Kevin MD posted about a nursing student who was expelled for blogging about a child birth she witnessed. I encourage you to read his post, as I am too lazy to summarize it:
http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2009/10/nursing-student-expelled-blogging.html
After going through several links, I finally found the original blog post:
http://www.pageonekentucky.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/yoder1.pdf
There are certainly some things in Yoder's (the nursing student's) post that can be considered mildly objectionable. However, I don't see why everyone is getting so excited about her description of the newborn child. All the blogs discussing Yoder quote these lines:
“a wrinkly, bluish creature, all Picasso-like and weird, ugly as hell, covered in god knows what, screeching and waving its tentacles in the air,”
However, no one quotes the line immediately following:
"15 minutes later it turned into a cute pink itty bitty little baby girl"
I'm glad Nina Yoder won her lawsuit against the University of Louisville.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
I am not a Borderline
Even though I detest Obama and feel that he is destroying this great nation, that does not mean that I have a psychiatric illness (see my comment on this Kevin MD post:
http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2009/10/political-discourse-borderline-personality-disorder.html)
http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2009/10/political-discourse-borderline-personality-disorder.html)
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Chocolate and Salt
Lindt has come out with a new chocolate bar... the "A Touch of Sea Salt Bar". It combines two of the things I love- dark chocolate and salt. It tastes great!
Much more appetizing than chocolate salty balls (which apparently is a real recipe)...
Much more appetizing than chocolate salty balls (which apparently is a real recipe)...
Health Insurance Mandate Unconstitutional
Constitutional experts think that Obama's planned individual health insurance mandate is unconstitutional:
The requirement that everyone buy health insurance -- a central element to President Obama's health care plan -- is flatly unconstitutional, legal experts argue.
"The government has never required people to buy any good or service, as condition of lawful residence in the United States"
via Fox News, article by Jim Angie
The requirement that everyone buy health insurance -- a central element to President Obama's health care plan -- is flatly unconstitutional, legal experts argue.
"The government has never required people to buy any good or service, as condition of lawful residence in the United States"
via Fox News, article by Jim Angie
Monday, July 27, 2009
Health Care Reform and Retardation
Some are getting upset because the House of Representatives health care reform bill uses the term "retarded".
The New York Post (via Drudge) reports:
The bill refers to: "A hospital or a nursing facility or intermediate-care facility for the mentally retarded . . ."
I don't see what the problem is. "Mental Retardation" is a valid medical/psychiatric term. Other more PC terms such as "developmentally disabled" have a slightly different meaning. The term "developmental disability" includes not only mental retardation but also autism and several other coniditions. There are various legal and medical definitions of developmental disability.
As someone who treats adults with mental retardation as well as autism I use the terms "mental retardation/mentally retarded" and "developmental disability/developmentally disabled", as well as "pervasive developmental disability" when appropriate. These terms all have different meanings and it is important that physicians as well as lawmakers use the correct term in order to promote clarity and precision.
There is no place for politically correct terminology when writing one of the most significant (in a bad way) pieces of legislation in the last 50 years.
The New York Post (via Drudge) reports:
The bill refers to: "A hospital or a nursing facility or intermediate-care facility for the mentally retarded . . ."
I don't see what the problem is. "Mental Retardation" is a valid medical/psychiatric term. Other more PC terms such as "developmentally disabled" have a slightly different meaning. The term "developmental disability" includes not only mental retardation but also autism and several other coniditions. There are various legal and medical definitions of developmental disability.
As someone who treats adults with mental retardation as well as autism I use the terms "mental retardation/mentally retarded" and "developmental disability/developmentally disabled", as well as "pervasive developmental disability" when appropriate. These terms all have different meanings and it is important that physicians as well as lawmakers use the correct term in order to promote clarity and precision.
There is no place for politically correct terminology when writing one of the most significant (in a bad way) pieces of legislation in the last 50 years.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Stocks are at a crossroads
The S and P 500 index is at a key technical level. If it closes below 900, get out of the market. If it manages to stay above 900 over the next several days, that's a sign to add to your stock exposure, with either an S and P 500 index or Large Cap ETF/mutual fund.
