Playing with fire

I was reminded of the Federal Government's leadership today as I read an article in the Baltimore Sun.  It seems that a man and women were seriously burned when she fell asleep while both smoking and breathing her medical oxygen. (I do feel sorry for the couple.)

2286

Am I missing something?

I realize that part of growing older is that almost everything seems to cost more.  But discounting pleasant memories, things do cost more. So, why do people simply through things away?  Sure, it is often the case that the repair bill is so high that a replacement seems logical, but that is not always the case and here are two examples.

In the past month I have made two trips to the Baltimore County Recycling Center, a.k.a. "dump."  During the first trip, as I was dropping off some scrap metal I overheard another resident being informed that he could not leave his lawn mower because he had not drained the oil.  Hence, he would have to return home, do the deed and return. Those of you who know me know that I have only purchase one new mower in my life so I suggested that he simply throw the mower onto my trailer and I would take care of it.  Oddly enough, the scenario repeated itself during my second trip!

I asked the first owner what was prompting him to scrap the mower, for it was apparently in good shape.  He informed me that his father-in-law gave him a newer, self-propelled unit and that this one didn't seem to run smoothly. So off to the dump.  When I returned home, I cleaned the spark plug, added new gas and mowed the lawn.

The second mower, above, had greater wear and the owner said that it would not run well.  After a couple of minutes, I think I located his problem, below.  What was he thinking?  Air filters need to be changed at least once every decade! This unit is at least a $300 unit and while it still needs a little work, it was running well enough to mow the front lawn after removing the filter and cleaning the spark plug.

I know that these are two seemingly isolated cases but the truth of the matter is that all one needs to do is visit any of the landfills on a weekend to recognize that perfectly good stuff is thrown away in VAST quantities.  What waste!

We get calls from at least 1/2 dozen organizations every month asking for donations and they of course are willing to pick up the items. Additionally, there is FreeCycle.  If you have not heard of it, check it out at http://www.freecycle.org/  Once you join a local Freecycle you simply list what you have for pick-up i.e. free, and an interested party will contact you and arrange to pick it up. I have met a number of very interesting people and found homes for more things than I can remember. I once found a home for a full set of 1/2 used tires that someone was delighted to get as she had no money for new tires she needed.  I should note that Firestone was going to dispose of them for me for additional cost of $12.  (Definitely, a win-win.)  It just goes to show you that it is really quite true that one man's trash is another man's treasure.


2128

Dominique Strauss-Kahn - An expensive night.

The jury is still out (actually the trial has not begun) and I am certainly not in a position to know if DSK is guilty as charged. But, I do have one question - what extras come with a $3,000 a night hotel suite?

Actually, this is a question in my mind for I find $150 a night to be too high.  So, when it comes to a high-end suite, what do you get for $3,000? I have no point of reference here.  At that economic level, is the value of money meaningless? Or, do you actually get something truly outstanding and worth the bucks?  Would someone please tell me?


2006

Adult Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus

A friend of mine recently had her medical issues properly (?) diagnosed. After several years of misdiagnosed symptoms, including sever headaches, it now appears that she is dealing with a condition called Adult Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus. I mention this now because I had never heard of it and because there is a free educational seminar put on by Johns Hopkins Medicine on May 24.

From their literature:
"Trouble with gait or balance, faulty memory and urinary incontinence are often dismissed as simply part of getting older. Join Johns Hopkins neurosurgeons ... to learn more about how these problems could be signs of fluid buildup in the brain known as audit normal pressure hydrocephalus."

Click here for details of seminar.  (I noticed that they have on-line videos of previous seminars which may be of interest.)

Click here for additional links (Google) about the condition.




1930

Say What?

Yesterday's (5/6/11) The Baltimore Sun had an interesting juxtaposition of articles.  On the one hand it noted "Delayed slots to cost Anne Arundel Millions".  On the other, we learned that "Maryland backs programs to help gambling addicts".   Seems like we need those addicts out there gambling!  So, I've got the solution:  Avoid the middle man and just give the addicts the money that would be used for the addiction program.  Problem solved.  Next?

