Same sex marriage fight continues in California; North Korea beats the drums of war — what do we do???

What I really want to blog about right now is the continuing threats from North Korea, but first I must note that the fight over same sex marriage continues in California. I understand that two attorneys today are going to (or already have) file a brief in U.S. District Court in California to among other things get an injunction against the ban on same sex marriages.

In addition, I believe there are plans to mount yet another ballot measure, this time to re-instate same sex marriage.

As I blogged yesterday, I am not and out and out supporter of same sex marriage as such, but I do believe that the law should be clear on this. Right now we have a situation in which the state’s high court HAD declared that same sex marriage was protected under the state’s constitution, but then upheld a ban on such marriages that came as a result of a voter initiative. But another voter initiative could be mounted and the vote could go the other way. Opinion on the matter I think is fairly well evenly divided in the state. Prop. 8, which banned same sex marriages, passed, but part of that was from voter apathy and even confusion on the measure itself, as I recall.

One thing we have found out here in California is that it is far too easy to change our constitution. The anti-same sex marriage forces (including money from out of state and including help from the Mormons) were able to successfully argue that their ballot measure was an amendment, not a revision. Under state law an amendment can be made by the voters, but a revision requires a two thirds vote of the legislature and then a majority vote by the electorate.

To add confusion to all of this, some 18,000 same sex marriages performed before the ban are still legally recognized under yesterday’s court ruling. That seems rather odd to me, to say the least. Some same sex couples can be married others not. There is no precise legal definition in state law that makes it clear as to what the differences are between an amendment and a revision. The revision is supposed to be more all encompassing. Well anytime a class of people are said to have rights and then those rights are snatched away from them seems kind of a major deal to me, kind of like a “revision”.

It is argued that same sex couples have the right to civil unions and are afforded the same (or essentially the same) protections as opposite sex married couples. I doubt that such is accurate. And I doubt that California civil unions are recognized in all states, whereas marriages are (except possibly same sex marriages?).

Recognizing same sex marriages and calling them marriages is a major cultural change. And that is the problem. But it needs to be resolved by something better than a court ruling that same sex marriages can be allowed, but then disallowed by voters, but then maybe allowed again.

What if all the protections we have under the federal constitution’s Bill of Rights could be changed each election or in special elections at the voters’ whims? Fortunately it is a lot harder to amend or revise the federal document. Maybe California’s way of doing things needs to be revised.

AND NOW TO NORTH KOREA:

Just read an article on the web that said the North Korean army has declared the 1953 armistice null and void and that the Korean War is on again. And I think that this was in reference to some plan to intercept shipments dealing with nuclear proliferation to or from North Korea, that South Korea joined in. North Korea has threatened to attack U.S. and South Korean ships (I would hope we would respond to an attack better than we did in the Pueblo incident).

Well, it’s just threats for now.

An underground nuke test (and it is not generally known really how powerful it really was) and some more missile test launches and a lot of tough words have and are coming out of North Korea. And I read today that everyone, and especially the U.S. and China, which are key players here, seems baffled or befuddled as to what to do about the whole thing. North Korea is supposed to be China’s ally, but it is making that nation’s leaders uncomfortable with all of its threats that it is ready to use nukes to get its way. China does not want to cut off food and other aid on which North Korea depends for its survival. Fore one thing, China is afraid that if North Korea collapsed its million-man army might turn into armed marauders. The U.S. has to be concerned that North Korea might do something crazy like attack South Korea (a major ally of ours and one we saved at great cost to us back in the early 1950s). Or they might eventually, if left unchecked, launch a nuke at us, or sink one of our ships, or who knows?

I have read that the U.S. is depending upon China to do something about North Korea because we here in the USA don’t have many options. On the one hand, it might be hard to exert pressure on China since we are so much in debt to them for all the outstanding loans they have made us. On the other hand our whole relationship with that communist nation is symbiotic. Although we seem to depend upon them for money and our consumer goods, they depend upon us for trade, that is for buying all of their products.

While I am not for a lot secret dealing in international relations, maybe if it is necessary we should be doing some with China. As I have blogged many times – give nations like North Korea or Iran a secret ultimatum that allows them to change course but save face at the same time. Maybe we could do this with China. Make it plain to them that we, the USA, do not intend to simply wait until North Korea actually has the power to make good on its threats.

And if you read my blogs, I know you’ve read this one before: I like Teddy Roosevelt’s idea that we should speak softly and (but) carry a big stick. John McCain, as I recall, said he liked that approach too. So in that respect, if he really believed that (and with his singing, bomb, bomb, Iran, I don’t think he did so much), in the field of foreign relations he might have been a better pick for president. But there were so many other issues, such as the economy, for which he did not seem to offer acceptable alternatives to his own political party’s bungling (and yes, the Democrats bungled too, but they had a new face and something that appeared more like change).

