The Elaine Report: Feb 6, 2013

From Richard III to Beutel-Ei Nr. 1 in 8 steps.

• Reconstructing Richard III's Face So glad they did this! The portraits existent are so flat and characterless. There's a good description of digital facial construction and its limitations.
• Indian women robbed of their uteruses by money grubbing doctors ... and the government does nothing. Many women now convinced they cannot recover from illness without a hysterectomy. 
• New York city negotiating with Air BnB to keep visitors off the street. I was an Air BnB host for about a year. I met some intriguing, kind travelers who appreciated my local expertise. And helped pay my bills.
• Turns out being miles underground is the best way to study dark matter and get real peace and quiet.
• Microscopic nutrients from the Sahara rain on the Amazon. We are all one ecosystem, ya'll! Not a lot of other facts or explanations in this brief article with a Nikon-sponsored video of lovely shots of the Sahara.
• 21 Things You Should Never Buy at a Garage Sale. Full of ooky bugs and germs! Would have been better to tell us what we should buy.
• Internet to be replaced by esoteric time stream. Note the napkin sketch at the end of the article. Doesn't really help. Tumbled it.
• Technology aging backwards? I don't get it. Read about three paragraphs and became overcome by dark matter.
• Seamless beautiful backpack made of wool. The artist named it an Egg Bag. It is sort of egg shaped. Looks more like a Lady Bug to me. Pinned it.

Wrong and Supposed to Be

It's all wrong. And what is "it"? The system in general. Here's "the way it's supposed to be."

1. Mortgage companies should be responsible for employment. Sure, the government gains a lot when voters are employed but it's the mortgage companies that really suffer. 98% of my mortgage payment goes to interest. I'm renting from the bank. They actually own my home and let me stay here and take care of it while paying them. So, it should really be up to them to get me back in a job. If I don't work all they've got to show is an empty house that, right now, isn't worth as much as it would be if I had a job and paid the mortgage.

2. Doctors should run dating companies. My health in all dimensions (physically, mentally, emotionally) improves drastically when I'm in love. Apparently there have been some statistics to back this up with studies showing married men live longer and are healthier than their single counterparts. Of course, it could just be that some men prefer to party themselves into an early grave. All the same, love works for me. Other studies show that people who are happy can eat what they want and not gain weight. As Pamela says in the movie Avanti!, "I'm not unhappy because I'm overweight, I'm overweight because I'm unhappy." Not to mention the physiological aspects of the hypothalamus (the center of the emotions) which is tied into all the vital bodily functions.

3. Businesses owners should sweep the streets and run counseling centers. Especially the streets in my neighborhood where the cars parked in front of homes testify to the idiocy of having a policy of raising prices regularly no matter what. In this shrinking economy old notions of marketing developed during the tech and mortgage bubbles need to be swept away. People are hanging onto their jobs by the skin of their teeth. They aren't getting raises. They're lucky to have jobs. Raising prices works in an expanding economy like a carrot in front of a rabbit. In a shrinking economy that's demoralizing. Also, those looking for work need to know what sort of worker you need. They don't need to read a page about how aggressive and forward looking your company is and how exciting and wonderful and what great benefits you offer. That's 90's speak and makes the same sort of stink hot air always does. Cars parked in front of homes are people not going out because they can't afford to. People aren't spending. Raising prices means they'll spend less. And maybe businesses should be philosophers, too, and learn something about logic.

Current Fads
Listening. Healing Sounds (free from Sounds True)
Watching. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)
Activity. waking in the night
Gadget. iPod Shuffle, 2nd Gen
News Source. Facebook and Twitter
Reading. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling; Political Suicide - Robert Barnard; UU World; Mensa Bulletin; Precision Auto/Allstate Insurance accident/automobile repair documents
Writing. a lot in a my head

Song of the Night: Song for a Winter's Night

Hypertension: A Rant

Hypertension is a disease for which there is no cure. If you have it be advised that you have expected too much, borrowed too much trouble from the future, and overstayed your welcome. It is an extremely slow death from which there is no escape. Everyone gets punished somehow. Hypertension is one how. Conversely, it could also be construed as a favor from the universe allowing you to slowly fall asleep, to painlessly and gradually fail until sudden death takes you. A heart attack can be painful and no one wants renal failure.

Renal failure is one of those bright red flashing lights that paralyzes any common sense your doctor may have. Even the thought of a whisper of those words strikes her dumb and useless. The pen comes out. There is a blink of the eyes. The face stops working as if in hyperdrive stasis and then suddenly reactivates in an alternative future dimension. The pen moves. Scripts get written. The doctor breathes. All is right with the world again.

I on the other hand stop breathing because I know the doctor hasn't a clue what is wrong with me or how to fix it and is disinclined to broach the topic. She is also firm in her belief that consulting with another doctor is a sin greater than moronity since this is hypertension — a basic problem of life. I sigh and take the script. Here we go again.

There are a lot of superstitions about hypertension, just like cancer. And, just like cancer, the "cures" are magical and defy explanation: deep measured breathing, losing weight, exercising, following the DASH diet, organic herbs, tinctures, group support.

