Musings

While there is hypocracy in all areas of politics from the far left to the far right, I find the right-to-life hypocracy among the worst as it affects our freedoms.  I was surfing the web and discovered this article by Joyce Arthur which provides examples of the personal hypocracy that exists for some in the anti-choice movement.  Joyce has given me permission to post the article in full.  Thanks Joyce. (To see the article in context, follow the link http://mypage.direct.ca/w/writer/anti-tales.html.)

"The Only Moral Abortion is My Abortion"

When the Anti-Choice Choose

By Joyce Arthur

Copyright © September, 2000

Abortion is a highly personal decision that many women are sure they'll never have to think about until they're suddenly faced with an unexpected pregnancy. But this can happen to anyone, including women who are strongly anti-choice. So what does an anti-choice woman do when she experiences an unwanted pregnancy herself? Often, she will grin and bear it, so to speak, but frequently, she opts for the solution she would deny to other women -- abortion.

In the spring of 2000, I collected the following anecdotes directly from abortion doctors and other clinic staff in North America, Australia, and Europe. The stories are presented in the providers' own words, with minor editing for grammar, clarity, and brevity. Names have been omitted to protect privacy.

"I have done several abortions on women who have regularly picketed my clinics, including a 16 year old schoolgirl who came back to picket the day after her abortion, about three years ago. During her whole stay at the clinic, we felt that she was not quite right, but there were no real warning bells. She insisted that the abortion was her idea and assured us that all was OK. She went through the procedure very smoothly and was discharged with no problems. A quite routine operation. Next morning she was with her mother and several school mates in front of the clinic with the usual anti posters and chants. It appears that she got the abortion she needed and still displayed the appropriate anti views expected of her by her parents, teachers, and peers." (Physician, Australia)

"I've had several cases over the years in which the anti-abortion patient had rationalized in one way or another that her case was the only exception, but the one that really made an impression was the college senior who was the president of her campus Right-to-Life organization, meaning that she had worked very hard in that organization for several years. As I was completing her procedure, I asked what she planned to do about her high office in the RTL organization. Her response was a wide-eyed, 'You're not going to tell them, are you!?' When assured that I was not, she breathed a sigh of relief, explaining how important that position was to her and how she wouldn't want this to interfere with it." (Physician, Texas)

"In 1990, in the Boston area, Operation Rescue and other groups were regularly blockading the clinics, and many of us went every Saturday morning for months to help women and staff get in. As a result, we knew many of the 'antis' by face. One morning, a woman who had been a regular 'sidewalk counselor' went into the clinic with a young woman who looked like she was 16-17, and obviously her daughter. When the mother came out about an hour later, I had to go up and ask her if her daughter's situation had caused her to change her mind. 'I don't expect you to understand my daughter's situation!' she angrily replied. The following Saturday, she was back, pleading with women entering the clinic not to 'murder their babies.'" (Clinic escort, Massachusetts)

"We too have seen our share of anti-choice women, ones the counselors usually grit their teeth over. Just last week a woman announced loudly enough for all to hear in the recovery room, that she thought abortion should be illegal. Amazingly, this was her second abortion within the last few months, having gotten pregnant again within a month of the first abortion. The nurse handled it by talking about all the carnage that went on before abortion was legalized and how fortunate she was to be receiving safe, professional care. However, this young woman continued to insist it was wrong and should be made illegal. Finally the nurse said, 'Well, I guess we won't be seeing you here again, not that you're not welcome.' Later on, another patient who had overheard this exchange thanked the nurse for her remarks." (Clinic Administrator, Alberta)

"We saw a woman recently who after four attempts and many hours of counseling both at the hospital and our clinic, finally, calmly and uneventfully, had her abortion. Four months later, she called me on Christmas Eve to tell me that she was not and never was pro-choice and that we failed to recognize that she was clinically depressed at the time of her abortion. The purpose of her call was to chastise me for not sending her off to the psych unit instead of the procedure room." (Clinic Administrator, Alberta)

