Happy New Year’s to all. I was planning on writing something philosophic, poetic, meaningful, but wouldn’t you know, I was busy finishing up an article that I had to send to the researcher for review so she could have it back to me by Monday. I just got so snowed in with work–not that I’m complaining about the money that I’m making, but I kinda wanted to relax and do some mental and physical cleaning this week.

Anyway, don’t drink too much booze tonight, and if you do, take a taxi. It is raining here in Seattle–like it’s been for the past two weeks or so. I guess we don’t have worry too much about a drought this year. I remember one year, when I was a teenager in New York, we had a blizzard on New Year’s Eve. Talk about starting the new year off on the right foot! I lived in Brooklyn, so a lot of people did drive and own cars, and a lot of people were stranded that night.

Well, here’s to 2006. I’m holding up my invisible champagne flute, because I’m too lazy to go search for a stock photo, and besides, I want to start partying.

Cheers!

No, not Catherine Zeta-Jones. So if you’re expecting some gossip about her and hubby Mike Douglas, forget it. I speak of a strange Zeta who is about to make history.

Ever hear of a New Year’s hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean? What about a tropical storm that formed a full month after the official end of the hurricane/storm season?

Enter Zeta, the only storm in the past 50 years ever to celebrate New Year’s Eve, and only the second in over 150 years of record keeping to form at this time of year.

From AP:

Zeta - the 27th named storm of the season and the sixth letter of the Greek alphabet - was located about 1,065 miles southwest of the Azores, the National Hurricane Center reported at 5 p.m. EST Friday. Zeta had maximum sustained winds of 50 mph and was moving northwest near 7 mph.

Since record keeping began in 1851, only one other named storm has formed as late as Zeta, said Greg Romano, a National Weather Service spokesman. Tropical Storm Alice developed Dec. 30, 1954, and later became a hurricane before dissipating Jan. 5. Tropical storms develop when their winds exceed 39 mph, and hurricanes form when their winds exceed 74 mph.

So let’s toast to Zeta on New Year’s Eve, and tell her to stay out at sea. Last year at this time, we were watching the grizzly death toll climb in the wake of the tsunami. No New Year’s Eve, surprises, Zeta. Be a good girl and go home, back to the heavens or wherever it is that storms retire to.

One year ago (I know, I’m a day late) was the tragic earthquake and tsunami that struck Indonesia and several other nations. One year later, many of the people still don’t have homes, and lives are still a mess. With money pouring in to help the victims, you really have to wonder how much of it actually went to the people whose lives were disrupted. Apparently, it seems that much of it is still locked up in red tape.

That was why when hurricane Katrina hit the gulf coast of the U.S., I was careful about my donations. I preferred not to just drop money into the Red Cross and other big organizations, but instead, to groups and individuals who could tell me exactly how every penny was spent. I imagine that a year from the date that Katrina came flying into Louisiana and Mississippi, there will still be people without homes, without a real place to go, and still living in limbo. And I’m sure they’ll be wondering about that money that was supposed to be pouring in to help them get their life back together.

I think that this comment is a wonderful Christmas present to those who continue to choose to ignore the “REAL” reasons behind the nursing shortage. Especially for the academics who think that all of their nursing instructors are God’s gift to the planet, and that if students drop out, it’s simply because they can’t cut it.

I posted this comment not long ago, but think that it belongs on my front page. As a Christmas present to nursing schools, who fail to take a hard look at their attrition rates, or take seriously student complaints about sadistic instructors who’ve spent their life encased in the ivory tower.

I could not agree any more about the nursing shortage being due to the nursing programs being run. I recently dropped out of Nursing School, with only one semester left. My decision had nothing to do with family responsibilities, not knowing English, or not knowing what Nursing is really about. My decision was based on the subjective grading. With so many instructors evaluating me, I went from doing Excellent Nursing Care Plans (according to one instructor)to my Nursing Care Plans being completely dissected in red pen, to the point where there was no more room on the paper. Subjective is definitely the problem.

Nursing instructors definitely eat their young. I saw my classmates drop out one by one. We went from 145 classmates to 90 left to take the final. (who knows how many will be left then.) My classmates are capable, motivated individuals who would make great nurses. But the nursing program has devalued their spirits and sucked the life out of them. These students were motivated and dedicated to their studies. They went from a 4.0 GPA to 2.0 in a matter of a couple of semesters. The instructors barely blink an eye. The nursing programs must be re-evaluated. (and not by nursing instructors) SOMETHING MUST BE DONE!!!

