Yesterday afternoon, Rita was home with me while Rose was at school.  The two of them alternate going to school every other Thursday so they can get some one-on-one time with Mom.  Anyway, Rita and I were about to read a book together and I'd made a cup of tea and set it on the coffee table.  I went upstairs to fetch the book when I heard her scream.

I hurried back down to find her hopping around and screaming about her foot.  She had begun rolling around on the couch when I went upstairs and dipped her foot straight into my tea.  Andy and I ended up taking her to U of M emergency where she was bandaged up.  We had to return today because the doctor hadn't sealed off the bandages very well and they were opening up and dirt could easily get in.

Rita has been much happier since she got her bandages on yesterday afternoon.  She hasn't been on painkiller and didn't even wince when they changed her dressing today.  I'm hoping her seemingly pain-free state continues.

When we first arrived at the ER, yesterday afternoon, they mistakenly directed us to the main burn unit inside the hospital.  We drove to the main entrance and I took Rita in.  She was screaming the entire time as we asked for help and were escorted to the burn clinic.  Once there, they informed us that we had to go back to emergency.  By the time Rita was eventually seen, I was a bit shaky having listened to her cries of agony for over an hour.

Hard to believe that they misdirected us in the first place and it's also surprising that they didn't dress her wound properly.  I questioned the original doctor about the dressings and he felt they were adequate but today when I brought her back, everyone we spoke to agreed that the bandages were not adequate and might easily lead to infection if left alone.

One other frustrating thing about hospitals.  When we first got there, they took her name, birthdate, asked why we were there and gathered other information.  Once in the exam room, a technician came in and went through the same line of questions all the while looking at her chart (perhaps checking to see if our answers were consistent).  Later, a nurse came in and we went through the same questions.  Finally, the doctor.  Rita was soooo sick of hearing me tell people that she'd put her foot in a cup of tea she asked me to stop talking about it.

Today, when we went back, we went through the same story again with 3 or 4 more people.  One doctor had enough of a sense of humor to assume her weight hadn't changed overnight but the entire process was so impersonal.  It's as if no one hears what you're telling them.  Each person is operating in a vaccuum and is meeting you for the first time.  There's seemingly no continuity or communication from one person to the next.  Do all those people really need to know Rita's date of birth?  Can't they store it somewhere where they all can access it?

Interactions are all about getting the fields on the forms filled in properly and instead of feeling like a person, you feel like you're a case, a speciman, an entity to be processed.  Granted, these people treat dozens of patients each week but the care part of the treatment is lacking.  To be fair, many staff members seem to be making an effort to be friendly.  Perhaps it is just the structure of the burocracy that leaves me feeling like a package arriving at a Fed Ex drop box where it is picked up and passed through several levels of sorting before arriving at a clearly defined, pre-identified destination.

All thanks, however, go to U of M for fixing up Rita's foot.  She was more than happy to return this morning and watch cartoons on the exam room's TV and she greatly appreciated the popsicle and stickers.

Unbelievable.  Not that Dick Cheney would flip a virtual bird at the American public on national television, not that Dick Cheney has been perusing his own private agenda independently of what Americans want, not that his agenda involves using over $562,000,000,000.00 of our money to kill people, not that he has repeatedly and contemptuously violated numerous American laws, but that we continue to let him.

Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats in congress should be ashamed of themselves.  Anyone who sits complacently by, saying nothing, and allows a small group of ruthless individuals to hijack our government should be ashamed.

Our system of government has built in checks and balances designed to short circuit runaway abuses of power like the one in progress in the Whitehouse.  But those systems fail when those with the power to act are complicit, ignorant, or just plain scared.

Why would Nancy Pelosi say that impeachment is off the table?  I don't believe she is ignorant.  I doubt she is complicit.  I do believe she is scared.  Scared of losing power and prestige.  This administration is ruthless (duh!).  They go to great lengths to attack and discredit any serious opponent.  My guess is Nancy and many other Democrats in Congress are just plain scared of Dick, Karl, Fox News, and the rest of the gang.

