"Arch-Druid in his full Judicial Costume"
From Wiki.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
What's That Again?
From the Times-Picayune:
Worried that welfare costs are rising as the number of taxpayers declines, state Rep. John LaBruzzo, R-Metairie, said Tuesday he is studying a plan to pay poor women $1,000 to have their Fallopian tubes tied.
"We're on a train headed to the future and there's a bridge out," LaBruzzo said of what he suspects are dangerous demographic trends. "And nobody wants to talk about it."
LaBruzzo said he worries that people receiving government aid such as food stamps and publicly subsidized housing are reproducing at a faster rate than more affluent, better-educated people who presumably pay more tax revenue to the government. He said he is gathering statistics now.
....
He said his program would be voluntary. It could involve tubal ligation, encouraging other forms of birth control or, to avoid charges of gender discrimination, vasectomies for men.
It also could include tax incentives for college-educated, higher-income people to have more children, he said.
....
He acknowledged his idea might be a difficult sell politically.
"I don't know if it's a viable option," LaBruzzo said. "Of course people are going to get excited about it. Maybe we'll start a debate on it."
Even in Louisiana, I don't think this will go anywhere. LaBruzzo serves the district that voted David Duke, the white supremecist, into the Louisiana legislature. However, LaBruzzo does not want us to think this idea is based on racism, because, as he says, more white folks use the programs that concern him than African-Americans.
Worried that welfare costs are rising as the number of taxpayers declines, state Rep. John LaBruzzo, R-Metairie, said Tuesday he is studying a plan to pay poor women $1,000 to have their Fallopian tubes tied.
"We're on a train headed to the future and there's a bridge out," LaBruzzo said of what he suspects are dangerous demographic trends. "And nobody wants to talk about it."
LaBruzzo said he worries that people receiving government aid such as food stamps and publicly subsidized housing are reproducing at a faster rate than more affluent, better-educated people who presumably pay more tax revenue to the government. He said he is gathering statistics now.
....
He said his program would be voluntary. It could involve tubal ligation, encouraging other forms of birth control or, to avoid charges of gender discrimination, vasectomies for men.
It also could include tax incentives for college-educated, higher-income people to have more children, he said.
....
He acknowledged his idea might be a difficult sell politically.
"I don't know if it's a viable option," LaBruzzo said. "Of course people are going to get excited about it. Maybe we'll start a debate on it."
Even in Louisiana, I don't think this will go anywhere. LaBruzzo serves the district that voted David Duke, the white supremecist, into the Louisiana legislature. However, LaBruzzo does not want us to think this idea is based on racism, because, as he says, more white folks use the programs that concern him than African-Americans.
Obama's Video Response
Here's the link to Think Progress to see the video of Obama's response to McCain's suggestion to postpone the debate.
Note at TP: In a poll taken "immediately after John McCain's announcement" today, SurveyUSA found that only 14% of Americans want the debates suspended.
Thanks to Paul (A.).
Note at TP: In a poll taken "immediately after John McCain's announcement" today, SurveyUSA found that only 14% of Americans want the debates suspended.
Thanks to Paul (A.).
McCain Wants To Postpone The Debate
From the New York Times.
John McCain wants to postpone the debate scheduled for tomorrow night to rush back to DC to deal with the financial crisis. What do you think? Read Juan Cole on the request and the announcement that he is temporarily suspending his campaign. Oh well, it wasn't going well anyway.
Very suspicious that as soon as Obama is up 9% in the polls, all of a sudden the mess the Republicans made is so important that McCain can't go on competing with his rival.
I wonder if Sarah Palin will suspend hers. I loved her meet-the-world-leaders photo-ops with no reporters present, just the pictures for future use. Again to Juan Cole. Part of her discussion with President Hamed Karzai, the president of Afghanistan, was about the meaning of his son's name. I hope she made a note of that for the debate with Biden. It could come in handy.
Is these politicians running scared?
John McCain wants to postpone the debate scheduled for tomorrow night to rush back to DC to deal with the financial crisis. What do you think? Read Juan Cole on the request and the announcement that he is temporarily suspending his campaign. Oh well, it wasn't going well anyway.