President Obama is no peacenik. He has not ended the war in Iraq and is strengthening our effort in Afghanistan (and Pakistan). And I think he may well realize that at some point we will have to do something about North Korea. Mean words from that nation will not hurt anyone, but nukes controlled by a nut case of a dictator could (and that applies to both North Korea and Iran).

How we lost our culture while we slept…

I grew up with some general assumptions. Somewhere along the line I learned that we were a nation of immigrants and as a white kid with mixed European heritage I was not brought up with what might be called an ethnic identity, other than American.

Even though I have a German surname, I did not grow up thinking of myself as German. And I would learn along the way, I was part German but also part French, and English, and maybe Irish, and I’m not sure about anything else.

I also learned that as white people we were in the majority and I guess I assumed we would stay that way. But I also was taught by my parents and school teachers that I was not supposed to look with disfavor or prejudice upon those with other skin colors or ethnic backgrounds or religious beliefs. In fact, in my household we were not church goers at all (and to anyone who knows any members of my family, I am only talking now of my childhood and am not speaking for anyone but myself).

Along the way I also learned that not all people had such a tolerant view, but I accepted that getting along with people of other backgrounds was really the right thing to do.

And I’ll bet you that pretty well, with some slight variation, sums up the background and attitude of the majority of white people in this nation.

As for black people, most of them have ancestors brought here against their will. With freedom, most have assimilated into the western culture and have added their own special imprint on the American culture.

We white folks never really worried about this being the melting pot because we assumed that our culture (European and supportive of modern democracy, and yes for the most part Christianity, and to some extent Judaism) would continue on and anyone coming in would adjust and assimilate.

The religious thing is always tricky here. Our Constitution’s Bill of Rights guarantees freedom of religion (and I would say by implication the freedom to not be religious), but the majority was always kind of comfortable in assuming that it would be for the most part the freedom to worship at what ever Christian church, or perhaps synagogue, you wanted to. Oh yes, also at a mosque or temple or whatever for those few who might wish to do so, no problem.

But things have changed.

While in the 19^th Century it was still popular to have large families and so much of the population lived down on the farm where more children meant more farmhands, as we moved into the 20^th Century we urbanized and modernized and decided that well maybe we did not need so many mouths to feed (the Great Depression showed what a burden that could be) and maybe it would be better on the earth’s resources if we held down the population.

That idea of having smaller families was the prevailing view that took hold in Western Europe and the U.S. and has carried on into the 21^st Century.

But in other less developed areas of the planet people continued to have large families (although sometimes the survival rate was low). In fact, their religions, Islam in particular, promoted having as many children as, well, people might have.

Of course, even in the modernized western world Catholics, as an example, were expected to adhere to the traditional doctrine that having sex was basically all about having children and it was God’s plan. Doing anything to interrupt that process was a no no.

But even many Catholics somehow found a way around all of that, possibly by just disregarding their own doctrine.

Also during all this time Europe (and to a much less extent the U.S.) managed to kill off a large part of its population, particularly males, via two world wars and other hostilities. That led to the need for increased immigration into Europe to fill labor positions, especially ones others did not prefer to do.

Also in Western Europe and the U.S. increased education and higher living standards led to increased immigration that put many immigrants in lower paying jobs, many of which became to be seen as dirty work.

But still, all was good in the white world. We had our position as the leaders and for those of us church goers we had our traditional religion, while for the most part thinking well of ourselves as being benevolent in letting others in our midst worship as they chose.

And so the minority multiplied and the majority subtracted.

And one day the majority woke up to find that while they were sleeping others were doing something else and there were more of them and they did not necessarily hold to our traditional way of life.

We offered them freedom. And wouldn’t you know it, they took us up on it.

 P.s.

I wrote this off the top of my head in response to being sent a YouTube video warning that Islam is taking over the western world. Since we don’t know the source nor the intentions of such videos on the web we are better off to go by more reliable sources with footnotes and such. But we do know just by observation that the values and traditions many of us hold dear are being endangered by the break down in our own society and the rise of other societies. And it is accepted fact that the third world culture and the Islamic culture (no matter where) is multiplying faster than western culture. While I would say that to simply be prejudiced over race and religion and ethnicity is wrong, it is not wrong to believe and try to preserve a way of life and culture you believe in. This nation was or is a great experiment. By quirk or fate of history it was founded primarily by Anglo-Saxon white males. In our own open-mindedness we may have set our own trap. While the U.S. remains a draw and large numbers of the immigrants of different cultures tend to assimilate, not all do. Western Europe faces the same situation, some go along and some don’t. We saw the riots in France not long ago. I have no concrete answer nor suggestion other than we should decide as a nation whether the traditions and culture that has brought us this far should remain. I vote yes.

