Right Of The Star

Wednesday, August 18, 2004

Is the Gov....

Okay, just 1 day of testing left and that is Friday, but tomorrow - thought I can rest, I still can't take my meds.

I did have to add this............

If the Governor of New Jersey is no longer with his alleged lover - - - is he himself - - Cipel-less. (And can he take an antibiotic for that?)
DKK

Tuesday, August 17, 2004

Health Watch 08172004

Miserable, but first round of tests tomorrow afternoon. Hardly slept because of pain and difficult breathing last night but made it - postings light and to my friend M. Moore Junior, sorry, no comments till I get through this a bit more. Mainly just going to be reposts from others and news pieces.
Sorry.
DKK

Monday, August 16, 2004

Edwards' malpractice suits leave bitter taste

Great story from Charles Hurt of the Washington times:
The American Medical Association lists North Carolina's current health care situation as a "crisis" and blames it on medical-malpractice lawsuits such as the ones that made Democratic vice-presidential candidate Sen. John Edwards a millionaire many times over.
Suing over birth defects that, science now shows is not related to the births at all.

But the part of an Edwards as VP that should put fear in everyone's life:
Dr. Vanderbilt, the Charlotte nurseries, recalled one recent night on duty when two patients arrived in an emergency room in Myrtle Beach, SHAH, where the area's last nurseries quit earlier this year.
"No one in Myrtle Beach would accept responsibility for these patients," he said. And because it was raining, the helicopters were grounded, so the patients were loaded into ambulances and driven the four hours to Charlotte.
Upon arrival, one patient had died, and the other learned that she merely had a minor concussion — and a $6,000 bill for the ambulance ride.
"That's just one little slice of life here," Dr. Vanderbilt said. "It's a direct result of the medical-malpractice situation that John Edwards fomented."

Tort reform, already an uphill battle (after all most in DC are lawyers!) would never take place and that would be at the cost or our healthcare, each and every one of us. Problem is, the lawyers get 1/3 of the damages - so even if you were to get a fair settlement by the time the lawyers are done it is far from fair. In addition it makes it FAR more difficult for those of us with legitimate claims to receive fair treatment in issues that wouldn't have required an attorney in the first place.
(Trust me on this one! I'll tell you about it someday when it is done!)
DKK

Space or UFO Debris

Okay, MSNBC has pretty good coverage of the 1908 Tunguska explosion and the UFO space connection.

A flurry of reports from Russia about the discovery of fragments of an alien spaceship at the site of the 1908 Tunguska explosion may be nothing more than wish fulfillment by devotees of a half-century-old Russian space myth, or they may actually have been based on genuine spacecraft fragments — but of Russian origin.
Either way, or even in the highly unlikely event the reports turn out to be credible, these stories reflect the way the century-old Tunguska blast continues to resonate in the human psyche.Expedition leader Yuri Lavbin prefers the alien technology interpretation. That’s the theory he admits he started with, even before he got to the area. But other space experts have pointed out that the region is a drop zone for discarded rocket stages launched into space from Russia’s Baikonur base, and in fact was the crash site of one prototype manned space capsule at the very dawn of the space age.


We'll have to see what his tests and possible photo's show. The original 1908 event is an amazing event. Is the truth out there or is it just rocket debris!
DKK

We Tried A Sensitive War

Hey, remember the sensitive war we tired in Somalia? You know, where we didn't give the commanders the armor they had requested. If you'll recall we held these back because we didn't want to appear to be overly aggressive when we were there for a humanitarian mission. Bottom line we ended up with Blackhawk Down and dead Army Rangers!

As it turned out we were fighting the forefathers of al Qaeda. Then Osama gave his interview to ABC in which he stated that this is when he knew that America could be defeated because we didn't have the will to defend ourselves.

That is what a sensitive - nuanced war will do for you! BTW, this IS in the context Kerry intended it.
DKK

Olympics Day 4 - Congrats Aussie


Thorpedo beats Phelps in 'Race of the Century', ends quest for Spitz's record...
DKK

Chavez Declares Recall Victory; Foes Claim Fraud

I told you it was too early to predict these things!
DKK

Olympics Day 4

San Diego Tribune - Great background and coverage of Ian Thorpe's Australian (and worldwide) appeal.


