Monthly Archives: January 2010

To Massachusetts Swing Voters

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As an independent voter who agrees with that portion of the Progressive agenda that seems well supported by facts I appeal to the undecided and independent voters of The Commonwealth to not fill Teddy’s seat with a Republican. If you are considering voting for the Republican candidate, Scott Brown, allow me to point out that as reasonable as he may seem now he will surely be subsumed into the national Republican madness. Republicans serving at the state level are allowed the freedom to vote their consciences and make decisions based on facts, at least part of the time. For this reason it may be tempting to those who favor conservative economic policies, and still believe that Republicans have any interest in delivering on this part of their platform, to vote for Mr. Brown. Aside from his comments which show him to be appealing to the worst in voters by toeing the national Republican party line regarding health care reform, I believe you should most seriously consider the condition of national politics before voting for any Republican. In the current situation there is only one Republican senator who dares vote against the party line if she decides that the facts don’t support it, Olympia Snowe of Maine. Every other Republican senator votes with the party line every time regardless of the facts involved in any individual vote. This behavior by Republican senators is reprehensible in the extreme. They have ceased to represent their constituents and now solely represent their campaign donors.

Regardless of how reasonable Mr. Brown’s decisions may have been (I have no idea not living there or knowing anything about him) while serving in the state senate he will quickly be absorbed into the senate Republican caucus and that will be the end of him representing your interests. From that point forward he will vote with the increasingly more extreme platform of the national republican party as represented by such luminaries as Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, and Michael Steele. I’m not appealing to those voters who believe that Bill O’Reilly, Glen Beck, and Ann Coulter have more than two brain cells between them. If you can’t see through their transparent selfishness, fear, greed, and paranoia… well I can’t help you. Try a psychiatrist. If however, you’re not a Fox News fan and just would really like to see this country turn away from debt spending, I’m talking to you. I’ll not debate which party is more likely to reduce the national debt in this article; it deserves a whole post, or ten, of its own. Just know that a vote for Mr. Brown would be a vote for the politics of fear, mis-aimed preemptive military strikes, trading hard won civil liberties in exchange for the appearances of security, theocratic tendencies, and denial of existence of empirical facts. Martha Coakley may not be an adequate replacement for Teddy Kennedy but your interests are a damn sight more likely to be represented by her than they are by Scott Brown who has sold his soul to the RNC.

So long Mr. Woods

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Not too long ago I was welcoming Tiger back from knee surgery and rehab on this blog. Now that he’s gone again as a result of his own actions I feel compelled to comment even though the situation doesn’t concern me at all. As a golfer, and a Tiger fan, I’m disappointed that he’ll be out of competition for some period of time in order to get his affairs straight (pun intended, sorry). I’m not, however, disappointed in his behavior. Not because I don’t think what he did was wrong, but because that’s taking something personally that doesn’t effect me personally. Elin and the rest of their family have the right to be disappointed in him, but the rest of us don’t. I’m disappointed that he may not get any closer to Jack’s record 17 major tournament victories this year, or ever. I’d really like to be able to tell my children about the sheer dominance of Tiger and how none of the golfers of their era could hold a candle to him. All I’m losing if he doesn’t beat Jack’s record is the ability to needle my progeny about the inadequacy of golfers their own age on some far future date. Hmmm, doesn’t sound so important when I put it that way, huh?

As a husband and father myself I think that what he did was a violation of his own personal promises to his family. I know it’s hard when your wife is preoccupied with the young children and you can’t get the grown-up time you need, but it’s a question of honoring your obligations. I know Tiger was brought up to keep his promises and to care about those around him. His history up to this point is full of examples of this. I’m sure it created quite a bit of cognitive dissonance to break his word but the drive to cheat must have been very strong, or the opportunities exceedingly plentiful, for whatever reason. I find it hard to condemn him for this particular fault though because I don’t know if I’d have been able to keep my word in a similar situation with similar opportunities. It’s impossible to say, besides it’s not good to get in the habit of condemning people. I hope he’s able to salvage at least a relationship with his children out of this debacle because that’s what’s really important in his situation. No doubt the healing process will be long for their family and I wish them luck. In any case, it’s their private business, and none of ours.

As for coming back to golf… I hope he comes back sooner rather than later, say before the Masters, but that’s just because I may one day have some grandchildren to razz.

