Yes, I realize that I am publishing this before the men's gold medal hockey game or the closing ceremonies even begin, but - for me - this is as it should be. Yes, I'll be watching the hockey game (after "The Sixth Sense"), but then that'll be it.
I have thoroughly enjoyed the games. This will be my fifth post on them, and - if you have read the others - you already know what I liked most, what I found amusing, and what grated a little on me.
Rather than repeat myself, I thought it might be interesting to publish something a little different. And so, without further ado, here are my takes on ... ...
Pleasant surprises ... Not only watching (Via this wonderful link that Tammy sent me. Had to use it, because I was mentoring at the bridge studio Thursday evening, and was unable to view his performance live. Thank you, Tammy!) Evan Lysacek's gold medal-winning performance in men's figure skating, but realizing much later - during an interview with Bob Costas - that his hair did not naturally look like that, all plastered down, thank goodness. What a good-looking man! Adding to the pleasantness of my surprise was the calm and gracious manner in which he answered Bob's questions, including the one inquiring as to whether or not he intended to compete in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia. He replied (with a little wry grin on his face), "I'd like to, but I'm not sure they'll let me into the country!" (This comment, of course, a direct referral to Evgeni Plushenko's - not to mention the Russian premier's - very public criticism of his not performing a quad. I was a little surprised, actually ... glad, but surprised, to see the Russian perform in the gala yesterday.)
Another pleasant surprise was the amount of medals - and they started coming early! - the US won in the Alpine events. Unheard of, I think! Congratulations to all of our athletes who sacrificed, trained and worked so hard to compete in them. We appreciate you. I appreciate you!
Shocking things ... I don't know who was not shocked at the very unexpected turn of events in the men's speed skating event - 1500 meter, wasn't it? - when the skater from the Netherlands, easily on his way to Olympic gold, was mis-directed into the wrong lane by his coach and - rather than win the event - was subsequently disqualified. Since then, I have been searching for a word to describe this catastrophe. I have failed.
A Vancouverite's view ... Go here to read what Jo has to say about the Olympics being held where she lives and what she's been able to observe and take part in. Be sure to keep scrolling down to at least February 13th, where she talks about the opening ceremonies, which is one of my favorite posts of hers. Another of my personal favorites is this one, where she writes extensively about the White Bear People and the Spirit Bear. Fascinating stuff!
[I would like to add a comment or two about the gold medal winners' deportment during the award ceremonies. In my opinion, it is completely unnecessary that they sing - forget lip synching! - their national anthem. Is that how they got there, because they could sing their national anthem? No! They got there because of multitudinous hours of self-sacrifice, training and dedication to their sport. I can understand an athlete's inability to fully take part in the ceremony. I can only imagine - unless they've been in that position many times before, and very few have! - the euphoria they must be feeling and the blurriness of all the splendiferous activity going on around them. My most sincere hope is that someone has been recording this event for them, and they can relive it later when things have calmed down a bit. Standing at attention, perhaps with hand over heart, should be the maximum requirement. But, again, that's just my opinion.]
An epitomization of the best in all of us (we can only hope!) ... NBC has done a magnificent job showing us what our neighbor to the north - Canada - is all about, but in all of these really wonderful segments there is one thing that keeps screaming itself aloud - over and over - in my mind. The people, Goldenrod, the people!
And then yesterday, I was privileged to view - in its entirety - the premiere showing of Tom Brokaw's extended (30-40+ minutes) piece on the small town of Gander, in Newfoundland, and the part this extraordinary community had to play in the aftermath of early 9/11/2001. I am not the first blogger to write about this, no sirree. Check this site out for confirmation.
What a glorious piece! They broke for commercials a time or two during its airing, and I really didn't make note of the opening time (didn't know how long it would be!), so I can't tell you for sure how long it actually is from start to finish. I'll tell you one thing, tho ... ... it's well worth your time to view it (taping it, if possible, for future enjoyment) in its entirety.
So many heroes ... ... the airport controllers, who expanded from 3 to 14 (!) in a manner of minutes and landed (I forget the actual figure, but it was astronomical!) all of the diverted planes without incident. "It was an emergency," the chief controller said. "We train for events like these." ... ... the local bus drivers, who were on strike at the time, coming back to a man to assist in transporting the thousands of stranded airline passengers around ... ... the two local drugstores, who filled for free medicating prescriptions that had to be left on board with the checked luggage ... ... the thousands of townspeople (and those in surrounding communities) who quickly volunteered to step in and offer food, lodging and emotional support.
So many wonderful personal stories ... ... the stranded couple who actually met, married and then honeymooned there ... ... the parents of Kevin O'Rourke (sp? - cannot find the original article), a NYC fireman who was at first listed among the missing and later confirmed dead ... ... a passenger on Delta 15, who was instrumental in obtaining pledges for the citizens of Gander (who would not accept monetary contributions while the stranded passengers were there) in the amount of $15,000 (US) .. those monies were intended to establish a scholarship fund for graduating students in the area .. that fund has increased, btw, to nearly $900,000. (!)
There's a pretty fair writeup about Tom Brokaw's piece here, if you'd care to read further.
I'd just like to close by saying, "Thank you, Canada, for your hospitality and warmth during these past two weeks. I cannot imagine having a better neighbor!"
Showing posts with label News media. Show all posts
Showing posts with label News media. Show all posts
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Thursday, May 7, 2009
There are so many things to tell ...
... all of you that I scarcely know where to begin. Well, let's start with ... ...
The flu has flown
Well, of course it hasn't "flown", per se, but it dropped out of the top of the nightly/hourly/minute-by-minute/second-by-second news even quicker than it first came into prominence.
You might remember my writing that our illustrious governor, in his utter panic - and perhaps in an effort to try and reclaim some sense of dignity, self-worth and importance - had declared the entire state of Texas an emergency. Remember that one? Here it is, just as a refresher.
Hundreds (thousands?) of schools throughout our state, in the subsequent 'swine flu epidemic' stampede, announced closings of upwards of two weeks where even "suspected" cases of swine flu were present.
The sky is falling! The sky is falling! Woe be unto us, the sky is falling! This sort of c r a p - sorry, guys, there's really no other word for it! - predominated the airwaves for days.
Then, yesterday - or was it the day before? - it was announced that the CDC (Center for Disease Control) said schools that had closed due to confirmed or even suspected cases of the swine flu should reopen immediately, that the threat in the US was much less than had originally been feared.
Why were the schools closed? "Well, because the CDC told us to," was the response by public school officials. Why are all the schools all of a sudden being re-opened? "Well, because the CDC told us we should do so."
The sky is falling! The sky is falling! Woe be unto us, the sky is falling! Oh, oh! Now, all of a sudden, the sky is not falling?!? Whaat!!
I found myself laughing out loud yesterday when a national news reporter asked how it could possibly be that the American public is blaming the media for the panic. How, indeed? I think all of you pretty much know my general feelings about the media and their seemingly never-ending search for ever more sensationalism in their quest to be #1.
Please do not mistake my intentions here. We should all be aware at ALL times of the need to wash our hands diligently and not unnecessarily expose ourselves to extraneous germs and viruses. That should go w/o saying. But it doesn't, does it?
My beloved Astros
They "suck", what more can I say? I mean, sucksville!
Do you know that, in the last three games, my 'good guys' have thrown over 530 pitches?!? Come on, now! That's more than just a touch incredible, wouldn't you say? I hereby move that we all listen to what (imo) is the most moving rendition ever of our National Anthem and start the season over. Any seconds to my motion? Now, I grant you that Whitney is singing at the start of a Super Bowl (football, not baseball) game, but still!
Wasn't that just wonderful? My goodness!
My plans for the next few days ...
... include a trip to New Orleans, publishing another article in the "Examiner" (it'll be my fourth), one more post on this blog (it'll be a funny!) and doing a load of laundry. Exciting, huh? (Well, let's except the load of laundry.)
OK, let's do first things first. Why am I going to New Orleans? Good question! This came up totally 'out of the blue'. I read in Houston Unit 174's (duplicate bridge) newsletter that someone, whose name sounded more than just vaguely familiar to me, had died. She was a black lady and my mind - in its wandering state (you know me!) - got to thinking about Leonard Jefferson, with whom I had often played many years ago when I lived in New Orleans. A lovely man, just lovely! We had a nice partnership and won many local events playing together. (And, if we didn't win, we always had a good time.) Was he black? Yes, he was. Was he married? Yes, he was. Was I married? Yes, I was. Did we have an affair? No, we did not. (Hope that answers all of your unasked but yet anticipated-by-me questions.)
During my efforts to try and find out if Leonard was still around, I reached the nicest fellow at one of the bridge studios in New Orleans. I didn't remember him at all, nor did he remember me, but we spent almost a full hour on the phone. (And no, Leonard is not still with us.) However, I found out that John Onstott, who was another one of my partners 'back in the day', is going to be the recipient of a special event being held in his honor Saturday in recognition of his having garnered his 20,000th (!) master point. (I didn't put that figure in bold, but I easily could have. Those are almost inconceivable numbers!)
I am SO looking forward to this trip. Will be playing with Marilyn Methvin, a regular partner of mine from 30+ years ago. I need to have all of you wishing me "staying awake while driving" luck and Marilyn and me good fortune in our game Saturday afternoon. (There'll be a big blowout-type of party Saturday night following the game.) I'll definitely be reporting back on this ... that is, assuming I make it back in one piece and still of a coherent mind. :)
What's the "Examiner"? Well, you'd have to go back to this post. It's where I first began telling you about how I was trying to fill out their fairly extensive application. Since that time - about five weeks ago - I have been accepted and am now known as the "Houston Duplicate Bridge Examiner" ... ... all of their writers are known as 'examiners', OK? Here's the link to my page, just in case you're interested.
And last but not least ...
Wendy's now back 'down in the valley', well below Base Camp. She's OK, and has been posting like crazy on her site (twice in the last couple of days). Here's the link again, just in case you need it. I'll let you read what she says for yourselves. Among other things, she talks about how they have to thaw out their clothes each morning.
Talk atcha next week! (There'll be another post between now and then, but it'll stand on its own with little or no commentary.)
The flu has flown
Well, of course it hasn't "flown", per se, but it dropped out of the top of the nightly/hourly/minute-by-minute/second-by-second news even quicker than it first came into prominence.
You might remember my writing that our illustrious governor, in his utter panic - and perhaps in an effort to try and reclaim some sense of dignity, self-worth and importance - had declared the entire state of Texas an emergency. Remember that one? Here it is, just as a refresher.
Hundreds (thousands?) of schools throughout our state, in the subsequent 'swine flu epidemic' stampede, announced closings of upwards of two weeks where even "suspected" cases of swine flu were present.
The sky is falling! The sky is falling! Woe be unto us, the sky is falling! This sort of c r a p - sorry, guys, there's really no other word for it! - predominated the airwaves for days.
Then, yesterday - or was it the day before? - it was announced that the CDC (Center for Disease Control) said schools that had closed due to confirmed or even suspected cases of the swine flu should reopen immediately, that the threat in the US was much less than had originally been feared.
Why were the schools closed? "Well, because the CDC told us to," was the response by public school officials. Why are all the schools all of a sudden being re-opened? "Well, because the CDC told us we should do so."
The sky is falling! The sky is falling! Woe be unto us, the sky is falling! Oh, oh! Now, all of a sudden, the sky is not falling?!? Whaat!!
I found myself laughing out loud yesterday when a national news reporter asked how it could possibly be that the American public is blaming the media for the panic. How, indeed? I think all of you pretty much know my general feelings about the media and their seemingly never-ending search for ever more sensationalism in their quest to be #1.
Please do not mistake my intentions here. We should all be aware at ALL times of the need to wash our hands diligently and not unnecessarily expose ourselves to extraneous germs and viruses. That should go w/o saying. But it doesn't, does it?
My beloved Astros
They "suck", what more can I say? I mean, sucksville!
Do you know that, in the last three games, my 'good guys' have thrown over 530 pitches?!? Come on, now! That's more than just a touch incredible, wouldn't you say? I hereby move that we all listen to what (imo) is the most moving rendition ever of our National Anthem and start the season over. Any seconds to my motion? Now, I grant you that Whitney is singing at the start of a Super Bowl (football, not baseball) game, but still!
Wasn't that just wonderful? My goodness!
My plans for the next few days ...
... include a trip to New Orleans, publishing another article in the "Examiner" (it'll be my fourth), one more post on this blog (it'll be a funny!) and doing a load of laundry. Exciting, huh? (Well, let's except the load of laundry.)
OK, let's do first things first. Why am I going to New Orleans? Good question! This came up totally 'out of the blue'. I read in Houston Unit 174's (duplicate bridge) newsletter that someone, whose name sounded more than just vaguely familiar to me, had died. She was a black lady and my mind - in its wandering state (you know me!) - got to thinking about Leonard Jefferson, with whom I had often played many years ago when I lived in New Orleans. A lovely man, just lovely! We had a nice partnership and won many local events playing together. (And, if we didn't win, we always had a good time.) Was he black? Yes, he was. Was he married? Yes, he was. Was I married? Yes, I was. Did we have an affair? No, we did not. (Hope that answers all of your unasked but yet anticipated-by-me questions.)
