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Woman left in CT scanner for hours - Health Care - MSNBC.com

I find this scary.  In a nutshell, the woman was to have a CT scan to see if her cancer had spread.  The procedure was to take 25 minutes, and the technician told her to relax & dimmed the lights.  The woman couldn't tell how long she was in the machine (couldn't see a clock) and couldn't hear anything going on around her.  By the time she finally freed herself from the CT machine, the room, and got into the outer office, 5 hours had passed since she went in, the office was locked, and everyone had gone home. 

"People have been left in the office after hours, when something like that happens — it's the same sort of thing," Dr. Steven Ketchel said. "My guess is she was lying on the table, waiting and waiting and nobody told her she could go home."

It's happened before?  Maybe someone should institute an office check.  Bathrooms empty? Check.  Computers off? Check. Lights out? Check. CT Machine empty --- ooops!!! "Get dressed & go home" ...

As a mild claustrophobe I think I probably would've been out of the machine before it was done trying to scan me.  Maybe, when the woman didn't hear any machinery for a few minutes, she should have realized that the procedure was done and called it a day.  But the thought of being inside a machine for hours?  H-o-r-r-i-f-y-i-n-g!!!

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$1.4 million for teacher strict with grades - Education - MSNBC.com

 

In a nutshell: A teacher in Louisianna refused to change the D and F grades she gave to 70% of the kids who went through her classes.  She was suspended, harrassed, and finally resigned.  A jury awarded her $1.2 million dollars in punitive damages, & an additional $200,000 for pain & suffering.  She now teaches English AT A CORRECTIONAL FACILITY.  When asked if she'd go back to the public school system, she said "No."

First reaction - KUDOS to the jury who awarded this.  I am so sick & tired of hearing that kids are passed through the system, and then those same kids, years later, sue the school system for failing to educate them.  It's the flip side of that coin.  If miscreants and degenerates can file spurious lawsuits looking for an easy buck, then the teachers who hold high standards and grade their students according to those standards, despite pressure to ease their grading, deserve to be able to sue right back.

How telling is it of the kids that this woman had in class that she'd rather teach inmates than teenagers?

The article points out that students referred to her classes as "House of Payne" - a play on her name, because of her high expectations.  I have no problem with teachers who have high expectations, as long as the expectations are clearly spelled out at the beginning of the term.  The US is suffering now because for too long, schools have eased their expectations and tried to make things as easy as possible for the mediocre to expend no extra effort and still excel and the ignorant to be termed "average" and to graduate despite a lack of basic skills.  It's about time someone held the bar high and tried to get students to rise to the challenge.

 

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Obese British boy will stay with mom - Kids & Parenting - MSNBC.com

 

To summarize the above story, an 8 year old boy who is on his way to becoming morbidly obese was almost removed from his home by Britain's child welfare office.  The office investigated the boy's mother after a local news program did a show on the boy, who is 5 feet tall, weighs 218 pounds, and wears adult clothing and an adult size 8 shoe.  Ultimately it was determined that the boy would stay with his mother.

To which I say, "Hmmm."

In the US, we've had cases in recent years of child neglect, where the kids are malnourished, and in some cases, have been outright starved, through purposeful acts of their parents.  Now in Britain, the pendulum swings the other way - if your child is too heavy, he might be taken away.

The article doesn't say whether or not the boy has any genetic predisposition to obesity or whether he has a metabolic condition that causes it (there are certain rare disorders that could be the culprit.)  In general, I think it's ludicrous to take kids away from their parents because the child is too heavy.  But when I see that the mother is feeding the boy things like steak, french fries and buttered bread as regular fair, and he says that things like steak, sausage and chicken are his favorites - I have to wonder.  How about some honest to goodness fruits and vegetables?  You know, those green leafy things we call salads?  Maybe an apple, or a banana?

It sounds like the mother needs a training course in what to feed her kids.  I'd say she's not guilty of neglecting her son, but of overindulging his whims. It would be one thing if she fed him good, healthy foods and he was still obese - then I'd say, look for a physical abnormality that could be causing it.  But this kid needs a diet overhaul!

I'm lucky in the sense that Kid1 & Kid2 so far have fairly healthy appetites.  Since I won't let them live on chocolate, potato chips and soda all day, they willingly eat stuff like breakfast cereal, fruit, fresh veggies, meat, and fish.  They actually like things like raw carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, nuts, and olives.  They're not afraid to try a variety of food, and while each has their dislikes, neither is all that picky.

They are picky about food quality.  I remember when Kid1 was about 2 years old, and I decided to try & feed her Spaghettios for lunch, to make things easier.  She turned up her nose and said she only wanted real spaghetti & sauce, not fake.  Last year, my now 10 year old asked why I never buy spaghettios or chef-boyardee.  When I told her about my previous experience with trying to feed it to her, she giggled but said she'd like to try it anyway.  Luckily I only bought one can.  She didn't like it.  Back to making spaghetti with olive oil & herbs for lunch for her when she's off from school ...

I'm also lucky in the sense that both kids, even though they're not interested in team sports, are pretty active.  They both prefer, for the most part, playing outside, running around and being generally rambunctious.  Kid2 will actually come home from school and run the circle from kitchen-den-hallway-livingroom-dining room to burn off all the energy he's had to conserve all day at school before he's capable of sitting down to do his homework. 