Tweet this! The only tweet I need is that from the little birdies…

We have all this instant communication and yet the world often seems lonely.

Maybe that’s why so many seem to have to be in instant communication or I should say constant communication with someone else via laptops, cell phones, and those other hand-held devices of which I know little about. And it is not just talking but also this texting thing where I’m told they use crazy abbreviations to throw their instant messages back and forth.

While I often look with wonder and even disdain upon these people seemingly talking to themselves (they’re really on the cell phone via those small ear pieces (blue tooth technology?), I have caught myself doing the same thing.

I’ve been walking each day on a path near our home. The fist time I walked this wonderful trip through nature I was disappointed to see that while so many others enjoyed it too, many of them were chatting on cell phones all the way. I mean what’s the point in getting out into the quiet (minus the chirping of birds) and peaceful solitude of the natural surroundings if you have to be electronically hooked and engaged with the rest of the world?

(And don’t get me going on this new “Twitter” thing where the short messages are called “tweets”.  The only tweet I want to hear is from the little birdies, not the squawking of humans. And yes I realize Twitter is texting, not voice. I was just complaining in metaphor.)

But then on another walk I felt myself compelled to call a former co-worker, a trucker, and ask what he was doing. I’ve done this more than once, I must confess. But I vow to not do it anymore (my fingers may be crossed behind my back). I feel guilty of poor behavior. Certainly it is the right of others to do as they please (I guess), but maybe I can just appreciate nature.

I was already thinking about writing of the addiction so many have to constant communication and then just before I sat down to blog this on my laptop I read a piece by Howard Rheingold in the online edition of the San Francisco Chronicle. He teaches a college class and he noticed that while he speaks few of his students actually look at him. Sometimes he actually asks everyone to turn their cell phones and laptops off. Once he pulled out his camera and shot a video of the class not watching him. Later he projected the video on a screen in front of the class. He looked out and many of the students were watching the video, but not on the projector screen in front of the class but on their own laptops.

You can see the blog he wrote about his at: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/rheingold/index? 

He indicated that some of them are doing other things as well, multitasking as it were.

And maybe this lack of attention span explains the ignorance of society. So many people, young ones especially, do not have a clue about the world around them despite their constant communication. The problem may be what that they are actually communicating about and the fact they are more focused on themselves than the world around them. I’m just surmising here.

There is a strange contradiction. I often hear young people, even little children, on television and they sound so mature and so articulate. And yet I have come to the conclusion that many are just parroting the media they are connected to, but do not and will not fully comprehend who they are and what their relationship is to the past and present and future. Many of them are more concerned about maintaining their own stage role. Maybe Shakespear had a point when he said life is but a play and we are all actors upon a stage.”

And maybe I just take things too seriously.

As I contemplate all this, I recall that back in those old days before personal computers and cell phones, when I was banging out stories on a manual typewriter in a newsroom, sometimes we would get to talking among ourselves about not much of anything and the editor, who often took part, would have to remind us that there was work to do. We were supposed to be the lucky ones with an interesting job, not sorting widgets on a conveyor belt.

But many of us do like to talk.

P.s.

And maybe those quizzes they do among young people where they do not know where Canada and Mexico are and probably do not care are just skewed unscientific samples. I mean with all of this communication the word surely must have gotten out.

Easy to jump to conclusions in Binghamton-like incidents; I still cling to gun ownership rights, though…

It’s so easy to jump to conclusions in these mass killings as the one today in upstate New York. I thought maybe it was a disgruntled white man going after immigrant targets and then I heard the suspect (presumed dead now) was perhaps a Vietnamese immigrant himself.

Also I read that he was carrying false I.D. and that he was recently let go from a job at IBM, implying that he kind of went postal.

There’s been so many mass shootings here in the United States recently, and one in Germany — not counting the usual terrorist acts overseas — that one almost becomes numb to the news — almost.

It’s still a developing story in Binghamton, N.Y., but apparently at least 13 people were killed or 14 including the gunman. It took place at a facility where immigrants were taking citizenship tests and English classes, it was reported.

And while I am a supporter of Second Amendment gun owner rights (although I find the wording of that provision highly ambiguous), I always wonder why we seem as a society helpless to keep obviously demented folks from obtaining weapons and going on shooting rampages. And the problem is even worse when you consider how easily criminals can get hold of weapons, often with a firepower that outmatches the police. But I cling to gun ownership rights, primarily due to the historical aspect of Americans being free to protect themselves from bad guys and bad government if need be (read the Declaration of Independence). I know full well, though, that most folks don’t have guns and don’t plan to get any.

The only societies that seem to be relatively free of gun violence, among the populace at least, are dictatorships who run police states.