But seriously, did anyone not think this would be the case.  Individual abuse and addiction is a balancing act.  It is one of society's cost of doing business. However, when individual or corporate abuse spills over to the public arena (i.e. society), as with smoking and pollution, the cost is deemed too high and we take appropriate steps to control the situation. That being said, now that we have accepted the costs for gambling and drinking, when will we accept it for marijuana and currently illicit drugs?  Would this add to, or might it actually subtract from, society's total cost of doing business?


1914

Aflac - Surely they must have known

In case you have missed it, Gilbert Gottfried was fired as the recognizable (?) voice of the Aflac Duck for doing something outrageous.  Who would have thought this possible!?  While I find his Japanese disaster "jokes" in extremely poor form, I seem to remember this being the case for most of his other "jokes."

The real question in mind is not the jokes but Aflac and its possible naivete', if that is the case.  What were they thinking? Even as the voice of a duck, they must have realized that they were just "asking for it."  The time bomb was softly ticking, tick, tick, tick, tick.  Is this really how an insurance company minimizes its risk and exposure?

Can you imagine how much Gottfried was paid for his voice?  For those who recognized his voice as the duck, what possible positive spin or slant did his persona add to the Aflac product line?  Adding to the above doubts, is this really good use of the company's resources or good "product identification?"  Or, is it simply wasted money collected from Aflac clients?  Certainly there are any number of individuals who could yell "AFLAC" and I understand that Aflac is having auditions.  Click here to apply.

In response to the turmoil, Gottfried apologized.  He also created a video with some possible jokes based upon historic disasters to essentially ask and answer(?) the question, "How soon can you joke about certain things?"  It is a valid question.  View the short video (at your own peril as the first segment is crude) and see you what you think.  How bad, as measured in various ways, must things be before one can never make a joke about them?  Cases in point - could it ever be possible to make a joke about the Cambodian genocide of the 1960-1970s or the WWII's holocaust?  To view Gottfried's "History's Forgotten Disaster Jokes." click here.  Are some actually OK?


1615

Jack Abramoff - the movie

Last night we watch the movie, Casino Jack and the United States of Money.  I was disgusted.  If you have not seen it, rent it and peek behind the Washington curtains.  See the Wizards come to life.  Are they still there?  Did they ever leave?  Have they always been there and if not when did it change?  Is this really the "American Way?"


1609

Obesity a New Hope?

As I was growing up, "everyone" smoked. The smell of smoke permeated everything and was everywhere. Though the health dangers were obvious and well document, still most people lit up all too frequently, as measured in "packs-per-day."  I remember, like Curtis in today's comics, trying to get my parents to stop smoking when I was only 6.  Yet, the US government did little by today's "control" standards to curtail the health hazard. It seemed to take forever to bring about the current changes and reality.

Did you ever, wonder "why?"

Now, we see a similar story unfolding, one which the First Lady is attempting to address. Yet, she is being attacked for her efforts to bring to the fore the health problems associated with childhood obesity.  Sunday's article in The Baltimore Sun (2/27/11), notes the backlash against her from those who "warn of Big Brother" controlling our dinner plates.  Is this their real fear? 

Certainly, we recognize that childhood obesity all too frequently results in adult obesity with the associated medical risks.  Why shouldn't we try to minimize those problems both for the individual and for society in general, for society will no doubt be picking up the associated medical bill, just as it has for many smokers.

Is there perhaps a correlation with the history of smoking? 

In answer to the first question asked above, perhaps the delay in curtailing smoking, thus letting it continue, unabated for so long, was seen as a way to curtail the other (unspoken) problem which we are currently encountering - too many old folk! (Including me and the rest of the baby boomers.)

My parent's entire generation, at least most of their friends and relatives, died from smoking related illnesses, dare I say diseases. This kept Social Security under control as fewer people were living longer lives.  (Though few could have foreseen the massive medical improvements that extended the lives of smokers, thus perhaps actually increasing overall expenses of the aging society.) The no smoking 'do gooders' ruined that balance!

Yet, have no fear - Obesity to the rescue.  

While the baby boomers may potentially be living to ripe old ages, the obesity epidemic may once again restore the balance of nature. Senior citizens will be "less senior" and collect less Social Security, etc. That is, unless the obesity 'do gooders' succeed in improving things again. Even now it is starting with all sorts of health related "controls" of this and that aspect of cooking and eating.  Ms. Obama and others are attempting to keep our children healthy and direct the public's attention to this problem.  They will likely spoil the future Social Security balance.  

