Politics, as usual

Margaret Kimberley interview by Russian Time’s Marina Portnaya

The above link is a terrific commentary on Obama administration’s lack of change in foreign policy in the first year of Office.  Except for a change in language….
Does the US public want to be misinformed?  Another good interview with Russia Times.  A commentary on our “news” people distorting the news, when they are really offering opinion-based programming (except CNN).  Are people not interested in new news.
Daniel Hannan’s viral European parliament speech – Scathing address at Gordon Brown about the complete lunacy of his spending.

Finally, did anyone read the great (Charlie Rose) interview with Paul Volcker in the 12/30/09  of Business Week?  Where he points out that Obama has not filled the ramparts of the administration?  Check it out:

“You feel strongly that the financial system has gotten out of whack. Do you think the American political process is capable of fixing it?
The American political process is about as broken as the financial system. Therefore, one has to be a bit skeptical. Just to give you one little example, one unrelated to the financial crisis. Here we are on Dec. 29, almost a year after the Inauguration, and there is no Under Secretary of the Treasury. That should be an important position. How can we run a government in the middle of a financial crisis without doing the ordinary, garden-variety administrative work of filling the relevant agencies? The Treasury is an outstanding example of a broken system, but it’s not the only one.
Is part of the problem that Congress is slow in the process of approving?
Slow is too fast a word to describe what’s going on. The Administration is one quarter over, and it hasn’t manned the ramparts of government yet.
So it’s the Administration’s problem? They haven’t gotten their Executive Branch in place?
It’s partly a reflection of the discord in government and extreme views on either side and fighting each other for every scrap of advantage.
In interviews in the past you said that’s why we needed to change the political process; that’s why you thought that candidate Obama was the best choice for President.
True. But has he been able to do that at this point? It doesn’t look that way. I think that’s unfortunate. I wish the Administration would pay more attention to what’s needed to improve the ordinary functioning of government. We can’t even fight a war with our own people any more. We’ve got to hire Blackwater. I think people have lost confidence in government, they’ve lost trust in government, and it shows. This isn’t a question just of this Administration. It’s been kind of a steady, downhill path.”

Day 2

Saturday morning, around 4 am, I awake, and hear him downstairs coughing.  I go down, and crawl into the bed next to him while the care-giver helps make him comfortable.  I do not know it at the time, but I now believe the transition from the hospital to our house exhausted him.