The sad thing is, this student is just one of thousands who drop out simply because of the way nursing programs are taught. But this subject is about as taboo as the issue of why nurses leave the profession.

So Happy Holidays, nursing programs. Maybe you guys will find it in your hearts to fire the Scrooges, set down a standard of grading that teachers have to abide by, and raise salaries so you can hire on decent and competent instructors–rather than sadistic bitches who revel in the power that they hold over the lives of their little peons.

Is this cute or what? Merry Christmas from Pixie and Trixie.

It is Christmas Eve, 2005. I am amazed how this year, the news is filled with stories who are “offended” because someone told them “Merry Christmas,” while others are equally offended because they’ve been greeted with a more generic “Seasons Greetings.”

Get a life, both of you. And while we’re at it, let’s take a look at what Christmas is really supposed to mean.

Obviously, it is supposed to be a celebration of the birth of Jesus, but Christmas is far less exclusionary than that. Christmas is really the Christianization of pagan celebrations, and rather than try to force people to stop celebrating their traditional holidays, the early Roman leaders just slipped Jesus into the celebration.

No one has a clue when Jesus was born. There is no date in the Bible that gives December 25 as his official and documented birthday. Chances are that he was not born on December 25, but it seemed as good a day as any to choose for a birthday.

The Roman holiday of Saturnalia was celebrated at this time, as was the celebration of the winter solstice. Many of our Christmas traditions are drawn from these two events, including the symbol of the baby and the burning of the Yule log. But I personally think that this was a perfect time to pick for the acknowledgement of Jesus’s birth.

The winter solstice is the shortest day of the year, and as the days kept growing shorter and shorter, the fear was that the sun would not return. But when the solstice arrived, and the sun began to last for longer and longer, there was a great relief and celebration. It was, in a sense, the celebration of the return of the light.

The birth of Jesus was also a light, a glimmer of hope brought to a world that was in a terrible state of turmoil. Biblical times were not some sort of magical and mystical period of history. When Jesus was born, much of the population of Europe and the Middle East was oppressed, enslaved, subject to constant wars and poverty and ignorance were rampant. It was a time of unrest, political upheaval, a world of “haves” pitched against the “have-nots.” To many of his followers, he was indeed, the light that shown on a new way of thinking, a new pathway of hope. Much like the return of the sun after the solstice.

I will agree wholeheartedly that Christmas is way too commercialized, and I cringe when I see Christmas paraphernalia arrive in stores before Halloween. But Christian or not, I find Christmas lights and cheer certainly brighten up dark winter days. Even if you do not believe that Jesus is the messiah, or anyone special, what is wrong with enjoying the sights and sounds of Christmas? What is wrong with admiring the beauty of a decorated and glowing tree in a window, a string of white lights sparkling in an otherwise mundane storefront, or a wreath on a door? I find that Christmas has both a secular and religious element to it, and I don’t see anything criminal about it.

So, Merry Christmas. And God bless us, everyone.

Why do I have no tears for WalMart? Why do I refuse to shop there?

Well, the answer to that question would require a book of no less than 1,000 pages, highlighting all of WalMart’s crimes against humanity, and how instrumental it is in the “race to the bottom,” which eventually affects all people living on this planet.

But at any rate, California WalMart workers got a very merry Christmas present indeed, and I’m sure will be toasting in the New Year with champagne, truffles, and a burning effigy of WalMart stores. You see, WalMart has been successfully sued by them, for denying them unpaid lunch breaks. And I have no doubt, given WalMart’s heinous track record, that they are telling the truth.

US retail behemoth Wal-Mart must pay $172 million (£99m ) to staff who were denied lunch breaks, a court has ruled.

More than 100,000 workers in California sued the company, which owns Britain’s Asda supermarkets, claiming that it systematically denied them their right to a 30-minute unpaid break.

“The jury found there was malice, fraud and oppression in denying the lunch breaks,” said Chris Lebsock, one of the lawyers representing the staff. “We are very satisfied.”

Wal-Mart, of course, who banked $10 billion last year, said they would appeal. Of course, what else can they say?

