keep reminding myself that good Story doesn't come from a well chosen plot line or an M. Night Shyamalanic twist, but from a change in perspective. It comes from showing an old favorite in a new light. So, what have I been writing about, cloistered in my thoughts instead of out in the sun these early summer days? Medical School. Lame, right? I hate myself a little for even saying it, but I decided there was still new life to be unearthed in that which has dominated and suppressed my imagination for the last year. Who knows, maybe this exercise will even help me cope with the the day to day of medicine by allowing me time to reimagine my place within its labyrinth. If nothing else, it should at least earn me a bit of closure with what was a thoroughly harried and disorienting year.

So, there it is: some Botany and some Ze. Not origional or groundbreaking but nice: a return to old favorites. I hope you do pick up the book or at least watch The Show below. The summer is a fantastic time for reimagining.

*trolling - I was recently accused of "trolling" or "being a bitch on the internet because you can." In this post, I was using "trolling" in its origional, fishing, context whereby one drags the ocean floors in search of shrimp and other hiding, tasty treats.

Built to Last

2009-06-12T13:09:00.002-04:00

2009-06-11T10:25:00.003-04:00

Though not the most intelligent canine in the animal kingdom, the Yellow Labrador remains it's fiercest hunter.

Age 26

2009-06-10T14:27:00.004-04:00

When you were young, music moved you. You resonated with the beat and with the story. And with the story you cataloged your experiences. Adam Song for hard times – I never thought I'd die alone / I laughed the loudest, who'd have known? Radiohead when you just needed to fall into the Earth and be absorbed by it. Kenny Loggins for reminiscing – Winnie the Pooh doesn't know what to do / got a honey jar stuck on his nose – and Tool for transcendence. There was a song for every feeling, every subdivided emotion. There was a soundtrack, a mix-tape, for every one of life's events.

Prone to hero-worship, it's no wonder young people are drawn in and captivated by the rock-stars of their generation. Still, I was never much of a concert-goer. With few exceptions I never went to big shows or bought tapes of live performances. I did hang out at coffee shops with live music but not the kind you'd stand in line for. No, I'm talking about the hypnotic synchronicity that comes from choosing the perfect CD for the occasion – for the exact shade of emotion that's coloring your world at the time. It's this desire for resonance I think we lose as adults.

The cry of the American teenager is, Please understand me! They grow into their maturity early - with a depth of emotion comparable to adults - but have no experience with which to interpret it. Their puppy-loves and heartbreaks aren't shallow, they're just unguided. And in steps Rock'n'Roll. The music travels with them – like guided meditation – through their experience of every new sensation. They know how they feel, but the music tells them why they feel.

As adults we've grown out of this 'music as a shaman' phase. We interpret every new emotional state with an ever increasing library of personal experience. We still cry at movies and keep a few mix-tapes around for particularly low days. We still resonate, but we do so with perspective.

I resonate less and less these days. I watch movies more and experience them less. I rely on personal experience more than lyrics or bass-lines to guide my mental wanderings. In the case of unwieldy emotions, I seek human interaction over music for their interpretation. It's good, this maturing. I like the feel of my emotional library; it's still a little roomy, but it's filling out nicely. And today it's okay that I'd rather listen to NPR than a burnt CD on my commute. I do miss the transcendence of a well chosen moment-to-moment personal soundtrack, but I'm embracing my stage. Today I feel old. And today that feels fine.

Language

2009-06-03T13:18:00.002-04:00

The transition between School and Not is a greasy business. Even when it's over it sticks around, coating your hands and not wiping off. It stays under your fingernails even when you use that shower brush you're not sure is for fingernails or grout cleaning. You're contaminated, tainted for who knows how long.

I sometimes wonder if the Bodhidharma began to see a world of walls like I see a world of medicine. This 5th century Buddhist monk spent nine years staring at a single wall in a cave in Southern China. He spoke to no one. After 7 years the Bodhidharma is said to have fallen asleep. Enraged at his own behavior, he cut off both of his eyelids to ensure it would never happen again. He stared and he stared, letting the seasons pass him by until one day he was finished. When he finally stood on those wobbly, atrophied, legs and hobbled out of the cave, what did he see?

