Tuesday, July 31, 2007

MEDICAL DEFINITION OF "BENIGN, IDIOPATHIC, SEIZURE"

"Benign" means it's happening to the patient and not the doc. "Benign" is in the eye of the beholder.

"Idiopathic" is medicalspeak for "beats me why it happened!" (This has taken the place of "must be virus").

"Seizure" is what happens to your car in Illinois after the 3rd DUI.

Monday, July 30, 2007

AURORA: ROPE-A-DOPE OR ANIMAL PROTECTION?

The City of Aurora is considering a new ordinance which would make it a violation of their animal cruelty provisions to tether a pet.

Do you think tethering is per se cruel?

Just to be clear to all the Michael Vick fans out there, I'm talking about horizontal tethering, not vertical tethering (where paws don't reach the ground) of underachieving fighting dogs.

Friday, July 27, 2007

"AUTHENTIC" STATEMENT OF MICHAEL VICK: YEAH, RIGHT

Billy Martin of Scooter Libby Mutually Exclusive Defenses fame, read a statement from Vick yesterday that purported to be in Vick's own words, wherein Vick apologized to his teammates for missing "Spring Training".

Billy must like baseball as well as ghosting statements for his clients. There is no "Spring Training" in football. Nobody in football calls August camp "Spring Training". They call it "Camp" , "Summer Camp" "MC" for "Mandatory Camp" (Of course Briggs calls it "Optional Camp") or even "Training Camp" (archaic term) but never, ever "Spring Training".

Now, even if the statement was not authentic, Don'tcha think it would have been a good idea to throw in an apology to the owner who has wet nursed this young man through various "Ron Mexico" episodes.

Cue "Message in a Bottle"........

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

COACH CHARLIE WEISS LOSES GASTRIC BYPASS MALPRACTICE SUIT

In football terms, we call a setback like this a "Gut Check".

REVERSE GRADUATED LICENSING

Lindsay Lohan has managed to re-energize the national debate about youth driving and DUI.

Here's a proposal that failed before the Tennessee legislature: Drinking age changed to 16; Driving age changed to 21. Think about it. It kind of grows on you.

We'll talk about DUI vehicle forfeitures a little later.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

GONZO IS STAYING AT JUSTICE TO CLEAN UP THE IMAGE OF DOJ...........

............and Uncle Dick is remaining as Vice President to promote world peace and international cooperation.

In a related story Illinois Governor is remaining in office to emphasize and reinforce interactive and cooperative communication among the State's leaders and department heads.

Mark Prior will remain with the Cubs to promote healthy, durable pitching arms.

Monday, July 23, 2007

STATE LINE ROAD

Never seen anything exactly like it. So far as I know, all the other States I have lived in had nothing like it. Drive straight North on it and Missouri's on your right, Kansas on your left and you're right in the middle of a major city. There's a "Range Line" road near the boundary between Texas and New Mexico but it doesn't define the State Line (besides, it's in the mountains).

There's a road north of Lake Tahoe that weaves in and out of California/Nevada but itself is not the boundary.

I'm easily amused, I guess, but I thought it an unusual experience. No River. No Lake. Just a State Line between two Weak Football states.

Sunday, July 22, 2007

CARNOUSTIE: A LESSON IN LIFE, NOT JUST GOLF

Young Mr. Harrington dunked two balls in the water on 18....but he's the Open Champion. It isn't whether one experiences disaster. It's what one decides to do about disaster that dictates outcomes.

Now if cousin Joey could figure it out.

Friday, July 20, 2007

MUSINGS ON A BEAUTIFUL DAY

I'm in a foreign state (doesn't that sound sinister?) @ an outdoor internet cafe, waiting for a deposition to start. It is a beautiful day.

I am reminded of my late, esteemed colleague, William Dieterich, who was a fountain of memorable quotes. He once offered up this beauty:

"I don't like weather you notice."

Thursday, July 19, 2007

IOWA AND RAGBRAI

How come they don't use SpeedPass @ RAGBRAI? People get overheated waiting in those lines.

Any bikers out there who can help?

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

HAWAII: WHY?