The company conceded that it had “compliance issues” regarding legally mandated lunch breaks in 2001, when the civil lawsuit was filed, but said that it had since corrected the problem “100%.”.

Now aren’t they enough to make you puke? I know that I’m not being very charitable towards them, but then, they aren’t exactly known for their goodness and charity either. What do they mean by “compliance problems?” Why can’t they just be honest and say that they denied workers lunchbreaks, instead of that PR mumbo jumbo incoherent babble. And if they corrected the problem, then why are they being sued? They settled a similar lawsuit last year in Colorado for $50 million. Why pay out if one is innocent, or has “corrected” the problem.

Bottom line–WalMart’s management and corporate suits are about as benevolent and trustworthy as Joseph Stalin.

“We appreciate the jury’s service, but disagree with its conclusion and will appeal,” Wal-Mart said in a statement last night.

The jury ordered it to pay $57 million in compensation and $115 million in punitive damages.

WalMart is such a good company, and so good to their employees, that there are no less than 40 other employee lawsuits against the company underway. The California one was the first, and hopefully, all other 40 will be just as successful.

Merry Christmas, WalMart. Maybe you guys should watch a few hours of a Christmas Carol, because you are the modern day Ebenezar Scrooge at his finest.

Now, if only nurses would become as militant and begin suing their employers for missed breaks, refusals to pay overtime, refusing to provide security in the workplace, and refusals to pay workmen’s comp.

TimesOnline.com

Now get this amazing revelation. As we near Christmas Eve, 2005, WFSB.com has chosen to enlighten us with the story of the century.

Ready?

Connecticut is facing a severe shortage of nurses, and it could get worse. The shortage of nurses is a national problem, but while some states have set up coordianted systems to deal with it, Connecticut has not.

I really love the first sentence of this eye-popping news report. “It could get worse.” Wow. I am impressed. Are these homegrown journalists, or insects that someone found breeding in their backyard?

The title of this mini-masterpiece in reporting is called “Nursing Shortage Hits Connecticut.” So in other words, that means that up until this moment, Connecticut enjoyed an ample nursing staff and was suddenly “hit” by the mysterious overnight disappearance of nurses.

I know, it is Christmas and I should show more charity. But it is hard to look at obvious idiocy, and silly redundant parroting of the same tired stories over and over again. Here’s an idea for the crew at this network–how about a story on what can do done to “unhit” Connecticut, and bring back the nurses. Like maybe highlight a hospital that is treating staff well, paying them a living wage, and considers them to be a valuable asset to the facility.

Yes, Google is politically correct. Their whimsical drawings and dress-up of the Google name carefully omit any religious holidays. I was disappointed at first, when they made no real mention of Christmas. I mean, they can doodle their google name for Chanukah, Ramadan and Kwanzaa so as not to discriminate, but for whatever reason, they choose to be totally non-sectarian.

But they do a series of drawings for the winter holidays, that are both brilliant and sweet, all at the same time. This year, they began with a tiny mouse peeking out from behind some kind of door. On day two, a cat face appeared. Day three has just appeared–well, take a look. It’s better than my narration. I can’t wait to see what follows. Its almost as much fun as waiting up on Christmas eve for Santa.

I was curious as to what the transit strike in NYC was all about, so I tried to find a clear and concise account of it. Talk about a tedious ordeal. It is amazing how many newspapers and online news services are carrying the story, but yet the vast majority tell you relatively nothing–except that it’s cold in NY and the poor residents are lacking transportation.

Finally, I found a “real” story about the strike in the Seattle Times but the article originated in the Christian Science Monitor. There is also a graph (from the Associated Press) comparing both sides of the dispute. Imagine that, an article that offers something more than quotes from disgruntled people, or more philosophical musings from the billionaire mayor about how “reprehensible” it is for the transit workers to strike.

A lot the public doesn’t support them, thinks its cruel that they are striking on Christmas, and don’t think that they should expect health care to be paid for. One strange comment came from a woman who works in an industry where she is forbidden to go out on strike, and thinks that the workers should just keep on plugging away, even if they don’t have a contract. Afterall, she said, her union has been working without a contract for three years. What’s wrong with that?

