It's things like this that get people riled up at the news media.
* Please note Fidel did bring social reforms to Cuba – namely free education and universal health care, and racial integration. in addition to being criticized for oppressing human rights and freedom of speech.
Depressingly, a study confirms that there is no link between posters of scantily-clad women and real half-naked women. This has got to come as a major blow to men all over the country, though I'm sure they will not let this stop them from trying. Their perseverance is enough to bring a tear to my eye.
Now we find out that members of the administration including Rice and Cheney sat in on meetings discussing specific torture techniques and how best to deploy them. I have to admit a little bit of surprise at seeing Powell and Rice on that list. I just lost a lot of respect for both of them and would have difficulty supporting either of them for any public office should they choose to run.
Obama has tough questions for the General and Ambassador Crocker.
Meanwhile, Fred Kaplan has a nice summary of the testimony from these two men.
If things in Iraq get worse, we can't cut back, lest things get worse still; if things get better, we can't cut back, lest we risk reversing all our gains.
I finished reading Fahrenheit 451 last weekend with my daughters. I have read it before, but it was back in high school, I believe, so many of the small details had been forgotten. It is an excellent book, of course, and my daughters really enjoyed. I think the best part, though, came from the discussions afterward. We talked about censorship and the different forms it can take and why it is so bad. Coming from a home that is very rabidly pro-censorship, it was good for them to get a different take on things. I hope they will keep it in mind when they hear some of the garbage they do at home.
My sister made a comment on a previous post about all of the "needle sticks" I will have to give myself. That's made me curious how many it will be, so let's add 'em up.
3/day (21/week) - blood sugar tests
4/day (28/week) - insulin injections
1/day (7/week) - copaxone shot (MS)
1/week (1/week, duh) - avonex shot (MS)
That adds up to...57 needle pokes a week. Wow. I'm in serious junkie territory here. I think this calls for a Metallica music video, one of the greatest metal songs of all time and about the subject at hand.
"Master of Puppets"
This afternoon was an exciting adventure in running around as no one seemed to be of much help.
I had a follow up appointment this morning because my doctor wants to closely monitor my blood sugar until I see the specialist Friday. He told me that my blood sugar level yesterday was 849. The normal range is 70-130 or so. One of the nurses I talked to said, "You're the one with the enormous blood sugar level. Some of us were talking and we couldn't believe you're still up and about." The glucometer again could not read my blood sugar level because it was so high so I had to give them a vial of blood. The doctor also said that he wants to treat the disease more aggressively now rather than wait for the specialist. He gave me a prescription to get a glucometer and supplies. He told me to go pick it up and sometime after lunch come back and he would have a nurse show me how to use it and give me a supply of syringes and insulin.
I went and picked up the glucometer and went back to his office a few hours later. The nurse told me she hadn't used them much, so she busted out the instructions and together we figured out how to operate the machine. We were doing fine until we pricked my finger and put my blood on the test strip. Suddenly the machine just stopped working. I told the nurse it was probably the massive amount of sugar in my blood; the machine couldn't handle it and just fizzled. She got another nurse and we decided that it was probably a bad battery or unit. They looked for one at the office I could have, but none could be found.
So, that meant a trip back to the place I got the glucometer. The girl who had set me up was cute and it was fun giving her a bad time about "giving the guy just diagnosed with diabetes and a blood sugar level over 800 a bad piece of equipment." She apologized over and over and got me another one. She worked on setting it up this time to make sure it worked, but admitted that she is not a "gadget girl" so she ended up calling my doc's office to talk to a nurse about what the settings should be. Finally, she got it figured out. She smiled and told me I could call her if it didn't work. She's probably got a boyfriend, though.
Leaving, I got a call from the nurse at my doctor's office that had been helping me earlier. She told me that another doctor at the office is diabetic and said she would make sure the glucometer was set up properly for me. I drove back there and waited around while she looked it over. Finally the nurse brought it back and said it was properly calibrated and such.