Friday, May 08, 2009
Michelle Obama Wants Everyone to have AIDS
Like Subway's Jared, Michelle Obama wants everyone to have aids:
First lady Michelle Obama called her "current life" in the White House "a very blessed situation, because I have what most families don't have -- tons of support all around, not just my mother, but staff and administration. I have a chief of staff and a personal assistant, and everyone needs that."
"Everyone should have a chief of staff and a set of personal assistants"
Friday, April 10, 2009
Some antidepressants increase the risk of diabetes
Long term use of antidepressants is associated with an increased risk of Diabetes Mellitus.
This is especially true of 2 antidepressants likely to cause weight gain, Paxil (paroxetine) and Elavil (amitryptiline).
No need to take immediate action:
Dr. Andersohn stressed that because the risk for diabetes develops slowly, doctors should not take immediate action in treating individual patients. "Abrupt withdrawal of antidepressants might cause unintended effects."
This is especially true of 2 antidepressants likely to cause weight gain, Paxil (paroxetine) and Elavil (amitryptiline).
No need to take immediate action:
Dr. Andersohn stressed that because the risk for diabetes develops slowly, doctors should not take immediate action in treating individual patients. "Abrupt withdrawal of antidepressants might cause unintended effects."
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Legal Male Prostitution in San Francisco
The New York Times reports today on a commune, "One Taste," in San Francisco in which female members are manually stimulated by men:
At 7 a.m. each day, as the rest of America is eating Cheerios or trying to face gridlock without hyperventilating, about a dozen women, naked from the waist down, lie with eyes closed in a velvet-curtained room, while clothed men huddle over them, stroking them in a ritual known as orgasmic meditation
How is this legal? Female members of the commune don't pay directly for the sexual activity, instead they pay for the "course":
She resisted offers to pursue further courses (for a fee), deleting the center’s incessant e-mail messages. But on the cusp of her 29th birthday, she tentatively returned. “I was scared to open up my life that much, but I was more scared not to,” she said.
Now an instructor herself, Ms. Crittenden talks about “the lingering velocity of my desire and my hesitation to give into it.”
In my opinion, California authorities should shut down this commune. They should treat it in the same manner they would a "massage parlor" that offers erotic activities (of course, I have nothing against legitimate massage therapists).
At 7 a.m. each day, as the rest of America is eating Cheerios or trying to face gridlock without hyperventilating, about a dozen women, naked from the waist down, lie with eyes closed in a velvet-curtained room, while clothed men huddle over them, stroking them in a ritual known as orgasmic meditation
How is this legal? Female members of the commune don't pay directly for the sexual activity, instead they pay for the "course":
She resisted offers to pursue further courses (for a fee), deleting the center’s incessant e-mail messages. But on the cusp of her 29th birthday, she tentatively returned. “I was scared to open up my life that much, but I was more scared not to,” she said.
Now an instructor herself, Ms. Crittenden talks about “the lingering velocity of my desire and my hesitation to give into it.”
In my opinion, California authorities should shut down this commune. They should treat it in the same manner they would a "massage parlor" that offers erotic activities (of course, I have nothing against legitimate massage therapists).
Organic Psychosis
The NY Times Sunday Magazine presents an interesting case of psychosis due to a combination of Concerta (long-acting ritalin) and pheochromacytoma:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/15/magazine/15wwln-diagnosis-t.html?ref=magazine
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/15/magazine/15wwln-diagnosis-t.html?ref=magazine
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Why I am not Depressed
I eat a lot of salt:
A study at the University of Iowa found that rats that were deficient in salt did not participate in activities they normally enjoy -- one of the hallmarks of depression. Salt's mood-altering effect may explain why many people consume too much of it even when they know it's unhealthy -- almost like an addictive drug, researchers said.
A study at the University of Iowa found that rats that were deficient in salt did not participate in activities they normally enjoy -- one of the hallmarks of depression. Salt's mood-altering effect may explain why many people consume too much of it even when they know it's unhealthy -- almost like an addictive drug, researchers said.