Duh, maybe I’m missing something here. She acts like it is somehow heroic that she is working without a contract. It so reminds me once again of unions and nursing, of how one hospital I worked out used to send around propaganda–trying to convince nurses that it would be detrimental to their patients if they unionized. The papers were filled with little sob stories about how some poor “angel of mercy” was unable to come to work because her big, bad, unionized coworkers dared to go out on strike. The nerve.

The person working for three years without a contract does not work in healthcare, but abuse abounds all over. And if a union can’t use a strike as a bargaining chip, you better believe that management is going to take their sweet time in negotiating. Afterall, what reason do they have to hurry up, if there is no danger of a strike?

I can see some of the issues from the viewpoint of the transit workers. Once they agree to start contributing to healthcare insurance, and agree on the pension issues (which are not beneficial to them), it opens the door to more cuts. Once they agree to these issues, then management will most certainly continue to chip away at the pensions, and raise the contributions to healthcare. That is what always happens, and I’m sure that it wouldn’t be any different with this group.

Maybe I’d feel differently if I was freezing my butt off, walking to work in New York. But I doubt it. Strikes are a last resort, not a first resort. It is a hardship for the workers, and I have no doubt that they were not anxious to take this route. They must have felt strongly about the issues. I know how I felt when a hospital tried to screw me out of pay and benefits, and I know that if my union hadn’t been able to reach an agreement, I would not have hesitated to pick up my sign and go out on strike.

Yes, the bird flu frenzy is still upon, although I think toned down a bit as Christmas shopping, poor weather and Bush’s pitiful speeches about “victory” in Iraq have pushed it to the sidelines. Speaking of Iraq, any of you out there get a sense of deja vu, as in when Richard Nixon used to stand up there shaking his jowls, and calling for “peace with honor” in Vietnam?

Anyway, back to bird flu. It seems that the bird flu will be one of the most beneficial events ever to befall the pharmaceutical industry. In the hysteria that has been bestowed upon the public, we are told that a vaccine is necessary, and that in order to get anyone to make it, we have to cut them a sweetheart’s deal.

What is boils down to is absolute immunity for the company producing the vaccine. No matter if they are negligent, conjure up a toxic brew that causes more problems than the flu itself–or even if it kills your child because it is tainted or made with dubious ingredients–they are immune from litigation. Isn’t that nice, to cash in on the bird flu.

Consumer Groups Urge Senators To Vote No On Defense Spending Bill Which Includes A “Drug Company Protection Act”

Stealth Provision Immunizes Reckless Misconduct In Vaccine or Other Drug Manufacture

Leading consumer and civil justice organizations today condemned a backroom deal added to the Defense Appropriations conference report that would provide sweeping and “never-before-seen” legal immunity to the drug industry, even for many practices that injure or kill consumers or health care workers. By contrast, first responders and others injured by these vaccines or medical devices get little or no protection, even if injured through negligent or reckless conduct.

As the letter describes: “Drug companies will only be held responsible if there is clear and convincing evidence that the company had actual knowledge the product would kill someone. This is a near impossible standard, which would mean that drug companies will not be accountable for reckless or grossly negligent conduct, even in the manufacturing process.”

The conference report will be considered on the Senate floor Wednesday. The 45-page immunity clause was added without any floor debate in either house and according to press reports, without knowledge or a vote of all conferees, and is supposedly intended solely to encourage adequate vaccine manufacture for pandemics.

The letter points out that the immunity from liability is so broad that it “could apply to common drugs like Tylenol and Advil,” if approved for use by the Secretary of Health and Human Services in any health emergency.

The groups urged Senators to vote no on the conference report unless the liability immunity provision is deleted and pointed out that the bill offers no guarantee that victims will be compensated in any way for injury or death: “Individuals who may suffer serious illness or death as a result of taking a vaccine or other countermeasure are given no assurance of compensation.”

The groups signing the letter included the Alliance For Justice, Center For Justice And Democracy, Consumer Federation Of America, Public Citizen, USACTION and U.S. PIRG.

The full letter is available at www.uspirg.org/consumer

I’m so glad that I don’t live in New York City any longer. Aside from the fact that my current living expenses would pay for a tree stump there, and the icy cold winter weather which is now in high gear, the transit workers have gone on strike.

I haven’t really examined the issues involved, and I’m not going to get into a discussion of whether they “should” have gone on strike. No one strikes unless they feel it is the only alternative, so I’m sure that this was a difficult decision for them to make. But a common thread links this strike to those called by nurses unions.

