Jim Seaman – web log

There’s no good reason why gays and lesbians shouldn’t serve openly in the military.

Yesterday, Adm. Mike Mullen chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates went before the Senate Armed Forces Committee to testify that don’t ask, don’t tell should end. A couple of worthwhile quotes from Adm. Mullen:

“No matter how I look at the issue I cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens.”

“For me it comes down to integrity — theirs as individuals and ours as an institution.”

Also at the hearing, Sen. Mark Udall cited conservative Barry Goldwater’s famous dictum —that it mattered not whether you were straight, but whether you could shoot straight.

Britain, Canada, Israel and Australia are among countries allowing gays to serve openly without issue. The primary argument against repealing the “Don’t ask, Don’t tell” order is that it will undermine cohesion of the units. But there’s nothing new in that argument. Harry Truman faced the cohesion argument when he integrated the forces in 1948 — the same time Omar Bradley, the five-star general, said the Army was the wrong place for “social experiments.” These same arguments were also used against enhancing women’s roles in the military.

Polls show most Americans favor gays and lesbians serving openly (they are already there anyway). The only real argument against it, in fact, is the outdated workplace argument: that being around gay people makes some straight people uncomfortable.

In this mini-depression lots of folks are out-of-work, others are enduring hour and wage cuts. Many of these people are facing the time limit on receiving unemployment payments. But there is money out there just waiting to be claimed by anyone.

Individuals, companies and government agencies are all offering incentives/rewards for all sorts of things. Check out this list that I put together:

NASA is always offering up challenges for new ideas:
Nasa.gov
There is a $50,000 reward for locating a woodpecker:
ibwo.org
Microsoft is offering up $250,000 (that’s right, a quarter million) for info on the a-holes that unleashed a virus on the world:
Microsoft.com
Or you could report your ex-employer for software piracy – the reward is up to $1,000,000 (one million):
bsa.org

And if you hang out with the wrong crowd there are always lots of rewards offered up to help solve crimes. Some are offered by the police others by those that were wronged.

Nelly offers up $10,000 reward to catch burglers
US Fish and Wildlife offers $10,000 for info on shooting of Whooping Crane

I know I use the Internet a lot more than the average person but the figures below show that I’m not all that out of line!

American adults are now spending an average of 13 hours a week surfing the Internet, according to new data from Harris Interactive, up from only seven hours in 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002. This isn’t the highest ever year, though: in 2008, the average peaked at 14 hours per week—which Harris attributes to the presidential election and the beginning of the current financial crisis—before settling back down to 13 hours in 2009.

The number of adults using the Internet at home has increased dramatically over that same time period, too. Harris says that a mere 22 percent accessed the Internet at home as of January 1998 (as well as 22 percent at work); that number has gone up to 76 percent accessing it at home this year and 40 percent at work. There has been an increase in Internet use while at “other” locations as well (school, coffee shops, etc.), reflecting our growing use of laptops and other portable devices.

He’s been out of office (and the public eye) for a while now but I just had to share this joke:

President Bush was sitting at his desk in the oval office when the Secretary of War walked in…

How goes the war in Iraq”, asked Pres. Bush

“Terrible”, said the Secretary of War, “Six Brazilian Soldiers were killed today”

“My, that is terrible news”, replied President Bush

As the Secretary of War was leaving President Bush picked up the phone and called Condalezza Rice…

“Connie”, he said, “How many is a Brazillion”?

Here are some seldom seen numbers … comparisons of immigrant crime rates vs native born American crime rates – and guess who’s better behaved!

The graph above and the article that is linked to below are actually from two different studies but cover the same subject. I’ve pulled out a few facts from the article but please read it for yourself: PDF from the website www.policefoundation.org.

Here’s the opening lines from the article: “The perception that the foreign-born, especially “illegal aliens,” are responsible for higher crime rates is deeply rooted in American public opinion and is sustained by media anecdote and popular myth.” … “Such stereotypes, reinforced through popular movies and television programs and fueled by media coverage of singular events, project an enduring image of immigrant communities permeated by criminal elements.”

The following facts and numbers are from the year 2000 census and other sources. Remember, the high point of illegal immigration was in 2000, before 9/11 occurred.

For all males 18-39:
Overall percent in jail = 3.04%
For immigrants only = 0.68%
For native born only = 3.51%
Immigrants are 4 1/2 times less likely to end up in jail than are native born Americans. And that isn’t anyone’s opinion – it’s a fact.

