Lot of Room There

Look how much room they left on this monument in Independence, Missouri for future Iraq (War on Terror) casualties:

They could have put the Iraq names side by side, not only for the sake of symmetry but to dispell the illusion that someday there will be two long columns of names on that thing. I should think they could add the names of the city's Civil War dead in the big, gaping space below. And hope that no new names ever go on that sad piece of stone.

Deep and Personal

It's not like me to blog about my personal life or my problems much, partly because I figure nobody cares, and partly because the general (and lately constant) cause of my "problems" involves the drama and suffering of my "inner circle", and the inner circle frowns on me telling the world about their sorrows.

All the same, it's been two weeks of intense drama for me; on one day two unrelated friends of mine suffered the deaths of a loved one, and one of my closest family members seemingly gave up the will to live following the most horrible divorce I've ever known of, and now this:

Some background:

Back in the Reagan years, in my late teens, I brought into the world a sweet little boy

I've been supportive of his individuality in all its phases, goth, ninja, super saiyan,

juggalo, worker, slacker, rap artist

On his eighteenth birthday, with some KU students who took him under their wing, he marched on Washington against the War on Iraq, five months before it happened, and tho he was in agreement, it was done as a personal favor to me. That's how good he is to his mom. And we have a lot of laughs together.

He's a good boy, and of course he means the world to me.

A couple of weeks ago he called me and said he was coming over to bring me some news I wouldn't like, "but it's all good." Naturally, I assumed it was another pregnancy scare, but that wouldn't be bad news. I need to be having some grandchildren if I'm ever going to know my great-grandchildren. But that's beside the point.

"I'm joining the Army Reserve," he says. I'd been suspecting this moment was coming, and was prepared. I concealed my feelings so well that I'm considering taking up Texas Hold 'Em or whatever as a career, that's how stoic I was. He rattled off all the lines you hear on the military recruiting commercials to counter potential parental objections, and I nodded understandingly.

His recruiter has promised him everything short of a recording contract, but at least the guy didn't lie to him about the possibility of being sent to Iraq. "Once you've completed your basic training, you'll serve for 15 months in either Iraq or Afghanistan, and then you'll only have to come around one weekend a month and two weeks a year!"

So I've been trying to prepare him for the ASVAB, teach him the military alphabet, chain of command, etc. I don't object to his military service. I support the troops in spite of my feelings about the war. Plus, I bet he'd look damned handsome sporting a Class A.
I just don't want my boy to kill. I don't want him to be killed. Not for Bush and Cheney's oil I don't. Since I found out what a Gold Star Mom was I knew I never wanted to be one. "If the cause it is just" I would be willing to make that sacrifice, but this cause isn't just. It's corporate. See: The Carlyle Group and Halliburton.

But, what with the deaths and the despondent sibling, my trepidation about the lad's impending foray into military circles went on the back burner for a few days. Until I saw this. Sorry if it's upsetting:

Here is the caption that goes with this photo:

A photograph of his daughter, Leia Ryan Baum, was placed inside the uniform of Sgt. Ryan John Baum during visitation at a funeral home in June 2007. "That's all he wanted to do, is come home and put her on his chest," said Dana Baum, Sgt. Baum's mother.

I don't mean to imply that Sgt. Baum died for corruption. He gave his life for you and me (although Halliburton and The Carlyle Group made lots of money on a war sold by lying that killed him).

That picture, though, is filling my mind with horror and sadness. In two and a half weeks my son will be heading away on a bus in preparation to go to war. That's why I'm typing this uncharactaristic blog entry instead of doing the work I'm days and months behind on, and wondering if it's helpful to share this stuff and let it all out, and thankful to anyone who read this.

~*Peace*~

Isn't she pretty?

A very nice person gave me this beautiful thing



It's big, like 24" x 36". This is Jennie Wood Stilwell. She was the childhood sweetheart, and later the wife, of Kansas City railroad entrepreneur Arthur Stilwell. Easy to see why he took her everywhere he went, and he went all over the world raising money to build the Kansas City Southern Railway, among other things (like Fairmount Park).

Here's the accompanying poster of Mr. Stilwell



Yes, they loved each other deeply and dearly. Two weeks after Mr. Stilwell died of "apoplexy", Jennie Stilwell walked out the window of their 14th floor apartment in New York City, leaving behind a note that said, "I must go to Arthur."

For years, the cremated ashes of the two of them stood unclaimed in a New York funeral home. Nobody knows what ever became of their remains.

Recession-Proof Financial Success

And on the religious note, I can't help but notice that many most of the people I know, young and old, are engaged in financial struggles the likes of which they've never before encountered. The only person I know who can't complain is a fellow who inherited a lot of oil stock. Today I read of food rationing here in the US and rising gas prices, and I wasn't surprised to hear that President Bush has the highest disapproval rating of any president in Gallup history. The only surprising thing about this is that 66% of Republicans are still clinging to the delusion that Bush is doing a good job leading the country. Thankfully, most of the sensible Conservatives I know have denounced the man and his party, and 66% of Republicans in 2008 isn't as high a number as 66% of Republicans in 2004 was. But that's neither here nor there.