I think it has to do with being a herd animal in flight mode. When attacked by a perceived predator, a herd of wild animals panics and races to the horizon seized by communal fear. The animals drop logic in favor of brute force, forcing themselves to run.

As they run, members of the community are picked off, falling in the center or along the group perimeter. The fear factor increases and the herd tries, if possible, to run faster shedding any remaining logic in order to focus fully on the goal of losing their attacker. Those closest to the lost ones exhibit disorientation. They stumble more, their eyes move wildly back and forth, they rely on the press of bodies to carry them in the right direction. Subconsciously they calculate their chances of survival and whether or not the statistical finger of fate will select them or their neighbor. Their fear separates them from the herd, makes them an individual. The herd can't help them now. Their attacker is more powerful than the herd.

The survivors sense that death is inevitable and yet keep running anyway. Hypertension is like that. The unknown enemy that keeps you running. The unseen lethal opponent lurking just out of sight with a magic mystical touch that can reach into any part of the herd and select a victim at will. Those who survive are rewarded with adrenaline enhanced maniacal running — grabbing at whatever solution they can get.

Why is there no cure for hypertension? Because it concerns hormones, about which we know little and which are mysterious and complex. Because it concerns the liver about which we really only know that it is essential and that damage is generally irreparable. This is the fear in the doctor's eyes. The common cold no one can cure. A lethal common cold that will kill you no matter what.

The only treatment is prolonging the agony. Slowing down the predator and maybe helping the victim to run faster or to not focus on those dropping next to them. However, in the end, hypertension will get you. It's just a matter of time.

What's wrong with socialized medicine?

Socialized medicine is not socialism. Socializing medicine seems to be the magic bullet that will fix all our health care ills. The reality is far from the dream. According to my experience, anyway. I've twice been the victim of socialized medicine. Okay. Victim is too strong a word. Let's leave that for now.

My first experience with socialized medicine was in England where I gave birth to my second child. You can't go by pregnancy and birth because they can't wait. Not like gall stones, hairlips or bone spurs which can be put off for a very long time indeed. As a pregnant person I received priority treatment. My then mother-in-law with gall stones ended up on an 18 month waiting list and was only bumped to the head of the line after 7 months because the only thing she had been able to keep down for weeks was warm water.

Some people think that socialized medicine is good because the poor will have the health care they need. In my English situation I lived in what we in America consider to be an upper middle class neighborhood. So did my mother-in-law. We weren't poor or needy by any stretch. What happens is that patients flood the system without a comparable increase in doctors. The doctors and hospitals get overloaded.

Those with discretionary income who can pay for private care can jump to the head of the line. And we're back to where we started. The poor and those who can't afford the premium prices of private doctors, including professional couples with children, are put on hold for just about everything but emergencies. They are seen by overworked doctors and end up in thinly staffed hospitals.

This is much like my experience now. I am unemployed and have qualified for free local health insurance offered by Virginia Commonwealth University's Medical College of Virginia. The program is also know as VCC (or Virginia Coordinated Care). My coverage is much like an HMO. I have a primary care physician and can't see a specialist without a referral. For emergencies I can only go to the Medical College of Virginia hospital (MCV).

The emergencies work out fine. Socialized medicine is set up for emergencies and other priority conditions. Of course, I still sit for hours with all kinds of people, although MCV has a special streamlined system (two hours instead of four) for those who are "in-and-out" patients.

On the other hand, it took six months for me to get to a Urologist and two months to get my first doctor's appointment. Originally the Urologist had scheduled my appointment for a year out, but my doctor and the patient advocate managed to pull some strings to get my wait time shortened. Getting a taste of this? Good.

As well as quantity, quality also suffers. Since doctors are in such demand you get all kinds of doctors. Urologists who cause off-the-charts pain with a q-tip. Doctors who can't get your blood pressure medication right or who refrain from referring you to a specialist for any number of reasons — one of which may be that the system requires they exhaust certain options before referring. Another may be that they are just too overworked to keep up with any patient who isn't teetering on the brink of emergency.

It would be great to provide some kind of health care either permanently or temporarily for those who can't afford to pay. I don't know what that looks like. It doesn't look like anything I've seen or heard about so far. Whatever system is created, the patient should bear some financial responsibility, no matter how small. And there needs to be enough doctors and hospitals to go around.

How will that be paid for? I don't have an answer. Right now the American system is being stretched to the limit with record unemployment and the boomer retirement bombshell. Can we afford socialized medicine? Can we afford to not have socialized medicine, keeping in mind that prevention is a lot cheaper than treatment?