Think about it. He had been battling something since December 18th, trying to get it under control.  On December 30th, he has 3 stents installed, and now must recover from that.  His body has been battling PF.  I can only guess his body is shell-shocked.
His energy is so low, I am alarmed.  I think I am losing him.  He won’t eat.  He just wants to sleep, and needs assistance in getting comfortable. And his legs are restless.
Louise decides to stay home, battling her own exhaustion and mending herself.  She calls my cousin Patty, and a few others.  Dad and I “talk”, he concedes he has had last rites, and perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad if this was his time.  I alert other family members, and I am beside myself as I think I am about to lose one of my best friends.
I see him every day at the office.  He is never judgmental, always patience.  Why have I not realized how close we were?  My dad is not an emotional man.  He is a business man.  He takes pleasure in building things, including people, and operating a company.  Our conversations were never touchy-feely, but generally about the business, politics, or economics.  They were spirited and academic dialogues.  I enjoyed them, as he is the only one I have these discussions with (most people aren’t interested in these kinds of spirited debates or laments).
Tears flow and flow.  In between naps, we exchange few words, but all are aimed at preparing for the worst.  He sleeps more.  Roxanne, our care-giver, suggests Ensure, and Dan runs out and buys a boatload.  We encourage dad to try some, and he does.
It’s almost as if he knows that he can choose to die, but if he chooses this and he doesn’t die, he could make things worse.  So he begins to make an effort.  He drank two ensures that afternoon, and ate a couple of nuts.  I call people to say I see some improvements.  We turn the TV on to the last half of a football game.  Although dad doesn’t watch it, we talk in-between “rests” about the analogies between football and business.
Wendy comes in at 9, and the night shift begins.  I continue to stay in the bed next to him, hearing every breath, every word, and making sure every need is taken care of.  We sleep fitfully through the night, catching short naps.
=======================================================================================================
Post script (4/2/10):
Dad stayed with me for two weeks, moving home on January 22 (my birthday).  He had made significant progress, but had suffered setbacks.  The week after the above note was written, he started to eat again, savoring Costco’s Alaskan King Crab legs.  He ate eggs, filet mignon, yogurt.  Not a lot, but he was eating.  He’d get up, and we’d even get him out to the main room once or twice.  But the Sunday the 17th, he suffered nose bleed from the oxygen drying out his nasal cavity.  We fought it all day, and it killed what little appetite he had.  It would dribble, then stop. I finally called an RN, and as she was leaving, a huge clot of blood came out his nose. I couldn’t get her back, and I was panicking…was this a 911 emergency?  a nosebleed?  I call 911 and hung up. Thankfully, I called from the land line, and they called me back.  I explained the circumstances and my hesitancy to the dispatcher, and he sent an ambulance.  They cauterized the bleed at the hospital, and sent him home. That week, he had to once again rebuild his strength and stamina.   I hated to see him go home, because I gave him special care I knew Louise was not able to give – for example, when they repositioned him in bed, instead of “dragging” him up, I would get on the other side of dad, and we would lift him – a much more comfortable experience.  And he didn’t have a good TV in his room.  But maybe the call of his home office would urge him to try to get better.
But he did move home, on my birthday, and I went on to the trade show, and when I returned, I went to see him.  He was up in his wheelchair watching the MA returns?  No, I think it was the state of the union address.  He was sitting there alone, as Louise was in the family room watching it, so I pulled a chair up and sat with dad, holding his hand.  The TV was kind of high, a little hard on the neck, but it worked.  It was one of those old CRTs, and it was small, so when he was in bed and watching, it was almost too small.  We couldn’t get the DVD player to play on it. Dan and I tried to figure it out, even with dad’s help.  Louise finally agreed that I could call TV service people in.  Dad had a sharp mind, and he needed stimuli. He couldn’t just lie there, day in and day out.
The service repair people were scheduled the following Wednesday.  Also, I had remembered that dad liked orange sherbert, and he was enjoying that.  Loved it.  I was hopeful, although he continued to wave people off when they tried to feed him or encourage him to drink water.  Tuesday, dad collapsed, and we later found out it was dehydration.  I think we were both surprised that dehydration could do that, but at the office, he used to tell me that I was the one that had gotten him to drink more water.  So how had I missed it now?
And I had to delay the TV people because it was all just too much for Louise.  Which meant dad was going to go home to nothing-ness.
Another blow.  He came home on Thursday, well hydrated, looking good, but by Friday was becoming listless. I called the RN who arranged for an IV fluid of liquids for the weekend.  And if he was not eating by Monday, we’d do a tummy feed.  There was a flurry of activity that Friday night, but I felt we were leaving him stable.  I told the care-givers to not just ask if he wanted food, to bring the food.  If he didn’t eat it, we’d just toss it, but if they ask first, he’ll wave them off.  So just bring it.
And I had the RN tell Louise it was okay for dad to eat hot dogs.  He’d been asking for them, but she worried about the sodium and nitrates.  As the RN pointed out, he wasn’t eating enough as it was, so there was no worry he’d eat too much sodium or nitrates.
At times, it feels there is too much to tell, but I must get this out of me.
Okay, so Saturday, he has a rough morning, I am told.  We got there at noon, and had secretly brought with us a new flat panel TV with a built in DVD player.  He awoke around 1, and when I thought he was strong enough, told him we had a new TV for him.  He said “well, let’s hook it up!”.  Man, we went straight to work!  Got it in and working in about 15 minutes.  Watched “You’ve Got Mail”, one of his favorite movies, then some NCIS episodes.  All in all, I think it was a good day – even a great day.  And he had his hot dogs.
The call came at 5:30 the next morning.  “That can’t be good” I said as Dan answered the phone.  It was the caregiver calling, dad was in a coughing fit, Oxygen level at 35.  Dan could hear dad saying NO NO NO in the background.  The line went dead. We rushed over, they had already gone to the hospital.
At the hospital, they had put the tube into dad’s throat – Louise said it was miserable from what she could tell.  They had him sedated by the time we were there.  He stayed that way until the end.
At one point, Sunday afternoon, he was moving his head from side to side, as if he was agitated with the tube.  I asked if he could hear me, and he gave me a short nod.  I asked if he knew why he was there – he gave a brief shake of his head.  I explained what had happened, and reassured him that we knew his wishes, and if he could just bear with us for a little longer while we figured things out, then we’d follow his wishes if that’s what we had to do.  I told him Byron was coming, and go to a happy time in his memories – a picnic with the family, his first date with Louise, etc.  I think he heard me, and he quieted down.
He was never able to breathe on his own again.  We had hoped to get him off the tube Monday morning, but we could not get his oxygen level strong enough even with the tube, so that hope disappeared rather quickly.
Of course later that day the doctor told us that what we were doing were heroic measures, and we knew that was not what dad wanted.  Louise had the legal power to make the decision, but she checked with me, and crying hard, I had to agree with her decision.
We went back into the room, and I explained to dad that we were going to get that nasty tube out of his throat.  That we were going to leave the room for 10 minutes (at the doctor’s request), and when we returned, they’d take the tube out.  That we would be there to help bring him back, or to send him to the Lord.
when they took the tube out, I said “You’re free now”, and “You have been strong for us, and we will be strong for you” and as it became clear he was leaving us, I urged him to go towards the white light (I don’t know why I believe this is what one sees when they cross over, but it’s what I believe), and find his loved ones.
I never did feel the presence of others, and I never have felt his presence afterwards.  I had hoped to – I have read accounts where people feel the loved ones coming back, but that hasn’t happened for me.
I go to his site every day that I can, which is pretty much every day.  I keep fresh flowers for him.  We have now ordered his plaque, and I am excited about that.  He is on the wrong side of the crypt, but there is nothing i can do about that right now.