The Bodhidharma probably did see a world of walls thanks to the thickened and scarred corneas that come with eyelid removal. Still, he had trained his mind to find meaning in this absurdly finite sliver of reality: a single wall of a single cave. As I begin to reclaim bits of the life I left to pursue medicine, I feel like I'm rewriting my narrative in terms my own small sliver of focus.

Sometimes I sit with my Someone and reminisce about our travels. There is a curious phenomenon that often happens when we picture past events. I will recall, for instance, a small greasy taxi driver chatting us up as we careened down dirt roads on a mountainside in Peru. Someone will remind me of a particular town we passed, and I tell her, “Yes, and that's when the guy said, 'if we don't tip kids who fix roads, they are much much worse.'” I can picture the driver, his thick accent and pigeon English, and the little boy we passed filling in the potholes with rocks. It's about here in our recollecting that Someone laughs at my impersonation, reminding me that the driver spoke only Spanish. This happens all the time. I can remember whole conversations in English I've had with poor Ecuadorian children who've never spoken a word of English in their lives. Not having spoken Spanish in a while, my brain has rewritten my experiences in light of my current linguistic priorities.

As I retrace my steps from a year ago, I wonder how my cave will have shaped my recollection and experiences. Even as I picture old friends, I can't help but label them: Marfan, foot-drop, Fragile X. Last night as I walked by the house where a neighbor with Down Syndrome used to live, I picture ligamentous laxity and the danger of dislocating his odontoid process. After only 10 months I've already begun to rewrite my reality in this new language. After nine years will it be all I can see?

The Story of Stuff

2009-05-17T23:07:00.004-04:00

I know I know: Jon, didn't you just say you were in a testing week and didn't have time to write origional content for the Blog?

Well, the answer is yes. And once again I find myself in the oh-so fortunate predicament of being stuck in a perpetual Education:Exam time loop that is higher education. I mean all that fortunate stuff too. Exam weeks are for shit and my stress, emotions, normal brain function and humanity are all a bit tweaked, but what a place to be! I feel like any one of a number of Keanu Reeves characters* (Johnny Mnemonic, Neo, uh... that guy from The Devil's Advocate) who just soak up new information like a slightly moistened sponge. As stressful as exams can be I'm really grateful to be here.
Ok, the pity link:
http://www.storyofstuff.com/

This is the 20 min version of a book called, Stuff: The Secret Lives of Everyday Things. I read it a few years ago in New Zealand and think it's worh its weight in natural resources - more than enough to justify ordering yourself a used copy on Amazon (which, if you've read the book is high praise).

It's finals week for me and it may be for you as well. But, if youve got a second, use it to check out the link below:

http://www.storyofstuff.com/

*(Keanu Reeves turns 45 this September! Crazy.)

You're a star!

2009-05-17T00:14:00.005-04:00

2009-05-16T17:19:00.005-04:00

From the department of BULK MAIL and e-mail FWDs:

A little known fact....

The first testicular guard "Cup" was used in hockey in 1874.

The first helmet was used in 1974.

It took 100 years for men to realize that the brain is also important.

The Face of Chlamydia

2009-05-14T19:16:00.003-04:00

Ah, the joys of out-of-work actors.

This lucky fellow gets to represent Chlamydia trachomatis on the CDC website.

Fantastic stuff. Fantastic stuff.

BacT URI / LRI Practice Questions:

2009-05-14T02:55:00.001-04:00

URI

1.
Wobble, A 5'4'' 250lb man with flushed cheeks walks into your office. He is complaining of a rough/grainy rash under his arms and in a few of his more prominent skin folds. He reports getting a “cold” two weeks ago and “just toughing it out.”

A) What is the most likely etiological agent of Wobble's “cold?”

B) What is the name of the pathology causing his skin rash?

C) Name three potential complications of this pathology.

1 -
2 -
3 -

Bonus I: The above pathology is caused by what kind of toxin?

Bonus II: What causes the toxin production?

2.
You are on a date at the Metropolitan Museum of Art with a UNE undergrad you are hoping to impress. But, as it turns out you're kind of an idiot and don't know a thing about art. You've all but given up hope when you spot a painting that lifts your spirits. It is entitled “George Washington with Barking Cough,” and depicts our founding father on his deathbed. You call over your date who looks at the painting for a minute then asks:

A) “Why is his neck all extended like that?”