Maybe instead of the British child welfare agents taking the boy away from his mom, they should give her some basic lessons in nutrition.  It seems like the worst thing she's guilty of is a lack of general common sense.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Toys for Tots rejects Jesus dolls - U.S. Life - MSNBC.com

Okay - the US Marine Corps doesn't want the donation of 4,000 talking Jesus dolls for it's Toys For Tots program.  Says it doesn't want to offend any potential recipients that could be of the Jewish or Muslim persuasion.

In a way, this is laughable.  Actually in several ways.  First, the Holiday season - it's Christmas.  CHRISTmas.  Yes, I know Hannukah falls close to this.  Kwaanza was created back in the 1960's or something like that, and tagged along onto Christmas.  And the Muslims have something they celebrate in November or early December.  But the gift giving for the 25th of December celebrates CHRISTMAS.  If you want in, don't bitch & complain if your religion isn't catered to.  The whole thing about it being a pagan holiday - sure.  There was a pagan celebration, and church leaders back at the beginning said "Hmm. We want to celebrate the birth of the person who made salvation possible.  Let's do it in December, during the cold dark months, when people don't feel they have much to celebrate."  So they put it near a pagan holiday.  Don't care.  I say MERRY CHRISTMAS, and if you get offended by that, stick your Hanukwanzaa where the sun doesn't shine.  That's Christian of me, right?

Second, it's laughable because it's a talking Jesus doll.  This is not tops on kids' lists, I'm betting.  So even though the holiday should be about Jesus, the gift part isn't, and the gesture gets lost in that.

Third, just the fact that more furor has been stirred up about the CHRISTMAS season is laughable.  I'm not politically correct & I don't surround myself willingly with people who are politically correct.  I don't say Happy Holidays, I say Merry Christmas.  If you wish me the best that your non-Christian holiday has to offer - Happy Hannukah, Happy Kwaanza, Happy Drink 'Til You Fall Flat on Your Face & Can't Remember Your Name - I'll accept the good wishes without getting offended that you're not being neutral enough.  So don't get offended by people reminding everyone that Christians found a way of making 2/3 of the planet take a day off by instituting December 25th as Christmas.

 

 

 

In our house, we have 2 levels of the morning alarm clock.  When the first alarm goes off, its actually the radio, tuned to the local news station, WDEL.  A little later, it's the annoying alarm clock beep.

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U.K.: Plot to bomb plane thwarted - International Terrorism - MSNBC.com

This morning we woke up to the news that a major terrorist plot had been averted, involving flights from the UK to the United States.

Before I actually woke up, I was dreaming about this - apparently I was hearing enough of the newscast to make it into my subconscious mind.  I woke up, shook it off, and then was treated to the repeat of the news. 

I'm not going to analyze the ins & outs of the story.  There's no question in my mind that a terrorist group was thwarted, and once again the world is paying the price for what amounts to a small number of maniacs who think they've got the inside track on what's right and just.  In my opinion, terrorists don't deserve trials if the evidence shows they are clearly guilty.  They should be set up for the same treatment they were devising for innocent people whose only crime was being in proximity of a nutcase.  Or, perhaps a pirate mentality would be better in dealing with terrorists - leave them on a deserted island with no food or fresh water, but skip the pistol with one shot so that they can opt out when they realize they're up for a slow death from starvation & dehydration.  Monitor the island.  If by some chance the terrorist manages to make it off, then take him/her out.  Don't worry about whether we're using humane methods, as we do with death row inmates in the US.  The terrorists weren't worried about the humaneness of their actions.

My larger problem, thinking about this mess this morning, is twofold.  First, our good friends are on the other side of the world, in Australia, due to return in about a week & a half.  Naturally I'm worried about their safety, and I can't imagine what's going through their minds right now - I'm hoping they're able to relax and enjoy the rest of their trip without the spectre of terrorism hanging over the thoughts of their return to the US.  While I doubt Sped would be checking into this blog, I'm thinking about you guys.

Second, I kept the radio on and tuned into the news station, while Kid1 and Kid2 were waking up and getting into the day.  I considered getting up and turning off the radio - do I really want my kids to be hearing about another terrorist attempt against the US?  Do they really need to hear that there are crazy people in this world who are bent on killing others for no other reason than they think it proves a point?  It doesn't advance an agenda.  As 9/11 proved, people tend to pull themselves together and move on - we have to, or we'd go as crazy as the terrorists.  We don't just roll over and show our bellies and say, "You win."  Do my kids need to hear this, or should their worlds be protected from knowing about this type of stuff, if what the man on the radio is saying filters into their brains over Gameboy and whatever book is being read at the moment?

In the end, I let the radio stay on, and listened to the news conference about the plot.  While Kid2 was not in close proximity to the radio and so probably didn't hear anything, Kid1 actually went into our bedroom with her Gameboy, so I'm sure she heard some of it.  Whether she understood what was being talked about I won't know until later - I'm sure she'll ask me about it if she listened to the news report.  At 10, she's got a  pretty decent curiousity for the world beyond her immediate boundaries.

I guess it comes down to this - the kids need to know at some point that there are lunatics in the world who do terrible things that have no justification, but this shouldn't rule their daily lives.  They shouldn't be in a state of fear, but they shouldn't be immune to how violence affects people, either.   It doesn't make any more sense to shield them from everything, just like it wouldn't make sense to expose them to every horror the world and its people can offer up. 

But I'm still irritated that terrorism has been brought to the forefront.  Again.  And thankful that it was stopped, so August 10th didn't become another September 11th.