Now the problem is getting blood. I might have to mess with the settings on the skin pricker because I tried it four times on three different fingers and on my palm and I could never get more than a tiny drop of blood no matter how much I squeezed. It was never enough for the machine to read. I never thought not being a bleeder would be a bad thing, but what do I know? Maybe I'll just have to get my knife out and slash open a good vein somewhere.
I did give myself an injection of the insulin before I ate dinner and I have to say that I felt much better this evening. Of course it was probably the first meal I have eaten in weeks that my body was semi-able to process. Thank God for modern medicine, eh. Maybe I can start gaining some weight and not look quite so much like the anorexic white boy as some at work have dubbed me.
Perhaps this should be my new title. Or maybe I can just tell people, "Autoimmune is my middle name."
I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes today. For the last few weeks I have had some symptoms that I was sure were not related to my multiple sclerosis. I have lost a lot of weight (20 lbs or so), had constant thirst, frequent urination including a few times a night (my daughter, Erica, asked me if I had an enlarged prostate because she had seen a commercial about it), extra fatigue (to the point I was literally shuffling around at work by lunch time), and a sharp increase in blurry vision. I researched the symptoms myself and was pretty sure it was diabetes.
Sure enough, when I went to see my doctor today, he said it was diabetes. He wanted to admit me to the hospital since my blood sugar is so high, but I was disinclined to acquiesce to his request. I talked him into giving me some small doses of insulin until I get in to see the diabetes specialist on Friday. He also wants me to come in every day to get my sugar checked and make sure I don't collapse and go into a diabetic coma or something.
The doctor told me that having one autoimmune disease such as MS makes me more likely to get another. I have two now, so maybe I should start planning for which one I would like to get next. Perhaps I can get one that won't require shooting up. As excited as I get about injecting myself with drugs, I think two diseases requiring it is enough. The next one can have meds in a pill form and I'll be cool with that.
Now that I've been through this twice, I think I can easily say what the absolute best part of being diagnosed with a disease is. It's not when the doctor comes in and tells you what's wrong with you. No, it's when he leaves the room and you're left sitting there alone. You are all alone struggling to grasp what you have just heard. Everything around you seems to fade away. Neither of the diseases I have are life-threatening, but they do change your life on a certain level. That time spent sitting alone in the room after you've heard the diagnosis, but before you can leave, is the worst part of the whole trip. It's so easy for your brain to run wild and start coming up with horrible scenarios.
I admit to being somewhat depressed today after hearing the news. I'm sure it will continue off and on over the next few weeks as I come to grips with this new disease. It's natural, but I know that I will come through. I believe that everyone is tested in their own way and I think this will be one of mine.
I'm up to the challenge.
General Petraeus will be testifying before Congress Tuesday and Wednesday.
Some Pentagon officials, including Defense Secretary Robert Gates, had hoped to continue the drawdown in order to relieve the strain of repeated combat tours on U.S. troops and their families. But Gates recently sided with Petraeus on the wisdom of a period of "consolidation and assessment" expected to last at least several weeks, and possibly months. Gates and Admiral William Fallon, the outgoing chief of the U.S. Central Command and Petraeus's direct superior, have expressed concern that leaving 140,000 troops in Iraq will continue to erode U.S. military readiness. But President Bush, mindful of the centrality of Iraq to his legacy, has made clear that what Petraeus wants, Petraeus will get.
The awesome Van Halen with "Hot for Teacher."
I wonder if the almost daily stories of inappropriate conduct between teachers and students can't be traced back to this video. People do seem awfully inclined to believe most of what they see on TV. Not that I think we need to get rid of this great video, though. That would be a crime against humanity. Rather we should teach people to use their damn heads. That is a Herculean task, but one that needs to be undertaken.
Charlton Heston, well known for his larger than life persona, has passed away. He was in so many great movies from Ben Hur and The Ten Commandments to Planet of the Apes and Soylent Green. It's too bad he couldn't come up with a miracle to save himself. He will be missed.
