swimming freestyle

It's time for a break

I'm going to take a break.  Well, maybe more than a break.  I'm not sure.

I started "swimming" a little over a couple years ago now.  It was the beginning of the 2008 presidential race and I was all full of enthusiasm and hope (by the way, I find it really sad that "hope" has now been turned into another word for naivete).  There were so many issues to write about and debate - and it was fun and stimulating and enlightening. 

But it feels differently to me now.  It's become really difficult to write about big important political issues and not despair about the quality of the debate and the honesty of the participants.  The issues are high stakes and shouldn't be reduced to just some kind of game where some players are up and some are down.

It's way too easy to become cynical and hard about the whole process, and I'd consider it a failure if "swimming" just turned into some vitriolic rant.  I don't want to write it and I wouldn't want to read it.

To the folks that have visited here - thank you.  To the ones who've commented and provided feedback and encouragement - I'm indebted. 

I may be back.

Who knows?

Going for the world piercing record

Yuck.

A local tattoo shop owner is going for a unique world record, but to make history, he will need to endure the sting of 2,000 needles. 

Aryan Hopkins said he had his first piercing by the time he was seven years old and has eight of them now, but that's about to change Saturday. "How often do you hear, 'Come and see someone get stabbed 2,000 times?'" Hopkins said.

The world record currently stands at 1,200 piercings over three hours, but Aryan is hoping to beat that by 800.

Hopkins will open the doors of his Roseville (California) tattoo shop, Abstract Ink, as part of a fundraiser for Shriners Hospital for Children on Saturday to anyone who wants to witness the 2,000 piercings. Fellow tattoo and piercing artist Paul Dunkleberger will have the task of inserting the 18-gauge hollow needles an eighth of an inch apart up and down Hopkins' body. "We'll be applying a stencil all over his body," Paul said. "I think he can do it. I've tattooed his whole chest."

Hopkins said he isn't too worried about the pain, but he is worried about passing out: After they insert the 2,000 needles, they all have to come out. When needles are inserted into the skin for several hours, the skin tightens and bends the needles, which could lead to serious complications. "After we start taking this many needles out, he has a chance of significant blood loss," Paul said.

An EMT will be on hand during the world record attempt, which begins this Saturday at noon. (Link)

It's crazy enough that Hopkins is going to have 2,000 needles stuck in his body.  It's even crazier that a bunch of people will likely show up Saturday to watch.

Potentially biased judge refuses Administration's request to stay drilling ban

The federal judge in Louisiana who recently lifted the government's moratorium on deepwater oil drilling refused the Obama Administration's request to stay the ruling until an appeals court could rule on the decision.

In an emergency hearing Thursday, U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman denied the government's motion to stay pending appeal "for the same reasons given in [the] Court's June 22, 2010 order granting the plaintiffs' motion for preliminary injunction."

The six-month ban had halted all drilling in more than 500 feet of water and prevented new permits from being issued. (Link)

As it turns out, Judge Feldman has a potential conflict of interest:

The federal judge who lifted Obama's six-month drilling moratorium had interests in Transocean and a number of other offshore energy companies, according to financial disclosure forms from 2008.

Martin Feldman, a U.S. District Court Judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana, held energy stocks in Transocean and Halliburton, as well as two of BP's largest U.S. private shareholders -- BlackRock and JP Morgan Chase. The law Feldman overturned would have halted the approval of any new permits and suspended deepwater drilling at 33 existing exploratory wells in the Gulf, four of which are BP rigs.

Judge Feldman, strangely, didn't feel those investments warranted recusing himself from the case, while plenty of his peers in the Gulf Coast have felt otherwise.

Seven of the 12 federal judges of the Eastern District of Louisiana already have cited potential conflicts of interest in bowing out of cases brought by fishermen, charter operators, tourist services and families of those killed in the April 20 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico. (Link)

The near-term Obama Administration strategy is to issue a new moratorium and wait for the inevitable challenge.  That will give the Administration enough time to appeal Judge Feldman's decision.

Fake Clint Webb for fake Senate

A very funny (or, maybe not) spoof of campaign advertising.  

(h/t Reason)

Merle Savage's mission

Merle Savage worked as a foreman of clean-up activities in the aftermath of the disastrous 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska.  I received this note from Ms. Savage the other day:

My name is Merle Savage, a female general foreman during the Exxon Valdez oil spill (EVOS) beach cleanup, and one of the 11,000+ cleanup workers, who is suffering from health issues from that toxic cleanup, without compensation from Exxon.