Had some business in Hawaii recently and I have a geography question: Why does Hawaii have interstate Highways?

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

IMMIGRATION AND MARKET ECONOMIES

This from our friends at Delancey Place

In today's encore excerpt--writing in 1998, Douglas Massey writes of the historically inevitable result of any government's attempts to curb immigration:

"International migration is a natural consequence of capitalist market formation in the developing world, (and) the international flow of labor follows international flows of goods and capital, but in the opposite direction. ...

"Once international migration has begun, private institutions and voluntary organizations also tend to arise to satisfy the demand created by a growing imbalance between the large number of people who seek entry into a capital-rich country and the limited number of immigrant visas these countries typically offer. This imbalance, and the barriers that core countries erect to keep people out, create a lucrative economic niche for entrepreneurs and institutions dedicated to promoting international movement for profit, yielding a black market in migration. As this underground market creates conditions conducive to exploitation and victimization, voluntary humanitarian organizations arise in developed countries to enforce the rights and improve the treatment of legal and undocumented migrants."

Douglas S. Massey, et.al., Worlds in Motion, Understanding International Migration at the End of the Millennium, Oxford, 1998, pp. 41-44. Specific reference is made in this excerpt to works by Jacqueline Maria Hagan, Deciding to be Legal: A Maya Community in Houston (1994), and Susan Gonzales Baker, 'Implementing the US Legalization Program', International Migration Review, (1993).

Saturday, July 14, 2007

QUINCY PUBLIC SCHOOLS: RANDOM THOUGHTS BEFORE A ROAD TRIP

Does anybody believe that District 172's Safety/Risk Management Plan is the same now as it was in 2003? These are not stupid people. You may have some beef with them or think they're not responsive to you as a citizen, but they're not stupid?

Supt. Scheiter said it best when he noted this was the result of an imprecise law. Illinois has five appellate districts. The second district has ruled on this concept. 172's appeal would go to the fourth. Assuming the Legislature is not going to act (that's pretty safe given the electric bill caper and the state budget), the only way people around the state are going to know what the heck the law is would be for an appellate case to work its way to the Illinois Supreme Court. Now that we're in this soup, it's almost like the entire downstate public education system needs this case decided by the higher court so they know how to conduct their affairs. If the fourth differs in any material way from the second, it's likely the third and fifth would get similar cases and, eventually, the Supreme Court would take one of them. No matter how one feels about the outcome of this local case, it's difficult to see how not appealing is a responsible option.

I have no information about whether this has happened already but I can see this line of cases developing a cottage industry for "School Security Consultants"--cue the Mighty Mouse theme music "Here I am to write your Risk Prevention plan....."

Be patient with me on comment moderation. In the words of Scarlet O'Hara, I'll be relying on the "kindness of strangers" for web access for the next few days.

Friday, July 13, 2007

QUINCY PUBLIC SCHOOLS DISCUSSION AROUND THE BEND: PLEASE STOP, YOU'RE HURTING ME!

In this massive soup of a reaction to the Tort Fund Caper Order, somebody out there actually called Dickerson a "liberal". If you only knew. I can't wait to see Tom this weekend so I can tell him what a pinko he is! At least there's a laugh in all the prattling I'm seeing.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

QUINCY PUBLIC SCHOOLS, THE TORT FUND AND HERE'S WHAT I DON'T GET

I understand the court's ruling. I think I understand why the Board did what it did back in '03.

The opinion isn't difficult to read and understand. I get all that.

Here's what I don't get: Why are so many people so damn happy about it?

The impact is just short of the equivalent of a building burning down per year. I remember when a school building actually did burn down. Everyone was sad. So why now are so many people so giddy?

If these folks think the school board used bad judgment, I get that. But, really, isn't that something we could have fixed at the ballot box? There were plenty of anti-tort fund candidates over the last six or seven years. Some of them didn't know a tort from a blintz but some of them could have served well. For the most part, they didn't get close. If the community is so pleased this Board has been tripped up, why hadn't it run the offending members out of office.

Somebody please tell me why this is a cause for such celebration!