SEAN M. HAFFEY / Union-Tribune
Ian Thorpe (above) outswims Michael Phelps in the 200-free semifinals, but both advanced to final.

ATHENS – Ian Thorpe knew he was popular in Australia. He consistently is voted the country's most marketable athlete. He clears $2 million in endorsements in a bad year. He has been signing autographs since age 9.....(excerpt)....
DKK

UNscam 081504 UN the Merciful!

From Robert at Alphabet City:

AN APPEAL, A REPLY

From
Alaa the Messopotamian:

I appeal to people of the World; Please, Please, Please hear the true voice of the Iraqi people. We are facing a terrible conspiracy. The people of the South are being persecuted and massacred, not by the Americans, not by the Iraqi Army and Iraqi police. The gangs of the “Mehdi” army financed and recruited by the Iranian security forces and others, this has become amply clear, are massacring the people, right now as I am writing these lines. As one caller to the “Fayhaa” T.V. station is saying right now from Kut, for the first time in history the Wahabis, the Iranian hardliners and the Baathists have formed and alliance against the people of Iraq and particularly against the Shiaa people. Horrifying stories are emerging from the South.

From the office of the Spokesman to Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan.
The Secretary-General is deeply saddened by the violence that has broken out in Iraq, particularly the situation in the holy city of Najaf. He is especially concerned about reports on the condition of Said Moqtada Al-Sadr. The Secretary-General reiterates his appeal to all concerned to show the utmost restraint in these difficult circumstances. The Secretary-General has made clear his position that force should always be a last resort. The United Nations is dedicated to the principle of the peaceful settlement of disputes.

'Said,' or 'Sayyid,' is an honorific indicating direct descent from the Prophet Mohammed. It indicates a high level of learning and wisdom based on the teachings of the Quran.

Isn't the UN an amazing thing to behold! Their mindset is the epitomy of exactly what NOT to do or say to a terrorist. Paging Kofi Annan, your alarm is still set for 9/10!
DKK

Sunday, August 15, 2004

No Meds and Tests

This week I have another round of medical tests - oh joy! Unfortunately that means no meds since Friday. That means that starting Sunday afternoon every inch of my body hurts and I am exhausted. Just needed to vent.
DKK

BAM - Bias!

BAM – Bias!

Reading a magazine the other day, perfectly good article well written on why people make it to the gym or why they don’t. Nothing political about the article at all!

Then it hits me, right out of the blue – BAM! Like a 2 by 4 right to the forehead.

“…How can we fit the gym in regularly, when we have our jobs, errands, our online life, the husband, kids, grandparents to take to the doct…er…wait a minute… So is this all just some sort of cop-out? A convenient excuse for lazy guys who don’t feel like getting their asses off the couch?”

BAM – It hits

“The big ol’ switcheroo of excuses, like Bush saying Iraq was about WMDs first, and when those weren’t found then it was all about liberating the people of Iraq?”

Why does this happen? I became so distracted I completely forgot what I was reading about.

You wanted proof of the media’s bias? Just keep reading…………
DKK

My Ads, I paid for those!

Okay, first off this isn't about Unions or 527's buying ads attacking our President, and I am sure you can figure out that I think a Union using member dues to buy ads is a complete farce! They have completely distorted the purpose they were founded for and have become parasites that exist only to grow larger - but I am sure I will write more on that later. And the 527's, well they had to have a law didn't they! (As an aside - American's are great at finding the loopholes aren't we.)

No, what I am talking about now are the commercials for Cable TV. I don't know about where you’re at, but here we get 8 to 12 commercials an hour for Cable TV, Cable Internet, or Digital Cable. One of them even says Cable Internet will do for the Internet what Cable TV did for watching TV. I hope not (full disclosure, I have cable Internet - love it, but not happy about the price!) That is all I need, infomercials all day, tons of stuff I don't want, and more advertisements for the stuff I can't get unless I am willing to pay more.

