Saturday, July 23, 2005
BLAIR-BUSH The true measure of man may well be found in his reaction to emergencies. If we accept that standard as a guide, we have had more than a glimpse in recent times to see both Tony Blair and George W. Bush react to terrorist attacks of far greater magnitude than some people seem to comprehend. Neither one has shown any sign of wavering and both have remained firm. Their peoples have been emboldened and made ready to face potential trials of the most serious nature. Some individuals, who have been in opposition to the current leaders in a political sense, have spoken up promptly in public agreement with the president's statements and with those of the Prime Minister in London. With a true sense of "reality" far more demanding than those on some TV shows, we must also be aware of the obvious fact that some did not speak at all; took no stand whatsoever, while awaiting any possibility of vacillation in the stand taken by our acknowledged and responsible leaders. Only recently have they felt they could blame George W. Bush for mis-conduct of the war in Iraq. They have, it seems, not yet come to realize that the threat against us today is far greater than a one-nation affair. Such vindictive political tactics can be costly and deadly for all of us. The Iraqi project was started long ago years. It is not new, and methods of combating it have been at hand as well. Haste can, in this case, create waste. In the past such procedures as the great Islamic jehad against America have, most often, failed because they tend to fall as victims of their own avarice and greed. As they near maturity they start to feed upon themselves. Watch carefully. You can see it happening - even now. A.L.M. July 22, 2005 [c321wds]
Friday, July 22, 2005
THE STEADY BEAT I am one of the thousands of people who depend on a particular brand of a small battery-powered unit known as a "Pacemaker". Actually, I am on my second such an assistant to living. There has been a rather negative mannered news series in the media in recent weeks and it is time, perhaps, for some words to be set forth in defense of the helpful health-care item. Some of the observations and opinions have been stated by vocative critics who are, it appears, somewhat confused by medical innovations of recent years. It has been all too evident that the writer of the offending items was, obviously, not at all familiar with his subject. He was writing about a product made by the same firm which manufactures the well known pacemaker unit. The defibrillator is a much newer product and more complex. It offers a procedure which is is a available to patients from larger mechanical units but it has just recently become available in a small unit which can be implanted in the human chest as is the same firm's small ICD pacemaker. They have kindred functions concerned with the circulation system of the human body and mark the many improvements which have been made recent years in that area of medical care and treatment. To carelessly malign either on of the products is quite wrong and dangerous. I have been wearing a life-saving pacemaker unit for well over a decade of my life without mishap. The life saving devise was placed in my chest - in the upper right shoulder - after it was determined that, since I was not a hunter, I would not be firing to many rifles, shotguns, or of missles from that shoulder. I happened to be in a hospital at the time it was decided I should have a pacemaker installed. It was ordered by phone from the manufacturer in Minnesota and it was hand-carried by company personnel who flew with it to Virginia to be installed, as scheduled, in my shoulder the very next morning. I had picked the only week when our, then rather new package delivery service - "UPS" and their Teamster's Union drivers were on nation-wide strike. I am now on my second such unit replacing the previous one which was showing some slow-down tendencies. Wiring into the heart was kept intact; only the battery section was replaced in the same area. Once again: no trouble. I did monthly telephone checkups with provided equipment at first, then every other month with and once, annually, I do an office visit. I have a feeling that statistical studies made on any newly developed product with show some negative readings from time-to-time. If the ICD's are experiencing such a phase, which they have on two occasions, there is no justification for anyone to spread rumors of the maker's other product. Shame on you - whom every you may be - for starting such a cycle of distrust. A. L.M. July 22, 2005 [c511wds]
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
LEADERSHIP KNOW-HOW How well informed are our Presidents when in office? Recently I have heard people taking him to task for not "invading Iraq when we had the chance and finishing off Saddam Hussein for good." Most of us realize that George Bush, as Commander and Chief of the Armed Forces, would justly bear the ultimate responsibility - or blame, if need be - for such a decision. The actual decision to do so may have been made by other people who advise him. George Bush had some of the same things to think about which must have caused Harry Truman anguish long ago when he had to decide about dropping the atomic bomb on Japan. Not to do so would have meant the war would be prolonged and thousands of American lives and of Japanese would be killed or wounded - even millions - in an island-by-island invasion which was the alternative. Bush, in a similar manner, faced a like problem. Truman, I feel, was, perhaps, better informed than Bush. I think that George Bush - as were many of us at that time - was caught up, in a rather flagrant military use of public relations techniques. he PR flak being produced at the time by the military was deceptive. You may recall that we were assured the land war had been won, that our "Puritan "missle - called an anti-missile missile - had overcome the Iraq "Scud". We were shown photographs of how our "smart" bombs could go it the front door of an targeted Iraqi building and explode inside when told to do so. We saw utter destruction of bridges, highways and rail facilities throughout the land. They were done. Finished. Kaput. Much of that was press Flak, pure hogwash set forth by the "Tech" side of our military at that moment in our history, aided and abetted by an eager Media which bought the whole line of Sci-Fi handouts - complete with visual effects. It is now obvious that, while Saddam's troops and actual mechanisms of war, were in turmoil much of his power was still there. The "Tech" threats were not enough to stop him, but that was not Bush's fault. If fault or blame must be meted out, reference must be made to our own gullible acceptance of the military version as handed to the media. It is another case wherein the military actually came to trust it's own hype. We are, just now, becoming aware of a greater danger which might have been working against us. Belatedly, we are being informed about certain groups charged with keeping our leaders informed. A weak man, who felt he had been unfairly overlooked promotion to head his department, turned traitor to his vows and for fifteen years has lived the despicable role of "Deep Throat". Such pettiness can destroy nations as well as presidents. A.L.M. July 19, 2005 [c485wds]