Even Israel where the authorities and the citizenry have had to be ever vigilent against terrorism for more than half a century because its neighbors have often vowed to do way with that country cannot stop terrorist violence.

We’ll find out more later today or tomorrow about the facts and possible motives in the  case, hopefully.

Meanwhile, we have to ask ourselves is all this gun violence on a radical increase — it can’t be all due to more reporting via the internet — and if so, why and what can we do about it?

Do we just have to accept it all as the hazards of everyday life?

(Catch my contribution to the German-American experience and call up http://vonwalther.wordpress.com )

Local editor says paper newspaper to survive as only a “boutique” offering…

In answer to one of my periodic rant e-mails, the editor of my local newspaper informs me that indeed the internet is the future for newspapers and that the quaint paper newspaper I prefer is a relic that will only survive as a “boutique” offering for old-timers such as me. Sheesh! I’m only 59.

Even though I am sitting at my computer writing this blog, I do not care to read my newspaper in that fashion. Of course my local newspaper is offering less news all the time, even on the local level. So I do get one heck of a lot of my regional and national and world news off the web.

And I did try to check out what they are calling the e-replica type editions some newspapers are doing (essentially a replica of the conventional newspaper on your screen, rather than a standard web page). But they seemed to want me to subscribe first. And even though one promised to give me a peek, either my computer would not navigate it correctly or they were not giving me the full picture in their sample.

But from what I did see of the Washington Post e-replica, it looked promising.

Still, I want some way around having to read it on my PC. I know there are electronic readers of various types, but they would at the least be too expensive, I’m sure, at this time.

If the newspaper industry can develop some type of readily accessible light weight reader board (and I know there are ones, but not in wide availability) then even though I would still miss the old paper newspaper, I think the problem would essentially be resolved (or is it solved?).

I really need something to read. I mean I got up early yesterday and read my local newspaper, what there was of it, and what I cared to read, in less than five minutes. Then I switched on the TV and watched Bloomberg business news and heard the new CEO of GM go on for 45 mintues or an hour and say very little, except they will probably go bankrupt after wasting taxpayer money (well that is not how he said it, but that was the message I got out of it).

Now I would rather read a summary and/or interpretation of his remarks in which I would get just as much in less time and probably more providing the writer was versed in the subject at hand (as professional journalists should be). And depending on the nightly news means I get basically the headline or whatever sound bite they choose — not the full story I need to be as informed as I want to be, and I have to commit the time to be watching at a certain moment, not grab my paper and read it when and where I want.

And reading is important. The act forces you to think about what you’re taking in, at least somewhat. It also helps one retain what language skill he or she has and hopefully if you read good quality stuff (okay not so much this) you might actually improve your vocabulary.

I was searching for a word the other day and it would not come to me. Then much later I settled down to read a book and, lo and behold, there it was.

I do like the idea that in electronic newspapers information can be constantly updated.

And still it is hard for me to accept that paper newspapers — the look, the feel, the convenience, not to mention the historical/cultural aspect of hot off the press may soon be gone.

There seems to be little honor in corporate America

The federal government should not be bailing out domestic auto companies. It should not try to run them either. I am uncomfortable that the Obama administration felt it had to be the one to give CEO Rick Wagoner the boot out of  GM. Maybe the stockholders should have – I don’t know. Don’t even know if they had the power to.

It just doesn’t seem like the government ought to be that intamately involved in business.

And to make matters more bewildering, Wagoner reportedly may leave with a $23 million golden parachute. He had supposedly recently agreed to work for a $1 per year salary, it must be noted.

Maybe he felt guilty about having to beg or to extort the federal government out of billions of dollars in taxpayer money for a bailout. And maybe he felt a little bad about the fact that during his tenure as CEO, GM’s stock went from $70 per share to $3. He can’t blame it all on the worldwide economic downturn and that fuel spike last summer, since even in the good year of 2005 his company had lost $10.6 billion and suffered a 75 percent drop in its stock value under his leadership. (I got all those numbers out of an online Wall Street Journal story.)

But he’ll take his millions and run. There really is no shame in corporate America.

Most or all of these people who have led their companies down the drain and then had the audacity to ask for (demand?) taxpayer bailouts should have taken the traditional Japanese approach, no, not commit suicide, but resigned in the face of dishonor they had brought upon their companies and themselves.

As to their golden parachutes, well that is just part of the good old boy culture that has run corporate America where no one loses except the stockholders and the man and woman on the street, and oh, yes, the displaced workers, simply referred to as  ”labor”.

One does not have to be anti-corporate to call for a new system of personal honor and morals and eithics and integrity, although maybe one has to be a bit of an idealist to do so.

To some extent we have reaped what we have sewn throughout society. Morals and honor and ethics and integrity  are lacking perhaps at all levels.