Calamity strengthens faith

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One of the strangest phenomena of human behavior that I know of is the way in which experiencing a catastrophe causes people to become more superstitious. CNN is currently running an article regarding how the recent earthquake has caused many Haitians to become more religious that caused me to ponder on it.

“A lot of people who never prayed or believed – now they believe.”
“People don’t blame Jesus for all these things. They have faith. They believe that Jesus saved them and are thankful for that.”
Christina Bailey, a 24 year-old clerk.

“Thank you, God, because he saved my life. If I lose my feet, I always had my life.”
11 year-old Anaika Saint Louis, who later died from injuries to her legs

I find these quotes intriguing because of what it indicates about the way the catastrophe is interpreted as regards to faith. From an unbiased viewpoint an observer could just as easily (if not more easily) conclude that the devastating earthquake was evidence for the absence of an omniscient, omnipotent, benevolent supernatural being. But these people who have just experienced this horrible calamity instead interpret their continued existence as evidence that Yahweh saved them. I believe this is purely due to myopia and confirmation bias. I say myopia because certainly the people who were killed by the earthquake could not claim to have been saved by Jesus, and it is the inability of the survivors to see the situation from the perspective of the deceased that allows them to see their own survival as a positive act of a benevolent deity. The confirmation bias part comes in with the identification of the deity responsible for their salvation. Clearly Vishnu or Chtulu wouldn’t be responsible for saving Christian/Voodoo hybrids. On second thought, it’s myopia that enables this confirmation bias anyway because it is the inability to view one’s own religion from the perspective of an adherent of any other religion that allows believers to be certain about their own beliefs at all.

The article does make a good point towards the bottom regarding the correlation between poverty/hopelessness and faith. This is clearly a strong aspect of faith in such an impoverished place as Haiti. There is no easy answer to the hypothetical question posed at the end of the story, “They leave everything in the hands of God. When you have so little, what else can you turn to?” Aside from turning to your fellow humans for support and empathy, you have to do it all yourself. This is just the nature of the human condition. Turning to imaginary super-friends never actually solved anything, but it may make a believer feel a little better about a situation and allow them to carry on when they might otherwise crack. It’s like an elaborate form of denial. Of course, while I’d like to see the diminution of blind religious faith world-wide, right now the Haitians need to use whatever techniques enable them to get through the day with a scrap of sanity intact, even if it includes praying to their imaginary super-friend. My heart weeps for the survivors… and the dead. More so for the survivors when I contemplate what their existence is likely to be for the foreseeable future. And yes, I did donate to relief efforts. Another godless donor.

Croup strikes the house

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My son recently had a case of croup that scared us pretty bad. It began with a mild cough that got progressively worse. By bedtime he was clearly pretty miserable and we brought him to sleep with us. We kept him propped up in bed because that seemed to help him breathe. He still didn’t do very well and was wheezing like a leaky bellows. Occasionally he sounded like he was choking and we’d both sit bolt upright and start whacking him on the back. That’d clear it for a second and he’d get a good cough and go back to sleep for another fifteen minutes. He also had a pretty bad fever which we treated with acetaminophen infant drops.

Not having any prior experience with these symptoms we just kept him home from school the next day and kept him under close observation. He seemed to have recovered completely and had a good long nap without any breathing problems. I decided not to take him to the doctor thinking that the worst had passed. However, come bedtime he was huffing and puffing all over again. We spent another sleepless night watching him like a hawk and I took him to the doctor in the morning.

Here are the things I learned from the doctor that should be in the children’s operator manual:

  • Croup is caused by a virus lodging in the throat and causing the tissues there to be inflamed and swell
  • It can impair breathing to a dangerous degree and needs to be treated immediately
  • It can be identified by the raspy wheezing sound during inhalation. (Bronchiolitis is similar but you hear the wheeze on exhalation).
  • The fever that attends it may need both acetaminophen and ibuprofen taken alternately in order to keep it under control, so have both in the cabinet just incase
  • Steroids given orally can dramatically reduce the swelling in the throat and remove the danger
  • It always gets worse around bedtime and seems to clear up during the day

After a two day course of steroids, cheratussin, acetaminophen, and ibuprofen as directed by our pediatrician he was right as rain. It sure was scary though! Next time one of the kids is wheezing (inspiration or expiration) and has a fever I’m taking them to the doctor or after-hours clinic right away because chances are it’s either croup or bronchiolitis and needs to be treated.