I feel like I have a relatively good grasp of the female mind, as good as any male can have anyway. I've been surrounded and outnumbered by them all of my life. When it comes to dating them, though, I feel clueless.
I've asked two girls out in the last couple of months. Both situations were remarkably similar. Both girls had flirted with me a lot, not the mild flirting that happens all the time, but the kind that goes beyond that in word and deed and to me anyway indicated an interest in something more. I asked both girls out. Both said in the aftermath, "Are you serious" and then told me they had boyfriends.
I, of course, felt stupid afterwards in both cases, though I know I shouldn't have. Neither had a ring on their finger or ever said anything about a boyfriend. Both flirted very heavily and it wasn't just me thinking it. I had other people comment on it. In my view, both were giving off signals that they were interested in more than flirting, but as it turns out they really weren't.
So, is this normal? Is that how ladies of my generation act? Is it just me or do other men out there have similar stories?
How many times are people going to give Clinton a pass for lying. This time it's about a mother at a hospital. I used to (way back when) defend Clinton to some of her rabid detractors. I can't anymore. She just keeps sinking lower and lower without shame. I'll be glad when the primary is over and she is out of the spotlight for awhile.
You know, as much as I like animals and hate to see them abused by punk kids, I think a court order of protection for a duck is a little ridiculous. Can't the cops just go talk to the kids parents? Smack them with a mischief charge or something and have them do community service? That's just me, I guess.
Joe Klein usually writes good stuff about Iraq. His most recent post over at Swampland includes some questions Congress should be asking Petraeus during his upcoming testimony. To whit:
*What exactly is the U.S. interest in a fight between Shi'ites? Are you planning to deploy U.S. troops in Basra or any of the other southern cities?
*Why should we take sides between two militias, the Mahdi Army and the Badr Corps, each funded by Iran?
*How deep is the Badr infiltration of the Iraqi Army? Why do most U.S. commanders on the ground refuse to share their mission plans with their Iraqi counterparts in advance?
*How do you create a national army if you don't have a functioning national government or, for that matter, a nation?
*With the foreign fighters and Al Qaeda largely contained--one last big battle looms in Mosul--just what exactly is the U.S. mission in Iraq?
*Do you believe that Iraq is a good location for the permanent U.S. bases that the Bush Administration and John McCain clearly desire?
Matt Yglesias responds to a post from Ezra Klein calling for making teaching more prestigious. I agree with Matt that this really is not a feasible endeavor. Trying to create elite teaching programs is not going to suddenly make people think that it is a worthwhile profession to enter.
Fixing schools is going to require a different tack which includes greater teacher flexibility within their classes, curriculums aimed at individual students rather than the big group in the middle, less interference from school boards, greater parental involvement, and economic reforms that bring the lower class up. Of course this is just a start and imagine how much of a furor would be created with any one of these. Someday I plan on making these a reality.
I had my three-month visit yesterday for the multiple sclerosis study I am in. The study coordinators wanted me to see my neurologist as soon as possible because they thought I may be having a minor flare-up. He was able to squeeze me in yesterday, so I went to see him.
I've been getting waves of blurriness in my vision off an on. I've also been getting odd tingling sensations that come and go mostly in my legs. The doctor said that unless it gets worse it is probably a minor relapse and I don't need to get steroid treatments to calm it down. More troubling to me is the fact that I have lost 15 pounds since my visit in January. My diet has not changed, nor has my routine. The doctor says he isn't too concerned unless it continues. We'll see.
All I know is that this hasn't put me in the greatest of moods.
I took my daughters to see this movie last night. They enjoyed it and so did I. I do have to agree with Roger Ebert, though, that the PG rating is rather stretching things. There are some scary scenes which would probably not be good for younger kids. The pacing felt a little odd toward the end and more exposition and background info would have been nice, but overall this was an entertaining family movie.
A memo has just been declassified that reveals the thinking (or lack thereof) in this administration's quest for the right to torture. It's scary stuff. This most certainly needs to be out in the open so that the American people fully understand what Bush and his cronies have done.