"Recently, we had a patient who had given a history of being a 'pro-life' activist, but who had decided to have an abortion. She was pleasant to me and our initial discussion was mutually respectful. Later, she told someone on my staff that she thought abortion is murder, that she is a murderer, and that she is murdering her baby. So before doing her procedure, I asked her if she thought abortion is murder -- the answer was yes. I asked her if she thought I am a murderer, and if she thought I would be murdering her baby, and she said yes. But murder is a crime, and murderers are executed. Is this a crime? Well, it should be, she said. At that point, she became angry and hostile, and the summary of the conversation was that she regarded me as an abortion-dispensing machine, and how dare I ask her what she thinks. After explaining to her that I do not perform abortions for people who think I am a murderer or people who are angry at me, I declined to provide her with medical care. I do not know whether she found someone else to do her abortion." (Physician, Colorado)

"In 1973, after Roe v. Wade, abortion became legal but had to be performed in a hospital. That of course was changed later. For the first 'legal abortion day' I had scheduled five procedures. While scrubbing between cases, I was accosted by the Chief of the OB/Gyn service. He asked me, 'How many children are you going to kill today?' My response, out of anger, was a familiar vulgar retort. About three months later, this born-again Christian called me to explain that he was against abortion but his daughter was only a junior in high school and was too young to have a baby and he was also afraid that if she did have a baby she would not want to put it up for adoption. I told him he did not need to explain the situation to me. 'All I need to know', I said, 'is that SHE wants an abortion.' Two years later I performed a second abortion on her during her college break. She thanked me and pleaded, 'Please don't tell my dad, he is still anti-abortion.'" (Physician, Washington State)

"The sister of a Dutch bishop in Limburg once visited the abortion clinic in Beek where I used to work in the seventies. After entering the full waiting room she said to me, 'My dear Lord, what are all those young girls doing here?' 'Same as you', I replied. 'Dirty little dames,' she said." (Physician, The Netherlands)

"I had a patient about ten years ago who traveled up to New York City from South Carolina for an abortion. I asked her why she went such a long way to get the procedure. Her answer was that she was a member of a church group that didn't believe in abortion and she didn't want anyone to know she was having one. She planned to return to the group when she went back to South Carolina." (Physician, New York)

"I once had a German client who greatly thanked me at the door, leaving after a difficult 22-week abortion. With a gleaming smile, she added: 'Und doch sind Sie ein Mörderer.' ('And you're still a murderer.')" (Physician, The Netherlands)

"My first encounter with this phenomenon came when I was doing a 2-week follow-up at a family planning clinic. The woman's anti-choice values spoke indirectly through her expression and body language. She told me that she had been offended by the other women in the abortion clinic waiting room because they were using abortion as a form of birth control, but her condom had broken so she had no choice! I had real difficulty not pointing out that she did have a choice, and she had made it! Just like the other women in the waiting room." (Physician, Ontario)

"A 21 year old woman and her mother drove three hours to come to their appointment for an abortion. They were surprised to find the clinic a 'nice' place with friendly, personable staff. While going over contraceptive options, they shared that they were Pro-Life and disagreed with abortion, but that the patient could not afford to raise a child right now. Also, she wouldn't need contraception since she wasn't going to have sex until she got married, because of her religious beliefs. Rather than argue with them, I saw this as an opportunity for dialogue, and in the end, my hope was that I had planted a 'healing seed' to help resolve the conflict between their beliefs and their realities." (Physician, Washington State)

"I had a 37 year old woman just yesterday who was 13 weeks. She said she and her husband had been discussing this pregnancy for 2-3 months. She was strongly opposed to abortion, 'but my husband is forcing me to do it.' Naturally, I told her that no one could force her into an abortion, and that she had to choose whether the pregnancy or her husband were more important. I told her I only wanted what was best for her, and I would not do the abortion unless she agreed that it was in her best interest. Once she was faced with actually having to voice her own choice, she said 'Well, I made the appointment and I came here, so go ahead and do it. It's what's best.' At last I think she came to grips with the fact that it really was her decision after all." (Physician, Nevada)

"We have anti-choice women in for abortions all the time. Many of them are just naive and ignorant until they find themselves with an unwanted pregnancy. Many of them are not malicious. They just haven't given it the proper amount of thought until it completely affects them. They can be judgmental about their friends, family, and other women. Then suddenly they become pregnant. Suddenly they see the truth. That it should only be their own choice. Unfortunately, many also think that somehow they are different than everyone else and they deserve to have an abortion, while no one else does." (Physician, Washington State)

