From the place where we are right
Flowers will never grow
In the spring.
The place where we are right
Is hard and trampled
Like a yard.
But doubts and loves
Dig up the world
Like a mole, a plow.
And a whisper will be heard in the place
Where the ruined
House once stood.
Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai
With thanks to Ann.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
I Was Thirsty....
From Rmj at Adventus:
Water-borne diseases are common in poor countries that have no sewage or clean-water systems, but Baghdad once had such things. Dr. Fathil al-Hadawi, of Iraq's Ministry of Health, says the pipes have been wrecked by years of neglect and war.
Hadawi says both water and sewer pipes are broken or cracked in many places, allowing untreated fecal matter to mingle with the tap water. He adds that chronic electricity outages in the city mean that water treatment and pumping stations often stand idle, so even polluted tap water isn't always available. NPR
As Rmj says, violence is down in Iraq, but life there is still not a bowl of cherries.
Water-borne diseases are common in poor countries that have no sewage or clean-water systems, but Baghdad once had such things. Dr. Fathil al-Hadawi, of Iraq's Ministry of Health, says the pipes have been wrecked by years of neglect and war.
Hadawi says both water and sewer pipes are broken or cracked in many places, allowing untreated fecal matter to mingle with the tap water. He adds that chronic electricity outages in the city mean that water treatment and pumping stations often stand idle, so even polluted tap water isn't always available. NPR
As Rmj says, violence is down in Iraq, but life there is still not a bowl of cherries.
Bishop Gene On Putney
From Canterbury Tales From The Fringe:
By now, you will have probably read about the service last night at St. Mary's, Putney. The church was filled to capacity, the music was glorious, the crowd was warm, welcoming and supportive. It was clear that everyone wanted to be there. Except that one person wanted to be there for different reasons.
As I began to preach, this youngish man with long hair and long sideburns, carrying a motorcycle helmet, stood and began to point his finger at me and scream, "Heretic! Repent!"
....
And then, on with the sermon. Though everyone seemed to appreciate it, it was not my best, and my timing felt off. I meant what I was saying, and it was all true, but I was distracted -- wondering if there were plans for further interruptions by possible collaborators in the heckling, still feeling the sadness, and absorbing the trauma of what had just happened. The communion proceeded, and I sat and watched the faces as they came forward to receive. (I was not distributing the bread, to make it absolutely clear that I was not presiding at the service, having not been given permission to do so.)
Read the rest about Nicky, the waiter, and about Emily, the young woman with cerebral palsy.
By now, you will have probably read about the service last night at St. Mary's, Putney. The church was filled to capacity, the music was glorious, the crowd was warm, welcoming and supportive. It was clear that everyone wanted to be there. Except that one person wanted to be there for different reasons.
As I began to preach, this youngish man with long hair and long sideburns, carrying a motorcycle helmet, stood and began to point his finger at me and scream, "Heretic! Repent!"
....
And then, on with the sermon. Though everyone seemed to appreciate it, it was not my best, and my timing felt off. I meant what I was saying, and it was all true, but I was distracted -- wondering if there were plans for further interruptions by possible collaborators in the heckling, still feeling the sadness, and absorbing the trauma of what had just happened. The communion proceeded, and I sat and watched the faces as they came forward to receive. (I was not distributing the bread, to make it absolutely clear that I was not presiding at the service, having not been given permission to do so.)
Read the rest about Nicky, the waiter, and about Emily, the young woman with cerebral palsy.
Why Women Need Catalogs
If you feel the slightest bit of hostility toward the man in your life, even the slightest, this should help. You feel better now, right? Good. Now you can go about your business with a load off your shoulders.
Sent by my daughter.
This Will Be A Hellish Week
Actually my title is hyperbole. Saturday, we are leaving to go to Kansas City to visit my deceased sister's family. The days before we leave are filled with APPOINTMENTS. Why is it that the week before I travel always seems filled with obligations? Who did this to me? Of course, I did it to myself, not realizing when I made the APPOINTMENTS that I was leaving the following Saturday.
Today is the APPOINTMENT with the attorney, because our 11 year old will is no longer satisfactory and needs to be fixed. Oh joy! Most of the time I'll be sitting with glazed eyes, because my brain usually shuts down when I hear legal talk.
The rest of the week consists of maintenance APPOINTMENTS for me, the ear doctor, the dentist, and the hairdresser. If I don't get my hair cut before we go, I'll frighten the folks in Kansas City.
Yesterday, I took care of the pre-trip obligation with the highest priority - taking my two grandchildren to see "WALL-E". PJ ordered me to go. When PJ gives an order, I dare not disobey. It was incredibly good. Both my 12 year old granddaughter and my 8 year old grandson enjoyed it. My grandson was bug-eyed with all the machinery and technology. The animation was absolutely amazing. There was enough wit and irony included, along with the poignancy, to please the adults. I won't say more, because I don't want to spoil the movie for those who have not seen it. PJ was right to give the order.