During my efforts to try and find out if Leonard was still around, I reached the nicest fellow at one of the bridge studios in New Orleans. I didn't remember him at all, nor did he remember me, but we spent almost a full hour on the phone. (And no, Leonard is not still with us.) However, I found out that John Onstott, who was another one of my partners 'back in the day', is going to be the recipient of a special event being held in his honor Saturday in recognition of his having garnered his 20,000th (!) master point. (I didn't put that figure in bold, but I easily could have. Those are almost inconceivable numbers!)
I am SO looking forward to this trip. Will be playing with Marilyn Methvin, a regular partner of mine from 30+ years ago. I need to have all of you wishing me "staying awake while driving" luck and Marilyn and me good fortune in our game Saturday afternoon. (There'll be a big blowout-type of party Saturday night following the game.) I'll definitely be reporting back on this ... that is, assuming I make it back in one piece and still of a coherent mind. :)
What's the "Examiner"? Well, you'd have to go back to this post. It's where I first began telling you about how I was trying to fill out their fairly extensive application. Since that time - about five weeks ago - I have been accepted and am now known as the "Houston Duplicate Bridge Examiner" ... ... all of their writers are known as 'examiners', OK? Here's the link to my page, just in case you're interested.
And last but not least ...
Wendy's now back 'down in the valley', well below Base Camp. She's OK, and has been posting like crazy on her site (twice in the last couple of days). Here's the link again, just in case you need it. I'll let you read what she says for yourselves. Among other things, she talks about how they have to thaw out their clothes each morning.
Talk atcha next week! (There'll be another post between now and then, but it'll stand on its own with little or no commentary.)
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Swine flu
Well, it's on every television channel, every radio station and all over the net. I received an e-mail today that I'd like to share with you ... ...
Frequently Asked Questions on Swine Flu Answers provided by an official at St. Luke's Episcopal Health System
Q: If I am healthy, do I need to worry about Swine Flu?
A: No, unless you will be traveling to Mexico. If you are healthy and you are in the United States, you do not need to worry. Just exercise caution by washing your hands frequently.
Q: What symptoms should I look for?
A: The main one is a fever. If you don’t have a fever, then you probably don’t have the flu. Other symptoms are severe body aches, chills, cough, runny nose, nasal congestion, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
Q: Who is the most vulnerable to contracting this virus?
A: People who already have chronic problems, such as diabetes, cancer or other health problems that might weaken your immune system, may have a more severe case if they contract this virus.
Q: What if my friends/family/co-workers are sick?
A: Try to maintain distance between you and someone who is coughing or sneezing. Recommend to your co-workers and/or family members to stay home if they are not feeling well.
Q: Can I get Swine Flu from handling or eating pork or produce from Mexico?
A: No, it cannot be transmitted through food or food handling. It is communicated through direct contact with secretions from an infected person, which means someone coughing or sneezing on you.
Q: Will the flu shot I received in the fall help keep me from contracting Swine Flu?
A: Unfortunately, the information we have received suggests we should not count on it, because the strains in the vaccine are not the same as the Swine Flu strain.
Q: If I’m planning to travel to Mexico, should I get Tamiflu before going?
A: Following recommendations from our federal government, any travel to Mexico should be suspended unless there is a compelling reason to go. I think it’s just better to be on the safe side. If you do have to go and if you have underlying medical problems, then you’re at high risk and probably should be put on Tamiflu. Otherwise, simply take precautions by avoiding crowds and people who are sick.
Q: Is the United States prepared to handle a Swine Flu outbreak?
A: We are very prepared. The level of preparedness today is better than ever. We do drills for this. Our city, state and federal governments are all working together to be well prepared.
For more information on Swine Flu and government advisories, visit the following Web sites:
The City of Houston: http://www.houstontx.gov/health/swineflu.html
Harris County Public Health & Environmental Services: http://www.hcphes.org/Default.htm
The State Health Department (providing information about Texas' situation and response): http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/swineflu/default.shtm
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention: http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/
The World Health Organization: http://www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/en/index.html
Both the above and this next were sent out today ... ...
An Open Letter to All SLEH Employees
April 29, 2009
Today, I am writing to update you about the swine flu and to announce that I am going to be holding some live blogs, available to all employees, to answer your swine flu questions. The times for these live blogs will be posted on the Source.
First of all, let me commend all of you for your continued dedication and professionalism. St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital is a tremendous asset to this community and time after time, whether it is flooding, a hurricane, the financial markets collapse, or now a swine flu epidemic, the people of Houston look to us to be there for them and to continue to provide the high quality and compassionate care for which we are known.
I also want you to know that while there is certainly reason to be cautious, there is no reason to be scared or panicked. St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital, the other TMC hospitals, the city, the state, and the federal government have been planning and training for a flu pandemic for years now. We have well thought out plans and we have plenty of supplies, including antiviral agents, to deal with this current outbreak.
As of the time of my writing, there are 91 confirmed cases of swine flu in the United States. Sixteen of those cases are in Texas. There is only one confirmed case in Houston and that patient, a 23 month old child has died and this is the only death from swine flu in the US. It is important to note that this child lived in Mexico, contracted the illness there and then was transferred to a US hospital. I mention this because, so far, the cases of swine flu that have occurred in the US appear to be much milder than those reported in Mexico. We don’t yet know why this is the case. At this time, we are not seeing unusual volumes of patients in our Emergency Department or Community Emergency Centers and that is also the case for all of the TMC hospitals except Texas Children’s Hospital and the Harris County Hospital District hospitals. We have only seen two cases suspicious for swine flu in our hospital facilities and those patients were not sick enough to warrant hospitalization.
The following are the precautions we are taking. First, I want to encourage all of you to do what you already should be doing - wash your hands (or use the hand gel) frequently, and especially each time before and after you care for a patient. To assist our visitors, we are installing hand gel dispensers in each public elevator lobby.
Second, if you are ill and have fever, communicate with your manager and stay home. If your child is ill, do not send your child to school or child care. Be sure to see your physician right away and do not use the emergency room unless you or your child is too ill to go to the doctor’s office.
For those of you who work in the Emergency Department or the Community Emergency Centers, we are trying to identify patients who have flu-like symptoms at triage, place a mask on them and isolate them. If they can be discharged, we are sending these patients home to recover. If we do end up with a patient so ill as to require hospitalization, we will place them in droplet and contact isolation.
For any of our employees returning from Mexico, we are requiring symptom and temperature screening in Occupational Health before they report to their department or unit for work. This will occur every day until a week after their return from Mexico. Anyone with a fever will be tested for influenza and sent home to follow-up with their physician.
There are a number of reasons to be optimistic about this flu outbreak. That is not to say that I don’t expect many more cases of swine flu before it is over, but the fact that the disease we have seen in the US has been much milder than what Mexico has experienced is a positive sign and the fact that this is occurring so late in the flu season suggests that this will be much less severe than had it occurred in the typical winter months.
Swine flu will be a risk for the next upcoming flu season this fall. By that time, the flu vaccine should contain the necessary protection for the swine flu. I want to encourage every employee who does not otherwise have a contraindication, to get the flu shot this fall. It will be offered to all employees free of charge.
In the meantime, please watch for updated information on the Source, including the Frequently Asked Questions already available and posted.
I encourage you to write in any questions you may have on our live blog. We will get that schedule out to you soon. Check the Source for all the latest details and information.
Thank you for all you do for St. Luke’s and our patients.
Sincerely,
David C. Pate, M.D., J.D.
Chief Executive Officer
St. Luke's Episcopal is located in what we in Houston term "The Medical Center". It is prestigious. I don't know what some of you might be hearing, seeing or reading about in the news, but above are the facts. Our governor has announced a state of emergency in his panic and some schools are closing. I have not been ill, do not feel like I'm getting ill, but have no plans to travel to Mexico or expose myself to crowds unnecessarily, either. Normal precautions ... well, maybe a little more than normal because this disease is just beginning to make its presence felt in our area.
I know it's been several days since I last posted, and thought I'd better get one out there before you all start worrying. Just real busy. I'll tell you about what's been going on soon. Take care, and I'll talk atcha later!
Frequently Asked Questions on Swine Flu Answers provided by an official at St. Luke's Episcopal Health System
Q: If I am healthy, do I need to worry about Swine Flu?
A: No, unless you will be traveling to Mexico. If you are healthy and you are in the United States, you do not need to worry. Just exercise caution by washing your hands frequently.
Q: What symptoms should I look for?
A: The main one is a fever. If you don’t have a fever, then you probably don’t have the flu. Other symptoms are severe body aches, chills, cough, runny nose, nasal congestion, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
Q: Who is the most vulnerable to contracting this virus?
A: People who already have chronic problems, such as diabetes, cancer or other health problems that might weaken your immune system, may have a more severe case if they contract this virus.
Q: What if my friends/family/co-workers are sick?
A: Try to maintain distance between you and someone who is coughing or sneezing. Recommend to your co-workers and/or family members to stay home if they are not feeling well.
Q: Can I get Swine Flu from handling or eating pork or produce from Mexico?
A: No, it cannot be transmitted through food or food handling. It is communicated through direct contact with secretions from an infected person, which means someone coughing or sneezing on you.
Q: Will the flu shot I received in the fall help keep me from contracting Swine Flu?
A: Unfortunately, the information we have received suggests we should not count on it, because the strains in the vaccine are not the same as the Swine Flu strain.
Q: If I’m planning to travel to Mexico, should I get Tamiflu before going?
A: Following recommendations from our federal government, any travel to Mexico should be suspended unless there is a compelling reason to go. I think it’s just better to be on the safe side. If you do have to go and if you have underlying medical problems, then you’re at high risk and probably should be put on Tamiflu. Otherwise, simply take precautions by avoiding crowds and people who are sick.
Q: Is the United States prepared to handle a Swine Flu outbreak?
A: We are very prepared. The level of preparedness today is better than ever. We do drills for this. Our city, state and federal governments are all working together to be well prepared.
For more information on Swine Flu and government advisories, visit the following Web sites:
The City of Houston: http://www.houstontx.gov/health/swineflu.html
Harris County Public Health & Environmental Services: http://www.hcphes.org/Default.htm
The State Health Department (providing information about Texas' situation and response): http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/swineflu/default.shtm
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention: http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/
The World Health Organization: http://www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/en/index.html
Both the above and this next were sent out today ... ...
An Open Letter to All SLEH Employees
April 29, 2009
Today, I am writing to update you about the swine flu and to announce that I am going to be holding some live blogs, available to all employees, to answer your swine flu questions. The times for these live blogs will be posted on the Source.
First of all, let me commend all of you for your continued dedication and professionalism. St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital is a tremendous asset to this community and time after time, whether it is flooding, a hurricane, the financial markets collapse, or now a swine flu epidemic, the people of Houston look to us to be there for them and to continue to provide the high quality and compassionate care for which we are known.
I also want you to know that while there is certainly reason to be cautious, there is no reason to be scared or panicked. St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital, the other TMC hospitals, the city, the state, and the federal government have been planning and training for a flu pandemic for years now. We have well thought out plans and we have plenty of supplies, including antiviral agents, to deal with this current outbreak.
As of the time of my writing, there are 91 confirmed cases of swine flu in the United States. Sixteen of those cases are in Texas. There is only one confirmed case in Houston and that patient, a 23 month old child has died and this is the only death from swine flu in the US. It is important to note that this child lived in Mexico, contracted the illness there and then was transferred to a US hospital. I mention this because, so far, the cases of swine flu that have occurred in the US appear to be much milder than those reported in Mexico. We don’t yet know why this is the case. At this time, we are not seeing unusual volumes of patients in our Emergency Department or Community Emergency Centers and that is also the case for all of the TMC hospitals except Texas Children’s Hospital and the Harris County Hospital District hospitals. We have only seen two cases suspicious for swine flu in our hospital facilities and those patients were not sick enough to warrant hospitalization.
The following are the precautions we are taking. First, I want to encourage all of you to do what you already should be doing - wash your hands (or use the hand gel) frequently, and especially each time before and after you care for a patient. To assist our visitors, we are installing hand gel dispensers in each public elevator lobby.
Second, if you are ill and have fever, communicate with your manager and stay home. If your child is ill, do not send your child to school or child care. Be sure to see your physician right away and do not use the emergency room unless you or your child is too ill to go to the doctor’s office.
For those of you who work in the Emergency Department or the Community Emergency Centers, we are trying to identify patients who have flu-like symptoms at triage, place a mask on them and isolate them. If they can be discharged, we are sending these patients home to recover. If we do end up with a patient so ill as to require hospitalization, we will place them in droplet and contact isolation.
For any of our employees returning from Mexico, we are requiring symptom and temperature screening in Occupational Health before they report to their department or unit for work. This will occur every day until a week after their return from Mexico. Anyone with a fever will be tested for influenza and sent home to follow-up with their physician.
There are a number of reasons to be optimistic about this flu outbreak. That is not to say that I don’t expect many more cases of swine flu before it is over, but the fact that the disease we have seen in the US has been much milder than what Mexico has experienced is a positive sign and the fact that this is occurring so late in the flu season suggests that this will be much less severe than had it occurred in the typical winter months.