Very suspicious that as soon as Obama is up 9% in the polls, all of a sudden the mess the Republicans made is so important that McCain can't go on competing with his rival.
I wonder if Sarah Palin will suspend hers. I loved her meet-the-world-leaders photo-ops with no reporters present, just the pictures for future use. Again to Juan Cole. Part of her discussion with President Hamed Karzai, the president of Afghanistan, was about the meaning of his son's name. I hope she made a note of that for the debate with Biden. It could come in handy.
Is these politicians running scared?
McCain's Campaign Manager Received Income From Freddie Mac Through August
From the New York Times:
McCain Aide’s Firm Was Paid by Freddie Mac
WASHINGTON — One of the giant mortgage companies at the heart of the credit crisis paid $15,000 a month from the end of 2005 through last month to a firm owned by Senator John McCain’s campaign manager, according to two people with direct knowledge of the arrangement.
The disclosure undercuts a remark by Mr. McCain on Sunday night that the campaign manager, Rick Davis, had had no involvement with the company for the last several years.
Mr. Davis’s firm received the payments from the company, Freddie Mac, until it was taken over by the government this month along with Fannie Mae, the other big mortgage lender whose deteriorating finances helped precipitate the cascading problems on Wall Street, the two people said.
The article goes on to say that Davis took a leave from the firm, and that he didn't do much real work for Freddie Mac, but the money was rolling into the firm, and he received income from the firm. Nice deal if you can get it.
Meanwhile, McCain criticizes Obama for his ties to lobbyists.
I heard this story last night on Rachel Maddow's show. I'd say that Rachel's off to a good start, although I would hardly call her coverage balanced. She's MSNBC's answer to Faux News. She may be biased, but, at least, she seems committed to telling the truth. She is quite a talented and attractive anchor.
McCain Aide’s Firm Was Paid by Freddie Mac
WASHINGTON — One of the giant mortgage companies at the heart of the credit crisis paid $15,000 a month from the end of 2005 through last month to a firm owned by Senator John McCain’s campaign manager, according to two people with direct knowledge of the arrangement.
The disclosure undercuts a remark by Mr. McCain on Sunday night that the campaign manager, Rick Davis, had had no involvement with the company for the last several years.
Mr. Davis’s firm received the payments from the company, Freddie Mac, until it was taken over by the government this month along with Fannie Mae, the other big mortgage lender whose deteriorating finances helped precipitate the cascading problems on Wall Street, the two people said.
The article goes on to say that Davis took a leave from the firm, and that he didn't do much real work for Freddie Mac, but the money was rolling into the firm, and he received income from the firm. Nice deal if you can get it.
Meanwhile, McCain criticizes Obama for his ties to lobbyists.
I heard this story last night on Rachel Maddow's show. I'd say that Rachel's off to a good start, although I would hardly call her coverage balanced. She's MSNBC's answer to Faux News. She may be biased, but, at least, she seems committed to telling the truth. She is quite a talented and attractive anchor.
"The Myth Of Redemptive Violence"
The Episcopal Café posted a video of a short portion of a speech by Walter Wink that is well worth a few minutes of your time. His final words in the video are:
This is, I believe, the most pressing ethical issue of our times. How we grow a spirituality of non-violence, thus becomes a matter of utmost urgency.
Amen to that!
This is, I believe, the most pressing ethical issue of our times. How we grow a spirituality of non-violence, thus becomes a matter of utmost urgency.
Amen to that!
Even His Friends Are Leaving
From George Will in the Washington Post:
Conservatives who insist that electing McCain is crucial usually start, and increasingly end, by saying he would make excellent judicial selections. But the more one sees of his impulsive, intensely personal reactions to people and events, the less confidence one has that he would select judges by calm reflection and clear principles, having neither patience nor aptitude for either.
It is arguable that, because of his inexperience, Obama is not ready for the presidency. It is arguable that McCain, because of his boiling moralism and bottomless reservoir of certitudes, is not suited to the presidency. Unreadiness can be corrected, although perhaps at great cost, by experience. Can a dismaying temperament be fixed?
Ouch!