The National Organization for Marriage is challenging a Maine campaign finance law requiring it to disclose its donors. They have donated about $1.5 million to Maine’s Yes on One campaign, and are asking a federal judge to issue a temporary restraining order against Maine’s State Ethics Commission.

The group must believe that their fund raising efforts will be hurt if they cannot allow their donors to be anonymous and remain in the shadows. I think the group is right, their donors should be ashamed of their anti-gay sentiment. Most causes such as theirs can’t stand examination in the light of day.

The Church of Sweden has formally agreed to recognise same-sex marriages and conduct gay weddings and blessings. The Lutheran denomination said that it would begin marrying same-sex couples on 1 November 2009.

The change comes after the Swedish parliament legalised same-sex weddings earlier this year, changing a law permitting legal unions but not formal marriage. The church board voted 176-62 in favour of the change. Sweden’s Lutheran Church split from the state in 2000 but remains the country’s largest religious community.

“It is a question of being human. One of the Bible quotations central to the Lutheran tradition is, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’,” Archbishop Anders Wejryd said in September 2009 on Swedish public television. “This means that as Christians, we have a responsibility to think independently on the basis of what we believe is good for love, fidelity and equality, at all times.”

The United States was eliminated from consideration for the 2016 Olympic games in the first round of voting by the Olympics committee. In other words, we came in last. It was mentioned by a few that one of the reasons was the difficulties that are encountered by foreigners when trying to get a visa to enter the US.

Part of that is caused by our fear of terrorists (gee isn’t that exactly what they want … to cause fear and terror?). But part of it is also caused by our fears of illegal immigration. We really need total reform of our immigration system now! It is costing us in ways that we never imagined.

I bought a Canon 20D DSLR back in the spring of 2005. Since then I’ve been looking at each new Canon camera as they have been announced – the 30D – the 40D – the 50D – and now … I’ve been tempted with a totally new model, the 7D.

Each camera up to now has been an incremental improvement over the previous camera in the series. The 7D however is a jump in several directions at once – a new type of image sensor, HD video, a new focus system, as well as several other new features. Compared to my current 20D it is very, very impressive.

I can only be tempted so much … today I ordered one.
Check out the specs of the Canon 7D here.

Two days ago my hair started falling out – that’s three weeks after my chemo treatment and on the day I was supposed to have my second treatment. I don’t think I’ll lose all of it but there is a bunch in the shower – on my towel – on the pillow – and running my fingers through my hair leaves them full of it. It seems to be falling out mostly from the back of my head.

As a result of the chemo, all food tastes different – most of it tastes somewhat bad – none of it really tastes good. Pepsi and Coke taste awful. I sure hope this aspect of it improves soon, I miss a good meal.

Well after only a week (and two meetings with the radiation oncologist) we have made the decision to discontinue my chemo and radiation therapy. A lot of stuff went into the mix to make this big decision, it certainly was not made lightly and the doctor didn’t fight me on it.

Basically it was decided that the odds of the cancer being eliminated by the current treatment are only 10-20% better than simply doing nothing. Also, restarting my treatment at a later date (if necessary) is always an option and should be about as effective as doing it now as long as they get an early start on any growth, which will require that I have regular checks by an ENT and occasional PT scans.

The side effects (both temporary and permanent) of this particular cancer treatment are significant and were a major part of this decision. It would never have been a situation of “the cancer is beaten and life is back to normal”.

Apple says it’s not to blame for a series of exploding iPods and iPhones, according to a report published on Friday. The company has been under fire, so to speak, for devices overheating and shattering across Europe and the U.K

Yeah … it’s all a plan by Google and Microsoft to try to gain market share.

Well today (Tuesday) was my first actual cancer treatment, all of the visits to this point had just been planning and dress rehearsals. The radiation was first, about 40 minutes in there – they put me on the table – secured me with the mask and shoulder straps – did a couple of x-rays and then ran the machine though its paces. I got up off the table, straightened my shirt – took a few photos and went upstairs to the chemo lab.

After a brief wait they came and took me back to a room lined with recliners, each with its own IV stand and pump. Here they took some blood samples, put in an IV and started pumping in the fluids – some four different bags worth plus a needle or two of some other stuff for good measure.

This entry is getting posted a bit late simply because I have been too sick to mess with it! But better late than never.

As I see yet another church giving support to gays I recognize that it isn’t a religious thing when people reject gays or even gay marriage – it is strictly them trying to justify their bigotry.