Sunday, March 08, 2009
Bad-Beat Stories
Apparently there's an art to writing about these losing poker hands:
Granting, then, that the primary goal of a bad-beat story is to get something off your chest, there are narrative strategies you can employ to make sure other posters don’t yawn you off a board. To win sympathy and kudos, according to at least one bad-beat narratologist, you have only to make clear how focused and intelligent you were, how high the stakes, how slim your odds of losing, how vile your opponent was and how well you command the idiom of your game
Granting, then, that the primary goal of a bad-beat story is to get something off your chest, there are narrative strategies you can employ to make sure other posters don’t yawn you off a board. To win sympathy and kudos, according to at least one bad-beat narratologist, you have only to make clear how focused and intelligent you were, how high the stakes, how slim your odds of losing, how vile your opponent was and how well you command the idiom of your game
Who Stole our Country?
Every wonder who got the hundreds of billions of dollars (180 billion at lost count) that Bush and Obama gave to AIG?
It turns out that much of the money is going to foreigners (though exactly who is getting how much money hasn't been released):
some of the banks paid by AIG since the insurer started getting taxpayer funds were: Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Deutsche Bank AG, Merrill Lynch, Societe Generale, Calyon, Barclays Plc, Rabobank, Danske, HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland, Banco Santander, Morgan Stanley, Wachovia, Bank of America, and Lloyds Banking Group.
"That's why we could not allow AIG to fail as we allowed Lehman to fail, because that would have precipitated the failure of the European banking system," said Kanjorski, a Democrat from Pennsylvania who chairs the House Insurance Subcommittee.
U.S. lawmakers have said they are running out of patience with regulators' refusal to identify AIG's counterparties.
On Thursday, Richard Shelby, the top Republican on the banking committee, said: "The Fed and Treasury can be secretive for a while but not forever."
It turns out that much of the money is going to foreigners (though exactly who is getting how much money hasn't been released):
some of the banks paid by AIG since the insurer started getting taxpayer funds were: Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Deutsche Bank AG, Merrill Lynch, Societe Generale, Calyon, Barclays Plc, Rabobank, Danske, HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland, Banco Santander, Morgan Stanley, Wachovia, Bank of America, and Lloyds Banking Group.
"That's why we could not allow AIG to fail as we allowed Lehman to fail, because that would have precipitated the failure of the European banking system," said Kanjorski, a Democrat from Pennsylvania who chairs the House Insurance Subcommittee.
U.S. lawmakers have said they are running out of patience with regulators' refusal to identify AIG's counterparties.
On Thursday, Richard Shelby, the top Republican on the banking committee, said: "The Fed and Treasury can be secretive for a while but not forever."
Politics at Mississippi's State Psychiatric Hospital
The Clarion-Ledger, Mississippi's main newspaper, reports today on a courageous psychiatrist, Dr. Stept, who allegedly was forced from his job at Mississippi State Hospital at Whitfield for refusing to discharge dangerous patients:
In a quest to reduce long-term beds, state mental health officials are releasing some psychotic and potentially violent patients, says a psychiatrist who was transferred after he said he refused to follow those plans.
"I was asked to discharge patients I thought should not be discharged.
"I felt they were too psychotic."
In fact, some of these patients had "killed people in psychotic states," he said.
The psychiatrist said he refused to discharge a patient in 2007 for medical reasons, telling Whitfield officials if they wanted the patient discharged, the clinical director would have to sign the papers.
Days after this, Stept said he was told he was being transferred to another building.
Not long after this, Whitfield officials threatened to bring him before the peer review committee without telling him why, he said. "When I called and said I was retiring, the process of bringing me before a peer review committee was dropped."
I worked at Whitfield from mid-2006 to mid-2007. I was part-time and wasn't aware any of this was going on. I don't know Dr. Stept.
In a quest to reduce long-term beds, state mental health officials are releasing some psychotic and potentially violent patients, says a psychiatrist who was transferred after he said he refused to follow those plans.