The head of the transit workers union, Roger Toussaint, called the dispute a fight over whether “hard work will be rewarded with a decent retirement.” Compare that to the words which escaped the lips of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg–that a strike by the city’s transit union is “morally reprehensible.”

Mayor Bloomberg is naturally concerned with his own standing, and how bad it looks for him to have NYC tied up in gridlock. How bad it is for merchants plying their wares during the Christmas shopping season, that shoppers have lost out on their main form of transportation. Whether or not Bloomberg cares anything about the average NYC peon remains to be seen. One of the issues of the strike is health insurance, one of the greatest thorns sticking up the butt of our great nation. Bloomberg, a billionaire, is far removed from any of the woes and concerns that the transit workers may have.

His remark about being “morally reprehensible” is the same song and dance that is thrown out anytime service workers decide to strike. By service workers, I refer to those who preform a vital function in society. Nurses are included in that, and I am still amazed at how many people–including many nurses–still feel that they should not strike. As we all know, nurses are supposed to be self-sacrificing angels of mercy, and subject to a higher calling. Decent pay, working hours, a safe environment, and health benefits are of no concern to a true angel of mercy. For decades healthcare facilities abused nurses, and in the 1960s, even factory workers were paid a higher salary.

In our society, we have this strange idea that a person who performs a vital function should do so out of the good ness of their heart, and not expect to any sort of decent financial compensation. On the other hand, no one bats any eye about mediocre Hollywood “stars” earning $10 million a movie, or “supermodels,” who stand before the camera with their lips puckered like they’re ready to spit in your face–and earn $2 million a year. But yet, people are screaming because transit workers would like to earn a little more money and don’t wish to have their pensions and health benefits pulled out from under them or made unaffordable. And new grad nurses in some states begin their career making $15 an hour–and just think, they’re in charge of a person’s life. My 17 year old niece, a senior in high school, makes $12/hour working at Whole Foods. What is wrong with this picture?

As Christmas approaches, I was just thinking back to my days of hospital work…when the coming of Christmas meant a battle to find out who would work Christmas and who would work New Year’s. Even working per diem didn’t disqualify me from having to make that choice, because many facilities required per diems to “do their time” on the holidays as well.

In a 24/7 society, many of us do find that we are obligated to work on holidays, as well as weird hours. Police, firefighters, janitorial staff, transit workers–the list keeps growing as our society continually demands that we keep going around the clock. The need to work weekends, holidays, nights, etc, is usually conveniently omitted from any of the ads that are trying to promote nursing as the glamour job of the new millennium. For example, take a look at Johnson & Johnson’s silly Discover Nursing website, where all of the shiny nurses in their immaculate scrubs (yes, the celluloid nurses are immune to getting splashed with body fluids) just tell you how wonderful nursing is—but never actually say what they do all day or what the job entails. And certainly, none of them are single moms or dads who voice their frustration over being able to find childcare when an employer “mandates” that they work overtime, or changes their schedule without notice. Or having to miss holiday celebrations with their kids.

Also, the idea that a nurse has to make that choice of Christmas or New Year’s is also conspicuously absent from any of the ra-ra-ra ads. And even though we all know that sick patients aren’t miraculously cured on Dec 23, so that there’s no need to staff facilities, it is often a concept that is alien to new nurses.

Many nurses do choose to work the holidays for the time and a half pay. Others don’t celebrate Christmas, so it isn’t even an issue. But for hospital based nurses who do celebrate Christmas, and who would also like to celebrate the New Year with friends and family–being forced to work one or the other is distrubing.

Holidays are just one of the numerous reasons why nurses flee from hospital based jobs. Working in a clinic, for example, will generally allow a nurse to keep a daytime schedule, be off weekends and holidays, and still permit her/him to do direct patient care. School nurses get all school holidays and weekends off, and do not work nights. And so on.

Of course, facilities can make it easier on nursing staff when it comes to holidays, but some are so anal about it. One hospital I passed through required every nurse to rotate Christmas or New Year’s. That is, if you worked Christmas last year, then you had to work New Year’s this year. It sounds fair in theory, but let’s say that you’re Jewish and couldn’t care less about Christmas. Why force that nurse to take it off, when instead, she could work the holiday and allow a nurse who celebrates the holiday to take it off?