From the news wires this morning:

DALLAS (Reuters) – The largest American Lutheran denomination cleared the way on Friday to allow gays and lesbians in committed relationships to serve in ministry, ending a policy that had opened leadership posts to them only if they remained celibate.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America also encouraged its congregations to find ways to support or recognize members in “accountable lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships.”

In 1988 Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, a former Libyan intelligence officer, killed 270 people by bombing an airliner. Today, after serving eight years in prison, he was released … free to go home to his friends and family.

He was sentenced to life in prison and now that he is facing the end of his life (due to cancer) the Scottish courts have decided to let him go. They call it “compassion”. Where is the “compassion” for the friends and families of the 270 people that he murdered?

I got a call from the hospital today – Monday will be a dry run to check out the setup and then on Tuesday at 8am I will get my first radiation therapy followed by 5 hours of chemo.

I’m already feeling nauseated. Seriously.

I know I should recycle more. I do feel guilty when I don’t. But sometimes it just seems they try to make it hard to recycle things!

Here in Raleigh there used to be recycling centers located throughout the city. They were nothing more than a collection of specialized dumpsters labeled for different items. Since the city implemented its curbside recycling program they only accept certain items – cans – glass bottles – newspapers – cardboard – certain kinds of plastics. Anything placed in the little green bins not meeting their guidelines gets left behind for you to deal with.

Well at the moment I have a couple of old computers to trash – they are big metal cases with a little bit of electronics inside. I also have a couple of large glass aquariums and a large, heavy floor buffer. The city will not pick up any of these items as part of their recycling program and there are no longer any neighborhood recycling sites to use. What’s left is a drive out to the recycling bins at the recently moved county dump – about 30 miles round trip, but that is just robbing Peter to pay Paul – I use up gas and pollute the air to save a bit of other resources.

Guess I’ll just have to go on feeling guilty.

Well this week I went to the hospital and they made a mask for me. It was made from a warm plastic that was pushed down over my face and stretched all the way down to the back of my head. It will be used to hold my head into position so the radiation can hit the exact same spots each time. They will put it over my face and bolt it to the table I will be on during the radiation treatments. They also will be holding me in place with some clamps over my shoulders.

I also got my first (and last) tattoo. Not a butterfly … just a small dot on my chest that they will use (with the help of a laser spot) to line me up into the same position on the table each time.

Other preparations this week took me back to the dentist twice. He took impressions of my teeth to make fluoride trays for me. What I got back today were clear plastic molds of my teeth that fit snugly over them. He also provided a bottle of grape flavored fluoride treatment. The radiation oncologist had told me to get them made and wants me to wear them during the radiation treatments to help protect my teeth. And of course I’ll use them for applying the fluoride treatment.

Well on Thursday I had my first appointment with my radiation oncologist. He’s the one who figures out how much radiation I’ll get and exactly where it will be targeted. We talked a good bit and as part of the exam he decided to take a look inside me via a tube up my nose – referred to as nasal endoscopy.

I’m sure this was done during my last surgery when the ENT surgeon was taking biopsies all over and looking for any signs of cancer but I wasn’t awake for it. This time I was most definitely awake! I’ll skip the details but suffice it to say that after a spray of something up the nose to numb me a bit and then a well lubed up thin, flexible tube with a light on the end was slid in my nostril. He actually put it in about a foot and pulled it back out several times when I started to gag. After looking around we started discussing the treatment plan.

Basically it’s going to be radiation therapy 5 times a week for 6 weeks along with chemo 3 times during that period. My next appointment there is on Tuesday.

It was 40 years ago next weekend, in the summer of 1969, that the all-time greatest event in rock music took place – Woodstock. Nearly a half-million people attended that event – to hear 30 plus music groups perform on-stage.

Diverse groups – wonderful groups – names like: Jimi Hendrix – Joan Baez – Jefferson Airplane – The Who – Johnny and Edgar Winter – Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young – Blood, Sweat and Tears – Ten Years After – The Grateful Dead – Santana – Creedence Clearwater Revival – Janice Joplin.

A bit from Wikipedia sums it up nicely:

After the concert Max Yasgur, who owned the site of the event, saw it as a victory of peace and love. He spoke of how nearly half a million people filled with possibilities of disaster, riot, looting, and catastrophe spent the three days with music and peace on their minds. He states that “if we join them, we can turn those adversities that are the problems of America today into a hope for a brighter and more peaceful future…”