There's much in Will's column with which I disagree. I am opposed to nearly all of Will's positions on political issues. I almost never read his column, and I have no idea if Will and McCain are friends, but when a staunch conservative Republican pundit writes such biting words about the Republican candidate for president, people take note. Will cites McCain's temperament as making him unsuitable as president. Watching McCain on TV, one could easily arrive at that conclusion, and his impulsive choice of the unvetted Palin as his VP candidate only confirms it. What kind of Supreme Court justices would he choose?
Could this be the beginning of a substantial loss of support for McCain among Republicans? We can hope.
Conservatives who insist that electing McCain is crucial usually start, and increasingly end, by saying he would make excellent judicial selections. But the more one sees of his impulsive, intensely personal reactions to people and events, the less confidence one has that he would select judges by calm reflection and clear principles, having neither patience nor aptitude for either.
It is arguable that, because of his inexperience, Obama is not ready for the presidency. It is arguable that McCain, because of his boiling moralism and bottomless reservoir of certitudes, is not suited to the presidency. Unreadiness can be corrected, although perhaps at great cost, by experience. Can a dismaying temperament be fixed?
Ouch!
There's much in Will's column with which I disagree. I am opposed to nearly all of Will's positions on political issues. I almost never read his column, and I have no idea if Will and McCain are friends, but when a staunch conservative Republican pundit writes such biting words about the Republican candidate for president, people take note. Will cites McCain's temperament as making him unsuitable as president. Watching McCain on TV, one could easily arrive at that conclusion, and his impulsive choice of the unvetted Palin as his VP candidate only confirms it. What kind of Supreme Court justices would he choose?
Could this be the beginning of a substantial loss of support for McCain among Republicans? We can hope.
Check This Out
+Clumber that wise old dog and excellent One True Canine Bishop of the NEW Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh posted a video of Representative Marcy Kaptur speaking on the bailout bill that Treasury Secretary Paulson and President Cheney/Bush want to foist on the American taxpayers. I have heard Rep. Kaptur speak before, and I would not mind at all having her as my representative. It's worth a look.
"Nigerian Spam"?
A satiric email phrasing Hank Paulson's giant Wall Street bailout as "Nigerian spam".
Dear American:
I need to ask you to support an urgent secret business relationship with a transfer of funds of great magnitude.
I am Ministry of the Treasury of the Republic of America. My country has had crisis that has caused the need for large transfer of funds of 800 billion dollars US. If you would assist me in this transfer, it would be most profitable to you.
I am working with Mr. Phil Gram, lobbyist for UBS, who will be my replacement as Ministry of the Treasury in January. As a Senator, you may know him as the leader of the American banking deregulation movement in the 1990s. This transactin is 100% safe.
This is a matter of great urgency. We need a blank check. We need the funds as quickly as possible. We cannot directly transfer these funds in the names of our close friends because we are constantly under surveillance. My family lawyer advised me that I should look for a reliable and trustworthy person who will act as a next of kin so the funds can be transferred.
Please reply with all of your bank account, IRA and college fund account numbers and those of your children and grandchildren to wallstreetbailout@treasury.gov so that we may transfer your commission for this transaction. After I receive that information, I will respond with detailed information about safeguards that will be used to protect the funds.
Yours Faithfully Minister of Treasury Paulson
Thanks to HolyFoolishness.
Dear American:
I need to ask you to support an urgent secret business relationship with a transfer of funds of great magnitude.
I am Ministry of the Treasury of the Republic of America. My country has had crisis that has caused the need for large transfer of funds of 800 billion dollars US. If you would assist me in this transfer, it would be most profitable to you.
I am working with Mr. Phil Gram, lobbyist for UBS, who will be my replacement as Ministry of the Treasury in January. As a Senator, you may know him as the leader of the American banking deregulation movement in the 1990s. This transactin is 100% safe.
This is a matter of great urgency. We need a blank check. We need the funds as quickly as possible. We cannot directly transfer these funds in the names of our close friends because we are constantly under surveillance. My family lawyer advised me that I should look for a reliable and trustworthy person who will act as a next of kin so the funds can be transferred.
Please reply with all of your bank account, IRA and college fund account numbers and those of your children and grandchildren to wallstreetbailout@treasury.gov so that we may transfer your commission for this transaction. After I receive that information, I will respond with detailed information about safeguards that will be used to protect the funds.