Swine flu will be a risk for the next upcoming flu season this fall. By that time, the flu vaccine should contain the necessary protection for the swine flu. I want to encourage every employee who does not otherwise have a contraindication, to get the flu shot this fall. It will be offered to all employees free of charge.
In the meantime, please watch for updated information on the Source, including the Frequently Asked Questions already available and posted.
I encourage you to write in any questions you may have on our live blog. We will get that schedule out to you soon. Check the Source for all the latest details and information.
Thank you for all you do for St. Luke’s and our patients.
Sincerely,
David C. Pate, M.D., J.D.
Chief Executive Officer
St. Luke's Episcopal is located in what we in Houston term "The Medical Center". It is prestigious. I don't know what some of you might be hearing, seeing or reading about in the news, but above are the facts. Our governor has announced a state of emergency in his panic and some schools are closing. I have not been ill, do not feel like I'm getting ill, but have no plans to travel to Mexico or expose myself to crowds unnecessarily, either. Normal precautions ... well, maybe a little more than normal because this disease is just beginning to make its presence felt in our area.
I know it's been several days since I last posted, and thought I'd better get one out there before you all start worrying. Just real busy. I'll tell you about what's been going on soon. Take care, and I'll talk atcha later!
Monday, April 13, 2009
Criminals or terrorists?
I could hardly believe my ears today when - while driving to the store - the main question on one of the local radio talk shows was, "Should pirates be treated as criminals or terrorists?" (This in reference, of course, to the Somali situation.)
Give me a break here!
I thought to myself, "What's the difference between a criminal and a terrorist?" Have we now bent so far backwards in our efforts to try and be politically correct that we cannot even say that a bad guy is a bad guy?
Is my question too simplistic?
Just about anything that happens anywhere in the world these days instantaneously becomes news. Some of it is 'raw', as I wrote about here. Some of it is everyone's business and some of it is downright none of my or anyone else's business!
You know, folks, I would sometimes very much prefer to be an ostrich ... one who hides his head in the sand and pretends that nothing bad is happening, but every once in a while I can't. I just can't!
Radio talk shows certainly have their place, particularly here in the Houston area last fall after Ike did his best to try and devastate the entire upper Gulf Coast of Texas. Station after station had lines open 24/7 for distressed citizens to call in and vent their frustrations. That was a good thing. A really good thing.
However, I wonder whether this local station really cares about the difference (I'm assuming there's a difference in re prosecution, detainment and/or penalties) between these two terms - criminal vs. terrorist, or do they care more about their ratings?
Sometimes, it seems to me that it's only "news" if it's utterly absurd, shocking, controversial or particularly gory.
Am I the only one who feels this way?
Give me a break here!
I thought to myself, "What's the difference between a criminal and a terrorist?" Have we now bent so far backwards in our efforts to try and be politically correct that we cannot even say that a bad guy is a bad guy?
Is my question too simplistic?
Just about anything that happens anywhere in the world these days instantaneously becomes news. Some of it is 'raw', as I wrote about here. Some of it is everyone's business and some of it is downright none of my or anyone else's business!
You know, folks, I would sometimes very much prefer to be an ostrich ... one who hides his head in the sand and pretends that nothing bad is happening, but every once in a while I can't. I just can't!
Radio talk shows certainly have their place, particularly here in the Houston area last fall after Ike did his best to try and devastate the entire upper Gulf Coast of Texas. Station after station had lines open 24/7 for distressed citizens to call in and vent their frustrations. That was a good thing. A really good thing.
However, I wonder whether this local station really cares about the difference (I'm assuming there's a difference in re prosecution, detainment and/or penalties) between these two terms - criminal vs. terrorist, or do they care more about their ratings?
Sometimes, it seems to me that it's only "news" if it's utterly absurd, shocking, controversial or particularly gory.
Am I the only one who feels this way?
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Full circle?
I spent a great deal of time yesterday reading about the Civil Rights movement in this country. "How did I ever get on that topic?" you might well ask.
Well, it's kind of a long story - and not a boring one, either, so grab yourself another cup of coffee and sit back. My journey began when, in search of inspiration for a post of my own, I started reading 'Favorites' that I hadn't checked up on in a while. This one stopped me dead in my tracks.
The author is a knitter - obviously, if you click on the link - and she has a lot of readers! I think it was Steven who put me on to her site, initially, but I'm not positive about that.
As I continued to read - I'm a knitter, altho not the caliber she is, so that sort of stuff is always interesting to me - I noted that she said she was among the finalists for Canada's 2008 best blog award and was thanking all those who had voted for her.
Well, that caught my attention and I immediately headed over to this site. Then, wouldn't you know, my curiosity got the best of me and I continued to click onto others' blogsites that either had been originally nominated or were among the top five going on to the next round in the voting. (Do we have such a thing here in the States? Probably. I'm just not aware of it if we do.)
One of those sites had a side margin (probably not using the right terminology here) that continued on like 'forever' - lots of links, quotes, references, etc. - I mean, just tons of stuff! Cite after cite, link after link. I clicked on a few and read them. All were of interest to me, particularly one that referenced a radio interview with Rosa Parks in 1956.
Did you realize that it's been 53 years now since that famous incident in Montgomery, Alabama, when she refused to give up her seat on a public bus to a white man? Perhaps the date - 12/01/55 - was at your mind's ready fingertips, but it wasn't at mine!
I was eighteen years old, living in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, a freshman in college, and very far removed from any sort of personal contact with the tremendous struggle and upheaval going on in this country.
I was interested in learning more about Rosa Parks. I knew who she was, but the rest of my stored 'information' was terribly faulty. I had always thought that she was somewhat elderly (she was in her early 40's!), was tired from her long day at work (she said that she was not!), and that she sat in the 'white section' because she was so tired (actually, she sat in the first row of the 'black section'!).
I 'knew' that she had been one of the sparks to ignite the modern Civil Rights movement. That was correct. What I did not know was that it was she who propelled Martin Luther King, Jr. on his way to national recognition.
There are so many stories! I found myself getting more and more immersed in this saga, and kept clicking on link after link, reference after reference.
It was while reading about the history of the Civil Rights movement here in the States that I came across the name Ida B. Wells. Now that name caught my attention because it is so close to my mother's! I immediately thought, "What if?" Wouldn't be unheard of, right? It couldn't have been my mother, because Ida B. Wells died in 1931, but still! Perhaps she was a distant relative?
Have you ever heard of Ida B. Wells? I had not, but - the more I read about her, the more I wish I had known her. What a woman she must have been! I stopped reading in the wee hours last night, but knew that this just had to be the subject of my next post.
And so here we have come - full circle, as it were. A termed 'African-American' (altho there are some other things thrown in there that no one seems to want to talk about, except in passing - ?!?) has recently been elected to become the next President of the United States.
My hopes and prayers are that he will provide our country with leadership, that he was not chosen 'because he is black', that he will occupy and preside over a White House that was originally built by slaves with dignity and humility, and that he will - in spite of his youth - be able to do so with honor and, in the end, distinguish himself as one of our greatest presidents.
Well, it's kind of a long story - and not a boring one, either, so grab yourself another cup of coffee and sit back. My journey began when, in search of inspiration for a post of my own, I started reading 'Favorites' that I hadn't checked up on in a while. This one stopped me dead in my tracks.
The author is a knitter - obviously, if you click on the link - and she has a lot of readers! I think it was Steven who put me on to her site, initially, but I'm not positive about that.
As I continued to read - I'm a knitter, altho not the caliber she is, so that sort of stuff is always interesting to me - I noted that she said she was among the finalists for Canada's 2008 best blog award and was thanking all those who had voted for her.
Well, that caught my attention and I immediately headed over to this site. Then, wouldn't you know, my curiosity got the best of me and I continued to click onto others' blogsites that either had been originally nominated or were among the top five going on to the next round in the voting. (Do we have such a thing here in the States? Probably. I'm just not aware of it if we do.)
One of those sites had a side margin (probably not using the right terminology here) that continued on like 'forever' - lots of links, quotes, references, etc. - I mean, just tons of stuff! Cite after cite, link after link. I clicked on a few and read them. All were of interest to me, particularly one that referenced a radio interview with Rosa Parks in 1956.
Did you realize that it's been 53 years now since that famous incident in Montgomery, Alabama, when she refused to give up her seat on a public bus to a white man? Perhaps the date - 12/01/55 - was at your mind's ready fingertips, but it wasn't at mine!
I was eighteen years old, living in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, a freshman in college, and very far removed from any sort of personal contact with the tremendous struggle and upheaval going on in this country.
I was interested in learning more about Rosa Parks. I knew who she was, but the rest of my stored 'information' was terribly faulty. I had always thought that she was somewhat elderly (she was in her early 40's!), was tired from her long day at work (she said that she was not!), and that she sat in the 'white section' because she was so tired (actually, she sat in the first row of the 'black section'!).
I 'knew' that she had been one of the sparks to ignite the modern Civil Rights movement. That was correct. What I did not know was that it was she who propelled Martin Luther King, Jr. on his way to national recognition.
There are so many stories! I found myself getting more and more immersed in this saga, and kept clicking on link after link, reference after reference.
It was while reading about the history of the Civil Rights movement here in the States that I came across the name Ida B. Wells. Now that name caught my attention because it is so close to my mother's! I immediately thought, "What if?" Wouldn't be unheard of, right? It couldn't have been my mother, because Ida B. Wells died in 1931, but still! Perhaps she was a distant relative?
Have you ever heard of Ida B. Wells? I had not, but - the more I read about her, the more I wish I had known her. What a woman she must have been! I stopped reading in the wee hours last night, but knew that this just had to be the subject of my next post.
And so here we have come - full circle, as it were. A termed 'African-American' (altho there are some other things thrown in there that no one seems to want to talk about, except in passing - ?!?) has recently been elected to become the next President of the United States.
My hopes and prayers are that he will provide our country with leadership, that he was not chosen 'because he is black', that he will occupy and preside over a White House that was originally built by slaves with dignity and humility, and that he will - in spite of his youth - be able to do so with honor and, in the end, distinguish himself as one of our greatest presidents.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Idle thoughts ...
... for a Friday.
Began my day very early this morning - too early, actually - by clicking on a couple of sites I haven't visited recently after first catching up with Steven's latest. He almost always posts shortly after midnight his time, and last night was no exception. I can look forward to something new and very different from what everyone else seems to be doing first thing each morning. Neat!
I made no comments except for Ellen's post. She was feeding M&M, Chuck's cat, spinach leaves in an attempt to train it not to beg for food. It was funny! She included a couple of cute pix, and I just had to leave a comment. I love cats!!
Kind of unusual for me to leave just one comment, but I'm a little gunshy right now after putting my foot in my mouth the other day and being somewhat careless and (I thought) intrusive with one of my comments on Craig's site. "It's all good," he says, but I'm having trouble getting over being mad at myself. I will, eventually, but right now I'm still kind of in the doldrums.
I reminded myself of Ann Richards who, when campaigning for re-election as Texas' governor in the mid 90's, made the statement about her opponent (who happened to be "W"), "Poor George ... he was born with a silver boot in his mouth!"
Die-hard Democrats and feminists loved it. The media were ecstatic and ran with it! Where was I in all this? I immediately lost all respect for that woman, and began paying more attention to "W".
I had trouble visualizing him as governor of our great state. I didn't much care for his laugh and facial expressions - looked a little 'smirky' to me at times, had some difficulty getting used to his inability to get his tongue around certain words that should have been easily pronounceable (imo), and thought his general 'folksy' demeanor would not be conducive to promoting Texas' image nationally.
He was elected, and I thought did a credible job. (But then, you have to keep in mind that I'm not nearly as involved in the political scene as I once was, so my opinion is probably worthless.) I was pleased, actually, when he ran for President and won.
I thought the media did their very best to try and elect Gore, trumpeting to the world that the State of Florida had gone to Gore when the polls weren't even closed there!!! I was incensed with rage, and wondered aloud to anyone who cared to listen how many tens of thousands of Florida voters who lived in a different time zone might have been on their way to vote, heard the 'news', and turned around to go back home. Talk about disenfranchised! Certainly we wouldn't have had any of this 'hanging chad' nonsense!!
I wonder how many of the voters in the rest of the country, who live in the same time zone as that of Florida's panhandle - Texas is in that same time zone, from here all the way up north to the Canadian border, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Oklahoma, Louisiana, etc. - the 'guts' of America, might have been on their way to the polls when the Florida election (mis-reported and highly distorted) 'results' were broadcast far and wide.
It wouldn't have been even close, folks! Now, there's no way I will ever be able to prove a statement like that, but I'm sticking with it.
Ann Richards meant to be unkind. Mean, even! Lloyd Bentsen meant to be unkind when he zapped Dan Quayle during their Vice Presidential debate with this zinger, "And you, sir, are no Jack Kennedy!" A low blow. Quayle left the door open for it, but ugly nonetheless. And intentional.
I was not intentionally unkind or intrusive, but I certainly was unthinking when I wrote my comment. I sometimes (maybe more than sometimes) put my foot in my mouth when speaking, but not usually when writing (unless I'm really upset about something - Tammy'll vouch for this).
