Never pass up a chance to sit down or relieve yourself.
-old Apache saying
So, I see that yet another General, this time Ricardo Sanchez, is criticizing the handling of the war. Now Sanchez says that the war is a "nightmare with no end in sight." 
But if you read what he said recently, and bypass those nasty "media filters," on the left and the right, this guy thinks we haven't done ENOUGH bad shit in Iraq.
This is the same General Ricardo Sanchez that personally gave the order to use unmuzzled dogs against Abu Ghraib inmates. He also approved the use of temperature extremes, sleep-cycle reversal, and bread-and-water diets. Perhaps "Rick" thinks that we have not been nasty ENOUGH on the Iraqis. This guy blames everybody and every institution except his own sadistic self. Good article on him here, in the American Prospect.This guy, from a poor childhood growing up in Rio Grande City, is a traitor to his race, his state, and his country. With Generals like Sanchez, it's no surprise that this is one fucked-up country.
John Nichols of The Nation on Norman Mailer's passing at the age of 84. snip:
Mailer did not hesitate to suggest that Bush and his compatriots were setting up "a pre-fascistic atmosphere in America" and he saw the war in Iraq as an imperialistic endeavor destined--as all such attempts are--to diminish democracy at home.
Today I had my EMG-NCV test. I think I flunked it. Them. Ouch.
Define EMG-NCV - Electro-myo-graph and Nerve Conduction Velocity. Here is a good explanation of the two procedures.
It hurt like hell. In the middle of the tests, I was lying in
a sweaty heap and crying. Not a pretty picture, huh. Sweating comes easily to me. Fortunately. But not excessively, OK? But when I'm tortured, like today, I can cry pretty easily too. That's how my body reacts to intense pain. The good thing for me is that I knew the torture was going to end, and if it got too intense, I knew that I could stop the tests and that would be that.
Now, I would not want to steer anyone away from such tests if they could help you, but they hurt like hell.
Q: Does an EMG hurt?
A: Yes. (mu-hahahaha!)
I showed up for a "EMG-NCV Bilateral Lower Extremities." 
The slender, young female doctor was startlingly attractive. She strode confidently into the room where I waited in my surgical gown. Her full lips parted slightly as our eyes met and she placed her tiny hand in mine in greeting. My gown fell open and I placed her hand on my.....uh.....Oops, wrong audience.
I did have to shed the pants and don one of those surgical gowns that opens in the back. But I figured that, even as hot as she was, I was not going to have to worry about getting a woodie, because I knew I was about to suffer some fresh kinds of pain. Pain, for me at least, tends to, uh, diminish my sexual urges. Your mileage may vary.
She performed the NCV (aka "torture" loosely defined) test first, which means they run an electrical current through your body, via two Nazi-era-inspired "pain pads" hooked up to the generator. I mean, hey baby, amp that mother up and you've got one nasty pain machine there. She was jerking me around with between 100 and 500 milli-amps, and she could have gone much, much higher. This sexy doctor wasn't looking so sexy anymore. Was that a brownshirt she was wearing?She jolted me about 100 times per leg. Most of them were not so bad, but some of those areas, like under the knee or between the ankle and the heel...already tender there. Ouch. Major fucking ouch. And when she'd crank it up....yee-ow.
Imagine that thing hooked up to your testicles. Or your nipples. Oh my omniscient cloud-being!
Finally she was finished with all the shocking details. Now it was time to move on to the NEEDLES portion of our funhouse.
For the EMG, she placed very sharp needles in several muscles on my legs and feet, one at a time. Felt like getting a shot. Everyone likes getting a shot, right? I couldn't bear to watch all this. I diverted my eyes to the ceiling for both tests, to the wall, the computer, especially when the needles were going into my body.
Besides sweating and crying easily, I get a pretty intense vasovagal reaction to needles being jabbed into my body, especially when they're withdrawing blood. I get that cold flush thru my body and, if I were to stand up rather quickly, would most likely faint. It was a good thing I didn't go into medicine.
I couldn't see them, but those needles had wires running from them into the computer. We were also wired for sound. She would insert the needle and a sound would be produced. Then she'd "wiggle" the needle around a bit, producing different sounds. She directed me to relax and flex the muscle, producing quite different sounds. I think she stabbed me five times per leg, and we went thru the cycle of relaxing and flexing the muscles.
