Senator Jim Bunning (R-KY) is coming to the end of his political career. He was too afraid to run for another term, because he knows he is finished. He decided to show the average American that life really is "tough shit."
As the lone senator, he decided to hold up the unemployment insurance benefits (along with other things), which will cease at the end of today, by objecting repeatedly to its adoption on Friday. The United States Senate will take up the issue again this coming week. It is surely to pass once it is put to a vote.
It is shameful that this occurred. It is even more shameful that he had to represent Kentucky.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods held a well-constructed, well-planned media circus today. He is very sorry for what he did to the world of golf, his fans, and his family.
Let me break it down for you. He is really saying he is sorry he crashed his Cadillac Escalade that night and the world finally found out about his extra-marital affairs.
He's going back to therapy now (for his sex addiction?). Why is it that celebrities can simply go to therapy/rehab to get off the hook for their actions?
It is bizarre to me! (And more than ridiculous.)
Let me break it down for you. He is really saying he is sorry he crashed his Cadillac Escalade that night and the world finally found out about his extra-marital affairs.
He's going back to therapy now (for his sex addiction?). Why is it that celebrities can simply go to therapy/rehab to get off the hook for their actions?
It is bizarre to me! (And more than ridiculous.)
Robotic Surgery
For as long as I can remember, I have been mesmerized by the human body and its inner-workings. That is why I like to watch health education shows; especially, those that show real-life surgical procedures.
Gruesome? Maybe, but it makes me happy on a cloudy day.
Recently, I have stumbled on a new and growing technology that is going to revolutionize the way we experience surgery. This device is called the da Vinci Surgical System (created by Intuitive Surgical). It is a robotic system that allows for very small incisions, in order to perform very delicate procedures.
In the area of cardiothoracic surgery, the benefits are infinite. The sternum of a patient is cut open and the rib cage is forced apart, during a traditional heart operation. The use of the da Vinci robot requires only a low number of very small incisions, which allow access through the ribs' natural spaces and below and beneath the rib cage. This allows the surgeon to operate the robot in a very tight space, without opening the chest. This minimally invasive procedure also has another added benefit; it doesn't require the heart to be stopped and the patient placed on a heart-lung by-pass machine. Many patients are able to resume normal activities within 1 to 2 weeks; whereas, patients who undergo traditional thoracic procedures require 1 to 2 months to recover!
I am glad to live in an age when medicine is growing by leaps. Perhaps, the actual act of surgery no longer has to be as debilitating to individuals as the disease it treats. The idea of heart surgery has always been fearful to me. I hope that I never require it, but if I do, I feel better knowing that there are more options available to me than being semi-butchered on the operating table to save my life!
Gruesome? Maybe, but it makes me happy on a cloudy day.
Recently, I have stumbled on a new and growing technology that is going to revolutionize the way we experience surgery. This device is called the da Vinci Surgical System (created by Intuitive Surgical). It is a robotic system that allows for very small incisions, in order to perform very delicate procedures.
In the area of cardiothoracic surgery, the benefits are infinite. The sternum of a patient is cut open and the rib cage is forced apart, during a traditional heart operation. The use of the da Vinci robot requires only a low number of very small incisions, which allow access through the ribs' natural spaces and below and beneath the rib cage. This allows the surgeon to operate the robot in a very tight space, without opening the chest. This minimally invasive procedure also has another added benefit; it doesn't require the heart to be stopped and the patient placed on a heart-lung by-pass machine. Many patients are able to resume normal activities within 1 to 2 weeks; whereas, patients who undergo traditional thoracic procedures require 1 to 2 months to recover!
I am glad to live in an age when medicine is growing by leaps. Perhaps, the actual act of surgery no longer has to be as debilitating to individuals as the disease it treats. The idea of heart surgery has always been fearful to me. I hope that I never require it, but if I do, I feel better knowing that there are more options available to me than being semi-butchered on the operating table to save my life!
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Sexual Ideation
I made my annual trip to visit my eye doctor, recently. I found out that the astigmatism in my right eye is getting worse (thanks aging!), and my left eye is staying pretty much the same.
There is something to be said, too, about the exam. I hadn't really thought about it before, but the process of an eye exam is quite up-close and personal. The doctor is your face for most of the exam, asking questions like, "Which is better? 1 or 2? 3 or 4?" Then there is that bright light they shine in your eyes, in order to see the retina at the back of the eye.
