Monday, June 29, 2009
Man's capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but man's inclination to
injustice makes democracy necessary.
Reinhold Niebuhr, theologian (1892-1971)
Off to Spokane, we will spend the night, Christy's operation will be at 0630 on
Tuesday, I will try to keep my Facebook page updated via cell phone.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
A belief which leaves no place for doubt is not a belief; it is a superstition.
Jose Bergamin, author (1895-1983)
We stayed at the Apple Tree Inn in Spokane for the first and last time.
Surgery is scheduled for 0730, we are supposed to be there 2 hours early.
A bit of background. Three weeks ago Christy's tumor markers went from 0 to 14.
Strong indicator that cancer has returned. The Oncologist ordered a PET scan. A
cyst like mass was detected and was lit up. We want it to be cancer because if
it's not the tumor markers may be for something worse. I will know more in 2
hours.
The surgery was more complicated than the Doctor expected
and the 'mass' wasn't where the PET Scan said it was, far deeper all the way to
the back of the abdominal wall. The Gynecological Surgeon was not comfortable
proceeding
since the mass was wrapped around
the left uterer (tube from the kidney to the bladder)
so he called in a General Surgeon to assist and they were successful .
Indications are that it was not cancer. Tumor markers still need to be
explained. Preliminary consensus is that may have been a false positive.
I waited for the Doc, he showed up about 1815. He spent a lot of time explaining
the surgery to Christy and did a far better job than I did.
Bottom line is, we still don't know for sure what set off the tumor markers and
we won't until the oncologist does another test.
Christy is trying to get some rest but is in some pain. She probably won't be
getting out of here till Friday.
I went home at 1830, Calie is working tomorrow so I need to watch Autumn,
I sort of blogged the operation on Facebook and got a lot
of positive response, I suppose there were several p
eople
who were muttering "TMI" under their breath but I figure they could tune it out
if they wanted to. Facebook is what it is, some folks use it to communicate,
some to 'express themselves', some, frankly, I have no idea what they are doing,
but that's OK... it is not necessary for me to understand... why do I do this
Journal? I wish I knew... I can't stop now... rather, I can't stop yet.
JULY
We Can’t Afford Universal Fire
Protection
by XNeeOhCon
Thu Jun 25, 2009 at 12:32:33 PM PDT
Republican lawmakers are strongly coming out in opposition to providing
Americans a Universal Fire Protection Bill so that every American can have a
fire put out if one is accidentally started somewhere. It is estimated that
around 75 Million people live outside or at the edges of current fire protection
zones.
"This bill would put a bureaucrat between you and your firemen," said Senate
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). "We need to ensure that the government
does not ration fire services, and that the principles of the free market are
not destroyed."
The CBO estimates that the President’s plan would cost 1.6 Trillion dollars.
This estimate does not take into account the value of the property that would be
saved from destruction by fire.
"Some people are just going to have their house burn down," said Newt Gingrich,
former Speaker of the House in a recent appearance on Fox News, "it sucks to be
them, but this will cost too much. We need the money for blowing shit up in the
Middle East."
A group of GOP congressional members have proposed an alternative plan
emphasizing heavy distribution of garden hoses and super soakers for those who
do not currently live in a fire protection district. Their two page plan
consisted of a cover page and this:
When asked about the fact
that they already receive federal government fire protection as members of
congress, one GOP leader, who declined to be identified, responded:
"That’s different; we’re important members of society. Every important and
wealthy person should be covered because their houses are worth more."
Democrats argue that providing residences and businesses with fire protection
would free them up to hire workers that are more at risk of starting fires and
allow them to hire more workers with the money they used to have to spend on
covering all their workers.
Every American has the right to big trucks and hoses when something they own is
burning.
said current House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Despite the fact that 72 percent of
those polled say they would like the option of having a government truck put out
their fire, the GOP and several dissenting Democrats say that government trucks
are too big and slow to put out a fire well. Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND) weighed
in:
[The Government] couldn’t possibly put out fires as well as private companies
could, but if we let them try, all those companies will go out of business
because they would cheat by putting fire houses everywhere. The companies
couldn’t afford to do that and make a profit at the same time. We feel that it
would be un-American to allow that to happen.
The same group that opposes this plan also released a statement in opposition to
all these other government services:
Libraries
Post office
Police Protection
Medicare
Medicaid
Social Security
The FDIC
Free Puppies for cancer patients
Roads and bridges
Electricity infrastructure
The EPA
The FDA
Unregulated personal oxygen consumption
Public education
Military Defense
Sewers
Air Traffic Controlers
Rainbows and butterflies.
Call your Senator and tell them you think Government fire protection is a good
thing: And while you're at it, tell them to give us our freakin' Public Option
already!