P.s.

The Obama administration has made it plain bankruptcy might be in the offing for both GM and Chrysler (and why didn’t we go there to begin with?). Strangely and thankfully, Ford so far is surviving without bailout money. And American workers are turning out cars in the border states and South working for foreign auto makers and are glad to be working even if their wages are lower than those up north.

I understand the United Auto Workers union might think it can hold out for retaining some of its more bloated benefits because the new administration is more labor friendly. Seems like they might be happy just to retain or recover their jobs for now. And maybe management may have to have an attitude adjustment, at least until the market comes back,  as well.

The great India doctor quandary…

If you are a stickler for political correctness or if you are a white person and you are ashamed of your race, then perhaps you should not read on because this might make you at least a little squeamish or uncomfortable or it may really upset you.

I’m a white guy with Waldenstrom’s Macroglobulinemia (WM). This is a rare form of cancer that afflicts probably no more than 1,500 people a year in the U.S. (Remember our nation’s population is about 306 million). While so many forms of cancer are referred to as “curable” these days, there is no cure for WM. It is treatable. And the best thing you can hope for is that you beat the statistical odds and live longer, way longer, than the average of five years from the time of diagnosis (and I have received e-mails and/or comments on my blog from WM survivors who have). I’m going on two years right now.

But let’s get to the juicy part I hinted at on the top of my blog.

Quite by chance I was initially referred to an Indian (India Indian) oncologist. At first I was awed, even if I did not always understand each word, not only because I lacked medical training, but because of his thick accent and weird phrasing. Subsequently I caught him turning common American idioms on end, resulting in directions that could be interpreted in more than one way. Even so, I was still impressed at his knowledge and his dedication to his profession. He works seven days per week if you include his morning hospital visits (I was in the hospital many times and he never missed a Sunday morning visit). I overheard his conversations with other patients. He loves his golf too. He drives around in a sports car that has a personalized license plate that has his name and then the number 2, implying that he has another one just like it, I guess for his wife.

At one point I was in danger of bleeding to death and he ordered an infusion of blood factor 8 and it did the trick. But that was well into my treatment and I was bleeding uncontrollably when I first visited him. I had a blood-soaked washcloth in my mouth. His attitude at the time seemed to be that, well that was a separate problem, that I would have to see a separate doctor for that. And actually I did, but he eventually was at a loss for what to do so he wisely consulted back with my Indian oncologist, who ordered the factor 8.

And let me stop right here to address a side issue. If you are a patient and you are concerned that you might be in imminent danger of dying a premature death your only choice is to get aggressive and get someone, such as your spouse, to help you. It is hard. You have little power. You also have to become somewhat knowledgeable yourself. You will meet resistance. You either persevere or you die.

When I say aggressive, do not mistake that for belligerent. I know it’s difficult to know where to draw the line. I once was threatened with being hauled off to the local police station while I was waiting for treatment in an emergency room. My beef at the time is that previous experience had shown me that regardless if I ever saw a real doctor I would be charged for seeing one. I was not being cooperative with a male doctor’s assistant who did not identify himself as a doctor, but nonetheless implied that he was, until I asked him point blank if he was and he answered no. I was a little clumsy or ham handed in my approach. My only defense was that I was suffering from terrible mouth sores, felt terrible, knew I had WM, had just gone back to work but had to leave my job again (looking toward a future of no gainful employment and mounting medical bills), and my attitude was if I am going to be charged for seeing a doctor then let me see a doctor. I finally did see a doctor. He was quite nice and sympathetic and totally incompetent, at least as far as my problem was concerned. He should have consulted with my oncologist (but I think this was over that awkward time between Christmas and New Year’s – he still should have done so).

So, what’s my beef with the Indian doctor(s)? Well, as I said, for one thing they are hard to understand. For another thing, they can be quite haughty. This particular one had the Seinfeld Soup Nazi approach. He welcomed questions and then when he got them bristled and blurted out “I’ve already answered that question!”. He also contradicted himself. He once told me to see another doctor about my iron deficiency and do whatever he or she told me to do. I did. When I informed him that I was going to take iron pills he yelled at me: “I told you, no iron pills right now!”

(And just to show I don’t stack the deck against anyone, I will give him credit for being extremely indulgent with my well meaning older daughter who peppered him with questions. I was in the hospital at the time. At one point she actually asked him a question, prefacing her inquiry with the fact she had been told something by one of her friends who was a nurse. I turned my head and I am not exaggerating when I say I nearly climbed the wall in fear of the outburst that was to come. He surprised me and answered her question in a calm and patient manner.)