I suppose I am chronically in need of a relationship. During the exam, my doctor was right up against both sides of my head. The whole time I was thinking, "Oh my God! How long has it been since another human being has dared to get this close to me?" She was also talking to me during the exam and she was practically in my ear.
OH MY GOD!
I feel like such a dog, but I suppose that is a symptom of my chronic loneliness. Just to clear a few things up, I wasn't sexually aroused by it, it simply put the ideas into my head (or was I?).
Hell!
There is something to be said, too, about the exam. I hadn't really thought about it before, but the process of an eye exam is quite up-close and personal. The doctor is your face for most of the exam, asking questions like, "Which is better? 1 or 2? 3 or 4?" Then there is that bright light they shine in your eyes, in order to see the retina at the back of the eye.
I suppose I am chronically in need of a relationship. During the exam, my doctor was right up against both sides of my head. The whole time I was thinking, "Oh my God! How long has it been since another human being has dared to get this close to me?" She was also talking to me during the exam and she was practically in my ear.
OH MY GOD!
I feel like such a dog, but I suppose that is a symptom of my chronic loneliness. Just to clear a few things up, I wasn't sexually aroused by it, it simply put the ideas into my head (or was I?).
Hell!
Sunday, February 07, 2010
Oh Lord, Sarah Palin
What does it take for former governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, to give a speech to a Constitutional Democracy-hatin' Tea Party?
Notes written on the palm of her hand, duh! I couldn't believe it when I saw it. Usually, a piece of paper--or TelePrompTer--with some remarks will suffice, but not for Palin. She has to temporarily tattoo it to her body.
You betcha, Gaylord!
Saturday, February 06, 2010
Clinton Bush Haiti Fund
The disaster in Haiti is slowly leaving the public's view, as the days and weeks accumulate. But I am left with a nagging question.
Barack Obama enlisted former presidents, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, to head a disaster relief fund, called Clinton Bush Haiti Fund. Since its announcement, at a White House press conference, I haven't seen George W. Bush anywhere near the organization, besides being at the White House and in a television commercial asking for the generosity of Americans.
News coverage hinges around President Clinton's frequent trips to the devastated island country. Each time American cameras are on in Port-au-Prince, it is only Clinton who debarks from the plane.
Where is Dubya? He is MIA...just like during his Vietnam service!
Barack Obama enlisted former presidents, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, to head a disaster relief fund, called Clinton Bush Haiti Fund. Since its announcement, at a White House press conference, I haven't seen George W. Bush anywhere near the organization, besides being at the White House and in a television commercial asking for the generosity of Americans.
News coverage hinges around President Clinton's frequent trips to the devastated island country. Each time American cameras are on in Port-au-Prince, it is only Clinton who debarks from the plane.
Where is Dubya? He is MIA...just like during his Vietnam service!
Thursday, February 04, 2010
Senator-Elect Scott Brown (R-MA)
The United States is currently in-session and on its calendar is the swearing in of the body's 41st Republican member, Scott Brown of Massachusetts, which should take place momentarily.
Monday, February 01, 2010
Government Waste
I had heard that our money isn't worth as much as it used to be. Today, it really hit home how true that statement is.
According to government estimates the United States Treasury loses approximately $150,000,000 a year by minting pennies and nickles! Why? The metal in those coins is worth more than the face value of the coin.
It costs 1.8-cents to mint a penny and 9-cents to mint a nickel! That is outrageous. In an effort to curb this obscenity, the government is permitting the mints across the United States to use other metals in the fabrication of these coins, which will bring the cost of minting each respective coin to its actual face value.
In other words, the government has been flushing our tax money down the toilet. But, what else is new?
According to government estimates the United States Treasury loses approximately $150,000,000 a year by minting pennies and nickles! Why? The metal in those coins is worth more than the face value of the coin.
It costs 1.8-cents to mint a penny and 9-cents to mint a nickel! That is outrageous. In an effort to curb this obscenity, the government is permitting the mints across the United States to use other metals in the fabrication of these coins, which will bring the cost of minting each respective coin to its actual face value.
In other words, the government has been flushing our tax money down the toilet. But, what else is new?
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