May 23, 2015

Three glasses of Shiraz down the hatch so far. What's everybody else drinking tonight?

Crazy day at the clinic today.

Up: a patient of mine (female) told my assistant on her way out: "He's really hot!" Strange. I never knew bald fringe and a scowl of overwork could be considered hot.

Down: I was notified that a patient of mine died today. Respiratory failure. I was shocked, but not exactly surprised. He had severely advanced COPD and was still smoking. Every visit, he'd come in with an oxygen saturation of 89% or so. I'd tell him to quit smoking. He'd laugh and promise to quit. And he'd keep right on like before. He was a neat guy. I'll miss him.

Anyway. Time to drown my sorrows in a pool made of fermented grapes.

Join me?...

May 22, 2015

Will is back from Stratford. Having some drinks and dinner. Ask us anything.

May 18, 2015

For those who remember that Mrs. Aristus (R-WA) voted for Barack Obama in 2012:

I have no doubt in my mind that she will vote for Hillary Clinton in 2016.

It's not something we've discussed, not the least of which reasons is, it's too early to really be discussing candidates with someone who hates politics as much as my wife does.

I've been very slowly winning her over. She only very grudgingly voted for McCain in 2008. She despised Sarah Palin so much that she was -----> <----- this close to voting against the Republican ticket. Her pen actually hovered over the Obama-Biden box for a minute (I watched her fill out her ballot), and I think the main reason she voted -R- was not just her history and force of habit, but because Joe Biden is Catholic.

And of course, the greatest victory of all in 2012: she voted for Barack Obama over Mitt Rmoney!

She hates to admit it, but she admires Bill Clinton for his intellect and ability to speak cogently about complex issues. And she knows Hillary is immensely qualified for the office. And she rolls her eyes at the endless parade of feckless clowns piling into the Republican campaign car. So 2016 will be another small victory (Washington State will carry the Democratic candidate easily...) but every victory brings us closer to a Blue Nation.

May 16, 2015

Saturday, May 16th. The Weekend Edition of William Shakespeare's Thought For The Day.

"That such a crafty devil as his mother should yield the
world this ass!"

Cymbeline, Act II, Scene 1, LInes 54-55

This quote was first used for WSTFTD in 2006 in reference to Dubya. Seems fitting to pass the legacy on to his dipshit baby brother...

April 22, 2015

I need ammo to refute anti-immigrant arguments.

In what ways, other than sales taxes, do undocumented immigrants living and working in the US pay taxes?

We all know the old chestnut this needs to refute: "Well you know, they're all on welfare and they don't pay any taxes, either!"

Help, please.

April 20, 2015

It's official: I'm for Hillary.

I'm looking forward to the Democratic primary, and I think good things can happen when Dems get together in public to discuss the issues that will decide Election 2016. But absent any other viable Democratic candidate, (and there isn't one), I'm voting for Hillary Clinton.

I still shake my head sadly over her vote in favor of the Iraq War Resolution. She may never again need to face an important issue with the kind of courage it would have taken to vote 'no'; but she didn't. I'm not happy about that. But I think all other things being equal, she is the Dems best hope for 2016, for continuing the social legacy of Barack Obama, and for controlling appointments to the Supreme Court. She has the skill, the experience, the chops, the intelligence, and the drive to be a great President.

If Elizabeth Warren is her running mate, Hillary will be unbeatable.

If Julian Castro is her running mate, she will win in a landslide.

I don't dismiss those Dems who oppose Hillary Clinton as too conservative, and too in-bed with Wall Street. But I'm not going to give their "She's just Republican-lite" accusations too much weight, either.

It is now 23 years since I cast my last vote for a Republican. And far from trying to win back this straight, white, male Christian, Southern war-veteran, the Repubs seem more intent than ever in making me despise them and their insane clown posse masquerading as a political party.

I'm for Hillary.

Let's vote.

April 6, 2015

I think my grandson might be gay. And I couldn't be more thrilled.

Not the least of which reasons is that, at the age of 15, he doesn't seem to be interested in hiding it.

He recently posted a Facebook status update in which he tells all of his friends and loved ones about his new best friend. Not just any old BFF, but one he calls a "sexy beast" and explains how he "loves him deeply and always will."

My grandson is the most darling, wonderful angel on the planet, but he is rarely this effusive, even about his greatest interests and enthusiasms. He has always displayed a sort of "Yeah, whatever..." reserve. My only reservation is that he is smack-dab in the middle of a family of conservative Christians. His mother and father are pretty progressive, though. But I'm the only out-and-out hardcore liberal in the family. When I saw him on Saturday, I took him aside and gave him a big hug. I told him how happy I was that his new best friend makes him so happy. I didn't say any more than that. If he is gay, I don't want him to feel forced to come out with it before he's ready.

Anyway, I hope he understands through my gesture that he has at least one ally. Although I'm not worried about any real backlash if he comes out. Conservative or not, his entire extended family adore him beyond the power of words to describe.

February 21, 2015

Buzzed and bored. PM me if you want to chat.

DU loungers are the best. I love you all...

February 20, 2015

Has anyone seen the movie "Begotten"?

It's by the guy who made "Shadow Of the Vampire".

I won't link to it. It's probably a felony to do so. But it's available on YouTube.

The director calls it a "retelling of the Book of Genesis". If so, he took an already twisted family saga, and turned it into torture porn.

A "god" of some sort disembowels himself and gives birth to Mother Earth. She in turn arouses his dead body (I'm not kidding) and impregnates herself with his semen. She then gives birth to a fully-grown, epileptic man-child whose role in the film seems to be to lay there seizing and suffering while a band of cannibal nomads dismembers him and rapes Mother Earth. They then dismember her, and bury the body parts, which apparently are the seeds of new-growing plants. The End.

Whew! It's tough going.

The only reason I watched it is because I viewed the trailer for it on the DVD of 'Shadow Of The Vampire' and thought it was intriguing.

The only reason I didn't have nightmares afterward is because I frantically called up a few episodes of "Scrubs" to kind of cleanse the palate before going to bed.

February 16, 2015

Lambrusco has often been called the 'sodapop of wines'

There's a reason for that. I just finished an entire bottle, and don't have so much as a buzz...