Well, this weekend is going to be an interesting one. My daughter, is going to her second dance competition. They had a smaller one here in Virginia last weekend where the studio she attends cleaned up in the awards. You can see that all the hard work has paid off for these girls. This weekend, it's a 3 day affair down in Rocky Mount, NC. She's been so excited for this one that we've almost had to strap her down in her bed to get her to sleep at night.
So, it's just me and the three boys. Should be fun. Two of them are going to be helping their uncle on get a truck street legal so that my oldest can eventually drive it (when he gets his license). The youngest is going to be at auditions for the local school division's gifted and talented programs for theatre and voice. Should be interesting.
Me? I get to play slave driver (want to surprise my wife with a neater house than when she left), taxi driver, and mechanic. Oh, and we might through in a visit to the Hunger Games in there somewhere. Oh, and a trip to the range on Sunday. Haven't been for several months (bad Sham! No cookie!) so I need to go and work on a few things. After the way the last several weeks have gone, I can use the recoil therapy. Time to see how the practice on the grip in dry fire turns out when everything goes live.
Everyone have a nice and safe weekend!
-- Sham
Friday, March 23, 2012
A Guy in a Skewed World: Better Living Through Modern Chemistry
One of the things that I've had to come to grips with while dealing with my FMS and other arthritis conditions (little of which actually shows up on x-rays. Go figure) is the experimentation that doctors go through. Let's try this drug and see if it helps. Take this drug for a couple weeks and then come see me. Anybody with a chronic, long term condition is familiar with this cycle of ups, downs and completely freaked out reactions of your body.
Now, don't misunderstand me. I appreciate the hard work that doctors do to try and help us reach a point where we can live a functional life or put us back together after we do something monumentally stupid. My rant (because it's not really a complaint, because I can see and understand the logic behind it) is born out of an overloaded sense of frustration.
It's frustrating to deal with the cycle of hope and disappointment that comes with each new treatment plan.
It's frustrating to have something start working, and then having to quit because the side effects are more dibelatating than the condition being treated.
It's frustrating to realize that there might not be a way to actually bring my health levels back to a point where I can remain a functional member of society.
A recent visit to a new rheumatologist (and one that doesn't think it's all in my head) has me hoping again that we might be able to find something that'll work. New tests, x-rays, and a willingness to not assume that I'm making it all up for attention. Those have sparked something that's been missing for awhile (despite my family’s best efforts).
Here's hoping that we can finally break this cycle of hope and despair and get something accomplished.
-- Sham
Thursday, March 22, 2012
My Take on the Shooting in Florida
By now, most people have heard about how George Zimmerman shot Trayvon Martin one night down in Sanford, Florida. Some of the facts are available, some aren't. 911 calls show that Zimmerman was suspicious of Martin walking around the neighbourhood after dark. Other calls reveal gunshots, sounds of a struggle, and cries for help. The call from Martin to his girlfriend shows that he was worried about the guy following him through the darkness.
One witness claims to have seen Martin on top of Zimmerman, punching him. Zimmerman even had a wound on the back of his head and a bloody nose. These wounds tend to confirm the witness statement.
Now, Zimmerman is claiming it was an act of self-defense. This is where the whole thing gets murky. The available evidence is inconclusive either way. The whole thing hinges on whether Zimmerman instigated the fight or if Martin attacked first. Depending on who attacked whom, the case can go from a legitimate self-defense to manslaughter, possibly murder. A grand jury is being convened to review the evidence and see if there is probable cause for a murder investigation/trial.
Those are the facts as I'm aware of them. Now for my opinion.
There are many things that could've (and should've) been done to avoid the necissity for this shooting. Zimmerman could have remained in his truck and shadowed Martin until the police arrived. Zimmerman could've shadowed on foot, if he felt the need to keep Martin in view while waiting. Either one of these would've kept Zimmerman far enough out of reach that an escalation could've been avoided.
In my opinion, based on what little evidence we've seen, I think this is a bad shoot. A man deliberately escalated a situation to a point where he was forced to pull his concealed pistol and shoot an unarmed teenager.
Now, just because I think he's guilty, I don't think we should string him up under the nearest tree. He should be given every bit of due process that we expect for anyone else. The grand jury is the first step of this process. If the grand jury returns an indictment, arrest him. Try him in front of a jury of his peers. If the jury of his peers can be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that this was a bad shoot, then lock him away as the menace to society that he is. If none of these end up happening, then drop it. Leave him alone. No death threats. No outraged press releases by hate mongering hypocrits like Al Sharpton. Yes, that link goes to the wikipedia entry for Tawanda Brawley - it's a classic example of Sharpton's bigotry and hypocrisy.