I hope a workable a solution can be found. I hope everyone who is able and willing helps find a solution in a peaceful, fact-finding, respectful way. Best of luck to those working on this problem.
Current Fads
Listening. Somebody Like You, Silver Screen Soundtrack Orchestra; susurration of Air Conditioner
Watching. The Fifth Element (1997)
Activity. learning how to navigate free health care; dealing with 10 months of unemployment
Gadget. resuscitated Palm Zire 31
News Source. the news feeds in Safari
Reading. Fruits of the Poisonous Tree - Archer Mayor; First Impressions: What You Don't Know About How Others See You - Ann Demarais and Valerie White; facebook and twitter updates; Garage Band help
Writing. this blog post; morning pages

t- (therapy) groups, meetups, encounter groups

Now that we've raised our children and we're back to giving ourselves time, all the little groups from the sixties are back. They're older, matured, wiser and more spiritual, yet are still small, intimate groups where we share what is deep in us and experience change and awe. I'm in three of them and I'm reading at least two books related to human potential. I've become adept at sharing a two minute summary of me. I come home with folded papers in my purse. I promise myself I'll look things up on the internet. I add yet another author or book to my ever-increasing list of good things to read that are good for me.

What I discovered tonight is that first and foremost I need to attend to me. One person shared that her joy comes from helping others. My joy comes from healing and shedding pain. Why there should be so much pain and where it comes from, I don't always know. I am learning two paths now. Maybe three. The buddhist way of releasing everything and accepting what is and learning to let feelings and thoughts pass through me. Desires bring suffering. The spiritism way of feeling deeply the emotions that connect me to the universe and cause it to expand. Desires are good and plentiful and should increase. Then, I suppose, the third path is doing good and/or helping others. Tricky that. How does one help? It's not as easy as you might think. Right now I'm content to help privately in little ways. To learn not to be overbearing yet to be assertive when necessary. I'm sticking to my little plot of ground where I can try things out.


Current Fads
Listening. iTunes Party Shuffle of my entire digital music library; others
Watching. Hair (1979)
Activity. breathing
Gadget. Samsung cell phone
News Source. the news feeds in Safari
Reading. Spirit Guides and Angel Guardians - Richard Webster; Ask and It is Given - Esther and Jerry Hicks; Self-Editing for Fiction Writers - Renni Browne & Dave King; Midnight Dreary: The Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe - John Evangelist Walsh; Das Wilde Land - Heinz Konsalik u. Susanne Scheibler; Mensa Bulletin (Yes, I really am reading them all right now—I'm a reading addict. What can I say?)

Hello Cleveland

Amazingly, here's a school (SucessTech) with a plan in place that worked. A city with a responsive police force that actually responded quickly. Yet on CBS they badged the Superintendent of Schools to death about security measures. You can't stop up all the loop holes. And you can't stop someone from finding them.

Another story on TV this morning was about crash test dummies and SUVs. Just another way to protect us from each other because we are imprecise and don't always pay attention.

Let's take all that crash test money and engineering development money and all the money for hiring more security and the money for making better bombs and the money for better jails. Let's take it all and put into something worthwhile, like figuring out what makes a good, attentive, alert, precise, well-adjusted and healthy human being and let's make as many of those as we can. Let's put any money left over after that into helping the rest become better. Let's find out what it takes, whatever it is — whether it's physiology, or psychology or critical development periods or whatever. Let's find out what it takes and let's do it. Oh, and along the way, let's talk to the kids. The kids know.

Spending more money and time on security is like putting us all in jails. And even there we won't be safe.

My Mood Cafe

travel polllution

Leo Hickman, in an extract from his book in the Guardian, complains about aircraft and tourists in general polluting up the few remaining natural phenomenon of the planet. I agree that stag parties should not be allowed in historical areas, especially small historical areas with limited resources. I also agree that delicate ecosystems involving coral and tropical beaches should be treated with respect. He does not mention the cultural damage that comes with tourism. While I really enjoyed my stay in Cancun, there were places I went where I could have been anywhere. Senor Frogs, for instance. Except for the bill produced in pesos I could have been right here in lovely downtown Richmond VA. If you want to experience real travel pollution that has been going on unchecked for ages, you don't have to go to Phuket (Thailand) or Tallinn (Estonia). Simply spend the night in my guest room.

I live three blocks from the railroad tracks. I've noticed that quite a few trains pass through between 2 and 4 a.m. Some of those drivers really like to blow their whistles. There used to be one train at 4 a.m. with a particularly annoying, off-key whistle that brayed and brayed and brayed. If you weren't awake, it would wake you up. If you were awake, there was no chance of getting back to sleep. And yet no one writes much about train pollution, or how much trash they dispense into the air from spent fuel, or the many things that spill from them and how they disrupt our sleep (lack of which, we all know, can make us very unhealthy). I often think about talking to the city's environmental concerns office and wonder exactly what decibel level is allowed at 4 a.m. Judging by the train whistles, it seems excessive. If my stereo were that loud at 4 a.m. the entire neigborhood would rise up and expel me, just like they did that drug dealer seven years ago.

To balance this out (well, that's my excuse anyway), is Ode which claims to publish "Stories that bridge the gap between thinking and doing, between rage and hope, and the painful gap between the rich and poor – and thus build peace and sustainability. " Very noble. If only I could be so good. Worth a trip, anyway. Maybe if I read the stories I'll be motivated to actually complain about the trains.