Also, I think it would work better if hospitals didn’t mandate that nurses work on the holidays–the exception being if they didn’t get enough volunteers. Leave it open, and allow the nurses who need/want the extra pay, or who don’t really care about the holidays, to work them. And if enough people don’t sign up, then start pulling names up.

So now that I’m a writer, do I work regular hours? Surely you jest. I work weekends and evenings…but then, I may spend the afternoon at the park with a book and a latte, or take the morning off to prowl the aisles of Whole Foods. I am in complete charge of my schedule, which is nice. I do prefer it to be erratic, as it suits me. Some hospitals do allow nurse to plan their own schedules, ie, treat them as adults who have a life and responsibilities beyond the hallowed walls of their employment, while others treat nurses like chess players–add names to empty slots.

Anyway, I am so happy that hospital schedules are behind me. Sorry for gloating, but it is so nice to have control over my life.

This really has nothing to do with health (well, okay, mental health) but since the Christmas season is upon us, I thought it was worth writing about.

There seems to be a battle over the political correctness of saying “Merry Christmas.” Some feel that it is “insulting” to those who don’t celebrate the holiday to inundate with cheery greetings that dare to mention the word “Christ.” Instead, Christmas is supposed to become a generic “Happy Holidays.”

I really don’t know what to say. If someone said to me, “Blessed Kwanzaa,” would I be insulted? I don’t celebrate Kwanzaa, so would I turn to that person and tell them to take their Kwanzaa and shove it? Anyone who is insulted by receiving a cheerful greeting of Merry Christmas needs to get a life–and fast. I do not send Christmas cards to people that I personally know don’t celebrate the holiday. My friend who is a Buddhist monk, for instance, gets a generic “Seasons Greetings” card. I also send more generic cards to people whose religious affiliation (like casual work colleagues) is unknown to me. But I’ll be damned if I’m going to omit the word Christmas from a card sent to a person that I know waits up for Santa and his reindeer, and has a life size nativity scene in her living room.

That said, I found this press release rather fascinating. It comes from Vanderbilt University, in response to a move by a Christian group to save Christmas from the wrath of Walmart. As the professor mentioned in this release notes, perhaps these Christians, in the name of Jesus, are barking up the wrong tree.

Here is the press release from Vanderbilt University:

Christians looking to “save” Christmas from creeping secular humanism by threatening lawsuits should give some thought to what the central figure of the holiday would make of the controversy, says John Thatamanil, assistant professor of theology at Vanderbilt Divinity School. “The latest offender is Walmart,” Thatamanil said. “Their offense is not that they pay their workers so poorly that the company provides new employees with paperwork needed to go on the public dole. What has really riled up fundamentalists is that some Walmart stores have adopted ‘Happy Holidays’ rather than the pious proclamation of ‘Merry Christmas.”

Thatamanil believes this stance is a colossal misunderstanding of the message of Jesus. “One wonders what the good Jewish boy whose birthday is the cause of all this ruckus would make of this hyper-Christian piety,” Thatamanil said. “What would the one who danced and mourned with prostitutes, lepers, the naked, the starving and the imprisoned - the powerless of his time - make of his sanctimonious followers who fastidiously observe the day of his birth and would coerce everyone else to do likewise and yet neglect the poor while doling out tax breaks for the uberrich, support those who launch unilateral wars, build secret prisons, and openly advocate for the freedom to torture.”

The other day I got a rather irate comment, from a reader who thought I was being too critical of the new reality nurse show. I mean, six nurses living together in a Southern California beach mansion is certainly the “normal” experience of nurses, isn’t it? Somehow that wasn’t my experience when I lived in LA. Dorm living for nurses disappeared in the 1930s I think, but I guess the show would be pretty boring if they showed how nurses in LA really live and work.

Anyway, there is an audio on NPR about this show, primarily because it is the first web based reality show. And if you listen to this audio, which plays clips from the show, you’ll get the picture. If you’re a real nurse, it will make you either gag and puke, or laugh so hard that you also end up puking.

This is a blip from the website, www.nursetv.com:

13 WEEKS is the story of 6 Access Nurses travelers on assignment in Southern California.

See how these nurses work, live and play. Meet patients and colleagues and see their daily lives in the hospital. Follow their adventures as they explore southern California. Watch as they adjust to living in a beachside California mansion with 5 new roommates.