28 years ago…

28 years ago today, I became a  mother.

Happy Birthday, to my wonderful son.

Global Warming BS

NASA-GATE

What’s become known as “Climategate” may be about to explode on this side of the pond as well.  Chris Horner, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, has threatened a lawsuit against NASA if by year-end the agency doesn’t honor his Freedom of Information (FOI) requests for information on how and why its climate numbers have been consistently adjusted for errors.

“I assume that what is there is highly damaging,” says Horner, who suspects, based on the public record, the same type of data fudging, manipulation and suppression that has occurred at Britain’s East Anglia Climate Research Unit (CRU).  “These guys (NASA) are quite clearly determined not to reveal their internal discussions about this.”

They may have good reason, says Investor’s Business Daily (IBD):

  • NASA was caught with its thermometers down when James Hansen, head of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, announced that 1998 was the country’s hottest year on record, with 2006 the third hottest.
  • NASA and Goddard were forced to correct the record in 2007 to show that 1934, decades before the advent of the SUV, was in fact the warmest; in fact, the new numbers showed that four of the country’s 10 warmest years were in the 1930s.
  • Hansen, who began the climate scare some two decades ago, was caught fudging the numbers again in declaring October 2008 the warmest on record.
  • This despite the fact that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had registered 63 local snowfall records and 115 lowest-ever temperatures for the month, and ranked it as only the 70th-warmest October in 114 years.
  • Scores of temperature records from Russia and elsewhere were not based on that October’s readings at all; figures from the previous month had simply been carried over and repeated two months running.

Was Hansen, like his CRU counterpart Michael Mann, trying to “hide the decline” in temperatures, asks IBD?

Hansen has said in the past that “heads of major fossil-fuel companies who spread disinformation about global warming should be tried for high crimes against humanity and nature.”  What penalties would he recommend for himself and his CRU colleagues, asks IBD?

Source: Editorial, “NASA-Gate,” Investor’s Business Daily, December 7, 2009.

For text:

http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article.aspx?id=514429

For more on Global Warming:

http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_Category=32

Holidays Are Coming

With never enough time in a day for exercise and work related happenings, I look forward to  Fall and Winter, and the holidays that come with that timing.  The kids will be home for Thanksgiving, and even though it is a brief visit, spanning just two days, it will feel great to hear their voices and feel their hugs.

I am traveling this week – Green Intelligent Buildings.  I think I have picked up a new person for the office – one who may prove to be a keeper if we can hold his interest.  I’ll know more next Spring, but for now, I feel very good about things to come.

Of course, except, on the global political front.  Makes me wonder where my head was at back in the 70s and 80s that I missed so much of what was happening.  I love the internet for its ability to bring the world to our door.  While it is not the end-all, it is a great placfe to start.