They advertise extra special channels coming soon.......OH COOL.......on digital....OH CRAP... but nothing for me. Oh sure, they added golf, home, women’s....but nothing I really really want. Being in a smaller market I have 65 choices of stuff I don't want. Why, because they have packaged these together to appeal to such a broad market that there is no way they can appeal to anyone. At least when we only received 3, and then later 4 broadcast channels they had stuff on that we watched - it might have been crap, but it was the only crap on. With more choices we have more crap.

Congress is supposed to be working on this, coming up with an ability to choose the channels you want and pay only for those you choose - but of course the Cable Company says the price will go up and then something will be on a channel one time and you will probably have to pay for 6 months worth or something foolish like that.

Why do I complain? I know I paid for those ads! How do I know? My rates keep growing at almost the same pace as the number of those ads. And I really wonder if they really help or if more people are like me, becoming more and more irritated with the Cable Company each and every time I see them?

I know the economics with the cable companies losing business to the only competition - the dishes - they need to keep reminding you all Cable gives you. But couldn't they sell have that time and cut my rates? Or better yet sell half that time and give me some of those extra special channels they keep trying to tempt me with in those ads.

Seriously though, if they don't give me a true choices soon I am going to start looking at alternatives, and it won't be Digital Cable - at least not as long as they are running all of these commercials.
DKK

Charlie - Damage and loss of life

Hurricane Charlie cast a wide path of destruction across Florida with at least 16 dead and nearly $15 billion in damage.

On a positive note, if there can be one out of that terrible news, Martha's son Doug and his family are fine. Need a new roof though!

How's this for getting the message out!

DKK

THE BUSH DOCTRINE AT WORK!

Alphabet City has a great story on THE BUSH DOCTRINE AT WORK.
DKK

Olympics Day 3(A)

Some Great Shots from todays games!

Matt Welsh of Australia competes in the men's swimming 100 metre backstroke heat at the Main Pool of the Olympic Sports Complex Aquatic Centre in Athens on 15/08/2004 © ATHOC / GETTY IMAGES / Al Bello

Amanda Beard of USA competes in the women's swimming 100 metre breaststroke heat at the Main Pool of the Olympic Sports Complex Aquatic Centre in Athens on 15/08/2004 © ATHOC / GETTY IMAGES / Al Bello

Iraq's Mahdi Karim celebrates his 2 - 0 goal against Costa Rica in the mens first round group D Olympic soccer match at the Karaiskaki stadium in Athens, Sunday, Aug. 15, 2004. Iraq won 2 - 0. (AP Photo/Diether Endlicher)

Netherlands' team players celebrate their team's goal against India during their 2004 Olympic Games field hockey match at the Helliniko hockey center in Athens, Greece, Sunday, Aug. 15, 2004. The Netherlands won 3-1. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)

Italy's Allessandro Fei spikes the balls as the USA's Thomas Hoff tries to block it during their preliminary round match at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens Sunday Aug. 15, 2004. Italy won 25-21, 21-25, 25-17, 25-23. (AP Photo/Greg Baker)
DKK

This is Where Nuanced Diplomacy Leads!

The Weekly Standard had this great segment on where the Kerry/French Nuanced Diplomacy has lead us to date:
For decades rogue states used terrorism as a form of low-level, low cost warfare. Gaddaffi's Libya and the Baathist dictatorships in Syria and Iraq knew that they could not win conventional battles against either the Americans or the Israelis. Instead, they sent terrorists to murder their opponents and extract concessions from them. For these regimes, terrorism was a standard tool of statecraft, a bloodier version of the old diplomatic note.
For years the hands off links between al-Qaeda and its state friends suited both sides. From now on, such relationships have to come with a price attached.
Which leads us to a review of his own lunacy - from the Boston Herald:
John F. Kerry, trying to win his first statewide campaign in 1982, railed against nuclear preparedness plans and joined left-wing critics who called evacuating cities a waste of time, records show.......``Someone has to stand up and say `No' to this madness,'' Kerry said in a 1982 radio ad for his lieutenant gubernatorial bid that criticized President Reagan's civil defense plans amid the Cold War arms race. ``This civil defense plan is nothing more than escalation disguised as saving lives, designed to show the American people's willingness to think and prepare for the unthinkable,'' Kerry wrote in a fund-raising letter that summer.


Okay, now again - who do you trust with our national security?
DKK