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

ALL STAR GAME: THE UNSHOT GUN

I guess the NL was saving Albert Pujols for the Halloween Party.

Wonder whether Brad Lidge would have rather faced Albert or Aaron Rowand in that situation.

Bummer, 'Night.

Monday, July 09, 2007

MINDLESS WORD LINKING

I've written about this before: combinations like "new baby" (there is no other kind) and "binding arbitration" (there is no other kind).

As you all know, I'm not much driven by local news but I have just reviewed my papers after a weekend away and saw a new mindless linkage in the Whig. The reference was to Floyd Landis, the bike-rider with the allegedly bad pee pee last year. It referred to him in the headline as the
"Defending Champion", then made clear in the article he wasn't racing (that is, he wasn't "defending"). So how would a non-competing champion be "defending"? He couldn't. He could be the "reigning" champion or the "current" champion but he couldn't be the "defending" champion if he wasn't defending jack (Other than the international doper tribunal brought to you by Dick Pound and WADA--you really can't make that stuff up!).


Putting out a newspaper every day's gotta be brutal work but this was a clanger and I'm guessing it was brought about by mindlessly linking words.

Thursday, July 05, 2007

DOC, IT HURTS WHEN I DO THIS: BY THE WAY, YOU'RE UNDER ARREST

At least seven apparently Muslim medical professionals have been detained by the Brits in connection with the bombings.

Whether charges ensue, we shall see. Whether this was evidence-based work, we may see. But there is one effect that is scarcely arguable. Just the tinge of accusation against these folks is going to make it more difficult for skilled foreign physicians to get established in the US. All of these applications are going to get more scrutiny, take more time and result in more rejections. Given that there is a nationwide physician shortage (albeit not as great as the nursing shortage but still an issue) we get hurt. Health care consumers at the bottom of the food chain will wait longer to see a Dr. and problem get less time with him/her as a result of this.

Once again, this shows there are no local impacts from geopolitical events, only global ones.

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

WALKING TO AN IMPROVEMENT:CHICAGO NORTH SIDE

Grabbed the Cubs Stats at the exact halfway point. Can probably get a pretty good scan of their performance by simply doubling their halfway stats.

Doing so gets us this:

Walks Rec'd 2006--394

Walks Rec'd 2007--494

Walks Allowed 2006 --718

Walks Allowed 2007 --570

This means about a 20% improvement in patience at the plate from last year to this year and a little better than 20% in walk-avoidance by pitchers. It still means that the Cubs are surrendering about 75 more baserunners than they are getting but the current team could offset that with a high batting average (such a retro stat).

If nothing else, this suggests the current above .500 performance is not just the product of flukey hot streak. This team, with this kind of control and plate discipline continuing could win 86-88 games. Whether that will catch Milwaukee is another matter but the Cubs are not an illusion. Their offense is solid and their pitching is avoiding the killer walk.

Of course, when you allow 300+ more walks than you get (2006) there is really no place to go but up.

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

SCOOTER IS TOSSED A SMALL BONE

The Basin predicted this some time ago. I also said I had no particular problem with it (I'll skip my rationale). Here's what I would like now. Could some of my hard right friends come in here and tell me truly how they feel about this one? I don't want to argue with you. I want to hear it from you, unfiltered. Was this not enough? You want the whole enchilada? No boring Joe Wilson bashing (He's in the dictionary under "easy target"), no "Richard Armitage" red herrings. Just tell me how you feel about the clemency. Please, Jump in. Inquiring minds want to know.

Monday, July 02, 2007

PERUVIAN HOT PEPPERS: A LEARNING EXPERIENCE

I grew up eating relatively spicy foods. Hot pep'incini or green chili, in moderation, is ok with me but I got a lesson today.

My host trotted out a small peruvian green pepper, cut into small strips. It is to be eaten by hand with a fairly good sized bite of beef or pork (or presumably goat) . I can't pronounce or remember the name of this little firecracker but it is some serious eating. OK, I did that. Fair enough.

Here is why you need an owner's manual with the little sucker. After handling this stuff, you want to wash your hands thoroughly before you use the urinal as well as after. I'll remember next time!

Peru, who knew?