Where is the American born freedom to abuse oneself?  Is it, along with so many others, gone forever?  At least with smoking, there was the issue of "second hand" smoke that could impact others, and thus the needed control for the "greater good" (though we can't possibly control CO2 for similar reasons.)  But with obesity, who besides the individuals (and of course their offspring living on the same ill-chosen diets) are being hurt?  Is this truly a "Public Health" problem?  Or, is it really a "Private Health" problem which should be sequestered until everyone has to buy two seats to ride an airplane or are forced by shear size to drive SUVs ?

It's just one of my many questions.  In the meantime, "Eat now and preserve Social Security.  May it live on!"



1568

Gum Ball Logic - for a greater understanding of numbers and reality

Watch this (click on the above title) to get a greater understanding of the realities of the world's population and US immigration.  Then contemplate 300 gum balls to appreciate the world on a relative scale.

Merry Christmas from Bill Maher

Just Click the title.
(And we wonder why people in other nations think we are crazy.  I wonder how different Rome was from this before the fall.)

Young People Without Work - idle hands ...

The Youth Employment Conundrum by George W. Liebmann in today's (11/22/10) The Baltimore Sun hits the nail on the head. (Click title above.) While he make many comparisons to various other countries, he refrained from stretching the point by noting that disenfranchised young people in the Middle East often feel they have nothing to lose, resulting in extremism and violence. At what point will this impact those young people in the USA?

One additional point I might add relates to population growth. Given the the short term, current and projected world population growth patterns, men, especially those without jobs and futures, are the least likely to find wives and build families, thus adding to the frustration. On a world-wide basis, this relates to the decreasing number of babies per family coupled with the unspoken female genocide that exists in certain countries. There will simply be less women available or willing to accept men with limited futures.

The GM Example

It is great that GM has seemingly succeeded in being turned around. With US Government help, it has become lean, productive and profitable. Too bad GM can't return the favor!

GM - IPO

It is certainly nice to see that GM is doing an IPO today, now up $2.50. They seem to be manufacturing some nice looking cars now, and I am certainly glad to see that we, the citizens of the US, are going to get some money back.

I will actually consider buying one of their cars and perhaps investing in GM stock, as soon as they pay back their original bond-holders who lost everything (instead of being first in line at the settlement table) when GM and the US Government did their bogus bankruptcy deal. But, I am sure that I will have to wait until hell freezes over.

Signs of the Future to Come?

From today's Investors Business Daily's Trends and Innovations section:

"A traffic camera in Finland can use its software to check on the insurance and tax status of the vehicle’s owner, as well as catch speeders. Developed by a Finnish tech research center, the camera also measures distances between vehicles to identify tailgaters, and can even zoom in on a car to see whether the driver is wearing a seat belt. The camera systems can transmit the data immediately via satellite to police. Finland will test the system through 2011. VTT Technical Research Center in Finland predicts other EU nations will adopt the cameras in 2013."

Maybe I am being a little too paranoid but... Can you imagine this technology, its database, and facial recognition software tied together? Think that I am crazy? Well, here is another segment from the same section as above.

"A computer program that can recognize human emotions by listening to a conversation has been developed by engineers in Spain. The application analyzes the sound waves and words used to determine if the speaker is sad, happy or nervous. If it can’t figure out the emotion, it provides probability percentages of the emotion the speaker might be feeling."

Now what do you think? This is not science fiction.

Things I missed

As most of you know, I am over 60 and hence, have been around for a while. There are two gatherings I missed. One, because my mother had the good sense to sequester me in a Methodist college buried deep in West Virginia (God bless her!). The second, because I just "don't do crowds." The first was in 1969, "Woodstock," an historic reference point. The second occurred this weekend. It was, as I know you know, the Jon Stewart's and Stephen Cobert's "Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear."

I watched the activities from afar and in retrospect I wish I attended the Rally. If you have no idea of which I speak, you should. For, in a few years hence, when history is written, October 30th, 2010 will be as indicative of a generation as was Woodstock.