Some say there is too little time left for impeachment.  Or that it is a distraction from activities that are truly important.  Or that it is a waste of taxpayer money.  To each of these I say, "Baloney!"  There is still plenty of time for this administration to get us into war with Iran.  There is still plenty of time for this administration to commit another $102,000,000,000.00 of taxpayer money to its illegal war.  The distraction from these is exactly why both Bush and Cheney should be impeached immediately.

The administration will not be dissuaded by reason, or even the law.  But an impeachment would force them to spend much of their time left in office defending themselves.  And beyond the purely tactical diversionary benefits, it offers the strategic geopolitical benefit of telling the rest of the world, "This administration is not the face of America; they do not represent us."

It really is not too late to do something.  Write a letter, call your representatives, e-mail everyone you know.

The costs--in both human lives and dollars--of this administration's ill-conceived, mismanaged, and illegal war continues to pile skyward.  As we've passed the war's fifth anniversary, our nation's 4,000th dead soldier, humanity's 1,000,000th dead individual, our Congress is preparing in April to give George Bush another $102 billion (yes, billion with a 'B').

Sometimes I think people don't really understand how much a billion is.  Start by just writing it out...

$102,000,000,000

Say, that's quite a lot of zeros, isn't it?

How long would it take to count to 102 billion?  If I could hand you a one-dollar bill every second, 24 hours per day, 365 days per year, without ever taking break, it would take me 3,366 years to give you 102 billion dollars.

Now, when you think about the fact that George has already burned through $562 billion while watching the death tolls skyrocket and our own economy slide steadily into the toilet, don't you have to ask, what are we thinking!?!?

Sadly, most of us are not thinking.  We're too busy going to the mall, filling up our SUVs, stuffing our faces, and watching T.V. (because, after all, as George has said, if we don't do those things, the terrorists win.)

If we were thinking, we would realize that we are in control.  We can pressure our Congress to stop this madness.  We can pressure our Congress to impeach these clowns--or at the very least, put them on a shorter leash by holding them accountable to our own laws.  We can flood the government with e-mails, letters, phone calls, picketers, protesters, etc.

Come on folks... let's wake up.

A couple weekends ago, while attending a conference on polycystic kidney disease, I learned of a bill pending Senate approval that is being blocked by Senator Coburn of Oklahoma. GINA, the Genetic Information Nondisclosure Act, would make discriminatory practices using genetics illegal by prohibiting health insurers from discriminating against any individual because of a genetic predisposition to develop a disease in the future. It also bars employers from using genetic information for hiring, firing, or other decisions.

The person presenting information about GINA was a pilot with a major commercial airline. Upon learning he had ADPKD, his company grounded him and will no longer let him fly even though he has absolutely no symptoms at this time and takes no medications.

If passed, this bill would provide protection for Rita and countless other people that have been diagnosed with a genetic disorder. As genetic research continues, a great many of us may be identified as such.

Please sign a petition to urge Senator Coburn to release his hold on the bill and let it come to the Senate floor where it is likely to be approved. Both the house of representatives and the president have approved the bill.

http://votelouise.com/page/petition/GINA

Hillary says she's on a roll... and maybe she is.  She says she can win the important battleground states like Ohio and Texas... and maybe she can.

But she also proudly proclaimed victory in Michigan (and Florida, which is in a similar situation)... and that's at best a careful spinning and at worst a calculated mischaracterization designed to do mislead (i.e., a lie.)

Hillary did in fact get more votes than the other Democrats in the Michigan primary.  But the Democratic Party asked all candidates to not participate in that primary (as part of its own silly power struggle with the state to control the primary schedules).  At the last minute, Hillary jumped into the primary, but Joe Biden, John Edwards, Barack Obama, and Bill Richardson respected the party request and stayed off the ballot.

So, it is completely unclear that Hillary would win Michigan against, say, Barack Obama.  Or if she would win in November against John McCain.

What is clear is that Hillary is a political fighter, willing to do what (whatever?) it takes to get elected.  Don't get me wrong, she would make a 10,000 times better president than Bush (as would any of the remaining contenders).  But I do find her campaign tactics distasteful and disappointing.

The whole thing reminds me of when a football team wins a big game after having a questionable call go their way.  Sure, they may have won anyway... even probably won anyway.  But there's always that nagging "yea, but...", as John Madden likes to say, that will never go away.