When composing a post - especially on the computer where it's so easy to change a word here or a phrase there, delete a whole paragraph, even, or start over - particularly one like this where it's so full of feelings, I often spend several hours thinking, and trying to get all my thoughts together in some semblance of reasonable order. I often jot down little notes in case I get distracted.
After viewing a few blogsites, I worked the daily Sudoku puzzle. Fun! Tammy and I exchanged a few e-mails, I got the garbage all bagged up and placed outside for pickup, and then I took a nap. It's Friday, and there was shopping that had to be done. Yuk!!
OK. Awake, alert, dressed, and with list in hand, I headed on over to Kroger's to get my weekly 'fix' of grape salad, baked fish filets, mushrooms, and a whole bunch of other stuff. I had signed up to receive 'Allrecipes' frequent e-mails months ago and yesterday, after reading about a cornbread and sausage casserole, decided I'd like to give it a try.
I can just hear you saying, "Goldenrod, that's not on your diet!" I know it's not, but I've been a very good girl for a while, and thought I'd treat myself. The biggest problem was figuring out how I could cut the proportions! There's just me, and the recipe serves eight!! (I can always zap something in the microwave, but how many days in a row would I want to do that?)
So anyway I thought I had it planned out fairly well, but then there was the problem of finding the ingredients - now that was a less than pretty picture! All was finally in hand - or I should say in the basket, and my last stop was in the meat section. Guess what?
You guessed it. No ground pork, at least not packaged. My recipe called for 'ground pork breakfast sausage'. So I went to the meat counter, confident that the butcher would be able to fix me up. No could do. Kroger's policy is not to grind pork to order. It all comes pre-packaged. What's with that?!?
I left the store w/o all of the ingredients necessary to prepare this casserole dish that had sounded so enticing. What I'll probably do in the next day or two (perhaps Sunday, on my way back from taking one of my regular customers to the airport) is return the other stuff I bought to put in the dish. Maybe not. Haven't decided for sure. Right now I'm a little discouraged. The gal in charge of ordering said she'd put in an order for me, but still!
You'll never believe what happened after I had loaded my groceries into the car and was wheeling the cart over to one of their cart stands! There I was, minding my own business and doing a good deed by returning the cart to its proper place when I saw this large SUV-type vehicle backing out of its parking place and heading right towards me!!
I immediately let go of the cart, repositioned my body to a place of safety, and another shopper and I watched with some fascination as this woman (not a little old lady, either - didn't notice if she was talking on her cell phone or not) slammed her vehicle into the cart. Incredible!
It has long been my opinion that parking lots are very dangerous places. The ones who are leaving have concluded their business and are anxious to get on to the next place on their agenda. They simply are not completely focused on the task at hand, namely that of backing out of their parking spot without hitting something or - worse yet - someone.
I'm going to conclude my 'idle thoughts' with a comment or two on the CBS series, "Ghost Whisperer". Do you watch that, by any chance? Well, the series has taken a decidedly weird turn. Not sure I'm going to continue watching it anymore. I mean weird!
I might decide to do a fairly short post tomorrow for those of you who do not know very much about the show. Would you like that? That way, you can decide for yourselves whether or not you might enjoy looking in on an episode or two. Yeah, I think I will. Look for it, OK?
Meanwhile, I hope you all have had a good week and are looking forward to the weekend. It's supposed to start getting cold here. Well, it's that time of year, what can I tell you? Talk atcha later!
Began my day very early this morning - too early, actually - by clicking on a couple of sites I haven't visited recently after first catching up with Steven's latest. He almost always posts shortly after midnight his time, and last night was no exception. I can look forward to something new and very different from what everyone else seems to be doing first thing each morning. Neat!
I made no comments except for Ellen's post. She was feeding M&M, Chuck's cat, spinach leaves in an attempt to train it not to beg for food. It was funny! She included a couple of cute pix, and I just had to leave a comment. I love cats!!
Kind of unusual for me to leave just one comment, but I'm a little gunshy right now after putting my foot in my mouth the other day and being somewhat careless and (I thought) intrusive with one of my comments on Craig's site. "It's all good," he says, but I'm having trouble getting over being mad at myself. I will, eventually, but right now I'm still kind of in the doldrums.
I reminded myself of Ann Richards who, when campaigning for re-election as Texas' governor in the mid 90's, made the statement about her opponent (who happened to be "W"), "Poor George ... he was born with a silver boot in his mouth!"
Die-hard Democrats and feminists loved it. The media were ecstatic and ran with it! Where was I in all this? I immediately lost all respect for that woman, and began paying more attention to "W".
I had trouble visualizing him as governor of our great state. I didn't much care for his laugh and facial expressions - looked a little 'smirky' to me at times, had some difficulty getting used to his inability to get his tongue around certain words that should have been easily pronounceable (imo), and thought his general 'folksy' demeanor would not be conducive to promoting Texas' image nationally.
He was elected, and I thought did a credible job. (But then, you have to keep in mind that I'm not nearly as involved in the political scene as I once was, so my opinion is probably worthless.) I was pleased, actually, when he ran for President and won.
I thought the media did their very best to try and elect Gore, trumpeting to the world that the State of Florida had gone to Gore when the polls weren't even closed there!!! I was incensed with rage, and wondered aloud to anyone who cared to listen how many tens of thousands of Florida voters who lived in a different time zone might have been on their way to vote, heard the 'news', and turned around to go back home. Talk about disenfranchised! Certainly we wouldn't have had any of this 'hanging chad' nonsense!!
I wonder how many of the voters in the rest of the country, who live in the same time zone as that of Florida's panhandle - Texas is in that same time zone, from here all the way up north to the Canadian border, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Oklahoma, Louisiana, etc. - the 'guts' of America, might have been on their way to the polls when the Florida election (mis-reported and highly distorted) 'results' were broadcast far and wide.
It wouldn't have been even close, folks! Now, there's no way I will ever be able to prove a statement like that, but I'm sticking with it.
Ann Richards meant to be unkind. Mean, even! Lloyd Bentsen meant to be unkind when he zapped Dan Quayle during their Vice Presidential debate with this zinger, "And you, sir, are no Jack Kennedy!" A low blow. Quayle left the door open for it, but ugly nonetheless. And intentional.
I was not intentionally unkind or intrusive, but I certainly was unthinking when I wrote my comment. I sometimes (maybe more than sometimes) put my foot in my mouth when speaking, but not usually when writing (unless I'm really upset about something - Tammy'll vouch for this).
When composing a post - especially on the computer where it's so easy to change a word here or a phrase there, delete a whole paragraph, even, or start over - particularly one like this where it's so full of feelings, I often spend several hours thinking, and trying to get all my thoughts together in some semblance of reasonable order. I often jot down little notes in case I get distracted.
After viewing a few blogsites, I worked the daily Sudoku puzzle. Fun! Tammy and I exchanged a few e-mails, I got the garbage all bagged up and placed outside for pickup, and then I took a nap. It's Friday, and there was shopping that had to be done. Yuk!!
OK. Awake, alert, dressed, and with list in hand, I headed on over to Kroger's to get my weekly 'fix' of grape salad, baked fish filets, mushrooms, and a whole bunch of other stuff. I had signed up to receive 'Allrecipes' frequent e-mails months ago and yesterday, after reading about a cornbread and sausage casserole, decided I'd like to give it a try.
I can just hear you saying, "Goldenrod, that's not on your diet!" I know it's not, but I've been a very good girl for a while, and thought I'd treat myself. The biggest problem was figuring out how I could cut the proportions! There's just me, and the recipe serves eight!! (I can always zap something in the microwave, but how many days in a row would I want to do that?)
So anyway I thought I had it planned out fairly well, but then there was the problem of finding the ingredients - now that was a less than pretty picture! All was finally in hand - or I should say in the basket, and my last stop was in the meat section. Guess what?
You guessed it. No ground pork, at least not packaged. My recipe called for 'ground pork breakfast sausage'. So I went to the meat counter, confident that the butcher would be able to fix me up. No could do. Kroger's policy is not to grind pork to order. It all comes pre-packaged. What's with that?!?
I left the store w/o all of the ingredients necessary to prepare this casserole dish that had sounded so enticing. What I'll probably do in the next day or two (perhaps Sunday, on my way back from taking one of my regular customers to the airport) is return the other stuff I bought to put in the dish. Maybe not. Haven't decided for sure. Right now I'm a little discouraged. The gal in charge of ordering said she'd put in an order for me, but still!
You'll never believe what happened after I had loaded my groceries into the car and was wheeling the cart over to one of their cart stands! There I was, minding my own business and doing a good deed by returning the cart to its proper place when I saw this large SUV-type vehicle backing out of its parking place and heading right towards me!!
I immediately let go of the cart, repositioned my body to a place of safety, and another shopper and I watched with some fascination as this woman (not a little old lady, either - didn't notice if she was talking on her cell phone or not) slammed her vehicle into the cart. Incredible!
It has long been my opinion that parking lots are very dangerous places. The ones who are leaving have concluded their business and are anxious to get on to the next place on their agenda. They simply are not completely focused on the task at hand, namely that of backing out of their parking spot without hitting something or - worse yet - someone.
I'm going to conclude my 'idle thoughts' with a comment or two on the CBS series, "Ghost Whisperer". Do you watch that, by any chance? Well, the series has taken a decidedly weird turn. Not sure I'm going to continue watching it anymore. I mean weird!
I might decide to do a fairly short post tomorrow for those of you who do not know very much about the show. Would you like that? That way, you can decide for yourselves whether or not you might enjoy looking in on an episode or two. Yeah, I think I will. Look for it, OK?
Meanwhile, I hope you all have had a good week and are looking forward to the weekend. It's supposed to start getting cold here. Well, it's that time of year, what can I tell you? Talk atcha later!
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Statistics
Years ago, when I was in the final stages of gathering all the judges' results and assimilating them into my own research for my master's thesis, I came upon what seemed to be an impossibility -- a statistical anomaly, as it were ... that there was a negative correlation between intelligence and creativity.
It blew my mind. It blew my major professor's mind. She referred me to one of her associates at Purdue who was an expert in statistics, and that led to an interesting addition to my thesis. (For those of you who might be curious, there is not a negative correlation!)
Generally speaking I am not preoccupied with statistics, but I wonder -- and I put the question to you today -- , "How much of television advertising revenues come from election campaigns?"
It has got to be just a humongous number/percentage!! Even more so in those areas/regions/states where the races are 'close'. The media thrives on stuff like this, you know. They love controversy!
You know, we hear all the time about how dependent retailers are on Christmas sales to meet their annual 'quotas'. (And, once again, I give a "Boo, Walmart!" shoutout for dragging out their Christmas displays this year almost before October had even begun.)
I'm sure there must be nearly a gazillion 'experts' in statistical analyses out there who are just salivating at the numbers. Do you have any idea what those numbers might be??
I, for one, will be very glad when November 5th dawns.
It blew my mind. It blew my major professor's mind. She referred me to one of her associates at Purdue who was an expert in statistics, and that led to an interesting addition to my thesis. (For those of you who might be curious, there is not a negative correlation!)
Generally speaking I am not preoccupied with statistics, but I wonder -- and I put the question to you today -- , "How much of television advertising revenues come from election campaigns?"
It has got to be just a humongous number/percentage!! Even more so in those areas/regions/states where the races are 'close'. The media thrives on stuff like this, you know. They love controversy!
You know, we hear all the time about how dependent retailers are on Christmas sales to meet their annual 'quotas'. (And, once again, I give a "Boo, Walmart!" shoutout for dragging out their Christmas displays this year almost before October had even begun.)
I'm sure there must be nearly a gazillion 'experts' in statistical analyses out there who are just salivating at the numbers. Do you have any idea what those numbers might be??
I, for one, will be very glad when November 5th dawns.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
The aftermath
It's kind of hard to know exactly where to begin, or what all to say, so I'll just start.
Power ...
Almost all of Houston and surrounding areas were without power immediately preceding, during, and certainly following Ike, who struck as a Cat 1 "only". That's a huge blessing because he was so immense! In addition to that, he turned more east at the last minute and the REALLY devasting storm surges that had been feared did not occur. The destruction is bad enough as it is.
99% of us were without power from sometime Friday onward. 60% of Houston is still without power. Many hospitals, businesses, and homes have power only because they have generators.
My power was restored last night around 9:00, but I could not get onto the Internet. It's only been within the last half hour or so that I could. Everything seems to be working fine now except for my monitor. DSL will probably try to get "on" later to see if he can fix the problem remotely and avoid a trip over here.
His business has to be conducted via the Internet, and they were without it for four and a half days. Service was restored to them yesterday, and he really cannot afford the time to come over. I can live without the monitor until he has time. I'm having to use my bifocals to read what I'm writing. Ridiculous, huh?
[Had to take a little break. DSL came on, but still no monitor -- so, he'll be coming over tomorrow sometime to take a looksee. OK. Back to the bifocal ranch.]
It was interesting trying to get out of my garage. Double-wide, oversized doors, and a real beast to try and lift manually ... felt like I was a prisoner in my own house. Long story short, lots of help from DSL and neighborhood kids!
Damage ...
The areas of destruction are so wide that it's almost impossible to list them all.