I suppose that some slightly demented artist might take this technology and produce music (of a sort) by flexing and relaxing his own muscles. A veritable symphony. In fact, I'm sure someone has already done it. Some performance artist like Laurie Anderson perhaps. Or even stranger.
So now I have a baseline, at least. Maybe I'll take this test again in five or ten years (not likely!) and we can compare it to the 2007 results. And speaking of results, I go to talk them over with myMD next Monday.
Video Description GOP State Rep Resigns Amid Sex Scandal
By RACHEL LA CORTE
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — A state lawmaker who has voted against gay rights resigned Wednesday, days after he was quoted in police reports as saying a man he had sex with after they met at an erotic video store was trying to blackmail him.
Rep. Richard Curtis, 48, said he was resigning immediately to spare his wife and children more public embarrassment. In a written statement, Curtis said, "Events that have recently come to light have hurt a lot of people. I sincerely apologize for any pain my actions may have caused."
Curtis, a Republican, told a newspaper in his southwest Washington district on Monday that sex was not involved in what he said was an extortion attempt. He also declared he was not gay.
But in police reports, Curtis said he was being extorted by a man he had sex with at a hotel room in Spokane, where Curtis was attending a GOP retreat. The other man, Cody Castagna, 26, contends Curtis reneged on a promise to pay $1,000 for sex.
Neither Curtis nor his lawyer, John Wolfe, have returned messages left by The Associated Press.
There have been no arrests in the case. Spokane County prosecutor Larry Steinmetz said Wednesday that a decision about criminal charges regarding the extortion accusation was weeks away.
Curtis was among state GOP lawmakers in Spokane Oct. 24-26 for meetings to discuss the upcoming legislative session. He went to the erotic video store early Oct. 26 and met Castagna, police documents said.
The two went to a hotel and had sex, according to police reports released Tuesday.
Curtis alleged Castagna took his wallet and later offered to return it for $1,000. Curtis said he had only $200 and left an envelope with the money at the hotel desk, according to the documents. Castagna said Curtis gave him the wallet to hold as collateral "for the money that he promised me."
Police reports said Castagna called Curtis and demanded an additional $800, and threatened to expose Curtis' "gay lifestyle to his wife unless Richard Curtis provided the disputed money."
Castagna's attorney, David Partovi, said his client's actions didn't rise to the level of extortion, which is a felony.
According to the police reports, Curtis told police that he wanted the wallet back and "wanted to keep the incident as low key as possible." He did not want to pursue charges against Castagna, the reports said. Elected to the state House of Representatives in 2004, Curtis has voted against bills that would grant civil rights protections to gays and lesbians, and against a bill that created domestic partnerships for same-sex couples. Both measures are now part of state law. House Minority Leader Richard DeBolt said that as more details began to emerge, it was clear that Curtis "can no longer effectively represent the constituents who elected him."
A successor will be chosen by county Republican leaders, and will serve until the 2008 election.
Associated Press writers Nicholas K. Geranios in Spokane and Curt Woodward contributed to this report. |
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Wow. I was rather surprised by the number of Trick-or-Treaters we had show up at our door last night.
ZERO.
We had our candy all ready to go on the first floor. Left the lights on. And nada. Not a one. Zero. Zip.
The next-door neighbor has one of those 8-foot-tall inflatable Homer Simpson dolls (doesn't everyone?) and he put that on his roof. But nobody came.
It was a little sad.
Remember the old days? Back when we'd get all dressed up in wierd costumes and just head out the front door. The parents would glance up from their triple scotches and slur, "Just watch out for the cars!" Ah, memories.
OK, I exaggerate. It was simple vodka.
Can't do that anymore, I guess. So many crazies running around, preying on kids. But is that really new? The internet may have made it easier for pedophiles to find kids, but I think the sick urge has been there for many, many years. Just look at the church.
When we stop to think about it, we really haven't seen that many children around the neighborhood at all. Just about all adults, walking their dogs now and then. No screaming children anywhere. Total bliss.
November 1, Dia De Los Muertos (The Day of the Dead) seems more "normal." Rather than celebrating spooky and silly things on Halloween and stuffing yourself with candy (like American kids need any MORE candy?!), remembering those who went before us and are now dead seems like a much more civilized behavior. Maybe I'm just old.
But if you read what he said recently, and bypass those nasty "media filters," on the left and the right, this guy thinks we haven't done ENOUGH bad shit in Iraq.