As horrible as this event is for the community and both families, the national media and other people are turning it into a media circus. There are several groups saying that it's a hate crime. White on black killing just because the boy was "walking while black". National media and even local papers keep referring to Zimmerman as a white man. Funny, Zimmerman is Hispanic. Strange that media sources leave that out of their narrative.
To wrap up this wall o' text, it was a bad event. It's going to haunt Trayvon Martin's family for a long time. I'm sure that it's going to be a night that George Zimmerman will never forget. Lay off the racist hatemongering in the press. Lay off the death threats to Zimmerman. Remember that, though the wheels of justice turn slowly, they inexorably turn to show the truth. If Zimmerman did murder Martin, it will come out and he will suffer for it. But that's up to a jury to decide, not a racist militia or an agenda driven media to decide.
-- Sham
One witness claims to have seen Martin on top of Zimmerman, punching him. Zimmerman even had a wound on the back of his head and a bloody nose. These wounds tend to confirm the witness statement.
Now, Zimmerman is claiming it was an act of self-defense. This is where the whole thing gets murky. The available evidence is inconclusive either way. The whole thing hinges on whether Zimmerman instigated the fight or if Martin attacked first. Depending on who attacked whom, the case can go from a legitimate self-defense to manslaughter, possibly murder. A grand jury is being convened to review the evidence and see if there is probable cause for a murder investigation/trial.
Those are the facts as I'm aware of them. Now for my opinion.
There are many things that could've (and should've) been done to avoid the necissity for this shooting. Zimmerman could have remained in his truck and shadowed Martin until the police arrived. Zimmerman could've shadowed on foot, if he felt the need to keep Martin in view while waiting. Either one of these would've kept Zimmerman far enough out of reach that an escalation could've been avoided.
In my opinion, based on what little evidence we've seen, I think this is a bad shoot. A man deliberately escalated a situation to a point where he was forced to pull his concealed pistol and shoot an unarmed teenager.
Now, just because I think he's guilty, I don't think we should string him up under the nearest tree. He should be given every bit of due process that we expect for anyone else. The grand jury is the first step of this process. If the grand jury returns an indictment, arrest him. Try him in front of a jury of his peers. If the jury of his peers can be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that this was a bad shoot, then lock him away as the menace to society that he is. If none of these end up happening, then drop it. Leave him alone. No death threats. No outraged press releases by hate mongering hypocrits like Al Sharpton. Yes, that link goes to the wikipedia entry for Tawanda Brawley - it's a classic example of Sharpton's bigotry and hypocrisy.
As horrible as this event is for the community and both families, the national media and other people are turning it into a media circus. There are several groups saying that it's a hate crime. White on black killing just because the boy was "walking while black". National media and even local papers keep referring to Zimmerman as a white man. Funny, Zimmerman is Hispanic. Strange that media sources leave that out of their narrative.
To wrap up this wall o' text, it was a bad event. It's going to haunt Trayvon Martin's family for a long time. I'm sure that it's going to be a night that George Zimmerman will never forget. Lay off the racist hatemongering in the press. Lay off the death threats to Zimmerman. Remember that, though the wheels of justice turn slowly, they inexorably turn to show the truth. If Zimmerman did murder Martin, it will come out and he will suffer for it. But that's up to a jury to decide, not a racist militia or an agenda driven media to decide.
-- Sham
A Guy in a Skewed World: Next step
One of the things that I deal with regularly is skepticism. There are a lot of people (quite a few of them in the medical professions) who don't see Fibromylagia as a real condition. They see it as someone trying to get attention or faking to get out actually being a productive citizen. I've dealt with several doctors, rheumatologists even, that did little to help me find ways to remain productive and able to provide for my family.
Having said all that, I'm happy to say that I've found a new doctor that is actually trying to help. For once, someone's looking at my symptoms and actually trying to figure out if there's an underlying problem that triggered the FMS (likely Rheumatoid Arthritis or RA) or if the FMS is just tagging along on it's own. He's seems sincere in trying to find a way to get me back to some semblance of normality. It's been only one visit, but that one visit has given me the hope that someone out there does believe that there's actually something going on and is willing to work with me to find out how to stall it. It's going to take time, effort, and many small steps (even some backwards), but I'm willing to put the time in to be able to live a somewhat normal life.
Having said all that, I'm happy to say that I've found a new doctor that is actually trying to help. For once, someone's looking at my symptoms and actually trying to figure out if there's an underlying problem that triggered the FMS (likely Rheumatoid Arthritis or RA) or if the FMS is just tagging along on it's own. He's seems sincere in trying to find a way to get me back to some semblance of normality. It's been only one visit, but that one visit has given me the hope that someone out there does believe that there's actually something going on and is willing to work with me to find out how to stall it. It's going to take time, effort, and many small steps (even some backwards), but I'm willing to put the time in to be able to live a somewhat normal life.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)