Yours Faithfully Minister of Treasury Paulson
Thanks to HolyFoolishness.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
My New Doctor - Dr. Prophet
Yesterday, as some of you know, I made my pilgrimage to the office of a new doctor in town, an orthopedic specialist, for him to have a look at my knee and my heel, which have been troubling me for a couple of months. When I made my appointment, the receptionist told me that, since I was a new patient, I should arrive one half hour early to fill out the new patient form. Fair enough. On the day before the appointment, I received a reminder call, which repeated the instructions to arrive early.
I left home in time to arrive at the office a few minutes before 3:00 PM, my appointment having been set for 3:30 PM. Unfortunately, I went to the wrong building. I asked if they knew where the office of the orthopedic specialists was. They asked me the name of the doctor, but - alas! - I had forgotten it. The receptionist was kind enough to look up the names of the orthopedists and call them out to me until I recognized the name. Then she called their office to make sure that I had an appointment with them. Do you think she thought I was senile? Now my memory helper for the doctor's name is one the prophets in the Hebrew Testament, since his name is a variation of the name of that prophet. How's that for cleverness after forgetting his name? Here, I'll call him Dr. Prophet.
Once I found the right office, it was 3:15, so I was late for my pre-visit arrival. I began filling out the medical history form. It took me 35 minutes to finish. Toward the end, I felt as though I was taking a very long school test, and I was writing whatever popped into my head first just to get to the end. The spaces in which to put the information were so very small that I had to squeeze in the printing, making some of it nearly illegible. I know that this information is important for the doctor to have, but when it's so long, one does get worn down.
I handed in my form at around 3:50 and proceeded to read my book Constantine's Sword (an excellent book) by James Carroll, at 600+ pages excluding notes, references, and index, of which I had read half, and which I knew would carry me through any wait for a doctor visit. 4:00 came; 5:00 came. I went to ask the receptionist, very politely, if they had forgotten about me. She said, "No, they're reading your medical history." 35 minutes to fill it out and one hour and 10 minutes to read it. Priceless. In between those times, I began thinking of elderly folks who decide to forego medical care because they are old and are going to die anyway. It began to seem an understandable and somewhat attractive idea. I'm a bit hospital and doctor phobic, anyway. It's even hard for me to visit people in the hospital.
At 5:10, I was called in. The nurse apologized to me for the wait and said that they were still behind trying to catch up after Hurricane Gustav and that they were scheduling more patients per day than usual. I understood that. I'm still catching up, too. She x-rayed my knee and foot, and moved me to an examining room. There the wait there was only about 5 minutes, and I clocked the doctor's arrival at 5:25. My math may not be exact. He said, "I'm so sorry you had to wait." I said, "I believe you may have broken my record for waiting in a doctor's office. But wait! No! Once I was left stripped topless and forgotten in an examining room. I had to open the door wrapped in my sheet and remind them I was still there, and they had, indeed!, forgotten me."
They don't call us patients for nothing.
He proceeded to examine me very gently, while we talked of his name and how I had forgotten it, and about my prophet's name memory helper. He looked at the x-rays and gave me my diagnoses of osteoarthritis of the knee and plantar fasciitis of the heel. He said that there were several treatments that he could try, before he would suggest a knee replacement. What a relief! He has no idea what convincing it would take for me to have that surgery. He gave me a steroid shot in the knee, and, when I squealed a little, he said that it was only pressure and not pain. How does he know? I told him his comment reminded of a man talking about the pain of childbirth. He said, "Oh, I never do that!"
Then Dr. Prophet said that he was sending me to a physical therapist. I was overjoyed, because I had been wanting a referral to a therapist from my family doctor, but he never sent me. He asked if I had been to any PTs, and I gave him the name of the therapist who worked with me after I broke my shoulder several years ago, mentioning that he gave wonderful massages. He said that he had one in mind who loved to do feet. He loved working on feet and doing foot massages. I said, "Oh yes! Send me to the foot fetishist!" So, I'm on my way to the foot fetishist, with the hope that he will help my knee, too, soon and very soon.
I must confess that, despite the long wait, I fell a little in love with Dr. Prophet. He was kind, gentle, and caring, and he took time with me to talk to me and answer all my questions. Unfortunately, not all, or even most doctors are like that today. With some, I feel that I'm being rushed through for them to get to the next patient. Doctors reading this, I am not referring to you. I'm sure that you're all like Dr. Prophet with your patients.