Galveston, of course, has been extremely hard hit. The mayor politely asked the news media to leave the other day. (Don't know if any did or not.) Something like 15,000 of the vultures have been perched in various hotel rooms down there, trying to interview every paid or volunteer recovery and rescue worker in sight.
In one of her noon news conferences, the terribly weary mayor was taken to task for not allowing reporters to talk to recovery workers. That actually happened. I heard it. She said (and I paraphrase), "There's nothing here for you right now. Please leave. I'm asking you to leave."
[Johnny's arm has been severed in a farming accident. He's rushed to the hospital, where vultures are wanting to know which arm, can it be saved, how many stitches, how is his family holding up and where are they so that we can inundate them with a gazillion intrusive questions because "the public has a 'right to know'."]
Bodies are washing up on the shoreline as I write this, bodies of people who decided to stay and ride out the storm. I really don't want to see replay after replay after replay of that recovery.
I don't know how many of you read my Golden Triangle post of earlier this month -- at least I think it was earlier this month! -- but that part of Texas has sustained great and, in some cases, irreparable damage.
Me? I'm OK. Really! Certainly compared to everyone else!! I 'suffered' only the minor inconvenience of being without electricity, water (at times), and light (candlepower only goes so far). DSL brought me a battery-powered radio. (I used to have one! Wonder where it went?)
Had to throw out a bunch of foodstuffs. Gave me the opportunity to clean out the refrigerator and freezer. (Shouldn't have needed an excuse, but I did!)
I am not known as a woman who puts housekeeping at the top of her list. In fact, it's probably so far down the list that it cannot be found, I kid you not. So there you have it. The truth about Goldenrod, although -- if you've been following my posts for any period of time -- you already know that.
(Think I mentioned in one of my earlier posts that my idea of a perfect world includes a house that cleans itself.)
Irritating things ...
News media ... calling this a "worst case scenario" (This is bad, very bad, but by no means a 'worst case'.) ... continually trying to interfere with relief workers' attempts with their insatiable appetite for exclusive interviews ... clogging up important news conferences with their attempts to place 'blame' on perceived slights.
JQ Public's occasional outburst at a POD ... when there are hundreds more vehicles patiently waiting in line, "Is this all the ice, water, MRE's I get?" (POD=Point of Distribution ... 50/60 some sites throughout the area)
Good things ...
News media ... Local radio and television stations carrying round-the-clock coverage (and continuing, actually, as I write this post!) ... really, absolute life-savers!! As one local radio station put it, "A lot of people just want to talk to somebody."
Hundreds of relief trucks carrying workers ... quite literally, from all parts of the United States and Canada, many of them offering to sleep in their cabs if no accommodations were immediately at hand. (Haven't heard of any coming here from Mexico, or I'd be giving them credit.) Convoy after convoy of them. Thank you, wonderful friends!
I'm sure I have left a bunch of info out that some of you might like to know. If you will leave a comment with your question/s, I will try and address it/them.
I have been trying to 'edit' this post as I go, and have had to rewrite bunches of it as I have inadvertently hit one little teeny tiny key after another, deleting what might possibly have been the 'world's greatest utterances'!
I hope that you will take that last sentence for how it's meant. I'm trying to see these teeny tiny little keys through my bifocals. Every now and then I accidentally hit one that deletes half of what I just said in the last two paragraphs and then have to try and reconstruct where my 'mind' was when I wrote it.
I'm pretty sure that I have been by no means successful. I apologize in advance for errors which have been left undetected.
It has taken me over three hours (!!!) to complete this post, and I'm going to try and publish it before I accidentally hit another teeny tiny little key and delete the whole thing.
Power ...
Almost all of Houston and surrounding areas were without power immediately preceding, during, and certainly following Ike, who struck as a Cat 1 "only". That's a huge blessing because he was so immense! In addition to that, he turned more east at the last minute and the REALLY devasting storm surges that had been feared did not occur. The destruction is bad enough as it is.
99% of us were without power from sometime Friday onward. 60% of Houston is still without power. Many hospitals, businesses, and homes have power only because they have generators.
My power was restored last night around 9:00, but I could not get onto the Internet. It's only been within the last half hour or so that I could. Everything seems to be working fine now except for my monitor. DSL will probably try to get "on" later to see if he can fix the problem remotely and avoid a trip over here.
His business has to be conducted via the Internet, and they were without it for four and a half days. Service was restored to them yesterday, and he really cannot afford the time to come over. I can live without the monitor until he has time. I'm having to use my bifocals to read what I'm writing. Ridiculous, huh?
[Had to take a little break. DSL came on, but still no monitor -- so, he'll be coming over tomorrow sometime to take a looksee. OK. Back to the bifocal ranch.]
It was interesting trying to get out of my garage. Double-wide, oversized doors, and a real beast to try and lift manually ... felt like I was a prisoner in my own house. Long story short, lots of help from DSL and neighborhood kids!
Damage ...
The areas of destruction are so wide that it's almost impossible to list them all.
Galveston, of course, has been extremely hard hit. The mayor politely asked the news media to leave the other day. (Don't know if any did or not.) Something like 15,000 of the vultures have been perched in various hotel rooms down there, trying to interview every paid or volunteer recovery and rescue worker in sight.
In one of her noon news conferences, the terribly weary mayor was taken to task for not allowing reporters to talk to recovery workers. That actually happened. I heard it. She said (and I paraphrase), "There's nothing here for you right now. Please leave. I'm asking you to leave."
[Johnny's arm has been severed in a farming accident. He's rushed to the hospital, where vultures are wanting to know which arm, can it be saved, how many stitches, how is his family holding up and where are they so that we can inundate them with a gazillion intrusive questions because "the public has a 'right to know'."]
Bodies are washing up on the shoreline as I write this, bodies of people who decided to stay and ride out the storm. I really don't want to see replay after replay after replay of that recovery.
I don't know how many of you read my Golden Triangle post of earlier this month -- at least I think it was earlier this month! -- but that part of Texas has sustained great and, in some cases, irreparable damage.
Me? I'm OK. Really! Certainly compared to everyone else!! I 'suffered' only the minor inconvenience of being without electricity, water (at times), and light (candlepower only goes so far). DSL brought me a battery-powered radio. (I used to have one! Wonder where it went?)
Had to throw out a bunch of foodstuffs. Gave me the opportunity to clean out the refrigerator and freezer. (Shouldn't have needed an excuse, but I did!)
I am not known as a woman who puts housekeeping at the top of her list. In fact, it's probably so far down the list that it cannot be found, I kid you not. So there you have it. The truth about Goldenrod, although -- if you've been following my posts for any period of time -- you already know that.
(Think I mentioned in one of my earlier posts that my idea of a perfect world includes a house that cleans itself.)
Irritating things ...
News media ... calling this a "worst case scenario" (This is bad, very bad, but by no means a 'worst case'.) ... continually trying to interfere with relief workers' attempts with their insatiable appetite for exclusive interviews ... clogging up important news conferences with their attempts to place 'blame' on perceived slights.
JQ Public's occasional outburst at a POD ... when there are hundreds more vehicles patiently waiting in line, "Is this all the ice, water, MRE's I get?" (POD=Point of Distribution ... 50/60 some sites throughout the area)
Good things ...
News media ... Local radio and television stations carrying round-the-clock coverage (and continuing, actually, as I write this post!) ... really, absolute life-savers!! As one local radio station put it, "A lot of people just want to talk to somebody."
Hundreds of relief trucks carrying workers ... quite literally, from all parts of the United States and Canada, many of them offering to sleep in their cabs if no accommodations were immediately at hand. (Haven't heard of any coming here from Mexico, or I'd be giving them credit.) Convoy after convoy of them. Thank you, wonderful friends!
I'm sure I have left a bunch of info out that some of you might like to know. If you will leave a comment with your question/s, I will try and address it/them.
I have been trying to 'edit' this post as I go, and have had to rewrite bunches of it as I have inadvertently hit one little teeny tiny key after another, deleting what might possibly have been the 'world's greatest utterances'!
I hope that you will take that last sentence for how it's meant. I'm trying to see these teeny tiny little keys through my bifocals. Every now and then I accidentally hit one that deletes half of what I just said in the last two paragraphs and then have to try and reconstruct where my 'mind' was when I wrote it.
I'm pretty sure that I have been by no means successful. I apologize in advance for errors which have been left undetected.
It has taken me over three hours (!!!) to complete this post, and I'm going to try and publish it before I accidentally hit another teeny tiny little key and delete the whole thing.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Gustav, Hanna, and the MDA telethon updates
Gustav came ashore earlier today pretty much as predicted, which was a surprise to me! Watching the progress of a hurricane is normally a 'wait and see' what he/she decides to do type of thing.
There's really very little preparation that can be made other than battening down whatever hatches you can, moving potential flying objects out of the projected winds, and preparing for loss of electricity for a few days. That's about it.
You MUST evacuate if your area will be in the storm surge, so having plenty of gas in your vehicle is a no-brainer.
OUR forecast has changed significantly over the past few hours. Initially, we were expecting heavy rainfall beginning as early as tonight. How long that might have continued depended on whether or not Gustav stalled out just to our north.
It now appears that he is going to continue moving to the northwest, perhaps stalling out in northeast Texas, near the Red River (TX/OK border). Shreveport, LA, will most certainly be affected. Other systems which still are not fully in place will be dictating his movements (or lack thereof). Fast is good, slow is bad.
Our rain chances have been downgraded to less than 20%. That is a huge surprise!!
Now, as far as New Orleans is concerned, so far the levees appear to be holding. A really good thing. The center of Gustav seemed to go directly over Morgan City, approximately 65 miles southwest of New Orleans. I'll be interested in watching the news later to see if the levees continue to hold.
New Orleans is on what we call the 'dirty side' of this storm. Should receive some pretty good-sized rainfall amounts before all is said and done.
Morgan City, on the other hand, is surrounded by levees. I have been trying mightily for the past many hours to send as many strengthening and prayerful thoughts their way as I can that their levees might be strong enough to do the trick in holding back major floodwaters.
Let's talk for just a bit about Hanna. She's now a cat 1 hurricane, and is currently pounding the Bahamas. She waffled tremendously a few days ago, traveling perpendicularly southwest from her projected track, and nobody had anything other than the foggiest idea where she might eventually go.
It now 'appears' (I use that word a lot, don't I?) that she will, indeed, hit the Carolinas with hurricane force winds -- perhaps as strong as a cat 2 (which was, by the way, Gustav's strength when he made landfall in LA earlier), perhaps more. We'll just have to 'wait and see'.
Meanwhile, back out on the Atlantic's ranch, other disturbances are brewing. Yes, it's true, unfortunately. September is normally one of the more active months for hurricane formation. Things have been heating up for quite a while, and now they are coming to fruition. But, we don't have to concern ourselves with those today, right?
What's happening with the telethon? Well, it's still going on, you might be pleased to know. Our local NBC affiliate has its hands full today trying to juggle coverage of Gustav, a big golf tournament, and the telethon. As my mother used to say, "They're busier than two cats trying to cover up."
It's now around 2pm. The sun is shining. I have some things I need to get done before the Astros come on at 3:00. It'll be so unusual to watch them other than on a Sunday! They're playing against the Cubs today in Chicago. Go, Astros! Think we just concluded our most successful August EVER!! Too late, I'm pretty sure, but it's always nice to see your team playing well.
Still haven't written the post I promised you about Labor Day, a taxi-driving story. That will have to wait until later, possibly even tonight. Have a good one!
There's really very little preparation that can be made other than battening down whatever hatches you can, moving potential flying objects out of the projected winds, and preparing for loss of electricity for a few days. That's about it.
You MUST evacuate if your area will be in the storm surge, so having plenty of gas in your vehicle is a no-brainer.
OUR forecast has changed significantly over the past few hours. Initially, we were expecting heavy rainfall beginning as early as tonight. How long that might have continued depended on whether or not Gustav stalled out just to our north.
It now appears that he is going to continue moving to the northwest, perhaps stalling out in northeast Texas, near the Red River (TX/OK border). Shreveport, LA, will most certainly be affected. Other systems which still are not fully in place will be dictating his movements (or lack thereof). Fast is good, slow is bad.
Our rain chances have been downgraded to less than 20%. That is a huge surprise!!
Now, as far as New Orleans is concerned, so far the levees appear to be holding. A really good thing. The center of Gustav seemed to go directly over Morgan City, approximately 65 miles southwest of New Orleans. I'll be interested in watching the news later to see if the levees continue to hold.
New Orleans is on what we call the 'dirty side' of this storm. Should receive some pretty good-sized rainfall amounts before all is said and done.
Morgan City, on the other hand, is surrounded by levees. I have been trying mightily for the past many hours to send as many strengthening and prayerful thoughts their way as I can that their levees might be strong enough to do the trick in holding back major floodwaters.
Let's talk for just a bit about Hanna. She's now a cat 1 hurricane, and is currently pounding the Bahamas. She waffled tremendously a few days ago, traveling perpendicularly southwest from her projected track, and nobody had anything other than the foggiest idea where she might eventually go.
It now 'appears' (I use that word a lot, don't I?) that she will, indeed, hit the Carolinas with hurricane force winds -- perhaps as strong as a cat 2 (which was, by the way, Gustav's strength when he made landfall in LA earlier), perhaps more. We'll just have to 'wait and see'.