B) “That's scary! What do you call his disease?”

C)“What kind of bacteria would do such a thing?”

Bonus: Your date gives you a crooked smile then without warning rips off her wig, mask and UNE JV Soccer jersey, revealing none other than Dr. Vaughn wearing saddle shoes and, oddly enough, an identical UNE JV Soccer Jersey. He shouts:

“Oh yeah! But what if his neck wasn't extended and he didn't have a barking cough? What if he was just hoarse with a slightly deeper voice than normal? What bug(s) might cause that pathology, Smart Guy?!”

-Pathology:

-Etiology:

3.
A pack of rabid cougars forces everyone in Maine indoors. You're home polishing your cougar pistol when your phone rings:
“Doctor Feelgood!,” a frantic voice shouts into the phone, “My 6-month old is screaming and won't shut up! He had a common cold two weeks ago that was probably viral in origin, but that went away and now his left tympanic membrane looks red and bulging! What's making little Francis so sick???”

A) Most likely pathology:

B) How did little Francis's virus-induced “cold” contribute to his current bacterial pathology?

C)What are the top three bugs that cause this bacterial pathology? (Note: if three bugs aren't known, full credit will be given for the #1 etiology alone as long as it is written with confidence.)

- #1:
- #2:
- #3:

Bonus: What if Francis started crying the morning after attending a mother-child bonding day at the local health club where they used the 90 degree therapy pool for trust building exercises?
(bug only)

LRI

4.
Old Man Jones presents to you chiropractic office with a persistent productive cough that has been growing worse over the last 4 weeks. X-rays reveal extensive consolidation in both lungs. Pt has a 20 pack-year history of smoking.

A) What's he got? (in 3-letters or less)

B) What bug would you guess is causing it?

C)What bug might it be if Old Man Jones had been hospitalized?

Bonus I: What type of bug would a foul-smelling sputum lead you to suspect?

Bonus II: What is the two-word sputum-describing buzz-word that Dr. Vaughn might hint at to let you know there has been involvement of the alveolar tissue?

5.
Dr. Vaughn presents to your out-of-state clinic under a false name, carrying with him a petri dish containing colonies growing on chocolate agar. When he spots you he runs for the door only to find Jim, the overweight and gassy orderly, blocking his path. Knowing he is trapped, Dr. Vaughn tries to distract you with a rapid-fire, impromptu pimping session:

A) “Name the Big Three Criteria for defining atypical pneumonia!” he says.

1-

2-

3-

B) “Uh, bu- wha- I...” he stammers before jumping behind a plastic palm tree and pretending to be invisible. To fill the awkward silence while a murse fetches you a syringe of Ativan, you add, “________________ _______________ (g&s) is the #1 cause of atypical pneumonia.”

Dr. Vaughn is so shocked you just answered all his queries correctly, he promptly passes out, spilling the culture of N. gonorrhea all over Jim, the gassy orderly.

And they all lived happily ever after.

The End.

Morality

2009-05-09T02:39:00.006-04:00

2:39 AM - Saturday Morning

After a long day of study, BacT, more study and a little bit of bad TV (Hulu style) I find myself reclining on an eggplant, ass-swallowing couch wondering about the nature of morality.

Is it a social construct or an evolutionary mechanism to keep some semblance of order in the universe of ethereal reality? Is it a learned response to a corporal theme that helps our genes live on? I mean, seriously, whats the deal with Santa Clause?

You see Santa Clause is the keeper of all morality - the ever present stalwart of human dignity. "He knows when you've been naughty; he knows when you've been ni-" No, the naughty part is the big deal with morality. The thing about 'naughty' is it'll run away with you if you let it. 'Nice' just is. 'Nice' is a seedling you find in the woods and bring home to cherish. 'Naughty's' a virus that'll spread out of control without proper antibiotics (Dr. Vaughn groans here). Were used to Santa keeping 'naughty' in check: staying out late, not doing home work, not calling home when-. Morality loves 'naughty.' 'Nice' is the honor student that no one notices while the naughty delinquent is on first name terms with the principal.

