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Today’s quote is from a philosopher: “Moral excellence comes about as a result of habit. We become just by doing just acts, temperate by doing temperate acts, brave by doing brave acts.”
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back to top56 Comments to “Whirled Views 9.30”
I’m going to rave a little early this week: I just found out yesterday that I’m going to be a great aunt. My niece will be first in her generation in the family to have a baby. We’re all excited!!
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Aristotle
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Happy last day of Ramadan!
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Klasko, Congratulations!! I’m excited for you. I’m still waiting for the honor of “great aunt.”
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I’m feeling a little discomfited, if that’s the right word, I’m not even sure. Did you ever have one of the mornings where as you woke up and were still in bed that you were already asking God what’s going to happen, to help you get through it whatever it is, and to keep you from getting upset, to provide you with the right encouraging words to anyone else who is also discomfited?
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NJL, yes. You are not alone.
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NJL — I feel much the same, but I’ve been blaming the flu shot I got yesterday
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Something light,
Congress is going to solve our financial crisis.
Boone Pickens is going to solve our energy crisis.
Dr Phil is going to solve our emotional crisis.
And South Florida has a better football team than: Georgia, Florida, Auburn, Ohio St., Vanderbilt, Virginaa Tech, and Wake Forest.
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But South Florida may not have as good a team as Navy.
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Ajisun, a happy eid al fitr to you too. And Shana Tova!
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Congrats, Klasko!
How long is Ramadan?
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I have three great nephews. I’m afraid I’m not as close to them as I was to their Daddy and Uncle. But they are the closest cousins my son has. All of his first cousins were teenagers when he was born.
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OpTeen, Ramadan lasts a full month. No smoking or eating all day until sundown.
Shana Tova to one and all. Take time to donate to any charity you care to support. I still am a big fan of Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein. Yet there have been allegations of PTL-type funds diversion. Hard core Jewish supporters of IFCJ were fearful that donations went to support evangelization of Jewish folk. (Tevye, call your office!!)
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All of this talk on the bailout bill has me wondering how my Representative voted. Does anyone know how I can find the results of the roll call?
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StuBob, look in your local paper. The headline in the Hendersonville paper (Local, State section) was, “Shuler votes agains bailout.” Seems he got lots of phone calls.
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Here’s the record of representatives votes on the bailout from yesterday:
http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2008/roll674.xml
It says the bill is about tax relief to members of the armed services, but that just hasn’t been updated.
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Now that the world has ended I am glad I only have one more day to work. It is somehow comforting to know that I outlasted the world again
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Here’s a plea for help… and StuBob, you may be able to shed light on this. Sorry this is so long.
My wife has Dupuytrens contracture, which means the soft tissues in her hands are hardening, causing her fingers to curl up. Left untreated, this condition eventually causes the hands to ball up into fists, rendering them useless. (Her grandmother eventually wound up with her hands totally closed up- never had treatment though.) Unfortunately the standard treatment is invasive and the benefits are only temporary. Added to that, this situation has presented itself relatively early so that we still have years to deal with this…
Ugh. I don’t even want to imagine what life would be like without the use of my hands. But I have to, because my wife is facing just that scenario.. And I will be the one who has to help her…
Anyway, after lots of research on the internet, she found an alternative to the standard surgery. Standard surgery, which lays your hand wide open, removes a lot of tissue, and takes MONTHS to heal, is obviously invasive and very inconvenient. The alternative treatment, called Needle aponeurotomy, is less invasive, and involves using a needle to disconnect sections of tissue, and takes a lot less time to heal.
So my wife went to the doctor who first diagnosed the condition, to get the first step out of the way, so that insurance may cover the treatment. Unfortunately the doctor was dismissive of the research my wife had done, implying that it can’t possibly be legitimate because she “found it on the internet” and that insurance wouldn’t cover it because it wasn’t the standard treatment.
Well. That’s VERY discouraging. So she’s rather sad because the alternative that seemed so promising isn’t covered by insurance, AND the doctor was dismissive of her research, AND the benefits of the standard and alternative treatments are only temporary, AND she’s eventually facing losing the use of her hands.
