Why?

This is a bag of potato chips at 8,000 ft.

I'm wondering why - in all the cheesy novels I've read - that no author has ever written about hundreds of tiny bags of pretzels exploding when the plane decompresses.

Binge Drinking Hangovers Last and Last

The more we have binged — and the younger we have started to binge — the more we experience significant, though often subtle, effects on the brain and cognition.

...

As Shakespeare once pointed out without the benefit of studies on lab rats, “O God, that men should put an enemy in their mouths to steal away their brains!”

The Hangover That Lasts by Paul Steinberg, a psychiatrist, offers some realistic and possible resolutions for the New Year:

• Stop after one or two drinks. Studies of the Mediterranean diet have shown that one or two drinks on a consistent basis leads to a longer life than pure teetotaling.
• If you must binge, start at age 40, not at age 16... Just as youth is wasted on the young, so perhaps is alcohol.
• If you have binged excessively when younger, follow it up with some regular exercise. Get those brain cells regenerated.

Dave Barry's Year in Review

A must read. It will brighten your day and make you look forward to next year. I think...

(via QandO)

Another Dubious Honor for Shreveport

Spencer Hall has named Shreveport's Independence Bowl The Grandaddy of Bad Bowl Games.

Still Sick

I think I'm getting better. I got an appointment at the clinic yesterday and am on a different kind of antibiotic.

I have a tendency to bash military health care at times, but I have to report two good recent experiences. First, a visit to the Urgent Care Clinic at Moncrief Army Community Hospital, where I was seen quickly, given some relief immediately and sent away with medicine - no extra trip to a pharmacy.

Unfortunately, the medicine didn't work well enough, or the strain of the 850 mile drive home simply made me worse. So, the day after Christmas I call Barksdale and my description of symptoms (and the fact that they could electronically access the visit to Moncrief) got me an appointment yesterday morning.

I've learned that you don't simply call and ask the appointment person for an appointment. They rarely have any, but they will always get you a call back from a nurse who has much greater appointing powers.

This makes twice, yes that's TWICE in a row that I've seen my assigned PCM! Maybe things are settling down there and she will be around for a while.

Back Home

I'm back from SC now. Despite being sick the entire time, I still managed to have a wonderful time.

Where is my candidate?

My candidate must

• deny creationism in its extreme forms
• allow for immigration at least in some moderate form
• be at least supportive of civil unions, if not gay marriage
• be a capitalist
• be NOT anti-war
• recognize that the president has no power concerning abortion
• recognize the 2nd Amendment means an individual right
• recognize that religion is a private, not a national, public matter
• adhere to a religion that allows it to be a private not a national, public matter
• recognize that the death penalty is appropriate in some circumstances

Where is my candidate?

Rudy Guiliani fits best according to all the online polls, but now well enough.

Am I so different from mainstream America?

Does a secular society exclude religion?

No. Does not "secular" basically mean "not religious" rather than "atheist"? A secular society has a place for everyone, from the most faithfully religious (of any creed) to the most unreligious atheist.

A secular society is the one I want to live in.

Whether I believe in a Supreme Being of the Jewish, Christian, or Islamic types matters not, it is the human organization and interpretation of religion that I distrust. I certainly do not want that human organization or interpretation of religion to inform my government.

I agree with Roger Cohen. "Where Kennedy said he believed in a “president whose religious views are his own private affair,” Romney pledged not to “separate us from our religious heritage.” "

Good for Obama, Bad for Oprah?

Teflon Oprah?

Winfrey has long been able to shake off any seeming crisis that might prove
her to be the Teflon supporter....

no, no wait, wait

I should clarify that I don't support Romney because he is a Mormon, but that I do NOT support him because of his statement of support for all religions.

I cannot support some tenets of Islamism, though I find most tenets of most religions to be silly rather than dangerous. This dangerousness does not apply to what I know... so far... of Mormonism. Yet, it does apply to Islamism.... Please let me be wrong.

Romney's Speech Convinced Me

Everybody seems to be talking about Romney's "Mormon" speech.

Chris Matthews had Pat Buchanan and some guy from beliefnet on, and they all agreed it was a good speech, with Buchanan and Matthews giving it a "great".

Unfortunately for me, hearing this several times today

There is one fundamental question about which I often am asked. What do
I believe about Jesus Christ? I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and
the Savior of mankind. My church's beliefs about Christ may not all be the same
as those of other faiths. Each religion has its own unique doctrines and
history.

has recalled childhood experiences with Mormonism and the horror of having read Jonathan Livingston Seagull.

I'm not particularly religious, in fact, I'm probably particularly not religious. I am, however, religiously curious and have been as long as I can remember. As a child, I went through stages of wanting to be a Catholic, then Jewish, even Mormon for a short period.

Romney went on to say

These are not bases for criticism but rather a test of our tolerance.
Religious tolerance would be a shallow principle indeed if it were reserved
only for faiths with which we agree.

And this I have a problem with. I don't think I want a man as president who is going to be tolerant of the preaching and practice of intolerance, as in the case of the British teacher in Sudan.