Meanwhile, back out on the Atlantic's ranch, other disturbances are brewing. Yes, it's true, unfortunately. September is normally one of the more active months for hurricane formation. Things have been heating up for quite a while, and now they are coming to fruition. But, we don't have to concern ourselves with those today, right?
What's happening with the telethon? Well, it's still going on, you might be pleased to know. Our local NBC affiliate has its hands full today trying to juggle coverage of Gustav, a big golf tournament, and the telethon. As my mother used to say, "They're busier than two cats trying to cover up."
It's now around 2pm. The sun is shining. I have some things I need to get done before the Astros come on at 3:00. It'll be so unusual to watch them other than on a Sunday! They're playing against the Cubs today in Chicago. Go, Astros! Think we just concluded our most successful August EVER!! Too late, I'm pretty sure, but it's always nice to see your team playing well.
Still haven't written the post I promised you about Labor Day, a taxi-driving story. That will have to wait until later, possibly even tonight. Have a good one!
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Beijing
I just saw a PBS special on the preparations for the upcoming Olympics to be held in Beijing.
I learned that the national stadium's nickname is "The Bird Cage", and was fascinated with the "water cube" with its translucent bubbles made of plastic that is self-cleaning and durable.
I watched many in-depth interviews with athletes and their families. I learned about wu shu; how it's not going to be included as an Olympic sport in this year's games, but yet the Olympic committee relaxed its rules to allow a prestigious wu shu competition to take place in Beijing at the same time as the Olympic games.
The official symbol is of a stylized running athlete stretching his arms out wide as he races across the finish line. It was suggested that Beijing and, indeed, the whole of China are represented in this symbol as the outstretched arms also indicate a 'welcome' to the world. A universal gesture of friendliness and hospitality.
It's a beautiful thought.
My mind couldn't help going back, as it has many times before, to June of 1989, when my heart was aching for those brave people who were forced to retreat when the tanks advanced ... all of which was covered on television while a tune from "Les Miserables" could be heard in the background.
I had a date to play bridge that evening, but I just couldn't leave the house until I had composed the following poem. I felt such a terrible sense of loss and sadness. The poem helped a little bit. It's untitled.
Bei-jing! Bei-jing!
Hear us! Hear our cries!
Remember what you've seen & heard,
Remember their lies!
A fight to the death --
Of what?
A man? A dream?
Bei-jing!
The number 'eight' is regarded as a lucky number, I've been told. SO, 08/08/08 has to be particularly magical for them!
What will you be doing Friday night? I'll be watching the opening ceremonies -- in awe, I'm sure.
I learned that the national stadium's nickname is "The Bird Cage", and was fascinated with the "water cube" with its translucent bubbles made of plastic that is self-cleaning and durable.
I watched many in-depth interviews with athletes and their families. I learned about wu shu; how it's not going to be included as an Olympic sport in this year's games, but yet the Olympic committee relaxed its rules to allow a prestigious wu shu competition to take place in Beijing at the same time as the Olympic games.
The official symbol is of a stylized running athlete stretching his arms out wide as he races across the finish line. It was suggested that Beijing and, indeed, the whole of China are represented in this symbol as the outstretched arms also indicate a 'welcome' to the world. A universal gesture of friendliness and hospitality.
It's a beautiful thought.
My mind couldn't help going back, as it has many times before, to June of 1989, when my heart was aching for those brave people who were forced to retreat when the tanks advanced ... all of which was covered on television while a tune from "Les Miserables" could be heard in the background.
I had a date to play bridge that evening, but I just couldn't leave the house until I had composed the following poem. I felt such a terrible sense of loss and sadness. The poem helped a little bit. It's untitled.
Bei-jing! Bei-jing!
Hear us! Hear our cries!
Remember what you've seen & heard,
Remember their lies!
A fight to the death --
Of what?
A man? A dream?
Bei-jing!
The number 'eight' is regarded as a lucky number, I've been told. SO, 08/08/08 has to be particularly magical for them!
What will you be doing Friday night? I'll be watching the opening ceremonies -- in awe, I'm sure.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Lawsuits are a comin'
Some of you may have heard or read about the collapse of a huMONgous crane, which had to be hand-assembled due to its tremendous size -- 30 stories tall, I think they said -- , on the east side of Houston within the past few days. The crane crashed into a tent, causing injuries and even some deaths.
Questions immediately arose about crane inspections and safety, particularly in Texas. In light of the recent collapses in NYC (two, I believe) and one in Denver (? -- going off the top of my memory banks here), OHSA has been called in and at least one Texas lawmaker is busily trying to get the wording correct on a bill soon to be introduced.
[At least 45 years ago, when hubby and I were traveling to New Jersey to visit his folks, we stopped at a very large excavation site in Pennsylvania to see "Big Mo". As I recall, he told me that it was the world's largest (at the time) bulldozer. I believe it! I can still see it in my mind. Anyway, the crane story reminded me of Big Mo.]
What I want to focus on in this post, however, is just an incredibly unbelievable story about a local bankruptcy attorney, one William Weber. It seems that Mr. Weber decided that it would be all right to dispose of 32 boxes of his clients' files into a dumpster without first shredding them.
Well, the dumpster pickup folks called the police and local television stations were all over the story, including interviews with Mr. Weber ("It was all just a 'misunderstanding'." "I didn't realize that I couldn't do this." etc.) and shots of him loading all of the boxes back into his car. Follow-ups to this included an interview with Mr. Weber stating that everything had now been shredded and additional interviews with former clients, who were now potential victims of identity theft.
Gerald Treece, a professor at South Texas College of Law, stated his opinions about this Saturday morning on his television show. Not only was what Mr. Weber did a bad idea, it was most certainly an ethics violation.
Texas has one of the most stringent ID-theft laws in the nation, he said. Fines of up to $50,000 per violation can be levied in civil court. The case has been sent to the State Attorney General's office.
If there's an update to be had on either of these two issues later, I'll do a post to inform you.
We've all heard the talk about 'frivolous' lawsuits.
Remember the case from Oregon (Washington?) some years back, when a woman sued McDonald's because a cup of coffee that she had placed between her legs (!!!!!) while driving scalded her? She won something like $1 million. Incredible!! How is it possible that you can win a suit against someone else that is the result of your own stupidity?!? Was that ruling ever reversed? I don't remember.
Personally, I find nothing frivolous about Mr. Weber's actions!
Questions immediately arose about crane inspections and safety, particularly in Texas. In light of the recent collapses in NYC (two, I believe) and one in Denver (? -- going off the top of my memory banks here), OHSA has been called in and at least one Texas lawmaker is busily trying to get the wording correct on a bill soon to be introduced.
[At least 45 years ago, when hubby and I were traveling to New Jersey to visit his folks, we stopped at a very large excavation site in Pennsylvania to see "Big Mo". As I recall, he told me that it was the world's largest (at the time) bulldozer. I believe it! I can still see it in my mind. Anyway, the crane story reminded me of Big Mo.]
What I want to focus on in this post, however, is just an incredibly unbelievable story about a local bankruptcy attorney, one William Weber. It seems that Mr. Weber decided that it would be all right to dispose of 32 boxes of his clients' files into a dumpster without first shredding them.
Well, the dumpster pickup folks called the police and local television stations were all over the story, including interviews with Mr. Weber ("It was all just a 'misunderstanding'." "I didn't realize that I couldn't do this." etc.) and shots of him loading all of the boxes back into his car. Follow-ups to this included an interview with Mr. Weber stating that everything had now been shredded and additional interviews with former clients, who were now potential victims of identity theft.
Gerald Treece, a professor at South Texas College of Law, stated his opinions about this Saturday morning on his television show. Not only was what Mr. Weber did a bad idea, it was most certainly an ethics violation.
Texas has one of the most stringent ID-theft laws in the nation, he said. Fines of up to $50,000 per violation can be levied in civil court. The case has been sent to the State Attorney General's office.
If there's an update to be had on either of these two issues later, I'll do a post to inform you.
We've all heard the talk about 'frivolous' lawsuits.
Remember the case from Oregon (Washington?) some years back, when a woman sued McDonald's because a cup of coffee that she had placed between her legs (!!!!!) while driving scalded her? She won something like $1 million. Incredible!! How is it possible that you can win a suit against someone else that is the result of your own stupidity?!? Was that ruling ever reversed? I don't remember.
Personally, I find nothing frivolous about Mr. Weber's actions!
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
The Castle Doctrine
Yesterday a grand jury's controversial decision not to indict Joe Horn sparked a lot of heated debate in the Houston area.
This case all began last November when Mr. Horn, a Pasadena resident, spotted two men breaking into his neighbor's home. He immediately got on the phone to 911. A short time later, when the police still had not arrived, Mr. Horn told the 911 operator that the men were now outside the home and getting away. The operator instructed Mr. Horn to remain in his house. Mr. Horn did not. Instead he went outside with his shotgun, shouted, "You're dead!" and shot them, killing them both.
That's the story in a nutshell. There are actual 911 tapes you can listen to, videos you can watch, and related stories you can read if you want all the details. There are conflicting reports as to whether or not the two men were running away and were shot in the back.
I distinctly remember my reactions when this story broke. My first reaction was one of horror that a citizen of our community had taken it upon himself to be a vigilante and kill two seemingly-not-so-innocent men. My second reaction was, "Good! Now they won't be robbing my house!" Isn't that just awful? I'm being honest here. Two almost diametrically opposed views, one right after the other.
Portions of the Houston community were outraged, and demonstrations led by activist Quanell X were all over the news. There was no question but that this matter would go before a grand jury.
The only question mark in my mind was whether or not Joe Horn would remain in one piece long enough to appear before a grand jury! I was positive that he would be indicted.
Shortly after the Pasadena incident, Gary Southworth, who lives north of Houston, shot and killed an intruder on one of his business properties. It seems that Gary had been having some problems with thieves coming onto his property and stealing whatever they were after and could carry out, so Gary had taken to sleeping on the property.
Well, this one night Gary heard a noise. He got up and looked out to see what it was. He could see someone fiddling around with one of the cars. He called out to the intruder, who didn't answer but instead came at Gary with what looked like a tire iron. Gary discharged his weapon.
When this story hit the news, I called the Southworth home. I knew Gary. I bought one of my cars from him. Roberta, his wife, answered. I identified myself, told her I'd just heard and how shocked I was, asked how Gary was doing and did he want to talk to me?
Roberta said she didn't think he wanted to talk, that he was really upset over the whole incident, and was just laying around in bed. Anyway, while she and I were talking, Gary asked who was on the phone. She told him who it was, and asked him if he wanted to talk to me. We spent the next 45 minutes or so talking. Mainly it was me listening and him doing the talking.
We discussed his probable appearance before a grand jury. He thought he would be called to appear, even tho the sheriff had assured him that it was clearly a case of self-defense. In addition, he was on his own property. [Upshot ... Gary was called and the grand jury refused to indict, as had been anticipated.]
There is an extensive article in Wikipedia on the Castle Doctrine. This doctrine, which allows the use of deadly force in certain instances, varies from state to state, and not all states in the US have a Castle Doctrine. Texas is one that does.
To me, there is a huge difference in the two shootings. I did not sit on the grand jury and therefore am not privy to the evidence presented, but I simply cannot imagine how it happened that an indictment was not handed down in Joe Horn's case.
This case all began last November when Mr. Horn, a Pasadena resident, spotted two men breaking into his neighbor's home. He immediately got on the phone to 911. A short time later, when the police still had not arrived, Mr. Horn told the 911 operator that the men were now outside the home and getting away. The operator instructed Mr. Horn to remain in his house. Mr. Horn did not. Instead he went outside with his shotgun, shouted, "You're dead!" and shot them, killing them both.
That's the story in a nutshell. There are actual 911 tapes you can listen to, videos you can watch, and related stories you can read if you want all the details. There are conflicting reports as to whether or not the two men were running away and were shot in the back.
I distinctly remember my reactions when this story broke. My first reaction was one of horror that a citizen of our community had taken it upon himself to be a vigilante and kill two seemingly-not-so-innocent men. My second reaction was, "Good! Now they won't be robbing my house!" Isn't that just awful? I'm being honest here. Two almost diametrically opposed views, one right after the other.
Portions of the Houston community were outraged, and demonstrations led by activist Quanell X were all over the news. There was no question but that this matter would go before a grand jury.
The only question mark in my mind was whether or not Joe Horn would remain in one piece long enough to appear before a grand jury! I was positive that he would be indicted.
Shortly after the Pasadena incident, Gary Southworth, who lives north of Houston, shot and killed an intruder on one of his business properties. It seems that Gary had been having some problems with thieves coming onto his property and stealing whatever they were after and could carry out, so Gary had taken to sleeping on the property.
Well, this one night Gary heard a noise. He got up and looked out to see what it was. He could see someone fiddling around with one of the cars. He called out to the intruder, who didn't answer but instead came at Gary with what looked like a tire iron. Gary discharged his weapon.
When this story hit the news, I called the Southworth home. I knew Gary. I bought one of my cars from him. Roberta, his wife, answered. I identified myself, told her I'd just heard and how shocked I was, asked how Gary was doing and did he want to talk to me?