Although few studies have been made of this phenomenon, a study done in 1981 (1) found that 24% of women who had abortions considered the procedure morally wrong, and 7% of women who'd had abortions disagreed with the statement, "Any woman who wants an abortion should be permitted to obtain it legally." A 1994/95 survey (2,3) of nearly 10,000 abortion patients showed 18% of women having abortions are born-again or Evangelical Christians. Many of these women are likely anti-choice. The survey also showed that Catholic women have an abortion rate 29% higher than Protestant women. A Planned Parenthood handbook on abortion notes that nearly half of all abortions are for women who describe themselves as born-again Christian, Evangelical Christian, or Catholic. (4)

According to a 1987 article, Abortion Clinics' Toughest Cases,(5) "Physicians and clinics frequently terminate pregnancies for women who believe abortion is 'murder' and 'a sin' but who are not anti-abortion activists. Demonstrators, organizers, and leaders in the [anti-abortion] movement are seen less frequently, ranging from perhaps once or twice a month to a few times in the course of a professional career." The article contained the following anecdotes:

An administrator at a Missouri clinic recalled a woman blurting out in the recovery room, "It should be illegal." The other women's mouths fell open, said the administrator. "They couldn't believe it."

The medical director of an Indianapolis clinic recalled one prospective patient who phoned to ask whether the clinic had a back door. He said no. How, she asked, could she get inside without being seen by fellow picketers outside? Pointing out that two orthopedists practiced with him, the doctor told the woman "she could limp and say she was coming to see the orthopods."

The medical director at a Dallas abortion clinic told this story: A white woman from an affluent north Dallas neighborhood brought her black maid in for an abortion and paid for it. While the maid was in a counseling session, a commotion was heard in the waiting room outside. The maid's employer was handing out anti-abortion leaflets to other women waiting for abortions.

From a clinic director in a mid-western state: "One of the most remarkable cases was a woman who came [from another part of the state] and said she was the Right-to-Life president in her county. 'But,' she said, she 'had become pregnant and had to have an abortion.'"

From a counselor in Virginia: "[The patient] was disturbed and upset and insisted she couldn't carry the pregnancy to term. She opposed abortion -- and in fact had picketed this very clinic -- [but] felt the abortion was something she had to do."

Many anti-choice women are convinced that their need for abortion is unique -- not like those "other" women -- even though they have abortions for the same sorts of reasons. Anti-choice women often expect special treatment from clinic staff. Some demand an abortion immediately, wanting to skip important preliminaries such as taking a history or waiting for blood test results. Frequently, anti-abortion women will refuse counseling (such women are generally turned away or referred to an outside counselor because counseling at clinics is mandatory). Some women insist on sneaking in the back door and hiding in a room away from other patients. Others refuse to sit in the waiting room with women they call "sluts" and "trash." Or if they do, they get angry when other patients in the waiting room talk or laugh, because it proves to them that women get abortions casually, for "convenience".

A few behave in a very hostile manner, such as calling clinic staff "murderers." Years ago, a clinic counselor in British Columbia told me that one of her patients went into the procedure room apparently fine with her decision to have an abortion. During the abortion, at a stage when it was too late to stop the procedure, the woman started screaming "You murderers!" and other invectives at everyone in the room.

A few doctors actually refuse to provide abortions to anti-choice women for liability reasons. In the words of a Kansas physician:

"Early in my career, I thought I was obligated to provide an abortion for every woman who arrived at my doorstep requesting an abortion. My experience in general medicine, surgery, and abortion has led me to believe differently. Not inadvertently, women give either me or my staff an uneasy feeling about their ambivalence or their anxiety about the abortion process. Since I have never been sued for an abortion I did not perform, my policy is to acknowledge my gut feeling, which is more often right than wrong."

A clinic counselor from Georgia stated:

"I have long felt that anti-abortionism is a psychological contraindication to the abortion procedure. And that we don't have to give everyone who asks an abortion. An anti-abortion woman is likely to be uncooperative and will probably not follow post-op instructions or instructions on how to deal with complications. There is actually a case where an anti-abortion patient failed to go as directed to Emergency for an unrelated complication. She ended up dying, and her family sued the physician and badgered him publicly. Additionally, if you have a complication that day, it will be the anti-abortionist. I'm not talking about the patient who says, 'I was against abortion until it happened to me', or 'I'm really against abortion, but I have to do this'. I'm talking about the picketer, the activist, the totally anti-creature who will come back to haunt us."