Iran will show us what kind of a spine we have, over the course of the next couple of days, and maybe weeks.  The whole world is watching.  Meanwhile, Congress keeps trying to move healthcare reform along.  Too bad they are aiming in the wrong direction.  But it comes from the top, doesn’t it?

Current Events & Life Changes

Life
Recently, we celebrated my dad’s 88th birthday.  fortunately, he is in good health.  Unfortunately, he had to make an emergency visit to the dentist on his birthday, but that worked out, and the subsequent party was even better, because his oldest friend, Ned, was back from Alaska, and could join us.

I often reflect how lucky I am to have such a great dad for a role model.  He never wavers on the truth, or the ethics, although it’s true he doesn’t like to be wrong (who does?).

His business is a wonderful example of how manufacturing in America helps America.  We employ people, who produce goods.  Everyone from our distributors (and their customers), our suppliers, and the communities of our employes, benefits from these efforts.  And despite the downturn, despite the horrendous tort problems, he continues to put his efforts into this organization.

Politics and more:
Only have few things to say, but mostly want to log my links.
Camilia Paige came out with another great column.  Too late for Obama to turn back  I find I am enjoying Salon.com

Cheney, Buffett Comment on Current Climate.  Warren Buffett warning aboutGreenbacks


Illegal Care Costs –  Here is another good one outlining the costs associated with  the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, or EMTALA, and that our hospitals can’t even ask for a patient’s immigration status or ability to pay prior to delivering treatment. They also can’t keep such uninsured patients waiting, even if their problem isn’t an emergency. Nor can they discharge them until they’re fully stabilized and have safe transportation.  I think Clinton enacted that.

Honduras handing over Syrian death guy – where’s the thanks while our Prez continues to insert himself in their politics.  Honduras hands over Syrian death guy

How can we screw this up so badly?    budget shortfalls

Cheney   another flip-flopby Prez O.  Did the President misspeak earlier?  How can you even think about going after the agents who acted under orders of the administration at the time.  (after reading “Why just Her”, it is clear the Federal Government can manipulate the judicial system against individuals.

hint: if you look at the Constitution, the president of the United States is the chief law enforcement officer in the land. The attorney general’s a statutory officer. He’s a member of the cabinet. 

The president’s the one who bears this responsibility. And for him to say, gee, I didn’t have anything to do with it, especially after he sat in the Oval Office and said this wouldn’t happen, then Holder decides he’s going to do it. So now he’s backed off and is claiming he’s not responsible.

Enough.  Come’on America.

Time Out For Soul Refreshing

I relaxed a bit this week, with full intention of catching up on the weekend.  But with a massage Thursday evening, a friend visiting for the weekend, an EMPA09 Potuck, by Sunday night I had to toss out last week’s papers and “let go” all my issues with the media/administration.  No blog on Sunday reviewing my thoughts and current events.

It was so nice to reconnect with old friends, who are becoming new friends as we get to know each other’s families, personal likes and preferences.  We had a lovely afternoon together, with children running around, parents swapping stories, and others catching up with each other.  Terrific food, wonderful turnout.
I blew it this weekend (for a good cause – soul refreshing).  Time to look forward.
I am trying to set my habits such that my sleep is sufficient enough that I don’t oversleep (like I did this morning).  Friday, Saturday and Tuesday nights are set for 9 hours of sleep.  The rest of the week, 6.5 – 8 will work.  Wednesdays are sleep in days (no exercise).
Every weekend in September is busy, so it’s going to take some discipline.  hmmm. Some things in life never change.

What Keeps Me Up At Night

I am getting lazy in my blogs, replacing them with quick tweets, but the blog is a better historical for me, so will keep at it.  It drives me crazy when I read good material, then click my way through several more, only to find I’ve “lost” my original starting point.  Backtracking, especially days later, can take a lot of time. So I try to park my links here for future reference (sort of like my favorite links at my website).

What keeps me up late at night is the fact that we have a President that is willing to mislead us.  He misspeaks.  How can this be anything but intentional?  It is equally scary if it is not intentional, as this means it is ignorance.  Either way, it is misleading.