Dr. Riki Ott visited me in 2007 to explain about the toxic spraying on the beaches, and informed me that Exxon's medical records that surfaced in litigation by sick workers in 1994, had been sealed from the public, making it impossible to hold Exxon responsible for their actions.  (Link)

Beach crews breathed in crude oil that splashed off the rocks and into the air -- the toxic exposure turned into chronic breathing conditions, central nervous system problems, neurological impairment, chronic respiratory disease, leukemia, lymphoma, brain tumors, liver damage, and blood disease. (Link)

My web site is devoted to searching for EVOS cleanup workers who were exposed to the toxic spraying, and are suffering from the same illnesses that I have.  Our summer employment turned into a death sentence for many — and a life of unending medical conditions for the rest of Exxon’s Collateral Damaged. 

Esquire recently featured a profile of Ms. Savage and noted the danger Gulf clean up workers now face:

After studying cleanup workers from the Exxon Valdez spill, Ott is convinced that today's Gulf fishermen are not merely risking their short-range health. "The Exxon Valdez oil was considerably less toxic than Louisiana sweet crude, and it wreaked havoc on any life forms that encountered it," she says, including brain lesions, coma, and death. "We are setting up here for a giant human tragedy — decades of misery — especially if a storm or hurricane spreads it to normal everyday people onshore."

Christ, what a nightmare.

Launching anvils

Here's World Champion Anvil Shooter Gay Wilkinson (you probably weren't aware there's a world championship for anvil shooting) firing an anvil 200 feet into the air.

Come on - admit it - you watched the whole thing.

U.S. health care rates poorly

The Commonwealth Fund's newly released study of health care effectiveness clearly demonstrates only half the job is done following the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Ranking seven industrialized nations (Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States) health care systems, the study found the United States ranked last overall on "dimensions of access, patient safety, coordination, efficiency, and equity."

From the study:

 

The six other nations have universal health care as a mandate, something the U.S. won't implement until 2014.  That mandate will address the access and equity issues, but the U.S. also fares poorly when it comes to the quality of the care received. 

Interestingly, this is the first time the number one ranked Netherlands has been included in the survey.  The Dutch revamped their health care system in 2006.  All residents are required to purchase health insurance through highly regulated for profit or non-profit private insurers.  In other words, no Medicare or Medicaid.  No one can be refused coverage and the government provides subsidies to insurers to compensate for sicker, or chronically ill participants.   There are some differences however:

The required standard insurance is financed by a mixture of income-related contributions and flat premiums. The individual contribution is set at 6.5 percent of income, which is contributed by employers if the patient is enrolled through their job or by the patient if they are self-employed or unemployed. The insured also pay a flat-rate premium to their insurer for a policy. (Link)

It would likely be every Republican's wet dream to fantasize about a health system completely managed by private insurers.  What would likely kill the mood would be an obvious, clear requirement for a system that includes both highly regulated insurers and providers.

McChrystal gets the boot

MSNBC is reporting Gen. Stanley McChrystal will be relieved of his command of the Afghanistan theater following the publication of his remarks criticizing his civilian command.

Summoned to Washington to explain himself, McChrystal arrived from Kabul in the early morning and met first at the Pentagon with Defense Secretary Robert Gates. After his next face-to-face, with Obama, the general was not seen returning to the White House for a scheduled Afghanistan strategy session, as had been expected. It was not known where he went, as he did not appear at his Pentagon office, either.  (Link)

CNN has a headline that Gen. David Petraeus will assume command of the Afghanistan forces, replacing McChrystal.

Rep. Joe Barton just can't leave well enough alone

Two stories about Rep. Joe Barton today:

Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) will retain his top spot on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, according to GOP lawmakers.

Barton, who came under fire after apologizing to BP CEO Tony Hayward at a hearing last week for the way the government had treated the oil company, will stay on as ranking member of the committee, which oversees oil and gas regulation, among other areas. 

Barton gave a "heartfelt apology" to members of the GOP conference on Wednesday morning, according to one of his toughest critics, Rep. Jo Bonner (R-Ala.). 

Bonner told The Hill that Barton's apology was the "end of that."  (Link)

Just hours later (via Dave Weigel)

Rep. Joe Barton (R-Tex.) has cheekily responded to criticism over his "apology to BP" by tweeting a link to an American Spectator article titled "Joe Barton was right."

The tweet has now been removed and Barton representatives claim they were only linking to a Peter Hannaford article defending Barton's original apology to BP.

It seems Rep. Barton or his staff aren't interested in having Barton's "heartfelt apology" to the GOP conference being the "end of that".

Andy Murray's incredible tennis magic

Scottish tennis player Andy Murray is ranked World No. 4 and British No. 1 in tennis rankings.  Murray beat Jan Hajek of the Czech Republic today to advance to the second round at Wimbledon. 

Here's a promotion film Murray made for Head.  Incredible.

(h/t Likecool)