I watch the ripples change their size
But never leave the stream
Of warm impermanence
And so the days float through my eyes
But still the days seem the same
And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
They're quite aware of what they're goin' through

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Linkee-poo, what do you love more than love

Sorry, haven't had any time today to scour for various links. So, a lot of these are from Jay. Hopefully do better tomorrow. Not saying these aren't good links, but I like to give a variety of voices.

Setting up for November 2013, comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) - probably will be referred to as Nevski-Novichonok by the press. She's a sun diving, and this is probably her first pass. And if she does go all spectacular, she'll be visible in the northern hemisphere. Glad you have that telescope now, aren't you Jim Hines (not to sell, get yours ready, or better yet, upgrade now before the buying season)?

Practicing irrational medicine at the end of life. Can I get an amen. This is a really tough place to get to, and it's been my experience that only people who have had the experience of someone's long journey to passing on that grasp it. As the songs say, no one is getting out of here alive. Doctors often look at the problem and solve it, instead of solving for the whole person. Our healthcare systems encourages that process. And we (doctors and the direct healthcare workers) often use terminology that the patients don't understand fully (like my dermatologist calling something "sun damage" when they mean cancer). one of things we're learning is how to talk to patients. Also, many patients don't understand they can tell the doctor no. We just went over this in class, actually. If a patient (a competent one I should say) refuses a procedure, if you bully the patient into accepting the procedure that's assault. If you perform the procedure (one that they may need) against their consent, that's battery. Both of which are actionable as civil and criminal complaints, and they're against the ethics of our profession. IMHO, zooming the patient and not allowing them to fully understand their choices is also a violation. (Grokked from Absolute Write)

Somewhat related, young cancer survivors often don't get continuing medical car even when they have insurance because of the cost. Ah, the greatest healthcare system on earth. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

A little history of the voter disenfranchisement and intimidation game. And who is at the center of that? Seriously, you need me to state it again? But this time it's from the grass roots. Yeah, you should read the article so you can understand the context of what is about to happen this Nov. 6th. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Good news! Science has figured out how to stop the fear response being part of our memories. The bad news? It's hair of the dog therapy. Which, you know, might not work so well for everybody. Spiders anyone? (Grokked from Jay Lake)

"'I don’t mean to be terribly partisan, but I kind of am,' Romney joked. 'In case of the Democratic Party, the largest contributors to the Democratic Party are the teachers’ unions. And so if they can elect someone, then that person is supposed to be representing the public vis-a-vis the teachers’ union, but actually most of the money came from the teachers' union. It’s an extraordinary conflict of interest.'" Um. Hey, Mitt, you know who caused those teachers in Chicago to go out on strike? Rahm Emanuel. You might want to have someone in your campaign do your homework for you from now on. You know why Unions support progressives? Because while we have our differences with policy, at least the progressives aren't trying to strip us of our rights and dignity as workers. And that's something the conservative party reminded a large percentage of union workers who were life-long Republicans.

A little roundup of political news. I loves me some Randy Newman. Representative David Rivera could do with a little watching of the CSI. Seriously, covering your name in Wite-Out? And these are problems that gerrymandering was invented to solve. And do I need to say it, "Oh look, real election tampering… oh, wait, another republican. Move along citizen, nothing to see here." Florida Republicans just aren't doing well. Although I'll give the guy credit, he just folded once his name came out in the racketeering and prostitution case. Unlike other conservatives who drag it out or continue to win elections after being outed. And I'm glad someone else did the research. For a while I've started a count of the various fact checking websites to come up with this score and just gave up. Time, I just don't have the time to do the research. It appears that conservative politicians, and Mitt Romney's campaign, lie twice as much as liberals and Obama's campaign do, although fact checker check progressive quotes more often than conservative. Not that either side comes out clean, but still interesting to know. But then when your headline candidate offers these kinds of solutions, maybe it's better to lie. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

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