Macron and the ‘French Trump’ trap Gaullism’s heirs in a political vice [Click] I cannot help but recall the lament of the now long-ago Canadian columnist: “Canada could have had the best of everything; the government of the English, the culture of the French, and the get-up-and-go of the Americans; but what do we have? The government of the French, the culture of the Americans, and the get-up-and-go of the English.”
Of course there might be some vice involved, but from the sound of the column, it would seem that "vise" was intended. Slipped by me the first time, though.
I am not personally in favor of gerrymandering. And one thing that the media typically misses is that aggressive gerrymandering is risky. It creates swing districts that you can lose when the political current shifts the other way.
I would personally be willing to see the Republicans retain four seats. They currently have five, but Illinois is losing a seat and most of the population loss has been in Republican-leaning rural southern Illinois.
This (from the article) really says it all: they “followed the law, their training and departmental policies and procedures.”
Okay, then [duh] clearly the training, policies and procedures need changing! And how about hiring people who have enough human decency not to accept that sort of training in the first place?!
Hospital staff say they're facing a violence crisis. [Click] Well, maybe it’s something new in the “upscale” hospitals, but I worked in a major (county hospital) trauma center for just short of five years and we were pretty well prepared for the worst. Unlike the private hospitals in the area, workplace safety was a major priority. When a couple of unprepared ER’s elsewhere in the state had problems with dissatisfied customers (or their family members) with guns killing ER doctors (I think there were two such cases), the door from the waiting room (and the wall around it) was strengthened, and a three inch thick floor to ceiling Lexan barrier was emplaced at the front desk in the waiting room, with pass-throughs that even the smallest pistol couldn’t get (or shoot) through. I remember the night we ran out of restraints; the nurses tore up sheets to serve the purpose. Long before those incidents we were prepared to deal with gang-bangers who failed in their attempt to kill someone getting into the hospital to finish the job. I shall refrain from telling one of my best stories because it would unavoidably entail invasion of patient privacy. It was a great place to work, really. Very educational, and esprit de corps was first rate; if you needed to look at a mission statement on the back of your ID badge to figure out why you were there, you belonged someplace else. The county Board of Supervisors dumped the hospital (this was when reducing overhead was considered great management) and handed it over to the biggest private hospital in town (which was greedy for the cash flow). Safety (for everyone), housekeeping, and billing deteriorated both markedly and immediately. They also closed the cafeteria at night. But before all that, it was a place to really be proud of working.
When one happened to pass through the hallway as a violent patient was being restrained, you knew to lend a hand--just lay hold of an appendage and hang on until things were taken care of, then go on your way. They had restraints that were both nice and effective--like rather wide belts made of soft leather, with fleece on the inside. Restraining a violent patient without being injured calls for both training and experience.
There were some people who just couldn't adjust to the things one had to see and deal with there; no one held it against them, they were simply found another place in the hospital.
We had frequent drills of all sorts, with no advance warning. Those really helped when the time came that it wasn't a drill.
It's intense working in the ER. I saw just a taste of it when I was chaplain-on-call. I learned more about teamwork from the ER folks than anywhere else in the hospital. I also learned the importance of checking up on the nurses and other staffers after something hard took place. I was the chaplain when a baby died of SIDS and (when I had to leave the scene for a few minutes to get a baptism registration card*) a nurse took me aside and asked how the parents were doing. The real reason she asked? Her son had died of SIDS 6 months before. She was reliving her pain even in the midst of helping. Happens all the time.
* The family was Roman Catholic and the baby hadn't yet been baptised. The Roman Catholic chaplain was just about to offer the midday mass. So he gave me the registration card and told me to go do the baptism. I confess I altered the words of the service. Instead of saying "Acknowledge, we beseech you, a sinner of your own redeeming" I said "Acknowledge, we beseech you, a child of your own redeeming" ~ because, after all, what sin could a 2 month old baby possibly have committed? Y'know? The social worker present noticed and commended me for it afterward.
Until that day I never knew that it's okay for someone to be baptised after they have died. But the priest explained to me that it honoured the parents' intention for the child, and gave them a small amount of peace in the midst of the trauma. Fr. Leo was a jewel and a gem...!
“China’s economy grew 4.9% in the third quarter from a year earlier, slowing sharply from the previous quarter’s 7.9% growth rate, as power shortages and supply-chain problems added to the impact from Beijing’s efforts to rein in the real estate and technology sectors,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
‘This is the future’: Black Senate candidates crush fundraising expectations [Click] “Across the Senate map, Black candidates posted blowout numbers in the most recent campaign reporting period. . . ‘it's not the boring old white guy again.’”
ReplyDeleteThis is great news. And this...
DeleteOne of Trump's top targets has outraised the opponent he backs to oust her. She's not the only one
https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/16/politics/republican-trump-targets-campaign-funding/index.html
"thousands of small online donations." Thank you, Howard.
Delete👍
DeleteChina Tests Hypersonic Missile [Click]
ReplyDeleteAfrican Swine Fever on US Doorstep Once Again [Click]
ReplyDeleteGerman SPD's Scholz moves closer to succeeding Merkel as chancellor [Click]
ReplyDeleteCNN: Why neither party has a sustainable political majority [Click]
ReplyDeleteMacron and the ‘French Trump’ trap Gaullism’s heirs in a political vice [Click] I cannot help but recall the lament of the now long-ago Canadian columnist: “Canada could have had the best of everything; the government of the English, the culture of the French, and the get-up-and-go of the Americans; but what do we have? The government of the French, the culture of the Americans, and the get-up-and-go of the English.”
