Category: Orphans

From Nov. 21, 2016

Yes I am still writing. But nothing tonight. I am watching the Texans. I’ll get back at you, amigos!

Today, Nov. 22, 2016

I wasn’t watching just any Texans last night. I watched the Houston Texans, known to polite society out there as a U.S. football team. Sometimes the Texans seem to be that.

Houston played the Oakland Raiders last night at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. The Houston team could have won. They were beat by only a touchdown and an extra point. But the Texans did not win. Should I say any more? Probably not. But then again, screw it. All in football is fair, as does it seem in the “P” word. That is a “P” that rhymes with “C” and that stands for, well, kind of what the “P” word stands for and neither of those stands for “pool.” Unless … Oh well. Never mind.

Houston had a couple of problems in their way. First, they should only play when the whole team is fit as a fiddle playing “San Antonio Rose,” or better yet, the soulful-Western swing classic “The Maiden’s Prayer.”

All of that that Western swing from the days of “Willie, Waylon and The Boys” aside. What was I writing about?” Oh yeah, footsball.

The 30-year-old estadio can hold almost 110,000 people while those folks sit way up there at an altitude of about 7,200 feet. Swee–ee-t, right? Well maybe not so much if you suffer from altitude sickness.

Most medical material found on the internet usually gives an altitude of about 8,000 feet as where this sickness might begin. Like most medical information adapted for consumers, some leeway is often found.

A bit more than two years ago I visited Albuquerque, N.M. for a week. I flew out of my home airport in Nederland, Texas, which has an official elevation of just more than 15 feet above sea level. In between my take-off at Jack Brooks Regional Airport in Nederland and the George Bush Intercontinental in Houston was no more that 30 minutes, with that trip up to where the pineywoods and its gentle hills beginning. One who lives in the coastal plains might recognize the elevation increase at George H.W. Airport by some 80 feet.

Of course, when you’re flying … when you’re flying, the whole world flies with you … Nothing like a little butchered tune. La, la, la.

So here you are. You are flying from just lighter than sea level. You go up a great deal and then down you go for a landing … Wheeeee!

I first noticed in flying from Houston to Albuquerque, shortness of breath, when I walked up the jetway. I always try to diagnose everything away from serious causes: Heart, Lungs, Head Like A Golden Retriever. But to this day, I still have no idea what caused my breathing difficulties, as they returned on my journey home. Best I can tell, it seems to have a cause in my having become too fat.

So perhaps the problems with the Texans last night in Mexico? Surely a combination of more than a mile in altitude combined with very unhealthy skies would help not even the healthy breathe normally. It’s hard to determine whether some pro football players are too fat. Some players are certainly huge-sized big.

Then there were the lasers. Osweiler, had a Super Bowl last year after backing up legendary QB Peyton Manning in the nation’s only Mile High Stadium. He stands at about 6-feet-5 or 6. He doesn’t seem as if he had ever met fat.

So you figure out all those factors and what do you have left? Well, the Zebras.

Dressed in the black and white stripes, referees have helped the American public see that bad calls are less often than a fan might want to imagine. Still, the bad call exists.

But you be the judge! Did DeAndre Hopkins step out of bounds on this massive run off the Texans’ opening kick? It seems like the officials  must have sneezed during the opening drive of the game. Would it do any good to show an additional travesty?  Why would it?

Who are you asking? And what kind of Mexican beer do you like? The kind with that funny old man who is the most interesting man in the world? Or do you like that beer made in Texas?

It’s for another day’s discussion. But while I wait, it seems as if I am really thirsty as hell, my friend.

Yesterday I experienced what is probably the seventh or eighth MRI I have had over the past 25 or so years. That might be more trips than I ever imagined into what I alternately call “the washing machine” or “The Money Reduction Instrument.”

I say washing machine because that is what the default sound of the MRI resembles, except it is probably 10 times louder than a real washing machine. The Money Reduction Instrument is the name I gave the MRI after the first such test I had. The reason for my second moniker is that the test took a sizeable chunk of from my finances.