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
READY It is only rare occasions that I have sat me down to write and have not been ready to do so. I freely admit that this desire to write which comes so easily and quickly for me, has little worth in his do-it-now quality. That which is set down at such times will vary a great deal. Some bits and fragments will contain a germ of further thought, and some will be sheer garbage of the days activities. I agree that any preoccupation with details of the moment just passed are of little use to filling the looming future to any advantage but it does show we have a path, a system or a marked tendency to ward progress and uplifting of gaols and aspirations. We sound and seem progressive. One has to be frankly aware of any good qualities we possess, however minuscule and consider ourselves to be wiser and stronger than ever before as we anticipate the unfolding of possibilities. Most of that which has happened is best left in the past; we have the future as our main concern and any scraps or helps we can take to it from the past should help rather than hinder. Be very selective of what you wish to retain I was reading just this morning of Thomas Jefferson's mixed concerns about the presence of slavery among us. We have, he seems to have said, a wolf by the ear and while we cannot control. We, at the same moment, are fearful of turning it loose as well for our own safety. He foresaw ,I would think, a great awakening in a moral sense or a bloody conflict to solve the problem. I doubt if old Tom worried a great deal about such things. Rather, he would have applied himself to personal kindness directed to blacks he knew or to whites who care for them. I wrote all that last night at about 3:15 A.M simply because I wanted to be writing on the handy half-clip pad I keep - loaded and penned-up at my bedside. It is not going to shake the world - or any part of it - but anytime you can find yourself thinking things you think Tom Jefferson might have thought it is worth writing down. a.l.m. July 16, 2005 [c392wds]
Monday, July 18, 2005
BIG BOX LIVING Some sections of our nation have not yet experienced the departure from normal-sized stores and shopping centers to what has come to be called "big box" building for merchandising. Most of those we now have have been built on development property on the edge of cities and towns. Sites are cleared and some really strange constructions has been adopted which have provided new facilities...quickly and with as little expense as possible. The term "box" is used both ways - as a complement for the quick, economical and serviceable construction and it is also used as a word of ridicule for much the same reasons, it seems. "Nothing made that fast can be any good" seems to have become an established maxim with many people who openly express personal opposition to this particular phase of construction. Many are fashioned from materials laid flat on the surface at the site and, when formed, are "stood up" as soon as the joints can be moved - then, critics insist, a roof of a sort is "slapped on" top to secure the sides They liken the p procedure to a child building a "house" using playing cards. Tremendous barn-like structures can be quickly provided for a wider and more varied merchandising efforts. Wal Mart" is completing totally new distribution facility at Mt. Crawford - Harrisonburg; "Best Buy"" has had one in operation at Verona for several years; "Marshall's" in Bridgewater is well-established and there is a monster box in operation by "Target" at Stuarts Draft, Virginia. In our region many towns seem to be engaged in a "boxing match". Eventually, someone has quipped, cities will be concentrations of people located on each end of strings of boxes which will connect one town to others in replacing rural scenery. A.L.M. July 17, 2005 [c375wds]
Sunday, July 17, 2005
CAFFEINE There seems to be a great deal of mis-information around concerning caffeine, and as important as it can be to all of us it might be good to clarify some of the mistaken ideas we have developed about it. Older works say caffeine - and hence, coffee in the mind of most people - causes stress. Recent studies decry this accusation and say that caffiene has been falsely accused on that point. Most of us consume caffeine in our daily diet - more ,perhaps, than we might think we do, so it is important that we learn - and apply - certain common-sense rules concering use of this acknowledged stimulant. Contrary to what many of us have been led to believe over the years, caffeine does not cause "stress". It, in effect "turns up","accents",or "triggers" stress reactions. Furthermore, it keeps them going, one might say, sustains the reaction even thouigh it did not originate the stress factors where were already present. With caffeine users - especially those who use it in any form to excess - this time of continuing stress can be quick to rise and slow to subside. This is true because caffeine inhibits the body's normal biochemical mechanisms. Those are intend to "turn off" stress responses and caffeine prevents them from doing so. In other words, the on-off switch for stress in our bodies can be "shorted" not just by coffee - the most commonly accused type - but by others we will list in just a moment. If the off switch cannot be thrown, the stress factor tends to build up; to accumulate and symptoms are intensifed. In the worst cases, it can become the equal of pshychotic episodes with ,possibly, serious consequences. Caffeine is a diuretic, remember, and a possible danger to individuals usingit is a threat of dehydration. This is especially true of those for of us who use coffee, soft drinks or teas as the main beverage with meals and before and after snacks. Caffeine increases fluid loss through urine outflow. Mild dehydration can cause intense fatigue, and this, in turn, makes the individual feel a need for more caffeine beverages and the cycle can continue without end. This can affect our hearts, of course, and for our own good we must learn to control caffeine intake. It has not been proved that it is a cause of osteroporosis, but indications are that bone condition can be affected by caffeine use and it may well contribute to bone loss. It is important,.too, that pregnant women avoid caffeine at all costs. Excessive use of caffeine had best be avoided or we face possiblly serious consequences. Five hundred milligrams per day might be used as a rule of thumb for most of us. Now - where does it all come from? This is per cup: Brewed coffee - 85 to 200; instant - 60 and decaffinated coffee - 3. Tea bags - 45, Loose - 40, instant - 30. Hot chocolate - 6-42. Then, per can: Carbonated soft drinks. Colas - 30-65, Dr.Pepper - 61, MountainDew - 55 ...as examples. Add yours up. If it totals more than 500 milligrams per day...cut back and do so gradually - half as much every three days, is recommended - not cold turkey. a.l.m. July 17,2005 {435wds] \
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