Another great feature from one of my favorite sites Slate. This is a series that is looking at eight reasons why america hasn't been attacked from the least worrying to the most worrying. The articles are relatively short, considering the topic, but are very well put together and are the product of Timothy Noah's interviews with a bunch of terrorism experts.
They are posting one per day and are halfway through, but it takes no time at all to catch up and is definitely worth reading.
Why hasn't America been attacked?
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Meh.
An awesome twitter post(s) about how the word meh is truly garbage!
hodgman: Did I ever tell you people how much I hate the word "meh"? Nothing announces "I have missed the point" more than that word. It is the essence of blinkered Internet malcontentism. And a rejection of joy... By definition, it may mean disinterest (although simple silence would be a more damning and sincere response, in that case) but in use, it almost universally seems to signal: I am just interested enough to make one last joyless, nitpicky swipe and then disappear.
http://waxy.org/2009/02/john_hodgman_on_meh/
Classic.
hodgman: Did I ever tell you people how much I hate the word "meh"? Nothing announces "I have missed the point" more than that word. It is the essence of blinkered Internet malcontentism. And a rejection of joy... By definition, it may mean disinterest (although simple silence would be a more damning and sincere response, in that case) but in use, it almost universally seems to signal: I am just interested enough to make one last joyless, nitpicky swipe and then disappear.
http://waxy.org/2009/02/john_hodgman_on_meh/
Classic.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Health "care"...
“They borrow leftover prescription drugs from friends, attempt to self-diagnose ailments online, stretch their diabetes and asthma medicines for as long as possible and set their own broken bones. When emergencies strike, they rarely can afford the bills that follow.”
...
“I could have gone to a major university for a year. Instead, I went to the hospital for two days.” Said Alanna Boyd of the nearly 17,500 she spent on her treatment.
...
Nicole Polec, a 28-year-old freelance photographer living in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, said she has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and has a client who procures Ritalin on her behalf from a sympathetic doctor who has seen Ms. Polec’s diagnosis. Ms. Polec’s roommate, Fara D’Aguiar, 26, treated her last flu with castoff amoxicillin — “probably expired,” she said — given to her by a friend.
Source: New York Times
From time to time I am on the fence about the healthcare system, especially after seeing what they are doing in Finland with private hospitals. However, things like this are generally enough to send me back completely in the corner of socialized medicine. Obviously if there was any integrity in our government or that of the United States a two tiered system would probably work the best, but as it stands I have a feeling that it would probably end up a lot more like this garbage that is coming out of the USA.
If they did privatize our system or if I were forced to live in the United States uninsured, I would probably be in the same situation as these people. I hate going to the doctors as it is, although that is fading with my nursing education, but if I had to pay to go... Unless I was sure I was dying I think I would opt to save the money and take my chances with the internet and friends leftover meds.
Still, I feel the draw to maybe want to take part in privatized health care to some degree under my own terms. As it stands I may end up as a ward nurse for the rest of my days, but if all goes as planned and I become a nurse practitioner and have the opportunity to take part in a streamlined and helpful private practice. I am even interested in finding a way to start something up on my own if my position allows for this as I feel that with the right intentions it really could work. In the end though, who knows...
...
“I could have gone to a major university for a year. Instead, I went to the hospital for two days.” Said Alanna Boyd of the nearly 17,500 she spent on her treatment.
...
Nicole Polec, a 28-year-old freelance photographer living in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, said she has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and has a client who procures Ritalin on her behalf from a sympathetic doctor who has seen Ms. Polec’s diagnosis. Ms. Polec’s roommate, Fara D’Aguiar, 26, treated her last flu with castoff amoxicillin — “probably expired,” she said — given to her by a friend.
Source: New York Times
From time to time I am on the fence about the healthcare system, especially after seeing what they are doing in Finland with private hospitals. However, things like this are generally enough to send me back completely in the corner of socialized medicine. Obviously if there was any integrity in our government or that of the United States a two tiered system would probably work the best, but as it stands I have a feeling that it would probably end up a lot more like this garbage that is coming out of the USA.
If they did privatize our system or if I were forced to live in the United States uninsured, I would probably be in the same situation as these people. I hate going to the doctors as it is, although that is fading with my nursing education, but if I had to pay to go... Unless I was sure I was dying I think I would opt to save the money and take my chances with the internet and friends leftover meds.
Still, I feel the draw to maybe want to take part in privatized health care to some degree under my own terms. As it stands I may end up as a ward nurse for the rest of my days, but if all goes as planned and I become a nurse practitioner and have the opportunity to take part in a streamlined and helpful private practice. I am even interested in finding a way to start something up on my own if my position allows for this as I feel that with the right intentions it really could work. In the end though, who knows...
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Abstinent Bananas
So I don't have anything particularly mind-blowing or anything but this will have to do...
Obviously that is a lie. Prepare to have your mind blown, or at least distracted for a second. The "nerd merit badge"!