But coincidentally just before the one time I can pinpoint that he saved my life with that factor 8, he nearly contributed to my untimely death. I was in the hospital to get a blood draw and afterwards my tongue started bleeding. I sat in a chair holding it with my thumb and forefinger for more than an hour (the only known method apparently to stop the bleeding). It finally subsided. He came into the room and announced with a broad smile on his face that: “I will see what I can do to get the bleeding to stop. But if I am not able to, there is nothing more that I can do (shaking his head and grinning of all things).

Everything went blurry, but I was still conscious at some level. I had the sensation that my whole body was sinking into oblivion. I heard myself confessing to being ashamed that I was scared and acting cowardly, but that I could not help it. I did not want to die.

As is apparent, I did not die after all. I was rushed to emergency and given fluids via IV. I was suffering from extreme dehydration, primarily from loss of blood. I had awoke many a night with a mouth and throat full of thick, globby blood (a symptom of WM). I ruined many a pillow case and wash cloth.

When I really became disenchanted with my Indian doctor, though, was after my standard chemo. There was indication that the chemo had been a success. My IgM (WM talk, I don’t want to translate at this time) blood counts were way down, and I was told my latest bone marrow biopsy showed no signs of cancer cells. There was some indication, though, that the chemo had scarred my bone marrow (a common side effect) and that this might be contributing to my inability to bring up my white blood cell count (something needed to restore my immune system).

And this is where my relation with my Indian doctor really went sour. He seemed to completely lose interest in my case and simply shook his head, indicating the only thing I could do was live in eternal limbo.

He also grew even more impatient with questions, most of which he declared like an opposing attorney or a judge: “asked and answered!” and refused to go into the matter again.

At some point my wife and I had to get ourselves a new primary care doctor because our previous one had gone bankrupt, partly due to his ex-wife and bookkeeper embezzling from his practice and partly due to the fact he had gone off the deep end himself. The last time I saw him I thought he was the patient. He was unresponsive, unkempt, and had an empty stare.

I told the new doctor of my desire to get another oncologist. The new doctor was (still is) a woman. She referred me to a woman oncologist. I was not dismayed that this new oncologist was also Indian. Not at first anyway.

On my initial visits she was a breath of fresh air. She had a thick accent but was fairly understandable and she was willing to answer any question, even if already asked.

I began to lose a little confidence when she admitted she was but a beginner. But she seemed so willing to work with me and so nice. And to her credit she did work with the University of California at San Francisco Medical Center and prescribed a regimen of steroid pills to boost my immune system. She warned me that there was no guarantee it would work. The good news is that it did work.

But although my immune system has settled down into a low but acceptable range, some of my other WM indicators have begun to go the other way. At my second to last visit she said I could hold off seeing her for another three months, but that she definitely saw another round of chemo in my near future. She said the experts she consulted with had suggested a less toxic form of chemo that would include an oral administration of the drug Thalidomide (if you are at least a baby boomer, you may recall that is the one that pregnant women took back in the 50s and 60s I think and resulted in deformed babies). Old drugs never die, they’re just brought back for other uses. As I understand it, this would be followed up by IV infusions of Rituximab (something or a variant of something I am sure I have had previously and that was indeed quite toxic).

So a couple of weeks ago, having not seen her in three months, and starting to show some symptoms such as increased fatigue, headaches, and night sweats, I anticipated a long talk. No she was quite perfunctory and simply said I told you that you would have to go on chemo. I was understanding of that, but I wanted more information and a better understanding of this new chemo. Chemo is a mixed blessing. It can cure you or prolong your life, but it also does great damage to your body and may well contribute to your death. She was not in the mood to talk. She had to me moved from the sympathetic and loquacious female doctor to a clone of my Soup Nazi original Indian doctor.

Well, my wife and I showed her. We picked up my records and went to a much-heralded cancer center in town. They have several doctors in the practice, two of them are Indian. That was a cause of reservation (Indian, reservation, no pun intended) for me. I was told that they would review my documents and assign me to the appropriate doctor.

That was on Friday. Got a call already this week and yes I have been assigned to the “appropriate” doctor. You guessed it, one of the Indians.

So what is the proper protocol here? No I’m not like the idiotic redneck white bigot who would consider refusing a life-saving blood transfusion from a black man.

I’m just a white man who wants a learned and sympathetic ear and someone who speaks my language and understands my cultural attitude (such as no inappropriate glee or grinning).

My appointment is still on. I just have mixed feelings.

(Copyright 2009)

Jobs disappear, but so does the working person…

Went to a barbershop I never had been to before on the advice of a former truck driver co-worker. I went there for nothing more than a haircut and I got one that suited me.

The barber was just finishing up a customer as I walked in and I caught the tail end of their conversation.