Roberta said she didn't think he wanted to talk, that he was really upset over the whole incident, and was just laying around in bed. Anyway, while she and I were talking, Gary asked who was on the phone. She told him who it was, and asked him if he wanted to talk to me. We spent the next 45 minutes or so talking. Mainly it was me listening and him doing the talking.
We discussed his probable appearance before a grand jury. He thought he would be called to appear, even tho the sheriff had assured him that it was clearly a case of self-defense. In addition, he was on his own property. [Upshot ... Gary was called and the grand jury refused to indict, as had been anticipated.]
There is an extensive article in Wikipedia on the Castle Doctrine. This doctrine, which allows the use of deadly force in certain instances, varies from state to state, and not all states in the US have a Castle Doctrine. Texas is one that does.
To me, there is a huge difference in the two shootings. I did not sit on the grand jury and therefore am not privy to the evidence presented, but I simply cannot imagine how it happened that an indictment was not handed down in Joe Horn's case.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
A microcosm
If ever there was a true definition of the word "microcosm", it can be found -- but you have to have a pretty good-sized set of waders in order to try and plow through all of them and not have your eyeballs permanently cross with all of the misspellings and a LOT of free time -- encapsulated in the more than 450 (!!?!?!!) comments in response to a set of 16 pictures posted here.
A friend of mine sent me an e-mail this morning with this site referenced. Initially I thought, "OK. I'll look at some more flooding photos of Iowa." I didn't want to. I mean, I've thought about and prayed for these people so many times, I really didn't want to look at their suffering again. But, I did.
These are no ordinary photographs, by the way. Some I thought were just kind of so-so, but most were really quite extraordinary. Remarkably different from those posted on your local news stations.
When I came to the last of the 16 photos, making a few notes along the way as to what I wanted to include in a response to my friend, the "Comments" section began.
I thought I would read just a few. So I did. And then I kept reading, my jaw dropping MANY times as I did so. Does no commentor ever read what has been said before? Are we all so fascinated with our own viewpoint that we cannot/will not bother to listen to or read what another person has to say?
Commentors' opinions ranged from A-ZZZ, let me tell you. Shocking! Appalling!!
Global warming ... Bush ... Race ... Police ... Government ... Katrina comparisons ... The end is coming! ... Sue-happy ... US is being punished ... Blame
You name an opinion, it's there.
I'd like to cite just a few of the commentors, altho you're certainly welcome to go through them all, as I did.
#282 ... Refers to the first picture of the 16, and involves snopes.com (Who else?).
#?? ... Extremely insulting and thoughtless. Says, "Anyone want to go swimming?"
#72 ... Talks about how the US supports (darned near) the whole rest of the world in their time of need ("for political advancements, of course", he says, which I find to be repugnant) with no reciprocation. This particular comment reminded me of a recorded essay that I have heard many times, but to which I have as of this writing been unable to find the exact cite. When/if I do, I will come back and edit, OK?
#90 ... My notes say "Idiot". (I'll go back to it and try and find out why I said that.) I did. My opinion stands.
#125 ... "Scary" in my notes. (I just reread it. Should have said 'damn' scary!)
#156 ... "Hilarious" in notes. (Doesn't sound right, does it? I'll reread.) I reread. Not hilarious, but there were so many other comments on 'blame', I guess I found this one kind of a breath of fresh air.
#435 ... "Thoughtful" in notes. (Still agree.)
Get this! After you have survived all the rough commentors' waters, perhaps you might like to add a comment? The "Comment" site says, "This blogger might want to review your comment before posting it." Are you kidding me?!? Four hundred fifty some comments and the blogger is reviewing each one? I don't think so! (And no, I didn't try and post a comment.)
Shoot! I was all set to hit the "Publish Post" button when I remembered that I had not recommended that you at least hit the link to see the photographs. DO so, OK?
A friend of mine sent me an e-mail this morning with this site referenced. Initially I thought, "OK. I'll look at some more flooding photos of Iowa." I didn't want to. I mean, I've thought about and prayed for these people so many times, I really didn't want to look at their suffering again. But, I did.
These are no ordinary photographs, by the way. Some I thought were just kind of so-so, but most were really quite extraordinary. Remarkably different from those posted on your local news stations.
When I came to the last of the 16 photos, making a few notes along the way as to what I wanted to include in a response to my friend, the "Comments" section began.
I thought I would read just a few. So I did. And then I kept reading, my jaw dropping MANY times as I did so. Does no commentor ever read what has been said before? Are we all so fascinated with our own viewpoint that we cannot/will not bother to listen to or read what another person has to say?
Commentors' opinions ranged from A-ZZZ, let me tell you. Shocking! Appalling!!
Global warming ... Bush ... Race ... Police ... Government ... Katrina comparisons ... The end is coming! ... Sue-happy ... US is being punished ... Blame
You name an opinion, it's there.
I'd like to cite just a few of the commentors, altho you're certainly welcome to go through them all, as I did.
#282 ... Refers to the first picture of the 16, and involves snopes.com (Who else?).
#?? ... Extremely insulting and thoughtless. Says, "Anyone want to go swimming?"
#72 ... Talks about how the US supports (darned near) the whole rest of the world in their time of need ("for political advancements, of course", he says, which I find to be repugnant) with no reciprocation. This particular comment reminded me of a recorded essay that I have heard many times, but to which I have as of this writing been unable to find the exact cite. When/if I do, I will come back and edit, OK?
#90 ... My notes say "Idiot". (I'll go back to it and try and find out why I said that.) I did. My opinion stands.
#125 ... "Scary" in my notes. (I just reread it. Should have said 'damn' scary!)
#156 ... "Hilarious" in notes. (Doesn't sound right, does it? I'll reread.) I reread. Not hilarious, but there were so many other comments on 'blame', I guess I found this one kind of a breath of fresh air.
#435 ... "Thoughtful" in notes. (Still agree.)
Get this! After you have survived all the rough commentors' waters, perhaps you might like to add a comment? The "Comment" site says, "This blogger might want to review your comment before posting it." Are you kidding me?!? Four hundred fifty some comments and the blogger is reviewing each one? I don't think so! (And no, I didn't try and post a comment.)
Shoot! I was all set to hit the "Publish Post" button when I remembered that I had not recommended that you at least hit the link to see the photographs. DO so, OK?
Friday, April 25, 2008
Jesus wept ...
... when He first heard the (supposed) 16-yr. old girl's distress call to 'authorities' some three weeks ago.
... when He watched as children (more than 400) were dragged from their mother's sides and loaded onto buses to transport them to -------?
... when He saw all the VERY hungry attorneys flocking to represent the 'injured'.
... when He witnessed the public's outrage (both pro and con) over this incident.
Jesus wept! My God, Jesus wept!!
I am weeping, too, but my tears are not the same. I cannot even begin to compare my tears to those of my Lord.
Tonight, tho, I am angry, angry, ANGRY!!
Local news started off with almost ten minutes of non-stop coverage ... buses, police escorts, projected destinations, mothers left behind ... you name it, they had it covered.
I ask you, folks, what business is it of ours (as in JQPublic's) ?!?!?
I apologize, somewhat, for the vent here. However, every once in a while I think that there just HAS to be a stop put to this media intervention into what is inherently, I believe, a private matter.
... when He watched as children (more than 400) were dragged from their mother's sides and loaded onto buses to transport them to -------?
... when He saw all the VERY hungry attorneys flocking to represent the 'injured'.
... when He witnessed the public's outrage (both pro and con) over this incident.
Jesus wept! My God, Jesus wept!!
I am weeping, too, but my tears are not the same. I cannot even begin to compare my tears to those of my Lord.
Tonight, tho, I am angry, angry, ANGRY!!
Local news started off with almost ten minutes of non-stop coverage ... buses, police escorts, projected destinations, mothers left behind ... you name it, they had it covered.
I ask you, folks, what business is it of ours (as in JQPublic's) ?!?!?
I apologize, somewhat, for the vent here. However, every once in a while I think that there just HAS to be a stop put to this media intervention into what is inherently, I believe, a private matter.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Polls
O.K. My dinner is in the oven ... spareribs and sauerkraut, in case any of you want to know, and (It's going to be absolutely yummy -- this a courtesy of my long since departed mother -- and, if you want the recipe, [I can absolutely guarantee you that it will be the easiest dish you have EVER concocted! Take it from one who is a certified 'non cook'.] just let me know and I'll post it, O.K?) ... it'll be ready to eat in another hour and (maybe) 15 minutes. No fuss, no muss, no bother ... but deLIcious!!
Now, where was I, anyway? Oh, yes! The subject of this post ... polls.
I was watching ABC. It seems that they were posting the results of (what seemed to them, anyway, to be somewhat tainted) polls. At least, that was the gist of their commentary as I understood it.
The poll/s was/were on the subject of --------- who the devil cares what the subject was, anyway???
ABC's objection was that the study (and it, supposedly, was a scientific study) was funded by a group whose interests were obviously 'suspect', according to ABC, because there was a vested interest in the outcome of such a study.
Have YOU ever been called upon to venture your opinion? (I have not.) If you indeed were, did you respond honestly, or did someone offer to 'pay you' for your opinion? (I have experienced neither. And, if I do in the future, I will be sure to take copious notes and report the inquirer to the 'powers that be' that regulate such things -- this is all assuming, I hope you understand, that there IS such a thing as the 'powers that be that regulate such things'. At this stage in my life, I tend to doubt any and all such possibilities.
So, what's my point?? I guess my 'point' is that you can only trust your own instincts/beliefs. Try not to be dissuaded by public opinion polls. Try not, in particular, to be influenced by the media. (Barf, and double ugh, OK?)
Try, instead, to listen to your own heart and watch &/or listen to each candidate's public interview and hope for an opportunity to meet with him/her in person sometime down the road so that you can decide for yourself what their deepest down thoughts are ... ... and then it's still a 'crapshoot', isn't it?
Now, that thought's kind of scary. Now that I bring it up, however, so is LIFE!
Now, where was I, anyway? Oh, yes! The subject of this post ... polls.
I was watching ABC. It seems that they were posting the results of (what seemed to them, anyway, to be somewhat tainted) polls. At least, that was the gist of their commentary as I understood it.
The poll/s was/were on the subject of --------- who the devil cares what the subject was, anyway???
ABC's objection was that the study (and it, supposedly, was a scientific study) was funded by a group whose interests were obviously 'suspect', according to ABC, because there was a vested interest in the outcome of such a study.
Have YOU ever been called upon to venture your opinion? (I have not.) If you indeed were, did you respond honestly, or did someone offer to 'pay you' for your opinion? (I have experienced neither. And, if I do in the future, I will be sure to take copious notes and report the inquirer to the 'powers that be' that regulate such things -- this is all assuming, I hope you understand, that there IS such a thing as the 'powers that be that regulate such things'. At this stage in my life, I tend to doubt any and all such possibilities.
So, what's my point?? I guess my 'point' is that you can only trust your own instincts/beliefs. Try not to be dissuaded by public opinion polls. Try not, in particular, to be influenced by the media. (Barf, and double ugh, OK?)
Try, instead, to listen to your own heart and watch &/or listen to each candidate's public interview and hope for an opportunity to meet with him/her in person sometime down the road so that you can decide for yourself what their deepest down thoughts are ... ... and then it's still a 'crapshoot', isn't it?
Now, that thought's kind of scary. Now that I bring it up, however, so is LIFE!
Monday, February 4, 2008
Trans Texas Corridor
Much of the focus in local (TX) news the past week or so has been on the so-called "Trans Texas Corridor". Hiyiyippeehooray!
Folks, we've been aware of this 'corridor' for MANY years!! Why is this all of a sudden in the spotlight?!?
You know what? I don't know the answer to that question! As a taxicab driver, I drove up and down US Highway 59 between downtown Houston and Intercontinental Airport (IAH) countless times, and -- for years -- saw signs (and they were pretty!) that said, "Future Intrastate Corridor 69".
I thought nothing about the signs (other than that they were attractive), because it had been my understanding that this "Intrastate Corridor" was part of a much larger interstate-type system that would extend from somewhere in upstate New York (probably originating in Canada, actually) in the Northeast to Mexico in the Southwest. US Highway 59, of course, which goes right through Houston, would be incorporated into this network.
This was a good thing, I thought.
Then, just a very few years ago, I noticed that the 'very pretty' signs for "Future Intrastate Corridor 69" were no longer there!
Originally, I didn't think too much about it. You know, I thought, "Well, road construction. They can't have all these signs up." "Vandals. You know vandals, they'll take anything and everything that's not nailed down."
NOW it seems, however, that there have been all sorts of "town meetings" going on, TV news cannot stop salivating at all the negative reporting possibilities, someone built their lifelong 'dream home' on the right of way (KNOWN to be a 'right of way' for many years!!).
I want to know, "Where does this misinformation end?" "Whom can we possibly believe?"
Folks, we've been aware of this 'corridor' for MANY years!! Why is this all of a sudden in the spotlight?!?
You know what? I don't know the answer to that question! As a taxicab driver, I drove up and down US Highway 59 between downtown Houston and Intercontinental Airport (IAH) countless times, and -- for years -- saw signs (and they were pretty!) that said, "Future Intrastate Corridor 69".