Let’s look at his claim that the AARP endorses his plan.  Not true, and AARP put out a statement clarifying this.  Let’s look at his claim that American medicine as it is today does not result in longevity.  Not true – when we remove the number of deaths from murder and accidents, America does beat out other countries in longevity, indicating American healthcare does outperform other systems.  Mortality from Disease and the American HealthCare System    US Health Report, CDC, 2006
How can you conjure this up?  How can a leader, after stating they don’t have all the facts, proceed with a statement that passes judgement?  And the costs for the reform that the leader is proposing …you just can’t keep issuing platitudes – you must present facts/plans/figures/milestones.  I read earlier today that American banks have hundreds of billions of dollars of unrecognized bad debt hidden in loan portfolios.  Why aren’t we hearing about this from our President? Unrecognized bad debt link
Business Week had a good article a few weeks back about banks continuing down the path of risky loans.  Old Banks, New Lending Tricks
For all the rhetoric from the current administration, nothing has changed when it comes to transparency and oversight.  And I expect this to be perpetuated if any Healthcare “reform” passes.
Despite this, Presidential rating falls, I feel like I am watching my country slip away – shift from government being representative of the people, to a government that outwardly caters to special interests.  Can this really be happening?  Yes.  and I am frightened by it.
An update to this post:
First I lament, then I become engaged again.  I love Thomas Sowell, and just saw his 8/21 column,  Bait and Switch, where he asks Why does it take more than 1,000 pages of legislation to insure people who lack medical insurance?”   His observation:  “Despite incessant repetition of the fact that millions of Americans do not have medical insurance, hardy souls who have actually read the mammoth medical care legislation being rushed through Congress have discovered all sorts of things there that have nothing whatever to do with insuring the uninsured — and everything to do with taking medical decisions out of the hands of doctors and their patients, and transferring those decisions to Washington bureaucrats.”  Read it here.  Bait and Switch

Life Keeps Going By

I am so busy with work, and just enjoying the heck out of it. I feel sorry for people who don’t have a passion for what they do, OR, their passion is mis-guided (like several politicians who hold tele-townhalls to meet with their constituents – I think these are the ones in it for the entitlement programs)).

My son just bought his first house, but is awaiting the stimulus “first home rebate” check from IRS.  Cash for Clunkers have dealers complaining they are not getting paid in a timely manner (government says problem is in paperwork not being filled out correctly – sounds true -> when has government paperwork EVER been easy to navigate?)

Do you realize I exercise and watch what I eat, but at 55, it is very difficult to keep a waistline?  It is the most depressing thing.  Right now, I’m walking to the gym – 2.5 miles, and then weight train and stretch for 50 minutes, then walk another half mile home.  I still don’t lose weight, and sometimes slide UP a half a pound.  Currently, while still fitting in my clothes, I am  up 5 pounds, and everything is becoming uncomfortable.

Must have been that single slice of pizza I had two nights ago, along with some wine.  EMBA Team came over, and it was just great to see everyone and enjoy them for themselves – NOT for the current assignment deliverables.

I had a 90 minute massage tonight.  It was wonderful.  Not in the touchy feel-ly side of things, because it was rather painful due to lactic acid buildup from all my weight training.  But she really got in there and worked the muscles good. I have been delinquent in getting these, and it is definitely time to return to regularly scheduled massages.

Honestly, the current political and economic landscapes have me feeling just sick as I watch Obama try to reinvent America.  It’s simply outrageous, and I feel as though I am witnessing a horrendous miscarriage of justice.  I know people are speaking out, but when you have MSNBC cropping video to imply that white people are uncomfortable with a black man as President.

I have never, ever heard one white person say ANYTHING to imply Obama’s race is an issue for them.  I feel as though we are back in the 50’s and we have MacCarthyism all over again. See the MSNBC manipulated footage, followed by the actual (unedited) footage.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYKQJ4-N7LI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7syx26QtQIM&feature=related

US Chamber of Commerce Site

http://www.voteforbusiness.com

A project by the US Chamber of Commerce, and at a glance looks to be a good site.  Although I am not particularly happy with the US CoC’s project of taking their message on the road and dumbing it down a bit because people have negative reactions to words such as “capitalism”.  Hopefully, the article I read in Business Week didn’t have room to include information suggesting the US Chamber of Commerce will also work to eductate the public on such verbiage, such that public becomes aware of their own climate, better than they are aware of Kate and ? (can’t remember the guy’s name)’s TV reality / divorce debacle.  I can only hope that is the case.