I did not go there for conversation. I was glad I did not have to fake interest. I’m talking a traditional barbershop, a disappearing business in my area, replaced primarily by something called Supercuts, or a variety of phoo phoo hairstylist salons where the cutters are usually women and have no clue how to give a simple haircut without dipping your head in water. Don’t need the water torture.

My only problem with the traditional barbershops have been that the conversation often centers around sports and I have zero to contribute. Sometimes it’s politics. Now there I could contribute endlessly (just ask any of my siblings or other family members). But I would not dare spout off my opinions among the usual crowd – they have strange notions and are not all that open minded. Then there is the weather. But what can one really say? “Well we sure got a downpour. We needed it though.”

But the conversation I walked in on and then continued after the other man left was centered on the disappearance of the working class. We all know jobs have disappeared. But even before that, the working class, the men and women who were essentially folks who had a strong work ethic, an ethic that only asked for a full day’s pay in return for a full day’s work, has been withering away.

Sure the older generation probably has been accusing the younger generation of sloth since time immemorial, but things really have deteriorated. I hate to say it, but the problem may have had its infancy with my baby boomer generation. While the bulk of us, even ones who sowed their wild oats during the relatively harmless hippie revolution that turned into the insidious drug culture, found their way back into the mainstream, not all did.

Coincident to the sexual, hippie, drug revolution of the late 60s, there was the emergence of the Welfare State as it had never been seen before, even under FDR. With I presume mostly good intentions, President Lyndon Johnson introduced the Great Society programs. Interestingly, to play the idea up to a compassionate but somewhat skeptical public the dire poverty of white folks in the hills of Appalachia was featured as much or more than the plight of those in the black urban ghettos.

And forty years later we find that the desperate poverty remains in both places, with the added misery of the expanded drug trade and in the case of Appalachia (and all over poor white America) the introduction of prescription pain pill abuse. Since almost all of these people do not work and since the drugs cost so much, the only source of money is crime and what I generically refer to as welfare. It is government aid of various types. I’m not an expert, but I have eyes and ears and know that among the two culprits are Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) along with the program or programs that pay people who claim to be disabled, but whose disability is often self-induced alcohol or drug abuse or just an outright aversion to work.

The refusal to pay attention enough to even get a high school diploma adds to the problem (in California, until recently you only had to show up. There is some testing now, but it is usually waived when it is realized too many would fail). 

The fact of the matter is we have generation upon generation now of mothers who beget children to increase their AFDC take and rear new mothers who do the same as well as fathers who take no responsibility (they had none at home themselves as a role model or maybe they did, same difference).

Some of this is no doubt due to a normal distribution of a pathological brain disorder in a given percentage of the human race, with the only real difference being in how society handles the situation. And while it is far too easy to fall into the trap of using racial stereotypes and prejudice, my honest observation is this condition presents itself quite equally among at least black and white.

If you were to ask, but how do people get out of this cycle? I would say that blacks who simply move out of the ghetto and whites who move away from the depressed areas are often successful. It’s kind of like when your folks said don’t hang with the wrong crowd.

For the truly mentally diminished there is not much we can do, other than to make sure they get the care they need, but we should not be forced to finance their bad habits or their fecundity.

Even in this time of high unemployment, 15 percent now in my county, the previous customer (we’re back to the barber shop) said he was actually offering jobs for his house cleaning service. He said the work is hard (and I can be sure the wages low – although I suppose there might be tips) but he has to please his customers. He has a hard time finding, first, anyone willing to work, and, second, anyone who can pass the legally required drug screen.

(I add one cautionary note, however. There is unfortunately a segment of employers who like to exploit vulnerable workers and not allow them the same minimal rights you or I would take for granted.)

In my last job as a truck driver the pay was excellent and until a year or so ago the demand for drivers growing. But it was quite hard for my employer (and for all truck driving companies) to find drivers who could pass a drug screen.

And then there’s the guys who claim to work a certain trade and won’t work below that. But they are often imposters.

I watched one of my brother- in- law work construction all his life. He was a skilled carpenter and as such drew top wages, but he did it al, all phases of construction, and in all weather if required.

And he told me the other day. “You know us carpenters are hard workers. And if there wasn’t carpenter work, we’d do something else.”

And the barber told me that his son was lucky enough to be in a skilled trade but that he, the barber, always told his children: “if you’re out of work, you take what you can get”.

So what is left is the dying breed of the worker, the new pretend worker who wears his construction duds and drives down to the welfare office in his super-sized pickup (kind of like the old drug store cowboys my uncle used to tell about), and the strictly non-worker.

Until I came down with cancer I was a worker. In fact, at heart I still am.

World, you’re goona miss us.

P.s.