This badge pretty much has given me extra incentive to get down to 0 after about 3 months of having unread emails in my inbox.
SOURCE: BoingBoing
The End.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
25 things...
1. I drink on average 4 cups of coffee per day. I had my first real cup of coffee last year. I Can’t bring myself to put milk or sugar in coffee either.
2. I liked the new Star Wars movies.
3. I can blow smoke rings and this makes me awesome.
4. I haven’t had a glass of white milk for as long as my brain has been reliably storing memories. Seriously.
5. I haven’t worked since late September which is the first time I haven’t had a job since I was about 16.
6. I have tried to learn the guitar 3 times in the past 5 years (soon to be 4) and I haven’t stuck with it once.
7. I watched the entire first season of Lost in about 5 days.
8. I read or listen to at least two hours of news a day.
9. I am extremely distractible.
10. I am almost always moving or pacing or fidgeting with things.
11. My shortest relationship was about a month and my longest 4.5 years and counting.
12. I am kind of a hypochondriac but mainly for mental illnesses. I was convinced that I was developing schizophrenia while I was in high school.
13. I am a huge fan of night time and city lights. Seeing a huge downtown all lit up is amazing to me, it definitely puts me in awe of what humans can do.
14. I probably spend about 10-15 minutes of every hour studying fucking around on the internet.
15. I kind of plan out my life assuming that we will be living in a sort of post apocalyptic world by the time I am 35. I figure nursing will always be useful, I also hope to learn to grow my own food effectively, and want to learn to shoot a gun (or bow and arrow!) just in case.
16. I can’t fall asleep unless I am very tired so I generally do not get to bed before 12.
17. I think that French culture, history and language are awesome.
18. I have my grandma’s grandma’s prayer book from 1853.
19. I have a book of black and white/sepia pictures that my great grandpa took of around Winnipeg (including from the roof of the bay) all from around 1913.
20. Radiohead is my favourite band.
21. I had my first full alcoholic beverage when I was 19.
22. I get very anxious before any social gathering that I go to (barring those with my closest friends).
23. I habitually type lol about 100 times per hour of msn conversations.
24. Travel is one of my favourite things in the world.
25. I seriously doubt that there is a god, and will call myself an atheist, but I am more of an agnostic because even though there is an extremely small chance that there is a god why make a concrete statement about something that isn’t concrete.
2. I liked the new Star Wars movies.
3. I can blow smoke rings and this makes me awesome.
4. I haven’t had a glass of white milk for as long as my brain has been reliably storing memories. Seriously.
5. I haven’t worked since late September which is the first time I haven’t had a job since I was about 16.
6. I have tried to learn the guitar 3 times in the past 5 years (soon to be 4) and I haven’t stuck with it once.
7. I watched the entire first season of Lost in about 5 days.
8. I read or listen to at least two hours of news a day.
9. I am extremely distractible.
10. I am almost always moving or pacing or fidgeting with things.
11. My shortest relationship was about a month and my longest 4.5 years and counting.
12. I am kind of a hypochondriac but mainly for mental illnesses. I was convinced that I was developing schizophrenia while I was in high school.
13. I am a huge fan of night time and city lights. Seeing a huge downtown all lit up is amazing to me, it definitely puts me in awe of what humans can do.
14. I probably spend about 10-15 minutes of every hour studying fucking around on the internet.
15. I kind of plan out my life assuming that we will be living in a sort of post apocalyptic world by the time I am 35. I figure nursing will always be useful, I also hope to learn to grow my own food effectively, and want to learn to shoot a gun (or bow and arrow!) just in case.
16. I can’t fall asleep unless I am very tired so I generally do not get to bed before 12.
17. I think that French culture, history and language are awesome.
18. I have my grandma’s grandma’s prayer book from 1853.
19. I have a book of black and white/sepia pictures that my great grandpa took of around Winnipeg (including from the roof of the bay) all from around 1913.
20. Radiohead is my favourite band.
21. I had my first full alcoholic beverage when I was 19.
22. I get very anxious before any social gathering that I go to (barring those with my closest friends).
23. I habitually type lol about 100 times per hour of msn conversations.
24. Travel is one of my favourite things in the world.
25. I seriously doubt that there is a god, and will call myself an atheist, but I am more of an agnostic because even though there is an extremely small chance that there is a god why make a concrete statement about something that isn’t concrete.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Smoking!
So I have been casually smoking since the end of last February. This is not something I want to continue. I figure if I stopped now I could say that I smoked for less than a year. Also I will have the added benefit or a major decrease in chance of many cancers, strokes, high blood pressure, COPD etc etc.
For some reason my body doesn't really do anything when I stop smoking for a couple days so I can't imagine this will be very difficult at all.
So thats it for now....
Ta da!
For some reason my body doesn't really do anything when I stop smoking for a couple days so I can't imagine this will be very difficult at all.
So thats it for now....
Ta da!
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