I thought nothing about the signs (other than that they were attractive), because it had been my understanding that this "Intrastate Corridor" was part of a much larger interstate-type system that would extend from somewhere in upstate New York (probably originating in Canada, actually) in the Northeast to Mexico in the Southwest. US Highway 59, of course, which goes right through Houston, would be incorporated into this network.
This was a good thing, I thought.
Then, just a very few years ago, I noticed that the 'very pretty' signs for "Future Intrastate Corridor 69" were no longer there!
Originally, I didn't think too much about it. You know, I thought, "Well, road construction. They can't have all these signs up." "Vandals. You know vandals, they'll take anything and everything that's not nailed down."
NOW it seems, however, that there have been all sorts of "town meetings" going on, TV news cannot stop salivating at all the negative reporting possibilities, someone built their lifelong 'dream home' on the right of way (KNOWN to be a 'right of way' for many years!!).
I want to know, "Where does this misinformation end?" "Whom can we possibly believe?"
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Thriving on other's misfortunes ...
Yet one more tragic story emerged this past week from Galveston, Texas ... that of an infant, only three months old, found dead -- and yes, again abandoned by the killer/s -- at the side of the road by a complete stranger!
ALL of our hearts, thoughts, and prayers went out to this tiny child. We could only imagine his last minutes/seconds of life. We could only hope and pray that God had embraced him in His loving arms before he could feel any pain.
Immediately, of course, a manhunt ensued for the 'alleged' father, one Travis "TJ" Mullis, who was (all of a sudden) nowhere to be found.
Then, yesterday, came the "Breaking News" announcement, followed by a live news conference wherein the Galveston PD, District Attorney, et al, were saying that "TJ" had turned himself in to a police station in Philadelphia, PA, stating that he had something to say about what had happened in Galveston, TX.
I happened to be watching local news on television when it broke to include the live feed.
At first I was fascinated, as I'm sure was almost everyone else, by this story. Then, as the questioning progressed and the news conference went on and on with the Q&A session, I began to get sickened by some of the incessantly probing (and quite intrusive, in my opinion) questions! I turned the TV off.
I had been reminded (hadn't even thought of the event for many many years!) of something that had occurred when I was fulfilling my student-teaching requirements.
It was a long time ago, and my memory might be a little faulty on this. Please make some allowances, if you would.
It seems, I remember vaguely, that an extremely popular young man (a senior in high school) had somehow taken his own life. The manner in which the young man chose to take his own life didn't seem nearly as important to the media (in this case, radio) as the fact that he was 21 years old, and still a senior in high school!
"WHY was he only a senior in high school?" was the seemingly never-ending question. (The answer, I think, was that he had been very ill for a couple of years -- in fact, in the fight of his life for his life. Then, when he WAS able to finally return to finish his high school education, he achieved a great deal of success ... until, of course, he chose to end his life. How tragic!)
The principal had little sympathy for the "Public's right to know", and I heard that he physically kicked (literally!) one reporter out of the door. "Hooray for him!" I say.
My question to YOU is, "Do 'we' thrive on other's misfortunes?"
Are we so insecure in our own lives that we must delve, uninvited, into another's, in order to ensure that our own lives are "better"? MUST we intrude to comfort ourselves? Must we know any and every particular??
I suggest to you that the answer is, "No."
ALL of our hearts, thoughts, and prayers went out to this tiny child. We could only imagine his last minutes/seconds of life. We could only hope and pray that God had embraced him in His loving arms before he could feel any pain.
Immediately, of course, a manhunt ensued for the 'alleged' father, one Travis "TJ" Mullis, who was (all of a sudden) nowhere to be found.
Then, yesterday, came the "Breaking News" announcement, followed by a live news conference wherein the Galveston PD, District Attorney, et al, were saying that "TJ" had turned himself in to a police station in Philadelphia, PA, stating that he had something to say about what had happened in Galveston, TX.
I happened to be watching local news on television when it broke to include the live feed.
At first I was fascinated, as I'm sure was almost everyone else, by this story. Then, as the questioning progressed and the news conference went on and on with the Q&A session, I began to get sickened by some of the incessantly probing (and quite intrusive, in my opinion) questions! I turned the TV off.
I had been reminded (hadn't even thought of the event for many many years!) of something that had occurred when I was fulfilling my student-teaching requirements.
It was a long time ago, and my memory might be a little faulty on this. Please make some allowances, if you would.
It seems, I remember vaguely, that an extremely popular young man (a senior in high school) had somehow taken his own life. The manner in which the young man chose to take his own life didn't seem nearly as important to the media (in this case, radio) as the fact that he was 21 years old, and still a senior in high school!
"WHY was he only a senior in high school?" was the seemingly never-ending question. (The answer, I think, was that he had been very ill for a couple of years -- in fact, in the fight of his life for his life. Then, when he WAS able to finally return to finish his high school education, he achieved a great deal of success ... until, of course, he chose to end his life. How tragic!)
The principal had little sympathy for the "Public's right to know", and I heard that he physically kicked (literally!) one reporter out of the door. "Hooray for him!" I say.
My question to YOU is, "Do 'we' thrive on other's misfortunes?"
Are we so insecure in our own lives that we must delve, uninvited, into another's, in order to ensure that our own lives are "better"? MUST we intrude to comfort ourselves? Must we know any and every particular??
I suggest to you that the answer is, "No."
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Presidential election campaign, 2008
Normally, I try and stay away from politics. I really do!
However, this year's campaign (and it's early yet) has already promised to be of such a nature that I feel a great need to RUN out and purchase boots and a very large shovel!!
When I first started this blog site, and not that far back, I really didn't know what I might want to focus on. All I knew was that I had a lot of things to say. But, in order for me to say something, I have to be "moved" to do so. I am so moved.
Up to this point, it seems, the national media's attention has been primarily focused on the Democratic candidates. (Perhaps because the media appears to be so obsessed/entranced with the possibility of a Democratic "sweep" -- President, house, senate -- what a coup!) This latest piece of news really has my "back up" -- and that is Ted Kennedy's endorsement of Barack Obama with the subsequent lashes out from NOW, not to mention the barrage of images of Mr. Kennedy explaining his endorsement.
If it had been up to me -- and, of course, it never was! -- Mr. Kennedy would have been relegated to page 36Z eons ago. As it is, "unfortunately" ( in my opinion), his words carry a lot of weight with unthinking (or perhaps even similar thinking) bigots.
To my mind, there was never any question as to whether or not he would endorse Hillary Clinton. His blatant disregard for the female gender has been well-documented. (In fact, he has been known to go so far as to abandon a female companion who subsequently drowned!)
What disturbs me even more, however, is Mr. Obama's open arms "Welcome to the party!". I now question Mr. Obama's integrity.
I see this year's Presidential campaign deteriorating to -- perhaps -- an all-time low in mud-slinging. Let's see here, who have we got for major candidates? We have ... ... 1. Mitt Romney, 2. John McCain, 3. Hillary Clinton, 4. Barack Obama.
Well, we can't vote for #1 because of his religion. We can't vote for #2 because of his age and -- certainly, he must have been damaged with all those years as a prisoner of war. We can't vote for #3 because she's a woman. We can't vote for #4 because he's black.
Aren't you guys TIRED of everyone trying to tell you who you can/can't should/shouldn't vote for?? I certainly am!
You know who I miss? I miss David Brinkley!
However, this year's campaign (and it's early yet) has already promised to be of such a nature that I feel a great need to RUN out and purchase boots and a very large shovel!!
When I first started this blog site, and not that far back, I really didn't know what I might want to focus on. All I knew was that I had a lot of things to say. But, in order for me to say something, I have to be "moved" to do so. I am so moved.
Up to this point, it seems, the national media's attention has been primarily focused on the Democratic candidates. (Perhaps because the media appears to be so obsessed/entranced with the possibility of a Democratic "sweep" -- President, house, senate -- what a coup!) This latest piece of news really has my "back up" -- and that is Ted Kennedy's endorsement of Barack Obama with the subsequent lashes out from NOW, not to mention the barrage of images of Mr. Kennedy explaining his endorsement.
If it had been up to me -- and, of course, it never was! -- Mr. Kennedy would have been relegated to page 36Z eons ago. As it is, "unfortunately" ( in my opinion), his words carry a lot of weight with unthinking (or perhaps even similar thinking) bigots.
To my mind, there was never any question as to whether or not he would endorse Hillary Clinton. His blatant disregard for the female gender has been well-documented. (In fact, he has been known to go so far as to abandon a female companion who subsequently drowned!)
What disturbs me even more, however, is Mr. Obama's open arms "Welcome to the party!". I now question Mr. Obama's integrity.
I see this year's Presidential campaign deteriorating to -- perhaps -- an all-time low in mud-slinging. Let's see here, who have we got for major candidates? We have ... ... 1. Mitt Romney, 2. John McCain, 3. Hillary Clinton, 4. Barack Obama.
Well, we can't vote for #1 because of his religion. We can't vote for #2 because of his age and -- certainly, he must have been damaged with all those years as a prisoner of war. We can't vote for #3 because she's a woman. We can't vote for #4 because he's black.
Aren't you guys TIRED of everyone trying to tell you who you can/can't should/shouldn't vote for?? I certainly am!
You know who I miss? I miss David Brinkley!
Sunday, January 13, 2008
... in the eye of the beholder
A few years back, I was asked for my opinion on what had been reported on the news in re a traffic accident on Loop 610. I really don't recall, now, all of the particulars -- but, what I do remember is hearing on the radio and seeing on TV many (& varied) reports of the same incident.
That it was controversial, I am sure. That it involved a taxi driver, probably. At the time I was asked, I was sitting outside in the staging area for cab drivers at Hobby Airport and listening to other drivers vent their feelings on the subject. I was simply listening -- absorbing, but contributing nothing.
My response to the question was that I had not seen the accident -- and, even if I had, my interpretation of what I had seen might have been different from that of another actual eye-witness.
I got the impression that the questioner really did not like my answer, but it was the only one I could honestly give. I was reminded, yet once again, of an incident that occurred many years ago in Columbus, Ohio, where one of my teacher friends -- while driving down a street -- struck & subsequently killed a young boy who had unexpectedly appeared directly in front of her from between two parked cars while riding his bicycle.
She tried to stop, but was unable to do so in time to avoid striking the child. She immediately exited her vehicle -- and, while holding the dying child in her arms, wept, thinking all the while of her own two young sons.
The news media (in this case, radio) reported the accident as a "hit and run".
I am not privy to "W's" (George W. Bush) visits in the Middle East, but I was interested to watch Charles Osgood's report this morning on the varying coverages ... country, religious orientation, TV/radio/internet site, etc. That they vary widely is accurate, but whom can one really believe?? If you were actually there, could you report it "accurately"?
Of course you could, but it would be from your perspective ... albeit country, religious orientation, whatever.
What are we looking for? Are we looking for peace/war? Are we looking for good/bad news? "Some" say that the United States is trying to dominate the world. "Others" say that extremist followers of Islam are trying to convert the world. Sometimes, it seems to me, that most of the news that is widely covered/reported is bad news.
Personally, I try to stay away from negativism (altho I must admit that it sometimes overtakes me.) I urge all of you to listen carefully. Read & watch all you can, and then make your own decisions when you vote this year ... and, if you have the time, work for the cause you most believe in.
That it was controversial, I am sure. That it involved a taxi driver, probably. At the time I was asked, I was sitting outside in the staging area for cab drivers at Hobby Airport and listening to other drivers vent their feelings on the subject. I was simply listening -- absorbing, but contributing nothing.
My response to the question was that I had not seen the accident -- and, even if I had, my interpretation of what I had seen might have been different from that of another actual eye-witness.
I got the impression that the questioner really did not like my answer, but it was the only one I could honestly give. I was reminded, yet once again, of an incident that occurred many years ago in Columbus, Ohio, where one of my teacher friends -- while driving down a street -- struck & subsequently killed a young boy who had unexpectedly appeared directly in front of her from between two parked cars while riding his bicycle.
She tried to stop, but was unable to do so in time to avoid striking the child. She immediately exited her vehicle -- and, while holding the dying child in her arms, wept, thinking all the while of her own two young sons.
The news media (in this case, radio) reported the accident as a "hit and run".
I am not privy to "W's" (George W. Bush) visits in the Middle East, but I was interested to watch Charles Osgood's report this morning on the varying coverages ... country, religious orientation, TV/radio/internet site, etc. That they vary widely is accurate, but whom can one really believe?? If you were actually there, could you report it "accurately"?
Of course you could, but it would be from your perspective ... albeit country, religious orientation, whatever.
What are we looking for? Are we looking for peace/war? Are we looking for good/bad news? "Some" say that the United States is trying to dominate the world. "Others" say that extremist followers of Islam are trying to convert the world. Sometimes, it seems to me, that most of the news that is widely covered/reported is bad news.
Personally, I try to stay away from negativism (altho I must admit that it sometimes overtakes me.) I urge all of you to listen carefully. Read & watch all you can, and then make your own decisions when you vote this year ... and, if you have the time, work for the cause you most believe in.
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