In fact, an anti-abortion organization called Life Dynamics Inc., of Denton Texas, specializes in malpractice suits against abortion providers. They advertise for and exploit women who regret their abortion decision or who had complications, and try and persuade them to file suit against the doctor or clinic. Many of these women are vulnerable and suffer from emotional problems, but others are anti-abortion, or at least very ambivalent about their decision to have an abortion. The message that abortion is murder has had a profound influence on them, and it may leave them with a legacy of guilt and shame after their abortion, too often borne alone and in silence. When these women find themselves unable to cope with their abortions, they may look for somebody else to blame, and doctors become a convenient scapegoat.

At times, clinic staff understandably become frustrated and angry when they have to deal with abusive, hostile, or hypocritical patients. And it is rare for anti-choice women to express appreciation for the service they've received. But most clinics perform abortions on anti-abortion women because they feel it's their obligation to help all women. They provide more thorough and specialized counseling to these women to ensure they take ownership of their decision, as far as possible. Here's a couple of examples of counseling techniques:

"When a patient comes in with my 'favorite' sentiment: 'The only moral abortion is my abortion,' I try to expand her understanding that a few more of us have had and deserve a 'moral' abortion. When a woman expands her need for care beyond herself, you no longer have an 'anti'." (Clinic Administrator, Louisiana)

"Sometimes I say to patients who have that 'I have no choice, I know I'll regret it, just do me' attitude: 'You may not care, but we do. We only do abortions on women who want our services. We will not knowingly contribute to any possible trauma of any woman.' They seem surprised that we care how we do our work, but they also accept it." (Counselor, New York)

Some anti-choice women who have abortions do make peace with their decision and even become pro-choice, or at least more forgiving of other women seeking abortions. A Louisiana patient who was anti-choice before her abortion, wrote a warm and grateful thank-you letter to the clinic, admitting that she had been a hypocrite:

"I never dreamed, in my wildest nightmares, that there would ever be a situation where I personally would choose such an act. Of course, we would each like to think that our reasons for a termination are the exception to the rule. But the bottom line is that you people spend your lives, reputations, careers and energy fighting for, maintaining, and providing an option that I needed, while I spent my energy lambasting you. Yet you still allowed me to make use of your services even though I had been one of your enemies. You treated us as kindly and warmly as you did all of your patients and never once pointed an 'I told you so' finger in our direction. I got the impression that you cared equally about each woman in the facility and what each woman was going through, regardless of her reasons for choosing the procedure. I have never met a group of purely non-judgmental people like yourselves."

On occasion, an abortion turns out to be a momentous, life-affirming experience for an anti-choice woman. A doctor from a north-western state shared the following personal story with me:

"I was born into a very Catholic family, and was politically pro-life during college. After dating my first real boyfriend for three years, we broke up, and the day my boyfriend moved out, I discovered I was pregnant. It was an agonizing decision, and something I never thought I would do, but I decided an abortion was the only realistic option. Thanks to Planned Parenthood counseling, I worked through some very tough conflicts within myself. I had to learn that my decision was a loving one. That 'my god' was actually a loving and supportive god. And that men don't have to make this decision, only women do. That it is a very personal, individual decision. I had to own it. I became much more compassionate towards myself and others as a result of my experience. Two years later I began medical school. When it came time to choose a practice, an abortion clinic opportunity came up. In working there, I began to feel that this was my calling. Having been in my patients' shoes, and coming from an unforgiving background, I could honestly say to patients, 'I know how you feel.' Deciding to have an abortion was THE hardest decision I've ever made in my life. Yet it has brought me the greatest transformation, fulfillment, and now joy. I am a more loving person because of it, and a better doctor for having experienced it. I love the work that I do, and the opportunity to support women seeking to end an unwanted pregnancy. My patients and my work are life's gifts to me, and I think my compassion and support are my gifts in return."