Sigh.... Another all-about-me-post. Skip it if you like.
I left home in time to arrive at the office a few minutes before 3:00 PM, my appointment having been set for 3:30 PM. Unfortunately, I went to the wrong building. I asked if they knew where the office of the orthopedic specialists was. They asked me the name of the doctor, but - alas! - I had forgotten it. The receptionist was kind enough to look up the names of the orthopedists and call them out to me until I recognized the name. Then she called their office to make sure that I had an appointment with them. Do you think she thought I was senile? Now my memory helper for the doctor's name is one the prophets in the Hebrew Testament, since his name is a variation of the name of that prophet. How's that for cleverness after forgetting his name? Here, I'll call him Dr. Prophet.
Once I found the right office, it was 3:15, so I was late for my pre-visit arrival. I began filling out the medical history form. It took me 35 minutes to finish. Toward the end, I felt as though I was taking a very long school test, and I was writing whatever popped into my head first just to get to the end. The spaces in which to put the information were so very small that I had to squeeze in the printing, making some of it nearly illegible. I know that this information is important for the doctor to have, but when it's so long, one does get worn down.
I handed in my form at around 3:50 and proceeded to read my book Constantine's Sword (an excellent book) by James Carroll, at 600+ pages excluding notes, references, and index, of which I had read half, and which I knew would carry me through any wait for a doctor visit. 4:00 came; 5:00 came. I went to ask the receptionist, very politely, if they had forgotten about me. She said, "No, they're reading your medical history." 35 minutes to fill it out and one hour and 10 minutes to read it. Priceless. In between those times, I began thinking of elderly folks who decide to forego medical care because they are old and are going to die anyway. It began to seem an understandable and somewhat attractive idea. I'm a bit hospital and doctor phobic, anyway. It's even hard for me to visit people in the hospital.
At 5:10, I was called in. The nurse apologized to me for the wait and said that they were still behind trying to catch up after Hurricane Gustav and that they were scheduling more patients per day than usual. I understood that. I'm still catching up, too. She x-rayed my knee and foot, and moved me to an examining room. There the wait there was only about 5 minutes, and I clocked the doctor's arrival at 5:25. My math may not be exact. He said, "I'm so sorry you had to wait." I said, "I believe you may have broken my record for waiting in a doctor's office. But wait! No! Once I was left stripped topless and forgotten in an examining room. I had to open the door wrapped in my sheet and remind them I was still there, and they had, indeed!, forgotten me."
They don't call us patients for nothing.
He proceeded to examine me very gently, while we talked of his name and how I had forgotten it, and about my prophet's name memory helper. He looked at the x-rays and gave me my diagnoses of osteoarthritis of the knee and plantar fasciitis of the heel. He said that there were several treatments that he could try, before he would suggest a knee replacement. What a relief! He has no idea what convincing it would take for me to have that surgery. He gave me a steroid shot in the knee, and, when I squealed a little, he said that it was only pressure and not pain. How does he know? I told him his comment reminded of a man talking about the pain of childbirth. He said, "Oh, I never do that!"
Then Dr. Prophet said that he was sending me to a physical therapist. I was overjoyed, because I had been wanting a referral to a therapist from my family doctor, but he never sent me. He asked if I had been to any PTs, and I gave him the name of the therapist who worked with me after I broke my shoulder several years ago, mentioning that he gave wonderful massages. He said that he had one in mind who loved to do feet. He loved working on feet and doing foot massages. I said, "Oh yes! Send me to the foot fetishist!" So, I'm on my way to the foot fetishist, with the hope that he will help my knee, too, soon and very soon.
I must confess that, despite the long wait, I fell a little in love with Dr. Prophet. He was kind, gentle, and caring, and he took time with me to talk to me and answer all my questions. Unfortunately, not all, or even most doctors are like that today. With some, I feel that I'm being rushed through for them to get to the next patient. Doctors reading this, I am not referring to you. I'm sure that you're all like Dr. Prophet with your patients.
Sigh.... Another all-about-me-post. Skip it if you like.
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