I had my movie moment of blindness. My eyes take an unbelievably long time to adjust to darkness after coming in from bright sunlight. My grandchildren raced to their seats before I could go anywhere. There I stood on the bottom of the stairs straining to see them, but I could see nothing. I heard a faint "Mimi" several times, which sounded far away, and that was no help. After standing like an idiot on the stairs for an interminable period, I began to be able to see. No wonder the voice calling "Mimi" was faint. They were sitting in the rafters! Third row from the top, I believe. Then Grandson didn't have a straw, but there was no way I was going down the stairs again, and they didn't want to miss parts of the movie, so he and his sister shared the one straw.
My granddaughter will be going with us to Kansas City. She outgrew the bottom of her favorite swim suit, but the top still fits, and she wanted to go to the dreaded (by me) Walmart to look for a bottom of a suit, because the big box sells tops and bottoms separately. After looking and looking, she found a bottom that fit and matched her top. We picked up a few other items, and we went to check out.
It seems the bottom of the swim suit was part of a set, with the top missing. We went back and looked and looked, but no top. I asked if I could pay full price for just the bottom. Impossible. What about half price? Impossible. What will you do with this bottom? No answer. Walmart simply cannot handle unusual situations. The bottom that my granddaughter wanted, the only one that fit and matched her top, will very likely be discarded. Somehow this doesn't seem right.
Eight Embarrassing Medical Exams
1. A man comes into the ER and yells, 'My wife's going to have her baby in the cab!' I grabbed my stuff, rushed out to the cab, lifted the lady's dress, and began to take off her underwear. Suddenly I noticed that there were several cabs ---and I was in the wrong one.
Submitted by Dr. Mark MacDonald, San Francisco
2. At the beginning of my shift I placed a stethoscope on an elderly and slightly deaf female patient's anterior chest wall. 'Big breaths,' I instructed. 'Yes, they used to be,' replied the patient.
Submitted by Dr. Richard Byrnes, Seattle, WA
3. One day I told a wife that her husband had died of a massive myocardial infarct. Not more than five minutes later, I heard her reporting to the rest of the family that he had died of a 'massive internal fart.'
Submitted by Dr. Susan Steinberg
4. During a patient's two week follow-up appointment with his cardiologist, he informed me, his doctor, that he was having trouble with one of his medications. 'Which one?' I asked. 'The patch. The nurse told me to put on a new one every six hours and now I'm running out of places to put it!' I had him quickly undress and discovered what I hoped I wouldn't see. Yes, the man had over fifty patches on his body! Now the instructions include removal of the old patch before applying a new one.
Submitted by Dr. Rebecca St. Clair, Norfolk, VA
5. While acquainting myself with a new elderly patient, I asked, 'How long have you been bedridden?' After a look of complete confusion She answered.'Why, not for about twenty years - when my husband was alive.'
Submitted by Dr. Steven Swanson, Corvallis, OR
6. I was performing rounds at the hospital one morning and while checking upon a woman I asked, 'So how's your breakfast this morning?''It's very good, except for the Kentucky Jelly. I can't seem to get used to the taste' the patient replied. I then asked to see the jelly and the woman produced a foil packet labeled 'KY Jelly.'
Submitted by Dr. Leonard Kransdorf, Detroit, MI
7. A nurse was on duty in the Emergency Room when a young woman with purple hair styled into a punk rocker Mohawk, sporting a variety of tattoos, and wearing strange clothing, entered. It was quickly determined that the patient had acute appendicitis, so she was scheduled for immediate surgery.When she was completely disrobed on the operating table, the staff noticed that her pubic hair had been dyed green, and above it there was a tattoo that read, 'Keep off the grass.' Once the surgery was completed, the surgeon wrote a short note on the patient's dressing, which said, 'Sorry, had to mow the lawn.'
Submitted by RN no name
AND FINALLY---
8. As a new, young MD doing his residency, I was quite embarrassed when performing female pelvic exams. To cover my embarrassment, I had unconsciously formed a habit of whistling softly The middle-aged lady upon whom I was performing this exam suddenly burst out laughing and further embarrassing me. I looked up from my work and sheepishly said, 'I'm sorry. Was I tickling you?' She replied, 'No Doctor, but the song you were whistling was, 'I wish I was an Oscar Meyer Wiener'.
Dr Wouldn't submit his name.
With gratitude to Doug.
Submitted by Dr. Mark MacDonald, San Francisco
2. At the beginning of my shift I placed a stethoscope on an elderly and slightly deaf female patient's anterior chest wall. 'Big breaths,' I instructed. 'Yes, they used to be,' replied the patient.
Submitted by Dr. Richard Byrnes, Seattle, WA
3. One day I told a wife that her husband had died of a massive myocardial infarct. Not more than five minutes later, I heard her reporting to the rest of the family that he had died of a 'massive internal fart.'
