Currently playing in iTunes: Drive, from Automatic For The People, R.E.M.
I feel the need to take on some miscellaneous things today. Posts that need follow-up, updates to the pain situation, that kind of thing.
First about the pain situation... there's really no change, but this article has forced me to think twice about publishing my ordeal with the Tulsa doctor. Throughout this blog I've tried to only publish the names of physicians who have helped me, by dealing with the original disease (ulcerative colitis), or by decreasing this pain, or by teaching me to cope with it in a constructive manner. Doctors who have not helped (or even hurt) are not referred to by name, because I don't think it is fair to them. Disagreements should be aired in a neutral forum with the participation of both sides. That's why we have courts and judges. At this time I have no intention to sue any healthcare provider. Even if that changes, I won't name those providers by name in this blog. If I sue someone, you'll have to go to the courthouse to figure out who it is.
Having said that, the whole idea of this blog is to be cathartic for me, so I can get my views out instead of holding them in. I still have the draft of my three years with the pain doctor in Tulsa, but there is one line in it that could identify my doctor if someone were to look hard enough, so I have to figure out how to say what I need to say without that line. That's why I haven't put the story up yet.
Second, I'm experimenting with Del.icio.us. One of my favorite blogs uses Del.icio.us with a script (unfortunately, his site is in PHP and I think he's using a PHP script) to post groups of bookmarked URLs on a periodic basis, usually every morning. I'm experimenting with using Del.icio.us to do the same thing, manually for now and later with AppleScript. I'm not sure if it will work in Manila, but it might, and I like tinkering with both systems to figure out if it will or won't work. When I figure it out, I'll be able to post more frequently and with more content. I don't need help yet, but if I do I'll ask some knowledgeable folks.
Other miscellany:
The post below this one, about the EMS workers who were stranded in New Orleans, has another twist, one I feel you should be aware of. A couple of days after I posted it, the two people in the story were interviewed on MSNBC and I happened to catch it while flipping through news channels. It turns out that these two people, Bradshaw and Slonsky, are intimately tied with a California socialist group, and the story was first published at a site called Socialist Worker Online (I won't hyperlink to that site, sorry). Their political views may very well have influenced that story, in my opinion, and I felt a responsibility to point it out to you, my six loyal readers.
As of Wednesday, the American Red Cross has almost met its $534 million fundraising record (set after September 11) with donations meant for Katrina victims. I can't help but wonder where $534 million dollars is going when our tax dollars are already paying (under a FEMA contract) for the shelters still open. More people are moving into privately-owned homes and apartments every day, and the Red Cross isn't in the construction business. I sense an upgrade to their phone system.... perhaps an airplane.... or a bunch of new cars, one per volunteer.... you just never know where that money is gonna go. But it's going somewhere....
In the item below from September 3 titled 'still 45,000 left in Orleans, ' I said that the president of the American Institute of Philanthropy, Daniel Borochoff, asked Bernadine Healey a question about the current financial needs of the Red Cross during Congressional hearings after the September 11 attacks. In fact, that question was asked of Dr. Healey during a National Public Radio program in October 2001, about two weeks before those hearings were gaveled to order. Both Borochoff and Healey testified before the House Ways and Means Committee's Subcommittee on Oversight, but their testimony was on different dates and they did not question each other. Sorry about that. I'm also trying to run down the costs of the famously expensive Red Cross telephone system; I remember hearing several television reports in 2001 that stated the system would cost $65 million, but I can't verify it now and I don't know if it was installed or not. I'll keep looking. I made a claim and the story was picked up in several places including Slashdot, and I want to be certain I'm correct.
The best news of my week is that Barenaked Ladies announced their holiday tour tonight. Unfortunately it's not coming this far south, but there is a St. Paul date on December 8. I'm thinking I need a Mayo Clinic visit in December, or I could go see a friend for the Santa Monica date.... barenaked.net crashed on my birthday and has yet to reappear -- the guy who maintains it is really busy with his real job and hasn't had much time to fix whatever happened -- but we're happily congregating over at ROSP in the interim. If you're a bn.net regular still going through withdrawal, come on over and have a fruit roll-up or some pre-wrapped sausages.
That's all I have for now. Let us pray for the Oklahoma Sooners as they venture west this weekend to meet some Bruins -- hopefully they'll come back scratched instead of eaten alive.
[ Print This Page ]