1. Henshaw, S.K. and G. Martire. 1982. Abortion and the Public Opinion Polls: 1. Morality and Legality. Family Planning Perspectives. 14:2, pp 53-60, March/April.

2. The Alan Guttmacher Institute. 1996. Abortion Common Among All Women, Even Those Thought to Oppose Abortion. http://www.agi-usa.org/pubs/archives/prabort2.html

3. Henshaw, S.K. and K. Kost. 1996. Abortion Patients in 1994-1995: Characteristics and Contraceptive Use. Family Planning Perspectives. 28:4, July/August. http://www.agi-usa.org/pubs/journals/2814096.html

4. Planned Parenthood of America. Pro-Choice Debate Handbook. http://www.plannedparenthood.org/politicalarena/Pro-Choice_Debate_Handbook.html#4

5. Medical World News. 1987. Abortion Clinic's Toughest Cases. pp 55-61. March 9.

Yesterday evening, I was “Stumbling” through web pages when I came across Andrew Sullivan’s The Daily Dish in TheAtlantic.com.  I have seen Andrew on The Colbert Show a number of times and have not always agreed with him on the issues.  He is a self-described libertarian conservative who is a pioneer blogger being one of the first of the high-profile political journalists to start a personal blog

In the September 10 posting of The Daily Dish which he titles “McCain’s Integrity” he describes how his opinion of John McCain has declined from being “a decent and honest person” into the depths of “mindless Rovianism”.  He provides examples starting with McCain’s disingenuous outrage at Obama for calling Sarah Palin a pig, when Obama used the phrase “you can put lipstick on a pig but it’s still a pig” to describe McCain’s own economic policy. (By the way there are a number of instances in which McCain used the same phrase including a reference to Hillary Clinton’s health care proposal.)

Mr. Sullivan also talks about how in 2004 when McCain knew of the disaster that Bush was making of the Iraq war, he endorsed Bush over Kerry, thus putting his “party first and his own career first ahead… of the country.”  McCain also had a clear choice over doing what was right and what was expedient when he sided with Bush/Cheney and “enshrined torture as the policy of the United States, by allowing the CIA to us techniques as bad as and worse than the torture inflicted on him in Vietnam.”

The article also goes in to McCain’s Rovian attack ads on Obama characterizing them as “grotesque, trivial and absurd” and implying “disgusting things about his opponent’s patriotism.”  No wonder John McCain declined to tell us what he believes honor is, the other day.  McCain’s final capitulation to party and career before country was when he showed that his concern is not the security of the nation when he picked someone “who knows nothing about it as his replacement.”

Read the article.  I think you will find it illuminating.

The other day I saw an advertisement on early morning TV for Dr. Frank’s Joint & Muscle Pain Relief spray and the similar Dr. Frank’s Joint Pain Relief for Dogs and Cats.  This resonated a bit with me since I have been having joint and general pains that I have been attributing to the march of time.  When I went to the website to investigate the formula (which I found lacking in proper form for the chemical components and imprecise in the concentrations), I saw a link to “fibromyalgia”.

Fibromyalgia is word I had heard before but never new what it was, so I started to do some investigation.  One of the first things I found was that it is third on the list of the WebMD Top 12 heath topics for women and not on the list at all for men. (Women are ten times more likely to get this disease than men.)  I found this interesting being male and having some of the symptoms that are listed on the WebMD site.  Fibromyalgia is an arthritis related illness.  It is not well understood and is often misdiagnosed, in fact there are even some who do not believe it exists.

These symptoms are fairly general and some of them might apply to nearly anyone.  The symptoms listed on WebMD are: Anxiety, concentration and memory problems -- known as fibro fog, depression, digestive disorders, discoloration of hands and feet (Raynaud's phenomenon), dryness in mouth, nose, and eyes, fatigue, headaches, irritable bowel syndrome, morning stiffness, pain, painful menstrual cramps, restless legs syndrome, sleep problems, swelling, numbness, and tingling in hands, arms, feet, and legs, pain trigger points, and urinary symptoms.

The most common symptom is the pain which is reported in 97% of those diagnosed with fibromyalgia followed by the pain trigger points, fatigue, sleep problems, and depression.