I’m not convinced that the standard procedure is a good thing. For one thing, we’ve watched two other members of the family (her mother and brother- yes it’s definitely genetic) go through this, and their fingers have gone right back to the same thing…. And the invasive surgery cannot be helping matters by creating more scar tissue. So even thought this doctor knew what he was looking at, I’m not convinced he’s right about the alternative treatment. This treatment seems to be standard in other parts of the world – notably France where this treatment originated.
We may opt to pay for the alternative treatment ourselves in order to benefit from the relatively short healing time – especially if she winds up having to have this treatment multiple times.
I’m looking for several things…
Is there research being done on this condition anywhere? It would be nice if there was an actual cure instead of a temporary treatment. I’m not that hopeful as this condition only afflicts a small percentage of the population, and it’s not life threatening.
Are there hand specialists nearby that we can contact personally and get a second or third opinion from?
Are we nuts to consider alternative treatments?
Am we nuts to go up against the establishment?
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/dupuytrens-contracture/DS00732
See the treatment section under this link for the treatment options.
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Are we nuts to consider alternative treatments?
Am we nuts to go up against the establishment?
No and no.
Since your link is from the very well-respected Mayo Clinic, I have no idea why your doctor is ignoring this other than he’s confident he knows better. However, that doesn’t make him right.
Search, and search hard for follow-up opinions. Don’t just search until you hear the one you like, but try to get a true consensus of what should and can be done.
Fight the insurance companies as hard as you can, but don’t expect to win. Decide how much you can personally pay in each scenario before it happens.
Know that I’m praying for you both.
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MIM, I’m not good at advice, but it’s free, so take it for what it’s worth.
But, if I were in that situation, I would contact Mayo Clinic (I read the link) and try to find a reputable place to conduct those procedures. There should be some in the Atlanta area.
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MIM–
My father had Dupuytrens–the only member of his family–and we were told it was hereditary, but unlikely to pass to women. Now you have me alarmed. Keep me posted!
His hands started to curl in his 50’s and he eventually had the surgery, “so I can play golf.” It was painful and he only had a couple years before the hands began to curl again. He eventually had his left pinkie amputated because it didn’t curl and kept getting caught on things.
I second Cameron’s post. You can live without your hands, but it would be really difficult. I don’t remember him complaining about pain from the actual disease, however, it was one more handicap he didn’t need.
Blessings to you both.
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in the last 6 days the fed and treasury has flooded the markets with $1.4 trillion trying to keep all the markets going. The stock market also lost $1.4 trillion yesterday. And, our idiot elected federal oeuffs could decide if they wanted to spend a measly $700 billion to save the world? Who are they trying to kid? We now know that they, as an entire group are not even needed at all. We should just tell them to go home for the Jewish holidays and not come back. If we ever feel like we want some new laws (don’t we have enough covering everything worth covering already?) or we want to raise our own taxes (fat chance)we will hold an election if we must. Wouldn’t it just be easier to tell the government to keep running on last years budget numbers, no increases, until the budget is balanced?
These people are dangerous and we do not need them in the least All they do is ……nothing….except steal us blind and vote themselves all kinds of privatized perks of retirement, health care, salary and vacations that they say aren’t good enough for us. Ever notice that nothing, and I mean nothing, was ever their fault – when they were at fault for everything? Who needs these twits? It is best just to forget they ever existed like the bad dream they truly are.
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MIM — Unfortunately, you could put everything I know about orthopedics in a thimble and still have room for your finger.
So, do your research and ask questions. Stick to websites from universities and respectable institutions, or you’ll wind up being victimized by some snake oil salesman. Remember, though, that no amount of home internet research substitutes for a formal medical education; at some point you’re going to have to find a doctor you trust and follow his advice.
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STUBOB,
I know quite a few snake oil salesmen who claim to have been victimized too. It is a pandemic – with not enough electricity to go around for equally free, except for the rich, electroshock treatment for all.
I knew those lefties would make us pay dearly for not allowing us to build nuclear or coal fired electrical plants. Now we have victims that can’t be cured for the lack of few pitiful electrons – which, by the way, can be in more than one place at a time – so you don’t need to many of them to begin with.
Electrons are like lefties in that regard
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Thanks for the encouragement folks.
I have just spoken with a friend who was former head of the ER at one of our major hospitals here, and he was very encouraging. He has had three of these same surgeries himself, and has had good results with the standard procedure. He also recommended a good plastic surgeon who did his last surgery. He has given me good recommendations for surgeons before, and I trust him. So we will be speaking to the surgeons and we’ll see what turns up.