For many, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, MRI, can provide one’s medical team some extremely valuable insight into various diseases and injuries. The majority of MRIs I have had were for osteoarthritis in my cervical spine. I have had two C-spine surgeries. Despite the two operations — and I imagine those hundreds of thousands of people who have had such surgeries will understand — I have still had chronic pain for several decades now.

Yesterday morning I had my latest MRI. I am still awaiting the results. And while my prognosis remains in the air, I can testify that the actual test yesterday was AS LOUD AS HELL!!!

Just why the noise was so intense yesterday during the test I have no idea. I did have a, so-called, “open MRI.” That means that I wasn’t packed into a enclosed tube with very little room to move — which is an ideal posture for that examination. I was still pretty immobile. I had little room between my protruding belly and the machine. The big difference with this open machine is that it is, well, open. I had to take a look to my left and right, moving only my eyes, to reassure myself I am still free. Even though I couldn’t move. My aforementioned immobility was enhanced with a inflexible plastic collar with a technician placing tape over my forehead for good measure.

Okay, and then we were off. Off to the surround(ing) sound of the MRI machine for about 30 minutes. Oh, and did I mention the machine WAS LOUD AS HELL? Sorry, it was so loud, I had use all caps to describe it.

Rather than use my own brain cells to explain the mysteries of the MRI, I thought I’d let this duty fall to my friends at The New York Times. I doubt that I have many, if any, friends at The New York Times — I just said that because … what the hell, right?

 “The banging is the vibration of metal coils in the machine caused by rapid pulses of electricity, said Dr. Keith Hentel, chief of emergency/musculoskeletal imaging at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.

 “Magnetic resonance imaging produces images of the body by causing shifts in a very strong magnetic field and measuring how tissues react,” Dr. Hentel said.

From here, I suggest you read the rest of the article. You might just learn something. But before you do, I suggest you find some earplugs or maybe some ear muffs, such as those we called “Mickey Mouse ears” in the Navy. You should definitely take some precaution from loud noise. And you will encounter loud noise while taking a MRI. After all, MRIs are LOUD AS HELL.

 

 

If I never agree with another remark made by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I  will certainly vote “aye” to what he told Hillary Clinton during a Democratic presidential primary debate: “I’m sick and tired of hearing about your damn e-mails!”

Yes, give Bernie a hand for that zinger.

After the FBI document dump today of notes made during that agency’s Hillary Clinton e-mail handling while she was secretary of state, I am convinced those “damn e-mails” will continue as a source of scorn by the GOP right even up until the end of her first term as president. The link above allows one to see these notes on their own, that is if they have several cups o’ joe or Red Bull handy to keep them awake.

I tried reading every word of the investigation notes set in two sections by the FBI. It comes to almost 60 pages of tightly-packed information. Well, that is minus the 10 or so pages which are, I suppose, Top Secret.

Shortly after these documents were released so were critical comments by “surrogates” of the GOP presidential candidate. If you’ve read this blog during the last month or so, you will know that I do not name the Republican candidate. I listened to the surrogates and others on CNN begin talking over each other before the ink was hardly dry on the FBI notes.

One fact that can be taken away from reading these notes is that much of the time is spent talking tech-ese about computers and servers and Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities, or SCIFs. Not only there is heavy tech jargon but a good does of lawyer-speak can be found.

Frankly, I don’t know how much can be made from these pages by either reporters or surrogates during a short period of time. Yes, Clinton said she didn’t remember a lot when it comes to conversations or e-mails. She did mention in the interview her concussion and blood clot in 2012 although it really isn’t clear whether Clinton is giving that temporary impairment as a reason for memory lapses. It really doesn’t matter to the Republican right. Just the mention will make the right attack machine go batshit on the Clinton health conspiracy.