ReplyDeleteOf course there might be some vice involved, but from the sound of the column, it would seem that "vise" was intended. Slipped by me the first time, though.
DeleteSports note: the Chicago Sky just won the WNBA championship.
ReplyDeleteIllinois Democrats Agonize Over How Much to Gerrymander [Click] Hey, Bill— do you think they will go for the gusto?
ReplyDeleteI am not personally in favor of gerrymandering. And one thing that the media typically misses is that aggressive gerrymandering is risky. It creates swing districts that you can lose when the political current shifts the other way.
DeleteI would personally be willing to see the Republicans retain four seats. They currently have five, but Illinois is losing a seat and most of the population loss has been in Republican-leaning rural southern Illinois.
I agree, Bill; but a fellow can dream, certainly.
DeleteHey, guys. I went to this today. I was standing right behind the lady in the blue shirt and I'm small enough that you can't even see me.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.whio.com/news/local/protestors-demand-change-after-controversial-dayton-traffic-stop-involving-man-with-disability/SMGTUZ2ZERC2DAOVI5VOSYJDS4/
We can see your foot!
DeleteWay to go, Susan! Keep us posted on the outcome.
DeleteThis (from the article) really says it all:
they “followed the law, their training and departmental policies and procedures.”
Okay, then [duh] clearly the training, policies and procedures need changing! And how about hiring people who have enough human decency not to accept that sort of training in the first place?!
Yeah, what the article doesn't say is that they "forcibly removed him" by dragging him out of the car BY HIS HAIR.
DeleteHospital staff say they're facing a violence crisis. [Click] Well, maybe it’s something new in the “upscale” hospitals, but I worked in a major (county hospital) trauma center for just short of five years and we were pretty well prepared for the worst. Unlike the private hospitals in the area, workplace safety was a major priority. When a couple of unprepared ER’s elsewhere in the state had problems with dissatisfied customers (or their family members) with guns killing ER doctors (I think there were two such cases), the door from the waiting room (and the wall around it) was strengthened, and a three inch thick floor to ceiling Lexan barrier was emplaced at the front desk in the waiting room, with pass-throughs that even the smallest pistol couldn’t get (or shoot) through. I remember the night we ran out of restraints; the nurses tore up sheets to serve the purpose. Long before those incidents we were prepared to deal with gang-bangers who failed in their attempt to kill someone getting into the hospital to finish the job. I shall refrain from telling one of my best stories because it would unavoidably entail invasion of patient privacy. It was a great place to work, really. Very educational, and esprit de corps was first rate; if you needed to look at a mission statement on the back of your ID badge to figure out why you were there, you belonged someplace else. The county Board of Supervisors dumped the hospital (this was when reducing overhead was considered great management) and handed it over to the biggest private hospital in town (which was greedy for the cash flow). Safety (for everyone), housekeeping, and billing deteriorated both markedly and immediately. They also closed the cafeteria at night. But before all that, it was a place to really be proud of working.
ReplyDeleteWhen one happened to pass through the hallway as a violent patient was being restrained, you knew to lend a hand--just lay hold of an appendage and hang on until things were taken care of, then go on your way. They had restraints that were both nice and effective--like rather wide belts made of soft leather, with fleece on the inside. Restraining a violent patient without being injured calls for both training and experience.
DeleteTwo more notes from the ER--
DeleteThere were some people who just couldn't adjust to the things one had to see and deal with there; no one held it against them, they were simply found another place in the hospital.
We had frequent drills of all sorts, with no advance warning. Those really helped when the time came that it wasn't a drill.
It's intense working in the ER. I saw just a taste of it when I was chaplain-on-call. I learned more about teamwork from the ER folks than anywhere else in the hospital. I also learned the importance of checking up on the nurses and other staffers after something hard took place. I was the chaplain when a baby died of SIDS and (when I had to leave the scene for a few minutes to get a baptism registration card*) a nurse took me aside and asked how the parents were doing. The real reason she asked? Her son had died of SIDS 6 months before. She was reliving her pain even in the midst of helping. Happens all the time.
Delete* The family was Roman Catholic and the baby hadn't yet been baptised. The Roman Catholic chaplain was just about to offer the midday mass. So he gave me the registration card and told me to go do the baptism. I confess I altered the words of the service. Instead of saying "Acknowledge, we beseech you, a sinner of your own redeeming" I said "Acknowledge, we beseech you, a child of your own redeeming" ~ because, after all, what sin could a 2 month old baby possibly have committed? Y'know? The social worker present noticed and commended me for it afterward.
Until that day I never knew that it's okay for someone to be baptised after they have died. But the priest explained to me that it honoured the parents' intention for the child, and gave them a small amount of peace in the midst of the trauma. Fr. Leo was a jewel and a gem...!
Delete“China’s economy grew 4.9% in the third quarter from a year earlier, slowing sharply from the previous quarter’s 7.9% growth rate, as power shortages and supply-chain problems added to the impact from Beijing’s efforts to rein in the real estate and technology sectors,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
ReplyDeleteRepublicans Worry Trump Will Blow the Next Election [Click] So what are they going to do about it?
ReplyDeleteGOP Senator Smacks Trump for Losing [Click]
For Uber and Lyft, the Rideshare Bubble Bursts [Click]
ReplyDeleteAs Manchin blocks the climate plan, his state can’t hold back the floods [Click]
ReplyDelete