Last night I inadvertently sat through two "get rich quick" infomercials, both of which, it seemed, encouraged people to pay money to learn how to capitalize on the destitute: "Buy Foreclosed Homes! Buy and Collect Debt!" It reminded me of a financial scheme I learned about a while back, and thought I would share it.

You're never sure you can trust the purveyors of the get-rich-quick schemes on the infomercials, but who could provide advice that was more trustworthy than Jesus Christ himself? Listen:

(Matthew 6:25-33) 25 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?

26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

28 "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

31 So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

It's so easy, anyone can do it. You can get full details FREE in the Gospel According to Matthew.

How I Cheer Myself Up

I made this video back in the day just for that purpose.



My favorite is the little muscle-man at the end. Most of this footage dates to 1903 or so, some earlier, some later, but all pre-1910 Edison films.

My Girls

Aren't they pretty?

(tho maybe a little blurry)

Phonix

A lot of people probably complain about the typos in some of the stuff I transcribe (like Fatty Lewis and the 100 Year Old Weblog). Admittedly, almost everything I transcribe has typos of some sort, but what a lot of people don't know is that back in the olden days, the rules of grammar were sometimes different than what we were taught. It seems like every 20 years or so, somebody comes along and changes the rules. For example, 100 years ago:

"Employee" was spelled "Employe".

When seperating items, there was no comma following the next to the last item. "Bread, Milk, and Cheese" would be "Bread, Milk and Cheese".

The word "street" was not capitalized in a street name, i. e., Main street.

The same with other proper nouns (Jackson county, city hall, general hospital).

This is why I give myself a certain amount of leeway with my use of grammar in today's world. Whether it's correct or not now, it may very well be in the future. For example, I refuse to put a period in front of a quotation to end a sentence when the word or phrase in quotations is its own idea (see the phrases in quotes above). That sort of thing.

But the rest of the typos are legit.

"Costly Drugs" and the Profit Factor

This is exactly the kind of thing that makes my head spin:

Cutting Dosage of Costly Drug Spurs a Debate

In short, this drug called "Cerezyme", which treats a rare disease called "Gouchers", costs an average patient $300,000 a year. Some doctors are saying that the recommended dosage is too high, in a drug-company effort to boost profits (which for this drug are 90%). Others dispute this and say the dosing is accurate.

Two things I noticed from this article:

1. They got the recipe from the US government:

"...the early work on the treatment was done by the National Institutes of Health, which gave Genzyme a contract to manufacture it. And analysts estimate the current cost of manufacturing the drug to be only about 10 percent of its price."

2. The extent to which consumers suffer on account of expensive medical treatments:

"Ms. Mangum began treatment in 2000, at a cost of more than $400,000 a year. The next year, the premiums for everyone in her insurance pool went up by $180 a month."

I wonder how many people there are in an "insurance pool"?

Then there are drugs that cure diseases, but bringing them to market would be so unprofitable that drug manufacturers don't want to touch them.

The Calgary Sun reported last year:

"Cancerous tumours can be shrunk without radiation by administering a drug already used safely in humans for decades, says a doctor whose research is creating a major buzz in medical circles. But because the drug cannot be patented, pharmaceutical companies won't be eager to fund clinical trials to bring it to market, leaving its future in question."

http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Alberta/2007/01/18/3399917-sun.html (Full article available for a fee)

These are instances where the Federal government could step in, and it would be difficult to convince even the most hard-core conservative to cry "socialized medicine".

Why can't our World Super Power, state-of-the-art National Institute of Health manufacture these drugs that are unprofitable and/or outrageously expensive and make them available to patients that need them, especially in instances where the NIH came up with the drug in the first place? Manufacturers could would have the choice of lowering the price or losing their right to manufacture the product. It could be taken by eminent domain, just like they take homes that have been in families for generations in order to build grocery stores and the like.

The tax burden would be offset many, many times by the savings to insurance and medical consumers, and to taxpayers in Medicare savings. To me it seems an simple solution. Call it price capping, but only pharmaceutical company stockholders would complain, once faced with the facts.

Please contact your lawmakers and share your concerns.

Car Show

If, for some reason, you can't get to the KC Auto Show at Bartle Hall this weekend, you can always enjoy hightlights of Kansas City's 1924 Automobile Show from the comfort of your own home.

Convenience

If Harold and Kumar had known about this, millions of young people would be out of a favorite movie:



Speaking of convenience foods:



Not bad at all.

Dessert:



Good Stuff. Look for these items in your local grocery store. Not for healthy eaters.

Gunther's Confections

Kansas City time travelers to 1898 who get hungry should make sure and stop by Gunther's Confections on Walnut Street. Tip: You can't pay for 1898 food with 2006 currency unless you want to spend some time in the workhouse.