Log on every Wednesday for a new webisode.

I guess it’ll be tough adjusting to that beachside mansion. I imagine the stress’ll just kill them.

As I said in my previous post on this subject, travelers do not live together in one big happy family. They get their own apartments. I’m suprised that this bunch doesn’t have a den mother watching over them, making sure that they use condoms before they go out and screw Dr. Kildare, and don’t turn into a fallen angel in the city of fallen angels.

Now the irate person who didn’t like my original post (and perhaps she is one of the brainchildren behind this masterpiece of webcasting) wrote:

The point is to show real working nurses. These nurses do not go to Academy Awards or movie premieres. They work the same hours as any other nurse and deal with the same coworkers and bosses as other nurses. The only difference is that each week they get to do something fun and prearranged like skydiving, going to the Wild Animal Park or volunteering at an orphanage in Tijuana. There’s no need to be so judgemental especially given that you didn’t even bother to check facts.

I would hardly call 6 nurses living in the lap of beachside luxury the life of the “real” working nurse. And going out on prearranged trips like skydiving? Isn’t that the reality for most nurses, to have your employer prearrange something expensive and fun for you to do each week in your liesure time?

This show is supposed to be trying to help solve the nursing shortage, by showing how wonderful nursing is. A laugh a minute. I wonder if the show is going to show “real life” in the hospital, like how the traveler gets dumped on with the worst assignments, or is forcibly floated to work in an area where she has no experience. Maybe they can show the traveler being attacked by an irate patient, and security shows up an hour later–cutbacks, you know.

There is a reason why there is a shortage of nurses, and this morsel of idiocy being brought to us on the web will only make matters worse.

Now here’s a delightful bit of news. Just the thing to brighten up your day, especially if you happen to be a person who enjoys reveling in nature, talking walks through the forest, and breathing in the fresh air and natural beauty of wildlife.

This may be one of the most asinine proposals ever put forth by an organization whose employees are supposed to be functioning human beings. To “control” wildfires, the Bureau of Land Management has proposed indundating public lands with toxic herbicides.

I know, I know. There are so many other methods of controlling fires, so one has to wonder if someone’s pocket has been lined with moulah from corporations that produce these chemicals. Otherwise, what person with any level of sanity would propose such an environmentally destructive “solution,” and one which may highly damage the health of any person who dares set foot in these areas? I especially love the part about aerial spraying. That will ensure that the wind will carry the toxic molecules far and wide, maybe even to your front door and inside your living room. And then take a deep breath, keel over, and drop dead!

ALERT: U.S. PROPOSES DOUSING WILDERNESS AREAS WITH HERBICIDES

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has proposed to apply massive amounts of herbicides to public lands in 17 Western states. The BLM claims these pesticides need to be applied to forests, rangelands and aquatic areas in order to reduce the risk of fire and slow the spread of invasive weeds. Under the proposal 932,000 acres would undergo chemical application in 17 western states, including National Monuments and National Conservation areas.

An integral part of this proposal involves aerial spraying of toxic herbicides, which increases negative impacts on non-targeted vegetation, wildlife, and people, including recreationists, tourists, and native peoples. The pesticides that would be used include persistent and mobile chemicals, including known developmental and reproductive toxins. Public comments are being accepted until January 9, 2006. Sign the petition here to support the continued use of traditional vegetation management techniques on public lands that do not involve toxic chemicals.

Now this was a headline that caught my attention. It’s from Reuter’s:

Flu death rate high among U.S. children in 2003-04

So what do they mean by “high?” Well, the actual article opens with the usual, ominous, pot-boiler-detective-genre-paperback….

The flu killed more U.S. children than chicken pox, whooping cough, and measles combined in the 2003-2004 flu season, suggesting children should be vaccinated as aggressively as the elderly, a new study showed.

Now if that’s not enough to scare parents into a frenzy, I don’t know what it. And send them rushing to the nearest supermarket to get their kids pierced with a sharp needle.

But let’s take a closer look at those stats. Children in the U.S. have been innoculated for decades, and cases of whooping cough and measles are almost non-existent. And while some cases of the measles can be fatal, it is not a common occurrence in industrialized nations.