Thanks again…
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It appears to me that Wall Street is voting on the failure of the bailout bill. I expect that they were voting on it’s passage yesterday.
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wall Streeet adn main street are exactly teh same thing. It is just that Main Street is the last to figure this out and the first to be punished for being so slow to realize it.
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Copy of a letter I wrote to a frightened and hurting friend.
I haven’t been able to rest enough to try to go to sleep, just jumpy and nervous and insecure. Some unhappy things happened to me today. Also too much news today. Knowledge of many friends who are hurting. The news about the stock bailout. Many prophetic warnings in the last couple of weeks which indicate a VERY difficult time ahead for America, and the world. Scary.
I’ve said the words to give all the burdens to Jesus, and prayed his perfect peace into my spirit, but so far haven’t been able to really lay things to rest.
So even though it’s very late and I need my rest, rather than to be more wide awake by turning on the light and computer, I thought I would write and encourage you not to give up on God. No, not even when you’re upset and nervous and insecure. Jesus said, “My peace I leave unto you; not as the world gives, but MY PEACE I give unto you.” I pray for that peace to infiltrate your heart, mind, body, and soul.
We can never depend on people — sooner or later they will let us down. In some cases, because their deeds are evil. In other cases, just because they are human. Yes, we may be disappointed and disillusioned at times. But God says he knows everything we’re going through.
Even the times when it feels like he isn’t doing anything for us, when it seems like he isn’t helping us or giving us his heart’s desires. He still knows us and cares about us. (We just aren’t in a position to let his love be felt; not that he’s stopped loving us.)
There’s a lot of emphasis these days on the “power of positive thinking”, as if all we have to do is think pleasant thoughts and everything will be well with us. Well, the reality of the world is that it isn’t always well with us. And yet God says that it is well with our souls, in him. Yes, positive thinking is okay, certainly we are to think good and wholesome thoughts. And yes, we are to praise God always. Even in the bad times, there are things we can thank him for! (Eyes, nose, mouth, food, shelter, ability to walk, ability to have a God who created us).
I like what a newsletter said this week states — that we aren’t able to loose ourselves from the things that desperately tie us up. We’re not strong enough to “save” ourselves. That’s why we need Jesus, a Savior. But that we may continually ask for the Holy Spirit to fill us with more and more of Jesus. We are promised that God is always enough. Even when we can’t see any work happening, we may trust his promises — tried and true by countless saints over the centuries — that his word is really true, and he does keep his promises, even though the time for them may seem to tarry.
Just wanted you to know I prayed for you tonight. G’night.
-
Note: this message is posted because I felt like putting it here. I realize only a few WOW readers will resonate to it. It is not placed here to argue with or pick apart. Thank you.
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Well, Make it Man, I know what it’s like to be down to “experimental” treatment when conventional medicine doesn’t work:
Vocal chord paralysis – half of my vocal chords are paralyzed and all conventional treatment has failed. I’m left with Botox injections, which is considered an “off label” and risky treatment by the FDA or the implantation of a plastic piece into my voice box, which can result in other physical complications down the road. One physician told me that the Botox injection is no big deal. But the more I read up on it from reputable sources, the more I realized how risky it is and that it’s only a temporary fix. Other than being unable to yell at Phil Fulmer and the Tennessee Vols, I decided I can live with it for now.
Head tremors – a progressive disease with no known cure. It’s symptoms become progressively worse (head shaking), like Parkinson’s Disease. The shaking can be controlled for awhile with medicine, but eventually it will no longer be sufficient. While I am still young and it has not progressed to the point I need medicine, some day I will, and if I live long enough, it will become severe. Hopefully there will be a cure, but if not I will probably go the experimental route because I cannot bear the thought of not being able to read anymore.
The only thing you can do is lots of research, consult the experts, and make the best choice you can.
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Thanks Marilee.
Anlar, I hope it works for you, but I don’t understand from your post what it has to do with reading. BTW, I agree. I don’t know what I (or my poor wife) would do if I couldn’t read.
In the Washington Times delivered today:
“In the dark of night over the Sept 20-21 weekend when most people were snoozing, the Treasury dramatically expanded its bailout plan to include buying student loans, car loans, credit card debt and any other ‘troubled’ assets held by banks.”