Causes are unclear but there is evidence that genetics may play a role as well as stress.  In addition sleep or lack thereof seems to have an association with the disease but it is unclear whether that is an effect of fibromyalgia or a cause.  There is no universally accepted cure for the disease though some physicians claim to have found cures.

Wikipedia has a good more detailed overview.

This was taken from a posting at Current Configuration but expresses my thoughts better than I could...

Put simply, there is a right way to hang the toilet paper, and a wrong way. Read on to determine the status of your own roll.

Toilet paper has a natural curve, a way of being that lends itself to certain orientations on the toilet paper spool.* If handled with skill and knowledge, it can provide an abundance of both sanitation and comfort, quilted together in each square of pillowy ply. If handled with clumsy ignorance, or worse, carelessness, it will beset the user with pain, filth, and frustration. Don’t let it end this way, with you curled on the tile floor of the stall, weeping in frustration, covered in wasted papier de toilette. To convince you, we’ve created some diagrams, harnessing the power of SCIENCE, to demonstrate the natural benefits of the over hanging method. First, we examine the optimal viewing benefits of the over hanging method.

Below are examples of the helpful and fruitful over-hung method on the left and the annoying and detrimental under-hung method on the right.

Notice the dramatic difference in the amount of visible toilet paper. Ironically, it is the over-hung toilet paper that has both the most visible free sheetage and the least amount of sheetage free from the roll to do it. Now, this may not seem like a big deal on its own, but in these extra sheets lies your undoing. Observe.

We here at Current Configuration, for the purposes of ease and expediency, do the one-handed tear (okay, really, it’s just me, but bear with me, er, us). The one-handed tear is a quick maneuver that takes advantage of the perforated squares, allowing your bundle of toilet paper to be liberated with one quick swipe of the arm. This is the foundation of bathroom ease, the cottony bedrock on which enjoyment rests in the restrooms of many nations.

The one-handed tear relies on a quick and forceful motion directed either away from or towards the tear-er. The forces applied in this motion are great and, like the atom, are not to be trifled with. The natural curve of the over-hung method allows the roll to stand fast after a one-handed tear, but the under-hung method creates a calamitous tendency in the roll. This tendency can only lead to this:

Wasted paper, frustration, the destruction of our forests. While we realize that it is possible to execute a one-handed tear on an under-hung roll, this is a game of sanitary Russian roulette. You are bound to lose eventually, and there is no re-rolling an unwound toilet paper roll. The results will only cause you grief. Don’t let this happen to you. Restroom attendants, janitors, maids, facilities crews, and responsible toiletowners take note: Don’t use the under-hung method for your toilet paper rolls. It leads to the destruction of our precious resources and the pillars of civilization as we know it!

*Does that thing have a proper name?

The other day, before July fourth, I was driving around the eastern NY Metro area (New York City, Long Island, Westchester and Connecticut) and started to take conscious notice of how diving characteristics of the different areas varied.

Now this is not going to be a rant about how poorly NYC drivers drive.  In reality, most of those diving in the city seemed to be more aware of others and while interested in getting ahead of the next guy also knew when that was not possible or was too risky.  This was until they got onto the FDR, Henry Hudson or some other purportedly high speed road.  Once that happened the drivers in the city transformed into a homogenous group with more of the characteristics of the other areas within the region. I am not going to focus on why this might be the case (although I believe it is a combination of frustration at not being able to be where they want to be faster than traffic, or physics, will allow and the more homogenous nature of the home area of the drivers).  I am going to focus on some worst of the characteristics that I observed.

1. Driving slower than the traffic in the passing lanes.  By driving slower than or even at the same speed as the prevailing traffic while in the passing lane causes other drivers who wish to drive more quickly to drive in other lanes. That wouldn’t be so much of an issue on a road with reasonable traffic levels, but this is New York (or fill in your city).  There are vehicles in the other lanes using up the space.

2. Drivers who drive significantly faster than rest of the traffic.  On multiple instances on my travel day in early July, I saw one or more cars weaving through the traffic at what I regarded as excess speed.  This dangerous for the individual but if that was as far as it went I would be less concerned as they would only be hurting themselves.  However, all the other people on the road are also being put at risk and they are mostly innocent bystanders.  Finally, while some of the cars were sporty little things, many of the vehicles were behemoths such as Hummers, Suburban’s and Expeditions.  These people are the same individuals that bemoan the high price of fuel.  Don’t they know that slowing down can significantly improve their mileage?