Chicken pox is generally a very mild disease in children, and the death rate is extremely low. In addition, a vaccine’s been out about 10 years or so, and the number of cases has dropped. So saying that the flu kills more children than chicken pox, measles and whooping cough combined is meaningless.

Of 153 children killed by flu in that winter, nearly two-thirds were under age 5, according to the study released on Wednesday and led by Niranjan Bhat and Jennifer Wright of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The number of children who died from the flu is tiny. Yes, it is tragic that even one child died, but considering the number of people who become ill from the flu, and who die from other diseases, 153 is not a large number.

This kind of hype grates on my nerves, especially how it is presented in the media. I guess it’s feeding on the bird flu frenzy, and if that hasn’t made people hysterical enough, let’s throw in dire warnings about the safety of their children.

Puh-leeze. We have enough health problems in this country, like children developing type 2 diabetes because their stuffing their faces with junk food and ballooning to 10 times their normal size, or drunk drivers who often end up back on the road without so much as being charged with a misdemeanor.

When I arrived in Seattle last night, the city and airport were completely shrouded in fog. I’ve never seen fog like this before since I’ve been living here. At least, the fog usually doesn’t this intense by my house. But the fog was so thick that you literally could not see the airport as the plane landed. It still felt like we were in the clouds.

Someone said “freezing fog” was predicted. This morning, I noted that there was a freezing fog advisory. So, my jet lagged brain wondered, what on earth is freezing fog. Isn’t that what we call ice? You know, that hard cold stuff that materializes when water freezes.

So instead of jumping into my hectic to-do list, I looked up freezing fog, and just in case anyone out there in cyberland was also curious, these are the explanation that Googleland delivered to me.

1) when liquid fog droplets freeze to surfaces, forming white rime ice. This is very common on mountaintops which are exposed to low clouds. It is equivalent to freezing rain, and essentially the same as the ice which forms inside a freezer which is not of the “frostless” or “frost-free” type.

2)A fog of supercooled water droplets, freezing on impact with any solid surface.

3) A fog the droplets of which freeze upon contact with exposed objects and form a coating of rime and/or glaze.

Now I know what freezing fog is. But it is sunny outside right now, so I guess the freezing fog alert is passe.

The vote is in. Minnesota has been ranked as the number state for good health, according to the United Health Foundation’s annual ranking of states.

But how do they actually get these rankings? And what do they really mean by “healthiest?”

From the Pioneer Press

The ranking reflects the state’s low rates of uninsured people, premature deaths, infant mortality and child poverty. The rankings are based on 18 risk factors and health outcomes.

But then it goes on to say that obesity is a problem, many people still smoke, and while they have stats on the number of women seeking prenatal care, there’s no information on outcome.

Minnesota also has a high rate of obesity: 23 percent of state residents are excessively fat. That’s up from 10 percent in 1990. “We need to make a bigger effort with respect to awareness and prevention,” the governor said.

In addition, about one in five Minnesotans smoke, putting the state in the middle of the states on that measurement. But the report noted that the prevalence of smoking in Minnesota has declined by 28 percent since 1990.

The report ranked Minnesota 27th in the adequacy of prenatal care. But Pawlenty said the report counted only the number of visits pregnant women paid to health care providers and not the outcomes, which would have shown better results.

I’m always skeptical of these reports, especially when I see something like Seattle being rated the “fittest city,” and you find out that they base their data on the number of health clubs and sports equipment stores, and the number of fast food outlets. And then you look around the street, and see overweight people galore, read about the high rates of STDs, see everyone and their mother spitting on the sidewalk, and everyone and their Aunt Tilly gouging themselves on triple mocha lattes with extra cream added.

So what does the healthiest really mean? Do the people in Minnesota live longer and healthier? Are they active and fit into their 80s and 90s? Do they get less colds and flu per capita? Do they suffer from a lower number of infections, viruses, degenerative diseases, and so on? Do they eat a healthy diet and go easy on the bacon cheeseburgers with lard smeared on top?

Anyway, I’d be curious to see some real data, which may give a broader picture of the actual health of the residents.

Another busy day. My last day in North Carolina and then homeward bound. At least for a while. I hope to be back to “normal” in my posting. But for now, here’s a quirky thought; there aren’t any more hurricanes in the Atlantic. Epsilon has basically bit the dust, or whatever hurricanes do when they die.