It’s an interesting article, but I’ve learned not to quote too much or it gets deleted.
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Chas,
I would guess that the problem with reading would be that it’s hard to follow the text with your eyes if you can’t hold your head still.
Anlir,
That sounds awful. I hope between now and when it gets worse, they will discover a cure or at least a treatment to keep it under control. My brother-in-law was having terrible problems with tremors in his arm for a while (so bad neither he nor my sister could get much sleep at night, with his arm flailing around in bed), but fortunately it turned out to be primarily a side effect of medications he was on for other conditions.
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Thanks, Marilee.
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/uc/20080930/cm_uc_crmchx/op_57564
“And amid all *this, the Democrats in Congress managed to find time to slip language into the bailout legislation that would provide a dandy little slush fund for ACORN.”
*The big financial mess.
Unbelievable. And they’re crying because the Republicans (and 95 Democrats) balked at this?
Scumbags.
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I was just reading Drudge. It appears that Bush, McCain, both Clintons and Obama are all saying that Congress MUST pass the bailout bill or really, really bad things will happen.
I don’t know what I think about this bailout but, if they’re all united, it could be bad for us.
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Anlir – this is a serious question of concern – how do you communicate with others in person? Are you learning sign language? Just wondering.
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Marilee – good words to remember. Thanks.
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Re:#30, The same article says student loans are drying up. “That forced the government to step in and beef up its direct loan programs for college students.”
Also, many feared that the credit card market would be the next domino to fall. People who pay the balance every month will pay for all this.
The local auto dealers are assuring all of us that there’s plenty of credit to buy a car. I expect so.
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Best line heard in Llamadom this week concerning the financial and stock markets was by Mackie on Fast Money (CNBC) yesterday.
He said there are two positions appropriate for these market conditions – cash and fetal
I’m not saying I agree with him since there was a lot of money to be made this week in the stock markets but for the average main street guy he was right. What a sense of humor. You have to love this guy.
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Chas,
The only time I have head tremors is when I read for more than an hour or so. While it is still very slight, it makes it difficult to focus on the page and not lose your place – especially with small print or a newspaper. Since I like to read for long stretches, it’s annoying to have to stop.
*****
Klasko,
I have a very weak voice that a person sitting next to me can hear if I they look directly at me when I’m talking. However, if there is any background noise like a TV or radio or other people talking, or even riding in a car, they usually can’t hear me. I can’t talk on the phone or use drive-through windows, which is frustrating. So I do a lot of texting on my cell phone.
I do know sign language because I had a deaf friend in high school. I wanted to be able to communicate with him so I took a year of sign language. It may come in handy again.
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Marilee, thank you for sharing your letter in your post at 28. It hit home.
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The real financial problem remains. There is no market that these CMB trade in. So there is no transparency and no way to mark to market these bundled securities since they do not and cannot now trade on a market since no one wants to buy them because they have no way of knowing how much they are worth.
If they do not want to remove the mark to market rules which they finally are talking about then the only way to get these securities trading and gain some value, they are worth $10.8 trillion after all, the government either sets up a transparent market to trade them and place the first bid for them to set the floor price or they put some kind of Credit Default Swap Insurance to cover anyone’s losses who buys them.
It is best to have a transparent market to trade these securities so that we can trade these securities safely in the future without government intervention.
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Serious question.
Is there any reason, besides political, that we need to keep Fannie and Freddy?
Llama, our next Sec Treas, (under the Chas administration) is there a reason we shouldn’t impose a rule that the person who makes the loan is responsible for the collection of said loan?
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#42 Chas – I was just talking to someone today about this. I think that if you’re a banker and you enxtnd a loan to someone, you shouldn’t be allowed to sell the loan to another lending entity or loan servicer. If banks had to own and service the loans they make, maybe they wouldn’t be so quick to offer them to people who don’t have a good credit history. Maybe we need to bring back some old fashioned banking principles.
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Anlir, would one of those electronic devices held to the throat give you at least an electronic voice? I googled your problem, and I express my sympathy for your plight. This must be very difficult to deal with. But as long as you can type, you can always “speak” to us — even if we disagree with you.
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It’s low and nasty, who would have ever thought the DEM’s would stoop down to the pit?