Just to clarify, the lover of sexual innuendo that I am, 'naughty' just means naughty. Sorry. No leather, whips or a priest that walks into a bar and orders a Virgin Mudslide here. Just cliches.

I'm thinking of morality because I postponed a New Year's resolution (intention) for a later date, bought a 6-pack of gluten-free virgin (yet still containing alcohol) Twisted Teas, and had myself a movie night. After a couple hours of watching a "Sci-Fi Channel Original Series" on Hulu, I checked the time to see if there was time for just one more. The time: 2:39 AM. And what was the very first thought to pop into my mind?

"Wow, that's a little excessive."

Yep, that's what I thought, plain and uncensored. "That's a little excessive?" Seriously? It's like I was whining to the universe about an unreasonable curfew. Excessive? I didn't say, "Whoops, I stayed up later than I'd expected," or took credit and said, "Damn, I'll be tired in the morning." I appealed to the Great Keeper of Time to extend my curfew just one more hour for one more show b-b-because I wannit!!!!!

My first thought in organizing the ridiculous amount o studying I need to accomplish in the next week wasn't of personal responsibility but of authoritative accountability. And I hate authority!

I don't know what this means or what moral gems this late night musing holds. It was the most surprising thing, though, to catch myself red-handed in a moral act.

As for me? I'm gonna watch another episode before turning in.

And, maybe; just maybe, I'll crack open another twisted tea.

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(Incidentally, if you can get past the B-list acting and shotty story-line, check out Eureka on Hulu. I'm gonna watch one more episode tonight. I'm already on season three!)

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3:09 AM

The Changing Wind

2009-04-28T22:32:00.005-04:00

..."The Winds of Change" would've been better. Still, catchy title, right? Really draws you in...

I'm going to call it! Today, on the Somethingth of April in the year two-thousand and oh nine, Summer has come to the shores of Maine. Let us rejoice and be glad.

Studying this afternoon on my private beach (empty beach), the sun beat down on my tepid chest and stray nipple hairs as I flipped through last block's Bacteriology notes. After a half hour or so, a chilly breeze riffled through the pages and I looked up to find patchy clouds disrupting my otherwise even burn. I put on a shirt and blanketed my legs FDR style before flipping forward to more current notes and continuing.

The weather was still declining when I saw a line of dark clouds migrating in from the ocean. The temperature had already dropped from 85ish to low 70's, so I planned to head in whenever the shadows reached the shore. A few minutes later I checked again and the sky was the same: sunlight on one side; clouds on the other. A few minutes later: the same. What had once been two undulating currents of sky were now frozen in flight. Just hanging out.

Hmph.

I was getting tired of all this waiting. Had this been a cloudless July afternoon, I'd've been inside twenty minutes ago studying with Dr. Beam, but there's something about a sliver of springtime summer that makes you want to take in every photon. So I stayed. Waiting.

With a tinkling, the sand around me began to move. I looked up: The sky had changed. It seems the dark clouds had won the battle and were pushing on toward shore - a meteorological Normandy in the making. I began to gather my things when thwap! A river of hot air hit me square in the chest. Looking up, confused, the current swept my fedora away with it and sent me running. When I returned with my hat a few moments later, squinting against the wind, I realized my notes had been swept away as well. Awesome.

Collecting my my own personal brand of High-Maintenance, I flopped back down in my low-rider beach chair. Wondering. The dark clouds were moving fast now, overtaking the shore like a stampede and bringing with it this intense heat. Curious that a cloud-laden wind blowing in from the sea should be this warm...

Too windy to leave them on the beach, I brought my things inside and went back for a walk. It was glorious. The 90 degree wind was blowing harder than before, sandblasting my already inflamed skin and fighting my eyelids for sclera. I was standing at the crease between Hot and Cold fronts and, quite literally, reaping the whirlwind. It was fantastic.

As accomplished pre-frontal lobers, we're pretty good at predicting the future. We see the signs, pick the outcome that fits our experience, and watch the inevitable unfold.

Today was a nice reminder that dark clouds don't always bring with them the cold and wet.

Sometimes they bring Summer.