So, while Romney's speech appears reasonable and sensible, it has had the unintended consequence for me to put him in my "definitely could not support" category.

Fat and Happy

The Weight Story No One Wants to Talk About

The implications of these findings, which barely registered in the news
cycle, are significant. They suggest that most Americans need not worry about
being too fat, since most mortality is associated with BMI's in excess of 35.
They suggest that the continual message from the government and the public
health community to lose weight or to be as thin as possible lacks a credible
scientific basis. And they suggest that it is those who weigh too little whose
plight also deserves some attention.

Not that I couldn't stand to lose a ::cough:: few pounds ::cough:: but I'm fairly healthy. I have slightly elevated blood pressure which would probably be normal if I quit smoking, no heart blockages (confirmed by a cardiac cath - did you know that dehydration, anxiety, and indigestion combined fairly well mimics a heart attack?)

How does the average American decide how to vote?

Let me first state some "givens" that I believe are true:

The average American

• is neither Democrat nor Republican
• votes with his gut more often than his intellect
• has a gut that identifies with personality more than issues
• has a gut that identifies with leadership & strength more than issues
• (decide for yourself whether leadership & strength are synonymous with personality)

Based on these "givens", should you choose to accept them, Hillary is out - the gut becomes nauseous trying to keep up with the swishing of issues.

Obama is out because he really shows no strength, although he can be inspiring. (Remember Jimmy Carter was inspiring before he was elected, no?)

Guiliani is a possibility - he showed strength and leadership immediately after 9/11.

McCain is a possibility - he didn't buckle under the duress of being a POW, and despite his temper, can be inspiring.

Lieberman - though not officially in the running (that I know of) can also win the "gut vote" on his stance on the war in Iraq, but he's somewhat lacking in the personality department.

Ron Paul, Dennis Kucinich - sorry guys, but your anti-war status rules you out in both leadership and strength. How can you have either if you've ruled them both out to start with?

Fred Thompson - your TV character could win, I'm not sure you could. Ronald Reagan was a lousy actor, all he knew to play was himself. You're a better actor, but I'm not sure who YOU are.

John Edwards - there's a definite corrollary between acting and being a successful trial lawyer. Like Fred Thompson, I wonder who you really are, other than a good actor.

I could live with this combo

I think...

McCain does not meet all my criteria for President. He's a bit power hungry, I think. But not to the extent that Hillary hungers for power. She's also greedy, I think... perhaps McCain is too. Perhaps one has to be a bit of both to win the office. If so, that's a sad comment on U.S. voters, isn't it?

However... this post by the handsome Vodkapundit - Another Quick Take - may be prescient. Who knows at this point?

I am my own PCM

It's not like I planned it this way. I grew up with the idea that one had a family doctor they saw regularly for checkups, shots, broken bones, and skinned knees. That's what I looked for when I was older. I have no opposition to specialists, but I would have preferred the continuity of seeing the same doctor each time I go. I really would like to have a primary care manager.

That's not happening under Tricare Prime. I'm assigned to an MTF (military treatment center) and since I've been in the plan - 2 years now - I've been assigned to five different PCMs. I had 3 visits with the first, 2 with the second, 0 with the third, 3 with the 4th, and one with the current one. Two of these assignments have lasted less than 6 weeks. Three of these visits were for actual illness, the others were to get medication refills. Each new PCM wants to "see" me before refilling scripts I've been on for years, or before putting me on an alternate generic because the DOD has made a new deal with a different drug company.

None of these doctors ever had the chance to get to know me, or for me to know them. The MTF has a nice electronic medical records system, but it's time-consuming and limiting. The doctor or PA is facing the computer, not me.

Before a visit, I do or consider all the things Christine recommends in Preparing for a Doctors Visit. My list of medications includes OTC stuff, meds I previously took, who prescribed them, why I no longer take them, dates of the above, etc.

Not only do I write out questions I want to ask, but I include objectives I want to meet during the visit. Those are most often, get a refill written or get a referral to a specialist. Never have I discussed long-term medical goals with any of them. They know as well as I that we may never see each other again.

The closest I've come to having continuity of care is always getting the same internist when I'm hospitalized (luck of the draw) and the ongoing relationship I had with my radioncologist. But who wants to go the hospital or have radiation treatments to get a little continuity of care?

This is why I am my own PCM. As Christine writes, "You know your body best, and you need to be your own advocate in the doctor's office."

Hillary: The Uniter

The 2000 and 2004 presidential elections contributed to some fairly severe political division in my family.

Not 2008! We're United again and we have Hillary Clinton to thank for it.

• Me, the sort of libertarian, won't consider voting for her.
• My dear husband, the union Democrat, won't consider voting for her.
• My sister, Kos minion and paranoid, won't consider voting for her.
• My brother, socialist and/or classic liberal depending on his mood, won't consider voting for her.

Thank you, Hillary!

It's been a while

I'm going to give this blogging thing a try again after neglecting Pajama Pundits for so long. That name is so 2004, ya know?