One must also remember Clinton left the State Department more than three years ago. Hell, I forgot what happened this morning. So if Clinton is a normal senior at age 68, then I think those with a little experience and insight might give her the benefit of the doubt.

I think some, if not many, in federal employment will tell you — at least those who deal daily with some level of confidential material — mandatory training is given every year in information security. That would kind of hint that the average worker will forget some of that training each year.

Hopefully, when the presidential debates begin we  might finally move onto some issues that matter to the electorate. That is, if the GOP candidate isn’t too chicken to attend.

Our neighboring congressman, Republican Brian Babin, has risen from obscurity, now a supposed talking head for the GOP candidate for president. Unfortunately, much of what the lawmaker says is wrong or a lie or both.

I watched Babin this morning on CNN with Carol Costello, who was grilling the poor dentist from Woodville, Texas, like a fajita.

I will be talking with @CarolCNN at 10am ET on @CNN. Tune in if you can!

— Brian Babin (@RepBrianBabin) August 22, 2016

Babin, who lost a congressional race in 1996, would have had no name recognition outside of the largely rural East Texas district had it not been for his part in a scandal involving former GOP majority whip Tom DeLay. As Babin’s wiki page says:

After the 1996 election, Babin became involved in a campaign finance scandal concerning $37,000 in illegal donations from businessman Peter Cloeren that were moved through “vehicles” to circumvent the individual contribution limit of $1,000. Cloeren asserted in an affadavit that Babin and then-House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (allegedly*) laundered his donations through other candidates and organizations. Babin and DeLay denied his allegations. Cloeren pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations and paid a $400,000 fine and received a two-year suspended prison sentence. Babin paid a $20,000 civil penalty and paid back $5,000 in excessive contributions for “accepting an excessive contribution and a contribution in the name of another and failing to disclose financial activity properly.”

(*Ed. inserted “allegedly.”)

DeLay was later found guilty on campaign finance charges of money laundering and conspiracy by a Texas court. But the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturned the verdicts. The present political composition of the court is one Democrat and eight Republicans.

The Costello interview with Babin, the congressman from the 36th Texas Congressional District, touched on the GOP presidential candidate’s remarks last week seeking the black vote as well as Babin’s own take on the border situation.

“I don’t think he’s got a thing to apologize for… He is not a professional politician” @RepBrianBabin on Trump. https://t.co/JQtChqitBp

— Carol Costello (@CarolCNN) August 22, 2016

Babin said that he would not have spoken the way the Republican presidential candidate did last week while seeking the black vote. T, addressing a nearly all-white crowd, said that essentially blacks have little going for them so they should try him on for size as president.

 “What the hell do you have to lose?” the candidate asked.

Babin added that talk of T having racial biases is just wrong.

“I don’t think Mr. (the GOP candidate) has a racist bone in his body,” Babin said.

What bones have to do with racism is another matter.

Babin might just get away with a slip of the tongue while speaking to Costello on border problems. Addressing what true believers call “a clear and present danger,” Babin repeated inflated or perhaps just downright false claims about ISIS terrorists who were caught at the Texas border.

Babin said for just a split second that 40,000 ISIS operatives had crossed the border. Costello tried to hammer the congressman on specifics. Of course Babin had none to share. Some Republicans have said 10 ISIS troops were caught sneaking into Texas from Mexico. Others say eight Syrians were caught at the border. So whether Syrians or Syrian ISIS members or Syrians posing as Mexicans might have been caught it seems just as certain that number might be zero.

A June 6, 2016, editorial by The New York Times had it right taking Babin and other Republicans to task for their Chicken Little routine over Syrian refugees.

“To people like Mr. Babin, facts seem to mean very little.”

One hopes not. Babin appears to be a nice fellow. Perhaps he has perfected his soft East Texas speaking style while talking to patients while standing over a dental chair. But he should be reminded that any yanking the doc is doing should be that of rotten teeth rather than yanking the American public’s chain.