Submitted by Dr. Susan Steinberg
4. During a patient's two week follow-up appointment with his cardiologist, he informed me, his doctor, that he was having trouble with one of his medications. 'Which one?' I asked. 'The patch. The nurse told me to put on a new one every six hours and now I'm running out of places to put it!' I had him quickly undress and discovered what I hoped I wouldn't see. Yes, the man had over fifty patches on his body! Now the instructions include removal of the old patch before applying a new one.
Submitted by Dr. Rebecca St. Clair, Norfolk, VA
5. While acquainting myself with a new elderly patient, I asked, 'How long have you been bedridden?' After a look of complete confusion She answered.'Why, not for about twenty years - when my husband was alive.'
Submitted by Dr. Steven Swanson, Corvallis, OR
6. I was performing rounds at the hospital one morning and while checking upon a woman I asked, 'So how's your breakfast this morning?''It's very good, except for the Kentucky Jelly. I can't seem to get used to the taste' the patient replied. I then asked to see the jelly and the woman produced a foil packet labeled 'KY Jelly.'
Submitted by Dr. Leonard Kransdorf, Detroit, MI
7. A nurse was on duty in the Emergency Room when a young woman with purple hair styled into a punk rocker Mohawk, sporting a variety of tattoos, and wearing strange clothing, entered. It was quickly determined that the patient had acute appendicitis, so she was scheduled for immediate surgery.When she was completely disrobed on the operating table, the staff noticed that her pubic hair had been dyed green, and above it there was a tattoo that read, 'Keep off the grass.' Once the surgery was completed, the surgeon wrote a short note on the patient's dressing, which said, 'Sorry, had to mow the lawn.'
Submitted by RN no name
AND FINALLY---
8. As a new, young MD doing his residency, I was quite embarrassed when performing female pelvic exams. To cover my embarrassment, I had unconsciously formed a habit of whistling softly The middle-aged lady upon whom I was performing this exam suddenly burst out laughing and further embarrassing me. I looked up from my work and sheepishly said, 'I'm sorry. Was I tickling you?' She replied, 'No Doctor, but the song you were whistling was, 'I wish I was an Oscar Meyer Wiener'.
Dr Wouldn't submit his name.
With gratitude to Doug.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Before And After
Image from AP.
Image from NDTV.
Taliban militants covered their faces before they executed two women on Saturday in Ghazni province, Afghanistan, alleging that they were organizers of a sex ring catering to US soldiers and foreign contractors.
A spokesman for the local governor says that they were "innocent local people." Summary execution without trial.
The pictures above showing the women awaiting their execution and after being killed are horrifying. They haunt me. I'm sorry if any of you find them offensive, but we need to know that the situation in Afghanistan is getting worse, much worse.
This terrible news comes on the heels of the news of the nine US soldiers killed in Afghanistan over the weekend.
Driving Drunk And Left Of Center
From the Daily Comet:
THIBODAUX – Nicholls State University’s student-affairs director was arrested early Saturday for drunken driving after a state trooper allegedly observed him driving on the wrong side on a city thoroughfare.
Eugene Dial, 52, the university’s vice president of Student Services, was brought to the Lafourche Parish jail where he was issued a court summons for driving while intoxicated and driving left of center.
....
Dial maintains a high profile on the Nicholls campus because of his involvement with student safety and security issues. He also wrote the school’s first drug- and alcohol-abuse grant, he said.
One wonders why Eugene volunteered that bit of information.
THIBODAUX – Nicholls State University’s student-affairs director was arrested early Saturday for drunken driving after a state trooper allegedly observed him driving on the wrong side on a city thoroughfare.
Eugene Dial, 52, the university’s vice president of Student Services, was brought to the Lafourche Parish jail where he was issued a court summons for driving while intoxicated and driving left of center.
....
Dial maintains a high profile on the Nicholls campus because of his involvement with student safety and security issues. He also wrote the school’s first drug- and alcohol-abuse grant, he said.
One wonders why Eugene volunteered that bit of information.
Happy Bastille Day!
Counterlight reminds me:
Happy Bastille Day ma cher Grandmere!
Will you be joining President Sarkozy and me for champagne and cigars again this year?
Why, of course, Counterlight! I wouldn't miss it for anything. May we invite Jane R.? She grew up in Paris.
Did the video give you your fill of French triumphalism?
In New Orleans, the celebration seems to have gone to the dogs.
Monday is Bastille Day, the celebration of the day in 1789 when a Parisian mob stormed the Bastille. It is France's national holiday, and a day to celebrate all things French, especially here in a former French colony.
One of the best characteristics of the French is how much they love their dogs. France has been the birthplace of some wonderful dog breeds.
The Bassett hound is is a French breed. My son has three, a mother, a father, and a son, and they are all getting old and having a series of medical problems. Poor babies. My son's wallet is taking a hit, too.
UPDATE: My son just called and told me that Babs, their Bassett who is 11 years old, has cancer of the spleen. The cancer is too far gone for treatment. She will have about three months or until she becomes uncomfortable. She is one of the sweetest dogs I have ever known. She had 10 puppies when she was a young lady, and took beautiful care of them. Trigger is the daddy, and Junior is their son.
Ooh la la!
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