"I was asked to discharge patients I thought should not be discharged.
"I felt they were too psychotic."
In fact, some of these patients had "killed people in psychotic states," he said.
The psychiatrist said he refused to discharge a patient in 2007 for medical reasons, telling Whitfield officials if they wanted the patient discharged, the clinical director would have to sign the papers.
Days after this, Stept said he was told he was being transferred to another building.
Not long after this, Whitfield officials threatened to bring him before the peer review committee without telling him why, he said. "When I called and said I was retiring, the process of bringing me before a peer review committee was dropped."
I worked at Whitfield from mid-2006 to mid-2007. I was part-time and wasn't aware any of this was going on. I don't know Dr. Stept.
Friday, February 27, 2009
The Obama Panic
Dick Morris, on Obama:
The crash of the stock market in the days since he took power (indeed, from the moment he won the election) can increasingly be attributed to his own failure to lead us in the right direction, his failed policies in addressing the recession and his own spreading of panic and fear. The market collapse makes it evident that it is Obama who is the problem....
The crash of the stock market in the days since he took power (indeed, from the moment he won the election) can increasingly be attributed to his own failure to lead us in the right direction, his failed policies in addressing the recession and his own spreading of panic and fear. The market collapse makes it evident that it is Obama who is the problem....
Monday, February 16, 2009
We're Screwed
Senator Graham (R, South Carolina) on the Stimulus Bill:
"If I may say, if this is going to be bipartisanship, the country's screwed"
"If I may say, if this is going to be bipartisanship, the country's screwed"
Saturday, February 14, 2009
The Man Who Sold the World
As the Obama administration pushes through Congress its $800 billion deficit-spending economic stimulus plan, the American public is largely unaware that the true deficit of the federal government already is measured in trillions of dollars, and in fact its $65.5 trillion in total obligations exceeds the gross domestic product of the world.
Monday, February 09, 2009
The 9.7 Trillion Dollar Bailout
A trillion here, and a trillion there, and soon you're talking about real money.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=washingtonstory&sid=aGq2B3XeGKok
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=washingtonstory&sid=aGq2B3XeGKok
Monday, January 19, 2009
Another Senate Seat for Sale
Rumor has it that New York Governor Paterson will give Hillary's Senate seat to Caroline Kennedy in exchange for a job:
US Rep. Carolyn Maloney of Manhattan, a would-be Clinton replacement who is backed by several women's organizations, was the most publicly adamant in saying the fix was in, citing a scenario - first outlined in last week's Village Voice - under which Paterson, in a deal with Mayor Bloomberg, a Kennedy friend, selects Kennedy in exchange for help for his own election bid next year.
US Rep. Carolyn Maloney of Manhattan, a would-be Clinton replacement who is backed by several women's organizations, was the most publicly adamant in saying the fix was in, citing a scenario - first outlined in last week's Village Voice - under which Paterson, in a deal with Mayor Bloomberg, a Kennedy friend, selects Kennedy in exchange for help for his own election bid next year.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
The Ice Age is Coming
The Russians think Al Gore was wrong about Global Warming:
The data from paleoclimatology, including ice cores, sea sediments, geology, paleobotany and zoology, indicate that we are on the verge of entering another Ice Age, and the data also shows that severe and lasting climate change can occur within only a few years. While concern over the dubious threat of Anthropogenic Global Warming continues to distract the attention of people throughout the world, the very real threat of the approaching and inevitable Ice Age, which will render large parts of the Northern Hemisphere uninhabitable, is being foolishly ignored.
The data from paleoclimatology, including ice cores, sea sediments, geology, paleobotany and zoology, indicate that we are on the verge of entering another Ice Age, and the data also shows that severe and lasting climate change can occur within only a few years. While concern over the dubious threat of Anthropogenic Global Warming continues to distract the attention of people throughout the world, the very real threat of the approaching and inevitable Ice Age, which will render large parts of the Northern Hemisphere uninhabitable, is being foolishly ignored.
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