As far as social programs such as AFDC, I do not propose that they be dropped. The too obvious answer is that current eligibility requirements need to be enforced along with monitoring for abuse. While I am not a big fan of government intervention into family life, if we are going to run an aid program that is designed for the welfare of children but is drained to satisfy the drug and alcohol habits of adults as well as used for funds in place of work, then there is a role for the Child Protective Service.

P.s.  P.s.

Stopping welfare abuse will not solve our economic problems, but it will control the inevitable erosion of support for costly, but needed social programs and hopefully deprive the likes of know nothings such as Rush Limburger Cheese of too easy fodder for making propaganda to eliminate humanitarian programs and discredit liberals or progressives or open-minded conservatives (and I hope that was not an oxymoron).

(Copyright 2009)

Obama spots the hard lesson taught by A-Rod…

(Copyright 2009)

Not so long ago I thought A-Rod was something you did not want to break in your car’s engine maybe, so that shows you how much of a sports fan or more specifically a baseball fan I am. But what is the big deal about Alex Rodriguez testing positive for drugs? Is it supposed to be a secret that major sports stars, professional and Olympic, take drugs to enhance their athletic capabilities?

I don’t know if all do, but we certainly know that a heck of a lot of them do or have.

We also know that to a man, or woman, they lie about it till they are finally cornered, and sometimes they still plead innocent with overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

To some degree, I almost don’t blame the professionals. What are they supposed to do? Everyone else (seemingly) is (or was) doing it. How can they compete? The owners of the teams knew what was happening, but they didn’t mind making the money that their star athletes generated. But when the word leaked out, to cover up their embarrassment and to respond to legal and public pressure they showed concern.

If everyone was sincere about wanting to rid sports, and baseball specifically here, of performance enhancing drugs, mandatory testing would have been set up long ago and anyone who came up dirty would have to go (regardless of their talent and value). That’s the way it is for regular people. Regular trade unions can’t exempt their members from random testing and the consequences, why should the baseball players union?

From what I have read and heard so far, a lot of fans are disappointed with A-Rod, and rightly so.

And I think President Obama, questioned on the A-Rod situation at his press conference, put it well. He said that it is a lesson for young people, that they can destroy everything they work for if they follow A-Rod’s path.

And really, that is what it is all about. You can choose to worship fame and money and self and cheat, with the gamble that you don’t get caught, or you can have pride in yourself and your reputation, along with self-respect and respect for your profession and those who look up to you (fans),  something that is worth more than money, something money can’t buy.

Super game with disappointing messages…

(Copyright 2009)

And now for a non-sports fan review of Super Bowl 43:

I hadn’t watched the Super Bowl in years, but did Sunday, and I picked a good one to watch. I think the commentators agree that it was one of the most exciting ever – and with a 100-yard dash after an interception at the end zone and then that game-winning catch with 35 seconds left, and the back and forth in the second half, who could argue?

The heavily favored team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, did win in the end, but the Arizona Cardinals almost came back from behind with their aging quarterback for a storybook ending – almost.

But I think some of the unnecessary after-the-play violence on the field marred the performance of the Steelers (but I guess that’s how the big boys play).

So anyway, I’m not a sportswriter (although in another life I think I could have been), but what I want to say here is that while I was pleased that I picked an exciting, no, make that thrilling and nail biting (I was rooting for Arizona) game to watch, I despaired over what our culture has come to, as displayed by many of the inane and disgusting commercials.

I think I saw about two clean commercials. Most featured some form of violence, and at least one or two had what in an almost forgotten time now would have been called imappropriate sexual implications for general audiences. I’m not against sex (that’s how we all got here), but the way that it is constantly bombarded on us for those of all ages to see, and all of it working on the subconscious level for the younger set, I sometimes think that the cynical folks who design the advertising are laughing at all of us fools as they manipulate the way a whole society thinks and acts. Sex and violence rule.

Okay, here’s an example of the violence: on one spot Jack of Jack ‘N the Box gets run over by a bus or a truck or a car or something, I don’t remember – his little hat all smashed up and that weird fuzzy ball head of his fractured, and the commercial ends on that note. What was the message there?

(I know, those Road Runner and even Bugs Bunny cartoons I watched as a kid were as violent, but in those the violence was more on a comical slapstick level, and I’ve often thought that slapstick is really not so funny (even if most can’t help laugh at it).

I’m sure glad I am not raising children now – I do have grandchildren, though. I almost long for the censors of the 1950s (almost). No censorship is not the way to go. But as a society we have been bombarded by all the sex and violence so much that we are numb or immune to it (or so we think on the conscious level).

And on TV in general – I know I must be out of it, but a large number of the commercials whip by me and I don’t even know what the message was or what was trying to be sold to me.

It is a strange world I live in. Maybe I am experiencing future shock.

That was a heck of a game, though.

P.s. Please check out my German-American blog:

http://vonwalther.wordpress.com/