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Thank you NJLawyer. That’s the kindest thing you’ve ever said to me.
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Marilee – Your friend will be blessed to receive such a lovely letter. Thanks for sharing it with us.
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It’s low and nasty, who would have ever thought the GOP would stoop down to the pit?
Obama hung in effigy at private Christian Universtity
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Now we have the ‘parrot’ – I wrote 45 and then the ‘parrot’ writes a ‘parrot’ comment response 48 — who would have ever thought the ‘parrot’ was an original?
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Which is the more acceptable means of candidate hanging?
a) A tavern owner hangs his original painting of former beauty pageant contestant Sarah Palin for patrons to see.
b) Students at George Fox Christian University use a tree to do a mock lynching of Obama.
By the way, Victoria, name calling and personal attacks are against the rules here.
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Lumpy,
No “lynching” was done. It was a cardboard cut-out hung up with wires. More like a puppet, and much less like a hanging, although it was in extremely poor taste. People have turned it into something it wasn’t, although, again, I won’t excuse the very poor taste. There’s no question it was wrong.
But, even given your viewpoint of the affair, how do two wrongs make a right? Is it any more classy to treat a woman like a complete sex object and depict her in the nude than to hang a black man? So, while it is not okay to be racist, apparently it IS okay to be sexist?
And, I notice that NO ONE was condoning the act with Obama’s effigy at the university or in the community. Yet, I don’t see you condemning the tavern owner.
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Thanks for sharing, Anlir. I’ll pray that you will have a long time to contunue doing the things you enjoy.
I understand about the ambient noise. I can’t hear well if there’s a lot of background noice and I know how frustrating that can be for someone trying to talk to me.
I hope if the time comes that you will have some friends who will take the time to learn sign language to better communicate with you. I’ve always wanted to learn it. (I should.) I’ve always thought of it as a beautiful dance with the hands.
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Message #45 reminded me of an old joke.
An elderly woman calls the police and complains about a man next door exposing himself.
Two patrol officers arrive. They look through the woman’s window. One officer says, “I’m sorry, ma’m, but all I see is the neighbor’s chest. It is not illegal for a man to be shirtless.”
The lady drags out a chair.
“Here, officer. Stand on this chair and you will see what I mean.”
There are two ways to interpret this joke. The first is that I have never seen a naked woman, although I have been married for 42 (going on 43) years. I was very disappointed in the article that Victoria linked to because the offending painting of Sarah Palin had bars blocking out the good parts.
Fortunately, by searching the World Wide Web, I was able to find an uncensored photograph of the painting, so now I can say I have finally seen what a naked woman looks like, even if it was only by looking at a painting of what an artist imagines Sarah Palin looks like. But I have very little doubt that unclothed, Sarah Palin is indeed a babe, and that her husband is a lucky man. As there are several Palin children, I presume he gets lucky once in a while despite her busy schedule as a Governor and Vice Presidential candidate, and the need to keep it quiet so they don’t wake the children.
The second way to interpret this joke is that Victoria was feeling herself in serious danger of voting for Obama. However, once she read this article, she realized what folly such a vote would be, and she saved herself from committing such an grievous error.
It also occurs to me that Victoria has perhaps never seen a naked woman. Perhaps she should go and look for the uncensored photo of the picture of Sarah Palin.
It also reminds me of the words of Harry S Truman: “If you don’t like the heat, get out of the kitchen.” Even though she lives in Alaska, I am sure Sarah Palin is a good cook and does fine in the kitchen.
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#28
Marilee, I am glad to see a message from you and wish you well.
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Looking at the time stamp, I am glad that Godlumps went along with my suggestion of a “Tame Tuesday.”
I was going to tweak Anlir, but I think engaging in the “community spirit” aspect of Whirled Views doesn’t fit in my definition of rebel activities, so I will just say that I hope Anlir is successful in finding some relief and successful medical treatment for the conditions he describes.
I am going to check the other threads from yesterday and see how the rebels fared.
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“I don’t see you condemning the tavern owner.”
Do I need to? Ms. Palin paraded herself around on a stage to be judged in a swim suit. She does not appear to blush in the video. I will condemn the tavern owner if he made her look too fat.
The FBI and Secret Service are investigating the tree hanging of Obama at the Christian Fox University.
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