If nothing else, check out Jon Stuart's address, "Moment of Sincerity" (by clicking on the above title and scrolling down.) Then, watch as much of the rest as you have time.

The Johns Hopkins Hospital Shooting

The actions of a severely overwrought individual has resulted in his suicide, the death of his mother, and the near death of her doctor. What a total nightmare! And my heart goes out to both families, and of course the doctor.

The hospital and the police responded well to the situation. Yet, they are now going to restudy the situation to see what could have been done to prevent it so that such a thing might not happen in the future.

Folks "Compost happens!" You cannot plan to prevent these "outliers." All you can possibly do is to try to prevent, contain and/or minimize the more common, predictable disasters. That's what the "bell curve" is all about. Aim for the middle!

We have seen this cycle before - think Virginia Tech and several other educational institutions, not to mention governmental facilities. Here the "wild card" gets thrown down and people get hurt or killed. You CANNOT plan for and prevent these "off the wall" incidences. For every one you anticipate, a nut will find 10 more.

I suspect that soon, the hospital, followed by countless other hospitals, will implement some things at ridiculous prices to prevent this from happening again. Great! What is the cost/benefit analysis. Recognizing that a person's life is invaluable, you can't answer. Still...

At our institution, we have already done similar things, none of which will prevent someone from coming in and shooting down a significant number of people, long before he or she can be "taken out." Yet, from a liability standpoint, I guess we have taken appropriate action. But where could the dollars have been more effectively used?

People ask me how I feel about all of this (see above) but simply put, I base all decisions of risk and danger upon that activity that I do that has the greatest danger, the one that results in 30-40,000 deaths a year. (How many shooting or similar deaths took place in hospitals?) If the danger of doing something or being somewhere is less than the dangers of driving, which I do daily for an average time of 1 hour, I don't worry about it. And NEITHER SHOULD YOU or the rest of the country! I am TOTALLY confident that I will not be shot going into Johns Hopkins Hospital or my college and I would bet the farm on it. (However, I would only bet half the farm about my chances of walking through some areas of Baltimore. There you are dealing with predators not crazies.)

The OIL WELL

Would someone please explain to me why we have plugged up a perfectly good, productive oil well? I fully recognize the extreme damage that has been caused by the mess but it takes time and money to find and drill these things. Are we going to close down all of the Gulf of Mexico wells? If not, why not continue with this one. Just a thought.

American thinking - based upon TV programming

TTT - this translates to Things Take Time. We have become so conditioned to solving problems in quick 1/2 to 2 hour episodes that we have lost any conceptual basis for making decisions as to how longs things take in the "real world." Folks, it took five months to plug a damn oil well! How long do we think it will take to recover from the longest recession ever??

I am not a fan of any political party at this point, but TTT. As those of us who can remember it used to say in the Nixon era, "don't change Dicks in the middle of a good f*#*!" Let the team who has the ball play out the inning (speaking of mixed metaphors!).

Henry Paulson

I just finished Henry Paulson's "On the Brink." While it is long and detailed, it and the earlier book mentioned, The Big Short, changed my perspective about this financial mess and the role of the Federal Government in controlling it, to the role of everyone from the underfunded home buyer to the financial "wizards" in creating it. Well worth the investment of time.

From the CNBC Bullish on Books link:http://www.cnbc.com/id/38543944

"There are many books written about the global economy’s collapse by those who can quote their ‘inside’ sources but the ultimate ‘insider’ - the man who was actually IN the INSIDEand at the very center of the storm, tells his story in "On the Brink: Inside the Race to Stop the Collapse of the Global Financial System."

In this first person account, Former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, who made his name and fortune on Wall Street, writes, "To protect free-enterprise capitalism, I had become the Treasury secretary who would forever be associated with government intervention and bank bailouts."

What is the most important upgrade to TV since the 1950s?

No, it's not color TV, LCD, HD, surround sound, cable or satellite. It's the remote's 'mute button.' With it, I can ignore all of the medical ads about every illness imaginable or every orifice. Do advertisers really think their money is well spent placing TV ads in the middle of the news? Between the mute button and the video recorder, I don't know one product from another and I plan on keeping it that way!