3. Drivers who don’t read.    How about those drivers who are entering the highway and do not read, understand or believe that the Stop and Yield signs apply to them.  I think we all have a good understanding that a Stop sign means that we should stop, however what does Yield mean?  Yield means that everyone else on the highway you are entering has the right of way and even if you believe you are a specially entitled individual, you are not!  I had cars and trucks cut me off as they entered the highway even though there were vehicles on my left and I could not get out of my lane.

4. Distracted drivers.  How often have you seen a driver cut from the far left lane across two, three or more lanes to exit?  What about the first group I mentioned, drivers who cut across traffic to get to an exit.  I think this is less reading issues (though there is some of that) more emblematic of either being distracted or not thinking ahead or both.  The numbers of times I have seen a driver make a sharp change in direction, or precipitously slow down, or not move at a green light, or backup on a highway is greater than I can count. I have noticed these people are usually distracted in some way or another.  I have seen many distractions for drivers other than the usual of speaking on the phone (In NY, NJ and CT drivers must use hands free phones, but based upon the number of people holding a phone while speaking on it and driving, I doubt if that is happening) or otherwise engaged in conversation and not paying attention to their driving.  Here are a few creative and not so unusual distractions: putting on makeup, shaving, brushing teeth, reading, eating, smoking and drinking coffee at the same time, doing something in their seat. (I couldn’t tell what but they were certainly intent on it.)

Well I am getting a bit long-winded but will probably add to this as time goes on so I will end here and implore people to tell me I am wrong and drivers are fine.  If so, I guess it is me that is the problem otherwise suggest your own driver peeves.

The other day the about half the Democrats in the US House rolled over and gave President Bush nearly everything he wanted in a FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act).  The word foreign in the bill should be removed since it is misleading and inaccurate.  This bill removes many of the unreasonable search and seizure aspects of the fourth amendment of the US Constitution.  Former Nixon White House Counsel John Dean (never one of my favorite people) appeared on MSNBC's Keith Olbermann show.  Below are a couple of extracts with emphasis added.

John Dean: "Well I think you've got to give one to the terrorists for a notch on our Fourth Amendment.  They really did some damage today, uh, in this, so-called compromise.  Contrary to what the speaker (Pelosi) said, it really does hurt the Constitution so, uh, it's very troubling and it's not a good day, for civil liberties particularly."

[...]

Keith Olbermann: "If this gets in through the Senate there's no way to get it out again, is there?  I mean, the history of this nation in terms of lost civil liberties is pretty bad about restoring them."

John Dean: "Well I spent a lot of time reading that bill today and it's a very poorly drafted bill.  One of the things that is not clear is whether it's not possible later to go after the telecoms for criminal liability.  And that's something Obama has said during this campaign he would do - unlike prior Presidents who come in and merely give their predecessor a pass, he said, 'I won't do that.' And that might be why he's just sitting by saying, 'Well, I'm just gonna let this go through but that doesn't mean I'm gonna give the telecom a pass.'  I would love it if he gets on the Senate floor and says, 'I'm keeping that option open.'

While I support Senator Obama, the amateur cynic in me finds it hard to believe that any President will voluntarily relinquish any power.  The whole interview can be seen below.

Welcome to my musings.

In this blog I will focus on my likes and dislikes and their interplay with my interests.   I have a wide range of interests ranging from computers (no surprise there), family and home activities to the environment, oceanography, politics and sailing with all sorts of things in the middle. 

The posts on this blog will range from original content to excerpts of news stories, images and other blogs.

A little about me.

I am well past the age of consent and even well past the age at which I have said you can’t trust anyone (over 30).  I have college degrees in computers and life sciences and marine environmental sciences.  I am married, have two daughters and work as a technology architect and advocate in a boutique New York technology consulting firm.

I crew on friends sailboats as we race in Long Island Sound.  We typically race on Wednesday nights and on some weekends.  So far of the four races we have competed in we have won three and came in fourth in the last.

I hope you will enjoy my rantings and musings and will provide all manner of comment and feedback.